Enemies on All Sides (Maraukian War Book 4) Read online

  If they lost this facility, they wouldn’t have mergers capable of using armor anymore.

  Jerome had also been privy to a number of other plans that the mergers had come up with but hadn’t released to anyone but the development team who worked on the Yard secretly.

  There was so many moving pieces but Jerome threw himself into it.

  It was a way to help Esamai, and also the more he did now, then they would be able to deal with and help the EMF personnel who were entering the system.

  It wouldn’t be long now until the first EMFC made it to Emarl.

  Jerome looked up, seeing a picture of Esamai and little Tyler.

  “Not long now.” He smiled to himself. It had been a long few months not seeing either of them.

  ***

  Yu looked over the combat information from the different candidates.

  Most of them had been combat shuttle pilots previously. Now they had turned their aim toward being rapid support drones.

  They were meant to run remotely from the ship. This meant that even in close-range engagements, if they were destroyed then a pilot could just launch another and continue the attack.

  Before, with the ranges involved, there had been a large problem with how far away the pilots could be from the drones. This was why the Ares fighters were all manned.

  If the area was coated in relay satellites, it would take longer for the Maraukians to take them out. Although they were terrible at aiming, the automated systems of their ships weren’t too bad and could clear the orbitals of a planet of anything that remained there. Even when they were on the ground, they were able to take out stations in orbit and would fire on ships that were inside their fire envelope.

  That was why they had created the new seeder ships. These small craft were also unmanned but they served to create a relay between the support drones. They would stay out of the Maraukians’ range and act as a bridge between the pilots and their ships.

  In combat against human forces, they would be flying in roving packs, dispersing relay satellites all over the place with decoys so that the RSDs wouldn’t lose connection and could fight no matter what.

  They were the strength and also the weakness of the ships; if they didn’t have the seeder ships, then the communications relays on the carriers had to take up the slack, they were the strongest communication systems created with state of the art encryption, but at long distances there was a time lag between the actions of the fighters and the signal reaching them. This was one of the reasons that the mergers were good with them. They could predict what would happen and give commands before they actually happened, little more than an educated shot in the dark.

  A number of people had applied to be mergers, but right now Yu still needed to figure out the new tactics that came with the RSDs and their accompanying seeders.

  Still, he had his eye on a number of them. That said, he didn’t know whether they would pass through testing.

  Although people could become mergers for the other sectors as long as it was agreed by all of the mergers, when becoming someone of the military sector, they needed to pass through selection. Then, once they did that, they could be considered to become a merger.

  Other mergers could apply, but then they would also need to go through the same hell as the candidates.

  There was no easy ride into the military sector.

  “Nothing is ever easy,” Yu said to himself as Young looked to him.

  “You muttering again?” Young asked.

  “Even if I was talking subsonic, you’d be able to hear me,” Yu said. The two of them were reviewing information on the fighters and how to use them while Bobbie was with the engineering people, walking through the development of the drop-ships as well as upgrades for the RSDs and the seeders.

  He was working with a number of other crews from different vessels. With their hands-on and theoretical knowledge, it was guaranteed that whatever they came up with would not be simple.

  Yu was excited to see what it would be and wanted to be part of its development, but he was needed to do this.

  “Hopefully it won’t be too long until we can figure this all out,” Yu said.

  “We’re learning quickly with all of the information from the legion as well as the historical references to other forces that used fighters when fighting. We’ve got the theoretical side down,” Young said.

  “Everything is theoretical until we run into the enemy,” Yu said, using one of his favorite sayings.

  “That’s true,” Young said. They’d been through too many battles to rely on that their best-laid plans would actually be carried out perfectly.

  “At least when we’re in the Emarl system, we’ll be able to do live exercises and see what they’re really capable of. We can test the RSDs and the trainees to the limit,” Yu said with some excitement.

  “You just want to get an RSD and bomb around the system,” Young said with a dry voice.

  Yu looked over at her with a raised eyebrow. “And you don’t?”

  “Well, it wouldn’t be right with you going out without a backup.” Young said, continuing her prep without pause.

  The two of them shared a look. Yu gave her a stiff nod and Young responded in kind. He still couldn’t force himself to smile, the events too close to home. The information on how close Dominguez was to not making it out and the losses on Earth still weighed on their minds.

  Chapter Eight

  Hospital

  Westerly Three Complex

  Earth, Sol System

  5/3556

  Dominguez woke with a start, the nightmare of the attack on her and her people still fresh on her mind. She moved in the bed, pushing the covers aside and attempting to get out. Then she remembered the pain and allowed herself to breathe through it. No matter the drugs or the regrowth of her leg, this one stung more than any other injury she’d had. It was not just an injury; it was personal. All those people? They’d done nothing. They were innocent workers, with families. It was wrong on more levels than she wanted to accept at the moment.

  The communication link came through moments after she’d woken this time, and she finally pushed off to answer it properly. “Mark,” she said.

  “Hey,” came his voice. “Sorry it took me so long. How you doing?”

  “Oh, you know.” She tried to suck in her emotions, to push away everything that she was really feeling, but she couldn’t. She just hoped it didn’t come across like that to him.

  But it was as if Mark couldn’t speak to her; there were no words as to what he wanted to convey.

  “We’ll make the bastards pay,” Mark said.

  With his words, her feelings exploded; she’d teared up. She knew he was right. They needed to stick around, to fight for what they had, but it looked as if this fight was only going to get harder. But, she admitted, “We’ve a lot, yes, to still build, to move, you know that.”

  “VCF Hope and Novum are en route to your location. They should arrive in no more than four months. I need you up and good to go by then. I leave who will be aboard those ships up to you. It is the thoughts of us here, that we evac everything useful from the Sol system to Emarl system. There’s no use leaving it there to be bogged down when we can use it there.”

  “Got it.” Dominguez pushed her mind to work, and get past her recent losses. The pain was still there, but now she had a goal to move toward. “What about the people from the greenhouses?”

  “It’s up to you. If you want them, then you need to vet them. Once they enter Emarl, we don’t need a leak.”

  “Understood,” Dominguez said. It was a massive undertaking even in four months, but she was confident in her people. No matter what, they would get it done.

  “Someone has to stay though, right?” she protested.

  The answer surprised her, almost as much as his sigh. “That planet means nothing to me. If you all leave, someone else will take over—someone else can do the work.”

  “You don’t mean that, right?”
But she actually felt he did mean it.

  Mark’s voice was lower now, barely a whisper to her across the galaxies. It made her choke up. “Pack all the shit you can and get out,” he finally admitted. “She can fend for herself.”

  Dominguez swallowed. “Yes, sir.” It wasn’t as much an order as he just wanted her there. She felt the same. They were all too far apart. The Yard had gone; most of the people she had worked with split into different parts of the universe. It would all come together, but it worried her.

  Mark cut the comms and left her, still thinking. The closest of their ships would still be months away, she was sure of it. But if it cut their timing in half, and she could leave this godforsaken place earlier, she would be happy. Heck, with most of the gangs out there thinking she was dead, she was sure the place was in an uproar.

  Her door pinged, and she shouted, albeit weakly. “Come in.”

  On seeing Phillips hobble on in, she smiled. “You just about look like I feel.”

  “Yeah.” He sat on the end of her bed. “How you feeling, better than me?”

  Dominguez let out a small chuckle.

  Phillips stole her gaze and she saw something else in his eyes. “Thank you.”

  “For what?”

  “For saving my ass, of course.”

  Dominguez looked away, those last few memories flittering through her mind once more. The pain, the sheer agony of it. “Almost lost you,” she said.

  “We almost lost each other, and it’s supposed to be my job to protect you, not the other way around. You know.”

  She remembered him running with her over his shoulder, their joint sets of wounds, fleeing for their lives.

  It seemed he was caught in those memories too; then it was almost as if he wanted to say something else but didn’t.

  Something about the way he looked at her. Oh crap, she’d had no idea. “I—”

  “It’s okay. Don’t say anything. This is my issue, not yours.”

  She hadn’t thought of anyone like that for a long time, not since... But things were moving faster and faster than anyone had envisaged. There was no time to think like that, was there?

  The moment she’d laid herself over Phillips’s shrapnel-laden body as he bled all over the floor—the thoughts that flashed before her. Yes, there was. There had to be time for that, or what the hell were they fighting for in the first place? She reached out, took his hand in hers and squeezed. “We’ll talk—heck, we’ve a lot of talking to do. I just got bumped off the face of the planet, right?”

  Phillips glanced back to her. “That we did. How’s it feel to be dead?”

  Dominguez sank back into the bed covers, allowed herself to feel the pain through all the drugs coursing through her veins. “Feels like fucking hell.”

  ***

  No sooner had Mark closed his comms with Dominguez than he searched out and located where Admiral Hall was through the net. Heading that way, he thought to the last couple of months and to the actions they’d all taken toward their main goal. A lot of his ships and freighters had been moving people about inter-systems. They were valued clients, who were now expecting to wait for things while he sorted all his shit out, and that meant moving everyone to Emarl.

  “What’s wrong?” Admiral Hall asked as he was let in.

  Mark stepped inside and moved to sit, his nanites making sure the chair would hold. “Hope and Novum, they need modifications—can you get them on it? They need capacity to take as many as possible from Earth—cryo, if it has to be.”

  Bringing up the statistics for both ships, Hall and Mark looked them over.

  “When they get to Earth, everything that isn’t needed can be left,” Mark said. “I’m more concerned in getting them out. This last attack…” Mark clenched his fists and stared at Hall.

  “I know—I’d want them out too. I will confirm with the captains and take it from there.” Hall pointed to several sections of their cargo holds. “There’s some useful equipment already on both. I think they’ll be able to come up with something.”

  Mark nodded. “Good. Talk with Charles, see if he’s also got some other ideas. If you have any difficulties with details, etc., talk to Moretti. They’re his people on there.”

  “Are they in cryo?” Hall raised an eyebrow. “Could mean there’s some smart-assed people on board, not to mention doctors, engineers, and possibly more. They’re an asset in themselves, let alone picking up the Westerly Three Crew.”

  “I don’t know.” Mark pushed to stand. “In that case, let’s see about waking some of them up. I know we have the best minds on here, but there’s no harm in them talking and seeing how else these ships might be upgraded. In fact, the more people on that, the better. Means we can all get to where we want to be a hell of a lot faster.”

  With that, Mark moved to leave. “I’ll be seeing Charles next. If you need me, comm.”

  Admiral Hall nodded and started to dial in for the captain on the VCF Hope.

  Chapter Nine

  Refinery Seventy-Seven

  Oort Cloud, Osdal System

  5/3556

  Johnny had been pacing up and down the length of his station’s command center. There were some things that he really wanted answers to and right now, but he struggled with putting all the questions into coherent order.

  The Fernix was here and it seemed they were very interested in the Avenger. He was more than sure this wasn’t a good thing. But he wanted to be sure before he lost his shit and started with accusations. Them having Alcubierre drives really threw some spanners in the works. More so if they contacted Avenger and then had a full carrier load of troopers to back them up. Seemed trade might go out the window if they decided to attack instead of paying for goods.

  The committee meeting he was about to face might be make-or-break for them.

  The first thing he had to do was make sure they were all on the right side. The Fernix should have been picking up deliveries that weren’t even in the company’s thought processes or schedules. So now what would they want? Would they wait for their order to be filled? It didn’t seem likely, so the only real thing he could do was wait for comms to open up and then physically ask what the hell was going on.

  The longer he waited, though, the more agitated he seemed to get. What was the freighter doing? Surely he came top of their priority list?

  It seemed not.

  Johnny commed for Felicia.

  “Wasn’t expecting to see your face this time of night,” the old battle-axe said to him with a not-so-cheery grin.

  “There’s a situation developing. I thought you’d like to know. Maybe next time I’ll actually ignore it and just go to bed like you obviously did.”

  The laugh that carried her gruff voice to him seemed full of her usual spunk. No matter how long they’d been work rivals for, their friendship was managed well. “So, spit it out. What’s the situation?”

  Johnny could hear her, but wasn’t sure what the hell she was doing till her face appeared, still sleep-ridden and with bed-tousled graying hairs.

  “The VCF Fernix just popped onto my radar.”

  Felicia eye rolled at him. “This is no time for games, Johnny. It’s not due here for what, twenty years or so?”

  “Exactly my point. It looks from the rings around it, that the Fernix has Alcubierre drives. Yet no one thought they’d tell us of its fast arrival.”

  She seemed to be pulling up information on her end, and then she nodded at him. “It seems so. What’s your plan of action?”

  “I’m trying to get comms through at the moment, but they’re not answering. They are, however, heading for the Avenger.”

  “Crap. After the troopers?”

  “At the moment, it seems so, yes.”

  “Better wake the rest of the committee then,” she grumbled. “Not really what I want to be doing in the middle of the night, you know.”

  Johnny laughed. “Sure, would you sooner they knocked at your door with weapons locked and loaded?”
>
  “Of course not.” She paused. “You really think Mark Victor would do that? Dammit. Get Carly on the line.”

  It was a few moments later that Carly came on. “I’ve seen the message,” she said. “There’s also a package that’s been delivered via the net.” With a push, she passed on the file to them both.

  Johnny waited for the ping then he opened it.

  It was a direct message from Mark Victor. “The VCF Fernix will be within your system now, her Alcubierre drives boosting her arrival. I apologize for not announcing it properly, but our plans would have been compromised if we had. Captain Grild will be waking the EMF Avenger, and then they’ll contact you. Please be patient at this time. Trust me, you do not want this to be rushed, or it could turn dangerous for everyone involved. We have the best interests of Osdal and the future foremost in our minds.”

  “That’s easier for him to say when he’s not here,” Johnny stated.

  “While they’re amassing a small army up there, they can’t expect us to sit and wait for them, can they?” Felicia said. “I know I’ve trusted Mark and his people a lot in the past, but this is taking liberties.”

  “I agree.” Johnny pushed the message away. “I think we should at least be ready in some capacity if they do decide this is a forceful take out.”

  Carly’s frown was evident. “You expect some sort of betrayal, after everything they went through here? I highly doubt that is possible.”

  Felicia’s face changed, watching him carefully. “No matter what we think, we’ve our own people to defend. If it looked like we just sat here and waited for an attack, how would it make us look? No, put us at yellow alert. Get everyone ready, then we can back down if we need to. That wouldn’t be difficult.”

  Johnny was quick to send orders off to his stations and surrounding men. Middle of the night or not, they’d be up and ready for anything within minutes. “Done. Now might I suggest we meet in person and decide what we’ll be saying to the VCF? I think their communication skills are sorely lacking and that our communication net might not be the securest of networks to keep talking on.”