Turning, I saw Sumo sniffing something near the corpse.

  “That,” the Marine said, pointing with the toe of his boot to something in the pile of gore.

  “Oh, holy mother of Jesus fucking Christ, what is that?”

  CHAPTER

  SIXTY-FOUR

  “Corporal Koog, we don’t mention this shit to anyone.”

  “It...she was pregnant, sir.”

  The fetus lay on the floor unmoving from where it slipped out of its mother’s severed womb. I wish I could say it looked like a miniature version of the hideous mother; it didn’t. It looked like a baby… a human baby with a few obvious modifications. My assumptions were right, they had used humans or at least human DNA to help make these creatures.

  Koog bent and separated a bloody mass of something from the child and checked for a pulse. I had already guessed it was dead from the ghastly gray color. He looked up and shook his head.

  “You were a corpsman?” I asked, using the Marine terminology for a medic.

  “Yes, sir.”

  “FMS or SARC?” I asked, beginning to guess what level the kid had reached.

  “SARC.”

  I pointed for him to help Gi. Special Amphibious Recon Corpsman were highly skilled and highly trained. This guy was not only a good fighter, but he must also be smart. I looked at the corpse again as footsteps pounded down the corridor toward us. I quickly pulled an empty drybag from my suit and scooted the fetus into it.

  This could explain why the damn thing fought so hard. Maybe even why it boarded the ship. She was looking for a safe place to deliver. Who in their right mind would have given these things the ability to reproduce? I had way too many questions, and answers just didn’t seem to exist.

  I helped them load Gi onto an air-gurney and watched as they rushed him away followed by another team who bagged the Furie and unceremoniously hauled it away. The SEs who had the gruesome task asked if I wanted to space it. Did I? That was a good question. We didn’t really have any scientist on board who could study the thing, and I was sure no one else wanted to keep it on board. I flipped the corner of the body bag back and looked at the twisted face; at the same time, I covertly slid the bag I’d been holding beside her. “Place it in cold storage under priority-1 security lock-out.”

  Sumo came up and licked my hand; we were alone and safe for the moment. Assuming that Furie was the only one on board.

  Koog came out of the showers and nearly ran right into her.

  “Hi!”

  She smiled; her long blonde hair falling loosely around her shoulders. Surprisingly, she was also wearing makeup. They’d talked a few times over the last week, or at least he’d talked, and she listened politely.

  “How did it go out there?” she asked.

  Wow! he thought. As far as he knew, those were the most words she’d said to nearly anyone. He was unaware the TDF mission, or his part, was public knowledge.

  “It was fine.” It wasn’t, but he was under orders to not disclose the big problem they’d run into at the end. “We achieved the mission.” Technically not a lie, and he should have shut up there, but he really wanted the Texas beauty to like him. “Also, got to help take down the beast down on Deck E.”

  “That was you?”

  Damn, those eyes were hard to ignore. Of course, as long as it had been since he’d had a shore leave, any eyes might have had the same effect.

  “Want to hear about it?”

  “Yes. I would like that very much.” She wrapped her arm through his and let him lead her.

  “So, you ready to tell me your name?” he asked minutes later as they reached the hatch to his room. It seemed like the most basic of information, but the girl hadn’t been willing to talk much until now. She still struggled to get it out.

  “I’m Chelsea.”

  CHAPTER

  SIXTY-FIVE

  Bayou was out of surgery and alive, that was all I knew. An exhausted Voss sat with her back against the med bay wall. When I walked in, her eyes barely registered me. I’d stopped by my quarters to shed my battle suit and get cleaned up.

  “You slay the dragon?” she asked, her voice nearly as weary sounding as I felt.

  “Nearly the other way around, but yeah. I do want your opinion on something related, but it can wait. How’s she doing?” I nodded to the bed; Jordan Hauk was leaning over Deb and holding her hand.

  “She’s messed up pretty good, Joe. She’s alive and the Anadium is helping, but she doesn’t have your army of healing nanobots. Her injuries are horrific, she will take time, assuming they heal at all.”

  Jordan looked up from the other room, and our eyes briefly met. I could see the concern and the gratitude.

  “I never fully knew they had been an item until right now.”

  Voss glanced over and smiled, “I don’t think they ever stopped. I believe the job just always comes first for both of them.” She reached for my hand to pull her up off the floor. “You know the type, right?”

  Her body felt good against mine, and I held her a moment longer than was probably appropriate. “We should get you some food and a place to catch some shut-eye.”

  She patted my chest, “I can find my way, really, just need a hot shower and a change of clothes for now. You stay with Lieutenant Riggs, I’ll find my way.”

  I’d never thought to ask her if she’d ever been in space, but she seemed to handle it like a veteran. “Ada, please see to it she gets assigned a bunk and can find the mess hall.”

  I slipped into the treatment room, around the end of the bed, lay a hand on the captain, and asked him the same question.

  Hauk shrugged. “Doctor said she will survive, but we have to watch for infection. Who knows what germs or pathogens those things carry? I guess you got it?”

  “Yeah. Me, Gi, and your boy Koog managed to take it down.” I had stopped to check on Gi who was in the med bay a few doors up. He was sedated, but the readouts said he was in good condition.

  Hauk chuckled. “Did Koog shoot it or just sit on it?”

  I noticed that he kept stroking Deb’s arm as he talked. “He put the damn thing in a headlock if you can believe it. Nearly decapitated it before Gi sliced its neck open.”

  “Must be from the Midwest,” Hauk said. “They grow ‘em big out there and teach them to wrestle in kindergarten.”

  “He’s a hell of a Marine,” I said.

  “Copy that.” Hauk stood and stretched. “Did he mention any of what went on out there?”

  He was pointing in the general direction of the med unit’s head, but I thought I knew what he meant. On the insane human bombing mission of the ghost ship. “No, we didn’t have much time for anything except the monster hunt.”

  I looked over at Deb; that mission had sounded more like one of my hare-brained schemes than hers. “Why?”

  Hauk looked down. “You’re going to need to get that from her.” He patted Deb’s foot. “I need to go check on my men, but I’ll be back after a while.”

  I followed him out to the prep room. “She can’t tell me jack shit. What happened?” All I had heard was they achieved the mission. They destroyed what looked like an unmanned drone ship and regained control of the carrier.

  “I’m under orders, Kovach. Her orders.” He turned and started for the exit then turned. “I’m sorry Joe, but thank you again – you know for letting me know about Logan.” He nodded once and abruptly left the room.

  “Well, fuck.” I went back and sat by my friend.

  “Ada, see what you can find out about that mission. Let me know if our ship is still under threat.”

  She chimed in an acknowledgement. I knew she would have to interact with Belle, the ship’s built-in AI to accomplish that. Something she often seemed reluctant to do for some reason.

  “Joe, you may be interested in knowing Ms. Voss did not go to the showers or for food but is in the security wing. I believe she is going to interrogate the young woman being held.”

  “Goddamnit, Voss, why are you so fucking difficult?”

  CHAPTER

  SIXTY-SIX

  Alarms were going off all over the ship. Xero studied the screens intently. “I suggest battle stations, Captain.”

  Packer nervously swung the display over to take the ship’s systems to its highest alert status. “Do we have a target solution?”

  “Negative.”

  “Find me that bogie.”

  Packer chuckled at the sound of his own voice. Glancing up, Xero smiled as well.

  “God-forbid we have to do this for real,” he said, silencing the alarms and ending the training simulation. “I’m no combat officer.”

  “I’d have to challenge you on that, sir,” Danny ‘Halo’ Jenkins said.

  “How’s that?”

  “I’ve seen you enter combat zones several times now, and you’ve handled yourself and your ship like a pro.”

  “That’s a dropship, Danny. No weapons. No offensive weapons, at least. I’m a glorified bus driver.”

  “You keep saying that, sir, but we know you’re capable of this. You just like the TriCraft more, and I get that. They’re fun to fly, top secret, and generally you only have to think about the small group of troops on board. Here, you have everything to worry about.”

  “These drills, though. I mean, look, I can keep this bird in orbit and all, but if you are counting on me to think tactically…”

  Halo moved in close to the man and whispered, “Captain, don’t ever talk like that on this bridge. Not when you occupy that chair. You copy me—sir?” Yes, technically, Packer outranked him, but that wasn’t what was important. “These people need to trust you. Hell, you need to trust yourself. This ship will do the work for you… as soon as you and Xero figure it all out.”

  The acting commander nodded. He understood what his subordinate was saying; he even agreed with it in a strange, detached way. He just wished it was someone else wearing his uniform right now.

  For her part, Xero also had questions. Why is there such a renewed interest in the ship’s security now? They destroyed the stealth ship that had been annoying them, and Kovach had killed the beast. Bayou had left strict orders before she left the bridge the last time that combat drills were mandatory on every shift. It wasn’t unreasonable; Xero was a civilian trying to learn military systems, and the ‘military’ personnel were mostly clueless about the ship’s operations. It still didn’t sit right with her. She felt she was only seeing part of what was going on, and that was a thread she couldn’t help but pick at.

  Kovach

  My reduced need for sleep was a Godsend as I was wide awake and ready to rip a new asshole in whatever hapless Marine I found on duty. I’d decided to ignore Voss and the girl for now. I had other concerns I wanted answers for.

  Sumo ran ahead of me as I stomped into the large workroom and up to the attendant behind the mesh grating.

  “Just drop it over there, Captain,” the older man said, barely acknowledging me. Also, on this ship I was in charge, a fucking officer even, but that was needless information right now.

  “I am looking for CWO Akins.”

  “Looking at him, pal. What can I do you for?” the man said, dropping a tactical receiver on the work bench and using a rag to clean the cleaning solvent from his hands.

  I knew this was the man. Ada had given me the checklist, duty roster, and the man’s service picture, although he must not have updated that photo in twenty years. The balding, rough shaven guy looked a little like the pic. Then I recalled dragging him out of that piece of space wreckage a few weeks back.

  “Chief Atkins, I have a problem.”

  “Call me Trip, sir. Everyone does and join the line. Seems like everyone has problems these days.”

  “My problem is with you—Trip!”

  His easy-going nature and ‘don’t give a shit’ attitude was commendable, normally someone I might consider a kindred soul, but this man had been the armory officer in charge of something that nearly got me killed.

  I threw the upper plate of the battle suit through the opening at the man. Not something you normally ever do with your personal armor, and it’s never recommended to piss off the armorer.

  The move surprised him, but he reacted quickly, grabbing the torso. “Whoa, partner. What’s the deal?”

  “You outfitted my suit on my last drop. You did the check-out, and when it came time to pop the glide wings—guess what?”

  The man pursed his lips together and rolled the back plate over to look at the underside. “I dunno, bud. Why don’t you tell me?”

  God Almighty, I am going to rip the fucker in two. “It—didn’t—fucking—work!”

  “Yeah, that’s not possible,” he said grinning. “You know how I know?”

  I knew where the old man was going with this.

  “Because you’re standing here.” He laughed, a deep, heartfelt, belly laugh. I may have bounced his head off the clear mesh partition.

  “Ouch! Look, Captain, I worked the armory on the Denali for three rotations. I know the drill with your drop teams. Those glide wings are the one part we must get right, every fucking time. We don’t… I don’t take any chances there. If something is worn, it gets replaced. If anything is marginal, we update it.”

  His tone was more cooperative, but I still really wasn’t getting any answers. “Who else was on duty?”

  “Two SEs had been assigned here, but when I came too in the sick bay, they asked me to take over. No one else had any experience with ballistic drops gear.”

  “So, Tripp, if you were me, and my glider failed to open for the first time in my numerous fucking drops, what would you think the problem was?”

  “The armorer,” he said without hesitation. “Look,” he said, expertly flipping a special suit key hanging from a lanyard and removed a panel the dislodged a piece I didn’t even know came off. He then used the end of that strut to extend down into a cavity and popped out the entire empty grenade rack and what was left of the glider mechanism. He did all this while never breaking eye contact with me.

  “You saved our lives, man. Hey, I get you need answers, but I am not your enemy. Shit, you’re as close to a fucking hero as we have these days. Let me tear this all the way down, and I’ll get you your answers.”

  I subvocalized to my AI, “Any sense of deception?”

  “No, Joe, I do not believe he is aware of anything that could have been done to your suit. As you know, all battle suits are locked into the charging lockers after they are serviced, and only the registered user can unlock them at that point.”

  True, I thought. It had always been a pain in my ass to have to come to my station and key in my code and biometrics so the armorer could load and configure for whatever deployment we had scheduled. Still, we tended to get very attached to our gear. Our very lives depended on it. Shit, some ex-drop trooper had even released a love song to his battle suit a few years back. The fucking, catchy tune still popped into my head at times.

  “Okay, Tripp, do that, but I want it all done on the check bench with the full vid-feeds.” Every armorer had at least one station that recorded everything done on it. Usually this was for guaranteeing the right ordinance was being loaded, but it worked for this as well.

  “Obviously, Captain.”

  The man’s tone seemed mildly offended, which might be understandable, but he also knew the importance of my demands. If we couldn’t trust our equipment, then we didn’t need it. Honestly, I hoped the man was being truthful because I had something even bigger in mind for him to work on.

  CHAPTER

  SIXTY-SEVEN

  “I was simply checking to see if getting away from the creatures down there had reduced the girl’s catatonic state.” Voss said minutes later.

  “And?” I asked.

  “Nothing obvious, no change.”

  “Come-on, Voss.” She and I were on our way to see Carol and Lux. She’d suggested it. I was a bit less enthusiastic being in the same small room with two women I’d recently been ‘involved with.’ Even though I am an asshole, I am an asshole who values his testicles.

  Voss eyed me and grinned.

  “What?” I asked.

  “This.” She waved her finger in a circle at me. “This whole thing. Absolutely precious.”

  I wasn’t sure if she meant my guilt over sleeping with both of them or my fear of us all being together once again. Either way, I knew I was probably fucked.

  “Glad you are amused.”

  The ladies’ reunion was not at all what I had expected, or more accurately, feared.

  They hugged and cried like long-lost sisters, despite a few of the things Carol had said to me in private. It was obvious they were still very close, and Voss fussed over Lux and his new dog even more. I hung around for a half hour before realizing that I was an unnecessary and possibly unwelcome part of this ensemble. Despite all, they were essentially family and had a bond that was more resilient than I’d imagined.

  Excusing myself, I headed for the bridge. Strange that it was the one place I had yet to visit. As the oddly ridiculous circumstance that had me designated on-board captain and chief pirate on this ship, I should probably take a more active role in its mission. I knew that wasn’t my strength, though, so felt better leaving it to others.

  Bishop met me in the corridor leading to the bridge wing.

  “Hey, Boss, ready to take over?” the man asked.

  “Hardly, Priest. Were you down in med bay?” I knew he’d been; Ada tracked everyone and fed me updates on my team members.

  “Yep, Gi is looking good, he should be released later today.”

  “Bayou?” I asked feeling bad that I’d left her there, but Hauk had come back and almost pushed me out of his spot by her bed.

  He looked down and scratched his brow. “She looks bad, readouts say stable, but man… you know.”

  Yeah, I knew. “It’s Deb, she always snaps back right away.”