Crap! A new HUD warning message flashed: Jason’s phase-shields were down to ten percent and falling fast. One by one he tried other munitions options—some seemed to be ones he’d used before, but others were definitely new. For the most part, he ignored the Craing security forces and was focusing his attention on the battle droid. But their rapid fire was starting to take its toll on his battle suit.

  Three selections down, Jason noticed an odd-looking option called Expansion Gum. He selected it and fired. This time there was no loud percussion sound. No recoil or kickback. The multi-gun acted more like a high-tech squirt gun. What the hell is this? A viscous stream of brown sludge spewed forth from the muzzle of his multi-gun, sending out short squirt bursts. Ready to change to an alternate selection, Jason noticed the sharp reflective mower blades on the battle droid’s arms were slowing. Squirt-squirt-squirt. Jason continued pumping the stuff into the inner workings of the battle droid. Sure enough, the blades were seizing up and the viscous liquid was hardening into a spongy, gooey-looking mess.

  With its blade defenses deactivated, the droid seemed to only double its plasma fire efforts. Again, it steadily advanced on Jason, forcing him, one backward step at a time, to retreat. Suddenly, with his back against the phase-synthesizer, he had nowhere left to go—no way to escape the pounding onslaught of plasma fire. Jason’s HUD continued to flash warnings; his phase-shields had dropped to one percent. Then, as his phase-shields finally gave out, Jason felt the full force of the plasma fire pummel his battle suit. He was being relentlessly knocked against the phase-synthesizer behind him. As the heat from the plasma barrage increased, his battle suit started to glow red and steamy waves of heat rose up into the air. Feeling his flesh start to blister, the pain quickly became unbearable. Gritting his teeth, he stifled a scream. Jason was on the verge of losing consciousness—his vision starting to fail.

  To his relief two new HUD life-icons appeared. Had the cavalry arrived? Yes and no. Unfortunately, it was too little too late. Orion and Billy had joined the fight, but both were battling the Craing security forces, as well as the battle droid Traveler had gone up against earlier.

  Clang!

  Something obscured Jason’s vision. Clang! Clang! Clang!

  Jason wondered if his sight had finally gone—blinded now by the relentless plasma fire into his visor. No, that wasn’t it. There was movement in front of him. A dark gray form was making strange, repetitive motions. A hammering motion. As the form slowly moved away from Jason, he was able to see more detail. It was Traveler, arching his heavy hammer from above his head and hammering it down, again and again, upon the battle droid. He was pounding away at the droid’s weak spot. Three more spectacular strikes by Traveler’s hammer and the battle droid ceased firing. It had been destroyed.

  Jason let his back slide down the phase-synthesizer to the deck. He watched as Traveler gave the incapacitated battle droid several more hits from his heavy hammer before he turned his attention toward Jason. Limping, he joined Jason, then sat next to him on the deck.

  They watched as three more friendlies joined the fight against the second retreating battle droid.

  “I thought you were dead,” Jason said.

  Traveler was quiet for a while. “A powerful opponent. I could not match its speed, its strength. I had come to realize this was going to be an honorable death—I was prepared to die.”

  Jason saw a section of Traveler’s left foot was missing, as well as most of his left hand. Gouged and scratched, his battle suit no longer had the same smooth surface as his own.

  “So what happened?” Jason asked.

  “I am almost ashamed to say … preparing to die, I curled into a ball. I tucked in my arms and legs and waited. Doing this, the battle droid was unable to slice off any more body parts. I believe it grew disinterested in me. Once the others arrived I was able to join your fight.”

  “Thank you. I thought I was a goner—one more time you’ve saved my life, Traveler.”

  Jason hailed Orion. Out of breath, she said, “Go for Gunny.”

  “Try the Expansion Gum setting.”

  Within several seconds Orion and Billy were squirting brown liquid goo into the workings of the battle droid. Its defensive mower blades slowly ground to a halt. More of Billy’s assault team arrived—each equipped in a new battle suit.

  He heard the familiar hail tone in his ear. “Go for Captain,” Jason said. “What’s up, Ricket?”

  “Captain, those three battle droids have breached the Minian.”

  Chapter 30

  Still on the Ion Station, Jason and Traveler needed healing time in a MediPod, but that would have to wait. As it was, their nanites were already busy at work-repairing Jason's scalded skin blisters and reconstructing Traveler's missing bone, blood vessels, muscles, tendons and flesh.

  Orion and Billy, along with six others of their team, successfully brought down the second battle droid. The Expansion Gum did the trick. It took a while longer to defeat the remaining Craing security forces, but eventually they too were defeated.

  Billy phase-shifted back to the Minian to lead the squad in fending off the three remaining battle droids. Orion returned to The Lilly, back to manning her tactical post. Things were heating up in local space and Jason needed her presence there to keep him abreast of the situation.

  For now, the immediate issue was how to deal with the phase-synthesizer. Pocked with numerous blast holes from the recent fighting, the thing was still operational and continued to manufacture SuitPacs, one after another.

  Ricket, wearing one of the new battle suits, stood in front of the repositioned lower halo-display.

  “So how’d they get this thing here in the first place?” Jason asked. “They certainly didn’t carry it. Even broken down into segments, there isn’t a hatchway on the ship big enough to accommodate them.”

  Ricket glanced over to Jason, who’d moved closer to his side. Traveler, in the process of standing, grunted, then began hobbling around as he tried to put weight on his injured foot.

  “Granger informed me how it was first done,” Ricket said in a matter of fact tone. “I expected as much—each of these segments is equipped with an individual, integrated, phase-shift circuit.” He rapidly screened through the menu. “Ah, it’s all listed here. I simply need to reverse the last phase-shift command parameters. I think it’s best if I move everything at the same time. That’s what Granger did. Getting it set up on the platform in the first place.”

  Jason heard two hails coming in and answered them in the order received. He was surprised to hear his brother’s voice.

  “Jason … things are heating up.”

  “What’s up, Brian?”

  “Combination of heavy and light cruisers are about to make port on the Ion Station. Within the next few minutes you’re going to have some company. There’s a crew of thousands on board those ships. You need to get out of there … like right now, Brother.”

  Jason heard a commotion. “What’s that, Brian?”

  “Oh, shit. I’ve got to go. Looks like we’ve been side-swiped.” Brian cut the connection.

  Jason answered Orion’s hail: “Go for Captain.”

  “Multiple forces are unloading onto the station, Cap.”

  “I know. We’re in the process of moving this thing, I hope.” He looked over to Ricket, who nodded his head without looking up from what he was doing.

  “What’s going on with Her Majesty?” Ricket asked.

  “One of the heavy cruisers, en route to a nearby hub-port, winged her bow. There’s actually a section, looks like the starboard bow, that’s now visible … no longer cloaked.”

  “We need to get those people off—”

  Orion cut him off. “Cap, the heavy cruiser’s firing. Her Majesty is under attack.”

  Jason interrupted Ricket. “You have one minute to show me how to access the phase-shift setting on this damn suit.”

  * * *

  Prior to phase-shifting directly onto Her Majesty’s bridge, Jason grabbed up two handfuls of freshly manufactured SuitPacs. No sooner than he got on board, the ship jerked and he was thrown down onto the deck plates. Alarm klaxons bellowed from above and everyone was shouting to be heard.

  “We’re taking multiple direct hits to our forward starboard hull,” yelled Perkins, manning the tactical console.

  “Bring all guns online … fire at will,” Brian yelled.

  “Shields are down to thirty percent, Captain,” Perkins reported.

  Jason rose to his feet and watched the mayhem around him.

  “Two more Craing light cruisers just joined the fight!” Betty yelled over the noise.

  Jason felt thunderous pounding, the vibration making it hard to stay on his feet. Brian glanced over to him with a sardonic smile. “This baby has some big-ass cannons.”

  “The light cruiser’s lost her shields and … she just imploded,” Perkins looked up from his station, smiling.

  “Our shields holding at thirty percent. The heavy cruiser is losing her aft-shields.”

  “Don’t let up,” Brian commanded.

  Betty looked up, unable to speak for several beats. “Our toric-cloaking system just went down. They can see us … they can see every inch of us.”

  “Bristol! Get that thing working or we’re toast,” Brian yelled toward the floor.

  Jason hadn’t noticed that Bristol was even on the bridge, then spied his legs beneath a nearby console. His muffled voice answered back, “It’s fucking fried.” Bristol crawled out from the console and shook his head. “There’s nothing I can do.”

  Her Majesty violently jerked three times in rapid succession.

  “Shields are completely down. All of them! Multiple hull breaches—we’re venting to space.”

  Jason put a hand on Brian’s shoulder. “It’s time, Brian. We knew this was going to happen.” Brian stared back. Jason could see he wanted to argue … to insist the old luxury liner still had some fight in her, but realization set in and he simply nodded.

  Jason handed everyone on the bridge a SuitPac. Bristol looked at it with disgust and scowled at Jason. “What am I supposed to do with this thing?”

  “Those of you wearing a conventional battle suit, go ahead and phase-shift to The Lilly right now.”

  Neither Brian nor Bristol was wearing a battle suit. Jason snatched back the SuitPac from Bristol’s still outstretched fingers and clipped it onto the front of his jumpsuit. Jason then triggered the device, and within seconds the SuitPac had expanded and segmented out—covering Bristol from head to toe.

  “Cool,” Bristol said. Within five seconds Bristol flashed away, apparently a lot better at figuring out how to use the new HUD menu than Jason had been.

  It took another few minutes before Brian and Jason were alone on the bridge. “Time for us to go, Brian. All departments are clear. No one’s left on board but you and me.”

  Brian, now wearing his own new battle suit, took another look around the bridge. The klaxon was still howling and all ship systems were failing. He nodded and then stopped and looked at Jason. “The hopper!”

  “Where is he?”

  “In the hold,” Brian said.

  “Her Majesty is on the verge of imploding …”

  “I can’t leave him!”

  “Fine! You’re not going to be able to figure out the suit’s HUD menu. Take my arm.” It took Jason close to a minute to configure the proper destination coordinates before phase-shifting them into Her Majesty’s hold.

  * * *

  The attack came from behind. The hopper went for Jason first, knocking him to the deck and with raking motions used his outstretched claws to rip at his back. The suit, nearly impregnable, saved Jason, who quickly got back on his knees. Surprised by the added strength the suit provided, Jason was able to get a fist around the hopper’s neck and squeeze.

  “Don’t hurt him!” Brian yelled.

  “I’m trying not to but he won’t stay still. He’s squirming all over the place.”

  “Just hold him down for a second, will you? He’s probably scared.”

  Jason got a better grip and slowly brought the struggling creature down to the deck. Its arms were jerking this way and that and its tail whipped with such force Jason nearly lost his grip again.

  Brian was at Jason’s side, looking down at the struggling hopper. “Hey, look … It’s me!”

  The hopper’s eyes were wide with fear and still not looking up in Brian’s direction. Brian got down to the hopper’s level, putting his visor only inches away. “See? It’s me.”

  The hopper stopped struggling. Jason released his grip and slowly took his weight off it.

  “You better get us all out of here,” Brian said. “This ship’s about to blow.”

  Chapter 31

  Jason phase-shifted himself, his brother, and the hopper onto The Lilly. By the time Jason made his way onto the bridge, Her Majesty was in large pieces floating separately in space. McBride was already in the process of phase-shifting The Lilly into the largest of the Minian’s cargo holds.

  “Status,” Jason asked, as he took the command chair.

  “As you know, Her Majesty has broken apart. We got everyone off in time,” Orion said.

  “What about the Minian?”

  “I sent Bristol to help with getting her shields up. So far, no one’s shooting at her, but I think that’s about to change.”

  “What about Ricket? Has he gotten the phase-synthesizer back on board yet?”

  “Not yet. Some sort of technical problem. Billy and a squad are there, holding off the arrival of new Craing security forces.”

  Jason glanced through the three hundred and sixty degree display, seeing into the dark confines of the Minian’s hold. He stood, realizing there wasn’t much he could accomplish staying here. “Keep me apprised, Gunny.”

  “Where you off to, Cap?” she asked.

  “To motivate Granger.” With that, Jason phase-shifted over to the main corridor on the Minian. He came out of the phase-shift and made it into the bridge in three long strides.

  Bristol and Chief Horris were leaning over a console having a heated discussion while Granger casually sat in the command chair, his arms behind his head, his fingers interlocked. Jason pulled the tall Caldurian to his feet and punched him hard across the face.

  Granger stumbled sideways and slowly recovered his balance—blood trickled at the corner of his mouth.

  “There’s little reason to keep you alive, Granger. But never let it be said I don’t give second chances. This is yours. You either help or you die. It’s up to you.”

  “What would you like me to do?”

  “First, get the shields up on this ship. Do it now. Then we can talk about bringing minimal, at least, propulsion back online.”

  All eyes were on Granger. He paused, then casually moved to the same console Bristol and the chief were standing by. He knelt down and inspected the work Bristol had started and slowly shook his head. “No. You’ve got this misconfigured.”

  Bristol, his helmet retracted into the back of his suit, looked ready to spew more of his typical profanity, when Granger added, “It’s close, but you neglected to use a trion-matrix coupler.” Granger pointed to an obscured section of the inner console that Jason couldn’t see from his position.

  Bristol went down on his knees to inspect the area Granger was indicating and came back up to stare at him. Jason wondered if it was admiration he saw in Bristol’s expression. “Why the fuck would that be removed in the first place?” he asked, while moving to a similar console positioned against the bulkhead on the other side of the bridge. Within several minutes he was back, holding up a small device. Optical cables of some sort hung from it. “Will this work?”

  Granger nodded. “For now.”

  As Bristol went to work on the shields, Granger glanced toward Jason then turned his attention toward Chief Horris. “Propulsion. Let’s head to Engineering.”

  The chief looked over to Jason, who offered him a quick nod. Jason then nodded toward Sergeant Toby Jackson, indicating he needed to stay with them.

  * * *

  Jason phase-shifted back to the Ion Station, to the compartment where he’d left Ricket and the phase-synthesizer. Billy, Traveler, and ten or more SEALs, plus a few of the Delta Force guys, were engaged in a firefight at the entrance to the compartment. Billy, catching Jason’s eye, turned and held his hands out to his sides as if to say, what’s the holdup?

  Jason shrugged and stood beside Ricket. “I thought you said you had this?”

  “I was wrong, Captain. Apparently the device was damaged while fighting the battle-droids.”

  “It’s time to go, Ricket. We’ll blow this station, along with the synthesizer, from the Minian.”

  “This equipment is irreplaceable. Far more advanced than what’s on The Lilly—”

  Jason cut him off. “It won’t do us any good if we’re all dead.”

  Ricket’s fingers continued to rapidly input data even while looking up at Jason. Then, with a final pronounced key tap, each section of the immense phase-synthesizer flashed to a blinding white and disappeared.

  “Let’s just hope you sent it back to the right place,” Jason said.

  Ricket smiled. “Ye of little faith.”

  Jason hailed Billy, looking at him from across the compartment. Making a twirling motion with a raised finger, he said, “We’re out of here.”

  * * *

  Jason supposed they were making progress on the Minian, but it seemed things were moving along at a snail’s pace. The shields were still offline and Engineering was reporting it would be another ten minutes, at least, before even minimal propulsion would be possible. Jason sat in the command chair, drumming the fingers of one hand onto the knuckles of the other. Periodically Bristol looked up from what he was doing and, scowling in Jason’s direction, would disappear again beneath a console.