“Third group, down,” the Tac NCOIC said. “Fourth group… They’re scattering, sir.”
“Let them scatter,” Souza said as the SM-9 detonated. The explosion was far enough away that the screens didn’t blank. This deep in space there was limited EMP from the explosion so the radars didn’t even cycle down.
“That got most of them,” the Tac tech said. “Nine of the fifty still functional. No, two of those are banking off and heading back.”
“Vampire Five detonating,” the Tac NCOIC said. “That group didn’t scatter and bandit group twelve was close alongside. We got a piece of them.”
The radar screen was cluttered with the oncoming dragonflies. They clearly didn’t fear space and they were fast. Their acceleration in space was nearly twice that of the Vorpal Blade, worse than in air. There was no way the ship was going to make it to the warp point before at least five of the bandit groups were on them. And any one could probably destroy the ship at close range.
“Conn, Tactical,” Souza said. “Recommend rotate the ship to bring the lasers to bear…”
“There’s a ledge,” Berg said, as soon as he was through the gate. The words were said through gritted teeth as he instinctively clamped down on his bite-trigger, turning a group of three Demons into paste. “The room’s…”
He paused as he adjusted to the scale. Before he could continue his report, First Sergeant Powell was at his side.
“Holy smoke,” Powell said.
There was quite a bit of that. The chamber was massive, so large that Berg couldn’t see to the far side. A giant bowl lit by a bright spot near the center top that was hidden behind wreathes of vapor, it was lined with more of the blue fungus. But what the fungus was extruding…
There were thick lianas that dangled pods. One of them, fortunately about two hundred meters away, popped before his eyes, dropping a Demon onto a ledge similar to the one he occupied. The young Demon, nearly full sized but clearly shaky on his legs, toddled to a nearby pool and began to drink.
Larger pods moved sluggishly, revealing the figures of beetle Demons and dragons. There were, fortunately, far fewer of those, but the Demon pods… there were thousands of them.
And up near the ceiling, there were pods that sprouted other things. Drying their wings under the actinic light were things that looked like giant dragonflies with blue bodies and red compound eyes. Most of those looked recently hatched, but a few were older and already buzzing around near the ceiling.
Scattered along the walls and floor were Looking Glasses, hundreds of them.
The worst part, though, were the already birthed Demons. The chamber was packed with them. Dozens of beetles, at least nine dragons and hundreds of the relatively “smaller” Demons that had wiped out most of the company.
And they all turned to look at the small cluster of armor gathering on the ledge.
“Uh, oh,” Chief Miller said as he exited the gate.
“Whoa!” Weaver said as he entered the area. “Well, ain’t that something. You were right, Miller. Let’s set the bombs and get the hell out of here.”
“No,” Miller said, pointing. “Wrong. Under the light.”
The cavern was so overwhelming, Berg had missed it. Right at the center, nearly half a kilometer away, was an arrangement of fungus that seemed to have no functional purpose. There were just arms of fungus, bending inward. And at the center was a black globe.
“Oh… maulk,” Weaver muttered.
“So, rocket scientist,” Miller said. “What happens if you drop a bunch of unique quarks into a Chen Anomaly?”
“I haven’t the foggiest,” Weaver admitted.
“Me neither,” Miller said. “But my guess is it’s bad.”
“What the hell do we do?’ Weaver asked.
“We take Colonel Che-chee down there,” Miriam said, suddenly at his elbow. “And she goes into the anomaly.”
Berg had splattered the nearest Demons, but there were others not much farther away. They had apparently gotten over their own shock at the appearance of the Marines and a group of four charged the armored Terrans. Weaver, Berg and Miller blasted them without really thinking about it, but others were coming, including from above them.
“Whatever we’re going to do, we need to do it now,” First Sergeant Powell said.
“First Sergeant,” Weaver said. “Leave one team behind to hold this gate. Get everyone else out of here, now!”
“Bandit group eleven closing to laser range.”
“Open fire with both lasers when they bear,” the CO said. “XO, get ready for more damage.”
“Aye, aye, sir,” the XO said, rolling his eyes. Most of the forward section of the ship was open to atmosphere, the tough steel of the sub slagged into molten ruin. Not only were they missing their sonar but he and the CO no longer had a berth. One more solid hit and tactical and the conn were going to be eating laser fire.
“Time to warp point?” the CO asked.
“Two minutes,” the pilot said.
“Dragonflies at nine o’clock!” Staff Sergeant Sutherland shouted as the flies dove on the group.
There were only six of the things capable of flight, but one had already taken out Wangen with an unexpected burst of what looked one hell of a lot like a red-light laser coming out of its eyes. The group of humans and Cheerick had scattered, jinking through the air to avoid the flies’ fire as they charged the facility at the center of the cavern.
“Top!” Berg shouted. “You’ve got one on your tail!”
“Well get it off of me!” the first sergeant replied, then cursed. “Oh, the hell with this,” he said, spinning in place and firing to the rear.
The 7.62 mm rounds flew to the side of the fly then tracked back, ripping into its face.
“Oorah,” the first sergeant said, spinning back around. “.308 takes them out.”
“Two-Gun, scissor!” Corwin shouted, zooming left. A dragonfly banked to engage him and came right into Berg’s sights.
“Scratch two!” Berg said then ducked as a board nearly knocked him off his feet. “Watch it!”
Sergeant Cha-chai barreled onward, then reached up and swept back, ripping off the wing of a dragonfly that had been closing on Berg.
“Thanks, Cha-chai!” Berg yelled over the external speakers.
The last fly was shot down by First Sergeant Powell and the group of humans and Cheerick charged onward. The flies were fast but they weren’t maneuverable in the confines of the cavern, the only thing that had kept casualties down.
However, they were going to have to land. And the monsters on the ground had been following their progress hungrily.
“Lady Che-chee,” Miriam said, flying alongside the old warrior’s board. “I need you to take my hand. We are going into that black ball.”
“Very well, Miss,” Lady Che-chee said. “Together we shall triumph over any enemy.”
“I’m not sure there’s an enemy on the far side,” Miriam said. “But we shall see…”
“Burn-through!” the Tac tech shouted. “Laser One is down! Laser Two is down!”
“Nothing more we can do here,” Lieutenant Souza said, standing up. Even through his space suit he could feel the heat from the lasers that were lashing the hull. “Chief, evacuate the compart—”