Chapter 18: Ship of Hell

Ken felt the connection close after talking to his mom, and he looked out at the bridge. His thoughts were on his sister who was lying wounded in the Oregon's medical bays. In his gut, he feared the worst because his dad was on the way to the Oregon. Looking around the flag bridge his eyes settled on Susan at the com station.

He asked, "Susan any word on NAT team one?"

"No, Sir. Nothing. NAT team two is going down now, they are going to have to re-bore the hole and see if they can get contact with them that way." Pressing her hand to her ear, she listened, and then continued, "NAT team two has reached the original bore hole. It's a write off, and they are dropping another ten feet down just in bcase the rock is not stable."

"Ok, let me know the minute anything comes in, I need to know what is going on down there," Ken said.

He sat back down in his chair and picked up his data pad to check the reports that had come in.

The ship was slowly coming back to life around the Marines as computer stations powered up. The air started moving in the air ducts, bringing the smell of death and old age along with the breath of life. Computer systems that have been offline for more than two thousand years, slowly started to boot up as power flowed into them. In the engine rooms, the generators for the fusion plants came online as the plants started kicking out more than the trickle of power they had furnishing. On the floor in a stasis field the ninety T'Lari crewmembers of the engine lay. Suddenly the field dropped, and they woke up. Staggering to their feet, they went to their posts while one went to retrieve food for them.

Shal-Na walked into the small pantry, and looked at the five humans hanging in midair and shut the field down. The humans dropped to the floor and scrambled away from each other. Reaching out he grabbed a small boy who started urinating as soon as he was lifted up. Thirteen-year-old Mitchell Young watched as the creature grabbed his younger brother and it start blinking as his pee hit the things eyes. Rushing in, he yanked the knife from the creature's weapon belt and stabbed up into its belly as it tried to clear its burning eyes.

Shal-Na cried out in pain as the blade bit deep into his body and sliced his spine in two. His legs and lower arms went weak as he collapsed to the deck.

The remaining weapon stations came online, and started calling for their gun crews who never showed up. Sensors powered up and the disks refused to turn as they were frozen in place from all the ice. However, they did detect a power spike outside of the ship, and it was identified as a Federation bore laser.

Lieutenant Myers watched as Ensign White and Private Hollings adjusted the laser bore, and started typing commands into the console, and he asked, "How long Ensign?"

Private Hollings reached up and adjusted the power setting as the sensor detected a large chunk of iron. Adding it into the bores parameters, he turned the beam on and it lit up the wall. Then the laser started cutting into the wall. After it penetrated five feet, the center beam came on and started the center bore.

The laser then started twirling, and as it cut and dissolved the rock, ice, and ores. A new tunnel started forming as the rock was melted away. A puff of evaporated water floated up into the cool air as the beam hit a pocket of ice that was instantly vaporized.

Suddenly the panel for the drill beeped as the sensors detected something.

Ensign White checked the readings coming from the panel. Cross checking the scan, he replied, "About ten minutes, Sir. I have a large iron deposit that I need to cut through."

Jeffery looked as the tunnel was forming and responded, "No problem, private. Just get us in there. We will handle the rest."

Turning on his com he said, Team three once we are in, the lifter will come get you and bring you down to join us."

"Yes, Sir. We will join you when you are in. Cowlings, out."

Jeffery set his plasma rifle down, and then checked his combat shotgun. He jacked a load of fletchen rounds into the chamber. Sliding the shotgun back into its sheath he picked up the plasma rifle and waited.

The slow drip of water echoed in the quiet passageways of the giant ship. Then the quietness was shattered by the screech of a door that had not been opened in a long time echoed through the air. The first clawed foot descended the ladder to the new deck. In its six arms, he carried his weapons of death. As it jumped and landed in the hallway, its eyes were searching for their dreaded enemy. Its three plasma rifles came up and covered the passageways.

Nalk sniffed the air, and then pointed at ten of the warriors. With a gesture to his right, he sent them down the passageways' He then did the same to the other two passageways. Watching the thirty T'Lari warriors following his orders, he lifted his Greacthc rifle and followed the group heading to his right.

Kevin Anderson watched down the tunnel, not with his eyes, but with his ears. He had his eyes closed as he listened with his enhanced hearing, and heard the faint scrape of armored feet on the metal floor. Opening his eyes, he checked the motion sensor on his wrist. He started slowly counting quietly to himself as he closed his eyes and he hit the detonator. The three claymores detonated at once and filled the passageway with hundreds of steel ball bearings. The explosion ripped six T'Lari warriors to shreds. Getting up he moved down the passageway to the next trap and waited as the T'Lari filled the passageway with a hail of plasma fire.

"Stupid fucks, I don't see how they beat the Federation," Kevin said.

Pulling out his silenced Colt Python pistol, he aimed down the passageway and saw a single T'Lari moving up to the four-way intersection. Clutched in its claws were three plasma rifles. Taking aim, he settled the big magnum on target. He gently squeezed the trigger. The .44 magnum round flew downrange to his target, and he watched the creature stagger back into the passageway from where it had emerged. Watching for movement, he reached down to his waist.

Putting the big pistol away, he pulled his only white phosphorus grenade from his grenade belt and pulled the pin. Pulling his arm back, he hurled it as far down the hallway as he could. The grenade hit the wall and it went bouncing around the corner and into the other passageway. It exploded, and the loud screeching of T'Lari's in pain floated around the ships corridors.

"Burn, you bastards," he said as he picked up his rifle.

His internal com chimed for his attention and Sammy spoke to him.

Sammy heard the explosion of the claymores, and activated her internal com and said, 'Kevin I told you to keep undercover.'

'Sorry, Ma'am, but they were getting way too close to where the children are hiding. Just so you know, I now have one hundred and seventy-nine children. All of them are under the age of twelve. It seems that they were in stasis. Somehow the field failed on this group and they scattered to hide. There are three more groups, still in stasis. They think the total amount of survivors is around one thousand. Ninety percent are children. It seems these bastards like their 'food', young and tender.'

Sammy shuddered at the thought of all these children being used as food.

'Okay Ensign, keep them away from the children as long as you can, use all the tricks you can think of ... Shit I got to go.'

Sammy rolled from where she was hiding as the plasma beam hit where she had been kneeling. Scrambling to her feet, she ran towards the other passageway. She ducked around the corner, just as a large explosion of plasma detonated behind her, and flickered at her back.

Running down the passageway, she stopped at another iris going up, and started climbing. With her pistol in her hand, she poked her head up and saw the room was empty. Taking a deep breath, she quickly climbed up to the next level. Rolling out on to the new level, she looked around and saw that the area was deserted as well.

Holstering her pistol, she swung her rifle up to scan the room. Hearing a noise, she looked over at the iris, looked down, and saw a T'Lari about three feet away. Pointing her rifle down she let loose with a burst and the plasma burned through the creatures face.

As it fell back, she saw three more climbing and so she held the trigger down and filled the tube with liquid death. The burning corpses fell off the ladder and the smell of burned meat drifted up through the hole as she saw more movement. Pulling a fragmentation grenade from her belt she dropped it through the iris and listened as it exploded two levels down.

Looking around she had several options and finally headed down a passageway, passing a few doors she looked in some of them and saw the heavy weapons mounts sitting silent as they waited for their crew to show up. Most of them were lasers but some were missile bays.

The sound of movement behind her got her moving down a side passageway, and deeper into the ship. Stopping at a T intersection she looked at the passageway ahead, beyond the intersection, and then to her left. Biting her lip as she looked behind her, she turned and ran left. She passed many rooms with beds and bunks in them. As she hit another intersection, she saw what she assumed was a transport tube. There was a flashing panel on one of the walls at the right height for a summons panel.

Stepping up to the door, Sammie started to slide her hand to the panel, when it opened and a T'Lari stepped out he looked at her and swung a steel rod at her

Snarklia was surprised that there was a human there and he swung the steel power rod he clutched in one claw. The rod came up and around and hit the human in her chest armor. The human flew back away from him and slammed into the wall. With a roar, he charged with the rod raised in its arm.

Sammy grabbed the axe tied to her waist, and yanked it free. With one hand on the handle and the other near the blade, she stepped in to block the swing. The rod came down in an overhand swipe, which bounced off the steel shaft in a shower of sparks. Sammie released the blade and swung the axe in a sideswipe, which the creature blocked again with more sparks. Kicking out her foot, she caught it in its knee and felt something snap as it buckled under the hit. With a quick overhead swing of the axe, she caught the creature in the side of its neck.

The blade bit deep into its flesh as she kicked the creature again. The kick sent it flying backwards into the wall, which caused the axe to rip free from the creature's neck. With a quick movement of her wrist, the axe was back in motion and it came around again and hit the creature at the hip, severing the leg from its torso as it swung all six of its arms at one time. One had the steel rod, which she blocked, four were punches, which staggered her back, and the sixth wielded a wicked looking knife that sliced her left thigh right through her armor. With a hiss of pain, she staggered back as the creature dropped to the floor.