Chapter 59: Taking a Warrant to the Extreme

We could hear people in armor moving down the corridor. I started to prepare the teleport system for a second teleport. Janice turned towards the doorway. She had a smile on her face.

Before she said anything, there was a loud roar that echoed through the tunnels. For a moment, the speakers for our communication system gave off static, and then I could hear the hollow hiss of a flechette rifle being fired.

"James!" Reggie's voice ran out. "Someone just used some kind of shaped charge on our main door. No one has come through, but I have movement in the corridor.

The echoing footsteps of people in armor sped up. I kept my back to the door and listened as four people ran by. At the same time, we could hear Reggie shouting.

"Bren, keep your head down! Damn! Shawna, we need medical!" he screamed.

"Who's down!" she called out. "David, get a gurney over there! Ed, you're our best at field triage, do you want to grab a kit?"

"Gina's Michael is down, he's got a wound in the left shoulder," Rene called back. I gasped as she so rarely spoke that I normally forgot about the former nurse. She must have been supporting Reggie.

"Reggie, who is there with you?" Yvette asked.

"Your Marie and Esther, my Bren and Rene, Gina's Michael, Amanda's Lisa and Catherine," he called back. "But we are definitely outgunned. Whoever broke in has at least one heavy automatic weapon."

"We'll be there in one," James called out.

By this time, we could hear the echo of ricochets. I nervously glanced over my shoulder to see Janice standing by the door. My sister concubine was staring through the doorway in the direction of the main entrance.

I wanted to run to her, but I felt I had to keep an eye on the teleport console. "Meiko!" Brad called out. "Do you want to bring us back?"

Just then, another attack started on the teleport controls. This one seemed geared more about stopping me from using the system rather than teleporting to the pad in the room. "Damn!" I screamed. "There's an ongoing attack on my control console. Someone is trying to get the AI to label is as lost behind Sa'arm lines and force it to destruct."

"What!" Yvette screamed. "Admiral Timmons, If you don't order Colonel Johanes to desist in his actions, we'll have to take this all the way to Admiral Tucker at Central Command."

"It's less than two dozen reject citizens and their concubines," Colonel Johanes spat out. "And they are here illegally to begin with."

"Did you order an attack?" Admiral Timmons growled.

In the background, I could hear a series of gunshots. It sounded like the chaingun mounted on some of the suit of armor.

"I wish we had visual," Janice muttered. "I want to know that James hasn't been hurt."

"Or taken," I whispered in reply.

"Thanks girl!" Reggie called out. "But we careful. The door has taken two more hits from whatever explosive they are using."

"Do they have any idea of the danger we face if they keep using those?" Yvette called out. "We aren't that far underground, and if they bring the ceiling down in that area, we lose any ability to contain the acidic atmosphere that will pour in."

"Have James surrender and the attack will stop," Colonel Johanes snapped. "Consider this a serving of a warrant. It's something I should have done the day I arrived when he was outside your little fortress."

"Colonel!" Admiral Timmons screamed. "That is an unauthorized action."

"How would you know?" Tiffany asked. "The only way you could have arrived when you did was if you were dispatched before Colonel Shithead had even arrived here. So there was no investigation."

"Not that it matters," Captain Gates commented. "Fleet Admiral Tucker as well as DECO director Miles Chandler both declared Ishtar a legitimate colony once they learned that it existed."

"Like you would know," Colonel Johanes snapped.

"I was at that meeting," Captain Gates replied. "At the time I was in charge of colonist selection."

There was more gunfire from the hallway. Then a small explosion and a female scream of agony and fear. "Reggie!!!!!"

"Talk to me!" Yvette called out.

"Some rocket just went through the hole these idiots have made in the door," an anguished voice replied.

"How bad is it?" James called out.

"I don't know," the voice continued. The person talking was sniffling and the anguish made it impossible to tell who it was. "The rocket hit the legs of whoever just arrived in armor. It looks like it blew their legs off. Reggie was hit by some metal that was flying around after the explosion."

"David! How close are you?" Ed called out.

"Be there in a minute," he called back. "But I can't lift someone wearing armor."

"Deb, can Orlando and Victoria go help?" Yvette called out.

Directly behind me, I heard a metal ping as something hit the side of the doorway. "I've got Brit with me! We are at the teleport room to give Janice a weapon and have her join." Kitty cried out. "We're on our way."

"Admiral," I heard Tiffany growl. "We don't have any command authority over Colonel Deaddrop over there, but I'm guessing that you are supposed to. Why don't you order him to stop?"

"It won't matter," Colonel Johanes shouted confidently. "I have a properly authorized warrant and I'm only doing my duty in enforcing it."

"A warrant you never mentioned to anyone when you first arrived," Yvette commented. "And I believe you are supposed to make a formal announcement that you have a warrant before you start blowing up things. Do your men even realize that they might kill us all?"

"No, they didn't realize that," Major Bonham shouted. "However, that doesn't negate the fact that we do have a warrant for the arrest of James Rabb for leading a mutiny against the Confederacy."

"A what!" a new female voice rang out. "I have no idea what officer signed that thing, but he better be prepared to face one hell of an inquiry. The idea that James or anyone living on Ishtar is part of a mutiny is absurd."

"My orders are to support Colonel Johanes," Admiral Timmons called out. "The orders I received said that he was suppressing an active insurrection."

"Really?" the female voice said. "That would explain the missile cruiser harassing the crippled corvette. Despite the fact that the corvette is clearly not engaged in any hostile action."

This mix of arguments was becoming bewildering. We had voices I did not recognize arguing over what was going to happen down here, while I was desperate to find out how James was and what was happening at our main door. Worse, the teleport block was still in place. I had managed to prevent the unit from destructing, but the system was still down.

"Meiko!" Yvette called out. "Can you teleport Brad and Deb back from our laser center?"

"No," I replied. "Someone from Colonel Johanes' team tried to force my console to destruct. They used the protocol we have to prevent the Sa'arm from having the technology. I blocked it, but the console is locked for the moment."

"All teleportation devices on Ishtar have been shut down for diagnostic testing," the AI called out. "This testing includes verifying the training and loyalty of the person operating the consoles. Control will be returned to loyal citizens shortly."