Born of Desperation
Cath lifted a crate of exotic spices onto the truck. She breathed in the rich earthy scents and smiled.
Ari laughed beside her. “Enjoying yourself are we?”
“Very much,” Cath said. “I didn’t even know wood had a smell.” She leaned in close and sighed.
Ari rolled her eyes. “You city folk are so weird.”
Jed strolled in, pausing when he saw Cath’s face buried in the pile of goods they had recently stolen.
Ari hooked a thumb at Cath. “The city girl is getting her first whiff of nature.”
Jed continued to stare. “I see.” He cleared his throat. “Seems you’re in luck then. Spotted some ARM ships nearby, we’re postponing the drop off. Should give you more time to sniff the lumber.”
Cath gave a mock glare and threw a spare container at him. “How close are they, anyways?”
“Don’t you worry,” said Jed, “we’ll be out of their path soon enough.”
“That’s my cue to pilot this thing away from them I suppose,” Ari said. She gave Cath a quick hug before walking away.
“You’re free to go too,” Jed said. “We can finish loading up another time.”
Cath was already jogging down the hallway. “Thanks Jed,” she called back with a smile. Finding the engine room wasn’t trouble for her, she had spent much of her time familiarizing herself with the ship’s layout.
Cath lowered herself down the ladder into the heart of the Hoarfrost. The sound of machines pounding echoed off the walls. Rails lined the walkways to keep anyone from unintentionally getting too close.
She wandered about, taking in the layout and trying to discern the purpose of the various machines. Footsteps clanged against the walkway behind her and she jumped.
“Sorry,” the deep voice said, “didn’t mean to scare you.”
Cath turned around, laughing. “No, it’s alright, I just thought I was alone down here.”
The man held out his hand. “I’m Klax.”
Cath shook his hand. “I’m Cath, the new medic.”
Klax nodded, “I’d heard we took on someone new, what brings you down here.”
“Curiosity.”
“Really?” Klax beamed with enthusiasm. “I could show you around if you wanted. It’s not often I get a chance to show off my work down here.”
Cath smiled. “That would be perfect.”
As he led her through the engine room, he point out which machine controlled what part of the ship, becoming particularly animated whenever he explained the creative ways he death with mechanical failures.
“There’s not a lot of replacement parts here, you just have to make due. When the heat aboard the ship broke down, instead of replacing the convector, I set up a series of conductors to gather excess heat from the hydrogen reactor and hooked them directly into our ventilation. Now not only does it prevent the ships internals from overheating, it keeps the rest of us warm as well.”
Cath grinned, his passion was infectious, even if she wasn’t sure what he was saying most of the time. “What powers the locomotion?”
“I’ll show you.” He led her to the main corridor. “The legs are powered by electromagnets, they pull the actuators up and down. We’ve actually got standard motors to handle rotation though. An older concept, it takes a bit more power to keep them stable, but it gives us more maneuverability when compared to your average walker.”
Cath studied it as the parts rose and fell with thunderous booms. “And that’s what carries the power?” she said, pointing to a series of cables.
“Exactly.”
“Good to know.” She curled her fingers into a fist and jabbed hard into his stomach. He doubled over, and she promptly took advantage by guiding his downward movement into her rising knee. She grabbed his neck and smashed his head into the nearby rail. He crumpled to the floor. She checked for breathing then took a thin needle from her pouch. She stuck it into his neck and slowly pushed the plunger down. The drugs would keep him down and help him forget her part in the painful lump on the back of his head.
She dragged him back to the ladder and dumped his tools around him before grabbing a wrench and jogging back to the main room. She followed the thick wires connecting the legs to their power supply. Climbing up onto the rail she used the wrench to loosen a bit of metal then pried it off. She stumbled backwards and fell on the ground as the piece popped off. Picking herself up she yanked the wires out of their socket. The vehicle lurched as movement stopped. She picked up the spare chunk of metal and threw it at the socket. The piece clanged downward as it fell beneath the walkway. She inspected the socket. There was a large dent in it that should keep anyone from fixing the ship for a while.
Hurrying back the way she came she dropped the wrench and promptly began climbing the ladder. It seemed nobody had noticed her trip to the engines. An hour later she was called into the infirmary.
When she arrived Klax was already laid out on the table. Solomon was in the room standing over him. Cath turned to Solomon. “What happened?”
“It seems he slipped and fell on his way to the engine room.”
Cath moved her fingers over his body pausing at his head, rotating it to take a look at the back. “He hit his head pretty hard, could be out for a while.”
Solomon looked like he was about to say something when Jed burst into the room. “Sol, we’ve got a problem. The ARM spotted us, they’re closing in.”
Solomon began rubbing his immaculately trimmed beard. “Any way you can wake him up?”
“Not without the risk of doing permanent damage to his nervous system,” Cath said.
“Alert me if he comes to then.” Solomon gave a curt nod farewell then followed Jed out.
Solomon stood with his hands clasped behind his back. He could just see the black dot approaching out in the distance. If they had only had a few more minutes he could have gotten his crew out of sight on the other end of the mountain. They had backup power, but it was only enough to lock down the ship in the case of a storm, not enough to get away. They would have to fight.
“We need to buy ourselves more time,” He said. “Jed, do you think you can take its long range cannon?”
Jed shook his head. “We’re outgunned, Sol, by the time they’re in range they’ll have unloaded a salvo full on us.”
“Not if you fire upwards, with a high enough angle you could do it,” said Solomon.
“The cannons just aren’t accurate enough. We’d waste all our ammunition hoping for a hit, then they’d stroll up and reduce us to scrap metal without a fight.”
“Like you said, we’re outgunned. They’ll do that anyways. “
Jed let out a heavy sigh. “You’re asking me to treat a cannon like a sniper rifle.”
“I am, but you’re the best shot I know, and you’ll have a spotter.” Solomon turned around.
Wizard met Solomon’s gaze and froze. “But I don’t know the first thing about-.”
Solomon gave him a stern glare and Wizard gave him a hasty salute. “Whatever you say captain.”
“You can’t be serious.”
Solomon took a step toward Jed. “We’re wasting time,” he said, “both of you to positions now. I will not let that ship get to my crew.”
Jed nodded and moved to take control of the long range cannon. Solomon took a set of binoculars from his jacket and tossed them to Wizard. “Follow the trajectory with those, and take out that cannon.
Jed cranked the barrel upwards, well beyond the range of accuracy and aimed as best as he could. “Here we go.” He fired, and the blast soared through the sky before landing with an explosion of smoke and ice far to the left of the approaching ship.
Wizard set down the binoculars and began typing on his computer. “Pull down three degrees and right four, wait for my signal.”
Jed made the corrections, and waited. Several moments passed, the whole bridge was completely still. Wizard stood up. “Now,” he yelled.
Jed fired. The Missile rushed out of the barrel and hit the ship dead center. Solomon motioned for Wizard to pass back the binoculars. He put them to his face and saw the broken cannon. “He did it.”
The room burst into cheers. Solomon came over and clapped Wizard on the back. “Well done Wizard, but we aren’t out of this yet.”
“Want me to keep fire on them,” said Jed.
Solomon shook his head. “We wait.”
Watching the enemies approach was agonizing, but with the long guns taken out they’d be able to hold out just a little longer. The safety that distance provided didn’t last. As it neared they were pelted with bullets clanging against the thick armor of the ship. The occasional crash of heavy artillery shook their ship. They were hopelessly outgunned. There was no way they would be able win this fight. Which meant he had to find a way to prevent it.
Solomon had an idea that could work, an idea born of desperation and fear, but he had no other choice. The enemy was upon them. The crew stumbled from the impact of another hit. He had no choice. “Ari, prepare to lock down the ship. Jed, unload everything we have on that mountain.”
Jed whipped his gun sideways and began firing. Several booms sounded and then a rushing.
“Lock us down,” Solomon called out, his voice nearly drowned out in the cacophony of explosions. The ship lowered itself, armor plating sliding out to keep the moving parts protected, hooks extended from the feet and locked them into the ground. The rushing grew in volume. The ship had just settled when an enormous avalanche of snow covered everything in sight. Enemy fire stopped, and for the first time in several stressful minutes there was complete silence.