Returned to Life, Part Twenty

[jeriendhal]

“That's the ship that destroyed the Earth,” Leeza said with awe, “that's the Mantle Cracker.”

“The what?” she asked.

“The Mantle Cracker,” Lance explained, after taking a deep breath and composing himself. “She's one big gravitic tractor beam, or at least that's what the science boys figured out later on. We've never been able to duplicate the technology beyond weak force artificial gravity.”

Leeza continued. “After the destruction of Unity and Mark Wilson's big speech, most of the industrial nations of the world, or ones with strong religious tenets in their governments, told the Varn to get stuffed. The NATO alliance and the Asia Protectorate made a simultaneous launch of nuclear missiles at the Varn fleet, trying to take it out. The Dominion responded by activating the Mantle Cracker. The used it on fault lines to create earthquakes that registered 10 on the Richter Scale, tsunamis over two hundred meters high to hit the coasts of industrialized nations and anyone else with the bad luck to be too close. By the time they were done there were almost no coherent governments left in the world.”

“Oh, God,” Rachael said. “What happened to Australia?”

“Wasn't touched,” Lance said. “Australia and New Zealand surrendered as soon as they saw what happened to the United States and the EU. We were big enough to make out all right, even with our trade cut off, and we were isolated, with a small military. The Dominion never saw Oz as a threat. Hell, they ever thought we were useful. Humans, in their natural habitat, available for study.”

“Oh.” Rachael thought for a moment. “Something that big, it must need an awful lot of power to function.”

“Mmm hmm,” Leeza agreed. “The was the real mystery about its original attack on the Earth. Nobody uses gravitic tractors, even in large scale applications, just because the power requirements are so enormous that it's always more economical to just use grappling bots, cranes and manipulator arms. We could never figure what sort of power source the Varn had that could make such a weapon possible.”

“But now we know, don't we? I mean, if the Ferin were their secret, super efficient power source.”

“They were,” Lance said, “and now the Gene Mage has re-created them. If he's got more of those 'proto-Ferin' they'll be aboard the Mantle Cracker, along with the kid.”

“We've got to get him back, Lance,” Leeza said.

“Frell that, we've got to get out of here,” Gunny said. “If you're seriously thinking about putting together a commando rescue, on the fly, dragging two civilians along, you're crazy Lieutenant. The way I see it, its our duty to get out of here and sound off a warning to Command. It's gonna be hard enough just to steal a shuttle to escape, never mind pulling off a rescue mission in the process.”

“We can't leave Terinu in the hands of the Gene Mage and the Dominion,” Lance said. “If that Varn gets enough cell samples from the kid, he'll be able to clone new, whole Ferin again. Stopping that is more important than any of our lives.”

“No wait, Lance. The sergeant has a point,” Leeza said. “We can't rescue Terinu and grab a shuttle to escape at the same time. Not if we stick together.”

Gunny narrowed his good eye. “Understood, Ma'am.” He reached into a compartment of his cyber-frame and pulled out a handful of small metallic marbles and a set of metal tabs the size of watch batteries, handing them to Lance. “These are hundred gram charges of C-10, Lieuteant, and here are the detonators. Peel the charges out of their eggs if you want to mold them to whatever you want to destroy.”

“Woah, wait!” Racheal said. “What are you all planning to do?”

Leeza took hold of her hand. “Lance and I are going to sneak aboard the Mantle Cracker, while you and the sergeant find a shuttle for us to escape in.”

“We probably won't be able to maintain radio contact after we split up, since that would give away our positions,” Lance said. “So we'll try and meet in the docking bay, where we first came aboard the asteroid, in about two hours.”

“But that's crazy! It's a suicide mission!”

Lance smiled. “It was a suicide mission when we took out the Cannon Ship. We made it through though. We'll make it this time too.”

“But they're got to know you're coming!”

“All the more reason not to sit around wasting time with goodbyes,” Gunny said. His metal ceramic hand clamped down on Rachael's wrist. “Come on, girl. We've got to find us a shuttle.”

“No! Damn it, let go of me!” Rachael kicked at Gunny's legs and struck at his chest with her fist, but the sergeant's grip was unrelenting as he pulled her back into the corridor, away from Lance and Leeza.

TBC