Jamestown Read online

  JAMESTOWN

  THE SHADOW WAR CHRONICLES

  BOOK 2

  II

  Raymond Bayly

  Trouble Maker Media Group

  6 Liberty Square Suite 324 Boston, MA, 02109

  800.916.8502

  www.troublemakermedia.org

  www.raybayly.com

  For My Aunt Paulette,

  who was taken too soon

  You will always be in our hearts.

  CHAPTER

  ONE

  Keep their Heads Ringing

  Captain Blake Campbell leaned his chair back as he sipped appreciatively at the semi-clear liquid,

  wincing as it burned a trail of fire down his throat.

  The face he made would be recognizable to anyone who had ever suffered the taste of cheap alcohol. Surveying the small crowd of heavily armed creatures, the yellow-blue hue of the planets sun played across the large blunt faces of the creatures now before him.

  Not for the first time that day he marveled at how the hell he had gotten himself into this situation, yet again. The Captain of the Revenant and her crew had been Rangers for just over a year. In that year they had made friends and enemies alike,

  and not all of them outside of the Ranks of their own organization.

  A year ago, Blake and two other humans had been abducted from earth by a desperate advanced Artificial Intelligence, that Blake now shared his body and mind with. He and his fellow human crew mates as well as a menagerie of aliens had come together, racing to stop the empire from learning the location of Earth. They had failed.

  Possibly, it was true that the Empire had not, as of yet been to Earth or even that there was no indication, they knew the exact location of the planet, but information had been removed during the battle by an infiltrator working for the Empire. It was probable they had the information, just that it was buried within a myriad of other data waiting to be discovered.

  There was only one other planet populated by humans that existed, that he knew of at least, in the universe.

  Over the past year, he and his tight-knight warriors had developed a reputation for getting the job done, in their own unconventional way. So, when things got tough, he and his team were sent in to salvage the situation. Which is how he now found himself here. On this hot, humid world babysitting the largest and ugliest things he had ever laid eyes on to date.

  Blake shook himself out of his reminiscing and focused on the deadly problem he now found himself in. His unnaturally silver eyes seemed to swirl with specs of black and grey as he regarded the creatures across the table. Which, to his advantage were unsettled by ghostly effect.

  All the better to distract them from noticing the nervous glances he kept shooting their way.

  The creatures, who sat entirely too close for comfort apparently never learned the term personal space he thought eyeing the closest of them. They could only be described as an unholy cross between a bat and an NFL linebacker.

  They called themselves the Galuan. A predatory race who had the nasty habit of descending on unwary species in overwhelming numbers, taking over their planet, depleting it of resources while hunting down and killing the native population for sport and sustenance.

  Blake tried to look relaxed despite the proximity of the creatures that loomed across from him at the small square table. He and his team had been sent to act as security for the planet’s ambassador.

  So now he sat, cooling his heels as said ambassador negotiated peace between themselves and the Galuans. The massive Beasts were well armed and relaxed, secure in the fact that they had numbers and firepower on their side. There circular blood red eyes watched him intently as he regarded his glass. They never blinked or even appeared to breathe, the effect a little more than unsettling, he thought.

  “This is not bad, but really you guys need to learn how to age your liquor.” Blake said conversationally, not that it mattered. The Galuans considered any augmentations a weakness, so unlike the rest of the galaxy they didn’t have translation nanites in their system. They just continued to stare at him with those beady red eyes, now beyond freaking him out and starting to disturb his calm.

  Before Blake could think any more on those eyes, the communicator in his ear came to life notifying him of an incoming message. He brushed the hair along the side of his head, subtly activating the device and spoke quietly.

  “I am busy being sociable to the fucking gargoyle clan, so this had better be good.” He whispered.

  “Hey Cap, Shit is about to get real down there. I just caught a direct burst transmission from the Galuan’s mothership hovering in orbit. Their orders are to terminate everyone.” Kree, his team’s computer expert, said from his station aboard the Revenant.In what sounded to Blake like a full-on conniption fit from the little furry being.

  The captain shook his head, why is it every time we get called on a mission, things seemed to go to shit.

  He thought cursing under his breath. He quickly ran through the options in his head, settling on his last remaining ace in the hole.

  Blake quickly plucked a small black box with a single red button from his jacket pocket, causing some of the Galuans to twitch a little as his hand seemed to move faster than they could follow it. Thanks to his advanced nano treatments given to him by the Artificial Intelligence that resided within him, Blake unceremoniously plopped the box on the table between himself and the creatures.

  “You know I have this crazy ass Russian on my ship. I mean he is really annoying sometimes, but I have to tell you, he makes some cool toys. Take this, for instance, looks pretty lame right?” He asked the Galuans.

  Who just cocked their heads, not unlike dogs hearing a high-pitched whistle. Man, these things creep me out he thought with a slight shudder, doing his best not to show fear.

  “But man, when I hit this button, this box is supposed to do something cool. You guys want to see?” Blake asked excitedly, fingering the little red button.

  This instantly caught the attention of the group as their eyes studied the box intently. More curious than threatened by the little device.

  “Do we know which one the leader is yet” Blake whispered into the com. Rom's much deeper baritone answered this time.

  “Captain, I am at the southeast edge of the compound. I have been studying the groups so far and have found no sign the leader is present. “

  Blake cursed inwardly. That would have made this easier. The Galuans were a herd and tended to follow one leader. Remove that leader, and they froze up not knowing what to do. However, understanding this weakness, they hid their leader well.

  “Rom get ready to come in blazing, we need to get the ambassador out of here in one piece. I will cause the distraction, and you go for the main building. Where according to my sensors he is currently negotiating.” Blake whispered adding a bit too much sarcasm to that last word. Rom grunted in acknowledgment.

  Blake eyed the group of Galuans and started mentally picking his targets. As he did so lines and probability statistics on his chances of killing his targets floated over the space between him and his guests, thanks to the optical nanites swimming in his cornea.

  “Blake, these creatures’ anatomy is vastly different then you are used to, so the expected heart and headshots won’t kill them.” Came the soft female voice of Morgan, speaking within his own head. The Artificial Intelligence had made a bargain for pairing with the Captain he now had access to her centuries of information and experience.

  As he watched areas of the Galuans began to highlight with yellow and red zones giving him target areas that according to Morgan’s data would do the most damage to the aliens.

  “So, why is it a headshot or heart shot won’t kill them? I mean they are bipedal creatures.” He mentally shot the question
to her. “Because of their dense bone structure over sensitive areas make it hard for kinetic or energy weapons to penetrate” her voice spoke in his head. Blake nodded, accepting the answer and appreciating the visual targeting data she now fed to him.

  “Shira, you on the line?” He asked.

  “Right here Cap.” She said with the hum of engines in the background. “I am above you to the left.”

  Causing Blake’s eyes to shift. He cursed himself since she was cloaked.

  He wouldn’t be able to see her anyway and might have given the Galuans a clue as to what he was about to do. They might look stupid and brutish, but in packs, they were lethal warriors with amazing cunning.

  This was supposed to be a simple negotiation. The Galuan’s had come to Previx and set up shop as they usually did, of course, the natives did not take kindly to this. And before the brutes could wipe out the planet’s population, their leadership had called in the Rangers to intervene.

  The egotistical ambassador had informed the team they would wait outside with the rest of the help while he saved his people from certain doom, as he put it. Now they were going to have to go in and save the little bastard. Blake thought anger and irritation coming to an emotional crescendo.

  The indigenous population of Previx was a bird-like species that reminded Blake of Ostriches except with 4 legs and 6 arms, but they reacted the same when threatened. Stuck their head in the sand and waited for the danger to pass.

  This made Blake smile as he thought about the smug ambassador sticking his head in the dirt. He sighed loudly. So much for an easy day drinking with the boys, he thought.

  “Shira” he said now loud enough for the Galuans to hear as their own communicators squawked and guns began to raise bearing down on Blake.

  “Keep their heads ringing,” He said as he hit the button on the box that Davi had given him, and nothing happened. The Ears on the nearest of the Galuan’s perked up, almost looking like a curious Pitt Bull as Blake cursed and hit the button again. The Creatures, now sensing something was amiss leveled their guns at Blake who held up a hand in a stop gesture towards the largest of the creatures.

  “Hold the fuck on Brutus!” He laughed “You ever just have one of those days, where no matter what you do everything goes tits up?”. Brutus’s face hardened with homicidal resolve. As he began to squeeze the trigger on his weapon.

  Blake’s world came alive as the nanites in his mind began to process everything his senses were receiving, at lightning speed. He could make out the individual muscles along Brutus’s finger as it tensed against the trigger slowly moving to activate the weapon and end his life in a hail of crimson plasma fire. He had time to reflect on just what a crappy day it was and how he was going to shove that little box up Davi’s ass when he got back on board the ship.

  With supernaturally fast reflexes, another of the gifts he had received when pairing with Morgan,

  he kicked the table up causing the black box to fly over the heads of the Galuans. Some of them taking their attention off the human for a moment as their eyes followed the arcing box.

  That was all he needed, with nanite-infused superhuman speed Blake pulled the two large revolver like plasma hand cannons from his gun belt and before the creatures could get off a shot Blake had pushed himself backward riding the rickety chair towards the ground and firing into the eager killers.

  As soon as he felt the back of the chair hit the stone, he kicked the edge of the table hard,

  sending it flying into the murderous group. Distracting them as they tried to dodge the fast flying furniture. At the same moment Rom exploded from the tree line, helmet up and roaring like a T-Rex.

  He was an imposing figure at over seven feet tall, blood red skin and as wide as a bus. large black horns curling around the edges of his head and coming to two points on either side of his large fanged mouth his over-sized automatic plasma shotgun gripped tightly in his sharp elongated talons.

  Some of the Galuans turned their guns towards Rom as he bounded at the main building.

  As a hail of red plasma rounds exploded from the shotgun’s barrel at twenty shots a second and mowing down anything that was unfortunate enough to be in his path. Blake had been hesitant to have Rom use the shotgun for fear it had a limited range, but seeing it spewing death to enemies forty feet away he gladly stood corrected.

  As Galuans turned to fire, Blake’s two massive hand cannons sounded off, mowing down half of the enemy guard contingent before they had even turned back to face him. He pushed on the discarded table that had dropped between them, breaking their sightline.

  Those still standing began shredding the table with plasma fire trying to kill the lone human. They were so focused on him none of them noticed the air shimmer behind them as a ship appeared where a second ago there had been nothing.

  The Spector gunship’s chameleon hull plating resolved to black now displaying the lethal vessel with its two large front cannons belching crimson plasma. He watched in a mix of awe and disgust as the creatures were blown apart by the computer targeted surgical blasts.

  From the ship’s booming speaker, a man's deep voice bellowed, “Thank God it’s Friday.” and the beat of Dr. Dre’s Keep their Heads Ringing resounded over the field like a war cry.

  Blake’s hand cannons began to sing along to the beat, as the remaining guards emerged from the shacks and wood-line, the combined firepower of the three Rangers silencing them before weapons could even be drawn.

  Blake tapped his com.

  “Shira, watch the perimeter, I don’t want any of these fuckers getting away, or we will be back here in a month. They breed like damn rabbits. Oh, and if someone could find me the leader?! Yeah, that would be awesome.” He barked sarcastically and clicked off the team channel. Sending a thought to his boots, he activated the gravity repulsors

  instantly decreasing his weight by half.

  Blake easily launched his much lighter self over the edge of the building the enemy had used as a guard post. Blake landed deftly on the ground next to a very surprised Galuan guard. Nodding at him casually “sup” he greeted, then put his fist through the surprised creature’s chest before it had the chance to react. The guard slid off Blake’s metal arm with a wet sound.

  He quickly reset his weight, shaking the disgusting mess off his arm, he ran to catch up with Rom,

  who was just about to the entrance of the building that housed the negotiations.

  The single-story squat structure had at one time been a bomb shelter until the Galuans had landed and declared the duracrete fortress their base. Looking at the building with the help of Morgan’s access to his optical nanite sensors and her centuries of tactical knowledge, the frame around the large wood like door highlighted for him.

  “Blake, looking at the microfractures around the frame and the age of the door itself, it looks as if someone has tried in the recent past to batter it down, there is an eighty-three percent change that you and Romulax, with enough force will be able to shatter the organic material that it’s made out of.”

  She spoke to Blake mentally.

  He sent her a nod back to acknowledge her advice, it sounded good to him. He really didn’t have any other plan to get in there except to have Shira blast the crap out of the structure until it collapsed.

  Blake came up alongside his friend and crewmate slapping him on the back. Both to say hi and let the big man know he was there.

  “Ready to be a battering ram.” he asked his friend as he pointed at the door. Rom looked at him confused for a moment, but Blake could see the moment when he comprehended what he wanted to do his face broke into a mildly concerned look.

  “Don’t worry, it was recommended.” He told him, his way of letting him know it was a Morgan idea and not his. For some reason that made all the difference because it instantly put the big creature at ease. My plans aren’t that bad he thought irritably but caught the tail end of Morgan’s mental chuckle at the thought. He shook his head, she was probably ri
ght he thought and let it go.

  “See, I like it when we are subtle and shit.” Blake said smiling at Rom. With a thought his helmet segments flowing from the armor’s collar moved up over the previous one and locked into place covering his entire head in seconds the eye sockets beginning to glow red as the heads-up display came online.

  “Cap, from the sensors it looks like the Ambassador is still alive and in the room on the east side of the building. Be aware there are lots of those bastards between you and him.” Kree announced in his ear.

  “Dude, can you do anything about giving us a little edge in that building.” Blake inquired as he and Rom sped up and hit the large door full force. The Armor taking the brunt of the impact, sending the door exploding inward and turning shards of something that resembled wood into small deadly projectiles that embedded themselves into the Galuans waiting on the other side.

  Kree sat at his console on the Revenant, a set of silver nanite tendrils leading from the terminal to his cranium tapping directly into the quantum supercomputer he had installed into a part of his brain. His eyes went distant and seemed to fog over as code and information began to scroll in the air in front of him put there by the optical nanites at literally the speed of thought. Within nanoseconds, he found the piece of code he had been searching for. Made a quick edit by merely thinking it and tapped his communicator.