To Rule in Hell

"Have you attempted to establish communications? Over," Ray suggested.

The visual transmission shook even further as Shimada nodded his head. "Affirmative," he replied. "No response...any... communication or terminal linkage. Request...force...for... recon. Over."

Ray gave a pointless shrug. "It's your call how you proceed, Echo Bravo. Over."

Shimada waited less than three seconds before ordering, "Open her up."

Surprisingly, the impressive-looking hatch took only a few seconds of rewiring before it slid apart with no more effort than the dozens of other hatches the troopers had already inspected. As soon as the chamber within was visible, the barrel of Shimada's carbine came up and he shouted, "Turspa System Guard! Can anyone hear me?!" The only response was the steady background hum of well-running hardware. Apparently, opening the hatch cleared the transmissions because Ray now had no trouble hearing Shimada order, "Give me a scan."

Private Ansor of 3rd Squad, 1st Platoon immediately held his wrist sensor before the open hatch and said, "Not even a minor fluctuation, Captain. Whatever's in there hasn't moved."

Ray had to struggle to remember that he was only watching a transmission, and that any danger faced by Shimada's party would have no impact on him. Nevertheless, he could feel his fingers tightening around his own weapon as Shimada gave the order to advance.

The chamber Shimada and his troops now entered was illuminated by glowing, blue strips along the bulkheads to a degree that night vision contacts were no longer necessary. The room visible was barren of anything recognizable as furniture, and was taken up mainly by a seemingly endless row of yellow, tube-shaped pillars which ran from deck to ceiling, spaced far enough apart so that one could walk easily between them. "Strange," Shimada mumbled, bringing his wrist sensor up into view. "Radiation levels just nose dived. This room must be heavily shielded."

So there must be something worth protecting in there, Ray thought, envious of Shimada's discovery. He then asked, "Echo Bravo, are you able to translate the red lettering on those tubes? Over."

"They appear to be identification numbers, Echo Alpha. Stand by. Over." Shimada then hurried to his left, where built into the bulkhead was what appeared to be a primitive computer terminal and keyboard. Ray thought that the device looked not all that different from computers he had seen on planets with low tech levels.

Shimada studied the flickering, green characters on the black screen, then reached out a tentative finger and tapped one of the keys, scrolling up a new list of data. "Our so-called life forms are inside those tubes," he explained, turning away from the computer. "Of course, they couldn't really be called human yet."

Wondering if he might be thinking along the same lines, Ray asked, "A gene bank?"

Again, the transmission wavered as Shimada nodded. "It's not really a gene bank like we have today, with DNA stored in one drop of blood for use in cloning. In the century that this ship was launched, the only method for storing genetic material was still simply to freeze semen and ova in liquid nitrogen."

"Is the material still viable?"

"Since the hardware that regulates temperature shows no sign of having worn down, I'd say that it is possible. God...do you realize what it would mean if---"

"Captain Shimada," Sergeant Blaska suddenly interrupted, "minor power spike just detected in our immediate area. It...the hatch!"

Too late.

Shimada bolted towards the hatch through which they had just entered and which was now sliding shut, despite the attempts of four, burly troopers to keep the two halves apart. Once the hatch had sealed with a chunk, the visual communication lost its color, and Shimada's voice came through high and distorted. "Get...open! Tear out...if...have to! What...? On...heading? Stand by to..."

Ray knew that Shimada had been knocked unconscious, mainly because the abrupt, numbing explosion of white noise in his skull threatened to tumble him into the abyss as well. It was only the steadying grip Sergeant Kathleen suddenly locked onto his right elbow that prevented Ray from collapsing to his knees. Normal vision returned along with spiraling dizziness that kept Ray off balance for a few seconds before he reopened the channel to Shimada and shouted, "Echo Bravo! Echo Bravo! Give me a sit rep! Over!" Nothing. "Echo Bravo, this is Echo Alpha! What is your status?! Over!"

The responding communication was audio only and came from the thunderous voice of Sergeant Blaska. "Echo Alpha, this is Echo Bravo 1! We have positive contact, and are receiving low intensity laser fire from the bow! Repeat: we are under attack! Two confirmed dead, one wounded! A few of us managed to get out, but Echo Bravo is still in there! Request immediate reinforcements! Over!"

Although energy weapons were silent when fired, the sizzle of melting metal and the shouts of combat accompanied Blaska's report, confirming to Ray that a fire fight was, indeed, taking place. "Affirmative, Echo Bravo 1. Hang on until we get there! Luck! Out." As badly as Ray wanted to rush to the aid of his pinned down troops, he knew that the two remaining squads from 3rd Platoon, in the hanger, were closer to Blaska's position. He spent a few precious seconds attempting to raise Lieutenant Dimitri. When there was no response to his repeated hails, Ray immediately assumed the worst. "Sergeant, is your sensor still working at nominal?"

"Yes, Sir!" Kathleen promptly replied.

"Then you're still on point. All right, people, about face! On the bounce, let's move!"

"Coming through! Make a hole!" Kathleen roared as she plowed through the crowded troops to the opposite end of the column.

Once they were headed back down the corridor at the run, Ray began trying to contact Lieutenant Constance, but the com circuit remained silent. At this point, Ray angrily thought to himself that things could not possibly get any worse. His anger did not allow him to remember that even thinking such a thing was always bad luck.

Without slowing her pace, Sergeant Kathleen opened a channel to Ray and reported, "Picking up a minor energy surge in some of the surrounding bulkhead circuitry, Skipper. I can't tell exactly...Uuhh!"