Three Square Meals Ch. 124

"I was just doing a routine spot-check on the troops," he replied, skidding to a halt.

The men behind him nervously shifted their grip on the assault rifles they were carrying.

"Give me a sitrep!" she demanded, her eyes flicking over the jittery troops.

The blond security officer grimaced, Fiske's face taut with stress. "I'm getting lots of conflicting reports, Fleet Admiral. I think at least two of the explosions were in the Barracks, and if that's true, we've got a lot of dead marines on our hands."

"I thought comms were down?" Lynette asked, eyes narrowing with suspicion. She felt an itching at the back of her skull, her instincts screaming at her that she was in imminent danger, and her hand subconsciously drifted to the laser pistol on her hip. "How do you know what's happening?"

"Olympus Security has its own communications subnet." the Colonel explained curtly, darting a glance behind him. "Reinforcements are on the way. Come with me, we need to get you out of here." He gave Jehanna a dismissive look and added, "You should stay in your room, Miss Elani."

When Fiske reached for Lynette's arm to pull her with him, she nimbly avoided his grasp. "I'm not going anywhere with you, Colonel. I have to find Admiral Harris."

The Colonel glared at her furiously. "Don't be absurd! Olympus is clearly under some form of organised assault, which means emergency security protocols are in effect! Our highest priority is to evacuate you from Olympus and get you to a safe location."

Lynette shook her head. "Absolutely not! If Olympus is being attacked, then Charles might be in danger. I have to protect him, he's John's best friend!"

Fiske gaped at her incredulously, but before he could reply, the comms interface on his wrist squawked in alarm.

"Colonel!" a frantic voice yelled out, the face of a soldier appearing on the holo-screen that had just popped up. An instant later, they all heard the bark of assault rifles being fired in the background.

Lifting his wrist, Fiske snapped impatiently, "What's the situation, Sergeant?"

"We're under attack!" the frightened soldier replied. "Half my squad is dead! There are guys in black armour..." Whatever he was trying to say was drowned out by the noisy chatter of machine guns.

"Colonel..." Lynette interrupted.

He held up a hand and ignored her. "Say again? Troops in black armour?"

The sergeant turned to look away from the camera, "Hey, what're you-"

An assault rifle barked and blood sprayed all over the holo-cam, the sergeant's ruined face flashing past the crimson-hued screen before the image went black.

"God damnit!" Fiske growled, his face twisting into a furious scowl.

"Colonel, listen to me!" Lynette said urgently.

Before she could continue, there was another raucous burst from an assault rifle, but this time it was terrifyingly loud. Several soldiers in Fiske's squad screamed in pain, the men cut down where they stood by a hail of bullets flying down the corridor.

***

"Thanks guys," Dana said, smiling at the cleaning robots who were sweeping the remnants of the first batch of Eternity Crystals into a big pile.

John crouched down, picking up the partially formed fragment of a shattered crystal. "I guess we'll just have to start over. We were lucky the cultivation beds didn't get damaged when we lost artificial gravity."

She nodded, her eyes flicking to the sealed tubs stacked nearby. "luckily I made loads of that gel solution. We just need to pour out some more, then you and Alyssa can get cracking on the next batch."

Straightening up, he gestured towards two of the containers and slid the lid back using telekinesis, then carefully tipped them over. The thick liquid oozed onto the two crystal cultivation beds, slowly spreading across their surface.

Helene walked up the steps to the Engineering Podium and peeked over the redhead's shoulder. "It's amazing watching you work! How long will it take you to build a new bathroom?"

"Not long," Dana replied, glancing up at the two holographic displays above the console and making the final touches to her designs. "There, done! Now I'll just send those to the Mass Fabricators and they should be finished in about an hour or so. We can go outside and start checking the hull while we wait."

"It'll be wonderful to all sleep together again tonight," Helene said with a happy sigh. "Being surrounded by people I love is the best feeling in the world."

John placed the tubs back on the ground now that the large rectangular trays were completely filled. "I know what you mean, honey. I really missed having you all close by where I knew you were safe."

Dana gave him an affectionate smile which quickly widened into a cheeky grin. "Yeah, yeah... you just want another big orgy, right?"

John played along and winked at her, then said to Alyssa, *Hey, beautiful. We're all set up for you to start growing Eternity Crystals again.* There was a long pause with no response from his blonde matriarch, so he added, *Alyssa? Are you alright?*

*Olympus is under attack!* she cried out, her voice taut with fear. *Lynette said there were explosions... some kind of sabotage!*

"Fuck!" John swore, his fists clenched in helpless frustration.

***

Charles shook his head, meeting Lina's terrified gaze. "No, it's not the Brimorians! They're nowhere near Olympus and Dacres would have warned us if they'd invaded." He tapped his wrist communicator, but he had no comms service. "Come on, we've got to find out what's happening!"

She gave him a hesitant nod and released her death grip on the table.

He glanced at the redhead as she followed him out of the restaurant. "I'm sorry about earlier... I never meant to frighten you."

"What? I'm not scared of you!" Lina exclaimed in surprise, slipping her hand into his to reinforce the point.

"But you said..." his voice trailed off and he felt completely confused. "I don't understand."

"I saw footage of the Kintark fleet bombarding Olympus; the thought of being here when the Brimorians attack is terrifying," she explained, her hand trembling in his. Flushing with embarrassment, she quietly admitted, "It's just that... I've never been in combat before."

Charles stopped and looked at her in disbelief. "But you're an Admiral! You're telling me you've never fought in a single battle?!"

"We can't all be dashing ship captains," she said a little defensively. "I've spent my entire career in the Core Worlds. After the Academy, I started in logistics, then moved to public relations."

"Well I'll be damned," he said, his moustache twitching in amusement.

"Hey, it's not funny!" she pouted, giving him a playful punch in the arm as she momentarily forgot her fear.

Outside in the Galleria was a very different story. The crowds were in a panic, with merchants rushing to return to their ships and escape from Olympus. To the right, a couple of traders had fallen over on the slopes that led to the lower levels, and were trying not to get trampled by the stampeding crowd. On the left, a large group of civilians were all clamouring to get into the glass elevators.

Charles' smile died as he stared at the frenzied mass of people. "We're going to have a hell of a time getting out of here." He walked over to the balcony and looked down across the plaza at the frightened mass of humanity running from the commercial district. "This is absolute chaos..."

"Why aren't the troops trying to maintain order?" Lina asked, tightening her grip on his hand.

He followed her worried gaze to a squad of soldiers trying to barge their way up the ramp through a stream of frightened citizens. When he locked eyes with the officer leading the detachment of fully-armoured troops, the man pointed up at their balcony and barked an order. To Charles' astonishment, the accompanying soldiers raised their rifles and opened fire.

"What the hell?!" Charles gasped, staggering back from the balcony and yanking Lina with him.

Behind them, the glass panels exploded in a hail of bullets and Charles dived to the floor, pulling the screaming redhead with him.

"They're shooting at us!" she gasped, staring at him wide-eyed in panic.

"Shit!" Charles cursed as he drew his pistol from the holster on his belt. "Henry was right!"

"What?!" Lina blurted out, cowering on the floor beside him.

"I thought Colonel Fiske had sent that squad to beef up security, but they must be traitors launching a coup!" he blurted out, darting a worried glance back at the entrance ramps. "Henry Voss warned me someone might be planning an attack."

At the sound of gunfire, the crowds of civilians on the ramp had turned around and were fleeing from the soldiers. Now that the traitors weren't trying to fight their way past the crowd, Charles knew that those troops would quickly reach the upper level.

"We've got to find some cover!" he yelled over the sound of gunfire, crawling away from the edge of the balcony.

When he was far enough away to be out of line of sight, he got up in a crouch and glanced back for Lina. He could see she was absolutely terrified, covering her head as more glass skittered across the floor, shot out of the windows by the bullets strafing the gallery.

"Move! We're sitting ducks out here!"

Lina crawled over to join him, then grabbed his offered hand. Charles helped her up, then they fled from the ramps, desperate to put more distance between themselves and their mysterious attackers.

***

Maria froze in a crouch on the kitchen floor, staring at her bodyguard in shock as the ground trembled beneath their feet. "Was that a bomb?!"

"Joel triggered the anti-personnel mines we set in the front garden!" Faith replied, drawing a pistol from the holster under her jacket.

"You put mines in my garden?!" Maria balked, looking stunned.

Faith's eyes darted about frantically for any sign of their assailants storming the house. "They must be attacking from both sides!"

Shaking off her paralysis, Maria bolted towards the lounge.

"Maria!" Faith screamed, shocked that her friend would break cover so recklessly.

The windows along the rear of the house imploded, the glass shattering in a storm of bullets from the squad in the garden. The kitchen wall was hammered by a flurry of impacts, plaster falling off in chunks as it was torn to pieces by the terrifying fusillade. Judging by the sheer weight of fire, Faith knew there must be at least a dozen shooters in the garden and her heart pounded in her chest as she realised the size of the force sent to kill them.

She rushed to chase after her ward, keeping her head down below the countertops as more bullets whizzed overhead. Faith could only watch in disbelief as Maria made a call using the holo-interface built into the armrest of the sofa, a call that was abruptly terminated when the furniture was torn apart in an storm of 10mm rounds.

"Maria!" she screamed again, desperate to get her to listen. "Get over here now!"

The Latina gave the comms system one last anguished look, then crawled back to the kitchen.

"What the fuck were you thinking?!" Faith yelled, fear for her friend making her furious. "You could've been killed!"

"We need to call for help!" Maria protested, ducking as bullets hit a cantaloupe and blasted fleshy chunks all over the kitchen.

"No, we need to get you out of here!" Glancing up at one of the concealed overhead cameras, Faith made a series of quick hand signals. She then grabbed Maria's hand and dragged her back towards the garage. "You drive, I'll shoot!"

They tumbled through the doorway as the kitchen was shot to pieces behind them. Faith sprinted around the hover-car to get in the passenger side, while Maria tugged open the driver's door and dived into the seat. She powered up the engine, anti-grav cyclics whirring as they began to spin up, then tapped the button on the dashboard to open the garage doors. They began to slowly slide apart, then a burst of bullets came flying through the doors, leaving big holes in the sheet metal.

"Don't wait, just go!" Faith demanded, reaching up to open the car's sunroof.

Maria shifted into reverse and stomped on the accelerator, the hover vehicle lurching backwards and slamming into the partially-opened doors. They were ripped from their frames with a shriek of tortured metal, then her car swerved unsteadily down the drive as they picked up speed. The front of the house looked like a warzone, with several big craters where the rose bushes used to be and dismembered corpses strewn across the lawn.

Half-a-dozen black-clad soldiers had been blown to pieces in the blast, instantly ripped apart by the deadly explosions. Several more were severely injured, one of them screaming in pain as he clutched at the remains of his mangled leg, his knee just a bloodied stump. The last two operatives had escaped unscathed, and they turned their rifles towards the reversing hover-car, spraying it with bullets.

Faith popped up through the skylight and returned fire, snapping off a flurry of shots with her pistol, which hit an operative in the chest and knocked him off-balance. A split-second later there was a booming retort and the second soldier's head exploded, his headless corpse pitching over onto the lawn. As the first whirled around to look for the new deadly threat, a heavy calibre round punched straight through his armour, leaving a gory hole in his torso as he collapsed in a heap.

Maria swerved around the black APC that was parked in the street, then kept on going, reversing at speed away from the carnage. As soon as they'd cleared the armoured vehicle, it was rocked back by an explosion, a billowing plume from a rocket launcher leading back to the house next door. The gun turret on top of the armoured vehicle spun around and opened fire, but it wasn't shooting at the reversing car. It sprayed a hail of bullets at the neighbour's house, trying to neutralise Commander Sharp who was covering their escape.

Faith dropped down into her seat again, staring in shock at the distinctive black troop transport, recognising it instantly as belonging to the Internal Security Division. "They're ISD!" she blurted out, eyes wide in horror.

Maria tore her gaze away from the mirrors and span the steering wheel, rotating the hovercar before slamming the gearstick into drive. "ISD have always had a terrible reputation."

"But we're ISD!" Faith protested indignantly. "Why are they attacking their own operatives?!"

The Latina glanced at the protection officer sitting beside her as the hover-car shot forward. "I'm obviously the target. They must have seen you two as expendable."

Faith twisted in her seat, looking anxiously back over her shoulder at the black APC as it sprayed her house with shells. "Please be okay, Joel..."

***

Fiske's team spun around to return fire, but one of them was hit in the throat, blood spraying out all over the wall as he keeled over. Almost simultaneously, the man beside him was hit in the chest by a burst of bullets, the armour piercing rounds punching straight through his chestplate. With the advantage of surprise, the attackers were slaughtering Fiske's security team, the row of fully-armoured attackers firing indiscriminately down the corridor at the exposed guards.

Lynette slapped her hand down on the DNA reader outside her quarters, the door opening when the scanner flashed green.

"Get in here!" she yelled at the harried remnants of the squad.

Grabbing one of the wounded men, Fiske backed into the room, dragging the bloodied soldier with him. "Fall back, troopers!"

"Bill, come on!" Jehanna called out, recognising one of the guards she'd befriended. She dived through the open doorway, making room for the rest to follow.

There were six guards left and they scurried towards the door, firing bursts back at the heavily armoured team that had ambushed them. Bill was hit in the leg and he stumbled to the ground, the bullet punching through his thigh and out the other side in a spray of blood. Lynette reached out to grab Bill Coleridge and pull him to safety, away from the deadly hail screaming down the corridor. Suddenly there was a bright flash and booming roar, the blast sending her flying backwards into the room.

"Devereux!" Fiske called out in dismay, instantly recognising the thunderous detonation from an underslung grenade launcher. He dashed over to the Fleet Admiral's crumpled body, expecting the worst. "Oh God... no."

To his utter astonishment, Lynette sat up before he reached her, completely unharmed by the explosion. She glanced through the doorway at the carnage outside, the rest of the security team blown to pieces by the blast.

"Those bastards!" Lynette cursed as she leapt to her feet, her breathtakingly beautiful face twisted in fury.

Fiske gaped at her in stunned disbelief. "What the hell?!"

Jehanna tore her anguished gaze away from the slaughtered soldiers and saw the Colonel's look of consternation. "Oh crap..."

Lynette studied the shell-shocked security officer for a long moment. "Stay in cover, Colonel," she said sternly, drawing her laser pistol. "Jehanna?"

The reporter jumped up from where she lay on the floor, her own laser pistol in her hand, the barrel illuminated by a glowing stripe of sapphire light. "Time for some payback."

Colonel Fiske could only stare at the pair in shock as they marched outside, seemingly oblivious to the deadly threat posed by the ambushers. As soon as the girls left cover, a dozen enemy soldiers opened fire, spraying the pair with bullets. Instead of striking the two young women, a blue dome rippled around them as hundreds of bullets were harmlessly deflected. Fiske staggered over to the door, watching in amazement as Lynette calmly raised her laser pistol and fired back.

An azure laser bolt screamed down the corridor and blasted a fist-sized hole through a soldier's green chest plate. His helmet tilted down and he stared stupidly at the gaping wound, before he tipped over stone-dead. Lynette and Jehanna spread out, walking towards the armoured soldiers and gunning them down with precise kill shots.

"Leave one alive," Lynette said to Jehanna, her glacial tone sending shivers down Fiske's spine.

One of the soldiers slammed a fresh clip into his assault rifle and opened fire on full auto, the bullets bouncing harmlessly off the approaching pair. "Just fucking die!" he screamed, terrified out of his mind as his squad mates died around him.

Jehanna snapped off a couple of head shots, neatly decapitating two of the three remaining traitors. The panicked sole survivor had emptied his entire magazine at Lynette and was now fumbling to reload. She took careful aim and a dazzling blue laser bolt shot him in the hand, obliterating it completely and leaving a glowing stump. His rifle dropped to the ground with a clatter, the noise drowned out by his screams of pain. Lynette strode up to him and whipped her pistol around, smashing him in the face with startling strength and sending him sprawling backwards.

She skidded to a crouch beside his prone form and ripped off his helmet, staring into a pair of wild eyes. "Start talking, or you lose more body parts. Who are you? Is it just me you're trying to kill?"

"Wait!" he cried out, holding up his remaining hand defensively.

Lynette lowered the pistol to his wounded arm, and shot him in the elbow, severing his forearm and leaving another cauterised stump. "No. Start talking."

He howled in agony, clutching at his arm.

"I don't have time to listen to you crying," she said coldly, the steaming muzzle of her pistol pointing at his ankle. "Talk or you lose a foot. When you run out of hands and feet, you lose your cock."

"We're ISD!" the man screamed, eyes bulging with fear. "When the bombs went off, my team was supposed to kill Elani!" His gaze flicked to the TFNN reporter standing behind Lynette.