Chapter 22 - Damaged Visitors

James was bringing Tina's lips to his when a voice I did not recognize started shouting. "Oh God! Oh God! James! James! We have a visitor! We have a visitor!"

James paused and looked over at Bethany. She mouthed a name and he nodded. "Give me a report," he called out.

"We have a jump point opening," the voice cried nervously. "The instruments say it's on a direct line with the Ursus system. One of the notes said that the last ship to arrive from that system was Nassau."

James set Tina down. I could see a small moue of disappointment cross her face, but he was concentrating on the voice. "Do we have an identification of class? Or any communications?"

"Nothing," another voice called. "The point hasn't finished opening."

"Damn!" James said. "Battle damage for sure. Candi, Randi, you can run faster than the twins, get to command to help Tracy and Monique. Donna, I'm sure you want to jump Jacques bones after his wonderful song earlier, but...."

"I know, Shawna and I need to get to the medical bay. We'll be ready," she called out.

There was a shriek of fear and panic. "Three more points opening. They are opening fast and initial scans say they are Sa'arm ships!"

"Distance?" James called as all activity in the room halted.

"Almost right on top of the other point. James! The computer says they are in launch range of Ishtar. They are coming in right at the hyper limit and our orbit puts us well within attack range!" the voice called.

"Shit!" James said. "Playtime's over! Brad, Debby, Amanda, let's run to the laser pod. Linus, Tyson, we need to get the pods up. Terrence, you and Timothy get to command, and get the orbitals up."

Bethany pushed me towards the door. "Meiko, Janice, Tina go! I'll get this cleared up and take care of the babies."

We joined the exodus from the room. Streams of citizens and their concubines dashed through the tunnels. James was far ahead of us, but we caught up with Lisa and Christine as we hurried to the laser pod.

As we arrived and waited for the door to cycle, Randi spoke up. "The first ship is through. It's a Patrician, but it's a wreck."

"Amanda, laser two with me; Brad, Xavier, laser one," James called. "Randi, how bad is it?"

"I'm still refining the scan, but...." Randi started.

"Ishtar control, please come in," a calm voice called out.

"Oops," Candi said. "I put the call on the overhead. James, it's for you."

"This is Ishtar, identify yourself please," James called out as I stepped into the laser pod's airlock.

"Captain Jennifer Gates of the Cancun. We need repair, and cover while we get to your docks."

"We're working to get our defenses up," James said. "Can you stay alive until we start shooting?"

"Ivan, full power to the engines now," Captain Jennifer called out. "Sure, our shields are gone, and we're out of ammunition, but we can stay out of range until you take out the ships."

"Do you have any casualties?" James asked as the airlock cycled. I burst inside with Tina and Janice to find James disrobed and struggling into the armored underpants.

"Several, but all are stable. One of our concubines was an emergency room nurse and has managed to keep everyone alive. We do have a couple with severe burns. I've been told they need to be in a medical pod within four hours," Jennifer replied calmly.

I joined my sister concubines in helping James fight his way into the armor. We had all of the undergarments in place and were helping him with the torso plate when Tiffany spoke.

"There's no way that ship is still functional! James, we aren't scanning a Patrician class corvette. That's a collection of armor plating that's stayed in close formation!" she called out.

"I can assure you that Cancun is still functional," Jennifer said. "We just don't have any weapons left to fight with."

"I still say it's impossible," Tiffany muttered. "The other points are open. Scans indicate that we have three Vacuna class scouts."

"Can we use our orbital defenses?" James asked.

"We can if they..." Terrence started saying. There was a short pause. "Damn! James, they appear to know where they are. Two have diverted from Cancun and are now heading straight at us."

"Use our defenses," James said as he started the seal check. Linus arrived, as the check was finishing. He nodded to James and rushed over to the laser control.

"We're trying," Timothy replied. "But we didn't set them up to deal with scouts. The ships are too quick for us to lock on with any of the missile platforms. I've tried three of our dead-fire clusters, but no hits."

"What about the one after the Cancun," James asked as he accepted the helmet and started walking to the passage to the laser. Tina grabbed Janice and me and pulled us down into the chair he had just left.

"Waiting for it to settle down and start an attack run on Cancun," Terrence said. "That one won't escape."

James nodded, he was about to head into the passage to the laser when Linus turned. "Wait!" he shouted at my master.

James turned as Linus stood. "Tyson and I have worked with the AI and made some adjustments to the lasers. The seals are a bit more durable and they now spray a counteragent to the acid when above ground. It won't protect you, but we should be able to get four shots from the laser before it fails. However, the best way is for you to only take two shots and then drop back down. I can try to patch any leaks while you switch with Amanda and then she'll take the final two shots."

"Last time the instruments degraded quickly," James reminded him. "Will Amanda be able to target anything?"

"She should," Linus said as he turned back to this control station. "That was one area we improved. The connection between your armor and the gun has been hardened. Your suit will likely fail before the display goes out."

James nodded and put the helmet on. Janice dashed over to conduct a final seal check and then slapped him on the back as he disappeared into the gun chamber. I shivered slightly, remembering the blackened mess that was his armor after the last time he had been on the laser cannons.

Tina shivered as well, but we sat quietly as James walked through the passage. The overhead speaker was silent. Linus was holding his right hand over his ear. His left hand danced over the control panel. Finally, he nodded.

"Right. James, Cancun is making a sweeping turn. They will cut inside the orbit of Clarke and then cut in front of us before slowing down. Terrence is sure he can take out the scout that's after her. The problem will be the other two scouts. One has cut towards Isis and it looks like its going to use the a gravity-well slingshot to try to get through our defenses," Linus said.

Linus removed his right hand from his ear and began adjusting the controls. "The other one is coming straight in, so we are going to... wait...Tiffany, I'm seeing three more jump points opening."

I whirled to look at the entry to the gun chamber. Amanda was suited up and standing just outside. Meanwhile Linus was moving his hands quickly, touching buttons and dials on his control panel.

"James, I'm going to have to send you up now. You have to get that first scout with your first two shots. Brad will get the one playing with the gravity well, and then Amanda and Xavier will have to get the latecomers," Linus reported. "I'm turning your display on now. Try to set your aim as the gun rises, we're going to need every shot. Tam, call for someone else to get here with their armor. We might need to take a desperation shot if Terrence's defenses miss that sixth scout."

We heard no reply. Janice ran over and threw her arms around Tina and me. We huddled in a group, listening to the faint whisper the gun made as it rose into Ishtar's poisonous atmosphere.

"Miss, adjust right one degree," Linus called out. "That's it, hit! I'm dropping the gun. Amanda enter now, but be careful not to touch James' armor."

I jumped to my feet, causing Tina and Janice to tumble to the floor. Tina grunted in surprise but sprang to her feet as Amanda dashed through the gateway to the gun chamber.

"Tyson, send Brad. I have James and Amanda switching out now. The barrel rotation seals are at seventy percent. It looks like we might get a fifth shot if Amanda doesn't stay up too long. I'm having the system install a new crystal while Amanda gets linked in," Linus said.

I had looked back at Linus as he spoke, and was startled as a loud thunk sounded near the gateway. I turned to see James dumping the gloves of his armor on the floor and reaching to an alcove in the wall where some special towels hung. He picked up two towels and using those to protect his hands, removed his helmet and threw it into a corner. Smoke rose from the helmet as it rolled on the floor.

"Give me a second my loves," he said. "It's raining up there and the acid has seeped into cracks in my armor. If you try to touch it with unprotected hands you will get burned."

I nodded. Linus had not even turned and continued speaking. "Oh great shot! That scout is definitely out of action. Amanda, Brad's coming down so you are next. We have two more scouts incoming and then the last one hanging out near the point where they emerged. Your concern is going to be the closer of the two incoming scouts. Tiffany has scanned them and none are carrying missiles. In fact, it looks like they have scavenged rail guns. If they are really from Ursus, they probably scavenged the design from one of our Patricians. If they are close enough when they fire, they can probably hit the colony. Even if the atmosphere eats away at the projectile, it will still do a ton of damage."

There was a pause and then Linus laughed. "No, it doesn't work that way. You have to understand that if they fire at us, the projectile is going to be going extremely fast. At that speed, even a jellybean would make a crater when it hit the ground. And those railguns fire something a bit larger than a jellybean. We can't allow them to get a clean shot off."

James had used the towels to pull of the plates that made the outer layer of his armor. Each piece was tossed to join the helmet. An angry hiss could be heard as the pieces smoked. He followed the armor with the remnants of the towel. Once the last piece was in the corner he nodded. "AI, you might want to wash that corner to clear the acid. And have the remotes collect my armor for replacement."

There was no response, as Linus spoke up. "Sending you up, Amanda, set your aim on the way up."

He was concentrating on the controls as Fred emerged from the door. "Barbara is with Tyson," he informed us. "I'm going to armor up. I hear we might need another gunner."

"It's nasty up there," James warned Fred. "You don't have time to do more than aim and fire."

"Good hit!" Linus called out. "You got it! Damn! Making an emergency drop! Donna, we need a gurney!"

"What happened!" James asked as Lisa and Christine started wailing.

"Catastrophic seal failure on Amanda's left knee. The armor had to cut her leg off to protect her from the acid," Linus said.

Fred paled, but walked over to a chair and began disrobing as his concubines Jenny and Kate arrived to help him. James looked at us.

"Grab some protective towels," he told us. "We're going to have get Amanda out of her armor."

I dashed forward and grabbed several towels. Tina joined me and we sprinted through the passage to the gun.

Inside it was misting heavily. James ignored the mist and threw a towel over his arm. He put the covered arm behind Amanda's head and gently lifted her back from the chair. "Get her leg!" he told me.

I wrapped a towel around each of my hands and ducked under James' arm to reach Amanda's legs. Her left leg ended just above the knee in a mass of blackened cloth and flesh. She screamed as I slid a hand behind the injury and lifted. Pieces of her armor fell as I pushed her leg up.

The weight of her body pressed down on me, but Tina arrived and with her own towel-wrapped hands gripped Amanda around the waist and pulled her from the chair. We took three steps away and then James called out. "Down, we need to get the armor off. It's going to keep degrading."

Heedless of any danger I started stripping armor plates from Amanda's legs. The towel protecting my hands steamed each time I pulled a piece away. I ignored this until a sharp pain in my right palm caused me to scream and drop to the floor.

"Meiko!" Tina cried as I grabbed my right wrist with my left hand. She dropped to her knees next to me and forced my hand to open. "Shit! James, the acid burned through the towels. Her hand is burnt!"

The pain made me want to scream again. James shouted through the doorway. "Linus, we need another gurney. Meiko's got acid burns on her hands from helping get Amanda out of her armor."

"Michael is coming through the airlock now," Linus said.

I fought the pain and struggled to my feet. "I can walk," I gasped.

"Meiko!" Tina cried as she hugged me. "You're hurt!"

"I can walk," I insisted as I made a couple of wobbly steps to the gateway. "When Cancun arrives, there are those who will need the gurneys more. I'll walk to the medical bay."

Tina jumped to my left side. She pulled my left arm up and slipped it over her shoulders. With her help I made my way to the gateway, my right hand clutched to my breasts. "I'll get her there," she said.

We emerged from the gateway. I heard several gasps and then Michael's gasp. "What happened?"

"Acid burns while helping get Amanda out of her armor," Tina replied. "I can get her to the medical bay. Take the gurney directly into the chamber. James can help you get Amanda onto the gurney."

"Right," I heard Michael say. My eyes were closed from pain and the effort of continuing to walk. I felt another person touch my right shoulder.

"Meiko, I can help," I heard my best friend say. "Put your arm over my shoulders."

It was hard to move my hand away from my breast. Each movement brought new pain. Janice was gentle though and slowly I was able to move my arm over her shoulders. She kept her own hands away from my hand as her body accepted more of my weight.

We were moving slowly. Michael actually caught up to us as Tina and Janice guided me into the pod's airlock. He had Amanda lying on the gurney. She was moaning in pain.

"Can I see Meiko's hand?" he asked Janice.

I was in too much pain to respond, but Janice forced my hand to turn and open. I choked off a scream as I struggled to move my fingers. Next to me, Tina turned and vomited.

"God!" Michael hissed. "I can see the bones of her hand. The acid stripped the skin from her body."

"Will she recover?" Janice asked with a wail.

"Donna!" Michael shouted. "Meiko needs a gurney, now! She was helping get Amanda out of her armor and the acid is attacking her hand. Janice and Tina are trying to carry her to the medical bay."

The door to the hall opened. Michael dashed off with the gurney, pushing Amanda to the medical bay. Tina and Janice helped me out into the hall. The pain was increasing and I could only shuffle my feet as I fought to stay standing. For a while I just concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other, but finally the pain cut through me. My arms and body went limp as I fainted.