Chapter 19 chapter Ten

Kassad was floating in the middle of Operating Room Three when the Ousters burst through the door.His respirator had almost stopped working, and he was floating motionless in the air, breathing dirty air.An Ouster commando dodged in, then sideways, the last two weapons aimed at the unarmed man in the tattered soldier's uniform. Kassad thought that the appalling condition of his spacesuit and mask would buy him a second or two.Kassad was looking up through the blood-stained panels like a blind man when the Ouster's breastlights swept across.This commando carries two weapons, a sonic stunner in one hand, and a smaller but deadlier laser pistol "carried" by the long toe of his left "foot."He raised the sonic gun.Kassad saw the deadly spikes on the restored tail, and pressed the mouse with his gauntleted right hand.

It took Kassad eight minutes to connect the emergency generator to the circuit in the operating room.Not all of the medical lasers worked, but six remained intact.He positioned the four small ones, aimed at the left side of the door; the other two for bone-cutting, aimed at the right.And the Ouster went to the right. His uniform exploded.Kassad swam forward while the laser was cutting along the predetermined trajectory. At this time, the laser was still drawing circles and cutting everything according to the pre-set program.He ducked under the blue laser beam, now engulfed in a spreading mist of useless uniform sealant and blood vapour.Kassad snatched the sonic gun, and at that moment, the second Ouster rushed in, as agile as the chimpanzee in the old place.

Kassad held the sonic gun to the man's helmeted forehead and pulled the trigger.The guy fell limp.The repair tail twitched a few times under the occasional nerve impulse.It's impossible to survive being hit by a sonic gun at such close range; the pulse will smash your brains into oatmeal.Of course, Kassad did not intend to take prisoners. Kassad kicked his legs, swam into the air, grabbed a brace, and fired the sonic gun through the open door.No one else came in.Twenty seconds of inspection proved that it was an empty hallway. He skimmed the first body, swam up to the man in full uniform, and began undressing him.This commando was wearing nothing but a space uniform, and, well, it wasn't a man!The female commando has short blonde hair, small breasts and tattoos on her lower abdomen.She was pale, and drops of blood flowed from her nose, ears, and eyes.Kassad noted that female Ousters also served as soldiers.Remember at the Battle of Brescia, all their corpses were men.

Kassad, still wearing his helmet and respirator, kicked the body aside and began pulling the unfamiliar uniform on him.The vacuum burst blood vessels in his muscles.Biting cold bit him as he frantically connected the buckle.He was tall enough, but this woman's uniform was longer than his.Extending his hand, he can operate the gloves, but there is no way for the "foot cover" and the tail connection.He could just let them hang uselessly aside.Finally, he freed himself from his helmet, struggled, and put the Ouster's "bubble" on. The collar tactile display glows amber and purple.He heard the rush of air, his eardrums tingled, and was overwhelmed by a thick, greasy stench.Perhaps it was the sweet smell of the Ouster's homeland. The language coming through Bubbles' earphones sounded like an Old English tape being played back rapidly.Kassad decided to take another gamble. In Brescia, the Ouster's army was semi-independent, using radio and telemetry to detect and command, rather than the implanted tactical network used by the military army.If they were using the same system here, the commander of the commando might know that two men were missing, and might even receive their health comm readings, but probably not know where they were.

Kassad decided to stop assuming and start acting.Using his mouse, he adjusted the medical laser to fire directly at anything that entered the room.Then hop and hop clumsily down the corridor.Wearing the damn suit, he thought, was like walking on gravity in his own pants.He was carrying two power pistols, but found no straps, buckles, hooks, Velcro, magic clips, or pockets to put them in.Now he was floating in the air like a drunken pirate in a holo-drama, with two guns in each hand, crashing from one wall to the other.He was about to walk forward clutching something with one hand, but reluctantly let a gun float behind him.The glove looked like a size fifteen baseball glove on a size two hand.The nasty tail wags and sometimes bangs on the "bubble", and the buttocks hurt.

He squeezed into the second crack and saw lights in the distance.Just as he was about to reach the open deck (where he saw the Squid approaching), he turned a corner and nearly ran into three Ousters. He had at least a two-second advantage by wearing the enemy's clothes.He fired at close range into the helmet of the leading man in uniform.A second man, or woman, fought back wildly at him, a huge sound wave passing over his left shoulder after he'd shot the guy three times in the chest.The last one bounced back, on three points of support, and disappeared into the damaged bulkhead before Kassad could re-aiming.His curses, questions and orders came from his ears.And Kassad just silently pursued.

The third Ouster would have escaped if he hadn't regained his honor and turned to fight.Kassad shot through the man's left eye from five meters away, and at this moment, he felt an indescribable déjà vu. The body rolled backwards into the sunlight.He paddled to the clearing, and finally saw the "squid" entangled in the hull, which was twenty meters away.This, he thought, was the first time in a long time that he had had the best of luck. Pedaling through the distance, he knew that if someone shot him from the squid or the rubble, he would just sit and wait.At this moment, he felt the tightness of contraction of the lower body nerves, which he always felt when he was the obvious target.Fortunately, no shots were fired.Commands and inquiries sounded in my ears.He can't understand, doesn't know who's talking where, and, in general, he'd be better off staying out of the conversation.

The clumsy suit barely made it possible for him to climb up the squid.If he really can't make it up, he thinks about it, this kind of anticlimactic thing is really the universe's best verdict on his conceited bravery: the warrior floats in low earth orbit, has no maneuvering system, no thrusters, no power of any kind, even All pistols are recoilless.I would end my life uselessly and harmlessly like a balloon that floats away from a child's hand. Kassad stretched out his hand desperately, even the joints made a "clack" sound, and managed to grab an antenna, and finally slowly pulled himself onto the shell of the "squid".

Where's the damn airlock?For a spacecraft, the thing had a sleek shell, but it was adorned with colorful patterns, decals, engravings, which, he guessed, meant "Dangerous Stop: Thruster Mouth" in the Ouster dictionary.But I can't see the entrance.He guessed there might be an Ouster inside, or at least a pilot, and maybe they were wondering why this returning team member didn't open the air-close door, but instead circled the hull like a crab with a missing leg.Or maybe they already knew what was going on and were waiting for him with guns inside.In any case, apparently no one came out to answer the door.

Fuck it, he mused, firing a shot at the transparent pod. The Ouster's cabin was kept tidy.Only some useless things that looked like paper clips and coins were ejected intermittently with the air of the spaceship.He waited until the gushing stopped, then squeezed in. Inside was the troop bay: a cushioned hold, like the jerboa bay of a dropship or armored personnel carrier.He estimated that it could carry about twenty commandos in vacuum suits.Now of course it is empty.An open hatch leads to the cockpit. There was only one command pilot in the cabin, and the guy shot Kassad as he unbuckled his seatbelt.He pushed the corpse to the troop transport area, sat in the place that looked like a command seat, and fastened his seat belt.

The red and yellow sunlight shot in through the transparent glass cover above the head.Video monitors and holographic consoles show the fore and aft scene, as well as the status of the search inside the ship as captured by the flanking cameras.He saw the naked body in operating room three, and saw several figures exchanging fire with medical lasers. In Feldman Kassad's childhood holographic dramas, the heroes always seemed capable of manipulating any skimmer, spaceship, exotic electromagnetic vehicle, and all sorts of strange machines that popped up when necessary.Kassad had learned how to maneuver military transports, simple tanks and armored vehicles, and, if desperate, an assault craft or landing craft.In the unlikely event of being stranded on an out-of-control military ship, he could find his way in the command center, link into the main computer, or send out a distress call via radio or hyperoptic transmitter.But sitting in the Ouster's "squid," Kassad had no clue. Of course this is not entirely true.He quickly identified the remote-control slot that controlled the squid's tentacles, and if he gave him a couple of hours, he might be able to figure out some other control buttons.But he has no time.On the front screen, three figures in spacesuits can be seen leaping towards the squid, firing at the same time.The pale alien head of the Ouster commander was displayed on the holographic console, and there was a burst of shouting from the earphones in his "bubble". Big drops of sweat hung in front of his eyes, and sweat trickled down the inside of the helmet.He shook them off with a vigorous head shake, then squinted at the console, pressing a few contraptions that looked like that.Maybe there's sound control circuitry, an override controller, or something fishy like the ship's computer, and Kassad knows he's fucking screwed.He had thought about the situation before he shot the pilot, but he couldn't think of any way to force the guy to sail, or to gain his confidence.No, maybe this is the way to go, he thought to himself, and pressed more controls. The thrusters are activated. "Squid" jerked and tugged at the place where it broke down.Although Kassad was wearing a seat belt, he was bounced up and down. "Damn it!" This was the first time he spoke since he asked the nurse where the spaceship was going.He reached forward with all his strength, and finally inserted his gauntleted fingers into the control slot. Four of the six tentacles came loose, one was torn off, and the last one tore off the "Merry A large piece of the hull of the HMS Tyrant.