The Secrets of Xibalba (Hammer's War Book 5) Read online

  They stood in the private lift and Jenny watched as the numbers ticked off. Higher and higher they rose in the building. Finally, the lift slowed down and stopped on what she thought was the top floor of the hotel.

  The door slid open and Dong lea her into a beautiful suite. Everywhere she looked there were fine things. From the furniture to the artwork that hung on the walls. Everything looked expensive. “Nice place Dong. Your boss must be rich,” Jenny said.

  “Yeah, he has done okay,” Dong said as he led her into the dining room. There on the long table was a full arrangement of fruits and veggies. Dong picked up an apple and took a bite, then he offered one to her.

  She took the apple and bit into it, savoring its sweet flesh. “Oh, that’s so good. I can’t remember the last time I had some fresh fruit,” Jenny said between bites.

  “Please help yourself, and if you are still hungry I can have my chef whip something up for you.” The new voice was so soft-spoken that she almost didn’t hear it over the sounds of her chomping.

  Jenny turned around to see a short thin man with jet black hair that was starting to grey around the sides. He was dressed in a hand-tailored dark suit that looked as expensive as the rest of the things she had seen so far. He wore round horn-rimmed glasses which she thought was a little odd in this day and age of miracle medicine.

  The newcomer noticed she was spending an abnormal amount of time staring at his glasses. “You are wondering why I wear glasses instead of having my eyesight fixed.”

  “Yes, actually I was,” Jenny said as she picked up some grapes as she started to feel a little bit better about her situation. She figured whoever this man was he clearly didn’t need the money that the bounty would pay him.

  “Of course, I could have my sight corrected at any time, however, I find that the small defect in my eyesight is a good reminder of my humanity and that I am not perfect. This helps to keep me sharp. In my business staying sharp is what keeps me alive, but how rude of me,” the man said as he took a step forward and held out his hand for her to shake. “I haven’t even introduced myself yet.” Jenny took his hand and shook it. “You may call me Mr. Black.”

  Chapter 3

  A single bead of sweat rolled down Jim Grunts forehead and hung for what seemed like a lifetime on the end of his nose before dropping off. It landed on the neck seal of his helmet. He wished the rain would return. The heat and the humidity was making life uncomfortable for Grunt and his Marines. They had been on the planet of New Hope for a few days now. After blowing up the NGE’s missile defense system they had been harassing the enemy every chance they could get.

  He discovered that the reason that the NGE had left the control center unguarded was that they had far fewer troops planet-side than first believed. That was about to change. Now that the Alliance fleet had left the system, the NGE was free to land more troops and equipment.

  Grunt was watching through a high-powered scope that was on top of a large rocket assisted sniper rifle. He was watching one of the NGE’s main spaceports that had been set up to bring in the big stuff. A massive drop ship had just landed and they were just starting to offload several large Mechs.

  Mechs were the large walking armored weapon systems that were usually operated by a single pilot. They were marching off the loading ramp in a straight line. Grunt would have rather used anti-tank missiles but they were too big and they were much easier to intercept than a rocket round. He had given orders for all the snipers to target the last Mech at the top of the ramp.

  Grunt’s very first job as a young Marine was as a scout sniper, and even though he had five highly qualified snipers with him, he wanted to be in on this shot. The other four snipers lay in wait, their rifles all trained on deferent parts of the Mech. “Ready, steady, Fire,” Grunt gave the order then the big rifle spat out the large round. The large bullet had already traveled halfway to the target before the small rocket engine kicked in and pushed the round to three times its current speed.

  At the top of the ramp of the dropship stood the last Mech in a line of four. The pilot was unaware that death was stocking him. He sat in his seat looking outward when the round tore through the armored canopy. The round did not contain any explosives as the hollow space was taken up by the solid rocket fuel that powered the bullet’s incredible speed. That extra speed gave the round so much kinetic energy that when it hit the Mech it had the same effect as a small missile. The cockpit exploded and the pilot died for the second time.

  A millisecond later the other rounds slammed into both of the Mech’s knee joints. The metal and composite materials that made up the joints were shredded as if there were made of paper. The Mech with its knees taken outpitched forward and slammed into the next Mech in line and just like dominos they toppled one into the other until all four were on the ground.

  The NGE made the mistake of preloading the Mech’s magazines before offloading it. A mistake the Alliance would never have made on a non-combat landing. The fire inside the Mech spread quickly to the magazines and it wasn’t long before they went up. The Marines were rewarded for their work with a brilliant light show as the Mech exploded followed by secondary explosions which in turn set off the other Mech’s weapon magazines.

  Grunt and the other Marines watched as the whole spaceport erupted in smoke and fire. Grunt was so happy with the shot he laughed as the explosions just continued through the dropship until the main power cell went and the whole ship burst into a massive flash of heat and blinding light taking the whole of the spaceport with it. “Take that you undead bastards!”

  Grunt knew that it was just a drop in the bucket and that the NGE would have more makeshift ports and plenty more ships and equipment to drop on New Hope. But he would take the win for now. “Time to move,” he said and issued orders to move out.

  In the capital city of New Hope, the top Ameron Defense Force General was the busiest man on the planet. General Lincoln Ark hadn’t slept in three days and it was starting to take its toll. His body was operating on pots and pots of coffee interspersed with a few bites of food here and there.

  “Sir, you need to get some sleep,” said the General’s aid.

  “I’ll sleep when I am dead, damn it,” Ark barked back at his aid. “We are fighting for our lives and I don’t have the time to sleep,” he said a little softer as he realized that yelling was not only out of character for him but that his aid was also concerned for him as well.

  “I know that Sir, but it will do none of us any good if you drop dead from lack of sleep,” the aide said carefully but sternly.

  Ark fell heavily into his chair and felt the effects of the last few days, “You are right. Now, if we are lucky we can hold them off long enough for God to send us a miracle.”

  The door to his office opened and a tall woman with blond hair walked in. She was dressed in the back uniform of the Ameron Defense Force, “Sir, I have news to report.”

  He looked up from the desk and when she didn’t continue he barked at her, “Well spit it out, Major!”

  “Sorry Sir, we have confirmed the reports that the NGE’s missile defense system is down. The command and control center for it was destroyed and, by the looks of it, will not be back online any time soon,” she said. Then before the General could bark at her again she continued, “Also, we are just now getting reports that the NGE’s main port, designated LZ 01, has also been destroyed in a series of explosions.” she paused to hand him a tablet. “We have a drone in the area and we should be getting a live feed any second now.”

  As if on cue, the live feed came online and General Ark was able to see the aftermath for himself. He watched as the drone circled over the burning swatch of land known as LZ 01. He couldn’t see much with the color camera, but the infrared camera was returning clear images of twisted and burning piles of equipment and personnel. He could tell from what was left that there had been a Humpback on the pad at the time things went bad for the NGE. Humpbacks were the nickname the Amerons used when referring to the NGE’s large drop ships because of their humpback shape.

  “Any information to explain why or who is responsible for these two occurrences?” Ark asked.

  “No Sir. Either the NGE has a saboteur or we have some unknown friends on the ground,” the major commented.

  Ark cracked the smallest of smiles. He knew that Amanda Hayes wouldn’t leave him alone in this fight. She must have somehow gotten some troops on the ground. He now wondered how many and how long they would last. The NGE would surely be looking for them now, which was good for them as it would take the NGE’s attention off of the city for a while at least. “Well, maybe God has sent that miracle after all,” Ark said thinking out loud.

  “Sir?” the Major asked not understanding where the General was going.

  “Never mind Major. That will be all. You are, dismissed,” Ark said as he handed the tablet back to her.

  “Yes, Sir,” The blond Major saluted, turned and left the office.

  Ark looked at his aide, “I think I will get some sleep. Whoever is out there poking the bear with a stick will take the pressure off us for a while. Please prepare my room.”

  “I’m on it Sir,” the aide said before also saluting and leaving the office.

  General Ark was single with no family and he was a workaholic. He slept at his office so often that he had a small office converted into a bedroom. He now made his way there, his thoughts turning to the brave fighters that were out there risking everything for them. He hoped that someday he would get the chance to meet them.

  Chapter 4

  Captain Adele Theron sat drifting in deep space, nothing around her, but the blackness of space and the twinkling of the stars. She had just finished the last of her on board rations and was looking at stars. She was wo
ndering if any would ever find her corpse in the vastness of space. Not likely, she thought. She looked away from the stars and back toward her control panels. The damage report screen showed that her long-range fighter bomber had taken a hit in the hyperspace engine. With that out, she couldn’t open a hyperspace window. Also, her sublight engines and maneuvering thrusters, though operational, were not enough to get her to a planet or even to a known shipping lane. No, she was on her own.

  She looked at the checklist of systems and at least she had enough power to keep the heat and air on long after she starved to death. Her wastewater was run through a recycler so another plus she wouldn’t die from dehydration. She knew that she was going to die alone. Now it was only a matter of the method. She had a sidearm with her, but she didn’t like the idea of shooting herself. She also didn’t care for the idea of starvation. She could shut down her air and go to sleep as she suffocated or she could cut the heat and freeze to death. There was the last option. She could open the canopy and just let the vacuum of space end her.

  Captain Theron chose to turn off the heat. She flipped a few switches and the heat pump shut down. The cockpit was well insulated and even in space, it would take a few hours for the temperature to drop to dangerous levels. Next, she turned on the internal camera and recorded her last message. After a tearful goodbye, she turned off the camera and looked back out at the stars and waited.

  The hours ticked by and Captain Theron starting to feel the cold and the pain of freezing. It was too much so she turned the heat back on and thought that a quick death would be better. She started to work through the manual override procedure to open the cockpit when the space just in front of the nose of her Raptor shimmered strangely.

  This got her attention and she looked up just in time to see a beautiful space yacht appear right before her eyes. Captain Theron had heard about space folding engines but had never seen one. She looked at the sweeping lines and she was impressed. She had never seen such a craft before. Before she could do anything else her radio lit up.

  “Hello there,” the kind female voice said. “Our scans show that your hyperspace engine is damaged. Can we give you a lift?”

  Captain Theron was more than relieved. She was elated, “I don’t know you are but thank God you came. And Yes, I would love a lift.”

  “There is one slight problem we don’t see any way of docking with you. Do you have the ability to spacewalk?” the kind female voice asked.

  “Hell yeah, stand by,” Captain Theron said. She grabbed her flight helmet and slipped it back on. As soon as it sealed she checked the life support system on the holo control screen that was projected above her left form arm. Everything was in the green. Captain Theron read the name on the side of the yacht. She had never heard of the Eden before either.

  “Alright Eden, I am ready. Opening my canopy now,” she said as she finished punching in the override code.

  The emergency bolts fired and the canopy was blown way along with all the air in the cockpit. As soon as the canopy was clear and there was no danger of her being sucked out along with the air, she released her harness and pushed off. She floated across the black towards the airlock of the Eden. As she drifted in close the outer door opened and floating in the doorway was someone in full battle armor, a design she had never seen before. He was tethered to the door by a cable. As she closed in he extended his arm and she grabbed his hand. He pulled her inside the airlock.

  As soon as the outdoor closed she heard a man’s voice in her helmet, “Get ready for the artificial gravity.” Captain Theron gave him the thumbs up. The gravity came on and they dropped about a foot to the floor. It took a few minutes for the airlock to fully pressurize and once it was the man pulled off his helmet while she removed her own. Her eyes fell on the ruggedly handsome face and she looked into his steel gray eyes.

  “Welcome to the Eden, I am Thaddeus Hammer, but you can call me Thad,” as he introduced himself.

  “Captain Adele Theron, Ameron Defense Force, but I guess you can call me Adele as I doubt there is an Ameron defense force any longer,” Captain Theron said with a sadness in her voice.

  “Oh, I don’t know about that,” Thad said. The inner door to the airlock opened and another tall man entered. By his weathered look, he appeared to be a bit older than Thad.

  He took one look at Captain Theron, turned his head towards Thad, and said, “How the hell do you do it?”

  “Do what?” Captain Theron asked looking back and forth at the men.

  “How do you keep collecting beautiful women? Here we are in the middle of space and you are rescuing another damsel in distress,” the man said.

  Thad laughed. “Getting a bit jealous there Dom?” he asked

  “You know what? I think I’ll shoot you again,” Dominic St. Claire said with a laugh.

  “What? Wait. You shot him?” Captain Theron was thoroughly confused.

  “Yes, I did. And if he keeps being so damn smug, I might just shoot him again,” St. Claire said half serious.

  Thad put his hand on her shoulder and said, “Oh don’t mind him. He’s just old,” Thad said putting a heavy emphasis the word old. “This is Dominic St. Claire. Don’t pay much attention to him as he is just a bit cranky today. He gets that way every once in a while. Especially when he runs out of old man joint cream.”

  St. Claire just looked at Thad shook his head. “Yep, I am definitely going to shoot you again. Twice.”

  Thad didn’t react to the comment but instead directed Captain Theron toward the inside of the Eden. She stepped through the door to find two Commandos flaking the door. The Commandos snapped to attention as Thad stepped through the door.

  Captain Theron took notice and asked, “I thought this was a civilian ship?”

  “It is sort of. You see, the Eden is my private yacht, but my mother kind of commandeered it as well as shanghaied me,” Thad said as they walked down the hallway.

  “What do you mean shanghaied you?” Captain Theron asked.

  “What? He hasn’t told you yet?” St. Claire said from behind them.

  Thad and Captain Theron stopped and turned around to face St. Claire as he spoke. “Oh, our boy Thad here is a Colonel in the new Terran Alliance, and it was his mother, who is the Supreme Commander that commissioned us both. At least I was given the option of saying no.”

  Out of habit Captain Theron snapped a salute, “Sorry Sir, I didn’t realize you were an officer.”

  “Frist, you don’t have to do that here as I am very informal, at least on my ship. And second, call me Thad. Call me Sir again and I might just put you back where I found you,” Thad said.

  “Yes Sir, I mean Thad,” Captain Theron said catching herself. “If you don’t mind me asking, where are you heading?”

  “We are on our way to New Hope. Our mission is to link up with some Alliance Marines that are already on the ground and kick the ass out of the NGE and help your people,” Thad said as they started walking again.

  She was relieved to hear that her mission had been a success and that the message had gotten through. “I have to warn you that I just barely escaped. They have a lot of ships and there is no way you are going to get through all of that,” Captain Theron said.

  “Oh do not worry. The Eden has a few tricks up her sleeve.” Thad said.

  “Well good. I am dying to get back into the fight, and if I am going to die I would very much like to do it on my own world,” she said.

  “Don’t worry, you will have plenty of chances to die for your world, but I rather hope that you don’t. We have only just met,” Thad said as he stopped in front of a cabin door. “This is for you,” he said as he waved his hand over the side panel that controlled the door. The door slid open and the lights came on. “I am sorry that it is not a real room, but we have run out of bunk space and my office was the only room left, but it is all yours.”

  “Oh, I couldn’t take your office, Sir,” she realized she had said Sir again when Thad looked at her with a bit of annoyed look on his face.

  “I insist. Besides the chair is far more comfortable than sleeping on the deck plating, even with the plush carpet,” Thad said as he showed her in. “I will have someone bring you some clothes so you can get out of that flight suit. Also, I will have Carl bring you up some food. It won’t be much of a full meal. It is the middle of the night ship time so most of the crew is asleep.”