I made a decision, seeing no port-techs in the line other than Rock. “Listen up! There are too many carriers coming at us. Gather in, Rock will port us to the cave.”
Sergeant O’Malley was on the far end of the line. “You heard the lady. Continue firing and slide right. Move!”
The lady? I wasn’t sure what to do about the slip in rank decorum. It’s complicated, going back to the early days of Shockwave, and the military not really knowing what to do with us. But as a shooting war with the Empire looms, we’re mixing more with regular troops, being pulled into the rank and file. With port-techs becoming more commons, Shockwave is almost starting to fit in. And with that, I am going to have to practice more at... soldiering.
+ BEGIN TIMELINE DROP.
*COMMUNAL: We managed to dig around, data mining sleuths that we are, and found Viz did indeed take steps to soldier-up. During a rare moment of calm, on that wild Gall operation on Crimson, the Ops teams were all together settling in for some rest. Viz decided it was time to make a point. We think the catalyst was an update she received while on mission, letting her know that her military contractor special interdisciplinary multi-jurisdictional rank was now captain. Yes. Her military contractor special interdisciplinary multi-jurisdictional rank. That’s quite the mouthful.
Viz often made note of how the military really didn’t know what to do with team Shockwave, including Captain Viz. Let’s listen in.
Shortly after the terrible firefight near the Crimson teleportation gate, Viz was sitting on a small boulder, leading a frank discussion as to how the teams could have better handled the situation. Good men had been injured and captured by the enemy. Although her rank of Captain had not yet been announced, she was still understood to be an officer by multi-jurisdictional rank.
At the end of the session, as the operatives stood up, stretching, an eye on the food cart, Viz stood up on her boulder. “This has developed into a strange and difficult operation. I can say, without hesitation, whatever comes our way, there is no other group of soldiers I’d rather be serving with.
“Quiet down, I’m not quite done. Ahhh... ten... shun! Now, listen up. If any of you send off another ‘selfie’ saying you’re chillin with Invisible Viz, I won’t bother to turn invisible when I shame you into the ring and beat the... snot... out of you. Is... that... clear?
There was a resounding chorus from the teams. “Ma’am, yes ma’am.”
“Very good. Now, apart from the military stuff, when it’s all kinetic and such, we’re all the besties of buds. And, I’m just Viz. Get it? Awe-stounding. At ease, and carry on.
“No! Hold up for one more thing. I have my own way of doing things, so don’t assume this is the new norm for military decorum. In general, be sure to follow the training manual, policies and procedures, rank decorum, and all that.
“Roddy, I can see it in your eye. Put your hand down. This is when you just don’t say a single thing.”
Tee looked on in silence, with the biggest smile we've seen in a very long time.
A short time later, when Sargent O’Malley finished with his grub, Viz strolled over and asked him to join her on a quick walk-and-talk. “Sargent O’Malley, you’re a good soldier. One of the best I’ve had the pleasure to work with. But I want you to hear me, now. If we’re backed up against a boulder shooting at the Gall, or fighting some enemy on one of the moons of Hades III; if you ever again refer to me as ‘the lady’ when stuff is running hot and kinetic, well, we’re going to have a chat that I promise you do not want to have. Understood? Good. Other than that, great job, Sargent.”
END TIMELINE DROP. +
Anyway, we untangled to the side of the cave to join up with the rest, and called out as friendlies. The SAWs had done their work, leaving no carriers in sight.
Roddy looked ecstatic. “There you are. We just finished here, and were getting set to come and get you.”
I couldn’t stop a smile. “Gather up. Rock will take us to Alpha, in two groups.”
Roddy didn’t like the idea. “Oh, #@!&
I nodded, wondering how long it would be before Roddy was busted down to a lance corporal, again. “We will, Roddy. We’ll get our people. They’re surrounded by those carriers. First, we regroup and get a handle on this. Then we get our people back.”
Marshon came running up from somewhere back in the cave. “Guys, we got company coming from the caverns. By the sound, there’s a lot of them. I couldn’t get an image.”
Time to go. “SAWs, watch the tunnel. GG, you’re first out. Hurry back, Rock!”
Rock hurried. We gathered at Alpha to work through our options. With Burman and Taylor down, Roddy was effectively lead operator for GG even as a corporal. He definitely had seniority, and until recently, held the rank of sergeant. He’s a good guy, just needs a better brain-to-mouth filter. It’s okay for me to say it. He says the same thing himself. All the time.
Roddy took advantage of his new precarious lead position and spoke up. “Rock and Roll can flash-port to our guys and port them back to Earth. Afterwards, they come and get the rest of us. Done. Let’s get off this hell-hole.”
Para held out a hand to slow Roddy down, her biologist-voice coming out. “Listen up, everyone. These creatures are clearly carrying an infectious disease like nothing we’ve ever seen. We will NOT bring our guys back home to spread the infection.
“We need to set up a defensible perimeter on this planet, establish biohaz protocols, and then get our guys to safety. They will need to stay on Crimson until we have a better idea of what we’re dealing with.”
Roll returned from watching the cavern. “Tee! They moved our wounded somewhere. They’re gone. I wasn’t able to locate them. We need to do more recon work. But you will not believe this. There’s an army forming up near the cave, with heavy mechanized armor.
“Here. I’ll push the imaging out to a nanocloud.
“Steve, maybe you can shed some light on this.”
Roll moved over to some tall bushes, to help reduce glare on the nanocloud. The imaging was crisp enough to show an army forming up in a very disciplined manner. The display included interpretive data. 50 platoon sized units were lining up behind 50 squat weapons platforms carrying what looked to be laser cannons, or something similar, and railguns. The platforms were similar to our tracked main battle tanks, though wider and seemingly set lower to the ground. Aircraft, looking very much like flying saucers, took to the sky. Those were either single-seaters or drones.
Tee looked at our offworlder military expert. “Steve?”
Steve looked mesmerized. “Yes, I’ve seen this type of military equipment. The elders of Turkskee maintain vids from ancient Crimson. I’ve watched all the footage having any military content. The hardware design is ancient, from the early days of stellar exploration, when Crimson colonized Turkskee. But this equipment looks almost new.
“Remember, Crimson was technologically advanced, traveling to other star systems. The military equipment we’re seeing, if fully functional, is at the level of current Earth hardware. Maybe better. There will be robust energetic shielding.”
Martin, a GG guy, spoke up. “Are you sure, Steve? I keep hearing talk of how the Empire conquered Crimson, more than 2,000 years ago. For sure, they managed to set up a portal gate here. Brother, we’re getting ready to slug it out with the Empire. How can this ancient hardware be anywhere near the level of Earth Interstellar Mil-spec?”
Steve sniggered, just a little. “I see. You think the citizens of the Empire are innovative, constantly moving forward with tech. The lazy Primers don’t advance. Their military tech has hardly changed at all in thousands of years. If anything, their main guns are less destructive.
“They attack planetary systems that are manageable. It’s not as though the Primers want for anything. They don’t NEED any more planets in their Empire. Their invasion process is automated; their equipment good en
ough. The Empire management program for conquered worlds is simple. Retain a military and tech edge by keeping a boot on the throats of the people.”
Steve took a breath and shrugged. “Except for spacecraft. They have been advancing of late in that sector. Any work related to space flight carries high social rewards.
“Any the way, the Empire underestimated humans. Earthers aren’t lazy at all. With a little push, and a couple of suggestions, you advance 1,000 years in one gigantic leap. That’s why they fear you.”
As Steve finished talking, one of the Crimson saucers flew near at low altitude, then jumped up to 80,000 feet almost instantly. The tech seemed amazing, beyond our capabilities. Tee glanced at Billings to be sure he had the saucer targeted with a Manly. Billings gave a thumbs-up for targeting, but shook his head in doubt at me, as we shared a moment of concern. We probably didn’t have anything that could knock the thing down. Not with us. Could we risk a run back home for supplies, knowing we had been exposed to a terrible plague?
Tee looked around the camp and pitched his voice so all could hear. “Everyone, listen up. We don’t know if this new group is hostile or here to help. Let’s be cautious. We’re going to pack up and move to Beta.
“Chang, see if you can communicate with that ship. Audio. Laser display. I don’t care if you have to send up a flare.
“Roddy, get some more floaters up. I don’t want anyone sneaking up on us while we pack.”
The saucer stood watch over our camp, but no one on board was interested in chatting with Chang. We definitely needed some breathing room. The port-techs for GG and Dirty Feet were among the wounded and captured four. That was unfortunate. Rock and Roll would have to port all of us around, as well as our equipment. To keep our porting capability hidden, we split into several groups, moved under a large rock shelf, and in that way moved on to Beta. The clock was ticking, with everyone feeling the pressure to hurry and retrieve our wounded. We rushed to cobble together an action plan. Hopefully it would suffice.
***
Rock, Fierce, Steve and I untangled, under cloak, deep inside the cavern system near the portal gate. We had planted several creepers at the entrance to the cavern before we moved on to Beta. Those had scurried deep into the tunnels, looking like harmless bugs, tuned to find the source of any electromagnetic signals. Three of the four creepers ended up in a huge cavern brimming with electronic equipment. They gathered all sorts of data, including a good Porting Zone, then scurried back out of the caverns to send us their report.
The PZ was near an electronics room, with only two technicians in the area, working at what looked to be computer consoles. We moved in close and hit them with a doper based on Steve’s physiology. They collapsed in a deep sleep. After taking a moment to take blood samples and a quick scan, I moved to stand watch as the others hurried to the computers.
The system was live, with no access codes, so Fierce found it easy to scroll around the database, seeking intel helpful to our operation. Rock and Steve rummaged around to find some compact storage units. Soon, Fierce had a sizable list of files to copy, with no means to download.
I was cloaked, on watch, when Steve found a storage drive, and two guards appeared out of a hidden side tunnel. They lifted their weapons, in no mood to ask questions. I hit one with a stun bolt. The other stepped back and called for reinforcements. Fierce launched the drive and called out he could use a little more time with the machine.
I uncloaked long enough to let the guys know what I intended, then extended a cloaking field around Fierce. Rock and Steve moved to covering positions, hoping to give Fierce his extra time. The cavern erupted in bright flashes of energy as Crimson troopers closed in, barely slowed by Rock and Steve’s return fire. Fierce kept working without a flinch. Two thick clouds caught my attention, drifting through the cavern, as energetic weapon discharges flashed all around. I punched Fierce in the shoulder to get his attention. He was done and pocketed the drive as he turned for a look.
It became apparent the clouds were moving to the positions of Rock and Steve, prompting me to call out. Stupid cloak, no one outside could see or hear me. I kneeled, dragging Fierce with me, uncloaking to shout my warning. They looked all around, but it was as though they couldn’t see the clouds from their angle. The clouds enveloped them in a caustic embrace, dropping them to the ground, either dead or unconscious, while Crimson soldiers surrounded them, and targeted us.
I exchanged my stunner for a blaster, part of me registering there were too many for us to prevail in a firefight. Should we cloak again and make a run for it? Should we surrender?
A voice came out of a speaker on the wall, capturing my attention all the more when I realized the words were in English, with no traces of a translator modulation. “Now, now. No more disappearing tricks. We are watching. You will die in fire if you attempt an escape. Submit and stay where you are.”
Fierce Nanem’ed so they wouldn’t hear. “I’m sure it’s the voice of the guy from the settlement. After what I’ve seen, we don’t want to be taken captive by these guys. I’ll draw their fire while you cloak and squeeze between the equipment, just to your left. You can fit. See you on the other side, Cuz.”
I grabbed his arm and held on with all the strength I could muster, but he broke free with a simple waterfall twist of his wrist, and was in motion.
Fierce! I lunged for him and wound up falling flat on my face at the Beta PZ. Roll had ported to the cavern to see what was taking us so long, resulting in our timely rescue.
It was then I noticed Steve was there, rubbing his eyes as though he had just woken up. “Steve! I thought they got you with the gas.” Then I thought of Rock, and it was all I could do to keep from crying.
Steve understood my mood. “The gas made me swoon. Is that what you call it? Swoon? It must be less toxic if you’re of Crimson, which I am, sort of. I crawled over to you guys in all the commotion.
“Hey, there, Viz. Don’t worry, it’s a knock-out gas. We’ll get Rock back. For sure we will.”
Roddy came running up. “We’ve got a bunch of those monster-carrying-things heading our way.”
Tee looked concerned. “There are no satellites. Our Logan shows no saucers in the area. How could they have discovered our position so quickly? We’ve got to bring an end this chase.”
Roll looked torn. I know he wanted to port back for Rock, futile move or not.
Tee had noticed Roll as well. “Roll, we need to move on. No time to be choosey. We’ll use the site you spotted earlier for a Gamma PZ. And we’ll get Rock back.
“Fierce, have you figured out a way to move the Gall data from the storage drive to our own equipment? Excellent. We’ll talk when we get to Gamma. Go with Roll in the first port and transfer the data.
“GG, reinforce our perimeter. All weapons hot. Set SAWs and some tubes.”
I was vigilant, my back against the trunk of a tree with a mini-20 at the ready, when instinct induced me to roll to the side. The monster slammed into the tree where my head had been. They might emit a high-pitched whine when they fly. I cloaked, holding the field tight to my form. The thing’s head rolled back and forth, wondering what had just happened. That gave me time to squeeze off a round. Dead! Someone cried out in pain just as the SAWs opened up.
I heard a shout, “Saucer! Manly up!” Next came a whoosh and a nuclear flash at high altitude. A thunderous roar soon would follow.
Roll called my name, and I ran, not letting go of my cloaking field until I was right next to him. The guys with the SAWs ran up and we ported to Gamma.
By the time our last group untangled to the new location, Fierce had pulled the data from the storage drive and accessed a quputer over the QuIM system to do some fast crunching. Tee must have relayed our situation and received special permission. Moving that much data back and forth instantly across hundreds of light years would be expensive.
Another stupid thought intruded; a hope that reinforcements would soon arrive from Earth. That wasn’t likely
in this fluid and plague-filled situation. At least there was time for a caffeine dump, the call of a coffee break already enough to start my perk-up.
***
It turns out I was correct. No reinforcements. But we need a restock, especially ammo. Solcom has set up a quarantine Porting Zone at Oort Base, so Roll can port and gather supplies. They’re considering a biohaz setup there, at Oort, as well. The supply run is going to take a few minutes, so we’ve set a robust perimeter defense, while the rest of us gather to review the intel Fierce extracted. We need a plan to get our guys back and end this.
Fierce is ready to report, quputer programs already done sorting and summarizing the data. “I think we should call these creatures Gall. Para, can you explain?”
Our biologist, Para, had a vacant look. “You mean, like poison? No. Hold on. I get it. Like oak trees and such. There’s a parasitic insect that lays eggs on oak leaf buds. The resulting larvae infest the tree with their secretions, provoking the tree to grow the gall. Tree gall are ball shaped, housing the insect larvae until they mature and move on. How horrible. These poor people!
“Those nasty flying things attacking us must be the mature form. The actual term, gall, probably fits best with the cysts on the carries. Those growths must be habitat for the larvae. But, okay, close enough. These poor people are the Infested of Gall.”
Fierce nodded. “Exactly. There are two types of Gall. Immature Gall, the larvae form, inhabit the cysts on the carriers, like you said. They think of the carriers as their nesting thrall. I didn’t misspeak, by the way. The larvae must be capable of thought. Maybe a hive mind or something. I’m not sure.
“The nest thralls are mindless, spending most of the time in hibernation, sometimes for centuries or longer, while the immature Gall slowly feed and grow. They lie in wait, like in those dirt mounds, until another suitable body comes along, for the next part of the cycle. When they smell a body. I think that’s how it works. The Gall breeders smell a body and prompt the nest thrall to waken. Those mature enough then attack the victim, in order to lay their eggs.
Invasion: Journal Three (Shockwave Book 3) Page 6