by Ken Lozito
Sean and Captain Diaz stood at attention and snapped a salute.
"As you were," General Hayes said. "What's the status of the ryklar situation? Is this an animal migration, or is something else prompting this sudden movement in their population?"
"We're not sure yet, General. I have multiple CDF teams doing remote reconnaissance, but without eyes in the sky it's taking a lot longer than we'd anticipated," Sean replied.
"That's not likely to change—the eyes in the sky, I mean. Even if we started building satellites, it would take weeks to get what we need. So break it down for me and give me your best guess," General Hayes said.
"I've ordered the recall of all colonists to the population centers here at Sierra, New Haven, and Delphi. All Field Ops missions have been recalled and canceled. However, we still have a small number of colonists outside the population centers. These colonists are mostly made up of scientists and support personnel at the FORBs. I’ve mobilized the infantry in preparation to defend the main population centers, along with a contingency force that will be sent to Sanctuary this afternoon," Sean replied.
General Hayes nodded. "Have you heard anything from Connor?"
Sean shook his head. "He's currently out in the field, and this update just came in less than an hour ago. One of Sanctuary’s field survey expeditions has lost contact and they’ve gone to investigate. They did detect a powerful NEIIS signal broadcast, but it cut off almost immediately. We've had a few other CDF teams report similar broadcasts, but we’re not sure what they mean. I’ve tasked CDF Intelligence with analysis of the signal data. We do know it's not the latent NEIIS protection protocol that triggered the ryklar attack when we were first establishing the colony."
"What are our options for city defense?" General Hayes asked.
"Our infantry is well armed, but our best guess is that the ryklar population heading our way is at least a million. This number updates almost hourly, and there’s some overlap between the reconnaissance missions. Our computer systems are disseminating the data and putting forth that number as its best estimate. The problem is that the ryklars don't move in one massive force. They’re pretty widespread, and we only occupy a tiny portion of this continent so visibility beyond our immediate area is quite limited. We can hold them off for a time, but the vehemence of the ryklar engagement depends on what's triggering their mass migration, meaning that if this activity is some other NEIIS protection-type protocol, the ryklars may throw themselves at our population centers almost without regard to themselves," Sean said.
"And we don't understand why they're suddenly migrating in the first place," General Hayes said, his gaze sliding to Captain Diaz. "What's your take on this, Captain?"
"I say we unleash holy hell on them, General. We have heavy weapons and we should use them," Captain Diaz said.
"I don't disagree with you, Captain," General Hayes said and looked back at Sean. "What do you think about using heavy weapons on the rykars, Colonel?"
"It's an option but not one I want to commit to at this time," Sean said. "I have a couple of reasons for this. One, there would be an uproar from the colonists about wiping out an entire species, not to mention creating a significant environmental impact on our home. Secondly, heavy weapons on the planetary surface would take a toll that would require years to recover from. If it comes down to it, I have no issue with protecting the colony, even at the expense of the ryklars, but simply pointing our heaviest weapons at them doesn't necessarily make the problem go away. We don't know how many ryklars there actually are. This supercontinent could be home to quite a few of them, many more than our weapons could even take out. We need to understand what’s triggered the migration, as well as defend the population centers."
General Hayes considered this for a moment. "Alright, Colonel, we'll do it your way. It sounds like we’re still in the information-gathering stage, but if there’s a significant risk to the colony, you’re authorized to bring the option of using heavy weapons against the ryklars to the governor for approval.”
"Understood, General. I’ll keep you apprised of the situation,” Sean said.
"Very well. Carry on," General Hayes said.
As the comlink closed, the wallscreens returned to their normal display of CDF alerts and activities.
"What do you need from me, sir?" Captain Diaz said.
Sean brought up a map that highlighted the colonial cities, as well as the evacuated forward operating research bases. "This large swath to the north is our blind spot."
Captain Diaz peered at the map and then pointed to an area far to the right. "Sanctuary, in addition to being the farthest east, is located pretty far north itself."
"Yeah, but the ryklar activity being reported is to the west," Sean replied.
"Even so, perhaps we can spare a few Hellcats to do a proper survey of the area near Sanctuary," Captain Diaz said.
"Since Connor’s been living there, they've already done a pretty extensive survey given the capabilities of their equipment," Sean replied.
Captain Diaz nodded. "Yes, but it is a blind spot, and we’ve got better equipment.”
Sean sighed. "Fine. Take a platoon and do a bit of your own reconnaissance using Sanctuary as your base of operations."
"Right away, Colonel," Captain Diaz said and left.
Sean gazed at the map for a few moments more. Prior to the ryklar alert, he’d received a message from Connor highlighting their lack of insight into the area they were living in and pointing out that it was going to cause problems in the long run. The colony was focused on rebuilding what they’d lost and perhaps they should have devoted more resources to further study of their new home. A majority of the supercontinent remained largely unexplored.
There was a soft knock at the door and Corporal Hudson stuck his head in. "The Colonial Defense Committee is waiting for you, Colonel."
"I'll be right there," Sean replied and gathered the materials he needed for his next meeting. One thing he could always count on since taking this post was the seemingly endless number of meetings.
Chapter Twenty-One
Lieutenant Maddox stood in their temporary encampment at the largest NEIIS city he'd ever laid eyes on. Bronze-colored monoliths reached to the sky, dotting the horizon. He’d used the monoliths as tactical references for the drones they had patrolling the city.
The city had very little structural damage, aside from some overgrown plant life making an effort to reclaim what the NEIIS had left behind. Maddox had no idea how old the city was and didn’t much care. He was more interested in what they’d found here. Their ryklar hunt had led them to the origin of the initial signal burst. They'd cleared the area of ryklars and established sonic emitters, configured to send out a signal to keep the creatures away, but there were still ryklars in the vast city and there were limitations to what their twenty-four-man team could accomplish.
The CDF encampment was located amongst a central complex of NEIIS buildings. The ryklars had initially tried to ambush them there, but the CDF team had unleashed the fury of their weapons. They’d burned the corpses, but sometimes the ryklars returned despite the sonic emitters. They always approached from different attack vectors, probing the encampment’s defenses. Maddox had deployed a full complement of twelve recon drones that were patrolling the immediate area.
The NEIIS city was easily eight kilometers across, but despite its vastness, there were no inhabitants. Like everything else they found on New Earth, the NEIIS had simply vanished. He didn’t like the emptiness of the city. It was almost like they were camped at a vast graveyard, but where were the ghosts? The NEIIS civilization had created cities that Maddox guessed had spanned the supercontinent, so where the hell did they all go? What happened to them?
Maddox turned to the Hellcat and started walking toward it as the ground crunched under his feet. He walked up the ramp and headed back toward where Captain Fletcher was resting. Corporal Gibbs’ back blocked his view of the captain, but the corporal turned at his ap
proach, his face pale and his eyes wide in shock.
"I don’t know what happened, sir. Captain Fletcher is dead," Corporal Gibbs said in a hushed tone.
Maddox rushed to Captain Fletcher’s side and looked down at him. There was no steady rise and fall of his chest, and the bio-signs on the monitor were all flat-lined. Maddox narrowed his gaze. "What do you mean you don't know what happened? How did he die, Corporal?”
Corporal Gibbs glanced down at the captain for a moment, bewildered. "I was coming back here to check on his wounds. The medipaste had made steady progress with healing his lacerations. Then I received an alert that the medical nanites were failing. By the time I got back here he was already dead, sir.”
Maddox used his implants to access the onboard medical computer interface and view the alert for himself. Gibbs was right; the nanites were failing to repair the internal damage. Maddox also noted that several systems failure messages hadn’t sent alerts. He slammed his fist on the side bulkhead and snarled.
Corporal Gibbs flinched. “Sir, I . . . I didn’t know—” he began, but Maddox cut him off.
"This isn't your fault, Corporal. This is equipment failure . . . goddamn equipment failure,” Maddox said in a bitter tone.
Corporal Gibbs swallowed and looked down at Captain Fletcher's body. "Sir, he shouldn’t have died. If I’d been here, I could've saved him."
Maddox clenched his teeth. Captain Fletcher was dead. He looked around at the rough state of their equipment on the Hellcat. Much of it was merely patched together, used well past its intended lifecycle.
He heard someone run up the loading ramp and then gasp.
"The captain . . . Is he dead?” Corporal Lasky asked.
Maddox glared at the corporal, whose mouth was agape. "Yes. Go summon the rest of the platoon. Now!" Maddox barked.
Corporal Lasky tore his eyes away from Captain Fletcher's body and immediately ran back down the loading ramp. Maddox could hear Lasky shouting for the CDF soldiers to return to the Hellcat.
Maddox felt his rage boil up to the surface as he placed his hand on Captain Fletcher’s shoulder. “I promise to make this right, sir,” he said softly and removed his hand. He looked at Corporal Gibbs. "I want you to come outside with me while I address the men," Maddox said.
Corporal Gibbs turned his wide-eyed gaze toward Maddox, then reluctantly headed for the loading ramp. Maddox followed him down. The CDF soldiers were gathering outside the Hellcat, forming a circle.
Sergeant Flint was among the last to arrive, but Maddox had expected as much since he was the farthest away. Maddox held his AR-71 in his hands with practiced familiarity as the rest of the squad waited to be addressed.
Maddox looked around grimly. “Captain Fletcher has died," he said and gave them a moment to take the information in. More than a few people glanced at Corporal Gibbs as if to confirm the news from the medic. "His death had nothing to do with Corporal Gibbs. The captain's death is directly related to equipment failure on board the Hellcat, equipment we trust our lives to and that we’re being called on to utilize long after it should have been dumped for salvage.”
Sergeant Flint raised his hand and Maddox jutted his chin up, signaling his second-in-command to speak. "What sort of equipment failure caused Captain Fletcher’s death, sir?” he asked.
“The comms system failed to send alert messages until it was too late," Maddox replied.
Sergeant Flint frowned in thought and didn't say anything.
Maddox swept his gaze toward the rest of the platoon. "I guess this really shouldn't be a surprise—the equipment failure, I mean. The CDF hasn't been getting the support it needs and now it's cost Captain Fletcher his life."
There were several head–bobs of agreement among the soldiers.
"What's our next move, sir?" Chief Spencer asked.
Sergeant Flint turned toward Spencer. "We report Captain Fletcher's death to COMCENT and return to Sierra as we were ordered, Chief.”
Several squad members glanced at Sergeant Flint, looking as if the thought of returning to Sierra didn’t appeal to them in the slightest.
"On the surface, that seems like the correct thing to do," Maddox said, claiming their attention once more. "We can return to Sierra with Captain Fletcher's body, where his death will undoubtedly be determined a tragic accident, but will it fix the problem?” He paused, letting the question percolate in their minds for a moment.
“What problem is that, sir?" Chief Spencer asked.
"The problem is that the whole colony has been negligent in their support of the CDF. We put our lives on the line for them, and once the immediate danger passed, they cast us aside like vermin. Even from within our own ranks this negligence has spread. Captain Fletcher informed me that we’ve been recalled to Sierra so we can undergo psych evaluations. These orders came after we rescued former CDF General Connor Gates, the very same man who turned his back on the entire Colonial Defense Force. And for what? Because we killed a few ryklars? I, for one, won’t lose any sleep over that and neither did Captain Fletcher. He didn't disclose this information to the rest of you because he thought it was unfair, and I agreed with him. The CDF has lost its way. The colony has lost its way. We have an opportunity here should we choose to exploit it."
Sergeant Flint’s brows pulled together tightly. "Sir, our orders are clear. Captain Fletcher should have—”
“Captain Fletcher made a decision to investigate the NEIIS signal broadcast,” Maddox said firmly. “He was in stable condition, and if the CDF had proper support from the colony, he'd still be alive. So don't talk to me about what Captain Fletcher should have done, Sergeant. Instead, bring your attention to what the colony should've done," Maddox said and glared at the sergeant until he looked away. Maddox swung his gaze toward the other soldiers and saw the same angry glint in many of their gazes. "Specialist Stackhouse, why don’t you share with the rest of the men what you told me less than an hour ago?"
Specialist Stackhouse blinked his brown eyes rapidly in surprise at being called out. He was of average height and build and carried a few pieces of specialized technical equipment.
“Yes, Lieutenant,” Specialist Stackhouse said and began to address the men. "We’ve found a control interface room that appears to be the source of the NEIIS signal burst. One of the protocols appears to be related to the ryklars." Maddox waited a few moments. "So it's no accident the ryklars have increased their activity. I say we use that. I say we use the NEIIS technology to make the colony realize how much they need the CDF."
“Are you saying we can control the ryklars?” Sergeant Flint asked.
Specialist Stackhouse shook his head. “No, we can’t. At least not yet, I think. I’m not an expert in the NEIIS language. I just know enough that I’m able to translate some of the symbols using the known-symbols database. This indicates that what I’m seeing has to do with ryklars.”
Maddox held his arms up, his palms facing upward. “So, you see, we can’t just leave. We can gather intelligence here that the CDF needs.”
“But Lieutenant, you mentioned using the NEIIS technology to make the colony appreciate the CDF. How do you propose to do that?” Corporal Gibbs asked.
Maddox had expected the question to come from Sergeant Flint, so he added Gibbs and Flint to a very short list of people who would need watching. “You saw the latest alerts. There’s a massive ryklar migration heading south, right for colonial settlements. If we can work out how to control the ryklars here and now, we can be heroes.”
Maddox glanced around at the platoon and saw several soldiers’ eyes brighten at the mention of being heroes but not as many as he’d thought he would. Many of them had a hardened glint in their eyes. They were angry, just like he was. He almost felt as if he were looking in the mirror. But he saw that not all of them felt that way. Sergeant Flint gave him a wary look.
“I can tell that some of you don’t care about being heroes. We’ve already saved the colony once. If Captain Fletcher were still alive, he�
�d be urging us to stay here and learn all we can. What’s there to rush back to Sierra for? Psych evaluations? Screw that!” Maddox said and brought his gaze to Sergeant Flint. “My orders are that we stay here and continue our investigation into this site. Top priority is given to the investigation of the NEIIS control interface room. Fall out.”
The CDF soldiers began to disperse and Maddox waved Sergeant Flint over.
“What’s on your mind, Sergeant?” Maddox asked.
“Permission to speak freely, Lieutenant?” Sergeant Flint asked.
“Granted,” Maddox replied.
“Sir, I know you and Captain Fletcher were close. Losing him in this way has gotta be tough. And I just want you to know I understand your frustration with CDF Command and the colonial government. But I’m concerned that with everything that’s been happening . . . I think your anger might be affecting your judgment,” Sergeant Flint said.
Maddox drew in a breath and sighed. “I know that couldn’t have been easy for you to say. You're second-in-command now and it’s your responsibility to raise those concerns with me. I am angry . . . I’m furious. You’re right about that, but my judgment has never been clearer. I’ll always do what I think is best for our platoon and the CDF. I’ll follow our orders, but when we’re out in the field, we have a little bit of latitude in how we carry them out. Is that understood?”
Sergeant Flint met his gaze. “Yes, Lieutenant.”
Maddox didn’t believe him. He knew it in his gut; Flint was going to be a problem.