by Ricky Sides
On the day before the peacekeepers were to pull out of Alamo, the people of the city threw a feast in their honor. During that gathering of most of the townspeople, Jim walked out into the open and using a wireless microphone, he called for everyone’s attention. Still using the microphone that was channeled through an amplifier, he said, “Peacekeepers! Attention!”
The peacekeepers present all rose to their feet and Pete walked up to stand beside Jim. “Sergeant Wilcox, front and center!” Jim ordered and a moment later, the sergeant stood before him at a rigid attention. The crew of the Peacekeeper with the exception of the two duty guards who were aboard the ship, formed up behind their shipmate. Upon this rare occasion, even the two children were present.
“Sergeant Wilcox, you have displayed bravery above and beyond the call of duty upon numerous occasions. In every way, you exemplify that which a peacekeeper should strive to achieve. Further, you have displayed a leadership ability that goes well beyond your current rank of Sergeant. No matter how difficult the task you seem to have the ability to see that it is accomplished in a timely and orderly fashion. The evacuation of the citizens of Alamo is just the latest in a series of leadership roles that you have successfully filled. Therefore it is our pleasure to bestow upon you the rank and privileges of a lieutenant in the peacekeeper corp. Congratulations, Lieutenant,” Jim said in conclusion.
Pete stepped forward to pin lieutenant’s bars on the man’s collars, after which he congratulated Lieutenant Wilcox and then stepped back beside Jim.
With a warm smile for the new lieutenant, Jim continued, “Furthermore in recognition for the valor you have so often displayed in combat, we wish to award you with the one medal that we, the council of the peacekeepers, agree we should have to award to those who merit recognition, above and beyond that which rank in our assemblage conveys. Lieutenant Wilcox, please step forward and accept the highest honor that we as peacekeepers can convey upon you, which is the peacekeeper medal of valor.”
The lieutenant stepped forward to the roaring applause of the peacekeepers and the assembled citizens of Alamo. Pete removed a medal from another box. This medal was attached to a ribbon. Solemnly Pete approached Lieutenant Wilcox and draped the ribbon around his neck, permitting the medal to fall onto the center of the man’s chest.
The council had asked some peacekeepers with jewelry crafting experience to devise a medal that depicted a man and a woman armed with rifles leading a band of people from a burning city. The jewelers had first drafted drawings of the concepts seen from different angles and with different overall positioning of the people depicted. The council, which was composed of Pete, Jim, and Tim, had then selected the drawing most favored, and a mold had been created. Those molds, along with a supply of the medals now resided in the vault at Base 1, the peacekeeper’s original base. Each member of the council kept one of the medals among his private possessions to bestow upon a member of the peacekeepers in the field, should the need arise and the council agree that the medal was warranted. Today, they would bestow two. One man would receive the medal and another would be awarded to a woman.
As the applause died down, Jim used the microphone once more, as he said, “Private Beth Carter, front and center!” This time the Tennessee Peacekeepers edged closer as the crew of the ship moved aside so that a young woman could approach to stand nervously before the assembled council of the peacekeepers. She’d been nervous at the battle as well, but when her sergeant had been wounded and fallen off the barricade onto the Marauder’s side Beth had reacted. She leapt atop the barricade and dropped to stand in front of the unconscious man, firing her rifle at all who tried to approach her sergeant until the weapon ran dry. Then she’d dropped her rifle and drawn her pistol, using the sidearm until that too was empty. Dropping her empty pistol, she’d drawn her knife to defend herself, but several men from her unit joined her and rescued the downed sergeant, frustrating the Marauders who wanted to take her captive and finish off the sergeant. Private Carter’s defense of her wounded Sergeant had been so fierce that she had given her unit the time they needed to organize a rescue.
“Private Beth Carter, your bravery, and nobility in combat in the face of overwhelming odds are an inspiration to this council. You epitomize the very best qualities that we hope to instill in the hearts of peacekeepers. For your conduct above and beyond the call of duty, the council wishes to award you the peacekeeper medal of valor,” Jim said solemnly.
Pete stepped forward and smiled at the nervous private. He opened the box and draped the medal around her neck permitting it to fall to the center of her chest. Her sergeant sitting in a chair nearby smiled on as the private shyly thanked Pete who then stepped back beside Jim. The peacekeepers and the citizens of Alamo gave an eager round of applause, none louder than the Tennessee group who were honoring one of their own.
“Peacekeepers, let the nobility and courage of, Lieutenant Wilcox, and, Private Carter, serve as an inspiration to you all as they have inspired us. In conclusion, I’d like to say that I’m reminded on a daily basis just how dangerous and difficult our life as peacekeepers can be, but I’m also reminded daily of the quality of the men and women who complete their training to become peacekeepers. Ladies and gentlemen of the peacekeepers, it’s an honor to serve on your council,” he said with dignity.
***
In the cemetery, at the peacekeeper home base, were three fresh graves of the peacekeepers who had died at Alamo. The crowds of peacekeepers had all gone now, and only one lone figure stood staring at the markers. “I’m sorry you died men,” Pete said softly, as he stood there in the cold winter misty rain that had begun to fall. “But you didn’t die in vain. We saved more than a thousand people from the Marauders who would’ve tormented them, and your sacrifice helped make that possible.”
Reading the simple motto, “Some gave all,” Pete thought about just how very true those simple words were.
***
In the panhandle of Florida, the assembled men waited for two days past the time when Big Red and his boys should have joined them and then they headed on out of the area to carry out their plans without the support of the renegade band of bikers that Big Red had assembled. His last radio contact had mentioned that he was fighting the peacekeepers. Well that name would bear remembering. Their plans would eventually take them to that area of the country and when that happened, they would remember. Oh yeah, they would remember.
The End
The Peacekeepers,
Liberty or Death.
Book 3
By Ricky Sides
Copyright © 2008
Cover art by Todd Aune
Edited by Frankie Sutton
Chapter 1
The armorer had just finished his assessment of the minigun mounted in the nose of the ship and given Jim and Pete his assessment. The weapon was in superb condition. Of course, it would require a thorough cleaning before reloading, but he had experience in just that sort of work since the module used in the ship was a standard unit. He had suggested that they give two crewmen with the aptitude some training, so that in an emergency, they could reload the weapon and he explained that with a bit of training they would be able to clean the weapon and reload it in about an hour.
The armorer had pointed out that ammunition would be a concern since the weapon had an incredible rate of fire. Jim assured him that only when the situation demanded it would the use of the weapon be employed, and he pointed out that generally the energy weapons of the ship were a better choice for them because of their precision and the fact that they were a renewable resource. However, the conventional weapon was far superior against multiple, highly mobile, small targets that needed stopping in moments.
The armorer suggested that they start looking for extra supplies of the ammunition, because at the rate of fire of the minigun, their current supply of the ammunition would be used in a very short time. This would be true even if they only fired the weapon once every other month. During that part of
their discussions, the armorer had suggested that they consider returning to some of the ammunition factories they had stripped in the past and retrieve the components for reloading the ammunition. “We didn’t foresee the need for the amount of ammunition which would warrant the trouble of setting up a loading center for the 7.62 cartridge at the time, but that was before we knew we had this baby,” the armorer said patting the barrels of the minigun fondly.
Jim and Pete promised to look into that matter. The ship would most likely be able to transport the components and dies that they needed to load their own ammunition, but with the addition of the weapon to the ship it might be more prudent to send out teams to secure the components from the three factories that they knew were still standing. They were aware of the condition of these factories because they had already taken all of the preloaded ammunition housed in the abandoned facilities.
Inside the ship, Patricia and Pol were working diligently to set up a proper screen interface for the new weapon system. To access the weapons system in its current configuration, Pete would have to request its activation from the communications officer. Crucial moments were lost as this exchange took place. Pete wanted to eliminate that inefficient loss of time. In addition, it would be much better if the gunner could actually see the ammunition supply remaining at a glance and not have to request that information. In the heat of battle, a gunner had to make snap decisions when it came to targeting. Knowledge of the ammunition remaining available for use was a critical factor in making such decisions in an intelligent manner. The delay in transferring the critical information to the gunner was simply unacceptable.
The work was going well. There was an auxiliary screen already in position. At the moment, the two developers were just transferring the proper programs to the smaller computer that the gunner would access. They wanted to keep it as simple as possible so that only the weapons system tied into this unit. In this manner, the accessing of the correct program would happen the moment the system activation occurred.
Pete reminded the two developers that the armorer was still working on the weapon system and cautioned them not to activate the weapon. They assured him that no accidental activation of the weapon would occur, and that they would be careful never to activate it at all since they weren’t the designated gunners.
Jim asked if Patricia had located any other files containing development information that might be of use to them and she said, “Nothing fantastic, but yes I did find a few.”
Laughing, Pol said, “It would seem everyone had their little files for improving the ship design for the next generation ship. The communications developer really wanted to go with a video interface, but audio is sufficient for our needs.”
“Then there’s the improvements that dad wanted to make in the alloy that comprises the skin of the ship. He was toying with the notion of increasing the thickness of the alloy in strategic locations to the point that it could withstand a direct hit from a moderately strong missile. That is not possible for us to capitalize upon because the component materials are extremely hard to come by without the government resources that we had at our disposal,” Patricia explained.
“But that file did contain information regarding the types of weaponry that the ship could survive,” Pol interjected.
“Yes and that information will prove useful,” Patricia conceded. Glancing at her husband she added, “Tim always suspected that the windshield was our Achilles heel. He was right in that suspicion. However, even the windshield can survive RPG attacks, though certain more powerful rounds such as armor piercing rounds fired from light artillery would penetrate the windshield.”
“But conventional weapons below the heavy machinegun class are survivable,” Patricia said. She added, “A concentrated burst of fire from a fifty caliber machinegun in a small area of the windshield, would eventually punch through. However, as Pete says, given sufficient time, that load would also punch through a concrete wall. So I am working on a program that would allow the computer to automatically take evasive action should sensors indicate that the ship is taking fire.”
“Well that information alone is worth the effort of doing the search,” Jim said, and then he asked, “Have you completed the search on all of the developers already?”
“I’m not certain on that score, Captain,” Patricia admitted. “You see some of the files were well hidden. It’s as if everyone wanted to keep their future development files secret, and they went to great lengths to conceal them.” Pausing she frowned and said, “Malcolm was the worst. He buried his files in the cleverest of manners. He had plans for a futuristic weapon that would be an energy version of the minigun, but he felt strongly that the ship should have a conventional weapon to back up the energy weapons.”
Pete turned and stared at her. “Did he have schematics for building such a unit?” he asked.
“Well, yes he did, but I thought that you shared his view that we needed a conventional weapon for a backup,” Patricia said confused by his apparent reversal.
“For the ship yes, but such an energy weapon would be a welcome addition to our base defenses. And if they could be manufactured, then perhaps they could be adapted to our other peacekeeper vehicles.”
“Unfortunately, the design specs indicate that the energy required to operate the weapon would make it impossible, even for this ship to utilize. A normal vehicle is out of the question,” Pol said warming to the subject, since it dealt with his specialty. “However, yes it could be used to defend a base assuming that the base has access to a power grid but the power required is enormous. In all probability you would fry the connections so in my opinion the weapon would not be worth the time, effort and energy required to make it function.”
“Look, I’m not trying to argue with you, Pol. I know that this deals with your specialty, but such a weapon could be used to defend the base against things like tanks couldn’t it?”
“No my friend it could not,” Pol stated with quiet assurance. “You see to make the weapon function in a manner similar to the minigun it must fire bullet sized beams at the target. I did the math on those beams and they would lack the power to penetrate armored vehicles though to be sure the weapon would score the armor. However, to penetrate the thinnest of tank armors would require them to aim the weapon at the tank for several minutes in the same spot. However, it would be a great antipersonnel weapon. It is strictly an antipersonnel weapon, but remember that the energy required to make the weapon function means it has to be in a fixed position, and I suspect the best connections would burn out within five minutes.”
“Making it pretty difficult to train with the weapon,” Pete said frowning.
Nodding his head Pol said, “And the damage to the connections is cumulative.”
“Meaning after one minute of test firing you have four minutes left in the life of the electrical connections,” Pete’s frown deepened.
“At best yes,” Pol agreed.
“Thank you for your patience with me, Pol,” Pete said.
“I wish the news were better my friend,” Pol said sadly. “I can understand your interest in such a weapon. In many ways, it is superior to those aboard this ship. It can target a much wider area and would have been as effective as the minigun in our last encounter with the motorcyclists. Alas I fear the weapon is simply not practical.”
“That’s too bad. We could use some decent energy weapons as a form of base defense,” Pete said shaking his head in disappointment.
“Sadly the only energy weapon that I could build for you would be one of the models such as the forward laser on the ship,” Pol said in resignation.
Pete stared hard at the scientist for a moment, causing Pol to ask, “Did I say something wrong my friend?”
Jim smiled and said, “I think he may be interested in some of those weapons if you can build them.”
“For the base, yes it can be done. For the peacekeeper fleet of vehicles no it cannot. You see they’d never have the power needed to m
ake the weapons function. And bear in mind that to build these weapons would require something that I am not certain we can obtain, and that is access to Malcolm’s private storeroom in our original development building.”
“Great, we can go try to recover the equipment you need. If it’s there we’ll try to build the lasers,” Pete said smiling.
“Wait my friend, there is something that you should know,” Pol cautioned. Pete paused and waited for the scientist to say what was on his mind. Pol said, “I do know for a fact that Malcolm had some extra components. I also know that he had enough to build more weapons. I do not know how many, nor do I know with certainty that the components are at the location that I just mentioned. I believe that he would have kept them there, but Malcolm was ever the secretive sort. He may well have moved them to another location.”
“But you think that you can build them, if we find the parts?” Pete asked.
“Of that I am quite certain Pete. You see energy weapons transfer energy from the different components to a focal point where it projects toward a target. It’s mainly about transferring energy. We have Malcolm’s plans for the energy weapon, so yes friend. For me it is simply a matter of assembling the components. Malcolm has already accomplished the research and development. But remember, there are no guarantees. We may discover nothing we need is actually present at the former base.”
“Then we lose nothing but time. But if we could build even one laser for base defense, that would be a boon to the defense,” Pete said in excitement. “We’d have our tank killer.”
“Then may I suggest that we consider the trip in the near future?” Pol asked.