Burning Eagle

by Navin Weeraratne

  “What if they’re busy?” asked Neve. “No really, what if this is happening elsewhere? We’re two months overdue, and we’ve been sending Clarion Alpha encoded messages daily to the Hedron’s entanglement relay. Even if there’s a problem with the relay, they should have sent our relief by now.”

  “And a search party,” said the weapons officer.

  “I don’t know what’s going on back home, but we can’t assume too much,” said Cullins. “Orchestrating a simultaneous attack across interstellar space is a big enterprise. One I don’t think any race would attempt, without first studying their enemy. Our success so far suggests they have no real idea of our capabilities.”

  “All the more reason not to worry what Cluster Six can do,” said Kucinich. “It can’t be following a grand plan. It’s probably just moving to secure the Hedron, to block our exit and stop reinforcements.”

  “I’ve made my decision. We don’t know what that thing is,” he pointed at the lozenge, “but we know how important the Hedron is. We also know what kind of trouble the Union could be in for, if that falls into hostile hands.

  “There’s no confirmation from Paradiso either, that they’ve received any of our messages. At their current speed, the forward clusters will reach Paradiso in two years. We don’t have the fuel to race them, our best option is to return through the Hedron and warn Fleet.”

  “About the Hedron,” asked the Weapons Officer, “are we still planning to destroy it with the nova bomb?”

  “We are. We may have killed forty of their vessels, but they still have more than eight hundred left. I know I said we can’t assume too much about what’s happening back home, but we do know our relief never showed. Whatever Fleet’s problems, I don’t want to add to it and alien controlled Hedron.”

  “It might not work,” said Weapons. “Theoretically, even a nova bomb can’t do it.”

  “Theory doesn’t cut it. No one has ever tried to blow up a Hedron with a gigaton, antimatter, nuclear device. We can add that to our list of firsts on this tour.”

  “If we succeed, then Paradiso will be cut off,” said Kucinich. “Perhaps indefinitely. They’ll have to face the invasion on their own.”

  “Paradiso is already cut off. The last time anyone but the Patrol used the Hedron was over a year ago, and they weren’t heading for Paradiso. Once we’re through, they’ll be sent a real-time QE relay of what to expect. It’s the best chance they have, and we have plenty of data gathered on the enemy fleet.”

  “Getting that data back to Jupiter is probably one of the most important things we should be doing right now,” said Neve. “Forget intel, they’re not even going to believe us till they see these images and footages themselves.”

  “Get everything we have Neve, and encode it in Clarion Alpha. Our logs, gun camera footage, everything. We’ll do one last transmission.”

  Kucinich deflated. He stared at the wireframe lozenge in the air before him.

  “Good work, but our war is almost done,” Cullins put his hand on the man’s shoulder. “Someone else is going to have to deal with that space bacterium.”

  Sun Tzu X

  The warrior slipped through the bamboo stand. The blackened stalks crackled and green shoots broke through. Smoldering fragments crushed underfoot into ash. He stooped and cleared some with his hand. Beneath, the grass had regrown. The air was mountain clear. In the distance he heard birds.

  He reached the edge of the stand. The seams were splitting along the wasteland plains. Clutches of bamboo and pear trees poked through. In the distance he saw flying cranes.

  Something had disturbed them. He followed their lines of fear and saw the growing dust cloud. His knuckles whitened and he drew his blade, stepping forward. The heart of the dust cloud grew into a tiger. Its fur was red, its eyes burned like coals. It charged towards the warrior, who stood his ground.

  It stopped before him, and turned into a man in red armor.

  “Kublai?”

  Black teeth grinned, the Khan’s eyes still glowed. “It seems you are still very much alive.”

  “It has been put to test,” he sheathed his blade. “How did you get here?”

  “The Enemy weakened, and I slipped through. Did you not feel it?”

  “I did. At first I thought it was a trick, but the Eye is nowhere.”

  “The Eye? That is what you call him?”

  “There is much to tell. Much that the Sovereigns have already known, but kept from us.”

  “May the Sovereigns eat shit! They have written you off for dead. They shut Heaven, and have driven the petitioners from the gates, even I cannot reenter.”

  “Thank you brother,” he took his arm, “For coming here.”

  “I am only here in part, and not the greater. Where is it?” he looked behind Sun Tzu. “Where is the spear?”

  “It was taken from me.”

  “Then this ‘Eye’ knows its power. We must find it.”

  “Can you not make another?”

  “My greater part, can. I, cannot. It must be found again. Did you weaken him?” he gestured with a jade gauntlet, “Is this your work?”

  “No. It must have been the baselines. The Eye underestimates them; they must have found presented weakness and struck hard.”

  “Then may the king stand again, on the shoulders of his subjects. The strongest mountain is a people of one mind.”

  “You sound like Fu Xi.”

  “I have had to hear his nonsense for a very, very long time.”

  The two men began to walk across the plain.

  “And when we are done here,” said Sun Tzu, “We will march on Heaven. The time of the Sovereigns is over, Humanity will not be ruled. It is time we put Heaven to our own order.”

  Worms boiled out of the ground after them. They twisted into serpents, and grew wings.

  Cullins X

  The alien command and control carrier filled the Washington’s main viewer. People kept stopping to stare at it – confident, educated minds trying to understand. Pulse rates rose, shoulders tensed. An ensign snapped at another: it wasn’t working out between them anyway.

  “Science, what am I looking at?”

  “Enemy structure is completely organic, Sir. Upper surface is covered in river mud.”

  “How the hell was it not noticed before?”

  “Sir, when the area was first surveyed it was marked down as a peat deposit.”

  It began gliding away from the city.

  “Mr. Viegas, where is that peat deposit heading?”

  “The mountains Sir,” said Viegas, “It may be attempting to disengage.”

  “It wants to hide.”

  Dots began streaming from gaping tubes along its underbelly. They rose and circled above it, in formation.

  “It’s launching drones,” Viegas’ fingers raced between virtual panels. I’m showing twenty signatures, more are launching.”

  “Heading?”

  “Towards us, Sir.”

  “Scarecrow here. Requesting weapons free.”

  “Denied, weapons hold. And Commander, make sure the CAP is clear of Washington’s line of fire.”

  “Affirmative Washington.”

  Cullins cleared his throat, “Point Defense, Ms. Buchanan?”

  “Targets are slow moving Sir, probably fighters. The PD lasers are tracking them, will fire when in range.”

  “Excellent. Main Weapons, Mr. Franklin?”

  “Sir?”

  “Time to redeem you and your team. Load all thirty tubes with anti-ship missiles. Executors, the good stuff.”

  “Yes Sir!”

  Jovanka frowned. “This won’t be the killing blow, Commodore. It must have other redundancies.”

  “Well I’ve got plenty more Executors. Science: Lieutenant Chambers?”

  “Yes Sir!”

  “Can you identify its beam weapon ports? The ones it’s using to shoot down battle stations.”

  “I believe I have, Sir. It has one tubular structure that i
s considerably hotter than its engines. I’m not detecting further energy build up. It’s slowly cooling, actually.”

  “It must have been damaged – it’s not build for firing in atmosphere either! This is our window of fortune.”

  “Tactical grid developing,” Viegas frowned at his screen.

  “Put it on the main.”

  The viewer changed to a topographical map of the battlefield. The Washington and Vaughn’s combat air patrol were picked out in green wire diagrams. The enemy ship was red, with red triangles racing from it toward the Washington. They reached the halfway point.

  “Point Defense lasers firing!” Buchanan.

  The red triangles began to wink out. 30. 20. 10.

  “All drones destroyed!” she was all smiles. Clapping and cheering broke out: her neighbor gave her a fist-bump.

  On the viewer’s east edge, three hundred red triangles suddenly appeared.

  “Where the hell did those come from?”

  “I don’t know Sir,” said Viegas. “But they’re on an intercept course with us.”

  “They hid a whole starship,” said Jovanka. “How much harder would it be to hide an air force? This is a good sign. The Xeno-Transcendent must be committing everything. It’s desperate.”

  “It’s not the only one! Mr. Viegas, scramble fighters!”

  “Sir!”

  “Mr. Franklin, where are my missiles?”

  “Twelve tubes ready Sir, others still being prepped.”

  “Tell Hargraves’ team to hurry the fuck up, or I’ll fire them through the tubes!”

  “Yes Sir.”

  Eight green dots began sliding across the tac grid. They passed the Washington, set off towards the tide of red.

  “Scarecrow, what are you doing?”

  “Washington this is Scarecrow, we are engaging. Declaring weapons free.”

  “Declaring?”

  “You can court martial me later.”

  “Agreed. Good hunting Vaughn.”

  “Sir, detecting what appears to be smart chaff around the enemy planet carrier,” said Viegas. “It’s almost identical to ours. Once it’s fully deployed, our missiles will be unlikely to hit the target.”

  “Bastards are using our tech! Mr. Franklin, it’s now or never!”

  “Sir, twenty three tubes prepped and ready!”

  “Launch missiles!”

  The whole ship rumbled as over twenty, inter-ship, space cruise missiles launched in quick sequence. They showed up blue on the tac grid, streaking towards the enemy ship. The red tide turned away suddenly from the green dots, and chased the missiles instead. Smaller red blips appeared off the enemy ship suddenly. Moving at high speed, they streaked away from danger.

  “Washington, this is Scarecrow. Something really strange just flew past us.”

  “We see them, Scarecrow. Lieutenant Chambers, what the hell are those?”

  The missile icons started winking out.

  “They’re not missiles or drones, Sir. They could be escape pods.”

  “It’s not saving its crew,” said Jovanka. “It’s saving itself. Those are its backups.”

  More missiles disappeared.

  “Sparrowhawk flights Bravo, Zulu, and Whiskey are scrambled Sir,” said Viegas.

  “Good. Tell them to clear my sky.”

  The enemy carrier disappeared.

  “Impact!” Franklin declared. “Four missiles successful detonation!”

  Applause broke out, people whistled.

  “Hold on everyone,” Cullins held up his hand, “I want a visual assessment. Scarecrow, can you confirm destruction of the enemy ship?”

  Static.

  “Scarecrow, can you confirm destruction of the enemy planet carrier?”

  “Static.

  “Commander Vaughn, do you have visual confirmation? Come in.”

  “-Crow here. Nega-ve. Enemy ship is undamaged. Repeat, enem- -p is undam -. High smart chaff density, pla-t carr- not even sh-wing on my r-dar. Visu-l ID only.”

  “Damn! We were too late. Mr. Viegas, is there anything we can do to boost our instruments? We need to know where that damn ship is.”

  “Sorry Sir. We can keep drones on it, but we’d lose them in the cloud. If that chaff cloud is similar to ours, they’ll soon have a five kilometer radius to hide in.”

  Cullins stood, and stepped down from the Captain’s Chair. All eyes turned and watched him. He folded his arms, and stared at the tac grid.

  “There,” he pointed. “It’s the nearest pass into the mountains. Mister Viegas, set a course for that pass.”

  “Yes Sir.”

  “Mr. Franklin, do we have schematics for the earlier iterations of this ship’s design?”

  The officer looked up in thought for a moment. “We should have them in the archives, yes.”

  “The terawatt x-ray lasers are a modern feature. The early pattern carriers fielded spinal mass drivers instead. Get the old schematics, retrofit us with at least one mass driver.”

  “Sir, do a retrofit – in the middle of a fight?”

  “Main Weapons has been very disappointing today, Mr. Franklin. Either make me a mass driver, or make me a sandwich.”

  “You are going to chase it,” said Jovanka, “and shoot it at visual range? Like a thug with a pistol?”

  “I’d rather not, but I’m prepared for it.”

  Jovanka nodded. “But, aren’t you forgetting something?”

  “What?”

  “The backups. If you’re chasing the main brain through the mountains, the backups will go unchecked. I do not think that will be wise.”

  “You’re right,” he grimaced. “I did forget. Communications?”

  “Yes Sir?”

  “Get me Jack Diamond.”

  Jahandar VIII

  The ninety-year old APC rumbled down the street.

  The front armoring was intact, but the rear panels had been stripped. Rain splashed through the corroded frame and puddled on the floor. Jahandar looked at their reflections: seated facing each other, rifles by their sides. There were hooks along the vehicle’s top from its brief life as a farm lorry. The suspension bitched over every little bump, but the diamond stitching job held.

  It rolled up to a line of yellow and black striped, barricades. Four, police blue, rain ponchos stood there armed with rail rifles and scowls. A Droptrooper standing with them waved the vehicle through.

  The street beyond was filled with more armed ponchos and the odd Droptrooper. Walkie-talkies crackled and red emergency lights flashed from two parked ambulances. Snipers peered from open windows in adjoining buildings. A large, plastic, awning had been set up behind a bus stand. Underneath around a desk with a radio, were several people. One, a Droptrooper, walked up to the vintage APC.

  “Nice chariot,” his raised visor revealed red eyes and ragged stubble. “You Special Forces? Lieutenant Nunez, 7th Company.”

  “Colonel Koirala, Task Force Direct,” she climbed down from the passenger seat. There was no door. “What’s the situation?”

  “At least ten surviving shooters,” he turned and pointed. “A local terror cell that activated the morning of the attack. They hit the admin building first: the principal liked having early staff meetings. The police got here before they finished. They shot two terrorists, but the rest are holed up in the building.”

  “How many hostages?”

  “Eight kids confirmed, early birds. Most children were still getting ready for school once the shooting started. If the attack had been an hour later,” he shrugged. “We don’t know how many teachers are still alive.”

  The rest of the unit climbed out. The ponchos stared at them and said nothing. Jahandar smiled at one and held out a pack of cigarettes. A stone face cracked into a lined smile, and took one.

  “You’re all police here?” asked Koirala.

  “Yes,” one nodded, and older man. “I’m Sergeant Chaudri.”

  “Colonel Koirala. Thanks for coming to work, Sergeant.”

/>   Another poncho with a cup of tea, snorted. “All you Union bastards thought we would turn and run.”

  Chaudri snarled at him.

  “No,” Koirala smiled, “He’s absolutely right. None of us thought that you’d stand with us if push came to shove. Most projections had the New Urban Police fighting on the other side.”

  “Colonel, my family has lived in Kashi for over sixty years,” said Chaudri. “These are our homes. The children in this school are our children. We don’t care what world you are from, or what your religion is. If anyone tries to attack us, we will kill them.”

  There was a silence.

  “So, since hostage rescue is your thing,” said the Droptrooper, “What you do need from us?”

  “We’ll need maps of the building.”

  “I can draw them for you from memory,” said Chaudri, “My youngest is a troublemaker; she’s always getting us called in to see the principal.”

  “Something to mention the next time you visit. Do you know where exactly the hostages are being kept?”

  “Infra red shows eight bodies in the main staff room,” said Nunez. “That’s the second floor. The hostages are in the adjoining kitchen. There is only one entrance into the staff room, but it also has four windows. They’ve been barricaded with tables and bookshelves though.”

  “What are the walls made of?”

  “Steel and brick,” said Nunez.

  “No,” said Chaudri, “The walls that aren’t load bearing are plasticore, self-growing.”

  “Good to know. Nunez, can you see if someone at Battalion Command can dig out the control codes to the walls?”

  “I can try. Anything else?”

  “What are their demands?”

  “They haven’t made any,” said Chaudri. “I think they know they’re not getting away, but they’re not killing the children because then we’ll move in. They did release one child earlier today, a boy.”

  “Where is he?”