I replied, “Okay. Can you start a detail to bury the dead? I’ll hold a service when you’re ready.”
He replied, “Sure. Give me a few more minutes.”
A few minutes later, I conducted a very simple ceremony honoring our dead as they were buried not far from the ship.
* * *
Already, the cooks were making do with what they had and fixing a meal for the crew. I could see that a meal would help their morale and spirits and didn’t push for anyone to do much of anything other than the scaffolding and water tasks. Those were the two priority projects. Without them, we were dead meat. While the meal was being served, I called my officers together and discussed our defense.
“We’re going to have to stay on the defensive,” I said.
“Why?” asked Lieutenant Sorenson.
“Because the Ape-oids are about three hundred kilometers away and they’ll probably launch a raid on us. We have several choices. We stick to the ship and get the work done or we divide our force, send out our own raid, and try to do the repairs at the same time. I don’t like dividing our force. Here we have our heavier guns to help defend the ship as long as we get the scaffolding in place soon enough that the vibrations from firing guns won’t cause it to topple. To get the scaffolding in place, we need to use all our personnel. As much as I want to stop the enemy, our needs here are more important. If they get their ship fixed first, then we can expect a fly-over with a bombardment that will leave us marooned here, if not dead,” I answered.
Lieutenant Kruler suggested, “We ought to at least see how bad off they are. Maybe we could slow down their repairs if they appear to be in front of us.”
“That’s a good suggestion. Do you want to go with me?” I asked.
“Yes,” he answered.
I said, “Okay, I want one more person, but it can’t be you, Lieutenant Remm. As First Officer, you’ll have to stay here and keep things together. You’ll have to make sure that the sensors and Mark II singles are manned continually.”
“I’ll go with you,” replied Lieutenant Sorenson.
I said, “Fine. Be ready to leave in half an hour. First Officer, we’ll be gone for a week or two considering the distance. Most likely we’ll not be able to do anything to them on this trip. We’ll figure out exactly where they are and how bad off they are, as well as how many of them are in that ship. Once we know that, we’ll return and decide if we need to launch a ground attack in strength. Make sure that everyone keeps their sidearms with them at all times. Does anyone have any questions about what they’re supposed to do?” I looked around at my officers and they all seemed to be aware of their tasks. “Good. We’re going to draw enough Trats for two weeks.”
“Ugh,” Lieutenant Sorenson said, “I forgot how awful travel rations are and that we’d be using them. I suppose I can eat them for two weeks though.”
“Also draw a stinger rifle to complement your sidearms for our expedition. I’ll see you both in half an hour,” I said as I got up from my meal and went to draw my own Trats and stinger rifle. As I got up, I realized that almost everything inside my shoulder pack might be useful finally. Was this what the Sarge envisioned when he advised me to buy these items? If so, he was almost clairvoyant. I went inside the ship to the Dining Facility where they gave me enough of the concentrated travel rations, which almost no one liked. They were largely tasteless and required lots of willpower to eat. But they did provide more than enough protein, fats, nutrients, and whatever else the human body needed to keep going in such situations. They weren’t too bad if you took along some salt, pepper, and other spices to perk them up. I placed the Trats in my shoulder pack and saw that I still had plenty of room. I went ahead and filled my canteen, then placed it in the front of my shoulder pack so that I could access it while on the move.
Then I rechecked my weapons. My projectile weapon, an ancient .50 caliber automatic pistol, had enough ammunition for me to fire it and reload once. The bullets were the most expensive part of the weapon system. I still wondered why the Sarge advised me to buy it. It was quite unlike our stingers which didn’t run out of ammunition. They were rechargeable while not in use and would pick up energy from just about any light source. Even while firing them, they were constantly recharging themselves from light sources. Also, they had a longer range than the antique pistol. The stinger rifles packed even more punch and range besides being rechargeable like the regular stingers. I went ahead and drew a survival knife with the rifle and clipped it onto my gun belt, along with a directional finder and communications pack.
Once I had all those items, I went on back out of the ship and waited for the two lieutenants to join me. They weren’t far behind me with all their gear ready. As soon as they came out of the ship, we rechecked our directions and left the ship to make our way to the enemy location. This would likely be my first chance to see the Ape-oids up close and in person, so to speak. We had all seen their pictures in the briefings, but none of us had seen one up close as we probably soon would.
* * *
At least, we had a goodly-sized clearing for the Mark II singles to cover. Anyone trying to approach the ship would be visible for almost half a kilometer. Of course, it meant that the ship was clearly visible, but it had weapons and its hull would protect it from most light weapons. It would need to be attacked either with overwhelming odds to capture it or heavy weapons to destroy it. While there were a few chinks in our armor where the damage was being repaired, I felt the rest of the ship would give my crew adequate protection from whatever the planet might have in the way of animal life.
I led the way across the clearing after checking the directional finder. Lieutenant Sorenson followed me and Lieutenant Kruler brought up the rear. Each of us was still wearing standard issue overslicks, mesh undies, and non-skids, along with shoulder packs. The load we carried wasn’t particularly heavy or bulky. I had seen pictures of what soldiers used to carry into combat. I wondered how they ever managed to handle all that gear.
We walked straight through most of the brush. Our overslicks easily resisted the worst of it since the overslicks were made of Tevlarian. The Tevlarian was resistant to a lot of things besides being thermally protective. It actually made it possible for us to move faster through brambles and thorny brush because it was impervious to the thorns and stickers and very slick. Almost nothing stuck to it. The overslick pants could be sealed to the overslick shirt to create a moisture and thermal seal. Yet another seal could be made at the collar of the overslick shirt to add an overslick hood with protective face shield for the worst of situations.
Our non-skids had a top covering of the same material while the soles were quite the opposite. They gave traction on almost any surface, even ice and oily surfaces, plus they had a bounciness to them that helped absorb shock and were lightweight. Grippers at the top of the non-skids made it possible to attach the overslick pants to create a seal between them. That was useful when trying to keep liquids out of the non-skids and create thermal barriers against inclement weather.
I estimated that we were probably making about six kilometers an hour as we moved through the sparse forest and brush. We could have moved faster, but I didn’t want to run into anything without any chance to respond to it properly. I doubted that any of the wildlife was much of a threat, but I preferred to be cautious. At least, I noticed, the other officers were moving as easily and quietly through the forest as I was. I was glad that they picked up and remembered their first year academy lessons properly.
Almost every cadet complained about the amount of time spent on field exercises during the first half-year when they wanted to get into space. Just about everyone of them had to have it explained to them that they might have to land on an uncharted or unexplored planet to discover a new life form, so being capable of moving silently and quickly was important to them. Then just about every cadet applied the effort to achieve the necessary abilities. The second half of the first year was devoted to not leaving a trail, sur
vival instruction, and hand-to-hand combat. Usually a lot of trainees didn’t make it through the first year because of the physical rigors. After all, they had to do it on an inhabited planet with the heaviest gravity of all the human inhabited worlds. Of course, the first year wasn’t all physical training. There was also a lot of textdisk work, but most of that was carried out in the field while the cadets were being conditioned. So, if nothing else, a cadet was in excellent physical condition when he or she graduated after four years.
Additionally, they were in the top of the educational strata since they had to have a college degree before they could even enter the Academy. Academically, cadets were inferior to no one. They had chosen fields from college and another from the Academy. Theoretically, every cadet was qualified to do more than just military drills. That was the way it used to be until rich families sending their kids to the Academy began bribing public officials to change the rules so that they could get in with degrees that made absolutely no sense for military use. After all, what was the Navy going to do with a real estate consultant or stock broker? The Academy had been in the habit of accepting college graduates with degrees in biology, electronics, physics, math, and languages, for example, because they saw a need for those fields in the exploration, research, and development of space.
Then the reduction in force came about. The rich families bribed more officials to keep their kids in the Academy so that their kids could continue to get into the Navy and send home information about new discoveries before they were released to the public. Consequently, a number of rich families were in on the ground floor, so to speak, when any newly discovered planets were opened up. And I had six of those rich kid officers on my ship along with forty-three enlisted crew members when we left port. Now, I had only twenty-seven crew members, seven of whom were from Pennyweight Shipping Company. I was going to miss the two Pennyweight personnel we lost in the battle.
* * *
I kept us moving almost until night when we finally stopped after covering almost thirty kilometers of straight line distance. We had been in sparse forest the whole time since leaving the clearing where the Thurman was. Rather than leave ourselves open to wild animals of all descriptions, we climbed one of the trees and set up our hammocks. I took the first watch for three hours. Each of the others took their turn after me. The animal calls during the night were chilling to the bone. Even so, we were tired after our full day and sleep came easy.
* * *
At the end of the fifth day, we knew that we were only about twenty kilometers from the alien ship. Then came the hardest part of the mission. We had to find it. The forest was thicker and more densely packed with brush. Visibility was hampered greatly. I could visualize us walking right by the clearing without spotting it or the alien ship. I mentally debated splitting up to search as we got closer. I decided against that. It wasn’t for lack of confidence in the other two officers’ abilities on the ground, but for security in case the Ape-oids were maintaining patrols. I was also unsure what type of sensor arrays they had. Could they pick up a person walking near their ship as we could? Their technology was nearly as good as ours, so I had to suspect that they did have that ability. It meant that we would have to approach very cautiously and be alert to anything that seemed out of the ordinary.
So far, we had maintained communications silence with the Thurman. We would only break our communications discipline if we were spotted. There would be no rescue party if anything happened to us. The ship and the rest of the personnel were the reason for this mission. It wouldn’t do them much good to keep sending out people to be lost.
* * *
On the morning of the sixth day, we moved out on the last leg of the mission to the alien ship. That day we were using hand signals exclusively. They were the same signals taught to us at the Academy, so there was no need to suddenly invent anything. I moved out in the lead while the other two officers adjusted their distance appropriately for the type of contact we expected to make. Kyle, Lieutenant Kruler, wanted to take the lead, but it was my job and I wasn’t about to shirk my duty. As I moved forward, I was just barely in Lieutenant Shirley Sorenson’s sight. She was just barely visible to Kyle who brought up the rear. I kept us at a slower pace so that I would have a chance to spot any traps or sensors that might have been placed by the Ape-oids. I’ll admit that it was unlikely for them to put them out that far, but none of us knew enough about the Apeoids to know just how they behaved or acted in such circumstances.
We got to about a kilometer from the enemy ship when I spotted the first sensor device placed haphazardly in the brush to detect movement. If nothing else, it reassured me that we were getting closer and not walking past the ship without spotting it. The wire that ran to it even gave us the direction to go to reach their ship. When I saw the sensor, I backed off immediately and gave signals to Shirley to back off. Kyle automatically stood his ground when he saw Shirley backing up and watched to see if I appeared. When I could see him, I gave him a signal indicating that a sensor was in place ahead. He then knew that we needed to back off to make our plans.
For a moment, I wondered how I was going to communicate the amount of information I wanted to give them in light of the circumstances. Then I remembered the marker and note pad that the Sarge put on my list. Suddenly, I had a way to communicate quietly and get my meaning across without question.
We backed off another twenty meters where I pulled out my marker and note pad much to the surprise of the two officers. I doubt they had seen such items other than in old movies, if they watched any. Quickly, I wrote down what we should do in light of the sensors surrounding the enemy ship.
* * *
Silently, we moved forward again through the dense forest and brush. We picked up brush and tucked it into our belts to break up our outlines. Each of us looked for more sensors, figuring that the enemy didn’t have an unlimited supply of them to put out. When we found a second sensor, we then knew where the blind spot was. We quietly moved to that point between the sensors before we started forward again, still alert for more of the sensors.
We didn’t have to go but a quarter of a kilometer before we reached the edge of the clearing where the enemy ship was located. We sat quietly just inside the forest for about two hours and watched their activity to get some idea of how well they worked and how many personnel they had. Shirley recorded images of the enemy ship as it was being worked on by the Ape-oids.
I was a little surprised to see that they had a lot more personnel on board their ship than we had. Using only the number of personnel I saw, we were outnumbered about three to two. One thing I noticed was that they were sending out hunting and gathering parties to get food. I guessed that they lost their provisions in the battle.
We got back up and made our way along the edge of the clearing to another location where Shirley got different image angles of the alien ship. Then we went farther along the clearing’s edge to get the last angle so that we had an image of the entire ship’s surface area.
We spent about three hours watching and taking images before we left the edge of the clearing to make our way back to our ship. By nightfall, we were back where we stopped the previous night. Though I was eager to get back and take a look at the images, I knew that hurrying was the surest way to make mistakes and could lead to disaster for our mission. We went ahead and set up for the night in the same tree.
Chapter 10
The next two days were as uneventful as the five days spent travelling to the enemy ship. The third day was totally different. It provided another surprise for me as to the Sarge’s choice of items for me to buy.
We were in our usual order when a creature we hadn’t seen before emerged in front of me. I stopped while Shirley and Kyle stopped just behind me. I began to circle around the strange creature when it advanced on us. We were already spread out because I was leading us around the creature. We all fired with our stinger rifles and were astounded to see that the weapons had no effect on the creatu
re. It just shrugged off the electrical bolts that we shot at it. Then it leaped at us and landed on Kyle. He was yelling from the pain of the electrical shocks that it gave him and then passed out. Shirley pulled her knife and slashed at it only to be shocked when she came into contact with it. For a moment, I wondered what to attack the creature with when I remembered the antique projectile weapon I carried, reached under my shoulder pack, and drew the weapon from the hidden holster. I aimed at the creature’s head and fired one shot. The shot, at that range, couldn’t miss. The creature suddenly went into convulsions as the bullet apparently began to short circuit its brain and internal organs. It collapsed at Shirley’s feet onto the ground and died.
Shirley looked at me and then at the strange antique I held. Her eyes went large for the second time during that mission as she continued to look at the gun and then the dead creature. “Thanks,” she said. “What is that?”
“It’s an old projectile weapon. A friend of mine suggested I purchase it as survival equipment. I’ve been carrying it around for years now, wondering if he was just a trifle too cautious or distrusting of modern weapons. Except for testing it when I bought it, this is the first time I’ve had to use it. Are you okay?” I replied as I bent down to check out Kyle.
“Yes. That creature really carries a wallop of a charge. It’s no wonder our stinger rifles didn’t bother it. We were practically feeding it,” she said.
I said, “So I noticed. Kyle’s taken a bad shock. His hands and face are burnt. We’ll need to treat him some now and then carry him back. I reckon he’s going to be in a great deal of pain when he comes to.”
We treated Kyle with our medical supplies from the three shoulder packs. Then Shirley and I went about treating her hand before we made a stretcher to carry Kyle on. Kyle was lucky that he was wearing his overslicks. They insulated most of his body from direct electrical shock and burns. Only the exposed areas of skin were burnt. To carry him, we used his hammock and two saplings that we cut down with our knives. Then we resumed our movement back to the Thurman. Of course, our movement was slowed considerably as we had to carry Kyle. It would depend on him as to whether we had to carry him the rest of the way. Once more, I was glad that he and Shirley were in peak physical conditioning.
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