by Rob Buckman
“Yes, Sarg.”
“Taffy, take over his position. Charley, get your lazy ass in gear and find us a way down.” Charley wiggled out of his hole, and grinning from ear to ear, he took off crawling thought the rubble. Mike sent Taffy and Jenks around the parameter to check on their men while he checked back with the medic.
“How’s Sergeant Cooper doing?”
“He’d under, Sarg. Low body function, and I’ve got all the external bleeding stopped.”
“Good work.”
“I can’t do much about the internal stuff, but I’ve pumped him full of fluid. That, along with his low metabolic rate should hold him till the transport arrives.”
“No transport, we’ll have to carry him out, so get your hover stretcher out and get him ready.”
“Shit! No one said anything about carrying him out!”
“Can’t be helped, we can’t stay here.”
“Yes, but...”
“Don’t but me, just do it!”
“I don’t know if he’ll survive if we move him!”
“If he or we stay here, none of us will survive.” Mike said it softly, and a quick look at him face by the medic brought a nod. He opened his backpack, pulled out a flat panel and unfolded it. He locked the hinges in place and laid it down beside Sergeant Cooper. Between the three of them, they slid him carefully onto the board, where the medic quickly strapped him down. Once Sergeant Cooper was secure he touch a control on the side, and the stretcher immediately lifted a foot off the ground and hung there.
“Ready when you are, Sarg.”
“Good, be ready to move as soon as I get you some help.”
Taffy and Jenks checked in, and the news wasn’t good. The indigs had already started gathering for the final push. All they were waiting for was sundown. His HUD blinked with an incoming message from Charley and he switched frequencies by looking at his icon.
“Sarg!”
“What’s up Charley, you found a way in?”
“Yeah, but it’s going to be a bit hairy.”
“How so?”
“Found a breach that we can get thought, but the whole roof structure is unstable. It could collapse any second or while were climbing down.”
“We’ll have to risk it. Hold where you are and we will come to you.”
“Copy that, Sarg.”
“Taffy! Jenks!” He switched to the general frequency icon.
“Here!” The both chorused.
“I want you to use the blooper and put down some covering fire as you start sending men back here to me.”
“Copy that!”
“I want lots of hot spots here as well, so everyone uses a fuel tab at your location as you move.”
“That should confuse them for a while.”
“I hope so. On infrared it should look like the troops are still in position.”
“How soon, Sarg!”
“When everyone signals they are ready to pull back.”
“Copy that. I’d say in two minutes or less.”
Thirty-second later, Mike heard the coughing sound as the three remaining blooper started up. This immediately kicked up a dust cloud that covered everything in sight, and the almost continuous explosions made it impossible to talk. One by one, man came crawling out of the dust, and he pointed them in the direction of Charlie’s position. He looked at the Earth Rep, pointing to him, then at the medic and Sergeant Cooper, indicating he should follow when they moved out, seeing the man nod. Taffy and Jenks were smart enough to have the blooper men crawl around and fire from a different position. This should make the indigs think there were more of them than just the three. It should also cover the fact that they were moving back, away from the perimeter. He watched his HUD, seeing the icons vanish as men went underground. As the last two troopers came up, he grabbed them and pointed to Sergeant Cooper. The trooper nodded each taking a guide strap at the ends before crawling off through the rubble with the medic and the Earth rep in tow. Without a helmet, there was no way he’d know for sure the man made it. He watched their progress on his HUD as Taffy and Jenks slowly worked their way back to his position.
“Your turn, Sarg.”
“I’m with you.”
“With all due respect to your exalted rank, Tug, kiss my ass!” Jenks gave him a hard look.
“You’re in charge now, so move your ass over to the main party, me and that dozy Welshman will keep the indigs busy.”
“I hear that, you little Cockney prick!”
“Well, get over here before I accidentally like drop one of these golf balls on your head.”
“I want you at Charlie’s location one minute after I get there, or else!”
“Boy, don’t they get pushy when they get a couple of stripes on their arm.” Taffy mutters as he emerged from the dust along with the last trooper with the blooper.
Mike grinned to himself and moved off at a fast pace, trusting to his body armor. This wasn’t to time to play it safe. He made it to Charlie’s position without incident, and one look down the hold he’d found brought sweat to his forehead. The roof of the subway tunnel had shattered from the force of the Embassy explosion, and now hung precariously balanced on the edge of collapse. Ropes hung from a bent I-beam, but Mike took up a defense position to one side of the hole. The rear guard might still need to cover fire as they made their way here. According to the digital counter in the corner of his HUD, over a minute had passed since he left Taffy and Jenks but the red dot of their position were still the same. He could still hear the sharp cough of outgoing rounds, and he began wondering what was taking them so long. At last, they moved, all in a rush, and in less than twenty seconds, they slid to the ground beside him.
“I think we’d better get the hell out of here, Sarg.”
“Indigs coming?”
“Yes, but we left them a few surprises.”
“Down the hole, all of you. I’ll rig the charges up here.” They didn’t argue as one by one the dropped into the darkness of the tunnel a hundred feet down.
Mike was as good as his word, as he quickly planted several packets of HE at strategic locations around the hole. That done, he followed, sliding down the rope to what he hoped was a safe escape route. Gathering them up, he moved down the tunnel as fast as he could, and as far away from the broken section as possible. It wasn’t too soon, as someone started shooting down the escape hole, and that's exactly what Mike was waiting for. He triggered the command relay, and six massive explosions rolled into one as his charges detonated. Hopefully it killed everyone within fifty feet of the hole. The roof of the tunnel collapsed with a roar, sending clouds of choking dust up the tunnel. It rolled over them, adding another layer to what they’d already collected, not that you could tell the difference. He’d just hoped the collapsed had sealed the back door, and all he had to do was to get his party to the LZ and safety. He looked over the group around him, weighing pros, and cons. Who should he keep here, and who to send ahead.
“Helen, Randy!”
“Yes, Sarg?”
“You two look to be in the best shape for walking wounded. I want you to take off and act as point.”
“Copy, Sarg.”
“Good. I want you to go as fast and as far as you can. If you don’t run into anything, such as a blockage, or indigs, carry on to the LZ, got it?”
“Yes, Sarg.”
“Go!” Both flipped down their night vision plates and took off.
“Wilson, Corbet, Jones, Snyder and Ross. You will act as the advanced party and help out if Helen and Randy run into trouble.”
“Copy, Sarg.” They answered and started moving up the tunnel.
“Taffy and Jenks, you are with me, we’ll be the rear party. The rest of you stay with Sergeant Cooper. Your job is to protect him and this gentleman here,” He pointed to the civilian, “Our orders are to get him to the LZ alive and in one piece at all cost, is that clear?”
“Yes, sir.” The chorused.
“Good, get started t
hen.” As they collected their gear and check power cells, the Earth rep came over.
“I’d like to thank you for all your trouble.” He started to say.
“Trouble? What trouble?” Mike smiled, “by the way, I never did get a chance to ask your name.”
“Oh, um, it's Richard.” He said, holding his hand out. Mike shook it. “Again, my thanks.”
“No thank needed, this is what we do. If not you then someone else, or just us trying to climb out of the shit. We’re Marines.”
“Is there any chance I could get a rifle or something. I feel a little useless with nothing to do, and nothing to fight with if something should happen.”
“I wish I could help you, but I take it you aren’t wired?”
“No, no I’m not.”
“If you were, I could index a weapon to you, but without it the rifle won’t recognize you and fire.”
“Oh, yes, I remember reading about that now. It’s that wire mesh thing you have under your scalp.”
“Right, all Marines have them.”
“So no one can use your own weapons against you if they are found or captured.”
“Yes, that and a few other neat little tricks the back room boffins programmed into the chip in my skull.”
“So, I’ll have to go unarmed.”
“I can let you have this.” Mike pulled off his pack and reaching inside and pulled out a short automatic machine pistol and handed it over.
“Whoa!”
“Nasty little bugger. Puts out about a thousand rounds a second.” He handed over four mags.
“It fired one centimeter needle round, so only use it in short bursts or you’ll use up all the ammo fast.”
“Got it.” Mike could see the question on Richard’s face. “I picked that on my last deployment, as sort of back up piece.”
“I’m not complaining.”
“All of us have something, just in case all this high tech weaponry goes south.”
“I don’t blame you.” He smiled, and after another quick handshake took off after the stretcher with his escort. Mike also grabbed the blooper and ammo pack from one of the wounded men. Who sighed and nodded his thanks. It would make keeping up with the other easier.
“So, my lovely. You got us the nice safe cushy position here at the rear for once.” Taffy chuckled, coming up beside him.
“Yeah, I figured you two were getting a little long in the tooth to run with the big dogs now.” He smiled at them.
“Oh, right,” Jenks snorted, “you know something we don’t know, and I’m guessing you are about to drop us in the shit again!”
“You ungrateful little prick!” Mike snapped. “Here I go and get you a nice cushy job and all you can do is complain?” In the gloom, it was hard to tell the expression on his face, so his look of sorrow was lost on them.
“Jenks my son, you are right for once.”
“Yup, I know so.”
“How many power packs do you have?”
“I’ve got eight, you?”
“Nine.”
“Think we have enough?”
“I bloody well hope so!” They moved off after the main party, keeping about a hundred yard back. Mike could follow the progress of each part of his unit in his HUD, see the point moving away fast. Everything went well for an hour, then an explosion sounded back down the tunnel, and a cloud of dust rolled towards them.
“Looks like the local boys want to chat with us, don’t you think?”
“I think they want to do more than just chat.”
“No! Really?” Taffy answered a mock-surprised look on his face.
“Jimmy! You read me?”
“Yes, Sarg.”
“You heard the explosion, so I’m guessing the indigs are trying to blast their way in back at the Embassy.”
“You want me to move this party along.”
“Yes, move them as fast as you can, and put some distance between us.”
“Copy that. On my way.” Jenks started humming to himself, as he checked his weapon.
“You start singing that bloody song again, and I’ll kick your skinny butt!”
“Song? What song would that be my Welsh friend?” Mike sighed, knowing they were going to have at it again.
“You know, you twit!”
“Oh, you mean the one about half a pint of woad.”
“No, you dozy twit, Men of Harlech!” Mike had to chuckle, despite the situation and started singing himself.
“...Men of Harlech stop your dreaming can't you see their spear points gleaming...” Mike pointed to a maintenance alcove as he sang, then at Taffy. “...See their warrior's pendants streaming to this battle field...” He pointed to his left, and Jenks nodded. “Men of Harlech stand ye steady it cannot be ever said ye for the battle were not ready Stand and never yield...” He chose a small pit in the middle of the track and hunkered down. “…Through the hills surrounding let this war cry sounding summon all to Cambria's call, the mighty force surrounding...”
“Heads up people, we have company coming.” He broadcast.” Taffy took up the rest of the song.
“...Men of Harlech on to glory this shall ever be your story, keep this fighting words before ye, Welshmen never yield!...” He punctuated this with three rapid shots back down the tunnel, and the battle was on.
“Right on you piss assed Welshman!” Jenks added as he fired.
Then it got interesting as a volley of return fire chipped tiles off the walls. From their standpoint, it was a good position, as the indigs could only come at them from one direction, and they had the advantage in firepower. All they had to do was keep up a steady stream of power bolts to hold them back. The trouble was these people thought dying for their religion was a one way ticket to paradise, so they kept charging up the tunnel. The warning light in his HUD started blinking telling him the power pack was getting low. He switched to the blooper and sent five rounds bouncing down the tunnel. They exploded on the third bounce and sent a few more fanatics screaming their way to the hereafter. He switched back and started to change the power pack just as a large group came pouring over the pile of dead.
“Shit!” He muttered as the power cell jammed in the guide-way. He flicked his eyes down for a moment, hoping Taffy or Jenks would slow them down long enough for him to get it unjammed.
“Tug! Watch it!” He dropped it and reached for his sidearm. Then he heard the cloth tearing sound of a machine pistol on full auto over his head.
“What the hell!” His head jerked around to find Richard laying on the track behind him, squeezing off five round burst down the tunnel.
“Thought you might need a hand, Sarg!” He grinned.
“Of all the fucking stupid, knuckle headed idiots in this man’s universe, you take the fucking cake...” He stopped, feeling his hand shake a little. He took a deep breath to calm his nerves. “Thanks, you were just in time.” He looked at the fresh mound of bodies no more than twenty feet away.
“Nice little weapon this.”
“Yes, you could say that.” He gave Richard a weak smile. “Come in handy at the right time.”
“I can see that.”
“Now, what the hell are you doing back here?”
“We ran into a bit of a problem up ahead.”
“And that is?”
“It seems that someone forgot the maintenance access shafts.”
“Oh lord!” He groaned.
“How many did we lose?”
“Oh, no one actually. We managed to get them before they got us.”
“And?”
“Well, as I am the only un-wounded person, and Jimmy can’t leave Sergeant Cooper, I decided to come back and tell you.”
“Taffy, Jenks, let’s move. Plan 1 is in the Dumpster.”
“Hope lives in vain.” Taffy muttered.
“Trust you to think of something negative to say.”
“I’m only pointing out, that most plans end in failure, one way or another.”
“Struth
! Can’t you think of something positive for once in your life?”
“Like what, may I ask.” As the banter went on, they backed down the tunnel, alternately firing and leap frogging back, two covering one as they moved.
“Oh, I don’t know, why not something like, nice day isn’t it.”
“Down here, that would be daft man.”