Trail of Evil

by Travis S. Taylor

  Debbie?

  I could do it in seconds once you get approval.

  Thought so.

  “Yes, but you’d have to convince the general that I am overriding the current safety protocols for a good reason.” Joe set down the wrench he was holding and stretched his neck and back. “Major, what is this about?”

  “This is about winning the fight, CHENG. Let me find Daddy and I’ll get back to you ASAP.” Moore turned and hurried out the hatch.

  “Hmm. Wonder what that was about?” he muttered to himself. “Oh well, back to work.”

  Chapter 41

  June 11, 2407 AD

  Alpha Ursae Majoris “Dubhe”

  123 Light-years from the Sol System

  Friday, 9:35 AM, Expeditionary Mission Standard Time

  Moore looked around his conference room at his team, his family. They had been on a long haul together and it appeared as though they were just getting started. In less than twenty-four hours they would QMT into a star system owned by the Chiata Horde. As far as they could tell, the Chiata were so far advanced over the human species that there was no real way to estimate how good or bad their mission tomorrow might go. Only time would tell.

  Moore had gathered a good team. They had all been through a lot together over the last couple of years. They would do their best.

  “Thank y’all for all the hard work you’ve put into the battle planning and the preparations leading up to tomorrow.” He nodded at the team. They all remained quiet.

  “So,” Moore continued. “We have to talk about an elephant that we have invited into our living room and have seemingly ignored its presence. I’ve spoken to the president and she agrees with me on this. Admiral Walker is also on board with this and has helped in the wargaming and planning adjustments. We all need to be thinking on contingency plans in case our two new ‘allies’ decide to turn on us in the future.” Alexander let that sink in for second as he paused for a breath and to assess if the team was up to speed.

  “I want to emphasize that every aspect of this attack has been precisely calculated. You might notice that the majority of the human fleet is second wave except for the hovertank and AEM squads. I’ll explain that in a moment.” Moore noted that Warboys and Gunny Suez had traded looks with each other. Colonel Jones made no expression changes.

  “I don’t trust Sienna Madira as far as I could throw her. And I sure don’t trust the alien who is actually some sort of parasite needing a mammalian host. I’m not sure I believe it is a coincidence that Madira has been pumping out clones as fast as she can and the alien claims there are something on the order of thirty billion of his people stored away somewhere with no hosts. There is just no way I believe Copernicus is about vengeance alone. There is more to this. I can feel it in my bones. The two of them have been plotting and planning for so long together that I have to believe that every word they say, every action they take, every move they make, is all wrapped up and twisted within massively complex strategies within strategies. I simply cannot believe that we fully understand either of their motives yet.” Moore looked at his team one more time and then nodded to Walker. “Fullback, would you explain the basis of the naval plan, please?”

  “Glad to, General,” Walker replied. “Madira has amassed a very large navy of clone-driven ships. We know she claims to fight the Chiata. Okay, that may be true, but what happens once we defeat the Chiata, and Madira still has a navy that is ten times the size of our own?” Fullback explained through her rhetorical question. Moore was certain the same thought had been on all of his seniors’ minds. “Well, I for one don’t want to find out. This is why all the human vessels are on the second and third-wave attacks. We must engage the enemy to learn who and what they are, but we will use the clones before we use our living souls and we will attrite Madira’s forces first.”

  “Hopefully, Madira truly has her heart in the right place, but I can’t trust that. I don’t trust that,” Moore added. “So, at the end of this mess the United States of the Sol System forces must come out with superior numbers. But for now we also can’t lose sight of the fact that it may take every last ship, mecha, clone, and human to stop the Chiata. We are literally between that proverbial rock and hard place.”

  “So we fight hard, but when we can, we let the clones take the most losses. Do we all understand this?” Fullback asked. There were resounding “yes, ma’am” answers.

  “Now to the ground forces,” Moore sighed. “Mason, Francis, Tommy, I’m sorry, but we need real intel on what these things are and what they can do. So, as usual, the AEMs and the Warlords will be the first on the beach.”

  “Wouldn’t have it any other way, sir,” Warboys replied.

  “The Marines sure as hell ain’t gonna let the Army have all the glory, sir,” Colonel Jones stated. Moore was certain that Gunny Suez was about to throw in an “oo-rah” but managed to hold it back through clenched teeth.

  “Thank you, gentlemen.”

  “Uh, sir,” Deathray spoke up.

  “Yes, Jack?”

  “I know you are aware of the flight contingent battle plan. And we do plan on putting the clone mecha squadrons in first. But once we’re in the ball, we’re in the ball,” Boland said.

  “We can make no mistake here. We are in a fight for humanity, so we must fight.” Moore thought his words through before he continued. “I know that none of us are against charging in and attacking this beast head on. And once the battle starts I want us focused on fighting and winning the battle. All I am saying here is that if we are in a situation where we must send troops into a projected high-loss situation and we can send the clones, we send the clones.”

  “Understood, sir,” Deathray replied.

  “I won’t keep you any longer, as I know we all have work to do.” Moore nodded to his XO who in turn dismissed the team. Deanna and Sehera held back and waited for the room to clear.

  “Alexander, mother will figure out what you are doing very quickly,” Sehera told him.

  “She already expects me to do this,” he replied. “That woman is hard to outfox. But sometimes you just have to do what you can and chip away at the stone every chance you get.”

  “Daddy, what about the other aliens out there? Whoever is fighting them in other places must have troops or at least tech that might help us,” Deanna asked.

  “Maybe we can make a big enough splash tomorrow to catch their attention,” Alexander replied.

  Chapter 42

  June 12, 2407 AD

  Alpha Lyncis

  203 Light-years from the Sol System

  Monday, 6:35 AM, Expeditionary Mission Standard Time

  “All hands, all hands, battle stations. QMT to combat zone in T-minus ten minutes and counting. All hands, all hands, battle stations. QMT to combat zone in T-minus two minutes and counting.” The bosun’s pipe sounded throughout the ship and across the fleet.

  “Firestorm,” Moore turned his chair to the XO’s station. “All ships accounted for and battle-ready?”

  “Roger that, General. All one hundred ships show full battle ready.” Firestorm either smiled or snarled, Alexander wasn’t really certain. “Time to announce the presence of the human race, sir!”

  “Oorah, XO.” Moore nodded and then turned to the Nav. “Penny, status of QMT?”

  “Sir, we are ready to jump. The entire fleet shows coordinates logged and the sling-forward algorithm is ready to go.”

  “Air Boss!”

  “Aye, sir?” USN Captain Michelle Wiggington answered.

  “Are the jocks sitting tight and ready to go?”

  “Aye, sir!”

  “Good. Ground Boss? AEMs and tankheads ready to go?”

  “Hoowah, sir!” US Army Brigadier Gen. Tonya “Hailstorm” Briggs said. Moore chuckled proudly to himself at the former tankhead’s enthusiasm. His crew was ready to go.

  “Lieutenant Brown, get me Captain Seely of the 61 UM Fleet,” Moore said to his communications officer.

  “Aye, si
r.”

  “You know, General, there is something about them clones that give me the heebie-jeebies,” Chief of the Boat Command Master Chief Jeff Coates said. “There’s just something about an empty body being driven by a computer that weirds me out, sir.”

  “I know the feeling, COB,” Moore agreed. “What is the status of my boat?”

  “Ready to kick some ass, sir.” The COB replied.

  “Sir—” the comm officer interrupted. “Captain Seely is online.”

  “Thanks, Denise. Put him on bridgewide DTM.”

  “Sir.”

  “Captain Seely. Moore here.”

  “General. We are ready to go here,” the clone said, very deadpan.

  “Good. I just wanted to make sure and to tell you and your crew good luck.”

  “Thank you, sir,” Captain Seely replied, with no change of expression. The lack of emotions from the clones really took some getting used to.

  “Very good. Let’s move out.” Moore leaned back in his oversized seat. He was glad that Madira had designed the fleet ships so that they were armor-friendly. Alexander looked around at his armored-up crew and felt his gut turn over.

  Abby, full Blue force map on and keep it there. Give me an overlay of all systems and fleet ship locations. Keep Buckley’s AIC on an open channel just in case. And, get me a link open to Dee, mindvoice only, he thought.

  Done, sir. You are connected to your daughter now. Abigail said.

  Thanks, Abby. Moore sighed and thought carefully about what to say. Once again he was sending his daughter into combat and this time they had very little idea as to what the enemy would be like.

  Daddy?

  Hey, princess. I just needed to tell you that I love you.

  I love you too, Daddy.

  Sweetheart, you don’t have to do this if you don’t want to. You could snap back home right now and nobody would ever say anything about it, or I’d kick their ass if they did.

  Daddy! You know I can’t do that. I couldn’t leave the Archangels missing a pilot and I wouldn’t do that to the crew.

  I know you wouldn’t. But what kind of father would I be if I didn’t at least try to get you to go home? You be careful and watch your six, okay?

  Okay, Daddy.

  And princess.

  Yes.

  I love you.

  I love you too, Daddy.

  “All hands, all hands, QMT jump in ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. QMT commencing.”

  Moore braced for the jump. The circle of rippling light appeared in front of the ship and the fleet started disappearing through it one at a time. Over the past months all of the fleet ships had been retrofitted with QMT snap-back and sling-forward systems. Any ship in the fleet could perform jumps forward or backward to any location within three light-years. To jump very long distances, it took a connection between networked QMT facilities. The Madira was the only one of the Penzington fleet so equipped but there were two of the 61 UM fleet ships equipped with that capability.

  Moore watched as the fleet around him flashed out of reality one by one until it was time for the Madira to go. The bridge and the rest of the ship flashed with white light and buzzed and crackled. And then Moore was looking at a different part of space.

  “Nav?” he said as the crackling subsided.

  “One minute, sir.”

  “Sir, I see a red star to the starboard.” The COB pointed out the viewport.

  “Got it, COB.” Moore nodded. “XO, status of the fleet?”

  “All ships are accounted for, sir. We’re here and ready to kick ass.”

  “Good. Nav, what’s the holdup?” Moore asked impatiently.

  “Got a lock, sir. We are exactly where we planned to be, one light-year from the inner system. We’re in the Oort Cloud,” Commander Swain replied.

  “STO, does it look the same as our intel?”

  “Yes, sir. As far as my AIC can make out this system exactly fits the intel. We have uninhabited gas giants and Kuiper Belt objects from about ten astronomical units out. There is an inhabited system on an Earthlike planet, fourth planet out from the star. There is also a gas giant, third out, with an inhabited moon much like Ares, sir.” The STO described the system as he displayed it DTM for the bridge crew.

  “CO, CDC?”

  “Go, CDC,” Moore replied to the Combat Direction Center.

  “Sir, we have zero contacts within real-time sensor range. There are plenty of targets further in the system but, as you know due to light lag, aren’t at these locations anymore.”

  “How many targets inward, CDC?”

  “Thousands, sir.”

  “Roger that, CDC.”

  “Alright, let’s get the plan started. Snap the bots to the asteroid belt.” Moore pulled up the attack plan DTM and watched as thirty of the 61 UM ships flashed inward to the asteroid belt at about eight AUs from the star. The thirty ships were filled with buzzsaw and builder bots. Millions of them. That many bots could turn asteroids into more bots faster than anybody could attrit them. At least that was what Moore was hoping.

  “Bots away, General,” Firestorm announced. “Ready for step two.”

  “Right. Get me the Thatcher and the Hillenkoetter,” Moore ordered.

  “Sir. Vice Admiral Walker and Captain Penzington are online.” the comm officer replied.

  “Sharon, Nancy, I guess this is it. You two are up to bat,” Moore said.

  “Yes, sir,” Nancy replied.

  “Looking forward to it, Alexander.” Walker showed him a big, toothy grin. Even through the viewscreen the woman was large and intimidating. Even to Moore.

  “Great. Godspeed and good luck.”

  Chapter 43

  June 13, 2407 AD

  Alpha Lyncis

  203 Light-years from the Sol System

  Tuesday, 6:01 AM, Expeditionary Mission Standard Time

  “You heard the man, Nav,” Captain Nancy Penzington ordered. “QMT to the fourth planet location now.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” the clone navigation officer replied. Nancy would have preferred a fully human crew on her ship but there just hadn’t been time to get that many humans out that far and up to speed. Besides, the clones were very proficient and there were billions of them available.

  “Weapons Deck Officer, keep your finger on the gluonium missiles and fire as soon as you find targets.” Nancy waited as the QMT flashes stopped, and blinked her eyes to clear them. There on the viewscreen was a big, pretty blue-and-green world. The planet was about twice the size of Earth but otherwise looked about the same. They were parked on the night side and could see lights covering almost every inch of land. About half of the planet appeared to be water and there were even lights scattered across the oceans.

  “Finger on the trigger, ma’am,” the Weapons Deck Officer clone replied.

  “Davy, what is the status of my other four ships?”

  “All four of the 61 UM 5 through 8 accounted for and ready, Captain,” the lieutenant commander replied.

  “Good. Tell them to target and fire at will. All barrier shields up and SIFs at maximum!”

  “Roger that.” Nancy watched as the SEAL did his job. He was proficient at whatever he did. She could see why Dee liked him.

  “CO, CDC!”

  “Go, CDC.” Nancy replied.

  “Multiple bogies detected inbound. Contact range in thirty seconds.”

  “Roger that, CDC.” Nancy flashed her DTM battlescape view up to see the threats. There were about ten supercarrier-sized craft headed their way and each of those was being swarmed by smaller mecha-sized vehicles.

  “Get ready to deploy the fighters, Air Boss.”

  “Ma’am, I have multiple ground locations locked.”

  “Don’t wait on my command, fire!” Nancy ordered the Weapons Deck Officer.

  “Firing!” The clone operated several controls on the console and then turned to back to her. “All one thousand missiles are away, Captain Penzington.”
/>   “XO, keep me posted on damage assessments.”

  “Roger that. Bringing the missile tracks on the screen now.” Davy looked up at the viewscreen. “All ships report the complete complement of gluonium missiles have been fired.”

  The blue tracks for the missiles zipped across the viewscreen and slammed into the planet’s surface. The gluonium bombs detonated, turning the entire night side of the planet into flashing reds and whites. Large sections of lit population centers bigger than Mons City vanished with each detonation.

  A brilliant flash of blue tracked across the sky from the lead enemy ship approaching them at high speed. The blue beam looked as if it wasn’t even pointed in the direction of her ships, and then in midspace the beam turned a complete ninety-degree turn twice, and then hit one of her ships. The supercarrier was surrounded briefly by a cloud of ionized material but it appeared that the Buckley-Freeman Barrier Shield was holding.

  “How are they seeing us?” Nancy turned to Davy. “XO? The Buckley Switch is on, right?”

  “Yes, ma’am. If the Buckley Switch wasn’t on the shields wouldn’t be up,” Davy replied.

  “Shit! That means they can see through the cloaking system.” Nancy didn’t like that. Part of their advantage was gone.

  Another one of the crazy blue beams zipped from one of the enemy ships, hammering the ship 61 UM 7 again. The ship was covered by the ionized ball again and this time it appeared to have some fires venting from several locations.

  “Captain, UM 7 is reporting casualties and has multiple SIF generator failures. I don’t think she can take another hit like that,” Rackman said. “Ma’am, we need to disperse or get in closer to the enemy so they can’t use that blue beam on us.”

  “Good call, XO.”

  Allison, open me a channel to all my ship captains, Nancy thought. It was quicker to think than to talk. And besides, those captains were AIC-driven clones anyway. They’d probably prefer it.

  Channel open.

  All ships, spread out and take rapid evasive maneuvers. Get in as close to the enemy ships as you can and hopefully we can keep them from using that beam on us.