by Danny Loomis
Ian placed a fresh battery in the handle, and reassembled the knife. “No, ma’am, sounds logical.” He gave her a serious look. “One thing you can be sure of, Phil and I won’t let you down, Sergeant Weiss.”
She flashed him a smile. “Never thought you would, Irish.”
* * *
The Argyle popped into normal space at just under 500 kilometers per second. The usual bow wave of emergence had been partially masked by the lower speed of entry. Even though this was supposed to be a friendly star system, no one, not even the planetary authorities, were aware of their presence. At least until the Scouts had time to complete their on-ground reconnaissance. The only exception to this was the need to contact the destroyer Marston, which was already on station, in support of Alpha Company.
Forty-eight hours after emergence, Argyle ghosted into high orbit around Star’s End, their electronics dampened to the point it would be difficult for anyone to pick up from the ground. Commander Beatrice Worthington turned to her executive officer. “Linda, raise the Marston’s Captain on secure comm, please.”
Lieutenant Commander Cartier stroked keys on her communications console. A whisker laser stabbed out and impacted the hull of the Marston, just coming over the planet’s horizon in a lower orbit. “Contact established, Ma’am,” she said.
“Ahoy, Marston. This is Captain Worthington, in the corvette Argyle.”
“Welcome to Star’s End, Argyle. I’m Captain Fairing. You gave us a start coming out of nowhere like that.” Even though both were in fact Commanders, all officers placed in charge of a ship were called Captains.
“Sorry, Captain. We’re here in advance of the task force. Have to put some deep recon troops on the ground in preparation for a landing.”
“Understood. Glad to have you in-system. We’ve been having several visitors lately, also cloaked. Are you staying awhile?”
“That we are. My orders are to put my ship at your disposal after we’ve taken care of our primary mission.”
“Excellent,” Fairing said. “Contact me once you’ve finished, and we can make some plans. Your additional firepower will come in handy, especially if any unfriendlies show up prior to the task force.”
Roger. Argyle out.”
Commander Worthington leaned back in her Captain’s chair and ran fingers through her short hair. Fairing seemed on edge. Maybe there would be more to this trip than just babysitting some ground-pounders. That would come later, though. First she had to get the LRS on the planet’s surface.
* * *
“All LRS to the mess deck. All LRS to the mess deck for final brief,” came the disembodied voice over the intercom. Ian and Pointy left off inventorying the gear for one of the cache sites and moved across the corridor with everyone else.
Franny was at the front of the room. “Find a seat and listen up,” he said. “I’ve got your movement orders, plus who’s going to do what for the next two weeks.” A screen lit on the wall behind him and showed a map of the site around the mining complex. It was divided into four sections: Northeast, northwest, southeast, southwest. A red circle was drawn around the Stobol mine airfield.
“Alpha fire team, you’ll be taking the northwest and southwest sectors. These are much smaller than the eastern portion, mainly because most of it’s mountainous. As we discussed in the warning order, you’ll also be making contact with Captain Sanchez or Lieutenant Stanton of Alpha Company. The last message capsule from them indicated their company’s at the Red Diamond mine. They’ll probably have a good feel for what we’ll be up against. Valkyrie, you’ll personally brief either or both of them.
“Once that’s accomplished, you’ll pull a recon of your two areas of responsibility. Barring any modifications to your orders, Irish and Pointy will take the southwest quadrant, while the rest of the fire team takes the northwest.” Franny touched the map at a small cluster of buildings on the westernmost edge.
“When finished with your scout, your fire team will join up here, the westernmost diamond mine. Wait at that location until the second phase of your mission begins. Before going to that location, those without Webleys will pick one up at the nearest cache, so everyone will have a sniper rifle.” He looked at Sgt Weiss. “Any questions?” She shook her head.
“Good. Bravo fire team, you’ll have the biggest area of responsibility, so I’ll be accompanying you. That’ll let us divide up into three teams. We’ll have to hump to cover our area. We’ve also got three possible sites Intel thinks may contain concentrations of bad guys. Team one will cover the northern two-thirds of the northeast quadrant. Team two will have the bottom third of the same quadrant, and the top third of southeast quadrant. Team three will cover the rest.” He touched a red X that had been circled on the map.
“Once completed, Bravo fire team will meet here at the easternmost mine, which is four klicks east of the location we think Alpha Company is in. At no time will any of you make contact with friendlies. That’s Valkyrie’s job. From the two locations we’ll be in we can be dispatched to help cover the insertion of the Regiment. They’ll probably want to land at the Red Diamond mine’s airfield, but don’t count on it, especially if we find any signs of an ambush for the Regiment in that general location.”
Franny touched the map again, this time at the northernmost point. “We’ll be bringing the attack shuttle in low and slow, and land on the edge of a clearing here. If we make contact with anyone during insertion, we’ll abort and try another location.
“Strict commo silence, except between you and your buddy, if within a klick of each other. Each team will give an update to Lieutenant Kwan every twelve hours, even if it’s a ‘wait’ signal. Bravo team, you’ll move slow as you can, until we get word from Valkyrie’s team they’ve contacted Alpha company.” He touched the map in three locations.
“Mark these points. They’re where the caches of supplies will be emplaced. You can locate them by switching to the beacon locator channel.”
He turned the map off. “We’ll be loading onto the attack shuttle within 48 hours. The actual time is still to be determined as we are feeling our way into a stable orbit to ensure we’re not detected. I’m having the gravity eased to 1.1 gravs, the same as what’s on Star’s End. Get lots of rest. You’re going to need it.”
* * *
The next 48 hours skimmed by. Weapons and rucksacks were unsealed and re-examined. Final map analysis was conducted, with every possible route carefully studied, as well as any suspicious looking area covered in minute detail. One hour prior to load-up, everyone began final prep. Brita gathered her fire team in one corner of the loading bay and personally inspected all of them.
“Once in the shuttle, strap yourselves in securely. Even though this isn’t a combat drop, it could become one.” She yanked the cover down over Ian’s pack, and fastened it to the bottom. “Always, always, always check each other to ensure your ghillie suit is in active camouflage mode, and covering you. I know you’ve heard this a thousand times, so consider this a thousand and one.” She kept moving, eyes missing nothing. “We’ll put our ghillies on after we land and have ensured the landing zone is secure. When the word to load up is given, put on your helmet, with the face-plate down. We’ll communicate with helmet commo from that point on. Any questions? No? Then park it against the wall, and let’s start our hurry up and wait routine.” She set the example, leaned back against the wall and slid down until she was seated on the deck.
Ian tried to relax. First mission as a scout. He hoped he looked cool and relaxed like Franny. J.C. seemed to already be asleep. Pointy fidgeted next to him, a distraction for any attempt at sleep. He’d just close his eyes and look relaxed. Now if he could just get his mind to slow down, he might be able to rest.
“Scouts up,” came Lt. Kwan’s voice. Ian opened his eyes, and checked the time. Two hours? He’d managed to doze off after all. He scrambled up and joined the file that moved toward the yawning hatchway of the attack shuttle.
His footsteps echoed
on the ramp, adding to the overall noise of the shuttle’s engines spooling up. He dropped into the first available seat and strapped in. Those with Webleys, like himself, fit them into a slot next to the seat. Everyone’s needler was already holstered. Ian snapped the face cover of his helmet down. Now he could control the noise input. He chinned over to the all hands frequency, and waited.
“Stand by,” came the voice of the shuttle pilot. “Coming up on launch window. Atmospheric shields up, outer doors opening. Launching on my mark—Mark.” The attack shuttle scooted out of the ship, and dropped toward the surface three hundred kilometers below.
Gravitics kicked in rather than rockets. Although much more expensive in energy consumption, it was quieter for a recon insertion. The whisper of atmosphere could be heard through the shuttle walls. Sudden braking snapped Ian’s head forward. Franny’s voice came on, startlingly loud in his helmet.
“We’ll be landing in thirty minutes, 2030 hours ground time. It’s full dark outside. Alpha team will exit first. You’ll be facing north as you deplane. Move out west and north fifty meters before going to ground. Bravo team, fifty meters east and north. Once the shuttle has taken off, form on your team leaders and move out.”
Time crawled by. The shuttle slowed suddenly, and touched down with scarcely a jar. “Lock and load,” ordered Franny. Everyone slapped a magazine into their weapon.
“Scouts out,” came the order, and Ian sprinted out the hatch behind Pointy. Veering left, he dove to the ground and brought his weapon to bear. The shuttle lifted and whispered away. Within seconds the sound of its passing was gone. Every other person unstrapped the ghillie suit from the top of their rucksack, and put it on. Once finished, the others did the same.
“Everyone on infra red,” ordered Brita. “Go to Alpha frequency now.” Ian chinned to the proper frequency, in time to hear the “Move out” signal. By using infras, they were able to see each other’s heat signature. Everyone automatically spaced themselves at least five meters apart and moved to the southwest. Ian was fourth in line, with Pointy being tail end charlie.
Their present speed was a little faster than normal, two kilometers an hour, but vacating the area of an insertion was first priority in case they drew unwelcome attention. The pace was kept up for an hour, and took them over the first ridge line which heralded higher and rougher terrain.
Brita signaled a halt. Everyone went to one knee and faced alternately left and right, with Pointy rearward. “Move five meters off the trail, and take ten. Pointy and Blade, stay alert.”
Ian began to notice the smells and sounds of the night. The tickety-click was this planet’s equivalent of insect noise, while the wind caused a susurrus familiar on any world with vegetation. The leaves on trees and bushes were thicker and wider than he was used to. He turned his hearing control to full gain. The creaking of trees and drip of water added to the muted roar of wind and insect noise. He hurriedly turned it back down so he wouldn’t drown out any human-made sounds. Ian looked up and saw the occasional star peep out from clouds moving overhead. Tree limbs obscured most of the sky. By his estimation they had traveled a little over two kilometers. That left eighteen more to their objective, the Red Diamond mine.
Within minutes they were on the move again. The trail they followed tended to the south, towards the mine. Brita, who was second in line, continuously swept a 180-degree arc with her scanner, a unit strapped to her wrist and not much larger than the palm of her hand. It would detect the presence of humans or unnatural objects out to a mile. It also would “hear” electronics further out. Even though everyone had a scanner, hers was the only one in constant use. Pointy, as rear security, made a sweep every two minutes.
Just before dawn, Brita moved them well off the trail. “We’ll dig in here and wait until early afternoon to move closer to the mine site. At the pace we’ve been setting, it’s another two hours travel to our rendezvous point.”
She seemed to sink into the ground, while the rest of the fire team spread out in a circle around her. No one was within seven meters of anyone else.
Ian began digging a six-inch depression in which to lie down. He’d better make sure the hole he dug for his rucksack was deep enough this time. Brita had ripped his ass for not doing so when he’d first joined the unit.
Once settled in, Brita had them count off. “Even numbers sleep for two hours. Odds awake. Double check your gear and be sure to eat.”
Ian was an even number, so he wiggled around until he was as comfortable as he was going to get and closed his eyes.
SONS OF FREEDOM CAMP (Day +8):
Jean Deville surveyed the twenty-four Group Leaders who sat around the cavern. Most had traveled several days for this council meeting being held in the abandoned shafts of the worked-out nickel mine forty kilometers southwest of the Stobol mines. Never had so many leaders of the Sons of Freedom gathered in one room before. It was amazing what success could do for a cause. He smiled at the thought. Even the sight of the large, stone-faced Deutschlander in their midst didn’t seem so depressing.
He nodded to the dark haired younger man at the front of the group. “Thank you, Henry, for the excellent briefing. Also pass on our thanks for a job well done to all who took part in the raid.” Colonel Henry Racine had been field commander for the raid three weeks ago at the air field near the diamond mines.
As Henry seated himself, Jean rose and walked slowly to the front. His diminutive size was not noticed due to the charisma that emanated from him. This, combined with an ease in front of groups, made it apparent why he continued to be elected as one of the west coast’s Senators in Star’s End Congress for the past fifteen years. He looked at each person, as if to gauge their abilities and loyalties. The piercing deep blue of his eyes touched an answering spark in all of them.
“It’s pleasant to hear of success this early in our struggles against the oppressive government. Although I tried for so many years to achieve justice and freedom for our people here in the west through legal means, I failed to do so.” He looked down, as if in apology. “It is only with extreme reluctance that I decided to support violence to achieve our ends.”
He gestured toward the Deutschlander. “Major DeVries represents a significant step forward in our ability to conduct war against our totalitarian government. The supplies of weapons he brought from our friends in the Alliance, plus the cadre of training personnel already at work will make our day of reckoning that much nearer.”
A buzz of astonishment and shock rippled through the audience. Not surprising, since only four of their number had been privy to any of this prior to the attack on the Stobol mining complex. He raised his arms. “Yes, my friends, the Alliance has joined us in our cause. They ask nothing in return but the ability to trade freely after we take power.” Major DeVries nodded sagely. His large shaved head glistened in the light. Jean suppressed a shudder, again wishing the Alliance had sent someone who didn’t look so vicious. Made it hard to believe anything he said when your first thought was to lock up your women and children.
“No longer will we listen to the government vermin who tell us what we can and cannot do,” continued Jean. “They’ve already taken away much that is rightfully ours.” He held his arm out and began to turn, pointing at everyone in the room.
“The day will come, brothers, when they will not only tax our income and what we produce, but tell us what we can and cannot do with the land we own.” This was a political sore point since environmental controls had become necessary in the east due to their burgeoning industry, but not seen as needed in the sparsely populated west.
“They’ve already told us how much fish we c’n catch,” one of the leaders shouted.
“I don’t like it they set the price on timber they buy from us, either,” another growled.
“That’s the point of this,” Jean said. “We should be able to establish our own price. We should be able to catch as many fish as we can sell. We should be able to control what is done with the land we
own. The government doesn’t have the right to tell us what is to be done with it!” He cast his arms wide. “In the past, many of you have given us passive support. I ask you now to become active in your aid. Are you with me?”
The room broke into a maelstrom of noise. Everyone was on their feet, except the Deutschlander and one other. Jean’s sharp eyes noted who was still seated—the merchant representative from Richland. Eventually the cavern was again quiet.
“Thank you, everyone, for your show of support. Colonel Racine will pass among you with a list of what is needed. Mostly, it is manpower. We will break for supper in a moment, and those of you…”
“A moment, Senator,” a voice said. The merchant representative, noted Jean.
“Would you be so kind as to give us more detail on what the impacts will be to our economy when—if—the Sons of Freedom win?” Damn. The weasel had started to advance toward the front of the room. Jean looked at Major DeVries, and motioned with his head toward the man who approached.
DeVries stepped into the path of the merchant, and looked down at him from his over two meters of height. “Come, sir, I will talk with you about that during supper, yah?” He grasped the man by the shoulder and seemed to levitate him out of the room.
“This is a good opportunity to break for our meal, everyone. I will answer any questions afterwards.” Colonel Racine appeared at his side.
“Ah, Colonel,” he murmured. “Do you have a replacement for our wayward merchant?”
“Yes, sir. The head of the Mason’s Guild should do.”
“Then please ensure our friend meets with an accident. Quietly, if you please, after our meal.”
“Consider it done.” The Colonel walked off, smiling and nodding as he made his way through the crowd.
That evening, Jean met with Major DeVries and Colonel Racine. The quarters constructed in these caves over the past five years by the Sons of Freedom were quite comfortable. He brought a decanter of red wine to the table and poured for them all.