by Jim Laughter
Before a hand could go up the alarm klaxon sounded. At first, the trainees did not know quite what to do. One glance at the surprised look on Buckner’s face prodded them into action.
The compartment speaker blared to life: ‘This is not a drill! I repeat, this is not a drill. All hands to battle stations!’ Buckner and Stoddard herded the trainees out of the way of the regular crew racing for their duty positions.
The trainees struggled into their pressure suits. Delmar whispered a silent prayer to the Unseen One, thanking him for the unending hours of pressure suit training they had received. Suddenly, the ship lurched sideways when something impacted hard near the stern. The faceplates on the suits snapped shut when the cabin pressure fell. Stoddard kept the trainees still while Buckner raced forward. In a minute, he was back, his face ashen.
“Okay men, listen up!” he announced through his suit speaker. “We’ve come under attack by a contingent of Red-tail ships. One of their torps has damaged our drive system, and the pilot is trying to bring us down. Squad leaders, take two men each and bring your gear forward. The rest of you get it on fast and prepare to exit the ship. It looks as if your training is going to get a little more serious.”
The ship lurched twice more. The inertial dampeners failed and they could feel the effect of inertia leak through the weakening drive field of the ship. Designated trainees raced to the equipment lockers and soon returned with the supplies.
Buckner again slipped forward and was soon back with another report. “We’ve taken two more hits and the drive is failing,” he said in a rush. “There are casualties up front and both the pilot and captain are injured. One of the troopers is attempting to land us but the ship is starting to buckle. Unless he can straighten this thing out, we’re gonna hit hard, so get prepared. Assume crash positions!”
The trainees squatted low and braced against the bulkheads and support structure of the cabin. The ship lurched again when something exploded outside. They could hear the cry of tortured metal around them. Seconds crept by at a snail’s pace and they could hear the shriek of air outside the ship as it plummeted through the planet’s atmosphere.
The crash was more of a glancing skid than a straight vertical impact. The trainees felt the ship bounce once, then again, then slide as it plowed into a field. Finally, the motion stopped and there was silence for a few seconds. Almost immediately, Buckner and Stoddard stood up on the leaning deck and ordered the trainees to move out.
The hatch was partially buckled and it took Buckner and two trainees to force it to open part way. Immediately, there was the zing of a shot near the hatch. A Red-tail energy beam burned through the hatch torching the chest of one of the trainees helping Buckner. Delmar recognized the man as Justus Beesder, their communications specialist. A medic tried to save the man’s life but he was already dead.
Stoddard and Buckner both drew their weapons and fired through the opening to provide cover for the trainees. The young men tumbled out amid the dust and smoke from the crash and hit the dirt.
The first squad out fired toward the direction of the incoming shots and allowed the rest of the unit to scramble safely clear of the ship. Buckner and Stoddard ordered the trainees forward to establish a safe perimeter around the crash site. Following Stoddard’s example, the trainees used low power settings on their blasters to gouge out trenches and then tumbled in.
The firing stayed steady and several enemy shots hit the ship. Delmar witnessed one crewmember hit as he came out the hatch and saw willing hands drag the wounded man back inside. The man’s severed left arm lay twitching on the ground. Buckner also saw it and ordered Delmar’s squad to go back and assist the crew in getting out safely.
As they ran for the ship, Delmar’s squad leader and another man was hit but both managed to roll safely behind an embankment of dirt plowed up by the ship. Delmar and the rest made it into the ship just as the intensity of the hits on the hull increased sharply. Gunners inside the ship returned fire from the swivel mounted weapons, creating an interlacing field of fire toward the enemy positions.
The rest of the crew was inside the hatchway. Several were badly injured and the ship would provide them with very little safety. One of Delmar’s squad mates began to worry aloud and was quickly hushed.
It was then that Delmar had an idea. Remembering the weapons range demonstration about the blaster, he set his weapon on a higher setting. Aiming at the hull where it touched the ground, he squeezed the firing stub. White light filled the compartment as the ray bored a hole through the steel and into the rocks below. Delmar released the stub and surveyed his work. The hole burrowed only about ten feet below the ship.
Delmar grabbed a fire extinguisher and expelled the foam down into the hole he had just created, effectively cooling the sides. He eased himself down into the hole, trying to avoid any hot rock sidings that may not have cooled. He reset his blaster and aimed it at the still-cooling wall. He fired again, this time angling slightly upward toward the surface. He could hear Stan above him yelling at the DIs outside to clear an area.
Delmar fired twice more to lengthen his tunnel. Just as he was about to fire a third time, the roof began to cave in near the end of his last blast. Daylight streamed in through the hole and Delmar could see that his tunnel had come up behind a wall of rock.
The enemy weapons sounded terribly close as he emerged into the light. Several trainees had formed a series of trenches and pits to provide cover from enemy fire. Ducking down into the tunnel, he called back to Stan at the other end to bring out the crew.
With the last of them lifted out into the trenches, an explosion ripped through the air. Delmar turned around to see that the central section of the ship was gone. Pieces of hot metal began to rain down around them, causing them to seek shelter. He shuddered to think that he had been in that section of the ship only a few minutes ago.
Darkness fell and the firing slackened until it became quiet. Buckner and Stoddard crawled around and checked on their trainees, even though Stoddard had been hit. Wounded men filled the main pit where the ship corpsman provided what emergency medical treatment he could. Of the sixty trainees, two were dead and eleven wounded. This was going to be a long night.
Among the crew of the transport ship, the worst injuries were both the pilot and the captain. Neither would survive the night. The trooper who had brought the ship in had been killed on impact, which left Buckner as the ranking able-bodied trooper on the scene. Buckner learned that three Red-tail ships, one of which had been destroyed, had attacked them.
Stoddard believed the planet had become a forward staging area for the Red-tails. He asked if the bridge had managed to get out a distress call, only to learn that the transmitter array had gone dead with the first hit. The news that their plight was unknown was not heartening.
Delmar overheard the conversation and approached Buckner with an idea.
“Sir,” he began, “what if we salvage the transmitter from the ship and jury-rig some power for it?” The drill instructor looked back at the ship.
“Do you think you can do it?”
“Yes sir. Stan and I should be able to drag out the transmitter if some of the other guys can get us some power.”
“How do you plan to approach the nose of the ship?” the drill instructor asked. “It’s badly exposed to enemy fire.”
“The same way we got here, sir, by tunneling.”
Buckner thought about it for another minute and then nodded his approval. He knew Eagleman and Shane worked well together, and that each knew how to improvise. Both had proven themselves on the exercise when they’d been assigned to the communications array on the Melanor moon.
Delmar moved out and found Stan. Explaining the plan to Stan, the two men were soon at the bottom of the pit Delmar had blasted beneath the ship. Now, instead of pieces of burning steel hull, light from the planet’s smaller moon bathed them in a golden glow. It hardly seemed possible they could be fighting for their lives under such a beautiful m
oon.
Delmar aimed to one side to avoid creation of a trench beneath the long axis of the wreck and fired his blaster in short bursts. The flash attracted a volley of enemy rounds. Stan could hear another team lead by Buckner behind them in the pit tunneling toward the aft section of the transport to reach the fusion power boxes located there.
Soon Delmar and Stan were far enough forward to change direction and tunnel under the remains of the control room. Two short blasts brought them underneath the steel hull. Aiming carefully, Delmar fired at the steel. It quickly evaporated and they found themselves looking up into the Control Room.
Climbing aboard, they found the room nearly demolished from both the attack and the crash. The body of the trooper who had brought them down was still strapped into the control seat. His head, savagely torn from his body, was nowhere to be seen. Delmar almost became sick but a shake from Stan helped him come around.
Leaving the gristly scene behind, they moved toward the communications board. Fortunately, it was relatively undamaged. Stan found the service tool-kit stowed nearby and removed the access panels.
It didn’t take long before they had the transmitter safely on the floor between them. Delmar scooted the heavy unit toward the hole while Stan repacked the tool-kit and attached it to his belt. He then reached inside the hole in the wall and yanked free several feet of fiber antenna cable. Stuffing this into his shirt, he helped Delmar lower the bulky piece of equipment into the tunnel.
The sizzle of a heat ray on the outside hull of the ship encouraged them to hurry, and after they were again in the tunnel, they heard the muffled explosions of a Red-tail ray connecting with a piece of volatile component.
They met the other team at the pit. They had also come under attack and Buckner and one of the trainees had been wounded. Buckner and the trainee crawled up the tunnel while the two teams struggled with their prizes. Soon extra hands arrived and carried the precious equipment out into the main pit.
Stan jury-rigged the transmitter while Delmar helped run connections for the power source. Delmar noticed they still lacked an antenna for the unit and looked around for something that would work. He spied a scattering of loose rods from the bedsprings drive on the back of the transport. He told Stan where he was going.
Delmar made use of the tunnel to get to the remains of the ship but would have to crawl in the open for several yards to retrieve one of the rods. The enemy was still taking occasional shots at the hulk of the ship. Delmar was afraid he would have to crawl out there unaided when he heard Stoddard call out for the trainees on the perimeter to give him covering fire.
Under the cover of blasters and long-weapons, Delmar slid toward the rods. He had made it most of the way when an enemy sharpshooter spotted him. Immediately, the ground and wreckage around Delmar stirred violently by the unrelenting onslaught of projectile slugs and enemy rays. Pieces of seemingly indestructible equipment evaporated. Delmar stayed as low as he could and belly-crawled toward safety.
Just as he reached the edge of the pit with the rod, the night lit up and Delmar felt himself spinning through the air. His last image was the brightly lit edges of the crater as the concussion drove consciousness from him.
Chapter Twenty-One
“Are you sure this is the location?” asked the captain as he peered downward at the planet.
“I’m sure of it,” came back the reply from one of the other ships. “Do you see any sign of the transport?”
“Not yet,” the first captain replied.
“Hey! I see something over there near that ridge,” said a voice from the third ship. The path plowed by the crashed transport extended several hundred yards. When they drew closer, they could see the flashes from weapons fire surrounding the shattered remains of a crashed ship.
“We’ll take care of this,” one of the other ships said as they peeled off and dove toward the enemy positions. “You keep us covered.” The first captain clicked his mic button twice in acknowledgment while he watched the other two ships peel away from the formation and attack the enemy ground forces and gun emplacements.
The superior firepower of the ships made quick work of the limited Red-tail positions. As soon as the entrenchments were clear, one of the ships set down near the wreckage while the other two kept watch from the air.
What the rescuers found was a sorry sight indeed. The ship was little more than twisted wreckage, around which trenches and pits were dug by the defenders. All told, eleven trainees and eight of the ship’s crew died, including the trooper Delmar and Stan had seen. Of the survivors, most were wounded to some degree, several critically.
The commander of the rescue mission surveyed the situation and called for a medical ship and extra escorts. Thanks to the distress call, the secret Red-tail staging area was searched out and destroyed. There were still a number of pockets of resistance to be dug out but time and manpower would take care of it.
The rescue captain took stock of the defenders while they waited. Almost to a man, they were all trainees. Buckner had been wounded a second time in the same attack that got Delmar. Both now lay side-by-side, unconscious and seriously wounded.
Stoddard assumed command of the unit and directed the squad leaders from where he lay with both legs fractured. The captain examined the smoking remains of the makeshift transmitter destroyed by an enemy shell. They had managed to get the distress call out just before the shell hit it and wounded the alternate operator, also a trainee.
Radiating out from the crash-site was a circle of destruction where the trainees had laid waste to anything that moved. Later investigation would reveal that there were the bodies or indications of over two hundred and fifty Red-tails slain or wounded by the defenders.
An hour later, the hospital ship was able to land near the crash and the evacuation began. The most critically wounded were taken immediately into the surgical units where the process to restore them to health began. Those with lesser injuries were treated and sent to the waiting berths deeper in the ship. A mortuary detail recovered the bodies of those killed in action and took them to the ship morgue for the trip home. With everyone accounted for, the rescue ships lifted into space.
∞∞∞
The Hassels were just sitting down in the living room when a service flitter settled onto their driveway. Robert looked out the window and saw a trooper coming to the front door. Answering his knock, Robert opened the door and greeted the man. Agnes saw the black uniform and stood beside her husband.
“Mr. and Mrs. Hassel?” the trooper asked. When Robert nodded, the trooper handed him a sealed envelope.
“I was ordered to bring this to you. I’m sorry,” the trooper said and then stood by silently. Robert and Agnes stood unmoving with the terrible paper weighing heavily in Robert’s hands.
His hands trembling, Robert opened the envelope. In his years as a trooper officer, he had delivered many similar notices to other families, a duty he never enjoyed.
Major G. Gizdavich
Freewater Training Center
Dear Mr. and Mrs. Hassel,
This letter is to inform you that your ward, T.T. Delmar Eagleman was wounded in enemy action and is now hospitalized at the Freewater Medical Center. Three Red-tail ships attacked his training unit while enroute to a field training exercise. They crash landed on a hostile planet and came under immediate enemy fire. The trainees performed well, and several of the trainees, including Trainee Eagleman, were instrumental in the rescue of the transport crew and defense of their position.
T.T. Delmar Eagleman is expected to fully recover from his wounds and resume active service in a few weeks. His medical report lists several broken bones and internal injuries, along with a severe concussion. He remains unconscious but is expected to come around soon. I request that you come to Freewater as your presence may aid in his recovery. The trooper delivering this notice will provide you with transportation to Jasper Station where a ship is waiting. The liaison officer can help you arrange your affairs.
<
br /> Major G. Gizdavich
Commander
Freewater Training Center
Agnes packed while Robert called Daren and arranged for him to watch the farm. He also called the liaison officer at Jasper Station. Satisfied with the arrangements, he helped Agnes finish packing and they climbed into the back seat of the flitter.
∞∞∞
Wandering around in a thick fog, Delmar could not figure out where the booming was coming from. Searching, he finally saw a lighter area ahead and realized the noises seemed to come from the same place. Approaching the light, he found himself lying on his back under bright lights while medical personnel discussed his condition. He groaned and felt pain course through his body. He wished fervently that he could go back into the fog.
“He’s coming around,” one of the nurses announced. “I’ll go get his parents.”
Delmar couldn’t find the strength to speak and say his parents were dead but then he remembered the Hassels. He tried to sit up but something weighed him down.
“Take it easy, trooper,” a voice ordered. “You got busted up pretty bad by that shell.” He tried to remember anything about a shell but his mind refused to cooperate. Someone mercifully dimmed the lights and Delmar opened his eyes.
Everything was blurry and tried to spin or dance around the room. He closed his eyes again to calm the antics of the furniture. Someone gave him an injection and the pain eased. Delmar lay still, trying to make sense of it all when he heard footsteps enter the room. Taking a chance, he opened his eyes again. This time the surroundings were more cooperative and he saw two blurry forms leaning over him.