Darrell Bain

by The Y Factor (lit)

  I nodded. “Right you are. Other groups are thinking about this as well, and the marines in particular. The captain just wants as much input as possible before he makes a decision. Any other observa-tions? Anyone?"

  "There doesn't seem to be that many of them in the immediate area,” Margie said. “Does that mean anything?” She brushed fingers through her hair again.

  "Probably just means there's more somewhere else,” I said, chuckling. “I can't imagine those few defeating the marines that were there, although I guess surprise helped. In fact, I suspect that's why the Zeng Wu hasn't been able to mount a rescue. Not enough fighters left."

  "Would the Captain accept civilian help in the rescue operation? I can shoot,” Nancy Silveras asked. She was another of my scientists. She had touches of gray in her dark hair but looked rather young. I guess she hadn't brought hair coloring along but I'd never asked.

  "We've all had the training, so I don't see why not. In fact, it may be necessary to use every person on board. I'll pass that one on, too."

  I made a note of it to go with the other factors and the discussion continued.

  I wasn't under any illusions that the subjects my group discussed were going to lead to a grand battle plan. Becker just wanted to make damn certain the professionals didn't miss anything, and he was calling on all the help he had—and there were lots of brilliant people in our crew. I let the discussion go on until nothing new was being said, then stopped it and dismissed everyone. I can't see the point of talking when you're no longer contributing anything useful.

  I checked my watch. An hour until Captain Becker wanted to see us again. I went back to my stateroom and rummaged around until I found my little automatic I'd never turned in. I tucked it into the side pocket of a windbreaker where it would be handy, made myself a quick snack and rested for a few minutes.

  What Juan had said that one night about using our time together came back to mind, and I began thinking about it. Had he intuited something days in advance? It almost seemed that way, now that we knew the planet was inhabited by warlike aliens. I tried to make my mind quiet down and not get in a panic over something that hadn't happened yet and probably never would. I had to think though, that this must be something like what military spouses went through all the time when their other half was away at war or on the way to a war and it made me appreciate how little ruckus most of them made.

  * * * *

  At the next meeting Captain Becker listened to everyone else, asked some astute questions, and then let Colonel Jones speak. He didn't look happy, and I knew why a few moments later. He must have already had a plan drawn up in his mind and simply incorporated a few other tidbits of information from us that he or his staff hadn't thought of; but it still wasn't enough.

  "Captain, I think it may be possible to rescue our comrades, but it's not going to be easy, and it's going to take just about everyone aboard ship who can handle a weapon."

  Uh-oh, I thought. Not good.

  Captain Becker nodded to him. “Proceed."

  "All right, sir, here's what I and my staff have come up with. I know we can't use the ship directly but we have the two exploration vehicles. I want to commit both of them from atmosphere.” He held up his hand to stifle objections before they got started. “And no one needs to tell me they weren't designed to be launched that way, but I believe they must be for us to have a chance. I don't have that many troops, just a rump company of less than a hundred men divided into three short platoons and a headquarters staff. The aliens must be observing their surroundings, so we'll deorbit on the other side of the planet and come in at a very sharp angle. They may or may not have caught on to the satellite in orbit but we have to assume they have. I doubt they will have broken our encryption yet, though.

  "What I propose is to launch both exploration tenders with a fire team of marines in each with half our heavy weapons. They'll come in low and set up here and here.” He used a laser pointer to touch the screen at points beyond the edge of what he said were formations of enemy troops on three sides of the ship. “Captain Becker will set the ship down on this slope here after we've neutralized what we believe to be a laser emplacement in this little hill.” He pointed both out and waited each time to be sure we had the areas fixed in our memories. “From where the ship lands, one of our laser cannons can be pointed at a low enough angle to engage reinforcements as well as whatever else is hidden inside that hill.

  "Immediately upon landing, the captain will drop the loading ramps which will be concealed by the rest of the ship from observation by the aliens. Half of the rest of my troops will deploy at that time, swing around to the left and right and engage the enemy in a crossfire while the other half makes a dash toward the structure where the captives are being held. Now...” He paused to sweep the room with his gaze, eyeing each of us briefly.

  "...Now if you've been counting, you'll realize I've run out of marines. That's where the rest of the crew comes in. They're going to have to participate and help provide some cover while the rescue party makes a fighting withdrawal to the ship, but not to our ship. They'll head to the Zeng Wu, which will drop its loading ramp at the appropriate time. We're hoping they won't be expecting them to head that way and the captives will be able to get aboard before the aliens have time to react. In the meantime, our people will be laying down a covering fire, as I said. They're civilians, I know, but they won't have to expose themselves for too long, I hope. Their purpose is to let the rescue party reach the Zeng Wu and then they're to immediately withdraw back into the ship so it can get the hell out of there."

  He grinned mirthlessly. “I wish to hell there was some way to run through this exercise before committing ourselves, but there's not. I will have very loud noise signals at the appropriate times to tell everyone what stage of the battle we're in but I certainly don't expect that to solve everything. For you non-military people here, there's one primary rule of combat and I want you to keep it in mind. Pass it on to your people, too. ‘No battle plan survives first contact with the enemy,’ so be prepared to improvise if necessary.” He stopped talking again and scanned the group. “Questions?"

  There were, of course, but Captain Becker was getting antsy. When Maddie called from her office to tell him she was observing some suspicious movement he cut the discussion short and set deployment for one hour later.

  I knew some big brains back on Earth were going to second-guess the captain over risking his ship, but they weren't here. We were. Also I doubt he would have done it if the odds hadn't been so good. Not necessarily for freeing the hostages, but for keeping the ship from major harm. It was armored well enough that hand lasers couldn't hurt it much, and he didn't intend to land until the emplacement under that hill had been taken out. I would have done the same thing myself.

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  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  The one person Captain Becker refused to risk was Gordon. It didn't set well with him, not with him being so young in body and with all that testosterone running rampant through his system, but Becker was adamant. We had to have a Crispy with us if we ever found the Cresperian planet, so he had to stay inside. Becker did ask him if he could get anything useful from the aliens with his perceptive sense. I overheard that bit of conversation.

  "No, Captain. It is much too far away. There's not even any entanglement since I've never had anything to do with the ship or the crew."

  "Oh, well.” The colonel shrugged. “I was hoping for some help there but if you can't, you can't. Once we're down, though, if you find out anything useful let me or one of the officers know right away. I'll tie you in to the command circuit. Not having any idea of what the aliens intend is gonna make it a bit harder but it's still doable. I need to talk to the platoon leaders right quick and get the troops loaded up now, though. Thanks, Gordon."

  I hoped that would at least make Gordon think he was helping.

  With General Shelton not being in the line of command, he volunteered to lea
d a small group to help suppress the concentration of aliens we'd spotted moving in. That meant drawing a few marines from each of the other groups and selecting a half dozen civilians with prior military experience to fill them out. His face was grim as he left to get his people together, but his eyes were bright. It had probably been a long time since he'd led a squad-sized group.

  We left orbit immediately after that conversation. Even as we were descending we all had to begin moving toward where we'd be exiting, the Shelton group to the big loading ramp and the rest of us to the small people ramp and the two airlocks. Only that part of the crew absolutely necessary to operate the ship was going to be left aboard.

  I felt the ship give a quick shudder twice in succession, indicating the explorers had been launched. No way to tell if they were successful until we grounded, but the time passed so quickly for me that it seemed to happen almost immediately.

  Becker had thought the best way for the civilians to fight was under the command of the individual department heads, which meant all of my scientists were with me, including, unfortunately, Smackers, whom I'd just as soon have left behind. He kept yammering about how we were going to stomp hell out of the BEMs until I finally told him to shut up or he'd stay in the ship.

  * * * *

  I could hear the loud stutter of machine gun fire the minute the second airlock door opened, and I led my people outside. We were second in line behind a contingent of yeomen and technicians from operations and analysis. Some of them were already shooting at something.

  "Take cover and hold your fire!” I yelled. We were supposed to be shooting toward each narrow flank of the rescue team, but only after they had the captives and were on the way back; and at that, we had a miscellany of weapons that made us look like the proverbial people's militia.

  Off in the distance I could see marines and aliens mixing it up, way too far for accurate fire. Smackers began shooting anyway, trying to pick off aliens with a sporting rifle. I ducked low and ran over to him and popped him on the top of his head. “Hold your fire, goddamn it, until we have some targets! You're going to kill some of our own people shooting like that,” I shouted into his face. “If I see you fire that rifle one more time before I tell you to, I'm going to shoot you myself!"

  He rose halfway to his feet, face red as a beet, and attempted to slap me. I blocked the move, caught his wrist, and squeezed until he yelped with pain.

  "Listen to me, you goddamn fool! You'll hit one of our people from this distance. Now hold on!"

  Sulking and seething, he lowered himself back to the ground. I got back into position and tried to see what was going on.

  The marines on the right flank seemed to be doing fine. They had machine guns hammering away, mixed with small arms fire, but none of it was panicky. It was timed and professional, just as I'd seen on the training course when I went through basic. But on the left, something was happening that hadn't been planned for.

  A big vehicle with corrugated tires rolled into view spitting laser beams. In the distance, I saw marines die while their bullets bounced off its armor. It swept a path through that squad and began moving up the streets toward the right flank. The marines left behind flung bullets at it futilely. The vehicle drove behind an intervening building; then, just as it came into sight again, our laser cannon opened up. Its wheels caught on fire; then the thing began smoking. Abruptly it erupted in a ball of thunderous flame.

  Way back behind all this action the two explorer vehicles had landed and their crews were pouring all the fire they were capable of into what I figured must be reinforcements moving up. I couldn't see what was happening for sure, though.

  Commander Graham had gone as far as the people ramp but remained at the entrance, observing the battle from a higher vantage point than I had. I wished there was some way of communicating with her and finding out about the captives but there wasn't. Only the marines and a couple of others had access to the general net, a fault that I was sure would be corrected later, but that did no good at the moment. Instead, she left her post and ran at a crouch to the foot of the ramp where we were.

  "Mai! Take Smackers, Henry and the other of your people who have rifles and go reinforce the left flank. They've been mauled and need some help. If you go to them down that side street—” ... she pointed to the one she meant “—then you can add some firepower from a different direction. Maybe it'll throw the bastards off long enough to get the captives to their ship. They've been freed, but it's slow going and they're under a lot of pressure.” She ducked as a laser beam scorched the air near her head.

  "Got it."

  I yelled out the names of the people I wanted and began leading them off, but suddenly I had the feeling I was missing someone. I turned around. Smackers was hanging back.

  "Get your ass up here, Smackers! Those people need help!"

  Reluctantly he joined our group but I wondered if I'd done the right thing. It might have been best to leave him behind, the way he was acting. His gaze was dancing wildly back and forth as if looking for a place to run to where he would be safe. I motioned for him to come on and turned away. If he followed, fine. If not, I didn't have time to worry about him.

  We ran and dodged just as fast as I could chivy them along. Remember, most of those people had never been in the military. All of them had used guns before or they wouldn't have been out there, but none of them had ever thought they'd be involved in a battle. Hell, I never thought I'd be involved in one. This might not have been a war but it would do until a real one came along.

  I lost Henry along the way. I don't know why he stood up like that, maybe hoping for a clear shot, but whatever his reason, he caught a laser beam to the face that didn't kill him immediately. He ran blindly into the open, screaming about his eyes and died when another beam sliced across his abdomen, spilling his guts into the street. I heard someone vomit but there wasn't time to see who it was.

  "Get some fire going, people! Now!” I yelled and set an example by raising up briefly and emptying half a clip from my rifle in the direction of the nearest Snappers. Before I ducked back down I saw several of them fall, spurting orange blood. What was left of the marines and the rest of my people joined in and gradually began suppressing the laser fire.

  In the meantime, the captives had somehow been freed just as Maddie had told us, although I hadn't able to see that part of the action. What I did see was a gang of men and women erupt from the center of the battle area and begin running toward the ships. At the same time, the marines must have been ordered to give as much covering fire as they possibly could, because it picked up considerably, drowning out all other noises. Explosions from grenades added to the din, as well as the roar of flames shooting from some of the openings and roofs of the alien homes or offices or whatever the hell they were. We had failed to take them into account. Several of us began firing back at the snipers.

  Eugene dropped his weapon when a laser beam hit him in the upper arm. He fell to the ground screaming and trying to beat out the flames with his other hand. I couldn't do anything for him at the moment because the former captives were coming closer and they needed all the help they could get because they were unarmed, completely helpless.

  I caught a glimpse of one of our tenders as it rose from the planet. Why, I don't know. A heavy laser beam sought it out and finally caught it, burning directly into the canopy. It fell back to the ground in a trail of smoke and crashed. It hadn't been too high so maybe some of them got out alive.

  As the people from the Zeng Wu got closer we had to watch what we were doing to avoid hitting them. I cautioned everyone and told Smackers twice. He seemed to be off in la-la land so I don't know if he heard me or not. His face was white and he was moving his bowed head back and forth like a duck looking for bread in the water. I saw that his rifle had ejected its clip and he was making no effort to insert another. Shit. For all his braggadocio he was useless when it came to the crunch. I decided to let him be for the moment.

  The mar
ines were running through their ammunition at a furious rate, but that was just what was needed right then. And our laser cannon finally found the big one that had gotten our exploration vehicle and a fire team of marines with it. Its pulsing beam burned into the bunker for several seconds then it must have hit something flammable because the bunker blew up in a thunderous explosion that threw beams of wood and metal and fragments of Snappers into the air. Once it was disabled, the rest of the marines began slowly closing in on the ships and killing anything that got in their way.

  One group of the captives got ahead of their guide marines and came our way instead of toward the Zeng Wu. “Careful!” I yelled. “Don't hit our own people!” Our fire slacked off and I thought they were all going to make it but just at the last moment a laser beam cut the legs from under two of them, both women. They were naked from the waist up. It didn't look as if their legs had been amputated, but both fell and couldn't get up. Hamstrung, maybe.

  It took only a second to make the decision. Fortunately, General Shelton had seen what was happening and committed the civilian reserve.

  "Margie, Smackers, Brenner, and you, let's go!” I yelled. “We can drag them back!"

  I got up and so did two of the others.

  Smackers began crying and shaking his head worse than before. “No, no! They'll kill us."

  "Get your cowardly ass up and come help or I'll kill you myself, you sorry son of a bitch."

  "I'll go,” one of the technicians said, looking disgustedly at Smackers, who was beginning to curl up into a fetal ball.

  "Okay, but move! Leave your rifles here. The rest of you, cover us."

  In the meantime others were passing us and running on into the ship. They were panting and sweat was streaking their dirty faces and chests and arms as it ran down their bodies. For some reason the aliens had taken all of their upper garments, men and women alike.