Men and women grabbed their bullpups, and other weapons, and in a matter of moments were ready to head back. We were still waiting for the delivery of our armor, but others were quickly equipped and ready to go.
“Kalju?” Lieutenant Harpy called out as she too emerged from her tent with weapons in place. “Where are we heading?”
I described the location, and what had happened.
“It went down in a lake?” the LT asked. “Sergeant Lazlo, take ten of the Blue Tigers up there and fully assess what happened. Stay connected on the transceivers. I wish we had our armor, but it is not here. We have no way to pursue them down into water.”
“The locals must have vodnees, boats, and submersibles,” someone called out from the crowd.
“The Red Guard claimed it was a crime scene,” I explained what I had seen and heard in my brief encounter with them.
“You did well Kalju,” the LT stated. “Stay here with me while Lazlo heads out.”
“On our way!” Lazlo cried out. He quickly chose a number of soldiers and they trotted off.
“I am going with them,” I said, but the LT held me back.
“Kalju, I need you with me. I need a much greater and detailed briefing of what you encountered. And, we cannot concentrate all our forces in one place.” She tapped her finger to her nose. “If the Jellies are in one lake, they might be in others as well. Come with me.”
The LT led me into her private tent, where there was a workbench, chairs, and her other supplies. “We need to connect in, and I did not want to do it in front of everyone else. First, we will report to the Hellcats.” She made an adjustment on her transceiver.
“Corporal Claudia, this is Lieutenant Harpy.”
“This is Claudia,” came the response. The image of that soldier from the Hellcats was on the LT’s transceiver display.
“I am putting you on a fully scrambled and encoded link. Then we have something to discuss,” The LT stated.
“Understood.”
A panel in the top of the workbench folded upward, and a large display was revealed. On the screen was Corporal Claudia. She said, “The link on my end is secured.”
“Mine as well. There is a Jellie in Lake Three.”
“What?” The shocked look on Corporal Claudia’s face was vivid. “Here in Queen? Is this confirmed?”
“Yes, one of my most trusted soldiers saw it. There are human casualties, two adults and one child, all dead. Numerous livestock killed as well. Have you seen any evidence of Jellies around Lake One?”
“No. We monitor the lake’s shoreline, and take water samples daily. No hints of anything irregular,” Corporal Claudia stated. “I take it you made this a secure link due to the Red Guard’s hesitation to accept reality.” It did not sound like a question to me.
“My soldier involved the Red Guard, and they are claiming it is a crime scene or something like that. I know they never respond to my requests for joint operations, or sharing of intelligence information. Do you have any better luck in that regard than I do?”
“No lieutenant, we do not. We are barely tolerated here. We can stop patrols around Lake One, and be at Lake Three in about four hours, if you want us.”
“The Jellie was last seen descending into Lake Three. I have soldiers on the way there now, to arrive in roughly an hour maybe less. They are quite motivated. However, there are Red Guard on that site already. Have you recorded anything in their transmissions or chatter?”
Corporal Claudia consulted with someone out of view. “There is a minor report about a barn fire, and a domestic violence incident. That was not long ago, but no reports of Jellies or anything like that. I am not sure what they would say if a Jellie walked into their camp and murdered their own personnel. The report looks benign enough, no report of deaths even.”
I realized then that the Blue Tigers and the Hellcats were eavesdropping on the Red Guard and the local communication network.
The LT stated, “Remain at Lake One, and stay alert, as you always do. The Jellies are here, but how far have they penetrated? I will see what our people find, and report back.”
“Lieutenant? Do you want to make the report to the MDF, or should I?” Corporal Claudia asked.
“I will submit it immediately. Have you gotten your armor shipment yet?” the LT asked.
“No. I assume you have not either. The Red Guard should be called red-loafers, if you asked me. Let me know how the Hellcats can assist. If we see anything related to a Jellie here at Lake One, you will be notified immediately. Thank you for the heads-up! Is there anything else?”
“Not now. Thank you.” The LT closed the connection.
She motioned me to sit down in the chair as she took the other one. “Kalju, I can see on your face you understand more than was verbalized here. The Hellcats and Blue Tigers will take your sighting very seriously. However, as you already know, the Red Guard will not. We do not have enough personnel to monitor all six lakes, but I might be able to at least get some Red Guard to be present at those lakes.”
“Kalju, I am going to interface with IAM Lenore, but have to do that through MC001. This channel is supposed to only be for officers, so I am trusting you to be discrete,” the LT stated. She then proceeded to open a section on the display screen and tapped in a sequence of numbers and letters.
“Access granted. Lieutenant Harpy recognized,” a mechanical voice stated.
“MC001, I need to report an incident for investigation,” the LT stated. Her voice was subdued and quite different than I had heard her use before.
“Does this concern the threat from the Jellies?” the artificial intelligence system asked.
I nearly yelled in excitement as that AI, called MC001, acknowledged the Jellies. I suppose the doubt cast by the Red Guard had annoyed me more than I expected. That was why I was shocked by the reply the LT gave.
“It is about our armor shipment. We are awaiting…” Lieutenant Harpy began.
I yelped out a complaint, but she turned and glared at me so sternly I backed down.
“…pardon the interruption. We are waiting to commence training with the armored spacesuit, yet they are not here. Will you investigate where they are? We are now falling behind your training schedule for Operation Assorabarb.”
MC001’s mechanical voice replied, “Training of personnel is essential. The armor shipment is at Sheba and Nuwa. I will inquire why it has not been distributed to you. Thank you for bringing this concern to me.”
The LT asked, “As we wait for the armor, would you ask the Red Guard to set up training centers at the six lakes here in Queen? I believe using the armor in those lakes would be the closest approximation we have to the conditions we might face in Operation Assorabarb. Am I correct in that assessment?”
“Yes. I will send the instructions to Governor Fournier. The Red Guard will set up training stations at each lake. Expect to be summoned to those within twenty-four hours,” MC001 replied.
The LT glanced at me with just a slight grin. “Are communications possible with Kansas?”
The AI, MC001 responded, “You have asked about this repeatedly. No private communications are allowed between habitats. The flight crew, senior staff, and IAM Lenore have instituted this to prevent another disruption to essential services. Secondary systems are in place but primary nonphysicality modes are still disrupted. You will be notified if that situation changes. And, before you ask yet again about those militia from Kansas, I will repeat, you do not have clearance to inquire about personnel outside of the Blue Tigers. That is all.”
I could just about hear an audible click as that AI cut short the link.
“What did you just do?” I asked.
“I got that dropling AI to order the Red Guard to do something,” the LT replied. “Oh, bloody rocks in their heads, let me explain. Colonel Guzzoni, the leader of the Red Guard, will hear from Governor Fournier. Neither of those men would act on anything we say. They will only take action through the commands issued
from IAM Lenore. I know this bloody bureaucracy is a mess, but something will happen now. The Jellies are here, and now there will be eyes and ears at the lakes.”
“Why not just tell MC001 about what I saw?”
“If I had just told MC001 that, I fear one of two things would have happened. First, the AI would have ignored it. Rumors, delusions, and whatnot are common, and even some chumps are causing hoaxes with homemade creature suits to scare their neighbors. Fools and idiots! One more report would have been ignored, even though you and I know what you saw is true. Second, and this is worrisome, an extreme reaction could have happened. This habitat might have been vented to space.” She shook her head.
“What? With everyone inside?”
“That was ordered for Styx and Foreigner, but with the nonphysicality down, MC001 could not institute it. Now they are giant cesspools of Jellie sludge. But at the constituent joints connecting Styx and Foreigner, we still had command. So, those spaces were completely vented and opened to space. You saw how that worked. No gravity, no heat, no atmosphere, and that seemed to have stopped the Jellies. Well, we thought so anyway. But you have proven they are here.” She pulled her hair back over her ears. “The only effective weapon we found, was to depressurize and vent. There are nearly six thousand people in Queen, but less than six-hundred fighters for any battle. Oh, bloody hades in spades!”
“Lieutenant Harpy, I think I understand better now,” I stated, but I was more confused than ever.
“Go get some food, and try to sleep. Lazlo will report what he finds. I will get the rest of the Blue Tigers ready to disperse. You proved we can kill them, but it is massively hard to get through to the beastie inside their own armor, that carapace. If we get our own armor soon, we will go after that Jellie you saw, down into that water they like so much. Pray it is the only one here.”
I knew I was dismissed, but my mind raced with confused and disjointed thoughts. After leaving, I ate something and went to my tent. I kept thinking about those bleating cows as those purple tentacles dragged them under the water. Reclining on my cot, I turned onto my side, but the memory of that purple glow still irritated my eyes even after I closed them, and the agony of the dairy cattle echoed in my ears. The pillow was too soft to resist.
I sat strapped into a jump seat on a Model 9 shuttle as it roared toward the hated purple glare. The interior of the shuttle was inundated in that awful light as it came in from the front viewports.
“Twenty second to contact!” an officer cried out. He was piloting the shuttle, and I heard his voice over the speakers in my helmet.
Looking around, I saw we were all in power armor, but I did not know what kind it was. My heart was racing. “What is this?” I screamed out, but the officer did not respond. I looked at the pop-up display which showed on the inside of my faceplate. Ammo was full. Missiles were marked in green. Several other lists were there, but I did not recognize names of some items.
“Contact! Deploy now!” the officer barked. For a moment, I thought he was Colonel Gehlen, but then his voice sounded more like Mister Fisher.
The side of the shuttle split open, and I felt my suit’s boosters kick in as I was flung outward. The power armor carried me away from the shuttle, but only in the briefest moment before a stabbing pink lance of some kind of energy ripped into the shuttle. It parted like cheese being sliced my mother’s sharpest knife. Then the shuttle’s thruster fuel lines caught fire, and the blast sent me tumbling end-over-end in mad summersaults. Internal gyroscopes righted the suits, and I could see the rest of my battalion scattered about. The vast Colony Ship Marathon stretched out before me, but its dull bluish-gray was tainted by the purple of the Jellie spacecraft.
“Engage all weapons!” some unnamed officer called out.
Other armored soldier unleashed a torrent of missiles, rockets, and bombs. They whooshed, zipped, and whizzed toward the glowing purple ship. Its contours were indistinct, and its exact position was unclear.
“Kalju! Bloody rot! Shoot that accursed thing! Shoot it. Kill it for me!” The dead farmer’s voice rang in my ears.
I flipped some switched and every weapon I had was launched.
A blinding flash of brilliant white overloaded my optics, and I was cast into darkness inside my power armor. I could hear the boosters and maneuvering jets firing, but I could not see my own position.
I spoke some commands, and the faceplate flickered into life. It was only in black and white, and around the edges it was fuzzy, but the tertiary optical system had restarted. Before me was a debris field in all direction, and beyond that, the still glowing purplish mass of the Jellie ship. Somehow purple still was shown on my optics, while everything else was a myriad of shades of gray from nearly pure white to the blackness of space.
Coming right toward me, spinning erratically, was another soldier in power armor. The boosters on that combat suit were blurting out small jets of gas trying to correct its flight.
“Can I help?” I asked into my built-in transceiver.
There was no answer.
I kicked on my own booster, and reached that soldier. Grasping the nearest arm, I spun that person’s power armor around, and inhaled in horror.
The faceplate of that armored spacesuit was broken. A triangular shard of clear permalloy was missing. Behind that brokenness was something far worse.
“Bartlet?” I yelped.
Her dead face was within that broken helmet. Her light hair was loose and floating about, but dried blood was clotted into it in ghastly chunks. For some reason, the dark red of her blood showed up in color. One eye was gone. Her mouth was open in a voiceless scream of death.
“You could have killed them!” I heard coming from the speakers in my suit. “Where were you? Why did you fail us?”
“I tried!” I flung Bartlet’s dead body away, and the armored spacesuit bumped into other bodies and body parts. “I am sorry.” One of the bodies was a dog which looked a lot like Marie, but I turned away to avoid knowing for sure. “I tried!”
“Do more next time!” someone yelled. “Do more!”
My weapon’s display flashed “operative” in bold letters, so I toggled that switch. Missiles and bombs launched off my armor. Those jerks and jolts were compensated by opposite thrusts from booster jets. The weapons left residual white traces behind them as they raced toward the Jellie ship.
Odd beams of energy flared up from the alien vessel and intercepted my weapons, which exploded in white flashes. The Jellie was unharmed, undamaged, and intact.
I felt my feet make contact with the hull, and the magnetics activated. I squatted down, and reassessed my munitions. All the missiles were gone. All my rockets were spent. I pulled a gimp from a holster at my waist, but the spacesuit’s armored gloves were too large for me to pull the trigger.
“We are counting on you!” Tudeng called out.
I spun about looking for her. “Tudeng? Where are you?”
More body parts floated toward me, smacking into the hull, and rebounding off various structures around me. No person was intact. Spacesuits and human remains were mingled into a jumble of disgusting junk. Only the blood on the stumps was colored, everything else was shades of gray.
“You killed one before,” Kulm said. He sounded like he was right next to me. “Why were you the only one? Why Kal? Why you?”
“I do not know!” I screamed.
A flash of something darted back and crashed into me. Icy pain cut into my leg. I looked down and what looked like a white, spiky, cocklebur—the size of my head—was embedded in my leg. The spacesuit was penetrated, and the seals were ruined.
“NO! NO!”
A Jellie detonation weapon was locked into my leg. Each icicle was like a spike sticking out of it. I swatted down, and knocked a barb off. A small explosion immediately followed. I swatted and another small blast happened. As those detonations were taking place, a portion of my armor went flying off into space.
Those fragments of my spacesuit floated
away in graceful arcs, never to be reconnected to me. I knew decompression was coming, yet still I hit the thing on my leg. Each blow resulted in another explosive going off, and more of my power suit being lost. Readings on the heads-up display were flashing critical, yet they were not showing in red. Only the red of the blood of my friends floating around me was in color. I looked over toward where the Jellie ship had been, and all I saw were jagged holes in the Marathon’s exterior hull. One skinny, lone, tentacles pulled slowly away and into those gaping breaches in the colony ship.
“Why did you fail to stop them?” Carol said to me.
“Carol?” I turned my head, but all I saw were disjointed legs floating away from me. “What is happening?”
Cracks snaked their way up my own faceplate, and the displays on it flicked and died. A fractured segment dropped away. Air was gushing past my nose and mouth, leaving the spacesuit. I could hardly breath, my eyes blinked and blinked against the coming darkness as the faceplate gave way, and a multitude of shattered pieces burst away from me. The stars looked cold and deadly against the velvet blackness of space. I closed my eyes. No one was there to hear my final sighs.
Battle On The Marathon Page 32