Battle On The Marathon

by John Thornton

  The front entryway led to a large foyer which was three stories high, and about a quarter of the width of the building. The sky tube’s light shone down in and lit up the entire area.

  “Lieutenant Gonzales?” I inquired as I looked around. The gears, drive shafts, spindles, pistons, and milling areas were still visible, but their partial disassembly was evident. In their place were cargo containers, workbenches, and the seven Jellie carapaces we had brought. Busily working with those carapace suits were two engineering automacubes, with their shiny blue colors, and their manipulation arms examining the alien materials. Also, there were three yellow transport automacubes, functioning as assistants to the engineering models. It reminded me more of a large shop floor or small factory than the mill it had once been. Along the edges were additional testing equipment.

  “Sergeant Kalju, over here,” Lieutenant Gonzales called from a doorway. She was now wearing just basic fatigues, and I wondered where her armor was, and how she had acquired a fresh and clean uniform. “Join us please.”

  I walked through that converted mill and into an officelike science laboratory. And there I saw again, Earle and Sylvia. I rocked back a bit because of the flood of emotions which accompanied seeing them. I wished to know of Klum, and what had happened to his body, and I longed to know where Radha, Tudeng, Matkaja, and Carol were. I bit my tongue and refused to ask them.

  Both the oceanographers looked in poor health. The last time I had seen them they had both been overweight, but now they were thin. Not slender in the good way of physical fitness, but they were thin in the way of illness or exhaustion.

  “Sergeant Kalju, did you learn anything about Kansas?” Lieutenant Gonzales asked me.

  “Yes, thank you,” I did not elaborate because my sister’s memory was too precious for me to share.

  “Well, you remember these people,” Lieutenant Gonzales gestured toward the oceanographers.

  “Yes. A lot has happened since I saw them last,” I replied addressing my comments to Lieutenant Gonzales.

  Sylvia turned to me, “I do remember you. One of the children who helped us.” She looked like she had aged twenty years. I felt pity for her.

  “Never mind the introductions. Who cares about some return of a toy soldier!” Earle said.

  Lieutenant Gonzales put a restraining hand on my chest.

  Earle did not notice, he babbled on, “We need to move quickly. Very quickly.” He too looked much older, and he turned back to stare into a conservation slate which was showing a three-dimensional image of the Marathon. “Time is fleeting now.”

  “What does he mean?” I looked to Lieutenant Gonzales. That was when I noted her uniform was not marked by the emblems of a lieutenant, but now she wore the symbols of a major.

  She glanced down at her collar emblems and just said, “I told these two about the message we heard from the Jellies. They confirmed it was from the enemy, and they have been trying to get IAM Lenore and the Marathon Defense Force leadership to listen.”

  “I told that Colonel Caldwell that there were ways of speaking to the Jellies,” Earle whined. “Would she listen? Would she admire my years of hard work? Imbeciles and strutting pompous demagogues. Would she even understand interspecies language? Or dialectology, linguistics, and nonwritten aquatic philology? Oh, no she would not. Kept asking me about parrots and mina birds. But now I have proof.”

  I screwed up my face in confusion. I thought of Bartlet and what she might have done. I missed her badly. So long ago she had handled this pair better than I could.

  “Those reactive armor suits of yours recorded that message. Not directly,” Sylvia interjected, “but through the systematic damage which was done. The orcas predicted that would happen, and they knew the Jellie’s language. The truth is that the Jellies at first thought that the marine life on the Marathon was the dominant species, and that humans, what they call ‘gas-breathers’ were a parasitic infestation. But sadly, our great friends, the orcas and dolphins revealed our language to the Jellies. Only too late did the orcas and those great species understand the real danger. Now the Jellies seek to expunge us from the Marathon. They have virtually destroyed the nonphysicality—for all practical purposes—and left the lattice of compeers a shambles. We had to reconnect many things just to be set up this science academy.”

  “But now we can go over to that Jellie ship before it is too late!” Earle squealed. “We beg them for mercy, and as intelligent, sentient, and evolved beings they will work with us to a mutually advantageous settlement of this dispute.”

  “Earle, that will not work!” Sylvia snapped at him. “These aliens are evil, malicious, and deadly.”

  “They are misunderstood and we tried to kill them with that Operation Barnacle! Do not lecture me about malicious and deadly! Oh, no you do not!” Earle countered as his voice grew in pitch and volume. “The pugnacious toy soldiers tried to kill them, and now they will not listen to reason. Of course, not.”

  Gonzales interrupted the quarrel. “Stop it now. You two have a method for talking to the Jellies, right?”

  “Soldier girl, do you have a hearing or comprehension problem?” Earle said. “I told you we have a translator unit which we just have to put into place. Now with those carapaces we can fly over to that Jellie ship and make contact. Let me talk to them and they will soon see that we are their intellectual peers. I have studied their messages to the marine life, and these Jellies are sentient. Discussion, dialogue, and debate is the only course of action among equals. From that, understanding will come, along with mutual recognition, and respect.”

  “Earle, that never happened on Earth with humans trying to seek peace, even though we are one race,” Sylvia retorted. “It will not happen now. Those aliens killed all the orcas, dolphins, and how many other species in my oceans. That happened because the orcas were not a threat to them. These aliens must be shown their best course of action is to leave. A firm stand will deter a predator. They will depart, and then seek an easier prey, as any child would know. We stand up to them, tell them that we are fighting back, and they will leave.”

  It was clear to me that both Sylvia and Earle were mentally unbalanced and perhaps even delusional. Their agendas did not make sense to me, and their quarreling felt like an old and tired track they were emotionally running around.

  “Oh, Sylvia, come on now. A highly intelligent species who has broken the light-speed barrier must have also evolved higher ethics, standards, and morality. I have told you, repeatedly, that sentience brings with it morality and a sense of obligation to others…”

  “Earle, you forget the natural urges! Predators are designed for the hunt! They are indwelled with instincts to seek the weak and vulnerable. Yes, we are dealing with an advanced species, but they evolved from carnivorous ancestors, not prey, not—omnivores. They will be evolved to a supreme degree, certainly, but not like you think. Your presuppositions are blinding you to the cold, hard, facts of reason. A predator always turns away from an aggressive defender and seeks easier prey. That is a basic law-of-the-jungle, if you remember any fundamental biology, but you are so fascinated by your projection of sentience into…”

  “Pardon me, please,” Gonzales’ voice became smooth as honey and just as sweet. “I admire both of you, but I am just a common soldier, so would you help me by answering a question? I just do not understand what we are facing. You are both speaking beyond my abilities, and at the bottom of it all, I am afraid for you both. The Marathon needs you!”

  That stopped the arguing and the oceanographers turned to look at Gonzales.

  “You are the best hope the Marathon has, and you must be kept safe. Could we establish a remote way to address the Jellies? How about we send a delegation over to present the idea of a conference? Both of you are too valuable to endanger with that trip, but if we send a small military force over—expendable, unsophisticated people like me—not to talk to the Jellies, oh no, that would you your places, and I would never seek to intrude on tha
t, but rather just to set up the link. Then from here, where you are safe and secure, you could voice your ideas to them. That way, then, we can find out who is right. Of course, I will need the two of you teaching me how to do it. Being a soldier, I only know to follow orders, and stuff like that. But could I learn to set up the mechanics of a conference for you with the Jellies? Just a small force, nothing important. Just some mechanics setting up, what might be described as an old telephone or internet connection? I could go and establish links so that both of you can remotely talk to these Jellies. By establishing remote connections, you could both present your ideas and a dialogue can happen. Then, from a position of safety, then, you both can know what is happening. How about a mission to do that? Am I capable of doing that? It would be my way to help you both.”

  “I will go too!” I volunteered before I knew what I was saying. “To keep you two out of harm’s way.”

  Earle stated bluntly, “A trained monkey could set up a link, so some boys and girls playing soldier should be able to follow orders adequately enough, I suppose. That would allow confirmation I am right.”

  “Or wrong, again,” Sylvia replied. “But it will prove that they are predators which can be scared away by another predator—a human one. Do this, quickly, without wasting more time and effort.”

  “Excellent! But I will really need your help,” Gonzales sounded like a school girl who had just been told she could go to a picnic. “How do we do this? Can we use the Jellie carapaces as spacesuits?”

  “I told you, imbecile, that they are suitable for all environments,” Earle snapped.

  “She is only a soldier, Earle, she probably does not think of vacuum and space as a separate environment,” Sylvia retorted with no concealment of her condescension. “I know how to fix those Jellie technological suits. I will establish stimulators inside each one to repair the slashes made in those—yes, carapaces—as the soldiers call them. I have already established methods which cause the alien materials to reunite together. It is a simple matter to install stimulators in the seven carapaces to knit them back together. Fill them with treated liquids which are the equivalent of the Jellie fluids, and they will be set to go.”

  “And I have the translation device ready. It will need to be in an aquatic environment to function.” Earle glared at Gonzales. “You do know aquatic means a watery place, right?”

  Gonzales just nodded and kept a slight grin on her face. I wanted to punch Earle.

  Earle just shook his head sideways a bit. “The people I am forced to work with, I never. Anyway, I will set that up, and Sylvia here can put in her stimulators so the cracks and breaks you made in that alien technology are healed. It should only take us a few hours.”

  “Oh, wow, this is so exciting! Thank you for letting me be a part of this!” Gonzales giggled and clapped her hands together. “What can I do to help?”

  “Just leave us to work. Take this toy soldier there with you and get out. You have a wrist communicator, and I will summon you when we are ready,” Earle waved a hand in a dismissive gesture. “I suppose I will need to speak again to your superiors, although I doubt they will understand.”

  “I would be happy and pleased to do that for you. Your time is too valuable to waste on just sharing information. I will dictate to them what you told me, if that is acceptable to you?” Gonzales sounded almost like someone else.

  “Just relay the simple facts,” Sylvia interjected.

  “Right. No need for those officers of the MDF to try to understand what we are doing. Run along and make your little report like a good lap doggie,” Earle added.

  “Will we be able to take all seven of the shells?” Gonzales asked. “That would give us better chances of having your plan succeed. Oh, I so want this to work! This is so thrilling! What a joy to work with the two of you, I am so honored.”

  “Yes, yes, I will set up seven of the translators, the mechanics are not difficult to replicate. It is the translation program which is key. Once I figured out how to do it, the rest is just setting up the physical components. Now, skedaddle. I am weary of your presence,” Earle turned and walked away.

  Sylvia put her hand on Gonzales’ shoulder and whispered to her, “I know what you did. Thank you for helping me prove him wrong. I appreciate you being on my side. When I talk to the Jellies, they will see we too are predators and not prey. Then they will go away, and our problems are over.”

  Gonzales just winked at her in a conspiratorial manner. I had barely heard what Sylvia said, but the body language from the old woman was yelling out her contempt for everyone else.

  “I will get the stimulators installed in all seven of those carapaces,” Sylvia said. “That will not take any longer than Earle building those translators. Then we will see.” She stormed off and mumbled something else to herself.

  Gonzales looked at me and her eyes were like daggers piercing into my soul. I knew not to say a word. She then led me back outside. Once there, she watched closely to make sure no one was nearby.

  “Lieutenant, what…” I began.

  “Minor correction, I got promoted,” she laughed a bit. “The MDF was thankful for the carapaces being delivered, and there is a shortage of officers, but that does not really matter. What does matter is what we are doing here.”

  “What are we doing? Those two oceanographers are losing their minds, and you played along?”

  “Kalju, with these carapaces, we can take the battle right to the Jellies themselves,” Major Gonzales replied. “I would have done anything to get those two to cooperate. They are the only ones who have the translator devices and know how to use the stimulators on the carapaces. Samuels checked it all out just before you got here. She said those systems do what they said they will do. Samuels and Stridell have some ideas about how to see out from inside the carapace as well. Using a vibration drill, we can make a small hole in the carapace. Then, using a sort-of permalloy reinforced periscope pushed though that carapace while it is weakened, and then sealed back over by the healing—repairs—that Sylvia knows how to initiate. That will give us some views. Not ideal, but not blind.”

  “But are we really going over on some delegation to establish conferences and discussions with the Jellies?”

  “The Bilokos are designing some surprises for our trip over there. We can take four of us per each carapace, five if we really cram ourselves in,” Major Gonzales said.

  “But what is our mission? Surely not following the cockamamie schemes of those two, right?” I asked

  Major Gonzales’ voice was back to her normal one. “Sergeant Kalju, we will go over there and kill them all. I have requisitioned all new combat armor suits for all of the Bilokos. It was approved. Those should be arriving within the hour. Gather up our men and women, and have them meet back here.” She pulled a wrist communicator from her back pocket. “These are old, but they were available. I loaded into it a list of all the extra supplies we need. So, go get our gear, and meet back here with the unit. I have to go and convince General Adams to approve this plan, and frankly, I would ran trick those oceanographers again than convince General Adams of anything.”

  “General? Adams was promoted too?”

  “Says how much I value my promotion, right?” Major Gonzales answered. “Colonel Hayyon was killed in battle. That was a genuine loss, but yes, Adams is now Commandant of the entire Marathon Defense Force. I will speak with him about our mission here. I am not sure what kind of support we will get, but we have the carapaces, the technology, and the personnel to carry out an attack on the Jellie ship. Check your list, gather the troops, and meet back here. Keep this mission within the Bilokos. The Journey Jabberwocks are good people, fine troops, but they are stretched thin keeping the line here. I just learned they are fighting a trench style battle up by the dams and dikes. Jellies making raids both above ground and underground, trying to break out. They have seen a lot of loss here as well. So, it falls on us to do this. Colonel Hayyon would have been very helpful, as he was
a superb shuttle pilot.”

  I paused for a moment as the news of Colonel Hayyon’s death sank into my mind. I added him to the growing list of officers who I respected, but were now dead, the LT—Lieutenant Harpy—and now Colonel Hayyon, not to mention Bartlet, Klum and the others.

  “Will we really do this?” I asked. “Really kill them all? Not just some holding action or some strategic retreat?”

  “This will be the best trojan-horse attack since that phrase was coined thirty-five hundred some years ago,” Major Gonzales said with a smile. “With the translation device, and using their own equipment, these Jellies are going to get plastered. Payback day is coming.”

  I left and walked across the isthmus of land and into the town. I checked the list Gonzales had given me, and saw that most of the equipment had been approved by Journey’s Reproduction and Fabrication facility and it was being sent via gravity conduit to a location in town.