Colonel Robert Thomas walked into the lab. "Pouring of the foundation for our barracks is almost complete. We've done an analysis of our food supply and we believe we have enough for sixty-two days."
Harris frowned. "Two months? That's not much of a stockpile."
"There are other worlds we can collect from. The Frizoid won't be watching them all."
"Not comfortable with sending people out without protection, Colonel."
"What would you suggest?"
"We're surrounded by fresh water. There doesn't seem to be any fish in it, but we should be able to farm it. We'll have to check on the availability of grasses or anything that could be harvested."
"I hope you aren't planning on feeding grass to four thousand slugs and stumps. We'll have riots on our hands within a few days."
Harris nodded. "I understand, Colonel. Wasn't the solution, just a suggestion of where to start. We could grow our bogler herd, but we don't have the land for it now." Harris chuckled. "With our lack of grassland those bogler are likely to start rioting before long."
"Maybe we should seed a bogler herd on Barrier," said Tawn. "That planet is wide open now. And we might check on the herd at Farmingdale. Ours has grown by 20 percent since we brought them here. If they've seen the same growth, they might be able to spare a few thousand. Might buy us another couple months."
"Do we have an updated estimate of when we'll have a fleet ready to take them on?"
"Right now we're still talking at least six months. Our bot force should be ready in three. After that, it's all ships and missiles."
"I have just over four thousand able-bodied men and women out there who are very capable of work. What should we plan on having them do when the barracks are complete?"
Bannis Morgan came into the lab. "Colonel, I'll be constructing a facility to build Hailstorm-style freighters down on the southern end of the island. That might be a perfect fit for your team. Many worked the factory in orbit around the Retreat. This design will be modeled after that."
Harris said, "Too bad we can't just bring that factory here."
The colonel turned. "Is there a reason we can't?"
"Didn't Bax destroy it?"
"Not at all. Just shut it down was all. They had plans for a restart when they got their bot force growing again. As far as I know, it's still there."
Harris turned to face Alex. "Can we open a wormhole large enough to push that thing through?"
Alex typed away on his console. "Give me a few minutes."
Harris chuckled as he opened a comm. "Idiot, can a wormhole be opened that is large enough to fit the freighter factory that's in orbit around the Retreat? Could we bring that facility here?"
"One moment... yes. The structure has no means of propulsion. It will have to be pushed through."
"Is this something we can do now? Today?"
"Yes."
"Would the Bangor be capable of moving it through in a timely manner?"
"Seven minutes forty-nine seconds."
Harris looked around. "I'd say we need to get right on this. Idiot, give us a current scan of that system. If it's free of Frizoid, we'll go grab her."
The AI returned several seconds later. "Sir, we have a problem."
"What is it?"
"The factory facility is gone, sir."
"What do you mean gone?"
"Scan data does not indicate a debris field. The facility has been moved."
"Who would—" A clenched fist and a growl followed. "Bax. She must have come back for it."
Tawn sighed. "A ready-made factory. Who wouldn't? I can't believe we moved all this material and not one thought was given to that place."
The colonel said, "No sense in fretting over something we didn't have anyway."
The conversation waned and Harris and Tawn boarded the Bangor shortly after. A course was set for Farmingdale and the small freight-shuttle lifted off, blasting skyward as a fireball. Twenty-four minutes later, they were hovering above the old Colony #13 outpost. No signs of Humans showed on the sensors. A short run to the mountains had a cabin identified. The Bangor settle on a grassy patch a few hundred meters away.
"Why so far?" Tawn asked.
"Not looking to get shot at. This was Benser Noff's cabin before. Hoping it's still him."
A rugged looking man and woman emerged from the cabin, taking a defensive position behind a set of boulders.
Harris raised a hand as he walked toward them. "Benser Noff? It's Harris Gruberg and Tawn Freely. That you?"
The man walked from behind the boulder as his wife maintained her position. "Mr. Gruberg? What brings the two of you here?"
Harris hustled the remainder of the way to greet his friend. A warm handshake was followed by Tawn and Janeal joining them.
"First to just say hello. After that, was wondering about the bogler herd. How is it and where is it? Has it grown?"
Benser nodded. "To about sixty-five hundred by our count. Why?"
"We might be in need of purchasing some from you. You interested in selling?"
"That starter herd was more than enough to sustain us. I'm sure we could spare a few. How many you need?"
"I have about four thousand Biomarines to feed and we have about a two month supply of food. We have a herd of our own, but I don't think it will last more than six months or so. Any of your other settlers return?"
"Nope. Just me and the little lady. I was on the verge of giving up, but she loves this place and this life. I just want her to be happy. So here we are still."
"Sounds like the herd is doing well."
"Will double every year from here on out. Two of those animals will more than last us a full season. How many you want?"
"I hate to say it, but I'm betting we could use about five thousand head. Not only would that keep us in food for a year, we might even be able to sustain that size of a herd. Would you be willing to part with that many, and if so, what would you want in return?"
Benser Noff waved his hand. "Just take 'em. It's more than we can eat in a lifetime. And we don't need anything in return. You've already given us all we want."
The conversation passed back and forth before Harris mentioned the Frizoid. "They have a huge fleet and have taken over this whole sector. Farmingdale will fall under their control. Can't say what that will mean exactly."
"I guess it won't bother us one way or the other out here. We haven't spoken to anyone since you restored our herd."
Harris returned an uneasy look. "Can't say isolation will be any better. We suspect they plan on using us to fight their war with the Burrell. If so, they won't hesitate to pluck the two of you from this mountainside for conscription."
"For what purpose? We have no military training. And neither of us has ever piloted a ship. We're of no use."
Tawn shook her head. "You have survival skills. They'll put you in charge of troops and dump you on a planet for a surface fight. You already know how to fire a repeater. And I'm guessing you're good at it."
The mountain man gestured toward his wife. "She's the crack-shot."
"Then they'll put her in charge. Look, all we're saying here is it might not be safe."
"Well, I guess we'll take whatever comes. Not like we can do anything to stop it."
Harris crossed his arms as he glanced toward Farker. "Our sensor interference tech, what would it take to hide this cabin and let's say... a kilometer in each direction?"
"A microreactor coupled to an emitter would offer coverage to ten kilometers. The power could ultimately be reduced to offer any level of coverage from that down to as few as ten meters if desired."
"Could it be tuned to only interfere with a bio-signature?"
"It could."
"Do we have the materials at Midelon to put this system together? And what would it take for Mr. Noff to keep it running?"
"The microreactor would require just over a gallon of distilled water to function for an entire year for this planet."
"What is that i
n standard years?"
"Approximately one-point-four."
"This is a nice thought and all," said Tawn, "but we have other, more pressing priorities."
Harris held up a finger. "Actually, what I'm thinking is we could outfit an outpost on any planet we wanted and the occupant or occupants could stay hidden from detection. Maybe house them in a cave and limit the field to five hundred meters. A passing ship with a scanner wouldn't detect anything. Unless they were standing outside for a visual, they'd never get picked up."
Tawn tilted her head to the side in thought. "Hmm. I could see where that might be useful. You come up with that all on your own?"
Harris chuckled. "You know I did. You just saw it. Genius Gruberg at work. Mr. Noff, we'll be back for the bogler, and possibly to outfit you with a method to stay hidden. Your sod cabin is already difficult to see from the air. We could have passed it over if not for the fences. I might suggest those be changed to be hidden away."
"Those fences can come down. We put those in when we first got here, thinking we would keep our own bogler herd. Did you know those beasts can jump a two meter fence? Doesn't much matter though, they tend to knock them down. They don't like to be confined."
Janeal raised a sleeve on her arm, exposing a nasty scar. "They bite and they kick. We learned that the first week we were out here. I walked right up to one, thinking I could pet it. That thing tore into me like it had gone instantly insane. Benser shot it just after it savaged my arm and knocked me down. We educated ourselves on them after that. I was laid up for about three months, so I had the time. That's back when we maintained a comm connection to Colony #1."
Harris looked at Tawn. "I think we try this out. If it works here, we have the colonel set up observation posts on any planets we want to keep tabs on. Won't be hard for a pair of Bios to stay out of sight."
Farker said, "Sir. I have another suggestion. If packaged as a portable unit, the wearer could move around in a populated area without being counted by sensors. And if hidden from visible view with an external skin, an entire ship, such as the Bangor, could become an outpost."
Tawn nodded. "If we move slow enough through the atmosphere, we won't give off a heat signature. Come in at night and we could park in a warehouse and never be detected."
Noff stared at the mechanical pet. "I know it's a robot, but every time it talks I get a shiver. It sounds very Human."
"Thank you for the kind words, Mr. Noff. That is one of the goals of my programming."
"In fact," Noff said, "if we were talking over a comm where I didn't have an image, I'd swear you were just some stuffed shirt scientist."
Farker returned his unusual grin. "Thank you again, I suppose."
The discussions ended soon after and the Bangor departed for home. After landing, a new interference emitter was added to the Burrell transport that was now the main form of transportation for the Biomarines. Several dozen volunteers were corralled and sent to Farmingdale for a bogler roundup. In the meantime, Harris turned his idea over to Idiot and a design was returned minutes later. A pair of bots were given the task of bringing together the materials needed to build the device. A two day target was returned as an estimate for delivery.
Harris joined the colonel as he watched the first walls of the barracks being hoisted into place. "Four more days under the stars."
"I might have a few missions for you to oversee."
"And?"
"We're prepping a portable microreactor that's coupled with one of our interference emitters. It can be worn as a pack if necessary. Blinds all sensors but visual for anywhere from a few meters up to about ten kilometers. Tawn and I had a brief discussion and thought it might be worthwhile to outfit teams that can be placed on different planets for intel purposes. They could move around undetected if they stay out of direct sight."
"Interesting. You could deploy an entire platoon with that device."
"As many as you can fit in the space you have under the interference dome. And the pack has a dozen microemitters, so the point of origin can't be tracked. At least not with any equipment we have. We thought you might want to kick this around with your staff for a bit. You could even drop teams on Domicile."
The colonel left the lab with a mission. Possible uses for the sensor-interrupter pack were discussed at length. Planning for the deployment of teams was begun.
— Chapter 5 —
* * *
The first and second packs were delivered, tested, and stowed on the Bangor for transport. A run out to Farmingdale saw two stumps with a pack and supplies dropped in the mountains. A second pack was delivered to Benser Noff with simple instructions for conducting the minimal maintenance it required. The device was powered on and an interference field extended out to five hundred meters in each direction.
After lifting off, repeated scans were taken. No indication of a biological signature was returned. Benser Noff and his wife Janeal were free to roam about their property, only needing to be mindful of being visible from the air.
A return flight saw more units tested and squads delivered to other planets. Over the next several days, the Bangor delivered a team to every occupied colony except Domicile.
The colonel, standing in the ground floor dining area of the new barracks, said, "You're the home team. Stay in your pairs. There's thirty-two of you. You have your assigned cities. Low profile is the name of game. This is about gathering information only. Do not take any actions, even if you witness heinous acts against other Humans by the Frizoid. We have to maintain a silent mission here. Data collection will be the responsibility of your lead."
A hand was raised.
"Yes, Mollis?"
"Are we allowed to defend ourselves if attacked?"
"Yes. But keep in mind, the mission must remain secret. If capture is imminent, the packs are equipped with an explosive device. Make certain you use it. Also keep in mind there's a microreactor in there. They've been known to double the expected size of an explosion on occasion. So give yourself some distance if you aren't planning to go up with it."
Two separate trips were made to Domicile. Both runs ended with multiple stops on the darkened side of the planet. The interference field on the Bangor was reduced to only cover out to a kilometer. The ultra-black hull skin was enabled, making the ship appear as no more than a dark shadow in the night. All teams were delivered to their assigned areas.
A daily report would be encrypted, compacted, and sent in a burst to the team responsible for data collection. As often as could be managed, the Bangor, or another stealthy ship when they became available, would be sent out to collect the intel. The colonel's staff would analyze and catalog the data for possible future use.
When the Bangor landed back on Midelon, Tawn's and Harris' efforts turned back to production.
Three days turned into three weeks, and then three months. The army of bots was fast approaching its hundred thousand unit goal. One hundred and forty-six Banshees had been completed, tested, and were parked on the Midelon moon. Just over a thousand gamma-ray missiles sat at the ready. Output of both ships and missiles was rapidly increasing.
The colonel sat with his staff in a makeshift conference room in the lower part of the Biomarine barracks. Harris and Tawn entered the room after his request. They sat at one end of a long table, opposite the colonel.
"The bugs are pushing hard on the war training. As many as two million of our people are now drilling on a daily basis. The latest intel says the first groups are ready for a fight."
Bannis Morgan entered and sat. "Two million? Why haven't they conscripted more?"
"We can't be certain, but we suspect this is a trial run. Several hundred older model ships, similar to what the Hoya used, are now parked in orbit."
Harris said, "Several hundred? That won't house two million. Do we have word of what the training specifics are?"
"The first groups are believed to be pilots for those ships. Most of the others are ground-pounders like us. We expect
to see troop transports coming in at some point."
Tawn crossed her arms with a scowl. "I don't get the transports or the infantry. For what purpose? If the enemy has a ground army, you send in ships to take them out."
The colonel shook his head. "Unless the ground forces have aerial defenses. We can't expect other wars to be fought like ours were, where neither side would commit their ships to a ground fight, even though there was no defense against them."
"I guess. Our war always did seem screwed up."
Harris rapped his knuckles on the table. "Is there anything we can do to slow down this training? Sabotage equipment or something?"
The colonel leaned back in his chair. "Our teams can't get close enough to the training compounds for any such activities. Each of these bases have a half kilometer of clear, flat terrain surrounding them. Everything we see and hear is from a distance. Much of it is hearsay and speculation from locals. When a person is admitted to the camp, there is no further contact with the outside."
"Have we made contact with Armstrong or his staff? What are the Frizoid telling them?"
"Only that his people are being properly trained to defend Domicile and the Communion. They're being clothed, fed, and treated with dignity and respect. Of course, he has no way of verifying if any of that is true. They could be getting tortured and eaten for all we know."
"Have our teams seen any harmful behavior?"
"Not from the ones being marched around. We have no idea what goes on indoors."
Tawn asked, "How about the off-world teams? Anything to report?"
"All seems to be quiet at those colonies. No collection of people, no construction, but there is at least one Frizoid ship parked above each capital city. They're letting their presence be known."
Harris opened a comm to Idiot. "Have scans revealed any more Frizoid ships other than what first came in?"
"Other than the older vessels in orbit above Domicile, there has been no change in their numbers, sir. Although we did receive indications of Humans being moved aboard several of those older ships. Twenty-eight on two different craft. These might be the most advanced Human crews."
ARMS For Eternity: (Book 8) Page 4