As before, he kept low moving from one patch of good cover to another, always keeping his quarry in sight. In this way he was witness to something that chilled him.
He eased himself flat to the ground, and crawled down slope until he was in danger of losing his cover. The patrol disbanded as he watched, and lost themselves among their fellows, but he didn’t care about that. He had other things on his mind. For as far as he could see the valley ahead of him was filled with Merkiaari and their equipment. He counted hundreds of gravsleds sporting the ominous silhouettes of twin-barrelled pulsers, and knew there must be hundreds more further on that he wasn’t close enough to see. There were thousands upon thousands of enemy troops in the camp. It was more like a full-blown base than a camp.
Amid smashed and fallen trees, he could make out a pair of huge troop ships. They were covered in tree branches and camouflage netting little different from that used by grunts throughout the Alliance. In fact, the entire base was concealed by the forest canopy and the cunning application of netting strung between the trees. Done properly it was very effective in shielding ground targets from air attack, and he should know. He’d lost count of the number of times he had attacked such targets aided by spotters on the ground.
Those ships… he couldn’t understand how anyone could have landed such a monster in a congested valley like this one undetected, let alone two of them. Not while the task force kept watch from orbit. There was no way… understanding dawned like an explosion in his head. They had landed before the task force arrived not after, or rather they had crashed before the task force arrived. The Shan military had opposed the Merki landings with salvos of missiles launched from surface and underground installations after the fortresses in orbit failed to stop them. The landers here must have been damaged, and forced down on their way to Masaru. By the looks of them, they would never fly again, but that was unimportant. What mattered was that he had found Merkiaari reinforcements and the Admiral was unaware of it.
He had to give warning.
Newlove fumbled for his transponder, and was about to activate it when he realised he was being watched. He looked fearfully around, trying to find the source of his sudden unease… there! A pair of eyes were watching him from the undergrowth. They blinked and seemed to disappear for a second, but then they were back still watching. He pulled his pistol and—
“I wouldn’t do that were I you.”
He gasped in shock, and nearly pulled the trigger.
* * *
“I wouldn’t do that were I you,” Gina said, from directly behind the pilot.
Newlove started, turning to look back. “How… where did you come from?”
“No time for that now, Flight Lieutenant,” she said, and gently moved his pistol aside so that it was no longer pointed at Varya. “He’s with me.”
Gina signalled to Varya, and the tracker slinked out of the shadows on all fours. She shivered a little, seeing the way he moved. He came out of cover like some great cat, like a predator with his head close to the ground between muscular shoulders and stalking his prey. It was only his harness, studded with spare ammo and power cells, that clashed with the image of a wild cat intent on dinner.
“Varya, this is Flight Lieutenant Newlove. You should call him Gary.”
“Honoured.” Varya’s whiskers and nose twitched as he gathered the scent of this new Human. “Why should I call you Gary?”
“Because it’s my name,” Newlove said.
Varya blinked. “Ah yes, I keep forgetting. Humans have so many names, Gary Newlove. I am simply Varya.”
“Honoured to meet you. Were you looking for me?”
“You and your friends, yes. You are the first still alive we have found.”
Gina studied the camp while Newlove got to know Varya. Her team was already circling it in pairs so that they might make the fullest report they could to the General. Shima and Varya had been a godsend. Shan were unbelievably good at tracking. Viper sensors were good, better than any she had ever used, but even they had limitations. They couldn’t find something that was not in range. Shima not only could find someone out of sensor range, she had done it with apparent ease. She tracked Newlove down with nothing but her nose and hunting skills. Varya said there were very few people the equal of Shima despite her eyes. When all Shan were born hunters, it was very high praise indeed.
Gina wished she dared go active on her sensors, but it was too risky. Although it was hard to do, even viper sensors could be backtracked. She didn’t dare take the chance that her emissions would give her team away. The General needed to know exactly what he was facing. Being discovered before then was unacceptable. With that in mind, she had ordered her people to keep constantly updating TacNet as they went along. In that way, the General would get at least some information should they fail.
“May I?” Gina held out her hand for the transponder. Newlove surrendered it, and she opened the case. “Hmmm. I think I have a use for this… if the General agrees.”
“Yes?” Newlove said.
“What would the Admiral say if I asked her to nuke this valley from orbit?”
“Hell no I should think. Why, is that what you plan to do?”
Gina shrugged. “No point. She would say no. So we go with Plan B.”
“What’s Plan B?”
Gina smiled crookedly. “I set the transponder to tight beam a signal, Sutherland launches all your friends to home on it, and they blow the crap out of this valley.”
Newlove grinned. “Good idea.”
Varya handed Gina the cleaning kit he used for his blaster. The little toolkit was basic, but adequate for her needs. Transponders were omni-directional long-range beacons. With a few adjustments they could be made to transmit a tightly focused signal less likely to be intercepted, which would defeat the purpose of a beacon designed to lead rescuers to a downed pilot, but would suit Gina’s purpose perfectly. With luck it wouldn’t be detected by the enemy. She finished tinkering, and replaced the back cover. Varya put away his tools and the three of them waited.
Not long after they settled down to wait, Cragg arrived slithering through the underbrush on his belly. “We have a problem.”
“No shit, Cragg,” Rutledge growled, joining them from the opposite direction. “You have a flair for stating the obvious.”
Cragg brightened. “Hey thanks, Sarge.”
Rutledge scowled at the mockery. “They’re getting set to move out.”
Gina frowned at the transponder in her hand. “Any idea of time scale?”
Cragg shrugged then shook his head. “Sarge?”
Rutledge pursed his lips and peered at the encampment. “Could be any time. No way to know for sure, but it won’t be long. My guess is a couple of hours. What have you got in mind?”
“I’ve been tinkering with this thing,” Gina said, and showed Rutledge the transponder. “I’ve set it to transmit a tightly focused homing signal.”
Rutledge’s interest quickened. “Nice, very nice.”
“We have to deliver it before they move out.”
“But if they move…” Newlove began, but then his eyes widened. “You can’t mean it.”
The three vipers just looked at him silently.
“That’s crazy,” Newlove hissed. “You’ll never make it!”
Gina shrugged. “It’s the only way. We have to put this where it will do the most good. Inside one of their vehicles would be best. Somewhere out of sight. We can’t just leave it here in the valley. They might move out before the strike can be laid on. We’ll have lost a great chance to hurt them.”
Newlove was still in shock at the sheer audacity of the plan. “Yeah I know, but who’s gonna go in?”
Gina frowned at him. “I will of course.” She noticed Rutledge watching her. “What?”
Rutledge shrugged. “Two of us would be better.”
“Good idea,” Cragg said quickly. “I’ll watch your back, Gina.”
“I meant me,” Rutledge growled t
estily.
“You’re both crazy,” Newlove hissed.
Varya’s ears flicked, and his jaw dropped in amusement. “To me they sound very sane, but it should be me that goes. I’m quicker and… how do you say… hard to see?”
“Stealthy?” Cragg offered. “It means sneaky or hard to catch.”
“Yes, that is me. I can be very stealthy. Especially at night.”
Gina shook her head. “I’ve made my decision.”
“Fuentez…” Rutledge began. “Captain, you’re not thinking this through. You have two of the best trackers alive right here, and both of them are Shan. You know how well they blend in, but have you seen how fast they can run on all fours? I have. Shima and Varya have the best chance of getting the job done, and getting out in one piece.”
Gina hesitated. “A compromise then. Shima and I will do it, and the decision is not open to debate.”
Rutledge snapped his mouth shut.
“Gina—”
“No, Martin. I’m in command and the decision has been made. I won’t risk sending both of our trackers in there. We can’t afford to lose both. When the others get back to us, Varya will lead you all out of here. We still have three missing pilots to find.”
“Three?” Newlove said sickly. “Only three?”
“Sorry. The others are dead. You’re the first we’ve found that the Merkiaari didn’t get.”
“Oh God… they were my friends. I led them here to die.”
Gina knew exactly how he felt. “Sergeant Rutledge?”
“Captain?”
“Inform the General of what I intend, and make sure he’s aware of what’s coming his way.”
Rutledge nodded. A moment later his eyes went vacant as he contacted General Burgton using TacNet. His comm might be tracked, but TacNet was secure.
Hours later, Rutledge led the team over the ridge to wait. It hadn’t been said, but everyone was thinking that Gina’s self imposed mission was suicide. She thought they might be right. As soon as they were gone, she went into action. Crawling through the underbrush, she found an ideal position to watch while Shima took the transponder into the Merki camp. She would have been invisible if not for Gina’s knowledge of her position, and her low light amplification. Shima’s pelt blended so well with the shadows, it was like watching the night itself slink toward the camp.
Gina had her rifle panning across the camp looking for threats to her friend, but Shima had made her promise not to fire unless she was absolutely certain she couldn’t deal with the threat. They both knew that the mission would be over the moment Gina fired. She was determined to give her friend every chance to deliver the package.
She watched the Shan scientist turned warrior moving around the edges of the camp. Shima needed a way in that gave her maximum cover, and the chance to move undetected. They had discussed the placement of the transponder before Shima set off to deliver it, and had decided the best place would be one of the larger transporters. The combat gravsleds were out. The crew might notice if she put the transponder in the cockpit or gunner’s position. The transporters were another matter. No one would stumble upon it if Shima could secrete it amongst all the supplies in the cargo area. The problem was, she would have to penetrate the camp deeper than if she simply chose the closest gravsled. The sleds had been placed near the perimeter where they could be used in place of fixed defences in case of emergency. Worst of all, was the state of the Merki’s preparedness to move. They were getting ready to advance on Charlie Epsilon and points south. That meant instead of a camp that was settling down for the night, Shima had to contend with one that was a hive of activity.
Shima froze as the huge form of a Merki trooper walked by within touching distance. Gina had her rifle up and targeted on the Merki’s head, but she didn’t fire. He hadn’t seen Shima who was on her belly watching him intently. A few seconds went by before Shima moved out again. When she did it was awesome. Gina gasped when her friend went into a sprint from a standing start. One moment she was on her belly watching the retreating figure, the next she was streaking across the open space ahead. Shima was just a blur of speed.
Gina lost her the moment she moved, and then found her again just in time to lose her as she hid behind a pile of crates—munitions if she was right. She watched the pile for a few seconds, and only realised Shima had gone when she noticed movement further on. She quickly panned to the new location and zoomed in. She caught another glimpse of Shima, but then she was gone again.
Gina shook her head in admiration. What a viper Shima would make. She switched to thermal imaging, and found Shima just as she went to ground. There were troopers all over the place. They were easy to see using thermal imaging. Shima stayed still for the longest time yet. Gina was beginning to wonder if her friend had lost her nerve, but no, she was stronger than that. Like all Shan, she hated the Merkiaari with a passion. Her father had died early during the current incursion, and there wasn’t a day that went by that Shima didn’t remember him. She often told stories about him. Tahar sounded like an amazing man. Gina wished she could have known him.
Shima was close to her goal, but things were happening in camp. Gina watched as a section of gravsleds on the perimeter fired up, and began moving off to the south. Following them were hundreds of troopers just then falling in for the march, while others boarded the Merkiaari equivalent of APCs. Shima was aware her time was running out. She took one hell of a risk by moving into the open.
Gina cursed as her friend almost ran straight into the back of a sentry. Shima rose to her hind legs, and pulled her beamer. Gina targeted the sentry but waited for Shima to fire first, but she was hesitating. Shima holstered her weapon, and eased back from her enemy. Two paces back, she went to her belly and crawled under the armoured flange of a parked gravsled. She was taking a hell of a risk. If someone fired up the gravsled’s systems while she was underneath… Gina shuddered preferring not to think about it.
A minute went by, and Shima crawled out on the far side of the sled. The transporter she chose was the closest one to her position. It wasn’t the best one by any stretch of the imagination, it was still being loaded, but Shima was running out of time and she knew it. She waited for the troopers to descend the loading ramp on their way for more cargo before moving.
Gina panned her weapon around the transporter watching for guards. There was a brief lull in activity, and Shima took full advantage. She sprinted up the ramp and into the cargo hold. Gina counted under her breath imagining herself in the Shan woman’s place. She had to scout out a good place among the crates to hide the transponder. She gave Shima a count of ten for that. Another count of five to activate it, and a further five to get back to the ramp.
Twenty seconds after her dash up the ramp should have seen Shima ready to get out, but luck turned against her. Gina tensed as the Merkiaari returned with more cargo, and climbed the ramp to stow it in the hold. She watched with fading hope as more and more cargo went into the hold, but there was no outcry or the shattering sound of blaster fire. Gina watched in disbelieving silence as the Merki reappeared and descended the ramp. The ramp retracted and the transporter powered up. Gina zoomed in and caught a glimpse of Shima’s frightened face before she ducked back into the shadows within the hold.
“Oh no,” Gina breathed. “Oh Shima, I’m sorry.”
Gina watched as the transporter moved away to join the others in the supply convoy. There was nothing she could do. Shima was on her own. Gina eased back, and put some distance between herself and the camp. As soon as she could, she began climbing straight up the ridge in an effort to get back to Rutledge in the next valley over.
She made it to the crest of the ridge unseen.
As soon as Gina had put the bulk of the ridge between herself and the Merki camp, she went active on her sensors. It didn’t take long for her to find Varya who was a friendly blue icon on her display waiting for her on the edge of sensor range. Gina quickly made her way along the ridge toward him. She could not se
e him, not even when her sensors assured her that she was within a few metres of him.
“Shima?” Varya said easing out of his cover.
Gina shook her head. “She did her job but…”
“Dead?”
“She couldn’t get out without being seen. She stayed behind.”
Varya’s ears lay back and then struggled half erect. “May her ancestors welcome her,” he said softly, and shook himself like a dog shakes off the rain. “Come Tei’Gina, we have new orders.”
She hurried to follow. “We do?”
“Rutledge and the others have gone ahead. The Murderers have attacked our line and broken through. To my eternal shame, it was my people who failed to hold the Murderers at bay. Your metal men fought and killed many, but they too have been overrun. Our camp is in danger of being surrounded.”
Gina gritted her teeth in anger. They had to get the General out of there! Metal men were what the natives called Marines in their mechs. For the Marines to have been overrun meant the enemy was mounting a major offensive. The timing of such an offensive was ominous when combined with the movement she had just witnessed.
“Let’s try and catch Rutledge,” Gina said, and pushed her jog into a run. Varya dropped to all fours to keep up.
* * *
29 ~ Charlie Epsilon
Combat Information Centre, ASN Victorious
Admiral Alice Meyers, commanding officer of TF19, paced anxiously. The holotank was the centre of attention, with most of her officers almost fascinated by the current view being displayed. She was more interested in what was happening on Sutherland. She stopped her pacing for a moment, and reached over the shoulder of a young ensign to bring up another view on his main monitor. He glared up at her in irritation for a moment before realising who was interfering with his station. Meyers ignored his whispered apology, and selected another view. This one was a simple list of assets in theatre, and was being constantly updated by CIC aboard Sutherland, and other ships within TF19. The satellite networks in orbit of Child of Harmony and Harmony were also linked in to Victorious’ CIC, giving her almost godlike control over information flow. It didn’t make her feel any better about the current situation.
Merkiaari Wars Series: Books 1-3 Page 77