by PN Burrows
His large frame filled the doorway and he chose to stand rather than attempt to sit on the small chair before him.
‘Gentlemen,’ he greeted them all. ‘I do not have much more to add regarding the arm or the enhanced soldier. Further tests have shown Urser’s chronological age when he dies is 107, although this does not take into account his time in the cryogenic chamber. The bodies of soldiers who foolishly ran through the Dia Kuklos heading towards space have been recovered. These were not in pristine condition, they had suffered horrendous mutilation from the presence of metal as they passed through the surface tension of the Dia Kuklos. Subsequently they suffered more burning from the unfiltered cosmic radiation, they were not close enough to the sun to prevent them from freezing thus causing further cellular damage.’ One long arm reached over Sam and a finger skewered one of the remaining sandwiches, it was tossed unceremoniously into the doctor’s mouth and swallowed almost without interrupting his report. ‘We have traces of pollen and pollutants from the nostrils and lungs. These indicated they were based in North Wales, which is not helpful in itself. I took the liberty of asking Nikomedes’s technicians to run a scan for anomalous energy readings.‘ Passing a report to Nik, ‘They have just sent this through.’
Nik quickly scanned the results and looked up excitedly, ‘We have a lead. They didn’t find any erroneous energy readings, but they did find an energy void, a null zone – someone’s shielding something. The satellite photo shows what looks like a remote farm, nothing unusual, tractors, animals, buildings, there should be an energy signature emanating from it for sure.’ Looking up at the doctor, ‘Are these uploaded on to the system?’
The doctor have predicted this request and from Sam’s point of view muttered a few unintelligible words to the system computer. The centre of the room brightened up as the satellite photograph hung in mid-air, the doctor arranged other data to sit alongside the photograph. Zooming outwards he proceeded, ‘This is the original energy scan, as you can see, the surrounding areas have a varying amount of energy out puts. These,’ indicating with a sharp looking finger, ‘wooden poles carry energy cables above the ground. The energy emission ends at the circumference of this void.’ Whilst describing this he dug out an item from his blue doctor’s jacket and tossed it to Sam.
Sam caught the glasses by reflex as he had been looking intently at the map trying to discern what they were talking about. The glasses immediately overlaid the ultraviolet information on to the map for Sam to see, albeit in an odd glowing orange colour. Sam pushed them above his eye and back to see the difference. Feeling silly for having done so, he examined the map intently. The suspect farm was located a few miles from the nearby road with the only vehicular access via an old winding driveway. A light scattering of animals and farm equipment could be seen, a hay barn, silage pit and a collection of modern and old buildings. There were twenty or so World War One style long wooden huts on the outskirts of the usual corrugated barns and a large slate roofed farm house sat in the middle.
‘I requested a second scan a few hours later including lifeform readings.’ He laid the photograph next to the original. It was exactly the same. ‘The property has been arranged to pass a casual inspection, a passing glance but nothing more. As you can see none of the animals have moved. I surmise these are simply models to fool the casual observer from the air.’ Looking again at Nik, ‘Your technicians have assured me they will be able to penetrate the nullification field within a standard hour. They are waiting for one of their satellites to get into position.’ Looking at Sam, ‘Apparently this is made difficult by your primitive space ventures, not from the risk of you observing our technology but due to the fact you have cluttered your planet with orbiting detritus, which frequently damages out our hosts.’
‘Drone?’ Reb suggested
‘It might alert whoever is in the area,’ Nik replied. ‘It’s safer to wait for one of the DROS to get into position.’
The Deep Reconnaissance Orbital Satellites were all surreptitiously attached to the Earth’s military satellites, each cigarette-sized package having the capabilities to analyse energy emissions up to a mile below the Earth’s surface. The major drawback was that they operated on a very narrow beam and so limited their usefulness as blanket surveillance. As a by-product of attaching to the Earth’s military spy, they also relayed the satellites data to the Minerans, spying on the spies as it were.
‘Why haven’t we noticed this area before? It’s practically on our doorstep,’ expelled the Captain.
‘Complacency! We have been here so long and in the past any outside interference had limited influence and their energy presence shone out like a blinding star. It’s getting harder now, the whole planet is blanketed with millions of differing energy signatures. Spotting areas like this is, well this is actually a poor example as the lack of any energy signatures stands out. That’s one of the reasons why I wanted Sam. He can investigate freely outside of our borders, especially valuable in the cities. You know we only pass cursory inspection, if one of us got hurt and taken into hospital…’
He raised his hands. ‘It’s more difficult now, Hus. The rules are changing as the inhabitant’s progress and the ISPAW members noticing. Bob says there are already more member races here than ever before. I’d say some are understandably worried and are keeping an eye on things. Some are more nefarious and we need to remove those.’ Pointing at the map, ‘These we need to eradicate ASAP.’
‘Yes, you’re right, Reb. I’m sorry you’re finding these things out this way, Sam. We should have eased you into it. The first priority is investigating the farm, Reb that’s you. Nik, keep looking for that damned Dia Kuklos. Doc, work out how they created those soldiers and trace the technology. You can’t create something this big without someone knowing something.’ Looking across the room to Ed, he said, ‘Ed and myself have a few things to discuss, the rest of you are dismissed.’
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Sam munched his way through the chocolate biscuit and drank the last of his coffee as Reb continued to read Nik’s report on his tablet. The tavern was quiet and Emliton had once again fallen asleep behind the bar. It was hard it imagine him as the warrior Doc had described. He and Aunt Mae, from the café, were the only two Minerans that Sam had seen who were not built like athletes or honed from pure muscle. Sam empathised with him. He’d thought that he’d seen more than his fair share of needless death and destruction, but it was nothing to what was in Emliton’s file. He found it strange that active personnel files were open access to anyone on the base, or pub in this case. He’d browsed through the system on a tablet that was perched on the table in front of him; he had been informed that it had been calibrated for his poor eye sight. The history of the Minerans and the ISPAW read like a fantasy book, only much more varied and imaginative than anything he had read before. The Minerans and humans were so alike and yet so different. Most of the time they were relaxed, natural, wanting nothing more than to be growing or making things and then, bam! Stone faced professionals with extraordinary strength and skills. He’d watched the footage of the attack, from several different angles and now realised he’d only survived due to the lack of accuracy caused by ill-suited weapons and the mystery sniper. He and Reb had been out matched due to their Earth-based weapons, but the Minerans at the tunnel entrance were another matter. They had been clinical killing machines: most of the squad moving progressively forward utilising the SUVs as cover and attracting the majority of the enemy fire, while the others tried to outflank the enemy utilising what little cover that was there. Sam looked up the specifications for the cloned Toyota as it didn’t incur any significant damage during the firefight. All the cloned SUVs had been coated, including the windows and lights, with the same compound as the toxic drums. This rendered them impregnable to what the Minerans class as small arms fire, most human assault rifles would fall into this power category.
Then Apate turned up, tearing through th
e enemy like a tornado. She really seemed to take the invasion personally because she fought so ferociously. Sam didn’t see her suffer any injury in the video, but he surmised that she must have been hurt as he smelt her perfume in the doctor’s room when he gained consciousness.
Suddenly Reb tossed his tablet onto the table with enough force that Sam heard Emliton snort and awaken. Looking at Sam he proclaimed, ‘I feel we have learnt all we can about the farm. It’s time the two of us went for a look around. I have sent a request through to prepare a vehicle and suitable rounds for the pistols. If we are discovered, we don’t want it to be a one-sided fight.’
Sam was about to rise when Reb shouted a food order to the now awake bartender. ‘Never on an empty stomach Sam, always eat and sleep when you can.’
‘I wish you would take some proper weapons Reb, these peashooters are pretty limited even with the enhanced munition,’ Staff Sergeant Philokrates said as he handed Reb the pistol back.
The underground firing range was brightly lit and had fifteen rows of marker posts disappearing into the distance, indicating each 100 metre section. Sam has never seen such an extensive indoor range before, nor one so quiet. They had walked behind a squad of nine men firing the MPAR carbines in short bursts. No one wore ear defenders as the weapons were eerily silent. A building would periodically light up at the furthest point and explosions would occur within, as the soldiers fired the Bunker Buster rounds through the windows, the sound somehow being muffled before it could reach the firing line. Sam was grateful he had looked up the weapons specifications while in the tavern and secretly hoped that he would get a chance to play with one.
‘We’ll have to wait for Kappa squad to finish. These aren’t as noisy as the proper Terran versions but I still want you to wear ear defenders in here.’ He handed Reb and Sam a ball of “goo” each. Reb pulled his apart and pushed each half into an ear. Feeling a little odd Sam followed Reb’s example and found the sensation of the warm but clammy goo initially uncomfortable. After a few seconds it seemed to flow into the inner recesses of his auditory canal. It didn’t block any noise at all, he could clearly hear Staff Sergeant Philokrates speaking to Reb and the hoots of laughter from the squad of soldiers.
‘It might be a good time to show the newbie his wrist armaments.’
‘You could be right. I was going to leave it a little longer to give him time to acclimatise to the suit and his partner.’ Reb replied.
Philokrates used a wrist mounted mini screen that had been hidden under his cuff. Five torsos began to slide down for the ceiling. ‘That should be about right for the first time,’ looking at Sam with a grin.
The dummies were approximately 15 metres away and about a metre apart. The last one moved erratically back and forth.
Sam looked at his gun and then Reb. Reb let out a sigh and holstered his gun beneath his coat. He then took Sam’s and holstered it on the other side. Both had disappeared beneath the leathery garment and neither produced a bulge on the surface.
‘I was going to leave this until you became more familiar with the BEE, but Phil’s right you need to practice before we go out. Bob can you –’ He never finished the sentence as he noticed Sam’s BEE suit start to alter its shape. Sam hardly felt a thing, to him the interior of the suit was the same, a body hugging babygrow. On the exterior, a jacket similar to Reb’s formed, including pockets and buttons. He opened it up and found that it was still joined to the undergarment. At his sides, an empty pistol holster and magazine rings adorned the interior of each flap. His arms hung inside real sleeves and as he waggled them the material flapped, even though he knew his arms were still encased. He looked down the opening of his right sleeve and saw a layer of the BEE still snugly protecting his arm. He rolled the sleeve back to his elbow before the material refused to go any further.
‘You can take the coat off if you need to, but this does reduce the effectiveness of the remaining garment. You will have to work with… Have you given you controller a name yet?’ Seeing a bewildered shake of Sam’s head he continued. ‘When you get time you need to converse with him or her get to know each other and style your clothing.’ Grabbing Sam’s right arm he pointed it down the range. ‘Point your fist at the target and clench to fire.’
Sam did so, feeling silly and not knowing what to expect. Holding his fist out in front of him, palm down, he made a sort of small punching motion.
‘Ok, let’s try it this way instead.’ Reb casually pointed his arm in the direction of the nearest dummy, slowly made a fist with his palm down and keeping his fist still he flexed it and the forearm muscles. Instantly a dark brown dot appeared on the torso where the Mineran heart should be. Sam couldn’t quite make out what it was, he looked towards Reb for clarification.
‘Think of the common misconception that porcupines shot their quills at the enemy. This,’ holding up his arm, ‘and this,’ holding the other, ‘are not porcupines but they do fire quill like projections. Bob will always choose the right one for the job and they always contain a toxin.’ Pointing back at the torso, ‘they also disintegrate and disappear shortly after impact to hide the fact we have a hidden weapon.’
Sam looked back at the dummy. The brown dot had vanished.
‘Your turn, Sam. Point it in the general direction and fire. Bob, or whatever you call your controller, partner, contact or however you like to think of them will do the rest. As long as you are pointing at the enemy it will auto target. Be warned, Bob never allows me to fire indiscriminately and he will use a tranquilliser on unarmed, non-threatening opponents. If they point a weapon at me I have the authority to terminate them, but we are not murderers.’
Sam carefully replicated the procedure and felt a small tactile feedback from the sleeve to indicate it had discreetly fired. A brown dot appeared on the target.
‘Good, now fire at me. Come on don’t be afraid, I just said it won’t fire indiscriminately. It will not allow you to fire at friends or non-combatants.’
Sam feeling apprehensive pointed his arm at Reb and flexed his muscles, nothing happened.
‘Good. The BEE can only fire five or so from each arm. It can regenerate them in a couple of hours, quicker if it is absorbing energy and matter. Normally,’ he said with a smile, ‘in these circumstances it’s feeding off incoming enemy fire.’
Sam fired another nine quills at the torsos. Each hit the Mineran heart area with precise accurately. As he expended the last quill from each sleeve, it again performed a tactile feedback to inform him. He could, if he stared hard enough at the sleeve, discern some barely perceptible depressions where the quill had been ejected. The BEE was an exceptional piece of equipment that he was only just starting to fathom. As Reb had indicated, he needed to talk to the voice at the other side and become familiar with both jacket and partner.
‘Has he tested the suit protection abilities yet?’ Philokrates asked Reb.
Reb produced his pistol with a lightning fast and fluid movement and shot Sam in the chest.
‘I would have preferred it if you had let me warn the squad,’ Phil said with a little ire in his voice.
The squad had all stopped and were staring across at Sam on the floor. The pistol hadn’t produced much noise because of the adapted propellant and built-in suppression and from Sam’s perspective the whole process was completely silent due to the goo in his ears. The round exploding on Sam’s chest, the slap as he hit the floor and his non-Christian expletives did attract their amused attention. It had felt like he had been hit by a sledge hammer, swung by a Norse god, whilst wearing steel plate armour. The pressure of the impact had been equalised over his torso.
‘Nice ammo, Phil, you really ramped up the rounds fulmination and there was no pressure coming back of the target, even at this range.’
‘It’s not your usual amalgamation of explosives, Reb. That toy of yours does cause us a headache now and again you know, it’s just so primitiv
e. Anyhow Doc sent us the specifications of the new soldiers that you ran into and we came up with these. Luckily he still had a few bodies left in the freezer and we shot them up a little. He really enjoys it, you know. He insisted that he warm them up and refill the veins with blood to make it more realistic. The cleaners weren’t too happy.’
Sam looked up at them. Reb had shot him and they were casually talking as if nothing had happened. He didn’t hurt, which was a good sign; his newly developed muscles had absorbed the impact across his torso. He looked down at his coat. Thankfully it had a design that made it close and overlap even if it wasn’t fastened. It was spotless, there was not a mark on it and the bullet fragments fell away as he sat up. ‘You could have given me a bloody warning!’
‘Why, what difference would it make to the effectiveness of the BEE?’ Reb offered a hand to help Sam up. ‘Phil was correct you needed to gain confidence in your outfit. Now you know, that as long as you are not hit in the face,’ he pushed his finger into his hood loop and started to bring it forward to indicate to Sam how to extract it, ‘then you’ll be ok. Although Bob has stated that you wouldn’t want to get hit by anything more powerful than one of these. I’ve never heard any emotion in his voice before, but I swear he’s vexed with me.’
Sam spent the afternoon on the firing range. The new pistol was far superior to the one he’d lost due to Urser shooting it. There was very little recoil and like Reb’s, it was practically silent. He was informed that the impact was noisier but as the round was designed to detonate in towards the body, most of the noise was muffled by the body tissue. He couldn’t hear them because of the ear goo. They selectively filtered out the harmful noises whilst allowing speech and ambient sounds through and were far better than anything he had used before.