Tucker shook his head. “It would make our cabins too easy to detect. Fires like that would show up on thermal scans. It’s risky even with the propane cooking stoves we’re using.” They had put up a metal shield above them to help reduce the chance of detection.
“What about us? Don’t we show up?”
“Possibly,” Tucker admitted. “Most of us wear long-sleeve shirts, and our bodies are covered up most of the time. I think in order for us to be detected the aliens would have to be quite close.”
Lacy looked where several of the Rangers ate. She had been surprised at how courteous they were. “I feel better with the Rangers here. They’re professional soldiers.”
Tucker laughed. “We all are. They’re just a little better at it than the rest of us.”
“Those new rifles they brought, will they help protect us?”
“Yes, if they do what they say they will. If we can get by another month, and they bring us some heavier versions of those rifles they’re working on, we can make this valley quite safe.”
“I hope so,” Lacy said. “I like it here. I just wish we could build more cabins.”
“Maybe sometime in the future,” Tucker replied as he watched several children kicking a soccer ball around. The Rangers had brought them hope they just might be able to survive. And hope was a powerful weapon.
-
General Mitchell was in his new Command Center. The main room was very similar to his previous Command Center though the entire complex was considerably smaller. Only six hundred people were assigned to this base whereas the previous one had thousands of personnel.
For the past several weeks the new pulse rifles had been delivered to numerous units in the field. The first 1,500 had gone to the units in the mountains and then the next five thousand had been given to hidden units still spread out across the country. Both Complex One and Complex Two were producing the weapons around the clock. This week alone another ten thousand would be ready.
“What’s the progress on the small portable pulse cannons?” asked Mitchell. One of the viewscreens showed a Trellixian battlecruiser. Mitchell knew this particular battlecruiser was Battle Commander Balforr’s. He wished he had some way to destroy it. They still had a few Jelnoid missiles tucked away but Mitchell was certain they would be shot down before they reached their target.
“We’re ahead of schedule,” Colonel Fields replied. “The first functional units will be ready for delivery by the end of the week.”
“What about our primary and secondary energy cannons?”
“They’re being worked on. We could have the first functional units in another two weeks.”
This was good news. Mitchell looked back at the battlecruiser on the viewscreen orbiting seven hundred miles above Earth. It was well within range of the primary energy cannons, once they were deployed. With a savage grin Mitchell knew if Balforr gave them enough time he would target that battlecruiser and destroy it. It would be sweet revenge for what Balforr had done to the planet.
-
Major Dolan was busy inspecting his forces deployed on the skirmish line. Additional energy rifles had been handed out to soldiers up and down the line. When the Trellixians returned they would be in for a huge surprise. Mark had worked hard over the last several weeks intensifying his defenses and making the spaces in front of the skirmish line a killing zone.
Captain Morrison was in charge of the Marines in this particular section. “We have four M240L machine guns set up, giving us an overlapping field of fire. There are two MK47 grenade launchers and we have eight mortar pits behind us. The entire area in front of us has claymores covering the trails and areas of the forest we expect the Trellixians to come through. If they attack here we will kill them.”
“How many energy rifles do you have?”
“Twenty,” Morrison replied. “I have two Marines trained to handle each rifle in case the initial Marine doing the shooting is injured or killed.”
Mark looked along the line, seeing numerous firing pits with Marines in them. Most were covered so they could not be seen from the air. About four inches of snow was on the ground. For the last few nights it had steadily gotten colder. “The weather forecasts for the end of the week indicate much colder weather and possibly blizzard conditions.”
“We’ll be ready for it. We’re dug in pretty well and protected. We have our cold-weather gear stored in our tents if we need it.”
Looking into the forest, Mark could see many of the trees with leaves were losing their foliage. This concerned Mark some as it made their positions more visible. “We’ll have some heavier pulse cannons early next week. Let’s just hope the Trellixians hold off attacking until after those weapons arrive.”
Mark felt more confident all the time that his skirmish line would hold if the Trellixians attacked. His mood was much better than it had been for several months, particularly knowing Jennifer was safe in Complex One. Now they just needed to drive the aliens from the mountains and eventually off the planet.
-
Battle Commander Balforr was not pleased with the latest reports from Battle Commander Traven. His soldiers were finally reorganized and nearly ready to attack the Humans hiding in the mountainous regions of the planet. Battle Commander Jabale had granted Traven overall command since he had seniority. It would be a massive strike consisting of nearly every Trellixian soldier on the planet. Over 405,000 troops with 1,020 hover tanks and 515 attack craft would be involved. They would not only be hitting the mountainous regions but isolated areas that had, up until now, been left mostly alone. Battle commander Traven had ordered nearly every Trellixian soldier still in the transports down to the planet for this offensive.
“Battle Commander Traven wants to wait another six days before launching his attack,” Second Officer Jaltor reported uneasily. “He’s still moving his troops into position and he’s requesting more reconnaissance flights from our shuttles. He’s using thermal imaging to determine the location of the Humans in the mountains. He needs those extra days to finish the scans. He says if you allow the delay he can guarantee, within two weeks of launching his attack, this world will be relatively cleansed of all Human life.”
Balforr gazed at the viewscreens of the planet below. He was tired of this planet and ready to go on to future conquests. “I will grant him the six days,” Balforr said. “I will also be informing the High Command of his request and his promise to have this world cleansed of Humans and ready for colonization in three more weeks. There will also be no more delays after this one.”
“He’s moved a lot of soldiers around to have the forces necessary to launch this assault. He’s stripped the soldiers he’s been using to hold the pacified regions of the planet. The soldiers are in place; he just needs the scans.”
A colonization fleet was already on the way. The High Command had insisted on sending it. Balforr would have it go into orbit around Earth’s moon until he deemed it was safe for them to land. He was still a little concerned about the missing submarine. So far intensive searches for the elusive vessel had failed to locate it. He would keep the colony ships away from the shorelines when they eventually landed. A battlecruiser above each colony location could shoot down any incoming missiles now that they knew what to look for.
-
Major Dolan was back in the Command Center of his base. Captain Garcia and Captain Morrison were with him, watching a video broadcast by General Mitchell to every secret base across the country.
“We’re not sure why the Trellixians have not attacked,” General Mitchell said. “They’ve moved massive amounts of troops into position, both in the mountains and out, where we have military forces and civilians. We’ve managed to deploy 42,000 pulse rifles to our soldiers across the United States which should come as a major shock to the enemy when they do launch their attack.”
This greatly surprised Mark. There were far more surviving soldiers than he had thought. Only two days previous he had received another sixty pulse rif
les for his own soldiers.
“We’ve begun to send out the new and larger pulse cannons which should be able to shoot down Trellixian shuttles and attack craft. We have deployed several hundred of these with more being built every day.”
Mark had received four of those along with the shipment of pulse rifles. He had already set up all four of them to cover his skirmish line. He was hoping for at least two more so he could send them to the other valley where Lieutenant Stein and his people were.
“Plus we will have a few air assets in the coming battle. Our technicians have worked around the clock for the last week and have added shields to seventy of our Apache attack helicopters so we can safely put them back in the air. They will be used to attack concentrations of Trellixian troops, particularly their hover tanks. There’s a slim possibility we may have a few fighter squadrons available but we still have a lot of work that needs to be done to get them ready. If they are, we will deploy them in the coming battle.”
General Mitchell paused. “This battle will be for the future of the human race. This is a battle we cannot lose. Every soldier and military asset we have left will be committed to bring us victory. Nothing will be held back. We have already made numerous sacrifices to preserve as much of the human race as possible. You should also know we are not alone. A number of other countries have considerable military assets they will commit to this battle which will not only rage here in the United States but across the world.”
Mitchell paused once more. “Someone else here wishes to speak to you. I give you, the President of the United States, Katelyn Hathaway.”
The viewscreen changed to show President Hathaway in her office, sitting behind her desk in front of the presidential seal of the United States.
“We have lost so much over the last months of oppression and genocidal attacks by the Trellixians. They came offering peace but all they’ve brought is death. Each survivor in this country has lost a loved one. This coming battle is for the future of our great country and the rest of the world. Even if we win this battle, there will be more battles in our future. The Trellixians have come to our world as conquerors. We will send them away in defeat and someday, in the not-too-distant future, we will follow them into space to continue the battle there.”
President Hathaway’s eyes narrowed. “The Trellixians should never have come to our world. Let us now show them what real war is. I ask you to fight for our victory because there can be nothing else if we hope to survive.” The viewscreen faded out and went dark.
-
“Wow, that was intense,” said Captain Garcia after the president finished speaking. “I didn’t know we had so many soldiers left and even air assets.”
“It sounds like we’re committing everything to this coming battle,” added Captain Morrison. This was the first time he had been to the base. He had been impressed after a quick tour.
Mark nodded. “The latest scans from some of our satellites indicate a massive buildup of Trellixian forces near us. We’ll be facing hundreds of enemy soldiers this time around.”
“We’re as ready for them as we can be,” said Captain Garcia. “This time they won’t be pushing through our lines.”
“The fighting will be heavy,” Morrison said. “We’ll take some losses but with the pulse rifles and the heavier pulse cannons I feel pretty confident we can hold our line.”
Mark’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t want to just hold the line. I want to wipe out every Trellixian soldier who comes against us. It’s time we massacre them rather than vice versa.”
The two captains nodded in agreement. The Trellixians had shown no mercy, now neither would the human military.
“Get back to your companies and inform our soldiers what we just heard from General Mitchell and President Hathaway. Let them know this war is far from over.”
As the two captains left Mark wondered what his sister was doing back in Complex One. He wished he could see her. They had exchanged a few messages and she was doing fine at her new job in the medical center. Perhaps when this battle was over he could return to the complex and spend some time with her.
With a deep sigh he spread out a large map on his desk showing the terrain of the surrounding countryside. It was time to make sure they were fully prepared for the coming battle. Mark was determined that in this battle his Rangers, the Army and the Marines would take the fight to the enemy and come away victorious.
Chapter Twenty-One
Lisa was nearly breathless. She had been so busy since coming to Complex One. Every day they discovered something new and exciting about Jelnoid technology. Lisa spent her mornings working in the labs and in the afternoons Lisa, Brenda, and Brett would spend their time going over the Jelnoid database seeing what they could learn of Jelnoid science.
After the first few days Lisa realized what a daunting task this was and asked Professor Wilkens if a few more of the special captains could be reassigned to help her. He had agreed and now her team consisted of five people, including herself, all with heavy research backgrounds.
“They had quantum computers,” said Derek Keys, his eyes lighting up. Derek was a computer specialist and had worked designing new computer software and systems. “It was something we were working on. We just never could develop the necessary accuracy. You might ask the computer what color the sky was and the answer might come back as New York. The quantum state was just too damn unpredictable.”
“The answers from the computer seemed to change randomly. We were trying to develop an algorithm to make corrections but could never achieve more than 60 percent accuracy in the answers. However, the quantum computer was amazingly fast. It could do in seconds what other advanced computers might take a year or more to do. We could just never trust its answers.”
Brett nodded. “I’ve read up on quantum computers. It seems the Jelnoids managed to correct that problem. The scout ship which crashed was controlled by one.”
Derek nodded. “If we have the time I would like to see that computer. Maybe I can find out what they did differently. If we have spaceships going out into space, it would be great to have a quantum computer available.”
“Professor Wilkens promised I could see the wreckage of the scout ship,” Lisa said. She looked at the others. “I’ll talk to him and see if we can all go inspect it. I can also check to see what research they’ve done on the ship’s computers.”
“We know they’ve done some from all the computer advancements made in the past thirty years,” said Brett.
“The wreckage is in a secure facility here,” added Brenda. “I would like to see it as well. Maybe we can learn something from it.”
Lisa nodded. She was enjoying her life here in the underground complex. There was so much that needed to be done and even more to learn. The Jelnoid database they were studying had been gone through by thousands of research scientists over the years. Lisa felt since all of them would be science officers on the spaceships they needed a broad understanding of Jelnoid science. Professor Wilkens had suggested they spend a few months doing research and then go to the ships and become familiar with the Jelnoid technology integrated into the vessels.
Lisa still found it hard to believe someday she would venture out into space. It had been one of her childhood dreams. She knew Brett felt the same way as he talked about it all the time.
“Let’s get something to eat,” Brett suggested. He had several files he had printed to study later. “I want to spend some time tonight looking at these schematics of their fusion power systems. Their designs are vaguely similar to some of ours. I’m curious as to what the major differences are.”
Kia Drake grinned. She was from France and had worked on the Large Hadron Collider. “It’s simple. Theirs worked and ours didn’t.”
“We nearly had it working,” Brett replied defensively. “Another few years and we would have been there.”
“We could have done a lot of things if the Trellixians hadn’t arrived,” Lisa said.
Ever
yone was quiet for a moment. Being so far underground and safe tended to make them forget a war was still being fought above them.
“I feel the urge for a juicy hamburger and fries,” said Kia. “There are several good fast food restaurants in the city.”
“Sounds fine to me,” Lisa said as she stood. “Let’s go.”
Tomorrow she would ask Professor Wilkens about seeing the Jelnoid scout craft. It should make for an interesting excursion.
-
In space, Battle Commander Balforr looked down upon Earth. In another few hours Battle Commander Traven would launch his attack on the Humans. The colonization fleet had arrived and its two hundred large colony ships were in orbit around Earth’s moon to ensure their safety. Balforr expected within one week the first ships would be landing in some of the secure areas on the planet. In two weeks the entire colony fleet should be on the surface. Balforr had already spoken to the High Command about his next assignment. Several hundred light years distant another inhabited world had been discovered. Its technology was at the stage of developing steam engines. It would be an easy and quick conquest.
“Battle Commander Traven reports all commands are ready to begin their assaults,” reported Second Officer Jaltor. “Attack craft will take out any heavy opposition. He expects major resistance will be crushed within sixty hours.”
This pleased Balforr. He was ready to take his fleet out of orbit and proceed to the new target world.
-
Major Dolan was at the small underground headquarters bunker behind the skirmish line dug out so the battle could be better monitored. It had been equipped with communication equipment which connected directly to the main base and the different Marine, Ranger and Army companies up and down the skirmish line.
“Trellixian troops are moving,” reported Captain Garcia, his eyes narrowing. “Some of our advance scouts report the enemy will be here in three to four hours.”
“This is it,” Mark said as he gazed at a map showing their defenses. Mark stood and stepped outside the hidden bunker. The temperature was just above freezing. A light snow was falling. Everywhere he looked it was white. There was nearly a foot of snow on the ground with more expected. It was a pristine scene; one you might expect to see in a movie only this was real life.
Earth Fall: Invasion : (Book One) Page 29