Cherry Drop (Abner Fortis, ISMC Book 1)

by P. A. Piatt

  “The sappers rigged the trees equipped with the cameras so they can bring them down if we get intel of an impending attack. It might be too little too late, but it might disrupt command and control of any troops moving through the jungle against us.”

  Movement sensors on the eastern perimeter lit up, and a noise monitor pointed due east.

  “Trenas, what did you do?” asked Ystremski.

  Trenas shook her head. “That wasn’t me. There’s movement on the eastern perimeter.”

  * * *

  Beck and his patrol waited for Fortis and Pell at the edge of the minefield.

  “What can we do for you, Beck?” Fortis tried to keep his voice even, but his dislike for the other man was close to the surface.

  “I recently received a report from the colony that one of their miners has disappeared. He was exhibiting signs of mental distress for some time and then he didn’t show up for his shift. After they searched the colony, the miners reported it to me.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that, Beck. I imagine the stress of living so far from Terra Earth must be tremendous.”

  Beck nodded. “It is. Regretfully, not everyone can bear up under it. Tell me, Lieutenant, have you or your men seen anyone in the jungle?”

  Fortis shrugged. “None. We’ve experienced heavy insect activity and lost a few Marines, so I decided it would be prudent to limit our activities to the immediate area of the camp. Aside of a few training patrols, we’ve remained inside the wire.”

  “Ah, well, I suppose it was too much to hope for.”

  “What’s his name? Do you have a holo of him? Just in case he shows up?”

  “Uh, no, I didn’t bring any details with me. He should be easy to recognize. He’ll be the one not wearing armor.”

  Fortis ignored the dig. “Sorry I can’t help you, Beck.”

  “That’s okay, Lieutenant. We’ll continue our search. If you encounter any humans in the jungle, please notify us.”

  Fortis cracked a wry smile. “I’d love to, except we don’t have a comm circuit, remember? If we did, it would have saved you the trip out here today.”

  * * *

  “That’s one hell of a coincidence, LT. Lily wanders into our camp and the head of the GRC himself shows up looking for a lost miner.” Ystremski smacked his fist into the palm of his other hand for emphasis as he spoke.

  “And he doesn’t have a holo,” added Pell. “He doesn’t even know the guy’s name.”

  Fortis stated the obvious. “He’s looking for Lily. Somehow, he knows we have Lily.”

  “You think Beck saw him?” Ystremski cast a glance toward the eastern perimeter where the unknown cameras were still perched in the trees.

  “Maybe. He either saw Lily, or someone told him Lily is here.”

  Fortis, Pell, and Ystremski traded glances.

  “You think one of the Space Marines told him?”

  Fortis shook his head. “Not one of our guys.”

  “Lily?”

  “Yeah.” Fortis pinched the bridge of his nose. “I knew I shouldn’t have let Gunny Hawkins take him on that patrol.”

  * * *

  The kid’s a convincing liar.

  Beck pondered the meeting as he led his patrol back to the GRC headquarters.

  He’ll make a good general someday.

  He consulted his navigation computer and adjusted his course southeast.

  He was forced to take point on this patrol since the genetically engineered soldiers were incapable of efficient orienteering. They could follow a line to a spot on a map easily enough, but they lacked the ability to recognize that the shortest distance between two points wasn’t necessarily the best path. They would slog for days through a chest-deep swamp instead of taking a dry detour that added a short distance to their trip.

  He ducked under a thick branch and something in the undergrowth caught his eye just as he straightened up. Beck brushed away the vegetation and saw a crumpled hydration pack on the ground.

  Where the hell did this come from?

  The pack was empty and he could tell it hadn’t been there long. Hours, maybe, a day at most. Beck halted the patrol and examined the surrounding jungle. There were no footprints or broken branches, but he had a strong impression that someone or something had passed through and disturbed the foliage.

  After a few minutes of watching and listening, Beck picked up the hydration pack and ordered his patrol to move out. Whoever had dropped it was long gone and he had more pressing business at headquarters.

  * * *

  The recon team gathered on the edge of the jungle. Before them, the jungle ended abruptly against a gray stone wall of jagged peaks that soared high overhead.

  “The Southron Ridge,” said Lily. “They say it runs from pole to pole.”

  Kilfoy stared at the mountains. “Damn. We have to climb those?”

  “No. This is where we lay up and wait for dark to launch the drone. Winaki, take the watch. Kilfoy, Lily, shut down for a while. I’ll find a clear spot to call Command and let them know we’re here.”

  * * *

  “LT, Gunny Hawkins is on the horn.”

  Fortis scrambled down the sandbag steps and entered the command mech. Trenas handed him a headset.

  “Gunny, this is Fortis.”

  “Hey, LT. I’m calling in to report that we’re laying up to wait for dark. Trenas said you wanted to talk to me. What’s up?”

  “The GRC know about Lily. That guy, Beck? He hiked all the way out here with a bullshit story about a missing miner.”

  “What?”

  “Yeah. Beck didn’t have a name or a holographic image, he just said they’re missing a miner. Somebody’s been talking to them.”

  “Captain Reese?”

  “Reese? What? No. I mean, I don’t think so.” Fortis shook off the enormity of what Hawkins’ statement would imply. “I think it’s Lily.”

  Hawkins sounded incredulous. “Lily? Why would Lily talk to the GRC?”

  “I don’t know, Gunny. Maybe he’s a plant.”

  “A plant? LT, you gotta get ahold of yourself. You’re being paranoid. What does Pell say?”

  Fortis bristled, but he stopped himself from firing back. “Pell, Ystremski, and I are in agreement that Lily is the most likely source of Beck’s information.”

  “Look, sir, if Lily is some kind of double agent, we’ve got him where he can do the least amount of damage. If I see any sign that he’s leading us into a trap, I’ll shoot him myself.”

  * * * * *

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Paden Nesbitt led a force of three hundred test tubes and twenty mercenaries onto the launch pad south of the colony entrance. The jungle had reclaimed much of the road between the GRC headquarters and the colony, but they had made good time and completed the march just before nightfall.

  The mercenaries shouted and pushed the test tubes into ranks, and before long they had them organized into a ragged formation of two equal-strength companies. Brinks and the other mercenaries gathered up front around Nesbitt.

  “When we enter the colony, remember that they will not be expecting us,” Nesbitt told the group. “I don’t know how they will react, so we need to go in strong to gain control and keep it. Let the test tubes handle crowd control, but do not let them get carried away. There are almost three thousand colonists in there and half of them are old people and children. I will hold you responsible for any deaths caused by test tubes under your command.”

  Several of the mercenaries shook their heads.

  “Nesbitt, how the hell are we supposed to control them? As soon as they get excited, they go wild.”

  “Don’t let them get excited. Don’t let them carry loaded weapons; magazines in pouches and chambers clear. If you see one of them get physical, stop them immediately. We want to gather all the colonists in the auditorium, but we shouldn’t have to crack heads to get it done. Remember, we need these people healthy.”

  * * *

  “Holy shit
!”

  Kilfoy banked the drone away from the colony as sharply as she dared and cleared it to the north, where it hovered overhead and awaited input.

  “Gunny, you have to see this.”

  She cued the infrared footage the drone had collected as Hawkins, Winaki, and Lily crowded around her. She hit Play and the Space Marines watched the video in shock.

  “Those are test tubes lined up at the door,” observed Winaki. “What the hell are they doing there?”

  The row of little green figures filed through the colony doors. Kilfoy counted eight positioned outside to act as sentries, but that wasn’t what had her excited.

  “Look!” Her finger touched the screen. “They left the door open!”

  * * *

  The screaming started as soon as Nesbitt released the lock and the doors swung open.

  The colony was a vast underground complex hewn from the solid rock of the Southron Ridge, and the noise echoed against the cavernous ceiling. A palpable wave of nervous energy swept through the test tubes, now lined up behind Nesbitt, and they surged forward with anxious anticipation. He tried to hold back against the press of bodies, but they carried him along as they charged forward.

  Several colonists collapsed instead of fleeing. The test tubes swarmed them. Nesbitt watched with grim satisfaction as they poked and prodded the terror-stricken people to their feet. The remaining test tubes followed the colonists as they fled toward the auditorium.

  A team of mercenaries and test tubes was assigned to search the living spaces for tools or signs of tunneling, and they disappeared. A few minutes later, shouts of anger and the crash of splintering wood came from the housing area. A stream of colonists, mostly women clutching babies and towing small children in their wake, joined the mass of people gathered in the auditorium. A knot of male colonists stumbled behind them. Nesbitt saw several were bleeding from wounds to their faces and heads.

  The mercenaries moved among the test tubes and were able to prevent too much unnecessary brutality, and it wasn’t long before they had the colonists huddled together in the auditorium. The smell of unwashed bodies and dirty clothing was almost overwhelming.

  The leader of the colony, gray-haired man in a plain black smock named Reardon, approached Nesbitt.

  “Nesbitt, why are you here? Are we going home?” He spoke with barely concealed contempt.

  “We’ve received a report that one of your miners is missing,” replied Nesbitt. “What can you tell me about it?”

  “Missing? We’re not—oh!”

  Nesbitt’s hand flashed out and caught Reardon on the ear and the colony leader fell to his knees.

  “I don’t have time for your games, old man. One of your people was found wandering the jungle. Who is it?”

  “Please. I don’t know what you mean.” Reardon held up his hands in supplication, and Nesbitt kicked him in the stomach.

  “Get this piece of shit out of here,” he growled to the nearest mercenary. The huddled colonists shrank back as Nesbitt strode along the edge of the group.

  “You—” he pointed to a young woman with a defiant look on her face, “—come here.”

  She approached Nesbitt as two test tubes grabbed Reardon and dragged him away.

  “A colonist was discovered wandering the jungle. Who is he?”

  The woman glared at him but said nothing. He raised his right hand to strike her, and she instinctively raised her own hands. Nesbitt punched her low in the gut with his left hand, and she grunted as she collapsed to the floor.

  A black-haired woman of indeterminate age rushed forward to shield the young woman.

  “Please, master. She’s a mute. She can’t talk.”

  He swore under his breath as the nearby mercenaries laughed.

  “Take her over there with the old man.”

  The black-haired woman helped her younger companion to her feet and Nesbitt booted her in the buttocks as the pair staggered past.

  “Who’s next?” he roared.

  * * *

  “Command, this is Hawkins. Did you receive my last video transmission?”

  “This is Command. That’s affirmative. Lieutenant Fortis and Corporal Ystremski have seen it and we are standing by for Warrant Pell.”

  “Lily and I are on our way to the colony. I left Kilfoy and Winaki set up one klick north to provide drone surveillance.”

  “Gunny, this is Fortis. What’s your plan when you get to the colony?”

  “LT, if we can get to the door undetected, we’re going inside.”

  “What if you get caught?”

  “If we get caught, we’re trespassing. We left our firearms with Kilfoy and Winaki, so there’s no chance of a shoot-out. The worst-case scenario is that we spend some time in a cell until the Fleet shows up.”

  Fortis leaned back in his chair and massaged his temples. He had half-expected something like this when he okayed the mission, and now that the moment was here he was helpless to stop it.

  DINLI.

  “Okay, Gunny. Get in, get what you can, and get out. We’ll be standing by to give you whatever help we can.”

  “Roger that. Hawkins out.”

  * * * * *

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Dexter Beck stared at the data on the screen in front of him, his hands hovering over the keyboard. He had spent two hours typing in the commands the GRC programmers had sent him and another hour double-checking his work. When he was satisfied that he had done everything correctly, he stabbed Enter. The screen went dark for a moment before the system acknowledged his command.

  Somewhere high overhead, a GRC satellite rotated to point a parabolic dish at the coordinates of the ISMC base that Beck had collected earlier that day. A low-power beam of energy pulsed and delivered a few lines of malicious code into the computer system of the command mech.

  Beck’s intention wasn’t to disable the Space Marine computer systems. That would have been much easier to accomplish, but also much easier to detect. Instead, what Beck had done was change the send and receive frequencies between the command mech communications gear and the Space Marine flagship. To the operators on the surface it would appear that everything was functioning normally, but they wouldn’t be sending or receiving messages on recognized frequencies. Rather, Beck’s own satellite would intercept the transmissions, the Space Marines would think their messages were getting through, and he could continue to read Fortis’ daily reports.

  * * *

  Hawkins and Lily snuck along the rockface toward the open door leading into the colony. They took slow, deliberate steps to give their auto-flage armor time to adjust to their movements. Hundreds of fiberoptic sensors embedded in the armor detected, analyzed, and projected the surrounding environment in microseconds, but Hawkins knew the armor didn’t perform well against smooth, uniform surfaces. The darkness helped conceal the two as they crept along the wall.

  They crouched in a shadow next to the door before Hawkins patted his hip in a “follow me” gesture and ducked through the door. They found themselves in a long tunnel carved into the stone, and Hawkins crossed the passageway into a depression in the wall with Lily close behind. Orangish light illuminated the tunnel from sconces along the walls, and Hawkins could see the tunnel curving away in the distance.

  The pair waited a full minute, listening for alarms or shouts of discovery, but there were none.

  “I think we’re good,” Hawkins whispered into his helmet mic and then smiled at himself. It wasn’t necessary for him to whisper; unless he shouted, his voice couldn’t be heard outside his helmet, but the situation seemed to demand it. Lily nodded but didn’t respond.

  Hawkins took a deep breath, slipped out of their hiding place, and moved in a crouch along the passage wall. He scanned both sides looking for a place to take cover. He spotted a doorway carved into the rock, they ducked into it and waited.

  Gunny Hawkins focused on controlling his breathing while he listened again for any approaching danger. He had full strength
and endurance enhancements, but the Pada-Pada gravity had made the last eighteen hours of humping through the jungle and infiltrating the colony seem like days.

  Lily must be exhausted.

  Lily patted him on the shoulder and made the “okay” gesture with thumb and forefinger. Hawkins nodded.

  Then they heard a scream from somewhere down the passageway.

  * * *

  Fortis sighed and hit “send” on another vague, bare-bones daily report, which he was sure would be ignored by Captain Reese. He rolled his head around on his neck and winced at the cracking and popping.

  Trenas smiled. “You sound like five klicks of bad road, LT.”

  Fortis groaned as he got to his feet. “Yeah. Life in the Corps is taking years off my life.” He headed for the hatch. “Call me when Hawkins reports in.”

  He climbed the sandbag staircase to the top of the command mech and took his customary seat overlooking the dark compound. The camp was quiet, though an air of anticipation had settled over the Space Marines. Between Hawkins’ patrol and the new emplacements Ystremski had them install, they sensed something was coming, something that might soon call on them to practice their deadly arts.

  “LT, you up there?” Ystremski’s stage whisper floated up to Fortis on the night air.

  “Yeah, come on up.”

  The corporal settled down next to Fortis.

  “Here you go, sir.” Ystremski pushed a mug into Fortis’ chest. “Newest batch, straight from the tap.”

  “Do you really think we should drink this tonight?”

  “It’s just a taste. Nothing to worry about.”