Hell Fighters From Earth Book 2

by William C. Seigler

  “Yes, it is,” agreed Smith.

  “What do you want me to do?” asked Dmitri.

  “Get some of your best people together and head toward the area I’ve given you,” he said pointing toward the ridge. “I will want to set up on those two ridges in caves. I’ll need something large enough for the big equipment.

  “Make sure you put markers on your com so that each unit will know where to set up. There should be places to put the armored vehicles on or near the ridge crest so that they can fire at anything that approaches from the air.

  “We will need to tunnel between the two ridgelines, but that will have to wait a bit. What do the two of you have?” he asked indicating Argie and Farouk.

  “Each of us has a field medical unit. The Separatists were supplying the doctors. Now it’s just us,” answered Farouk.

  “Farouk, I need you to handle sanitation and hygiene. I’ll attach an engineer unit to you so that you can build what you need. We have enough problems without disease spreading through the camp.”

  Dmitri was arguing with someone on his com in Russian. Argie moved up next to Denver.

  “Can we really pull this off?” she asked. Her voice was calm, and her eyes were serious but not afraid.

  “Have I ever let you down?”

  “Not yet,” she responded with an impish grin.

  “The only thing I know for certain, is that if we let discipline fall apart, we’re all dead,” Denver added.

  Dmitri clicked off his com and returned to the group. “I may have something.”

  “What?” asked Argie, hopefully.

  “One of my Russians has an affinity for cannabis, and he is an organic gardener,” Dmitri said with a grin.

  “What are you suggesting?” asked Smith.

  “I finally got him to admit that he had some seeds.”

  “I don’t know if having the Legion stoned will help,” said Smith irritably.

  “No, it probably wouldn’t, but the plants will take in carbon dioxide and give off oxygen.”

  Smith looked around at the others. “I hadn’t thought of that.”

  He thought about it for a moment. “Argie, I need to know as much about the chemistry and any biology this planet has produced as you can get me. Can your lab people handle it?”

  “We should be able to cook up something. We can test the seeds in the local soil even before we get a cave sealed up,” she said.

  “Okay guys, you’ve got your instructions. Dimitri, I’m assigning some of the armor to you. I will need you to move fast and have caves picked out before the rest of the Legion arrives.”

  “You got it, boss.” He saluted and left. That was the first time he had ever acted as though Smith was really an officer.

  “You guys ready?”

  “We’re on it,” replied Farouk who saluted and turned away.

  Argie stepped closer and pecked him on the cheek. She smiled, stepped back, saluted, and headed off to her unit. They all had work to do, and no one knew how much time they had in which to do it.

  Chapter 16 – Blowback

  The cool breeze burned Fitz’s face, but he enjoyed it. He might just have the smoking gun the Admiral needed. This reached the threshold of coming by his home at any hour; Fitz was sure of it.

  The light was on in the Admiral’s study. Fitz pulled up in front and went up to the door.

  “Who is it?” asked the Admiral, his pistol in his hand.

  “Sir, it’s me,” answered Fitz.

  “Drive around back.”

  “Yes sir.”

  Fitz did as ordered, parked the buggy, and with his evidence climbed the back stairs. He started to knock, but La Force opened the door without turning on a light.

  “You might think I’m getting paranoid, but things have happened.” He saw the large can, deformed by a bullet hole. He looked up at Fitz without raising his head. “Let’s go sit down; there are things to talk about.”

  “Please Commander, sit,” La Force said taking the chair across from Fitz. He had loosened his tunic and removed his shoes and socks, not military, but his feet hurt.

  “What do you have there?”

  “This is a can with a bullet hole in it. There are others, but I didn’t want to disturb the site more than necessary, in case real investigators needed to see it.”

  “Good thinking.”

  “There is something else,” Fitz said removing the package containing the spent cartridges. These he handed La Force.

  La Force took them and glanced at Fitz, then back to the casings. “Where did you find these?”

  “A few kilometers from New Town, along with a video of the probable assassin, and there is something else.”

  “Go on.”

  “It would appear that whoever brought the rifle to the site where we found them, came in some sort of flying craft.”

  “Flying craft?” asked La Force skeptically.

  “Oh yes, whoever it was, flew to a landing site near where the casings were found. The assassin was probably given the rifle and allowed to conduct some target practice. There are other containers just like this farther out from the meeting site and more spent cartridges.”

  “How did the assassin get to the meeting place?”

  “It’s not too far from New Town. He rented an electric vehicle. Tomorrow I’ll go to the spaceport to see what I can find on the assassin.”

  “Good, but how would his accomplice get a flying vehicle onto the training world?” asked La Force.

  “How indeed, sir? I suspect he shipped it here with high Parliamentary clearance. No one would have ever suspected such a thing to go so high.”

  “Oh, I don’t know. Look at ancient Rome. The actual assassin may not be the root cause, look at the nobles who were behind the sword,” added La Force.

  “How high do you think it goes?”

  “All the way to Parliament and one of the factions maneuvering for power. What else would make a man think he could get away with such a thing?”

  “But why,” asked Fitz.

  “I don’t know, power perhaps. Perhaps he is so arrogant that he thinks he can head off any real investigation. Between that and the attitude problem around here, I think we have a chance of pulling this off.”

  “Sir?”

  “We must get to the bottom of this, because if we fail, innocent people will die, their bones scattered, and their legacy made a lie. We can’t allow that.”

  “No sir, we can’t,” agreed Fitz. “But what are we to do?”

  “First things first. I need this evidence stored somewhere secure on the base. Then, then I’m not sure where to go,” confessed La Force.

  “Sir, what about our operatives?”

  “Yes, we must endeavor to keep them out of harm’s way. The people behind this will stop at nothing,” said La Force. He gave Fitz a moment to ponder this revelation.

  * * * *

  The next morning Admiral La Force was seated at his desk in his office, when there was a knock at the door. “Come in,” he answered in a brusque voice. He looked up to see a Legion Colonel standing in the doorway. He sat down his stylus and leaned back a bit.

  Colonel Blackstone entered, came to attention, and saluted. “Admiral, I need to speak to you.”

  La Force motioned him to be silent. He stood, picked up his hat, and motioned Blackstone to come with him. He led Blackstone out the back way. Once in the garden, La Force visibly relaxed.

  “I’m sorry Colonel, but I no longer feel safe talking in my office.”

  Blackstone looked surprised but then thought about it. “I guess nothing should surprise me anymore, after what happened yesterday.”

  “Yes, what did happen yesterday?”

  “How much do you know?” asked Blackstone.

  “A fleet of ships swo
oped in and took the Legion; lock, stock, and barrel. I also know I’ve had no luck finding out what happened to them. Somebody even took the three officers, from the Legion, assigned to me, and nobody will give me any answers. What do you have?”

  Blackstone looked like he was about to spit on the ground. “They swooped in all right, but I don’t know who or why.”

  “What did they tell you?” asked La Force.

  “There was some sort of emergency, and I was to gather my battalion along with whatever we could carry, and get on the transports. That’s all.

  “When we got to the planet with the so-called ‘emergency’ all the officers were called off to a meeting. That is to say, officers who are part of our people, not officers from the Earth. Once there, we were ordered to get into the transports. Then they brought us here without explanation.”

  “Where did they take them?”

  “I have been unable to find out, and I’ve raised hell.”

  “But nobody will listen?” asked La Force.

  “I’ve been instructed to get back into naval uniform, turn in anything Legion, and standby for orders. It’s been suggested that if I valued my career, I had better play along and keep my big mouth shut.”

  “I take it keeping quiet is not your forte,” said La Force with a grin.

  “I’m afraid not sir.”

  “Well, there must be something going around.”

  “What do you mean?” asked Blackstone.

  “Just today, HQ sent me a letter from the Admiralty suggesting I might want to consider early retirement.”

  “Early retirement in the middle of the war?” asked Blackstone incredulously.

  “Yes, that is odd, isn’t it?”

  “Anyone else get such a … uh, suggestion?”

  “No, just me,” answered La Force.

  “Other than having three Legion officers attached to you, is there anything special that would have gotten the Admiralty’s attention?”

  “I did send them out on a mission, along with Lieutenant Commander Fitzpatrick, which proved that their much vaunted aerial bombardment of the Reptilian planet was not the complete success they have been boasting about in Parliament.”

  “That’s what Captain Smith told me.”

  “You’ve seen him?” asked La Force, stunned.

  “Oh yes, he was assigned to me. I left him in charge of setting up while the rest of us went off to our meeting. I told him we would be right back with answers. He probably thinks I deserted him; that’s what’s killing me.”

  “Don’t jump to conclusions. I’ve never met anyone like Smith. He’s something else, smart, brave, and unpredictable.”

  “He said that if I found myself back on the training world, I should locate you and let you know where they are. Only, I don’t know where they are!”

  “There is something else,” added La Force.

  “Something else?”

  “Commander Fitzpatrick and his people launched an investigation into the Prime Minister’s assassination. I took responsibility and sent word up the chain of command explaining what my section was doing.”

  “Now your people have been taken, and the Admiralty wants you to retire, right in the middle of a war. Sounds like someone does not want your investigation to continue,” said Blackstone.

  “Yes, doesn’t it though.”

  “What have you found?”

  “Careful, you might be jeopardizing your career,” said La Force, with an odd half grin.

  “May I speak freely, sir?”

  “By all means. I depend on it,” said La Force.

  “I was happy we formed the Legion. In fact, I volunteered, even though I was warned that I was throwing my career away. I have believed for a long time that we made a mistake in alienating ourselves from the rest of the human race.

  “And I’m smart enough to know, we can’t win this war fighting in space or with aerial bombardment. None of this is making any sense.”

  “What about the rest of your officers?”

  “Other than Major Appleton, they are self-serving career managing rats, who were quite pleased to be returning to the navy. In fact, they were joking about burning their Legion uniforms and jogging back to the navy side of the base in their skivvies.”

  La Force stared into the distance for long moments before he turned to Blackstone and asked, “Have you been reassigned yet?”

  “No sir, I haven’t.”

  “What did you do before you volunteered for the Legion?”

  “I was Captain of a transport ship.”

  “So, you know how to fly spacecraft do you?”

  “Yes sir.”

  “Good, that might prove useful. Tell me Colonel, how would you and your executive officer like to come work for me at Intel?”

  “Sir?”

  “I know you haven’t gotten over the anger at what they did to you and your people, and I don’t want you to get over it. You see Colonel, I have come to strongly suspect that the assassination of the Prime Minister and what I believe to be the intentional destruction of the Legion are connected.”

  “Intentional destruction, sir?”

  “Yes, but I don’t know how,” added La Force.

  “I know how, or at least part of it.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “That planet can’t support human life without oxygen rebreathers and there is only a limited supply of food.”

  La Force grabbed his arm. “My god, they plan to kill them slowly, painfully, without hope.”

  “How could they be so full of hate?” asked Blackstone.

  “Hate, hubris, it makes no difference. They plan to kill thousands of men and women, the best we could get off the planet, and they plan to do it slowly.”

  “They trusted us!” said the Colonel in a choked cry.

  “Yes, and we can’t let them down,” said La Force. “Now, we’ve got to keep our heads about us. It is without a doubt that we are dealing with people very high up who will stop at nothing to get what they want.”

  “Including mass murder,” said Blackstone.

  “Including murdering a sitting Prime Minister. Now ask yourself, who would profit from such a thing.”

  “I don’t know. Wait a minute, but, but, it’s so obvious, the Schiller-von Karlstad people. This is incredible; it’s insane.”

  “Insane or not, the Prime Minister is dead, and the Legion will be soon if we don’t do something,” responded La Force.

  Slowly Blackstone turned his head and locked eyes with La Force. “What do you want me to do?”

  “First, go find a naval officer’s uniform and act like you are happy about it. Don’t openly challenge what they have done; don’t make any demands.”

  “If you say so, sir.”

  “Report to my office in the morning with Major Appleton. I should have your orders by then. In the meantime, I will find out where they’ve shipped the Legion. We must find them.”

  “And rescue them,” added Blackstone.

  “How would we do that?” asked La Force.

  “I don’t know sir.”

  “I know we must rescue them, but I don’t know how either,” said La Force.

  “It would be enough if we could just get them some food, some supplies,” added Blackstone.

  “How dependable is your Major?”

  “I would trust him with my life,” answered Blackstone.

  “Okay, put him in charge of finding supplies for the Legion.”

  “What do you propose to do?”

  “I propose to solve the mystery of the assassination and get supplies to the Legion. Then I intend to bring them back.”

  “How do you plan to do that?” asked Blackstone.

  “Well, I’ll tell you, I don’t know.”

  * *
* *

  Later that morning, La Force summoned Fitz to his office and suggested they stretch their legs. Once outside they began tossing around what they knew about this situation concerning the Legion.

  “There’s something else Commander,” said La Force.

  “Yes sir.”

  “I’ve been in contact with the former Battalion Commander of the battalion where Smith was transferred. They are in grave danger. The Legion has been sent to a world where they will starve to death if the oxygen rebreathers hold out long enough.”

  “I suspected as much. Do we know where they are?” asked Fitz.

  “The Battalion Commander could not find out, and it’s been suggested that he drop the whole thing if he values his career.”

  “There has got to be a way of finding out,” asserted Fitz. “There has got to be someone who knows where they went,” said Fitz.

  “I’ll bet the Greys know,” said La Force, casting a long glance at Fitz.

  “Yes sir, but we’ll have to keep it quiet.”

  “I know nothing about it. Now as to our immediate problem, what are we to do with our investigation. By the way, did I tell you that it has been suggested that I take early retirement?”

  “What? We are in a war for our very survival, and they want you to retire,” said Fitz. “In other words, we’re sniffing down a trail where someone doesn’t want us sniffing.”

  “So it would seem,” replied La Force.

  “Sir, have you read Sun Tzu?”

  “Yes at the academy.”

  “He spoke of deception.”

  “Yes,” replied La Force. “Are you suggesting we’ve been foolish in reporting our activities up the chain of command?”

  “Sir, given what we knew at the time, we behaved appropriately, but with what we know now, another approach might be useful.”

  “Go on,” replied La Force.

  “Now that we’ve lost three of our people we are going to be hard pressed to complete the things we’re working on.”

  “And too busy to continue the investigation,” La Force finished his sentence for him.”

  “Meanwhile, we redouble our efforts to get to the bottom of this.”

  “Yes, and I believe I’ve got two men who will be useful in that effort.”