He Who Dares: Book Two (The Gray Chronicals 2)

by Rob Buckman

  “It's his nips himself, Sergeant Grayson.”

  “Don’t be funny you little twit...” Taffy came into pick up range. “My God, it is him… you… him.”

  “Told you.”

  “Shut up and let the man talk would you!”

  “Taffy, Jenks, I need a little help.”

  “Name it and it's yours, including my first born.”

  “That’s if you can find some woman to have you.” Jenks added.

  “I need someone to go clear out my rooms in Devonport, and pay the landlord.”

  “No problem there, this useless cockney twit can run down there tomorrow and do that.”

  “Um, I need it done tonight. Taffy.”

  “You in trouble boyo?”

  “Me, no, what gives you that idea?”

  “Heard that story before. Where do you want him to bring your things? Mike thought about it for a moment.

  “Jenks, clear out my room, and that of CPO Conner Blake. Take everything and go to the main gate at Devonport, take your porta-comp with you and I have someone meet you tomorrow evening.”

  “Will do, Sarg. We going to see you soon in our fine establishment?”

  “I hope so.”

  “Right then, be off with you and don’t let them catch you.” With that, Jenks cut the connection. That took care of his things, and their landlord. It wouldn’t look good having him call the Admiralty and complaining that a certain Naval Officer had left and stiffed him for the rent.

  CHAPTER TEN:

  Silently as a snowflake, in stealth mode, the scout car drifted to a halt beside some bushes in the small park, its cammo in full active mode. The moment it touched the ground, Sergeant Rice and the two Marines exited. Dressed in white cammo smocks they vanished into the darkness, armed with shock batons and service blasters just in case. Mike and Conner waited in the car, both with their night vision visors down, scanning the darkness.

  “Couple over there necking, Skipper.” Conner said softly, unconsciously nodding his chin in the direction.

  “I see them, just keep your eye on them once in a while, just in case.”

  “Looks peaceful enough.”

  “True, but after what’s been happening, I’m not taking any chances.” Mike heard Conner’s soft chuckle. “Got a man standing on the corner over here.”

  “Ummm, odd, he standing in an alleyway in the dark.”

  “Eagle to Hawk!”

  “Hawk here.”

  “Have one nightingale in an ally to the Southwest.”

  “We have eyes on him, Eagle.”

  “Seems like just a quiet suburban street, sir.”

  “Could be.”

  “Have the house under surveillance, Eagle. Nothing out of the ordinary to report, so far.” There was a pause, and the slight ping and hiss of static, then “One person inside, watching the vid, Eagle, and... Hold one...”

  “Ummm, now what?” Conner muttered.

  “Hawk, to Eagle, have a vehicle parked down the street in an ally, the engine is hot and I have heat traces of people entering the house recently.”

  Mike tried to imagine what they were seeing through the scanner. Even with the latest technology, they could only interpret what they saw through the walls. Fuzzy red and blue images, hot spots, latent traces, all adding to a confused picture they had to interpret.

  “Hawk Two to Eagle, have four people in the vehicle, three in the rear, one apparently asleep, and one in the driver's seat.”

  “Hmm, that’s odd.” Conner muttered.

  “Hawk, Two, can you get closer and look, possibly listen in?”

  “Can do, Eagle.”

  “Hawk leader, to Eagle, not sure I like the look of this.” It was clear that Rice was seeing something he didn’t like.

  “Talk to me, Hawk?”

  “I get the impression of a fight, or struggle in the house, Eagle.” There was something definitely out of place here.

  “Hawk, Two and Three, neutralize the occupants of the car, Hawk Leader, do the same with the people inside the house.” As he spoke, Mike opened the door and they slipped out.

  “Eagle one and two will take the nightingale in the alleyway.”

  “What about the love birds, Skipper?”

  “Just keep an eye on them. If necessary, we can send Sergeant Rice out to take care of them.” Even so, he still felt there was definitely something out of place here. He wasn’t far wrong; as they approached the shadowy person in the alleyway sensed something and turned, reaching under his coat as he did. Even as the man turned, there was a soft cough from behind Mike, and a moment later he slumped to the ground.

  “Sorry, sir, couldn’t risk him giving the alarm.”

  “You kill him?” Mike asked, moving carefully over the fallen body.

  “No, sir, just a stun dart. A stun pistol makes way too much noise.”

  “I’m not complaining.”

  “Good - Eagle to Hawk, nightingale naturalized.” The man was armed, and not just a stun gun. He was carrying a service blaster set on full. Whoever he was, he wasn’t playing around.

  “No ID, sir.” Conner reported after searching them fallen man.

  “Intelligence, then, but who’s?”

  “Woman in the house naturalized, Eagle, no one else here.” Something like a loud ‘POP’ sound down the street, preceded by a blue/white flash. Conner and Mike tensed, recognized it as a blaster discharge, and immediately headed towards it.

  “Sorry about that, Eagle, one of them was wearing light body armor and managed to get a shot off before we took him out.”

  “No problem, anyone hurt?”

  “Yes, Skipper. One dead, theirs.”

  “No matter. They are all lethally armed, and would probably have killed us if things didn’t go according to plan. Whoever they are, they are playing for keeps. Is the vehicle secure?”

  “Yes, Eagle.” Without waiting, Mike and Conner made their way through the snow-covered back yard, and entered the house through the rear. They left unavoidable tracks through the pristine snow, but now it wouldn’t matter. Sergeant Rice let them in.

  “That lady watching the vid was armed, sir.”

  “So was the man down the street, lethally so.”

  “Same with the people in the car, whoever they are, they’re playing rough.”

  “Go bring the car here and help Hawk one, and two bring the people inside, maybe we can figure out what’s going on.” It was clear the opposition, whoever they were, had got here before him. The question remained, how had they known?

  A search of the woman produced no ID, except the service blaster, and Conner confirmed the evidence of a struggle with broken dishes and cups in the dustbin. The vehicle produced three men and a woman, who was still asleep, or stunned. The Marines used thick plastic security snap-ties to truss all five of them.

  “Now the question is, who is who.”

  “Keep your masks in place!” Rice hissed as one of the Marines started to remove his.

  “Good idea, no sense in letting them see our faces.”

  “Sir, I think the lady in the vehicle is the one who lives here.” Sergeant Rice held out a Holograph photo of a family group.

  “Take them in the other room and see what you can get out of them when.” He said, nodding towards the people on the ground, wishing he had some TD-Penta. “Conner and I will talk to the woman.”

  “Aye-aye, sir.” Twenty minutes later, the young woman started to come round, but it was another five minutes before she was able to talk.

  “Who are you people, and why am I trussed up like this?” She demanded, still groggy and looking scared.

  “Precautions, Miss, until we establish who you are.” Mike answered.

  “I live here, and I want to know why you people invaded my home?”

  “Us? We rescued you from a car parked down the street, don’t you remember?”

  “No, the last thing I remember was sitting here watching the news, then people rushing in a grabbi
ng me, if not you, then who, and who are you people?”

  “That’s a good question. I don’t know who those other people are, but I came here to pick up a package.”

  “Can you prove who you are?” Mike could see the fear in her eyes and he didn’t blame her. This was much more than she’d been lead to expect.

  “Yes, Miss, I’m Mike Gray, and this is CPO Conner Blake.” Mike produced his ID and showed it to her, as did Conner. After that, she seemed a little more relaxed.

  It was clear that she was the occupant of the house, and she’d been stunned by the other people and had no idea she’d been taken out of her house. Conner undid the snap tie and took her to the doorway to the other room so she could look inside. The other five people, including the woman lay hog tied on the floor, facing the other way, so they didn’t see her. Sergeant Rice looked up and shook his head. They weren’t having much luck in getting any information out of them.

  “Oh my! Who are those people?” She asked when she came back.

  “We don’t know, but they stunned you, and substituted the woman, obviously to catch us, or me more precisely.”

  “I think I believe you, Captain Gray.”

  “Leftenant Gray, Miss?”

  “Beckman, Susan Beckman.” She looked uncertain, first at Mike, then at Conner. “Can I make a call?” Half expecting them to refuse.

  “By all mean, Miss Beckman, I think you need to get the R&D security here to collect these people, and provide you with a guard.” He answered.

  “Thank you, Mr... Leftenant Gray.” She made her call, and all though they didn’t listen in, both of them could see she was in a heated conversation with someone. Then she came back.

  “I have been ordered to give you the package.”

  “Thank goodness for that.” She walked over to a draw and opening it, then stood back.

  “What?”

  “This isn’t my package.”

  “Oh no!”

  “No, please, you don’t understand, wait,” she pulled the draw out and felt in the back and pulled something out,

  “I hid a dummy package in the draw, just in case something like this might happen. From the look of it, they substituted this for the dummy package.” She held out the packages she found in the drawer, and handed Mike the fake one to Mike. Conner took it and scanned it carefully.

  “No explosives, sir.”

  “All right, open it, but carefully, just in case.” Conner did, revealing a CPU, memory crystal, hard drive, several electronic cards, and a stack of data chips. The moment he’d pronounced them clean, Susan Beckman came over and took a close look.

  “Good lord, that crystal is identical to the ones we use at the lab.” Opening the second package, Mike held them side by side for a moment. The logo and ID number were identical on the both blocks of crystal, the girl was right. Somehow, the opposition knew their every move.

  “And another virus, I bet.” Conner muttered.

  “Right, I bet the lady in there was supposed to give us this package, and we go merrily back to the ship and install it.” Just then, a vehicle pulled up out front and they all heard doors slamming.

  “Time to go, Chief.”

  “Right, sir.”

  “Thanks for the package, Miss Beckman, but it's better if we weren’t seen here. I suggest you give the phony package to your security. Maybe they can track down how someone managed to duplicate the drive crystals right down to the ID numbers.”

  “I think I agree.” On impulse Mike took her hand and kissed it.

  “You took a great risk, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart, Miss Beckman, good luck.”

  “You too Leftenant Gray.” As she turned to let the men knocking on the front door in, Mike and his men slipped out the back and vanished into the darkness.

  * * * * * *

  Everyone on the Bridge held their breath, as Janice Fletcher tapped Grace Goldman on the shoulder. Grace took a deep breath and hit the power on switch, her eye quickly flicking down the screen as the main frame booted up.

  “So far so good.” She muttered.

  The boot instruction cascaded by as one sub-routine after the other came on line, navigation, environment, helm, and weapons, and so on down the line without a glitch. Throughout the ship, the crew saw various systems come on line as the computer took over the function of running the ship, and began clapping and cheering.

  “She’s clean, Skipper, no virus.” She sighed, letting out a pent up breath.

  “Great, start a diagnostic on each system and test it.” Mike ordered. “I want this ship fully functional in six hours or less.” He tried to look calm, yet his insides felt like jelly, thinking he still might have picked up the wrong package.

  “Aye-aye, Skipper.”

  “Pete, you have the Bridge, I’m going to take a walk around the ship and check on a few things, and CPO Conner you are with me.”

  “Aye, Skipper - Loftland, you have the helm.”

  “Aye-aye, Chief, taking over the helm.” Cindy Loftland replied in a firm voice”

  “One more thing, Pete. We need darkness to cover our departure. The less people who actually ‘see’ us the better.”

  “Aye, aye, sir. I’ll see what I can do.” Conner and Mike toured the ship, starting in the forward torpedo room and working their way back to engineering. Pete looked frazzled, but gave Mike a thumbs up as he and Conner walked in.

  “Found the problem, Skipper.” He announced, walking over while wiping his hands on a cleaning rag. “One of the particle beam guns was out of alignment by just a fraction.”

  “How soon can you fire her up?”

  “Have to charge the power packs first, Skipper, as we drained them getting here. As soon as they are charged, say six hours, I’ll have sufficient power to initiate the startup firing sequence.”

  “Let’s just hope we don’t run into any more problems.”

  “No, Skipper. I checked all fourteen guns and they are all aligned.”

  “Great job. Carry on, Pete.”

  Slowly but surely, the crew and the remaining civilian fitter buttoned her up, and she was beginning to look like a warship. Mike knew there would be bugs to work out of the system, but by now the crew knew every nut, bolt, screw, and washer in her. Now it was just a question of finding the bugs and fixing them. Thankfully, the imprint team had finished, and gave Mike the all clear signal. His last stop was the Marine deck, hearing Sergeant Rice calling them to attention as he came in.

  “Captain on deck!” Everyone present shot to their feet and stood at attention.

  “At easy people. Thought I’d drop in to see how you were doing and say well done.”

  “Fine, Captain.” Rice said with a smile.

  “You’d say that if you were up to your shorts in fire ants fighting a grizzly bear, in three feet of snow.”

  “Yes, sir, there’s some truth to that.” Rice chuckled.

  “I’ve got some news for you to help you cut the boredom.” Rice cocked an eyebrow at him; he’d heard that one before.

  “Yes, sir, anything to help, sir.” He lied cheerfully.

  “As of now you don’t stand guard on hatchways except at action stations. Your primary function from now on, beside any ground action, will be as weapons crews.”

  “Weapons crews? We aren’t trained for that, Skipper.”

  “I know, but we are so short handed that it's the only way we can make this a functional warship. I have the necessary people to train you, if you are willing, that is.” Rice looked around at the rest of the Marines. Many of the Marines looked at one another, some thinking it a little funny that the Skipper would ask them, instead of just ordering them to do it.

  “Well, you heard the Skipper, you want to be gunners as well as Marines?” Rice barked.

  “SIR, YES SIR!” They all chorused.

  “Hell, it beats standing guard duty on some dumb hatch.” Someone in the back commented.

  “Thought you’d like the idea, carry on.�
�

  “Attention!” Mike saluted and left.

  “You think they can handle it, sir?”

  “I know they can, Conner, it's just a matter of training them.” Seeing the look Conner gave him.

  “It’ll be the first time in an age, sir.”