Ranger

by William Stacey

  "It shows hostile contact?" An undercurrent of excitement swept through him. Identifying targets under fire was a nerve-racking and challenging skill. The implications of doing so with electronics then sharing that data were staggering. "That changes… well, everything."

  "There are still bugs, and the software can't determine enemies if they haven't already been tagged as hostile."

  "Jesus," said Alex, feeling overwhelmed. "I don't know how to use any of this."

  "I'm sorry, sir. We usually do a five-day orientation course, but after a few days of hands on, it becomes second nature—or so I'm told."

  "I can help," said Ylra. "I worked on the quality assurances for this gear. I can patch it up as well. I was planning on enhancing several of the suits with magic, mimic the fae-seelie invisibility spell and even the odds, but the gateway rigs took up more of our time than I thought."

  Alex snorted. "You and Kargin are wonders."

  "You have no idea."

  "Hang on, and I'll pair your rifle with the helmet." The QM activated a button on the Tac rifle's scope, and a moment later, a green aiming reticule superimposed itself over Alex's visor. "Raise the rifle to your shoulder and aim as you would normally, but don't worry about looking through the scope."

  Alex raised the rifle to his shoulder, and the aiming reticule immediately focused where he was aiming, showing him where his rounds would hit. As he panned the weapon, red Xs superimposed themselves over the other Strike Force soldiers, signifying friendlies. Despite the restricted field of vision from wearing a helmet with a nearly full-face visor, the situational awareness was unparalleled. He whistled in appreciation. "This is some Buck Rogers shit."

  The QM paired Leela's rifle and grinned. "It was all just sitting around DARPA, collecting dust."

  A short siren blared over an intercom. Those within the armory ceased what they were doing, and a male voice announced: "All Strike Force personnel and augmentees are to muster immediately on the parade square. Orders-group for platoon commanders and team leaders at fifteen hundred hours."

  Alex glanced at his watch. It was 2:45 p.m., an hour and a half since McKnight had authorized the mission, fifteen minutes before Huck's orders. Alex should be present if he was going to be her ranger support.

  Soldiers, both Strike Force members and augmentees, bolted from the armory, their arms bearing as much gear as they could carry, some of it falling behind them. Supply technicians rushed after the soldiers, pushing trolleys piled high with ammo and gear, including at least a half dozen stinger antiaircraft missiles.

  Alex glanced at his wife. Her visor was now in the raised position, exposing her face and the nervous flash in her eyes. "You ready?"

  "As I will be."

  They shrugged their arms into the straps of their rucksacks, and Alex strapped Witch-Bane to his belt, making sure he could draw the weapon. Leela was right—this was heavy. Ylra wore her rucksack with no apparent effort, her massive anti-material rifle across her chest, her long red ponytail hanging from the back of her helmet.

  "Maybe we'll play poker again in a year or so, Lou," she said.

  "Godspeed," said the QM.

  They joined the throng of soldiers mustering on the parade square. Senior noncoms moved about, yelling and organizing everyone into platoons. Once again, Alex saw Dr. Ireland. This time she stood with a group of medics. Although she was dressed like them, she carried no weapon, not even a pistol. He had mixed feelings about that. On Faerum, the local wildlife was as likely to eat you as look at you. There was little room for the Hippocratic oath, but there was also no time to teach her how to safely handle firearms. Without training, she might shoot herself or someone else.

  A white pickup truck with collapsible ramp stairs, the kind used on small airports to allow boarding, sat nearby with its driver. So, Alex mused, that's how we're going to reach the rift.

  They joined the assembling soldiers, grouping together in ranks according to their assignments. The troops placed their backpacks in rows, with their weapons resting atop them. They stood in place, talking and smoking, with a palpable undercurrent of excitement in the air. Others spoke on cell phones—Boulder City boasted the last working cell phone network on the planet—saying last-minute farewells to loved ones, more than a few with tears in their eyes. Alex's heart fluttered with sympathy. Duty is a mountain.

  There were three infantry platoons and a section of six war rigs—four armed with miniguns and two with automatic grenade launchers. Dr. Ireland and her medics formed up with the headquarters team, augmented by what looked to Alex like a section of combat engineers. Another group of young men was performing maintenance on three backpack-portable UAVs. They must be the S2 or Intelligence detachment. He saw Liv "Long Bow" Nilsdottir striding about in her gateway rig. Ylra waved when she saw Liv, who smiled and waved back.

  There were more than a hundred soldiers organizing.

  A young, freckled sergeant stepped in front of Alex, glaring at him. "Who are you, and where are you supposed to be?"

  "Major Benoit. I'm your ranger support. Don't know where I'm supposed to be."

  The sergeant's eyes opened wide. "Really, a ranger?"

  "Two, and one of us is a mag-sens."

  The young man's eyes darted to Leela. He shook his head. "I know nothing about that, sir, but welcome aboard."

  "Well, the situation is fluid, isn't it?"

  "No shit." He turned and pointed to where the headquarters staff was mustered. "Okay, sir. You see the tall redheaded captain talking to the medics?"

  Alex nodded. The man in question looked both busy and frustrated. There must have been a thousand different mission-critical details to sort through but no time for the operational planning process upon which the army relied.

  "That's the XO, Captain Shapiro. He'll find a place for you to stand around in the sun for the next three hours while we wait for the launch gateway."

  Alex hid his smile. Hurry up and wait. Some things never changed. "Got it, Captain Shapiro, thanks."

  The sergeant stormed off, already yelling at someone else.

  Separate from the mustering soldiers, Huck stood facing a semicircle of young men and women, jotting notes as she spoke. Alex recognized an orders group when he saw one. Those young officers were Huck's platoon commanders, headquarters staff, and team leaders for the augmentees. First Sergeant Martinez stood at her side, glaring at the youngsters, as first sergeants were wont to do.

  "We're not going to see this XO?" Leela asked, trailing after Alex as he headed toward the Orders group.

  "Later. Let's see how Huck is planning to do this."

  "I hear that," said Ylra. "Shapiro's got a spear up his ass, anyhow."

  They joined those facing Huck, standing behind the first and second lieutenants. Alex glanced at the serious looks on their young faces, remembering a thousand years ago when he had been that shiny and new. Huck paused, her eyes flicking toward him, but then she carried on with her briefing. She was into the "Execution" phase of her operation order—the OPORD—detailing how and when each platoon would go through the rift in British Columbia, and the positions and actions they were to take once they hit the ground on Faerum.

  "Let's be very clear on one thing," Huck said. "The moment we arrive, we are weapons free. This is a hot LZ." She scanned their faces. "We have no idea what hit the contact team. Be ready for anything."

  They bobbed their heads in understanding.

  "Okay," continued Huck. "Questions in one minute."

  The platoon commanders scanned their field message pads, reading over their notes. When the minute passed, Huck took questions, moving from left to right so that everyone had an opportunity to ask at least one question.

  "What do we know about the terrain?" a young woman asked. "Other than ruins?"

  Huck looked at Alex and Ylra. "Major Benoit is our ranger support. He's an old hand from Task Force Devil and has been on Faerum multiple times. Ylra—who we will now and forevermore refer to as call sign
'Watchmaker-Niner'—"

  Soft chuckles and easy smiles arose from the team leaders. In the military, Niner designated the unit commander, but it was also an unofficial code for someone's husband or wife. With Kargin as "Watchmaker," Ylra was now his better half, or his Niner, his boss. Soldier humor didn't always make sense.

  "Is both a native and our subject-matter expert," continued Huck. "Alex, Ylra, anything to add?"

  "I'm not familiar with this jungle," Alex said, "but everything is bigger and meaner, things like spiders as large as dogs that burrow into the ground and spring out on their prey—meaning you. Oh, and they hunt in packs, so they'll come at you from all directions at once… faster than you can imagine."

  "Fuck me," whispered a young lieutenant.

  "No shit," said Huck, "but that's the job. You're ready for this." She looked at Ylra. "Anything to add, Watchmaker-Niner?"

  "The ruins on the other side of the rift are Eladior Haven," Ylra said. "Six years ago, Eladior Haven was the capital city for the Fae Seelie Empire and the seat of power for the queen, Tuatha de Talinor. The city was where she kept her main fortress, Arach Warren, and the receptor for the Culling Machine. When she culled your people, their life forces were transferred to a Shatkur Orb in this receptor. I can't even guess what happened when Elizabeth Chambers destroyed the Culling Machine, but the chain reaction must have destroyed all three Shatkur orbs—and the city.

  "Jungle surrounds the city, and the city sits on the banks of the Serpent-Tongue River, a twisting waterway that flows for hundreds of kilometers through the jungle. On the eastern side of the river is the Spine of the Serpent, a towering ridgeline a hundred feet high that separates the jungle from the Char."

  "The Char?" someone asked.

  "A desert. That's where we'll find Deep Terlingas and my people."

  "Shouldn't be an issue," Huck told them. "With Long Bow's gateway rig, we cross the river, this Spine ridgeline, then the Char. It'll take an hour or two but only about a dozen paces." Huck looked back at Ylra. "What might we be facing, threat-wise?"

  "Can't say for sure, but the fae seelie were always few. Boggarts formed the bulk of the queen's army, with trolls and gwyllgi—what you call 'hellhounds'—as support. But the bitch sent most of her forces here six years ago. Some might have returned to Faerum through the rifts like the Remnants up north were trying to do.

  "But—" Ylra's gaze swept over them. "It's the dragon that worries me. That beast in British Columbia was a great dragon like Bale-Fire. And I have no idea which one that was."

  "Aren't they just enormous wyverns?" one lieutenant asked. "Other than, you know... the fire-breathing."

  Ylra shook her head. "They're smart, smarter than us, and more devious than the fae. They're creatures of raw magic, rage, and unbridled gluttony. If a great dragon is sniffing about…"

  "We didn't have anti-aircraft missiles six years ago," said Huck. "But we dealt with Bale-Fire just the same. We'll deal with anything we face on Faerum."

  Actually, Alex knew, they had been lucky. Huck had dropped an Excalibur laser-guided artillery round atop Bale-Fire's horned skull while Elizabeth had distracted it with her magic. With Leela shielding her, Elizabeth had used herself as bait, giving Huck the time she needed to paint Bale-Fire with a laser-designator so the artillery round couldn't miss. But if not for Elizabeth, Bale-Fire would have killed all of them.

  A series of other questions followed, which Huck, Ylra, and Alex did their best to answer.

  When done, Huck glanced at her watch. "Okay, time check. It's now 1527. H-Hour is 1800, so there's still time for final preparations. Go over your combat loads one more time, make sure that your people have everything—"

  An MP HMM-V with its siren blaring and its red and blue lights flashing drove onto the parade square and headed for Huck and her platoon leaders. The vehicle slammed on the brakes, and a moment later, McKnight and Helena jumped out the back.

  "Oh shit," whispered Alex when he saw the look on McKnight's face.

  He, Leela, and Ylra joined Huck.

  "The rift is closing now," McKnight said.

  Helena, grim-faced, added, "The gamma levels are dropping."

  "How long?" Huck asked.

  "Minutes," Helena answered.

  Huck looked from Alex to McKnight. "Sir, what do you want?"

  "I'm sorry," McKnight said. "You need to go now, or it's off."

  Huck, her face white, hesitated only a moment before turning to First Sergeant Martinez. "We're Oscar Mike, right now! I need a gateway to B.C."

  "On it, ma'am," the first sergeant said, bolting away toward Long Bow.

  Huck stared at McKnight. "With all respect, sir, you'd better be there in a year when we activate the keying device."

  McKnight shook her hand with both of his, locking his gaze on hers. "We'll answer the call. I promise."

  Excitement coursed through the Strike Force as sergeants and other noncoms yelled at everyone to gear up and get ready to move.

  The air crackled as the tips of the appendages on Long Bow's gateway rig flared white-hot. A moment later, a glowing gateway appeared before her, at least thirty feet in diameter. He saw the northern forest, the clearing, and the tanks and armored vehicles guarding the rift, a rift that was shrinking.

  "Go!" Huck yelled, pointing at the small white truck with the air stairs.

  The driver drove through the gateway. On the other side, he stopped beneath the shrinking rift and raised his air stairs in place so they led up to the rift. Even through the red haze, Alex saw it was daylight on Faerum.

  "1 Platoon, move now!" Huck yelled.

  "Double time!" yelled the 1 Platoon commander, a young woman. The two lines of troops jogged through the gateway then climbed the air stairs to the rift. The platoon commander led her people into the rift, disappearing from sight. In seconds, the platoon was gone.

  "2 Platoon, move!" Huck yelled.

  The second platoon disappeared through the rift, which was now less than fifty feet wide.

  "4 Platoon, go!" Huck ordered. "Heavy weapons section, go!"

  The third platoon followed the first two, with the six exo-suit-wearing soldiers thundering behind them. This group took longer, as the war rigs only fit one at a time on the stairs, and the entire air stairs assembly trembled under their weight, but within less than half a minute, they, too, disappeared. As the rift continued to shrink, the driver of the air stairs raised his assembly to its full height.

  All that remained now was the headquarters and augmentees, the medical team, the engineers, and the intelligence support—as well as Alex, Ylra, and Leela. Two of the soldiers carried the keying device between them, a duffel bag–sized metallic object with a control console and carrying handles. That was their only way to call home and open another gateway—if McKnight rebuilt the Jump Tube. For all Alex knew, his rivals might depose him and jail him for allowing this mission.

  Leela slipped her hand through his.

  He met her eye. "It'll be fine," he said, not at all sure it would be. They saw nothing through the red haze of the shrinking rift, but the others might already be in a firefight—or dead.

  "HQ and augmentees," yelled Huck, now standing at the front of the two ranks forming behind her. "Get ready."

  Alex and Leela joined the rear of the ranks, with Ylra just ahead of them, her huge sniper rifle held across her chest. Leela looked at Alex with wide eyes.

  "It's not too late to—"

  She shook her head, her expression frightened yet proud.

  He didn't deserve her. Why didn't she see that?

  "Double time!" Huck yelled.

  They ran forward through the gateway. Long Bow and First Sergeant Martinez came last, and the gateway vanished behind them. Alex and the others were running through the cool northern air past the armored vehicles and toward the air stairs leading up to the rift. The crews sat atop their turrets, cheering as they ran past, yelling "Go Black Knights!"

  Alex hit the stairs, his pulse pou
nding. Just behind him and Leela, he heard First Sergeant Martinez. Then the stairs creaked and shook as Long Bow hit them with her exo-suit. Ylra was ahead of him, and a moment later, she jumped forward and was gone. Then Alex and Leela reached the end of the air stairs, facing the red-tinted world before them. Leela took his hand again, and together they stepped forward.

  Part III

  The Soulless

  19

  Alex drifted through a crimson void of ethereal beauty.

  The other Strike Force soldiers floated before him in the same direction, as if pulled by an interstellar current. Weightless, he somersaulted in place, seeing Leela behind him, her mouth moving soundlessly, her eyes filled with fear, although he didn't understand why. Cosmic splendor surrounded them—not only planets, moons, and stars, but also entire star clusters, nebulae, and even galaxies. He and the other soldiers swam through an ocean of celestial bodies. It was the most breathtaking thing he had ever seen or ever would see. The colors defied description and popped within his skull like bubbles. Yet somewhere deep in his psyche, a voice screamed that Leela was right, that something was wrong. No other mission had been like this. The other missions to Faerum had ended in a single step through the gateway tube.

  Where are we?

  And then, the universe ahead of them opened, revealing another rift, a tear in the cosmic fabric. Through this rift, he saw the ruins of the fae-seelie city. The Strike Force soldiers shot forward as if falling—straight into the rift. Alex grasped at Leela's hand but missed as the cosmic current gripped him and propelled him on.

  Snap.