R.A.E.C.E. Genesis

by Geoffrey C Porter

  Steve entered the office and sat in front of the desk, and the General offered him coffee again, which he accepted. Then the general started in on his spiel, "Creech, we've been cranking out a new fleet of warships based on the Horsemen's design. We're calling them Corvettes. They're extremely nimble and carry quite a bit of firepower. They have a crew complement of ten souls. They only carry enough fuel and food for one jump though.

  "Some of them we've modified to allow for fuel and food pods to be attached to the hull. Up to four pods per Corvette allowing for five jumps. If you go into combat, you'll want to immediately jettison the extra pods. They can either be recovered after the battle or left behind if you have to flee. We figure one Corvette can take on just about any single ship the Lithors are producing, with the exception of their Dreadnaughts."

  Creech took a long drink of the coffee. Damn local bird-milk for cream, tasted like rotten eggs. He grimaced. "Sounds interesting, General."

  "We'd like you to take command of one of them, recruit a fresh crew of your choice, and go after some of the known Lithor colonies dropping atomic weapons on them. If everything goes well, it'll be a long mission: two to two-and-a-half years…"

  "Does the Corvette have a gym, sir?"

  "Yes, plus hydroponics, so you can have fresh food."

  "I can pick my crew?" Creech asked.

  "You may have to take some raw recruits. Send out a blanket email."

  "I'll take the job, General."

  "Good, be ready to leave as soon as possible."

  * * *

  Julie agreed to be his second-in-command. They picked up eight privates for the rest of the crew: volunteers who knew the mission parameters. They left after two weeks, aiming straight and true towards a Lithor planet that still broadcasted an FTL signal.

  Chapter 21

  A.D. 2114

  Introduction to Lithor, 101…

  They named the system Aurora after the scout that first visited it. The Light Cruisers, Fleet sent to investigate it, decelerated at 1g. When they started to approach the third planet, the Admiral ordered, "All coast," and they drifted in towards the planet. Satellites started to show up on their sensor screens. The Admiral ordered, "Ready missile defenses. Keep your fingers on the triggers. If a satellite fires at us, destroy it."

  The first satellite fired at them, and the Light Cruiser's anti-missile defense made short work of it with its half dozen sets of lasers in every direction. They fired their particle cannons at the satellite, and it went boom. Another satellite fired on them, and again the missile defense worked, and they destroyed the offending satellite. Three more satellites tried their missiles on the Human fleet. Three more satellites bit the dust. The Admiral ordered, "Broadcast our numeric sequence over radio frequencies again. Those satellites have to be automated."

  They received no radio response other then gibberish. It did sound like language though. The Admiral ordered, "Try and tap into their television broadcast system."

  Within a half hour a technician hollered out, "We got TV, 185 channels. Including a couple of nudie channels, their women have four teats."

  "Broadcast all channels back to Fleet—have the linguists work on their language."

  A radio technician spoke up, "Sir, I think we're getting a numeric radio sequence back finally. It's alternating between the first ten digits of pi and then the first ten digits of the natural algorithm, base e."

  "Put me on video broadcast, record it for loop. Record now." The Admiral held up his hands in front of him and said, "We come in peace." Then, "End record loop."

  The Lithor had gray skin, which really turned out to be short hair all over their body. They had long, delicate fingers with three joints in each one and super hard finger nails.

  Chapter 22

  A.D. 2132

  Jack's next stop…

  Jack assigned Rodriguez, Snake, and Chewy to his squad then divided the remaining pilots at random amongst two groups. He didn't intend to take the advantage of better sensors that Wilson always took, but he would stack the deck a bit. Kevin ended up on the squad opposite Jack's. Everybody stood around outside their tanks. Jack arrived about fifteen minutes late, just like Wilson always did. Jack figured it gave the pilots an extra fifteen minutes to be behind without Jack having to wait for any late comers. He stepped out of his hover tank and addressed both squads.

  "Some of you know the drill. For some of you, this is your first day. We'll have a mock battle in the morning then play on the obstacle course in the afternoon. We need you guys to pick a squad leader for today. Kevin scored highest among the new crowd, with 32 minutes in the simulator."

  One of the new recruits asked, "Isn't 32 minutes a record?"

  "No, Major Wilson holds the record at 36m7s, I believe."

  "Rumor I heard is somebody beat Wilson's record, and by a lot…" Snake said. His eyes were somehow mutated. The pupil, the black part in the center that should be a circle, it was a kite shape like a serpent's. "So much that Wilson kept it quiet…"

  Jack looked at the opposing squad. "So who's going to be squad leader?"

  "If Kevin got the high score, let him be squad leader," Josh said. "At least until he screws up…"

  Others agreed on their squad. Kevin sighed and said he'd do it.

  Jack informed Kevin's squad they'd be on the offense, and their computers knew the location of the training field.

  Once set up on the field, Jack put Rodriguez, Snake and Chewy on patrol then put the others in pairs guarding the hilltop. Jack figured Kevin would form a line like he did on his first day. Kevin didn't. He used a vanguard formation down the center blasting the two hovers on defense there. Then Kevin ordered his right half to go right and left half to go left--effectively outnumbering Jack's defenders two-to-one.

  Jack radioed to Rodriquez, Snake, and Chewy, "Roving troop engage center."

  Jack punched the gas on his tank, aiming for one half of Kevin's vanguard. With them in his sights, he blasted two hovers then proceeded to ditch and dodge, so the others would have a hard time hitting him. They fired and missed. Rodriguez, Snake, and Chewy made short work of the right vanguard, although Kevin got lucky and took out Snake.

  Jack counted three on his side. He radioed, "I've got three bogies, assist!"

  He knew Rodriguez and Chewy could see the red blips on Jack's screen. He flew in for another sweep of the left vanguard, targeting one tank and then a second one. The third tank fired and missed. Jack flew past it. With more speed than the other hovers, he easily outmaneuvered them. He turned around for the kill, but Rodriguez beat him to it. The computer sounded, "Victory achieved, end simulation."

  Jack radioed, "All units, regroup at waypoint Alpha."

  They flew to the triangle on their map. The Josh kid sniped, "Your tank fires twice, and it's faster than ours!"

  "As Wilson taught me, don't expect a fair fight from your enemy."

  Kevin stepped out of his tank. "We'll do better tomorrow."

  "I hope so," Jack said. "Nice vanguard. Let's go play on the obstacle course."

  "Wargaming is a hobby of mine."

  * * *

  After another week and a half, Kevin took the graduation test and passed it. He decided he wanted to call upon Amy, the girl he knew from school and the cell on Korwin. He knew which refugee tent she stayed in, since he'd been stalking her for some time. He went to find her, drove his hover tank right up to the tent entrance, stepped inside and wandered back to where she lay on her cot with a blanket wrapped around herself.

  Her hair was matted like she'd slept on the same side, without showering for some time. Her eyes stared straight ahead without movement as if her brain was functioning in low power mode. Her breasts and hips were fine though, and that's all that Kevin really cared about.

  "Hi, Amy," he said.

  She looked up at him from the cot. "Kevin… What do you want?"

  "I made it into Fleet today, made Corporal even--they're letting me pilot a hover. I was hoping t
o celebrate with somebody, and I thought of you."

  "I don't feel like celebrating." She rubbed at her eyes and then yawned.

  "Come on, it's almost dinner time. Let's go get some dinner together…"

  "You want to take me to the food tent? Some date. Somebody will bring by a food-bar for me."

  Kevin's eyes kind of sunk into his skull. "I haven't gotten paid yet. What's wrong with the food tent?"

  "If you want to take me out, you have to take me to a restaurant…"

  Kevin thought to himself, where am I going to get Credits from…

  "Ok, Amy, if that's how it's going to be, ok…" He said.

  He walked towards the tent entrance then he started to run. He got in his hover and paged the only person he really knew on Orion. Jack answered his video phone, "Corporal, odd for you to be calling me at home…"

  "I have a big favor to ask! Can I come over?"

  "What's the favor?"

  "I'd rather ask in person…" Kevin said.

  "Ok, come on over," and Jack gave him the address.

  Kevin flew there in haste and ran to the front door. Jack answered. Kevin asked him, "I need a loan."

  Jack said, "What do you need a loan for?"

  "Remember that girl I told you about? The pretty one? I want to take her out to celebrate my getting into Fleet, but she wants to go to a restaurant…"

  "Take her to the food tents…"

  "She won't go to the food tents with me. She wants to go out…"

  "Jack, we have plenty of money," Lexi said. "I don't hardly spend your pay when you're on a mission."

  Jack looked at his wife. He looked at the two babies on the couch with her. "I'll hop in my hover, and we can go to the bank."

  Kevin smiled. "I'll pay it back. I swear I will."

  Jack took out 100 Credits for Kevin. Lexi had been right--they had many thousands of Credits in the bank.

  Kevin said, "This is more than I need…"

  "Take her someplace nice. If you don't spend it all, you can just hold onto it until you get your first Fleet paycheck."

  "Thank you, sir, you don't know what this means to me…"

  "Just don't stay out too late, Corporal. Training is at 9 a.m. as usual."

  Kevin made his way back to Amy's tent and cot. "I got Credits. Let's go…"

  "It's almost past lights out. All the restaurants are closing by now, Kevin."

  "There's a 24 hour diner three blocks from here. They'll have fresh coffee. We can get waffles."

  She rolled in the other direction on the cot. "I like pancakes."

  "I'm sure they'll make pancakes. I promise to take you out to a real restaurant tomorrow night."

  She finally sat up in bed and looked Kevin over, thinking he did look rather dapper in a Fleet uniform. She stood up and looked at her own clothes. She hadn't changed them in some time. She hadn't really done much besides lay on that cot since she'd gotten to Orion. She said, "I'm a mess…"

  Kevin said, "You look fine to me. Let's go…"

  She sighed and started to walk. When she stepped outside the tent, she noticed the hover tank sitting there. She looked it up and down. "They let you just drive it around?"

  "It's mine, baby. All mine…"

  They went to the diner and ate breakfast food and drank coffee until the wee hours of the morning. Kevin cut things short though since he needed to be on the training grounds by nine. Amy thanked him for the night out. He shocked her, asking, "Can I get a goodnight kiss?"

  She smiled, nodding, letting him kiss her goodnight.

  Training went well the next day, although the idea of having dinner with Amy distracted Kevin. Hell, his squad had yet to defeat Jack's anyhow, but he noticed that Rodriguez, Snake, and Chewy seemed to weigh the odds against Kevin's team.

  Amy cleaned herself up that afternoon, got out fresh clothes, nice clothes, and even put on a little makeup. Kevin showed up with a wide, hint of vampirism grin. She just smiled at him and said, "Let's go eat…" They went to a nice restaurant with dancing, and neither one of them could dance very well, but Kevin wanted to be close to her. He walked her back to the tents, kissed her goodnight, and invited her over to his quarters for dinner, claiming he could cook. She agreed.

  The next night Kevin walked to the tent city and walked Amy to his quarters. She wore a nice perfume that he hadn't noticed before. He cooked up lasagna for her. He cut short his time on the obstacle course to prepare it. He used an old family recipe. After they ate he suggested a movie. She sat on the far side of the couch from him. He said, "You can come over here. I don't bite…"

  "Are you making a pass at me?"

  "I thought we could cuddle a bit, yes…"

  She paused as if thinking it over. He had been the perfect gentleman. She scooted over on the couch, so they could nuzzle.

  * * *

  Word came down the pike, 21 days to launch, target planet, Delta. A planet that once had fourteen million Human inhabitants. They expected significant resistance. Fleet planned to send an extra 100 men in powered armor, bringing their total to 300, plus Jack's hover tank squadron of 22, and the Kilken suicide squad of 27.

  * * *

  Kevin's 7 a.m. alarm clock woke both of them. Amy hit the snooze button and proceeded to nudge Kevin awake. "Wake up!"

  He woke up and turned to face her. He took one of her hands in his, "Amy, I love you, and I'm leaving in a few weeks. Marry me before I go…"

  Amy grabbed her pillow and clobbered him with it.

  "I'm being serious!" He howled.

  Amy smiled. "You are, aren't you?"

  "Yes…"

  "Hmmm… I'll have to think about it…" She said.

  "What is there to think about? I love you."

  "Kevin, we've only been going out for two weeks. That's not enough time for me to make that kind of decision."

  "Yes it is, my love. I've known I loved you since before the Lithor invaded Korwin."

  "Oh, Kevin…"

  * * *

  Jack always conducted a short meeting at the hangar right around nine-fifteen. Kevin asked Jack in front of the others. "Amy and I are thinking of marrying?"

  Both squads started hooting and hollering, and Kevin turned beet red. Jack laughed.

  "I'm serious!"

  The squads quieted down, Jack told Kevin the name of the priest and that Kevin should just go talk to him, see what he said.

  Kevin said, "Thank you, Jack."

  * * *

  The armada launched for Delta. They left both Horsemen and a handful of Corvettes at Orion, plus the lion's share of Fleet's ground forces. Within a month or so of the flight, Lexi called Jack on subspace. "The red pills worked their magic again. I'm pregnant. This time with another boy."

  "You've been taking fertility pills, and you didn't even tell me?" Jack asked.

  She glared. "You were home for like, what, three days? Like I had a choice if I wanted another one."

  Jack cackled this wicked kind of laugh. "That's wonderful!"

  Lexi said, "Three is going to be a lot!"

  "Well, Meghan is moving back in, right? She'll help with them, won't she?"

  "Yes, Meghan has already moved back in, and she's agreed to help…"

  Jack smiled. "Then it's all good."

  "I don't know if Meghan wanted to tell you herself, but she applied to skip some college, so she could go to University with John. They gave her the Fleet aptitude tests, and her scores indicated she should be in Fleet Medical, maybe even a Fleet doctor…"

  "That's great news. Tell her that I'm proud of her…"

  "Times almost up on the bandwidth card I bought. Call me after the battle, and win again, Jack…"

  "I do intend to win. I love you, bye."

  "Bye."

  * * *

  Five more months of space flight passed, and they planned to attack Delta in the same way they assaulted Korwin, with Jack flying a solo mission around the main population center before dawn. They landed the transport 5km away fr
om Delta and marched to its outskirts. The blue loop around the city showed on Jack's tactical display. He started to follow the line at about fifty kph. Green clusters denoting Human life signs abounded, but for every green cluster a red cluster of infantry and big tanks showed on his display. The skyscrapers in city center showed solid green.

  Jack reached the half-way point on the loop around the city. His forehead and armpits sweated: he hated this job. He'd tracked significantly more red signals on his radar this time, two, maybe three times the forces that they saw at Korwin. Dawn's early light crept up on the horizon. Jack made it to the three quarters mark around the city when a big tank started tracking him with its main gun, just like at Korwin. Jack blasted it. Wilson radioed, "Get back in formation, now. We're going in!"

  Jack punched the gas down to the floor on his hover. His sensor sweep was mostly finished anyhow. The warships in orbit hammered ground targets to start the show. The targets assigned to him by the battle computer this time would take him straight into the heart of the city. Jack flew hard and fast towards the first batch of Lithor infantry and the first big tank. He intended to blast the big tank and drop a Gel-pack on the infantry…

  What he saw appalled him. Humans, in chains, were in a circle around the Lithor infantry. If he dropped a Gel-pack, he'd incinerate them. Jack cursed. He blasted the big tank with a Neutron cannon and fired a few short bursts at the Lithor with his fifty calibers. The Lithor infantry returned fire with laser rifles, and two of them had blast rifles. The hits from those little toys dropped his shields about five percent with each shot.

  Jack called out on the radio, "They have blast rifles. They're using Human shields. Don't use your Gel-packs, just controlled bursts from the fifty's."

  "Ignore that order," Wilson radioed. "Use the Gel-packs! There's too many of them, and those blast rifles will cut through your hulls. The Human shields are expendable…"

  Jack knew Wilson spoke the truth. A jolt went through him, from his brain down through his spine, like an electric shock almost. His adrenalin started pumping. White light started to flash in front of his eyes. He focused on his next batch of targets: a pair of big tanks and a clump of infantry in front and behind. He blasted the tanks and dropped Gel-packs on the Lithor. He tried with all his skill and talent to aim it away from the Human shields, with a slight degree of luck, only a few of them screamed and burned.