R.A.E.C.E. Genesis

by Geoffrey C Porter

  "Aye, aye, Admiral."

  The Admiral waited and watched. By sundown Wilson ordered the withdrawal. They would start gathering up stray Lithor the next day and coral them into the transport ships. Steve Creech broadcast, "All ships, stand down. I repeat, stand down. Victory is ours!"

  Next he switched to the local ship channel and broadcast, "Everybody to the galley, including engineering."

  As his command crew exited the command deck, Julie grabbed his hand and held him back. He turned to her, and she grinned from ear to ear. As the last of the crew left, she grabbed the front of his uniform and pulled him in close for a kiss. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her back. He broke off the kiss and said, "We've got to get to the party."

  "We can be late," she said with a sinister grin.

  "Not on the command deck."

  "Why not?"

  "There are cameras, and they broadcast right to Fleet."

  "Let them watch," she said.

  "No, Julie, let's go to the party with the others. There'll be time later."

  Julie sighed. "Ok. Thanks by the way."

  "For what?" Steve asked.

  "For winning, silly. For not getting us all killed."

  "I lost 90 men today, Julie."

  "And you kept 30 alive--that counts for more."

  Their kiss on the bridge that day got leaked to civilian media and broadcast on every news report.

  * * *

  They loaded roughly two hundred thousand Lithor into transport ships and stole as much food from the planet as they could. Then they dropped atomics on the remaining Lithor population.

  The trip home to Orion would take an extra two months because a normal gravity jump would make the Lithor sick, and the viral scientists on Orion wanted healthy Lithor. The engineers on the corvettes kept the machine shops running the whole way home. They had the weapon systems up to 80% by the time they made it to Orion.

  The scientists inoculated ten thousand of the Lithor against the virus and then exposed the remaining Lithor to it. Lithor started to fall sick within a few hours. Within four hours none could even stand, and within ten hours they all died. They saved the ten thousand in case they developed a chemical agent to use against them, as a chemical agent would be even faster than a biological, even an advanced virus like they developed.

  They brought Admiral Creech before Fleet high command and pinned a medal on him. They asked a major question of him: how many corvettes did he need for the next offensive?

  "At least a dozen."

  "What if we give you one of the two Horsemen?"

  "Won't that leave Orion open to attack?" Creech asked.

  "We don't think the Lithor are going to try for Orion again, and now that we have the viral agent, we'll be able to defend ourselves from the ground. We have a number of new anti-ship weapons in place and have advanced our anti-missile defenses quite a bit. We'll be ok."

  "Then I want three wings of Corvettes and the Horseman…"

  The other Admiral paused. "We were hoping you'd say two wings. It'll add three months to your stay here on Orion, but if you say it'll take three, then so be it."

  "Are we invading again, or are we going to scorch them?"

  "It's time they burned, Admiral."

  "Good."

  Steve proposed to Julie who accepted. All the top brass attended as well as civilian media. Neither Steve or Julie had any family on Orion, but Julie wanted a big wedding, so they invited just about everybody. They spent two weeks at the beach resort on Orion, and it cost a pretty penny, but Admirals made quite a bit of money. Since they got paid for flight time, they had plenty set back, enough for a house even, if the war ever ended.

  Creech sent out recruitment emails and filled his empty slots within twenty-four hours. A few officers signed, which pleased Steve. He picked War over Death for his Horseman, and they started training. War's crew seemed elated; they had been in a defensive posture for years. As each month passed a new Corvette would roll off the assembly line. Soon, sooner than Steve liked, they had their nine.

  They launched for one of the last two known Lithorian worlds at one gravity. Six months passed uneventfully. They found no ships at the enemy world, although energy weapons on the planet surface fired at the Human fleet. Their anti-missile defense stopped almost fifty atomics before one finally got through and silenced the planetary defenses. Creech opened an FTL link to Fleet, "Planet destroyed. But there was no ship presence--they are likely going to try for Orion…"

  "Affirmative Admiral, are you continuing to the second target?"

  Steve thought for a minute. War had one jump worth of fuel, and that's if he raided some of the Corvettes' fuel pods. "Aye, we'll be going to the second target."

  Then he radioed one of his Corvette wings, ordering them to Orion at high gravity. Then he ordered a course set for the last remaining Lithorian planet at one-point-five gravities. When they reached the second target it was wide open, although their ground batteries targeting synchronized at one Corvette at a time and three of them were destroyed before a nuke finally reached the planet surface.

  Creech broadcast on FTL, "Target destroyed. I repeat, target destroyed."

  Creech opened a channel to his Fleet, "Corvettes, drop extra fuel pods for us and plot a course for Orion."

  His Corvette captains radioed him one by one saying they wanted to stay with War and wait…

  Chapter 39

  A.D. 2130

  The end for Earth…

  The war with the Lithor raged for five years, sometimes the Human fleets won, sometimes the Lithor won. The United Nations made some hard decisions. It was time for them to go after the Lithorian homeworld. All or nothing. Just in case, they started fortifying Orion. They sent every ship into Lithorian space.

  When the first atomic bombs started to impact Earth's cities, they realized what a huge mistake they had made.

  Chapter 40

  A.D. 2136

  The end for Jack…

  After seeing Hawk up to Medical, Jack went to his quarters to call Lexi and let her know they had won. An email waited for him: his promotion to Captain. He smiled. He rang home and told Lexi of the battle and the promotion.

  Lexi seemed distracted, Jack asked, "What is it?"

  "Well, the thing is, Junior, I signed him up for preschool, and a Kilken has been picking him up in the morning. I called the preschool, and they aren't taking Junior to school."

  Kilken trained their children to fight from a very young age. They must be starting Junior's training. Jack said, "I'll talk to Kai about it."

  "He should be finger painting, and taking afternoon naps, not fighting… He has been coming home with bruises…"

  "Little bruises or big ones?"

  She scowled. "What difference does that make?"

  "I just want to know," Jack said.

  "Just little ones, no broken bones or anything…"

  "I'll have a talk with Kai."

  "Today. You'll have a talk with Kai, today."

  "Yes, dear."

  Jack signed off and went looking for Kai. He found him in one of the loading docks, in a coral like structure with three Kilken young. Kai chased them around while they laughed with glee. Jack smiled and waited. After a few minutes Kai saw Jack and leapt out of the coral. Two of the Kilken young tripped, falling down and laughing.

  Kai said, "Hello, Lieutenant Jack."

  "Hello, Kai. Lexi tells me one of the Kilken is taking my son to training instead of preschool. Lexi's upset…"

  "Ruth should be going to Kilken school, too. Very sorry, we just don't see many female Human warriors. I shall call them at once."

  Jack shrieked, "No!" Lexi would be so mad…

  "What is it then?" Kai asked. "It's an honor that we would train your young while you're at war…"

  "We don't train our children to be fighters, Kai. I want your people to stop."

  Kai looked genuinely saddened. "I'll contact them today, Lieutenant."

 
Jack smiled. "It's Captain now, Kai."

  "Congratulations!"

  "Thank you."

  Jack turned and left, heading for the galley. It had been some time since he had eaten anything. After he ate he rang Medical. Other soldiers had been wounded, Jack wanted to check on them. Soon he needed to make calls to the families of soldiers who died. He didn't look forward to it, so he stalled, checking on Hawk and the other wounded. The only one left in Medical was Hawk, and he was just sleeping off the painkillers. Once he woke up he'd be leaving Medical.

  Jack went and put on Captain's bars and proceeded to make the dreaded, "I'm sorry but (insert name) has been killed in battle," phone calls.

  * * *

  Within three weeks they gathered up two hundred thousand Lithor for testing then they scorched what was left of the population center with atomic bombs. Jack ate lunch in the galley when he saw Hawk carrying a tray and looking really down--a gaunt look like he wasn't eating.

  Jack waved to him to sit down. Hawk seemed to ignore him. Jack looked him in the eye and said, "Hawk!"

  Hawk, still in his Private's uniform, although he should know he was a Corporal now, walked over to Jack's table and asked, "Sir?"

  "Have a seat, Corporal."

  Hawk paused. "I'd rather stand, sir."

  Jack eyes looked around the mess hall. "Nonsense, sit down."

  Hawk set his tray down and sat down in front of it, across from Jack. He took another bite of his Maylar and motioned for Hawk to start eating. He picked at his food.

  Jack said, "You should be wearing your new rank, Corporal."

  "I didn't earn it, sir."

  "Call me, Jack. We have fought together."

  "I don't think so, sir," Hawk said.

  Jack paused. The kid hadn't even looked him in the eye. He leaned back in his chair, wondering what he was doing wrong. Hawk stood up and asked, "Can I be excused, sir?"

  "I want to see you in proper uniform next time I see you, Corporal. Yes, you can go."

  Hawk picked up his tray and took it to the recycler and dumped it. Jack just went back to his meal, confused. He was about to call Sarah on the terminal when he saw Hawk team, minus Hawk of course, come out of the food lines with trays in hand. Jack waved to them, and they joined him.

  Sarah wore her Sergeant's stripes, and she seemed quite proud of them. She said, "Captain Grean?"

  "At ease, Sergeant, how's your team?"

  "You mean how's Hawk?"

  "Yes, how is he?"

  "He's cracked. He refuses to run the simulators. He won't eat with us. He'll barely talk to me…"

  "Hmmm. Maybe Wilson has an idea or two."

  "Thanks, Captain."

  Jack finished eating and went to Wilson's office and pushed the button. Wilson answered, and the door swished open. Jack went inside and explained the situation to Wilson. Jack dreaded his response. He knew what it would be: psychiatric evaluation for Hawk. Wilson punched up the eval, and Jack waited. Within a week he had a report from the psychiatrist. It recommended a section six discharge from Fleet and psychiatric review on the civilian side. Basically throw the kid in the trash…

  "Do I have to go through with the section six, if that's what the eval said?" Jack asked after dialing Wilson.

  "He's yours to command, Jack, but you need to realize. If he's section six, he might be a danger to his fellow soldiers. It's your decision to make."

  "I'm not going to discharge him yet. Let's order a monthly psychiatric review though."

  "Weekly," Wilson said.

  "Huh?"

  "Weekly evals."

  He signed off with Wilson and rang Sarah. "Sergeant, have you had any luck bringing Hawk around?"

  "No. He refuses to train with us. I slept with him--that seemed to cheer him up a bit."

  Jack blurted out, "What?"

  "I think you heard me."

  "What about Rob?" Jack asked.

  "What about Rob? He doesn't like boys."

  Jack sighed. She gave him far more information than he wanted. He said, "I'll talk to him. Maybe I can get him to practice again."

  "He's going to get booted, isn't he?" She asked.

  "His rank is on the line, yes."

  "We'll try harder, Captain."

  "That's what I wanted to hear."

  Jack disconnected with Sarah and rang Hawk's room. No answer. He spoke to the computer, "Locate, Corporal Hawk."

  "Quarters."

  Jack rang Hawk's quarters again. No answer. He went to the door and pressed the button. No answer. Jack started to get worried. "Computer, ring doorbell at maximum decibels."

  Jack heard it buzz through the bulkhead. Finally, the door swished open. Hawk was lying on his bunk, still wearing a Private's uniform. Hawk moved to sit up and stand. Jack said, "At ease, Corporal."

  Hawk lay back down.

  Jack sat in the one chair and looked Hawk right in the eye. "I know you want to stay in Fleet, Jeremiah."

  Hawk turned away to face the wall. "Yeah."

  "Sarah tells me you're not logging onto the simulators with the rest of your team. Your psych eval went poorly, but you knew that didn't you?"

  "Yeah."

  "You're a Corporal now, and you need to wear the right uniforms. You need to log on to the simulators when Sarah says to, and you'll be undergoing a psych eval weekly until this mess gets sorted out."

  "Mess? Sir?"

  Jack paused, how to phrase it right. "You, Corporal, you're a mess. You need to get it together, and realize who your friends are, realize we won. You didn't make any mistakes."

  "I'll think about that. Was that all?"

  "Yes, Hawk, that is all."

  Jack got up and left Hawk's quarters, heading for the mess hall as it approached dinner time. Within a week Jack ran into Hawk, and he at least had his Corporal's stripe on. Jack talked to Sarah, and she said that he logged on to the simulators but with scores so abysmal that she deleted them instead of letting them go on his permanent record.

  On his next psych eval, he failed miserably, and the doctor insisted Hawk needed to have long term medication, which might interfere with his ability in a firefight. Jack asked the doctor if he'd bothered to ask Hawk if Hawk would be prepared to try medication. The doctor said yes, that Hawk was open to the idea. Jack said, "Let's give it a try. His combat scores can't get any lower, doc."

  Two weeks later Sarah reported that Hawk's scores dropped. But apparently he felt better on the medicine, so Jack let it be. The doctor said that the longer Hawk took the medication the more used to it he would become and that his reflexes would basically recover. The top brass did a review of personnel files and happened across Hawk's black marks, messaging Jack asking for an explanation why he was still in a front line unit. Jack did his best to explain to high command that Hawk was one of his best, one of his pointmen even, that he wasn't just going to throw him to the wolves. High command accepted the explanation easily enough.

  The months passed on their way to Orion. Hawk's scores in the simulators didn't improve, but his manner did, and he seemed happy enough.

  When they reached Orion, a few thousand people waited for the soldiers coming off the ship. Jack met up with Lexi and the others. His son Junior wore a throwing blade on each hip--Kilken throwing blades. Jack asked Lexi, "Did they keep coming by to take him to the Kilken school?"

  "No. But he threw such a fit that I agreed to let him play with his Kilken friends after school. He wears those knives everywhere…"

  "Maybe he'll grow out of it…"

  "Maybe."

  Fleet threw a party that night, took over the biggest hangar on base. They broke out what they claimed to be the last Earth brewed beer on Orion. Jack and Lexi didn't stay long at the party--they wanted to be together but in private.

  The next day Wilson emailed Jack telling him to get to the parade field by nine thirty that morning. Jack pulled up in his hover to where Wilson was. A thousand soldiers in fleet uniform stood milling around. When Jack climbed out of
his tank, they formed into rows of men and women and stood at attention. Squads of fifty, four rows deep and five across…

  Jack climbed out of his hover and said, "Hello, Wilson."

  "Good morning, Captain. Let's take a walk."

  Jack smiled. "Lead the way."

  Wilson turned towards the line of soldiers and started walking towards them. Jack followed, slightly amused. He wondered at how long these men had been standing in the field at attention. Wilson stopped and looked the soldiers up and down then turned and walked some more. Jack felt like pestering Wilson, mostly ignoring the soldiers. They looked like fresh recruits, right out of boot camp. Wilson stopped again and turned to look over the soldiers.

  Jack asked, "What's this about, Wilson?"

  "What do you think of these men, Jack?"

  Jack smiled, thinking what could be learned from looking at a troop standing at attention. "They fit in their uniforms."

  Wilson snickered. "Yes, they do."

  Then he turned and started walking down the line again. They reached the end of the line, and Wilson said, "I hope you have a speech ready."

  "Why would I need a speech?"

  "You should address your troop."

  "My troop?" Jack asked.

  "Yes, these soldiers are now under your command. They've been out here since eight, waiting for you."

  Jack looked around, trying to think quickly. Yes, they had set up a podium and speakers, so everyone could hear. He started a slow stride towards it. What was he going to tell these people…

  He reached the podium and spoke, "My name is Captain Jack Grean. I'm your new commanding officer. Some of you may have heard of me from the civilian media. For those of you who haven't, I hold the Fleet record for kills on the ground by such a healthy margin that I will likely keep that record. Hopefully, I can train some of that into the lot of you!"

  The soldiers didn't break from attention.

  "I'll be putting together our training schedule today, so you can have today off, dismissed!"

  A thousand hands raised in salute in unison. Jack and Wilson returned their salute. Then the lines broke and a dull roar of conversation rose from the soldiers. They seemed thrilled, people hooted and hollered. Jack turned to Wilson, "Thanks for the warning."