“So, what do you suggest?”
“Well, sir … to be honest, I think you should return to the ship and allow Smoky Smyth to lead the attack, if one develops. We will need your strategic input, not your shooting skill. In the meantime, we should prepare to bomb the site from the ship with deep penetrating weapons. I say that because it is likely there are thousands of them in that lair and we need to get them before they are able to mount a widespread attack. If they get out and spread from the lair, it might get hairy. Killing them all at once is preferable to doing it one at a time.”
“You’ve got a point,” the captain said. But, I’m in this thing now and am not going to turn back.”
“I expected you to say that, sir, but hear me out. You are the most experienced strategist we have and this first battle will not likely be the last. We cannot afford to lose you.
That having been said, if you insist on staying, maintain whatever altitude is necessary for you to watch and direct the fight all while staying out of their reach. Call it top cover if you wish.
If you don’t promise me that, I will have the computer override your ship’s guns to prevent you from entering the battle.”
“I’d have you dishonorably discharged if you did that.”
“No you wouldn’t, because you know I am right. So, promise me or I will do it.”
“Shit! … Smoky, you have flight command. I will be above the fray directing as necessary. Watch out for those buggers, they may be able to fly and we don’t know how high.”
“Thank you, sir,” I said. “Commander Smyth, for the record I will be maintaining operational command of the ship from the bridge and assisting Commander Boggs in whatever orders he gives. He is well grounded in strategy and weapons and will provide whatever you might need. The captain will remain in overall tactical command of the battle until he returns to the ship.”
“Commander Boggs,” the captain said. “Load the bombs and prepare to target them. Let me know when you are ready so we can get out of the way.”
Commander Boggs acknowledged.
“Thank you, sir,” I said. “And one other thing, we need to release the plasma rifles and power packs to the colonists. They are going to need them if we cannot stop this first alien expedition.”
“Good idea. Do it.”
“Computer, connect me with Colonel Lipscomb.”
“He is preparing to take his Marines down to the planet.”
Is he connected?”
“Not at the moment. He will be soon.”
From experience, I knew when the computer said it would do something, it did. “Soon,” meant within the next few seconds.
“Good. Let me know when you have him hooked in.”
∆ ∆ ∆
“Colonel Lipscomb. We need to have you take those contraband plasma rifles down to the colonists. Use half of your Marines and show the colonists how to use them. Order the other Marines to take their defensive firing positions as directed by senior Commander Kelso. We may need them to operate the ship’s large plasma weapons in the event of an attack on the ship. They are prepared to use them, are they not?”
“Yes, they have all been trained. Your father is in charge of the ship’s main battery of plasma cannon and has routinely drilled them. He will need to activate the AG bubble at minimum power during the battle to keep incoming shots from doing damage. If any weapon does penetrate the bubble, the ship may have to fully bubble up and pull back to avoid further damage. And, our cannon will not be able to fire through the bubble either. We’d have to shut it down just before firing and that would be problematical, timed to the nanosecond. It will be your call.”
I was surprised at Lipscomb’s comment. I was neither in command of the ship nor in line to do so, but had apparently been acting like it. I called Commander Boggs and informed him of the situation. He acknowledged receipt of command but directed me to stay on top of the development.
“There is nothing I can do up there on the bridge that I can’t do from down here,” he said. “And managing the AG engines will be critical if a full blown attack comes our way. Let your father know to activate our defense protocols and keep me advised of developments. You’ve been doing fine so far, so keep it up.”
“Yes, sir. I will do that.”
“Jean-Luk, make sure Commander Boggs receives all of our communications, especially those from Captain Hollenbeck. Tell my father that half of the Marines will be manning the side weapons soon and to be prepared for an attack. It is unlikely, but we have no idea how bad this situation might become. Also, notify the Umon and get their take on what is going on.”
∆ ∆ ∆
The computer called back a few moments later. “The Umon are now aware of the presence of the aliens. They agree you have probably stumbled upon an ancient lair. No signals have been detected from space and they say the last intercepts were made several hundred years ago. They think the aliens may attack when they have recovered sufficiently to do so, although it would likely be a response to being discovered rather than a planned action. It is also possible that if they had prepared one lair for hibernation all those years ago, there may be others on the planet. A thorough search is in order and if you approve, they will send a force to Dawn to supplement whatever we do.”
“Great. Tell them to come on down and commence a planet wide grid search. Make sure they keep in touch with Captain Hollenbeck so there will be no conflict between our forces, especially our flying forces. We will use our penetrating sensors from the ship to augment what they do.”
“They agree and will commence their search in the northern hemisphere. The southern half will be left up to you.”
“Jean-Luk, are you receiving telemetry signals from the aliens?”
“No, … I mean, yes. They just started transmitting loud signals. It is an odd combination and sounds as if they are pleading for instructions rather than broadcasting their work mantra. It may be they are unable to contact their home or queen. If that is so, it would be many years before any others could come to their rescue. Even then, it is likely their home world would not respond. After losing the previous fight, they may well have abandoned their interest in this place. After all this time, they would have been able to return if they had chosen to do so. I think they are out chasing after greener pastures. I will run this past the Umon and see if they agree.”
Ten minutes or so after that transmission the computer responded again. “The Umon agree. The alien transmission has all the hall-marks of a call for help. They too conclude that these remnants have been abandoned in place and help will not be coming anytime soon.”
“Thank you, Jean-Luk. Are the bombs ready?”
“Yes. As soon as the ship is in position on its next orbit, they will be dropped directly on the lair and will cover everything within a two mile diameter of where you found them. Some will be deep and some shallow. Commander Boggs has computed the exact drop point and will maneuver the ship to it. The drop will be automatic.
“Captain, did you copy that?”
“Affirmative. We have observed many of them coming out of the ground now, but they remain slow to respond. None of them have attempted to fly.”
“Bomb release will occur within ten minutes. Commander Boggs will advise upon drop and from that point on you should be the hell out of Dodge. If you still want to go down and shoot a few of them up, now is the time. Don’t make more than one pass each.”
“Perfect. May I please use my guns, now?”
“Permission granted … sir.”
Chapter 38
The Umon discovered one other lair near the North Pole. It had been dug well into the landmass before the planet’s latest ice cap had covered it. It was nevertheless vulnerable to our bombs once the ice was cleared away. The Umon made short work of that job with EM wide beam blasts that melted the ice and flooded the remaining hole.
It was an amazing sight and one the colonists were not likely to forget. I thought this a valuable deterren
t to any among them that might still think evil thoughts about these incredibly competent life forms.
Commander Boggs had calculated the appropriate coordinates and managed to get the bomb patterns directly on the lair before the ice froze over again. It was a complete victory for us and in working with the Umon against this menace, the colony managed to solidify relations with them beyond any of our previous expectations.
The only unhappy person on the ship was my father. There had been no attack on the ship and like Captain Hollenbeck, he too had been itching to get involved. He did congratulate me and tell me how proud he’d been listening to me direct the action. It was well received by all and did much for my own sense of self-worth. After a while though, I began to get a bit self-conscious about the adulation.
Captain Hollenbeck also congratulated me and assured me I’d done exactly the right thing in convincing him to stay above the fray. He did enjoy the action, however; and replayed the video of his own strafing mission several times to anyone who could bear to watch. It turned out he had made two passes rather than just the one, and barely made it out of the area before the bombs began to explode.
I kept looking at his strafing runs and shook my head. It must have been very enjoyable for all those old warriors. Very few of their shots had missed. My experience with it had certainly been lodged in my memory. I will never forget that one alien that grabbed me by the leg. I’d thought myself dead at the time and thoughts like that tend to stick around.
Every time I got a bit full of myself, Miki would remind me that had she not saved my life, I would have had nothing to brag about.
Then, as they say in old Earth histories, the shit hit the fan.
∆ ∆ ∆
The ship’s officers were having a party in the wardroom talking of our next destination and enjoying their favorite drinks. Everything was ready for Kepler Dawn to leave the system and venture forth into new territory. We’d even decided to re-name the ship, “The Wanderer,” and were looking forward to the journey.
The computer suddenly set off an alarm.
“Captain Hollenbeck. I am activating your planetary view screen. There is serious alien activity on the southern edge of the continent.”
“What kind of activity?”
“Sir, there are millions of ant larvae crawling up onto the beaches. Some of them have moved inland over twenty miles. They must have existed as eggs in hibernation until after the ants had all been destroyed. Now they have metamorphosed into larvae. In this stage, they are voracious and looking for protein of any kind. You will recognize them as very large worm-like things eating every living thing in their path. At the rate they are moving, I project they will reach one of the human settlements within two days.”
“RED ALERT.” Computer put all defensive attack forces on ten minute launch alert. Launch the ready AG craft and notify the Umon of the situation. Also, make sure the colonists are warned and ready to meet the challenge.”
“Aye aye, sir.”
“Stick, you will be in operational command of the ship as before. Commander Boggs will be in supreme command. Smokey and I will command the squadrons while Commander Kelso maintains active control of the ship’s defenses.
We don’t know much about these ‘larvae,’ so we will have to do some reconnaissance. Colonel Lipscomb, pick out a couple of the excess AG vehicles and get down there as soon as you can. Probe them to assess the situation. In the meantime, have your Marines man the guns and as before send the other half down to assist the colonists.
Commander Sakura, you’ve had continuous contact with the colonists, so I’d like you to go down with Colonel Lipscomb’s Marines and reassure the colonists of our readiness. They trust you and that trust may be needed if the attack gets out of hand. Tell them to activate their own AG attack vehicles and check in with me as soon as they are airborne.
The officers scattered off to their various duties and I made for the bridge command station. Once in place I activated the Jean-Luk avatar and spoke to the computer.
“Confirm tactical command in place. Connect me with Commander Boggs, please.”
“Done.”
“Commander Boggs, I am at your disposal and in place to make whatever decision seems operationally appropriate. The Captain is launching now with two squadrons, the second led by Smokey Smyth. Until we hear more, I will be studying the situation to see if I can find a way to deal with them quickly. If there is in-fact millions of them, they could overrun our colonists in one mass movement. When I have more information, I will contact you. In the meantime, I think it would be wise to move the ship to a position where it can intervene if necessary to assist in the battle. We may need to use our big side weapons on these things.”
“Sounds wise, Commander Kelso. Proceed.”
∆ ∆ ∆
“Jean Luk, I don’t know much about ants or their stages of development. And it is possible that with their variations from what we do know of ants on Earth, they will not behave the same. I presume if these are larvae, they have just hatched out from eggs. Is that correct?”
“Affirmative. Based on my counts, it appears that a great many of them were left in place after the main body originally departed the system. Larvae are normally fed by adult ants, so it is possible these were being fed by the adults recently killed, but they must have been in long term hibernation before you disturbed the adults. So, I’m assuming these larvae woke up extremely hungry. That may be an advantage.
The ant larvae in our data base appear to be different from the alien ant larvae we are seeing here. For one thing, these have eyes and functional mouths. They look like worms. Very big worms. And, although this is just a guess, if they behave like Earth ant larvae they may be cannibalistic. We must watch for such behavior. If it is true, we might be able to stop them by simply killing the first line and wait to see if those following stop to feed on them. However, there is a risk that those leading will rejuvenate themselves and be able to carry on.”
“That is an interesting speculation, Jean Luk. It is certainly worth investigating. However, if there are millions of them, I think we are going to have to kill as many as we can while we can. If the follow-on larvae stop to cannibalize the dead, they would make better targets. My gut feeling is that we cannot rely solely on that possibility. We must draw a line that none of them can be allowed to cross. Otherwise the cascade might be unstoppable.”
“Agreed.”
“Do you have a suggestion as to how we might draw that line?”
“Yes. Incendiaries should work. The strafing AG fighters could get the line started and then supplement it with more effective fire bombs. In the meantime, the fighters could be working on the whole of the mass, killing indiscriminately through the main body and causing the remaining ones to stop and feed on them.”
“What about their eyes? If they see a fighter coming down low, could they do anything about it?”
“That is unknown. I don’t think so. All I can make out now is that they have eyes and a mouth. They might be able to bring themselves erect for a few moments, but it seems unlikely they could jump up and grab a fast moving fighter.”
∆ ∆ ∆
“Captain Hollenbeck. Have you arrived at the scene?”
“Affirmative, and all we can see is a writhing mass of wormlike creatures moving like a tsunami, ebbing and flowing toward the closest settlement. Frankly, my first impression of the mass was that it looked like a huge pile of intestines spread out for miles.”
“Yuk. There’s a memory I did not need.”
“I have no idea how they are doing it, but the speed with which the mass is moving tells me we’ve got to get off of our butts and start the slaughter.”
“Something is attracting them,” I said. “… and they must be diverted off of their line toward the settlements. I suggest you start your firing on a diagonal to herd them away. Shoot a few of them to see if they go into cannibal mode. That’s what ant larvae usually do when they are very hungry.
Let me know what happens.”
“Copy. Smokey, did you read?”
“Roger, we’ll follow you down.”
“I’ll start the fire line. You deal with the closest worms to it.”
“Your wish is my command.”
Chapter 39
“Commander Kelso,” the computer said. The Umon fighters are now approaching the atmosphere. Where do you want them to go?”
“Direct them to the east of the main body of larvae at the south of the continent. Eliminate as many as they can and look out for any more that may be coming out of the water. It is possible this first incursion may not be the only one. Hibernating egg cell nests could be anywhere.”
“Commander Kelso, this is your father. Please excuse my familiarity, but I don’t want there to be any confusion in communications between us.”
“No problem. What do you have for me?”
“The chief gunner’s mate has an idea how we can be more efficient with the ship’s guns against this threat. Ask Commander Boggs to move the ship lower into the atmosphere, say twenty thousand feet, and place us perpendicular to the flow of the larvae. From there, we can use the side cannon to take out eight mile wide swaths of them all at once without interfering with the fighters. We can make one pass and then make another on the way back using the opposite side cannon. By alternating like this, we can keep the guns cool and more effective. The key to our turnaround would be when the cannon show signs of overheating. When fired continuously, they will, like any cannon, overheat.”
“Commander Boggs, did you copy?”
“Affirmative. We are now coming about and dropping to twenty thousand feet.”
“Captain, did you copy that maneuver plan?”
“Yes. And I confirm sighting of the Umon.”
“Make sure your fighters stay clear of the ship’s firing line. We’ve never fired the cannon in full broadside mode and do not know how rough the shock wave may be.”
USS Kepler Dawn Page 25