“Unlikely. They’d have no way of knowing where we would jump into the system. If they had extra forces, why not mass them all in one spot? No, they’ve got something planned. I just wish I knew what it was.”
“We’ve got some surprises of our own, Danny.”
He nodded, then said, “I just hope it’s enough.”
Chapter 20
Cooper settled down in his improvised shelter, trying to nap. His datapad was set up to track any sign of activity, but was waking him up every few minutes, whenever a particularly large creature passed by his camp. The latest had been a large multi-legged insect, almost two feet long, with sweeping wings that had hovered overhead, staring at him with such intensity that he’d almost tried to talk to it.
There had been no sign of any humans approaching, not yet, and half the day had gone. A couple of hours ago he’d heard something that might have been a flyer, high over the canopy, but he hadn’t dared move out to make sure. He glanced down at his watch, taking a deep swig of water through the liquid intake on his respirator, longing for one of the oxygen tents the squad was carrying. At least he wasn’t wearing a spacesuit.
Then there was something, movement in the undergrowth, a figure making its way to the battle site. A tall, dark-skinned man, wearing battered UN combat fatigues, carrying a rifle, looking around at the devastation and shaking his head. After a moment, he started to rummage through the discarded possessions, retrieving ammunition and ration packs from the corpses.
Pulling out his pistol, Cooper lined up a shot, aiming for the ground by his feet. He watched the man through his scope for a moment. Whoever he was, he didn’t seem interested in recording what had happened, or caring for the dead. A scavenger, but according to the information he had, the only human occupation on this planet was the base at the far end of the valley. After one last glance, he pulled the trigger, and the man jumped back, raising his rifle.
“Drop the weapon,” Cooper said. “You’re surrounded by a dozen men. Drop the weapon and you won’t be harmed.”
The man looked around, trying to find the source of the voice, yelling, “Fine, you bastards, you’ve got me! I won’t be captured, I won’t be taken alive. You’ll have to kill be first.”
“Who are you?”
“As if you don’t know.”
“Tell me.”
“Sergeant Kulbir Gurung, United Nations Planetary Guard. Ninth Ranger Battalion.”
“Anyone with you?”
“Ask those dozen men of yours,” he replied with a smile.
Rising to his feet, keeping his pistol leveled at Gurung, Cooper said, “Ensign Gabriel Cooper, Triplanetary Espatier Corps. Second Battalion, if you’re interested.”
“Then this is a Triplanetary trick.”
“No,” he replied. “You might find this hard to believe, but we’re here to help you. We’ve been attacked by the not-men as well. The trail led us back here.”
“I don’t believe you. We’re light-years from your territory.”
“I have a very determined commanding officer.”
Gurung dropped to his knees, shaking his head, “I’m dreaming. Or something.”
Stepping forward, Cooper replied, “What happened here, Sergeant? We know that the not-men took over, but we don’t know any details.”
He looked up, and said, “What are your intentions?”
“I’m here to destroy the ground installation. Others are dealing with the orbital forces.”
With a deep sigh, Gurung replied, “That would be a mercy after what they did.” He paused, then said, “They might be here soon. We need to move out.”
“I have a force over by the cliffs, to the north, camped for the day. We can link up with them.”
“What about the rest of your men?”
A smile spreading across his face, Cooper said, “It’s just me.”
“Had a feeling you’d say that. We can talk on the move. I think I know where they will have headed.” Gurung walked away from the clearing, taking one last look around, and said, “Some of these people were friends of mine once.”
Following the soldier, Cooper said, “I’m sorry. They attacked us from ambush.”
“That’s alright, Ensign. They weren’t themselves any more.”
As they stepped onto a trail that Cooper had missed, he asked, “How did they take over?”
“About eight weeks ago, a ship arrived in orbit, direct from Earth. Security headquarters.” He paused, then said, “I guess you know all about what this installation was for, right?”
“Front line for the next war against the Confederation. Or possibly the Cabal.”
“As well as a good place for ground-forces covert-ops training. That’s what my company was doing here.”
“Wait a minute,” Cooper said. “Are you telling me that there is an entire company of Rangers out here?”
“Less one platoon, now,” Gurung replied, “but did you notice something when you fought them? That they weren’t fighting at their usual intensity, failing to take advantage of opportunities? They aren’t the men they were when I fought with them.”
“To be honest, I thought they were just militia.”
“Exactly what I mean. The soul’s been sucked out of them, Ensign. I know. I saw it happen.”
“You were saying that a ship arrived?”
“Had half a dozen of those bastards with them. Some sort of secret treaty between them and UN Security, something about opening up a new front with the Confederation, a covert war. We all got excited, hoping that there would be some action. The not-men that came at first were advisors, liaison, some crap like that.”
“Then the brass left, and they moved in.”
“Pretty much. Right after the Gladwyn Jebb jumped away, one of their ships arrived. Then they started security screenings, but the people that had them came out different. Like they wouldn’t disobey, that they’d lost all initiative.” He smiled, then said, “I was Special Ops, Ensign, so I had access to some pretty neat tech. I got some AV bugs on one of the people scheduled for a screening.” He stopped in his tracks, and shook his head. “That recording gave me enough nightmares to last for the rest of my life.”
“Have you still got it?”
“Right here.”
“I’d like to copy it. We’ve got people in orbit who might be able to break the conditioning.”
“I suppose giving you one of the datachips is the least I can do, but I don’t think you can do it. Those people are broken, Ensign, broken forever. There’s nothing left of humanity in them, just slaves to those bastards.”
The two of them turned back to the path, walking onwards, and Cooper said, “I guess you got away then.”
“Not at first.” He sighed, then said, “None of the officers would listen, damn it. Even the ones who hadn’t been in that room. My men and I tried to take them down ourselves, launched an assault, but it was no good. We were betrayed, and most of my platoon was captured. The rest were luckier.”
“They escaped with you?”
“No. They had a clean death.” He looked back at Cooper, and said, “I got away. Ran into the jungle. With a respirator, a communicator and a rifle. You’ve got a warship in orbit?”
Nodding, Cooper said, “I didn’t come by shuttle.”
“Good. I hope you’ve got a lot of firepower. They’ve got to be stopped.”
“Any idea what they’re plans are? Have they infiltrated UN Security?”
“I don’t know,” he replied. “Trust me, I didn’t stay to look. All I wanted to do was survive out here until our own forces arrived. I figured that sooner or later someone would turn up.” He shook his head, then said, “I’ve just about used up all the supply dumps I could get to. I’ve only got food and air for another few days, and one clip in my rifle. That battlefield would have been useful.”<
br />
“When we link up with my platoon, I’ll see you get resupplied.” Cooper paused, then said, “I’ve got to ask this, Sergeant. How far are you willing to help us?”
“Those bastards have got to be stopped,” he replied. “That is not a matter for debate or discussion. I will help you and your men in any way necessary to destroy that base, to take them down in orbit. As far as I’m concerned, it isn’t a United Nations facility any more.”
“And if the infiltration goes further?”
With a mocking laugh, he replied, “There are enough glory hounds in UNSEC looking for a quick win over you rebels without needing any serious convincing. They’ve tried some stupid stunts in the past. I was on the Jebb when they tried to take Spitfire Station. Hell of a lot of precious careers got wiped out over that stunt.”
“So they’ve made an alliance.”
“The not-men talked them into something, my guess.”
“We’ve fought them. At Yeager Station. And we won.”
“Good to know that they can be stopped,” Gurung replied. “Over to the right, it’s a short cut.”
Looking around the jungle, Cooper said, “You know this terrain pretty well.”
“Pretty damn well. I’ve been here for six months. Longer than I’d planned. This valley isn’t that big.” He pointed at a stream trickling through the woods. “We follow that. No tracks if we walk in the water. Should take us right to where your people will have made camp.”
Frowning, he replied, “You seem very certain of that, Sergeant.”
“Trust me, Ensign, your three-striper won’t have been able to resist using it.” Overhead, they could hear a whirling noise, something approaching from the west, from the direction of the base, and Gurung dropped to his knees. “Helicopter. They’ll be taking a look at the battle site. We’ve got to move fast and quiet.”
“I’ll leave it to you, Sergeant. Lead the way.”
“That’s what Rangers do,” he replied with a smile.
For the next hour, the two men crept up the stream, periodically dropping into the water whenever one of them signaled that they feared they were being followed. The helicopter remained overhead, circling around, trying to spot them; both of them were wearing uniforms designed for maximum stealth, but if they were using efficient detectors, they should have been able to pick them off at will.
The stream grew wider as they marched, the two of them hugging the bank, taking full advantage of the overhanging vegetation. Cooper’s clothes rapidly grew waterlogged, soaking through into his skin, the chill rising down into his feet; Gurung had rather better equipment, seemingly striding through the water as though it wasn’t there.
Finally, the helicopter roared overhead, moving away, heading back to base, and Cooper paused for a second, rubbing his hand across his head as the noise began to fade away. Gurung turned, smiled, then froze.
“Someone in the bushes,” he said, diving for cover.
“Halt!” Watkins yelled, a familiar voice.
“It’s me,” Cooper replied. “With a friend. Stay close, Sergeant, it’s one of mine.”
Gurung turned, nodded, and said, “Well trained. My compliments. I didn’t see him until he was almost on top of us.”
“We’re camped up ahead, sir,” Watkins replied. “Do you want me to show you the way?”
“We’ll find it, Private. Stay on guard, but change your position. Go a little further downstream.”
“Yes, sir,” he said, stepping back into the undergrowth, quickly disappearing from view. Cooper and Gurung walked on up the stream for another moment, before he could pick out the camouflaged oxygen tents, two of them, sitting in the mouth of the largest cave he had ever seen, more than a hundred feet high and two or three times as deep, lush vegetation surrounding it. No chance that this would ever be spotted from the air.
“Told you he’d pick this spot,” Gurung said.
Sergeant Morton stepped forward from the cave, regarding Gurung with a suspicious eye before saying, “I see you found someone, sir.”
“Sergeant Morton,” Cooper said, “meet Sergeant Gurung. United Nations Rangers.”
“Almost as good as the Espatiers,” Morton said, extending his hand. “A pleasure, Sergeant. I presume you are on our side.”
“As long as you’re fighting those bastards in the dome, I’m with you,” he replied.
“The Sergeant is going to need resupply, rations, and air,” Cooper said. “Might as well give you a new weapon while we’re at it. We’ve got two spare plasma carbines.”
Raising an eyebrow, Gurung replied, “Carbines, did you say?”
“Something a bit new. Same basic concept, but smaller and lighter, less ammunition by the same power. You can borrow one, but…”
“You’ll want it back when all of this is over,” Gurung said. “Our boys are working on something like this anyway, but it looks as though you’ve stolen a march on us. Nice camp, by the way,” he said. “Well camouflaged. My compliments, Sergeant.”
“That flier went over two or three times,” Morton replied. “We almost took it down twice. Probably best that we didn’t have to.” He turned around gesturing at the cave, and said, “This goes really deep. I sent a couple of people to scout the back of it. There’s a passage that seems to curve off into the cliffs. No idea how far it goes.”
Gurung smiled, and said, “Almost the whole way to the target. Me and a couple of my mates scouted it out, just before all hell broke loose. Never did report it.”
“Sergeant, are you telling me that there is a cave system heading right to where we need to be?”
“Opens up two miles from the base,” he said.
“We’ve figured another six days to get there,” Morton said.
Shaking his head, Gurung replied, “My Rangers would be lucky to do that in the time. Why do you think that no-one came to investigate that crash site on the ground? Even without worrying about detection or ambush, it’d take a good eight, nine days.” Stepping into the cave, he looked around and added, “I was going to use this to surprise the hell out of my Lieutenant during our next training exercise. Guess we can use it now.”
“How long to traverse the tunnels?”
“Three, four days at the most. All underground, all undetectable. Interested?”
Cooper looked at Morton, and said, “Sketch out a route.” He gestured at his platoon sergeant, and the two of them stepped over to one side.
With a glance back at Gurung, Morton quietly said, “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
“That this could be a trap?” Cooper replied. “Yes, but I’m not sure what we can do about it. He’s right about the undergrowth. It’s a lot worse than I expected, and if they have low-flying air cover it’s just a matter of time before they pick us up. Besides, if he wanted to betray us, he doesn’t have to lead us anywhere to do it.”
“True. I still don’t trust him.”
With a smile, Cooper said, “I don’t trust anything down here. I just don’t think that we have much of a choice.”
Looking back at Gurung, Morton said, “When you put it that way…”
“Break camp, Sergeant. We’re going spelunking.”
“Yes, sir.”
As the strike force began to disassemble its equipment, packing up for a night’s travel, Cooper stepped into the cave. Water dripped down onto his shoulders, and he looked up at the green growth around the entrance. He’d never seen anything like this back on Mars. In a better world, he’d he armed with a camera rather than a carbine. Maybe next time. Right now he had a deadline to beat.
Chapter 21
Salazar took a long sip of his juice and looked out at the viewport, watching the planet underneath him, the barren brown interspersed with green cracks of vegetation, the strange seas lapping on the coast. It looked both oddly inviting and strangely alien,
a part of him longing to go down for a look himself.
“Is it always like this?” he said, glancing at Kibaki, sitting next to him, the two of them alone on the observation deck.
“What, the waiting?”
“Four days we’ve been sitting up here. Three more to go. I don’t know how much more of it I can take.”
“I’d like to say that the waiting is the hardest part, but that would be a lie. Afterwards, Pavel. That’s the hardest part. Dealing with the consequences.”
“I know,” he said. “Still, I just want to get this over with.”
He smiled, and said, “The impetuousness of youth.”
“Maybe.” Glancing out at the planet again, he asked, “Mind if I ask another question?”
“I’m not on watch for another half hour. As long as I can answer in the time.”
“Why didn’t you ever take promotion? You must have been offered it.”
“A few times,” he replied. “In the Titan Militia and here on this ship. It is simply that I have no wish for any higher authority. As a watch commander I have all the authority I desire, and I’m happy with the way things are, with what I do and what I see.” He smiled, then said, “If they promoted me, I would have more worries, sleep less, and spend more time doing paperwork.”
“I never thought of it that way.”
“Of course not,” he said. “As I said, you are young, full of fire. No doubt you have dreams of commanding a squadron in battle, or even commanding a ship of your own some day.”
“Once.”
“Before Phobos?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. “I would say that the only person still doubting your abilities is you, Pavel.”
“Not to mention Lieutenant Grant.”
Shaking his head, Kibaki said, “There is someone who proves my point. Left in his fighter, I venture he would be perfectly happy. The man is being promoted beyond reason.”
“Flying a fighter is a young man’s game. It’s all about reaction time.”
“Perhaps it is so. Still I find it unfortunate, and I must confess that I find his interventions somewhat irritating. The sixth Operations Officer we have had in five years.” He shook his head, and said, “I hope that the situation settles down soon.”
Battlecruiser Alamo: Not In My Name Page 17