Probe

by Douglas E Roff

  “Roger that.”

  “Feed the coordinates and direction the packs are coming in from into our headsets.”

  “Right now, all activity is due east of the Ranger Station headed directly your way. Nothing from the south or even the southeast.”

  “Thanks.”

  Cindy barked out to her units to the men carrying the WMDs. “Circle up. I have an idea.”

  Chapter 59

  Three men broke off from the ranks of the teams at two miles out from the Ranger Station while four broke out at the one-mile marker. Each headed toward due north to GPS coordinates obtained from Adam. Adam had spotted small clearings in the satellite images and sent the men there. From those positions, they were each redirected almost due west to rendezvous at the Ranger Station.

  Cindy sent some or her marksman to the perimeter of the clearing, armed with rifles, Traps and thermal headsets.

  “Work in pairs, listen to HQ’s positioning of the hostiles, then converge and take your shot. Don’t worry about what you see, just take the shot where the thermal shows they are. Just like we drilled.”

  Rod said, “I’m going first. Johnson, you’re with me; you other four teams fan out. The next hostile coming our way isn’t going home.”

  ***

  The commander in charge of the eight packs on routine patrol nearest the Ranger Station had initially been disappointed that his packs wouldn’t take part in hunting the human prey. These weren’t the ideal conditions for practicing urban human slaughter, but it would assist with getting the scent of the humans and smelling the fear that they would exude just before the Gens warrior ripped out their throat. Just the thought of it quickened his heart.

  The new drugs that their leader had developed allowed them to fight in cohesive packs and multiple formations with the discipline of a transformed Gens warrior. Blood spatter and inadvertent consumption was no longer an issue and the suppression drugs also suppressed the desire for more mindless human blood sport. They would kill, kill in units, and kill with methodical discipline.

  The humans would be devastated; the Gens would assume their position as top of the food chain. No more hiding, not more suppression of their natural instincts. The humans would fear them and cower, pushed back to a Stone Age subsistence existence, always living in fear of the next great hunt or periodic cull.

  For now, he was contacted by his base camp and informed of the relative position that the humans had taken away from their anticipated location. It was up to him to pen them in at the old building in the clearing and not allow them to escape further north and west.

  The commander was confidant; he had one hundred disciplined and trained Black Shirt warriors. Fifty lightly armed humans would be no match for the cunning and camouflage of the modern trained Black Shirt soldier.

  He would herd them like cattle; and watch the slaughter if permitted when the top military commanders arrived on scene. It was even rumored that Arnaud Lemieux would attend their capture and lead the interrogation.

  ***

  Rod and his men spread out in the direction of the locations the Black Shirts had probed earlier. They were receiving real time updates on Gens movements and anticipated the next probe of the perimeter. Two Gens scout teams probed the perimeter, one not far from Rod’s position and one on the other side to the north. Both human pairs were armed with nanotechnology rifles, along with thermal vision scopes. Within seconds of the Gens arrival, they were all dead. Observers positioned on the roof of the Ranger Station with a telephoto lens couldn’t detect the Gens visually; thermal vision headsets and scopes had done the trick.

  When the forward teams got back to the main body of men, they reported that indeed the Gens camouflage was superior, but nowhere near good enough to defeat a thermal imager.

  Within minutes, the quiet of the forest quiet was pierced by the loud howling and wailing of animal voices. The news had just gotten back to the Black Shirts that four of their comrades lay dead on the forest floor.

  The Black Shirt commander was insane with rage and sent thirty of his militia in an onslaught toward the humans across the clearing to teach the humans a lesson. No thought was given to his orders to scout and observe only.

  The Gens were spotted immediately, and three Traps were sent over head, as the entire contingent fired their nanotechnology rifles at targets seen through their thermal scopes. In less than fifteen seconds, all the Gens lay dead in the clearing. None had come within fifty yards of the old Ranger Station buildings.

  ***

  There was an eerie peace for the next hour; no Gens movement was detected along the perimeter. The field teams dug in and stationed themselves along the high ground: roof tops of the main building and the few other dilapidated out buildings and in the old Ranger lookout platform. Cindy and the field teams were receiving real time updates on the progress of the Gens moving toward them and the aerial support on its way. Forces would collide soon, as the forward Gens forces would soon reach the Ranger Station.

  There were waves upon waves of Gens coming from positions east, southeast and south, all converging on fifty-two humans waiting in silence. HQ in Barrows Bay and London were estimating over eight thousand Gens in the field that would arrive beginning within the hour and continue arriving for hours afterward.

  The Gens commanders were arrogantly confident. Over eight thousand Gens military arrayed against fifty or so humans? They were confident that a lucky few would dine on human carcass that night.

  ***

  Cindy deployed her teams for greatest effect. Those with WMDs were deployed in staggered arrays to launch projectiles against the Gens that came within two hundred yards of the perimeter. Scattered among them were those who had Traps to take care of the Gens who got through the WMD fire. The rest of the teams with Traps and nanotechnology rifles were deployed in full 360-degree pattern. Most of the Gens were expected to hit the perimeter from the east, southeast, and south; however, as they began to take losses, or by design, the attack was sure to continue eventually from all directions.

  Cindy knew she had a problem with numbers. And that problem would accelerate as the helos arrived and started taking teams out to safety. As the teams left, the number of Gens would grow. At some point, there would not be enough of their own personnel to fight off the increasing numbers. The last ten to fifteen would likely not walk out of the fire fight alive.

  Among those remaining in the last group would be Rod and Cindy.

  Cindy watched the perimeter from the porch of the Ranger Station. She had two nanotechnology pistols, a scoped nanotechnology rifle and her headset on. Most of her chatter was with London and Barrows Bay, while Rod deployed his troops.

  ***

  “Cindy, the vanguard of the Gens coming from the east are within three miles. They remain tightly packed, and none are breaking off either to the north or south. Get ready to deploy on my mark.”

  Cindy sat down with the remote she held in her hands, punching in the numbers and sequences read out by Adam and Alana.

  Adam said, “When they get five hundred yards beyond the two-mile line, deploy A-1 and A-2. On my next mark deploy B-1. Have your WMDs ready for any clean up and have them twenty-five yards back from the perimeter. Have Traps and rifles at the ready. You don’t need marksmen; the rifle projectiles, in fact all the projectiles, will seek out the heat signature opportunistically. Save your ammunition; this might get hairy.”

  “Where are the helos?”

  Fifteen minutes out and bringing more ammo. They’ll do a sweep around the perimeter and fire off what they have. Get your teams ready to board and get out.”

  “Nobody wants to go. They all want to stay and finish this as a unit.”

  “Get them out! Let the nanotechnology tech do the work. If the Gens break through, people are going to die. You and Rod need to get out fast.”

  There was silence on the line.

  “We won’t go first, we go last. I promised to
get my men home safe, and if even one stays, so do we. End of discussion.”

  Adam said nothing, then “Ready to mark. In three minutes.”

  Silence.

  “Mark one!”

  Cindy hit the green button, and A-1 and A-2 deployed. Multiple WMD projectiles sped high into the blue skies of the calm sunny day along a pre-planned adjustable grid. The launch cylinders had been placed by the teams in the forest east of the Ranger Station, a mile and two miles out, scattered along a one thousand-yard staggered, parallel pattern. As the projectiles reached five hundred feet, the broke apart into smaller projectiles and headed back down to earth seeking the heat signatures of the Gens below.

  The first waves of Gens were killed almost instantly, with a ninety-five percent kill rate. Those that survived would soon perish when they reached the perimeter, taken down by nanotechnology rifles or a Trap.

  The carnage in the east would be immense.

  Chapter 60

  “Sir, a moment please.” Rawlins, a veteran campaigner with Rod and Cindy, had urgently tracked down Rod.

  “What do you need Rawlins? This better be pressing.”

  “Have you seen the latest estimates? From Barrows Bay?”

  “I don’t have time for Q & A; what’s your point?”

  “We’re going to get overrun and very soon.”

  “So?”

  “Cindy needs to leave. That’s the consensus among the team leaders. If this is what’s coming in the world, we’re going to need her alive and leading the fight. Dying here will solve nothing and will only help the enemy in the long run.”

  “She won’t leave. You know that. Forget it and get back to your men.”

  “Frankly, you both need to leave. You’re both too valuable.”

  “I’m not going anywhere. She won’t leave either; I think you know that.”

  “Then talk to her.”

  “Not going to happen. I know my wife. She’d shoot me for insubordination first chance. Appreciate the thought, but we’re both staying until this is all over. And Rawlins?”

  “Yes sir?”

  “Don’t try any end runs. No acting on your own. You know how she can be. Someone may get hurt.”

  ***

  Cindy looked out on to the thermal images flooding in from London and Barrows Bay. For some reason, the entire length of the road they had taken to the Ranger Station was completely free of Gens. The forest floor on either side of the road was infested with Gens, or soon would be. The Gens were now detected two miles distant; the flood gates had opened up.

  “Rod, Rawlins up here double quick,” Cindy shouted.

  The two men appeared. “What?”

  “Look at this.”

  “Look at what?”

  “That’s the road up here. It’s empty. No Gens.”

  “When was this taken?”

  “Three minutes ago.”

  “What do you want us to do?”

  “We need to shore up the southeast and south. We can’t do both, but if we can keep the Gens off us from the southeast just a little longer, the helos are almost here. It might only buy us minutes, but these minutes might mean we all get out alive.”

  “Take five men, two hundred yards apart down the road and start WMD shelling on my mark. Set your com to my channel. Go!”

  The two men called out to three of their best and were down the road quickly. They were each aware that if the Gens collapsed on either or both of their sides, they would be dead.

  Rod said, “Follow me and space yourselves. Two hundred yards, then shoot into the Gens advance.”

  “Sir?”

  “What now Rawlins?”

  “My team, my lead. You’re in last.”

  “I outrank you Rawlins, do as I say!”

  The men gathered. Phillips, another long-time campaigner said, “Not this time sir. You’re last or you don’t come. Rawlins let’s go.”

  They turned and entered the road, a road of death pushing in from the outer edges. Rod attempted to push forward, but Rawlins and Phillips stood in his way, while two other men double timed down the empty path. Rawlins peeled off, then Phillips. Rod ran the two hundred yards to his position and prepared to fire projectiles on a grid pattern dictated by Adam and relayed by Cindy and her team. Other men took up positions and began discharging Traps and WMD shells high around the areas occupied by the five.

  ***

  Arnaud was at Base Camp 12 on com with his field commanders when the news of the slaughter began to filter in.

  “What do you mean dead? How many? How?”

  “Sir we don’t know how. At least fifteen hundred dead on the eastern attack, hundreds more from the advance packs coming up from the south and southeast. We can’t get past whatever they have. They’re killing everyone. What are your orders, sir?”

  Arnaud thought for a moment, then said to one of his lieutenants, “I need drones over the human position and fast. Halt the advance and redeploy after I see their positions.”

  After a moment, Arnaud said, “Swing your packs from the southeast around, form up and try to break through from the south and southwest. You have your orders. Move!”

  Arnaud looked over at the video screens with new footage from the Ranger Station. “Damn! Get the field commanders on the eastern surge to send half their troops in position north of the clearing and attack south. Send the other half south and around the perimeter and attack from the west. Have them stop a mile out, form up and surge.”

  Arnaud had no idea what was killing his troops so far out from the eastern approach, but the body count was escalating, and he needed a new surge tactic.

  ***

  Just as Barrows Bay and London witnessed the abrupt change in Black Shirt deployment, the first helo arrived. Cindy already had the order of evacuation fixed, so she barked out names to the troops over the com. She ordered Rawlins and his men back in; she would need these men to shore up the south and west once troops began to evacuate. She redeployed men covering the eastern approach to the north leaving a scant few men to hold the eastern position. The projectiles deployed in the forest in the east were almost all gone anyway; they had done the job and blunted the overrun from that direction and made the Gens flinch.

  A small breakthrough came from the Gens who had come up from the fringes of the south, then snuck in from the west, avoiding the killing zone. Fifty or more of them, virtually invisible except to the thermal sensors, attacked, killing men from their blind side. Troops deployed with nanotechnology rifles quickly eliminated most of the Gens hostiles, but a few kept going on to the Ranger Station, now occupied by Cindy and a few other troops running com and positioning men for projectile deployment.

  Gens broke through the front door and from the side, at first startled seeing the humans so close and unprotected. That slight hesitation was all Cindy needed. She pulled out both of her nanotechnology pistols and sent nanotechnology bullets in both directions killing the Gens as quickly as they appeared inside the Station. She calmly stood her ground, waiting for more hostiles before resuming giving her orders. Her heart rate hardly budged, her calm icy.

  As the Gens dropped lifeless to the floor, their true appearance became visible. The troops looking on were horrified.

  “Keep on task,” she shouted to her astonished troops running ops and coordinating with London and Barrows Bay. “I have your back. Do your job now and we all get out of here alive.”

  Suddenly, the Gens attack subsided, but for no discernable reason. It just ceased.

  The second helo arrived and landed after doing a quick aerial surveillance of the perimeter. They shot off armaments where they saw advances closest to the perimeter, the landed quickly. The next batch of troops embarked and left; the first helo was now only minutes away from landing and picking up the next lot to leave.

  The helo pilot said, “They’re massing north, south and west and on the move for an attack. I’ll be in and we can get out
quick, but I can’t get all of you. The other helo won’t be back fast enough before the hostiles attack again.”

  “Roger that,” said Cindy. Counting the dead, there would be about eight left once the next helo left, including Rod and Cindy. Cindy ordered her crew inside the Ranger Station to get armed and for them and the remaining troops to get up the lookout platform next to the Ranger Station.

  “Let’s get to high ground and keep them off for as long as we can.”

  The helo departed, and her troops climbed the platform with Rod. They watched as the Gens breeched the perimeter and flooded into the clearing, overrunning every square inch of the compound. Through their headsets they saw a sea of thermal images. Headset removed, there was nothing but trampled meadow grass.

  The Gens could now see the humans high up on the platform and the order was given to climb up and throw them off the platform to the ground. The Gens on the ground and the Gens commanders were seething with anger at the loss of life inflicted on them today. If they could only kill a few humans, it would be better than having killed none.

  Cindy and her remaining crew deployed all the nanotechnology weaponry they still had, but it wasn’t going to be enough. In just minutes it would be hand to hand.

  ***

  Adam was on com with the pilot and crew of the plane that was now only two minutes out.

  “They’re trapped on the platform. Deploy projectiles as soon as you come in range and then fire over the entire compound. I want every Gens inside the perimeter dead after your first pass. Then back off and cover the tightest circle you can with your plane and deploy all nanotechnology projectiles as fast as you can. The other helo is a minute out and will hold until you pass through. The helo will pick them up from the platform.

  The plane fired multiple projectiles which exploded over the compound grounds. Seconds later as they passed over the compound, they deployed more bomblets in projectiles. The carnage was horrific. Thousands of Gens lay dead on the ground, most still under the forest canopy. But hundreds were dead inside the compound perimeter, now visible to the naked eye.