“Air is reprocessed through fabricators built into the very weave of the suit.” Athena explained. “HUD displays are sent to the inside of the helmet, and are operated by the wearer’s thoughts.”
“Damn Skippy!” Chief López exclaimed.
“Movement and equipment packs are the size and weight of a sleeveless vest, and can be used for twenty four hours before they need a recharge.”
The Chief had an evil smile on his face. “Do they come in black, with a helmet that can be darkened?” Larisa was smiling now.
“Yes, Chief López, but why?”
“A moment, please. Are they hard to use?”
“Not at all.” Athena almost laughed. “The on-board computer does continual self-correcting and stabilization. To use your vernacular, point-and-click. You tell the suit where you want it to go and how fast.”
Chief López turned to the Russian woman. “Are your folks SCUBA qualified?”
Larisa frowned. “Some. Not all.”
“Good. I’ll take all those that are. All the SEALS are.” He grinned at Zed, who was just starting to get an idea of what the Chief was planning. “I can take out those ships, Zed, if Athena can crank out three hundred scuttling charges and a few dozen EVA suits. SCUBA and EVA tactics are very similar… not exactly of course, but close enough.”
“Zed.” Athena’s voice was somewhat strident. “Is he insane, or is he suggesting doing what I think he’s suggesting doing?”
“Yes.” Zed replied without cracking a smile. “Why don’t you explain it to her Chief?”
The SEAL looked up at the ceiling of the room. “Using your new space suits, my team is going to load up with those fancy scuttling charges, slap them to the Creednax fleet as they orbit this world and blow them to hell. Then we’re going to come back and drink a few cold beers with our Russian friends.”
Athena was silent for several long moments. “I’ve been reviewing all the information that is in LOLA’s database concerning Navy SEALS. The Dramul military never had such a… dedicated force. If anyone can pull this off they can. Manufacturing is beginning the assembly process as we speak, and completion is estimated at eighteen hours. It would be sooner, but the manufacturing area is only eight percent operational at this point.” She hesitated. “The biggest problem will be picking up completed equipment. Manufacturing is on the other side of the planet, right in the middle of the Creednax forces.”
“I knew that it couldn’t be this easy.” Zed groaned. “If we leave for the factory from here, how long will it take us?”
“Nine hours, with no interference from the Creednax patrols. With the Creednax in the area, your ETA is uncertain.”
“Kat is going to kill me.” He murmured to himself… and then more loudly. “If you can, have the equipment loaded in a truck or something when we get there.”
“There are delivery shuttles available, Zed. I’ll have one prepared and loaded. Unfortunately, I can’t use the autopilot. The Creednax will detect the signals.”
“I figured as much.” He replied sourly as he turned to Larisa and the Chief. “I can fly the shuttle. We should go now. It’s apt to be a long day.”
“Slept on way down.” Larisa’s reply was flat.
“So did I.” Chief López chimed in. “A brisk walk would be nice after that lunch.”
Zed rolled his eyes as he headed for the door. “Why did I ever have to choose SEALS?”
“When you want the very best.” The Chief said behind him.
“Then I should have chosen the Girl Scouts.” Zed retorted. He heard a dry chuckle from Larisa.
The Chief peered into the gloom. “We’re takin’ the train?” Zed heard the man’s hissing laugh. “That’s not very subtle.”
“But it’s fast. Get in and find a seat. It’s going to be a long dark ride.” In complete silence, the train began to move before they found their seats. Zed sprawled in a seat, and closed his eyes.
The motion of the train jerking to a halt woke him.
He groaned and stood. Chief López and Larisa were already moving.
He shook his head.
“Can Athena make a little sound to draw off one of the patrols?” Chief Lopez whispered. “It would be easier taking two five man patrols than one ten man patrol.”
“Let me try something else.” Larisa chimed in. “What is the disposition of the Creednax? Are they spread out or following a single line down the center of the corridor?”
“If we were to flatten ourselves against the wall, would they pass without touching us?”
“How brave do you feel today, Senior Chief Petty Officer Emilio López?” Larisa’s grin was slightly mocking.
“Just as brave or as stupid as you, my dear.” The Chief replied with the barest twitch of a smile, pressing
his back against the wall.
“Scheiße!!” Zed muttered, flattening himself against the wall beside Chief López. They could hear the faint scrape of chitinous claws on the hard corridor floor, getting steadily closer.
“They’re gone, sir.” Chief López whispered. This close Zed could see the sweat dripping down the big SEAL’s face. “We should go.” When he shot a quick glance at the Russian woman he was somewhat gratified to see sweat streaking her unusually pale skin.
The small item manufacturing area, one of four on the planet, was the size of a football stadium, and twice as tall. Odd irregular shapes loomed out of the darkness, and in the distance Zed could hear the scraping of many Creednax feet.
He turned to the others. “The shuttle is all set to go, however, there is a Creednax patrol in the way.” The Chief unslung his pulse rifle. “We should hurry.”
“What are we waiting for?” Larisa whispered. Zed drew his gauss pistol, quickly checking that he had a full magazine of the depleted uranium slivers it fired at a significant fraction of light speed.
It wasn’t a fight, so much as a slaughter. The heavy plasma bolts tore the Creednax apart by an enemy they couldn’t see. Creednax return fire was erratic, shredding a few stacked cases, and then it was silent. In moments the six Creednax had been reduced to twitching chunks of green goo. Apparently the two Strike Team leaders had been studying Creednax anatomy and knew precisely where they were vulnerable.
Zed bolted for the shuttle. He sighed with relief as he strapped himself into the seat in front of more-or-less familiar controls. One of the many benefits of Dramul neural conditioning was that his augmented memory now included the practical knowledge of how to fly almost any Dramul craft. His hands moved confidently over the controls and the small shuttle lifted from its parking spot to slide soundlessly out the door.
The Bow Wave Lounge was packed that evening, with shots of vodka and bottles of beer being served as fast as the bartender could hand them out. There was no fighting. The Strike Team and the shocked members of the crew were watching a replay of the Chief’s suit cameras. The waving chitinous legs of the Creednax never seemed to get old, and the firefight in the manufacturing bay was a huge hit. Zed winced as one of the SEALs, with an arm about a Russian woman, belted out a French song about unrequited love… in the wrong key. It was all right, however. The Russian woman was as drunk as he.
Katherine leaned across the table and gave him a level look. “Was it as bad as the recording makes it?” Her green eyes were very wide.
Zed finished his beer and signaled the waitress for a cup of coffee. “The firefight was easier. The corridor was harder. I almost wet myself when a Creednax claw brushed my hood. Larisa and Chief López must have nerves of steel.” He reached over and took Kat’s hand. “It was Larisa’s idea in the first place. I think she wanted to see if she could make the SEAL blink.”
Katherine shook her head. “They act like children.”
“Those children took out a half dozen Creednax without any trouble. The problem is that there are just too many Creednax and too few Strike Team members.”
Kat sipped her wine slowly. “What are we going to do, then?”
Zed smiled as he watched Larisa and the Chief arm wrestle out of the corner of his eye. “We found a better way to get rid of the Creednax.”
“Ohhh?” Raising an eyebrow, she turned to face him.
Laughing, Zed reached out and touched her arm. “No you don’t! No business tonight.” He turned a thoughtful look on the Strike Team revelers. “I understand why they act as they do.” His face became sober. “They act like children to avoid thinking about things in their daily lives that would drive normal people mad.”
Kat gave him a sympathetic look. “How do you avoid those horrifying thoughts?”
Zed stood and took Katherine’s arm. “My new wife helps me do that.” Kat stood, and hand in hand they turned to the door.
Zed lounged back in his seat as Chief López, flanked by Larisa Borisyuk gave the briefing. He always found it prudent to let the experts do the talking and take the appropriate credit. It cost him nothing, and made the people he counted on feel appreciated.
A hologram of Callidus floated over the conference room table, surrounded by a bevy of smaller red shapes. The Creednax warships formed a tight screen about the planet.
“This is the nut we intend to crack.” Chief López began, without preamble. “We will have twelve people deploying the scuttling charges, which are in all actuality no different than Earthly limpet mines. These mines are slightly larger than their Earthly cousins, at 40 centimeters by 10, and roughly four kilograms, but are significantly more powerful. The energy yield of the weapon is approximately 15 kilotons, or about the yield of the Hiroshima bomb. I couldn’t begin to tell you how that yield is converted to a weapon that can gut a starship, but Athena assures me that it can. We have 108 warships that we have to dispose of, and due to their size most will require several scuttling charges to accomplish the job. The battleships will take at least six, for a total of 259 charges to set, on 108 ships, so each person will plant 21 or 22 mines.” He gave his audience a sour look. “That means we’ll each be hauling our own weight in mines. Not all members of the Strike Team were EVA qualified.” He gave Mike Flaherty a sidelong look. “So we had to settle for using some Marines.” He winked at Mike. “For the easy jobs.” The big Marine returned a look that should have killed the SEAL, but the Chief just laughed.
“I will provide a dozen small cloaked sleds,” The voice of the AI Athena murmured calmly. “that will accommodate both the scuttling charges and spare oxygen and power cells for the suits, just in case.”
Larisa took over the briefing. “Strike Team members will depart in a staggered order, with the furthest strikes departing first. Once the charges have been deployed and the Strike Teams recovered, the charges will be detonated. The Rose of the Dawn, the frigate Boston, and the fighters will all deploy immediately to clean up the remainder of the Creednax fleet. Strike Teams will recover to the maintenance area where we picked up the mines. Athena will have intelligence on Creednax patrol locations, and suitable weapons availabl
e for the team members.”
Zed studied the slowly spinning globe. “When will you launch?”
“I think…” Larisa began, but was interrupted by LOLA.
“Creednax tugs have already begun to attach to the surface of Callidus. I wouldn’t wait too long. Construction of the sleds will be completed in ten hours.”
Zed nodded. “Can you be ready in twelve hours?” He asked Larisa and Chief López. Both exchanged a quick look, and then nodded. “Good. One last thing. When you plant the mines try to incapacitate the ships. Gut them. If we have better than one hundred power plants losing containment at the same time I don’t know what will happen, but it won’t be pretty. Now, I suggest that you let your teams stand down for eight hours. Captain.” He looked over his shoulder at Katherine. “Will the Rose, the Boston and the fighters be ready?” He already knew the answer.
“All ships will be prepared for combat in six hours, Fleet Captain.” Her face was serious, but her eyes sparkled. “And will the Fleet Captain be accompanying the Strike Teams?” Her voice dropped several degrees.
Zed would have loved to, but… “The Fleet Captain will NOT be accompanying the Strike Teams on the mission.” A look of relief swept across both Katherine’s and Chief López’s faces, for entirely different reasons.
The Chief smiled. “If that’s all then.” Zed gave him a flat look, which he ignored. “We need to see to our teams.”
“Make sure that’s all you see to, Chief. The Bow Wave is off limits to all personnel until after the engagement.” Zed returned the smile as a chagrined look furrowed the Chief’s brow.
Katherine and Zed were both studying the holographic globe in the empty conference room and talking in soft voices when Zed stopped, his eyes going wide. Kat frowned and turned to look in the same direction. A figure seemed to be moving toward them, walking through the solid walls of the starship as if they weren’t there. With a face and figure that Zed knew she’d stolen from ancient copies of Frank Frazetta’s Deja Torres, she was tall, pushing, if not over two meters, and wrapped in a long flowing white robe. The straps of her simple sandals wrapped up her long legs. He gave her a deep bow, and an ironic smile.
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