Casserine

by Bernard Lee DeLeo

  Jake’s eyes had popped open at the change in movement, as he noticed the absence of engine hum. “I heard that Chief. Hey Sara, Todd, nice trip, but the scenery sucked.”

  Sara nodded as she ran a hand over his shoulder. ‘Tuck it up, big boy. We still have one more of these sightseeing tours to go. C’mon, and we’ll get you cleaned up. I saw the video. What do you think that ooze you were in is doing to that wound on your chest?”

  “The bandage helped, but I need to get her poison off of me,” Jake admitted.

  “Don’t let him fool you, Sara,” Mercer cut in. “He was drinking the shit when we found him. What was that Jake, some kind of blood rite?”

  Jake had scrunched his face up, thinking about the birthing chamber fluid, and having had it in his mouth for the last three hours. “Oh man, stay off of that road, will you please.”

  The others laughed, and Mercer helped him up. Jake walked stiffly towards the hatch exit, knowing he would be hard pressed to make another mission without some rest. “Did Jas check in while I was out?”

  “He’s on board the Gallant right now,” Corey replied. “The other Command Wing Fighters will be here by tomorrow.”

  “God, that’s good news,” Jake said quietly, as he trudged toward the habitat entrance. “I’m glad Jas made it. I thought maybe he was caught in the blast.”

  “If we would have had to walk out uphill with those Bugs coming on the Queen’s command, there wouldn’t have been enough of us left to talk about it,” Mercer added, shaking his head. “I owe that boy a drink.”

  “I heard he did pretty well on Bougainville too,” Jake offered. “You were there when the Bugs hit, Charlie. His hair didn’t get dyed white.”

  “Major Peters took it hard,” Mercer acknowledged. “You have to remember they made it inside before we knew it. He saw them feed, but he was right with us to the end, when Deke had to kick his butt ahead with me and a few others to clear off the escape ship. We were still flying around almost an hour later, with the colonists freaking in the back. I went into the cockpit, and Major Peters had his hands locked on the controls, weaving that big bird back and forth with the front guns blazing. The com was shouting at him for a report, and he just kept blasting.”

  “I sat down in the co-pilot’s seat, and put a hand on his arm. His head jerked up, and he looked at me with this wild, pathetic look. I said it was time to leave, but he just shook his head. Peters whispered to me, ‘but they ain’t all dead yet, Charlie’. I reminded him about the Colonists in the back, and promised him we’d come back later for the rest. He stared at me for a long time, and then nodded. We left the planet, and I called in the report. He put us in orbit, and went back with me to tend to the wounded. The time before the Gallant could reach us was brutal.”

  Jake nodded, as he waved at a relieved Tokoru inside the habitat entrance. “I figured it went down something like that. We’ll just have to go back later and get the rest.”

  “You can say that again, brother,” Mercer agreed.

  “This is going to get wild, isn’t it Jake?” Corey asked, as they walked through the entrance, and Jake shook hands with Colonel Tokoru.

  Jake turned to Corey with a grim look. “I won’t lie to you, Sara, Jas blowing up that alien ship to save our bacon, will probably have far reaching consequences. Other than surrendering in advance to these cold-blooded bastards, I don’t know what else we can do, unless we want to abandon the colonies. They won’t get away with planting any more Queens though. That, I guarantee you.”

  Corey nodded. “Well, Todd and I will go clean up and get some sack time. Call me when you’re ready for the other nest.”

  “I will, Sara,” Jake confirmed. “You get going too, Tim. I want you on the turret when we leave again.”

  “If I thought there was any way you’d leave without me,” Dougherty smiled, “I’d sleep on Alpha. See you folks in a little while then.”

  Jake, Tokoru, and Mercer watched the Chief walk away for a moment before Tokoru gestured for the men to follow him over to their central communications and command console. Jake hesitated to sit down on the chair Tokoru indicated for him, but Mercer sat down in one of the other chairs, and gestured at Jake impatiently.

  “Sit down, Jake,” Mercer ordered. “We’ll burn the chair later if you’re worried about the goop you still have clinging to you. Let’s get this debriefing over and get some sleep.”

  Jake laughed and sat down with a sigh. “With this kind of disrespect, I could have stayed on Casserine. How we doing, Yuri?”

  “We have long range scanners out in all directions, looking for an armada to zoom into the quadrant after Major Peters dusted their ship. The isolation signal is working without a hitch. We only lost three men killed in action, and about a dozen wounded. All the audio and video gear worked outstandingly. All video input was streamed to the Gallant, and then back to base, including your junket into the nest.”

  Tokoru paused momentarily before going on. “Risling really blew his top, Jake.”

  “About what?” Jake asked, with some confusion showing on his

  “He wants you on the Gallant to command the mission from here on out. The General nearly blew my eardrum out when the Queen knocked you into the birthing chamber. The view from your helmet cam was incredible, to say the least. Needless to say, we all thought you were dead.”

  “There ain’t no use in Risling throwing temper tantrums, Yuri. I am the only one with any immunity to this stuff,” Jake said, indicating the foul liquid still staining the lower part of his clothing. “I’m in till the end. He’s just blowing off steam.”

  “If you say so, Sir,” Tokoru said doubtfully.

  “Jake’s right, Colonel,” Mercer added. “If there was any way I could substitute for this foul smelling piece of work, I would do so in a second. Some of my guys threw up just watching what he did, but they’d stick their heads in the shit if Jake here told them to. We’ve got three more nests to take out Sir, and we’ll have a lot better chance of getting it done if Jake’s leading it.”

  “I saw the video, Charlie,” Tokoru replied, shrugging. “You don’t have to convince me. I saw the General here through your cam when you led your squad into the egg cavern. At first, I was a little jealous of you guys going down into the nest. After that, I’ll take my job any day.”

  “Thanks, Yuri,” Jake said with a smile. “Did you tell Risling that?”

  “That, and a lot more, Sir,” Tokoru replied. “He was not in the mood to hear it, and I was too busy to debate it with him.”

  “I’ll get cleaned up, and then explain things again to him.” Jake reached into his utility pocket, and pulled out the piece of the birthing area shield he had brought out with him. The smell increased substantially as Jake brought it out into the open. “We need to get this back to the Gallant for analysis. It resists energy weapons, and the only thing I saw crack it was the Queen’s own fluids, which are coating this piece. If we can solve the make up of the shield material, we may be able to progress in our shield technology in leaps and bounds. We will definitely have to find out what can hurt it, because I’ll bet those aliens use a variation of it for their ships.”

  “Leave it on the floor, Sir, and I’ll have someone put it in a container,” Tokoru advised. “I’ll get one of the pilots to fly it out to the Gallant stat.”

  “Sounds good,” Jake said. “Where’s your Med Unit set up, Yuri?” Tokoru pointed to a set of rooms across the open mezzanine. “That’s our hospital setup here.”

  “Great, come on Charlie, let’s get cleaned up, and then I’ll get the wound redressed. Afterwards, I’ll use you for backup with Risling.” “Just so you get clean first,” Mercer said, holding his nose.

  Jake sat on a makeshift examination table as one of the medical personnel placed a fresh analgesic bandage over the wound across Jake’s torso. It had already begun closing up. Jake could feel the effect the makeup of the Queen’s fluids had on the open wound. The slight burning sensation had not
felt uncomfortable, and it had never actually bothered him. The foul memory of what he had ingested proved the most irritating residue left of the experience. Mercer waited for his friend to be bandaged, looking for any signs of the exhaustion Jake had shown on the way back from the nest.

  “You don’t look too bad,” Mercer informed him, as the Med Tech indicated he was finished. “Want to grab something to eat before we get some sleep?”

  ‘Tea, if I can keep it down.”

  “Still burping up the Bitch, huh?”

  “Oh yeah,” Jake said, standing up and pulling his shirt on over hishead.

  “Come back before you have to go again, Sir,” the Med Tech said. “I’ll change your dressing, and put a body wrap over it to lessen the pain of movement.”

  “Will do,” Jake agreed. He followed Mercer out. Tokoru was waiting outside of the room.

  Chapter 19

  Second Queen

  “Risling’s on, Jake, and he wants you right now,” Tokoru said, doing a very close imitation of General Risling’s contorted, angry face.

  Jake and Mercer both laughed in appreciation.

  “I guess this means we eat later,” Mercer said.

  “Unless you want my console to explode,” Tokoru replied, “you two better get over there right now.”

  Jake and Mercer sat down in front of the command console. Risling pointed a finger at Jake angrily.

  “General Matthews, just who the hell do you think gives the orders around here?” Risling yelled at him. “I have another mission plan filed right in front of me now, indicating your intentions to lead troops into the second nest. I gave you a direct order to report to the Gallant, and coordinate the mission from there.”

  “Calm down, Sir,” Jake replied. “I have the lab on the Gallant working on something we can eat through the shield walls with. I never thought of it before, but the Queen has to get out of the chamber somehow. She dissolves her own shielding when it comes time. If we can crack the shielding without a bomb, I’ll blow the crap out of her without having to go chamber diving.”

  “All the more reason for you simply to oversee the mission from the Gallant,” Risling concluded. “I expect you to leave for the Gallant immediately.”

  “Well, if expectations were gold, Sir, you’d be a rich man,” Jake fired back. “You gave me this command, and I agreed to it only under one condition, I do it my way.”

  “General Risling,” Mercer cut in. “We need Jake on these missions. The faster we get done, the sooner we can fortify our positions here. Major Peters took out one of their ships. That’s an act of war in anyone’s book. They may have already decided to stop trying to kill us in secret, and just get on with it.”

  Risling started to fire back an angry retort at the perceived insubordination, but paused instead, running his fingers through his hair and leaning back in his seat. Jake and Mercer could tell how much stress the man was under. They waited without comment until Risling leaned forward with his hands clasped in front of him.

  “I’m sorry, Jake. The Earth council came unglued with the new delays. Nothing seems to filter through their heads. Even intergalactic war seems preferable to another week with the mining operation shut down. They feel we’ve been running around all these years, developing expensive war toys, and now its come time to use them.”

  “We are using them, Sir,” Jake argued. “Major Peters took out one of their ships before they even knew what hit them. We need to consolidate our position on Omaha, and get those fuel cell plants back working. We’ve got the chance to develop new shielding, and new ways to defeat these assholes. I have men shadowing my every movement, who can take over for me in an instant if I go down. Get Earth on board for the long haul, because sacrificing everything in an attempt to placate a bunch of desk bound morons will get us all killed.”

  “When will you get Omaha back on line, Jake? Give me something optimistic, so I can back your play,” Risling replied, calming down considerably.

  “Charlie and I will get some food and a few hours sleep, and then he and I will lead our team back down right away, with or without the formula for dissolving the shielding. We’ll take out the last Queen, and have the Colonists back on the surface by the end of tomorrow. How’s that?” Jake asked.

  “That might calm them down,” Risling allowed.

  “Earth knows we’ll have to have a significant military force here from now on, don’t they, Sir?”

  “They saw the action by Major Peters,” Risling answered. “Earth command also knows the details of what these aliens tried to do, and how much it has cost us already. As with all these bean counters, they have what they think of as acceptable losses. They may be all for big time military protection, and then after things settle down, they may trim it down. I will try to sell them on setting up a major military base on Omaha.”

  “If they do anything less, Sir,” Mercer added, “they will be risking the loss of everything in the quadrant.”

  “I want a live feed again of your operation, Jake,” Risling said. “The only thing that kept them off my back even momentarily was that suicidal performance you put on in the Queen’s Chamber.”

  Mercer broke out laughing, while Jake began to protest, but thought better of it.

  “Anything I can do to help, Sir,” Jake replied finally, which set Mercer off again.

  “Good luck men, I will expect results since I cannot get obedience. Risling out.”

  “Whew, he did not like your disregard for authority, Jake,” Mercer said, shaking a finger in Jake’s direction.

  “Why you no good, rotten.it was your insubordinate ass I had to haul out of the depths of Conger’s shithouse,” Jake retorted, grabbing the hand Mercer’s pointing finger belonged to, and yanking him up like a child into the air.

  “Don’t make me have to hurt you in front of all these Marines, Jake,” Mercer warned, indicating the crowd they were attracting.

  Jake shook him a little as he looked around sheepishly. He dropped Mercer, and waved the crowd away. “Get back to work, you goldbricks. We’ve got another Queen to take out ASAP.”

  After some laughter, there were a chorus of “Yes Sirs’, before the Marines continued on about their business.

  “C’mon Jake, stop this adolescent behavior, and let’s get something to eat,” Mercer said, grinning.

  “Oh, you laugh now, Major,” Jake replied knowingly, “but your day will be coming, and it won’t be pretty.”

  “Hell, one more of those trips into the nest, and I’ll probably be rid of your sorry ass anyway. Are you sure you’ll be satisfied with regular food after you chowed down so heavy in the nest?”

  “Oh, you are a million laughs, Charlie. I’m rethinking this opportunity to lead you from the Gallant. You’ll love the taste of.”

  “Forget it,” Mercer said, waving Jake off, with a disgusted look on his face. “If I get stuck with that job, I’ll blow the planet up first. Let’s go eat before some other catastrophe cheats us out of a meal.”

  “We’re almost to the nest, Jas,” Jake said over the command line to Major Peters’ Command Wing Fighter. “You getting anything on your monitors?”

  “Not a thing, Sir,” Peters reported. “They could come through the jump gate we have not found yet though.”

  “Good,” Jake replied, as he sidestepped the body of a Bug Mercer had killed a moment before. “I’m just glad you’re out there with a full compliment of fighters.”

  “Thanks, Jake. I never thought I’d get to fire off one of those small planet killer torpedos in a battle. It was awesome. No wonder they don’t let us use those damn things all the time. I almost misjudged the blast radius. They had something on board that really went up.”

  “Yea, I read your report,” Jake acknowledged. “With the added scanners we have planted out where we first spotted them, we should get an early warning, and be able to trace their entry into the quadrant. I’ll check with you again when we’re ready to head back up.”

  “
Talk to you then, Peters out.”

  Moments later, Mercer led the way into the nest cavern of the second Queen. Mendoza’s squad followed close behind. They immediately engaged the Bugs within the Queen’s thrall inside the cavern. As Jake walked into the cavern with the rest of the Marines, Mercer positioned them by squad as they came through. Jake jogged directly over to check out the Queen’s birthing cavern. After looking it over with his enhanced vision lens in place, he swore loudly. Mercer came up beside him, after deploying their force.

  “What’s up, Jake?” Mercer asked.

  Jake indicated the top of the cavern over the birthing area. “The bitch sealed herself in tight.”

  Mercer looked up, and whistled in appreciation. Instead of a small opening at the top of the shielding, the shield was sealed along the entire top of the cavern where the crystal clusters were the thickest. Mercer watched his friend pace the entire length of the translucent shield surface. The Queen’s body writhed in a frightful dance as her high-pitched cries practically vibrated the ground beneath their feet.

  “We’ll have to wait for them to come up with the shield solvent, Jake,” Mercer sighed. “C’mon, lets get back up to the surface. As soon as they come up with the stuff, we’ll head right back down.”

  “You heard Risling,” Jake reminded him, as he walked to the back egg compartment entrance. “If we come up empty handed today, we’ll both be walking guard duty at a fertilizer plant on some farm colony.”

  “Well,” Mercer laughed. “What do you suggest then? I. oh no…no way, Jake. You can not be serious.”

  Jake blew away a few of the undersize Bugs hovering around the cavern, housing the Queen’s egg compartment.

  “Her sack’s sealed under that foul ass shit,” Mercer complained, grabbing Jake’s shoulder as he began entering the chamber. “You’ll have to go divin’ to get into a position to shoot. Good Lord, your rifle could stop working, and you’ll be stuck half way up her ass.”

  Jake stopped, and burst into laughter at Mercer’s last plea to keep him from going. A moment later, the two Marines were both leaning against the cavern wall, howling in laughter. Mendoza’s squad watched their two commanders, completely mystified at the source of their amusement, as they shot into the egg cavern entrance periodically. Jake straightened finally, and clapped Mercer on the back.