Casserine

by Bernard Lee DeLeo

  “Yes Sir,” Johnson said, saluting.

  Jake walked back over to the table with Mercer, and sat down again. “Now, where were we?”

  Chapter 28

  Strategy and a New Weapon

  “You didn’t like the way I handled the negotiations, Mr. President?” Jake asked, as he leaned back in the chair he had placed in front of the vid screen on the bridge of the Intrepid.

  “General,” President Constantine sighed. “It was barbaric, but of course you are more popular than ever. If you ever wanted my job, you could be elected in a landslide.”

  “No thanks Sir, I’ll stick with what I have. Shall I stay around any longer?”

  “After your intervention in the negotiations, we really have had nothing but continued success. The United Arab Emirate have retreated from the lands they’ve been bullying for years in Earth Command, and my envoys are helping the Saudis set up their first democratic elections. All appears well here,” President Constantine replied. “You seem anxious to get on your way.”

  “Yes Sir,” Jake answered. “I’m glad things worked out here, but I need to get a handle on things out in the colonies. The faster we get our problems solved with the Aliens, the faster we can move on to more mundane things like exploration, and trade.”

  “You act confident of the outcome, General.”

  Jake shrugged. “What choice do I have, Sir? I have the best people in the galaxy working on weapons, shielding, and even cloaking devices to mask our ship signature. We will come out on top of this, or else. Any race, which would turn loose a Bug horde as a weapon on non-combatants, has no mercy. I have to assume they have triangulated the Tarawa Jump Gate.

  Their next stop, if we allow them to wipe us out of the colonies, will probably be Earth. Negotiation from a position of weakness works even less well out there than it does here. If we can make peace with these Aliens, we will, but it won’t be from our knees.”

  “I guess you’ll be in touch when you can?” President Constantineasked.

  Jake looked at the image on the vid screen, and then around the bridge of the Intrepid before returning his gaze to the President. “We will indeed, Sir. Sorry about the flack you had to take over my heavy handed problem solving.”

  “I gave you the problem, so it was my job after you solved it to handle the rest. Machiavellian wit states that the victors write the history. Good luck, Jake, I hope to speak to you soon. Constantine out.”

  Jake sat for a moment more, watching the blank screen, Mercer came over and handed him a cup of tea. Jake took it from him carefully, and sipped the still cooling mixture. “Thanks, Charlie. Are we ready to go?”

  “Colonel Peters says we can get started whenever you say,” Mercerreplied.

  Jake stood up and walked over to where Peters and Corey were standing, with Mercer trailing. “Charlie says you’re all set to go.” “On your command, General,” Peters replied with a grin. “Engage,” Jake deadpanned.

  Peters immediately started laughing, as did Corey. Mercer elbowed Peters. “I told you not to let him see those old Star Trek vids, Sir.”

  “It was Jack’s fault,” Peters said in mock indignation. “I don’tsee.”

  “Ahem,” Jake interrupted. “Can we argue my movie tastes on the way to the Alien war?”

  “Aye, aye, Sir,” Peters replied, looking sternly at Corey. “If I can get my Exec to resume her duties, we will get underway immediately.”

  Corey started to mouth a quick rejoinder, and then thought better of it. “I can see it’s back to business. I’ll be down in engineering.”

  “Let’s all have dinner together tonight, Sara,” Jake suggested. “I want to make sure we have a plan as to how we will proceed when we get back to Omaha.”

  Sara nodded. “Will you be getting that gold brick Byers up toattend?”

  Jake laughed. “I am so going to tell her what you said. Yea, I think she’ll be joining us, although her security clearance is so low, we’ll have to seal her ears so she can’t hear anything.”

  “Oh yea,” Corey grinned, “that’ll work.”

  Jake looked around the dining table set up in his quarters, where Mercer, Johnson, Corey, Peters, Dougherty, and Adrian sat finishing their meals. “We have two options as I see the situation when we arrive at Omaha. One, we can go through the gate in full force, and hope we catch them by surprise. Two, we can try scouting them as Jas and I have discussed before, and if the opportunity arises, we can make a quick hit.”

  “If they’re not stupid, and I don’t believe for a moment they are,” Peters pointed out, “they’ll have the area under round the clock surveillance. The survival rate outside the Jump Gate might be non-existent.”

  “The shielding Nick pioneered may be our edge though, Colonel,” Dougherty pointed out. “They have no idea we have anything like it as yet.”

  “Nor do they know about Nick’s breakthrough on a weapon to dissolve their shielding,” Mercer added. “You had some strategy for cloaking a ship from detection, didn’t you, Colonel Peters?”

  “You guys will think it’s crazy,” Peters balked. “I was wondering if we could get through their gate, and then shut down just before we emerge in the Command Wing. If we brought a Drop Ship in tow through the gate with us, we could use it to silently get close to them. The power signature on a shielded Drop Ship would be very low. If we don’t have to go far, it will work.”

  “If they have ships waiting, like we do at Tarawa, you’d be a sitting duck,” Corey put in.

  “We guard the Tarawa Jump Gate because of pirates and weapons runners,” Mercer added. “They may not have anything to guard, and they don’t know we have their gate triangulated.”

  “Sara’s right though,” Adrian said, leaning forward. “It’s a big gamble, and you would have no protection.”

  “We’d have the new shielding technology, which they don’t know we have,” Peters replied. “I could fire up the Command Wing at an instant if they’re waiting for us.”

  “If they aren’t real close to the gate, it would take a long time to get towed near them with a Drop Ship,” Johnson offered.

  “We could still get inside to scan the area, and find out where the hell they are,” Jake said. “If Jas has planet killers loaded, we’ll just shoot first, and ask questions later. Once he let loose, he can head on back through the gate, and we’ll have the Gallant, the Intrepid, and a bunch of Command Wing Fighters waiting for them to follow. I’d like to try it. Even if they’re days away from a tow by the Drop Ship, it would be worth it to get close enough for a complex scan of their planet. We won’t need to worry about detection once we get a close look, and decide whether to give them something to think about. It will be a gamble whether we can beat them back to the gate, which is where the shielding will come into play.”

  “I talked to Nick,” Dougherty said, with some excitement creeping into his voice. “He told me he’s near to a breakthrough having to do with the mixture of the Queen’s birthing chamber juice, and the shielding material. It has something to do with visual resonance. He said it’s a wonder what you can do with an unlimited budget.”

  “Bull,” Jake remarked. “Nick’s an honest to God genius. We’ll have to give him his own palace with servants, just so he doesn’t go private sector on us.”

  “He loves what he does,” Corey added. “I think he’d do it for free.”

  “All I know is we’d have been in a hell of a lot of trouble down on Bougainville if not for his shield solvent,” Mercer replied. “I sure hope he don’t go anywhere before this Alien thing is over.”

  “Amen,” Colonel Peters intoned.

  “Hello, Jake,” Risling greeted.

  “Hello, Governor,” Jake replied, as he sat down in front of the monitor in his quarters, with Adrian taking a seat next to him. “How’s it feel to be the Colonial Military Governor?”

  “About the same,” Risling answered. “I needed the rank, so I could still keep you in line.”

  “I th
ink you have me confused with my undisciplined partner here,” Jake laughed, as he staved off an elbow to his rib cage.

  “No confusion at all, General,” Risling stated. “You are looking very well, Captain Byers, after the hell you were put through.”

  “Thank you, Sir,” Adrian replied. “I’m fine now, so if this rebellious lout next to me gives you any trouble, just let me know.”

  “Lout?” Jake repeated. He looked at the screen. “You see what I have to put up with, Governor?”

  “Tea Jake, I see the chain of command is back in place,” Risling kidded him. “How long before you get to Omaha?”

  “A couple of more hours, Sir. We’re all rested up here and ready to rock. We have some ideas as to how to proceed also.”

  “That’s good news. As soon as I returned to Genoa, I felt some undercurrent of tension. Everyone here is anxious over what’s happening. They know this could get ugly.”

  “The President has ordered full out production of more Gallant class ships, and Command Wing Fighters. We gave him the new shield and weapon specs. He said he looked forward to talking with you, once you were settled in back at Genoa,” Jake informed him. “In any case, you’ll have more war ships arriving as fast as they can make them. When everything gets calmed down back there, he will be sending the Yorktown to buttress our fleet at Omaha. They have enough surface warships to take care of business on Earth, especially since everyone on the planet now knows we will deal harshly with rogue nations.”

  “Colonel Peters filled me in on your rather blunt end to hostilities on Earth. Not having to deal with Earth Command makes everything a hell of a lot easier.”

  “Sir,” Adrian cut in. “What have you done about Casserine?”

  “It’s become our largest storage facility. We had to enlarge the storage facility for the increased production the Tennyson has been transporting from Omaha,” Risling explained. “Why Captain, you homesick?”

  “A little, Sir.”

  “Well, the only people touching the surface there are in the new gravity suits, and they only stay long enough to load and off load. It looks very doubtful we’ll ever get anyone interested in colonizing the place other than you two weirdos,” Risling chuckled. “You can have the damn place as far as I’m concerned.”

  “We’ll take it,” Adrian said quickly.

  “Of course it will hinge on my military commander’s resolution of the Alien threat,” Risling pointed out.

  “I’ll have him resign,” Adrian replied, only half joking, as Jake shook his head.

  “Over my dead body,” Risling said firmly.

  “Don’t pay any attention to her, Sir,” Jake replied. “She’s still hopped up on pain killers. Just say the word, and I’ll have her clapped in irons, awaiting trial for disrespect of a senior officer.”

  Risling laughed, as Adrian had wrapped her arms around Jake’s neck, and was trying to choke him. She could not even make him blink, as he continued talking without indicating any discomfiture.

  “As you can see, Governor, I lead with an iron hand,” Jake said, gesturing back at his struggling attacker.

  “Oh yes, General Matthews,” Risling continued to laugh. “I see you have the situation well in hand. Call me when you proceed with whatever plan you decide on. Risling out.”

  Jake sat with Adrian, Mercer, and Dougherty in the passenger end of his Alpha Drop Ship, for the flight down to Omaha. The Intrepid orbited Omaha, while the Gallant had taken up a position halfway between Omaha, and the Alien Jump Gate. Command Wing Fighters flew patrol and training missions at staggered times, scanning for any anomalies in the quadrant.

  “Why did Major Richardson give us specific landing instructions, away from the main complex, Jake?” Adrian asked, breaking the silence. “Is something wrong there you’re hiding?”

  Jake looked at her with an amused grin on his face, as Mercer and Dougherty politely ignored Adrian’s familiarity with the military commander of the colonies, without laughing. “He told me he had a surprise for us. Shall I have him report in to you before making such hasty demands, Captain?”

  “You… “ Adrian paused, as she heard the two men on the other side of Jake begin to snicker in anticipation of her outburst. “I was just curious, Sir,” she finished coldly.

  “Although I’m glad you are well enough to accompany us down to the surface, Captain,” Jake continued on the same tact. “Tour duties do not intersect with strategic planning or even flight plans suggested by command grade officers. I agreed to let you take over the medical facilities on Omaha, because of their dearth of medical personnel. I did not, however, agree to run every thread of strategy or planning by you for your approval.”

  Mercer lost it first, his bass laughter too contagious for Dougherty, who joined him. Jake watched Adrian’s face turn bright red through what was left of the bruising she had endured. She leaned back against the back of her seat, and folded her arms across her chest. The familiarity she and Jake shared comically on Casserine had entertained the Intrepid’s crew through the rest of their journey to Omaha. Once Adrian had left the Med Center as a patient, she had been unable to curb her excursions into everything Jake was involved in. Jake’s patient, but sharp dress downs of his wife on an official level, were repeated often, along with the pointed remarks, which had engendered them.

  “I did it again, didn’t I?” Adrian asked softly.

  ‘Tea, Hon,” Jake answered, as Mercer and Dougherty calmed down. “You’ve proven to be a hell of a Medical Officer, and you were awarded the Cross of Valor for your actions while in captivity by Earth Command, but you seem unable to remember we are no longer alone on Casserine.”

  “I am a slow learner,” Adrian admitted, looking over at Mercer and Dougherty, who waved at her, and nodded their heads in unison.

  “The General here never tires of reminding you of your place though,” Mercer observed.

  “It could be worse, Ma’am,” Dougherty put in. “Jake reprimanded a miner on Omaha, who decided to challenge his authority there. He’s still taking his meals by way of a straw.”

  “Thanks for the analogy, Tim, but the General wouldn’t hit me, would you, Dear?” Adrian asked innocently.

  “You never know,” Jake replied, shaking his head. “I may say no now, and later, yes. Not all punishment has to be delivered with a fist to the face.”

  This statement provoked another bout of laughter, which Adrian joined, as she gripped Jake by the ear. “In your dreams, buster.”

  “Two minutes to touch down,” Colonel Peters said over the intercom, his voice cracking from trying to deliver the information without laughing.

  “Jason Peters,” Adrian said, indignation in her voice. “You have the intercom open, don’t you?”

  “Ah, sorry, Captain,” Peters apologized sheepishly. “I figured if the General had anything to tell me on the way down from the Intrepid, I would make it easy for him.”

  “I’ll bet,” Adrian replied doubtfully.

  “I have a standing order for my Drop Ship pilot to have the intercom open at all times,” Jake admonished. “Also, the proper manner to address my Drop Ship pilot would be Colonel Peters, Captain.”

  “I am beginning to see I will remain the butt of official protocol, whether I like it or not,” Adrian sighed. “I apologize, Colonel Peters, it won’t happen again.”

  “Oh yea,” Mercer broke in. “At least not until the next time the Captain opens her mouth.”

  “I wish Sara was here,” Adrian remarked. “This old boys’ club you guys have is wearing on me. We need more female voices of authority.”

  “You have contaminated the Executive Officer of the Intrepid quite enough, Captain,” Jake replied with a grin. “She needs no further instruction, or encouragement from you in these matters.”

  “Amen to that,” Colonel Peters said under his breath.

  The hatch opened, and Jake saw Colonel Tokoru standing with Nick Richardson, waiting impatiently for them. Richardson was shifting fr
om one foot to another, as Tokoru looked from one side to another. Jake led his little group off the Intrepid’s Alpha Drop Ship, coming forward to shake hands with the two men.

  “You guys look like you’re ready to launch into orbit without a ship,” Jake remarked. “What the heck.”

  “Jake,” Nick said excitedly, motioning the group to follow him. “You have got to see this.”

  Colonel Peters had joined the group from the cockpit, waving his hands in surrender as Adrian shook a finger at him. They all followed Richardson and Tokoru away from the Drop Ship. Richardson turned just as they reached the edge of the landing zone surface. He was holding a portable control panel. As Jake’s group turned with him, Richardson pressed one of the panels, and a dome enclosure just larger than the Drop Ship closed around it. The material of the dome sparkled, and Jake could see something shimmering throughout the cover surface. Richardson pressed another panel, and everything on the landing zone disappeared.

  “Holy shit,” Mercer exclaimed in awe.

  The others were already carefully moving closer to the dome shield to touch it. Jake lightly ran his hand over it as the others did, and felt a slight charge. He looked back at Richardson. “My God, Nick, what have you done now?”

  Richardson and Tokoru both started laughing. Jake walked over, and put his arm around the young weapon’s officer. “Please tell me you can do this magic trick to a ship in flight.”

  Richardson nodded his head proudly. “I could make this whole planet disappear if I had enough of the right ingredients, and sufficient power. The shield is made up of a combination of exact amounts of the Queen’s birthing chamber liquid, and her cavern shielding material. I added a minute particle beam charge evenly to the mixture, and it sets up a visual resonance as it tries to dissipate the charge. The constantly flowing ions the material dispels, makes everything within its sphere take on the characteristics of whatever environment the object is in. The object appears invisible, at least to human sight. I have to hope the Aliens will have similar visual difficulty seeing through it.”