Casserine

by Bernard Lee DeLeo

  “You have made a fatal error, my foolish man. You would do well to join me against the Matthews. I would make you a very rich man.”

  “Sell out my best friend for a scum sucking dog like you,” Mercer grinned. “You know where the particle beam rifles are. All you have to do is get through me.”

  Dougherty reached the cockpit, and breathlessly began working the main video panel, while Corey jumped up from the maintenance check she was completing for leaving Casserine’s brutal gravity. She glimpsed flashes of the hanger bay flashing across the screen, as Dougherty searched for the proper cam angle.

  “Damn,” Dougherty exclaimed in frustration. “Sara, can you get the area next to the gravity hatch on screen.”

  Corey hurried over without hesitation, and moments later they had a dual angle shot of Hushanni and Mercer on screen. “What the hell’s going on, Tim? What’s Charlie doing?”

  “Hushanni offered us a deal to sell out Jake, and Charlie took offense to it,” Dougherty replied, settling into the seat in front of the screen.

  “What, that torture device he carries with him everywhere, like a long lost son, isn’t enough?” Corey asked, sitting next to him, and turning up the sound.

  “I believe this is the warm up,” Dougherty replied.

  Hushanni moved smoothly in front of Mercer, who watched him with appreciation.

  “Outstanding,” Mercer observed. “You have some moves, Sod.”

  “I am a master of unarmed combat, my ignorant friend,” Hushanni replied. “I will make this quick, but painful.”

  “Uh oh,” Dougherty whispered, starting to stand up. “The particle beam rifles are.”

  Corey grabbed his arm, pulling him back in his seat. “Sit down,

  Tim.”

  “I don’t think Charlie bargained for this, Sara. I better.”

  “Relax,” Corey interrupted. “Charlie was the Marine unarmed combat champion, four years running, back when we were all stationed at the Gate.”

  “He could even take the General?” Dougherty asked in astonishment.

  “Are you kidding? Those two never fought. Jake had no interest in the title, and he worked Charlie’s corner. They’re like brothers. They mess around with each other, and Jake helped Charlie train; but although the commandant actually requested seeing them in a match, they refused. Charlie…oh, here they go.”

  Hushanni moved on Mercer with a lightning fast, roundhouse kick to Mercer’s head. Mercer waited until the last moment, slammed his right forearm cross body into Hushanni’s right leg, and then shot his right elbow directly into Hushanni’s nose as the man’s momentum carried him directly into it. Hushanni screamed. Blood exploded from his mangled nose, and he landed heavily on his back, with both hands covering his face as he rocked back and forth in misery.

  Mercer had continued his follow through, ready to strike the killing blow from Hushanni’s side. When he saw Hushanni needed no other attention, Mercer stood up. “You were right Sod, that was quick and painful.”

  “Oh man,” Dougherty whispered to a cringing Corey. “I bet thathurt.”

  “Ouch,” Corey replied, shutting off the vid screen. “You better get down there and fix our guest up before he drowns in his own blood. So much for Jake not knowing about this little extracurricular activity.”

  Dougherty grabbed the cockpit first aid kit, and headed out. “Jake ain’t going to like this.”

  Chapter 47

  Minor Setback

  After transporting the explosive mines to an area several hundred yards away from the storage area, Jake called the Intrepid. “Jas, you have a fix on me?”

  “Every step of the way, General,” Colonel Peters replied. “I didn’t want to break silence, or interrupt your local operation down there, but that was a very instructive interrogation.”

  Jake laughed. “Tea, well I didn’t have time for niceties. Let me get back to Alpha, and then vaporize this position.”

  “Will do, Jake. See you in a little while.”

  “You bet, Jas. I’m taking this stupid helmet off for the walk back, so I’ll talk to you when we get back to the Intrepid. Matthews out.”

  Jake removed his helmet, letting the cool Casserine air wash over his face for a moment before continuing to Alpha. It took him nearly half an hour to get back to the gravity hatch on Alpha, and another ten minutes waiting for the transition inside the chamber to Earth normal gravity. He enjoyed the intense feeling of lightness, as Casserine’s pull on him lessoned by the minute. By the time he exited the chamber, Jake felt almost euphoric. His mood dissipated quickly as he met Corey, Mercer, and Dougherty on the other side of the hatch.

  “Who died?” Jake asked, concern etched in his face. “You three look all right. Where’s our guest?”

  “He’s fine, Jake,” Mercer replied. “We’ve already had our little indoctrination, and he’s eager to make all of this right.

  Jake saw Corey and Dougherty exchange quick glances, and he knew something was wrong. “Look, I’m beat, so can we quit this game while I’m still in a good mood? In fact, I’m going to go take a shower, and put on a clean uniform. You three have Hushanni in front of the cockpit by the time I get done, okay?”

  “Sure, Jake,” Dougherty agreed quickly. “Get cleaned up, and we’ll have him ready to proceed.”

  Jake glared at the three for a moment longer, and then nodded. He handed Dougherty his weapons and pack before walking across the hanger bay to the compartment housing their toilet facilities, and six decontamination showers. Fifteen minutes later, he emerged from the room in a fresh uniform, feeling better than he had in many hours. As Jake approached the cockpit area, he saw his three friends waiting for him with a cleaned up Hushanni, sporting a bandage covering the area from just under his eyes to his mouth. By the time he reached them, Jake’s anger was almost palpable.

  “It’s not as bad as it looks, Jake,” Corey assured him. “Tim.”

  “Thank you, Major,” Jake cut her off. “I think I can handle this without the stroking.”

  Jake examined Hushanni closely. The man trembled in a continuous vibrant motion, which Jake recognized as the aftermath of a Mr. Snappy session. He could see from the swelling and discoloration that Hushanni’s nose had not only been smashed, but that his cheekbones were probably fractured also. Hushanni glanced in abject terror at Mercer every few seconds as if making sure of his location.

  “Well Charlie, this certainly looks like your work, both physically, and mentally,” Jake observed. “Want to explain why Mr. Hushanni had to get a facial before he was educated?”

  “I’m not offering excuses, Jake,” Mercer reasoned. “He made Tim and I an offer to sell you out. We had words. One thing led to another, and.”

  “Major Corey,” Jake turned to Corey. “Did you have an opportunity to intervene in this before the facial?”

  “Sir,” Corey began hesitantly. “I did have a window of opportunity, but did not act quickly enough. Tim and I were in the cockpit. We.”

  “You two were in the cockpit, leaving Han Solo alone with the prisoner, in Alpha’s hanger bay, loaded with particle beam weapons?” Jake shook his head in disbelief.

  “It does seem pretty stupid when you blurt it out like.” Doughertybegan.

  “Tim,” Jake wheeled to face Dougherty. “I expect you to make sure little lapses in Charlie’s judgment do not impede serious missions. You three were aware of five thousand colonists depending on us, were you not?”

  “Jake,” Mercer said, holding his hands out in a placating fashion. “Sod here will do and say anything necessary. We have all the info.”

  “Oh good,” Jake replied sarcastically. “Was there something you didn’t understand about Hushanni needing to give his pirates, out there with the transport, voice commands?”

  “I understood,” Mercer said defensively. “He’ll say.” Jake cut him off with a hand gesture, turning back to a cringing Hushanni.

  “I want you to say this sentence, Sod,” Jake ordered. “M
y nose feelsfine.”

  “’By ‘doz…’beals ‘bine.”

  “Oh shit,” Mercer whispered. “Jake, I’m sorry, I.”

  “Ah forget it, Charlie,” Jake sighed. “I’m the last one to get on anyone about something like this. It’s just.”

  “We know, Jake,” Corey broke in. “There are a lot of people depending on us.”

  “Did you find out the frequency of the calls to his gang?” Jakeasked.

  “Once every twenty-four hour period,” Dougherty replied, happy to talk about anything other than Hushanni’s nose. “We have sixteen hours before the next check-in.”

  Jake’s face brightened. “That’s better than I imagined. Where’s the transport being held?”

  “In the shadow of a moon off of Rigel,” Mercer replied.

  “Call Jas,” Jake said, with some excitement. “Maybe we can make it there in time before the next check-in.”

  “Strap in boys, this will be close,” Corey said, turning to the cockpit. “We can call Jas on the way up to the Intrepid. “C’mon Jake, you fly up with me while you talk to Jas, and let Han Solo and Luke Skywalker handle Hushanni.”

  Moments later, as Corey guided Alpha off the surface of Casserine in an elliptical route to ease the gravity escape, Jake called into the Intrepid.

  “Jas, the transport’s being held behind a moon off of Rigel, can the Intrepid make it there in under sixteen hours?”

  “Wait one, Jake,” Colonel Peters replied. “I’ll run the numbers.”

  Peters came back on thirty seconds later. “It’ll be close, but I think we can do it. We just have to hope we don’t run into any ion storms or such.”

  “We’ll have to do the approach cloaked,” Jake said. “I want the pirate ship made into dust the instant we’re in range. They’ll have people on board the transport, so we’ll have to deal with that mess once their captors no longer exist.”

  “The Intrepid will be ready when you are, Sir, Peters out.”

  “Hey Jake, want to see how Hushanni got his facial?” Corey asked, looking over at Jake with a grin.

  “Hell yea, I didn’t know it was on vid,” Jake replied. “I thought maybe it happened right after he came out of the hatch.”

  “It didn’t come about quite…oh hell, here see for yourself. I’ve got it cued up.” Corey reached over in front of Jake, and ran the vid of Mercer’s encounter with Hushanni.

  Minutes later, Jake was roaring in laughter over Mercer’s last ‘quick and painful’ line. “God, that was almost worth endangering five thousand lives to see. Don’t tell anyone I said that, Sara.”

  “My lips are sealed,” Corey assured him.

  “Hey,” Colonel Peters exclaimed as they approached the fuel pirates’ small cruiser. “Forty-five minutes to spare, General.”

  “You are the man,” Jake replied happily, as he saw the ship on screen. “Where’s the transport?”

  “They have it floating around with all the space debris, orbiting Rigel,” Corey answered. “We tracked it as we approached. There’s no doubt about the signal. That’s the Trenton. They have it powered down to the point it uses only enough juice for life support, and to keep their orbit from decaying.”

  “Then they won’t be able to see us vaporize the fuel pirate cruiser?” Jake asked, without taking his eyes off the screen.

  “No Sir,” Peters replied. “They won’t know the ship’s been hit, and the pirates won’t get off a warning either. The ship is an old Newport class cruiser. We could disable her weapons and communications so fast they won’t know what hit them. They have a crew of forty-eight.”

  Jake looked from the screen to Peters. “We do not have a clue whether they have any other communications capability, Jas. We take no chances. Want me to fire on the ship?”

  “You are kidding, right General?” Peters grinned. “I was just making you aware of your options.”

  Jake smiled back. “Blow those pricks to kingdom come, Colonel.”

  “Aye, aye, Sir.” Peters turned to his weapons officer, who was poised at his panel. “Fire.”

  They had chosen the newly developed anti-matter weapon. The Intrepid de-cloaked for a split second, and fired the self-contained torpedo. The blast illuminated space for a moment, and then blackened the area where the ship had once been positioned as if a black hole had been created for a moment in space.

  “Oh baby,” Jake pronounced in awe, “that’ll learn ya’. Who says there’s no justice out here? C’mon Sara, let’s go get Alpha moving, while Jas eases us over next to the transport. Tim, Charlie, and the boys will be eager to finish this little rescue.”

  Corey rushed off the Bridge ahead of Jake, calling out over her shoulder. “I’ll have her fired up and ready to rock by the time you throw on the rest of your gear.”

  Jake looked over at Colonel Peters. “Cruise on over, Jas, and then just shadow us. Put the other drop ships on full alert in case we need to evacuate that ship real fast. If something happens where Tim has to blast a hole through the hull to save our necks, I don’t want to be caught flat footed.”

  “Don’t worry, Jake,” Peters said, shaking hands with his Commander. “Good luck. We’ll seal the Trenton up from here if we have to. Tell Tim, we’ll fill any holes he makes.”

  “I’ll tell him.”

  Jake grabbed up the top half of his armor, and fastened his helmet to the side. Minutes later, he was entering his already hovering Alpha Drop Ship. The hatch closed behind him, as Corey had been monitoring his arrival. She cloaked the drop ship as Jake strapped in next to Mercer near the deck gun turret. He nodded and waved a little salute at now Lieutenant Vic McClure’s company of a hundred and seventy-five Marines, already strapped in against the bulkhead. They all snapped salutes at Jake while seated.

  “You have a plan, Destructo?” Mercer queried him.

  “We’ll go in through the rear cargo bay hatch. Sara told me last night she can snuggle right up against it with Alpha. The first they know of the boarding will be when we open the hatch, Tim already showed me how. You and I will take a couple of squads and secure the hostages, while Vic takes the rest of the men for pirate extermination.”

  “Could you tell how many there are?”

  “When we get over near there, Jas will scan the shit out of the transport, and relay the info directly to Tim’s setup in the turret,” Jake explained. “He’ll give us updates the whole way. Vic will know right where to hunt. All of the hostages are being held in the cargo bay.”

  “Sounds good. How come we’re watching this time?” Mercer asked.

  “Because we’re in charge, you boob. These aren’t Bugs, and we have to make sure none of those pirates get any big ideas about blowing away the hostages. Besides, we’ll have the dangerous part. They’re bound to have a few guys back with the hostages. I want our best guys ready to take them out. I.”

  Dougherty dropped down from the turret gun. “Sara says to put your helmets on, gentlemen. I’ve received the data stream from the Intrepid. Here’s where I think our unwanted guests are.”

  Dougherty showed Jake and Mercer the scanned insides of the Trenton on a portable panel. “See, there are about a dozen guys out in front of a large group in the thousands, I figure are the hostages, in the cargo bay. We’ll be putting you guys in at the back of the group, away from the guards.”

  “That’ll work,” Jake acknowledged.

  “How about the others?” Mercer asked.

  “There are five on the bridge, ten more in this berthing area here,” Dougherty pointed out the life signs on the starboard side of the ship, near the bridge. There are another dozen on the port side, where the galley is.”

  “Could be worse,” Jake mused. “The tricky part will be the bridge. If they do anything goofy up there like open the big cargo hatch. We could get vacuumed out into space.”

  “Colonel Peters already thought of that,” Dougherty replied. “He’s going to be in charge of the Trenton’s bridge. They won’t be able to do squat, except
throw temper tantrums.”

  “In that case, I’ll signal Jas when we get the hostages secured. He can signal the bridge crew to surrender or die. If they choose surrender, we’ll have them seal the hatch against their buddies, who will be dying outside. Jas can even have them broadcast a message over the Trenton’s intercom to surrender or die. Maybe we can make the hunt a bit less dangerous.”

  “They don’t have anything that can get through our armor, Jake,” Dougherty added. “The scans show only pulse weaponry.”

  “Thanks, Tim,” Jake nodded, taking the panel from him. “I’ll give this panel to Vic. Can you update it from the turret.”

  “You bet,” Dougherty replied. “I better get back. Get your helmets on guys, before Sara comes down here, and slaps us around.”

  “The hostages are all being held in the transport bay, Vic,” Jake said, having given the panel to McClure, who nodded as Jake pointed out the areas where the pirates were. “Colonel Mercer and I will secure the hostages, while you boys go blow the shit out of the rest of these weasels. We’ll have trouble getting in sight unseen, even in the back, and we’ll have to deal with colonists freaking out at the sight of us.”

  “Who handles the guards with the colonists, Sir?” McClure asked.

  “I’ll lead one squad to the starboard side, and Colonel Mercer will take another to the port side, that’s the left as you face the front, Charlie.”

  “Screw you, General,” Mercer fired back in the midst of laughing Marines.

  “Pick us out a dozen guys, Vic, and then lay out your plans with the men,” Jake told McClure. “I want the pirates on our flanks up front blocked, and killed. Some will surrender, if all goes well. It’s up to you whether to accept or not. Take no chances. Kill if in doubt. Give Charlie and I about thirty seconds to get their attention out in front of the hostages, and then double time it right on past them. We’ll keep them busy, if they ain’t dead by then.”