by Jessie Wolf
“OH Holy Shit on a Stick! Please tell me there is at least a platoon of Heavy Armor Infantry standing watch there.” It seems the good General has a better grasp of the situation than I did. When I shake my head no he quickly asks. “Can you get me an enrollment list for the school so I know just how big of a security threat we have on our hands?”
“Excuse Mike, but what am I missing here?”
My old friend got a look of extreme concern on his face. “What I am about to tell you is considered eyes only, My Lady.” I nod my head in understanding. “Fifteen years ago the Military Intelligence Service received a set of plans and scenarios for what they termed ‘soft targets’. At first glance most of these scenarios were blown off as the ramblings of a few paranoid low ranking soldiers. Men who did not understand how the ‘real’ world worked. Then three years after that report had been submitted to MIS, the vacation space station Isaac Asimov was rammed by two drop ship’s destroying it and killing over seven thousand souls. Those so called paranoid low ranking soldiers had set out the attack scenario step by step on how it would happen.”
“Please, tell me they were not the ones responsible for the attack.” I damned near pleaded with him. I remember that attack like it was yesterday and the madmen who were responsible according to the official Press releases.
“No, they were all on Hawthlow freezing their asses off for daring to send such ‘unfounded paranoid delusions’ to the MIS and ‘wasting’ their time. No, it was the New Orion Planetary Liberation Organization who flew those drop ships in that terrorist attack. However, those young men were all taken to Earth Prime and placed in a totally new department of the MIS called Threat Trends. Their whole mission in life is to come up with these types of scenarios.”
“You mean to tell me that MI actually used their collective heads for once?”
“They did more than that; they put four whole divisions of Death Dealer Jump Infantry at their sole command for taking out potential terrorist organizations. However, all that is beside the point, their main job is to point out weak points in our government, society, and economy and come up with a plan of action to protect them. One of which you have now found yourself in, Lady Maiha. So can you get me that list?”
The more I heard, the more I needed to know. “Mike, just what is the scenario that I have the misfortune to find myself in here?”
He sat back in his chair, and then gave me the look. The one no one wants to see. Whatever this scenario is, it’s bad and I am most likely fracked. “They called it the ‘Master Minds’ scenario. In that situation a terrorist cell takes over a school of high profile students and proceeds to black mail their parents. Some for funds others for information, and finally one family for the secrets to certain military weapons of mass destruction.” As he laid out the scenario for me I did a fast inventory of the students here at school. What I found I did not like. There were at least ninety-eight to a hundred and forty-three students whose parents fit one or more of those three categories and that wasn’t counting the High Families children. Oh Shit on a Stick indeed. I need those troops here yesterday, not tomorrow.
“Mike, I have seven deactivated Dealers on the night shift for the security here, plus two of those experimental Dealers that they couldn’t shutdown without killing their host here.”
“What about the rest of the security staff?”
“Let’s just say, their perfect for keeping a bunch of teenage girls in line, but that’s it.”
“Ok, talk to me boss. How many troops and what kind do you want on site?”
“That depends, how many divisions is, First High Lord of the Military Honor Harrington, going to let us station here on a permanent bases? Do we know yet?”
“I have some good news and bad news when it comes to that, Maiha. Which do you want first?”
“Give me the bad. Might as will get it over with.”
“Of all the division that are being stationed here, one heavy and one light, will be tasked with training the new second generation Death Dealers that have been approved for full integration and production. I know that sounds like we’re going to be putting out robots, but its only wording so please let it go?”
The fact that the FHL made the training of the new Death Dealers, thanks in no small part to me, sound like their building a bunch of robots just pissed me off. Those young men and women will be giving up almost fifty-five percent of their bodies for this power. It just wasn’t right to consider them less than human like that. Then again the original Death Dealers were treated much the same way when we first came into being. I’ll let it be for now. “Go on, what’s the good news? It can’t be much better than the bad news so let’s have it.”
“Six of the nine divisions that are already here are staying. The three that are due to head out at the end of next month will be replaced by four whole new divisions that will be permanently assigned to Hades Primes. In short there will be a total of ten Death Dealer divisions on Hades from now on. Like I said earlier two of those will be stationed here as training cadre, but four heavy and four light divisions well give anyone second thoughts of trying another stunt like they did last month.”
Talk about going from worrying about not having enough, to where the Hell am I going to put them all? Mike must have been thinking along the same lines as me because his next words put me at ease.
“I figure we can place one light and one heavy in Port City, that will basically secure the Star Port and the surrounding area giving us a solid beachhead for reinforcements if need be. The two training cadre divisions we can station over in the Great Plain of the centurial continent, that’ll give them all the room they need for training the new recruits. The other six we can scatter around the planet placing one division in each location. That way we’ll have a least one to two divisions we can use as a quick reaction force in case we get hit somewhere besides Star Port City.” He was smiling as he laid out his deployment plan for me. Then he showed me a map of the planet with little blue dots indicating where he thought would be the best paces for those units. As I looked that the proposed placements I felt that we were missing something.
“Hold on for a second, Mike. I think we need a locals point of view on this.” I turned and looked over at Alice who was still very pissed off at me. She had been listening to our conversation, but had yet to comment. Then again she hadn’t said one word to me since we had left the Administration building. “Alice, can you come over here and take a look at these troop placements, please?” the look she gives me was not one that says ‘I love you’ but more of ‘I’ll do it, but I’m still pissed’.
Looking over my shoulder at the planetary map Alice gives it a quick one over then begins to cruse in some language I have never heard her use before. Thankful Dee De was able to pin point it and give me a translation. Oh, boy! Is she pissed off. Even Mike could tell as his next words let me know that his own AI had been translating her string of four letter words for him as well.
“Maiha, would you mind letting me know why your lovely bride is calling me and my staff everything, but human beings for the proposed placement points?”
“Because, you idiots have gone and set them up for orbital bombardment, that’s why! Each and every one of those positions is directly underneath one of our defense satellites. Don’t you fools ever think!” ok she was pissed and had a right to be. If we had gone through with the proposed placements every one of those divisions would have been in one strike kill zones. “Unless, you plan to move those satellites, do not place those divisions anywhere near those spots. Because if you do and someone high jacks those DF satellites, they’re dead within minutes.”
“Ok, baby, we get the hint. Other than that do you have any other suggestions on how and where we can place our new Death Dealer divisions?”
She leaned back over my shoulder and proceeded to use her figure to change the placement or switch the type of unit around with another. A light for a heavy or the reverse, in some cases she just she broke w
hole units down and spread them around. Some of these changes didn’t make any sense to me or Mike. “Alice, can you explain why you’re making some of those changes? And please don’t tell me it’s to drive me crazy.”
She looked at me and then Mike as if it should be obvious. When she saw we truly didn’t understand, she had the good graces to blush. “Oh, well…um… I don’t really know how to say this, so I’ll just say it. If you had left those units the way you were going to they would have been worthless as tits on a Virani bore hog.” At our still confused looks she explained further. “It’s like this, if you just go by the topography of those area you would have been right, but one of the factors you have to take in to account on Hades is the seasons. In the winter mouths those heavy units on the northern plains would have been rendered immobile by the heavy snow storms in that region. So you’re better off using fast, light, and highly mobile units like the light attack divisions you normally use for fast strikes against an enemy’s rear area. On the other side of that coin if you put those same light units in or around the wooded areas they would be ill-prepared for the basically open areas between the trees. Some of which are big enough to hide an Assault class APS behind. So instead of a light division as a whole in that area, a dispersed heavy with a cavalry regiment in support would be better utilized. I can go on, and on, about all of this, but unless you have local knowledge of these areas you wouldn’t understand.”
Looking up at her over my shoulder with a smile. “And that my dear is why, I need you to look over this plan. Remember when you said the Death Dealer Interrogators had no reference for dealing with the locals, well once again we have that same problem. We do not have the whole picture, where you do; we were only wondering why you were making the changes is all?”
“Oh, I thought I was being criticized again for not just going with the flow.” Damn, will she give me a chance to at least explain my actions from earlier when were alone. The look on her face we were going to have it out here and now. She was not going to back down, not even in front of one of our Commanders. Even Mike could see it.
“Ok, you two, I’ll play referee for your little Tiff. Now tell what the hell has you two damned near at each other’s throats.”
Alice just looked at me and waited. With a sigh I looked at one of my oldest friends and explained what had happened outside of the Headmasters office. When I finished Mike sat back and scratched his left arm shoulder. I can see that it is still bothering him. Finally after ten to twenty seconds he looked back at the two of us.
“As much as I hate to say this, she’s right, Maiha. Now hold on before you say anything, because you’re also in the right.” When Alice started to object he held up his hand stalling her. “I know you don’t want to hear this Alice, but if placing troops there to sure up the security, also helps motivate some of the less than supportive members of Parliament all the better. Are we playing fast and loose with the reasoning behind those reasons then so be it. The end result is the same the girls get the needed protection and the Emperor gets a little more support in the Parliament.”
“But, it’s black mail! How can you justify holding these girls hostage as a legitimate political tactic?” she still wasn’t seeing the whole story.
“Honey, we are not holding them hostage. I never was going to do that. If they want to go home, they can. We won’t stop them. We will not restrict their movements on or off the campus. All I want to do is make sure that so long as they are here on campus, and the surrounding area they are safe. Trust me that is all I’m doing here.”
Looking me in my eyes. “I want your word as the Head of House Nakatoma that you will not use those girls as hostages. No matter what happens.”
I had given that very scenario a good deal of thought, just to insure the good behavior of some of those high profile individuals. But Alice’s opinion of me means more than any political gain. “On the honor of House Nakatoma, no, that isn’t good enough. On my personal honor I give you my word that I will not use these girls as hostages, nor will I allow anyone else to do so. They will be protected from more than just terrorist and warmongers, but their own families as well.” By the time I finish she is smiling from ear to ear, and kisses me with a passion that is normally reserved for our bedroom. “Now can you answer one more question about the new deployments before we finish for the night?”
“Sure, but let me guess as to what it is. You want to know why I didn’t place any of the divisions in or near the Dragon Back Mountains.”
“Yah, why didn’t you? That whole area is one of the biggest natural defenses on all of Hades. If an enemy force got in there, we would lose at least two thirds of our DPF trying to get them out.” I was really curious as to why she avoided that enter mountain range.
“That’s because they belong to Prince Ravenswood’s people.” The smile on her face said it all.
“You mean to tell me that the High Wind Elves have a reservation on Hades.”
“Yup, and if you put any troops in or near those mountains you’re asking for all-out war with the Elves.”
“Why in the Hell weren’t we told this before now?!” Mike was visibly upset. He turned around and yell for his XO. “Wallace! Get a hold of the Nineteenth Cav and tell them to turn around now. They are not, I repeat not, to enter the Dragon Backs at all costs. Do you hear me?!” when he looked back at us I could tell something was up. “Lady Allison, do you know of someone we can trust to come help us plan our training maneuvers?”
“Um… sure, I believe Lieutenant Diana Silver Leaf, of our House Military can do that. Also get a hold of Captain Ravenswood. He should be able to give you a hand with the Dragon Back Mountain Elves.” Alice must have figured out what had happened before I did. She looked over at me. “If I were to guess, they asked someone from that area where they can do some mountain training and got told to use the Dragon Backs. Before you ask there is a long standing beef over the reservation going back to the founding of Hades and the Death Gates System.”
“Shit! Mike get those men out of there, now. I’ll have my people to you by zero six thirty tomorrow morning. I do not need another war on my hands.”
“Thank you, Lady Maiha; I could use all the help I can get right now. Can you free up any more of your House troops to act as local experts for us?” I can see there might be a problem I had not thought about.
“Get a hold of Lieutenant Susan Walking Water, over at the PDF Command Center. She should be able to find your local troops from all of the areas we will be placing troops. Don’t worry if she recommends them they’ll be trustworthy.”
“I’ll get a hold of her first thing in the morning. Now back to the original problem you contacted me for. I believe I can have four heavy infantry platoons to your school by midafternoon day after tomorrow.” He was working on the problem as we speak.
“Um… no, I don’t want to scare the students by having a company of motorized heavy infantry pulling onto school grounds.” After what I had just promised Alice I had to find a way of reinforcing the security staff without making it look like an all-out invasion of the school. I was thinking about the security staff and how most of those men were either retired from the police force or former military. That’s when it hit me. “General, how many Provost Marshall troops do we have on planet?”
Mike started typing the request for information into his computer on his end before I had even finished my question. “Between the six divisions that will be staying close to two full battalions, Lady Maiha.” Way more than enough to cover what I needed.
“Ok, now how many of those are close to retirement or to the end of their enlistment?”
It took him a few minutes to get the information, but he as soon as he saw where I was headed with my questions he had more than I had asked for. “Ok, here we go fifty-three soon to be civilians. All of whom are from our Provost Marshall troops. Perfect for providing security for high profile targets, providing escort duty for VIPs, investigating breaches in security, plus
dealing with local law enforcement, all of which they have been trained to do.”
“Are any of them officers?” that was one problem I was hoping to avoid. I didn’t need some stiff neck shave tail coming in here and trying to override the current Security Chief.
“Nope, all of them are senior noncommissioned officers or enlisted personal.” Oh yah, he was right on target for what I want. “The best part is, if we do this right we’ll be able to allow all of them to keep their AIs active.” Now this was news to me and Alice. She was quicker to ask than I was.
“Excuse me, General Star, but I thought that all Death Dealers had to have their AIs deactivated upon leaving the service. How are you going to get around the mandate?” she was just as curious about this as I was.
“There is a loop hole that we can use, that states if a Death Dealer is on an extended long range duty assignment at the time of discharge then they are allowed to keep their AIs.” I had totally forgotten about the long range duty clause. Sure it was never meant to be used this way, but it would allow for those men to use their AIs in the defense of the school. “All I have to do is get the First High Lady’s signature on the orders for them to be placed on LRD to your school as security officers.”
Giggling like the schoolgirl that I was. “Send the paper work, you old fox. I’ll have them signed and back to you inside of thirty minutes.”
“It’ll take me half an hour to have everything typed up and to you. Until then goodnight, Ladies.”
“Goodnight, Mike. I trust you to take care of everything the way it needs to be. Oh before you go, how long after you get everything set up can those troops be here?” I really wanted no need to know.
It took him a few seconds to do the calculations. “The last should be there no later than day after tomorrow by seventeen hundred. The first ones should arrive no later than twelve hundred tomorrow. That soon enough?”