The Raygin War

  Mac shut the dampening field and said, “Commander Stortz, these are UFC ships. They are the Warhammer, and the Dagger. I don’t have time to explain right now. We can talk later.” He turned the dampening field back on, and started talking to both captains. Mac explained the alien threat and the current situation. He had Dagger launch two micro probes with view and limited com capabilities. Neither captain questioned the presence of aliens.

  “I’d like you both to scan the planet and plot this solar system. I want you prepared to leave if the aliens show up. I have three platoons going down on Rayne. We will be on planet for three days looking for proof of alien life forms. I want you both to hide with the Argosy and protect her. If aliens show up, do not engage them. Their ships are faster, so I am assuming their weapons are better too. Use the planet to hide your departure. Don’t worry about us if we’re still on the planet, our chances of survival will be better than yours. Come back with some help.”

  Both captains acknowledged the commodore’s orders. They broke formation to scan the solar system. If aliens arrived, the UFC war ships needed to know from which angles they could remain unseen. They needed every tactical advantage they could glean. Mac put the Argosy’s com system back in regular mode, removed his earpiece, and shut off the sound dampener.

  The bridge crew watched Mac in silent awe. None of them had seen a commodore before today. Mac was standing with the view screen behind him as the Warhammer and Dagger peeled off to accomplish their orders. The inadvertent pose made him seem to ooze power. The bridge crew watched with great reverence.

  The computer-generated voice on the bridge said, “Captain Tanner on deck.”

  The captain walked up to Mac and shook his hand once again. “Commodore McCormack huh? I gotta tell you, I’m not surprised.”

  “News travels fast.” Mac looked over at Commander Stortz, and squinted his eyes.

  The captain looked at the view screen. He saw his crew was tracking two impressive ships of war, bristling with weapons. “I’m glad you brought two ships with us. I have been taking heat from the governor. He said you had zero proof about anything. He told me I needed to exert my authority over a sergeant and be the Argosy’s captain. He has lodged a formal complaint against me and you for delaying the colonization of a planet.”

  “Captain, I’m afraid the governor sees Rayne as a stepping stone. He doesn’t care about lives at risk. If this planet is what I think it is, all hell is about to break loose. Both the governor and Lieutenant Phlop have no experience. They have a lot to learn. I’ll ask the governor to withdraw the complaint against you.”

  “Good luck,” said the captain.

  “Oh, I can be persuasive when I need to be. I apologize for the interruption, but it couldn’t wait, and now I need to get back to my troops. Thank you Commander Stortz.”

  “My pleasure commodore.”

  “Call me Mac, commander.”

  “Yes sir, Mac it is.”

  After Mac stepped into the elevator, the door started to close. He heard the computer-generated voice, “Commodore McCormack departing the bridge.” How the hell did the tekkies load that crap onto every ship’s computer is beyond me.

  Mac headed back to his troops and shuttle. As soon as he stepped onto the hanger deck, he picked Dreng out of a crowd of soldiers. She moves her body with such grace. Teaching her the Tao style of fighting was going to be a joy. His thoughts about Dreng distracted him so much he didn’t realize Lieutenant Phlop had come up next to him.

  “Commodore, can you stop and talk to me for a minute?”

  “Okay Mr. Phlop, what do you want to talk about?”

  “You were right, I screwed up. I was playing politics rather than helping with the troops. I got mad when you tried to set me straight,” the lieutenant smiled, “But in my defense, it was before I knew you were a commodore. I should have realized you spoke the truth. I tried to punish you in front of everyone, hoping to gain respect. I didn’t handle the situation in a professional way. If you will let me, I’d like to be part of this military contingency.”

  Mac wasn’t born yesterday. The captain showed the governor and lieutenant the bridge recording of Warhammer and Dagger. That’s when there was a change of heart, at least in the lieutenant’s case.

  “All right lieutenant. But for now, I don’t want you to interfere with my plans. Watch, learn, and help where you can, but no supervision or orders to the troops until you prove yourself to me. You okay with that?”

  Mac saw the beginning of a sneer on the lieutenant’s mouth. Mr. Phlop caught himself and forced a smile.

  “Thank you for the opportunity to let me fix what I have done, commodore.”

  The lieutenant’s tone, and body language conflicted with his words. Mac wanted to give him a chance, but he was going to have to keep a close watch over him. Mac decided he needed to talk to the troops before the lieutenant arrived back on the scene.

  “Before I allow you back, I need to talk to the troops.” The lieutenant’s eyelid twitched the tiniest bit, but Mac noticed it. You don’t get to be the greatest sniper in UFC history by not noticing little details like facial tics. “Take the day off. Go pack what gear you will need for a three day scout mission, and meet us at the skiff at 0700 ship’s time. If you’re not sure what to pack, call Tinker.”

  “Aye sir. I’ll be there and ready to go.”

  Mac headed back to the troops. He never had anybody sneak up on him like that. He was becoming too distracted by Dreng. Stay focused Mac. He continued on to the skiff.

  “How’s it going Tinker?”

  “In about another thirty minutes we’ll have everything loaded and secure. Are you flying us down?”

  “No, we have two volunteer pilots to take us to the planet. We’ll do a low altitude scan, pick out a good landing spot, and set up camp. After we land, the Argosy, Warhammer, and Dagger will find a good location to hide. They will stay hidden until we finish our scouting mission. The skiff pilots want to stay on the ground and wait for us. We can use the electronic camouflage net on the skiff. It will make it hard to see and impossible to detect if we shut down the power systems.”

  “Mac, I’ve got a good feeling about this mission.”

  “Aw crap Tinker, I wish you hadn’t said that. Last time you said those exact same words our forward post was overrun.”

  “It’s different this time. Everything feels right.”

  “I wish I could say the same. Tell you what, finish up loading, and have everybody get a good night’s sleep. The next three days will be long ones. Muster here at the skiff by 0700 and be ready to leave at 0732. Let the troops know the lieutenant will be coming with us.” Mac could see the immediate response in Tinker’s body. “Now before you go getting all depressed on me, his job is going to be to watch and learn, no issuing orders.”

  Tinker shook his head. “I don’t trust him Mac, not at all. He’s a rich snob used to getting his way. He has no business leading troops. If we see combat, he will get us all killed.”

  “I’ll keep my eyes on him.”

  “He’s sneaky. You better watch your back.”

  Raising his hand in a see you later gesture, Mac turned and walked back to his room. What would the troops say once they found out Dreng and I had been intimate? I have never been in a position like this before. Imagine, me with a hot looking girlfriend. He felt happy for the first time since his brother died, and it made him begin to worry. As he started to pack for the mission, he began to play “what if” scenarios over and over in his mind. Mac opened his storage locker and pulled out an old beaten up case.

  He ran his hand across the banged up surface as if caressing it. He realized it would kill him if anything happened to Dreng. Now I need you to take care of her too my old friend. Mac opened the case and patted the contents as if it was a trusted dog. He lifted her up and admired her beauty. The old buzzard rifle is still a dangerous weapon in the right hands.

  The door chimed. Mac’s heart began to race. He
set his rifle back in its case and walked over to the viewer. Dreng. He opened the door, and grabbed her. The shock on her face was priceless as he planted a big ole kiss on her lips. He felt great until he heard Tinker laughing.

  “You aren’t going to kiss me too are you Mac?”

  Mac was so focused on Dreng he didn’t notice Tinker behind her. “I will if you want me to.”

  “Thanks, but I’ll pass. The troops already know you two are, umm let me say this in a polite way – seeing each other.”

  Dreng’s face had a red tint to it. “It’s true Tinker, we have had a joining.”

  Mac interrupted, “It’s what she calls – you know – making love.”

  Tinker started to laugh. “Hey, call it whatever you want.”

  “Mac, I tried to tell you, a joining is more than having sex,” said Dreng.

  Now Mac’s face turned red. “Dreng, can we talk about this later?”

  “See,” said Dreng, “you won’t listen.”

  Mac looked at Tinker, ignoring Dreng this time. “So, what do you want?”

  Tinker pulled an old bottle of bourbon from behind his back and held it out to him. “A toast to our first assignment as a team.”

  He took it, and read the label, Uncle Jack’s Bourbon. It was an expensive old glass bottle of alcohol. They didn’t make it like this anymore. It had to have cost Tinker a small fortune. Mac glanced around. “Where is Dwain?”

  Tinker looked at Mac and began to laugh. He spit out, “He’s joining – with a female crew member.”

  Mac’s eyes got big as he shook his head no, but it was too late. Dreng gave Tinker a playful punch in the arm. The blow knocked him over. He kept laughing as he looked at up at her with surprise.

  She reached down, gave him her hand and lifted him up as she said, “Excrement hole.”

  “Did you hear her Mac? She called me an asshole, but in a nice way.”

  “Yup, I heard it. Besides being polite, I’d say she’s a pretty good judge of character too.”

  Mac got three glasses and poured each of them a drink. As the friends sat on the floor they laughed, talked, and drank for hours. Dreng got to hear story after story about Mac and his escapades. She kept pumping Tinker for more history between the two of them.

  “Hey, you’re not being fair! You’re finding out about us, and were not learning anything about you,” said Mac.

  “All right,” said Dreng, “ask me something.”

  Before she ended the sentence Mac said, “How did you get the scar on your chest?”

  In an auto reflex Dreng put her hand to her chest and rubbed the scar through her top as if it were something sacred. Tears started to well up in her eyes. Mac could see she was struggling with how to tell them. He realized this was the wrong setting for something so emotional.

  “Okay, I can accept it’s the wrong time to talk about your scar, but you’ve got to give us something. You okay with that Tinker?”

  “Yeah, I’m okay with it, but you have to make it something good.”

  A smile broke out on Dreng’s face. She wiped the tears out of her eyes, looked at Mac and said, “I promise. One day I’ll tell you, but not now.” She looked at Tinker. “So, you want a juicy tidbit about me? Let me think… okay, I’ve got it. On Nokomis I grew up with my ancestor’s traditional values. One of these is a very old tradition called a joining.”

  Tinker sprayed out saliva as he burst into laughter. He glanced at Mac. Then he interrupted Dreng, and said, “Mac, I don’t know what you did to this poor girl, but all she wants to talk about is sex.” Dreng shot Tinker a look that could have made a lessor man’s head explode. Tinker looked at the clock hanging on Mac’s wall and said, “Crap, look at the time. I still have to decide what snacks I want to pack. It’s been a pleasure, but I have to go.”

  “What about my story?”

  “We can all talk another time, I promise.”

  “Yeah, I suppose I should go too. I also have some packing to finish too.”

  Mac’s face drooped. “Don’t you want to stay a while longer, Dreng?”

  “I know what you want Mac, but you said it yourself, get plenty of rest. If I stay I know what we’ll be doing.”

  God, I love her brutal honesty. “You’re right. Both of you get out of here and get some sleep, and thank you.”

  What is Dreng’s obsession with sex? Is it from being a virgin? Or did she have very little experience and wanted to talk about it? Do her people talk about copulation so openly? It’ll take me some time to get use to this kind of openness. If it makes her happy, I guess I’m all for it. Mac smiled. It’s a good end to the day. He curled up in his bed and fell asleep.

  He opened his eyes and checked the time, 0429. As usual, he woke up right before the alarm went off. He didn’t go to the galley. Instead he ate a light energy meal in his room. He tidied things up a little, grabbed his backpack, supplies, rifle case, and headed to the hanger deck. When he got there, the pilots were performing pre-flight ops on the skiff. Mac checked the load. Tinker had done a great job. Everything looked good.

  Mac felt a presence and spun around. Dreng, she’s been watching me. Mac looked her up and down. She’s one hot looking girl. After all the stories last night, I was concerned she might think I was too much of a killer. She stood with her hands on her hips accentuating her curves in the tight body armor and smiled at him. The Minx knows what I’m thinking.

  “You like my body armor, Mac?”

  He laughed. “Yes, but you’re too distracting. You are going to get me killed. Are those hand hatchets in your belt? I haven’t seen those in years.”

  “My people refer to them as tomahawks.”

  “I assume you’re good with them?”

  “Yes.”

  More soldiers began to show up, Mac made sure they all brought their food rations. He also made everyone with a secondary weapon show him what he or she carried. Even the lieutenant carried an antique short-range projectile pistol. He wore it in his old style armor suit. It must have cost a small fortune.

  At 0732 the skiff launched toward the planet. The troops looked at the view screen as the skiff made several low altitude passes. To Mac’s trained eye the scene below looked worrisome because the plants did not look like random growth. You could see a pattern blending with the countryside.

  There was no sign of sentient life. Mac identified a good spot for the skiff pilot to land. When the side cargo door opened, everybody sucked in the fresh air. After three months of being locked up on the ship it smelled like heaven.

  “Listen up everyone, this goes for the pilots too. Do not use any equipment using the skiff’s power supply. Keep your rifles with you at all times. Dreng, I want you to position four of Tinker’s troops on the perimeter. Tinker, take the rest of your platoon and put the electro dampening camouflage net over the skiff. Dwain, you can supervise the remaining troops in off loading our equipment. Sally, Dan, stay with the skiff in case we need to make a quick getaway.”

  “Lieutenant Phlop. Can you tell me why we can’t use the skiff’s power supply?” asked Mac.

  “I understand why we can’t use it until we get the dampening net on, but once it’s on, I know the specs. You’re wrong. It will shield all energy discharges.”

  Tinker hung around Mac and the lieutenant. He eavesdropped on their conversation.

  “Tell me Mr. Phlop, what are the specs on an alien ship’s scanner?

  Silence. Mr. Phlop didn’t respond.

  “Our headsets fall within the natural electromagnetic variance of a planet’s surface. So do our hand held weapons unless they are fired. The power supply on the skiff generates more energy than most normal disturbances. The energy peak, even if for a moment, might make us visible to enemy detection methods. It’s better to error on the safe side.”

  Lieutenant Phlop shook his head no. He wasn’t willing to keep an open mind and learn. Mac would keep working on him. If the lieutenant didn’t improve after three days he would terminate his com
mission in the UFC. Mr. Phlop would have two options. Return to Trinity Prime with the Argosy or convince the governor to accept him as a colonist. This is what happened when clout was used to put someone into a position of authority instead of talent.

  “Mr. Phlop, what would you do next if I weren’t here?”

  “I’d deploy the three platoons in different directions to look for anything abnormal.”

  “Before any platoon leaves on a foray into possible enemy territory you should configure your base of operations. First we have some weapons to remove from their crates and set up. A word of advice, never leave your home base unprotected. The troops we leave here may have to give us cover fire, support fire, or stop an attack at any given moment. If the enemy overruns your home base, you lose your method of escape.”

  Dwain whistled. “What the hell is this? I have no idea how to set it up.”

  Mac walked over to Dwain. “It’s a positron canon on anti-gravity skids.”

  All the troops gathered around Mac to see the new weapon. As he set it up he explained its operation.

  “The canon contains an internal laser that creates positrons. It locks them into a magnetic containment field within a large single composite round. The round contains a proximity detector. Once fired, the round obtains an instant velocity of ten times the speed of sound using wee rail technology. Before anyone asks, it has nothing to do with peeing.”

  The troops laughed at the thought.

  “As the round hits the target,” Mac said, “the positrons get released in a stream. As the positrons contact matter, annihilation occurs. The material disappears in a burst of gamma photons.”

  “Fuck,” said Dwain, “you can’t make this shit up.”

  Dreng had walked up in time to watch Mac setting up the weapon. She asked, “What’s the downside?”

  Mac smiled. “It’s experimental. There may be a few bugs in it, and when matter gets destroyed, there’s a large burst of gamma radiation.”

  “I can’t wait to try it out,” said Tinker.