Retribution

by Dave Lemel

  “It’s Li,” replied Simon. “Dude can bake.” Simon stirred the pot one more time before placing the big spoon down on a towel next to the pot. He turned and walked toward Sasha. “You hear from him yet? Jasper?”

  Sasha shook her head. “No. Nothing yet.”

  Simon’s face dropped. “We should’ve by now. Something’s wrong.”

  “I’m sure they’re fine, hun. Communication with all the groups on Earth has been hell. Hopefully soon. On a positive note, though, Foggen finally has the hol-call aboard the briefing ship working again. We can see Penny after this. I already sent a message to my mom to have her ready and waiting for our call.”

  Simon’s face lit up before falling flat once again. “I miss her so much. That little face.”

  Sasha leaned in and embraced him. “Me too. Those cheeks.”

  “How you feeling?” Simon rubbed Sasha’s belly. “Little Simona giving you any trouble in there?”

  “Oh, gross.” Sasha’s face contorted. “Simona? Seriously, do not ever say that again. Awful. Just awful.” Sasha ended the embrace. “Good, though. Really good, actually. Second time definitely going easier than the first. Course, I’m pretty well distracted with everything else going on.”

  “Still checking in with the doc every day?”

  “Yeah, she’s been monitoring me and the little passenger. She’s not happy I chose to go along for this but says everything is looking really good.”

  “What’s lookin’ good?” asked Todd as he emerged from the stairwell with Ben and Jack in tow.

  “Preggers,” replied Simon. “Doc says everything going smooth so far.”

  “That’s right.” Todd looked Sasha up and down. “Everything else goin’ on, I forgot you’re pregnant to boot.”

  Sasha snickered. “Yeah, well, I’m sure I’ll start showing any day now as a constant reminder. Supposedly it happens sooner with number two.”

  Lombargnor appeared at the top of the stairwell accompanied by Foggen. “Ah, very good. I see everyone is here already, so we may begin without delay.” Lombargnor remained near the top of the stairwell as everyone gathered around him. “The first order of business to discuss is the assault on the defense net currently in place around Earth. The Vikard are coordinating all operations, especially defense related, from aboard our star marshal orbiting facility. I am not comfortable attempting to pull the Vikard shipping vessel up to and docking at that facility. We cannot afford to take any unnecessary risks if they are avoidable, and I feel, even though we are provided with a certain level of camouflage by traveling inside a Vikard vessel, that maneuver would still classify as an unnecessary risk. Ben and Foggen are intimately familiar with the orbiting facility. As such, I would like you two to lead the infiltration and sabotage there. You will be bringing Jack and Li along with you. Li has proven himself quite an asset in such situations, and Jack—” Lombargnor paused, locking in on the tall man’s blue eyes.

  “Yes, sir?”

  “You will need to make up a supply of explosives capable of disabling small portions of the facility without decimating the station completely.”

  “Controlled blasts. I can handle that. What do they need to destroy?”

  “There is a network of satellites orbiting Earth that the Vikard have commandeered and are using to maintain line of sight communications between all their defensive installments. Aboard what used to be our orbiting star marshal facility is a communications hub that is currently in charge of, among other things, those satellites and the defense net. Once orbit team—that is how I will henceforth refer to yourself, Ben, Foggen, and Li—has infiltrated the facility and made their way to that room, Foggen will enter a series of commands to disable their satellite network as well as temporarily disrupt their ground-based communication network. Once that task has been accomplished, the command computers will need to be destroyed.”

  “What about EMPs?” Jack responded. “Way less messy and dangerous.”

  “Won’t work,” replied Foggen. “Those computers are EMP proof.

  “Correct,” said Lombargnor. “A few well-placed, controlled explosions should do the trick. Foggen can go over the makeup of the computers with you in more detail after we conclude here.”

  Jack nodded.

  “Now,” continued Lombargnor, “ground team will consist of myself, Mission Commander Cain, as well as Marshals Cain and Jordan. We will be waiting aboard this briefing room ship for orbit team to carry out their task. As soon as that is accomplished, we will depart and, hopefully, amidst the confusion and weakened communication capabilities, we can descend and plunge into Lake Michigan undetected.”

  “What are the four of us supposed to do after that?” asked Todd. “Isn’t it like a whole Vikard army at the base at this point? I know we’ve potentially got some help coming from resistance fighters on the ground, but realistically, even if they succeed in their objectives, what are the four of us going to accomplish?”

  “Patience, Marshal Jordan. I am getting there.”

  Todd nodded. “Sorry. Go on.”

  “The secret tunnel I referenced earlier will be our primary goal as an access point to the headquarters building. The entrance is a bit south of Star Marshal Base in a village called Port Washington.”

  “Did my grandfather suggest that?” Todd asked.

  “Indeed he did,” replied Lombargnor.

  Todd grinned. “He loved that place. Used to take me fishing up there on little trips all the time.”

  “He mentioned that while we scouted and discussed potential locations during construction.”

  “What about the resistance teams?” Simon interrupted, his fingers tapping rapidly on the outside of his own leg. “Sasha said you still have no word from any of them. My brothers and their group left the mountains a while ago. How do you know they’re even still en route? And by the way, I’m not a real proponent of sacrificial lamb strategies. Especially when the lamb isn’t informed of the sacrifice they’re potentially making up front.”

  Lombargnor’s expression remained stoic in Simon’s glare. “Nobody is being sacrificed, Marshal Cain.”

  “Yeah, well, it sure has that feel to me. What purpose are a few hundred under-armed, under-trained groups going to achieve other than to be a distraction at best and slaughtered at worst?”

  “The resistance groups will be joined by reinforcements set to arrive shortly. That is the next phase of our plan that was about to be clarified in more detail. The Bopecan ships full of soldiers are currently on pace to arrive not long after we make our approach and position ourselves in orbit. Orbit team will achieve their objective, and those Bopecan destroyers will engage the Vikard vessels in orbit. They will also jettison dozens of troop carriers that will descend to the surface to join our three resistance teams currently making their way toward Star Marshal Base. Once those resistance groups are joined by their teams of Bopecan soldiers and vehicles, they will be able to finish their approach in very little time. The communication capabilities will also immediately be upgraded to allow us to coordinate effectively between all parties so that we can arrive in sync to cover our infiltration of headquarters.”

  “Why didn’t you tell us this?” Simon’s eyebrows shot up. “Why didn’t you tell them?”

  “The Bopecan reinforcements were not guaranteed to survive the journey through the solar system. I did not want to get the resistance groups’ hopes up only to be dashed or to have them delay in anticipation of help that never came.”

  “But us. Why didn’t you tell us?”

  “Your brothers,” replied Lombargnor. “The last time you and Mission Commander Cain possessed knowledge of a delicate nature that potentially affected your family and was supposed to remain classified, it somehow found its way to all of your siblings.”

  Simon’s cheeks flushed.

  “My intent was not to embarrass you, Marshal Cain. ” Lombargnor stepped closer to Simon and laid a hand on his shoulder. “I understand. It is family. If it helps,
had the Bopecan reinforcements failed in their journey, I would have found a way to get word to our three resistance groups to stand down and retreat. We have assets on the ground that we are able to communicate with. I would never have allowed a situation to occur where any of the groups walked into an outright slaughter.”

  Simon inhaled deeply and nodded. “All right.”

  “Now,” said Lombargnor as he stood taller and peered over Simon, “what is that wonderful scent I have been enjoying since I arrived in this room?”

  “I’d like to say it’s my split pea soup, but I have a hunch it’s Li’s baking.”

  “It is not the soup.” Li shook his head. “The soup smells nice, but my bread is winning the smell battle for sure.”

  Lombargnor grinned. “I say we continue this discussion as we sample and judge for ourselves. I am quite hungry, and there is no reason we cannot eat as we go over the details further.”

  Chapter 23

  The pickup jostled, rocked, and then bounced so fiercely Jasper’s head nearly hit the ceiling in the cab. “Slow down!” yelled Jerry, rubbing the top of his head which, unlike Jasper’s, had failed to keep from colliding with the surface above.

  “Sorry, sorry. Lost patience there a little, I guess. This is soooooo slow.”

  “Well, we are trying to drive an automobile down a train track,” replied Jerry. “What did you expect?”

  “I get it, but we passed Ogallala hours ago, and we’re not even to North Platte. At this pace, we won’t even get through Nebraska by next year, let alone to Lake Michigan on time.”

  “No,” Jerry sighed. “No, you’re correct. This is more under the radar, but it’s far too slow. It was worth a shot. I expected more spots where we could jump off and cover large chunks of ground in a hurry, but this isn’t going to work.”

  “You want me to stop so we can all discuss a new strategy together?”

  “Not yet. Get to the next crossroad and pull off there. They’ll follow. We can stop there and come up with a change of plan.”

  “You see that?” Jasper squinted as he leaned over the wheel. “Up ahead there. Like a giant lump on the track.”

  “Yes.” Jerry looked around, scanning both areas alongside the track ahead. “Keep your eyes peeled. We’ll exit the truck together to check it out, but I don’t like this. If I tell you to get down, do it.”

  “What do you think it is?” Jasper’s focus switched back to the tracks ahead and the conspicuous lump. “Did it just move?”

  “Indeed it did. I think it’s people. Couple of ’em. Stop here.”

  Jasper did as he was told. As he reached for the kill switch to cut the engine, Jerry’s hand halted him. “Don’t turn it off. Keep it running. I’m going to get out first, then you follow me.”

  “Jerry, what is going on? What are you freaking out about?”

  “Not freaking out. Just being cautious. It’s probably nothing.” He forced a smile. “Paranoid old jarhead. Here I go. You ready?”

  Jasper nodded, and Jerry stepped out into the cool air. Jasper double checked that he had the truck in park, removed his foot from the brake, and exited the vehicle. Neither man spoke as the gravel crunched beneath their feet. The nearer to the mass on the track they got, the more evident it became that it was in fact two people. They appeared to be bound and gagged. Vehicles began to line up behind the truck they had exited, and other doors started opening. Jerry turned and gestured animatedly to stop what they were doing and get back in their vehicles.

  Jasper increased his pace as he determined the two people seemed to be in a great deal of distress. He squatted down beside them as he finally arrived at their side. A boy and a girl, maybe late teens or early twenties, constituted the pair. Both had sandy blonde hair and dark eyes. Jasper yanked the gag out of the girl’s mouth, and then the boy’s. “What happened to you two? Who did this?”

  Jerry limped up behind Jasper just in time to hear the girl’s reply.

  “They took everything we had. All our supplies. Just left us here to die.”

  Jerry eyed the pair suspiciously. “Train even come through this track anymore? Seems unlikely. Unless the snakes are using ’em now, I suppose.” Jerry cocked his head to the side. “Doesn’t look like you two are bound to the actual track anyhow.”

  A pistol appeared from behind the boy’s back, aimed at Jerry. One from behind the girl’s back appeared simultaneously, trained on Jasper. Jerry drew his own in response and slowly placed it on the ground. Jasper froze in place.

  “Easy now,” said Jerry calmly. “Why don’t we all just stay real nice and chill. I see you shaking a bit there. Just breathe. You see all those trucks and such back behind the one we got out of?”

  The girl nodded. “Yeah. So?”

  “They’re with us. Very well armed. How ’bout you put yours away, move off the tracks as we pass, and we all just pretend this never happened?”

  The boy’s lips pursed, and a loud, shrill whistle followed. Rustling could be heard all around as red dots appeared on Jerry, Jasper, and the tracks. Many followed the tracks back before settling on the vehicles lined up behind their still running truck.

  “Oh, this is happening all right, old man,” replied the girl. “And just maybe we’ll let you live if you order the rest of your crew back there to get out of all those lovely vehicles and hand over all your supplies.”

  Chapter 24

  Located near the tip at one end of the egg-shaped ship, the bridge aboard the Vikard shipping vessel was small and utilitarian. Never intended to be occupied by more than a couple beings at a time, it had a cramped feel with all eight current passengers packed in.

  “Deceleration will begin shortly,” Lombargnor began. “We will be feigning a communication breakdown in an effort to avoid giving away the fact that we are unfamiliar with specifics regarding protocol at the time of a shipping vessel’s arrival. Once positioned in orbit near the commandeered orbiting marshal station, orbit team will begin their assignment.”

  “You’re absolutely certain this camouflage tech works, right?” asked Jack.

  “It works,” replied Ben with a wink.

  “For short periods of time on small vehicles, it is extremely effective,” added Foggen.

  “You should head to the cruiser now and load up,” said Lombargnor. “We need you to work fast once you get there. Do not hurry though. Fast but under control.”

  “How much time do you think we’ll have before they force the issue with you just orbiting silently?” asked Ben as Li squeezed past the large man to make his way off the bridge.

  “There is no way to tell, but I do not imagine it will be terribly long. My hope is they assume something has happened to the Vikard we removed from this ship. It is possible they will simply assume he left the vessel on auto-pilot and became incapacitated due to a medical issue in transit. Hopefully they leave us alone long enough to execute our objectives.”

  “Hopefully?” Jack echoed while looking over his shoulder as he followed Ben out.

  “We should not require a significant amount of time to be left alone. It is one shipping vessel. A Vikard one. Its arrival is anticipated. Even if we arouse suspicion, it should not be immediate. And once we have, I highly doubt the initial response to said suspicion will be overly aggressive. Again, fast but do not hurry. We should be just fine.”

  “C’mon, Stretch.” Ben yanked Jack by the arm. “You just focus on your job. Let them focus on theirs.”

  “You three should follow them. I will remain here for final approach, decel, and orbital positioning. I would like the rest of ground team aboard the briefing room ship. I will join you shortly.”

  Sasha led Todd and Simon off the bridge. Seconds later, all three received an incoming transmission on their links.

  “You miss us already?” said Todd as he answered his.

  “Everyone is to keep this transmission open as events unfold. Orbit team, you will end transmission as soon as you depart for the orbiting station.”
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  “Understood,” replied Ben. “How long we got here, boss?”

  “I will begin decel in approximately thirty seconds. Are you nearly in place?”

  “We are boarding the cruiser now, sir,” replied Foggen. “We will be in position for immediate departure when ordered.”

  “Excellent,” Lombargnor responded. “Ground team, location?”

  “Approaching briefing room ship now, sir,” Todd replied. “We’ll be aboard in a matter of seconds.”

  “Perfect. Decel to commence in ten seconds.”

  Todd, Simon, and Sasha jogged up the ramp to board the deep black ship as the scissor doors of the blue cruiser with white stripes folded shut beside them.

  “Five, four, three, two, one.” Lombargnor slowed the Vikard shipping vessel and identified his desired position to park it in orbit. The Vikard presence in orbit, though numerous, left plenty of large gaps. Lombargnor settled them into place. “Orbit team, you are a go.” He opened the shipping bay doors and raced off the bridge.

  The blue and white cruiser lifted off the deck before shimmering and turning into what appeared to be a miniature black hole, rising up toward the open bay doors as they yawned open above. Ben guided it out and aimed it into the path of the massive orbiting facility as it came into view, the Earth behind it. They were on the side of the planet opposite the sun, and North and South America had rotated into view. It was much darker than they were accustomed to seeing it. The United States in particular was noticeably absent the usual lights that Ben and Foggen were used to observing from their current perspective in space.

  “That’s creepy,” said Ben before shaking his head sharply and refocusing on the target.

  “What is?” asked Jack.

  “The darkness. Typically you see spider webs of twinkling lights covering the whole of land masses on the night side. Not anymore, I guess.”

  “There’s one big cluster there,” said Jack. “What do you suppose that is?”