The old man paying attention to Tammy looked up. “Is the fleet coming to save us?”
“I wish I knew,” Sheridan replied looking up into the star-filled night. He wondered where Tarina was and if she was safe.
Chapter 29
Coming out of a jump inside a planet’s atmosphere was something that Tarina and Wendy had planned for. However, the harsh reality of going from a zero gravity environment in space to one with gravity was like being hit in the chest by an enraged donkey. Although tightly strapped into their chairs, the sudden jerk experienced when gravity took hold of their craft was a nasty shock to both women.
As calculated, their Avenger came out of its jump precisely one kilometer above a sports stadium. The ship’s computer seamlessly switched the engine to sub-light propulsion; still they were falling through the air like a rock. A second later, Tarina felt the craft begin to respond to her controls. She adjusted the ship’s thrusters and slowed their descent.
“How does the landing site look?” Tarina asked Wendy.
Looking at the infrared camera image on her console, Wendy swore. “The stadium’s field is covered in tents. Go for the alternate LZ.”
Tarina felt her heart begin to race. They had planned this down to the last second. If they were off by even one second, they would plow straight into the side of a building. Through gritted teeth, she said, “I hope there’s no one there or we’re gonna land right on top of them.”
The Avenger banked over as Tarina lined it up with the sports field of a school near the stadium. She looked out the side of her cockpit window. She could not see a thing. The ground below was blacked out. With seconds to go, she engaged the landing thrusters and prayed that there was no one below them. Watching her rate of descent on her heads up display, Tarina slowed their speed and then brought her craft for a near perfect landing. The nose of the Avenger struck something in the dark, knocking it over. Quickly switching the power off, Tarina and Wendy removed their helmets, reached over and opened up the cockpit canopy. A gust of cold air blew inside.
“What the hell is that nauseating smell?” Wendy asked as a repulsive odor wafted in the air.
“That’s me,” hollered an angry voice from below. “I was using a portable toilet when you crash-landed into it and knocked it over. I hope for your sake you’re on our side or I’m going to personally shoot you.”
Tarina peered over the side of the Avenger. “Sorry about that. But I can assure you that we’re on your side.”
“Get down from there and show me some ID,” ordered the irate man.
Thirty minutes later, Tarina found herself in General Gruber’s office. Wendy had stayed with the Avenger in case something happened. All she had to do was push the autopilot. The craft would start automatically and jump her back to their transport ship.
“Miss Pheto, you’re a sight for sore eyes,” said Gruber, chewing on the end of an unlit cigar. “I hope you’re here to tell me that several Marine divisions are right behind you.”
“Sorry, sir, I’m only here to gather intelligence,” replied Tarina as she handed the general a copy of her orders. He took them and passed them straight over to his chief of staff to read.
“Can you at least tell me if fleet knows that we’re giving the Kurgans a bloody nose down here?”
“Yes, sir, they are aware that you are still fighting the enemy. However, before they do anything to help you, I suspect that fleet will want to know what is happening on the ground. That is why I was dispatched to Derra-5.”
Gruber sagely nodded his head while his chief of staff excused herself from the room to dig up all the information she could. “So, Miss Pheto, which outfit do you belong to?”
“Triple-Three Transport Squadron,” answered Tarina.
“Yeah, and I’m the Commander of the Marine Corps.” Gruber looked over at his sergeant major. “Does she look like a transport pilot to you?”
Sergeant Major Trang chuckled.
“That’s what I thought; damned Special Forces. Well, for once I’m glad to see one of you prima donnas. While you’re waiting for whatever it is Colonel Robbins has gone to dig up, could I offer you a cup of coffee?”
Tarina smiled. “I’d love one, sir.”
An hour later, General Gruber personally escorted Tarina back to the Avenger. In her absence, it had been ringed by a platoon of soldiers and several teams of air-defense gunners with launchers held in their hands in case the enemy decided to probe this part of the city with a drone.
Tarina handed up a bag to Wendy jam packed with maps, reports and as many computer drives as she could carry.
Gruber shook Tarina’s hand. He stepped forward until he could look deep into her dark brown eyes. “Miss, you have to tell them folks back at Fleet HQ that we need help and we need it sooner rather than later. The Kurgs have been oddly quiet the past couple of days. They’re planning something big. I can feel it in my bones. The problem is I’m not sure that we can hold out much longer.”
“Sir, I’ll pass on what you’ve said word for word.”
“I can’t ask for much more than that. Godspeed, Miss Pheto.”
Tarina was about to climb up into the cockpit when she paused for a second. “Sir, could you move the people away from the sports arena?”
“Sure, but why would I?”
“Sir, I’ve just had a thought. It’s risky, but I bet a battalion-sized landing craft could just about fit in there.”
“I bet it could,” Gruber added, grinning.
With that, Tarina climbed up into the cockpit, locked her helmet in place and closed the canopy. The ship’s engine sprung to life. With a quick salute at the general, Tarina applied power to the thrusters. Swiftly, the ship lifted up into the sky. When it was one hundred meters above the ground, Tarina engaged the jump engine. Instantly, the craft was gone.
Gruber stood looking up at the stars. For the first time in over a month, he felt his spirits begin to rise. Perhaps they were not going to be left by themselves to delay the enemy for as long as possible before being overrun. Surrender was not in Gruber’s vocabulary. He turned to face his sergeant major. “Dan, let’s get those people at the sports arena relocated before tomorrow evening.”
“Will do, sir. Do you think she’ll be back?”
“Of course she will. You know the Special Forces community. They’re a bunch of glory hounds. They’ll be back alright, and they’ll take credit for saving the whole damned planet.”
Chapter 30
A thick bank of ice fog hid the Kurgan positions. Even with thermal imaging binoculars, Sheridan knew that he would have to wait until the sun came up and burned off the mist before he could get a clear view of what was going on. His stomach rumbled. He handed off the binoculars to Garcia, crawled back, and slid down the back of the hill to join Cole and Roberts by their fire.
Cole gave Sheridan a warmed-up ration. “So what could you see?”
“Nothing, absolutely nothing,” was his reply.
“Give it a couple of hours,” said Roberts optimistically. “There are no clouds in the sky. It’ll be a cool day, but you’ll soon be able to see for kilometers.”
Sheridan looked up and saw nothing but bright blue sky. Letting go of his frustration, he opened up his ration pack and dug in. It was a concoction of greasy sausages and tasteless potatoes. Sheridan did not care; he was hungry and he ate his meal with gusto.
A bird sang out. It was Garcia giving their warning call. Sheridan tensed, drew his pistol and flipped the safety off. Together with Cole, he made his way up the hill to where Garcia was on sentry.
“What’s up?” Sheridan whispered.
Garcia handed him the binoculars and pointed to a group of refugees who had gathered in the open.
“What am I looking for?”
“Sir…sorry, Sheridan, take a close look at the man in a long blue parka and dark-green toque.”
He adjusted the glasses and focused in on the man Garcia had pointed out. His stomach knotted whe
n he saw Andrews, the man who had turned on them, chatting with the refugees. “What the hell is that slimy bastard up to?”
Garcia said, “I can’t be sure, but I thought I saw some of the people point back towards Eve’s camp. I think he may be looking for us.”
“Jesus, we can’t let him get his hands on Eve. I won’t allow it,” Sheridan said firmly.
Cole reached over and placed a hand on Sheridan’s arm. “We won’t. He knows all of us, but he’s never laid his eyes on Roberts.”
A minute later, without Tammy by his side, Roberts whistled a tune as he ambled back towards Eve’s camp. On the hill, Sheridan, Cole, and Garcia lay silent watching as the two men made their way towards one another. Only one, however, knew what was about to happen.
Eve saw Roberts and waved to him. Roberts took a quick glance around. His quarry was nowhere to be seen. He quickly brought up his finger to his mouth, telling Eve to be quiet. His heart quickened the instant he spotted Andrews walk into the camp. He placed his hands in his pockets, his right hand wrapped tight around his silenced pistol.
With a smile, Andrews dug into his pockets and pulled out several tubes of high energy protein snacks. “Good morning, folks, I’ve been looking for some friends of mine. I heard that they were seen in this camp in the past day or so. If you could help me find them, I’d be willing to give you one of these snacks.”
“What did your friends look like?” asked Eve.
“I can’t rightly say. However, you’d recognize them if you saw them. I heard one of them has a dog with him.”
“If you don’t know how they look, how are they your friends?”
Andrews smiled. “Ok, you got me. They’re friends of friends.”
Roberts stood back, trying to look like he belonged to be there.
The old man who had petted Tammy by the fire sat up and looked at the food in Andrews’ hands. “I saw a dog. The people you are looking for were here last night.”
Andrews knelt down and gave the man one of the snacks. “Where did they go?”
“One of them is standing right over there,” replied the man, pointing over at Roberts.
Before Andrews could draw his concealed pistol, Roberts was on him. With a swift kick from his right foot, he sent Andrews tumbling to the ground. In a flash, he ran over beside the traitor and sent his foot as hard as he could into the man’s head, knocking him out cold. With his heart racing in his chest, Roberts reached down and disarmed Andrews, tossing his two concealed guns into the woods.
The unexpected sound of a pistol’s hammer cocking right beside his head made Roberts freeze in his tracks.
“Hands up,” warned a man behind Roberts. “Now, slowly, turn around and don’t try anything foolish or I’ll blow your brains out all over the snow.
Roberts gritted his teeth; he should have anticipated Andrews working with someone. He cursed his luck. Roberts slowly turned around and saw a man dressed in dirty civilian clothes pointing a pistol at his head.
“Who are you? And don’t lie.”
Although deep inside his guts had turned to jelly, as calmly as possible, he replied, “My name is Roberts and I’m looking for my younger brother. I thought this man was going to attack that old man, so I stopped him.”
The man shook his head. “You unbelievers can’t lie to save your lives.” He stepped back from Roberts and raised his gun to fire.
The attack, when it came, even surprised Roberts. With a loud snarl, Tammy dashed from her hiding spot in the woods and leaped up into the air, clamping down her jaws on the man’s outstretched hand. He howled in pain and tried to reach down with his free hand to take hold of his pistol so he could kill his attacker.
He never made it. Roberts drew his concealed pistol and fired twice into the man’s skull, killing him. His body dropped to the ground. Roberts walked over, grabbed Tammy by the collar and pulled her back from the dead body. “I told you to stay.”
Tammy canted her head to look up and barked at her friend. “Yeah, whatever,” replied Roberts.
Eve walked over with a look of consternation on her face. “You had best go. I’ll see if I can get rid of the body. If not, I’ll say it was a robbery gone bad. Either way you don’t want to be here when the Chosen come looking for their men.”
“Thanks,” said Roberts. He patted Eve on the arm and then walked over to Andrews’ prostrate body. He got down on his knees and threw the body over his shoulder. With a grunt, he got back on his feet and began to jog away from the camp and back to where his comrades were waiting for him.
“Tie him up and gag him,” ordered Sheridan.
“I never thought to see him again,” said Cole. “What do you want to do with him?”
“We’ll interrogate him when he comes to. Until then, we’ll continue to keep watch on the Kurgans and try to determine what they’re up to.”
Andrews woke up a short time later, but Sheridan ignored him. Tammy sat patiently in front of the prisoner and growled menacingly if he tried to move. As the day wore on, it was evident that the enemy was bringing bridging equipment forward and pre-positioning for a planned river crossing.
The cold winter day turned to night.
With Garcia and Roberts on sentry, Sheridan decided that it was time to question Andrews. He took an injector needle from Garcia, walked over, grabbed hold of Andrews and thrust the needle into Andrews’ neck. He emptied the syringe into Andrews before dragging him over to the fire. The gag was removed.
“What the hell did you just inject me with?” asked Andrews.
“I’m not sure what its scientific name is, but you know it as truth serum,” Sheridan replied.
“You can’t do that, it’s against the laws of war to use drugs on a prisoner!”
“So is murdering civilians, but I don’t see you up in arms about that.” Sheridan knelt down beside Andrews. He placed his lips near the man’s ear. “Now, Andrews, or whatever your Chosen name is, you can try to resist the effects of the drug, but trust me on this, you’re going to lose. I’ll leave you alone for five minutes to allow it to work on your brain. After that, you’re going to tell me what your friends are planning and how you managed to successfully infiltrate the armed forces back home on Earth.”
The truth serum had been a last minute addition to Sheridan’s wish list of equipment they would need for their mission. It was hard to find, but Leon knew where to obtain some and did so willingly after Sheridan said that he would try to get his sentence reduced further.
After more than an hour of questioning, Sheridan looked over at Cole and said, “I think that’s it. Can you think of anything else?”
Cole shook his head. “We’ve got what we came for and then some. The information on the Chosen infiltration of the military is going to give the counterintelligence boys at Fleet HQ nightmares.”
“You’re not wrong there. We should get going.”
“The prisoner?”
Sheridan looked down at Andrews. “We can’t risk taking him with us and as much as I’d love to put a bullet between his eyes, I don’t think that’s really an option, is it?”
Cole shook his head.
“Ok then, strip him naked and tie him to a tree. We’ll let nature decide if he lives or dies.”
Cole grinned. He roughly grabbed Andrews by the collar and hauled him over to a tall pine tree. He quickly tied him to the tree, gagged him and ripped off the man’s clothing. He stared deep into Andrews’ eyes for a moment. “I doubt they’ll find your body until it begins to rot in the spring.”
With Roberts and Tammy in the lead, the team skirted the woods, avoiding any contact with the refugees as they headed back towards the tunnel entrance. At the pre-arranged hour, Sheridan cautiously made his way to the iron grate and checked in with the MPs who were guarding the passageway. He waved his team over. As they made their way back through the darkened passage, Sheridan wondered if the fleet was aware just how deep the Chosen deception had become. With no way to transmit the information
off the planet, he hoped that the damage had not been too severe and that the armed forces would discover what was afoot before too many more lives were lost.
Chapter 31
After returning to their ship, Tarina and Wendy found themselves inside Colonel Wright’s office. He had just sent an encoded message back to the forward elements of the Sixth Fleet, now less than a couple of day’s jump from their location.
“Ok, all of the information, you brought back from Derra-5, has been sent. Your proposal, to land a battalion of Marines inside the capital, was also included,” said Wright. “Now we sit and wait for their reply. It’ll be at least forty-eight hours before they either say that you’re both out of your minds or a landing craft miraculously appears out of nowhere on our doorstep. Jump-capable landing craft are far and few between. They could modify one, but that would take time and that’s something the Marines on Derra-5 are short of. Either way it’s out of our hands. You two are to be commended for your work.”
“Thank you, sir,” replied the women.
“I want you to go with the assumption that they will want to reinforce the beleaguered garrison. After a decent meal and a few hours’ rest, I want you to work on the calculations for the jump. I want to see both by noon tomorrow.”
Tarina and Wendy exchanged a nod and saluted Wright before leaving his office. They were both far too excited to think about putting their heads down.
“Do you think they’ll go for it?” Wendy asked.
“Yes,” replied Tarina. “They have to. I can’t believe that they would allow Derra-5 to fall.”
“I guess we had best get to work. We can grab some sandwiches and a couple of drinks and then find ourselves quiet corner of the hangar.”
Tarina nodded her head. Wendy’s drive never seemed to abate. She began to wonder if her friend ever slept. She was more like a robot than a human being at times. Tarina hoped that she could keep up with her determined friend.
First Strike (The Kurgan War Book 1) Page 19
