by Mark Harritt
Daldath looked at his death, and he knew it. He opened his mouth, and yelled, “Ru . . .”
The IED exploded, propelling the rock, cement mixture out across the canyon as shrapnel. The fougasse had been aimed so that it raked across the cliff face on the inside of the curve, the natural position for an infantryman to choose when he wanted to seek cover. All of the men on the inside of the curve were shredded by the explosion. Manmet only took part of the rock shrapnel, but it was enough to rip off his arm. The rock shrapnel flew through Manmet, and damaged the maser. The maser’s capacitor didn’t have any place to dump the stored energy, so the surge of energy blew the capacitor apart. The energy from the capacitor ionized the surrounding air, and a glowing ball of expanding plasma killed the two men on the outside of the curve and incinerated the pulped remains of the men that had been killed by the shrapnel.
----------------------------------------------------
The mortar barrage seemed to last forever. He’d been right about a sliver getting through. Bill was dripping blood from his arm. Mike wondered how badly they all would have been bleeding as Bill cursed his luck.
Mike was pretty sure that the shrapnel was being fired overhead just to keep their heads down. He knew this wouldn’t be the only thing the enemy was going to hit them with. This couldn’t be the only thing, not if they were serious. And, from the amount of hardware they’d thrown at them so far, Mike knew they were serious. There had to be more. And when the air bursts stopped, he knew he was right.
“Everybody get ready. They’re coming. They’ll probably probe into the canyon with infantry next,” Mike told the team.
Mike’s suspicion was confirmed when they saw the first sensor walk around the bend, “They’re coming. They just want to see where we are.” He raised his rifle and shot. A few, well placed shots took out the sensors. It wasn’t completely dead, though. The robot kept walking toward them. Mike didn’t see a reason to waste more bullets, so he stopped shooting. If it got too close, Jen could step on it and finish it off. Then, the second one came around the bend, and it was dispatched. The third one pissed off Jen for some unknown reason.
“Fuck this.”
She shot the third one, immolating it with the railgun. The little sensor package was completely slagged. Then she turned her weapon on the first, still ambling along, and then the second. No more sensor robots to worry about after that.
“You think that’s over kill, Jen?” he asked.
“No, I don’t.”
Mike heard a note in her voice that cautioned him not to continue with that line of questioning, so he shut up. He wondered what was going to happen next. He knew that Jen and the team were ready for whatever the enemy might throw at them, so he wasn’t worried. At least not too much.
Then the first fougasse exploded. Almost immediately, that explosion was followed by a much larger explosion with a fireball that grew past the curve, marking the demise of whoever was out there. Mike watched the fireball expand and then suddenly disappear as if it had never existed.
“What the hell was that?” Rich asked.
“Pretty damn big, whatever it was,” Craig added.
“Some kind of secondary explosion,” Mike replied
Mike was worried. Not about the fougasse, of course. That one and more were set up in the walls of the canyons, and less likely to be damaged by the tramping of the robots. No, he was worried about all the other ones they’d set up. Mike and the team had planned well. They had five hundred pounds of explosive. They’d had bitter experience with IEDs in the Middle East, but the experience had taught them well. There had been concern at first with placing IEDs in the canyons, but they were lucky. They had two top notch electrical engineers to help them design their switches.
All IEDs had four main components, the switch, power, the initiator, and the explosive. On a simple IED, the switch was easy to make. The Arabs and Mujahedeen made them with thin boards that deformed when you stepped on them, completing the circuit. They’d had to make theirs a little more complicated than that. They couldn’t just set up IEDs and hope that someone didn’t accidently trip them. Not with women and children around. Plus, the hunters had to be able to go out and find food.
John and Luis had taken care of the problem with a remote control secondary switch that ensured the IEDs couldn’t be turned on until a unique digital code was sent and received. Mike had been nervous the first few times he walked across the mine field, but he’d eventually gotten used to it . . . mostly.
Now, they’d turn on the rest of the IEDs. Hopefully, some of them still worked.
----------------------------------------------------
“Shaedur, our men have stopped. They haven’t been able to move deeper into the canyons.”
“I’ve heard. The mines?”
Fancheion nodded, “The mines.”
Taectis shook her head, “I don’t understand. Our automatons should have set off the mines when they went into the canyons.”
Fancheion spread his hands, “Evidently, they did not.”
“How many men are down?”
“Over a hundred.”
Taectis looked at the time elapse since they’d sent the men in. One hour. Only one hour had gone by since they’d sent the first teams in, and they’d lost a hundred men.
“How the hell does this happen?”
Fancheion shrugged, “We aren’t machines. Perhaps they can differentiate between us and the Cree automatons.”
She looked up at Fancheion, “I’ve seen the pictures they’ve sent back. The mines are very low tech. Two thin slices of polymer with a fine array of carbon wires. The polymer bends when our men step on it, the carbon wires touch, and then our men have their legs blown off.” She slammed her fist onto her desk.
“How long will it take to clear the mines?”
Fancheion shook his head, “Unknown. The three canyons seemed to be heavily mined. They have over watch on the canyons. They can snipe our teams as the engineers try to demine. Any men we send in there will be cut to ribbons.”
She pointed at the map, indicating the mountains, “Can we send our men over the mountains to attack them?”
Fancheion nodded, “We can, but it will take too long, much longer than we have if we want to secure the bonuses. Even if we take the high ground, it doesn’t guarantee that we won’t face more resistance. We have no way of knowing how they prepared the battlefield. Those ridges could be mined. Then we’d be right back where we are now.”
Her beak tapped rapidly in frustration. She looked over at Fancheion, and took in a deep, ragged breath, “I should have listened to you.”
Fancheion tilted his head, tapping his beak slowly to acknowledge her statement, cautious, not speaking so that he didn’t inadvertently sound as if he was chastising her for her original choice.
She waved her hand at him, “Enough of your false modesty. It doesn’t become you. It isn’t who you are.”
The tapping stopped, and Fancheion looked her in the eyes, “So, you are willing to disregard the contract?”
“I want those damn bonuses! I’ve never lost a bonus!”
The rapid series of tapping was followed by the scraping of her bill across the horned chin. It was a sign of stress, something that she ordinarily wouldn’t allow herself to display before her subordinates.
He stared at her, not giving an iota, “Shaedur Taectis, I will need your authorization to do this.”
Her fist slammed down onto the display, cracking the screen, “You have it, Shomcuer, you have it. I have no other choice. I will have to deal with the consequences. If necessary, I will ensure that the displeasure of the Dostori Rev rests on me, and me alone.”
He didn’t say the words that were already understood between them. She stared deep into his eyes, knowing that a death sentence for her would be a death sentence for him as well. A Shomcuer was not a position that was easily secured. The Shaedur, Shomcuer relationship was something that was not easily translated
for another human species. Preservation of the mercenaries’ DNA and genetic potential was a necessity for the continuation of their species. Their culture and species demanded that DNA from a Sh'rathe warrior, proven in many successful battles, was combined with the DNA of the best Sh’rathe leaders to create strong and successful warriors that would again have to prove the strength of their bloodline, to continue the cycle.
However, after so many years, and so many successfully completed contracts, very rarely, one warrior, greater than the rest, was allowed to partner with a leader that was equally as great. These partnerships, were carefully arranged by clan leaders, based not only on success, but also on genetic and hopefully, earning potential. As her Shomcuer, her contracted lover, avenging her death was a point of honor for him. Taectis’ death, if ordered by the Dostori Rev, would point his sword directly at her throat. Taectis knew this, even as she made her decision.
She pointed at the map, “I have no choice. We will use the mortars. We’ll lose the bonuses, but we’ll be able to complete the contract.”
“We will need to use high explosives to clear the mines from the canyons. You will give your approval?” he asked, knowing that would not be her first choice.
She stared at the map, considered her options, and then looked at him, “Yes, I give you my approval. Use high explosive, but only in these three canyons where their automatons were. Beyond that, I want airburst, shrapnel.” She stabbed her finger down on the map, “If we can kill their automatons, hopefully the shrapnel will weaken their infantry. Then we can send in the men, and kill the rest.”
----------------------------------------------------
Between the fougasse, the IEDs on the floor of the canyon, and their over watch with weapons, none of the enemy soldiers had been able to get through.
“Yet,” Mike thought.
Things were going well in this canyon. Mike needed to find out what was happening in the others. He keyed up the main channel to talk to Luis.
“Luis, how’s it going?”
“That you, Mike?”
“Yeah, what’s up?”
“Mike, we’ve got multiple casualties across the battlespace.”
Mike closed his eyes, said a little prayer, and opened them again, “Give me the casualty list.”
Luis didn’t say anything.
“You have the casualty list, right?” Mike asked.
Luis paused, “I do.”
Mike could hear the concern in Luis voice, “I’m not going to like this, am I?”
“No, you aren’t.”
“Old Earthers?”
“Some.”
Mike didn’t want to ask the question, but he had to, “What about my team. How are they? Are they okay?”
“They’re all alive, but Everett’s a casualty.”
“How bad?”
“He lost his leg, above the knee.”
Mike closed his eyes tight, feeling a wave of pain and concern wash over him, “And?”
“Mickey says he’s going to live. They’re trying to get him back to Joel and Joan for further treatment. Tom’s still in the canyon with Rita. We had to move the Contai back once the aerial rounds started exploding. A few were hit, but not seriously.”
Mike was relieved that Everett was alive. The pain was still there, knowing that the loss of the leg would devastate Everett. Everett was the fastest runner on the team, a fact that he was proud of. The concern ebbed somewhat, but he knew there were others. He braced himself.
Luis started rattling off names.
Mike was stunned. Murph, Joe, Scott, Dind, all dead. Another fourteen of the Contai that had gone with Mickey and Tom to reinforce Everett, also dead. Everett’s leg, gone, amputated. Hank Bethel with a broken arm, Will with a wrenched knee. Keisha in some kind of catatonic fit.
“What the hell happened? We didn’t experience anything like that here,” Mike exclaimed.
“It looks like they were testing the flanks with heavier attacks. They used the bigger robots on the left, and swarmed the h/ks on the right. They sent just enough through the middle to keep you busy.”
“What about Michelle and Diane, where were they?”
Luis sounded defensive when he answered, “They had to reinforce Murph’s position. When Keisha went crazy, I sent them over there to help. Six of the large robots were attacking.”
“Are they still there?”
“Diane’s in place, but I’ve pulled Michelle back as the reserve.”
“Did you take care of the mech?”
“John’s up there right now. He’s putting it into emergency shut down and he’s pulling the hard drive. Keisha’s been moved back to triage. If,” Luis paused, “I mean, when we get out of this, we can recover the parts of the mech, and hopefully fabrication can put them back together again.”
Mike liked Luis’ enthusiasm, but he wasn’t optimistic at all. This was an all-out attack. Whoever was out there wasn’t just going to quit. They’d expended too much equipment and too many men to give up.
“Okay. Good work Luis.”
“Good work? I almost got us all killed. I shouldn’t have sent both Michelle and Diane to reinforce Murph. If I didn’t do that, then I could have sent in the second mech to help out Everett.”
“Stop, Luis. Don’t second guess yourself. You had to make a tough choice. If you hadn’t sent both Michelle and Diane, then the giant robots might have over powered the one mech. We would have been flanked on the left side. As it is, we’ve maintained the status quo, and we’ve managed to knock out damn near all of their robots. The mines have stopped them in their tracks. It they want us, they have to come in and dig us out.”
Luis sounded doubtful, “I don’t know, Mike.”
Jen had been listening. She cut into the conversation, “Luis, listen to Mike. He’s been right where you’re at now. He knows exactly what you’re thinking. Besides, we don’t have time for recriminations. We have an enemy out there that’s going to attack us again. Believe me when I tell you, there’s nobody else I’d rather have sitting in that chair than you.”
When Jen finished, Mike continued, “Nobody could have done better, Luis. This isn’t exactly something that we do every day. It’s sure as hell not something that you’ve done before. You’re an engineer. You didn’t sign up for this. You did just as good, if not better, than the rest of us could have done.”
Luis was about to say something else, but the staccato rhythm of mortar base plates slamming into the ground cut off their conversation.
Mike didn’t have to say anything. Everybody started to run toward the wreckage of the giant robots. Bill was closest. Then, suddenly, Mike was flying through the air. The enemy wasn’t screwing around. They’d switched to H.E. rounds. Mike rolled up onto his elbows as Jennifer screamed his name. A smoking crater was the only thing to indicate where Bill had been. Three rounds of H.E., expertly delivered, had dropped right on top of him. Mike stared, stunned by Bill’s death. A living, breathing man had disappeared. It was as if he’d never existed. Then, more rounds slammed into the ground. The explosions echoed off the canyon walls as dirt, stone, and the metallic debris of robots scythed through the air.
Mike snapped out of his stupor, “Take cover!” Mike yelled. He rolled over. Mike looked around. There wasn’t any shelter to be had. He could hunker down next to a canyon wall, but that wouldn’t be much help if a shell hit close. Still, it was better than nothing, so he scrambled to the closest wall. The rest of the team did the same thing, trying to get out of the middle of the canyon. Mike slide down into position next to the rock face. With no overhead cover, their position was precarious. Then he had an idea. There was one piece of cover in the canyon, and Jennifer was wearing it.
“Jennifer! Come to us! We need . . .”
His next words were drowned out as shells hit the top of the canyon. A huge explosion was followed by a cascade of rocks falling from the top of the cliff. The rock slide hit at the front of the canyon, so no one was hit.
“I’m coming to you, Mike!”
Mike watched as the big mech turned and started running toward them. Another round fell, and struck the side of the cliff, ricocheted slightly, and then completed its journey to hit the floor of the canyon. The explosion sent dirt flying into the air. Mike listened as the shrapnel pinged off of the mech’s armor.
Explosions filled the canyon as shrapnel buzzed overhead, ricocheting off the canyon walls. Then, the rounds stopped. Mike had a sinking feeling. They had the range. He got up and started running, “Keep up with me!” he screamed. The team didn’t need to be told twice. They rolled out of position and took off after Mike. “Jen, you run right behind us. You’re our shield.”
“What the hell’s going on, Mike?” she yelled.
“Fire for effect!”
Mike felt the thump of the mortars as they fired. It wasn’t a group of three this time. Instead, the thump, thump kept sounding, until Mike wondered if they were ever going to stop. The problem with mortars was, they fired a high arcing round that you could actually watch fly out to the target. It was a slow moving round, easy to see. That was, if you were the one firing the mortars.
It was worse for the person on the receiving end. You knew it was coming, and you had time to think it over before the round arrived. While the round was in the air, you were wondering the entire time if you were doing the right thing. You could run, and you might be hit by shrapnel. Or you could lie flat on the ground and pray that none of the rounds landed on you. Either way, you were second guessing your decision. Mike had just done a hundred-yard dash in full body armor. He prayed the team was with him, because there was no way they were going any further. He hit the deck and slid into the dirt, his hands over his head. More bodies hit the dirt behind him. The ground shook as he felt the impact of Jen’s mech as it ran.
