by Dennis Young
He nodded slowly. “I’d been in deep cover for over a year. I lived with these people we’re now going to kill. Many of them aren’t bad people, just misguided, or drawn in too deeply to get out. Others… well, some you know, or knew, pretty well in the Marines.”
“You found that out? How?”
Evans shook his head. “Doesn’t matter. The point is, I’m asking you to let me do the next briefing, so I can give everyone the information they need to do this. You said yourself, back on Theia, I was helpful in your classes. And I appreciate that, whatever you may think. I need to reintegrate myself into the real world. This world. Living in the other one can seriously warp your thinking if you don’t hold on to the reality you know is right.”
Talice considered for a while. “Pretty strong words, Mr. Evans. Can I believe them?”
“I hope so… because they’re true. I came along for three reasons. First, orders. Second, your request. Third, I wanted to be here and see this to the end.”
Again, Talice was silent, thinking. “And if I say no?”
Evans shrugged. “Then I’ll do what I can here, and that will be that.”
“You’re Mac’s backup in TacOps. And mine.”
“I know that. But having first-hand information before you go in is essential to the success of the operation.”
Talice grinned. “You quote regulations pretty well.”
He nodded after a moment. “Just let me give the briefing, you interject anytime you want, and everyone will know what they’re facing. Yes, it’s in the file, but it’s different when you hear it from someone who’s been there. You know that, with your experience.”
Talice nodded at the last. “Okay, Mr. Evans. Let’s give it a try. Briefing at 0800 Hours.”
Evans seemed to relax a bit, then nodded as well. “Thank you, Captain.” He rose. “I’ll leave you to your thoughts. Good evening.”
His footsteps receded, then she heard the cabin door open and close quietly.
Talice drew her legs up and wrapped her arms around them. She was shaking, she realized.
Time for a patch. Babs said the new ones are stronger, due to the stresses brought on by the cold. And now I’m drinking three bottles of S-H a day instead of two, because of the dry air, but I’m still thirsty all the time. I’ll be lucky to come out of this alive, just due to the bugs…
Evans is right. Hearing his inside information from him will have a bigger effect than me reading the file for everyone. Still…
Gotta get focused on the job. This is gonna be harder now, even than before. Who else will we run across we might know? Am I even gonna live through this? Is this my blaze of glory?
Fuck.
* * *
Bird One approached Eos fully stealthed and under comm blackout, operating only on passive sensors and probes. Abie had picked up indications of other ships, stealthed as well, and immediately put Bird One into Dark Mode, reduced power, told Talice to minimize chatter, and generally “acted like a rock” from that point on, as she explained.
Twenty hours out, Jamal began to pick up transmissions from the Third Marine Battalion and scrambled communiques around the target area. It was obvious, just from the volume of messages, the Marines had made their approach sufficiently visible, without being overt about it. After all, they didn’t want Nemesis Corp to think a landing by twenty troop carriers and assorted support ships was some sort of feint or cover. No siree.
Ten hours from orbit insertion, Talice held her final briefing. Attendance was mandatory, and as requested, Evans gave the dissertation. It was pretty much as Talice knew it would be, but more. He was emphatic, forceful even, charismatic… eerily charismatic. The ready room was rapt. More than once Talice had to look away, then watched the rest of the room as Evans lectured. She knew she would need to debrief everyone about this very meeting. And in doing that, Evans would know she did it.
Holy crap, this is scary! This is how he digs his way into places and peoples’ lives. He’s a fucking chameleon… whatever a chameleon was.
“Every one of these leaders, all five of them, have their own inner circle,” Evans was saying, as Talice brought her focus back to his words. “Body guards, trusted seconds, minions, flunkies. I was in the first tier. I was directly under this Mikal the captain has told you of, and I knew the two women who were in your Marine platoon. Each leader’s group is very tightknit, and they don’t overlap. Rarely do the underlings of one group have direct contact with the other leaders. Everyone works through the intermediaries, except when the leaders meet directly. You will run into their protection long before you reach your actual targets.”
“But not all of them will fight, right?” asked Briggs. “Bodyguards, yes, but the others?”
Evans nodded. “Mostly correct. But they’ll be armed, regardless, especially with the Third Battalion operation going on. Don’t get tapped by a wild shot from the office boy. Take out whoever you need to. Your job is to reach the targets and neutralize them.”
Take out… neutralize… we don’t say “kill” unless we have to. Talice shuddered, crossed her arms over her chest, and focused once again.
“IDs and facial recognition software, as well as DNA processing, has been loaded into TacOps. It will be transmitted to your HCS helmet visors before we’re enroute to the compound and our recon complete.” Evans had pictures of the five targets on the screen, with a running scroll of data. “I can’t emphasize how important this mission is, but you heard that from Colonel Fawkes back in training.”
Glances passed around the table at the mention of Fawkes’s promotion. Briggs looked to Talice and she nodded.
Evans looked her way. “Questions, Captain? Or anyone else?”
“Time schedule?” asked Briggs.
“We go in sixteen hours after OpCom, which was planned for 0600 Hours today. I’m not sure where that schedule comes from.”
“Fatigue,” replied Briggs. “Sixteen hours of combat will seriously weaken their functionality and give us an edge.” He glanced at his wristcom. “They’ve been at it nearly six hours now.”
Evans nodded understanding. Talice nodded to herself. Apparently, the crack spy didn’t know everything.
“Anything else?” Evans waited. The team passed looks around the table. No one said anything.
Talice moved to the screen as Evans took a seat. “Five targets mean we’ve got to move quickly. Two teams, two covers, as before. Mac and Mr. Evans will coordinate from TacOps. I’ll be there as well, unless I’m in the field.”
Mac cleared her throat discretely.
Talice nodded. “Hua.”
Her eyes swept over the team once more. “You’ve got six hours for rest and anything else. Four hours before landing, final briefing with any questions. I’m sure you’ll have one or two. Three hours prior, we go over the weapons and equipment one more time. Suit up one hour before. All the HCS’s checked out when we lifted, but let’s go over everything again. Ammo. Side arms.” She paused. “Blades. Whether you’ll need them or not, everyone will carry a blade.
“Six hours. Let’s get ready, people.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Ready for the Big Time (Part Two)
No Surrender
“If the mind is willing,
the flesh could go on and on without many things.”
Sun Tzu, “The Art of War”
On a Cold and Lonely Plain…
The snow was deep, hard-packed, and dry as the proverbial bone. The air wasn’t much better, just a lot colder. The sun was blinding-bright, calling for not only visors, but slit-goggles beneath them. And polarizers on the visors.
Bird One had set down in the previous night, quiet as a shadow and light as the snowfall around it. They were twenty kilometers from the target compound. Third Battalion chatter was mixed with encrypted messages from Nemesis Corp. Nikolay hadn’t cracked it, but he was certain it was a call for reinforcements from other locations just by the frantic tones and inflections.
&
nbsp; Talice stood beside the starboard minigun emplacement, armed and armored in her HCS, pulse rifle slung, heater unit on, and her breath a cloud around her face.
It’s fucking cold.
Ollie and Rory rolled the first ATV down the ramp, followed by Dosu and Junior on the second. Briggs stood at Talice’s side, shading his eyes from the glare.
“Heaters on the pulse rifles are really gonna be put to the test,” he muttered. “Glad we got heaters adapted to the old suits, though. Feels like home.” He grunted as he flexed his arms front to back.
“I’m on recon with the team,” said Talice.
Briggs nodded. “Good to have you with us, Captain.”
“Let’s get this show moving.” Talice’s boots crunched in the hardpack. She turned as Mac’s hoverchair eased to the edge of the loading ramp and stopped.
“Talice!” Mac motioned her over.
“You’re gonna get yelled at,” whispered Briggs, as he slipped on his slit-goggles and grinned.
“What’s up, Mac?” Talice approached the overhang.
“You know damn well what’s up.”
“Look, it’s recon. An hour out, couple of hours scouting and observing, an hour back. No shooting, I promise.”
“You made a deal with Fawkes. He told me.”
Talice sighed. “Yes, and I’m holding to the letter. No combat duty. Recon only. We’ll be back before nightfall.” She knelt beside Mac and lowered her voice. “I just put on a fresh patch an hour ago. I drank a bottle of S-H and filled my suit reservoir. I’m good for twelve hours at least. Gimme a break.”
She stood and motioned to the deployment area where the rest of the team waited. “You’re gonna freeze your chair out here, so get back to TacOps with Evans and tell us what we need to know.”
“You pull that trigger, I’ll have your skinny ass.”
“Yes, Sergeant.” Talice waived as she headed for the lead ATV. She pointed at Junior. “You’re driving, I’m shotgun. Use the air-cushion, not wheels, and don’t forget your seatbelt. And put the wind shielding up, or we’ll be frozen solid by the time we get to where we’re going.”
“Yes, oh slave-master!” shouted Bělinka, laughing as she climbed into a back seat.
“Let’s roll!”
* * *
The bluff overlooked the compound, two kilometers south and shaded by a peak west. Anyone in the compound looking up to the south would likely not see Talice’s team hiding in the shadows as they observed. What they saw was encouraging.
“Everything happening is on the north and east sides,” reported Rory, fifty meters ahead. “Not much activity on the south or west. I see scattered guards and some auto-feeder emplacements, but some of those have been stripped.”
“Copy.” Talice switched to Nikolay. “Airwaves?”
“Still working on the encryption, Captain. It’s calmed a bit, so my guess is help is on the way.”
“Anything from the other side?”
“Negative. I’ll keep scanning.”
“Talice, we’re picking up encrypted messages from the south. They started about ten minutes ago.” Abie, in Bird One.
“Hua. Thanks.” She switched to All-Channel. “Talk to me, Rory.”
“Light activity, the battalion is keeping up a steady stream of small-arms fire. Looks like they’re waiting for us to do our thing.”
“Okay, let’s get —”
“Turbocopter overhead!” Junior’s shout broke the relative calm of the scouting mission.
Shit! “Stealth cover, everyone! Go silent!”
The roar of rotors and wind passed less than a hundred meters over the team, stirring the hardpack and setting up small vortices. No one moved as the airship streaked to the north. They watched as it settled into the compound under a hail of fire from the battalion. Talice couldn’t tell for certain, but she thought it had been hit. Smoke drifted in the air currents around the craft, and she nodded. Confirmed. Good shooting, Marines.
Talice waited five full minutes before she raised her head. She pulled her pulse rifle closer, watching to see if anyone appeared over the ridge. No one did. Movement to her left, as Bělinka slithered closer. They waited in silence. The team didn’t move for a long time.
“Rory, status?” Talice finally whispered into her suit mike.
“Green. No bad guys.”
“Team One, fall back, prepare to leave. Cover One, stay sharp. Cover Two, stay put.”
Slowly, Rory and Briggs rose and hustled back, crouched and in the shadows, to the ATVs parked beneath an overhang and covered with tarps.
“Team One on-station.”
“Cover One, fall back. Cover Two, eyes sharp.”
Junior and Ollie mimicked Team One’s movements. “Cover One on-station,” reported Junior.
“Team Two falling back.” Talice rose to one knee. Her head swam, and she nearly dropped her weapon. She went down on hands and knees.
“You okay, Captain?”
Talice couldn’t get her voice to work, so she nodded, reached for Bělinka, patted her on the back, using the gesture to steady herself. She shook so badly her knees buckled.
Shit! I can’t pass out on recon What the hell! I know I put on a patch! Damn!
She lay prone again, checked the safety on her pulse rifle. Her eyes nearly crossed.
“Your heartrate is all over the place and your BP is nonexistent.” Mac, on a private channel. “Give me two beeps if you hear me.”
Talice managed to hit the button twice. She popped the S-H fluid tube into her mouth and nearly drained it. Slowly, her mind cleared. “Better. Dizzy, but better.”
“Drink,” said Mac. “Stay where you are, and I’ll have Bělinka cover you. Briggs and Rory can finish this up.”
“Dammit, Mac…” The world tilted, and she tried to roll, but couldn’t. “Copy. I’m toast.”
“Lay still, Princess, I’ll take good care of you…”
Mac’s voice faded from Talice’s ears, and everything else went with it.
* * *
Talice woke in the infirmary. She opened her eyes to see her HCS hung on a rack in a corner. Her “pervert undies” had been removed. She was under a sheet and thermal blanket, naked. She shivered and drew the blanket under her chin, sighing.
Fuck.
“You’re awake. I was worried.” Mac eased her hoverchair in and closed the door behind her.
Talice rolled her head from side to side. “Please tell me the whole team wasn’t watching when you sprayed the cleaner on me,” she mumbled.
“Oh, everyone one of them. You should have heard the hoots and hollers. I’ve got it on vid, if you want to watch it.”
Mac came to her side and took Talice’s arm from beneath the blanket. “Much better. You were pale as the snow outside when they brought you in. And you had a little accident.”
“Oh, don’t tell me I—”
“I mean with your patch. The bodysuit film wasn’t quite dry when you put on your HCS, and the patch got rolled up in it. Took it right off your thigh. That’s why you passed out.”
“Ooohhh, thank you…”
“I gave you a C-12Plus infusion over the last hour.” She faced Talice again. “You were in pretty bad shape when they got you back. I had them give you an IV-push to keep you hydrated. Other than that, it was getting you back as quickly as possible.”
Mac handed Talice a patch packet. “I’ll let you put the new one on yourself.” She dropped Talice’s camis on the bed. “And you can get dressed, too. Then you have a meeting in ten minutes in the ready room. The team came back with some new developments. Briggs and his squad stayed out and finished the recon.”
Talice closed her eyes for a moment, then caught Mac’s arm as she started to turn away. “Mac… thanks.”
Mac squeezed her hand. “Get dressed, your fans are waiting.”
Talice pointed to the window. Mac touched a control and the glass darkened.
She sat up, very slowly. She was still shaky, thirsty,
and her skin itched. Dry as fucking leaves. Damn, I almost died, even though I did everything right. What the hell am I gonna do? I gotta talk to Babs, but we’re still stealthed and comm-silent. Am I gonna live through this?
She slid into a bodysuit, then her camis, then made her way to the ready room. The team was there, arranged as usual. Bělinka gave her a hug and quick kiss on the cheek. Briggs and Rory touched her arm as she passed, and Dosu winked.
Damn, that’s the most emotion I’ve ever seen from him. She gave him the sweetest smile she could manage. Everyone else spoke soft words of encouragement. Abie was there with Jamal, and Talice knew Will was on-station in the cockpit. In all, the room was crowded. She caught Evans’s eye as he stood in a corner with Junior and Ollie.
Talice faced the team and drew a breath. “First, thank you for taking care of me. Sometimes it’s better to have capable people around you than just being lucky and dumb.”
“Sometimes both,” replied Rory with a grin. Everyone laughed lightly.
Mac maneuvered her hoverchair into the doorway as Talice spoke again. “Okay, I’ve been advised we have new intel. Briggs, you’re on.”
Briggs touched his SLATE and the wall screen lit. “This is the south wall of the compound. There are three entrances, the center one gated, the other two with sheltered auto-feeders above them and gun-slits on either side. The doors appear to be durasteel. The walls, however, are reinforced heavy stone.”
“Hellbores will punch through those in about three seconds,” said Abie.
Briggs nodded, then continued. “There are gun-slits all along the wall. The entrances are about fifty meters apart, and the auto-feeders have range and sweep on both.” He activated a light-pointer. “Here’s the lookout tower, centered on the wall and also with an auto-feeder. We also saw what appears to be a hangar big enough for at least two airships.”
“What about the one that flew over us?” asked Talice. “I saw smoke as it landed.”
Briggs nodded, as did others. “Don’t know how bad it was hit, but it landed in a hurry. We didn’t see a fire, so likely it’s only damaged.” He moved the light-pointer to the compound courtyard. “Target buildings, entrances on all sides is our guess, and all we saw are guarded. The center building is three stories, the others two.”
