Star One: Tycho City Survival

by Weil, Raymond L.

  “We could strengthen the rail,” Jackson suggested. “That would increase its survivability.”

  “Perhaps,” Mase said doubtfully. “But what if the crater wall becomes unstable?”

  Jackson shifted uncomfortably in his chair. “It could happen if a powerful enough moonquake was to hit us. In that case, everything could come crashing down. What else can we do?”

  “How hard would it be to disassemble the entire mass driver?” Mase asked as he considered the options. He wanted the mass driver available just in case they might need it in the future. Star One might still need raw materials when all of this was over.

  “The entire mass driver?” Jackson spoke, his eyes widening at the thought. “That would be a major job.”

  “Could it be done?” persisted Mase, his eyes focusing on Jackson.

  “Yes,” Pierce finally responded as he thought about everything that would have to be done to disassemble the mass driver. “It would be a big job, but we could do it. I would recommend removing the magnetic accelerator coils and leaving the rail; it’s anchored deep into the side of the crater wall. We can always rebuild the rail if we need to; it would be harder to replace all the coils.”

  “Make plans to do it then,” ordered Mase, as he reached a decision. “At some point it may become unsafe to continue to operate the mass driver. At that time, we will disassemble it and move the parts a safe distance from the crater wall.”

  “I will get with Jase on this,” replied Jackson, thinking about the effort that would be required to do as Mase was suggesting. He knew that Jase would not be happy to hear this. “What’s the current situation on Earth? I heard there is already fighting around the cape.”

  Mase nodded. “General Karver is well dug in with his marines and a few army units. There have only been a few half hearted attempts to take the cape so far, even though General Karver expects the attacks to increase over the coming weeks.”

  Jackson nodded. His older brother was supposed to come up, but the last he had heard, Adrian was still in Illinois with no way to safely reach the cape.

  -

  Thirty-two miles north of the cape, Lieutenant Trace Lewis and his twelve-man squad were slowly edging themselves along a small ravine. They had been sent out to reconnoiter the enemy positions in this sector and were doing everything to approach their objective undetected.

  Lewis held up his hand in a fist and indicated for his men to stop. He could feel his heart racing, and he took a moment to get his breathing back under control. A small ridge ahead of them would give them a good view of the enemy forces. The only problem was he was pretty certain that the ridge was held by enemy troops, and his squad would be detected if they attempted to ascend it.

  He held his breath as he raised his binoculars to his eyes and studied the terrain ahead as well as the ridge. Sure enough, he could see movement atop the ridge. Gesturing for the radioman to come up, Lewis sent word back that the ridge was occupied. The captain had set up a contingency plan in case the ridge held enemy troops. Turning, he gestured for his marines to take cover.

  In a few moments, Lieutenant Lewis heard a loud whistling sound pass overhead and suddenly the ridge erupted with a serious of large, deafening explosions. Dirt was hurled high up into the air, and he thought he could hear screams mixed in with the shells going off. For a full minute, the cape’s artillery pounded the top of the ridge, blasting the enemy positions, and then everything fell silent.

  “Let’s go,” he ordered, gesturing for his men to follow him. He took off at a trot, wanting to reach the top of the ridge before the enemy could send reinforcements.

  It only took them a few minutes to reach the summit and his entire squad came to a horrified stop as they gazed at the carnage from the artillery bombardment. Trace watched sympathetically as several of his marines threw up at seeing what the artillery had done. The bodies of the enemy had been severely mutilated by the explosions, and it wasn’t a sight anyone wanted to see. It was also one you were likely never to forget.

  Lewis carefully examined the bodies, doing his best not to show any revulsion at what he had to do. There were sixteen they could find and that were recognizable. Of them, only four wore military uniforms and the rest were obviously civilians.

  “It’s as we thought,” Corporal Higgins reported as he walked up to Lewis. “They are using civilians to fill in for a lack of trained troops.”

  Lieutenant Lewis nodded. This was one of the things that General Mann had wanted to know. General Mann was second in command to General Karver.

  He reached for his binoculars at his waist and, putting them to his eyes, carefully scanned the terrain on the other side of the ridge. He could see a few uniformed troops moving around, but primarily what he was seeing were lightly armed civilians. Most of them seemed to be carrying shotguns and hunting rifles, and only the soldiers seemed to have the heavier weapons.

  “We’ve got what we came for,” he said after a few more minutes. He was pretty certain he had spotted a few enemy troops already making their way toward the ridge. “Let’s get back and report; I don’t think we have to worry about a major attack against our lines from this sector. At least not for a while.”

  Higgins nodded as he rounded the men up and they began descending the ridge. “They will need to bring more trained troops up before they become a threat to us,” Higgins commented as he stepped around several small bushes.

  “They will eventually,” Lewis responded, worried about what could soon be ahead of them. “They’re still in the process of pacifying the country. Once that’s done, the troops will arrive.”

  Higgins nodded. He knew that the big battles were still in the future. Idly, he wondered how his family in Nebraska was doing. Currently there was no way to contact them as all lines of outgoing communication were down. He hoped that when this was over he could get back home. His dad had a large farming operation he needed help with, and Higgins had always planned on following in his father’s footsteps and eventually taking over the family farm when his father retired.

  Lieutenant Lewis watched as his men made it down the ridge and started along the small ravine that led back to safety. He wondered how many of his marines would still be alive when this was over. He had a sickening feeling it wouldn’t be many.

  Chapter Eleven

  Mase was talking to Steve on Star One about the current situation on Earth and the worsening condition around the cape. Over the last six weeks, mountains of supplies and thousands of people had been sent up from the cape and the two military launch centers. However, it hadn’t been without cost. During the last four weeks, the forces besieging the cape had managed to shoot down five of the valuable and irreplaceable shuttles with long-range interceptor missiles.

  “It’s coming to an end rapidly,” Steve warned with anxiety in his voice. “I spoke to Jane Kinsey earlier this morning, and she said that General Karver feels the cape will fall in the next twenty-four hours. The general’s forces have taken a beating but are still holding their positions against everything Farley’s troops have been able to throw at them.”

  “Damn!” responded Mase, shaking his head in anger. He knew that thousands of lives were being sacrificed to buy the time needed to get the shuttles and their precious supplies launched. “How many shuttles do they have left at the cape?”

  “Two,” Steve answered. “John just launched from the cape and his shuttle was nearly shot down. From what he told me, a missile got within one hundred yards of them before it was intercepted. He’s away safely now and heading to Star One.”

  “I’m glad John’s okay,” Mase replied with a sigh of relief. John’s wife Julie would be devastated if anything happened to her husband.

  “Jane and Tim will be aboard one of the other two shuttles,” Steve continued. “They are trying to talk General Karver into going on the other one. We can’t afford for any of those three to be captured by Senator Farley’s people.”

  “I hope the general does come
up,” Mase said somberly. “We could really use his experience if Farley decides to attack us up here.”

  “I hope so to,” Steve replied. “I should mention that Teela expects us to see storms increasing radically on Earth in the next few weeks. Once the storms start, the shuttle launches will have to stop anyway.”

  “What’s going to happen at the cape once the last shuttle is launched?” Mase asked.

  It worried him that Senator Farley would have control of the cape launch facilities. It would make a good platform to launch an attack against Star One or Tycho City. There were still some very large and long-range missiles on Earth.

  “I’m not sure,” Steve replied in an uncertain voice. “All Jane would tell me is that Farley would not be able to use them.”

  “You don’t think they’re going to blow everything up?” Mase asked, his eyes widening at the thought. He couldn’t imagine the cape complex and all of its history being destroyed.

  “It’s a possibility,” Steve admitted. “It would set any attack against us back for weeks or possibly months. Christy just came in and said they need me in Main Control; I’ll get back to you later, Mase.”

  “Sure thing, Steve; keep me informed.” Mase hung up his phone and gazed worriedly at the far wall.

  Events on Earth were rapidly nearing their conclusion. He knew that after today, their last link with Earth would be gone. The previous night the insurgents had managed to nuke both of the military launch centers. Mase also knew that General Karver had threatened immediate retaliation if nukes were used against the cape. Mase closed his eyes and let out a heavy sigh, he wondered how things could have gotten so bad so fast. It seemed as if the entire world was falling into mayhem.

  -

  Lieutenant Trace Lewis was in a small line of foxholes and trenches that stretched for several miles in front of the enemy’s forward positions. He had eight members of his original squad still with him as well as Corporal Higgins. Two more squads had been assigned to him and anchored down his flanks. He had two fifty caliber machine guns and three mortars to hold this area of ground with. Lewis knew it wasn’t enough if the enemy attacked in force.

  “What do you think, Lieutenant?” Corporal Higgins asked as he slid into the foxhole.

  The corporal’s shirt was torn, and he looked as if he had worn the same shirt for days. The truth was they all were beginning to look like that. It was getting harder each day to get supplies and they were running low on ammunition.

  “Are they going to hit us again?” Higgins asked as he took a small sip of water from his canteen.

  “Yeah, they will,” replied Lewis with tired lines around his eyes. “They hit us yesterday with a massive human wave attack. We just barely managed to throw it back. They will come at us with their armor next.”

  Higgins nodded; he knew the fighting would be over in the next day or two. If he could just survive one more battle, he could return home to Nebraska and his family. Privately, he had thought about sneaking off in the night as many others had, but he felt he owed the lieutenant his loyalty and had stayed.

  Lewis and Higgins ducked instinctively as several insurgent artillery rounds hit just behind them. It was common practice for the insurgents to lob a few shells close to the defending army’s positions to disallow them any sleep. Everyone looked haggard and worn down from the constant shelling. More rounds started falling, throwing up large clouds of dirt and dust as well as black smoke.

  “It’s starting,” Lieutenant Lewis said as he watched the shelling increase. “Get back to your men, Corporal, and good luck.”

  “You too, Sir,” Higgins replied as he climbed out of the foxhole and ran bent over to his position.

  Lewis looked over the edge of his foxhole and reached for his binoculars. He felt a chill run down his back when he saw insurgent tanks and personnel carriers coming toward him. At the same instant, a shadow passed overhead, and a group of attack helicopters from the cape flew by.

  Lewis hadn’t known they still possessed so many. Over the past few weeks, numerous attack helicopters and aircraft had been shot down on both sides. The battlefield was littered with their burned out remains.

  In moments, the helicopters were engaged with the insurgent armor as they let loose their tank busting missiles. He also heard a loud roaring noise and saw that General Strong had committed his last six heavy battle tanks. This is it, Lewis thought as he watched the battle slowly come toward his position. He checked his rifle making sure it had a full clip. He had two other clips and then he would be out; it was the same for the rest of his marines.

  Lewis ducked as an artillery round struck the ground just in front of him, showering him with dirt. He brushed the dirt off and looked back over the top of the foxhole to see what was going on. The attack helicopters and General Strong’s tanks were taking a heavy toll on the insurgent’s advancing armor. For a moment, Trace felt a surge of hope as the enemy forces staggered and ground to a halt under the heavy attack.

  However, the insurgents hadn’t been completely unprepared. Lewis could see a number of attack helicopters burning on the ground that had been shot down by enemy fire. The few remaining continued to pound the enemy armor trying to turn back the advancing tide.

  Lewis saw a missile arc into the air to strike one of the helicopters, exploding against its side. It nosed downward and crashed into the ground in a fiery explosion. Lewis knew that no one could have survived. Artillery fire began to increase as a rolling wave of explosions began to march toward his position as the insurgents intensified their attack and started moving forward again.

  Looking toward General Strong’s battle tanks, he saw that four of them had been destroyed, and the remaining two were slowly pulling back. Then a massive series of explosions covered the retreating tanks as insurgent artillery fire zeroed in on them. When he looked again, they were burning and several men were running away.

  It’s over, he thought as he raised his rifle and braced it on a sandbag. In just a few more minutes, the enemy troops would be within rifle range. He knew the odds of him making it back home to Oklahoma and his wife and young son were bleak. In all likelihood, he would die here on this field of battle. He just prayed that it had all been worth it.

  Over a four-mile stretch, the insurgent juggernaut advanced. Over twenty thousand troops plus tanks and armored personnel carriers followed the artillery barrage toward the hard pressed defenders. The generals in charge had used massed human wave assaults composed of green civilian troops to weaken this area over the past several weeks. Now they would use their seasoned troops to annihilate the weakened opposition, push on to the cape, and capture it. Senator Farley had made it clear that he wanted the cape and its facilities captured intact.

  Lieutenant Lewis ducked as machine gun fire raked his position. To his left and right he could hear the fifty calibers firing back. He heard a sudden loud roar behind him and, turning saw a shuttle rising up into the air. Moments later a second joined the first as they fled upward on twin pillars of fire toward safety. Lewis knew these were the last two and there would be no more. The days of launching shuttles from the Earth were about to come to an end. He held his breath as he watched the two shuttles climb higher into the sky.

  Lewis became aware of a sudden cessation of firing. The battle had stopped as everyone focused their attention on the escaping shuttles. Suddenly, missiles trails appeared heading toward the two spacecraft. Defending missiles arched upward trying to destroy the dangerous weapons before they reached their vulnerable targets.

  Lewis moaned aloud as two missiles made it through the defensive fire and struck one of the helpless shuttles. In a brilliant explosion, the shuttle blew apart in a tumultuous roar and flames.

  Lewis stood in shock at seeing the shuttle’s sudden destruction. He saw that the other one was still safely climbing and would soon be out of harm’s way. He prayed that no one important had been on that shuttle. Little did he know that Jane Kinsey and Tim McPhryson had just died in th
e fiery explosion.

  An artillery round struck the ground behind him, and he heard a marine scream out in pain. The firing was resuming as the insurgent army began to move again. Peering through the scope on his rifle, he saw the enemy was almost within range. He said a quick prayer and prepared to fire. This would be the last battle, and he doubted if he or any of his marines would survive it.

  -

  Mase’s face was ashen as he hung up the phone. Steve had just called him with the news that both Jane Kinsey and Tim McPherson had been killed when their shuttle had been destroyed soon after launching from the cape. Fortunately, the other shuttle containing General Karver had gotten away safely.

  Steve had also gone on to say that demolition charges had been set off, and the cape was now a twisted pile of steel and smoking rubble. There would be no launches now or in the future from the cape complex.

  “It’s over,” spoke Anthony, finding it hard to believe that the cape was actually gone. Mase had been telling him what Steve had been saying during their brief conversation.

  “Yes, it’s over,” Mase replied, his eyes focusing on Anthony. “General Mann surrendered as soon as the cape was destroyed. According to Steve and Teela the fighting has stopped.” Mase had already told Anthony that Teela, Star One’s AI, had taken control of all the military satellites above the Earth and had been monitoring the battle.

  “How many people did we end up getting to Tycho City and Star One?” asked Anthony, knowing there would be no more. It was hard to imagine that the cape was gone; it had played such a big role in human history.

  “Steve said they had 3,824 on the space station. We have 8,270 safely here on the Moon.” Mase let out a long breath as he realized that no one else would be coming up from Earth. “We had hoped to have closer to ten thousand, but now that isn’t going to happen.”