“At least you got to volunteer,” said Walborski, pulling on the rest of his kit. He knew it weighed about thirty-five kilos, not counting his weapon.
“Get a move on troops,” yelled the acting First Sergeant, walking by their platoon ready room. “We don’t want to keep those bastards waiting for us, now do we?”
Cornelius thought for a moment before he started to file out of the room with the rest of the platoon to form up outside. Is he talking about the regular army? Or the aliens coming to kill us?
Cornelius walked out of the armory bunker and into the still dark morning. He could see a sliver of light on the horizon as daybreak approached. His platoon was forming up, and he went into his place in his squad line. There were still some empty spaces there, and he wondered if they were going to show up at all. He knew that some of the men would have run. Stayed with their families and not put their lives on the line.
Too late now, he thought. He had reported in and drawn his equipment. His ass was the Empire’s at the moment. Unless he could look for his first chance to run, when all the hell broke loose.
* * *
Dr. Jennifer Conway heard the alarm through the uplink of her implant. Moments later it was followed by an urgent call on her personal com. Unfortunately she was up to her arms in the belly of a mom undergoing a cesarean birth. It was amazing, with all the genetic corrections humanity had made to itself over the years, how babies still did not cooperate on how they positioned themselves in a mom’s womb.
“We’re almost done,” she said, pulling the baby from the opening she had made. She severed the umbilicus with a laser scalpel, and handed the wet form to one of the waiting women of the freehold. The baby started crying as he opened his lungs, the lusty cry that a doc wanted to hear after a birth. She took a quick glance at the baby and it looked good. The woman dried the baby off and placed him in the assessment/care unit that the doctor had brought with her. In it the baby would undergo a complete physical scan, down to the genetic level.
“Let me get you closed up here and we’ll be done,” she said to the sedated but conscious mom. Using self-dissolving staples and the laser, set to close the wounds, she sutured the opening, injecting nanites into the closures. The microscopic robots would repair the damage she had done, so that in a week or so it would be as if the wound was never made, with no scarring.
When she was done she checked on the baby, who turned out to be almost perfectly healthy. Except you didn’t have the sense to stay in the proper orientation, she thought, as she looked at the worried patriarch of the freehold entering the birthing room.
“Is something wrong?” she asked Montano Montero, the head of the extended family that had decided they needed to live far from what passed for civilization on the frontier world.
“There is an alert on the net,” said the short, swarthy skinned man, nodding his head.
“I picked up some kind of alarm,” she said, looking at the other people in the next room through the doorway. Several of the men wore sidearms, and one had a military assault rifle in his hands. “What’s going on?”
“We’re being invaded,” said the head of the freehold, worry creasing his brow. “A task force of unknowns has entered the system and is moving toward the planet.”
“Oh god,” she said, feeling her face flush. “Do we know they are hostile?”
“They’ve not fired on us yet,” said another man, by his looks a son of the freeholder. “Or at least we haven’t picked up any indication that they’ve fired on anything human, from four light hours out. But the bet is that they’re hostile since there are a dozen large vessels driving in, with more still in Hyper VII.”
“Hyper VII?”
“Yeah,” answered the younger man. Conversation rose and fell in the living room behind him as more residents of the community entered. “They’re advanced alright. At least as technically advanced as we are.”
“I suggest you stay with us, doctor,” said the elder Montero. “We have plenty of cached supplies, and a whole wilderness to hide in. You’ll be safer with us than in the city.”
“But they’ll probably need me more in the city,” she replied, thinking of the wounded and dying that might soon be flooding the hospital.
“It’s your call, doctor,” said the man. “But you’re welcome to stay with us.”
“Let me get on the com link for a minute, Mr. Montero,” she said. “And I want to check on your new grandson at least one more time.”
The man nodded his head and turned away, looking as if he was walking with the weight of the world on his shoulders. A new little one to worry about, thought the doctor. Not the best time to come into the Galaxy. But he’d had no choice, and now he was here, for better or for worse.
With a thought Jennifer tapped into the com link. There was one blinking message marked the red of urgent, as well as a few others that were the yellow of routine. She tapped into the urgent message first and was relieved when the face and voice of the most important person on the planet came into her mind.
“Get in touch with me as soon as you can, Jen,” said Captain Glen McKinnon, his brow furrowed. “All shit is coming down here and I’m having to get my command ready. By the time you get this message I’m sure you will know probably as much as I do about what’s going on. But please contact me.”
Jennifer put through the call immediately as the message ended. She waited for a couple of minutes while a waiting signal warbled. She realized that the system was probably carrying more traffic right now than it was used to. Even with the built in reserve. Finally the signal changed, and the blue eyes she loved came into her mind.
“You’re safe,” he said as soon as the connection was completed.
“I’m OK,” she said, smiling. “I just had to help a little guy out of the womb so he could greet our invaders.”
“Where are you?”
“About a thousand kilometers north of Frederick,” she replied, sending him a map image from the net. “I think I’m going to head back to town, though I’ve been offered sanctuary here at the freehold.”
“I almost wish you would stay there,” he said, concern in his voice. “You might be safer there if what we think is coming comes.”
“I could probably do more good at the hospital,” she said, thinking of her route.
“We’re going to evacuate the hospital into the underground shelter’s clinic,” said the Captain. “And I don’t see the town or the shelter being very survivable. I really wish you’d stay there. For my peace of mind.”
“And what about my peace of mind, Glen McKinnon,” she said over the link, her temper flaring. “While I’m safe in the wilderness you’re going to be fighting to keep a superior force from landing.”
“I’ll be in the best armor his Majesty can buy,” said the Marine with a projected smile. “Surrounded by the roughest lads he could provide. And you won’t be in armor. So take them up on their hospitality, please.”
“OK,” she said, feeling her eyes tear up. “But you promise to take care of yourself.”
“I will, hon,” he replied, sending his love over the circuit. “I have to leave now. That ape of a First Sergeant is signaling me. Love you.”
“Love you too,” she replied, and the circuit unlinked.
She walked over to the baby who lay in the chamber, kept warm and monitored. Everything looked normal, so she gently lifted the baby from the tank, wrapped him in a warm blanket, and brought him over to mom.
“Here you go,” she said to the exhausted mom, placing the baby on her chest. Mom wrapped her arms around the child and smiled at the baby, then smiled up at the doctor.
“Thank you, ma’am,” said the woman, looking back at the face of her baby.
Jennifer nodded and walked out of the room, seeking the patriarch. She found him discussing defensive plans with his sons. He turned his head and nodded at her as she walked up.
“I’ll be glad to take advantage of your hospitality, sir,” she said
, glancing at the sons who had looks of relief on their faces. They would have a physician in their midst, no matter what happened to them. “My fiancé wants me to stay here and not risk the city.”
“Smart man, your man,” said Montero, smiling. “Is he going to hole up somewhere too?”
“I’m afraid not,” she said with a grimace. “He’s a Captain in the Marine battalion. He has a company to lead.”
“Good boys, those Marines,” said Montero, rolling up a sleeve and showing off a mobile tattoo of the Imperial Marine Flag on his upper arm. “I served forty years myself. Got up to first sergeant. If anyone can handle an invasion they can.”
Conway nodded, pasting a smile on her face to keep from crying. But even the best can be overrun and killed, she thought. Please God let him get through this. She couldn’t remember the last time she had prayed, or what she had prayed about. But it seemed a good time to start back.
* * *
“Brigadier on the horn, Colonel,” said the Sergeant Major, walking into the command center.
Baggett looked up from the display, wondering why the division/regimental commander hadn’t commed him directly through the planetary net link. Probably overloaded with traffic, he thought after a moment, nodding at the Sergeant Major.
“Good to see you sir,” said the Colonel as an image appeared on the large viewer.
“Everything shaking down alright, Sam,” said the Brigadier and planetary ground force commander.
“I wish we could have had a couple of more months to shake it, sir,” said the Colonel, frowning. “Especially the militia. We never got into training cycle with half of them, and they aren’t on the same page.”
“What do you mean, Sam?” asked Klein, turning in the view to grab something and scribble a signature on it. The army continued to run on paperwork, thought Baggett. Even in the face of an invasion.
“A battalion of them showed up ready for action,” said Baggett, grinning. “Full gear, powered up. They looked to stand around for hours until I had the Sergeant Major tell them it would be at least twelve hours before we had to worry about anything here. And that only if the hostiles lob hypervelocity missiles at us from n-space entry.”
“Well, go gently on them, Sam,” said the scholarly looking man with the soft voice. “They might be dying for us in the near future.”
Baggett nodded his head as he thought back on the plan they had worked out soon after landing here. The militia would do most of the defending of fixed positions. The work that would sustain the most casualties during a hostile planetary insertion. His regulars, along with the Marines and the armor, were to form the reserve that would strike the enemy at the most opportune time. Of course they didn’t tell the militia that they would be the cannon fodder of the Imperial forces. But they would be that nonetheless.
“It’s also the terrain, sir,” complained the Colonel, pulling up a map on the holo tank that he knew the General would see over his viewer. “I wish I had more time to scout the terrain and set my tertiary and quaternary positions. Right now I will have to improvise my ass off.”
“Which, by the way,” said Klein, “you are very good at. One of the best I have seen. So I feel good about you improvising. And remember that we never have enough of anything. No commander ever has had enough troops, support or time. We make do with what we have and try to do the best with it. I don’t expect you to destroy this enemy single handedly. I really don’t expect our whole force to do more than bleed them, and let them know they’ve been in a fight. And that we will do.”
“Any word on clearing up the net on this ball?” said Baggett, bringing up his last major concern.
“It’s flooded right now so citizens and civil defense can get through with their messages,” said the General, nodding his head. “We have to give them a few more hours of priority so they can get their affairs in order. But in a couple of hours we’re going to lock the system down. Ninety-five percent will be military traffic only.”
“That sounds good enough, sir,” said the Colonel. “And I’ll have my command ready to hit them hard when they come down.”
“I know you will, Sam,” said Klein. “I’m depending on you to make the Frederick area hot for our new friends. Now I need to check on some of the other areas. Signal me if you need anything, and I’ll try my best to give it to you.”
“I will, sir,” agreed Baggett, smiling at his commanding officer. “I’ll scream like a stuck pig if I need help.”
The viewer went blank and Baggett got back to his paperwork. He wondered if other men, on other worlds, had done the same while death made ready to besiege them.
Chapter 12
People who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do.
Isaac Asimov
Lucille Yu was sitting at her desk, looking over the requisitions on the comp when the alert signal chimed her link. What now, she thought, shaking her head and wishing they would go away. When that didn’t happen she reluctantly connected to the call.
“There was a rupture in one of the negative matter storage tanks,” said the voice of a worker she didn’t recognize. She looked him up on her link and sighed. Todd Pertrov, Bob Landry’s assistant. Yu switched over on her link and looked at the tank in question, a large upright globe that contained the charged negative matter within a vacuum using a magnetic field to keep it contact with the skin of the tank. But now the globe was missing a good portion of one side, the matter cancelled by its counterpart.
Goddamn, thought Yu, looking over the damage to the wall that was adjacent to the tank, with a wide hole eaten through its meter thick metal. It really didn’t matter what the material was made of, diamond, neutronium, whatever, the negative matter would cancel it.
“How much negative matter did we lose?” she asked the young man, cringing as she waited for the number.
“About eight tons,” said the young engineer, shaking his head, his expression that of a man who looked like he was about to cry.
“That much,” said Lucille, shaking her head. Enough to make a hundred passenger gates, or almost enough for a ship gate.
“That’s not the worst of it,” said the man, his voice cracking.
“What could be worse?” said Lucille, staring at the man’s face on the holo screen.
“Chief Engineer Landry was on site when the rupture occurred,” said the man, his voice cracking again as a tear rolled down his cheek.
“Was he hurt?” asked Yu, afraid of the answer.
“He’s gone,” said the Engineer, shaking his head.
“Gone?” asked Lucille, feeling her heart sink. She brought up the vid from the link, her breath catching in her throat as she watched the side of the tank rupture and Landry get caught in the stream of negative matter that washed over him and made him cease to exist. Not even an atom of the man was left, and Lucille, who was a believer, wondered in horror if there was even anything left of the man’s soul. There has to be, she thought, looking down at the table. God wouldn’t make a spirit that could be destroyed by anything, would he?
“There will of course be a service for Chief Engineer Landry,” said Lucille, looking up at the man. “We’ll look at what we have to do to repair the damage afterwards.”
“Yes, ma’am,” said the engineer with a nod. “I was hoping you would say that. Chief Landry always said you were a good boss, and a good woman.”
Lucille felt her throat catch once more, thinking of the subordinate who thought so highly of her. Gone forever, as if he had never been. No, she thought, not that. He would live in the memories of those who worked with him, and in the history of this place.
“Would you say some words at the ceremony, ma’am?” asked the engineer, tears now freely flowing down his cheeks.
“Of course,” she replied, nodding her head. “Please let me know when it will happen and I will be there.”
The man nodded and the screen went off. Lucille put her face in her hands, wondering what else c
ould happen. The Director and so many of my friends, the Emperor and his family, and now this. The Donut was not supposed to be a hazardous duty station, unlike The Other Universe Project. But it was becoming one.
Lucille pulled herself together after that thought and brought her paperwork back up. She knew she had to get in touch with Admiral Lenkowski and let him know that they would fall short on the promised production. If he can’t handle it, then fuck him, she thought, slamming a hand on the desk. I need to get out of here for a bit, was the next thought. The work could wait.
* * *
Sean sat at his station in the control room of the B ring of HIMS Duke Roger Sergiov II, feeling just a little bit foolish. The station was manned and ready, full crew at posts, as the ship coasted out system, waiting for the other ships to form up on her and the other nine battleships that formed the nucleus of the force. The nucleus so far, as another eight battleships and all of the other vessels were in the process of matching vectors and velocities before heading toward the presumed hostile force.
We could be here for a day with nothing happening, he thought, looking around the control center at the techs. The system was on alert, a presumed hostile force on the way in. As far as he could tell the crew could still be on one third on two thirds off rotating watch. But the regulations of the Fleet called for a warship to be on war footing when going to meet an enemy.
“You seem very quiet, sir,” said CPO Gorbachev from her station.
“I’m bored to death,” said the Prince, looking over at her. “I may be on my way to an engagement that will kill me. But good God, I am bored to death.”
“It will get hectic enough later, sir,” said the NCO, standing up from her panel and coming over to his station. “When we close things will happen way too fast.”
“This reminds me of the sailing days,” he said, looking up at her. Seeing her blank expression he explained. “Something we learned about in the academy. On old earth, before powered propulsion of watercraft, they used to fight with sailing vessels. You would see the enemy by the tops of his sails coming over the horizon. And it might be hours before he was close enough to fire on. Maybe even days if you were chasing him.”
Exodus: Empires at War: Book 2 Page 19
