“That is wonderful. We have been misinformed about the humans by the Libra Alliance propaganda. What do the humans want in trade for their generosity?” The little alien couldn’t hide his apprehension while he waited for an answer.
“We humans will provide a fleet of twenty-six warships with trained crews. We will also coordinate an army of over a million soldiers. The League will provide the soldiers’ pay, as well as their equipment. The League will also purchase the ships and provide for their upkeep. The army and fleet will remain in perpetual service to the League.”
“Why would we want an army and a fleet without a war? That would be expensive and foolish.” A smug look came over First Coordinator Viz’s face, as if he had just explained something simple to an idiot.
“First Coordinator Viz, the universe is a dangerous place, with many mean creatures unlike those of the League. This makes you a target. You need an army and a fleet to protect the League.” Dan realized then that the Switians probably had a deal with the Libra.
“First Coordinator Viz, the forces I mentioned will be staffed by the Jacka. If you do not hire them as the League’s permanent protectors, I will use them to annihilate the Libra home world. I will then recapture all planets that capitulated to the Libra Alliance. After that, I will take every damn member planet of the League!
“I hope you are listening to me. After I take over your League, I will ensure that my occupation force on each planet collects enough in taxes to cover the cost of their occupation. Your entire League will be nothing better than slaves. Do I have your attention yet?”
“Your threats do not worry me,” Viz replied. “There are two Alliance patrol ships on their way here to take you into custody. We will not be your slaves today.” Dan looked at the little alien and laughed out loud at his audacity.
“When I don’t return, my people will come. Our talks here have been monitored and sent to my ship. The transcripts have already been forwarded to Earth. I have given orders that when they learn of this, they are to find every member of your family and either kill or capture them to be put into slavery. All males will be gelded, so they will not be able to reproduce. You will be gelded and allowed to live a long life. My agents on your planet will ensure that you are never more than a beggar. They will monitor you the rest of your life to make sure you are healthy and do not die an early death.” Dan enjoyed the perplexed expression on the little alien’s face as he looked at Colonel Blade for verification.
“You are lucky,” Blade told him. “Dan Daniels is considered a hard man by many, myself included. I’m sure he will have the same fate for your leadership, as well. You will be the first. The fleet and army will still come. They could have been your protectors. Instead, they will be your masters.”
The little alien took in everything and looked like he had tears in his eyes when he motioned for the guards to come. The guards that came out of the vehicles were not Switians, but Rotes. They took Dan and the colonel to a small office attached to the inside of the hangar and locked them in without searching them.
“Grub, can you hear me?” Dan worried when he didn’t hear back immediately.
“Yes, Dan, I’ve been monitoring the situation. I have the weapons and ability to destroy one patrol ship easily, but not both if they arrive together, which is the usual method of patrol ships. We will be out of luck.”
“Grub, instruct Master Sergeant Thornburg to load two shuttles with the two squads of Gray Panthers and come on down to pick me up. Stealth is good, but speed is imperative. We don’t want to tangle with two patrol ships.”
“Master Sergeant Thornburg, there is a mission for you. You must depart immediately. Dan Daniels is being held prisoner, and two Libra ships could be here at any time. The data has been transferred to your wrist comp.”
Thornburg reviewed the data and called his troops together.
“We are going to do this like a snatch and grab. When we are almost at the spaceport, the shuttle that is there will launch as a distraction. We will then use our suits and try to go in unseen. Sergeant Loving will remain concealed on the parking ramp with his squad to provide support fire if things go bad and to cover our extraction. The shuttles will both strafe the parking ramps as a distraction until we pick up Daniels and the colonel. One shuttle will then pick up everyone on the ground while the other continues to strafe anyone who tries to interfere. Shuttle will drop in ten minutes, so saddle up.”
Thornburg was nervous about leading an ad hoc mission with minimal intel and no preparation. The saving grace was that everything was at the spaceport, out in the open.
The shuttle was crowded, carrying both squads instead of just one. The air was filled with an emotional stew of anger, anxiety, fear, and frustration as the shuttle neared the spaceport. Thornburg had the AI ignore the spaceport when it challenged the shuttle during approach.
“Activate your suits. Everything on the ground is a target except for the package we are bringing home alive. No heroics, just in and out,” Thornburg told the troops.
The hatch opened and both squads poured out. One squad ran to the cover of parked spaceships as the other squad ran to extract Dan and the colonel. Enemy fire was immediate.
Unknown to the Gray Panthers, the Rotes had natural thermal vision. Their suits would be useless. Rotes were waiting in the scaffolding along the walls and ceiling.
“Ambush! Take cover! Find your targets and clean house. Loving, have your squad start firing through the walls and ceiling over here. We need to keep their heads down,” Thornburg shouted. The men could hear spaceships being blown up outside the hangar. The two shuttles ensured that no ships took off and none came near the spaceport.
First Coordinator Viz was cowering with his boss, President Zaz, in the president’s office. They were amazed at the ferocity of the attack on the spaceport.
“Viz, you have made a mistake that will bring down our world and what is left of the League of Planets,” Zaz said, slamming his fist onto his desk in rage.
“I followed your orders, Mr. President. I will not go down alone.” The pair continued to watch the spaceport burn, astonished that two mere shuttles could cause so much damage. Before long, the two shuttles were joined by eight ugly black fighters.
“Dart Flight, Dart One, let’s scrap this place. Fly low and fast. We want to intimidate the hell out of the locals. See who can rack up the most sonic booms,” Andrews instructed, gaining altitude so he could station his fighter to be a one-ship defensive umbrella as the others proceeded to destroy the parked spaceships.
“President Zaz, this is Admiral Johnson of the battleship Beater. You have one galactic minute to cease firing on our people and let them withdraw. Otherwise, I have eight nuclear-armed bombers that will start bombing a different part of your city until only the spaceport remains. If Dan Daniels is killed, I will do the same thing here as I did when I destroyed the Gas Giant Rewards and all the civilians and military personnel there. I am starting my timer now, and at the end of one minute the first nuclear bomb will fall.”
Zaz listened in terror as he watched the black ships leave the spaceport and head for his city. “I capitulate. My people will stop firing,” he replied. He picked up another device to communicate with the spaceport. “Cease all firing. We will let the prisoners and the attackers leave. Stop shooting now.” Exhausted, he began to tremble and then openly cried.
“They stopped shooting. Hold fire. Get Daniels and the colonel, and let’s get the hell out of here while we can,” Thornburg commanded. He watched two Gray Panthers run for the small building, the rest ready to provide cover fire.
“Nice of you guys to drop by,” Dan told the two rescuers. “Now let’s go home!” Dan and Colonel Blade ran with their escorts, and the rest of the squad joined in at the back as the group ran by them. The shuttles landed and the teams filed in. They were back in the air in less than a minute.
“Good job, everyone,” Dan told the troops, looking angry even as he smiled at being free
.
“Sir, Admiral Johnson and the battleship Beater came to your rescue.” Dan’s initial shock at Grub’s statement turned to laughter. The nervous chuckles that began to ripple throughout the shuttle turned into full laughter as the men realized they were safe.
“Battleship Beater, D2.”
“D2, go ahead.”
“Beater is to continue on original mission. Two enemy patrol ships will arrive shortly. Prefer not to engage at this time. My compliments to the ship and crew of the Beater for a job well done. Daniels out.”
“Johnson to crew. We will be engaging the FTL to head for planet Tak. Target is a major munitions manufacturer and trading center. Once we engage the FTL we will be thirteen hours out.
“Beater,” Johnson continued, “send a coded message to Grub that they can get to Earth the same way Grub did the first time, only less violently.”
“Grub, send out a message in the clear to all League of Planets worlds. Give them my proposal for a fleet and an army. Include the alternative if they decline. Then, set course for Earth,” Dan ordered.
New Richmond, planet Dixie
16 November 2128
Sam sat in the scout vehicle and watched as the sun started to set. She didn’t have the energy to get out of the vehicle, let alone make herself anything to eat.
“We’re off until the morning. Then we’ve got wobbler duty again. I think we should find a nice empty mansion on the north side that’s been cleared. We can close the gate and lock ourselves in for the night in a little comfort. Anyone have a better suggestion, I want to hear it.” The scouts who were still awake just shrugged. “Okay. North side it is.”
“Everyone,” she called out, “follow us and try to keep alert. We may have some Red Coats still. If we see any wobblers, just use a stick on them and we’ll swing by in the morning to pick them up. Unless the Red Coats pull any surprises, it’s anticipated that we’ll be finished in two days and then we’ll do a final cleanup sweep. Let’s move out.”
Sam thought of the four trips they’d made through the city, slowly trolling for wobblers. Those they’d attracted had been taken to a field east of the city, where they were swarmed by Dixian military armed with electric sticks.
The city’s electricity had been restored, so the streetlights were on. It was an odd experience, driving through the neighborhoods and not even seeing a stray dog. Clouds were starting to block out the moon. The wind picked up and the first few drops of rain quickly became a deluge. The water had no effect on the scouts in their open vehicles, other than to turn them from being dead tired to being wet, miserable, and dead tired.
The drive to the mansion was uneventful. The building was sealed, and the faint smell of wobblers remained as a scout opened the front door.
“We make one pass through, and then we crack the windows and lock it up for the night,” Sam told her scouts. “We should be safe, so I’m not posting a guard. Just give me ten more minutes, and then we can all crash.” She led the sweep, feeling more asleep than awake. Opening the door to the garage, she discovered a pair of enraged wobblers. Instantly, she was alert.
“Get me a damn stick! We have a couple of wobblers,” she yelled, slamming the door closed. She didn’t even notice who handed her the stick. She cracked the door open again and a hand reached for her. Plunging the stick through the doorway, she felt the satisfaction of solid contact as she zapped it. Another hand reached through the door and pulled it open, yanking Sam forward before she could let go of the doorknob. She fell, the stick trapped beneath her. Sam was overwhelmed by the stench from the creature, a teenage girl wearing only a long T-shirt. The girl bent over Sam and held her down. As she opened her mouth, the putrid odor washed over Sam. Sam couldn’t move or get her hand free from the stick, as her body was over her other arm. Just as she closed her eyes, a rifle butt knocked the wobbler across the garage. Dazed, Sam rose in slow motion and walked over to the girl, who was trying to rise, and savagely jabbed the stick into her belly. She pressed the button, and with a slight jolt, the girl went to sleep.
“Let’s finish our sweep and get to bed.” The sweep concluded in the master suite, and everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief. Sam felt the huge bed pulling her to it. “Good job, everyone. You know where to find me if you need me. Goodnight, y’all.”
Sam stripped down to her underwear and decided she could wait until morning to wash up. She felt an intense tiredness overcome her and she tried to surrender to sleep, but she was now wide awake.
Hades Wormhole entrance, League of Planets space
16 November 2128
Dan stood with the colonel, watching a huge viewer. The sight of the Hades Nebula was awe-inspiring.
“I never thought space could be so colorful,” he said. “I just thought of black sky and white stars. The swirling of colors leaves me speechless.”
“Dan, if you could feel the ship being pulled around in the beauty you see, you would be more scared than impressed,” Grub stated.
“Are you saying we’re in danger here?” Dan turned serious.
“The ship is at increased risk the longer we stay here.”
“Grub, get us into the wormhole as soon as possible then.” Dan took one last look before turning away from the monitor.
“Dan, I should have explained to you that the inertial dampeners hid the sensation of being shaken. Like having shock absorbers on an automobile. We are now in the wormhole and should be smooth for a day at max impulse. The last time the Grub was in the wormhole, all ships were at not even quarter impulse to save energy for a long trip.” Grub explained.
“Grub, should we stay in the wormhole and see if we can find the new Flem home world?”
“I would like that, sir. However, I think you would only scare them and be distracted from our mission. They would not contribute to your mission, and they might try to reclaim me.”
“I’m not worried about a fight with pacifists. But we don’t have time for that yet. Let’s just go home.”
Gray Panthers headquarters, Arizona
17 November 2128
“Good morning, Hercules, How are we looking today?” Abby opened his coffee and took a tentative taste as he waited for the report.
“The refurbishment of the Libra ships has progressed faster than anticipated. Four have been completed and modified for AIs. Ten of the other ships could be used at this time but would need large trained crews. Those ten require another ten days to be modified for AIs. The remaining ships are at least a month away from being ready.”
“With the AI-modified ships, how soon could we have untrained crews on board learning how to operate and maintain them?”
“Although the modified ships are highly complex, that actually makes training easier. For all intents and purposes, the ships run themselves, like ours. We should put a human crew of forty on board each and have a Jacka crew shadow them as their training until they are ready to assume control of the ships.”
“I’d start that today, but Dan needs to make that determination. See how soon Admiral Bad can stop by.” As Abby looked around the office, he felt the walls were closing in. Damn Dan Daniels for sticking me here.
“Abby, your eight o’clock appointment is here,” Juanita announced via the comm.
“Can you reschedule her for when Dan is back? I have no idea what she wants, and Dan didn’t leave any info on her.”
“She came all the way from San Francisco. She’s on the board of supervisors.”
“All right. Send her in, please. Dan owes me.”
“Hello. I am Abdul Bahadur. I’m filling in for Mr. Daniels while he is off-world. How may I help you, miss?”
“I am Precious Juanita Smyth. I have the privilege of telling you that the board of supervisors demands that you remove the laser gun thingy from our county.” Precious smiled as she waited for Abby’s reaction.
“That’s not a problem. I will have a team remove it and the power plant within the next two days. I will do you the prof
essional courtesy of notifying the electric company that charged the city for its services previously that the city will once again have need of its services.” Abby smiled nicely, waiting.
“Oh, no, we want to keep the generator. We just want the gun gone.”
“Why would you want to be the only unprotected city in America, Precious?” Abby sat back, looking smug.
“We can’t have that there. It’s a war thingy. War is wrong.”
Abby decided he was done listening. “I am tired of listening to idiots like you. People that use slogans for logic and pictures for debate. Here’s a picture for you. Picture San Francisco—one of my favorite cities in the whole world—as a smoking crater. You will go back and tell the other supervisors, no gun, no power plant, no shields. When the next attack on Earth comes, there is no guarantee we can provide protection. Who is going to protect your sorry ass? Who will explain why millions died needlessly?”
“For a man of color, how can you embrace such attitudes? You should think the same way I do.”
“Precious, I was without a gun when they came and raped my wife, then killed her and our children in front of me, just for being Christians. Then they put a bullet in my head and left me for dead. The aliens have one of two plans for you: to be cannon fodder or to make cannon fodder.”
“I don’t believe your fairy—”
“Here’s your fairy tale, you sanctimonious idiot!” Abby turned around and showed her the scar of a bullet hole in the back of his head. “Don’t worry. You don’t have to get your hands dirty. Just stay the hell out of the way of those who do. Just like I managed to kill every man who wronged my family, with interest! Now get out before I take up your request.”
Gray Panthers: Dixie Page 20
