“Okay. Here’s the plan. In teams of three we will check out each house across the street. We will only do the houses from one corner to the other. No crossing any streets without my permission. If the shit hits the fan, we fall back to the library. No souvenirs from the houses, and be careful of any wobblers that might be locked inside. Try not to break any doors or windows. We all come back alive. Now let’s move out!”
Walking through the park toward the houses, McGuire looked down the street to the left and right and noticed other units moving toward their objectives.
Gray Panthers headquarters, Arizona
18 November 2128
Dan was surprised at his pleasure to be home. Abby had done a magnificent job. He looked at the recommendation to take out the first four Libra warships to see how well they handled before training the Jacka on how to use them. He pushed the paper for action to the right. A letter from the board of supervisors complaining about the treatment of their representative made Dan laugh, only improving his mood.
“Hercules?”
“Yes, Dan?”
“Please forward the report to Admiral Bad to start getting crews on the first four Libra ships and evaluating them.”
“Dan, I have updates for you from Dixie.”
“Go ahead. Let’s hear it.” Dan’s good mood dissipated as he listened to the report.
“A pandemic appears to have infected approximately ninety percent of the population. The infected are unable to communicate and are extremely aggressive toward the uninfected. Infection is transferred via body fluids, mainly biting and scratching. The infected are ambulatory and appear intent on spreading the infection to all humans except the Gray Panthers. Apparently, that is because the infected have nanites in their system. The initial delivery of disease is unknown.
“The cure for the disease is a minor electrical shock. When nanites are shocked, they simply shut down. The infected then rest from four to eight hours and wake with no memory from the time they were infected,” Hercules reported.
“Write up a warning and pass it to all Gray Panthers and allied governments,” Dan replied. “We will need to watch out for any type of sneak attack. Anything else from Dixie, Hercules?”
“Initial attacks by combined forces liberated the first town with minimal casualties. The assault on New Richmond did not go as well. Two hundred shuttles were launched. One mile out from the city a combination of missiles and lasers were used to repel the shuttles. Initial losses were twenty-eight Gray Panthers and thirty-six American shuttles. No casualty lists have been made yet, as survivors have been found and we do not know if any have been captured by Libra forces.” Dan was reeling from the news. He fought the feeling of sickness as the room started to spin.
“My boys, my boys, what have I done? Give this report to all staff officers and have our liaison officer present a copy to the American government. No appointments for me for the rest of the day.”
Dan rested his head in his hands and silently wept for the dead men and women under his command. Then he became indignant.
“Hercules, I want every effort made to cut the time down for the rebuilding of the Libra ships. Cut any corner we can. Triple the number of workers. I don’t care the damn cost. Same for the ship conversions by our allies. We almost lost the planet once and I didn’t wake up. This is the bloody kick in the head I needed, god forgive me. Have Colonel Blade brought to me. We are going to end this war!”
Forward edge of battle area in New Richmond, planet Dixie
18 November 2128
“Let’s do this smart, guys. Take your time and let your firepower pick up the slack. Think you have a Red Coat on the other side of a wall? Fire it up! We’re not doing any hard entries. Find any wobblers, just lock ’em in a room and mark the front of the house with a W and the number inside. We all go home!” Corporal Jacobs knew he was breaking orders, but after watching his sergeant lose it and the lieutenant get decapitated, he wasn’t worried about the little shit. What were they going to do, send him to Dixie?
Jacobs took point on the first house. Opening the unlocked door unleashed the stench inside in a nauseous wave.
“We got wobblers. Don’t take any chances, but avoid killing the things if you can.” The house looked too normal, making everything all the more unreal. There were three closed doors along the hallway. Jacobs decided to screw everything he had ever learned.
“Hello? Anyone home? Your worst nightmare is here. Make a joyous noise so I know where you are!” Jacobs waited, listening for anything. A scratching sound came from behind the first door, and Jacobs swallowed hard.
Grabbing a chair, Jacobs said to the man behind him, “When I say ‘now,’ you open the door and get back. I’ll enter first, we get the number of wobblers, and close it back up.” He signaled with a nod to open the door. A small dog escaped through the opening and darted by them. Just as Jacobs started to breathe a sigh of relief, two small wobblers grabbed the chair, trying to get to him. He looked into their little faces and knocked them backward with the chair. Dropping the chair, he slammed the door shut.
“Sum bitch, sum bitch, sum bitch. Okay, we got two wobblers so far. Let’s finish this place and get the hell out!” Taking a gulp of water, Jacobs noticed the little dog staring up at him with anticipation.
“Aw, screw it!” Jacobs found the kitchen and opened some food for the dog. He poured some water into a bowl and noticed that the dog wasn’t moving toward the food.
“Eat, damn it!” Jacobs reached down to put the food by the dog. The dog began to lick his hand, and Jacobs started to stroke the top of the dog’s head, remembering his own kids’ dog. He didn’t detect any movement from behind as he loved on the dog.
“Okay, Corporal, the house is cleared.” Jacobs took one last look at the dog.
“Let’s move it, then.” Jacobs ignored the dog’s barking as he closed the door.
Arizona Space Ship Beater, in Libra Alliance space
18 November 2128
“Captain, three targets dead ahead on the same course as us.” Lieutenant Horton was excited that he had found a target.
“Beater, can you identify the targets?” Johnson began to feel the excitement build in him.
“Three craft are all long-range shuttles. Primary use for the shuttles is intra-system transport of priority materials or diplomatic personnel. Craft are transmitting their registry as Tak. They are only capable of sub-light speeds. Maximum crew and passenger is ten. At this location the entire complement is most likely in stasis.”
“Could those shuttles be put on the exterior of the Beater for an FTL jump?” Johnson was stoked at the prospect of finally capturing some ships.
“That would not be a problem. The pilot would need to land on the Beater, then engage the magnetic locks.”
“Can you do that remotely, or would our pilots need to do it from inside the shuttles?”
“The pilots could do it with my assistance. If the crew and passengers are in stasis, there may be no atmosphere in the shuttles. Pilot and boarding party should go over fully suited,” Beater briefed.
“All pilots and marines in the main hanger, five minutes. Commander Poland, you have the bridge.” Johnson’s heart was bursting with the plan he had.
“Room, atten-hut!”
“At ease. Gather to me,” Johnson said. “We will be taking three enemy shuttles. Crew and passengers should be in stasis. We will dock to each shuttle and three marines will board, followed by two pilots. All personnel will be fully suited, as there may not be any atmosphere. The AIs will brief you on how to maneuver the ships. You will land on the Beater and engage magnetic locks. You will then ensure that the stasis chambers on the shuttles are set to open only after we get them to our destinations. When the shuttles are locked down, signal for pickup. While the pilots are doing all the work, marines will provide security and see if they can determine whether cargo or passengers are valuable. Any questions?” Johnson paused. “Good. Young, you and Andrews will assign teams. You
have ten minutes to suit up and sweat before we launch shuttles. Carry on.” He was feeling good as he walked to the flight deck. Then he thought of something.
“Beater, what do they breathe on Tak?”
“Captain, Taks breathe an oxygen-nitrogen mix similar to that on Earth. They can breathe our atmosphere, and humans can breathe theirs with only minor difficulty from the lower oxygen content.”
“Thank you, Beater.” Johnson entered the flight deck in a good mood. The minor op looked like it was going to be fast and clean.
“Lieutenant Horton, how are we looking? Any visitors?”
“Nothing on the screens, Captain. I think if we stay on this course any longer we may find ourselves in the local shipping lanes because of the proximity of Tak and minor space operations in the area.” Lieutenant Horton wasn’t sure if he would annoy the captain, but felt duty bound to give his predictions.
“Good analysis, Horton. Signal the shuttles to depart.” The little shit had to rain on my parade, didn’t he? Doesn’t matter. We’ll be gone soon enough.
The Beater took position slightly ahead of the enemy shuttles and then matched speed as the Beater’s shuttles departed.
The Major Rogers effortlessly matched up with the shuttle as the docking bay was extended. The indicators were green when the hatch was open. The marines stood in the hatchway until it was obvious there were no hostiles ready to ambush the team. After the pilots followed, both hatches were shut and the Major Rogers departed for the next shuttle.
The walls and ceilings on the interior of the shuttle were all red. On the starboard and after sides, five glass-like tubes lined the walls. Inside each tube was an alien that appeared to be dead, although an indicator on each tube revealed that life was being monitored.
The pilots checked out the control interface of the open flight deck. It was totally alien to them.
“Major Rogers, how do we drive this thing?” the pilot asked with frustration.
“Lieutenant Hagen, the center ceiling console has five blue lights. Press in the forward two lights to stop forward momentum. On the center forward console there is a pair of open receptacles. Put your arms in each until you find a grip. The degree of pressure you administer will determine your thrust for starboard and port engines. Moving the grip will cause the ship to move in that direction.
“Lieutenant Engel, on the center ceiling console, press the second blue light—the one that is not very bright. This will bring the shuttle to minimal thrust. Lieutenant Hagen, you may now steer toward the Beater. You should try to land on the top center of the ship so you do not interfere with the ship’s weapons systems.”
“Beater, how do I ensure that the stasis pods won’t open any time soon?” Sergeant Vargas stared at the console, not comprehending.
“On the center of each control is a slide that goes left and right. If you slide the control all the way to the right, the occupants will stay in the pods indefinitely. If you slide it all the way to the left, it will override all other controls and release the occupants.
“Beater, what’s the labels on the cargo containers say?”
“The containers say ‘transfer gel.’ It is a very important cargo for the Libra Alliance, as well as for the Gray Panthers. The gel is mainly produced in Republic space and sold to any customer that can afford it. It is the way information travels on a ship from point to point. It is usually one of the first items salvaged from a destroyed ship.”
“Beater, we are approaching the ship. How do I go directly down without damaging the Beater or ourselves?”
“Lieutenant Engel, on the top left console, press the large purple button all the way in.” The ship slowly settled on the Beater.
“Now, press all of the buttons on the top left console in the first row.” The engines shut off and a red light lit up the cabin.
“The shuttle will have battery power for ten minutes and then shut off. Stasis units will not be affected.”
“Major Rogers, shuttle one requests extraction.”
“Shuttle one, five minutes till extraction.”
A slight bump announced the arrival of the Major Rogers and the hatchway opened. The boarding party was relieved to be off the alien shuttle, but they were informed that they would have to stay suited up until both of the other teams had been picked up.
Thirty minutes later, the last team was aboard the shuttle. All sighed with relief as the shuttle was finally pressurized and they could remove their helmets.
“Beater, the Major Rogers has landed and is secured.” Johnson was ecstatic with the news that the boarding parties had all returned safe. This mission was almost over.
“Set course for Flem home world. Engage the FTL when we have it plotted.” Lieutenant Horton plotted the course, and then Commander Poland engaged the FTL drive. The entire ship’s crew was euphoric after the successful raid, and morale started to perk up.
Gray Panthers headquarters, Arizona
18 November 2128
“Colonel Blade, thanks for coming so quickly. Please, have a seat. I found out that four of the Libra ships are ready for crews. I’d like for you to assign the crews for them so we can get them to your home world as soon as possible.”
“Dan Daniels, the best plan would be to have Sub-Lieutenant Spear from the Fist Clan work with you. The ships you captured along with me were under the command of the Fist Clan, not the Claw Clan. I have no control over him or his clan members. There are enough from his clan to man the ships.”
“Damn it! That’s what we need to get away from. If the Jacka are going to have a real army and fleet, they have to identify as Jacka and not by clan. Do you agree?” Dan fought to keep his frustration from showing.
“Yes I do, Dan. But you have centuries of tradition to fight to make that happen. It will not be easy.”
“Have the Jacka ever united to fight alongside each other before?”
“Legend tells the story of how we were one people. Our planet was attacked and the peoples scattered to the ten clans. There was disease and famine. The people took pride in that they never raided or took from another clan.”
“When the Jacka were one people, did they have a color or symbol like the clans do now?”
“They called themselves the Fire People then.”
“If I assembled all the warriors on the moon, would they listen ?”
“They would be what you call ‘a tough crowd,’ but I believe they would listen to what you have to say.”
Forward edge of the battle area in New Richmond, planet Dixie
18 November 2128
Corporal Jacobs’s squad had just finished clearing a block of homes without incident. The block of homes on their left flank was being cleared by Gray Panthers. The street between them was used as the border between the two groups for command and control.
“Take twenty for chow,” Jacobs told his men. “After we take the next block, we’re done for the day. That’s our last objective before setting up our night defensive positions.”
The smell hit the squad before they saw the parade of about a hundred wobblers coming down the street toward them.
When Master Sergeant McGuire caught sight of the wobblers, she looked at the army squad across from her. They were going to be in a world of hurt. The wobblers would be attracted to them, but the infected would ignore her nanite-enhanced squad.
“Come on! Let’s rescue those army boys before it gets ugly,” she said. “Everyone who has an electric stick, go get some wobblers.”
She looked on in horror as the first of her troopers to get to a wobbler was hit by a projectile weapon. The wobblers walked over his body, intent on getting to the army squad. The sound of weapons fire could be heard from the wobbler crowd, and McGuire finally detected the Libra hidden among them.
“Take cover! There’s aliens using the wobblers for cover!” McGuire ducked and a fusillade of enemy fire hit the wall where she’d been just seconds ago.
Jacobs took aim at the Libra that had f
ired and squeezed his trigger. In horror, he watched his shot go through the alien's head then four wobblers behind the alien.
“Everyone get into the house behind me! Don’t return fire unless you have a clear shot,” he called to his squad.
McGuire saw the army squad take cover in the house and immediately felt exposed.
“Fall back to the houses. No shooting unless you have a clean shot,” she ordered, figuring it was time to call for help.
“GP Forward, GP30 Actual.”
“GP30 Actual, GP Forward, Go ahead.”
“We have numerous aliens. Appear to be Libra mixed in with a herd of wobblers. Taking fire. We are on our assigned coordinates.” Shit, I’m screwed, she realized.
“Understand you are at your assigned coordinates and have a herd of wobblers the Libra are using as human shields.”
“Correct, GP Forward.”
“Support is on the way. Faeries have been modified for wobblers. GP Forward out.”
McGuire wondered how the faeries could be of use as she spread the word. “We have faeries coming in to take care of the wobblers. Get ready to start killing some Libra.”
When the faeries showed up, the wobbler herd was twenty deep in front of the house where the army squad had hunkered down.
“Hey, Corporal Jacobs, something funny is going on. Wobblers are starting to drop,” one of the men shouted.
“Everyone start searching out targets,” Jacobs ordered. “I have a feeling the Libra are going to beat feet without a human shield. Chill the bastards.”
Forward edge of battle area in New Richmond, planet Dixie
18 November 2128
“Saddle up, guys! We have a large herd of wobblers threatening an army unit. Time to pied piper them outta there.” Lieutenant Semmes was thrilled to be leading his scouts once again, though his feelings regarding Captain Culpepper’s departure were mixed.
Semmes took only two vehicles, as the others were already leading wobblers out of the city. The driver smiled as she flew down the empty streets. The wind in Semmes’s face felt great, and all seemed good in the world—except for the horror-movie war going on.
Gray Panthers: Dixie Page 22
