Righteous Reign Episode 4 Ragged Remnant

by Thomas J. MacDonald

  We flew in silence and landed about ten minutes later. All thirty-five Marines slinked silently from the hatchway as others from nearby shuttles mirrored our actions. We followed the Gamma transponder signal, noiselessly coming upon our quarry twenty minutes later.

  "Hound Dog!" I whispered into my microphone.

  "Huntsman!" The countersign sounded in my ear.

  "We're approaching from your South-south-east," I instructed.

  We closed the gap in silence coming upon Gamma Company a few minutes later.

  We conversed in sign language. Mistang gave me the direction of the shuttle. He estimated ten soldiers inside since it was one of the small ones. I indicated the area around us, asking him if there were others. He replied that they'd examined over a mile in all directions. No other shuttles were nearby. He also advised that the occupants hadn't left the small craft in quite a while, electing to just move it along as the divider moved westward. He thought they were seeking water or ice to harvest for the Elusive.

  I pulled a magnetic charge from my hip pack and indicated we should stealthily place a few along the hatch frame and blow it. He nodded and pointed out five Marines holding up a charge and directing them toward the shuttle. They slinked along silently, placed the bombs and retreated. Mistang counted down the fingers on his right hand. When no fingers remained a Sergeant pressed an icon on a datapad. The muffled explosions fractured the door locks and hinges and the shuttles interior pressure served to blow the hatch twenty feet in the air. Fifty Marines were moving as it launched and were inside the structure in a few seconds. I viewed flashes from behind the fogged windows. Just a few minutes later four Marines were dragging two dead Isesinis while the rest moved six more enemy soldiers at gunpoint. I pointed upward.

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  When I entered the interrogation room, I knew I might not be able to maintain the simple respect we usually paid prisoners. I was also aware that these particular enemy agents would never be released. They knew too much about our cloaking technology. And, I was certain I didn't want Marie with me, this time.

  We'd determined the man in the interrogation chamber was the leader of the Isesinis ground team on Polmieria. The Marines had removed his armor leaving him defenseless and vulnerable. And, he was chained to the table.

  "Translator on!" I ordered as I crossed the threshold.

  "Where's the ship?' I growled. 'Where's Kos?" I added.

  My guest only grunted in response.

  I swung an open hand slapping him on the side of the head so hard he flew from the chair restrained only when the chain reached its end and snapped him to a violent stop. He fell to the floor whimpering.

  "Where's Kos?"

  He didn't answer. I restrained myself believing he was still recovering his senses.

  "Where's Kos?" I yelled when I saw his eyes refocus on me.

  He grunted once more. I slapped him again.

  "Where's Kos?" I hollered.

  "I am a soldier. I don't know space navigation. I can't give you his position."

  "Liar! You commanded a mission that landed a shuttle. Where's Kos?" I bellowed again.

  "I don't know." He said as he managed to pull himself back into the chair.

  I slapped him again. Each time had been in the same place. A large welt was growing into an angry bruise. He slowly raised himself from the floor, returning to the seat.

  "I don't really want to hurt you. But, I can keep it up all day - if that's the way you want it. I don't even really want you. I want Kos and your Commander. Kos is a war criminal. And your boss broke him out of our jail. I don't care about the rest of you. But, you're all dead if you don't cooperate." It was a hollow threat. But, I hoped my violent attack convinced him we were capable of it.

  He remained silent.

  In the momentary hush, I thought about the situation. I didn't actually enjoy physically assaulting a prisoner. But, it did serve to set the stage. Fear could do the rest.

  "I'm going to give you a little time to think about this. You can be comfortable. You don't have to suffer anymore. You can eat when you want and visit your friends. Or, we can make this horribly painful. I'll be back in a while." I said as I turned and left abruptly.

  Outside the room, I told the Officer in Charge to go in and help the prisoner. He was to offer the man care and food and explain that I'm a loose cannon who is very cruel and unpredictable. I described to the Officer that I wanted the prisoner to trust him but fear my return. He casually sauntered over to a Marine Corporal and discussed the situation in whispered tones. The young man left and returned with a med-kit and two bottles of water.

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  "I'm sorry about that. Our boss is a pretty nasty guy. Let me put something on your face.' The guard said as he fingered the salve he'd opened and gently rubbed it on the man's swelling cheekbone. 'Here, take this bottle of water. I'll be right back with something better. You're starting to swell up." He motioned his own face puffing with his opened right hand as he rose and left the room. A moment later he returned with a cold pack.

  "I'm not sure why I'm doing this. It's kind of useless."

  "What do you mean?" The prisoner asked sheepishly.

  "When he returns, the Admiral will just do it again - and again, until you talk. Whatever benefit you get from this will be wasted. He's pretty tough on all of us, too. But, you really have to worry if he takes out his knife."

  "His knife?"

  "Yes. When he gets frustrated with prisoners, he'll peel some of the skin right off them. He seems to enjoy it." The Corporal explained as he placed the ice pack on the side of the prisoner's face. The man said nothing. He just looked down at the tabletop in quiet contemplation.

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  When I witnessed the exchange on the monitor, I signaled the Lieutenant who disappeared and returned with a military ka-bar knife. At nearly fourteen inches in overall length, the eighteen-centimeter blade was very imposing and suited to cutting, sawing, stabbing, and skinning.

  I turned back to the monitor watching as the two men talked sporadically over the next half hour. It was quiet and unforced. Our Corporal was good at this.

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  "Corporal, excuse us, please. I'll call if I need you." I directed at the young man as I entered the room. It'd been an hour since I last spoke to the prisoner.

  "I hope you're ready to chat with me. I don't really want to harm you. It was your fault I hit you before. Please, don't make me do it again. Just tell me where Kos is, and I'll leave you alone."

  I waited as the silence dragged into several minutes.

  "Remember, I tried to be nice," I said as I reached behind me and pulled the Ka-bar from its sheath. I laid it on the table just out beyond the grasp of his chained arms. There was still silence. I peered into his eyes as I waited. He looked defiant. But then, I spotted just a flick of fear. I reached for the weapon.

  "Kos is in the asteroid belt. He is positioned about two hundred kilometers from its inside edge and is in stationary orbit over the planet's trailing terminator line." The man nearly whispered as he intently examined the table top between his hands.

  "Guard!"

  "Take this man to his cell. Make sure he is comfortable and well fed and get him some real medical attention for his injury.' I instructed. Then, I turned to the prisoner. 'I'm sorry for any discomfort or injury you suffered." I rose, turned, and headed out the door to return to my office.

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  "We need a tried and tested plan. Finding one of our own Subs is not going to be easy. The technology is designed for avoidance.' I explained to the others attending the meeting I'd called in my office
. 'Even knowing its approximate position just means we have to examine a smaller region than we would without that information. I want ideas within a couple of hours," I added.

  "I have one right now." Tom Stevens injected.

  "Please feel free to expound. Don't hold back."

  "Well first, I think we have to use covert vessels in the search. We're searching for Kos. He thinks he's hidden, so he's not looking for us. But using conventional ships means he'll be able to see us. I believe we can use eight crafts to transmit lasers to each other. Though the cloaks are efficient, we should see some distortion or deflection in the beams. We would need three reference points to ensure we hold our positions accurately. That will allow us to align our transmissions precisely enough to determine if they've been altered before reception.

  If that fails, we execute a pain-staking search with Marines doing EVA duty. We move our subs inch by inch as our agents feel about for the sub from within our shields."

  "Don't you think that's getting a bit carried away!" Savign blurted.

  "With all due respect, Admiral, if the first idea fails, I don't see any other choice. If you have a better idea, I'd love to hear it." Stevens countered.

  "No, I don't. But, that doesn't mean I have to like yours."

  "Savign, I know it sounds a bit ridiculous, but if that's what it takes, that's what we'll do. We can't let this murdering maniac get away. I like Tom's first plan. And, though I don't really like the second, I think it is our only other alternative. I believe we should test out the laser transmission, right away. And while we're actually using it in the field, the Special Forces should be practicing for the substitute method."

  "I don't like it, but I agree," Savign added.

  "Me too." Steven Nichols piped in. He'd been silent throughout the entire session.

  "I'll write the orders to my people. Can you supply a dozen Covert Frigates to support my subs - just in case the bastard detects us and opens fire?"

  "Certainly. My CF units are at your disposal." I said as I nodded to Stevens who returned the gesture.

  "We'll need twenty-four hours to assemble our force and test the laser theory. Then, another day to get in position." Savign explained.

  "So, that's it then. We expect to find and capture Kos the day after tomorrow. Every time I imagine our people aboard the Sub with that sociopath, I wish we could rescue them, immediately." I murmured.

  "Me too. That's all I can think about. They might all be dead already." Admiral Nichols added.

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  Nautilus, Poseidon, Neptune, Jupiter, Pluto, Pacifica, Oceana, and CSS Atlantic were chosen to create the web of beams. Testing showed they could circle the suspected area, slowly rotating around a central point to examine a globular region thoroughly. It also showed Stevens was correct. Though a targeted Sub could bend the signals around itself, it could not maintain one hundred percent fidelity. There was just enough variance to make a hidden vessel detectible.

  By Friday, August 9, 2272, the eight Subs and one dozen Frigates were in place. They'd circle a section of the asteroid belt that was about one hundred fifty kilometers in radius. Once in position, they turned on their beams, and the entire assemblage began a slow-motion maneuver that turned the disc up on edge, then over on its back as they carefully examined the information on the received lasers. The first orbit revealed nothing. So, they moved inward another hundred miles and repeated the procedure. Then, moved again, and again. On the fourth attempt, they struck gold. Aside from its rocky inhabitants, the field held a reflection where no object seemed to be present.

  The Subs and Frigates closed in. The Nautilus and Pacifica dispatched SF Marines to conduct EVA missions to the ghost from within the safety of their subs' cloaks. The Frigates moved in. Each readied an SF team in a shuttle prepped for launch, at a moment's notice. The target was the rear supply hatch on the aft underbelly of the Elusive. It was used for resupply and was not a usual point of access. A relatively long corridor with environmental entrances at either end stretched out from it to the storeroom. No one would be hurt by blowing this opening, though the ship would be rocked violently.

  I was notified when all charges had been placed, and the agents were safe aboard their home ships. I ordered the launch of the Marine shuttles. Two minutes later, I ordered the detonation of the charges.

  What the enemy saw were a dozen shuttles that appeared suddenly just as their own Sub shook and rumbled violently from the charges that blew away its cargo access. One hundred twenty Marines were in the hallway in less than a minute. Forty-five seconds later, they were in the stowage cubicle. After repressurizing it and removing environmental suits, they began the compartment-by-compartment movement to the Sub's central Bridge.

  Nineteen Isesinis soldiers piloting their robotic armor and guarding the crew were subdued with little effort by the overpowering Marine Company. But, Kos was not among them. I ordered them all transported to the Brig of the Valhalla.

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  The questioning went on for days with little result, at first. I even ensured all were able to interact with the prisoner I'd interviewed. Though I did not want to resort to physical pain and psychological manipulation again, I wanted them to know we were capable of these methods.

  This time, the technique was more traditional. Each detainee was interrogated for eight hours at a stretch by three Intelligence Officers working in shifts. Each captive was allowed only a single break midway through the examination. Usually, just one Officer at a time conducted the probe, but occasionally two or even all three would create an imposing atmosphere. It's an old technique designed to wear down the subject's resistance.

  After three days of silence or belligerence, we stepped it up to four-man teams running twelve-hour sessions with two short breaks and a single small snack midway through the probe. On the fourth day, two prisoners cracked. One overstressed and very strained captive was tricked into blurting out Kil Kos' current location. They had dropped him on the outer planet in the HD-44 1109 system less than nine light-years away. Then, they continued on to lie in wait in an attempt to commandeer Anti-Matter, the FTL fuel they were short of. At standard cruising speed, it would take us less than two days to reach him.

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  HD-44 11909 is a small Red Dwarf with two massive rocky planets and a substantial asteroid field orbiting it. The outer world is nearly four times the mass of Earth, with a surface gravity almost twice that of our home. But, it boasts a lot of flora and fauna, an oxygen atmosphere, and plentiful fresh water. There are small vermin and very large predators over the entire surface. It circles its star at a distance of just fifteen million kilometers but is not yet tidally locked. It rotates on its axis once in every forty-six hours. Its climate is slightly warmer than the Earth enjoys. Though the star is much smaller than Sol, a more significant proportion of its energy is in the infra-red range providing a great deal of radiant heating by conversion to heat over this sphere's vast surface area. This injects significant energy into the environment leading to more dynamic weather patterns. This satellite's shallow seven-degree tilt, nearly circular orbit, and very slight inclination relative to its star's equator lead to very minor seasonal fluctuations. Temperatures vary by only ten degrees from summer to winter.

  The planet has one vast ocean and an elongated narrow one. These separate two nearly identical massive continents. Each starts at about eighty degrees north to seventy-five degrees south latitude and spans about sixty degrees longitude. Extensive forests, plains, and grasslands are parted by long ranges of massive mountain system, enormous fresh-water lakes, and thunderous river drainage systems. Hundreds of habitable islands punctuate its seas. It is rugged, dangerous, and challenging topography.

  Locating a humanoid on the planet is quite a chore.
Though Kil Kos' sensor readings will be unique, there is close to half a billion square kilometers of land and five times that water area to search. Steven and I have decided to use a pair of complete Tier Two Commands for the operation. I've added the twelve autonomous covert Frigates I have on site, and Savign is supplying thirty-six Subs. We will put three hundred and sixty-eight vessels in stationary orbits. Each will scan an assigned section of the surface. All will be networked to the Valhalla since we are the Lead because this mission is officially our responsibility. I will actually be able to see real-time images and sensor readings of the entire planet twenty-four hours a day.

  I have our IT personnel program the sensor system for the Kil and build in a coordinate system providing a prime meridian. Though we will see everything, the system will annunciate readings that indicate his presence. Four days into the search we strike paydirt.

  "Your attention, please. Isesinis biological sensor readings have been located at twenty-two point three five seven degrees north latitude by forty-three point six, five, four degrees west longitude, at two hundred eighty-three point five, six meters altitude." The system announced as it flashed a red starburst on the screen at the appropriate location. It repeated the notice until I silenced the audio channel.

  It was a small island about two thousand miles off the western coast of the continent east of our designated time terminator. We understood why Kos chose this particular place when analysis indicated the island had abundant fresh water, vegetation, and small mammals, birds, fish, and lizards. None of this world's dangerous predators seem to inhabit the location. It is pristine, provides food, and enjoys a relatively comfortable climate. And, who'd look for him here, in the first place?

  I called for a meeting with my fellow C&C.

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  "I asked you to come so we could discuss how we'll approach the capture."

  "I don't see the problem. Send two dozen Marines down and grab him." Savign countered.