Alien Enigma

by Bain, Darrell; Teora, Tony

  "Our basic battle plan has been pretty much finalized and I know all of you have been working to exhaustion in order to try making it foolproof. Of course we all know that isn't possible, if for no other reason than that nasty little gremlin, Murphy, who always finds a way to make his presence known. Murphy is the main reason for the truism that: 'No battle plan survives contact with the enemy'. What we want to do is be ready to change our plans at an instant's notice and be ready to take advantage of any occurrences where Murphy decides to play for the other side." He was rewarded with chuckles and a few outright laughs for that statement.

  "Now then, Major Rambling has some last minute updates for us. Major?"

  "Thank you, Captain. Actually, there are two. First, we've decided on the basis of recordings and after-battle briefings that the smaller of the two classes of robots we've seen are probably the most dangerous opponents. We believe they are in control of the larger robots, and both my marines and your scientists think it's possible they even control the Worms through an implant. All the Worms autopsied so far have one implant in their brains. It's possible we may not even see any Worms in Xanadu but I don't think it likely.

  "I do expect to see fewer than our original projections, based on all our experience and findings so far. On the other hand, we're expecting to see more robots of both classes-and possibly a new class altogether, considering that Xanadu should be a completed city by this time. Of course all our conjectures are problematical. What we may find at Xanadu remains an enigma but we're preparing on the basis of what we've seen so far.

  "What this means for the marines is that after Doc Travis neutralizes the city's air and space defenses, we'll be assaulting the city proper. To that end we're going to use one specially outfitted shuttle to coordinate close air support and another for direct support. We want to get our marines down beneath the surface of the city and hunt for whoever or whatever is controlling the city, whether it's a master robot, a giant Worm, or a central node that reports to yet another planet, possibly the original home of the Worms or robots, whichever came first. I know it sounds dramatic but the whole future of mankind may depend on what we discover at Xanadu and I believe Captain Keane agrees with that."

  Keane simply nodded that he did.

  "Now any of you who have seen footage of our previous contact with robots in combat are wondering how less than six hundred marines intend to defeat thousands of robots, aren't you?" He grinned ferociously. "I wouldn't blame you. They're hard to kill, but we've learned and we have three ways to come at them now. First is the close air support I spoke of. The shuttles will be armed with some innovations to our classic weaponry such as penetrating fragmentation grenades embedded with sharp ended projectiles designed to pierce the robot CPUs. Next are marine snipers armed with our heaviest rifles, .50 caliber Barretts. Our regular snipers will be carrying the new M107, which have a longer range and use a new type of cartridge that penetrates then explodes. Don't ask me what it was originally designed for because I don't know, but it's a deadly sumbitch. And besides our regular snipers we've formed two auxiliary units that will use the old Barretts, which believe me are still potent weapons. They'll handle close encounters with the small robots in classic urban warfare mode. The barrels of the rifles will be cut short for easy handling while fighting.

  "And last, we have two other special units just organized. They will carry unique jamming equipment we hope will be effective against the frequencies the robots use for communication." He paused as if gathering his thoughts, sipped at his coffee, and added a last comment. "There's also the human underground we hope will be able to provide us with help in locating the main concentrations of Worms and robots and their defenses, whatever and wherever they are. I can't honestly say they will be a big help but we do have volunteers from former captives who will be with the assault formations of marines. If they can make contact with the underground right at the beginning of hostilities it could give us a tremendous advantage, but as I say, we'll hope they help but not count on it. And I believe that's all I have."

  "That's quite a lot, Steel," Keane said. "And it's a hell of a lot more than we had going in last time. Good work." He turned to Brian Wannstead and Harriette, who were sitting next to each other on purpose in order to better lend support to each other if necessary. "Now let's see what our ship wizards have for us. Which of you wants to lead off?"

  Harriette nodded her head at Brian. His gaze tracked around the assemblage at the conference table and came to rest on Thomas Berry, COB and senior enlisted man of the Doc Travis. "I have to give credit to our Senior Master Chief for the one additional innovation Harriette and I have come up with. Since I was involved with the construction of Doc Travis right from the beginning I thought I knew more about the ship than anyone else on board, but the Bosun comes close to me and in fact, in one particular area, he's proved he knows more. I'm speaking of our defenses. Our shielding is now about as tight as we can get it so far as resisting laser and plasma weapons, or even nukes, but our biggest weakness remains solid matter penetration. So far the worms-or robots, take your pick-haven't used anything like a rail gun or artillery fired into orbit against us. Lucky for us because our meteoroid shield has been just that, a defense against meteors. It wouldn't have given us much protection against those weapons.

  "The Bosun called me on the matter and suggested a solution that may help if we do have to defend the ship against rail guns, for instance. Would you like to explain, Master Chief?"

  "I believe you could probably do better with the math than me, sir."

  "Alright. Basically, what the COB suggested was strengthening the complete shell of Doc Travis." He grinned as he saw the reaction. "I know, it doesn't sound feasible without the facilities of a shipyard, does it? I thought so, too, but the Chief changed my mind. You see, the shell is composed of overlapping plates welded together, just as all interstellar ships are. What the Chief did was demonstrate a technique he and his machinists worked out for making the overlaps into a seal rather than a weld.

  "What he and his crew did was experiment with the "rubber metal", as they call it, which is used in a lot of the alien cities and in the treads of the robots. They took samples and ran an exhaustive analysis of them with damn near every instrument in the ship's inventory, as well as some they cobbled up to fit the circumstances. The elasticized metal, as we superior types have been calling it ..." he waited for the expected laugh and got it. " ...proved a tough nut to crack but they did it. At first we identified the constituent elements through a spectral analysis, but the formula compound was hard to figure out. We eventually got it, though." He displayed a series of equations and explained them to his audience. "However, that wasn't enough to make the material."

  Keane was foggy on his chemistry, but knew if you had the formula, you had most of the problem solved. "Lieutenant, a chemical compound formula should be enough for Eve to design a method of working with it-shouldn't it?"

  "Sir, it's kind of like knowing the formula H2O. Most of us think of this as water. If I told you to make it solid, we all know we need to get it below thirty-two degrees Fahrenheit to turn it into ice. Now we all know this because we know ice. We got the formula, but this material from the planet was layered in nano-sheets, and they somehow crisscrossed the molecules so that you got elasticity with the strength two hundred times that of steel, similar to an Earth product called graphene-which we can't produce on Earth in any real large quantities because it's very expensive-except for the military. Plus, they somehow knitted in another component to make it flexible, like rubber." Again he displayed equations and formulas.

  "Long story short, Eve found a way to take our graphene stores and some of our inventory of a component similar to spider silk, of all things. By charging the hull sections we want to protect, Eve can coat those areas with rubberized metal through a process of atomic layer deposition. We basically paint on graphene paint, charge the sections we want to protect, and then spray on the compound of metal rubb
er. It'll create the lattice structure that'll protect the ship in those areas. We only have enough of the graphene paint to do about half of the ship though."

  "That's great work," said Keane.

  "That's not all Captain. We also found that when we produced the material under a heavy magnetic field in the presence of very high heat source, with all of the processes very precisely gauged, the team found they could actually meld the plates of the shell together into an ultra-strong alloy. It's better than piecemeal protection. We might be able to do the whole bottom side in one shot. It's painstaking, finicky work but if you'll allow us an extra two days the Chief says he can turn the shell of the ship into something that'll resist rail gun fire. Here are the final formulas." Brian projected a series of equations to an overhead screen.

  Harriette took over and began explaining from the beginning but soon lost most of her audience. She was still lecturing away when Keane interrupted. "Um, Ms. Juenne, I believe you and Brian have made your point." He shifted his attention to Berry. "Chief, will there be any danger to the ship in converting the shell into the new alloy?"

  "No, sir. Like the Lieutenant said, it's just tedious. My boys can handle it, though. And frankly, Captain, they're more than willing to get started since they saw that schematic from the second city that looked as if it was the beginning phase of construction for housing the type of magnets necessary for rail gun construction. They aren't enthusiastic over having their ship hit by one of those suckers, sir. And just to reiterate, we can't do the whole shell. What we want to work on are the overlaps and the areas around parts of the ship which are utterly necessary for functioning, such as the control room, our weaponry, and the gravitics and quantum drive. It will leave about half the ship in its original state, but even if we get hit repeatedly I doubt anything like a rail gun can put us out of action. We may take casualties but the ship will be able to keep fighting."

  "Great, Chief. Okay, you have my permission to proceed and you're in charge. Brian, you and Harriette will work for the Chief until the project is complete."

  If anyone thought it strange for a Senior Master Chief to be in charge of a Lieutenant, Senior Grade and the Chief Scientist of the ship they kept their mouth shut. Keane delivered the command with utter sincerity.

  It took another two hours to go around the table but mostly it was summaries and the time was spent making sure that the different departments were all on the same page. Finally he called it to an end with an order for the astrogator to exit hyperspace even farther out from the primary than originally intended. He then ordered Bogarty to begin searching for the beacon from the Santa Cruz as soon as they were in normal space. With that, the assemblage began filing out of the room. Keane caught Cindy's eye and made a very small motion of his head, hoping she would catch his meaning. Either she did or she had intended to hang back while the others left anyway. As soon as the rest of the contingent was out of hearing range he took the step, trying to still his pulse rate as he did. "Cindy, would you care to join me in a drink?"

  "Of course, Captain. I'd love to."

  He led the way toward his day cabin without speaking. He nodded to several officers and the occasional rating they passed until arriving at the cabin. He punched the code and the hatch opened. As usual, CPO Mura was there to meet him.

  "Wanna, would you see if you can find some of that special brandy for us? Oh, wait." He turned to Cindy. "You do drink brandy?"

  "Certainly. It's been a while, though. The marine mess doesn't stock a wide variety of liquor."

  "Then you have a surprise coming." He led her through the alcove of the cabin and into the interior, which was furnished much like a living room. He gestured toward the couch. "Have a seat."

  "Thank you."

  Mura returned with a bottle of XO Brandy and snifters. As she poured, the marine executive officer's eyes widened.

  "Will that be all, sir?" Mura asked.

  "Yes, thank you, Wanna. We'll be fine."

  The CPO departed, as serene and unsurprised as ever. Keane smiled fondly at her back before the door to the interior closed. A moment later he heard the sound of the hatch closing as well. Trust the Chief to make certain he wasn't disturbed.

  "Is that what I think it is, Captain?"

  "Yes, it is. I got that from the Secretary of the Navy. Rambling and I had a sip earlier. It's every bit as good as word of mouth had it to be. As you probably know, they don't advertise. "

  She took a small sip. "Mmm. It certainly does live up to its reputation, Captain."

  He took another step. "Please call me Trent when we're alone. If you feel comfortable with that?"

  "Of course I do."

  "Thank you. I don't entertain much but I felt the need to unwind a bit. I appreciate you joining me." As soon as the words were out of his mouth he realized how formal they sounded, not at all what he intended. He felt himself blushing as he realized it. Damn it, it had been too fucking long since he entertained a woman and he had never been a gadabout anyway. Maybe this whole idea had been a mistake.

  She looked at him askance. He knew she noticed his red face. "Trent, I'm very happy that you asked me. In fact, I've been desperately hoping you would."

  "Really? Um, I mean I'm glad. I wanted ..." he stalled, not knowing what he intended to say. Instead, he took a big gulp of his brandy, not really the way to appreciate a brand of its stature.

  Cindy laughed. At first he thought she was laughing at him but then realized she was simply amused at something. He raised a questioning brow.

  "Oh," Cindy said, still smiling wide. "Just thinking that you offered Major Rambling a sip of the good stuff but not the Marine XO whose life he's putting on the line with her new mission."

  "My apologies but you're drinking it now," he said. "I am sorry I waited so long, though."

  "I agree. Trent, I'm a big girl. You don't have to treat me like I'll break if you touch me. And frankly speaking, I'd prefer to have you a little closer than the end of the couch while we relax and talk about something other than work."

  Keane came over close to her, bringing his snifter with him. He sipped his drink and smiled. "I'll drink to that, Cindy. Relaxing and getting away from duties for a time is important ....so tell me, what are your plans when we get back to Earth?"

  "Well ...I was thinking that I'd like to take a vacation with this Navy Captain that I know."

  Keane's heart sunk. Did Cindy have a boyfriend that he didn't' know about? That would make sense, she was gorgeous, and as a Captain in the Marines she could date a Navy Captain without there being a chain of command issue. Was she joking? "Oh, that's great, I'm sure you would have a great time, I always love a vacation after these long trips. Where are you two planning to go?"

  Cindy laughed. "Trent, you really have been out of circulation, for a while, haven't you? I thought we could take a trip together to Hawaii, and do some snorkeling, fishing, and maybe even some nude sun bathing. That is, if you'd like to join me for that kind of adventure. And of course that assumes we all make it out alive tomorrow."

  Although Cindy was smart, pretty and an officer, she still had that directness that was somehow built into the Marines. It was refreshing. Keane laughed and felt his body and mind begin losing the tenseness built up over a long period of time. He held up his mostly empty glass: "Cheers! It sounds great. And don't worry. I'll get us back home."

  He touched glasses with her and they emptied the snifters. She moved closer to him. He reached an arm around her shoulders. She looked up at him, her face only an inch or so away. Her sweet rose-laden perfume flooded his senses. Her breasts softened against him. He kissed her. She met him eagerly. Her lips parted and her tongue met his. He tightened his arm around her. The kiss went on and on, giving him time to move his hand to her breasts and feel how unconfined they were and how firm they felt under his fingers.

  When he finally pulled away to catch his breath, her chest heaved. "For God's sake, don't you have a bed in here somewhere? I'd just as soon we
start our vacation today!"

  He stood up and reached his hand out, helping her to her feet. He led her into the little bedroom where he sometimes took a nap rather than going back to his stateroom. The bed there wasn't king sized but it was adequate, he found. Very adequate indeed with Cindy sharing it with him as well as sharing her body.

  A long while later he managed to raise himself up on one elbow and gaze at her, lying unabashedly nude and staring languidly back up at him. He smiled appreciatively. "Cindy, Sweetheart, if this doesn't relax me, nothing will!" He bent to kiss her, stretched out and was almost instantly asleep.

  ***

  "Why so despondent, lover?" Barbara asked as Bullet entered her little stateroom, his face grim.

  He shucked his fatigue jacket and sat down beside her on the narrow bed. "It's the goddamned sims! They're killing me."

  "What's wrong? Are they too hard, you think?"

  He stroked his face. "No, I mean they're killing me. Today makes three times in a row I got killed assaulting those fucking little robots in tight quarters. I'm afraid they're going to take my Barrett away from me after all the trouble I went to qualify with it."

  Barbara wondered if she should tell him how purposely hard the simulations involving close combat with the sawed off Barretts had been made. She had been one of the consultants the electronics techs had used to design the new war games and she wanted the participants to get killed more often than not. It would make the special squads using the Barretts more alert in real combat and more careful, too. No, she decided. If I told him he might loosen up too much and get killed for real when the fighting got tough.

  Instead she put her arm around him. "Don't worry, Bullet, baby. They're made hard for a purpose. You'll do fine when it goes down. For now, though, I think you need a backrub. Lay down and turn over. No, lummox! Take your clothes off first. You think I'm going to stop with a back rub?"

  He laughed and stripped off the rest of his clothes. An hour later he was sleeping peacefully and now she was the one snuggled against his back and doing the worrying. Damn it, there was a limit to the number of robots they could face and still come out on the winning side. They'd better kill a lot of the fuckers before sending us in, she thought.