Planet Wrecker ds-5

by Vaughn Heppner

  “I’ve grown weary of your cowardice,” said Gaius. “We are Highborn.”

  “And Highborn cannot view reality as it is?” asked Scipio.

  Gaius strode toward Scipio.

  Cassius watched with interest. The tall Highborn intrigued him. If they possessed one fault as super soldiers, it was their tendency toward rashness. Scipio had a rare trait for a Highborn, a touch of caution. On the bridge, it had allowed him to see Hawthorne as dangerous. What Cassius needed to know was if with his caution Scipio still had enough courage.

  “You will not utter the word unbeatable again,” Gaius said, clutching Scipio’s forearm.

  Scipio wrenched his arm free and took a step back. “You’re an admiral of a Doom Star, and thus highly outrank me. But the Grand Admiral has called me to this session to speak my mind. Examine the situation, Admiral. We face a grave threat. It is daunting in the extreme and quite possibly is unbeatable. Yes, I speak the word again.”

  Gaius growled low in his throat, stepped close and shot a fist at Scipio. The tall Highborn deflected the blow with a smooth karate parry.

  “A fancy fighter, eh?” said Gaius. He raised his scarred knuckles and grinned at Scipio. “Defend yourself, boy.”

  Scipio assumed a classic karate stance. “I have too much respect for us to mouth platitudes and fighting maxims now. Our existence is at stake.”

  “And that makes you fear, eh boy?” Gaius asked.

  Scipio spit on the floor as the fierce vitality of the Highborn blazed in his eyes. “You’re an old man, Admiral. You’ve become senile in your command shell.”

  Gaius roared as he attacked, wading in with precision blows. Using his longer reach to advantage, Scipio danced around the bull-like admiral, chopping and kicking. Gaius shrugged off the meaty slaps and used his shoulders, upper arms and hips to absorb Scipio’s hardest kicks.

  “Once I get my hands on you, boy, you’re dead,” Gaius growled.

  “Hitting me doesn’t change the truth of our situation,” Scipio panted. “We lack the ships and the missiles to destroy or deflect the entire asteroid strike.”

  “I piss on your truth,” said Gaius. “We are Highborn and we will fight our way out of the situation.”

  “With what means?” asked Scipio.

  Gaius rained haymakers. While dancing back and deflecting the nearest shots, Scipio was forced into a corner.

  “Now I have you,” Gaius wheezed. He lowered his head and shot straight jabs and crosses. Several smashed through Scipio’s karate weaves and snapped the Highborn’s head back. Then Gaius stepped inside Scipio’s guard. With a cunning wrestling move and hold, the two of them smashed against the floor hard. Gaius quickly gained a submission hold around Scipio’s neck.

  “This is how we’ll beat the cyborgs!” Gaius roared, as spittle flew from his lips. He applied terrible pressure. Scipio’s face turned red, purple and then white as he struggled to free himself. Not once, did he plead for mercy.

  Cassius had seen enough. His old friend was a bull, and fully aroused now. In another few seconds, Gaius would kill Scipio. With a smooth lunge like a fencer, Cassius reached out, touching Gaius’s back with a shock rod at full power.

  Gaius bellowed, releasing Scipio as he rolled over onto his back.

  “Enough of this,” said Cassius.

  Scipio lay panting on his back, blinking in seeming bewilderment. Gaius glared at him, building up the strength to rise.

  “I had to shock you, old friend,” said Cassius. “This is a strategy session, not a sparring duel. First, however, I wanted to test our young officer. He has courage and faced you unflinchingly.”

  “When I get up,” whispered Gaius, “I’m going to smash your face into pulp. No one shocks me and gets away with it, not even you.”

  Cassius shook his head. “We don’t have time for that. And now that you’re on your back, you should know that the boy—that Scipio—is right. We lack the missiles and the ships to win this fight. So we’re going to have to do it another way.”

  Scipio had been gingerly massaging his throat. Turning his head, he now stared at Cassius.

  “I’ve given this much thought,” the Grand Admiral said. “Before we strike the asteroids with nukes, I’m sending Highborn to the cluster.”

  “What’s that mean?” asked Gaius, clenching his teeth as he sat up.

  Cassius shook his head. The old bull knew better than to try to sit up so soon. He’d taken the highest-level shock possible. But Gaius was a stubborn fighter, refusing to adjust to pain. Sometimes, one needed that kind of warrior.

  “The Praetor once sent shock-troopers to the Bangladesh,” Cassius said. “I plan to use that tactic here.”

  “The enemy asteroids have laser-turrets,” Scipio wheezed with his injured throat.

  “Always with your defeatism,” said Gaius.

  “You tested him,” Cassius said. “Now you will listen to his ideas without insult.”

  “Bah!” Gaius said. “His manner sickens me.”

  “We can’t all be the fighting Admiral Gaius,” said Cassius.

  Gaius grunted, nodding after a moment.

  “As to these laser turrets,” Cassius told Scipio. “It is the reason why I must perfectly coordinate the assault.” He turned around and clicked. “Notice the asteroids. They’re situated in such a way that those in front block those in back.”

  Scipio studied the enlarged holoimage, and he soon nodded. “What do you hope the Highborn commandoes to achieve?” he wheezed.

  “I have studied the Carme Incident in detail,” Cassius said. “Successful landings brought combat troops to the surface, where they defeated the cyborgs. The victors eventually shutdown the asteroid’s fusion engines.”

  “How did you gain this data?” asked Gaius, who climbed to his feet.

  “Hawthorne sent it to me.”

  “How did the Supreme Commander gain it?” asked Gaius, swaying slightly.

  “Apparently, the rulers of Jupiter are attempting to unite all premen into a giant confederacy. As part of their endeavor, they are sharing information.”

  “How does this help us?” asked Gaius.

  Cassius turned toward the viewing port, staring at the blazing Sun outside. In this thing, Scipio saw more clearly than Gaius did. The mass of asteroids…. “It is a desperate strategy.” Cassius shrugged moodily. “The Highborn commandoes must gain control of as many asteroids as possible. Once this control is achieved, they must fire the engines and redirect the individual projectiles on a new heading. The asteroids that continue on course, those we shall blast with nukes.”

  Someone gingerly cleared a sore throat. Without turning around to see whom, Cassius asked, “Do you object to the plan, Scipio?”

  “I would ask a question.”

  “Ask,” said Cassius.

  “How do you know the asteroids still have fuel or that their engines still work?”

  “I do not know,” said Cassius. Silence greeted this revelation. He turned toward the two. Scipio touched his bruised throat. Gaius studiously pinned his fallen Red Galaxy Medal back onto his uniform.

  “Hawthorne spoke strategic sense earlier,” Cassius said. “We cannot afford to lose the Earth.”

  Scipio snorted.

  “An inelegant agreement,” said Cassius, “but heart-felt. The Earth is the greatest industrial base in the Solar System. The cyborgs undoubtedly recognize this and have decided to obliterate it, thereby weakening us, possibly beyond recovery.”

  “The commandoes are a gamble,” said Scipio. “The loss of the Hannibal Barca to cyborg assault troops during the Third Battle for Mars points to this.”

  “Yes!” Cassius said. “I gamble. And because I do, I will use everything in my grasp in order to achieve victory. The premen have offered us their vessels. Therefore, I will use them.” He laughed. “I will even use the meteor-ship heading to Mars.”

  “Is it possible that the meteor-ship can be of use?” asked Gaius.

  “It’s mo
re than possible,” said Cassius. “First, however, I must show you the last piece of my strategy. The premen will help us implement it. No doubt, in the absence of the Doom Stars they will attempt treachery. But I will take safeguards, the chief of which is placing you, Scipio, in charge of the new defensive arrangement of Earth.”

  “What are you talking about?” grumbled Gaius.

  Cassius told them, clicking his controller as he showed them the details.

  It made Gaius grunt in seeming wonder, and he finally nodded at his old friend. “You’ve lost none of your guile,” he told Cassius.

  Scipio grew quiet and his eyes narrowed.

  It made Cassius even more certain that he’d chosen the right Highborn to command Earth Defense in his absence. “It is a massive responsibility,” he said.

  “Why me?” asked Scipio.

  “Because I think you’re one of the few Highborn who can work with premen.”

  “Your Excellency?” asked Scipio.

  “I watched you on the bridge as I spoke with Hawthorne. Certain of your reactions pleased me. It also showed me this hidden talent of yours that few Highborn possess.”

  “Doing what you suggest, we risk losing our conquests on Earth,” Gaius said.

  “Possibly,” said Cassius, “but it is unlikely. I will leave Scipio enough space assets to thwart any premen treachery.”

  “Do you remember their Orion ships of several years back?” asked Gaius.

  “Of course,” said Cassius.

  “They may have more of those ships hidden.”

  “Of course there are more,” said Cassius.

  “Have our spies discovered this?”

  “I don’t need spies to know that,” said Cassius. “Logic proves it.”

  Gaius seemed to think about that. He finally grunted in agreement.

  “We have little time to achieve all this,” Scipio said thoughtfully.

  “True,” said Cassius. “But as the Admiral has said, we are the Highborn. And now the Solar System will see what that truly means. This is to be our hour, gentlemen.” He thumped his thick chest. “I will speak with their Supreme Commander again, and tell him his part to play.”

  “I watched a recording of your first meeting,” said Gaius. “This Hawthorne is a proud preman. He might object in areas.”

  “I give that a little less than a ten percent possibility,” said Cassius. “No. He will see his chance to regain much of Earth in my offer. Even more importantly, in striving to gain an advantage over us, he will help us more than he otherwise would consider wise.”

  Gaius looked thoughtful until finally he grinned. “You are a sly fox, Grand Admiral. It is a spectacular plan.”

  Scipio wasn’t as enthusiastic. But he also nodded. “It may work.”

  “It must work,” said Cassius. “Our future rests on the outcome. So as Highborn, we will force events to move in our favor. Now, gentlemen, let us begin in earnest.”

  -40-

  Several hours later, Hawthorne strode down a gravel path in a park outside a former coalmine. He was in the Joho Mountains of China Sector. Evergreen trees surrounded him, filling the area with pine scent. Captain Mune marched behind at a discrete distance. Other bionic soldiers walked well in front, to the side and in the back.

  Hawthorne clasped his hands behind his back. He had spoken with Grand Admiral Cassius again. They had talked about particulars so Hawthorne had a good idea about Cassius’s plan. The Highborn was so dreadfully arrogant and yet so piercingly brilliant.

  Thinking deeply, Hawthorne now debated with himself. He halted and glanced at the mountain peaks in the distance. Many were capped with snow. Clouds drifted in the sky, while lower down an eagle soared serenely.

  Below him underground was the headquarters for Earth Defense. He’d commanded here on the dreadful day the Highborn had dropped their meteors. They had killed a billion people. The weather patterns were still disharmonious because of it, effecting crops negatively.

  “Captain Mune,” said Hawthorne.

  The bionic captain hurried near, the soles of his boots crunching gravel. Mune had saved him near here from PHC killers.

  “Look up,” said Hawthorne.

  Mune did so.

  “For the first time in many years, near-Earth space will be devoid of Doom Stars,” Hawthorne said.

  “Yes sir.”

  “I thought I’d be rejoicing over that,” said Hawthorne. “Instead, I find myself wishing them luck.”

  Mune lowered his gaze.

  Hawthorne frowned. “I have critical decisions to make, Captain. What I choose…it might mean the death or survival of billions of people on the planet. Do I throw everything in support behind the Highborn to stop the asteroids from annihilating human life? Or do I attempt to practice subterfuge in order to wrest conquered territory from the Highborn?”

  Mune shook his head. “I don’t know, sir.”

  “You and I have been together a long time.”

  “Yes sir.”

  “You were my jailor once. Do you remember?”

  A troubled looked crossed Mune’s heavy face. “Lord Director Enkov was a hard man, sir. He…he made me what I am.”

  “You killed him later,” said Hawthorne.

  Mune said nothing, but he gave the Supreme Commander a questioning look.

  “Do I launch our painstakingly built Orion-ships?” asked Hawthorne. “If so, how many do I send at the asteroids? Should I hold some back to wrest near-orbital space control from the Highborn?”

  “Are you asking my opinion, sir?” asked Mune.

  “…I suppose I am,” Hawthorne said with a tired smile.

  “Sir, I watched the meteors fall to Earth that day here. I would not allow you to act then. My sorrow over my actions—I live with that sorrow everyday.”

  “Use everything I have to stop the asteroids?” asked Hawthorne. “Is that what you’re saying?”

  “We’re talking about human extinction, sir.”

  Hawthorne craned his head, looking straight up. He was a mote in the teeming cauldron of humanity named Earth. In the end, he wasn’t that important. Maybe it was time to risk everything. If the asteroids hit…everything else became moot. If they stopped the asteroids, then there was time enough later to resist the Highborn.

  Rubbing his forehead, Hawthorne realized that he was tired to the core of his being. He had to throw everything into the fray to try to eke every percentage point he could. The cyborgs would obliterate humanity otherwise.

  “Captain,” Hawthorne said, “I wonder if you’d be interested in directly helping the outcome.”

  “Sir?” asked Mune.

  “You’re the best soldier Social Unity has. Your fellow bionic soldiers…tell me which elite troops we have who are your superiors.”

  Mune tilted his head. “I’ve never thought of it that way, sir. I’m not sure I know who those soldiers are.”

  “I’m afraid I don’t either.”

  “Afraid sir?” asked Mune.

  “Afraid,” Hawthorne said, as he stared up at the clouds. If Earth was to remain serene like this, he had to act with everything he possessed. Anything else would be egotistical posturing. He’d overthrown other Directors in order to save the Earth. Now he had to risk totally or go down as the man who’d lost humanity its existence.

  -41-

  Far away from the Joho Mountains and Earth, a lone meteor-ship hurtled between Jupiter and Mars. It approached the Sun’s orbit, trying to get on the other side of it where the Earth, Mars and the asteroid strike were.

  Inside in the Spartacus’s command center, Nadia Kluge said, “Get ready for the transmission.”

  Marten stood behind his chair, watching the main screen. Jupiter was nearly 750,000,000 kilometers away. At the speed of light, it took a laser lightguide message almost forty-two minutes to reach the ship. A forty-two minute delay was far too long to have any meaningful two-way conversation.

  Marten was tense. They had traveled for over eight
weeks now. What was going on at Earth? How would the Highborn react to the asteroid strike? The Praetor had helped kill cyborgs. The bastard of a Highborn had given his life to slay the Web-Mind. Would the Highborn sweeping in conquest on Earth feel the same way?

  Tan’s image appeared on the screen. She wore a white gown with a golden circuit around her forehead. Her eyes appeared glassy and it seemed her head swayed the tiniest bit. In the background waved the Jovian banner of a lidless eye in the middle of a pyramid.

  “In the name of the Dictates, I hail the Force-Leader and crew,” Tan said softly. “A new adjustment has occurred in the Jovian System. The populaces of Ganymede and Europa agreed to a plebiscite and overwhelming voted me as the new Solon of the Jovian Confederacy. Their faith in my abilities at this critical juncture humbles me. Whatever hesitation I feel accepting the post, I submerge for the good of the all.”

  “What happened?” cried Marten’s weapons-officer.

  “Quiet!” snapped Marten. “Let me hear.”

  “I suspect there is great rejoicing in the Spartacus,” said Tan. “At this terrible juncture in history, it must bring soothing relief to know that the moons of Jupiter are safe-guarded by my wisdom. Each of us must do his or her part. I have submerged my will in this in order to work ceaselessly toward our safety. Now you in the Spartacus must do likewise. You are guardians of great daring and courage. You represent the Jovian people. In the interest of continued human existence, the Jovian Confederacy has agreed to an alliance with the Planetary Union of Mars, with Social Unity and now with the Highborn. After much deliberation, an over-arching strategy has been achieved.

  “It will no doubt interest you to know that the Spartacus will play a pivotal role in the coming battle.”

  “What’s she talking about?” asked the weapons-officer.

  Marten pointed at the officer. “Silence!” he said. Then Marten turned back to the screen.

  Small Tan picked up a silver chalice, sipping from it. Smiling at them, she said softly, “After my message, you shall receive strategic data. In a word, you will join in a space marine assault on the asteroids. Marten Kluge is an expert at these sorts of assaults. I point to his attack on the Beamship Bangladesh and against the rogue moon Carme.”