“No arguments, Kris.”
The following morning as the sun came over the
landing area six fully loaded Barques landed softly and began discharging their contents, the second day of construction had begun. From their vantage point high on the mountain, the two Kaedian surveyors were busy documenting the progress using direculars. It was the light reflecting off these lenses as Altis was setting that Marcie had seen the previous day. Kaedian explorer ships had discovered Altis-5 after shadowing the last Hevinian Supply Ship to visit the planet. Two months ago, a Kaedian attack fighter had deposited the small team of two surveyors and two security troopers on the planet to complete the evaluation of its potential and begin mapping. This same ship had briefly entered Orion’s search parameters on its return to meet up with an incoming Kaedian fleet. It was pure happenstance that the four-man team had made their camp in a natural deep cave on the opposite side of the mountain to the Hevinian landing site. The two surveyors were exploring the mountaintop when the Barques appeared. As far as the surveyors knew, the planet’s flora and fauna had been altered by the Hevinians but was devoid of human life since the last Hevinian visit five years ago. Therefore, the appearance of two Hevinian Barques the day before had caused some concern. With their transportation having dropped them off two months ago, they were left alone on a planet that was now in the process of being colonized by the enemy. The mountain had shielded them from any cursory scans, however, unless they moved away from the Hevinian operations, they knew it would only be a matter of time before they were discovered. They planned to move their base of operations far away from the Hevinians and wait for
their ship to return.
As the warriors made the preparations to leave,
the two surveyors decided to assess the size and
strength of the colonists. The surveyors were intent on their documentation when the shrouded Jaguar passed undetected over them at 400 feet. The Jaguar’s scans clearly identified the two human figures on top of the mountain. The Jaguars system automatically sent the data to Orion for analysis. As they waited for the results, Kris assuming the group was not alone, started a wider
sweep.
As the Jaguar traversed the lower side of the
mountain one of the Kaedians warriors left the cave and
was immediately picked up by the scanner. Kris brought
the Jaguar down to the mouth of the cave to get a
better look. He switched to ground penetrating scan and
picked up the other warrior in the back of the cave.
Suppressing his desire to blast away at the cave he
climbed to one thousand feet. Before he could contact
the Brigade for instructions his com link came to life. “Kris this is Tom. We have received the results of
the scan you initiated. The contacts are definitely
Kaedian. Do not engage. Return to Orion for
instructions.”
“Roger that, Tom. On my way.”
Back onboard the Orion Tom and Françoise listened
as Kris related what he had seen. Each of the support
team spoke, reiterating what he said and were
dismissed.
“Thoughts?” asked Tom.
Frulé was the first to speak. “We need to know if
there are other Kaedian forces on the planet.” “From what I saw there seems to be only one
group in that area,” said Kris. “Two of the men seemed
to be surveyors by the lack of weapons and a bunch of
technical equipment. The other two were armed
presumably combat support. Interrogating the warriors
would be pointless but maybe one of the surveyors
could be persuaded to talk.”
“Okay,” said Tom. “I will contact Commodore
Querrion and request a concentrated Global sweep of
the planet. Commander Frulé, you have one hour. Work
with Kris and devise a plan to eliminate the Kaedians in
the vicinity. If possible, take the two surveyors captive
for interrogation. We need to know what they know
about this planet and us in particular but I don’t want
any Brigade lives risked just to capture any of them
alive. Understood?”
“Yes Sir!” said Frulé.
“Good. We will continue with the village
construction. I want everything to look normal until we
hit them.”
Forty-five minutes later Barque 1 left the Orion and
headed for what was designated as Lookout Mountain.
As it entered the atmosphere of Altis-5, it’s shrouded
Jaguar detached and flew directly to the mouth of the
cave. The Barque took up a position behind the Kaedian
surveyors on top of the mountain. The Jaguar’s ground
penetrating scan confirmed the presence of the two
warriors. The Kaedian’s defense scanner was so close to
the Jaguar it immediately detected it and launched its
missile. At almost the same instant, the Jaguar launched
two missiles into the cave entrance. As the missiles
closed on each other the Kaedian missiles proximity fuse
detonated the warhead and the resulting explosion
destroyed both the Hevinian missiles. The Kaedians
made a futile attempt to manually load another missile
before two more Hevinian missiles slammed into the
cave. The explosions shook the mountain violently
causing the surveyors and most of their equipment to
topple over. As they recovered the Barque appeared in
front of them and Broan spoke in Kaedian using the
ship’s external speakers.
“This is Broan Atkinson of the Hevinian Ship Orion. Your warriors are dead. We know you are non
combatants, if you surrender you will not be harmed.” While he spoke four troopers from the Barque crept
up silently behind them. Before the Kaedians could
react, they were pinned to the ground then bound
securely. Barque 1 landed behind them and the troopers
herded the prisoners aboard. Back on Orion, the captive
Kaedians were interrogated separately. Kris was correct
in his assumption that they considered themselves as
intellectuals and after their options were explained, they
offered no resistance. Two copies of the interview were
made; one for the ship’s files and the other translated
and delivered to the Brigade.
Tom was in a meeting with Françoise when the
report arrived. He looked it over for a minute and
passed it to Françoise. The report revealed that the
Kaedians had been watching the development of Altis-5
and had decided to preempt the eventual Hevinian
colonization and claim the planet as Kaedian. They did
not know the Hevinians had brought an advance party
and more importantly, they did not know the Earth
Defense Brigade was here. According to the prisoners,
their ship was on route to pick up other surveyors on
another planet then meet up with a fleet that was about
a month out on route to Altis-5. The fleet consisted of
twenty combat vessels and two military transports.
Behind the combat vessels was a colonial transport.
Their mission was to establish both a military base and a
colony on Altis-5. Françoise finished reading the report
and handed it back to Tom.
“Sergeant Deming! I want a senior staff meeting in
fifteen minutes,” said Tom, shouting through his door,
his authoritative voice hiding his inner fear. That ship we
encountered on the way here must have seen us and
have reported it by now. This time they will be warier,
he thought.
“Include Ray, Kris and I think Sara and Marcie
should be here, and Professor Wright. Inform
Commodore Querrion as well.”
Deming ordered the Admin staff to locate everyone
then went to the briefing room to set up for the
meeting. He tried to think of everything the Colonel
would need. He prepared maps and charts of the planet
and the three moons and their orbits. He made copies of
the interrogation report and gathered Brigade readiness
reports and weapons manifests these he put into a
briefing folder along with Orion’s cargo manifests. He
made copies of the folder for everyone and had just
finished brewing a pot of Muska when everyone started
showing up.
18
Second Brigade
Colonel Anatoly Barisniki had just landed at what was left of the Pearl Harbor joint base in Hawaii. The base was already showing signs of recovery thanks to a massive relief effort. It had been just over three months since the Kaedian missile struck the waters off the coast of Oahu. The underwater explosion triggered a massive tsunami that surged up the valley between the Waianae range to the west and Koolau range to the east flattening Honolulu and wiping out a huge part of the population of the Island.
The water retreated almost as fast as it arrived pulling everything that floated out to sea. Barques from the EDB had flown non-stop for days bringing in emergency food and water supplies and mobile hospital units from bases all over the world. Within two days, CB’s and Hevinian crews with their equipment from the Orion had cleared an area big enough for the mobile hospitals to set up. With enough supplies on hand, Commander Frulé set up a Command Center and coordinated the search and rescue efforts. Working twenty-hour days he coordinated the EDB assets using the Sharks to scour the island for any survivors and then directing the Jaguars to drop off water and food and to airlift the injured.
On the second day, the Barques brought in FEMA teams. They built a tent city next to the mobile hospitals on the ground cleared by the CB’s. It didn’t take long before the emergency area was inundated by survivors, most of whom had been airlifted in by the EDB, although some had walked several miles to get there. For days, emergency crews worked around the clock as the Barques located survivors and airlifted them to Pearl. Supplies and fresh crews were flown in hourly. On the eighth day, the Navy’s hospital ship, the USNS Mercy, and an Amphibious Task Force arrived within hours of each other. With these assets in place, Commander Frulé shifted command of the rescue operation to the Amphibious Task Force (ATF) Commander and slept for 15 hours straight. It was estimated that the efforts of Commander Frulé and the EDB had saved thousands of lives. Once FEMA and the ATF began to repair roads and reestablish the islands water and power supply the exhausted EDB crews returned to the Orion. Billions of dollars were appropriated and over a thousand construction workers were beginning the reconstruction process.
All of these details were shoved into a corner of Colonel Barisniki’s brain; his orders were to establish an operational base for his newly formed Second Earth Defense Brigade. The Brigade was divided into two squadrons of five Barques. Each Barque was completely self-sufficient and as such could be easily detached for independent missions. Each carried one Jaguar and ten Sharks. There was room for twenty personnel, the Barque Commander and Exec, four Barque and Jaguar pilots, ten Shark riders, a Corpsman and three Engineers. Although each was a specialist all personnel aboard were combat designated.
On long missions, technically everyone helped with the preparation of meals but it soon became clear that some team members were more suited to the task than others were. The Brigade personnel had been assigned from the best of the hundreds recruited from the of the world’s military forces. Recruited was hardly the correct term. General Winters had been inundated with volunteers as soon as he took command. His staff had spent weeks sorting through the requests. With three additional Brigades formed, they had done well. Now it was time to establish bases and the US, Russia and China were selected, mostly for political reasons.
The US had offered 1,000 acres of Hickam field in Oahu. The base had been flattened by the tsunami so the site was ideal for new construction. Once the other Barques had landed he called for a senior staff meeting. There was much to do, construction, training, and mission planning to name a few. He met with his two squadron Commanders in his Barque, which would double as an office for the time being. Sitting on crates, they were discussing their situation when Commander John Balechek the Brigade’s second in command and Admin Officer entered.
“You have a message from General Winters, Sir. He will be arriving in ten minutes. I have ordered the Brigade to form up, Sir.”
“Thank you, John,” said the Colonel. “Must be something important for him to fly out in person.”
“Or something so secret he must inform us in person,” said the Commander.
“Well, let’s go find out what all the fuss is about.”
The Colonel stood up and smoothed down his blue coveralls. He presented an imposing figure; six-foot-two of solid muscle with a steel bar for a backbone. He was every inch the professional soldier. He liked the Defense force uniform. The blue coverall style uniforms were practical and easy to maintain. He put on his blue ball cap and led the others outside into the bright warm Hawaiian sun. The Barques were formed up smartly in line abreast with the crews formed up in front. Five minutes had passed when the General’s Jaguar deshrouded and parked in front of them, and as the General stepped out the Admin Officer called the Brigade to attention. Colonel Barisniki marched over and saluted.
“Welcome to Hawaii, Sir.”
“Thank you, Colonel,” said Donald. As he returned the salute, his gaze took in the smart lines of the Brigade strangely odd against the background of destruction all around them.
Recognizing the look on the General’s face Anatoly said, “There is a lot of work still to do, Sir.”
“Yes, I see, is there a place we can talk privately, Colonel?”
“Yes, Sir. In my Barque.” Anatoly’s sixth sense went on screech. What was going on? he thought. He turned to his Admin Officer. “Dismiss the formation Commander. Please come this way General.”
Inside the Barque the General got straight to the point and handed over a manila envelope sealed with the Confederation seal. “Here are the new orders for your Brigade. We have reliable information that Altis-5 is about to be attacked by Kaedian forces. The Second Brigade is to leave immediately and rendezvous with the Hevinian ship Zenon. Captain Leonard Acheron is the skipper. They will transport you to Altis-5. She is the fastest they have. Once you arrive, you will be under Colonel Markham’s Command. Any questions?”
“No, Sir.”
“Right then. Do not share your orders until you leave orbit in the Zenon. The colonists are in danger I just hope we are not too late. Good luck, Colonel.”
Anatoly saluted and said, “Thank you, Sir.”
The General turned and left to board his Jaguar. Within a minute he was gone leaving a stunned and puzzled Brigade behind. Colonel Barisniki sat on a crate and opened his orders. He skipped over the usual preamble and had just finished reading when
Commander Balechek entered.
“What is going on, Colonel?” His accent was heavy.
“We are leaving. Here are the coordinates for our destination. This is pilot’s eyes only. I will brief everyone later.”
Anatoly stepped back out into the sunshine. The crews were still milling about their Barques. He walked over to his two Commanders and quickly told them they were leaving and he would brief them at their destination in accordance with his orders.
“Pilots to me. The rest of you mount up and prepare to depart,” barked the Commander.
HSS Orion
HSS Orion, Brigade briefing room: Once everyone settled down, Tom stood up. “Welcome everyone. Commodore Querrion will be joining us shortly. OK, let’s get right down to it. We have been informed that a Kaedian fleet is on the way to claim Altis-5 as their own. The question remains whether the Kaedian ship we encountered earlier recognized that the EDF was aboard; if so, we will not have the element of surprise. Based on our previous experience with the Kaedians we know there will be no negotiation. We must assume they will attempt to destroy us as soon as they arrive. In the briefing packet are the details of the interrogation of the Kaedian surveyors. According to the report we can expect about twenty-five combat vessels, and at least two transports with over 500 ground troops. Tom was interrupted as the door opened and Commodore Querrion and Andrew Blaque entered.
“Sorry I am late,” said the Commodore. “I have invited Andrew Blaque to join us. In case you have not heard, Andrew is actually a senior operative with the Commonwealth Security Services. More importantly, he has extensive combat experience with the Kaedians. I think he will be able to add a great deal to this meeting.”
Sergeant Deming handed copies of the briefing packets to the newcomers as they sat down. “You are welcome Mr. Blaque. We could use all the help we can get,” said Tom. “So, we are expecting twenty-five combat vessels, two transports and 500 ground troops. We appear to be outnumbered and there is a good chance they know the Orion is here. Mr. Blaque perhaps you would start us off by sharing your knowledge of their tactics.”
“Thank you, Colonel.”
He stopped and thought for a moment. “First of all, let us consider the Kaedian vessel we encountered. There is no doubt in my mind that it was aware of us and where we are going. As they made no attempt to engage us, we can deduce that the Captain of that vessel did not identify the Orion. At the very least, it will have recorded the engine signature and once they get back the fleet they will be able to identify us. He would have been aware of the Krammar or bounty placed on the Orion by the Kaedian High Command and would have attacked but as we showed no signs other than being just another supply ship on the way to Altis-5 it ignored us. The Kaedian ship will think that we will deliver our load and depart by the time their fleet arrives.
Altis-5: Book #2 of the Sleeper Series Page 18
