Altis-5: Book #2 of the Sleeper Series

by J. Alexander Black

  Ray had seen the tank blow up and the movement toward the gap but considered the assault on Andrew’s position as the most critical. Now that he had removed that threat he turned to deal with the other, but the Kaedians had already moved into the village. Ray brought his Jaguar to the west wall and took out most of the attackers there. With all the smoke and flames he could not visually identify friend from foe. His tactical system identified targets but they were so close together it could not separate them. The result was that he could not fire on the village for fear of hitting the defenders.

  Andrew could now see that the threat to the walls was eliminated he pointed and shouted to Ron, “We need the defenders on the walls to turn their attention to the Kaedians in the village. They are firing indiscriminately into the yurts.”

  Andrew raised up his communicator and his world went black as he was blown off his feet when a particle beam hit the metal wall in front of him. Ron bent over him.

  “Are you okay?” he asked attempting to raise Andrew’s head. He could see he was breathing and he felt a pulse but he was out cold. Ron grabbed the communicator and yelled into it.

  “All berm wall defenders target the Kaedians inside the village now.”

  Ron froze as two Kaedians started climbing the berm toward him. He dove for the ground, reached over Andrew’s unconscious body, and removed the browning from his hand. Remembering his training he held the weapon with two hands controlled his breathing and squeezed the trigger. The first soldier let out a howl as the bullet ripped into his thigh smashing his femur. He toppled into the dirt writhing in pain. As Ron sighted on the second soldier a particle beam blast hit the ground in front of him. He was hurled over backwards and landed sitting up with his back against the steel wall but he never let go of this weapon. He hit the wall with a nerve jarring thump pulling the trigger twice. The first round ripped through the soldiers left jugular spewing blood in the air. His second shot hit him in the chest pushing him backwards down the slope. Ron was shaking violently when a hand rested on his shoulder. In a panic, he turned to fire at the new threat.

  “Whoa buddy, it’s me, Andrew. Are you okay?”

  Ron saw the wounded Kaedian raise his weapon and he pulled Andrew down as a particle beam smashed into the steel wall behind them. Ron raised the browning and instinctively sent two rounds into the face of the soldier with the smashed femur. Andrew slowly raised himself up.

  “I guess I owe you one.” He looked down at Ron who was shaking like a leaf. “Come on, let’s get out of here.” He helped Ron to his feet and relieved him of his weapon. “You’re still a bit shaky son, perhaps I’d better take charge of this,” he said smiling as they headed toward the clinic.

  James was still at his console when two Kaedians burst in. He grabbed for his browning but was cut down before he could get off a shot. The Kaedians quickly looked around for another target finding no human ones they moved on. They had not seen Joshua in the back of the hut behind the equipment. He grabbed his weapon and stood up. Forcing himself to overcome his fear he aimed shakily at the entrance but the Kaedians were gone. He stared in disbelief at the body of James sprawled across his console. Blood was everywhere. Joshua flew into a screaming rage and rushed outside, tears streaming down his face. Immediately he ran smack into the same two troopers working their way back around. With his browning in his outstretched hand he fired at the first trooper at point blank range which allowed the round to easily penetrate the body armor. The second trooper reacted faster and brought his weapon around like a club and caught Joshua on the side of the head. Joshua felt like his head had exploded in a flash of pain and bright light then blackness. He fell to the ground. Andrew and Ron came around the corner just as Joshua was knocked down. Andrew raised his weapon and fired at the trooper just as he had shouldered his weapon ready to make the fatal shot. The round hit him in the back of the neck severing his spine and killing him instantly. They picked up Joshua and between them half carried half dragged him into the clinic. Inside was pure pandemonium. There were wounded everywhere and all of the medical technicians were busy.

  Anne spotted them and came over. She gave Joshua a quick once over and decided he was a low priority so they found a corner and laid Joshua down. He was breathing steadily. Andrew left to return to the berm. Ron looked around at the organized chaos trying to locate Jennifer since he knew she was assigned to the clinic as a runner. Sande spotted him doing nothing so she called out to him.

  “Ron, come over here I need your help.” He rushed over and was handed a box of sealed packages of bandages. “Open these as fast as you can. We are running out.”

  Ron focused on the task at hand as all thoughts of Jennifer were shelved for the moment.

  One of the villagers was coordinating the efforts of the Corpsmen out in the village via their communicators. She shouted to no one in particular, “Corpsman at the Café needs bandages and tourniquets.” No one responded they were all taking care of patients. Jennifer rushed to the supply room, grabbed a handful of bandages and three tourniquets and headed for the door. On the way out, she saw Ron unwrapping bandages and was glad he was okay. Gabbing a discarded helmet, she put it on and ran out of the clinic into pandemonium. The noise from the discharging weapons combined with yells and screams of people fighting was deafening. She tucked her bundle under her arm and ran as fast as she could. As she ran she bobbed and weaved, bending low as she had been taught to present a difficult target. Just as she thought her legs were about to give out on her she arrived safely at the Café and handed over the bandages to the Corpsman who was working on an unconscious woman who had been hit in the leg. Without looking at her, he took the tourniquet, grabbed her hand, and placed it on a bloodsoaked bandage.

  “Press here as hard as you can.” He wrapped the tourniquet around the leg above the wound and tightened it and the blood stopped. “OK, that’s the best I can do.”

  There was a scream outside and the Corpsman drew his side arm grabbed his bag and ran off to help. As he reached the door he was cut down by a particle beam blast. A Kaedian trooper entered the door and spotted Jenifer, he raised his weapon and she screamed. The Corpsman on the ground heard her scream and even though he was in great pain raised his sidearm and shot the trooper in the ass, twice, before passing out. One of the rounds ricocheted off the Kaedian's pelvis and shattered his spine. The trooper crumpled to the ground dead. Jennifer went to the Corpsman, he was pale and having difficulty breathing. She checked his pulse, it was weak and irregular. She grabbed his communicator and pressed the talk button.

  “This is Jennifer. I have a wounded man who was hit by a particle beam blast in the side. His pulse is very weak and he has difficulty breathing. Is there anyone listening?”

  No one answered. She looked down at the young man; she wanted so badly to help the man who saved her life so she reached down and checked his pulse again. There was none, the young Corpsman was dead. Tears ran down her cheeks and she started to shake with grief but was stopped by a strange wailing noise. She quickly realized it sounded like the cry of a baby. She looked around the room and spotted something moving under a blanket. She lifted the blanket to see a baby half covered in blood. She picked up the child and turned him over, looking for a wound but she could not find one. She felt herself beginning to panic. No! she thought, I must remain calm. I must get this baby to the clinic. They will help him. She wrapped the child tightly in the blanket; she went over to the dead Corpsman and tried to remove his armored jacket but was not strong enough to roll him over, so she slid his k-bar out of its scabbard and used its razor-sharp blade to cut away the front of his jacket. She picked up the baby, held him close to her then covered him with the body armor. After a quick look outside, she ran out of the yurt.

  Kris, hovering overhead, saw her leave the Café just as the smoke cleared. He saw two Kaedian troopers point their weapons at her. He fired two bursts at the men killing them but not before one had taken a shot at her. Anxious, Kris watched Jennifer
but she continued to run uninterrupted. She’s OK, he thought relieved. He lowered the shrouded Jaguar providing cover for her as she ran toward the clinic.

  Jennifer had never been so scared. She felt something tug at her shirt then instantly her fear left her. She did not understand what was happening but she felt protected somehow, then seconds later she was in the safety of the steel walled clinic. Sande spotted her and stopped her. Jennifer’s mother, finishing another patient, saw her and rushed over. As Sande took away the baby Anne hugged her daughter. Suddenly she spotted the blood.

  “Jennifer you’ve been hurt. Let me look at it.”

  “I’m OK Mother, how’s the baby?”

  “Baby is fine Jennifer. The blood was not hers,” said Sande.

  “Have some water dear,” said Anne. “You need to calm down. You’re shaking like a leaf.”

  Jennifer screamed as a Kaedian trooper burst into the clinic from the rear and began firing wildly at the wounded and staff. Anne reacted immediately; her right hand crossed her body and grabbed her shotgun as she placed herself between the trooper and Jennifer. At the same time, she fired both barrels one-handed at the trooper. Kris’ voice came to her, ‘Sometimes there is no time for finesse’. The recoil almost broke her wrist, she lost her grip and the weapon flew backwards over her shoulder, but the shot from the gun hit the trooper in the face and blew him back out of the clinic. He was dead before he hit the ground.

  Kris watched Jennifer enter the clinic then was distracted when the trooper came flying out backwards. Suddenly his Jaguar was hit by a powerful blast that ripped off his starboard weapons platform, flipped the Jaguar over and pushed him over the river toward the base. His SMC told him he had minimal control and no weapons capability. He focused on maintaining control enough to right the ship before he hit the ground on the other side of the river by the base. He snapped on his emergency beacon, grabbed his M4 carbine assault rifle and climbed out.

  He was immediately contacted by Ray, “You okay, Kris?”

  “Yes, I’m fine. Got hit by something too big to be hand-held. That troop ship must have returned and joined the fight.”

  “I don’t see anything, Kris. He must be shielded.”

  Kris ducked instinctively as several rounds hit the Jaguar.

  “I got company. You find the troop ship, I’ll take care of these guys.”

  Kris dropped and crawled to the side of the Jaguar. Four Kaedian troopers were advancing toward him at a run in a zigzag pattern. Kris pulled his weapon up and from the prone position and emptied a clip at the men. Two went down immediately shoved backwards by the impact, but the other two dropped into the tall grass and disappeared. He put in a fresh clip and waited. Ray had two missiles left, Marr spoke, “I have the enemy ship locked in. I am releasing the missiles now!”

  The two missiles streaked away. The nose opened in each missile and released the five warheads an instant before they hit the shrouded target. The troopship was over the estuary turning in for a shot at the village. Originally the ship’s Commander had left the area to protect his ship when he was fired upon by Ray. He returned to assist the attack but by that time it was obvious the assault had failed. The Captain decided to leave but could not resist a parting shot at Kris’s Jaguar. Satisfied he had headed out only to discover the returning Barque fleet. He was trapped. He turned back to attack the village and cause as much damage as possible and perhaps slip away in the confusion. He had not considered that anyone would be paying any attention but Marr was. Marr had tracked the trail of the pulse beam fired at Kris and fed the information into the weapons control module. Ten warheads slammed into the troopship ripping it apart. What was left fell into the estuary and vanished.

  Back in the village Ron saw the Jaguar go down he looked around, everyone was busy so he grabbed a medical bag and rushed out to see if he could help. The Kaedians faced defended barricades everywhere they turned; Sergeant Deming had taught the villagers to aim for the legs and face, the least protected areas of the body. They had practiced for weeks and now the strategy was paying off, from behind heavy barricades they breathed, took careful aim, and fired. The defenders from the walls had now joined in the fight and the Kaedians found themselves trapped in a crossfire. Without air cover, they knew they could not win and within thirty minutes of the assault being launched it was over.

  The last Kaedian over the fence was the

  Commander, as he straightened up he saw the destruction of his force spread out inside the berm. He realized immediately that it was over, he and his men had been sacrificed by Durack. He knew he was dying, he had been hit twice more as he limped toward the berm following his men. He turned and he found himself face to face with Sara, her weapon pointed at his head. For a split second nothing happened, then the Commander smiled; he had been a warrior all his life he knew that he would die in battle. He raised his weapon causing her to react defensively; the anger and fear that had piled up inside her was suddenly released, she closed her eyes and pulled the trigger and shot him between the eyes.

  “This is our village damn you,” she said as tears ran down her face and she dropped her weapon. Andrew was only a few feet away and saw what happened and stepped over and put his arm around her. She looked up at him. The strain over the last few weeks cumulating with the stark violence of the assault overwhelmed her and she dropped the weapon and collapsed into his arms. Andrew suddenly knew he would take care of this courageous lady for the rest of his life.

  Ron reached the corner of the berm and climbed up onto the tank to see if he could see the Jaguar. Kris waited patiently; the game is afoot, he thought. Sherlock Holmes; Where do I get this crap from? He knew it was a waiting game whoever moved first lost. He was a master at this game. Suddenly a hushed voice entered his head. Someone was whispering. “Mr. Blackstock, it’s me, Ron. You don’t have to answer me. I’m fine. I’m on top of one of the tanks at the village and I can see you and the two Kaedians in the grass. I’ll give you directions. Move your rifle to the right.” Kris moved it a half inch. “Okay the same distance again. Stop, that’s it.” Kris squeezed the trigger. A Kaedian helmet flew up in the air as the round penetrated the head underneath. The second trooper stood and started shooting blindly in his direction. Kris had a clear view and took him out with one shot.

  “Ok, there are no more,” said Ron still whispering. Something bright in the sky attracted his attention. He rolled over onto his back and watched the rain of debris from the Orion burn up as it entered the Altean atmosphere. Almost instantly, the noise of the battle stopped and for a moment there was total silence. Villagers began to cautiously peer out from behind their defenses. Gradually the confused looks gave way to smiles. The cheering began almost immediately as they began to realize that the battle was over; somehow, they were still alive and had won the day. It stopped abruptly when several people looked up to give thanks and watched the Orion disintegrating above them.

  For Fourth Officer Jank, reality was slowly returning as the thick fog clouding his brain cleared to be replaced by a dull throbbing pain. This had been his first combat experience. He reported for military duty as did all Kaedians immediately after completing his education as an Engineer specializing in artificial intelligence. Even though he was bright, physically fit and showed great potential as a leader he was not of the warrior class and much too old for pilot training so he was designated as an Administration Officer. He was serving only because it was traditional. He was of the patrician class and as such he knew someday his world would change and he would accept the heavy burden of leadership expected of him so initially this suited him just fine. Under his father’s considerable influence, he was given an assignment in a reserve combat support unit.

  However, life as an unimportant very junior Admin Officer on a very small and very dull planet in the middle of nowhere was stifling and he quickly became bored. So bored, in fact, when rush orders came down to transfer his unit to an active fleet, he failed to inform his father. He was surp
rised when his unit was assigned to the ground assault component. His orders were to set up an administration and supply facility to support the troopers on the ground. Trepidation began to creep in when he was informed there were Hevinian forces on the ground and they would have to be taken by force but they expected only light resistance. Trepidation was replaced by anxiety when he and his Admin Gladari were ordered to lock and load, they would be going in with the assault troops. As soon as the transport hit the ground the doors opened and he was drawn out by the mass of hundreds of troopers roaring their battle cry. He was caught up in the moment and began to feel the high as adrenaline pumped into his body giving him the feeling of invincibility. He ran like a man possessed reveling in the mass of charging troopers then the squad in front of him vanished in a cloud of blood and body parts as they were shredded by hundreds of high caliber rounds blasting down through the canopy. He was totally unprepared for the carnage that was all around him. Terror gripped him as men were shredded or blown up on either side of him as he ran blindly with them through the woods. Just as he reached the edge of the forest everything went black as a large piece of shrapnel slammed into his head. His helmet absorbed most of the impact as it crushed but the force was sufficient to knock him out.

  When he came to, he moved his head slowly looking around. His battered helmet was obstructing his view ahead of him. He moved his arms and legs checking for injuries then moved his body slightly and with an almost audible sigh of relief he realized he seemed to be intact. Carefully he moved his arm and pulled the helmet out of the way and raised himself up slowly to see what was happening. He was stunned at the sight of all the dead bodies in front of him. Raising up a little higher he watched in amazement as he saw his Commander shot by someone in a blue uniform. Suddenly there was silence followed by cheering from inside the berm. Then people were pointing to the sky and shouting. Jank thought it must be the fleet coming to destroy the camp and he looked up. The sky was full of falling debris burning up in the atmosphere but no triumphant fleet arriving to finish the job. Jank knew they had failed. He knew he had to get away before he was discovered and killed. According to the brief they had before the attack the Erthers took no prisoners.