“Here, take this,” said Tarina, handing her a survival blanket. “It isn’t as good as a jacket, but it’ll keep you from freezing to death until we can find you another parka.”
Wendy gladly took the blanket and wrapped it around her shoulders. “Lead on, Tarina. Let’s put some distance between us and those things.”
They stepped outside and took a look around. They had landed in the middle of the woods. With tall trees all around them, it was hard to get their bearings.
Tarina checked her watch and smiled. Their parasite satellite was working. She read her GPS indicator and pointed away from the craft. “I say we go north and find a way to linkup with the rest of the company.”
Wendy nodded. “I’m all for it. Let’s get moving.”
Side by side, they trudged through the knee-deep snow.
“I wonder how everyone else is doing?’ said Tarina.
“Have you heard anything recently in your headset?” asked Wendy.
“No. I’m not sure my communicator is working anymore.”
“I guess we’d best put our faith in luck and hope they’re all okay. However, after witnessing the slaughter of Kadina’s platoon, I’m not sure luck will be enough this time.”
32
Sheridan heard Cole swear. “What is it?’ he asked.
“First we lost the feed from the UAV, now the ship is no longer transmitting a signal,” replied Cole.
An image of Tarina’s face flashed before Sheridan’s eyes. “Have you tried reaching the ship or Four Platoon on the radio?”
“Neither are responding. Sir, I hate to say it, but we have to go with the assumption that Ensign Jones and the heavy weapons crews along with Four Platoon and the ship are all gone.” Cole placed a hand on Sheridan’s shoulder. “I’m sorry.”
Sheridan bundled up his fear for Tarina deep inside his troubled heart. He took a deep breath to calm himself. “Okay, we need to focus on the living. We can mourn our dead when we get out of here. What’s our current situation?”
“Besides ourselves, Ghost One and Three are still in the fight. Both have reported only moderate casualties so far.”
“Ammunition?”
“Not good. Both platoons are down to about fifty percent. If this keeps up much longer, we’ll have to fix bayonets to keep the creatures at bay.”
A soldier guarding the front door fired off a long burst at an assailant wielding an ax.
Cole turned and hit the man on the helmet. “Single rounds. Aim at your targets from now on.”
“Yes, sir,” meekly replied the soldier.
“That goes for all of you,” bellowed Cole at Kolben’s squad. “If you want to live, change your selector switches to repetition vice automatic.”
“I’ll pass on the same to the rest of the company,” said Sheridan, keying his mic. When he was done, Sheridan moved to an open window and peered out at the falling snow. Thankfully, it was beginning to slow down. Nearby buildings that had been hidden in the snow only a few minutes before were now visible. Mounds of dead and dying mutants littered the ground. Several less-injured assailants crawled along the battlefield, snarling and growling as they tried to get to grips with what was left of Sheridan’s company. One by one, the wounded mutants were shot. After a couple of minutes, the firing stopped and silence descended on the camp.
Cole joined Sheridan and poked his head out of the window. “It’s too quiet out there. I wonder where they could have gone?”
“I don’t know but we’d be fools not to take this lull in the battle to reorganize our defense,” responded Sheridan. He walked to the front door and opened it. The bodies of more than thirty mutants were strewn across the ground near the house. He spoke into his headset. “Ghost One and Three, this is Ghost Six, haul ass and meet me at my location.”
Lowassa and Robinson sprinted from their respective buildings and arrived in record time.
Sheridan got right to the point. “Okay, give me the skinny. I need to know your casualty situation and where all of your people are.”
Lowassa went first. “Sir, I’ve lost four dead and have three others with light wounds. My people are spread out in the three buildings.” He pointed at the houses about fifty meters away.
“Sir, my platoon has lost five dead,” said Robinson. “Six others are wounded. Nothing serious, though. My platoon is holding firm in those four houses.” She indicated with her rifle at a row of buildings with several piles of bodies outside of them.
“We need to tighten up our position,” said Sheridan. “Three Platoon will stay where you are while the rest of us will move into the four houses just to the west of your position. We’ll be able to have overlapping arcs of fire and far better mutual support than we have now.”
“Sir, any word from the rest of the company?” asked Lowassa.
“No. It looks like we’re it.”
“God, no,” said Robinson, bringing her hand to her mouth.
“Folks, I don’t know how long this pause in the fight will last, so get a move on,” said Sheridan. “Robinson’s soldiers will cover the rest of us while we move.”
“Right, sir,” responded both platoon leaders.
“Okay, as soon as we’re all set up, First Sergeant Cole and I will come around and check everything.”
“Sir, without a ship, how are we going to get off this rock?” asked Robinson.
“Help is only an hour away.” In his mind, Sheridan cursed himself for forgetting about the carrier Canberra. “Unfortunately, our satellite communications device was on the ship. Once I figure something out, I’ll send a message and we’ll be on our way out of here.”
A troubled look came over Lowassa’s face. “What’s wrong?” asked Sheridan.
“Sir, I just remembered. One of the attackers managed to break into the house I was in and killed one of my men before she was shot in the stomach. While she lay dying, she kept repeating a single word . . . nyama.”
“That doesn’t sound Kurgan. Do you know what it means?”
Lowassa nodded. “Sir, it’s Swahili, and it means meat.”
A chill ran down Sheridan’s spine. Not only had the colonists been turned into horrid killing machines but they had been programmed to eat their victims as well. He cleared his mind. “All the more reason to keep them from getting to us. You have your orders. I want the new position set up in the next five minutes or less.”
Both young officers took off running.
“Sir, before you say anything, I forgot about the Canberra as well,” said Cole. “Besides, until now there would have been no safe way to guide a couple of fighter-bombers onto the enemy without running the risk of hitting our own people.”
“I know but we need that comms device or we’ll never get out of here alive.”
“That’s why as soon as it gets dark, I’ll go for it.”
“Wait a second, Alan,” blurted out Sheridan. “I never told you to do that.”
“No, you didn’t. But I’m going anyway. You’re needed to lead the company. Neither of the two young officers has my experience in fieldcraft nor do they know what they are looking for. It only makes sense for me to go.”
Sheridan struggled to find an argument against his friend’s logic. There was none. Cole was right. He was the best person to go.
“This is a first,” said Cole with a grin on his dirt-covered face.
“What’s that?”
“You, speechless.”
“How are you doing?” Tarina asked Wendy.
“Not too bad,” she replied, sticking her face out from underneath of her blanket. “I can’t feel my face, though.”
“Let me see.” She shook her head when Wendy lowered her blanket. Her friend’s cheeks had turned milky white, as had the tip of her nose. “You’ve got frostbite. Use your hands to warm up the exposed parts of your face. Just place them on the skin and don’t rub as it will only make things worse.”
Wendy put a warm hand over her cold nose. “What made a girl from S
outh Africa such an expert on cold-weather ailments?”
“Michael took me skiing the first winter we were together at the academy. I got frostbite a lot worse that weekend than you have now.”
The snow had stopped falling over an hour ago. Although they couldn’t see it, the sun was dropping below the horizon. The already cold temperature began to plummet.
A dark shape sticking out of the snow caught Tarina’s eye. She reached over, placed a hand on Wendy’s arm, and whispered, “I think I see something. Cover me.”
With her rifle tight in her shoulder, Tarina crept toward the object. As she got closer, Tarina saw it was one of their soldiers. She got down on one knee and brushed the snow from his body. He lay on the ground with an arm reaching up as if begging for help before he died. A deep cut in his neck had doomed the man.
“What did you find?’ asked Wendy.
“A dead soldier.” Before Tarina could say another word, Wendy dashed to her side and unzipped the man’s parka. She quickly donned the jacket before yanking the gloves from the corpse’s frozen hands. The last thing Wendy did was pick up the man’s rifle and check that it was loaded.
“Survival first,” said Wendy, rubbing her arms and trying to warm up her jacket.
Tarina nodded. She turned her head and looked for the man’s identification tags. She found them hanging around his neck. They were covered in frozen blood. Tarina pulled them from his neck and slid them in a pocket.
“I think this was one of Kadina’s men,” said Wendy, looking down at the corpse. “I bet he was wounded in the fight and staggered away to die.”
“Sad way to go. Out here all by yourself, lying in the snow knowing you’re going to die.”
“Not much we can do about that. Come on, let’s get a move on. It’s getting dark and I’d rather not spend the night out here.”
33
Dozens of tall fires lit the horizon to the north and southeast of the camp. Through his binoculars, Cole could see throngs of people moving about the bonfires. They moved from side to side as if they were dancing. He glanced down at his watch and saw it was close to midnight. The snow clouds had long since vanished, allowing millions of stars to shine down from the night sky.
“Ready to go?” Sheridan asked his friend. His voice betrayed his fear for the man who had become more than just his mentor and advisor.
Cole nodded. He had stripped out of his fighting gear to only a light mesh vest with extra ammunition in it. He had also removed his helmet and heavy body armor. Cole reached into a pocket and pulled out a small tin. He opened it and removed a metal dragonfly. With a touch of his finger, the insect came to life and fluttered its wings. It took off and hovered in the air. Cole looked at the screen on his watch and saw a picture of him standing there. He spoke into his watch. “Reconnoiter to the west. Keep to within two hundred meters of me.”
The UAV shot out of the open door and disappeared into the night.
“Anything?” Sheridan asked looking over Cole’s shoulder.
“Nothing so far. Looks like our friends are all congregated by the fires.”
Sheridan offered his hand. “Good luck, First Sergeant. See you in a couple of hours.”
Cole shook his friend’s hand and then, as quietly as he could, he slid out of the door and sprinted toward an abandoned home. When he got there, he stopped for a moment to check the feed coming back from his mini-drone. The ground from the end of the base to the woods leading to the ship was dark. There wasn’t a single thermal signature present. Cole took that as a good sign and took off running. Mentally, he cursed the frozen snow as it crunched under his feet. Had the mutants not been by their fires, he was positive they would have heard him. Cole took refuge behind a tall rock to catch his breath and to check the way ahead. His cursed his luck when the UAV picked up two small groups moving toward one another in the woods. Cole dropped to one knee and decided to wait it out. Whoever it was out there, he prayed they would go in another direction and leave him alone.
“Did you hear that?” whispered Tarina, kneeling in the snow behind a tall tree.
Wendy nodded. “I think it came from the right of us.”
“I thought it sounded like people talking in English and Kurgan.”
“Survivors?”
Tarina flipped the safety off on her rifle and stood up. “There’s only one way to find out.” She edged around the tree and raised her voice slightly. “Halt, who goes there?”
“Are you from company headquarters?” asked a woman hidden in the trees.
“No, we’re from the ship. Show yourselves!”
The snow-covered branches of a tree spread apart and Private Fitzgerald popped her head out. She nearly let out a cheer when she saw Tarina and Wendy. “Ladies, you’re a sight for sore eyes.”
Tarina lowered her rifle. “Who’s back there with you?”
“There’s Mister Komada and six soldiers. I think we’re all that’s left of company headquarters.”
“Quit hiding back there and step out where we can see you,” said Wendy to Fitzgerald.
One after another, the scared and weary party stepped out from behind the trees they had been using for cover. Tarina shook her head when she saw most of them weren’t carrying any weapons and had wrapped their scarves around their faces so high that they could barely see.
“Captain Pheto, what happened to the ship?” asked Komada.
“It, along with all of Four Platoon, is gone,” she responded.
“This is a nightmare,” said Fitzgerald. “Without our ship, how will we ever get back home?”
“We’re not done for. There’s a Kurgan shuttle craft parked on the camp’s landing strip. If it still works, we can use that. If not, we can still try and call on our own fleet for assistance.” Tarina patted the small pack at her feet.
“Why wait? Call them now,” said Komada.
“The battery in the satellite comms device is damaged. We may only get one chance to call for help. Until I know what happened to the rest of our people, I’m not going to make that call.”
“Ma’am, what do you want us to do?” asked Fitzgerald.
“We’re going to push on to the edge of the woods and then make our way to the camp.”
All of a sudden, Wendy raised a hand, telling everyone to be quiet. She turned on her feet, looking up at the top of the trees.
“What is it?” whispered Tarina.
Wendy didn’t reply. She kept her gaze fixed above them. Slowly a smile crept across her face.
“What do you see?” asked Tarina.
“We’re not alone.” A second later, a silver dragonfly flew down and landed on Wendy’s shoulder. “Hey, Red, long time no see,” said Cole through a tiny speaker in the abdomen of the UAV.
Sheridan found himself pacing. He had tried to remain calm but he couldn’t sit still for more than a few minutes at a time while Cole was somewhere in the dark facing danger all by himself.
“Sir, I’ve got something on the tracker,” said Corporal Kolben.
“Is it First Sergeant Cole?” Sheridan asked.
“I’m not sure. It’s too large of a signature for one man,” replied Kolben, holding up the device for Sheridan to see the signal.
“All stations, this is Ghost Six, stand to,” said Sheridan into his headset mic. “We have a thermal signature approaching from the east. It may be First Sergeant Cole, so make sure you don’t open fire unless you can positively identify the target as hostile.”
Sheridan ran outside and brought up his binoculars and scanned the horizon, looking for Cole.
Robinson’s voice spoke in Sheridan’s earpiece, “Ghost Six, we have eyes on the target. It’s First Sergeant Cole and ten other people.”
A wave of relief washed over Sheridan. He lowered his binos and ran to Robinson’s position. He had just arrived when Cole, accompanied by Tarina and Wendy, walked in through the open back door of the home. His heart leaped for joy upon seeing his girlfriend still alive. He ran to Tarina
and embraced her.
“I feared you were dead when we lost contact with the ship,” said Sheridan.
“Michael, it was horrible. Mister Kadina’s soldiers were massacred in less than a minute by those abominations,” said Tarina. “We had to eject the cockpit to survive.”
“I’m glad to see you too, sir,” said Cole, walking past Sheridan.
“I just thought Tarina was dead,” said Sheridan. “I always knew you’d make it back alive.”
Cole winked at his friend. “Just busting your chops, sir. Look who else I found out there.”
“Good morning, Major,” said Komada as he stepped in out of the bitter cold.
Sheridan shook Komada’s hand in greeting. “How many people are left from company HQ?”
“Six soldiers plus one of the UAV technicians,” replied Komada.
“Okay, have the troops stay here with Three Platoon,” said Sheridan to Cole. “The UAV tech and Mister Komada can join us for now.”
“Will do. Sir, did you forget why you sent me out there in the first place?”
Sheridan shook his head. He had been so happy to see his friends alive that the comms device had slipped his mind. “I take it you have the ground-to-satellite communicator with you?”
“I don’t, but Captain Pheto does. That’s the good news. The bad news is the Kurgan battery powering it is crap, and we’ve got one chance to reach the Canberra before the battery dies.”
“One chance is better than nothing.”
Tarina slipped the pack from her back and retrieved the radio. “Here you go, Michael.”
“Thanks,” replied Sheridan taking the device in his hands. He stepped outside and switched the communicator on. “Canberra-Six-Alpha, this is Ghost-Six, requesting immediate evac from Ke-12, over.”
The power indicator on the side of the radio showed three bars. While he waited for a response, one of the bars faded to black.
“Try them again,” urged Tarina.
Sheridan nodded. “Canberra-Six-Alpha, this is Ghost Six, requesting immediate evac from Ke-12, over.”
Ghost Company Page 20
