Stranded on Haven

by William Zellmann

  I shook my head as he started. "I brought you here to show you why. Jane, please run a basic introduction to colony defense, and the weapons available aboard.” I pressed my finger to the sensor pad, and suddenly we were standing at the edge of a large, indistinct gray space.

  Chapter 14

  Jane’s normal cold contralto was replaced by the resonant male voice of a professional spokesperson. “At some point," he began, "every colony is faced with the need to defend itself, from animals, insurgents, and possibly even aliens. The Integrated Colony Defense System, or ICDS, is a carefully designed system of defense weaponry that fit together into an overall defense strategy applicable to a colony at any stage of development.”

  I grinned. Apparently, Jane had decided that the sales program would be the best introduction. Oh, well. I could stand it. And maybe she was right.

  At the moment, an assortment of weapons were appearing and fading from our view. The voice continued. “The foundation of the system is its flexibility. The available energy weapons are standard, of course, and take standard power packs. But since no two colonies are likely to possess the same technology and resources, the bulk of the system consists of projectile weapons, each of which has been carefully designed to accommodate a wide range of propellants and projectiles.”

  The scene changed, became a dome lined with machines. White-coated people moved among them. “Each system is accompanied by a fully-equipped ammunition laboratory, to be assembled on-site. The laboratory is equipped with facilities for mixing propellants and casting and swaging projectiles using locally available resources. Equipment is also supplied to cast the propellants and projectiles into completed caseless ammunition, of course, and the weapons themselves are adjustable to accommodate a wide variety of propellants and projectiles.”

  The scene shifted again. “Even aerial threats have been considered. The Colonial Mark VI antiaircraft gun’s 23 millimeter projectiles can take down any size airship. It, like the other weapons in the system, has been carefully designed to meet colonial needs." A massive cube appeared, from which a meters-long tube protruded. "Energy weapons this large have proven so energy-hungry as to be nearly useless in a colonial environment," the voice continued. "The Mark VI is a rapid-firing projectile weapon. The ability to accept incendiary and tracer rounds as well as solid shot renders it very flexible. And, of course, its turret design permits its use as an antipersonnel or antitank weapon.”

  The scene shifted again. This time it became an overhead view of what was apparently a colony site. It seemed to sit a few meters from us, and appeared about a meter in diameter. An earthen wall surrounded the colony. It was roughly square in shape, with round towers at each corner. The long shapes of two of the antiaircraft guns the voice had just been displaying occupied opposite corners.

  “Here we have a somewhat typical colony layout,” the voice resumed. “You will note that the Mark VI guns are emplaced in the corners of the wall. We recommend that they be set on a rise, or bolted or welded to an elevated platform, to provide maximum protection.”

  The view zoomed to one of the corner towers. “In this example, the towers are the centers of defense. Each tower holds a 200mm colonial model mortar." We zoomed in on a thick tube just over a meter long, mounted at an acute angle to a tripod. The voice resumed. "Mortars are often called ‘the poor man’s artillery', and that description is actually fairly accurate. The mortar launches a heavy explosive, fragmentation, or incendiary bomb for distances up to 400 meters. The bombs are launched on a high arc …” We swooped down to ‘ground level.’ There was an odd poonk! sound, and a dotted line appeared at the top of the tube. The line lengthened against the sky, tracing a high, arching course across it. The line terminated in a group of human figures that appeared to be about 400 meters distant. When the dotted line reached the ground, there was a large explosion, and a volcano of dirt and smoke. When the smoke cleared, bodies were scattered for meters around.“… this means that the bombs fall at such a steep angle they are unlikely to be intercepted, and can shoot over walls and barricades. Fragmentation bombs are very useful for breaking up formations of enemy troops, and incendiaries and explosives are useful against vehicles and emplacements.”

  The view shifted again, back to the tower. “Each tower also holds a Colonial Model 8mm machine gun,” the voice continued. This was the weapon Lisa had described to me before, but I let the program run, so Ollie would see its deadly capabilities.

  I was glad I did. After a general explanation, either actual footage or an excellent simulation appeared. We were standing behind a man who was himself seated behind one of the machine guns, which was mounted on a low tripod protected by an earthen berm. Suddenly a line of figures appeared over a rise that appeared to be about five hundred meters away. The man swung the gun to the left end of the line, and the ‘machine gun’ began to produce chattering explosions. The ammunition was apparently linked closely together into a belt, which fed smoothly into the gun. It was possible to actually see some of the projectiles leave a trail of fire. A number of the figures dove to the ground, but the rest began folding and falling like wheat before a scythe as the weapon's muzzle swept past them. Flashes of projectile weapons and the actinic bars of lasers began to target the machine gun, but they were pitifully few.

  We swooped back to an overhead view. “The towers give each gun a wide field of fire …” red arcs flared at each corner of the square, overlapping some distance out. “… while the high cyclic rate permits the weapon to provide effective cover for infantry operations. The large 8mm projectile is capable of killing most known animal mounts.”

  We zoomed into the ‘colony’, and focused on a single man. “Individual weapons are, of course, essential,” The man said in a dry tone. “And every colonist is essential to the survival of the colony. Therefore, the ICDS includes highly effective body armor.” We zoomed in on the head, and circled around it. “The helmet is light enough for prolonged wear, but strong enough to deflect most projectiles.” The view moved downward, but continued circling. “The torso armor will deflect arrows from longbows up to 60 kilos pull weight at 25 meters, and crossbow bolts at up to 150 kilos pull weight at the same distance. It is highly effective against all common handgun bullets, and marginally effective against many rifle rounds. It is also shielded to provide point one second protection against hand and shoulder lasers, and even some protection from blaster and disruptor fire. The arm and leg shields are optional, though the groin shields are included.”

  The view changed again, to another weapon, and the voice continued. “The standard weapon for individuals is the Colonial Model 6mm Assault Rifle. It is a light, compact rifle, accurate to 400 meters.” The man figure returned, began handling the weapon. “Its 6mm caseless cartridge is powerful enough to be deadly at its maximum range, but light enough to permit the soldier to carry hundreds of rounds. Like all the other ICDS projectile weapons, the Assault Rifle can be adjusted to use a wide range of propellants and projectiles.” The man slid a magazine into the bottom of the weapon and raised it to his shoulder. A loud bang! was heard and the man jerked slightly. Another bang and another small jerk. Suddenly the sounds came closer together, some less than a second apart. The man touched his weapon and the magazine dropped to the ground. He slipped another magazine into the rifle and raised it to his shoulder. This time the bangs came very close together, sounding almost like the machine gun. In seconds the man lowered his rifle.

  Another change and we were looking at a shoulder laser. “While energy weapons are perhaps less flexible than the ICDS projectile weapons, they have the virtues of familiarity and ease of training and use,” the voice said. “So, we offer the client his choice of standard lasers or Assault Rifles for individual equipment. We would like to note, however, that in a colonial environment, power packs may not be as convenient or available as ammunition, which can be manufactured at need.

  “This concludes our presentation on the Integrated Colonial Defense Syst
em. Thank you for your kind attention.”

  Our surroundings again faded to an indistinct gray, and Ollie snatched the VR helmet from his head. His eyes were wide, his face pale.

  "Last year," he whispered, "A colleague convinced me to attend the demonstration of a new type weapon with him. Such things are of little interest to me, but I went, along with several New Home military officers.

  "The man was demonstrating what he called a 'breakthrough' in military weaponry; a rifle that could be reloaded by a mere flick of the wrist. The, uh, 'ammunition' was contained in a small metal case instead of the paper ones now in use, and contained the priming charge in the case itself. Once the rifle was loaded, one need only fire, and a quick movement of the hand would eject the empty case and lift a new cartridge into position to be fired. During the demonstration, the man fired half- a-dozen shots before reloading his rifle and swabbing what he called its 'action'.

  "I thought it was the most horrible murder machine I'd ever seen; but the military people were excited. How casually they discussed the killing of other men! They had only two objections: they suspected soldiers would waste ammunition, and they were concerned that powder would rapidly foul and clog the, uh, 'action'. In the end, my colleague told me, King David purchased nearly a thousand of the rifles and over a hundred thousand of the 'cartridges'.

  He shrugged. "There have also been rumors that King David's people were exploring the possibility of creating a rifle that did not even require manual activation. I dismissed them as fantasy. Until today! Are you telling me that the horrible weapons we've just seen are even now aboard Adventurer?"

  I nodded. "There are two of the 'antiaircraft' weapons, four of the 'mortars', six of the quickfi … uh, 'machine guns', nearly a hundred of the 'assault rifles' and a similar number of the body armor sets."

  He shook his head. "And, I assume, that 'ammunition factory' that was described."

  I nodded. "Ollie, when the University opens for business, we won't be able to prevent spies and agents from sneaking around. I have concealed the information in the comp as well as I can, but all it will take is for one of Duke Richard's men to smuggle one of those 'assault rifles' down to Haven, and my efforts will fail." I shrugged. "There's nothing magical about them. With a little experimentation, the rifles are well within Haven capabilities. And a few good chemists could analyze the ammunition. King David's army could be ready for war in a few years."

  Ollie nodded. "So you want me to help you smuggle the weapons off Adventurer and onto Startrader for safekeeping. I understand. But aren't some of them very large?"

  I nodded. "Oh, yes, and that's the main reason I need your help. The antiaircraft guns are disassembled and occupy four crates each. The mortars are smaller, and the machine guns are smaller yet, and occupy a single crate each. The ammunition factory occupies six very large crates. The assault rifles and body armor are in the ship's armory, and are not packed for shipping. The armory is quite secure, but any security can be defeated, given time and determination. We have to get that stuff off Adventurer."

  Ollie nodded grimly. "I agree. How do we start?"

  "Lisa and I have talked about it," I began. "From what we've been able to observe, all the forces on Haven have mortars; there's nothing really new there. I'd say we need to start with the antiaircraft weapons." I smiled. "Len and Cellia gave us a closer demonstration of Haven antiaircraft capabilities than we would have liked. But their antiaircraft were just cannons that could be aimed upward. Each shot had to be loaded, aimed and fired by hand. These, uh, 'Mark VI' things are rapid-fire repeaters, and have sophisticated aiming technology. Airships, and even those 'aeroplanes' that the nations are developing, would be easy meat for them." I shook my head grimly. "So would our landers," I added.

  Ollie frowned. "Won't those long tubes be hard to handle?"

  I nodded. "They would be. But Lisa tells me that the tubes, called 'barrels', are really nothing but rifled tubes of metal, harmless in themselves. I plan to leave them aboard, or even just jettison them overboard if necessary, though they're Haven property, and I have no right to do that. It's those 'turret' things and the stuff inside them that we have to move. That will be three crates each, for a total of six. Those weapons were supposed to be unloaded after the ship grounded, so the crates aren't designed to be offloaded in space. Lisa says that Startrader's largest landers can each handle one of the crates, as long as they don't have to ground with them. She isn't certain whether Adventurer's landers can handle them at all. So, we're looking at three trips by each of Startrader's big workboats, or six trips in all."

  I sighed. "After that, I guess the machine guns are the highest priority. But those will be no problem to transport; the crates are fairly small, as is the mass. One of Adventurer's large workboats should be able to handle two at a time." I shrugged. "Three trips."

  "The two biggest worries are the ammunition factory and the assault weapons. None of our workboats can handle those factory crates; they're huge, and they're massy. They were never intended to be offloaded in space. Lisa says we might be able to just push them out of a cargo hatch, to where she can use her landers like tugs, and tow or push them around. But she doesn't have room to store them. We may be able to clamp them to her hull, but it's more likely we'll have to tether the six crates together and put them into orbit, perhaps behind one of the moons, where they won't be visible to ground-based telescopes.

  "I'm even more worried about the assault rifles," I continued. "They're not even packed for shipping; they're just stacked neatly in racks in the armory, with cases of ammunition piled around them. There would be no way I could see that we could move them from the armory to the hangar deck without being seen; and once Duke Richard knows they're there, he won't spare any effort or expense to find them."

  Ollie frowned. "This 'armory'. That would be a secure room with an elaborate locking mechanism?

  I nodded. "Well, yeah, but it just looks like an office door inside the security office. The only thing that is a little odd looking is the retina lock. Actually, though, the door is heavily armored."

  Ollie nodded. "Well, we're not going to need access. Suppose we simply have your robots build a bulkhead in front of the door, closing it off completely?

  I frowned. "You mean weld a cover over the door?"

  He shook his head. "No. That would be like hanging up a sign saying 'something's hidden here'. I mean build a new bulkhead, full length, a few centimeters in front of the existing one. Slap a coat of paint on it, and it's just a wall; not even a door for someone to get curious about."

  I grinned. "Great idea, Ollie!" A thought occurred to me. "And if we swapped the main office's door, with its plaque labeled 'Security' with the next office down, the office itself just becomes another nameless office space, and Duke Richard's spies can search the 'security office' until they grow beards."

  Ollie's grin matched mine as he nodded. "Misdirection can often be most effective as concealment. I read that somewhere," he added.

  Thus began "Operation Sneak".

  "Night" and "day" are meaningless in space, of course; but not in the International Zone of Haven. Toray, who considered it a waste to haul "all that junk" down to the planet, wouldn't authorize a night shift, either on the ship or the planet. This, of course, meant that we could work the robots and landers at 'night', while Jane monitored approaches to the work area to ensure we weren't interrupted.

  But there was a problem. We were still a sensation on Haven. I was told that sales of telescopes had tripled after my arrival, and demand had remained high ever since. Literally thousands of people on the planet were spending their evenings watching our ships, hoping to catch a glimpse of a lander leaving or approaching. We were just going to have to risk it.

  The 'bots, of course, were controlled by Lisa from Startrader. Only her massive computing power allowed her to direct the simultaneous actions of two dozen 'bots. Fortunately, Lisa used an entire suite of sensors to keep her informed, and only one of t
hem was light in the human-visible spectrum. In other words, the 'bots could work in the dark almost as easily as in the light. By turning off the landing and cargo bay lights, as well as those of the landers, we were hoping that the darkness of space would render our efforts invisible from the ground. We were hoping that fervently!

  Luckily, Startrader was a freighter. That meant she contained enough exoskeletons for all our robots, with four to spare. I, of course, was very familiar with the exos. Exos were common as dirt on orbit-to-orbit freighters like Startrader.

  Normally, the Captain would shut down the gravity fields during loading or unloading operations, and those tasks took place in weightlessness. But weightless is not the same as massless. In free fall, you could start one of Haven's train locomotives moving with a hard, long push; but once moving, it would have all those tonnes of inertia, and would be no easier to stop in space than on the planet. It would actually be harder, since on-planet, the locomotive would be slowed by air resistance and other natural forces. Those forces didn't exist in space, of course. Exos gave us superhuman strength that helped tremendously in loading and unloading.

  But we had decided not to shut down Adventurer's grav fields; our workers were unaccustomed to free fall, and besides, there were hundreds of other activities being carried on that were facilitated by Haven's familiar gravity. This made the use of exos even more essential.

  Since the 'bots already had superhuman strength, the exos made it possible for our two dozen robot workers to do the work of several dozen human workers. They made our task only difficult, instead of impossible.

  With further discussion, Ollie and I had changed the order of the operation. We decided to do the hardest job first, that of moving the ammunition factory. We reasoned that if we were caught later, and New Home obtained, say, a machine gun, it would still be useless, or nearly so, without its caseless ammunition. Lisa assured us that the ammunition creation process was well beyond Haven's current technology, and would require years of research. "Of course," she'd added, "the design could be modified to use the metal-cased ammunition that is state of the art on Haven, but that, too, would require several years of effort."