Fleetfoot Interstellar: Fleetfoot Interstellar Series, Book 1

by P. Joseph Cherubino

  He remembered a time when he was no more than ten when Reggie’s anti-radiation fields failed during the transition to FTL velocity. They were on the edge of a heliosphere and just reaching the light speed threshold. His father decided to push the FTL sequence while still inside the solar cloud. Particle field emitters were not up to the task. They had very little warning of the failure, but just enough to get the entire crew to the center of the ship in time. Reggie managed to polarize the interior bulkheads enough to ward off the radiation passing through the hull as they approached light speed. Everyone survived, but the ship needed major repairs. To Drexler’s mind, his current situation was just another challenge to his life and limb. He learned early on to work the problem until the end. Drexler believed every threat was unique on the edges, but the same at the core. The trick was to survive long enough to reach the center of a problem and defeat it.

  “Luckily we have more than one soldier with us, am I right?” Drexler said, turning to address Tara. “Back there in the clearing, you displayed some combat skills.” Tara didn’t reply. Drexler realized he did not ask her a direct question, so she did not understand he wanted a reply. “Are you a soldier, Tara?”

  The Broodqueen paused before answering, not to elude the question, but to choose her words carefully. “My species has multiple functions. One of our functions is similar to what Humans consider ‘soldier.'”

  “OK, then,” Drexler said. “We have the skills. Let’s apply them. Real quick, though; that substance you used on the Lizards. Was it lethal?”

  “No, Captain,” Tara replied. “It should not be lethal to Lizards, merely painful.”

  “That’s good. It leaves open the possibility of negotiation. We still don’t know what the Lizards want.”

  “Negotiation?” Samuel asked. “Those Lizards back there were regular Reptilian Military. I recognize their uniforms. There is no negotiating with them. They wanted to dismantle you for information.”

  “Everything is negotiable,” Drexler replied. “You just have to find the right terms.”

  “Well,” Samuel shot back, “The terms right now are pretty shitty.”

  “Yes, they are.” Reggie’s voice chimed in through their EV suits.

  “Hey! Did everyone hear that?” Drexler exclaimed.

  Both Gajrup and Samuel answered ‘yes’ simultaneously.

  “Was that the suit or—” Drexler began to ask.

  “No, It’s me,” Reggie interrupted. “We defeated the comm jamming.”

  “Who is ‘we’?” Samuel asked.

  “That is a long story. Suffice it to say that I brought help. We are about an hour from your position. If you manage to avoid capture until then, we can pick you up.”

  “OK, then,” Drexler said to his crew, “Our terms just got more favorable. I am open to suggestion from our resident soldiers.”

  Samuel was the first to answer. “We don’t know their numbers. We didn’t see a lot of activity on the ground. The grass in that field was barely trampled. I guess they don’t have a lot of personnel on the ground. Let’s assume no more than twenty. If they had more, we’d see more transports. I say we split up. Let them come to us.”

  “We only have one weapon,” Drexler said.

  “Four,” Tara replied. She gestured to herself and her two children. “We can move much faster than Humans or Lizards. We set a trap. Lay in wait for a group, attack them.”

  “Too risky,” Drexler said reflexively.

  “Begging your pardon, Captain. As you are not a soldier, how can you calculate risk?” Tara asked.

  That was an excellent question. She was right, but the greater measure of a Captain’s job was risk assessment. Drexler smiled, said, “In other words, you know what you’re doing?”

  Tara nodded her head. Drexler had the distinct impression that, if Tara could smile, she would do so.

  “Just be careful. I need my crew intact. No unnecessary risk.”

  “How will you avoid detection,” Samuel asked.

  Gajrup answered that question readily. “They have no heat signature. Their hard-vacuum protection is built into their exoskeletons. Looks like they adjusted the system to hide their heat pattern when this whole thing began.”

  “What about EM signature?” Drexler asked.

  “Minimal. Their technology is bio-based. I doubt the Lizards are set up to scan for it.”

  “Let’s hope not,” Samuel said. “But we won’t be able to communicate safely when you leave, Tara. Comm between suits shouldn’t give us away, but longer range comm will light us up.”

  “I will relay communications,” Reggie replied. “I’m using the planet's magnetic field to scatter comm signals. I can do the same for us all.”

  “Reggie, can you tell how many are after us?” Drexler asked.

  “Unfortunately, no. Your pursuers are also using stealth tactics. I can tell you that Samuel’s estimates seem accurate. No transports were launched from the station in the past three hours. I did not detect much meat unit activity at the complex.”

  “Meat units?” Gajrup asked. “Did he just say ‘meat units’?”

  “Yeah,” Drexler replied. “It’s his special turn of phrase for non-machines. When this is over, I have some things to tell you about our AI.”

  “Enough with the bullshitting,” Samuel snapped. “We need certainty. I say we figure out an ambush, then draw them to us. We only need an hour.”

  “What is ‘ambush’?” Tara asked. Drexler moved to stroke his face with his hand but forgot about the helmet. His gloved palm bumped against the helmet face.

  “It means we find a good spot to fight and draw them to it,” Samuel answered.

  “Sit and wait!” Tara exclaimed. “This is the preferred method of my kind.”

  Reggie chimed in, “I will try to estimate their numbers for you.”

  “Excellent,” Drexler said. “See what we can accomplish when we work the problem?”

  “Nothing’s accomplished yet,” Samuel replied.

  “We’re alive, aren’t we” Drexler fired back.

  “That could change soon, especially since you and Gajrup are the bait,” Samuel said.

  Drexler wasn’t expecting this, but he should have. He and Gajrup were the only two in the group without combat experience. He suddenly remembered the old adage “be careful what you wish for.” The Captain took a deep, calming breath that had little effect. He was only grateful the helmet hid the scared look on his face.

  “Just tell us your plan,” Drexler said, feigning confidence.

  Tara and Samuel quickly devised the outline of a strategy. Their “plan” involved working out most of the details on the fly. Dewey was to stay with Gajrup and Drexler, while Tara, Samuel, and Huey formed the jaws of the trap. Samuel left toward the rocky ridge behind them as soon as the ambush team was satisfied. His job was to find a high position and cover the ambush area with his captured rifle. Tara and Huey would find places to hide as soon as they found the ambush area. They just needed to find the ambush area.

  To draw their pursuers, they decided to leave a portion of their comm signals unsecured. Their hope was to leave a trail of signals to the ambush point, which they still did not have twenty minutes later.

  “If you go much further, I won’t be able to see you from here,” Samuel said He scrambled up the rock face in under ten minutes. The military wetware was fully active, and his muscles hummed with extra strength. “I’m about as high up as I can go on the rock face before the upper canopy destroys my view.”

  “Tara thinks she found something,” Drexler replied.

  The group of two Humans and three Insectoids pushed through the thick jungle underbrush until they came to a jagged rocky downslope. A small clearing, about 40 meters around, lay just at the bottom of the slope. Rocky patches like this were common on terraformed planets. This was a small area where the engineered plant life refused to take hold.

  “I can see the edge of the clearing from here,” Samuel
announced. “Draw them in there, then hit them when they are climbing that slope.”

  “OK,” Drexler said, “Gajrup and I will hide at the top of the slope.”

  “No good,” Samuel replied. “They need to see you climbing the slope. If they’re smart, they’ll suspect it’s a trap. If they see you waiting at the top, you’ll tell them it is.”

  Tara and Dewey were already scrambling over the rocks downhill looking for places to hide. They scratched at the rocks and pawed at the loose dirt and gravel between them and chattered to each other.

  “I will scout again,” Huey announced. Tara ordered him to stay with Gajrup and the Captain, but he wanted to do more. Huey took wing before Tara could tell him otherwise.

  “Careful!” Samuel called. We don’t want to draw them in too soon.

  “Contact,” Reggie announced. “I have contact with the search party in your area. They are about a kilometer from your position. They number thirty and are converging on your position. They see you.”

  “Damn!” Drexler exclaimed, heart racing. “OK, then. Gajrup, you and me hunker down by that boulder at the slope base. As soon as we see some of them in the clearing, we start climbing the rocks.”

  Gajrup stood at the top of the slope facing his captain. He sat motionlessly.

  “Gajrup! You with us or what?”

  “Oh! Sorry! I’m nodding my head. I keep forgetting the helmets aren’t transparent, and the damn things have no neck!” The pudgy engineer laughed and turned his palms up. Drexler was beginning to like his new engineer.

  The Captain and Engineer eased their way down the slope, sometimes sliding on their bellies down large boulder faces. Dewey had already landed on the edge of the clearing.

  “I saw movement in the jungle,” Dewey said, “two groups coming together, moving this way.”

  Tara and Huey burrowed into the loose dirt between two of the largest rocks that formed a narrow channel up the slope. The channel was an obvious place to climb the face. Gajrup and Drexler hustled down that space just as Tara concealed herself completely. If Drexler hadn’t seen the movement, he wouldn’t have known she was there. The shells of the insects changed colors to match their surroundings. Drexler was surprised at this and more than a little disturbed. The Insectoids seemed so benign but now revealed predatory abilities. He was glad they were on his side.

  “I’ve been spotted,” Reggie announced. “The transport is breaking off its search pattern to intercept. The good news is that I can increase speed.” A distant sonic boom punctuated that announcement. “We will be at your position in twenty minutes.”

  “That’s good because I see them!” Gajrup shouted. The first of the search party reached the edge of the clearing.

  The heads up display of Drexler’s suit confirmed this. It picked up their heat signatures and highlighted their forms in false colors. “I see five moving into the clearing now. The Humanoids.”

  “I see two Lizards behind them,” Gajrup added. He had climbed to the top of the boulder and lay flat on his belly. Drexler peeked out around the boulder’s side.

  “Break cover and get up that hill when they get to the center of the clearing,” Samuel said.

  More forms entered the clearing and spread out around the clearing edge. They knelt down and brought their rifles to shoulder, scanning the area. Gajrup saw this and instantly scrambled down from the boulder. A sound like tearing cloth filled the air from the space where his body was. A projectile shattered against the rocks up slope with a puff of dust and smoke.

  “That was close!” Gajrup exclaimed as he landed beside Drexler. They both pressed their backs against the boulder.

  “Are they moving forward?” Drexler asked. Dewey squatted down two of his three sets of legs between the Humans and the rock face. His head faced straight ahead.

  “I can see their heat shapes through the rock. They make a line.”

  “They are smart,” Samuel chimed in. “I wish I could see them from here! It sounds like they’ll form up, then advance relay style.”

  “It’s getting worse,” Reggie announced. “I have multiple launches from the space station. More transports inbound; ETA 30 minutes. The station is trying to take command of ship systems. They are ordering the crew to prepare for arrest citing Trade Union Protocol violations.”

  “Does Mumlo know what’s going on?” Drexler asked.

  “He will soon,” Reggie replied. “We have to move the ship away from the station.”

  Drexler banged the back of his head against the immobile helmet and made vulgar oaths to forgotten deities. He had a great deal of trouble digging into the meat of this problem. All the confidence in his ability as a problem solver evaporated as their peril accrued more layers.

  “Give me your best ideas here, people, if you want to live!” Drexler shouted over all channels. The line of pursuers started their advance across the clearing.

  14

  “On descent,” said the Skimmer pilot said, just before turning the ship’s nose down. A rumbling hull announced thickening layers of the stratosphere. Minutes later, orange flames appearing in the portholes told Abhay they had entered the upper troposphere. His party would be on the ground in minutes after a three-hour flight from the opposite side of Kerala 2.

  Their path tracked with the planet’s rotation so that, in this hemisphere, the day was still in it’s prime. The horizon flattened as the ship hurtled toward its target, and the Continental City seemed to reach out for them with its gleaming spires, towering energy collectors and orbital tethers. Eight billion souls called this continent home.

  They were in heavy, mid-day air traffic that parted for them like water before the bow of an ocean-going vessel. Traffic control knew they were coming because 200-meter long transports and personal skimmers alike got out of their way.

  At an altitude of two kilometers, they were just about at the average height of the city’s countless, interconnected towers. Abhay had an excellent view of a transparent train tube. The skimmer pilot hugged the tube so close, Abhay could see the varied expressions of train passengers. One of the commuters noticed the skimmer unusually close to the transit tube and arched his eyebrows in surprise. He eyed the skimmer from stem to stern and likely realized it to be an official vehicle. No private pilot would dare fly so close to city infrastructure. The commuter turned his face back to his newspaper.

  Abhay suspected their pilot enjoyed shuttling officials. He swooped around tube pylons and the massive columns of orbital tethers with the grace of an aerobatics pilot. Abhay was no pilot, but he estimated the rules broken by this pilot numbered in the dozens.

  New Delhi was a Capital City, but not a monumental one. Government House was not even its tallest structure. It sat on the edge of the vast metropolis, where the construction was oldest. The Ancestors who settled Kerela 2 built first just two kilometers from the coast, where the second generation fusion reactors had easy access to the sea.

  The builders harvested seawater removed its salt, then broke H2O into hydrogen and oxygen. They wasted nothing. Oxygen was stored and used for breathing in the short term, and later for terraforming. Sea salt was refined into sodium for reactor cooling, and the remaining chlorine was used for industrial purposes too numerous to count.

  Government House reflected that same frugality. It was created from the original biodome. Successive generations built onto it as needed.

  Parts of the twenty-kilometer dome’s radius was still discernible between the shimmering onyx towers that rose from it in a myriad of heights and angles. Government House had no building style. Its overall appearance reflected a myriad of building methods spanning centuries. Viewed from orbit, Abhay often thought it resembled a sea urchin with missing quills.

  His musing evaporated when the skimmer slowed on a glide path to an upper-level landing pad near the top of the dome. The touchdown was so gentle that Abhay gave the pilot two gold coins when he lowered the barrier divider between compartment and cockpit.

&nb
sp; “Remain here at the ready. We will return after the second session in,” Abhay looked at his platinum watch, “about six hours.”

  “Yes, Senator Nautiyal, sir.”

  Jabir and Madhuk were busy scanning the platform for hostiles while Malik adjusted the sleeves of his uniform jacket. Abhay knew the nervous tic well. Malik was making sure the rail gun cylinders built into his sleeves were aligned properly in case he needed to deploy them.

  “All clear,” Jabir announced, rolling up a display scroll. He tucked the scroll into his jacket and opened the gull wing door. The three bodyguards were on the deck in seconds taking the scene with hawkish eyes. Abhay took a deep inhale of ozone-rich air and stepped out. The four strode across the deck and joined the ranks of other officials streaming down the walkways.

  Just before his party reached the ten-meter tall archway, Abhay heard a familiar voice behind, calling his name. Abhay ignored it. He was looking up at the ornately carved archway when he noticed a very strange depiction of Arjuna. Normally, the great warrior was depicted standing tall in his chariot, with weapons in hand, heading into battle. In this scene, however, Arjuna appeared empty-handed and faced away from the battle with a down-turned face. Krishna, his charioteer, stands in front of him with his arms spread wide as if pleading. Krishna's mouth is open as if he is speaking, but it is obvious Arjuna is not listening. Abhay concentrated hard, but he could not remember ever seeing Arjuna portrayed in his moment of doubt. Of course, he barely paid attention to the old teachings, unless they involved military strategy. He was more a fan of Sun Tzu and Machiavelli.

  The Senate Prince was finally plucked from his reverie when Jabir bumped his shoulder as the crowd thickened and the shouting voice grew close and impossible to ignore. The shrill voice belonged to Mangalam Singh. The short, wiry junior congressman shouldered his way through the crowd ahead of his bodyguards like a man twice his size.

  “Senator Nautiyal!” Mangalam screeched. Abhay rounded on him slowly as they passed through the particle curtain that divided the city air from the purified atmosphere of the District.