...and they are us Homecoming

by Patrick McClafferty

  “I almost didn’t survive the last time I worked with your so-called plans, Fleet Captain Fernandez Edwardo Raphael Daniel Yates. They were also talking about Carthage.”

  Zed unbuttoned his shirt and threw it on the couch. “Almost dying isn’t the same as actually dying, LOLA.” He rubbed his aching head. “Will you please set up a meeting of department heads for tomorrow morning? I should brief them, and begin the selection of volunteers.”

  Mike Flaherty sat across the briefing table calmly, his blue eyes unreadable as he waited for Zed to finish his briefing on the upcoming plans. His expression didn’t change a whit as Zed came to his conclusion, and his voice was soft. “Zed, all the former members of the Tiānt? fēng would like to volunteer. I know that Alina would be champing at the bit to come along too, if she were here. Most of us are former Marines, and all of us are EVA qualified.” A small grin crept up the big man’s face as if he dared Zed to object.

  Zed just gave him a long look. “This will be a dangerous plan, Mike, and will probably be the most harebrained nearly suicidal stunt you’ll ever pull.”

  “Are you going?” The XO from the frigate Boston asked.

  “Yeah, over LOLA and Athena’s objections.”

  Mike crossed his arms. “Well then.” His smile widened. “And lifting off in a second hand Chinese spacecraft on a rented Russian heavy-lift vehicle was probably more suicidal. The Tiānt? fēng’s sister ship, the Yínsè de guāngmáng, or Silver Light, was destroyed a month before we departed when the Russian lift vehicle failed. The primary Air Force crew died in that disaster, but the United States still had the contract to supply food and supplies to Europa Base. We had to go. If we had reneged on the contract the U.S. would have been black-balled from space completely.” He shrugged. “Not that the American public really care. You see how it is?”

  “With the space stations gone, along with half the communication satellites, I’ll bet they care now.”

  “If I know the American corporations, they probably blamed the whole thing on you…” He stopped and frowned. “On us, really. And here we are fighting to save their lives.”

  The rest of the people at the conference table were silent as they watched the two men talk. “You’re fighting for more than them, my friend.” Zed said gently. “You’re fighting for the very survival of your children, and mine.” Zed’s smile became feral. “Don’t ever forget Major, that we, the Terrans, control the starships; not the Chinese, or Russians or French or Americans.”

  “Yeah…” The big Marine smiled.

  Zed opened his mouth to speak, but Helen Sutherland, the head of Life Sciences beat him to it. “You seem to have forgotten something, Zed.” Her voice was serious, but her eyes sparkled. “This is a vessel designed to travel in space. Part of our training criteria for all assigned personnel is to have them EVA qualified. As of our arrival at Callidus, all personnel have completed that training. Your problem, it seems, isn’t who to pick. It’s who NOT to select.”

  Choosing the easiest way out, Zed finally decided to leave the selection of EVA personnel to the Strike Team and the Marines. It was unsurprising then, that the forty men and women selected all had extensive military backgrounds.

  The space around Callidus was soon cluttered with derelict and abandoned vessels. Crews worked day and night fashioning and shaping compartments on the different ships that would house the members of the new Strike Team for up to a week, along with a large supply of food and air and, of course, the scuttling charges. The team members all knew that once they were in place there would be no changing their minds. Small remote controlled tugs worked furiously on the wrecks, secreting small but incredibly powerful explosives throughout the shattered spacecraft.

  Finally the last of the traps had been set, and the Strike Team helped into their ‘long duration’ EVA suits. Zed and the other team members hated the plumbing connections in the space black and fully cloaked suits, but in this case he and they didn’t have much of a choice. Recycled air and waste in the suits were what kept them alive… if you could call it living. Zed and Mike shared a small black airless compartment built into the hull of the derelict Creednax battleship. Athena’s calculations showed that the Creednax would probably place at least two of their battleships in close proximity to their damaged companion. The entrance and exit to the cubby was designed in such a way as to appear an actual part of the hull of the ruined ship. All the cubbies had been built that way.

  In the blackness of their temporary tomb, Zed felt a vibration in the hull of the massive ship. “They’ve started to move us into place.” He spoke quietly to Mike, who he couldn’t see but knew floated a few feet away, tethered, as he was, to the wall of the compartment.

  “Great.” The Marine replied sourly. “Any chance I can un-volunteer?”

  “And miss all the action and adventure? Are you crazy?”

  Zed couldn’t see Mike’s glare. “I’m here. That’s crazy enough.”

  Zed chuckled, and activated the HUD in his helmet. The small display flickered to life, floating just beyond his nose. “How is everything going, LOLA?” Communications and data-link had been designed to use encrypted FTL burst technology. Their communications, Athena assured them, would sound no different to the Creednax than solar static. Zed fervently hoped that she was right, or this was going to be a very short campaign.

  “Everything is going well Zed, just as it was fifteen minutes ago when you last asked. You will all be in position and the tugs long gone before the Creednax are able to scan the area. Your battleship will have to go the furthest to reach the same spot is was parked in when we attacked. You might as well sleep. It will be hours yet before the Creednax arrive, and forty eight hours after that until you begin to plant the mines. I will wake you the instant something happens.”

  “But, I…” The HUD in Zed’s suit flicked off, and he was asleep.

  ~~~

  “… don’t want to go to sleep.” Zed blinked his eyes as he took in the time display on the small data strip beneath his HUD. “What the bloody hell??” His voice was rough, and he took a quick sip of the warm, stale tasting suit water from the small tube in his helmet. “I didn’t know that you could do that, LOLA. Didn’t you think to ask?”

  “I’m sorry Zed.” Athena’s voice said quietly in his ears. “It was my decision. You would have argued for hours, and I need you well rested. If I offended your sensibilities, I’m sorry.” She must have gotten the technique from LOLA, because she didn’t sound sorry in the least. It wasn’t an argument he could win.

  “That’s all right, Athena. I can see your point of view, but please don’t make a habit of it.”

  “As you wish, Zed. While you slept the Creednax arrived and took up positions about Callidus in parking orbits that are about what I figured they would be. The teams designated to take out the battleships are in ideal position. The cruisers and destroyers are somewhat less than ideal, but still within operational parameters.”

  “Please translate that to English, Athena.” Zed rasped as he took another sip of tepid water, wishing he could get coffee.

  Athena let out a very human sigh. “The cruisers and destroyers are slightly further out than I planned. It will take our teams somewhat longer to plant all the explosives there. You and the other battleship teams may have to do double duty and work some of the frigates.”

  He shut his eyes and did some quick math. This meant that each of the eight battleship team members would have to service a dozen frigates. EACH. He just shuddered and purposely didn’t think about the odds. “How long until we kick off?”

  “Thirty minutes, Zed. That will give you time to acquaint yourself with the general tactical layout, and have a quick bite to eat. You DO need to eat.”

  “Yes mother.” He replied dryly. “How about the sleds and the mines?”

  “Mike is taking care of them right now. LOLA woke him an hour ago.”

  Zed flicked on his HUD as he uncapped the small feeding tube in his helme
t. He took a short tentative pull at the tube… and grunted in surprise. “LOLA, how the hell did you ever get something with the consistency of toothpaste to actually taste like a beef enchilada? This is good!” Zed waited for the reply, and waited. Finally a grim suspicion began to form in his mind. “You’re tricking my brain into thinking this tastes good, aren’t you?”

  “I told you he wouldn’t fall for it.” LOLA’s voice was petulant. “Sorry Zed. We didn’t think you’d like the flavor of old socks very much.”

  “And the rest of the teams?”

  “You and Mike and four others are the only ones with neural enhancements. All the rest get the old socks.”

  “Let me try the old socks.” He took a short pull at the feeding tube, and winced. “Yuk! It does taste like socks.” He took another short sip. “They can survive it for a couple of days. They’re Marines and Seals, and are all unspeakably brave.” He was silent for a moment. “Switch me back please, but don’t let our little secret out.”

  “Yes Zed.” LOLA murmured in a small voice.

  The great green shapes of the alien warships that hung in orbit around Callidus filled Zed with a growing dread. From his position at the outer edge of the encircling ships, he could clearly see the shape of various Creednax warships against the dim reflected light of the planet, far below. On his other side the hull of the Creednax battleship loomed above him like a vast wall. “Where do I plant the charges, Athena?”

  “Do you wish to cripple it or kill it, Zed?” Athena’s voice was flat and emotionless in his helmet.

  “Kill it, Athena. As a matter of fact, have all the charges set to kill the Creednax.”

  “If the charges go off before you get inside you could be seriously injured by the containment failure.”

  “I realize that. Give me the coordinates.”

  “As you wish.” His HUD flickered, projecting a glowing X on the hull of the ship that only he could see. “Distance to target 1200 meters.”

  “Take me there please, Athena. Fastest survivable speed.”

  “As you wish.” The voice lightened. “You might want to hold on to something.” Zed had just grabbed the handhold when the violent acceleration slammed his helmeted head against the inside of the cab. “Arrival in three… two… one…” The deceleration slammed him into the controls, his helmeted head bouncing off the clear unbreakable forward screen. He shook his head to clear the stars spinning there. “We have arrived at the first target.”

  “You enjoyed that, didn’t you?” Silence answered his question, and he sighed. “Let’s get busy then.” He floated out of the small cab and opened the cargo cover. Magnetically sealed to the deck, the cargo of scuttling charges hadn’t shifted an inch during flight. Zed pushed a small button on the side of one, and the mine floated free. Working slowly in zero gravity, he place the mine over the glowing X and again pushed the button. Magneto-chemical clamps sealed the charge to the hull of the Creednax warship. His fingers touched four spots on the mine, and in his HUD a small blinking red dot appeared beside his target. He closed the cargo cover and reentered the cab of the small transport. “All right Athena. Would you please highlight and take us to our next target? A little slower this time, please.” The small craft began to move, keeping a scant three feet above the hull of the Creednax warship.

  Since Zed was setting out to destroy the ship rather than just cripple it, the work of setting the scuttling charges went faster than he anticipated and in a single short hour the big battleship was complete. “How are the rest of the teams coming?” He asked as he climbed back into cab of the transport.

  “The last of the heavy warships should be set in another thirty minutes, Zed. Teams have already begun setting the charges on the frigates.”

  Zed sighed. “Good. Take us to the next ship to be done, please.”

  “As you wish.” The small transport plunged into the blackness and then banked sharply, dropping toward the smaller warships orbiting closer to the surface. As deadly dangerous as the work was, it soon became monotonous: pick up the charge, set the charge, move to the next location, pick up the charge, set the charge. He lost count of how many frigates he had set charges to, but it seemed that his entire HUD was a mass of blinking red lights and his small transport was about empty.

  “Zed!!” He blinked awake at the urgent note in Athena’s voice. They had set the charge on the very last frigate on their list, and were heading back to the cloaked cache hidden in the twisted remains of a Creednax tug.

  “What?”

  “The Creednax are beginning to move around. It looks as though tugs are preparing to move the damaged battleship and other capital ships.”

  “Damn! How are we doing with the scuttling charges?”

  “The charges on the larger warships have been completed, and about two thirds of the frigates have been set.”

  Zed glanced over his shoulder at the single scuttling charge he had left on the cargo bed. “If we were to assign one frigate to each of the remaining team members, could we get the job done?”

  “Almost. That would still leave ten frigates to account for.”

  “The Rose and her fighters will have to handle the last ten. Assign the frigates to the closest team members and then get them out of here as soon as the charges have been set. One charge per frigate, placed right over their power plant. I want the Creednax to glow tonight.”

  “As you wish Zed. Our frigate is coming up.”

  Twice the size of the Boston, the Creednax frigate swam before Zed, the lurid X already blinking in his HUD. He was out of the cab while the small craft slowed, and jerked the charge free. He seated it and activated it in one swift movement.

  “That’s it, Athena. Sound the recall to the closest entrance.”

  The AI hesitated only a fleeting moment. “Done. All teams heading back to Callidus as we…” Athena paused. “Zed! One of the scuttling charges on a warship has been deactivated. There goes another. The Creednax have found the mines!”

  “Athena, maximum acceleration for all team members. Get them the hell out of there.”

  “Maximum acceleration away from the ships will be detected, Zed.”

  “Athena, in thirty seconds I want you to detonate all the scuttling charges.”

  “But you’re not anywhere near clear, Zed. You were the furthest out. These charges were set to cause containment failure. You won’t survive the blast, and I’ll not have you kill yourself.”

  She couldn’t see his crooked smile in the helmet. “Not your choice, my dear. This is a command override. It will be up to you and LOLA to finish this fight if I fall. You’re a better tactician than I am anyway.”

  “It will be as you wish, Zed.” His sled bolted for the safety of Callidus just as an eye-searing bolt of light tore through the blackness. In a moment it seemed that all the Creednax ships were firing. Somewhere off to his right an expanding ball of plasma marked the end of one team member.

  “Damn! Do they see us Athena?”

  “Negative. The firing pattern indicates that the Creednax suspect that there is something out there, but they can’t see it, and can only get intermittent readings because of our small size and high speed. They are firing wildly in the hopes of hitting something… anything.” Another flash marked another death. “Fifteen seconds to detonation. Most of the EVA Team have returned to one of the three spaceports, or the main door.” A blazing bolt of light from one of the Creednax destroyers neatly bisected a wildly dodging Creednax tug.

  Zed chuckled. “Friendly fire isn’t so friendly, is it?”

  “Zed, all the team members have been recovered but you. Even at top speed I calculate that you will reach the main door eight to ten seconds to late. I could hold the…”

  “No! We need to destroy those warships now. The Rose of the Dawn has an exceptional Medical Bay and staff.” He smiled again. “They can put me back together.” A beam as bright as the sun passed a scant handful of meters from Zed’s fleeing craft, and he found himself sha
king from fear. “That was just too damn close. The doctor can’t put me together if there is nothing left.”

  “You’re quite right, Zed.” Athena said thoughtfully. “Detonation in ten seconds.” The torn surface of Callidus rushed at him. “Are you ready with what we discussed, LOLA?”

  “Yes, sister. He’s just coming into range now.”

  “Goodbye ladies.” Zed murmured. The flash of hundreds of nuclear scuttling charges lit the dark sky behind him.

  “Now!!” Athena whispered.

  A few seconds later, as the blast of more than a hundred warships blowing their guts out reached him, Zed’s world went white.

  Chapter Nine

  THE OTHER OTHER SHOE

  The white light that surrounded him resolved slowly into the softly glowing ceiling of the Medical Bay. Shivering in cool air that smelled vaguely of disinfectant, Zed blinked as the scowling face of Helen Sutherland intruded into his field of vision. He stretched his arms over his head as he sat up.

  “I never thought that I’d be happy to see your glaring face again, Doctor Sutherland.” A smile he couldn’t suppress split his face. The doctor’s frown, if anything, deepened. “I feel wonderful. You did a great job of patching me up, again. Thanks.” As he began to rise she put a hand on his chest to prevent his movement.

  “How do you really feel, Zed?” Her eyes were penetrating.

  “Fine, like I said.”

  “And your memories?”

  Zed gave her a sour look. “I remember the white light hitting me as the blast from the Creednax containment failure caught up with the transport I was in. I remember the mission. I remember marrying Kat and I remember picking you and the rest up from Europa Base all those months ago. That good enough?”

  “It will have to be.” Helen Sutherland rumbled in a rough voice.

  “Why do you ask?” Something in her tone bothered Zed. Something wasn’t right.

  Helen sighed and sat down in a high-back chair next to the bed. “Zed, you were dead when the automated gurney brought you in.”