by Saxon Andrew
“Do you still have the maps of the Weg passageways made before we attacked the Queen?”
“I do.”
“Select an area with limited or no passageways under it close to a large concentration of Weg.”
“I don’t know that those maps will be valid now. Pretty much every Weg on the planet came out of the dirt to attack your formations. I’m not able to get an accurate reading of where they went after the nuke went off. The EMP pretty much knocked out most of the sensors.”
“Just find a place that was clear before our drop.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I’m rearming my forces and dropping on the planet in 24 hours.”
“WHAT!?!”
“While I’m setting that up, see if you can get your computers to determine how many Weg were actually killed by my attack.”
Rumel shook his head, “You are going to be dropping on some very angry Weg. You killed their Queen and I’m pretty certain they are going to work hard to make you pay for your actions. Don’t you want to wait until we can gather more units?”
“No, Commander. Contact your transports and notify them to refuel and rearm the carriers we’ll be using.”
Rumel smiled, “Would you mind if I join you on this drop?”
Josh tilted his head, “Welcome to the party, Commander. You can take the place of one of my warriors that didn’t make it.”
“I’ll meet you in the landing bay momentarily.” Rumel looked over his shoulder, “Get my armor ready. You will be in command until I return.”
“Yes Commander.”
• • •
Kim stepped off the carrier and walked over to Bart. She put her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. He hesitated and then raised his arms and hugged her, “Why are you hugging me?”
Kim stepped back and said, “To make up for this.” She drew back her arm and slapped Bart across the face so hard that it was heard all across the giant landing bay.
Bart’s head snapped to the left and he put his hand up to his stinging cheek, “WHAT WAS THAT FOR!?!”
Kim stepped in and put her nose an inch from Bart’s and said, “The next time you think of anything, and I do mean anything, which will help prevent us from being injured during a mission, you will share that idea with me before we drop. Do you get that!?” Bart stared at her shaking his head and Kim said, “I think I have two cracked teeth from that drop. All you had to do was just say the word ‘mouthpiece’ and I would have seen you were right.”
Bart shook his head and said, “I’ll do my best to remember next time.” Bart saw Kim was furious.
Col. LaFyete walked up and smiled, “It’s a shame we don’t give medals to members of our Special Forces units.” Bart and Kim turned and saw him standing behind them. They came to attention and LaFyete said, “At ease!” LaFyete reached in a pouch and pulled out a stack of patches. He handed one to Bart and Kim and they looked at it. Kim said, “What is this, Sir?”
LaFyete smiled, “That Orange and Green WQ has the number ONE superimposed over it. The bright blue lines going through it are the blaster bolts you used to kill the first Weg Queen. That patch has been added by the Commandant to duty patches that can be worn by Spartan Warriors. It says on the award site that this patch will be only worn by the first Spartan Warrior to kill a Weg Queen.”
Bart and Kim’s smile was instant. Then Bart’s smile vanished, “Sir, we weren’t the only ones that killed her. All of the warriors on the ground took part in making it happen.”
“And they will all be allowed to wear a smaller patch with a ONE on it. However, it was the two of you that pulled the trigger and fired the missile. You’ve earned this.” LaFyete handed each of them a stack of patches, “Here are enough for all your uniforms. I suspect you’ll want to put them on when you have a moment.”
Kim smiled, “I’ll go do it now!”
LaFyete shook his head, “Sorry, Major. You probably haven’t heard but General Adams has ordered another drop on the planet in the morning and you’re going to have to get the two stored Mobile Blasters out of storage and ready for the drop.”
Kim said, “Are you serious?”
“I am.”
Bart’s eyes narrowed, “Sir, you just called Kim Major.”
“That’s the other part; both of you have been promoted to Major by the Commandant.”
Bart looked at Kim, “I hope we live long enough to enjoy this.”
Kim shook her head, “You go and get the blasters ready. I’m going to have a mouthpiece made.” Bart laughed and ran out of the landing bay.
Chapter Twelve
Cheng walked over to Josh and said, “Sir.”
“Yes Colonel.”
“The Commandant and his Intelligence Director wish to speak with you in Commander Rumel’s conference room.” Josh slowly shook his head and Cheng said, “The Argon has arrived and is in the conference room waiting.”
Josh stood up and wiped his hands on a towel, “Cheng, see if you can get this panel set up to show the tactical feel overlaying the map of Weg passageways.” Cheng nodded and Josh stepped out of the carrier and walked to the tubes. He sat down in a sled and leaned back as it shot through the tube toward the front of the large battleship. He found Rumel’s Second-in-Command waiting for him and he led Josh to the conference room. He opened the door and Josh noticed that he pressed a button on his communicator just before they arrived. Josh smiled. Rumel didn’t want to say something that he didn’t want Josh to hear. Josh entered and saw the five main monitors were all active. Rumel said, “I’ve been asked to bring you here for a meeting.”
Josh looked at Rumel, “Who called it?”
Mike sanders said, “I did.”
Josh was surprised by the remark and he turned and saw Mike was on one of the monitors. Josh stared at him and said, “How may I be of Service, Sir?”
Alex said, “It has been brought to our attention that you are planning to make another drop in the morning.”
Josh looked at the monitor Alex was on and said, “I am, Sir.”
“Why?”
“I feel it’s critical to determine what’s happening to the Weg on the planet.” Josh noticed out of the corner of his eye that Prissy did not like that Josh was being confronted by the Alliance Leadership. He winked at her and she sat back in her chair.
Mike said, “You persuaded me that waiting for your drop was not the best thing to do. We’ll have the new armor available in a couple of weeks and I no longer see a reason to put our warriors in danger.”
Josh looked around the monitors and saw Alex, Hetzel, and Jek appeared to be in agreement with Mike. Josh said, “I’ll cancel the drop, then.”
Everyone was surprised by how easily Josh gave up. Mike stared at Josh for a moment and said, “What possessed you to order it?”
Josh shrugged, “We have just killed a Weg Queen. That has never been done before and I don’t think she will be the last one killed. I am of the opinion that if our intelligence about the Weg is correct then the Queen controls all their behavior telepathically. If she is no longer in control, how are the Weg that survived on the planet going to be behaving after her death? Will they be disorganized where we can come in quickly and remove them or will they be insane and attack in huge numbers? Our seismic sensors are all out because of the EMP from the nuclear blast and Fleet can’t tell me what the Weg are doing underground.” Josh paused, “I would rather find out what’s going on here after we’ve killed more than sixty percent of them than after we manage to kill a queen with all the Weg still alive.” Josh looked at Mike, “However, I guess this bit of information isn’t really important. I’ll cancel the drop.”
The conference room was silent and Prissy waited a moment and said, “If we discover later that the initial hours after a Queen’s death is the time to attack, and we don’t find that out here, how many will have to die before we make that discovery?”
Josh looked at Alex on the monitor and said, “Si
r, you told me to do what I thought needed doing and you wouldn’t second guess my actions. If you lack confidence in me, then you should replace me now.”
Alex stared at Josh and saw his anger. “The drop is still on. What are you intending to do?”
Josh nodded at Alex and turned to Mike, “Sir, you should understand that the lives of my command are the most important thing in my life. However, we are here to prevent the loss of more lives by doing what should be done. It may surprise you, but I do not make rash decisions.”
Mike stared at Josh and nodded, “I apologize for my intrusion.”
“You were doing it out of concern for my safety. You do not need to apologize.” Josh sat down and looked at the Argon sitting at the table, “I have asked Latna to come and make the drop with us.”
Hetzel said, “We’ve tried to use his species in the past to hear the thoughts of the Weg but they were overwhelmed by them.”
Josh nodded, “I’m hoping the death of the Queen will change that and I think it’s worth the effort to see. If nothing else we’ll know if the level of communication between the Weg remains the same.”
Rumel looked at Josh, “So what’s the plan?”
“We’ll drop using our carriers and take two of the Mobile Blasters down with us. “I’ll have the Carriers fire seismic rods into the ground around our landing location and if we detect the Weg digging toward our location, I’ll sound the recall. Other than that, we’ll form up and fight off any Flyers that move in to attack us. I really don’t know what to expect and that’s why we need to do this.”
“Why are you waiting until tomorrow?”
Josh looked at Rumel, “I have twenty thousand Warriors that just used up more than ninety percent of their munitions. They have to rearm and recharge their blasters. That is going to take some time and after the adrenaline rush of combat, they need some time to rest.”
“Why not send another unit?”
Josh smiled, “These warriors have just fought together and learned how to work together. That is something that you can only acquire in combat. I honestly don’t think sending in green warriors is the right thing to do, although I did consider it.”
The Leaders of the Alliance, Gracken, and Sparta saw that Josh had thought it through and was not making a bad decision. Alex looked at the attendees on his display and said, “We should allow General Adams time to prepare. We’ll meet again after the drop to see what he discovers.”
The monitors went dark except for Prissy. She looked at Josh and said, “I knew you had a good reason.”
Josh smiled, “Thank you for your faith.”
Prissy’s monitor went dark and Josh looked at Rumel, “Who told them?”
Latna sighed, “I contacted Hetzel and asked why I was being dropped on a Weg Planet.”
Josh smiled, “Don’t worry, you’ll be sent out of there at the first sign of trouble. I’ll not allow you to be harmed.”
Latna shook his small head, “You should know that my species is not known for bravery. Being telepathic tends to make one skittish.”
Josh turned to Rumel, “I apologize; I thought you made the call.”
Rumel laughed out loud, “And possibly miss all the fun!?!”
Josh laughed out loud, “You’re right. I should have known it wouldn’t be you. I’m sure Tindel will look forward to playing with you.”
“You should know that he speaks highly of your warriors.”
“It appears our two divisions have come together and trust each other. That’s something that’s hard to make happen.”
Rumel smiled, “Not when good warriors come together. Let’s get down to the landing bay and make sure everything is going according to plan.”
Josh smiled and walked out of the conference room toward the tubes.
• • •
The carriers formed up above the planet and Josh watched thirty attack fighters launch from the landing bay. Rumel had insisted that launching seismic rods from the carriers as they dropped to the surface was totally inadequate to defend them. Josh worried the fighters might be flying into a dangerous situation but they disappeared and fifteen minutes later moved back into orbit and began landing in the huge bay. Josh looked at the landing site and did not see any evidence of the Weg’s presence. The new sensors did not have any movement underground around the site and he said over his main frequency, “Landing area is clear, drop in four, three, two, one…”
• • •
Bart and Kim sat on the special carrier built for the two Mobile Blasters and Kim said, “It doesn’t appear I’ll need this mouthpiece for this drop.”
“Keep it in your mouth anyway.”
“Why?”
“It stops you from yelling at me.”
“Why you old…whoooooooaaaa!”
Bart said, “You know you’re supposed to empty your lungs on a drop. I’ll bet you blame me for that as well.”
• • •
The two hundred and two carriers arrived on the ground and the force field was up and spinning in less than a minute. Bart and Kim dug the tracks in and quickly moved their giant vehicles to cover two lines of warriors each. They activated the barrels and watched their panels for Weg moving in on their location.
Josh activated his mobile panel and stared at the feed coming in from Fleet high in orbit and saw nothing moving their way. He shook his head and looked at Latna, “Can you hear anything?”
Latna gripped the sides of a helmet he had over his head and slowly raised it a few inches. He immediately pulled it back down. “I listened briefly before we dropped and there was extensive thought communication taking place. It has gone up tremendously since we landed.”
“How does it compare to the normal volume?”
“I’ve listened briefly to the thoughts of the Weg on an infested planet years ago and the current level is nowhere near what it was then.”
Josh knew the Argon would be writhing on the sand without the thought-blocking helmet. He knew that the Weg knew he was here. The thought level went up after the drop. He looked at his panel and there was no movement above the surface. He tripped the seismic switch and saw no activity taking place under the ground around his positions. He looked at the tactical and saw that there were no Weg passageways under him and he wondered what was going on. He looked at Latna and said, “I want you to quickly raise your helmet and send out a thought telling the Weg we’re here waiting on them to come.”
Latna took a deep breath and quickly lifted the helmet. Josh heard at high volume in his mind, “We’re here. Come and see us.” Latna quickly pulled the helmet down and said, “Boy that caused the thought level to rise!”
Josh nodded and watched his panel. Where were the Weg? Rumel walked over and Josh shrugged, “How many Weg did your computers say survived the last drop?”
“More than a half a billion flyers. We didn’t get a good number of those underground.”
Josh looked at his warriors standing in ranks with their weapons raised and made a decision, “All warriors will lower their weapons and take a knee. We’ll announce battle positions at the first sign of trouble.” Rumel walked away to join the forces at the southern line as the twenty thousand nervous warriors went down to one knee. Josh saw that every one of them kept a hand on their heavy sliver rifles.
• • •
Two hours passed with nothing happening and then his fleet frequency activated, “We have a large single Weg Flyer leaving the ground and moving your way.”
Josh looked at his monitor, “What direction is he coming from?”
“He’s coming out of the East.”
Josh moved the feed closer to the surface and saw the Weg flying slowly toward his line. He detached the cable linking him to his panel and began walking toward the Eastern Line. He looked at Latna, “Come with me.” The small Argon shook his head, pulled his helmet down as he stood, and followed Josh.
• • •
Josh and Latna walked through the warriors and stood in
front of them. The warriors immediately stood and raised their rifles. After ten minutes, Josh raised the amplification on his visor and saw the single Weg flying toward him. He brought the view in closer and saw that this Weg was different from the millions he had seen in combat. This one’s torso was bright orange with a green lower body. Its wing tips were also orange. It flew in and landed four hundred yards from the line of warriors and folded its wings. It lowered its body to the ground and sat there unmoving. Josh pulled his sliver handgun and said, “Come with me.”
A Gracken Unit Commander said, “I’d advise against you going out there.”
Josh looked over his shoulder, “The ground is clear. I can kill it if necessary. Hold your fire until it displays aggressive behavior. Josh and Latna walked out of the line as Rumel ran up with Tindel, “What’s going on?”
The Commander looked at Rumel, “I don’t know, Division Commander.”
Rumel took a step forward and Tindel put his hand on his shoulder, “We need to stay here.”
Rumel looked at him, “Why?”
Tindel nodded at the Weg, “After all the years we’ve been fighting them, I think our presence won’t help.” Rumel stared at him and then stepped back into the line. They watched Josh and the small being with him move closer to the huge Weg.
• • •
Josh arrived twenty yards from the Weg and it stood up on its four legs and spread its wings slightly. It stared at Josh and he knew it must be trying to communicate. He looked at Latna, “See if you can understand it.”
Latna raised his helmet slightly and immediately pulled it back down. Josh saw him take a deep breath and then heard in is mind as Latna raised his helmet, “EVERYONE SHUT UP!!!” Josh and the Weg shook their head and Latna gingerly lifted his helmet. He blew out a breath and thought, “I can’t hear you with all of you thinking.”
The Weg stared at the Argon and Josh heard in his mind, “I have asked everyone to listen in silence.”
