Parting Gifts

by gerald hall

  “Alright then. Lead on, please.”

  It took about twenty minutes to walk through the now sprawling Hebes Chasma complex until they reached Module 48C. This particular three story tall module had been one of the most recent arrivals to be set up on the Martian surface. It was also out on the periphery of the complex.

  When Matt and Deborah arrived at the passageway tunnel to the module, they met Sheila Marx already waiting on them at the door.

  “I do hope that someone has an explanation as to why I was pulled away from my favorite occupation as executive officer. I still have a ton of training records and supply requests to review.” She wryly said before her expression changed to a broad smile as Sheila laughed.

  “Well, I thought that you and the Colonel here could use a distraction, Sheila. But you are going to love this, I guarantee you. Come on inside.” Deborah said just before opening the pressure door to the module.

  There sitting in a metal framework was what appeared to be a bulky, oversized hard shell pressure suit. It was split into two halves at the waist. The suit upper half had a large module attached to the rear of the torso. There were thickened vambraces around both wrists of the suit’s arms and both leg calves. The entire suit was painted in a digital camouflage reddish brown pattern.

  When assembled, the suit would be a little over two and a half meters in height and appeared to mass at least two hundred kilograms.

  “Welcome to the new Martian Colonial Marine Mark One powered armor suit.” Deborah said while she stood next to a half dozen other polymaths.

  “This is amazing looking. I am assuming that it is fully operational?” Matt quickly asked after looking closely at the suit.”

  “Of course. We wanted it to be completely ready before we showed it to you. Of course, we had paid close attention to all of the suggestions that you and your people had made since your arrival concerning equipment needs. Space is a uniquely hostile environment to fight in, with most of the Martian surface still being no less difficult due to its thin atmosphere.

  We knew that the lightly armored pressure suits that your Marines were already using had certain shortcomings in terms of firepower and survivability against any threat that you would encounter out here. We obviously continue to hope that the millions of miles between ourselves and the jihadists would be enough to provide for our security. But, you and I both know that ‘hope’ is not a particularly viable option for our long term security needs.” Deborah explained.

  “You’re right, of course. So why don’t you and your people go ahead and tell us about all of the bells and whistles that this new ‘toy’ of yours has now, please.”

  Deborah smiled as she always did when talking about one of her new technological creations or ‘toys’, as Deborah’s friend Arthur Wheeler liked to portray them. But men, especially ones who did challenging things or went into harm’s way, liked to describe weapons, cars, aircraft, boats or other mechanical items as ‘toys’. It was a way for them to harken back to their childhood and much more carefree life. It also brought a little levity into a very deadly profession.

  “The suit is armored with a combination of advanced composite metal form with hardened alloy reinforced plating in certain critical locations. The armor is very lightweight, but extremely effective against ballistic threats at the same time. Beneath that armor is a second protective layer that uses a sheer thickening fluid to stop and spread out the impact of any projectiles that penetrate the outer armor skin. Underneath all of the armor is a series of electrically operated artificial muscles. They are basically an analogue to the human musculature where an electrical charge causes the muscle to contract when applied and relaxes when the charge is removed. Finally, under the artificial muscles is a thin pressure suit liner with a limited ability to self-seal after any penetration.

  The artificial muscles work in coordination with the wearer’s own movements in addition to magnifying the wearer’s strength. This extends to not only the arms and legs but also to the digits within the armored gauntlets. There is, however, a certain loss of dexterity with the use of the gauntlets, I’m sorry to say. It is still just a little hard to hold an egg without the risk of crushing it. You can still write your name using a pen while wearing the gauntlets though.

  The suit’s helmet is likewise armored with high density plastic similar to that used for the most recent combat helmets that gives it exception protection against ballistic projectiles. There is a self-sealing liner inside of the helmet to protect against small pressure leaks due to damage. The front faceplate of the helmet is made of 3cm thick Lexan which will stop anything short of a fifty-caliber rifle at close range. The interior surface of the faceplate also serves as the screen for the suit’s heads up display screen. Small cameras in the sides and rear of the helmet allow the suit’s wearer to literally have eyes in the back of their head with three hundred and sixty degrees range of view.”

  “How is the suit powered? Obviously, it is meant to be operated in space or at least in a near vacuum. So it will be a little hard to get a quick recharge.” Sheila asked.

  “This is very true, Captain. The suit has a modular power system based on intended activity levels and overall long-term endurance. The backpack contains two modular power pack sections. One or both of the modules will contain an advanced hyperbattery. The hyperbattery combines several different technologies to have both high power density as well as rapid discharge and recharge capabilities. It is a hybrid design that even incorporates carbon nanotube ultracapacitors along with lithium-derived energy storage elements. The combination of features makes it excellent for short, intense operations. For longer endurance, one of the modules would be replaced by a compact radiothermal generator unit.”

  “You mean that we are going to be carrying a nuclear reactor on our backs?” Sheila quickly asked.

  “Not exactly, Captain. The RTG will provide a lower peak power than a hyperbattery. However, the RTG would continuously charge the remaining hyperbattery for a much longer period of time. It’s like the difference between sprinting and distance running. You can ‘sprint’ at higher energy outputs for a limited period of time. Then the suit gets ‘winded’ until the RTG can recharge the hyperbattery sufficiently to resume the higher level. At that point, you have to slow down significantly. But, you can at least operate your basic systems. On the other hand, you can operate at a more moderate level for essentially an indefinite period of time as the RTG continually tops off the hyperbattery’s charge.

  Now, if you use two hyperbatteries at a time, you can go at a very high intensity. But when you run out the charge in both the batteries, the suit will stop operating completely until the batteries are recharged or replacement batteries are installed. Now, when you are operating in conjunction with vehicles, you can top off the charge inside of your hyperbatteries quickly using a power induction feed. The same is true when you are operating inside of one of our ships. There will be suit charging stations available in many of the passageways.

  When operating away from a ship or other charging facilities, the suit can be fitted with a large flexible solar film array that can be unrolled from a canister to present the array. Then it will charge the hyperbatteries from whatever sunlight is available. Obviously, you, or at least the suit, have to remain in a stationary position with direct exposure to the sun for several hours for the solar array to collect enough energy to recharge the batteries.”

  “Sounds very interesting, but what about the suit’s offensive capabilities?” Matt then asked.

  “You, Marines. I thought that you would never ask.” Deborah said with a smile. “I will let Alex here explain that part to you. The weapons were his baby.”

  The suit uses a modular weapons system for its organic weapons. Each arm vambrace is actually a modular interface for a specific weapons pod. The pod contains a weapon and ammunition pack along with an interface to the suit’s integral aiming and fire control system. Right now, we have two specific weapons pods alread
y designed.

  The first is actually based on the existing 6.5mm rifle round. An automatic rifle with a 40cm-long barrel firing that cartridge is incorporated into the pod along with a belt feed system holding about two hundred rounds of ammunition. We are working on a semi-caseless version of the round presently that would allow us to increase the amount of ammunition that you can carry.

  The second pod is more oriented around an anti-armor and anti-materiel capability. It is fitted with a high-velocity 15mm automatic weapon that fires a discarding sabot round armor piercing round. The weapon can fire single shot and three round burst. The weapon has a dual feed capability so that there is an option available to also fire a high explosive round if necessary. But the ammunition supplies for this heavy weapon are far more limited with only a total of forty-five rounds being available to fire before reloading is necessary.”

  “Can you carry weapons in both arms?” Matt asked.

  “Yes, of course. We envision that a Marine wearing the suit would normally carry one of each weapon. Incidentally, the 15mm weapon, combined with the suit’s integral fire control gives the wearer a very effective weapon for use against aerial targets as well as ground targets. We also have the ability to carry non-lethal weapons in the vambraces like a taser or a variation on a shotgun using beanbag rounds if the situation requires it. ”

  “What if we run into something heavier like a tank?” Sheila asked.

  “We are developing a single-shot missile launcher that can be attached to the side of the suit’s back pack. The two missiles would be interfaced with the suit’s fire control also and would each be fired vertically before tipping over towards its target. The missile’s tandem shaped-charge warhead will be able to defeat the armor of a main battle tank. Of course, we don’t expect to see any enemy tanks on Mars for at least a few more years.” Deborah said with a smile before continuing.

  “Any hand-held individual or light crew-served weapon can also be held and operated by someone wearing the suit, though the relatively limited dexterity of the suit’s gauntlets may limit the weapon’s effectiveness. With the proper interfaces on a given weapon, we should be able to project a sight picture onto your helmet’s heads up display for just about any weapon that you can carry though.”

  “Damn, it sounds like Starship Troopers to me. All we need now is the nuclear RPG launcher to go with it.” Sheila excitedly remarked.

  “We really hope not to have to go into that direction just yet, Captain.” Alex replied with a certain amount of dismay in his voice.

  “This is all incredible work. I don’t know what else to say. But I do have a few questions. When can I begin training my Marines to use the suit? Also, how many of these suits are you planning on making for us.”

  “We can have your first candidates come in later this week, if you would like. Our production of the suits is going to remain limited in scope for some time, I’m afraid. We hope to be able to complete one suit every couple of months for now. As more resources become available, we may be able to increase that production rate though.” Deborah noted.

  “Well, at least I should be able to stand up an armored infantry squad before the end of the year. We might need that if we have to send one of your shuttles on a mission behind enemy lines. Can this suit operate on the surface of a spacecraft or free-floating in space?” Matt asked.

  “The suit can be fitted with cold jet thrusters and magnetic attachment points on the boots and wrists for operations in space and inside of ships. Life support in vacuum can last for more than twenty-four hours depending on exertion levels. The backpack has storage for liquid oxygen and nitrogen in addition to having a CO2 scrubber and rebreather. Onboard a ship, the suit’s life support gases can be recharged to a certain extent via recharging stations at selected points in each of our ships.

  The development of an extended range maneuvering and life support pack is currently underway. It will piggyback onto the suit’s existing backpack to give it far more range in Zero-G free flight and has an additional hyperbattery as well as supplemental life support gases.

  The elimination of bodily waste is pretty much the same as it has been for the past eighty years of space flight. We really haven’t been able to make much of an improvement due to the limited space within the suit, unfortunately.” Alex explained.

  “Diapers and catheters, Ugh!”

  “You do have access within your helmet to drinking fluids and a limited amount of nutrient pastes. The suit also has a limited pharmacopoeia capability with pain medications, stimulants, sleeping aids and other medications for use when injured. You can use voice commands to have those administered automatically via injection.” One of the other polymaths who was apparently a doctor explained.

  “One final question. What if someone wearing this suit takes a very serious wound to a limb, especially in vacuum? It’s going to be really hard to treat a wound on an extremity, even with this suit has some self-sealing capability.”

  “You are absolutely correct. This is why we have self-inflating collars within the suit arms and legs that act both as tourniquets and as pressure blocks. These collars are located midway between the upper and lower joints. Once inflated, they cut off circulation to the injured limb to reduce blood loss and also to eliminate pressure loss within the suit.

  It will help save the life of the suit’s wearer. The bad news is that especially in a vacuum situation, the wearer will almost certainly lose part or all of the injured limb once one of these pressure collars is activated.”

  “We understand. That is still a hell of a lot better than bleeding out or dying from slow decompression. Thank you for all of the work that you have put into this suit. I’m sure that my Marines will be lining up to try it out as soon as it is available.” A sober Matt replied.

  “We will let you know when your people can begin checking out the first couple of suits. We want to get your feedback as well so that we can make any improvements that your Marines suggest after you begin initial testing.”

  “Thank you, all. I am beginning to feel more and more like a real Space Marine every day. This is going to be fun.” Matt said with a smile that extended from ear to ear.

  “I certainly hope so, since these are going to be working suits too.” Alex replied.

  “What do you mean?” Matt asked.

  “You see, these powered armor suits also work very well as engineering equipment. The enhanced strength provided by the artificial muscles will make them a tremendous asset in the many construction projects here at the colony. Well, can’t afford the resources to build these suits and merely have them stored for future use. Naturally, we will leave off the weapons pods when the suits are being used for non-combat purposes.

  Once your people learn how to use the suits, we will need for you to pilot them while helping expand our facilities. Mind you, we are not going to have you all do this every day, nor would we allow the work to interfere with your training. But by using the technology on a more regular basis, we can determine any design flaws that need to be corrected or any other improvements to the design.

  As the suits reach a certain degree of wear and tear, they will be replaced with improved versions, of course. Just think of the construction work as being a form of training in the use of the suits. This will end up leaving you with far more proficient troops in the long run, Colonel.”

  At first, Matt was not happy about the stipulation on his troops’ use of the suits. But as it was further explained, he began to appreciate what the colonists wanted and how it would benefit the readiness of his personnel.

  “You know, some of my people are not going to like using these new suits to carry bricks and steel beams around.”

  “I think that they will get used to it. Plus, I have a sneaky suspicion that they will find a way to have fun along the way, as long as they don’t start destroying things while they are at it.” Deborah commented.

  “Still, this is an incredible piece of hardware. I cannot wait to s
ee it in action, even if it means that some of my people will grumble a bit.”

  “I just wish that we could send some of these down to the soldiers of the Eastern Alliance to help them in their fight.” Deborah grimly noted. She had been keeping up with the situation on the ground in the Alliance. This also meant that Deborah was aware of just how close the front lines were to her old home in Ohio now.

  “I wish that we could too. It just isn’t possible or practical. They would literally need hundreds, if not thousands of these powered armor suits to face the hundreds of thousands of fanatical Islamists that are converging on what is left of our home country now.” Matt replied, feeling much the same way as Deborah about the events that were occurring back on Earth.

  Chapter Thirty Four:

  Barnes Manufacturing Center

  Ashley, Ohio

  July 12, 2048

  The morning dawn came with news that was not entirely welcome to the men and women preparing to defend their homes from the Islamist invaders of the Pacific Caliphate.

  “We just heard reports of thousands of fresh jihadi troops having arrived in Dayton, Toledo and Cincinnatti.” Chad Andrews yelled out as he ran from his house to where Jeff was standing. Chad was one of several people in town who had their own short wave radio transmitter.

  “How the hell are they getting here so quickly? There has to be a couple of thousand miles from the West Coast to here.” Jeff asked.

  “I think that I know how, Jeff. Remember how we were so worried about the Islamists reactivating the old warbirds from the Boneyard at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base?”

  “Yes. We are already seeing some of the old F-16’s and attack aircraft showing up from there on some of the recent air attacks.”

  “Well, that isn’t the only boneyard out there. There is also at least one place out in the California desert where the airlines would send their retired airliners for long term storage and cannibalization. I heard a couple of days ago that a bunch of big airliners like Boeing 747’s and the like were seen flying in and out of the airports at those cities. They had their original airline symbols painted over, but the rest of the airliners’ paint schemes were clearly from aircraft that had flown for airlines like United, American Airlines, even some foreign airlines like Quantas.