Sheridan dropped to one knee and looked over at a line of small buildings about three hundred meters away. He could not see anyone moving around and decided that’s where they would head to first. There was no point sneaking around. If they bumped into any Chosen warriors, it was better to look like they belonged there. Sheridan stood up and slung his rifle over his shoulder. He looked at Berg and whispered, “If we run into anyone, let me do the talking.”
Berg nodded. The look in her eyes said that she was scared.
“Just remember your training and you’ll do okay,” said Sheridan, trying to reassure the young Marine.
“Yes, sir. I’m ready to do my duty.”
“Of that, I have no doubt.”
Sheridan led the way. Together they walked to the huts. There were no lights on in the buildings. When they reached the first one, Sheridan looked through a window and saw that they appeared to be offices. There was nothing he could learn there. He turned his head and smiled when he saw a couple of six-wheeled ATVs sitting beside a row of fuel drums.
“Why walk when you can ride,” said Sheridan to Berg. He was about to step out of the shadows when he heard a familiar sound. He froze in place and slowly looked up into the night sky. Hovering in the air just above the huts was a Kurgan drone. A bright light shot out from underneath the UAV, illuminating the ground beneath it. Slowly, it moved from building to building.
“Don’t move!” said Sheridan as the drone flew over the top of their hiding place. Hidden by the long shadow cast by the hut, they were all but invisible. A couple of seconds later, the UAV switched off its light and maneuvered over to the next group of buildings a few hundred meters away.
“It was only a sentry drone,” explained Sheridan. “A sort of glorified night watchman. If it had been a top-of-the-line military one, it would have had a thermal camera and spotted us for sure.”
“Thank God for small things,” replied Berg.
“There’s no point waiting here for it to come back.” With that, Sheridan walked out from behind the building and strode straight for the ATVs. He jumped into the driver’s seat, reached over and pressed the start button.
Berg got into the passenger side seat. “Now, what, sir?”
Sheridan turned and locked his eyes on Berg. “From here on out speak only Kurgan. Also as per the name on my uniform I’m Corporal Kalan and you are Private Kinas.”
“Yes, Corporal,” responded Berg in fluent Kurgan.
In Kurgan Sheridan continued. “Now, sit back with your rifle across your lap and try to look disinterested.”
He put the ATV in gear, placed his foot on the accelerator, and drove forward. Even though it was almost twenty-two hundred hours, the mine was brightly lit up. Sheridan took a service road that paralleled the pit. He could see ten large trucks waiting in line to be filled up by a massive excavator. On the surface, there were two large buildings that Sheridan took to be where the perlinium would be separated from the rocks brought to the surface. It clearly was a twenty-four hour a day operation.
After driving around the mining operation, Sheridan steered toward the miners’ quarters. He wanted to get a better feel for the civilians press-ganged into helping the Kurgan war effort. As they drove past a couple of soldiers standing by a small fire, Sheridan nonchalantly waved. The Chosen waved back but did not pay much attention to the vehicle or its occupants.
“One big happy Kurgan family,” said Sheridan to Berg.
The road bent to the right. When they came to one of the shelters, Sheridan pulled over and parked the vehicle. The whole area, aside for the light leaking out from under the doors of the shelters, was dark. Sheridan climbed out of the ATV and picked up his rifle. He made sure the safety was off and motioned for Berg to join him. “Wait here by the vehicle. I’m going to pop my head inside. If a Kurgan patrol comes by, just call out for me.”
Berg nervously nodded her understanding.
“Take your safety off,” said Sheridan. “You don’t want to go to fire and realize that you’d forgotten to remove the safety.”
Berg bit her lip in frustration and flipped the selector to automatic.
“Relax. I won’t be gone long.” Sheridan reached for the back door of the shelter and pulled it open. The bright light from inside momentarily blinded him. He brought up a hand to block out the light. Out of the corner of his eye, he detected movement and brought his hand down just as someone grabbed him from the side and yanked him inside the building. Sheridan instinctively brought his weapon up to block an attack. He turned and saw a couple of men standing there with metal pipes in their hands. The closest man, a large black man with huge muscular arms, swung his pipe down at Sheridan’s head. He brought up his rifle to block the move.
The pipe hit the rifle with such force that it buckled in the middle. Sheridan grunted as he felt the power behind the blow shudder down his arms. He took a step backward, threw his broken weapon at the large black man, forcing him to duck. Sheridan hurriedly reached for his holster.
With a cry on his lips, the other man, a tall slender white man with thinning hair, charged at Sheridan and hit him before he could pull his pistol from its holster. He wrapped his arms around Sheridan’s waist and tried to tackle him to the ground. It was obvious the man had no idea what he was doing. Sheridan turned slightly and brought his knee up into the man’s downturned face. With a wet sounding snap, Sheridan broke his assailant’s nose. The man let go and dropped to his knees, holding his bloody nose.
The other man had recovered and brought his pipe up over his head. He took a step toward Sheridan.
“Don’t!” warned Sheridan in English as he drew his pistol and aimed it at his attacker’s head.
The man hesitated.
“Step back or I will kill you,” said Sheridan. His tone left no doubt that he meant what he said.
The black man lowered his weapon and helped his injured friend up off the floor. He turned to face Sheridan. “I ain’t never heard one of you speak English before. You an officer?” The man’s accent was from the Southern United States.
“Only true Kurgans can become officers,” replied Sheridan, lowering his pistol slightly.
The man’s eyes lit up. “Damn, you’re one of us!”
Sheridan brought a finger to his lips. He moved to the door, opened it and was surprised to see on the ground at Berg’s feet was a man. He looked like he was out cold.
“He jumped me,” said Berg.
Sheridan helped Berg drag the unconscious man inside the shelter. He was amazed that he had not heard the scuffle outside. He asked her, “Where did you learn to fight?”
“I grew up with four older brothers. Trust me. I know how to fight dirty,” she replied.
Sheridan did not doubt it. He turned to face the black man. “Care to explain why you tried to jump us?”
“Tell me who you are first,” replied the man. “This place is crawling with spies and collaborators.”
“How will you know if I’m telling you the truth?”
“I will. I’ll see it your eyes.”
“Fine. I’m not going to give you our names or where we’re from. All I will tell you is that this planet and its mining operation is no longer a secret.”
The man studied Sheridan’s face for a couple of seconds before breaking out into a wide smile. “Kevin Thomas, pleased to meet you,” he said, thrusting out his hand in greeting.
Sheridan shook the man’s hand. “Mister Thomas, we don’t have all the time in the world. Why did you and your compatriots attack us?”
“Well, you see, it’s like this, we wanted to steal a Kurgan ship.”
“Why?”
“We need one to get to the planet where our families are being held so we can pick them up and return to our side of the border.”
“Are there many of you who feel the same way?”
He shook his head. “No, sir. Most have fallen hook, line, and sinker for the BS the Kurgans have been forcing down our throats for the past s
ix months.”
Sheridan looked around the nearly deserted room. “How many men do you have that want to leave?”
“There were five of us. Unfortunately, Harris and Nazari were moved to another work detail, so I guess what you see is all there is.”
Sheridan shook his head. “Three untrained men against a regiment of Chosen warriors. You wouldn’t have made it anywhere near a ship. Besides, are any of you a skilled pilot?”
Thomas looked away.
“Brilliant. You would have all died for nothing.”
“We would have at least died on our feet,” replied Thomas, holding his head up high.
“Brave words, that’s all those are. Trust me, it’s better that you ran into me and not a bunch of trigger happy Chosen soldiers. I’ve seen what they can do and it isn’t pretty.”
The man with the broken nose stood up. “I don’t care what you say. I still want to try and rescue my family.”
“And you will, just not now,” replied Sheridan. “I want you all to get cleaned up and forget that you ever saw us. From now until the foreseeable future, I want one of you by this door at night just in case I decide to return. I don’t want any more heroics out of any of you.”
Thomas nodded.
“Okay, we’re going to be going now. Tell no one what happened here tonight or you jeopardize not only your lives but those of your families on the Kurgan side of the border.”
Sheridan opened the door and looked around. It was quiet. He walked over and jumped back into the ATV and started it.
Berg joined him. She slipped back into the role of a Chosen soldier. “Did you mean what you said back there, about their families being in danger?”
Sheridan smiled. “No. I have no idea how the Kurgans would react, but it should keep them from doing anything stupid until things change around here. Come on, we’ve pushed our luck for one night, let’s head back to the others and pass on what we’ve learned.”
The ATV rolled off into the dark. In the unlit spaces between the shelters, a figure moved warily forward until it could see the vehicle as it slowly vanished from sight behind a massive earth-mover. The person waited a couple more seconds before slipping back into the shadows. A rich reward and a chance to be reunited with his family awaited him. He began to run as fast as he could. He had to find a Chosen patrol before the infiltrators got away.
Chapter 45
“Officer on deck,” announced Tolinski as Colonel Wright walked onto the crowded flight hangar. Everyone in the room stood up and came to attention.
“At ease everyone. Please take your seats,” said Wright as he moved to a podium placed right in front of his people.
Tarina and Wendy exchanged a look as they sat down. Rumors had been circulating for the past day that something big was up.
Wright began, “Folks, the Sixth Fleet has already commenced preparations to destroy the remaining Kurgan vessels in their area of operations. Code named Talon, this operation will be fought in the Mors star system. Currently, a Carrier task force is en route to Mors-4 where it will provide cover for a ground invasion of the planet.”
A holographic image of the space around Mors-4 was projected in the air. Wright grabbed a laser pointer and pointed to the planet. “Opposition on the ground and in orbit is expected to be weak. Our forces will gain complete superiority over the enemy within a matter of hours. Mors-4, while valuable for its resources, is not the reason for the offensive. Fleet expects the Kurgans to sortie from their space with their two remaining fighter carriers in order to destroy our weaker task force. However, what they won’t realize until it is too late is that this is all an elaborate trap.”
An image of Mors-5, a rocky lifeless planet three hundred thousand kilometers from Mors-4 came up. Behind it was the remainder of the Sixth Fleet. Wright continued, “When the Kurgans make their move, our forces will be waiting for them.”
An excited murmur ran through the group. Some had guessed right while others had the coming mission all wrong.
Colonel Wright raised his hands to quieten the crowd. “Now to our part. We will continue to hunt for the Kurgan’s jump ship. When the task force arrives in twelve hours’ time over Mors-4, the enemy will undoubtedly want to hit the ships all bunched together while they support the ground forces. I expect the enemy will not wish to miss the opportunity to try and destroy a fighter carrier. I, however, don’t intend to give the SOB the chance, as you will be waiting for him.”
Tarina grinned. If the enemy were going to strike, this would be the best opportunity for them.
Wright stepped from behind his podium and locked his steely gaze on his people. “Folks, a lot of people are going to be counting on us to get that Kurgan ship, and we’re not going to let them down. Six hours from now, every available ship will be deploying to TD-13309. We’re going to be waiting in ambush, and when the bastard appears, we’re going to blast him to hell.”
A loud, lusty cheer erupted from the squadron. The frustrations of the past few weeks were gone in an instant. To a person, they all wanted the same thing: payback for the loss of two good friends. And now they were getting their chance.
Tolinski clapped her hands together to get everyone’s attention. “Listen up. There’s a lot to do between now and the time you deploy. I suggest that you all get to work.”
With excitement running through the squadron, it split up into its flight crews and technical teams. They headed straight for their fighters to begin their pre-launch preparations.
Colonel Wright spotted Tarina in the crowd. Her snow-white hair easily giving her away. He walked over and tapped her on the shoulder.
She spun around and was surprised to see Wright standing there. “Yes, sir?”
“I just want to let you know that we’ll be working together again tonight. When the XO hands out the duty assignments, you’ll see that we’ve been paired off.”
Tarina nodded. “Thanks, sir.” She knew that it was a vote of confidence that he always picked her and Wendy to work with when the going got difficult.
Wright looked at her for a moment as if he wanted to say something, but instead turned and melted in with the rest of the crowd.
Wendy saw the look on Wright’s face and moved to her friend’s side. “What was that all about?”
Tarina shook her head. “I have no idea. I think he wanted to tell me something, but couldn’t.”
Wendy took Tarina by the arm. “Come on, we’ve got work to do.”
With a feeling of unease seeping into her heart, Tarina quickly became worried for Michael Sheridan. She had not heard from him in days. Perhaps that was what Wright wanted to talk about? Tarina took a deep breath and sought to calm herself. She had a job to do and she needed to focus all of her attention on it. There was nothing she could do. If something had happened to Michael, it would have to wait until her mission was over.
Chapter 46
Sheridan brought their ATV to a sliding halt. “Out!” he yelled at Berg.
All over the camp, alarms were sounding. Hundreds of Chosen warriors woken from their sleep hurried from their quarters to their duty stations. One by one, powerful searchlights on the same towers ringing the camp sprang to life.
With Berg running by his side, Sheridan sprinted as fast as he could. He was not sure how, but someone must have spotted them and sounded the alarm. In seconds, they ran past the row of buildings they had earlier hidden behind and kept going out into the dark. When they reached the base of the hill, Sheridan stepped aside and let Berg run past him. For a brief moment, he looked back at the mining camp. Kurgan officers in their armor were walking around yelling at the Chosen soldiers running to and fro, trying to find whoever had infiltrated their complex.
“Sir, please, come on,” said Berg.
Sheridan spun on his heels and bounded up the narrow trail. In less than a minute, both Marines were sliding down into their hiding spot.
“Jesus, sir, what the hell did you do down there?” asked Cole.
&n
bsp; Sheridan fought to catch his breath. “I don’t know.
“Kruger, keep watch,” ordered Cole.
After taking a long drink of water, Sheridan took a quick look around. He was surprised to see camouflage netting strung out in the trees above them. “Where did you get that?”
“While you were gone. I grew a little restless and nipped down into the camp. I found this not being used and borrowed it for us,” explained Cole.
“Good, we may need it. Can it dissipate a thermal signature?”
Cole shrugged. “Beats me.”
“Sir, there’s something happening on the landing strip,” said Kruger.
Sheridan set his canteen away and crawled over beside Kruger.
“Down there, sir,” said Kruger, pointing at the growing crowd of Chosen warriors.
He did not need his binoculars to see what was happening. Sheridan could see five UAVs being hurriedly loaded with missiles. It was only a matter of minutes before the drones were airborne and looking for them. If they tried to make a run for it, they would not get far on the open plain before they were spotted and killed. Although he did not want to, he would have to trust in the netting that Cole had stolen to hide them from observation.
“Keep low and stay under cover,” Sheridan told Kruger before turning and making his way back over to Cole.
“Company’s coming?” asked Cole.
“Looks that way. Their arming five drones as we speak.”
Cole looked up at the net. “Let’s hope that the Kurgs don’t use our procurement system and this wasn’t built by some cheapskate.”
“In case we have to split up, did you hear anything from the fleet?”
“Not a word. What about you? Did you find out anything?”
“We sure did. Berg and I bumped into several men who wanted to steal a ship and fly into Kurgan space to rescue their families.”
Colossus (The Kurgan War Book 2) Page 20
