Casserine

by Bernard Lee DeLeo

  “Thanks Charlie, I needed that.” Jake stripped off his outer armor, and everything but his boots and under-shorts. “I’m glad I brought extra water. I’ll really need it after I give this Bitch a particle beam enema.”

  “Man, that’s disgusting, Jake,” Mercer said distastefully. “This show’s on a live feed. You’ll have people barfing from here to Earth.”

  “They’ll have to see what they can from your helmet cam, because it ain’t going to do me any good to take mine with me. You will come in along the side there, and keep the little ones from feeding on my ass while I’m under this gunk, won’t you?”

  Mercer nodded reluctantly. “Okay, but you better make sure you come up, because I am not going in after you.”

  Just then, a change in sound occurred, which brought Jake to a dead stop. He grabbed his helmet from where he had laid it.

  “Tim, we got trouble.”

  “I was just getting ready to call you, Boss,” Dougherty said, his voice vibrating with the firing of his guns. “The Bugs are steaming in. We’re under a full scale attack.”

  “This Bitch changed the frequency somehow,” Jake marveled. “I’m going after her this second, so keep blasting. Yuri, you copy?”

  “Yes Sir,” Tokoru said. “The isolation beam is still on. We are not under attack, so I will assume they are all heading right for you. I am dispatching two more drop ships to keep the surface clear.”

  “Thanks,” Jake replied. “I’ll be right back.”

  Jake took off his helmet, and threw it to Mercer. “No time to talk, Charlie. They’ll be crashing through here any second.”

  Jake picked up his rifle, and with covering fire from Mendoza’s squad, he went into the egg cavern. He blasted everything in sight, with the other Marines joining in. Concentrating fire on the section under the fluid level, where he figured the egg sack to be, Jake hosed it with particle beam fire until the Queen began tearing free of the shield wall.

  Taking a couple of deep breaths, Jake dove straight down into the foul, yellow froth. He fired at everything in front of him, feeling blindly for the edge of the shield where her egg sack extended into the chamber. The familiar burning sensation on his skin caused him some discomfort as he groped wildly for the hole. Jake felt the viscous material of the sack, as he had halted his particle beam fire so as not to touch the shield as it siphoned off his energy blasts.

  Jamming the rifle into the sack, he pulled the trigger. Resistance to his forward progress lessened as the sack blew back into the Queen’s chamber. Jake stopped firing again, feeling for the edge of the hole. The Queen had torn loose finally, and slashed into the hole with her mandibles. One smashed Jake against the rounded edge as he twisted and brought the rifle around. His next pull on the trigger blew right up through the Queen’s body and out the top of her head. Not knowing if he had fired a lethal blast or not, Jake fired until his lungs were bursting. Using the shield surface, he kicked against it, propelling himself up into the air.

  Flailing towards the cavern walls, Jake gasped for air, trying to keep his mouth as far closed as he could. Water splashed strongly into his face, making it possible for him to blink open his eyes. Mercer, Mendoza, and two of the other Marines from the squad were dosing him as Jake pulled himself up on to the narrow ledge.

  “Oh man, Jake,” Mercer cringed comically as Jake climbed to his feet, blinking his eyes. “You look nastier than the last time.”

  Jake waved them to start towards the exit out of the egg cavern. He turned and spat up the residual fluid inside his mouth, gagging at the putrid taste and smell. Holding his still coated pulse rifle away from him as he walked carefully after the Marines, Jake tore his chest bandage off and threw it away.

  The squad waited for him to exit the chamber, and then restarted the rinsing process. Jake stripped off his shorts, boots and socks. Mercer sprayed him down with a chemical soap and disinfectant spray as Jake washed himself down. After the final rinsing, Mercer applied a new bandage to the long ragged cut the Queen had inflicted with her mandible, along Jake’s right shoulder, and then redressed his chest wound. Jake took out new under-shorts, socks, and boots from his pack. Mercer laughed.

  “Hey, did you know you were going bilge diving today?”

  “I came prepared, my friend,” Jake sighed contentedly. “You didn’t have to walk up from the other nest with that putrid pus squishing around in your boots.”

  “Well, at least this time you didn’t eat the Bitch before you wasted her,” Mercer quipped, bringing laughter from all the Marines within hearing.

  “Laugh it up, boys,” Jake chuckled. “Hear anything from Yuri yet, Charlie?”

  “Yea, he said to tell you ‘Yuck’”

  Jake laughed. “I meant did he hear anything about aliens coming through to crash our party?”

  “Nothing like that, but he’s been pretty quiet since you came back out. Want me to call in?” Mercer asked.

  “No,” Jake said, putting the rest of his armor on. “I want to wait until the Queen’s inner fluid starts eating away her shield. I’ll fill up some water containers with the stuff as it seeps through, and we won’t have to wait for the lab boys. We can go to Bougainville and use the Omaha Queen to dissolve the Bougainville Queen’s shield.”

  “If she can vary the frequency of her control signal, we will need some kind of magic to take both Queens on Bougainville,” Mercer noted.

  “First,” Jake replied, as he sprayed off his particle beam rifle, “we’ll let the lab boys play with the info, and come up with a foolproof way to isolate the Queens. After all this, I’d vaporize Bougainville, rather than fight my way down into the damn nest. It would practically be suicide with two Queens.”

  “How in hell do you think this one learned to vary the signal?” Mercer asked.”

  “Damned if I know,” Jake admitted, walking over to look at the Queen’s shield. The material had the beginnings of some tiny spider web like lines all along the base where the Queens bodily fluids were mixing in next to the shielding. “I’m just thankful they didn’t figure it out until we’d killed one of them, and were on our way down for the next. Think about what it would mean if we reached Bougainville, and they were varying their signal frequency already.”

  “Forget it, Jake,” Mercer stated with assurance. “The Major knocked off the one thing linking them up somehow, and we don’t have any new visitors in spacecraft.”

  “I hope you’re right, Charlie, because these Bugs are beginning to spook me a little. I figured when we exterminated them, we could just deploy an early warning system for the quadrant and never have to deal with them again. When this Bitch suddenly changed signals, I started getting a little uneasy. Hey, here it comes.”

  The Queen’s fluid began to squirt out, and Jake held a water container under it to catch the filtered solvent. Strangely enough, it had no effect on the alloy making up the container. Charlie passed him empties as soon as Jake filled them. When he had a dozen containers filled and capped,

  Jake washed the outside of them off. Not wanting to expose the other Marines, he fastened the containers on to the outside of his own pack. When they were all fastened, Jake put his helmet back on to check in.

  “Yuri, you on line?”

  A few moments passed before Tokoru responded. “Congratulations General, we have hunter teams all over the area with trackers, exterminating the stragglers. Genoa gave the go ahead for re-colonization. The Omaha Colonists will be arriving about the time you all get back to the surface. Something’s up though, Jake. We’ve been ordered back to the Gallant, ASAP. We are to leave First and Second Regiments here for mop up and protection.”

  “No clue what this is all about?”

  “I’m getting only short orders, Sir, and no elaboration,” Tokoru replied. “It can’t be bad though. They must be happy with the way things went, even with your gross adlib at the end. I hope you cleaned up, General, because we’re still working on getting the stink out of here from your last adventure
.”

  Mercer broke into loud laughter as he had monitored the command channel at Jake’s request. “We cleaned him up, Colonel, as you can see from my cam. You’ll have to take my word on it about the smell.”

  “Outstanding, Charlie,” Tokoru replied. “You have the thanks of a grateful Command Center.”

  “Oh, you two are hilarious,” Jake acknowledged. “Maybe they need a new lounge act for the Officer’s bar back on Genoa. Anyway, as much fun as this abuse is, we’re on our way up.”

  “I’ll get things coordinated for our return to the Gallant, and the arrival of the colonists,” Tokoru added.

  “Good, we’ll be too beat to be messing around with that crap. See you topside. We’ll be listening, so if you get news of any other calamity, you know where to find us.”

  “Yes Sir, Tokoru out.”

  “I’ll bring up the rear again, Charlie,” Jake said, as they joined the men at the cavern entrance. They had already cleared away the bodies, which had been piled around it. “Thank God for clean socks.”

  Mercer held his hands together in prayer. “Thank God for disinfecting and deodorizing spray.”

  “Enough, Chuckles,” Jake replied. “Lead us out of here. Same as before though, kill everything you encounter. It will be just that many more they won’t have to hunt after we leave.”

  Chapter 20

  Rebellion

  “They did what?” Jake asked, gripping the communications array platform in front of him.

  “Calm down, Jake,” Risling ordered. “I told you Earth Command was under a lot of pressure. They were very impressed with your work on Omaha, and figured to liberate Bougainville while you mopped up Omaha. Some tactical errors have made it necessary for you to head there at flank speed with your men.”

  “Why didn’t you inform me they were sending another Carrier there? I could have coordinated information with them at least. Anyway, you have two regiments trapped on Bougainville. Didn’t they use the isolation signal?”

  “They set down on the surface without adequate landing zones,” Risling explained with a sigh of exasperation. “They believed the enhanced signal from the Intrepid would allow them to set down near the nests, and they would be done in one lightning fast attack. They suffered hundreds of casualties before they figured out the signal had been weakened too much by the atmosphere.”

  “The mission is in disarray. They have a regiment trapped inside the habitat. The five Drop Ships they took with them have flown what casualties they could collect back to the Intrepid. They are now flying close air support of the habitat. The Bugs destroy the epoxy landing zones before they can set up, and stay underground, swarming the outside of the habitat at regular intervals from below. They come up within a twenty yard perimeter around the habitat, without exposing their swarm.”

  “Whose commanding, and can I reach them?”

  “The Bougainville mission’s Alpha Drop Ship took heavy casualties outside the first nest,” Risling answered. “If not for the video received by the Drop Ship outside the second nest, they would have been annihilated, because the Bugs were waiting. As it was, Alpha Drop Ship’s turret gunner staved off the attack long enough for them to retrieve the Marines still alive, and seal the hatch. General Zamudi and his staff were killed the moment they exited Alpha.”

  “What about…never mind,” Jake replied grimly. “I’m leaving First and Second Regiments here for close op protection. I’ll bring my Alpha Drop Ship, and two others with me. After the Tennyson finishes off-loading the colonists on Omaha, I will hitch a ride with Major Stedman to Bougainville. I want the Gallant where she is. I’m taking two of the Command Wing Fighters with me, just so we don’t get any more surprises.”

  “How long before you can pull out on the Tennyson?”

  “About the same time I can fly our gear and men up there,” Jake replied, nodding at Mercer, who jumped to his feet and rushed over to Colonel Tokoru. “I’ll check this out, Sir, and call you with a live feed. I take it you didn’t know about this operation, or you’d be getting on site info right now.”

  “You surmise correctly, Jake,” Risling said angrily, “and when I get my hands on the son of a bitch in Earth Command who did this, they won’t be around to make any more blunders.”

  “I’ll count on that Sir, Matthews out.”

  Jake stood up slowly, trying to gather his thoughts as Third, Fourth, and Fifth Regiments rushed aboard the three Drop Ships outside, under Tokoru’s and Mercer’s guidance. He walked over to where Colonel Conger gave orders to his staff. He saluted as Jake walked up. Jake returned the salute.

  “I’m leaving Omaha in your capable hands, Colonel. Continue hunting done the remaining Bugs, but only after you get the colonists settled in safely. Don’t let any mining operations commence before you have cleared all the holes. I want a squad of Marines with each of the mining crews when they are setting up operations again.”

  “Aye, aye, Sir,” Conger replied. “Will you be coming back?”

  “It depends on Bougainville, but I’ll be sending a live feed to you here. Any new information I get, you will have the moment I can send it.” Jake stuck out his hand, and Conger shook it.

  “Take care, Sir,” Conger said. “It’s been an honor serving under you. Kill some Bugs for me.”

  Jake nodded. “I have to. Charlie gave Major Peters his word we would exterminate the Bug population on Bougainville, and we aim to do just that.”

  The trip up to the Tennyson was quiet, as Jake had briefed all of the men on the Bougainville situation. Much to their surprise, when they exited the Drop Ships, after landing on the Tennyson, they were met by a cheering throng of ship’s crew. Major Stedman, with her Executive Officer and an Honor Guard, stood at attention outside the docking bay. Jake, Tokoru, Mercer, and Corey, who walked together off of Alpha, returned the welcoming salutes. Stedman hugged her former pilot.

  “Welcome aboard, Sir,” Stedman said, shaking hands with Jake.

  “Thanks for all this, Jan,” Jake said waving at the crew, who were intermingling with the disembarking Marines. “We needed it.”

  “We are honored to be the ones transporting Matthews’ Maniacs to Bougainville for yet another miracle,” Stedman grinned. “Notice the reference from Starship Troopers, Jake?”

  Mercer and Corey were already laughing at the naming of the Marine mission troopers, as they had done in the movie. Jake nodded happily. “I got it, Major. You could have used marauders instead of maniacs, you know.”

  “Not hardly,” Stedman needled him. “You forget, Sir. We saw your antics on Omaha in living color.”

  “Are we ready to leave for Bougainville, Jan? We’ve got some very unhappy Marines there, waiting for the miracle to arrive.”

  Stedman nodded, just as they felt the ship move. “The bridge was to get underway at maximum speed for Bougainville the second your ships were securely aboard. Your mission on Omaha will go down as the textbook example of how to conduct a military operation under horrendous circumstances.”

  “Thank you. I wish for the sake of those Marines on Bougainville, Earth Command had shared your opinion. We were so close, Jan,” Jake said, regret in his voice. “I am afraid the circumstances will be a lot worse on Bougainville. Have you laid in a supply of epoxy?”

  “Yes Sir,” Stedman acknowledged. “We transferred more from the Gallant, while you were in route. Colonel Conger reported the colonists have disembarked on Omaha, and are moving into their quarters in the habitat.”

  “Excellent, Major, we’ll get some rest then, and some chow,” Jakesaid.

  “I have all of the information on the signal variations the second Queen pulled on Omaha, and everything the Gallant could come up with for the shield solvent. I heard you gathered the Queen’s own fluids in the second nest.”

  “Yea, I did,” Jake replied, holding up the encased containers in the bag he took off of his shoulder. “Did Nick get back aboard?”

  “Yes, he’s already in the lab, looking ove
r the video recording of your completed nest mission. He put together a projectile spray gun, which will apply the Queen’s fluid in a concentrated burst, powerful enough to act like a cutting torch on the shield.”

  “He’s amazing,” Jake said, shaking his head in wonderment. “I just gave him a vague idea of it while we were preparing to leave Omaha.”

  “Do I get my Weapons Officer back after this is all over?” Stedmanasked.

  “I doubt it, Jan. I’ve already put in a demand he be made a Major immediately. He will be Major Richardson by the time we conclude things on Bougainville. I will see to it he gets any duty he wishes though.”

  “I hope I can convince him to come back to the Tennyson. I can’t complain though,” Stedman replied. “You put me in for Colonel, which surprised me. We didn’t even work together for very long.”

  “You were there when we needed you,” Jake said simply. “In times like these, simple adherence to duty means more than you know. Your intuitive decisions make you a fine Commander, and I like your attitude about discipline, even on a transport. These aren’t pleasure cruises you make; hauling vital materials all over the galaxy, and yet staying ready to accommodate a load of colonists at a moments notice.”

  “I appreciate that, Sir. It would be good for you to visit sickbay before getting something to eat. They want to do some probing of those wounds you took in the nest, just to make sure you’re healing well.”

  “Did General Risling make that a first order of business, Jan?” Jakeasked.

  “It was more of a request, Jake,” Stedman said. “Why not go get it done, and your staff and I will take the Queen’s fluids to Nick.”

  ‘Tea, go on, Jake,” Mercer agreed. “Yuri and I will take care of it. Sara, you get your butt to a bed, and get some rest. I ain’t flyin’ down to another nest with some boot camp pilot.”