Casserine

by Bernard Lee DeLeo

  The Alien nodded, and Dougherty guided him towards the exit into the Intrepid’s hanger bay. Jake and Mercer followed them. By the time Dougherty opened the hatch, a smiling Peters and his Executive Officer, Sara Corey, were waiting for them. Jake noticed Peters had his arm around Corey. He looked around to see if any of the crew were nearby to see them. Peters, noticing Jake looking around, reluctantly released Corey, who moved a step away.

  “Sorry, Sir,” Peters said formally.

  “Hey Jas, no big deal,” Jake replied with a wave of his hand. “I’m a poor one to be touting protocol. We may just have to have the Military Governor draw up some new rules for exceptions to a rule.”

  Corey went over and hugged Dougherty, Mercer, and finally Jake. She looked up happily into Jake’s face. “I can’t tell you how glad I am to have you guys back. We’ve been together so long, I can’t abide the thought of not having you three around. I hope we won’t have to do any more of these blind missions, Sir.”

  “Let Tim deposit our guest into his new quarters, and get him whatever he can eat,” Jake replied. “All in all, it looks very promising. Meet us in the Wardroom, Tim. Nick will want your feedback on the shield performance.”

  “Aye, aye, Sir,” Dougherty replied, leading the Alien away.

  “How are our casualties, Sara?” Jake asked.

  “Already on Omaha, Sir,” Corey replied. “Colonel Stavros took them back on the Gallant. We figured we could handle anything coming through the gate with the Intrepid, and the Command Wing Fighters we have on patrol. Byers has the Med Center on Omaha in first class condition. We won’t even need to ship them back to Earth until the more severe cases are stabilized.”

  “The prisoners?”

  “Being interrogated even as we speak,” Corey answered. “I’m having my team of interrogators gathering info on their societal structure, and how or if the military and civilian population works together. I figured you’d be interested on who’s in control on their world.”

  “You figured right,” Jake confirmed.

  “We need to find out exactly where we can find the assholes too,” Mercer added.

  “The prisoner you saw wants to work out a deal with the least loss of life for his planet,” Jake said. “He’ll be able to provide most of what we need. We’ll be able to find out a lot more from him once we go over the data from your interrogation team.”

  “You aren’t mad about Colonel Stavros ordering the boarding of the Alien ship, are you Jake?” Corey asked quietly. “We crippled it so fast, he figured it could be a wealth of information. He gave the Marines free reign. We had Drop Ships ready to blow parts of the ship away, and the boarding force was equipped for decompression.”

  Jake nodded. “I have no problem with his initiative. If I wanted to second-guess you two, I wouldn’t have gone through the Gate. Did any of the ship survive?”

  “Anton’s towing it back to Omaha. Colonel Tokoru readied a special landing zone to set it down at, and assigned crews to strip it for study,” Corey replied, leading the way towards the Wardroom of the Intrepid.

  “Outstanding,” Jake said. “Let’s get something to eat while we talk. Jas here has the tapes of everything that went down. We’ll have to avoid seeing any of the prisoners though, because Mercer, the sadistic bastard, will want to rush over and zap them. He’s out of control, Sara.”

  Mercer came to a dead halt, as the rest of the group continued walking, laughing as the Chief of Staff stammered. Finally, he grinned, and shrugged, jogging a little to catch up. He put his arm around Sara’s shoulders. “I need to tell you about the near death of an Alien civilization, Sara; and the desperate battle, three level headed warriors put up against their monstrous leader, to save the creatures from extinction.”

  “How about it, Colonel Peters,” Corey laughed. “How did the mission go?”

  “It was the most fun I’ve ever had with my clothes on,” Peters deadpanned, setting off his comrades again.

  Two hours later, Jake, Mercer, Dougherty, Corey and Nick Richardson were drinking coffee, as Peters narrated the information they had gleaned from the mission. He used the vid records he had made, including the numerous scans of the planet, as a backdrop for his presentation. When he finished, Dougherty made some suppositions as to what happened with the shielding, and a few suggestions for improving it.

  “I should have realized a concentration of particle beam fire would be too much for the shields to dissipate,” Richardson sighed. “What a boneheaded error.”

  “Nick, if we would have thought to explain the way the Queen’s shielding dissipated the particle beam fire into the surrounding rocks, you would have been informed enough to see it,” Jake said quickly. “Hell, we were on a shakedown cruise. It would have been unusual for something not to have gone wrong. Man, those loads you came up with were devastating, and they had no idea we were there.”

  “We blew the shit out of them, Nick,” Mercer agreed. “You should have seen what happened to them when Colonel Peters fired a spread pattern on the three remaining ships. It was like they disintegrated.”

  “I’m just glad we hit them with all we had when the first Alien ships came through the Gate,” Richardson said. “We could have taken some big hits when the shielding crippled our systems. I.”

  “Never mind Nick, let’s stick with the future,” Jake interrupted. “What do you think of Tim’s idea about capacitive storage?”

  “I believe we can relay the energy in a way to reuse it in our weapons systems, refocusing the enemy fire back to its source,” Richardson answered. “We’ll still have to develop Tim’s idea of a temporary storage. It still amazes me how complex the material is. It literally reflects pulse weaponry, but absorbs the particle beam energy. It may even use the particle beam energy to reinforce its makeup. Now that we know the shielding really does have a full cloaking effect on the Aliens, we’ll go full bore on installing it on the Gallant and Intrepid.”

  “How soon can we go with the Intrepid?” Jake asked. “We’ll need to go back there as soon as possible to rescue those prisoners, and take out their hierarchy if we can.”

  “I’ll have it for you in three days,” Richardson assured him. “We have to find a way to rework the Command Wing Fighters with an upgraded shielding. They don’t have as much room as the Drop Ships and Force Cruisers.”

  Jake nodded. “That should also give us enough time to finish interrogating the prisoners, and find out if Binky knows where his leaders are.”

  “Binky?” Corey repeated.

  “Our Alien buddy, we brought back,” Colonel Peters answered her. “Jake and Mercer came up with pet names for the two they brought back on board. Wait till you see on the tapes how professional they were during the aftermath of the operation? You’ve only seen the stuff I have on the Alien planet. We have some real exciting stuff on boarding Alien vessels, Alien torture, and discussions of Alien extermination.”

  “I’m going to have to rethink my orders to record all phases of an operation,” Jake replied, as Corey laughed.

  “You’re starting to sound like those boobs who destroyed all traces of the first Omaha Bug War, Jake,” Mercer offered, grinning.

  “We could edit them,” Dougherty suggested. “I don’t think anyone needs to see the last part of the trip.”

  “Agreed,” Mercer said quickly, causing Jake to start laughing.

  “You guys are not touching those tapes until Byers and I get to see them while we have a couple of drinks,” Corey ordered.

  “See what you’ve done with all your goofing around, Charlie,” Jake said in exasperation.

  “Quit being such a wimp, you big sissy,” Mercer replied disgustedly. “Just edit the vids, and be done with it.”

  “You don’t know Sara like I do,” Jake sighed. “She’ll tell Adrian, and I’ll never hear the end of it.”

  “You better believe it, General,” Corey confirmed.

  “My God, Tim,” Mercer said in feigned shock. “I believe the Gen
eral had his balls shot off while we were boarding the Alien craft, and we didn’t even know it.”

  Two days later, as Jake and Mercer scanned the data accumulated from the Alien prisoners, Dougherty came in with the Alien they called Binky. Dougherty removed the energy cuffs, and Jake indicated he take a seat across from the two men. Dougherty sat down next to the Alien.

  “We have a pretty fair picture of life on your planet,” Jake said. “I don’t pretend to understand it, but it seems as if you have almost a hive mentality to your societal structure.”

  “We are not like the Tattalias horde, if you are considering that aspect,” The Alien replied, “We do not breed by Queens in a hive structure. Family units are permitted within a clan.”

  “I meant you have a central control, and no separate factions. The clan part of what you say makes sense after what we’ve seen from our scouting of your planet. Your structures seem to be joined in separate large dwellings, so I imagine this clan structure you describe refers to these larger units?”

  “Yes, but we do not have these separate countries, we know of from our prisoners, as your home planet Earth does. We have no wars between the clans,” the Alien explained.

  “How do you pick your leaders?” Mercer asked.

  “The genetic offspring of the ruling clan assume the leadership role. This has not changed in thousands of years.”

  “Now we’re getting somewhere,” Dougherty put in with some excitement creeping into his voice. “You can tell us where this clan’s residence is, Binky?”

  “Of course, but wiping them out would throw our world into chaos, although they are not popular with everyone,” Binky pointed out, cryptically.

  “Maybe it won’t be so chaotic,” Jake said calmly. “We’ll just have to ready another ruling clan. I vote for Binky’s clan. How about you guys?”

  “I vote for Binky’s clan,” Mercer said, putting his hand up.

  “Me too,” Dougherty laughed.

  “Done,” Jake pronounced. “Your clan has been voted as the next ruling clan, Bink.”

  “But surely you…how…”

  “Calm down, we’ll help you get started,” Jake soothed. “We have no intention of flying away without a surrender, and we won’t get it from a dead ruling clan. That leaves installing your clan as both the ruling clan, and our native connection with the planet. We’ll have to work out some form of trade deal, so we’ll need to know what kind of products your people make.”

  “I notice you don’t have any women in your military,” Dougherty added. “We know you have females, from our interrogations with your people. Do you have some form of Patriarchal family setup?”

  “Our females do not participate in our military, but along with child rearing, they occupy the power positions within our clans. In the ruling clan, the genetic enclave of supreme leaders are all females.”

  “Well,” Mercer observed, “there’s your problem, Bink.”

  Jake and Dougherty both laughed, as the Alien looked confused at Mercer’s pronouncement. “I have noticed you have females in high positions of your military,” Binky said in reply. “Why does it seem strange for us to have females in our ruling enclave? We at least do not send them into battle.”

  “My Chief of Staff was merely making light of a serious situation,” Jake answered. “While we do have women in some combat roles, we do not use them as shock troops on the ground. We are going to take out your ruling clan, Binky. The faster you come to an understanding of that fact, the better. Many lives on your planet will be spared, but there must be a price for the unprovoked attack on our Colonies.”

  “If you would allow it, I can help to save even more of my people,” Binky stated quietly.

  “Okay, you have my attention,” Jake said, leaning forward.

  “As you learned, we have a ruling class, which mainly bears responsibility for our mode of contact with Alien races,” Binky continued, with both Mercer and Dougherty listening now intently. “If your ships can indeed remain invisible, you could land a significant force at the ruling enclave. The surprise would be total, and many of the innocent could be spared.”

  “I like your thinking,” Jake admitted, “but my only knowledge of history with ruling classes relates to Earth’s periods of such things. As I recall, if you left any of them alive, they would come back to cause trouble. How many of your people belong to this ruling family of yours?”

  “Thousands,” Binky replied.

  “As unfortunate as wiping out those thousands may seem to you,” Jake reasoned, “what makes you think if we just executed the female enclave, the others in their family unit wouldn’t be back causing trouble foryou?”

  ‘Tea,” Mercer broke in, “and what about our people still being held prisoner?”

  “I think our Alien friend thinks if the ruling enclave were killed, no one would have any direction as far as harming our people,” Dougherty offered. “Is that what you meant?”

  “Yes,” Binky nodded. “If my family were put in power, any harm to your people could be avoided, and they would be released. As to the ruling unit causing trouble, only the eleven females’ families, in our governing enclave, would be of any danger. Their power, even amongst their own blood ties, is jealously guarded.”

  “Okay, but how do we know who is who,” Jake questioned further. “I am not risking my men, trying to sort out whose relatives should be hit, and whose shouldn’t. Frankly, I’d rather wipe out their whole place and everyone in it, rather than lose even one man. Militarily speaking, I would be foolish to go along with what you suggest.”

  “I understand your concern,” Binky acknowledged. “However, relations between our races would be much easier if.”

  “Relations would be real easy between our races if we just make yours disappear altogether,” Mercer interrupted.

  “Let him finish, Charlie,” Jake admonished with a smile. “I think I know where he’s going with this.”

  “If I could spend some time with the prisoners you have captured from our ship,” Binky resumed. “I might be able to convince many of them of the hopelessness of all out war with your race. I would lead those into battle against the ruling enclave. If it could be worked out in this way, there would be far less bitterness over the terms of our surrender. If you never had peaceful relations in mind, you could just wipe us out as you first considered.”

  “Would the five hundred or so prisoners we have, be enough for the task?” Jake asked.

  “If the defenses were destroyed first, then yes,” Binky replied.

  “We would have to insist on you holding the main power in such a coup,” Jake replied. “How would that go over with the rest of your people? I assume the prisoners you wish to recruit are from many different families. Are any of them from the ruling unit?”

  “No, the ruling unit does not participate in our military,” Binky answered. “Naturally, any upheaval like this will have acceptance problems amongst a people used to a certain way of life for many thousands of years. So too, does the realization we could be erased from existence. I believe I can impart the immediate prospect of such a danger. As you have pointed out, we have no choice. I have witnessed what the Tattalias horde does to a planet, and we have had no mercy when we used them. In your eyes, I can see our continued survival as being tenuous at best. If I fail to persuade my people, in your control, who have seen what you can do, then it will be even more difficult, if not impossible, to install a new order on my planet.”

  “He makes sense, Jake,” Mercer allowed.

  “How many other races have you unleashed this horde on,” Jakeasked.

  “Through the other Jump Gate, you do not know about, we found colonies from one other race. We planted the Queens and left the area alone for ten of your earth years. That race did not try to re-colonize. The Tatallias Queens went into stasis, after their drones had wiped clean everything edible on the planets. We collected the Queens, and let the planets’ environment begin to recover, while making sure
the colonizing race did not come back.”

  “Does the other race suspect you all exist?” Dougherty asked.

  “I believe with the proximity of the colonized planets, and the way the infestation happened so suddenly, that would be the case,” Binky answered.

  Mercer had been watching Jake during the Alien’s recitation of how they used the Bugs. He could see the tightening around the mouth, and the narrowing of his eyes, which Mercer knew all too well. “Jake, you remember that time you, me, and Deke stopped in at the enlisted bar on Genoa before we shipped out for Omaha?”

  Jake turned his gaze on Mercer, confusion now replacing anger in his eyes. “I remember, why.”

  “Well, you’re getting that look on your face like you had then, when those miners started bad mouthing Marines.”

  Jake smiled as he realized what Mercer was getting at. “That little set to cost me a pay grade, but I’m in charge now, Charlie. The only thing at risk here is the continued existence of a bunch of cold blooded bastards.”

  “You do not like the facts of what you have asked me, concerning our expansion, do you?” Binky asked, beginning to get the idea of what they were talking about.

  “I think its gone past not liking, Bink,” Dougherty observed. “Any real hope of turning things around, or are you just buying time?”

  “I can not prove it to you, or convince you,” Binky stated quietly, looking straight at Jake. “We do follow the direction of the ruling enclave without question. It is a bad way in regards to outside races. It has been a good way on our planet, where there has been peace amongst our people for thousands of years. If a new way can be brought into power, the change will be startling to you.”

  “For the same reason such offensive orders as exterminating another race’s colonies could be followed so coldly, a complete turnaround in our outlook towards other races could come about quickly. We probably have more in common with the Tattalias Drones than we do with your race in such matters. It will fall to you whether we can be given the chance to change.”