Casserine

by Bernard Lee DeLeo

  “Pretty smooth,” Jake replied. “Tim here can take care of all the guards before we even touch down. With our own MAG50 nests set up on the walls, and us inside to protect the prisoners, there won’t be much to do but wait until Bink takes out the ruling enclave.”

  “Why didn’t you want the Alien to know about us protecting the prisoners, Jake?” Dougherty asked, as they reached the area next to the deck turret.

  “Need to know, Tim. Bink didn’t need to know. He’d have wanted us to approach this in a more gentle manner, and I want the guards taken out without any nonsense,” Jake explained. “He’d have thought to just call over for the prisoner release after he took out the ruling enclave, and I don’t want to take the chance.”

  Tim nodded his understanding. The three men strapped in for the lift off, and Jake put on his helmet. “Ready when you are, Sara.”

  “Here we go then, boys,” Corey announced.

  After dropping down through the atmosphere, Jake, Mercer, and Dougherty undid their straps. Dougherty had set up a viewing panel near the deck turret so they would be able to observe the area Major Corey would be scouting. The Alien planet’s atmosphere appeared much the same as they had encountered on Earth. The regions they flew over were arid, with a bleakness of terrain, the three men were accustomed to seeing on the mining colonies.

  “I’m making the final approach now, Jake,” Corey informed him. “You’ll have to adjust for the darkness, but I’ll fly over the place enough times so you’ll be able to pinpoint the opposition. I’m going into hovering mode, so they’ll hear only a slight hum, but they won’t know what it is.”

  “Three times over ought to give me enough vid to plot the mission, Major,” Dougherty chimed in. He and Mercer both wore their helmets. “No sense spooking them. Can you get low enough so we can get all the inside angles?”

  “I’ll hover up in the center, so you can get an overall look, and then we’ll go one quadrant at a time real close,” Corey suggested.

  ‘Tea, that’ll work,” Tim agreed. “Last, but not least, let’s get extra around the building housing the prisoners. I’ll do some scans to make sure they don’t have them spread out all over.”

  “Can do,” Corey replied. “Here we are, gentlemen, dead center over the complex, five thousand feet up. Take a look, and let me know when you want to drop down.”

  Dougherty began his video, and sensor scans. “Uh oh, Houston, we have a problem.”

  “What the hell’s Houston?” Mercer asked in confusion.

  “It’s from an old vid, called Apollo 13,” Dougherty replied. “See, when.”

  “Oh man, not you too,” Mercer retorted.

  “Go on, Tim,” Jake broke in.

  ‘Tea, well I’m afraid I know why they don’t need all that many guards, although I see a goodly number,” Dougherty said, zooming in on the parapet towers around the complex. “It looks like they have eight antiaircraft batteries, and about a hundred Aliens in the towers manning them. I think our little raid pumped them up a little. Look at this scanner, guys.”

  “Shit, they have the prisoners’ complex wired,” Mercer exclaimed. “Must be something special, cause our scanner can’t ID the material.”

  “How do you know it’s booby-trapped then, Charlie,” Jake asked.

  “Check out the continuity of the circuitry, and where they’re placed,” Mercer explained, and pointed to the screen. “Here’s the complex power outlets, but these other self contained units giving off low grade signatures are all on the same frequency, and they’re located where I’d put them if I wanted to vaporize the complex.”

  Dougherty nodded in agreement. “They’ll have at least one remote detonator, Jake.”

  “You boys are scaring me,” Corey added over their helmet coms.

  “I should have anticipated this,” Jake sighed. “This don’t look too good. Can we block the trigger frequency, Tim?”

  “Maybe, Jake,” Dougherty replied slowly, “but it will be a gamble. We’re only guessing as to how they have it set up to go off.”

  “You mean if you isolate the signal, it might detonate the charges?” Jake asked.

  “Exactly.”

  “Not to mention those batteries might open up on the prisoner complex if they sense anything going on,” Mercer added. “We’ll have to finish this recon, and get back up here.”

  “Okay, Sara, take us down, and let’s get all the corners,” Jake agreed. “Since they’re already on the alert, we better make this faster than we had planned.”

  “Aye, aye, Sir.”

  Alpha dropped down over the complex at very close range for only moments over each pre-ordained quadrant. Corey returned to their prior position after the sweep. They monitored the towers, looking for some sign they had triggered suspicion. All remained as it had been, except for a few guards who had walked out of the towers, and looked around.

  “Jake,” Corey called out. “Jas says the recon of the ruling enclave complex has been completed, and they’re ready to launch.”

  “Have Jas tell Colby to take his squad up and await further orders,” Jake replied. “I’m not letting a botched up mission there kill off our people here.”

  “Yes Sir,” Corey acknowledged.

  Jake sat down and leaned back. Mercer sat down next to him, while Dougherty finished collating the information they’d gathered. “I guess we should have went on ahead with this the first time through the gate, Charlie.”

  “We’d have been dead or in their prison, Jake,” Mercer reminded him. “On top of that, they’d have our technology.”

  “Sorry, I wasn’t thinking,” Jake agreed. “We didn’t have any place to put them anyhow. Well, this situation won’t improve the longer we sit here.”

  Jake stood up, and with Mercer, he joined Dougherty at the panel. “I say we land a force here,” Jake indicated the wall closest to the prison complex. When we get into position, Tim, you isolate the signal, and take out the towers big time. We’ll blast through the outer wall, and into the prison. If we can evacuate the prisoners fast enough, and the interruption of the signal doesn’t blow us all to kingdom come, it’ll be a walk in the park.”

  Both Mercer and Dougherty broke into laughter, with Corey’s soft chuckle in all their ears. When Jake didn’t join them, Mercer looked at him closely. “Aw, come on Jake, how the hell we going to get five thousand people ready and through a couple of holes in the walls in the time we’d have to get it done.”

  “I need to get inside, and get them ready. If it can be done, I’ll need about half an hour. I can blast from the inside, the second you start on the outer wall. With the towers taken out, Sara will fly air cover with Tim, killing everything not human. Once we get them all out with the Marines, I’ll have Jas send a Command Wing to blow the whole damn place to hell and back. The fighter can protect the area from long range. Sara and Tim will handle close support.”

  “Suddenly, this ain’t as much fun as I thought it would be,” Dougherty commented.

  “I won’t waste my breath telling you not to go,” Corey offered, “but don’t you think your place might be here on the ship?”

  “You’re absolutely right, Major,” Jake replied. “You can enter your reminder of my duty in the log so Governor Risling will have more ammo to relieve me. Now, are you coming with me, Charlie, or do you want to assume command?”

  “I’ll go tell Mendez and the boys what we’re doing,” Mercer replied, ignoring Jake’s tone. “I better pick out five volunteers, we’ve had along before. Those prisoners may need a little more prodding than they’re used to.”

  “Good thinking,” Jake agreed, as Mercer left to get it done. “How about it, Tim. You game?”

  “That was rhetorical, right?” Dougherty replied with a smile and a sideways glance at his commander. “Save me a seat on the freighter to hell if this backfires, Jake.”

  “You bet. How about you, Sara?”

  “Just don’t make me have to face Byers with this goofy plan as my o
nly alibi for letting you do this,” Corey answered. “I could lock down the cockpit, and fly back to the Intrepid.”

  “No you couldn’t,” Jake laughed. “You’ll have to hover over the roof, in the shadows of those vent stacks on your monitor. You see them?”

  “What about the light from the hatch opening?” Sara asked. “We aren’t shielded on the inside.”

  “We’ll drop to the roof through the lower escape hatch. We’ll have to be quick so you can get the hell out of there. Tim can watch the towers from the deck turret. If anything goes wrong, we’ll have to take them all out hard. It may turn out we won’t get anyone out of here after all. I’ll deal with those consequences. Anymore questions?

  “No Sir,” Corey answered. “I hope all of this comes out well, so I can tell Byers all about it.”

  “You would too,” Jake said, nodding at Tim, who climbed up into the turret gun.

  Jake picked up his particle beam rifle on the way to see how Mercer was doing. The Marines in the bay were up, and ready. Mercer had a squad picked out, and was briefing them on what they were going to do. Jake smiled, as he recognized a few familiar faces from both the nests, and his deadly play in the Earth Command Council.

  “I don’t know how this will all play out, boys,” Jake began. “Anyone with any qualms about going on this half-witted mission better go get back in the ranks.”

  No one moved, as Jake nodded. “Okay then, I guess we’ll just have to go down there and make this work.”

  Jake motioned for Mercer to take the squad to the escape hatch. He turned, and addressed Lieutenant Mendez, and the rest of the Marines. They all wore the insignia of the old United States Marines, and a red, white, and blue flag of the United States over it, on their right shoulders.

  “This will be the first mission on Alien soil for United States Marines, which we all are now. Major Corey will drop you at the spot in the outer wall, where you are to blast your way through to us. Lieutenant

  Mendez will give your squad leaders their assignments. You get in, we get out, and we get as far away from this booby-trapped coffin as we can. The prisoners must be herded well away from the walls, and because we need Major Corey in the air with Lieutenant Dougherty at the deck guns for air support, we will be on our own. Piece of cake, right?” Jake finished.

  A chorus of ‘ooh-rahs’ rang out from the Marines assembled. Jake nodded at Lieutenant Mendez. “See you on the ground, Bob.”

  “We’ll be there, Sir,” Mendez said, saluting formally.

  Jake returned the salute. “I know you will. If things go wrong, get the men back away from the complex quickly.”

  “Aye, aye, Sir.”

  Jake headed quickly to the escape hatch, with Corey’s voice in his ear. “Nice pep talk, Jake. Any cheery words for me?”

  “Call Jas. Tell him to have Colby land and hit the enclave now, and send a Command Wing,” Jake directed, ignoring Corey’s sarcasm. “We’ll use it to provide a bit more confusion. If they are in as close touch as I think they are, our attack may make them think the whole planet’s under siege. Sara, did you check.”

  “If the roof hatch was locked or not?” Corey finished for him. “Tell him, Tim.”

  “There are two hatches, Jake, both locked, but I have a pencil thin beam programmed to quietly take care of that detail,” Dougherty promised. “We’ll hold off putting you down until I see if they notice the beam.”

  “Thanks Tim, we only need the one open closest to the stacks, and thanks for again finishing my thought for me, Harpy.”

  “Harpy, aye.”

  Jake chuckled, and joined Mercer’s squad at the escape hatch. They were poised and ready to drop down. “I’m glad Tim and Sara remember the little things,” Mercer commented.

  “You thought I forgot about the hatch, huh Charlie?”

  “No, I’m just saying it’s good to have more than one person thinking about details,” Mercer replied. “That way we don’t jump down on a roof in enemy territory, trying to stay unobserved, and have to blast our way through a sealed hatch into a booby-trapped building.”

  Jake nodded, as the rest of the Marines laughed. “In other words, you think I forgot about the hatch.”

  “No comment,” Mercer answered.

  “I hit the hatch, Sir,” Dougherty broke in, and Jake could tell he had been laughing. “No movement on the towers.”

  “Great news,” Jake sighed. “Take us down, Sara, and give me a go.”

  “Right away, Sir,” Corey acknowledged. “Okay Jake, we’re hovering, and the place you’ll be dropping to is almost completely hidden by the stacks. We’re about six meters off the roof. I can’t get any closer without crunching a stack. The hatch can be seen by anyone in the tower, but if you go in one at a time, you should be okay. They’ll be focusing up and out, not in.”

  “We’ll be watching, Jake,” Dougherty added. “I’ll waste them quick, and we’ll pluck you out of there if they notice.”

  “Okay then, block the signal, Tim, and we’ll be on our way.”

  “Yes Sir. It’s blocked, and the building’s in one piece,” Dougherty said. “I guess they didn’t rig it to go on an interruption.”

  “And you thought this would be tough, Sara,” Jake said, hitting the escape hatch control, and lowering a ladder.

  “How silly of me,” Corey retorted. “Jas has the fighter on its way, and the Alien force attacking the enclave has already breached the outer defenses.”

  “Great,” Jake commented, climbing quickly down to the roof, and taking up a defensive posture, as Mercer and his squad dropped quickly down beside him. “Seal it up, and take off Sara, I don’t want the noise to start drawing attention.”

  “Aye, aye, Sir, we’ll be close by.”

  “As soon as we get inside, land Bob’s troops, and wait for my call,” Jake finished. “I’ll let you know when to have Bob start to break through from the outside, and then the fun begins.”

  “We wait with baited breath, my General,” Corey replied. “Closing and lifting off now, Jake.”

  Jake made a circular motion with his fist, and then pointed at himself. He ran in a crouch for the roof hatch, and pulled the heavy door open in one fluid motion. “Shit, get in here, boys, there’s all kinds of light, and we’ll be showing like a beacon to the towers. Hit ‘em, Tim, right now.”

  Mercer and his squad ran in spaced intervals over the roof. After dropping down the stairwell next to Jake, Dougherty opened up on the nearest towers as blinding light lit the roof from the towers within sight of the prison complex roof. The Alpha deck gunner did not waste particle beam fire. He shot MAG50 rounds into the towers in rapid succession, guided by preset fire control solutions. Jake, Mercer, and his squad did not wait for the resulting explosions. They raced down through the building.

  The stairwell spiraled downward through the well lit complex, directly from the roof to the ground floor about five stories down. Living quarters for the human prisoners were in a honeycomb of single room cubicles, which were structured out from the walls, with spider webs of ladders and narrow walkways connecting them. People began screaming after the tower explosions rocked the building, and spilled out of their quarters. Jake and his team hit the ground floor seconds after entering from the roof. Mercer gestured his squad to fan out, and they secured the two entrances.

  Jake strode to the center of the small open space near the ladder, and set up his com unit to project his voice. “Listen up. Calm down, and listen to me. I am the commander of this rescue unit. We are United States Marines.

  I.”

  Jake was drowned out momentarily by the din of cheers and shouts of joy. “Please listen, we don’t have much time.”

  The tenor and urgency of Jake’s voice silenced the people in seconds. “This place has been booby trapped to explode. We isolated the signal, but we don’t know how long our blocking beam will last. All of you get down here now, ready to move out on foot.”

  A flurry of panic gripped the prisoners, as
they raced to ladders, and walkways. Jake fired his particle beam rifle in the air quickly, bringing them to a halt again. “Move like human beings, damn it, not like a herd of scared cattle. I’ll start picking targets here in a minute if I see any more of that. We ain’t leaving anyone behind, so just get down here quickly, and carefully.”

  The prisoners hurried downwards, slapping on footwear as they went, and shrugging into outer clothing. Parents clutched the smaller children to them as they went, if they proceeded too slowly. Mercer had already found the section they had in mind. He picked a spot near the ideal coordinates. The wall in that spot was approachable by a narrow walkway, and only ten meters to the right of where Mendez would be approaching from the outer wall.

  “I’ve got it, Jake,” Mercer told him.

  “Make a hole, Charlie,” Jake replied. “Sara, you clear to drop in Mendez, and the rest of the troops?”

  “Yep, nothing but smoking holes up here where towers used to be,” Corey replied. “I’m landing the troops right now, and switching Bob onto our frequency right now. The Command Wing arrived moments ago, and is sweeping the outer area constantly. There may still be Aliens hanging around in the nooks and crannies, so keep your eyes open. You on now, Bob?”

  “Yes Ma’am,” Mendez replied. “You can close up and fly support, Major, we’re deployed. I’m at the wall now, General.”

  “You heard Sara, Bob,” Jake replied. “Cut through and get the area secured with troops. We’ll stay here by our hole until you call it safe. Tim’s got your back.”

  “Aye, aye, Sir.”

  By the time Jake finished talking on his com unit, he had a sea of humanity surrounding him. He spoke to Mercer once more. “You through, Charlie?”

  “Hell yea, and I see some action flashes coming from above. That you, Tim?”

  They all heard the particle beam deck gun as Dougherty acknowledged. “It’s me, Charlie. I have a target rich environment. I’ve cleared all the surrounding roofs, but they’re still trying to get to you through the alleyways in that maze down there.”