Unwilling From Earth

by Andrew Maclure

  “Where are R and D with the Mark Eight?” Asked Mike.

  “Undergoing final testing on board Mother. I’ve given them a deadline to complete within four hours. If they pass testing Alan will use Mother’s resources to replicate them and we will distribute them to selected troops for live trials. The first two will be tested on board and then dropped off to us by drone to be used by you and Mark. Simon, Orange and I will keep our Mark Sevens for now.” Sally answered briskly.

  “Are we joining the Southern Continent assault?” Simon asked.

  Sally smiled. “Sorry, but our mission isn’t just for show. It is a key strategic objective so we’re going to miss the fun of the start of the assault.

  Mark had mixed feelings when he heard that. On the one hand, being somewhere behind fifteen hundred troopers and nearly five hundred Ants seemed like it might be safe, on the other hand, he couldn’t help thinking that the enemy might not react well to being invaded, and there were seventeen thousand of them. He also thought that what they were planning was little better than a suicide mission. “Oh god.” He thought to himself, “I wish I wasn’t here.”

  “Right, I’m going to go and stretch my legs. Mike, wake Orange. I want him ready to work in twenty minutes. Simon, with me. Ti’rrk, start working on the outlines of the assault plan scripts, identify who needs one and plan how you are going to get them to the commanders and the Ants, you can complete it with Orange when the plan is ratified by me. Mark, you stay here and rest. We move in two hours or less, I’ll give a last minute briefing just before we break camp.” With that, she turned around and strode off into the forest.

  Simon jumped up and hurried after her. Mike got up and walked over to Orange and started looking for something in his backpack. Ti’rrk got up and moved closer to the fire and settled down again.

  ”Mark, bring your backpack over here and sit with me.” Ti’rrk told him.

  Mark sighed, stood, and picked up his backpack. The effect of the sleep suppressor was wearing off and he was feeling tired. He walked around the fire to where Ti’rrk was settled. He stood in front of her and asked: “Where would you like me to sit?”

  “Facing the fire and leaning on me. I can sense that you are tired, you may be able to get an hour or so of sleep before we need to start preparing to move. You can take another sleep suppressor when you wake up.”

  “Really? I can just have a sleep while you are all busy?”

  “As a soldier, you’ll learn that when you are in a war zone you take any opportunity to sleep that you can. Sleep suppressors aren’t perfect. You still need neurological processes to take place when you are asleep. If you pull your groundsheet over yourself it will help keep you warm.”

  Mark finished his coffee and walked over to Ti’rrk. He got his groundsheet out of his backpack and sat on the ground. He pulled the groundsheet around himself and leant into Ti’rrk to make himself comfortable. He closed his eyes and within a few moments was sound asleep.

  Mike looked over at Mark and smiled. “We’ll make a soldier of him yet.” She said quietly.

  Walk In The Woods

  Mike found what she was looking for and crouched down beside Orange. She pulled down the groundsheet and pressed the drug dispenser against his throat. Having given him the stimulant, she settled back on her heels with her tail bracing her on the ground. After a few moments, Orange blinked a few times, coughed and sat up.

  “I’m glad it’s you here.” Orange said. “Simon would probably have kicked me awake.”

  “I would have done, but I don’t think I could kick hard enough to wake you. How are you feeling now?”

  Orange grunted. “Like I had a grenade land on top of me.”

  “Sally wants to go over a battle plan with you, she’s gone for a walk in the forest with Simon but she should be back in about fifteen minutes..”

  “What battle plan? Has our mission altered?”

  “No.” Answered Mike. ”Maybe it would be better if Sally told you. Do you want some water, or we have got some hot water on the fire, I could make you a drink.”

  “A hot drink would be good, and I’ll get something to eat. You’re not usually this caring Mike, what’s happened to you?”

  “I thought we’d lost you today. We would have done if it hadn’t been for Mark.”

  “Yeah, he was knocking them down like a veteran before it all went black. I thought he hadn’t fired a gun before?”

  “Apparently not. He could end up as a good soldier.”

  “He doesn’t seem very enthusiastic about the idea.”

  “Give me the stuff for your drink and I’ll go and make it for you.” Mike said.

  Orange rummaged around in his backpack and pulled out a large sachet and an even larger mug. He handed them both to Mike who took them over to the fire. She poured the contents of the sachet into Orange’s mug and then, using the heatproof mitt that lay on the ground, poured some of the water that was heating over the fire into the mug. Mike recoiled from the sulphurous smell that came from it and took it over to Orange. As she walked towards him, she could see he was holding what looked like a large piece of compressed earth in a wrapper and eating it.

  “Thanks, Mike.” Orange said as she handed him his mug. “I’m feeling better already. When do we break camp?”

  “In about two hours, maybe a bit longer.”

  “It should be getting light by then.” Orange said. “I would prefer to be moving in the dark.”

  “We all would, but there’s a lot happening and the longer we spend on this mission the more we’ll miss elsewhere.”

  “Yeah, OK. I’m going to finish my drink by the fire. How long is Sally going to be?”

  “She should be back in a few minutes. Do you need a hand with your backpack?”

  “Thanks.” Orange replied. He stood up with his mug in one hand and the remains of his food in the other. Mike pulled at his over-sized backpack.

  “What have you got in here? A bed?” Mike asked.

  “Just a few essentials.” Orange said, handing his mug back to Mike. He picked up the backpack and they both walked to the fire and sat down.

  “So what is in there? I didn’t notice anything particularly heavy looking in there.” Mike asked.

  “In the compartment at the bottom, I’ve packed some extra demolition charges. And a few extra grenades. And a few extra boxes of bullets.”

  “I thought Ti’rrk was carrying all of that?” Mike said.

  “Yeah, but after we had set the mission plan, I thought maybe it would be a bit tougher than we thought.”

  “More likely you thought that instead of just degrading their capabilities, we could flatten the place and leave it a smoking ruin!” Mike said with a grin. “I’m up for that too!”

  Sally and Simon came back into the clearing and walked over to the fire. Sally crouched down next to Orange and put her arm around his shoulders. “How are you feeling?” She asked. “I’m not taking you into a fight again until you are completely recovered. If you need a rest, we’ll stay here until you are ready.”

  “I’m fine. It was only a grenade. My armour took some of the blast before it collapsed and my body armour stopped most of the shrapnel. I’m good to go. Mike mentioned a new battle plan?”

  Sally stood up “Let’s all get a drink, then bring your backpacks over and we’ll sit with Ti’rrk. Simon, can you spare some more of your coffee for Mark?”

  “Sure, I’ve got plenty. I’ll make it for him.”

  “We’ll break camp as soon as we’ve finished.” Sally said. “Mike, can you send a drone to check out our route and see if you can find any patrols that we can hit on the way there?”

  They got their drinks and sat down by Ti’rrk. Simon shook Mark awake and handed him a coffee.

  “I want you all to sit in on this.” Sally told them. “We’re not going to be there for the landing but I hope we can finish our mission quickly and get over there to take some part in the assault, although we won’t be there f
or the spearhead attacks.”

  Orange asked “Where? What landing? What did I miss.”

  Sally quickly outlined the situation on the Southern Continent to Orange and explained the additional reserves and Ant forces that were joining them. Mark was thinking he was getting the worst of it now. If they survived what might well be their suicide mission, they would be jumping right into the front line of the assault.

  Sally distributed the scenarios from the AI for all the team members to review. Mark couldn’t understand any of them so, taking Ti’rrk’s advice, asked his AI to present it in an easy to understand graphical form for him. “I’ll display it in front of you as if it were floating in the air.” Mark’s AI said in its bland androgynous voice. “Use your hands to move it around and zoom in or out.”

  “What!” Mark said to his AI “Wave my arms around in empty air? They’ll think I’m having a fit!”

  “If you observe your companions,” His AI told him, “You’ll see they are all doing exactly that.”

  Mark looked up and they were indeed, all gesturing into empty air in front of them. Even Ti’rrk was waving her feelers around in front of her eyes.

  After a few minutes silence, Orange grunted and said. “I like scenario one best, but I’d like to make some changes to it. How about you Sally?”

  “Scenario one looks good to me too. I can’t see anything I’d like to change. What had you in mind Orange?”

  “It’s the order in which the troops are landed.” Orange explained. “Given the terrain that they will be landing and assembling in, I think the advance party should include more light infantry to scout and secure the area quickly with the heavier troops right behind to dig in defences. We must protect the main body as they land and assemble. If they are caught with their pants down by the enemy launching a quick counterattack before the main force has landed and assembled, our invasion will be over before it’s started. Give me twenty minutes and I’ll have the changes made so you can upload them to the Strategy and Tactics AI to run the numbers again. If it can’t find any issues with my changes, I’m happy to go with it.”

  “You’ve got twenty minutes. Ti’rrk, while Orange is making the changes start on the script for the field commanders. As this is so sensitive, break it down into as many discrete sections as you think necessary so that the plan unfolds to the commanders as and when they need it. We can’t have any of this leak out to the enemy from unsecured communications or interceptions, or from any infiltrators. As soon as Orange has finished, go over the scripts and the delivery plan with him. Once I have ratified the battle plan, I want the communication plan uploaded, then we break camp immediately. Time is not on our side.”

  Sally turned to Simon, Mike and Mark. “We’ve got about twenty minutes which is plenty of time for us to clear the camp and get ready. Simon and I will clear the fire and tidy up around it. Mike and Mark, you both look tired, it would be a good idea to take a sleep suppressor, then can you scout around the rest of the clearing. It shouldn’t take more than a few minutes so you can take a break until we are ready to go. Mike will show you what needs to be done, Mark. I’ll send up a reconnaissance drone to check out our route and we’ll leave as soon as possible.” She smiled at them both. “It’s looking good. We’ve got a tough mission to complete, but it’s no harder than we have done before and we’ve got an extra trooper this time. We’ve got some of the second line reserves more quickly than we thought we would and a lot more Ants than planned for. We’re in good shape.”

  Sally turned away and pulled a small object out of her backpack. She held it in the palm of her hand and stretched her arm out. The object made a quiet whirring noise and rose out of her hand straight up the air. Sally watched it for a moment, then started to help Simon pull the fire apart and damp it down.

  Mike stood and held her hand out to help Mark to his feet. Mike addressed Ti’rrk “Are you OK there Ti’rrk? It will only take a few minutes to check out the clearing - anything we can get you or help you with?”

  “No, I’m fine thanks.” Ti’rrk answered.

  “OK Mark, all we have to do is kick the leaves over anywhere they have been scraped away and pick up anything that has been dropped. If it’s rubbish, we’ll sort out the biodegradable stuff and bury it, anything else we’ll bag up and take with us. If it’s not rubbish drop it next to the backpack of the person it belongs to. When we’ve finished, we’ll take a run out and collect the sensors that Sally put out earlier.”

  “Seems straightforward, but what’s the point of covering up the tracks. The enemy know we’ve been here - in fact, we went out of our way to let them know we were here.”

  “It’s what we do. Apart from the burn mark where we’ve had a fire, we leave our camps pretty much as we found them. In a few weeks you wouldn’t know we’d been here.”

  “What about the damage and bodies where we had the firefight?” Mark asked.

  “Ideally, we’d clear those too, but we don’t have time. If there are enough support resources available, a clean-up team will come along afterwards, otherwise, we’ll leave it for the locals.”

  “OK, but if we are picking up all the sensors, won’t that leave us a bit vulnerable to a surprise attack?”

  “Remember the drone on station above us? That’s still there. Don’t worry, we’re quite safe - until we start to move.”

  It only took a few minutes for Mike and Mark to clear the campsite. By then a light rain had started falling again. Sally and Simon were sitting leaning against Ti’rrk who seemed engrossed in her work. Orange was still sitting by himself with his hands held out, making slight movements occasionally.

  “We’re going to run around and pick up the sensors.” Mike told Sally. “The exercise should wake us up a bit.” She grinned.

  “Come on Mark!” Mike called over her shoulder as she started to jog to the edge of the clearing.

  Mark looked at Sally and Simon, shrugged his shoulders and broke into a run to catch up with Mike.

  “Consider this part of your training Mark.” Mike called to him. “All the sensors are connected to the unit comm link. Tell your AI to locate them and calculate the shortest route to collect them all starting with the nearest. You take the lead.”

  Mike slowed down for Mark to overtake her and paced along just behind him. Mark’s AI directed him and they soon had all of the sensors collected. Mark was surprised at how small they were, no bigger than the nail on his little finger.

  When they collected the last one, Mike said. “Now would be a good time to relieve yourself if you value privacy. We are well away from the others. Don’t bother about bagging it, we’re not trying to hide our presence here.”

  “Bagging it? I’m not sure the translation worked properly there. I thought you meant going to the toilet.”

  “No, the translation is OK. If we are on a covert mission, we don’t want anyone to know we are there so we don’t leave any traces. We piss in a bottle and pick up solids, bag them and take them with us.”

  “Remind me to be somewhere else next time there is a covert mission.” Mark said. “It makes me gag when I clean the toilet in my flat. Still, it gives a new meaning to the expression ‘getting your shit together’”.

  “Your life is different now. You’ll get used to it.” Mike assured him. “We’ll walk back to the campsite, I want to run through any issues with your weapons and armour. By the time we get back they should be all ready to go. How are you getting on with the Mark Seven?”

  “Fine. It’s a bit like using a gaming rifle, only there’s no trigger, it doesn’t jump when you fire it, there’s no sound and you can’t see where your shot is going - unless you hit your target.”

  “What’s a gaming rifle? I thought you hadn’t fired a gun before?” Asked Mike.

  “It’s a computer game peripheral. It connects via Bluetooth and you shoot things on the screen or in a virtual reality game.”

  “You mean a toy,”

  “No! Not a toy. It’s a, well, i
t’s er, it’s - er, yes, OK, it’s a toy.”

  “How about your armour? Was anything obscuring your vision? You seemed to be peering around a bit.”

  “I couldn’t see much but if you recall, it was dark.”

  “I see. Did anyone explain how to use the night vision in your helmet?”

  “Night vision? What night vision.”

  “I’ll take that as a no. It’s a bit late to start using it right now, it’s almost light. Tell your AI to activate night vision whenever your helmet is on and it gets dark. I wonder what other basic information you haven’t been told? We could have done with a few more days to give you proper basic training. I know you haven’t been told everything about your armour, because I was supposed to tell you, but we ran out of time. Did you wonder why we do hand to hand unarmed combat when you have energy field armour that will stop almost anything?”

  “No. It never occurred to me. But that’s a good point. If it will stop pulse weapons, bullets and shrapnel, I can’t see that stopping a knife would be a problem for it. Although it didn’t protect Orange from the grenade.”