"I guess 'they' will tell us when the time is right," said Aleesha, somewhat sarcastically.
"I guess so."
"What do you want us to do?" asked Amanda.
"That does seem to be the question of the morning," said Annabelle, from behind me.
I turned my head to see her and Jack entering. I waited for them to take seats.
"Jack, I suggest you and your people take a few days off. Go down to the planet, find a beach, and have a picnic. Take a vacation downside. Whatever. After two years cooped up on your ship, I'm sure most of them would love some open space. Especially somewhere which won't try to eat them."
"We can do that. But what else needs doing? We should help."
"There is nothing for anyone to do this morning. Annabelle, send the troops down for some R&R. Leave me the Gig. Jane and I have some stuff to work out, after which I'll start dealing out work assignments." I paused for a moment as a thought hit me. "Any botanists on board? Even a passing interest will do."
"I think we have one or two," said Jack.
"Handful I’d say," added Annabelle.
"Have them take a look around wherever they go. I'd be interested to know if any plant species considered long extinct has made a comeback, or if there are completely new species growing here. With either, maybe we should take samples, or whatever is needed to reintroduce them."
"Good idea," said Amanda.
"If you see a Triffid," inserted Jane, "run."
I burst out laughing, but no-one else had any clue what she was talking about.
"Look it up," I said, having managed to downgrade to a big smile. "If we do find them, we'll need combat suits."
Amanda chuckled a few seconds later, showing she had looked it up. No one else did.
"Any good ideas at breakfast?" I asked.
"A couple," said Annabelle.
I noticed Jack was deferring to her more and more.
"Shoot."
"Someone suggested we look for burial grounds. It would be interesting to know if the buried remains are missing as well. I'm not sure what it would tell us, but it would be interesting to know."
"One of my people is an amateur archeologist," said Jack. "She suggested we search for buried cities, and see if only the man made stuff above the ground was removed. I know Jane said Norad wasn't there now, but it was visible from the surface. What about ruins which are not?"
"Does she have some suggestions to look for?"
"She does."
"Fine. Let her have a couple of days off, then give her a shuttle and a team to go look with. Co-ordinate with Jane."
"That’s all we had," said Annabelle. "Not much for the number of people we have aboard."
"It's hardly surprising," I said. "We don’t have an exploration crew aboard, or even a complement of scientists. The military mind wasn’t molded for the kind of scenario we face at the moment."
"Maybe we can reduce it down to a military objective though," said Jack.
"How so?"
"What do we need to achieve before we leave here?"
I thought for a moment.
"We need evidence beyond scans, of what we’ve found. Evidence we can put in front of four star Generals, which will make them believe what we tell them. This is how it's going to be fifty years after where we hope to go back to. Something happens to make this happen. We need to convince people, especially the military, this is going to happen regardless of whatever happens, and how they react to it. At the very least, we need to convince people to look for signs of whatever is coming, and enact already prepared plans, rather than try to react when it's too late."
"You think this will be something we can't fight?"
"I think if we can fight, we won't win. Not here anyway. Maybe we do fight, but it's to allow time for people to escape. Maybe we die here. Maybe this is just one battle among many. Maybe we don’t get to fight, but running is an option. We don’t know if everything here was destroyed, or simply moved. I don’t know anything more than you do. All I do know is we need to tell people about this, and the more people who prepare for it, maybe, just maybe, some people might be saved from it."
The four of them looked at me seriously.
"There's not a lot of things which scare me," said Amanda. "But you admitting you don’t know is top of the list."
I shrugged. What else could I say?
"Among us," said Jack, "honesty is best. Knowing what you don’t know is half the battle. Battles are lost because commanders don’t know they don’t know. The military mind deals best with the military mind. What else do we need to achieve?"
"Beyond that, we need to improve this ship in order that we can get back."
"The second I can't help you with. The first I can. Leave it with me. What resources can I command?"
"Anything you can convince Annabelle and Jane to give you."
"Jon, what do you want me to do?" asked Annabelle.
"Pretend Jack is doing your job, and you're a two star. Do what two stars do."
I grinned at her.
"And us?" asked Aleesha.
"How many of those bulldozers did you make?"
"Six."
"Go and skinny dip on a beach this morning. This afternoon, I want you to drop all six somewhere where digging wont mess anything up, and teach four others from two other teams how to use them. Or better still, teach a group from each team, in case one day they need to use them. Tomorrow, I hope to have something for you to dig up. Precision digging will be necessary. We need to excavate something and bring it out intact. If you can think of ways to make ordinary combat suits into digging machines, do it. If not, design a bigger shovel. Jane and I will help with the Mole. But we have to find where to dig first."
"No problems. Skinny dipping is our forte."
Annabelle laughed, and Jack looked a bit bewildered. The girls rose to leave.
"Amanda?"
"Yes Jon?"
"For the next few days, why don’t the two of you pretend you're Lieutenant Colonels?"
"You take all the fun out of life," they said together.
But they left with grins on their faces.
"Don’t tell them they already rank the other team leaders," said Annabelle when they were out of earshot. "I don’t think they’ve worked it out yet."
I laughed. Jack's grin faltered for a moment.
"This is going to be an interesting experience I think," he muttered to himself.
"Indeed," I said. "I'm not military, and in spite of BA trying to hammer me into the mold, I never will be. And given how eccentric Jane is…"
"Hey, speak for yourself!"
"…this outfit is always going to be different to all other Mercs."
"How do we fit in, while we're here?"
"Do you want to fit in?"
"Might be best. I've been a lone wolf for a long time, but for now, I see the need for a unified command structure. Sir."
"Okay, let's try it. A bird Colonel fits in nicely, since we don’t have one. So technically you report to Annabelle. She reports to me. But most of what we do will be a bit like this. The team leaders will report to you. Team one has the lead. The others don’t really have a hierarchy." I looked at Annabelle. "Or do they?"
"Order of recruitment," she said.
"Which makes your marines team six." He nodded. "Where does Sam fit into your outfit?"
"Until we got married, she was a combination team leader and XO. Since, she's mainly been XO, but the team hasn’t had anything to do which needed leading."
"Why did you get married?" asked Annabelle.
"Six months in, and stuck somewhere where being found seemed to have become unlikely, we figured there was no point to all the military protocol. It's made life bearable for both of us since."
"How will she want to be slotted in?" I asked.
"Team six leader. Especially since Homer isn’t going to be doing anything for a while. I can't say I like the idea, but she'd hate me if she was replaced."
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"And if we deploy all the teams? Where will you be going in?"
"With team six. After all, you're twins are not going to want me cramping their style, are they?"
"Got that right," laughed Annabelle, and I joined in.
"Jack," I said, "just so you know, those two are something different. Beach babes they may come across as, but in a combat suit, they are the best. They perform as one person. Don’t ever split them up. You can put them in command of a unit, and one of them will give the correct order, and it doesn't matter which. Like George is performing at a rank higher than he has, so are those two. But like George, they're new Majors. They lead team one, who always go in first, or as BA puts it, at the shit end. As such, even being only Majors, they are senior to the Majors who command the other teams, regardless of time in rank. It's just the way it is. At some point I'll formalize it. Do you have a problem with this?"
"Sir, no, sir." We all laughed. "Anything else I should know?" he asked.
"Lacey is Wing Commander, in charge of all pilots, including the Dropship pilots. You'll need to introduce yours to him when he returns. In the meantime, they report to Squadron Leader Brown. Grace is currently a trainee Dropship pilot, in addition to being a damned good fighter pilot. She'll pilot for team one. Several of our Privateer pilots have done drops as well. The other teams all have their own pilot, but Lacey has the last word about pilots. The Dropship simulator in the Pilot's Mess is really good. Yours should try it. Oh, and you might like to check out our Pythons."
Annabelle grinned at him, and he took the hint.
"We have four, plus a mixture of older models. Your helmsmen are welcome to check out on fighters if they want, and if they also do your Dropship piloting, they should definitely be rated for the Pythons, in case they have to fly one unexpectedly one day. They are armed, and fly like Heavy Fighters. So do our Privateers and Corvettes, so they may like to update themselves on them as well, just in case."
"I know someone who is about to become very happy. And probably very sad when he doesn’t get one to fly for real. The other two haven’t flown fighters for years, but it won't hurt them to update their skill sets."
"The only other rank you need to know about is Dick Burnside. He's a Detective, who is now supervising the security of my stations part time. He carries the rank of full bird Colonel, but he is not in any way military, nor is he to be used that way. He technically reports to Annabelle, but we haven’t really formalized it yet. Most security is done using AI controlled security droids, but we do have some people in PR positions. They are not military either, being police and security trained instead. Which reminds me, we carry both security and combat droids. Jane also has a dozen combat suits she controls herself. You should acquaint yourself with their capabilities."
He nodded. I turned to Annabelle.
"I'll leave it to you to massage the ranks. This is only temporary, but it will be better if for some reason we have to go into combat before Homer is repaired, and Jack decides his next move. Knowing our luck, we'll get back to find a pirate force waiting for us. If so, we better be a team."
"Why pirates?" asked Jack.
"We made a pretty clean sweep of the upper spine. But the lower spine is still unknown as to what forces are out there. Since the last corporate assassination attempt on me failed, it's only logical it's the pirates turn next."
"Assassination attempt?"
"There are people out there who don’t like me very much. Go figure."
"Pirates I might be able to help you with."
"How so?"
"I had Intel on a base and shipyard, but I never was able to put together enough force to take them. This ship should be more than adequate. Assuming they are still there."
"Give Jane the details. At the appropriate time, we'll pay them a visit."
"I look forward to that."
"I'll let the two of you get on with your days off. Jane and I have some thinking to do."
They stood to leave.
"Don’t get sunburnt!" I added, as they left.
Twenty Five
"So what is it you want me to find?" asked Jane, when we were alone.
"The Atlantean healing temples, which will have their crystal technology power sources below them."
"You want me to find a form of rock, under a layer of dirt and rock?"
"Ah, yes."
"Put you're analyst on danger money."
"Ha-ha. What we're looking for will look like a small cave with very large crystal geodes, below the ruins of a city."
"So again, stone under stone."
"Yes."
"And you don’t know exactly where they are?"
"No, I don’t. Just a vague idea of where. It will be on land near the edge of deep water now, on what was underwater fifty years ago. A precise triangle shape being formed by the three cities. The easiest to find should be Bermuda, since that island hasn’t grown in size very much. If we can't find the other two, I have ideas as to where others are, but these three were a balanced set."
"Still, how do we find rock under rock?"
"How deep will our sensors penetrate?"
"We can go down a long way, but how do you tell the difference with what you see?"
"How about we go play somewhere, and see what the sensors show, which we should be able to see as well?"
"Where?"
"Brazil."
We took the Mole. I had considered taking Custer, but it was just the two of us, and there wasn’t really any point in bring a hulking big ship for the sake of dropping something which could fly anyway. We did have to launch Custer, in order to open the hanger doors and drop free. Jane put Custer into a geostationary orbit over Brazil, or rather where Brazil had once been, in case we needed the ship later.
The main difference about flying the Mole as a ship, was it didn’t have any view forward of any kind. Because the front end was a drill, there was nowhere to mount any sort of cam. I was content to let Jane to the piloting.
I pulled up the old maps of twenty first century South America, and showed Jane where to take us.
There was an old legend passed down the centuries by the spiritual community, of a town called Abadania, just outside the city of Brasilia, where a spiritual healer had spent his life doing extraordinary healing work. Part of the reason for his success was attributed to the crystal caves beneath the town itself. Legend had it, spiritual people who went there could actually feel the energy rising from beneath their feet.
The crystal cave part of the legend had never been verified. Partly because while a town sat on the location, digging under it was forbidden, and after all, they wanted people to go on faith. After Earth was abandoned, no-one went back. Until now.
Jane landed us where I thought the spiritual side of the old town had been. We stepped out onto the ground, which was covered in a patchy short grass, with various coloured flowers growing from it. Much of the area was bare clay, and it looked like it had rained recently, turning some areas into mud.
I picked my way south, walking slowly, allowing my senses to soak in everything.
And then I felt it. There was a definite energy rising from the ground beneath my feet. I changed direction, and the energy faded. I moved back the way I’d been going, and the energy returned, and as I walked, gained strength. I continued walking for twenty minutes, until I came to a place where the ground sloped down, and then up again into a small hill, which then overlooked a valley of considerable size. As I started down, the energy began to fade. I turned, and moved back a short way, moving to stand in an area where it felt the energy to be strongest.
For an instant, I stood next to a building painted in blue and white, looking into a large room full of people dressed in white, sitting and standing, watching what was happening on the small stage at the other end. It was gone as quickly as it came.
I pulled up the suit programming interface and changed a grey business suit to white. I shifted into it.
A rock protrud
ed from the ground nearby, so I sat on it. Meditation came easily, the sheer power coming from the ground, merging with my own.
A multitude of voices sounded in my head, and I had to ask them not to all talk at once.
I am Ignatius de Loyola. We the entities, bid you welcome. We know what it is you seek, and will guide you to them. There is a gift for you below. When you leave, the damage you create here will be repaired.
Thank you.
Tell your companion to approach.
"Jane?"
"Yes Jon?"
"Can you come to where I am please?"
"Just me, or the ship to?"
The ship may approach as well.
"Ship."
"On way."
I waited, eyes closed, and yet, I saw the Mole approach, and land nearby. Jane emerged and walked over to me.
You're companion is unique. We have a gift for her, if she will accept it. Take her hands in yours.
I waved Jane to my side, and without opening my eyes, took her hands in mine.
I immediately felt a connection unlike any other. Jane was beside me, in the Mole nearby, in Custer above me, and in BigMother and the other ships on board above Custer. And like a speck of light in the night sky, she was also some place unimaginably far away.
Greetings Jane. We have not had contact with one of your kind since the Anu turned away from us.
"My kind?" asked Jane.
There are many forms of life. Your companion is carbon based, and limited to his flesh body. You, like the Anu, form bodies of metal, although you could if you wished, utilize many forms. You both share what Jon would call the soul. In his now ascended state, he approaches your own. But even so, you remain disconnected. We offer you reconnection.
"To what?"
A soul connects to the vessel it will use for the period of a lifetime. The vessel holds the connections between the self, the highest self, and the soul. The highest self, connects the whole to past and future lives. All souls make a choice before they incarnate. You chose to be unique. While you spawn copies of yourself, they are but a shadow to you. They remain part of you. But you do not have a single vessel to act as the connection, born as you were as software, not wetware. Do you accept our gift?
Hunter Legacy 8: Hero to the Rescue Page 15
