Valkyrie (Expeditionary Force Book 9)

by Craig Alanson

  The ‘packages’ we had launched were probes, basically small missiles stuffed with sensor gear instead of warheads. Well, probes were usually crammed full of sensor gear, the three we launched carried a more special payload. They each had containment vessels with one end of a microwormhole. The probes were shot out of a railgun to give them high initial velocity, so they could save most of their fuel for deceleration and maneuvering when they reached the target areas. Because the Ruhar did not want any accidents befalling the primitive humans operating in their training area, a section of the asteroid belt one point six million cubic kilometers in size had been set aside for that one Dodo. Despite the Dodo practicing stealth, it was transmitting a transponder code for safety. My guess was that during an exercise, opposing teams were supposed to ignore the transponders. What it meant for us is that we knew exactly where the Dodo was at all times, and when the Commando team left their dropship, they also wore transponders. That was all great, except from Valkyrie’s position, that data was way too old. By the time the transponder signals crawled out to us at the speed of light, the Dodo could have moved far away. That’s why we needed the magic of microwormholes, they provided instantaneous communications all the way out to where Valkyrie was parked.

  Two of the probes flew outward, away from the star. They were the first launched but last to reach their destination, coming to a halt between the Flying Dutchman and Valkyrie, about fifty kilometers from each ship. Those microwormholes provided a real-time link between our two ships and the other probes, without exposing the smaller ship to danger. Or, not exposing the Dutchman to danger before it was necessary.

  The other two probes? They flew to the exercise area and began listening for the Dodo’s transponder. We now had a pair of microwormholes that provided instantaneous communication between the probes shadowing the target Dodo, and our ships that were safely waiting two lighthours away. There was a brief moment of panic when the signal wasn’t picked up for four minutes, then the Dodo flew out from behind a large metallic asteroid and its transponder lit up the area like a strobe light. Success! Except we then picked up four more signals, part of the Commando team was down on the asteroid. If two of the signals had been from Ruhar observers, I would have been Ok with leaving behind two of the humans and snatching the dropship. No such luck. All four skinsuit transponders were transmitting IDs like ‘Renaud, Henri’. Human names, along with their rank, unit designation and vital signs. The good news for us was, they were assembled on the surface of the asteroid, waiting for the Dodo to pick them up. It’s a good thing I hadn’t ordered us to act prematurely, because as the Dodo slowly descended, two more soldiers climbed out of a tunnel under the surface. They were also humans. Whether there were more humans below the surface, or the others were all aboard the Dodo, we had no idea. Using only passive sensors, the microwormholes only knew what they could intercept through transmissions, and the Commando team was using excellent communications discipline. Based on the tentative flight path flown by the Dodo, it looked like the pilots were following the rules and ignoring the suit transponders of the away team.

  We waited while the Dodo descended, and did not land on the slowly spinning rock. The dropship picked up the six people from the surface by employing some sort of hook-and-tether devices, that reminded me of how we had planned to pull our people off the rooftops on Kobamik, during our Black Ops mission. Smythe had the same thought, and muttered approving noises while we watched. We both made notes to investigate that equipment, it might come in useful someday.

  As the Dodo sped away, the six soldiers dangled behind, being slowly reeled in. One soldier was tumbling on the end of her tether, and I felt sorry for ‘Durand, Camille, Capitaine’. It wasn’t her fault, the tether had a flaw. Or the tumbling was a deliberate part of the exercise, because the Dodo crew quickly acted to stabilize that tether, and reeled her in first. Hopefully, she didn’t upchuck her breakfast croissant from dizziness.

  We still did not know how many people were aboard the Dodo, because their suit transponders turned off when inside the cabin. Smythe urged caution and I agreed, we were on a time limit, but rushing might blow our best, maybe only, chance to augment our STARs with an experienced special operations unit.

  The Dodo flew a twisting course, zipping around asteroids, then it approached an asteroid that was apparently a frequently-used exercise area. The rock had derelict structures on the surface, and tunnels dug into it. Skippy said the layout was originally a typical Ruhar facility for servicing mining equipment and crews, but after it had been abandoned, it was rebuilt to a configuration more common to the Kristang. On Earth, we had training sites built to look like whatever country where the US Army was serving most recently. When we weren’t caring about political correctness, we called those mock villages ‘Hadjistans’.

  Like I said, political correctness wasn’t part of our SOP. Officially, the Army refers to such villages as MOUT Sites, or they did the last time I was at one. That was a long time ago now.

  Anyway, it looked like the Commandos were going on another exercise, and we watched with increasing impatience, urging them to get on with it. Finally, nineteen skinsuits dropped to the asteroid’s surface. Eighteen humans, plus one Ruhar who was clearly identified by her transponder. She was clearly an observer not only from the different signal transmitted by her suit, but by her actions. As the Commando team conducted an assault and breaching exercise, she hung back where she could see everything, but was not in the way.

  Smythe, Kapoor and their STAR team watched closely, evaluating the soldiers from UNEF-Paradise. They were interested in both how skillfully the exercise was conducted, but also what tactics were used. In Smythe’s opinion, the Paradise team was slow and insufficiently aggressive. That could have been standard Ruhar battlefield tactics, or it could have been the hamsters coddling their primitive clients. Or, Kapoor suggested, the humans might be more concerned about avoiding mistakes, than with impressing their observer.

  Personally, my guess was the observer told the humans not to screw up, because she would get the blame if someone busted an expensive skinsuit.

  Anyway, the exercise went on for three hours, then the Dodo dropped down to land. Recovery of the ground team was conducted casually; the action was clearly over. It was time for a stand-down, a hot meal in zero gravity, and maybe sleep. That’s what we hoped, for everyone aboard the Dodo to get a good eight hours of shut-eye. And for the Dodo to be in open space, clear of spinning rocks, when the team caught up on sleep.

  Part of our wish came true when the Dodo lifted off and set course for another large asteroid. At the moderate speed they were flying, they would not reach their next objective for another sixteen hours. I stood behind the chair occupied by the Dutchman’s captain, letting him run his ship. “Chang, tell Kapoor’s team to stand by.”

  “They have been standing by to stand by, for the past six hours,” Kong’s reply had a touch of wry amusement. That’s life in the military. You get ready, in case someone needs you to get ready, in case you are needed. In the case of Kapoor’s team, ‘standing by to stand by’ meant they were in or near the Dutchman’s armory. My order for them to stand by meant the STARS would get into their mech suits, and board a pair of Falcon dropships that were warmed up in the Dutchman’s docking bays. The Thuranin-built Falcons were not as capable as the Maxolhx Panthers we had aboard Valkyrie, and so I was exposing our small STAR team to additional danger. That wasn’t by choice, nor was it by choice that Chang was taking the Dutchman in to Shanghai the Paradise people, rather than me flying Valkyrie. To explain why an Alien Legion human Commando team had been taken, we had to make it look like it was a Thuranin operation. That meant jumping in with a Thuranin ship, and using Thuranin dropships. There was no way we could squeeze our people into tiny Thuranin combat suits, so Kristang powered armor had to be good enough. Anyone who saw the sensor data would assume the Thuranin made their lizard clients do the hazardous work, and hopefully not ask too many questions.
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  Kapoor’s team stood by. We all did. The Dodo cut power and coasted onward, having attained enough velocity that it would need to decelerate hard to slow down before reaching its destination. Still, we waited for the inevitable course correction. If that was needed, and the pilots were following standard Ruhar procedure, the course adjustment would happen within seventeen minutes after cutting power. It did, and Skippy judged they would not need another course correction during their flight. We now knew exactly where the Dodo was, its speed and direction. I gave Chang the signal and the Dutchman began slowing and curving around, until it was flying at exactly the same speed and course as the target, except our good old former star carrier was two lighthours away from the target. “Chang,” I told him as I strapped into a chair in the CIC. “It’s your call.”

  Chang looked to the duty officer in the CIC, who gave him a thumb’s up. “Kapoor is ready,” Chang announced. “We’re opening the docking bay doors now. Valkyrie, we are counting down to jump.”

  Simms acknowledged the signal. “Valkyrie is standing by to assist,” Simms assured Chang, and I sat back in my chair. My relaxed move was for the benefit of the crew, it wasn’t because I was feeling confident. Part of me had wanted to be in the command chair for the op. Another, smarter part of me knew that would signal a lack of faith in Chang’s ability. Besides, if the shit hit the fan, I needed to focus on the big picture and let him run the ship.

  “Dutchman is jumping,” Chang announced. “In three, two, one-”

  We lost the connection to the Valkyrie as our trusty old star carrier jumped.

  And regained the connection as the Dutchman emerged near our other two microwormholes, the ones that had been stealthily trailing the Dodo at a safe distance. Our former star carrier jumped in right on top of the tiny Dodo, which was not particularly a small spacecraft. Next to the bulk of the Dutchman Version Four Point Oh, the dropship was dwarfed.

  Jumping in so close was one reason we had to wait until all the Paradise people were safely inside their dropship. If anyone had been outside, the radiation of a starship emerging from the hellish environment of twisted spacetime could have seriously injured or killed them. As it was, the side of the Dodo facing toward the inbound jump wormhole got scorched. When we were planning the op, I was nervous about jumping in so close, until Skippy assured me the Dodo’s skin would protect its fragile occupants. Once. It could protect the occupants through one blast of radiation. That was hopefully all we needed.

  “Nagatha, work your magic,” Chang ordered as I waited anxiously. “Kapoor, launch.”

  “Yes, Colonel,” she responded, her voice purring with delight. “Communications are jammed. Target ship is feeding power to main engines, and, power is off! Target’s electronics are fried,” she announced with satisfaction. That last task had been accomplished with a bit of Maxolhx technology, a nifty gizmo that could scramble most types of circuits and render ships, weapons, satellites and anything else that relied on computers useless. It was sort of an EMP, electromagnetic pulse, except that Skippy told me it worked even on equipment that was powered down. The gizmo was a short-range capability, and it wouldn’t work on gear specially hardened against the effect, but dropships couldn’t handle the weight penalty of shielding. Plus, none of the traditional enemies of the Ruhar possessed that scramble technology, so they didn’t need to worry about it.

  The result was the Dodo we wanted to capture was drifting, and already beginning to tumble nose over tail ever so slowly. I could not imagine the panic of the people inside, seeing a starship emerge from twisted spacetime practically on top of them, and then losing all power. In the Dodo’s cabin, it would be dark, except for the emergency chemical-powered lights. The air circulation system would be off, the familiar hissing of air through the vents would be missing. In the cockpit, no systems would be operating. Their skinsuits, their rifles, their zPhones, none of it would be responding.

  As I watched the Falcon dropship approach and Kapoor’s team fly out the back ramp in jetpacks, my anxiety level climbed a bit. The people in the Dodo were not defenseless. Assuming they followed the standard procedures for UNEF-Paradise’s Alien Legion teams, they would have backup weapons. Good old M-4 rifles, or whatever the French contingent wanted to carry. Possibly sidearms also, and old-fashioned grenades. Our fancy Maxolhx scramble gizmo could not prevent triggers from activating firing pins and sending bullets down a barrel at lethal speeds. Kapoor’s team were in Kristang mech suits so they had a decent level of protection, they could still be badly injured or even killed by crude but effective bullets with explosive tips. Silently, I urged Kapoor and the STARs to be careful.

  Six of the STARs, including Kapoor, contacted the Dodo and latched on. They had chosen locations away from the main cabin, to prevent some panicked knucklehead inside from being tempted to shoot through the Dodo’s skin to get them. One of the STARs, a graphic at bottom of the display identified the soldier as ‘Frey, Katie, Cpt CAN’ reached out with a pole and slapped the far end of it onto the cabin’s skin. She kept a grip on the pole while flattening herself against the engine cowling to avoid becoming a target.

  On the end of the pole was another gizmo, this one not quite so high-tech. The box on the end of the pole adhered to the Dodo’s skin to secure its position, then a plasma charge burned a hair-thin hole most of the way through into the dropship’s cabin. The amount of plasma was calculated to be exhausted just before it penetrated the inner pressure vessel of the cabin, so right behind it was a tiny drill attached to a wire. Within two seconds of Frey slapping the pole on the target area, we had a view of the Dodo’s interior. A soft light glowed from the end of the wire, illuminating the cabin, where we could see faces that were determined, alert and anxious but showing no signs of panic. That was a good sign. We didn’t need people who frightened easily.

  “Joe?” Chang prompted me from the bridge. “It’s showtime.”

  “Here goes nothing,” I muttered to myself. Toggling the transmit button on my zPhone, I spoke in what I hoped was a loud, clear and confident but unthreatening tone. “Hello. This is Colonel Joe Bishop, of UNEF Special Operations Command. From Earth,” I emphasized.

  It was admirable that although the people in the cabin said things to each other, they spoke low enough that I couldn’t hear them. None of them shouted, none of them moved from their assigned positions. They all had their skinsuit helmets on, but with faceplates up, otherwise they could not have heard orders. After a few seconds, one individual released the strap that had held him in a defensive position behind a locker, and floated over toward the softly-glowing wire. He spoke with a French accent. “I am Commandant Gabriel Fabron, French Expeditionary Army. You, Sir, lie. Earth is lost to us.”

  Commandant was the French Army equivalent to a major in the US military. “Commandant Fabron, we came here from Earth, recently,” I explained. “We will be able to offer proof, once you are aboard our ship.”

  “A Thuranin starship?” Fabron did not relax the grip on his rifle, but he had it pointed down and to the side. His index finger was properly alongside the trigger.

  “It was a Thuranin starship, now it’s ours. We stole it. We’re sort of pirates,” I laughed softly.

  Me laughing had him confused, or maybe he relaxed a bit. “Why should I believe you?”

  “Commandant, I know this sounds like a bullshit story, but you need to understand a couple things. We need your team for a vital operation, I’ll explain once you’re aboard. Robotic tugs are attaching to your hull and will bring you into a docking bay. All we need you to do right now is strap in, relax, and don’t do anything stupid, Ok?”

  “Do I have a choice?” Fabron asked warily.

  “You always have a choice, Fabron,” I used his name in an attempt to establish a rapport. “We need you, your team can make a difference out here. If it helps, you might remember me. I was on Paradise, with the US Tenth Infantry. The Kristang persuaded UNEF HQ to promote me to colonel as a publicity stunt, before
the hamsters took the planet back.”

  In the dim light, I could see his eyes bulge with surprise. “Merde,” he gasped. “You are that Bishop?”

  “Ayuh, I am.”

  “We thought you were dead.”

  “Yeah, well, rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated. Commandant, this may seem odd, but, believe me, we’ve seen some shit out here that will blow your mind. Hell, we have done some shit that blew my mind.”

  He hesitated, making up his mind. The guy was decisive, a good quality, because he only debated for a few seconds. “Very well. It does not appear that I have any good options. We will stand down.”

  “An excellent choice, Fabron.”

  “Live to fight another day, Non?” He grunted, less than happy.

  “Hopefully, you will be fighting on our side. Ok, the next voice you hear will be Major Kapoor of our special operations team.”

  Kapoor’s team got the robotic tugs securely attached, then they used their jetpacks to fly a safe distance away from the Dodo, while Nagatha tested the tugs. After a minor adjustment, she gently moved the powerless spacecraft into a docking bay. Artificial gravity had been cut off to that section of the ship, to make it easier to maneuver the bulky dropship through the doors and down onto the deck, where clamps secured it in place. Kapoor talked the Paradise people through the entire process, including warning them when the artificial gravity plates were powered back up, and weight gradually tugged downward.

  By the time I got down to the docking bay, Chang had already jumped the ship to rendezvous with Valkyrie. We paused briefly after the bay was fully pressurized, as a safety precaution while both of our ships jumped far outside the star system, then I tapped the button to slide open both airlock doors, and walked through. Behind me were Smythe and Adams, both unarmed as I was. Kapoor’s team had rifles and all of them had taken their helmets off. The Paradise people must have gotten a shock when they looked out the Dodo’s windows to see figures in Kristang powered armor, so Kapoor had made sure his team had their faceplates set to clear and lights illuminating clearly human faces.