by Marcus Sloss
Reinhardt watched over the troops helping the crixxi get into truck beds. “I have an ATV team that will do the trick. I will leave the tank back with support. I figure if we can one-shot something coming out of the portal, then they will hesitate. The longer they wait the better off we will be.”
“They could be on the water world for days. There are so many variables. Not trying to glean intel, but why risk your tank?”
“Even though it runs on three types of fuel, the M1 tank will be out sooner or later. I have three on my walls playing defense. This is my field version. If it survives this rotation it will retire at the Gtower outpost. Speaking of which, I got an extender built so we can have a combined Gnet. Any issues with us patching into the Gnet? I will need some admin stuff for my people to put out information and whatnot.”
I did not hesitate to answer. “Go for it. We could use cross-communication. Perci can get you limited permissions. How excited are your older people to become young again?”
“I literally had to push out to help you. If not, I would have had angry people demanding to join your stronghold. Kind of funny when you think about it. They were down-talking your dirt farm until every plumbed drain started spewing feces. Then you get a magical healing goop, add in running toilets, and suddenly you’re the better option. I found it more than a little ironic. Sincerely, though, thanks for the zinc. It is hard to express how happy I am that we are working together.”
“That’s the virum in you pushing you to survive. I even see the gray in your hair fading, old man. Alright, I think we are loaded up. I have Slister and Mitchell staying behind. Both officers with loads of combat experience. I recommend letting Mitchell be the on-field commander of the joint forces,” I said with a stern tone.
I watched him squirm a bit in his half-exposed gunner turret. He argued a bit, then nodded to himself as he spoke into the private Aspen radio channel.
“Major Ulander, she will be his second. That is her right there shaking hands with Mitchell,” Reinhardt said while pointing at Mitchell with Elifer.
I glanced around. Besides Elifer, the crixxi were loaded up and ready to go.
“Dedric, take us out, RTB,” I said into the radio.
Nancy popped out the front roof hatch, Jevon out the back. They exchanged waves with Reinhardt as we jostled over the rough terrain. I enjoyed the ride from up top. The bugs splattered into my shield, causing the hexagon patterns to flare into view. Nancy activated her shield after the first bug went splat on her cheek. She was talking to herself as she rubbed her face.
My Gpad sent an alert.
“Where are you? Daphne is in your chair wanting to talk. She seems very nice.” - Queen 2
“I am on the roof. I wanted to be able to watch the loading without getting bogged down by kids. I estimate five minutes left until the gate picks up and the lockdown reset timer activates. I want to view the situation without distractions.” - Cap
I smiled when she did not reply. Willow was becoming an amazing soldier and officer. The drone footage of Xgate 232 generated on my Gpad holographic display. Mitchell stood with his hand on the Xgate button. The tank was still rolling into position to support the light infantry. The vehicles, ATVs, and bikes were shifting to face the currently blank south portal. A half mile south there was a wooded section where Slister’s troops dismounted to use trees for cover. The trucks staged for a rapid retreat. Our forces intertwined into one unit. Major Ulander and Mitchell were effective in their joint effort.
The Xgate shifted, forcing Mitchell to run to his motorcycle. He sped away for the southern tree line. The Xgate flared to life once it was hovering off the ground. I saw the blue of the archipelago chain come alive. A squibble was hovering with the gate as it drifted. I saw it turn its head to talk to someone outside of view. The blue gate of the southern side went gray. The other three remained online and the Xgate continued to flow in its hover.
“Uh… Cap. Orders?” Mitchell said.
“They locked that Xgate down to shut us out, probably. Or some other force. Chain Xgating gets very complex, very fast. Which is mostly why I do not want to defend the crixxi’s jungle. They still have infinite possibilities of enemies flowing into a zone that is burning down,” I said, noticing a horde of lurrol inside the western gate.
The view was flickering flames. Endless burning red flames licking up hundreds of feet to the canopy. Animals fled into our portal seeking sanctuary. There went the natural biodiversity in a single moment. I heard a wailing cry escape from below. I did not fault their anguish. There must have been a hundred of the lurrol aliens rampaging across the tall forest.
I swapped to the drone watching the savannah portal. A single off-road truck sped through the portal. They landed in a crash that tilted the vehicle until it almost rolled. A set of drones flew out the back windows. The truck stabilized to follow the Xgate. The need to dodge terrain was minimal and the speed of the Xgate itself was slow. The situation went from intensely dramatic to very mundane in a matter of moments. The background video showed lots of large animals grazing. The largest herd of animals reminded me of bison, but with cracked leathery yellow skin instead of fur.
The truck decided to take a risk. It rolled next to a yexin, as I termed them. The yexin had three big eyes with six floppy ears on its head. A rifled extended out a window inches from the animal. I saw the weapon jerk. The yexin shook its head in anger before flopping over dead. A man ran out with a chain. He wrapped the chain around the yexin’s neck a few times before connecting it to the truck. Nearby yexin were getting agitated, mainly from the fast movement of the human. I do not think they rationalized what happened.
The man returned to his vehicle, which sped for the gate with a body in tow. The truck stopped to recover the drones. When the little machines were inside, the truck raced forward into the portal. The vehicle jostled in a violent manner when it landed on Earth. The driver stupidly stopped the truck while towing a massive dead animal. The yexin body crashed into the bed of the vehicle, smashing the side walls. The back glass, windows, and even the windshield shattered from the impact.
The truck lurched forward. The driver gave a fist pump out his missing window in glee of being alive and being back on Earth. The savannah yexin and further animals calmed now that the vehicle was gone. I swapped to the eastern gate. Nothing but willow trees with a cobbled road. An antlered animal—not too different from a deer—was frolicking in the woods with a younger version bounding behind it. I wondered who lived in the castle I could no longer see.
The western gate displayed more burning. The forest was so bright with the inferno I doubted we would get to use the river to extract minerals. I couldn’t bother to watch it, mainly because there was zero chance I was willing to take the fight inside the blazing environment. My Gpad pinged an alert.
I opened a file titled “savannah video.” I watched the two drone feeds start a wide scan range. There were no signs of living structures on the surface. I was shocked by the amount of animals. I noticed an abundance of prey animals but no predators. Something scratched at the back of my mind. An inkling from the trade with the scary bear…
I closed the feed and called Harvard.
“S2, go,” Harvard said.
“These savannah creatures have no predators around. I think they are farm animals. Plus, it looks like there are more than the natural vegetation can—”
“On it, but I agree. You are probably correct on this one, Cap. They act wild even if they are domesticated,” Harvard said, interrupting me. “Sorry to cut you off. We are analyzing the creatures called the lurrol. I will send reports soon. I would like to add a crixxi or two to my intelligence team. Strictly for science, of course.”
Since he was a married man I believed him. I still snickered that he had to include a caveat. The RV tilted slightly as we left the dirt road for the county road. The pavement allowed our massive convoy to pick up speed. Even though I was not expecting a betrayal by Reinhardt, I figured it was
best to address the issue now.
“Thanks for the recon video. Sorry you got a truck smashed,” I said to Reinhardt on the Aspen radio.
“What, no protocol for establishing comms? I guess we are rogue now. The update from the president for all surviving military: there would be no more aid from Uncle Sam. To preserve life by all means necessary.” You could hear the man sigh from inside the MRAP. I let him have his moment. “My intel boys are saying the yexin are farm animals. I was thinking we corral them onto Earth.”
“Alive… I like it, if we can push them effectively into the portal. I guess if they fall and break bones, all the easier to kill them. But we should wait for the lockdown timer to reset. Who knows, some may be great in this environment. I saw a few species with fur,” I said while mulling over the idea. “Why do you think the squibbles locked down the water planet’s Xgate?”
“We have way too many conflicting theories to take a stab on that one. So, when we arrive, we will offload outside your walls. I would want the same,” Reinhardt said, bringing up a potential point of confliction.
“Thanks. The other thing is, what are the lurrol worth dead? I do not think they are edible. Hopefully, their skin contains some value. I am planning on adding a few crixxi to the intel team.”
“Just be careful with them. Aliens, even if very attractive, are still aliens.”
“Cap out.”
The rest of the drive transitioned smoothly. The savannah revealed a new small turkey-type bird. It reminded me of a vulture. The lurrol were on a fire rampage. The western gate was more willow trees with minimal wildlife.
A half hour later we were unloading the crixxi inside Mansion walls. The aliens were very efficient in their ways. I walked to the back of the RV with my shield still up. Trust was certainly earned. I saw our resident children swarm the crixxi little ones. Parents on both sides watched. I realized the little crixxi had translators. Oh man, I had never thought of doing that.
Mary was trying to understand what the little girl was saying to her other crixxi friend. She kept looking back to Jill for help. Eventually, the crixxi swapped to English to talk with Mary. She was offended, though. I chuckled at seeing her stern pout.
Mary’s eyes locked to me, realizing I was home. The toddler sprinted to give me a hug. Boom, she crashed into the shield with a thunk. I guess she was beyond the pass-through speed. I picked her up to soothe her while she cried out in pain. The knot on her forehead grew, then retracted. The virum sure was efficient. Jill came rushing over but I held out a hand stopping her.
Perci was leading Daphne to the newest longhouses. I still could not get over how many children the crixxi brought with them. They were of all ages and full of energy. Parents were patiently translating for the little kids trying to communicate. Mary snuggled into my shoulder while we trailed the main group. I realized we were not needed at this point. I turned for Jill.
“You handle her so well. You back off to war?” Jill said while taking Mary. I was kind of surprised she let me hand her off.
“Watch the fort for me. Be back soon. Or much later. How are you doing?”
“We need to talk when you return. Unless you want me to text you,” Jill said. I paused my spin. Mary was set down and had she rushed to the playground, which explained why I was able to hand her off. “I… This is awkward. Last night, I got horny drunk. Sorry. I would like to be a stone candidate until I am ready. I do not wish to be humping pillows when I wake up. Again.”
I giggled. “Jill, it is great to see you relax some. I have no problem with any woman wanting to gain impulse control or to prevent pregnancies. We will not force babies, I guess, is what I am saying. Did people think that?”
Jill leaned on my shoulder. She waved to Willow and Nancy talking outside RV3 with a group of concerned women. I guess my ladies were the go-to complaint department. “There is so much happening so fast. You have not put out an official statement. There have been mutterings since you have three wives and a cling-on, that you are going to forcefully breed women.”
“Cling-on, like the aliens from that old TV show?”
Jill tugged on my arm with a big smile. “No, you goofball. Me. Honestly, you are handsome. You are great with Mary, and I feel like I am part of the family. So if they call me a clingy side babe,” Jill said with erratic jazz hands, “then I am okay with that. We know the truth. You are helping Mary and me. We are there for you. I want stones so I do not cause drama, and to control my urges until I am ready.”
“One hundred percent approve. Draft something official with Perci, please. You’re the best, Jill.”
“Thanks for understanding, Eric,” Jill said before running for Mary at the playground. I noticed Jill's hips had widened, making her butt snap more.
I walked to Willow and Nancy. The mothers around them scattered at my approach. My palms went up with a ‘What did I do?’ gesture. Willow crushed into me with a hug.
“I bet yesterday I would have asked for stones. I can’t now.” I rubbed her back in support.
“The community will have an official statement soon. Hold on,” I said, and typed out an alert to community members only.
“A statement on reproduction inhibitors coming soon, along with the best details we can provide. All troops return to the convoy.” - Cap
“That should calm them for a bit. Now load up, ladies, we got some animals to herd or squibbles to fight,” I said with a smile. Nancy gave me a kiss before dashing off. I walked hand in hand with Willow back for RV3. When I was inside and in my bucket seat, I disabled my shield. “Dedric, feel free to roll out when ready.”
I checked the drone overhead. The Aspen convoy was already turned around. They were speeding down the dirt road with a dust plume. I needed to get more rocks added to the road. The amount of work the base needed was incredible. I flipped through to our compiled folder. This was a communal note storage spot, a place where team leaders were supposed to be updating projects and to-do tasks.
Wiring old salvaged solar. I clicked on that folder to see a note by Braxton: Awaiting solid roofing or field structures.
I flipped to a map of the stronghold. There was a hand-drawn map that Torrez created almost a week ago. The number of trees to clear was still far more surface area than currently cleared. The problem was we had no plans to start building vertically. Honestly, we were in need of a second power location as the longhouses stretched east.
I dialed up Braxton. His face popped up on my Gpad. The sky was behind him at an odd angle.
“Hey, Braxton. Checking over the power report. I’m in need of some clarity.”
“Just fixing longhouse roof seven. We created enough plywood for all the roofs. At least, I think we did. Hard to tell when you actually start cutting and sawing. What did you have questions about?” Braxton said while wiping his brow of glistening sweat.
“Did you find new power sources? From the grand market?”
“I browsed but did not buy. Gary and I discussed it with Clive. We bought those pumps stacked in the cave instead of another power generator. We concluded the power output was still more than consumption. The problem was wiring.” Braxton paused. He walked sideways with all fours on the roof. A snapping sound told me he was working during his pause. “Apparently silver is super cheap on the alien market. So I bought a few hundred pounds of it, took it to Earth, and chucked it back into the portal. My favorite superhero is my mind-talking person. I asked for the silver to be coated with the plastic bricks, and presto, the community received all the electric wiring it could ever use.”
“Wait. Silver is better than copper?”
“By seven percent, if my memory is right. They cost the same base. My crews already installed electrical boxes to the roofed longhouses. The question is, where do I run the lines from? I was hoping to use that new shield machine,” Braxton said while shifting again. Snap, snap, and snap ten more times. After he secured the plywood, someone off-screen was laying a new board for him. “The shields have g
enerators. They run off those nitrogen power plants you got all the officers wearing. Dead giveaway who is important if you take the time to notice. Meant to point that out, but as you can see”—he grunted while moving a crew to get by—“so busy lately. Back on topic. Those power plants are about the same as a hydro turbine. I can run all the longhouses with a central unit. It will keep the shield up too. Simply put in an alert from the Gtower that when a hostile situation arises the power to the homes shuts off. That was what I was meaning to propose to you.”
I cracked my neck while thinking about it. The next homes would probably be on the western end of the mansion. Or we could turn that into a business section. “What about the old solar panels?”
“Well, that rolls back into what Gary, Clive, and I deduced. Okay, Eric—I feel I can call you Eric at this point—I think you won’t get offended easily. This Viking thing is for assholes.” Braxton kneeled with a huff. The next board was ready for him. The repeating snaps secured the plywood in place and he saw me with a corner of a smile. “See, at least you get it. Okay, we go out and go raiding. For argument's sake, I am the asshole at your side.
“We raid a city, not too uncommon from what we saw with Denver. We find all sorts of power plant generators. Awesome, right? Except for the issue that none of our stronghold’s electrical is compatible. The grand market rolls around. To break it down is a loss; not a huge loss, but a loss. So we try to sell it whole. We looked. Most vendors are selling at a twenty percent markup over raw costs. Which is pennies compared to setting up the infrastructure of a manufacturing chain. Or we can simply learn how to make this new technology work. We need more time to study the market and more visits to get a better feel. But it was our conclusion that we will be able to piecemeal a really nice base with reclaimed gear. With that in mind, the old inefficient solar panels are not worth our time.
“Eric, I really want a bedroom with a door I can close. The issue is, I share a bed with my stinking kids. I love them but I don’t want them kicking me in the nuts when they try to get comfortable in their sleep.”
