Not Dead Yet

by Dennis Young

  Talice focused again, watching as the hangar doors slowly opened. “Yeah, looks like activity, but nothing is coming out.”

  “Towing tractor coming around the corner of the hangar.” Briggs again. “They’re in no hurry, that’s for sure.”

  “Captain, there is comm between the turbocopter and someone on the ground, likely at the maintenance cart.” Nikolay. “They are talking about how to get it airborne.”

  “Cover teams, report.”

  “Clear.” Dosu. “Captain, we could use extra eyes. Nikolay is busy with his comm gear.”

  Talice raised her visor again. “Tooley, drop back to Cover Two with Dosu. Slowly and quietly, please.”

  “Cover One is clear, Captain.” Jian.

  Talice slid the visor in place once more. “Give me a report on Ollie. Who is he tracking and what are they doing?”

  Jian chuckled in his microphone. “Old Bionic Eyes says he’s watching shadows in the hangar. Someone is in there, moving around. Two, or maybe three.”

  Talice shook her head. “His eyes are better than our 10X mag. Alright, let’s focus again. Something is up, so Briggs, stay sharp. Rory, keep tabs on the other buildings.”

  The comm was quiet for a few minutes. Then Talice keyed the private line to Mac. “Can you get one of your drones up? We can’t see the north side of the building complex. No idea what’s going on there.”

  “Will do. I’ll go to three kilometers height. That should be enough altitude to keep it off their screens if they’re watching. Stand by.”

  “Captain, I’ve got two… no, three emerging from the hangar. Looks like one male, two female.” Briggs, on All-Channel.

  “Copy, let me know—”

  “Talice!” Mac again.

  Talice clicked over. “Mac, what?”

  “Look at the women!”

  Talice zoomed in again, studied. “You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me. Jance!”

  * * *

  Talice pulled the team back to cover and set Rory, Jian, and Dosu as lookouts. She called a comm conference with Mac and Briggs, almost wishing Gorg Evans was there. She needed his different viewpoint, but wasn’t going to get it. Tooley, Ollie, and Bělinka were taking five while Nikolay continued to monitor the airwaves.

  “Does it really matter, Captain?” Briggs asked, his visor up as he sipped from his drinking tube.

  “It does, and it doesn’t,” replied Mac, before Talice could answer. “For the mission, no. For a review of plans, yes.”

  Talice rocked quietly, as there was no room to pace beneath the overhang. “Now we know who’s in charge at least.”

  “Presumably,” said Mac. “And until we learn differently, that’s the safe bet.”

  “Can we negotiate?” asked Briggs.

  “I’d say no, but then, Jance is just crazy enough to consider it. For these Nemesis people, I was expecting that to be an option …” Talice chewed her lip, thinking.

  “Drone is up, by the way,” said Mac. “No further movement around the hangar or the turbocopter, which is powered down. The place is pretty quiet.”

  “Jance may be short of creditmarks, Mac. Otherwise, why is she involved?”

  “I can’t believe she’s interested in politics.” Mac again, with a derisive tone. “So you may be right about the money. Or she simply might have fallen back like the others. I can’t imagine they planned to come here on purpose. One thing for sure, they have no idea we’re here.”

  “This place looks like the old-time hideout,” said Briggs. “Out in the middle of nowhere, no reason to be suspected.”

  “Briggs, that gives me an idea. What’s the word… when you seal off an enemy until they surrender?”

  “Blockade? Siege?” Briggs paused. “Don’t they have something in the hangar they can just fly away in?”

  Talice grinned ferally. “Not as long as we have Bird One.”

  There was a pause for a long moment.

  “Damn, you’re nasty,” said Mac at last. “But if we do that, the last thing on Jance’s mind will be negotiation.”

  “Not if she doesn’t want to starve to death,” said Talice.

  More silence on the comm circuit.

  Mac sighed into the mike. “In that case, we can’t give any warning. We’d have to take it out quickly.”

  “You don’t like it?”

  “No, Talice, I really don’t. We’re supposed to take these people alive. That was, and is, the plan, Jance or no Jance.”

  “Damn, I’d really like to get her, too. Turn her over to the Marines. Or just kill her.”

  Briggs looked Talice in the eye. “Captain, is she that dangerous?”

  “Yes, she is. She’s not just clever, she’d damned brilliant. And ruthless.” Talice sat again. “Okay, look, we’ll continue as outlined. Recommendations?”

  “We could send Jian in after her,” said Briggs, after a moment.

  “He… damn, that’s not a bad idea. He’s the only one who might capture her alive. But is it worth the risk?”

  Mac’s voice came over the secure circuit. “Careful, Princess. You’re getting too personal.”

  “Yeah, just stop it, Mac,” Talice mumbled into the microphone. Then, to Briggs, “Let’s keep that option in our back pocket. If we go in and she’s trying to escape, we’ll turn him loose.”

  Briggs shrugged after a moment. “Other than that, get back to the ship and review our intel. Then finalize the plan.”

  “Time?”

  “You’ve been there about six hours,” replied Mac.

  “Briggs, what else do we need to see?”

  “Get Bělinka to set up a scanner. Other than that, we’ve got our intel.”

  “Do that. Then we’ll head back. Mac, keep your drone’s eyes on them for any activity in that hangar or turbocopter. The last thing we need is someone to find us in the open.”

  * * *

  The hike back to Bird One was uneventful. Talice ordered showers, a meal, and rest for the team, telling them to be ready for OpCom in twelve hours. Then she visited Abie and her crew in the cockpit.

  Will was sleeping, reclined in his co-pilot’s seat and huddled beneath a blanket. Jamal was taking a break in the ready room. Talice sat in the jump seat again, and Abie swung around to face her.

  Talice took a breath. “Tell me about this ship’s ability to fight.”

  Abie thought for a minute. “You mean a dogfight? We’re not really that maneuverable. I can dodge and outrun missiles with enough head start, but in a real dogfight, it would be tough.”

  Talice nodded, her eyes away from Abie’s face.

  “Captain, look, Bird One is tough. We’re well armed, armored, and fast. Out of the atmosphere, we’ve got shields that are the best we can get legally. We can hit orbit in less than five minutes if we really push it. Or run at treetop level at a thousand kilometers an hour. Tell me what you need us to do, and I’ll make it happen.”

  Talice motioned to Abie’s screen. “You’ve seen our recon and the maps. There’s something in that hangar that got these Nemesis people from Crius here. I’m worried now that there’s more.”

  “Yeah, I heard. Jance is back. You’re thinking she didn’t come with the others.”

  Talice nodded. “And whatever she came in might be more than just some carrier craft.” She sighed. “We’re considering a preemptive strike. Taking out the hangar and whatever’s in it.”

  Abie shrugged. “Not a problem. Safe, efficient. I like it.”

  “Our orders… our mission is to bring these people in alive. It’s… politics.”

  Abie showed a crooked grin. “I heard that, too.”

  “I just need to know your thoughts.”

  Abie unbuckled her harness and leaned forward, elbows on her knees. “Captain, we’ll do whatever it takes, you know that. Bird One is ready for just about anything. I can’t imagine these refugees having anything tougher than we are.”

  “What if they have missiles? Or artillery?”

  Ab
ie considered for a moment. “Short range, I’d say artillery would be our worst case. But your recon didn’t show anything, so that’s unlikely. Other than that, I can’t think of anything.”

  Talice sat back. “Okay, you’ve convinced me. And we’ve seen you dodge missiles, so your flying expertise is known. I’m gonna discuss with Mac and let you know.” She gave Abie a gentle high-five and exited the cockpit, headed for the ready room.

  Now we make some decisions. And no matter what they are, they’ll be repercussions down the line. Fucking politics…

  CHAPTER SIX

  All Work and No Play (Part Three)

  Not What We Had Hoped For

  “Therefore, just as water retains no constant shape,

  so in warfare there are no constant conditions.”

  Sun Tzu, “The Art of War”

  Bird One…

  Talice called an all-team meeting for 0800 Hours the following morning. The briefing room was packed and smelled of coffee, tea, and various breakfast selections. Abie and Jamal were there, while Will Thomas remained in the cockpit and on alert. Tooley sat with Jian and Ollie in a corner. Briggs, Rory, and Dosu commandeered the far side of the table as they usually did. Everyone else pretty much fended for themselves.

  Talice gave everyone time to finish their meals, refill their cups, and settle back into their seats before she moved to the screen and punched up the overhead view of the target.

  She waited as the room quieted. “Here’s where we are. Our count is eleven individuals, eight men, three women. As you all know by now, Jance Sukano is in the mix.” She glanced to Tooley. The night before, she’d filled him in on her history with her former teammate. “While we don’t know her status with the others, I can’t imagine she hasn’t taken charge by now.”

  “Probably killed whoever was in the lead before,” said Briggs. Mutters of agreement made their way around the table.

  “Regardless,” continued Talice, “we still have a job to do, so let’s talk about that.” The screen zoomed in to the hangar. “We know they have a ship and one functioning turbocopter. What else is unknown. Still, the hangar is large enough for the big ship and a couple of single-crewed fighters, or maybe one larger one. After talking with Abie and Mac, whatever the big ship is, it’s likely got some measure of defensive armament. Using typical paranoid threat assessment, we’re also assuming anything else in the hangar is dangerous. Not just to us as a team, but to Bird One.”

  Again, low voices were heard around the room.

  “I’ve discussed with Mac, Abie, and Briggs. Our mission is to bring these people out alive and deliver them to the authorities, meaning either the Marines or Anchor Prime gendarmes.” She paused, meeting everyone’s eyes. “The safest way to do this is take out the hangar and anything in it first. The last thing we want to happen is these Nemesis renegades hop in their ship and get away. The only insurance that won’t happen is a preemptive strike.”

  “What about the turbocopter they’re working on?” asked Rory.

  “We’ll take that out, too,” replied Mac. “Anything that flies has to be destroyed.”

  “What’s our legal position in all this, Captain?” Ollie actually raised his hand.

  “These people are Nemesis. Jance Sukano is a known terrorist. We’re covered.”

  “Timing on all this?” asked Bělinka.

  Talice nodded to Mac, who replied. “We want to hit the hangar when it’s least likely to have anyone in it. Dawn tomorrow is the plan, so OpCom is rescheduled. Then we go to Phase Two.”

  “Phase Two?” Jian.

  Talice nodded. “As I said, and as we’ve covered previously, we want these people alive. In a normal operation, we’d follow immediately with our ground assault, but not this time. We’re putting the team back in the recon area and Bird One will hit the target. We’ll monitor, and at an appropriate time, we’ll open communications with the Nemesis people and negotiate their surrender.”

  The room was still. More so than Talice had ever heard during a meeting.

  “That sounds… interesting,” said Rory.

  “Necessary, big guy. We’ve got to put them in a position where they have no way out but surrender or basically starve.”

  “Any idea what their stores are, in that case?” asked Tooley. “We had a mission in the Marines where the situation was similar. Turned out we had to have supplies flown in because the pirates we were after had a hold full of stuff.”

  Talice glanced to Abie in the back. “Our pilot assured us we have thirty days of supplies. If we’re here longer than that, we can probably have a package dropped, if necessary.”

  “Are we going in on foot again?” asked Briggs.

  Talice shook her head. “Once Bird One blows the place up, it won’t matter how much noise we make. We’ll head to the recon spot in the ATVs once the ship is in the air on the attack run.”

  Briggs nodded.

  “What about today, Captain?” asked Jian. “We’re basically giving them a full day without us knowing what they’re doing.”

  “We’re monitoring with the drones,” said Mac. “Any indication of air action and we’ll go immediately to OpCom.”

  “That means half the team stays suited up at all times today and tonight,” added Talice.

  A groan went around the table.

  “Briggs, work out a schedule, please. Also check out weapons, armor, and the ATVs. Nikolay, make sure your commset is ready.”

  Niky waved a salute.

  “What else?” Talice looked around the table. “Rally time tomorrow is 0700 Hours, so get your assignments done and we’ll meet back here for the evening meal.”

  “You going in with us, Captain?” asked Bělinka.

  Talice looked to Mac, who gave a shrug of resignation. “Damn right I am.”

  * * *

  “Drones are up.” Mac sat at TacOps with Talice, Bělinka, and Tooley at her side. They watched the auxiliary screens as two drones rose from the ground. “Camera drone and the 10mm one for cover.”

  “How high?” asked Tooley.

  “I’m taking them to five kilometers. That should keep them out of range. I’ve got 50X mag on the cameras, good enough for what we need. Current monitor drone is still in place.”

  Tooley nodded, watching.

  “Bělinka, look for a perimeter system.” Talice nearly whispered her words. “We didn’t see anything from the ground, but maybe…”

  They waited in silence as the drones found altitude and moved out. It took them less than fifteen minutes to arrive over the target.

  “There.” Bělinka pointed to a dark dot. Mac zoomed in closer. “See the pattern? They’ve disguised them with rocks and brush. Pretty clever.”

  Talice squinted. “I don’t see any wires.”

  “Lasers. Likely this is a double-powered system,” replied Bělinka. “Each emplacement has send and receive, so if one goes down, it can still operate by receiving from another. In fact, I’ll bet they’re tertiary. Beams going both ways.”

  “That’s pretty sophisticated, isn’t it?” asked Tooley.

  Bělinka chuckled. “Civilians use them for home alarms all the time. The problem is, if you take out one, and the next isn’t in line, you have a hole in the system.”

  “That would likely trigger an alarm, and someone would check it, right?” Mac shifted the drone to the north, waiting for an answer.

  “Sure. But you can go through a hole that big with a tank.”

  “Or an ATV.” Talice grinned wickedly at Bělinka. “A lot faster than running.”

  “Talice, look.” Mac swung the drone camera around toward the back of the hangar. What appeared to be the aft end of a rather sizeable craft protruded through the open doors.

  “Get Abie in here,” Talice said to Tooley.

  The young man rose. “I don’t know the secret knock.”

  “There isn’t one. Just don’t yell ‘fire’, whatever you do,” said Talice, nearly hiccupping with laughter. Mac and B
ělinka were howling.

  Tooley ducked around the corner, laughing as well. A moment later he reappeared with Abie in tow.

  “Take a look at this.” Talice pointed to the hangar on the screen.

  Abie studied the image for a minute or two. “Mac, can you go further north, then turn the camera back so I can see deeper into the hangar?”

  Mac did as asked. “I’m at max magnification.”

  Abie nodded after another minute of study. “Yeah… that’s an older assault craft, pre-Harpoon Class. Pretty heavy armor, not as much weaponry, and they can carry up to twenty for short hops.”

  “A threat to Bird One?” asked Talice.

  “Not unless they use it as a battering ram.”

  “How heavy is the armor?” asked Mac. “Are we talking a hardened target?”

  Abie shook her head. “The AP rounds in the Hellbores would punch through it in about five seconds. Follow with the HE, and it would be all over.”

  “Missiles?”

  “Captain, I’ve never known that type of ship to carry missiles or bombs, but anything’s possible. We mounted our own wing miniguns, remember.”

  “Okay, thanks. You guys comfy in the cockpit?”

  Abie nodded, continuing to study. “Something else is in there.”

  “That’s our thought, too,” replied Mac. “Scouts, or possibly a fighter or two?”

  “Not enough light or detail.”

  “What type of singleship could get here from Crius?” asked Talice, thinking.

  “Geez, Captain, maybe a full-military long-range fighter, but where would they get one?” Abie shrugged. “The pilot could run up the speed and coast most of the way, conserving fuel. Set the environmental systems at minimum, maybe even go into a preset period of stasis, if the ship had that capability. Then have a program already set up for landing or orbit.”

  “Something you could fight?”

  Abie straightened and rubbed her eyes. “Depends on weaponry. Ships like that are built for speed and range, light on armor, usually have four or six missiles and a 50 caliber minigun. So yeah, they’re dangerous.”

  “Better to take them out on the ground, right?” Tooley pursed his lips, thinking.