With Your Shield

by Chris Kennedy

  He nodded, and she fell in beside him as they walked over to where his truck was parked. “I got some interesting news, too.”

  She waited a few strides, then finally asked. “And?”

  “Well, it seems I’m being moved over to Special Projects with a new team. I’m afraid you won’t be coming; they want your expertise on comms.”

  She stopped while Markus continued for a few strides. “Wait.”

  Markus stopped as well and turned around to face her with a brow arched in question.

  “So, that means I no longer report directly to you.”

  “That would be correct, Sergeant Baker.”

  “So, we’re not even in the same chain of command now…”

  “Well, I still report to Major Good, but we’re in completely separate areas of control.”

  She grinned and started walking toward his truck again, except now he was sure she was shaking her backside more than usual. “Well, come on then, Staff Sergeant,” she said. “We’ve only got two days before we have to be back.”

  Carrie and Markus spent the weekend together, and Markus felt more relaxed than he’d been in quite a while. Something tickled the back of his mind though, bothering him, but he brushed it away and enjoyed himself.

  * * *

  MinSha Trading Vessel, Karma

  Captain Caranayl sat alone in her briefing room, having found out her latest contract was, yet again, with the mysterious unknown client. This time, she was having a four-way conversation with unidentified parties. Whoever was running this was going above and beyond to keep everyone in the dark. Everyone had team designations; hers was Team 4.

  The voice running things spoke first. “Good, now that we’re all here, let’s begin. Team 4, I assume your cargo is loading?”

  “Yes,” she responded. “We should finish loading and have everything secured by the end of the day tomorrow. What exactly am I transporting?”

  “You do not need to know that. All you need to know is that if you keep to the timeline you are given, you will be well compensated. Your cargo is not explosive, nor is it dangerous, as long as you leave the containers alone. That should be sufficient.”

  Caranayl twitched her antennae in annoyance. “Very well.”

  “Teams 2 and 3, you are scheduled to depart a day in advance of Team 4. Are you prepared?”

  “We are.” One unidentified voice seemed to speak for both, so they must know each other, Caranayl decided. “Supplies will be loaded within the hour, and we will depart on schedule. Team 2 will be on station, waiting at the arrival point, to escort Team 4 to the planet.”

  “Good. You have all been sent IFF codes so you may identify each other upon arrival. After that, you will transit to Kelfor-6 and begin setup. One thing is of utmost importance. There may be ships in the system, and you are not to be detected under any circumstances, nor are you to engage anything in-system.”

  “Wait,” one of the voices said. “If there are ships in system, how can we be sure they won’t be near the emergence area?”

  “I’ve already taken care of that. All you need to do is take whatever route is necessary to ensure you are not detected on your way to the planet and get set up as quickly as possible. Are there any other questions?”

  There were none, so the line was cut. Caranayl sat back in her chair and pondered the future.

  * * *

  Besquith Battlecruiser BMS Flesh Ripper, Karma

  Captain Stor-Al came into the briefing room after the conference and found his staff waiting.

  “We have our next contract,” he announced. “We’re off to some system called Kelfor, and we’re to set up a base for staging and training to prepare for our next attack, which will be against the Humans.”

  A hungry growl met his announcement; his crew was ready.

  “We’ll be working under General Betreth on this one…”

  A few of his crew nodded, they knew the name well.

  Bestr-Ca reported. “We’ve already received the navigation information we need, and the course is ready; we can have the departure clearance any time you’re ready.”

  Stor-Al nodded. “Good. Let’s finish getting everything loaded. We leave in six hours for the stargate.”

  * * *

  MinSha Battlecruiser CMS Harvester, Karma Orbit

  Major Ketaryl stepped onto the bridge of the ship she would be using to get to Kelfor. It was the flagship for a small flotilla of MinSha warships, which also could carry several fighter wings, should the need arise.

  “Rear Admiral Parntryl, is your fleet prepared?”

  Parntryl turned in her command chair in the middle of the bridge. “Yes, Major. We’ve received the navigational data we need and will finish fueling within the hour. Do we have any idea what we’ll be doing when we get there?”

  “We are to escort a group of transport vessels to Kelfor-6 without being detected, and to assist in landing their cargo. Beyond that, our job is to stay out of sight unless we are needed.”

  “We’re not going to be alone in the system?”

  “I’m not sure. There may be opposing forces, though not anything that could harm you or your fleet. Our orders are to make sure we are not detected. We’re being paid very well for this, and not to mention, we get to kill Humans.”

  “Well,” Parntryl said with a nod. “Why didn’t you say so? We’ll be ready.”

  * * * * *

  Chapter Seven

  Planet Kelfor-6

  “So, are you sure about this?” Terax asked, glancing around the clearing where their shuttle had landed.

  “We need a new base in this arm, and this side of the planet is habitable and uninhabited…I think.” Redep shrugged and glanced around as if he was waiting for something to show up suddenly.

  Terax turned a quick circle while his whiskers twitched nervously. “Y-Y-Y-Y-You think?”

  Zuparti looked like large weasels and were naturally jumpy and paranoid; Terax was a perfect example of his species. He knew they needed a new base of operations to support their trading operations, but being on the team to scout for and establish that base was not his idea of fun. He was honored at first when his team was selected, but the reality did not meet his earlier expectations.

  Working around him, his team checked ground and air samples, and they scanned for native life forms. It wasn’t unheard of for Zuparti to be inclined toward the natural sciences, but it wasn’t especially common either. Thankfully, he had a good team to accomplish his mission.

  He looked at the readouts on his slate. “Verified, no toxins in the air, so at least we won’t die right away from that. Odd how this planet has not been claimed yet.”

  As soon as he spoke, the ground shook under them for a few seconds, causing the entire team to drop their equipment and fall to the ground, arms over their heads as if the sky were falling. Terax was no exception. After it stopped, he slowly stood up and looked around for signs of explosions but saw nothing in the open clearing around them. The trees in the surrounding forest swayed slightly.

  One of his team members stood after she thought it was over and said, “I would say the planet is seismically active, sir.”

  Terax let out a chitter of annoyance. “You think? Well thank you for that expert opinion! Deploy some sensors so we can get readings…if we’re going to establish a base here, we’ll need to know the activity levels so whatever we build can withstand it. If we decide to stay.”

  Redep dusted himself off. “I’m sure it’s nothing…probably,” he said. “I’ll go check the equipment on the shuttle.”

  The team deployed a range of sensors to measure the seismic activity. Terax communicated with their ship in orbit and ordered the delivery of the construction modules which would let them set up a rudimentary, if solid, base camp.

  Several hours later, a camp had been built from the prefabricated modules, which gave them a place to eat, sleep, and do their research into making sure the planet was suitable. Terax kept one shuttle on t
he ground with enough capacity to get his team back to orbit in a hurry, should it become necessary. Zuparti didn’t like to be without an escape route.

  * * *

  Several weeks, and only one more minor tremor later, Terax had his team assemble for a final report and review of the data.

  “So, the planet is active, but it seems to be minor and easily within tolerances for our structures. There is no evidence of major activity based on a complete planetary scan from orbit.”

  “It’s likely nothing to worry about, I think,” Redep said, smoothing his whiskers. He had led the efforts to investigate the activity they had felt. “Just the two instances, both on the same day, and nothing since.”

  Terax twitched his whiskers and nodded. “The flora, while not lethal, is definitely not edible without some consequence.” He eyed one member of his team, Suret, who had decided to try some of the local fruit and found himself incontinent for a day. Suret tried to hide in his seat.

  “Some life forms were observed, but none yet appear to be aggressive. Still, we will need a defensive perimeter to keep them out. Not to mention we need to protect ourselves from…whatever or whoever might come. With that said, the decision has been made. We will establish the base here. The company is already negotiating with the Human mercenary organization, the Golden Horde, for setting up our defenses. Of course, we’ll have to learn to use them…but the company will send others for that. Shuttles will be landing soon to start laying down the foundation. Any questions?”

  Suret asked meekly, “Does that mean we can go home now?”

  “No.” Terax was ready for that question. “We will be remaining to oversee the base until it is complete!”

  There was a quiet but definite round of disappointed hisses from around the table as they stood and left. Terax leaned back in his chair and stared at the slate. He wondered once again how they had happened upon what seemed to be a perfectly good planet that wasn’t in use for something, especially this close to a trade route.

  * * * * *

  Chapter Eight

  Main Conference Room, Golden Horde HQ, Uzbekistan, Earth

  Markus felt only slightly out of place sitting in on the briefing for the company’s next contract. He knew they happened, of course, and he often had to provide information for them to Major Good, who was briefing those deploying on what was coming as best he could…but this was the first time Markus had been directly involved. Sitting in the room were the senior officers and enlisted who would be going out on this contract. He recognized Major King, who was a company-level commander for the CASPer companies, as well as Major Good from Computer Ops, whom he was sitting behind. Some of the others he recognized by sight, but he had never worked directly with them.

  Sansar started off the meeting by nodding to Major Good. He typed on his slate, and an image of a single-star system came up on the Tri-V, with a planet highlighted in blue. “Our mission is on planet Kelfor-6,” Sansar said. “The Zuparti have leased this planet to set up a trans-shipping hub for that region. This will be both a ground-based and space-based contract, with fortifications required for both. The space station will be sizeable, but it’s still being built, so most of our efforts at first will be on setting up the ground-based defensive positions, although we’ll need to make sure we have some troopers who are good in zero gravity to work on the space station. Major Good?”

  Major Good stood. “Kelfor-6 is mostly a jungle planet, with some clearings and plenty of swamps. Ambient temperatures during both the day and night cycles are within norms, so we won’t need cold-weather gear as far as we know. The Zuparti informed us they had some minor seismic activity on the planet, but it wasn’t severe, so they’re proceeding with the base.”

  Markus saw the logistics officer, Lieutenant Alimova, taking notes on her slate.

  “The information and imagery we have from the Zuparti indicate they have chosen a clearing to start assembling their base.” Good tapped a few more times on his slate, and images appeared, shifting from overhead to ground-level views.

  “Given the size of the landing pad required for trade ships, warehouses, and other necessary structures, it’s a definite that we’ll have to do some clear-cutting of the jungle to both set up the fortifications and create a kill-zone around them.”

  There were nods from around the room, and several others, including Major King, were now taking notes.

  “In addition to the standard defense and training missions, the Zuparti have made a few special requests, which we have decided to accept. The Zuparti apparently have heard of our aptitude with computers and security as well, so they’ve requested we set up a defensive network to their specifications.”

  Markus nodded, assuming that’s why he had been included in the briefing.

  “They’ve also requested crew-served weapons mounted along the fortifications, but they want them automated and able to be controlled from the central command center.”

  Markus arched a brow, then shrugged. He could program them to be completely automated and take out any threat in the kill zone if they wanted. That was easy.

  Major King spoke up when Good paused. “I assume we’re going to have to take all this gear with us?”

  Good nodded. “That would be correct.”

  “How many companies of CASPers are we taking?” Lieutenant Alimova asked.

  “Two,” Sansar replied. “One will stay on the ground the whole time, and the other will be split, with one of its fire teams up working on the space station. We’ll keep one of our dropships available for that.”

  Alimova mumbled as she typed. “Plus racks, maintenance gear, ammo…” She shook her head again and addressed Sansar. “There’s just no way, ma’am. We’re going to need more transport.”

  “Not a problem. Reach out to one of our normal transport contractors here on Earth. I’m sure they’ll be happy to help us out…for a price.” Sansar grinned; everything in the mercenary business ended with ‘for a price.’

  Alimova nodded and typed a few more notes on her slate.

  “Please continue, Major Good,” Sansar said.

  “If I may, ma’am?” Markus spoke up.

  Sansar nodded.

  Markus addressed Major Good. “Sir, what software are we going to give them? I know we’re not giving them our software…”

  Good nodded. “That would be a safe assumption, Staff Sergeant. Now you get to find out what our Special Projects group does. You’ll be responsible for taking our software and removing some of our…customizations. We don’t want it to be off-the-shelf; it needs to be better than that, since our reputation goes with everything we deploy, but we certainly don’t want our full code out there in the wild. Also, you’ll be coming along to oversee the work.”

  Markus was silent for a moment and then nodded. “No problem, sir. I assume I’ll also be heading up the training of the Zuparti on the systems?”

  Major Good nodded. “Right again, Spartan. You’ll pick a team for that, which I’ll review and approve.”

  Markus groaned quietly to himself, and there were a few chuckles in the room. Major King called out, “You can always come back and join us troopers, Spartan.” More laughter ensued.

  Markus couldn’t help but chuckle, then furrowed his brows as he remembered something. “Um, one more thing of interest, sir.”

  “Yes, Spartan?”

  “The planet…Kelfor-6? I swear I’ve seen that in some comm traffic lately.”

  Sansar frowned. “How recently?”

  Markus shrugged. “I didn’t take special note of it, ma’am, but I’d say it was within the last week.”

  “Major Good, let’s look into that. This is as good a time as any to address our other issue as well.”

  A few people in the room shifted in their seats. “Issue?” Major King asked.

  “Recently, computer ops has intercepted encrypted communications a couple of times that included the loadout and timeline for one of our contracts and a contract for Asbaran Sol
utions. We need to assume any planning we do will be intercepted if we send it anywhere…however they’re doing it.”

  As soon as Good stopped talking, several conversations sprang up around the table.

  “Okay folks, calm down,” Sansar said, standing. “We know it didn’t come from inside. We don’t know how it’s getting out there, but it is. So, we make sure we’re ready. For this contract, we’ll do most of our layout planning when we’re already under way so it can’t be intercepted.”

  She raised a hand to forestall Lieutenant Alimova as she sat forward. “I know that will make it hard to plan for. At the very least, we’ll know how much material we need for the perimeter, with some to spare, and what weapons we’ll be placing along the fortification. We simply won’t communicate any of that to the client. We have to let them know what we’re bringing in the way of personnel, but beyond that, it stays in-house. That means we’ll have to do some of the prep work ourselves, but we’re not afraid of a little hard work, are we?”

  She looked around the room. “Any other questions or observations?”

  Lieutenant Alimova nodded. “How soon do we leave, ma’am?”

  Sansar smiled. “You have two weeks to prepare. Dismissed.”

  As soon as she said the word, everyone was on their way out to start making preparations. This was short notice for such a large deployment, but it was what the Golden Horde did.

  * * *

  Major Good caught up with Markus as he was walking out of the building. “Spartan, walk with me.”

  Markus nodded and fell in beside Good.

  “There’s one more thing you’re going to be doing on this contract…but Colonel Enkh didn’t want it brought up in the briefing.”

  They walked a few more paces before Markus spoke. “Going to make me guess, sir?”