by Dennis Young
Back to live-fire training, and Martin took an HE graze along his side when an HCS fastening came undone. If the round had struck solidly, it probably would have killed him. Talice tried to find a proverbial silver lining; the team had done emergency evac and it had gone without a hitch.
Fifteen days and Bird One arrived. Talice called a halt to training for the remainder of the day. The team was exhausted. Martin was still healing. They held an impromptu picnic on the parade grounds, as the weather was mild, and they all desperately needed a respite. Abie and her crew gave hugs around, then showed new upgrades and mods to the assault ship. Talice watched with care. Slowly, the team was coming back together. Bird One had been the missing piece, apparently.
Day Twenty and Evans arrived, disguised as part of the maintenance crew. More intel was delivered. Talice and Mac wrote reports, recorded meetings, took holos, then sent the packages back with the returning personnel to Fawkes. Evans gave his typical lectures—bold, informative, with a touch of theater and his eerie charisma, holding the team rapt as he described the hostage situation. Talice watched, grim-faced. This man, regardless whether he’d risked his life protecting her on Eos, was simply dangerous. But what could she do?
Then more training. More live-fire exercises. More intel, reports, questions without enough answers, simulated landings, and retrievals with Bird One… on it went. Seemingly it would never end.
Until Day Thirty-two arrived. And orders to prepare for Crius.
CHAPTER FOUR
Working for a Living (Part One)
All for Love
“All warfare is based on deception.”
Sun Tzu, “The Art of War”
Bird One, Enroute to Crius…
Part of being allied with the official military seemed to be, they didn’t always tell you quite everything. When Talice received OpCom for Crius, it included a stipulation Colonel Fawkes hadn’t mentioned; Gorg Evans was to accompany the team and supervise the extraction of the operative and procedure for leaving the body now loaded in the hold.
Talice had thought Evans might accompany them and had no real issue with it. The body was a different situation, however. She thought they would procure a body while on Crius and assumed the operative had made arrangements. No such luck. So the seven-day trip was made with a general unease permeating the ship. Talice had seen lots of dead bodies, most in either funeral finery or strewn across a killing zone like scattered bits of dogfood. She wasn’t squeamish… well, not much, anyway. But this…
No one knew who the body had once been. Therefore, it became a topic of dinner conversation. Yes, Marines and former Marines would talk about such things while eating.
“So it’s a woman, right?” Briggs looked down the table to Evans sitting in a corner, not eating. Talice watched every face turn to him.
“I presume so. I would think the Marines would be careful enough that if tests were run, the results would show the remains were female.”
“And we’re to set fire to the facility after eliminating all Nemesis personnel?” Bělinka popped a slice of carrot into her mouth as she waited for an answer.
Evans nodded. “That’s the plan.”
“How will we know who is who? Will they have name tags?”
Looks passed around, and a low chuckle ran through the room.
“If they’re shooting at us, we’ll assume they’re Nemesis,” said Talice. “Let’s not badger Mr. Evans. He doesn’t know much other than what to do with the body after we’ve cleared the place of bad guys.”
“You likely won’t see any women with weapons, if that helps.” Evans shifted in his chair. “Nemesis is very male-oriented. Women are, well, property. Used for extracting information, offered as favors, that sort of thing.”
“Then how did this operative gain access?” asked Bělinka.
“She’s in charge of the girls, the dancers, the… concubines. And new… arrivals.”
“Will she be armed?” Talice put her fork down and looked Evans in the eye.
“Good question. I’d say yes.”
“And does she have body guards who are women, who might be armed?” Rory.
“She has three ‘assistants’.” Evans nodded. “So likely as well.”
“Why didn’t we get this in our briefings at the training camp?” asked Mac.
“Safer here,” replied Talice. “We’re in deep space. Not much chance of tapping into our comm three days out from Crius.”
Mac watched Evans for a long moment. “What else do we need to know, Mr. Evans? We still haven’t put faces with these people.”
“Tomorrow. Two days out is the standard schedule for deep cover ID review.”
“So this is another extraction.” Rory looked to Talice. “This is bullshit.”
“No, it’s a job. A very complicated job that will require us to think a bit before we shoot someone. And that makes it doubly dangerous.”
“First priority is what? Extraction, or elimination of Nemesis?” Mac again.
“The operative really isn’t an operative, first of all,” said Evans. “She was a kidnap victim who volunteered to go back in.” He looked to Talice, then Mac, then all around the table. “She’s a former Marine. Served four years, honorable discharge, out on a picnic with her boyfriend. Went to the ladies’ room at a beach get-together. Never seen again until she escaped.”
Rory nearly stood. “You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me.”
“At ease, big guy.” Talice nodded Evans to continue.
“She ran across a couple of Marines in one of the towns on Crius. I don’t remember which one. Told her story. They got her off planet, back to Theia, where she volunteered to go back in and do what she could to keep as many women out of harm’s way as she could.”
“How long ago?” asked Bělinka, as she pushed her plate away.
“Not quite a Theian year. Somehow, she’s gotten messages out. Probably when she goes into towns to scout for new ‘recruits’.”
Talice looked around the table. Eyes were hard, faces stern. This is a lot different than we thought it was going to be. Holy shit…
“We need to come up with a plan,” said Mac. “A rescue team while everyone else holds off Nemesis.”
“We’ve got three days to do it in.” Talice blew a heavy breath. “Alright, Mr. Evans, you just earned your keep for the trip. Damn. This is just…”
“Like I said, bullshit.” Rory leaned back, the chair creaking in protest.
Evans rested his hands on the table. “At tomorrow’s briefing I’ll give you the layouts of the compound. The intel is less than ten days old.”
Talice nodded. “We want names. Because if we can get this woman out alive, I’m damn sure gonna campaign for her to get whatever the highest civilian award is on Theia. Hell, the Marines should pin a medal on her chest!”
“And creditmarks for the rest of her life.” Mac looked around the table. Everyone was nodding.
* * *
The lights in Bird One’s main hold and corridor had been dimmed. Talice sat in the cockpit on a narrow jump seat. Abie snored gently in her reclined pilot’s chair. Will Thomas was at the controls, as Jamal had “gone for a walk” to get away from the confines and his tactical board for a bit. They were in deep space. Little could happen here, and if something did, it would probably be fatal for the ship anyway. Better now than in orbit.
Talice reviewed the mission files for the umpteenth time. Evans’s impromptu briefing at the meal table had caught her by surprise, but the more she thought about it, the more it fit his quirkiness. He wanted to keep them a bit off-balance. That way they would focus more. It was an old drill sergeant trick, one that often left Mac’s recruits in tears. Gotta weed them out somehow. Push them to their limits. Then past them. Otherwise…
Evans had passed her a slender file pouch after the team dispersed to their cabins. She glanced at Will, his back to her, basically hidden under his headset. Talice entered her password, did the retina scan, and dabbe
d a tear from the corner of her eye into the DNA icon. The seal softened, and she opened the file, sliding out three leaflets and a 2D holo.
Aya Yubari, full name Ayaka Hyori Yubari. Thirty-three years old, born in Southland. Olde Earth Japanese descent, family is very strict about the bloodline. Wonder how that works on Theia? She chuckled. Four-year Marine, counter-intelligence and undercover work. Formally trained in Geisha… She looked up. “What the hell is Geisha?”
“Captain?”
“Nothing, Will, just…” What the hell is Geisha? She turned the leaflet over. A red dot was on the upper left corner, and she knew that meant there was invisible text. She wiped another tear onto the dot, and words appeared. She read on.
Dance… entertainment… Another chuckle. Companionship, and yeah, sex of course. Bonded concubines in some cases… loyal to their family and handlers. Hell, this stuff goes back centuries!
Talice shook her head, marveling at the implications. But in all this, she’s not a… slave or servant. Geez, this woman is a born spy! And the loyalty thing explains why she went back in! Not because of Nemesis, but the other captives!
Talice turned the holo over and looked at it. Aya was certainly of deep Japanese stock. And very, very beautiful. Hair so black it nearly had a bluish sheen. Pale skin, and eyes dark enough to melt a man’s heart. Talice nearly laughed out loud. She’d have a man in her hands in no time, figuratively as well as literally. He’d be her slave! Holy crap, we’ve got to get her out!
She slid the leaflets and holo back into the file folder. Stuffed it all back into the pouch and resealed it. Leaned against the cockpit bulkhead, feeling the thrum of engines as Bird One sped them on to a mission unlike any they could have imagined.
Tomorrow Evans, Mac, and I will come up with a plan. We’ve got two days to figure out how to get her and the others out without killing everybody we’re supposed to save.
* * *
Crius
Habitable planet similar to Olde Earth, Standard Galactic Registry (SGR) 284. Crius’s star is G4V Spectral Class, smaller and a bit cooler than Earth Standard. The star’s official classification name in accordance with the classic Morgan–Keenan (MK) registry is Laberos, Greek for “bright.” In normal conversation and usage, it is simply referred to as “the sun.”
Crius is sparsely populated, virgin territory, and considered extremely dangerous to humans.
Approximately 60% of Crius is oceans and seas, filled with native life. While there is no organized fishing industry on Crius, most protein consumed by humans there comes from sea life, as land animals and flora are not extensively domesticated.
Crius is larger than Olde Earth, about 14,500 kilometers (9000 miles) in diameter, with approximately 5% higher gravity and thicker atmosphere. Axial tilt of Crius is only 6% to the orbital plane, creating a sub-tropical band from 40o north latitude to 40o south latitude. The remainder of the planet is temperate as the poles are approached. The heavy atmosphere is carbon dioxide rich and retains more heat than would be otherwise, with Crius’s distance from its star. Ice caps are large, but not thick.
Crius revolves around Laberos further than Olde Earth does from Sol, and has a local year of 545 Standard Days.
Crius has no central government. There are three recognized states: Labda, Morana, and Tedua, all of which are controlled by various groups of warlords or local militia. These states occupy no more than ten percent of Crius’s land mass. Crius is an untamed world, and activities considered criminal on more civilized planets, such as Theia, are the main economy for inhabitants.
Each state has at least one major urban location, situated at river deltas or land areas rich in minerals or farming land. The largest of these locations is estimated to have a population of no more than 100,000.
Crius was first colonized in the mid-3300s (Olde Earth Calendar), but since then, has resisted formal contact with both Theia and Eos. Although there are companies and industries from both planets established on Crius, the distance and expense of serious investment, to say nothing of the dangers, have left Crius to itself for the most part.
Crius has one major moon, Junora, 2400 km in diameter, with an orbital period of thirty-eight standard days.
There are no current estimates for the total population of Crius.
There are no current Theian military bases or outposts on Crius.
At this time there are no formal relations between Theia and Crius.
* * *
Mission 284BKRR - Code name: Dig Deep…
Bird One made orbit without incident, then descended, fully stealthed and under cover of darkness, ten kilometers from the target compound. Abie set the assault ship down beyond a line of trees and hills shielding them from the Nemesis complex.
The team assembled in the deployment area. Briggs and Rory ran suit checks, weapons checks, software and Headup display checks, everything by the Book like the professionals they were. A current of excitement ran through the team. They hadn’t done this in… well, far too long. Nearly a year had passed since their last mission, the Eos crucible of fire, which, in Talice’s mind, had forged them into a complete team for the first time.
Before assembly, Talice carefully applied a new patch, downed a bottle of S-H, and sat silently in the deployment area alone. Once again, she’d slung a hammock there and given Evans her cabin. She’d decided it was really her favorite place on board, there among the equipment, supplies, and weapons storage lockers, hearing the ship’s engines rumble gently through the hull and deck. Sometimes she wondered if that’s how Olde Earth seafarers felt, standing on the quarterdeck as the ship rocked in the waves, wind in their hair, bearing down on the enemy. Here, the wind was of the cosmos, but the excitement and thrill the same. She grinned. Ferally.
Now, the team was ready again. Her team. And this was recon, so she would lead, with Mac and Evans at TacOps.
“We’re hiking the full ten kilometers?” Rory shook his head.
“ATVs half way, then hiking. Think your legs hurt from training? Wait until tomorrow after this. Okay, go to headsets.” She clicked her comm to Mac’s channel as the team donned their helmets. “Audio check, what’s it like out there?”
“Temp thirty C, humid, no rain around, new moon, light clouds, and very dark. Six hours to sunup.” Mac’s voice was loud and clear.
“Hot and wet. Just the way I like ‘em.” Briggs chuckled in her earpiece.
Talice clicked over to All-Channel. “Listen up. We need vid and holos of everything we can get. Orbital pics show a number of defensive emplacements we need to confirm, and a nose-count of hostiles and friendlies.”
“And we tell the difference how, Captain?” asked Ollie.
“If they’re male and armed, we assume hostile,” replied Briggs, before Talice could answer. “Any females armed, use discretion.”
“What about names?” Junior.
Talice waited a beat before answering. “I discussed with Mr. Evans. Until we have full accounting through recon, we’re holding off. We may have late intel coming through.”
“ATVs are ready to deploy.” Rory stood at the still-closed ramp with Dosu and Nikolay. Bělinka slung her FunGun across her shoulder and hefted her pulse carbine, listening.
“Team Elements set? Give me a count!” Talice looked around the group.
“Team One, ready.” Briggs with Rory, and the SmartGuns.
“Cover One, ready.” Ollie the sharp-shooter, and Junior.
“Cover Two, ready.” Dosu and Nikolay. Niky handled comm and intel in the field.
“Auxiliary, standing by.” Martin, suited up and ready to go, just in case.
“Team Two ready.” Talice and Bělinka would monitor and watch for vehicles that could be taken out by the FunGun’s EMP disruptor. “Alright people, let’s do our fucking jobs!”
“Hua!” The cry rang like a chorus in Talice’s earpiece.
* * *
“I have the compound in sight. Tracking two ATVs approaching from the southwest,
and two drones launching from the center building rooftop.”
Rory’s voice was barely a whisper in Talice’s helmet. She nodded to herself and clicked to Mac’s private channel. “Mac, your drone feed is clear. We’ve got to stay out of their scans or this will be a very short recon mission.”
“Overhangs about fifty meters to the west, get moving. I’m taking my drones up and out of range.”
Talice clicked over to All-Channel. “Team One, move to the overhang fifty meters west. Cover One, keep Team One in sight, prepare to follow on my signal. Cover Two, keep me posted until I give the signal to move.”
Talice watched her NightSight scan as Briggs and Rory scrambled quietly away. “Cover One, go.” Ten seconds later, “Cover Two, go. Bělinka, follow Cover Two in ten seconds. I’ll follow you. Mark.”
The team moved silently and without reply. In less than a minute, they were huddled beneath a rocky overhang, watching their visor feeds from Mac’s drones, rising overhead.
“Mac, we didn’t plan for this. That’s on me. I need to know where the weak point is with their drones in the air.”
“They’re using drones as sentries,” replied Briggs, watching through his visor mag. “That will take at least two men, plus an officer or boss. Fire teams will be two each per drone, that’s seven total. Hell, we could do better sentry work with three or four.”
“Sometimes tech is overused, that’s for sure,” replied Mac on All-Channel. “Okay, go silent, Nikolay, see if you can patch into their signal. I’ve got an idea.”
Talice clicked to Mac’s private channel again. “Talk to me.”
“I can slave one of my drones to each of theirs. So if they launch them during our operation, I can track them and put them out of commission.”
Talice smiled inside her helmet. “You are the wizard lady. But can’t you do that with your tracking software alone?”
