“Command standing by,” Anders replied.
It took half an hour to move all the wounded onto the shuttle. Dean felt a rising sense of despair as he watched the Raptor rise into the sky. When he went back into the cavern, he was shocked at the bodies of the dead and dying. He didn’t like being reminded that people had died and there was nothing he could do to help them. A steely resolve not to lose anyone else to the wretched crawlers hardened inside him.
“What can we do to help?” Orlovskey asked when Dean returned to the cavern.
“Where does that tunnel go?”
“It leads further into the mountain. Not sure how far back it goes. There’s quite a few branches off that main section. It’s never been explored before.”
“Any chance that the crawlers could get in through those tunnels?”
“It’s possible,” Orlovskey admitted. “But most of those passages are rough. Some are much too small for the crawlers. But like I said, we haven’t explored it all. We planned on falling back to the tunnel if the crawlers breached our barricade, but they came so fast once they made it past the trucks…”
“I understand,” Dean said. “And you have no more ammunition?”
“No, we used all we had last night.”
“Alright then. I want your people back down that passageway. Leave enough room that if we have to fall back, we can use the narrow section as a choke point.”
“We can do that,” Orlovskey said. “But most of us would rather be out here fighting with your men.”
“We don’t have weapons for you, I’m afraid,” Dean said. “It’s better that we don’t have to worry about you. Keep your people down the tunnel.”
“Alright,” Orlovskey said.
“Loggins, give the administrator one of your MSVs.”
“Yes, sir,” the FAS private said, handing one of the Miniature Surveillance Vehicles to Orlovskey.
“What’s this, a toy?” the administrator asked.
“It’s a surveillance drone,” Dean explained. “I want it past your people. I’m assuming you’ve got lights?”
“Handhelds.”
“Keep someone with the MSV; that way, we’ll have eyes on our six. I’m confident we can hold them off, but I don’t want any surprises.”
“You’ve got it, Captain. And… I’m sorry I was so angry. None of this is your fault. We’re thankful you’re here.”
“We’re going to get you off the planet,” Dean promised. “You can count on that.”
“We are,” Orlovskey said. “But we don’t expect you to do all the heavy lifting.”
“If we get pushed back to the tunnel, we’ll all be fighting for our lives. Hopefully it won’t come to that.”
“I’ll see to my people, Captain. Let me know if we can do anything.”
“I will,” Dean said, looking at the cavern as a plan began to form in his mind.
“We’re ready for your orders,” Chavez said.
“Alright,” Dean said with a smile, “here’s what we’re going to do.”
Chapter 21
Dusk on Lars felt strange to Dean. Perhaps it was the knowledge that he would soon be fighting for his life, or maybe it was the soft pink glow of the setting sun that turned the slate gray mountains around him a dark purple color. He felt as if he were surrounded by heroes—legendary giants from the past who had gathered to watch his valiant last stand. He did his best to shake the feeling off, telling himself the mountains were just rock formations and that he was on a planet far from his own, but the strangeness remained.
“You believe in God, Jefe?” Chavez asked him as they leaned against the side of a flatbed truck.
“Yeah, actually I do,” Dean replied. “I wouldn’t say I understand him, or that I have all the answers. But I do believe.”
“I sometimes wonder if the old Norse mythology is true,” the staff sergeant said, surprising Dean a little. “Not the creation stuff, but the part about warriors going to Valhalla when they die. I get that concept, you know?”
“Yes,” Dean replied. “Although I didn’t take you to be such a philosopher.”
“I ain’t, really, but there are times when I feel like I’m doing more than blasting bugs, you know? Like there’s more weight to what we’re doing out here.”
“More than saving lives?”
“Maybe, I don’t know. I mean, saving lives is important—noble, even—but that just feels like it’s part of the job.”
“We fight for the people beside us,” Dean suggested.
“True that, but it’s more. It’s like my ancestors are calling to me when I’m getting ready for a fight. You ever feel like that? Like someone, somewhere, is filling you with a sense of calm determination and strength before battle?”
“Yes, I feel that too. Can’t say what it is, but I feel it,” Dean admitted. “In fact, I was just thinking about it before you spoke up.”
“Makes me think there has to be something that ties us together, you know? I mean, I don’t know much about God or religion, but there are times when I can feel the connection. Even hundreds of light years from home, I feel more human, more tied into my history, and more like I’m making a difference than I ever felt on Earth.”
“We don’t have to understand it to use it,” Dean said. “I feel it too. It makes me want to succeed.”
“Yeah, I get that,” Chavez said. “I get that.”
They were both quiet for a while. The platoon was spread out, with the Heavy Armor Specialists filling in the weakest spots around the vehicle barricade. Dean had planned a multifaceted attack and fully expected the fight to come in waves the way it had at the outpost. There were thirty-four crawlers on the other side of the barricade, which Dean suspected was only a fraction of what they would face throughout the long night. If more of the creatures arrived, which Dean fully expected to happen, the row of trucks wouldn’t hold them back very long.
“Won’t be long now,” Dean addressed his platoon. “We know what we’re facing. These creatures can’t beat us as long as we stay focused. I know we’ve all been awake a long time. Use the stimulants in your battle armor, but don’t overload. There are a lot of people counting on us to keep them safe. So stay calm, conserve your ammunition, and let’s kill whatever crawlers come at us.”
“Damn straight!” Adkins said.
“First in the fight!” Wilson added.
“We gonna kick some crawler ass!” Kliner proclaimed.
“Movement!” Ghost said, just before his Vandamere long rifle fired.
Dean’s TCU buffered the report from the .50 calibre weapon. The first of the crawlers to raise its shell off the ground bucked a little as the lead slug ripped into its flesh. Dean couldn’t help but admire Ghost’s marksmanship. There wasn’t much of the creature exposed under the shell when it rose up on its legs, lifting its shell off the ground. Dean generally just tried to get a few shots under the shell, hoping to hit something or have the bullet ricochet back up into the crawler’s soft belly. But Ghost’s shot was perfectly placed: so close to the edge of the shell that it impacted the crawler underneath.
“Make every shot count,” Dean said.
Every one of the thirty-four crawlers his platoon had identified were assigned to someone. They watched their creatures, waiting for them to rise up and become vulnerable. Dean heard his Specialists firing around him, but the two creatures he’d assigned himself to watch hadn’t moved. He could feel the tension. What if his gun misfired? What if the creatures both moved at the same time? What if his aim was off? He fought the temptation to check his rifle. The EMR rifle was a simple weapon, but Dean couldn’t help but feel that he had forgotten something. His greatest fear was that the crawlers would somehow manage to evade his shots and make it over the barricade.
The closest of his two crawlers trembled. Dean wished he could rub his eyes. The stimulants from his battle suit made him feel awake, but his eyes burned as he watched the crawlers. He couldn’t be sure if he was seeing movement
or if his eyes were playing tricks on him. He kept the aiming reticle trained on the crawler, his finger resting lightly on the trigger of his rifle.
“Got him!” Wilson declared.
“Take that, you filthy animal,” Adkins growled.
“Target eliminated,” Tallgrass said.
At almost the same moment, both of the crawlers Dean was responsible for popped up. His first shot dug a furrow into the soil underneath the first creature. He fired a quick second shot: the tungsten projectile shattered one of the crawler’s legs and its shell dropped back to the ground. Dean immediately targeted the second crawler, which was scurrying quickly to Dean’s right. He tracked the creature, leading it just slightly before pulling the trigger. The shell dropped to the ground from a direct hit, and Dean returned his attention back to the first crawler.
To his surprise, it was limping backward, its shell dragging on the ground behind it. All around Dean, the Specialists of his platoon were declaring the field of fire clear. They had taken out their targets; only Dean’s wounded Crawler remained.
“What the hell is that thing doing?” Ghost asked.
“Retreating,” Chavez said.
“What should we do, go after it?” Harper asked.
“The question is, why is it retreating?” Dean said. “They’ve shown no concern for their dead, or even any regard for their own lives before this.”
“It’s calling for reinforcements,” Tallgrass said.
“Or trying to lure us out of position,” Chavez said.
“Harper, send an MSV,” Dean ordered.
The Fast Attack Sergeant plucked one of the small, remotely controlled weapons from the battle armor on her left shin and tossed it over the barricade. It bounced on the ground, eventually coming to a rest on its wheels. Harper used hand gestures to control the little surveillance drone. It raced over the rough ground, driving over the dome-shaped shells of the slain crawlers until it got past the wounded creature.
Dean watched the vid feed from the tiny drone as it turned directly in front of the wounded crawler. A massive pincer extended from the shell, reaching for the MSV. Harper raced it around the pincer and under the shell. The vid feed went black at the same moment that the shell was flipped upward. It landed upside down, as smoke rose into the air above it.
“First wave is accounted for,” Chavez said. “Thirty-four kills. Platoon sustained no casualties.”
“Excellent,” Dean said. “Now we wait. Harper, get us an eye in the sky.”
“Roger that,” Emily Harper said.
She launched an AAV from the upper-arm portion of her battle armor. It rose up quickly, pausing long enough to take in the view of the platoon and the crawlers they had just fought.
“Nothing on night vision,” she said. “They blend right into the terrain. I doubt we’ll see them even on the move.”
“Try infrared,” Dean ordered. “Lets see if they’re putting out enough heat to create a signature.”
The vid feed from the AAV transformed from the pervasive greens of night vision to a pink and scarlet landscape. The heat from the long day had soaked into the rocky soil of the planet, but it was shedding that heat quickly in the darkness. Dean could see the bright yellow blobs of body heat exuded by his platoon, and the radiant heat from the barricade was a pale orange line. Beyond it, there appeared to be nothing more than ground heat, except for where the creature had been flipped by the MSV. That crawler showed up as a vibrant red.
“Not much better,” Harper said.
“Perhaps,” Dean offered. “Then again, if they were moving, the heat might escape their shells. Stay on infrared and give us a heads up if you spot anything.”
“Roger that,” Harper said.
“Aright, alpha team is on watch. Beta team gets a quick nap. We’re doing two-hour-watch rotations, people. Just like basic.”
Without another word, half of the platoon dropped to the ground and went to sleep in full battle armor. It wasn’t comfortable, but they were so tired they didn’t complain. Dean knew they all needed more rest, but until they were safely back on the Hannibal, that wouldn’t happen. He also knew that even just an hour of sleep would help. And he quietly hoped that the crawlers would hold off for a few hours so everyone in the platoon could snatch a quick nap.
“I’m at three thousand feet,” Harper said. “But there isn’t enough atmo to get the drone any higher.”
“That’s good enough,” Dean said, studying the vid feed as the drone slowly circled above them.
The entire landscape was monochrome, and it was hard to make out the mountains from the valleys, which showed up in different shades of pink.
“Loggins, activate the MSVs,” Dean said. “Motion sensors only. They need to last the entire night.”
“Yes sir, Captain,” the FAS private said.
Earlier that day, Dean had ordered Loggins to set out two MSVs on the trail leading to the cavern. Their vid feeds weren’t very useful in the dark, but Dean hoped they might pick up movement if the crawlers came toward the cavern. There was nothing else to do but wait. Dean wished he could lie down and sleep, but he was one of the few people who could monitor the vid feeds from the AAVs and MSVs. That meant he was on watch with no breaks. Instead, he sipped the stimulant-laden energy drink from the bladder inside his armor and waited.
Chapter 22
Dean paced, letting the others watch for approaching crawlers using the night vision capabilities of their battle armor while he watched the vid feed from the AAV. Four hours had passed since the first fight. Dean had just roused beta team and the alphas were lying back down for another short nap, while Dean walked to keep his body loose and his mind focused. The stimulants helped, but he could feel the fog that was settling into his mind and knew he needed a strong shot of adrenalin to fully wake up. He got it a few minutes later when he spotted something on the AAV vid feed.
The night had cooled considerably. The landscape had grown dark, even on infrared, so that it was a dull maroon color with almost no contrast between the mountains and the valley. Dean’s mind cleared suddenly when he saw a softer red color. He couldn’t see movement exactly—the drone was too far up—but he was certain the light red hadn’t been on the vid feed during the AAV’s last circle. Harper was awake after her short nap but was still shaking off the webs of fatigue by doing some yoga stretches. Dean approached her and she stood to attention.
“You okay?” Dean asked.
“Fine, sir,” Harper replied. “Ready for duty.”
“Good, take the AAV down,” he ordered. “I think I see something, but I’m not sure what it is.”
She activated control of the drone, which had been on autopilot while she slept, and sent it on a slow, spiraling descent.
“There,” Dean said. “What does that look like to you?”
“Honestly?” Harper replied. “It kind of looks like a lava flow.”
“Yeah, I’m wondering if it’s our friends coming to party.”
“I can’t make out individuals,” Harper said.
Dean knew what she was thinking. There was no sign that the change was from heat escaping round shells, but Dean was afraid that if enough of the creatures were traveling together, their heat signatures would blend.
“That’s why we have to get a closer look,” Dean said. “Something’s producing heat out there.”
The AAV circled downward, getting closer and closer to the new heat source on the ground. At first, Dean wondered if perhaps it was a herd of animals. He remembered reading about the bison herds in North America stretching for miles during the pioneer days. It was reasonable to think that whatever was getting picked up on the infrared display was merely a large group of animals.
“I’m at five hundred feet,” Harper said.
“Take it lower,” Dean ordered, still trying to get an idea of what he was seeing. “Switch to night vision.”
The picture on the vid feed changed to the glowing green of night vision, but the drone was
too high to get a clear picture of what was on the ground. As the AAV descended, Dean thought that his eyes were playing tricks on him again. He got the sense that there was movement, but nothing showed on the drone camera display except for the ground.
“What are we looking at?” Harper said.
“Change back to infrared,” Dean said. He couldn’t help but wonder if perhaps they were seeing a geologic shift in the temperature of the ground. Perhaps a pocket of magma or super-heated gas below the surface was bleeding enough heat to register on the infrared lens.
“Oh, shit!” Harper exclaimed.
“What you got?” Wilson asked.
“That can’t be possible,” she went on.
Dean could see a more defined origin of the heat below him as the AAV leveled off at two hundred feet above the ground. There was a mass of heat all across the trail that led up to the cavern—the same trail that the outpost vehicles had taken to their refuge. But there were also pockets of cooler air, so that the wide blob of red below the drone became a polka-dot pattern of red with light pink spots. The shape of the creatures was unmistakable. It was a herd of crawlers, but the sheer number of the creatures was hard to fathom.
“Wake everyone up,” Dean said.
The order was carried out quickly, and soon everyone was gathered around Dean. He was still monitoring the vid feed. Harper had sent the drone back up and toward the cavern so they could gauge just how far the crawlers were from the barricade.
“We’ve got incoming, a lot of them,” Dean said.
“How many, Captain?” Chavez asked.
“Hundreds, perhaps thousands,” Dean said. “It’s impossible to tell for certain. But we have a major fight on our hands, people. I want to make sure you understand our plan of attack.”
They spent the next few minutes reviewing and then Dean turned to Harper.
“Alright, let’s get started. Hit them with the first wave,” he ordered.
“Roger that,” the Fast Attack Specialist said.
Dean watched as the AAV dropped half its payload of miniature warheads on the front ranks of the crawlers. Unlike the MSVs, the AAVs carried high-yield warheads. The blast blossomed white hot on the infrared display, and the Recon platoon heard the explosion and felt the vibration of the blast in the ground beneath their feet.
Joined In Battle Page 15
