Casserine (32 page)

“God Bless Nick, and the idea to power the shields on a separate fuel cell,” Mercer sighed.

“Everything else worked perfectly,” Dougherty said. “I guess we’ll have to use some kind of a layer of conductor for the shields to dissipate the power into. Maybe we could use some form of power storage, on the principle of a simple capacitor.”

“It depends on what the particle beam energy becomes as it’s absorbed,” Peters mused.

“Anyhow, I think we’ve caused enough trouble around here for now,” Jake announced, leaning back. “It’s all yours, Jas. We’re just passengers now.”

“I’ll have us back in no time,” Peters remarked. “We sure gave them something to talk about.”

“Not to mention we survived a rather big technical glitch,” Mercer added. “I would not have been too fond of floating around there much longer as Alien target practice.”

“It was worth the risk,” Jake offered. “I’m sure glad we didn’t screw around with a test over the planet. We would have crashed.”

“On the bright side, I doubt the Alien ships we destroyed managed to get much back to their planet in the way of useful information,” Dougherty added. “They won’t want to risk any more ships until they figure out what happened.”

“What if they come to the logical conclusion we came through the Gate, and kicked their butts?” Mercer asked. “They may move the prisoners, or put them out in space on a ship as hostages against an attack.”

“I can’t fault your logic, Charlie,” Jake replied. “All the more reason for us to move quickly. Remember, they’ll still be guessing, and they won’t know about the shielding.”

“You don’t want to go back through before we make some shielding alterations though, do you?” Mercer asked.

“No way,” Jake answered forcefully. “We’re not taking a chance on sacrificing thousands of crew, and vital war ships, to save people we don’t even know are in one piece. Think about what would have happened if Earth Command would have had particle beam weapons with the range to hit us back on Earth.”

“That’s right,” Dougherty exclaimed. “Maybe we should take a moment in all this. We’re getting too cocky. Nick tested the shielding with particle beam fire, but he probably didn’t count on the concentration and size of it making a difference.”

“As you say,” Jake admitted. “We may be getting overconfident, but we can’t let those folks rot down on the Alien home world without some kind of response. Maybe we should come back through with the Intrepid, and enough Drop Ships to go down and get the prisoners. The Intrepid can stay cloaked the whole time, and keep powered down to the point where she doesn’t generate a power signature much larger than we did when we towed

Jas to the planet. We can conduct the rescue mission, and shoot on back through before they know it.”

“If we pull that off, Jake,” Peters added, “maybe we should leave some Aliens, who know what we can do, with our terms for their surrender.”

“That is, of course, if we plan on making friends, Colonel,” Mercer opinioned.

“I kind of see it Charlie’s way, Jas,” Jake mused. “If we extracted our people, what’s stopping us from using a planet killer on them, and be done?”

“That’s cold, General,” Peters laughed. “I wouldn’t think you’d want to do it for the same reason you didn’t just vaporize all members of Earth Command. A majority of this Alien race probably don’t give a damn about annexing resource planets, or planting Bug hordes to eat other races to accomplish the task.”

“Meaning, we should try and make friends like we told Binky we would consider doing, Colonel?” Dougherty asked.

“I know it sounds a little more touchy-feely than what we’ve been doing,” Peters admitted, “but they even know of another Jump Gate. This could work out well, if we can waste the leaders who are behind the Bug infestations, and set up some Aliens we can work with. Hell, they can’t see us coming anyway. We can always wipe them out.”

“Okay, I see your point, Colonel,” Mercer agreed. “Jake, your Chief of Staff advises a friendly approach to these sweet, misunderstood creatures too. So, what do you say, General?”

Jake smiled, coldly considering the ease in which they could end this whole episode, as he considered the alternative proposed. “What about some payback?”

“I don’t think the Colonel meant we wouldn’t use the Intrepid, after we rescue the prisoners, to wreak havoc on where ever we think these scum are that ordered the infestations, did you, Colonel?” Dougherty asked.

“Oh, hell no,” Peters stated without hesitation. “I am afraid even this friendly approach will require an object lesson with many Alien casualties.”

“And it will mean possible products to sell back on Earth, and in the Colonies,” Mercer reminded them. “They must make something down there.”

“You guys have convinced me,” Jake said. “I didn’t really want to blow up the whole planet anyway. I was just kidding a little.”

“Liar,” Mercer accused him.

“Liar, Sir,” Dougherty added immediately.

“Ditto for me, General,” Peters laughed.

“Maybe I ought to just head back to Casserine with Adrian, and make little blockheads, so I won’t hurt anyone else,” Jake offered.

“Don’t take it so hard, Jake,” Mercer laughed. “We still have a hands on rescue mission, we can still use a cold-blooded monster for.”

“Why you no good hypocrite,” Jake retorted. “Oh, if only I would have filmed our information gathering meeting with Binky and Stinky.”

“I didn’t want to use Mr. Snappy, and you know it,” Mercer said in feigned disgust. “It was you who kept saying, ‘hit him with it again, Charlie, I.”

Jake went for him, growling deep in his throat, as Dougherty ended up in the middle of it, too busy laughing to get out of the way. Colonel Peters leaned back in the cockpit of the Command Wing Fighter, increasing power as he entered the Alien Jump Gate, sighing contentedly as he listenedto the melee on the Drop Ship. If only, Peters thought, the Aliens knew just what the survival of their species hinged on.

Chapter 31 

Alien Politics

Jake, Mercer, and Dougherty stood in front of the holding cell, where the two Aliens had been confined. The one they called Binky sat on the pull out bunk with his head in his hands. The other Alien, they called Stinky, lay dead on the floor, with his head at an impossible angle. Binky looked up wearily at his captors.

“Give us the short version, Bink,” Jake told the Alien.

“He would not consider the gravity of our situation,” the Alien replied. “He thought I was a traitor for wanting to spare as many of our people as I can, and decided I should die.”

“I’m glad things turned out the right way, because we have a deal for you, which will only involve light casualties for your world,” Jake explained, as he released the locked door. “Come along with us, and we’ll go over some of the details.”

“Very well,” the Alien agreed, and stood up.

Mercer made a twirling motion with his finger. The Alien walked to the unlocked entrance, turned, and put his hands behind his back to allow Mercer to put the energy cuffs on him. “It’s not that I don’t trust you, Bink, but we have to play this by the book. What’s your name anyway?”

“You could not pronounce my name. I do not mind the name you have been calling me. Is it a derogatory term?”

“Naaaahhh,” Mercer replied. “You killed the one with the derogatory name.”

“Tim here will be taking you to private quarters,” Jake said, indicating Dougherty. “We will allow you to join with your other people we’ve captured after we have a chance to figure out a course of action.”

The Alien nodded, and Dougherty guided him towards the exit into the Intrepid’s hanger bay. Jake and Mercer followed them. By the time Dougherty opened the hatch, a smiling Peters and his Executive Officer, Sara Corey, were waiting for them. Jake noticed Peters had his arm around Corey. He looked around to see if any of the crew were nearby to see them. Peters, noticing Jake looking around, reluctantly released Corey, who moved a step away.

“Sorry, Sir,” Peters said formally.

“Hey Jas, no big deal,” Jake replied with a wave of his hand. “I’m a poor one to be touting protocol. We may just have to have the Military Governor draw up some new rules for exceptions to a rule.”

Corey went over and hugged Dougherty, Mercer, and finally Jake. She looked up happily into Jake’s face. “I can’t tell you how glad I am to have you guys back. We’ve been together so long, I can’t abide the thought of not having you three around. I hope we won’t have to do any more of these blind missions, Sir.”

“Let Tim deposit our guest into his new quarters, and get him whatever he can eat,” Jake replied. “All in all, it looks very promising. Meet us in the Wardroom, Tim. Nick will want your feedback on the shield performance.”

“Aye, aye, Sir,” Dougherty replied, leading the Alien away.

“How are our casualties, Sara?” Jake asked.

“Already on Omaha, Sir,” Corey replied. “Colonel Stavros took them back on the Gallant. We figured we could handle anything coming through the gate with the Intrepid, and the Command Wing Fighters we have on patrol. Byers has the Med Center on Omaha in first class condition. We won’t even need to ship them back to Earth until the more severe cases are stabilized.”

“The prisoners?”

“Being interrogated even as we speak,” Corey answered. “I’m having my team of interrogators gathering info on their societal structure, and how or if the military and civilian population works together. I figured you’d be interested on who’s in control on their world.”

“You figured right,” Jake confirmed.

“We need to find out exactly where we can find the assholes too,” Mercer added.

“The prisoner you saw wants to work out a deal with the least loss of life for his planet,” Jake said. “He’ll be able to provide most of what we need. We’ll be able to find out a lot more from him once we go over the data from your interrogation team.”

“You aren’t mad about Colonel Stavros ordering the boarding of the Alien ship, are you Jake?” Corey asked quietly. “We crippled it so fast, he figured it could be a wealth of information. He gave the Marines free reign. We had Drop Ships ready to blow parts of the ship away, and the boarding force was equipped for decompression.”

Jake nodded. “I have no problem with his initiative. If I wanted to second-guess you two, I wouldn’t have gone through the Gate. Did any of the ship survive?”

“Anton’s towing it back to Omaha. Colonel Tokoru readied a special landing zone to set it down at, and assigned crews to strip it for study,” Corey replied, leading the way towards the Wardroom of the Intrepid.

“Outstanding,” Jake said. “Let’s get something to eat while we talk. Jas here has the tapes of everything that went down. We’ll have to avoid seeing any of the prisoners though, because Mercer, the sadistic bastard, will want to rush over and zap them. He’s out of control, Sara.”

Mercer came to a dead halt, as the rest of the group continued walking, laughing as the Chief of Staff stammered. Finally, he grinned, and shrugged, jogging a little to catch up. He put his arm around Sara’s shoulders. “I need to tell you about the near death of an Alien civilization, Sara; and the desperate battle, three level headed warriors put up against their monstrous leader, to save the creatures from extinction.”

“How about it, Colonel Peters,” Corey laughed. “How did the mission go?”

“It was the most fun I’ve ever had with my clothes on,” Peters deadpanned, setting off his comrades again.

Two hours later, Jake, Mercer, Dougherty, Corey and Nick Richardson were drinking coffee, as Peters narrated the information they had gleaned from the mission. He used the vid records he had made, including the numerous scans of the planet, as a backdrop for his presentation. When he finished, Dougherty made some suppositions as to what happened with the shielding, and a few suggestions for improving it.

“I should have realized a concentration of particle beam fire would be too much for the shields to dissipate,” Richardson sighed. “What a boneheaded error.”

“Nick, if we would have thought to explain the way the Queen’s shielding dissipated the particle beam fire into the surrounding rocks, you would have been informed enough to see it,” Jake said quickly. “Hell, we were on a shakedown cruise. It would have been unusual for something not to have gone wrong. Man, those loads you came up with were devastating, and they had no idea we were there.”

“We blew the shit out of them, Nick,” Mercer agreed. “You should have seen what happened to them when Colonel Peters fired a spread pattern on the three remaining ships. It was like they disintegrated.”

“I’m just glad we hit them with all we had when the first Alien ships came through the Gate,” Richardson said. “We could have taken some big hits when the shielding crippled our systems. I.”

“Never mind Nick, let’s stick with the future,” Jake interrupted. “What do you think of Tim’s idea about capacitive storage?”

“I believe we can relay the energy in a way to reuse it in our weapons systems, refocusing the enemy fire back to its source,” Richardson answered. “We’ll still have to develop Tim’s idea of a temporary storage. It still amazes me how complex the material is. It literally reflects pulse weaponry, but absorbs the particle beam energy. It may even use the particle beam energy to reinforce its makeup. Now that we know the shielding really does have a full cloaking effect on the Aliens, we’ll go full bore on installing it on the Gallant and Intrepid.”

“How soon can we go with the Intrepid?” Jake asked. “We’ll need to go back there as soon as possible to rescue those prisoners, and take out their hierarchy if we can.”

“I’ll have it for you in three days,” Richardson assured him. “We have to find a way to rework the Command Wing Fighters with an upgraded shielding. They don’t have as much room as the Drop Ships and Force Cruisers.”

Jake nodded. “That should also give us enough time to finish interrogating the prisoners, and find out if Binky knows where his leaders are.”

“Binky?” Corey repeated.

“Our Alien buddy, we brought back,” Colonel Peters answered her. “Jake and Mercer came up with pet names for the two they brought back on board. Wait till you see on the tapes how professional they were during the aftermath of the operation? You’ve only seen the stuff I have on the Alien planet. We have some real exciting stuff on boarding Alien vessels, Alien torture, and discussions of Alien extermination.”

“I’m going to have to rethink my orders to record all phases of an operation,” Jake replied, as Corey laughed.

“You’re starting to sound like those boobs who destroyed all traces of the first Omaha Bug War, Jake,” Mercer offered, grinning.

“We could edit them,” Dougherty suggested. “I don’t think anyone needs to see the last part of the trip.”

“Agreed,” Mercer said quickly, causing Jake to start laughing.

“You guys are not touching those tapes until Byers and I get to see them while we have a couple of drinks,” Corey ordered.

“See what you’ve done with all your goofing around, Charlie,” Jake said in exasperation.

“Quit being such a wimp, you big sissy,” Mercer replied disgustedly. “Just edit the vids, and be done with it.”

“You don’t know Sara like I do,” Jake sighed. “She’ll tell Adrian, and I’ll never hear the end of it.”

“You better believe it, General,” Corey confirmed.

“My God, Tim,” Mercer said in feigned shock. “I believe the General had his balls shot off while we were boarding the Alien craft, and we didn’t even know it.”

Two days later, as Jake and Mercer scanned the data accumulated from the Alien prisoners, Dougherty came in with the Alien they called Binky. Dougherty removed the energy cuffs, and Jake indicated he take a seat across from the two men. Dougherty sat down next to the Alien.

“We have a pretty fair picture of life on your planet,” Jake said. “I don’t pretend to understand it, but it seems as if you have almost a hive mentality to your societal structure.”

“We are not like the Tattalias horde, if you are considering that aspect,” The Alien replied, “We do not breed by Queens in a hive structure. Family units are permitted within a clan.”

“I meant you have a central control, and no separate factions. The clan part of what you say makes sense after what we’ve seen from our scouting of your planet. Your structures seem to be joined in separate large dwellings, so I imagine this clan structure you describe refers to these larger units?”

“Yes, but we do not have these separate countries, we know of from our prisoners, as your home planet Earth does. We have no wars between the clans,” the Alien explained.

“How do you pick your leaders?” Mercer asked.

“The genetic offspring of the ruling clan assume the leadership role. This has not changed in thousands of years.”

“Now we’re getting somewhere,” Dougherty put in with some excitement creeping into his voice. “You can tell us where this clan’s residence is, Binky?”

“Of course, but wiping them out would throw our world into chaos, although they are not popular with everyone,” Binky pointed out, cryptically.

“Maybe it won’t be so chaotic,” Jake said calmly. “We’ll just have to ready another ruling clan. I vote for Binky’s clan. How about you guys?”

“I vote for Binky’s clan,” Mercer said, putting his hand up.

“Me too,” Dougherty laughed.

“Done,” Jake pronounced. “Your clan has been voted as the next ruling clan, Bink.”

“But surely you…how…”

“Calm down, we’ll help you get started,” Jake soothed. “We have no intention of flying away without a surrender, and we won’t get it from a dead ruling clan. That leaves installing your clan as both the ruling clan, and our native connection with the planet. We’ll have to work out some form of trade deal, so we’ll need to know what kind of products your people make.”

“I notice you don’t have any women in your military,” Dougherty added. “We know you have females, from our interrogations with your people. Do you have some form of Patriarchal family setup?”

“Our females do not participate in our military, but along with child rearing, they occupy the power positions within our clans. In the ruling clan, the genetic enclave of supreme leaders are all females.”

“Well,” Mercer observed, “there’s your problem, Bink.”

Jake and Dougherty both laughed, as the Alien looked confused at Mercer’s pronouncement. “I have noticed you have females in high positions of your military,” Binky said in reply. “Why does it seem strange for us to have females in our ruling enclave? We at least do not send them into battle.”

“My Chief of Staff was merely making light of a serious situation,” Jake answered. “While we do have women in some combat roles, we do not use them as shock troops on the ground. We are going to take out your ruling clan, Binky. The faster you come to an understanding of that fact, the better. Many lives on your planet will be spared, but there must be a price for the unprovoked attack on our Colonies.”

“If you would allow it, I can help to save even more of my people,” Binky stated quietly.

“Okay, you have my attention,” Jake said, leaning forward.

“As you learned, we have a ruling class, which mainly bears responsibility for our mode of contact with Alien races,” Binky continued, with both Mercer and Dougherty listening now intently. “If your ships can indeed remain invisible, you could land a significant force at the ruling enclave. The surprise would be total, and many of the innocent could be spared.”