Authors: Thomas DePrima
"That laser weapon that popped up out of the roof was a pleasant surprise."
"There are actually two more. They're mounted on either side near the stern. They face rearward in case someone nasty such as a fighter is behind you. But beyond them, the ship can't do very much against an enemy."
"Unless Captain Marcola is piloting it."
"I only used its indestructibility to best advantage. That wouldn't have worked against a warship. However, the CPS
can
take on a warship— and win."
"Wait a minute. You're telling me this ship is armed?"
"I guess the scuttlebutt didn't make it to your team. I've heard they've been shunning the other Marines. Yes, this ship is armed. Armed to the teeth. Missiles and laser arrays."
"Where? I mean, I've seen no sign of any weapons."
"You don't have access to the other two habitat containers. They're, uh, not habitats. They're weapons platforms."
"I'll be damned."
"Don't feel bad. I wasn't briefed either. I learned about it after my tac officer asked why his console indicated that missiles and laser arrays were available to him. He wanted to fire one and see what happened. I told him not to and began investigating. The two weapons platforms are sealed and require the captain's ID to open the hatches."
"And here I thought that if we ran into trouble all we could do was run away."
"That would be the preferable response since we're trespassing in another nation's space, but I like having the extra option if we can't run away."
"So when do we leave?"
"I'll let you know within an hour. I have to discuss it with my bridge crew to determine the optimal time to avoid possible detection."
"Great. I look forward to your call."
"What's the best location you've found near the bottom of the southern continent where we can hide the ship?" Sydnee asked Lt. Olivetti.
"I haven't really scouted that part of the planet actively because you wanted warmer locations."
"Oh, that's right. It's winter down there, isn't it?"
"Well, it's coming into spring now, but it's still pretty cool."
"We need a good hiding place as close to Willonnissa as possible."
"I did see a dormant volcano down there."
"Another dormant volcano?"
"This one has been good for us."
"Yes, it has. How long has the new one been dormant?"
"Six GST years."
"Not very long."
"You never know with volcanoes. At one time, the one we're in right now had only been dormant for six years."
"What does its history and its current readings tell us?"
"It appears stable. The readings are similar to what we've seen here. But since they're on different tectonic plates, I wouldn't expect them to have similar histories or futures."
"Assuming that would be the best location, what would be the optimal hour for us to move to that volcano?"
Olivetti tapped a few spots on her console. "Eight hours, fifteen minutes would be optimal."
"Okay. That's when we go. Lt. Barron, is there anything to be done outside or recovered from outside before we leave?"
"No, Captain. As per your standing orders, we're ready to lift off at a moment's notice."
"Excellent. Okay everyone, we lift off in eight hours and fifteen minutes."
After relaying the information to Blade, Sydnee returned to her quarters to grab some sleep. She had been up for seventeen hours and wanted to be sharp for the trip.
* * *
"There it is, Captain," Lt. Olivetti said as the volcano's wide cone came into view on the front monitor.
The slopes around the outside of the volcano were bare of any flora, proving it hadn't been very many years since the last eruption.
"You still feel confident this volcano isn't going to erupt anytime soon?" Sydnee said to Olivetti.
"The chances are low according to the readings we're getting."
"I hope you're right. Okay, everyone, same drill as before. No one ventures outside without permission from the watch officer, no equipment is left outside after a necessary trip, and we must be ready to leave on a moment's notice."
"I can't believe you picked another volcano," Blade said from where he was standing next to the command chair.
"It worked out well once."
"Yeah, well..."
"Are you ready to go?"
"My team is standing by."
"Lt. Weems, you're up. Good luck with the search, gentlemen."
~ April 6
th
, 2286 ~
Blade was sitting in the copilot seat as they came within sight of a reclamation yard that seemed to stretch on forever. "There it is," he said to Weems.
"I'll put her down over by that water tower. It looks quiet there."
As the MAT settled onto its skids, the hatch opened and Marines poured out. In addition to Blade's people, there was Lt. MacDonald, three of her fire teams, and Lt. Barron, the engineering officer. The plan called for the three fire teams to take up positions outside the reclamation center and watch for security or unwanted intervention while Lt. Barron and the SO team went shopping for the needed generator. Before heading to the reclamation center, they had loaded an oh-gee sled with the equipment they believed they would need.
As the search party neared the front gate, two large animals reared up on their hind legs and began growling menacingly from inside the fence.
"
God
, they're big," Blade said. "They look sort of like grizzly bears, but larger." To Staff Sergeant Padu, he said, "Stun them."
Padu aimed a stun pistol at one of the beasts and pulled the trigger. The beam shot out and seemed to be responsible for quieting the beast in mid-growl. It looked surprised, as if it had never been affected by anything like the stun weapon before. As it partially collapsed to the ground, Padu shot the other animal. The beasts were down, but not even close to being out. The stun charge was usually enough to knock a human out for six to eight hours, but the two animals were only temporarily dazed. They were trying to regain their footing but having great difficulty. However, they were persistent in their attempts.
"Hit them again," Blade said.
This time the two animals went down flat on the ground, but they remained conscious. They continued to growl as they struggled to regain motor functions in their limbs.
"Hit them again," Blade said.
With the third blast, the growling stopped, but the eyes of the beasts were still open.
"Again," Blade said.
After the fourth blast, the animals finally appeared unconscious.
"That did it," Blade said. "Everyone note that if we encounter any more of these animals, hit them four times before approaching them. Padu, open the lock."
Padu opened a case on the oh-gee sled and removed a laser torch. With one quick slicing motion, the lock fell apart and dropped to the ground in two pieces.
"Okay, it's time to find our generator. We all know what to look for. We'll split up into the assigned teams and search the grounds. I'll head for the office with Lt. Barron to see if we can find anything there that talks about GA-compatible generators. Let's move out."
The reclamation center seemed to be about the size of a small city. Willonnissa had originally grown from a housing complex erected just for reclamation workers and, despite being categorized as a city, actually had less land mass than the reclamation center. When seen from the ground, there seemed to be no end to the reclamation grounds.
The Special Ops Marines spread out in pairs and were quickly lost among the mountains of spaceship parts and equipment while Lt. MacDonald and her fire teams established a secure position around the entrance to the facility.
Two-plus hours later, Blade and Barron were ready to give up in the office. Blade's helmet immediately translated everything he looked at, but he'd found no reference to GA ships being recycled.
Barron, being an engineer, didn't have personal armor, and thus a helmet that would perform translations, but he'd been scanning computer listings looking for anything that appeared to have come from the GA.
"Sierra-Leader, this is Alpha-Four," Blade heard on the Com-Two channel reserved for direct contact with team leaders and officers.
"Sierra-Leader. What do you have?"
"We've found what looks like an old generator. Most importantly, it has Amer writing on it."
"Send me a continuous signal tone, Alpha-Four."
As they left the office, Blade took a reading and determined the direction. Then it was simply a matter of getting to where Alpha-Four was waiting. As the pair raced past millions of tons of spaceship scrap, Blade continued to follow the improving signal. When the signal was at full strength, they stopped to take a final direction reading.
"Over here, sir," Staff Sergeant Stromgard said. "To your right."
Blade turned and saw his men standing between two rows of scrap that reached for the sky. He and Barron walked to them.
"There's what we found," Stromgard said, pointing to a huge metal container.
Barron immediately began to inspect the container.
"It's a GA temporal envelope generator, all right. Good work, Sergeant."
"But is it in good working condition?" Blade asked.
Pulling a piece of test equipment from a holster-style case on his belt, he said, "We'll know soon enough." Looking around, he said, "It appears we're in a section devoted to GA ship parts. While I check this out, perhaps the rest of you can continue searching in this immediate vicinity to see if you can find any other generators."
"You heard the man," Blade said, "Let's check these other piles."
As the others spread out to see if they could locate other units, Barron began his examination. He lifted off part of the cover, but as he turned to put it down, one of the scrap-yard guard animals raised up on its rear legs and swiped at him with a huge paw. It's long, deadly claws sliced through his uniform and opened wide gashes in his chest. As Barron screamed in pain and fell backwards, the animal moved in. The noise seemed to enrage the animal, or perhaps it sensed fear and weakness. Whatever its motive, it fell on Barron and began ripping him apart.
The animal screamed in pain as the first laser shot passed through its body. Shots to its head and chest then came from several different directions and the animal dropped on top of Barron.
As Blade and his two men approached the animal cautiously, Blade fired once more. His shot cut off a paw, but the animal never moved.
"Help me get this monster off the Lieutenant," Blade yelled to his men as he began pulling at the beast. "I think it's dead."
When they finally managed to roll the animal's body off Barron and saw the condition of the his body, Blade uttered, "Damn."
There was no doubt that Barron was dead. His chest was torn apart, his throat was ripped open, and it also appeared that his neck was broken. The best surgeons on Earth wouldn't have been able to save him if they already had him on a table in an operating room.
"What do we do now, sir?" one of the SO Marines asked Blade. "We've lost the only person who could tell us if the generator is worth taking back. This was our last shot at getting off this planet without being rescued by Space Command."
"First things first. Get a body bag from the sled and take care of the Lieutenant."
"Aye, sir."
On the com channel reserved for direct contact to the MAT, Blade said, "Flight jockey, this is Blade."
"Here, sir."
"Patch me through to the Captain."
"Aye, sir, one second. Go ahead, sir."
"Captain?"
"Yes, Major?"
"We've lost Barron. He was killed by an animal in the scrapyard."
"Damn. Anyone else injured?"
"Negative. But we're without an engineer and no one else can determine if a generator we found is worth hauling back to the ship."
"Understood. I'll send Chief Luscome."
"Aye, Captain. Blade out."
As the call ended, Sydnee announced on the bridge, "Lieutenant Barron has been killed at the reclamation center by one of the guard animals. Chief Luscome, I need you at the scrap yard. You'll have to inspect a generator and determine if it's worth bringing back here."
"Aye, Captain. I'll be ready to go in two minutes."
"MacDonald," Blade said on the Com-Two, "are those two animals still there? Both of them?"
"Affirmative, sir. Both are still where they fell."
"Blade, out." Turning to Com-One, the general chatter channel, Blade said, "Attention. Lieutenant Barron has been killed by one of those grizzly bear sort of animals. It was
not
one of the animals from the front gate, so keep an eye out for any more. Don't mess with these things. If one comes at you, use your laser weapons and put it down permanently. Blade out."
Blade was certainly glad now that Sydnee had ordered the main ship be moved to the southern continent. If they'd had to wait almost a day for another engineer to arrive, they would have lost any chance of getting a generator here. Once the break-in was discovered, it would not be wise to come back here again.
MAT-Two landed just outside the gate fourteen minutes after Blade made his report. When the hatch opened, Chief Luscome stepped out, followed by Sydnee.
"Captain, it's not safe here," Blade said. "You should stay in the MAT."
"I have my armor on, so I'm protected pretty well. We never should have lost Lt. Barron to a damn security animal. If we ever again have a mission like this, I'm going to insist that every team member have personal armor."
"I concur. For a mission like this, personal armor should be mandatory, even if the team member isn't expected to leave the ship. Time is running short. We have to move quickly now. This way to the generator."
Five minutes later, Luscome was examining the generator. Sydnee had taken two of MacDonald's Marines and ordered them to protect Luscome at all costs. She had simply shaken her head sadly when she saw the dead animal and the pool of blood where Barron had died.
While Luscome worked with the Marines covering his back, Blade and Sydnee teamed up to scour the area for other potentially useable generators. The rest of the SO Marines had continued to search the site, but so far, no one had found a second possible unit.