Jethro Goes to War (Wandering Engineer Jethro's tale) (23 page)

“
Yes.”

“
I think we're
going to do all three,” Valenko said turning to Jethro with a
grin.

“
Three?”
the gunny asked.

“
You want a
preliminary op plan now sir?” the bear asked, turning back to
the gunny.

“
If you don't
mind...” the gunny said sitting back, clearly amused.

“
Well then...”

...*...*...*...*...

“
Interesting,”
the Major said watching the feed.

“
That's one
way of putting it,” Firefly responded. “They do think and
fight like recon. Adapt, and overcome.” The AI avatar shook
it's head.

“
You are just
snippy because they caught onto the rigging tape idea right off,”
captain Mayweather teased with a smile. “It's not in their op
orders or out for that matter. Even getting the rigging tape as
digicam, that's a bonus. Fair game I'd say.”

“
I am not
questioning that. I am a bit disappointed that the opposition team
leader, recruit Rigatoni is doing a straight forward frontal attack.”

“
Which will
make things interesting for F platoon. But I think Valenko's plan
will pin them down. Rigatoni isn't an out of the box thinker. I'm a
bit surprised the bear is though, I would have thought he'd be a
frontal assault type,” the Major said smiling.

“
Stereotypical
prejudice that is,” Mayweather snorted. “Just because
he's built like a tank you think he'd go brawn over brain. Glad he's
using his,” she smiled. “Does he have a team name yet?”
she asked.

“
No. Although
recruit Jethro has teasingly called him Yogi a few times.”

“
Yogi?”
Mayweather asked.

“
Child cartoon
bear.”

“
And here I
thought he'd earn Grizzly or Teddy,” Mayweather snorted.

“
Apparently
not. The team has yet to choose team names. I am not sure if it is
because they have been too busy to think of it or that they know that
things will change once they are out of boot.”

“
Probably a
bit of both,” the Major replied. “Or the gunny hasn't
encouraged it. Which is possibly true now that I think of it.”
He grimaced.

“
Well, Valenko
is shaping up as officer material. Going to fast track him soon?”
Mayweather asked giving the Major a look.

“
Already in
play captain. He's slated for OCS as soon as he passes the crucible.”

“
Which is
soon. If he doesn't get too much egg on his face here.”

...*...*...*...*...

The shuttle landed
and Jethro was out like a shot. Hurranna took off after him. The two
foxes hesitated and then followed at a trot.

Valenko nodded, not
even watching as they went. “You all know your jobs. Remember,
this isn't a sim, no time outs, no do overs. Get it right the first
time. Déjà, Ris'ha you've got rear guard,” he
nodded to the selkie and the Naga.

The naga wasn't too
happy. He'd been forced to have his antlers cut even more than before
to get into a special suit. He hissed and then bobbed what passed for
a nod in his species. His eyes wandered around, taking in the
battlefield.

Valenko hefted his
plasma rifle and then pointed. “Sniper team on the wall. Find a
good spot and hunker down. Keep e-com silent until it goes down.”

“
Roger,”
the leopard nodded. He hefted his sniper rifle and then moved off at
a trot. His Veraxin spotter followed.

Sergei adjusted his
pack straps and then smoothed a bit of tape over his left forearm.
“Tape is going to get gummy when the sun hits it.”

“
Should have
thought of that earlier. We're planning on sticking to the shade
anyway. They've got the advantage though, the sun will be to the left
behind them. Keep your heads down, e-com silent once we get set.
Let's move people,” Valenko waved broadly. The team moved out.

 ...*...*...*...*...

Jethro leapt over a
rock, moving as fast as possible. “Shouldn't we be in the
shadows?” one of the foxes complained. He hissed. At least the
fool had complained on a laser link instead of broadband.

“
Quiet. E-com
silent remember? Keep moving. We'll go to the shadows in a bit. Just
be glad that bend in the ravine is blocking them from hearing us.”
He moved faster. They needed to get past the half way point to a
location he had picked out fast. It was off a side trail, but the
entire side trail was exposed to the enemy view. They had to get to
the hide, and go to ground fast.

The exercise was in
a kilometer wide ravine. The ravine walls snaked back and forth, and
varied from sheer vertical cliffs to lazy slopes. It was over forty
kilometers long. They had a long way to go and a short time to get
there. He felt his pulse quicken as he checked the time. He picked up
the pace.

By their best
estimate he and his team had a short window to get to the hide. It
all depended upon Rigatoni. If he was short on brains they could
still be at their drop off base scratching their asses and getting
organized. But they couldn't count on an enemy's short comings. His
HUD blinked and the bouncing ball led him to the narrow side trail
off to his left.

He made it to the
hide and checked it out. It was a shallow cave, half way up the side
of the bluff. Rocks screened it from the trail below. He pulled his
ruck off and tossed it to the back of the cave. Quickly he pulled his
field shovel and started to expand the floor of the cave, digging a
makeshift foxhole.

He looked up after a
moment. The others were still moving along the trail. He shook his
head. Damn slow pokes. He dug in with a will. Hurranna jumped in and
tossed her ruck off. She sipped at her water straw and then fumbled
with her shovel.

“
What the hell
are we doing?" she asked "we could keep going...”
Jethro snarled but then caught himself before his claws came out. He
turned but paused when he noted she had plugged into his auxiliary
port. He grimaced.

“
Dig. Fast.”
He motioned. “It's better to be dug in and hidden than to get
caught out on the trail.”

“
Ah.”
She dug in. The foxes got to the ledge and practically fell in. They
shouldered their rucks off and then started digging. Jethro paused
and plugged a line into the nearest, the arctic fox.

“
Could you see
us from the trail?”

“
Not until we
were within spitting distance. The shoveling gave it away,” the
male said panting. “We need to get this done soon.”

“
Right,”
Jethro said. In a few minutes they were done. He hunkered down,
turning everything off. Hopefully the rocks and thermal blankets they
were under would absorb any thermal energy they were emitting. He
took a sip of water from the straw and tried to calm his nerves.

They lay there,
waiting. He had snaked an ODN line through the dirt but was leery of
using it. The energy of his suit might give him away. He laid his
helmet against the rock and tried to think about how much leakage he
could get away with.

He felt a vibration
in his mouth. He paused trying to place it. He lifted his head up,
moving away from the rock and it stopped. He looked around and then
put a hand on the rock. He felt it again, weaker. Frowning he moved
his shoulder down and rested the side of his helmet against the
stone. He could feel vibration, like a pulse.

He looked at
Hurranna and she grinned. She held a thumb up listening as well. She
counted down with her hand.

When she got to zero
she started to move. The vibrations had faded, but he wasn't taking
any chances. He grabbed her hand and shook his head when she looked
at him. She cocked an eyebrow at him. He turned to the foxes who
twitched their whiskers at him. He held up a finger.

He grimaced and then
opened a window on his HUD. He accessed the optical feed and looked.
Carefully he maneuvered the tip of the cable around, getting a good
look around. If Rigatoni was smart he would have placed his rear
guard further back. But no, he'd kept it tight. There was a dust
trail leading off the way they had come. He nodded. He grabbed his
ruck and motioned for the others. They helped each other back into
their rucks and then pulled the tarp down.

Hurranna caught his
eye and he turned. She grinned and raised her eyebrows up and down a
few times. He snorted softly and then pointed. He waved with the
blade of his hand in the move out command.

...*...*...*...*...

“
Well, this is
fun. Remind me to plan a party like this every year,” Valenko
snorted, watching Sergei writhe in the dust. “Oh get up you big
baby,” he growled.

“
Can't. Suit
is locked,” Sergei gasped, and then his com shut off. His
harness was blinking.

“
So why are we
the blocking force again?” Zebo asked, ducking behind a rock.
He hefted his needler. His eyestalks moved, trying to see up and
behind his head. He grimaced and then pulled an optical cable out of
his bag and fished it through the cracks between him and Sergei's
fallen body.

“
We're too
damn big to manage that trail,” Valenko replied, shooting.
“We're pinned,” he grimaced. Right now only the snipers
were getting shots off.

They had gotten some
good licks in, the ambush had worked well. He hadn't intended to
crush them, just pin them down. It was working. That was the problem.

“
No fair,
they've got heavy weapons,” Zebo whined, shaking a hand. “We
don't.”

“
Yeah, I
noticed that. But they make dandy targets in orange,” Valenko
growled.

“
Quit whining.
It's just something to work on,” Chirby growled. “I
wonder if the others got through though. If they got caught this is
all moot.”

“
Count on it.
Cause I am,” Valenko growled.

“
Oh goody.
Then cover me,” Chirby chirped then rolled.

“
Bloody hell,”
Zebo growled. “He's insane,” he said, raising his rifle
and firing. He was using the attached camera to try to pick exposed
targets out. After a moment there was a flash and he cursed, dropping
his rifle.

“
What? Pick it
up!” Valenko said as Zebo shook his hands.

“
Can't. Fried.
Or at least simulated,” Zebo said. He pulled his side arm and
looked at it.

“
Here,”
Valenko grabbed Sergei's weapon and passed it to Zebo. “It's
not like he's using it. Lazy. Bet you got shot so you can catch a
nap,” he nudged the big Liger with a knee.

Sergei snorted, eyes
closed. He purred a chuckle. Thanks for the idea. He thought and let
himself fall asleep. It wasn't like he could do anything else.

 ...*...*...*...*...

“
There it is!”
Hurranna said grinning ten minutes later. “And not a guard in
sight! Come on!” she ran ahead of Jethro. He paused looking
around the terrain. He felt a boding unease and slowed, trying to
place why. Gunny had taught them to listen to their hunches.

“
Something
doesn't feel right.” He caught sight of orange and snorted.
“Dumb.” He threw himself to the ground. “Down!”
he ordered at the same time as he dropped. He twisted firing at the
orange.

Hurranna jerked
startled and then paused, puzzled as a buzzer went off. She looked at
her harness which was all lit up and blinking. She looked around.
“What the hell?” A voice on her HUD ordered her to lay
down. Grimacing she did as she was told before it locked up and
shocked her for noncompliance.

The foxes dropped
flat and then one rolled behind a rock for additional cover. Jethro
peppered the area where the sniper was until he saw lights flash. Got
him. He carefully looked around.

“
Check the
area for more. Be on guard.” He carefully scanned the area,
both around the neck of the ravine and then out, onto the plains
beyond and behind the pennant flag.

“
Nope,
nothing,”  Shiku, the arctic fox replied. “Sector
clean.”

“
No threats,”
Pamplona growled softly. “Think they just left the one.”

“
Go ahead and
stand up and find out,” Shiku said dryly.

“
All right I
will,” Pamplona did and then looked around. “Clear,”
she said and started to move to the flag. She reached for it and her
harness went off. “Blast!” she snarled and then dropped
defeated to her knees and then laid down.