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Ebooks -Space
VIPER 2284 by RC Campbell 162pp 56,406 words
The Patrol Log for the year 2284. 50 short stories on events that
occurred on board during the frigate's patrols. Incidents include crew
interactions with each other and contacts with other human nations and
new aliens. A 15 page introduction describes the Black Water
Universe, the vessel and gives a quick history of the Confederate
States of Space. $7.95
The Patrol Log for the year 2284. 50 short stories on events that
occurred on board during the frigate's patrols. Incidents include crew
interactions with each other and contacts with other human nations and
new aliens. A 15 page introduction describes the Black Water
Universe, the vessel and gives a quick history of the Confederate
States of Space. $7.95
VIPER 2285 by RC Campbell 153pp 49,553 words
The Patrol Log for the year 2285. 50 short stories on events that
occurred on board during the frigate's patrols. Incidents include crew
interactions with each other. Several crewmen leave during this patrol.
A 15 page introduction describes the Black Water Universe, the vessel
and gives a quick history of the Confederate States of Space. This is
the second year in the patrol. Three more years are planned. $7.95
The Patrol Log for the year 2285. 50 short stories on events that
occurred on board during the frigate's patrols. Incidents include crew
interactions with each other. Several crewmen leave during this patrol.
A 15 page introduction describes the Black Water Universe, the vessel
and gives a quick history of the Confederate States of Space. This is
the second year in the patrol. Three more years are planned. $7.95
If you're tired of reading rule books and want something easy,
try one of the following. PP is the number of 8.5x11 pages. The
normal size on a word processor. Word counts is the number
of words. 80 to 120,000 is the norm for novels.
try one of the following. PP is the number of 8.5x11 pages. The
normal size on a word processor. Word counts is the number
of words. 80 to 120,000 is the norm for novels.
MAUS by RC Campbell 254pp 121,291 words
A motley crew, an unknown off limits planet in a nova, a world
at war with itself, a missing crewman and no one knows whats
going on. Lots of new toys for the combatants. And a monster
battle of five nations that ends with a nuclear blast. Welcome to
MAUS $14.95
A motley crew, an unknown off limits planet in a nova, a world
at war with itself, a missing crewman and no one knows whats
going on. Lots of new toys for the combatants. And a monster
battle of five nations that ends with a nuclear blast. Welcome to
MAUS $14.95
LANDLIQSTA by RC Campbell 133pp 65,271 words
A man travels to the Perseus Arm of the galaxy to meet the alien who
killed him 200 years earlier. This is a novel about time travel. Good
luck determining the years. Most of the story occurs during an animal
house type visit to the survivors of a massive surface battle of the
planets. $7.95
A man travels to the Perseus Arm of the galaxy to meet the alien who
killed him 200 years earlier. This is a novel about time travel. Good
luck determining the years. Most of the story occurs during an animal
house type visit to the survivors of a massive surface battle of the
planets. $7.95
THE ASSERMAN RAID by RC Campbell 198pp 96,020 words
Capt. Jack's best raid is performed after his drumming out of the
marines. The creator of the style of fighting employed by 50 plus
nations. Leader of 50 plus highly successful raids. Jack Masada was
the best. But his victims found something he couldn't beat, lawyers.
Turning to smuggling Jack had a chance to visit the one alien base he
had never dreamt of raiding. Several lucky events give him control over
his old unit and a cover story to make the greatest raid of all. $7.95
Capt. Jack's best raid is performed after his drumming out of the
marines. The creator of the style of fighting employed by 50 plus
nations. Leader of 50 plus highly successful raids. Jack Masada was
the best. But his victims found something he couldn't beat, lawyers.
Turning to smuggling Jack had a chance to visit the one alien base he
had never dreamt of raiding. Several lucky events give him control over
his old unit and a cover story to make the greatest raid of all. $7.95
MAUS
by
Roger Campbell
This preview only contains the first two chapters.
If you enjoy it, order the 256 page, 121,291 word book.
Chapter 1
ENIGMA
"Captain, they're making a dash for the nebula." The navigator plotted both
ships' courses. It wasn’t a surprise the damaged Allemane landing ship was seeking
the safety of all that electrical interference. A nebula was a great place to lose a
pursuer. Any captain would take the same action.
"Follow them," the skipper of the Whitten Bay calmly ordered. He had
expected the run for cover, but there was no way he was letting this one get away.
The Empire had just suffered major damage on Regal 4. Finishing the destruction of
this raider would make it a little easier for his family and friends to endure the
destruction.
"Captain, I'm getting a strange signal on the alarm panel. It’s an automatic
alert . . . we're being warned to stand off from the nebula."
The Navigator kept reading the message. A veteran of twenty years sailing
this part of space, he had never seen or heard of this happening before. As far as
he knew only the areas around the black hole was off limits. While the gator had no
idea why the nebula was off limits, he had to admit he had never heard of a ship
sailing into it.
"Any reason given?"
"No sir, just says not to enter: Class 1, Fraction 7. That's an old code for -
get your ass out of here or else."
"Anyone know anything about this?" A puzzled ship captain also had no idea
why the warning was given. While he didn’t want to let that foe escape, he also
knew warnings weren't put into a ship's Navigation Computer System for the fun of it.
No one had any idea why the alert was there.
"Has anyone gone into that thing lately?"
"No sir." The Gator checked the various info banks in the ship's computer
system. "There's no record of anything having ever gone in there. Odd."
"Why odd?"
"Well, there should be at least some record of at least one scientific
research vessel having gone in. As far as I know there isn't a single sector of space
either we or one of the other governments hasn't explored." The navigator was still
puzzled by the unusual situation they were now in.
"Sounds like a cover up to me and I'm not going to let that bastard get
away. Helm, follow them in. Keep as close as possible, I don't want to lose them.
Do I make myself clear?"
Every head on the bridge nodded in agreement.
#
Following standard procedures for entering a nebula, the Whitten Bay
chased the Alles' MUTTS landing vessel into the dark uninviting area. All hands were
extra alert, this was not an area where one relaxed. The electrical interference
seriously restricted the ship's ability to navigate or do anything that required sensor
devices.
"Captain, all instruments have returned to normal." The helm yelled in
disbelief. The ship was now deep inside the nebula. Their instruments had been
almost useless since entering the area. Except for visual, they had had no means of
maintaining contact with their target. Now the sensors were picking all types of info
as if they were back in normal space. Although there was lots of static, the signals
were clear enough to read.
"Coleman, you got any idea what’s going on?" The situation is getting
stranger Captain Wrang thought as he asked the member of his crew with the most
time inside nebulas.
"Haven't got the faintest. This isn't suppose to be happening. The only thing I
can figure out is this might be something like a bay or fjord sticking into the cloud
from outside."
"How far could it go in?"
"Can't say. Since I've never heard of this before the only thing I can advice
is to take advantage of it and be ready for it to suddenly end."
"Sounds good to me. Helm, get as close as possible to them. I want to be
able to read their numbers when I open up with the lasers. Keep an eye on them in
case they change course. Gator, have a course plotted so we can get back out of
here in a hurry. I still want to know why this area was put off limits. There must have
been a reason at one time or another and that reason may still be a good one. All
hands are to keep on the look out for anything. Something beside that LSM might be
out there and I want to know about it before it knows about us."
As they followed their target, it quickly became obvious the other ship was
taking advantage of the smooth sailing area to speed up and move deeper into the
nebula.
Sitting back in his chair the Captain was amazed how deep the tunnel ran
and how much less the interference was in it. Surely someone must have sailed in
here before. How could something as big as this nebula have been left alone all this
time? There had to be something in here, something that caused that alarm.
Something he probably didn’t want his ship to meet, but something that was not
going to keep him from destroying that stinking raider dog out there in front of him.
"Captain, looks like the end of the tube up ahead. Sensors are hitting the
usual static wall." The gator kept recording all the data he could as they went
deeper and deeper into the giant cloud. If this area had never been explored before
he wasn't going to miss the chance to have something named after himself.
"What's the Alle doing?"
"Still going straight. We might lose them in thirty seconds if they make a
quick turn as soon as they reenter the storm."
"Helm, get closer. I don't want to lose them."
"Sir, we're well within range of most of our weapons. Why not open fire and
finish them now?" The duty Weapons Officer was fresh out of the academy and
quickly realized his was a stupid question. He was now wishing they had taught him
a little bit about fighting in a nebula.
The Captain calmly turned and looked at the junior most member of his
wardroom. "Son, you ever heard what happened to the Tsar Peter when it opened
up inside a nebula?"
"No, sir," the Ensign sheepishly responded.
"In here shots don't always go where you tell them to go. The farther you
are from your target the more of a chance there is for things to go wrong. The Tsar
opened up at long range. Half its shots curved around and ripped it apart. I'll take a
chance in here, but not at this range."
The Weaps Officer nodded he understood and wouldn’t make that mistake
again.
"Where did that come from?" The Helm screamed as she tried to turn the
ship as fast as possible. The motion was so sudden and unexpected most of the
bridge crew were thrown from their seats. Before the driver could explain what had
happened the Captain was screaming for answers.
"What the hell you doing?" The Skipper tried to get up, not an easy task as
the ship was still arcing.
"Sir, there's a planet in front of us and I'm trying not to hit it." The young
woman was using every bit of training and experience she had to maneuver the
vessel. As she kept looking at the ship's course and the planet, nice soft fuzzy
feelings weren’t going through her mind, she was scared out of her gourd and knew
the reason why.
"It came up too quick. It's just too close for our speed. I don't think we’re
going to miss hitting the planet."
"Then let’s do the next best thing. Emergency Landing!"
By now all of the bridge team were back at their stations and reacting to
the situation. Several had expected the skipper's decision and had already started
their part of the landing.
"Coleman, I didn't think there were suppose to be planets in these things."
The Captain was now scanning every scope he could see. What was going
on? Where are we? And how do we get out of here? There were questions racing
though his mind as he tried to absorb as must information as possible.
"Anything's possible with these things. Only heard of one before. Something
about a planet called MAUS, where men died from some unknown disease. Captain,
don't ask what to expect on it. If this is it, there’s nothing on it in the data banks. All I
know is local lure."
"Great, you're a big help."
"Twenty seconds to impact." The navigator plotted the time and location.
"What do you mean twenty seconds?!" The speed of the landing was going
a lot faster than any Emergency Landing he had ever done before and the Skipper
was starting to become concerned. He had a well trained crew, but this wasn’t to his
liking. Having to perform a rush landing on an unknown planet that had popped up
unexpectedly wasn’t in the text book. While he didn't need the book to help him sail,
it was nice to have something to go by.
"Helm, all systems ready for landing."
"Weaps, all systems ready for landing."
"Navigation, all systems ready for landing."
"Engineering, all systems ready for landing."
Strapping himself into his seat the Captain felt a little bit better. All sections
were ready. Maybe the ship might not only survive the landing, but be in some type
of shape to leave.
#
The ship buckled as the retros were engaged. The deceleration process for
a quick landing was always a bone shaking affair for those on board. The extra
force required for an Emergency Landing was worst. It had been known to snap a
ship’s keel. Skippers did not like doing these gut crushers unless absolutely
necessary.
Far quicker than usual, the ship dropped to the ground. As the vessel made
it descend the Chief Engineer noticed something different, the skin of the ship wasn’t
heating up the way it would on a planet with an atmosphere. At the time he said
nothing, they had landed on many planets without an atmosphere.
With a violent bump the ship met the planet's surface. For several moments
nothing moved on the bridge. Each member had been strapped in for the landing
and was now trying to regain their senses. As expected, the landing was worst than
they had ever been through before. Before everyone was back to normal, the
Captain was issuing orders.
"I wanted a full report ten minutes ago."
Everyone began checking on the status of their equipment.
"Coleman, you got any idea what happened to our friend?"
"Yes and no." The Gator kept rubbing an obviously sore neck. He seemed
to be the only one in the cabin with any type of injury.
"Well, are you going to tell me or do I have to wait for the email?"
"I followed their ship until it reached the atmosphere. Something strange
about that. I could swear it entered the atmosphere as its retros engaged."
"Yeah, I think the atmosphere here is thin, if it exist at all. I noticed the
ship's skin never heated up the way it should have." The engineer commented as he
recalled the entry.
"Ok, so this place has no atmosphere. Now what happened to that jerk?"
"From what little I could see, it looks like they did land. But this place is
screwing up the gear. All I can tell now is that they're off about 320% relative,
maybe about 400 clicks."
"Well, that's a start. It looks like we're all right, except for Coleman's neck.
Have Doc look at it now. I want you back up here when the mutts go out. All stations
make damage reports to the bridge at once." The last part was broadcasted over
the ship's 1MC.
Quickly the ship's damage control stations made their reports. As each
station reported their status the Captain relaxed a little more. Everything had been
shaken up as expected, but over all the ship had survived the landing. Engineering
reported that within the hour the lift equipment would be back on-line and the ship
would be able to leave when the Captain wished.
Well, thought the skipper, I hope this was all there was to that alarm. Must
be MAUS, it’s sure is as quiet as a mouse.
#
With his ship quickly returning to its normal operating condition, the Captain
returned to his quest, where was that Allemane raider?
"Casse, I want two squads ready for a look around. Another is to head
towards where we think the Alles are and locate them."
Down in the ready bay the Operations Officer looked around at the mess
and wondered how he was going to comply with the CO's orders. Bolted into their
shipping stalls, the mutts were the only things in their correct places.
"No problem boss. We'll be ready in a few minutes." God, I hate lying, the
Ops O thought as he tried to determine where to start.
"Miller, Goodin, and Flendy get your units ready. The old man wants you out
in five."
"What!" Miller screamed as he pulled a crate off one of his men. "Does he
have any idea what happened? And why the hell didn't he let us know about that
damn EL. Those d - "
"Can it, get your mutts unbolted and juiced up. Let me know if any of the
machines have skin openings. We don't know yet what the atmosphere is like.
Brezewel, go check outside and see what they’ve got to start with."
Back in full force, the Ops O issued orders as his crews readied the various
machines. Techs quickly moved from one machine to another seeing if there was
any damage from the landing. To the surprise of all, only one mutt had been
damaged. Having a loose rail gun barrel fly into the head of the vehicle left the Corgi
with the pilot's seat open to the elements. Damn, thought the Ops O, maybe we will
be able to launch in five.
"There's breathable air out there." Brezewel made his report. "We don't
need anything special for the machines or the men. Atmosphere isn't going to cause
any problems. Just everyone's going to have to use their Landnav all the time. There’
s some type of light out there, but it’s different from anything I've ever seen. Don't
trust your eyes. Ground's solid. From what little I saw there shouldn’t be a problem
with footage. There's vegetation out there, but I haven't had a chance to run any test
on it, never saw purple trees before. Looks like the surface of Terra under a half
moon."
"Alright then. Miller, take your squad out on 320. Upstairs thinks the Alles
are about 400 clicks out. All the skipper wants right now is to find them. No heroics.
We'll send the full company at them later. Understand Campbell?"
The mutt driver nodded in agreement, although it was obvious he was
looking for some action and didn’t like being told to stay in line. Small wonder, his
entire unit had been heavily mauled in its last fight, a rare trap set by an Allemane
force and he wanted revenge.
"Goodin and Flendy, your units are to explore the surrounding area out to 50
clicks. Goodin, you have the northern half. Keep those recorders and transmitters
going at all times. And be alert, we've got no idea what's out there. Old man thinks
this planet might be the reason why this nebula was declared off limits. Might be
something that could eat you alive."
The Ops O made a little motion as if he was being eaten, to which the men
had a good laugh. The laughter broke the ice hanging over the place. The
unexpected rough landing on an unknown world had made the group tense.
"Ok, mount up."
Cautiously the ramps were lowered and a dozen thirty feet high metal
bipods set foot on the planet. At once the three squads began their missions. In an
unknown arena such as this they automatically went to full alert. There had been no
need for Casse to give that order. Every one of the drivers was a seasoned veteran.
Several had turned down promotions in order to remain as mutt drivers. While most
drivers in the various armies preferred driving tanks or hovers, there where a few
who loved their mutts. They felt the mutt’s rough ride was well off set by its good
points: more fire power, more speed, capable of crossing almost any terrain and the
ability to survive more damage.
Goodin's unit moved out on a course of 045 while Flendy's headed out at
210. The area around the Empire's landing ship was flat for miles. Taking advantage
of that, the two commanders had their squads spread out covering more area. For
several hours the eight mutts explored this section of the planet's surface. In the
strange light all the drivers saw was what looked like patches of weird shape purple
trees and open areas of what they thought was orange grass and mushrooms. The
humans couldn’t believe how many mushrooms there were and how straight they
were alined.
#
Miller assembled his unit and sped off as fast as the slow Bulldogs could
move. It wasn't long before the Maltese and Corgi were out of sight from the two
larger mutts bringing up the rear.
"Blue Ghost, Red Ghost, over." Several times Major Miller had to go across
the air waves to remind his point team not to go to far ahead. His Bulldogs might
have long range missiles, but there was a limit to that range.
Miller didn’t want the two running into something like a recon from the raiders or
what ever was bad about this place where he couldn’t support them.
"Red Ghost, Blue Ghost. Relax, there's nothing so far. Nothing but all these
fields of mushrooms. Feel like I'm back on my grand dad's farm on Alpha Omega."
"Well, you're not. Just be alert."
"Oh, boy. Got to cool it now."
"What’s you got?" Miller gave a hand signal to McCray in the next mutt to
speed up. Something was up and he wanted to be there.
"Landnav's picking up something that looks like small buildings."
"You sure? I can't see how anyone could live on this place." But nothing
seemed normal to the squad leader.
"Yeah, got a long range visual on the place. Either the place has square
rocks or we got us a something that looks like a small village."
"Village? Cut the crap." Miller did not want his point men clowning around.
"Nope. Picking up some more and one big one just past the first ones."
Johnson was surprised by what he saw.
"Blue Ghost, you and Grey Ghost stay put til we arrive."
"Ah, man. Come o - "
"No, that's an order. No one goes in until we can back them." Damn eager
kid.
Ticked off, but still good warriors the two drivers took a position on a small
knoll. It enabled them to use their night opticals to scan the area ahead. The more
Johnson looked the more he was convinced those square rocks were indeed
buildings in a village. The shapes and layout reminded him of the small village near
his grandfather's farm.
Not as soon as Johnson or Miller would have wanted, the Bulldogs joined
their point team on the knoll. Using hand signals the Bulldogs set up where they
could provide cover. There was enough light for each to see the other in their
cockpit. Now, with supporting fire cover in place, the two smaller mutts were
signaled to proceed to the location.
As he watched his point men move forward, Miller cursed the strange light
on the planet. From this position with any normal light he would be able to keep an
eye on what was about to developed. While his sensors seemed to be working, unit
leader had no faith in them.
"Red Ghost, you picking up those big buildings off to the right?"
"Got them. You sure they're buildings?"
"No doubt about it. Got good Mark 1 eye ball visuals right now. Looks just
like that village where I used to go to school. Can't read any of what looks like
writing, but the place does seem to have a church, tool shop, grocery store and all
the other shops we had back home."
Miller wasn't sure what Johnson was talking about. He had grown up on
New Manila, a huge city of over twenty five million people. He was lost when it came
to spotting small villages and he was glad to have a country boy out there in front.
"Blue Ghost, Red Ghost. Check out that area off to the right. I want to know
what those structures are. Grey Ghost, check out that large item off to the left. I'm
getting some type of energy reading from that direction."
"What the hell was that?" Johnson was near several small buildings.
"What’s you got?" Miller looked to see if he could see anything. While
nothing was seen moving in front of him except his two mutts, the Lieutenant was
now able to see that the square blips on his scope were indeed buildings. Yeah he
admitted, it does look like the small farming villages he had seen photos of.
"Don't tell me I'm nuts. Don't tell me it’s the damn crazy lighting around here.
But I swear I just saw a man size mouse run into that building."
Johnson was now slowly beginning to scan the village. He had every
weapon armed and ready for anything. At that moment the veteran point man had
the same feeling he had had back on New Berlin during the slave revolt, he didn’t like
what was in front of him. The buildings were two small to hide a mutt, but they
offered great coverage for either men or those stinking tanks. Whatever was out
here he was ready for and Johnson was now sure there was something or someone
else on this planet beside his own unit and the Alles.
"Miller!"
The unit leader turned his mutt toward Campbell's position. He instantly
recognized his voice and could tell something was wrong, especially when a veteran
warrior broke radio security by calling his boss by his given name.
"What's up Bill?" The squad commander gave a hand signal to McCray to
be ready for some action. He wanted to keep the radio free for Campbell.
"I don't give a damn about this lighting. I know I'm watching a damn big
building move. Yeah, I said move. The damn thing is moving. Have you got it on
line?"
The tone of his voice wavered. In one aspect he was anxious for revenge.
But this target was different from anything he had ever seen before, vastly different.
As he watched, Bill maneuvered his mutt into a position that offered some cover and
still gave him a good shot.
"Got it. Don't have a visual yet, but I've got it on Landnav," The squad
leader tried to figure out what was going on. Whatever it was, it was moving.
Whether it was a building or not, it was huge. Except for a carrier, Miller had never
seen anything that big move. At that point the officer decided whatever that was in
front of him, it wasn’t something that belonged to the Alles. In fact, right at that
moment he would have preferred to be facing the Alles, then he would have an idea
of what was out there.
"Casse, got your ears on?"
"Sure do Miller. Just keep this channel open. We got a good signal right
now. Flendy's in the area if you do need back up. Go ahead and find out what that
is, but no heroics. Understand? Especially you Campbell."
The point man flinched at that last remark. He didn’t like being singled out,
especially about having to hold back. As he aimed his particle gun at the moving
building, the mutt driver wished he could fire. At that range and with the size of the
target Campbell bet he could hit it blind folded. The Corgi driver thought some more
about what had happen to him in his last fight and how much he wanted some action
to prove himself. The very thought of what had happened caused a nervous twitch
that resulted in a squeeze on the weapon control stick.
"Oh hell!" Campbell realized what he had just done and watched the beam
leap down range towards its destination.
Swhoom!
Light rays splashed all over the moving building as beam’s energy failed to
penetrate and bounced off.
"Let’s get the hell out of here!" The Corgi began moving in reverse. At that
moment Campbell had no desire to enter into combat with whatever that thing was.
He had never seen or heard of anything that big. During the brief period in which the
building was lit up by the light show, he was able to clearly see what the moving
object really was.
"Campbell, what the hell’s going on!" Miller had seen the beam hit its mark
and reveal some type of mechanical object. "Mac, open season on that thing if it’s
going to fire. Campbell, answer me now!"
The Corgi pilot was too busy to answer. Being closest to whatever the thing
was, Campbell sighted what had to be weapon barrels. The number and size of
those tubes scared him. All he wanted at that moment was to put as much distance
as possible between his mutt and that metal monster. But, that wasn't going to work
realized a man who suddenly had a change of heart. What a fantastic way to make
a name for himself, thought Campbell as he remembered why he had volunteered
for this mission.
Swhoom!
Again a beam raced down range and hit the target. Again the machine was
lit up by the lights created by the beam being spread out.
Swhoom!
Swhoom!
Campbell now had no desire to leave. The battle (If it really was one. So far
the machine had done nothing but look huge, show off a lot of gun like tubes and
begun turning around. The vast size of the vehicle was slowing the turning rate.) had
been started by accident, but was now going to be finished on purpose. While he
was firing as fast as his Particle Displacement Weapons could recharge themselves,
the Corgi driver was beginning to wonder if his new tactic was such a good idea. He
hadn't missed yet and with the size of that thing there was no way the veteran
figured he could. But so far all his hits had done was light up the machine. Nothing
seemed to be hurting it.
Still firing, Campbell started moving backward. The thing was almost turned
about and he had failed to harm it. Just in case the thing could fire, he wanted to be
able to use his speed for a quick escape.
"Campbell! Answer me. What the hell is that thing?" As he and McCray
locked on to the target Miller wanted to know the who, what, why, where and when
of what was happening. Nothing was right, nothing. He had been in many fights
before, but he had always known something about something. This total lack of Intell
wasn’t to his liking.
"Campbell! Answer me!" Still no answer. Miller was becoming very uneasy
about the situation. He could see his point man moving backward firing his PDW as
he went. While he couldn’t make out what the thing was the squad leader could see
enough to know the situation could get real ugly, real quick.
"All units, Code Black. I say again, Code Black."
Three mutts began an orderly retreat with all weapons firing on that huge
block of metal which was about to be fully facing them.
"What's going on out there?" Back on the landing ship Casse had been
listening to the events and was also becoming uneasy.
Miller was to busy trying to fire as he walked his mutt backward. Casse
was became very concerned as he listened to his best point team begin retreating
from an unknown enemy that hadn't even fired.
Off to one side Johnson had heard all the commotion over the radio.
Following his leader’s instructions he also began backing up. Unlike the others
though, his mutt was too far away to see what his comrades were shooting at.
Whatever it was he had no desire to join the fight. If all the fire power on Miller and
McCray's Bulldogs wasn’t denting that thing, there was no way Johnson was going
to take his little lightly armed mutt over there.
Sloom!
Sloom!
Mac's mutt staggered as two huge gauss rounds swept through its right
torso. The driver looked down in awe at what was left of his mutt's right sponson. It
was all still in one piece, just now it was on the ground.
"Mac. You Ok!"
"Boss, that thing is yours. I'm out of here."
"All units, get the hell out of here, now! Get back to the ship ASAP." Miller
turned his mutt around. Whatever that thing was, he wasn't staying around to find
out if those were lucky shots or if he was next.
Sloom!
Sloom!
Sloom!
Sloom!
Miller was next. Four rounds penetrated the unit leader’s mutt's center body
armor. McCray watched in disbelief as the machine blew up.
"Damn. Must have hit the energy cells," Mac muttered as he pushed his
mutt to its top speed.
Sloom!
Sloom!
"Miller, report!" Casse wanted some information.
Silence.
"McCray, report!"
Silence was the only thing Casse heard.
"Commander, I don't think anyone else is going to be able to report."
"Who is this? What's happening out there?”
"You got Sergeant Johnson here. I was off scouting to one side when the
fire works started. You probably heard the same things I did. And the only thing I
saw was a whole lot of shooting and what definitely looked like two mutts going up
in flames. Whatever that thing is, it must be awesome to take out those mutts that
quick.”
"What’s your current status and position? Have you got a lock on either the
rest of your unit or that monster?"
"Boss, this baby is doing just fine as it runs back to the ship. Court-marshal
me if you want, but with all that fire power I saw back there, there's no way I'm
taking this paper clad mutt over there. No sir, my daddy didn't raise no fool or
suicidal nut."
"Is that thing following you?"
"No sir, just lost it on Landnav."
"Good, get back here fast and don't stop for anything. Be ready to report to
the Skipper when you're back on board."
Casse began making preps for a quick departure if that was the Captain's
wish. Goodin and Flendy's squads were ordered back and gear was lashed down.
Knowing the Captain, Casse was going to be ready to launch as soon as Johnson
stepped on board.
The Commander knew his CO. As Johnson guided his mutt through the
ship's doors into the pound, the lift equipment began engaging. The Skipper wanted
that raider. He was willing to enter the dangerous sailing confines of a nebula to get
that ship. But he wasn’t going to risk his men and equipment against some unknown
foe, especially when the Alles were still a force to be contended with.
#
As the ship lifted off the surface of the planet, the Captain sat back and
wondered when he would get another chance at the Alles. He wondered what
happened to the raiders over where they had landed. Did they crash land? Did they
run into something like what his men had met? What had happened to them?
The Skipper received an answer to some of his questions when comms
picked up an SOS from the raider. He didn't think anything was odd when it included
something about a giant mouse.
A planet called MAUS Captain Wrang thought as he watched the planet
past out of sight. An enigma if ever there was one.
Chapter 2
A NEW MISSION
"Captain, would you please have a seat and wait here? I'll return for you as
soon as his Eminence is ready to receive you."
The aide pointed towards a part of the reception room furnished with sofas,
desks and a small entertainment bar. After a polite tribute, the aide departed.
Captain Wrang looked around the anti-room looking to see if anything might
tell him why he was here. The scan was due to curiosity, not because he expected
to find something. After pausing for a few minutes as he once again tried to
determine why the Duke had summoned him, Wrang took a seat and began
browsing through one of the numerous magazines laying about. The veteran ship
driver thought it looked like a doctor's waiting room.
The farce of pretending to read didn't last long, Wrang wanted to know why
he was here. It wasn't unusual for someone as low as a ship's captain to be
summoned before the Duke. But it was extremely unusual for him not to have been
told why he was called. Try as he might, the Captain couldn’t come up with a single
reason, good or bad, why the head of government for this sector of space would
want to talk to him.
A few minutes later the same doors opened through which the Captain had
entered the room.
"Take a seat," was all the same aide as earlier said to the man now entering
the waiting area.
Captain Wrang was just as much surprised to see Sergeant Johnson as the
latter was to see his CO. After the normal military salute was exchanged the same
questions were asked.
"Why are you here?"
"Why am I here?"
Neither knew the answer to either question.
Captain Wrang had thought this might have something to do with that weird
little sortie into the nebula a week back. He had had to make personal reports to
higher ups several times in the past when a mission went astray. But this was the
first time to a duke. When Johnson walked through the door Wrang discarded any
ideas of why he was here. A ship captain reporting to a duke was a good possibility.
But a sergeant? No way. Something else was up and the ship driver had no idea
what it was.
"Sir, what do we do in there?" This was beyond a puzzled and nervous
sergeant, he was like a fish out of water. On any planet surface, against any hostile
force Johnson felt comfortable. He had enlisted at a young age. He was eager and
liked the rough and tumble world of warfare. His father and two much older brothers
were lifers in one of the various military branches. But here in this lace decorated
world of tact, politeness, manners and back stabbing, the young mutt driver felt out
of place. He had no idea of what was happening, would happen or should happen.
He was ready to head back to base as soon as possible.
"Just follow my lead. If we're here for the same reason, I would think most
of the questions will be addressed to me. Bow when I do. Don't say anything unless
asked. And never volunteer anything. Just do as I do and you'll do fine. I can't think
of anything except info as to why we've been summoned."
"What if I have to go in there by myself?"
"Do as I said and good luck. Relax, the Duke isn't going to call a sergeant
here in order to fry his rear end, he has flunkies for that."
"Do you think we're in trouble?"
"I don't think so." The Captain remarked as he turned away. He didn't want
Johnson to see the doubt in his eyes.
"Gentlemen, his grace will see you now."
The aide stood still and waited for what was about to happened. It
happened every time just before any one went before the Duke. Wrang and Johnson
had been standing and talking when the aide reentered the room. The Captain
expected the announcement when he saw the aide approaching.
"Ok kid, it’s show time." Wrang began straightening his uniform. He didn’t
want even a single hair out of place. The veteran officer was very much aware the
Duke could make or break a career in a hurry.
Johnson followed his CO's lead.
Finishing their last moment adjustments quickly Wrang signaled the aide
they were ready, one does not keep a duke waiting. Like ducks in a row, the three
headed towards the Duke's personal chambers.
On the way the veteran ship driver began to wonder what was going on. He
had been to the palace before and knew they weren’t going to the main reception
chamber where the Duke normally conducted business. Whatever the reason was
the Duke wanting him here seemed to be getting weirder and weirder to the
Captain. Johnson was too nervous to look around as he followed his boss' actual
foot steps.
#
The situation became stranger yet for the Captain once they were inside the
chambers. After introducing the two men to the Duke, the aide did a quick exit. The
Captain had to do a look around to believe what he thought was happening, there
were just the three men in the room. No one else was seen. The surprised look on
Wrang's face must have been obvious to the Duke.
"Yes, we’re alone. No, I'm not a fool. There's a pistol in my left hand just in
case and I do know how to use it. Have to admit I'm a damn good shot, too." The
Duke relaxed for a moment as he let what was happening sink into the minds of his
two visitors.
After it was apparent that at least the Captain was beginning to have some
idea things were not going to be handled in the normal fashion, the Sergeant was
still standing nervously at attention, the Duke motioned for the two to have a seat in
some of the chairs in front of him.
Allowing the Duke to be seated first, Wrang slowly sat down. Things weren’t
going in any manner he could even begin to understand. He had never been asked to
have a seat beside a duke in the latter's personal chambers. Something is wacko,
the Captain warned himself.
"Johnson, sit down." Wrang could tell the Duke wasn’t sure what to say to
the young man.
"Yes sir." The mutt driver took a seat beside his skipper.
"My apologies, Sire. But he won't sit down out of respect to you and you
looked like you weren't sure how to handle the matter.”
"I'll have to admit I wasn't sure," the Duke remarked as he reached for a
pitcher. After pouring himself a drink, he passed it to the Captain. The Duke decided
it might put the Sergeant in another awkward position if he had passed it to the
closest person.
"Gentlemen, as the Captain has surely noted this is not going to be a usual
meeting with some one of my position. Relax and have some food and drinks. Feel
free to enjoy as we talk. I have some questions for which I will have answers. Then I
have a proposal to make for which you will decide how to undertake."
The Duke stopped and looked at his guests. The Captain was paying full
attention. Wrang was thinking he was finally going to find out why he was here and
why in the manner he had been brought here. Also, he wanted to learn why the
Duke was being so nice. Duke Carl wasn’t known to be close or friendly with
anyone.
The Sergeant was enjoying the petite fours and caviar. Johnson had
decided to sit back and taste a menu he had never seen before. He was convinced
his butt wasn’t going to be put in a big meat grinner and that he didn’t have the
slightest idea of what he could know that would interest a duke.
"Gentlemen, officially this meeting never took place. There is no record of
either of you two coming and I will deny ever even having heard of you. Do I make
myself perfectly clear on that?"
Both warriors nodded agreement. Each knew no other answer was
expected or wanted. The Duke's statement answered the Captain's question of why
he hadn’t been informed as to why he was meeting the Duke, officially there was no
meeting.
"Captain, I've read your report to Admiral von Meyer. There are several
questions I have concerning it."
Oh hell, the Captain thought, knew I shouldn't have gone into that restricted
area. Then he relaxed when he reasoned that wasn’t something a duke would have
a private meeting to handle.
"Now let’s get down to why you are here. The first question I have
concerns the fire fight between your point team and the so called moving building."
All eyes shifted towards Johnson. As the sole survivor of the engagement
he was the only one who had any knowledge of what happened.
"Do either of you know who and for what reason why they started the
shooting?"
"Sire," the Sergeant knew he was the only one who could answer. "What I
remember I stated in the report. I was off to one side scouting. On Landnav I
spotted that building moving like the others did. But I was too far away to get a
visual. Lt. Miller and Mac were both on the knoll where I left them. Campbell had
moved up towards the point where the thing turned out to be. He must have been
right next to it. The first light flash I saw looked as if it came from where Campbell
was. Now, whether he or that thing shot first I can't say. I was out of that battle, just
a spectator and not a good one at that."
Johnson sat nervously waiting for the Duke to comment or ask another
question. The young man wasn’t sure what would happen next. As he thought over
the battle there wasn’t one thing he thought he had done that was questionable. He'd
do everything the same if he had the chance.
"I read that you saw the two mutts explode on the knoll. But I failed to see
anything about the Corgi up front. What happened to it?" While the question was
mainly addressed to Johnson, the nature in which it was stated told Wrang he could
respond. Not having any idea, the Captain chose to give Johnson all the pleasure of
answering.
"Sir, I've been in several fire fights of that type. When that much energy is
shot out and mutts start blowing up on the first hit, things are getting ugly. I saw one
wave group each take out Mac's and Miller's mutts. Those Bulldogs can take a lot of
punishment. Campbell was a lot closer to the thing and in a little Corgi. No sir, I
didn't see any explosion in his area. But, if the Bulldogs weren't surviving, I didn't see
how a small Corgi would. That plus I did lose contact with him on Landnav and there
was no ejection alert received. No sir, I don't know for sure what happened to
Campbell. But I can't think of anything good going his way."
The Duke sat quietly thinking for a moment as the other two waited.
"So you don't know whether or not he might still be alive?" The question
was asked much more quietly than the others had.
"My experience tells me there's almost no chance he made it out of that
fight." Johnson remarked in a confident manner. He had seen things like that before
and knew Campbell would have needed a lot of luck to even have avoided the
monster.
"Captain, is it normal to leave a member of the crew behind?" The Duke
quietly and calmly asked as he looked both men in the eyes.
"Sire, I resent any implication that I might have abandoned one of my men.
These weren’t -"
"Relax captain, we're not here to convict you or the Sergeant of anything.
But I want to know why the Sergeant ran without finding out what happened to the
fourth man in his unit. I want to find out why you lifted off so quickly. There was a
man still out there and you left. Your record doesn't seem to indicate that type of
cowardice action."
"Sire!" The Captain stood to attention. "Under the Articles of Military Law, I
have the right to have a Solicitor at any action where I am being charged with - "
"Sit down, now!" The Duke ordered without lifting an eye brow. Damn,
Johnson thought, I'd hate to play poker with that face.
Still outraged over the manner in which he was being treated, Wrang retook
his seat. This time any sense of comfort was gone.
"I told you two I wanted answers. I don't want any more of that childish
behavior. Stay in your seats and answer the questions. Now Sergeant, why did you
run from the battle site." Carl looked at both to ensure his point was received and
that there would be no more interruptions.
"Sire, If I may ask, have you ever seen a Maltese up close?"
"No, I don't believe I have."
"Well, it’s got just about as much armor as your arm has. Two heavies
were out of action in a blast each. Campbell was so close that if that MAUS had any
type of close in weapon systems he was dead meat. And brother, with the size of
that thing, it could have all the weapons in one arsenal on it. If Bill didn't go out with
a big flare like Mac and the Lieutenant, there were a lot of other ways his mutt could
have gone down. And only when one does go down does Landnav lose track of a
mutt. That left me alone with mister big, bad and ugly. Sire, I've thought about what
happened many times. I'd do the same thing again if the same thing happened
again."
The determination in the Sergeant's eyes was noticed by the Duke. "Alright,
now why did you order the quick lift off?" The Duke's voice or looks had not changed
one bit during all the talking. Now it was Wrang's turn to be glad he wasn't playing
poker with the Duke.
The Captain knew he had to answer. But from this point on he was going to
think over every word first before he spoke. Things were definitely wacko to the
veteran ship driver. What was the Duke up to? he kept asking himself. Something
was not what it seemed and he wanted to make sure his back was protected.
"Your eminence. A ship captain's first duty is to the safety of the vessel and
its crew. I ordered that lift off after receiving reports that three of my mutts had
been vaporized by an unknown force of incredible power. Those reports came from
men who I still have the utmost trust in."
The Captain paused to see how the Duke was reacting. The motionless
poker face was still there.
"The over all situation I was in was this. First, we were in a nebula, never a
good situation. Second, We were in an area that was supposed to be off limits and
we were starting to get some type of idea why it was off limits. Third, The planet
was something out of the twilight zone. I've been on over fifty worlds and never seen
anything like that one. Fourth, Miller's squad had just got the tar beaten out of it by
something that looked like it could easily handle anything else I sent out and then
take on the ship. Fifth, I didn't know if there was anything else out there to back up
that thing. The fact there were buildings gave every possibility of a hostile
environment. Both from the terrain and maybe from what ever constructed the
structures. Last, I did know that only about 400 clicks away was an Allemane raider
that might be in good shape and we had no positive idea what it was carrying for a
raiding party: mutts, tanks, hovers or what.”
"I don't leave crewmen behind when I know about them and I don't put any
ship into harm’s way, especially not when I've got no idea what I'm facing." With that
said, Wrang sat back in the chair as if to say: and that's the way it was.
For a few moments the Duke sat thinking over what the Captain had just
said.
"Just how much fire power do you think that so called MAUS might have?"
The Captain quickly responded. "I fought a Bulldog once. Those things are
nick named Bulldogs because they're just like a bulldog, short, stocky, mean,
powerful and hell to stop. I pumped almost my entire magazine of 5" APRs into that
bitch before she went up."
The Duke was sat silently as he listened.
The Captain continued. "After listening to the tapes and debriefing Johnson
several times, I'd said that thing is like a small cruiser crawling around on the
surface."
"Do we have anything that could defeat it?"
"Even presuming that that’s the only one and that there’s nothing else to aid
it, no - not on that planet. I don't think a full battalion of mutts and tanks could take it
out. Any bigger size force would just be stepping all over itself trying to stay out of
the way. With the nebula's natural strong mag influence that close to the surface,
any action by ships is out of the question. No ship driver is going to get as close to
the planet as you have to in order to shoot in a nebula. Same thing for the fly boys.
If that planet does have some thing living on it, they've got the best defense ever
created."
For a few minutes the two crewmen sat and enjoyed the refreshments. As
the Duke walked around the room thinking there was nothing else for them to do.
"Captain, Sergeant, giving him every possible benefit of the doubt, what’s
the possibility that Billy Boy might be alive?"
Both men had to stop and think. Neither was expecting that question. They
weren’t sure what to have expected, but that question definitely was not high on their
list. And both wondered why the Duke used such a familiar term for Campbell.
Wrang was the first to respond.
"Sire, I've learned over the years never to count anyone as dead unless you
actually put their body into the furnace. With all the facts about the battle and the
planet considered, I'd give him maybe a 3% chance of still being alive. That’s best
and that's being very generous. He's got air, temperature and buildings for cover.
But food, the Alles and whether or not whatever created those buildings are hostile
are all unknowns. And then there's that MAUS."
Again the Duke stopped to think before he continued.
"Gentlemen, you've answered the questions I had for you. Now for the
proposal, one you can't refuse." For the first time the Duke chuckled as he spoke.
"Johnson, effective immediately you are now an Ensign." The Duke stopped
to let it sink into the former sergeant's mind that he had just been given a promotion
to the officer ranks. "You'll be in charge of the mutt units. If you want tanks or
hovers, feel free to take them instead."
While Johnson was enjoying his promotion, Wrang was beginning to put
some pieces together and the picture he starting to form wasn’t one he liked. He
was expecting the Duke's next comment and had thought about speaking. Then it
was decided to hear all of the proposal before he objected.
"Captain Wrang. If you pull this mission off, you'll have to be far better than
any of your contemporaries. Come back successful and your name is at the top of
the list for promotion."
Promotion to admiral, the Captain stepped back. He had to admit he now
wanted to hear all of the details before he objected, if he did object. Admiral Wrang
did have a good sound to the Captain.
"Wrang, I've already had Admiral von Meyer collect a small crew from my
personal fleet and a LSM. The Admiral is giving you the Union Jack. Johnson can
help you collect a small merc force of about 12 drivers.”
"What?" Wrang shouted as he sprang out of his seat. "You want me to
take that old rust bucket with a make shift crew and a bunch of no good
mercenaries into an off limits nebula? Try to find a planet that we still aren't sure
where it is? Try to find the same landing site as before? Try to find a man that we
don't even know is still alive? And do all this in a combat situation?”
"I'm glad to see you've been attentive and understand the mission."
"No, that mission doesn't have a chance. I don't mind combat, but I want
some type of chance."
"I'll give you two reasons. First, Admiral Wrang."
"Low blow."
"The second is that you will find Campbell and you will bring him back,
preferably alive."
"Any other time I wouldn't dream of confronting a duke in this manner. But,
you're trying to send me on a mission that I don't think has much of a chance of
succeeding. And one on which I could easily get my butt shot up. Now, what the hell
is the real reason for all this interest in an ordinary mutt driver?" The Captain was
starting to think he had figured out the answer, but he still wanted to hear the Duke
say it.
For a moment the Duke looked at the Captain. "Think you've figured it out?"
"Think so. . . . He's your son."
"You're smart. I just might get him back."
As the fact set in that Campbell was the Duke's son, both men knew they
were going back to an unfriendly planet. Any thought of trying to get out of it was
now dismissed.
"Ah, Sire. I've got a small question." The look of puzzlement was clearly on
the new Ensign’s face to the others.
"You may ask." The Duke wondered what had suddenly given the so far
quiet mutt driver the back bone to speak.
"You said Billy was your son?"
"Yes?"
"Sire, I thought you never married?"
Pause
"Your Eminence, I'll have a little talk with him later about the birds and
bees." Wrang was about to break out laughing. The only thing that held him back
was he wasn't sure what the Duke’s reaction would be to either the question or his
laughter.
"Ensign," the Duke was also trying not to laugh. "When you leave here, head
for a place called The Cat's Meow over in the red light district. I think you've been in
space too long."
Not wishing to insult the young man, both older men tried to hold their
laughter. Nothing was said for a moment as they tried to figure a way out of the
situation. Finally the Duke spoke.
"Captain, you’ll meet with your ship's company tomorrow over at the ship.
Right now you have a 12 man merc unit to form, not a task I envy." The Duke
paused for a moment before he continued. "Remember, officially and unofficially this
mission never took place. I and Admiral von Meyer don't know a thing about this.
Meyer doesn't even know why ya'll are going and he is not to find out. Do I make
myself clear?"
Both men nodded in agreement.
"Now you have a ship and crew. You can get the mutts, tanks, hovers and
supplies you need from the motor pool and supply depot tomorrow. Gentlemen,
good luck. While I want this mission to succeed above anything
else, I do realize you have your backs to the wall. Good luck, I hope to see both of
you and Billy again."
#
After a proper exchange of farewells, the two combatants departed.
Outside on the palace's veranda the two stopped to figure out their first move.
"Sir," the new Ensign thought over the forth coming mission.
"Go ahead." The Captain waited Johnson's remark. He knew it wasn’t
going to be as good as the last one.
"Having the dubious honor of being the only survivor of combat on that
planet, why do I get the feeling we just got shafted?"
"Cause we did."
#
That evening the Captain sat in his room at the BOQ, a glass in one hand
and a bottle of 100 year old scotch in the other. Ever since leaving the Duke's place
he had been trying to think of a way to put this mission together. Johnson was an
excellent, combat experienced driver and the Duke was right in giving him command
over all the drivers. The Captain had no problem with that, the young man was the
only one who had any first hand knowledge of the MAUS. He also had the most
knowledge of the terrain and what might be the life style of the inhabitants. The idea
that there might be creatures living on that place still amazed him.
After a meal together at the Officers’ Club Wrang had told the new Ensign
to go celebrate. Johnson had been elated to be able to take his boss to the O Club
and pay for the meal. While the veteran ship driver had enjoyed learning about his
new Operations Officer he realized, as he had thought, that while Johnson was good
with the various mutts and would probability do a good job directing the men out on
patrols, the young man did not have the training for the planning portion of a mission.
Johnson himself knew he was going to be in the way. That and wanting to celebrate
one last time with his enlisted friends caused a situation where the Captain wished
him a good time and gave orders not to get too drunk. Now Wrang sat alone looking
over the notes he had been scribbling, drinking his scotch, wondering what he had
got himself into and what he was going to do to save his neck.
"I understand there's an old space dog in here that hasn't got the common
curiosity of a Basel fart dog."
Wrang looked up to see who had walked into his room uninvited wanting to
start a fight. He was elated by what he saw. There in front of him, holding another
bottle of hundred year scotch, was his last 1st Mate.
"Breedy, what the hell are you doing here?" Quickly hand shakes and back
slaps were exchanged, both were delighted to see the other.
"Well, you old fart. I heard you were on base. And since you won't come see
me, I came over to see you. Now what the hell is all this crap?" Commander Richard
Breed scanned the notes on the table. Before Wrang could answer Breedy spoke.
"I've seen notes like this before, just before a mission. I heard about that
weird little escapade you had in that nebula. Don't tell me you're planning to go
back? I know you, you're not stupid."
One look at Wrang's face told the former ship mate the answer to his
question.
"What the hell's going on?"
"You're not cleared."
"Bull shit."
"Take a good look and see what you think." The Captain stepped back from
the table. Breed had been one of the brightest men who had ever worked for him.
For the first time since being summoned to the palace, Wrang felt like something
good was happening to him. If anyone could help him put together this weird
mission, Breed could.
"Boy, you get shafted." Breedy commented as he stopped to think over
what he had just read.
"Oh, yeah."
Pause
"Want in?"
"Are you nuts?"
"I'm going to have to be in order to pull this off. Look, I need a good XO,
one I can count on. The Union Jack was a rust bucket the last time I was on it years
ago and I don't see Meyer's giving me the best men in his fleet. Johnson’s good, but
young. And we both know what mercs can be like."
"Why the hell should I jump away from that nice cushy job I've got right now
to take part in this piece of shit?"
"First, because you like challenges and you got to admit this is one hell of a
challenge. Second, cause I’m asking."
For a moment the two men stood and looked at each other. It was like an
old fashion poker game, nether wanted to be the first to blink. Breed broke the
silence first.
"Have you seen any of the equipment yet?"
"No, after getting as much out of Johnson as I could, I've just been here
trying to figure out where to start. I had reached the point where I was about to say
the hell with it for tonight. I think I've got to wait till tomorrow to see what shape the
ship is in and what mutts we can get."
"You sure we need mutts?"
"Yeah. All the drivers reported good solid footing where ever they went.
But we covered only about 1400 square clicks. We've got no idea what the rest of
the place is like. Johnson thinks some of those Jagdpanther and Royal tanks would
stand up to the MAUS better than the Bulldogs. But he feels they're too slow and
worries about the unknown terrain. I agree with him that hovers might be faster, but
their light armor may cause big problems."
"Why not a mixed unit? We've done that before. Worked good over on New
Kiev."
"Yeah, but don't forget the ship we've got. The Union Jack doesn't have the
largest cargo area. We need to keep the logistical end of the mission to a bare
minimum. Whether we like it or not, mutts look like the best way to go."
"What types can we get?"
"Dukey said we could have anything we wanted."
"Great. Let’s get 8 Bulldogs and 4 Whippets. Great fire power and speed
combination."
"I've got to listen to Johnson. He's the one with the latest combat
experience, and boy it’s a lot later than mine. And he's the only one with combat on
that planet. I agree with him, the Bulldogs did nothing last time. The Whippets sound
good if we can get them. If not, let’s try for some Corgis. Campbell's had the
misfortune of being too close to the action for its design."
"You know," Breedy thought over what he knew was over at the motor pool,
"I think I saw four Rottweilers and four Mastiffs last week. And there's been no
movement of mutts since then."
Wrang stopped and thought about what type of force that would make.
"Do we go with four - three mutt teams? Or two heavies and one light?"
"I like the idea of two heavies and two small light recon teams." The new
XO responded.
"That sounds like a good line of attack for tomorrow. Something to build on.
Damn, I'm glad you showed up. Still want to get in on this?"
"No, but you know I’m going to. Now we need men."
"Lets hit the district, that's where all of them will be. That’s provided any of
them are sober."
"You’re expecting to find any of them sober?" A puzzled XO asked. The
idea of a sober merc at this time of night was an oxymoron to him.
"No," the Captain remarked after thinking over the idea.
With that toasts were offered to the success of the mission.
#
The next day while Wrang and Breedy went over to check out the Union
Jack and see if any of the crew did show up, Johnson headed for the motor pool.
The Ensign had been elated when his new XO told him about the
Rottweilers maybe being available. The young man had seen the big mutts in action
once and had been awed by their combination of speed and fire power. One of the
things he had had to give up upon his promotion was his little Maltese. As a
company leader he could no longer run around the battle field in his fast, but
harmless mutt. He had to be in a position to see what all of his units were doing.
Normally that meant driving a unit with a good combination of speed and punch, a
Rottweiler fit that description perfectly.
"You know, I didn't believe it when I heard that some damn fool had made
you a zero." The motor pool dispatcher chuckled as he greeted Johnson. Both men
had gone through basic and driving school training together. Even after Lucas' injury
and removal from combat the two had remained friends.
"Is that the way to greet an officer?" Johnson snapped as he looked his old
friend in the eyes.
"No sir." Sergeant Lucas stood at attention and saluted. For a moment he
thought his old buddy had gotten the big head many ex-enlisted did when they put on
their butter bar. He realized he was being had when Johnson couldn't hold his
laughter any longer.
"Sorry Luke, but I had to do that." The Ensign extended his hand for a
friendly greeting.
"Bastard." Lucas accepted the handshake and gave a good congratulation
hug to his friend. "What’s the deal? Heard about your promotion last night and then I
just got this verbal message in about you and Wrang being able to rip off this place.
What going on or am I suppose to play stupid?"
"Oh, you better play stupid. You don't want any part of this one."
"Can't be that bad?"
"Well, let’s put it this way. I got a field promotion and Wrang could be the
next admiral."
"You got the royal shaft, didn't you?"
"Big time."
"Well, what are you looking for, mutts, tanks, hovers or some flying crap?"
Lucas asked as he tried to think of ways to help his friend.
"Heard you got several Rottweilers and Mastiffs. And how about four
Whippets?" Johnson knew what Breedy had told Wrang early. Now it was time to
see if the man in charge actually did have all those wonderful little toys. The Ensign
crossed his fingers as he waited for Luke's answer.
"That type of request smells as if it has the Duke's backing. Meyer would
never let those Rottweilers go."
"What type of shape are they in?" Johnson wanting to move his friend along.
He knew Lucas would sooner or later try to find out something about the mission
that he wasn’t suppose to know about.
"Ok, I get the hint, no talking about the mission. I'll get it out of you later.
About a week ago we got in eight Mastiffs, all brand new. We just got done with
their break in services. They're perfect, if I do say so myself. All the Rottweilers
have seen some action, but are in good shape. You can take them into combat
without worrying. The Whippets have seen a lot of action. There’s only about four of
them that are running. If you're taking a good mechanic along, you'll be all right."
"Good." The Ensign stopped to think. "How soon can you have four
Rottweilers, four of the Mastiffs and the four running Whippets over to dock 23D?"
"Yeah, you got shafted by the Duke himself. No way would Meyer let that
much fire power just walk out the gate and especially not signed for. Congratulations
and condolences. That explains a lot. Need a good mechanic?"
Johnson thought for a moment as he looked at his friend. He had mixed
feelings at the moment. Like everyone in the military, he had been taught that officer
and enlisted ranks do not mix socially. But Luke was one of those rare creatures, an
excellent mechanic with lots of combat driving time. He would make a great addition
to the crew.
"I don't have any say over that matter. But I'll bring it up with the Captain."
"All I can ask for. This place is dull and I want to learn what the hell shafted
you so bad."
"Be careful, you may get the shaft."
"Oh well, life's great, but then you have to wake up. Now what's the ship’s
name."
"The Union Jack."
"Nuts! Maybe I don't want to go on this joy ride."
#
While Johnson was having great success at the motor pool, Wrang and
Breed were not sure what they were having. As they walked towards the ship the
Captain and XO began scanning every part of her. Neither liked what they saw.
From a distance, the weapon ports looked as if there was nothing in them. One of
the main propulsion units was quickly spotted as simply missing. Moving closer,
signs of actual rust were spotted on the hull.
"If this is the outside, I don't want to see the inside." Breed was starting to
have second thoughts about the mission.
"Well, you won't see it right now." Wrang watched several maintenance
vehicles drive up to the ship. To the delight of both men, several weapon turrets and
a power unit for a Time drive were spotted.
"I think we ought to work on the merc problem right now."
"Sounds like an excellent idea." The two turned around and walked away.
#
After an afternoon of no luck finding any one who was a merc that looked
like and sounded like a real merc, the pair returned to the Q for dinner with the
Ensign. They were curious to learn if what the Duke was giving them for mutts was
going to be anything like the Union Jack.
by
Roger Campbell
This preview only contains the first two chapters.
If you enjoy it, order the 256 page, 121,291 word book.
Chapter 1
ENIGMA
"Captain, they're making a dash for the nebula." The navigator plotted both
ships' courses. It wasn’t a surprise the damaged Allemane landing ship was seeking
the safety of all that electrical interference. A nebula was a great place to lose a
pursuer. Any captain would take the same action.
"Follow them," the skipper of the Whitten Bay calmly ordered. He had
expected the run for cover, but there was no way he was letting this one get away.
The Empire had just suffered major damage on Regal 4. Finishing the destruction of
this raider would make it a little easier for his family and friends to endure the
destruction.
"Captain, I'm getting a strange signal on the alarm panel. It’s an automatic
alert . . . we're being warned to stand off from the nebula."
The Navigator kept reading the message. A veteran of twenty years sailing
this part of space, he had never seen or heard of this happening before. As far as
he knew only the areas around the black hole was off limits. While the gator had no
idea why the nebula was off limits, he had to admit he had never heard of a ship
sailing into it.
"Any reason given?"
"No sir, just says not to enter: Class 1, Fraction 7. That's an old code for -
get your ass out of here or else."
"Anyone know anything about this?" A puzzled ship captain also had no idea
why the warning was given. While he didn’t want to let that foe escape, he also
knew warnings weren't put into a ship's Navigation Computer System for the fun of it.
No one had any idea why the alert was there.
"Has anyone gone into that thing lately?"
"No sir." The Gator checked the various info banks in the ship's computer
system. "There's no record of anything having ever gone in there. Odd."
"Why odd?"
"Well, there should be at least some record of at least one scientific
research vessel having gone in. As far as I know there isn't a single sector of space
either we or one of the other governments hasn't explored." The navigator was still
puzzled by the unusual situation they were now in.
"Sounds like a cover up to me and I'm not going to let that bastard get
away. Helm, follow them in. Keep as close as possible, I don't want to lose them.
Do I make myself clear?"
Every head on the bridge nodded in agreement.
#
Following standard procedures for entering a nebula, the Whitten Bay
chased the Alles' MUTTS landing vessel into the dark uninviting area. All hands were
extra alert, this was not an area where one relaxed. The electrical interference
seriously restricted the ship's ability to navigate or do anything that required sensor
devices.
"Captain, all instruments have returned to normal." The helm yelled in
disbelief. The ship was now deep inside the nebula. Their instruments had been
almost useless since entering the area. Except for visual, they had had no means of
maintaining contact with their target. Now the sensors were picking all types of info
as if they were back in normal space. Although there was lots of static, the signals
were clear enough to read.
"Coleman, you got any idea what’s going on?" The situation is getting
stranger Captain Wrang thought as he asked the member of his crew with the most
time inside nebulas.
"Haven't got the faintest. This isn't suppose to be happening. The only thing I
can figure out is this might be something like a bay or fjord sticking into the cloud
from outside."
"How far could it go in?"
"Can't say. Since I've never heard of this before the only thing I can advice
is to take advantage of it and be ready for it to suddenly end."
"Sounds good to me. Helm, get as close as possible to them. I want to be
able to read their numbers when I open up with the lasers. Keep an eye on them in
case they change course. Gator, have a course plotted so we can get back out of
here in a hurry. I still want to know why this area was put off limits. There must have
been a reason at one time or another and that reason may still be a good one. All
hands are to keep on the look out for anything. Something beside that LSM might be
out there and I want to know about it before it knows about us."
As they followed their target, it quickly became obvious the other ship was
taking advantage of the smooth sailing area to speed up and move deeper into the
nebula.
Sitting back in his chair the Captain was amazed how deep the tunnel ran
and how much less the interference was in it. Surely someone must have sailed in
here before. How could something as big as this nebula have been left alone all this
time? There had to be something in here, something that caused that alarm.
Something he probably didn’t want his ship to meet, but something that was not
going to keep him from destroying that stinking raider dog out there in front of him.
"Captain, looks like the end of the tube up ahead. Sensors are hitting the
usual static wall." The gator kept recording all the data he could as they went
deeper and deeper into the giant cloud. If this area had never been explored before
he wasn't going to miss the chance to have something named after himself.
"What's the Alle doing?"
"Still going straight. We might lose them in thirty seconds if they make a
quick turn as soon as they reenter the storm."
"Helm, get closer. I don't want to lose them."
"Sir, we're well within range of most of our weapons. Why not open fire and
finish them now?" The duty Weapons Officer was fresh out of the academy and
quickly realized his was a stupid question. He was now wishing they had taught him
a little bit about fighting in a nebula.
The Captain calmly turned and looked at the junior most member of his
wardroom. "Son, you ever heard what happened to the Tsar Peter when it opened
up inside a nebula?"
"No, sir," the Ensign sheepishly responded.
"In here shots don't always go where you tell them to go. The farther you
are from your target the more of a chance there is for things to go wrong. The Tsar
opened up at long range. Half its shots curved around and ripped it apart. I'll take a
chance in here, but not at this range."
The Weaps Officer nodded he understood and wouldn’t make that mistake
again.
"Where did that come from?" The Helm screamed as she tried to turn the
ship as fast as possible. The motion was so sudden and unexpected most of the
bridge crew were thrown from their seats. Before the driver could explain what had
happened the Captain was screaming for answers.
"What the hell you doing?" The Skipper tried to get up, not an easy task as
the ship was still arcing.
"Sir, there's a planet in front of us and I'm trying not to hit it." The young
woman was using every bit of training and experience she had to maneuver the
vessel. As she kept looking at the ship's course and the planet, nice soft fuzzy
feelings weren’t going through her mind, she was scared out of her gourd and knew
the reason why.
"It came up too quick. It's just too close for our speed. I don't think we’re
going to miss hitting the planet."
"Then let’s do the next best thing. Emergency Landing!"
By now all of the bridge team were back at their stations and reacting to
the situation. Several had expected the skipper's decision and had already started
their part of the landing.
"Coleman, I didn't think there were suppose to be planets in these things."
The Captain was now scanning every scope he could see. What was going
on? Where are we? And how do we get out of here? There were questions racing
though his mind as he tried to absorb as must information as possible.
"Anything's possible with these things. Only heard of one before. Something
about a planet called MAUS, where men died from some unknown disease. Captain,
don't ask what to expect on it. If this is it, there’s nothing on it in the data banks. All I
know is local lure."
"Great, you're a big help."
"Twenty seconds to impact." The navigator plotted the time and location.
"What do you mean twenty seconds?!" The speed of the landing was going
a lot faster than any Emergency Landing he had ever done before and the Skipper
was starting to become concerned. He had a well trained crew, but this wasn’t to his
liking. Having to perform a rush landing on an unknown planet that had popped up
unexpectedly wasn’t in the text book. While he didn't need the book to help him sail,
it was nice to have something to go by.
"Helm, all systems ready for landing."
"Weaps, all systems ready for landing."
"Navigation, all systems ready for landing."
"Engineering, all systems ready for landing."
Strapping himself into his seat the Captain felt a little bit better. All sections
were ready. Maybe the ship might not only survive the landing, but be in some type
of shape to leave.
#
The ship buckled as the retros were engaged. The deceleration process for
a quick landing was always a bone shaking affair for those on board. The extra
force required for an Emergency Landing was worst. It had been known to snap a
ship’s keel. Skippers did not like doing these gut crushers unless absolutely
necessary.
Far quicker than usual, the ship dropped to the ground. As the vessel made
it descend the Chief Engineer noticed something different, the skin of the ship wasn’t
heating up the way it would on a planet with an atmosphere. At the time he said
nothing, they had landed on many planets without an atmosphere.
With a violent bump the ship met the planet's surface. For several moments
nothing moved on the bridge. Each member had been strapped in for the landing
and was now trying to regain their senses. As expected, the landing was worst than
they had ever been through before. Before everyone was back to normal, the
Captain was issuing orders.
"I wanted a full report ten minutes ago."
Everyone began checking on the status of their equipment.
"Coleman, you got any idea what happened to our friend?"
"Yes and no." The Gator kept rubbing an obviously sore neck. He seemed
to be the only one in the cabin with any type of injury.
"Well, are you going to tell me or do I have to wait for the email?"
"I followed their ship until it reached the atmosphere. Something strange
about that. I could swear it entered the atmosphere as its retros engaged."
"Yeah, I think the atmosphere here is thin, if it exist at all. I noticed the
ship's skin never heated up the way it should have." The engineer commented as he
recalled the entry.
"Ok, so this place has no atmosphere. Now what happened to that jerk?"
"From what little I could see, it looks like they did land. But this place is
screwing up the gear. All I can tell now is that they're off about 320% relative,
maybe about 400 clicks."
"Well, that's a start. It looks like we're all right, except for Coleman's neck.
Have Doc look at it now. I want you back up here when the mutts go out. All stations
make damage reports to the bridge at once." The last part was broadcasted over
the ship's 1MC.
Quickly the ship's damage control stations made their reports. As each
station reported their status the Captain relaxed a little more. Everything had been
shaken up as expected, but over all the ship had survived the landing. Engineering
reported that within the hour the lift equipment would be back on-line and the ship
would be able to leave when the Captain wished.
Well, thought the skipper, I hope this was all there was to that alarm. Must
be MAUS, it’s sure is as quiet as a mouse.
#
With his ship quickly returning to its normal operating condition, the Captain
returned to his quest, where was that Allemane raider?
"Casse, I want two squads ready for a look around. Another is to head
towards where we think the Alles are and locate them."
Down in the ready bay the Operations Officer looked around at the mess
and wondered how he was going to comply with the CO's orders. Bolted into their
shipping stalls, the mutts were the only things in their correct places.
"No problem boss. We'll be ready in a few minutes." God, I hate lying, the
Ops O thought as he tried to determine where to start.
"Miller, Goodin, and Flendy get your units ready. The old man wants you out
in five."
"What!" Miller screamed as he pulled a crate off one of his men. "Does he
have any idea what happened? And why the hell didn't he let us know about that
damn EL. Those d - "
"Can it, get your mutts unbolted and juiced up. Let me know if any of the
machines have skin openings. We don't know yet what the atmosphere is like.
Brezewel, go check outside and see what they’ve got to start with."
Back in full force, the Ops O issued orders as his crews readied the various
machines. Techs quickly moved from one machine to another seeing if there was
any damage from the landing. To the surprise of all, only one mutt had been
damaged. Having a loose rail gun barrel fly into the head of the vehicle left the Corgi
with the pilot's seat open to the elements. Damn, thought the Ops O, maybe we will
be able to launch in five.
"There's breathable air out there." Brezewel made his report. "We don't
need anything special for the machines or the men. Atmosphere isn't going to cause
any problems. Just everyone's going to have to use their Landnav all the time. There’
s some type of light out there, but it’s different from anything I've ever seen. Don't
trust your eyes. Ground's solid. From what little I saw there shouldn’t be a problem
with footage. There's vegetation out there, but I haven't had a chance to run any test
on it, never saw purple trees before. Looks like the surface of Terra under a half
moon."
"Alright then. Miller, take your squad out on 320. Upstairs thinks the Alles
are about 400 clicks out. All the skipper wants right now is to find them. No heroics.
We'll send the full company at them later. Understand Campbell?"
The mutt driver nodded in agreement, although it was obvious he was
looking for some action and didn’t like being told to stay in line. Small wonder, his
entire unit had been heavily mauled in its last fight, a rare trap set by an Allemane
force and he wanted revenge.
"Goodin and Flendy, your units are to explore the surrounding area out to 50
clicks. Goodin, you have the northern half. Keep those recorders and transmitters
going at all times. And be alert, we've got no idea what's out there. Old man thinks
this planet might be the reason why this nebula was declared off limits. Might be
something that could eat you alive."
The Ops O made a little motion as if he was being eaten, to which the men
had a good laugh. The laughter broke the ice hanging over the place. The
unexpected rough landing on an unknown world had made the group tense.
"Ok, mount up."
Cautiously the ramps were lowered and a dozen thirty feet high metal
bipods set foot on the planet. At once the three squads began their missions. In an
unknown arena such as this they automatically went to full alert. There had been no
need for Casse to give that order. Every one of the drivers was a seasoned veteran.
Several had turned down promotions in order to remain as mutt drivers. While most
drivers in the various armies preferred driving tanks or hovers, there where a few
who loved their mutts. They felt the mutt’s rough ride was well off set by its good
points: more fire power, more speed, capable of crossing almost any terrain and the
ability to survive more damage.
Goodin's unit moved out on a course of 045 while Flendy's headed out at
210. The area around the Empire's landing ship was flat for miles. Taking advantage
of that, the two commanders had their squads spread out covering more area. For
several hours the eight mutts explored this section of the planet's surface. In the
strange light all the drivers saw was what looked like patches of weird shape purple
trees and open areas of what they thought was orange grass and mushrooms. The
humans couldn’t believe how many mushrooms there were and how straight they
were alined.
#
Miller assembled his unit and sped off as fast as the slow Bulldogs could
move. It wasn't long before the Maltese and Corgi were out of sight from the two
larger mutts bringing up the rear.
"Blue Ghost, Red Ghost, over." Several times Major Miller had to go across
the air waves to remind his point team not to go to far ahead. His Bulldogs might
have long range missiles, but there was a limit to that range.
Miller didn’t want the two running into something like a recon from the raiders or
what ever was bad about this place where he couldn’t support them.
"Red Ghost, Blue Ghost. Relax, there's nothing so far. Nothing but all these
fields of mushrooms. Feel like I'm back on my grand dad's farm on Alpha Omega."
"Well, you're not. Just be alert."
"Oh, boy. Got to cool it now."
"What’s you got?" Miller gave a hand signal to McCray in the next mutt to
speed up. Something was up and he wanted to be there.
"Landnav's picking up something that looks like small buildings."
"You sure? I can't see how anyone could live on this place." But nothing
seemed normal to the squad leader.
"Yeah, got a long range visual on the place. Either the place has square
rocks or we got us a something that looks like a small village."
"Village? Cut the crap." Miller did not want his point men clowning around.
"Nope. Picking up some more and one big one just past the first ones."
Johnson was surprised by what he saw.
"Blue Ghost, you and Grey Ghost stay put til we arrive."
"Ah, man. Come o - "
"No, that's an order. No one goes in until we can back them." Damn eager
kid.
Ticked off, but still good warriors the two drivers took a position on a small
knoll. It enabled them to use their night opticals to scan the area ahead. The more
Johnson looked the more he was convinced those square rocks were indeed
buildings in a village. The shapes and layout reminded him of the small village near
his grandfather's farm.
Not as soon as Johnson or Miller would have wanted, the Bulldogs joined
their point team on the knoll. Using hand signals the Bulldogs set up where they
could provide cover. There was enough light for each to see the other in their
cockpit. Now, with supporting fire cover in place, the two smaller mutts were
signaled to proceed to the location.
As he watched his point men move forward, Miller cursed the strange light
on the planet. From this position with any normal light he would be able to keep an
eye on what was about to developed. While his sensors seemed to be working, unit
leader had no faith in them.
"Red Ghost, you picking up those big buildings off to the right?"
"Got them. You sure they're buildings?"
"No doubt about it. Got good Mark 1 eye ball visuals right now. Looks just
like that village where I used to go to school. Can't read any of what looks like
writing, but the place does seem to have a church, tool shop, grocery store and all
the other shops we had back home."
Miller wasn't sure what Johnson was talking about. He had grown up on
New Manila, a huge city of over twenty five million people. He was lost when it came
to spotting small villages and he was glad to have a country boy out there in front.
"Blue Ghost, Red Ghost. Check out that area off to the right. I want to know
what those structures are. Grey Ghost, check out that large item off to the left. I'm
getting some type of energy reading from that direction."
"What the hell was that?" Johnson was near several small buildings.
"What’s you got?" Miller looked to see if he could see anything. While
nothing was seen moving in front of him except his two mutts, the Lieutenant was
now able to see that the square blips on his scope were indeed buildings. Yeah he
admitted, it does look like the small farming villages he had seen photos of.
"Don't tell me I'm nuts. Don't tell me it’s the damn crazy lighting around here.
But I swear I just saw a man size mouse run into that building."
Johnson was now slowly beginning to scan the village. He had every
weapon armed and ready for anything. At that moment the veteran point man had
the same feeling he had had back on New Berlin during the slave revolt, he didn’t like
what was in front of him. The buildings were two small to hide a mutt, but they
offered great coverage for either men or those stinking tanks. Whatever was out
here he was ready for and Johnson was now sure there was something or someone
else on this planet beside his own unit and the Alles.
"Miller!"
The unit leader turned his mutt toward Campbell's position. He instantly
recognized his voice and could tell something was wrong, especially when a veteran
warrior broke radio security by calling his boss by his given name.
"What's up Bill?" The squad commander gave a hand signal to McCray to
be ready for some action. He wanted to keep the radio free for Campbell.
"I don't give a damn about this lighting. I know I'm watching a damn big
building move. Yeah, I said move. The damn thing is moving. Have you got it on
line?"
The tone of his voice wavered. In one aspect he was anxious for revenge.
But this target was different from anything he had ever seen before, vastly different.
As he watched, Bill maneuvered his mutt into a position that offered some cover and
still gave him a good shot.
"Got it. Don't have a visual yet, but I've got it on Landnav," The squad
leader tried to figure out what was going on. Whatever it was, it was moving.
Whether it was a building or not, it was huge. Except for a carrier, Miller had never
seen anything that big move. At that point the officer decided whatever that was in
front of him, it wasn’t something that belonged to the Alles. In fact, right at that
moment he would have preferred to be facing the Alles, then he would have an idea
of what was out there.
"Casse, got your ears on?"
"Sure do Miller. Just keep this channel open. We got a good signal right
now. Flendy's in the area if you do need back up. Go ahead and find out what that
is, but no heroics. Understand? Especially you Campbell."
The point man flinched at that last remark. He didn’t like being singled out,
especially about having to hold back. As he aimed his particle gun at the moving
building, the mutt driver wished he could fire. At that range and with the size of the
target Campbell bet he could hit it blind folded. The Corgi driver thought some more
about what had happen to him in his last fight and how much he wanted some action
to prove himself. The very thought of what had happened caused a nervous twitch
that resulted in a squeeze on the weapon control stick.
"Oh hell!" Campbell realized what he had just done and watched the beam
leap down range towards its destination.
Swhoom!
Light rays splashed all over the moving building as beam’s energy failed to
penetrate and bounced off.
"Let’s get the hell out of here!" The Corgi began moving in reverse. At that
moment Campbell had no desire to enter into combat with whatever that thing was.
He had never seen or heard of anything that big. During the brief period in which the
building was lit up by the light show, he was able to clearly see what the moving
object really was.
"Campbell, what the hell’s going on!" Miller had seen the beam hit its mark
and reveal some type of mechanical object. "Mac, open season on that thing if it’s
going to fire. Campbell, answer me now!"
The Corgi pilot was too busy to answer. Being closest to whatever the thing
was, Campbell sighted what had to be weapon barrels. The number and size of
those tubes scared him. All he wanted at that moment was to put as much distance
as possible between his mutt and that metal monster. But, that wasn't going to work
realized a man who suddenly had a change of heart. What a fantastic way to make
a name for himself, thought Campbell as he remembered why he had volunteered
for this mission.
Swhoom!
Again a beam raced down range and hit the target. Again the machine was
lit up by the lights created by the beam being spread out.
Swhoom!
Swhoom!
Campbell now had no desire to leave. The battle (If it really was one. So far
the machine had done nothing but look huge, show off a lot of gun like tubes and
begun turning around. The vast size of the vehicle was slowing the turning rate.) had
been started by accident, but was now going to be finished on purpose. While he
was firing as fast as his Particle Displacement Weapons could recharge themselves,
the Corgi driver was beginning to wonder if his new tactic was such a good idea. He
hadn't missed yet and with the size of that thing there was no way the veteran
figured he could. But so far all his hits had done was light up the machine. Nothing
seemed to be hurting it.
Still firing, Campbell started moving backward. The thing was almost turned
about and he had failed to harm it. Just in case the thing could fire, he wanted to be
able to use his speed for a quick escape.
"Campbell! Answer me. What the hell is that thing?" As he and McCray
locked on to the target Miller wanted to know the who, what, why, where and when
of what was happening. Nothing was right, nothing. He had been in many fights
before, but he had always known something about something. This total lack of Intell
wasn’t to his liking.
"Campbell! Answer me!" Still no answer. Miller was becoming very uneasy
about the situation. He could see his point man moving backward firing his PDW as
he went. While he couldn’t make out what the thing was the squad leader could see
enough to know the situation could get real ugly, real quick.
"All units, Code Black. I say again, Code Black."
Three mutts began an orderly retreat with all weapons firing on that huge
block of metal which was about to be fully facing them.
"What's going on out there?" Back on the landing ship Casse had been
listening to the events and was also becoming uneasy.
Miller was to busy trying to fire as he walked his mutt backward. Casse
was became very concerned as he listened to his best point team begin retreating
from an unknown enemy that hadn't even fired.
Off to one side Johnson had heard all the commotion over the radio.
Following his leader’s instructions he also began backing up. Unlike the others
though, his mutt was too far away to see what his comrades were shooting at.
Whatever it was he had no desire to join the fight. If all the fire power on Miller and
McCray's Bulldogs wasn’t denting that thing, there was no way Johnson was going
to take his little lightly armed mutt over there.
Sloom!
Sloom!
Mac's mutt staggered as two huge gauss rounds swept through its right
torso. The driver looked down in awe at what was left of his mutt's right sponson. It
was all still in one piece, just now it was on the ground.
"Mac. You Ok!"
"Boss, that thing is yours. I'm out of here."
"All units, get the hell out of here, now! Get back to the ship ASAP." Miller
turned his mutt around. Whatever that thing was, he wasn't staying around to find
out if those were lucky shots or if he was next.
Sloom!
Sloom!
Sloom!
Sloom!
Miller was next. Four rounds penetrated the unit leader’s mutt's center body
armor. McCray watched in disbelief as the machine blew up.
"Damn. Must have hit the energy cells," Mac muttered as he pushed his
mutt to its top speed.
Sloom!
Sloom!
"Miller, report!" Casse wanted some information.
Silence.
"McCray, report!"
Silence was the only thing Casse heard.
"Commander, I don't think anyone else is going to be able to report."
"Who is this? What's happening out there?”
"You got Sergeant Johnson here. I was off scouting to one side when the
fire works started. You probably heard the same things I did. And the only thing I
saw was a whole lot of shooting and what definitely looked like two mutts going up
in flames. Whatever that thing is, it must be awesome to take out those mutts that
quick.”
"What’s your current status and position? Have you got a lock on either the
rest of your unit or that monster?"
"Boss, this baby is doing just fine as it runs back to the ship. Court-marshal
me if you want, but with all that fire power I saw back there, there's no way I'm
taking this paper clad mutt over there. No sir, my daddy didn't raise no fool or
suicidal nut."
"Is that thing following you?"
"No sir, just lost it on Landnav."
"Good, get back here fast and don't stop for anything. Be ready to report to
the Skipper when you're back on board."
Casse began making preps for a quick departure if that was the Captain's
wish. Goodin and Flendy's squads were ordered back and gear was lashed down.
Knowing the Captain, Casse was going to be ready to launch as soon as Johnson
stepped on board.
The Commander knew his CO. As Johnson guided his mutt through the
ship's doors into the pound, the lift equipment began engaging. The Skipper wanted
that raider. He was willing to enter the dangerous sailing confines of a nebula to get
that ship. But he wasn’t going to risk his men and equipment against some unknown
foe, especially when the Alles were still a force to be contended with.
#
As the ship lifted off the surface of the planet, the Captain sat back and
wondered when he would get another chance at the Alles. He wondered what
happened to the raiders over where they had landed. Did they crash land? Did they
run into something like what his men had met? What had happened to them?
The Skipper received an answer to some of his questions when comms
picked up an SOS from the raider. He didn't think anything was odd when it included
something about a giant mouse.
A planet called MAUS Captain Wrang thought as he watched the planet
past out of sight. An enigma if ever there was one.
Chapter 2
A NEW MISSION
"Captain, would you please have a seat and wait here? I'll return for you as
soon as his Eminence is ready to receive you."
The aide pointed towards a part of the reception room furnished with sofas,
desks and a small entertainment bar. After a polite tribute, the aide departed.
Captain Wrang looked around the anti-room looking to see if anything might
tell him why he was here. The scan was due to curiosity, not because he expected
to find something. After pausing for a few minutes as he once again tried to
determine why the Duke had summoned him, Wrang took a seat and began
browsing through one of the numerous magazines laying about. The veteran ship
driver thought it looked like a doctor's waiting room.
The farce of pretending to read didn't last long, Wrang wanted to know why
he was here. It wasn't unusual for someone as low as a ship's captain to be
summoned before the Duke. But it was extremely unusual for him not to have been
told why he was called. Try as he might, the Captain couldn’t come up with a single
reason, good or bad, why the head of government for this sector of space would
want to talk to him.
A few minutes later the same doors opened through which the Captain had
entered the room.
"Take a seat," was all the same aide as earlier said to the man now entering
the waiting area.
Captain Wrang was just as much surprised to see Sergeant Johnson as the
latter was to see his CO. After the normal military salute was exchanged the same
questions were asked.
"Why are you here?"
"Why am I here?"
Neither knew the answer to either question.
Captain Wrang had thought this might have something to do with that weird
little sortie into the nebula a week back. He had had to make personal reports to
higher ups several times in the past when a mission went astray. But this was the
first time to a duke. When Johnson walked through the door Wrang discarded any
ideas of why he was here. A ship captain reporting to a duke was a good possibility.
But a sergeant? No way. Something else was up and the ship driver had no idea
what it was.
"Sir, what do we do in there?" This was beyond a puzzled and nervous
sergeant, he was like a fish out of water. On any planet surface, against any hostile
force Johnson felt comfortable. He had enlisted at a young age. He was eager and
liked the rough and tumble world of warfare. His father and two much older brothers
were lifers in one of the various military branches. But here in this lace decorated
world of tact, politeness, manners and back stabbing, the young mutt driver felt out
of place. He had no idea of what was happening, would happen or should happen.
He was ready to head back to base as soon as possible.
"Just follow my lead. If we're here for the same reason, I would think most
of the questions will be addressed to me. Bow when I do. Don't say anything unless
asked. And never volunteer anything. Just do as I do and you'll do fine. I can't think
of anything except info as to why we've been summoned."
"What if I have to go in there by myself?"
"Do as I said and good luck. Relax, the Duke isn't going to call a sergeant
here in order to fry his rear end, he has flunkies for that."
"Do you think we're in trouble?"
"I don't think so." The Captain remarked as he turned away. He didn't want
Johnson to see the doubt in his eyes.
"Gentlemen, his grace will see you now."
The aide stood still and waited for what was about to happened. It
happened every time just before any one went before the Duke. Wrang and Johnson
had been standing and talking when the aide reentered the room. The Captain
expected the announcement when he saw the aide approaching.
"Ok kid, it’s show time." Wrang began straightening his uniform. He didn’t
want even a single hair out of place. The veteran officer was very much aware the
Duke could make or break a career in a hurry.
Johnson followed his CO's lead.
Finishing their last moment adjustments quickly Wrang signaled the aide
they were ready, one does not keep a duke waiting. Like ducks in a row, the three
headed towards the Duke's personal chambers.
On the way the veteran ship driver began to wonder what was going on. He
had been to the palace before and knew they weren’t going to the main reception
chamber where the Duke normally conducted business. Whatever the reason was
the Duke wanting him here seemed to be getting weirder and weirder to the
Captain. Johnson was too nervous to look around as he followed his boss' actual
foot steps.
#
The situation became stranger yet for the Captain once they were inside the
chambers. After introducing the two men to the Duke, the aide did a quick exit. The
Captain had to do a look around to believe what he thought was happening, there
were just the three men in the room. No one else was seen. The surprised look on
Wrang's face must have been obvious to the Duke.
"Yes, we’re alone. No, I'm not a fool. There's a pistol in my left hand just in
case and I do know how to use it. Have to admit I'm a damn good shot, too." The
Duke relaxed for a moment as he let what was happening sink into the minds of his
two visitors.
After it was apparent that at least the Captain was beginning to have some
idea things were not going to be handled in the normal fashion, the Sergeant was
still standing nervously at attention, the Duke motioned for the two to have a seat in
some of the chairs in front of him.
Allowing the Duke to be seated first, Wrang slowly sat down. Things weren’t
going in any manner he could even begin to understand. He had never been asked to
have a seat beside a duke in the latter's personal chambers. Something is wacko,
the Captain warned himself.
"Johnson, sit down." Wrang could tell the Duke wasn’t sure what to say to
the young man.
"Yes sir." The mutt driver took a seat beside his skipper.
"My apologies, Sire. But he won't sit down out of respect to you and you
looked like you weren't sure how to handle the matter.”
"I'll have to admit I wasn't sure," the Duke remarked as he reached for a
pitcher. After pouring himself a drink, he passed it to the Captain. The Duke decided
it might put the Sergeant in another awkward position if he had passed it to the
closest person.
"Gentlemen, as the Captain has surely noted this is not going to be a usual
meeting with some one of my position. Relax and have some food and drinks. Feel
free to enjoy as we talk. I have some questions for which I will have answers. Then I
have a proposal to make for which you will decide how to undertake."
The Duke stopped and looked at his guests. The Captain was paying full
attention. Wrang was thinking he was finally going to find out why he was here and
why in the manner he had been brought here. Also, he wanted to learn why the
Duke was being so nice. Duke Carl wasn’t known to be close or friendly with
anyone.
The Sergeant was enjoying the petite fours and caviar. Johnson had
decided to sit back and taste a menu he had never seen before. He was convinced
his butt wasn’t going to be put in a big meat grinner and that he didn’t have the
slightest idea of what he could know that would interest a duke.
"Gentlemen, officially this meeting never took place. There is no record of
either of you two coming and I will deny ever even having heard of you. Do I make
myself perfectly clear on that?"
Both warriors nodded agreement. Each knew no other answer was
expected or wanted. The Duke's statement answered the Captain's question of why
he hadn’t been informed as to why he was meeting the Duke, officially there was no
meeting.
"Captain, I've read your report to Admiral von Meyer. There are several
questions I have concerning it."
Oh hell, the Captain thought, knew I shouldn't have gone into that restricted
area. Then he relaxed when he reasoned that wasn’t something a duke would have
a private meeting to handle.
"Now let’s get down to why you are here. The first question I have
concerns the fire fight between your point team and the so called moving building."
All eyes shifted towards Johnson. As the sole survivor of the engagement
he was the only one who had any knowledge of what happened.
"Do either of you know who and for what reason why they started the
shooting?"
"Sire," the Sergeant knew he was the only one who could answer. "What I
remember I stated in the report. I was off to one side scouting. On Landnav I
spotted that building moving like the others did. But I was too far away to get a
visual. Lt. Miller and Mac were both on the knoll where I left them. Campbell had
moved up towards the point where the thing turned out to be. He must have been
right next to it. The first light flash I saw looked as if it came from where Campbell
was. Now, whether he or that thing shot first I can't say. I was out of that battle, just
a spectator and not a good one at that."
Johnson sat nervously waiting for the Duke to comment or ask another
question. The young man wasn’t sure what would happen next. As he thought over
the battle there wasn’t one thing he thought he had done that was questionable. He'd
do everything the same if he had the chance.
"I read that you saw the two mutts explode on the knoll. But I failed to see
anything about the Corgi up front. What happened to it?" While the question was
mainly addressed to Johnson, the nature in which it was stated told Wrang he could
respond. Not having any idea, the Captain chose to give Johnson all the pleasure of
answering.
"Sir, I've been in several fire fights of that type. When that much energy is
shot out and mutts start blowing up on the first hit, things are getting ugly. I saw one
wave group each take out Mac's and Miller's mutts. Those Bulldogs can take a lot of
punishment. Campbell was a lot closer to the thing and in a little Corgi. No sir, I
didn't see any explosion in his area. But, if the Bulldogs weren't surviving, I didn't see
how a small Corgi would. That plus I did lose contact with him on Landnav and there
was no ejection alert received. No sir, I don't know for sure what happened to
Campbell. But I can't think of anything good going his way."
The Duke sat quietly thinking for a moment as the other two waited.
"So you don't know whether or not he might still be alive?" The question
was asked much more quietly than the others had.
"My experience tells me there's almost no chance he made it out of that
fight." Johnson remarked in a confident manner. He had seen things like that before
and knew Campbell would have needed a lot of luck to even have avoided the
monster.
"Captain, is it normal to leave a member of the crew behind?" The Duke
quietly and calmly asked as he looked both men in the eyes.
"Sire, I resent any implication that I might have abandoned one of my men.
These weren’t -"
"Relax captain, we're not here to convict you or the Sergeant of anything.
But I want to know why the Sergeant ran without finding out what happened to the
fourth man in his unit. I want to find out why you lifted off so quickly. There was a
man still out there and you left. Your record doesn't seem to indicate that type of
cowardice action."
"Sire!" The Captain stood to attention. "Under the Articles of Military Law, I
have the right to have a Solicitor at any action where I am being charged with - "
"Sit down, now!" The Duke ordered without lifting an eye brow. Damn,
Johnson thought, I'd hate to play poker with that face.
Still outraged over the manner in which he was being treated, Wrang retook
his seat. This time any sense of comfort was gone.
"I told you two I wanted answers. I don't want any more of that childish
behavior. Stay in your seats and answer the questions. Now Sergeant, why did you
run from the battle site." Carl looked at both to ensure his point was received and
that there would be no more interruptions.
"Sire, If I may ask, have you ever seen a Maltese up close?"
"No, I don't believe I have."
"Well, it’s got just about as much armor as your arm has. Two heavies
were out of action in a blast each. Campbell was so close that if that MAUS had any
type of close in weapon systems he was dead meat. And brother, with the size of
that thing, it could have all the weapons in one arsenal on it. If Bill didn't go out with
a big flare like Mac and the Lieutenant, there were a lot of other ways his mutt could
have gone down. And only when one does go down does Landnav lose track of a
mutt. That left me alone with mister big, bad and ugly. Sire, I've thought about what
happened many times. I'd do the same thing again if the same thing happened
again."
The determination in the Sergeant's eyes was noticed by the Duke. "Alright,
now why did you order the quick lift off?" The Duke's voice or looks had not changed
one bit during all the talking. Now it was Wrang's turn to be glad he wasn't playing
poker with the Duke.
The Captain knew he had to answer. But from this point on he was going to
think over every word first before he spoke. Things were definitely wacko to the
veteran ship driver. What was the Duke up to? he kept asking himself. Something
was not what it seemed and he wanted to make sure his back was protected.
"Your eminence. A ship captain's first duty is to the safety of the vessel and
its crew. I ordered that lift off after receiving reports that three of my mutts had
been vaporized by an unknown force of incredible power. Those reports came from
men who I still have the utmost trust in."
The Captain paused to see how the Duke was reacting. The motionless
poker face was still there.
"The over all situation I was in was this. First, we were in a nebula, never a
good situation. Second, We were in an area that was supposed to be off limits and
we were starting to get some type of idea why it was off limits. Third, The planet
was something out of the twilight zone. I've been on over fifty worlds and never seen
anything like that one. Fourth, Miller's squad had just got the tar beaten out of it by
something that looked like it could easily handle anything else I sent out and then
take on the ship. Fifth, I didn't know if there was anything else out there to back up
that thing. The fact there were buildings gave every possibility of a hostile
environment. Both from the terrain and maybe from what ever constructed the
structures. Last, I did know that only about 400 clicks away was an Allemane raider
that might be in good shape and we had no positive idea what it was carrying for a
raiding party: mutts, tanks, hovers or what.”
"I don't leave crewmen behind when I know about them and I don't put any
ship into harm’s way, especially not when I've got no idea what I'm facing." With that
said, Wrang sat back in the chair as if to say: and that's the way it was.
For a few moments the Duke sat thinking over what the Captain had just
said.
"Just how much fire power do you think that so called MAUS might have?"
The Captain quickly responded. "I fought a Bulldog once. Those things are
nick named Bulldogs because they're just like a bulldog, short, stocky, mean,
powerful and hell to stop. I pumped almost my entire magazine of 5" APRs into that
bitch before she went up."
The Duke was sat silently as he listened.
The Captain continued. "After listening to the tapes and debriefing Johnson
several times, I'd said that thing is like a small cruiser crawling around on the
surface."
"Do we have anything that could defeat it?"
"Even presuming that that’s the only one and that there’s nothing else to aid
it, no - not on that planet. I don't think a full battalion of mutts and tanks could take it
out. Any bigger size force would just be stepping all over itself trying to stay out of
the way. With the nebula's natural strong mag influence that close to the surface,
any action by ships is out of the question. No ship driver is going to get as close to
the planet as you have to in order to shoot in a nebula. Same thing for the fly boys.
If that planet does have some thing living on it, they've got the best defense ever
created."
For a few minutes the two crewmen sat and enjoyed the refreshments. As
the Duke walked around the room thinking there was nothing else for them to do.
"Captain, Sergeant, giving him every possible benefit of the doubt, what’s
the possibility that Billy Boy might be alive?"
Both men had to stop and think. Neither was expecting that question. They
weren’t sure what to have expected, but that question definitely was not high on their
list. And both wondered why the Duke used such a familiar term for Campbell.
Wrang was the first to respond.
"Sire, I've learned over the years never to count anyone as dead unless you
actually put their body into the furnace. With all the facts about the battle and the
planet considered, I'd give him maybe a 3% chance of still being alive. That’s best
and that's being very generous. He's got air, temperature and buildings for cover.
But food, the Alles and whether or not whatever created those buildings are hostile
are all unknowns. And then there's that MAUS."
Again the Duke stopped to think before he continued.
"Gentlemen, you've answered the questions I had for you. Now for the
proposal, one you can't refuse." For the first time the Duke chuckled as he spoke.
"Johnson, effective immediately you are now an Ensign." The Duke stopped
to let it sink into the former sergeant's mind that he had just been given a promotion
to the officer ranks. "You'll be in charge of the mutt units. If you want tanks or
hovers, feel free to take them instead."
While Johnson was enjoying his promotion, Wrang was beginning to put
some pieces together and the picture he starting to form wasn’t one he liked. He
was expecting the Duke's next comment and had thought about speaking. Then it
was decided to hear all of the proposal before he objected.
"Captain Wrang. If you pull this mission off, you'll have to be far better than
any of your contemporaries. Come back successful and your name is at the top of
the list for promotion."
Promotion to admiral, the Captain stepped back. He had to admit he now
wanted to hear all of the details before he objected, if he did object. Admiral Wrang
did have a good sound to the Captain.
"Wrang, I've already had Admiral von Meyer collect a small crew from my
personal fleet and a LSM. The Admiral is giving you the Union Jack. Johnson can
help you collect a small merc force of about 12 drivers.”
"What?" Wrang shouted as he sprang out of his seat. "You want me to
take that old rust bucket with a make shift crew and a bunch of no good
mercenaries into an off limits nebula? Try to find a planet that we still aren't sure
where it is? Try to find the same landing site as before? Try to find a man that we
don't even know is still alive? And do all this in a combat situation?”
"I'm glad to see you've been attentive and understand the mission."
"No, that mission doesn't have a chance. I don't mind combat, but I want
some type of chance."
"I'll give you two reasons. First, Admiral Wrang."
"Low blow."
"The second is that you will find Campbell and you will bring him back,
preferably alive."
"Any other time I wouldn't dream of confronting a duke in this manner. But,
you're trying to send me on a mission that I don't think has much of a chance of
succeeding. And one on which I could easily get my butt shot up. Now, what the hell
is the real reason for all this interest in an ordinary mutt driver?" The Captain was
starting to think he had figured out the answer, but he still wanted to hear the Duke
say it.
For a moment the Duke looked at the Captain. "Think you've figured it out?"
"Think so. . . . He's your son."
"You're smart. I just might get him back."
As the fact set in that Campbell was the Duke's son, both men knew they
were going back to an unfriendly planet. Any thought of trying to get out of it was
now dismissed.
"Ah, Sire. I've got a small question." The look of puzzlement was clearly on
the new Ensign’s face to the others.
"You may ask." The Duke wondered what had suddenly given the so far
quiet mutt driver the back bone to speak.
"You said Billy was your son?"
"Yes?"
"Sire, I thought you never married?"
Pause
"Your Eminence, I'll have a little talk with him later about the birds and
bees." Wrang was about to break out laughing. The only thing that held him back
was he wasn't sure what the Duke’s reaction would be to either the question or his
laughter.
"Ensign," the Duke was also trying not to laugh. "When you leave here, head
for a place called The Cat's Meow over in the red light district. I think you've been in
space too long."
Not wishing to insult the young man, both older men tried to hold their
laughter. Nothing was said for a moment as they tried to figure a way out of the
situation. Finally the Duke spoke.
"Captain, you’ll meet with your ship's company tomorrow over at the ship.
Right now you have a 12 man merc unit to form, not a task I envy." The Duke
paused for a moment before he continued. "Remember, officially and unofficially this
mission never took place. I and Admiral von Meyer don't know a thing about this.
Meyer doesn't even know why ya'll are going and he is not to find out. Do I make
myself clear?"
Both men nodded in agreement.
"Now you have a ship and crew. You can get the mutts, tanks, hovers and
supplies you need from the motor pool and supply depot tomorrow. Gentlemen,
good luck. While I want this mission to succeed above anything
else, I do realize you have your backs to the wall. Good luck, I hope to see both of
you and Billy again."
#
After a proper exchange of farewells, the two combatants departed.
Outside on the palace's veranda the two stopped to figure out their first move.
"Sir," the new Ensign thought over the forth coming mission.
"Go ahead." The Captain waited Johnson's remark. He knew it wasn’t
going to be as good as the last one.
"Having the dubious honor of being the only survivor of combat on that
planet, why do I get the feeling we just got shafted?"
"Cause we did."
#
That evening the Captain sat in his room at the BOQ, a glass in one hand
and a bottle of 100 year old scotch in the other. Ever since leaving the Duke's place
he had been trying to think of a way to put this mission together. Johnson was an
excellent, combat experienced driver and the Duke was right in giving him command
over all the drivers. The Captain had no problem with that, the young man was the
only one who had any first hand knowledge of the MAUS. He also had the most
knowledge of the terrain and what might be the life style of the inhabitants. The idea
that there might be creatures living on that place still amazed him.
After a meal together at the Officers’ Club Wrang had told the new Ensign
to go celebrate. Johnson had been elated to be able to take his boss to the O Club
and pay for the meal. While the veteran ship driver had enjoyed learning about his
new Operations Officer he realized, as he had thought, that while Johnson was good
with the various mutts and would probability do a good job directing the men out on
patrols, the young man did not have the training for the planning portion of a mission.
Johnson himself knew he was going to be in the way. That and wanting to celebrate
one last time with his enlisted friends caused a situation where the Captain wished
him a good time and gave orders not to get too drunk. Now Wrang sat alone looking
over the notes he had been scribbling, drinking his scotch, wondering what he had
got himself into and what he was going to do to save his neck.
"I understand there's an old space dog in here that hasn't got the common
curiosity of a Basel fart dog."
Wrang looked up to see who had walked into his room uninvited wanting to
start a fight. He was elated by what he saw. There in front of him, holding another
bottle of hundred year scotch, was his last 1st Mate.
"Breedy, what the hell are you doing here?" Quickly hand shakes and back
slaps were exchanged, both were delighted to see the other.
"Well, you old fart. I heard you were on base. And since you won't come see
me, I came over to see you. Now what the hell is all this crap?" Commander Richard
Breed scanned the notes on the table. Before Wrang could answer Breedy spoke.
"I've seen notes like this before, just before a mission. I heard about that
weird little escapade you had in that nebula. Don't tell me you're planning to go
back? I know you, you're not stupid."
One look at Wrang's face told the former ship mate the answer to his
question.
"What the hell's going on?"
"You're not cleared."
"Bull shit."
"Take a good look and see what you think." The Captain stepped back from
the table. Breed had been one of the brightest men who had ever worked for him.
For the first time since being summoned to the palace, Wrang felt like something
good was happening to him. If anyone could help him put together this weird
mission, Breed could.
"Boy, you get shafted." Breedy commented as he stopped to think over
what he had just read.
"Oh, yeah."
Pause
"Want in?"
"Are you nuts?"
"I'm going to have to be in order to pull this off. Look, I need a good XO,
one I can count on. The Union Jack was a rust bucket the last time I was on it years
ago and I don't see Meyer's giving me the best men in his fleet. Johnson’s good, but
young. And we both know what mercs can be like."
"Why the hell should I jump away from that nice cushy job I've got right now
to take part in this piece of shit?"
"First, because you like challenges and you got to admit this is one hell of a
challenge. Second, cause I’m asking."
For a moment the two men stood and looked at each other. It was like an
old fashion poker game, nether wanted to be the first to blink. Breed broke the
silence first.
"Have you seen any of the equipment yet?"
"No, after getting as much out of Johnson as I could, I've just been here
trying to figure out where to start. I had reached the point where I was about to say
the hell with it for tonight. I think I've got to wait till tomorrow to see what shape the
ship is in and what mutts we can get."
"You sure we need mutts?"
"Yeah. All the drivers reported good solid footing where ever they went.
But we covered only about 1400 square clicks. We've got no idea what the rest of
the place is like. Johnson thinks some of those Jagdpanther and Royal tanks would
stand up to the MAUS better than the Bulldogs. But he feels they're too slow and
worries about the unknown terrain. I agree with him that hovers might be faster, but
their light armor may cause big problems."
"Why not a mixed unit? We've done that before. Worked good over on New
Kiev."
"Yeah, but don't forget the ship we've got. The Union Jack doesn't have the
largest cargo area. We need to keep the logistical end of the mission to a bare
minimum. Whether we like it or not, mutts look like the best way to go."
"What types can we get?"
"Dukey said we could have anything we wanted."
"Great. Let’s get 8 Bulldogs and 4 Whippets. Great fire power and speed
combination."
"I've got to listen to Johnson. He's the one with the latest combat
experience, and boy it’s a lot later than mine. And he's the only one with combat on
that planet. I agree with him, the Bulldogs did nothing last time. The Whippets sound
good if we can get them. If not, let’s try for some Corgis. Campbell's had the
misfortune of being too close to the action for its design."
"You know," Breedy thought over what he knew was over at the motor pool,
"I think I saw four Rottweilers and four Mastiffs last week. And there's been no
movement of mutts since then."
Wrang stopped and thought about what type of force that would make.
"Do we go with four - three mutt teams? Or two heavies and one light?"
"I like the idea of two heavies and two small light recon teams." The new
XO responded.
"That sounds like a good line of attack for tomorrow. Something to build on.
Damn, I'm glad you showed up. Still want to get in on this?"
"No, but you know I’m going to. Now we need men."
"Lets hit the district, that's where all of them will be. That’s provided any of
them are sober."
"You’re expecting to find any of them sober?" A puzzled XO asked. The
idea of a sober merc at this time of night was an oxymoron to him.
"No," the Captain remarked after thinking over the idea.
With that toasts were offered to the success of the mission.
#
The next day while Wrang and Breedy went over to check out the Union
Jack and see if any of the crew did show up, Johnson headed for the motor pool.
The Ensign had been elated when his new XO told him about the
Rottweilers maybe being available. The young man had seen the big mutts in action
once and had been awed by their combination of speed and fire power. One of the
things he had had to give up upon his promotion was his little Maltese. As a
company leader he could no longer run around the battle field in his fast, but
harmless mutt. He had to be in a position to see what all of his units were doing.
Normally that meant driving a unit with a good combination of speed and punch, a
Rottweiler fit that description perfectly.
"You know, I didn't believe it when I heard that some damn fool had made
you a zero." The motor pool dispatcher chuckled as he greeted Johnson. Both men
had gone through basic and driving school training together. Even after Lucas' injury
and removal from combat the two had remained friends.
"Is that the way to greet an officer?" Johnson snapped as he looked his old
friend in the eyes.
"No sir." Sergeant Lucas stood at attention and saluted. For a moment he
thought his old buddy had gotten the big head many ex-enlisted did when they put on
their butter bar. He realized he was being had when Johnson couldn't hold his
laughter any longer.
"Sorry Luke, but I had to do that." The Ensign extended his hand for a
friendly greeting.
"Bastard." Lucas accepted the handshake and gave a good congratulation
hug to his friend. "What’s the deal? Heard about your promotion last night and then I
just got this verbal message in about you and Wrang being able to rip off this place.
What going on or am I suppose to play stupid?"
"Oh, you better play stupid. You don't want any part of this one."
"Can't be that bad?"
"Well, let’s put it this way. I got a field promotion and Wrang could be the
next admiral."
"You got the royal shaft, didn't you?"
"Big time."
"Well, what are you looking for, mutts, tanks, hovers or some flying crap?"
Lucas asked as he tried to think of ways to help his friend.
"Heard you got several Rottweilers and Mastiffs. And how about four
Whippets?" Johnson knew what Breedy had told Wrang early. Now it was time to
see if the man in charge actually did have all those wonderful little toys. The Ensign
crossed his fingers as he waited for Luke's answer.
"That type of request smells as if it has the Duke's backing. Meyer would
never let those Rottweilers go."
"What type of shape are they in?" Johnson wanting to move his friend along.
He knew Lucas would sooner or later try to find out something about the mission
that he wasn’t suppose to know about.
"Ok, I get the hint, no talking about the mission. I'll get it out of you later.
About a week ago we got in eight Mastiffs, all brand new. We just got done with
their break in services. They're perfect, if I do say so myself. All the Rottweilers
have seen some action, but are in good shape. You can take them into combat
without worrying. The Whippets have seen a lot of action. There’s only about four of
them that are running. If you're taking a good mechanic along, you'll be all right."
"Good." The Ensign stopped to think. "How soon can you have four
Rottweilers, four of the Mastiffs and the four running Whippets over to dock 23D?"
"Yeah, you got shafted by the Duke himself. No way would Meyer let that
much fire power just walk out the gate and especially not signed for. Congratulations
and condolences. That explains a lot. Need a good mechanic?"
Johnson thought for a moment as he looked at his friend. He had mixed
feelings at the moment. Like everyone in the military, he had been taught that officer
and enlisted ranks do not mix socially. But Luke was one of those rare creatures, an
excellent mechanic with lots of combat driving time. He would make a great addition
to the crew.
"I don't have any say over that matter. But I'll bring it up with the Captain."
"All I can ask for. This place is dull and I want to learn what the hell shafted
you so bad."
"Be careful, you may get the shaft."
"Oh well, life's great, but then you have to wake up. Now what's the ship’s
name."
"The Union Jack."
"Nuts! Maybe I don't want to go on this joy ride."
#
While Johnson was having great success at the motor pool, Wrang and
Breed were not sure what they were having. As they walked towards the ship the
Captain and XO began scanning every part of her. Neither liked what they saw.
From a distance, the weapon ports looked as if there was nothing in them. One of
the main propulsion units was quickly spotted as simply missing. Moving closer,
signs of actual rust were spotted on the hull.
"If this is the outside, I don't want to see the inside." Breed was starting to
have second thoughts about the mission.
"Well, you won't see it right now." Wrang watched several maintenance
vehicles drive up to the ship. To the delight of both men, several weapon turrets and
a power unit for a Time drive were spotted.
"I think we ought to work on the merc problem right now."
"Sounds like an excellent idea." The two turned around and walked away.
#
After an afternoon of no luck finding any one who was a merc that looked
like and sounded like a real merc, the pair returned to the Q for dinner with the
Ensign. They were curious to learn if what the Duke was giving them for mutts was
going to be anything like the Union Jack.
Free Sample at the bottom