Casserine (14 page)

“Well folks,” Jake said to the clearly uncomfortable alien encounter group. “Anyone come to their senses yet? You can still reconsider and remain on board.”

No one spoke up, until Flowers walked up to Jake. “Very impressive game you have going here General, but we aren’t fooled. Let’s get going.”

“Okay,” Jake said, gesturing for Mendoza to take control of the bulky hovercraft, which was oval in the front, and squared off in the rear, with a wide hatch for unloading. The particle beam turret on top, poked menacingly out of its housing.

The civilians crowded on board, each with a headset, fixed with both camera, and audio capabilities. Flowers walked on last, and then Jake closed the hatch. The exit hanger door on the Drop Ship opened, and Mendoza guided the nearly noiseless craft out. He stopped when clear of the Ship’s hanger door, and waited for Jake to join him. They then watched together as Mercer’s Platoon encircled the ship, and set up the MAG50’s. Jake turned on his com unit.

“You there, Yuri?” Jake asked.

“Yes Sir.”

“How’s the video feed to the Gallant?”

“Pretty boring so far,” Tokoru replied smartly, as Jake heard muffled laughter from the other Marines, and Drop Ship crews, who were on the same channel.

“I will be correcting that shortly,” Jake promised, chuckling at his Executive Officer’s attempt to lighten the mood, “but I could use a straight answer for now, Colonel.”

“Clear as a bell, Sir, both audio and video.”

“Drop Ship two, three, and four?”

Three acknowledgements rang out.

“Once more. You all know what to do if we have any movement on our LZ anywhere other than right where we want it. I will abort this exercise immediately, and your ships will waste anything on our perimeter. If the Bugs can indeed sense our lone party near the edge of the LZ, and go after it, you will all wait for our original plan to play out. Clear?”

The affirmations came swiftly, and Jake turned to Mendoza. “Take us to the edge nearest the habitat. Turn her around and back to within twenty-five yards of the end of the LZ, just as we talked about.”

“Yes Sir, I understand,” Mendoza replied.

Jake put a comforting hand on the Corporal’s shoulder. “I know you don’t understand it all, but when you hear the screams in your helmet, it will become clear. You will be getting the video feed from my helmet cam, and the other screen shows the view of the back door. If I cannot drive the Bugs back, separating them from the civilians, or the Bugs move too quickly, you will have to leave whoever’s still on the ground. You will not be able to save them, Mendoza. You will only get us all killed. It will be your call, because I will be busy, and it will be a close one.”

“Can they out run us to the ship, Sir?”

“Not once I open a space up between them and us with our turret gun,” Jake answered. “After that, the Drop Ship will take care of business until we get aboard.”

“Do you really have to go out there with them, Sir?”

“I do if we want to get any of them back on here alive,” Jake explained. “It’s not my objective, but as you will soon see, nothing deserves to die like that. I will make sure the ones I don’t save, don’t last long. I expect you to see the same done for me. You will need some space between the Bugs and you. Open up with the turret gun on everyone and everything behind you. I will have aborted the mission before biting the big one, and the other ships will be here to take care of business. Anything else?”

“How will you get the people all back on here, and still make it back yourself?”

Jake chuckled. “As you will see Bob, if things go as we plan, and those things come up in front of us, I will only have to step aside, so as not to get trampled.”

“Good luck, Sir.”

“Right back at you, Corporal,” Jake said, as he went back to join Flowers and his group.

Mendoza turned the hovercraft around as he neared the edge of the LZ. He backed it to what he gauged to be twenty-five yards from the edge. Jake waited until the craft came to a complete stop, and then opened the rear hatch. He gestured for Flowers to lead his people out.

“Remember to stay on the Epoxy surface, Doctor,” Jake reminded him. “You needn’t go out past it. They will come to you. I would recommend you stay a bit in front of your group too.”

“Why should I?” Flowers asked, as he stared out the back of the craft. He could see the damaged Colony habitat in the distance.

“You don’t want to spook the Bugs, do you?” Jake asked, smiling.

“Quite right, General,” Flowers agreed firmly. He turned to his group. “Follow me, but stay back a little ways.

Flowers watched head’s nod in affirmation, and then he marched purposefully out on to the Epoxy surface. The rest of the group waited a few seconds, and then followed behind. They carried a myriad of items they were planning to offer to the creatures as a good will gesture. Jake waited until the last of them exited the craft before sliding to the right of them with his particle beam rifle in his hands at the ready. As Jake had figured, the group was far more concerned with their walk than with the fact an armed Marine shadowed them against their agreement.

Flowers halted a few feet back from the edge of the landing zone, scanning the area in front of him. They all took a startled step back as a few moments later, they heard a keening type whine, seeming to come almost from below their feet. It was getting louder.

“You getting this, Yuri?” Jake whispered.

“Oh mama,” Tokoru answered. “That sound what I think it is?”

“Affirmative. Any sign, Tim?”

“Not yet, Sir,” Tim answered. In addition to the deck gun, he had responsibility for tracking movement from his bubble. He swung slowly in a three hundred and sixty degree circle back to the area just in front of Flower’s group. “Okay Jake, they’re coming up. Check the surface just past…never mind, Jake, here they come.”

The ground swelled, and burst outwards, a hundred yards in front of the landing zone surface. Jake’s heart pounded. He caught his breath at the horror unfolding in front of him, as the creatures erupted from the rocky ground of Bougainville. Each creature propelled itself on ten protruding limbs, which Jake knew from experience, doubled as weapons to rip and tear their prey apart.

Every limb could slice through unarmored metal, with the two closest to each creature’s head, having the added feature of extra mobility, and a tripod of jagged jaw like mandibles. The monsters’ head consisted of a massive sharp-featured triangular nightmare of large armor lidded eyes, with a huge gaping mouth, utilizing rows of black bladed conical teeth to rip, and propel its food inside the narrow mantis like body. They were fully fifteen feet long.

Flowers stood transfixed as the Bugs welled up out of the surface faster than even Jake remembered. Flower’s group broke and ran with screams of pure terror, which rung through Jake’s helmet audio like an ice pick into his ears. The creatures streaked straight for Flowers, with designs on the rest. Jake watched him stumble back weakly, as he waved his arms at the creatures, trying to slow their charge with gestures. The first Bug to reach Flowers tore him up in the air and slammed him onto his back. It ducked its head towards him to feed, when his scream ululated into Jake’s ears, a pathetic God forsaken cry of pure desolation.

Jake’s first burst blew the creature’s head completely off. Moving in front of the horde, Jake raked the particle beam weapon in practiced bursts. He smiled grimly, as his extended fire disintegrated away their armored flesh as if it were paper. Soon, the landscape in front of the hovercraft was awash in Bug parts and blood. The horde pulled back momentarily, with Jake blowing literally hundreds of the things apart. He took advantage of the lull to run over and grab the back of Flower’s suit and retreat back to the hovercraft, firing as he went.

Inside the hovercraft, the rest of Flowers’ group huddled as far away from the hatch door as they could get. Two of the group lay dead near the hatch control panel, one with part of his chest gone, and the other only had half of his head still attached. The hatch slammed shut, and Jake dropped Flowers. He ran to the turret gun as Mendoza took off at full speed back to Drop Ship Alpha. Jake opened up on the Bugs with the turret gun, killing hundreds as they streaked over the Epoxy surface, and still they came.

Someone had cut off audio from Flower’s group, and Jake could hear Tim again.

“It’s gonna’ be close, Jake,” Tim stated. “They’ve broken ground all around the LZ now. They think they can flank you. Say when, my friend.”

“I leave it in your capable hands, Tim,” Jake yelled as he raked back and forth across the creatures’ ranks. “You’ve got a better view than I.”

“Aye, aye, Sir.”

“Charlie,” Jake shouted. “You there?”

“Hell yea, I’m here, and I ain’t deaf,” Mercer quipped. “Havingfun?”

“Oh baby. Open up when Tim does.”

“Roger that.”

Moments later, the hovercraft rocked as a concussion wave hit. Jake stopped firing, and looked around as thousands of the monsters blew into pieces in all directions. He climbed down and joined Mendoza in the cockpit. After he was seated, Mendoza looked over at him, and Jake could see the strain of the last few moments in his face.

“I’m sorry, Sir, but those two.”

“Thanks Bob,” Jake cut him off. “I see a couple of our erstwhile alien encounter group decided I was expendable. Sorry you ended up killing dumb-asses instead of the Bugs, but you didn’t have much choice. I’m glad you reacted fast enough to save my hide. I would have been extremely upset if I made it back to the door and it was closed.”

Mendoza nodded, and guided the craft inside the Drop Ship hanger bay. Jake took down the Med kit from the cockpit storage locker, and then headed into the back. He stopped by Flowers’ torn body, which lay where Jake had left it. No one from his group had moved to even look over their leader. One look, and Jake could see the Doctor was in shock. Flowers panted shallowly, and his face looked dead white under the hovercraft lights. Jake cut away the outer layers of clothing over Flowers’ mangled limbs.

“Yuri, I’m patching up the Bug lover, so when Tim says we have drawn our fill around us, Major Peters will lift off. Everyone moves in for the extermination. You copy that, Jas?”

“Yes Sir,” Peters answered. “It won’t be long. Even with wasting thousands, they’re still pouring out.”

“Okay Yuri, you’ve got the helm now,” Jake said, as he began wrapping compresses around the ghastly wounds on Flowers’ limbs.

“Aye, aye, Sir,” Tokoru acknowledged. “Let me know, Dougherty. I’m moving the other ships in closer right now.”

“Soon now, Sir,” Tim put in.

“Charlie,” Tokoru said. “Get your men on board, on the double.”

“Aye, aye, Sir,” Mercer relied. “Okay girls, that’s enough fun for now. Pack it in, and stay calm.”

Jake had, in the mean time, stopped most of the blood flow, and he used the man’s wadded up clothing to put under his head. Flowers color came back as the analgesic bandages began lessening the pain. He began to groan, and his breathing normalized. Mendoza joined Jake, threading his way through the cringing members of Flowers’ group.

“Can I help, General?”

“No, he should stay still until we get him on the Gallant,” Jake replied, standing up. He turned to the rest of the group. “I would like you all to stay here on the hovercraft until we get done with this mission. I’ll have a Med team pick up Flowers before we head out to the Gallant.”

“Aren’t you going to take that murderer into custody?” A man came forward, gesturing at Mendoza.

Jake walked up and slapped the man across the face, which propelled him into the bulkhead behind him, and then unconscious to the floor. He drew his sidearm, and gestured to the rest of the group. “Come on, please say something else stupid. The next word out of one of you retard’s mouths, and I will show you what a murder really looks like. Now get strapped in while I’m still in a good mood. A couple of you others can belt in your dumb-ass friend. He won’t be coming to real soon.”

As the group scrambled fearfully to do as Jake had ordered, Jake heard laughter from his helmet audio. He realized suddenly he still had his helmet cam and transmitter on. He quickly switched both off, and took off his helmet.

“Shit.”

Mendoza smiled, as he also took off his helmet. “It may be a little late to take these off now, Sir.”

“Indeed,” Jake agreed. “Let’s go see how things are going.”

Chapter 13 

Aftermath

They exited the hovercraft, and went to one of the viewing ports. Major Peters had lifted off, and the Drop Ship continued to hover just off the surface. All fire had ceased, to allow the Bugs to approach the ship unimpeded. They clamored around the ship, trying to gain a purchase on the outer hull of the armored carrier without success. The whine from so many thousands all around them came through even the bulkheads of the Drop Ship.

“Santa Maria,” Mendoza exclaimed as he crossed himself at the port next to Jake.

Mercer jogged up to the two of them, as the rest of the Marines flocked around the other viewing ports. The Drop Ship rose up into the air as the three other ships joined her in a circle around the Epoxy landing zone. The entire area was covered with hundreds of thousands of dead, dying, and soon to be dead Bugs.

“Nice to see you back, Jake,” Mercer said, clamping a hand on Jake’s shoulder. Mercer had already removed his helmet. Mercer began laughing just then as the MAG50’s, with special warheads, opened up on the Bugs from all four ships.

Jake looked away from the blast zone to see what Mercer thought was so funny. He followed Mercer’s pointing finger to the clear bubble gun turret, where they could see Chief Dougherty dancing around on the inside deck gun platform. They could feel the Drop Ship shudder slightly as Tim discharged MAG50 rounds, and jerked rhythmically to some unheard beat.

“I guess that answers that,” Jake laughed. “Tim’s got rhythm. He must have some sound system hidden out in there.”

Mercer turned back to the port with Mendoza, who continued to stare hypnotically at the carnage below. Jake came up on the other side of the Corporal. He put his helmet back on, and turned on the transmitter. He waited until he heard Tokoru order a ceasefire, before speaking.

“Well done,” Jake put in. “Sara, are you on line?”

“Yes Sir,” Corey’s voice came on.

“If Jas can spare you now, would you lead a Med team over to the hovercraft and pick up the Bug Doctor? He will need to be put in traction in the Med Lab before we leave the atmosphere.”

“I’m on my way, Jake. Shall I check to see if the one you gave an attitude adjustment to needs aid also?”

“No, that shit-head’s lucky I don’t heave him out. Leave him where he is,” Jake replied. “Yuri, are you picking up anything with our satellite scanners?”

“We’re tracking lots of movement just below the surface, and we’ll stay on it till we get some kind of read on the source, Sir,” Tokoru answered. “Come on home, General. We’ll look over the tapes on your recon mission, and see what else we can find.”

“Be up shortly Colonel, good work.”

“It’s good you will be able to join us at all, Sir,” Tokoru added. “I could not believe you went back for that idiot.”

“I never planned on losing anyone to the Bugs,” Jake replied. “I knew what the new particle beam weapons would do to the things. Getting flanked was my only concern. Oh, and the Bug lovers trying to leave me on the ground. I’m lucky Mendoza had my tail covered.”

“We saw what they were going to do, but Mendoza drilled them before I had to take a hand in it,” Tokoru explained. “I was going to get a Drop Ship down for you, and pull the plug.”

“Thanks Yuri, let’s hope we get the info we need, Matthews out,” Jake signed off, and removed his helmet. Jake watched as the rest of the Drop Ship fleet left for the Gallant. Suddenly, Jake turned to Mercer, and motioned for Mendoza to come over and join them.

“Charlie, I have an idea.”

“Uh oh.”

“Okay smart ass, listen up,” Jake grinned. “How about I have Major Peters set us back down, and you two watch my back while I see if we can find a Bug sample to take back up to the Gallant?”

“You better look again, my friend,” Mercer informed him. “Those new warheads from the MAG50’s, vaporized those things.”

Jake walked back to the view port. The Epoxy landing zone was destroyed, and nothing more than dust remained of the Bug horde. He put on his helmet.

“Jas, can you hover around the area where the Bugs first shot up out of the ground? I want to see if a few live ones might still be milling around down there.”

“Sure Jake, what do you have in mind?”

“I want to bring back a dead sample.”

“Aye, aye, Sir. I’ll set down if we find some movement.”

“Good,” Jake replied. “Tim, you still on line?”

“Yes Sir.”

“If we find a few of these things moving around, I need you to put a few rounds into them, so I can collect one.”

“Will do,” Tim agreed.

Jake motioned for Mercer and Mendoza to come along. They followed along behind him. He stopped by the hovercraft as he saw Corey leading a medical team into the craft. Taking off his helmet again, Jake waited for the team to emerge from the vehicle. Corey came back out first and spotted her mission commander. She walked over to him as the medical team brought Flowers out on a special enclosed bubble cart.

“Is he still breathing, Sara?” Jake asked.

‘Tea, but his arms and legs are mangled. The Doc said you did a nice patch job, and they may even be able to get him on his feet some day.”

“Good,” Jake acknowledged. “Go on back up with Jas. My friends here and I are going to hover down and get a dead sample or two for study. I’d like you back in the co-pilot’s seat when we set down again.”

Corey’s mouth tightened, but she nodded her understanding and jogged off in the direction of the Drop Ship cockpit.

“She looks as happy about this idea of yours as I am,” Mercer observed.

“In or out, Bubba?” Jake replied, donning his helmet again.

“I wouldn’t miss observing this brilliant plan for anything,” Mercer laughed, as he also put on his helmet.

“I go where you go, Sir,” Mendoza said, helmet in place.

As they walked over to the Drop Ship personnel hatch, Jake gauged it for handling the body size he planned to bring aboard. Mercer motioned his platoon over. They had all followed their commander across the deck.

“Heads up, Marines,” Charlie said over the helmet intercom. “The General will be going out to exhume a couple of bodies. The corporal here and I will be providing close in support. You bunch will deploy around the ship, and make sure we have no unwanted company.”

A chorus of assenting voices followed the order, and Mercer’s platoons deployed, weapons at the ready.

“I’ve got three bogies trying to gimp back to the original hole, Sir,” Major Peters said.

“Outstanding, Jas,” Jake replied. “The personnel door will not do. Will you keep me on screen so Sara can take over control of the transport hatch? Secondly, do we have enough Epoxy surface to land safely?”

“Yes to both Sir,” Peters replied. “Putting down now.”

They all felt the ship come to rest.

“Transport door coming down, Sir,” Corey’s voice said.

“Tim, you have the Bugs in your sight?” Jake asked.

“Yes Sir. They’re together, and dragging their mangled butts back to their hole, but they ain’t moving very fast.”

“Good, blow the crap out of the one in front, and put a round through each of the other two. Target the main body on those.”

“Will do,” Tim replied.

The Marines deployed around the ship as the transport door came all the way down. Jake, Mercer, and Mendoza went forward as Tim’s first burst disintegrated the lead Bug. The deck gunner’s next two shots passed through the center of each of the remaining two. They fell over to their sides, with a high-pitched screech. They lay directly between the hole and the Epoxy surface. When the three men reached the end of the landing zone, Jake waved the other two to a stop, gesturing for them to set up to cover him from there.

“Jake,” Mercer said, exasperation creeping into his voice. “You can’t go out there alone. Hell, how you plan on bringing them to the ship anyway, on your back?”

“You let me worry about that, Charlie. You guys watch for movement out of the hole, or any ground stirring around me as I go. Tim, I don’t have to tell you to scan the.”

“I’ve got the back door, Sir,” Tim broke in.

Jake ran full speed for the two incapacitated Bugs. He covered the distance in less than half the time it would have taken Mercer and Mendoza. When he drew abreast of the creature nearest the ship, he looked around quickly and then slung his weapon. With his gloved hands he grabbed the two large mandibles near the front of the thing, and simply started dragging the huge monster back towards the ship.

“Jake, look out,” Mercer screamed. “It’s still moving. Drop down so we can nail it.”

“Don’t shoot Charlie, I’ve got it.” Jake dropped the Bug. In one motion, he drew the gear knife at his belt, and plunged it into the creature’s head through the softer fold around where it sprouted one of the antennae like appendages.

After cleaning the knife in the dirt, Jake resumed his trek to the ship. When he reached the open hatch, he dropped his hold on the Bug. He then headed back out for the other one at full speed. This time Jake took no chances with the thing. He again used the gear knife to finish it off. Dragging the second corpse toward the ship, Jake felt the ground begin to rumble.

“We’ll have company soon guys,” Jake warned. “Almost therenow.”

“I see the spot, Jake,” Tim added. “You’re going right over it.”

“I feel it,” Jake confirmed, as he moved even faster. He cleared the edge of the landing zone just as the ground disgorged a new stream of Bugs, with Mercer and Mendoza retreating on each side of him, weapons at the ready.

“Fire at will,” Jake called out. “I only need a couple of moments to load the samples. Get ready Sara.”

“On it,” Sara acknowledged.

Jake finished dragging the two Bugs through the transport hatch, and then rushed out with his weapon back in his hands. “Let’s go home. Tim, put a MAG50 round into the hole as soon as we lift off.”

“Aye, Sir,” Tim replied, firing the deck gun as the Marines retreated in good order back aboard ship.

Jake ran in at the end of the skirmish line of Marines. The transport hatch closed, as Mercer made an on site head count. No one was missing, so Jake gave the lift off order. As the Drop Ship moved up and away from the area, Dougherty let loose with the MAG50, obliterating the Bugs at the hole.

“Well done, men,” Jake said. “Take off the helmets and strap yourselves in. We’re heading for the Gallant. That was one fine day’s work. Take us back home, Jas.”

“Aye, aye, Sir, on the way.”

As the ship began to move again, Jake and the rest of his party strapped in for the ride back out to the Gallant. Mercer and Mendoza stayed with Jake.

“What the hell you been eatin’, Jake?” Mercer asked. “How can you haul those monsters around by yourself. Did you get blown up or something, and made into a cyborg?”

Jake laughed. “No Charlie, I’ve been billeting on a heavy gravity world for the last five years. Operating out here in standard gravity is like being enhanced for me.”

“Those babies must weigh a ton,” Mercer continued. “Listen Jake, I’ve got this desk I want to move in my quarters. Can.”

“Very funny,” Jake sighed, as Mendoza laughed.

Tokoru and Stavros met the returning recon mission participants at the hatch after Drop Ship Alpha landed safely on the Gallant. Although many of the Marine regiments on board had either flown down on the other Drop Ships held in reserve, or watched the whole mission from on board the Gallant, they were now hanging around to meet the lead ship’s combatants. Two teams from the Gallant were on hand to collect the specimens Jake had gathered. Jake waved them off for the moment, as he shook hands with Tokoru and Stavros.

“Bring them out, boys,” Jake said motioning to the Marines on board. “Just drop them right here in the hanger bay. I want everyone to get a close look at what we’re fighting before the lab boys take over. Wear your gloves, and wash them off once you get them out here.”

As the military personnel aboard the Gallant began inspecting the two creatures’ corpses, Jake pointed to the civilians starting to exit the ship. “Yuri, I want a twenty-four hour guard on that bunch until we can get them the hell back to where they came from. Playtime’s over. If they give anyone any trouble, I want them put in the brig. They will be confined to quarters until a transport takes them off the Gallant.”

“Yes Sir. Do you want to file any charges?” Tokoru asked. “It might look good just in case some of them start getting mouthy when they get back home.”

“Forget it, Yuri,” Jake replied. “We have the video record this time. There will be no more encounter groups after this lesson.”

“They sure didn’t waste any time getting back on the hovercraft,” Stavros added. “If not for the Doctor getting grabbed, and those two nitwits trying to close the hatch on you, the whole thing would have been funny.”

“Tep,” Jake agreed. “They did pretty much what I’d figured they’d do. Any sane person would have.”

“What do you have planned for your exhibits, General?” Stavrosasked.

“I want to see if we can find out what attracts them, or makes them do what the Queen orders,” Jake explained. “If we know what kind of a signal makes them jump, we can.”