Casserine (36 page)

“No Sir,” Corey answered. “I hope all of this comes out well, so I can tell Byers all about it.”

“You would too,” Jake said, nodding at Tim, who climbed up into the turret gun.

Jake picked up his particle beam rifle on the way to see how Mercer was doing. The Marines in the bay were up, and ready. Mercer had a squad picked out, and was briefing them on what they were going to do. Jake smiled, as he recognized a few familiar faces from both the nests, and his deadly play in the Earth Command Council.

“I don’t know how this will all play out, boys,” Jake began. “Anyone with any qualms about going on this half-witted mission better go get back in the ranks.”

No one moved, as Jake nodded. “Okay then, I guess we’ll just have to go down there and make this work.”

Jake motioned for Mercer to take the squad to the escape hatch. He turned, and addressed Lieutenant Mendez, and the rest of the Marines. They all wore the insignia of the old United States Marines, and a red, white, and blue flag of the United States over it, on their right shoulders.

“This will be the first mission on Alien soil for United States Marines, which we all are now. Major Corey will drop you at the spot in the outer wall, where you are to blast your way through to us. Lieutenant

Mendez will give your squad leaders their assignments. You get in, we get out, and we get as far away from this booby-trapped coffin as we can. The prisoners must be herded well away from the walls, and because we need Major Corey in the air with Lieutenant Dougherty at the deck guns for air support, we will be on our own. Piece of cake, right?” Jake finished.

A chorus of ‘ooh-rahs’ rang out from the Marines assembled. Jake nodded at Lieutenant Mendez. “See you on the ground, Bob.”

“We’ll be there, Sir,” Mendez said, saluting formally.

Jake returned the salute. “I know you will. If things go wrong, get the men back away from the complex quickly.”

“Aye, aye, Sir.”

Jake headed quickly to the escape hatch, with Corey’s voice in his ear. “Nice pep talk, Jake. Any cheery words for me?”

“Call Jas. Tell him to have Colby land and hit the enclave now, and send a Command Wing,” Jake directed, ignoring Corey’s sarcasm. “We’ll use it to provide a bit more confusion. If they are in as close touch as I think they are, our attack may make them think the whole planet’s under siege. Sara, did you check.”

“If the roof hatch was locked or not?” Corey finished for him. “Tell him, Tim.”

“There are two hatches, Jake, both locked, but I have a pencil thin beam programmed to quietly take care of that detail,” Dougherty promised. “We’ll hold off putting you down until I see if they notice the beam.”

“Thanks Tim, we only need the one open closest to the stacks, and thanks for again finishing my thought for me, Harpy.”

“Harpy, aye.”

Jake chuckled, and joined Mercer’s squad at the escape hatch. They were poised and ready to drop down. “I’m glad Tim and Sara remember the little things,” Mercer commented.

“You thought I forgot about the hatch, huh Charlie?”

“No, I’m just saying it’s good to have more than one person thinking about details,” Mercer replied. “That way we don’t jump down on a roof in enemy territory, trying to stay unobserved, and have to blast our way through a sealed hatch into a booby-trapped building.”

Jake nodded, as the rest of the Marines laughed. “In other words, you think I forgot about the hatch.”

“No comment,” Mercer answered.

“I hit the hatch, Sir,” Dougherty broke in, and Jake could tell he had been laughing. “No movement on the towers.”

“Great news,” Jake sighed. “Take us down, Sara, and give me a go.”

“Right away, Sir,” Corey acknowledged. “Okay Jake, we’re hovering, and the place you’ll be dropping to is almost completely hidden by the stacks. We’re about six meters off the roof. I can’t get any closer without crunching a stack. The hatch can be seen by anyone in the tower, but if you go in one at a time, you should be okay. They’ll be focusing up and out, not in.”

“We’ll be watching, Jake,” Dougherty added. “I’ll waste them quick, and we’ll pluck you out of there if they notice.”

“Okay then, block the signal, Tim, and we’ll be on our way.”

“Yes Sir. It’s blocked, and the building’s in one piece,” Dougherty said. “I guess they didn’t rig it to go on an interruption.”

“And you thought this would be tough, Sara,” Jake said, hitting the escape hatch control, and lowering a ladder.

“How silly of me,” Corey retorted. “Jas has the fighter on its way, and the Alien force attacking the enclave has already breached the outer defenses.”

“Great,” Jake commented, climbing quickly down to the roof, and taking up a defensive posture, as Mercer and his squad dropped quickly down beside him. “Seal it up, and take off Sara, I don’t want the noise to start drawing attention.”

“Aye, aye, Sir, we’ll be close by.”

“As soon as we get inside, land Bob’s troops, and wait for my call,” Jake finished. “I’ll let you know when to have Bob start to break through from the outside, and then the fun begins.”

“We wait with baited breath, my General,” Corey replied. “Closing and lifting off now, Jake.”

Jake made a circular motion with his fist, and then pointed at himself. He ran in a crouch for the roof hatch, and pulled the heavy door open in one fluid motion. “Shit, get in here, boys, there’s all kinds of light, and we’ll be showing like a beacon to the towers. Hit ‘em, Tim, right now.”

Mercer and his squad ran in spaced intervals over the roof. After dropping down the stairwell next to Jake, Dougherty opened up on the nearest towers as blinding light lit the roof from the towers within sight of the prison complex roof. The Alpha deck gunner did not waste particle beam fire. He shot MAG50 rounds into the towers in rapid succession, guided by preset fire control solutions. Jake, Mercer, and his squad did not wait for the resulting explosions. They raced down through the building.

The stairwell spiraled downward through the well lit complex, directly from the roof to the ground floor about five stories down. Living quarters for the human prisoners were in a honeycomb of single room cubicles, which were structured out from the walls, with spider webs of ladders and narrow walkways connecting them. People began screaming after the tower explosions rocked the building, and spilled out of their quarters. Jake and his team hit the ground floor seconds after entering from the roof. Mercer gestured his squad to fan out, and they secured the two entrances.

Jake strode to the center of the small open space near the ladder, and set up his com unit to project his voice. “Listen up. Calm down, and listen to me. I am the commander of this rescue unit. We are United States Marines.

I.”

Jake was drowned out momentarily by the din of cheers and shouts of joy. “Please listen, we don’t have much time.”

The tenor and urgency of Jake’s voice silenced the people in seconds. “This place has been booby trapped to explode. We isolated the signal, but we don’t know how long our blocking beam will last. All of you get down here now, ready to move out on foot.”

A flurry of panic gripped the prisoners, as they raced to ladders, and walkways. Jake fired his particle beam rifle in the air quickly, bringing them to a halt again. “Move like human beings, damn it, not like a herd of scared cattle. I’ll start picking targets here in a minute if I see any more of that. We ain’t leaving anyone behind, so just get down here quickly, and carefully.”

The prisoners hurried downwards, slapping on footwear as they went, and shrugging into outer clothing. Parents clutched the smaller children to them as they went, if they proceeded too slowly. Mercer had already found the section they had in mind. He picked a spot near the ideal coordinates. The wall in that spot was approachable by a narrow walkway, and only ten meters to the right of where Mendez would be approaching from the outer wall.

“I’ve got it, Jake,” Mercer told him.

“Make a hole, Charlie,” Jake replied. “Sara, you clear to drop in Mendez, and the rest of the troops?”

“Yep, nothing but smoking holes up here where towers used to be,” Corey replied. “I’m landing the troops right now, and switching Bob onto our frequency right now. The Command Wing arrived moments ago, and is sweeping the outer area constantly. There may still be Aliens hanging around in the nooks and crannies, so keep your eyes open. You on now, Bob?”

“Yes Ma’am,” Mendez replied. “You can close up and fly support, Major, we’re deployed. I’m at the wall now, General.”

“You heard Sara, Bob,” Jake replied. “Cut through and get the area secured with troops. We’ll stay here by our hole until you call it safe. Tim’s got your back.”

“Aye, aye, Sir.”

By the time Jake finished talking on his com unit, he had a sea of humanity surrounding him. He spoke to Mercer once more. “You through, Charlie?”

“Hell yea, and I see some action flashes coming from above. That you, Tim?”

They all heard the particle beam deck gun as Dougherty acknowledged. “It’s me, Charlie. I have a target rich environment. I’ve cleared all the surrounding roofs, but they’re still trying to get to you through the alleyways in that maze down there.”

“We’re through the wall and deploying inside the perimeter, General,” Mendez broke in. “Troops are approaching you now to go past and secure the other end of the building.”

“I see them, Jake,” Mercer confirmed from the hole in the complex.

Jake saw some flashes as shots crisscrossed in front of the hole where Mercer stood poised, with prisoners crouching behind him. “You watching the front door, Tim? I don’t have much in the way of fire power if they come through there.”

“There ain’t nothin’ getting in the front door, Sir,” Dougherty confirmed. “They have no cover there, and they already found out what would happen if they tried. The blocking beam seems to be working.”

“Or you’ve already blown the remote control holders to hell,” Jake replied. “If not for the explosives planted, I’d have you MAG the surrounding area right now.”

“Both ends of the rear walkway are secured, Sir,” Mendez cut in. “You can start them out. My troops will guide them.”

“You copy that, Charlie?” Jake asked.

“Got it,” Mercer acknowledged. “I’m starting them out now.”

“I’m going off line to keep things smooth in here with these people. Take over for me, Charlie.”

“Aye, Sir.”

Chapter 34 

Survivors

Jake took off his helmet in the midst of the mass of moving people. He saw their fear, mixed with hope, radiating from their faces, as they trudged past him slowly. Jake’s huge figure towered over them, as they inched past him to the walkway Mercer and two of his squad directed them to. He carefully slung his particle beam rifle, smiling at the faces looking up at him in stunned awe.

One woman walking past, leading a ten year old, dark haired little girl, gasped as she recognized the huge armored figure patting people on the back reassuringly. “Sergeant Matthews?”

Jake looked at the woman in some confusion, as she looked familiar to him, but he could not think of from where. “Yes, Ma’am?”

The others had fallen silent at hearing the interchange. The woman, who was an older version of the little girl she held hands with, put her hand on Jake’s sleeve. “You were shot guarding our place, during the rebel fight near the Tarawa Jump Gate. You and your squad saved my family and friends when the smugglers tried to break into our living complex to hide, on Rigel I, near the Gate. You were badly wounded, when you rushed their position.”

Jake grinned as he remembered, and nodded his head. “I remember, Ma’am. My platoon leader would have shot me himself, if the smugglers hadn’t done it for him. I disobeyed orders.”

“If you hadn’t taken out their position, they would have killed us all,” the woman added. “They were setting up some kind of thing, the other Marines called a MAG or.”

‘Tea, they had a MAG50 launcher, and I didn’t have time to tell Deke, I mean Lieutenant Larsen,” Jake confirmed, as he continued greeting and pressing on the people flowing towards Mercer’s escape hole. “I knew they’d given up on the complex, because we’d have called for air support, so they were just going to wipe us out.”

“I heard the other Marines trying to tell your Lieutenant,” the woman continued, smiling. “He was really mad. They had dragged you back inside the complex, after you killed the crew around the MAG thing, and your squad had driven away the rest of the smugglers. The Lieutenant walked along next to them, swearing at you, even though you were unconscious, and badly wounded, until a black Marine corporal pulled him forcefully aside. At first, I thought the Lieutenant would hit the Corporal.”

Jake laughed, as he looked towards where Mercer was busily herding people out of the complex. He reached down and picked the ten-year-old little girl up as if she were a baby, into his arms. She simply leaned her head against his shoulder sleepily. “Yes Ma’am, if the Corporal had interrupted Deke in one of his tirades, you can bet the Lieutenant either thought about hitting him, or shooting him.”

The milling people listened intently to the conversation between the giant Marine and the woman, as they walked by almost reluctantly.

“The Lieutenant listened though, and then he nodded at the Corporal. The Corporal came back over to where they had left you, to wait for transport,” the woman explained, gauging whether to get out of the building with her little girl right away. She smiled up at Jake, and stayed. “He asked my sister and I if we had any bedding or anything, he and the other Marines could set you on until they transported you. When we returned with the blankets and pillows, the Lieutenant was kneeling next to you, applying something to the burn on your face and neck, while the

Corporal worked on the wounds in your side and legs. Your breathing was so ragged, my sister and I thought you would not live.”

“I very nearly did die,” Jake replied. “I wished I was dead for a couple of days after, during the time they worked on me at the Med Center.”

“Your other Marines there thought you would never make it either,” the woman explained. “When they came with a stretcher to transport you out, they all came and said something like Sem… Sem…”

“Semper Fi?”

“Yes, that was it,” the woman confirmed. “They said, ‘Semper Fi, my brother’, and then touched your arm.”

Jake nodded his understanding. “Then you were right. They thought I was dead. We’d been saying goodbye like that ever since we’d been on Omaha together, during the first Bug War. We did it when we thought we would never see the guy alive again.”

“The first Bug War?” the woman gasped. “How many have therebeen?”

“How long have you been here?” Jake asked suddenly.

“We were taken right after we took off from Rigel I, a year after you were wounded. My little girl and I were traveling to Genoa to see my parents, who worked there. We were only to be gone a couple of weeks. My husband must think us dead after so long,” the woman sighed, her voice breaking.

“He may indeed, Ma’am, but I’m sure he’ll be thrilled to see you and his daughter alive,” Jake consoled her. “We’ll get you back to him. If he’s not on Rigel, I’ll put out the word. We’ll do everything in our power to get all of you home. These bastards had you a long time.”

“We never thought anyone would ever find us,” the woman agreed.

“How did they take you?” Jake asked, making some calculations mentally.

“They came out of nowhere, and disabled us so fast, we had no time to do anything. They had a huge ship, and they pulled our whole ship inside, like one of our big ships can do,” the woman answered.

There were some murmurs of agreement from the people passing, who could hear the woman’s explanation.

“I guess we didn’t do too good of a job scanning our neighborhoods,” Jake said ruefully, thinking about how much anguish could have been avoided, if they hadn’t believed they were the only ones in the universe.

“My name is Alice, Sergeant, and you’re holding my little Julie. She’s the reason I’m still around. Without her, I don’t know what I would have done.”

“I’m very happy to meet up with you again, Alice,” Jake replied. “I do remember you and your sister vaguely, but only from before I was hit. I wish this reunion could have been under better circumstances.”

The last of the people filed past, and the two Marines, who had been guarding the doors jogged up, still eyeing the entrances. “All secure, General,” the Corporal, named Jensen said, saluting Jake.

“Good work, boys,” Jake nodded. “I’ll walk along with Alice and Julie here, and you guys bring up the rear.”

“We’ve got your back, Sir,” Jensen acknowledged with a smile, Jake could see through his helmet faceplate.

Jake looked down, and gestured in the direction of the opening. “Shall we, Alice?”

The woman nodded happily, falling in next to Jake as he started in Mercer’s direction, behind the rest of the prisoners.

“I’m sorry, General. I didn’t recognize your insignia, other than that United States flag on your shoulder. My husband and I were born and raised in Lexington, Kentucky, right in the USA. It’s nice to see the flag again.”

“You’ll be seeing a lot of it from now on,” Jake replied with a grin. “We threw off the old Earth Command. We have a Military Governor on Genoa now.”

As they came abreast of Mercer, he looked curiously at Jake, as he ushered the last of the group through the opening to the line of troops outside. He looked at the lady next to Jake finally, and then took off his helmet, shouldering his rifle. “I know you. Let’s see…it was…ah…I got it, Rigel, right?”

“Yes, it was, Corporal,” the woman named Alice acknowledged with delight. “Oh, you’re not a Corporal anymore, are you? Anyhow, I’m Alice, Alice Conyers, and this is my little girl Julie in the General’s arms.”

Mercer nodded, with a big smile on his face. “Damn small universe, huh Alice? You and your sister brought blankets for the big dolt here on Rigel, when we figured he’d cashed it in for good. Well, come along my dear woman, and let me show you to your first class accommodations, which should arrive shortly after we get the hell out of this booby trapped dive.”

Mercer put his arm around Alice, and guided her out, and along the line of troops, with Jake close behind with Julie. The Marines retreated, in spaced order, around them. Once they were through the wall, and walking towards where the Marines had set up a temporary holding area, Jake gave out a big sigh of relief. Mercer chuckled when he heard it.

“You relieved, big boy,” Mercer asked, glancing back at Jake.

“Oh baby, that ain’t the half of it,” Jake whistled lightly to emphasize his statement. “Alice there took my mind off the explosives. We had a lot of people, and a lot of Marines in danger for a.”

The ground rocked under their feet as the prisoner complex blew apart, with smoke and debris billowing out over the tops of the walls. Jake stopped, and turned to look back at the complex. They were only a hundred yards away from the walls, and some of the Marines who had followed them out were within fifty yards. The walls blocked the concussion from the blast, but they could still feel the surface beneath their feet tremble. Jake looked over at a startled Mercer, who had come to a halt with Alice.

“Think we cut it a little close there, brother?” Jake asked.

Mercer nodded. “I think that’s enough excitement for tonight. The Command Wing is going to be flying air cover, while Sara puts down and sets up an aid station.”

“Things went okay with Bink’s team?” Jake asked, remembering Mercer had been in direct contact the whole time they were evacuating the prisoners.

“I guess it was touch and go for a while,” Mercer replied, “but with our troops outside, and five Drop Ships flying cover, the only danger was to Bink’s boys inside the enclave. I guess they took some heavy casualties, but the ruling enclave is dead. Bink’s wounded, but he’ll be all right. Colonel Peters will be sending the Drop Ships over to pick up our people here as soon as their situation is clear.”

“Good, the sooner, the better,” Jake said, turning again to walk towards where he saw Alpha Drop Ship landing. “Tim really nailed those suckers. Did Bob’s troops even have to fire?”

“I think they fired a few times on the fringes there at the ends of the walkway,” Mercer answered, “but like you said, when Tim starts shootin’, there just ain’t much left for us ground pounders.”

“So much the better,” Jake said. “We didn’t need to be running a pitched battle, while trying to get these folks clear. Nothing better than superior air power, right Major.”

“You better believe it. Colonel Peters said there will have to be a lot of repairs done before the Alien fleet ever flies again. He didn’t figure you’d want them moving back in with air power if the negotiations bog down.”

“He was thinking right along with me on that. Bink will need some time to set up something different after thousands of years,” Jake commented.

“Excuse me, General?” Alice broke in.

“Just Jake, to you Alice, what can I do for you?”

“I’m sorry. I was eavesdropping on your conversation. Who is this Bink, and is this ruling enclave you spoke about here on this planet?”

“Bink is a nickname we gave one of the Aliens we captured to try and formulate this rescue. The Ruling Enclave gave the orders for everything done, according to Bink, in regards to prisoner capture, and planting Bugs on our mining colonies,” Jake replied, seeing anger creeping into the woman’s face.

“We’re just going to leave, and let bygones be bygones?” Alice asked in exasperation. “Do you know how many of us died in captivity here?”

Jake looked over at Mercer, who shrugged unhappily. The Marines bringing up the rear behind their commanders, were shifting uneasily, looking at one another, and falling back out of earshot. Jake looked over his shoulder at them, and Jensen gave him a little wave as he and the others fell back a little further. Mercer, who had been watching the exchange uneasily, chuckled a little as their troops, who had killed Bugs, Aliens, and Earth Command soldiers without blinking an eye, retreated in the face of Alice’s anger.

“Alice, I know nothing I can say.” Jake began.

“Nothing, General,” Alice broke in, “you can say would make such a thing right.”

“I was going to say, Charlie and I had a plan to wipe these clowns out of existence, but we opted onto a better one, with much less danger for all of you. In point of fact, the Alien helping us, wanted to kill the Ruling Enclave, and then simply order your release. He may have been able to do it too, but I didn’t want to take any chances. As luck would have it, they booby-trapped the building, so it turned out we were right to hedge our bets. We did wipe out a lot of their soldiers, and their ruling body died at the hand of our Alien,” Jake offered, suddenly unconvinced himself of going along with peace.

Alice started to reply angrily, but clamped down hard to avoid saying it. She paused for a moment, glancing up first at Jake, and then at Mercer, while they continued walking. “I’m sorry I snapped at you. It wasn’t my place to speak after all you’ve done.”

“If it’s any consolation, Alice, the Lieutenant you met on Rigel, died saving the Bougainville mining colony people from Bugs planted by those Aliens. Him, Charlie here, and a few others are the closest to family I ever had. Charlie and I have buried a lot of good Marines in these Bug Wars. We ain’t all that thrilled about making peace either.”

“He’s right, Ma’am,” Mercer reiterated. “We wiped out a whole fleet of the assholes when we came to scout their planet, thousands of them. We didn’t even find out about you folks until we captured Binky.”

“We were going to vaporize their planet,” Jake added. “It was plain dumb, arrogant good luck we found out about all of you. When Bink explained how the Ruling Enclave worked, we felt it plausible to make peace with the new enclave put in charge. As you said, they came out of nowhere to get your ship right off of Rigel.”