Authors: Peter Lok
When the Japanese government issued a plea for assistance, the Americans were
un
able to respond
,
embroiled in
a
civil war between the eastern and western halves of the
ir
country. Only Canada answered the call with significant aid. Canada had suffered too, with the destruction of Toronto at the beginning of the Alien War and Quebec separating from the rest of the country in the aftermath, but the alien incursions within its borders
had been far less serious
. An airlift of emergency supplies began in a week. Within a month, tankers of oil, shipments of grain and container ships full of winter gear began arriving at Japanese ports. On the way back the ships were packed with as many refugees as possible to
be re
settle
d
temporarily or permanently
in Canada or the western United States. Over five hundred thousand Japanese arrived
, and o
ver a quarter million decided to stay permanently in Canada.
Later on, Pacifica,
the nation that rose from the
former western United States, was added to the CAJUN membership. Both Joshua and Willie had entered CAJUN service via this route as Pacifica
n
citizens. CAJUN rapid deployment forces with more advanced HARM units
had
played a pivotal role in
ending
the Second American Civil War with an uneasy truce between east and west.
General Russell
moved
behind the podium to the side of the holographic display at the front of the room
and
continued speaking. “Good to see everyone is here. I’ll be up front with everyone. This could be one of the most important missions we have ever undertaken. The secrecy and speed in which we gathered you all together is both reactive and planned to deal with events evolving as we speak. This is a very fluid environment
,
ladies and gentlemen. You were all hand picked for this mission and represent the best that we have
,
so I know you will be successful.”
He looked around the room, seeing that the soldiers were murmuring amongst each other. He then motioned to someone standing in the doorway, just out of sight, to step into the room.
“Let me introduce you to
Special
Agent Angie Bless of our Intelligence Branch. She has been planning with our staff to organize this mission and will be going with you into the field as a liaison.”
Joshua’s jaw dropped in surprise.
Angie? My Angie?
he
was thinking.
A tall woman wearing a stylish, dark skirt suit tailored to her slender physique entered the room. Her medium length dark blonde hair was tied behind her in a pony tail. She was naturally attractive, but not a stunner. She walked over to the podium and stood next to General Russell. Her eyes scanned the room, and met Joshua’s stunned gaze. Their eyes locked for just a moment, but she showed no emotion and just the faintest recognition of Joshua.
“Good morning, everyone. I will be providing the intelligence briefing for this mission and I will let the General outline the mission parameters. Approximately thirty six hours ago I received information from a scientist who is analyzing an alien artifact of
Blue
Newt origin. The encrypted message showed photos and initial assessment results of the object. CAJUN intelligence has evaluated this information and deemed it high priority. Action has been authorized at the highest levels to retrieve both the scientist and the artifact.”
She paused for a moment then worked her wristpad to bring up some images on the holographic display.
“Your girlfriend is a spy?” Penny whispered incredulously over to Joshua.
“Uh… I guess,” Joshua whispered back. “I thought she was just a senior scientist at the CAJUN Materials Research...” His words stumbled a bit “… I… I guess this explains all the conferences and research trips.”
“You two are going to have to have a good talk after this.” Penny felt sorry for her commander
;
he was a pretty good guy to her and her platoon mates.
“This is a video stream of the artifact,” Angie con
tinued. “It is an egg shaped
crystalline object about ninety centimeters tall and weighs almost a hundred kilos. It is quite dense.” Another video stream shot against a dark background
appeared. “As you can see it
is translucent, with
a smooth surface
.
It
glows with a faint amber light
and
also seems to generate a faint amount of magnetism and heat.”
A close up photo appeared. “
Faint crystalline lattices can be seen inside the object, as if they were holographically etched.
W
e are not sure what
all of
this means, but it could be a computing or information storage device, a power source, or something else altogether.”
Angie paced around the hologram pointing out a few of the interesting features. “This isn’t very much to go on, but the AIs back
at headquarters
indicate a ninety five percent probability that this
is
the Great Mother Egg
,
or Shre’lor
,
that was lost during the destruction of the Newt mothership ten years ago. The description of the artifact and the recovery coordinates strongly
support
this scenario. If
it
is the Shre’lor
,
this artifact is extremely valuable to the Newts. It is their holiest religious artifact and it could be much more than that. When they nuked Washington DC, Moscow, and Beijing in response to the destruction of the mothership one of their few communications indicated it was a reprisal for the loss of the Shre’lor. Getting our hands on this artifact could give us valuable knowledge or even an advantage over the Newts.”
Angie looked out over her audience. “Any questions?”
There was a short silence
.
“Are we sure this intelligence is correct?” Willie asked. “This is almost too good to be true.”
“This information is real,” Angie confidently replied. A flick of her finger brought up a photo of a middle-aged African woman
with short curly hair
,
standing beside a young boy
. “It is from one of my own trusted assets, Dr. Shani Tsvato, who is currently working on the analysis of the artifact. She is a PAA national who normally is based in Cape Town, but was drafted for research on the artifact. Part of this mission is to extract her and her
twelve-year-old
son
, Kwasi,
and offer them asylum in Canada. She will be working on the inside to enable access to the artifact and open security doors to facilitate our entry.”
“Where is the artifact now?” Willie asked again.
“It is located in former Tanzania. The artifact is at a research facility in the Kahamba rare earths mine.” Angie pressed something on her wristpad and a satellite map appeared. It showed the mine location in the Shinyanga Region southeast of Lake Victoria from a high altitude
,
then zoomed in to show an enhanced 3D model of the site.
The research facility was located on the far side of the large open pit mine
,
away from the massive tailings piles.
“Most of the country is controlled by the warlord Jean
Huwapwa
, who calls himself the President.
The
territory
is technically
claimed by the Pan African Alliance, but that is in name only. You should not be engaging any PAA forces during this mission. However, time is critical. Decoded intercepts have indicated that a Chinese
delegation
from the PRC will arrive in less than a day to examine the artifact and purchase it from
Huwapwa
.
Huwapwa
is on good terms with them as he buys arms from the Chinese and sells them rare earths. As you all know we do not have good relations with the PRC, so we will need to move very quickly to prevent this.”
This was actually a sad state of affairs, Joshua thought to himself. Ten years ago the world had been united against the alien Newts during the Alien War. The PRC, Russia, Japan, Canada, Pacifica, the European Union, the PAA, and even Brazi
l
had been all working together then. Some had proclaimed a new age of cooperation.
After the war, the global political landscape had changed. A good chunk of Earth’s tropical and subtropical lands had been occupied by the Newts
,
who had either pushed the humans out or now
lived in a
tenuous
coexistence
with them. New alliances and nations had formed,
and
old nations had ceased to exist. He had personally fought in the Second American Civil War. The new global alliance had only lasted two years after the war.
“That should be enough for now, folks,” General Russell added. He brought back the satellite map of the Kahamba area.
“The mission will proceed as follows. Captain Thornton, you are the mission commander. Your Alpha Team will be back in the air within the hour. Mission prep can continue en route to the target. All of your gear will be loaded onto the transport.” The map then showed a line from Diego Garcia to Kahamba. “Your transport will fly within
30
kilometres of the research facility as a scheduled commercial
over flight
. You will be doing high altitude
-
high opening jumps onto the research facility. Ms. Bless will be jumping with you. She has advanced infiltration training, including HAHO, but it has been some time since she has jumped. Willie, take good care of her, she comes highly recommended. When you have landed she will contact Dr. Tsvato to arrange entry.”
“Be my pleasure,
sir
,” Willie spoke up. “If she says she can do it, we’ll be glad to help her. She might be a sp
y
, but she’ll be our sp
y
. Welcome to the team, Miss.”
“Thank you,” Angie replied graciously, “your reputation as a gentleman precedes you.”
“And who would have told you that, Ma’am?”
Angie pointed. “Joshua Scott, over there. We know each other.”
Willie gave Joshua a big wink. Joshua just shrugged back.
“It’s good you know each other,” the General continued. “Two of our latest
Fenrir
HARM units, under the command of Captain Scott, will be deployed after your landing to back up your team. There is a significant guard force in place at the research facility which includes a couple of early model HARMs.”
Another line appeared on the map from Diego Garcia to end at a game preserve east of the research facility. “A stealth transport will deliver the HARMs
20
kilometres east of the target via a low altitude parachute extraction. They will make their way to the research facility to provide overwatch as you breach it.”
An airstrip was then highlighted on the map. “After you have retrieved the artifact and the civilians, the HARMs will proceed ahead
to secure a nearby
airstrip. The stealth transport will then land again and extract all of you. Are there any questions?”
There were none, so the General continued. “Detailed briefing materials, including the research facility plans, have been downloaded to your pads for your mission prep. If at all possible you are to use non-lethal means to incapacitate the guards.
W
e don’t want to leave any obvious calling cards, so leave behind any personal effects.
You will be issued non-traceable equipment for this mission, and t
he HARM units are being stripped of all markings as we speak. Good luck, everyone.”
With that the General leaned over to whisper to something to Angie. She nodded, then he and his aide left the room. The special forces commandos
chatted
amongst themselves
for a moment
,
then
began to file out.