ALTERNATE TALES OF THE STAR FORCE
STAR BLAZERS---TREACHERY
Being the second part of THE NEW COMET--- BY: Frederick P. Kopetz
This Act is being completed with the Cooperation and Assistance of Derek A.C. Wakefield (as usual)---Freddo
ACT THREE: WILDSTAR, WAKEFIELD, AND THE DENVER DELTA OPERATION
I. DINNER AT THE FORRESTERS
Earth
Boulder, Colorado
The Forrester Residence
Friday, July 12, 2205
1828 Hours: Earth Time
A clock ticked on the mantelpiece as Deke and Brew stood examining a bunch of pictures on the mantel in Karl and Teri Forrester’s living room. Pat Marrable, Brew’s uncle, had followed them, but he left after one brandy with Karl Forrester when his portable phone rang. So, Teri and Karl’s guests were limited to the Wildstars (who were staying over) and Deke and Brew.
To Deke’s surprise, there wasn’t very much evidence here that one member of the Forrester family and one in-law were in the EDF. There were about fifteen pictures on the mantel, and only one of them showed Nova Wildstar in uniform; and the uniform she was shown in happened to be the EDF whites she had worn when working as Commanding General Singleton’s adjutant at Earth Defense Headquarters. That picture stood beside a medal framed behind glass; Nova’s first Sunburst of Honor. They were a little awed by that, since they had never actually seen the ornate eight-rayed decoration before at close range. To the right of that picture stood a wedding portrait of Nova next to Derek; she in her bridal gown, he in his black EDF peacoat and Star Force uniform.
“Look at this, he was just a Captain when they got married,” said Deke out loud to Brew.
“You know there’s a picture here of her naked,” said Brew in a stage whisper. “Got her name on and all.”
“Brew, she looks to be about…four months old in that picture, ya pervert,” said Deke as both of them looked at a picture nearby of a baby girl posed on a big fuzzy rug on her stomach. And, she was, indeed, quite undressed.
“Yeah, but look at her buns,” he said. “Woo…eee…”
“Not many pictures here of them in uniform or anything,” said Deke. Some of the pictures were of Karl and Teri, some were of their youngest children, David and Aurora (including a tasteful picture in dim light of little David at his mother’s breast) and the rest were of Nova at various ages, with some of Derek.
“I wonder who that is?” said Deke as he looked at an amusing picture of Wildstar sleeping on a couch in civilian clothes with a very small baby girl in a pink set of pajamas lying on his chest. The little girl’s eyes were closed, but the lashes were long and luxuriant.
“I took that one,” said Nova as she appeared behind them, startling Deke and Brew. She had changed into a white sundress and matching sandals which made her look a little more mature, but in real life, she still looked startlingly young to Deke. Maybe it’s the dress, he thought.
“Who is she?” asked Brew. “I never heard of you two having a child.”
Nova just smiled enigmatically and said, “You’re right. We don’t have our own yet. She’s very special to Derek and I, though. Sort of the baby of the family.”
“What’s her name, and where is she from?”
“Bit of a long story,” Nova said as Derek and her mother stepped in, with Teri’s face framed by a skylight in the kitchen. Karl stood by her a moment later, trying to look inconspicuous. Derek wore a polo shirt, shorts, and sneakers, while Teri wore a sundress similar to her daughter’s.
Teri looked at her
daughter and said, “Nova, I need you to check that pork roast.”
“Mom, you’ve just put it in the processor. It won’t be ready yet.”
“Just go and check its progress. And could you help me with those potatoes?”
“I thought you had them peeled.”
“I thought you promised in the car, Nova.”
Nova rolled up her eyes. “Sorry guys, looks like I’m on KP in my own old house. Derek, if you want to help out…”
“I’ll be in soon,” he said. She gave him a peck on the cheek and flounced out.
“Nice medal,” said Wildstar abstractedly.
“Yes, I am proud of her,” said Teri. “But you know what I think of the military, Derek.”
“Yes, I know.”
Teri then turned to Deke and Brew and started. “I’m sorry, boys,” she said. “I’m aware you’re cadets…but…let’s just say I’m not the biggest fan of the Defense Forces. I don’t even like looking at Nova in that darn gold and black uniform very much.”
“Why’s that?” asked Brew, ignoring a tap on the shoulder from Deke that meant ‘enough’”
Teri Forrester took a deep breath as Derek looked at her. “I know it’s your profession and all that, but it’s so dangerous. I know she met and married a very good man aboard the Argo, and that’s about the best thing that came out of those cruises she was on, other than that she helped to save Earth.”
“Ma’am,” said Deke. “Do you think the Gamilons were just going to live and let live? That’s why we needed the Star Force.”
“That’s why we still do,” said Wildstar quietly.
“I know,” said Teri. “But does she have to do this forever; does she have to wear that gun around her waist forever? I do wish she’d enter medical school…settle down, have a family...so I can take a picture like this with my grandchild at her breast…”
Deke glanced at the picture again; in it, Teri was clad in only a lacy top with her legs curled under her while her son nursed in her lap; the baby wore only his skin. With her hair down, and her body semi-exposed, Teri looked a bit younger in that picture than she did now.
“She’d love to,” said Derek, “But, her duties come first. I can’t decide for her whether she’s going to continue on as an officer or not. That’s her decision. I can’t make up Nova’s mind for her. That’s a gross violation of her free will.”
“Can’t you get her to change her mind?” asked Teri sadly as she put the picture back beside one of David as a toddler in a suit. “Maybe get her to at least take a safer assignment? She’s given enough already.”
Derek shook his head. “She’s over eighteen, Mrs. Forrester. Like it or not, she’s not your baby girl any longer, nor is she mine.”
“He’s right, Teri,” said a deep voice behind Mrs. Forrester. Karl had come in, followed by his youngest son and daughter. He was smoking a pipe as he said, “I thought we had this discussion long ago, Teri.”
“Well, we did, but, still, I’m feeling some regret. Is Nova ever going to settle down? Will she ever…have a normal life?” sniffed Teri. She turned away quickly; Deke caught tears forming at the corners of her eyes.
Then, young David ran up. “Daddy,” he said. “Why is Mommy crying?”
“Long story,” sighed Karl. “You and Aurora go downstairs to the rec room. You can play video games until dinner’s ready…”
“Did Sis save that kid from drowning?” asked Aurora. “She’s really cool, Dad. I wanna grow up to be just like her!”
“No, you’re not,” sobbed Teri as she hugged Aurora fiercely. “I want you to promise you’re not going to go into space!”
“Mommy, why is that a bad thing?”
Yes, thought Deke sadly as he sighed to himself while drumming against his thigh with his drumsticks.. Mommy, why is that a bad thing? Once again, reminds me of…Dawn…my past….
THE PAST
SAN DIEGO MEGALOPOLIS
December 26, 2201
Dawn Westland stood at the door of Deke Wakefield’s apartment in a blouse, short skirt, and boots. She was carrying a wrapped package of some sort, a package gaily wrapped in silver foil.
“Yes?” said Deke, who answered the knock.
“Hi, Deke,” said Dawn. “It’s me…Merry Christmas.”
“Hi,” said Deke in a rather low, depressed voice.
“How have you been doing?” asked Dawn as she closed the door. “I mean…you know, since…you know…?”
“I still have DJ here, Dawn. The gun is a souvenir of the action I was in with the Junior Space Cadet Corps…when we thought that the Cometines were going to invade and land. My CO let me keep it after we stood down…“
“I see,” said Dawn as she shook her head. “I brought you this, in the hope that maybe we can make up…”
“Actually, I owe you something, Dawn.”
“What?”
“A good day out.”
Dawn smiled at Deke; it was the sort of smile that made him melt, and which had made him melt for years; given that they had grown up together and had been a romantic item for some time; so close that many assumed they would marry after they finished high school. Deke lived alone as he had lost both of his parents to the Gamilon War, and Deke and Dawn had lived together for a time. However, his talk of joining the EDF had caused Dawn to move out.
They had a good day together, and a very good afternoon. They had come to a sort of rapprochement which ended with them cuddling on the couch doing submarine races in an absent fashion. They had been with each other before, but it didn’t feel right today, since they had been at odds the past few weeks. Maybe it’ll come again, thought Dawn as she held Deke. Maybe things can be like they were again…maybe. Then, we can jump in that room again, and…
“Dawn, can we go outside for a bit?” asked Deke as he reached for his sneakers, then his drumsticks.
“Okay,” said Dawn with a pout on her face. She kissed Deke again. She wondered if Deke realized how lucky he really was. Dawn was the sort of person who would make just about any man melt. She was somewhat tall, had an average but well-proportioned and comely figure, and had mid-back length medium brown hair, with her bangs bleached blonde. Her eyes were blue, and her nose was slightly large, but not so large that it distracted from her appearance.
She was gorgeous, and had a sweet but strong personality. And she was opposed to Deke’s joining the military; as would become even clearer this day.
Oh, Dawn remembered her mother Lynn’s words, all right, the words she had said back in November. “Dawn, he's been in JSCC ever since he got to high school. After everything he's been through, losing his father, sister, and his mother in the war, don't tell me you didn't expect him to join the service, did you?”
Dawn remembered arguing fiercely with her mother Lynn on this one. Oddly enough, (as Deke recalled in 2205 when he remembered hearing one of Dawn and Lynn’s arguments on the topic), Dawn’s mother had supported his right to join the EDF, while Dawn had opposed it. Deke remembered he had overheard that Lynn had noted how she had been avoiding the topic ever since the Gamilon War. She had asked Dawn, “who do you think you’ve been fooling? HIM?”
“Okay, we’re out,” said Dawn. “So?”
“Let’s go towards the Rec Center,” said Deke as he began to tap his drumsticks against his leg. “I have something to…show you.”
“Hope it’s not dirty,” giggled Dawn. Deke just smiled at that.
“What are you thinking about?” asked Dawn as they walked together towards the local Rec Center, passing a series of townhouses that were going up.
“What are those?” asked Deke.
“Townhouses,” said Dawn. “Part of the rebuilding. They’re…Okay…I hear that transient EDF officers will eventually be living in those. So, they aren’t slums. Fascinating.”
“You think EDF officers live in squalor all the time?” asked Deke. “Granted, a BOQ apartment may not be the greatest, but…”
“Funny…they make those houses look…normal. Or almost normal.”
“Looks like they’re being built around a common yard and a pool,” said Deke. “Now, I like the ocean better, but…”
“You’d settle for a pool? That doesn’t sound like you.”
Deke felt a shiver. It was unknown to him (at least on a conscious level) that someday, he would live for a time in one of those very townhouses here in San Diego, betwixt a friend and an enemy. But, let it be noted that we shall not reach that point until later in this strange little tale of Princess Invidia and her roaring rampage of revenge.
“Dawn, if you join the EDF, you have to make some sacrifices. I wanted to show you that sky. See it?” he said after he tapped his sticks against his leg again. “That’s where I belong…”
Dawn brushed his hand off her skirt-clad thigh as if it was a bug. “Deke, do you have to be the one to make all of the…..”
“…sacrifices?” demanded Teri Forrester in the kitchen as she and Nova worked. Something in the tone of that voice shocked Deke (who was sitting depressed in an armchair) back to the present.
“What?” said Nova Wildstar in her low alto (which, to Deke, sounded oddly like Dawn’s voice for a split second).
“I said, Nova, do you have to be the one to make all of the sacrifices?”
“Derek, how long am I in the service for again?” called Nova.
“2211,” called Derek in a distracted tone of voice; he was playing with his brother-in-law David near the Forrester’s piano. “You just signed the papers when we landed.”
“Thanks!” cried Nova. “You heard it from my CO, Mother; I’m in for another six years.”
“You’re crazy!” yelled Teri. “How can you keep on going into space like that? You’ve got to settle down and at least take an Earthbound position soon, if not start a family. The family is beginning to talk about you!”
“Mother, we’ve had this….”
“….discussion before, Dawn!” said Deke heatedly back on December 26, 2201 as Deke drifted back into his memories. He remembered again why he called his weapon…his Shetland…DJ. It stood for “Dawn and Jessica”—Dawn, his girlfriend (at least at the time) and childhood friend) and his mother Jessica. “I’ve made up my mind. I want to join the EDF. I want to fly.”
“And did your plans take me into account?”
“Yes.”
“NO! I’m not gonna be a Navy Wife sitting in one of those ticky-tacky houses like some lump praying for you to come home!”
“No one asked you to sit there like a lump; and you can still pursue your…”
“My career as a flight nurse means I’d be in a hospital waiting for you to stop playing around on your spacecraft carrier or whatever they call it so you can come home. I’d miss you all the time. I don’t want to live like that.”
“…Dawn…”
“I want a full-time husband; not a part-time one. Sorry. I think…”
“What?”
“We spoke of you moving back in. Let’s hold off on that, Deke.”
“What? Until I grow out of this phase?”
“No…until you….”
“…learn to be responsible, Nova,” said Teri. “You have responsibilities to the family.”
“This is too weird,” muttered Deke to Brew in a stage whisper as he got his sticks out in the present.
“What?”
“Their argument. Damn, she’s sort of reenacting the fight I had with Dawn over four years ago.”
“Yeah, but with her mama,” whispered Brew.
“And her mom Lynn always supported MY going into the service. Weirder and weirder,” muttered Deke as he began to drum his sticks against his leg.
“Nova. I said you have responsibilities!” yelled Teri Forrester.
“I have them, too! I have oaths I have sworn to my service, to my ship, and to my husband,” retorted Nova. “Mother, I don’t need to sit in here and hear this.”
“And where are you going to take your guests?”
“OUT to eat. I can afford it. And then, we’re staying in a hotel for the rest of our leave,” snapped Nova as she took her apron off. “Derek, I’m not gonna stand here and listen to my mother talk to me like that! I’m over the age of majority!”
“Here we go again,” said Derek with an amused smile.
“Derek, it’s not funny this time!” said Nova. “Sorry you had to hear this,” said Nova as she turned towards Deke and Brew and grabbed her hat and purse. “Our dinner plans are about to change. How’s about eating at the Boulderado tonight? My treat.”
“Can we afford it?” asked Derek.
“I can; just got paid.” Nova gave her father a peck on the check and kissed David and Aurora hurriedly. “Sis’ll be back another day. Derek, go to the guest room and get our things.”
”Aye, aye, ma’am!” said Derek with a grin. Deke was surprised at this, but he sensed real affection between the Wildstars. Real affection and a sense of “us against the world” that he had seen in only a few couples before….
….like, once, between himself and Dawn back in their high school days.
“Why can’t you stay NOW?” asked Aurora.
“Mommy put me in the doghouse. Again.”
“Mommy, you let Sis out of the doghouse!” yelled Aurora. “She doesn’t need to sleep with Princess!”
Teri smiled and said, “Nova’s being bad, Aurora. We have to ignore her so maybe she’ll calm down and see reason. C’mon.”
“I’ll see reason,” said Nova. “When Hell freezes Over!”
“Well, I do hope you brought your ice skates,” said Teri primly. “Have a good day outside of the fold, Lieutenant.”
And then Teri closed the door in Nova’s face.
“Well,” drawled Nova, as she made a gesture that shocked Deke and Brew; namely, she pulled down one eyelid and stuck her tongue out at the door. “&*^% you, too Mom! With sugar on it!”
II. SHEEP OUT OF THE FOLD
Earth
Boulder, Colorado
The Boulderado Hotel
Friday, July 12, 2205
1912 Hours: Earth Time
“That was a little upsetting,” said Deke as he sat on a bed in a suite in the Boulderado rapping out a cadence from marching band. Derek and Nova had checked in and taken a suite while Deke and Brew had been asked to follow them upstairs.
“I’ve seen them argue like that when I was little,” said Brew. “Nova and her mom were always like two rams butting heads when they argued. Funny, given that they’re ewes, and not rams.“
“Whatever,” said Deke while he worked on his rudiments against the edge of the expensive-looking bed frame in the suite as Derek Wildstar took a phone call. “No, Mrs. Forrester,” he said. “She doesn’t want to talk. She checked us in here. Yes, I’m sorry. I’m not taking sides in this, though. She’s here, but she’s in the bathroom,” said Derek.
His voice carried into the bathroom, where Nova had a bare foot up on the toilet lid; she was re-polishing her toenails before dinner. Mom, would you give me some space? thought Nova. No, I am not coming to that phone. No matter how much you insist. I am a member of the Star Force. Whether you like it or not!
Nova was applying her lipstick when she heard Derek slamming down the phone; she gave him a thumbs-up. She had buckled on her shoes and was about to step out when she heard the phone ringing again. She made a guess and blurted out, “Is it mother?” when she came out.
To her surprise, Derek glared at her and held up a hand. “What?” she snapped.
“Sir, hold a minute. Nova, get the secure hand-held out of our bag! It’s the Megalopolis! “Sir?” said Wildstar, “Yessir,” he said as the room went quiet. “Recontact on Repeater Cipher Alpha Charlie Twelve-Fourteen; acknowledged, General.” Deke stopped drumming, and Brew looked around as if he had just lost his brains. The cadets were thunderstruck, hearing such noted officers obviously talking to their superiors. Derek continued speaking to the party for a moment longer, and then he said, “Nova, when you connect the hand-held, put us both on through the headset.”
“Roger,” said Nova as Deke and Brew looked on. Deke said, “Sir, ma’am; if you need us to leave.”
“No, we’ll take it in the lounge and close the door. It’ll be a few minutes.”
Wildstar took the phone into the lounge with Nova while Deke wondered, “What the hell is going on?”
“Flag officer business, I bet. We don’t have the clearance to hear it.”
“Or Star Force business?” said Deke nervously.
Brew shrugged.
“Hello?” said Nova after she and Derek had made contact with the Megalopolis through their secure telecomm unit and had their identities and cipher codes confirmed. The call was a little scratchy because of the coding, but it was necessary since this had to be discussed on a secure line.
“Commander, as I was explaining to the Commodore, we have a situation,” said the unmistakable voice of Commanding General Singleton on the other end of the phone.
“Yessir,” said Wildstar.
“Now that I have your attention and we have a secure comm line…” said the Commander. “Have you ever heard of the old Unification Wars storage facility beneath Longs Peak, about 50 kilometers northwest of your current location?”
“Yessir,” said Derek. “Don’t they have some of the outlawed DN-235 mobile units there?”
“Correct,” said Singleton.
“Sir,” said
Nova. “What are DN-235’s?”
“Mobile Intermediate-Range Ballistic Missiles on truck carriers with the stable DN-5 nuclear warheads. Those will last 150 years. They are mothballed but operational. We have four of them stored in the underground base at Longs Peak. Remote security systems have just told us that a Josiahite cell has broken into Longs Peak and is working its way towards the vaults. I can have three Marine platoons out there on the hardstand at the Boulder civilian airfield up from Denver in forty-five minutes. Also, it just so happens that Homer and Domon are on leave in your area. You’ll lead the operation and one platoon, I’m sure you can assign Homer and Domon to command platoons in a pinch. There is a small medic and sensor unit that will be under Nova’s command. Do you know of any other officers or skilled cadets in your area we can trust with this?”
“We do,” said Wildstar.
”Where are they?” said Singleton.
“This hotel suite, with us,” said Nova as she looked right in Wakefield and Marrable’s direction. “They’re in another part of the suite. We sent them out because they don’t have the right clearance to hear material on Repeater Cipher Alpha Charlie Twelve-Fourteen.”
“Names?”
“Wakefield, D., Marrable, J..”
After a quick pause, the Commander said. “Got their records. They’re between training sessions right now, but I’ve cleared them for this mission. You can tell them about it now, Wildstar. They’re yours.”
“Roger,” said Derek. He abruptly opened the door. What the heck is going on? Deke thought as Wildstar stormed out. His thought was mirrored by the puzzled look on Brew’s face.
“Secure call from the Commander, Earth Defense Forces,” said Wildstar as he came out with the headset on. He continued to talk to the Commander while Nova sat running the cigar-box sized repeater unit on the other bed. Brew thought she looked awfully funny running a piece of EDF equipment in a sundress.
“What are you gawking at?” said Deke in a whisper.
“Legs,” said Brew in a whisper as he pointed in Nova’s direction; Nova didn’t see because she was busy running the secure repeater phone, which had to be adjusted frequently to keep the satellite signal. “Wooo…eeee….”
“You idjit! They’ll hear you. “
In the meantime, Singleton said to Wildstar, “The plane gets there in forty minutes. Get yourself, your support officer and those cadets equipped and briefed. Brief them on the way to the airfield.”
“Yessir,” said Derek and Nova.
They hung up, and looked at Wakefield and Marrable after Nova locked down the repeater unit for carrying. Derek said, “You two told me you have experience.”
“Yessir, we do,” said Deke as he gulped.
“We need
it. Do you have combat fatigues with you?” he asked as Nova began to undo her
sandals and grab at a duffel bag.
“We do, but…”
Nova smiled and shut the bathroom door, carrying her bag.
“Get into them now. I see you have a weapon, Wakefield,” said Derek with a sly grin as he looked into his bag and saw DJ. “You must have been psychic. You’ll take that for backup.”
“Sir, what’s going on?” said Marrable as he pulled off his polo shirt.
“A situation,” said Wildstar. “You’ll be briefed on the plane. We’re about to go into action. I’m giving each of you a squad. I’m sure you know small-unit tactics well?”
“We do,” said Deke. “Sir, who is it?”
“Josiahites.”
Deke’s eyebrows went up.
“And if we don’t act, this whole metroplex could disappear with us in it…”
“Nukes,” said Deke unbelievingly in the car as Wildstar sped to the airfield.
“Four of them,” said Wildstar. He was in green fatigues, and so were Nova and the others. The hotel had allowed them to slip out through a service elevator. Nova was actually back on-line again, this time with the EDF Airbase in Denver. Nova said, “Derek, they just received a note in the Megalopolis. It reads: “Surrender us three capital ships now, or face the destruction of four cities on the North American Continent. We can expect to destroy the Denver Metroplex in two hours if our demands are not met. Signed, the Spirit of Yvona the Prophetess, speaking through Her Josiahites, and all that other crap…”
“Can’t be her,” said Derek. “I was there when you killed her.”
“Derek, they said her Spirit, not her. They think she is still alive.”
“What do these wackos believe?” asked Brew.
“They believe that Ekogaru was the Second Coming,” said Wildstar, “and they believe that the R’Khell and Technomugar were the angels of God. They have explained away the change of allegiance of the Rikashans to the Alliance by quoting that bit from Revelation where the devil drew down one third of the stars of Heaven with his tail.”
Derek paused together his thoughts while Nova said, “We’ll be at the airfield in five minutes. “They have the landing boats on the way. The police have secured the field.”
“Got it. Anyway,” said Derek. “Yes. Those wackos. They said Revelation means one-thirds of all aliens joined the devil’s side, including the Rikashans. They believe that the Gamilons, Cometines, Iscandarians, people of Telezart and the Pellians were all demons led by Satan; that the imperialist races are Satan’s open demons, while the non-imperialist races are his hidden demons meant to cause rot in our society. They are also very racist, believe the races should not be mixed, believe in racial purity and segregation, and believe God will eventually kill all the races except the White Anglo-Saxon Protestants. Nasty bunch.”
“A lot of this, my former Aunt Yvona pulled from old Nazi literature and the Protocols of the Elders of Zion,” said Nova. “Some of it, I’m sure, Ekogaru gave her through a mind-link when he contacted her and Auntie Yvona’s brain began to really turn into Swiss Cheese.”
“Nice bunch,” said Brew sarcastically. “Deke, would they really blow up a city like that?”
“The Rikashans would’ve,” said Deke.
“How do you know…?”
“When I
fought those guys in JSCC, they were taunting us from across the lines and
telling us they wanted San Diego,” said Deke.
“Vicious mothers,” said Brew.
“You don’t know half of it,” began Wildstar, who was interrupted in his reverie when he noticed he was driving up to the gates of Boulder Municipal Airfield. He stopped and said, “They’ll need ID, then we have to get in and get busy.”
The other three nodded.
For Deke, the preparations for the combat operation seemed to take hours, even though it was accomplished in only about thirty minutes or so.
Deke and Brew found themselves assigned to a Type 100 recon plane, the sort of plane, luckily, that he was familiar with. During the past year at the Space Fighters’ Training School, he and Brew had learned to fly this plane and were checked out in it. They would learn to fly the Cosmo Tiger in their upcoming year, which would be their senior year. “Your mission,” said Wildstar as Deke and Brew ran through the checklists, “will be to fly there first and probe their defenses. You have the speed and agility so that you can get there ahead of us. Domon and I will be flying there right behind you in the amphibious drop boats. We need a report on what they might have out there to stop us. Just try to get us advance recon info…”
“I see this plane has a target scope on it,” said Wakefield as he strapped himself in at the pilot’s place. Brew was behind him in the cockpit in the RSO’s place.
“Yes, you have two missiles and some wing cannons,” said Commodore Wildstar. “However, don’t fire on them unless they engage you first. If this goes right, you and Marrable will find where they might have missile launchers; and then, we’ll take them out right before we land and hit the deck. Then, when we all land at the rendezvous point, you will help us invade the facility. Got that?”
“Aye, sir,” said Wakefield and Marrable.
“Good luck and good flying,” snapped Wildstar. He saluted and the two cadets returned the salutes. They had liked flying a great deal at the Academy, and they had been in some exciting simulations, but this was the first time they were taking off in a plane and heading into a situation where they might really be shot at; so, as a result, there was an extra edge to their preparations.
A moment later, Deke was receiving takeoff directions from the tower as he taxied the Type 100 into takeoff position at the end of the runway. He smiled when he heard the directions in his headset “Bravo Mike Sierra Twelve, you are cleared for takeoff…”
“Cleared for
takeoff, Bravo Mike Sierra Twelve,” said Deke. He released his brakes and
pulled back the throttle on the Type 100. The runway seemed very short and
seemed to shoot by very fast. When the bird reached 140 knots, Deke rotated
upwards, and the red and gold Type 100 took greedily to the sky. Within a few
moments, he was at 1500 meters and gaining altitude as the Flatirons and then
the Rockies marched on ahead of him in the distance in the west.
“Reading the terrain,” said Brew, who was all business now. “We have to turn to 310 degrees for the best course to Longs Peak. I’m picking up some crosswinds in the distance, Deke. Watch your trim. You remember what happened that one day in training when you and I got wind shear in our planes; the day we were flying in close formation with Connors in that triad. That was the day that Staub washed out after he almost crashed.”
“Roger that,” said Deke. “By the way, I’ve just popped on those weapons…in case we need them…”
“We might; we might not,” said Brew. “Remember, bro, we’re here to look, not to fight.”
“If they wanna fight, well, I’ll give it to those guys. Goddamn, though, I wish it was Gamilons we were going up against.”
Brew nodded sympathetically. “I lost my dad in the war, you lost…”
“Just about my whole damn family. Dad, mom, my sister….Dawn and Lynn were all I had left.”
“I don’t know if we’ll ever be at war with those blue SOB’s again, you know; they’re supposed to be our allies now.”
“Supposed to be is the operative word,” snapped Deke. “Funny, even though I fought those Rikashan fanatics in Junior Space Cadet Corps in 2202, I don’t hate them as much as I hate the Gamilons. The Rikashans just killed some of my JSCC buddies; the Gamilons did a lot worse.”
“Things change, Deke…”
“Not for me. Hell, I’d just about as soon shake hands with a Gamilon…”
“As what?”
“As begin dating some Iscandarian space chick with all of her space juju powers. If they know so Goddamn much, why didn’t they help us before my parents got it?”
“Don’t have an answer, bro,” sighed Brew.
“You know, this is damn weird,” said Deke. “I was expecting summer training on the Rio Grande; we still are; but I was expecting routine stuff. I was never expecting to be on some kinda Star Force mission commanded by Wildstar himself. What do you think of him?”
“He’s got that air about him, but he seems too damn young to be a flag officer, if you ask me. Hell, he ain’t even started to go grey yet. And, hell, he’s married to one heck of a fox.”
“Yeah, weird how that Nova goes from a sundress to fatigues in five minutes flat. Dawn should meet her sometime. You know how Dawn says that it’s not quite feminine to be in the military and how she’d never do it?”
“Missus Wildstar would prove her wrong in a minute,” said Brew.
“Yeah…Dawn should have a talk with Mrs. Wildstar. Of course, that’d never happen, it’s…Shit, picking up something,” said Deke as he heard a singing noise in his headset as the Type 100 began to dive down towards a valley near Longs Peak. “Is that a radar, or…?”
“Roger that,” snapped Brew. “Activating full ECM’s, and preparing to drop window…looks like an SAM array by the signature.”
The ominous singing noise only got louder. Deke quickly made a report. “Bravo Mike Sierra to Foxtrot Tango One. Over!”
“Foxtrot Tango One here, we’re two klicks behind you,” said Wildstar. “Over.”
“Foxtrot Tango One, picking up VHF radar from dead ahead, three-ten point two four notch four. Suspect Mobile Surface to Air Array, Mark Twenty-Five.”
“Picking up second SAM array from three-ten point one notch six,” said Brew. “We’ve dropped window.”
“Any fire yet?” asked Wildstar.
“Negative, sir,” said Wakefield. Then, a minute later, he saw a bright flash of light from a bare patch near the snowy field. “Belay that, missile fire detected!”
“Take appropriate action,” said Wildstar. “Any other radar points?”
“Aye, third mobile SAM array, three-eleven point two notch four; on the mountainside,” said Deke as Brew sent him the data.
“Take the nearest one; we’ve got the others,” said Wildstar. Deke then heard Wildstar ordering “Foxtrot Tango Two, take the one on the mountain; we’ve got the westernmost missile battery.”
“Roger that,” said Domon from his boat.
But, Deke was barely listening now; he was lining up the incoming missile in his target scope. “FIRE!” he barked. “Returning live fire!”
He shot at the missile, and took it out as it approached nine hundred meters; a bit close for comfort; he was at eleven hundred and had just locked his flaps at 08.
Then, Deke swung around, flicked a control on his control stick, and locked a missile on target over what looked like a three-ramp SAM battery using old Unification Wars ordinance. “Open fire!” he yelled.
He fired his missile, and watched with grim satisfaction as it slammed into the snow and exploded. He saw debris and bodies flying as he then reported, “Foxtrot Tango One, first SAM array taken out.”
Then, a minute later, Deke and Brew felt their plane rocking. “Whatthe?” barked Deke.
“Damn, Sumuvabitch there’s got a grenade launcher,” snapped Brew. “We just took a hit!”
“SHIT!” yelled Deke as the engine temperature began to shoot up. “Well, I’m taking that guy out…”
Deke hit a fire extinguisher switch with one hand while he lined up on the running figure with the other hand. The enemy Josiahite wore black fatigues and something that looked like an old black Nazi coal-scuttle helmet, and he was making obscene gestures at Deke’s plane as he ran.
“Take this, asshole,” growled Deke. He began to strafe the Josiahite, and was pleasantly thrilled as he saw his fire slam home into the man, who was, simply, blown apart.
Alarms were going off in the Type 100 a moment later. “The foam didn’t work,” snapped Brew. Deke, you’re gonna have to land now; we’re on fire.”
“All right,” snapped Deke. He looked behind him and saw Wildstar’s boat firing missiles off into the distance; then he saw its flaps going up and saw its landing jets beginning to snap on. “Hope our jets are still working, because I’ll have to bring her in on those,” said Deke. “Brew, we’ll have to ditch this plane ASAP…”
“Gotcha, bro…” said Brew as more alarms went off. Brew looked back, and saw smoke trailing up from the Type 100’s tail now.
“Changing flaps, activating jets,” said Deke as the Type 100 slowed down abruptly from over two hundred knots to forty knots, and then thirty knots as it began to hover and lose altitude. “Hope you like snow because that’s where I’m taking you.”
“Sheeeiit, hope Missus Wildstar ditched her flipflops for boots,” teased Brew as they landed. As soon as they thumped onto the ground, Deke and Brew were out with fire extinguishers; they last thing they wanted was an explosion to endanger the other boats.
They got the fire out with their foam just as Wildstar’s boat landed; Domon’s landed to its right.
“Good job!” snapped Wildstar as he ran out into the snow. “Thanks for the great spotting.”
“Plane’s toast, sir,” said Wakefield. “I hadda soak the aft turbines.”
“Doesn’t matter,” said Wildstar. “Hop aboard now; Nova tells me they’re forming up ranks by the entrance; we’re gonna have to fight our way inside.”
“Gotcha, sir,” said Brew. He boarded the boat, along with Deke. A moment later, Wildstar got in behind them, and shut the hatch just as enemy fire began to pepper the outside of the armored hatch.
Deke climbed up to the flight deck; he saw Nova working a combination of the ship’s radar and a small portable sensor unit in her lap at the navigator’s station; Hemsford was at the co-pilot’s station of the amphibious boat. “Roger, ma’am, I got those guys locked on,” he said as the boat turned a circle in the snow on its treads.
“Open fire!” said Wildstar as he took over the pilot’s station again.
Hemsford fired; Deke nodded grimly as he saw more bodies blowing apart in the snow in front of him. But, here, he could clearly see their blood as they were blown to bits.
Ain’t so nice and clean now, he thought. Not that that bothers me…
“Derek, they’re pulling an XT-Twenty out of the mountain!” cried Nova.
“And that is?” asked Wakefield.
“Old Unification Wars Armored Personnel carrier,” snapped Hemsford as he looked back at Deke. “These suckers ain’t screwin’ around!”
“Take them out before they can turn that gun on us,” said Wildstar.
“Locked on target.”
“Fire at will,” snapped Wildstar.
Hemsford nodded and fired. A missile sprayed from under the landing boat’s wing and blasted right into the enemy APC. The explosion was spectacular.
“Not bad,” said Hemsford. “Now we know where the entrance is; that spot of fire ahead of us…”
“Looks like there’s a path up to it,” said Wildstar. “Foxtrot Tango Two, entrance spotted,” said Wildstar over his mike. “Follow us; we’re taking these right into the mountain.”
“Roger,” said Domon’s voice from his boat.
“What are Brew and I doing?” asked Deke.
“We need squad leaders to help protect the medic squad and Squad Six,” said Hemsford.
“How long before I set up an aid station?” asked Nova.
“As soon as we button up,” said Derek. “Give your sensor unit to Mister Glitchman.”
“Sure Homer can handle this?” asked Nova.
“Homer can’t act as a combat pharmacist’s mate; you can,” snapped Derek.
“Tannen says we’ve got one wounded guy on this boat now,” said Hemsford as he listened to his walkie-talkie. “Ma’am, wanna check him out?”
“What kind of injury?” said Nova as she abandoned her sensor post and got up, pushing her way past Wakefield and Marrable as she climbed down the short angled ladder out of the flight deck.
“Says kid got knocked around against the side of the boat when we skidded in the snow. Knocked a tooth out.”
“We don’t have time for this now,” sighed Nova. “These guys should be more experienced than that in a boat. Okay, I’ll check him out. Where is he, Wakefield?”
“Over there by the port bulkhead, ma’am,” said Deke.
Marrable watched her as he went past. “Definitely got boots.”
“We knew there was snow here, stupid,” said Deke as he began to check out DJ with a loud click. “Sir, where’s the aid station gonna be?”
“Nova’ll set it up inside the carrier,” said Wildstar. “Four medics are coming out with us to rescue any of our wounded men.”
“Are we taking prisoners, sir?” said Wakefield.
Wildstar just said, “Only if they clearly and actually surrender. Otherwise…”
“Thought so, sir,” said Deke with a smile.
Before long, both boats had maneuvered past the burning wreckage of the enemy personnel carrier and they were in the mountain base’s outer areas. Both boats came to a stop, and as the hatches hit the ground, Hemsford and Domon were ordering their men out. While Nova handed her sensor pack over to Homer, Wildstar briefed Wakefield.
“This should be easy,” he said. “You and those other four will protect Nova and these medics and Fifth Series Medical Robots and the aid station they’re setting up. By no means are you to let any of the enemy survive this. We have our orders that they are not to communicate with the outside world. That’s why General Singleton wants this whole bunch dead or taken prisoner after we secure those missiles….”
A moment later, there was shouting and yelling up ahead. Then, there came bursts of AK-01 fire, and Unification Wars small arms fire. Then, there was an explosion, during which Derek quickly pushed Nova onto the ramp of the landing boat, shielding her from the blast with his body.
“Derek, are you okay?” she asked as he struggled up.
“Fine,” said Wildstar.
“Sir, there were five of them waiting for us,” said Domon as he ran up. “We got four of them…”
“Look out!” yelled Deke as he saw a movement in the corner of his eye. Wildstar, Nova, and Brew looked; they saw a fifth man creeping towards them trailing blood; he was a grim-looking white man with blonde hair under what was clearly an old German-Wehrmacht-patterned black coal scuttle helmet over black fatigues.
Deke and Commodore Wildstar fired at the man at once. When he was hit, he screamed, and yelled, “God will damn you, you stinking, rotten heretics! The spirit of Yvona is with…”
“Don’t mention that name around me,” snapped Nova angrily as she swiveled and turned her rifle on him.
“I’m wounded! I surrender!” he yelled as he began to reach for something at his belt.
Nova thought, He’s surely up to no good. Thus, she fired before he could finish touching it. The Josiahite crumpled as blood spewed from his neck.
“Good job,” said Derek a moment later as he examined the object. “He had a grenade, Nova.”
“Thought so, “she said quietly. “What’s in his pockets?”
“Tracts,” he said as he threw a bundle of papers towards his wife.
Nova sighed. “Who does he think he’s going to proselytize down here? All right; Private, get him out of sight,” said Nova. “Hide him behind the boat.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“We don’t have much time,” said Wildstar. “Hemsford, move out. Everyone, we should be back in a while…”
“Be careful,” said Nova.
“We will be,” said Homer. “C’mon, Domon….”
Domon nodded. A moment later, after Brew nodded a goodbye to Wakefield, Nova, Wakefield, and the others were left alone.
Wakefield stood fingering DJ as the medics worked prepping equipment behind him. He felt a tap on his shoulder a moment later.
“Hello, ma’am,” he said as Nova came up. She had a bundle of combat dressings in one hand, and one of the enemy tracts in the other.
“If you wonder what I’m doing, I’m trying to find out how they think…”
Deke looked at the crudely printed comic-book like tract. “THE DEATH COOKIE?”
Nova nodded. “Taking Communion of any kind is a sin according to these weirdoes. It looks like they took an old anti-Catholic tract and decided to rewrite it to condemn most Christians who take Communion in any way, shape, or form…”
“Looks hateful,” said Wakefield. “Those particular tracts always creeped me out…”
“The Josiahites have made them worse,” said Nova. “They have an address here; for some office in San Diego, of all places.”
“You mean they openly operate there?”
“No, it’s for a church,” said Nova. “I think it must be one of their fronts. This looks smeary, so they must change addresses a lot. And if you think this is bad, you should see the anti-Semitic tracts they write. Someone gave me one in an airport once…”
Then, Nova heard a noise.
“Huh?” said Deke.
“Get down…I heard something…”
A moment later, bullets began to pepper the area, as ten screaming Josiahites emerged. One of them said, “Attention, you scum! I am named Hezekiah! You are outnumbered! You will surrender AT ONCE!”
Great, thought Deke. Just like that time in the desert…here we go again….
TO BE CONTINUED....
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