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,
I. DINNER AT THE
FORRESTERS
Earth
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
“No, you’re not,” sobbed Teri as she
hugged
“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
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
“Okay, we’re
out,” said Dawn. “So?”
“Let’s go towards
the
“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
“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
“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
”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
“Mommy
put me in the doghouse. Again.”
“Mommy,
you let Sis out of the doghouse!” yelled
Teri
smiled and said, “Nova’s being bad,
“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
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
“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
“We do,”
said Wildstar.
”Where are they?” said Singleton.
“This hotel
suite, with us,” said Nova as she looked right in
“Names?”
“
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
“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,
“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
“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
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
“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
“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
“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
“Reading the terrain,” said Brew,
who was all business now. “We have to turn to 310 degrees for the best course
to
“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
“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
“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
“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
“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
“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
“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
“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,
“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
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
“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
“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
“The Josiahites have made them
worse,” said Nova. “They have an address here; for some office in
“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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