Asterion (31 page)

Two Hawks streak overhead and receive threat assessment from command. They roll over on their backs and dive to reverse their direction in a split S maneuver and hug the ground as they close with the beasts. Launching fragmentation missiles, they cover the area where the beasts are. The howls of wounded beasts reach the group at the lab. The robots take the opportunity to streak in and engage the enemy at a close range. Asterion and a few troopers barely escape.

Taylor watches their retreat through binoculars then turns to the team, “You know he’s coming back.”

Christine sighs, “Yea, and with more beasts.”

The team returns to the lab’s conference room. Taylor calls Sanderson, “Sir, we just repelled an attack on the lab.”

“Good work. I ordered that the remaining automated battle robots remain to protect the lab.”

“Thank you General. He will probably make another attack. He has it out for us.”

“Maybe that can work to your advantage.”

“Uh, I hope that’s a good thing.”

“He can’t focus fully on the overall battle if he is blinded by his rage toward you and Christine. Keep up the good work. You and your team’s efforts are helping us win this battle.”

With that, the monitor goes black and the team looks at each other. Taylor turns the monitor off and laments, “Well, all we can do is work on projects until he comes back.”

Milar interjects, “So we’re bait”

Christine pats her shoulder, “We’ve been dangling on a line for a while.”

Phil stands up, “I have a few toys I need to wipe the dust off of for our next encounter.”

Milar stands up, “I’ll help you.”

The two leave the room and head to Phil’s storage.

Christine and Taylor are alone in the conference room.

She turns to him, “When will we get some time for ourselves?”

He puts his hand on top of hers, “This has all been a blur. It is not even like living. We’re zombies going through the motions, afraid to have an emotion. An emotion that this mess can take away in an instant and then what, we have nothing.”

“We can’t let this stop us from what we feel.”

“You’re right, we need to hold each other while we can and let our feeling transcend this conflict.”

They embrace and hold each other for a while. It seems so long since they had the opportunity just to be themselves. The intercom crackles, “Uh, you guys, this stuff won’t get done unless you help. We can’t do it by ourselves.”

Still embracing, they break into laughter. Taylor rises, “Well, it’s not over yet.”

Christine stands up, “Yea, yea, yea,” and starts for the storage area.

Burnsom stands at the podium waiting for the signal to begin. He wipes the sweat from his brow. “Lower the air conditioning in here. I have to make a good impression.

He gets the signal and clears his throat. “Ladies and gentlemen of this great nation I come to you tonight to keep you informed of our progress against our aggressors. As I promised, I want to inform you about what is happening out there. Rumors swirl about and cause undue concern from the citizenry. Many may second-guess our decision and hindsight is twenty-twenty as the saying goes, but I had no choice but to move to preserve our way of life. A way of life that is stable for both your work and personal life. Greedy men and women want to have unfettered access to the resources provided by this country for their sole gain without consideration of their fellow citizens. You may have heard of some shortages we have experienced in some of the provinces and cities. This is a direct result of The South Central Province not fully participating in our system. Their greed deprives others of their due recompense and is a perfect example of why their system does not work and why ours does. However, it only works with one hundred percent participation. As promised, I have provided for you an army that replaces to a large degree the human capital we invest in our conflicts. You have trusted me for many years to make the right decisions that have made us great. I ask for your continued trust in these dark times. We will defeat our enemies, restore, and heal our nation. Thank you and good night.”

“You are out sir.”

Burnsom lets out a long slow breath and turns to Tom. “Well?”

“That was great, but a couple of provincial governors wish to speak to you.”

“Bring them here.”

Tom walks away and motions for the governors to come over. The walk over and one of them asks Burnsom, “What ever happened to our rights are endowed to us by God?”

Burnsom raises his eyebrow, “Who said that?”

The governor is puzzled, “Well, our founding fathers.”

“So God never spoke from the heavens or appeared to man and said that?”

“Not exactly, but …”

“But nothing, man said it and man will always decide when to take it away. That’s the way it has always been and will be in the future. Instant polls have me up significantly from this speech, so you might want to consider how you present yourselves to your constituents.”

“Is that a threat?”

“Just a hard cold fact that you need to consider and it is either a threat, a prediction or just good political advice from one friend to another.” Burnsom smiles and silently looks at the governors.

They look at each other and they can tell that they had better not push Burnsom any further. The other governor smiles and replies, “Thank you for your time to hear our concerns. I’m sure we can work together to make all this work out for the country.” The other governor nods in agreement.

Burnsom smiles as he hears his own rhetoric echoed back to him. “See, we can always come to a reasonable solution for our problems. I tell you what. Let Tom know which of your areas are suffering the most and he will make sure they get their needs met and you can take the credit for alerting the central government to the issues facing your citizens. I must leave now. Have a safe trip back home.” Burnsom turns and heads back to the war room.

The governors have no choice. As long as Burnsom appeases the people, they will never rise against him and if they want to keep their positions, they had better fall in line. They leave for the airport with sullen expressions on their faces.

Burnsom turns to Tom, “Where’s my Vice-Leader?”

“She is dealing with the concerns of the foreign leaders about our conflict here.”

“They can sit on their hands. Get her here, touring the provinces with our message. The people need to see a face of concern in person.”

“I’ll let her know right away.” Tom hurries away to get in contact with the VL and get her on a PR tour for Burnsom.

Sanderson has Foxx on the radio, “What is the status on the ground?”

“We are losing a lot of our capacity and we are trying to maintain the line, but they are making some advances on us. Getting the robots back in the fight is taking some time. We’re holding back the Hawks to support our fighters and helo’s.”

“Our bases are coming under direct attack now and we are running out of options and resources, so use them wisely.”

“Will do, Foxx out.”

Sanderson calls Stanley and tells him the news. “Stanley, I won’t lie to you, unless we can grind them down somehow, it could get ugly.”

“Are you a praying man General?”

“Not much for that stuff, I like to see and hold the solutions to my problems.”

“Well, we do what we can and then we have to let Him help us with the rest.”

“Say a prayer for all of us then, we’ll need it.”

“There are a lot of people doing just that now. I know you and Foxx are doing a stellar job. No one could do any better. Thank you for the update.”

“I’ll update you in an hour.” Sanderson hangs up with Stanley. He watches the tactical monitors with concern and a determination not to capitulate to the enemy.

Asterion grabs another supplement that Trent supplies him and he tears through it. He is finally gaining some ground and his troopers are razing the landscape as they advance. Not wanting to risk another rout, he orders in an air strike on the lab. If he can’t personally destroy Taylor and Christine, he will bury them there.

Asterion’s drones take off with the largest bombs available to him slung under their bellies and they head towards the lab. Remote piloted fighters escorted by Hawks, streak in and destroy them as they reach the lab. The bombs fall from the aircraft and the resulting explosions reverberate down in the lab. Dust, shaken from the walls, hangs in the air. Christine is pale and ashen. This is what she feared from the beginning.

Phil comes in, “Don’t worry, I told them how to fortify this place. I wasn’t coming down here unless they did it to my specs. This will not be our coffin”

They hear a deafening explosion and the lab goes on emergency lights. Taylor and Christine look at each other with panic. They race to the environmental control center to assess the condition of the lab. For now, all systems are operational. The generators come back online and the lights go on.

Christine lets out a deep breath, “At least the elevators and stairwell are okay.”

Phil smiles, “That’s not the only way out of here. Rabbits always have two openings for their burrows. I have several. Not all are obvious. Believe me; you want to be down here. Not up there.”

Taylor stands up, “I’ll contact command.”

The pounding continues sporadically through the day as Asterion’s artillery gets into range. Taylor calls Sanderson. “Sir, we are taking some fire here. Asterion must know where we are and he is trying to get us.”

“You and the team are going to have to sit tight. The lab is strong enough for what armaments he has available. We are monitoring any incoming assets that could carry a bunker buster. Let him use up his inventory trying because he can’t collapse that facility and trap you inside. I know it’s a bit unnerving, but you’ll be okay.”

“Will do.”

“How is the suit coming along?”

“We’re making progress, but no mass availability for a week.”

“Our plan is to wear him down and buy enough time to rebuild our inventory. How are the improved battle robots coming along?”

“I’ve got prototypes and they are promising, but mass production is several weeks away.”

“Hang in there. Let me know what each of you needs to proceed. I’ll contact you soon.” Sanderson hangs up and Taylor hears only the sound of dull thuds overhead.

He goes to where Christine is working. Every thud makes her shiver. “Sanderson does not have the immediate resources to stop the shelling, but he assures us the lab is sturdy enough to withstand the pounding. They are watching out for stronger bombs so Asterion is wasting ammo. It’s like shooting a tank with a rifle.”

“I hope all of you are right. Still, it makes me pause every time I hear one explode.”

Taylor gives her a hug and they embrace for a while. They smile for a few moments. It’s an all too brief escape from the pressures of their work. A kiss and they return to their tasks.

CHAPTER 33 - APPLYING PRESSURE

Asterion watches the pounding of the lab facility from a distance. He sees that there is nothing more than surface damage. He calls Trent. “I need something more powerful to get rid of our mutual problem.”

“Taylor and Christine have been a thorn in our side and they are responsible for stalling your progress. Burnsom is playing politics and he will not allow you to have the serious weapons you need. He would rather grind them down and seek some sort of truce, but compromise is what has led to this conflict.”

“That still does not solve my problem. Talk is cheap; I need some serious bunker breaching bombs. I want to bury them alive.”

“I’m working on a scenario that gets you what you need without implicating Burnsom and me. Give me some time. I’ll get back with you when I solve this.”

“Don’t take too long.” Asterion ends the call and vents his frustration on some random structures, striking and crumbling them. Looking around, he notices that the provisional forces are only attacking sporadically. He smiles because he knows he is holding his own and wearing them down. He starts to assess his remaining strength and their location on the battlefield.

He calls Burnsom, “We are in a good position if we take advantage of it now. If I can get more weapons and ammo I can crush them before they recover from the first fight.”

“Asterion, I have to deal with the rest of the provinces as well as this rebellious one. Crush them and we’ll have a lot more to worry about and I just calmed their concerns about this conflict. The last thing I need is a wholesale slaughter of fellow citizens. Keep the pressure up, move cautiously, but don’t overrun them. That will give us some leverage to negotiate with them.”

Asterion’s veins in his neck bulge as his anger grows, but he is still on Burnsom’s leash. “I understand.”

“Good, I have supplies to keep you moving headed your way.” Burnsom ends the call and Asterion expels his breath in frustration.

Trent is in his office staring at the monitor. His hands fly across the keyboard as he searches the databases to locate the bunker busting bombs Asterion needs. Fortunately, the complete stocks of them are on the same base his lab is located. He compares transport case sizes to locate something similar. He smiles when he finds a similar sized device.