Mike's War: Sequel to Jesse's Starship (7 page)

“When do you want this?”

“Right now, Alex. Review their training records and meet me at the armory when you’re done.”

“Yes Sir.”

Mike ran into his bedroom and snatched a uniform out of the closet. He quickly put it on and Tilly rolled over and looked at him, “What are you doing?”

“I’m going to Athens.”

Tilly rolled back over and looked at the clock beside the bed, “Are you out of your mind? It’s three in the morning.”

“Go back to sleep.”

“What are you doing?”

Mike looked at Tilly and smiled, “I’m going to find salvation.”

“What?”

“Something’s going on that I need to examine. It could be critical to our survival.”

“You’re serious?”

“Do you want to come with me?”

“I didn’t get in bed until midnight; I’m exhausted. Tell me about it when you get back.”

Mike kissed Tilly and she rolled back over and was asleep in an instant. He shook his head. Tilly, Eric, and Janet had shouldered so much of the load for him. He loved her so much and hated the fatigue she lived with. Maybe this would change things. He rushed out of his living quarters at Fort Rome and boarded his personal carrier. He lifted and went into the upper atmosphere before he went supersonic. He didn’t want to wake Tilly with a sonic boom.

• • •

He came over the atmosphere at more than twenty five thousand miles an hour and turned the nose of the carrier toward the eastern edge of the continent. He saw the lights far below and knew it was Fort Athens. This camp was under the command of the Russian contingent of trainers and Mike wondered if the success of the platoon was being kept secret. He didn’t think Alexander would have a hidden agenda but he wondered how this success could be kept hidden. His carrier came roaring in and the sonic boom was enormous. He stared at the display on his panel and saw people scrambling in an open area on the south end of the fort. He turned the carrier toward them and used his thrusters to slow down. He saw what looked like a platoon at half strength and wondered what happened to the others. He landed the carrier in front of the recruits and opened the canopy.

• • •

Sergeant Chetzen wondered what was going on. The Fort Commander had roused him from a deep sleep and ordered his platoon to assemble outside the armory in full combat gear. What had these loons done that would cause this. Could they have damaged the armory? He never should have allowed them to use it after hours. It did not improve their scores. He decided that he would stop it once this was over. He saw the carrier come roaring in from high altitude and felt as much as heard the sonic boom of its approach. Someone was going to have to pay for the broken glass in the barracks. The canopy of the carrier opened and he was shocked. The crimson colored uniform appeared and he knew the Planetary Commander was here. He yelled, “Platoon! Atennnshun!” The platoon snapped to attention and he saluted.

• • •

The platoon saw the man getting out of the military carrier was wearing a crimson colored uniform. Only one person on the planet was authorized to wear that color. Everyone began fearing that they were in deep trouble.

Mike walked up to the platoon and returned Sgt. Chetzen’s salute. “Sergeant, take your platoon into the armory and I want to see them against a force two, eight, squad, and platoon size Gracken charge.”

“Sir, the armory will not operate until after six AM.”

“Sergeant, follow my orders.”

Chetzen felt a cold chill go down his spine and he did an about face and said, “Platoon…about face. Forward…march.” The platoon marched into the armory and remained at attention. Chetzen said, “Computer, load the force of two program.”

“My systems will not be operational for another two hours and twenty five minutes.”

Mike pressed button on his left collar and said, “Computer, do you recognize my transponder?”

“I do.”

“You will follow any orders you are given until told to do otherwise.”

“Force two program loaded.”

Mike walked back to the row of chairs and left the platoon standing at attention. Chetzen selected two recruits to step up and start the program. Mike stared at the platoon closely and saw most of them were looking at one of their number in the third rank. He would shake his head slightly and they would look away. Mike glanced at the two on the platform and saw they were overrun in less than twenty seconds. Their time was horrid. He heard the Sergeant giving them grief at embarrassing him in front of Sparta’s Leader.

Mike remained silent and watched the programs run. He saw that as the numbers of recruits taking part increased, their performance improved dramatically. They were really good at using good overlapping fields of fire, but all of them were overrun by the computer programs. He watched the ones that took part in the exercises and it didn’t take him long to see that this platoon hated their Training Sergeant. He wondered why.

The squad size program ended and Mike heard the door to armory open and then slam. He turned and saw Alex walking quickly into the armory; he walked up on the stage and slammed his fist into Sgt. Chetzen’s forehead dropping him like a bad transmission.

Mike jumped up, “General Dunlov, is there a reason for your behavior!?!”

• • •

Alex looked at the back of the room and came to attention. He saluted and Mike returned it, “Yes Sir. This giant piece of ox excrement put this platoon through training that was sadistic at best and insane at the least. No one should have been forced to endure what he’s done!”

Chetzen struggled to roll over and Mike looked at two members of the platoon, “Please drag the Sergeant out of the way.” Gomez and Thomas each grabbed one of Chetzen’ arms and dragged him to the side and went back to their place in ranks. Mike walked in front of the platoon still standing at attention and then walked into their ranks. He stopped in front of Derek and said, “Recruit, what do you think about the Sergeant’s training regimen?”

“He belongs in an insane asylum, Sir.”

“Why is that?”

“He deliberately structured our training so that every female recruit would wash out. He took pleasure in inflicting pain on everyone that reported to him. He washed out members of our unit that are head and shoulders better than those in other platoons stationed here, Sir.”

Mike looked at Alex, “Is he right?”

“Yes Sir, he is.”

“I want those recruits brought back here and reinstated.”

“Yes Sir.”

Mike turned back to Derek and said, “You aren’t afraid of retaliation.”

“Sir, our Fort Commander has taken a look at what he’s done. If the Sergeant still has a place in our ranks after this, I will humbly resign and go work in the factories.”

Mike looked at Alex and saw his barely restrained rage. “I don’t think you’ll have to do that, Recruit. However, I want to know why you’ve been hiding your tactics.”

Alex’s head jerked around. Derek said, “I’ve hidden nothing.”

“Oh?”

“I’ve hidden nothing, Sir.”

Mike stared in Derek’s eyes and knew he was telling the truth. This recruit wasn’t afraid of speaking his mind. “Pick one of your unit and step up to the activation pad.” Derek looked at Aman and nodded. They stepped up to the pad and raised their training Sliver Rifles. Mike said, “You’ve shown me what you can do during official training hours. Now show me what you do after hours.” Derek turned and looked at Mike. “Am I clear?”

Derek stared at him for a moment and said, “Crystal, Sir.” Mike saw him nod to the recruit standing next to him on the pad.

Chetzen regained consciousness and sat up as the computer program started. His mouth was open as he watched Derek and Aman destroy everything coming at them as they stepped up and back in an intricate pattern. He knew he was in big trouble.

Alex and Mike watched the two recruits blast the charging Gracken as they performed an incredible movement back and forth behind each other. They heard the Computer announce, “Program completed.”

Alex said, “Why haven’t you told us about this?”

Derek said, “I tried to tell Sergeant Chetzen three times and the last time I tried I was given two hundred pushups and made to run twenty miles in full armor.”

Alex’s face turned nasty. He turned around and looked at Sgt. Chetzen who had managed to stand up, “IS THIS TRUE!?!”

“They had to learn how to do it by the book before they did anything else.”

Alex’s hand gun came out of his holster faster than could be followed. He fired and hit Chetzen in the center of his chest with a Sliver Round. Chetzen’s chest exploded and he was thrown back to the rear of the room bowling over three rows of chairs.

Mike looked at Alex and said, “Please explain your behavior, General.”

“Sir, the recruit is right. Chetzen is insane and would only cause extreme problems no matter what we chose to do with him. He’s done more harm to our efforts than an enemy could ever accomplish. We should have known about this long before now.”

Derek looked at Mike, “Sir, what was Sgt. Chetzen hit with?”

Mike looked at Derek and said, “A sliver.” Derek shook his head and Mike said, “What’s the problem, Recruit.”

“The training programs are all wrong, Sir.”

“What do you mean?”

“We’ve not seen an actual sliver hitting a target.”

Alex shook his head, “That’s not true. You were shown a sliver hitting armor plating.”

Derek nodded, “And it made a nice hole through it. However, if one of them knocked a two hundred pound man thirty feet, they will stop a Gracken Warrior in its tracks. That would force those coming from behind it to jump over them. They’re much easier to hit in the air; it’s not easy to change direction off the ground.”

Mike looked at Alex and said, “The video used to make these programs were taken of a Gracken attack that didn’t have any resistance. The Recruit is right.” Alex nodded. Mike looked at Derek, “How long will it take to get the recruits that were washed out up to speed on this method you use?”

“They’ll be proficient in a week and be able to do it without thinking about it in three.”

“What is your name?”

“Recruit Derek Daniels, Sir.”

“You are no longer a recruit. You will take command of this platoon and get them ready for a demonstration in three weeks.” The platoon instantly started cheering and Mike knew he had made a good choice. He heard them start yelling ‘Daniel’s Dance, Daniel’s Dance’ and knew that he had to be the one that developed the maneuver. He raised his arm and the platoon became instantly silent. “Who do you want for your second in command?”

Derek looked at Aman and saw him move his eyes to the left. Derek lowered his eyes asking Aman if he was sure and saw him nod. Mike saw the exchange and smiled. Derek said, “Sir, Recruit Brandon Hail.”

Brandon’s eyes went wide and the platoon cheered. He was stunned Derek had chosen him. Mike said, “I’m counting on you putting on a good show in three weeks.”

Derek said, “We’ll be ready, Sir.”

Mike nodded and looked at Alex. Alex followed him out and Mike said, “Alex, you need to refrain from executing our troops.”

“Would you have done it if he reported to you?”

Mike remembered staking an Air Force pilot, who had tried to kill Tilly, out in the desert with wire that would cut his limbs off if he struggled. He was staked out next to a huge fire ant mound and he eventually placed a gun in the pilots hand to end his misery after the ants had found him and began eating him alive. He didn’t have what it took to do it himself. Mike looked at Alex and smiled, “Just use good judgment in the future.”

Alex smiled, “I suspect after this I won’t have to do this again.”

Mike nodded, “I certainly hope not.”

• • •

Brandon went to Derek after Mike and Alex left and said, “You should have chosen Aman, he deserves this more than I do.”

Derek looked at Brandon and shook his head, “Why do you think the platoon chose to train after hours with us?”

Brandon was taken aback by the question and his eyes narrowed, “I think they wanted to learn how to survive in combat.”

“No, they chose to do it because you wanted to do it. They saw your excitement at learning the technique and knew if you wanted to learn, they needed to do it as well.” Derek looked at Brandon and smiled, “You have a real sense of presence, Brandon. I really don’t think you know how much you impact those around you.”

Brandon smiled and slowly shook his head, “So how do we do this?”

“Aman and I will teach the recruits that are coming back and you will work with the others. I want you to think about anything else we can do with these concepts.”

“What’s bothering you, Derek?”

Derek blew out a breath and tilted his head, “What happens when we need more than two lines? There will be some instances where there might be eight ranks of our soldiers. How do we use this with that many lines?”

Brandon saw the problem. He thought about the issue for a moment and looked at Derek, “You must have thought of something we could do?”

“I have but I need you to think about it as well and see what you can come up with. We’ll compare notes afterwards and see what we have.”

“Did you ask Aman to do the same?”

Derek smiled, “Why do you ask?”

“He knows as much as either of us; he could come up with something we could use.”

Derek nodded, “He’s working on it as well. He’s actually using the computer to see what it can dream up.”

Brandon nodded and started walking over to the platoon, “We need to start working; I’ll get with you later.” Brandon stopped, “Do you think we could get the use of a second armory to train the new arrivals?”

Derek saw General Dunlov standing outside with Mike and he ran out of the building. The two saw him coming and Mike stopped talking and said, “Is there a problem?”

“Sir, we could use another armory to get ready for the presentation.”

Mike looked at Alex and he said, “You can have the one used by Platoon 22. I’ll have them share time with Platoon 23.”

“Thank you, Sir.” Derek turned and sprinted back to the Armory.

Alex watched him go and said, “He had a lot of nerve to speak his mind about Chetzen.”