Talosian Chronicles 6: Armageddon (6 page)

Major Dentin nodded to the Sergeant to comply with the request. Shouldering his weapon, Grant walked a few feet away, bent and picked up a rock. He turned back to face the ships, drew back, and threw as hard as he could; it was an impressive pitch. The rock streaked through the air and then, suddenly it changed course as if it bounced off a solid wall. 

“Holy shit!” Dentin said. “I guess that answers that. Okay, so you are not going to let us arrest you. May I ask just what the hell you’re doing out here?”

Alan refrained from reminding the confused man that he had already offered to do just that. “Sure! We are here to build one of multiple fighter bases that we will need to protect this planet from an attack that is coming.” Alan turned to Andreya, “Andreya, could you display the plans for this base; please include a topographical view of the surface as well as the base defenses.” He turned back to the table to face an astounded Major Dentin. The man was staring at a hologram that was now on the table in front of him. “Major, this is going to take awhile and it’s supposed to be a pretty hot day. I know your vehicles don’t have air conditioning; would you like to make some other arrangements for your troops? I’d also like to offer refreshments for you and your soldiers.”

“Th… uh,” the Major cleared his throat, “Thank you, Colonel. Yes, let me issue some orders. If you don’t mind, I think we’ll pass on the refreshments for now. No offense, but we’d probably all be getting poked and prodded for the next twenty years if we took you up on your offer."

Alan chuckled, “Major, you're probably right, but I thought I'd at least make the offer. Please keep in mind that we can, and will render any aide you might need. We can even sneak it to you if we have to.

“If you'd like, you can pull your Bradley up here to make it easier for you, but we’ll probably have to ask you to move one or two of your other vehicles. I need to issue some orders of my own. If you'll excuse me, Major, I’ll make sure plenty of cold water and anything else is available in case we need it. We also have medical facilities close by in case of an emergency. I’ll explain these designs after you’ve issued your orders, and I’ve got my folks doing what they’re supposed to be doing.” Alan turned away from the major, to try to give the man time to collect his thoughts. 'It’s a wonder this guy ever made it to major,' he thought to himself. He stood and slowly walked back to the Raptor
Poseidon
.

Alan had Kevin and Carl carry a portable replicator out to the small pavilion, but still inside the shield. He had Andreya start the other two drones on building the surface buildings, landing strip and defense perimeter. The drones underground were building hangers, repair and large-scale replication bays, as well as launch tubes for the Hornet and Wasp fighters. Most of the base was to be built underground, with the only visible parts being the control center and a few support buildings (and of course, whatever buildings were going to be needed for the U.S. troops that would be set to guarding them).

Seeing that everything was going according to plan, Alan - still wearing his armor since it was protecting him from the fierce sun and keeping him cool - returned to the pavilion to talk with the Major and his company commanders. The drone that was to start on the perimeter “fence” followed along with him.

When he noticed that the people in the pavilion starting to get nervous, he told the drone to stop and wait. He turned back and finished walking to the shelter. “Sorry to scare anybody. I was bringing the drone along so you could get a close look at it. Its assignment is to build a perimeter fence around the area that will be used as a protective shield over the base during attack. I thought if you all got a good look at it, you wouldn’t be as nervous when it went wandering off into the desert alone.”

“That thing is going to build a fence? How?” asked one of the Captains standing with the Major.

“Well, that’s one of the other things I wanted to show you. Do you mind if I bring it closer? It can’t hurt you,” Alan asked. When the Major nodded, Alan called out for the drone to proceed to the pavilion.

When it stopped beside him, he told it to build a standard military issue M-16 and two twenty-round magazines for it. It beeped at him and the side door opened to reveal the butt end of the rifle. Alan took hold of the weapon and slowly pulled the rest out as the drone replicated it. The door slid shut then opened again with another beep. In the slot were the two magazines.

Alan handed the rifle and the magazines to the Major to inspect. “This is the primary reason we can’t let you get a hold of any of our equipment. Major, do you or any of your men see anything wrong with that M-16?”

“No, it looks brand new. But does it work?” Dentin asked.

“Let one of your guys fire it with your own ammo,” Alan suggested. The new rifle was given to a soldier who pulled the magazine out of his own M-16 and loaded it. The soldier stepped a few paces away from the pavilion and indicated the direction he was going to shoot.

“Wait a moment, please,” Alan asked. He keyed up his comm-unit to the ship; “Stacy, Private Jones is going to test fire an M-16 in the direction he is facing. Is the area down range clear?”

“Yes Commander, all clear for about eighty miles. I’ll notify the rest of the team. Also sir, there are a number of aircraft inbound. I have two F-16s from Peterson, two Apache attack helicopters, and four Huey helicopters. ETA is about thirty minutes for the helos; the fighter jets will be flying over us in less then ten.”

Alan sighed. “It looks like your bosses are acting quickly. You’ve got about thirty minutes before the brass gets here. Your man can go ahead and fire.” Alan nodded to the soldier.

The trooper fired a couple rounds in single shot, switched to three-round burst, and fired the rest of the magazine. He expertly cleared the weapon, made sure the bolt was locked to the rear, and dropped the magazine out.

As the man walked back to the pavilion, Alan spoke again; “As I was saying, the reason we can’t let this technology get into Earth’s hands is because it would destroy your economy. Do you see the stamp from Colt Firearms on that weapon? How about a serial number?” When the trooper shook his head after examining the weapon, he handed it back to Alan. “It cost nothing but power to make that rifle. I used no ores, nor did I use any physical labor to do it. What do you think would happen if all of the sudden, any product you could want was readily available and cost nothing to make? Trade would collapse, and prices would soar while wages stopped. The other reason is that I could ask the drone to make a nuclear bomb and it would, about as quickly as it did the rifle.” Alan could see the faces of the men pale as the implications of that sank in. “There are worse weapons than nukes, gentlemen. The one blessing is that anything alive cannot be replicated, so biological weapons are out. But that does still leave chemical weapons.” He paused to let those truths sink into the men. “I imagine in a short bit of time, there will be CIA and NSA operatives crawling all over here trying to get their hands on some of this technology. We are not going to let that happen. We are not a threat to you or the people of this planet; in fact we are here to protect you,” Alan said. “Now, I need to let this drone go do its primary job, or it’ll get thrown off schedule.” He turned to the probe and told it to execute its program.

“Now,” Alan said, turning back to the men. “You have questions. You have about twenty-five minutes to get them asked and answered. After that, who knows if the others will let you back over here to ask!”

"Uh, I'm a little confused about something; you introduced yourself as a Colonel, but your Officer addressed you as 'Commander'?" Dentin asked.

Alan grinned. "I can see how that could be confusing. My military rank is 'Colonel'. However, since I am not only the commander of the Raptor, but also a Base, I am addressed as 'commander'. In our military the title of commander is both a rank and a position. For example a ship's captain holds the rank of Commander and is addressed as such, but really anyone that holds a position of leadership can also be called 'commander'."

"That would give me a headache," Dentin replied. "So how do you tell them apart? Obviously a ship's commander would have more authority than say a lieutenant in command of a platoon."

"The tell is in the uniform for each position," Alan explained and used his own armor, a hologram of Commander Williams also in armor, and a standard Marine in armor.

Dentin shook his head. "That's a little confusing, but understandable I guess. So I introduce you as 'commander' instead of Colonel?"

Alan nodded. "Yes, but for me, either one would be fine."

Shortly after the helicopters landed, Alan was called back to the pavilion. There he found a man that looked very sure of himself and his authority. While he did wear a military uniform, he did not wear any rank insignia. Alan immediately knew what
that
meant.

“What right do you have, just coming here and taking private property for your own use? I demand that you cease this project immediately, lay down your weapons and surrender to us, or we will have no choice but to use force. Do you want us to fire upon you, 'Commander'?” The man was a total asshole. He had been obnoxious and offensive since he had landed in his helicopter over an hour ago. He no more than touched the ground, and introduced himself, before he started making demands. He even went so far as to use the title ‘Commander’ in a condescending way when he addressed Alan.

For Alan, it was all he could do not to laugh in the man’s face. The only thing that kept him from breaking out in laughter when the man introduced himself as ‘Agent Smith’ was the fact that the man actually was serious. He acted and looked the part of ‘Agent Smith’ from the matrix so well that Alan wondered if the writers had modeled that character after this man. 

“Agent Smith, we are not simply confiscating this land. We have the permission of the corporation that owns it. However, you are not here with their knowledge or consent. If you persist in your attempts to bully us, or hamper us in our mission here, I will have to call the legal owners of this property and inform them of your unauthorized presence,” Alan said.

The Agent stood glaring at him for all of two full minutes before he changed tactic. “I am attempting to execute a federal warrant to arrest you for weapons violations and several violations of the anti-terrorism laws. If you do not cease and desist this minute, I will order these troops to open fire on you and your men. Do you really want to force a confrontation?”

“No, but apparently you do. If you really want to open fire at us, go right ahead. I’ve already warned you what would happen. We don’t even need to fire back since your weapons can’t harm us. I would recommend you have several of your helicopters warm up, because you are going to have casualties…”

Smith interrupted him, “There! You’re threatening us! Major, arrest this man! If he attempts to resist, kill him.”

Alan sighed. “You’re making a huge mistake, Smith.” He turned and walked back toward the Poseidon. Behind him, he could hear the shouts of the commanders as they got their men ready to assault the landing area. Alan stopped and turned around. He yelled, “Major Dentin! Remember the rock! Watch the ricochets!” He saw the man stop and think, then smile and nod to him.

Alan went into the Raptor to take a nap and check for updates on the rest of the progress in the system. As he was lying back on his bunk, Andreya snuggling up to him, he heard the US troops open fire.

“Idiots!” Andreya snorted as she laid her head on his chest.

A while later, Alan was awakened by someone shaking his shoulder. He looked up into Andreya’s loving eyes. “The assault is over; Major Dentin is asking for you.”

“I wonder what happened to Agent Smith?” Alan asked rhetorically. “I’ll be right there. Do you think they’ve learned their lesson enough for us to fore-go the armor?”

“Well, the rest of the team would prefer to get out of their armor for awhile, and the sun is going down. However, they were stupid enough to actually attack…” she left the rest unsaid. Alan silently agreed with her.

As quickly as he could, he climbed back into his armor. He mentally grumbled about having to wear the bulky suit, but it did offer damn near as much protection as being inside the Raptor.

“How are the drones doing?” he asked as he dressed.

“They are about thirty-nine percent finished. We're going to have the troops move four of their vehicles; three of them are where the runway is going and the other is sitting on the spot where a missile battery is supposed to be. We have power in the underground areas finally and most of the living quarters are built. The perimeter fence is finished and Kevin is just about finished setting up the main shield generator," Andreya reported.

Alan leaned down to kiss her; a tricky maneuver in the heavy suit. “We’ll sleep in shifts. Since I just had a nap, get two of the others in here for a six hour break. I’ll grab something to eat from the portable replicator out at the pavilion,” he told her as he left.

When he stepped out of the Raptor, he noticed a great deal of activity from the troops. He walked to the edge of the landing site shield and ordered a six-inch sub sandwich and a Pepsi from the replicator. He glanced up at the soldier who was guarding the pavilion. “Major Dentin asked to see me?”

“Yes sir, I told them you were here,” the trooper indicated the radio mic attached to his helmet. “He should be back out in a minute.”