Talosian Chronicles 6: Armageddon (9 page)

“What about medical and living conditions? Come to think of that, if you’re here, where are your kids?” Adam asked.

“The twins are at home with my spouse. Jacob is on the moon base attending classes. Our medical science is also pretty advanced and we have some excellent doctors. As for the living conditions… well, let’s just say that I absolutely love our house. It overlooks the harbor and faces west, so we get to watch the suns setting over the ocean in the evenings. The kids all have their own rooms complete with their own bathrooms and entertainment systems. I should mention that the entertainment system is also their computer and telephone. They attend classes over the network via the planetary administrator's office. But attend field trips, dances, and other get-together with kids their own age and skill levels. It’s really a neat system.”

“It sounds like it. You’ll have to give me your phone number so I can call you in three months when my current enlistment is up. They were going to promote me to full colonel to keep me in, but I don’t think it’s worth my family. I’ll have to think about it some more and talk it over with Marge,” Adam admitted.

“Well, there are other things that you will have to consider before you could make a final decision anyway and I can’t tell you about those until you are serious about joining. I’ll tell you what, you give me your name and address, and I’ll have one of our people stop by and see you in a couple of months. Provided we are all still here and the planet has a breathable atmosphere,” Tonya chuckled.

“Are these… enemies, really that bad? With all your advanced technology you can’t be more confident of beating them back if and when they do show up?” Adam asked.

“Sir, you’re a soldier, you know better than to ask that question. The only absolute in war is death. We are doing everything we can do to make sure we don’t lose the planet. I can tell you that if they show up here, they are going to be in for a serious fight. When the Admiral's plans get finished, we'll be one of the most well protected planets in the Alliance.”

Adam nodded agreement. ”When do you want to start with the armor and weapons upgrades for my soldiers?"

"I'll get with you tomorrow morning and we can work up a schedule. It's getting kind of late tonight to get into that, and it'll give us a chance to finish our adjustments for the equipment here," Tonya replied.

"Great, I'll look forward to it. Thanks for the hearing protectors; I'll get my folks distributing them ASAP," Adam replied.

“You’re welcome, Colonel. Just holler if you need anything more,” Tonya said by way of parting.

The following morning, Tonya arrived in the command tent shortly after Adam finished his morning shave. He was about to go to breakfast when the Terran Master Sergeant intercepted him.

"Good Morning, Sergeant. I was about to go eat breakfast, care to join me?" Adam offered.

"Actually Sir, if you can wait a few moments, I'll buy you breakfast. I have a surprise for you and your men," Tonya replied, grinning. "You might want to include your officers if their not busy."

Adam gave the order for the company commanders to report to the Operations Center immediately before turning back to Tonya. "If I may ask, what's with the armor? Are you expecting trouble?"

Tonya was still grinning. "Nope, this is for demonstration purposes for you and your men. I brought my pulse rifle as well." She turned slightly so Adam could see the weapon attached to her back.

"I'd ask all the questions I have right now, but I have a feeling you're going to be answering them for me in a few minutes anyway," Adam replied smiling.

"I hope I do, but feel free to ask after the explanation. If you think of something later, you can ask any of my knuckle-draggers too. They are actually the ones going to be doing most of the work," Tonya replied.

The first of the company commanders arrived then and Adam began introductions. As soon as all the men arrived, Adam looked at at Tonya. "Okay Sergeant, we're all here."

Tonya nodded to him. "Thank you Sir. Gentleman, acting on the orders of my commanders, and with the full agreement of the United States Military, in addition to the emergency shelter, we've built a small base for your battalion here underground. At oh-two-hundred this morning, I was informed that base is now complete and ready for you and your men to move in."

"You built a base here?" one of the Captains asked, astounded.

Tonya nodded. "We did. Our part of it is on a small annex, but for the most part, the rest of it is yours. It includes sleeping quarters, a firing range to train on the new weapons, and armory as well as a motor pool for your vehicles. It is attached, by a restricted access corridor to the civilian shelter at the north end of the park and will be sharing the medical facilities with that shelter.

"We worked around the various underground stuff here, like the subway and sewer systems, gas mains and electrical runs. Some stuff, like the gas mains and the electrical were rerouted in some places, but every thing's finished now and it's ready for you to move in. If you'll follow me, I'll give you a tour," Tonya finished.

"You've only been here for what, two weeks? How did you get all of that finished in such a short amount of time?" another Captain asked.

"We have advanced construction methods and use drones for most of the work. A lot of what those drones do is still classified, but it turns out to be safer and much much faster than current methods. The places near the subway won't even know a train just went by; the walls are sound and vibration dampened." Tonya explained. "We even incorporated some of the ideas we used for the moon base as well as other underground installations to make living underground more tolerable."

"Like what?" Adam asked.

"Like each of the residence quarters have windows you can open and feel a breeze, holograms outside the windows project almost any scene you would want and the computer then replicates that environment. It's pretty neat; you can almost forget you're actually underground," Tonya explained as she led the men to a small area off to the side of one of the weapon emplacements. A small maintenance drone was waiting there for them.

Tonya stopped them. "Gentlemen, this is what we call a maintenance drone. Units like this one are what take care and maintain all of our facilities. They fix broken equipment, keep the place clean and are even capable of emergency medical treatments. Because most of the equipment in here that we will be letting you use is classified, only these units will be allowed to work on it. If anyone else tries, the equipment will self-destruct."

"Sergeant, what wrong with us using our own stuff?" one of the officers asked.

"Nothing at all Captain. Except that our equipment is mostly voice activated, is capable of accessing multiple data feeds at once, and can provide you with instant, encrypted communications that are very difficult to jam. Since your men will be wearing our armor, this system was decided on. It will give you, as commanders to make better, more informed decisions since you can access every bit of data that your troops in the field have - even visual." She turned to the drone. "Please deactivate the hologram and protective shield."

The drone beeped once, sounding cheerful, and the ground before the men disappeared to reveal a ramp into the ground and a set of heavy blast doors at the bottom. Over the doors was printed the unit designation of Adam's National Guard Battalion.

"This is the main entrance, or 'front door' if you will. There are other exits for both your equipment as well as your people." As she spoke, she led the men down the ramp, and the blast doors slid open to reveal a set of regular steel and glass doors that you would see on any normal building. "This base has it's own dedicated power supply independent of the city grid that will come online if and when the city power fails. Since it won't be used unless there is an emergency, the shelter is isolated from all city utilities and is fully self contained." They had arrived in a red-brick lobby that had bulletin boards with recruiting posters as well as other announcements that would normally be seen in the lobby of their former armory. The American Flag was standing off to one side with the New York state flag completing the framing of the information center on the wall. Off to one side, there were a pair of elevators.

Tonya led the men on a quick tour of the facility, ending in the mess hall. She used a command override on the emergency replicator unit to get them men breakfast. They all took the food and sat at one of the many tables to discuss what they'd seen and ask their questions.

"Sergeant Miles, we're obviously going to have a lot to adjust to once we get moved down here. However, how do you see the refitting of our troops with that armor going?" The unit Executive Officer asked. "How much training will they need to adjust to it?"

"That will depend mostly on the individual trooper. The armor itself will do most of the training in a simulation mode. The soldier will be run through a series of simulations while wearing the armor. The armor itself won;t move while this is happening, but the soldier inside will fell like he is moving through various and different environments during the training. The final test will be simulated combat with live weapons done at the firing range we set up. All in all, I'm certain it won't take more than a couple of days for most of them," Tonya replied.

"What about our claustrophobic soldiers?" one of the officers asked. "This new suit isn't going to help them all that much if their freaking out."

Tonya nodded. "When the armor is sealed; that is, with the helmet on, you have a full field of vision. It doesn't even sound like you're wearing a helmet. The only difference is the displays that are projected into your field of vision. Targeting cross hairs for the weapon being used, or a small window will open for video communications. In a worst case if the suit power fails and the suit shuts down, the medical suit can and probably will sedate the soldier to keep them calm until they can be recovered or repaired." Tonya explained. "I would mention that even in that case, which has never happened, the armor will be harder to move, but it will default back to a clear display and the weapon will still function. You won't have the shield, but the armor is still very tough."

"What about those weapons? Will we be carrying those around?" One of the men asked.

"No, the weapons are for intended for combat against armored targets. If you shot an unprotected human with one of them, it would most likely blow them in half. No, we have stunners that will disable a 'soft' target. Unlike the tasers currently ion use by law enforcement, these will bring
everyone
down.

"Incidentally, we will also be equipping the local police units with similar equipment. Lighter armor as well as the stunners and some riot control equipment. They should be getting their orders to come here in the next couple of days."

New Talos, New Mexico

Earth, Sol System

Sol Sector

Kevin and Sheryl were hurrying back to the pavilion. Two men and the medic followed along carrying a man on a stretcher. “Sir!” Sheryl called as they came closer. “We have to get this man into the autodoc as fast as possible. He has massive internal injuries and is dying. The helicopters will not be able to get here in time to save him.”

“You men leave your weapons with the Major and follow these two into the ship. Do exactly as they say and don’t touch anything. If either of you try anything, you will be subdued and brought back to the Major for whatever punishment he feels is appropriate. Kevin, keep an eye on them. Go!” Alan ordered.

The men apparently had already left their weapons somewhere else, because they simply followed Kevin and Sheryl toward the ship. The Major and Alan watched them go.

“I was afraid of something like this. I can't help but wonder if the spooks hadn't been counting on it. I just hope our assistance doesn't mean that man will be dissected.” Alan admitted.

“I’m afraid you might be right, Commander. I don't know for certain, but I think one of the men carrying the litter was one of the spooks. I would have mentioned it, but I wasn’t sure. I thought he was one of the new soldiers in Charlie Company, since he looks like one of them, but the more I think about it, the more certain I am that it wasn’t him," Dentin replied, thoughtfully.

"It really won't matter if he is or not. He won;t be able to do anything once he gets in there. The systems on the ship will keep him in line," Alan explained. "Have you gotten new orders yet? Since the President's address to the nation, a lot of shit has changed."

Dentin shook his head. "Tomorrow, the real Battalion commander will be back and he can be a hard ass, but he’s generally a fair man. I imagine though, that we'll be sent back to Fort Carson and the Marines will be sent back out here. Too bad, I’d like to see what those fighters look like. I’ve always been fascinated by fighter craft, and these space fighters you’ve told me about have got my curiosity up.”

“Oh, if you’re still here in couple of days, I’m sure you’ll get to see them, if you look close enough; they can be pretty hard to see sometimes. However, so you know what to look for of course,” Alan grinned and spoke to the ceiling of the Pavilion, “Computer; please give me holographs of the Hornet, Wasp and Shadow fighters; include the Centurion and Condor EC/C vehicle as well.”

On the table before them, the requested images appeared, depicted as if in flight, and slowly rotating. "I did get new orders that will effect you. We are to ensure that the base has the ability to arm and armor all of your men with Terran armor and weapons. I'm led to understand your vehicles might be getting parked and replaced by something similar we will build for you. I could be wrong about that part though." Alan snorted. "Hell, I'm just the construction boss on this mission!"

"We're getting new armor and weapons? Something really must have changed! I wonder if the spooks will still try to steal your stuff once we already have it?" Dentin asked while he examined the images on the holo-table.

Alan grinned. "Probably, the stuff we're giving you is all sealed and will self-destruct if tampered with. So we're basically letting you use it, but not giving it to you." He then pointed to each one of the displayed craft and gave a brief description. “Also, please pass along to who is in charge of this after the Colonel arrives tomorrow, that during the landing, the base security systems will be activated. I’d prefer if people didn’t freak out over missile and gun turrets suddenly appearing from the ground.”

“If you’re expecting them, why do you need to activate the defenses?” Dentin asked.

“Though we are absolutely certain that there is no enemy presence in this system yet, it is standard doctrine to active them during all landings. The enemy has been known to follow friendly ships back to their base and call in a bombing mission. The defenses go active fifteen minutes before the ships arrive, and stay active for at least a half hour after,” Alan explained. “Is it okay if your two men stay to guard the injured man while he’s being treated? If all goes well, you should get them back sometime tomorrow. Doc Adams or you can request to see him at anytime simply by coming in here and stating the request aloud.”

“Sure, if it’s alright with you. I’ll leave a soldier here as well in case you need to get hold of me, though I suppose you could always just call me on the radio, couldn’t you?” Dentin replied, grinning.

Alan chuckled; “Yeah, I could have called you directly at anytime today. Your communications are pretty secure for the technology on this planet, but not for ours. I’m sure your men will be a bit shocked by us though. We are a coed team and nudity isn’t taboo. The medical unit is in the residence area of the ship. Since we all wore our armor for the better part of the day, I imagine everyone will want showers. We also have a more tolerant culture than is allowed here.”

“What do you mean?” Dentin asked, looking concerned.

“It's not uncommon for sex to happen between members of our team. It's simply another way of supporting each other, that means that two of the men could be together or one of the men and a two of the women. In our culture, the only restrictions we have is if any person involved in the act isn't there by choice,” Alan explained. "Same sex and multiple marriages are allowed as long as all involved are willing participants. We feel no one has the right to tell anyone else who they can or can't love."

“Please try not to mention it around our chaplain,” Dentin chuckled. “As for the homosexuality, we are still operating under the ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy, though I’m pretty sure the man that was carrying the front of the stretcher is gay. Personally, I could care less. I don’t see how a person’s sexuality affects how good a soldier they are. What are you going to do about that spook?"

“Nothing. As I explained he won’t be able to do much in there except look around. I do have to say though that you took the news about our society pretty well; given what I know about the military mindset here," Alan replied.

“Bah, most of these blowhards are just too macho for their own good. Well, I better get back and moved,” Dentin said. "Good evening, Commander.”

“And to you, Major,” Alan said as they both departed the tent.

Early the next morning, Alan was awakened by Stacy with news that there were several more helicopters incoming. “Andreya is acting as flight controller to guide them in; she’s going to land them on the new runway, closest to their own troops.”

He vaguely remembered Andreya crawling out of bed earlier, but his groggy brain hadn’t acknowledged it at the time. “Must be the Colonel Major Dentin told me about. I wonder who else is coming though? What’s their ETA?”

“Locally it’s oh-seven-thirty; they will set down here in about twenty minutes, roughly oh-eight-hundred,” she said.

“Good, how are our visitors? Is the patient any better?” Alan asked as he stretched, stood and walked, nude, across to his locker. At the table, nursing a cup of coffee and looking very tired, was the man that Major Dentin thought might be the spy.

“Private Connors is doing much better. We should be able to return him to his own people later today. However, I don’t think his comrades have held up as well.” She nodded her head to the man sitting at the table staring off into space, seemingly ignoring the conversation around him.

Alan nodded to Stacy, thanking and dismissing her in the same gesture. He slipped his clothes on and after getting something to eat, sat down across from the near comatose looking 'soldier'.

“Why didn’t you wake the other soldier? Is your mission that important?” Alan asked casually.

At mention of his mission, the man’s head snapped up and his eyes immediately focused on him.

“I’ve heard of you, Carlson. You were an agent with the NSA. You were listed as ‘missing, presumed compromised’. What happened?” The man asked.

“I got tired of being used as a weapon against personal and political rather than national security targets. I decided to ‘retire’ five years ago. These people found me just before I jumped off a bridge. What they told me made a lot of sense to me and it still does. I would, to this day, never do anything to harm this country. Notice I said
country
, and not
Government
,” Alan explained. “Since I’ve joined these people, they have never lied to me and have always either shown, or offered to show, why an action was necessary. This country's administration is rife with corrupt politicians whose sole interest is their own bank accounts and power base. Special interest groups control this country, not the people for which it was founded. Now, I am finally doing what I had
thought
I was doing while I worked for them; I’m helping the American
people
, and additionally the rest of the world as well.”

“You’ve been brainwashed and conditioned by these people. You’re betraying your country by helping them,” the man accused.

“How am I betraying anyone? I refuse to let potentially damaging technology fall into the hands of people that have no problem dropping nuclear weapons on others if it insures the continued flow of oil into this country. I’ve personally supervised the drop of badly needed food and supplies into areas that desperately needed them. We’ve stopped terrorists from blowing up cities, usually
American
cities, and leaked more information to the office of homeland security as well as Interpol to apprehend other terrorists that were planning actions against others. We are working to stop drug lords and stem the flow of illegal drugs. So you tell me, who the hell am I betraying; the people of this planet, or the people that run the governments?”

“You’ve been brainwashed,” the man said again, dismissing his explanation. “You only
think
you’re helping the people. Instead you're giving supplies to terrorist organizations and inciting war among the drug cartels. We
need
the oil that comes into this country. This country
runs
on oil.” 

“This country hasn’t needed oil in years. Other technology has been available since the early nineteen eighties; it’s just been totally suppressed. As for the supplies, starving people is a poor way of stopping terrorism. It has a tendency to create rather than deter. Not that we have actually given supplies to known terrorists, which we haven’t, but that policy is all wrong to begin with.” Alan realized time was growing short. “Look, I haven’t been brainwashed. I do know what I’m doing. If you could pull your head out of your ass long enough to look around, you might see it too. Now, I have to go meet the new arrivals. I imagine you will have a new boss shortly, so you should probably wake the other soldier and follow me out to the landing area.”

The man drained his coffee and followed Alan out. He hadn’t accomplished one thing that he had planned to do: capture some technology at the least, capture the ship and crew at the most. During the night, he found he couldn’t actually touch anything, except the chair he was sitting on. He had a feeling that his bosses where not going to be pleased.

After stopping to collect the major at his vehicle, Alan and the agent walked over to the area where Andreya was going to land the choppers. He could hear them approaching from the north and turned to watch.

“Major Dentin, Private Connors is recovering well and should be returned to you later this morning. He will make a full recovery now, under normal treatment,” Alan said.

Dentin was about to reply when the agent spoke, looking Alan right in the eye. “Private Connors lost his surviving family members two years ago to a drunk driver. The only person in the world that will, I mean,
would
, miss him is his gay lover...” The Agent tuned back to the north to watch the helicopters’ approach. “…and training accidents are so unpredictable.”

Alan was shocked and turned on the Agent. “Why! He’s done nothing wrong!”

“Why do you think? Are you really that stupid?” the Agent asked. “I’m taking a hell of a risk telling you this. Personally, I don’t believe that anything can be gained by what is planned and I have been thinking about what we talked about earlier. I’ve only known them for a couple of days and they seem like a couple of nice kids. Take care of them.”

“Just what the hell are you talking about, mister?” The Major demanded. “You better explain yourself right the fuck now.”

The Agent continued to watch the sky, so Alan turned to the major. “Major, the soldier you had me treat and the other guard…” Alan glanced at the agent who only nodded slightly, “…will have a ‘training accident’ later today, or very soon. He will be taken someplace to be tested to determine exactly what we’ve done to heal him. By making sure he is ‘dead’, whether or not he really is, they will be able to do whatever they want to him.” Alan sighed, “I’m afraid by saving his life; we’ve actually put him and his friend in far worse danger.”

“I won’t allow it! Hell, the whole fucking unit knows that we sent him to you for emergency treatment. When I get back to my vehicle, I’ll make sure that everyone knows that both of them are just fine. Since I know what’s planned, I’ll make sure nothing happens to either of them,” Dentin proclaimed.