The Stars Came Back (70 page)

There is another solid cheer. The troops are smiling grimly, knowing what he says is true.

Lag: We will fight. We will win. Then go home to our families. Some will die, but like the Greeks at Marathon, we will win and be remembered forever because we stand and fight, here, now, for FREEDOM! We fight as a free people,
choosing
to be here, not as slaves or conscripts or fanatical death-wishers. We do not
want
to be here. We are here because this madman’s followers choose to kill innocent people, like your friends, and he finally was bold enough to say “come and get me!” thinking no one would face him in open battle. He doesn’t know US! We go into battle greatly outnumbered, but we
will prevail
! Not because God is on our side, but because our way of doing things WORKS! We study history, and ourselves, and look at RESULTS. We do not blindly follow lofty-sounding dogma, or charismatic rulers, or cult leaders claiming to speak for God. We use methods that get the job DONE! And I cannot imagine a God that would want his followers to do things that FAIL. I am
honored
to go into battle with you today!

There is another solid cheer. Then Lag and Harbin lift up their water bottles, hold them out in a silent toast to the men around them, and drink. The rest of the men, taking the cue, pull their own bottles down, and there is a general metallic shuffle of getting ready for the imminent battlefield collision.

FADE TO BLACK

FADE IN

EXT - DAWN - Airspace not far from the battlefield

Tajemnica
streaks down through the scattered morning clouds, the vacuum of her supersonic passing leaving a trail behind, with vapor pockets forming behind each turret and bump. She is arrowing down through the atmosphere in a hurry, staying ahead of the pursuing flock of much smaller, sleeker fighters in her wake. The turret guns point to the stern, and as missiles get close the lasers and railguns fire and take them out.

FighterPilot1: (VO) Can’t catch them, sir! We’re almost melting now, missile defense is too good! Guns have no effect!

Controller: (VO) Return to ship. We’ll get ‘em when they come up.

The fighters suddenly drop away astern, and then
pull up and veer away.

CUT TO

INT - DAY -
Tajemnica
Bridge

Helton, Quiritis, Allonia, Bipasha, and Compliance Monitor are at stations.

Quiritis: Ah, breaking off. Knew it!
Taj
has thermal mass and trans-dimensional heat-dump capacity those tiny ships can only
dream
of.

Allonia: Bet they’ll be embarrassed when they get back that they couldn’t catch a little old lander.

Helton: Peak hull temp of 1700 isn’t a worry?

Quiritis: Not yet.

Helton: You said caltrops are OK, right? Thrown, dropped, placed by hand, whatever?

CM: Yes, yes, they’re fine! Oh, GOD, why did I take this job?

Bipasha: (Helpfully) Death wish?

Helton: (
Into mic) OK, Kwon. Get ready!

Quiritis
looks at the control panel, flips a switch.

CUT TO

INT - DAWN - Aft cargo bay ramp

The ramp is stacked all around the outside edge with simple light-weight crates with handles facing in, quick-release tie-downs securing them. Running through the handles are ropes going up to a clip line above. Kwon stands near the stacks of crates on the steeply angled ramp, behind him every square centimeter of deck has a soldier standing on it, helmet on, spear in hand, shield on arm, ready to offload directly into battle.

Helton
: (OC from PA speakers) On final approach. We will be lowering the aft ramp in a moment to drop some presents, then we’ll be hitting. It’ll be a bit bumpy, but we have the accelacomps turned up to high. If you want to hang onto one of the deck straps to keep from getting jostled off your feet, now’s the time to grab ‘em.

The ramp lower
s, nearly in line with the cargo deck, but only sky can be seen because of the descent angle. Suddenly the clouds and lighting angle shift as
Tajemnica
levels out. Kwon hurriedly pulls the quick-release straps on the tie-downs, and some soldiers move in to help him. Over the stacks of crates the ground can be seen fast approaching.

Quiritis: (
OC, through PA speakers) NOW!

Kwon
rapidly shoves the crates over the edge, assisted by the closest soldiers.

CUT TO

EXT - DAWN -
Airspace trailing behind
Tajemnica

Tajemnica
is aiming down at a steep angle, diving toward the field. Landing pads are fully retracted, turret barrels aiming aft and depressed as close to the hull as possible. The ramp is down, and not much but stacked crates can be seen inside. The planned field of battle is not far below. It’s a wide, mostly flat plain with slightly rolling hills to the north, cropland and a river to the south, nearly bare except for an enormous throng of people, fanatical followers of the self-styled Mahdi.
Tajemnica
pulls up hard, nearly level. The crates start being shoved over, and after falling a short distance the line attached to the handles jerks hard. The crates fly apart, and their load of caltrops break free and scatter widely, falling through the air at high speed. A wide swath of them scatters along the ground, and across the fanatics gathered not far below, as they stand watching the ship roaring down onto the battlefield.

Some
of the people on the field are armed and armored, standing in something like proper formations. Others are nothing but large mobs with a mix of folks carrying scattered armor and weapons. Many look like normal civilians, some are extended family gatherings. Some large groups number in the thousands, and there are many tiny clusters, along with everything in between. Down into them, hitting fast and hard,
Tajemnica
comes to ground, plowing a shallow, stained strip across a long stretch of dirt and people. She hits and slews sideways, leaving a fifty meter wide flattened area with a berm thrown up on each end which buries some who just missed getting flattened. She slides to a halt just beyond the far edge of the gathered horde. Both ramps drop with a WHOOMPing clang, and the army aboard starts to march off rapidly in good order.

The camera angle rises rapidly
, showing an aerial view from high overhead. Through the middle of the people-covered plain is the wide scar left by
Tajemnica’s
crashing through, starting with the less scarred but still obvious area with a number of people stretched out on the ground, injured or dead, from the falling iron caltrops. From each end of
Tajemnica
, orderly ranks of armored solders are streaming out, rapidly forming an expanding shield wall around the ramps, pushing outward in ranks five deep as men flow out of the ship. The line swells at each end, and the two line-ends on the port side, which face the field of battle, start to move along the side of the ship to link up. The masses on the plain surge slowly toward them, a tide of humanity seeking to sweep all before it.

Crashing

CUT TO

INT - DAY -
Tajemnica
bridge

The crew and
Compliance Monitor are arguing. In the background, the sounds of many armored men moving, marching out, can be clearly heard.

CM: YOU can’t DO that! It’s an OUTRAGE!

Helton:
You
said we could.

CM: I did NOT!

Helton: YOU said caltrops were fine, thrown or
dropped
!

CM: I meant dropped
by hand
!

Bipasha: Should have said that. And they
were
stacked and pushed over the edge by hand.

CM: And you landed where we said you couldn’t!

Quiritis: No. We crashed.

CM: You LANDED!

Quiritis: The impact damaged two turrets. There are a couple of thousand formerly human bodies that are now snarg.

CM: But you did that DELIBERATELY!

On a screen a dictionary definition of “crash” appears in big, bold text. Helton points to it.

Helton:
Your
definition of crash is any landing that damages the ship or causes injury or material damage to the landing site.
Intent
is not addressed in any way.

Ship AI: (
Armored soldier avatar on the screen) We
crashed
, bub. Believe it an’ deal.

CM: (
Spluttering) But, you, I mean, you didn’t, you can’t-

Allonia:
Your chief said we couldn’t land, forcing us to crash to meet time and location details in the challenge. It’s your fault. Not ours. We’re just playing the rules
you
laid out. Don’t like it? Change the rules for the next battle, and don’t pick sides.

The CM’s face is red, veins bulge and pulse, and he
is angry, frustrated, and at a loss for words dealing with the situation he sees unfolding. Helton looks closely at him.

Helton: You
sure
you don’t have a heart condition?

The CM pauses
to look at him furiously, then his expression changes to suspicion.

Helton: You’re just arguing small stuff. The really exciting part hasn’t happened yet.

The CM looks at him, growing disbelief on his face.

Bipasha:
(Eyeing screens) Gathering directly above, atmo to twenty thousand klicks, pretty much as expected. All three fleets, independents, nearly a thousand interceptors. Capped in tight.

Quiritis: Looks like some of them are exchan
ging more than words.

Helton: (
To CM, with a grin) Now then, how do you think we are going to fight past that blockade? Considering you said you’re staying aboard, you have a rather personal interest. Or would you rather walk off, take your chances on the ground?

Helton glances at a count-down timer on a screen nearby, points it out to the CM. 13:18:29

Helton: Pop quiz in thirteen hours.

The CM shakes head,
not quite able to get his brain around these developments and what it sounds like is going to happen.

Quiritis: Incoming! One missile track, cruiser
launched, I think. Not sure which one, lots of jamming, and they are pretty close together.

Helton: ETA?

Bipasha: Ah… A little under two minutes.

Helton: Any read on type?

Ship AI: Nothing yet.

Helton: Take it out at 5k with railguns.

CM: You CAN’T use guns here!

Helton: We are almost unloaded, then we are no longer part of the agreement, and can defend ourselves from a non-
tech-level attack without any problem, right?

CM: Uh, I’m not sure.

Helton: Isn’t it your job to be sure about these things?

CM: This is
all
very irregular!

Allonia: Welcome to
our world.

CM: I need to contact the
Senior Monitor.

Allonia: Not with all
the jamming. Nothing getting through unless written on a bullet.

Bipasha: But
then
they might misunderstand.

Helton: Depends on the message. Only one missile?

Bipasha: …Yes. Small one. Can’t do much. Hoping to provoke a violation, maybe?

Helton: Unless… it’s a nuke.

He looks at the CM.

Helton: We need a definite answer,
now
.

CM: (
Nervously) Can… can you plot the exact trajectory?

Bipasha works the controls, and a diagram of the field pops up onto a screen showing placement of ship, troops, and the local “army” with an arcing line down slightly to their side of the middle of the mass of people.

Helton: Optimal altitude for a typical nuke airburst?

A dot appears above the plain.

Ship AI: (OC) My armor will protect you at that range, unless it is the largest known warhead in their inventory and the blast is lower.
Everyone
on the field will die, however.

The CM has fear written on his face.

Helton: Counter-fire to take it out one klick above that point. Concur as legal?

The CM nods his head. On the diagram they watch as it descends on the line plotted, and the line shifts slightly as a better fix is determined. It
arrives near the shoot point, then disappears in a red splotch.

Ship AI: (OC) EMP bomb.