Casserine (25 page)

“Yes it did. We will be leaving immediately after Jas gets here to assume command. I will be back as soon as I can. Take care of yourselves.”

“Right back at you, Boss,” Dougherty said for all of them, as Jake disconnected.

Jake stood up, and walked over to where Major Johnson had discreetly moved out of hearing. “Colonel Jason Peters will be flying out to assume command of the Intrepid, Major. He’s a fine officer, and.”

“We’ve heard about the Colonel,” Johnson cut in with enthusiasm. “Sorry, for interrupting, Sir, but Colonel Peters was the Command Wing pilot who obliterated the alien bastards who were seeding those things on the Colonies, wasn’t he?”

Jake nodded. “He fired the first shot of what may be intergalactic war, and saved my sorry ass when he did it, along with a bunch of Marines with me. The Intrepid could not be in better hands. Whose side is your Executive Officer on?”

“Major Wilcox was relieved of command, and sent back to the US just before we set course for Omaha,” Johnson explained. “We couldn’t let him in on our plans before we left. I could stay out of Taskoroff s way, but the XO would have been with him constantly. If Taskoroff had gotten wind of the reality here on the Intrepid, we would never have left port. Wilcox found out about the mission, and he had been an eyewitness to the blunders Taskoroff did at Bougainville. He went ballistic. Dresden and I hustled him off the Bridge when Taskoroff discharged him, before Wilcox did something rash.”

“He sounds like a good man,” Jake said thoughtfully.

“Yes Sir, he is,” Johnson replied. “He was immediately given command of the Yorktown, a new Gallant class ship, and told to take her to Genoa in preparation of an Alien attack.”

“Can we stop over by Omaha, so I can let Colonel Stavros on the Gallant know what we’re doing, and pick up someone I would like to take over as XO here on the Intepid? There’s a certain weapons officer on the Gallant, I want to talk to about his work too.”

“Certainly General,” Johnson said, nodding. “May I request a favor,

Sir?”

“Name it.”

Johnson pulled out two patches, and showed them to Jake. “We would like you to wear these from now on, since we’re getting out from under the damn Earth Command.”

Jake took them from him. One was a brightly colored flag, Jake recognized as the flag of the United States. The other was of an eagle perched atop a globe of the earth.

“That one,” Johnson pointed at the globe, “is the United States Marine Emblem. We’re sick of hiding the fact we don’t belong to Earth Command.”

“Not only can all of you wear them, I want every Marine to wear them from now on,” Jake stated. “I’d like to have these, if that’s okay?”

“Man, the folks back home will go wild if you wear the colors,” Johnson grinned. “I’ll get you as many as you want.”

“I’d be honored to wear them, and I don’t think you’ll find many of the guys out here who want to wear anything to do with Earth Command after this. How did it get so far out of whack Major, back on Earth, that the US would put all the money up front for colonial missions, space exploration, and the bulk of the military personnel just so they could hand control of it all over to those Earth Command morons.”

“Sir, we’ve lived in touchy feely times since back at the end of the twentieth century,” Johnson explained. “We, the US that is, didn’t want to appear as what we were: the most powerful nation on Earth. We proceeded to lose control of our borders, and let third world despots step on us anytime they wanted, terrorizing our citizens both at home and abroad. Finally, they went too far at the beginning of the twenty-first century, and we crushed them.”

Jake gestured for Johnson to sit with him on the Bridge. When both men were seated near the communications panel, Jake asked, “Go on Major, so how did you end up at this point?”

“We regained control of our borders afterwards,” Johnson went on. “The US took a hard line with the United Nations, which was a sham.”

“So I’ve heard. They were the model for this new organization of thugs, weren’t they?”

“Unfortunately,” Johnson admitted. “Including their mission: steal anything and everything they did not create. Anyhow, when the congress tied foreign aid to favorable treatment of the US, things went.”

“Wait a minute,” Jake interrupted. “You mean the United States paid out money to nations in the UN who would then go against them?”

Johnson laughed and nodded. “That’s exactly what we did. The US spent trillions of dollars, and would get censured in front of the UN at every opportunity. The rest of the nations would turn on us like a pack of wild dogs. We shut off the money, and began to throw non-citizens out of the country. It initiated a new wave of prosperity, unheard of at the time. Space exploration took off, and when they discovered the Tarawa Jump Gate, everything began to move at an accelerated pace, but.”

“.but the dolts in charge in the US began to feel guilty about having so much more again, right?”

“You catch on quick, General,” Johnson laughed. “The US has a vicious historical circle going for it. We defeat all of our enemies, and become even more prosperous. Then, for some reason, we hand over matters pertaining to our sovereignty, and give over control of technological breakthroughs to a group of second and third rate nations with a cute title. Hell, they wouldn’t be Earth Command if they had been in charge of space exploration.”

“How serious are your leaders in this?”

“They plan on making an example of the ones who arrested your wife, and are holding her under the auspices of Earth Command,” Johnson replied. “The United Arab Emirate, which contains Earth Command Headquarters, sent a party up to the Intrepid with Taskoroff s help, and took your wife into custody. Taskoroff made sure Kitchner and the Marines on board had been sent to the surface already, or they would have never gotten your wife off of there.”

“What’s the plan for getting her out alive?” Jake asked.

“We will go down with you in custody, and demand to see your wife alive, before leaving you for them,” Johnson offered. “It will be up to you then. We’ll allow you to go and embrace your wife. We follow your lead after that. There will be five hundred Marines on Alpha Drop Ship with us. Only Lieutenant Dresden’s squad, along with you and I, will be inside. Once we get the ball rolling, all hell will break loose. My orders are to get your wife out at all costs, and then destroy the Earth Command Headquarters.”

“Oh man,” Jake smiled, “simple, but elegant. That’s my kind ofplan.”

“Threatening them will do no good, and we believe they will simply kill you both.”

“What will happen after we get out with Adrian, if all goes well?” Jake asked.

“That’s up to them,” Johnson replied. “They all have standing armies, which are supposed to be part of Earth Command; but never seem to go anywhere they might be in danger. For instance, they had no people in the Bug missions you just completed. Remember Sir, they have no ships, and we have a policy for our own good, they are not allowed on ours, if the ship will be going into a danger zone. General Zamudi, and his Chief of Staff, along with Taskoroff were the only Earth Command people on the fouled up Earth Command mission.”

“They left before we could abort their mission. Mostly, they have diplomats, and officials who fill out the bureaucracies in the colony hierarchy. We have had a defense system around the United States since the early twenty-first century, and it works very well. They, on the other hand, have no defense shield. Earth Command can make this as tough on themselves as they wish, but their days of running the global show are at an end.”

“Demolishing Earth Command Headquarters will get their attention.”

“They will never recover from it, and frankly, we don’t care anymore. Our foreign welfare system ends with this operation,” Johnson added.

“At least until you guys start feeling guilty again.”

“Our congressional leaders are drafting new laws to prevent it from ever happening again,” Johnson said firmly. “When they finish, it will take a two thirds vote by the people to okay any help whatsoever. No longer will a newly elected President be able to simply go overseas and start handing out our money.”

“Well Major, with the plan you have outlined, I am going to need a couple of my people, because I have an idea of how to make this go even smoother. Excuse me.” Jake put in a call to the Bougainville Command Center. “I hope I caught them before Colonel Peters took off.”

Tokoru’s image swam into view on the screen. “Yes Sir.”

“Yuri, has Jas left yet?”

“No Sir, he’s gathering a few personal effects to take along. He’s excited, Jake.”

“Good,” Jake acknowledged and then paused for a moment. “Yuri, can I take Charlie and Tim with me? I need them on an operation we’ve got in the works, but I don’t want to short you.”

“Consider it done,” Tokoru replied. “They’ll go nuts. I’ll promote Mendoza to my Chief of Staff. He’s doing an excellent job.”

“That would have been my choice too, Yuri,” Jake agreed. “He handles and leads men as well as any I’ve seen. Sorry for the short notice though.”

“Don’t worry about it, Sir,” Tokoru said, smiling. “If I have to hear Charlie whine for another few weeks, I’ll have to shoot him myself.”

Jake laughed. “Thanks Yuri, I’ll see you when we get back. Matthews out.”

Jake turned back to Major Johnson. “To put us into a position where I can get Adrian, we will need to have Taskoroff with us.”

“That’ll be suicide, Sir,” Johnson stated. “He may say one thing now, and then screw the whole operation once we get inside.”

“Oh, I think the Colonel will see his way clear to help us,” Jakegrinned.

“Why in the world would he?” Johnson asked in complete confusion.

“I am going to have a friend of mine explain it to him.” “Nobody can coerce Taskoroff into going down on planet, right in front of his buddies at Earth Command, and keep his mouth shut while we get your wife out.”

“You haven’t met Charlie Mercer yet, Major, nor has that weasel Taskoroff.”

Chapter 24 

Mr. Snappy

The hatch to the brig cell opened up, and Colonel Taskoroff jumped up off of the pulled out plank, which served as his bed, and only piece of furniture. A tall, black man came into the room. He wore a Major’s insignia, and his shaven scalp, coupled with the myriad scars on his face, gave him the appearance of someone you did not want to be locked into a room with. He grinned at Taskoroff, as he rubbed his hands together.

“Hello T, my name is Major Charles Mercer. Now, where do we begin?” Mercer rubbed his chin with one scarred up calloused hand, as if in a quandary as to what to do next.

“You can begin by saluting a superior officer, Major,” Taskoroff blustered. “When this gets straightened out, I will see all of you.”

Mercer smashed Taskoroff across the face with his open hand, sending him crashing into the brig wall, and down on the bounce. Taskoroff never saw Mercer move, but somehow he ended up on the floor with his face feeling as if it were on fire. Taskoroff held his face with both hands, looking up in fear at Mercer. Mercer smiled.

“First rule here T: don’t speak unless I tell you to. You got that?”

Taskoroff began to answer and then thought better of it. He nodded.

“Good T, you learn quick. Now this first lesson may hurt a little, but before we get done for the day, you and I will be a team. General Matthews has decided he will need your help to extract his wife from the situation you have placed her in at Earth Command. The General and I go way back T, and he means a lot to me, just like family. That makes his wife Adrian my family, and T, words cannot describe how pissed off I am about what you did.”

“Look, Major…ah, may I speak?” Taskoroff asked fearfully.

“Sure T, go ahead.”

“I can make things right. I can.”

“Now T,” Mercer said, grabbing Taskoroff by the whole front of his uniform tunic, yanking him up off of the floor, and slamming him onto his bunk. “I know what you’re thinking. Tell ol’ Charlie what he wants to hear now, and then get down inside Earth Command, and sell us out like the low life rat you are.”

“Nnnn…ooo…I won’t do that, honest…honest to God, I.”

Mercer slapped him across the other side of his face, while still holding onto his tunic. Tears started at Taskoroff s eyes. “Don’t use God’s name in vain, you atheistic prick. We’ll keep these lessons on a more realistic plane. Now, I’ve got something to show you, and you ain’t going to like it, but by the time we get down to Earth Command, you’ll do anything to keep me from reaching into my pocket like this.

Mercer reached into his tunic pocket, and pulled out a small cylindrical shaped object. It glowed with a dull green luminescence at the end. Mercer touched the side of it, and it changed to a dull red. He let Taskoroff go, and touched him with the glowing end on his exposed wrist for just a split second. Taskoroff shot up in the air, and collapsed back on his bunk, shaking uncontrollably for the next five minutes. When Taskoroff passed out and lay still, Mercer brought over a small glass of water, and threw it into Taskoroff s face. Taskoroff became conscious, and when he saw Mercer, he screamed, huddling into the farthest corner of his bunk with his knees up against his chest.

“Plea. please, don’t touch me with that again,” Taskoroff cried. “I’ll do anything…I’ll…”

Mercer held up one finger, showing him the cylindrical object again, and Taskoroff shut up immediately. “T, this is a Neural Scrambler. Deke Larsen, Jake, and I went out on a pass at this little place near the Tarawa Jump Gate, just before we shipped out for Omaha, years ago. A down on his heels little smuggler, working around the Jump Gate, sold me this. Since then, it has been outlawed all over the known universe. More than a split second’s touch will make you convulse until your brains rattle right out of your head. Your nerve endings will be tingling uncomfortably for hours.”

Mercer pulled out a small electronic organizer, and handed it to Taskoroff, who took it with shaking hands. “Here’s your script for the party at Earth Command, T. By the time I get back for your next lesson tomorrow, you will know your lines so well, your buddies at Earth Command will be completely caught off guard.”

“Anything, Major,” Taskoroff agreed, clutching the organizer in both hands. “Just please don’t touch me with tha…that thing again.”

“Oh, T,” Mercer shook his head regretfully. “You and I cannot become a real close team with only one practice session. I will have to have you meet up with Mr. Snappy here a few more times, just to get you on board.”

Mercer left the detention cell, with Taskoroff crying inconsolably.

Around a conference table in a Wardroom on the Gallant, Jake passed out electronic organizers to a group consisting of the Gallant’s commander, Colonel Anton Stavros, along with Colonel Jason Peters, newly promoted Major Sara Corey, Major Charlie Mercer, Lieutenant J.G. Tim Dougherty, Major Nick Richardson, Major Jack Johnson, and the Tennyson commander, newly promoted Colonel Janet Stedman.

“Here’s the outline of what we hope to pull off at Earth Command, and some direction as to how we continue scanning operations out here, until the rest of us get back,” Jake explained.

“Has the United States leadership contacted you, General?” Stavrosasked.

“No Anton,” Jake replied. “Major Johnson here told me there will be no communications with the US, until we have my wife, and Earth Command Headquarters destroyed. The Major pointed out the fact Taskoroff would not have contacted them, and we won’t either. The President of the United States has left this operation totally in our hands. They will back us in any way we deem necessary, once this mission gets underway.”

“You’re sure you can get Taskoroff to do this, Sir,” Stedman asked, looking up from her organizer.

Mercer chuckled. “Don’t worry about T, Ma’am, he’s my bitch.” “He’s your what?” Stedman asked, as Jake, Peters, Dougherty, and Major Johnson broke into laughter, having been reprised of the old Earth term Mercer referred to.

“Sorry, Ma’am,” Mercer apologized. “It just means Colonel Taskoroff will do anything I say, and I mean anything.”

“I guess I don’t want to know any more than that,” Stedman smiled. She looked over at Jake again. “We brought in the materials Nick asked for from Beta Colony, Jake. They’re with us all the way, and General Risling has been traveling all over the Tarawa Jump Gate area, garnering support.”

“Excellent,” Jake said enthusiastically. “Nick has been explaining the new shield process to me for armoring the larger Gallant class ships, and on a smaller scale with the Drop Ships. We’ll hang around until he completes his work on the Intrepid and our Alpha Drop Ship. If we can get back on board from Earth Command, they’ll be sitting ducks. We’ll borrow the Gallant’s Alpha Drop Ship, so we’ll have the MAG50 turret firepower too. Will this business screw up your freighter schedule too much, Jan?”

“Not at all,” Stedman replied. “Omaha’s up to full production already, and we’ll be transporting shipments of fuel cells to all the colonies, in preparation for what comes after this change of command structure. As soon as Nick can pioneer some defense shielding on a planetary basis, we’ll be shuttling materials to support implementation. In the meantime, we’ll still be exchanging the regular goods between colonies.”

“That’s what I wanted to hear,” Jake said. “After we get through with this piece of nasty business on Earth, we have to shift all attention and resources to long term views, with our eye to finding this Alien bunch.”

“I would like permission to pilot your Alpha down to Earth, Jake,” Corey stated.

“If it’s okay with Jas, it’s okay with me, Sara.”

“I can spare my new Exec for this move,” Peters stated with a smile. “All of the marbles are on the table for our Earth connection, and you need the best along in case things don’t go strictly the way we all want. If things do start going wrong, I will have the Intrepid down on their heads so fast they’ll think we materialized out of thin air.”

Jake nodded agreement. “We must see this through to the end, and I don’t want men on the ground in an un-scouted area. Thanks to Major Johnson, we will know the layout of the headquarters down to the final detail, because the dolts in Earth Command had to get the United States to build it for them. Tim knows the signal for when we have the last person exiting the building. Anyone chasing us will not do so for long. We’ll give them an hour to clear the building, and then Earth Command Headquarters will be no more.”

“Once we get back on board the Intrepid, we’ll proceed to the United States, where they have docking capabilities for the Intrepid. We’ll plot our next step with the US leaders. If all goes well, we’ll take the news to General Risling on Genoa, and make sure the installation of Nick’s new shielding and weapons are moving along before we continue our search for the Alien Jump Gate. No use in stirring that pot without making ready for their counter move.”

“What will be the rules as far as civilians, Sir?” Dougherty asked.

“We’ll do what we can, but the mission gets completed without casualties, at least on our side,” Jake replied. “It was difficult, years back, to tell who was who during the skirmishes around the Tarawa Jump Gate. Civilians found out quick, if they didn’t want to end up dead, they damned well needed to stay away from the rebel smugglers.”

“That area of the world has a long history of using human shields,” Major Johnson added. “They have used men, women, children, and even babies as shields. The President has recalled all of our people at the EC Headquarters, saying we needed to update them on domestic issues. No one will be in the building from our side, other than us.”

“I guess that wraps it up,” Jake said. “Nick says he needs a couple of more days to get the Intrepid ready, so let’s meet back here tomorrow morning with the crew going down. We’ll hone their knowledge of the building, and drill them on the steps we’ll take in getting this done.”

Mercer stood up, and looked around at his other companions, who nodded for him to go ahead. “There’s one other thing, Jake.”

Jake sat back down, looking up at Mercer with a puzzled expression. “Okay, what’s up, Charlie?”

“We’re all agreed. If anything happens to your wife, we all stay and kill, until you get tired of seeing blown up bodies,” Mercer said grimly.

There was a strong murmur of assent from the others. Jake shook his head as he stood back up, and pushed his chair in. “I appreciate that folks, but I plan on getting Adrian out alive. If she’s living when we get there, she’ll be alive when we leave. If she’s not alive when we get there, God help them.”

“Are you sure you have to wear these damn energy cuffs down there?” Mercer asked, looking down at the glowing bands around Jake’s wrists.”

They were sitting near the hatch of Alpha Drop Ship, close to Major Johnson, and a company of Marines, prepped for their mission inside the complex. Taskoroff sat next to Mercer with his hands folded, quietly looking down at his feet. Tim Dougherty manned the deck gun turret, with full control over weapons, and Sara Corey piloted the ship. Another thousand Marines were positioned further into the ship’s bay, ready to deploy. They would take the complex, at Major Johnson’s order, from Alpha Drop Ship, all the way to where the landing party would be. They were to kill anyone who resisted, and hold the escape route.

“We can only get a squad in there legitimately, Charlie,” Jake replied. “This has to look good. The rest of our people will get to us when I get Adrian. It will be dicey for a moment, but Jack will bring our backup at a run the moment you signal him. You, and the squad you’ve been training, will have to handle the heavy lifting until he makes his way to us. As soon as I get near Adrian, you turn them off, and we’ll get the party started. Your guys know we’ll need to get their attention, right?”

Mercer glanced back at the grim young faces closest to him, and then back at Jake with a grin. “I picked these boys from the rest, because they’re killers. They don’t just want to be with us because it’s their duty, they want to be there because they want to kill something. Remember when Deke was told to pick a squad to go into the nest on Omaha the first time? We were the first two picked. Deke could pick a killer out without a moment’s hesitation. So can I.”

Jake nodded. “Good. Some folks will be dying in the meeting room, and I don’t want the casualty list to include any of us. Anyone in there not wanting to die better get the hell on the floor.”

Mercer reached over and felt the front of Jake’s uniform jacket. Jake tried to pull away, but the handcuffs put him at a disadvantage. Mercer found what he was looking for, and he started laughing.

“I knew it,” Mercer howled in laughter, as Jake shrugged, and the rest of the Marines looked at Mercer quizzically. “You brought that ugly old Gear Knife with you, you superstitious bastard. What if they frisk you when we walk in.”

“I was thinking you could have one of the Marines hold a blaster up to my head the whole way, with Taskoroff next to me on the other side. You and the rest of the squad will be right behind us. They won’t frisk me with a guy holding a blaster to my head and their chief collaborator right there.”

“Okay,” Mercer agreed reluctantly. “It’s your funeral.”

“It’s my good luck charm,” Jake insisted. “Besides, click off my cuffs for a moment.”

Mercer reached down and touched a small transmitter on his belt. The cuffs disappeared. Jake’s gear knife was at his throat a split second later, much to the amusement of the Marines watching their interaction.