Clidepp Requital (19 page)

"The plan calls for us to drop two observation teams into mildly rugged terrain four klicks from the house as soon as we reach the planet. They will then make their way to observation points we've selected, disguise their presence by using a holo-projector to erect a camouflage bubble over their positions, and monitor all movement into and out of the house. They'll use thermal detectors to observe movement in the house and determine the optimal time for our attack. When we're sure the package is home and settled down for the night, we'll move in. That may take a day, a week, or even a month. We've been told the package has two homes and alternates between them.

"After dropping off the observation teams, the MAT will return to the
Justice
to await further orders. The
Justice
will then sink into the lake and wait, hidden on the bottom.

"When we're ready to attack, the MAT will separate from the CPS, float to the top of the lake, and bring us to the house, where my team will lower down on ropes from the hovering MAT in as stealthy a manner as possible. Lieutenant MacDonald's people will then be dropped off in the field next to the house in preparation for surrounding the house at the perimeter wall.

"My people will attempt to penetrate the house without disturbing the household, locate the package, stun him, and carry him to the roof, where the MAT will pick us up, then pick up the Marines on the perimeter and the observer teams.

"We'll return to the
Justice
and immediately leave the planet, heading for the border.

"That would be the ideal mission, but things don't always go as planned.

"If my team is unable to open the door on the roof easily, we'll attempt to cut our way in, being as silent as possible, but we may be unable to gain access that way and have to use explosives. Or, we may trigger an alarm. In either case, we'll then have to move swiftly to accomplish our objective.

"On word from me, Lt. MacDonald and her platoon will scale the wall and attack the house to create a diversion. They will use explosives to gain entry to the house and put down any security people they encounter. One of our teams will be successful. At that point we get into the MAT as quickly as possible and leave the area because armed forces will no doubt be on their way.

"Questions?" he said, looking at Sydnee.

"Is that an aerial view of the actual house or a computer representation?"

"An aerial view of the actual house."

"Then we have someone local?"

"No. When a GA representative visits any planet, the diplomatic ship automatically begins mapping the surface. Given enough time, we collect high resolution images of the entire surface. My information is that this image was recorded two years ago when our ambassador was delivered to the planet. As soon as the ship arrived it began mapping Yolongus."

"I see. Then the roof may possibly appear different now?"

"Possible, but doubtful."

"Why doubtful?"

"Our envoy flew over the house a month ago and recorded an image. It doesn't have the clarity of this shot, so I opted to use this one."

"I see."

"Anything else, Captain?"

"Not at this time, Major."

"Then we'll rely on you to tell us exactly when we'll arrive down on the planet so my observation teams can be ready to deploy."

"Tomorrow, 0330, give or take five minutes. I can give you an exact time once we reach the planet and see what kind of space activity we'll have to avoid."

"Excellent. We'll plan on having my observers on the ground by 0400."

~ January 30
^th
, 2286 ~

The
Justice
had passed within DeTect range of numerous ships during their journey to Yolongus, but from all appearances he seemed to have been invisible to all. Even if he hadn't, no one would have had time to react before it was just a memory, nor could they do anything to the ship while it was enclosed in a double envelope.

As the small ship approached the planet, the tac officer, Lt. Templeton, was extra vigilant. There were no formations of military ships in orbit or even any small groups. Traffic around the planet was about as expected as Caruthers cancelled the envelope and they suddenly appeared near the center of the thermosphere.

From that point the oh-gee engine would be called upon to take the ship on a gentle descent to the planet. Since the
Justice
was in a planetary umbra caused by the planet's position with its sun, its black color would render it virtually invisible, except when it momentarily passed between stars and any celestial observers. Anyone on the planet using a telescope would probably assume a satellite had momentarily passed in front of their view. Chief Lemela was monitoring all known military channels for any word of an alert, but their arrival and presence seemed to have gone undetected.

Lt. Weems was standing by at the controls of the MAT, waiting for the unlink command as the
Justice
passed through the planet's troposphere, the level of atmosphere closest to the surface. The Special Ops observer teams were in the rear compartment, strapped in and ready for whatever came, and the oh-gee engine was humming almost silently, ready to be engaged at any instant.

The
Justice
descended quickly to the planet and headed for the separation coordinates. Yolongus had two tiny moons, but neither offered much illumination at night. It was dark even when both moons were full and visible in the night sky.

When Weems received his order to detach, the
Justice
was just five kilometers from the home of the package. As he flipped a switch on his control console, the small ship separated from the CPS. At that same instant, the oh-gee engine ramped up and held the craft almost in the same position until Weems began directing the energy flow. Within minutes the MAT was settling to the ground in the chosen clearing four kilometers from the package's home.

The observation teams were up out of their seats and out the hatch with all their gear in less than two minutes. Weems applied power after they had closed and locked the hatch and were clear of the ship. He took the ship up to treetop level and headed for the rendezvous point with the CPS, twelve minutes' flight time away.

* * *

"Tactical, release the two observation spheres," Sydnee said as the
Justice
hovered above a clearing near the remote mountain lake where it would remain until the operation was nearly over.

"Observation spheres released, Captain," the tac officer said. As his console began to receive telemetry data from the spheres, he added, "Both have reached their assigned positions one-quarter kilometer from our planned position in the lake.

The observation spheres were very similar to the oh-gee cameras used by the Marines for surveillance of enemy operations. They floated inconspicuously at low altitudes, using the same camouflage technology as the Marine personal battle armor. By projecting the image seen from the opposite side on the side facing the observer, they became nearly invisible. Unless someone performed an electronic sweep, no one would ever know they were there.

The
Justice
was still hovering over the clearing near the lake when the MAT piloted by Weems arrived at the rendezvous point. It took just minutes for the MAT to re-link with the ship. As the airtight connection was established, Caruthers lifted the
Justice
above the tree line and moved it out over the lake until they reached the intended coordinates. He set the CPS down gently on the lake, allowing it to settle slowly onto the water. On an order from Sydnee, the bridge engineer touched two spots on his console and the enormous tanks mounted against the hull beneath where the MATs were linked began filling with water. The only sounds to break the night's stillness were bubbling and gurgling as air bubbles rose to the lake's surface and burst. The sub-light engines were already fully retracted into their airtight repositories, and the descent to the bottom was controlled by the oh-gee engines.

In five more minutes, the
Justice
was settling gently into the coarse black sand on the bottom of the lake. It would remain there until the night of the attack, unless it began taking on water. The engineer checked the ship's sensors and determined that all compartments in the ship, the MATs, and the habitat units were, so far, perfectly dry. And no one had reported any leaks. Satisfied that there was no need to move the ship, Lt. Barron touched a spot on his console that would release a small antenna for communications with the observation teams. Only the very tip would extend above the water line. Being black, it was unlikely anyone would see it.

* * *

If Sydnee expected the mission to continue at a brisk pace, she was mistaken. Four days later, everyone was anxious to get on with it, but the observers were still reporting no activity in the house. Only one image had been seen on the thermal recorders, and that had been at a small cottage near the rear of the property. During the day, a gardener was observed tending to the grounds inside the perimeter wall, so the determination was that he represented the lone thermal image at night.

The observation spheres were reporting increasing activity on the shoreline of the lake. Apparently the lake was a favorite vacation location, even though there were no structures anywhere within five kilometers. The crew spent hours watching vacationers enjoy water activities. At one point the communications antenna was retracted because fishermen were trolling in the area.

* * *

"Captain, you should see this," Templeton said on the seventh day.

"What is it?"

"A news broadcast about this lake. And us."

"Put it on the front monitor."

As the broadcast began to play, the computer provided a translation in writing across the bottom. A Yolongi, speaking into a mic, appeared in front of a spot along the shoreline.

"'This is Erillwa Quissropp reporting from Lake Ranbuzzo. Once again rumors of giant monsters in Ranbuzzo are being circulated at this popular vacation spot. Several campers have sworn they were awakened in the middle of the night by popping and hissing noises out on the lake a week ago. One camper reports awakening in time to see a giant black beast sink into the water. Although no one has ever been attacked up here at the lake and no images have ever been captured of the mythological beasts reputed to live in the water, stories continue to abound. This has been Erillwa Quissropp reporting from Lake Ranbuzzo. Good day."

"So now we're a mythological black underwater monster," Sydnee said with a smile. "I wonder what they'll call us when we depart the area."

"A mythological black
flying
monster, probably" Caruthers said from the helm console.

* * *

Finally, ten days into their vigil, the SO observers reported the arrival of an oh-gee vehicle. After landing on the roof, three individuals exited the craft and entered the house.

Everyone aboard the
Justice
began making preparations for the assault. It was tentatively scheduled for early morning two days hence.

* * *

On the morning of the operation, Sydnee was on the flight deck of MAT-One. She had decided to take this part of the mission herself. At 0312 she released the last remaining link with the
Justice
and let the small ship float to the surface of the lake. On board was the entire Marine contingent of the
Justice
. It was so crowded in the rear cabin that the Major had joined her on the flight deck and was sitting in the copilot seat.

As the small ship broke the surface, it was difficult to tell which was blacker— the dark, cloud-filled sky, or the color of the Dakinium that sheathed the MAT. As the ship began bobbing slightly from the disturbance caused by breaking the serene surface, Sydnee applied power to the oh-gee engine and lifted clear of the lake. The course to the package's home had been entered into the navigation computer, and as she engaged the oh-gee engines, the ship headed directly to that location.

The flight time to the house, located some seventy-eight kilometers from the lake, was twelve minutes at sea level. At 0328 the MAT was hovering just meters above the roof and the Special Ops team began silently rappeling down ropes from an open hatch. As SO people moved towards the roof access door that led to the house below, Sydnee lifted the MAT up and away.

When the ship settled onto the field just outside the perimeter wall, the remainder of the Marines deployed and raced towards the house. Sydnee remained where she was, ready to pick up the SO team and the package when they called for her. She was monitoring all three radio frequencies in use for this operation: the general Com-One channel used by all Marines; Com-Two, reserved for officer use; and Com-Three, the channel reserved for the Special Ops people. Additionally, she could have a private conversation with any officer or noncom.

Roughly ten minutes of silence on the Com-One channel followed as the Marines at the wall hunkered down with taut nerves. There was seldom any admonishment from commanding officers about the use of Com-One since the voices couldn't be heard outside the helmets. Noncoms and officers only interceded if conversations became too boisterous or when arguments broke out. And that wasn't because there was any danger of giving away positions, but simply because proper battlefield behavior was being breached. Boisterous conversations and arguments meant that people probably weren't concentrating on the job at hand.

Com-Three, on the other hand, was in use almost constantly as the SO Marines prepared to assault the house. Much of the early conversation would have been confusing to the uninformed because it was a form of shorthand unique to Special Operations personnel, but it became more recognizable as the operation progressed.

* * *

As the SO Marines reached the roof and unwrapped themselves from the rappeling ropes, most spread out slowly to hunt for trip wires and alarm sensors. One by one they reported that their section of the roof was clear. Meanwhile, the team at the access to the house was examining the entrance door the way a safecracker would examine a vault.