Fringe Ambush, page 3
UFP Shuttle,
Richter One
The seats around Major Thomas shook, as the shuttle entered the atmosphere of Richter One hard. He grabbed hold of his safety harness while the shuttle continued to vibrate. He could count on one hand the number of times he had had a smooth descent in a shuttle. It was a rare experience and today wasn’t going to be one of them. Initially, he had expected the shuttle to encounter weapons fire from the incoming Vartok cruiser, but that hadn’t happened. He had to credit the shuttle pilot for navigating the vessel at a sharp trajectory to the Richter One base station.
Thomas pulled off his HUD helmet, took a fruit bar from his right pocket, unpeeled it and tossed it into his mouth. Prior to leaving the hangar bay, he had managed to stuff his pockets with a few fruit bars from the food dispensers at the nearest mess hall. As Thomas munched on his fruit bar, Anderson threw him an amused look. No one else, except probably Riley, knew of his obsession with the fruit bars, which was something he had picked up during his academy days. Not even Captain Norman and he preferred to keep it that way. It was one of those things that the food dispensers had gotten right, and Thomas couldn’t resist them. When he had first come on-board the UFP Griffins, he had gone straight to the nearest mess hall to check if the food dispensers were able to produce his fruit bar. Fortunately, no one had been around then and Thomas had been glad to discover the food dispensers could produce his fruit bar.
The pilot turned towards him. “Major, we are leaving the upper atmosphere.”
“Any sign of the Vartok?” Thomas asked.
“Nothing on the scans yet,” the pilot replied.
It was only a matter of time before the Vartok sent out their shuttles. Thomas had no doubt about it. He hoped that they could hit the ground before the Vartok launched their shuttles. The rumbling in the shuttle continued to increase. Wheeler started to fidget. The junior combat specialist was beginning to feel the discomfort of the descent. Wheeler was going to need to get used to it if he was going to survive in this unit. However, Thomas knew this rumbling was the easy part. The challenging part lay ahead of them once they were on the surface. Only he and Anderson had combat experience with the Vartok species. Even Riley had no real combat experience against the Vartok head-on because his specialty on explosives left him to set traps without having the chance to witness the carnage that ensued.
“Maybe those Vartok had a change of heart,” Williams chimed in.
“Maybe you are dreaming,” Anderson scoffed. “Have you had any experience with the Vartok species?”
Williams shook his head.
“Well, I have,” Anderson scowled. “The Vartok species are an uncivilized bunch. They do not take prisoners. They are merciless killers with no sense of remorse. They won’t even flinch when they blow your head off.”
“I have read about it,” Williams commented.
Anderson lifted his weapon menacingly. “Reading it in one of your dossiers isn’t the same as encountering them point blank range. That is when it counts. The dossiers are worth nothing when your life and those around you are at stake. Take my word for it.”
Williams nodded and did the wise thing to keep his mouth shut. Thomas glanced at Riley. The combat specialist was a man of few words, but when he did speak it was important. In the past engagements, Riley’s approach and that of Anderson helped bring some balance to Thomas’ ears. Anderson could never get used to Riley’s intentional silence. At times, it drove Anderson crazy. Thomas suppressed a chuckle at the thought. Thomas then glanced again at Wheeler, who was seated opposite him. The junior combat specialist’s eyes had been flicking back and forth during the exchange between Anderson and Williams. However, Wheeler’s face gave no hint of fear. There was hope for him yet. This ride on the shuttle was only the start. The easy start. Once they reached the surface, all chaos would break loose and that is where Wheeler would be put to the fire. It was going to be his first taste of war and it was going to be brutal. Whether the junior combat specialist would survive the fire was yet to be seen, but Thomas hoped he would. Prior to leaving the shuttle, Thomas had read through Wheeler’s profile. Nothing of significance had been highlighted. Wheeler came from a single parent family, and he was the only child. Thomas suspected Wheeler’s lackluster upbringing would have led him to signing onto the UFP. To a certain extent, Wheeler reminded Thomas of himself. He had also grown up as the only child, despite having both parents.
“Forty-five seconds,” the pilot yelled.
“Weapons and comms check,” Thomas hollered.
Everyone, except Williams, shouted in unison. Williams looked at all of them in surprise, but kept silent. Thomas caught Anderson glaring at the Intelligence Officer, but Williams looked away. On the surface, Williams was going to be a bigger problem than Wheeler. Thomas couldn’t understand why Admiral Hart had forced Williams to be attached to his unit, but he had to trust the Admiral’s decision.
“Incoming weapons fire,” the pilot shouted.
The shuttle banked hard to the left.
SEVEN
Base Station,
Richter One
The shuttle landed with a thud on the surface.
“Anderson, take point,” Thomas ordered, as the hatch door began to open.
Anderson unbuckled his safety harness, jumped up and strode down the ramp with his boots making a clanging noise. It was classic Anderson in the zone. Wheeler, Williams, and Riley followed with Thomas taking the rear.
The pilot raised his fist. “Good hunting, sir.”
Thomas grunted, strode down the ramp and joined the rest of his unit. The dry air smacked him in the face. Fortunately, Richter One had a breathable atmosphere. The moment he hit the sandy ground the adrenaline began rising in his throat. Then, the shuttle closed the hatch and lifted off, leaving behind a swirl of dust that danced around his eyes.
“Incoming missiles,” Anderson shouted, and broke into a run towards the doors of the main entrance to the base station.
Everyone tried their best to keep up with Anderson, but it wasn’t easy. The senior combat specialist was fast. Anderson looked like he had been keeping himself in shape all this time. The doors were two hundred meters away. Thomas glanced back into the sky. The UFP shuttle was streaking up into orbit. He then caught a glimpse of the projectiles streaking towards their position. They were being fired upon by a descending Vartok shuttle.
“Keep running!” Thomas ordered.
In a matter of seconds, explosions began to rip around them. The Vartok shuttle must have been waiting for them to step off the shuttle, before deciding to target them. The doors to the base station in front of them opened wide, as they went through it. The uniformed guards shut the doors, as more explosions pounded the ground outside.
“The shield is up,” a voice announced.
“That was crazy,” Williams admitted, half-bent and panting loudly.
Thomas was impressed that the Intelligence Officer had survived the sprint into the base station. He had half-expected Williams’ corpse to be lying back there on the ground.
“I told you,” Anderson laughed. “This is only the beginning. You haven’t seen anything yet, Mr Intelligence Officer.”
“I get it,” Williams said.
“You need to get in better shape to keep up with me,” Anderson smirked.
Thomas turned to them. “Put a lid on it.”
Meanwhile Wheeler stood calmly as if the run into the base station had been part of his usual drill in the academy. It was only then that Thomas noticed the two guards who had closed the gates. He presumed one of them had reactivated the shield over the main entrance to the base station. Richter One had an enhanced shield to protect it, a privilege of being one of the newer base stations in the UFP. Thomas narrowed his eyes. Something was wrong with the uniformed guards. He rubbed his eyes once and then stared at them. It then dawned on him that the uniformed guards didn’t look military. He approached one of them. “Where is your commanding officer?”
The first male guard stammered. “I …”
The second male guard walked over to Thomas. “Sir, we aren’t military.”
“Then, who are you?” Thomas quizzed.
“Private security,” the second male guard replied. “The military unit attached to this base station was withdrawn a few months ago. I believe they were redeployed, and we were brought in to take their place.”
“Are you saying there are no military personnel anywhere on this station?” Thomas asked.
“That's right, sir,” the second male guard said.
“We are in so much freaking trouble,” Anderson muttered.
Thomas couldn’t agree anymore. Without any military personnel on the ground, his unit was the only fighting force left in the base station against the approaching Vartok species. Thomas had expected a bad situation on the ground, but nothing like this.
“We need to get back up from the UFP Griffins,” Williams admitted.
Thomas cast a glance at him. “There are no other marine units on-board. What you see here is all that there is.”
He was surprised that the Intelligence Officer didn’t know that fact already. It was becoming clearer that Williams had not prepared well for this mission.
“Take us to the Chief Scientist,” Thomas commanded. “Anderson, you keep watch out here. The rest of you are with me.”
He could sense that Anderson wanted to say something, but Thomas glared at him and the senior combat specialist kept his mouth shut.
EIGHT
UFP Space Command,
Earth
Admiral Jones watched as the two other Admirals and the CEO of Tagbard Consortium sauntered into the conference room and took their seats around the oval table. Two junior officers were seated at desks on opposite sides of the only entrance into the conference room, ready to minute down everything that was talked inside these four walls.
Admiral Hart tapped his fingers on the table. “Jones, what was so urgent that you needed to call us at this crazy hour?”
Jones motioned to one of the junior officers, who stood up and ensured the door was locked, before activating the privacy shield around the conference room. Admiral Pearson and Paul Tagbard Jr sat pensively at their seats. Both also looked a bit ruffled for being called so early in the morning. However, Jones had heard rumors that Paul Tagbard Jr lived on less than three hours of sleep a day. The Priority-1 transmission had reached Jones’ office at 2am Earth time. He had been woken up by his adviser the moment it had arrived. Like Admiral Hart, Jones had been annoyed at being disturbed. It was the first time he had ever gotten a message from Captain Norman in the outer stations. At first, Jones had been confused as to who even Norman was until his adviser had filled him in on the details. There were too many Captains across UFP space for Jones to even remember their names let alone recognize their faces. Looking at his device, Jones had to give credit to his staff for being able to get the three men into the conference room by 3am.
Jones decided to get directly to the point. “The Vartok species are back. I believe that is reason enough to get all of you in here.”
“Around Earth?” Hart asked.
Jones shook his head. “Reports came in on an attack on Richter One.”
“Isn’t that one of our outer stations?” Hart mumbled.
Jones gave a single nod.
Pearson’s eyes widened. “Why would the Vartok engage UFP …”
Hart interrupted him. “Before we proceed any further, why does Tagbard Jr need to be here? This is a classified conversation.”
The temperature in the room dropped a notch at Admiral Hart’s accusatory tone. The two officers typing away stopped briefly and exchanged looks with each other. It was obvious that neither of them had anticipated such an accusation to be thrown out so casually.
Paul cleared his throat. “Admiral Hart, may I remind you that I have clearance for this meeting. In fact, my clearance level matches yours.”
“Just because you are the biggest stakeholder in UFP, that doesn’t mean you get to sit in on every meeting and listen to our every conversation,” Hart snorted.
Jones grimaced. Every time they got together, Admiral Hart had to ensure that they went around this same exchange. It always started and ended the same with neither side willing to back down.
“I can always withdraw our support and funding,” Paul said, curtly. “Then, you wouldn’t need to see me, nor would I need to be here.”
Although the UFP had won the Ten-Year War against the Vartok species, it had come at a steep price. UFP had lost many vessels and Captains in defeating the Vartok. After the war had officially ended, UFP had found a vast hole in the funds needed to rebuild their weapons and vessels. The funds under the Earth Council, which was the governing authority, had been depleted and were unable to meet the UFP’s needed requirements, especially when the rebuilding had to start from the ground up again. That was where the Tagbard Consortium had come in. They had swooped in with promises of funding that would exceed UFP’s needs. In the end, it was a no-brainer as the Earth Council had permitted the Tagbard Consortium to step in and become the biggest stakeholder in the UFP. The first time Jones had heard of the unanimous vote by the Earth Council, he had been shaken, but relieved. If there had been no Tagbard Consortium and if any other alien species had launched an attack in the interim period, Earth would have easily fallen. Despite that, many people in the UFP had their reservations about the Tagbard Consortium because they didn’t believe a civilian corporation should be involved in military affairs. Admiral Hart was one of those with the strongest of reservations. On numerous occasions, Hart had voiced his concerns repeatedly to the Earth Council, but it had fallen on deaf ears. The stark reality was that the UFP couldn’t survive without the Tagbard Consortium. Jones also had his concerns about Paul Tagbard Jr. Although the man sat quietly in every meeting, Jones made sure never to underestimate him. It was no secret that the Tagbard family hadn’t gotten to their position on Earth by playing fairly and squarely. There were many unsubstantiated rumors that Paul’s father had been ruthless in building the Tagbard empire. Although the junior Tagbard kept a low profile, Jones expected Paul to share similar traits to his father.
“I think we need to focus on the Vartok species,” Pearson announced. “Issues of UFP funding can be discussed in a separate arena.”
Jones was glad that Pearson intervened. “I agree. We all know that the Vartok species don’t do anything by chance. Their decision to ambush Richter One is only the first salvo.”
Pearson was always the coolheaded individual amongst the Admirals and was more interested in solving the issues at hand, instead of wasting time on useless debates. In the end, for the UFP to continue to function, Tagbard Consortium was here to stay as a permanent partner and lifeline whether people liked it or not.
“How many vessels do we have out there?” Pearson asked.
“Only one,” Jones replied.
Hart slammed his fist on the table. “Why is there only one?”
Pearson turned to him. “If you recall that in a previous discussion, we all decided to deploy the least number of vessels to the outer stations. I believe then that was a unanimous decision.”
Jones continued. “I have ordered two more vessels from the nearest UFP station to make a direct course to Richter One. The Vartok brought six cruisers.”
“Six cruisers?” Hart repeated. “That is quite a lot of firepower for one of our outer stations.”
“That was my thoughts too,” Jones said.
“How long will it take for our two vessels to reach Richter One?” Hart questioned.
“Two to three days,” Jones replied. “If we want to deploy any further vessels, it will take more time.”
Jones didn’t need to highlight to everyone around the table that having a single vessel around Richter One was because the UFP was stretched in its deployment of vessels. Over the last few years, the UFP had expanded in leaps and bounds, adding new colonies and establishing new base stations. All credit to the prevailing peace. However, the construction of new vessels hadn’t kept pace with the expansion of the territory. In fact, it had fallen behind by a significant amount.
“Three days will be too late,” Paul sighed. “We need to defend the assets on Richter One. The last thing I want is for those assets to fall into the hands of the Vartok species.”
No one around the conference table needed to highlight that those assets on Richter One had been built by the funds supplied from the deep pockets of Tagbard Consortium. All in the name of scientific research. Jones recalled being briefed that the Richter One base station was fitted with all the latest technologies for its purpose of conducting research. While the Tagbard Consortium had been willing to fund the rebuilding of the military, there had been a string of conditions. Jones hadn’t been surprised to hear of it. One of those conditions was that the Tagbard Consortium wanted to expand its research capabilities across the UFP. This of course led to more base stations and personnel being deployed, which wasn’t a bad thing, but it did stretch UFP.
“If that is your concern, you shouldn’t worry,” Hart countered. “The Vartok species were never interested in scientific research. They work on killing and destroying everything in their path.”
“Doesn’t destroying imply the Vartok species will incinerate the base station?” Paul inquired.
“That intelligence is based on what we know of them from years ago,” Pearson corrected. “The Vartok species may have evolved.”
Hart grunted. “Those animals are incapable of evolving.”
Admiral Hart had served during the Ten-Year War against the Vartok. He was the most experienced of anyone around the conference room table. Unlike Hart, Jones had worked his way up the ranks, but never actually faced the Vartok species. He had been fortunate to be stationed on Earth during the latter part of the Ten-Year War. However, facing the reemergence of their old enemy, Jones knew he was in over his head.
“Who is the Captain out there?” Hart asked.
