Hawk Genesis: Peace (Hawk Flight), page 9
John said, “At the moment, none. We have one light injury, and…nine dead Nasserians on the ground floor, plus an unknown number of injured on the second floor. We’re located in a small room off the lobby of the hotel. There has been one probe, but since then nothing. Can you give us an estimate?” She said, “Fifteen minutes. How is it you have not suffered any deaths?” John said, “We’re not as stupid as you may have thought – we have prototype personal armor. It is the only reason we’re not disappearing down an empty well.”
As he finished, Hassan fired again, blowing the door off its hinge. This time there was a large volume of answering fire, although only pellets, which lit up the room as they struck the walls. John said, “Gotta go.”
Eleanor was helping Karl remove his outer clothing while the other men paired off to do the same thing. Karl said, “They seem to know we’re armed, so turn on our camo.”
An explosion took out the side door and sent fragments shrieking in all directions. Arsinoe was sandwiched between Hassan and two other men and wasn’t injured, although she screamed. Karl and John moved to the hole in the wall. It was pitch black outside, but their goggles had IR abilities. Karl said, “These suits are fabulous. I’d like to thank the guy who decided to buy them. Thank me. I’m welcome.”
John said, “I can see three men with what looks like a shoulder weapon. It’s right at the extreme range, but…” He fired three shots, hitting one man, who shrieked and tumbled over onto his back. The other two scrambled on hands and knees around a corner and out of sight. Providentially, they left the shoulder weapon on the sidewalk. John told Karl, who ordered Hassan to see if he could take it out with his shoulder weapon. It took two shots, but produced a nice explosion and a distant scream.
Hassan unhurriedly walked back to his former position and resumed guarding the main entrance.
An explosion rocked the front of the hotel, blowing the other door of its hinges. John asked, “What are they using?” Karl said, “Probably home brewed. If they can land a satchel charge inside the lobby it might hurt. Eleanor, move over by the side door, but stay well back. We’ve got seven or eight minutes before the army shows up.”
Hassan said, “Sir, I think they’re going to rush us through the front door. I can hear running feet.” The suits also had good microphones.
John hated being defensive and ran up to stand to the side of the gaping hole in the front of the hotel. Via his IR goggles he could clearly see a compact mass of men running toward the entrance. Pellets began sparking all across the front of the hotel as well as inside. John emptied the remaining pellets into the mass. Three collapsed and the rest milled uncertainly, with some trying to drag their comrades back the way they came while others yelled at them to continue their assault. It was a mob rather than a organized attack.
John reloaded and emptied another full cartridge into them. It was like shooting fish in a barrel. Two survivors scrambled away on their hands and knees. He counted a total of twelve bodies slumped on the sidewalk and street, some within five meters of the hotel. He loaded his last cartridge.
The night sky suddenly bloomed with a fierce white light and a huge armored shuttle thudded onto the street, shaking the building. A second, followed by a third shuttle landed on the side street. It hadn’t taken as long as advertised. The light was blinding, which of course was the purpose, but his goggles promptly dimmed. Armed soldiers began pouring out of side hatches from all three shuttles and within less than one minute more than one hundred swarmed over the area. Drones hummed overhead, their weapons seeking the electronic traces of weapons.
Lt. Daniels entered, her hand weapon trained outward, looking curiously around at the shattered remains of the front entrance of the hotel. She paused to look at the cluster of bodies at the bottom of the stairs and walked over to John, who removed his helmet. She asked, “There are twelve more bodies in front, and one across the street. What the hell did you people use?”
John pointed to Karl, “He’s the expert, but we sort of borrowed a weapon from one of their people. According to its markings, it was originally an army weapon, so we simply used it in an approved manner.”
An enlisted came up to her and whispered something in her ear. She listened, dismissed him nicely and told John, “Sir, we’ve counted twenty-four bodies, and we’ve got another seven injured, mostly from the second floor.”
Karl grumbled, “I’ve got some cracked ribs, so let’s call it even.” She said, “That’s even? I’d love to see the results of one of your victories.” Karl’s eyes went opaque, and he looked away. He didn’t say, but she must have understood that the result of military battles was horrifying, even if you were the victor. He’d been with John for two years, and had seen too many.
She turned to John, “Still want to talk to their veterans?” He suddenly felt tired, “No, I think we’ve worn out our welcome, such as it was. Can we get a ride back to your base and maybe check out my security chief’s ribs?”
She said something on her comm unit and a minute later an entire squad trotted into the lobby. She said, “They’ll escort you to the shuttle in front of the building and take you back to base. We’ve got a medic standing by. Would you mind going through a debriefing?” John agreed, “After such an impressive arrival? My treat.”
She looked frankly at him, “I thought you were a bunch of loonies…actually, I still do, but you’re very dangerous loonies. What about your local?”
John held up a hand and stepped over to the only occupant of the room who wore civilian clothing. She was sitting in the one remaining chair that hadn’t been blown up or shattered. He gently spoke, “Miss, we’re leaving. I invite you to come with us. I can’t promise that you’ll be happy, and I know it will be difficult, but you’ll be surrounded with the most wonderful people I’ve ever known, and you’ll have an opportunity for a new life, one of your choosing.”
She looked up at him and said, “If I leave, I can never return; if I stay, they may accuse me of collaborating.”
John held out his hand. She took it and stood, and asked, “Do I have your personal promise that I will be protected?” John answered, “Yes. In return, I ask that you do not betray us. I apologize if I offend, in fact, I know that what I have just suggested is offensive, yet I now have a great many people who I am responsible for, and I must not let them down.”
She solemnly said, “As Allah is my witness, I swear allegiance to you.” John began to understand that he had just acquired something more than a passenger, “I accept. Is there anything you want to take with you?” Two tears fell down her cheeks, “If I took anything, my father would know.”
They walked the few steps to the shuttle, armed infantrymen on both sides, blocking as much as possible a view of Arsinoe. Inside, she asked, “Sir, are you married?” John was reasonably certain that she already knew quite a bit about him, but answered her complex question, adding, “The attack provides us with a small opportunity: if you wish, we could list you as one of the victims – one of the dead. If you are correct and you would not ever be allowed to return, your reported death would end this life and begin a new one, one free from any danger from your past. You may ask any question you like, but you only have one or two hours to make a decision.”
She turned to look at him, causing her dark hair to swirl, “In your society, how many wives may a man take?” John was forced to think about the implications of her question. The term ‘allegiance’ was rapidly becoming highly complicated. He reluctantly said, “You know, I’m not certain.” He excused himself, thinking as he walked away, that he had given her permission to ask any question she wanted. He smiled tiredly, thinking of Jessica’s reaction, were she to learn she had just acquired a very special new sister. Not long after that little piece of news, the two women would be widows.
As the shuttle made the short flight back to the base, they sat in exhausted silence, thinking of the battle and of the dead. Back on the ground, they were given the opportunity to shower and put on regular clothes. John ensured that the extremely expensive suits were properly packed away while Karl’s severely bruised ribcage was examined. He was provided with a corset to protect him on the return voyage.
John spent an hour getting debriefed by Lt. Daniels. He was beginning to think her rank was other than represented. He had never even spoken to a higher-ranking officer, and apparently on her own authority she had whistled up three combat shuttles and over one hundred troops. She had yet to demonstrate that she was as young as she looked, and he finally asked, “Lieutenant, who do you report to?” She smiled faintly and shook her head, “Sir, you ought not ask questions like that. For example, what if I asked you the same question? Now, back on track, how do you want to handle the living casualty you seem to have inherited?” John said, “An unknown number of masked men assaulted the hotel; during the attack, some hotel guests and employees were trapped in the lobby, resulting in a large number of dead and wounded, including Miss Arsinoe Pakhomios.”
She nodded, “I don’t think I could word it better. Done. Anything else?” He told her, “If you suddenly find yourself unemployed and bored, come look us up.” She shook her head again, “Bored? On Nasser? Captain, you are loony.” He nodded, “How I got this job.”
On the trip up into orbit Karl told John, “Our field testing of their suit should be worth something to them. Judging by the condition of your outer suit, you must have sustained fifty or more pellet hits, mine not quite as much, but then, I know how to duck.”
John nodded, “That’s why your ribs are in such fine condition.” Karl snorted, “It was funny; the entire suit went rigid and I couldn’t move a muscle. I would have been dead meat if they’d had another shoulder weapon.”
John said, “It was a good thing you couldn’t move; the shooter thought you were down for good, and concentrated on me.”
Karl looked at John, “You did good tonight. I should have expected it, but, thanks.” John shook his head, “I’m still paying you what you’re worth, and not a dollar more. In fact, not a dollar.” Karl said, “I’m ordering more suits.” John sighed, “The last time you ordered suits, we got the shit shot out of us.” Karl laughed, “If that’s your example of being logical, come the next planet, we ought to go in naked. Back to the suits, they need to be checked out, and as we’ve just seen, it would have been nice to have extras. I’m also thinking about promoting Captain Filomón to be head of intelligence. That’s what she did in the war, and she’s demonstrated decent ability for it. It wouldn’t be terribly difficult to find someone with better credentials, but I value trust, and she’s earned ours. The new suits will mean some serious dings to your wallet.” John agreed, “If we’d had sensors, or even our own bugs, we would have been waiting for them instead of the other way around.”
John sat with each of his people. Eleanor had performed brilliantly, Hassan as well. All the others had performed up to expectations: nobody panicked or froze.
Chapter 11
The shuttle matched orbit with one of several huge veritable floating cities, and boarded. He checked in and arranged for quarters while they waited for the next ship headed to Elyse. He wanted to see the admiral.
It took two days to transfer into Elyse orbit and another day to drop down into the gravity well of the planet and dock with one of many huge orbitals.
John asked for and received an appointment to see admiral Inno, whose aide simply told him to report to her office as soon as possible.
John and Karl were admitted into her inner office and after the usual niceties, were seated, no drinks.
John handed over a chip containing the audio-video footage their suits had collected, plus a record of the debriefing. She scanned it and looked up at John, “You were hit over fifty times? Amazing. We’ve tested some pre-production models of the same suits for Navy Special Forces, but they’ve never been so vigorously tested, so to speak. Were there any negatives?” John described what happened to Karl, but concluded, “That could not be considered a defect, since without that suit he would have been cut in two. Oh, one thing: We have chips that neutralize bugs, and the suit blocked them from working. It ought to be a simple thing to include a similar chip on the suit itself.” She made a note and thanked him, and asked how the suits survived the assault.
John wryly nodded, “At their request we dropped them off at their office for analysis, and we will be taking with us a fairly large order of production suits.”
She resumed reading, but looked up at Karl and asked, “Injuries?” He said, “Bruised, not broken.” She smiled and shook her head, and resumed reading. She asked, “It says here that you extricated the daughter of a former – and probably current - Nasser intelligence agent? Explain.”
John told her that they believed she was not involved in the attack, and in fact wasn’t aware it was in progress, and told her why. He added, “She’s demonstrated to Mr. Skeptical here that she’s not a threat, and if we’d left her, she might well have been murdered just for surviving the attack. I don’t know, but she might prove useful, although not on Nasser. In any event, she’s…she deserves better.”
She finished her very quick scan and asked, “What can I do for you?” John smiled, “Actually, one of my reasons for visiting with you is to thank you for what you’ve done for us. Your assistance was invaluable in helping us gain access to the suits as well as into Nasser. In addition, our contact on the ground, army lieutenant Daniels, is competent. Highly competent. If she were to leave the army tomorrow, I would immediately recruit her, and you ought to. Our organization will have to analyze the events on Nasser, and see if there is a better way to set up veteran’s organizations on former rebel worlds. My charter prohibits me from working for a private or public company, or in any other way jeopardizing the ultimate objective or our organization, which is the reunification of the former rebel worlds into our federation. That said, if I can ever be of assistance to you please don’t hesitate to contact me.”
She stood, signaling the end of the meeting, “Mr. Chamberlain, I shall. My aide in the outer office will provide you with a secure contact. I’d appreciate it if you would keep me in the loop, and of course, via that same contact, this office, and this office only, will attempt to continue to provide you with whatever documents and assistance your organization requires. Thank you for stopping by.”
They shook hands, picked up a chip from her aide and walked a kilometer to their temporary quarters. All the men were present. When John asked, Michel smiled, “Eleanor and Miss Filomón are at this moment providing our newest member with suitable clothing, er, excuse me, uniforms.” John thought of his wife’s comment about their first stop in New York, and decided not to ask. Anything.
At John’s request, Karl brought everyone up to speed on their visit with the admiral, adding the obvious comment that for all intents and purposes, their organization now had access to reasonably powerful resources. He looked at each person and added, “This is not ever to be repeated. Ever. If God appears in front of you, deny everything. This is inn part because the federation is riven with politics, and former rebel worlds will not even listen to us, but mainly because I don’t want to salute your caskets.”
They were to lay over for several days, giving them an opportunity to recover from the unexpected battle, and to acquire new suits, intelligence tools, sensors and equipment that would allow them to survive, or better yet, avoid the next Nasser. Permits for the highly restricted equipment were promptly issued.
They all took trips to the planet, but they never traveled alone, always in pairs. Arsinoe largely kept to herself, although outside of her quarters she was always escorted by a woman on Karl’s team, and everyone understood why. While he was there, John arranged to return to Elyse to set up an association. The system was a major center of commerce and manufacturing, and he believed a new shuttle company would do well.
On the second evening John invited her to eat with him. He took her to a restaurant that served Elysian-style food. She was quietly unhappy, but seemingly not depressed. After they’d eaten, he ordered some tea for her, coffee for himself, and she began asking him questions about Maya, as well as Grenoble.
Eventually she simply asked, “What are your plans for me?” John thought all her questions displayed a good but not terribly well educated mind, “I hope to introduce you to my family and our other personnel in Chavez. I think you will find things you like, and things you do not. At some point, possibly very soon, you will need to make some basic decisions about your future and where and how you wish to spend it. May I ask, what about your education?”
Her dark eyes flashed, and she said, “Very little. Higher education is very expensive on my, on Nasser.” John asked, “It sounds as if you wanted to continue, but were unable.” She nodded, “The war.”
He smiled, “The war is over, and so, what would you like to study?” She asked, “You are serious?” John said, very gently, “Your intelligence is being wasted, leaving you only with great beauty; therefore, what do you want to study?”
