Conscripts, p.13
Conscripts, page 13
The tactical committee had a lot to say, but the gist of it was the farther away they could engage the enemy, the more they could hurt them before they got close enough for hand-to-hand. Close combat was to be avoided, and based on what had happened at Two Hills that idea made all the sense in the world to everyone. In addition, they thought that the Khonians should give them a complete summary of the tried-and-true methods they had found would work when fighting the Rha’ket’gar. If knowledge was truly power then this should be the very least that they could provide them.
While a category, they had not technically created a communications committee because they figured that was pretty straightforward. They would need to have tough, capable comms so that they could communicate during battle.
The other three committees gave their progress reports verbally since writing anything down would be dangerous. All came back with the same three basic understandings. First, they should try to learn everything they could about both the Khonian and Rha’ket’gar technologies because they may never know when something might come in handy. Second, learning about these technologies could bring about a solution to neutralizing the pain node in the back of their skulls. And lastly, fighting the Khonians without first negating the pain node would only end in their defeat or death.
When the last committee was finished, Kent stood up from the table and casually suggested something so simple and obvious that Jacob was floored no one had thought about it before. “You know, we only know about these Righteous guys … we should learn more about the other political parties as well.”
Of course! Jacob couldn’t believe that he hadn’t thought of that earlier. What if there were other Khonians who for whatever reason would help them go home? It was definitely something that he would have to look into, but right now he had to make sure he was ready for his presentation to Commander Sauk later that day. When they met, he also planned to ask one of the doctors about the six Saje still in their rooms. As more time passed, people were really starting to worry about them.
4
When the time came, it was not Vhoes but Dr. Froum that escorted Jacob to see the Commander. Unlike Vhoes, he seemed all too eager to talk about things.
He began with a wistful look at the ceiling like a professor starting a daily lesson plan. “Well, after we had cleaned up their wounds and given them the proper time to heal, we had them examined thoroughly of course,” he said. “Their bodies had fully recovered from their ordeal … quite impressive really if I do say so myself. However, since they had received such massive trauma to the tissue of the brain they were in a vegetative state and were unable to regain proper functionality.” He gave a slight sideways nod of his head as if waiting for a thank you for imparting such important information.
“So where are they?” Jacob prodded.
“What do you mean?” Froum said. He sounded a bit confused. “Oh, yes, well … we had to dispose of them,” he indicated matter-of-factly, without a hint of concern.
“So … you mean they’re dead?” Jacob asked. He shook his head in disbelief.
“Hmm, yes, quite,” was the doctor’s last reply as he opened the door to the Commander’s office.
5
Jacob walked into the room still stinging from the information he had just received. He saw that all of the handlers and doctors were present and seated on both sides of the Commander’s desk. He was greeted by a short chopped wave to sit down. Although the news had completely thrown him off guard, he knew that if their plan was going to work he needed to hold it together, get focused, and fast.
“Begin,” was all that the Commander said, after he had taken his seat.
Jacob took a deep breath, but slowly so it wasn’t obvious to anyone in the room, and then forced himself to look calmly and steadily at Sauk.
“Commander, we have completed our analysis of the battle of Two Hills and the Saje’s performance in it …” he began, sounding way more confident than he felt. “And I have a list of things that we will need to change in order to effectively defeat the Rha’ket’gar on the ground. We wish to do everything we can to accomplish their defeat and help to clear the way for the completion of the Robot Automated Defense System. Once the shield is up and the Khonians no longer have a use for us, we will eagerly await the promised return to Earth and to our families.”
Commander Sauk sat in silence, his hands folded, quietly tapping his index finger on the back of his wrist as Jacob, spurred on by shear will alone, laid out their three-part plan that would improve the Saje’s performance on the battlefield.
When Jacob finished speaking, the Commander sat quietly for several tense moments, well aware that all eyes were on him. He looked around at those awaiting his response, and then waited several more just for dramatic effect.
Of course he knew the Saje’s Captain was correct on all accounts because he had already come up with the same conclusions himself several nights before. He had never been fully behind the idea of using Earthlings as conscripts, and he had secretly wanted them to fail. That was until The Rigian had put the responsibility of the program’s success squarely on his shoulders.
As a career military man he knew when he accepted this assignment that it could either make or break his career. The results of the program must now appear to be a command-driven success. If not, if the Saje managed to win in spite of him, he would either lose all credibility within the Righteous Party or he would cease to exist when The Rigian decided to clean up his mistake.
He had not made it this far up the chain of command by accident, and that is why he had invited representatives from the military-defense industry to this meeting and had already discussed the need for Saje-specific gear and weapons. He would give the Saje the equipment they would need, and this would help shift the responsibility of success onto their shoulders, thereby shielding him from at least some of the possible fallout.
“We will discuss your proposal,” he said, and waved for Dr. Froum to lead the Earthling back to their holding facility.
6
When Jacob got back to the dining room, he was feeling pretty good about the outcome of the meeting until he looked around and saw the six doors that had remained closed since the battle. He was quickly reminded of the price they had paid that day. And, when he saw the faces of all those people looking back at him, with a mixture of fear and hope, he felt the full weight of leadership for the first time. He knew that he would have to tell them about their friends before he could discuss the meeting.
With a heavy heart he called for the group to gather close. Unable to look at anyone directly while he spoke, he focused his gaze down towards his shoes.
“I was just told by Dr. Froum…,” he paused for a moment as his voice threatened to crack. He cleared his throat and tried again. “I was informed that those that are not among us … are no longer with us … they didn’t make it …”
At that moment it felt like the air had been sucked out of the room—all sound ceased, all movement stilled. Jacob looked up and for a brief moment his eyes locked with Jenna’s. He could tell by the look on her face that she realized just how close to death that meant she had come. As the news seeped in, the noise returned, and with it came the sounds of mourning. Jacob paused as people reached out to comfort each other or stayed to themselves, each absorbing the initial shock in their own way.
After a while, Jacob pushed on. “It would appear that even though our bodies are able to heal, even from what would have been life-threatening wounds a few months ago, our heads are not as lucky. Dr. Froum said that all six of our comrades had received major damage to their brains and while their bodies fully healed, their brains could not recover their functionality.”
He slowly raised his head, looked around the room and continued. “And that being said, we need to make sure that our helmets can protect us, because they are the most important piece of protective gear that we have.”
Someone asked what had happened to the bodies of the dead, and he promised he would try and find out. He was asked if they could have a ceremony for the passing of their friends, and he said that, yes, something would be arranged.
Jacob then went on to explain how the meeting had gone with Commander Sauk, but the initial satisfaction had long since passed.
When he was finished, slowly and quietly, people broke off into smaller groups and headed to the rec room or into their rooms. He stood, staring at the floor for several more minutes, not being able to rid himself of the feeling that he had failed them.
The rest of the evening was quiet, everyone processing the events in their own way. Jacob sat alone in his room, daydreaming of home and imagining what he would be doing right now if he were there. He missed his family, he missed his home, and he missed Sarah so very much, but that life felt so far away right now.
7
The next morning, things felt like they had almost returned to their new normal. People greeted each other, got breakfast from the banquet table and gathered together to eat—talking about what they’d recently gone through, speculating on what might happen in the near future or sharing stories about their lives before this happened. As soon as the last person had finished breakfast though, the entry doors opened and the handlers entered the room.
They were told to line up, and without any further explanation they were escorted out of the room and down the hall in a direction Jacob had never gone before. They filed into an almost empty room, except for a strange cylinder-type structure in its center. One by one, they were asked to step inside the instrument while micro lasers measured each of their body’s proportions. Handler Dourst explained that they were to receive a new set of armor, which would be ready for them in just two days’ time.
Then they were marched back to the dining hall where the handlers asked Jacob to choose 10 others to join him. Instead, Jacob chose Nicole, Kent and all 10 of the squad leaders; they were led back out the door and down the hallway from which they’d just come.
This time, however, they went into a separate room where a different group of Khonians were waiting for them—a group they’d never seen before. Dressed in white jackets, they stood behind large, heavy tables that were covered with all different kinds of weapons.
They spent the rest of the morning picking up weapons—hand-to-hand, compression, and laser—and discussing weight, mobility and comfort levels.
As they headed back to their common area, Jacob was pretty sure they’d just decided on what kinds of weapons they would be using. However, just like in the measuring room, the Khonians did not discuss anything with them except what they were there to do.
8
For the next two days, they busied themselves as best they could. Kent surveyed the types of skills everyone had in case they might prove useful. Nicole spent a lot of the time asking Kent and Jacob about their lives before they had been taken, but Jacob noticed she didn’t talk much about herself.
He actually found himself getting a little annoyed with her as she teased him about his “innocent soon-to-be bride that was waiting for him to come home and marry her so they could have babies,” as she had batted her eyes. He didn’t know why her teasing made him so mad, but at one point he slammed his hand down on the table, stood up, and angrily walked into his room.
Not long after, there was a light knock on his door frame and Nicole’s head popped into his room and with a little sad face she apologized. “I was just having a bit of fun with you, mate …” He had said it was fine, to forget about it, but when she left he spent the rest of the day trying to figure out why he had gotten so mad. Just before falling asleep he finally figured out why. He had wanted that life, that “perfect life,” and after all that had happened he felt like he was farther away from it than he had ever been.
9
The next day after lunch, they were once again lined up and marched down to the gear room. When they entered, they saw that each locker now had a name and number on it. When Jacob found his and opened it, his new set of armor was waiting for him.
They were told to get dressed, and he had to admit the new stuff fit great. The major components were thicker but way more comfortable. The helmet was snug and fit better along the cheekbone with a pointed top and a comms piece that was molded right into the chin guard. It also had a wire hanging out of the back, and when it automatically attached to the node on their heads it allowed them to control the helmet’s new and improved functions more accurately.
After playing around with it for a while, he discovered that there were different vision modes to choose between such as night vision, infrared, telescope, or your old standby, sunglasses. Once a visor dropped down over the eyes, you could close the mouth guard and breathe using a built in re-breather. You could also control the communications device, and if you wanted to talk with the entire group, just to your squad or just one person, you could do that all by manipulating the heads-up display with your mind.
The chest piece had a large metal rim around the neck that would keep the head from going too far in any one direction. It had a housing unit at the small of the back where it protected the shield unit and acted as a ledge for the rifle attachment, the ammunition container, the sword, and a strapping system for their backpack. As it had with their old armor, the rifle was taken off the back and attached to the outside of the right arm when in use.
After gearing up, they were taken to the training area past the Commander’s office to “put it through its paces” as Overseer Bracken told them.
They spent the rest of the day there testing out the armor. When they had quickly mastered it and actually grew bored, they developed a game to play.
Someone had discovered that their boots acted like a grounding wire. If you were firmly standing on something solid then the armor’s shield went down and stopped at the ground. However, if you jumped up in the air and then turned the shield on, you landed almost a foot off the ground, hovering there as you stood. This lasted until the shield either ran out of energy (around 20 seconds) or you turned it off.
A few moments later and “body bowling” was invented. Ten people would stand like bowling pins and dance around until their shields powered up, while one person positioned themselves 50 feet away and did the same. When ready, that person would run down the lane and jump into the air, curling their body into a tight fetal position as they turned on their shields. The shield would keep them a foot off the ground and conform to their body position creating a nice round shining-blue ball; the rest was all physics and normal bowling rules.
They had gotten so into it, even creating a league and everything, that by the time the handlers arrived to escort them back to the dining area, they had almost forgotten the seriousness of the pending situation.
That night the Saje seemed more relaxed than any Jacob could remember. There was more laughter in the common areas—and a true feeling of camaraderie—as people joked and told stories of home or the day’s events. However, Jacob couldn’t get the feeling out of his mind that they should be getting ready for some unseen event that would be happening soon.
Even so, that night he had his first night of real, restful sleep, made even better because it was unaided by the Khonians' sleep-inducing downloads.
PART 3
SAJE
CHAPTER 12
1
The next day, before Jacob even had time to eat breakfast, he was escorted into the Commander’s office by Vhoes. Sauk seemed in an odd, almost jovial mood. He sat and rubbed his hands together, staring at a digital map of Khonia—its surface hovering above his desk in a hologram.
He didn’t even wait for Jacob to sit down before he began to speak. “Ever since the battle at Two Hills our Close Ground Support ships have had the Rha’ket’gar’s Infiltration forces on the run,” he started in a lurch. “We have destroyed the ships that had been providing them air cover, and we seem to have finally cornered them in the Zerunquay Mountains on the western edge of the continent.” He pointed to that area on the map.
Jacob was almost as happy to hear the news as Commander Sauk appeared to be, hoping that meant they were that much closer to going home.
With an enthusiasm Jacob certainly had never seen before, Sauk continued: “As soon as your new weapons and armor are ready … and that should be tomorrow … we will head to the region and help our ground forces there clear them out. The quicker you get this done the quicker you can be on your way home.” Jacob had a feeling that what he really meant was the sooner he’d be rid of them, but it was a moot point to argue.
“Once you arrive on site, the handlers will give you the information you need to complete this assignment. Any questions?” He finished crisply, sounding to Jacob like he didn’t really want any.
“Only one,” Jacob said quickly. “Tonight we would like to hold a ceremony for the six Saje that were lost at Two Hills. My people need some closure, and we will need a few things to do that.”
“Done,” Sauk said. He returned his gaze to the map in front of him. “Tell Dr. Vhoes what you need,” he smirked. “Dismissed!”
Dr. Vhoes was none too pleased to have to comply with Jacob’s requests, and he did so with as little effort as he could. The ceremony was not going to be extravagant, but at least they would be able to say goodbye in their own way. As he looked around at his fellow Saje, he couldn’t help but think that they might have to do this for another group in the near future.
The only evidence of their friends’ existence was the memories they shared and a set of pictures the Khonian doctors had taken of them, sometime during the augmentation process. The pictures were just headshots, their pale peaceful faces marred only by a computerized notation on each side of their chin.
