Conscripts, p.15
Conscripts, page 15
“The instructions are inside,” was all he said. He looked like he wanted to say more but hesitated. He dropped his eyes to the ground, turned and walked off, back the way they had come.
Judging by people’s reactions, when Jacob entered his tent he realized he must look as bad as he felt. Not wanting to draw a crowd, he quickly brushed things off, assuring everyone he was fine as he made his way to his cot. Although, truth be told, he hadn’t felt this miserable in a long time.…
He sat down on his cot and opened the box he had been given. Inside was a small piece of metallic paper and 20 small metallic cylinders. The instructions written on the paper were simplistic, and Jacob scoffed at the notion that they probably thought he might not be able to understand. Remove data cache stick. Place firmly onto node on the back of your head. Wait for beep. Remove data cache stick. This “you’re not very smart thing” was getting old.
“Well, why not,” he said to himself with a shrug. He figured things couldn’t get much worst. He selected one of the caches, reached back and placed it on the node, and pressed it firmly into place.
He held it there until he heard a small audible beep and then pulled it off.
What happened next was hard for him to describe. It was like opening up a book cover and then automatically knowing its content before turning the first page. Unfolding in front of him was a detailed map of the entire area including notations on terrain features, possible movement areas, and last known enemy troop positions. There were passwords to contact the command center via their communications, detailed descriptions about the Rha’ket’gar troops, equipment and tactics, as well as Khonian tactics and counter-tactics.
If only we’d been given something similar before Two Hills, who knows how things might have turned out.
When he was finished sifting through the information, he went to find Kent and Nicole so they could also get the data before he passed it on to the squad leaders. That would give them time to plan while the rest of the group received the data. It was the first time they’d received a data upload while awake. If they could figure out how it was done, it could definitely come in handy in the future. He made a mental note to add that to the group’s growing list of things that needed investigating.
After making sure that each squad leader had the instructions and enough data caches to dole out, Jacob sat down with Kent and Nicole to come up with a plan. Their task was to dislodge the Rha’ket’gar Infiltration Unit from the west end of the Zerunquay Mountain range where it met the Swlong River. The Khonians had the area surrounded, and there was no way of escape, so they all agreed that the best bet was to force them into an open area—squeezing the Rha’ket’gar between the Khonian line and the Saje—where air support could engage them.
The thermal imaging provided by the Space Command pinpointed the Rha’ket’gar’s general location on the map grid. They were hunkered down in the southern region of a 10-square-mile area. At its northern tip was Mount Hevaatie, a long-time spiritual place to the local people. Its ice-covered summit, at 7,346 feet, was the highest point in Khonia’s western hemisphere. The elevation was not extreme compared with Earth standards but was to the mild climate of Khonia.
After hours of deliberation, a plan was agreed on, and Jacob, much to his chagrin, found himself asking to speak with the Prime Commander and Commander Sauk, who just hours before had almost killed him. It was dusk already, the darkness quickly approaching as Jacob followed his way through the now empty tent rows; the Khonian soldiers had already turned to the lights and amenities inside.
As he entered the command tent, he heard the Prime Commander bark: “This had better work.”
The first tent contained several people, busily monitoring communications and performing various activities on their computers. He approached the Prime Commander standing with Commander Sauk, the two engaged in conversation over a large, digital holographic map that popped up over the surface of a hover table.
“Prime Commander … Commander Sauk,” Jacob said with his head slightly bowed. “May I present our plan?”
With nods of approval, Jacob began. “Tomorrow evening at this time the Saje will load up in a transportation container and be dropped off on this glacier on the southern top of Mount Hevaatie,” he said, pointing at the image of the mountain on the 3D map. “According to the digital images that we received from Space Command, we’ll make our way south, down the mountain’s side to the edge of this valley where we will wait and engage the enemy at predawn. We will push through several choke points on the valley floor, here and here, either destroy all of the Rha’ket’gar we find or force them to retreat east … to this wide valley area near the river. We’ll hold them there while air support softens them up before we push in and finish them if need be. If they try to run to the river, they will run into the right flank containment line where your troops can engage. We will squeeze them in the middle and destroy them there.”
“You want to be dropped off on a snow plain more than seven-thousand feet in the air, in the dark?” was the first thing Commander Sauk blurted out.
“Yes sir … It is a small snow field, and the mountain is not very high compared to mountains I’ve hiked many times on Earth. We have night and thermal vision in our helmets … we believe that it is the only way that we could take them by surprise and dislodge them easily,” he finished. “Commander, they won’t expect something like this, and if speed is of the essence we believe this is the best course of action.”
“Captain Young, you must be mad … that way is almost impassable, there are too many things that could go wrong … there is no way the Khonian military would ever commit to a plan that is so dangerous.”
“That’s my point exactly, Prime Commander. The Khonians would not do something like this … and the Rha’ket’gar would never expect them to … but we are not Khonian, we are Human, and we can get this done.”
The Commanders sat and talked through the plan, more as a formality than anything else, and then Prime Commander Truvey stood. “That’s enough Sauk, I’ve made up my mind.” He closed the discussion with a wave. With conviction, he said: “You will load up at ten-thirty sharp, Captain. I will see to it that the plans are set. You are dismissed.”
And with that, Jacob was led out of the tent into the cool evening breeze. The moons of Khonia were out and gave off enough light to see their way back, the glow from the Saje’s tents a welcome beacon of friendship.
As he walked past the dining tent, his shadow gave him away, and Kent stepped out, waving him in. Nicole sat at a table with a small lamp generator and a set of handmade cards in the middle of a stalled game. They’d been waiting for him to return. Nicole reached over and shook the generator, and as she did it brightened, holding the night at bay. She placed it back on the table.
“Well, are you going to tell us what happened or not?” She brushed her hair out of her face with the back of her hand, which by now he knew was a nervous habit.
“It’s a go for ten-thirty tomorrow night,” he said matter-of-factly.
For the next hour or so, they sat and talked about the logistics for the following night’s actions, all over a game of hearts like they were planning a movie night, not a battle. Too, they talked about home—about the things they missed, about what they’d do when they got back, adding just a small amount of normalcy to what was anything but a normal situation.
The next morning rolled in with a bit of fog—it was quickly burned away by the beautiful blue sun of Khonia, revealing a glorious-looking morning. Jacob smiled as he sat out in back of his tent watching the day begin. He hadn’t realized how much he missed being outside. They had been cooped up for weeks in the training facility with only one brief and horrible trip beyond its walls.
“So beautiful,” he said out loud.
“What was that?” Nicole stepped out into the morning air, her hair a tangled mess as she stretched and turned her face toward the sun like a sunflower welcoming the day.
She seemed to take strength from the blue star as she smiled at him. “You sleep?” she asked with a flash of her smile.
“Yup, great,” he lied. He didn’t have the heart to tell her that her snoring, although soft, had helped keep him up for hours as he thought about the coming day.
With a huge yawn, Kent emerged next from the back of the tent. She cuffed him lightly on the back of the head. “Morning, sleepy head.”
Kent was many things, but a morning person was not one of them. “Ugh, why is she so chipper?” he said with a grimace.
“No clue. She’s been like that for days,” Jacob replied.
After breakfast, they held a meeting where they discussed the evening’s plans. Each squad chose a member to serve on the medical evacuation team, which they’d already agreed would be led by Jenna. Although she’d only been a nurse’s assistant, she was the only one with any real medical training.
There would be no evacuation opportunity until the fighting was over, but they figured that if the wounded could be removed from the battle, they could avoid further injuries and maybe heal faster. Secondary injuries—those sustained while already on the ground, wounded—looked to be responsible for those lost at Two Hills.
The Medic squad would grab the wounded and cart them back to a safer area while trying to do basic first aid and make them comfortable. Jacob was glad that Jenna would be the team’s squad leader. He knew she was still pretty shaken about her near-death experience.
He had caught her many times reaching up to touch her face where the horrific gash had been, looking small and scared. And yet, in the last several days he thought he had saw something else, something just below the surface, something she might not be able to recognize herself … deep inside she was tough, earthen tough. Maybe I should coin that … Earthen Tough. She might not be able to see her own strength right now, but he could, plain as day.
He laid out the schedule for the rest of the day: get rest, relax, and meet up at nine on the nose fully geared and ready to go. With that they were dismissed.
Jacob wondered off to the small stream that ran next to the camp to be alone with his thoughts of home. He sat on the bank, feeling the sun on his face. The melodic sound of the running water calmed him, giving him a much missed peace. The soft kisses cascaded down his neck as he buried his head into Sarah’s soft blond hair. She smelled of sunscreen and evergreens as they sat in a snow bank, ignoring the people who flew down the snow-covered mountain just 50 feet away. Her hair was warm from the sun. They sat together enjoying its rays, resting a bit to stretch out the end of a picture-perfect day of spring skiing.
“Hey Jacob, it’s time to go,” he heard her say.
“No!” he blurted out.
“No … What? It’s dinner time, mate. Aren’t you hungry?” With a start, he realized it wasn’t Sarah’s voice but Nicole’s.
As the memory faded, he found himself back on a different bank with a sore backside, the result of sitting on an uneven rock for too long. He hadn’t realized how tired he’d been the last few days and must have fallen asleep—for at least a few hours if it was already that late.
Man, how does she always find me? he thought. He turned to look back towards the tents and Nicole, standing halfway between, and gave a half wave. “Be right there, mate,” he called back. Then he groaned as his left leg also protested being woken up. Did I just call her Mate, man, he thought grumpily. She must be rubbing off on him.
Nicole tilted her head a bit, pursed her lips and looked like she was about to say something else, but thought better of it. Instead, she turned around and walked back to the tents. By the time he got there, most people had already finished eating and returned to their own thoughts or preparations. Kent, Nicole, Jenna and several squad leaders were gathered at the table they had unofficially commandeered as their office, discussing preparations for the evening.
Kent was the first to fire off a question at him, and it was the first time any of them had thought about the answer. “Hey Jacob, when do we get ammo?”
Jacob, spooning gravy over a rice-like grain on his plate, froze mid-pour. “Uh, holy crap …” He turned to look at the group. We forgot about ammo. He shook his head back and forth slowly. “How did we forget about ammo?” he said out loud.
He quickly downed his food and then ran to the handlers’ tent on the edge of the Khonian encampment. After a brief discussion, he returned to the dining tent, this time at a more relaxed pace. He waved as he entered. “They said they would load the crated ammo into the transport as we load in.”
“They don’t trust us with ammo … I wonder why,” Nicole said playfully, as she pushed a drop of water around the tabletop with her finger. At that they all chuckled.
At nine o’clock sharp, the Saje stood at ease in formation outside of their tents checking their gear. They all stared up in awe at the large sky crane—with its talon-like claws—as it swooped down out of the sky and landed gingerly on the ground, a large transport container in its grip. It was the first time they’d seen that side of the trip and marveled at the skill of the pilots and the grace of the large ship.
From the direction of the Khonian encampment, they could see the Prime Commander and Commander Sauk approaching, walking slowly behind a self-propelled pallet jack piled high with boxes.
“Put those weapons away,” yelled Sauk as he neared. “Everyone grab one of each box, then load onto the transport.”
The Prime Commander took a step in front of Sauk. “Good luck and Good Hunting, um.., er.., Saje,” he said awkwardly. He then turned and walked back the way he came.
“The quicker we get these tasks done the faster you can all go home,” Commander Sauk yelled. As if he thought he needed to remind them of this.
“Load up!” Jacob called out. He didn’t want to give the Commander another chance to say something that would cause more grief or serve as a reminder.
One by one they filed off, grabbing their ammo and supplies before loading onto the transport container. Moments later the large container doors closed, blocking out the light, and sealing their fate.
Jacob could not help it as the nervousness of responsibility kicked in. Now that they had to go through with their plan, it was all quiet in the container.
“The quicker we get this done,” Kent said, breaking the silence. They laughed at the absurdity of the Commander’s remarks as the large container rumbled to life and they felt themselves, for the third time, being lifted into the air.
CHAPTER 13
1
It felt like the bottom of the world dropped out as the container lurched downward, plummeting so fast that Jacob’s stomach ended up in the back of his throat. It took several rough minutes until they leveled out and with a jolting thud came to a sudden stop.
“Five minutes, Captain,” an unfamiliar voice said into his ear bud. The doors to the container opened and a blast of freezing-cold air came rushing in.
“Everyone out,” Jacob said through clenched teeth into his microphone. He stayed on to be the last one out, making sure no one left anything behind. As he stepped out of the container, he wasn’t prepared for the wind, its icy intensity nearly knocking him backwards. A flittering thought flashed across his mind … that maybe this was a mistake.
“Everyone out?” asked the omnipresent-like voice, speaking once again from his ear piece.
“Yes, all out,” said Jacob, and almost immediately wished he’d said the opposite. The doors to the container closed behind him, and the wind and swirling snow kicked up even more as the sky crane leaped straight up into the sky.
“Happy Hunting,” yelled the voice and then it was gone.
2
The billowing snow made the visibility poor, but he could make out his fellow Saje standing in small circles, holding their boxes, heads turned against the wind. Their armor and gloves easily kept out the cold, but it must have been minus-fifty with the wind chill factor. Jacob’s chest was tight and each breath was work, his lungs struggling like he’d just finished a sprint.
“I mean we’re not that high up,” he said, but the wind took his words away before they were entirely out of his mouth. Every time someone opened up their mic to speak all you could hear was the roar of the wind.
Jacob saw several forms drop to one knee. How can the air be so … Wait a minute, an idea popped into his head. The Gravity is lighter on Khonia … that means that the air is thinner at lower heights than it would be on Earth.
“Everybody close your helmets and breathe off of the re-breather.” He yelled into his mic to no avail, the wind just whipping it away. He waded through the snow to the first person that he could grab and turned them around to face him. He motioned with his hand to close the mask. After several attempts at communication, the shadowed face must have got it because the helmet face closed as Jacob closed his.
This time, when he spoke into his microphone he could hear and be heard. “We need to get everyone to close their masks to breathe off their re-breathers,” he said.
“You got it, Captain,” a voice answered back.
It took just a minute or two to get everyone to close their helmets. Which was a good thing as many were on the verge of passing out. When shut, they were a little claustrophobic, but the upside was that they could breathe and communicate. Jacob could no longer feel the bone-chilling cold and the searing ache in his lungs eased up.
“Kent and Nicole find me please, and Squad leaders … check your people and then report in as soon as you get done,” he said. Then he moved off to one side and raised his arm.
He soon saw two shadowy forms tromping across the snow towards him, and he switched his comms to a private session. When they got close enough, he asked, “You guys alright?” (Not that they needed to be close to talk on the comms.)
