AL:ICE-9 (10 page)

Once inside and on her feet, the man with the string, with two guards trailing, guided her through several passages. Bare concrete and faded paint competed for dominance on the surrounding walls around them. Along the way, she saw several rooms with groups of people or haphazard stacks of supplies in disorganized, dangerously unstable piles. One room, that caught her attention as she passed, was full of military grade weapons. There was some bad stuff in there, she was sure of it, but didn’t get a good enough look before being pushed from behind by one of her two rear escorts.

They walked for quite a while until they stopped in a room deep within the structure, its metal doorframe a sad testament to the door that once hung in the opening, the door itself now long gone. At this point, one of the men behind her removed the ropes on her wrists, spun her in place and then he re-tied them in front, leaving a little slack. Next, both men grabbed her and, lifting her arms above her head, hung her by the rope on her wrists. The rope looped over a rod with a slight hook extending out from the ceiling near the center of the room. The man with the string was there the whole time.

Sara, unfortunately, was just short enough that her feet didn’t quite touch, so she dangled just off the floor, arms above her head. The slack in the rope allowed her hands to part just enough that the rope, not her wrists, took the dig from the rod. Her suit helped dissipate the pressure of the rope around her wrists, but not completely.

The man with the string then stepped up and removed the device taped to her helmet and stepped back, gently tossing it up and down in his hand before finally setting it on a table near the far wall in the room. As the two men who hung her on the rod stood by, a few more wandered into the room, until there were seven or eight in total.

Not entirely unconcerned about what came next, Sara watched the string man as he quietly stared at her until some asked, “Is that a dude or a broad?”

“Let’s strip it and find out,” the one who had tied her wrists replied.

No one seemed in a rush to be the first, finally the guy who asked the question stepped forward and started to remove Sara’s combat suit BDU top. Although no one could see her face behind her mirrored faceplate, Sara just smiled.

Like the combat suit undergarment which sealed at the wrists to gloves and neck to helmet skirt, the over uniform also had molecular bonding at its edges. Properly adorned, the wrists sealed to the same glove seam as the undergarment. The BDU blouse sealed at its opening in the front and inside to the trousers at the waist, the rest of the jacket hanging over. The trouser legs sealed to the boots like a natural blousing and when buttoned up entirely, the neckline of the top to the helmet skirt.

All this was less in aid of the NBC, or Nuclear, Biological and Chemical capabilities of the uniform. It was more in support of the multilayer bullet stopping capabilities of layer upon layer of the uniform material. With the undergarment and the multilayer BDU sealed tight, it was protection against any freak accident from an indirect hit or substantial direct hit.

Sara had always been diligent about donning her uniform properly before, but after seeing Jake’s ribs from just undergarment protection, she was now doubly careful. Currently she was extra glad she was.

“Hey this thing doesn’t have any openings!” the attempted stripper declared as he pulled and tugged at her BDU blouse and trousers. He had tried going over, under and around with no success.

At that point, several more men stepped forward, running their hands all over her body, looking for some opening to exploit.

“Well it’s got tits!” one man announced, as several more grabbed at her chest in confirmation.

“Stand back,” the string man said while pushing several of the others away.

Pulling out his knife, he tried to slit the front of her blouse, only to see the knife slide over the material undamaged.

“What the...” he said, clearly confused.

Next, he tried to slit Sara’s pant leg, with no success. He almost cut himself as the blade skipped off the material.

“Screw this,” he swore as he took the knife and tried to stab Sara in the leg.

“Ouch,” Sara said flatly, sounding as if she was bored with the whole thing.

“TO hell with you,” the string man said, replacing his knife in its sheath and grabbing a bat leaning against one wall. It looked well used so Sara suspected it was a popular interrogation tool.

Everyone stood back as he took several good swings at Sara’s middle section.

Unlike the earlier rifle butt hit to the chest, which had been a large force in a concentrated area right over her solar plexus, the bat hits were actually across a large part of the front of Sara’s suit. This spread the force throughout the front of her BDU blouse and while not pleasant, it was far less of a threat to bodily injury.

Add to this, she was swinging freely at this point and it almost made her laugh as string man stepped back panting.

As he was getting ready to go for another round, a new man stepped into the room and bellowed, “What the hell are you doing?”

Everyone stepped away from the bat wielder as he turned to the new arrival and said, “Cal, this is the bitch we captured riding those flyers Jax saw.”

“And you are beating her why?” Cal asked.

“We were trying to peel her uniform off, but it’s sealed somehow.”

“And you think this will help?” the man called Cal replied, clearly questioning the sanity of the man.

“No she pissed me off, here watch this,” with that he dropped the bat and pulling his knife, took several savage stabs at Sara before the man called Cal could stop him.

“See,” he said, holding out the clean blade and pointing to Sara, indicating no visible wounds.

The knife stabs had actually been more painful than the bat, but Sara bit her tongue rather than give anything away.

Now it was Cal’s turn to stare at Sara. She could see this was the leader of the rabble, and he looked far more intelligent than the rest combined.

“Put her in the hole for now,” was all he said before turning and walking out of the room.

Chapter 10

Jake checked his display noting everyone’s locations and then requested a status report from Abby. She reported that she watched the group she had been following lead Sara directly into the stadium. They had to stay high to avoid detection and from her location, she could see as many as 30 to 40 armed men guarding the stadium.

Jake asked her to locate and secure a safe oversight of that location and dig in. Jake also asked ALICE to dig up everything she had on that stadium. He had been to a Dodgers game once while in LA, but he doubted very much that it still resembled anything like it did then.

While he waited for confirmation from Abby, he continued to watch the last remnants of the attacking forces dwindle away. Once Abby replied that a spot just north of the stadium gave her an excellent view, Jake sent the other two troopers from A Troop to assist her. He wanted to ensure there were no more potential hostages, so this was recon in force. He also reminded them not to draw attention to themselves. Fly low.

While all this organization was occurring, ALICE informed Jake that the
Revenge
was finished with its rework in Alaska and as instructed, was currently departing for space trials. Jake had completely forgotten about his instructions not all that long ago, a pointed reminder about two front wars.

With A Troop securely dug in on a hilltop and with ALICE on over-watch of the stadium as a whole, Jake recalled the B Troop. They were currently insuring that no stragglers got any ideas of circling back on the compound. With Joe and his troopers stationed 100 feet up on all four corners of the compound below, tactfully pointed outward, Jake slowly descended on his ride. He was making it obvious that the move was to land in the open space inside the walls, where they had seen the children play earlier.

With rooftop guns following his entire decent, he softly landed in the yard, Chris already standing in the yard near the building ready to receive him. As Jake climbed off his hover cycle, his ribs gave him a sharp jab, giving him a quick reminder with the twist of his torso as he swung his leg over.

“You just saved a lot of lives here,” Chris opened with as he approached Jake, “That’s the biggest group I’ve ever seen sent to challenge us.”

“I don’t think it was you they were coming for,” Jake replied, “They grabbed one of my people and took her to the stadium,” he finished.

“That’s bad,” he replied with a concerned look on his face, “that place is full of really bad people. We’ve had people taken before, only one got away.”

“Any chance I can talk to that person?” Jake asked optimistically, internal Intel was a lifesaver, literally.

“She won’t talk about it, but you can try. They did bad things to her, and she only escaped because they thought she was dead. We found her naked and beaten, cuts and bruises everywhere. She had crawled into the nearby creek bed and passed out, the water probably saved her,” he finished.

“What were you doing there?” Jake asked, curious about wandering so close.

“Scouting their location. Everyone here is family, and you don’t abandon family. If there was a way to get her back, we were going to try,” he finished.

“We have the same policy, only if she’s not alive and unharmed when I get there, the stadium won’t be standing the next day,” Jake stated with a tone so cold Chris gave a visible shake.

Chris turned away and gave a wave to the doorway and Jake saw another man come scrambling out. Chris stepped aside, and the two had a short conversation before the man darted back inside.

“While he looks for Lisa, we should probably talk about why you came here in the first place,” Chris offered.

----*----

Brian sat in the command chair of
Revenge
as she headed to the edge of the solar system. Assigned as captain of the ship for the first space trials, he was as shocked as any, regarding his selection. The competition for the position had been fierce, and he hadn’t even been aware he was in the running.

Recruited very early in the ALICE populating activities, his life’s goals had always been around farming. Growing up, he never imagined he would have the option to farm as his great grandfather once had. Then Jake came, and for him the ramifications were overwhelming. Moreover, as with most people Jake plucked from their limited opportunity existences, he watched as his horizons expand beyond his wildest dreams and got to go to places he had never imagined possible.

In the beginning, his agrarian studies led to combat training. Then combat training led to a team leader position and leadership courses. He was then introduced, to of all things, astronavigation. Who would have guessed he excelled as an interstellar navigator.

He had been in the first group assigned to
Revenge
when space duties became available. At that time he hadn’t been selected to stay behind for ship’s captain, rather he was rotated out for additional studies in navigation. Once his studies were completed, he returned with a different crew as part of another rotation.

For this assignment, he was in the role of XO to a female crewmember from the last rotation as captain. He spent this duty watching a technically excellent officer alienate the entire crew with her lack of people skills. The impression was a lasting one. The fact that she was now his XO for this trip was a telling statement on the importance of how you say things.

Again, not asked to remain behind for that rotation, he personally initiated additional training for classes on people skills and leadership beyond his required class load. The things he learned gave him pause to reconsider Jake and his leadership skills. The man must truly be a natural born leader to pull off all he had accomplished so far without revolt from within.

As Brian looked over the bridge personnel, he again was reminded that he was at least 10 years older than the next closest crew member present. His entire bridge staff consisted of an engineering officer, a helmsman/pilot, a navigator and a communications and weapons officer. With the chief engineer down below, the six comprised a full shift of personnel and none over 25 years old.

Currently
Revenge
herself held a total complement of 28 personnel. The decision to adopt the United States Navy’s submarine service schedule of 6-hour duty shifts on an 18-hour rotation was part of this space trial. Brian and the XO rotated the command chair, as no one was comfortable with just an officer of the watch just yet. A nurse/corpsman and the medical officer/Doctor were part of the 28 and on a 24 hour on call.

For this voyage, additional personnel were included as part of the testing program and although there was a cook staff with a fully functional kitchen, the ALICEs had ensured sufficient pre-made stores in stasis to ensure no one would go hungry. It was a bit odd not to see one of the bots onboard, but without ALICE, they were non-functional.

With all the additions to
Revenge
completed in Alaska for Jake’s experiments, permission to depart was given and they made orbit and beyond without a hitch. It was to be several days before they reached the edge of the solar system and were able to engage the faster than light drives, the true basis of their testing.

With the removal of all known inhibiting technology, as the discovery that ferrous materials disrupted the field generation, a general roll back had been required. No more rail guns or other advantage giving firepower remained on the hull. Stasis shields were still in place though as well as a couple of other alterations Jake had request. This trial was to see if that technology created a problem as well.

The ALICEs had the entire exercise pre-programed into the ships computers, but Brian was to run the ship as if it were not so. An evaluation of every action taken by the crew would be run against the programs to identify deviations or errors. Each incorrect decision needed correcting as part of the training.

The risk of having three interstellar navigators on board at one time had been argued, as they were such a precious resource in such short supply. The loss of the ship would be devastating to the fleet. It had almost cost Brian the command, but in the end, the decision was made that the risk was worth it. This was a valuable exercise, and they all needed the experience.

One issue they still hadn’t worked out was the light wave communications. Past Pluto, it was a 4-hour delay to talk to earth. Everyone knew with the NeHaw relays, point-to-point communications were really fast due to the technology involved, but linkup to the relay was still light wave and earth didn’t have one yet. This was going to make interactive communications extremely difficult. He suspected that the NeHaw were big on fire and forget, for their communications style.

----*----

Sara was sitting at the bottom of a square concrete shaft, about 6 foot by 6 foot and ten feet down. The walls were bare and she could plainly make out the metal grate covering the opening above her. She was also in about three feet of standing water.

She was fairly sure this was what was called a sump well. Water was to drain into this hole and a pump would pull it out and pump it away. She very much doubted the pump still worked, but it indicated she was at the very bottom of the building above. There was a ladder on one wall, she assumed at some point she would need it to leave, but the two men who brought her here had simply lifted the grate and dropped her in.

The water was actually good news for her. Once wet, the ropes tied to her wrists loosened enough, and she removed them. Her suit provided both insulation and climate control so she wasn’t uncomfortable, but she didn’t want to lay down. At least the filtration system in her suit was able to absorb and purify the water for drinking, so she wouldn’t go thirsty.

She did try for the one thousandth time to reach ALICE, Jake or anyone who might be nearby. She had thought at first, her suit might have sustained damage in the fight. Then after having time to assess her status, realized only the transmit and receive functions were down, displayed as offline. She suspected that was done on purpose but couldn’t understand why.

She was also starting to feel the effects of the beatings, but those aches were far less than the rage that was building towards the men who had provided them. Images of what it must have been like for other women who came before her ran through her head. Those not given the protection of a sealed combat suit would have suffered unspeakably. She thought of all the possible horrors inflicted on them and most likely of all, how that would have been her and her sisters had Jake not saved them that day just over one year ago.

----*----

Cal and the man Sara thought of as string man, sat at a table in a different room than the one she had been hanging in. Although the decor was remarkably similar, this room was larger with several tables that had food stores spread about in a disorganized mess. In all, there were a dozen or so men spread out in different parts of the room, eating and drinking, well mostly drinking. The more vocal of the lot were recalling the events of the day and telling tales of the flying devils that had left over 30 dead in the streets.

“You think they are the same ones?” String man was asking Cal.

“Description matches,” Cal replied, while looking like he was deep in thought.

“But the survivors said it was one big flyer, not a buncha small ones,” he replied.

“You think they only got one?” Cal shot back in anger, “we lost as many today as a year ago and then there was that wagon load of women. Plus, we lost several weeks’ worth of food. These are the same ones, I’m sure of it. Remember Jack said besides the flyer, some jasper in a mirror faced helmet stood up on the hill, picking off riders. Just like the one that bitch in the hole is wearing. I think tomorrow we are gonna pull her out of the hole and see how that outfit takes to fire, maybe burn her out,” with that Cal turned away and looked down into his glass.

The sat quietly for a while, then the string man asked, “Aren’t you worried someone will come looking for her?”

At that Cal turned back slowly and with a stern glare asked, “Did anyone one see you grab her?”

Realizing he may have stepped in it, string man stuttered, “No, no one else was on that roof and we never saw a soul all the way back here, but our own people.”

Dropping the conversation, as it was clear Cal was in no mood to chat, the string man got up to leave. As he turned to go, Cal looked up and called out while holding up his glass, “Hey go get me another bottle of Rum, you know, from that raid on those gomers south of here. Too bad we had to kill them women to get it, they were pretty,” he finished absently.

----*----

Jake had just finished one of the most uncomfortable conversations of his life while waiting to speak to Lisa. His discussion with Chris had him admitting he hadn’t given a second thought to the people of LA, other than to brand them all as lawless thieves.

Chris spoke of the complex nature of their existence in LA prior to Jake’s meddling. He described how Jake’s efforts to save the world had nearly ended theirs. The last straw for Chris’s “family” had been with the capture of Lisa and another woman from the fields in front of the compound. Their lack of firepower had prevented the type of response required to recover the women. Those hold up in the stadium had serious military grade weaponry. In the end, Lisa had survived to return, the other woman was not as lucky.