AL:ICE-9 (24 page)

“Come,” He said.

The door opened and Sandy blew in like a whirlwind. She was obviously excited about something and as Jake stood, she swept up to him and planted a kiss squarely on his lips. Never one to embrace the uniform, she was in one of her clingy short flower print dresses. Her bare tan arms and legs giving Jake the impression she had been outside quite a bit lately.

“Oh my god, I am so glad you’re here,” she started, “you will never guess where I have been!”

Not waiting for Jake to reply, she continued, “Australia. Did you know that they have some of the funniest looking critters there?”

“Sandy,” Jake inserted, “What were you doing in Australia? And how did you get there?”

“Well, I heard that you and Sara were talking about going there. Someone said that you had always been interested in going, so I looked into it. Turns out that, after the bombing, a large portion of their population survived. They mostly live on the coasts and the NeHaw didn’t concentrate their attack, except for military installations. It was pretty much a pattern bombing, evenly spaced.”

“Ok, so?” Jake asked, surprised that she even knew what pattern bombing was.

“Well, I had ALICE check it out and even though they got hit like everyone else did, they didn’t dissolve into fighting amongst themselves like most places. Oh there were some localized problems, but mostly everyone just went on as live and let live.”

Taking a breath, she continued, “So I grabbed one of the fire teams for security and a plane and we went there. ALICE did the driving, and we checked everything out with her before we did anything,” she added before Jake could jump in.

Pausing to absorb all that she said, he finally asked, “Well what did you find?”

“Ok, well we located several communities that were very excited to hear about our revival. I have contact names and locations for several potential communities to adopt. Did you know that Americans are still very popular there? Anyway, we have also located three gold mines that were active before the fall and would be prime candidates for the automated mining equipment I asked the Wawobash about.”

Jake held up a hand, indicating for her to stop, “Sandy, you talked to the Wawobash?”

“Oh yeah, you said to look into it remember? Anyway, so once we were all settled in, we did some sightseeing. ALICE says we were on some great reef there, she said you might like to see?”

“Yes, the Great Barrier Reef is on my “to do” list,” Jake replied, confused, and then asked, “Settled in?”

“Oh yeah, ALICE transported one of those housing modules we have on San Nicolas, and put it on the beach there. This one was a little smaller, but for us five girls it was plenty. Actually, it wasn’t on the beach, it was on an island. I can’t remember what ALICE called it, but we were the only people within 100 miles. From there, we did our runs to the mainland and surveyed the mines.”

Jake just stared at Sandy for a moment, not really knowing what to say. It seemed the girl had single handedly brought Australia into the fold. The mineral wealth was great, not that they needed the gold at the moment, but the people were a great asset. Jake had always felt the Aussies were a kindred spirit to the Americans. Canadians as well, all with the English colony ties and Sara had already kicked off that relationship in Maine.

“Well I have to say I am really impressed. In addition, a little frightened at the risk you took. But if ALICE was shepherding the excursion, I guess I can’t object too much. So I have to ask, what did you think about Australia?”

Sandy stood there for a moment thinking, before saying, “I think they have a hearing problem there, because no matter how many times I said my name was Sandy, they kept calling me Sheila,” and then said, as she lifted her dress up over her head, “And the beaches are awesome!”

She was not wearing anything underneath her dress and had a tan from head to toe. Then she stepped up to close to Jake and wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him.

----*----

The following morning, Jake and Sandy had his breakfast in his room, and then sent her off to order the mining equipment for Australia. They really didn’t need it, but Jake didn’t want her hard work to be for naught. After she left, he had ALICE properly brief him on the trip and reviewed the analysis she provided.

He was surprised to find Sandy’s thumbnail assessment had been fairly accurate. The communities they had contacted had great strategic value, regarding their placement and local resources. He sensed the touch of ALICE as a guiding hand in the whole thing.

Apparently, the island they selected was one of the Whitsunday Islands and according to ALICE, they weren’t very populated before the bombing. From the images ALICE displayed, it was every bit as beautiful as he expected it to be. Had he a moments free time, he would be packing for a trip that day. It didn’t hurt that none of the five women in the images had brought a swimsuit, thus Sandy’s all over tan.

Logistically, the trip between Nevada and the coast of Queensland was about 8,000 miles. That was a long flight for anything but the fighters or the new transports coming out of Lanai. Easily capable of doing the trip in 2 to 3 hours, they were going to have to be the bridge between the two countries.

Jake laughed at the mental reference, because with no national governments, it was really a regional thing. He guessed the next step was to move east to England and Europe.

Next, he checked on the interview process in Prosperity. As he expected, the response was overwhelming from the patrol. Instead of one interview room, they had five going. For once, the numbers were favoring men over women, something he was sure would be popular inside the facilities.

Chapter 24

The next few weeks had Jake and the rest of the crew in Nevada working long hours processing new personnel and designating work assignments. Jake felt particularly responsible in setting up the ground combat assignments, as that was his core competency. He would never ask any of these people to do something he wouldn’t do.

With that in mind, he had also requested several of the combat space suits to be shipped down from South Dakota, AKA Kola, for him to evaluate. He did some initial testing in the hangar, just getting familiar with the fit and function. The power assist exoskeleton was a nice touch, but with his already enhanced strength, he needed one of the others to evaluate its true capabilities. He had selected an experienced fire team to help him. Sara took the same team to Maine with her.

Once they were all comfortable in the suits, he had ALICE take him and the fire team, all fully suited, out into the world after dark. His first instinct was to have her take them to LA, but his better judgement won out and he picked an unoccupied town near Las Vegas.

He had ALICE create some training rounds that, while still lethal to the unprotected, would act like paint palls to a suited soldier. He had her drop the fire team off on one side of town and him on the other. The game was catch Jake.

Each side had the same capabilities for scanning and tracking, minus the IFF contained within the suits. Like fighter planes of old, each of the combat suits contained Identification Friend or Foe systems that allowed command and control tracking. It permitted commanders to identify their units and prevented friendly fire incidents.

In a real engagement, Jake or other commanders would use those signals to identify and direct their teams. For this exercise, you needed to use heat, movement and sound to help identify your opponent beyond the visual. Unfortunately, the suits design helped to mask or minimize those very telltale signatures, making it more difficult for both sides.

Once ALICE dropped him, Jake immediately went high, jumping on the nearest rooftop and then jumping from building to building to move away from his drop point. He wasn’t sure if his opponent knew of his abilities, so sad for them if they didn’t.

Once he was in position, he went prone with just his head visible over the edge of the building. He closed his eyes and turned up the audio on his helmet. Sitting quietly, he listened for the slightest sound that might give away his opponents location.

Sure enough, after a few minutes, he heard a scraping to his right. Turning his head slowing to minimize any significant movement, he watched as first one pair, and then another of the fire team members moved along the street. Each pair was on one side, insuring they exposed themselves as little as possible.

Lifting his rifle very slowly, Jake fire two quick bursts, taking out the two on the far side of the street from him. He then immediately retreated to his rear, giving the near side pair nothing to shoot at. Two down.

Leaping to the nearest rooftop, he saw the brick to his right shatter as he took fire from below. “Good move,” he thought to himself, as the team had correctly guessed his position and had tried to flank him.

Making a quick turn to his right, away from their position, he dropped between two buildings and then took refuge behind a pile of rubble. Again listening for any sound, he waited. After five minutes, he began to creep away from the spot he took fire from, intending to circle back from the far side.

Stopping in mid motion, he caught the slightest movement in the dark, on the far side of the street. His adversaries had planned the same move, and they were in the process of heading straight for him. Retreating deeper into the shadows, he was able to slip into an open doorway, its door long gone.

He waited, sensing more than hearing the pair slip past him. Their silent movement made him proud. Giving them a 10 count, he quietly stepped out and said, “Hi guys.”

As both spun, he nailed them squarely.

“Damn!” one said, while the other swore in a most un-ladylike fashion.

Jake had ALICE come pick them up, and they debriefed as they rode home. All agreed that Jake cheated, not because he did anything illegal, they just hated to lose. Jake queried them on what attempts they made to duplicate his approach. None had even tried to stress the exoskeletons enhanced abilities.

Jake actually considered the exercise a success. The team had truly performed remarkably well. Their tactics were sound, for traditional adversaries. However, he needed to include additional training, pressing the troops to test the limits of their suits. Who knew what alien forces they might encounter in the future?

Once back, he had everyone service the suits, declining the offer ALICE made to perform the task for them. Jake was adamant that his people learn to care for the equipment that might save their lives. Their work completed, he released them for the night while he went to the command center to check on everyone else.

----*----

Revenge
was sitting on the far side of the moon from earth, hanging in a lunar orbit. Brian was in the command chair, watching his crew as they maneuvered to allow the bridge windows to face outward and into space. The word was the battleship was complete, finished early, and the Wawobash had programed it to return home. As was usually the custom, a tender ship accompanying it, to insure delivery and collect payment upon receipt.

Everyone knew Jake had provided incentives for the aliens to finish early, but no one expected a ship that large to be ready for another two months. As it was, one of the transports in Lanai was being prepared to meet it in orbit, to complete the stasis shield installation. Unlike all the other ships, this one would never land.

There was a running bet on board as to where the ship would appear. All three astronavigators on board had calculated the jump and each termination point had been marked in the tactical display. Brian was the odds on favorite, although his actual navigator was pretty darn good.

Brian had promised a three-day pass for the one who was closest, while he was to receive a case of his favorite sipping whisky should he win. It was a pre-fall brand and was only available via an ALICE request. While the ALICEs had significant stocks of alcoholic beverages, Jake was somewhat stingy about releasing large quantities of anything that couldn’t be easily replicated. That meant the other two in the bet had to go to Jake to get special permission.

Suddenly, appearing to be out of nowhere was a huge shape. The battleship had arrived at the edge of the solar system. After a flurry of activity, the navigator announced, “Right between me and the captain.”

That announcement made Brian laugh. Though it was a tie, it demonstrated the abilities of himself and his crew. Were they targeting incoming hostiles, they would have been close enough to destroy them.

After a few seconds, the tender ship appeared. In three days’ time, it was Brian’s responsibility to assist in bringing in the battleship, working with ALICE of course.

----*----

Jake was in his room when he got word of the battleships arrival at the edge of the solar system. He knew it was almost four days from there to earth via repulser drives. He felt it was both a blessing and a curse that it took so long. Should any hostiles arrive on scene, it was a wonderful heads up, allowing time to prepare. However, should they need to respond to a call for help, they were four days away from faster than light, or FTL. He needed to work on that problem. Maybe they needed to build a space station near Pluto for staging ships and troops.

Bringing up his display and patching into the video feed, he could make out the ship even from this distance. It helped that he had seen the designs before approving the modifications, but it was just that large to begin with. He was anxious to get it home. He had ALICE teed up to begin his additional upgrades once in orbit.

The new ship design was dramatically different looking than the original battleship design. The NeHaw had preferred a cylindrical look that Jake considered cigar shaped. It had no real imagination to it. It was just big enough to absorb a pounding, with lots of firepower.

This design had removed a lot of that exterior structure, stripping it to the core and then reshaping it into a more innovative configuration. At its nose, Jake could see the rectangular cross section with guns running along the spine on top and more guns at the sides and below.

At the mid-section was the hangar opening, the hangar operations station visible above it. Rather than having the hangar open above or below the body, this opened in the center at the sides. This configuration allowed entrance or exit from any angle from either side of the body of the ship.

Past the hangar opening, the body flared out even more, providing additional mounts for more guns. Finally, at the stern, the ship branched out forming a T. This change to the original shape provided additional drive functions, as well as adding to the overall stability of the vessel. The bridge sat on top of the hull at the rear, giving a good view down the entire length of the ship. In many ways, the configuration mimicked the patrol ships in Lanai. It was just far larger.

The most exciting thing for Jake was the size of the hangar itself. Due to the overall height and width of the ship, the hangar could accommodate their entire fighter production to date. On the other hand, three of the cruisers, with a couple of destroyers, if packed right, would also fit. While not a real aircraft type carrier, it had a lot to offer.

While the design was originally Wawobash, Jake had reworked enough of the externals to consider it unique. That’s what Jake really liked about the look. It just looked human.

Dismissing that for now, Jake turned his attention back to the troop training updates. He had others doing the basic training, putting all the recruits for his platoons through the same courses no matter what their backgrounds. Raw recruits and former community patrol all suffered together.

The US Marines had a tradition of running all enlisted personnel through a 3 month basic school, or boot camp, before they went on to their specialty schools. Officers were required to do 12 weeks of Officer Candidate School, commonly known as OCS. That preceded another 6 months of TBS or The Basic School, where all officers learned to lead the Marine Corps way.

Jake had restructured the training plans to have everyone do a compressed 10-week boot camp. During that time, all the recruits are torn down, rebuilding them in the process and taking them from individuals to cohesive units. They would become teams that would work together in small numbers or larger groups.

Jake had borrowed something directly from OCS, where he had various individuals assume temporary rank. This helped evaluate potential leaders in the groups, and augmented his meager staff of trainers. Today you might be a private tomorrow a sergeant then back to lance corporal a few days later.

He had assigned all of 10
th
Cavalry as trainers, as they had received the most intensive training Jake had provided for anyone to date. In some ways, it was like having Special Forces training basic recruits, but he certainly did not see the harm in that.

His overall plan was to get these recruits trained and tested before a need arose. Once he felt they were ready, he had outlined some advanced programs to implement, including advanced heavy weapons and jump school.

The jump school idea came from Jake’s realization that, at the moment, they had no real troop delivery ships. His Lanai transports would fit the bill, but they could not leave the solar system and the cruisers and destroyers did not have the capacity to handle large numbers. The heavy transports they had on order were actually made for commercial transport, not combat delivery.

Jake’s thought was to deliver small units from multiple destroyers, similar to airdrops of World War 2. The C-47 aircraft of the day would only hold 18 paratroopers, so for large deployments multiple aircraft would be required. Late in the war, for one operation dropping over 13,000 men, they utilized 821 aircraft.

While he had nowhere near that many troops, the destroyer hangars could accommodate just over two squads. With his 10 destroyers currently in inventory, that equated to just short of seven platoons, while he only had three in training now. The added advantage of the destroyer’s guns gave them cover fire during the drop, something the C-47 never had.

As for the jumpers themselves, Jake went to the tried and true repulser motors. Working with ALICE, they came up with a small unit that was no larger than a toaster. Inside was a repulser motor, about the size of a can of spray paint, some controls and its battery power pack. Once activated, it made the jumper only partially weightless. The jumper would fall with the repulser increasing in intensity as it sensed the ground below, with a proximity sensor.

The unit could either be worn either with a harness, or attached to the ridged combat suits exoskeleton. The controls for the thing were really quite simple as it was either on or off and could be steered by leaning to the right or left. It allowed for free fall from a high altitude and then slowed the decent as the unit closed with the ground. Jake could have had the unit slow the entire decent, but he wanted to minimize the amount of time the jumper sat exposed. This allowed for a fast decent, while providing for a reasonable deceleration just before landing.