Gray Panthers: Dixie (22 page)

“Beater is to continue on original mission. Two enemy patrol ships will arrive shortly. Prefer not to engage at this time. My compliments to the ship and crew of the Beater for a job well done. Daniels out.”

“Johnson to crew. We will be engaging the FTL to head for planet Tak. Target is a major munitions manufacturer and trading center. Once we engage the FTL we will be thirteen hours out.

“Beater,” Johnson continued, “send a coded message to Grub that they can get to Earth the same way Grub did the first time, only less violently.”

“Grub, send out a message in the clear to all League of Planets worlds. Give them my proposal for a fleet and an army. Include the alternative if they decline. Then, set course for Earth,” Dan ordered.

New Richmond, planet Dixie

16 November 2128

Sam sat in the scout vehicle and watched as the sun started to set. She didn’t have the energy to get out of the vehicle, let alone make herself anything to eat.

“We’re off until the morning. Then we’ve got wobbler duty again. I think we should find a nice empty mansion on the north side that’s been cleared. We can close the gate and lock ourselves in for the night in a little comfort. Anyone have a better suggestion, I want to hear it.” The scouts who were still awake just shrugged. “Okay. North side it is.”

“Everyone,” she called out, “follow us and try to keep alert. We may have some Red Coats still. If we see any wobblers, just use a stick on them and we’ll swing by in the morning to pick them up. Unless the Red Coats pull any surprises, it’s anticipated that we’ll be finished in two days and then we’ll do a final cleanup sweep. Let’s move out.”

Sam thought of the four trips they’d made through the city, slowly trolling for wobblers. Those they’d attracted had been taken to a field east of the city, where they were swarmed by Dixian military armed with electric sticks.

The city’s electricity had been restored, so the streetlights were on. It was an odd experience, driving through the neighborhoods and not even seeing a stray dog. Clouds were starting to block out the moon. The wind picked up and the first few drops of rain quickly became a deluge. The water had no effect on the scouts in their open vehicles, other than to turn them from being dead tired to being wet, miserable, and dead tired.

The drive to the mansion was uneventful. The building was sealed, and the faint smell of wobblers remained as a scout opened the front door.

“We make one pass through, and then we crack the windows and lock it up for the night,” Sam told her scouts. “We should be safe, so I’m not posting a guard. Just give me ten more minutes, and then we can all crash.” She led the sweep, feeling more asleep than awake. Opening the door to the garage, she discovered a pair of enraged wobblers. Instantly, she was alert.

“Get me a damn stick! We have a couple of wobblers,” she yelled, slamming the door closed. She didn’t even notice who handed her the stick. She cracked the door open again and a hand reached for her. Plunging the stick through the doorway, she felt the satisfaction of solid contact as she zapped it. Another hand reached through the door and pulled it open, yanking Sam forward before she could let go of the doorknob. She fell, the stick trapped beneath her. Sam was overwhelmed by the stench from the creature, a teenage girl wearing only a long T-shirt. The girl bent over Sam and held her down. As she opened her mouth, the putrid odor washed over Sam. Sam couldn’t move or get her hand free from the stick, as her body was over her other arm. Just as she closed her eyes, a rifle butt knocked the wobbler across the garage. Dazed, Sam rose in slow motion and walked over to the girl, who was trying to rise, and savagely jabbed the stick into her belly. She pressed the button, and with a slight jolt, the girl went to sleep.

“Let’s finish our sweep and get to bed.” The sweep concluded in the master suite, and everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief. Sam felt the huge bed pulling her to it. “Good job, everyone. You know where to find me if you need me. Goodnight, y’all.”

Sam stripped down to her underwear and decided she could wait until morning to wash up. She felt an intense tiredness overcome her and she tried to surrender to sleep, but she was now wide awake.

Hades Wormhole entrance, League of Planets space

16 November 2128

Dan stood with the colonel, watching a huge viewer. The sight of the Hades Nebula was awe-inspiring.

“I never thought space could be so colorful,” he said. “I just thought of black sky and white stars. The swirling of colors leaves me speechless.”

“Dan, if you could feel the ship being pulled around in the beauty you see, you would be more scared than impressed,” Grub stated.

“Are you saying we’re in danger here?” Dan turned serious.

“The ship is at increased risk the longer we stay here.”

“Grub, get us into the wormhole as soon as possible then.” Dan took one last look before turning away from the monitor.

“Dan, I should have explained to you that the inertial dampeners hid the sensation of being shaken. Like having shock absorbers on an automobile. We are now in the wormhole and should be smooth for a day at max impulse. The last time the Grub was in the wormhole, all ships were at not even quarter impulse to save energy for a long trip.” Grub explained.

“Grub, should we stay in the wormhole and see if we can find the new Flem home world?”

“I would like that, sir. However, I think you would only scare them and be distracted from our mission. They would not contribute to your mission, and they might try to reclaim me.”

“I’m not worried about a fight with pacifists. But we don’t have time for that yet. Let’s just go home.”

Gray Panthers headquarters, Arizona

17 November 2128

“Good morning, Hercules, How are we looking today?” Abby opened his coffee and took a tentative taste as he waited for the report.

“The refurbishment of the Libra ships has progressed faster than anticipated. Four have been completed and modified for AIs. Ten of the other ships could be used at this time but would need large trained crews. Those ten require another ten days to be modified for AIs. The remaining ships are at least a month away from being ready.”

“With the AI-modified ships, how soon could we have untrained crews on board learning how to operate and maintain them?”

“Although the modified ships are highly complex, that actually makes training easier. For all intents and purposes, the ships run themselves, like ours. We should put a human crew of forty on board each and have a Jacka crew shadow them as their training until they are ready to assume control of the ships.”

“I’d start that today, but Dan needs to make that determination. See how soon Admiral Bad can stop by.” As Abby looked around the office, he felt the walls were closing in.
Damn Dan Daniels for sticking me here.

“Abby, your eight o’clock appointment is here,” Juanita announced via the comm.

“Can you reschedule her for when Dan is back? I have no idea what she wants, and Dan didn’t leave any info on her.”

“She came all the way from San Francisco. She’s on the board of supervisors.”

“All right. Send her in, please. Dan owes me.”

“Hello. I am Abdul Bahadur. I’m filling in for Mr. Daniels while he is off-world. How may I help you, miss?”

“I am Precious Juanita Smyth. I have the privilege of telling you that the board of supervisors demands that you remove the laser gun thingy from our county.” Precious smiled as she waited for Abby’s reaction.

“That’s not a problem. I will have a team remove it and the power plant within the next two days. I will do you the professional courtesy of notifying the electric company that charged the city for its services previously that the city will once again have need of its services.” Abby smiled nicely, waiting.

“Oh, no, we want to keep the generator. We just want the gun gone.”

“Why would you want to be the only unprotected city in America, Precious?” Abby sat back, looking smug.

“We can’t have that there. It’s a war thingy. War is wrong.”

Abby decided he was done listening. “I am tired of listening to idiots like you. People that use slogans for logic and pictures for debate. Here’s a picture for you. Picture San Francisco—one of my favorite cities in the whole world—as a smoking crater. You will go back and tell the other supervisors, no gun, no power plant, no shields. When the next attack on Earth comes, there is no guarantee we can provide protection. Who is going to protect your sorry ass? Who will explain why millions died needlessly?”

“For a man of color, how can you embrace such attitudes? You should think the same way I do.”

“Precious, I was without a gun when they came and raped my wife, then killed her and our children in front of me, just for being Christians. Then they put a bullet in my head and left me for dead. The aliens have one of two plans for you: to be cannon fodder or to make cannon fodder.”

“I don’t believe your fairy—”

“Here’s your fairy tale, you sanctimonious idiot!” Abby turned around and showed her the scar of a bullet hole in the back of his head. “Don’t worry. You don’t have to get your hands dirty. Just stay the hell out of the way of those who do. Just like I managed to kill every man who wronged my family, with interest! Now get out before I take up your request.”

Precious didn’t say a word as she ran for the door.

New Richmond, planet Dixie

17 November 2128

“Stop here, driver.” The lieutenant climbed out of the transport, checked his sidearm, and re-holstered it. It was just light enough outside that he had no trouble climbing the fence. Moving stealthily, he approached the parked vehicles. They were what he’d been looking for. When he tried to open the front door of the residence, he found that it was locked. Walking over to the garage, he cautiously lifted the door just enough to peek under. The stench hit him first, and then he saw a body lying on the garage floor. Though it was barely perceptible, he could see the chest rise and fall slowly. As he opened the door further, he saw a second body. A quick check revealed that it, too, was alive. He proceeded to the door that went into the house. Turning the handle slowly, he pulled the door open. The hallway was quiet, but he heard sounds from behind the first door. He turned the knob and the door opened effortlessly. He peeked in and saw three scouts in the huge bed, all dead to the world. Field gear and weapons were strewn about the room. Opening the door all the way, he took a few steps forward before tripping over a boot and flying headfirst into the side of the bed. Looking up, he found himself staring into the barrel of an automatic.

“Eeeeek! Lieutenant Semmes!” The scout dropped her automatic, threw back the covers, and jumped out of bed to hug the lieutenant as he started to stand up. In her excitement, she found herself hugging his head, his face pressed firmly between her breasts. The other two scouts laughed at the lieutenant’s predicament and started to get dressed. 

“C-c-can’t breathe!” Semmes managed to say, though he could barely be heard. As the scout released him, the doorway began to fill with the rest of the scouts, who laughed at the scene in front of them. The semi-naked scout was fumbling around trying to put her top on while the lieutenant fought to get his breathe back.

“Welcome back, Lieutenant Semmes! We missed you!” the scouts kept telling him. The lieutenant’s plan to chastise the troops for not posting a guard went out the window as his people showed their concern and happiness at seeing him again.

Sam laughed as she, too, hugged the lieutenant. “Welcome back, Lieutenant Semmes. You can take command of your unit, and I can go find myself a shuttle to fly.” Turning to the scouts, she said, “We have three hours till we need to move out. Go back to sleep if you can. It’ll be a long day tomorrow. Lieutenant, you can sleep with me. Just leave the door open, so the mouths stay shut. Goodnight, everyone.” She headed back to the master suite, amazed at how easy it was to surprise the scouts.

GP forward command post, planet Dixie

17 November 2128

Black was looking at the map of New Richmond and didn’t like what he saw. Thirty percent of the city was under control. The Red Coats hadn’t put up any serious opposition since the walls had been breached. His flanks were nearly non-existent, and his front line was his only line. He had too much real estate to hold if they were counterattacked. He needed more bodies.

Fortunately, with the addition of Dixians to his staff, communications were not a problem. “Admiral Pierre Gustave Toutant-Beauregard, this is General Black.”

“General Black, what can I do for you?” the admiral asked, his voice slightly wary.

“Admiral, how many bodies can you spare for the battle for New Richmond? I need bodies to hold real estate behind my front lines. We are strung too thin.” Black was wishing now that he’d asked for the support earlier.

“General, thank you for allowing us to support the battle. I have already anticipated your request. I have an officer and nineteen men from each ship, so I shall have a thousand troops. If you wish, I shall give the orders for them to start departing now.” Pierre was happy with the predicament. He could now go into the history books for sending troops to rescue the day. He would make sure his friends wrote the history books.

“Thank you, Admiral. I will have operations orders waiting once they get here. Black out.”

“Colonel Piper, include in the orders for tomorrow that every building will be thoroughly searched and that subterranean areas will be synchronized with the forces on the surface,” Black instructed.

“Our new troops will be spread into twenty zones behind the lines. They will establish secure points to hold from and inspect their zones above ground and below for any enemy activity.”