To Well And Back (The Deep Dark Well) (10 page)

Watcher had considered
going the fast way, with aircraft that could get him to the target area in
hours instead of days.  But with the enemy controlling the orbitals he had
decided against that route, which may have ended up with his craft splashing
down in the jungle in molten pieces. 
Better late than never
, he
thought, looking out the windows at the passing jungle. 
She’s resourceful. 
Now just let her keep a low profile, and not do anything too stupid
.  He
shook his head at that thought, knowing that she attracted trouble like the
carnivorous flowers of this jungle attracted prey.

*      *      *

“We are in standard
orbit, Admiral,” said Captain Lashan over the com.

“Very good,” replied
Admiral Miklas Gerasi, getting up from his chair and walking from his day cabin
office.

The doors to the bridge
opened before him, and he strode in as everyone jumped to attention, until he
waved them back to their seats.

The orange tinted
planet rotated below, and side screens showed the rest of the force clustered
around the flagship.  Including the force of Commodore Valaris Midas.

“Get Midas’ ship on the
com,” ordered the Admiral, walking to his seat and plopping down.  “I would
like to talk to the Commodore.”  It took a few moments to connect, and then the
troubled face of the Commodore appeared on Gerasi’s repeater screen.

“What can I do for you,
Admiral?” asked the officer in a tired voice.

“First off, I want to
tell you what a great job you did out there,” said Gerasi with a smile.  “You
really caught the bastards off guard.”

“And that little
bastard almost did me in,” said the Commodore, the frown deepening on his face.

“That was also a
brilliant piece of work,” said the beaming Admiral.  “You should be proud of
yourself.”

“I lost half my
command,” said the Commodore, and Gerasi raised a hand to stop him from
continuing.

“I wasn’t your command
when the damned ship started its attack,” said Gerasi, pointing a finger at the
screen.  “And don’t let me hear you taking the blame for it.  You got your shit
together after the attacker wiped out the flag, and gave him all she could
handle.  So you stand proud, Commodore.”

“Yes, sir,” said the
Commodore, his posture straightening and his face perking up.

“How are things going
on the surface, Valaris?” asked the Admiral, steepling his fingers and looking
over them.

“We have them trapped,”
said the Commodore, a look of triumph on his face.  “I don’t think they’re
going to get out of this with intact skins.”

“I would like some
prisoners,” said the Admiral, looking over at another screen that showed the
still spreading debris of the fort that had once occupied an orbit around the
world.

“We’ll get you some,”
said the Commodore, looking fiercely into the screen.

“So you don’t need any
of my Marines?” asked the Admiral, looking over at his Marine Liaison Officer,
who looked back with puppy dog tenseness.  “I have over a thousand of them just
raring to go.”

“I’ll let you know,
Admiral,” said the Commodore with a nod.  “But right now it looks like we’ve
got it under control.”

“OK.  Well, keep me
informed.  Gerasi out.”

The screen went blank,
and the Admiral stared at the star field that took its place for a moment. 
Somewhere in that field lay the enormous station that orbited the black hole. 
He shuddered for a moment as he remembered the beating his command had taken
there, the last time he was in this region of space. 
We’ll get you
eventually, you bastard
, thought the Admiral, visualizing the big brained
Abomination who had almost thwarted his success. 
Once we capture your agent
here, and learn how to go through the back door, you will be mine.

*     *     *

“Where in the hell did they all come from?”
yelled a trooper to the front.

The hell if I know
, thought Fleet Admiral
Nagara Krishnamurta, keeping himself as low to the ground as he could manage,
while cringing at the crack of high speed projectiles going overhead. 
And
why didn’t our native guides smell them out before they hit?

A tree trunk about
twenty meters away exploded, dropping the rest of the tree until it was caught
up in the canopy foliage and hung there.  The Admiral recognized the signature
strike of a heavy laser.  Unfortunately, the laser swung over and hit one of
the Sagara plants that sat near a small glade.  The plant threw off steam, then
went up in a blast of vegetable matter.  The vines radiating from the plant spasmed
for a moment, and then lay still.

The same could not be
said of the dozens of other Sagaras in the area.  Moments after their brother
was killed they went wild, flinging barbed vines every which way.  For a moment
the battle against their fellow man was forgotten, as both sides fired at the
killer vegetables that were randomly striking at both sides.  Most of the
combatants had on armor, but there were still gaps that could be exploited, and
several armored Marines went down to the venomous poison of the plants’
spines.  Those that fell were soon surrounded by more vines, seeking to
puncture flesh and inject digestive enzymes into their prey.

Unfortunately for the
humans, Maurid life was built on a similar protein architecture.  Humans had
some trouble digesting Maurid life, but the alien life had no trouble
processing human proteins.  Those punctured would turn into a soup of partially
digested proteins underneath their skin, soon to be sucked up by the greedy
plants.  Unfortunately for the plants, they would not be around to enjoy the
bounty, as human weapons from both sides blotted them from existence.

A vine swung at the
Admiral, attracted by something, he was never sure what.  Krishnamurta rolled
away, sure that any moment he would feel the sting through his uniform that
presaged death.  He brought his laser pistol to bear, almost overcompensating
in the adrenaline rush.  A quick squeeze of the trigger cut the vine in half,
the far end flying off from the force of its strike, the near falling to the ground
just short of the human and flopping around.

The Admiral watched the
fight switch back to a shooting match between the two sides, but there were
still some terrifying moments as the jungle joined in.  He saw a Nation Marine
come out of cover to move to a new position, a couple of projectiles bouncing
from his armor.  Just before the Marine got to the cover he was looking for the
ground hinged up and a large arthropod reared from the revealed pit, its claws
grabbing the man and pulling him back into the trap it had set.  In an instant
it was gone, the cover back in place so quickly that the Admiral almost doubted
his own eyes.  The Marine of course was in battle armor, but the Admiral had
seen those big claws bending the part of the suit it gripped.  And the enemy
Marine did not come out of the hole, a sign that he was the loser in the little
drama of predator and prey.

“Shit, get them off
me,” yelled another Spacer, this one also without battle armor.  The man
screamed at the top of his lungs and rolled around, a black mass of creatures
covering him.  They looked like roaches more than anything else the Admiral had
ever seen, and they were stripping the flesh from the man as he watched.

Krishnamurta did the
most merciful thing he could think of, putting a laser shot into the man’s
forehead and ending the struggle.  He frantically looked around to make sure
none of the insects were on him, then jumped to his feet and ran away from the
front line to find some safer cover, if any really existed.

“We have contact to the
rear,” called out a voice over the command circuit, just before more
hypervelocity rounds came ripping through the jungle.

And now we are well and
truly fucked
,
thought the Admiral as he fell to the ground, getting away from the rounds he
knew were seeking his life more important than avoiding the insects that might
or might not be there.

The trap was closed,
and his force was in a box he couldn’t see a way out of. 
And I’ll die
before I allow those bastards to take me prisoner
, he thought, checking his
pistol and seeing that he still had half of its charge remaining.  Everyone
knew how the Nation treated prisoners.  If you weren’t of their religion they
believed you were headed for Hell.  And they saw it as their job to make sure
you got there quickly.  But not before they got what information you had, by
whatever means possible.  The Admiral checked his belt to make sure he had
another power pack for the pistol, then made a mental note to make sure he had
enough of a charge at the end to destroy his brain.  Suicide might be a sin,
but he thought the Gods would forgive him for removing the services of the
information he carried from the enemy.

Chapter Ten

In every battle there comes a time when both
sides consider themselves beaten, then he who continues the attack wins.  
Ulysses S. Grant

The Nation of Humanity
forces had reverse engineered the technology they had stolen from the
Donut
,
advancing their own tech almost a thousand years in some areas.  Pandora Latham
was using the end tech of the New Terran Empire, the civilization that had more
or less owned the Galaxy before its fall.  It was the culmination of thirty
thousand years of military technology, the tech that had won countless wars
before the Galaxy settled into a Pax.  And then it had been modified by the
most intelligent being that had ever lived.

She was still heavily
outnumbered by the force she was about to attack.  Her robots’ motion sensors
and the micro-pizzos had determined from one direction there were almost four
hundred armored Marines attacking a hundred and forty some odd Suryans, not all
of whom were armored, while another two hundred of that enemy closed up from
the rear.  It was a classic ambush, and something she planned to counter with
another classic maneuver.

She checked her HUD one
more time and grunted in satisfaction.  All of the robots were in position, and
the enemy didn’t seem to have a clue that they were there, thanks to their
stealth systems.  Once she started the attack they would have some idea, and
she didn’t expect to come out of this unscathed.  But as long as the brains of
the operation, herself, came through, she was alright with that.

I just hope they don’t
bring the hammer from space
, she thought, looking up at the canopy overhead.  There
was only one reason she could think that they hadn’t done that already. 
Prisoners.  They wanted intelligence, and live captives could give it, while
dead enemies could not.  She had felt the rumbling of other strikes, and knew
that the Nation ships had hit other groups of Suryans.  She just hoped that
they didn’t hit this one once their own plan went to Hell.

[OK] she ordered over
the command circuit.  [Commence operations].

The acknowledgements
came back from the robots immediately.  Those with targets opened fire with
every antipersonnel weapon they could bring to bear, laser and particle beam
rifles, internal rail guns, and the light amp weapons built into their sensory
heads.  Microgrenades flew out to sparkle in small explosions, while the heavy
weapons bots fired low angle mortars into known enemy positions.

Pandora herself ran
forward with the twelve robots that formed the striking wave.  She was heavily
outnumbered by the enemy, but she had the firepower advantage along her point
of attack, the Schwerpunkt, as the old Germans had called it.  Overall power
didn’t matter as much as what was at the point of decision.  And she was going
to use her advantage to roll up the enemy flank and send him running, or let
him die in place if he so decided.

The woman sighted in
her weapon on a Nation Marine who was trying to bring a heavy laser to bear on
her.  Her particle beam hit weapon and man at the same moment.  The heavy laser
flared, metal and plastics turned molten, and the weapon broke in half.  High
speed protons hit the chest of the man and his armor immediately glowed red. 
The beam ate through armor and into flesh beneath, and the man slumped down
over the remains of his weapon while the last splash of particles ripped a
gouge in his helmet.

A pellet hit her helmet
as she was moving forward, bouncing off as it rang the metal.  Pandi cursed
under her breath, and turned toward the man who was now firing rapidly from his
high velocity weapon.  It was not enough to penetrate her armor, though she
still cringed a bit when more rounds bounced from her chest and shoulder.  A
quick shot with her weapon and the Marine fell to the ground with a smoking
hole in his armor.  She knew that inside that shell it would be worse, with
cooked meat and ash occupying most of his organic form.

A vine lashed across
her armor as she took another step forward.  She ducked as it came back,
seeking out whatever it was that was striking at her, and locating a strange
looking plant that was sending a half dozen more vines her way.  A blast of particles
and the plant was mulch, and she turned her attention back to enemies that
might actually be able to hurt her.  She found some immediately by the flash of
microgrenades that burst around her.

They’re trying to make
me go deaf
,
she thought as a dozen of the small explosives went off without further effect
on her suit.  Of course, her nanites could repair that damage within minutes,
if her suit let through enough noise to actually cause nerve damage.  Nothing
they had would save the three men she cut down with high velocity protons that
turned from kinetic energy into killing heat.  She leapt over the armored
bodies that poured smoke from the holes and gashes she had opened in them, and
continued on in a run. 

She saw another
position just ahead, a pair of soldiers lying behind a log and firing their mag
rail rifles at something she couldn’t see.  Her HUD brought up the view of the
enemy’s targets, a pair of Suryans, one in light naval armor, the other in
uniform. 
Not really sporting
, she thought, turning her attention back
to the heavily armored Marines.  She rippled off a dozen mini-grenades over the
two men, watching the small flashes with satisfaction.  The grenades were dual
purpose, antipersonnel and antiarmor.  As they hit they sent a series of miniature
flechettes through the armor of the Marines and into their bodies, ripping
internal systems apart.  Both men bled out before they could do more than look
her way.

Her HUD showed that she
was getting a little ahead of her bots.  Twenty were still in the fight, and
she wondered what might have happened to the one missing.  That would wait. 
And she would wait for the rest to catch up with her.  Her body wanted to
charge in, deal death, and get this distasteful slaughter over with.  Her mind
overruled, telling her the smart thing to do was wait until her flanks were
guarded.  That decision was still in her mind when the hypervelocity missile
came at her like a streak of light.

*     *     *

Colonel Makari Quaid of
the Nation of Humanity Marines looked triumphantly at the Commodore who
commanded the ships his troops came from.  “We have them trapped, sir,” he said
in a prideful voice.  “There’s no way the rats are going to escape this trap.”

“Remember, Colonel,”
said Commodore Valaris Midas over the com screen.  “We need prisoners.  The
Admiral needs to know what the future plans of these heretics are, so we can
prepare for their return.”

“I understand, sir,”
said the Colonel with a smile.  “We will…”

“What the hell is
that,” came a voice over the CinC circuit.

“Excuse me, Commodore,”
said the Colonel, a frown stealing over his face.  “I’ll get back with you
ASAP.”

The screen went blank. 
They were involved in a tactical situation, with no time for niceties.  “What’s
going on?” the Colonel asked into the link, seeing the trouble spot on his HUD,
where several green dots were blinking red, then going out.  Never a good sign
in a combat zone, and typically signifying troops dying.

“They came out of
nowhere, sir,” said a voice as a face appeared on the HUD.  The name below the
face said Lieutenant Burnside, who Quaid recalled was a platoon leader in D
company.  “They hit us hard before we even knew they were there.”

“Who are they,
Lieutenant?” said the Colonel, trying to will his own voice to stay calm.  “And
what are you doing about they?”

The image of a six
limbed robot came on the screen, running forward on four limbs while it fired a
combination rifle/grenade launcher carried in the two forelimbs.  A red beam
stabbed out of the weapon, and the picture went dead, and Quaid knew that the
trooper who had sent that image went dead with it.

A particle beam
, thought the Colonel,
carried
by a robot that is far beyond anything we can make.  So they came here after
all.

“That’s all I have
right now, sir” said the officer, his voice still on the edge of panic.  “I
sent Sergeant Kleffa with a squad to try and flank the bastards, but he and his
men went off the circuit, and I can’t get them back.”

“I’m sending another
platoon to reinforce you,” said the Colonel, linking into another unit and
sending them their orders.  “Don’t let them through.”

“Yes, sir,” said the
young man, his eyes wide.  “We’ll hold…”

The link went dead, and
the Colonel was damned sure that the officer was no longer among the living. 
He said a quick prayer for the officer and his men, that they might dwell with
God.  And then he started making his tactical shifts, hoping that he could stop
the flanking attack while keeping up the pressure on the Suryans.

*     *     *

The fire to front
seemed to slacken for a moment, intensified, then fell precipitously.  “What’s
going on, Mandrake?” questioned the Admiral over the CinC circuit.

“We don’t know yet,
Admiral,” said the woman, her voice high with tension and adrenaline.  “But it
sounds like someone has attacked the Nation’s blocking force we ran into.”

The Admiral digested
that for a moment, coming to a decision in an instant.  “Attack them,” he
ordered, knowing that he was taking a risk.

“But sir,” said
Mandrake, letting out a hissing breath.  “We don’t know who these newcomers
are.”

“Don’t think about it,
Commander,” said the Fleet Admiral, pushing his best command voice through the
com.  “Don’t think about it.  Just attack.  We may never have a better chance.”

“Aye aye, sir,” replied
the officer.  “All troops on the northern front.  Move forward, full attack.”

“And tell them to be
careful to not shoot at our new friends,” cautioned the Admiral.  “We may need
their aid after this firefight.”

“But, we don’t even
know what they look like,” answered the Commander, exasperation in her voice.

“They probably don’t
look like the Marines or Spacers from the Nation of Humanity,” said the
Admiral, a thin smile on his face.  “I’ll have the hide of anyone who attacks
them.”

“Yes sir,” said the
officer, resignation in her voice this time.  “We’ll attack all out, but commit
no blue on blue incidents against a blue we can’t recognize.”

“Good woman,” said the
Admiral with a smile.  “You’ll go far.” 
As long as any of us survive to go
far in this cluster.

*     *     *

The hyper-v came in low
and fast.  Pandora barely had time to react to the alarm from her suit.  The
suit itself knew what to do, and it did it, rocketing her upward at its maximum
velocity, ten gees above the capacity of its inertial compensators.  The missile
curved up to follow, but its speed worked against it and it flew by meters off
target.  The suit stopped and automatically fired a pair of seeker rockets from
her backpack sheath.  The rockets, not as fast as the hyper-v, sped to the
missile’s point of origin and blasted the area, killing the gunner and wounding
the assistant.

Pandi’s consciousness
came back quickly, the result of training, vascular augmentation and nanites. 
She realized immediately that she was too much of a target hanging up here in
the air.  She cursed under her breath as she fired a particle beam at the one
survivor of the team, then dropped quickly back to the ground.  She flew along
the ground to the position the rocket had come from, keeping her awareness
spread out to cover the area around her, while ordering her robots to make
haste and come up on her flanks.

She brought the suit to
a touchdown as she came to the position.  The launcher was lying just out of
reach of the dead gunner, and Pandora bent to pick it up, looking at the missile
that was still in one of the four tubes of the weapon.  She realized the gunner
must have fired the other two off at the Suryans, before she came within
sight.  She also made a mental note to look out for these things, which could
splatter her through her armor.

Pandora pulled the
remaining missile from the tube, her eyes widening as she looked at the half
meter long cylinder with three small grabber units front and rear. 
This is
technology they stole
, she thought, turning the missile over in her hands. 
We didn’t even give grabber tech to the Suryans.  If they use this tech on
their ships, the Suryans are well and truly fucked.

She threw the missile
to the ground, not really knowing what else to do with it.  By that time her
bots were up with her on her flanks.  She checked them on the HUD and cursed
again as she noted there were only sixteen of them, meaning she had lost five
just rolling up a quarter of the enemy’s line. 
No help for it.  Just have
to keep going until it’s done, or I am
.

[Move out] she sent
over the link, then waited a moment for the robots to precede her. 
I think
I need to play General Eisenhower from here on
, she thought. 
General
Patton is going to get me killed, and then where’s the Army
.  Moments later
weapons fire filled the jungle as she continued to roll up the flanks.