Actions On the Terminal Objective (Part 1) (611 hits)
Category: NoneRating: 1.81 on 19 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by X54 (View user info) at 2008-08-12 23:13:41 EDT
A man in uniform shouted there was no more room. Karl's father argued with the man, threatened him with his credentials and finally bribed him, and the man said okay, but only one.
Karl's mother wept and held him tight so he could hardly breathe. He started crying and his sister, too young to understand, cried too. His father, shouting above the angry crowd and the whine of the shuttle engines, told him everything was going to be fine and pushed him toward the man in uniform who was impatient to go. He followed the man to the shuttle, running to keep up, slipping on the oily tarmac as the police struggled to hold the crowd at bay. The people shouted and fought, furious at being left behind, desperate like rats trapped on a doomed ship. He was nine years old.
#
The truck lurched to a stop, snatching Karl Baker from his last recollection of Earth.
"Dismount!" yelled the sergeant.
Dusty men in protective suits and battle gear tumbled out.
"Fall in!"
They fell into formation on the road. It was hot. A short distance away were trees and shade, but the men stood sweating in the sun. The MPs stood by.
"Second platoon!" commanded the lieutenant. "At ease."
The men of Second Platoon, 3rd Penal Company relaxed.
"Listen up," said the lieutenant. "We've been assigned to 'Actions On the Terminal Objective.'"
The formation responded with an anxious murmur.
"Someone has to do it," continued the lieutenant. "The responsibility has fallen to us. I know it's hot, but remember! Once the operation begins you must stay in full protective gear until after decontamination." He patted the protective mask strapped to his hip. "What's the cure for Sudden Acute Neuroshock Syndrome?"
"Death, Sir!" came the automatic response.
"Keep your masks on at all times," concluded the Lieutenant.
"Sir," said a man in Karl's squad. "Will we have air support?"
"No. No air support. Any other questions?"
Someone in the rear asked, "Is there any word on the Fleet?"
The lieutenant glared. "The Fleet is on its way."
The formation grumbled. The man pressed on. "Shouldn't we at least be sure before we go through with this?"
"Shut your fucking hole, you coward!" yelled the sergeant.
The lieutenant raised his hand, silencing the sergeant. "I am sure," he said. "The Fleet's been delayed..."
The formation laughed.
"Knock it off!" yelled the lieutenant. "The Fleet's been delayed, but it will come. Hundreds of thousands of people will soon be here. Millions more will be coming in the future. They're depending on us to make this planet safe. How many of you have family still on Earth? Conduct yourselves with bravery and they'll be given emigration priority." His voice lowered. "Conduct yourselves otherwise and they'll never leave."
The men stood silently. Then the man in back cried out, "I don't believe it! The Fleet's lost!"
"Shut up!" screamed the sergeant. "You traitor! MPs! Get this traitor out of my formation!"
The MPs moved in. The man shouted as they dragged him away, "They're never coming! Everyone on Earth is dead!" The MPs silenced him with kicks and blows.
"Platoon, ah-ten-shun!" commanded the lieutenant. He turned the formation over to the sergeant. From behind the truck came the sound of the MPs beating the man. The men stood at attention in the hot sun, waiting while the medic issued their cyanide tabs.
#
In the final days before leaving Earth's orbit the commander of the Advance Fleet banished them all to one of the cold, windowless cargo ships. "This is a military mission," he told them. "I should send you all back down."
There were about a hundred of them, the unaccompanied children of the political elite. He was one of the youngest.
That was when he met Tina, an older girl. "Pretend I'm your sister," she whispered. "So they won't send me back."
"I want to go home," he cried.
"No," she said. "Don't you know how lucky you are? Your parents must be so powerful."
"What about your parents?" he asked.
"The shuttle pilot was my mother's friend. If they find out they'll send me back. Just say I'm your sister," she pleaded. "I'll be your friend. I promise!"
When the time came, he said Tina was his sister and the commander let her stay.
#
At last the sergeant barked out the squad assignments. "First squad: marksmen! Second squad: security! Third squad: reserve! Fall out!"
Karl moved with the rest of first squad to retrieve the laser rifle. He and Smitty, the two lowest ranking men in the squad, carried it between them. The others carried the tripod, the power supply, and the hydrogen fuel canisters. In the distance a black column of smoke smudged the blue sky.
"Must be the village," said Smitty.
Karl made no reply.
Smitty gave a short laugh. "Poor bastards."
When Karl still didn't respond Smitty asked, "This your first mission?"
"Yes," said Karl.
"You're not going to freak out or anything, are you?"
"No," said Karl. "Why would I?"
Smitty fished a cigarette from his pocket with his free hand. They had to stop and set the gun down while he cupped his hands against the breeze to light it.
"How many have you been on?" asked Karl.
"A few," said Smitty. "But this is my first time on the terminal objective." He took a drag and held the cigarette out. "I'm down to my last pack or I'd give you one. You want a hit?"
Karl shook his head.
"Fucking lieutenant," said Smitty, exhaling smoke. "He probably volunteered for this shit."
They struggled down the side of the ravine with the heavy rifle. At the bottom the engineers had dug a deep trench, about five meters wide and at least 50 meters long. They positioned the rifle 50 paces back from the midpoint. Smitty connected the cables from the power supply. Karl inserted a hydrogen canister and took his position beside the gun. The other members of first squad moved off to their positions overlooking the trench.
Smitty test-fired the laser rifle into the mound of fresh dirt behind the trench. It made a loud, pulsing "snap, snap, snap." He adjusted the cyclic rate and fired again. It went "cak-cak-cak" faster this time. Then he called out, "Laser ready, Sergeant!"
The sergeant bellowed, "Masks and gloves!"
Karl donned his protective mask and pulled the hood down over his shoulders, then put on his rubber gloves.
The sergeant called out from inside his mask, "Stand by!"
The men's muffled voices echoed the command up and down the trench. Then they waited in silence.
#
20 hours a day they spent strapped in their gravity seats, pressed down by the crushing force of the ship's acceleration. 20 hours a day for four months confined to their tiny cabin with nothing to do but wait for the ship to reach cruising speed. He dreamed of his parents and sister back home, and about the desperate battles raging for the last remaining places on Earth not yet turned to desert.
Tina reassured him with visions of how life would be on Paradise. Paradise! The miracle planet where they would live free in an unspoiled land with plenty of water for everyone. She described it in wonderful detail, over and over, until he could see it just as clearly as if he'd lived there all his life. Then he made up his own stories about the places he would go, the friends he would meet, the wild animals he would tame. And with him always, his companion on every adventure, was Tina.
#
After a while the security detail brought in the first group. Karl had never seen the aliens before. They were short and stocky. Most wore crude, animal-skin clothing, but some were naked. Hair, or fur, covered their bodies. The left wrist of each was cuffed to the right wrist of the one behind. They proceeded in single file along the near edge of the trench, looking bewildered and terrified.
When they reached the midpoint of the trench, directly in front of Karl and Smitty, they tried to huddle together in a group. The security men tugged them apart into a single row facing the laser rifle. They looked to Karl like evolutionary predecessors to humans--like cave-men, with dark, hairy faces and broad, sloping foreheads. Their yellow eyes grew wide as the security detail backed away. Karl's heart pounded.
Smitty sighted the rifle and swept "cak-cak-cak" from left to right. Karl gasped. The aliens disintegrated as the pulsing laser struck them. Blood and gore sprayed in a wide pattern as they collapsed in a steaming, sloppy mess. "Holy shit," said Karl, softly.
"You fool," yelled the sergeant. "Turn down the amplitude!"
Smitty didn't move. The sergeant yelled again, "Smitty! What's wrong with you? Turn down the fucking amplitude!"
Smitty rocked the rifle back on its tripod so it pointed upward and called out, "Clear!" He adjusted the amplitude while the security detail cleared away the mess. They pushed the larger pieces into the trench with their rubber boots, stepping carefully in the slippery gore. "I'm sorry," said Smitty.
After a few minutes the security detail led the next group in. This time the laser stitched them delicately. They crumpled into the trench as they were hit, like dominoes, from left to right. The security men cheered and gave a thumbs-up. Smitty made no response. He sat behind the rifle clenching the butterfly grips. Karl tapped him on the shoulder, reminding him, "Clear?"
Smitty rocked the gun back. Karl called out, "Clear!" and the next group was led in. The last alien in this group was a young female. In her left arm she held a crying infant.
Smitty hesitated on the trigger. The aliens began to jabber in their own language. One of the security men yelled, "Fire!" but Smitty was frozen. The first alien ran back, pulling the others behind him, folding the row in two.
"What the hell are you waiting for?" bellowed the sergeant. "Fire!"
Smitty fired, sweeping the front row. They fell to the ground in front of the trench, dragging the back row down with them. Smitty fired again into the writhing, screaming pile. He turned up the amplitude and fired yet again, a long burst. Blood sprayed spectacularly from the smoking heap. When the gun stopped the only sound was the wailing of the infant.
"Stop it!" cried Smitty. He fired another sustained burst and the pile of gore disintegrated further. It seemed to Karl nothing could survive, yet still the infant cried.
"Stop it!" screamed Smitty. "God damn it, stop!" The security men yelled, motioning for a cease-fire, but Smitty was oblivious. He turned the cyclic rate all the way up and fired again. The gun made a loud humming sound and fired in a continuous beam that incinerated everything it touched. Smoke filled the air. Smitty continued firing blindly into the smoke, sweeping back and forth.
The sergeant bounded over and pounded on Smitty's helmet, then grabbed him by the neck, trying to pull him from the gun. Smitty held on to the handles and kept firing. At last the gun stopped, but still he clung to it, sweeping back and forth. Karl could hear him screaming inside his mask, and he could hear the infant, impossibly, still crying.
The sergeant yelled at Karl, "Baker! The power supply!"
Karl looked back and saw it smoking, leapt to his feet and yanked out the hydrogen canister.
Smitty shoved the sergeant back, tore off his own mask and disappeared into the smoke. Karl could hear him in there crying "Stop it!" over and over.
The infant continued to wail and Smitty continued to cry as the smoke cleared. One of the security men fired his assault rifle, at last silencing the infant which had fallen into the trench, out of sight. Smitty collapsed on the ground, sobbing. The MPs dragged him away.
#
When the ship at least reached cruising speed they held a service for the children who had died. The captain gave a smug eulogy, something about silver spoons and the will to live and everyone being equal now.
Tina held his hand so tightly it hurt. It was one of only two times he ever saw her cry. "Stay alive," she told him afterwards. "Promise me, no matter what, you stay alive!"
Paradise was ten years distant. As the journey wore on his fantasies of their future home became more elaborate. As he grew older Tina's role in them evolved. But she was uncomfortable when he shared this with her. "You shouldn't think like that," she told him. "I'm supposed to be your sister."
"But you aren't really," he protested.
"Please," she said. "At least wait until we get to Paradise."
After that he kept the parts about Tina to himself. The miracle planet seemed farther than ever.
#
Karl sat on the ground in the reserve area, waiting for the armorer to repair the laser rifle. Sweating inside the claustrophobic protective suit, he breathed slowly, concentrating on relaxing the way Tina had taught him.
Someone placed a hand on his shoulder. "I heard it was pretty rough this morning."
The chaplain knelt at his side. Karl recognized him from the cross on his helmet. They looked at each other through the eye-lenses of their protective masks. The chaplain had dark, piercing eyes and bushy, black eyebrows.
"Smitty cracked up," replied Karl.
The chaplain offered him a drink, a flask of whiskey with an adaptor to connect to the drinking tube on his protective mask. "Something to keep up your morale," he said.
Karl sucked a mouthful through the tube and coughed inside his mask. He sucked another.
"Easy, Son," said the chaplain.
They sat without speaking. Then the Chaplain asked, "Is Smith a good friend of yours?"
"I hardly know him," said Karl. "I'm new here. Is he going to be all right?"
The chaplain shook his head. "He was foolish to take off his mask."
"Do those people really all carry the disease?"
"Aliens," said the chaplain, sharply. "They're aliens, not people. And yes, they do. Have you ever seen a man die of Sudden Acute Neuroshock Syndrome?"
Karl shook his head.
"Well, I have. It's a terrible thing--far worse than anything you've seen today. As long as these aliens exist here, we're not safe. This planet--it's our last chance. We have to make it safe. The people on Earth are depending on us."
The chaplain paused, then asked, "How old are you, Son?"
Karl replied that he was 22. The chaplain's eyes narrowed. "That's pretty young. You must have been just a kid when we left Earth." The Chaplain eyed him suspiciously.
Karl looked away.
"Your father must be well connected. How did you end up in a Penal Company?"
"Desertion," said Karl, his anger rising. "They inducted me when we first got here. They had no right to do that!"
"Baker!" called the sergeant. "Break's over."
The chaplain stood up and started to leave, but the sergeant pulled him back by the arm. "Just a minute, Sir. Let's have that flask."
The chaplain protested, but the sergeant grabbed the flask and handed it down to Karl. "Drink that," he said. "You're going to need it. Smitty fried the power supply."
Karl's spirits lifted. Maybe that meant the operation was cancelled. But then why would he need the flask?
"Report to the lieutenant," said the sergeant. "He has a pistol for you."
Karl stared as the order sunk in.
"Baker!" said the sergeant.
"Yes, Sergeant!" he replied, and went to find the lieutenant.
To be continued...
User Reviews
Submitted by sweetcheebs (user info) at 2008-08-16 21:29:22 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by X54 (user info) at 2008-08-16 01:55:48 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Part two: http://www.ubersite.com/m/118124
Submitted by DonkeyOnTheEdge (user info) at 2008-08-15 19:07:07 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I like.
Submitted by BLITZKREIG_BOB (user info) at 2008-08-14 09:37:52 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by sexualchocolate1984 (user info) at 2008-08-14 06:24:33 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
As always mr X, a fucking winner.
more more more.
Submitted by EmissionImpossible (user info) at 2008-08-14 03:45:57 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
The good posts never get enough hits or reviews.
The rubbish posts do!
Submitted by metalbeast7 (user info) at 2008-08-13 18:05:01 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
I'll finish the rest later.
Good Job.
Submitted by Fey (user info) at 2008-08-13 15:40:05 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Gah.
Submitted by PayMeLater (user info) at 2008-08-13 15:06:50 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by X54 (user info) at 2008-08-13 14:43:24 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
TFRAT!
I'll post the rest in a day or two.
Submitted by messmind (user info) at 2008-08-13 14:23:17 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by BobSandwich (user info) at 2008-08-13 14:20:44 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Spot on.
Submitted by Poots (user info) at 2008-08-13 13:44:31 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Fucking Smitty!
Submitted by Squirrelly_Girl (user info) at 2008-08-13 11:57:56 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I demand more.
Submitted by FALLEN (user info) at 2008-08-13 11:57:37 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I like it.
more
Submitted by woolfe (user info) at 2008-08-13 08:40:55 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
alright
Submitted by EmissionImpossible (user info) at 2008-08-13 03:15:04 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I hate itallics
Submitted by Clamato (user info) at 2008-08-13 00:35:11 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I like this a lot.
Very nicely done sci-fi.
please hurry with more
Submitted by gonefiguring (user info) at 2008-08-13 00:29:34 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
This was not bad but it was hard for me to read. I'm sort of the Lowest Common Denominator for that type of test.