Chapter 8

Much to the relief of the team, the Phoenicians had gotten a fresh water distribution system set up for the people on Oahu in anticipation of their annexation. This allowed them to take much needed showers. Sophie was toweling her short hair dry and looking forward to some private time with Kyle and Linda as she stepped out of the shower.

The very pair who had just been in her thoughts were apparently of the same mind as they stood, half dressed, kissing and fondling each other. Smiling, Sophie let her mind play over the events of the past few days and felt a warm sense of satisfaction that she had never had before at the end of a mission. No one had been killed, nothing blown up, and a new alliance was budding between the three groups who occupied the islands.

She had read every book she could find at SOCOM on martial history and war, and it seemed to her that this was the ultimate goal of a soldier - to bring about peace. Certainly, diplomacy was usually left to others more skilled in its application, but Phoenicians had been trained since birth to adapt and to synthesize solutions that best fit the problem at hand, and Sophie felt certain that her father would approve.

For a change, the memory of her father brought only a warm glow of fond remembrance instead of the anxiety and uncertainty that usually came with those memories, and Sophie wanted to savor the moment. She was not given the respite, however, as a commotion suddenly arose outside the community shower.

Hurriedly completing the task of getting dressed, she and Kyle and Linda rushed out to find out what was going on. Ku'uaki, Wyndham, Wright, and June Hammerschmidt were listening to the excited exposition of one of Ku'uaki's men.

"Thank god your team hasn't left yet, Captain," Wyndham said as the three of them joined the group. "Perhaps you should tell her what's going on, your highness."

"It seems that a fleet of twenty or more large boats approached Maui from the south about an hour after we left," Ku'uaki said. "When one of our fishing canoes approached to find out what was going on, they were fired upon with what appeared to be a nineteenth century cannon. The fleet appeared to be headed for Maui, so when the fishermen landed to give warning, these men were dispatched to find me. I must return at once!"

"Take five minutes, Ku'uaki," Sophie said. The King had never stood on ceremony with her, and she didn't see any need to start now. "Would you like to request Phoenicia's help to repel this attack?"

"Phoenicia's help comes at a price," Ku'uaki said. "I do not know if we can afford to pay what you will ask."

"This is no time for contracts, King," Sophie replied. "When the fighting's over, you can sit down with the Phoenician representatives and discuss what our help is worth to you. At the moment, your people, armed with spears and clubs, are already engaged in fighting an enemy that has, at a minimum, cannon. If this is the Murphy character that Wright told us about, he has other firearms, as well. I ask you again: Do you want our help?"

Ku'uaki gave her a long, appraising glance, then nodded once.

"Okay, since this is not officially part of my mission," Sophie continued brusquely, "I'll need to ask for volunteers from my team. Meanwhile, you've just spent the afternoon forging an alliance with June, here and Wright, over there. This might be a good time to test the strength of that alliance. Sergeant, round up the team. Lieutenant, you're with me. Colonel, I'm going to need the fastest boat you've got that can hold my team."

As the four fell into discussion, Kyle headed off to find the rest of the team members. Sophie, her mind racing with tactics, available assets, timelines, and terrain, failed to notice the glower that Colonel Wyndham shot her way as she headed off to meet with her team.

Many of the platoon had already gathered to see what the commotion was about. A few were in pursuit of intimate congress with some of the unattached men and women of Oahu under the palms at the edge of the beach, while the rest swam or enjoyed the warm Pacific waters. Kyle's booming voice soon had all of them rounded up, awaiting Sophie's word.

"Okay, listen up!" she addressed them. "We've completed our mission, and the plane to take us back to the mainland will be here in a couple of hours. Problem is, the people of Maui are under attack by a force equipped with better weapons than they possess. They are not under our protection, but have asked for our help. I'm going, but I can't order any of you to go with me, so I'm asking for volunteers."

Feliz and Rojas passed a look between them, then around at the rest of the platoon. Feliz returned his gaze to Sophie. "It's real nice that you got us through this mission without killing a bunch of people who didn't deserve it, Cap, but we didn't go through L9 to learn how to be diplomats. We came here to fight and it don't matter whether it's the fight we came for or not. This is what we trained for, so bring it on!"

He was greeted by a chorus of cheers from the others. Sophie watched them proudly for a moment, wondering if this was how her mother had looked at her. They were a damned good platoon. The best Phoenicia had, and that was saying something.

"Okay, on the quay in fifteen, I hope you didn't forget your rebreathers," she told them, her heart swelling with pride at the businesslike way they set about preparing for the mission.

"The information we have is sketchy," she told Linda, as the two of them set about checking and re-packing their own gear. "From the course they were on, it looked to the fishermen like the invaders intended to land somewhere in the vicinity of the old town of Kihei, not far from where we boarded the canoes. They might even hit that village, first. They won't want to leave the cannon on the ships by the time they get to the king's valley, though, since those will be a big part of their advantage. Once they've taken the village, or pounded it into rubble, they'll either have to sail around to Kahului and offload there, or haul those cannons across the isthmus to attack the main village in the Iao valley. If Ku'uaki's people have any sense, they'll hole up in that valley and fight from the high ground. I wish we had better intel, but this operation is going to be a guessing game until we're on the ground. What I want us to do is find the fleet and see if we can sink at least some of the ships - preferably with as many of this guy's assets on board as possible. That will cut them off from their supply base, and we can go ashore and clean up the rest."

"Aren't you forgetting something, Captain?" Linda injected, the use of her rank in private conversation jarring Sophie to attention.

"What?" she asked, puzzled. "What am I forgetting?"

"You may have been right to lecture Colonel Wyndham about letting these people get hold of his weapons, but he's still the senior officer here."

From anyone else, that would have stung, but the way Linda said it, it was just her friend keeping her from making a bonehead mistake.

Sophie squeezed her lover's shoulder briefly and replied, "Thanks, sweetie. You keep saving my bacon, don't you?"

"I love your bacon, dear," Linda said, patting her on the side - the part which, on a pig, produced the cut of meat that was made into bacon. Her hand slid further south to squeeze one of Sophie's buttocks. "I love your ham even more," she whispered.

"I'm not sure I like being the pig in this metaphor, Linda," Sophie laughed.

"Hey, you started it!" Linda grinned as they set off to find Colonel Wyndham.

The Colonel was still in conversation with Wright, the king, and June Hammerschmidt.

Sophie came to attention and saluted him as she approached. "My apologies, sir. In the heat of the moment I overstepped the bounds of my authority. What are your orders?"

Wyndham looked in Sophie's direction, then turned back to the others. "Would you excuse us for a moment, please?" he asked.

Turning away from the group, he jerked his head at Sophie, "Walk with me, Captain."

Sophie fell in beside him.

Once they were well away from the others, Wyndham said, "I know your service record and your family history, Captain. You have served Phoenicia loyally and brought honor to your father's memory. I think, though, that the military has only been a vehicle for you to pursue some sort of personal quest. I don't know if I understand that, but having lost my own father before I was born, I can sympathize. I also concede your point about not sharing our technology with others. All that said, however, you need to remember that I have earned my rank, just as you have earned yours. I need your team on this operation and this is not the time to quibble over protocol, but it would serve you well to remember that every officer in Phoenicia's military has earned his or her rank in battle and deserves your respect."

"Yes, sir," Sophie answered sheepishly. "My First Lieutenant just reminded me of that. Again, sir, I apologize. It will not happen again."

Wyndham gave her a penetrating stare, but, finding no irony in her face or her tone, continued. "We'll let it slide this time Captain. I understand that your teams are accustomed to working autonomously, so I'll give you a little leeway. Frankly, I could use your advice. This promises to be the kind of warfare for which your team trained. Almost any sort of land battle, even a skirmish at sea, I can handle, but I don't know either your capabilities or anything about the enemy. Any suggestions?"

He did not question Phoenicia's obligation to provide military aid to an established settlement that requested it. That went without saying, and Sophie reminded herself that, whatever their difference of opinion about weapons in the hands of non-Phoenicians, he was still a Colonel in the Phoenician Army. Phoenicia was not given to handing out rank to the privileged. It had to be earned.

"I would suggest, sir, that you send my team in first to do some recon. We'll get intel on the enemy's strength and disposition, and report back by encrypted radio, then see what we can do to reduce his battle effectiveness before he lands. You, Wright, and Ms. H will lead ground forces, and my team will do anything that needs to be done in the water. Wright's people might be a little late for the battle, since they'll have to go to Kahoolawe to get the rest of their people. If I'm guessing right, after pounding the western village on Maui today, the enemy will sail around the southern end of the island and anchor offshore east of Ku'uaki's village. They won't want to lug those cannons overland, where they'll be subject to ambush by the king's forces. Since they have superiority in technology and weapons, but aren't likely to have anything that gives them an advantage in the dark, I think they'll wait until dawn to start their attack. The sun will be down by the time we reach Maui, and that will let the two of you land your people under cover of darkness and take up positions to help defend the village. My team will do it's best to keep the ships and cannon from being an advantage for the enemy. I'd suggest that Wright land his people on the western side of the island, if the enemy isn't in the way, and hike across to the king's valley under cover of darkness. If the enemy still has a presence on the west coast, then they should sail around the southern end of the island and land somewhere south of the old town of Kahului. If you send one of your guys with them, he can keep them in touch by radio."

"That sounds reasonable for a 'most likely' scenario," Wyndham nodded. "If we get there and find a different situation, we'll have to play it by ear. We've got a couple of ethanol powered Zodiacs that should run circles around anything the scavs have. Between the two of them, they should handle your platoon nicely. You need drivers?"

"We'll take care of that," Sophie replied. It would cut her platoon's strength down to have to man the boats, but if they had to do any fancy maneuvering, she needed somebody at the controls who at least understood the way her teams worked.

"All right, let's do a comm check and you can take off," Wyndham told her. "Your call sign is 'Mako'. I will be 'Tiger'. Wright will be 'Manta'. The King and Ms. Hammerschmidt won't have radios but I will refer to them as 'Orca', and 'Leopard' respectively."

"Roger that," Sophie replied, snapping a salute which Wyndham returned. She thought the call sign protocol a little over the top, given that they were using encrypted radios, but it never hurt to be a little paranoid, especially when there was still a lot of usable pre-sickness technology to be found, and you never knew when somebody might get some of it working.

The return trip to Maui was much faster than that to Oahu, thanks to the fast little boats. These were Sillyvale manufactured copies of the pre-Sickness variety, but it was easier to call them by the brand name used before the sickness than some descriptive name such as "Rigid-hulled Inflatable Boat." The people from Sillyvale just called them 'RIBs' but the old-timers at L9 had gone with the pre-sickness name, so Zodiac it was.

It was a fairly calm night, but the trade winds kicked up enough of a chop to bounce the hull around under them as they skimmed across the swells. Sophie decided to swing down the east coast of the island of Maui first, and find a way to get Ku'uaki ashore. That had not been part of the original plan, but he convinced them that he needed to let his people know what was happening and see to their defenses.

As they swung southeast, they cut the boats' speed so the motor sounds wouldn't carry as far. There were no ships anchored off the ruined city of Kahului, and the team was able to beach the boat carrying Ku'uaki alongside the villagers' fishing canoes. Rojas went ashore with the King to act as comms and liaison with the villagers.

Once beyond the surf, the boats once more turned southeast. They had not gone far when they spotted lights bobbing on the waves. Easing off on the throttles, the boats slipped closer to the lights, but stayed between them and the shore to minimize the chances of being spotted.

The lights soon resolved into a clumsy flotilla of sailing vessels. Most, if not all, were pre-sickness hulls, some with jury-rigged masts and sails. These tended to slip sideways as they tacked, since they weren't equipped with keels that would stabilize them in a cross-wind. It was, in part, the clumsiness of these makeshift sailboats that slowed the fleet, but it was pretty clear that sailing was not a well developed skill for most of those piloting the boats. Most had been pleasure craft before the Sickness, since there had been almost no military or commercial sailing ships still in use.