Chapter 2

The following characters appear through out the story:

Hanson, Robert J.

Marine Sergeant, 5’-10’’ tall, 165 pounds, 28 years old, very short brown hair, blue eyes.

Epps

Marine Lance Corporal, 5’-11’’ tall, 160 pounds, 22 years old, short black hair, brown eyes

Tyler

Army Sergeant, Military Policeman, 5’-9’’ tall, 165 pounds, 27 years old, short blond hair, gray eyes

“All right, let’s get this operation organized. We need to leave here quickly, since we don’t know how fast those who launched those missiles are able to move. We also don’t want to be here if there is an explosion from the fire in the shuttle. All junior NCOs report to me,” I called out. The Marine Sergeant and an Army Sergeant hurried over to me.

“What is the weapons and ammunition situation?” I asked the Marine Sergeant whose name was Hanson.

“We have weapons for everyone, but not more than a couple of hundred rounds for each weapon,” he told me. “We also got most of the survival rations out of the shuttle before the smoke got too thick,” he added.

“Good job,” I told him before turning to the Army Sergeant whose shirt said his name was Tyler.

“How many people do you have and what are their specialties?” I asked him.

“I have twelve including myself. I’m an MP, two are Medics and are treating the pilot as best they can, two more are Infantrymen, but the remainder are clerks and personnel types,” he told me.

“Do any of you have backpacks?” I asked.

“Yes, we all have backpacks, but most of them are full of clothes and personal items,” he told me.

“They may have to dump some of their things to carry the rations and any extra ammunition. Get them together and determine what they can carry. I’ll check with the medical people. Have all of you received the planetary briefing?” I asked.

“We all received it on our PDUs, but I don’t know how many actually read it or understood it,” Tyler told me.

“Check that out,” I told him before turning back to Hanson.

“Did you and the other Marine receive the planetary briefing?” I asked.

“No Top, we arrived on the heavy cruiser ‘Benjamin Franklin’ several days ago with three destroyers. Most of our Company is on the Franklin with a reinforced squad on each of the destroyers. We were picked for shuttle guard duty this morning and weren’t supposed to leave the shuttle,” he told me.

“Okay, stick close to my Team and don’t eat or drink anything that we don’t. There are some things here that will kill you. There are also some large lifeforms that still survive in the jungles and mountains here that are very dangerous.

“Give Tyler a hand with his people and get ready to move out. I’ll send our Partners out to scout ahead of us and then check on the pilot. We need to be ready to move out of here in five minutes,” I told him.

“Luther,” I called then, and he moved up to me from checking on Bob and Susie.

“What’s up?” he asked.

“How is Bob? We need to get out of here, and I wanted to send Bob and Susie out to check the way ahead of us.

“Bob is better but may not be 100%. He bounced around a lot during the crash,” Luther told me. “He can move though.”

“All right, what’s Miranda doing?”

“She’s using the GPS device to figure out where we are. She got it from the survival pack before she gave it to the Medics,” he told me, as Miranda approached us.

“Where are we?” I asked.

“We’re some twelve hundred miles from the capital, but only about sixty miles from a settlement named ‘Farout’,” she told us with a giggle.

“At least we’re on the same continent as the capital,” Luther said.

“Actually, we aren’t,” she told Luther. “There is a body of water some four hundred miles wide that separates the two land masses,” she told him.

“Wonderful!” Luther said in a frustrated voice.

“Which direction do we need to move in?” I asked her.

“More or less east from here,” she told me pointing in the correct direction.

“All right, get the Partners ready to go. I’m going to check on the pilot,” I told them.

“How is he?” I asked when I reached the two Medics.

“Not too bad, Top,” the one answered. “He has a lot of bruises from the restraints, and something hit him in the head and knocked him out during the crash, but it doesn’t look like he has a concussion,” the Medic told me.

“Can he move? We need to leave here soonest,” I told them.

“He may need someone to stay with him for a while to watch him, but he should be able to walk,” the senior Medic told me.

“Okay, get him ready to go, and the two of you stay with him to ensure that he is all right,” I told them.

“When are we leaving?” the other Medic asked.

“As soon as I get everyone lined up. You can bring up the rear,” I told them. “If you have any problems, send word forward, and we’ll see what we can do,” I added.

“Fall out people, we are moving out,” I called, as I moved back toward the Partners who were up and ready to move out.

“What about Samson?” Luther asked as I approached him.

“Let’s move out of here first to get away from the shuttle. When we find an opening in the canopy for him to fly out of, you can release him. We don’t have a camera for him to use though,” I told him to a smile from Luther.

“We don’t have an issue camera, but I picked up a small civilian unit while on leave. He can carry that, but it doesn’t have a long range, not more than two miles or so,” he told me.

“Fine, let’s move out. Start Bob and Susie and I’ll join you as soon as I get the others moving,” I told him.

Sergeant Hanson and his partner, a Lance Corporal named Epps, were the lead element of the main group presently.

“Can you have Epps take the position of rear guard when we move out. I’ll see about replacing him with one of the Infantrymen after an hour or so,” I told him.

“Sure Top,” he agreed, and Epps stepped out of line. I moved over to Sergeant Tyler, as I was unhappy with the look of his people.

“Listen up,” I called, and they turned to look at me. “Since most of you are not familiar with the everyday use of weapons, I want all of you but Sergeant Tyler and the two Infantrymen to place your weapons on safe and leave them there unless told specifically by an NCO to do otherwise. Carry them slung on your shoulders. Do not point them at anyone or anything, and especially not our Partners. If I see you pointing a weapon at a Partner, I will kill you. This is the only warning that you will receive,” I told them. Several looked chagrined by this warning.

“Move out in a double staggered formation, keeping four paces between individuals,” I finished.

Bob and Susie had already moved out with Luther and Miranda following them at about a hundred feet or so. I joined Hanson for a short time who was another hundred feet or so behind Luther and the scouts before moving up to join them.

The jungle was very thick, and we needed to weave through it like a snake to avoid all of the trees, bushes and vines. It was difficult to make any speed in it. We had been moving for an hour or so before we came to an area where we could release Samson to get an aerial view of our surroundings. I called a halt as we moved into the small clearing that we had reached.

“Get Samson ready to fly while we take a break,” I told Luther. Samson was soon ready, and Luther held out his arm so he could take flight. He flew up above the trees and disappeared.

“Have him fly a scouting pattern,” I told Luther before moving back to check on the troops and the pilot. Hanson was fine which I would expect for a Marine. Tyler was listening to some bellyaching.

“Quiet!” I told them in a loud voice before addressing Tyler. “Send your two Infantrymen back to check the rear approaches. One of them can take tail-end-Charlie in place of the Marine. Replace him with the other man at the next stop,” I told him, before going back to check on the pilot. The two Medics were still with him, but he looked better than he had previously.

“How are you doing, sir?” I asked.

“Good enough for having been shot down. What about Johnson?” he asked.

“Was he the copilot? He didn’t make it. He was impaled by a large tree limb,” I told him, but had no more than finished when there was a large explosion in the area behind us.