Rescue Mission
Chapter 6

Copyright© 2009 by Duke of Ramus

Bert charged up to the bridge as soon as the shuttle docked.

"Ma'am," he said as soon as he had the Captain's attention, "if the Sa'arm react as quickly as they did on that last hop we're going to have real problems getting anyone else off that planet."

"I believe you," replied Alice getting to her feet. "Have you got any suggestions as to what we can do to help?"

"I've no idea," said Bert honestly. "The best thing we could do would be to create some sort of diversion and then try to sneak in under cover." He shrugged and looked apologetic, "It would have been easier if we'd unlatched a couple of shuttles and carried out the evacuation in one lift, but..."

"I know," replied Alice, "hindsight is a wonderful thing but we didn't think we would be in that much of a rush, did we? We assumed we were going to be either too late to do anything to help or have plenty of time to carry out our mission."

"That's true," replied Bert nodding. "So what do we do now?"

"We're going to take out both of the out-stations with the pod bombs as soon as you reach the base," said Alice. "I'm also going to lob one of them in the direction of the Sa'arm's landing area and see if that will keep them busy."

She turned to her First Officer, "What about you, Jon, have you any ideas you wish to throw into the pot?"

"How about moving the two Galileo's?" He pointed to where Gerry was sat, "Gerry believes he can fly them remotely from up here. He wouldn't want to do anything delicate but just running them around above the surface should add to the confusion."

"That's a good idea," said Alice nodding. "Set it up and make sure they're outside the blast radius when the pods hit."

She turned to the Marine, "How long is it until you return?"

"We're going as soon as we've got the shuttle unloaded," replied Bert. "The academics know that their colleagues are hanging down there so they're basically throwing the stuff off. My guess is that it shouldn't them take more than an hour to empty the hold. The shuttle's crew is grabbing a meal now and I'm going to join them from here. We'll be back to the shuttle and ready to drop as soon as it is empty."

"Go and get your meal then Commander," said Alice. "Jon and I will see what else we can come up with in the way of a distraction for you."

Bert nodded once and retreated off the bridge.

As he left Alice grimaced towards Jon, "Remind me to get something armed added to our inventory. If we had a couple of fighters we could take a swipe at their freighter. I'm sure that would distract them."

"I'm sure it would," said Jon, "but a couple of fighters would have just been in the way for the last three years. Besides, I don't think the Navy would let you have them."

"You're probably right," admitted Alice sourly. "But there's got to be something we can add to our basic load that could serve in a dual role."

"Now that's something worth thinking about," said Jon before turning his attention back to the holograph that dominated the centre of the bridge. "In the meantime what do you want Gerry to do with these shuttles if he can get them off the ground?"

Alice cocked her head to one side, "They're armed aren't they?"

"A couple of lasers," said Jon, "nothing very impressive, I'm afraid."

"Do we know where the Sa'arm are concentrated?" asked Alice. "I seem to remember we were tracking several groups that had left the main landing site?"

"We've been following a couple of the large parties," agreed Jon and then looked happy. "You want us to attack them with the shuttles?"

"That's right," said Alice. "It doesn't matter if the attacks are effective. Whether they are or not, it should give the hive mind something else to think about. If the shuttle going to the base doesn't do anything aggressive there's a chance that they will ignore it while they deal with the attacks. Hopefully the confusion will last long enough for Commander Murray to evacuate everyone down there."

"I'll get on it," replied Jon, heading towards Gerry without waiting for a response.

Alice settled back into her command chair, it had been a long day and it hadn't finished yet, not by a long chalk.


Bert was leaning against the side of the door onto the flight deck. He'd been there as soon as they'd levelled out.

"Lets hope the Sa'arm don't have any satellites in orbit watching us," he said, half to himself.

"Unless the dickheads have started using stealth on their satellites they haven't," said the pilot without taking her eyes from the screen in front of her. Bert could just make out the wry smile that graced her face as she added, "at least that's what the AI has been telling us."

"They've not led us astray before," replied Bert, his tone hopeful rather than convinced.

"Then let's hope this isn't the first time," replied the pilot. She glanced over her shoulder, "I'd get strapped in if I was you, we're heading for the pass."

Bert nodded and headed back into the shuttle's hold. The flight plan they were following dropped them down on the far side of the polar icecap from the base and then led them along a tortuous path that they hoped would mask them from the Sa'arm ship in orbit and anything the dickheads had deployed on the ground.

The rear of the shuttle looked huge now that the academics and all of their 'essential' gear had been removed. Yvonne and David were sat near to the exit ramp looking calm. Bert was both surprised and pleased with how the two press-ganged concubines had performed so far.

The assault shuttle rock 'n' rolled its way along the twisting flight path, the pilot nervously tracking every move the auto-pilot demanded. In the back the motion was not as bad as it would have been in an aircraft made on Earth, the inertial dampers and compensators made sure of that, though they couldn't completely remove the effects of the constant changes in direction.

"Commander, we'll be reaching the base in two minutes," reported the pilot. "The pods should be hitting thirty seconds later so I'm going to keep things buttoned up until I'm sure we're not going to be caught in any blast waves."

"Roger," replied Bert though he thought the pilot was being too cautious. The two out-stations were hundreds of klicks away and the pods would only be in the megaton range. They might hear the 'bang' but that would be about it. Still it was her aircraft and an extra couple of minutes here or there wouldn't be a problem.

He held up two fingers to the concubines who nodded in understanding and then went through his own pre-landing checks.

Happy that all was well he glanced upwards and hoped that everything was going as well with the diversion as they seemed to be down below.


"On the glide path," reported Gerry quietly. No one had any difficulty hearing him. The bridge was silent as they watched the progress of the shuttle across the hologram. Above and beyond it were the three red tracks that indicated the falling pods and it was these that Gerry was referring to.

Alice sighed, attracting Jon's attention. She gave him a tight smile, "I'm just wishing we had some way of steering the pods," she said in a whisper.

Jon returned her smile, "We've done the best we can," he said. "If the powers that be aren't happy they can send the Navy here to show us how it should have been done."

"It wouldn't surprise me if the Navy is on the way already," replied Alice. She glanced around the bridge, "Even if we accomplish the task we've been given they're going to want to see for themselves."

Jon cocked his head to one side and considered what Alice had said. "You're right. Even if we destroy this moon completely and tell them that we have, they'd still check." He scowled, "Bastards," he muttered.

Alice only heard him because she was looking straight at him, "Ain't that the case," she responded.

"Thirty seconds to impact," reported the oblivious Gerry.

"Twenty ... The pod approaching the landing site is taking fire. They've got some sort of anti-aircraft weapons set up."

Gerry looked up, "They've cracked the pod," he said. "I've lost telemetry,"

"How bad is that?" asked Alice.

"It's impossible to say," said Gerry. "If they've vaporised the pod then nothing's happened. If they've simply cracked it then the bits are going to be scattered all over their landing site. The damage won't be as concentrated but it'll cause them plenty of grief."

"What about the other pods?"

Gerry glanced at his display, "They're doing fine. They're hitting ... Now!"

Jon and Alice glanced at the hologram but there was nothing to see, it was a projection, not a live image.

Gerry's hands were dancing over his console, "I've got hot spots where the two bases were." He glanced back, "Do you want me to swing the shuttles over the sites?"

"Not now," said Alice. "Use them as we planned but if they survive then try and get a few images of the bases." She grinned at Jon, "We can add them to our report."

"What about the main landing site?" asked Gerry.

"I don't want to tempt fate," replied Alice, frowning, "but see how much you can get with the shuttles after they've photographed the bases. They'll be shot down but maybe they'll get close enough for some decent pictures before they're destroyed."

Gerry nodded and turned back to his console.

"Let's hope the extraction is going to go as smoothly," said Jon.


The ramp at the rear of the craft dropped slowly, Bert was out of his seat as soon as the first hint of light showed around the edge.

"Let's do this the same as the last one," he said to the two concubines. "Stick with me to begin with and if there's no trouble join in with moving things."

David nodded and Yvonne responded with a grin, "Yes, Boss."

Bert shook his head but grinned at the pair before he headed toward the lowered ramp. Ahead of him he could see the entrance to the base but there was nobody waiting outside.

The door opened as he got close and he was relieved to see a familiar stack of packing boxes lined up, ready for loading.

"I'm Professor Bennett," said a man as soon as the Marine crossed the threshold of the base. Bert nodded and shook the outstretched hand. "Commander Bert Murray," he said in reply.

"You're ready to leave?" he added.

"Just about," replied Justin. "I thought we were ready but we discovered that the AI had a core backup that we didn't know about. We're bringing it up now." He glanced at the boxes stacked along the wall, "Other than that we're ready."

"Let's get started then," said Bert. "The shuttle's crew are ready to receive this lot, just put it down where they tell you to and they'll secure it while you come back for the next load."

"We'll leave the AI till last," said Justin. "That way we'll have power and control for as long as possible." He turned away from the Marine and waved towards a woman in the grey uniform of the Civil Service.

She returned his wave and tapped the man next to her on the shoulder. He gave her a grin and picked up the first of the boxes and headed straight for the exit. Behind him a row of people began to mimic his actions.

"Where's the AI?" asked Bert.

"We've got it in the old control room," replied the professor. "Down there and around to the right," he said pointing towards the rear of the room.

"I'll go and take a look at it," said Bert. He waved for the concubines to follow him and got out of the way of the professor and his people.

As he strode down the corridor he called up the orbiting spaceship, "Gerry, how are things looking?"

"Pretty good," came the immediate response. "The two out-stations are now craters, the pod bombs have done a superb job of obliterating them. The attack against the landing site wasn't as successful but it has caused some damage." There was a pause, "The two shuttles are just getting into position to begin attacking the dickhead concentrations we've been tracking and, as far as we can see, there is nothing heading in your direction."

 
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