Fire on the Frontline Read online

  Chapter 25

  Jeryl

  “That is the most insane thing I’ve heard all year, Captain, I shit you not,” the man on the viewscreen replied, scratching the stubble on his chin.

  “Well, that’s the only thing I can offer you, Mr. Ferguson,” Jeryl replied, waiting as the man taking over The Seeker’s CNC screen pondered on the two options Jeryl had just given him: to die, or to organize a revolution.

  “Well, shit, if that’s the way it has to be…” Ferguson continued, taking an old ragged beanie hat from inside his jacket and placing it on his head. “Then you can count on me, Captain. Get me all the information via a secure channel, and then I’ll come back to you with all the details.”

  Jeryl nodded, and Ferguson cut the comm link.

  “Do you really think is going to work, Ash?” Jeryl asked, swiveling his chair around so that he could look at Ashley. The look on her face wasn’t a confident one, but at least it showed determination. Ashley’s idea had been exactly what they needed: a way out. But just like Ferguson had put it, it was a batshit crazy idea.

  And Jeryl liked it.

  “I don’t know, Jeryl, but we have to try,” she responded, and even managed to offer him a reassuring smile. Her words weren’t that encouraging, if Jeryl had to be honest about it, but he’d grab at anything by now. If going off the rails would give all these civilians on Galea a chance at survival, then Jeryl would do it.

  “Captain, we’re receiving a data transmission from Galea,” Mary announced, and Jeryl nodded at her.

  “Send back what we have. We need to be ready,” Jeryl ordered, and then pursed his lips as his mind wandered. Less than an hour ago Flynn had contacted him, telling him that Intelligence’s directives were for The Seeker to glass Galea. Time was a scarce asset, and Jeryl would have to move fast if he wanted his plan to succeed.

  “Sir!” One of the security officers interrupted Jeryl’s train of thought, stopping right before the Captain’s chair and saluting him.

  “Yes?”

  “We have a tech on CNC. Says he was summoned here,” the security officer said.

  “He was. Bring him in,” Jeryl ordered, and the security officer snapped his heels together and walked out of the CNC.

  He returned half a minute later with a young tech in tow. The tech looked so young Jeryl doubted he’d even grow a stubble if lost on an abandoned colony, but that didn’t matter—as long as he knew what he was doing, that’d be fine.

  “Sir!”

  “At ease, Daniel,” Jeryl said, looking at his name plate. “I’ve heard that you worked on a transporter company back in New Washington?” He asked him, cutting to the chase.

  “Yes, sir. Since I was fourteen. My father owned a transporter company, and we used to do these runs back-and-forth from Alsanar whenever it was crop season in there.”

  “And the crop pick-ups, how did that work?”

  “Centralized system, sir. Operated the system quite a few times.”

  “Good, then take a look this,” Jeryl told him, putting up the information Ferguson had just sent The Seeker the information he had concerning Galea’s centralized AI. He put the schematics for the crop transport shuttles on his holographic screen. “Think you can operate it?”

  “Yeah, I think so. Doesn’t look so different from the one we used.”

  “Good. Then gear up, because you’re going to accompany a landing team.”

  “Where to?”

  “Galea,” Jeryl said, and the man’s face immediately turned white. Jeryl half-expected him to start babbling about how he wasn’t ready for the job, but the man just smiled out of the blue.

  “No need, sir. I can operate the system remotely. If you’re suggesting we hijack a system like this, we just need the landing team to jack it in. From there, I can operate it remotely,” he said, and Jeryl could almost feel the tension leaving his body as he offered his suggestion.

  “Are you sure?”

  “Positive, sir.”

  “Then assemble a team of whatever techs you need, and be ready for it. First Officer Gavin will brief you later today on the details of the mission.”

  “Yes, sir!” The man said, and then just marched out of CNC, a skip to his step. He sounded happy that the Captain himself had handed him an important mission—and even happier that he wouldn’t have to leave the ship in order to get it done. Jeryl would prefer for the tech to accompany the landing team, but all it took was one look at the guy to know that was a bad idea; he’d get in the way, end up getting shot, and ruin the whole damn mission. If operating the AI remotely was an option, then that would be Jeryl’s choice.

  “Well, that was the only thing we needed,” Ashley said, lowering her voice so that the other officers couldn’t hear them. “If that guy Daniel can pull it off, then we’re set.”

  “Have you assembled a team?”

  “Yup. We’re all set. Tira’s going to be a part of it too. That girl can kick some serious ass. What about the Sonali diplomat?”

  “He’s down,” Jeryl nodded. Convincing the Sonali to take part in high-stakes political maneuvers hadn’t been easy, but in the end they agreed. Jeryl had stopped the war between humans and Sonali, after all, and that was the least they could do. “It took some convincing, but I figured even the Sonali have a heart. Besides, I think they don’t mind sticking it to the Tyreesians and the Union at the same time.”

  “And Flynn?”

  “I haven’t told him. And I probably won’t tell him either. Intelligence doesn’t play around, and they might have even bugged his office just so they’re not blindsided. It’s better we keep this in house.”

  “Agreed.”

  “Well, fun times, huh?” Jeryl asked his wife, a mischievous smile on his lips.

  “It’d be boring otherwise,” she smiled back.

  Mentally going over the plan they had designed, Jeryl couldn’t stop one thought from crossing his mind.

  Better alive and bored, than dead and glorious. Then, he looked around the CNC, watching as all his officers operated The Seeker, a flying weapon that had cost billions of credits.

  Or, fuck it, maybe it’s the other way around.

  Chapter 26

  Jeryl

  “All set!”

  Jeryl paced back and forth anxiously, watching as all the pilots took their positions inside the Hunters. He looked at Hunter 9 for a moment, then sighed as he watched Powers climb aboard; he knew how much Ashley loved her Hunter, but this time she had to give up the reigns of her killing machine—she had a different job to do.

  “Well…” She started, coming up behind him. “See you on the other side, then?”

  “No,” he corrected her. “But I’ll see you in my bed after we’re done.”

  “Is that a promise, Captain?” she asked, a slight laugh bubbling up to her lips.

  “You bet,” he smiled, trying to hide all the anxiety that was starting to creep in. Once more, he was sending Ashley on what most Admirals would consider a suicide mission, and she wasn’t even batting an eye. Jeryl couldn’t even say if he loved her for it, or if he hated himself for his callousness.

  Perhaps it was a little bit of both.

  Either way, none of that mattered, because there was no going back. According to the last briefing he had received, riots had already started all over Galea, and now they would have to move extremely fast. The plan was already in motion, and Jeryl wouldn’t allow indecisiveness to fuck it all up.

  The first phase was a simple one. According to the plan he devised with Ferguson, one of the Galean rebel leaders, the rebel network on Galea would have to coordinate massive riots across all major towns and cities where the Udenar had set up shop – and that so all parts of the population concentrated on specific spots. After that, it’d be Jeryl’s job to lure most Udenar out of the planet as Ashley takes a landing party onto the surface.

  The Udenar would be distracted with all the riots erupting across the planet, and then it’d only be a matter of ga
ining access to the transporter’s AI system. If all went well, and the rebel network coordinated things well enough, they’d be able to load up most civilians inside the transporters, allowing Jeryl to glass the planet with no major casualties.

  Then, the fate of all these refugees would be in the hands of the Sonali.

  Using all of his diplomatic clout with the Sonali, Jeryl had managed to convince them to accept all the refugees into their territory. They’d be set up on some distant farming colony, one that the Sonali didn’t really care about, while keeping everything under wraps. Jeryl didn’t want Armada Intelligence to have any ideas and decide to axe every single civilian involved in the Galea affair. It was preferable for them to think that all Galeans were dead, and that Jeryl was a murderous maniac that wouldn’t mind glassing a colony along with its inhabitants.

  “Let’s do this,” Ashley finally said, slinging her rifle over her shoulder, and starting to make her way toward the shuttle. Her crew, Tira included, was already strapped in and waiting for her, every single member of the party armed to the teeth.

  For a moment, Jeryl almost wished he could delegate his job as a captain and just get down on the damn planet along with the others. Watching the world through the scope of a laser rifle sure would be way easier than through a myriad of screens, sensors and scanners.

  Pushing all those thoughts out from his head, Jeryl mentally ran through every single detail of the operation again as he made his way back to the CNC, making sure he hadn’t forgotten anything.

  At the CNC, all his officers were already manning their stations, ready to oversee the following phases of the operation—one that Jeryl had mentally called don’t-fuck-this-up.

  “Alright, everyone,” he started, taking his seat. “We only have one shot at this, so let’s try and make sure we get it right.”

  “Yes, sir,” everyone responded, and then they fell back into the usual hushed conversation that was a constant in any self-respecting CNC.

  “We’re ready to jump, sir,” Ferriero said, and Jeryl gave him the go-ahead, his stomach in knots.

  No turning back now, he thought, echoing his thoughts from before.

  Two minutes later and they were in Galea’s orbit. Jeryl’s heart started drumming like a war drum.

  “Hunters have been deployed, sir,” one of the ensigns replacing Tira announced, and Jeryl took a deep breath as he watched the holographic projection of Galea’s orbit, the blue dots representing the Hunters scattering in different directions.

  The plan was simple: each hunter was towing a probe, and each probe carried long-range signal transmitters that had been modified by The Seeker’s engineers. The probes would be spread around the planet’s orbit, and they’d start broadcasting hundreds of different signals, all of them representing Armada ships.

  If the Udenar bought that, their forces would be split as they fly around the planet aimlessly, trying to figure out where the hell the Union battleships are. With any luck, Galea would be evacuated by the time the Udenar figured it out.

  Of course, The Seeker would have to deal with some of the Udenar forces anyway. In order to launch the shuttle carrying Ashley’s team (and make sure she got there fast), The Seeker had to jump very close to planet—and that meant Udenar raiders were probably coming toward them already.

  “Hostiles detected, Sir!”

  “Shuttle has been launched!”

  “Probles deployed, the Hunters are circling back!”

  Jeryl took a deep breath, trying to calm himself as he processed the onslaught of information his officers were giving him. Slowly, he rose from his seat and calmly looked around the room, fully knowing that The Seeker was going to step into a battle where the odds weren’t exactly even.

  If the Udenar realized that they were falling into a trap, all of their forces would be redirected to The Seeker, and that…well, that’d be game over.

  “Not on my watch, assholes,” Jeryl mumbled as he watched the screens, dozens of blinking red dots making their way toward The Seeker.

  “Bring it on.”

  Chapter 27

  Ashley

  Ashley looked at her team. Tira was as calm as could be. She actually looked excited as she flew the shuttle through Udenar defenses, trying to get them onto Galea.

  Lout Sikevic, the big security officer, wasn’t doing so well. His face was pale, some sweat was beading on his forehead, and his knuckles were so white you could almost mistake them for being skinless.

  Adam Cartagena, the other security officer to volunteer, was doing his best not to retch all over Lout, who sat next to him on the bench. His skinny frame became even skinnier sitting next to Lout’s massive muscles.

  Stephanie Boatwright, an ensign assigned as a backup shuttle pilot, but with an extensive martial arts and weapons background, cried out a few times when Tira jerked the shuttle side to side, or when something exploded close by.

  The other three, Joseph Stut, Henry Carter, and Billy Jaxon, were experienced foot soldiers assigned to The Seeker as maintenance personnel. They specialized in hull repairs and laser rifles. They were cracking jokes with one another as Tira bounced them left and right.

  “Easy up there, Ensign, we’re supposed to make it down there without injuries or concussions,” Billy laughed. Tira responded with an exaggerated jerk to the right, bouncing Billy’s head on the shuttle walls. “Hey!” he yelled at her as he rubbed his head. Tira merely smiled, then made the shuttle do a barrel roll to avoid laser fire.

  Flying in near the atmosphere was enough to make them feel the movements of the shuttle. This made for an interesting experience for everyone, especially as Ashley tried to push the comm button. Swearing under her breath, she finally managed to click on the connection to her Hunters. “Powers. Powers, come in.”

  “Powers here.”

  “Powers, you need to get these bastards off of us, or we’ll never make it down.”

  “Ten seconds, Commander.”

  “Make it seven.” She could hear Powers laugh as he ordered Mohamed Sanchez to clear the sky for them. Ashley counted to eight before Mohamed arrived, obliterating the three Bats that were chasing them down. “You’re late, Mohamed.”

  “My apologies, Commander. I had to use the bathroom first.”

  “Number two?”

  “Diarrhea. Ma’am.”

  “You’re a sick son of a bitch, Mohamed. Go take care of those bastards, will you?”

  “As you wish.”

  She clicked off the comm and held back the laughter, but not her smile. Her Hunters were really good at what they did and had learned to joke around with one another as they grew more comfortable with each other. They flew in Jasper and Francois’ honor, and had started to take on a bit of Francois’ personality when they did. He was always smiling, always trying to make someone laugh.

  If you’re not happy, you bring down everyone around you. You must smile, always, it’s just happier that way, he used to say when someone was looking dour.

  Tira flew the shuttle down towards the tiny capital of Galea where the central AI was located in the town hall. “Should be easy getting there,” Tira said as she threw the throttle down, adding even more speed. Three seconds later, they were dodging anti-aircraft fire from the surface.

  “Did you say easy?” Billy yelled.

  “Shut up, Billy!” Tira yelled back as she dodged a missile that exploded a second later. The ground was coming up fast, missiles faster, and the laser fire even faster than that. Tira dodged all but one. One laser blast caught their aft engine, sending them in a downward spiral. Tira and Ashley both pulled back on the yoke as hard as they could, trying to balance out the shuttle and pull it up out of its nosedive.

  “Brace yourselves, we’re going to hit hard!” Ashley yelled as she tried to reroute power. They had about twelve seconds to fix this or they were going to create a decent-sized hole in the ground. Tira pulled on the controls, Ashley practically broke her console hitting buttons, and Stephanie screamed whi
le Adam yelped. Just a few hundred feet above the ground with only a few seconds left, Ashley managed to reroute power to the aft engine and Tira was able to level them out. Everyone let out a deep breath, then shouted again as the shuttle was hit from below.

  “Set this thing down or we’re gonna die.”

  Tira shoved the controls forward, adding speed, then turned it hard to the left and slammed on the brakes. She dropped the shuttle down behind a few buildings, landing between two small warehouses.

  “God damn, I think I got a frickin’ concussion, a whiplash, and bruises on top of bruises. Where the hell did you learn to fly, girl?” Billy laughed as they unbuckled.

  Ashley cut in before Billy could open his mouth again. “Tone it down and cut the chatter. Where are we, Tira?”

  “About five blocks ma’am. But the Udenar are overrunning the area. They know we’re here.”

  “Got it. Load up everyone. Billy, since you like to run your mouth, you get to be on point. Lout, Henry, you two are up next. Then it’ll be you, Joseph and Stephanie. Adam, Tira and myself will bring up the rear. Stick close, but not too close. We don’t want to be caught all together.”

  Ashley grabbed her gear, shouldered the pack Tira handed her, belted on her ammo belt loaded with grenades, and charged her laser rifle. Looking up, everyone was ready. Henry and Joseph were at the door, ready to open for Billy and Lout to head out. With a nod, they opened the shuttle doors and the eight of them started streaming out.

  They could hear Udenar soldiers in the distance, but none were close by. “As little talking as possible, and keep it to a whisper if you do. Move out,” Ashley said in a low tone. Billy took the lead, Lout and Henry a few paces behind. Stephanie and Joseph counted to three, then started after, leaving Ashley with Tira and Adam at the shuttle.

  Ashley counted to four, then motioned for them to head out. She could see Billy just ahead, motioning for Henry and Lout to follow him. They crossed a small street, staying low, and jogged past a small building.