ARMS Jebwa Atrocity Read online

  “No, but it’s a stationary target. We can shoot at it from farther away.”

  Trish frowned. “Not that far away. Anything we shoot from orbit will burn up before it makes it to the ground.”

  “Well, maybe we follow the lead of the Earthers and push an asteroid at it,” Tawn added. “Just need one big enough to make it to the surface.”

  Harris nodded. “Might not be a bad idea. Maybe Alex can run the numbers for us for that.”

  The comm chirped to life. “Colonel, Harris again. Sorry we got cut short. I have five questions to ask. With good answers we might be on our way to a solution to some of your problems.”

  “Not gonna happen right now, Harris. The Earthers are attacking in force on the ground. Been sniping our lookouts for a week. Managed an assault with little notice. Don’t know if we’ll be able to hold them off this time. We’re looking at thousands of hardcore regulars. I’ll have to catch you up later.”

  The comm closed.

  Harris looked around at the others in disbelief before turning toward the Bangor in a run.

  “We have to get out there now! Call Sharvie in! We have to get moving!”

  “Tawn followed, hustling past and into the copilot’s chair. “Not what I was expecting to hear.”

  Harris sat as the ship’s systems came to life one by one. Sharvie ran from the bunker, breathing heavily as she jumped up into the cabin. Gandy closed the hatch and the Bangor rocketed skyward, friction flames bursting from its forward surfaces as it accelerated.

  The ride to free space, followed by a jump and then the run toward Eden, would take most of ninety minutes.

  Chapter 2

  _______________________

  The Bangor slowed as it approached Eden.

  “Stealth mode is on,” Harris said.

  “I count sixty Earther ships in orbit and four personnel transports on the ground,” Tawn replied. “One sec for the bios… fourteen thousand troops on the ground. Why aren’t they using the rail cannons?”

  Harris zoomed in with a camera feed. “They are. The Earthers are threatening with the ships.”

  “We have to do something,” said Trish. “We can’t just let this happen.”

  Harris shook his head in disgust. “Best we could hope for is luring away a couple of those destroyers. Anything else would be suicide.”

  “Can’t we use the boson bomb or something?”

  “Wouldn’t do any good. That only stops wormhole travel. What we need is better shields or a better weapon.”

  Tawn watched a video feed as the Earther assault force stormed one of the dome entrances. Charge after charge was repelled. The Biomarines were holding their own against a much larger force. Harris smirked to himself as he thought about how many times before he had seen that very thing.

  Tawn said, “Must be something we can do for them… some way to get food down there. Wait… those Earther soldiers are pulling back. Looks like the assault failed.”

  Harris nodded. “Excellent.”

  Trish said, “What about the other mine sites? Don’t we have people there?”

  Harris nodded. “Two Biomarines at each.”

  “Why haven’t the Earthers attacked them?”

  “The colonel gave orders to destroy the wells if they were. My guess is the Earthers want those wells intact, so they aren’t in a hurry.”

  Tawn said, “Maybe it’s time we took that into our own hands.”

  Harris asked, “What do you mean?”

  “I mean we go in, grab the people and blow those wells. A single shot from one of our railguns would do it. We could get in and out of there before they could catch us.”

  Harris frowned as he shook his head. “Why don’t we hold that in reserve. Maybe those wells can be used as a future bargaining chip.”

  Tawn sighed. “It just burns me up to sit here and do nothing.”

  “Getting ourselves killed doesn’t help accomplish our goals.”

  A return trip to Midelon had a dejected crew filing out onto the grass in front of the bunker.

  Trish asked, “If Eden falls, will we be stuck here forever?”

  “Hardly,” said Harris. “This may be our new home base, but we aren’t stuck here. When we get the new shuttle from the pacies at Haven, you three will have the freedom to travel home if you want. This fight may have gotten far bigger than we can handle, but we aren’t giving up.”

  Gandy shook his head. “We can’t go home. We know too much about this place. Even if the DDI decided to leave us alone, it wouldn’t be until after they had pried every bit of info from our heads.”

  Trish nodded. “I agree. Don’t know that we’d be accepted back there either. Several of my close friends, even some of those that helped us restore those Banshees, were very much against whoever it was that was meddling in the affairs of Eden. I had to keep my mouth shut while they discussed it, feigning to have no opinion.”

  “We have other ways to keep this fight going,” Tawn said. “We can pirate their shipping lanes and maybe even figure out a way to attack their shipyards. Anything where we can work autonomously to do hit-and-runs.”

  Gandy smiled. “Pirates. I like the sound of that.”

  Over the next several days, the offices of Bannis Morgan were raided. No evidence of any wrongdoing was found. His powerful connections persuaded others to drop any further investigations. Several political bridges were been burned as a result, but elderly industrialist walked free.

  A trip to the Retreat was made and saw Bannis Morgan’s shuttle parked on the tarmac. Trish, Gandy, and Sharvie stayed on the ship as Tawn and Harris made the hop to the colonel’s home, where Bannis was staying. A small transport deposited the Biomarines on a concrete pad a short walk from the colonel’s main house.

  Tawn’s head turned from side to side as she walked toward the grand entrance with Harris next to her. “This place is beautiful. Check out the stonework on that wall.”

  “The colonel built much of this himself,” Harris nodded. “I mostly like the creek under the bridge up here. Makes it look like a moat.”

  The duo stopped in front of a four-meter-tall steel door. A welcome station sat to the left. They pressed a button and a video image of Bannis appeared.

  “Thanks for coming. Come in. Take the hall to your right. I’m in the room at the end.”

  Several locks on the steel door clanged as it slid partly open. Harris pulled on the handle as Tawn walked in from just beside him. Digital video renderings of various warships dotted the stone-covered walls of the hall. Arched ceilings loomed five meters above.

  As they walked into the colonel’s study, an apparent change in gravity had them off-balance.

  Harris said, “Standard grav in here?”

  Bannis nodded. “It’s adjustable in this room and several others. The colonel thought he might have the occasional guest from Domicile, and as a result the need to have a room where they would be comfortable. It’s set just above standard.”

  Tawn nodded. “Does feel like Domicile. Eden was a little on the light side. Impressive home he has here.”

  Bannis Morgan stood beside a bookshelf. “His collection of written works is outstanding. I’ve been a collector for years and don’t have anything like this.”

  Harris said, “We saw your shuttle at the tarmac. Sorry we caused you such a mess back home. You out here on the lam?”

  Bannis waved his hand as he responded. “No, no. You aren’t to blame for any of that. We are where we are because of the Earthers. I’m here because the colonel wanted me to look over his gravity system.”

  “That the only reason you’re here? Seems that could have been discussed over a comm.”

  “I’m also here deciding whether or not to build a dome. We have all the materials, and given the imminent collapse of our dome building company, I’ll be able to scoop up much of what we have for a small percentage of the value. Investors will be thrilled to get at least a portion of their credits back.”

 
Bannis gestured for the others to have a seat as he sat at the colonel’s desk. “The colonel asked me out here to have a look at his gravity enhanced rooms. And to try to persuade me we could do this to an entire dome. It would be a game changer. And not only here.

  “There are three worlds in our space that have no inhabitants because of the gravity situation on each. Trophe VI, for instance, has a high quality atmosphere, plenty of water, and an otherwise very livable environment. But with gravity at 18 percent over standard, that leaves it barren of regulars.”

  Tawn nodded. “Interesting. So you would build domed cities with their own gravity?”

  Bannis smiled. “Humans are able to tolerate about 6 percent over without major issue. We build a dome and run it at plus 6 percent and suddenly it’s not such a leap for inhabitants to go out into the high gravity. Much like standard gravity to going outside here. Tolerable, just not livable. You Bios have the advantage of denser bones and muscles that allow you to adapt. For geezers like me, that adaptation will never happen.”

  “So you’d use this place as your model for building domes on high gravity worlds?” Harris asked.

  “Exactly. The plants out here don’t care. The water doesn’t care. Even the native animals don’t care. Not that we’re advocating moving regulars out here to live among you Bios, but with this technology we could do just that.”

  “Interesting,” Harris said.

  Bannis leaned forward. “Now, imagine a planet with plus 20 percent gravity. We build a few domes and defend them like we did those on Eden. What human force would be able to land and effectively fight in that sort of environment? The Eden scenario wouldn’t happen.”

  “So why not build on one of those planets to start with?” Tawn asked. “Why build here?”

  “We built here to protect you Biomarines. Having to fight in this gravity would be overwhelming for any regular Human in only a few hours’ time. If they came here, camped, and had time to prepare their bodies, they might be ready to fight in six months.”

  Harris said, “Why come here and camp? Couldn’t they just turn up the gravity on their transport ship for six months?”

  “Hadn’t considered that.” Bannis sat back. “I suppose it is possible. Anyway, our main reason for building a dome here is for the protection of your citizens. I would be providing the materials. The Bios would supply the labor.”

  “How will you protect the dome?”

  “We plan on building a number of those rail cannons we had on Eden.”

  Tawn winced. “Won’t the DDF and the politicians be all over you for that? Those are major weapons. Much more powerful than a repeating plasma rifle. Won’t they shut you down?”

  “I’ll ask you not to repeat this,” said Bannis, “but the colonel plans to eventually secede from the Union of Planets.”

  “Can he do that?”

  “It’s possible under the Domicile constitution. If a planet can show that it’s self-sustaining, and that 95 percent of its inhabitants want to strike out on their own, they can do so, if they are not considered a physical threat to the union or her other colonies.”

  “Didn’t know it was even possible.”

  “The inhabitants of Bella III have been pushing for that since the Great War came to a stop. Best they’ve been able to accomplish is a 78 percent vote. The bar is set intentionally high.”

  Harris chuckled. “Aren’t we kind of missing the whole self-sustaining part? We don’t grow enough food here to feed everyone.”

  Bannis nodded. “At the moment that is true. We can’t. But we’re working on it. This planet has five large bodies of water. Those waters are inhabited by native species. We’re setting up teams to investigate the fishing prospects. We’ll also be bringing several small herds of boglers here. They’re adaptable creatures. This planet has ample grassy plains for them to feed and grow strong on.

  “And in the interim we plan on inking a deal with the pacifists at Haven. They will have a surplus of food in only a few short months.”

  “That will all take money,” said Tawn. “We were generous with the credits we gave the foundation, but that hardly seems enough for something like this.”

  Bannis crossed his arms. “I plan to contribute, but you’re right. It isn’t enough. I’ll be hitting up my friends and associates to provide whatever assistance they can.”

  Harris raised a finger. “We might be able to help.”

  “We don’t have that kind of money.” Tawn shook her head.

  Harris smiled. “We do in fact. We have the funds confiscated from the Earthers.”

  Bannis tilted his head to one side. “What Earthers?”

  Harris took in a long breath. “Turns out our handlers weren’t from the DDI. They were Earthers posing as the DDI. You know the real DDI. Our people were fakes.”

  “So what happened? You rob a bank or something?”

  Harris grinned. “Actually? Yes. We hacked their accounts and stripped out their credits. We have a good stockpile available if we need it. This sounds like it might be a worthy cause.”

  Morgan sat forward. “I heard about this. My people said there was a roundup of more than two hundred Earther agents and sympathizers. Very hush-hush. How were you able to pull that off?”

  “You have to have friends. And please don’t divulge this to anyone, even to your most trusted associates, that it was us. I’d like to protect those responsible.”

  Bannis stood and then sat on the front of the colonel’s desk. “I have it on good authority the DDI and DDF are pressuring the politicians to reverse their stance on Eden. They want it to go back to being neutral. And they are trying to use the unwrapping of this network of spies against the Earthers for just that purpose. I’d call it a long-shot, but we might get the mines on Eden shuttered for both parties if that were to happen.”

  “Won’t happen,” said Harris. “The Earthers will threaten immediate war and the pacifists will cave. Just a hint of that threat is why they abandoned us.”

  Bannis asked, “What kind of funding do you have available?”

  Harris shrugged. “Would a hundred million credits help?”

  “It would more than help. It would fund the entire project.”

  Tawn said, “We can’t promise those credits are available. Best we can do is say that we’ll try to make it happen.”

  Harris stood and began to pace the room. “I have a few other things to ask. Right now we are being hunted by the DDI over the little mix-up we had at the warehouse. Any chance of getting all charges dropped? Would make our efforts easier if we were allowed to return home.”

  “I’ll check into it,” said Bannis. “Given the fact the Earther network was uncovered, I would say makes it difficult. You had a connection to those people which would keep you high on their lists. However, if it were known that it was you who uncovered them, that might go a long way toward clearing your names.”

  Harris shook his head. “Can’t reveal that for a couple reasons. First is we promised to protect those who helped us. Second is we would lose the funds we potentially have available to us. Our freedom on Domicile isn’t worth either of those.”

  After the conversation had passed an hour of discussion, Bannis asked, “How long were you on-planet before getting here?”

  Tawn replied, “Five minutes. We basically came straight over. Why?”

  “I don’t think we have any spies among the slugs and stumps here at the Retreat, but it’s possible. If someone were to hop a ship up to free space and open a comm wormhole to Domicile, the DDI could have a ship here in about ninety minutes. You’ve been over an hour. Might be time to go. I’ll ask the colonel’s second to keep watch for any incoming ships after you leave. That should tell us if we have spies among us.”

  Tawn stood. “Let’s get going, honcho.”

  “Honcho? What’s that supposed mean?”

  Tawn shrugged. “Dunno. Heard it in a movie once. I think it was an old Earth word. Don’t have any other reference to it.
Just sounds funny to say.”

  Harris returned a curious look. “I definitely think some of you slugs were mis-wired at the factory.”

  Tawn chuckled. “Yeah, I’ll take that with a grain of salt since it’s coming from such a titan of comedy.”

  A short ride, followed by a wormhole jump, had the team back at Midelon. When the hatch opened, Farker raced out the door, disappearing into the bunker.

  Chapter 3

  _______________________

  Sharvie walked toward the bunker door. “If anyone needs me, I’ll be inside.”

  Trish and Gandy followed.

  Harris asked, “Where you going?”

  Gandy looked over his shoulder. “Gonna answer some questions to see if we can move up a level.”

  Harris turned to Tawn with a half-hearted frown. “Guess it wouldn’t hurt us to join them.”

  Tawn shook her head. “I think that’s too big a crowd. Besides, shouldn’t we be checking on our shuttle at Haven? If it’s not there, it should be on its way.”

  Harris smirked. “The dog’s inside the bunker. We aren’t going anywhere.”

  “We should ask Alex what happens if we just up and head out from here. From the outside they can’t get in. Will it let us out?”

  Harris gestured toward the bunker door. “Uh, I believe he already said we can leave at sub-light speed. Just can’t come back without Farker.”

  The team was soon standing in front of the table in the main room. Harris stood to the side as Gandy and Tawn looked over Trish’s shoulder.

  Gandy said, “Can we communicate with Sharvie through you while she is in there?”

  Alex replied, “I am allowed to relay an important message. Any other contact is not allowed.”

  Gandy turned. “We need to figure out how to get in there.”

  Harris chuckled. “I’ve given up on trying to force it. If it happens it happens.”

  “Alex, are there any group questions you could ask that would improve our positions?” Tawn asked.

  “Yes.”

  Harris laughed. “Well, can you ask us then?”