Trident Fury (The Kurgan War Book 3) Page 10

  “What do you think of the people we were given?”

  “They’re eager enough. Like my father said, we go with what we have, or they would have sent a Special Forces team to do this assignment.”

  Cole scrunched up his face. “Special Forces . . . bah! Just more prancing prima donnas like the parade ground soldiers in the First Div. I’d rather go with what we have than be forced to rely on people living off a reputation earned a century ago.”

  Sheridan set his knife and fork down. “I take it by that little tirade that you don’t like them.”

  “Sir, a few years back we had some working with us during an armed stand-off with some disgruntled miners on a mining colony, and they only made things worse. Rather than just simply wait the miners out, they launched a raid, unbeknown to the rest of us, to capture the leader of the rebels. It was a complete and utter disaster. When their extraction transport developed engine problems, we had to go in and rescue a team of special operators trapped in a building that was surrounded by a couple hundred really pissed off miners. When the dust settled that night, we had lost six men, and the miners considerably more. It left a sour taste in my mouth that has never gone away.”

  “Perhaps they’ve changed. I’m sure they had to answer to the chain of command for what went wrong.”

  Cole chuckled. “You can put lipstick on a pig, but when all it is said and done, you’re still left with a pig. Sorry, sir, but I don’t trust them and never will.”

  “Good to know,” said Sheridan, wishing he had never mentioned them at all.

  A female voice announced over the ship’s intercom, “Captain Sheridan, Master Sergeant Cole, please report to the briefing room immediately.”

  Sheridan glanced down at his watch. They weren’t scheduled to meet with anyone. “I wonder what that’s all about?”

  “I dunno,” replied Cole standing up. “I suspect that the good Captain Killam wants to talk to us about something.”

  “This isn’t fair. I didn’t get to eat my spaghetti. It’s my favorite.”

  “Duty calls. You can always grab a bite to eat later if you’re still hungry.”

  A couple of minutes later, they walked into the briefing room. Sheridan saw right away that the people there had not taken a moment’s rest since they began planning the operation. Half-drunk cups of coffee and junk food wrappers were everywhere. Captain Killam had a couple days’ growth on his face and looked as if he could sleep for a week. By his side was Lieutenant Colonel Kimura. They appeared to be deep in discussion.

  “Sir, you wanted to see us?” said Sheridan to Killam.

  “Ah, good, you’re here. That didn’t take long.”

  “We were in the mess hall.”

  Killam placed a hand on Sheridan’s arm. “Let’s all find a quiet corner so I can tell you what’s up.” They moved to the back of the crowded room. Killam looked over and asked a couple of people standing nearby to take a five-minute break.

  Sheridan could see that something was on the operation officer’s mind.

  “Captain, if I were to ask you, how soon can you depart?” asked Killam.

  Sheridan looked over at Cole. “No more than a couple of hours. I think we’re just waiting on a few things from the quartermaster.”

  “Like what?” queried Kimura.

  “The night vision gear we received was damaged, and I still want an armorer to check the new arrivals’ weapons before we depart. I wouldn’t want them to fail in the middle of a firefight,” explained Cole.

  “Not a problem. I’ll have the equipment you need flown over to the Colossus within the hour, along with an armorer.”

  “Thanks, sir.”

  “Captain Killam, I take it that you want us to go early?” said Sheridan.

  Killam nodded.

  Kimura explained the situation. “Gents, Colonel White, the ground assault force commander for the mission, is concerned that forty-eight hours on the ground won’t be enough. He’s asked that you go as soon as possible.”

  Sheridan looked down at his watch. “If everything runs smoothly, I think we can leave three hours from now.”

  Kimura looked relieved. “That’s excellent news. I’ll pass that along to Colonel White. I know he’ll be happy to hear that.”

  Sheridan said to Killam. “Sir, the original plan was for the shuttle to be carried on board another ship with the rest of the task force to the halfway point. Once there, we were to fly the rest of the way there on our own. We can’t possibly make it to Klatt from here on our own power.”

  “The plan’s changed. A modified transport ship will be here soon enough to take your shuttle into Kurgan space. You’ll be using the same route as Colonel Wright and his team. By the time you reach the asteroid field, you should be receiving feed from the satellites currently being positioned in orbit by Wright. Hopefully, it’ll help you choose your landing site on Klatt.”

  “Once you’re there, you can relay information back to the fleet via the satellites,” explained Kimura.

  “I guess we had best get our butts in gear if we’re to shove off in a few hours,” said Cole.

  Sheridan asked, “Gents, do either of you have anything else for us?”

  “No, except to say good luck,” replied Killam offering his hand.

  “Thanks, sir,” said Sheridan, shaking Killam’s hand.

  In the hallway, Cole looked over at his friend and shook his head. “Sir, I didn’t want to say anything in front of the two senior officers, but changing the plan on the fly, as complicated as this one is, is a good way for things to cock up. We haven’t had the time to see what our people can do under stress. This is unlike anything we have ever done before. A couple more days would have been ideal.”

  “I agree but what can we do? If I were in Colonel White’s shoes, I’d also be screaming for intelligence on the enemy dispositions.”

  “Oh well, once more unto the breach. I guess I’ll go round up the rest of the Marines while you track down the flight crew. Knowing those two, they’ll be in the officer’s mess already.”

  “God, I hope they haven’t started drinking. We need them sober and fully alert.”

  “I guess you had best find out.”

  The last thing Sheridan needed right now was a couple of drunks. If they were in the mess, there was going to be hell to pay.

  Chapter 15

  “Get out of bed and form up in two ranks out here,” hollered Travis as he flicked on the lights in the cavern.

  Tarina groaned, rolled over, and sat up. The bright lights bothered her. She reached up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

  “Don’t make me angry,” added Travis to make the prisoners move faster.

  After slipping her clogs on her feet, Tarina joined the rest of the prisoners as they shuffled over and formed up in front of Travis. She had no idea what time it was, but her tired and aching body told her that she hadn’t slept enough to recover from yesterday’s work.

  “What’s up?” whispered Wendy.

  Tarina shook her head. She was as mystified as her friend as to what was going on.

  “Now stand up straight as if you maggots were on parade,” ordered Travis.

  Tarina and everyone else tried their best to comply. Most were just too exhausted and hurt to raise their heads up.

  Out of the corner of her eye, Tarina spotted a Kurgan officer walk out of the dark and move over beside Travis. The Kurgan had tattoos on one side of his face. She grew curious, having never seen any markings whatsoever on a Kurgan’s face before.

  “Now don’t any of you move while Colonel Kuhr inspects you,” barked Travis. Slowly, the colonel and Travis walked down the rows of prisoners checking each one individually.

  When the colonel came to Tarina, he stopped and looked down at her. She felt her skin crawl as he lowered his head to look into her eyes. He said something to Travis that she did not understand.

  “She’s an officer and a pilot,” said Travis to the Kurgan.

  Tarina�
�s heart skipped a beat when the colonel reached down and squeezed her arm tightly.

  The Kurgan again spoke to Travis. “Yes, sir, she’s a hard worker,” he replied. “She and a bunch of the prisoners haven’t been here that long. They’re still healthy and fit. Shall I write her name in the book?”

  Colonel Kuhr studied Tarina’s face for a few seconds before nodding. Travis dug out a small book and wrote Tarina’s name inside of it.

  She had no idea what had just happened and was not sure that she wanted to know either. For several minutes, the colonel went up and down the two ranks of tired prisoners. More names were added to the growing list. Wendy’s name, however, was not written down. Tarina overheard Travis saying that Kuhr found human redheads abnormal and wanted nothing to do with Wendy. Finally, the inspection was over, leaving the prisoners of Black-Three with more questions than answers.

  “All right, you can go back to your beds and get another hour’s sleep if you want,” said Travis to the group. “Those of you whose name I wrote down in my book had best take special care and not injure themselves in any way over the next few days. If you do, you’ll have to answer to the colonel.”

  “Master Travis, could you tell us what that was all about?” asked Angela. She had her head bowed so their jailer would not take offense.

  “Let’s just say that the ten of you whose names I wrote down will be going on a little trip soon and none of you will be coming back.” With that, he put his book away and laughed to himself as he walked off into the dark.

  “I saw him put your name in his book,” Wendy said to Tarina. “Something bad is about to happen, I can feel it.”

  “So can I,” replied Tarina.

  “Has this kind of thing ever happened before?” Wendy asked Angela.

  She shook her head, “No, and I’ve never seen a Kurgan with half of his face covered in tattoos before, either.”

  Tarina asked, “What the hell is going on?”

  “I wish I knew. All I do know is that we can’t afford to waste any more time. I’ll show Tarina the way out tonight and Wendy tomorrow. Three nights from now, we’ll make our escape and hope that the ship we need is there. If not, all my planning will be for nothing.”

  “Better to die on our feet trying to escape than to wait to die down here.”

  “Amen to that,” added Wendy.

  “Okay then, it begins tonight,” said Angela with a gleam of hope in her eyes.

  High above, two ships suddenly appeared on either side the planet.

  Klatt, the desert world, loomed large beneath Wright’s vessel. “Any Kurgan military ships or satellites in our local area?” he asked Eskola.

  “None,” she replied. “There is not a single electronic signature in a one hundred thousand kilometer radius. We are free to deploy the payload.”

  Wright reached over and flipped a switch on his control panel. Their satellite detached and began to float free in space. Guided by its thrusters, the spy satellite moved into orbit right above the prison.

  “Sir, I’m getting a good signal from the satellite,” reported Eskola.

  “Excellent.”

  “Sir, my return flight calculations have been inputted into the navigational computer.”

  That was all Wright needed to hear. He said into his helmet mic, “Begin the countdown.”

  “Rodger that, sir. Jumping in five-four-three–two–one.”

  Again a cold, dark bubble surrounded their ship as they began the long flight back to the asteroid belt.

  Wright checked the time. It had taken them less than thirty seconds to deploy their satellite. He doubted that their presence above the planet had been detected by any of the orbiting enemy satellites. The only thing that he had no control over was the other team. He would have to wait until they reached their transport ship in twenty-four hours’ time to know if they had succeeded in their mission. He sat back in his seat and took a deep breath. If he thought that the flight in was boring, now that the excitement was over, the next day was going to be the longest and most tedious day of his life.

  Chapter 16

  The flight to the drop off point near the asteroid belt had gone by far too fast for Sheridan’s liking. He had barely had a chance to acquaint himself with the other members of the reconnaissance team.

  Up front, the shuttle flight crew were fast asleep in their chairs so they could be ready at the drop of a hat to jump into Klatt’s atmosphere. It was planned to land the team in walking distance of the prison. Sheridan hadn’t found them in the officers’ mess back on the Colossus, in fact, they had been going over the updates to their ship for the third time with an exasperated-looking technician.

  Master Sergeant Cole had taken Sergeant Urban and the five other close protection Marines off to a quiet part of the transport’s cluttered hangar and ran them through instinctive shooting drills with a floating target drone. They were keen and focused. It didn’t take them long until they could react without hesitation. Once he was satisfied, Cole took a couple of hours and inspected everyone’s weapons and equipment to make sure that it was all working as it should be. There wouldn’t be a quartermaster stores where they were going. If something failed in battle, it could cost the life of one or more of the team, and Cole was not about to let that happen.

  Sheridan left the two officers to get to know their communicators. Normally, the officers would carry their own communicators and speak directly with the asset they were controlling. However, as Sheridan had learned the hard way several times, comms is life. If you cannot call for fire or help, then you risked being overrun and killed. The Marines carrying the secondary radios were backup in case the first comms devices failed, which they had a bad habit of doing the instant you met the enemy in combat.

  A metallic-sounding voice came over the ship’s PA system. “Captain Sheridan, to the bridge, please. Captain Sheridan, please report.”

  Sheridan had to chuckle; the ship from bow to the stern was only one hundred meters long. It was a glorified engine with a small hangar bay to move goods around in. The bridge was in the next room. He pressed a button on the wall and stepped inside the cramped room. There were three people operating the ship’s controls. Everyone had two jobs. The captain was also the pilot. The co-pilot was also the navigator, and the last person there was the engineer and comms specialist.

  “What’s up, Master Chief,” asked Sheridan.

  A man with thinning blond hair looked over. “Sir, we’re going to be at the drop point in just over one hour. We’re receiving feed from only one of the satellites above Klatt.”

  “Well, one is better than none,” replied Sheridan philosophically.

  “Sir, it gets worse. The signal keeps coming and going. There could be any number of things to explain that, from faulty equipment to sun spots to enemy jamming. I’ve had the live feed forwarded to your shuttle’s computers to help you plan your jump.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Sir, if I were you, I’d plan my jump now. My gut tells me that we’re going to lose both satellites before too long.”

  “I’d rather you were wrong, but I’ve also learned to trust my gut as well. Thanks, Master Chief. I’ll get my people up and working on the jump calculations right away.” He turned and left the bridge, making his way to the shuttle to wake up Parata and Mercier. While they shook themselves awake and got to work, Sheridan opened up a computer console and studied the images sent back of the prison. The only things visible on the surface was a processing plant over three hundred kilometers from the prison and a small landing site near a cluster of buildings at the mine’s entrance. He wanted to find them a place to land that afforded them cover and was not too far from the prison. A couple of minutes later, he chose a spot in a canyon fifteen kilometers from the mine. To go any closer was to risk being detected by the prison’s scanning devices, he reasoned.

  “Here, I want to come out of our jump right above this spot,” said Sheridan to Mercier.

  Mercier leaned over a
nd took down the coordinates.

  “Can you do it?” asked Sheridan.

  Mercier shrugged. “I’ve never plotted a jump this far in my life. Ask me when we get there.”

  Chapter 17

  I’m being smothered, thought Tarina as she fought to take a deep breath. She opened her eyes and tried to sit up but found that she was being held down. In the near pitch-black room, she began to panic and reached for the arm pinning her to her bed.

  “Ssshhh,” said someone in the dark.

  Tarina instantly recognized Angela’s voice. She relaxed and turned her head to see her friend kneeling beside her bunk.

  Angela removed her hand from Tarina’s mouth. “Come on, the guards have gone to get a bite to eat. They won’t be back for nearly an hour.”

  “How do you know?”

  “I’ve been watching and studying them for months. Trust me, they’re creatures of habit. Today is Tuesday, and the late shift always sneaks off around this time for a bowl of soup and a drink or two.”

  Tarina swung her legs down, slipped on her clogs, and followed Angela to the entrance of the cavern. They paused for a moment to make sure that there wasn’t anyone still lingering around in the tunnel before making their way down the corridor to a boarded up shaft. Angela got down on all fours and pulled the bottom three wooden boards free. She turned and waved for Tarina to follow her as she disappeared into the opening. With her heart racing, Tarina hurried to join her accomplice. The inside of the air shaft was dark and foreboding.

  “Take this,” said Angela, handing Tarina a small flashlight. When she turned it on she saw that it had a red filter on it, making it hard for anyone to spot them.

  “This is an air shaft. It used to be open when I first arrived,” explained Angela. “They closed it and opened another one further down the mine. It took me forever to loosen the bottom boards so I could easily sneak in here.”