Gray Panthers: Dixie (5 page)

Culpepper Plantation, planet Dixie

27 October 2128

Day had turned to night, and a friendly competition had formed between Scotty and Sam as they continued their forced march to Culpepper Plantation. Scotty maintained his position behind Sam for what felt like the thirtieth mile. He could see that she was ready to collapse by the way she had begun to haphazardly swing the sword as she cut the brush ahead of them.

“Damn, I’m hungry enough to eat the south side of a northbound skunk!” Scotty said as he dropped his pack and slumped down next to it. Reaching into the pack, he pulled out a couple cartons of combat rations. He tore one open and threw the other one onto a log next to Sam. She suppressed a smile as she dropped down alongside him and reached for the ration. She was about to throw an insult at Scotty when he hopped up and spryly approached the nearest tree, disappearing behind it. As he returned he let out a loud sigh of relief. Sam could tell that he had stopped for her and not himself. She decided not to start an argument as she bit into something brown that may have had gravy on it.

“Do you want to put in a few more miles or call it a day?” Scotty asked as he scooped something reminiscent of chicken into his mouth, realizing that he hadn’t seen any chickens on Dixie.

“I would say let’s make a couple more miles, except it’s getting harder to see the hills because of the clouds. We have a nice spot here, Not too rocky. Nice and flat. There’s enough trees packed around us, we could even have a fire.”

“Sold! Let me see what I can find to start a fire. I’m pretty sure they gave up on trying to catch us back at the river. I wish we had those hammocks we left back in the barn.”

“Sorry, sweetie. Those are toast. You go get some kindling and wood while I set up camp,” Sam instructed. Scotty headed into the forest, and Sam proceeded to use her booted foot to kick under the nearby trees, loosening up green branches, leaves, and mulch-filled dirt. When she had formed a small mound, she smoothed it out and covered it with a ground cloth. She was reaching into Scotty’s pack to retrieve his ground cloth when he came out of the woods.

“Yep, turn my back on you for a second and there you are, rifling through my stuff. I’ll bet you were going to grab an extra ration and let me starve.”

Pulling the ground cloth from his bag, Sam stood up and put one hand on her hip for dramatic effect as she faced him defiantly. “Well, now, I was making a double field bed. If you don’t trust me, I can easily make a pair of singles.”

Scotty dropped his load of wood, walked over to Sam, and gently took the ground cloth from her, tossing it on top of the improvised bed. Closing the remaining distance between them, he gave her a hug, and Sam seemed to melt into him as he held her. He looked down into her eyes as she tilted her head up toward him. She reached up and guided his face to hers as she tried to raise herself higher into him. His kiss was gentle at first, and she returned it. Through his clothing and field gear Scotty felt Sam against him as he wrapped his arms around her waist and tried to pull her closer yet.

“Screw the fire, sweetie. I think we can keep each other warm tonight.” Sam broke the embrace, lowered herself to the bed and started removing her boots. Scotty quickly dropped to the bed and did likewise.

Gray Panther Space Port, Arizona

28 October 2128

Captain Woods examined his ship. Every damaged area made him wince in sympathetic pain. He hadn’t expected the destroyer to be able to enter Earth’s atmosphere with the existing damage. He’d finally allowed himself to be convinced when the chief engineer from the space dock offered to stand next to him on the bridge during re-entry to Earth. The repairs would be completed in less than two days, since there would be no restrictions like there would have been from an orbital space dock.

“Captain Woods, I’ve figured out how to take the troops home with us. The best part is we don’t have to do any modifications to the Georgia. Once repairs are done, we rendezvous with the shuttles and have them attach themselves to our hull in three layers, two hundred on portside and two hundred on starboard. Maneuvering won’t be affected, nor will the FTL,” Lieutenant
Hester Hannah Jones, engineering officer, reported.

“Thank you, Lieutenant Jones. I wouldn’t like to be locked up in any of those shuttles for five days. Are there any compatibility issues for their shuttles docking with Georgia, if necessary?”

“No, sir, they use the same standard from the Flem ship designers that we do. I’ve gone over the specs for the beamers they would like to use to replace our lasers. No major rework will be needed for the beamers to integrate into our ship’s systems. They’ll require less power than our lasers, while at the same time they have the ability to fire twice as fast as our current rate. The power output is close to double what the Georgia does now. Our girl will be the envy of the fleet.”

“Very good, Lieutenant Jones. Just remember what your granddaddy always said about trusting Yankees. It’s our ship, so I want anything they touch double-checked by our crew.”

“Yes, sir. I don’t trust anyone’s work that isn’t part of this crew, regardless of if they’re a Yankee or from Dixie.”

As Woods continued his tour, he couldn’t help but hear a civilian worker complain to his boss. “I say let the fuckers burn in hell. What do we do next, find the planet KKK? I can’t believe we have anything to do with those racists from Dixie.”

“Excuse me, sir,” Woods interjected. “You need a history lesson about Dixie. In 1867, by your calendar, all Dixians had the right to vote, own land, or hold political office—black, white, man, or woman. Our society is almost crime-free since we don’t allow anyone to believe that society owes them anything other than the opportunity to be an equal member of society. When did your society have equal rights for all? When did your race-relations problems end? When our society saw how close we all came to being slaves just because some aliens were more powerful than us, it affected everyone’s views. We saw then that the argument for slavery was wrong. We didn’t discriminate for another three hundred years like you did here on Earth.”

The worker gawked at Woods, embarrassed that he had been caught talking bad about Dixie. His surprise at the partial history lesson eliminated any additional argument he might have had.

“And, young sir, we also saved your planet. If we hadn’t, our planet would be safe now, with our fleet there. Remember, it’s a Dixie fleet protecting your planet now as well. Hopefully, someday our two peoples will be one if we learn more about each other and put aside ignorance and apathy. Good day, young sir.”

As Woods practically marched away, he heard the worker’s companion say, “See, dumb shit, I told you so. Now get back to work before you start another war.”

Arizona Space Ship Beater, near Gas Giant Rewards, Libra Alliance space

29 October 2128

Captain Johnson was weary of sitting in the asteroid belt near the Gas Giant Rewards. There were a dozen ships in orbit around the gas giant that looked like they were either military or heavily armed. They seemed to Johnson to be waiting for six huge ships that could only be tankers to finish loading up with fuel.

“Okay, it looks like we have a change of plans. If their fleet needs fuel, then we need to destroy those six tankers. Recommendations, gentlemen, as to how we should do this?” Johnson looked at the other two men at the table, his marine detachment commander and his fighter squadron commander.

“I’d like to take our shuttle and visit each of those tankers and leave a limpet mine on each one. With the tankers having a dozen warships, their guard should be down. We might even be able to get close to some warships if they’re allowing liberty for their crews.” Young suggested off the top of his head.

“If we take the Darts in, there’s more than a good chance they’ll assume one of the ships launched a combat space patrol or is having an exercise. I’ll divide the Dart Flight into two sides and put on a show of one side attacking and chasing the other. When we get close enough, we can use the beamers to fire on where the loading bays are for the ships. If we can ignite the fuel stored there, that should make a nice mess of things,” Andrews proposed after a moment of thought.

“Captain Johnson, have the shuttle drop me off at the space dock, and I can arrange for a shuttle from the space dock to take me to each of the tankers. I can then drop off a secured identification friend-or-foe update. Beater can include a virus to cause the engine to open the fuel mixture device to the point that it will ignite the fuel and destroy the ship. Inside the League of Planets, cyber warfare has never been developed since networking of key systems has never been trusted. That’s why key updates and critical systems modifications are done by courier. I can tell the captain and crew that the war has gone so badly that the updates for their transponders is the only way to verify them and keep the fleet from shooting them up by accident. Civilians don’t trust the fleet to begin with, and this would be accepted. There are contractors from my planet, Jacka, that perform these services, since we are not in alliance with any of the factions in the Libra Alliance.” the little Jacka chief petty officer nervously suggested to the roomful of officers.

“Short Blade, that is probably the least dangerous approach with regard to the ship. What would you do if you were challenged and had to produce orders or prove you were what you said you were?” Johnson challenged.

“Sir, civilians are sloppy when it comes to security. I still have my uniforms and identification from when I was a member of the Libra space fleet. Civilians can’t access military computer networks to verify the authenticity of identity cards. If they were suspicious of me, they could contact one of the warships that would then confirm I was in the fleet.”

“That would be too dangerous for you, Short Blade. Beater, what would the possibility be of you creating a virus that could disable the tankers?” Johnson asked, figuring it would shelve the suggestion.

“Sir, that would not be a problem. There is an alternative that could disable the tankers and the warships. The civilian space dock has a large entertainment area that includes entertainment nodes used by ships that are in range. It is well known that these arcades provide captains of large ships gratuities if they keep their ships in range of the nodes for their crew’s use. The node could be infected so that when a member of a ship’s crew connected to it, a BOT would be uploaded that would search the computer systems until it accessed command and control. Then an order could be sent to lock out all access to the ship’s systems,” Beater explained.

“You can do that? Go ahead and start the process now. Let me know when you’re done, and we’ll take care of them all at once,” Johnson said, trying not to sound as excited as he felt.

“I doubt you will be able to get all of the ships. I am sure as soon as the first few ships find out they have a problem, they will notify the others. I estimate the best number of ships you will be able to get would be six, depending on their alertness and the ability of their cyber-technicians.”

“Beater, can the BOT order the ships to fly into the gas giant?”

“That would be beyond the ability of the BOT.”

“How about the BOT having the ship give you remote access so you could steer it into the gas giant or initiate self-destruct of the ships?”

“I will create the BOT so that it puts a new lockout on all systems by changing the access codes. I will have the only access to the controls. Then I will see what I can do remotely,” Beater offered.

“Go ahead and get started. Initiate as soon as possible. Keep either me or the XO in the loop. I want to get this done and get out of this asteroid field. Meeting adjourned.”

Culpepper Plantation, planet Dixie

29 October 2128

Scotty stiffened as he felt Sam make a slight jolt. The naked pair had been spooning in their sleep under the ground cloth. Both were instantly aware that the other was awake and that they were not alone. Scotty cursed silently to himself as he saw that his holster was out of immediate reach and his carbine was even farther away. Sam’s weapons were by their feet. Although it was still nighttime, they could see well in the twilight of the gas giant.

“Ambassador Scholl?” a voice asked from deep in the wood line.

“I’m afraid you have me at a disadvantage,” Scotty said as he looked around for anything he could use as a weapon.

“My apologies for disturbing you, Ambassador. I’m Lieutenant Raphael Semmes of the New Mississippi Scouts. My orders are to find you and take you to a place of safety. I see, sir, that you are enjoying the hospitality of Dixie, so I shall have my scouts turn away until you and your companion can be presentable.”

Scotty stifled a laugh as he dashed for his clothing and threw Sam hers so she could dress under the ground cloth. After dressing, he reached for his belt with the holster, expecting to be stopped. Looking over at Sam, he saw that she was already dressed and was holding her shotgun.

“Lieutenant Semmes, please feel free to come into our camp.” Scotty was facing the direction from which he’d heard the lieutenant’s voice. Feeling the presence of someone behind him, he turned around and saw three soldiers.

A tall, muscular, black officer stood less than a yard away, and two muscular, white enlisted women of medium height were less than three yards from him. Their faces, painted green and blue, blended in with their camouflage combat uniforms, which seemed to have been ripped from the forest. They all wore identical camouflage caps. On the front of the man’s cap, a black bar had been sewn in. The design was the same as the one used on Earth. Each carried a carbine similar to Scotty’s, except they had electronic scopes and long silencers. The remainder of their field gear consisted of vests that had numerous pockets for their gear and attachments that allowed them to connect small patrol packs to the back of the vest. One of the women pulled the end of a straw from her vest, bent her head slightly, and took a sip while still appearing fully alert.

“My compliments, Lieutenant. You and your team are about as stealthy as any hunters I ever hunted with,” Scotty said.

“Sir, if you and your companion—”

“This ‘companion,’ Lieutenant, can be referred to as ma’am or captain. I am Captain Samantha Culpepper, a fleet pilot. Do we understand each other, Lieutenant?” Sam was so close to the younger officer she could see up his nostrils.

“Yes, ma’am. Now, if you please, we have a long walk to get to our transport. Do y’all need help breaking camp and preparing to trek out of here?”

“We can take care of that, Lieutenant,” Scotty replied. “How did you know where to find us? I thought we had done a good job of covering our trail.”

“Ambassador—”

“Please, call me Scotty. And that goes for the rest of you, too,” Scotty interrupted.

“Well, Scotty, we were heading for Culpepper Plantation, using our scout vehicles off-road to avoid the Red Coats. We knew we were getting near when we saw the Red Coats torch a barn. The transport in the barn had markings on it for Culpepper Plantation—”

“Excuse me, Lieutenant. What condition was the transport in?” Sam interrupted.

“Ma’am, the transport was a loss. Don’t worry. We have space—”

“Arggghhh!” Sam slammed her backpack onto the ground and stomped off into the woods swearing.

“Transport wasn’t paid off,” Scotty said softly to the lieutenant.

“Hell, that’s what insurance is for,” Semmes whispered back nervously, eyeing where Sam had disappeared into the woods. Using his regular voice, he continued, “We need to get you back to New Mississippi, sir. The Red Coats have only done a few probes on the city. That gave us time to build up fortifications. The only way they can take the city is to destroy it. The civilians are safe underground, just like at the capital, New Richmond.”

“Raphael, what do you know about New Richmond?” Scotty asked apprehensively.

“Sir, I mean, Scotty, they are cut off. The first attack was against the capital. The military barely was able to close the entrances to the underground shelters. They’re ready to defend the tunnel system in depth, but the Red Coats have made no effort to breech the defenses. Security cameras from stores in the city show them looting New Richmond. They have taken an unknown number of captives. Estimates are from five thousand to twenty thousand. We just don’t know how many are in hiding.”

“Damn. I was hoping we could get to the city. That’s where the original mining equipment was that built the underground city, I assume?”

“I don’t know, sir. I do know that we have a tunneler unit in New Mississippi.”

“How far is that from the capital?”

“It’s an even three hundred miles.”

“Do you know how long it would take to tunnel the entire distance?” Scotty asked, fearing the answer.

“My engineer friend told me once that they can do up to three miles a day. The speed depends on what they do with the pilings. Usually, for best speed, they vaporize them.”

“Damn. That kills that idea. I had a part that could have been used to bring Dixie’s AI back online. I thought if we could get that back online, they could use it to figure out how to free the fleet from underground, then deploy the fleet to destroy the enemy fleet,” Scotty said dejectedly.

“Sir, let’s get you back to New Mississippi and see what they can come up with. I’m sure they’ll be excited to see the AI put back into service when this is all over,” Raphael suggested, full of optimism.

Scotty noticed for the first time that Sam had returned and had been listening silently by his side. “Okay, Raphael. It’s your game from here. How far away are the transports?”

“We left the vehicles down by the river. A little less than a day’s march, sir. We can take our time so you’ll be able to keep up with us without any problems,”

“I want to see you run this old man into the ground, Lieutenant, because that’s not going to happen,” Sam said with a laugh. She knew that although Scotty looked like he was seventy, he was closer to twenty-five physically because of his nanite implants. “Let’s get moving.”

“Montgomery, take point,” Semmes said to one of the female scouts. “Scotty, if you would take position behind me, and Captain Culpepper, if you would stay behind Ambassador Scholl, please.” He then called out, “Everyone else, assume your normal patrol positions. Move out, people!”

Scotty stood waiting to move out as the two enlisted scouts that had accompanied the lieutenant started down the trail and disappeared. More than half a dozen additional scouts appeared from the tree line and fell in on the trail. The lieutenant took one last look around as he got ready to move out.

“Scotty, Captain, if you would follow me now, please. Try to keep ten feet from me and each other, please. No talking from here out, and please try to avoid making any unnecessary noise or movement. If you see something or need something, just put the palm of your hand flat on top of your head. Keep your weapons pointed either to the left or right of the trail with safeties on. If you see me drop or get off the trail, follow my lead. If we get separated for any reason, just keep heading downhill till you hit the river. We will look for you there. Any questions?”

The pair shook their heads and Scotty gave a slight half-salute with a smile. Semmes turned back to the trail and started out at a brisk pace to catch up with the rest of the patrol.

Scotty noted that it was already starting to get light and cursed the rumble in his belly, thinking it had been a mistake not to refill his pockets with something to eat from his pack.