Mike's War: Sequel to Jesse's Starship (4 page)

Thousands of others ran forward from the demonstrators and joined those boarding the transport. The news helicopters broadcasted the event and by the next morning, hundreds of thousands of Arabs had rushed to the site asking to leave. Mike had three transports ordered in and the mass exodus began. For the first time in their long war against each other, the Israelis and Arabs found common ground on the transports taking them to their new home.

The World Leaders tried to stop the flow but they were reminded that anyone who chose to go would be allowed to leave. They stood helplessly by and watched millions rush to the various transports’ landing sites.

• • •

Mike saw the massive exodus in the Middle East and he contacted Hetzel, “We have an issue.”

“What is it?”

“I’ve been planning to delay the bulk of the population leaving but we have millions that have to go now. If we wait, they’ll be stopped. Where are you at building the necessary housing?”

“We have all our planets building a city each. You will be somewhat amazed at our building capacity. We’re allowing the transports to land at a city where those on board will disembark. If too many arrive at one location, we’ll move our attention to that city and increase the number of homes.”

“Do you have temporary facilities?”

“We do.”

“So you can handle as many as I can send?”

“We can handle as many as the transports can bring. As long as their numbers remain where they are, we will stay ahead of the numbers arriving.”

“What about the forts?”

“They were completed the day the agreement was made.”

“How many will each handle?”

“A hundred thousand.”

“Do you have the electronic training armories set up?”

“We do but we still have to get a recording of a Gracken attack to program them. I’ve been told we’ll have that very shortly.”

Mike shook his head, “I’m sending Adams and Jeanette along with some of the Special Forces to start getting the forts ready for the warriors.”

“That would be good. The Gracken are moving to solidify their presence on the planets they’ve taken and are starting to attack numerous cities.”

“Hetzel, it’s going to take some time to get ready to confront their forces.”

“I know, I know. We’ll do the building for those that are coming. Please start getting them ready as quickly as possible.”

Mike nodded and ended the call. “Adams, I need you and the trainers you’ve selected to pack up.”

“What’s going on?”

“The forts are ready for occupation. I need you to see what the training facilities look like.”

“I’ll let the teams know.”

“That would be good.”

• • •

The huge Gracken Commander stood in front of his unit and waited while the blaster vehicles fired into the force field surrounding the city. The ten thousand troops waiting in ranks behind him saw the force field was close to failing. The commander raised his arm and said into his communications device, “Once the field drops, enter the city and find the force field projectors. Disable them and kill anyone that offers the slightest resistance.”

The Commander never turned to look at the warriors behind him but heard a loud shout of AWAAAAAAA. Good. They were ready. The eight foot tall heavily-muscled, Gracken Warriors were trembling as their circulatory systems pumped enzymes into their bodies doubling both their speed and strength. Six mobile blasters waited with their barrels pointed at the narrow spaces between the buildings. They were converted to conventional heat beams and, once the force field fell, they would fire a blast through the spaces killing anyone dumb enough to be out in the open; that would signal the warriors to commence their advance. The Commander remained stationary. He had no need to release his enzymes. He needed to focus on what was happening.

Suddenly, the force field disappeared and the blasters fired. Ten thousand Gracken Warriors rushed forward almost faster than the eye could follow. The entire command was inside the city in less than a minute. The Commander could hear the blasters discharging and the screams ahead of him. He smiled and knew this was going to be easy. He walked forward and saw the remains of hundreds of bodies littering the streets. He saw a movement above him and he whipped his blaster out and fired at an inhabitant who was foolish enough to stick their head out to see what was happening. The headless body fell twenty stories and hit the pavement with a sickening thud. The huge creature had fired in less than a second, even without the enzymes, the Gracken were incredibly fast.

The Commander continued his stroll and started seeing bodies that were curled up on the ground. His face contorted and he lifted his arm, “I ordered only those that resist to be killed. If you violate my orders again you will undergo my wrath!” He lowered his arm and after another four hundred yards, the number of bodies were not as numerous. Good! His unit knew what it meant to be punished. He took his time and waited until he heard the explosion several miles ahead.

The doors to the force field projectors had been destroyed. He arrived at the center of the city and sat down on a bench. His unit should have things under control shortly. The Pacifiers would be arriving once the fighting was done and his unit would be transported to the next city. He listened as the sizzle of blaster beams finally slowed and then stopped. He waited for several hours and no further sounds of combat were heard. He could have called the Pacifiers in but he was enjoying the moment of solitude. There was no joy in this invasion. These beings offered no challenge to a real warrior and he was tired of the boredom of taking cities with that offered no challenge. He finally raised his arm and said, “The city is now ready.”

He heard the sound of high speed carriers two minutes before the first landed in the center of the city. The Pacifier commanding the carriers exited his carrier and walked up to the giant warrior. “This took much longer than normal.”

The Commander’s smile was pure evil, “So!”

The Pacifier backed up and said, “No offense intended. We just want to make your mission as simple as possible.”

The Commander stared at the Pacifier and slowly stood. He kept his eyes on the Gracken Specialist and then turned and slowly walked away. The Pacifier exhaled and knew he had been lucky. He turned and began issuing orders to his unit.

• • •

The Q ship in high orbit recorded the attack and jumped away as its force field began losing strength. This recording was needed to program the training facilities on the new planet. It disappeared and the Gracken Warships went back to patrolling the planet from space.

• • •

Mike looked at Hetzel, Anotoly, and Sharper. Sharper was shaking his head, “What do you mean we’re not going to rebuild the factories?”

Mike shook his head, “The small arms our soldiers used in the past are not going to cut it. We need to build a different facility.”

“Those weapons were the most advanced we could manufacture. They’ll do the job.”

Mike sighed and looked at Hetzel, “Show them.”

Hetzel said, “Start the video.”

The Russian and American arms manufacturers turned and looked at the hologram that was ten feet from their chairs. The view moved in close and they saw thousands of huge creatures in ranks just outside a city. Anotoly said, “How big are those creatures?”

Mike looked at Hetzel who said, “I’ll use measures you’re familiar with. They’re eight feet tall and weigh about six hundred pounds.”

Sharper started shaking his head, “They remind me of something.”

Mike said, “The Incredible Hulk; only they’re not green.”

Sharper nodded, “You’re right. They don’t have a nose and their ears are missing, but they do appear very much like that comic book creation.”

The force field around the city went down and Antoly and Sharper were shocked. The thousands of mahogany colored Gracken surged forward at a speed that was unbelievable. Some of them jumped more than sixteen feet in the air over burned out vehicles and continued their rush into the city. Sharper looked at Mike, who continued to watch the video, “We determined that their home world must have high gravity which accounts for their extreme strength. However, we’ve also determined that they load their bodies up with natural hormones that increase their speed and strength. Sort of like an adrenaline rush in humans.” He paused and said, “What do you think would happen to our warriors if they try to face off against a charging mass of those giants with AR 16’s and Kalashnikovs?”

Anotoly said, “They’d be overrun faster than one could imagine.” Sharper looked over at Anotoly who was shaking his head, “You know I’m right. I think the small rounds fired would do little more than just piss them off.”

Sharper looked back at the hologram as it followed the charging Gracken through the city. He shook his head and turned back to Mike, “But firing larger rounds would be impossible at the rate needed to slow them down. It would require something equivalent to an M 60 machine gun and those can’t be handled by a single soldier. The recoil would make accuracy impossible.”

“You’re right. I’ve had Dolg Mittenset meet with Hetzel’s scientists and show them the propellants we use to fire our rounds. They really found something interesting when they took a good look at nitroglycerine and plastique explosives.”

Anotoly smiled, “I believe Dolg was the last Nobel Prize winner in that category.”

Mike smiled, “Nobel made his fortune with explosives. They made a good selection choosing Dolg.”

Sharper said, “I’m surprised Earth’s Leaders let him go.”

“They didn’t. He brought his family to the transport outside Berlin and sought passage. They had changed their appearance so they weren’t recognized by the locals. I think Yehao found out after he was gone. By then, it was too late.” Mike paused and opened a small box in front of him and lifted a small metal object. He held it out to Sharper; Anotoly moved closer to see what it was.

Sharper looked at the inch long piece of metal and looked at Mike, “What is this: a large toothpick?”

“That toothpick as you call it is the most advanced projectile ever created.”

Anotoly said, “Let me see that.” Sharper handed it to him and he took a small magnifying glass from his pocket. He removed it from a leather case and looked at the sliver of metal. He rolled it over and looked at Mike, “The three tiny apertures on one end are for stabilizers.”

Mike smiled, “Yes they are. As it goes through the barrel and starts spinning, the material keeping them inside is rubbed off as the…” Mike paused, “sliver leaves the barrel.”

Anotoly handed Sharper the magnifier and he looked at the tiny apertures. “How fast will they be spinning?”

Mike looked at Hetzel who said, “About ten thousand revolutions per minute.”

Shaper and Anotoly were shocked. Anotoly shook his head, “Why do you need the stabilizers? That level of spin should be all you need. With that much spin, stabilizers might cause the projectile’s flight to be disrupted.”

“The stabilizers aren’t needed when firing at a slow rate of fire; however, to get the rounds per second high enough, they can’t have the spin of a lower volume. When set at a low volume, the higher spin will also rub off the stabilizers and they will exit the barrel with the discharge of the sliver’s launch. However, if the rounds are fired at full auto, they won’t leave the barrel with a high spin rate and the stabilizers will be needed to maintain accuracy. Full auto will not be as accurate and will only be used for close in combat.”

Sharper continued to stare at the small piece of metal, “How fast will it be spinning at full auto?”

“About three hundred RPMs.”

“That’s still not bad.”

“No, it’s not; we need that level of spin to activate the round.”

Both manufacturers looked away from the round toward Mike. Sharper said, “Activate the round?”

Mike smiled, “I know both of you are wondering how something that tiny is going to do any damage to the creatures on the hologram.”

Anotoly said, “I didn’t want to bring that point up, but yes you’re right. That bronze colored hide of theirs looks like it would stop it easily.”

Mike shrugged, “The sharp point would penetrate but, as you can guess, it would have no stopping power.” Mike went over and took the toothpick-shaped sliver, “I want you to notice that the center of this projectile is slightly bigger than the ends.”

Sharper nodded, “Just like a toothpick.”

Mike smiled, “Exactly like a wooden toothpick. The Assembly scientists, working with Dolg, were able to come up with a formula where two chemicals would be stored inside the round. The two fluids are designed to remain separate; they’ll just move around each other under normal conditions. One of the fluids is denser than the other so they won’t mix. You could take this round and slam it on the floor and the fluids would remain separate from each other.”

Sharper smiled, “But spin them…”

Mike nodded, “Then they will mix and will ignite when they hit something.”

Anotoly shook his head, “There could only be a tiny amount of anything inside this thing.”

Mike shrugged, “You’re right.”

Sharper’s eyebrows came down, “So how big of a blast does it make.”

“Let me show you…Hetzel.”

Another hologram appeared next to the one showing the Gracken attack and they saw Dolg lift a short piece of metal and insert a toothpick in the end. “How is he going to fire it?”

Mike looked at Sharper, “The barrel he’s using has groves cut in it to impart enough spin. He’s going to used compressed air to fire the round.” They watched as Dolg attached a hose to the barrel and nod to the Assembly scientist behind him. The view changed to behind Dolg and they saw a five foot square of metal in front of him. “That piece of metal was taken off an armored troop carrier.” They saw the barrel move slightly and a bright explosion appeared in the center of the metal. The view moved in close and there was a two inch hole blown through it.

Sharper and Anotoly looked at Mike shaking their heads. Sharper turned to Anotoly, “Compressed air won’t do it.”

“No it won’t.” Anotoly looked at Hetzel, “What is the smallest power generator you build?”