New Dawn (Wandering Engineer) (57 page)

"Why? What the devil do you
need to leave for?" the Captain's eyebrows knit.

"A pirate is coming, we can't
pay the ransom. We need to leave! Please Captain! Your crew will be returned,
they haven't been harmed," he said.

She shook her head. "No. You
don't understand we don't even begin to have the ability to lift you all,"
she said with a grimace. She looked at the engineer who shook his head.

"Look a ship is a lot
smaller then a planet, we only have so much room, so much water, food, and air.
Not nearly enough for everyone," she sighed in exasperation.

"Then leave some of your
people behind and come back for them," the voice on the other end was
definitely desperate.

The captain's eyes flashed.
"Out of the question. Leave my people to answer for yours and let you on
my ship?"

 The engineer cleared his throat
and waved his hand. He mouthed the words "Call back."

She nodded. "I'll call you
back when we're over head again." She nodded to the communications tech,
who cut the transmission.

The Captain sighed, leaning back.
"Great, just what I need. What did I do to deserve this?" the last
came out as a murmuring moan only the engineer's enhanced ears could pick up.

He shook his head. "Penalty
of command," he said. She nodded.

"Captain, we could launch
the other cargo shuttle loaded with my people and get them back," the
security Chief said, hands on the console, leaning forward looking eager.

"Eager for a fight?"
the Captain asked with a raised eyebrow. She brushed her chin with her fingers.
"No, the cargo shuttle is too bulky. Flies like a brick and makes quite an
entry," she responded. The Chief looked momentarily dismayed.

"What about one of the
civilian passenger ships?" the engineer asked, deep in thought.

"Go on," the captain
urged.

He stared off to the bulkhead.
"Load it with troops, bring it in further out and fly it in atmosphere to
the other shuttle. We can use the ships sensors to get a better fix on the
crew's probable location."

Shandra nodded excited.
"That's right we can! And we could probably get even better results if we
did a couple close orbits with a shuttle or the ship!"

“Have the sensor watch ping their
implants Kasey,” Irons said.

Shandra smacked her forehead in
exasperation. “Why didn't I think of that?”

The Admiral nodded. "If we
get a good location we could run a simulation for the breach team to
practice." He nodded to the Chief. For once she wasn't hostile to him.

"Why?" she asked.

"It's good practice; it lets
them get a feel for what will happen, and the floor plan," he explained.

She nodded. "Might
work."

The Captain nodded. "Get it
done. You have an hour; I'll try to stall from here," she said.

The Chief rushed out the door.
"You coming?" She paused at the door, turning to look at the
engineer. He nodded.

“Admiral, they're going in with
civilian grade weapons, one of them has a crossbow,” Sprite reported.

“No, not on my watch.
Authorization alpha two, upload milspec pulsers, flash bangs, armor, Stun
grenades, a breaching charge, and NVG gas masks,” he ordered. He felt the data
flow.

“Done. But I need a user to
initiate it or they'll get suspicious,” she warned. He nodded.

He called Jennie, asking her to
replicate a few things. "Is Molly okay?" she asked, worried.

He sighed. "We don't know.
But we need to get her out as soon as possible."

She nodded. "Okay, I'll get
on it. What priority?" she asked.

"Now, immediate, as in, bump
everything," he said.

She nodded. "Right away,
gotcha!" she said. As she closed the circuit, he turned to the Chief. She
was on the other side of the compartment, standing over a holographic table
projecting the shuttle.

"I want this fast and hard,
take them down and get our people out. Team one stays to secure the shuttle,
team two the cargo shuttle, team three is with me going after the
hostages." She flicked her hands to the areas to indicate them on the map.

“We'll come in from the south;
hit the guards here, here and here,” she said. She pointed to each. “Then hit
this door here. From the sensor report they're being held in this room near
this wall.” She looked up to the engineer, then back down.

 He nodded. “Chief, I asked
Jennie to replicate a few tools to help, ” he said. She looked up. “A breaching
charge, some gas masks, flash bangs, body armor, stunners, and some stun gas,”
he said.

 “Stun gas?”

“Breaching charge?” one of the
amazons asked.

“Stun gas, a sophomoric gas that
renders anyone who breaths it asleep. Breaching charge,” he paused and looked
over the bulkhead for a moment. “It's a single shot gravity warhead. Hold it up
to a wall or other structure and it sends a pulse out that sheers through it
creating a hole.” The Chief began to smile. “That way you don't have to go
through a door like they're expecting, you hit them where they don't expect
it,” he explained.

She nodded, the grin turning
evil. “I like it. What about the rest?”

“Well, the stun guns are self
explanatory. The flash bangs are grenades that explode with a bright blinding
flash and a loud bang,” he shrugged. “They're designed to stun and confuse the
enemy. This way you can get in while trying not to shoot our own people,” he
said to the grim faces around him.

Xena nodded. “Yeah, good idea.”
She looked to the Chief. “I like it. We were worrying about hitting our own,
this should make things easier.” The Chief locked eyes with the engineer.

He nodded. “They're my friends
and shipmates too Chief,” he told her softly. She froze, and then nodded
slowly.

“All right, we’ll try it your
way. Breach here?”she asked. She pointed and looked up to him.

He nodded. “Good placement,
straight shot in from the entry point and good cover for the team from the
sides.” He indicated the zones with his hands. “Toss a grenade in once the
charge goes off. I doubt anyone will be up though, the breach'll knock them
flat,” he said with a tight lipped smile. He shrugged. “Then toss a stun
grenade. If we had more time I'd get Jennie to make an aerosol and spray the
compound with stun gas,” he said.

The guard’s eyes widened at that.
“You can do that?” one asked.  He nodded.

“We'll do a test run in a cargo
hold so you can experience what a flash bang does,” he said looking at the
chief.

She nodded. “Good idea.”

One of the guards by the hatch
pulled out her communicator. “Chief, Jennie called, the packages are ready.”

“Well, let’s go check them out,”
she said. She nodded to the Admiral. “After you.” They trotted out and to the
replicator. A dozen guards were milling around, some wearing the new body
armor. He nodded in approval. One of the ladies behind him gave a low whistle.
Vanera smirked, holding up a new stunner. The gun was triangular in shape, but
blocky, with a flat muzzle area.

“Careful, set that thing off in
here and we'll all regret it,” he cautioned. She nodded and checked the safety.
“On the other side,” he murmured as he passed her.

"Okay ladies, we have here
the basic military grade STN-31 police stunner." He picked up a stunner
and shouldered it, then moved it down to chest level. "We have here the
trigger, safety, power level and battery eject button," he explained. He
pointed each control out.

"The stunner sends out a
blast of ultra frequency sound that momentarily stuns someone by overloading
their inner ear, giving them vertigo."

He looked up as one of the guards
cleared her throat. "So it makes them dizzy? So what?" she asked.

He frowned. "It drops them
to the ground.”

Only someone with special
protection can resist the effects. It's pure sonic hell on your inner
ear," he said when they didn't look like they understood.

The Chief nodded. "Best
thing is that it won’t kill our own people when we use it in tight
quarters," she said. The others grimly nodded. He turned and set the gun
down and picked up a canister.

"All right, we have here a
class two flash bang grenade." He hefted it. "This is the pin. You
pull the pin and throw it." He mimed the action. "Remember, once you
pull the pin the grenade is live and no longer your friend," he said
grimly. He pulled the pin and tossed it into a corner. "Fire in the
hole!" They ducked and covered their ears. The grenade went off with a
resounding bang; sound rang off the bulkheads and through the room. The light
was dazzling, blinding them for a moment.

Slowly he stood up. "As you
can see..." He paused noting some were still covering their ears or
shaking their heads confused. "AS YOU CAN SEE IT IS LOUD! WEAR EAR
PROTECTION!"  Three women came in running, he waved them back out.
"Just testing the equipment, nothing to see, get back to your posts."

After two minutes to allow them
to clear their heads he picked up the gas mask and a stun grenade. "This
is a gas mask. You've used them before to enter compartments filled with smoke.
It has night vision goggles built in," he explained. The group nodded.
"This is a stun grenade. Notice the holes on the top." He pointed it
to them so they could see it better. "These send out jets of gas that
knock anyone out who breathes it."

The ladies nodded. "The rest
is simple. Breach charge," he said. He pointed to the one meter flat
oblong shape on the table. "And body armor." His hand rested on the
armor. "Any questions?" They shook their heads. "Good, good
hunting ladies," he growled. They nodded.

"I see you’re not going with
them?" the Captain asked as the shuttle left.

"No Ma'am. Getting shot at
is a marine thing," he replied. He turned to her and smiled. "Best to
leave it in the hands of those trained to do it," he said.

She nodded. "Good to know
you have some sense." He chuckled and turned back to the plot.

He watched the feed, feeling
helpless, knowing it would be hard to stave off. Seventy plus years of being an
officer never quite wore down the weight of command, the ill feeling you had
when you sent people on a hazardous mission. Technically he wasn't in command,
but knowing it intellectually and in his gut were two very different things.
Besides, he was the one who sent them in with tools they were unfamiliar with.

He grimaced as a heavy but all
too familiar weight settled on his shoulders. "They're doing well Admiral,
they haven't been detected and have breached the first perimeter,” Sprite
reported. She was feeding him the sensor feed direct to his projected HUD. His
real time vision was dulled, almost grayed out. One of the tangos went down,
then another.

"Looks like they're inside,
but they might have set off an alarm. Accessing..." Sprite paused.
"I'm in the shuttle's systems, I can't get into the enemies, and they're
not using computers," she reported.

He grunted. "After seven
hundred plus years on an agrarian world, I would be surprised if one still ran.
What about electric?" he asked.

The feed flickered. "No
Admiral, no power generators," Sprite reported. He nodded. "It looks
like they're using a wind powered radio to communicate with the ship. It's
broadcasting north of the hostage site."

“We're going to be outside of
sensor range in one minute thirty eight seconds,” she reported.

His lips twisted. “Damn. I was
hoping we could keep an eye on things,”  he sighed as he watched them approach
the wall opposite the hostages.

“Team one reports all clear. Team
two in position,” a hoarse voice whispered over the net. He heard the reports,
but ignored them, all his focus was on team three. The feed began to break up.

“Damn.”

“Planetary occlusion, we will
have the feed again in fifteen point three minutes,” Sprite replied. “Might as well
be a lifetime. It'll feel that way,” he growled. He turned to the plot.

“Any projections?” he asked
Sprite.

 Defender's icon blinked. “Go
Defender,” he said.

He watched as the HUD cleared and
a map of the grounds and building reappeared. Step by step the team's actions
were replayed. “Based on this recording they entered without detection. No
audible alarms. They kept radio silent as well. Here are the last known
locations of people,” Defender said. Defender highlighted each, and circled
them with different colors. “Red for tangos, green for hostages, blue for the
team. Yellow are unknowns. Based on the available Intel they have a sixty four
point four three percent chance of success without casualties.” Defender's
report was not much comfort. “I project a twenty two percent chance of
casualties to the hostages or team.”

“All right, how is doc coming
along?” Irons asked. He watched as the HUD cleared and the video feed to
sickbay came up.

“OH! Hello! Um? Who is this? I
can't see you!” Mindy said.

He grunted, it was the nightmare
nurse. “This is the Admiral, just checking in. Are you ready to receive
injured?” he asked. He watched as the viewpoint shook, and then tilted in
different angles.

“Injured? Someone's hurt?” she
asked. She had the camera up to her face.

“I hope not, but there may be
injured when the team returns, are you ready for that?” he asked. He grimaced
as the doctor wrestled the camera from the girl.

“I have it. I said I HAVE IT! Go
check the trauma kits,” the doctor ordered. He pulled the camera out of her
hands.

“Well fine!” her high screechy
voice jarred, then the engineer could hear her stomping away.

“Admiral, that you?” the doctor
asked.

The Admiral cleared his throat.
“Yes doc, just checking in. Do you need anything?” he asked, knowing the
answer.

“Of course I do! Oh, you mean for
the wounded? Not that I know of. I'll let you know if that changes. I sent
Rhonda; she's the most experienced paramedic... I hope she's okay,” the doctor
said and then clicked the camera off.