Star Kitten (12 page)

That had been ten years ago now and somehow
the bright young man had survived into a hardened, tattooed and
rather muscular, head-shaven member of the Arian Knights prison
gang. He’d been ritualistically partnered, according to Arian
Knights tradition, with the slightly older gang leader Hicks right
after joining the gang, and Perry had been his partner and
companion all those years ever since.

But because of his Physics background, Perry
knew the detonators would create a massive breach in the building,
and eliminate all the defenders poised to slaughter the Naustie
assault force. The concussion from the blast and the flying debris
would wipe out reinforcements positioned behind the initial defense
line too; and in the mass confusion, the defenders would be
helplessly uncoordinated in mounting a defense for several
minutes.

Perry knew something else,
too. These were
proximity
detonators
on those warheads, so the
vehicle transporting the load would merely need to get near enough
to the building windows and the three warhead detonators would
explode. One driver and one spotter would be all that was needed.
The spotter might have to activate the detonators right before they
got to the top of the ramp, and then the detonators would be
triggered by the proximity to the glass walls. Within a few
seconds… BOOM! Chaos, confusion, and carnage would
follow.

Then, the really bloody part: Thousands of
Naustie warriors would rush up the ramp and literally pour into the
breach. In a matter of mere hours the whole terminal would be
overrun.

Of course the driver and his spotter would
also be blown up right with the explosions; but most any Naustie
would be honored to make that last sacrifice for the future of
their new home planet. Finding volunteers for that mission would be
no problem at all. Also, the driver could be most anyone. But the
spotter would have to be trusted with activating the detonators at
precisely the right time. Perry would have to choose just the right
“man” for that job….

As the ramp neared
completion on the last day before the assault, Perry and the other
War Council members met with General Hicks. Perry had privately
begun to reveal his plan for the final phase of the ramp assault to
General Hicks that morning; and Hicks for the first time in several
years was actually a bit
skeptical
of his partner’s logic. Of course he understood
the basic premise: Detonate a large explosion that the enemy could
not possibly expect, and wipe out a large section of the enemy
defensive position. Pour troops into the breach before the enemy
recovered, and overwhelm the entire enemy stronghold. It was just
like the Battle of the Crater in 1864.

In this battle during the American Civil
War, Union troops secretly tunneled underneath Confederate Army
positions for an entire month while they laid siege to the city of
Petersburg, Virginia. On July 30th, they detonated a large amount
of gunpowder right before dawn, killing 278 Confederate soldiers
and creating a crater 30 feet deep. Nearby Confederate troops were
paralyzed for several minutes, while Union troops rushed into the
breach… but the follow-on attack by Federal forces was
unsuccessful. In the aftermath, the Union general was relieved of
command. Some even suspected him of being drunk during the
battle.

Hicks snarled and shook his head, as he
watched the Slarts carefully removing the detonators from the
warheads inside the Earth Space Cruiser. “I see what you mean,
Perry, but this idea of using nuclear warhead detonators… do we
really know what we’re doing? I mean, I know YOU do… you were a
physicist… but how… I mean WHO is going to be able to activate the
detonators when the dump tractor gets to the top?” Hicks asked. He
gave Perry a suspicious look, which began to melt into raw
emotional concern.

Perry just grinned, and folded his arms. He
said, “Not to worry General. The detonators can be activated long
before the dump tractor gets to the window. We just need five
feet.” Then Perry pointed up the ramp to the Mess Hall window. He
said, “Get that ramp within ten feet of the glass, leave the hauler
in reverse, hop out, run like hell… and our detonators will do the
rest.” This seemed to be enough to satisfy Hicks temporarily; but
he still had an earie feeling that Perry had something else far
more terrible in mind. After all, who could Perry really trust with
this task? The Slarts couldn’t go. Pumalars were too big to ride in
the vehicles, too. Spleefs were not incredibly bright when it came
to technology, and they’d never be able to handle activating the
switch if there were any technical difficulties. Zorgs were
unreliable, and they’d likely try to just jump out of the dump
tractor before they even got close. Porkos were plenty brave
enough, but quite uncoordinated at manipulating small devices. Only
an Earther could do the job. And the smartest Earther anyone knew
of, was Perry.

Hicks tried to not think about it, but the
fear was with him constantly. Could it be that Perry was planning
on driving that last tractor himself? After all, Perry was never
the type to trust anyone with complicated details or instructions.
Plus, Perry was a much braver man than most anyone knew. Perry
would never ask anyone else to drive that hauler up that ramp with
thermonuclear detonators on it. Still… Hicks tried not to think
about it. If Perry was gone from his life, Hicks just couldn’t
imagine how he’d live without him.

Finally it was the day for the main assault,
the day everyone had been waiting for and working toward. Slart
planners were now estimating that less than fifty truck-loads of
dirt would be necessary to complete the ramp, and the word had
spread to the thousands of Nausties now camped inside the cavern
and service tunnels. Practically no one was left below in the mines
besides supply divisions under the command of the Schpleeftkorkii
gang. Excited Nausties gathered around in the cavern, surrounding
the dirt-covered Earth Cruiser, and cheering each dump tractor as
it came back down from the ramp.

The trip up the ramp for each of the last
loaders took less than five earth minutes, but the trip down was
accomplished in less than a minute. The Earther drivers had become
quite skilled at backing uphill by now! And the drive back down was
certainly—more than anything—a real relief for each driver. There
was always the threat of a counter-attack from Security Troops
positioned behind that thick glass wall. So after dumping their
load, those Earthers driving those dump tractors just wanted to
high-tail it back down!

Each loader full of dirt would be cheered on
by the growing throng of Nausties below as it carefully backed up
the ramp to the glass wall of the Mess Hall. Then each returning
vehicle’s driver or his spotter would announce how much farther
they had to go before the ramp would not only touch the Mess Hall’s
thick glass wall, but be solid enough for the tractor drill.
Anticipation grew with every truck load, and relief followed with
each driver’s safe return. It was becoming a very treacherous
climb!

As the last of the fifty dump trucks came
down from the ramp, the drivers of the vehicle gave a triumphant
signal that the distance now was within ten feet. The news spread
throughout the throng of excited miners, diggers, supply workers,
and thousands of warriors. Then a cheer rose up from the crowd.
Almost everyone in the enormous mass of bodies was ecstatic.
Bloodlust. Excitement. Anticipation. The thrill of combat… and the
thought of revenge for five long Earth decades of oppression and
cruelty. It was nearly payback time! They now realized that in less
than an hour they’d be battling all the way up inside that main
terminal, fighting through hails of bullets, and slaughtering
everyone they found.

There would be no quarter,
no prisoners, no mercy, and no surrender possible. This was not
just a takeover, or a palace coup d'état. This was more of an
eradication… a
cleansing
even. Architeuthis stood in the back of the
crowd, near a large planning table with all his Slartigifijian
planners. This was his vision and he was there to bear witness to
it… now it was finally about to happen.

Every Naustie in that crowd was spoiling for
revenge. They’d make Warden Ggggaaah and his troops pay dearly for
all they’d done. The souls of tens of thousands of their comrades
who’d starved or died in those mines over the years… all those
would be avenged as well. Beings in the crowd sporadically called
out vows of revenge, as the last of the vehicles finished their
journey up the ramp and returned empty. Some Nausties who’d lost a
lover or even just a great friend in the mines or in the recent
battles sang songs or chanted the names of their fallen comrades.
Many joined in with those songs too. It was an historic moment for
New Australia.

Oh yes, almost everyone was excited, from
Pumalars to Slarts. From Spleefs to Zorgs. Humans and Porkos
cheered together as well; and almost everyone shared in the
celebration. Everyone except one single Earther in the crowd, that
is….

Only one being in the crowd did not share in
the revelry and saber rattling. For this one Earthman that last
dump tractor returning from the ramp meant something far more
important. Perry’s face gradually went completely cold. It was
finally time for him to perform the mission he’d been planning all
along. One last mission. One that he’d been saving for himself
alone.

All along he’d been revealing only bits and
pieces of his plan, which had begun forming the very day that The
Impaler proposed piling up dirt to reach the command bubble. And
weeks before when Perry had first crawled inside the Earth Cruiser
and discovered the thermonuclear warheads were still operable, the
idea had solidified in his mind. It all hit him at once that day,
and a chill ran right through his body. There was only one good way
to blow open that wall and allow his fellow Nausties inside with
enough superior numbers to overwhelm the garrison. Otherwise they’d
be slaughtered by the thousands.

General Hicks walked past Perry, who seemed
now suddenly very cold and distant. Hicks placed a hand on his
shoulder and squeezed gently, as the crowd of warriors around them
cheered wildly. Perry just stared up the ramp, coolly contemplating
the task lying ahead of him. A chill ran through him again, as a
driver brought up yet another battered grey-green metal electric
hauler. It was all charged up and ready—ready for the ascent. This
was the hauler which had the detonators hidden under its
payload.

Porkonji welders had created a rack that
held the three detonators in place, just like Perry had requested;
and Slarts had devised a switch that could activate the proximity
detonation devices right as the tractor dumper approached the wall.
The driver could simply flip the switch, so to speak, and the
detonators would begin seeking a target within five seconds.

But… the real truth was this: Whoever drove
that vehicle, and whoever activated those detonators: they were not
coming back alive.

Proximity detonators were designed to
activate five seconds after exiting from the space craft firing
them. This way, when they simply neared their target and got within
maximum destructive range, they’d detonate the warhead and destroy
their target. Perry had known that all along, but he’d cautioned
the Slarts working with him to keep it secret from other Nausties
for as long as possible. It did no good. Porko welders working on
the rack gradually figured it out. Slarts couldn’t lie anyway, and
with a little probing, the Porkos pieced it together. It was going
to be a suicide mission. Even the several hundred Earther dump
tractor drivers who had developed proficiency in climbing the
enormous ramp backward, began to find out. Yet it didn’t frighten
them. They all just assumed they’d have to draw lots to see who
would get to go.

No one speculated on how the choosing would
actually occur. And no one really wanted to know either. Finishing
the ramp was everyone’s main concern.

The moment General Hicks had been both
dreading had finally arrived. Who would do the honor of driving
that last dump tractor to the top, and detonate the warheads? Hicks
just smiled awkwardly at Perry and proceeded to prepare for his
speech to the Army.

A cold feeling rushed through Hicks’ body,
as he mounted a small platform made from cannibalized mine crusher
components. And as he began to address the immense crowd of
warriors, his heart seemed to be caught in his own throat. He just
knew Perry had been planning to drive that damn tractor all along,
and it was killing him to try and speak boldly now to his army with
this gut-wrenching fear in his stomach. He struggled to compose
himself as the crowd turned to face him and listen to his final
commands.

The General began by addressing the
different commanders of the assault units. He bellowed out the
names and unit numbers for the entire assault division. Every
Brigade, every battalion, every company, and even every platoon was
recognized by the General, and named specifically. All the names of
all the units in that first assault division were sounded off by
Hicks from memory, and their assigned commanders shouted out
acknowledgement. Yet all the while Hicks was really just trying to
ignore the fact that his partner Perry… was now quite clearly
walking through the crowd over to the last dump tractor… apparently
to inspect the detonator activation switch inside the cab. Hicks
hoped that’s all he was doing anyway.

General Hicks reviewed the order of battle
for this massed audience, which fell hushed as he spoke in a
booming snarling voice that filled most of the canyon. He detailed
the order in which the assault would go, so that every being in
every single unit knew exactly when they’d be going in. Hicks
didn’t even use notes. He’d already memorized the entire battle
plan backward and forward.