The Catherine Kimbridge Chronicles #4, Retribution (14 page)

             
Cat looked at Private Stone
.“
You up for a quick jog
?
”

            
 “
Give the word M
a’
am. My
Star
k’
s
got a pretty good charge and this guy seems pretty light
.
”

             
Cat checked her sensors. They had about four minutes until they would be at greatest risk from blockbuster shrapnel. The dragonflies had been tearing up this part of Harromog. GCP ground forces had been dealing with them effectively using ground-to-air missiles but the arrival of track-based armor to the east meant the marines needed to redeploy to deal with that more pressing threat. Cat hated ordering Lieutenant Myers to abandon air defense but it had been a case of limited resources, manpower and options. She had ordered the ships in orbit to utilize their beam weapons in an air-defense role as best they could. It was unfortunately only partially effective. The enemy had learned to fly low -- using gulle
y’
s, ravines and valleys to evade the overhead weapons.

            
 “
Move out
!
” Cat said out loud
.“
We should be clear for several minutes and my AI is not showing any sniper activity in the immediate vicinity
.
”

Silently she spoke to her AI
.‘
Ca
l
… continuous scan. If there is a mouse out there I want to know about it before the mouse does
.
’

Quickly the three made their way across the street working their way between burnt out cars and the occasional corpse. The remains of a bombed out building on the corner was their immediate destination.

Cat peeked around the corner. It was clear. Her AI would have alerted her to any bio-signatures had they been present. She pulled back as Debbu and Private Stone caught up. At the same time her comm beeped for her attention.

Signaling the others to remain silent she responded to the hail.
 “
Kimbridge her
e
”

“
Admiral, this is Lieutenant Myers. We have our hands full here. Without air support we are having a hard time slowing their armor down. First Platoon is trying a flanking maneuver to see if they ca
n’
t get some of their boys in position to take a shot at them but as it stands now they can hit us before we can hit them
.
”

“
Understood Lieutenant. Until we can take those air defense batteries down we are all going to be hard pressed to get air support. I have McKinne
y’
s team looking into that as we speak. In the meantime I just need you to slow them down. The flanking maneuver is a good first step but I suggest you make a show of attempting to stop them then fall back. Once they get into the city proper they will lose their range advantage and you will have an easier time dealing with them
.
”

“
Then tha
t’
s what we will do Admiral. On a second note, we ran into a few civilians that we are routing away from the immediate combat zone. They were most insistent that they be allowed to proceed to the JasNair observatory. Something abou
t‘
poison-pil
l
’ protocols
?
”

“
I’
ve recently been made aware of them Lieutenant.
I’
m heading that direction myself with a small team. You can let those civilians know that we are attempting to secure the disarm code
s
… they will know what that means. Anything else? -- W
e’
ve got some inbound dragonflies
I’
d just as soon avoid
.
”

“
No m
a’
am that it. Mye
r’
s ou
t
”

Cat checked her internal chronometer. They had just over two minutes to find cover.

“
Le
t’
s move. W
e’
ve only got a few minutes to find our way into the tram tunnel
s
”

It took them the better part of that time to locate where the entrance should have been. As Cat had feared, the entrance had been obscured by the remnants of a partially collapsed building.  Working together, she and Private Stone cut away portions of the debris using their pulse rifles in continuous discharge mode. It was effective but it drained the weapo
n’
s energy reserves quickly. The privat
e’
s Mark Six combat suit could be used to recharge the weapons but is was anybod
y’
s guess as to when they would be able to recharge the suit itself.

Finally Cat was able to see the beginnings of an opening. Unfortunately it was at about that same time that the Dragonflies began to make their run. The Modos Syndicate had an amazingly simple but effective strategy. Systematically turn entire sections of the city into rubble with air-dropped blockbuster bombs. This forced everyone to include civilians and freedom fighters to flee those areas and congregate in the zones being spared from the blockbusters. These zones however were the primary focus of the armored track vehicles that were even now making advances into the city.

“
Help me pull this last piece off
!
” Cat yelled towards the Private.

Together they lifted a section of wall that Cat estimated weighted just shy of 2800 kilos off of the opening. Ca
t’
s superior Heshe enhanced strength might have been able to accomplish it alone but with the Privat
e’
s Mark Six the task was accomplished quicker.

“
DOWN
!
” Cat yelled as she literally grabbed Debbu and raced down the steps.

In reality the steps were some type of escalator but as power was out to this section of the city the normally moving escalator was frozen in place.  The power being out also meant there was no lighting in the dark tunnels. In the distance they could hear the blockbusters doing their dire business. The rumble could even be felt through the pavement. It was one hell of a way to wage a war. She tried not to think about the number of innocent lives being lost.

Cat adjusted her optic nerves to compensate for the dim conditions. The Naa
n’
s sun was similar to Sol in that nearly half the energy reaching their planet was in the form of infrared. On the surface during daylight this made these frequencies too saturated to be of much use seeing but here below the surface and in the relative dark infrared was an ideal spectrum to see by.

Aside from the lack of electricity, the underground tram system looked remarkably intact.  She saw no signs of other inhabitants but to be sure she instructed her AI to continue a full spectrum sweep. If there were Syndicate soldiers nearby her active scans would be like a beacon announcing their presence to the enemy but she was pretty sure the trade-off was worth the ris
k
… especially in the tight confines of the tunnel system where the need for advanced warning and limited options to flee factored in to the debate.

“
Ca
n’
t see a damn thin
g
” Private Stone mumbled as he moved forward awkwardly. His comm was off and he was whispering but Ca
t’
s hearing was exceptional thanks to the Heshe.             

            
 “
Privat
e
” Cat signaled with her outstretched arm for him to move forward and to the right side of the tunnel
.“
Tune your optics to 1
0μm
… yo
u’
ll have plenty to see by
.
”

             
He did as he was told and immediately started walking with greater certainty.   

             
They passed a stalled tram with its doors pried open. Apparently the passengers had been trapped when the power failed and been forced to flee the dead conveyance.  Cat peaked inside the tra
m’
s cabin. There was a control console located near the center. Debbu confirmed her suspicion that these cars were designed to travel both forward and backward on the same track. The tracks themselves provided energy for electric motors on the tram.

            
 “
Professo
r
… How far do you think that observatory is from here
?
” Cat asked.

             
Debbu paused to think
.“
If we could take the tram
I’
d say only about an hou
r
… Walking it might take us the better part of two days
.
”

             
Cat nodded. This is what she suspected. The observatory was not on her rather limited map of the surrounding area. She was still receiving a steady data feed from the computer complex Commander LeAnder had secured earlier but as yet the information gleaned did not include local maps. Orbital observations yielded several candidate structures but they were as yet unconfirmed.

             
She motioned the others to enter the tram
.“
Le
t’
s see if we ca
n’
t speed things up a little
.
”

             
Once inside the vehicle she had her AI quickly scan the mechanism. Within moments she had identified the motor compartment as well as easily accessible power feeds
.
“
Professo
r
… if you would be so good as to grab the control
s
…
I’
m going to see about supplying an alternative power source so we can shave a few hours off our little hike
.
”

            
 “I’
d be delighted Admira
l
” the Naan replied while hopping gingerly over to the control console
.“
This guy should be able to get us to the main terminus and from there we should be able to grab a tram to the JasNair facility
.
”

             
Private Stone pulled the door closed and walked over to Cat
.“
Begging the Admira
l’
s pardon but what are we going to use to power this rig?

             
Cat smiled and tapped the young ma
n’
s chest with the tip of her finger.

            
 “
M
a’
am
?
”

            
 “
The Naa
n’
s use
Multiferroics
in their electronics. Its three orders of magnitude more efficient than silicon-based electronics. On top of that, these trams are very energy efficient. They operate by floating above permanent rare-earth magnets. All that is needed is a minimal lateral force along the desired direction on motion
.
”

            
 “
M
a’
am
?
”

            
 “
We push
.
”

            
 “
A
h
”

***

              Lieutenant Myers wiped the gunk off his faceplate. His battle suit was covered with mud. A Syndicate Track vehicle sat smoldering a few meters ahead of him. It had a six centimeter hole in its windscreen and a much larger hole in its rear compartment. The lieutenan
t’
s plasma rifle was responsible for the first hole. An exploding fuel cell was responsible for the second.

             
He tapped his comm link
.“
Mikey, tag that last one as a confirmed kill. Any more trouble coming our way
?
”

             
Staff Sergean
t“
Mike
y
’ Rutledge pause briefly before answering
.“
That depends Sir. Do ya figure sixteen more of dim bad boys coming down the pike as
‘
troubl
e
’ or not
?
”

            
 “
I would count them as trouble. Take your squad and head east.
I’
ll meet you by that shopping plaza we found earlie
r
… there is another underground parking garage there. Set the charges and le
t’
s let them have some fun digging out
.
”