Captain (The United Federation Marine Corps Book 4) Page 4

  One conversation caught his attention, and he toggled to isolate it. SSgt Grimes was in earnest conversation with Private Hans Çağlar. Çağlar was a big, powerful-looking Marine, Ryck remembered from his last inspection, a new join from Gaziantep. This was his first operation, and his nerves might be on edge. Ryck toggled over to pull up Çağlar’s readouts. Pulse was 105, breathing was 35. Yes, the young man was nervous.

  “Nothing to it, Hans,” his platoon sergeant was telling him over their P2P. “Just like training. Besides, if I was some Confederation jimmylegs and I saw your big ugly ass coming at me, I would give up right there on the spot.”

  “But Staff Sergeant, what if I screw up?” Çağlar asked.

  “You won’t. You’re a Federation Marine.”

  “But what if I do? I could get someone killed,” he persisted.

  “If you do screw up, then just double down and do what’s right. Corporal Sands will be watching out for you, so you just follow him and do like he says, OK?” SSgt Grimes said in an even, calm voice.

  Ryck toggled back out of the conversation. Grimes had things in hand. Ryck made a note to look at both Grimes’ and Çağlar’s mission record after the company got back. Grimes, in particular, might have potential for bigger and better things in the Corps.

  Then he had no more time for idle contemplation. The display countdown reached zero, and the first three rekis lifted up and passed through the plasma gate and into open space. Ryck’s coxswain, a Navy bosun’s mate, lifted his reki up a few moments later, and along with B-4 and B-5, they passed through the gate. Ryck couldn’t hold back a slight start as the bow of the reki made contact with the gate. If there was any breach in a vacsuit, the touch of the gate could cause an instant death. It was for this reason that after a combat mission, the gates were turned off, but before the mission, with the suits checked, there was no reason to diminish the ship’s integrity even in the slightest amount.

  Ryck looked over to his left where the first six A-flight rekis were already outside the ship. In a moment, they would all be accelerating, and most of the rekis would be out of visuals from each other until they converged on the Julianna’s Dream. He could pick out A-3, the one with 1st Lieutenant Jefferson de Madre in it. Jeff was Ryck’s First Platoon commander, and more pertinently, the assault element leader for their mission.

  Until a month ago, the XO was the First Platoon commander, but Jeff had transferred to Charlie, and he was a month junior to Sandy. Sandy was bumped up to XO, and Jeff took over the platoon, much to Ryck’s relief. Jeff was a picture-perfect Marine: fit and good-looking, but more importantly, he had the ingrained manner of a natural-born leader. Ryck felt much better with Jeff as a platoon commander than if he’d still had the more cerebral, quieter XO.

  Normally, rekis were dispatched immediately after debarking their ship, but this time, due to the short distance, the rekis gathered while the rest exited the hangar gates. The rekis’ approach would deviate in random paths to avoid mines and other unwanted welcoming presents, but if the Inchon’s AI was on top of it, the rekis would all converge on their debark points at the planned times. With such a small distance to cover, they had to start on their crossover almost simultaneously in order to reach their debark points as planned.

  Finally, on some unheard signal, the rekis started accelerating. All Ryck could do now was to sit and enjoy the ride. He took a moment to look up at the brilliant display that gave color and light to the dark reaches of space, then settled in to go over the plan one more time.

  He needn’t have bothered. There wasn’t time for much before the rekis started converging on the Julianna’s Dream. The reki came to a stop, and the green light flashed for the Marines to debark. Ryck released his sole plates, and with a kick, rose several meters “above” the reki before he hit his controls to stop his motion.

  “Above” the reki was all relative. In space there was no above and below, and Marines were taught to ignore the spatial terms that had worked for mankind for millennia. For the Marines, “above” and “up” meant towards their target, “down” and “below” away from it.

  And their target was clearly visible less than a klick away. The Julianna’s Dream was a sleek ship, clearly visible in the reflected light of CF-32-5. Ryck had no idea how it was outfitted inside, but from his vantage point, the Cessna 900 reeked of money. With all the top-of-the-line navigational gear it had to have onboard, Ryck wasn’t sure how it could have strayed so far off the beaten path just to be close to Confederation space. It wasn’t as if there were any tourist destinations in the region.

  “Taco-Six, this is Taco-Three-Alpha,

  [8]” Ryck’s headphones picked up as the S-3A came up on the battalion circuit.

  First Battalion, Eleventh Marines, had the Mexican Fuerza de Infantería de Marina as its patron unit. For longer than anyone could remember, the battalion staff had adopted “Taco” as its call-sign. There had been some talk about changing that before Ryck had even enlisted after the call sign had become common knowledge. The battalion had earned the Chairman’s Battle Streamer on Garret’s Hold, and a book about their fight had been written. However, traditions are a mainstay of the Corps, and the dispersed people who could claim Mexican descent took “ownership” of the battalion, proud of its accomplishments. The callsign stayed.

  Captain Virag Ganesh was the assistant three, or assistant operations officer, and his place for the mission was back on the Inchon within CIC. He was the conduit between the ship and the Marines.

  “We have two incoming signatures centered at 47884-63789. We think one is a Federation destroyer, the other a packet. There is no indication that they are aware of our presence yet. The two ships could reach your pos in fewer than 90 mikes under impulse drive, and the Inchon Six requests that we move up the timeline accordingly, over.”

  “Three-Alpha, this is Taco-Six. I understand. I will push up the operation,” the CO passed back to the ship.

  Technically, once the Marines had left the ship, the entire operation was under LtCol uKhiwa’s command, hence the “request” from the senior Navy captain. However, the Inchon was their ride back, and if the captain thought his ship was in danger, he would have every right, even duty, to abandon the Marines to save the ship. The Inchon technically more than matched up with any destroyer, but with a Confederation packet there as well, and with possibly more ships arriving, the captain would not want to get into a fight here in Confederation space.

  “You heard the Three,” the CO passed on his command circuit. “Alpha, I want you to isolate the System Guard ship now. We don’t want them firing up.”

  That’s an understatement, Ryck thought.

  If the System Guard ship decided to move, there wasn’t much Marines in vacsuits could do about it. The Inchon could easily take it out, but not only would that alert the Confederation ships that had just arrived, but it could wipe out any Marines near the vessel. Alpha company had to close in with the System Guard ship and either board or disable it.

  “Charlie, don’t wait for Alpha. I want you to move now.”

  Ryck toggled the acknowledgement. He didn’t like it, though. Originally, he wasn’t to start the breach until the System Guard ship was neutralized. Now, he not only had to worry about booby traps or hostiles on board, he could be having a ship crawl up his ass.

  “Platoon commanders, listen up,” he passed on his command circuit. “We’ve got company, and not the heavy transport we expected. We need to move up the operation. But that doesn’t mean we’re going to forget caution. I’m not getting any Marines killed on this, so Ephraim, I want the ship scoured for any boobytraps before Jeff breaches.”

  First Lieutenant Ephraim Davidson was Ryck’s Weapons Platoon commander, and for this operation, the security element commander. With an attached Navy EOD team, he was to sweep the ship to identify and disable any booby traps. Ryck didn’t want any Marine entering a space until it had been cleared.

  “Jeff, as soon as Ephraim’s cleared
what he can, you need to get your team inside and find our hostages. We don’t have time to waste, so let’s move it now!”

  There was a flurry of activity as the security element started to move to the Julianna’s Dream. Ryck hesitated for only a moment. They seemed too exposed. But if the ship was rigged to blow, he did not want his entire force to be compromised.

  “Sams, keep your eyes open. If you see anything, I want you to stop Davidson,” he passed on a three-way P2P with the gunny, the first sergeant, and him.

  Having a gunny “watch over” a lieutenant, especially a well-regarded first lieutenant, was not standard practice. But Ryck had never seen his lieutenants in real action before, while he was intimately familiar with both Sams and First Sergeant Hecs. He trusted both of them, and if Sams “overruled” Ephraim, Ryck would take care of wounded egos after the fact.

  “Roger that,” Sams said.

  “And Hecs, I think de Madre is the real deal, but you’re my eyes and ears. If you see anything about to blow up, I want you to take action.”

  “He’ll be fine, sir, but I’ll keep my eyes open,” the first sergeant responded.

  Ryck had really wanted to position himself with the assault element. Two things stopped him, though. One was that he remembered how he’d have felt if he had his first company commander looking over his shoulder when he was a new lieutenant. He’d have felt betrayed at the lack of trust. The second reason was that by doing that, he would be broadcasting to the rest of the battalion that he’d been unable to adequately train his lieutenants to do their job.

  Still, Ryck had turned into somewhat of a control freak, he had to admit to himself, and he had to make sure that no mistakes were made. So he used the first sergeant as his stand in.

  Ryck trusted First Sergeant Hector Phantawisangtong more than maybe anyone other than Major Nidischii’. Hecs’ calm demeanor and rational view of life made him an anchor for Ryck, a sounding board. So he trusted Hecs to make sure Jeff didn’t screw up, and as the lieutenant was senior to the first sergeant, it wasn’t a blatant case of micro-managing.

  “Move it out, Captain,” the CO’s voice came over the P2P.

  “Aye-aye, sir,” Ryck said, toggling his display to take in the entire battalion.

  Preston already had his company on the move towards the System Guard ship, some 20 klicks sunward from the Julianna’s Dream. The CO, with Donte and Bravo, was ten klicks back and acting as the reserve. Ryck could see the specks that made them up. If anyone in the System Guard ship was on optics, or the two newly arrived ships were on optics, for that matter, they would all be easily spotted. The System Guard ship probably didn’t have anything onboard sophisticated enough that could see the Marines or rekis, but a Confederation destroyer most likely had the instruments to pierce their countermeasures, at least those of the Marines in vacsuits. A simple kiss of the destroyer’s plasma gun would wipe out every Marine, and that destroyer was well within range of them.

  Ryck hoped that the Inchon was monitoring the two Confederation ships, and if their plasma guns started to power up, the captain would give the order to intercede.

  Lieutenant Davidson quickly closed the distance to the Julianna’s Dream. If the ship took off, there was nothing much the Marines could do about that. It was difficult to lasso a spaceship, after all. But the ship remained quiet with only life support power registering.

  A flash lit up the edges of Ryck’s face shield.

  “Ion tubes are disabled,” Preston’s voice passed over the battalion command circuit.

  That was one headache gone for Ryck. Preston’s EOD team had been able to attach a flash limpet to the System Guard ship’s tubes, and with them breached, that ship was going nowhere.

  “Roger that,” the CO passed. “Move your company back to your rally point.”

  An entire Marine company had just made a crossover in hostile space only to have an EOD team complete the mission. The EOD team, or possibly just a recon team, could have done that without a company-sized escort.

  Charlie Company, though, had to actually breach the Julianna’s Dream and find the Federation citizens. That could not be done by a small team.

  “Security element is at the objective. We are commencing our sweep.”

  The assault element had halted about 500 meters from the ship. If the Julianna’s Dream blew, her parts would act as shrapnel, travelling hundreds of kilometers outwards. Five hundred meters of vacuum would not diminish the force of any shrapnel, but it would lessen the chance than anyone would be hit. Every 100 meters away decreased the chance of shrapnel hitting someone by better than 99%. The security element would be wiped out, but most of the assault element and support elements would have a good chance to survive.

  “What’s holding you up, Captain?” the CO asked on the P2P.

  Ryck looked at his display. Only six minutes had passed, and he wondered what the CO’s problem was.

  “We’re sweeping the ship now, sir. We should be ready to breach momentarily.”

  “Time’s of the essence. The Confederation ships know we are here now. Let’s get this done.”

  “Roger, sir. I’m on it,” Ryck said.

  If the Confederation ships hadn’t picked up the blast that took out the System Guard ship, the crew inside would have reported it. But the AIs had determined that the probability was high, over 85%, that any Confederation ship would hesitate before taking action. Ryck agreed with that assessment. The destroyer would not open up with an allied ship in the area, and it would have to consider that there was an opposing capital ship in the system. It would be more concerned with finding that threat than anything else.

  “Don’t miss anything, Ephraim, but pick it up. Battalion’s on my ass,” he passed on the P2P.

  “Roger that, sir.”

  Ryck started to edge his small headquarters element forward, falling just behind the assault element. It really made no difference if he was floating 450 meters out rather than 550, but he was getting antsy. He watched the progress of his Marines on the ship through his face shield rather than on his display. He kept expecting to see the Julianna’s Dream power up and pull away, but the ship remained quiet.

  “Captain, do I have to repeat myself?” the CO passed.

  “No, sir. We’ve almost completed the sweep,” Ryck said.

  You can get off my ass and let me do my job, he thought.

  “We’ve got two capital ships approaching, and we need to get the hostages now,” the CO insisted.

  “I’m on it, sir,” Ryck said.

  “Ephraim, where’re we at?” he said, switching channels.

  Ryck could see the progress on his display as each section of the ship was cleared, but he wanted his lieutenant’s input.

  “We’ve cleared 32%. I’d say we are about 12 minutes out.”

  Twelve minutes? There’s no way the CO’s going to accept that, he thought, wondering what to do.

  He had to breach the ship, but he was not going to get one of his men killed from something as stupid as a simple booby trap.

  “Ephraim, move the breaching tube up. I want it secured and ready to go. Try and scan what’s inside the best you can,” he ordered.

  He watched as the four Marines on the breaching team began to move forward, like pallbearers carrying a coffin. The breaching tube was a very primitive, but effective method of getting into a ship. It was essentially an airlock with a plasma gate on one end, a cutting blade on the other. The tube was placed against the skin of a ship and locked into place. An ion vibration blade would then begin to cut into the skin. Only the most hardened ships could withstand the blade for more than a few moments. For most ships, and the Julianna’s Dream would fit in this class, the breach could be cut in less than ten seconds. For sturdier warships, the blade could be exchanged for a molecular dissolution projector or even shape charges.

  The other end was initially closed off, but once the air pressure between the tube and the breached ship stabilized, the cover would be removed
so the plasma gate would allow passage while keeping atmospheric integrity.

  “Lieutenant, the ship’s hatch is not secure,” someone passed to Lieutenant Davidson on the element circuit.

  Ryck had to toggle his display. It was Sergeant Bondi, one of the heavy gun section leaders.

  Leaving the ship’s hatch unsecured could be a big break. But it could also be a trap. Like burglars finding the bank vault open, it sent every nerve in his body tingling. They could use the hatch to enter, probably six Marines at a time. But that could put those six Marines in grave danger.

  “What are you scanning inside the hatch?” he asked Davidson.

  “Uh, wait one, sir.”

  Ryck waited impatiently until finally, “It looks clean, best we can tell,” came over the net.

  Looking clean and being clean were not always the same thing, Ryck knew. He hesitated.

  “Captain Ward, I want you to move your company to the Julianna’s Dream and take over the rescue,” the CO ordered over the command circuit.

  “No, sir!” Ryck blurted out. “We’re moving in now!”

  He figured the CO had his AIs scanning all the transmissions just as Ryck could within the company, so he would know that Ryck hadn’t given any such order.

  Ship’s hatch or breaching tube? Make a decision, Ryck!

  “Steer clear of the hatch. Commence breach now!” he ordered.

  “Jeff, move your men up. You’ve got 15 seconds to have your first team inside the ship.”

  Fifteen seconds was probably not feasible. The breach would just be reaching completion, but Jeff’s men were still floating 400-500 meters off. A vacsuit could manage that distance in 15 seconds, but not when the Marine had to come to a stop and steer into the gate of the breaching tube.

  “Target breached,” Sergeant Jordan passed.

  Ryck was leading his headquarters forward, trying not to get in the way of anyone in the assault element. Jeff had his element well-drilled, and it was only after 32 seconds that the first Marine flew headfirst into the tube.