Mission Origin View (Final Days Trilogy) (10 page)

“
Extract One, Extract One. This is Extract Two,” Gideon said, using squad call signs.

“
Extract One, go ahead,” Captain Neubauer answered.

“
Target found. Anna has sent you the coordinates.”

“
Received. Stand by,” Neubauer answered as he referenced the map coordinates on his heads-up display. A few seconds later he added, “Extract One will be in position in three minutes. We’ll acquire the target and exit through your location. Provide exit cover.”

“
Yes, sir,” Gideon answered, switched frequencies to Gault, and said, “Extract One will pass us with the target. We’ll provide cover.”

“
Yes, sir,” Gault responded.

***

Captain Neubauer and Gunny Xia slipped down several corridors, taking turns, moving, and covering each other until they reached the corner to the corridor where the target was. Neubauer looked at Xia and used the fingers of his right hand to count to three. On three, both men entered the corridor and shot the two guards with a single particle-beam burst. As the guards fell, Neubauer and Xia rushed to the door. Xia used his weapon’s particle-beam again to cut through the locking mechanism and kicked it open as Neubauer guarded him. Xia entered the room and immediately shot a hostile standing behind the designated target. Neubauer followed a second later and swept the room for any threat they may not have detected.

Finding no more hostiles
, Neubauer approached the target.

“
I’m Captain Neubauer, US Marine. We’re here to rescue you. Will you come with us?” he asked as gently and reassuringly as possible, seeing that the target was a young woman.

“
No, I’m not going with you!” she shouted. “Who are you, and what do you want with me?”

Without hesitation Xia pulled out a minihypo from his medical kit, approached the wom
an, and shoved the hypo into the back of her neck. A second later she was unconscious.

“
Extract Two, we’re coming through,” Neubauer transmitted.

A few minutes
later Xia, carrying a young lady on his left shoulder, rounded the corridor, followed by Neubauer. They hurried past Gault and Gideon.

Gideon and Ga
ult covered their exit until they reached the simulated breach point into the complex. The team would stay there until everyone involved in the simulation was debriefed and had recovered from their simulated particle-beam wounds.

***

“Ten minutes from start to finish,” Captain Neubauer said as he removed his combat helmet. Gideon and Gault also took off their helmets as Xia carefully laid the young lady on the floor.

“
Gunny, check on everyone we shot and see if they’re coming around.”

“
Yes, sir,” Xia answered through his helmet speaker.

“
LT…,” Gault began to ask and then stopped.

“
What is it, Corporal?” Gideon said. “Spit it out, Marine.”

“
Well…I’m sure you’ve already thought about it, but where are we going to get a life-support suit for our rescued young lady here?” Gault paused and continued. “We’ll have to get her to the VTOL alive, I assume.”

“Out of the mouth of babes!” Captain Neubauer said as he used the palm of his right hand to hit his forehead. “We hadn’t thought about it. Thanks for bringing it to our attention, Corporal. Good work!”

“
Thank you, sir,” Gault replied with a smile.

“Lieutenant, make a note for us to bring life-support suits with us on our rescue missions,” Captain Neubauer said as he looked at Gideon.

“
Yes, sir,” Gideon answered.

A few seconds later
the marines heard footsteps coming down the corridor.

“
How’d your training simulation go, Captain?” Admiral
Corbin asked as he approached the marines. The marines stood at attention and saluted.

“
Very well, sir. We were able to find our target and extract her undetected,” Captain Neubauer answered and added, “Thank you again, sir, for allowing some of your base personnel to participate in the exercise.” 

“Not a problem, Captain. They were eager to volunteer, especially when I offered a five-day pass to Station Viking,” he answered with a smile.

“
Your people are going to feel a little groggy for a while after they wake up. And sir, we did destroy a door during the exercise,” Captain Neubauer added.

“
Again, not a problem, Captain,” the admiral said and then asked, “One question, Captain. How’d you get close enough to the guards to knock them out?”

“
We supplied all of your ‘enemy guard’ volunteers with a special weapons-training armband,” Neubauer began to explain. “When a weapon is pointed in the direction of one of these armbands, the weapon is inhibited from firing a particle-beam shot when the trigger is pulled. Instead, the weapon transmits a signal to the armband to inject the wearer with a knockout drug embedded in the armband,” Captain Neubauer explained.

“
Interesting,” Admiral Corbin said.

The young volunteer on the floor started to wake.

“
How do you feel?” Xia asked through his helmet speaker as he bent down and helped her sit up.

“
Like a horse kicked me,” she answered.

“
Was it worth the five-day pass?” Admiral Corbin asked her.

“
Yes, sir,” she answered with a smile.

Captain’s Quarters,
SRS
Stephen Hawking

1700
—February 17, 2372

B
am! Bam! Bam! Mary knew from the abruptness of the knocks on her cabin door that Gunny Xia had arrived.

She intentionally waited a few seconds to begin the process of making sure
Gunny Xia knew who was in charge. Having dealt with hard-core career marines before and after reviewing Xia’s records, she knew what to expect.

“
Enter!” Mary yelled.

Xia entered
, walked to her desk, stood at attention, and saluted.

P
retending to finish up a report on her desk, Mary ignored him for a few more seconds as he stood, holding his salute.

“
At ease. Have a seat, Gunny,” she said as she finally acknowledged his presence and returned his salute. 

Xia sat down with a smug look on his face.

“Gunny, you and I have been around this man’s navy for a long time, so I’m not going to try to get to know you better or give you the same pep talk I’m giving the rest of the crew,” Mary began, paused a second, and then continued. “I expect you to be the professional marine that I know you are while you’re aboard my ship. If you or your men have a problem with anything or with my crew, come directly to me. Is that understood?”

“
Yes, sir,” Xia answered.

“
We have a mission, and I want to make sure we bring everyone back safe and sound. As you well know, missions like these usually turn into a disaster. You and I have been in situations like this before and understand. Most of the crew have little to no combat experience, so it’s up to the both of us to get ‘em back safely. I’m relying on you, Gunny.”

“
Yes, sir,” Xia responded again, but this time his smugness was gone.

Mary knew, from Xia’s expression, that she
’d proved to him she was a seasoned naval captain and he could depend on her if things got rough.

“
Any questions or concerns for me?” Mary asked.

“
Sir. If we find ourselves in a life-and-death situation, I know the mission comes first. All I ask from you is that you’ll do all you can to save my men if possible,” Xia said.

“
Gunny, you can count on it,” Mary immediately answered.

“
Very well, sir,” Xia responded.

“
Anything else, Gunny?” Mary asked.

“
No, sir.”

“
Dismissed!”

Bridge, SRS
Stephen Hawking

1745—February 17, 2372

Sergeant Kindle stood at attention when Mary entered the bridge. After she made her way to her command chair and sat down, he returned to parade rest.

The bridge was qui
et. Ensign Young, the communications officer, was the only other person there.

“
Problems, Ensign?” Mary asked, startling Young since he hadn’t noticed her enter.

Young turned toward her and
said, “No problems, Captain. Communications systems are optimal. It’s only a few hours before we depart, and I want to make sure we haven’t missed a message concerning the scientists that we’ll be picking up.”

“
You don’t trust your Anna to notify you?” Mary asked with a smile.

“
It’s not that, sir,” he said. “I…I just wanted to be here if a message comes. I can’t concentrate on anything else anyway, and I feel on edge.”

“
It’s okay to be a little jumpy before a mission, Ensign. Especially an extraordinary mission like this one, and don’t forget that it’s your first deep space mission,” Mary said.

“
Thanks, Captain,” he responded and continued. “I’ll do my best, sir.”

“
I know you will, Ensign. Why don’t you stretch your legs and go ask Captain
Neubauer and Lieutenant Klaxton to join us for dinner this evening? The walk will help you relax.”

“
Yes, sir,” Young answered as he got up to leave the bridge.

Mary asked Stephen to run a full
-ship system diagnostic and show the results on her command chair console.
She wanted to make sure everything was ready before their scheduled departure at 0700 the next morning.

As
Ensign
Young approached the bridge door, Kindle quietly spoke to him. “There’s nothing to be worried about, Ensign.” Kindle paused and looked to make sure Captain Bowser was occupied. “I’ve served on fifteen ships, and while I was on board, we only lost eleven ensigns.”

Ensign Young smiled
, hesitated for a second and said, “Thanks, Sergeant. That’s good to know…I think.”

After
he left, Kindle smiled, and it took all he could do to not laugh out loud.

“
I just spent some of my valuable time trying to calm his nerves, and here you go saying something like that. Why are all marines cruel to navy ensigns?” Mary said loudly enough for Kindle to hear as she continued watching the
diagnostic
reports on her console with her back still turned to him.

Kindle immediately stopped smiling. He thought about how to respond and decided to go for broke. After all, what could she do to him? Assign him to a ship with antimatter equipment that ha
d never been tested while traveling farther than any man had ever gone before? His smile returned, and he answered, “Sorry, Captain…but all marines are trained to harass ensigns anytime there is an opportunity.”

Without a word, Mary continued working, didn
’t turn around, and just shook her head from side to side with a smile. She knew Kindle would most likely sacrifice his own life for the ensign if need be.

Captain’s Dining Table, SRS
Stephen Hawking

1900
—February 17, 2372

All eight
Stephen Hawking
officers, mission scientists, and Admiral Corbin sat at the captain’s table for dinner. Though the dinner was supposed to be a formal dress affair, each crew member wore his or her mission jumpsuit since none had a dress uniform. Even Admiral Corbin wore his
Phobos Naval Station jumpsuit.

The
captain’s table was adjacent to the ship’s dining area and galley.
Dinner, served by several enlisted crewmen, consisted of already cooked meals, which came from the ship’s fully stocked food-storage locker. The prepackaged meals included salad, steak, and potato—and for dessert, apple pie à la mode. Each meal had been altered with a special chemical that, when activated by oxygen exposure, either warmed the food or made it cooler. In five minutes the steak and potato were hot, the salad cool, and the apple à la mode cold. 

“
To a successful mission and safe return!” Admiral Corbin proposed as he held up his plastic cup, which contained wine he had brought aboard. It would be the last alcohol the crew would taste until they returned. Every officer and scientist held up his or her cup and drank.

An hour later
dinner was over, and the officers and scientists sat around the table, engaged in several individual conversations. Admiral Corbin talked with Mary about her crew and any last-minute needs.