Raid on Kahamba (3 page)

Angie signaled to Joshua to wait
, as the people left
, but not before Willie told Angie she
also
needed to come down to the team’s ready room.  Angie quickly agreed then walked towards Joshua.  Willie noticed that, but figured that he’d find out what was up later.  There were more pressing things to take care
of
right now
.

Penny saw Angie coming and excused herself from the
up
coming interesting situation.  “I’ll get back to the HARM units,
s
ir.  Probably need to count the ammo or something.”

The room was now empty except for Joshua and Angie.  Joshua quietly watched her approach, his face unemotional
as he wondered
what to do. 
He hid his conflicting emotions well
. 
Angie’s professional facade cracked
first
.  She hugged and kissed Joshua, trying to b
ridge the distance between them
.  Joshua awkwardly responded to her affection before they broke apart.

“How did I do?”

“You did great I think,” Joshua responded in a low voice.  “When were you going to tell me?”

“I wanted to… but I couldn’t.  It was secret.” Angie was still holding onto him for comfort and looked him in the eyes when she said it.  Her voice was nervous and apologetic.  “
I know this looks bad. 
I didn’t want it to come out this way, but it just… just happened.  I’ve been with CAJUN intelligence for almost ten years.  I’m a deep cover agent in the alien materials technology area.  Not everything I’ve told you has been a lie
- I do real research and I do travel to conferences and into the field
…
---
and
I do love you
.
”

“So it wasn’t an act?”  Joshua wanted to believe her.  They had been going out for eight months now, steady for the last five months of that.

“Your
last
text was sweet.  Saying you were sorry you couldn’t make dinner – an urgent mission.  I was already in the air myself and only got
it
after arriving here.  I was under an operational blackout too.”

“I do love you, Angie,” Joshua replied. “I… I mean it.  This has been a pretty big shock to me.”

“We’ll work it out after the mission.  I promise,” Angie answered.  “I want you in my life, Josh.”

Her wristpad beeped. “The General wants me to have one last meeting with his planning staff.  I need to go.”

“Okay...”  Joshua felt emotionally drained, but he still trusted her.  “I’ll be there for you.  Go meet the General.  We’ve all got prep to do.” 

“Thank you,
d
ear.” Angie replied, giving him a real kiss on the lips before she left. 

Still thinking about Angie, Joshua tried to focus his thoughts on the tasks at hand.  They all had a mission to perform.

***

The two HARM units were loaded into the cavernous cargo bay of the transport facing forward, one behind the other. 
Only
a narrow walkway
remained
on each side of the bulky armoured robots to permit access around them. 
Each HARM was positioned in a kneeling position with
its
arms down in front and fists knuckle down on the floor.  This allowed them to fit inside the transport and allowed for easy boarding via the front chest hatches.  Standing, each of the third generation humanoid robots
would have been just over 12
metres tall and weighed
30
tons without the combat load added. 
Most people thought HARM units looked like giant armoured knights i
n blocky armour with squat,
helmeted heads.

Just over three and a half hours of flight time had elapsed from Diego Garcia.  They were approaching the coast of Tanzania now, about an hour out from the drop zone.  Joshua and Penny had finished their own
walk-
around and systems check of their robots.  Their crews had loaded up the machines with live munitions and prepped all the systems for
live
combat.  There was not much left to do but review their mission briefing, the plan, and wait.

Penny was
the talkative type , and n
ormally she would have some kind of chatter going on. 
Now, she was unusually quiet
. 

“Mission jitters or wondering what happened back at the briefing room with Angie?” Joshua guessed.

“A little of both,” Penny replied. “I don’t want to pry, but is everything okay?  I know I’m surprised… so…”

“We’ll have to see…” Joshua just shook his head.  “I never saw it coming, but I think it’ll be okay.  Angie did say she was sorry, and I kind of believe her.”

Penny thought for a moment.  “She is a good spy then.  I hope she is telling the truth.  In Japan there is an old proverb.  ‘Don't let your daughter-in-law eat your eggplants.’ ” 

“What
the heck
does that mean?”

“One meaning is don’t let yourself be taken advantage of.”  She gave Joshua a hug, her face only going up to the top of his chest.  “Take it slow, Josh.  It’ll all work out in time.  You might be my superior officer, but I’m still your friend, and you have many others.  Let us help if you need it.”

“Thanks.  That means a lot.” Joshua briefly hugged her back then separated.  “I suppose we should review the plans one last time.”

Their crew chief approached Jos
hua and interrupted them.  “Sir.
I have Dr. Chan on the secure line.  She would like to speak to you.”
 

Joshua had known Janet Chan for over ten years now, and she had even recruited him
to be
one of the first HARM pilots, but he still knew very little about her.  She kept to herself and was always immersed in her work as General Automata Corporations Chief Robot Scientist.  She was in her mid-sixties now, but showed no signs that she would retire soon. 

Joshua went over to the secure satellite uplink terminal which showed Janet, her grey hair immaculately styled
as always
, patiently waiting on the visual display.  She began talking as soon as she saw him.  “Hello, Joshua.  I trust you are well?”

“As well as can be, Doc,”  he replied.  “Had a few surprises, but I think I’ll be able to deal with them.”

“That’s good.  I have a few more surprises for you, but good ones.  When I heard about this operation I rushed them out just in time.  Your crew chief has installed them, but isn’t cleared for the specs as they are still top secret.  You, I can trust though,” she emphasized. “Both of your
Fenrir
HARMs have been outfitted with the new Typhoon missile pods.  The new missiles should have double the lethality of the old ones.  Also, your unit has th
e new mono-steel molecular combat knife to replace the
standard
knife
.  We’ve been able to manufacture only one of these so far, but it will cut through any Newt armour if sufficient force is applied.  Your HARM AIs have been updated with the necessary information to use the
weapons
.”

“These things will work right?” Joshua joked.

“Of course they will,” Janet flatly replied, her expression hardening. “I built
them
.”

Joshua was suddenly reminded of her lack of humour.  “I was just kidding, Doc.” 

“I knew that,” Janet smiled, but the smile was too smug, not a friendly smile.  She still scared him once in a while, but people said he was on her good list so he took their word on it.  “Don’t lose my equipment, Joshua, and bring yourself back alive.”

“Thanks again, Doc. Appreciate it.”  Janet signed off and Joshua reflected that this mission must be more than it seemed.  The
D
octor was well connected
with the CAJUN
leadership
and very smart.  For her to rush prototype equipment out to him meant this egg thing was very serious.  This mission felt odd to him though.  Sometimes you got the pre-mission nerves or knew it was going to go well; this time, he just didn’t have any feelings about it.  It was odd, but he was ready and the mission would just go.

***

“You did pretty good putting this armour on for someone who
’
s rusty.” Willie was finishing up with the final parachute
harness
adjustments
for Angie
.  He put some muscle i
nto it and cinched the
harness tighter.

“Ugghhh,” Angie exhaled. 

“That should do it,” he finished.  Getting into a glider-chute harness was a two person job, especially when you were in powered armour.

“Remember, this is a raider suit, not the
battlesuit
you used before.  There are only hard armour components for the most of the torso and joints.  You’ll get used to it pretty quickly
since
it
’
s actually easier to wear,
but
make sure you move around as bit
-
there’s still a power assist.  It’s designed for stealth so it doesn’t have the strength or protection that a full
battlesuit
does, but it is quiet, lighter, more maneuverable, and faster.”

Angie nodded.  She picked up her side-arm, a standard issue 10mm automatic, and quickly checked it before holstering it.   “I know you guys aren’t expecting me to fight, but this pea shooter isn’t going to do me much good against a battlesuit.” 

“I figured we would be more than enough to take care of anything in our way,” Willie confidently replied. 

“I’d still feel safer with something bigger.” Angie looked him in the eye for a few moments.  Willie wasn’t fazed in the slightest, but he saw enough to change his mind.

“Alright then, how about
a
submachinegun?  Would a C33 PDW do?”

“AP rounds?”

Willie just chuck
led.  “Armour piercing it is. 
Tamotsu!  Prep a PDW for our guest.  Make sure she has AP rounds.”

“Hai!”
responded
the t
eam’s
Japanese
armourer
, pulling
a
compact
submachinegun
of bullpup design
off the rack.

Willie had taken a liking to Angie.  She was tough and
seemed like a good person
-
for an intelligence agent
.  He’d have to have a chat with Joshua later about this girlfriend thing between them. 

*** 

The Kahamba Mine was a huge open pit mine with large trucks and digging machines
moving
great loads of rock and earth for processing at the new plant.  In the darkness of night, floodlights lit large sections of the mine.  On one side of the mine, well back from the pit rim
,
was an older processing
building
that was now the mine’s mineral research facility.  It was the only
installation of its type
for hundreds of miles that had advanced analytic and scientific instruments.

The analysis lab was buried deep under the hard rock
of
the Kahamba site. 
It
was the cleanest room in the entire facility with its white walls, floor
,
and ceiling.  Computer equipment, microscopes, large visual displays, and various sensor devices were neatly organized around the room.  A large CT scanner for mineral samples occupied a large shielded chamber in the corner of the room.

Colonel Mokele Kybela was a big man, who looked even bigger in the body armour that he always wore over his fatigues. 
Worn at his side was a large magnum pistol, one that was capable of punching through most body armour. 
He stormed int
o the analysis lab with two of
his bodyguards trailing behind him.  Looking around he spotted Shani across the lab floor talking to two other researchers
in lab coats
.  Quickly crossing the room
,
he grabbed her by the shoulder and spun her to face him.  The other researchers backed off in fear.  His eyes were bloodshot from lack of sleep and he reeked of too many cigarettes.