I guess time will tell. I didn’t have much success with it earlier in my life–the stack of contributors’ copies and a couple of appearances in national magazines notwithstanding.<\/p>\n
I’ve tucked the first short story, the one I wrote completely this year, under the fold. It’s a short military sci-fi thing, just a run through a draft, but it’s something that I powered through. Like I said, I used to blat out things like this all the time, and I need to get disciplined and used to doing it again, I suppose. If I want to be a writer.<\/p>\n
Johns<\/center><\/b><\/p>\n Lieutenant Belasko scanned the skies and horizon as he brushed aside the air curtains and eased his frame through the narrow barracks door. Sergeant Michaels, his second-in-command, sat on a crate with his back against the wall outside the door. Belasko\u2019s face prickled immediately. Gemma IV was just at the edge of the sun\u2019s habitable range and did not have a lot of available water, so the days were cool and dry and the nights bitterly cold. Michaels let everyone know he was from Wisconsin back home, but Belasko knew the NCO made a point of showing his toughness by taking his recreation out-of-doors. If Sergeant sat outdoors for hours after dark, how can I complain about the cold in the sun? Hopefully, the platoon and their peers in the other platoons took notice as well. \u201cHow long we got, Chris?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cSixty-one hours forward,\u201d Michaels said. \u201cEighteen days on planet. Three days to jump point, three days home.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt seems like it\u2019s been longer than eleven months,\u201d Belasko said. \u201cThe quiet trips always do.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe worst are the quiet trips that get loud all of a sudden,\u201d Michaels said. \u201cThe equipment is sparkling, though.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cWho\u2019s on the wall?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cE team. Rogers, Bonn, Randall, and Jamil. They\u2019ve got two hours until A team takes over. Our boys are not up for six.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s walk it and then get some shut-eye,\u201d Belasko said.<\/p>\n
Michaels uncoiled, and they walked inside the perimeter of the camp. A steeleen wall surrounded FPD Lycress, someone had named it, one hundred yards a side. Atop twelve feet of black metal fiber, Belasko could see one of the men walking, periodically lifting no-lights to his eyes to scan the fields outside the wall and the hills in the distance. Belasko and Michaels didn\u2019t say a word as they worked their way around the compound: the transit pool with its sloggers and its hoppers; the mess and porridge storage dug into the ground; the separated barracks; the entertainhut. Two men manned the gate on the north side of the compound, and another walked the wall above them. Everyone was wearing their puffers to keep warm, and everyone looked alert. Belasko was pleased. He looked up to the sky, to the stars, and to 272 and 13. It had only been a year since he\u2019d been home, but it had been a slow year.<\/p>\n
In the southwest corner of the FPD, a purple shower of light curved from the horizon to the edge of the wall. Belasko reacted a second slower than Michaels, who shouted \u201cArc light! Arc light!\u201d<\/p>\n
The man closest to the purple beam shouted at the same time, and the base alarm system kicked on. He threw the no-lights up to his eyes. Belasko and Michaels tucked their ear pods in. \u201cArc light from the hills at 248 and 1. I don\u2019t see the firebase; they must be using spotters\u2026.\u201d Bonn said. The purple shimmer reached the wall and almost invisible pulses followed the beam, falling in a moving hail of AM across the wall and into the compound beyond. Bonn looked as though he was leaping away from the wall as the first rounds fell.<\/p>\n
\u201cA and B to the south wall. Diggins and Mulroy, check Bonn by the south wall. C team to transit\u2014we need to get to the hoppers and get to the arc firebase. Singer, get the satellites to locate the source if they can and hit it for us. Bates, wake up the captain, please,\u201d Belasko said. Confirmations erupted in his ear bud even as he trotted to the transit barn, away from the arc fire but probably not for long. \u201cAmiri, bring Sergeant Michaels and my kit to transit, if you don\u2019t mind. We would like to shoot a couple separatists on principle.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSky eyes and air support will take thirty minutes. Or never,\u201d Michaels said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThirty minutes from now, we won\u2019t have much left to defend,\u201d Belasko acknowledged. The arc fire churned up ground near the second barracks, but the men within it poured out and avoided the purple beam widely. \u201cSiege or assault, we\u2019ll be hard pressed.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe natives are happy that we\u2019re not more heavily armed,\u201d Michaels said. \u201cIt shows we mean peace.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEspecially the ones with the arc,\u201d Belasko acknowledged.<\/p>\n
Six members of C team met them at the transit barn. Amiri handed over expedition packs and rifles. Stenson finished slzipping his night gear on his left side. Tork was on automatic pilot\u2014understanding would come into his eyes later. Yurgens checked his rifle load and stroked the steelen barrel. Paters and Singh already had rifles in the scabbard of their preferred torpedo-shaped hoppers and were velcroing their packs to the sides. <\/p>\n
\u201cAll right, we\u2019re going now for the source of the arc fire. Spread tri-delta 8,\u201d Belasko said. \u201cJohns and Dablemont, when it\u2019s convenient, you can join us mark 248, hoppers on 7E.\u201d <\/p>\n
Eight men in the transit hut finished stowing their gear on their hoppers and grabbed the go handles. The short-distance personnel missiles flitted through the door and towards the nearest hills southwest of the compound.<\/p>\n
They crossed over the flat land in a freezing few seconds. Belasko wished he\u2019d worn a hat out of the barracks door. He would have turned watery eyes to Michaels, but he was afraid that the Wisconsinite would be rolling up his sleeves. The other members of the team spread across three dimensions in following him, a pyramid of air infantry with no close air support. They were brave men, he knew, trusting in themselves, in their training, and in him.<\/p>\n
As they neared the first hilltop, Tork erupted in a geyser of plasma and his hopper flew on before him before gentle curving and settling on the ground. <\/p>\n
\u201cAll fire! All fire!\u201d Michaels tore his rifle from its saddle scabbard and nosed his hopper lower with his knees while he tried to find targets through the no-lights scope. He fired as he looked to lay down suppressive fire. Bits of ground and trees erupted as he scanned. After a second, the ground ahead churned as the others opened fire as well. \u201cLet\u2019s get on that hill and hold it!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAll down and set up a perimeter,\u201d Belasko said. The seven hoppers dropped to treetop level\u2014well, many of the trees were gone from the suppressive plasma fire\u2014and landed in a star-shaped pattern facing away. \u201cDefensive positions. Radio squad-local only.\u201d The radio traffic from the base, the calls for help and air support, squelched in the squads\u2019 ears, but Belasko could still hear them.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve got heat signatures 182,\u201d Amiri said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHeat signatures hilltop 290,\u201d Stenson said.<\/p>\n
\u201cArc light source 244,\u201d Yurgenson reported. Everyone turned to look at the opposite end of the arc light, the purple shimmer arising from beyond a hilltop west-south-west from Military 0.<\/p>\n
\u201cTopo,\u201d Belasko said.<\/p>\n
Amiri uncapped and unrolled the v-screen. Their current location displayed with a blue dot on a map; they were at the edge of a range of rolling hills arranged concentrically around a valley or depression that might have been a volcano at one time or a separatist base millennia ago. Amiri and Stenson tagged the hilltops where they registered heat signatures on either side of their hill. The arc light source lay in the direction of the valley, which might mean the valley itself, surrounded by the hills. Which might be covered with spotters, snipers, and signatures that would heat up when their plasma rifles shot more of the squad off of their hoppers. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhere did the separatists get an arc fire?\u201d Singh said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe same place they learned concentric defense for an arc fire base,\u201d Michaels said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to get to the center ring,\u201d Belasko said. \u201cThey don\u2019t have much time.\u201d The team wasn\u2019t hearing the reports of buildings collapsing and supplies lost. The men at Lycress stayed out of the beam and were safe enough for now, but if a band of separatists large enough to hold multiple hills fell upon them when they had no ammo or food\u2026.<\/p>\n
\u201cDablemont and Johns incoming.\u201d Dablemont\u2019s voice rang in his ears.<\/p>\n
\u201cCome in low,\u201d Michaels said. \u201cWe\u2019ve got potshotters all around.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo we heard,\u201d Dablemont said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou need topo guidance?\u201d Belasko asked. He could guide the hoppers in remotely with but a voice command.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve ridden these hills enough over the last year to know where to go,\u201d Johns said into his mic still some distance off.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo we go in, guns lit either side?\u201d Michaels said.<\/p>\n
\u201cCharge of the Light Brigade,\u201d Belasko said.<\/p>\n
\u201cSorry, sir?\u201d Yurgenson asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cTheirs not to reason why\/Theirs but to do and die,\u201d Michaels said. \u201cWe will make it. They can\u2019t hit us in Delta 6.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t know that,\u201d Belasko said. \u201cWe can try Crab 8.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHeat signatures hot,\u201d Amiri said.<\/p>\n
\u201cReturn fire, cover them as they come in,\u201d Michaels said. Amiri and Stenson fired their rifles in suppression pattern at the distant hilltops, hoping to keep the separatists\u2019 heads down while Dablemont and Johns arrived.<\/p>\n
The two stragglers came in low, only a few feet above the grass until they curved up the backside of the hill and dodged the remnants of trees. They dismounted, and Dablemont approached Belasko and Michaels carefully. \u201cThat crater is two kay in. If they\u2019re all on the hills, we\u2019ll never make it on hoppers. Five minutes flight time straight ahead, hilltop height,\u201d he said. \u201cWe might have raced a bit, so I know the fastest straight ahead time, but coming in lower, dodging hills and crossfire\u2026.\u201d He frowned.<\/p>\n
\u201cHoppers, slave on D8,\u201d Johns said. He\u2019d had time to pull on his helmet with no-light lens. In the twilight, he looked like he had an eye-patch.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat are you doing?\u201d Michaels asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cChasing the rainbow, Sergeant,\u201d he said. \u201cDoing what needs to be done.\u201d Still straddling hopper D8, he torqued its control upwards, aiming his aircraft high into the sky instead of keeping them mostly parallel to the ground. The other hoppers, following his hopper\u2019s signal, lifted up and curved after him.<\/p>\n
\u201cJohns, get back here,\u201d Belasko said. \u201cHoppers\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s see what he has in mind,\u201d Michaels cut him off before the lieutenant recalled the hoppers.<\/p>\n
\u201cHeat signatures hot,\u201d Amiri said.<\/p>\n
The ground around them did not show any signs of impacts. The separatists on the hills fired into the sky, trying to find the hoppers. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s distracting them, anyway. Let\u2019s go on foot,\u201d Michaels said. \u201cThey won\u2019t be looking for us on the ground. Two teams.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo heat signatures in the valleys,\u201d Amiri said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAmiri, Yurgenson, Stenson, you\u2019re with me. Dablemont, Paters, Singh, with Michaels. We will flank to the left of the hill at 240; you go right. Stick to the outer edges of the valleys between them to stay out of sight from the hilltoppers. Go stealth; watch for sentries. Keep your no lights on.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe should speedrun instead,\u201d Stenson said. \u201cThe boys at Lycress don\u2019t have time for us to sneak.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll move at trip,\u201d Michaels said. \u201cSpaced out. Your team can go stealth.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAll right, let\u2019s do this. Be careful. Low-comms only.\u201d The team clicked their microphones in reply, and the two groups headed down the hill in opposite directions, both moving slowly to cover the fact that they left their position\u2014although Johns taking the hoppers with him might have already done that.<\/p>\n
Michaels led his team down the hill and into a lowland with sparse, spindly trees. When it did rain here, the water collected in these lowlands and allowed some cover to grow, but the trunks on the trees were thin, spreading wide, thin leaves into the air to catch the sunlight while gnarled bladders in the roots collected the water for later use. He spaced the men out at twenty terrans between them; they would be fairly well concealed from the hilltops by the leaves, but anyone ground-level might see them coming. Michaels swept his head, his right eye focused through the no-light monocle, looking for heat signatures in the valley. Nothing.<\/p>\n
The ground shuddered beneath them, making the trees sway like dandelions in the wind. He dropped to a knee and felt eight more impacts, ballistic, he thought; no explosions.<\/p>\n
\u201cJohns and the hoppers,\u201d Belasko whispered in Michaels\u2019 ear. \u201cStenson\u2019s is going up to see. Keep your team moving.\u201d
\nMichaels nodded at his team and signaled for them to keep moving. Between the leaves and hills, he saw dark sky ahead.<\/p>\n
\u201cStenson reports heat signatures moving away from the target area; the arc light is out.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWatch for retreating tangos,\u201d Michaels said to his team.<\/p>\n
They reached the ridges around the valley without encountering any hostiles. Diffuse heat permeated the area, but no dots of living creatures. Outside the low-light, they saw the remnants of generators for an AFHPM, damaged by the concussion from ballistic impact. The AFHPM itself was completely destroyed, a crater in a crater. \u201cJohns,\u201d he said into his mic, sending wideband. \u201cJohns, report.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHell of a mess,\u201d Praters said out loud.<\/p>\n
\u201cLoot the bodies,\u201d Michaels said to keep them from standing around. The team moved in concert to examine closely the human remains and to look for booby traps, but Michaels didn\u2019t expect to find any\u2014the separatists probably felt safe enough where they were and left in a hurry after the arc fire was destroyed.<\/p>\n
Belasko\u2019s team arrived as Michaels and his crew finished their sweep. \u201cBase reports minimal casualties, but the barracks and the mess hall were heavily damaged. Motor pool scattered enough hoppers to keep patrols going, so nobody\u2019s going to sneak up on the FPD.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo word from Johns,\u201d Michaels said.<\/p>\n
Belasko nodded. \u201cThere were nine impacts,\u201d he said. \u201cHe must have rode his all the way down.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2019Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends,\u2019\u201d Michaels said.<\/p>\n
Dablemont approached. \u201cJohns did this,\u201d he asked. \u201cHe didn\u2019t mean to distract them at all.\u201d<\/p>\n
Belasko nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe just got a deep beam from home. His wife just died in childbirth,\u201d Dablemont said. \u201cHe must have really loved her.\u201d<\/p>\n
Belasko looked at Michaels, and Michaels met his gaze. \u201cI\u2019m going to put him in for a Gold Cluster for this,\u201d he said to Dablemont. \u201cSo let\u2019s not mention the message. Let just let him be a legend.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Back when I was at the university, getting my writing degree, I’d encounter people, mostly students but sometimes adults, who said they wanted to be a writer. So I would ask if they had written anything. In a lot of cases, the answer was no. I don’t know what being a writer meant to them, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3334,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41,43],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28875","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fiction","category-writing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brianjnoggle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28875","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brianjnoggle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brianjnoggle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brianjnoggle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3334"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brianjnoggle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28875"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/brianjnoggle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28875\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28876,"href":"https:\/\/brianjnoggle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28875\/revisions\/28876"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brianjnoggle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28875"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brianjnoggle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28875"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brianjnoggle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28875"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}