groups.
The engineers from Sandia Labs finished the final checklist on the six-meter rail gun they constructed at the White Sands Missile range. The part of the installation that took the longest was getting the huge power supply required for charging the rail's capacitors to work without blowing transformers or relays. The rail gun project had languished since the late 1980s. It had been part of Regan's Star Wars plans until it became obvious to even Congress that no one had the money to construct the system. The orders to finish the gun and install it a White Sands had surprised everyone at Sandia. The project had never completely stopped over the years. NASA had kept a minimum research funding on the project with an eye towards using a rail gun to shoot micro satellites into orbit. The Sandia engineers were surprised that nearly immediately the Air Force personal manning the gun started test firing at a target down range.
Two Boeing 747s started flying between the Dryden Flight Center in California and the Marshall Center in Huntsville. The planes would take lazy circuitous routes across the country. Hidden inside the planes were the most powerful portable lasers ever developed.
All US military units were placed on DEFCON IV. A small select group of Air Force, naval, and army units were placed at DEFCON III. A few reporters caught wind of the increased readiness of the military. But a low level Pentagon briefing told ofjoint exercises with NATO, Japan, and the Russians. The news services in those countries received similar reports. The small handful of reporters who were still digging into the increased military readiness were brought to the Pentagon. They were told they could view the war games from units inside the exercise but they would have to move in with the units and maintain a complete communications blackout until after the exercises. Only three reporters accepted. One reporter was sent to White Sands, another to Camp Ripley, and the last to Grand Forks. There they sat in isolation through most of June wishing they had never accepted the Pentagon's invitation to the exercises.
* * * *
The 25-centimeter drones faired no better than the 30-millimeter. Commander Zblot complained to Science Specialist Uubee, “What is happening to the drones?'
“We still don't have enough information on the planet or its inhabitants but similar incidents have been reported on other planets. It was discovered, after the fact, that an oil used or a sound made by the mechanicals attracted the local fauna. You could send in the drones large enough to discourage attacks from the local wildlife or send in the assault team. Either choice has risks. Do we even know if the Chameleon's last target is still at the site?'
“No we don't...
“We will have to send in the assault team. The Chameleon was able to integrate into the local planet so the team's infiltrators should be able to do the same. This will be dangerous so I want you to spend the next few cycles going over every detail of the insertion with the assault team members. Make sure they understand the parameters of the foray. They are to grab all humans at the site for interrogation on board the ship. If that is not possible, they are to kill everyone there and destroy the building. And yes Uubee. If there is time and room, they can bring back your scientific trinkets.'
“Thank you Commander. We need those trinkets to finish the translation of the equations.'
Chapter 17
Raid
I saw more birds today on the power lines. Since we talked to National Security Advisor Riley, a small flock of birds took up the watching of the house from the power lines that followed the country road. We had finished YS1 tests a few months back. The grad students had left at the end of the spring semester. For the last month I had spent time every day trying to talk Tabby into staying at her home. During the last few days, Move-over and all the other creatures around the farm seemed more on edge. Their unease transferred to me.
Tabby left for home hours ago. I tossed in bed until Move-over climbed on top of me and started kneading. His claws just touched my skin through the blankets. I got dressed and went outside. It was a crisp dark night. The stars seemed bright enough to read by. On the northern horizon a ribbon of pale blue green light danced from east to west and back again. The northern lights were bright and thin tonight. The thickness of the ribbon only reached a third of the way up from the northern horizon. I stood and watched the dancing lights.
I felt Move-over weave between my feet rumbling a tune as he rubbed his shoulders and chin against my ankles. Move-over stopped his weave. A small black dot appeared between the Borealis and me. The dot skittered across the light, dipped down to the dark horizon. A few minutes later the dark dot reappeared in front of the pale blue green light and shot straight up into the night sky. An orange glow started in the eastern sky. The dark night faded in a red glow as the sun slowly rose in the east.
Tabby and I spent the day combing the woods north of the farm. The animals still watched but something was wrong with them. The whole forest seemed on the move. Deer were prancing down their trails. Squirrels were chattering alarm in every quarter of the forest.
During the day, the air became warmer and heavier. The sounds became muffled. A dark stillness settled across the woods. Dusk was starting to fall when we headed back to the house for supper. We hurriedly ate. I couldn't stay put in one place so Tabby and I walked out into the night. Muffled explosions drifted across the open field from the woods. There was a gunfight happening in the dark.
* * * *
Ed went over the plan one last time with Commander Zblot. The landing ship will place the team 17 kilometers away from the farm in the most isolated area within a day's walk from the last site the Chameleon was known to be heading to. The team will spend the day getting acclimated to the new planet and working their way closer to the farm. After dark, the team will capture or kill everyone at the targeted farm. They will then use the dark to make it back to the landing site and removal to the command vessel. Captain Ree and the crews of the landing ship and high protector agreed upon emergency codes and procedures in case things went wrong with the original plan. Ed triple checked everyone's understanding of the codes and procedures. The one thing all of Ed's long years of training had instilled was that nothing worked as planned.
The insertion was flawless. The two scout/infiltrators disappeared into the woods at opposite ends of the drop site. Trreee went up into the highest nearby growth. Grup limbered up the heavy weapons. Ed stepped back into the woods using a long viewer. Grup and Trreee were nearly invisible. The two scouts were invisible. The camouflage suits were correctly adjusted to the planet. The team easily acclimated themselves to the sounds and creatures of this new planet. The experience of dozens of planetary insertions made the acceptance of the shades of colors, smells, textures and tastes of the new planet immediate. Within minutes, the team was able to start isolating the movement and actions of the stray animals that passed by.
By late afternoon, the team moved closer to the farm.
* * * *
All day Felix sensed the change in the woods. He had seen Karpinen and his girlfriend fade into the woods that morning. The caution they used walking into the woods was what first set his nerves on edge. But it was the actions of the small forest animals later in the day that made him check the action on his sniper's rifle. Todd and Sam for the first time noticing the changes in Felix checked their weapons as well.
Felix didn't relax when he saw Karpinen come back from the woods with his girlfriend. Instead of crossing the field from the woods, they walked along a fence line. He did not know how the two did it but they seemed to fade into the few scraggily pieces of brush that marked the property line. Suddenly, the observation post seemed too exposed. Using hand signals, Felix indicated to Todd and Sam to follow as he walked deeper into the cover of the forest.
Felix was following a logging road. In the quiet evening, their footsteps crackling the undergrowth were the only sounds they heard. Felix stepped around a tree and before him stood an old man with a 30-30 rifle. He knew immediately it was Karpinen's Uncle Ben.
“Shhhh. They are coming. Follow me. I will place you.'
Felix took ten seconds to think it over. Even if he never saw the old man before, he somehow knew that he had to trust him. He got on his radio.
