The Tau Ceti Agenda

Yes, sir.

'Goddamnit, Thomas! What are these marines trying to do, get us killed? They've attracted more fire than they've avoided.' The president kept his head ducked low behind the wall and watched the battle transpire through DTM. They had stopped returning fire since the marine mecha had arrived, hoping to conserve ammo and to avert the enemy's attention to the mecha. It had worked, except for the fact that the enemy had diverted its attention to the mecha protecting them.

'I see that, sir. Don't you think the surge was to be expected?'

'They could do better, Thomas! They could do better!' Moore flinched as something that looked like a giant Pegasus was flung overhead by one of the FM-12s. Then, just beyond that, he could see one of the marine fighters being hit and crashing wildly out of control across the park.

Abigail, where's my backup plan? Moore inquired.

On his way, sir.

'All right, ground team, I want two-on-two coverage, and start sweeping patterns toward the front gate down Main Street, U.S.A. Let's clear a path to get the VIP out of here. If we have to, we'll plow this road under. Shit!' Heehaw's mecha jerked as several railgun rounds zipped into the armor on the torso of the giant bot. 'Good thing these things aren't very good shots.' He turned his DEG left and returned the fire.

Get me a channel to the security team leader, Heehaw asked his AIC.

Channel is open, sir, and the detachment's client is code-named Bulldog. It is led by USMC Captain Thomas Washington.

'This is USMC Captain Adam Elliot. Captain Washington, we're here at your disposal to aid in extraction of Bulldog, over?'

'Copy that, Captain Elliot. Semper fi!' Thomas responded enthusiastically. 'As you can tell, we're pinned down and would appreciate a clear path to the exit, thank you. The damned AI robots are lousy shots, but the hypervelocity rounds have just about chewed away our cover. We've got to make a move soon!'

'Affirmative,' Elliott said. 'We should make a run for the gate. I understand we have three VIPs?'

'Roger that,' Thomas concurred. 'Bulldog, Mama Bear, and Ice Cream are present. All three need extraction, immediately.'

'Captain Washington, I suggest that three of my crew carry them out. And I suggest we do it now.'

'Hold on. I'll get back to you.'

Thomas leaned his back against the wall, checking his blaster charge. President Moore sat beside him, reloading his pistol with the last clip he had been given. They were all running out of ammo and were mostly dependent on the mechaheads from here on. It was habit of a good soldier to know exactly how much firepower he had at his disposal at all times. Like someone suffering from obsessive compulsive disorder, he double-checked the charge reading just to make sure.

'Mr. President,' Thomas sighed, 'I'm afraid we're gonna have to make a run for the door.'

'That sounds risky, Thomas. What's to keep the aerial vehicles from crashing into us? That mecha just did stop the Pegasus in time.'

'I'd guess that's what the airborne marines are here for, sir. We have to trust they'll do their job. And you have to trust me to do mine.' Thomas looked upward briefly at the flashes of DEG fire. 'We can't just sit here and wait to be overrun.'

'All right then,' Moore replied, as he dragged his handkerchief across his face, wiping away sweat that was forming on his forehead. 'But I've got a better idea.'

Allison, is our backup plan ready? Moore thought to his AIC.

Yes, sir. Approximately one minute, thirty seconds away.

Good. Tell him to come on in as fast as he can.

Yes, sir.

'Thomas, you just tell the marines to stand by and cover our exit. Be prepared to move in one minute and a half on my signal.' Moore looked at his watch reflexively. Allison kept perfect time and there was little need for a watch, but it was a habit that he had gotten into over the years.

'Sir?'

'Do it!'

'Yes, Mr. President.'

'Heehaw, you've got some serious motion headed your way,' Jawbone's voice alerted Adam over the net.

'I see the red dots, Jaw. Can you elaborate a little bit on what it is?' Heehaw replied, and then followed with 'Guns, guns, guns.' His DEG tracked across the river to a mock-up Nautilus carrying several AI on its hull. The energy bolt burned through a large merman and then continued on into the forward windows of Captain Nemo's submarine. The ship cracked almost into two pieces and started taking on water rapidly. It had almost completely sunk before Jawbone responded to his question.

'Uh, roger that, Heehaw. It looks like there's a giganotosaurus, an allosaurus, a T-rex, a couple of apatosauruses, maybe a titanosaur, a handful of stegosauruses, a brachiosaur or two, and what looks like a pack of velociraptors,' Jawbone said flatly.

'You've got to be fucking kidding me,' Heehaw replied, almost under his breath.

'Negative, sir. You've got the entire complement of Dinoland coming your way. Shit!' Jawbone reversed the throttle and flipped her mecha in a backward pitch-over to reverse direction, just in time to miss what appeared to be a flock of pteranodons and pterodactyls.

'Holy shit, Jawbone, what the fuck is that?' her wingman cried over the net in a panic.

'Well, Lieutenant Junior Grade Wilson, that one right there . . . Fox three,' one of the robotic replicas of the ancient birds burst into a ball of fire. ' . . . is a pteranodon. And that one right . . . guns, guns, guns . . . there is a Pterodactyl.' Delilah yawed her mecha through the flight path of the flock, firing her DEG and stirring up the winged