small device for the job. Most bombs on the bigger ships were much too big for the job. So Tommy's suit was the answer, or at least his answer.
His AIC triggered the overload in the suit's power core. Three seconds later the quantum vacuum–energy storage unit overloaded and released almost a half kiloton of energy right on top of the SIF wall inside the governor's mansion. The mansion vanished in a giant fireball and mushroom cloud. There was no radiation because the suit overload was just a release of energy. Well, there was a blast of X-rays during the blast, but there was no radioactive fallout to worry about.
Tommy held on behind the bank of the river and Howser lay prone over him to give him more protection. The river was a good kilometer and a half away, but that put them right in the edge of the high-wind zone. The blast wave passed over them, throwing dirt, debris, and water everywhere. Tommy held his hands over his ears and kept his mouth open to prevent having his ears burst. The howling winds subsided, and they rose up over the bank to look at the result.
There was a smoldering crater where the governor's mansion used to be. There was a bump the size of a troop carrier right in the middle of it. The marines rushed it. Tommy humped it the old fashioned way. Willingham, who had a hole in his knee, stayed with Tommy.
About that time, nearly a hundred new FM-12s and Ares-T fighters dropped down from the sky. Drop tubes pounded into the ground, and tanks and other AEMs burst out of them. Two supercarriers tore through the atmosphere at several hundred kilometers per hour to the south and west firing DEGs into the enemy line.
'Did it work, sir?' Tommy and PFC Willingham were still a good forty-five seconds out.
'Damned right it did, Gunny. There's an eleveator shaft here leading down two or three stories. The
'Yes, sir.' Tommy huffed out the rest of the run over the scorched terrain. He came to a stop where the rest of the squad gathered. Then Willingham vanished into thin air. 'What the—?'
'That's a good sign that the fleet is getting ahead of the Seppies. Willingham's injury was noncritical. If they are already getting the noncritical wounded up, then we must be finally winning this thing,' Second Lieutenant Nelms said. Nelms started speaking quietly into his comm. Tommy decided that he liked the young officer. He was a good and smart U.S. by-God Marine. There was another flash of light, and the sound of sizzling bacon.
'Gunnery Sergeant Suez, you are out of fucking uniform for this type of AO, soldier,' Top shouted at him.
'Uh, Top?'
'You better suit up if you're going down with us,' Tamara said, pointing behind Bates at an empty AEM suit on the ground. Nelms must've had a spare suit sent via QMT. There was also ammo for the rest of the squad. Damn fine marine.
'Yes, First Sergeant.'
Chapter 31
July 1, 2394 AD
Ross 128, Arcadia
Friday, 3:48 PM, Earth Eastern Standard Time
'Admiral! The enemy ships are disengaging, sir!' the CDC officer radioed up to the bridge.
'Yeah, I see that, CDC. STO? Any ideas?' Wallace watched in his DTM as the enemy ships pulled away from the planet, heading out of atmosphere.
'Sir, looks like their fighters are going with them. Do we pursue?' the air boss asked.
'Where are they going?' the XO asked. 'Come back and fight, you chickenshits!' He waved a fist in the air as he growled.
'I got it, sir,' the STO finally replied. 'They are clearing the atmosphere and starting to jaunt. The first one is already popping out at the QMT jump sphere zone.'
'They're leaving?' the COB asked. 'Good damned riddance if you ask me. It'll give the CHENG and the firecrews time to get us back in shape, sir.'
'Why are they leaving?' the ground boss asked. 'Do they know something we
