Admiral?”
“Looking for the bad guys.”
“You want to get yourself killed? That’s not how you do it. You take a quick look, then duck back under cover. Then you think about what you saw, got it?”
“Uh… yah… sure.”
“Okay. If you saw something you want to shoot at, you now have a pretty good idea of where it is. Raise your weapon, then take a quick look, aim, and fire. Three shots every time, and only three, each one aimed, then get back under cover. Got it?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, what are you looking for?”
“Chessori.”
“No you’re not. You’re looking for movement, and you’re looking for parts of the Chessori. They’re not going to stand up and let you shoot them. Look for motion, and look for part of a head looking around from cover. You won’t see the whole head, just part of it. Got it?”
“Uh, sure.”
“And what are you doing with that pop gun? Get a real weapon. Here,” he said, giving Trexler his own assault rifle.
Trexler looked at it, then studied it.
“Have you ever used one of these before?” Waverly demanded.
“No. I’ve never even held one.”
“Sheesh!” Waverly put the weapon to Trexler’s shoulder, positioned his hands, arms, and head, then showed him how to fire the weapon.
“Every shot is aimed. Every single shot. I won’t have any of this wild firing, understand? Use the sights. If you don’t have time to aim, don’t bother shooting because you’ll miss. Are you getting all this, sir?”
“I think I need to practice some.”
“That you do. Practice looking, then practice aiming. Do not fire unless you are certain of your target, and make sure it’s not one of my men. You’re right handed. Get on the other side of the door. Use it and the window.”
“Okay. I’m Ray, not Admiral. Got it?”
Waverly smiled a grim smile. “I’m a colonel, and you’re a four-star admiral, sir. Now leave me alone. I have work to do.”
He went back to his communicator, and Trexler practiced his looking, then he practiced snapping the weapon up at things inside the building. He now had a much healthier respect for not showing himself at the door. He managed to get the window open, so he alternated positions between it and the door.
On one of his brief looks, he saw motion. With the next look, he discovered a small tank approaching with a squad of Chessori behind it.
“I have motion out here, Jim.”
“If it’s not one of my guys, shoot it.”
“I don’t think so. It’s a tank.”
Waverly didn’t even take the time to look. He closed his communicator, gathered up a spare weapon, and yelled, “fall back!” He scuttled across the lobby to a stairway. The sergeant who had been sent on an errand met him there, carrying two large weapons in his arms. Trexler picked up Seeton, then realized he’d have to leave his weapon behind. A sergeant picked it up for him.
Waverly split up the men. He took Trexler, a sergeant, and one of the heavy weapons and quickly climbed the stairs. Trexler struggled up the stairs, stopped half way to rest his legs, then decided he didn’t want to get left behind. He reached the top on rubbery legs and discovered Waverly far down the hallway to his right. He followed as Waverly set up at the corner where he could watch the front and side of the building. The other three men took the other corner of the front of the building, about a hundred feet away. Trexler dropped Seeton in an unoccupied, inner office where he would be out of the line of fire, then he hurried to join up with Waverly.
The sergeant had the big gun set up well back from the window and was taking aim. Trexler moved off to a window down the front hallway and waited for the gun to fire. The moment it did, he opened the window and took a quick look outside. The canopy of the tank had been blown off, and a second series of shots blew the tank up.
Trexler took quick aim at a Chessori and fired three shots, then moved to another window and did the same. The squads of Chessori had been caught by surprise and took up defensive positions behind benches and trees. Trexler saw a foot sticking out from a bench and, figuring he had nothing to lose, shot at the bench itself. The second or third shot managed to get through the bench, and the Chessori collapsed.
The fighting drew more Chessori, then lots more. Return fire started exploding against the walls of the building, many of the shots coming through the windows to wreak havoc on the interior walls. Trexler looked to Waverly who was calmly firing away, moving to different firing positions from time to time.
Their situation looked pretty bleak to Trexler, and he got on his communicator. “Tom, is anyone in position to help us? It’s getting grim here.”
“How grim? I’m the closest, and I’m free at the moment. Most of the fighting has moved into space.”
“We have tanks and troops about a hundred meters in front of the headquarters building. We’re holding them off, but we won’t last long.”
“I’ll take a look.”
“Do not risk your passengers. And don’t shoot Waverly’s men.”
“Understood, sir.”
Trexler kept up his peeking and shooting, and he actually hit two Chessori. About a minute later the frigate hove into view. It only stayed for a few seconds, then raced away with two Chessori traders on its tail, but what a few seconds! The ground in front of the building simply erupted. When Trexler lifted his head, he saw a couple of Chessori wandering aimlessly, their hands held to their heads. They fell quickly to shots from Waverly and the sergeant.
“You still there, sir?”
“I’m here, Tom. Are you in trouble?”
“No. I think we got a couple of the tanks. More are moving toward you. There were a bunch of guys moving on the rear of the building, but they’re not a problem for you any more.”
“What about the two traders behind you?”
“One’s gone. Uh… now the other one is. They’re really not a problem, sir. Their shields are pretty weak. The squadron is working its way toward the planet, but it’s taking longer than I thought. You won’t have fighter cover for a while.”
Trexler decided the first wave was done. They probably had a brief spell before the next one arrived. Waverly was sitting on the floor with the communicator to his head and papers spread out around him on the floor. The sergeant was moving from window to window, looking for targets.
“What’s your name, Sergeant?” he called across the room.
“Walters, sir. You doing okay? Do you need anything?”
“Just out of here.”
“Not to worry, sir. That frigate was great, wasn’t it?” he said with a grin, continuing a never-ending scan through the windows.
“I’d rather it parked right on top of us.”
“All in due time, sir. Keep your eyes peeled. They’ll be back.”
“The captain of the frigate said there were some Chessori working their way towards the back of the building. He took them out.”
“Okay.” Walters got on his communicator. “Lieutenant? They made an attempt on the back door. The frigate took care of them.” He listened for a moment, then said, “He’s pretty busy right now, sir. I think we should stay here.” Pause. “Okay, will do, sir.”
He looked at Trexler. “Lieutenant Stevens and his two guys are moving left to the next corner. That will put them kitty corner to us. Our lines of fire are now extended. We have to cover the whole front of the building and this whole side. He’ll cover the other side and the back. Understood, sir?”
Trexler nodded and went back to peeking and moving from window to window along the front of the building.
