“Where are we going, Kyle?” Sandra asked.
“We’re going to our production facilities. Their defenses are relatively weak there. We can’t afford to lose our factories.”
Sandra climbed into the small vehicle with me and moments later we were skimming over the treetops at two hundred knots. I held the throttle down and kept it pinned there. The wind screamed by, and Sandra’s hair fluttered wildly. I waved at her until she reluctantly put on a helmet. At this speed, a stray insect could take out your eye, nanites or no.
Internally, my mind and stomach were in turmoil. It had all been an illusion. Historically, preparations for war on a quiet front often went like this. One only saw your own improving defenses, not the growing strength and dark plans of the enemy. When the attack finally did come, the defenders were often dismayed by what they faced.
In this case, I’d put all my defensive efforts into countering their fleet and stopping them on the beaches. I hadn’t considered a deep assault, one in which the enemy tunneled under the soft sandy soil ten or more miles beyond the eastern shores. They had outmaneuvered me and were striking at the very heart of my territory. They were trying to take out my factories.
My mind was racing. I already considered two of the attacks to be feints. Even if they weren’t, the only attack that really mattered was the deep thrust at my Nano factories. If they took out my production capability, they could keep mining and building under the sea, while every asset I lost was permanently gone. There would be no more fresh barrels of nanites to repair things. Only Crow’s factories would remain, which I wasn’t in direct control of, and which they might locate as well at any time. Once we were deprived of steady production, they could slowly siege my island. I would not be able to replace my losses, while they could produce an endless stream of Macro ground troops. They would win through attrition, and I wouldn’t be able to do a thing about it.
-30-
When Sandra and I reached the production base, hidden deep within the western interior of Andros, we found the garrison consisted of only two companies. I’d ordered a third to move to reinforce the position, but I still felt that was thin. We just didn’t have time to move our forces around at this point. The enemy were right under our feet and we didn’t have Crow’s ships to transport my men. Modified hovertanks were doing most of the work, puffed out to whale-size personnel-carrying form.
I didn’t like seeing the hovertanks in that state, as big as buses with metal skins as thin as a soup can. They seemed so fragile when facing a serious enemy like the Macros. Branches could dent those ballooning skins when they were in that state, and any beam hit would punch right through and kill the marines inside. I made a mental note as I observed the transports: I needed heavier armor units in the future. I watched the hovertanks as they reconfigured themselves, folding down into a shark-like shape. Even in battle-configuration, they were easily knocked out. These hovertanks had the same design I’d come up with to repel U. S. forces from Andros, then used later for the Helios campaign against the Worms. They were really light tanks, not much better than a flying humvee with long range weaponry. When I had the time, I would have to come up with a new design for heavy armor. Something that could stand up to a Macro machine and take a punch or two.
I felt more confident when I saw my marines piling out of the light vehicles, however. These men in their battle suits were superb fighting systems. They were the most versatile element of my forces. They’d managed to prove to me they could even be effective in an underwater battle. They could fight anywhere, including in space. I looked forward to seeing how they performed head-to-head against the Macro invaders on dry land.
We landed the flitter in the central region of the base, bypassing protocol. A dozen men in battle suits swarmed, exactly as they should. They rose up into the air and encircled the flitter with their weapons trained on both of us. Only after we’d landed and identified ourselves to their satisfaction did they relax. The biggest battle suit landed on the flitter’s tail section and began complaining.
“Colonel? This is a breach of protocol, sir,” Kwon said.
“Indeed it is, First Sergeant. My apologies.”
“We would have been within our rules of engagement to bring down your aircraft, sir,” Kwon continued.
I could tell he wasn’t quite willing to let this one go. “The laser turrets would have fried me if I was a Macro, Kwon. Relax. The enemy is under our boots, not in the sky today.”
“We don’t know that, sir. Remember the recent attack upon your person? Not every enemy is a machine today.”
I glanced at Kwon as I marched toward the officer’s quarters, Sandra followed on my right side, while he followed on my left. Directly behind us, a squad of marines suspiciously poked around at the contents of our flitter, as if they thought we were robot mimics and the flitter contained a bomb of some kind. I chuckled.
“That’s why your men are so jumpy. I think those assassins wanted to kill me, not all of Star Force.”
“Why, sir?”
I shrugged. “Not everyone likes me, Kwon. I make a mistake now and then, and they blame me for the entire situation. They’re all a bunch of armchair generals, enjoying the clarity of hindsight.”
Kwon stopped asking questions. I was surprised he’d asked so many. Usually, he didn’t sweat the small stuff. I’d placed him here at the factories to guard them, but hadn’t really expected him to see much action. He knew the lay of the land, having fought here before. Now that the battle was on, I was glad to have him at my side again.
The base CO was a new guy, Captain Francisco Diaz. At least, he was new to me. He’d joined Star Force over a year ago, but I’d never really had the time to chat with him. I didn’t have the time today, either.
Diaz was a chunky fellow, built wide and low to the ground. He wasn’t fat—but he wasn’t thin, either. He was bald on top except for a scrim of hair around the ears and had eyes like twin drops of black oil.
“Diaz, good to meet you,” I said, thrusting out my hand.
He saluted first, then shook hands with me. He seemed somewhat surprised to see me. I supposed everyone on the base was.
“Good to meet you too, Colonel,” he said.
“Time for a full report later—maybe,” I said. “Right now, get your battle suit on, marine. We’ve got company coming.”
Diaz stared at me with his liquid black eyes. “Uh, I had assumed you were going to ride this out at headquarters, Colonel.”
I stared back. “Captain, I do believe I gave you an order.”
Diaz jumped to attention. “Yes, sir,” he said. He snapped off another salute and went right to the lockers. He pulled out the first suit he saw and began climbing into the legs.
“Help him, Kwon,” I said. “Full helmet now, Diaz. I’m suiting up too. Sandra, help me into this contraption. You’ll put on a lighter scout suit.”
“I’m okay,” she said.
I threw her a glare. “What is it with everyone ignoring my instructions today?”
Sandra shrugged. “We know the machines are down there, but they might take hours to dig up into the base. And we have Nano-alloy nets to prevent it.”
“Is that right? Get in your damned suits, people. If you have to urinate, use the elimination systems or let it run down your leg. The nanites will drop it out of bottom of your boots eventually.
Kwon laughed at that. The other two seemed less amused. As we suited-up, two lieutenants wandered in. I ordered them into gear as well.
“Kyle,” Sandra asked me quietly over a private channel as she helped me slide the helmet down over my nose. “Why the rush? We know where the enemy are. The Macros—”