hiss. After the hissing, the commanders told N7 to carry on.
Sector Eight was code for secret mission . As had been the case many times in the past, N7 was the source of priceless information.
I had a meeting with my main team: Ella, N7, Rollo and Dmitri. I’d taken them with me, figuring I needed my best people to pull this off.
Dmitri was a Zaporizhian Cossack from the Ukraine. They used to be a hard-riding, freedom-loving people from the steppes or plains of Russia and the Ukraine. They were supposed to be good fighters. Most people knew them as those acrobatic dancers who squatted low, folded their arms on their chests and vigorously kicked out their legs.
Dmitri was as a solid, muscular man, shorter than my six-three. He had taken to wearing his hair in a straight-up brush-cut.
N7 had magnetized the chosen star chart on a wall. We stood beside it, me with a pointer in my hand.
“We’re several jumps away from the Demar star system,” I said. “Now is the time to decide where in the system we should target. Any thoughts?” I asked.
“I say we get in, hit and get out as fast as we can,” Dmitri said. “That means we should strike a weak spot. So, what’s the easiest place to hit there?”
We all glanced at N7.
“I would imagine the Outer Asteroid Belt,” the android said. “It’s closest to the jump gate.”
“Everything is relative,” Ella said. “We have to know the lay of the system better. What’s the most heavily defended location?”
N7 pointed at the starcity.
“That also happens to be the plum prize,” I said. “This is our first raid, and as far as we know, the first time the Demar system will have been hit since the Saurian taskforce left. Are they worried? Who knows? But once they’ve been hit, the word is going to go out. The second raid will be harder. This might be the time to strike big.”
“I don’t know why they wouldn’t be ready for an assault now,” Ella said.
“Because this is a secondary area,” I said. “As far as we know, no Jade League members have struck the Jelk Corporation frontier. The Jelk have been on the offensive for a long time, remember? They’re not going to think of defense right away. At least, that would be my guess.”
“Still,” Ella said. “With the protecting fleet gone, those left at home have to be nervous.”
“That is my own view,” N7 said.
“Yeah,” I said. “Well, maybe we should try to put them at ease. Besides, I think the closer we can get to our target, the better for us. We don’t want to trade shots with the starcity’s laser batteries or defensive missiles.”
“What do you suggest?” Ella asked.
I stared at the star chart. What had the old-time Vikings done? They used daring and cunning. I remember reading about one chieftain who pretended to die. The raiders had been pagans, striking Christian Europe. The chieftain had his warriors tell the city fathers of one walled town that he’d become a Christian at death, and wished for a Christian burial. The head priest had realized what a religious coup that would be. He’d forced the townspeople to consent, and he even began to write a letter to the Pope about it. Several days later, big Viking warriors carried the supposedly dead chieftain to the town’s church. They had laid their spears and great axes under the faker. During the ceremony, the chieftain opened his eyes, rose with a gusty laugh and pitched the weapons to his men. They went berserk and slew the city fathers and their guards. Then, the Norse warriors rushed through the lanes to the main city gate, opening it to admit their hidden men outside. That night, they sacked the town.
It had been a Trojan horse kind of plan. With a grin, I told the others the story. I finished by saying, “That’s what we need to do at the starcity.”
“Why there?” Ella asked. “The starcity will be the most heavily guarded place.”
“Exactly,” I said. “If we can storm it, we’ll have breached their
Sector Eight was code for secret mission . As had been the case many times in the past, N7 was the source of priceless information.
I had a meeting with my main team: Ella, N7, Rollo and Dmitri. I’d taken them with me, figuring I needed my best people to pull this off.
Dmitri was a Zaporizhian Cossack from the Ukraine. They used to be a hard-riding, freedom-loving people from the steppes or plains of Russia and the Ukraine. They were supposed to be good fighters. Most people knew them as those acrobatic dancers who squatted low, folded their arms on their chests and vigorously kicked out their legs.
Dmitri was as a solid, muscular man, shorter than my six-three. He had taken to wearing his hair in a straight-up brush-cut.
N7 had magnetized the chosen star chart on a wall. We stood beside it, me with a pointer in my hand.
“We’re several jumps away from the Demar star system,” I said. “Now is the time to decide where in the system we should target. Any thoughts?” I asked.
“I say we get in, hit and get out as fast as we can,” Dmitri said. “That means we should strike a weak spot. So, what’s the easiest place to hit there?”
We all glanced at N7.
“I would imagine the Outer Asteroid Belt,” the android said. “It’s closest to the jump gate.”
“Everything is relative,” Ella said. “We have to know the lay of the system better. What’s the most heavily defended location?”
N7 pointed at the starcity.
“That also happens to be the plum prize,” I said. “This is our first raid, and as far as we know, the first time the Demar system will have been hit since the Saurian taskforce left. Are they worried? Who knows? But once they’ve been hit, the word is going to go out. The second raid will be harder. This might be the time to strike big.”
“I don’t know why they wouldn’t be ready for an assault now,” Ella said.
“Because this is a secondary area,” I said. “As far as we know, no Jade League members have struck the Jelk Corporation frontier. The Jelk have been on the offensive for a long time, remember? They’re not going to think of defense right away. At least, that would be my guess.”
“Still,” Ella said. “With the protecting fleet gone, those left at home have to be nervous.”
“That is my own view,” N7 said.
“Yeah,” I said. “Well, maybe we should try to put them at ease. Besides, I think the closer we can get to our target, the better for us. We don’t want to trade shots with the starcity’s laser batteries or defensive missiles.”
“What do you suggest?” Ella asked.
I stared at the star chart. What had the old-time Vikings done? They used daring and cunning. I remember reading about one chieftain who pretended to die. The raiders had been pagans, striking Christian Europe. The chieftain had his warriors tell the city fathers of one walled town that he’d become a Christian at death, and wished for a Christian burial. The head priest had realized what a religious coup that would be. He’d forced the townspeople to consent, and he even began to write a letter to the Pope about it. Several days later, big Viking warriors carried the supposedly dead chieftain to the town’s church. They had laid their spears and great axes under the faker. During the ceremony, the chieftain opened his eyes, rose with a gusty laugh and pitched the weapons to his men. They went berserk and slew the city fathers and their guards. Then, the Norse warriors rushed through the lanes to the main city gate, opening it to admit their hidden men outside. That night, they sacked the town.
It had been a Trojan horse kind of plan. With a grin, I told the others the story. I finished by saying, “That’s what we need to do at the starcity.”
“Why there?” Ella asked. “The starcity will be the most heavily guarded place.”
“Exactly,” I said. “If we can storm it, we’ll have breached their
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