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For your reading pleasure check out chapter 13 from my science fiction novel, the Battle for Europa, book one of the Space Corps Chronicle series.

Chapter 13

Shawn Gallagher watched the battle unfolding in real-time on his VID screen. He sat in his office at the computer console. Linda identified the incoming PPF vessels and transmitted the information to Europa. Shawn’s new security team hustled him into his office. He protested saying that he wanted to get an M-23 Blaster and join the fight but the security detail would not let him out of his office.

“You’re too valuable to lose, sir. I can’t let you out the door,” his head of security said. He had five burley agents standing behind him to back his play. Shawn heaved a sigh and relented. He had to be content to watch the battle unfold on the VID screen. The PPF vessels split. Five turned to engage Guatav’s fleet while the other five swept down toward the surface. The blocking force fled, the superior numbers of Kesler’s fleet, but Kesler’s ships pursued. Flashes of light filled the screen when Kesler’s ships destroyed the fleeing vessels.

Shawn hit a button on the computer’s virtual keyboard accessing the cameras on the surface. Laser fire lit up the night. He sat helplessly as the vessels swept over the surface at treetop level had been trees on Europa. One by one, Kesler’s fleet destroyed the enemy vessels. The last ship landed in front of the building housing his office. Shawn slammed his fist down on his desk in frustration. Commandos poured out of the vessel. They formed a defensive perimeter and Shawn watched the firefight take place outside. The images appeared on his VID screen. Laser bolts and solid projectiles flashed on his screen. The troops in their fighting positions opened up on the commandos from the PPF vessel. When he saw the last man fall, Shawn jumped to his feet. “The battle’s over. I want to go outside.”

“Let me make sure it’s safe, sir,” his chief of security said.

“I said I want to go outside! I don’t give a God damn if it’s safe! I’m the president of this frozen piece of ice, am I not?” Shawn yelled and headed for the door.

“Yes sir. Give us five minutes to get a security detail together.” His security chief activated his com-unit.

“I can suit up while you’re doing that.” Fifteen minutes later, adorned in an EVA suit, Shawn stepped out onto the surface of Europa. He carried an M-23 Blaster. The security team surrounded their president. He surveyed the battlefield taking in the bodies and the frozen blood on the ice.

“Did we lose anybody?” Shawn asked his head of security.

“The word I’m getting is that we have one KIA and two injured.”

Shawn cursed under his breath going from body to body looking at the dead. “What a waste.” He rolled a body over onto its back, knelt, and looked into the face of the man’s EVA suit. Fog filled the inside of the faceplate from the man’s shallow breath. “Call the medics. This man’s not dead.”

***

Shawn sat at his desk in his conference room looking at his cabinet members. He poured them each a glass of Jack Daniels Tennessee whiskey and glanced from face to face. His eyes finally rested upon the face of his chief intelligence officer. “Jerry. What do you think the feds will do now? What do your intelligence operatives tell you?”

“What Mr. Bonelli said. They intend to squash us like cockroaches under their feet. The main battle fleet left Earth’s spacedock and is heading our way.”

Shawn took a drink from his tumbler and enjoyed the raw taste of the whiskey. “How much time do we have?”

Holliday shrugged. “Six months, give or take a few weeks.”

Shawn nodded. “What about this other fleet we’ve been hearing about on the news?”

“The deep space fleet? I don’t think they’ll give us any trouble. Their mission is to head out for the unknown, not to fuck with us, but who knows? They could merge with the main battle fleet and we could have to deal with them as well.”

“What do you think their strategy might be?”

Holiday paused, lighting a cigar. “They’ll try a blockade at first. Once they see that isn’t working they’ll land troops. The feds will figure that once they take us out, the other mining colonies will surrender. They’ll eventually land troops on the moons of Saturn as well. If this thing goes south, we can expect a federal presence out here for years to come.”

Shawn leaned back in his chair and his eyes turned to his friend and secretary of defense, John Wilson. “John, do you think our troops will be ready by the time the feds show up?”

Wilson took a drink from his tumbler filled with whiskey. “With the help of Kesler and his MERCs, we should be. They will still outnumber and outgun us. We’ve only got so many people. I hope Mr. Wolf shows up with those ships before the feds get here. Things will be tight with only Kesler’s fleet. The extra ships will help.”

Shawn turned his attention back to Holliday. “What about our awe-shit plan?”

Holliday laughed. “Things are moving along. The vessels are under construction. We’ll be ready.”

A troubled look crossed Shawn’s face. “What about that other matter?”

“He’s completed his basic training on the moon and the brass assigned him to peace-keeping duties on Mars. He’s currently in transit on the CEU-Pathfinder. It is due to arrive on station at Mars in three months.”

“Keep me posted on that. I’d like to make a move on that situation as soon as possible,” Shawn said, rising to his feet. He downed the rest of his whiskey. “Gentlemen, we have much to do before the feds show up. I’m going to have a little chat with our PPF officer in the detention center. That will be all gentlemen.” Shawn crossed the room to the door and stepped out into the main corridor. His security detail moved taking up positions around him.

Shawn entered the detention center flanked by his security detail and moved down an aisle way to the cell holding Dillon Kincaid. His nostrils flared.

“Sergeant, could you have your guards hose this place down? It’s starting to smell,” Shawn said to the guard in charge of the detention center.

“Yes sir, Mr. President.” The guard unlocked Kincaid’s cell door. President Gallagher and his security detail entered the cell. The guard closed the cell door behind them. Kincaid, still suffering from his wounds, lay back on his bunk, but he struggled to set up.

Shawn held up his hands. “No don’t. You might aggravate your wounds. Sit back and relax. I’d like to talk for a bit if you don’t mind.” Shawn pulled up a chair and sat facing Kincaid. His security detail stood with somber looks on their faces. They were close enough to come to the president’s defense if necessary.

Kincaid propped himself up on his pillows and a grin crossed his face. “Sure, let’s talk. I was hoping I’d get a chance to meet the man that was giving the CEU such fits. You don’t look crazy.”

Shawn laughed. “I can assure you that I am not. I love my freedom. That’s something that is in short supply in your federal system.”

“It’s not so bad in the military. What do you want?”

“You won’t be in the military forever.”

“Yeah. So?”

“I want to ask you a few questions.”

“You know that under the Code of Military Justice, I don’t have to tell you anything but my name rank, and serial number.” Someone in the next cell coughed.

Shawn nodded. “I know. You probably don’t have any information that we don’t already know. My intel people are good at what they do. I’m curious about a couple of things. I’ll ask the questions. If you don’t want to answer, then don’t.”

“Okay. Shoot.”

“Why did the PPF send you in here with only ten ships?”

“It beats the hell out of me. They wanted to send more but the council overruled them. They must have thought that we could catch you, boys, by surprise and make a clean sweep. They wanted things handled quietly so they could get you boys back to work. They want helium and hydrogen flowing like normal. They didn’t figure on you people linking up with those MERCs you have working with you. Those ships caught us by surprise.” Kincaid put his arms over his head and stretched.

Shawn smiled. “Yeah, I used to be in the PPF myself. Their intelligence is lacking.”

Kincaid nodded. “The PPF and intelligence are an oxymoron.”

“So true. Why, when you saw how many light battlecruisers you had facing you, didn’t you abort your mission? You didn’t stand a chance of completing your objective. You could have turned tail and headed back to Mars,” Shawn asked.

“I had my orders, and my honor to think of. I had no other choice.”

“You know, we could use some good pilots. You’d find serving in our new military to your liking. You’d have a lot more freedom, a hell of a lot better chances for advancement, and you could get rid of that damned biochip. We don’t use them here.”

Kincaid’s bottom jaw dropped and his eyes widened. “You don’t? How do you keep track of your people? How do you pay them?”

“We keep track of them the old-fashioned way. We pay them with real money. What do you say? Do you want to sign up? I could get you out of this cell and into a fighting unit within the hour. All you would have to do is take the loyalty oath.”

Kincaid paused, thinking, and shook his head. “No, I threw my lot in with the Federal Defense Forces a long time ago. They’ve been good to me. I’ll stick with them till the end.”

Shawn sighed. “I didn’t think you’d go for it. But I had to try. Before I leave, is there anything I can get for you? Are they feeding you all right? Is there anything you need? Are the medical people attending to your wounds as they should?”

Kincaid smiled. “Everything’s fine. The food’s pretty good. It’s much better than PPF ration packs.”

“Tell me about it,” Shawn said, standing to his feet. He put his hands in his coat pockets.

Kincaid looked up. “There is one thing if you don’t mind.”

“What’s that?” Shawn asked.

“Things get pretty boring in here. Could you bring a checkerboard? They play chess here. I was never that good at chess, but I’m the checker King. During the day when your guards allow the detainees to mingle in the common room, maybe I could get a game going. Some reading material would be good.”

“Sure. I’m sure I can arrange that. I might even stop by and play a game or two if you don’t mind. I’m still getting used to this presidential stuff. I like chess, but a good game of checkers is always fun. It would be a welcome distraction,” Shawn said and stepped out the door.

Shawn sat in his conference room near a large glass window and looked out at the starlit night sky over the icy surface of Europa. He poured himself a tumbler half full of Jack Daniels whiskey and filled the rest of the tumbler with Cock a Cola. Leaning back, he took a long pull from the tumbler and stared out the window. God, I hope we’re ready. I don’t want the blood of these people on my hands.

The door chimed and the head of Shawn’s security detail stepped into the room. “Mr. President. Mr. Holliday is here to see you,” His security chief said.

Shawn smiled. “Send him in.” He crossed the room and poured another tumbler of Jack and Coke for his head of intelligence. Holliday stepped into the room. “What can I do for you, Mr. Holliday?”

“Oh, I thought I’d stop by and see how your talk went with our PPF officer.”

“I’m glad you came by. Have a drink.” Shawn handed Holliday his drink.

“Ah. You are a man after my own heart.” Holiday took the drink.

“Have a seat.” Shawn motioned to a table. Holliday sat down at the table and they swiveled their chairs facing the window. “Europa looks so peaceful at night.”

Holiday nodded and produced a cigar. “Yeah, but that ice out there is going to turn bloody before too long.”

“I hear you. I’ve been sitting here thinking about that wondering if we’re doing the right thing. As you said earlier, the feds could squish us like so many bugs before this is over. We could all die here. If they come in here like gangbusters, the blood of these miners will be on my hands.”

Holiday lit the cigar. “Yeah, but what’s the alternative? To stay under their thumb? Freedom isn’t free. We’re all here of our own free will. Every damn one of those miners is behind you one hundred percent.”

Shawn nodded. “Do you think we’ll be ready?”

Holliday shrugged. “If Mr. Wolf shows up with those ships and we get them spaceworthy before the feds show up, we’ll have a fighting chance. How’d the talk go with our PPF prisoner?”

“As good as we can expect. Those old boys are hard nuts to crack and they are loyal to the federal system. I don’t think he has any information that we don’t already know. What do you think?”

“I agree. My intel boys had a couple of chats with him. They didn’t learn much.”

“I tried to talk him into switching allegiances. I told him that we could use some good pilots.”

Holiday laughed. “I bet that went over like a fart in church.”

“He respectfully declined. He’s career PPF.”

“What are you going to do with him?”

“There’s not much we can do, but hold him until this is over. He asked for a checkerboard. I might stop in and play a few games with him. Maybe he’ll let something slip. Maybe he does know something, but he doesn’t realize it. Who knows what little tidbit of information he might have that we could use.”

Holliday shrugged. “Who knows?”

“I kind of like the guy. He reminds me of someone on the old crew that I used to serve with when I was in the PPF.”

“Well Mr. President, I’m going to head to my quarters and hit the rack. I have a feeling that things are going to get busy around here,” Holliday said rising to his feet.

“I do too.” Shawn stood up. He stuck out his hand and they shook. “It’s having friends like you that make things bearable around here.”

After Holliday left the conference room, Shawn sat back down at the table. His thoughts drifted to his brother David. He took a pull from his tumbler of Jack and Coke staring out at the surface of Europa.

***

They kept busy on the surface of Europa during the weeks that followed. The military forces of the New Republic spent twelve hours every day, training. The miners used bulldozers to create icy earthworks surrounding the facility and built narrow canyons and trenches out on the surface. The plan was to ambush the federal forces while on the approach to the main mining complex. They hollowed out fighting positions near the rim of the canyons and booby-trapped their floors with explosives.

Shawn kept busy reviewing reports from his commanders and kept track of their preparations for the coming federal invasion. He received reports from the Governors on the moons of Saturn about their defensive preparations. An attack there seemed unlikely.

One afternoon, Shawn, along with the head of his security detail, was out on the surface. He drove a half-track to the rim of one of the canyons and switched the forward view to full magnification. Shawn watched the ongoing work below him when the com-unit on the vehicle beeped. Shawn flipped a toggle switch activating the com-unit. The image of his secretary appeared on the viewscreen.

“Mr. President. I received a VID transmission from Linda in spacedock. She says that a large force of light cruiser appeared on her screen coming out of the asteroid belt. She says they are heading our way.”

Shawn’s features turned grave. “Has she made contact with them yet?”

“No. She’s hailed them but has not received a response. Linda says these ships look like nothing she’s ever seen before.”

“Let’s hope they’re Mr. Wolf and our new ships, not the PPF boys coming back for round two. Tell Linda I’ll contact her as soon as I am back in the command center. Have John put the troops on, alert.” Shawn heaved a sigh. He shut off the com-unit, ending the transmission, and looked at his security chief riding in the passenger seat. “What do you think?”

“We need to get you back to the command center as soon as possible.”

“Let’s go.” Shawn whirled the half-track around, descended from the canyon’s rim, and headed back to mining site A.

***