The Quiet God (Earth Exiles Book 4) Read online

  Joan nodded, “Yeah. It’s going to be rough. We’re low on pain meds.”

  “Maybe not.”

  Joan looked at Mike, “What do you mean? Oh, the printer?”

  Mike nodded, “If you go talk to the chemists with their new machine, maybe they can brew some up for you.”

  Joan studied Mike, “That is actually, not a bad idea. They probably need to do some testing first, but they might be able to make something for Billy.”

  Mike bowed, “I do, occasionally, have a few good ideas.”

  She smiled at him, “More than a few, I think.”

  Everett objected, “Oh no, don’t do that. He’ll get the big head and start thinking he’s actually smart or something.”

  Joan laughed, “You two don’t give each other any slack do you?”

  Mike shook his head, “Nope. Otherwise our egos grow to unfathomable dimensions.”

  Everett nodded, and put his hands together and then spread them wide, “Huuuggggeeee.”

  Joan laughed as she pulled Everett down for a kiss, “Okay, I’ll see you later, mister.”

  Everett returned her smile, “Yes, ma’am.”

  They watched her walk away.

  “How did I ever get so lucky?” Everett asked.

  Mike thought about Jennifer, “I ask myself that every day.” Then he thought about Jo, “Twice I’ve been a lucky man.” He looked at Everett, “And four times for you.”

  Everett shook his head, “No, I’d say, closer to three and a half.”

  Mike laughed, “Three and a half? How do you get the half?”

  “Vicky, the twins’ mom. Half the time, we were in love. The other half, I had to dodge whatever she was throwing at me,” Everett explained.

  Mike laughed as they turned to walk. They made it to the box canyon and turned to the control room. The control room was the cave they’d rigged for security overwatch. It was the first room that had gotten rigged with lighting and electricity. Situational awareness was key to their survival. Now though, their awareness expanded to more than just the canyon and the valley below.

  Mike’s mission at the grey man compound had included more than just killing the enemy. It had been a quest to free the Contai slaves, and it had been a quest for more knowledge about the world around them. Currently, Bobby and Jessica were carefully extracting that knowledge from the hard drives that they’d found in the compound.

  Bobby had made some progress on the hard drives, with the help of the electrical engineers and Shar. Bobby had asked Mike if Weitz could help, but that was something that Mike wasn’t comfortable with allowing. The A.I. that Bobby and Jessica used had the benefit of quantum processing behind it, so it hadn’t taken too long to crack the Turinzoni software security to get into the alien hard drives. Still, there was the problem of translating all the available information into a form that they could use. The old Earth software wasn’t able to interpret the Sjurai software, so they had to develop conversion programs to read the information.

  Mike and Everett walked up to the control room and swept the curtain back. John and Luis were both present, looking at the screen. Translated words were scrolling across the bottom of the screen. Luis was intent on what he was reading, but John welcomed them in.

  “Hey guys, how’s things? Oh, don’t swing the curtain too hard. It gets wet and slings water across the computers.”

  Mike nodded toward John, “Hey John, how’s it going?”

  John motioned toward the screen, “Well, as you can see, things are going pretty good.”

  This project had been Luis’ idea. When he found out that the Spec and Sec teams were going into the Sjurai compound, he’d come to Mike to talk to him about hacking into the compound’s security network. Mike thought it was a stroke of genius as soon as he heard the idea. So, after spending time talking to Shar about his navigational and comms systems on the transport shuttle, Luis and John rigged one of the quantum radios so that Mike could insert it into the network.

  The problem had been keeping the Contai from burning everything down. They wanted to destroy the entire compound. Mickey had to physically pick Geonti up and carry him out of the building after he had seen what they’d done to Retha, the girl he’d planned to marry. Mike had to explain to the Contai why everything couldn’t be destroyed, that some of it had to be left intact so that the Sjurai would come back in and re-inhabit the base. Since Mike wouldn’t allow them to destroy the base, the Contai spent their fury on the bio-engineers that were being held as prisoners. It was a nasty business, but Mike wasn’t willing to intercede for the bio-engineers, not after what he’d seen. He certainly didn’t buy the argument that they were only following orders.

  So, now, even though the work on software was still ongoing, the feeds from the cameras and microphones on the base were being pumped into their computer, which ran the translation program so that John and Luis could understand what they were saying. It worked when they spoke galactic standard, which seemed to be the language that most Sjurai spoke when they talked to other species. It didn’t work when they spoke their home languages, though, so there were a lot of gaps in the data feed. Still, better a little intel than no intel at all.

  “So, what do we have?”

  Luis pointed at the monitor, “Well, as you can see, there are more people arriving at the compound. It looks like they have the energy fence back up. More techs are arriving to work on fixing everything. They’ve brought in construction crews to work on the buildings that were damaged.”

  Luis turned around and held out his fist, “Good job on that, by the way. We watched the operation from the drone.”

  Mike grinned and bumped fists with Luis. Everett did the same when Luis turned to him.

  Mike put his hand on John’s shoulder, “What? You didn’t enjoy the show?”

  John shook his head, “No, I thought you guys were bad ass. Still, I got a little upset when the Contai went after the other dudes.”

  Mike understood that. He was still a little queasy when he thought about what the Contai had done to the engineers, “yeah, I know. There was no way that we were going to stop them, though. I was just lucky they didn’t destroy everything.”

  John looked up at Mike, “We heard about what happened inside. Nasty business.”

  Mike nodded, “The worst.”

  “It’s not like they don’t have a precedent.”

  They all turned to look at Everett.

  “What do you mean?” Luis asked.

  “Well, from what Joan told me when we brought back DNA samples, they’re all descended from us. Their ancestors, us, weren’t exactly saints. We killed because of skin color, religion, or because we wanted what the other guy had or just didn’t like him. I guess it’s gotten worse now that they’ve evolved into separate species and actually look different than each other.”

  Mike nodded, “He’s right. It’s not like we set a good example for them. Not that they even remember us, or even know where they came from. Still, that same evolution drives them. I’ve talked to Shar, and the Sjurai know they all come from the same genetic history, but no one knows where the original species came from.”

  Luis looked back at the monitor, “Man, I remember reading all the science fiction when I was a kid, about people transcending their biological bodies, the human race becoming greater than they’d been.”

  Mike shrugged, “It may have happened. Shar tells me that there are stories of a golden age, when all of humanity was spread across the galaxy, lived like immortals, created monumental structures in space.”

  John looked at Mike, “What happened?”

  Mike shook his head, “Nobody knows. Civilizations rise, and then they fall. Just like they did back in our time. Mankind claws its way out of the mud to touch the stars, then falls back down the gravity well.”

  “Entropy.”

  Mike conceded the point to John, “Possibly.”

  Everett decided to change the subject, “Okay, enough of the heavy philosoph
y. You guys called us here for a reason?”

  Luis nodded, “Yeah, we did.”

  “And?” Everett asked.

  “We think we know where the grey men are going to strike next.”

  “How do you know?” Mike asked.

  “Because we saw this,” Luis typed on his keyboard, and an image appeared. In it, there was a Turinzoni soldier carrying a map with a location highlighted.

  Everett put his hand on the chair that John was sitting in and leaned in, “How do you know that’s where they’re going to attack. That could be anything.”

  John grinned as he leaned into pull up an audio file, “Because he said this as he was walking by with the map.”

  Across the screen, below the image, a line of words started scrolling. In it, the Turinzoni soldier was talking about their scheme of maneuver for the attack on the village.

  Mike crossed his arms, “Well, that’s pretty convincing to me.”

  Everett nodded his head, “Yeah, I’m convinced also.” He looked down at John, “Can you find that location for us?”

  “Already did. We used the data from Shar’s map to extrapolate the position.”

  “Extrapolate?” Everett asked.

  Mike grinned at Everett, “It means, ‘figure out.’”

  Everett glared at Mike, “I know what it means.”

  John grinned.

  Mike suddenly thought of something, “Wait, you said you used the data from Shar’s map? Are you using his software in our computer?”

  John shook his head, “Not exactly. We have a conversion program that interprets the data from Shar’s map.”

  “So, we can use that data in our mechs?”

  John nodded, “Yeah, you can now. Not only in the mechs, but we’ve uploaded it into all the tactical heads up displays.”

  Mike looked at Everett, “That’s pretty cool.”

  Everett agreed, “Yeah, it is.”

  John spread his hands, “We aim to please. I’m hoping that Bobby figures out a way to hack their satellite feeds.”

  Mike did a double take, “Wait, what? He can hack the feeds?”

  “Possibly. From what we can figure out, their software encryption isn’t as robust as ours was, plus we have the A.I. to help crack it, so we should be able to piggy back on top of them.”

  “So, we’ll be able to see other parts of the world as well?”

  John turned to look at Mike, “yeah, whatever they see, we’ll see. We might even be able to hijack it if we need to.”

  Mike grinned, “That’s freaking awesome.”

  John returned the grin, “Yeah it is. Why build it when you can steal it.”

  Luis nodded, “Ain’t that the truth.” John and Luis did an exploding fist bump with sound effects.

  Mike looked at Everett, “What do you think? You think the new recruits are ready for combat?”

  Everett’s face became serious, “I think so. We’ve given them a lot of training, and they’ve become accustomed to how we conduct operations. We haven’t had many problems since Matki started running interference with Joacar.”

  Mike nodded. When they’d started training the Contai men and teenagers on tactics and warfare, Joacar had tried to appoint himself as the commanding officer, and had become a major problem for the team when he wanted to countermand everything that they were trying to teach. Matki had stepped in, with Caul, Geonti and Rieci supporting him against the elder council.

  They’d convinced the other young hunters/trackers that the team’s training was the only way that the Contai were going to survive against the Turinzoni and the other Sjurai that were targeting and hunting them. Once Joacar had seen which way the wind was blowing, he backed off. Once the chain of command was established, with a united front that the old Earthers and the Contai presented, they were able to convince and recruit from Althus’ village. Joacar sure as hell wasn’t happy about it, but the team was able to get the new guys trained. Now, Joacar was only a pain in the ass when it came to the living conditions in the canyons, and Mitchem helped Mike when that happened.

  Everett continued, “They’ve mastered the individual techniques. There’s still a few hard heads that think they know better, but their buddies are starting to show them the error of their ways.”

  “Blanket parties?” Luis asked.

  Everett negated that with a wave of his hand, “No, nothing that drastic. Mainly by showing them up on the range and in hand to hand. Blowhards like that don’t like being laughed at, so they’re starting to learn to keep their mouths shut. And if they don’t, we give them to Jendi. Jendi’s been a big help, keeping them in line.”

  Mike nodded, “That kid’s wicked smart. He soaks up everything we show him like a sponge. He’s an expert marksman, and even though he’s smaller than most of the hunters, he can kick some major ass with the hand to hand techniques we’ve been showing him.”

  Everett started grinning, “Yeah, he is. Tom’s teaching him Jujitsu. Mickey’s teaching him Krav Maga. We have problems with somebody not pulling their weight, they have to go into the ring with Jendi. Getting your ass handed to you by a skinny little kid has a tendency to kick your ego right in the teeth.”

  He looked at Mike, “I don’t think we can put them in a pitched battle yet, but an ambush like this, I think we can risk it.”

  Mike nodded, “Sounds like a plan. We’ll have to fly south to the training area. Then we can move the Contai south to the ambush location. Maybe two days from now.”

  Everett agreed, “That’ll give us time to do a reconnoiter and an intel prep of the location for ops.”

  Luis turned around in his chair, “We’ll let you know if anything changes.”

  Mike leaned forward and gripped them both on their shoulders, “Thanks guys, you’ve been a tremendous help.

  John waved off the complement, “No prob. We’re glad to help.”

  Mike and Everett left the two engineers to their surveillance. Mike led the way out into the canyon. Gravel crunched underfoot as they walked.

  “So, two days?” Everett asked.

  Mike nodded, “Yeah, I’ve got to go talk to the boss first, though.”

  Everett grinned, “You think you’ll have a problem?”

  Mike shrugged, then sighed, “I don’t know. She’s been difficult lately. I don’t know why. When I have to fly south, she gets pissed off. When I get back, she gets pissed off that I have to go back south in a few weeks.”

  Everett slapped him on the back, “Ah, love! Ain’t it wonderful?”

  Mike shook his head, “It was when we first got married. Now she doesn’t want to talk. She’s shutting me out, and I don’t know why.”

  “You want me to ask Joan if she can help?”

  Mike looked at Everett, “No, not yet. I’ll see what I can do. If I can’t get her to talk about what’s bothering her, maybe when we’re down south, Joan can talk to her.”

  Everett nodded, “Okay, just let me know. Oh hell!”

  Mike looked over at Everett, “What?”

  Everett hooked his thumb over his shoulder, “We forgot to ask John about the mech weapons.”

  “Damn, you’re right,” Mike looked over his shoulder, then back at Everett.

  Everett grinned, “Don’t worry, I’ll ask him. You go find Jen.”

  Mike grinned back at him, “Thanks.”

  ----------------------------------------------------

  It took Mike a long time to find Jen. For some reason, nobody would tell him where she was. He found her at the furthest security checkpoint. She was talking to Diane Boyd, who was preparing to climb up to the open mech. Both women stopped talking when they saw Mike.

  Mike waved at them as he walked up, “How’s it going?”

  A half smile crossed Diane’s lips, “Good Mike, how are you?”

  “Doing okay, I guess.”

  Diane put her hand on Jen’s arm, “We’ll talk later, okay?”

  Jen nodded, “I’d like that.”

  Diane t
urned away and started climbing up the side of the mech. When she got to the top, she stopped and glanced back at them. Mike could have sworn that she shook her head before she climbed down inside the mech. He wondered what that was about.

  Jen turned to him, no expression on her face, completely unreadable. There was an emotional wall there that he wasn’t used to. There was a chill in her voice when she spoke, “What’s up?”

  This was totally unlike Jennifer. He didn’t know what to say, and started to stammer. He didn’t know where to start, so he did what he was trained to do. For a close ambush, within fifty meters of the attacking force, he was trained to turn and attack through the ambush. So he took the direct approach.

  “Jen, what’s wrong?”

  She didn’t say anything. Her face didn’t give anything away. The only thing he could think was, “Damn, she ought to play poker.”

  Mike was baffled, “Uh, are you going to say anything?”

  She stared at him. Just when he thought he’d have to give up and pull a tactical withdrawal, she spoke, “I don’t know what to think about you, Mike.”

  That wasn’t what he had expected. But, it was something, at least.

  “What do you mean?”

  She crossed her arms, “You’ll never change, will you?”

  Mike thought carefully about what he was going to say next, “I, uh, I thought you liked who I was.”

  She sighed, and her body relaxed, but the arms stayed crossed, “You just don’t get it, do you?”

  Mike was stressed, and he put his left hand in his back pocket as he ran his right hand through his hair, “Get what?”

  One of Jen’s hands came out and she jabbed a finger at him, “See, that’s the problem, right there.”

  Mike had been worried before, but now confusion mixed with his anxiety. He was speechless.

  Her arms crossed again, “Are you going to say anything?”

  He spread his hands, “Ah, honestly, I don’t know what I can say. I don’t even know what the problem is.”

  A frown crossed Jennifer’s face, “Really, you don’t know?”

  Since Mike didn’t know how to handle this, he decided to deflect, “Jesus, Jen, how can I know? You haven’t been talking to me? I can’t read your mind. You haven’t exactly been forthcoming about what you’re upset about.”