Give Me the Man Pt. 08

"Yes, of course. We brought a box of them, and we could communicate, but we never knew if the invaders were listening, so we never used them properly. What of it?"

"I think I've found the Terran equivalent."

"If you have, that would be wonderful. You're right, that's our biggest problem." He laughed. "Apart from the enemy, of course."

"Some form of communication device would be very useful," said Velna, "but would we find ourselves talking over each other? I mean would a Tanart's Hold message intended for one of our own people be picked up by your two groups?"

"I don't know," said Ardan.

"I do." Leara had been studying one of the communication devices, and what seemed to be an instruction book.

"And?" Ardan raised his brows in query, and Leara grinned.

"There are several different channels, twenty of them apparently, if I've understood this handbook correctly. We could allocate one channel for common use, two for each existing group, and still have spare channels, maybe for other groups."

"I think three channels per group might be better," said Dran. "We sometimes make attacks from three sides."

"That would still leave ten channels free for other groups." Leara grimaced. "When and if we find some!"

"I think it's time we took a break," said Ardan. "Grab something to eat, then we'll see if there's anything we missed."

Dran pointed. "There's some stuff over in that corner that needs looking at, but yes, eat first."

Each group had brought basic trail food, nutritious even if not exactly inspiring, and they used one of the newly-found cookers to brew hot drinks to help wash down the food.

"I don't think I've ever managed to get water to the boil so quickly before," said Velna. "I definitely want one of these for myself."

"They're small and light," said Ardan, "we'll take several each. Useful for longer patrols that stay out for days at a time, nice and easy to carry."

"Definitely," said Dran, "and each with its own carrying case, too."

"Okay," said Leara, laughing, "we take some back with us. Now, is everyone ready to start again? Yes? Okay, folks, let's get started."

This time it was Kira who made the discovery. She'd been studying various instruction handbooks and brought one of them across to Ardan, a thoughtful look on her face. He grinned. "Okay, what have you found?"

"I'm not sure, but if I'm reading this instruction manual correctly, there should be something here that will destroy an enemy flier in flight, just blow it out of the sky!"

Excited, Ardan reached for the handbook. "Let me see." Kira handed him the manual and then sat beside him, reaching across to point out what had excited her.

"See? This must be the aiming device. If I'm interpreting the manual correctly, the operator gets the target in the sights and presses this operating lever. The weapon seems to be a self-powered flying explosive device of some kind, and if the operator keeps the target in his - or her -- sights, the -- missile, I suppose you could call it - the missile will keep going until it reaches the target and then explode."

"I think you're right, Kira. But have you seen anything like this?"

She nodded, pointing to a far corner. "Right over there, behind everything else. If I've counted right, about forty missiles, but only four aiming devices, but the handbook seems to suggest that there's a switch on the aiming device to select which missile to fire, so, ten missiles for each device."

"Okay, let's take a look."

Kira was right, there were forty missiles and four control and aiming handsets. They tested the weight, and found it took two people to carry a missile.

"The priority is weapons we're already familiar with, and ammunition for them, but I suggest we take five missiles for each of our groups, and a control handset each," said Ardan. "Leave the others and a handset here. If necessary, we can come back."

"Do we need to make sure that a particular missile goes with a particular handset?" asked Dran. "If we got them mixed up it could make them useless."

"Not if I'm not misinterpreting this handbook," said Leara. "If I've read this correctly, there's a panel on each missile which lets the operator select any one of five groups, and any one of twenty missile codes, and a corresponding setting on the handset. I guess that means you could set the handset to fire all of the missiles at once, at a single target. I think it would make an awfully big bang," she added, laughing.

"Excessive for s single flyer, perhaps," said Ardan, "but if they have some sort of lander craft bringing supplies from up in space, then it might be worthwhile, especially if we hit it while it was well above ground." He shrugged. "I think we need to concentrate, first, on locating their base and, second, on finding a way to get hand weapons to the prisoners on the coast. We also need to check out those communication devices, and the night-vision sets. But first, any more weapons we haven't considered?"

"Only one, I think," said Leara, "it's one we found last time but didn't find the instructions for. This time, I have. Remember those shoulder-mounted tubes, and the projectiles?"

"Yes, I do. Go on."

"Well, as far as I can tell, you load the projectile from the rear of the tube. This arms it, and then you put the tube on your shoulder and line up the target with the sights. Then, when you press the trigger, the projectile launches itself at the target and explodes on impact. No remote control such as the missiles have, so short-range only, but I guess if you hit a flyer in flight it could make a nasty mess of it."

"Or hit one on the ground, so the invaders couldn't retreat," said Dran. "That would be useful, too."

Leara had been studying the instruction manual further, and turned to the others. "I think they're probably designed to be used by two-man teams. One with the tube on his -- or her -- shoulder, the other loading the projectiles. It would mean the operator could keep his eye on the target all of the time."

"That makes sense," said Ardan, and the others nodded. "We'll need to test the range, but they'd be useful in defence as well as attack." He gestured. "How many do we have?"

"There are eight tubes, and eighty projectiles," said Leara.. "If we take two tubes and twenty projectiles for each of our own groups, that leaves two plus twenty projectiles for if we find any other groups fighting, or just as spares, because we three groups seem to be the only organised forces."

"That's been our experience," said Velna. "Elsewhere it seems to be only small groups, maybe five or six, tops."

"I've been thinking," said Dran. "There are crossbows here. We've been ignoring them, because there are the projectile weapons and energy weapons, but we know that a correctly placed crossbow bolt can put one of those things down and crossbow bolts are something we can make ourselves. We should take some crossbows and give them to any isolated groups we come across, or else keep them as backup."

"Good thinking, Dran," said Ardan. "Any half-way decent craftsman should be able to make bolts, and a crossbow needs no energy source. Ideal weapons for isolated groups. That's if we find any."

"We should get these weapons back to our own groups, then spend a little time looking for these isolated groups, they have to be out there somewhere." Leara gestured. "Okay, boys and girls, let's get loading, and we still need to check if those are night-vision goggles."

They were, and came in containers carrying twelve sets, and there were eight containers. They decided to take two containers for each group, leaving two for later. When they'd finished packing, the Terran flyer had very little space for anything else, and the captured invader craft that the Tanart's Hold team was using wasn't much better.

"Okay, people," said Ardan. "It's about noon. Let's all get our heads down and get some sleep. We'll set off as soon as it's full dark. And there's something else we need to know."

"What?" said Velna.

"We have no idea of what distance these communication devices can link over. When we separate later, we need to keep testing as we go, to see if we can link up from each home base to the other two. If we can do that we can plan co-ordinated strikes." Ardan shrugged. "I suspect we'll be able to talk between Vilna Station and Ansel Crossing without problems, as we're in adjacent valleys, but we might not be able to reach Tanart's Hold. So, a test call every few minutes as we go after we separate, see how we manage. Agreed?"

There was general agreement, and then they all settled themselves for sleep, as best they could. Full dark found them brewing a hot drink. No one seemed hungry, and as soon as they'd finished their drinks and packed away the cookers and cups, they eased the two flyers out of the cache.

"I think we need call signs," said Velna. "Our home areas are sufficiently different in name, so we'll be Tanart one, and you -- what? Ansel one or Vilna one?"

"The home base for the Teran flyer is Vilna Station, so we'll be Vilna one. Ansel one is for when we're back home again. For now, though, people, let's get these weapons back to our home bases and take the fight to the invaders!"

There's more to come, but I tire easily these days, so don't hold your breath! Constructive comment welcome, and a vote would be nice. Go on, it's only a couple of mouse clicks!