Work The Problem Ch. 05

"Can we re-establish the gate?" asked the general. His voice was tight but controlled.

John pointed at one of his monitor screens. "The capacitors are charging. About...ninety minutes."

The general's voice finally betrayed his inner fear. "Ninety? Our people are gonna get the shit kicked out of them by those feathered assholes in ninety minutes!"

"We can't charge any faster," said Arnold. "Not without risking a burnout of the main power cables."

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"Fuck fuckity fuck!" yelled Leslie.

"Well put, Corporal," replied Jenkins. Corporal Nowak and Ned had joined them soon after the portal had gone down, and the safety engineer was once again amazed at the lieutenant's utter calm in a stressful situation. "Now. As to plans." Jenkins clicked on the radio. "First-Paw Fletcher, can you join us? We have a bit of a problem."

Now that he was seeing more of her people besides Holly, Ned realized that the average lagomorph could give Usain Bolt a literal run for his money. Within a few seconds the rabbit-folk militia leader had joined the impromptu council near where the portal used to be.

Fletcher stared at the now-empty space where the portal had been with something close to panic. "What happened?"

"No idea," replied Jenkins. "Hang on, one moment." He clicked on his radio. "I want the Javelin up on the ridge. Our feathered friends might try something. Any armored vehicle that pokes itself out of that portal needs a faceful of missile." He clicked off the radio. "Our people are probably trying to re-connect at the other end. In the meantime we're on our own. Our mortars don't have unlimited ammunition, and once they've run out those bird-bastards are going to regroup. Plus who knows what they'll pull out of the other side of their portal. We've only got the one Javelin team and two missiles against anything big."

"We need to shut down that portal, then," said Fletcher. His big blue eyes were set in determination. "Or at least give those on the other side of it something nasty to chew on."

"I like your thinking, dude," said Leslie. The rabbit gave her wiry body a very blatant up-and-down appraisal and winked one big blue eye at her. The corporal actually blushed a bit, then got back to business. "Explosives are always a nice party favor."

"We do have some remote detonators and C4," replied Jenkins. The lieutenant looked over their relatively paltry cache of supplies. "But only a few pounds of it. That's not gonna do much, even if we get it through the portal."

Ned finally decided to speak up. He was surprised that these 'elite troops' hadn't figured out the obvious solution by now. "We are in farming country, though."

They all looked at him. clearly nonplussed.

The engineer spread his hands with an exasperated air. These guys were supposed to be the professionals in wrecking shit, why did he have to be the one to think of these things? "Helloooo? Nitrates? Fertilizer? Diesel fuel?"

Jenkins' eyes widened. "Homemade ANFO. Hell yeah. How'd you think of that? I thought you were a safety engineer."

Ned shrugged. "Part of that is knowing how to make things, well, unsafe."

"Got it. Can you mix it up?" asked Jenkins.

Ned took a deep breath and nodded. "If I know where to go."

Fletcher spoke up. "I don't know this 'ANFO' you speak of, but one of my people is local to this area. They must know of a nearby farm that has what you need."

"Okay, so after it's mixed we gotta get the boom-stuff over that ridge and into the portal," said Leslie. "But anything that's in line of sight of that portal gets shredded pretty quick."

"We'll have to make a push up over the ridge and clear a path," said Jenkins. The lieutenant looked grim but also focused now that he had a set mission. "And we'll have to do it before our mortars run out. Fletcher, you get Ned where he needs to go. Holly, you need to scrounge up any vehicles we can use to ferry the ANFO into the portal. The rest of us will get ready for the assault."

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Ned wondered in a distant fashion how he'd wound up in such a strange place. Fourteen months ago he'd had a normal job and a normal life until the unexpected had literally broken into his garage. And now here he was, stranded in a dimension full of rabbit-people and standing in the middle of a barn of theirs while stirring a big wooden stick through a devil's brew of diesel fuel and fertilizer pellets. He was just grateful that they'd found a tub big enough to hold a goodly amount of the improvised explosive. "That should do it," he said. He and the other two Rangers beside him hefted the big metal tub and began dumping his mix into a row of steel drums.

This particular farm belonged to a lagomorph named Pederson. Pederson was in the process of having a good old-fashioned freak-out over his place being taken over by both the lagomorph militia as well as by huge ape-guys from another dimension. Pederson now stared around the corner of the barn door in a mild panic. "What are you doing?"

"Making something to shove through the attacker's portal," replied Ned. "This should give 'em something to ponder. If all goes well, it should wreck the portal equipment on the other side."

Fletcher patted the farmer on the shoulder. "It's okay, they're here to help."

"How much bang is this?" asked one of the Rangers, a fresh-faced guy named Wilson. The other Ranger, Corporal Morillo, began placing little packets of C4 and detonators into each drum.

Ned did a quick mental calculation. "About nine hundred kilos, adding in this last batch. Plenty enough to level a small building."

Morillo gave a nasty grin that stood out against his olive complexion. "And they've probably got a lot of weapons stored on the other side. Yeah, the secondary explosions should make things nice and hot on their end."

There was the beep of a horn from behind Pederson, and Holly came careening into view driving a large flat-bed truck. Ned blinked in surprise as he saw that somebody had put one of the Ranger's machine guns onto the vehicle. The ugly-looking weapon stuck up from a swivel mount welded onto the truck bed.

Holly braked the truck to a stop and climbed out of the cab. "Just in case," she said, pointing one furry thumb at the improvised weapon-mounting.

"So the US Army is now resorting to using technicals, eh?" asked Corporal Morillo. He shook his head while smiling. "I just wish we had an Abrams or two for this shit." He made to get into the truck's cab, then stopped when he realized it was sized for four-foot-tall rabbit-people and not him.

Fletcher pushed past the Ranger. "I've got it," he said, hopping into the driver's seat. Morillo shrugged and helped Ned and Wilson start loading the drums onto the truck bed. By now Pederson was over his freak-out and he also began to help with strapping everything down.

Holly jumped up on the bed as they finished and grabbed the machine gun's handles. Ned felt a little lump of ice form in his gut as she checked the weapon over. "Holly? What are you doing?"

Wilson spoke up. "Yeah, Ms. Arnbock, I can operate that."

"So can I," she said fiercely. She looked at Wilson. "You're the professional warrior. We need you to in front clearing a path. I'm just here as backup."

"But still-" began Ned.

"This is my world, okay?" she snapped, then shook her head. "Sorry," she continued but more softly. She let go of the weapon and walked to the edge of the truck bed, then took Ned's face in both her paws. "You and your kind have already done so much. Now it's our turn to step up." She kissed him and smiled. "I'm gonna jump off in plenty of time, okay?"

Ned felt that icy feeling grow, but he nodded. "Okay. Just no heroics, okay? And that goes for you too, Fletcher."

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Holly gripped the handles of the 'Ma Deuce' and waited for Jenkins to kick the whole thing off. The lieutenant wasn't happy about her operating the gun, but she pointed out that she was a lot lighter. The truck was already about maxed out in weight, seeing as how it was now loaded with hundreds of pounds of high explosive. She tried her best to ignore the barrels strapped down around her. The only consolation was the fact that if they did go off she'd be dead before she knew it.

The mortars were now silent, and had been for about ten minutes. A thick haze hung over the distant berm, and there was no sound from the terror-birds. In front of the truck, the Rangers were spread out in a wedge-like formation. They were spaced further apart than Holly expected. Both the lieutenant and the sergeant were stationed right in front of the truck cab.

Ned and Yuri were behind the truck, each armed with weapons and guarding the ape-humans' little cache of remaining materials. Such guarding was probably symbolic. If this attack failed, the terror-birds would roll over them sooner rather than later. Ned looked very uncertain at the prospect of being armed; it was clear this was pretty close to his first time holding a gun. Holly still managed to catch him staring at her ass, though. She gave him a little wiggle of her hips and tail, then caught his eye and winked as he blushed.

"We've got five rounds left for each mortar, L.T.," said Sergeant Forrester. "Our spotters are seein' movement down by the portal."

The lieutenant nodded. "Give 'em another five minutes and make 'em think it's over, then hit 'em with the final volley. Fletcher, you ready?"

The militia leader nodded. "I'll be right on your rear."

Jenkins looked up over the cab and into the truck bed. "Holly?"

She gave a smile and a thumbs-up, which the lieutenant returned.

There was a long, interminable wait. Sergeant Forrester touched a hand to his ear.

"Somethin' big and metallic is nosing out of the portal," he said.

Jenkins' voice was back into that eerie calm he'd shown before. "Javelin team, hit it. Mortars open fire, strike team move forward."

Holly saw one of the ape-humans up at the berm stand with a metal tube on his shoulder. The tube spat out a smaller cylinder which then very quickly let out long string of flame and streaked down behind the ridge and out of her sight. There was a huge thump that seemed to shake the ground which was quickly drowned out by the foomps and whistles of the mortars firing and falling once more.

She had time for one last glance back and a mutual thumbs-up between her and Ned.

Yuri smiled at her. "Do not worry, Ms. Arnbock. I keep good eye on him for you. Do svidaniya."

And then everything started.

The Rangers began jogging towards the ridge. For ape-humans, they could move pretty fast. Fletcher kept the truck right in the middle of the protective 'wedge' formation. Up on the ridge, there was more chattering of machine guns and a whoosh-thump as their last missile shot at the portal.

That horrible screeching started again as the mortar rounds landed. She saw more flashes from the carnage near the portal, and her foot began to jitter ever faster. She was doing it, actually driving right into the middle of that hell.

"Mortar teams, cease fire!" barked Jenkins as they began running up the slope of the ridge. As each Ranger reached the top, they first went prone and then picked themselves up and ran forward. Holly braced herself as Fletcher began driving the truck up the slope. Her paws were almost numb from gripping her machine gun so hard.

The machine gun teams on either side of them waved them forward as the truck now reached the top. Fletcher nosed the vehicle up and over the ridge...and Holly finally laid eyes directly on the scene beyond.

It was utter destruction and chaos. The Rangers were moving forward more slowly, their rifles sweeping to either side of the formation and picking off anything that moved. There were a lot of feathered bodies spread around, and some were still smoking.

The terror-birds had made a shelter out of their cases next to the portal. In front of the portal itself was a large metallic spindle-like shape. It didn't have any wheels that Holly could see; maybe it was a flying machine? Whatever it was, it was wrecked now. The ape-humans' missiles had torn a huge flaming hole in its side.

And now she could see several terror-birds were using the wreck as cover. As the feathered shapes popped up and fired the occasional red beam at the Rangers, they were just as quickly driven back into cover by a hail of bullets from both the Rangers and the machine-guns up on the ridge.

The air was filled with haze and enough smoke to make Holly cough. She could also smell a horrible stench in the air, a mixture of cordite and cooking meat.

She could see one of the Rangers was already down, a crumpled form that she couldn't identify. A lump rose in her throat at the sight, then she braced herself as the truck tilted forward and moved down the ridge and towards that mouth-like portal.

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Ned looked over at Yuri as the distant truck made its way up towards the ridge. He couldn't watch the attack; the thought of his sweetheart in harm's way made him sick to his stomach. Yuri was in the middle of rummaging through the crates that they were nominally watching over.

"Do you really need to do that?" Ned asked.

The Russian nodded. "Just looking for...ah! Here is little friend." He picked out a short, nasty-looking tubular weapon and with sure fingers attached it to the underside of his carbine.

Ned had played enough first-person shooters to have a good idea of what that weapon was. "Yuri...is that a grenade launcher?"

Yuri laughed at Ned's uncertain expression. "Da. Never hurts to have more firepower. 'Be prepared' is motto of your Boy Scouts, after all." His mitt-like hands reached into the same crate and began making a pile on the ground of objects that looked like comically oversized pistol rounds.

Ned shook his head. "If we need those, we're already in a world of hurt." He looked back towards the battle. There was a lot of rattling gunfire going on, and the truck was just now cresting over the ridge. "Fuck," he whispered. "You stay safe, ya stubborn bunny."

Some tingle in the air or sixth sense made him turn to look in the other direction. Fifty meters away, a small bright spark hung in the air and began to expand. He slapped Yuri in the shoulder and pointed, and the two men took cover behind the crates.

"Is our people?" asked Yuri.

"Probably not," replied Ned. "If John and Arnold can reestablish, they'd put the portal right back where it appeared." He pointed at the nearby location that had once led to home.

"Hmm." The Russian took the bad news in stride. Ned glanced over the crate and saw the now-familiar hole in the air. From this angle, he could see directly into the portal and also see a line of the armored and feathered bipeds getting ready to come running out.

"Flanking maneuver," mused Yuri. "Let us show them that we are not quite so silly as to leave our rear unguarded, eh?" He stood, and as the first terror-bird stepped out of the portal he fired a few three-round bursts at the thing's head. In spite of the Russian's mitt-like hands, his aim was certain.

Ned saw sparks off of the terror-bird's armor as he also brought his own carbine up and over the edge of the crate. He'd fired a gun maybe five times in his life, and three of those had been during the summary 'training' that the Rangers had given him in Nevada. For now, he was staying with single shot. He aimed lower, at one of the thing's relatively un-armored 'knees', and fired. Ned felt a brief moment of satisfaction as the creature toppled over with a piercing shriek...

And then more came piling out of the portal, firing those horribly slicing beam weapons. Both Ned and Yuri ducked down behind the crates as the Russian slotted one of the large 'pistol rounds' into his grenade launcher.

Ned was about to pop back up and look when Yuri's hand touched his shoulder. "Wait," commanded the Russian. His voice had lost its usual jovial tone. "Let them come out. Makes for a better pile of bodies in front of gate. You just hand me grenades when I hold out hand, da?"

Ned nodded, and Yuri stood with shocking speed for somebody his size and fired his launcher with an oddly muted thunk. Then Yuri dropped back down and held out a hand. Ned was on autopilot by this point, so he just slapped another grenade into Yuri's hand as the Russian ejected his previous round.

Then there was a much louder boom from the direction of the portal, followed by more of that horrific shrieking that Ned had heard earlier. Yuri stood again and fired. The next few minutes became a confusing welter of the same repetitive actions. Ned would slap a grenade into Yuri's outstretched palm, the Russian would stand and fire, and all the while that inhuman shrieking grew louder...

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Fletcher couldn't drive directly at the portal, since the wrecked terror-birds' machine was in the way. Jenkins turned to the truck and yelled something Holly couldn't make out. He swept an arm to one side of the spindle-shape and Fletcher nodded. The truck rocked over the churned and cratered earth as he began to drive in the indicated direction.

Holly felt a little better at seeing Leslie taking up a flanking position on one side of her. "Helluva mess, eh?" yelled the corporal cheerfully up at Holly as the truck bounced forward. The ape-human sounded like she was taking a leisurely stroll on the beach.

"Apes," muttered Holly as she shook her head. Then what she'd taken to be a random pile of twisted metal moved. A terror-bird popped up with shocking speed and aimed its weapon at Leslie. The corporal spun and fired a three-round burst at its head. The bullets just sparked off of the thing's helmet but did throw off its aim. The red beam sliced out and struck Leslie in the knee, and the corporal toppled over with scream of pain as the beam lopped off her left leg below the joint.

Holly didn't even take the time to get scared. In the grips of a quite unexpected rage the small rabbit-human spun, aimed the M2 right at the creature's center-mass, and then nearly broke her thumbs as she mashed down the trigger plate.

"DIE, MOTHERFUCKER, DIE!" she screamed.

The terror-bird's armor was proof against the smaller bullets fired by the Rangers' M4 carbines. But against the monstrously powerful fifty-cal bullets from Holly's gun its armor might as well have been tissue paper. The thing's keeled chest nearly evaporated with the impact.

Holly kept screaming her mantra, firing each time she screamed until the terror-bird was a pulped mess.

She did see one of the other Rangers sprinting over towards Leslie, who by some miracle was still moving. Holly turned her weapon back to the front and saw another armored and feathered shape move out from behind the wreck to intercept the truck. Her rage kept rising as she aimed and screamed once more.

"YOU CAME TO THE WRONG DIMENSION, MOTHERFUCKERS! DIE!"

There was a confused period where she kept firing at anything feathered while screaming horrible obscenities. Suddenly a big ape-human hand grabbed the gun's handles away from her, and she almost kicked out in a counterattack before she realized it was Sergeant Forrester.

The sergeant bodily picked her up, slung her under one arm, and leaped off of the truck. From her now-upside-down viewpoint she saw Fletcher give them one last sober look before stomping on the gas. The truck rolled forward and bounced gently into the portal.

"Fletcher!" she screamed.

Lieutenant Jenkins voice bawled out. "FIRE IN THE HOLE!"

Holly felt the air get driven from her lungs as she was thrown to the ground. Before she could gasp the sergeant's considerable bulk landed on top of her.