Chapter Twenty: "Now its Istanbul not Constantinople."
"You ever wonder why we're here?" Staff Sergeant Packer asked, holding his rifle in a dirty Sul technique while relaxed against the wall behind him.
"No, I don't wonder why we're here." Lieutenant Peterson responded. "We're literally on a contract to guard this archaeological dig that Interstellar Expeditions hired us to."
"No, I mean why are we standing over here in the sun when we could be in the shade." Sergeant Packer unknowingly echoed a certain characters words from ages ago.
"Oh, well that makes sense." Peterson shrugged and moved over to the shaded area that Packer had indicated. "At least we didn't get stuck with training the greenies."
"Not this week." Packer nodded, "We're on rotation next month though. They have to learn how us groundpounders operate."
"Oorah!" Private Jenkins and PFC Mendoza replied to that phrase. Their shout echoing through the small box canyon they were in.
"Hey look, it's the Captain!" PFC Rook called out. And the Fireteam on patrol turned to wave at the captain (And the quirky Archaeologist with him)
"Captain," Peterson and Packer nodded. "Making the rounds?"
The Captain just gave them a brief rolling of the eyes, gesturing with his head at the scientist talking his ear off and shrugged while mouthing. "Save Me!"
Shaking their heads, the fireteam continued their patrol. Leaving the Captain to his fate.
This contract had been a godsend, Interstellar Expeditions had come along right as we were about to head to Canopian space and noticed that we were in need of a contract. They negotiated letting us use some of their Jumpships capacity in exchange for us helping with some of their explorations. This time, they were on the lookout for any potential civilizations that may have fled the reunification war. We had hit a couple of minor planets and I had taken advantage of the downtime we had in order to get a lot more training in with my troops.
We had shaped the new recruits that we had picked up from the Taurian Concordat into another couple of platoons of infantry and would be working on specializations when we shipped them back up to the Argo.
We were contracted for another couple of months and then we would continue on to Canopian space where we would look for our next contract.
The person in charge of the Expedition, a Dr. Gerald Ford, had been an interesting person to talk to, even if he did seem a little bit crazy at times. He had his Doctorate and had even helped straighten out some of the history curriculum we had put together for the Argo.
This dig was a bust though. There had once been civilization here, but most of the population lived like the Amish people of my day and so we left them alone. Lifting off in the Vagabond, we got ready to jump to the next system on their proposed map.
"So Dr. Ford," I began while sitting across from him at a table at the mess hall. "What are the chances we actually find anything out here?" I flipped through training reports while waiting for a response.
"Well, the chances are never great." Dr. Ford started "But we always hope for the chance to find something!" He started to get excited and I facepalmed. Realizing I never should have gotten him started. "Why, you never know what kind of society people might have developed away from the influence of the Inner Sphere."
One of Dr. Ford's aids just met my eyes and shook her head. Making sure that I knew that I had brought this on myself. After several minutes of rambling, I quietly excused myself and made a break for it. Leaving whomever was still in the mess hall to suffer for my mistakes.
I walked quickly to my office and closed the door. Deciding to take refuge in the quiet busy work of making sure all of the paperwork and files were documented properly. I had just gotten to filing the current trainee's paperwork when there was a knock on the door.
"Come in." I called, leaving one hand underneath my desk where I had a small laser pistol affixed. "Have a seat." I said as Corporal Dunham walked in.
"Sorry to disturb you Captain, but I had a few question about some things that've been bothering me for a little bit." He paused for a breath. "I want to know how you knew that Sergeant Jones was a traitor." He stated outright, meeting my eyes and waiting for a response.
"Well, first of all, Mathis told me that something was off after we got back from getting the Argo, and I made sure to listen." Dunham nodded at that. "The second thing was that I was intercepting all transmissions from the Messenger when we got into the system. Jones had attempted to record our meeting and when that didn't work, tried to send an electronic report to whoever she reported to. Thankfully, she didn't manage to get a transmission out. She acted on her own without any guidance from her people."
I then showed him the details that I had from her personal effects as well. She had a couple of very vicious poisons hidden in her belongings and had even written things down in a cipher. This included things like potentially kidnapping several of the officers and/or NCO's and backup plans that would have killed most or all of us.
Corporal Dunham paled with every piece of evidence I laid out in front of him. Seemingly shocked at the lengths some people would go to in order to get what they wanted. "Who was she working for?" He asked finally, regaining some of his composure.
"I honestly don't care." I stated. "She aimed to hurt me and mine and I don't much appreciate that." I stood up. "I take care of my people." I said firmly as I met the giant of a mans eyes.
Swallowing a little bit, Dunham stood up, and made his way out of my office. "Thanks for answering my questions Captain." He said as he opened the door.
"Hey Corporal!" I called. "Get me your list of personnel for the department by noon tomorrow."
"Roger that Captain." He repied as he left my office.
"All hands prepare for jump." Captain Frye's voice called out over the intercom's speakers. I strapped myself in, and waited for the go ahead.
We re-materialized and began the standard scanning of the system we were in. Dr. Ford's Jumpship had already sent over the reports of it's scans. There were two what appeared to be Leviathan Jumpships mothballed at a midway point between the Jump point and the planet in the Goldilocks zone.
"Dr. Ford, I'm sending the 'Mechs, the Vagabond and Wardog squadron to escort you down to the planet." I commed the IE Jumpship. "I'm taking the Argo and my other two Dropships to check out those Jumpships."
"We hear you Captain," Dr. Ford responded. " I'll send over one of my people to take a look and see if there's anything of interest to IE on board."
"Copy that." I said, getting ready to station a couple of our trusted people to keep an eye on whoever was going to be coming with us. "Give us your timetable and we'll get to work."
After taking some time to get things in order my dropships burned towards the planet ahead of the Interstellar Expedition's dropships. I trusted that Sheppard and Wardog had things well in hand while I supervised the potential salvage and recovery of potentially two Jumpships.
"Alright," Sheppard said as the Bittersweet neared what appeared to be an abandoned city. "We're here to draw out whatever locals might be here and pray that we look friendly." He paused as the bay doors opened. "Regardless of what happens out here, we are to keep the IE people safe. They're a lot squishier than we are."
"Copy that Sir." The other five 'Mech pilots responded. Corporal Dunham piloting the Captains Warhammer for the operation.
"Anything on sensors?" Corporal Lamb asked Sheppard seeing as he had the better sensor suite.
"That's a negative Lamb, keep your eyes and ears peeled though." Sheppard responded.
"This is the Vagabond, dropping off the Infantry now." The aerodyne landed on the highway next to them just long enough to let the Jeeps and trucks that the Infantry used to get around off before taking off again.
"Peterson, Paige," Sheppard called out over the comms. "I need you and the rest of the infantry to do a quick sweep of the buildings next to us. Everything seems abandoned but I want to make sure of that."
"Copy that Sheppard." Peterson responded and he and his platoon began to move towards the nearest buildings at a reasonable speed. "Will update when we're through."
There was no power, and Jenkins and Mendoza had to pry open the sliding doors before they could enter the building. "NVG's on." Staff Sergeant Packer ordered, seeing how dark the interior was. "We need to be able to see in the dark here." While the main lobby was decently lit, everything else was almost pitch black.
After about an hour of going through the building, they came out and requested a DeCon shower and to be Quarantined. "Nothing but dust and echoes Sheppard." Peterson reported. "But some of the notes we found indicate some sort of disease or something we're not really sure. Have Paige set up the decon and quarantine area just to be safe."
"Copy that Peterson." Sheppard replied. "You heard the man, make sure your hatches are sealed. Paige you copy on that last Comm?"
"I read you Sheppard, We're waiting on the Vagabond to drop off the equipment now." Lieutenant Paige responded. "Me and my Marines will take care of the grunts."
Two weeks later…
"Well doc, what's the verdict?" Packer asked one of the doctors that had been sent down from the Argo. "Am I gonna die?"
Dr. Walker just scoffed. "We can't find anything that could be harmful to any of you here." She paused. "Whatever it was, it's more than likely died out by now. We're clearing all of you from quarantine."
Both the Infantry and the Marines, sick of having been cooped up for two weeks got really excited at first before realizing that now they had to follow the IE archaeologists around.
"Cough cough, Doc, I'm dying." Jenkins made it dramatic. "Make me stay on bed rest for the next…" He trailed off looking at Mendoza for backup. "Two weeks?" He asked weakly, realizing that the Doctor had no sympathy after having to deal with them for the past two weeks.
The rest of the Marines and infantry jeered and then with some complaining and grumbling, got back into uniform and got their kit back on. "Alright, let's make sure these eggheads don't cause any trouble now." Now Staff Sergeant Mathis called out.
"What's the verdict?" Sheppard radioed Peterson and Paige after his computer systems notified him that they were back online. "You all a part of the walking dead?" He joked.
"Nah Sheppard, we're cleared to go back to work. Let the IE boys and girls know that their playground is open for business." Peterson responded.
"Roger that, letting the children out to play." Sheppard then called the IE dropships, letting them know it was safe to land and begin excavating to their hearts content. "Dr. Ford, try not to have too much fun down here." He reminded the easily excitable man.
In Space, same time as Sheppard lands on the planet…
"What's the verdict Chief?" I asked CPO Jewel.
"Frankly sir, this hardware is ancient. Pre Star League even." She responded. "We're lucky that the Dropship collars haven't changed over the years." She paused. "That being said, I think we can get this one back up and running if we cannibalize the other one for spare parts and borrow that IE guy to help."
"Why borrow the IE guy?" I asked genuinely curious as to why bring in outside help.
"Because the guy is a genius and knows a lot more about this tech than I do." She responded. "I can't give you an estimate without taking some more time to look at the internals. Get me that guy and I'll give you something by the end of the day."
"Understood Chief, I'll leave you to it." I left our Chief engineer to her tinkering. We were currently inside of one of the Leviathans and were conducting damage assessments and repair predictions on them. While they mostly appeared intact, one of the Jumpships had suffered from a larger meteorite impact and couldn't maintain an atmosphere. Strangely, they both appeared to have been mothballed properly and so we had to decide which one we were going to fix up.
Two weeks later…
"Spaceman Bruce, I need you to test that air filter!" CPO Jewel called out to her favorite errand boy. "If we did this right when we should be able to pressurize the ship again and I don't want carbon build up ruining our good air."
They had spent the last two weeks swapping parts between Jumpships to see what worked and what didn't as well as fabricating new ones on the Argo before sending them over to make sure everything fit properly.
"Aye ma'am." Seaman Bruce responded, pushing off of the wall of the hallway he was in. "Checking air filter now." He floated over to the main air scrubber for the Jumpship, making sure that it was intact and didn't have anything that would be a concern. "Scrubber looks good Ma'am, fire up the reactor when ready." He called out.
"Alright! Firing this thing up!" She called on the comms before powering the Fusion reactor on. "Bridge, anything on your end?" She called up to where Captain Hull had been working on computer systems and conduits with Captain Frye.
"All systems are green up here Chief." Frye responded. "Looks like we got ourselves an old lady."
"She may be old, but she's got it where it counts." Hull tagged himself into the Comm channel. "Looks like we are onboard the privately owned Leviathan class Jumpship Whirlwind."
"Everything checks out down here." CPO Jewel chimed in. "We're gonna need more crew."
"I know Chief," Captain Hull Responded. "I know."
January 15th, 3004.
It's been a pleasure working with you over this past year Captain. Interstellar Expeditions will mark you down as a favored hire in any future propositions." Dr. Ford said, shaking my hand.
"Thank you Doctor." I replied, smiling back at the man. "We'll keep IE in mind if we hear about any such contracts you're in the neighborhood for."
Personal Journal
We had quite a year working with Interstellar Expeditions. The addition of eight docking collars will be a big help in the future regardless of the Whirlwind being older than the Star League. IE found an Age of War computer core and let us copy most if not all of it down. While most of the stuff is outdated, there are some useful designs in there and we could use it to start the process of developing our own tech. We'll be taking a three month rotation of rest and leave before seeking a contract. I know that this year is the year that Katrina Steiner and the Kell brothers make their way out into the Periphery, and I hope to at least make a good impression out here before we begin to move towards Davion space.
Authors Note: Once again, thanks to my new proofreader pbthhhht. He did really good work on making sure this chapter read well.