Майк Резник - SNAFU - Future Warfare

Josè opened his mouth, but Liz cut him off. “What's the plan, LT?”

“We're going after the bastard that built the pulse weapon they've been using on us.”

“About time,” Maria said.

“Brass is pretty sure there's only one prototype, so we stop it cold right now.”

“What's it look like?” Kyle asked.

“Not sure. But it takes a lot of power, so it's probably not very portable. Probably mounted on a vehicle or hidden in a building.”

“Right,” Liz said. “Techs set up a code word. You see you're about to get hit with that thing, just say 'Dixie' and they’ll pull your plug.”

“If you see it,” Maria said. “Whatever ‘it’ looks like.”

“Exactly,” Gardner said. “So keep your eyes open. They're playing for keeps.”

“Wait,” Kyle said. “We could actually get killed out there. I didn't sign up for that.”

“The hell you didn't,” Gardner said. “Soldiers fight wars. People die.”

“But—”

“They took out two of our own. Not just anyone, our people. Joel is dead. You wanna tell his mom you were afraid to go after the son of a bitch that killed him? You gonna tell Hailie?”

“He's just a little spooked,” Liz said. “Nobody's gonna pussy out on you. Right, squad?”

A few mumbles greeted her.

“I can't hear you, soldiers.”

“Right!”

“Okay, get your rigs on,” Gardner said. “Let's do this.”

Trainees had driven the drones out to the village. Gardner's vidstream kicked in and he found himself engulfed in black smoke.

“The hell is this?” Maria said.

“The Air Force took out any insurgent fortifications they could find. Trainees must have approached under cover of the smoke.”

“Why couldn't the flyboys just torch the whole village and save us the danger?”

“You want a few thousand civvie casualties on your conscience?”

There was no answer, so Gardner formed up the team and rolled into the village. Heavily damaged sandbag fortifications flanked the main road leading into the hotspot, and a pair of burning Hummers blocked the way.

“Liz, take Josè and clear a path.”

“Righto, LT.”

“Kyle, deploy your stabilizers. Put a bullet in anything that threatens them.”

“Roger.”

“Insurgents only, no civvies.”

“How the hell you expect me to tell the difference?”

“Just be careful.”

Gardner watched Liz's vidstream as she approached. The first bunker had a crater and smoldering debris right in the middle. Josè's stream showed the same on his side.

“And barely a scratch on the surrounding buildings,” Liz said. “Kudos to the flyboys.”

Gardner switched back to his own vidstream and watched Liz and Josè push one of the Hummers off the road. “Get ready to move out.” He waited for Kyle to retract his stabilizers and rolled into the village behind his point team.

Wind whistled down the deserted street, carrying sand that pinged against Gardner's armor. Nothing moved. He rolled into the town square and scanned all four ways.

“The town's not much more than a crossroad,” he said. “Kyle, set up here and cover us. Liz, take Josè east. Maria, let's have a look down south.”

“Roger.”

He rolled past clay huts, houses or storefronts, most boarded shut. Liz's vidstream showed pretty much the same thing.

“Did you hear that?” Maria said.

“I didn’t hear anything.”

“I think something moved in that hut.”

He zoomed on the hut. Door shut tight. Window dark. “I got nothing. Kyle, you see any—”

Ping !

His drone recoiled with an impact from behind. He turned to return fire. Just as the window slid from his view, he caught a glimpse of metal.

“RPG!”

He turned his treads at full power. Impact threw him forward, setting red telltales blinking. The EMEG rig damped the rumble of the explosion.

“You okay, Maria?”

Her guns chattered.

He turned and fired at a window on the opposite side of the street. “Maria?

“Can't get traction with my left tread.”

“Damn. Liz, get your ass over here.”

“Taking fire of our own, LT.”

“I'm on it, Boss,” Kyle said.

Gardner moved to cover Maria. Rounds pinged against his armor. Enough . He readied his RPG and fired through the window. Debris rained down around him.

Josè's voice registered in the back of his mind. “Whoo, these things really are fast!”

“Dixie!”

“Maria?” Gardner said. “That you?”

Nothing. Her drone stood motionless.

“Base, you evac Maria?”

Bullets pinged against his armor. He moved to take cover behind Maria's inert drone.

“She's out,” base replied.

“Watch your six!” Josè's voice was followed by a muffled rumble.

“Hooah!” Liz shouted.

An RPG impacted Maria's drone, sending shrapnel flying. Gardner sent a few rounds into the window the shot came from. A bullet caught him from another direction and ricocheted off his armor.

Where the hell is that superweapon? One hit from that—

He turned to the direction of the incoming bullets and lobbed another RPG. Four more.

A noise to his right. He swiveled to put the remnants of Maria's drone in front of him. A head and shoulder, clad in desert cammo, poked through an open doorway. His hand aimed an antenna dish directly at Gardner.

Damn. Break cover to take a shot, and lights out.

Motion behind him. Double damn . “I could use an eye on my six, guys.”

Kyle said, “On my way, Boss.”

“You're too slow,” Liz said. “I got this.”

“Roger, Sarge.”

An explosion slammed Gardner against the wrecked drone. But if he turned to face the insurgents back there—

Screw it.

He turned, fast, and fired an RPG into the hut behind him. He hesitated, expecting darkness to close on him at any moment. Footsteps to the rear.

Now!

He spun, spraying bullets as he turned. He caught the guy with the dish in the open. Another second or two and he would have had a clear shot. Not today, bastard .

The guy dropped in place, and the weapon fell to the dusty road next to him. A thick cable snaked from the dish into the doorway of the building behind him.

Shots pinged against Gardner's armor from behind, followed by a burst from the north.

“Got your back, LT.”

“Good to see you, Liz.”

“Looks like you got this under control. You call me over just to see my pretty face?”

“I got the bastard who's been using that death weapon.” Gardner swiveled over to where the insurgent lay just in time to see a figure disappear behind the door of the hut.

The weapon was gone.

“Goddamn it.”

“What is it, LT?”

“We need to get that weapon. Now.”

He rolled up to the door. When Liz was in position, he used his ram to break it open. She rushed through and he followed, covering her six.

“He's just a kid.”

“What?” Gardner turned his vid and saw what Liz was looking at. The boy was maybe fourteen, wearing a t-shirt and jeans, and cowering in the corner next to a table covered in capacitors and battery packs. His right hand held the dish limply at his side.

“American pigs. You killed him.”

Gardner turned on his drone's external speaker. “It's war. He was trying to kill me.”

“We defend ourselves. You send machines. I make it fair.”

“Just drop the weapon, son. No one wants to hurt you.”

“Did he just say that he's the one who made the weapon?” Liz said in his audio stream.

“My invention will kill a thousand Americans for every Arab who died in this war.”