The Nightmares are the Heaviest Burden
By Clark Valentine
(cgv@flash.net)

The night was unusually dark. Even the native animals had trouble seeing on one of the rare nights that none of Outer Reach's moons were in view to shed any of Dramune's light on the dark side of the planet. Several small mammals scurried for cover as eight flitboards suddenly appeared, landing silently at the base of a hill. One lone pilot scrambled silently to the top of the ridge and dropped to his stomach while the others began to conceal their tiny craft under camouflage netting.

Chief Petty Officer Hagraey Trith, the man at the top of the hill, scanned the area, but even his vaunted Yazirian night vision needed help in this darkness. He switched his visor to magnified infrared and surveyed the land around him. Outer Reach sure is an ugly hole, he thought. No wonder these terrorists hide out here. The local government is either too corrupt or too scared to go after them, and offworld authorities sure don't want to come to this dump. His Malrithi team was the only group who could do this. Trith longed for the mission to be over so they could go back to sun and fun on Inner Reach.

He shook off the cold and scanned the area one last time. He saw nothing but a couple of small animals between them and the installation, a good two kilometers away. Between the hill from which he was observing and the terrorist base were two gullies and another small rise. Behind his hill, well out of sight, were the Malrithi flitboards. Trith decided that there was no chance they had been spotted. He looked over his shoulder and signaled to the other seven commandos: "All Clear."

Commander K'Tik, the team leader for this mission, motioned him back down to the rest of the group. Using nothing but hand signals, he ordered Trith to load his grenade launcher with a flash grenade, and the rest of the team with frags. Trith unslung his rifle, loaded the proper grenade, and looked back K'Tik. Great, he thought, this must mean I'm taking point again. K'Tik signaled for him to lead off to the next rise, then stop. Trith nodded and started off. Yup. Point again.

The team advanced quickly and absolutely silently, covering the kilometer in just under forty-five minutes. They used coordinated movements. Half the team crouched behind cover, laser rifles at the ready, while the other four troopers stealthily advanced a few meters. Soon they had climbed the final rise before they reached the terrorist camp.

Trith again surveyed the camp. It was at the top of a low hill, with six buildings. Four looked like permanent concrete structures. The other two were larger, but made of corrugated metal and looked temporary. Wait a minute, he thought, Intelligence only mentioned the four concrete buildings. He scampered back down the ridge to K'Tik. Using only silent body speak, he explained the situation. K'Tik frowned, but nodded and responded, "Proceed, with caution, as planned."

The team again began to advance using their four-by-four cover technique, with Trith on "point", or leading the advance. Suddenly a tiny red symbol flashed inside his visor. His motion scanner had detected movement ahead, and the master-comp progit on his bodycomp activated his visor's Dis-Viz system to warn him. Trith raised his fist in the air. The entire group froze where they were, hoping that their heat-absorbing deadsuits would shield them from enemy infrared scanners. Where was the movement? Trith didn't see it!

There, Trith thought. His visor's infrared optics indicated a Vruskan sentry emerge from behind a scraggy growth of shrubbery, walking through the rocks about twenty meters ahead. Trith slowly turned his head to look at K'Tik. The skipper would have to decide if they should take the sentry down, wait until he goes away, or take the team around to another avenue of approach. Trith considered the mission.

The goal of the mission was to gain access to the terrorists' computer banks. The terrorists were a radical arm of the Silver Death group who had claimed responsibility for bombing three robot factories on Triad in the past month, and hopefully the computer would contain some useful information. They were then to eradicate the installation. Yes, Trith thought, we should take this guy down. K'Tik, agreeing, gave the signal.

Trith crept forward, staying behind cover as he went. After about ten endless minutes, he managed to slip unnoticed to within a few meters of his quarry. The sentry never had a chance. Trith wiped the blade of his combat knife on the leg of his deadsuit, a habit he was trying hard to break. These suits were not easy to launder. He allowed himself a humorous thought: Oh well, I'm not paying the bills.

Another member of the team scanned the area with high-resolution infrared and ultraviolet optics to try to detect security system sensor beams and mines. "Clear." All was clear to the nearest building, called Building One by Intelligence, who said it should house the computer. K'Tik pointed to Trith and two others - Tlal, a Vruskan trooper, and a human, the team demolitions expert predictably nicknamed Boomer. As the rest of the team provided overwatch from behind cover, the three sprinted to Building One, hiding in the shadows tight up against the wall, near the locked back door.

Boomer quickly examined the door. No security alarms. Trith and Tlal slung their rifles and drew their needler pistols, loaded with sleep-inducing needles. They took up positions aside the door. Boomer reached into his pouch, removed a few grams of Plastid. He stuck it to the door's lock and detonated it. Silently, the lock melted before their eyes and the door swung open. Tlal tossed in a flash grenade. FLASH - it was so bright that the Malrithi troops could almost hear it, even though they had all shielded their eyes.

Trith and Tlal burst into the room, finding two disoriented terrorists about five meters away. *koff* *koff* Trith aimed and fired his pistol twice at one, Tlal the other. Both targets fell.

Building One was a fifteen by fifteen meter square, and appeared to be two rooms. The room into which they entered appeared to be a dormitory, with about thirty cots. By this time, the rest of the team had arrived, leaving two outside. The team fanned out, silently searching the room for any hidden enemies. None were found. The door leading to the second room was closed but not locked. K'Tik assigned the job to four troops, led by Tlal, and motioned Trith to check the front window.

A moment later, Tlal emerged from the other room. He looked very concerned. "One bad guy," he signaled. "No computers. Active chronocom."

Uh-oh, Trith thought. He holstered his needler and unslung his rifle. He might have warned the rest of the terrorists. And the computers aren't where they're supposed to be. Great.

K'Tik looked at Trith. "Status?"

Trith looked out the window again. He could see the other three concrete buildings, with Building Two only ten meters away, slightly to the left. Beyond the buildings were the metal shacks, about fifty meters away. "No movement," he signaled to K'Tik. "Intelligence stupid. Where computers?"

"Don't know. Try Building Two. Follow me." K'Tik led them back outside, where they came in. He motioned to two troops, Jalak and Motte (who was the team sniper). "Secure com, channel one." Everyone switched their encrypted radios on. "Check," K'Tik whispered. "Check," the sniper responded. K'Tik switched back to body speak. "Circle Building One to right. Find cover. Hold fire until I OK. Advise of enemy movement." They responded with a thumbs-up, and silently slinked away, Motte unslinging his rafflur M-8. This also served to keep the Jalak, the team medic, largely out of harm's way.

Trith peered around the corner. "All clear." The six dashed across the ten meters of frozen ground to Building Two. Again, they took up positions against the wall. K'Tik inspected the door for security systems. Satisfied there were none, he ordered Boomer to open it. Boomer inspected the lock with a look of puzzlement. "Not locked," he signaled. Trith and Tlal exchanged glances and drew their needlers. K'Tik readied his flash grenade, and Boomer opened the door.

FLASH! Trith and Tlal stormed in, needlers at the ready. Nobody was there, but there was a computer. There was only this room in the small six meter by six meter building. Boomer quickly inspected the computer's processor box, which rested on the floor next to a desk on which sat the monitor and keyboard.
"Booby trapped," he signaled. "Hasty job. No problem." He set down his rifle, unpacked some equipment, and got to work. "200 grams TD-19. Two minutes maximum."

K'Tik immediately ordered everyone from the room except Boomer, Trith, and a commando named Caroline Rosenbach, who was the hacker of the group. "We go to Building Three. Radio when you complete task." Rosenbach nodded.

Trith took up a lookout position at a front window of the building, looking out over the same grounds he observed from Building One, as K'Tik, Tlal, and a trooper named Mray stealthily crept toward Building Three. About sixty seconds later, Boomer pulled a charge of explosives from the computer. "Commander, this was a very hastily placed charge. It's my guess they know we're here. Watch yourself," he whispered into his helmet microphone.

"Acknowledged," Trith heard K'Tik respond. "We'll keep our - "

MOVEMENT Trith's mind silently screamed as he saw a shadow near Building Four. Suddenly the sniper's voice was heard over the radio - "Commander bad guys at Building Four take cover take cover…"

POP POP POP POP POP POP The chatter of automatic rifle fire shattered the silence of the cold night. Trith saw Mray go down. "OPEN FIRE!" ordered K'Tik over the radio net as he and Tlal dragged the wounded trooper behind cover.

Trith activated his inertial screen, broke the glass of his window, and started scanning for a target. Boomer joined him a second later. Rosenbach hurriedly but calmly began a security bypass procedure on the computer. Trith loaded a frag grenade into his under-barrel launcher and fired it at the spot where he had seen movement a moment before. A dazzling rafflur beam and red-orange laser fire erupted from the snipers' position just as Trith's grenade detonated. He doubted there could be much left just in front of Building Four, but then about four more figures emerged from the door of the building. Something was wrong. They weren't panic firing, as many in their position might do.

Motte spoke up again. "Commander, watch yourself. Five, no eight, no ten targets approaching you under cover from Building Three to your left!" Tlal and K'Tik turned and fired several laser shots from behind their own rocky cover. Sure enough, Trith saw several more shadowy figures making their way toward the pinned commandos. POP POP POP … POP POP POP They were firing accurately and wisely, keeping K'Tik's and Tlal's heads down.

"We appear to be facing organized opposition," K'Tik declared. Trith had never heard the words organized and opposition used together on a mission before in his life. Wonderful. I'm going to have a little talk with the dummies at Intelligence when I get back…

"Okay, one problem at a time. Jalak and Motte," K'Tik called to the snipers, "Maintain suppressive fire on Building Four. Don't let them rush us. We'll get them later. Rosenbach, get that info from the computer. Boomer and Trith, is there any way you can flank the bastards from Building Three that have us pinned without them seeing you?"

Trith ran across the room to the open back door. He peered outside and surveyed the situation. "Give us sixty seconds, skipper. We'll be in position."

"Okay, but hustle. It's a getting little" POP POP POP "interesting out here. And everyone make sure you're on infrared not starlight optics. Their muzzle flashes will dazzle your eyes under starlight vision."

Trith and Boomer ran out the door into the rocky landscape. Automatic rifle fire erupted every few seconds from the terrorists' positions, answered by a laser blast or two from K'Tik and Tlal. WHOOSH - BANG WHOOSH - BANG Someone was firing a gyrojet weapon. "Everyone activate gas masks just in case," K'Tik called. All the troops lowered the gas mask attachments of their helmets.

After about fifty seconds of textbook-quality stealth, Trith and Boomer had managed to flank most of the terrorists from Building Four. "Okay, skipper, we're in position. I see eight targets clearly, and I can see the muzzle flashes of the other two. Waiting for your word." Trith and Boomer shouldered their rifles, took aim at particular targets, and froze.

"On three. One…" POP POP POP WHOOSH - BANG "Two… THREE!" Five laser beams simultaneously reached out, and a second later five more. Trith saw four targets crumple and drop, and a fifth stagger. Trith and Boomer dropped to their stomachs and scampered to new firing positions, hoping they stayed hidden. POP POP POP Zing! Zing! Zing! "They spotted us, skipper, we're drawing fire."

Trith quickly looked up and squeezed off two suppressive shots. He was rewarded by seeing the terrorists duck behind cover again. Trith and Boomer continued their crawl toward new cover. "Okay, we're in position again, I think they lost us."

"Again, on three," K'Tik called. As before, they each fired two shots. Four more targets dropped. POP POP POP Boomer was thrown back against the ground. "Boomer's down. Boomer, you OK?"

"I'll be OK Trith, the screen took a lot of it."

"Stay here. There's only one or two more out there. I'll get 'em, and you go back inside with Rosenbach."

"No, I'll - Ouch!"

Trith quickly looked him over. "You'll be fine, just stay put until we clear out the last bad guys."

"Rosenbach, how's your progress?" K'Tik called.

"Almost done, sir. I've got about eighty percent of their records copied," she responeded.

"Skipper, can you see the last two targets?" Trith asked.

"Yes. They are two meters left of that big rock."

Trith looked, and sure enough, there they were. They were bunched up, trying to make their way back to Building Three. Big mistake, Trith thought. "I've got 'em," Tlal called. A hollow THUD was heard as Tlal fired his grenade launcher. BOOM Both terrorists were sent flying by the fragmentation grenade's blast.

So much for organized opposition.

K'Tik started a headcount. "How's Mray?"

"Mray's stabalized, sir, but unconscious. We're both behind cover outside of Building Two," Tlal responded.

"Okay. How's Boomer?"

"It's not bad, sir. I can walk."

"I'll get him some first aid, skipper, he should be OK," Trith reassured him. He slipped his first aid kit out of his pack and handed it to Boomer. "You can handle this, big guy."

"No problem, Trith, I'll catch up in a minute."

"Jalak, can you get down here and get to Mray?" K'Tik called.

"Be there before you know it, sir," the medic called from his sniper position.

"Trith, Tlal, advance to Building Three," K'Tik called. Trith, K'Tik, and Tlal sprinted to the door. They burst inside to find it packed with crates and a pallet dolly. K'Tik quickly inspected the crates. "Booby trapped," he said, pointing to a small pack of explosives.

"Rosenbach," Trith radioed. "Did you find the inventory records yet?"

"Just downloading them to my file computer now."

"What's in the crates in Building Three?"

"Nothing special: food, supplies, ammunition. Ah, here. It says they have a hundred kilograms of TD-19 in crate number 911123-A."

"Skipper, we could use their kaboomite to blow the place. Make it look like more of an accident," Tlal suggested.

"Good idea. Boomer, how are you doing?"

"I'm okay, skipper. Jalak just got here, he's with Mray. You need me to defuse that booby trap?"

"Yes, get in here. Motte, what's the status of Building Four?"

"All quiet, sir," the sniper responded.

Rosenbach spoke up. "Sir, you might want to know about this. I'm done with the computer. I found records saying something about 'the special packages must be kept in an isolated location'. What do you make of that?"

"The metal shacks," Trith said. "They're brand new, whatever this special packages are must be there."

"I agree," K'Tik remarked. "But we still need to secure Building Four as well as those two shacks." Trith could see the wheels turning in the skipper's head as Boomer arrived. "You OK?"

"Biocort and stimdose, sir, I am feelin' fine," the demolitions expert responded.

"Okay. Jalak, get Mray inside; Rosenbach, get up here to our position. Boomer, unpack some of that kaboomite." A chorus of "Aye sir"s flooded the radio net.

K'Tik took a quick headcount. In Building Three were himself, Trith, Boomer, and Tlal - and Rosenbach, who just sprinted in the door. Motte was sniping from building one. Mray was wounded but OK, under cover between buildings two and four, Jalak was with him. "We need to take out Building Four ASAP. Motte," he called over the radio, "can you lay a few frags out near the door to the western shack?"

"You got it sir, just give the word," radioed back the sniper, grabbing his laser rifle with its underbarrel grenade launcher.

"Trith, Tlal, Rosenbach, you go secure Building Four when they create that diversion. I'll stay and help Boomer unload the kaboomite."

Trith grinned. "I knew there's a reason you're an officer, skipper, you're always thinkin'…"

The three troopers waited by the door for K'Tik to give the word. "Motte… now!" Trith heard the soft thumps as Motte launched his grenades. As soon as the first one went off, Trith, Tlal, and Rosenbach took off sprinting.

The sound of the grenades had the desired effect; a man emerged from Building Four, thinking the battle had moved to the shacks. Rosenbach cut him down with a laser blast. Tlal was the first one into the first room, tossing a flash grenade in ahead of him. The remaining terrorists, however, had been watching and learning.

Having shielded their eyes, four fully alert and men rushed the Malrithi troopers. Tlal blasted one directly in the face with his laser rifle. A second terrorist shot Trith with a rafflur pistol, but his gridsuit absorbed the energy beam. The terrorist was close enough for Trith to smack him with his rifle butt, draw his knife, and stick him in the gut. Rosenbach surprised her assailant with a perfectly executed roundhouse kick, dropping him unconscious on the ground. The fourth terrorist stopped in his tracks, dropping his blaster. His eyes became very wide. "Do not move," Tlal said, aiming his rifle at the terrorist. He glanced at his three comrades lying on the ground, and froze. While Rosenbach and Tlal secured the rest of the small building, Trith quickly injected him with staydose, as well as the man Rosenbach knocked out. "Building secure, skipper. Two secured prisoners. Nothing else of interest," Trith reported.

"Good work. Boomer and I are finished here. Ready to assault the eastern shack?" K'Tik responded.

"We're ready to go here sir." Trith knew that they would deal with the prisoners later. Unfortunately he also knew how they would deal with them. Trith knew killing was part of the job. He didn't enjoy it though, especially prisoners. All this killing… he knew his soul would pay a price, sooner or later; if not in the afterlife he heard about as a child, then in the nightmares that he knew would come. He shook his head. Not on a mission. When he got back to the world, and he was near to enough alcohol to drown them out, then he could afford those thoughts.

K'Tik organized another flawless approach. Trith and Tlal again led the way, bursting into the large temporary building behind several flash grenades. They found a single large room, devoid of any living creatures, but containing a large explorer vehicle, and a partially disassembled jetcopter. "Boomer, set charges under these vehicles," K'Tik ordered. "Rig for radio detonation."

"Aye sir." Boomer got to work.

"Okay, one more building. Trith, Tlal, lead on."

"Motte, any movement?" Trith asked.

"None. You're all clear, buddy," Motte responded.

"Okay. Let's go." The team, except for Boomer, crept around to the southern wall of the eastern shack. With Rosenbach and K'Tik providing cover, Trith and Tlal sprinted to the wall of the western shack. Tlal kicked in the flimsy door, and Trith tossed in his last flash grenade.

A shadow moved, running north away from the western shack. Someone was trying to get away out the back. A bright beam from Motte's rafflur reached out, stopping the shadow in its tracks.

Trith and Tlal moved in, with K'Tik and Rosenbach close behind. Wooden crates were stacked to the ceiling along the walls. Machinery was scattered throughout the room. A large metal box was resting on a pallet in the center of the room.

ZAP A laser beam sprang from behind a crate, hitting K'Tik directly in the chest; fortunately, his gridsuit absorbed most of the damage. Trith and Tlal returned fire, killing the Dralasite gunman. The four fanned out, exchanging fire with several more gunmen, killing all of them. The room was clear ten seconds after Tlal kicked the door in.

"What's in that box?" asked Tlal, attending to K'Tik's wound.

Trith looked it over. "Not booby-trapped. Rosenbach, help me pry this open." With some effort, the troopers opened the box. "Oh my… skipper, you'd better get Boomer in here…"

"Boomer, you hear that? Get over here, on the double," K'Tik ordered as Tlal finished applying a bandage to K'Tik. "What is it?"

Trith again looked in the box. "You'd better see for yourself, sir." It contained a large black metal cylinder with a conspicuous "CAUTION - EXPLOSIVE MUNITIONS" label. No kidding.

"Wow." K'Tik looked at it. "See that other label?" He pointed to a label with small lettering. Among the various serial numbers and instructions, Trith saw "F.J.N.M."

"Fromeltar Joint Naval Militia?" Rosenbach asked.

"That's right. Six months ago they had a couple of items stolen - "

Boomer arrived. "What is it skipper?"

"Some serious explosives for you here. Have a look," K'Tik said.

Boomer looked into the box at the object and whistled. "Holy cow. How did they get one of these?"

"Sir, what is it?" Tlal asked.

"It's a torpedo warhead, Tlal. These guys had their hands on a nuclear warhead."

Rosenbach spoke up. "Sir, they probably have at least one more. The computer records spoke of special packagessss - plural."

"We can't haul these out, sir, they're too heavy for the flitboards," Trith said. "What do we do?"

"I have an idea." K'Tik tapped a few buttons on his bodycomp. "Computer, display topographical map." A map was projected onto his visor. "Locate all inhabited buildings within fifty kilometers of this installation." One small dot lit up, about thirty kilometers away.

Trith had his bodycomp connected into K'Tik's via tight beam radio, so he could see exactly what K'Tik saw in his visor. "Sir, that building is close, but there's a mountain ridge in between. It's a risk but I think they're safe."

K'Tik started firing off orders. "I agree. Motte, get those flitboards up here." Motte had a remote piloting progit on his bodycomp. "Boomer, can you rig up a radio detonating device?"

"You betcha sir, I worked with these when I was in the fleet," Boomer responded, selecting a detonator from his pack.

"Good. The rest of you, get outside and get ready to mount up. Let's get the hell out of here."

Ten minutes later, the flitboards were zooming away. The team was under orders to collect information and destroy the installation, but it wasn't specified how they should do it. This way, the group's leadership would think that someone simply cut the wrong wire, hopefully masking the fact that their information had been compromised. Trith hoped Rosenbach's file computer would contain information not only about the group's plans for those nukes, but also on how the group managed to get them. If terrorist groups like the Silver Death cult could get their hands on torpedo warheads, then the Malrithi would be very, very busy in the near future.

"Fire in the hole!" called Boomer. Now forty kilometers from the installation, the flight of flitboards ducked into a valley for safety anyway. A very bright light momentarily blinded the group, but their visors protected their eyes and the flight control bodycomp progits took over flying for the moment. After the danger had passed, the flight continued on toward the hidden UPF assault scout that would carry them off to safety.

"All right guys, great job! Now for some debrief, and two weeks of R and R on Inner Reach. Well done, all of you," K'Tik called.

Trith was very happy to be leaving this ugly, godforsaken planet. However his joy at leaving was tempered when he thought briefly of the two prisoners who were left in Building Three, now vapor in a cauldron of nuclear fire. He knew he would see them again, some night.