I was leaning back in my chair when Sylvia walked back in and said. “What are you thinking about?”
“I am literally trying to think of everything.”
“And?”
“All I’m doing is going in circles. There are too many things that need doing, and I’ve done everything I can until tomorrow, but I just can’t get my mind to slow down or focus.”
She walked around behind me and I jumped when she put her hands on my shoulders, “I’m not going to bite, you goof.”
“Sorry, bad memory.”
“Well, try and relax and stop worrying for a few minutes. You don’t have to do everything yourself, you know.”
“I know, but I ran out of things I can do, so I’m all I can do now is worry.”
“You know, Allen, that is the dumbest thing I heard out of you all day.”
“That’s OK. It’s the dumbest thing I’ve said all day.”
“Now that that’s settled, why don’t we get out of here and go pack you stuff, and when we finish that, you can come over to my place and help me pack.”
“You’ve decided to come!”
“It scares me silly, and I still might chicken out on you, but yes, I’m coming.”
“What made you decide to come?”
“Well, I know you well enough to know that you need all the help you can get. Besides, I’ve never been out of the country before, and how could I turn down such a golden opportunity?”
“Now who’s being silly?”
“Hush, you. You’re spoiling the moment.”
“Isn’t that what I do best?”
“No, what you do best is the thing we’re about to face, and what I do best is make sure that you are at your best to do it.”
We spent the afternoon getting our things ready for our journey. This was not like the other deployments where I could be gone for two weeks and expect that nothing will have changed while I was gone.
We were finishing up at her apartment, when I was struck with a thought. This was going to be the biggest thing that had happened to me since I had come to Prometheus. My mind started going over paths that I had seldom considered, and I asked, “Sylvia, just how much money do I have in my account?”
“You have a good amount saved up. Why do you ask?”
“I really don’t like thinking about money. After my dad died, we never had much money, and there wasn’t much I could do about it. I remember thinking that the only thing I could do for my mother was to use as little as possible. I stopped asking for things and did silly stuff like always buying off the value menu at fast food restaurants. I took great pride in never getting anything new or expensive. That’s kind of why I’ve let you buy everything for me and I never ask how much. I’m still trying to save money for my mom, and yet I’ve never done anything for her since I came here. I guess what I really want to know is what can I do for her with what I’ve made?”
“So, you’ve never looked at you finances?”
“I’m afraid not.”
“Ever since you asked me about getting an advance, I’ve been managing your money for you. I pay your bills, buy the things you need, and I have been working with the banking division to invest your surplus monies as wisely as possible. With their help, you have paid off all your student loans, credit cards, and other old debts until you were debt free. Since then, everything has been invested until you need it.”
“How much are we talking here?”
“Currently, all of your funds and investments are worth over two million dollars.”
“You’re kidding right?”
“I’m completely serious.”
“I haven’t even been here a full year yet. There is no way I’m making that much money, even with the promotions.”
“As a Major in the Prometheus security division, you are currently pulling down $120,000 a year, or $10,000 a month. On top of that, you have your original $50,000 signing bonus, combat pay, bounties on aliens killed, aliens killed by those under your command, as well as alien materials recovered, innovation bonuses for your work on the battlesuits, instructional bonuses for teaching new pilots and foreign militaries, and bonuses paid by other governments. And finally interest on your investments. All of this adds up to around 2.1 million dollars. I can give you an exact figure if you want me to look it up.”
“Is this all my money free and clear? What about taxes and stuff?”
“The taxes and such have already been taken care of. Believe me, I go over this stuff pretty carefully, and you’ve earned every bit of that money.”
“And you have been taking care of this for me behind the scenes?”
“It’s there for you for anything you want or need.”
“Then, my dear, I would like to ask you for a big favor.”
* * *
Mrs. Spencer nearly didn’t hear the doorbell over the vacuum. She would later tell people that she thought it was a delivery man until she noticed that he was wearing a suit. “Can I help you?”
“Barbara Spencer?” When she nodded, he handed her a tablet, “You have a video-phone call.”
“Hi mom. How have you been?”
“Well, this is a surprise. I’ve been doing pretty well sweetie.”
“I’m sorry I haven’t called like I should.”
“You’ve been pretty busy from what I could tell from the news and the net.”
“That’s true, but that’s not really an excuse, and I feel bad because now I need to ask you for a favor.”
“You know that I don’t have a lot money, but I’ll do whatever I can honey.”
“Well, I have been doing pretty well at my job, so money is not the problem. It’s more a matter of time. I need someone to go and buy a house for me.”
“A…a house?”
“Yes, A nice four bedroom house with plenty of room for when I’m ready to settle down and raise a family. I’ve got the financing all lined up, but I don’t have time to go look for one. Besides that, I’m going to need a caretaker to live there and furnish it and such. It pays $3,000 a month. I thought maybe you could find someone for that.”
“Allen Victor Spencer! You are either playing a cruel joke or you’re out of your mind, young man!”
“Well, the jury’s still out on my mental state, but I’m not pulling you leg Mom. I’m making really good money now, and it’s about time that I did something for you like you’ve taken care of me my whole life. I want you to buy a house big enough for a family to grow up in and room for you as well. I don’t care where it is, as long as you’ll be happy there. The man who gave you the vid-plate is Mr. Jefferson. He’s a financial specialist from Prometheus’ banking division. He will help you with anything you need for this.”
“Mr. Spencer has placed a considerable sum at your disposal for this task, and it is my job to see that what ever you need is available to you as you need it.”
“So, what do you say mom?”
“I say you better introduce me to the young lady before you start a family, young man.”
“Mother!”
* * *
Despite my mother using her “mortify offspring” power, I was in a wonderful mood after pulling my little stunt. I didn’t even mind when Sylvia made me put on my uniform before we went to the big meeting which had been delayed until the evening.
“I don’t know why they said I was to accompany you to this meeting. I don’t know how to even shoot a gun, much less how to plan a war.”
“Well, if it makes you feel any better, I don’t expect there to be any shooting at this meeting.”
“Very funny Allen.”
“But, it got you to smile, therefore I am triumphant!”
“You big goof.”
The meeting was in a cavernous room with a huge table. It had to be for effect because there were plenty of more comfortable rooms that we could have had this meeting in. You couldn’t even see the walls because only the area around the table was lit up. The Director and the Chief Counselor sat at one end of the table and a huge screen was at the other. Tony Moore, our Adjutant General, sat to the right of the Director, and Rodolfo Nevarez, our Head of Operations, sat across from him and to the Chief Counselor’s left. Sylvia and I sat next to General Moore, and Ron Stone, our Chief Diplomat, and his councilor Heather sat across from us (I would have had no idea who he was except we all had plaques with our names and titles on them in front of our places.) Next to Ron sat Colonel Joseph Mather, our US Liaison Officer (lately of NASA.) Filling out the rest of the table were a bunch of blank monitor and camera set-ups for remote attendees.
As I settled in, the Director smiled at me. “Allen, you seem to be in a good mood.”
“I just sent my mother a long overdue gift.”
“Well, I hate to spoil your mood but I need to tell you something before this meeting starts. Tony says that we are sending enough forces to qualify as a brigade. Since you are in charge, you have been given a temporary rank of colonel.”
Tony clapped me on the shoulder before I could protest, “I know that you haven’t done anything spectacular since you made major, but this is a brevet rank just for the mission. I’ll need to work with you to assign other ranks to form a coherent chain of command. Before you give me any lip, just remember that we could have made you a general instead.”
I picked up my nameplate, and sure enough it said: Colonel Spencer Commander 1st Brigade, Prometheus. I sighed and put it back, “Anything else I need to know before we start?”
Angelia gave me a reassuring smile, “Just remember that you were invited to this meeting as a peer, not an underling, and you will do just fine.”
We chatted for a while and Sylvia made sure that I introduced myself to Ron, Heather, and Colonel Mather. Some device on the Director beeped, catching everyone’s attention, “Alright everyone, the show is about to begin!”
I don’t remember everyone who attended remotely, but they all had their names and titles displayed across the bottom of the screens. Ron led the introductions, which my mind wandered from almost immediately. I have a hard enough time remembering names, but I didn’t have a prayer at remembering names I couldn’t even read, much less pronounce. Ron then gave an introductory speech (which I nearly fell asleep to) and then the Director gave a brief rundown of the situation facing us. Then the Japanese Ambassador gave a speech which was translated by Rodolfo. He took about ten minutes to say that, although many Japanese were skeptical, the government decided to take the threat seriously because of the number of dead bio-soldiers washing up on the beaches and being caught by fishermen. The American ambassador didn’t need any translation to put me to sleep, talking about historic alliances and such. This was followed by the Chinese, Russian and South Korean ambassadors, who spoke while I ardently fantasized about having my old game-pad to pass the time.
After an hour of speeches, it was agreed that we would take a recess for dinner. As soon as all the screens went blank, the Director stood, “Let’s have some lights in here!” As I had suspected, we were in a room like the weapons bay. What I hadn’t known was that twenty feet away from the table in any direction, were heavy, black curtains. One of the curtains parted to reveal a second, smaller table that was filled with food. There were name placards in front of the plates, and to my delight, one of my favorite meals from the Main Cafeteria was ready and waiting for me.
Once I had finished most of my plate, the Director asked, “Any questions so far Allen?”
“Why all the theatrics?”
“Spoken like a true warrior. If you are going to play the diplomatic game, you really can’t avoid them. More important, if you play the game right, you can make a difference that can save untold numbers of lives. Once I found that I couldn’t avoid this sort of thing, I decided to have fun with it.”
“So, what’s my part in this play?”
“You? You are the brilliant young hero that comes up with the plan that brings everyone together and leads us to victory.”
“And you’re just telling me this now?”
“You don’t have to do it tonight. Right now, all you have to do is assure them that you will be there and tell them that we can win.”
“So are we going to do anything militarily significant tonight?”
Tony Moore said, “I know it’s a pain, but tonight we are deciding who is on our side and willing to fight with us, and that’s pretty darn significant. We also have to decide where and when the military leaders meet next. We might even decide on the overall commander for the theatre.”
“Well, then my question becomes, what do we know about the likely leaders?”
“Because of Prometheus’ international status, a good case could be made for either you or me to lead the force. Most people know who you are from media reports, and I’m well enough known in military circles.”
“Do you want the job?”
“Not really, most of my experience is in special and covert operations. Besides that, I’m pretty swamped setting up coastal watch grids and advising various militaries on how to upgrade their forces.”
“So, who else is there?”
“Let me see…The South Koreans will probably want to keep their best generals home to watch the North Koreans, so that rules them out. General Chen of China and General Antonov of Russia are both good. If we pick either one of them we could probably count on getting a significant number of their forces to be committed, but it’s an either or proposition. It would also make the Japanese nervous, and they might block either one unless we can show that there’s no other choice.”
“Admiral Douglas of the US 7th fleet could be a good choice. He and his people will be eager to avenge the loss of the Ronald Reagan. General Dupree of the 3rd Marines is a no-nonsense ground commander with good experience in combined arms operations. Among the Japanese, Admiral Ishida is a good choice as he has done good things with the Japanese Navy. General Abe would be great, but he might not accept it as I hear that he is getting ready to retire.”
‘Didn’t Abe go into politics?”
“Actually, that’s backwards. He had served in the military and then got elected to the Upper House. When the Troubles started, he led the movement that reformed the constitution and resigned his post to lead the transition from the Japanese Defense Forces to the Japanese Armed Forces. He makes a lot of people nervous because they think he might want to turn Japan into an empire again. Although I think that is just paranoid rumors, he has turned Japan into a militarily powerful nation for the first time since World War II.”
“Sounds to like the best choices are Abe and Dupree, in that order.”
“What if Abe is retiring?”
“Retirement is a luxury. A man of honor will always set things like that aside when his nation is at stake.”
Angelia’s head picked up at that remark, “That’s a little harsh, Allen. Is something the matter?”
“You’re right. I got some bad news about General Harrison the other day. He’s losing his battle with pancreatic cancer and had to step down last week. They don’t expect him to live more than a couple of months.”
Tony gave my shoulder another squeeze, “Men like him are few and far between, but there are other men of honor ready to step in when the call comes.”
* * *
We returned to the diplomatic table and the aura of gloom was restored. As soon as all of the screens had faces on them again, the meeting resumed. There were a few more minutes of diplomatic pleasantries and then the Russian Ambassador asked bluntly, “It’s all well and good that the fine wizards at Prometheus have foreseen where and when the enemy will strike. I, on the other hand, would like to know just how they can be so sure of their information. Do they, perhaps, have some way of knowing what the enemy has planned that they have not shared with us?”
The Director chuckled, “For the answer to that, I will give the floor to the man who actually figured it out: Colonel Spencer.”
(Thanks for the warning, boss.) “As wonderful as it would be to announce that we had made some fantastic breakthrough in decoding the enemy’s transmissions or some such, I’m afraid that this particular information came from old fashioned detective work. Like many others around the world, I was trying to make sense of the enemy’s actions after they withdrew all their forces to the oceans. Their occasional attacks on shipping and excursions onto land seemed as random to me as they did to everyone else. After reaching that dead end, I looked into rumors and sightings, and found a few possible leads, but after checking the distribution of such things and checking against the records of occurrences in the past, there was no real difference between now and before the aliens withdrew. After this I began checking the locations of bounties that Prometheus pays for alien artifacts and bodies around the world. These finally started to show a distinct pattern. It wasn’t until I plotted these locations on a world map and compared then to previous times that the true pattern emerged.”
I glanced up, and to my surprise there was a world map on the large screen labeled ‘artifacts recovered 12 to 16 weeks ago.’
“As you can see, there is not much there. There are some clumps, but they are scattered all over the place. If you check a more recent time period, a startling difference appears.” As I had hoped, a map labeled ‘artifacts recovered current to 4 weeks ago’ appeared. “The positions of recovered artifacts and remains has changed drastically. For example, remains were being recovered in Indonesia on a regular basis three months ago, but recently, have fallen off dramatically. It seems that the Aliens are concentrating into six distinct areas around the globe.”
“This only gives us general regions, not specific targets or dates. I then checked the major ocean currents against the locations, and got an even clearer picture. The more concentrated the alien forces, and the closer they are to shore, the more concentrated the bodies should be. The greatest concentrations in the world are around the East China Sea. More importantly, as I checked the pattern over time, the movement from Indonesia to the South China Sea was one of the patterns that emerged, the recoveries in the South China Sea have dropped to a trickle. This led me to believe that their movements are nearly completed.”
“Their target seemed to be somewhere on the edge of the East China Sea. To narrow down this large region I looked back at the world picture and asked what the six target regions had in common. The one thing that stuck out was that they all had large islands near a continental landmass. In the East China Sea region, this left two candidates: Kyushu and Taiwan. The final clue came from fishing reports. The fisheries south of Korea and Kyushu have reported a mysterious decline in their populations, while the fisheries in other parts of the East China Sea and adjacent waters have remained unaffected.”
“Now, having said all that, there is still a possibility that I am completely wrong. We are dealing with the bio-mechanical minions of an alien race. All I really have in indirect information on the deployment of their forces. Looking at what we do see, it seems foolish not to prepare for the possibility of their attack. As for the targeting Kyushu itself, the enemy seems to be in a position where they could target any or all of the southern Japanese islands or even the Korean Peninsula. Kyushu is right at the center of the target zone and is a natural place to concentrate our forces to be able to strike quickly and effectively at any possible invasion site.”
This seemed to quiet any opposition for the moment. After an obnoxious amount of discussion, it was agreed that the major military commanders would meet at the Prometheus facility on Kyushu in two days. By all the time all the screens shut off, I was exhausted and completely sick of diplomats.
The Director, on the other hand seemed energized nearly to the point of giddiness. “Allen, my boy, you were amazing! I expected you to say something basic that my charts would back up, but you gave them the whole proof. Not a one of them could say a word against you, and believe you me, they would have if they could have…”
“And he would go on like this for hours,” interrupted Angelia, “but you have a busy day ahead of you tomorrow and you need to get some rest. Sylvia, escort your charge home while I take care of mine.”
* * *
Although I had been sent home to get some sleep, I ended up spending the entire night researching for the upcoming battle. The amount that needed to be done just to get everyone over there was mind boggling. Once there I had to turn a research and production facility into a major military base. At the same time, I had to turn a lose collection of independent strike forces into a coherent fighting force and then integrate that force into an assortment of forces from around the region. This all somehow had to coalesce into a coherent fighting force capable of fending off a force of bio-soldiers that might number more than a million. Sleep could wait.
* * *
Back in the ‘room of gloom,’ Allen’s departure set off a small talk that led to goodbyes and soon the room was empty save for the Director, Angelia, and Tony. The Director leaned back in his chair, “Alright, I’ll bite. Why did you send Allen off like that?”
Angelia sighed and said, “If I hadn’t stopped you, you would have kept him here all night and told him everything.”
“What’s the problem with that? He’s passed every test I’ve thrown at him.”
“But he has not passed some of the most important of mine. He still lacks maturity and depth of wisdom. Do not get me wrong, he is showing great progress in those areas, but he is not there yet.”
“Tony, what’s your opinion?”
“I’m afraid I have to agree with Angelia on this one. He’s a fine officer and a great leader, but he needs to become a real general before he is ready.”
“Alright, I think he’s ready, but I will bow to your collective wisdom.”
* * *
Sylvia came into my apartment, “Good morning sunshine, you’re up and…you never went to bed, did you?”
“Didn’t even try.”
“How are you supposed to function without any sleep?”
“We have this really long plane ride scheduled for later today. I plan on sleeping then.”
“Have you had anything to eat?”
“I’ve been snacking, but I could use a good breakfast.”
“What would you like?”
“Cereal and some toast with peanut butter.”
“You call that a good breakfast?”
“Well, I do, but I know you wouldn’t. It’s deficient in vitamin H.
“Vitamin H?”
“You know, Heat.”
“You know, if I strangle you, they’ll have to find someone else to lead this expedition.”
“I know.” As I stretched and yawned, I took her hand, “How are you doing this morning?”
“Tired, because I didn’t get much sleep last night. Scared silly by the prospect of going into a battle zone. The only reason I haven’t chickened out is because I know that you need me and will take care of me.”
“Sylvia, I will take care of you. Even if it costs me my life, I will keep you safe.”
I could feel her hand trembling as she said, “Do you know how much you mean to me, Allen?”
“No… no I don’t. I’ve always been blind in that area. But, what I do know is how much you mean to me. You, more than anyone, have given me a life and chance for happiness. My life before coming here was empty, lonely, and to a certain extent, futile. You have shown me all the things that I was blind to that were crippling me. So, no. I don’t know what I mean to you, but I do know that you mean everything to me.”
We came into each other’s arms and held tightly for a long time. I thought about trying to kiss her, but frankly I chickened out because I had no idea how to do so and was terrified of ruining the moment. I herd her chuckle to herself and say, “Allen Spencer, just what am I going to do with you?”
* * *
I called everyone associated with the Giant Killers together for a meeting in the weapons bay. We have seventy pilots in our unit, but when we got everyone together like this, it became clear that the whole unit had around 300 people.
I got up on a table and waved my arms to get everyone’s attention, “You’ve probably heard by now that the Giant Killers are going to Japan, and that most of Prometheus’ military is going with us. This is going to be very different from anything we’ve faced before. Instead of an isolated group around a vulnerable taurian base, we are likely to face wave after wave of coming up out of the sea. This time, however, we are not defending some isolated wilderness or tiny village. We are defending a large island that is home to 15 million men, women and children.”
“By ourselves, we and all of the other Prometheus units would not stand much of a chance, but we will not be alone. The entire Japanese Armed Forces will stand with us, as well as major units from the US, South Korea, and other nations. With their numbers and our experience, we will annihilate every bio-soldier that dares poke its head out of the sea.” A bunch of people started cheering, which really threw me off my stride. After everyone settled down, “Everyone, get your things together and get boarded as quickly as you can, we have a lot of work to do and a lot of aliens to kill.”
Sylvia approached me as the crowd disbursed, “That was pretty good. Where’d you learn to rabble rouse like that?”
“Sometimes when I try to speak, everything just seems to come out right. Other times I just irritate people.”
“I think you’ll always do well as long as you put your heart into it. You’ve got a…”
“Hey boss!” yelled Lena upon arrival, “You bringing your counselor too?”
“Yes, Sylvia’s agreed to come, and I take it that Sukari is coming as well.”
“Yeah, she said that she needs to teach all of us some appropriate manners, but I think that she was mostly talking about me.”
“Well, her knowledge and language skills will probably come in pretty handy. She’s the only one associated with the company that I know of who speaks any Japanese. How long until you two are ready?”
“I’ve already stowed my pack on the plane, but Sukari is busy trying to fit everything she owns into a set of luggage. I don’t think she knows the meaning of traveling light.”
“Not everyone has a warrior’s sensibility. See what you can do to help her. I want to get everyone underway as soon as possible.”
“OK, see you at the motorhome then?”
“No, I’m flying in the C & C jet along with all the medical people.”
She sighed, “OK see you in Japan then.”
I turned to see Sylvia staring at me with a contemplative look on her face. “You really didn’t catch any of that, did you?”
“What? The part about Sukari?”
“Never mind, Allen. Honestly, sometimes I think that you’re the most brilliant man in the world, and other times I wonder how you find you way out of bed in the morning. I guess that what I get for getting involved with a Savant.”
“OK, I’m completely lost here.”
“Exactly. Let’s get you back to working with things you understand.”
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The Taurian Invasion 