Von Neumann’s War

At times Shane had wished he hadn’t sent Top off on a boondoggle, as there was nobody better at rattling cages than Sergeant Major Thomas Cady. Oh well, the colonel and the major did all right for themselves in that regard and the pilots were well taken care of.

* * *

“Nice to meet you, Colonel Ridley. Major Gries has told us a lot about you.” Ronny shook the fighter pilot’s hand and offered him a seat.

“Thank you, sir. The major here told me I should come visit but I had no idea that I would be assigned the fighter protection here.” Ridley took a seat in one of the leather guest chairs in Ronny’s office.

“Well, we have the task of spearheading development of the technologies that might give us the edge we need to defeat these alien probes. And you, your Belgian friend, Major Gries, and Sergeant Cady are the only folks with any real experience with them. So I got you pulled down here.”

“I see,” is all Ridley said, realizing that this Dr. Guerrero must have pretty big pull. The squadron had originally been designated to the defense of Washington.

“We hope you saw something that when you relay it to our team here, it will mean something to us. And at the same time we plan to use your squadron as a test bed for any new weapons or capabilities we can come up with,” Ronny said. “Normally we’d run that sort of thing out to Dreamland for testing. But since most of the work is being done right here, we can shorten the feedback cycle by putting your squadron directly in touch with the designers.”

“Great, sir, we’re gonna need something,” Ridley admitted darkly. “My pilots are ready and willing to take on the enemy, sir. But I’ll admit that right now we don’t have the chance of a sparrow against an eagle. They took our ships apart like ants eating a grasshopper, but faster. Anything we can do to improve the situation has my full and complete support, sir. What do you want me to do?”

“There are some very bright minds running around on this base and they’ll be picking yours for anything that might help. Let the major show you around and get another debrief. He understands the lay of the land around here. And in general, pitch in however you can. Don’t hesitate to ask questions; don’t hesitate to make suggestions. Be foolish if that’s what it takes.”

“Clear, sir. Can do. I’ll have my guys do the same.” Ridley began thinking about any way to fight the probes. Off the top, nothing came to mind.

* * *

“Hey, Colonel,” Shane said as he walked in the squadron office. He gave the Air Force officer a gesture that was more wave than salute. It wasn’t disrespectful, just a friendly greeting between warriors. “How’re you settling in?”

“We’re good,” Bull replied, returning the waved salute. “We’ve gotten our full delivery of squadron equipment and we’re finally at over ninety percent on personnel. We’re missing some critical areas, but since they include weapons techs and avionics…”

“And you’re in one of the nerve centers for both…” Shane said, chuckling.

“We’ve got civilian contractors out the ass in the area,” the colonel replied, nodding. “So we’re farming out most of it. I mean, the contractors around here come up with the next generation gizmos.”

They seem to enjoy working on “off the shelf” equipment for a change.” The “off the shelf” equipment was the most advanced installed in any aircraft in the world. But the reality of electronics advances made it already obsolete by the time it was installed.

“There are some big brains around here.”

“Tell me about it,” Shane said, shaking his head. “As an infantry officer I, of course, can never feel the slightest hint of doubt about my overall intelligence, good looks and sex appeal. But I’ll admit that from time to time I feel challenged in the intelligence area when dealing with some of these guys. But, speaking of which, is Rene around?”

“Down in the briefing room,” the colonel said, nodding. “He’s conducting a class on threat assessment.”

“Well, it’s nearly quitting time,” the major replied, glancing at his watch. “What say we have our first debrief with the Asymetric Soldier team?”

“A woman she work from sun to sun…” Bull said, shrugging. “Over at the comm facility? We’ve got secure rooms set up now.”

“Nah,” Shane said, grinning. “We’ve got a better place…”

* * *

“ORDER IN!”

“Your primary debriefing area is Hooters?” Rene asked, grinning.

The Huntsville Hooters location had been changed. While a large portion of the Huntsville area had been designated “protected,” the actual location of the Huntsville Hooters was outside that zone. After a certain amount of wangling, Roger had pulled the strings to get it moved into the secure zone and it now was placed directly outside the gates of the Redstone Arsenal, which was the inner ring of the redoubt.

If Hooters fell, for all practical purposes the world was lost.