Harry found Garry talking things over with John, Cat, and Delmar. He had printed

  out pictures of the system in question. They seemed to be talking about how much

  they would need versus placement of the equipment. He looked at the pictures over

  their shoulders.

  Garry had two places that he liked. One was at the edge of the system with a fast orbit

  so they could circle the system and be close for an insertion every few days. That

  wouldn’t matter once a gate was put in place, but until then being able to drop

  ordinance and retreat seemed fine enough.

  The other place was near a gas giant in the middle of the system. It had attracted a ton

  of moons and asteroids around it and held them in a tight grip. A base set up there

  would be almost too close to the target planet, but it gave more cover to fight from

  once the base became active.

  “I think the fast orbit one is the better one,” said Harry. The group jumped at his

  voice. “Setting up near the gas giant is good, but I don’t know if I want a stationary

  target when the fleet breaks away from the planet and starts chasing you guys.”

  “What we are proposing will be bigger than the Enterprise E, Harry,” said John. “It

  will have to have weapons big enough to take on the star whales, shields and armor,

  dry dock facilities to build our own fleet in days. As it is, you will have to have

  something fast to get there before the Chinese are dead.”

  “We might have to put things in modules like a jigsaw puzzle and start working to put

  things together,” said Harry. “I’m not really worried about the points right now. I

  have a surplus. I’m worried about the speed of construction.”

  “We could put everything together around an already moving ship,” said Delmar.

  “But you still have the flying time.”

  “The objective doesn’t seem achievable in the amount of time we need,” said Harry.

  “I think there is a battleship getting ready to roll off the dock upstairs. I can get

  it to hold for us so it can take us to Delgas. That will be a month of travel time so

  you guys can put things together while we’re in space. If we wait for a specially

  constructed station, that will be time added on top of the travel time.”

  “So we board the battleship, and add on what we want?,” said Garry. “It seems like

  a lot of work for eight guys.”

  “I will have a fabricator for workers added on so we can put what we want on the

  battleship,” said Harry. “I’m not saying it will be easy. I’m just saying that it could

  be doable. Once we’re in orbit, we can do our finishing touches while we get ready

  for landing.”

  “Detachable fighters might be a thing we need when we get there,” said Garry. “I

  don’t think one battleship will be able to do the job on its own.”

  “We’ll need a lot of different ships,” said Harry. “Once we get the dock working, we

  can start spitting them out as fast as we can take in resources to build them.”

  “We’re being really optimistic, aren’t we?,” asked John. “We could jump into this

  and get blasted to pieces.”

  “We’ll deal with it,” said Harry. “Remember, you guys just have to sit back and pick

  us up when we win. I’m more worried about Guy learning how to fly one of the

  bees.”

  “That will be a short flight,” said John.

  “Go grab something to eat,” said Harry. “I’ll talk to Nick to get the points adjusted

  for fabricators and work drones. Then we have the meeting with the new guys

  tomorrow. After that, we have to go to work.”

  “Has anyone talked to the stranded contractors?,” said Cat. “I assume their agents

  have told them that a rescue is being mounted. But do they know how long they have

  to hold out until we can get there?”

  “I’ll call them,” said Harry. “Get your picks squared away. We’ll go over the plan

  with the other contractors and then we’ll get started. It would be helpful if they had

  a gate here, or back to Earth. I’ll ask about that.”

  “If they are in a standoff, why haven’t they bought a gate?,” said Garry. “That would

  be the first thing I would think of doing if I knew I could do it.”

  “They might not have the catalogues unlocked,” said Harry. “If they are spending all

  their points on weapons and ammo, they might not have had anything left over for

  what looked like nonessential stuff.”

  “And gates need endpoints,” said Delmar. “We had to put one down here to match the

  one on Earth. Stands to reason.”

  “Do your things,” said Harry. “We won’t be home for a long time if we get this

  started.”

  “I have to call,” said Garry. “My mom is going to kill me for not letting her know

  about this.”

  “If you can’t go, it’s okay,” said Harry. “Anything can happen.”

  “I’m going,” said Garry. “Nick is doubling our pay. I need the money.”

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  “His mom is renting a place away from the neighborhood,” said Delmar.

  “Congratulations,” said Harry. “I have to do this talk. I’ll see you guys when the

  contractors are here.”

  Harry walked toward his quarters. He and Nick had to talk to the other agents

  responsible for the contractors on Delgas. He also needed to make sure the new

  battleship had enough power to get them to the system on time. Launching a rescue

  for dead people would be useless.

  It wouldn’t be the first time he had done something he had thought would be okay to

  have it turn on him. He wanted to make sure they knew something was being done

  so they didn’t lose hope.

  “Nick, can you check on the new battleship?,” said Harry. “I’m going to need drones

  for construction work on it while we’re flying and the biggest engines it will support

  for flight speed.”

  “Already working on it,” said Nick. “We should be on site in a matter of days instead

  of weeks.”

  “All right,” said Harry. He stepped into his quarters. “Let’s talk to the agents for the

  Chinese contractors. Then we can get a nap and think about the next part of the plan.”

  “I am surprised that you are waiting for others to help out,” said Nick. “It doesn’t

  seem your style.”

  “I wouldn’t mind testing myself against a planet of grunts, but I can’t do that when

  someone else’s life is on the line,” said Harry. “As soon as I get the other contractors

  off planet, everything is fair game.”

  “That sounds like the Harry I know,” said Nick.

  “Working on your own is a lot better than working with others,” said Harry. He laid

  down on the futon he had summoned from the living supplies catalogue. “Hook

  us up so we can talk face to face.”

  Harry closed his eyes to see the thought room. Nick straightened his suit jacket

  sleeves in his Raymond Burr face. Two others stood with them. One looked like Lee

  Majors in his running suit. The other was a cowgirl that looked familiar to Harry but

  he couldn’t place her.

  “This is Steve and Lora,” said Nick. “They are running the two lost contractors

  on Delgas.”

  “Can you bring them here into the thought room?,” asked Harry. “I would like to

  talk to them face to face.”

  “One,” said Steve. “The other will have to keep guard to keep the enemy clear of their

  redoubt.”

  “That will have to do,” said Harry. He gestured for the other to let his contractor

  know.

  A man in armor appeared. He looked at the floating bubbles in the air. Then he took

  in the strange assemblage.

  “How’s it going?,” asked Harry. “I’m Harry Jordan.”

  “The Beekeeper,” said the contractor. “I am Xin. What is the reason for this?”

  “I wanted you to know that I am personally coming to get you,” said Harry. “And

  I need to know if you can hold out until I get there. Can you do that?”

  “I don’t know,” said Xin. “We are locked in a cave on the side of a mountain. They

  keep trying to rush us. Some of them have kinetic weapons we haven’t seen before.

  They are trying to cannon us whenever they can bring their guns to bear.”

  “Do you have the robotic weapons catalogue unlocked?,” asked Harry.

  “No,” said Xin. “Should I?”

  “I need you to open it and select for flying drones with particle guns,” said Harry.

  “Maybe for a fabricator if you have enough points for it.”

  “I think I have enough for a fabricator,” said Xin. His menu appeared in the thought

  room as he looked at the choices. “Flying drones with particle guns.”

  “You’re going to have to ask for artificial intelligence and loyal and mana tracker,”

  said Harry. “It’s up to you what the body shape should look like.”

  “Why are you giving me this?,” said Xin. “Isn’t this how you gained your success?”

  “This is kind of a good news and bad news situation,” said Harry. “The good news

  is we’re putting a station together to attack Delgas and rescue you if you can hold on

  until we get there. The drones are to help you do that. Fabricators will build a drone

  every forty seconds. That extra power might be enough to drive the xenos off the

  mountain until we get to you.”

  “What is the bad news?,” asked Xin.

  Harry thought of the map for a moment. The memory of the mountain appeared. Xin

  studied it as the image rotated in the air.

  “This is the mountain we think you are at,” said Harry. “Below that mountain is three

  locations. I think they are respawn points.”

  “I don’t understand,” said Xin. He looked at his agent. Lora made a face.

  “Every xeno you kill is rebuilt as soon as you kill it,” said Harry. “The problem is

  you are close to where they are being built.”

  “So we are delaying our deaths for how long?,” asked Xin.

  “Until I pick you up and you go home,” said Harry. “If you pick multiplier on the

  fabricator, it will send out other fabricators to make more drones for you. That should

  buy you enough time for us to get there.”

  “Do you really think you can rescue us?,” asked Xin. His tired face frowned at his

  American counterpart.

  “All a marine ever needs is a ride, and a gun,” said Harry. “Do you think you and your

  partner can hold on?”

  “We have not been ordered to quit,” said Xin.

  “Hold on your position as long as you can,” said Harry. “We’re going to land in the

  plains, and fight our way to you. Then we’ll deploy a gate and get you to safety.”

  “I will let Hei know the strategy,” said Xin. “Thank you for your help, Beekeeper.”

  “You’re welcome,” said Harry.

  Xin vanished from the space. The three agents looked at Harry. He smiled at them.

  “I’ll let you guys get back to business,” said Harry. “We might should do another

  conference call before things are lit. Nick will let you know when.”

  “Can you do what you said?,” asked Lora. “I don’t want to lose my contractor.”

  “I’ll do what I can,” said Harry. “Either way, we will be landing, and we will be

  killing a lot of the enemy. Anything other than that is out of my hands.”

  “Let us know,” said Steve. He blinked out of existence.

  “I will be watching,” said Lora. She blinked out of existence.

  “I’m ready when you are,” said Nick.

  “Let me know when the squad is ready,” said Harry. “I’m going to take a nap, then

  look everything over when I get up.”

  “Harry, just between us,” said Nick. “Do you really think you can pull this off?”

  “You didn’t pick me because I wouldn’t fight,” said Harry. He grinned.

  “Get some sleep,” said Nick. “I’ll let you know when you have to get ready.”

  “Thanks,” said Harry. He fell out of the thought room and back into his body.

  He closed his eyes and went to sleep instantaneously. It had taken a long time for him

  to be able to do that, but short of a full push, or a random incursion, the xenos

  couldn’t attack Fort Honey without the defenses cutting them to pieces before they

  made it to his quarters.

  Before they got that close, Nick would be yelling in his brain for him to get up and

  shoot something.

  Harry woke up on his own, listening to the life support generator wheeze through

  the building. It was time to get to work.