China Mike by P.A. Piatt

Author:P.A. Piatt [Piatt, P.A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Theogony Books
Published: 2021-08-23T22:00:00+00:00

* * *

Fortis caught up with Ystremski at the colonial police armory. The corporal had selected enough weapons and gear to fill two bulky trunks, and the two men carried them to the berthing compartment.

“I took twelve pistols,” Ystremski said. “They’re old ballistic technology, and they need a good cleaning, but they were the best of the lot. The ammo is dated, so we’ll to need to test fire some of it. I got four crates of ammunition; if we need more than that, we’re in the wrong business. I also grabbed twelve sets of ballistic armor and sixteen radios.”

Fortis knew that ballistic technology was almost a thousand years old, but the Marines often chose ballistic weapons for their reliability and simplicity of operation. He wasn’t surprised to learn that the colonial police force had them.

“Why only twelve pistols?”

“The rest were junk. Half of the weapons I left behind were inoperable and the other half were missing pieces. From what the chief told me about the local architecture, we’ll only need a six-man assault team to take down one of those houses. The radios aren’t great, but I don’t think we’ll need much in the way of tactical communications.”

“How did the chief react? Is he angry?”

“I don’t know. If he’s angry, he hides it well. He’s curious about what we’re doing, but he doesn’t buy the training story. Schultz isn’t much to look at, but he’s a lot more aware of what’s going on than people give him credit for.”

When the two men returned to their quarters, the platoon fell into ranks, and Corporal Ystremski set them to work.

“First Squad, you’ve got the armorers, so you strip and clean the pistols and the rest of the gear. Second and Third Squads, you work with me to set up some floor plans. Let’s get it done, ladies!”

Fortis helped Ystremski direct the efforts of the two squads tasked with setting up floor plans. The Space Marines moved the bunk beds around until they had two complete mock-ups and hung blankets over the sides to simulate walls.

“The chief told me that the houses in Boston have the same basic layout. A main room where the people live and eat, a small kitchen, and one or two bedrooms in the back.” Ystremski gestured at their set-ups. “None of them have windows because of the sifters. The workers build their exterior doors from scraps they recover from the industrial plant, so the doors could be heavy-duty metal, plastic, or fiberglass. We won’t know until we hit it.

“He also told me there’s a tunnel system under the city called the subway. A bunch of it is collapsed, but some of the people have dug down and connected their houses to sections that didn’t collapse. That might complicate things.”

“Are you sure you didn’t slip up and tell him what we’re doing?”

“I didn’t say a word, LT. I didn’t even have to ask questions, he just started talking. Like I told you, Chief Schultz is smarter than he looks.

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