He clicked off.
Mazer tried reconnecting with the switchboard, but he couldn’t get through. He waited ten minutes, tried again, then slammed his fist on the desk when the transmission failed. He switched off the machine, closed his eyes, and exhaled. The SAS wasn’t getting them out. And now Mazer and his team were cut off from the world, right when they needed minute-by-minute intel.
He tapped the memo Manaware had sent and opened it. He skimmed through it in five seconds and saw exactly what he had expected. Carry on. Continue in your duty. We’ll keep you informed. Blah blah blah.
He couldn’t take much more of this. The world had known for eleven days now that the ship was coming, and all anyone wanted to do was wait and see. Let’s not act, everyone was saying. Let’s wait and see. Let’s observe this alien ship. Let’s watch it and see what it does.
Well guess what, geniuses, “waiting and seeing” is the same as “waiting and getting blown up.” Did the U.N. actually think all that wreckage in the Belt was the miners’ fault? And now the aliens had just disintegrated the secretary of alien affairs. A clown to be sure, but the man was an emissary of the human race. These creatures, whatever they are, just took our little flag of peace and pissed all over it.
And what does the SAS do? Do they bring Mazer and his team home at all speed and prepare for the worst? No. They park us in China and have us whistle our way through our training exercises.
Mazer got up and headed back toward the barracks. He knew exactly how the world would respond. The Chinese would shy away from any coalition agreement and claim that the protection of their own people was their first priority. In other words, China would look out for China. The Russians would almost certainly bow out as well, though for different reasons. Why help the U.S. and other superpowers retain their strength? Why not let the aliens hammer the coalition? That would suit the Russians just fine. Their military is the weakest it’s been in decades. They’d love to see everyone else brought down to their level.
Mazer entered the barracks and found his team waiting for him.
“Did you get through?” said Fatani.
“What did the colonel say?” said Reinhardt.
“Quiet,” said Patu. “Let him talk.”
“I spoke to Manaware,” said Mazer. “Our orders are to stay put.”
“Stay put?” said Reinhardt. “Are you kidding me? They just blew up the damn reception party.”
“The colonel is in council,” said Mazer. “If orders change, they’ll ping us.”
“Well that’s fine and dandy,” said Reinhardt. “That’s just roses and pansies. And what are we supposed to do when this thing starts blowing up cities? Sit here and eat our rice and wave in the general direction of the destruction?”
“You watch too many movies,” said Patu. “Nobody’s blowing up cities.”
“How do you know?” said Reinhardt. “It blew up those shuttles easily enough. And with a single gun no less. Who knows what it can do?”
“Why keep us here?” said Fatani. “We need to be back home, ready to deploy.”
“Agreed,” said Mazer. “But Manaware says there’s no means to bring us home at the moment. There are too many strike teams on assignment. It would be a logistical nightmare.”
“We’re the army,” said Patu. “We’re experts on logistics.”
“It’s a matter of resources,” said Mazer. “We’re a handful of soldiers in a very big army. The military isn’t going to use a good portion of the air force to gather up a hundred soldiers or less. We’re a drop in the bucket. Those fighters are on high alert and could be needed at any moment.”
“Then let us get home on our own,” said Fatani. “Don’t command us to stay here. They can’t afford to send a plane? Fine. Let us get back our own way.”
“Those aren’t our orders,” said Mazer.
“So what do we do?” said Patu.
“First,” said Mazer, “we get intel. We need a visual on that ship.”
Patu shook her head. “I’ve tried.” She gestured to the holoscreen and the two satellite receivers she had set up on tripods. “I’ve got three discs on the roof right now, and they’re not picking up a thing. The Chinese are still jamming other satellites and silencing the public feeds.”
“What about shortwave radio?” said Fatani.
“I already tried,” said Patu. “I can’t pick up anything useful. The base is surrounded by rice farmland. Not exactly a hotspot for rogue radio operators.”
“And you can’t crack the jammers?” Mazer asked Patu.
“If I knew what devices they were using and where they were located, I could probably figure out how to disable them. As is, I got nothing.”
“So we’re in a bubble?” said Reinhardt.