Ten
North of Brickstown – 0500 Local
The column of men moved quickly and quietly, but carefully. In the red stone buildings of the city, modified floors modeled on the deck plates of starships kept most buildings and even some of the streets at a comfortable one gee, but outside of the city, the one-fourth gee of the moon’s natural gravity applied. The thin air made breathing difficult, but most of the armed thugs making up what passed for Brickstown’s “army” were used to it.
Charles Dotsero led the group up a small valley toward the rendezvous coordinates. At least the low gravity made walking easy, even for the men lugging heavy crew-served weapons. He planned to cover the six kilometers well before the rise of the gas giant; one hour before sunrise, the bright cloud layers of the gas giant would reflect enough light to trigger the color recognition of the human eye, and make covert movement more difficult. Dotsero planned to have most of the hundred men under cover by then.
A faint whine drew eyes skyward, where a faint glowing trail from an ion drive revealed a shuttle descending for a landing.
***
Overhead
“Three klicks to the rendezvous,” Hector Gomp said. At the controls, Paolo Guerra adjusted the controls slightly to flatten out the glide path.
“Is everything ready back there?”
Indira Krishnavarna looked up at Captain Barrett. She was bent over the polysteel container holding the nuclear weapon. “Everything looks good. Timer is functional, radio link is green. I’ve got the skimmer warmed up, all we have to do is take off and plant it on the other side of the town. We’ll be back here before first light.”
“We’re all ready for a double-cross, then,” Barrett said.
“You know they’ll try one,” Colonel Feller observed. He was seated in one of the shuttle’s fold-down drop seats, clad again in his old armor and holding his carbine.
“Not much doubt of that, is there?”
Feller shook his head. “Not if I know Chuck Dotsero.”
“Good thing we’ve got some insurance, then.”
“Thirty seconds,” Paolo Guerra called out.
“You OK, Doc?” Barrett asked.
The Shade Tree’s Doctor Janice Dodd looked up from her seat and nodded, her face pale; she had insisted on coming along, but wasn’t used to shuttle descents. “I’ll be fine,” she said, clutching her emergency aid pack to her chest.
“You should have stayed on the ship.”
“You might need me,” Dodd said.
“I sure hope not.”
There were clicks and snaps as Barrett and her landing team checked weapons and armor before the shuttle settled at last to the surface of the moon, and the crew door popped open. The rendezvous point was a clearing in a small, rock-littered valley to the east; Barrett’s party had only to walk about a kilometer down a steep, narrow canyon to the designated spot. Barrett paused by the pilots’ station as the team filed out.
“Keep the engine warmed up, be ready to take off at a moment’s notice – if anybody spots you here, take off, keep out of weapons range, but stay close enough to come in fast if we need you,” Barrett said.
“Will do,” Guerra answered.
At the shuttles’ rear, the cargo hatch opened. A small, battered skimmer floated out with the Exec at the controls, the nuke strapped to a small pad on the rear.
***
The rendezvous
Charles Dotsero spread his men out in a loose horseshoe formation around the slight rise overlooking the piece of flat ground chosen as a rendezvous. The formation, known for centuries as a ‘fire sack,’ allowed maximum fire into the target zone.
One of this senior ‘soldiers’ approached, holding a small hand scanner. “Mister D,” he said, “I read six people at the rendezvous point, four of them with armor and weapons, fanned out some around the area, two others in plain clothes with side arms, in the center by that big rock.”
“Couldn’t be better,” Dotsero grinned. “Where’s their shuttle?”
“About a klick away, up at the top of the canyon they came down,” the man replied.
“Good – he’s not going anywhere without the ship. We’ll take care of that once we have their Captain.” Dotsero looked at his watch. “Time. Are the girls ready?”
“Yessir, have them roped together over by that rock. I’ll lead them down myself.”
“Let’s go.”
On the flat ground below, Jean Barrett looked up at Hector Gomp’s barked warning. “I see people coming in, Captain,” he called. “At least ten, with small arms.”
Barrett looked up to the slope where Gomp was pointing. Sure enough, several figures were picking their way down the rocky, dusty slope; six of them were uncomfortably close, in a line, as though tied together. Has to be the girls, Barrett told herself. Six of them – our two and four others. Those bastards.
“Here comes the skimmer back,” Colonel Feller said.
On the slope above, the procession stopped briefly. “What’s that?” Charles Dotsero wanted to know.
“Sounds like a skimmer – there it is, Boss, coming through that saddle to the southwest. They’re heading back to the main group down there.” The ‘soldier’ lifted his viewglasses. “Only one pilot, nobody else on board. They must have been out doing a recon.”
“Probably. Let’s keep moving.”
Ten minutes later, they finally reached the valley floor and walked carefully across to where the Shade Tree party stood waiting.
***
To see more of Animal’s writing, visit his page at Crimson Dragon Publishing or Amazon.
Links, in case you need them:
https://crimsondragonpublishing.com/anderson-gentry/
https://www.amazon.com/stores/Anderson-Gentry/author/B00CK1AWMI
Great story.
Have to wait another week at list before the big bada boom.
Yeah, I’m trying to figure out how they convince the mercs to change colors – I guess them knowing they face death, probably by starvation, will be a pretty persuasive argument. Or drop arms and get transported out.
Just remind Dotsero what he had in the hold of his now dead ship.
Dotsero’s not really in command, and presumably these men don’t have much loyalty to the guy who is.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/05/michael-cohen-tells-court-he-stole-donald-trump/
Cohen may be the worst witness in the history of kangaroo trials.
Liar, thief… he’s Alvin Bragg’s perfect witness.
Innocent men are of no use to the State.
Considering the other star witnesses were a guy who ran a notorious tabloid, and a porn star who committed extortion against the accused, that’s saying something.
VAVOOM!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8R6AfJqGqg
I still don’t think there will be a kaboom. I still suspect some monkey business from the passenger….
Shit flinging howler monkeys, assemble!
Newly published financial disclosure reports revealed that Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito dumped stock in Anheuser-Busch last summer during the height of a manufactured anti-trans hate campaign targeting the brewer.
The disclosure reports, as first reported by Chris Geidner at Law Dork, reveal Samuel Alito sold between $1,000 and $15,000 worth of stock in Anheuser-Busch in mid-August 2023. Per Geidner, this stock dump in the midst of the right-wing boycott against Bud Light suggests Alito may have sold his stock as a form of participation in the boycott. This reveal comes on the heels of reporting by The New York Times that Alito flew an inverted flag associated with anti-government extremism outside his home in January 2021, an exposé that Alito poorly handled by blaming his wife.
In April 2023, anti-trans and far-right influencers targeted Bud Light for its use of influencer Dylan Mulvaney for a sponsored Instagram post. Mulvaney is a trans woman who gained prominence documenting her transition journey in bubbly, joyful fashion. Bud Light has long partnered with influencers, including comedians Seth Rogan and Amy Schumer and musician Post Malone. The brand has historically crafted ads specifically geared toward the LGBTQ+ community. The hate campaign called for people to boycott Bud Light, resulting in the brewer’s stock plummeting.
Oh
my
god!
Perfidious deviltry.
What would they have said if it came to light that “Nancy Pelosi’s husband” sold all her Boeing stock when planes started falling out of the sky?
There is no logical reason to dump a stock that is tanking in value.
That’s the best dirt they can come up with?
🙄
He hung a flag upside down to celebrate the J6 uprising.
Ten or fifteen days AFTER.
A $1,000? Up to $15,000? Oh please. Did he still a waiter on a tip too? Add that to his sins.
Wait… It’s yahoo finance?
Why are they even platforming that? It has nothing to do with anything.
I’ve noticed the Yahoo sub sites seem to be getting more and more spammy/clickbaity than they used to be.
/sees a random headline in my feed
/sees it’s on Yahoo Finance, and has nothing to do with finance
It’s a reprint of a TNR article.
@NA, I noticed, but surely they don’t reprint everything, so why?
they don’t reprint everything, so why?
Paging RC Dean, Mr. Dean to the white courtesy phone.
—“Alito may have sold his stock as a form of participation in the boycott”—
Even if true, so what. Are SC Justices prohibited from taking private stands on public issues. It’s not like he announced that he was selling the stock in order to influence public debate. He disclosed it on his disclosure form as (apparently) required by law.
s/may/may not/
Equally true.
ht RC Dean, I think.
Who knew Spuds McKenzie was a QUILTBAG icon??
This whole time the horses were there as fan service to the pet pesterers.
may have
Eh you – yeah you Talia, FUCK RIGHT OFF.
Sigh…
95% of these government VIPs have their money managed blind for them so as to avoid just such conflicts.
However, they are still required to make filings of their holdings.
So having broad exposure to something like this is perfectly normal as is reducing it to pick up another name in the space when something like this happens.
This kind of BS reporting getting really fucking tedious. If it’s not blind report it as such. Otherwise shut the fuck up MSM.
It is fascinating how this “story” is appearing everywhere today.
Just another attempt to discredit SCOTUS.
These people have no concern for the future and the impacts of their current actions.
“Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito dumped stock in Anheuser-Busch last summer during the height of a manufactured anti-trans hate campaign targeting the brewer.”
Selling stock in the midst of it tanking is suspicious. But members of congress mysteriously making stock trades just before a big rise or drop do not warrant such attention.
“That’s just our dedicated, self-sacrificing public servants exhibiting fiscal responsibility!”
an inverted flag associated with anti-government extremism
*remembers when it was an anti-war/MIC/Republican symbol during Iraq War*
That ancient lawprof lady says that an upside down flag is obviously a sign of disrespect to the US. She knows ’cause that’s why they put flag stamps on letters upside down when she was a campus radical.
I was always told it was a distress signal.
I was always told it was a distress signal.
Correct. It was taught this in the boy scouts 50 years ago. Internationally recognized sign of distress.
It’s only a distress signal if you’re on a ship!
/twixter maritime law experts
At the same time Alito sold stock in Anheuser-Busch, he purchased stock in Coors, a rival brewer led by an ultraconservative family known to shower money on conservative politicians. It was recently revealed that the charity for the Coors brewing family reportedly donated $15,000 to Accuracy in Media, a right-wing group best known for sending doxxing trucks to harass students at college campuses across the country.
Oil up the guillotine.
Alito bought $15000 of Coors and then Coors donated to an ultra maga group the same amount?
Sounds like Alito has blood on his hands.
The article is garbage, but the dozen or so comments I read were very level headed.
It all depends which echo chamber it ends up in I guess. The other article they link to goes to the main yahoo site and it’s full of left wing inanities.
So, we have space travel and nukes and such and they’re still just tying slaves together with rope?
SAD!
“Don’t reinvent the wheel”?
Space rope.
Pigs in Spa a a a a a a a a a ce!
The mysterious Dr. Strangepork
Way to kink-shame Creosote Achilles.
It’s simple, it’s cheap, and it works. Why change?
Thought something was going to kick off this week, Animal.
Luckily the mercs weren’t too interest in the skimmer.
https://www.rt.com/russia/597840-ukraine-truck-drivers-protest/
Wait, really?
How else will he protect democracy?
Another acceptable way would be to use whatever means necessary, within the law or not, to remove opposition candidates from the ballot.
Yes – after today, he is the Dictator of the Ukraine.
Now when he gets regime-changed by one side or the other, it will a lot more legitimate.
Latest google headlines say that Cohen admitted under oath to stealing money from Trump.
What an awesome witness he is.
never mind
Was the follow-up question about if he has been prosecuted for this theft and if not why not?
Sounds like a good way for Trump’s lawyer to get disbarred.
IANAL, so why? I thought implying the witness was receiving reduced/non-prosectuion in exchange for their testimony was a standard way of discrediting them?
I just meant that it appears the institutions are in the tank for the prosecution, so making that line of attack would be a good way to draw fire. Not that there is anything inherently wrong with the question.
Apparently, Cohen is claiming that he TOLD the prosecution about this, and not only did they not charge him, they let him keep the money!
*wonders if Weisselberg can sue Adams for concealing stolen goods*
https://www.theguardian.com/media/article/2024/may/20/julian-assange-wins-high-court-victory-in-case-against-extradition-to-us
“Julian Assange has been granted leave to mount a fresh appeal against his extradition to the US on charges of leaking military secrets and will be able to challenge assurances from American officials on how a trial there would be conducted.”
Some mope at the Bulwark is yowling hysterically from his fainting couch about Trump’s ongoing invidious destruction of democratic institutions and mores. Alito’s flag gets a shout-out, as well as his inexcusable refusal to recuse himself from anything having to do with Trump or MAGA insurrectionism. Also, Trump’s Congressional ventriloquist dummies are coming to Manhattan to say the things he is prohibited from saying.
I won’t inflict the link on you, but it’s actually pretty amusing, if you’re the sort of person who likes to laugh at tantrum-throwing toddlers. I know I do.
Meanwhile the Democrats, staunch defenders of democracy, target hundreds of Republican lawyers to head off any legal challenges in November.
https://x.com/amuse/status/1792209533227381054
If they didn’t want to be disbarred, they shouldn’t have violated the ABA code of ethics by representing Republicans.
Weekly puzzle was rather easy:
I played https://squaredle.com 05/20 (Weekly Subscriber Puzzle):
*114/114 words (+16 bonus words)
🎯 In the top 6% by accuracy
I suppose I should look at the Arbor Day one Sean keeps touting… but I’m not likely to.
I played https://squaredle.com 05/20 (Weekly Subscriber Puzzle):
*114/114 words (+52 bonus words)
📖 In the top 2% by bonus words
Yeah, that one was easy. I’m gonna need another day or two on the Arbor Day. o_O
I’m not sure what astounds me more… that you found 52 bonus words… or that that only put you in the top 2%…. what’s the top 1%? 100+? (boggle!)
I’m currently ranked #11 on the leader board. #1 found 90.
I played https://squaredle.com 05/20:
*27/27 words (+9 bonus words)
📖 In the top 3% by bonus words
🔥 Solve streak: 1
Animal, I just finished Nova Roma II, a great read Sir! Bravo
When can we expect the next volume?
Working on it! I couldn’t give you a date – although I can tell you I have a short-story collection releasing in the next month or so. Stay tuned.
Thanks! Looking forward to seeing it.