Harry looked up at the sky of Delgas. That had been a short trip by his reckoning. He

had only left the planet for an average day. Junior had greeted him with his optimal

greeting as soon as he stepped off the gate platform.

“So what did we learn from that?,” Harry asked.

“We’re not taking that system without a lot of help,” said Nick.

“I can take it if I had some time to plan,” said Harry.

“Do you think so?,” said Nick. “From where I sat, no one single contractor could

fight all of those forces by themselves.”

“You underestimate me at your peril,” said Harry.

“I know,” said Nick. “And it scares me.”

“Give Junior the scans from the system,” said Harry. “Junior, see what you can do

with this.”

“The files are sent,” said Nick.

“An invasion is suboptimal,” said Junior. “You would need hundreds of Bolos.”

“You don’t think I can do this?,” said Harry.

“Negatory,” said Junior. “I don’t think a single contractor could carry the mission.”

“You are both so wrong,” said Harry. “I can do this in my sleep. Now I feel like I

have to prove you wrong just so I can gloat.”

“Gloating is suboptimal,” said Junior.

“It is a defect in your character,” said Nick.

“I don’t care,” said Harry. “The boys and I can take those goons. We’re rough, we’re

tough, and we don’t take crap off anybody.”

“You could go in by yourself in front of a fleet action,” said Nick. “But I don’t know

how much damage you could cause on your own. That is what the Rangers were

created to do, and contractors have done the same over the years.”

“We did that here,” said Harry. “We did use a lot more explosives in the doing.”

“I think you should get your brain trust together and present the scans to them,” said

Nick. “I’m talking with agents on my end.”

“We’re going to need a lot more of Howitz’s mech if we want to kick down those

doors,” said Harry. “Let’s head up to the Jordan and talk to the guys. Maybe Garry

can come up with a plan.”

“Think about it, Junior,” said Harry. He stepped on the gate. “Just figure what you

would do if you had to fight a system of terrors by yourself.”

“It would require maximum effort,” said Junior.

“Don’t I know it,” said Harry. “Switch me to the Jordan.”

Harry stepped out on the deck and walked to where the elevators and emergency

ladders ran up to the bridge. He felt the ship rocking. Cat must be lighting something

up. He headed up to the command center.

He stepped out on the bridge and looked at the screens. Icons and numbers covered

every surface. He nodded to himself. The Jordan had engaged some of the orbital

forces over Delgas. He stood out of the way as his seconds did the best they could to

keep the ship in the air.

“What’s going on, Garry?,” asked Harry. He leaned against the younger man’s chair.

“Some of those whales decided to come after us while we were orbiting,” said Garry.

“They didn’t know that we have been loading up at Dock Four so we could deal with

them once and for all.”

“Sounds good,” said Harry. “The others?”

“Down on the ground, doing their thing,” said Garry. “I thought you left the system.”

“I did,” said Harry. “Nick thinks I can’t handle things on my own, and he asked me

to consult my trusty allies before I did something that would lose him his trophy.”

“I can see that,” said Garry. “Let me tell the fighters where to go, and then we’ll have

a space we can talk for a second.”

Garry spoke into the Jordan’s communication system. An array of triangles changed

course and cut through diamonds in their flight path. He nodded as some of the

diamonds came apart.

“The fighters we came up with can take some of the smaller xenos,” said Garry. “The

whales are still impenetrable by energy and solid weapons unless we get lucky and

put a missile in their mouth.”

“The big one on the planet was like that too,” said Harry. “I wonder if it’s because of

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

their size. The bigger they are, the harder they are to hurt.”

“Your guess is as good as mine,” said Garry.

“I need you to look at some video I took,” said Harry. “I need a starting point.”

The screen in front of the teenager started running everything Harry’s bee had

seen before it had blown up. Garry frowned at the information. He rubbed

his face.

“I thought coming here was bad,” said Garry. “There’s no way you can kill all of the

xenos that are on that.”

“Where would you start if you could?,” said Harry.

“I would start with the space forces,” said Garry. “There’s no point in taking the

planet with the whales and stuff in the air ready to swoop down.”

“You think a couple of Bolos would help?,” asked Harry.

“You would need a million Bolos,” said Garry. “And a million regular troops behind

them. You could fabricate bees for the next fifty years, and you couldn’t get

enough to fight all that.”

“I think you’re wrong,” said Harry. “I think all it takes is one man with the will to get

the job done. The problem is you’re right about having to take the space forces first.

There’s no way I can take the ground forces with them in the air unless I built a big

enough cannon to hit things in orbit.”

“Is there such a thing?,” said Garry.

“I don’t know,” said Harry. “I never thought to look it up in the quartermaster.”

“Let us get through this battle,” said Garry. “Then I’ll take a closer look. Le Roi

is better at finding routes and stuff, and Marques knows some random stuff. Maybe

between the three of us, we can come up with something.”

“Thanks,” said Harry. “I would love to get in a bee and help you guys out. I think I

would be in the way.”

“Don’t worry about it,” said Garry. “The fact that we’re doing this at all is not great,

but acceptable. It’s better than letting them come eat us at home.”

“I guess you’re right about that,” said Harry. “If you need me, I’ll be down in the

briefing room, trying to figure this out.”

“Better figure out how you’re going to get fish to this planet for Brophy,” said Garry.

“I know,” said Harry. “Wait until you have kids.”

Harry made his way to the briefing room. He opened the upload from the bee. He let

it play as he sat in his chair. He didn’t see anything he could use as he watched the

action.

He decided that if he did hit the system, he was going to try to hit the floating docks

first. They seemed to be giving birth to the space xenos. They had to go to cut down

reinforcements. Then he could engage the other force in the system.

Cat woke him up at some point. He thought he had watched the film hundreds of

times, but he could have been wrong.

“How do you feel?,” Cat asked.

“I’m okay,” said Harry. “Did we win, or did we run?”

“The minibattleships we asked Dock Four to give us cooked the orbiting xenos,”

said Cat. “The fighters and corvettes that we stockpiled gave a show, but they

weren’t as effective against any of the large forces. John and Guy said you left

the system.”

“The target planet where the super titan came from is surrounded by dense layers

of defensive lines,” said Harry. “I’m racking my brain trying to think of a way I can

clear them other than trying to build a gun to shoot at the enemy in orbit while the

bees take care of business on the ground.”

“Why would you want to do this alone?,” asked Cat. She glanced at the video

repeating again. “There are other contractors that would go with you.”

“Everybody else would die trying to jump into what I saw,” said Harry. “The review

board wants me to take younger contractors, but I don’t want to lead anyone into a

massacre.”

“You don’t have to do this alone,” said Cat. “If you want to take that system, you’re

going to need an army of contractors, battleships, and Bolos. You are going to need

a gate network to move from fort to fort. You’re going to need forts to fight from and

hold while you’re clearing the planets. I know that you can plan an assault that will

allow you to at least get a toehold there.”

Harry looked at the video as it played. He frowned. Then he smiled.

“I think I have an idea, but it is so crazy I don’t think it will work,” said Harry.

“And what is this wonderful idea?,” asked Cat. She crossed her arms.

“I don’t know,” said Harry. “I think I can get started on the invasion if I can land on

this rock. The rest will depend on if I can destroy the whales and things before they

can swarm the rock and take me out.”

“What happens if you can’t land on that one rock?,” asked Cat.

“Then I have to think of something else I can do to get things done,” said Harry.

“The main thing is can I build and hold a cannon that will shoot across the system.

Everything else will flow from that.”

“I think you need to think about the idea and what you need,” said Cat. “It doesn’t

look doable to me.”

“Don’t worry,” said Harry. “I just need something to make it workable. Then I can

do things without worrying about other contractors getting killed.”

“Try to do something at the edge first, Harry,” said Cat. “Then you can work your

way in without worrying about something trying to stab you in the back.”

“Don’t worry,” said Harry. “I need to go back out there and take another look. There

might be some place better I can set up on so I can start picking off their forces.”

“So you have a solution to your problem?,” said Cat.

“I think so,” said Harry. “I just need to make sure.”

“I think you need to get some more rest before you try to take over another solar

system,” said Cat. “And I think you know that too.”

“I can go for days,” said Harry. “I do need some paper to write down what I think we

can do versus what Nick’s people have tried in the past. I don’t think my plan is near

as neat as I want it to be.”

“Nothing is as neat as we want it to be,” said Cat.

“Don’t worry,” said Harry. “As long as you guys can hold here as my bolt hole, I can

do most of this alone. I might be able to add in options for other contractors but that

depends on what the plan looks like when I start executing it.”

“I don’t think you can leave us out of this, Harry,” said Cat. “We said we would back

you up, and we’re going to do that despite what you feel about it.”

“I don’t think that’s doable,” said Harry.

“I don’t think you have a choice,” said Cat. “We’re here to try to keep you out of

trouble and help you clear things up. Other contractors will be coming to Delgas to

finish what we started. When we start on this other planet, they will follow us there.

It is up to us to set a good example. Running off by yourself and getting killed is not

that.”

“All right,” Harry said. “I will take the rest of the day off, help Nick with my

paperwork, and then we plan what we need to do for this other system.”

“We can’t lose this,” said Cat. She walked out of the briefing room.

“We won’t,” said Harry to the empty room. He shut off the projector, then the lights.

He walked out of the room to see what he could do before he threw himself back on

the battlefield.

The End