Stark's Command Read Free Page B

everything you can think of, and nothing's worked, try something else.
    What? Stark complained. You just said I'd already tried everything.
    No, I didn't. I said you'd tried everything you could think of. Think of something else.
    Stark rapped his faceshield with an armored fist, drawing a surprised look from Vic. "What was that for?" she wondered.
    "Me. Trying to shake a few brain cells loose."
    "I hope it helps." Vic hung her head for a moment, both hands supporting her above the command console, then raised again to look at Stark. "Ethan, I don't know how to stop this. I don't even know why it's happening."
    "I think I do." He knew it, now, somewhere down deep. Some people fight for God, some for glory, some for country. Which of those are left for these guys right now, right here? But that's a long-range problem. Gotta save everybody's asses first. Too much happening, too big a disaster in the making, and too many responsibilities on his shoulders, yet Stark felt oddly calm. Think of something else. He stood directly before the map display, pointing toward it. "We've been trying to deal with this penetration by throwing stuff straight at the enemy."
    "That's how you stop them."
    "Depends. Forget where the enemy troops are this second. Forget about trying to hold on to as much ground as possible. If you had your choice, where would you try to stop the enemy advance? Stop it cold."
    "My choice? You mean the best terrain?"
    "Yeah. Anywhere short of the Colony."
    "Right here." She illuminated the spot, an isolated ridge of rock rearing up slightly off center from the enemy advance. A remnant of a very old crater, perhaps, the rest of its walls long since pulverized by subsequent minor impacts. "Great ground. But it's too far back. If that spot didn't hold we wouldn't have anyplace else to make a stand before the Colony."
    Stark narrowed his eyes, studying the position. "That's its strength, Vic. It gives us time to establish a line before the enemy gets there."
    "Ethan, if you don't hold the line there, we've lost."
    "Yeah, but if we can't hold there, we won't be able to hold anywhere." He nodded, once. "Okay. Get those battalions on the way there."
    "Both of them?" Reynolds questioned sharply.
    "We gotta stop them and then roll them back."
    "Not that way," she insisted. "Main force against main force? And what if all those running soldiers break a battalion the way they broke Charlie Company? Think, Ethan. You don't want every egg in one basket."
    Every nerve demanded action, but Stark forced himself to stand before the display. "Okay, one battalion goes to hold the ridge. Where should the second go?"
    Vic swung one arm along an arc, a planner in her element, the despair of a moment before lost in the rush of action. "Deploy them along this side of the penetration. Hit the enemy in the flank after you've stopped them. Or, if worse comes to worse, hit the flank and try to stop them that way."
    "Good. Great." He turned to go. "I'm on my way."
    "What!"
    "I'm on my way," Stark repeated. He pointed again, this time to the retreating symbology. "Those running soldiers won't stop just because there's a battalion waiting at that ridge, anymore than they did when they hit Charlie Company. I've gotta be there to hold them."
    "Ethan, you're all that's holding this entire army together! If you die, everything will come apart!"
    "Vic, everything is coming apart." He turned away, leaving her groping for an answer. "Sergeant Tanaka, I need a ride out to the front. How soon can I get an APC here?"
    She nodded and gestured simultaneously. "An Armored Personnel Carrier? You got one. Two, actually. The Commanding General's Mobile Operations Centers."
    Stark scowled. "I said I wanted an APC."
    "They are APCs. Just a little modified with extra command and control gear." Tanaka's fingers danced over several screens.
    "I've downloaded the directions to the APC loading dock into your Tac and alerted the drivers. Have a nice trip."
    "Thanks Sarge."