Yours, Mine, Ours
by Pakled
Warning – contains violence, probably politically incorrect, but hey, this is Porn, not Proust…;) Sometimes heroism has its rewards.
In the near future…
The squad was halfway into the souk when they started the ambush. As soon as Jerry saw the faces of the merchants in the marketplace, he knew what was coming. They all kept looking furtively at the roofs, as he started into the stalls and pickup trucks filled with secondhand merchandise.
The rest of his squad was behind him. He’d ticked off the sergeant, so he got point. Ain’t that wonderful, ’embrace the suck’, as his father used to say. He looked at reflections on the windshields, and there they were, setting up a machine gun. He made a quick, almost imperceptible motion to the rest of the squad, who nodded, waiting for the freak-out; when the merchants would finally choose between fighting and running, and running was a big favorite, especially with the hardware the enemy was carrying.
Already he’d identified some cover, and he stopped, held up his arm, then they dashed for it.
The explosion of gunfire above him sprayed all over the square, smashing woodwork and grillwork with cheerful abandon. Thank heavens for amateurs, he grinned, as the bullets flew overhead, way overhead. Today’s lesson is in recoil, he chuckled. Almost lazily, he sighted his grenade launcher, and separated the party above into its component pieces. Looking around for a secondary ambush, he caught them running out of a nearby building, guns blazing. These were more professional, and knew the concepts of things like ‘cover’, and ‘suppressive fire’. The squad auto gun kicked into gear, and put down the nearing threat, as they toppled like puppets, strings cut. Then things got quiet.
“Sound off,” he called.
“Horndog” – a red-headed redneck, with one thing on his mind. A legend in his own thoughts, tall and skinny.
“Specs” – new gal, nice looking, but off-limits….dammit. Still not seasoned, but her dark eyes and dark hair suited her.
“Corporal Smith ” wise guy, the All-American type. Figured Specs’d go for him. Thankfully not a chatterbox.
They rose, slowly and carefully, looking for a tertiary ambush, but then you didn’t relax until you were back at Base.
The market was almost unscathed, except for a small line of destruction caused by the first shots. Nothing some wood glue and bondo wouldn’t cure…they took the time to look around for booby traps, arms, illegal devices. A few people were starting back towards the market, murderous looks at the four soldiers in their midst. Looked like a situation might be developing…time to leave.
The corporal motioned them out the other side. Never show fear, unless it was unobserved. They picked up, scanning trash piles, windows, everywhere danger could threaten.
Specs came up behind him, looking around. “Not much to tech-assess here,” she observed.
“I dunno, there’s a pile of stuff up there, funny markings, don’t look like kufic or roman to me.”
She swiveled down her helmet cam, and stood in front of the wooden boxes. “Looks Chinese”
“Nah,” he said, “too many straight lines, and there’s not many circles in Chinese. One of them is open. There’s some sort of metal device in there.”
She consulted her battlecomp, then turned to him. “Hangul. It’s North Korean. These are IHKEDs.”
“Squad halt! Intelligent Hunter-Killer Explosive Device,” he said, almost casually. The boxes looked boarded up, but then he saw a small, horseshoe-shaped device in front of him. Specs was almost about to step on it, when he grabbed her.
“Freeze,” he ordered. The corporal came forward, but he motioned them off. “Specs almost stepped on them.”
“Unit four, unit four. Freeze soonest,” a disembodied voice in their radios said, “Spegnowski, that means you.”
She started to lower her foot, but the voice returned. “Specs, no. Leave your foot in position. No sudden moves.”
“But I’m standing on one leg!” she complained, “I can’t do this very long…”
“Understood, Tomand (Jerry’s handle)…hold up her foot. Move slowly.”
He reached down, then linked his arms under her leg, and held it up.
“Specs, use your helmet cam to zoom in on the boxes over there. Steadicam mode.”
“Roger that,” she whispered. Her internal display watched the cam move from left to right, and then return to normal mode.
“That’s a San Kye 6, reclassified as Intelligent hunter-killer, also know as Cockroach killer, Sankyu very much, ETO designation radish 4. Infrared detector, mobile tracking, 6 legs, blast radius 4 meters. I’m Robo, be tee double-u”
“Are you actually using that old Internet jargon? What’s next, audible emoticons?”
Robo continued. “Trigger boosts the beastie about 7 feet up, it flips, then blows reactive shrapnel down over the trigger area”
Jerry listened intently. “Reactive shrapnel?” he echoed; so many terms, so little time.
“Aconite…explodes into hard plastic, almost impossible canlı bahis to find in surgery, contains an agent that burns and dissolves flesh.”
“So this is legal?”
“It violates the Geneva convention, the Berne convention, and probably the Diet of Wurms. Very bad news, folks.”
“What’s the trigger radius?”
“About 1 meter. Don’t do that, or it will be a closed-bucket ceremony.”
“Understood.”
Jerry pulled his hands together, looping his fingers under her leg. “Aren’t you glad you joined our team?” he asked, as he looked up at her.
She grimaced, looking down at him. “Just couldn’t be more happy!” she piped sarcastically.
“Where else could you play death twister for fun and profit?” he replied, and she shook silently.
“Guys,” the expert on their phones radioed, “I wouldn’t laugh too much if I were you. Rest of the team, back out about ten meters. Motion the crowd to stand back.”
“Oh, they’re back all right. Seem to be taking bets, it looks like,” Horndog growled, as he scanned the faces slowly. The crowd hid their faces behind veils and turning away. Even here, they knew the profiles would be sent to the local government intelligence, and facial recognition software would identify any potential rebels among them.”
“Good news, Tomand, Specs. Demo is sending a couple of ice spiders down. You can sit down in about an hour.”
“That’s good news, Corp?” he shook his head…slowly. “I was looking for blue four”
The rest of the team giggled nervously.
He looked up at Specs, who was sweating slightly. She looked back, torn between determination and fear. This was her second patrol, and she’d ‘seen the elephant’, but not any real combat up close. She smiled hesitantly.
“So, usually if a guy wants to grab me, he has to buy me dinner first.”
“Specs, if we get out of this, you’re on.” He eased one leg farther out to brace himself, looking at their mutual problem.
It was inevitable that the same people who made fighting robots would discover how to make them ever more deadly. From a simple TV show back in the day, reruns were beamed around the world. Technology can always be used as a weapon, and this was one of the results. A tough, metallic-looking (but hardly metal, too easy to detect) device, it would take instructions, and hide under or crawl over anything to explode where it would do the most damage. It could detect medical or demolitions personnel, and target them particularly. Everyone hated them, but fortunately they were fairly rare.
“Tomand?”
“Yes, Specs?”
“Are you getting tired?”
“Naw, I could hold this leg forever,” he lied.
It was a nice leg, or felt that way. He was bent over slightly, and his back was starting to bother him some. Being 6’2″ holding up a 5’9″‘s leg, made him realize that under the body armor, helmet, uniform, panties and bra, was probably a very nice body.
“Good, ’cause hopefully I won’t have to be here that long.”
“Tired of my company already?” he joked. She held her mouth in a thin line, trying not to laugh.
“I wouldn’t trade you for anyone, right now,” she smiled, “’cause we’d be blown up real good.”
It was his turn not to laugh. He saw her eyes smiling as well, and realized she wasn’t being completely sarcastic.
“HQ, what’s the ETA on those robots?”
“About a half hour, they’re being chilled,” the voice informed them.
“How’s about putting a coupla beers in there for good measure? I’d surely like one when this is over.”
He had a sudden remembrance of an old movie on TV, some line about…”Well, what’s it gonna be, young feller; if’n I freeze, I can’t rightly drop, and if I drop, I’ll be in motion!”
He chuckled, trying not to move.
“What’s so funny?” she queried, and he told her.
“Oh, I know that one…it’s…”
They made small talk, as much as they could without moving. Sweat was starting to roll off both of them, and he must smell. He found out her name was Jennifer, and she learned his name. They’d actually grown up not too far from each other, liked some of the same movies, and she used some of the same games and programs he did.
She’d been a farmer’s daughter, and had gotten tired of plowing the same acres every year, looking out the south side of a northbound tractor going back and forth, over and over.
“Didn’t know you had it so good,” he mused.
“You don’t know the half of it. I wanted to see the world, have adventures, romance…”
“…and wound up in a third-rate flea market trying not to be killed.”
“Well, that I’m used to, you should’ve seen our flea markets, especially on sale day.”
She smiled, remembering life back home.
“Hey Specs, are you getting interested in Tomand?” Hounddog broadcast.
“Shut up, Horndog,” Jerry growled, his arms starting to knot. When would those robots get here?
“Yeah, Horndog, butt out,” she said, looking down at Jerry. She winked up at him.
Winked?
Jerry turned his face down, hoping she wouldn’t see him bahis siteleri blush. As interesting as it was holding onto a real, live homegirl, he’d rather be in a hammock, or a lounge chair, or a bed….
He shut his eyes as the picture played out, then realized he was getting an erection. Shit, I’m about to die, and all I can think about is boning this woman. Dad always said my pecker would get me killed some day. He looked up at her, and saw her looking down at him, a sort of glazed, friendly look. But then they were bunched up pretty close, and she wasn’t a porn star, but he definitely had a woman in his arms. The presence of her affected him like electricity, and he shifted ever so slightly down her leg.
“Battlecomp, kill -9, process 34,” she said, and he heard her audio click. She motioned for him to do the same, and realized his transmitter had gone silent. No one had anything to say to them but platitudes and fairly useless advice, while they held each other.
“Jerry?” she said.
“Jennifer?” he asked, as she looked up at her. She was staring intently at him, a silly grin on her face, as they looked down at the mechanical threat below.
“I know this is going to sound stupid…but I’m horny.”
She giggled, as she looked at him.
“Pretty safe for you, we don’t dare move”
He glowered, as he looked up at her. “So it’s not just me.”
She looked wistfully at him.
“I know, I knew that wasn’t a gun in your pocket. But if we get out of this…”
“When we get out of this…” he finished
“When we get out of this,” she repeated, “I want to thank you,” she breathed.
“T’weren’t nothin’ ma’am,” he gushed, as she looked intently at him.
“No, I mean really thank you. The way a woman can thank a man.”
“Great, now I’m tired, sweaty, and horny..er…” he muttered, as he looked up at her. She had a hopeful look, confident, and her eyes grew narrow, as she slid her arm close around his shoulders.
Behind them, they heard Horndog. “Makin’ your move, buddy! Go Army!” he whistled.
“Shut up, Horndog!” they chorused.
They heard evil laughter in back of them..
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a slow motion crawl, as the ice spiders (finally!) crept into view. A software algorithm let it creep as close to the target as possible under cover, before inching towards the final attack. He remembered watching robot wars as a kid, though they moved much faster than this one. Looking longingly at the frosty condensation, he carefully turned his head towards the back. He heard both their comm circuits click back on.
“Don’t these things come with a beer?” he grumbled.”Two beers, that’s what we ordered.”
“It wouldn’t fit,” the radio replied. “But if you get out of this, the first rounds’ on me…”
They looked at each other in surprise. The guy was probably sitting in a room back in the World, propped up on the desk with his joysticks, thousands of miles away.
“Rear echelon mother…” they chorused again, then started giggling. The pressure was getting to them, they were both hot, sweaty, and scared to death. Anything that could keep their mind off the danger just beneath her foot.
“Ah, you’ll hurt my feelings. Tampa is a real hardship post.”
They looked at each other, disgust written on their faces. Yeah, right, two minds thought in unison.
The first tendril of the spider peeked over the box next to the active mine, which suddenly shook. A light came on one the mine.
“Hey, Robo…the thing just shook.”
“And there’s a light on it now,” Jennifer broke in.
“Shit,” they heard.
“Whaddaya mean, ‘shit’?” Jerry barked.
“It’s armed itself. Ok, no worries, just don’t move, don’t giggle, and don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”
“If you put us on hold, I swear by all that’s holy…”
“Nah, this customer service representative is right with you. Repeat again, don’t move.”
“We’re so not moving,” Jennifer said, starting to wince. “Fuck, I’m getting a cramp.” She said, pain filling her face.
“Think calm thoughts. I’ll hold you up, and you relax.”
“I can’t, Jerry. I have to walk them out…I’m not getting enough potassium, I think,” she whimpered, as she felt her leg muscles knot.
“Lean against me,” he coaxed.
“I am leaning against you!” she wailed softly. “Oh, fuck fuck fuck, that hurts!”
The spider extended a second claw over the box, fine metallic tools starting to rotate. It moved slowly, step by step, inch by inch.
“Niagara Falls, you were thinking?” the operator smirked.
“What are you talking about? Focus, Robo, focus,” Jerry commanded, as they watched the two robots getting closer.
“Nothing to worry about. The rest of this is just robot to robot, we can’t react fast enough.
They watched, trying hard not to move, when the mine reacted again. A probe came up, rotating slowly, as the spider suddenly sprang into motion. The drill bits slammed into the top of the mine, which rumbled, legs coming out, spasmodically, dragging bahis şirketleri against the robot, as they fought each other. Sparks flew out of the chassis, as they both fought to preserve bladder control.
Suddenly the mine shot into the air, unevenly, as the spider hung on, drilling through the carapace, a small ‘pop’ sounded, as a capacitor discharged through the spider, rather than the explosive charge.
Jerry had already thrown Jennifer down, covering her with his body. He angled his helmet, covering their faces, as he contemplated life without legs. He tried to cover her legs with his, until they both heard the ‘pop’ behind them. They lay there, eyes clenched shut, as they realized they were still alive, and unharmed.
They opened their eyes, faces close to each other. Without warning, she threw her arms around him, crying with joy. He hugged her back, as they slowly started to get up.
They became aware of a small crowd around them, as he pulled her to her feet. He heard the native words for ‘shameful’, and ‘lucky’ in equal measure. The crowd had moved closer, still wary, but slightly friendlier. Not having their belongings blown sky-high probably was most of it.
They found themselves surrounded by other soldiers, laughing, shaking hands, asking a million questions. Jennifer, naturally got more hugs than handshakes, especially Horndog, until she kicked him in the shins.
Dazedly, they went back towards the vehicles. Jerry saw a guy with the joysticks in the back of the ‘jeep’, looking at them.
“Tampa is too hot this time of year anyway,” he said in a familiar voice.
If there was a milspec definition of ‘battle nerd’, this guy looked like it. But then Army glasses made everyone look like a nerd anyway.
“Why you….” he started, until the other man held up his hand.
“Anything that works. We don’t have many samples of this model, so I was working on this all the way from base. This’ll go back to the Pentagon, and I’m sure the SEALs will want a look at it.”
“No doubt. Man, I have to thank you.”
He stuck out his hand, and Robo shook it.
“Just doing my MOS. I get about 99.5% boredom, but .5% sheer terror.”
He gestured to the front seats. “My driver seems to be missing. Drive me back to base?”
Jerry looked around, for the Corporal. Seeing him, the man gave him a nod, and a salute. They climbed in front, and gunned the engines, as the craft lifted off, and headed back to base.
They arrived safely, dodging only a few thrown rocks, as they pulled up and were processed and debriefed. The two of them spent a good hour detailing every instant of the encounter…that they actually wanted to share. The Captain took their statements, downloaded their battlecomps, and gave them the afternoon off, after notifying Jerry that he was up for a medal.
“Yes sir!” he replied, as they left the trailer, and headed back to their barracks. He got to the entrance to the women’s quarters, and she turned to him, and planted her hands on her hips. “Get a shower, and meet me at Trailer 117, and look for a towel. If it’s not hanging up, then I’ll see you another time. 18:30”
“I need a shower,” he protested.
She wrinkled her nose. “Yes, you do. Take one, and see me there.”
She walked in, and looked over her shoulder at him as she went through the door.
He consulted the online map of the base, and realized that it was next to the desalination plant. Almost no one went there except to work on the machinery, and there was a small bit of gray area on the map. It didn’t say what was there, but he had a pretty good idea.
Since the first days that women joined the army, every base of any size had a ‘lovers’ lane’, where two horny soldiers could have both fun and privacy. Usually the officers, with ‘rank hath it’s privilege’, would attempt to pick up the female non-coms and privates, keeping one eye on the chain of command, and the other eye on their targets. They had the ‘Big O’ club to fall back on, unlike regular soldiers. But an unspoken arrangement soon came into being, where frantic, sweaty sex could be had by design and seduction.
This base was no different; and due to the relative imbalance between men and women, he’d never had a chance to find out where it was. They were both the same rating, so rank was not an issue. He already felt closer to her than since she’d come into the unit, and he wasn’t afraid of getting closer still. Who better would understand a man like him, than a woman in the same occupation? He realized how lonely he’d been all this time, and eagerly looked forward to seeing her there.
He showered, one eye on the clock, running timetables through his head as he put on clean battledress, minus the armor. It just got in the way, anyway. As soon as it was 6:20, he started down to the plant, looking nonchalantly for a towel on a line.
It was up! He walked quietly past it, heading down a wooden catwalk, passing close to a door, and then he saw it open.
He looked in, and grinned when he saw her, dressed much the same as he was. She threw herself into his arms, her lips locked on his, tongue already dancing with his as he shut the door with his foot. She took his hand, pulling him into the room.