Earth Afire (The First Formic War 2)

"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.

"It's like we're in the eighteenth century," said Fatani.

"The jamming is probably localized," said Patu. "They can't cover all of China. It's probably only for military use. If I had to guess, I'd say it only covers the boundaries of the base and a few kilometers of spillover."

"So if we go outside the base," said Mazer, "and set up our dishes, we should get an uplink?"

Patu shrugged. "Maybe. No way to be sure until we try."

"The Chinese have us on lockdown," said Fatani. "We're not supposed to leave the base."

"Who cares about the rules?" said Reinhardt. "This is an international emergency. I say we load up a HERC and get airborne."

"If we take a HERC, they'll be all over us," said Mazer. "Let me talk to Captain Shenzu. Maybe they'll give us an uplink to their military feeds."

"And maybe a pig will jump out of my armpit and sing the national anthem," said Reinhardt. "They'll have all kinds of classified intel pumping through those feeds. They won't let us touch that with a ten-foot pole."

"Doesn't hurt to ask," said Mazer. "Where are all the brass now?"

"Holed up in the comms building," said Fatani. "We don't have access."

"Then I'll knock," said Mazer. He left them and crossed the courtyard to the comms building. The door was solid steel. Mazer found a rock among the bushes and pounded on the metal. It was loud. The banging echoed through the courtyard. He kept pounding for five minutes until a guard threw open the door and yelled at him to stop.

"Bring me Captain Shenzu, and I'll stop," Mazer said.

The guard objected. Mazer started pounding on the door again. The guard tried to rip the rock from Mazer's hand. Mazer swept the guard's legs out and dropped him on his ass. Then he started pounding on the door again.

"All right," said the guard, getting to his feet. "I'll get him. Just stop."

Mazer tossed the rock back into the bushes and gave the man a friendly smile.

Shenzu arrived two minutes later.

"We're in the dark," said Mazer. "We need updates. Either stop jamming and let us access our own satellites or give us access to your military's feeds. Please, as a courtesy from one soldier to another."