Beyond the Frontier
By
UCSBdad
Disclaimer: I do not own Castle on either side of any frontier. Rating: K Time: After my story, The Advisor.
"Colonel Castle, Captain Castle. Please do come in and sit down. Coffee? Tea?"
Sir Michael Bradley was not the usual sort that Rick Castle usually dealt with in the Ministry of Defense of the United Kingdoms. Most of the people be dealt with looked like, and were, former military officers. Someone had once said that Sir Michael looked like a clean-shaven Santa Claus.
"Coffee for both of us, thank you, Sir Michael. But in the interest of simplicity, when on duty, my wife is Captain Beckett. Having two people named Castle in the same headquarters could get confusing at just the wrong time."
"Of course. Of course." Sir Michael boomed.
An automated cart brought in three coffees. Kate was not surprised that hers was a grande skim latte with two pumps of sugar free vanilla.
"You must be a bit curious as to why you're here, Colonel?" Asked Sir Michael, chuckling.
"Just a bit, sir." Rick replied.
No one, except Sir Michael's superiors, knew exactly what he did. But whenever an enemy of the United Kingdoms came to a quick and fatal end, Sir Michael seemed extra cheerful.
"It seems that the Logistics Planning Department could use a mercenary unit such as yours, Colonel."
Strictly speaking, Rick was not a mercenary. The United Kingdoms had been fighting a decades long Shadow War with the Han Worlds. The United Kingdoms occupied a solar system with three habitable planets and one habitable moon, and was the richest, most technologically advanced and militarily powerful nation in the Europa Cluster. The Han Worlds were the second most powerful, but they had the backing of China, back on Earth. China was one of the three nations in the Triple Alliance that controlled Earth and its nearest and wealthiest colonies, the so-called Core. The other two members of the alliance were Russia and the United States.
Both the UK and the Han Worlds had nuclear weapons. It was unthinkable that a nuclear war should occur, so the two star nations remained at peace. However, the Han Worlds allowed "Volunteers" to fight wherever Han interests were threatened, or wherever the UK could be hurt. Star nations that were pro-UK, or at least anti-Han found they could hire "mercenaries" to help them. No one truly believed that these soldiers were not part of the regular forces of their respective nations, but no one could actually prove anything. Proving something to the disadvantage of the two most powerful star nations in the Cluster might not be a good thing.
"Please take your coffees." Said Sir Michael. "We must go downstairs."
They got up and followed Sir Michael out of his office.
"Molly, "Sir Michael said to a young lady sitting at a desk outside of his office, "the three of us will be going downstairs. Please see that everything is ready."
"Of course, sir."
They got into an elevator and went down. The car stopped at the bottom, but the door didn't open. Sir Michael took out a small cylindrical key and pushed it into a small opening. The car went further down and then stopped.
Castle thought that they had gone down perhaps twenty stories.
"Come with me." Said Sir Michael.
He led them down a short hallway to a door.
"You'll have to put both of your hands on the plate there and look into the little glass above it for your retinal scans."
Rick and Kate did so, and the door opened.
"Have you ever been in the tank, Colonel?"
Rick shook his head.
No. In fact I was never really sure it wasn't just a rumor."
"What is the tank?" Kate asked.
"The most secure place in all of the United Kingdoms, Captain Beckett. You're surrounded by the most sophisticated anti-tapping equipment we can come up with."
The tank was rather disappointing to Kate. It was a small room with a long table in the middle surrounded by a dozen chairs.
"There's no computer or comm access down here. Those can be tapped." Sir Michael said.
"And we get briefed here?" Rick said.
"Precisely. Now sit down and make yourselves comfortable."
They did so and looked at Sir Michael expectantly.
"Have you ever heard of a planet called Na Bukko?"
"Never." Rick and Kate said together.
"I'm glad to hear it. We don't want anyone to know about it. It's a very ancient planet, hundreds of millions of years older than, say, Earth. And it's dying. Well, not immediately. It'll be uninhabitable in another hundred thousand years or so. But its oceans have dried up to inland seas, and desertification is well under way. The sun is using up its hydrogen which means that while the sun is getting larger, its output is smaller. So, it's a cold, desert world."
"And we care because?" Castle asked.
"It's inhabited. The Na Bukkoi are an ancient race and were once quite advanced. They had starships when Earth was just figuring out agriculture. They had no interest in colonizing other worlds but did some exploring. Now, what once was a civilization that spanned the whole planet, its solar system and more is now broken into several dozen city states that fight among themselves. Each has a little scrap of their technology and won't cooperate with anyone."
Castle was about to say something when Sir Michael raised his hand.
"One of the city states, called Phoodan, was the home of their central library. They have some data that will be very valuable to us. As I said, they were quite advanced."
"And my job?" Rick asked.
"It's a trade. They get protection from their enemies, and we get access to their library."
"Why a mercenary battalion and not regular UK troops?"
"The Han Worlds keep a close eye on our units, both regular and mercenary. We've been hiring real mercenary units and sending them hither and thither as well as our own forces. We've also been sending naval task forces all over. We hope all this will confuse the Han and keep them from finding Na Bukko."
"We have a naval task force in the Na Bukko system. It has two heavy cruisers, a light cruiser, a flotilla of destroyers and a large number of scouts keeping an eye on the general neighborhood. Their commander, Rear Admiral Thierry, will be your commander. You will not, repeat not, be under the command of the Phoodani. They demanded that one of their own admirals command the UK task force."
"They have a space force, sir?"
"No, Colonel. They don't even have airplanes."
Sir Michael sighed.
"And therein lies a problem. The Na Bukkoi consider themselves to be the lords of creation. They see us as a bunch of savages who have somehow managed to overtake them technologically. They don't exactly hate us, rather they see us as a balky pet dog who won't do as he's told."
Castle managed to avoid rolling his eyes. Kate didn't.
"What is the composition of your unit, Colonel?"
"We have a headquarters and headquarters company which Kate commands. It has the usual staff sections. In addition, our sniper platoon is part of that company. We got rid of the heavy tank company. They were just too slow. We have four line companies. Each has two platoons of tanks and two platoons of armored rifles. We have both an armored cavalry troop and an air cavalry troop. Our weapons company has four self-propelled 120mm mortars and four short range aerospace defense vehicles. We have an artillery battery with eight 155mm self-propelled guns and two SP 180mm guns. There's an armored engineer company, an aviation company, a medical company and a support company."
Sir Michael thought for a moment.
"We'll need to add an engineer construction company; you'll have to build your own facilities. Also, an intelligence company and a communications company. We'll add two more 180mm guns to make two full batteries. While we're at it, I'll add an airmobile infantry battalion and an aviation battalion. We'll make you a full colonel, of course."
"What units are you adding?" Rick asked.
"The airmobile unit is an actual mercenary unit we've been using. We've decided to make them part of our "regular" mercenaries, if you will. They're the First Battalion, First Gurkha Rifle Regiment."
"I wasn't aware there was a whole regiment of Gurkhas out there, sir."
"Oh, there isn't a full regiment. Just the one battalion plus some companies for recruiting, training and taking care of their veterans."
"The Gurkhas live on a planet called Nepal. It's the only colony established with an intelligent species already present. The only place humans can live is the Antarctic Highlands. They're a good forty thousand feet above sea level. The indigenes people, who call themselves the Drammar, can't breathe at that level. Conversely, humans can't survive further down from the highlands. The air pressure and the amount of oxygen in the atmosphere would burn out their lungs. The two do have some trading cities where each group builds its own habitat and communicate by wireless. And both sides seem happy with the whole thing."
"We're pulling a regular Army aviation battalion out of the Sixth Airmobile Division. They refer to themselves as the Wild Bunch. That's the name they chose as their mercenary name."
"When do I meet my new command and when do we leave?" Rick asked.
"Lieutenant Colonel Gibson and his battalion will be coming in tonight on a transport from the Highlands of Scotland. The Wild Bunch, Lieutenant Colonel Bishop, is here on England, getting packed up."
Sir Michael looked at his timepiece.
"Dear me. We must be leaving. The Prime Minster wants to use the tank. Remember, not a word to anyone until you arrive at Na Bukko."
Once they were outside, Kate questioned Rick.
"What are Gurkhas?"
"They're an ethnic group from Nepal, a country back on Earth between India and China. Back in the early 1800s the British ran India and recruited Gurkhas into their army. They remained in British service long after India became independent. Although most Earth armies were reduced to little better than heavily armed police forces or ceremonial units by the Triple Alliance, the Brits still have a small battalion of Gurkhas."
"The Gurkhas were said to be the best, professional light infantry in the world. In most armies you enlisted for between two to four years. Gurkhas enlisted for fifteen years. If you were very good, you might be allowed to reenlist."
"Sons followed their fathers into the same battalions. The pressure to perform bravely was intense."
"But these are Gurkhas from a wholly different planet and time." Kate said.
"That's why I'll be inspecting them when they get in from Scotland."
The Gurkha battalion marched off the transport led by a pipe band. As soon as Lieutenant Colonel Gibson saw Rick and his officers and NCOs, he ran over to them.
"Hello, sir." He said, saluting. "I'm Lieutenant Colonel Guy Gibson. Did you wish to inspect my unit?"
"That I do."
"We've been in the Highlands of the planet Scotland, sir. We're not exactly ready for a full-dress inspection."
"That's all right, colonel. I know what a battalion that's had a week to prepare for an inspection looks like. I'd like to see what yours looks like after roughing it."
The battalion was drawn up. There was a headquarters company, four line infantry companies, a weapons company, a battery of 105mm light cannons and a support company.
Castle found that the men were dirty, uniforms were dirty, boots badly scuffed, but their weapons were clean and well maintained, and all of their equipment was in order.
"Very good, Colonel." Rick said. "I've read over the reports of your unit's service, and they appear to have all the qualities one expects in a Gurkha unit."
"Thank you, sir. Can you tell us what our mission is?"
"Not really. We'll be joined by an aviation battalion, so you'll be operating as an airmobile battalion. Aside from that, you won't learn anything more until we're in space. Now, take your battalion and get some rest."
TBC