6: 79-02-62

_Found a good place last night and chose sleep. But the low battery alert on the jammer I've been using woke me up. Every time I'm not alert for danger I jam my own constant frequency so as to not be tracked.

_Where was I?

_Under guard at the camp - right.

_And so, under the guise of working diligently on assessing the complete troop strength I secretly planned my escape...

_It was easy to use the maps for such a thing. Aerial photographs with real-time troop markers and posts. Our amazing software even logs guard paths. And because I was working at the top, the codes to display secret sensors and intelligence officers were provided.

_Boy, do I wish I hadn't lost that hand-terminal!

_After about an hour, my plans were complete. My path led to the motorpool, were I would use codes supplied in the software to take a LCRV (Light Combat Reconnaissance Vehicle) to the transport docks. Once there it would be more codes, then into an interplanetary jumpship.

_All I needed was a distraction...

_The software allows troop movements to be pre-planned, timed, and saved; then executed at the push of a button. The problem was that I had no business using that function while simply adding up the complete Force forces on the planet. So a simple computer upgrade that required a restart of the hand-terminal allowed me to quickly slide the bug onto my memory drive, still plugged into the terminal. I started the software again as soon as possible, re-entering the secure functions and began making a troop movement file.

_completechaos.tmf

_As the filename suggests, vectors directed units to move away from my path, vacate buildings, and march right through each other in very tight areas. Random distresses in various other ends of the planet drew attention away from the mayhem surrounding me.

_I saved and executed the file.

_Whistles and sirens blared immediately. I flicked the bug off my drive and packed everything away, then crouched behind the tent flap.

_Looking up at my captor, one could define shock. All around him was dust and noise. I waited for a few more tense seconds. The sound of motors and treads rose swiftly above the din. Out of the miry air raced a clutch of half tracks! (I found these waiting for removal, there are no swamps here... requisition officers, you can't live with 'em - and certainly not without them!).

_The guard dove away from their path, landing face-down in the fine dirt. By the time he deemed it safe to look up and back at the inflatable I had disappeared into the brown.

_LCRVs are glorified dirt-bikes, like the ones used back home, except with advanced electronics and the best mechanics imaginable. Faster than the top cc circuits. It was only five minutes since the commands went out, and I was already about to enter the transport docks.

_Please excuse me while I take some time to review my survival, evasion, and recovery...