Conclave (The Silver Ships Book 20)
Page 22
“We’ll start at the one nearest that clear body of water,” Homsaff said, highlighting the image in the holo-vid with her implant. “The feeding should be good for the pregnant females.”
The queen chuffed harshly, and Simlan and Hessan spun on their great feet and raced from the bridge.
Ufloss let Homsaff precede him. Then he dropped to the deck and slithered after the queen.
Homsaff split her non-Dischnya forces into five sections. Each group of troopers would be responsible for a shuttle landing site. She had borrowed a technique from Jess. Her forces deployed quickly, and the other Resistance commanders had copied her.
Within Homsaff’s traveler, the Dischnya warriors, the four Usaanans, she, and the shadows assigned to her shared the interior space. The shadows used the aisle, the ship’s aft end, and clung to the bulkheads. It was a tight fit for every individual and shadow, but it allowed faster delivery of the troops by the four travelers.
At Homsaff’s shuttle site, the shadows spilled from the traveler and established a defensive perimeter. Then Homsaff led her Dischnya into the muggy air. The Usaanans exited last.
Carcasses of small animals littered the ground.
“The insectoids didn’t flee the area, as they usually do,” Hessan commented.
Homsaff sniffed the air. “They stayed here awhile. The place reeks of their scents.”
“Many prints here,” a Usaanan said, pointing ahead. He’d crawled close to the ground to survey the leg traffic.
The Dischnya had enabled the Usaanans to move much more freely by creating specialized packs for them that cradled the Loopah weapons on their backs. If a Usaanan rose and arched the back, the pressure would trigger the spring-loaded weapon out of its sleeve and into the serpent’s hands.
The technique had limitations due to the Usaanans’ short arms, and the serpents spent hours practicing, while the Dischnya made several small modifications. The end result was acceptable. More important, it freed the Usaanans’ movements, which made them greater assets in the fights.
Homsaff signaled the shadows to hunt in the direction the Usaanan had indicated. Then the troops followed. As they approached the deep lake that had been spotted on the holo-vid images, the short grasses gave way to thickets and then trees.
The shadows hunted through the thickets, following the myriad scent trails. Eventually, they abandoned the thickets and scurried toward the lake, tracking the stronger scents.
The humid air and moist ground indicated heavy rainfall, enabling the trees to grow right to the water’s edge. It wasn’t long before a brief thundershower soaked the Dischnya and the Usaanans. Neither race was happy.
The troops tried to find cover, but the trees had straight thick trunks that rose high. Their broad leaves, which sprouted at the crowns, pooled the rainwater, and then let it cascade below to be collected by the roots.
When the harsh starlight reappeared, the humidity worsened.
The Usaanans were able to swiftly lose the moisture from their scaled bodies. Then they tended to move toward the shadows and away from the Dischnya.
Watching the serpents vacate the Dischnya’s immediate area, Hessan barked a laugh. He sent,
The other Dischnya barked in amusement and tried to shake the water droplets from their bodies and clothing.
Immediately, the Usaanans divided to take their assigned positions within each small group of warriors.
The shadows had tracked the insectoids toward tall, thick brush. At the base of the dense vegetation could be seen several tunnels, indicating the passage of the adults for a lengthy period of time.
Homsaff signaled the shadows to halt. In the narrow tunnels, a shadow could easily be destroyed by a red.
The queen called for a flyover. A pilot responded and followed the directive.
The Dischnya saw that the thickets, with their tall trees, surrounded the lake.
“The insectoids found a great hiding place,” Simlan commented.
“I wonder how large the young have grown,” Hessan said.
“Before the falling of water, the leg punctures were of all sizes,” Ufloss remarked.
The Dischnya regarded the other Usaanans. Their small heads were nodding in agreement.
“The feeding has been good here for the females and the young,” Homsaff said. She linked with the other troop leaders and queried as to their status.
One leader had found the same situation as Homsaff. The other four were encountering different terrains and having better hunting opportunities. Homsaff told the leader near the body of water to halt until she found a method of prying the insectoids from their sanctuaries.
Ufloss stared at the smooth trunk of a nearby tree. He stuck a sharp-tipped leg into the trunk. It easily penetrated the outer layer.
Simlan watched Ufloss closely.
The Usaanans were constantly testing the unusual aspects of terrains they encountered. Their arid home world gave them little experience about the strange vegetation on these new worlds. Most Usaanan adults spent their lives flying aboard shuttles, journeying via domes and gates, and visiting stations.
Ufloss hissed softly. Then he slowly wound around the tree, digging into its soft smooth outer layer with his legs. After reaching a height of about three meters, he reversed his action, sliding quickly down the trunk.
“Queen Homsaff, it’s possible for the four of us to gain height and ambush the reds, grays, and larger young,” Ufloss hissed, indicating the tree with a short arm.
The queen, who’d been studying the thick brush and the tunnels, received imagery from Simlan. She chuffed in appreciation of the tactic and turned to study the tall trees.
“The challenge will be to get them out of their hiding places,” Hessan remarked.
“Burn the brush?” a serpent offered.
“It might come to that, but I think the insectoids are concentrated here. If we start a fire, they’ll scatter,” Homsaff replied. “Our task is to eliminate the Colony wherever we find the insectoids. If we don’t, they’ll denude this land mass of every edible creature and destroy the ecosystem.”
A Usaanan’s tongue flicked around the base of the type of tree that dotted the landscape. It was the same variety that Ufloss had partially climbed. He peered at the crown of leaves high atop the trunk but discerned nothing.
“There is a mammal that nests above us,” the Usaanan said.
Despite the Dischnya’s keen eyes, none of them could spot any movement in the broad leaves that sprouted from the treetop.
“Nocturnal,” Hessan posited.
“Can you tell what type of mammal?” Homsaff asked.
Both warriors and serpents examined the tree trunks closely.
“They’re small, with sharp claws,” a warrior said.
“Many of them in each tree,” Ufloss added.
“I would think rodents,” Simlan finished.
Homsaff examined her recordings of the ground that bordered the lake. There had been small bones, but most appeared to be those belonging to avians. The ravenous young would have fed on these tiny meals.
“I want as many of these rodents collected tonight as we can,” Homsaff directed, and she shared the concept with the other command that had waited by its deep body of water.
The Usaanans stared in confusion at one another. They imagined waiting by a tree trunk in the wet night and trying to capture an undoubtedly swift rodent.
The warriors shared ideas, chose one, and set about weaving traps from the thick reeds that grew in the shallow water. They wove the strips into semicircle shapes. Then they placed a pair of the basket-like traps around the base of a tree and hooked them together with more peelings from the reeds.
Before dark, the warriors had set traps around eleven tree trunks. Then the command retired to a traveler to eat and wait above.
The traps were simple but clever. Around the circle, many
small openings invited the rodents to slip through them. When they did, a flap dropped behind them. As the flaps were on the inside of the traps, it was hoped the rodents weren’t clever enough to recognize the challenge and lift the flaps.
Not long after the star had set, the Dischnya returned to view their success. Already, the rodents were chewing on the reed peelings, and several of them had escaped.
Warriors surrounded the traps and tapped on the protruding muzzles of any rodents that sought to escape.
Simlan linked to the other warriors, and they crafted a plan. As pups, the warriors were once stealthy hunters of Sawa Messa, the original Dischnya name for Omnia.
Not far from the tunnel openings that led into the thick brush, vegetation was quietly cleared. Then shallow pits were dug. The rodents remained in their traps, as they were placed in the pits. Then the warriors wove thick mats, which they used to cover the pits.
Everything was predicated on timing, and the instincts of hunter and prey.
It was assumed that the rodents would shortly gnaw through their temporary prisons, which they did. However, the heavy mats were a greater challenge.
The warriors’ keen ears picked up the sounds of teeth chewing against the pit covers, which were weighed down with stones.
In the meantime, the Dischnya and the shadows set up a U-shaped ambush around the traps. The Usaanans climbed the trees and prepared to fire from elevated positions.
Before the rodents could free themselves from the pits, the star peeked over the horizon. As starlight warmed the mats, and rays of light leaked into the pits, the rodents squeaked anxiously. They should have been high in their trees by now.
The insectoid young, attracted by the sounds of meals, were the first to swarm from the tunnels. They were thwarted by the thickness and weight of the coverings, and they added their hissings to the rodents’ noises.
Then reds, grays, and nearly adult young scurried from the tunnels to investigate. Hearing the sounds of trapped animals, heavy pincers grasped the mats and shook them aside.
Immediately, the rodents bolted from the pits. They were small, and they were fast.
Had the insectoids surrounded the pits, they might have caught a few from each hole. But there’d been no such cooperative plan.
The rodents were left wide avenues of escape. Uttering terrified squeaks, they raced for safety.
First the young insectoids and then the adults gave chase.
The troops waited until the majority of the insectoids reached the trees from where the rodents had been captured. Then they opened fire.
The insectoids were caught in the Dischnya crossfire and from the Usaanans above.
Within several minutes, the vast majority of the insectoids were eliminated.
When the Usaanans slithered down from the trees, they shivered and shook.
“Problem?” Hessan inquired of Ufloss.
“Have you ever had to suffer vermin climbing over your body, while you concentrated on firing at the enemy?” Ufloss hissed angrily. “Their tiny sharp nails dug into our scales. Nothing was permanently damaged. It was just the ignominy of being overrun by vermin.”
Hessan maintained a serious expression while he sympathized with the Usaanans. But it wasn’t long before word reached the other warriors about the serpents’ sufferings. Soon the Dischnya were chortling, and the Usaanans were fuming.
Homsaff connected to the other commands. Those on drier ground were having great success. The command at the lake had abysmal results.
“Hessan, take your squad to the other lake and send back an equivalent number here,” Homsaff directed. “Teach the troops to weave, set traps, and tempt the insectoids from their tunnels.”
“Two of us?” Ufloss queried.
“You’re part of Hessan’s squad, aren’t you?” Homsaff retorted.
Ufloss rose to half height, and he hissed firmly, “We are!”
It had been tacitly understood by the Usaanans that they’d been adopted by the Dischnya. When that had happened, it meant they had a strong chance of surviving the conflicts with the insectoids. However, it had never been openly acknowledged by the queen until just now.
The Usaanans felt a surge of pride that they’d never experienced in their enclave among their own kind. It was an odd thought to them that they had to be sacrificed by their leaders to face imprisonment or death only to find companionship with a foreign race.
Night after night, the twin commands shunted around their lakes. The traps continued to work, which confused the troops. They’d expected the insectoids to become wise to their operations.
The four other commands had cleared out their areas, and they’d left the shadows to hunt the remaining few insectoids, mostly small young.
Eventually, the two commands hunting around the lakes were able to cease their rodent trappings.
Homsaff ordered all of the shadows delivered to her site. Then she directed the vast majority of them to surround the outer perimeter of the thick brush that bordered her body of water.
The few shadows held in reserve were ordered to fire the brush. As the flames took hold, those shadows retreated.
From above, the troops watched the fires eat into the brush. In most places, the flames sputtered and died, as they reached wet vegetation.
However, the heat and thick smoke did their work. The insectoids, mature and young, spilled from their tunnels, and the laser fire of shadows ended their race to safety.
Then Homsaff successfully repeated the technique at the other lake. Afterward, her command retired to the carrier, and the shadows were left to hunt.
Within seven days, the shadows would report that by the cycle’s end, no kills had been recorded.
Then the shadows were recovered, and the carrier sailed for the next target.
The med techs had treated the Usaanans with ointment to seal the tiny perforations in their scales and hasten their healing. The serpents rather enjoyed their shiny appearance and occasionally displayed their gleaming exteriors by rising up and twisting in place.
Observing the displays, the warriors’ tongues would loll outside their muzzles in amusement.
21: Crew Rotation
Pyrean mining crews assisted in the assembly of the Re-Gen dome. It consisted of the laborious tasks of moving parts from the tunnels and dorm rooms, carting them hundreds of meters to the new site, and adding them to the growing assembly.
The moon’s lighter gravity made the work easier than it would have been on planet. However, the crews’ actions were executed while ensconced in environment suits.
SADEs and Crocians directed the order of assembly, and the massive undertaking resembled the original disassembly.
To everyone’s surprise, the fortunate aspect of the drudgery was the simplicity of fittings. Pieces slid into place without the crews or their overseers worrying about whether the parts were in the correct positions. After a connection was made, an application of the locking-unlocking devices secured the joining.
While the Crocians and the Pyreans worked, Luther and Minimalist devoted considerable time to a conference call.
The SADEs weighed a manner of communicating the odds to Mickey and the other humans.
Jess considered the problem. Then he sent,
Minimalist completed the thought for Jess.
“Black space,” Lucia muttered.
Jess sent.