Seeing the Etash wasn’t getting back up, Tazleaha ran in search of the girl. She found her alive and disoriented. The wound to her side was superficial. She scooped her into her arms and went in search of her team. Nearing the path, laser light broke the night as Zora and the others traded fire with the Khalnalax. She sat the girl in a tree and drew her stunner. The remaining two Etash were pulling the third out of the pit. The laser light gave away the Khalnalax soldiers’ positions through the foliage. She moved toward the location where her team should be sitting tight waiting on orders. On her way she found a dead Khalanlax soldier and relieved him of his laser rifle.
Moving on through the brush, she found her team. They saw her and she motioned for them to follow. Picking their way through the jungle, her goal was to come out behind the Etash and the soldiers. Tazleaha took a moment to com Zora and Dela’maah to tell them the plan. Those who had lasers would take up positions and catch them in a crossfire while the others would throw everything they had left. Spears, rocks, it didn’t matter. They had to finish this and get moving. They fired on the Etash first. They had more weapons from the Khalnalax dead than Tazleaha had realized. Lasers, rifles and pistols began cutting holes in the beasts. The Etash tried to run, but were cut down quickly. Caught in the crossfire, they didn’t last more than a few seconds. The Etash had just managed to pull the other out of the pit but paid the price for it. It lay unmoving on the ground. Large black eyes watched Tazleaha as she approached, her rifle leveled and at the ready. The remaining soldiers had already started running back to their camp. It was fine by her. This time.
“Zora, Dela’maah, get our people out here and gather every weapon and anything of value. Take their coms. Strip them of anything that’s not bloody.” She walked around the wounded and put them out of their misery with a laser blast to the head. Those without weapons began removing the bodies and were seeing to their disposal. They carried them deeper into the jungle and left them. Any search party would have to get off the path and know when to do it if they wanted to recover their dead. Tazleaha organized a strike team to ambush the camp. This time, they were armed with weapons and the feeling that they just accomplished something extraordinary. They did not have to resort to fighting this battle like savages, although they would still employ some of the tactics learned on the path in the jungle. Stealth and improvisation would be keys in winning victories. It was time to go. The Khalnalax were about to learn a lesson taken from the pages of the human ancestors of her one and only love.
“Sticks and stones, bitches,” Tazleaha said, looking at the dead.
“I think she just went human on us,” Zora commented.
“I understood her words, but they don’t make sense to me,” Dela’maah said. “No matter. We won that one, so who cares what crazy things she says?”
“True. Let’s go take their camp and then I want to sleep for a full cycle,” Zora proclaimed.
****
We watched the guards walking the perimeter. They would occasionally look toward the path leading into the jungle. “How many do you count?” Tazleaha asked.
“Five,” Zora answered.
“I concur,” Dela’maah added.
“I’ll be so happy to wash this dirt off my face,” Zora said.
“Yes, I agree, but for now it serves a purpose,” Tazleaha said. “We should head back and make sure everyone has coated their face and hands and done something with their hair. I think I’m going to do something permanent with mine.”
The three made their way back. Someone had been listening earlier and had everyone using the river mud to cover their skin. Tazleaha took out her knife and grabbed a handful of hair. Five cuts and she was done. Her hair hung just below her ears. Grabbing two handfuls of mud, she ran it through her hair. The once lustrous, flowing long platinum white hair lay on the jungle floor. It was now as dull as her skin. They would need something better than thick, wet soil in the future. She thought of the pirate captain with the tattoos on her face and body. While she would never go that far, she wanted something in the same vein, but temporary.
The Khalnalax had two troop transport shuttles, which were larger than the shuttles on any of her ships. If all went well, they were about to relieve their owners of them. She watched her people watching her. They seemed to be waiting to see what she would do after such drastic motions like cutting her hair and covering herself in dirt.
“Well, you’re a surprise a minute, My Queen,” Zora whispered in her dirty ear.
“You can make light of what I’ve learned from my human lover, his people and history, but it serves us now. We do not wage precise warfare, but it is primitive and effective. We are alive and they are dead. That is all that matters. It is most likely they have reported sending out a team to capture us to the upper echelon. We should hurry in case a new variable is introduced.”
“You mean they might send reinforcements?” Dela’maah asked.
“I don’t know. I know there is no reason to wait,” Tazleaha said. “I have learned that plans change. Situations are fluid. Our intel is non-existent so it makes waiting unnecessary.”
“We have weapons now,” Dela’maah pointed out.
“We do and we will have more shortly. I want fifteen people on the strike force to take out the guards. Three per guard should be plenty. Zora, Dela’maah and I will move on the main structure. The officers and comm equipment should be there as well as the pilots. They are the only ones I want left alive. Strike team, after the guards have been dispatched I want you joining us.”
“You need to act fast. Incapacitate them, then drag them into the woods. If you see another group having a problem, aid them,” Dela’maah said.
Tazleaha looked around at all the dirty faces. They looked like . . . she was not sure what. Even the farmers of Kanlost would be cleaner after a day’s work. Tazleaha, the Queen of Cjittan, looked like a filthy animal that burrows in the ground. It worked, though, and if the filth helped them to blend in then so be it. She would wash it away when the planet was safely back in the hands of the Cjittan people.
It took an hour to quietly get into position. Tazleaha expected more activity in their camp by now. Were they not concerned about the group that had come after them? Dela’maah gave the signal and they engaged. Some were injured, some died. Tazleaha had expected it when they came through the other engagement with almost no injury. Khalnalax soldiers began to exit the portable structure they had erected. Tazleaha and her team let a few them out then fired on them. Using the shuttles as cover, their weapons fire was joined by the others who secured or already had weapons. They had followed orders in the face of their teammates being wounded or dying. They weren’t soldiers and only had a few days of rough training, but they were determined.
“How are we going to know which ones are the pilots? We may have already killed them,” Dela’maah said.
“Their uniforms will be different, as well as the insignia. So far these all look the same,” Zora answered.
“How do you know that?” Dela’maah retorted.
“Minister of Intelligence, Cousin. I actually perform the duties bestowed on me by our queen.”
“More rifle fire and less talk!” Tazleaha yelled over their conversation. “Move in.”
“How do you know how many are left inside? We might not be able to take them all,” Dela’maah asked.
“The building is small, Dela’maah. Do you think they would be packed in on top of each other?” Tazleaha asked, growing angry. “They didn’t know we were coming. There are most likely only a few left.”
“This is one of the satellite camp hunting teams the mayor spoke of,” Zora said. “Probably no more than twenty, twenty-five to a team. We’ve killed fourteen, plus those wounded or dead lying there in front of us makes about twenty.”
“Concentrate your fire on the exit and cover us. Cease once we reach the building then wait for our signal,” Tazleaha ordered over the com. “You two ready? Go.”
They ra
n to the side of the building while the others scorched the exit. “Zora, check the rear. Com some of the others to back you up.”
She nodded, spoke into her com and moved in the opposite direction. Zora and Tazleaha were about to breach the door, then Tazleaha had a thought. Five Cjittan stood over two wounded Khalnalax soldiers. She hurried over, grabbing one and pulling him to his feet. She didn’t ask any questions, just pushed him along with her rifle in his back. They reached the doorway and she pushed him hard through the opening. Laser fire riddled his body as Tazleaha stepped in next, firing in their direction then dropping to the floor.
“Dela’maah, get in here!” she yelled and opened fire again, giving her some cover. Tazleaha had scored a few hits if the grunts, then groans, were any indication. They laid down more cover fire and soon had five rifles burning holes in everything on the far end of the building. Tazleaha called for a cease fire and stood ready. They all did. If something had moved, they would have burned it to a crisp. As it was, they crept closer to our enemy’s position and found all of them dead. Tazleaha cursed the fact that they all wore the same uniform. Zora was usually never wrong. They would have to learn the hard way how to operate their shuttles.
They could learn, but it would have been faster to do so watching a real pilot. They would start phase two of their plan and begin searching the planet for other survivors and a better place to establish a home base. Once they had sufficient numbers, they would attack the main encampment and free their people.
Tazleaha and Dela’maah exited to find Zora waiting with two prisoners kneeling in front of her. “Here are your pilots. We caught them sneaking out the back.” Excellent.
“You and Dela’maah take one pilot and half our people and I’ll take the other. Let’s put some distance between us and the rest of the Khalnalax in the area. We’ll be back soon enough—no worries about that—and our army will be greater.”
The Cjittan stripped the fallen soldiers just like they had the others in the jungle. Any and everything that could be used was taken. They found plenty of supplies and would eat well for the foreseeable future. Tazleaha watched them all and felt proud for them. They had won their first engagement with the enemy. The next would be harder. Total surprise would not be on our side, but they would still have surprises for them. Tazleaha looked at my people and the camp devoid of its makers. It was good.
Chapter Twelve
Admiral Cushda was forced to accompany the fleet. They would rendezvous with the six ships at the outer edge of the Idaline system in two days. The newly appointed Regent Renji believed his presence was necessary and made it an order. It was also possible that his loyalty to the queen bothered her and she wanted him as far away from Xanlos as possible. A few of the other government ministers had seemed to side with her, but they knew it was too early to go all in. They also knew how the queen would reward their change in loyalty when she returned.
“How are the soldiers in the transports, Captain?” he asked.
“They are hungry and jittery. They travel much better in the Generations ships.”
“How many have we lost?”
“Only about three percent. It is as it always is. The mantis keep relative order by using the spiders to enforce their will.”
“Do you feel it will be closer to five or six percent by time we are able to get them planet side?”
“That would be a good estimate. We are feeding them, but it’s in their nature to kill the weak ones they are penned with.”
“Captain, while I’m thinking about it, there is a rumor that the people the queen brought back from her travels—the human male and his people—will show up at Idaline. He has with him the former spider queen Imelda. If they do arrive, they will most likely search for Queen Tazleaha. I am to be informed of all their activities. No one must interfere with them.”
“Why do we have to bow to the actions of some lower species who are no more than pirates?” the captain asked.
“Captain, your tone is the reason we will have this conversation now. I have done some checking with my contacts in Allond. The emperor and his brothers are quite taken with that human and his people. We do not want to start a war with Allond. Aside from their affection, the Allond respect them. The humans are warriors. While we have been living a peaceful co-existence with our neighbors, they have been fighting the renegade Allith and pirates at every turn in their attempt to colonize the systems around them.”
“We are the Cjittan. We lived hundreds of millennia before they ever had a conscious thought.”
“True and yet they impress our neighbors, who might even fear them, though they would not admit it. But even all of that matters little compared to their leader being the only male to capture our queen’s heart. He will destroy the suitors and our next king will not be Cjittan.”
“Admiral, isn’t that even more reason for him to have an . . . accident?”
“I can understand your loyalty to our people and I am even more loyal than you. This is why I say it would be a good thing: The Cjittan military needs someone like him to lead them. Someone ruthless and smart who would actually walk on the field of battle. While I do not like the thought, it is something that needs to be done. Queen Tazleaha would also benefit from his presence again in her life.”
“Admiral, our people would not agree.”
“You would be surprised, Captain. Some would agree, others wouldn’t but would keep silent. Then there would be the those who would oppose quite vocally. I have the feeling there would be a culling in the ranks. He is not a being to be trifled with. The bottom line is the Cjittan military would be proud again like it once was, not like the memory you just voiced.”
“Maybe I will challenge him if they do arrive and we will see if his skills are all we have heard.”
“It is your right to do so. It may be good for the men and women of the crew to witness your courage.” Or good to see what will happen if you challenge him, the admiral thought. He believed the Allond. They were an honorable species and ally. The Privateers—as they were called—had already done some miraculous things on Kanlost and, per the contract the queen had signed, would continue helping the war effort with all their actions.
The Khalnalax would be a different beast altogether. Fifteen ships, one of them a battleship. It would be a hard-fought victory freeing Idaline and many would perish on land as well as in the black. Such is war.
****
“Binda, I want everyone we feel is going to be a crew member to be training,” I ordered. One duty cycle ship duties, one duty cycle self-defense and one for eating and sleeping. We’ll cram months of training into days. I want it to continue until we arrive at Idaline. They might learn something—you never know.”
I looked from Binda to Aisling. Adeen’s people were raw and would need the most instruction. We didn’t have to worry about the Warhammer’s crew, or most of the Claymore’s, although I wanted to see Adam, Buddy and Grubb, Shawna, Snake, Genius and Ronnie all participating. Natalia and Sash would be helping with the former pirates.
The schedule and instructors were put into a com message and posted on an electronic notice board. It was not optional and I wouldn’t take kindly to anyone who thought they could skip out.
“Benjamin, what about the children?” Binda asked.
“What about them?”
“Some of them are too young to take care of themselves while their parent or parents are away for duty and training.”
“Lock them in a cage with food and water. That will keep them contained,” I said. It was a joke; I wanted to see their faces. I kept mine emotionless.
“See I told you he still isn’t right upstairs,” Aisling said, her face angry. The others were still working through their shock.
“Relax,” I said quickly. “Please. I was kidding. There should be some elders who are fit enough to look after them. Adeen, as captain of the Generations ship it’s an issue that has to be worked out. Make it a priority. You don’t the little o
nes running the corridors. Also, the children are not going with their parents. They will stay out of harm’s way on the Generations ship. That is something I’m not kidding about. If the child is too young, we need to excuse one parent to stay with it.”
“This isn’t going to be easy, but it will be short term,” Binda added. “The Privateers are ex-pirates; they already have experience living like this, always moving around. They’ll adapt quickly. Adeen, you and I will meet with the elders and single parents. Benjamin, we need to lock you in a cage.”
“Yeah with that damn beast you’re calling Dog,” Adeen said and Aisling nodded her approval.
“Are we done? Genius and I need to work on some things that should have already been done if it wasn’t for your calling another damn meeting.”
“You gave me the job. Deal with it,” Binda said.
“Let’s go, Boss, before something unfortunate happens to you,” Genius suggested. “You shouldn’t joke around about children in a room full of females.”
“I like the kids. It is somehow therapeutic having them and the families around, but it also weighs on me. So many times in the past, when we arrived on planet to find the civilians had taken the brunt of the fighting.”
“I remember. It’s hard to forget,” Genius said softly.
“They aren’t even human, but that doesn’t matter. They are ours to protect. It’s good they reacted to my joke, though. At least it tells me there is something we all agree on.”
“I don’t know. I think they were all agreeing you need to be locked up.”
“I bet they were.”
We walked to the lab where Genius had set up shop. Just a few days ago, he protested when we revived Dog, telling me he had no experience in genetics and so on. Now he would only leave the place to eat.
The Chronicles of Benjamin Jaminson: Empires At War (Book 5 Part Two) Page 16
