by Matt Thomas
"It could help. I'm betting that they're going to launch some serious cleansing operations.” Xander said. “That's probably why they're in SoCal. Let the dust settle a bit, they develop some intelligence and then go purge humans they think were involved. I was thinking of dropping a spike down in SoCal." He added, thinking that a spike would at least get him some type of collection near the facility.
"I was thinking about dropping a few Slingshots in SoCal.” Berne replied. “But I guess we’ll need approval for either. I’ll see what I can do."
*****
Still dirty from the attack, still damp from the Pacific Northwest air, still emotionally numb, they landed in the refreshingly arid desert of once-California. The Hetarek took him along with the corpse of his overseer of thirty years directly to the nearby hatchery. He had expected them to leave him behind, or to take him directly to Kevak Akkad for a likely fatal encounter.
He had never seen a Return ceremony, nor, to his knowledge, had any other human or even Metic Ahai. They either recognized his connection to Divrack or figured he would not survive the next few hours anyway.
They wrapped the pieces of the body together in a shroud of rich green, carrying it with an honor guard made of Thrulk and another warrior. They kept their rtek blades drawn in symbolic defense of the body. A shaman accompanied them. Hetarek religion lurked in the deep background of every Hetarek action, but the sight of a shaman came rarely, at hatching, death, and the occasional launch of an attempt to gain position in the Hegemony. The ancient Hetarek, shrouded in matching deep green, intoned a strange dialect he didn’t attempt to translate. Instead, he stared at the spreading stain of blood on the bundle of Dirvrack.
The small group approached the doors to the Hatchery. A pair of Crimson Guard stared at the Speaker, clearly intending to bar his path. It was then that he noticed Darga Kahil standing to the side. With a small gesture, he ordered the warriors to let all of them through.
Inside, the Hatchery looked more industrial than he had imagined, given the significance of the facilities. All Hetarek started their lives here, emerging from their eggs and spending the first two years growing and turning instinctive behavior into something beneficial to the Empire. They processed through the hallway down nearly abandoned corridors. Through glass windows, he saw various stages of the young Hetarek development, moving back through their lifespan from the ones about to hatch into the world to the Hetarek no larger than his folded hands, chirping and feeding off a slurry passing through the trough between them, to nearly full-grown adults, building the strength they need to become warriors.
Emerald runes covered a large door, the first decorated with any kind of marking or indication of significance. They approached and the atmosphere instantly changed. The shaman chanted louder, waving his fore-claws at the door before hovering them over the bundle. The honor guards sheathed their blades and stepped back. The doors opened slowly. For the first time since being a servant of the Hetarek, he saw a female. Easily five times the size of a typical male, she dominated the room. A bright yellow, she contrasted with the brown-green of the warriors around him. The rough shape and six limbs provided the only resemblance to the Hetarek males he dealt with every day. A conveyor moved underneath as she deposited eggs. A robotic arm mechanically injected genetic material into the eggs. He knew that, as Minister of Resources, Khuu Thrael determined how many warriors, engineers, and leaders hatched. They carefully cultivated the gene sequences from the honored clans that ascended to the Hegemony, making membership in that highest order of the Empire insurance that one’s lineage continued in perpetuity.
In front of the queen sat a clear vat of white liquid connected to hoses. The tubing distributed the nutrient slurry both to the female and to the trough running through the rest of the complex. A bronze grate provided the only color in the room, lying on the floor and connected to a mechanical arm. The honor guard lowered the corpse of Dirvrack onto the grate. The shaman’s chanting became more enthusiastic, almost desperate. The arm carried the body up over the vat, and slowly lowered what had been both his overseer and friend into the solution. Through the glass, he watched as the body dissolved. The short Hetarek lifespan predicted that he would outlive Dirvack. At thirty-five, the minister had already become an elder. But the Speaker had expected, hoped for, some transition. Instead, a burst of violence, a chemical reaction lasting no more than ten minutes, and Divrack was gone, fed to future generations.
Darga Kahil placed a claw on his shoulder. Come, we must see the Kevak. He has called an emergency Conclave.
“But I’m...” He began to protest.
You are are the only one who understands the region, with Khuu Divrack and Dund Kamed gone. I would not grow comfortable. Kevak Akkad has called this Conclave to change everything.
Not wanting to ask more, afraid of what the answers might be, he followed the Darga out of the Hatchery to the makeshift conference hall established in one of the administrative buildings. The warriors ushered out the Metic Ahai, leaving only the Hetarek leadership, and the one human, to discuss the planet’s future.
As soon as he sat down, Khuu Rekai spat out a curse. Why is the human here? Divrack is dead. We do not need his pet.
The Speaker kept his mouth shut. You shall see. Kahil said ominously.
He remained a respectful distance from the table, lurking in the shadows rather than take his position next to Divrack’s empty couch. Thrulk, always present, took a position beside him.
Kevak Akkad entered the room, nearly at a gallop, lowering himself onto his couch. A slam of his claw onto the table ceased all pleasantries, and the Hetarek stared at their executor in anticipation.
These humans have destroyed our hope that this planet will bring our clan honor to enter the Hegemony. He intoned. Our mission here, our forebearer’s mission here, the efforts of generations passing through the stars to get here, has failed. This planet itself will never produce enough to overcome the cost of maintaining the humans.
The others around the table grumbled and begged to differ. Three times Kevak Akkad slammed his fist upon the table. We do not cease our desire to become part of the Hegemony, but we will no longer pursue tradition. To do so will drain us of every resource we extract from this planet. Instead, we shall join the Hegemony as did Clan Zrel with the Ahai. We will sacrifice our efforts on this planet to erase the human threat.
The Speaker knew some of Hetarek history, as Divrack often spoke of the path to Hegemony. He knew that Clan Zrel had expelled the Ahai from their home planet, enslaving the captured survivors to create the Metic Ahai, and dispersing the rest of their kind to wandering caravans throughout the galaxy. Such extreme actions had been costly to the clan, but had also created one of the most powerful dynasties in the history of the Hetarek Empire.
We do not know when the humans will arrive. Kevak Akkad continued. But we do know where. We will be redirecting resources to the Pacific Northwest. Our warriors will be waiting for them.
Khuu Thrael, Minister of Resources, looked around the table for an objection from anyone else. But Kevak, he protested. We have nothing to redirect. Anything we move to the region will leave somewhere short.
We will leave everything short, Khuu Thrael. Akkad replied. We will leave it to the Metic Ahai to oversee schleckt production and human sustenance. But we expect them to fail.
We cannot survive on this planet without the schleckt. Thrael objected. We cannot grow schleckt without the humans. We do not have enough Metic Ahai.
We cannot survive on this planet and coexist with the humans at all. Kevak declared. The return of the humans to the planet will end our occupation, one way or another. But we will not let them take it back. Instead, we will crush them. We will crush them in space. We will crush them on the ground. We will leave their people to starve to death. We will lose many warriors, but we will build great honor and earn our place amongst the Hegemony.
Forgive me, Kevak, but without the schleckt,
we will starve to death as well.
And so we shall. None of us will survive this planet. But we shall live on in the legends of the Hegemony. Darga Kahil, please explain to your comrades what has happened.
The Hetarek responsible for the security of the planet leaned forward over the table. We have received a courier ship in the last week. Other clans have been fighting the humans elsewhere, and losing. In the last year, planets have fallen to the human menace. They are coming, and no one has stopped them. The Empire is desperate to stop the humans.
What makes you think we can do it? Thrael asked. If no other clan has?
We know the humans. Kahil answered. We know them better than anyone else. We know how they think and how they fight. He nodded at the Speaker, as though the human should be honored at his role. We know their arrogance. We know what they hold dear. They do not believe we would sacrifice what we have earned here solely to eliminate them.
That doesn’t answer my questions, Kahil. Thrael challenged.
We will take what we know of them, and lure them into a trap. If they make it through our orbital defenses, they must land. We will disassemble the EMP weapon from Nkel’s Pride. It has remained unused in orbit since we came to this planet. By relocating it on the ground, it can swat their landing craft out of the sky. If any land, they will meet nearly every warrior we have. We will deal them a blow from which they will never recover. It has taken twenty years for the humans to mass the forces they need for such an assault. Even if they had the will to continue after this battle, it will be decades still before they begin to recover.
The council considered Kahil’s plans. We know the humans are watching. How will we spring a trap while they watch what we do?
We know how they are watching. They watch from their soldiers on the ground, and from orbit. We will hide our warriors in schleckt shipments. We are transporting the weapons in ships that appear to be repairing Nkel’s Pride. Our warriors will remain hidden, disciplined, until the humans appear.
And the human fleet? If the weapon has been removed, with our space fleet depleted from a generation of lying stagnant in orbit, how do we know the humans won’t win the space battle? If they do, they will control the planet without placing another soldier on the surface?
At this, to everyone’s surprise, Khuu Rekai spoke up. We have made arrangements. The humans will not dominate our skies.
All stared at the Minister of the Ahai, expecting more details. But none came forward.
Kevak Akkad resumed control of the Conclave. The humans will be defeated. He proclaimed. They will be defeated, and our Speaker will dictate to them the terms of their defeat.
The Speaker caught his breath. It explained why he had been invited to the Conclave, and how they permitted him to continue living. Although, he doubted he would live much longer than the other humans. The Hetarek would have no use for him after his final duty.
Once we have crushed their ability to fight, once we have secured their surrender, we shall send word back to the Hegemony. The entire Empire will know how Clan Nkel stopped the humans when no one else could. With our clan’s dying heartbeats on this planet, we will ensure our place in the Empire for eternity. As we shall die, so too will their entire species. And the Empire will again be unmatched in power.
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
They sat around the commander's desk in her sparsely decorate office. Other than one showing photos and videos of her sons, every other display showed maps, briefings, and status reports. At twenty-three hundred hours, most of the non-essential had filtered out for the night. With no operations planned, Colonel Tamaka directed that the principals come together privately.
"We've only got a few days left." She began. "I want to know what gaps we have to fill before the landings."
Amersvoort spoke up first, as usual for these meetings. "Ma'am we sent four extra bundles with Eighty-Two Fifteen, ammo, weapons, and parts. That should help replenish Twenty-Two's stock."
"One-Five is going to get there two days beforehand." Berne corrected. "It's going to be a push for the two to actually link up. Bryan'll probably push them to an objective rather than waste time trying to meet."
The logistician held his tongue.
"Without Loki, ma'am, our surveillance has suffered.” Xander offered. “Not a lot, but that satellite had a lot of capabilities the replacement didn't. We can't get good thermal imaging to see what's inside structures, for instance. I don't feel as confident about the drop zones as I'd like to."
Berne nodded in agreement. "Bryan's going through have to do some recon the old-fashioned way. Sooner rather than later."
"Does he have room in his operations schedule for it?”
"He'll have to make room. I'm with Xander. We need more information about what the drop ships will encounter when they get there. We have a good feel for what's east of the mountains and up in the city thanks to the Metic Ahai. But there's been so much dust kicked up in the last minute month we need a solid reassessment of the objectives."
"Speaking of the dust being kicked up..." Tamaka promoted.
Berne waved away her forthcoming concern with a flick of his wrist. "Things suck with the surrogates. They've been a little over enthusiastic since the thing in Chelan."
"How does Bryan feel about it?" She asked.
"He's irritated." Berne answered truthfully. "But he says it's just one group and he's got others he can still work with."
"Let's hope that holds." Tamaka shifted her gaze back to Xander. "What about the Metic Ahai?"
"They seem to be cooperating." Xander said. "Since the surrogates have been reluctant to work with them, they've taken a more supportive role. They're getting us lots of intel about Hetarek operations in the city, providing us with key locations. Our reports from them come in regularly, they're just not interested in getting in gunfights along side the humans who might want to kill them, too."
"Not that I blame the humans." Berne quipped.
"So the situation is complicated, as expected." Tamaka summarized. "But is there anything we can do to make it more viable?"
Berne shrugged. "I feel better sending One-Five up front and then putting the Rangers on Objective Charlie that morning."
Tamaka agreed. "That should ease things up given the changing situations. But we also need to plan for contingencies. This thing isn’t going to go as planned."
Xander may have expected Berne to resist the idea, but he also knew the senior officer understood the first maxim of combat: no plan survives first enemy contact.
*****
The view from Kendrick’s perch was imperfect. Bryan slid into position next to the sniper, tucked far behind a broken window in an abandoned two-story structure jutting out from the side of the hill. He could clearly see most of the runway beneath them, and several of the massive buildings once used to construct aircraft. But that was only one of three landing zones the team needed to watch.
“You weren’t kidding.” He said. Kendrick sat, arms folded, behind his rifle, peering occasionally through the scope. “This really isn’t ideal.”
Kendrick pointed upwards. “The view’s a little better up top. That’s where I’ll be when the time comes. I got that the GEOINT guys say we should have a clear view of Alpha, Bravo, and a partial view of Charlie from here, but the trees get in the way of everything. I can see the approach to Charlie but I can’t see shit from Bravo.”
“We’re going to have to split up to get enough coverage.” Bryan observed.
“When’s One-Five and the Rangers get here?”
“One-Five gets here in three days...”
“So basically the day before.”
Bryan nodded. “We’re not going to link up with them first. We just don’t have the time. I’m going to have them use the locals for the blocking position to the north. The Rangers are going to slide in about two hours before zero-hour and go straight to Charlie.”
“Let’s hope the Ranger
s don’t fuck it up.” Kendrick muttered, leaning forward to take another look through his scope. “I got her. Is she wearing Ava’s clothes?”
Bryan zoomed in with his binoculars. Nearly a mile away, a lone figure in light blue coveralls walked between buildings. He could barely make out Jess’s features, but easily recognized her determined stride. “Yeah, we got them when Ava still liked us.”
“She’ll like us again next week.” Kendrick said.
Bryan triggered his radio. “Jess, we’ve got eyes on.”
She couldn’t reply, not while trying to blend in. The sun would be up shortly, meaning the Hetarek would be functional again. She still had to contend with the Metic Ahai and even other humans. The plan had been to get her in much earlier, but the Hetarek presence in the area had spiked dramatically. They had anticipated some increase in activity, but Ava had stoked an impressive the wave of unstructured violence and vandalism. The chaos they brought helped; the Hetarek response did not. Still, Bryan maintained his course. He needed one last survey of the primary landing zone. Loki had photographed it, Kendrick had watched it, a host of sensors had monitored communications around it, but he needed a look inside for peace of mind. He couldn’t watch it around the clock, and the increase in Hetarek flights around the facility made him nervous.
“What time are they supposed to launch?” Kendrick asked.
Bryan checked his datapad. “Any minute. Once they hit the gate, it should draw enough attention away that she can get the scans done.” He hoped that a skirmish outside the gate would keep Hetarek and Metic Ahai eyes looking outward, not inward at a human mechanic trying to get readings on whatever the Hetarek kept inside the facility.
They saw the expanding, rising cloud of smoke and fire before they heard the tell-tale double concussion of a massive explosion. The building rattled around them as the shockwave moved through the ground, shaking loose bits of broken glass and chunks of rock. The detonation struck, not near the front gate, but by a side entrance to the facility near storage bays and administrative offices. Gunfire started echoing across the small valley.
