The hood snapped back over her head and Kurrang crowded in on her. “Don’t take off your hood. Remember, you’re not trying to be a target, Peacemaker.”
Jessica nodded, and they kept moving. Idle concentration on nothing started failing her when the soreness in her leg turned the corner to pain. A little CASPer candy would have been perfect, but without it, she needed something else to take her mind off the discomfort. She tried remembering what her pace count had been for a hundred meters in restricted terrain and decided 78 steps sounded good. She counted them off as they moved through the quiet jungle. Halfway through her twenty-second cycle of 78, Kurrang stopped and held out a fist toward her.
Jessica froze in place. There was nothing to see except another small hill overlooking the river and a small tributary that snaked in from the north. Across the smaller stream, her glasses caught a moving light that was bright enough to be artificial. She heard the distinct thumping of CASPers in the distance just as she realized the sky was visible through the lighter canopy and dawn was approaching. They had twenty minutes, maybe less, until full daybreak.
Kurrang grunted. “They’re in position to block our movement. Once the sun comes up, we’ll have more challenges.”
Already, the sounds in the jungle were louder and growing more insistent. More predators would be up and moving. The presence of the CASPers meant Raleigh had finished his attack and was seeking the opportunity to gather additional resources. His hesitation meant she and Kurrang had time, but they also had an opportunity.
Kurrang turned to her. “What are you thinking?”
“We take them out,” Jessica said. “I’ll set up here with my pistol and draw them toward you with direct fire. Somewhere down here by the stream where I can cover you.”
But there was no immediate cover for Kurrang to use—exposing himself to the CASPers was too dangerous. Kurrang moved forward and bent down, burying his arms in the dark, soft soil. As he shifted the soil easily, Jessica realized what he intended to do. “Here,” she said handing him the satchel of explosives over her shoulder. “Take these.”
Kurrang grunted. “I do not need them. Get into position.”
Jessica turned away and scrambled up the low hill. Unlike the cavern-filled rocks where the TriRusk colony lay hidden, the hill was only three or four meters above the surrounding terrain. Jessica scrambled up it easily, removed her pistol from its holster, and braced herself against a tree.
With every passing moment, the imagery brightened in her glasses. She could see the artificial lights from the CASPers swinging left and right as they walked through the underbrush. There were two of them, and they were passing slightly north of the hill and Kurrang’s position. She looked down toward the stream for a long moment. Kurrang was nowhere to be seen.
Step one.
Jessica looked up and saw the first CASPer’s shadowy outline in the distant brush. It was maybe seventy meters away, and as it broke through the brush and stepped into a grassy patch along the tributary’s path, Jessica raised her pistol and fired two quick shots.
The CASPers spread out immediately and squared their weapons in her direction. Through the goggles, she could clearly make out one Mk 5 and the other one looked like a modified Mk 4, which made no sense. Reputable mercenary units hadn’t used the radiation leaking beasts in more than a decade. Watching them, Jessica wanted to touch her ear and get a report from Lucille, but there wasn’t much point. Lucille would have told her what she already knew. The CASPers were scanning the surrounding terrain with every sensor they had and not moving to investigate.
Forget step two. Dammit.
Jessica adjusted her hand on the pistol’s grip and carefully aimed around the side of the tree at the far CASPer. The hill would have to be her cover. She took a deep breath and squeezed the trigger. No sooner had she done so than she flung herself down the hill as a fusillade of machine pistol rounds tore through her previous firing position. On her stomach, she swam down the hill, pulled herself up to her feet to move around to support Kurrang with fire, and froze as the sound of CASPer jump jets filled the jungle.
Movement along the shoreline caught her eye, but it was too weak to see. Jessica took a step forward to peer around the rock formations at the base of the hill and—
KA-WHAMM! KA-WHAMM!
The explosion knocked her backward, and she landed square on her ass on the rocks. She rolled to her stomach and stayed down for a moment, expecting to hear cannon fire and jump jets, but there was nothing. Even the birds were silent. A thick cloud of black dirt hung close to the ground in front of her. After another ten seconds frozen in place, Jessica pulled her legs up to stand. She holstered the pistol, checking it to ensure the chamber and barrel were clear of debris before she crept forward. The scene in front of her was like something out of a CASPer pilot’s horror movie.
The two CASPers were gone. The Mk 5’s legs stood in the tall grasses without a cockpit section. The Mk 4 was nowhere to be seen.
Holy shit.
Jessica removed her glasses to wipe sweat from her eyes and realized she didn’t really need them in the waxing dawn. As she put them away, a section of grass waved viciously. The glasses were forgotten in a heartbeat as she raised her pistol and leveled it at the spot where Kurrang came up out of the ground. Besides being covered in the dark brown soil, he appeared uninjured. He jumped across the tributary easily and stood facing her.
She moved forward, and he closed the distance to her. “Come on,” he said. “We need to move away from here. See?”
The grasses near where the CASPers had stood changed before her eyes. Their vibrant dark greens turned black as she watched. “Radiation hazard. One of them was leaking when you vaporized it.”
Kurrang nodded. “I told you that I didn’t need any more of them.”
“How many did you use?”
“Two.” Kurrang shrugged. He opened his mouth to speak and froze. As Jessica watched, his eyes widened, and his jaw fell open. “Kurrang? You okay?”
He didn’t respond, but his face returned to normal. With a move fast enough that it caught Jessica by surprise, Kurrang shot around her and scrambled up the hill, his eyes locked on the horizon. As Jessica climbed the hill, the TriRusk opened his mouth and a long, warbling sound ripped through the jungle. As it echoed, the fauna throughout the jungle nearby went completely silent.
“What is it?”
Kurrang shook his head from side to side. “It’s my daughter, Jessica. She’s singing.”
Jessica strained for a moment. “I don’t hear anything.”
“You can’t, Peacemaker. Your human ears are not that well designed.” Kurrang looked at her for a moment and worked his lower chin. “She’s outside again.”
Jessica watched the TriRusk’s enraptured face and imagined seeing her father’s face when he heard her voice for the first time in 25 years, not even half a year ago.
“Did they release her?”
“No,” Kurrang said after a long moment. He blinked slowly. “And what she’s saying is good.”
Jessica curled one side of her mouth under. “How is that good?”
“We have a friend on the inside.”
* * * * *
Chapter Twenty-Two
Weqq
MinSha Compound
The call came as the first vestiges of light appeared in the sky. Tirr hadn’t been able to sleep anymore, unlike the immense human guard snorting and snoring against the forward wall. In the pale twilight streaming through the four small portholes along the eastern wall, Tirr could clearly see Antoine sound asleep. The man’s garb was filthy and sweat stained. A jacket, or some type of garment, was tied around his waist with a loose, lazy knot. Sweat beaded on the man’s head like diamonds. If there was a perfect time for insurrection, it would have been then, but Tirr had other plans. They needed help from the outside, provided it was there, to make such an attempt. That, he decided, was worth both time and risk.
The sound of bare human fi
sts on the bulkhead door startled Antoine and sent a rustle through the barracks room. Tirr watched the guard wipe his sweaty face, paying attention to his dreary eyes, before getting to his feet and slamming open the door. Another human face appeared in the opening—a woman with heavily lidded eyes who seemed as bored as their guard.
“Yeah,” he heard Antoine grunt. The man turned around, wiped sweat off his brow again, and raised his voice. “Captain Tirr!”
Tirr didn’t move from his position along the wall. He raised a clawed hand. “Here.”
“Get up. You’re wanted in the infirmary.”
Maintaining stillness was critical to perfecting the ruse. “Is something the matter?”
Antoine’s face darkened into a glare. “Hey, I’m just passing the message that your doctor needs you in the infirmary. Get your ass moving.”
He nodded and tried to sound bored. “Coming.”
Antoine watched him come but didn’t attempt to place his hands on a weapon. Instead, the human hooked his thumbs into the tied garment around his sweaty waist and stood there. Tirr walked forward slowly and crossed the barracks room.
“Hurry up,” Antoine said, yawning.
Tirr didn’t say a thing for a moment. He closed the distance and looked at Antoine’s damp face. “You’re seeing to the care and feeding of my people, yes?”
Antoine frowned. “When my boss says so.”
Tirr tilted his chin down at the human. “You misunderstand me, Antoine. Get my people food and start rotations for them to visit the central compound. The sooner the better.”
“You can’t tell us what to do,” the humans replied.
“I’m not,” Tirr said. “I’m about to wake up your commander. When that happens, I believe he expects to see things progressing as he desires, despite your propensity for drinking and sleeping on the job.”
Antoine drew himself up to his full height and widened his chest. “You got a problem with me?”
Tirr tried not to laugh. “No, nor do you impress me. Now, I’ll be on my way with your more competent guards to the infirmary. I do recommend you take the actions necessary to placate your commander. I’d hate to see you relieved of your duties.”
Without waiting for a response, Tirr stepped around the human and into the passageway. The bored human woman he’d seen earlier was there, and she was alone. Such opportunities were too good to be believed, and as easy as it would have been to simply follow her down the passageways to a point where he could incapacitate her and escape, it wasn’t what his people needed. Bringing down the humans was possible, but it would take a coordinated effort of half-truths from himself and his key leaders, and a little help from the outside. Disinformation and confusion would peel apart human morale easier than laser cannons and brute force. All he had to do was get them to fight amongst themselves, and most of the work could be done without a single MinSha losing blood.
The barracks room door clanged shut and the human woman, whose name he didn’t know, grunted from behind. “Get moving. I’ve got a weapon, and I’m not afraid to use it.”
Tirr kept his shoulders slumped forward in feigned submission, but his eyes and antennae sifted data in droves from the many displays and workstations they passed.
With a glance, Tirr confirmed the defensive weapons pylons were still activated, but in standby mode. A simple override sequence would bring them to bear in ten seconds or less. He saw from the external camera feeds that the upper surfaces of the compound were patrolled by four or five CASPers at the most. Several others appeared to be readying for a patrol into the jungle. There were two returning to the southeastern portal as well, likely having patrolled all night. One of them looked a little worse off than the other. They’d probably fought predators in the night, which was a good thing. Every shred of fear Tirr could inject into the unprepared humans would pay dividends in the end.
At the entrance to the infirmary, there was only one posted guard. Tirr sucked in a breath and let it out slowly, focusing his eyes on the floor as he advanced. A human hand grabbed his shoulder—the woman behind him.
“That’s far enough. Spread your legs and raise your hands.”
Tirr tried not to smirk as he did what they asked. Searching a MinSha was hardly something a human could do well, but there was nothing he could have had in his possession anyway. Commander Reilly adamantly refused for any of the MinSha to have a personal communicator or any other effects. He stood still while the humans did a cursory search then gestured him into the infirmary. He stepped inside and waited until the door closed behind him. Fuul rose from her desk and nodded at him.
Antenna twitching, Tirr silently asked Fuul, “Are we alone? Any listening devices?”
“Very likely. They’ve stayed out of here, with the exception of their commander. He comes every four to six hours and collects what our little friend produces.”
“And he has the complete stores you’ve collected?”
“Yes. And the ones from Psymrr’s stateroom. It keeps him out of here.”
Closing the distance to have an audible conversation, Tirr tilted his head and spoke aloud. If the humans were listening, he wanted to give them something good. “What’s the trouble?”
“Our patient, Captain. We really need to get her outside. She needs sunlight, or her condition can become fatal.”
“I see,” Tirr said. He looked at her for a moment and saw the doctor’s antenna twitch. “You’ve been up for a long time, Doctor. Why don’t you get some rest? I’ll arrange for our patient to go outside with me as an escort.”
“Are you certain?” The concerned doctor voice always worked. Humans loved their physicians.
Tirr nodded dramatically. “Of course. I’ll speak with Commander Reilly. He’ll understand the situation, and we’ll get her outside. For how long?”
“Oh, she should be fine with fifteen to twenty minutes per day,” Fuul said. In reality, the time necessary was much less. Especially if her hunch was right.
“I’ll take care of it,” Tirr said. “Get some rest. I’ll cover this watch for you.”
Fuul stood and bowed her head. The gesture was something usually reserved for the leader of the colony. Since the occupation, Psymrr’s political assistants had purposefully avoided the spotlight and any requisite responsibility. That was good enough for Tirr. In a position of leadership, he could effect the overthrow of the human mercenaries. “You have my gratitude, Tirr. I hope the commander will listen to you.”
He wants diamonds, Tirr thought. He’ll do anything we need him to do, as long as he believes he’s going to keep getting them, or that there’s a threat to the production.
“Rest well,” Tirr said again. The young doctor moved past him to the doors of the infirmary without another word. The door swung open, and the bored woman looked inside.
“Yeah?”
“Please escort the doctor to our barracks. She needs to rest. And please pass my compliments to Commander Reilly. I need to see him at once.”
“Why?”
Tirr leaned forward. “This is about his personal bounty. I need to see him immediately.”
Tirr was thrilled to see the concerned, disbelieving, and ultimately scornful look cross the guard’s face. Planting a seed of doubt in humans was easy. Despite their jubilance and evening inebriations, the humans appeared to follow their leader only out of fear. Doubt combined with anxiety was a priceless tool in his grasp.
“Yeah. I’ll get him.”
“Thank you.” Tirr turned to Fuul and nodded. “Now, please, Doctor. Get some rest. I’ll handle things here.”
The infirmary doors closed, and Tirr stood still for a moment. Through the thin window, he watched the guard and Fuul move down the passageway and head in two directions. His physician was unguarded. Instead of going directly down the passageway to the barracks, she made a turn toward the outside wall. Once there, she would open a cargo hatch that would allow his soldiers a backup entry point for their return. It would also give the sold
iers, and the Peacemaker, access to weapons.
Alone in the infirmary, Tirr moved to Fuul’s command station, bypassed the intra-network, and accessed the external sensors and communications platforms. As he feared, the mercenary jammers completely blanketed the electromagnetic spectrum. The only bright spot was that the mercenary assault ship lay dormant a few dozen kilometers away, unable to communicate. Whenever Reilly and his team needed to communicate with anyone off planet, they’d have to lower the interference. That gave Tirr a window as well. He cycled the communications system and let it reboot. As it restarted, he turned off the ability of the main terminals to use the current connection. He set them to analyze and assess connections. When a connection restarted, or a new one was established, his systems could infiltrate and use them without notifying the enemy.
That’s phase one. Tirr stood and pranced into the isolation chamber. The small TriRusk lay on her side as if sleeping. Tirr leaned down close to the child’s ear. “I know you can understand me. I’ve seen your eyes when we speak around you. You understand and can likely speak Standard. You know what’s happening here. It’s time for you to warn your people. We need their help. Pay very close attention and do what is necessary.”
No sooner had the words left his maw than Raleigh Reilly stormed into the infirmary. The disheveled human commander’s greasy, black hair swung wildly from side to side. “What is the meaning of this, Tirr?”
Tirr stood erect and lowered his chin in an almost bow. “I am sorry, Commander Reilly. Fuul asked me to update you on our patient’s condition. There has been a marked decrease in her waste output in the last twelve hours. Combined with what we’re seeing in her biochemistry, Fuul believes the child needs to be exposed to the sun for thirty minutes per day.”
Honor the Threat Page 24
