First of the First

by Andrew Maclure

  Touren spoke up, “Anyone other than either of you two would be a good choice to compose a message to them, though it would be better if it was delivered by Sally, since she is well known as a respected and capable military leader, but lacking in diplomatic skills.”

  “What do you mean!” Sally said.

  “I’ll just remind you of how you skillfully used a persuasive argument to get you out of the meeting on Major Bryd Sa Dett’s flagship when you, Mike and Mark visited. You recall? Mark described you as turning into a werewolf.”

  Sally snorted, but couldn’t think of anything to say to rebut the accusation. “Well, you’re quite diplomatic and polite, so come up with something quick.”

  Touren closed her eyes for a few moments, which stretched out to a few more moments. Then she opened her eyes and said, “I’ve sent it to your AI. Read it then broadcast it to all the hostiles surrounding us. I know you can do that with your AI. Don’t change any of the words!”

  “What does she mean, she knows Sally can do that with her AI. Mine can’t.” Simon said to Orange, who just shrugged.

  Sally sent the message:

  “Attention all soldiers surrounding the lander. You are poorly armed and armored. We have state of the art armor and weapons. We do not wish to hurt you. Please lay down your weapons and hold your arms out, palms up. We will hold you here temporarily, then release you. If you wish to leave, we will arrange safe transport for you. Any of you that fire on us will be treated as a hostile and we will respond with deadly force. We will disembark and take your weapons into safe custody.”

  “They’ve all received and read it.” Sally said. “Simon, Orange, Kar Fen, Ranesh. Come with me and we’ll collect their weapons. The rest of you stay in here.”

  “I’m coming.” Mark said.

  “Yes Mark. Of course you are.” Sally said, tetchily. She stood at the door as it slid open. As soon as it was open, two RPG’s were fired into the lander and the multi barreled heavy caliber KE weapon started spewing out bullets at the rate of five thousand rounds a minute.

  Sally stood behind the phase shift protection, which prevented any of the ordnance from entering the lander, and watched the RPG’s explode harmlessly against it. Mark moved up to stand next to her in time for the first of the plasma grenades to hit and explode on impact. The intense white flash from them was mostly absorbed by the armor, as was the sound. The KE weapon continued its prodigious fire rate until eventually the magazine ran out.

  “Shall we?” Mark said.

  “Come on then.” Sally replied.

  “After you.” Mark said, and turning to Ranesh, said, “I would allow you to go first normally Ranesh, but excuse me if I don’t this time.”

  Ranesh looked puzzled by this show of Earth manners but ran out after him without question. She was followed by Simon, Orange and Kar Fen.

  Sally made for the two who were still holding the RPG launchers, Mark made straight for the two hostiles operating the tripod mounted heavy machine gun. They were just settling a new magazine into its cradle and opened fire on him. If they were expecting him to be ripped into small pieces by the torrent of heavy caliber bullets that they hosed him with, they must have been very disappointed. But that disappointment was short lived, as were they. Mark liked the look of the machine gun though, so he was careful not to damage it.

  He turned away to see if he could help elsewhere. He saw Sally standing by three bodies with her hunting knife in her hand, and Orange, just beyond the rear of the lander, felling one hostile with his stone-like fist while holding off another, then quickly dropping him too.

  Ranesh walked round from the other side of the lander, followed by Kar Fen, who was holding two of the hostiles by the shoulders and marching them back with him. Simon followed close behind.

  “Prisoners Fen?” Mark said as he approached.

  “Yeah. They dropped their weapons and held their arms out when they saw me running towards them.” Kar Fen replied.

  “I’m not surprised. I nearly shat myself first time I saw a Krendor running towards me with a knife.”

  “But he wasn’t as warm and cuddly as me.” Kar fen said with a grin that showed his elongated muzzle full of long serrated teeth.”

  “Cuddly isn’t the first adjective that would spring to my mind if I had to describe you. Bloody great scary reptile would probably be the words I chose.”

  Kar Fen tipped his head back and made the loud coughing noise that passed for laughter in his species.

  “What are we going to do with them?” Ranesh asked.

  “We could give them to you to look after, it might bring out your maternal instincts.” Mark said.

  Ranesh snarled and said, “In my race, the men look after the children!”

  “I’m not surprised, if I was your partner and you told me to look after the kids, I would do it. I’d be too frightened to argue with you.”

  She smiled and slapped him on the back. “You are a funny man Mark.” The slap would have knocked him over and probably broken some bones if his phase shift armor hadn’t been protecting him.

  Sally came over to them. “I said we would give them safe passage if they surrendered.” Turning to the two prisoners, she asked, “Where do you want to go?”

  One of them said nervously, “You will really let us go? Could you take us somewhere we can get a ride to Cardak?”

  “Cardak? That’s not in the Herassan Empire, it’s a Gretton planet.”

  “Yes, will you take us somewhere well away from here where we can get a ship to Cardak?”

  “We can take you there, but we’ll need to keep you restrained for the time being, we’ve got unfinished business here. Mark said.

  Sally turned to Touren, who along with Bekkreshan and Seltet had joined them outside the lander, “You three can guard the prisoners. You can hold them out here and we’ll wait in the lander in case Mike needs us.”

  “It only takes one to guard prisoners. I’m coming with you.” Bekkreshan said.

  Seltet joined in, “I’m coming too. You don’t need me here; you might need me in there.”

  “What’s this? A rebellion in the ranks?” Sally said.

  “You shouldn’t have made me stay in the lander while you tackled the hostiles. If I’m going to be part of your team, I stand with you, not skulk in the background.” Bekkreshan said.

  “And the same goes for me. You’re not going to keep me out of the front line Sally, or I’m leaving!” Seltet said.

  Sally sighed, “OK, you’re right. You both come with us.”

  “Why do I always get to be the babysitter?” Touren asked.

  “I’m sorry Touren, but someone has to guard them, and if you were them, who would you rather have guarding you? Bekkreshan? Ranesh? Simon?”

  “Alright, I’ll do it. I don’t think I’d like any of you guarding me.”

  “What about me?” Mark said indignantly. “They’d be safe with me.”

  “I’m sure they would Mark. I would be more concerned that you might accidentally let them go.”

  “Of course I wouldn’t! Do you think I am a perfect idiot!”

  “No, not at all Mark.” she said with a smile. “Nobody’s perfect.”

  Simon burst out laughing and slapped Mark on the back. “She’s got your measure.”

  “I’m going to get them a set of restraints each.” Touren said and went back into the lander.

  “I wonder how Mike’s getting on?” Seltet asked.

  “She’s probably laying back and chilling out, sharing a bowl of smoke with the rebel leader. I’m going to put my feet up in the lander and have a coffee. Are you coming Mark?” Simon said.

  “In a moment.” Mark replied. “Kate, what’s happening with Mike?”

  “I don’t know. She asked for the feed from the drones to not be broadcast, only to relay her request for extraction if she needs it.”

  “God she’s pig-headed!” Mark said and followed Simon into the lander.

  Chapter Fo
rty Four

  Showdown

  As Brel Edd Senn advanced towards her, knife in hand, Mike said, “You’re a warrior, aren’t you?”

  “Yes. So what?”

  “Wouldn’t it be the honorable thing to do, to let me fight for my life?”

  “What, a girl like you? Fight me? That would be like me granting an insect the right to fight for its life before I trod on it.” he sneered.

  “You said a few minutes ago how long I have lived, compared to my natural life span.” she smiled. “You can hardly call me a girl. And you forget, I have had some experience of fighting, in Sally’s army.”

  “Hah! You don’t think cringing in the corner under Sally’s protection qualifies you as a soldier do you? I think I’m fine with this.” he said as he came closer, holding the knife up threateningly..

  “And would you rather be remembered as a child murderer, or the assassin of the heir apparent to the throne of the First of the First, killing her in a fair fight?”

  He stopped. “All right. Unarmed, hand to hand. And you can take that armor off, as well as any hidden weapons.” He pulled a handheld pulse weapon from his pocket and held it to her head as he moved behind her and cut the rope holding her hands tied. He stepped back, keeping the weapon trained on her. “Now take the armor off.”

  Holding his gaze, she undid her armor and let it drop to the floor, then kicked it into the corner of the room.

  “Now the jump suit. I want to be able to see what weapons you’ve got strapped to you.”

  Mike stripped off and took off the back harness holding a short sword. She then removed the two short scabbards on her forearms, each holding narrow bladed knives. Finally she unstrapped the hand help pulse weapon and its holster from her calf.

  “You could be dangerous if you knew how to use any of them.” he sneered. “You look good naked, maybe I’ll mate with you before I kill you.”

  “You look like shit, so dream on.”

  "Don't kid yourself, I'm in great shape, bigger than other males, more muscles." he said with a nasty grin.

  "You're right, you are unnaturally big. You've had surgery to make you bigger." she said dismissively.

  “I'm going to let you into a secret. You're going to die, so you'll never tell anyone. I like to tell your people before I kill them. I'm not Herassan."

  "What! So why all this?"

  "Revenge. You're right about the surgery, I'm a Gretton. I had myself surgically modified so I can pass as a Herassan. My soldiers are Grettons too. They are so committed to the cause that they readily agreed to the surgery.”

  “I hope you weren’t too close to any of them. If those left after I tackled them all went out to confront Sally, you won’t see them again.”

  “You may have got lucky, but my soldiers are trained in proper warfare tactics. They’ll easily overcome Sally’s rabble.”

  “I can’t believe you are deluding yourself. You saw what I did to your ‘properly trained’ soldiers. You should have killed me while I was tied up. You’re not going to survive this, neither will the remnants of your soldiers. They’ve got out of date assault rifles, no energy field armor and sub-standard body armor. Couldn’t your government even arm you properly?”

  “This has nothing to do with the Gretton government. Those cowards and weaklings haven’t the guts to do anything like this! It takes a strong and determined leader to plan and execute an action like this. As soon as the people of Gretton see what I’ve achieved, they’ll overthrow the government and rally round me. I’m going to make Gretton great again!”

  Mike shook her head. “I almost feel sorry for you. It’s over. Although, I am impressed that you managed to get this far with a handful of fanatics and virtually no resources. Drop the knife and hold your arms out, palms up, and turn around. I’ll have to tie your hands, then I’ll call my team in. They won’t hurt you; we can take you back to Gretton and you can get treatment there. It’s too late for your soldiers.”

  Brel Edd Senn’s eyes bulged. “You arrogant fool! I’m going to kill you, then I’m going to destroy your aristocracy and leave your government in shreds. Your army will be too busy fighting among themselves to worry about what's going on outside. When they've worn themselves down and the planets have all separated off into their own puny nation worlds, I'll come back leading the new Gretton army and pick them off one by one to form the new Gretton Empire. The only surviving Herassans will be our slaves." He laughed. “I have agents in your aristocracy, your government and your army. As soon as I cut the head off your leadership with your death, and then that weakling father of yours, the rebellion will start. Your society, your civilization, will collapse into chaos. You played right into my hands, coming back here."

  “You’re as mad as a rabid dran. You said revenge – what for? We’ve lived in peace with the Gretton Empire forever.”

  “Not forever. Have you forgotten the war of Porvus Three?”

  "But that was six hundred thousand years ago! We had only just mastered interstellar travel. And you declared war on us over some shitty little solar system we had just started to colonize. You have moved on since then and have your own Empire now. We trade with you, we welcome your citizens, there are millions of Gretttons who live in Herassan space! Your Empire is the second biggest in the sector."

  "We have an Empire of sixteen planets in fifteen solar systems. You stole our birthright! We should have an Empire the size of yours, not be the poor neighbors you deign to do business with on your terms, when it suits you. We are like vassals to you!”

  “You are our closest allies! When the plague devastated Fornen, it was Herassans who came in droves, thousands volunteered to treat your sick, to bury your dead, to rebuild the planetary economy. We are your friends!”

  “You came to patronize us! To show us poor, weak neighbors how strong and wealthy you are, how charitable you are and how much better you are than us! You rubbed our faces in the dirt. None of you deserve to live, you arrogant scum!”

  He lunged at Mike with the knife in his right hand. She ducked under the blade and skipped to the side of the room. She was conflicted. He was dangerous and had caused the deaths of many of the rebels, but he was mentally ill, he needed treatment. She should restrain him so he could be taken back and treated by the Grettons.

  But on the other hand, he was trying to kill her.

  He advanced on her again, the knife held out, ready to attack. Mike feinted to his right and as he reacted, slipped round his left and ran to the opposite wall. She had never trained for this, to disarm and disable him without injuring him.. All the years she had been hiding from the Herassan’s sent out to find her and bring her back, she had trained herself to fight and flee. Since she joined Sally’s army she had been trained to kill, quickly and without mercy. This was now the only way she knew how to fight.

  Brel Edd Senn turned and ran at her. As her instincts kicked in she ducked down under his arms and hit him in the stomach with her shoulder. While he was distracted momentarily, she went under his arm and jumped on his back. With her left arm pulled tight against his throat she leaned forward and grasped his right wrist. He wasn’t as strong as she expected. Yanking his arm up and to the left she almost succeeded in stabbing him the throat, but he ducked his upper body down and threw her off over his head. Her feet contacted the wall and upside down, she fell clumsily. Brel Edd Senn regained his balance and swung the knife down to slash at her. She turned her head sideways and pulled it back until it banged on the wall, but he caught her cheek with the tip of the knife blade. It skidded across her cheekbone and cut a long wound that poured blood down her face.

  Mike kicked out at his right leg, hitting the inside of his knee and pushing it sideways, He shouted in pain and staggered, holding out his right hand with the knife in it, to support him as he lurched against the wall. She pushed herself up and grasped his left hand, deftly breaking two of his fingers as she got behind him, then kicked the back of his left knee. With his right knee damaged
and in pain, he dropped to the floor. Mike grabbed at his right hand and banged it against the wall. As his fingers loosened their grip on the knife, she prized it out of his hand, raised it up and plunged it into the back of his neck, just below his skull. The blade passed cleanly between the second and third vertebrae, severing his spinal cord, and he slumped to the floor.

  Mike stood back and wiped her face with her forearm. The bright red blood glistened against her green skin, and she looked around for something to wipe it on. She looked at her jumpsuit, then leaned down and wiped her arm on Brel Edd Senn’s back. She pulled on her jumpsuit and boots, picked up the small handheld pulse weapon and walked out of the room.

  Chapter Forty Five