“And that is?” asked Dotty, who’d been listening to the conversation with great interest.
“Our enemy searches for us to enslave us. All of the villages within fifty miles of the compound have been raided, destroyed, and their people carried off into slavery. So we abandoned our homes near the great rivers and faded into the forest. We still have enough creeks and ponds nearby for our needs, though someday we hope we can return to our ancestral hunting grounds.”
Jonah nodded and pushed his faceplate down, listening as looked at a map of the canyonlands on his HUD. The canyonlands were huge, as he’d been told, with more land area than North America. They were narrow in the center of the north-south axis, six hundred miles from top to bottom, widening to the east and west until well over a thousand miles from cliff wall to cliff wall. There was the massive river, which wasn’t really in the center, splitting the land with a quarter to the south and the rest to the north. Hundreds of rivers flowed into the central river, each with dozens or scores of creeks flowing into them. There were a couple dozen large lakes scattered about, with their feeder and fed tributaries.
The central river wasn’t the only one that led to the sea. Dozens of other large rivers flowed into the ocean, many forming large estuaries or bays. And between all the rivers was a jungle that made the thickest jungles on Earth, the Amazon, Congo, and Southeast Asia, look like babies. Fifty or so miles between the jungle and the scree slopes was higher ground, filled with what would be considered temperate forest on Earth. From the ocean to the end of the valley was over four thousand miles. Twenty-five hundred miles of it was the jungle, with almost five hundred miles of forest, then over a thousand of grasslands. The life on the grasslands was quite a bit different from that in the jungles, made up of large herd animals and predators just as big.
“How many of your people are on this world?” he asked the chief while he was memorizing the map. Unfortunately, while the map was great for an overall view of the world, or at least the part of the world that was of interest to off-worlders, for a close-up of this region it was useless, only showing the largest rivers. Otherwise, just a featureless green mass. That was one of the reasons they needed the help of the Kalagarta, as expert guides.
“That is something I do not know, Human,” said the chief, giving off a gurgling snort. “We do not possess the wonders you do. We are only aware of what is within a month’s walking distance. And even there, we are only on speaking terms with the tribes within a week’s travel.”
“That’s what I thought,” Jonah said, shaking his head. Not that it really made any difference. As long as they were connected to the people who could get them where they needed to go, the company really didn’t need to know about the similarities and differences between what were probably several thousand tribes.
Women of the tribe came from the fire, each with a platter of meat and vegetable matter. Dotty had passed everything they were being served. What she couldn’t do was tell the team members if it would be palatable.
Joey immediately dug into his meat, his silence an indication of how palatable he found it. Charley started off with something that looked like a reddish fruit, similar to a tomato. Jonah started with some greens, wanting to know if it was tasty or not.
“Damn,” Charley said after swallowing a bit of the fruit, “this is good. It tastes sort of like an apple, but not.”
Jonah chewed the mouthful of greens and hissed in surprise as the flavor of strawberries burst among his taste buds.
“I could eat like this every night,” Joey said around the meat he was chewing.
“We cannot guarantee you will eat this well every night,” said the chief, after swallowing a piece of meat himself, “but can tell you that you will not starve. None of our hunting parties go without. The world is good. The gods are good. And they provide.”
But they won’t rescue you from the people who have come to kill your world, Jonah thought. He might die on this mission, but now he knew what was at stake. And dying to prevent that did not seem like such a bad thing after all.
* * *
“Did we really have to get up so early?” complained Sergeant Nlorn, stopping outside the gunship and blinking his sleepy eyes.
Mmrash didn’t say a word as he glared at the trooper. He wasn’t in the mood for any backtalk this day. The night had gone as he’d expected, with the boss dressing him down for hours. There had only been four hours to eat and sleep in, if he wanted to follow orders and have his ships in the air at the ordered hour, and one hour had gone by with tossing and turning, as the emotions of anger and fear warred in his mind. On the one hand, he wanted to kill Jillor for the language that had been thrown his way. On the other, he was afraid the Syndicate would take his life if he failed again.
The sergeant’s ears lowered in distress, then the warrior went into the troop compartment. Low speech came to the commander’s ears before he entered, then died as he came into sight through the opening. Every warrior had some food in hand, and they were busying themselves with eating so they didn’t have to look at their leader. He felt no such qualms, and he looked them over as he passed through to the cockpit door. All had on their stout clothing, proof against the weapons of the natives. They wore heavier body armor over their torsos, including pads over the shoulders of their upper arms. Helmets sat on their heads, tufted ears thrust through the holes provided for them, while naked tails swished back in forth in a show of raw emotion.
All the soldiers were heavily armed. Everyone had a pistol or two on their belts, most had laser carbines, though one had a heavy laser and another a grenade launcher. The other squads were similarly armed. The gunship itself had a pair of heavy lasers in a nose turret, side-mounted door lasers that some of the troopers in this compartment could access, and rocket pods to the sides. It also carried an auto grenade launcher in a smaller turret next to the nose lasers.
The four standard shuttles weren’t armed as well, although they carried enough weaponry to make them effective ground attack craft. Each had a laser in the nose and two more set in the troop compartment for the soldiers to use as door guns. Altogether, he had fifty dismounts and ten shuttle crewmen, including himself. If they caught the Humans out in the open, the fight would be over before it began, and if they had to land and take them on in the jungle, he had the manpower to overwhelm them.
The pilot was wearing a helmet with a sighting pip that would aim the lasers and grenade launcher wherever he was looking.
I wish we had some armored vehicles we could drop, he thought as he strapped himself into the co-pilot chair and pulled on his helmet, making sure it was set comfortably so his ears could move. There were armored vehicles in the compound, but nothing light enough for these aircraft to carry, so this would be an airmobile operation from start to finish.
The commander thought about how good it would be to be able to read the people under him. The operation up in the cold had almost driven them all mad. Unable to see the reactions of the others of their people with them tended to make Xlatan feel isolated.
“Everyone stay close to the gunship,” he ordered over the comm. “Two and Three, I want you to my right. Four and Five to the left. Follow protocol if we have to surround a village. And everyone, keep your eyes, ears, and noses open. I want no one dying stupidly.”
Of course, there was always the chance that some would die, perhaps many. As long as they died advancing the mission and the people, that was fine. But to waste themselves looking for glory and finding shame? That was not acceptable. They were warriors, but they weren’t unthinking rage-filled berserkers, unlike some other species he could name.
“You know where to go,” the commander said. It wasn’t a question.
“To the point where we think the Humans came down into the lowlands.”
“Then let’s get this thing off the ground. I’d prefer to have a hot meal this evening. But be assured, we’re not coming back here without them.”
* * * * *
> Chapter Fifteen
It was still dark out when they left the village. Jonah wanted to get off to an early start. Things might not go as expected, and they had little time to waste. Thirty of the Kalagarta warriors were with them, including the young war chief who’d proudly showed his injuries the night before.
I really wish the old chief was the one leading this party, he thought as he watched several of the young warriors stagger while they moved in their hopping gait. The young ones had drunk too much the night before. The species had a very low tolerance for alcohol, though they seemed to love it.
They’re proud and looking for a fight, was his next thought. That was dangerous. The mission was to get his company close to the invaders’ compound so they could scout, not to get into pitched battles along the way. If they had to fight, so be it, but if he could get there without one? That would be even better.
His people were in a standard combat patrol formation, two squads, each in a vee. Ten yards between each mercenary, twenty between the groups. The Kalagarta were arrayed around them. Normally the colonel would have had two people on point and another pair as rear guard, but he didn’t see the need while the natives handled that for him. This was their home—their hunting environment—and he was sure they’d be better at it than his people.
After an hour of walking, the forest started to lighten around them. The Humans all had the night vision of their helmets, and the natives seemed to have the dark sense of cats. Still, natural light was welcome by all.
The hand of the Kalagarta in front went up. It seemed to be the universal signal of biped warriors. It made sense, since a biped could hold up one hand, easily seen, while leaving the other to handle their weapon.
“What do you have?” Jonah asked as he moved forward in a crouch, stopping beside Xebraferd, the young war chief
“Just a slight delay,” said the young warrior, pointing his spear ahead.
A couple of very large animals stood ahead on pillar-like legs. Tentacles reached from under their mouths to curl around the branches of leafy trees, stripping the leaves off and pulling them into the small mouth beneath. They reminded the colonel of camouflaged elephants, their greenish skins blending into the forest.
“Are they dangerous?”
“Not particularly,” answered the Kalagarta. His face was set in what a Human would call a frown, but among his people was a smile. “They don’t have many enemies on land, but they are near-sighted and will attack things that come into their space and startle them.”
“How long will we have to wait?” the colonel asked, sure that the natives weren’t going to try and kill the animals.
“Not long.”
A loud hooting erupted from the forest, and the big beasts turned their heads quickly that way. Both raised the flailing tentacles into the air and let out their own versions of croaking hoots. In a moment they turned and shuffled off in a gait that didn’t look fast but would soon overtake most Humans.
“The way is clear,” said Xebraferd, waving his hand forward. “They will be back. That tree is one of their favorite foods. And they can have all of it they want, once we have moved on.”
Jonah agreed with that, and he kept his people moving after the Kalagarta. It wasn’t difficult to keep up with them. The normal walking gait of a Human was much quicker than their hopping gait. He thought his people had much more stamina as well.
“What do we need to look out for in this forest?” he asked, sidling up to the war chief. “Any dangerous plants?”
“You saw the only one we consider dangerous last night.”
“The tree?”
“The tree. And if you know what to look for, they are not a threat. That will change once we get into the lowland jungle.”
Jonah checked his HUD. They were still over two thousand feet above sea level, but they had been moving in a generally downward path.
The bubbling of a stream came through the forest, and moments later they found themselves at their first water crossing. It wasn’t much, only about twenty yards across and at most a couple of feet deep. The water was crystal clear and cold. The Kalagarta walked through without hesitation, so the Humans followed.
“Shit!” Graham yelled out, stepping through quickly. “Cold as shit.”
“At least it’s not deep, or full of things that are trying to eat us,” Ivan said. “Man up, Kevin.”
They walked on for another hour, when Xebraferd again raised a hand to stop the party. The Humans took a knee, and the flustered native turned and motioned for them to get back on their feet. Something ahead let out a huffing roar, and all of the Humans reacted by shouldering their weapons and aiming them in the general direction of the sound.
“Do not fire,” said Xebraferd, looking back at the colonel. “Do not do anything but stand there until I tell you to do otherwise.”
A large animal stepped into view on the path ahead. Jonah sucked in a breath as he recognized the creature. It wasn’t exactly the same, but the similarity to the large hunters in the midlands was unmistakable. It was larger, and without the heavy fur of the cold climate hunters. The legs were longer, as were the ears. It had a similar green camouflage fur as the elephant creatures, an adaptation to the lowlands vegetation.
It showed its teeth as it looked over the party. A moment later another equally large predator stepped up to stand beside it. Three more, slightly smaller, probably females, faded in from the foliage. All looked over the party, heads turning to take in the entire group.
It was almost as if they vanished, they disappeared so quickly. The colonel wondered if he had imagined them.
“Why did we stand up and let them look us over?” Joey asked, lowering his rifle.
“The Garala do not bother us if we do not molest them,” said Xebraferd, waving the party forward again. “When we meet them in large groups, we let them see what we have. They investigate, see that it is not worth the trouble, and move on.”
“Would that work for us?” Ivan asked.
“I do not know,” said the war chief. “You are alien to them, so you might elicit the same reaction, or they might attack you to see what kind of threat you are.”
“Why don’t you just kill them?” Yusef asked, walking slowly under the weight of his heavy equipment.
“Is that what you do on your world? Kill other life because they inconvenience you?”
“Maybe they are no better than the other aliens,” said one of the other warriors.
Maybe we are, and maybe we aren’t, Jonah thought, but we’re what you have.
* * *
Mmrash glared in frustration at the endless sea of trees that passed below. They’d been cruising along in a search pattern for the last four hours, and so far had seen nothing but the tops of trees. There had been some clearings, empty. A couple of times, shuttles had set down in them to find nothing.
“Isn’t there any way to see below this crap?” the commander growled, staring at the pilot.
“With the heat of the sun reflected from that foliage?” the pilot said, his ears twitching in amusement. “Maybe at night, when the ambient temperature has gone down. But during the day?”
“But, but, our infrared sensors work perfectly fine for our troops on the ground,” the commander said, ears twitching in anger.
“I’m sorry, commander, but on the ground you’re not looking through dozens of yards of leaves. Up here we’re trying to look through that vegetation, and the plants around here are metabolizing just like the animals, just at a lower rate.”
A long break appeared ahead in the forest, where a river flowed through it. Nothing compared to those in the jungles lower down, but still fifty yards in width.
“Maybe if we patrolled up and down the river we might pick them up,” suggested the pilot.
“And maybe we won’t,” the commander growled. If the enemy crossed while an aircraft was within sight, the Xlatan would have them. But if they waited until there were no aircraft in sight?
&n
bsp; “Head for that village we sighted to the north,” the commander ordered, pointing to the map on the Tri-V over the dash. “Let’s see what they have to say.”
“I’m betting they’ll have nothing to say,” the pilot said under his breath.
“And I’m betting we can dig the information out of them,” the commander growled, pointing a finger at the pilot. “So just go where I told you to go.”
The pilot’s ears twitched in acknowledgement and he pulled the joystick over while the commander got on the comm.
“All ships. We’re heading to the village to the north that’s marked on your maps. Deploy as per SOP.”
Mmrash leaned back in his seat, rubbing his eyes, still not feeling rested enough to think clearly. If he had to bet, the Humans would have tried to make contact with the Kalagarta. And that village they’d spotted was the only known habitation in this local area.
* * *
“What’s that?” Joey asked, looking up at the foliage overhead.
Jonah heard it too, a high whistling noise, seeming to be coming up from the south. It grew in volume until he could make out the whirring of the fans, the kind used to keep slow-moving atmospheric craft aloft or allow them to hover. It sounded like more than one, though being underneath the trees, it was hard to determine just how many.
“Enemy aircraft,” Charley hissed, looking over at Ivan.
That merc already had his small, portable missile launcher out and extended, ready to bring it to his shoulder and fire.
“They are moving on,” said Xebraferd, looking up, “to the south.”
“To your village?” Sandra asked, her eyes wide as she looked back in the direction the sound was fading.
When Eagles Dare Page 16
