by Jean Kilczer
“Take it easy, tag. Hold onto something, will ya?”
I made my way to the cabin and studied the heads-up holo display. Company. The lights of the second hovair were closing behind us. “I knew it was too good.” I instinctively ducked as a rocket screamed past our portside.
“Son of a crote!” I slid into the co-pilot's seat and harnessed up. “Give me the controls, Bat. Hang on, Huff! We're going for a ride.”
He whined louder.
I'm a good pilot, but the superstar is better. I'd watched him do a wingover maneuver that got a following craft off our tail. “I can do that,” I muttered.
Bat looked at me but stayed quiet.
I bored a hole in the sky, straight up into starry night. When the hovair followed, I turned the craft over its right wing and plummeted back toward earth. Huff's whines grew into wails. Bat's eyes were wide as he grasped the armrests. I pulled the craft up just above the tree line and felt blood drain from my face. “Lost them.” I grinned at Bat.
He remained stiff, staring at the viewport. “I thought you lost me and Huff too.”
I turned the hovair southwest. “How 'bout you go tend to the fur ball? I think he needs some Southern comfort.”
Bat unharnessed and got up unsteadily, holding onto the seat. “That makes two of us, bubba.”
Chapter Nine
“Why didn't you tell me Joe is here?” I asked Oldore and got up from the bedding inside a home.
“You needed food, Jules breth, and you needed sleep. I provided both. Do you remember when you took a pill–”
“A digestall,” I explained.
“Yes, and then you ate, and then I led you here to my home to sleep?”
I had vague memories. “I guess I was kind of out of it.”
“Yes! Now you are ready to meet your friend. Come.”
I stared out the door.
“Come,” he repeated.
“What kind of a mood is he in?”
Oldore smiled sadly. “He is as withdrawn as the evening woods that retreat into night.”
“Still, huh?” I followed Oldore outside and toward another home. It was night.
“Is Joe breth your father?” he asked.
“No. Well…he's the only father I ever knew. But he doesn't always approve of the way I do things, you know?”
Oldore put a broad hand on my shoulder as we walked. Children followed us and giggled. “Disapproval of the young is the thorns on our plant of love.” He wiped a hand across his eyes. “When they think as adults, and act as adults… He paused. I did too.”That is the flower of our love."
“Those are wise words, Oldore.” I wiped a hand across my eyes.
He chuckled and led me to the entrance of a dark hut, then turned and walked away.
I stepped inside. “Joe?”
“I'm here.” His voice was raspy and weak.
“It's Jules.”
He was lying on the bedding. I sat beside him. He turned his head to look at me. “You shouldn't have come after me. It's dangerous, and Lisa needs you.”
I bit my lip. “She needs her grandpa too.”
“Sooner or later, old people die. She'll survive my death.”
“Joe. Will she survive your legacy if you don't fight for your life?” I rubbed my eyes. “Dammit, I need you too!”
“For what?”
“Just to be here,” I said softly, “for me.”
He rolled his head to face the wall. “You don't need anybody. You never did.”
“That's not true, Joe!” I reached out and took his hand. “Whenever I was scared, or things went wrong, it's you I turned to.”
“And did it your own way anyhow.”
I lowered my head. “It's my nature.” I thought of Oldore's words about the thorns and the flower of love. “You and Lisa and Sophia are the only family I have. I couldn't stand to lose any of you.” I squeezed his hand. “Come on, Joe. I'll try to do better in the future. But don't leave me. Don't leave Abby.”
He sighed. “Is she out of the hospital?”
“I don't know. Maybe Chancey and Bat know. I haven't had access to a star positioning system.”
“They went to rescue you. Did you escape?”
I nodded. “I don't have a comlink or I'd contact them. Joe, I'm afraid that Big Mack will locate this village and attack.”
“I think these people are doomed. They intend to fight with wooden weapons.”
“I was thinking…”
He turned his head to look at me.
“Well,” I said, “what if you contacted the Alliance as a retired Worlds Central Intelligence officer and cashed in some of those WOJs they still haven't paid up.”
“WOJs?”
“Yeah. We owe Joe.”
He actually chuckled. “You mean like extending their jurisdiction to include New Terra and sending forces against the mercs?”
I smiled. “It's a start.”
“The colonists have a strong lobby in the Central Congress on Alpha.”
“We could go there, Joe, and present the Orghes' case. Maybe…maybe Oldore would come with us.”
“I'm too tired,” he said wearily. “Tired of the battles. Tired of fighting for what's right against enemies of the Alliance. And against lobbyists and big business campaign money. There are forces on Alpha that want the Orghes exterminated and the human colonists given the planet.”
“Why?”
“This world is rich in resources that haven't been tapped. Yet.” He put his arm over his eyes. “Leave me alone. I want to sleep.”
I gripped his hand harder and pulled him to a sitting position. “You've slept enough, Dad. It's time to wake up. I need you. Abby needs you. The team needs you. But most of all, dammit, right now these people need you. I'm sorry that you'd rather wallow in self-pity, but the stakes are too high!”
“You're a pain in the ass. You always were.”
“That's right, Dad. And I probably always will be.” I grinned. “It's my nature.”
Shouts from outside.
Joe got up and we ran through the entrance. The Orghes were pointing at approaching lights in the sky.
“Hovair,” Joe said.
The people scooped up children and ran for the woods, some on all fours, hooting and shrieking.
“Could be a scout from Mack's base camp,” I said. “We'd better head for the woods too. C'mon.” I took his arm.
“Wait! The lights are flashing.”
I studied them. " … Morse code!"
“C,” Joe said. “Ch…”
“Cha…n…ch…” I added. “My God, it's Chancey! Mack and his men never met Chancey. Did you ever tell them his name when you were a captive of the pirates?”
He shook his head and a grin broke his stern countenance.
The hovair circled. When the lights touched us, we both waved.
“Chancey,” I whispered as the craft lowered to the ground. Burning embers from cook fires swirled into the night air. Wind blew my hair.
I hugged Joe and laughed.
“It's OK!” I called to Oldore, who had paused at the edge of the woods. “It's our team! You can call your people back out.”
Joe and I trotted toward the hovair. The hatch sprang open. Huff leaped out on all fours and ran to meet me.
“Huff!” I shouted. “Oh, Huff.”
He skidded to a stop, raised up on hind legs, spread out his arms, and howled as I ran to him.
“Huff!” I threw myself at him. He wrapped his arms around my back and lifted me off the ground.
“My Terran cub,” he cried in his growly voice, laced with sobs. “My liver is in joy!” He licked me with his broad tongue. It smelled of chocolate. “The Ten Gods bless me this night.”
“Me too,” I said.
“Hey, Superstar,” Chancey called, “what're we, chopped liver?”
“Chancey.” I tried to break free of Huff's hold, but he clung to me. “Bat!” I shouted as he jumped down from the hatch, dropped his medkit as he
tripped over long cuffs on his pants, got up, grabbed the kit and shuffled over to us. Huff licked me again and I had to blink to see. I couldn't wipe my eyes with his hold on me.
“C'mon, Huff,” I pleaded, “let go!”
He finally did. I gripped Chancey and buried my head in his shoulder, wiping tears on his shirt.
“Hey, man,” he exclaimed and I heard the catch in his voice, “you're giving me my Saturday night bath.” He held me at arm's length. "You OK?'
I nodded. “You?”
“Couldn't touch me, except fer these damn tight clothes. Hey, Bat, we shoulda known the superstar would escape and beat us back to the ranch.”
Bat came up to us with still gripping his medkit. I hugged him and wiped my eyes. “Don't you ever go anyplace without your black bag?”
“Never leave the house without it.”
I looked around at my team. “I can't believe we're all together.” I put a hand on Joe's shoulder.
He looked from Chancey to Bat and I saw his jaw tighten. “Did you tags hear about Abby's condition on the SPS aboard Sojourner?”
“She's fine, Joe,” Bat said.
“Left the hospital yesterday,” Chancey added. “She's back home, boss.” He grinned his lopsided grin. “Your daughter and granddaughter are staying with her.”
Joe's shoulders slumped with relief. He nodded. “Thanks for checking.”
“Hey, man,” Chancey said, “we were as worried as you were.” He went back to the hovair, dumped out the saddles and took two rifles. He gave Bat one and slung the other one over his shoulder. “Compliments of Big Mack.” He winked.
“Bat,” I said, “are you willing to give me your stingler? Oldore's men took mine. I feel kinda naked.”
“Sure, bubba.” He unstrapped the holster and handed it to me with a smile. “Hate to see a grown man naked. A rifle's plenty o' weapon for a medic.”
Thanks." I strapped it on. The Orghes were coming out from the dark woods.
“Listen, boss,” Chancey said to Joe and glanced at the northeastern sky, “the mercs aren't far behind us. I think they located this village.”
We all looked at Joe.
He rubbed his white bristly beard. “Oldore!” he called. “Get your people back into the woods. We're under attack!”
Oldore shouted out names and Sunrai and a team of mature males with bows and arrows hurried to his side. After a quick conversation, they spread out to turn the people back into the woods.
“Here they come.” I drew in a breath as lights swarmed across the northeastern ridge and spread out like a necklace at night's throat. Their hovair cruised above them. And then the glaring lights of a starship appeared, its massive body rising above the ridge, blocking out the ruddy moon. Throbbing growls of its star engines vibrated the ground I stood on.
I looked at Joe as the second starship lifted above the ridge and headed east, toward the woods.
“Let's go,” he said quietly and trotted toward our hovair as the ground vehicles' lights bounced down the hill. “Chancey!” he said, “You drive us to our starship, on the ground, under cover of trees. Bat, you stay with Chance when we get there.” Joe went through the hatch and we followed. “Jules, Huff, you two will come with me on Sojourner. We'll stay in touch by the ships' comlinks. Scramble the messages.”
Chancey trotted into the cabin with Bat behind him, started the engines, left the lights out, and taxied the hovair into the woods.
When we reached Sojourner, Joe, Huff, and I jumped down from the hovair's hatch.
Oldore approached us. “Take the children with you to safety,” he pleaded, his hand extended as a suppliant.
“We're not leaving you.” Joe strode to our starship. Huff and I were right behind him. “Get the kids under cover of overhangs or whatever you can find,” he told Oldore. “Hurry up! They'll blast you from the air and the land.”
Joe boarded Sojourner. Huff and I followed. “Take the controls, Jules. I'll act as co-pilot. Huff, you just hang on to something.”
“Yes, sir.” I smiled as I took the pilot's seat and turned on the engines. Whatever awaited us, the team was together again, functional, and had its leader back.
I usually love the purr of Sojourner's engines that rise to the keening cry of a bird of prey as it gains altitude. Then the deep throbbing of massive engines that sends it into space. But this time I had other things on my mind. I harnessed myself in. “What's the plan, boss?”
He turned on the comlink so that Chancey and Bat could hear us. “The way I see it, our hovair stays on the ground, dark, and fires from different positions as the enemy advances into the woods. Let them think there's more than one hovair. Chancey and Bat, you two use guerrilla tactics, hit and run. Keep them away from the Orghes. You reading this, Chancey?”
“We are, Joe,” Bat answered.
“Sounds good to me,” I said. “What's our mission?”
“Find an open field and take off, son. We circle around the crotes and attack from the air. I don't have to tell you to stay dark.”
“No, I figured that one out by myself.” I stared at him, this compact, white-haired, tough-as-nails experienced team leader, and felt a welling of love. This is what it must be like to have a real father.
I located a field of ground cover where trees couldn't grow, taxied and brought Sojourner up into the night sky.
“Stay low,” Joe said, “below their radar.”
“And stay dark.” I smiled at him and watched the radar screen.
Star Sojourner was a third generation recon ship that could accommodate a crew of six. We had lost two other ships during past missions. She's not armed for battle, but carries light weaponry for defense. This time we'd be stretching her capabilities.
“When they're all in the clearing,” Joe said, “we hit them with everything we've got.”
I bit my lip.
“You just fly the boat, Jules. I'll man the weapons.”
I nodded.
“War is nothing more than organized murder,” the last living soldier of World War I back in the 20th had said. I agreed. But here we were. Could I justify killing if it meant saving an innocent, vulnerable people? It was a hell of a choice. Yesterday Mack's men had shaken my hand and thanked me for alerting them of the Orghe trap they had blundered into. I rubbed my eyes. I was grateful that Joe made the decision for both of us.
“This boat was never meant for combat.” He studied the instrument panel and pushed a button. The woods below were lit on a screen as though it were daylight. “She'll have to do.”
The lights from the console reflected off his stern features. I sensed the courage and experience of a Worlds Central Intelligence officer behind that set jaw, the forward thrust of his head. This was the man I knew and trusted, and loved like a father. This was our team leader. I let out a slow breath. We finally had him back.
I banked the craft behind Mack's advancing mercenaries and held it rock steady and dark above the tree line.
Below us, jeeps and halftracks, seen clearly on the screen, threw mud from caked tires as they tore into the empty village, purposely plowing over drying racks of meat and animal skins and crashing through the fragile wooden homes. A halftrack rolled over the stacked dugouts, splintering them beneath its wheels.
“The crotefuckers,” I muttered.
“They intend to wipe these people off the face of the planet,” Joe said and brightened the screen. “It's probably happening on the other islands too. You still have reservations about engaging the mercs in battle?”
“We don't have a choice,” I said tightly.
Joe nodded. “Sometimes you don't.”
An ambulance, complete with a red cross, rolled into the village, then swung east and disappeared beneath trees. Their hovair circled the grounds, landed and plunged east.
I shook my head. “They know which way the Orghes went.”
The two starships banked over the woods and lowered, close to brushing tree crowns on an eastern path.
<
br /> Flames shot from the bellies of the ships in crimson streams that blazed a swath across trees and left bursting trunks and roiling infernos behind.
“They're not about to get caught in another trap,” I said.
“It's more than that,” Joe replied. “It's a scorched earth policy. Swing around behind the closer ship. Stay in their trail of smoke.”
I nodded. "They won't see us, or hear our engines with all their vehicles crashing through the village, right?'
“That's the idea. We come in on their tail.”
“What about the other ship when they see that we hit this one?”
“We head for the clearing where you took off, land this baby, and taxi under trees.”
“Hope it works, Dad. Huff! Come forward and strap in.” I knew the straps would be tight for him, but this was his safest place.
He shuffled into the cabin. “It hurts my liver to wear the bands,” he said, “and the rest of me, too.”
“I know,” I said, “but it's safer. C'mon, bud, strap in!”
“I am hurrying my rear side into this seat behind you, cub, but these bands are crushing my candy bars.”
“I'll buy you more!” I closed on the starship's tail.
Joe took the gunner's controls. “No beam weapons,” he muttered. “That ship's mirror- coated.”
I heard the turbine kick in. A flash of ion particles from our forward-mounted cannons struck the starship's stern though roiling smoke, hopefully disabling its electronics and computer systems. If any of the crew knew how to repair the damage, they wouldn't have time here in a planet's grav well.
I banked Sojourner away from the ship and tore a hole in the sky. The merc starship's lights shut down and it began to drift.
Poor bastards, I thought as I watched its bow pitch on the screen. The ship rolled to starboard and plunged into thick trees. We saw the explosion, but were well away from hurtling metal.
I smiled at Joe. “Nice work, boss.”
Sojourner was slammed to port by a hit. The deafening blast roared through the ship and rattled the controls. Damage lights flashed red. Alarms wailed, mixed with Huff's howls. I gripped the controls and tried to hold her on course. “The second starship!” I shouted.
“Head for space,” Joe ordered. “If you can.”
