"Whatever," Wilmington said drolly. "You know the old trail east of the city that used to lead to that pile of crap the Indigs call Vor train valley?"
"You are meaning the ruins of the city Vortain Val Leasa."
"Again…whatever. Do you know it, or don't you?" Wilmington asked as he strapped on his pistol belt.
"Oui, I know of it."
"The last of the CDF have mounted troop carriers and are headed down that trail. They have wounded and exhausted Bios. They have overfilled the lorries they stole, and have more gas pumpers riding on top, so they are moving slow." He walked to a wall covered in a map and pointed. "I want you to fly a few ships out there and when they get into the mountains, at this point between these cliffs, I want you to stop their convoy."
"You do not want me to destroy them?"
"No. I will lead our troops out there and kill them personally. This Sergeant made a Major out of hand is of particular interest to me. I will personally end his life, and then that bitch, that Lieutenant Colonel Selina. Then, I will roast Otto over an open flame and watch him die slowly. None of us can afford to allow even one of those with knowledge of the clinic to get away, and as we don't know who does and does not…well, they all must die, mustn't they? I will personally ensure that happens."
"So, you are at long last going to get blood on your hands? Will you also share the danger, I wonder?"
"Serf, you overestimate your value to me. Any one of your lieutenants can do what I tell them to do…I don't need you. So, keep a civil tongue in your mouth or—" With lighting speed, he pulled the pistol from its holster and aimed it directly at Delaflote's head. "I'll blow your tongue out the back of your head."
Delaflote did not flinch. "And you, monsieur, are apparently ignorant of just how much you do need me. None of my pilots will fly without me. Try to order one of them into the air. Go on, open your COMde and give them an order. Perhaps you think to send your Executive Committee to force them. Then, monsieur, you will have two wars to fight. Vous comprenez?"
Wilmington slowly replaced his pistol. "You know, Serf, there are a thousand ways for a bio to die out there."
"You are aware, Richard, that I know exactly where your G-buc is located."
Wilmington considered a violent response to the threat. But he needed the pilots to help him destroy the CDF in order to keep the nectar flowing out of the clinic and to prevent the information about its origins and purpose from reaching Earth.
"Get out," Wilmington spat out the words.
Delaflote smirked and turned to leave. When he reached the door, Wilmington stopped him. "The CDF should be in the mountains about dawn. Be there."
○O○
Dave had informed Kathy of Chuck's injury and they went straight away to the vehicle that carried him. They hopped into the airlock as the vehicle moved slowly through the woods and were soon face to face with Doctor Bristol, the head of xenoanthropology research on Antyllus.
She was in her white lab coat, but it was stained with blood. Her hair was a mess and she was exhausted.
"Doctor," Dave whispered, "we're here to see Chuck Alistair."
She looked at them both blankly. "You two know I'm not a medical doctor, right?" Her eyes filled with tears and she began to cry. Slamming her fist against the side of the vehicle, she shouted, "I'm a damned anthropologist…I just volunteered for this."
Kathy grabbed her, "Doctor Bristol, pull yourself together. We don't need you doing this right now or right here."
The doctor glanced about at the other wounded, then composed herself, and without looking up she said, "I lost him. I lost Alistair. I did everything I could, but…I am not a medical doctor!"
Dave and Kathy stood stunned a moment. The doctor turned away. "I have other wounded," she quickly went to the far end of the vehicle.
Night fell on Dave and Kathy with the great force it always does when soldiers feel the loss of a comrade, and a friend. The darkness lay over the members of the CDF that night like a wet blanket drenched with tears of sorrow for all their dead. The loss of fellow soldiers on the battlefield is hard enough, but when one of them is a friend…it brings his—and all the deaths—into focus.
Dave and Kathy, who should have been celebrating their discovered love, were instead watching two volunteer SUBs as they very quickly dug four very deep holes into which they would lay the bodies of their friends who died during the escape, among them Hauptmann Chuck Alistair.
Dave noted the location of the graves on his mental map. Seventy or so of their friends and comrades gathered at the little impromptu cemetery, each said a silent prayer, saluted, and slowly returned to the convoy. There wasn't time for more. Dave and Kathy were the last to leave.
"You know," Dave commented, "after the loss of Hugh, my only real friend on JILL was Chuck. He was the first guy to befriend me. He could tell how sad I was, I guess. I never really opened up to him, ours was a one-sided friendship. I wish I had been more personable. I wish I'd known him better."
The darkness had completely closed in around the column and concerns began to rise. Everyone knew that the largest carnivores hunted at night. And to make matters worse, they were approaching the foothills of the mountains where the T'Pu Iya were known to hunt. Should one of those behemoths attack this column, with its wounded and those riding on top of the vehicles, the result would be devastating.
Dave and Kathy walked along the left side of the column, side by side, their weapons at the ready. She, using IR vision; he, passive, when Kathy suddenly stopped in her tracks.
"What is it?" Dave asked in an excited whisper and he looked off where her eyes were fixed.
Kathy took his arm and spoke aloud, "Let Dave, Major Dave Mitchel, in on this conversation, will you?"
Without a lost moment, Dave heard a calm, well-measured voice in his head over Ismay, "Hello, Dave."
"Hi, who is this?"
"You know me as Indra. Lieutenant Colonel Selina will confirm that I have already assisted both of you in escaping New Roanoke. Suffice it to say that I am supporting you in the current contest."
"Contest?"
"I must speak fast as Mr. Wilmington is having the communications satellites destroyed. To your north east is a cave large enough for your entire element. This cavern is frequented by the E'lawvat E'meset who have taken measures to prevent the planet's faunǽ from occupying the location. You should find safety there."
"Indra, that is not in the direction we wish to travel," Dave replied.
"Mr. Wilmington is aware that your destination is the ruined city of Vortain Val Leasa. Where else could you be going by staying on this path? Mr. Wilmington has ordered the remaining V-tols to intercept and stop you in the valley centered at grid 765 342. They will attack your element at dawn as you enter the valley.
"Mr. Wilmington is leading a ground assault against you that will commence immediately after the air attack. I suggest, come the dawn, that your location be the cave, rather than the valley.
"I read your report, Major. I am embarrassed to have been deceived for so long and ashamed at my actions since your first reconnaissance mission departed New Roanoke for the clinic. I will endeavor to aid you from this point in time onward. But when the satellites are destroyed, I will not be able to communicate with you outside the city."
"We can use whatever help you can provide, Indra, thanks."
"Major, you should redirect your movement now. There is a rough trail that leads in the general direction of the cave two point seven kilometers in front of your lead vehicle. Follow a heading of forty-two degrees for approx—" The voice abruptly fell silent.
"Indra?" Dave called over Ismay. Kathy again touched Dave's arm. She was looking up. In the dark sky above their heads, among the endless stars there had been an explosion. The radiating arms of the blast and the expanding energy sphere seemed to fill a quarter of the sky. In a few moments, it was gone.
"That," Kathy observed, "was the end of a satellite and the death of Ismay on Antyl
lus."
"Well, without Indra's help, Wilmington can't monitor the COMdes."
"And without the satellites the COMdes are reduced to line of sight communicators," Kathy observed.
"We'll make do, honey."
"What?" Kathy turned quickly to look into Dave's eyes. "Did you just call me honey?"
"Ah…well, yeah."
Kathy smiled broadly and reached out and took his hand. "That's the first time in years that… Darling, I'm starting to feel a part of something again."
"Honey, we are each a part of the other; now I am complete."
Kathy smiled. "I love it when you talk sappy like that."
"I've dreamed of having someone to talk sappy to all my life."
Hand in hand, they headed off on a new course…for both the little caravan of survivors…and for themselves.
○O○
Kathy held Dave's hand firmly as they started toward the front of the column. In the forest to their left, Kathy could hear the odd sounds made by the many varieties of insects and the low electrical sound of the vehicles as they trundled slowly along. Out here, the insect noises were a good sign.
As they walked, Kathy's little cranium voice returned. Hey…good job. You showed courage, strength, and above all common sense…at last.
And just what is it you're talking about? Kathy asked.
Oh, come on, you're not really going to play dumb with me now? You made Dave your own, something you wanted and let's face facts, it was going to take him forever to build up the strength to climb over that wall you built.
Okay, I admit it, I was afraid. And honestly, I still am. But I do love him.
And it's apparent he loves you, too. So, you won't need me anymore unless you start screwing up again…with any luck, we'll not chat again.
Wait a minute—I have to know, who are you and how is it you're in my head?
I'm the one you left behind Kathy. Do you remember a little girl in Yuma, Arizona who used to wish on stars? I can't really say goodbye, so here's hoping all our wishes come true.
Kathy looked up at Dave. He'd said he was complete. She realized that he completed her as well. Together, they were one. She had her wish…now to hold on to it.
They soon reached the lead vehicle and informed the driver of the new course. Then they went to the general and filled him in.
"Ach, so now you are trusting Indra?"
"Sir," Kathy was adamant, "he provided Zolna and me assistance when we were inside New Roanoke, and had no idea where to find you and the CDF. He destroyed the V-tols that were going to blow you to pieces as you left the compound. Now he's providing us intel on Wilmington's plans and advising us how to avoid them. Yes, sir, I trust him."
"All right then." The general went on. "We'll hide in the cave for the night, treat our wounded and rotate everyone through the vehicles so they can unmask and take some food and water. Tomorrow, after the V-tols have cleared the area we'll proceed on to Vortain Val Leasa."
"Sir," Kathy interjected, "if I might make a suggestion? We need a place where all our Bios can unmask and breathe, that place is not Vortain Val Leasa.
"As you know we built three places with breathable atmospheres on this planet—New Roanoke, the clinic, and the factory where we were going to start manufacturing for ourselves. I know it's quite a distance south, but—"
"Colonel, we abandoned that facility back when our relations with the Indigs, er…the E'meset, turned hostile," the general pointed out.
"Sir, a file provided to me by Indra indicates the factory is still standing and the O2 generators are still functioning. He believes the place a viable habitat."
"That's a hell of a long journey, Colonel. Many of these people won't make it."
"General, if we get caught in that cave, none of us will make it. And sir, the Bios won’t live indefinitely in those respirators, many of which are nearing the end of their usefulness. I don't see we have much choice."
After a brief moment of thought, the general replied, "I concur; let us draw up plans to get down there…but tomorrow. Tonight, let us rest in this cave. We are all exhausted."
Dave took Kathy aside and in a voice so low only a SUB could hear, he asked, "Honey, why not go to the Fish? It's much closer, we can all get in it…it's way big enough."
"As hard as it is to say no, I must. We can't bring Wilmington down on those innocent people inside that ship, and we certainly can't let that kind of technology fall into his hands."
Dave nodded.
The night was near half over when the convoy pulled up to a massive vine-covered cliff. When they first saw it, the cave looked like a large dark shadow.
As the vehicles were being camouflaged against aerial observation, Kathy, Dave, and thirteen additional CDF soldiers ventured into the cave to ensure it was safe. Among the selected soldiers was Zolna, none too pleased to be headed into a dark and unknown danger, again.
"Zolna," Kathy asked, "how is it you were courageous enough to come to a new world, but have been fearful of everything since you got here?"
"Ma'am, I was drafted! After I was made a SUB, they told me I was being assigned here, but they assured me I'd only be studying the effects of the planet's environment on our technology. I was going to study everything from the wheels of those trucks to the micro servos behind your eyes. In a laboratory! There was no mention of fighting monsters with rockets, stomping through prehistoric forests, getting shot at or going into huge dark caves!"
At a hundred meters from the gaping jaws of the enormous entrance to the underworld of Eya'Etee Ki Kee, the Bios were suddenly halted and gasping for air. One of them shouted, "Turn your filters on full!"
Kathy turned and shouted at the man, "What's wrong?"
"Damn, can't you smell that?" one of the men shouted at her.
All the SUBs activated their olfactory sensors, but only for a second.
"Oh, my God!" Dave exclaimed.
"Now, I'm glad to be a SUB, I can turn my nose off!" Zolna remarked.
"Here!" Kathy called. "I found it."
"What?" Dave asked as he joined Kathy at her side.
She was standing over a narrow, shallow trench cut into the stone that had been filled with a dark amber colored liquid.
"This is the source of the odor. This trench arches completely around the cave's entrance. See?" She pointed out its course to all present.
"What's in it?" a soldier asked.
"I don't want to know," Zolna replied.
Dave looked about. "Indra told us that the E'meset had taken measures to prevent the planet's faunǽ from occupying the cave."
"I think it should prevent us too, sir," one of the Bios remarked.
Everyone stepped over the trench and headed into the cave. Kathy triggered a chemical light ball and placed it on a stick about two meters long. She handed it to a soldier saying, "Hold this up above your head. You four stay in IR, the rest of us go to passive vision, and you Bios, turn your visors to passive, and keep your eyes peeled."
Passing just inside the yawning mouth of the cave, they entered a huge chamber thirty-five meters wide and fifteen meters tall. Instantly, they saw signs of E'meset habitation, sculptures, mosaics, and other works of very sophisticated art. There was construction as well; interior walls with doors and windows divided the cave into various chambers. There were fire pits and tables all made of stone exhibiting exquisite masonry work. They discovered stools and other furniture made from wood.
Everyone spread out, searching through the place.
Acoustics were fabulous in this chamber; every little noise seemed to echo everywhere. To be clearly heard, even by a bio, all one had to do is speak normally. They had been in the cave perhaps ten minutes when Kathy heard Dave's voice, "Kathy?"
"Yes, Dave?"
"I'm two rooms to your left. Come here, please."
Kathy was in a room that must have served as a domicile for as many as three E'meset. One of the nests the E'meset sleep on was smaller than she was, so Kat
hy presumed a mated couple and their offspring had resided here. She made her way out carefully so as not to disturb this family's home.
Two rooms over, she entered a door that led to a narrow passage which wound between several dwellings to the back wall of the cave. Following the wall, she eventually joined Dave standing in a small chamber. On the far wall, a skilled artisan had constructed a fresco of a tree up against the wall. Its trunk was made of mud, and twigs and bits of leaves made up its limbs. The wall had also been painted. High above the tree the red dwarf shone down on a scene painted on either side of the tree. On the left, the E'meset were depicted killing the Ukse in droves. Blood flowed into a great pool and the E'meset were bathing in it. On the right, New Roanoke was shown in flames.
At the base of this decorated wall were two human, and two SUB skulls. Above these were ornaments made from small SUB parts. Kathy reached down and picked up a dark marble, a SUB's eye. The light fibers at the anterior of the optical device had been woven into a ring of sorts, and through it a strap of braided leather decorated with other little bits of a SUB's interior workings had turned what was once part of a living, thinking, human being into jewelry.
Dave's face displayed both shock and disgust. He slowly looked at Kathy and asked, "How could they?"
Kathy had lifted a human skull and was examining it closely. "Dave, this skull has been in this condition for decades. I mean, think about it. These people are living a life not that different from humans at the time of the Greeks, Romans, or Aztecs. All of whom had their temples to war where they prayed for the success of their arms and the death of their enemies. I see this as no different."
"But the SUBs, Kathy? We've done nothing but help them!"
"Dave." Kathy could see he was becoming very upset so she set the skull and necklace down and walked up to him, taking him by the hands. "It would appear that there were SUBs here before our arrival that saw things more as Wilmington does. Don't forget, he's a SUB, too."
"Yeah…I'm sorry. It's just that I remember Wilmington telling us during his welcome speech that the Indigs made our parts into accessories for both their homes and their wardrobe. Do you remember when we saw Le'ha at the temple in Vortain Val Leasa? She had changed clothes, remember? Recall that image. She wore a hand painted loincloth, leaves, flowers, feathers, and…and shiny things decorated her body. Can you see it? Can you see the shiny things?"
The Vampires of Antyllus Page 32
