“Uh, okay. Be there in five,” Krys said.
The line went dead without explanation. He stared at it for a moment and frowned. He turned and looked to the east, where the distant mountains were little more than a blur against the sky, and sighed. “Life seemed easier on the run,” he muttered before he turned back and started walking towards the village.
Six minutes later, he knocked on the door to her office. He’d seen four soldiers lounging around town and two more were stationed outside the command building. They were all new soldiers, not the faces he’d grown familiar with.
“Uh, hi,” Krys said when he stopped in front of the two standing guard outside the makeshift city hall. “I’m Krys Evans, here to see Lieutenant Riggs.”
One of them turned and motioned to the door. Krys offered him a smile he didn’t feel and walked between them and into the building. He made his way to Shelby’s office and knocked on the door before sticking his head in through the open doorway. “Hi,” he said. “What’s up?”
Shelby’s answering glare made him suspect that he’d pay dearly for that sixth minute when he’d told her only five. He turned and saw another man in a uniform rise from the chair he’d been sitting in. “Krys Evans?” he asked.
“Yes? Can I help you?”
“I understand you’re a native of Venus?”
Krys glanced at Shelby. She wore an expressionless mask before blinking and turning her attention to the army officer. “I am. I’m sorry, are you Captain Rosk?”
“That is correct. Tell me, Mr. Evans, how is it you came to be here?”
“I was born here,” Krys said.
The captain’s lip twitched at his answer. Krys knew it wasn’t a smile he was fighting. “I meant more recently.”
“I was out in the forest when the troops came,” Krys said. It was the same story he and Shelby had agreed upon for his records. Technically what he said was true; the problem was all the omissions that were truth mixed with the truth. “I was camping and exploring. A patrol of soldiers found me and brought me back.”
“I see. And are you aware of a discrepancy involving your alleged identity?”
“Alleged? I am Krys Evans,” Krys insisted. “And I’m getting tired of people suggesting I’m not.”
“So you are aware then,” he stated.
Krys nodded.
“And without proper genetic identification methods available during your youth here, we have no means of proving you are who you say you are.”
“I don’t see why that’s such a big deal, but okay.”
“It is a big deal, Mr. Evans. We should all be striving to be as open and honest as possible. Duplicity and subterfuge are the weapons of cowards and traitors. There is a zero-tolerance policy in place for such things.”
“Glad I’m not lying then,” Krys said.
The lines at the corners of Captain Rosk’s eyes deepened for a moment. “You were out in the wilderness. Were you alone?”
Krys turned to Shelby. “What’s going on here? I went through this years ago, didn’t I?”
“Answer the questions,” Shelby demanded.
Captain Rosk seconded her order. “Mr. Evans, I am the ranking officer in this region. Given the growing troubles that have occurred on Venus, it has been placed under martial law. You would do well to remember your place. Now tell me, were you alone?”
“Yes!” Krys snapped back at him. He forced his anger down and added, “The rest of my family was killed.”
“Families have no place in the modern world,” Rosk lectured. “They’re outdated and weak. They don’t foster education or responsibility. You might consider this a favor that was done to you.”
“A favor?” Krys repeated. He caught Shelby glaring at him out of the corner of his eye and managed to keep himself from leaping on the captain and trying to pound his face in. Barely.
“Indeed,” Rosk said, unaware of how much he’d angered Krys. “What happened next in your young life?”
Krys studied the officer, looking for flaws he could pick on. The captain was young too, but he looked a little older than Shelby. “I showed that I was better at fixing the broken equipment around here than anyone left. Then when the other maintenance tech was killed by rebels, I—”
“They aren’t rebels,” Rosk sneered. “Cowardly terrorists. These misguided fools are only bringing pain down upon themselves.”
“Um, okay,” Krys mumbled, too stunned by the man’s vehemence to come up with a witty response. “Well, they killed him and Lieutenant Riggs needed my expertise. Rather than send me away, she arranged to have my education requirements met here.”
He stared at Krys a long moment and then turned to Shelby. “I see. Is this one hundred percent accurate, Lieutenant?”
“It is,” Shelby said. “He’s passed all boards and has been granted full citizen status. Mr. Evans has as many rights now as you or I do, Captain.”
Rosk snorted. “Under normal situations, perhaps. With martial rule instituted, I think not. In fact, I have orders for both of you to head to the starport.”
“Both of us?” Krys asked.
“What about my colony?” Shelby rose out of her chair and leaned on her knuckles on her desk. “I can’t just leave it unsupervised!”
“I have been appointed acting commander in your absence, Lieutenant. You are to gather your basic necessities and head out immediately.”
“Wait a minute,” Krys protested as thoughts of his friends ran through his head. He remembered a couple of incomplete projects he kept around for emergency excuses and said, “I’ve got—”
“Immediately,” Captain Rosk growled.
“Come on, Mr. Evans,” Shelby seethed in barely controlled anger. She walked around her desk and grabbed Krys by the elbow so she could pull him after her out the door.
Krys let her pull him, confused and worried at the same time. She silenced him with a quick look and then tugged him out the door and past the two guards. She let go of his arm and continued walking towards her house. “Krys, can I trust you to meet me at the garage in fifteen minutes, or do I need to chaperone you?”
“So much for being a citizen,” he muttered.
“Knock it off!” she hissed.
“Fine, fifteen minutes.”
Shelby nodded. “Just necessities,” she reminded him.
“Do you have any idea what this is about?” he wondered.
She stared at him for a moment and then her eyes glanced away and back. She shook her head. “I don’t, but I’m not worried.”
He nodded. “Good. See you in fifteen.”
She offered him a smile and turned away. He watched her take her first steps and then turned to take his own. She didn’t need to be worried. He was doing enough of it for both of them.
Chapter 41
“This is Omega Platoon, Second Armored Brigade,” Lily broadcast to Settlement Delta-22. “Captain Lily Strain speaking. Please confirm.”
Several seconds passed without response. “Sunshine, run diagnostics on communications system.”
“Communication system operating within nominal parameters.”
“Sunshine, scan Settlement Delta-22 and verify power and transmission and reception capabilities.”
“I am unable to confirm reception and transmission capabilities,” the biomech stated. “Power readings within Settlement Delta-22 detected.”
“I guess that’ll have to do,” Lily said. “Open Omega comm channel.”
“Acknowledged.”
“Omega Platoon, arm weapons,” she announced. “Confirm threats before engaging. Do not, I repeat, do not endanger civilians. First Squad will enter first. Second Squad, secure perimeter of the colony. Third and Fourth, standby for repair and resupply actions.”
Lily paused a moment to take a breath. “Omega, move in.”
The biomechs and tanks moved forward as one. Inside of a few seconds, Kray’s scout biomech pulled away and left the others behind. The two light tanks pulled and st
reaked to opposite sides to flank and establish a perimeter around the small town. The medium tanks followed behind them and then the remaining biomechs made up the van of the platoon. Lily and Jessa moved ahead of Alex and Ela.
“Lieutenant Blain, conduct an aerial pass as soon as you’re in range,” Lily ordered.
“Yes, ma’am,” Kray responded a moment later. He paused a few seconds before announcing, “Coming in range in ten seconds.”
“Proceed,” she confirmed. “Sunshine, route all appropriate comm chatter to me without interruption.”
“Acknowledged.”
Lily watched through the biomech’s eyes as the scout biomech extended its wings and thruster nozzles from its back. A moment later, Kray’s robot leaned forward and jumped into the air. Hot gas exploded out of the back and propelled him up into the air in an arc. He sailed over the colony and landed out of sight on the far side of the village.
Lily’s topographical map flickered as it received the updated line of sight data from Kray’s scouting mission. The changes were minimal; only a few carts and vehicles seemed to have been moved.
“No sign of the colonists,” Kray announced over the comm channel.
“Confirmed,” she said with a frown. Was the entire colony hiding? They were walking through fields of wheat and beans, doing the best to minimize the damage. Most of it had been harvested but some plots remained. Plots that should have been tended to. As it was, the sun was halfway beneath the horizon.
“Second Squad in position,” First Sergeant Bidaro announced. Her tank squad reported to him, which made her platoon a mixed platoon of armor. Most biomech platoons had two full squads of biomechs. Rather than being upset by the disparity, Lily had found ways to use the variety to her advantage in the simulator missions. As a result, the tankers respected her more for it.
“Good job, tankers,” Lily announced. “First Squad entering the outer edge of the village in five seconds.”
Lily and Jessa split up and proceeded down two of the main roads of the village. Lily twisted and searched, scanning the buildings that she towered over as she passed. A few houses reached to second stories that rivaled Sunshine’s height, but for the most part only the harvest storage bins and the garages were able to compete with the height of the biomechs.
“Jess, secure the town hall,” Lily ordered. “I’m moving to the garage. Hawkins and Case, move to town center for reinforcement. Blain, mobile patrol of town perimeter.”
Amid the confirmations coming across her comms, Lily moved to the south towards the large garage the colony used to house their various vehicles. Aside from the missing people, everything looked normal as Sunshine’s plodding metal feet closed the distance. She saw harvesters and transporters, as well as a variety of other vehicles. Sunshine’s scanners picked out the vehicles faster than her eyes could and identified and categorized them.
“Captain Strain.” Sunshine’s voice broke through her concentration as she worked on figuring out what was nagging at her.
“Lily,” Lily mumbled. “Call me Lily, Sunshine. It’s faster and more natural for me to react to. Now go ahead, maybe you can tell me what’s bothering me.”
“Lily,” Sunshine confirmed. “The mobile armor units are missing from the garage, as are four of the large crop transporter vehicles registered to Settlement Delta-22.”
Lily felt her body jerk as she tensed up her hands. Sunshine’s arms shifted and rose; the lifelike robotic fingers of her left hand even curled into a fist. “Of course!” Lily hissed. “Open Omega comms!”
“Acknowledged.”
“Omega Platoon, stand ready for attack! The tanks are missing from the garage. Repeat, the tanks are missing from the garage.”
“Captain,” Jessa’s voice filtered through the comm channel, “the town hall has been abandoned. No life signs inside.”
Lily ground her teeth. “Where are they?” she whispered.
“Lily?” Sunshine asked.
“Disregard, Sunshine,” she snapped. “Squad Three, proceed to town and begin a building by building sweep. Squad Four, standby.”
Lily waited as her platoon shifted to follow her orders. She turned her biomech and started moving through the town. She made her way to the crop storage facility and confirmed that it was all but empty. She turned away, afraid to believe the theory that was forming in the back of her head. Squad Three was moving through the small village, groups of four soldiers stopping at each building and investigating it before moving on. It only took a few moments until the first grisly reports started coming in.
“Captain,” Staff Sergeant Mallory said. “All civilians are DOA. Repeat, we’re finding nothing but bodies, ma’am.”
Lily heard her breath hiss in and out of the mask, passing the hot air in and out of it. She tried to swallow past the dryness in her throat but wasn’t able to. She choked and cleared her throat, only then finding her voice. “Confirmed, Sergeant. Keep searching.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Before Lily could begin to consider the implications of the discovery, Lieutenant Blain announced a new discovery. “Captain, I found something you might want to see. Due east of the village, eight hundred yards into the apple orchard.”
“What’ve you got?” she asked as she turned her biomech to the east and started walking.
“When I did my flyby, I noticed a bare spot in the orchard. I just checked it out. A large section of the trees have been torn out and stacked up around it.”
Lily’s eyelid twitched. Stacked wood and a clearing? Sounded like a perfect defensive position. Get her people tied up in the town and then launch an attack while they were confused. She scowled. Not her first mission, no way!
“First Squad, fall out. Converge on apple orchard. Move!” she barked and kicked her biomech into a run. She focused on scouring through her maps and sensors, looking for threats, and forced herself to ignore the exhilarating feedback from Sunshine as the massive war machine stretched its muscles and showed her what it could do.
The four heavier biomechs converged on where the scout towered over the field of upturned dirt. Lily looked around and confirmed that the trees had been stacked to provide walls between the man-made clearing and the town, but there were no other defensive fortifications around it. Nor were there any defenders.
“What is this?” she wondered aloud. “Sunshine, can you scan the ground?”
“Negative,” Sunshine replied. “My sensors cannot penetrate the dirt.”
Lily scowled again and stepped forward to the edge of it. She knelt Sunshine down on one massive knee and then dug the metal fingers of her left hand into the loose dirt. She clenched and pulled it, unable to feel like she would have with her hand, and watched as dirt and rocks fell in a stream. A larger form dropped and landed on the ground, only to be partially obscured by the rain of dirt.
“That’s a body!” Jessa whispered over the comm link.
Lily kept her own gasp of horror to herself. She was staring at the person. A woman, she guessed, considering the dark blue skirt she wore beneath her blue and white top. Lily stared for a long moment and then had Sunshine rise back up to stand.
“Captain.” Sergeant Mallory’s voice pulled her out of her shock. “We’ve moved through half the town and there are no survivors.”
“How many?” Lily croaked. She winced at the sound of her voice and cleared her throat before repeating, “How many bodies have you found?”
“We’re up to eight so far,” he said. “There should be more people here, though. Maybe some got away? Some of the buildings are empty.”
“Negative, Sergeant. The rest are located in a mass grave east of the colony,” Lily said. She took a step back and turned enough so that she wasn’t staring at the dead woman. “As soon as you’ve cleared the village, proceed to my location. These people need to be dug up and examined.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he said in a flat voice.
Lily didn’t blame him. It was a horrible thing to ask anyone
to do.
“Captain! Fourth Squad is und—”
Lily frowned. Staff Sergeant Beth Turin sounded excited before she’d been cut off. “Sunshine, did my comms just die?”
“Negative. Transmission ended abruptly. No post signal sequencing detected.”
“It was cut off?”
“That solution has the highest probability.”
“Yes, Sunshine. A simple, ‘Yes,’ would suffice.”
“Acknowledged.”
Lily swung Sunshine around to look back at the town. The apple trees cluttered the view, preventing her from making out details. “Second Squad, fall back to Fourth and somebody tell me what’s going on! Hawkins, stay at the grave. The rest of First Squad, follow me!”
“Captain, should I go?” Kray asked.
Lily considered sending him ahead but didn’t want to further separate her unit. “Negative. We move together.”
“Captain, this is Bidaro. I’ve lost contact with my two western tanks.”
Lily scanned her overhead display quickly and shifted her plan. “Have the remaining three meet us at the edge of town and we’ll proceed together.”
The four biomechs pushed through the forest, bending and breaking branches as they moved. As they came up on the edge of the village, Sunshine cut out the background noise in Lily’s helmet and spoke. “Lily, statistical analysis points towards Fourth Squad’s communications being disrupted by electronic countermeasures.”
Lily bit back her flippant retort and continued to pilot her biomech through the trees. After several seconds, they emerged within a hundred yards of the eastern edge of the colony. She saw the two light tanks from Second Squad racing towards them, one in the north and one in the south. The final tank, a medium MT-34 mounting a seventy-five-mm auto cannon, was rolling up from the southwest.
“Lily.” Sunshine interrupted her thoughts again.
Lily ignored the biomech’s voice as she stared to the west. Smoke was rising from the far side of the village. They were under attack and she’d played right into their hands!
Lily fought the urge to scream in frustration. This wasn’t how things were supposed to happen! She’d trained for this and dreamt about it for months. She was not going to let some ignorant rebels ruin her chances! “First Squad, full speed. Engage the enemy at will! Second Squad, circle the town and flank. Now!”
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