Lt. Simmons jammed the control stick and cranked the carrier around to head away from the crest. She quickly glanced at her Marines in the back and said, "Count off." As they started counting off, she eased the control stick forward and the carrier picked up speed until they were racing across the desert. Shahn'Dra bounced in her seat as Lt. Simmons plunged headlong over gullies and ripples in the landscape, heaving the carrier back and forth on its suspension. When the Marines reached a number for one of their comrades that had fallen in battle, they let silence hang in the air for a moment and then continued on. Shahn'Dra let the case slip from her fingers and slumped forward to bury her head in her arms.
Lt. Simmons put her hand on Shahn'Dra's back and said, "I'm sorry, sweetie. For what it's worth, Captain Brandt would be proud." She patted Shahn'Dra and then moved her hand back to the control stick. Shahn'Dra's mind swirled, grasping at thin air as she tried to sort out what had just happened and why. All she had were his final words: "Just get that case to the Paladin."
Simmons flipped a switch on the console to activate the headlights, revealing an endless sea of scrub, rocks and gullies.
Retribution
"Well isn't this just fucked full of all kinds of up," General Godfrey said. She stood with her hands on her hips as medics hoisted Brandt's body onto a stretcher.
She turned around when she heard the rattle of somebody rummaging through the troop carrier behind her. She poked her head through the hole blasted in the door to see Shoahn'Fal groping through the innards of the lockbox, pawing underneath the seats welded against the wall and flipping over cargo boxes. As he progressed, he cooed and growled, his antennae quivering above his head.
"Are you injured, Shoahn'Fal?" she asked.
He stopped just as he was picking up another crate and craned his head around to look at her. As his eyes met hers, she felt a tingle flush through her. He dropped the crate and turned all the way around to glare at her. He spoke, rumbling like a lion pacing inside a cage with a slab of raw meat lying on the ground just beyond its reach. "You," he said, extending a clawed finger as if he were going to stab her in the chest. "You and your words." He took a step closer.
Godfrey cocked her brow. "Excuse me?"
He jutted his finger straight out and pivoted his wrist. "You incompetent strutting fool of a human," he growled.
"Let me bring a medic to tend to you," she said, starting to back up. His antennae fluttered and her left hand started to tremble.
"She took them!" he shouted.
Godfrey glanced at the lockbox and her eyes grew wide as she realized it was empty.
He took another step towards her and she felt her knees start to buckle as a drop of slime appeared in the corner of his mouth. "You said they would never find me," he hissed, pacing ever closer to her. "You said they wouldn't know we were coming." His antennae slithered to their full extension and started jerking back and forth. Godfrey stumbled back, tripped out of the door and fell on her back. He stepped over the metal edges of the hole. "You said so much and you understand so little."
His antennae jittered in a frenzy and the world around her collapsed into a sea of black. The only thing she could see against its darkness was his face as he growled at her like a hungry beast ready to lunge at her throat and rip it out with his claws. She couldn't feel her body and her hammering heart was something she felt in the distance, crying out in silence from a world where nobody could hear. Something blazed in his eyes and an idea formed in her mind. It seemed like her own thought, but touched her awareness from a place beyond. Terror rippled through her mind as she saw the vision of its essence form, commanding itself to be heard and obeyed, even if never understood.
This was not her mission. This was not her calling. This was a thirst for something she had never felt before. She recognized it as something that did not belong to her and yet she did not understand that it belonged to him. It just was. As revolting as it became, she could not resist it. Overwhelmed by the insanity of what she knew she had to do, all she could do was listen as she heard her own voice say, "Yes."
The world snapped back into place and she felt a whisper of wind touch her face. She raised herself up on her elbows and shook her head, realizing that she was gasping for air. She turned her head to see soldiers staring at her with eyes wide like prey that understood enough to be frightened but didn't know that they should run. After a few more gulps of air, she said to them, "It's alright. He's just a little -" She grunted as she struggled to stand up. " - upset."
She stared at Shoahn'Fal, unable to look away. The shadow of the vision fluttered through her mind and slipped away, now replaced by the clarity of an idea that she truly believed was her own. She stood up, tugged at her field utility blouse and tapped her headset.
"Tomahawk Six, Gaurd Six Actual, over." The hiss of static flooded her mind and then she heard a beep followed by the voice of the First Brigade commander.
"Guard Six Actual, this is Tomahawk Six Actual, go ahead."
Still staring at Shoahn'Fal, she took a deep breath and nodded. "Tomahawk Six. Flatten Arnhem." Static flowed through her mind, smothering her consciousness as her chest ached with each beat of her heart.
"Guard Six, authenticate Papa Bear."
"Tomahawk Six, response is Goldilocks." More static. Her chest shuddered as she forced herself to calm her breathing.
"Guard Six, authentication confirmed. Please repeat last order."
Godfrey stepped closer to Shoahn'Fal, staring into his eyes as his antennae continued to sway over his head. She wrapped her fingers around the stiff wire that held her microphone and gritted her teeth.
"Tomahawk Six. You heard me. Flatten. Fucking. Arnhem."
Runner
Jommy huddled under the plastic table as the ground shook again. The plastic box he called home rocked and the aluminum pot, along with a tray of utensils, slid off their shelves and clattered on the floor. He squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for the sound of another explosion to catch up to the rumble that rippled through the ground beneath him. He felt the concussion as it squeezed the air around him and then heard the single crack of thunder. He opened his eyes just enough to see his father peeking through the door curtain and then stumble to the side as the shockwave from the explosion rocked the box hut again.
"Stay here!" his father yelled, and then stepped out of the hut, leaving Jommy to hide under the table. The ground started to rumble as the whine of vehicle engines rose above the continuous hammering of gunfire from the valley. He listened to the sound, trying to determine the direction they were coming from while the clay cups he had made for his mother rattled in their box now lying on the floor. Outside, he heard his father say, "Oh, God."
His father ducked in, grabbed Jommy's arm and yanked him to his feet. "We can't stay here," he said. As they stepped outside, Jommy saw smoke billowing from the valley while Terran Guard troops, hunched over with their weapons pointed straight at them, walked behind a line of four tanks grinding the plots of Dirt Hill under their treads. The hum of the Terran Guard rifles charging their coils made Jommy feel sick to his stomach. As the barrels angled and fired, his entire body went numb at the clatter of bolts ripping through the air and tearing into the bodies of farmers running from the first block of plots.
"Run!" his father yelled. Tears leapt from Jommy's eyes as his father pushed him so hard he stumbled and fell. He reached out to his father, whose face was stretched with terror. "Go!" he yelled. Jommy heard a scream as a farmer flopped to the ground in the plot next to theirs. Several of the root vegetables that his father had watered just that morning flew into the air in a cloud of dry dirt as a round from one of the tanks hit their own plot. His father turned and started to stumble towards him, waving for Jommy to keep going.
Fueled by fear running through his body like electricity, Jommy jammed his feet against the ground and pumped his arms as he ran from the Terran Guard advancing across the fields. After he passed another farmer, he found himself in the le
ad as they raced from the plots of Dirt Hill. He looked back to see his father stumbling along, too far behind him.
"Come on, Dad. Come on!" he yelled. His father was wheezing hard and his legs moved as if they were tied to the ground and he was dragging a plow. Tears streaming down his face and his lungs aching from the dust he sucked in with every breath, Jommy coughed hard, gulped and forced himself to keep running. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw another farmer fall down. A surge of strength seemed to come from nowhere and the wind whipped harder through his ears as he picked up speed. He turned again to look for his father, but couldn't see him. He whipped his head the other way as he kept running, but still couldn't see him.
A tank swung its turret to point its gun at their hut. The barrel recoiled and then the air seemed to be devoid of all sound. Jommy's legs burned as he slammed his feet against the ground and his lungs felt like they were going to catch on fire as he waited to see where the round landed. Then, his home flew across the ground, tumbling like an empty box in a whirlwind as the tank round slammed through its resin walls. It landed on its roof and rocked gently a few times before coming to rest. Grunting as he gagged on the scorching air, he stared at the hole the tank had made in the side of the hut and thought of the clay cups. Maybe they were still there, he thought. Maybe they were strong.
He crested a hill and scrambled down its long slope. Unable to stop, he tripped and tumbled into a gulley at the bottom. The fall knocked the breath out of him and he felt an ache in his belly as he fought to start breathing again. He wheezed and coughed hard and then lay on his back staring at the sky as his heart hammered so hard he could feel it against his ribs. He shuddered and started to sob in between breaths.
Jommy stayed like this for a long time, sucking in air, cringing at the ache in his chest and belly and crying. Then something inside told him: enough. "I'm alright," he said between gasps. "I'm alright. I'm alright." He sniffled and groaned as he forced himself to stop crying and waited for his breathing to subside.
He fished for something inside his pocket. His hand found the radio the pilot had given him and he whispered, "yes." He sat up and looked at the transmitter resting in the palm of his hand. He pulled out the tendril that served as its antenna and mashed the button on the front. "Hello," he said, then let go of the button. The radio hissed as he remembered the instructions the pilot had given him. "Skydriver, Skydriver, this is Farmboy, over." The radio hissed some more. "Skydriver, Skydriver, this is Farmboy, over." Hiss. Jommy stopped breathing for a moment to listen, realizing that the hiss of the radio was the only sound he could hear. The clamor of tanks, guns and explosions was gone. So were the screams. Was it over? Or had he just run so long that it was too far away to hear? Whichever, it was enough. He didn't think he could bear to ever hear it again. He thought of his father and tears welled up again. He punched his leg and said, "No. Not now." He sucked in a long breath and the tears subsided. He let the air out slowly through his cracked lips and pushed the button again.
"Skydriver, Skydriver, this is Farmboy. Over."
Call
The words echoed off the walls in the chamber room. "Skydriver, Skydriver, this is Farmboy. Over." Colonel Dekker stared at the pilot's equipment arranged on a table set against the chamber wall. The speaker on the radio he had pulled from the man's shirt pocket clicked and he heard Jommy's voice repeat the call. "Skydriver, Skydriver, this is Farmboy. Over."
Dekker grabbed the radio and keyed the built-in microphone. "Jommy, is that you?"
"Yes sir. Can you hear me? Over." Dekker could hear the strain of fear in the boy's voice.
"Yes, Jommy, I can hear you. What's wrong? Where's your father?"
"I don't know sir." His voice warbled. "He was right behind me but then I lost him. I don't think he made it." Dekker's heart skipped. Made it from what?
"What's happening, Jommy?" Realizing the boy understood basic radio protocol, he added, "Over." Routine and procedure wasn't just a formality. It also provided an anchor for a man's mind when panic was his first instinct. Maybe it was helping Jommy the same way.
"Th - the Terran Guard sir. They came to the house. They were ev - everywhere. Over." Dekker heard the tears breaking.
"That's alright, son, just stop and remember as best you can. Start from the beginning. Over."
"They came out of nowhere sir. We heard something in the valley and then we had to hide. They were blowing everything up. And then they came here and started shooting everybody. Dad told me to run. So I ran, but he couldn't keep up and they were shooting everybody - "
Dekker tried to interrupt the boy as his chatter was running away from him. "Jommy -"
"- and they screamed and fell down. They kept shooting. Mama's cups. Mama's cups. Mama's cups -" The boy was hyperventilating, but all Dekker could do was wait. "Unhh. Over."
"Alright Jommy, that's good. That's a good report Marine. Now, listen to me carefully. Are you listening? Over."
Jommy struggled to talk between sniffles. "Y- unh. Yes. Sir. Over."
"I want you to turn your radio off and then run as far away from Dirt Hill as you can. Run until the sun goes down. Then, you can stop and call me. Do you understand? Over."
"Yes sir." Jommy grunted. "I'll call you after sunset. Farmboy out." The radio clicked and the light behind the transmit button went dark. Dekker pushed it anyway.
"Run Jommy. Run." He let go of the button and bowed his head, closing his eyes.
"Run."
Delivery
Lt. Simmons tapped her headset again as she drove the carrier across the onslaught of ripples in the ground. "Say again." She squinted at the ground rolling up in front of them as she strained to hear.
A voice broke through the static, just audible over the background noise. "- One Alpha, One Charlie overrun. One Charlie falling back -" An explosion saturated the transmission and then faded. Static filled the headset for several seconds and Lt. Simmons tapped finger against it as if she were trying to dislodge the words she strained to hear. "-Dirt Hill! Three Alpha, get over there." A squeal rang out in her headset, causing her to wince. "-Nobody left. Alamo phase line castle. - " She heard a scream and then nothing but an ocean of hissing - the raw background noise of the radio carrier wave. Whoever had been transmitting from the MEF was done. She listened for several minutes more and then tapped her headset to switch frequencies.
"Two Bravo Delta," she said. The carrier rattled and rocked as it barreled through a gulley. Playing the transmissions over in her head, she forgot to compensate with the throttle and the carrier bolted up the other side. All six wheels left the ground. When the carrier hit the ground, the frame screeched as the suspension bottomed out. Something behind her crashed to the floor. She whipped her head around. "Everybody alright back there?" Some of her Marines were still asleep; the rest stared back at her with eyes still hidden behind the camoflage painted on their faces. One of them was looking at the roof.
She turned back around and scanned the com panel on the floor next to her and winced when she realized she had left the PA switch on. They had heard everything.
"Two Bravo Delta, Badger Six," she said.
Her headset clicked and she heard the Paladin's voice. "Badger Six, Two Bravo Delta Actual. Authenticate packrat."
"I don't have your code sets, Major. Badger is ETA two minutes check point dodgeball. Over."
"Understood. Standing by. Out."
She eased back on the throttle as the carrier dipped into another gulley and rolled into a patch of flat dirt and scrub surrounded by a ring of low-lying hills. She peered into the gathering night, looking for Major Walker's jumpjet. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of a red light flashing on and back off. She veered towards the light and let the carrier's headlights sweep over the jumpjet standing in the middle of the clearing. She eased the throttle back and disengaged the drive system, letting the turbine idle so it could charge the batteries and power the cupola on top in case they were ambushed. She would hav
e preferred stealthing the vehicle, but with the MEF transmissions and the questions stacking up faster than answers, she decided to maintain tactical readiness instead.
"Sergeant d'Vane," she said.
A voice erupted from behind her. "Yes, Lieutenant."
"Omni sector fire lanes and a walking element at 200 meters."
"Yes ma'am," d'Vane said, smacking the release to open the rear hatch of the carrier.
Simmons nudged Shahn'Dra. "Wake up, we're here." Shahn'Dra jerked her head up and snorted, then stretched her snout out in front of her and shook her head. She unbuckled her harness and started to open the hatch when Simmons put a hand on her shoulder. "Wait. We need to secure our perimeter first." Shahn'Dra leaned forward to stare through the windshield and started drumming her claws on the Old Scrolls. Simmons smiled as she unbuckled her own harness and opened the driver side hatch. As she hopped to the ground, she pointed at Shahn'Dra and said, "Wait." Shahn'Dra nodded, still drumming her fingers on the case.
Simmons stepped to the back of the carrier. "All squared away over here?" she asked Sergeant d'Vane.
"Yes ma'am." He swept his hand over the the hills surrounding the carrier. "I'm setting up a reverse slope ambush on all four corners with two elements patrolling on the other side. That way, we have no silhouettes but can still react to anything that comes our way.
"That's a good plan, Sergeant. Let me know if anything comes up."
She continued around to the front passenger hatch and opened it. "Come on out, sweetie," she said. Shahn'Dra hopped to the ground and started swaying back and forth as she held the case in front of her.
Simmons led her towards the jumpjet as Major Walker started limping towards them. He had a carbine slung over one shoulder and he tried to take long strides despite the limp, but he couldn't hide it. She stopped and snapped a salute. Walker stopped and swung his arm so his hand bobbed just in front of his brow before settling into a return salute. Shahn'Dra bolted towards him and held out the case. Smiling, she said, "I brought this for you."
The Terran Mandate Page 14
