Farenough: Strangers Book 2

by Melissa McCann

  Tora looked at the box for a moment and put her hand to the side of her neck where she had no ear clip.

  Mr. Ventnor rolled over so he could face Tora and the box. "Ivar Sunjung. Tell him to stand down."

  Tora glared at the box. "Ivar Sunjung, I am Command and Control. I have killed the Cerise." Technically, the Cerise was not really very dead. She would survive even without a doctor. "You will stop fighting the black-uniforms."

  A man's voice came from the com. "Who are you? Get off this channel."

  Tora had not expected the blue-sash to do what she said the first time. She said, "The Cerise is dead. You are my soldier now. You will follow my orders."

  "The Black Man's eyes I will. Put Captain Manning on the com."

  "The Cerise is dead," Tora repeated. "I don't want to come kill you, but I will unless you stop fighting the black-uniforms."

  Tora waited for the Sunjung to answer, but the next voice from the com was not the Sunjung. The com monitor lit, and projected the Solante's face over the com set.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  "That is interesting," the Solante said. The projector made the image of the Solante look at Tora's face. She scowled at it.

  The Solante cocked his head. "You have my com set, so I imagine you have done exactly what you claim, and my latest captain is no longer with me."

  "Dead," Tora repeated.

  "But that leaves me with a problem, daughter of mine. My soldiers are out there with no captain. What can we do about that?" His voice made Tora think about soldiers in barracks, warm and strong and healthy, but he was not a soldier. He was an enemy. She did not like to have those two feelings together. Her lip curled. "Make them stop fighting. I will fight the black-uniforms and the Special Commander Marduk."

  "Really? With your little force? Why not use my people? They need someone to take care of them now their lieutenant is gone. Who will do that?"

  Tora hissed. "Make them stand down, then they are humans. No need for a lieutenant."

  He shook his head as if he were sorry, but he was not sorry. He was laughing inside. "Humans need you even more than soldiers, Tora. No, I can't tell them to withdraw unless I can be sure they will have someone to take care of them."

  The Solante only wanted Tora to be lieutenant for his soldiers so he could be Command for her. He didn't care if his soldiers all died. Tora didn't want to be a lieutenant for the Solante, but he would let all his soldiers die. Soldiers who had no lieutenant. Soldiers Tora could take for herself. She didn't want to the Solante to be Command for her. But there were the soldiers. Tora made an angry noise.

  Mr. Ventnor leaned toward the com. "Colonel says she'll take care of your soldiers if you tell them to withdraw and put down their weapons."

  Tora glared at him. She had not said that. He made the raised eyebrows face at her to say she would have agreed eventually. She huffed and ground her teeth, but she said, "Yes."

  The Solante sounded sleepy and pleased. "I'll tell my people to follow your orders, daughter mine."

  The Solante's face flickered and faced away from Tora as if he were looking at someone beside her. He said, "Mr. Sunjung, Captain Miraz has taken over for your previous commander. You will follow her orders as quickly and completely as if they came directly from me."

  "As you say, Mr. Solante," the Sunjung answered. Tora remembered how the soldiers and humans in the Solante's house all feared him. Tora would protect her soldiers from him. Maybe she would take all his humans and protect them, too.

  She said, "Drop weapons. Withdraw to cover behind Mountain street. Militia will fight black-uniforms. Tell militia you follow my orders now. Don't fight militia."

  The Sunjung voice said, "Mr. Solante?"

  "Question, Mr. Sunjung?" The Solante's voice was warm and calm and sweet, but it sounded like poison.

  A long pause followed. One second. Then two.

  "Mr. Sunjung?" Mr. Solante said gently.

  "As you say, Mr. Solante. I'll get it done."

  "And any other order Captain Miraz cares to give?"

  "Like it was direct from you, Mr. Solante."

  "That's right," the Solante said as if the Sunjung was a small child-human.

  The Solante's face flickered back to Tora. "I am curious to see what you have in mind, daughter dear. Take good care of my soldiers for me."

  Tora waited for the yellow light to go dark before she muttered, "My soldiers."

  Mr. Ventnor grunted and sat up, feeling the bandages on his side. "Exactly how dead is Ms. Manning?"

  "Not very much," Tora grumbled.

  The woman soldier said, "Not much a half decent tech couldn't put right, but she'll need surgery on her shoulder. The rest of these are coming around, and the perimeter sentries are under guard right now."

  Tora did not think the perimeter guards would believe they belonged to Tora now. "Keep them here. Send the Cerise to clinic." She scowled at the table that hid the Cerise from view.

  She eyed Mr. Ventnor to judge whether he would be able to keep up with her or if she should leave him here. He could run the control post while Tora went out with her soldiers.

  He stood up straight and stretched his belly, careful not to pull the bandage too much. He saw her looking at him. "Forget it, Colonel. I'm with you. This doesn't feel too bad."

  "Pain blocks and speed-ups," Tora said.

  He shrugged with one shoulder. "That's what they're for."

  She did not entirely like it, but she needed him. "You come. Ms. Stamos will stay here for control post."

  Ms. Stamos did not mind holding the control post. She went to the com box and started finding out where the blue-sash soldiers were and telling them to give com receivers to the militia and do what the militia lieutenants told them.

  Mr. Ventnor could not go as fast as an undamaged soldier, so Tora sent her other soldiers ahead to tell her lieutenants she was coming. Lize and Mr. Bracxs and Dess and Mr. Pente waited for her where Mountain street crossed Cottontree. Twenty of her lieutenants and soldiers waited behind cover of a warehouse with nine of the blue-sashes that were her soldiers now, but they didn't look like they wanted to be her soldiers. Sometimes soldiers were confused when they lost their lieutenant and had to get used to a new one.

  Dess said, "Colonel, catch." She tossed something small and round. Tora caught it, a shiny disk with a secure-tab on the back. A com clip. Not a real clip, not the kind she would wear in her ear, and she didn't have an ear on that side to wear it on anyway. She fixed the tab to her collar and squeezed it.

  Ms. Stamos said, "...east to the long road. They may try to cut around that way, and we don't want them in the district."

  That was good. Ms. Stamos could direct troop positions.

  Then Tora heard Liam on the com channel. He said, "Won't go into district. Will try heavy transports and smoke grenades to hide numbers. Move twenty soldiers to..." He rattled off positions and directions.

  Tora said, "Follow Liam."

  "Will do, Colonel," Ms. Stamos replied.

  Tora was pleased. She could depend on Liam and Ms. Stamos to direct troop movements while Tora negotiated with the Special Commander Marduk.

  One of the waiting blue-sash soldiers was more angry than the rest. He had many scars on his face like cuts from flying shards of tensteel, and the doctors had not repaired him very well. He pushed Dess and Lize aside and strode at Tora like an enemy getting ready to fight. He was as tall as Tora and had heavy bones, and muscles like flat slabs. Not a very well-made soldier.

  "You're the one," he barked as if he thought he could give Tora orders. "You've got our weapons, and the flaming Cyrions are all over the town."

  Tora knew the voice. This was the Sunjung. Tora put her hand on his chest and pushed him out of her way as she would push any soldier who did not move quickly enough when she wanted to go past—firmly but not hard enough to put him off balance.

  "Hey." He grabbed her arm. "I'm talking to you."

  Soldiers did not grab lieutenan
ts or give them orders or make demands. Tora turned, kicked the man's feet out from under him, twisted his arm around as he fell, then she landed with one knee in the middle of his back. She turned to Lize. "Report."

  The Sunjung twisted and struggled, but Tora pulled his arm harder and used her free hand to push his head into the dirt.

  Lize blinked down at Tora and the Sunjung. "We got most of the guns away from the bulls and broke them up. The police still have their projectile guns, so we're not using the runners for the traps, but the Cyrions will follow anything with a blue belt or hat. Their meds-techs are still working on Commander Marduk, and whoever's second in command hasn't figured out yet that we're scattering their forces."

  Mr. Ventnor leaned against the wall of the storage building. "I don't know who he's got as his second, but Marduk will pick up on it as soon as he's conscious. How bad did you hurt him?"

  Tora shrugged. She probably hadn't even broken the Special Commander Marduk's neck. Med-techs would repair him soon.

  The Sunjung still cursed into the dirt, but he had stopped trying to throw Tora off his back. She took her weight off him and used his arm to make him stand. He looked like a brownbully that had been thrown on its back and couldn't understand what had happened to it.

  Tora said, "You listen? You understand?"

  "You think Solante will protect you?" he snarled. "He'll be tired of you in a week, and I'll still be here."

  "Wouldn't count on it," Mr. Ventnor said.

  Tora needed the Sunjung to show to the Special Commander Marduk so he would know Tora was Command for all the blue-sashes and the militia, and that she could control the blue-shashes and the humans in the town, but after that, she might scrap this defective soldier.

  Tora used the Sunjung's strained shoulder to steer him ahead of her. "We go back to barricades. Dess, Mr. Bracxs, you do good. Keep black-uniforms busy. I make negotiations with the Special Commander Marduk."

  Mr. Ventnor still leaned against the wall, but he had good color, and he breathed better, even though he still bent a little toward his damaged side.

  He saw her looking and stood up straight. "I'm good for another hour or two, Colonel."

  Tora nodded. "You come with me. Runners." She looked around until she saw the very dark-skinned runner named Fist. "I want to go to barricades. No black-uniforms in between."

  He nodded. "They're getting all the Cyrions back on the routes we set up for them. I can get you there no problem."

  They did not have a problem. Tora thought Liam must have taught the runners how to time the trap runs so Fist always knew where the black-uniforms would be. The 972s were always good for numbers and patterns. Now Liam didn't just see patterns, he could make patterns, too. Tora was very pleased with him.

  The runner, Fist, stopped before they got to the main street where the barricades blocked the wide way into Murrayville. A young runner spotted them and darted across the alley to join them. He spoke to Fist. "Got to tell the Chief they're circling around and trying to come in by the cart-roads. We're knocking out their float-bike generators with rocks and hitting them with dung, but it’s harder to get them into the traps."

  Tora said, "How many black-uniforms in traps?"

  The boy ducked his head. "We think about fifty, Ms. Miraz. We're jumping them in blind alleys and barricaded streets and getting their com clips away before they can tell anyone what's happening."

  Tora nodded. She knew the black-uniforms would eventually report the traps to the Special Commander Marduk. Then they would have to change strategies. "Are the blue-sashes obeying orders?"

  The runner boy grinned and looked not so shy. "Some aren't working out so good, but we're getting a lot more Cyrions with the bulls that are helping."

  Tora would find the defective blue-sash solders and scrap them. Then they would be only humans again. "Is the Special Commander Marduk repaired?"

  The boy ducked his head again. "Not sure, Ms. Miraz. He's not on the front line, but nobody's got close enough to the barricade with long-viewers to see if he's up and walking."

  Tora wished she knew where the Special Commander Marduk was. He would be the best to negotiate with. He was flexible and could adapt.

  Mr. Ventnor said, "Who's he got as a second?"

  The boy shrugged. "Don't know any of the Cyrions."

  Tora put her hand on the boy's shoulder to show she approved and he was a good soldier. Or human. She decided maybe the runners were like the civilian support corps—like drones but intelligent and flexible. "Good job. Have good feelings. Go tell Mr. Tanar what you tell me."

  The boy flushed with good feelings, but he did not go until Fist jerked his head to say it was all right. Tora did not mind. Fist was lieutenant for the runners. They should look for his orders, and Tora was Command for Fist, so those soldiers were still hers even if they followed orders for Fist.

  Still using the Sunjung's damaged arm to steer him, she nodded to Mr. Ventnor to follow her and negotiated a crooked alley to the edge of the throughroad. She stopped. She could not expose the Sunjung first. He was her prisoner. She did not want Mr. Ventnor to step into the open ahead of her. He was injured and only human. If the black-uniforms fired projectiles, Tora would not be able to retreat quickly enough.

  Mr. Ventnor said, "Hand him over to me, Colonel. I'll keep him settled until you're ready to bring him out."

  Mr. Ventnor was a good soldier, a good fighter. The Sunjung was not, but the Sunjung was heavy and strong, and Mr. Ventnor was injured.

  He grinned at her. "No worries, Colonel. I've got it in hand."

  Yes, Mr. Ventnor was a good enough fighter even with a wound in his side. The Sunjung struggled and cursed, but Mr. Ventnor took his damaged arm in one hand and his shoulder with the other. The Sunjung was bigger, but Mr. Ventnor had been trained by General Baldwin.

  Tora had never negotiated with an enemy before. Command and Control did the word-fighting. One more thing Tora had to do that was not in her programming or her simulations. Sometimes she wished she did not have to be Command for herself and her lieutenants and soldiers, but no one else was here to be Command for her.

  She held her hands out so the black-uniforms could see she did not have weapons and stepped out onto the street. She turned toward the barricades the Civilian Support Corps had made. Black armored transports blocked the street now, twice as tall as Tora and almost as big as storage pods. They had no float engines and went on huge treads that crushed the little barricades Tora's Civilian Support Corps made across the street. Tora had the laughing feeling a little bit. The black-uniforms would not have to worry about the runners and the militia throwing dung on them.

  Tora did not mind the big transports. They could go down the throughroad, but they could not go into any of the other streets without crushing the houses and shacks where people lived, and Mr. Ventnor said the black-uniforms did not want to kill humans unless the humans tried to get out of the quarantine. Tora had negotiated with the Special Commander Marduk once, and she thought Mr. Ventnor was right.

  The transports had driven over the top of the barricade and crushed it to splinters. Militia and blue-sashes had fallen back to wait for reinforcements. If Liam were there, he would tell Tora where the black-uniform soldiers were hiding, but she knew they were there. They would not leave the street without guards even when they had the transports to block access.

  Tora kept her hands out and open and went toward the transports. She didn't hurry or go slow. She did not want the black-uniforms to think she was afraid of them. She did not think they would shoot her, but if they did, she would probably survive.

  Projectile weapons racked in the alley on her right, and stunners whined further up the street. Stunners were good. It meant the black-uniforms would switch to the less deadly weapons now the blue-sashes were not fighting them openly.

  Behind Tora, Mr. Ventnor pushed the Sunjung out of the alley. More weapons hummed and rattled, but someone called out for the black-uniforms to hold fire. The
y could tell the Sunjung was a prisoner even though he wore the blue sash. Maybe they knew Tora, too. Maybe that would not be good, because she had damaged their commander.

  "Hold," someone shouted.

  Tora paused and thought about it. She did not want to seem to obey orders, but she did not want to provoke the black-uniforms before she started negotiating. She planted her feet and folded her arms. She would not look weak, but they would also see she could not get to weapons very fast. She raised her voice. "I will negotiate now with the Special Commander Marduk."

  "Negotiate?" A black-uniform soldier came out from behind the tread of the foremost transport. "There is no negotiation. We are lawful authority carrying out our orders to secure this town and impose a quarantine for the safety of the rest of the planet."

  Behind Tora, Mr. Ventnor said, "Captain Angada Feleck. Fair-minded. His people like him. Dogmatic, no real flexibility."

  Tora shrugged with one shoulder to tell the Captain Feleck she didn't care about his orders. "I am authority here. Humans follow my orders. Militia follow my orders. Blue-sashes follow my orders now. Even the Solante follows my orders."

  The Sunjung cursed some more and said the Solante did not follow orders from Tora, but Mr. Ventnor jerked his arm up, and he cried out with pain and protest.

  The black-uniform came closer. "Who is that? What are you doing here?"

  Tora repeated, "I am Command for the town. Where is the Special Commander Marduk?"

  "Where you put him. In the infirmary." The black-uniform came close enough for Tora to kill if she wanted to. He was an old human, old enough to have white hair, but not old enough to be weak and bent and withered. He had a round, flat nose and a mouth that looked as if it had been hit very hard by something heavy, and not properly repaired. "You've got nothing to negotiate with. Am I supposed to think that..." He tilted his chin toward the Sunjung. "...is a hostage? We have all the weapons and all the equipment. You have nothing to say about it."

  Tora shrugged. "I will negotiate with the Special Commander Marduk."