Ta crouched in the eerie silence, the earlier murmuring background noise absent, with everyone listening intently. For several minutes nothing could be heard, then a call from outside the den asking if anyone was inside. Ta returned the call, and in a matter of seconds a strange Torgai entered though the low den mouth, and crouched looking as his eyes adjusted to the dark.
"It's over," the Torgai said, "my name is Kath, of the Village of Hath, of the Clan of Kraka. Who is the leader here?"
Ta raised his hand, and moved over to face Kath, "I am Ta," he said, "the headman of this village."
"Good," Kath answered, "you can leave the den now; you will be safe, the Kraa are dead or gone. But gather all your people together so they can be taken to our village by the human's flying ships. Time is short so we must hurry."
Ta was the first to leave the den after Kath. While the sun had not yet risen the pre-dawn light made everything clear to the sharp eyes of the Torgai. A short distance away a huge object filled the center of the square and several flat-faces approached the object from the canyon mouth. At least he thought they were flatfaces, or humans as he had been told they called themselves; he had never seen one before.
Ta looked at the huge 'beast' crouched in the square in awe. It must have been that monstrous thing that had caused the roaring sound. Now, according to Sula, they would ride in its belly to a village in the south. Suppressing his fear he called out to his people pouring from the den mouths. He would have to show he was not afraid or they might panic; to ride in that monster was a frightening thought.
Later . . . .
Colonel Gardner watched the bustle around her; the soldiers and ground crew refueling the VLV and the disembarked Torgai huddled together as if for protection from the strange humans and their machines. The Torgai of Hath circulated among them explaining things, trying to put them at ease. It would take a half hour to refuel, and then the VLV would return to the canyon for the next load. By sundown all of the Torgai should be safe here at the forward base; and tomorrow they would be reloaded for the next stage jump to the Torgai village.
Colonel Gardner was satisfied. The attack had gone exactly according to plan with no injuries to any of the assault group. The Kraa had been taken completely by surprise, and those not killed had fled. Additionally, the attack had been coordinated with a massive laser strike on a large concentration of Kraa located in a different canyon to the north of the canyon where the Torgai had been held. That had been a 'target of opportunity' located when the Eretz Israel had been reorbited. Initial reports indicated it had been a major slaughter, with the remaining Kraa fleeing in disarray. Now, with this stage completed, they could concentrate on the next step; to block the Kraa passage to the east.
Two days before Captain Meyer had radioed from New Athens that the pass across the mountains used by the Kraa had been located, and was in the process of being mapped by the sensors. Tomorrow Captain Murphy was to return to New Athens with her and examine the data.
If something was to be done it would have to be done soon. Captain Meyer said the pass was in use, with several packs of Kraa sighted crossing. Now, with the captive Torgai being freed and the Kraa concentration scattered, she was afraid the Kraa would attempt to pull the bulk of their packs east of the mountains to be out of reach. The only thing to stop them would be laser strikes from the Israel, but that gave them a period of over an hour following a strike before it would again be in position; an hour in which many packs could make it across and into hiding on the other side.
While they had started work on a VLV base near enough to allow them to supplement the Israel, that would take several days, and even then they wouldn't be able to fully stop the migration.
With winter nearing in the northern latitudes where the pass was located they would have to move fast. Winter weather might stop most of the Kraa from crossing, but they were well adapted to travel in the snow; and the increasing cloud cover and sporadic storms would limit the ability to both see and stop the migration.
The more she thought about it the more she realized the decision to immediately hit the Kraa concentration had been an error. They should have waited until they could have made better plans for blocking the pass. Now, with their safe-haven attacked, she had little doubt the Kraa would move their forces to the east. The only way to prevent that now was to put a blocking force in place; a drain on manpower as well as certain to involve more casualties.
Well, it was done, and all they could do now was try to stop them as well as they could.
December10, Year 20, west of the pass
Kraa-Ki led her pack steadily through the forest, the mountains occasionally showing through the trees. In the thick forest the sun could barely reach, but she knew that was little protection; in some way the sky-lightning could find them even here. Behind her dozens of other packs followed, spaced at a safe distance both to limit danger from sky-lightning, but also to be safe from Kraa-Ki herself. She was enraged. She had been east of the mountains when word had reached her of destruction of many of her best packs, which she had thought were safe in the valley where she had them concentrated. And her rage only increased when news then reached her of loss of her Torgai.
But Kraa-Ki was wrong when she had thought both her packs in training and her Torgai were safe from the flat-faces, and she didn't like being wrong. Her rage had been such that she had killed one of her own pack-members and several in a nearby pack. Now her rage still smoldered, making any of the other Kraa hesitant to approach.
She knew what she must do. She had immediately sent packs to the west to gather all the other packs for movement to the eastern forests, and had herself returned to lead them. When she returned she had brought some of the mixed packs with her since as messengers the Kraa-Torgai were much faster.
She would move her packs to the east of the mountains, there to grow and train, leaving only a few on the western side to harass the flat-faces. She would never be overconfident again. It might take years, but she would return someday and destroy the flat-faces who dared attack her. She had a long memory; and patience.
December 15, Year 20 - 6:00 PM
Kevin lifted his cup and took a sip of the cold dregs of coffee remaining. The others in the room looked as exhausted as he was, most having been up the previous night; a night of intensive planning and preparation. They had been meeting since 8:00 AM considering the Kraa situation, and all but Colonel Gardner, Captain Meyer, Kevin, and Governor Maesaka had left.
Colonel Gardner shook her head, repeating her previous statement, "even with accurate coordinates, trying to block passage with laser fire is obviously ineffective. Time-on-target is too short, and the packs have learned to disperse and cross singly or after the Israel is out of range. Even when a VLV or scoutplane is overhead they still cross and take their losses. At best we'll reduce the number of packs crossing, but at the rate they can reproduce what good is that? We have to block the pass with land forces until we can figure out a way to block it permanently, or allow the migration to continue. There's no option."
Kevin nodded his head, "I agree. The position picked is defensible but we can't guarantee air support. If bad weather hits, grounding the VLVs and scoutplanes, they'd be sitting ducks unless the force was larger than we can afford. I seriously doubt whether they could hold out without air support. And what if the Kraa attack came from both sides? A lot of Kraa have already crossed and could attack from the rear. We also couldn't exclude some infiltration on the side slopes; the boulders from rock slides certainly provide them enough protection."
Colonel Gardner responded, "bad weather won't stop the Israel, and with a forward base, except in the worst weather we should be able to keep VLV's overhead; the armed scoutplanes are a different matter."
The room was silent for several seconds, then Governor Maesaka looked around at those in attendance, "let me summarize what I've heard. First, it's apparent they're moving in force to the east where we can't reach them. We also know that if we c
an bottle them to the west we can, with time, largely eliminate them; at least those who remain here in the west. We also know we can't block the pass without putting people on the ground, and if bad weather comes we may lose them.
"Looking over a Kevin, Governor Maesaka asked quietly, "with those problems, what do you recommend?"
Kevin responded, "inserting a blocking force is high-risk, high-reward. But I think the potential reward makes it necessary. And," he added, “the long-term risk of doing nothing is large.”
The others around the table were silent.
"And," Kevin continued, after a short pause, "if they attempt to dislodge the blocking force their losses would be huge. If they don't make the attempt, and break and run instead, we can wreck havoc with the scoutplanes and VLVs and some ambushes. We could probably destroy most of the packs, with a chance of catching the leader also.
Yes, its risky, but I don't know any other approach with a reasonable hope for success. But, I insist I lead the blocking force myself; I won't put my men in a position like that without sharing the risk."
Colonel Gardner turned to Captain Meyer, "what’s your accuracy for close-in support from the Israel?"
Meyer shook his head, "if position transmitters could be planted we could get down to plus or minus 10 meters, but that's it. Time-on-target with that accuracy would be about 8 minutes, with some reduced accuracy for another 4 minutes. With our improvements we could get off 4-6 shots in that amount of time."
Kevin nodded, "that's better than I expected. If we have 6-8 hours after insertion and before an assault we could install the transmitters, and with the infra red vision equipment we could pinpoint even at night or in heavy fog. This should give you almost instant coordinates."
Governor Maesaka, glanced over at Colonel Gardner, and commented, "from the look of it their leader must still be west of the mountains, and if the Torgai are correct and the current Kraa unity has never happened before, then the leader must be exceptional. If so, we have to eliminate that leader at all costs and this may be the only opportunity. Once in the east she'll be untouchable, and the only thing limiting their reproduction will be the food supply. We can't allow them to establish an untouchable safe haven."
Colonel Gardner slowly nodded, "yes, I'm afraid so. In spite of my reservations I have to agree that this is a time and place where the risk may be called for."
Governor Maesaka just nodded.
Sophie, turning to Kevin, "OK, Captain, how soon can the force be in place?"
Kevin responded, "the blocking team is ready and can be in place in 24 to 48 hours. Hopefully the leader will also stay west of the pass with her main concentrations for than long; I'd suggest in the meantime we target only the direct area of the pass to avoid speeding up their retreat."
"So be it," said Governor Maesaka, ending the meeting.
December 17, Year 20
Kraa-Ki lay passively in the cover of a cluster of sparse bushes watching the flashes of light in the far distance. Several seconds after each flash of light a low sound, like muffled thunder, would reach her ears. For a short time each hour this display reoccurred, raining destruction on the approaches to the pass. This was different; until today the flashes had been on the pass itself, and individual packs lay hidden below and make their way across when the flashes stopped. But now the firing had moved down the slope toward where she lay hidden, and flat-faces had landed at the pass itself. She would have to develop a new plan.
Later that day . . . .
Colonel Gardner stepped back from the edge of the landing area at the advance base, the dust caused by the rising, newly refueled VLV forming a cloud which would add to the film that covered everything in the area, both people and the stacks of boxes and drums. For several days this had been the hub of intense activity, with the VLVs ferrying in supplies and troops, and with others leaving for or returning from fire missions at the pass. The landing areas for the scoutplanes had been expanded and a control center for pilotless drones now included, and adding to the activity were scout planes coming in and out for their patrol missions in the foothills below.
Colonel Gardner had taken direct control of the operation at the base, with Captain Murphy in command of the 35 troops and six Torgai constituting the blocking force. So far no hostile activity had been reported, and a strong defensive perimeter was now in place. By the end of the day the necessary supplies to sustain the operation would also have been ferried in; the blocking force might have to stay in place indefinitely, or at least until some other method was devised.
Below the sparse tree line at the approaches to the pass, where the Kraa concentrations had been noted during the cool of the night and early morning, little could be detected now; any Kraa presence largely masked by the sun-heated boulders that covered the terrain. Even in the open land between the tree line and the pass the Kraa, if they stayed in the rock cover, would only be detectable on sunny days like this if they were visually sighted. Come night this would change. Then, even individual Kraa would become detectable as the temperature dropped near freezing. Then the bombardment of the Kraa would be much more effective.
Three nights later, at the pass . . . .
Kevin watched the firing far in the distance, having been forced to remove his night vision goggles to avoid temporary blinding by the flashes. Even bundled up in winter gear it was cold, with the biting west wind numbing any uncovered area. Chilled to the bone, Kevin crawled back from the forward observation post to the main lines, then, safe behind the rock barricade, walked back to the command bunker. Once in the comforting warmth of the bunker Kevin removed his coat and boots and, after opening a can of rations, rolled himself thankfully into his sleeping bag; but not before leaving orders to wake him when the storm hit.
Three days and nights of constant bombardment had driven the Kraa from the area, with the ambushes taking a deadly toll. But now, with the impending storm behind the cold front, the scout planes would be grounded, and if severe enough the VLVs as well; leaving their only air cover the short duration each hour when the Israel was in position. Still, Kevin had recommended against an evacuation from the pass. The forecast said the storm front would be of short duration, no longer than 18 to 24 hours, and both he and his superiors felt the Kraa couldn't regroup to launch a major attack in that time. On the first day of the blocking operation the Kraa had made a half-hearted attempt to drive them from the pass, but had easily been driven away. Since that time few had even come in range of their weapons.
Several hundred yards below the summit . . . .
The boulder strewn approaches to the pass appeared free from any sign of life. No movement could be detected, and the thermal sensors were blank. But appearances were deceptive. Kraa-Ki huddled in the tight confines of the make-shift burrow dug under the boulder. It was crowded, even though only two other Kraa shared the space, and she detested being in direct contact with others; ever her own pack members. Occasionally she would extend her long neck out of the excavation and look for any activity, but then immediately withdraw into the excavation. Other Kraa lay in other rock-hidden burrows.
Kraa-Ki had soon learned that hidden in this way the Kraa were undetectable by the flat-faces. In the days following blocking of the pass the Kraa had excavated burrows in the semi frozen ground, and while the flat-faces apparently assumed they had fled the area, many had slowly filtered back and lay hidden in what appeared to be a vacant wasteland. Below the tree line dozens of other packs also hid in below ground dens.
These were only some of the forces Kraa-Ki had infiltrated near the pass. The Kraa-Torgai packs were now being put to use armed with the captured flat-face weapons she had carefully gathered. Several of these packs had slowly worked their way down from the heights above and lay hidden above the flat-face forces where, with the new weapons, they could fire down with little danger to themselves. While the Kraa-Torgai above might not be able to see the individual flat-faces, they could fire at their easily seen laser glow. Additional
ly, word had been sent to the packs on the far side of the pass to assemble for an attack from the rear. While she had received no word back, if any of her couriers had made the passage successfully the packs should now be infiltrating the far approaches.
The storm would come soon. Kraa-Ki could sense its approach. And not an ordinary storm, but one of the severe, early season blizzards she had seen so many times before. Soon the clouds would lower and wind-driven snow would scour the pass, directly into the faces of the defenders; and with the snow and wind would come the Kraa. This was an opportunity she could not even have dreamed of.
CHAPTER 9: After the Storm
(December 21, Year 20, 5:00 AM): Kevin crouched in the shallow trench with two of his men, the wind driven snow slashing at his face. Occasionally one or more Kraa would appear in the gloom lighted by laser fire from one of his men, only to again disappear. From the side-slopes of the pass occasional laser rifle fire was directed downward into his troops huddled in their foxholes. From the sounds behind it was evident there was also Kraa activity in their rear. The Israel had passed its window, its fire directed further down the slope had ceased, and with the storm increasing in severity no help could be expected from the VLVs.
"So much for weather forecasts," Kevin thought.
December 23, Year 20 . . . .
The pack padded tirelessly along the rocky path beneath the tree cover, the heavy snow at the higher altitudes well behind. Kraa-Ki was in the lead, her head moving continuously from side to side as she watched for any danger. She knew that there was little to harm them here. The reports of the earlier packs showed nothing in this area posed a threat; except during those intervals when the fire came from the sky, they were safe.
Resurrection: Book II: Settlement Chronicals Page 10
