“You are one resourceful child,” said the officer, nodding to some of his men who were approaching.
“We’re not going to leave her here, are we, sir?” asked the Sergeant.
“We can’t take her with us, Sergeant,” said the officer, looking back at Rebecca. “We’re on a mission. We won’t be returning to our base for some weeks, if we make it back at all.”
“We can’t just let her go through that jungle, sir.”
“She made it here, from the city,” said the officer, shaking his head. “Look, we’ll leave you a personal comp with a good inertial tracking program. At least you’ll know where you're heading. Do you have any family? We could tell them we saw you if we find them.”
“Captain Joseph Goldman is my father,” she said, looking at the body of her brother again and wondering what her father would say if he knew she had failed him, not getting her brother back alive. If he were even still alive.
“Get the men moving, Sergeant,” said the officer, looking once again at the child. “You need to get out of here. Now. The Cacas will be here in force any minute. We just took out a platoon of their soldiers. They’ve got to know something happened, even if one did not get off a transmission. So get your little butt into the jungle and out of here.”
Rebecca watched the men walk away, heading toward the village perimeter in the direction opposite where she needed to go. After a moment’s hesitation she started away, then turned back to look at her brother’s body once more. She raised the particle beam pistol and pulled the trigger, sending megajoules of energy into the body, vaporizing most of it in a cloud of superheated steam and ash. I’m sorry, little brother, she thought as she turned away and ran for the jungle. At least those monsters won’t be eating you.
In another minute she was walking through the jungle, listening to the sound of aircars coming into the village, bringing those Cacas the Rangers had warned her about. She fingered the Star of David hanging from her neck, then jerked it off and threw it as far from her as she could. You don’t exist, she yelled in her mind. Or you wouldn’t have let my brother die like that.
Then she had no time for other thoughts as she made her way through the threats of the natural world, all senses alert, pistol in hand and wishing that something would come after her. The first plantimal she came across had the worst day of its life. It had sensed her coming and started moving its tentacle into the attack. The particle beam vaporizing the central mass of the creature ended that attack.
That night Rebecca prepared the bole of the safe tree she had found before dark, carefully placing the pheromones she had replenished in the village around her sleeping area. She wondered why she bothered, now that she was the only survivor of her family. She decided that she just wanted to live more than she wanted to die. She reached for the Star of David that had hung around her neck, then realized that she had thrown it away. It had been given to her by her mother, and now she regretted that action, until she thought about the faith it represented.
I hate you, you son of a bitch, she thought at her God. You’ve failed us for thousands of years. You failed me. So go to that imaginary hell of yours and leave me alone.
She woke in the night to the sound of something moving at the base of the tree. Lying completely still she strained her ears to hear what was happening. Something was talking in a language she had never heard. It sounded a little bit like the sounds the Cacas made when they spoke, but with a difference. Something scratched at the tree, then the voices faded into the jungle. She didn’t know what it was that was stalking the night. What she was sure of was that it was not native to this world, or to any human inhabited planet. And from the feeling she had gotten she knew it was as dangerous as anything Azure had ever produced.
* * *
Almost there, thought Rebecca as she trudged through the jungle, stopping to take a look at her map and comparing it to the inertial navigation comp she wore on her left wrist. She had been trudging through the jungle for over a week now, covering twenty kilometers on a good day, less than twelve on a bad. She had tried to act like she wasn’t furious with grief, which had made her life a little easier, now that she wasn’t shooting at anything that moved. After going through half her proton stores it had seemed like a good idea.
She walked to the top of the hill that the map showed overlooked a moderate sized valley that was marked as grassland. That promised fifteen kilometers of easy walking toward her goal, with was on a mountainside about forty kilometers from her present position.
As she came to the top of the hill and looked through a break in the trees she stopped in shock. The grassland was below, starting at the trees that ended at the bottom of the hill. There was still some wildlife out there, on the ends of the valley. But in the center was an airfield, hard plastic covering on the ground and a score of aircars sitting scattered about. She could tell from their appearance that some of those cars were ground attack craft. Several temporary buildings were set around the airfield, obviously barracks, hangars and workshops. A fence with roving patrols was set around the field, and she could make out the forms of Ca’cadasans from the distance.
A kilometer to the north was another compound. This one was a cluster of buildings, and was probably the barracks of a ground unit. A ground car was driving around the valley floor, another patrol.
I need to get the hell out of here, thought the child, squatting down and watching the valley through the leaves. That was the smart decision. There was no way she was going to use that grassland to shorten her trip. But this might be important. She wanted to know what else might be down there, under the jungle at the edge of the clearing.
Cursing herself for curiosity that might kill her, she made her way down the hillside, moving slowly, placing each foot with care. About halfway down she heard voices to her right, faint through the jungle. She stopped in place, then went to a knee, her eyes riveted on the area the voices were coming from. They came closer, and she started to panic. If they came straight this way they would see her. And if she started to move away they would see her all the sooner.
Then the voices started moving down the hill, along with the sounds of heavy feet walking through the brush. She breathed out the breath she had been holding in, then started down after them, all the while cursing herself for an idiot.
Rebecca stopped again when she heard more voices. These seemed to be stationary, and she thought it must be an outpost that she could easily avoid. Unless they’ve got the damned jungle plastered with sensors, she thought. Well, too late for it now. If they have them out here, I’ve already been made. She continued down at a slow rate, until she was almost at the bottom of the hill.
Now she heard a bunch of the beings talking and moving about. She was pretty sure this was as close as she was going to get. There was an awful lot of activity, leading her to believe there was a major complex at the base of the hill, of which the two compounds on the plain were just satellites of.
It took over an hour to back out of the area. Once over the top of the hill she picked up her pace and started down the other side. That almost led to disaster, as she didn’t notice the Cacas to her front until she had almost walked into them.
Rebecca resisted her impulse to run. Her survival suit would blend her into the jungle as well as a chemically active system could. Running would just attract attention. She lowered her head so that only her suit hat was visible to the aliens, then stood perfectly still. Sweat ran down her face, her muscles trembled, and she was sure they would spot her. She didn’t dare look up, or she would be exposing her face, which didn’t have the cammo covering the rest of her, other than her hands, which she kept close to her sides.
The beings moved on, walking up the hill and away from her. Rebecca waited till she couldn't hear them and moved down the hill, her muscles quivering from nervousness. She didn’t feel safe until she had moved kilometers away, and even then she knew that she wasn’t secure. This close to the obvious base there were bound to
be patrols out through the jungle for tens of kilometers.
Which meant she had to move carefully, not just because of them, but due to the fact that using her weapons would be sure to draw them to her. So avoidance was the only tactic she could use at this point. By evening she had found another safe tree, and sat up in the dark watching the lights of aircraft landing and taking off from the airfield. She wasn’t sure if the information she had discovered was of any use to the human side, or even how important it was if it did happen to be of any use. Still, she marked the location on her map, just in case she got to tell someone where the enemy were based in this region.
* * *
“And where was this village located, Lieutenant?” asked Major Goldman, looking at the map of the region on the wall of the cavern.
“Right here, sir,” said the officer, pointing his finger to a dot with the name Catarsaville underneath it.
Goldman looked at the Ranger officer and felt the blood rising in his face. “And you left a twelve year old girl, who had just lost her younger brother, my son, to walk alone through the jungle?”
“I’m sorry, sir,” said the officer, snapping to a position of attention. “We were on a mission, and the child would have slowed us down. Mission…”
“Comes first,” growled the Major, shaking his head. “I know. You had Cacas to kill, so the life of a child was not important enough.” Goldman slammed a fist into the map, the pain of striking the rock wall behind it like a penance to his dead family.
“Will there be anything else, sir?” asked the officer, clearly uncomfortable with spending any more time with the grieving parent.
Well too damned bad, thought Goldman, glaring at the officer. He shook his head, knowing that there was nothing he could do to the man, who was not even in his chain of command. Even if he was, the people above him would have told the junior officer he had done the right thing, and would have dressed the Major down. “You can go,” he growled. As the Lieutenant turned to go he put out a hand and grabbed the Ranger by the arm. “Thank you for bringing this information to me. At least I have a hope that she’s still alive.”
The Ranger nodded, then walked out of the room, leaving the Major with his thoughts. Is this what we have become, where killing the enemy becomes more important than saving our own? He knew that was the truth of the matter. The Emperor and Empire had sacrificed his world, and were now using it as a killing ground to take out as many Cacas as possible, with no thought to the over hundred million people who had called it home.
I don’t care what the Empire thinks. I need to find my daughter and get her to safety.
The Brigadier in charge of the sector was in his office when Goldman knocked on the door.
“Come in,” grunted the General, looking up from his desk where he had been working on paperwork on his flat comp.
“Can I have a word, sir?” he asked, walking into the office and closing the door behind him.
“What is it, Major? I’m kind of busy right now.”
“I just talked with a Ranger officer who said he had talked with my daughter at a village they attacked.”
“And did they bring her out?”
“No, sir. The officer felt she would slow his platoon down. So she’s out there in that jungle somewhere.”
“And what do you want to do about it, Major?” asked the General, turning his extremely tired looking eyes on the junior officer. “I can’t send men into the bush for a search and rescue mission. We have enough on our hands fighting a war of attrition with these bastards.”
“I know that, sir,” said Goldman, nodding his head. “And I’m only asking for you to send one person out there. Me.”
“You really think you’re going to find her out there in that shithole of a jungle, Major?” asked the General, giving him a disbelieving look. “Forget about it. You’re needed here.”
“Sir, I am accomplishing nothing here. I am an engineer, and there are no large scale engineering projects for me to supervise. The company commanders can handle what projects there are.”
The General didn’t say a word, but looked back at his flat comp.
“Do you have any children, sir?”
“I have two grown children, and some grandchildren, back on Heaven,” said the General, naming a world in the central Supersystem of the Empire.
“What would you do to protect them?”
The General looked up and glared at Goldman for a moment. Then his eyes softened and he shrugged his shoulders. “I think you’re going to get yourself killed out there. But if you’re intent on committing suicide, then take what you need and get out of here.”
“Thank you, sir,” said Goldman, rendering a salute and turning to leave.
“And may God go with you, Major,” said the General before Goldman could leave the room. “In answer to your question, I would do whatever I had to do to protect them. Now you go do the same.”
Goldman went to supply and the armory and kitted himself out with the best equipment he could gather that would allow him to move through the jungle and survive, without giving himself away to the aliens. Basically that was the same equipment as the Rangers used, military class survival suit, inertial tracker, and field kit of rations, med pack and repair tools. For a weapon he chose the best particle beam rifle he could handle without battle armor. He would have liked to have worn the armor he was used to, but was afraid it might give him away.
What the hell am I thinking? was the Major’s last thought as he left the complex and headed for the aircar park where he stored his personal vehicle. This is going to get me killed for no good result. But that’s my little girl out there. What else can I do?
He wasn’t sure if taking an aircar was in the permission the General had given him. But he was also sure that he hadn’t been forbidden taking his own personal property to go on his hunt. And I’d rather ask forgiveness than permission. If they want to court martial me when I come back with Rebecca more power to them. And if I don’t come back, then I’m out of their reach, dead.
Goldman looked up to the sky, covered as it was by the cammo netting and a stealth field over the park. He really didn’t know how effective the jamming field was at this time. Probably not as effective as it had been in days past. Hopefully enough that they don’t spot me from space. There was always the chance that someone on the ground or in an aerial vehicle would spot him, and soon after he would be in a wreck in the jungle. It was a chance he was willing to take.
Chapter Eighteen
Only the dead have seen the end of the war. George Santayana.
AZURE. MAY 6TH - 12th, 1001.
Cornelius still didn’t like being rained on. New Detroit had been an Earthlike planet, with the same climate zones as most other Earthlike planets. Some parts were wet, some were dry, and some alternated. Sestius had been a forest world, with huge swaths of what had to be called jungle, and a hotter than Earthlike climate on the whole. That meant a lot of rain a lot of the time. Azure was even hotter, with even larger swaths of jungle. He couldn’t say for sure that it rained a lot all over the planet. He could say that at this time in this place it sure as hell did rain a lot. And that meant he was getting wet on a regular basis.
The great thing about rain was it made it harder for the enemy to find them as they moved about through the bush. The horrible thing about rain was it made it harder for them to find that same enemy. Not just with its effect on visibility. It affected the range of their hearing, and almost completely took away their sense of smell. So moving in the rain was a nightmare in many respects.
Most of the animals were out of the rain, except for the hell hounds, a really nasty pack predator that seemed to like hunting in the wet stuff. The plantimals were still out and active, opportunistic predators that took advantage of the rain to mask their presence. That was almost Cornelius’ undoing. He had almost stumbled onto one of the creatures before he knew it was there. A tentacle snapped across his field of vision as the creature reacted too
soon, probably moving to his motion but overestimating his speed.
A loud trumpeting sounded through the jungle, and Cornelius backed away quickly. A large animal with heavy armored plates on his sides and back came lumbering out of the bush, its small eyes focused on Cornelius. The Ranger sucked in a breath. He wasn’t really confident that his rifle could stop this thing that had to weigh ten tons.
The creature trumpeted again, then turned its total attention on the plantimal, opening a large beaky maw and walking toward the hybrid beast. The plantimal went into panic mode, striking with its tentacles across the armored face and body of the predatory herbivore. Its small rootlike legs tried to pull it away, but it had no chance against the trunk legged beast that was coming at it.
The beak snapped onto the body of the plantimal, and the animal ripped loose a big bite and started to work it with its mouth. Half the tentacles on the plantimal fell limp while the bluish body fluid of the creature pulsed from the wound.
“Will you look at that,” said PFC Jorgeson, one of the men on Cornelius’s team, coming up beside his leader.
“Yeah, nice to see that something likes to eat the nasty sons of bitches,” agreed the Corporal. “A big boy too.”
“Biggest animal I’ve ever seen,” said the PFC, pursing his lips and whistling.
“I’ve seen bigger,” said Walborski, watching as the big animal took another bite and the plantimal stopped moving, dead. “Sestius had herbivores in the eighty ton range.”
“Dinosaurs?”
“No, they were mammalians. And about as placid as you could ask for, until a twenty ton carnivore came after them.”
“What’s the hold up here?” asked Lieutenant Swartz, coming up to the two men. The officer stopped in his tracks, staring at the big herbivore that was now placidly munching on the body of the plantimal. “Damn. I can see why you stopped.” The officer turned to the Corporal. “Move out, Corporal Walborski. We need to get on with this sweep and see if we can do unto the Cacas as this thing did unto the plantimal.”
Exodus: Empires at War: Book 05 - Ranger Page 24
