The Between (Earth Exiles Book 3)

by Mark Harritt

  “But you say they all come out to man the towers when the compound is under attack?”

  “Yes. All of them except for the command team. The rest are out at the towers.”

  “They have heavy armament out there on the towers?”

  He nodded, “To use against the dragons, yes, they have some heavy weapons on the towers.”

  “Could they turn the weapons inward on the compound?” Mike asked.

  Shar thought for a moment, “I don’t know. It is possible, I guess, but I really don’t know.”

  Mickey spoke, “Well, if we go in during the daytime, they’d be able to see us. Then they’d have to decide whether the greater threat was outside, or inside. I get the feeling that we’d be fighting sixty men all at once.”

  Mike nodded, “Yeah, if we did this, it would definitely have to be at night. No mechs though, too dangerous. We know they have machineguns, but we don’t know what else they have to fight off an attack from the outside. The mechs are well built, but I don’t want to have to test them against anti-armor rockets, for example.”

  Everett leaned in to tap on the entrance to the base, “I think we need to get there pretty quick. They might be able to lock us out.”

  Mike stared at the entrance to the main building, “I don’t know. You still have one brick of C4, right?”

  Everett grinned, “I like the way you think.”

  Mike looked at Shar, “Where do they keep the slaves?”

  Shar pointed at the base entrance, “Inside the base. They have slave pens built below.”

  “What are these buildings over here?”

  “Mostly storage. One of them has a toilet for the guards in the towers to use,” Shar told him.

  “Is it doable?” Everett asked.

  Mike nodded, and turned his attention back to Shar, “Okay, I have two more questions for you. First, is there another entrance to the main building besides this?”

  Shar shook his head, “No, that’s the only one.”

  “Okay, now, last question, what do you think the bio-engineers will do if we take the base? Will they fight back?”

  Shar thought about the question, then answered, “No, I don’t think they will. They’re engineers not soldiers. If you don’t target them, then they won’t fight back.”

  Mike contemplated the answers, and the map, then he asked one more question, “Okay, one more question. Is there anybody else there that would give us problems? The other pilots for example.”

  “No, I don’t think so. The pilots are like me, fed up with what’s going on here. In fact, we’re one pilot short because Caen Verjon shot one.”

  Mike looked up at Shar, “Is that why you shot Verjon?”

  Shar nodded, “That was one of the reasons. Jerdal, the pilot he shot, was a friend of mine. Verjon shot him because Jerdal didn’t bow to him when Verjon passed him in the yard of the compound. Verjon said he didn’t show respect.”

  That explained a few things about Shar. Still, Mike didn’t fully trust the guy. Mike didn’t see how he could take care of the situation without Shar’s help though. Mike had three objectives he had to take care of. First, move Matki’s tribe out of this valley to safety. Second, move his people to a safer location. Last, rescue the people from the other village. None of that could be done without Shar’s help.

  Mike sat back, fully aware that everybody was looking at him for a decision. He looked around and then smiled, “Okay, here’s what we need to do first. We move Matki’s tribe to safety. Then,” he turned to the team, “We need to go home, and talk to Ken, explain the situation to him, and see if we can get their help to attack the base. If they agree, then we’ll do some more reconnoitering to check out the base, and see if an operation is viable there.”

  Everett leaned back into the thin padding of the cargo seat, “Yeah, sounds like a plan to me as well.”

  Mike looked at Joacar, “So, what we need to do, is meet with your men at this landing zone close to the village. Can they move back there in two days?”

  Joacar nodded, “It will be easier traveling without the elderly, and the women and children.”

  “Okay, while they’re moving there, the women and children need to come here. We can start shuttling them up over the pass to the other side of the mountain. You’ll need a couple of hunters to stay with them on the other side.”

  Mike looked around the shuttle, “I think we can probably get about thirty in here if we have the children sitting on the floor.” He looked over at Shar, “You’ll need to fly a little more careful since they won’t be strapped in.”

  Shar nodded, “It won’t be a problem. I will treat them as if they are my own family.”

  “They might well be your only family if word gets back to the Turinzoni that you helped us,” Everett pointed out.

  Shar’s face became very serious, “Of course. I will make sure they all make it safely.”

  Mike looked at Matki, “So, we get the women and children to safety. The rest of the men will meet us down at the village. Does it sound like a plan?”

  Matki nodded, “It does indeed sound like a plan.”

  Matki explained everything to Joacar. Joacar’s face positively glowed when Matki explained that Mike was going to try and rescue the other villagers from the Turinzoni.

  Joacar stood and came over to Mike, and offered his hand. Mike smiled at him and shook his hand. With that, he walked down the ramp and into the forest. A few minutes later, Caul came back. He started talking rapidly to Matki.

  Matki turned to Mike, “Caul thanks you for deciding to help our people. He says that Geonti thanks you as well.”

  Mike looked at Caul, “Where’s Geonti?”

  Caul pointed back at the tree line, “Geonti’s still out there. He wanted some time alone when he found out that you were going to try and save Retha.”

  Mike leaned back into the cargo seat, happy that he’d been able to give the young man some hope.

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  The first group they brought to the aircraft had a mixture of the elderly, women and children. Two of the children broke away from the rest, and Mike saw it was Desci and Olmla, Matki’s other son and daughter. Jendi was with the team outside, waiting for the first group to arrive. He yelled a greeting to them, and ran out to hug them. Mike watched as the three chattering children went into the aircraft to see their father. Olmla was crying as she hugged Matki. Mike’s allergies started making his eyes water.

  Doein, the old lady from the council was with them, and she gave Mike, Tom, and Mickey hugs when she saw them. She laughed when she saw Everett, evidently remembering his brush with the stiff drink he had at the village. He turned red as she gave him a big hug, put her arm through his, and leaned her head against him.

  The team helped the villagers up the ramp. The elderly needed the help the most. It was hard to get them to trust the aircraft. They were very skeptical about it. Caul, Geonti, Matki, and Jendi had to explain that they’d flown on the transport. Jendi was the star of the hour. He went back and forth to the elderly and the others to reassure them that they were safe. He regaled them with stories about his first flight, and how he was scared, but that he’d made several since then and it was perfectly safe to fly in this big metal contraption.

  Four hunters were also present, and Caul and Geonti nodded to them as they escorted the women and children out to the transport. The hunters waited until everybody was aboard, then turned back to the forest to bring the next group.

  Mike saved the back six seats for his team and the two scouts. They’d removed the branches from the aircraft earlier, so they were ready to lift off. Mike yelled at Shar, who nodded as he turned on the engine, and the turbines started to spool up. The back ramp started closing, and some of the children started crying. Their mothers rocked them to try and quiet them, but that wasn’t working well. The aircraft was too foreign to them for them to understand.

  They all gasped as the aircraft ro
se slightly from the ground, and slipped out of the opening in the forest to the landing zone. Once he was clear of the trees, the Shar lifted his control, and the aircraft started climbing. Then it happened. One of the children got sick, and threw up. Then others started throwing up. The inside of the aircraft smelled rank and was getting worse.

  Mickey started grinning, “Reminds me of the 82nd, when we got all the newbies from Airborne school.”

  Tom nodded, “Yeah, I remember that. The sixth jump was always the worse. Most of them were numb during Airborne school. Then they had a few weeks off, and time to think about what they were doing. Jumping out of a plane isn’t a natural inclination for most men.”

  Mike looked at the kids. Some of the elderly and mothers had thrown up as well. Then, he felt the air move across his face. Some of the stench dissipated. Mike assumed that Shar had turned on the interior fans. It was a good thing that he had done so. Mike had started to feel a little queasy himself.

  Soon, they were over the pass, and Shar found a place to set the transport down. The ramp went down, and the team and the two scouts were the first ones off. They did a quick three-sixty around the aircraft, and the two scouts went deeper into the woods looking for anything that might be dangerous. They came back thirty minutes later and gave the okay for the women and children to come out of the aircraft.

  Mike and the team helped them down the ramp. Once the elderly and the children were out, Matki was the next one out. Mickey pulled a cloth, roll up stretcher out of his bag, and they moved Matki onto it. Matki grimaced as they had to put pressure on his leg to be moved, but he didn’t give any further indication of the pain he was feeling. Each of the men grabbed one of the fabric handles and lifted him up.

  They were walking across the floor when Geonti slipped in one of the puddles of vomit, and almost went down. He caught himself by grabbing a strap on the bulkhead. They took it a little bit slower, and then they reached the ramp. They carried him down into the trees, and found a comfortable place to set him down.

  Matki looked up at them, “Thank you my friends, take care of yourselves.”

  Mike, and then the rest of the team, reached down and gripped his hand. Mike felt a little choked up, “Don’t worry Matki. We’ll be back soon, and then we’ll find a better location for you and your tribe.”

  Matki nodded. He turned his head as Jendi started talking. They talked back and forth, and then Matki smiled, patted his son on the back. Balia said something, and she didn’t look pleased at all. Matki gripped her hand and replied. Then he turned to Mike, “Jendi will be flying back with you. He wants to help with the women and children. He did a good job reassuring them when the aircraft started.”

  Mike smiled, “I agree. He’s definitely an asset.”

  Jendi’s chest puffed out when Matki relayed Mike’s assessment back to the boy. Balia hugged her child, and then sat back down next to Matki. Mike grinned at Jendi, and motioned for him to come along. Jendi fell instep next to Mike, and Mike patted him on the shoulder.

  Tom looked over, “Raising the next generation of team members?”

  Mike thought about it, “I guess so. We have to start somewhere, and if his dad is any indication, he’s a prime candidate.”

  They walked back to the aircraft, where Shar was standing with collapsible buckets. They found a stream and used the water to sluice the vomit out of the aircraft. The rest of the day was used to ferry the women and children back and forth. Jendi was heroic in his efforts to help the refugees when they boarded the aircraft. Still, every time they landed, they had to make the trip to the stream for more water.

  Five trips in all, and the last of the refugees were loaded on board. The four hunters came on board as well. They moved the last of the women and children to the area north, and then it was off to the next LZ to pick up the supplies. Food was loaded first. They took that to the refugees and offloaded it with three more hunters. They went back to the landing zone, and anything remaining was loaded on board. That included some more food, all the ammunition, and some tents that had been left behind. Jendi stayed on the aircraft, sitting next to Mike. Mike had his arm around the boy. It was clear that Jendi idolized the team just as much as he idolized his father.

  They dropped the last of the supplies with the refugees, and then they hopscotched down the valley, into different landing zones. In each landing zone they picked up more hunters, and the rifles and kit that the Turinzoni no longer had use for. Each hunter now had a new knife hanging from their belts.

  Soon, there was a big stack of weapons. Some of them were clearly non-functional, but Tom reassured Mike that he’d be able to figure it out and put working weapons together.

  Joacar was the last man onto the aircraft. As he walked onto the aircraft, he handed Mike a milled, metal cylinder. The top had been threaded back into place. Mike looked at the cylinder, knowing that if they were going to have any success at rescuing the other villagers, this was going to provide the distraction they needed to get inside the compound.

  And that was it. They’d cleared the valley of everything they needed. The aircraft lifted off, and they headed back to the refugee location. When they landed, they started moving the guns and other equipment off the aircraft.

  When they were done, Everett looked at Mike, “Now what?”

  “Well, tomorrow, we’re going to scout further north. One more valley over, and see if there’s another, better location for them. Then we move them all up there,” Mike answered.

  “After that?”

  Mike looked at Everett and smiled, “Then we go home.”

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  Chapter Nine

  They had to wait several more days to start the process of moving the villagers further north. The team did a map reconnaissance first, then that was followed by an aerial reconnaissance, based on likely locations they found on the map. Then Shar air lifted them north to check out the locations in person. Caul, Geonti, and eight other hunters were sent with the team to do the reconnaissance, since they knew what the tribe needed much better than the team did.

  Several of the locations looked decent, but Caul ruled them out quickly, mainly because of the scarcity of food. They found what looked like a good place to settle the villagers, then they sent the ten hunters out in pairs to check for any dangers. One of the hunter pairs came back to tell them that they’d found sign of one of the bear packs, the talgit, in the area, so they decided to look for a better location.

  Finally, they found a decent location with a number of caves close by. The team and the hunters went in to make sure that there weren’t any wild animals inhabiting the caves. Once Caul gave the okay, they made plans to move the villagers further north.

  They moved all of the supplies first, with hunters to guard the location, then they started the process of transferring the women, children, and elderly. They had some of the same problems they’d had before, and had to sluice the vomit out of the aircraft between trips. Still, the refugees didn’t seem to be quite as terrified with flying as they had been previously. Once again, Jendi was the go to guy as he spent his time comforting the women and children, as well as helping to clean up after they got off the plane.

  Then they had to take time for Tom to figure out which weapons were functioning. He was cautious about it, and made sure that the rifles he selected were fully functional before he put the first round through one. After that, he began the process of training the village men how to fire, aim, and maintain the weapons. It was perfunctory, but Tom was satisfied that the hunters had the basics of weapons safety down, and the likelihood of a negligent discharge was extremely slim, especially after he showed them what kind of damage one of the rounds could do by shooting one of the ground rodents in the area.

  Finally, all of the villagers had been resettled, and the team suddenly realized that they were going back home.

  “You ready for this?” Everett asked Mike.

  Mike thought about
Jennifer, and looked back at Everett, “More than ready.”

  Everett grinned and slapped Mike on the shoulder, “Me too. I can’t wait to see Joan.”

  Tom nodded, “I’m going to get an earful from Latricia since we haven’t been in contact with them.”

  “Radio was shot up. It’s not like it’s your fault,” Mickey pointed out.

  Tom grinned, “You think that’s going to keep Latricia from expressing her opinion?”

  Mike laughed, “Probably not. Still, she might surprise you. She might just drag you into the tunnels for some alone time instead.”

  Tom glanced over at Mike, “Oh, I’m pretty sure that’s going to happen mosh schosh. Still, that girl has a particular point of view, and she’s not shy about expressing it.”

  Mike grinned, “Yep, you’re right about that. I bet Jen’s going to give me some grief as well.”

  “Who’s going to tell Michelle?”

  They looked at Mickey, and grew quiet.

  Mickey spoke again, “Guys, we have to tell Michelle.”

  Mike hadn’t forgotten about Michelle, or Roberto. Hell, how could he. He loved Roberto like he was a brother. He nodded, “Yeah, I know Mickey. Believe me, I haven’t forgotten. That’s the first thing we’ll do after we land.”

  Mickey nodded, “Yeah, I know. I just, you know . . .”

  Mike understood. It couldn’t be put into words. You spend five, six years with a guy who always has your back, and you have his. It was a bond that was almost stronger than family. In some ways, it was family. A different kind of family, one that was forged through sacrifice and hardship.

  They were interrupted by Jendi. He came walking up to the aircraft, and said in stilted English, “Mike, you, team, please come. Matki talk you.” He motioned for Mike and the team to follow him. Lately, since Matki couldn’t move, Jendi had been acting as his liaison.

  Matki and his family had moved into one of the larger caves, along with a number of women and children. Some of the children were already playing games, chasing each other in and out of the cave. The sights and sounds of children playing was something that Mike would miss, though hopefully, not for too long. Desci, Matki’s son, was one of the boys running around. He ran up to the team, yelled, “Hello!” and ran off with his friends again. Evidently it wasn’t only Jendi that was learning English.