by Art DeForest
Cooper studied her face intently before reaching out to grasp the weapon. “I think I understand.” she said with sympathy on her face. “None of us here have ever had to kill. Who knows how any of us will react if that terrible day ever comes.” Seeing her reaction, Alex handed off his own pistol to sergeant Donaldson, the lieutenants second in command. “The more shooters the better it think.” he said solemnly. He did however, retain his rifle. After hearing what he had done with it, nobody was inclined to try to take it from the young sharp shooter. Looking at the lieutenant he asked, “What now ma’am. Whatever it is we need to be out of here before a scout ship shows up or we’re done for.”
Lieutenant Cooper thought seriously for a moment. “As I see it, we have two objectives. Number one is to get reinforcements and number two is to find out what the heck is going on.” It was at that moment that one of the soldiers pointed back to the west. “Ma’am, what’s that!” he said. Glancing in the direction the man indicated, Alex immediately started scrambling to gather his things. Keisha was quickly following suit. “We need to get out of here now, while they are focused on your vehicle.” Prodded by the action of the two young people the soldiers all stood. “Why, what is?” asked Cooper. “By the size, it’s one of their scout ships.” he said while throwing his pack over his shoulders. “If we can’t get under cover in the river bottom and under our camo covers before they spot us, bad things will happen.” Lieutenant Cooper hesitated for a fraction of a second before she started issuing orders. “Gear up people we’re out of here! Let’s go! Move, move, move! Thirty seconds later they were all running. They followed Alex’s lead as he sprinted in a semi crouch using the cover of the brush that lined the fenced lane. When he got to the end of the lane he stopped briefly to check the position of the scout.
Thanking whoever was watching down on them, he saw the scout ship facing away from their position as it descended to a landing pointed directly at the troop hatch of the transport vehicle. Staying crouched he sprinted once more, not stopping until he came to the edge of the river bottom and quickly jumped down the six foot bluff into it. The others quickly followed breathing hard. Huffing for breath himself, Alex climbed back up and peaked over the edge of the bluff. He was unable to see the scout from this vantage point, so after motioning them to stay where they were, he crept across the cover to the edge of the road where he could see the craft.
The scout was still on the ground. What appeared to be a full squad of invaders was milling around the troop carrier. Alex sighed with relief when he confirmed that no one was looking or headed their way. He quickly reversed course and returned to the river bottom. Once he was back with Keisha among the troops, he reported to Lieutenant Cooper. “They’ve landed by your transport and are looking around that area. I’m not sure how long that will last though.” Cooper nodded her head in consideration, thinking hard. “Okay, we need to split up” she said, looking around. Sergeant Donaldson I want you and private Kwon to take these two young people and head back to Harvest…” At which point she was interrupted by the sputtering protestations of an angry Alex and Keisha. “You’re just going to get lost and caught without me as guide!” said Alex. While simultaneously Keisha said. “I have to find out what happened to my aunt and uncle!” The words of both tumbling on top of each other in juvenile complaint.
Lieutenant Cooper held up her hands to quiet the two. Once they became silent she pointed to Alex. “You need me as a guide and shooter. I know how to avoid these guys and no one knows the valley better than I do.” he said with as much confidence as possible. The lieutenants finger switched over to Keisha. “My aunt and uncle are in there. I need to find out what happened to them.” This time it was Alex’s turn to protest. “Keisha, you should really head to Harvest with the others. This is going to be dangerous.” Keisha’s response was immediate and hard. “Don’t you dare tell me about dangerous Alex Hunter! I’ve been with you through all of this. I saved your life for crying out loud!” Alex stared at her for a moment in shock at her vehemence. “I….I just want you to be safe.” he said, looking deep into her eyes. “I don’t know what I’d do if I lost you too.” he mumbled in embarrassment. His face turned red and he dropped his gaze to the ground. Keisha looked at Alex, a look of residual anger and… something else crossing her face as she put her hand to the side of Alex face. “We’re in this together.” she said softly.
“As touching as this is, didn’t you say we were in a hurry.” said lieutenant Cooper in irritation. “You’re both adult citizens….barely, so I can’t order you, but if you insist on doing the stupid thing and staying here.” she sighed deeply. “Well I guess I could use the help.” Alex and Keisha both had small grins of triumph as they got their way.
Turning to her men Cooper resumed giving orders. Sergeant you and two other of your choice head back to the capitol. Don’t try to hide your tracks, at least at first. Hopefully they’ll think we’re all making a run for help. “Yes ma’am” said sergeant Donaldson with a sharp salute. Turning he motioned to two of his men and prepared to climb the embankment up towards the road. “Keep to the cover by the road and use your camo covers if a scout ship gets close. That’s how we’ve avoided them so far.” said Alex. He gave them a sharp nod. “We’ll do that. You all be careful.” Turning his back, he and his men began their run for help.
Once more facing Alex, Lieutenant Cooper said, “Okay mister guide, do you have a plan?” Alex pondered for a bit as he sat down on a handy log. “First of all, get your camo covers out and keep them handy. It’s the only thing that can hide you from an aerial search.” As the soldiers started following Alex’s instructions, he continued to think. “I think we should head up river and investigate some of the homesteads between here and town. Quite a few of the ones I checked out before had firearms in them.” he said consideringly. “Really?” questioned the lieutenant. I thought they would have confiscated them.” she said as if affronted by their lack of professionalism. Alex shrugged his shoulders. “I think they confiscated the people instead” he replied, “and I don’t think that they wanted a pile of confiscated guns in the same town with all the confiscated people.” The lieutenant nodded in thought then finally shrugged her shoulders. “I guess it couldn’t hurt to look.”
They packed up and started a cautious trek up river. They were perhaps a hundred yards from being parallel with the troop transport, when they all stopped at the same time. They heard the rumbling whine of the engines as the scout ship prepared to take off. “Quick, get under trees or bushes and cover yourselves with your camo cover.” Alex said urgently. Keisha had already grabbed Alex’s cover off the pack on his back and was headed to a tree as he talked. He couldn’t help but smile a bit as she waited impatiently beside the tree for him to join her. He was quickly by her side and took a look around at the others. He saw several of them with their faces exposed looking for a glimpse of the scout ship. “Cover your faces too.” he commanded. “They’ll show like a beacon to a heat detector. Looking a little sheepish they all hurried to comply as Alex got situated next to Keisha. He shook his head and whispered in Keisha’s ear. “I sure hope they learn fast or this is going to be a very short trip.” Keisha giggled quietly. “No doubt.” she replied.
6
They waited tensely as the scout reached full power and, judging by the sound, rose up into the air. It seemed to start circling the troop carrier before getting its bearings and headed off east along the road. As the sound faded away Alex got up quickly. “We need to make some distance before it comes back.” He said in a low voice that just carried to the rest of the group. The soldiers quickly had their camo covers stowed. Following Alex’s example of putting it on the outside of the their rucksacks for easy access. After another careful hundred meters, Alex stopped and turned to lieutenant Cooper.
“Your transport is just over there.” pointing towards the road. “Do you want to check it out or get anything from it?” The lieutenant nodded affirmatively. “We have spare rations
and equipment in there, some of it could come in handy if we can get to it.” she replied. “Let me scout it out first. I’ll report back shortly.” Alex immediately turned towards the river’s embankment preparing to head off through the brush when a small hand grabbed his arm. “Be careful” said Keisha looking deep into his eyes with her her own glorious brown orbs. Alex gave the hand on his arm a quick squeeze and winked at her. “Be right back.” he said with a smile.
As he eased through the brush silently Alex realized that this was the first time he had left Keisha’s side since the two had met. He couldn’t deny that there was something growing between them. He just hoped that they would have a chance to explore it in a more peaceful setting sometime in the near future.
Alex eased up the embankment, just sticking enough of his head above the lip to see towards the road. The troop carrier wasn’t visible from his vantage point, so he continued moving slowly forward over the edge and kept on with a belly crawl until the carrier came into view. Two men in the invader uniform were stationed on either end of the transport vehicle watching alertly east and west along the road. He observed them silently for a few minutes before starting to edge his way back to the river bottom.
Alex reached the edge of the embankment and sitting down, swung his legs over the edge. He was just about to hop down when the lip of the bank crumbled under his weight….loudly. He slid on his bottom, barely holding in a squawk of surprise as dirt and gravel cascaded around him. He sat for a moment stunned, willing the flow of dirt to quiet down. As quietly as possible, he crept back up the embankment to once more peek over the edge. He was still in this position when a slight sound behind him let him know that his group had come up to see what the commotion was.
He held out a palm motioning them to stop and then to get low. His eyes never left the view in front of him. He was just about to sigh in relief when he heard the brush move in front of him. Someone was making their way towards him. Alex glued himself as closely as possible to the embankment, holding his breath, as one of the guards he had seen slipped out of a gap in the brush and headed in his direction. The soldier seemed to be focusing out into the river bottom as he approached. Alex held out a single finger to those below him, trying to let them know that one person was approaching. The invader came to an abrupt stop just to the side of Alex’s position, gazing back and forth. Alex was starting to hope the soldier would just keep walking when another bit of gravel broke loose and trickled down the slope, it’s quiet shushing noise, drawing the attention of the guard instantly. His shock was palpable when his eyes locked with those of a crouched Alex hiding at his feet.
The soldier reacted quickly however, bringing the barrel of his assault rifle around in Alex’s direction. Reacting on instinct Alex reached out and grabbed the barrel as it came close and with a strong jerk, pulled the man off the edge of the bank to fall with a shout down to the river bottom below.
The soldiers in Alex’s group pounced immediately on the invader, quickly subduing and disarming their prey. Lieutenant Cooper looked up at him from her position at the bottom of the embankment as she held the man in a headlock, her hand firmly over the man’s mouth. Other soldiers were holding him still, having grabbed his arms and legs. He could see Keisha off to one side, her eyes wide with fright.
Staying up at the edge of the embankment Alex returned his attention back to the area between him and the transport. “John, you okay?” came the voice of the other guard. From the sound of his voice, he was much closer to Alex than he was to the transport. Alex drew his knife silently, trying to prepare himself for what he might have to do. He had killed before, but that was in rage or in a fight for his very survival. He had never killed in cold blood. Taking a deep silent breath, he allowed the killer to creep back into his soul.
He could hear the soldier’s steady progress through the cover beside the road, as he periodically called out for his partner. Judging where he would come into view Alex reversed the knife in his hand, holding by the blade. Throwing knives into tree trunks is another thing farm boys tend to do for fun and Alex was fairly good at it. He knew the chances of actually sticking the blade into someone well enough to kill them instantly were vanishingly minute. However, his knife was a heavy piece of steel and he figured he could at least stun the man for a second even if it wasn’t point first.
A movement down the bank a short distance away caught Alex’s attention briefly. A large security force soldier was creeping up the bank to take a similar position a short distance for Alex. As the man, Corporal Jenkins if Alex remembered right, got into position, he drew his own issued combat knife. They waited in tense silence as the invading soldier drew closer to their position. He was moving quietly now having guessed something was wrong by the lack of response from his partner. He crept into view from behind a tree. His gun panning back and forth, following his eyes. Like his partner however, those eyes were not looking at ground level. He came on to the edge of the embankment approximately halfway between Alex and Corporal Jenkins.
Jenkins broke cover first, trying to lunge at the soldier in imitation of what Alex had done to the first guard. His foot slipped however and he landed well short. The invader’s assault rifle whipped around as quick as a striking viper to cover Jenkins. “Hold it right…. “ was all he managed to get out as the butt of Alex’s knife impacted with stunning force to the back of the man’s head.
He crumpled bonelessly to the ground teetering on the edge of the embankment before rolling off and flopping helplessly to the bottom. Alex and Jenkins scrambled back down to the river bottom as two other soldiers quickly approached and started to secure the unconscious man with rigging tape from their rucks. No good soldier went anywhere without rigging tape, or so Alex had been taught.
The other invader was already trussed up with copious amounts of the stuff, including a large strip across his mouth. The security force people had leaned him up against a tree where he sat staring balefully at them. Alex motioned for the lieutenant to join him as he walked a short distance off to the side. There was a puzzled expression on her face. “I think we can make this work to our advantage.” he said. “After we get the supplies out of the transport, let’s let these guys see us leaving down river towards the capitol. Hopefully when they finally get found it will keep them looking that direction.” Cooper nodded her agreement as they headed back to the prisoners.
They questioned the prisoners closely for a few minutes, but they refused to tell the party anything of substance. They stared stubbornly into space and the only words they uttered were curses. Alex’s group didn’t have the time or indeed the inclination to try torture as a method of gaining information, so eventually the prisoners mouths were once more taped closed and they were ignored from then on.
They left the prisoners in plain view in the river bottom. Corporal Jenkins and one of his subordinates found themselves in possession of new weaponry that would actually fire. Alex promised himself that he would give them some instruction on slug throwers when he got the chance. After making sure no aircraft were in sight they quickly scavenged whatever they could use from the dead transport. Including a camo cover that Keisha claimed for her very own. Alex found himself with mixed feelings about no longer having to sit huddled next to her under a blanket. Loading themselves down, they quickly closed the transport back up and headed back down to the river.
Coming down by the prisoners, Alex walked over to them. “ We’ll be back with help from the rest of planetary security in a few days. You boys might want to think about running now.” He winked at them with a happy grin on his face as they tried to stare burning holes through him. With what he hoped was a jaunty wave, he and the others headed east towards Harvest. They walked for several hundred meters before turning deeper into the undergrowth down by the river itself. Telling the others to wait at the river, Alex carefully made it look as if someone had climbed the bank back up towards the road. He then obliterated any sign of them having gone down to the river.
> They walked along the rocky edge of the river for the most part. Alex bringing up the rear and wiping out any tracks he found from the other’s. Dark was closing fast when they came to a stop for the night. They were still entirely too close to the transport for his comfort, but he didn’t want to risk injury or being spotted by infrared if someone made a mistake in the dark. They settled in a copse of tall trees along the riverside that was remarkably free of undergrowth. Alex moved among the soldiers giving them instructions on staying hidden in the night. The soldiers didn’t have sleeping bags to sleep in, but the camo covers were, after all a survival blanket above all else, so he wasn’t worried about anyone catching hypothermia.
He completed his circuit and returned to where Keisha was setting up. To his surprise and everlasting gratitude he found she had set up his bag too, right next to hers. She had both of their camo covers laid across the sleeping bags one on top of the other. “Thanks for setting me up.” he said warmly as he approached. Keisha looked up. Her face seemed redden a little but Alex couldn’t be sure in the fading light. “I just thought two covers together would give us more protection.” she said trying to sound confident. “Good thinking.” he said as they slid into their sleeping bags. He lay on his side facing Keisha’s back. A position he was starting to get used to. Almost immediately she snuggled her back into his chest. “Need to conserve body heat” she said. Alex reached out of his bag and drew the twin camo covers, one old and worn, one crisp and new over their heads and somehow his arm just stayed out of his sleeping bag and wrapped itself firmly around her, drawing her close.
