Hostage Rescue (Princess Rescue Inc Book 2)

by Hechtl, Chris

  “They are low on fuel. They said they have our position fixed, and they'll come out in a day or so. We need to find a nice place for them to land though.”

  Tycho nodded. “All right, people, let's all get back inside before we catch a chill,” he said. The group was all smiles; morale was soaring as they filed back into the lodge.

  ~~~^~~~

  Eugene received the report when his plane was on the ground at the border fort. “The lost has been found. Good. That is a relief and one thing off of our checklist.”

  Reinforcements had been shuttled through the temporary air base to occupy Rasmussen castle. No one had escaped, and for the moment, everyone inside was locked down. The lightly wounded had been treated. It turned out that the castle was even more lightly manned than expected; the domina had shifted a lot of her people to the capital.

  Initially, they had used the road as a temporary airstrip, just widening it until it could accommodate the aircraft. That shifted to plowing a better strip and taxiway with draft animals. He would be basing his command from that castle.

  Zane's team were gearing up for an assault team to take down Percival castle later. They had plans to meet up with Legatus Tycho.

  ~~~^~~~

  Akemi listened as the flight engineer gave the excited report over the radio to home base. She was heartily glad to be able to land in daylight though. Something told her that they'd be going out again soon though.

  She was right. With the weather holding clear, the following day she was sent out to drop a care package. The parachute opened and the packages fell in a string to the ground, a bit faster than intended, but they got there more or less intact. A map was attacked to one package; it directed them to the nearest place that the aircraft could safely land.

  The next morning she passed over the area and saw that soldiers and rusticus were out clearing the area for them to land. She made a couple of orbits and then decided to chance it. Her aircraft bounced a few times. It was a breathtaking landing, bringing back memories of their crash, but they managed to roll out safely.

  The flight engineer got the door open just as the crowd arrived.

  "Are we glad to see you!" someone called out as the cheers began.

  "And we you!" Akemi said as she climbed out.

  She exchanged salutes with Legatus Tycho and listened to his report. She stepped aside to let him get into the bird and give a brief radio report to command.

  While he did that, she had her copilot help her and the others unload the bird. They had another care package, filled with rations, a HAM radio, more ammunition, a handful of weapons, and some cold weather gear.

  Once the bird was unloaded, Tycho came back. “Can you get some of the people out?”

  Akemi frowned and glanced at her copilot. “I think I can get a few. How many are we talking about?”

  “Several dozen.”

  “Ah, not that many,” she said with a shake of her head. “Not this trip.”

  Tycho nodded. “Can you get the kids and a few of the worst injured out? We've had two falls and some bad frostbite. Also, a couple of people are still not healing well from the battle.”

  “Ah. Well, I can take four, maybe five if they are light."

  He nodded.

  They ended up sending two of the injured and three of the younger kids back.

  ~~~^~~~

  Once things were settled down at the lodge, Tacitus set up the HAM radio. Tycho gave his on verbal report on the coup and their escape over the radio in more detail in the evening. Eugene and Deidra listened in.

  ~~~^~~~

  The following morning Tycho led a group of people down the road to the Percival castle. They itched under the cloaks, not from bugs but from the fear of being recognized and shot.

  They were gruffly met by the castle steward. He wasn't happy about more mouths to feed and made it clear that they had one night in the castle but would have to earn their keep. That was contradictory to the Duluthian hospitality code, but Tycho nodded.

  Galius scouted for him and managed to get the basic layout of the castle. At nightfall Legatus Zane's team showed up in cloaks as well, drawing the attention of the cursing steward and his people.

  With them occupied, it was a simple matter for Tycho's people to draw their hidden weapons and take over. By the time the steward and the few rifle-armed guards knew what was going on, it was over.

  They let Legatus Zane in and the capture of the castle was complete.

  “Nice to see you,” Zane said, clasping forearms with Tycho.

  “Nice to be seen and definitely nice to be in out of the cold, finally!” That earned a chuckle of agreement from the group.

  ~~~^~~~

  Castle Rasmussen

  Eugene's plane arrived at the castle just as Akemi's bird was landing. They were still unloading the wounded and children when his bird taxied up to position itself next to the first.

  Ground crew divided up between the two birds. He climbed out and exchanged salutes with some of the excited people. He looked over to Akemi's bird where people were reuniting with each other in tears and hugs.

  “Been busy I see,” he said with a nod to her.

  The pilot nodded as she ran one hand over the leading edge of her aircraft. “Yes, sire.”

  “Good job on finding ways to improve the runways. We're passing orders to do the same at the other strips. The problem is the weather and the people there have to be rousted out to do it. They don't quite understand the needs of the aircraft. They think they can land anywhere,” he said as he touched the wing.

  She nodded.

  “How are things at Percival?”

  “Tacitus is still recovering but refuses to be transported. Agnes is hovering and has taken charge of the domestic side,” Akemi said. “We stayed long enough for a meal. Some of the residents were happy for the change in leadership.”

  He snorted. “Yeah, I'll bet.”

  “You can be the judge of that, sire. They are trying to help though.”

  He nodded.

  “Legatus Tycho is handling security. Legatus Zane is ready to return. I'm evacuating the wounded and children out. I've got one more load after this.”

  “Well, my bird is on the ground. Once they get her serviced, she can either run supplies here or go to Percival to begin bringing the troops back and fly supplies to them, I don't care which.”

  Akemi blinked with an expression of brief surprise before it cleared.

  “Didn't expect it? Thought I'd hang on to the bird?”

  She nodded.

  He smiled. “I'd call it me being nice, but honestly, no offense but I've had my fill of flying for a while. I'd rather keep my boots on the ground for a while,” he said wryly, stomping his feet in the snow.

  She snorted. “Trust me, sire; after that crash, I thought the same.”

  “Yet you got back in the saddle. Good girl,” he said with a nod.

  She understood the reference even though there was no saddle in an aircraft. She nodded.

  ~~~^~~~

  Imperium

  Wanda and some of the others finally got to tell them some of their stories of their return trip to Earth. Sydney and the others had made it clear that celebrity was nice initially, but the parades, the questions, and the paparazzi were something else.

  The videos they had accumulated had been a major hit but the undercurrent of skeptical people and then being called out as a hoax bothered him. "We put up with the same crap from people who thought aliens built the pyramids, the moon landing was faked, and that the 9/11 crashes were all faked. Big deal."

  It was clear that it rankled him a bit though.

  “It's harder when it is directed at you,” Sergio said. He'd been tempted to stay with Doctor Delecroix at the gate but he'd wanted to see the capital first.

  “Yeah. I had a guy … I mean, when someone doesn't believe you, fine. But when they get in your face and spit or scream that you are a liar, or worse, try to kill you, it's bad,” Ging
er said. “Here, we can get a fresh start. The cynicism back home …,” she shook her head. “We've got new opportunities here if we can stay.”

  “You are more than welcome to do so,” Deidra replied with a nod.

  “There is an issue with the UN group.”

  “Oh?”

  “The UN passed a series of things. They don't like what Eugene did with the expedition. That is why they sent the general. They don't like our intervention, our cultural contamination they call it.”

  Deidra nodded. Eugene had speculated as to why the UN had sent a brigadier general and a lieutenant colonel to the planet. He seemed suspicious of it.

  “They were saying nasty things like Eugene robbing the cradle and how he was playing you. How we were stealing the country. We almost didn't get a chance to come,” Wanda said in an aggrieved tone of voice. Deidra looked at her. “They needed us though, so they let us go in the end obviously.”

  Deidra nodded.

  “Well, the good news is that you brought about half of my wish list,” Max rumbled as he bounced his daughter on his knee. “That will help immensely. In fact, it already has.”

  The others nodded. “It's amazing what you've done so far, Max,” Ginger said.

  Max snorted. “Baby steps. In a couple of years, this'll look like baby steps. We're just getting started,” he said with a smile to his wife.

  She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, and I'm hoping we stay sane to get that far,” she said. The others chuckled.

  ~~~^~~~

  Doctor McEntire and others argued insistently over Terran interference. Sydney got involved and forced the duo to admit that some of the changes were for the good.

  “I get ending slavery. I do,” Doctor McEntire said. His partner shivered and nodded grudgingly. “It's a big step though; it alters their economy and social structure in many ways.

  “Temporary dislocation and confusion to be replaced by a more effective work force,” Sydney replied.

  The doctor nodded grudgingly.

  Sydney snorted. “Well? You can either have no interference or we act to improve things. You can't cherry pick. Trust me, we tried that. We tried to stand apart. It didn't work. And you can only watch people loot, kill, rape, and do other horrible things for so long before you decide it's time to take a stand.”

  “This is their world though. There are laws.”

  “Some have laws. We're working on that. Getting them to follow their own laws would be nice,” Sydney said. “Can you point to one thing we've done that was bad?”

  “It is just you are turning them into carbon clones of America!”

  Sydney laughed. “Are you kidding me? A hereditary monarchy? Constitutional monarchy? Parliament? Knights? Six-legged alien beasts?” He shook his head. “Far from America, Doc.”

  Doctor McEntire scowled but had to concede the point.

  “We're not interfering with traditions. I talked to some of the others. They ended human sacrifice here ages ago,” Sydney explained. The doctor's eyes widened and then he nodded. “We're not telling them how to worship, how to live. We're giving them the tools and example. They will decide what to do and how fast they want to adapt … or not,” Sydney said with a shrug.

  “No wait, just the economic competition alone will force them to adapt. And there are strings …”

  “Like sanitation? Clean water? Not raping and exploiting kids? Women's rights?” He indicated the woman with them. “Allowing her voice to be heard and keeping her from being sold and raped?”

  The woman gasped.

  “Trying to curtain child labor? Improving education? Safety? Improving health care? Freedom of speech?” Sydney asked. “Those sorts of strings.”

  “No, I mean others. I mean that freedoms of culture and expression are being twisted …”

  “Tell you what, Doc, you get more information and then come to conclusions on that,” Sydney replied as he walked off.

  ~~~^~~~

  General Periot checked in with the colonel and made sure they were gathering as much information as possible. It was looking increasingly like it was going to be needed if the true plan was to succeed.

  He had learned through Doctor McEntire that most of the original team's assertions about the culture were correct. The roman/medieval culture was a culmination of many cultures being mixed together over thousands of years. They were just adding to the mix.

  He took a tour of the academy and the command center. When he found out that a mission was underway, he made it clear that his people would only serve as observers. They would not engage in combat nor train forces to engage in combat. That was not what they were there for.

  General Tacitus took that in stride. "Fine then, General, I'd love your opinion on this situation. Purely as a tactical exercise," he said, inviting the foreigner to take a look.

  He explained the situation in the north and the ongoing hostage situation. He kept it simple; he didn't glorify or embellish anything. He showed the foreign general and colonel images of the Duluth killings and atrocities.

  When General Tacitus went on to outline the hostages that were held included children, it had an effect on the officers. Both grew grim. They were even grimmer when General Tacitus described the dungeon conditions.

  General Peroit made it clear again he was not happy but was interested in how they were going to handle the problem. "I see why you wish to end this."

  "With as little loss of life as possible. I'd like to say restore civil liberties and all that, but the Duluthians never had them to begin with. Just explaining basic sanitation is a big thing here," General Tacitus stated.

  The general nodded grimly. The images of the dead children were haunting. He had a grandchild that looked like the last dead girl he'd been shown.

  “The king is in the north and is with a company of the Flying Legion, our fast reaction force. They will be handling the operation.”

  The general nodded.

  “How are they outfitted?” the colonel asked.

  “Well, we haven't gotten to your level of equipment, but we did save some of the gear from the original team for part of the outfitting of the palace guard and legion. We also have some fair copies of some of the basic equipment. Initially, we were going to do a parachute jump at night,” General Tacitus explained.

  The two newcomers blinked at that surprise. He wasn't sure if the idea was outlandish as it sounded or the fact that they had the ability was coming as a surprise.

  “The problem is the target.” He indicated the model of the castle and capital, complete with steep roofs. “The winds can be tricky. Trying to land on a flat area is hard enough. They'd be surrounded by walls all around where the enemy could shoot down from.”

  The colonel grimaced. “Kill box.”

  “Exactly. They could fall into enemy hands, or worse, the moat.”

  "True."

  “So, we outfitted them for a night assault, but we will be landing them nearby in stages and then moving them in, which is tricky. Fortunately, we have a back door in …”

  ~~~^~~~

  Castle Rasmussen

  Legatus Zane and his platoon returned in order to rest and recover. Legatus Tycho, Galius, and most of the able-bodied miles with him returned as well. They made it clear they were going to go back to the capital for a much-needed rematch. Many were grimly looking forward to turning the tables.

  Eugene had flown in with maps of the capital and castle. He had also brought a scale model of the capital as well as one of the castle. The paper maps were updated with intel gathered from the spies as well as images from long-range drone flyovers.

  Legatus Tycho was given command of the company. Galius was frocked to legatus until someone else could become available. A full Flying Legion cohort, or battalion as it was known to Terrans, was to be flown in. The initial assault team was to be made by the company, however.

  Eugene worked with them for one week to revise the plan as new supplies and people were brought up through the southern
supply chain. With two transport planes available, they planned to drop them near the northeast section of the capital. They would enter through the Gunnar dairy farm caves; the spies had confirmed they were still open.

  From there they would make their way through the city to the castle to begin the assault. The prospect of anything going wrong during that night march weighed heavily on everyone's mind. Surprise would be key.