In Her Name: The Last War

by Michael R. Hicks

  She looked up at the growing roar of an approaching ship, and followed it as it lowered into the woods on the far side of town. Valentina said that while she wasn’t sure, she suspected it probably carried more human prisoners. The ships had been coming about every fifteen minutes since Mills had seen the first one a few hours ago.

  “Let’s go,” Valentina whispered from behind her, and Allison nearly jumped out of her skin.

  “It’s about time.”

  Together, they crept out the back of the store and through the dark, deserted streets as yet another ship roared overhead.

  CHAPTER SIXTY-FOUR

  “Shit.” Danielson looked up, wondering if the children had heard him curse. It had taken him four hours of frustrating labor to try and piece together the device from the parts and tools Valentina had brought back, while she focused on trying to build a radio.

  Her task had been just as challenging, as it was difficult to put together a primitive device like a radio with modern technology.

  “What’s wrong?” Steph had been helping Danielson. She didn’t have the technical knowledge to build the equipment, but she could provide a pair of extra hands.

  “There’s nothing.” Danielson glared at the fist-sized collection of electronic components he had managed to fuse together. Two lights glowed on a small panel that was connected to the device. One was green, the other was red. Pointing to the green one, he said, “The thing’s broadcasting. I can tell that much. But it’s not connecting to anything, not even our headsets.” He held up one of the headsets they’d been wearing. They hadn’t had to use them much since they jumped down to the planet’s surface, as they’d been together most of the time and within easy talking distance.

  “Is it just not synchronizing?” Valentina picked up her own headset and working the tiny controls.

  “No,” he told her, shaking his head. “Those have stopped working, too. The hardware checks out okay, but there’s no carrier signal for them to pick up. The network’s just gone.”

  “He’s right.” Steph was looking at her vidcam. While she hadn’t connected it to the team’s net, it could see the headset nodes. Now it couldn’t. “The Kreelans must have done whatever they do to kill our comm and data links.”

  “Well, I guess that’s that for this piece of crap.” Danielson shoved the makeshift comm unit away from him, a look of utter disgust on his face.

  “How do they do that?” Steph wondered quietly.

  “I think the question we should be asking is why they did it now?” Valentina frowned. “I just spoke to Mills a few minutes ago on my headset.”

  “Who the hell knows?” Danielson snapped. “I sure hope you had better luck than I did.”

  “Let’s find out.” Valentina tapped a few more commands into a small console that she had connected to her own collection of oddball bits and pieces of tech from the gadget store. “Let me have that, would you?” She pointed to a connector attached to the end of a cable that she had run outside the shelter to a wire antenna outside. Steph handed it to her, and Valentina plugged the connector into the makeshift radio.

  They were rewarded with the sound of static from the small speaker unit. Valentina touched a control on the console, and the static disappeared.

  “I programmed in the alternate radio frequencies we were given” she explained. “All the teams were issued radio beacons. If the other teams have their beacons on, we should be able to pick them up.”

  “We don’t have a beacon, do we?” Steph asked.

  “No,” Danielson answered bitterly. “It went down with the ship, along with most of our other stuff.”

  They all stared at the speaker, waiting to hear something.

  “What are we listening for?” Steph whispered.

  “Bursts of static,” Valentina answered, keeping her eyes glued to the console. “It won’t sound like anything to us, but I built in a decoder that will break out any transmissions. The beacons are just to let other teams know you’re still on the mission. If we pick up a beacon and respond, we’ll be patched through to the team and be able to talk to them.”

  They watched and listened, but heard nothing but silence. One minute passed, then two.

  “Are you sure it’s working?” Danielson leaned in for a closer look at the device.

  Valentina nodded. “We don’t have a transmitter that I can use to test it, but at certain frequencies there are natural radio sources like lightning, and gas giants like the one in this system produce a lot of radio signals.” She looked up at him. “Those were my test sources. The radio’s working, there’s just no one out there transmitting.”

  “Maybe they’re too far away?” Steph asked.

  Both Danielson and Valentina shook their heads.

  “No,” Danielson told her. “The beacons were tailored for Alger’s World, and all the teams are here on the same continent. If they were broadcasting, we’d hear them.”

  “And if they’re not broadcasting...” Steph looked at Valentina.

  “They’re gone,” Valentina answered with brutal finality.

  The three of them sat silently, staring at the equipment on the small table. Behind them, the children slept in a mass of pillows and blankets spread across the shelter’s floor. Allison had refused to go to bed after returning from town with Valentina, and had instead gone outside to keep Mills company.

  Valentina grinned inwardly. She suspected Allison was quickly developing a crush on the big Marine.

  They looked up with a start as the door opened. Mills.

  “Why aren’t any of you answering your bloody headsets?” he hissed angrily, glancing at the mass of sleeping children.

  Danielson held up one of the headsets. “The comm links are out. The hardware’s okay. We think it’s the Kreelans locking us down.”

  “They shut down the network only a few minutes after I last spoke to you,” Valentina added.

  “And none of you thought to clue me in to that little fact?” Mills raised his voice. “Maybe it’s because there’s a file of warriors from town heading right toward us!”

  “Oh, Christ.” Danielson closed his eyes and banged his head back against the concrete wall, a small measure of his anger at his own stupidity.

  “Get them up,” Mills ordered, nodding at the children. “We’ve got to get them out of here, right now.”

  “There’s something else you need to know,” Valentina told him as Danielson gathered up the two comm units and carefully put them into a satchel, while Steph rushed to wake up the rest of the children. “There aren’t any beacons from the other teams. They’re gone.”

  “We’re it.” Danielson gave Mills a sick look as he hurriedly crammed some other essential gear into a pack.

  Mills muttered something dark under his breath, not wanting to say out loud what he was thinking in front of the children, who were now all awake and alert.

  “Bloody perfect.” He fought to calm himself. The children were looking at him with wide, terrified eyes, and he knew that he needed to give them some confidence. Being angry or panicking wouldn’t do. “They’re probably just busy,” he said. When Danielson opened his mouth to say something, Mills cut him off, managing to muster a smile. “I’m sure they’re all heading here, as this is clearly where all the real action is. We might even leave a few warriors for them to clean up.”

  “Uh, yeah,” Danielson managed to say, finally catching on. “Yeah. But only if they move their asses and get here soon. I’m not going to hold back just to leave ‘em some.”

  “Valentina, Steph,” Mills said, “get the kids out of here. Lead them back to the creek and into the woods and try to get clear. Danielson and I will try to buy you some time.”

  “Send Danielson with Steph. I’m not leaving you.” Valentina stared at him, defiance shining in her eyes. “You know that I can fight better than the rest of you put together.”

  “Why the bloody hell do you think I want you with the children?” Mills reached out and took her a
rm. “You may be the only chance they have.”

  Valentina stared at him for a moment, then slowly nodded. “Damn you, Mills. I…”

  “I know,” he whispered. “I know.” He turned to Danielson. “Give her the comms gear.” Turning back to Valentina, he said, “Now you and Steph get your arses and the children out of here. We don’t have any more time.”

  Taking the satchel with the comm units from Danielson, Valentina quickly gathered up her pistol and the extra assault rifle that had belonged to Stallick. “I’m leaving you the sniper rifle. It won’t be any good to me in the woods, but you might be able to get some use out of it.”

  “That I will,” he agreed as he held up her pack. She stuck her arms through the straps and cinched them tight. Danielson did the same for Steph.

  They were ready. The children stood, behind them, quiet but tense.

  “Get going.” Mills nodded toward the door.

  Allison stood in the stair well, his assault rifle in her hands.

  “And what do you think you’re doing?” Mills put his hands on his hips, giving the girl a severe look.

  “I’m staying to help you.” Allison flicked a glance at Valentina.

  “Good Lord!” Mills glanced at Valentina, who shrugged helplessly. With a sigh, he bent down so his face was level with Allison’s. “Girl, you can’t stay with me. You’ve got to help Valentina and Steph.”

  “But what will you do if she comes?”

  Mills’s expression hardened. “Don’t worry. I’ve dealt with her type before. Now,” he gently took the rifle from her, “we’ve wasted enough time. Get the devil out of here.”

  “Here, take this for me, would you?” Valentina handed her the satchel with the comms gear. “We can’t let anything happen to it.”

  Allison, pouting, took it.

  Mills slung the assault rifle over his shoulder before taking the big sniper rifle that Valentina held out to him. Then he led the way out the narrow door and up the steps to the burned out barn.

  Holding out a hand to stop Allison for a moment, he took a quick look through the sniper rifle’s scope toward where he and Allison had seen the warriors approaching.

  The Kreelans were about where he’d expected them to be, except now they had fanned out into a skirmish line, swords drawn.

  “Come on,” he hissed urgently, and Allison quickly ran up the last of the steps and headed toward the back of the barn.

  Valentina followed her, pausing until the rest of the children were out before taking the lead as they moved out across the dark field toward the creek.

  Then Steph appeared, with Danielson right behind her. Steph knelt next to Mills and squeezed his shoulder. “Good luck, Mills,” she said quietly. “And thank you.”

  “Take good care of yourself, Steph.” He grinned, his smile splitting the darkness. “I’ll see you in the next turn of the wheel.”

  She nodded solemnly, then followed after the children, who were moving fast behind Valentina.

  “How many of our friends are coming to dinner?” Danielson wriggled into a pile of collapsed timbers from the barn’s roof that offered him some cover and a good field of fire.

  “About two dozen,” Mills told him casually as he snugged the sniper rifle up to his shoulder and put his eye to the scope. The warrior in the center was the same who had been leading the column of warriors when he had first seen them, and he figured she was the leader. She was easy to recognize, as her right ear was gone.

  That won’t be the only thing you’ll be missing in a minute, he thought as he centered the scope’s target bead on her forehead.

  “Let me know when.” Danielson stared through the low-power scope on his assault rifle. “I’ll start on the right and work left.” He shifted his aim to the warrior who was on the right end of the line.

  “I’ll take the leader and work left,” Mills said. “Good luck, mate.”

  “You, too, Mills.” Danielson’s finger tensed on the trigger.

  Mills took a deep breath, then let it out. “Let’s get to it, shall we?”

  He stroked the sniper rifle’s trigger, the shot shattering the quiet darkness.

  * * *

  Steph turned to look back at the farmhouse as the first shot was fired. The building was nothing more than a black shadow against the darkness of the pre-dawn hours, an angular shape that blocked out the stars. She could see flashes of light reflected from the far side of the barn as Mills and Danielson began to fire on the approaching warriors. She could have used the light amplification of her vidcam to see better, but the small projection lens gave off enough light to stand out in the darkness. She knew the Kreelans could see well in the dark, and she didn’t want to give herself away.

  “Come on!” One of the children took her hand and pulled her along.

  Bringing up the rear made Steph feel isolated from the others, but Valentina needed to be at the front in case they ran into trouble, and someone had to make sure none of the children got left behind.

  Trying to ignore the frenzied firing now coming from the barn, the rapid staccato of Danielson’s assault rifle punctuated with the heavier booms of the sniper rifle, Steph hurried after the young girl who was still holding her hand.

  Other shadowy figures shimmered ahead of them as the line of children moved quickly toward the creek, where Valentina gathered them in a circle around her.

  “I’ll cross first,” she told them in a whisper as Steph knelt beside her, “and I’ll whistle if it’s clear. If you hear anything else, run. Everyone understand?”

  There were nods from the ghostly faces, and Steph could see them glance back nervously toward the barn as the alien warriors let loose a bone-chilling war cry.

  “If anything happens to me,” Valentina whispered into Steph’s ear, “get Allison and protect the radio. It’s already pre-set to the fleet broadcast frequency. Everything depends on it.”

  With that, she turned and moved silently into the burbling creek, crouched down low and holding her rifle at the ready.

  * * *

  “Out!” Danielson ejected another spent magazine and slammed a fresh one into his rifle.

  Mills fired again at something moving in the field, but wasn’t sure if he hit it. The two of them had taken down at least half the approaching warriors, but he knew that at least some of them must be getting close. Every time he fired, he lost his sight picture and was partially blinded by the rifle’s muzzle flash, and he was losing track of his targets without a spotter.

  “Check behind us!”

  That’s when he heard the strange keening sound that the Kreelan flying weapons made. He ducked down just as the thing flew right through his makeshift firing port, making a heavy thunk as it embedded itself in something behind him.

  Danielson shoved himself backward with his elbows and peeked up over some of the fallen trusses from the barn’s roof to see behind him.

  A warrior leaped at him from the darkness.

  “Christ!” He fired, the muzzle flashes dancing along the shining blade and gleaming fangs of the alien. The slugs stopped her in midair, and she fell to the ground in a bloody heap.

  Four more of the snarling humanoids attacked. Mills barely rolled away in time as a sword slashed right through the timber he’d been next to, and he lost his grip on the sniper rifle.

  A warrior was standing right over him, raising her sword again for an overhand cut, the fangs in her mouth gleaming as she roared in triumph.

  He kicked one of her legs out from under her, and she fell on top of him, trying to stab him with the sword.

  Mills managed to block it, knocking the blade to the side as she fell.

  Letting go the sword, she slashed him across the chest, her talons cutting deep into his body armor before he caught hold of both her wrists.

  They rolled and writhed until Mills settled for the simple expedient of repeatedly smashing his forehead against her nose and mouth. That stunned her long enough for him to slip his combat knife from its
sheath on his belt. He shoved it through the base of her jaw, driving the tip into her brain.

  Danielson screamed.

  Mills rolled the still-twitching Kreelan away, ignoring the blood that had poured onto him from her punctured throat. Getting to his knees, he saw three of the aliens slashing and stabbing at Danielson. He was holding his rifle, its magazine now empty, by the muzzle with his good hand, using it as a club.

  The Kreelans weren’t making a concerted effort to kill him, but were taking the time to make him bleed.

  Mills grabbed his assault rifle from the black ash and dirt of the barn’s floor and fired, killing two of the Kreelans instantly.

  The third seemed to somehow dance out of the way of his bullets, moving closer to Danielson. Mills watched in slow-motion horror as the warrior easily parried Danielson’s desperate swing with his rifle, then plunged her blade into his chest.

  “No!” Mills screamed as he emptied the rest of the magazine into her. The bullets pinned her body to the remains of the barn’s wall until his gun fell silent and she crumpled to the floor.

  Without thinking, he dumped the empty magazine and shoved a new one in as he crawled through the debris to reach his fellow Marine.

  “Stay with me, mate.” Mills knelt down next Danielson.

  “If my arm hadn’t been hurt,” Danielson breathed, a froth of blood seeping from his mouth, “I could’ve whipped all of them.”

  “No doubt,” Mills told him as he moved his hands over Danielson’s chest to feel the wound, then reached around to probe gently along his back. The sword had run all the way through the right side of his chest, perilously near his heart. There was nothing Mills could do. “And you’ll have a chance to prove you’re a macho bastard again after we get you patched up.”

  “Don’t fuck with me, Mills. I’m done, and I’m okay with it.” Danielson took Mills’s bloodied hand and held it tight. “Just go. Take care of the brats.” He coughed, a wet, ugly sound from deep inside his chest. “And good luck with the spy chick, you lucky...bastard.”