Chapter 34
I thought of Carmen’s statement about army ants as the Molochs, flames burning the first rows of warriors, marched ever so steadily through the valley. They were within a hundred yards of the canyon now. The fires turned their flesh and faces black. Their noses and mouths burned and twisted in the cackling red. They said nothing. No moans, no cries, no pleas. Chests and arms simply turned black and fell off, whole or in pieces. When the fires consumed the Molochs’ legs, they collapsed. The next Molochs’ huge boot pushed the fallen deeper into the ground. Ten rows back the flames had diminished. The back soldiers gradually slowed their pace putting space between them and their flaming comrades. They waited until the fires had consumed the first ten rows in a crackling heap.
“How many are left?” I said.
“A lot.” Rab said.
“That’s rather imprecise for a military man.”
“Bunches and bunches.”
“Oh, that’s better.”
I looked up. The one transport was already out of sight. A second was flying back down. There was a third someplace between the planet and the huge interstellar ships.
As the wind shifted and changed, the stomach recoiled with the smell of burnt flesh. Only it wasn’t burnt flesh. It was burnt Moloch “skin”. But my stomach couldn’t tell the difference.
“They smell like a sewer.” I said.
“They didn’t use deodorants.”
The Molochs walked into range. Rapid fire took out six of them. The gun hammered on my shoulder. I fired again out of frustration. Three men fell. Then I looked up.
“They’re not marching. Not anymore.”
“Looks like they’re waiting. Have any more bombs?”
I shook my head. “We have used them all. I made a terrible mistake with that mist. Thought it was such a great weapon.”
I hoped that wouldn’t be my epitaph. Or worse yet, the epitaph’s of my men. Thought it was a great weapon.
One or two Molochs separated themselves from the army and headed for the canyon, spear in their hands. They didn’t stop when they got to the cliff’s edge. They kept walking as if they could pass through air. They couldn’t. They dropped like a stone.
“Wish all of them would do that. Follow the leader boys.” I said.
“No, they’re not that dumb. They’re standing in place.”
They weren’t milling around though. No aimless wandering. They stood, almost at attention, as if waiting for something.
The low fires still burned with the flesh of the Molochs. Smoke curled up. For a few seconds I could hardly see the Molochs due to the blackness.
I didn’t mind this state of affairs. They could wait on the other side of the canyon forever. Wait until all the Aristolans were loaded and headed for their new home.
“What do you think?” I said.
“I think it’s time to cultivate patience. I was never good at that.”
“Neither am I.”
A minute ago we had screaming winds, fires, and the decibel-crunching blast of the pillboxes, and the random sounds of battle. Now almost a preternatural silence came. Not a leaf was blown by a random wind. Even the Molochs stood almost motionless. The pillbox stayed silent. No murmur from the troops behind me. The cackling of the fires diminished.
“Say something Rab. This is unnerving.”
He repeated an old army expression.
“How true.”
Army slang is almost as old as civilization, and may have more staying power.
I shrugged. “If they want to wait, I can wait with them. If they stay still, time is on our side. We get the Aristolans to their destination. Why don’t we relax and put our feet up?”
“Let’s don’t take a fifteen-minute break yet. I get a feeling they are waiting for something. For what, I don’t know. You notice they’re not breaking ranks. And they’re not walking the other way either. They’re not leaving. They’re waiting for something.”
“Whatever it is, it can’t be good.” I stared across the canyon. “But you’re right. They’re not leaving. They seem… deliberate in their movements. But the longer they wait the better.”
A buzz came in my ear from Carmen.
“Any good news?” I said.
“A little bit. The battery is destroyed. It won’t be sending any more missiles this war. It was automated. A very old facility. I’m guessing centuries at least, if not millennia. It simply wore out after firing the rocket. Whew! Know how much dust gets collected over thousands of years?”
“See anything else on your trip?”
“Not a thing. And that’s not an exaggeration. There was nothing living over there, major. Maybe that place was home to an alien race in the past but no longer. We saw no animals, no birds. No bugs for that matter.”
I gave a bitter sigh. “Of course. This is a place of death. It’s the gateway to hell. Its perdition and purgatory all rolled into one. Good thing we’re getting the Aristolans off. They certainly don’t belong here. But no one belongs here.”
“And I was about to rate it as my number one vacation hotspot. If you want a private vacation, there’s no one here to bother you. Well, besides the ugly mutants, that is. How are they, by the way?”
“They send their regards. Wouldn’t happen to have any extra bombs would you? Real large ones?”
“Sorry sir. Wish I did. I have two more missiles. I can blow up something if you like. Oh, and I do have a few things to tell you after the battle.”
“OK, return to base. Right now it’s a very slow time. We can use your cheery smile to help us cope.”
She laughed. “Be there in a few minutes.”
I grabbed binoculars and raised them to my eyes. The Molochs looked even uglier through the lenses.
“Why don’t they do something?” I said.
“Well, we have them blocked. Maybe they have just enough fundamental understanding to know they can’t get across.”
With today’s weapons there are times in war when, at least for a few seconds and often longer, you don’t know what has happened or what is going on. The brain dulls. The senses are in limbo. All emotions are paralyzed. In such states, there must not be fear. Just a question. What is going on?
I thought I was floating in air. Casually. Softly. Like a feather caught in a mild breeze floating over a lake. A roar was in my ears. Like being near a huge waterfall. Rocks and stones flew by. Several nipped me. One skimmed skin from my forehead. Besides the abrasion, I felt very relaxed.
The semi-dream state came to an end when I slammed into the hard Vega earth. I shook my head and tried to focus. I hauled myself to my knees, although the body resisted. Arms, back and legs ached. Rab’s firm hand grabbed my shoulder and helped me up.
The ground wasn’t steady. I grabbed hold of the pillbox so I could stand. The top half of the mountain, once pointing majestically toward the skies, was gone. The explosion had seared it off. Hundreds of thousands of tons of dirt, rock and gravel roared down what was left of the mountain. The most massive avalanche I had ever seen.
The debris flowed like a mountain brook and rolled into our canyon. Filling it up, and making a pathway for the Molochs.
“How did they manage that?” I asked.
“Right now it’s something of a moot point.” Rab said. “They did, that’s all that matters.”
I hit the communication link. “All squadrons, all soldiers. Come to the Mountain B range. Immediately.”
The dirt, sand and rocks, both small and very large, continued to pour into the canyon. It was a big hole but the mountain had a lot of fill. I couldn’t estimate how long it would take before there was an earth bridge between us and the Molochs. I hope our other squadrons would be here before the bridge formed.
I frowned. Tears almost came to my eyes. When a commander makes a mistake, his men pay for it with their lives.
I had made the mistake.
When the ground bridge was complete, we would be wiped out. I doubted we had enough b
ullets to kill the remaining Molochs. How many were left? A half million? More? Less?
Too many.
The com-link buzzed. I hit it expecting more bad news. I heard Dr. Meadows’ voice.
“Major, I’ve analyzed the remains of the Moloch. This is a rag-tag mixture of elements. There are traces of both Synthetics, Artificials and some robotic programming. But there are also human elements mixed in. I don’t know what to call these things but some parts are human.”
“Enough that the mist will kill them?” I said.
“Maybe. I can’t make a definitive prediction about that. All I can tell you is, there is a chance, a slight chance the mist would work.”
“Clint! Clint, where are you?” I yelled.
“Right here, major. I’m heading for my jet now. Will take off in less than thirty seconds.”
“Drop that mist. Best estimation on the site.”
“If I’m wrong, you’ll all die.”
“We’ll put on our bio-suits. That will give us a chance. This is do or die. Drop all the vails.”
“I’m in the pilot’s seat now. Estimated time of three minutes before the mist is delivered.”
I flicked a button and the bio-suit came on. God bless technology. Protection for chemical or biological warfare but flexible enough that you can shoot and move easily.
The Molochs moved closer to the canyon, staying out of the way of the sliding debris. Hundreds of them. Thousands. With hundreds of thousands behind them.
The rumbling of the fallen rocks sounded like a waterfall of rocks. More and more Molochs crouched closer to the canyon. They’d be ready to charge soon. In the background I heard troops running in, taking positions. All soldiers from the “A” range had arrived. The “C” people would take longer to get here.
I staggered toward the pill box. The head still rung and the back ached. Legs felt like someone had jammed an ice pick in them. But I took up a position beside Rab.
“Looks like they’re about ready to come across.” he said. “Canyon must be filling up.”
I heard the slight hum of Clint’s jet. I looked over head and saw it, with white smoke trailing behind. He flew low. The mist bomb was minutes away from being dropped. Now if it worked…
“Here they come.” Rab said.
Hundreds of Molochs jumped into the canyon but they hit ground, not air. You could see their chest and faces as they ran across, howling their savage yells, holding their spears. As they ran toward us, I tapped the pillbox.
“You may fire when ready, Gridley.” I said.
Yellow bolts of fire came from the pillbox. Rab and I also fired. Hundreds of bullets sprayed across the Molochs’ bodies as they fell and didn’t rise. But hundreds more took their places. Their screaming, bloodthirsty cries filled the air. Bits and pieces of Moloch fingers, arms and chests filled the air. All our troops aimed their guns on the charging savages. But even against the withering fire, they made progress. Rab and I pulled back. The automated pillboxes kept firing.
Bullets flied into the Molochs but no blood came out. Holes big enough that small birds would make a nest in, but no blood. A constant barrage of bolts and bullets swayed the mile-long line. But it didn’t retreat. When one Moloch fell, two took his place. When six died, a dozen braced the line and kept charging. The lethal roar of the pillboxes made me wince. Felt like my ears were being blasted off. More bolts and bullets killed Moloch after Moloch. Dozens, hundreds, thousands.
But there were no holes in the line.
A mile of shouting warriors swarm out of the canyon.
In spite of our weapons, the snarling Molochs inched closer. The blood cries continued to flow over us, causing skin to crawl. Fifteen yards. The marching warriors stopped over dead bodies and kept coming.
One Moloch jumped on the top of the pillbox and then leaped at me swinging his razor sharp spear. I ducked, whipped out my knife and thrust it into his stomach. It made an odd sound when it entered his belly. Not quite like human flesh. But not all that much different either. I yanked it up and out, almost cutting him in two. Rab blew away another warrior. Some of his flesh and one of his eyes slammed against the pillbox.
We fired rapidly as we moved back. Thousands of Molochs scrambled toward the canyon and thousands more ran over the land bridge.
Soon we’d be overrun.
Dozens of Molochs screamed their unearthly howl and rushed toward the pillbox. I saw their scheme. Not unlike the army ants. Dozens were shot and dropped before the turret. But they kept coming and piling up. Other Molochs kept running over their dead colleagues. Some were killed and fell but others simply ran over the six foot tall stack of bodies. The stack suffocated the turrets, blocking the guns. The Molochs covered every square inch of the turrets with their bodies, rendering the guns ineffective. The guns kept firing but the sound was muted.
Ten yards from us.
Nine.
I sprayed the incoming savages but the line never buckled. Solid as ever.
My gun sputtered. I was out of ammo. Rab’s gun clinked empty too.
Five yards and we were dead.
As one Moloch threw his spear at me he simply keeled over. A second warrior did too. He yelled one minute then slowly closed his mouth. He took two steps, blinked in an uncomprehending fashion and eased onto the ground, not rising.
“The mist. It’s working.” Rab said.
The rest of the Moloch army began to move slower. They didn’t charge. Their speed was cut in half. Some of the warriors running over the land bridge slowed and were knocked off by the other soldiers. The rush across the bridge halted too. The rushing Molochs slowed, walked in almost slow motion for about three steps and fell to the ground.
Rab and I kept easing back. We were now, only half-dozen yards in front of Belen’s blue-clad troops. They kept firing. More and more Molochs stumbled and fell. They stayed on the ground. In the distance, only a half-dozen troops charged. The rest tripped, slowed or dropped dead.
The mist had worked.
The Molochs were dying.
Now they didn’t march straight. They turned and whirled and circled often bumping into one another. Savages meekly walking into each other. They walked slower and slower. Their arms lowered and dropped the spears. Their cries fell silent. Their desultory wanderings ended when the Molochs simply dropped to the ground. In less than a minute only a few dozen Molochs remained on their feet. In another thirty seconds they fell too and didn’t move again.
Rab sighed. “Thank goodness.” he said.
“Since we’re fighting for an unfallen race, perhaps we should say thanks to God too. Just in case.” I said.
The huge Transports glided through space as Carmen and I walked down a hall. I was eternally glad to be off Vega. However, I had arranged for a return trip. Once the smell of dead Molochs had dissipated, Belen had agreed to send one Transport, with the Earthmovers, back so we could make a second attempt to dig up the ancient cities and excavate the weapons.
“You know what my best guess it?” she said.
I remained enervated from our time on Vega but Carmen smiled and looked chipper. She almost had a dance in her step.
“No, what’s your best guess?” I said.
Deadly Voyage (Logan Ryvenbark's Saga Book 1) Page 24
