by Pj Belanger
ledge. They didn’t like the fires and roared loudly in protest. “Hold them quiet,” she instructed, “we want the people to come out of the caves. The roars will scare them.” They fed the fire even more from the twigs that they had strapped to the backs of the reptiles. Before long smoke was billowing out.
The natives started running out, bent over and choking. They stopped and huddled against the side of the towering rock between the caves. Many cowered together in fear, staring wide-eyed. Men, women and children all gathered on the ledge. The ten beast soldiers were leading them all towards one area. Yoria counted a total of thirty.
She tried to calm them down by motioning with her arms. She’d learned several of their words. “Peace, no hurt.” She tried several times but it didn’t do much. “Look what we found,” Mitch came dragging a native toward her. Yoria immediately knew it was a Rolle; for one thing his lower body was covered in a full loincloth, no thong for him. Also on close inspection his clothes, although well disguised were made of off world materials. No animal skins for him!
Mitch brought him up to her. “How many are there of you?” she said in Galactic common language. All federation associates used it. Yoria could tell the captive understood her but he didn’t answer, defiance was in his eyes. Grabbing him by the arm, she dragged him over to Calypso. The lizard gazed down at the human and cocked his head. Then suddenly it roared. The reptile’s hot breath flooded over the Rolle.
“No, no,” the criminal shouted and pulled against her.
“You’ll make great lizard food,” she told him. “Now talk!” edging him once more toward the now snorting agitated beast.
“Five of us,” the Rolle spurted out, “there are five of us.”
Yoria nodded toward Mitch, who had started filtering through the crowd. He pulled out three other Rolles and dragged them in front of Yoria. “Tie them up, get them to the lower plateau’s floor, ” she commanded. Moira forced the Rolles down the ladders to the two waiting riders that had been left behind.
Meanwhile, Clarot and Mitch approached her, “Come down to the last cave,” they said. Mora came striding out of the last cave’s entrance sputtering as she shook off the last remnants of the smoke. The rider held out her arms that held something that looked like a jumble of wood and wires. As Yoria watched, Clarot quickly assembled a deadly crossbow, a weapon far advanced for this world. “There are at least five hundred of these in there.”
“Oh just great,” Yoria swore. “Let’s hope they haven’t distributed any of those weapons yet. Having them disassembled would have kept them out of any satellite pictures until it was too late. The weapons would have been easy to smuggle down to the villages.”
“Oh, it gets better,” Moria came striding up to her. “Look what else we discovered.” In the palm of her hand, the right flank rider held a small deadly gadget. A stun gun! “We found only a dozen of these babies but I’ll bet more are on their way. Watch this.” Taking the gun Moria easily attached the gun to the bottom of the crossbow. The advanced tech gun was easily disguised. It had obviously been designed for the bow weapon. “Whoever is responsible for this wants this planet badly. They are in a rush to make it open for methanilum exploration.”
Mitch touched her arm, “I got the Rolles to talk.” Yoria didn’t ask for particulars on how he’d gotten the information. “The remaining Rolle is up on the ridge overlooking the pathway up here,” he said pointing to a narrow path to his right. “He’s with the natives that are preventing any assault on this plateau via the passageway.”
“Time to regroup. Everyone back down,” she motioned with her hands. Yoria watched as each rider mounted and positioned their beast at the edge of the ledge. Each rider taking a turn had their beast extend their massive wings and step off the edge. Each floated down gradually to the lower ground joining the other waiting beasts. The last remaining riders climbed down the ladders.
“Mitch, stay here with Moira and watch the Rolles and don’t let any of the natives down from the caves. We’d better get to the overlook before we lose any surprise advantage we may have.”
Mounting their beast they went single file through a tight rock opening leading to the other part of the plateau. On the other side was the end of the trail coming up from the valley below. To her right was a path leading upward to a higher ground that overlooked the trail. She motioned for them to head up. “Keep them silent, folks,” she whispered into her amulet.
At the top a loose rocky surface covered the entire area. As they headed toward the other end several native warriors came into view. It was a camp that was set up to defend anyone trying to get up the plateau’s one and only trail. The track lay in full view below. Anyone on that route was an easy target.
Chaos ensued as the warriors became aware of the Beast Brigade. The warriors were cornered, however, it was fight or die and the savages fought. Arrows flew. Despite the terror in their eyes the desperate men attacked the Beasts who easily batted most away. Still the bulk of the warriors backed off to the narrow part of the promontory. The beasts were too heavy to go there. Yoria jumped down swinging her ax, using her shield for protection. Hand to hand combat began.
“Watch for the last Rolle, I want him alive,” Yoria command. Every one of her soldiers was on the ground battling. The fighting was brutal as the natives had little choice but to fight. Still, her team was experienced in hand to hand fighting and soon they had killed almost all but a few. They were backed up to the very edge of the ridge. Some dropped their weapons. Others charged and were quickly killed.
Sure enough, there was the missing Rolle, on his knees, begging for mercy. “Tie them up, leave them for the General’s men, throw all their weapons over the cliff and bring the Rolle back to the cave area.”
Her soldiers were covered in blood. Not good, the beasts would smell them. It was Yoria who approached Lily keeping well away from her beast’s head and climbing up to get her water pouch. Lily eyed her but kept still. Once down they used the water to wash as much of the carnage as possible off their bodies. Then they led their beasts, dragging the Rolle with them, back down to the cave area.
Yoria pressed her amulet’s side activating the long-range communicator. “General. Mission accomplished, trail cleared.” Plain and simple. Back at the cavern site the beasts were restless. “They’re hungry,” Mitch commented. “So am I, for that matter.”
Yoria just nodded. She was exhausted, every part of her ached. Her body smelled of animal and blood. “Let’s feed them the rest of the food from our saddle bags while waiting for the General’s team,” her voice cracked with fatigue. It took another three hours before the General came walking through the narrow crevice to where the squadron waited.
Martin nodded. Despite her weariness, she admired how well he looked in his native garb. “Good job,” he said. “Report.”
She told him everything that had occurred on Hellgate. His expression became very serious as he looked over at the tied up prisoners. Then he glanced up at the caves. “I think you should go now,” it was a command not a request.
“Yes, Sir,” she turned giving her patrol the sign to mount. Even the beasts seemed tired as they turned back toward the sheer cliff of Hellgate. When they reached the drop, she looked over the vast land below. The great lake was off somewhere to their left, it should be easy to find. “Mitch lead the way, I’ll take the rear. We should easily make the lake from here. Remember it is the northern shore we are shooting for. It’s supposed to be completely deserted.”
He nodded. The twelve beasts were lined up as Mitch flicked the ear of his Calypso and the beast jumped up off the cliff spreading its massive wings. The rest of the animals, one by one followed. Volcano went just before her. Her heart jumped as the huge Red’s wings spanned out. One whoosh and he had caught up with all the rest. Although the beasts could not literally fly, they were excellent gliders, catching the high trade winds easily.
“Come on Lily, let’s go home,” she flicked her beast’s ear and the reptile j
umped spreading its wings as it did so. As the crosswinds took them higher and higher, the planet took on a far away peaceful look. How deceiving, she thought, as Lily banked left following the rest of the large reptiles. Yoria’s thoughts went back to the caves. A tear fell on her weathered cheek. This wouldn’t be the last time the planet would be under assault. The methanilum seekers never quit.
The shiny blue lake could be seen in the distance. The lake offered rest. They’d distribute the last of the food they brought in their saddlebags to the Beasts, at least calming them until they reached the base’s holding pens. The reptiles would bathe and eat, then settle down for the night. Then she’d get some sleep, although sleep brought dreams - as another tear fell.
Different
“You sure you want to do this?” Corporal Allen asked him once again.
“Yes, Sir.” Markus had trouble getting the words out because he wasn’t sure he wanted to do this. Just like all the other times, butterflies filled his stomach. Each time he went on a rescue mission he doubted his own courage, doubted his own ability. Once he’d begun though, his mind focused on the task at hand, all fears left him. For one thing, he was a typical Curthian, practical to the extreme. Once he got started
