The Blue of Antyllus

by Michael E. Gonzales

  Tanny got him a blanket and a pillow, and before long, Day’ka was asleep on the floor beside the sofa.

  Tanny did not sleep that night. Rather, she prayed in the manner she was accustomed to. “Oh, God, please, please bring him back to me. Please!”

  Chapter 9

  WAR

  It’s said that everything that’s old is new again. Such was the case for the CDF prior to their late-night departure from New Roanoke.

  A meeting was held inside the vehicle bay with the doors open so that the E’meset could join them. Major Charles, wearing his respirator, as all the humans were, addressed all the CDF and E’meset commanders, among them Nash and Joe. Dave stood beside Major Charles but remained quiet. Sitting on the table next to the two of them was a box forty centimeters wide, thirty-five centimeters tall and twelve centimeters thick. Rising up from its left side was a meter tall, thin, flexible metal tube.

  “Ladies and gentlemen…this is a radio,” the major said.

  “A what?” someone asked.

  “A radio. There has not been a radio used by a military force in well over a hundred years.”

  “Is it a firearm or destructive device?” another voice asked.

  “Neither, it’s for communications.” Major Charles stood beside the piece of equipment and placed a hand on it. “This radio and its brothers, which we will distribute among you, form what’s called a combat-net radio system or CNRS.” He then pointed to a chart that appeared on the wall. “These will operate in a network quite similar to the ones you are familiar with. This radio has a half-duplex circuit and can be used in either a single frequency mode, or it can use a discrete set of radio frequencies when in the frequency hopping mode.” He placed his hands behind his back and smiled. “Back in the day, this later mode was used to prevent an enemy with the capability of monitoring from doing so, and also prevented them from jamming the coms transmission.” He had a look on his face of considerable satisfaction, having impressed everyone with his knowledge of history.

  “This gizmo transmits a range of frequencies from thirty megahertz to three hundred megahertz.” A murmur erupted among the CDF in the room. “Yes, that’s right,” the major went on, “it’s VHS. I told you, it’s a radio. And though antique technology, it does work.

  “Now, here’s the bad news. This thing has a range of eight to ten kilometers but is affected by terrain, weather, and solar activity. And as you all know, we’re going to be in very hilly country, in deep woods, we get a lot of weather, and our red dwarf up there is a very active fellow. So basically, this is a line-of-sight device. However, in testing, we’ve had some very good results.

  “Bottom line is…this is what we’ve got. Without this you’re back to runners like in the Stone Age, oh, ah…my apologies to our E’meset brothers.

  “I want to thank the boys and girls down in R and D for re-inventing this wheel and also to Captain Rastaban, whose assistance was invaluable.”

  After Major Charles had finished his class on the use of the radio, Dave stepped up and took the floor. The room fell silent.

  He stood for a moment and looked hard at each face. “Well, kids, in three hours, you’ll be heading out. The success of this mission is paramount to the survival of those poor souls being held hostage.” His voice became deed and quite serious. “Should we fail, it could result in devastating reprisal attacks on New Roanoke.

  “I’m sure you all realize that we’re never going to call the IIEA and ask them to come back. They would return with weapons powerful enough to destroy us all from orbit.”

  Dave stepped up very close to his audience. “And as we will not leave our people with the mercenaries to continue to be tortured and raped…we are forced to take this action.”

  Dave frowned as he continued. “The enemy you are going up against is desperate and ruthless; their actions thus far have proven that. If we get our people out, and leave the mercenaries alive back there, they will spend the rest of their lives attacking the city and all the E’meset they can find.”

  Dave straightened his back and stood to his full height. “So…this operation is not over until the threat is eliminated. Capture them all, or kill them all if they won’t surrender, but the threat they pose ends with this operation. Anyone who is not ready for that eventuality, or unwilling to proceed, may leave now and with my thanks for your assistance.”

  Nash stood up. “Just so I’m clear sir, you are not telling us to kill the mercs who choose to surrender?”

  “Absolutely not, Captain. Let me make this clear. Any mercs who wish to give up is to be taken prisoner and treated humanely. Those who surrender will be tried for their crimes in accordance with the law when you get them back here. If, however, they prefer to die by the sword you accommodate them. Is that clear enough for you, Captain?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Kathy and I will not be with you this trip. We wish we could be. Colonel Lindsey will be in command. He has proven himself an outstanding soldier; you’re in the best possible hands. Good luck and may Lu’aya be with you all.”

  All the E’meset shouted in one voice, “Lu’aya!”

  ○O○

  At 23:30 hours, the CDF and their E’meset contingent marched out of vehicle bay and around the city toward the massive east gate in the city’s wall. By 01:00, they had marched through Kulan Kaus, where they joined with the main body of the E’meset warriors, and were heading out the east gate where they turned south onto the old clinic trail.

  Joe and Nash were walking together, going over their actions at the objective and what to do in the event of a loss of coms, when a very tall E’meset strode up beside Joe. He did not look down.

  “Vehedayus, Isso,” Joe said.

  “Goot moarn ning,” Isso replied.

  “Who’s your friend?” Nash asked.

  “Captain, meet Isso Tekkmah. We fought over the woman I told you about. He lost.”

  Nash looked up at the two hundred and thirteen-centimeter-tall warrior. “Ya say…he lost?”

  “It seems in an E’meset duel of honor you don’t lose your cool. He did and was shamed. I gave him his dignity back.”

  Nash nodded. “Joe, you’ve made a real friend, there. You ever have an E’meset as a close friend?”

  “No, not really…they used to be friendly toward me, but I never had a close friend.”

  “You have one now. I suggest you re-examine your definition of friendship. That man, right now, will die for you. As he sees it, all the life left to him, he owes to you.”

  During the remainder of the walk, Isso and Nash taught Joe more of the E’meset language, and Isso learned more English. They started with individual names, like the game Joe and Nista had once played. Phrases came next. Joe worked hard to memorize all that he could, because he wanted to be able to communicate with his new friend. And because he wanted to be able to apologize to Nista in her own language on the day he found her.

  ○O○

  At the start of the march, Joe handed a rather large box to Isso and explained its contents to him with the help of a SUB named Larry, who was, naturally, already completely fluent in E’meset.

  “Here, I had this made for you.”

  Isso opened it and discovered a mask like the one worn by Joe only larger, made to fit his face. This one was different in that it was attached, by means of a flexible metal hose, to a canister of compressed gas thirty-five centimeters long and about twelve in diameter.

  “I do not need the second face as you do,” Isso said.

  “It’s for you when we get inside the factory,” Joe said through Larry. “You carry the bottle on your back and put the mask on your face and you’ll be able to breathe your own air from that bottle for four hours. After that, you’ll need to be outside.”

  Isso placed a hand on Joe’s shoulder; he was obviously moved by the gift. “You are a very good friend to me, Joe.”

  “Isso, I just want a good warrior by my side when it hits the fan.”

&n
bsp; “When what hits the fan?” Isso asked.

  “Never mind.”

  Confused, Isso asked, “Joe…mic’han fan?”

  Larry laughed and translated, “He wants to know…what’s a fan?”

  The march had taken all night and all the following day. At a safe distance from the factory, they stopped. All the SUBs stood guard, not needing sleep. This allowed all the bios to get some rest as they waited for the fall of darkness, then they resumed the march. They eventually reached the point where the special teams had to separate and started their approach to the objective.

  Here, Joe and Nash shook hands, and wished each other luck.

  Once they were all several kilometers apart, the colonel made a radio check. He first called the mines and booby trap clearing teams. “Sapper six this is Charlie Oscar, radio check, over.”

  The E’meset commanders responded in their best English, “Char’lee Och’car, dis is Sap’air six, rojer oat.”

  Then he called the western assault and reconnaissance team commanded by Nash ― his call sign was ‘Recon six’. And the hostage rescue team, commanded by Joe, code named ‘Seal six’. All responses were good and strong. The clock was ticking. They were now racing against the coming dawn.

  The sappers had the most to do. If the plan was working on schedule, all the sapper teams were now on the move. If their job was accomplished without incident, the assault lanes would be ready by 03:00.

  In the south, the E’meset team detailed to secure the PCs and V-tols began their move. They had sent an advanced team of two out before dark to survey the motor pool. They discovered four guards on the ground and one in a tower with a searchlight. No doubt there was hard-wired communications with the mercs in the factory from this tower.

  This team reported that two of the V-tols and one of the PCs were missing. There was no sound of them in the air, so the decision was made to proceed.

  The motor pool team was soon in place. In front of them, their sappers were secretly and silently hard at work. Behind them, the main southern assault force was in position.

  By 23:54, six minutes ahead of schedule, all commanders reported that their sappers had started to clear the avenues of attack, and their assault teams were in position.

  ○O○

  Nash had his people deployed on either side of the remains of the old bridge. He sent two E’meset to recon the other side of the ford, to look quietly around the near end of the causeway in the dark. When they came back, their report was delivered to Nash in E’meset. The male said he saw nothing, but there had been activity of some kind there before dark.

  The female reported the same but added, “I felt eyes on me. I feel sure that they are there and they watch.”

  “But you saw nothing?”

  “No,” the male said, “but we both smelled fear in the air.”

  Nash had known these people too long to ignore this information.

  He sent the strongest E’meset swimmers, almost all of them, west to cross the river out of the sight of any possible enemy lurking near the ford. He instructed Hoofnar, their leader, to immediately push on through the swamp and assault the west side of the factory.

  She told Nash this would take some time. Nash understood. “But please, go as fast as you can. And take all your equipment.”

  Nash thought of all the commanders throughout history who had split their commands and suffered for it.

  He swallowed hard and reached for the radio. “Charlie Oscar, this is Recon six, looks like the G-2 was right.”

  “Roger, understand you are looking at an ambush. Can you say number of hostiles? Over.”

  “Negative. We do not have visual on any tangos. Over.”

  There was a pause then, “Roger, Charlie Mike. Over.”

  “This is Recon six. Roger. Out.”

  The hours ticked by slowly. This was a high-risk time. Anything that tipped off the mercenaries would ruin the plan. If they sent out a patrol that discovered them, if one of the sappers tripped a mine or booby trap, or a nervous finger discharged a weapon, it would start the assault too early. Such events were not unprecedented in history.

  At 02:40 the reports started coming in. “Char’lee Och’car, here is Ella. We are ready.” The sappers in the south were finished.

  At 02:51, “Char’lee Och’car, Poh’Hos here. Ready.” The northern sappers were finished.

  At 03:01, “Charles’lee Os’kar, speaking is A’lan. Ready, sorry to be late.”

  All three assault teams had cleared lanes of approach in front of them. The colonel got on the net and said, “Execute alpha.”

  At that instant, the E’meset south of the motor pool moved out. They silently breached the fence, and six raiders entered.

  Two of them made a beeline for the tower. In three minutes, the four roving guards had died swift and silent deaths. The tower team scaled the ladder and killed the guard behind the light. An E’meset stayed there to keep the light moving so as not to draw attention. At least, until the shooting started.

  The other E’meset in the tower flashed a blue light back toward the south, and the commander of the southern force radioed Colonel Lindsey, “Char’lee Och’car, here is Ella. Alpha is completed.”

  ○O○

  With the lanes clear, Joe and his rescue team advanced through the southern group and to the factory. Once on the massive flat roof, they began their search for the hostages.

  It was likely they would be held in an interior room, perhaps even spread out into several rooms just to make rescue that much more difficult.

  Joe, Isso, and several others began to look carefully down into the vast number of skylights, while another team of soldiers scanned with heat sensing detectors, noting the location of each warm body they identified, though they were not able to identify friend from foe.

  It was Isso who noticed the stockpiles of ammunition and dirt emplacements that had been constructed up on the roof along the edge of the building. He turned to Joe and said, “Min Tuva, kuhan al’kah tieisteyuhl hollien toolee dahan pac’kahn.”

  Joe understood Isso to say, “My friend, when starts the battle the enemy will come to this place.”

  “Coola, Isso, I see that.”

  To their right, one of the CDF flashed a light. Joe and Isso went to the spot. The soldier indicated the skylight and they looked in.

  Everyone had to adjust their night vision in the shields of their respirators as there was a light on in this one. There, sleeping on the floor below, were thirty-nine of the forty-two hostages. They were haggard, dirty, and bruised, but alive.

  “Okay,” Joe whispered, “bring the security detail up and get the others back. Inform the CO, and tell them I am going to wait for the confusion of the attack. There’s no way to get all those poor devils up here.”

  “Sir,” the soldier asked, “can you see the colonel’s wife down there? I’m sure he’ll ask.”

  Joe took another look. “No, I don’t see her, but I can’t identify everyone. Now, let’s move.”

  Joe, Isso and eight others constituted the security team. They were each carrying four ultra-light body armor vests and additional respirators. Joe and Isso each carried five. Joe also had a case of ESS, emergency strength and stamina injections. They suspected these people would be in no condition to undergo the stress and rigors of an escape. Also, each soldier carried an Advanced Emergency Medical kit, or AEM. Just in case.

  Joe looked at his watch. It was 03:35. The main assault would start in twenty-five minutes.

  A soldier scanned the skylight for alarms or gas detectors; he found none, and nodded at Joe. Opening the skylight was easy enough, and accomplished quietly. They lowered a rope, and Joe was the first to descend, followed by Isso—now proudly wearing his mask. He had decorated it with colored grasses. Five more soldiers followed.

  They had to move fast before the atmosphere replaced the oxygen in the room.

  Quietly, they roused everyone from their fitful sleep. Some awoke with a star
t, afraid that they had again been selected for some torturous work, humiliation, or abuse.

  It was difficult for them to contain their joy at the sight of their rescuers, but they knew that there could be no noise coming from this room.

  Joe got them all in a tight cluster around him and handed out the respirators and the body armor. No instruction was necessary; all understood. In a low voice, Joe explained, “In a few minutes all hell is going to break loose. The CDF and the E’meset are going to attack this place. Once they do, and the confusion starts, we’re going to get out. We’ve all got to keep together and keep low. Do as we tell you to do at all times, and do it instantly. If someone near you is hurt, do not stop. Leave the injured to us. In addition to the respirators and body armor, each of you will get an injection of ESS.

  “Three of you are missing, who and where are they?”

  A woman near Joe spoke up. “Janet Lindsey, Cindy Mira, and Kevin Minor.”

  “Janet Lindsey, the colonel’s wife?” Joe asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Where are—”

  “Kevin is dead. Killed trying to defend Janet. Cindy is dead because she refused to sleep with Major Kuriko. She took her away from us on one of the first nights we were here. An hour later, she brought her back all covered in blood. Kuriko explained to us that when she wants one of us to pleasure her she expects it willingly. Then, to emphasize the point, she put a gun to Cindy’s head and—”

  The woman could not go on, so another woman finished for her, “Kuriko has a particular fondness for Janet. That’s where she is right now. With Kuriko.”

  “Do you know where?”

  “Yes, all the men and women here know…why did it take you so long to come for us?”

  Joe swallowed hard and quickly asked, “What’s the quickest way out of here?”

  “Ah…south, through the mess hall,” a very frightened blond woman said.

  “No,” another woman spoke up, “east, through the steel works, besides there’s a lot of machinery to hide behind.”

  “East it is, then,” Joe said. “How many guards beyond this door?”