Cobra Guardian: Cobra War: Book Two (32 page)

Harli eyed Paul. "You got a brave little girl there, Broom," he said, almost grudgingly. "Don't worry--when the time comes, we'll get her back out."

"I know," Paul confirmed, feeling a familiar tightness in his chest. It was a tightness that had been with him almost continually during his long years of service to Aventine. It was the tightness that came of knowing that someone he cared about was in continual, deadly danger.

He'd mostly come to terms with that feeling as far as his two Cobra sons went. He'd never counted on having to feel that way about his daughter. Or his wife.

Caelian and Qasama, the two most dangerous places in the known universe. And he'd sent members of his family to each of them.

With an effort, he pushed away the dark thoughts. Dark thoughts in the face of danger were a good way to get yourself killed. "What do you want me to tell her?" he asked.

"Tell her--" Harli broke off as he sent a flurry of fingertip laser fire at a group of doremis that had just launched themselves from low-hanging tree branches toward the two Cobras. "Tell her we'll contact her tomorrow morning," he said as the birds thudded into the carpet of dead leaves at their feet. "Let's make it right at nine-twenty. By then we should have the bombs ready and either have Essbend's group here or at least on the way."

"Right." Paul turned and started to climb back up his signaling tree.

"And if she can," Harli added, his voice sounding a little embarrassed, "have her tell my father that we're all right."

"I will," Paul promised.

And as he resumed his climb, he wondered distantly if Harli was also feeling that same tightness in his chest.

* * *

Jody had fallen into a light doze on the bed when she was startled awake by Freylan's hand tapping against her cheek. She opened her eyes, and was opening her mouth to speak when he touched a finger to her lips. Frowning at the unexpected intimacy, she reached up and started to push the finger aside.

And then the reality of their situation came roaring back through the fog, and she nodded both understanding and her thanks.
What is it
? she mouthed.

He pointed to the window.
Your dad's signaling
.

Jody sat up, blinking her eyes to focus again.
Dit dit dit dit dit
, she could see the small light flashing from the tree.

She picked up the pad.
Dit dit dah dit dit dah
, she sent.

Three minutes later, with a quiet sigh, she again laid the pad aside.
What is it
? Freylan mouthed.

More instructions tomorrow at nine-twenty
, she told him.
Hang loose until then. Harli Uy's best to his father
.

Freylan grimaced.
Hang loose
.

Jody nodded. Like they were really going to relax here in the middle of an occupied city.
You hungry
?

Still more tired than hungry
, he told her.

Me too
. Pulling her feet up, she lay back down on the bed. Fifteen minutes, she promised herself, and then she would get up and go find food.

It was after noon when Governor Uy finally came in and woke them up with the news that lunch was ready. A few minutes later Jody dragged herself out of the room and headed toward the dining room, an equally bleary Freylan beside her.

It was, she decided, going to be a long, long day.

Chapter Sixteen

The next twenty-six hours were a flurry of work and preparation, with the added complication of continually having to shoot, stun, or beat back Caelian's assortment of deadly wildlife. For Paul, who'd already gone through one mostly sleepless night, the list of the day's activities promised to be an uphill climb.

Fortunately, Harli was a good enough leader to know better than to push his men too hard, especially with a Caelian Cobra's need for extra alertness. Despite his long to-do list, he made sure each member of the group got at least two four-hour sleep periods sometime during that long day and night. Paul, who knew nothing about explosives and was clearly considered by most of the others to be useless as a guard, got somewhat more.

Aside from the sleep and meal breaks, though, the group worked around the clock. By nine-fifteen the next morning, everything was ready.

Except that the Essbend Cobras still hadn't arrived.

"What the
hell
is keeping them?" Harli fumed as he glared westward, as if sheer force of will would enable him to see through a hundred thirty kilometers of wilderness to Caelian's second largest settlement.

"So do we wait?" Matigo asked.

Harli's jaw tightened. "No," he said. "Everyone's ready, and delay just gives the Trofts more time to spot the teams." He lifted a finger suddenly. "You know, come to think of it, maybe we can use this to our advantage. Broom?"

"Ready," Paul said.

"Okay," Harli said slowly, eyes narrowed in thought. "Send this to your daughter . . ."

* * *

With the remnants of her long day and short night having made for an early bedtime, Jody had woken up an hour before dawn, with a fresh plan of action for the day. Her father had told her during that last contact that he would be sending her information that she was in turn to leak to the listening Trofts. Jody had spent much of the previous day wondering how exactly she would do that without it
looking
like she was deliberately feeding it to them.

Now, with ten straight hours of sleep having finally cleared the dust and cobwebs from her brain, she'd figured out a plan. After all, an information slip would seem much more reasonable if the aliens thought
she
thought the governor's residence was no longer being monitored.

And so, with the rest of the household still asleep, she set about examining every square centimeter of the residence's public areas, searching for, finding, and destroying every hidden camera and buried microphone that the invaders had surreptitiously planted.

All of them . . . except one.

By the time Uy and his wife Elssa emerged from their room, she was able to report her success and give them a carefully edited version of what she and her father had discussed earlier from her guest room vantage point.

By the time the morning's message finally came through, Uy, Elssa, Freylan, and--hopefully--the listening Trofts were all ready and eager to hear it.

"It turns out your son didn't tell us everything when we were with him two nights ago," she told the group assembled in the living room. "The Cobras from Essbend hadn't shown up yet because they were working on something special to use against the Trofts. Apparently, they've finished it and are now on their way."

"Are we talking about a plan, or a device, or what?" Elssa asked. "I'm worried about the people of Stronghold."

"The biggest worry they have is regaining their freedom," Uy reminded her firmly. "Whatever Essbend's come up with, it's worth the risk to try it."

"Dad didn't say what exactly it is, Mrs. Uy," Jody said. "But from everything else we've seen on Caelian, I'm willing to bet it's going to be spectacular."

"I wonder which of the ships they'll target," Freylan mused, craning his neck to look out the window at the Troft warship looming against the forest backdrop to the north. "Be just our luck if they take out the south one and we don't get to watch."

"Well, you've got a fifty-fifty chance," Jody reminded him as she stood up. "Enjoy. Me, I need to get back in case they need to send us something else. I just wanted you all to have a heads-up."

"We appreciate that," Uy said, the crinkly lines around his eyes telling Jody that he was fully aware of the part he and the others were playing in her disinformation scheme. "Let me know if there's anything else they need me to do."

"I will," Jody said, and left the room.

And that was that, she thought, permitting herself a small smile as she once again settled herself and her notepad by the guest room window. If the Trofts had even a shred of military competence, not to mention a flicker of curiosity, they would be readying one or more of their drones to take to the air and head toward Essbend for a look at the Cobras' mysterious superweapon.

And when they did, they would be in for a surprise. Hopefully, a very loud, very violent surprise.

* * *

"That's it," Lorne said, nodding ahead at the dark planetary curve stretching out across much of the Tlossie freighter's wraparound display. "That's Caelian."

[A place of lush greenery, it is,] Warrior commented from beside him. [A peaceful place, it appears from the sky.]

[A peaceful appearance, it is a lie,] Lorne told him, gazing at the thin blur of atmosphere at the edge of the dark disk, a queasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. There were reasons why people didn't usually come out of hyperspace this close to a planetary body, chief among them the fact that doing it wrong could easily get you killed. Apparently, Warrior had decided he would rather take those risks than give any enemy ships or probes in the area the time and distance for a long, lingering look at them.

Either he had a great deal of confidence in his crew, or else he had a reckless streak that Lorne hadn't previously been aware of. Or possibly both.

[A landing site, you will now provide one.]

"Working on it," Lorne told him, shifting his eyes from the main display to the false-color sensor image and trying to figure out just where over Caelian they were. If that was the edge of Southway they were coming up on, then the Whitebank River should be about eight hundred kilometers to the east. They could look along the river until they found the heat signature of Essbend, tucked between the water and the Banded Hills. After that, it would be a simple matter of going due east another hundred thirty kilometers until they found Stronghold.

[A radio challenge, it is given,] the Troft at the comm board reported. [Our identity, it is demanded.]

[Our identity, transmit it,] Warrior said calmly.

[Our identity, it is transmitted.]

Lorne took a deep breath. So the invaders
had
sent a force to Caelian. He had hoped fervently that they wouldn't bother.

Still, they
were
aboard an heir-ship of the Tlossie demesne. The invaders had honored that immunity once. They would surely do so again.

[A second craft, it has arrived at the planet,] the Troft at the sensors spoke up suddenly. [A radio challenge, the planet has also sent one.]

[The new craft, identify and locate it,] Warrior ordered. His voice was still calm, but Lorne could see that his radiator membranes were fluttering slightly against his arms.

[The craft, a medium-range transport it is,] the Troft reported. [Its location, at
var
by
yei
by
sist
it is.]

Lorne felt his stomach tighten. That vector put it slightly above and almost directly behind their own freighter. If someone was trying to box them in against the planet, he was doing a damn good job of it.

[Our immediate departure, the planetary authority demands,] the Troft at the comm board reported. [Our presence, it will not permit.]

[Our identity, again transmit it,] Warrior said. [Our business and presence, they must not be interfered with.]

[Our immediate departure, the authority insists upon it,] the Troft repeated. His radiator membranes were starting to flutter now, as well. [A landing, he will use force to prevent one.]

[Armaments, does this vessel possess them?] Lorne asked carefully.

[Armaments, it does not possess them,] Warrior said, an edge of anger coloring his voice. [A bluff, the authority makes one. An heir of the Tlos'khin'fahi Demesne, he will not attack him.]

[Our departure, the authority demands it,] the Troft at the comm said tensely. His membranes had now risen halfway up from his arms. [Our final warning, he states this is it.]

[Our course, continue it,] Warrior ordered. [A bluff, he makes one.]

[The order, I obey it.]

[If a bluff, he does not make one?] Lorne asked carefully.

[A bluff, he makes one,] Warrior said firmly. [A watch, you will keep it. A lesson, you will learn it.]

Or else he has a reckless streak
, the thought ran through Lorne's mind again. Grimacing, he hunched his shoulders and settled in to watch.

* * *

Paul was staring with full telescopics at his assigned drone hatchway on the southern warship, waiting for the first sign that it was about to open, when the whole image suddenly spun and veered crazily. Jerking as a flash of vertigo slapped across his brain, he hastily keyed his opticals back to normal sight.

Just in time to see the southern Troft warship lift ponderously from the landing field. Leaning forward as large ships tended to do, it threw power to its grav lifts and rose into the sky, heading westward.

"What the
hell
?" Harli breathed from Paul's side.

"Looks like Jody convinced them, all right," Paul said grimly. "Only instead of sending out their drones, they decided to go check out Essbend for themselves."

"Well,
damn
," Harli said, turning around to gaze at the departing warship as it headed off into the distance.

"So what now?" Paul asked.

For a long moment Harli didn't answer. Paul watched as the Troft warship continued to climb and faded into the morning haze. "They want to play it that way?" Harli said. "Fine--we can play it that way, too. Everyone grab your bombs and come with me."

Without waiting for a response, he set off into the forest at a fast jog. "Where are we going?" Paul asked, hurrying to catch up.

Harli flashed him a tight grin. "Maybe the Trofts haven't thought about this part of it," he said, "but they've just taken fifty percent of their heavy firepower out of the picture."

He turned to face front again, his grin turning into a snarl. "Let's see if we can do something about the other fifty percent."

* * *

[The atmosphere, a ship has cleared it,] the Troft at the sensor board reported. [A course to our vessel, it has set one.]

[The type of craft, identify it,] Warrior ordered.

[A Drim'hco'plai Class II city sentry warship, it is one,] the Troft said. [The Aventine city sentries, of the same type it is.]