Space Chronicles: The Last Human War (26 page)

“Byn, do you have any intel on a group of mediums I
sent into ring sector two? I set a little ambush for their command ship.”

“They did one hell of a job
. Heps never saw them coming.”

The
general described the enemy ship damage to the admiral.

“I’m afraid none of your guys made it.”

“They all volunteered,” the admiral said. “Knew it was a one-way mission. They were only supposed to take out the Hep comm array unless they saw a better target. I guess they wanted more. They were good spacers.”

“
Yes, they did a great job. Completely destroyed the comm matrix and almost got the flagship’s reactor core. Send me the rosters for those ships. I’ll make sure they are nominated for the Vaal-al Book of Honor.”

“Thanks, Byn.”

Again, the admiral left his channel open while he relayed the general’s directions to his staff. Then, he resumed discussion about the retrofit.

“My heavies
are en route to your docks. How much can we expect in shield upgrade?”

General Tragge made eye contact with Ludic to confirm his statements.

“I’m told at least forty percent. I know it’s not a lot, but it will improve your survival odds until reinforcements arrive.”

Ludic motioned to the
general to get his attention.

“Hang on a minute, Lorm. What Ludic?”

“Sir, if the Admiral’s commanders are willing to reduce field extension by half, they can double overall shield strength.”

“You hear that, Lorm?”

“Yeah, but if I reduce shield extension, won’t my engines be exposed?”

Ludic presumed to answer the
admiral directly.

“Yes,
sir, but your helmsman can let you know if any threat develops to the rear, and you can restore normal field extension to protect the engines. I admit it’s risky, sir, but it’ll protect your weapons and reactor core from those big Hep cannons.”

“Alright, set them up with standard field extension, and give my ship commanders the ability to compress shields on command. Is this stuff proven?”

“Uh, no. It’s all theory, sir.” Ludic sounded apologetic.

“Oh, that’s just great!” The admiral’s voice rose. “We’re about to fight the most important battle in the last three hundred years
, and I’m working with a bunch of experimental crap.”

General Tragge jumped to Ludic’s defense.

“This guy is good. He saved the planet during the first Hep attack. Besides, if I recall, weren’t those mines you used yesterday experimental?”

“Point taken,
” the admiral conceded. “Speaking of mines, do you still have satellite access in the second corridor?”

“Heps haven’t found the one we used to watch your Kyels attack the command ship.”

“Turn it toward the last asteroid field. Watch the fireworks.”

General Tragge’s satellite tech panned the camera per the admiral’s instructions.

“We’re seeing a bunch of Hep ships in holding formations. Your guys did a good job on their central command links. I think you’ve gotten into Rotaga’s head.”

“Keep an eye on that first asteroid belt,
” the admiral said. “I figure we’ve frustrated them pretty good by now. If I’m right, Rotaga will try to make up some time after they fix their command ship array. By the way, I set some mines for the Heps a few belts back. Figured they might lead with their heavies since we couldn’t hurt those ships in the first engagement. I was hoping we might thin em out a little. Did you guys get any results?”

“My people tell me you took out three heavies.”

“Great. I think they’ll stop leading with heavies now. It’s too risky, so I left some light ships inside the asteroid field. We’re gonna get a few more heavies when they come through.”

“How are light ships going to take out anything that big?” General Tragge appreciated the
admiral’s ingenuity, but matching light ships against heavies was a bit of a stretch.

“We can’t use space mines near the planet
, so I dumped the fleet’s entire mine inventory inside the asteroid field.”

General Tragge reacted angrily.
“You know that’s a violation of—”

“Yeah, yeah, I know the drill. It’s a violation of the Galactic Rules of Engagement
, but we can’t beat these lizards unless we’re willing to jump in the mud with them.”

“Won’t they detect your minefields and stay out of range?”

“Nope. That’s where my small ships come into play. Space mines are only detectable when they’re actively scanning, so I turned them all off. They’re totally inert, just a few more tumbling rocks to any sensor. I’ve got one Bak assigned to each minefield. They’re on visual protocol, completely powered down. They’ll let small ships pass, but if any heavies get within range of the mines, my pilots will power up the local field. For every heavy we nail inside the belt, our odds get better. You guys are gonna see some fireworks when their heavies start moving into that last rock field. My flagship’s about to dock for that shield overhaul. Got to go.”

General Tragge glanced around the room at his staff. They heard the
admiral’s comments and were watching the Heptari fleet on the monitor, wondering if the admiral’s trap would work?

Several hours passed as
the enemy waited between the two asteroid fields for their command ship to reestablish combat level communications. General Tragge knew that if the Heptari’s had one weakness, it was dependence on central command. The admiral’s attack on the command ship’s comm array was brilliant.

The scout glider descended on autopilot. Its ground proximity alarm woke Dr. Hadje. Even before the small ship fully settled on its landing skids, the Head Tasker ran up to the craft and opened the pilot door from outside using an external safety release.

“Dr. Hadje, we’re under attack! General Tragge issued orders for us to lock down the humans and patrol the quarries.
I sent out staff on perimeter defense. It sounds bad.”

The doctor
immediately dialed Tragge on his private comm. No answer. He switched to a diplomatic priority frequency and repeated the call.

“Hadje? That you?”

“What’s going on, Byn?”

“Heps attacked, big force. They pulled back for now
, and we’re preparing for the next wave. If you’re calling about those humans, I don’t have time for them. I’d appreciate if you’d take charge of that mess until this is over. I won’t lie, Rosh, we’re in trouble. Gotta go.”

The general closed out the call before Dr. Hadje could ask questions. He considered the situation for a moment before speaking to his Head Tasker.

“Pull two thirds of your forces off patrol. This conflict could last a while and our Taskers will need to work in shifts. Have they been informed about the nature of the threat?”

“Yes, sir.
The general ordered quarry leaders to give full briefings to our staffs. He authorized use of deadly force against Heptari soldiers who might land in our quarry. Do you confirm those orders, sir?”

“
He’s right.” Dr. Hadje appreciated the absolute loyalty from his Head Tasker. “Are any of your Taskers ex-military?”

“I have two retired from ground expeditionary forces. They both saw action in the Syntic Rebellion.”

“Good, pull them off patrol. We need them to train others. We’re up against real combat troops, not runners.”

The Head Tasker hustled away to follow orders.
The doctor turned to Benjamin.

“Did you hear that?”

“Yes, the translator you gave me works fine. My people will start arriving soon. Maybe this is bad timing. Should I send word for them to remain hidden in the jungle?”

“That’s a good idea, but aren’t they’re strung out all across the jungle? How can you contact them?”

“Take me to the edge of the jungle. I’ll show you.”

Dr. Hadje turned to Jix.

“While Benjamin and I are gone, see if you can reach the main laboratory. Have them prepare all our human zygotes for transport and deliver them here.”

Jix acknowledged
the instructions and left while Dr. Hadje motioned for Benjamin to get back into the glider.

“This is faster than ground transport.”
He noticed Adam standing by the open door, adjusting his unfamiliar translator earplug. “Get in, Adam. You may as well stay with us.”

The glider crossed the large quarry in no time at all. After landing, Benjamin confidently strode into the short brush on the edge of the jungle. Evening shadows covered most of his body. The old scout took three deep breaths, each one deeper than the one before. His hands formed a crude cone extending in front of his mouth. Out came the shrill attack cry of a hunting hicay
.

Adam recoiled, making a hasty retreat into the scout ship.

The doctor was astounded.

Human leader
repeated the process three times, listening carefully after each sounding.

Distant shrieks from responding hicays filled the jungle. Most were faint
, but there was no doubt, at least one was close, very close. He returned to the scout glider and leaned patiently against its skin.

“Are you calling friendly hicays?” Dr. Hadje drew the obvious conclusion.

“Not exactly. I sent out a general distress cry. With luck, we’ll attract friendlies, but I’d feel a lot better if I was doing this from a tree stand.”

After waiting several minutes,
he returned to the jungle edge to repeat his calls. As he took his third deep breath for another call, bushes to his right jostled, and the head of a small hicay lifted cautiously from behind a large fern.

Benjamin held his ground and slowly turned until he faced the beast
squarely. He extended one arm and began a series of hand gestures. The hicay looked at the nearby glider.

“Don’t move. It’s frightened,
” he said while keeping eye contact with the beast.

The small
predator cautiously approached the human. It sniffed him and sat back on its two hind legs. Both sets of upper arms wrapped around Benjamin, and the old scout returned the hug, fingers massaging deep under its long fur.

After the brief greeting, the hicay sauntered behind
his human friend toward Dr. Hadje and the glider. Adam was nowhere to be seen.

“I’d like to introduce
Kerl-Ga’s youngest son, Syn-Ga. He’s on deep patrol, looking for runners.”

Benjamin squatted in front of Syn-Ga and made a series of rapid hand signals. The young animal sat on its haunches and lifted its head upward, exposing its soft throat.
Removing a small device from his pocket, the senior Elder placed a note inside the device and clipped it into the animal’s fur beneath its neck. Without warning, the hicay bounded away at astonishing speed, making virtually no sound as it passed through thick foliage.

“I sent word to our people to remain in hiding. Syn-Ga will deliver the message, beginning with the closest group. In turn, each group will send out
another hicay with the same message.”

As Benjamin explained his actions, several more bushes moved at the edge of the jungle. Two full-grown hicays lifted their heads from separate hiding places.

He gave a series of hand gestures from his position next to the scout glider. The nearer of the two beasts let out several powerful snorts and withdrew back into the jungle. The second vanished without making a sound.

“There’s a wild hicay
hunting nearby. We should leave,” Benjamin climbed back into the glider, followed quickly by the doctor.

“Are you able to talk with those animals?” Dr. Hadje was overwhelmed with curiosity. “How did you do that? Can anyone learn to talk with hicays?”

“We don’t actually talk, in the traditional sense. My people have learned to read hicay body language, and in turn, friendly hicays learned some of our human sign language.”

“How did you know there is a hunting hicay in the vicinity?”

“Three snorts with upright ears. Friendly hicays know how dangerous it is to run into one of their own kind when it is hunting. They warn each other with three quick snorts and visual ear posturing. Mother hicays use three snorts as a general warning to their young. As the babies grow older, this rudimentary communication refines into combinations of snorts, ear positions and low-pitched growls to describe the nature of the threat. In essence, they have a crude vocabulary. We’re still learning from them. So far, we’ve documented over two hundred distinct visual-audible words.”

“Fascinating
. Would you be willing to teach me when this is all over? I’d love to learn from you,” he said and guided the scout ship back across the quarry into concealment.

While
the others finished discussing hicays, Adam, who had been hiding inside the scout glider shook his head in disgust. Despite seeing friendly hicays at the free human cave, he was not ready for them to be part of his life.

“You guys can have em all. I hope I never see another hicay the rest of my life
.”

Benjamin smiled at the young man’s gut reaction.

“I’m not sure you know how lucky you were,” he said. “I don’t know of another person who has survived a wild hicay attack. Someday, I hope you will get over your fear. Friendly hicays can be your best companion. They will fight to the death to protect a human partner.”

“I’d rather try kissin
g a pissed-off Ruck guard dog than face one of those things, again.”

Adam’s companions laughed
at the mental image evoked by his analogy.

Jix was waiting for them when they opened the scout
glider door.

“I can’t access the lab’s main computer from the Head Tasker’s office
, and there isn’t anybody working on this holiday. Do you want me to take a transport and go to the lab for those zygotes myself?”

The head scientist contemplated the offer. His agreement with the Council of Elders was to return with the eggs before the human ship was scheduled to blast off. That deadline was fast approaching
. They were out of time.

“Simon, this is Dr. Hadje
.” He reluctantly keyed the radio switch on his scout ship. “If you can read this, I regret we cannot get the package to you in time. I repeat. It is not possible to get the package to you. Please complete your mission.”

They
had agreed to send such a cryptic message in case things did not work out. Doctor Boroski would monitor all Tanarac communication channels in case the doctor needed to reach the human ship. The broadcast was repeated several times on alternative channels to make sure it was received.

“I’m sorry,” Dr. Hadje put his hand on the senior scout’s shoulder. “I’m afraid we’re out of time.”