Space Chronicles: The Last Human War (34 page)

“Prime Skah, Rotaga. The Royal Codae commands your image.”

“Tell them I obey. Encrypt the comm channel to my stateroom holo-pad.”

Rotaga immediately left the bridge. Upon entering his private stateroom, he removed his combat helmet and replaced it with the ceremonial headdress of his royal clan. He kneeled on the full-body holo-pad next to his desk and initiated its transmitter.

A small red light indicated when he was connected directly to the Codae link. Keeping his head deeply bowed, Rotaga began the ritual language required to speak with the royals.

“Great Codae, Prime Skah Rotaga asks the honor of addressing the Codae.”

Rotaga’s vision remained fixed on the base of the wall before him while he waited silently for a reply from the royals. A voice filled his room.

“Rotaga, tell of glory . . . or offer your head.”

He
clenched his jaw. The royals did not address him with his title of Prime Skah. That could only mean one thing. He was falling out of favor.

“I am honored to offer the Codae my head for any delays in this war. Tanaracs hide beneath planetary shields like cowards. Every effort to draw them into honorable combat has failed. T
hey refuse to fight. Our forces made several brave attempts to remove their shields, and I am about to commit the full power of my flagship ship to complete this siege. Once their shields fail, their fleet will be destroyed. I promise to deliver the wealth of the Tanarac Empire to Heptari. My head is yours, honorable Codae.”

“Stand Rotaga.”

The Heptari commander stood, being careful to remain completely centered on the full body holo-transmitter so they would have a full, three-dimensional image of him. He maintained complete silence while the Codae openly debated his future.

One royal demanded
the commander’s head for his failure to keep the promised schedule. Another countered that Rotaga could not be held responsible for failure by the Heptari War Planning Department to properly anticipate Tanarac tactics and strengths.

Rotaga listened carefully, sensing betrayal in the making. His leadership role was being trivialized. If they shift responsibility for failure to the War Planning Department, then by default, any victory would also be credited to that organization. He would receive no more reward than that of any other lesser simply follow
ing explicit orders. This alone would be grounds to deny him a seat on the Codae.

“Rotaga
. We are not in agreement. By majority rule, we grant you your head, for the time being. Know you, Codae Royal starships approach the Tanarac system as we speak. When we arrive, we expect to audit the newest acquisition to our empire, and a seat on the Codae may yet be yours. If your mission is not complete when we arrive, we will finish it for you. Of course, your head will fall, your family will be removed from the royal lineage, and your assets will be seized. Do not fail.”

The red light on the holo-pad blinked to black as the Codae link ended. Rotaga surged across his room, smashing a small desk to pieces. He raged openly.

“Damn them! Damn them! They conspire to steal my destiny. I swear, I will take my revenge. After I take Tanarac, I will be the most powerful royal on the Codae.” A primal hiss poured out of the reptilian commander. “They will PAY for this treachery.”

Rotaga threw his family headdress on his bed and replaced it with his combat helmet. As he looked at the symbol of his family’s lineage, he clenched his fists so tightly his manicured claws drew blood from his palms.
He stormed out of his stateroom onto the command deck.

“Conference all
ship commanders. Now!”

Deck staff scrambled to make his orders happen. An executive officer approached.

“Prime Skah, an unidentified craft appeared in the Tanarac atmosphere. They attacked it.”

“Explain.”

“It appeared on the horizon with many Tanarac ships in pursuit. We believe it rose from the surface of the planet.”

“Is it one of ours?”

“No, sire. It matches nothing in our data archives.”

“Is it armed?”

“We cannot tell, sir. Our scans vanish.”

“Did they destroy it?”

“Our scouts on the sun side report it came to a dead stop between the second and third shields. Tanarac fighters surrounded it but held fire. It now sits there motionless.”

“Set up a continuous link with our scouts. Have their observations transmitted directly to my command bridge. Instruct our scouts to destroy it if it rises above the top shield. I have more pressing matters. Activate my command conference.”

Rotaga issued new orders to his commanders and followed them with the usual warnings about lethal consequences for failure. He spoke his last words to his commanders in the ancient language.

“Hesha! Hesha, zin mayia!”

Dr. Hadje scanned the sky. Atmospheric fighters left countless vapor trails. Every so often, sonic booms shook the air as military aircraft pushed to operational limits. Benjamin was also watching the sky as he approached.

“Rosh,
my people are as ready as they can be on such short notice. I’d like to invite our hicays to assist. They make outstanding sentries. Do you think your Taskers will accept them?”

“I’m not sure
. Their whole mission in life has just been turned upside down. Now, you want them to eat dinner next to animals they’ve feared all their lives.”

The old scout
persisted, “Hicays have saved hundreds of human lives. We need them.”

The doctor shook his head in mock defeat.

“I suppose you’re right, but let’s prepare my Taskers before they actually see a friendly hicay. Do you want to break the news to them, or shall I?”

The
major Tanarac sun dropped on the horizon and shadows lengthened across the quarry. Perimeter defense teams began arriving for dinner. Some came by transport from the far side of the quarry, but most came on foot. The doctor waited in the dinner hall with his Taskers and scouts for Benjamin. He did not want to make the announcement about friendly hicays without his human counterpart present.

The human leader
was uncharacteristically late, and when he finally arrived, he appeared disheveled and breathing heavily.

“Did you tell them yet, Rosh?”

“No, I was waiting for you. Are you alright?”

“Yeah, just a bit winded. I’m getting too old for this my friend.” Benjamin winked.

The Tanarac scientist stood.

“May I have everybody’s attention? Benjamin and I have something to announce.”

He proceeded to tell his Taskers about the close relationship between hicays and free humans. Tanaracs were openly skeptical.

“It’s true.
” He offered his own testimonial. “I’ve seen it with my own eyes.”

Human scouts in the crowd confirmed the doctor’s claims to their squad partners, and they, too, received skeptical looks.

Benjamin sat back in his chair with a silly grin on his face the whole time. Finally, he walked to the open doorway of the chow hall and let out his famous hicay cry. Scouts smiled while Tasker mouths hung open in shock. A human made a perfect cry of a hunting hicay. Unbelievable.

“Thank you for your attention
.” Benjamin nodded to his counterpart. “Doctor, I mean you no disrespect, but I thought your Taskers might react this way, so without wasting any more time, please say hello to my friends.”

Three huge hicays strode casually through the entryway.

Stun cords instantly glowed at their highest settings while some Tanaracs sprang from their chairs and retreated to the rear of the room.

Two human scouts strode across the room without hesitation to embrace their companions. The third animal sat calmly at Benjamin’s side while the human leader imposed his agenda on the room.

“Gentlemen, please introduce your friends.”

Each scout told the fearful Tanaracs a little about his animal friend. When they were done, it was Benjamin’s turn.

“This is Syn-Ga. He is the youngest son of my hicay companion, Kerl-Ga. His mother worked the jungle with me for over fifty years before I released her to a younger scout. Syn-Ga’s human companion is deep in the jungle looking after some of our older people, so I invited my young hicay friend to stay and assist us. He has agreed. Who would like to work with Syn-Ga?”

All the remaining scouts were eager to be chosen for the honor
and their leader selected the youngest among them. “You, over there. You have the least experience of my scouts. Syn-Ga can teach you much. Learn from him.”

Benjamin made several deep-throated sounds and hand gestures to the hicay. It rose on its haunches and wrapped its upper arms around him in affection before crossing the room to sit beside
his new companion.

A few Taskers decided to trust the humans. They reached out gingerly to touch the golden fur. Fear from a lifetime of conditioning began to melt away. Dr. Hadje joined Benjamin.

The Tanarac scientist addressed his Taskers.

“If any of you do not wish to be on patrol with a hicay, we understand. We will honor your feelings. I ask now
for our human friends and their hicays to please leave.”

After the humans and beasts left,
the doctor offered the Taskers a choice. “As you pass me, let me know if you wish to avoid working with a hicay. If so, I will reassign you to a combat unit without the animal.”

Taskers began filing past
their boss. Each thanked him for his offer, but in the end, not a single Tanarac chose to avoid working with the hicays.

Night had fallen during the meeting and the quarry teams vanished into the darkness to take their turns on patrol.

Benjamin and Dr. Hadje walked a little ways down the path leading to the plow lot when the doctor placed his hand on the old scout’s forearm, bringing them to a stop.

“Ben, I never would have believed my Taskers could adjust so quickly to the presence of
hicays. How did you know they would handle such a shock?”

The human leader slipped his arm over the doctor’s shoulders and nudged them back to walking along the path. He spoke as they walked.

“You dedicated your entire life to studying human behavior. Well, so have I. Only, I don’t place my trust in scientific theories. I trust human intuition. I knew things would work out.”

Dr. Hadje
smiled and cocked his head slightly as he caught the friendly jab at his work.

T
hin vestiges of light ebbed from the horizon before the two leaders reached the scout quarters. Night sky was alive with flashes when Jix approached at a dead run.

“D
octor something terrible is happening!”

He pointed to the telltale signs of the space battle above.

“Calm down. We know about it. Have you looked in on our human guests as I asked?”

“Yes, sir. They’re trying to organize themselves but the one called Kate is arguing with the Head Tasker. He’s trying to get her to stay inside the building
, but she’s insisting on freedom.”

“I’ll deal with her.” Benjamin
smiled and shook his head. “After I get our rambunctious new leader settled down, I’m going out on patrol. It has been many years since I ran the field. It will be good for my men to see me out there. I’ll see you in the morning.”

He
headed into the human quarters where he took Kate aside and told her the complete truth about their current circumstances. He explained how he needed her leadership to keep quarry humans safe. With her new understanding, she agreed to play her assigned role. The old scout headed into the darkness of the quarry, confident in his choice of leadership for the newest free humans.

Crouched beside a small bush, Benjamin formed his hands into a twisted knot of fingers
and raised them in front of his mouth. He blew gently into the center and a hollow, almost haunting, sound carried into the dark on the slight breeze. Moments later, a similar sound called back to him. Swinging his head from side to side to fix its location, the former scout moved silently through moon shadows in the direction of the signal.

“Benjamin. What brings you into the field?”

His scout greeted him with a mixture of surprise and awe at being so close to a legend.

“Just checking to see if you have all you need.”
He turned from the human to three nearby Taskers. “How about you? Do you need any provisions?”

The Tanaracs seemed to appreciate the attention.

Benjamin greeted the nearby hicay before vanishing back into the darkness.

He
repeated his stops with scout teams across the quarry until he arrived at the far side of the mining field near the edge of the Central Jungle. Those dark depths drew him, pulling him to slip into its familiarity. Nearby, a Night-Dipper sang its mating song. He felt young again.

While his heart pulled him toward the jungle, his mind reminded him of his duties. The old scout made himself a promise. He would spend more time outdoors when this conflict
ended.

Just as
Benjamin took a step toward the distant lights of the main compound, a deafening roar screamed directly over his head. He dove headlong into the closest patch of jungle ferns and a loud explosion followed almost instantly.

He
rose to his knees and parted several ferns for a look. A pile of twisted metal, some places still burning, protruded from a small crater. Several bushes burned next to the wreckage.

The old scout studied the scene without revealing his presence. At the top of the mass of torn metal, a small round dome moved spastically from side to side. The movement stopped and started a couple times.

“Help . . . help.”

A weak voice carried to Benjamin’s hiding place. The small round object lifted a few more times, but
, each time, it dropped back, and the plea for help repeated, only more muffled.

Dodging fires,
he reached the side of the wreckage closest to the round object and looked for handholds to climb toward the voice. After several failed attempts, he found a path up the hot wreckage and straddled the piece of round metal. A thin blue hand protruded from below.

The old man seized the portal with both hands and forced it to one side. A young Tanarac officer looked up, but only for a moment as his eyes rolled in his head
, and he passed out.

Benjamin attempted to pull the unconscious pilot out but some kind of straps held him fast.
He reached into his ankle pouch and produced a small, serrated blade that easily cut the belts. Soon, the injured pilot was draped over the shoulders of the large human, standing at the base of the still-burning craft.

Terrible rattling sounds came from the Tanarac’s throat.
The senior scout knew it would be difficult at his age to carry the pilot all the way to the compound, but there was no choice. This soldier needed medical care, and there was no time to go for help.

“Halt! Who goes there?”

Benjamin could not even summon the strength to answer the scout challenge. His chest heaved from the pace he sustained while carrying the dead weight of the injured pilot. He hoped the scouts would properly identify the threat before delivering weapons.

Stun cords lit up in the dark as they charged to full power. To
the side, an unmistakable deep-throated growl of a hicay warned of imminent attack. Benjamin ignored the risks and continued his steady, non-threatening pace until a small light shone on his face.

“Benjamin?”

A human scout rushed to the old man’s side and took hold of the injured pilot. Three Taskers quickly joined, taking the unconscious Tanarac off his shoulders. Benjamin collapsed. A scout fed him small sips of water. By sheer force of will, he got back to his feet.

“I’ll carry your weapons
,” the scout leader took control. “He needs the infirmary, fast.”

E
xhausted, the old man followed his field squad as they carried the wounded pilot the rest of the way to the quarry medical center. Word of the rescue preceded them, and Dr. Hadje had the medical team waiting at the edge of the light by the infirmary building.

“Kob!”

Dr. Hadje called out his former student’s name the instant he recognized the face beneath the blood and soot. The medical team rushed him into the facility with the doctor close behind.

Despite exhaustion, Benjamin turned back to his scout team
.

“Thank yo
u. I could not have gone much farther. I know how tired you are, and I hate to ask this of you, but we need you in the field. This is not over.”

His scout team did not
require encouragement as they disappeared back into the quarry.

Benjamin glanced up at the night sky.
Expansion of the space battle was obvious. The old scout leaned against the building and slid down onto a garden bench, completely exhausted. Far across the quarry, he could see the last flickering fires at the crash site.

“Ben.” Dr. Hadje’s voice
and hand on the shoulder startled him. “Kob is very special to me. He’s like my own son. They said he’ll be okay with a little rest. He lost a finger on his left hand, and he’s going to have a terrible headache from concussion, but you saved his life. They said he would have gone into respiratory arrest if you had not brought him in when you did. I am forever in your debt.”

The doctor
leaned against the building next to his human friend. His exhausted scout friend reached over and patted him on the forearm, too tired to reply.

A sudden bright orange light from the sky cast strange shadows across the quarry. Several more brilliant flares soon followed.

“I have a bad feeling about this,” Benjamin said and watched flashes in the night sky.

“
This is one time I hope your human intuition is not so prophetic.”