Torian Reclamation 3: Test of Fortitude (26 page)

“You might finally get your opportunity to inherit a command, Colonel. If I fail to return, all this will be yours.” Gorbinshir was aware of the sarcasm in his voice.

Colonel Halstov didn’t seem amused. “If you fail to return, there won’t be much left to command. You’re taking two-thirds of our forces here. Not to mention the extra personnel.”

“You don’t approve of the current action?” Gorbinshir asked.

“Don’t misunderstand me, Brigadier. I’m proud to learn of a broad engagement. It will be the crushing victory that brings us out of the ground and into the heart of this Erobian Sphere. I prefer that I was called to the fight along with you. But if I am to remain here and command the base, I regret to be left short on pilots and gunners. I’ll have fighters with no crews.”

Gorbinshir nodded. “Regrettable, yes. It can’t be helped. The Latian vessels are armed with powerful defense weapons that we can now turn into an offensive asset. They’ll make useful assault vessels against the Torian transport ships, which are lightly armed by comparison. Moreover, their appearance will be a shock to the Torian fleet and likely throw them into chaos. It could be the factor that pushes our momentum to an all-out rout. Dirg and the Torian away fleet will be destroyed, and Ossur will then own this side of their sphere. We’ll become strongly entrenched and will no longer have need of stealth, as you said.”

“Then our confinement here will have all been worthwhile,” Halstov responded, “but I’m afraid I’m still at a loss in understanding exactly how we finally found a way to disarm the Torian security system on those Latian ships.”

Gorbinshir looked beyond the colonel. Dr. Mishlat, the senior engineer, had walked up behind him.

“I’ll let the scientist explain it to you,” Gorbinshir said.

Halstov turned around. Dr. Mishlat glanced back and forth between them before addressing the colonel.

“A simple cold fusion shutdown of every system on the ship, followed by an overriding operational program installed upon startup. The Torian destruct mechanisms are still in place, but there’s no condition left which triggers them. Our operational system now controls the ship. It’s incomplete, but will handle the functions we require: interstellar travel, propulsion, life support, hangar pressurization, and of course all mounted weapons systems.”

“How do we know it works?” Halstov asked.

Dr. Mishlat turned to Gorbinshir. “That’s what I came to update you on. The test ship is functioning properly, with no serious issues reported, and is now in orbit. It’s completed a short interstellar trip and tested all necessary systems. More than five hours have passed. I’m giving the go-ahead to proceed with the rest of the fleet.”

“I’m sure the test crew is relieved,” Halstov muttered.

Gorbinshir shot him a glare. “That’s an unnecessary understatement, Colonel. I trust their experience will motivate them to improve their job performance and stay off the hazardous duty roster in the future. Which reminds me. What are the latest reports from your terrestrial missions?”

Halstov straightened up. “We’ve essentially completed the eradication of the natives from the surface populations and the smaller known underground domiciles. Their resistance has remained feeble. We’re ready to invade the two large subterranean cities upon your return.”

“No,” Gorbinshir said. “Don’t wait for us. We’re taking most of the mineral supply, so you need to increase mining production here any way you can. Choose one of the cities to conquer now. Fill the mines with the able-bodied timid and destroy the remainder of the population.”

“As you wish, Brigadier. Perhaps we’ll start with the western city. A patrol that just came in believes they’ve killed one of the leaders there.”

“How did that happen?”

“He got caught in the open with a small company. We first captured a party that came out from the eastern city. I already have them down in the mines. We followed the direction they were headed in and eventually came upon the company that came out of the western city. Two resisters were killed, including the one suspected of being a city leader. We would have put the others in the mines, but were attacked by a trained animal and had to destroy them all.”

“Did we take any casualties?” Gorbinshir asked.

“No, but two of our rangers were discovered missing when the patrol ship returned. Probably left behind inadvertently.”

“Send another patrol out to find them, Colonel. And proceed with your plans for an invasion on the western city. It’s likely the high command will edict a continual supply of the mineral for all of the Ossurian military by the time I return. Production must, therefore, increase by a factor of at least three in the near future. Your immediate task is to expedite that.”

“I understand.” But Halstov didn’t sound as confident as Gorbinshir preferred.

The flight deck was momentarily overcome by the sound of the second squadron of fighters firing their thrusters. In a few minutes, they cleared out into the alluring hole of daylight ahead. The softer sound of the hover engines from the third squadron began moving up from the tunnels.

Gorbinshir was ready. He gave his final underground commands.

“Dr. Mishlat, have your teams prepare the rest of the Latian transport ships as quickly as possible. I’ll lead that fleet into battle myself from the test ship. Colonel, have my fighter brought out with the next group. Start sending the squadrons to Dirg as soon as each is out of the atmosphere. I hate to come by piecemeal, but the primary engagement may begin before we arrive—so all fresh reserves could be a welcome reinforcement.”

Dr. Mishlat acknowledged his orders and ran off the flight deck. Gorbinshir then further addressed his second in command.

“Don’t allow yourself to become overwhelmed, Colonel. Just get the job done. Have everyone double-up on their mineral intake. The miners, too. The natives may be weak, but they’re efficient workers. You can get thousands of them out of that city, and there’s certain to be a sizeable cache of harvested deep water there. Think on your feet, find new resources, and allocate them advantageously.”

The colonel smiled and assured him he would take care of business here on the dwarf planet. The confidence in his voice had returned.

*

The body count looked about right. It was difficult to tell exactly, since the charred remains of several figures were partially dismembered and all blended together in the pile. Alan had no intention on examining them any closer. It was difficult enough just to keep taking glimpses, especially since some parts were still smoldering.

“Was it them, honey?” Kayla pleaded. “Was it Threeclack and his friends? Could you tell if Fardo and Kush were among them?”

“I couldn’t be sure from that distance.” Jumper looked to the mountainside. “I only saw bodies. But…”

“But what?”

“Who else would they be? I could see they weren’t the same as those hideous aliens. Their size and shape looked like natives to me, the best I could tell.”

Jumper seemed to notice the horrified look on Kayla’s face as she kept glancing at the burned corpses.

“Maybe Fardo and Kush got away, honey.”

“Maybe they all did,” Alan said. “This could be the group of traders from the east that Threeclack came out to meet. It’s possible Threeclack’s group saw the trouble and avoided it.”

“Avoided it how?” Jumper asked. “And where are they, then?”

Alan shrugged. “Maybe up on the heights, maybe in a cave. You know how good they are underground. That cave we were in, or another one, might lead all the way through the mountain.” Alan knew his suggestion was thin, but it’s all he could come up with at the moment to try and keep Kayla from losing it. Jumper should have realized that.

It was difficult to be optimistic, though. As soon as the three of them had made their way over the ridge and saw the burning bodies, Alan’s heart sank. Deep inside he knew their friendly hosts were gone, lost to some kind of monstrous alien attack—the type of which also nearly took him and Kayla. Why? What kind of intelligent being would invade a dwarf planet and arbitrarily kill small parties of natives? What could possibly be their motive? Theft? Colonization?

Jumper and Kayla had insisted they lie in the weeds at the foot of the hills and listen intently for twenty minutes before deciding it was safe to come out and inspect the corpses. Only there wasn’t much left to inspect, after having been scorched by the hover ship’s big laser.

“They were more scattered,” Jumper said as he walked around gruesome pile. “The horned aliens must have dragged them together to make it easier to incinerate them.”

“Why bother?” Kayla asked. She was on the verge of tears.

“Some kind of ethical practice of theirs, maybe?” Alan received confirmation from Kayla’s ensuing glare that his remark was indeed as stupid as it sounded.

“I’m glad they did,” Jumper said. “For all our sakes. I’d rather have a glimmer of uncertainty than… than…”

No one finished his sentence. Alan and Kayla both knew what he was trying to say.

Casanova, who had been lying on the ground with his ears back, appeared to smell something that perked his interest. He got up, made his way around to the backside of the pile, nudged his nose into it, and pulled on one of the bodies.

“Casanova! Stop that!” Kayla ran around and took hold of him. But Casanova only let out a painful howl.

“What’s wrong with him?” Jumper said. “Did you grab him on his wound?”

“Oh, no.” Kayla sat down next to her cat and began sobbing.

Alan and Jumper both came over to her.

“What? What is it, honey?”

“He found Kush.”

Alan and Jumper laid eyes on the charred carcass Casanova had partially dragged away from the rest. It was differently shaped, to be sure, but only had three limbs attached.

“That’s only a guess,” Alan said. “There’s not enough left together of any of these bodies to identify them, their species, or even tell them apart from animals.”

“He’s right, honey. We can’t know that.” Jumper gave Alan an appreciative look. He was starting to get it now.

“It’s Kush! I know it! Even if we can’t tell for sure, he can!” Kayla leaned over to wrap her arm around Casanova’s neck and then wept with her head pressed against his. “Fardo must be in here, too.”

“Now
that
we certainly don’t know, honey.”

“She wouldn’t leave Kush. She would have stayed with her and tried to protect her.”

“Jumper,” Alan said. “Do you think they could see the bodies of the aliens we killed from the hover ship? The one in the gully, I mean—and the other above it on the rocks.”

“I don’t know. Probably not—or wouldn’t they have stopped to gather them?”

Alan nodded. “You’d think so. If they burn the corpses of their enemies, it seems unlikely they’d leave their own lying out there for animals to eat. I noticed the ship didn’t go over that spot. It went down over the canyon floor instead, both ways.”

“What’s your point?”

“If they didn’t see the bodies, they might come out looking for them when they notice two of them are missing.”

“Don’t worry. I wasn’t planning on sticking around. Honey, we need to leave.”

No reaction from Kayla. Casanova now seemed to be concerned about her as well.

“Should we hide those bodies?” Alan asked.

“They’re heavy,” Jumper said.

“I know. Should we hide them?”

Jumper cocked his head. “That’s a tough one, actually. If we take time to hide them, and the hover ship returns, the aliens might find us instead. If we don’t hide them, the aliens will see that their friends were killed and assume it was done by natives, possibly infuriating them further and resulting in additional revenge killings.”

Kayla spoke. “They seem pretty infuriated against the natives already.”

“She’s right,” Jumper said. “Leave the bodies. Let’s get out of here.”

“Which way?” Alan looked out across the canyon floor.

“Let’s run on the ground for a while to try and gain some distance.”

“Good,” Alan said. “That way we can warn Shaldan if we see him coming out.”

“If he’s coming out.”

Alan gave Jumper a stern look. “I sent him for help. I’m sure he’s coming.”

“After he
finds
help.” Jumper looked at his laser. “Which might not be so easy. The Sulienites are a little passive for my taste. You want me to carry the pack?”

“Now that you mention it, yes.”

Alan let the backpack slide off his shoulders and gave it to Jumper. When it was strapped on, Jumper turned and offered his hand to Kayla.

“Honey, I’m sorry. But we’ve got to go or we may end up in that pile ourselves.”

That seemed to snap Kayla out of it. She rose and dragged Casanova away from the burned corpses. They all started jogging back up the canyon. Kayla was the fastest runner and set a grueling pace. When they passed the gully and then the cave opening on the mountainside, they angled in and ran close along the edge of the foothills so as not to be so plainly visible. It was exhausting, but they were making good time.

Casanova suddenly stopped, jerking Kayla to a halt. Jumper and Alan bumped in a chain reaction. Casanova looked behind him with wide eyes.

“He hears something, Jumper.” Kayla stroked the back of Casanova’s neck. The big cat didn’t react at all. “You know how good his ears are. Maybe we should go up and travel under cover from here.”

“I don’t hear anything,” Jumper said.

Alan’s heart raced as he caught his breath. He placed his hand on his chest. Something didn’t feel right. His necklace! Did he lose it? No, it was hanging out against his shirt. Thank Erob. He grabbed ahold of it. As soon as he did, he heard a faint hovercraft noise.

“I do,” Alan said.

Kayla and Jumper cocked their heads at him.

“I can hear the ship.” Alan motioned behind him. “It’s coming back. Let’s do as Kayla said. We’re up far enough now that we can see if Shaldan brings a rescue party into the canyon.”

Kayla turned and began leading Casanova up the mountainside before Jumper had a chance to respond. So Jumper and Alan followed her. They hiked up alongside a line of brush that led to an undercut bank beneath a large rock protrusion.