Chapter 77
They couldn't have won the air war against the Helavites, were it not for Arr. He could not duplicate the bug's language, but he could understand it. Where the Helavites always had the advantage against their prey because of their unique language, it failed them this time. After listening to their clicks and grinding for a relatively short time, Arr could predict their every move for the invading fleet.
The mercenaries were the ones chosen to go in first for the ground warfare. They were well known for their ability to function on their own. In a battle like this there would be little time for orders to pass down the official chain of command. They needed men who could think for themselves and act accordingly.
The Helavites were stuck on the planet now. All their cruisers were destroyed. Getting them routed out was going to be a major achievement. Most of them ran underground and the ones that were still fighting were almost impossible to kill. Their vulnerability was so low due to their shells; it was pure luck if you could get off a good shot at that gap in their armor.
The mercenary forces fought for three full days before the rest of the combined galactic forces were brought in to help route out the Helavite's concentrated below ground. The question was how to get to the ones that were underground. A direct assault would only succeed in getting men killed. They needed something to flush the bugs to the surface. A strategy meeting was called aboard the Galactic Cruiser, GC 40.
A small group of battle weary, but determined officers and men stood around the projected holo-vid replica of the Helavite planet. The reinforced underground chambers of the enemy were pinpointed by red on the surface of the three dimensional holo-vid.
"Why not flush them out with fire?" Arr suggested, thinking of Jake's numerous retellings of how he forced the Hydra from their lair years ago. This time there would be no worry about hostages or prisoners they could just burn the bugs out.
Jake leaned forward placing his hands on the edge of the platform that projected the image they were studying. "Better yet, how about laser burn?" Jake glanced around the room at the few remaining leaders left. Admiral Soltau of the Galactic Forces nodded solemnly as he too studied the image closer with Jake's suggestion in mind, his bushy, grey eyebrows knitting together in concentration.
Jake turned painfully on a very sore leg. He took a fall the second day of action while trying to avoid a Helavite's attack. It irritated that old Arcanian injury from years ago. "Andrew? Are your trade vessels still equipped with those solar disks for emergency power use?"
"Yes." Andrew was not a military man, nor was he known for his physical capabilities, but the sheer number of personnel under his command allowed him a place in history among these other beings battling this ultimate of foes.
"Good! We could detach the solar disks from Andrew's vessels and position them on the planet's surface." Jake removed his hat, running fingers through sweat dampened hair. "If we position them just right we could direct the combined power of all the remaining ship's lasers on the first disk, and with some help from your statistical team Admiral, to determine the correct alignment," Jake said glancing the Commander's direction, "we could bounce the beam from disk to disk enabling us to shoot a beam down each tunnel. I assure you those we didn't kill with the blast itself would come to the surface pronto!"
"Excuse me, sir?" The Senior Science Officer of the ground forces, Captain Tregg, spoke up. He was grimy from the battle on the planet's surface and his head wore a bloody bandage from some hastily dressed wound. "I happened to have an opportunity to see the terra firma up close." There was a general chuckle around the room, releasing days of tension and prompted by the knowledge that Captain Tregg's current appearance could not have been generated by an air battle alone.
"Go on Captain," the Admiral urged as the merriment died down.
"The soil down there has a very high sand content. You put that much laser power on it and it may melt, sealing the burrows shut."
"Show me a visual 'Geochem' of the soil," the Admiral ordered. The insigne programmer at the table moved quickly to produce the display.
A colored graph appeared floating beside the image of the planet showing the chemical composition of the soil. Silica was the highest registering element.
"Then we seal up the mouths of the tunnels and wait for them to burrow to the top, where we pick them off as they surface with the hand held flame throwers and whatever else we can get our hands on that will do the job." Jake glanced around the room for approval of his plan, there being no dissension, the meeting was adjourned and all returned to the work at hand.
*****
The Helavites never made it to the surface to battle further with the combined forces. The intense heat generated by the lasers, magnified by the solar discs, melted the soil into a bubbling mass. It incased the Helavites forever in a glassy tomb.
The mop up was slow. The Galactic Officials insisted on all the Helavite bodies being cremated and the planet thoroughly searched for possible hideouts. The officials wanted to be certain the bugs didn't return. Arr wandered down toward the fields with Jake to check for signs of life. The toll among the mercenaries was high. Over half their forces had died. Luckily Tim, Jake, Arr and Kay-o were among the survivors.
Arr looked out over the fields wistfully. "The crops are ready for harvest. It's a shame they'll go to waste".
"Funny, I never thought of the Helavites as farmers." Jake reached over and snapped off the top of a stalk. As he studied it his gaze traveled down to the ground. There was a footprint in the soft dirt at the edge of the field. Not the unique print of a Helavite or the waffled tread of a spacer's boot, but a sandaled foot. Not far from it was the bare foot print of a humanoid.
Jake called Kay-o to his side. "Seek," he commanded, as he pointed to the foot prints.
Arr and Jake followed at a distance as Kay-o skirted the edge of the field. He came to a halt at the far corner going down on his belly and waiting for his two masters to catch up. Kay-o found their objective. There was another burrow. It had been totally missed. There was no fortification around the entrance. It was just a hole in the ground with a pair of Helavite antennae sticking out of it listening for sounds of life.
Jake tapped Arr's shoulder and pointed at the ground. The soft dirt was covered with footprints all headed toward the mouth of the burrow. The Helavites had other beings working their fields. They had hostages after all.
Arr motioned to Jake that he was going to try to get around behind the Helavite sentry at the mouth of the tunnel. Jake nodded his approval.
It took Arr almost three quarters of an hour to silently circle the fields back the way Jake and he came to get behind the Helavite. When he was in place close enough to lunge forward onto the sentry Jake moved noisily from his hiding place to draw the bug out. The head of the Helavite came up for a better look. Arr dove in and grasped the Helavite around the neck. The head retracted and the shell closed down over it. Arr struggled to get a grip as he dangled over the mouth of the burrow. He had his gathering knife in his hand. As the Helavite started to backup into the tunnel Arr sank the knife up to its hilt into one of its large segmented eyes. Under Arr's weight the Helavite and Arr tumbled head long into the tunnel.
Jake and Kay-o rushed to the mouth of the burrow when they saw Arr drop out of sight. They were ready to follow when Arr poked his head up and motioned to them to be silent. He could hear more Helavites below.
*****
Jake could hardly see. He couldn't hear anything in the tunnels and he kept bumping into Kay-o. He considered turning back, but thought that if the other Helavites found the sentry dead, they might kill their prisoners before he and Arr could return with help. He would have to depend on Arr's highly tuned senses to get them through this time.
Arr was moving ahead slowly down the tunnel. He could hear at least three more Helavites directly in front of them. When he came to a bend in the burrow he stopped. He signaled to Jake that they were just around the corner.
Jake signaled that he was ready and they stepped around the corner to do battle with the Helavites. The three Helavites were directly in front of a huge cage full of prisoners in a large open cavern lit by torches. Use of the flame thrower was impossible. Blasters were going to be pretty much useless as well in these close quarters. The Helavites were armed with short electrified whips that they obviously used to drive the slaves. The bugs recognized the protection of the slaves. They placed themselves squarely in front of the cage. Jake dropped his flame thrower, which left him virtually defenseless against an enemy that had proven it was almost invincible. This was going to be a hand to hand combat of the first order.
Arr made one of those swift Henu moves to his right. When one of the Helavites made a grab for him he feinted back to his left and got behind the bug. He intended to do this one in like the one at the mouth of the burrow. He jumped on its back taking a stab at its eyes with his knife. The blow glanced right off the heavy armored hood as it pulled it down tighter over its head. The Helavite maliciously backed up into the bars of the cage and began to crush Arr with the weight of its body.
The other two Helavites had Jake and Kay-o busy with their whips. Jake took a couple of harsh blows from those nasty weapons. He was trying to avoid another when he saw Arr being crushed by the Helavite. He ran right into the arms of the bug holding Arr. When it grasped him he shoved his blaster between the beast's shell plates and fired. The Helavite turned to dust beneath its shell. Jake and Arr found themselves facing each other as the empty shell dropped to the floor. The remaining two Helavites pressed the attack.
Jake tried to lead the bugs away from Arr until the kid could catch his breath. It didn't work.
Kay-o almost succeeded in severing one of the bug's legs. He was being dragged by the Helavite toward Arr. The other Helavite advanced on Jake with its whip.
By the time the Helavite got to Arr he was on his feet again ready to fight. The kid was too fast for the bug with Kay-o in tow, when it struck at Arr it missed. Arr side stepped it and came down hard with his knife on one of the Helavite's arms. The arm dropped off, green liquid oozed out the severed stump. At that moment Kay-o succeeded in tearing the leg off. The bug fell to the floor on the four remaining appendages. Arr jumped on its back, shoved his blaster between the shells as Jake did and the bug disintegrated leaving Arr sitting on its empty shell.
Jake was beaten into a corner. He was pinned down by the onslaught of the last Helavite and its whip. Kay-o moved into position to get a grip on the bug. This one was more shrewd then the others. It wasn't giving up its prey especially not to a dar-dolf. When Kay-o darted in the Helavite grasped Kay-o by the harness with two of its arms. It lifted the dar-dolf up in the air as Kay-o snarled and bit. The bug flung the dar-dolf across the room as though he were a puppy. Kay-o hit the cage and was knocked unconscious by the impact. The Helavite seemed to have never turned its attention away from Jake. It continued with its whipping onslaught on its cornered enemy.
Arr picked up one of the whips from the dead Helavites and advanced on the last bug. The whip did nothing to the bug attacking Jake except get its attention. The Helavite turned from Jake, who was on his knees in the corner, and advanced toward Arr. The first bite from the bug's whip stung Arr's shoulder. The next hit his leg bringing him down on one knee. The Helavite could smell victory.
Kay-o came out of nowhere. The force of his blow knocked the Helavite off its feet. Arr scrambled quickly on to its back. He reached for his blaster, but it had been knocked from its holster when he fell to the floor a moment earlier. He grasped his gathering knife from the top of his boot and sunk it into the visor slit at the bug's eyes. The Helavite collapsed dead beneath him.
Arr went to Jake's side as he rose slowly from the floor. He had several bad burns on his body, but a big grin on his face.
"We did it kid." He clasped Arr by the shoulders. For the moment the slaves were forgotten as the two experienced the joy of just being alive. They heeded Margaret's words. They took care of each other.
A movement behind them in the cage brought them back from their self congratulations.
Jake went to the wall and threw the switch to open the cage door.
There were perhaps fifty to seventy-five slaves of perhaps half that many species. They were all fitted with metal collars and they all looked ill fed, ill clothed and scared.
When none of them made a move to come out of the cage Arr stepped forward and entered their prison. He walked quietly among them and said in as many different languages as he knew that they were safe now. That no one would hurt them again. Some of the slaves began to trickle out past Jake and up the tunnel to the surface. They weren't very vocal. Jake imagined that was due to living with the Helavites, but the men shook his and Arr's hand. More than a few of the women kissed Jake on the cheek.
Arr was surrounded by slaves when he felt a touch on his back. He turned to find himself looking into a pair of big, blue cat eyes. He pulled his stunned gaze away from the first pair and came to rest on another pair. Henu! Maybe ten or twelve Henu, all about his age, stood staring at Arr with big, silly grins on their faces.
"JAKE!" Arr called joyously. "MY PEOPLE!! MY PEOPLE ARE HERE!!"
Chapter 78
Once again the Henu planet would be populated.
The Henu that Jake and Arr rescued from the Helavites were some of the grown children who were by the lake the day the Helavites attacked twenty years ago. They, like Arr, thought the rest of their people were killed. They gave up any hope of rescue. There were seven females and five males. Among the females Arr found his mate, Mya. It was as though everything was finally right with the world.
"I thought you told me she died in the Helavite attack on your planet," Jake questioned Arr, after he introduced Mya.
"I thought she had," Arr replied. "But, when I think back on it I don't remember Nor and I actually looking over any of the dead. I just remember how frightened I was and the cold of the lake, and then the long walk to our new home over the east hills. Maybe Nor just told me they were all dead."
"I'm happy for you that he was wrong," Jake said, placing his hand on his friend's shoulder.
The mop up of the planet came to an end shortly after the finding of the slaves. The GO began to transport the slaves to their respective planets. Jake volunteered to take the Henu home.
Jake was swept into the reunion of his partner and friend with his people. He was fascinated by what he took for granted in dealing with Arr. He assumed that all Henu were like Arr. He was very mistaken. The most evident thing was they were not all red/gold in color like Arr. Mya was a soft faun color with dark chestnut tips to the hair on her body. The others ranged in color from one with black hair with grey tips, a handsome male, to a female that was truly all red. In fact no two were completely alike in coloring. Because they were captured as a group they retained what little of their language they learned before being taken prisoners. Arr set immediately to teaching them the rest of their language plus English. They however, did not possess the abilities that Arr did in learning new tongues. His adeptness of picking up new languages seemed to be a gift solely his own.
The trip back was strained at first. The Henu were beaten so long that they cowed like mistreated dogs. It would take a lot of gentle care and understanding to get them back on their feet again. Arr spent all his time talking with them. He intended only to provide comfort and teach them their language. He didn't realize he was building his own legend. The more they heard his voice and his stories the more he became a hero in their eyes. Something bigger than mortal Henu.
Arr fell into the role of leader. He was more experienced than any of the other Henu.
He was the oldest.
He was thei
r savior.
*****
With Arr's finding of Mya he grew up right before Jake's eyes. Physically the contrast made him appear older. Mya was small and delicate, quiet and gentle. The joy of being rescued and finding her mate was evident in every action she made. Jake caught her eyes following Arr about the room often. He noticed the love that was already starting to grow in them for his friend and companion.
They made a short detour on the way home. They stopped at the St. Mary to see if Jake could convince Margaret to give up her position on the ship and come make a study of a full colony of Henu. He need not have been worried about her answer. Margaret resigned and packed within three days for the move to her life with Jake. With her savings she arranged for a well equipped lab to be delivered to the planet plus prefab living quarters. She told Jake, 'Living in a tree is asking too much.'
Jake made her no promises, but he said he would do his best to stay put as long as possible. In any case, he promised to come back to her always.
Margaret and Mya became friends almost at first sight. Mya pressed Arr to teach her English so she could communicate with the humans. Margaret even joined in playing part-time teacher to all the Henu. The sooner they could communicate the better her studies would be.
After the Henu got the smell of the Helavites washed off Kay-o was more than willing to make friends. The hands full of Red Raspberry Goo Chews that Arr handed out reinforced the dar-dolf's immediate love for all the Henu. Jake could see that it was going to be very hard to keep Kay-o a working dar-dolf. He was fast becoming the pampered pet of the Henu population.
Chapter 79
The day Jake shuttled them all down to the planet was exhilarating. The first order of the day was a swim in the lake for everyone. Then the group split up for the first time in their lives. They went to explore their old world. Arr took Mya to his tree house to get her approval. Jake and Margaret scouted out the best place to put the prefab when it arrived the next week. The others drifted around singly or in couples. The Henu never mated while among the Helavites. They did not want to bring children into that horrible life. There were other couples among the group that had matching tattoos. Now that they were free it was natural to match up and explore together.
The Helavite War Page 14