Spartan Valor

by Toby Neighbors

  The structure wasn’t large. It was four meters long and four meters wide. Each wall section was a meter square and snapped together easily enough. Once I had all four walls in place, I assembled the ceiling joists which were made of lightweight, high-tensile pipes. Each joist sat in a groove where the wall panels joined together. I had to stack supply crates outside the small building to serve as a scaffold, so I could carry the roof sections up and secure them to the joists. The entire structure was simple to assemble, and although it took several hours, didn’t present a problem. Once the roof was on, I unrolled an adhesive material that covered the roof to make it completely waterproof. A second overlapping layer of walls made the small structure stronger and more resistant to weapons fire.

  I took advantage of the fact that Barnes was unconscious. There were inflatable camp beds in the supply crates. After setting up the first one inside the Command Post, I carried Staff Sergeant Barnes into the structure and laid him carefully on the bed. Moving the communications gear took more time. I had to run additional power and signal cables under the Command Post and up through special slots in the floor. I set up a sturdy camp table and moved the communication gear. Next, I moved all of our food and ammunition into the Command Post. Finally, I brought extra weapons and medical supplies inside.

  Once I felt certain the most vital materials were safe inside the Command Post, I began to work setting up the solar panels that would supply the structure with power. There were enough solar panels to cover the roof, and a large power cell was positioned beneath the work table to collect the energy. With only an hour of daylight left, I moved all the crates to the door of the Command Post, setting them up in a T formation so we could exit the structure but still have cover from enemy fire. The last project on my list was to set up surveillance cameras. I put two on each corner of the roof and one on the peak that could be rotated three-hundred and sixty degrees. I felt good about what I had accomplished, but exhausted.

  After setting the surveillance cameras to pick up any motion and alert me, I sat down and took off my Command Helmet. The Command Post was small, but I felt better being inside. A bank of monitors showed me the security feeds from the cameras, along with the information from my Command Helmet, and all open communication channels. Barnes was stirring, but not awake. I hooked up a small cooling fan to get some air circulating in the Command Post. The biggest temptation was to pull my armor off and sleep, but removing my armor was a huge risk. Just having my helmet off felt careless. I ate, sipped some water flavored with a grape energy powder, and tried to raise Master Sergeant “Money” Eubanks on the com-link.

  “Master Sergeant Eubanks, Master Sergeant Eubanks, do you read? Over.”

  It was a tiresome process, but a necessary one in my eyes. Money needed help, but I couldn’t go after him in the dark. Not that it was impossible, but the gloom made it difficult to see more than a meter or so in any direction. There was no doubt in my mind that many of the native species could see me. I didn’t relish the idea of being an target. And that didn’t even take Staff Sergeant Barnes into account. I could put food and water within reach of the wounded Staff Sergeant, even move the security monitors and controls. But he would still be defenseless, and the next troop of creatures who attacked might be looking to kill, not capture.

  I recorded a message on the communication console and set it to play over and over through the night. The emergency setting would alert me if there was a response of any kind. I recorded another message on the emergency frequency which I beamed into space. It wouldn’t reach the Fleet outside the system, but if they returned while I was away from the Command Post, they would need to know what precautions we had taken.

  When I finally laid down on the air mattress, it felt strange. It was too soft, and I felt guilty enjoying any type of comfort when my platoon mates were suffering. Still, stretching out on the bed and relaxing my tired muscles felt good. It had been over a week since I had slept for more than a few hours at any one time. I laid back, then sat up quickly and looked at the monitors showing the video feed from the surveillance cameras. They showed the same murky views of the Base Camp that I had grown used to. The lack of vision at night was incredibly bothersome, but having reassured myself that no one was waiting to slit my throat once I closed my eyes, I was able to lay back and rest a moment. Sleep hit me like a sledge hammer. One minute I lay worrying about my friends, and the next I was sound asleep.

  Chapter 6

  Morning seemed to come instantly. Almost as soon as I closed my eyes, I was asleep. And no sooner had I fallen asleep, than the morning sun was up, and my wrist band was vibrating to wake me up. I sat up and looked around. There were no windows in the Command Post, but surveillance showed the sun was up. I got to my feet and went to the door. The jungle was ominously quiet.

  “It’s about time you got up, Private,” Barnes said in a drunken voice. “You havin’ a nice vacation?”

  “No, Staff Sergeant. I want to go home,” I replied.

  “Ha! Wouldn’t that be nice. I’d settle for a nice hospital.”

  “To each his own.”

  I checked and saw that Money’s tracking indicator still hadn’t moved and a thought occurred to me.

  “Staff Sergeant, where is the tracking device in our armor?”

  “Why? You thinkin’ of goin’ AWOL?”

  He chuckled at his own joke.

  “I have to go help Money,” I said.

  “Good luck. He’s probably dead.”

  “His vitals show that he’s alive,” I argued. “But he hasn’t moved since yesterday.”

  “It’s in his Command Helmet. Our vitals are transmitted from the lining of our armor, but the signal isn’t all that strong. If you’re getting his vitals, he can’t be too far from his helmet.”

  “Something isn’t right. I need to go help him if I can. Will you be alright here on your own?”

  “No sweat,” Barnes said. “Just leave a few MREs and some water. If you get killed, I don’t want to starve to death.”

  “I can move the security monitors so you’ll be able to see them.”

  “No need. I can sync my Command Helmet to the camera feeds. Make sure I can reach my rifle and plenty of spare magazines, then go save the Master Sergeant. Seems that’s all your good for anyway.”

  “Thank you, Staff Sergeant.”

  “That wasn’t a compliment.”

  I chuckled as I picked up his rifle and handed it to him. Even in his drugged state he checked his weapon with expert efficiency. I set a box of ammo on the bed beside him, along with a stack of empty magazines.

  “That should keep you busy for a while,” I told him.

  “That sounds like insubordination, Private.”

  I slid a crate full of MREs and three gallons of water beside his bed.

  “Are the perimeter defenses still in place?” Barnes asked.

  “Everywhere except for where the Prog attacked yesterday.”

  “I like that you laid the bastards out where their friends died. That should deter any attacks from that direction.”

  “I hope so. I’ll stay in radio contact.”

  “Until you can’t,” Barnes said. “Be careful Orry. The Master Sergeant wouldn’t want you dying on some foolish errand to save him.”

  “He wouldn’t leave me behind.”

  “No, he wouldn’t. But he wouldn’t risk his neck if the evidence was clear that you were dead. I’ll be alright here by myself for a day or so. You leave me any longer than that, you might as well just hand me over to the natives.”

  “I’ll be back as soon as possible,” I promised. “And I’ll radio along the way.”

  “Alright, Private. Give ‘em hell.”

  “Yes, Staff Sergeant.”

  I moved out into the sunlight still adjusting my helmet. I picked up my pack and loaded several magazines of rifle ammunition. I also added some additional medical supplies. I hoped that Money wasn’t hurt. Carrying him back to the Base Camp wasn�
�t impossible, but it wasn’t something I would look forward to either. Still, I had to admit that something had stopped Money from moving or using his radio. If the Master Sergeant wasn’t hurt or captured he would have returned to Base Camp. That meant Money was in the hands of the enemy, and I had to be careful.

  The first hour passed without incident. The jungle was quiet, and there was no sign of the enemy. In fact, there was no sign of any living creatures. Normally the jungle was alive with the sounds of insects, small woodland creatures, and birds singing in the canopy. The fire from the ordnance blast the day before hadn’t spread far. Perhaps it was the wind, or maybe the moisture of the trees that kept the fire from becoming a dangerous blaze that would threaten the forest, but something had certainly silenced the forest.

  When I was only a kilometer from Money’s beacon, I had to take cover as a group of Fae passed by on their flying insect mounts. They were moving quickly through the jungle, clearly intent on a destination. I was thankful they weren’t more vigilant. It seemed the Fae preferred speed and mobility to stealth, and I couldn’t help but wish the other races were as careless.

  I waited several minutes after the Fae passed to ensure that it was safe to continue onward. The jungle felt hostile, and even though I was well armed, I felt vulnerable and exposed. Apex Venandi was my first real mission, and it was nothing like my training. There was no sense of brotherhood or teamwork. From the moment I jumped out of the shuttle, it seemed like I had been on my own. I didn’t mind doing what had to be done, but I felt overwhelmed. We were trained to be the winning team, and instead we had been ripped apart by a world that felt almost too hostile even for a Recon platoon.

  I moved slowly, staying in the shadows of the large trees, ducking from cover to cover, trying my best to remain elusive as I moved closer to the beacon. Master Sergeant Eubanks wasn’t nearby, I could sense that somehow. The jungle all around me was quiet and still. I approached the beacon and saw no sign of my friend. The signal was strong, and my HUD showed that Money should be just a few meters ahead of me. I slowly circled around the position, watching for traps. I had almost made a complete circle, when I noticed something man-made under a clump of bushes.

  It took a second for me to realize I was seeing a battle helmet. It lay on it’s side, so that what I saw was the round dome at the top. My fear at first was that Money was hurt and had crawled under the bushes to hide. I moved forward, but saw a strange arrangement of leaves and fallen branches. My back tingled fiercely, and I knew something was terribly wrong. I switched on the com-link in my Command Helmet, knowing that with the helmet muted, I could talk without fearing that something in the jungle would hear me.

  “Staff Sergeant, do you read me?”

  “Five by five, Porter. What do you have?”

  “Looks like a trap,” I said. “I can see Money’s battle helmet. It’s under a bush, but there’s something strange around it.”

  “Booby trap,” Barnes said. “Back away and see if you can trigger it somehow.”

  I moved back slowly, keeping Money’s helmet in sight. I still couldn’t see if he was under the bush, but I was beginning to doubt it. If the Master Sergeant had lost his helmet, he might not be able to communicate. I was reasonably sure he was carrying a communication unit, but it could have been damaged if he came under attack. Worse yet, if he was captured, the enemy might have it and could be listening to our conversation.

  “I think we better switch to a private channel, Staff Sergeant,” I suggested. “Something has been here besides us.”

  “Roger that.”

  I picked up a fallen branch that was as thick as my arm. I tossed the bough toward the bush where Money’s helmet lay. It tumbled across the ground, and suddenly a loud crashing sound was heard. Leaves and sticks flew into the air as a net was suddenly hoisted high above the ground.

  “Holy crap,” I said, my heart pounding in my chest.

  “What is it, Porter?”

  “You were right, Staff Sergeant. It’s a trap of some kind. Looks like a net. It was hidden on the ground under debris. I tossed a branch onto it and it flew into the air.”

  “Odds are Money set it off too. Whoever made it will be coming to check on it soon. Stay alert.”

  “Yes, Staff Sergeant.”

  I moved forward cautiously. The last thing I wanted was to get caught in a similar trap myself. I could see the net, which seemed to made of a fibrous rope. It hung ten meters over the ground, empty except for the limb I had used to trigger the trap. The rope above the net hung from two branches in a tall tree, then came down to the ground where it was wrapped around a boulder the size of an exercise ball.

  I reached under the bush and lifted Money’s helmet free. There was no sign of the Master Sergeant. I looked around the trap and saw no other pieces of armor or clothing. A careful inspection of the helmet showed no blood.

  “I’ve got his helmet, but that’s all there is,” I said. “No blood, no other items to indicate a fight.”

  “They must have caught him in the net,” Barnes said. “He either lost his helmet in the process, or left it behind on purpose.”

  “Why would he do that?”

  “To help us find him I would guess. It’s decision time, Porter. You can come back to the Base Camp, hunker down with me, and pray for rescue — or you can wait for whatever set that trap to come and check it. Odds are, if Money is still alive, he’s their prisoner.”

  I didn’t relish the idea of trying to track whoever had set the trap, but I couldn’t turn my back on a friend. There was only one thing to do.

  “I’ll find him,” I said.

  “Good man, Porter. Be careful and keep me informed. I’ll monitor your location and keep working the com-link. Maybe the Fleet won’t drag it’s feet, and we can send you some reinforcements.”

  “I wouldn’t complain,” I said. But I also wouldn’t hold my breath. If anyone was going to save the Master Sergeant it would be me. Despite my fear and frustration, I was resolved to find Money or die trying.

  Chapter 7

  Nothing robs you of resolve more than boredom. I found a good hiding spot surrounded by bushes and trees, but with a clear view of the net trap. Then the waiting began. Hours dragged by and my fears grew. There was no doubt in my mind that one of the Vena hunters had set the trap. They were nocturnal, with an ability to see in the dark that surpassed the night vision capabilities of my Command Helmet’s night vision setting.

  With every hour that passed, I feared that somewhere Money was being tortured and killed while I sat doing nothing. I decided I would rather do manual labor than sit around doing nothing at all, yet I had no say in the matter. Money could be anywhere on the planet, or dead and buried for all I knew. The only clue I had was to wait for whoever had set the trap and follow them. Maybe, if I was extremely lucky, they would lead me back to where Money was being held, and I would find a way to free him.

  Of course, the more I thought about the problem, the more I realized how foolish it was. I had fought two of the Vena hunters. Both had almost killed me, and those were alone. If I was going to find Money, it would most likely be in a community of the Vena. What chance would I have fighting an entire tribe of the skilled hunters?

  If I somehow managed to sneak into their midst, free my friend, and escape, what then? There was no way in my mind they would simply forget about us. They were hunters and would come after us. Perhaps, if my luck held and Money wasn’t injured, I could get us back to the Base Camp, but how long could we hold out? Certainly not long enough for a rescue, although to be honest, I had no way of know when or even if the Galactic fleet would send help.

  I had to settle the realities of the situation in my mind. Death was not just a possibility, it was in all likelihood, the reality. There were only three humans on Apex Venandi, and we were going to be killed by the natives. Perhaps the Fleet would find our camp and receive the message I had beamed into space. We might be a minor footnote in the annals of history, but
more than likely we were going to die and be forgotten entirely. Surprisingly enough, that realization only hardened my resolve. If I was going to die on the alien world, I would certainly go down swinging. I would take as many of the locals as I could.

  When night finally began to fade, I felt a wave of relief. I hated the nights on Apex Venandi, but at least something was happening. I knew it was possible that whoever had set the trap might not return for days. That thought was strangely more worrisome than dying. My senses seemed to perk up as the gloom set in. My vision was limited to green shadows, but I could make out the net and the surrounding terrain. I could also see where the rope trigger lay, even if I couldn’t see all the details in the green gloom.

  More hours passed. I grew sleepy waiting and used every trick I knew to stay alert. Finally, well past midnight, I heard something. It sounded like the creak of a rope. I had to focus on the area beyond the net, but I saw movement. Something was hoisting the boulder back up into the tree. The net slowly lowered. I checked my rifle to ensure it was ready to fire. I wasn’t going to kill whoever had set the trap, but I wanted to be ready for a fight if I was discovered.

  After a while, the creature came into view and began spreading the net out on the jungle floor. I recognized the being as a Vena, one of the five intelligence species on the planet, the most technologically advanced. The Vena were nocturnal hunters, and from my experience they operated alone. What shocked me about the hunter, was that it was wearing Marine armor. I didn’t expect the cold rage that filled my body as I watched the creature spread the net on the ground and covered it with debris.

  I could have spoken to Staff Sergeant Barnes on the com-link, but I was sure the injured man was sleeping. Instead, I moved silently out of my hiding space and followed the Vena as he left the trap. Keeping the stealthy hunter in sight was a chore. I had to make sure I wasn’t making noise, while moving fast enough to keep pace. I did my best to watch out for traps, but in the gloom it was impossible to see things clearly.