“He was rude to me on the lander and then he pushed me out of the way when we got off.”
“Very funny, though I have heard you had a run in with that low life Fauren Ess You’ll need to watch your back with him and he’s got a few friends. The army should throw them all out. We fight against scum like them. Anyway, the animal. Am I going to get a sensible answer out of you?”
“Probably not.” Sah Lee replied.
“Good to see you back Sah Lee. Did you have a good rest?” Ren Deel asked.
“Yes thanks.” Sah Lee replied. “Where’s Si’ir Monn? Has anything happened since I Left?”
“Nothing’s happened. Si’ir Monn has gone up to the battle cruiser with Sergeant Dorsh Ab Morg and Major Erret San Mer to discuss options with Colonel B’Erren Tek. I don’t know what she’s doing on there. This mission isn’t big enough to warrant a Colonel coming along. They should come back with a plan of action, so we’ll know what we’ll be doing soon. About time. I’m getting bored here.” he replied.
“Uh, Ren, who are those people coming out of the building over there?”
“What!” Ren Deel spun round to see a group of about twenty of the separatists running out of the building opposite. They were armed with a variety of light KE weapons and were heading straight towards them. Further down, he could see more of them bursting out of the buildings heading towards the groups of soldiers scattered along the road.
Sah Lee heard Ren Deel’s voice on the unit comm link. “Attention! If you hadn’t noticed, some of the separatists have broken out and are coming at you. They are lightly armed, but they are civilians! Do not, I repeat, do not use lethal force. These are not trained soldiers. Use concussion grenades and unarmed combat to defend yourselves but not KE or pulse weapons, or any personal weapons you may be carrying. Disarm and restrain all the hostiles but minimize injuries.”
He turned to the three soldiers. “Helmets on, armor up!” He reached into his backpack and pulled out four dull black spherical objects and handed them to Sah Lee. “You haven’t had training for this yet. No one thought it would be necessary. These are concussion grenades. Tell your AI to bond with them and throw them close to the hostiles, into a group if possible and tell your AI to detonate them. That’s the only weapon you’ve got. Squad, engage!”
Ren Deel ran out to meet the separatists with Sah Lee on his left and Touren on her left, Por Aruf and Seltet on his right.
“Can you - “Sah Lee started to say to her AI.
“Already bonded, ready when you are.” Her AI responded. “I’ll mark the vulnerable points on their bodies when you engage.”
The separatists were only fifty meters away now, and the soldiers started to spread out. The separatists stayed together in a mob, probably thinking that they could punch through in a mass.
When they were about one hundred meters away, Ren Deel called “Grenades!”
Sah Lee pulled her arm back and flung it at the leader of the mob. She hit him square in the middle of the forehead. He collapsed like a sack of stones. The grenades thrown by her comrades fell in front of and amongst the mob and detonated with loud, but non-injurious explosions. The separatists spread out, realizing that in a tight group they were vulnerable to the concussion grenades. Half of them had stopped or dropped to their knees, clutching their ears, apart from the one which Sah Lee had hit who was lying on his back unconscious.
“That’s quite effective but not really how the concussion grenades are supposed to work.” Touren called across to her.
Sah Lee quickly threw her remaining three grenades, dropping three more of the separatists.
“Hold your ground!” Ren Deel called, and the five troops stopped in a line.
As the remaining separatists approached, they broke into a run. Several of them held out knives and short swords.
“Why have they got those? We’ve got field armor, they can’t hurt us.” Sah Lee asked Touren.
“Someone should have told you about the fighting training.” Ren Deel said. “The field armor won’t stop a blade and there are weaknesses in body armor. Don’t let them stab you!”
“By the Makers and Satan! You might have warned me!” Sah Lee dropped into a half crouch, consciously keeping her claws retracted, but baring her teeth in a snarl.
The separatists split up, with two or three targeting each of the troops. Four of them went for Ren Deel, realizing he was the officer in the group. Two came running towards Sah Lee. She launched herself at the one in front, ducking under its slashing knife and punching him in the lower abdomen on the area her AI had highlighted. Spinning round on her left leg, she kicked the other with her foot on the left of its chest with her right leg. She heard the satisfying crack of ribs and jumped over it as it slumped the ground, its mouth open in a silent scream of pain. She turned in midair and landed facing back towards the separatist she had punched. It was still bent over. Leaping over her second victim, she landed on the first one’s upper back, collapsing it to the ground. She grasped its neck and pressed its face into the ground with her left hand while she groped in her backpack for the restraining bands. She finally got one out and slipped it round the separatist’s wrists. All of this only took a few seconds, then she jumped up to see if she could lend help to any of her comrades. She saw Ren Deel with one separatist lying next to him but struggling with the three others. As she looked, one of them drew his arm back and buried the blade of a long knife in Ren Deel’s neck.
She ran the few meters across to him, claws extended. She took a hunting leap at them, slashing at the nearest with her claws and ripping its face open as she went past and hitting the one with the knife in the chest with her shoulder. It fell backwards, and she landed on top of it. She rolled over and jumped to her feet, swinging her foot round and hit it in the side of its head with her boot. The third stood transfixed as she ran at it and hit it in the throat with her elbow..
“Touren!” she shouted. “Attend to Ren! The rest of you, with me!”
Sah Lee ran towards the recovering separatists, several of whom had pulled knives out and were getting ready to move towards them. The rest of the troops, which were just Seltet and Por Aruf, caught up with her and as they ran, Sah Lee pulled her hunting knife from the sheath on her back.
It might have been the after effects of the concussion grenades, or it may have been the sight of three of them running towards them, led by a creature with one hand smeared with blood, lips drawn back in a snarl exposing sharp canine fangs and brandishing a long knife, but whatever the reason, the remaining separatists dropped their weapons and held their hands out by their sides. Skidding to a halt in front of them, Sah Lee shouted “Kneel down!” They dropped to their knees without a murmur. Turning to Seltet and Por Aruf, Sah Lee said “Tie their hands, check to see if reinforcements are coming and call for landers to take these prisoners!”
“We don’t have any prisons Sah Lee.”
“What do you do with the surviving enemies when you defeat them?”
“When we defeat them, there are no surviving enemies. If they are wounded we, well, we kill them. And before you say it, we can’t kill these, they are civilians.”
“OK. Contact Si’ir Monn, explain what happened and await his orders. I’m going further up to see if any of our troops need support.” She broke into a run and followed the road until she reached the next group of soldiers. There were six in this group and they had overcome the separatists without casualties. They had sat them down with their hands tied. “You and you!” she pointed to the two soldiers nearest the subdued separatists. “Guard the prisoners, the rest come with me. We’ll provide support to any of our troops that need it” Without waiting for a response she ran off. Five of the soldiers looked at the one with small silver insignia on his shoulders. He shrugged and without a word broke into a run to follow her. Three of the others joined him, leaving the two Sah Lee had designated guards with the prisoners.
The soldier with the insignia caught up with Sah Lee. “I
suggest you put that knife away soldier.” he said to her. Without breaking stride Sah Lee reached back and slid her knife into its sheath.
While they were running, Sah Lee heard an announcement on the mission comm link: “This is Major Erret San Mer. I am on my way down accompanied by Colonel B’Erren Tek, Sergeants Dorsh Ab Morg and Si’ir Monnen Dak. There are fifty soldiers on board with us and another sixty are on a lander just behind us. All the aggressors have been subdued. We have sustained one casualty, Corporal Ren Deel. A medical lander unit has just settled next to him to provide first aid, and to two of the aggressors injured by members of his group. We will land on the road in front of the separatists. Assemble in ranks at the landing site as soon as we are down. Until then, stand to.”
Sah Lee and the soldiers with her slowed to a halt. “It looks like no one needs our support.” the soldier with the silver insignia said and turned to run back to his group and as they ran together, he said, “You’d better get back to your group. What happened to the two injured separatists?”
“There were three of them attacking Ren Deel and one of them stabbed him in the neck. I took them down as quickly as possible, and I accidentally ripped half the face off one of them.”
“I see. And the other one that got injured?”
“Two of them had attacked me and I got a bit overenthusiastic defending myself. I broke several ribs on the other one.”
“And how was Ren Deel when you left?”
“He was bleeding, but I told one of the squad to stay with him, she has medical experience.”
They were back at the soldier’s group now. “It was interesting meeting you soldier. Get back and make sure your Corporal is OK.”
“It was good to meet you too soldier.” Sah Lee said and took off running back to her group.
Chapter Fifty Six
Unfolding Events
Sah Lee ran straight to where she had left Ren Deel. Touren crouched over him.
“How is he?” she asked.
“He’s badly hurt, the knife blade went between two of his cervical vertebrae and penetrated his spinal cord. He’s still breathing, which is a good sign, but our field medics don’t have the equipment to treat him here and if we move him, it could kill him.”
“Damn. I really don’t want to do this.” Sah Lee said.
“Do what?” Touren asked.
Sah Lee stood silently and asked her AI to contact Ker Din Ser Forn.
“Sah Lee,” he said, “How can I help you?”
“I wouldn’t ask this for me. One of my comrades, a friend, is badly injured. We can't treat him here and if we move him, he may die.”
“You are on Orn. Wait a moment while I tell the navigation AI to get me there.” He paused for a moment, then continued. “I am above the planet now. I have sent down a small craft to collect your comrade. It will arrive shortly. When it arrives with you, please ask anyone adjacent to your injured comrade to move away.”
“Why, what are you going to do to him?”
“Simply collect the patient and bring it to my craft. My medical AI can treat it with no danger of any further damage.”
“He’s not an it! He’s Corporal Ren Deel!”
“Using ‘it’ as the third person singular pronoun is standard for an unknown species as they may be male, female, a non-binary gender, a hermaphrodite or asexual. Corporal Ren Deel will be treated with respect and care.”
“OK. When will your small craft arrive?”
“It’s on its way.”
Sah Lee looked up. At first, she could see nothing, then a dot came into sight, rapidly growing until a black oval shaped object, about one hundred and twenty meters long, settled just above the ground. An opening appeared in its side and a small black object came out, another black oval, about two and a half meters long and one and a half meters across at its widest point. It moved over until it was directly above Ren Deel, then slowly dropped until it engulfed him. It paused there for a moment, then swiftly returned to the craft, leaving an egg shaped hollow in the ground where Ren Deel had lain.
“What have you done to him!” Sah Lee demanded.
“He is safe now. He was alive when my craft arrived, my medical AI will repair him.”
“How is he?”
“The scans show the damage is between the second and third cervical vertebrae. The blade severed a muscle connecting the two vertebrae, it punctured the intervertebral disk and damaged the spinal cord and its meninges.”
“That gobbledygook means nothing to me. Is he badly injured?”
“Yes.”
“When will he return?”
“My medical AI will assess a suitable course of action to repair him. The wound, although small, is serious. It may take seven or eight days before he can be returned.”
“Where will you return him to?”
“I will let you know when he is healed and let you decide where you want him. The normal protocol is for me to communicate with Colonel B’Erren Tek.”
“I don’t know what to do with him. Talk to the Colonel.” She cut the connection without thanking Ker Din Ser Forn.
“You were talking to Ker Din Ser Forn, weren’t you?” Touren stated.
“What of it!”
“Remember your position Private Sah Lee! You are the most junior serving soldier in this whole army. You ran around shouting orders, you disobeyed your last legitimate order, which if you recall was to hold your ground, and now you have taken it on yourself to arrange the evacuation and treatment of your line officer. I would also remind you that I am a Corporal and as the most senior active soldier present, I am now the de jure commander of this squad. I could overlook this incident, but you involved soldiers from another group and one of the People. You have put me in a position where I must now prepare a report and deliver it to Sergeant Si’ir Monnen Dak. He will have no choice but to pass that report to Major Erret San Mer, who may decide on a course of action himself or he may escalate it further to Colonel B’Erren Tek.”
“But, I was just...”
“You’re in the army now soldier. You promised me you would follow army discipline. I told you that if you didn’t, you would get kicked out of the army and with that on your CV you wouldn’t be able to get into another one. You aren’t stupid, but you are recklessly impetuous. That doesn’t work in an army. I can’t tell you how this will pan out, but I can tell you what happens next. My AI has put together a draft report including a recording of my view of your actions and the names of everyone I saw who witnessed the incident. I will review the draft making any amendments I think necessary, then I’ll send it to my line officer, Sergeant Si’ir Monnen Dak. His role in this process is to review the report, annotate it if he feels necessary and pass it on to his line officer, Major Erret San Mer. His role is to decide if it is something he can deal with, in which case you will get a bollocking, you’d probably get a demotion - except you are as low as you can get in this army, with punitive duties, depending on what’s available and a possible term of imprisonment. He doesn’t have the authority to dismiss you from the army, so he may pass it up to his line officer, Colonel B’Erren Tek. She can do whatever she wants, short of executing you. Return to a lander at the landing site and wait in there until you receive further orders. Choose an empty one. I won’t insult you by getting someone to take you there, but if you get the impetuous idea that you don't need to do as instructed, you put yourself in the position of what we call an aggravated deserter and are liable to be shot on sight. In case you hadn’t worked it out, this is very serious. I’m sorry Sah Lee, I am very fond of you, but you have started a chain of events which will unfold now under its own momentum, and there is nothing you or I can do about it.”
Sah Lee stood silently. She could hear her heart pounding and the blood rushing through her head. She felt as though she were in a dream. A bad dream. Her stomach churned, and she thought she might be sick. “Imprisonment, I thought the army didn’t take prisoners?” she said quietly.
&nb
sp; “We use them for jailing soldiers who have broken army regulations, like you.”
She nodded at Touren and started the long walk back to the landing site.
Sah Lee walked back, deep in thought. She was in no mood to run. If they threw her out of this army, what could she do? Touren didn’t think she would get into another army. She could join the rest of her race and live on New Aarn, but she knew she wouldn’t be able to settle there. The cold fury still burnt inside her. She could keep it there while she was training, and even on this mission she felt she was moving towards her objective - to be on a mission where she could kill outcasts, but if she was stuck in habitat domes on New Aarn, she knew it would destroy her.
lost in her thoughts, she didn’t know how long she had been walking or how far she had come. Her AI spoke to her: “A message has arrived. It is from Sergeant Si’ir Monnen Dak. It is an order to return to the impromptu camp to meet with him, Major Erret San Mer and Colonel B’Erren Tek without delay.”
“Does it say why?”
“No, but I think we both know why.”
Running back, Sah Lee had an idea. She could find other people who had suffered at the hands of outcasts and form her own guerrilla army. There would none of this nonsense of not doing the right thing because of some petty rules. No having to report what happened if you didn’t want to. No having to go to a meeting to get a bollocking for doing the right thing. This lifted her mood considerably, and she was thinking that maybe she should resign right now and not even bother going to see the officers. She was still thinking about this when she realized she was back at the impromptu camp and there was a lander in the middle of the road.
Seltet and Por Aruf were standing by the lander. Seltet had a serious look on her face. Por Aruf probably did too but as she was an avian, Sah Lee couldn’t read her expression. When she reached them, Por Aruf patted her on the back and Seltet squeezed her hand.
“Good luck.” Seltet said.
“We’ll be waiting here for you.” Por Aruf said.
Hunter, Warrior, Commander Page 23