The Wounded Warrior

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The Wounded Warrior Page 22

by Jim Laughter


  Still, she hoped it was just a matter of the way sound bounced around in the forest. Escape was their only real option as far as Anna was concerned. Leatha’s erratic behavior and her statement that she planned to attach the Red-tails only compounded that conclusion.

  Finally breaking through the thick forest, they found themselves in the wash plain of the river. It was here they’d planned to lose their scent by wading upstream to where there should be a row of log jams. However, one glance at the river dashed that hope. Instead of a flat, shallow stretch of river, a torrent of water rushed through narrow rock defiles. Anna’s shoulders sagged as Leatha went into a wary crouch, letting her friend pass.

  “Maybe there are better places further upriver,” Anna offered half-heartedly. She stood on the rocky bank and peered at the rushing water. The combination of fatigue, hunger, and now an impassable river threatened to crush any hope she had left. Not hearing an answer from her friend, she turned to where Leatha was still crouching near the tree line.

  “Leatha?” she started say but was cut short by a hand motion from her young friend. Leatha appeared to be listening for something while she sniffed the air. Anna could not hear anything above the roar of the river behind her and she certainly didn’t smell anything out of the ordinary. She feared Leatha might be on the verge of another episode.

  “Down!” Leatha cried as she suddenly sprang forward and tackled Anna. The two tumbled hard upon the rocky soil just as an energy bolt glanced off a rock where Anna had been standing.

  “Run!” Leatha cried again as with superhuman strength she sprang for the woods, half dragging a bruised Anna with her.

  In a flash, another energy bolt hit the spot they had been only seconds before. In her dazed state, all Anna could do was follow the fleeing trooper back into the safety of the forest. Behind her, Anna heard the guttural growl of some hideous predator intend on ending her life. She desperately tried to keep up with Leatha. Her legs seemed to take on a life of their own, propelling her forward in sheer terror.

  After risking a glance over her shoulder, Anna looked ahead and found that Leatha had disappeared, Dazed and confused, she kept running for fear of whatever it was chasing her. She knew within herself it was a Red-tail. She just didn’t have the heart to admit that a creature from another galaxy was chasing her through a forest, a creature determined to kill her. Another energy bolt ignited a log she had just leapt over. She dodged around a thick undergrowth of brush and ran toward a stand of large trees.

  Gaining the trees, a fourth energy bolt whined above her, followed by an unholy roar and crash. Fearing whatever evil may be following her, Anna glanced over her shoulder and found that she was no longer being chased. The nightmare that had been crashing through the forest after them was gone.

  Horrid roars and thrashing noises rose up from near a log that she had cleared only moments before. Anna heard a feral human scream along with yet another roar, which was suddenly cut short.

  She heard Leatha scream again from somewhere behind her. The terrible sound sent cold chills up her spine. It was more like the cry of a predator feline than a human. The woods became silent. Even the songs of birds and the buzz of insects grew deathly quiet. Anna dove behind another log and stopped. She tried to control her own hoarse breathing and still her pounding heart in her chest.

  “He is dead,” Anna heard Leatha call out from further away. Not wanting to disclose her location, Anna refrained from answering.

  “Come while there’s time,” she heard Leatha call again. “It’s safe for now.”

  Safe? Anna didn’t feel safe. She wasn’t sure what scared her more, the Red-tails or this fearsome predator trooper. Had Leatha attacked an armed Red-tail on her own without a weapon? Was it possible she had overpowered a creature of incredible strength, and she knew could defeat a dozen men in one-to-one personal combat? If so, what kind of dangerous person had Rose Sharon sent to her as part of her camp staff?

  Anna pushed up from her hiding place and warily made her way back through the woods. The undergrowth parted and there stood a triumphant Leatha, an alien long knife in her hand. Thick blood dripped from the dangerous weapon. But what alarmed Anna most was the wicked look of glee in Leatha’s eyes.

  Leatha motioned for her to follow and then stepped back into the underbrush. Not quite ready to accept what she might find there, Anna pushed through the brambles that had swallowed the warrior.

  Her senses reeled as her eyes recorded the incredible scene. There stood Leatha, her clothing blood-streaked and torn atop a foul red creature whose blood soaked into the soil. In her hand was the long alien knife. An energy weapon was hung from her belt.

  “I saved this for you,” Leatha declared, reaching down and removing a shorter knife from its holder on the alien’s leg.

  Still in a state of mild shock, Anna took the weapon. “How…”

  Leatha cut her off before she could finish her question. “Live bait.”

  “What?”

  “You distracted him by running,” Leatha said in that singsong voice that Anna had come to recognize and fear. “When you ran, he came over the log and I tripped him. Before he could recover, I took his own long knife and buried it in him. It was a good kill!”

  Anna was stunned. “You... you killed him?” was all she could think of to say. Again, she found herself transfixed by the sight of the dead alien monster.

  “He didn’t commit suicide,” Leatha answered. The feral hint of a smile curved her lips.

  This was the first time Anna had ever seen a Red-tail up close; dead or alive. Although she had seen pictures of them and one or two film clips, this was a different matter. Nothing compared to seeing one up close. And pictures never convey other things, like the smell. Overcoming the freshness from the nearby river was the choking, stinging acridity of burnt umber.

  Anna watched in horror as Leatha jumped down and grabbed the dead monster’s head by its horns. Raising it up from where it laid face down, Anna got her first real look at the visage of evil. Not only was the leathery red-skinned head topped by vestigial horns, but four wickedly shaped fangs protruded prominently from its gaping mouth. It was a face that many would associate with their darkest nightmares. Nevertheless, here it stared lifelessly at her while sunshine filtered through the trees around her. In that instant, Anna understood, if only barely, the reason for Leatha’s feral state of mind.

  Leatha let go of the horns and the head dropped to the ground with a sickening thud. She then systematically cut the sheaths for both the long knife (more of a sword in Leatha’s hands) and the knife off the battle tunic of the dead soldier. Handing the later to Anna, Leatha then strapped what was more of a scabbard around her own waist.

  To Anna’s amazement, Leatha began cutting away the alien’s battle tunic, stripping it away from its body. She measured it against her own body as if she planned to wear it herself. She couldn’t imagine a human wearing this garment, but she thought she saw a determination in the warrior’s eyes she hadn’t seen before.

  Along with the soldier’s battle tunic, Leatha cut long strips of leather from the remainder of his rough clothing. She’d use these later to piece together a protective vest for herself, one she hoped would protect her from the thrust of a Red-tail long knife.

  While removing the alien’s scabbard, Leatha spotted a scrap of paper tucked into his waist band. She removed the map and studied the delineated lines that indicated three search teams converging on the cave where they’d spent the night instead of only one. She recognized the map as a search grid, not unlike ones she’s used herself in flight school.

  Anna peered over her shoulder. “A map?” she asked. Leatha nodded.

  “We must go now,” Leatha said excitedly. “More come and we will be ready for them.”

  Anna found her senses still whirling. Leatha had slipped back into her predator demeanor, which still caused a certain degree of fear to rest on her. However, after seeing the dead Red-tail, she knew she was in good ha
nds.

  “Go where?” was all Anna could manage to say. She watched Leatha wipe the blade clean on the remainder of the dead beast’s tunic and then slide the weapon into the scabbard on her belt. Noticing Anna still standing there, Leatha took the sheath back from her, tied its strap around Anna’s waist, and sheathed Anna’s knife.

  “We must prepare for the others who are coming,” Leatha admonished again.

  “What about that?” Anna stammered, pointing at the body. “Shouldn’t we hide it?”

  Leatha agreed and stepped back over and grabbed one of creature’s outstretched arms. Still reeling from the smell, Anna stumbled over and hesitantly grabbed the other arm. She found the alien’s leathery rough skin coarse in her bare grip as she tried not to think about the thick blood oozing onto her hand.

  Together they managed to drag the warm body out of the hollow where Leatha had slain it over to the rocky bank of the river. It took some effort to keep the head from dragging on the ground as they lifted and forced the body over the rocks. After Leatha searched the corpse for anything useful, they half rolled it over the rocky ledge and into the torrent below. In an instant, the raging river seized the heavy alien body and flung it over the nearby rapids like a rag doll. Soon it was gone.

  Breathing hard from the exertion, Anna watched while Leatha brushed over the trail the dragged body had made through the brush. Realizing what she was up to, Anna kicked some loose soil and gravel over the bloody stones at the river’s edge. Now it would be harder for anyone to discern what had happened. That would buy them a little time but not much.

  ∞∞∞

  The commander grimaced as he looked over his assembled detachment. They stood in a disorganized rank in the small clearing. He was already down several soldiers through accident and stupidity. Add to that the soldiers delegated to clear the bodies from the rock fall and his small force was further depleted. He considered what to do next.

  The two humans must be captured. Now that his soldiers were infused with bloodlust, he would face open rebellion if he were to abandon the hunt. Besides, he did not know how much those humans might know of his hidden detachment on this isolated planet. That was a risk even greater than dealing with unruly underlings. No, the hunt must continue. He carefully reviewed what had already been established in the search.

  First, they knew how many humans they were chasing. There were two unarmed human females, which should be no problem capturing, and they were clearly running from his soldiers. Second, the area they needed to search was now better defined. Between the river and the mountains where their hidden base was, his soldiers had found enough signs of the humans that he could determine where they were heading.

  Following a rough path along the river, his quarry was moving toward the upper reaches of this valley. They were most likely seeking a means to cross the river and the safety of human settlements far to the south. His soldiers had the advantage of both strength and speed on the humans and he must now employ them to capture the humans. Adding all these options together, his next move became obvious.

  “Divide again into three detachments,” he ordered his assembled soldiers. They complied. Satisfied, he continued. “I want the first two groups to range the river on one side and the ridge on the other. The third group will maintain the center and we will sweep up the valley. Spacing will be farther than usual as speed is of the essence. Any contact with humans or their evidence is to be relayed to your group leader by signal. Group leaders will then notify me for further instructions.”

  He paused so that his next point would sink in. “Under no circumstances will disobedience be tolerated!” he growled. “No one, I repeat no one, is to take individual action if they spot the humans. I want them captured alive in our net. Is that understood?”

  “Yes, Commander,” his soldiers answered together. They all fell silent while he glared at them with a dangerous glint in his eye. After giving the other two group leaders special attention, he felt confident he had gotten it through their low caste thick skulls.

  Turning to the east, he found himself looking forward to the chase. Knowing his soldiers were of like mind, he took a deep breath prior to issuing his next command.

  “To the hunt!” he roared.

  ∞∞∞

  An alarm sounded in Galactic Axia Fast Attack Recon ship Cabbage Patch. Captain Delmar Eagleman, along with his copilot Akir Asmed, were on a routine courier mission to deliver classified reports of Red-tail incursions to the commander of the mothership assigned to this sector of space.

  He’d met Akir on Rodar during a layover a year ago and learned from his friend Ert, the Horicon computer, that the new pilot had been part of a mission to save a planet from destroying itself while using reconfigured Red-tail equipment. Although the planet had not been saved, Akir’s performance on the mission earned him admission into Flight and Survey School, the same school Delmar had graduated from himself.

  All of this had taken place while Delmar was still in computer school on Mica, but he remembered Jake Sender telling him and Stan Shane about it one day during a meal; how two lone pilots were engaged in a desperate attempt to save a planet from self- annihilation. It had come at a time when he’d been in doubt of his own worthiness to wear the uniform and if an orphan boy from an obscure planet could make a galactic difference.

  Akir was from a poor independent planet on the far reaches of the Axia, a planet whose political system and economic upheaval allowed for caste prejudice and limitations. Being one of twelve children, Akir enlisted in the Axia Service to escape an impoverished life much as Delmar had escaped his abusive brother on the planet Erdinata in search of his own destiny. Akir’s first seven years in the service had been serving as copilot aboard intermediate scout ships and courier vessels. Although Akir was ten years his senior, he felt a kinship with him.

  Akir manned the communications console aboard the Cabbage Patch while Delmar occupied the command chair.

  “What is it?” Delmar asked.

  “Proximity alarm, sir.” He flipped a switch on the console to silence the alarm.

  “Proximity alarm? Way out here?”

  “Yes sir.”

  “A ship?”

  “No sir,” Akir said, studying a readout on the communications console. “Tight beam transponder.”

  “Ours?”

  Akir studied the transmission signature displayed on the communications screen.

  “Red-tail, sir”

  Delmar locked the auto-pilot and crossed the control room to stand by Akir so he could see the readout. Just as Akir had said, there on the screen was the unmistakable signature of a Red-tail tight beam transmission.

  “Location?”

  Akir keyed the communications console to replay the signal and start a trace to its source. It only took a moment for the directional responder to locate the area of space from which the signal had originated. It also transposed an overlay on the screen showing its destination.

  Delmar read the report on the screen and saw the beam had originated on the planet Sharpton. He was not aware of any Red-tail bases or strongholds in this sector of Axia space. Further study showed the beam’s target – the Hadeous galaxy.

  “There must be a Red-tail transit tube around here someplace,” Delmar said.

  “Yes sir.”

  “Which means there’s a Red-tail contingent on that planet. I’ll bet my next paycheck they’re up to no good.”

  “Yes sir,” Akir agreed. “What do you suggest we do about it?”

  Delmar returned to his command chair and disengaged the auto pilot. Pushing the throttle into the red zone, the Cabbage Patch shot ahead in a flash of light.

  “We get to the mothership as fast as we can and report this to the commander. I have a feeling they’ll want to investigate it with more than just one ship.”

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Anna had been watching Leatha change off and on for three days. At first it was confined to nightmare behavior and a rare ou
tburst such as had happened by the fire and in the cave. Then more and more a savage side emerged from somewhere deep inside of her. Anna also noticed this alternated with periods of near normal demeanor when Leatha was an obviously capable but afraid adult woman. Now even that had disappeared as Leatha transformed into a creature of vengeance.

  They were just finishing putting cover over a low dip in the trail. Not much more than a minor depression, Leatha exulted when they discovered it. She put Anna to work cutting saplings and fashioning them into spikes to be set in the bottom of the depression. In the meantime, Leatha used the heavier sword to cut thicker brush to cover the shallow pit. Anna was surprised at how fast the young woman worked. She was like a person driven by personal demons.

  “Do you really think this will work?” Anna asked as she eyed their creation skeptically. “I mean, how is that going to kill one of those creatures?”

  “It isn’t meant to kill them,” Leatha said. She picked up Anna’s pack and started rummaging around in it. “It is meant to hurt one.”

  “But what good is that?” Anna asked. “I would think a wounded Red-tail would be even more dangerous.”

  “Yes, but it will also be more stupid. When they get angry, they don’t think clearly. They react to the moment, and that will give us an advantage.”

  “How are you going to get them to fall into it?” Anna asked again, eyeing their trap. “It is so obvious.”

  “To us maybe,” Leatha said. She hunkered down into a low crouch and her facial features changed from that of Leatha to the feral child Anna had grown to dread. She glanced around the area, a hunter seeking out its prey.

  “But stupid Tails won’t be thinking about that. They be thinking about this,” the child said as she pulled out the responder.

  Leatha’s voice had changed. Anna recognized the quivering voice of a small child in Leatha’s words. She looked into her eyes and recognized the distant look of the feral child that had attacked her only hours earlier.

 

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