Betrayal

by E. Wayne Stucki

  In spite of the test results one concern that Kazikami had was that this stealth technology had already been given to the Kthpok. And if the Tails had experimented with the special composites it was possible they’d been able to develop countermeasures.

  By the time the last sliver of sun was dropping below the horizon painting the sky in brilliant red and orange everything was confirmed ready. Kazikami looked at the sky without recognizing its beauty and nodded. It was perfect. The moons wouldn’t rise until the next day which meant it would be low tide when the pod reached the island. And there was a thin layer of high clouds. The reduced lighting would make spotting the skippers very difficult from orbit or shore.

  On a barked command by the Captain a special climbing net was thrown over the ships side. On another command, this time from Masiden, the Iidx going on the mission began moving over the side in pairs.

  Just as Lieutenant Masiden went to take his turn going over the side Kazikami stopped him for some last minute instructions. “Keep to your training,” he said. “Don’t let your people get careless. We don’t know what the Kthpok are capable of.” The Commander paused for a moment then spoke again, “or what they’re hiding.”

  Masiden nodded acknowledging his superiors concern. “We’ll be very careful, Commander,” he said.

  Kazikami waved his antennae in assent and patted the mission leader on the hard shell of his thorax. “You’d better get moving, Lieutenant. Your people are waiting and night’s coming. You don’t want to waste it.” By this time the sky had dimmed from the reds to purple.

  In the changing light the Commander moved over to the guardrail and watched as Masiden finished climbing down the netting to settle into his vehicle. A moment later the noise of engines starting was heard and the trio of Skippers sped away in a spray of seawater.

  Kazikami watched as the vessels sped towards Tarren Island and disappeared in the distance. He remained at the guardrail for another hour, staring in the direction his Iidx had gone, antennae stretched out trying to detect anything.

  When stars began to appear in the darkening sky overhead the Commander took a deep breath and let it out in a long, slow whistle. There wasn’t anything he could do to help his Iidx that hadn’t already been done. And he hoped it’d be enough. He turned away from the view of stars glinting off the ocean and made his way to his cell in the dark. It was going to be a long wait before he’d find out if the mission was successful and his people were safe.

  Lieutenant Masiden leaned forward on his saddle and laid his antennae down his back so they wouldn’t be damaged by the wind and salt spray. He quickly settled into the rolling motion of his Skipper. Spray flung into the air when his vehicle drove into the larger waves dropped into the open cockpit. While uncomfortable the special suits they wore in anticipation of this portion of the mission prevented water from getting into their breathing holes.

  A quick glance at his instrument board confirmed they were on the correct heading for their destination and making good speed. Then he looked back to see if he could find the other vehicles. They were supposed to be a little behind his craft and on each side. The clouds that’d been present earlier had blown off letting more light in. Even with the increased visibility the only evidence to the unaided eye of the companion vessels were the momentary white splashes of foam when they hit an especially large wave.

  He gave a snort of concern that was covered by the sound of his vehicle slapping into waves. While the darkness was helpful in keeping them hidden from the Kthpok, it also prevented the Iidx from seeing the shore or the reef protecting their landing point. Masiden gave a shrug. That wasn’t a huge worry right now since they weren’t expecting to make landfall until just before dawn.

  Ensign G’Lan yawned; his tail stiffened out behind his perch and trembled. He hated having to stand watch over the scanning equipment during the night. There wasn’t anything to disturb the boredom and sleeping while on duty was frowned upon. The yawn finished he swung his tail back and forth, his head swung like a complimentary pendulum as he tried to stay awake.

  Then he gaped at his scope. “What was that?” he asked and bent over the screen. “Nothing…but there was something there… wasn’t there? Or was I dreaming?”

  Working his equipment G’Lan boosted power to the emitters and concentrated the scan in a particular sector. For a brief instant there was a return but it faded and didn’t appear again. Was there… or had there been something there? He went to boost the power again and stopped. The power was already at its maximum.

  He glanced around, looking for someone to give him advice. But it was the middle of the night and there was no one else in the Scan Center. A glance at the clock showed it was still a couple of hours before dawn which meant there wouldn’t be a shift change anytime soon. So he was definitely on his own. Coming to a decision he took a deep breath then reached out and pushed a button on his console that had been set apart from the others. With his tail twitching he settled down on his perch to wait for his commander to show.

  Moments later Lieutenant V’Rok came rushing through the hatchway. He glanced around the room then turned to G’Lan when it was apparent there wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. “What’s the emergency?” he asked.

  The ensign dipped his head, “I’m not sure, Lieutenant,” he replied. “There was something on my scope.”

  V’Rok craned his neck to look down at the equipment. “The scope’s clean,” he said and glared at the other Kthpok. “You got me up here and sent an alert to the guard posts because of a clean scope?”

  G’Lan shook his head. “It wasn’t clean, sir,” he protested.

  “Then where is it?” hissed the Lieutenant and gestured at the equipment.

  The operator shook his head once again. “I noticed something at this setting,” he said and worked the controls to reset his equipment. “I caught it on the edge of eye sight. It was in this quadrant.” G’Lan pointed at the area on the scope.

  V’Rok nodded. “That’s, what, ten to fifteen miles out? In the open sea?”

  “That’s correct, sir,” said G’Lan. “The interesting point is that it’s in between the island and the supply ship holding area. There’s a ship out there now waiting to come in and make a delivery.”

  V’Rok nodded again, “go on.”

  “The image was there for an eyeblink then faded,” said G’Lan. “At that point I boosted the power and concentrated the scans in the quadrant.” Once again the operator manipulated his equipment. “There!” he cried as a faint image appeared and then faded. The operator looked at the scope in surprise. “It’s moved! It’s closer than before.”

  “It’s a sensor ghost,” announced V’Rok in disgust. “You dragged me up here for a sensor ghost.”

  “No Lieutenant,” replied G’Lan dipping his head. “I was a tech in the vanguard of the fleet heading for Fairen after the humans rebelled.”

  “So?” asked V’Rok. “You fought in the war like the rest of us. And that’s supposed to prevent me from punishing you for stupidity?”

  G’Lan shook his head. “You’re misunderstanding me Lieutenant. When we were heading in-system the humans placed missile drones in our path and waited for our approach. I was on duty in Scanning and all we saw were sensor ghosts.” He gave a slight shrug of his tail. “No one was concerned with the ghosts so no alert was ordered. Then the missiles went active. Because we weren’t sufficiently paranoid the humans caught us by surprise and destroyed several ships.”

  V’Rok paused then asked. “You think this might be an attack?” His tone was thoughtful.

  “I don’t know what it is,” replied G’Lan holding out his hands. “But after the humans surprised us before we reached Fairen I vowed I’d send out a warning in similar circumstances.” He paused and nodded at his equipment, “even if it were a false alarm.”

  “Your caution is good,” said the Lieutenant after a moment’s consideration and he moved to open a communications link. “I don’t think
this is an attack but it could be infiltrators. We were told to watch for something like this. I’ll confirm your alert with the Watch Commanders.”

  About twenty minutes from their projected arrival at Tarren Island the Iidx who were still asleep were wakened. Masiden flashed a shielded pre-arranged signal alerting the others to prepare for the landing maneuver. On the second signal all three vessels reduced their speed and moved into single file with the craft driven by the Lieutenant in the lead. Masiden thanked the shell that they were making this approach during low time. The low water revealed the dangers they faced.

  Using special night vision headgear to supplement his eyesight the Lieutenant steered the small group of vessels through the gap in the protecting reef into a calm lagoon. In the east the sky began to change colors from black to dawns purple as Masiden led the Skippers into the mouth of a small river and pulled up to the shore.

  “Hurry!” called Masiden as he climbed out of his vehicle. “Gear out and the Skippers hidden.”

  “I’m getting out of this suit first,” groused Sergeant Gorunmet. He was climbing out of the vehicle that was beached to the left of Masiden. “Whoever designed these things believed in torture.” A chorus of laughter and comments came from the others but everyone made a point of removing the water suits and placing them in their packs before turning to the more serious work.

  Two hours later Masiden moved through the foliage bordering the river. The sun had risen bathing the jungle in a soft morning light. Sounds of smaller animals trying to attract mates or food filled the air. The rest of his pod was spread out behind and to the right keeping watch for any sign of Kthpok patrols. Every so often he’d stop and scrutinize the area closest to the shore. A similar inspection of the beach where they’d grounded had already been performed. After the fourth stop the Lieutenant waved his antennae in approval.

  Sergeant Bonner scuttled up causing Masiden to look back. “The pod’s done their job right,” the Lieutenant announced, “even though I know the general area I can’t see anything.” His antennae waved in amusement. “I think our biggest problem on this mission might be finding our transports so we can get out of here.”

  Bonner nodded his agreement. “We’ve got capable people here Lieutenant,” he said. “Besides hiding the Skippers they activated the vehicles self-destruct. I checked each one personally. If the signal’s sent or if they’re tampered with the Skippers will be destroyed.”

  “Good,” said Masiden and glanced at his timer. “Make sure everyone’s reminded there’s to be no electronics from now on. I don’t want the Kthpok to be aware we’re coming or that we’re even on the island.

  “Now, we’d better scuttle off. Our cargo ride back home is due in fifteen days.”

  “Three in,” said Bonner as he recited the mission briefing from memory. “One to find and copy, the rest to evade and extract.”

  Masiden nodded. “That’s it!” he said. “Let’s do it!”

  After checking a compass to make sure of the direction they needed to go the pod melted into the foliage. Being adapted to the jungles of Main Hive they were able to find a way through the denser underbrush and groves of trees. Overhead the canopy of leaves and vines blocked the sky and created a dark, green-tinted lighting effect. While the foliage prevented the Kthpok from spotting the Iidx from the air it also made navigation difficult. Every evening Masiden would climb a tree where he could get a fix using the stars and determine their location.

  The trek to the interior from the beach took four days; a day longer than anticipated. They crossed streams, climbed ridges, dropped into valleys and pushed through dense clumps of bushes all while keeping watch for the Kthpok. On two occasions the Iidx had to hide in bushes where their green shells blended in with the rest of the surrounding area to let a Kthpok patrol pass. Once a Kthpok even glanced in their direction without seeing the Iidx when a small Retar was scared out of hiding by Monartin. There was no alarm, after seeing the Retar was no threat the Kthpok continued on.

  There were a number of deep wide rivers which had to be crossed and that added to the delay. Rather than take the time to build rafts Masiden ordered his Iidx back into the special water suits they still carried. Then they used felled logs to float across the river. The Iidx were unaware of these obstacles because orbital surveillance satellites hadn’t been able to penetrate the thick jungle canopy to see the actual terrain below. Nor had the rivers been marked on what maps were available.

  On the side of the low hills facing the interior plain where the Kthpok base was located the Iidx paused in their march so Sergeant Gorunmet could climb a tall tree to confirm their location. During the training the sergeant had exhibited a valuable ability to gauge distances and had very good eyesight. It would have been easier and more accurate to use a Satellite Positioning Device but there was a concern the signal would be detected by and alert the Kthpok of the pod’s presence on the island. That emphasized the instructions on no electronics.

  Twenty minutes after going up the tree the Scout clambered back down to make his report. The rest of the pod saw him appear out of the branches and gathered around the Lieutenant to hear what he’d seen.

  As Sergeant Gorunmet outlined his observations and the distances involved Masiden consulted his map again, confirmed their location, and tapped a position on the thin plastic. “We’ll stop in this area before infiltrating,” he announced to the surrounding Iidx. “It has good cover and, since it’s higher than the target, provides a vantage point where we can verify the layout.”

  Sergeant Bonner gave an amused shake of his antennae. “Don’t trust the Intelligence division Lieutenant?” he wondered.

  Masiden gave an amused wave of his antennae in turn as he looked at the sergeant. “They’ve been known to miss a few things from time to time,” he replied. The Lieutenant folded the map, stored it in a pocket of his pack then climbed to his feet. “Let’s go people,” he called. “We’ve got a ways to go yet. Bonner, you know where we need to be, take the lead!”

  The Iidx put on their packs and followed the Sergeant as he led the way through the undergrowth. They climbed more ridges, dropped into ravines, slid through bushes and waded shallow streams. On occasion Masiden consulted a compass and sent Gorunmet up a tree to make sure they were heading in the right direction.

  They’d been hiking all day when they climbed the last ridge and found a small clearing. Masiden called a halt. Sighs of relief were heard as packs were dropped to the ground and Iidx settled into clumps of thick, concealing ferns to rest. The Lieutenant walked over to Gorunmet and tapped him on the shell. “Find the tallest tree and climb it,” Masiden ordered. “I need to know how accurate our layouts of the Kthpok base are. Remember no electronics. The Kthpok can’t know we’re here.” The Iidx saluted and looked around the clearing. A moment later he disappeared up a nearby trunk.

  Bonner came over to where the Lieutenant was standing looking up at the leaves of the tree Gorunmet had disappeared into. “You know,” he said in a voice low enough that no one else would hear. “If you keep warning us about not using electronics we might actually figure it out.”

  The Iidx leader looked at the Sergeant for a moment then gave a quiet chuckle. “Message received, Sergeant,” he announced. “Now get some rest.”

  As Bonner moved to find his own concealment Masiden dropped his pack into a clump of ferns and pulled out the schematic of the Kthpok base. The light plastic was unfolded and spread out on the grass. He traced the route he expected to follow along roads and between buildings and tapped the paper in two places. Those buildings were where he was told the Kthpok had placed their computers.

  An hour later the scout returned and looked at the map Masiden had in front of him. “The layout of the target appears to match the mockups we’ve trained on,” he reported. “So we should have very little problem of finding our objectives.” The rest of the pod crowded around to see the map as well.

  “The problem’ll be in finding the computers in th
ose buildings,” commented Sergeant Blantree. “We don’t know the layout of the halls and rooms.”

  “There’s also the chance of meeting a stray Kthpok,” added Monartin.

  Masiden nodded his agreement. “We’re aware of and trained for these difficulties,” he said. “Our procedures and search parameters should make the difference.” He nodded for the scout to continue.

  Gorunmet pointed in the direction they’d been walking. “The grass expanse leading to their fence is only a couple hundred yards away.”

  “We’ll follow our original plan for entry,” the Lieutenant announced to his assembled Iidx. “Remember, our objective is to find the main computer and pull a data dump for our Analysts to examine. That means those who work the computer have to be protected at all costs.” He paused again and saw heads bobbing showing their understanding.

  “Now, our mission requires that we are not seen. It cannot be known we were here. The Kthpok have announced that Iidx are not welcome here and the Queens have decided to honor, no…” he paused, “no, to obey that command.

  “I know you’ve heard them so many times your shell’s are about to crack but I’m going to review some precautions anyway. As you’re aware a part of our equipment is an explosive device. If you cannot escape or are in danger of being detected use that device to erase any evidence.” He looked at each of his Iidx before continuing. “I can’t stress it enough: You cannot be captured! Is that understood?” Another series of bobs came. Masiden could see the somber sag of their antennae.