Shoot the Humans First

by Becky Black

  "Sorry. Drifted off. Guess it's the dope, making me dopey." I summoned a faint smile. "Better get some sleep."

  "That's the best thing." He tucked the edges of the blanket in as I settled back. "When you wake up again we'll see if you're ready for some food. I'm afraid they won't let you have any nice cold beer." He smiled as he said the last part.

  I didn't get what he meant about the beer for a second, and then I remembered. Delirious raving about beer. What other stupid crap had I said? "Oh, right. Well I can wait."

  I closed my eyes and heard the shot. I shivered as the darkness oozed up around me and took me down.

  Chapter 13

  I spent two more days in the field hospital, in a blissful doped up haze. The others all visited me.

  Rin came along full of apologies, blaming himself, trying to explain. No worries, I told him, a man has to go piss sometime. They'd probably been watching and waiting for that.

  Jia and Vimal visited together, but I only paid attention to her and blamed the drugs for making me too dozy to listen to Vim.

  When Tesla stopped by I barely needed the drugs to make me doze off.

  Rish didn't say much. He just wanted to know what it felt like to kill another human.

  Maiga didn't say much either. She just frowned down at me with her arms folded, a sort of 'what are we going to do with you' look on her face. I didn't mind. I just smiled goofily up at her. She only came the once.

  Ilyan came several times. Too often. Though I liked to see him, it worried me too, fearing he'd bring too much attention.

  Tanashi and Diliph were always around of course. They'd volunteered to help out at the hospital, so they could keep an eye on me. Though I'm sure both of them would have volunteered anyway, whatever reason kept us there.

  ****

  On the third day, at oh-silly-hundred hours in the morning, Diliph shook me awake gently, with a hand on my shoulder. He spoke quietly.

  "We're getting you out now, Sergeant. I have a wheelchair here. I know you still feel bad but--"

  "'s okay," I said groggily. "Gotta get out… here."

  He unhooked me from the monitors and IVs and, glancing nervously around the darkened ward, he helped me into the wheelchair. Despite the meds, I had to bite down to get through the pain. Tanashi showed up, ran her scanner over me and nodded at Diliph.

  "Boots," I muttered as Diliph started to manoeuvre the chair.

  "Oh, sorry." He picked them up from under the cot. "We've got the rest of your things already outside."

  "Good." I took the boots off him and put them on my lap. Some people might think it looked odd, but most soldiers would understand. You don't let a good pair of boots out of your sight.

  Diliph wheeled me off, Tanashi walking beside us. As we passed through the doors, another doc came in the other way. He frowned and glanced down at me, but didn't question us. Docs tend to get snippy if you question them, I've noticed and throw the words "my patient" around a lot. So we passed by and Tanashi gave the other doc a haughty little nod and swept past. She's a cool-headed one.

  The hospital was small, one of those prefab mobile units the med support teams chuck up in an afternoon, and in only a moment we rolled out of a back door into the darkness. I heard familiar voices and dark figures surrounded me, lifted me out of the chair and into the back of a troop transport. Had the others managed to retrieve the one we hid? But the pain started asserting itself a bit too much for me to waste my breath asking silly questions about what they'd all been doing to pass the time while my guts mended.

  I sank into a seat, biting down a groan. Sweat broke out across my forehead. I'd been okay in my cot, but all this moving about did not feel good. Not good at all.

  "He should be lying down." Tanashi echoed my thoughts. Sure honey, nice idea, I'll lie in the aisle and you can all step on my face.

  "No option." Maiga's voice.

  Someone slipped into the seat beside me and I opened my eyes as Ilyan reached over me and secured my seatbelt. He smiled at me, though he looked worried.

  "Where we heading?" I gritted out, while he shook out a blanket and draped it around me.

  "You'll see. Just relax." He put his arm around my shoulders, held me to keep me from being jolted around too much. I closed my eyes and leaned against him.

  "Crashed in one of these once," I said. Maybe shouldn't have said that. Jinx.

  "Sergeant." I looked up to see Tanashi leaning over the back of my seat. "I'm right here. Tell me if you need more pain meds."

  "Right, doc," I said, grateful. I could have used some pain meds right then, but the squad all seemed to be seeing me as big brave Jadeth, super grunt. I liked that. So I gritted my teeth, squared my jaw, and tried to look tougher than I felt.

  The transport filled up and a moment later we set off. I groaned a bit as we drove over bumpy ground and Ilyan rubbed my arm comfortingly, looking at me concerned.

  "Are we nearly there yet?" I summoned up enough of a smile to reassure him.

  "We're heading for the space port at Handather," Ilyan said, smiling back, still worried. "It will take at least five hours. You should try to rest."

  "Yeah. I… I think the doc can maybe help me out there." I almost whispered it. Ilyan turned and spoke to Tanashi. A second later she stuck me with a needle she must have had ready. Ilyan adjusted the blanket, which had started to slide off my shoulder and put his arm around me again and...

  I drifted into a dreamland of sweet long grass and honeysuckle and blood.

  ****

  The ride passed quickly. For me anyway, knocked out most of the way. When we got to Handathar, Maiga, Rish, and Rin nipped off to meet someone they'd contacted earlier and the rest of us ate and waited for them.

  They came back with spoils.

  "Do we have this much luggage?" I asked, sitting in the doorway of the transport, getting some fresh air. Two big travelling trunks stood behind the vehicle in the alley where we'd parked up. And I mean big, a couple of meters long, at least a meter wide and deep.

  Maiga frowned at me. "We are booked onto a commercial transport, but I'm not taking the chance that spies are watching the port for Ilyan and Tesla."

  "You're not suggesting…" Tesla stared at the boxes horrified as he twigged on to her plan. Must be claustrophobic. I can sympathise. I don't much like tight places myself.

  "These aren't just ordinary trunks," Maiga explained. "They're 'smuggle boxes'. They're not only shielded from scanners, they also reflect back a fake signal to make it appear that they contain something innocuous."

  "How clever," Ilyan said, sounding fascinated.

  "And how do they breath?" I asked, not sure I liked this plan.

  "We'll seal the boxes at the last possible moment. There's a porous membrane to allow some air in and we'll put in oxygen tanks." She looked at me and grinned. "Oh and it's not just 'they', Jadeth, it's also 'you'."

  "What?" Now I really didn't like the plan.

  "A wounded man would draw too much attention," Maiga said. She shrugged. "Sorry."

  "Hey, no-one has to know I'm wounded." I stood up and dizziness struck, instantly. Black spots and bursting lights. I would have fallen but Rish and Diliph grabbed my arms and sat me down again.

  "Yeah, real convincing." Maiga snarked. Bitch.

  "I… I don't think I can do it," Tesla said. He'd been staring down at the boxes this whole time, white as a sheet.

  "I can give you all something to relax you," Tanashi said. "It will stop you panicking and also slow your breathing, so you need less oxygen."

  "Just see it as a chance to get some peace and quiet and time to yourself," Ilyan said to Tesla.

  "My… myself?" Tesla gulped. "There are two boxes and three of us to go in." His voice took on a whining tone. "Can't we share, Ilyan?"

  "Sorry, Tes. I need to share with Jadeth. To make sure he's okay."

  I looked up at him slightly surprised. Hard to say what I felt about that. Would having someone sharing with me make the
close quarters better or worse?

  "Let's discuss this on the way," Maiga said. "We need to get to the port. I've hired us a private shuttle to take us to the liner."

  "Spending a lot of money today, aren't we?" Ilyan said with perhaps a tiny hint of reproof. He had a point. Those boxes must have cost a pretty penny.

  "Sorry." She shrugged. She sounded unrepentant.

  They loaded the boxes onto our transport and we headed out to the shuttle terminal. We would have to get in the boxes before we got on the shuttle, to keep the paperwork straight. The pilot could be a tad suspicious if three people who boarded apparently didn't disembark with the rest.

  They packed blankets, tents and other soft stuff into the smuggle boxes, to make beds and keep us from rolling about too much. Vim ripped seat cushions out of the transport too. Smart lad. The weapons went into the boxes. Then the tanks of oxygen and masks to help keep us alive. The rest of the luggage went into some perfectly ordinary trunks. Everyone changed into civilian clothes the better to look like they were on leave, to match the new fake IDs Maiga had obtained. More of Ilyan's cash.

  The moment came for us to be packed away. Tanashi gave us the relaxation shots and I soon decided that travelling in a nice box on a comfy nest of bedrolls and towels sounded like the most fun thing to do ever and I couldn't wait to get in there. Ilyan had a soppy grin on his face that suggested he thought the same. Didn't work on Tesla though. He was pale and sweating and looked ready to start crying.

  "It's time," Maiga said quite gently to him.

  "I can't." He stared at her wide-eyed. "It's like a coffin. Please, I can't." His voice rose, high and cracked.

  "Tes, it's only for a couple of hours," Ilyan said. "Be over before you know it. You can use your snapper in there. Read something."

  "We'll take the lid off while we're on the shuttle," Tanashi promised.

  But despite their reassurance, he just shook his head, arms folded. The others stood around looking variously helpless, impatient or embarrassed.

  "Can't you just knock him out totally, doc?" I suggested. "Let him sleep through it?" Tesla looked terrified.

  "He can't be knocked out and left unsupervised," Tanashi said shaking her head too.

  "Ilyan, you share with him," I said, "I'll be fine." Nobody bought that, not even Ilyan, who looked as spacey as I felt. Something about the way I trembled and sweated as I said it might have been a giveaway.

  "You definitely need supervised," Tanashi said.

  "Right," Maiga said, in her shortest tone. Her 'no more nonsense' tone. "We're out of time. Tesla, in the box, now."

  "But--"

  "I'll share with you." She glanced over at Ilyan, who nodded at her. "Come on." She grabbed Tesla's arm and pulled him over to the trunk. "In," she ordered and Tesla obeyed finally. He stepped into the box and lay down. Maiga got in after him. "Doc, you're in charge," she said as she lay down. "Okay, put the lid on." As Rish and Rin closed the lid on them Tesla whimpered and she snapped, "Shut up."

  "Our turn, Jad," Ilyan said, helping me up. Between him and Diliph they helped me into the box and got me lying down as comfortable as possible. The euphoria from the shot had started wearing off a bit. It still took the edge off the old nerves though. Ilyan climbed in and squeezed down on my right, lying on his side.

  "Is there a bar aboard this boat?" He asked, still grinning. Clearly, the euphoric effect of drug hadn't worn off for him yet.

  I laughed and held my side. "Don't make me laugh, please!" I begged.

  "Ready?" Rin asked above us

  "Is it too late to ask to use the toilet?" Ilyan said. I laughed again and groaned. Rin frowned for a moment, and then rolled his eyes at Ilyan's teasing smile.

  "Good luck."

  They lowered the lid and sealed us into the darkness.

  Chapter 14

  I started to breathe fast even before they moved the box. When they did start to manhandle it out of the transport I let out a tiny moan. Not fun, not fun at all. Blood roared in my ears as my heartbeat started to speed up.

  "Jadeth?" Ilyan's voice sounded, close to my ear. "Are you okay?"

  "Yeah," I lied. "Just the bumping around's a bit painful."

  "Of course."

  We felt the box touch the ground and then a small jerk as they started to pull us along on the wheels, thankfully over even ground.

  "Jadeth," Ilyan said after a moment. "Are you claustrophobic?"

  "Me, nah." I'd never win any medals for my acting ability. My voice shook.

  "Um, I am a little," Ilyan said, his acting no better than mine. I knew he just wanted to make me feel better. "In fact, I'd appreciate it if you held my hand," he went on. "It would make me feel less frightened."

  He sounded about as frightened as I would if faced with a squad of charging kittens, but I pretended to believe him. I felt around in the dark and laughed again, feeling his hand roaming about too.

  "Be careful what you grab," I said, making him laugh. Finally, our hands found each other and grabbed on. I felt more relaxed at once.

  "Jadeth," he said after a while, his voice quiet and serious. "I never really had a chance to say this properly, but thank you, for saving my life. I'm so sorry you were injured."

  "I've had worse."

  "When I thought you would die." His voice went very small. "That frightened me very much."

  "Take more than that to finish an old sweat like me." I assured him. "I've made a habit of staying alive." He didn't answer. His thumb stroked my hand. I went quiet too.

  I had made an art of staying alive, which had included getting gone when the going was good. Not that I ran from battle, but I've never been prepared to be canon fodder. If I can see that something's hopeless, I'm gone. Then what about this hopeless cause? The pain in my side reminded me how close High Command had come. They'd soon try again. Next time we might not be so lucky. Why hadn't my survival instinct started sounding the evacuation alarm?

  The reason lay beside me in the dark, smelling of soap and nerves. I had to be here, protecting this man, making sure he lived to get his message out.

  I don't know if I dozed off or just got so deep in thought that I missed the time passing, but suddenly I heard the trunk being unlocked and in a second light flooded in making us both squint and turn away. When we looked back, we saw Jia smiled in at us.

  Hey. You both okay? We're on the shuttle, so just stay there. We can't risk the crew seeing you."

  "Tesla and Maiga?" Ilyan asked. He unwrapped his hand from mine as he spoke. I could hear Tesla's voice, high and scared, Maiga's comforting him, Tanashi's joining in. After a moment, the doc looked into our box. She ran a scanner over me.

  "Jadeth, you need more pain meds?"

  "No." I honestly didn't, I felt fine.

  "Right. We've got about two hours on here. Just try to stay relaxed."

  "Oh no problem," Ilyan said. "We love it in here, don't we, Jad? So cosy. I'm thinking of putting in a sauna." Tanashi rolled her eyes the way Rin had done.

  "Well you certainly don't need another relaxer shot. Here." She passed a couple of candy bars down to us. "Keep your blood sugar up."

  "How about a nice brew to wash these down?" I suggested.

  "Not a good idea. Best wait till we're on the liner."

  "Good point." I ate the candy, relishing the sweetness of the chocolate and lay back with my eyes closed, just enjoying breathing the air after the stuffiness of the box. I drifted halfway between asleep and awake.

  All too soon the time came to put the lid back on. As we plunged back into darkness Ilyan's hand found mine again. I'd got over the claustrophobia by now, felt quite calm about that. On the other hand I'd started to worry about the customs inspection. The boxes might fool the scanners, but that didn't help if a customs official said those three little words: "Open it up."

  Could our squad manage to stroll through looking innocent? Maiga had put Tanashi in charge and though most of the time she's mild mannered and quiet, the doc could
give orders like the best of 'em and like I said before, she had a cool head. I just hoped the rest of the kids could follow her example.

  We rolled along short distances and kept stopping. Must be in a queue. Muffled voices came from outside and we both lay frozen in place, barely breathing, worried any movement or sound would give us away. Ilyan's hand gripped mine tighter and I gripped back.

  Then we were manhandled some more, lifted up and put down on something. We heard a rumbling sound of machinery and the box started moving along, shaking a bit. I guessed we must be on a belt, going through the scanner. Moment of truth. Had Maiga been ripped off? Or would these things actually work? The scanner made a loud thrumming sound as we passed through.

  Work, I thought, my eyes squeezed closed. Work. Work.

  Then the thrumming sound stopped, the rumbling died away and we stopped moving. In a few seconds we were being manhandled again, off the belt and dumped back on our wheels with little ceremony. With my free hand I reached for the pistol that lay at my side. I might be in no condition to fight, but if I had to…

  Instead we felt that small jerk again and started to roll. I heard Ilyan sigh hugely in the dark. We made it. Relief pasted a big grin on my face.

  My relief soon turned to impatience. I knew we must be heading for our quarters and I just wanted to be there already and get out of this damn box. So I fretted as rolled along, hearing muffled voices, stopping sometimes. At one point we rolled over something uneven and stopped for a longer time. We could feel a slight juddering.

  "Elevator?" Ilyan whispered. I agreed. We rode the elevator for several minutes. Big ship. The air in the box had started to get very stuffy now and Ilyan must have felt the same because I heard a slight squeaking noise and a hiss. Cool air breezed over my face.

  "Oh yeah," I whispered softly. "That's good. Thanks."

  Ilyan shifted against my side. "Sorry. Cramp."

  "Can't be much longer now I think," I said as we rolled off the elevator.

  "Good, I, um, need to use the facilities."

  I smiled at how refined and polite that sounded. I'd have said I'm busting for a piss.

  "Me too."

  A few minutes later, we suffered the last bit of manhandling, which I reckoned was to manoeuvre us over a doorsill into a room. The sound of the locks made me tense up; still not ready to relax until I saw a friendly face looking in.