by Aaron Pery
"Are you saying that their forefathers were Colonials?"
"Not quite but close. Anyway, they were born in the twentieth century in the same world as we did, had lived for seventy years, and both had extremely valuable careers."
"Okay, I won't ask for explanations but I'd like to know what kind of careers you're talking about."
"Marty, just like you Ben, was a Marine all her life--in fact, a major general before she retired. And if you wonder about women serving in the armed forces of what later came to be called the United States of America, the answer is that things had changed in our old world over the years."
Ben burst into laughter. "So that's why she's got such a horribly foul mouth, which validates her claim of having been a Marine. But what's it got to do with the board's decision to do something about our lords and monsters?"
"Very apt description, Ben." Marty responded with a chuckle. "It's a fact that had we not come before the board and proved who we truly are, we would have fought the Gogians on our own. We would've most likely died attempting it but we come from a place and time where personal freedom was, and still is of the utmost importance. In fact, one of our most illustrious leaders many years ago stated before we'd kicked all your countrymen from what you called the Colonies, 'give me liberty or give me death'."
"Are you saying that you'd defeated England's mighty navy and army?"
"In addition to thousands of Hessian mercenaries in a rebellion that started in 1776. We had a puny little army and navy, made mostly of volunteer farmers, but our resolve was such that we ultimately won the fight and became independent."
"Kind of like David against Goliath, which is what we got here. And you think we can accomplish the same? Fascinating. How will you have us kick so many Gogians off the island?"
"Kick them off? No, Ben, not kick but kill them all in an audacious plan that I and the board had devised. Please tell everyone about our plan, Dave."
"With pleasure, General." David said with a grin, then gave them all the details.
"By God, that's not audacious but brilliant." Herb, who used to be a captain of a ship of the line in the English navy, exclaimed. "And Sue was right about the time for the rebellion being ripe, before they butcher any more of our children. When are we going to start it?"
"It's already started, Herb." Marty responded. "This evening Dave sent the regular milk shipment to Heraklion, their capital on the coast where the remaining Gogians reside nowadays. But before it was sent, he laced it with a goodly amount of strychnine, which can kill twice the number of the residents of the city."
Herb's smile was utterly malevolent. "Yes, strychnine should do it to the rats. But how can we be sure that they'll all drink it by morning?"
"That's because the Gogians are literally addicted to mare's milk. So much so that they dispense it like water to their people through a spigot in every home kitchen. They drink it with everything including even alcohol, so we'd figured that by breakfast time tomorrow morning the entire population will have taken a killing dose of the poison."
"Which will cause them to die horribly. But what about the few who for some reason didn't drink the poisoned milk?"
"I'd figured that between one or two-hundred might survive, which is why you were invited to join Sue and myself as a killing squad to go to the city tonight and slay any survivors that are left by morning."
"With what, Marty?"
"Give me a moment and I'll show you."
When Marty returned, with David and Sue behind her carrying armloads of weapons and ammunition, they dumped them all on the table and moved back when everyone gaped at them silently with great wonder.
"Oh, Jesus." Ben finally exclaimed.
Sue chuckled. "No Ben, oh Marty. It was she who kept going into Heraklion and robbing the royal armory of its best weapons."
"Appropriated is more correct, Sue. In any case, these weapons are the best I could find, which were all manufactured for the king by the best gunsmiths the Gogians had before their last war. In fact, not only are they all beyond anything that existed in your time but I never saw an energy weapon in my own either. They're all automatic, which means that they'll continue firing if you keep your finger on the triggers, in which setting you'll quickly run out of ammunition. So we need to spend some time on learning how to use them. Now, who amongst you considers himself the best shot in the group?"
"Michael is, General. Never missed a target he ever pointed at even during a gale. Was the best Marine I'd ever seen in action, and was the best poacher on the king's hunting preserve."
The man he pointed at blushed. "Thanks you, Sir. Yes, I guess I am the best. Why d'you ask, General?"
"Because I need two of the best, most accurate shots posted at both ends of the main boulevard to kill anyone they see moving."
"That'll make me number two, General." Another stood up and spoke. "I'm not a Marine, but us Highlanders killed many a Frog on the continent in our time."
"Then you're both it." She handed each a rifle with a built-in scope, then began handing out rifles and pistols, including to David. She held up her own choice, the king's personal hunting rifle, and began instructing them in the usage of modern weapons. And once she felt comfortable that they knew how to sight and operate the rifles, she did the same with the energy pistols.
"Real cute." Michael said when he was given a pistol. "But I love this rifle."
"So do I, but it'll save your life in a pinch so don't knock it. Okay, everyone. It's twenty miles from here to Heraklion, mostly through rugged country so we need to leave at two AM in order to get to the city and position ourselves in all the strategic points by six because the Gogian's habit is to eat breakfast at five. So grab yourselves a spot to sleep in and have a good rest until we leave, but do a lot a dry firing with your weapons until then so you'll get used to them."
"We'll serve breakfast thirty minutes before you leave, everyone." David told them. "And I'll meet you in town with my boys once you finish with the shooting business."
Marty decided to have a coffee and a smoke before turning in so she sat on the veranda, thinking and planning for the upcoming fight.
"May I join you, General?" She heard, and saw Ben approaching.
"Of course, General. And between us Marines we better use first names. Would you like one of my smokes?"
"I hoped you'd offer it to me because I didn't bring mine along."
"My pleasure. And it won't be long before we run out since the tobacco fields in Macedonia and Anatolia will be beyond our reach for a long while and, besides, by now they must be gone anyway."
"I hope we'll find a decent supply of them in Heraklion because the bastards are quite partial to them."
"And to the crappy tasting mare's milk, too. Can't stand the taste of it, you know."
"Same here. It's real funny, though, meeting an old horsey Marine here in the wilds of a Greek island surrounded by a bunch of Swabbies, of all people."
Ben burst into laughter. "I see that nothing's changed in all this time since we still despise them."
"With all our hearts."
"It's weird, though, Marty, sitting here chatting with another Marine with tits on her chest. Kind of disconcerting, if you don't mind my saying it."
"Not at all. So it bothers you that I am a female?"
"Not after I observed you moving and talking as you do--a Marine to the core. With balls of steel, if you'll pardon me, as your ballsy plan of killing all those sons o' bitches is a perfect indication of who you are."
"Thanks for the compliment, Ben. But tomorrow's gonna be the real proof of it."
"Think it's gonna be a tough fight?"
"I'm sure it'll be and some of us may die because the Gogians strut around always ready for a shooting match."
"Why do they?"
"Because that's the nature of these beasts--hating everything and everyone."
"Which means that if any of us hesitates for a split second about shooting them, we're dead?"
<
br /> "That's right. Even their women and children--no quarter to any. Besides, we can't afford to be weak because this must be a war of extermination."
"Very true. Then I better mention it to everyone."
"Then I won't." Marty stood up and stretched. "I better turn in."
"Me, too."
When they left the house after breakfast, everyone was startled for a moment when they saw six wagons parked by the house filled with people, then realized that they were David's cleanup crew.
David came over to Marty when he saw her. "We'll be right behind you. Well, not exactly but we should meet near Heraklion when the moment arrives."
"Will you be able to make it there on time and unseen?"
"Sure. Each wagon will be pulled by four of our strongest geldings so that won't be a problem. As to being seen, there's a service road leading into the city that no Gogian likes to take because it crosses the big forest."
"Are saying that they're scared of the boogeyman?"
"Crazy bunch of assholes."
They clasped hand warmly before parting.
Chapter 16
The shooters arrived just before sunrise and Marty set them in a semi-circle that gave everyone perfect visual control of all major streets, but warned them not to start firing until she signaled via her own first shot from the roof of the medical center. All were quite jittery while awaiting her signal as they saw many Gogians staggering out to the streets, but relaxed when most dropped to the ground after a few steps. Then, after an hour of waiting, everyone finally heard the bang of the first shot and began shooting as well at anyone who did not seem to be totally affected by the poison.
It took nearly three hours of constant shooting by everyone before Marty gestured to Sue, who was positioned on a hill overlooking the youngsters' compound, to join her on the roof.
"It looks like it's all over so I'd like you to take over this site while I go to inspect the hospital for any living Gogians."
"You mean the ones recuperating from surgery who hadn't been fed yet for some reason, don't you?"
"Afraid so. They must be eliminated, too, you know."
"Of course. You're worried that our people will hesitate to shoot defenseless patients? You shouldn't because I think we'd all killed a bunch of converteds by now and no one hesitated. In fact, I took great pleasure shooting a few myself."
"You want to go and blow heads in there instead of me?"
"No, go ahead and do it while I keep watch on the street."
When Marty came out of the hospital after eliminating all live Gogians, she met David, who was skulking along the front wall of the building holding a ready to fire pistol. He gave her an odd look the moment their eyes met.
"Killed any Gogians today, Dave?" She asked, grinning.
"Oh, don't be funny. No, I didn't because I hadn't run into any. But from the blood spatters all over your front it looks like you did and at close quarters, too."
"In fact I did, and from the roof just as all of our people did their duty today. Anyway, are your people hidden among the compound kids?"
"Yes, while trying to explain to the older ones what's going on."
"And their reactions?"
"Utter elation, and most want to join you in the killing."
"I don't think that's a good idea. In fact, leave a few of your people with them so they won't get any crazy ideas."
"I agree. When do you think we can start working? We've got a lot of garbage to remove, you know. By the way, we'd passed by the quarry on the way over and I think it'll be better to cremate the Gogians in it rather than in the streets."
"Agreed. About starting, soon I'm sure because I hadn't heard any shooting in a while. But first I'll take a slow walk through the streets to ensure that no one is waiting for us in ambush."
"You think some of them will do that rather than run like hell?"
"Someone with military experience would do just that rather than panic and try to escape when he knows that we have the place surrounded. I'd planned on doing it beforehand, so when our people see me walking the street they'll be alert to any movements."
David shook his head in disgust. "You mean you'll set yourself as a moving target?"
"Would you rather that it was one of your people, who wouldn't recognize a trap, walk into it and get killed?"
"No, I'm afraid you're right. Where will you be once it's over?"
Marty pointed at the palace. "Right there, where all your guys should bring everything they strip off the dead and their homes that may look like it's of any value. Particularly weapons. And join me there as soon as you can."
"Yes, General." He gave her a mock salute and walked back to the compound.
Marty remained standing by the wall while she sent her mind into the city, searching for ambushes that she was sure had been set up by surviving Gogians. She discovered twelve such locations and destroyed the first two by herself. The rest, which were well-hidden, she eliminated by raising her arm and pointing at them for her snipers, who shot them one-by-one until all were dead. Once it was done, she shot a green flare into the sky as a signal to David that it was safe to begin his work, then told her people that they can leave their posts.
She approached the palace next and saw the cleanup crew already at work hauling dead bodies to a large hover-truck. Interested in looking at it's controls, she peeked into the cab and saw that all that it had was a single stick in it's midst. One of the workers came over and explained to her how it functioned.
"Once you turn on the switch on your left, all you need to do is hold the stick and move it in whatever direction you want to go. The way to raise the truck to the hover position is a toggle on the left, where up means raise and down means park. On the way over David found the storage facility of vehicles for every possible purpose for Gogians of our size. In fact, he had sent a couple of people to bring over two small ones for you and his use, which should arrive here at any minute."
"That'll be great, and thanks for the explanation. But tell me, how do you and everyone else feel about what's happened here?"
"Elated. In fact, many of us burst into singing and dancing once we realized that the Gogian tyranny was over and we're free. We're all looking forward to living our lives as we please, you know."
"Yes, but there will have to be rules and regulations we'll have to live by to prevent chaos."
"Of course. But they'll be all self-imposed by people that we elect."
"That's the spirit, my friend."
"Yes, Ma'am, General." The man saluted her and went back to his work.
As soon as he left, Marty pulled the communicator from her saddle bag and called Jenny, who sounded anxious for news. "Well, Jen, you can all relax because the project was successful and Dave's people have already started the garbage hauling. None of our people was hurt and everyone here is ecstatic. I'll arrive at the farm a little bit before noon and join everyone for lunch, where we'll announce all our accomplishments. In the meantime, I'll leave this line open so if you want to talk to me press the yellow button. Dave's got one, too, so you can call him any time you wish to talk to him by pressing the yellow button twice."
"Fantastic, General. I'll try not to bother either of you right now."
"Please do if you need to, Jenny."
Although Marty had previously entered the palace in her ghost-like guise when she invaded the armory, she was impressed greatly by its opulence when she saw it now. All the floors and walls were covered with white and pink marble and were decorated by colorful carpets and tapestries throughout. The king's private apartment and those of his family were luxuriously furnished, and so was his office and throne room.
Bastards really had it made, living like this while we were slaving to provide them with food and all sorts of goodies. But worst of all, they got new bodies that allowed them to continue living and multiplying.
By the time she finished with her tour of the palace and showered to remove all the gore she had been splattered
with, Marty discovered that the entrance hall contained desks manned by her fighting crew, who were sorting through piles of looted items.
Ben rushed over when he saw her. "By God, General. We got unbelievable stuff here that'll help getting us to a good start in our new life. But best of all I found a huge temperature and humidity controlled storage room full of all kinds of smokes that'll last us for years, and I'm told that there are more of them around town. And a storeroom full of all sorts of good alcohol that I'd like to sample soonest."
Marty burst into laughter. "One can always trust a Marine to sniff out booze and tobacco."
"Ain't that the truth? Anyway, we're finding piles of gold coins, tools, and weapons all over the place, which we're cataloging and keeping in the rooms where the king's personal guards used to bunk. Is there anything else you want us to do?"
"Just continue with what you're doing, Ben, which I really appreciate, for the next few days. But change the lookouts constantly."
"Consider it done, Marty."
"What about food and a place to sleep?"
"Dave's people are taking care of our needs. As to quarters, they had army barracks set up behind the palace, I guess for a close-by protection for the king, with room for five-hundred soldiers and plenty of nice private rooms for officers, so we'll take them over. So you see, we're well supplied with basic necessities although we'll have to sleep standing up and use an outside latrine, but we have communal shower rooms to wash up."
"Anything else you think we need?"
"Definitely. Although Dave's people are working like fiends, their numbers are insufficient to take care of so many bodies. So it'll be of help if we got more volunteers."