“If you can get me on the roof of the cabin, I’m sure I can get them,” said Claude, looking upward.
The back part of the cabin was only about six feet off the ground. Claude rested his rifle against the cabin, and then climbed up Eric’s back. He was able to steady himself while stepping on to Eric’s shoulders, and then climbed onto the roof. Eric handed him his rifle and whispered “I’ll distract them for a few seconds while you get into place.”
Eric went back to the corner of the cabin and fired several rounds into the rocks. He would not hit anything, but it would keep their heads down. Anne-Marie moved around to the opposite corner of the house, in case the men made a run for it.
Claude’s position was difficult. He could not point the barrel of his rifle out over the edge of the roof, or he would be seen for sure. He decided to shoot over the crest of the roof from near the chimney. He inched up to the chimney and peered around it. Two men were visible, but only one looked alive. Claude took careful aim and killed the second one.
That just left one in the house. The roof around Claude began sprouting holes as the gunman inside fired upward. He must have heard the shot from the roof. Eric ran onto the porch and pumped bullets through the windows before diving to the other side of the cabin. This gave Claude enough time to run to the edge and jump off the roof. He managed to hold onto his rifle during the jump and crouched behind the wall.
It was a standoff. There was no way to enter the house without being a perfect target, and the man in there could wait for hours.
“Claude, over here.” Claude recognized Menard’s voice coming from the bushes. He ran over to the hill side of the clearing. He found Menard sitting against a small rock, bleeding from a wound in his right shoulder. It looked ugly, but Menard would probably live.
“Take this grenade. It has a three-second fuse. Pull the pin, count to two, and then toss it into the open door of the cabin. He won’t have time to throw it back.”
Claude grabbed the grenade and returned to the side of the house. He took a quick glance around the edge to see if a gun barrel as visible, but none was. He then thought through the exact series of actions he would take in his mind. Mentally prepared, he got into position, pulled the pin, and waited one second. He then sprang across the porch, tossing the grenade into the door on the count of two, and then dove for the corner where Eric was hiding.
The windows blew out of the cabin as the grenade exploded. Eric and Claude waited a moment to let the smoke clear and then cautiously entered the cabin. The man inside had been trying to throw the grenade back when it had exploded. One forearm and the side of his face were missing. Eric and Claude drug the body outside, to minimize the amount of blood on the floor. It was going to take a lot of cleaning to get the cabin back into shape.
Gradually people returned to the porch, although no one spoke. Mark Kauf came down the hill and helped Menard walk. Eric went back up to the peak and brought Shahkar and Kamin down, while also disconnecting the last rippers along the upper path. Anne-Marie got out another first aid kit, and went to work on Menard’s shoulder.
“Kami, I know the cabin is a mess, but do you think you could fix us a dinner.” Eric had a smile on his face. Kami stood up and smiled back. “I would be delighted.” She took a quick glance towards her garden to make sure that it had not been disturbed in the firefight, and then went in the cabin to start cooking.
Eric then went over to Claude to shake his hand. He did the same with Mark, and again with Menard, although he could only shake Menard’s left hand. Finally he went to Shahkar and shook his.
“We did it Shahkar, we survived. Now you have a weather report to make.”
Shahkar seemed to awaken. “I do, don’t I.” He gathered up what was left of his equipment and started up the trail again to the transmitter.
Three months later…
Sitting at Aunt Rebecca’s dinner table were John Young and his fiancée Barbara, his daughter Sara, and Menard with his adopted brother Jaques. Menard was out of the cast but still had his right arm in a sling.
“Aunt Rebecca, you have outdone yourself again with this dinner. It was wonderful.”
“Thank you John, but I had a lot of help from Jaques. He has become quite a chef.”
Menard ruffled Jaques’ hair. “You have all sorts of talents, don’t you Jaques. All we have to do is to get you to apply a little bit of that energy towards your schoolwork.”
“I know, but school is just not as exciting as what you do.” Jaques looked up to Menard as something just short of a god.
“You’ll get your chance in the army too, but only if you graduate from school.” Everyone could tell that Menard and Jaques had been over this ground a few times before.
Aunt Rebecca changed the subject. “Any word from Eric?”
John wiped his mouth before speaking. “It sounds like he will be starting for home as soon as the relief crew gets there. The other big news is that he is bringing home a girl. Her name is Anne-Marie. It sounds like they got quite close while they were fighting together. Anne-Marie and her brother Claude will both be coming down to be decorated as war heroes. They can’t be given a normal medal, because they were not officially soldiers, but the brass has thought up something new just to have a medal to give them. I’m all for it. Eric says they saved his life more than once.”
“Did they recover the canisters?” Everyone now knew all about the bio-weapons. The information about what the Northern Council had planned had been leaked to the press so that the Madrin population knew the threats they faced.
“Yes. The funny thing is that it looks like killing us was only part of their game. They expected the virus to spread north. Benjamin Fowler knew that if he released the virus and controlled the vaccine, he would have ultimate power over everyone on the council. People would do anything to be inoculated. It was all one incredibly cynical power play.”
“You know what amazes me,” said Sara. “I’m having a lot of trouble getting used to the idea of the Gengon asking for a cease-fire. We’ve been fighting them for so long, I’m not sure I remember what peace feels like. I was a little girl when this war started.”
Aunt Rebecca spoke up. “If history is any lesson, I would not get too comfortable with the idea of peace. The Gengon are busy fighting their civil war. Once the Council gets the outlaws under control, they will start looking for ways to expand their empire.”
“I know you’re right Aunt Rebecca,” said Barbara. “But right now we are at peace. I intend to marry this crazy pilot of mine and enjoy myself as much as I can. Who knows, with Eric coming back with a girlfriend, maybe there will be two weddings.”
Jacques was getting impatient with all this adult talk.
“Is there any desert?”
Heavier Than Air Page 29