Andi sat silent. I wish I dared to hug him. Or hug the little boy he had been. Sad, so sad. His closed-off body language didn’t suggest that he’d welcome any demonstration of her sympathy.
The captain flicked the remnants of his coffee from the cup into the lake below. “After the Sectors authorities abandoned the effort to start a colony there, I was shipped to the Star Guard Orphanage. Standard procedure back then. I swore I’d get revenge on the Mawreg someday.” Coming out of his reverie, he gave her the more genuine, lopsided Deverane smile. “The Special Forces gives me plenty of opportunity to even the score.”
Andi tried to do the math in her head, working back from the age she guessed he was. “So you’ve been in the Special Forces for what? Twenty years?”
He shook his head. “Twenty-three years. The duty burns you out. I’m already past the average age for being deployed in the field, but I’m not interested in a rear-echelon desk job on some cushy planet.”
Andi laughed out loud, then clapped her hand across her mouth, mindful of how sound carried at night. “No, I can’t see you sitting behind a desk. Not at all.”
“I could retire. Ranch maybe, try farming. I don’t know. We get veterans’ acres as part of our pay. And bonus acres for certain assignments. Plus, I have a special allowance for being a survivor of a Mawreg raid. I could have quite a homestead. I can take my acres on any open planet.” He shook his head. “But the idea of putting roots down doesn’t appeal to me much. I feel safer on the move.”
Wow, he is kidding himself if he thinks he’d be any happier farming than at a desk job. Guess I was right, here’s a guy who has to stay in constant motion. Why does that disappoint me so much? Andi stretched, tired of sitting curled up. “Well, if you can’t choose, Loxton buys veterans’ acres rights.”
“Are you serious? They can do that?” He looked askance at her. “How is that legal?”
“Don’t be so surprised. It’s a lucrative sideline for them. Loxton found, or created, some loophole in the Veterans’ Benefits Act.” Andi stretched again, easing the kinks in her back and loosening the tightness in her shoulders before yawning. “Listen to me, talking business with you after all we’ve been through.”
“Don’t do that.”
At her startled look, he smothered a yawn of his own. “See, it’s catching, and I have another hour on guard duty before I can turn in.” Deverane laughed. “Think you can sleep now?”
Andi made a dramatic show of closing her eyes, only to pop them wide open in exaggerated fashion.
Face serious now, Deverane eyed her. “You really need to go try for a few more hours of shut-eye. A lot of hard territory to hike through tomorrow.”
“Oh, my sore feet. And my aching back. I don’t want to think about more marching with that boulder you call a backpack.” She stood, dusting herself off. If he’s giving orders again, there isn’t going to be anymore personal chitchat. Maybe that’s just as well. “See you in the morning, Captain.”
“Call me Tom.” He made the request in a casual tone and avoided meeting her gaze. “Special Forces doesn’t stand on too much ceremony, not like regular troops.”
Andi nodded, pleased by his request. “Goodnight, Tom.” Enjoying the sound of his name on her lips, she walked away, toward the sleeping area. What am I thinking? Not a good idea to get too interested in a roving, hard-living military man. He just warned me himself he isn’t going to settle down. That came through loud and clear. And I have to move on from Zulaire for the good of my career anyway. With a sigh, she lay down, closed her eyes and strove for sleep. Mustn’t let these dramatic circumstances affect my good sense.
***
.
In the morning, Andi and the others packed the supplies and headed into the thick forest for a long day’s slow march. By midmorning, Tom told her they were less than half a mile from the transportway. “I have hopes of capturing or commandeering some vehicles, but we’ve got to avoid roving groups of rebels. Wilson, you and Rogers scout ahead. Check out the situation on the road and report back.”
Working their way into the brush, the two soldiers disappeared from view. Grateful for the break, Andi sank down in the grass, getting out her canteen. I hope Wilson takes his time on that recon. She was lightly dozing when Wilson and Rogers crashed back into the clearing at a dead run. Rubbing her eyes, she sat up with a start, grabbing for her blaster.
“Trouble ahead, sir,” Wilson reported crisply. “Party of hostiles has four civilians stopped on the transportway. Looks like things are going to get ugly fast.”
“We should go help them.” The urgent thought impelled Andi to her feet, and she took a step or two in the direction the scouts had just come from.
Tom moved fast, grabbing her elbow hard and glaring down at her. “I thought I told you—more than once—my primary orders don’t allow me the discretion to go around the countryside rescuing everyone in distress.” He spaced out each word for emphasis. “I have to get back to the capital. We’ve got vital information that could stop the entire planet from descending into war. I can’t conduct firefights and rescue individuals. You were an exception because someone somewhere pulled a lot of rank and got special orders issued. Okay?”
Biting her lip, Andi flushed and jerked her elbow away from him. I wish he wouldn’t keep rubbing it in my face that I got special treatment. I didn’t ask for him to come rescue me.
Apparently satisfied she wasn’t going to argue, Tom’s next remark was addressed to the waiting sergeant. “How many hostiles?”
“Fifteen. Armed with standard planetary-issue weapons, from what we could see.” Rogers nodded his agreement with Wilson’s rapid assessment. “No heavy stuff. No Sectors contraband. We could take them, sir.”
Brow furrowing, Tom glared at Wilson. “We have to stay on mission here. You’re starting to sound like her.” He jerked his thumb at Andi. “I need a reason to break our rules of engagement.”
Wilson looked at Rogers, getting no help from him beyond a sheepish shrug. Turning back to the captain, the sergeant continued to plead his case. “They’re roughing up a bunch of priests, sir. Defenseless noncombatants. Don’t seem right to walk away, orders or no orders. I…can’t explain it any better.”
Tom pulled out his blaster and checked the charge. “All right, I’ll commit to going and assessing the potential for intervention.” He fixed Andi with a stern gaze. “I am not promising to intervene. So don’t push it, Miss Markriss.”
Afraid to say anything and risk changing his mind, she simply nodded. From what she’d seen of Tom so far, he’d intervene all right. Soft heart inside a very tough exterior. She bit her lip, realizing he and his men would be going in harm’s way, based mostly on her request. I hope we won’t all regret my urging them into danger. There aren’t any good choices, only risky tradeoffs right now. She breathed a little prayer to the Lords of Space to watch over Tom and his men in the coming moments, especially if the situation turned into a firefight.
“If they have vehicles, we could use a lift. The whole point of tracking us back to the transportway was to beg, borrow or steal a ride home.” Having found a military rationale, the captain wasted no time in moving out. “Abukawal, keep Sadu and Lysanda well to the rear.” He motioned for Wilson and Rogers to lead the way.
Andi crept southward behind Tom, moving through the brush and scrubby trees lining the ridge. Soon, she was high atop the ridgeline itself, at a vantage point opposite the roadblock where the unwary travelers had been caught. The road was clogged with vehicles and a large mass of people.
“Looks like they forced the passenger vehicle off the road.” The captain stared at the scene below them through his distance-viewers. Slowly, he tracked along the line of the transportway.
“How can you tell?” Andi eyed the road. All I see is a wrecked car and an angry mob.
Wilson leaned in on her other side, speaking quietly right at her ear. “See how the two cargo haulers and the smaller car are angled on the near si
de of the road? They double-teamed the driver, boxed him in, caught nice as you please.”
Tom lowered the viewers. “Priests weren’t expecting any trouble. Their vehicle looks like the high-end luxury model. Not built for speed.”
Things have obviously deteriorated in the short time since Wilson and Rogers first reconnoitered the site. Andi scanned the scene. Two of the black-robed Sanenre priests now lay unmoving, covered with blood in the muddy roadside ditch. Two priests—one young, one elderly—remained standing on the elevated road. A half circle of jeering Naranti rebels loosely surrounded the pair, turning on these defenseless members of their own Clan. Trying to shield his companion from their assailants, putting his body in front of the older man, the younger priest extended his arms wide in a blocking motion. Judging by his gestures and attitude, he was arguing with the rebels.
Burning fiercely, the boxy passenger vehicle was sending thick black smoke skyward. Andi eyed the car warily. I’m surprised the fuel tank hasn’t blown yet from the fire.
Next minute, she stifled a scream as one of the men in the throng below raised his weapon and shot the younger priest at point-blank range, sending him staggering across the pavement. The old man tried unsuccessfully to catch him before he tumbled off the raised transportway into the ditch with his luckless fellows, coming to rest against their bodies.
The remaining priest rose from where he’d fallen. Smoothing his robes, he stood quiet and calm in a half circle of shouting, heckling tormentors. There was no avenue of retreat.
He looks really familiar. How do I know him? “Let me have the viewers.” She tugged at the strap around Tom’s neck. With some reluctance, he unlooped the viewers, ducking his head to get disentangled and then handing them over. After a moment fumbling with the adjustment, Andi peered across the ravine, focussing on the priest’s face, one glance confirming her suspicions as to his identity. “Serene Holiness Rahuna.”
She dropped the viewers, clutching at Tom’s arm. “We have to save him.” Think, think, what can I say that will give him grounds to act? Taking a deep breath, Andi spread her fingers in a self-calming gesture. “Look, Rahuna is the Pontiff of Sanenre, head of the planetary religion. He’s one of the few people on Zulaire respected by everyone. All three Clans trust his word. If this war is going to be stopped, he’s the only man who can do it.”
“She’s right, Captain.” Andi shot Abukawal a look of pure gratitude as he spoke up. “If Rahuna dies, there will be chaos. In time of Clan warfare, the Obati and Shenti are required by our gods to turn authority over to Sanenre’s Serene Holiness, who is always of the Naranti Clan. His neutrality is unquestionable.” Abukawal nodded toward the ugly scene on the road below them. “If the rabble kills Rahuna, there will be no one able to neutralize this crisis. It takes fifty days and nights of intense ritual for Sanenre to manifest the signs identifying the new religious leader.”
“Anything could happen to Zulaire in fifty days.” Anxiety nipping at her nerves, Andi’s voice rose. “How can the rebels do this? They must know who he is, he’s one of their own people.”
Tom took the viewers back from Wilson, who’d retrieved them from the ground. The captain had a half smile for Andi as he dusted the lenses off with his shirt. “Are we ever going to run into anyone in distress you don’t want me to rescue? No matter what my orders—my very specific orders—say?” He took another look himself. “If this guy is so important, killing him would be a logical strategy for the rebels, Clan loyalties aside. Classic destabilizing move. Buys them more time to solidify their gains.” Lowering the viewers, Tom drew the sergeant aside a few steps for a semi private conference. “Mitch?”
“I say go for it, rescue the guy, sir. It’s worth doing. Fits into our mission on Zulaire in the first place. We can stretch our orders a little more.” He winked at Andi.
She held her breath.
Tom nodded, and Andi exhaled in a rush as he issued his orders. “All right, we move in. Rogers, Latvik, target the men closest to the two trucks. The sergeant and I will pick off the ringleaders. The guy with the pockmarked face, the one with the drop on the old man, is mine.”
“I’m coming, too.” Andi checked the charge on her borrowed blaster. They’re going into danger at my urging again and I need to be there, do my part.
“I expected nothing else. Stay beside me. Choose your targets from the rear fringe of the mob over there.” He pointed. “And we want the trucks in one piece, if at all possible.” Without waiting for her acknowledgment, Tom turned to Abukawal. “Stay here with the girl and the baby. If we don’t succeed, make your way to the capital. Stay low, travel at night, don’t get involved in anything. Your priority is to get there in one piece.”
Abukawal drew himself up, tightening his grip on his weapon. Eyes flashing, jaw jutting, he shook his head once. “Staying on the sidelines is a hard thing for a warrior.”
“I know, I get it. I’m sorry. Your eyewitness information is too important to risk.” Tom clapped Abukawal on the shoulder, then nodded to his own team. “Move out.”
The small party crept down the ridge, utilizing every bit of sparse cover, trying not to draw any attention. Andi tried to match her movements to those of Rogers, whom she followed, and not blunder into Tom next to her. Although she understood the tactical necessity for creeping up on the enemy, the slow pace frayed her nerves. I just hope we won’t be too late.
The captain signaled a halt about halfway, where a long, rocky outcropping provided limited cover. The soldiers deployed, Andi taking a spot in the middle of the line, still next to Tom, per his instructions.
She was now close enough to hear the discussion going on below, at the edge of the road.
The Naranti mob leader taunted the old priest, an incredible lapse of cultural norms—to berate an elder and one of his own Clan, at that. “You’re powerless to save your companions or yourself.”
Taking a step forward, the ringleader of the mob pushed the old man hard with each sentence he spit out. “Your day has passed. We don’t need you to talk to the Obati and Shenti for us. It is our Clan’s turn to rule Zulaire. We’re done bowing and serving. We’ll make them tremble at our war cry, bend their necks to our knives. They’ll have to respect us. The Naranti can carry war banners and fight better than the Obati or Shenti ever did.”
“This is to be the accomplishment of our Clan?” Scorn colored Rahuna’s powerful voice. “The killing of innocents? Taking what isn’t ours?”
The rebel spokesman struck the priest across the face with the butt of his weapon. Spinning from the force of the blow, Rahuna crumpled in a heap, his small shiny black hat skittering across the road.
“Enough. We waste time,” declared another Naranti man, who appeared to be the final authority over the ragtag squad. “Kill him and have done. We must be at the rally point before nightfall.”
Tom half raised his hand, on the verge of signaling his men to fire.
Rahuna struggled to his feet, hand pressed to his bleeding head. “I warn you, and those who launched you on this path of hate and destruction, your crimes are the shame of Zulaire. It’s a betrayal of all we Naranti have stood for as a people, for the last four hundred years of peace. The evil you do will return to haunt you a hundredfold. You won’t gain what you seek from these unholy acts.”
Andi shivered at the power in his voice, in his words, even though the message was not meant for her. It almost sounds like he’s cursing them. Uneasily, a few men on the edges of the crowd glanced at each other. She hoped they were reconsidering their involvement with this episode of hate.
“You break the peace with unspeakable horrors. You’ll be called to answer for these acts, whether in this world by the authorities or by Sanenre in the next.” Rahuna raised his hands to the heavens, palms up.
“I said be quiet. Your smooth words serve no purpose here today.” The rebel leader took a half step forward.
“The Great Sanenre Who Sees and Judges will decide whether you’re right, o
r whether I speak truth.” Lowering his arms, Rahuna stared straight at the man opposing him.
A broad smirk puckering his pockmarked face, the rebel lieutenant raised his weapon. “Shall I kill you at once, or shall we see how long you can endure pain, old man? How long does the Serenity last?”
Rahuna made a sign with one hand. The leader of the mob hesitated. Speaking softly, the elderly cleric said, “One more moment, I beseech you, to make my peace with Sanenre before I die, one moment to ask his blessing on your souls and mine.”
“Is this guy for real?” Wilson whispered. “He’s hypnotizing them.”
“Yeah, maybe he doesn’t even need our help,” was Rogers’ half-serious rejoinder.
“I think the rebel leader is losing some support from his own men.” Andi glanced over the mob again, noting more than a few ashamed faces and slumping shoulders.
On the roadway below, the Naranti gestured with the weapon. “All right, say your damn prayers, old man. But be quick about it! And don’t concern yourself on my behalf. I don’t follow your tired, irrelevant Sanenre.” Noisily, he hawked and spat.
Rahuna raised his bleeding head with an effort, eyes seeking the sun, in whose flames of purity Sanenre was believed to dwell. Sinking to his knees in the dusty road, facing the proper direction, he recited the prayer for the dying.
“Now.” Tom’s order was a curt whisper.
Andi jumped, lost her grip on the blaster. Swearing under her breath, she got the weapon firmly in her hand again, scrambled to her feet. Adrenaline and anger swept through her, making her aim deadly, as she thought about what the rebels had done at the compound and in the village. These men don’t deserve mercy. Beside her, the soldiers fired at the designated targets in economic, efficient bursts. The energy charges flashed in a whining barrage, wreaking havoc on the mob.
“They’re trying to get away!” Tom shouted. A small knot of the remaining Naranti Clansmen made a mad scramble for the nearer of the two vehicles. “Concentrate fire on the red truck.”
Escape From Zulaire Page 8