After a brief discussion, we agreed. Overseer transmitted the plan.
“Okay, people, Go!”
The dragon force split and wheeled to the north and south. The armed humans, Pronacians, and Lupans moved forward and laid down heavy covering fire. The Hunters brought up the rear, by my command, despite their desire to charge in regardless of the losses they would take. We used the rubble of buildings and out-of-commission vehicles as cover, and made our way toward the Test-Lit defense perimeter. We moved within a couple of hundred meters and halted. Return fire was heavy. We huddled behind whatever cover we could find and waited for Overseer’s signal.
The dragons soared in from the rear and sides of the Test-Lit lines, darting erratically through the city’s concrete canyons to take the defenders unawares. As the defensive fire moved from our positions to target the dragons’ attack, we assaulted the front line. The Pronacian troops loped toward the perimeter faster that any human could, as they wielded their assault rifles. The Lupans followed, again faster than any human, firing as they ran. Finally, covered by the initial assault and the firepower of the human soldiers, the Hunters streaked through the defense lines and leaped the barricades as if they were not there. The rest of our contingent followed.
By the time I reached the battle line, the Test-Lits were in retreat. The three-pronged attack of the dragon air force wings and the frontal assault of the lizardmen, werewolves, and tigers had engendered panic amongst the defenders. The speed and agility of the nonhuman troops made them difficult to hit. Even when hit, if their wounds were not fatal they dealt out horrific injuries. If dragons, four-armed lizardmen—each wielding two weapons, a pulse rifle and a longsword for hand-to-hand fighting—and giant tigers wasn’t enough of a shock to the defenders, when the Lupans reached the battle line and shifted into their werewolf forms, many Test-Lits screamed, dropped their weapons and fled.
“Overseer. Call off the troops. Let those soldiers go,” I yelled.
There were cries of dismay from the dragons, Lupans, and Hunters.
“No,” I cried. The thought of such a massacre nauseated me.
“I agree,” Lieutenant Clarrett said. “They’ll do our cause more good if we let them go. They’ll bring word to the rest of the defending forces of what has happened here. The stories of our fighters will scare the shit out of the rest of them. Those who have fled will magnify their defeat. That will demoralize the Test-Lits. What we need to do is secure this section of the city.”
“Thanks, Lieutenant. We need your experience here,” I replied. “Overseer, contact General Finster and tell her what we have accomplished.”
The Overseer transmitted Finster’s reply:
“Right, General. Will do.”
Clarrett said, “Let’s set up a perimeter and take a break. Bring up the medics to take care of the wounded.”
Roxanne grabbed my hand and led me away. I was one of those medics, of course.
***
Fur moved up beside me as I gazed down a long, seemingly deserted avenue. “I don’t believe they have all pulled back,” he said. “This could be a death trap.”
“I wonder,” I replied. “They were pretty spooked by our allies, here. Clarrett, Stiegman, you’re the soldiers. What do we do?”
Clarrett spoke first. “I agree with Cohen. We’re dead meat for snipers in those buildings and we aren’t equipped to clear each one out as we go.”
Stiegman added, “Sir. We need to send out a probe.”
“And you suggest?” I asked.
Clarrett pursed his lips. “I think we should—”
He got no further. Overseer transmitted He-Who-Eats’ words.
He did not wait for a reply, lifted into the air, and wove rapidly from side to side down the avenue. Several volleys of laser fire splashed off the buildings opposite their origin. One hit the dragon, but most of its effect reflected off his polished scales.
The Hunter elder growled agreement.
“Right,” I muttered, recalling my bare-assed days on Lupus IV.
Stiegman stepped forward. “Sir. Permission to speak.”
“Um, sure.” I was still not comfortable with all the military protocol.
“My troops are equipped with special grenades that can incapacitate anyone within a building if we fire them through upper story windows. The gas will settle down through the lower floors. We have enough of these to clear a path through the city, if necessary.”
I looked around. “Okay. We’ve talked about this before. This stuff is derived from one of the less noxious Ulmian plants and is supposed to be non-lethal, the equivalent of tear gas, but more effective. Do we go with it?”
Clarrett spoke. “We can’t destroy the buildings. There might be noncombatants in there. If we try to clear out these buildings one by one by conventional means, we’ll take too many casualties.”
Roxanne said, “We’ve barely been able to keep up with the injuries we already have. If this stuff is non-lethal, like tear gas, I say use it.”
I looked around me. I found it hard to get past my own experiences with the hydra on Ulm; that colored my thoughts and made me reluctant to use something derived from the Ulmian toxic flora, but I understood the need.
Fur said, “If this will save lives, I vote to go with it.”
Clarrett nodded.
I said, “Okay. Stiegman, do whatever you need to do, and let’s see how it works on this block. Then we can decide further.”
Ten minutes after the Ulmian troops fired their grenades into the six buildings on the block, two dozen Test-Lit soldiers and twice that many civilians staggered out onto the avenue. The enemy combatants were now slumped against a wall. Some mumbled incoherently, but none seemed mortally injured. An Ulmian medic who had an antidote ministered to the non-combatant victims.
“How long does this last?” I asked Stiegman.
“A few hours, Sir. It will vary in individuals. We should bind the soldiers, leave a couple of troopers here on watch, and move on. We’ll take it block by block.”
Again I was thankful for the genuine soldiers in my supposed command.
We met uneven opposition the rest of the way, but at one intersection, resistance was spirited as armored artillery and laser tanks blocked the road.
As we debated the best way to attack the fortification, one of the dragons dropped out of the sky onto a defender and ripped him limb from limb. Blood spattered everywhere. The spectacle froze the opposition troops; they didn’t even fire. When the dragon began to gulp down body parts, the rest of the defenders screamed and scattered for cover in every direction. I couldn’t blame them. I had trouble keeping my last meal down.
I turned to He-Who-Eats-Enemies-For-Breakfast. “That was very brave of your dragon, but can you please ask them to refrain from eating the enemy?”
There was a low rumbling from him that did not translate.
“I know this is what you do on your world, but it discourages our own troops. I promise you a full feast of herdbeasts tonight.”
While the Certis Prime herdbeasts were fine pack animals, more critical had been their use as a food source for the Hunters, Lupans, and dragons. We wo
uld have stripped Dovid’s World of its livestock, otherwise.
When we met up with Finster’s forces, they had the main government buildings surrounded. Finster approached as I collapsed onto the fender of a burnt-out land drone.
“Has anyone got word about my parents yet?” I asked her. The lump in my throat and pressure in my chest made it difficult to breathe.
“No, but we assume they’re in the prison, there.” She pointed to the concrete block building that I knew too well as the headquarters of the Inquisition. “That’s our next objective. But the remains of the Palmach, their best fighters, are in there.”
That did little to make me feel better.
***
As we moved toward the doors of the Inquisition building, there was heavy fire from some of the windows. Fur, Roxanne, and I were in the vanguard of a group of only human troops. I did not want any cases of mistaken identity by any of our toothy allies. I wanted in there to find my folks, and refused to be left behind. Fur and Roxanne would not let me go without them.
My heart pounded as if it sought exit from my chest. “God, please let them be okay,” I muttered.
Roxanne put her hand on my arm. I appreciated that support, but nothing anyone could say or do would suffice until we knew.
We moved up to the main doors, and a couple of Sammaran soldiers placed charges. When the doors were blown, we rushed into the lobby. Projectiles whanged off the walls amid the splash of laser fire. I dropped to my belly and looked for a target. The seasoned troops with me were more effective. They cleared the lobby of opposition before I fired once. Four of our men were down. My gut clenched. Of course, it would have been much worse if I actually had killed a human. Killing the gazelle on Lupus IV had just about incapacitated me. I never felt less like a soldier.
We worked our way down a hallway toward the cellblock where the prisoners would be. A giant vise squeezed my chest. I bent over and gasped.
Fur took my arm. “You going to make it?”
I stood up. “Yeah. Let’s move.”
When we got to the locked cellblock, a fighter who led the SOD contingent said, “The guards are likely holed up in here for a last stand. They might use the prisoners as shields.”
I tasted bile.
“Then how do we get the prisoners out without harm?” Fur asked.
Roxanne answered. “What about the Ulmian gas grenades? Do we have any more of those? It won’t harm the prisoners and there is an antidote for them, anyway.”
I gave her hand a squeeze. “Good Idea. Get Stiegman up here.”
The few minutes he took to arrive felt like the longest of my life.
The Sammarans blew the doors and Stiegman tossed in the grenades. After a couple of minutes, we heard lots of coughing and then what remained of the Palmach and the Test-Lit guards staggered through the doors. We were fitted with gas masks and, after we relieved the guards of the keys, we charged into the cellblock area. We opened every cell that had prisoners, and half-carried, half-dragged them out where the air was fresh. We left them with the medics and continued the process. Panic had set in by the time we came to the last cells. I had not found my folks.
Where are they? Where? I screamed silently. They can’t be—
Then I heard a yell from Fur. “Cy. Over here.”
I ran toward him and saw that he carried the limp body of my dad in his arms.
“Oh, God, no,” I wailed.
“He’s alive,” Fur said. “So is your mom.”
Roxanne knelt and cradled my mom’s head, but did not have the strength to lift her. I bent, picked Mom up, and rushed after Fur, Roxanne trailing in my wake.
Fifteen minutes later, I crouched next to my folks. They had received the antidote and were conscious, recovering from the effects of the Ulmian toxin. Dad was his usual stoic self, but tears ran down my mother’s face...and mine, too. They had been tortured to a limited degree, Dad said, but they were okay. I was not sure what “a limited degree” meant, and I did not I want to know. They were alive. That was enough for now.
A soldier tapped me on the shoulder. “Excuse me, Captain, but General Finster needs you right away.”
My dad’s eyes opened a bit wider at that. He turned to Mom. “Sounds like our boy has risen in the world.”
Mom responded with more tears.
***
When I reached Finster, I had stopped crying. Not appropriate for a hardened soldier, you know?
The General said, “Berger. Can we use this Overseer of yours to communicate with those inside the Parliament building? It’s supposed to be what’s left of the Test-Lit government.”
“It’s not my Overseer, General. And it will transmit anything you like.”
She nodded. “And we’ve got somebody else with us you might like to see.”
A Sammaran soldier dragged a struggling figure forward. It was Levi.
“Unhand me, you Godless buffoon,” he cried. “You will pay for this. I promise you.”
I could not help but smile. The last I had seen him was when I turned him over to the Sammaran military police. Levi’s basic nature manifested even now. He stopped short when he saw me.
His hatred struck me like a physical assault. His stubbled face, twitching eye, and disheveled appearance made him look even more demented than I remembered.
“You. Berger. This is all your fault. When we defeat this paltry army of unbelievers and heathen creatures, you will—”
“Oh, shut up, Levi. You can’t see the nose on your face. You’re finished. You and the whole revolting crew that tyrannized our world. The rest of them are in there.” I pointed to the government building. “The only question is whether they want to come out upright or feet first. Frankly, I couldn’t care less which it is.”
General Finster ignored our little sideshow and said, “Overseer, please tell those in the building this:
“This is General Cara Finster of the Sammaran Army, allies of the free Dovidian people, also commanding forces from Pronac, Certis Prime, Dragonworld, Cennesari, Ulm, Lupus IV, and Hiveworld. Your army has been defeated. You are under arrest for crimes against humanity, both on Dovid’s World and Sammara. We prefer that you surrender peacefully, but we will use whatever force is necessary. We give you fifteen minutes to exit the building, without weapons, with your hands in the air. That is all. There will be no parlay or repeat of this ultimatum.” She looked around. “Now we wait.”
“General, Sir.” The Ulmian sergeant spoke. “We have the means to extricate them with no need to put our troops in danger.”
Finster looked at me, eyebrows raised. I nodded and told her about our use of the Ulmian toxin grenades.
“Let’s see what they do, first.”
“General,” I said. “Do you mind if I add something?”
She shook her head. “You’ve earned that right.”
“Overseer. Please transmit this:
“I’m speaking to what remains of the Test-Lit government and the Rebbinical Council. This is Cy Berger. Remember me? The guy you exiled a year ago? Well, I’m back, and I have some friends with me. You may have heard a bit about them. If you don’t surrender within the fifteen minutes that General Finster has given you, I’ll send my friends in. No holds barred. That includes the dragons, the Cennesari tigers, the Lupan werewolves, and the Pronacian reptilians. And just remember, they have not had lunch yet.”
There were loud guffaws from amongst Finster’s troops until she leveled her steely glare at them.
Fur smiled and said, “Way to go.”
Roxanne slipped up beside me and grasped my hand. “It’s almost over.” She breathed a deep sigh.
Fur bracketed me. “You should be proud. You’ve been a major force in helping to free our world. Thank you.”
“Hey, you did just as much, or more. Keep some of that thanks for yourself.”
A few minutes passed before the front doors to the building opened and a string of people moved out, arms above their heads. Plaintive cries
emanated from the group.
“Don’t shoot.”
“We surrender.”
“Don’t let them eat us.”
“Keep the monsters away.”
Fur laughed. “Sounds like the stories about your shock troops made the right sort of impression.” He pounded me on the back hard enough to make me gasp.
Then I heard someone behind me yell, “Stop him.”
The next thing I knew, a screaming, biting, kicking lunatic bowled me over. I managed to extricate myself, and jumped to my feet. Levi stood before me, his face purple, his lips pulled back in a snarl every bit as feral as one of the aliens he hated. His eyes were like black holes in his face. Two soldiers held his arms as a tsunami of hatred surged over me. Fortunately, my enhanced empathic block protected me from my usual responses.
I took a deep breath. “Let him go. This one is mine.”
The soldiers glanced at General Finster, and she nodded. When released, Levi grabbed a knife from one soldier’s belt and lunged at me. I sidestepped and watched him, balanced on the balls of my feet.
“Fur, no,” I said as the big man moved toward Levi. “I said he’s mine and I mean it. That goes for everybody.”
“But he has a knife,” Roxanne cried.
“So give me one,” I said as I moved laterally to keep Levi in front of me, not taking my eyes off him. “And a jacket. He’s forfeited any right to General Finster’s surrender terms. That’s his choice.”
I felt the handle of a knife thrust into my right hand and a leather garment into the left. Someone understood what I wanted. I twisted my left arm to flip and wrap the jacket around my forearm as a knife shield.
Levi chose that moment to drive toward me again, knife hand outstretched. He knew nothing about knife fighting and grasped the handle as he would a hammer, with the point down. He slashed at me, but I warded off his blows with the leather guard. I danced aside to maintain the distance between us. I had trained to oppose knife fighters, and he had no clue. I could take him. I waited for the inevitable opening. I brushed aside the fleeting worry about whether I could bring myself to kill someone. A flash remembrance of the little gazelle on Lupus IV reinforced that, but I had no choice now. And if anyone deserved killing, it was Levi.
The Galactic Circle Veterinary Service Page 32