“Yes sir,” said Hyatt in a slightly unsteady voice. “I’ll have something ready for your approval within the hour.”
“I look forward to reading it,” said Harken. He stood and left the room.
Chapter 74
As they marched back across the little patch of land where so much blood had been spilled, Logan searched the faces of the Sahiradin bodies. Although they had distinct facial features, he was struck by how many similarities they shared. Except for one with black hair, they all had shoulder-length white hair. And each one had a tall, lean body type.
Soldiers from the League and Northrunner armies were assisting the wounded. Talon helicopters were already landing to ferry them to medical aid stations. Others were laying the dead in a row along the tree line. Logan saw a Sahiradin body lying face down on top of a human. Something seemed familiar about the alien. He rolled the Sahiradin over with a push of his boot.
“Ravenwood!” he yelled. “Come here!”
Ravenwood ran to Logan and asked, “What is it?”
Logan pointed at the Sahiradin. “Recognize this guy?”
Ravenwood peered at the face of the Sahiradin. “Ah, yes. Our old friend. And he’s still alive. We must get him away from here before the Sahiradin return for their own.”
Logan caught Cap’s attention, and waved for him to come and assist.
“Ravenwood!” exclaimed Cap when he arrived. “I thought you were dead.”
“I wish people would stop saying that,” said Ravenwood.
“How’d you recover so fast? What happened?”
“Never mind that now,” he replied. “Help us with this Sahiradin.”
“Holy shit,” said Cap, looking at the Sahiradin’s face. “Is this the guy?”
“This is the guy,” said Logan. “Grab his legs.”
As Talon transport helicopters filled with the seriously wounded lifted off from the field, they carried the Sahiradin to the tree line, where they were able to secure a stretcher that was no longer needed. They bound his hands and feet and placed him on the stretcher. Then they followed the other able-bodied soldiers into the forest. They walked through the trees in a northerly direction for about a kilometer until they came to a newly plowed farm field. The Northrunners then put them on a road that would lead them around the still heavily defended enemy hill and back to the League’s base.
As the highest ranking surviving League officer, Lieutenant Styles thanked the Northrunners for their assistance. She ordered the remaining League troops to fall in. When the troopers were in formation, they saluted their Northrunner counterparts, who returned the compliment.
As the Northrunners marched north, Logan and the others returned to the spot where they had set down the stretcher. They were joined by Lieutenant Styles as they pulled off the Sahiradin’s light but strong breast armor and searched for the Apollo Stone, but they could not find it. As they searched, he began to move and groan, though he did not regain consciousness.
“And you think this is the Sahiradin who’s been helping the PRA all these years?” asked Styles.
“I’m pretty sure,” said Logan.
“I’m positive,” said Ravenwood.
She looked at Ravenwood and let her eyes rest on his face. “I seem to recall you were reported dead,” she said after a moment.
“An exaggeration,” he said without elaborating.
“I see,” said the lieutenant, not convinced but unwilling to press the matter. She looked at Kurak and continued. “Let’s bring him along. We’ve got about a two-hour march ahead of us. You’ll have to keep up, so switch out carriers every fifteen minutes.” She assigned several troopers to assist.
They lifted the stretcher, with Logan and Cap taking the back two handles and Ravenwood and Kane taking the front two. They followed the line of troopers marching along the dirt and gravel road, which ran straight west along the field for about three-quarters of a kilometer. Then it bent to the south and disappeared into the forest. Logan looked at the unconscious Sahiradin and then up at the blue sky. It was about 10 a.m. and Logan could tell it was going to be a hot day. He hoped it would be worth the effort to carry their prisoner through the oppressive heat for the next two hours.
As they walked, Logan said to Ravenwood, “So tell us what happened. And don’t say the report of your death was an ‘exaggeration’. The last we saw of you, Kane was loading your body into an old helicopter. Then he flew you up north to bury you.”
Kane interrupted, “Not to bury him. To return him to the place where he came from.”
“So what did you do?” Lena asked Kane.
“I placed him on the rock overlooking the waters of Crow Wing where my great grandfather had found him. I started a fire and stood vigil, talking to him, remembering our times together. It was a moonless night and dark as pitch. Then, in the early-morning hours I saw a shimmering light around his body. At first I thought it was a trick of the firelight, but it grew brighter and brighter. Then he woke.”
Cap said, “I know they say seeing is believing, but this is impossible. You were dead, Ravenwood. You’d stopped breathing. Your heart stopped beating.”
Ravenwood adjusted his grip on the stretcher and replied, “I’m not sure myself. But there are special places in the world. Places of power where the laws of physics don’t apply in quite the same way as one would expect. The rock at Crow Wing is one such place.”
“There’s more to it than that. I’ve never heard of a special place where the dead come back to life,” said Cap. “And what about your stomach wound? You were stabbed all the way through your back. Even if it didn’t kill you, it should take weeks to recover enough to even walk.”
“I’ve always been a quick healer,” replied Ravenwood.
“Whatever happened at that lake, it’s a good thing you came when you did,” said Lena. She took his free hand in hers. “I don’t think we would have made it out of that fight without your help. And the help of the Northrunners, of course.”
“As for the Northrunners, you can thank Kane for that,” said Ravenwood. “He’s well known and respected among the Northrunners. When he asked them to come to your aid, they didn’t hesitate.”
An hour and a half later, they reached the League camp, and the troopers Styles had assigned to assist set down the stretcher. General Longmire and two guards came out of the nearby command tent to greet them.
“Glad you made it back,” said the general. “That was one hell of a fight, and you all performed admirably.”
He looked at the still-unconscious Kurak and said, “So this is the Sahiradin who was helping the PRA.”
“Yes sir,” said Logan. “Unfortunately, he didn’t have the stone on him.”
“He may not have the Apollo Stone,” said Kane. “But he has useful information. He’s been in the center of the PRA’s efforts to develop advanced weapons for many years. He could tell us a lot if we can get him to cooperate.”
“Agreed,” said Longmire. Turning to the two guards he said, “Take him to the medical tent and ask the doctors to do what they can to make sure he recovers.” Then he nodded to the group and returned to the command tent.
Before the guards picked up the stretcher, Cap said, “You all realize he’s responsible for the deaths of billions of people. Maybe we should torture the hell out of him. Whatever the punishment is for the crimes he’s committed, it isn’t enough.”
“Defeating him and his kind and throwing them back into their corner of the galaxy is the greatest punishment we can inflict,” said Ravenwood.
A soldier trotted out of the command tent and asked Kane and Ravenwood to join Longmire and several Northrunner officers who had just arrived. Ravenwood was rather surprised by the invitation, given the level of skepticism the military traditionally held for his opinions.
“I guess the evidence has become too convincing to ignore,” he said with a smile.
“Don’t volunteer us for anything,” yelled Cap as Ravenwood disappeared into the te
nt.
Logan, Cap, and Lena then walked toward their camp to take off their gear and get some rest. As they walked, there was a massive explosion to their right. They jogged over to the edge of the hill and looked down toward the bridge to see wood and metal flying high into the air. A second and a third explosion followed. The explosions caused the bridge to break in two. The western half completely collapsed into the river. The eastern half still stood, though it leaned to the south at a fifteen-degree angle and much of its superstructure fell into the river.
“Well, the PRA won’t be using that bridge to cross the river,” said Lena.
“I guess not,” agreed Cap.
They watched the debris flow downstream for a few minutes, then joined L.C. Heath and the two surviving fire team members, Flores and Lee, at their campsite. They all took short showers and went to the mess tent for a meal. They toasted their fallen comrades and talked about what the upcoming battle with the PRA would be like. They’d all heard that the PRA’s First Corp was on its way north by train. And although they’d destroyed the bridge, they knew that wouldn’t keep a determined enemy from crossing, but at least they’d slowed them down. They hoped it was enough to give the defenders in St. Louis a chance.
They talked about that day’s battle against the Sahiradin. They all commented on how hard it was to pierce the aliens’ skin, but Logan shared that they were vulnerable in the neck and under the jaw. Lena showed them the Sahiradin sword she’d picked up off the battlefield. It was very light. The edge was sharpened to an atom’s width but didn’t show any nicks or chips.
“And it cuts through their skin like it was paper,” she said as she ran her thumb along the side of the blade.
After they finished eating, they heard the assembly bugle. They hurried to the command tent and fell into line in the clearing in front of it. When the troopers had gathered, General Longmire came out of the tent and stepped onto the top of a wooden table where everyone could see him. Several Northrunner officers and Kane also emerged from the command tent.
“Soldiers of the League, I want to commend you all on an outstanding performance today,” he said. “You fought like hell to secure the bridge against an entrenched and heavily armed enemy. Well done. You heard our demolitions team blowing it to hell a little while ago. No PRA tanks will be crossing that bridge any time soon.”
They all cheered.
Longmire clapped his hands a couple times and gave the troops a thumbs up, then he continued. “While some of you attacked the bridge others engaged against a new enemy, the Sahiradin, in close combat. For centuries humans have wondered what our first encounter with intelligent alien life would be like. Now we know. Bloody. But with the help of our Northrunner friends, you forced the bastards to abandon the field.”
The soldiers cheered and clapped. General Longmire nodded toward the Northrunner military representatives with whom he’d been talking inside the command tent. “I know that, together, we can defeat not only the PRA but whatever the Sahiradin throw at us too.”
“Hoorah!” yelled a trooper. The call was echoed by the other troopers, along with applause.
Longmire faced the Northrunners and clapped his hands. “Now, I know there are a lot of questions about the Sahiradin. I’ll tell you our current understanding of the situation.” He folded his arms across his chest and took a breath before speaking.
“The Sahiradin have been fighting a war against an allied group of species called the Lycians for a very long time. Maybe hundreds of years. Their war has brought them to Earth because of an item they believe is here. It’s something the Sahiradin use to travel from star to star. Now, that might be why they’re here. Might not be. Frankly, I don’t give a damn. Whatever the reason, they’re not welcome on Earth. And if they don’t leave on their own, we’ll put a boot up their ass.”
“Hoorah!” yelled the soldiers.
“Now as you all know if you had bothered to look up in the sky the other night, the Sahiradin and the Lycians had a battle up there in Earth orbit. The word from central command is the Lycians drove off the Sahiradin ship, at least as far as the moon. I don’t need to tell you that we should not assume the Sahiradin are beaten. They might have lost a battle, but they’ve been fighting the Lycians for a very long time, so one lost battle won’t mean much.”
He looked at the faces of the young men and women under his command. Then he said, “I’ll be honest with you. It’s going to get worse before it gets better. We have word that both sides have more ships on the way to Earth, and their fight might continue here on the planet.”
He let that news sink in for a few seconds, then he gave them a broad smile. “But we’ll deal with that if and when it comes. For now, enjoy your victory. Get some rest tonight, and be ready for whatever tomorrow has in store for us.”
A voice shouted, “Dismissed!”
Logan, Lena, and Cap began walking toward their camp when a soldier called them into the command tent. When he entered, Logan saw Ravenwood, Kane and two Northrunner officers talking to General Longmire near the center of the tent. The three privates walked to the group, stood at attention, and saluted.
Longmire looked at them and said, “At ease.”
“You heard what I just said about the fleets approaching Earth,” he said. He pointed at a piece of paper with something written on it. “Well, we just got word they’re already here. At least the Lycian fleet is. The Sahiradin fleet is believed to be gathering near the moon. It won’t be long before they lock horns again, and when they do the Sahiradin will come for their troops on the hill.”
Longmire paused before continuing, deciding how much more needed to be shared. Then he said, “As you may have guessed, Central Command’s initial position was to do our best to stay out of a conflict between two alien species, despite our engagement with the Sahiradin today. But that changed about twenty-four hours ago. We intercepted and deciphered a PRA transmission stating the Sahiradin had accepted the PRA offer. We don’t know what the terms are, but it’s a safe bet they’ll be providing some kind of mutual aid. I would consider them allies at this point.”
“That would explain why the Sahiradin parked those troops on the hill,” said Cap. “If we hadn’t attacked their camp from the north, they would have hit us at the bridgehead.”
“Maybe,” answered Longmire. “But I think it’s bigger than a little help here on the Mississippi. Don’t forget that prisoner you caught was not only living in the PRA for many years, he was also assisting their top scientists develop weapons based on Sahiradin technology. If they’ve struck a bargain, he’s probably in the middle of it.”
“Where is he now?” asked Lena.
“Still unconscious, but the doc thinks he’ll be awake soon,” replied Longmire.
“It’s too bad he didn’t have the Apollo Stone on him,” said Cap. “We could have used it to bargain with the Sahiradin. Get them to take their fight with the Lycians somewhere else.”
“You can’t bargain with them,” said Ravenwood. “They won’t tolerate our continued existence.”
“Which brings me to the reason why I asked you three to come,” said Longmire. He nodded to a soldier, who brought him a metal box from a nearby table. Longmire opened the box and pulled out a golden sphere about the size of a tangerine.
“You said the Apollo Stone was about the size of a marble, but I wonder if this might be it,” said Longmire.
Logan’s heart leapt in his chest when he saw the golden sphere. “Yes. I’m sure this is it. It was in a metal sphere when we got it, too. And it was about this same size.”
“How did we get this?” asked Lena, puzzled. “We didn’t get inside the Sahiradin camp and our prisoner didn’t have it.”
Longmire grinned. “We did get into the Sahiradin camp. Remember when we blew up their air-defense battery? While our troops were laying charges, an enterprising young private first class slipped into their command tent unnoticed and grabbed as much as he could lay his hands on and stuffed i
t in a backpack.”
Ravenwood held the sphere in his hand and slowly turned it from side to side, gazing at the perfectly smooth surface. “This changes everything. We still need help from the Lycians. But if we can keep this out of Sahiradin hands, we might have a chance. We might win.”
“We have the sphere,” said Cap. “But it would be nice if we could confirm the Apollo Stone is really in there.” He looked at Logan. “Does your medallion work on this?”
Logan retrieved the medallion from his pocket and held it near the sphere, but nothing happened.
“We need the proper key. This medallion probably only works on the sphere we had,” said Logan.
Cap scoffed and said, “Okay, who’s going back into the Sahiradin camp to get it?”
“Maybe we don’t need to,” said Lena. “Let’s go talk to our Sahiradin friend.”
Chapter 75
Kurak’s eyes flew open when Logan pulled the medallion from its hiding place in the lining of his tunic. He screamed at Logan in his native Sahiradin language, causing Logan to jump back in surprise. Kurak struggled to rise up from the cot, but his hands and feet were tied securely to its frame so he had to satisfy himself with hurling insults.
“Oh, you tricky bastard!” said Logan, laughing.
“How long have you been pretending to be unconscious, Kurak, former captain of the Vanquisher?” asked Ravenwood.
Kurak looked at Ravenwood and cursed at him in Sahiradin, “Vleck dam Aresch!”
Logan held the medallion high the air between his thumb and index finger where Kurak could see it. It was black and smaller than the one Logan’s grandfather had sent him. On one side was an etched image of a mountain with a single star above it. On the other was an intricate grooved pattern similar to Logan’s medallion. Kurak watched intently as Logan slowly rotated the medallion between his fingers and studied its markings.
The Navigator (The Apollo Stone Trilogy Book 1) Page 40