“Jovis?”
“Yes.”
“You have Jovis?”
“Yes, I do. And he has become very talkative.”
“Well, yeah . . . but Jovis is insane. Doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Lost his marbles a long time ago. I can’t understand half the stuff that comes out of his mouth.”
“Ah-hah.” The major put the mug carefully down on the serving table and pointed a meaty finger at Kettle. “That’s what I thought, too. Not from Okin? Different DNA? Makes about as much sense as pigs flying and horses sprouting rainbows out their asses.”
“Bat-shit crazy Jovis.”
“Well, that’s the thing. He’s not pranking anyone.”
Kettle didn’t follow the major’s line of thought. “I’m sorry?”
“Not intentionally. He really believes that what he’s saying is true. Without a shadow of a doubt.”
“How do you know that?” A shiver went up Kettle’s spine. He knew the answer.
“I tortured him, of course.”
“You . . .”
“Tortured the shit out of him.” He took another swig from the mug and then wiped the remaining moisture off his beard with the sleeve of his military brown shirt. “And I mean that literally,” he added once finished.
“Is he alive?”
The major paused and tilted his head back in brief contemplation. “That’s a good question.” He turned to the soldiers on his left, and then back again to the right, searching for somebody. “Korpello? Where are you?”
“Here, sir.” One of the Yenshians stepped forward from the crowd.
“How about it? Is Jovis still breathing?”
“Yes, sir. Last time I checked, sir.”
The major nodded and resettled his gaze on Kettle. “There you go. Still alive. But that’s not really the point I was trying to make. You know, when you start pulling fingernails and burning flesh, people are generally willing to spit the truth, but you can’t stop there. No, no, no. You can’t let anyone off easy. You see, there are always a few tough bastards who can hide things through the first few rounds of pain. Details, you know. Important details. That’s why you have to torture them on and on.” He rotated his index finger around in a circle to accentuate his point. “You have to make sure you push them past their breaking point. And everyone does have a breaking point, Mr. Merrick Kettle.”
Kettle’s mind was starting to race. He could see where this was going, and at the same time, he was failing to see a way out of his predicament. The two usual responses to danger – fight or flight – weren’t going to suffice. He wondered where Jasper was, whether the Yenshians had caught him or whether he had given them the slip. Even if he was still out there dodging his pursuers, there was no way in hell that the sergeant would be in any shape to attempt a rescue. Vasper was in astonishing shape, but he wasn’t superhuman.
“That means you can relax now,” the major stated. “You don’t have to answer my questions if you don’t want.”
“Sorry?”
“I mean this very instant. You don’t have to tell me where you’re really from. You don’t have to tell me anything. You can just stand there with mud and blood dripping off your face like an ass and keep your mouth shut. I wouldn’t know whether to believe you in any case. It’s better for me to wait.”
“Until?”
“Until my men torture the shit out of you. Then we’ll have the truth, or at least your perception of the truth.”
Kettle shook his head. “You don’t need to torture me.”
“Yes, we do.” The man stood up and walked toward Kettle, hitching his belt up and adjusting his pants as he got closer. “That’s what you fucking get when you violate Yenshian territory. I don’t know who you are or what you think you’re doing in our land, but you will learn the price of your mistake, and you will tell us all of the secrets you’re keeping in that stupid-looking head of yours, including how you speak Yenshian and why Jovis is telling us such fantastic tales.”
“Why did you bring me out here? You could’ve just told me all this inside.”
The major smiled, though it was difficult to tell beneath the facial shrubbery. “Two reasons,” he said, holding up a pair of fingers. “First, my men wanted to have a go at you. Do you like contact sports, Merrick Kettle? I hope you do, because these soldiers you see in front of you . . . Well, they’ve been looking forward to playing with you.”
“And the second reason?”
“To say goodbye. I have business elsewhere, so I’m going to get in one of those trucks over there and drive away. I’d say, ‘see you later,’ but I don’t think that will be the case.”
“Look, you don’t . . .”
“I’m not finished.” He was standing just a few feet in front of Kettle now, his boots at the edge of the mud. “I also wanted to give you something to think about while you’re playing games with my men. Something to give you a little more energy. You know, stir the fire inside you, bring out your fighting spirit.”
“What’s that?”
“I’m taking your friend with me when I go.”
“Jovis?”
“Haley Yoon. In fact, she’s waiting for me in the back of my truck. Tied up and bound, of course, but waiting nonetheless.” The major waited to measure Kettle’s response and took satisfaction in the anger radiating off him. “She’s mine, now,” he continued. “The Yenshian Armed Forces have Jovis, and now they have you. That’ll be sufficient to get to the bottom of whatever it is you monkeys are up to, so your girlfriend is extraneous. Superfluous. So I’m going to take her with me.”
“Don’t.”
“I’m going to hurt her, Merrick Kettle. Very badly. And there’s nothing you can do about it. Then I’m going to rape her, and when I’m finished, my brothers will rape her, and then maybe my cousins.” He leaned forward and spoke quietly. “And when we’re finished with her, I’ll slit her throat and dump her in the nearest garbage dump. That’s what’s waiting for your friend, Mr. Merrick Kettle.”
Kettle screamed and charged the major, who was waiting for just such a response. Kettle’s right fist was quickly blocked by a beefy forearm, and then the major clobbered his attacker with a right hand of his own.
Kettle went down hard and reacquainted himself with the mud.
After the shock of the punch subsided, he heard laughter. “He’s all yours, boys,” the major shouted and then walked toward the truck.
3.2 SAELIKO
“We’ve got more problems,” Mr. Toad’s voice proclaimed inside Saeliko’s head.
“What now?” Dallas responded, slowing his progress on the trail while the update came in. The three of them had been moving generally downhill for the past two hours and were approaching a broad valley basin that was crisscrossed by numerous streams and a few very small settlements. They had steered clear of road thus far, but that wouldn’t last long as they came out of the mountains and onto the plains.
“Zodo has two Kye-shivs inbound. Looks like they’re going to start snooping around the area.”
“In broad daylight?” Soup said. “Aren’t they worried about being spotted by Yenshians?”
“Looks like they’re going to risk it.”
“They can’t see us, can they?” Dallas asked. “I mean, our decoders are still turned off, right?”
“Don’t worry, you three are invisible. And I shut off Sergeant Vasper’s decoder, too.”
“You’ve got him in the Cloudrunner?”
“Affirmative. Just picked him up. He’s exhausted and half delirious, but he’ll be okay. Anyway, we can’t stay put. We’re going airborne in a minute to stay clear of the Kye-shivs. We’ll continue to monitor you from the air, and we’ll still be in communication.”
“You said problems, plural.”
“Yes, I did,” Mr. Toad said. “You guys are going to have to hurry things up down there.”
Dallas looked confused. “Why’s that?”
“The Zodos are still about two hou
rs out, but one of them appears to be making a bee-line toward Kettle and Haley’s position.”
“Well, why in the nine hells are they doing that? We’re nowhere near the Zero site. It should be obvious to Zodo that Kettle and Haley were captured. The Yenshians are either planning to kill them or put them in prison. Either way, Zodo wins.”
“Dr. Tannishoy and I have been talking about that. We think they might try to bomb the place.”
“What do you mean, bomb the place?”
“Blow it up. Explosion. Ka-boom.”
“Why?”
“Makes things clean. No survivors to tell stories about Zodo and multiple universes.”
“And how do they explain to their shareholders that they’re murdering Zero stock, let alone planetary civilians?”
“They don’t, obviously. They’ll make up a story. Something not too far-fetched, so the shareholders will lap it up without asking any uncomfortable questions. Brennov will probably claim the two Kye-shivs were on a rescue mission to find and retrieve Kettle, Haley and all other surviving Zodo personnel, but the dastardly Yenshians killed them all first.”
“That doesn’t make sense,” Dallas stated bluntly. “Why would Brennov send out two Kye-shivs so long after the first one went down? How does he explain the delayed response?”
“I don’t know, but that’s what he does. He’s a spin-doctor.”
“Wait a sec,” Soup interrupted. “Why did Brennov wait so long to send out his kill squads? Why not just send them as soon as he found out Kettle and Haley survived the first attack?”
“Brennov most likely doubted your friends would ever get close to Zero Site 1607. He could afford to sit back and watch them fail. However, my guess is that we changed his mind.”
“Huh?”
“When Brennov figured out that you and Dr. Tannishoy hijacked a Kye-shiv and disappeared off the grid, he realized two things – first, that he had one or more moles in his inner circle, and two, Kettle and Haley had help on the way. That information probably prompted him to send out his . . . well . . . kill squads, as you say.”
“Okay, okay,” Dallas nodded. “That makes sense. We need to get down there double-time. Are they still in the same building?”
“Yes, you should be able to see it now. It’s a big building with a fenced-off front courtyard. It’s all by itself in the middle of a field, and there’s a bunch of vehicles parked in front of the main gate.”
“Affirmative, we see it. Hell, if we really put a move on, I’d say we could be there in twenty, maybe twenty-five minutes.”
“There’s one more problem though, and it’s another reason you need to hurry.”
“Christ, what now?”
“It looks like the Yenshians have separated them. “Kettle is in the middle of the front lawn. Haley’s in one of the vehicles.”
“Oh,” Dallas said. “Oh, shit.”
“That’s right. Looks like they’re going to move her to a new location.”
“God damn it.”
Soup slapped Dallas on the shoulder and gave the older Marine a meaningful look. “Let’s go.”
Dallas nodded. “No time for stealth.”
“Oorah.”
“Saeliko,” Dallas said, addressing her for the first time since they found Vasper. “We’re going to need you to be a team player here. No jokes, no mind games, absolutely no fucking around. You understand me? No running off by yourself, no disappearing, no ignoring us. Got it?”
She locked eyes with him and considered the tone of his voice. He wasn’t begging, but he wasn’t commanding either.
“I’m serious,” he went on. “Serious as a hole in the head. I’m not going to threaten you; I know that stuff doesn’t work on you anyway. But I’m telling you, we need you. We need your help. Kettle and Haley need you. Soup needs you. I need you. There’s most probably going to be a boatload of soldiers in that compound, and the only way we’re going to get our friends out of there is to do this as a team.” He shook his head. “No, not a team. We have to do this as a crew.”
“I’ll be good.”
“Give me your word, because I sure as hell don’t trust you yet.”
She placed one hand on each of his shoulders and looked him in the eyes. “Dallas, I give you my word that I will be good.”
“No secret schemes? No backstabbing?”
“I’ll be good.”
“Okay. Let’s go get our friends.”
It was Soup who led the way. He abandoned the trail, which looked like it was going to wrap around the hillside before taking a shallow approach to the valley floor, and instead led Dallas and Saeliko straight down a steep, rocky embankment.
Once on the flats, they set a hard pace toward the compound. Saeliko could have gone faster, but she stuck to Dallas’ side and continually swept her eyes across the landscape looking for signs of trouble. She understood that this was a dangerous approach they were taking. Even in the Sollian, she preferred to use stealth when possible rather than rushing head-on. She knew that here on Okin, the danger level ramped up significantly with the long-range gun technology. If there were snipers guarding the compound, they might just be running to their deaths.
For fifteen minutes, they moved uncontested toward their goal, weaving in and out of small groves of trees, hopping over streams and the occasional farmer’s fence, the big compound growing larger in the foreground.
Movement caught Saeliko’s eye. Shapes were moving in front of the compound’s gate, appearing and then disappearing between the vehicles parked out front. One-by-one, three of the vehicles began driving to the right of the compound, heading away at a ninety-degree angle. Rooster-tails of dust emerged in their wake.
“Big problem,” Mr. Toad told them via the nano-tech in their ears.
“Haley?” Soup huffed between breaths.
“She’s in the lead truck that just left.”
“Crap!”
“We’ll figure something out,” Mr. Toad said. “We’ll keep monitoring her signal.”
“Can’t you just shoot the trucks from the Cloudrunner?” Soup asked. “Christ’s sakes, who knows how far they’re taking her.”
“I’m sorry. I can’t do that,” he replied softly with clear sincerity. “I’m under orders from my superiors. I cannot engage.”
“Crap!” Soup said again.
Dallas slapped him on the back. “There are trucks still there. We get Kettle out first. Then we take a truck and go get Haley.” Soup didn’t reply, but Saeliko noted that he increased his pace even more. She didn’t mind. Her own blood was beginning to rise. It always did when she knew a fight was coming.
Another five minutes and they were within a rock’s throw of the fence. They heard a deluge of boisterous voices hollering and whooping inside the courtyard, which was confusing but fortunate. The three of them could have walked to the gate playing trumpets and remained undetected. Instead, they cautiously eased forward until they were safely behind the wooden slats of the fence just to the right of the open gate.
The men inside were shouting obscenities and challenges, and it didn’t take a genius to figure out that Kettle was the target of their attention. What they were doing to him was a mystery, and it would remain so unless Saeliko learned how to see through solid fences in the next minute or two.
“We need to get a look,” she whispered.
Dallas and Soup both nodded and looked around for a way to make that work. Soup crept away toward one of the trucks. There was a wide, flat-topped toolbox in the pickup bed. Dallas muttered “Right,” and then went over to help Soup. The two of them carefully lifted the box out and carried it back to the fence, where they placed it flush against the wooden slats.
“I’ll peek over first,” Soup told them and put a foot on top of the toolbox. At first, Saeliko doubted the wisdom of popping his head above the fence, but no other choices were immediately making themselves known. Besides, the sun was behind their position, meaning that any of the soldiers inside that
did happen to look in Soup’s direction would be half-blinded.
“As low as you can, brah,” Dallas told him.
Soup turned his head sideways and hoisted himself up so that he could peer over the edge without giving himself away. Seconds passed and no one inside seemed any the wiser, so Saeliko assumed Soup remained undetected.
She decided to take her own peek and laid herself out on the ground so that her head protruded into the open gateway. She saw a big group of soldiers, all of them (thankfully) facing the other direction. At first glance, she guessed they numbered a dozen and a half. Twenty at most. They were men, too, not like the boy she had come across at Vasper’s cave. She was thankful for that. It wasn’t good for the conscience to have the blood of children on one’s hands.
On the other side of the men, she saw Kettle. He was hard to see at first; she only caught glimpses of him between the mass of bodies blocking her line of sight. But she could see enough to tell that he was in bad shape. He was moving awkwardly, as if he had taken a beating . . . or three. His legs were stiff, and his shoulders were slumping forward.
Somewhat inexplicably, he was wielding a sword in his right hand.
Saeliko saw another man, this one much larger and bulkier, facing off against Kettle. The brute was probably a head taller, and from the way he moved, the far healthier of the two.
They’re playing bloodsports, she concluded. They were bashing Kettle around for fun, like kids throwing rocks at a wounded puppy dog. The puppy wouldn’t die for a long time, but he would suffer and bleed.
She took a last look at the compound and eased herself back behind the fence. Once back in a crouching position, she tugged on Soup’s pants to call him back down from his perch.
“Should we go in guns blazing?” the younger Marine asked. “We could probably take most of them before they even know what’s going on.”
Saeliko shook her head. “Kettle’s there, too. It’d be too easy for a stray bullet to take him out.”
“We could move to a different position. Maybe hop over the fence from over there?” He pointed in a general northerly direction.
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