by J. L. Curtis
Fargo and Nicole looked at each other, as Doc continued, “The reason I wanted to talk to you Nicole, is that when we examined Melissa, I found hairs on her clothes. Those hairs came from animals. Specifically, a mountain lion, and a few hairs from a wolf, according to research I had OneSvel do. Now we know both those species have a history of savaging humans on Hunter.”
He glanced between Fargo and Nicole, “Fargo, now he’s a GalScout, retired. He’s comfortable in the wild, lives up in a remote area. But he’s never been bothered, other than that one incident at the waterfall, right?”
Fargo nodded. “I see them occasionally, but that’s all.”
Doc faced him directly. “Bullshit. The last time I cleaned the exam room after you left, I noticed there were hairs everywhere. I compared them under the scope, and they’re the same.”
Fargo was a bit startled when OneSvel projected, “Careful with your answer.”
“I.”
Nicole threw up her hands. “Fuck it. I’m tired of lying. You want the truth? This is the truth. A wolf came up to me, took my arm in her mouth, and led Holly and me to the girl. A full grown mountain lion was keeping her warm. They let me pick her up, and escorted us back to the vineyard.”
Doc rocked back in his chair. “Wh…eh…that’s not…”
Nicole was in full chief sergeant mode now. “Not possible? Of course it’s not possible, except it happened. And,” pointing to Fargo, “He has one each: wolf, lion, and bear that are bonded to him. And he communicates with them. How’s that for impossible, Doc?”
Doc asked softly, “How?”
OneSvel, still prostrate on the floor, projected, “Well, that cat is now out of the bag, as you speak.” It was all Fargo could do not to flinch, thinking OneSvel was unconscious.
Fargo thought, “As you say. Since the truth is now out, I guess I’ll lay it out for him.
“If necessary, Doc can have an accident. And I am not drunk, my host is drunk.”
Fargo shook his head. “Okay the truth is that I used empathic projection to get close to a female wolf who was hurt at the waterfall. I treated her and felt the litter of pups she had. And, oh by the way, those three species were fighting the Silverback in concert. They can talk, I guess is the word, mentally within their species and across species. They all came up and smelled me when they left. Four months later, I got three females dropped in my lap, literally. One wolf pup, a bear cub and a lion cub. They bonded with me, and although I can’t talk to them, they do sort of respond to commands. They also alert me when things happen and I can sense their mental states. Nicole knows about it, she’s been up at the cabin and interacted with them.”
Doc said wonderingly, “Wolves noses are over a hundred thousand times better than ours. That would explain them coming to Nicole. But why?”
“Payback for my killing the Silverback? Payback for saving the she-wolf? I don’t know. What are you going to do about it?”
Doc looked at Nicole. “Uh, could I have a drink please? Something strong?”
Nicole stomped over to the bar. Pulling a bottle out from under the bar, she sloshed a glass half full and set it in front of Doc. “What are you going to do?”
Taking a sip, he said, “I… I don’t know. The scientific…” He tossed off the drink with a shudder. “No, that won’t work. We would be invaded with eco-nuts and the xenos. How about we keep this between us? I won’t even tell OneSvel. I’ll… figure out something to tell him.”
Nicole raised an eyebrow. “Why? This could make you famous.”
OneSvel projected, “Doc has his secrets too, and he has no desire to interact with the larger GalPat. He will never tell anyone. I can sense his resolve in this.”
“So we should agree and let him drop it?”
“Yes.”
Fargo said, “Okay, I’ll buy that. We’re done here. Never to be mentioned again, agreed?”
Nicole looked sharply at him, as Doc nodded his head. “So, what do we do with them?” Pointing to OneSvel.”
“Let them sleep it off. It’s only fourteen, so you’ve got what, three divs before it gets busy?”
Nicole rolled her eyes, “I guess I’ll just lock the door.”
Twenty minutes later, Holly stepped out of the kitchen. “Mom, I heard everything, but I can keep a secret.”
“Good. Because a lot depends on it.”
OPFOR
Fargo walked into the GalPat admin building adjacent to the space port, looking around in interest. He’d seen the buildings being unfolded and set up, but this was the first time he’d actually been in one. An androgynous chief master sergeant sat at a workstation in the entry way, and looked up politely, “Can I help you?”
Fargo nodded. “Fargo, Hunter Militia, I’m here to meet with a Major Culverhouse?” Winged foot emblem, dammit… Oh yeah, Hermes. Hermaphroditus or Hermaphroditos, child of Hermes and Aphrodite. Mated with a… Nymph? Hence hermaphrodite. He consciously didn’t probe the Chief, working on the shielding he’d discussed with MobyDineah.
The chief stood, “I’m Chief Aphrodite. You are expected. Major Culverhouse, Captain Culverhouse, and Captain Garibaldi are in the captain’s office. This way, please.” Major Jackie Culverhouse sat behind the desk, with her hubby Captain Mack Culverhouse, sitting to her left. Captain Bob Garibaldi sat on the couch, a bulb of something in his hand.
Fargo had a momentary start, as he tried to figure out whether he was supposed to report, or… Major Culverhouse got up, “Mr. Fargo? Or is it Captain? Come in, we don’t stand on ceremony here.”
She extended her hand, as Fargo stepped in front of the desk, “Um, well, since this is an official meeting, I guess Captain Ethan Fargo. Or just Fargo.” He extended his psi sense and felt curiosity from all three of them, and humor from Captain Garibaldi. None of them seemed to have any psi talent, nor did the chief.
Captain Culverhouse stepped up, “Mack. Pleasure to finally meet you. We’ve heard from our scouts about you and your hideaway up in the mountains.” Taking his hand, Fargo sensed a wistfulness, and honesty.
“Mack, I usually just go by Fargo. It’s a long story.”
Captain Garibaldi stood languidly, “Bob. I’m the old fart here, and junior to boot. I’ll defer everything to my ‘seniors’ here,” he said with a laugh.
Fargo saw that Garibaldi was a fireplug of an officer, short and wide. And from his handshake, very fit. “Fargo.” He sensed that Garibaldi was the prankster of the group, but also the smartest one in the room.
“Bulb?” Matt asked, pointing to the small autochef sitting on the sideboard.
“Coffee, please?”
“How do you like it?”
“Program sixty-two please. No adds.”
A seg later, bouncing the bulb in his hand, he sat around the conference table with the others, as the chief went back to its desk. Major Culverhouse opened the discussion, “Colonel Keads told me I needed to get in touch with you about providing some OPFOR for the company we’ve got here on a det.”
Fargo sensed humor from Bob, and worry from Mack as he nodded. “We could probably do that. Depends on how much and what type of OPFOR you want.”
Jackie plowed on, “Colonel Keads told me a little bit about your company. Well, more than a little bit. Like it’s all Ghorkas, and retired chiefs, CSMs, and warrants. And you have armor.”
Sensing her nervousness, he smiled. “Yeah, you might say the company is a bit different.”
Bob laughed. “Really? A whole fucking COMPANY of Ghorka? Oh my God, what I wouldn’t give…”
Mack looked over at him, “Shaddap Bob. Just shut up. We are not…”
Fargo glanced between the two of them, then at the Major. “Lemme guess. The troops are getting a bit uppity?”
Jackie rolled her eyes, “A bit. Well, maybe more than a bit. They’re getting barracks fever. And they are pissed they didn’t get called to participate in the search for the missing little girl.”
Surprised, Fargo said, “I didn’t kn
ow that. I was in my liteflyer, not working the ground end. Our militia company wasn’t called up either. We have SAR protocols for each community, based on time delay, search area, and other factors. The rule, if you will, is that we do not extend searches past sunset. Too many things outside the settlements will eat you for dinner without a second thought. The only allowable darkness search mode is airborne, preferably from a shuttle. Liteflyers are only allowed if they can glide to a safe area. And she was found just before sunset.”
Mack and Bob exchanged glances and Fargo sensed that they knew that was a lie. Shaking his head, he continued, “So, what kind of OPFOR do you want?”
Jackie rolled her hand at Mack, who said, “Preferably multiple. Some flat, some wooded, some mountainous. We had thought about some night, but maybe we need to rethink that.”
“Armor or no?”
Bob chimed in, “Maybe a mix of both? Some, shall we say, local resistance, moving up the complexity chain to armored attack and defense of positions?”
“How badly do you want them beaten?”
Jackie bristled, then thought for a second, “Do you really think?”
Fargo smiled. “Major, do you really want me to unleash a hundred CSMs and warrants on your troops? Most of our company has a minimum of forty years of service. Our average age as of last month was eighty-nine.”
Bob laughed. “Oh hell yes! This is gonna be epic!”
Mack just shook his head as Jackie’s eyes got big, “I didn’t think…”
Fargo grinned, “How about subduing a local resistance hotbed in an outlying village. No armor. Lasers simulating firing. Pain threshold say… Two? And kills are paralyzed for the remainder of the exercise?”
“Um, I guess.”
Fargo glanced at his datacomp, making a couple of swipes, “How about this weekend? We’re drilling this weekend.”
Mack looked at him, “I’m afraid to ask, but where?”
Fargo’s grin got wider. “Oh, how about the Enclave?” He tapped the holo and entered the coordinates, then sat back.
The other three looked at the holo, then Mack expanded it, “Damn. That’s…”
Bob finished the statement, “A friggin fortress! Who the hell would voluntarily…”
Jackie said softly, “The Ghorka, right?”
Fargo nodded. “And it’s almost eight thousand feet up. And chilly. And no way to approach covertly.”
Jackie looked at the holo, then rotated it, “That. Is. A. Killing. Field. I wouldn’t even put armor in there. I’d nuke it from orbit and be done with it.” Sitting back, she looked at the two captains, “You want to try this?”
Fargo said, “I’ll sweeten the pot. I’ll give you a three to one advantage. Fifty against your entire company. And only half of those with rifles.”
Mack and Bob’s eyes met across the holo, and they both nodded. “We’re in. We’ll need lift.”
Fargo replied, “There is a ship in orbit called Hyderabad. She’s on contract. She can lift the entire company.”
Jackie shook her head. “Captain Fargo, may I observe from the… Enclave, as you call it?”
“Certainly.”
***
Fargo leaned against the building, looking at Lal, Jiri, Horse, and Nirvik. Nicole had disappeared with a few of the women, and he worried about what they might be planning, but that was out of his hands. “So, we’re going to use second platoon and part of third as the rebels. Everyone is kitted out with the laser modules for their rifles and pistols, right?”
Jiri nodded. “Everybody including Yash and Kamadev. They’ll play snipers.”
Lal glanced at Nirvik, “Are you sure you want to play the leader?”
Nirvik grinned through his gray whiskers, “I’m old. I’m bent and broken. They will not suspect me. They will look at me as a cast off.”
Fargo got up the nerve to ask, “Nirvik, how old are you?”
Nirvik laughed. “Something between one thirty and one forty. I lost count. Maybe Lal knows, he keeps all the records. I just make kukris now.”
Lal shook his head. “Dammit Nirvik, you know you’re a hundred and thirty eight. You are eighteen years older than your wife, and she had a birthday on Tuesday.” Turning to Fargo he continued, “Ekavir, you and the major will be in the eagle’s nest to observe. She will have to be blindfolded to be led there for security purposes.”
“Eagle’s nest?”
“It is one of our lookout posts. You are of this tribe. You may know the way. She is not, and may not.” Glancing at his wrist comp, he said, “And you need to be going that way.”
A shuttle popped over the cliff, spiraled down for a landing, and they watched with interest as Colonel Keads stepped off, along with Major Culverhouse. Kulbir came trotting up, “Want me to escort the colonel?”
Fargo nodded. “I don’t know where he will want to go, but feel free. Lal, who is going to escort us to the… nest?”
Lal grinned, “I am.”
The colonel and major walked up, “Captain, Warrant, and Kulbir. Are we ready?”
Fargo nodded. “Anytime you are, Sir. Where would you like to observe from?”
“Kulbir, what would you suggest?”
“Colonel, I can show you a number of places with the rebels,” Kulbir said with a grin.
Keads smiled. “That will work. I’ve never seen this side of an exercise.”
Fargo turned to the major, “Major, if you’re ready? We have an overlook to observe from.”
She nodded. “That’s fine. Colonel, I’ll meet you back here at the end of the exercise.”
Keads nodded distractedly, “Fine. Lead on, Kulbir!”
***
Fargo and Major Culverhouse sat in the Eagle’s Nest, looking out over the Enclave and the approaches, “Amazing view. And I can see why they don’t want us to know how to get here. They really are security conscious aren’t they?”
Fargo nodded. “And paranoid to boot.” Cocking his head, he said, “Sounds like a ship. Here we go!”
The Hyderabad swooped in, grounding for less than one seg, as a platoon boiled off a mile away. It hopped east, grounded again, another platoon off, and grounded to the southeast, remaining on the ground as the last platoon debarked, all three platoons in soft armor.
Fargo laughed. “Interesting… A mile out? Maybe a little overconfident?”
Jackie winced. “I… I don’t know what they are thinking. I’m not sure they’ve been out of battle armor in over two years. And I know they haven’t done any VRs like this.” Turning to Fargo she said, “This isn’t going to end well, is it?”
Fargo shrugged. “Honestly, I don’t know. I wasn’t involved in the planning. But probably not. A mile, across open ground? Even in soft armor they are going to be ripe for the picking. Did they…ah well, too late, so never mind.”
Lal said softly, “Here they come.”
Major Culverhouse and Fargo both brought binoculars to their eyes and watched as the platoons closed on the Enclave. Fargo asked, “No ferrets?”
Her shoulder slumped, “I haven’t seen any launched. Bad…”
“Who planned this?”
“Mack and Bob are all about getting the troops involved. I’m guessing they gave it to the sergeants to plan, and the chiefs to review.”
“If they were in full armor, yeah, but this…” He chuckled as he watched Bob go down, “They just took out Bob. Hope he’s comfortable. At least he’s lying on grass.”
Jackie swung her binocs and sighed. “Mack is down too.”
“They’re going to take care of the flankers, then handle the middle platoon.”
Ten segs later, intermittent sniping fire from the village, then concentrated fire on the flanking platoons had caused both of them to be effectively annihilated. The villagers had done their best to drop them in comfortable locations, but a couple ended up sprawled across rocks in what had to be uncomfortable positions. I hope they call it before those Herms end up badly bruised and cramping up, but they do
sort of deserve it, all things considered. The snipers turned their attention to the center platoon who had hung back, waiting for the flankers to get into position. Only a few random troops in the center platoon were down, along with both lieutenants, but Master Chief Aphrodite was still upright and leading that platoon. They were less than fifty yards from the village when they realized both sets of flankers were down, and started to move faster. They were singing something that Fargo didn’t recognize as concentrated fire took out the master chief, and two other chief sergeants, leaving what looked like one senior sergeant in charge. And charge she did. But only about fifteen troops were left who followed her into the center of the village.
Fargo leaned forward, wondering what Jiri had up his sleeve, when the troops started kicking in doors, “Oh not good. That’s going to piss off…”
Suddenly Nirvik stood in the center of the street and yelled something, but Fargo didn’t hear it clearly. The senior sergeant did, as she charged toward Nirvik, discarding her rifle and pulling a combat knife. Fargo got up, “No! Lal, she’s going after Nirvik! FINEX this damn thing before he gets hurt.”
Lal replied calmly, “We can’t get down there before whatever is going to happen, happens.”
The major was on her radio yelling, “FINEX, FINEX, FINEX, all troops stand down, this exercise is terminated! FINEX, NOW!” She yelled, even as the senior sergeant closed with Nirvik, blade flashing in the afternoon sun.
Fargo watched as Nirvik somehow eluded her blade, and seemed to slide to one side as she charged by. Turning she came back at him and Fargo realized he had his kukri out. “Shit. Nirvik is going to try to defend himself. Lal, get…” The two closed again, and once again, Nirvik seemed to slip aside, but this time there was a scream, and the senior sergeant went to her knees. Nirvik kicked something to the side, and yelled something in the Ghorka dialect. As he did, all of the other troops collapsed on the ground.
***
Two divs later, debrief completed, the colonel, major, captains, Lal, Jiri, and Fargo joined the picnic being held in the center of the village. Nicole smiled at him as she handed him a plate, “Very lightly seasoned, just for you.”