Storm World (Undying Mercenaries Series Book 10)

by B. V. Larson

  “This creature is dishonorable!” she boomed, suddenly loud beyond belief. The walls shook with her croaking words. “We shall expel him from our sacred cavern!”

  Squanto took a step back, then two. Behind him the guards came to life as well and gripped their spears. They meant business.

  He ran for it then. I couldn’t blame him. Sure, he’d begged me for death, but I was recording all this on my tapper, and I was grinning big.

  He knew I’d spread the vid file far and wide. It was one thing to be beaten down in an honorable fight and killed—it was quite another to be jolted in the ass by a crowd of angry salamanders.

  The chase was on in an instant. I had to give Squanto credit—for all his haughty nature, he was a scrapper. He dodged, he weaved, he darted between gangly legs and knocked guards down like bowling pins.

  We chased him all the way out of the cavern. I waved my own army of amphibians back, and they reluctantly let him pass.

  The queen though, with her long-legged retinue, they just wouldn’t give up the chase. They railroaded his furry butt all the way to the entrance.

  There, however, we ran into a bit of trouble. A full squad of Rigellian troops was on the scene, squaring off with an army of Scupper regulars.

  Apparently, Sateekas hadn’t been the only interested party who’d viewed my vid as I uploaded it.

  -59-

  A terrific fight broke out. My new salamander buddies must have thought they had it in the bag at first—but they’d thought wrong.

  The Rigel troops were unstoppable. They were stronger than they looked—easily stronger than the Scuppers. Worse, they had on that flexible armor that couldn’t be penetrated easily.

  The Scuppers swarmed forward, jabbing with their shock-sticks, and I was surprised to see them scoring some hits. They couldn’t penetrate and kill the Rigellians with their weapons, but they could give them a jolt. Apparently, the suits were designed to stop kinetic damage, not electrical charges.

  Still, despite being stunned and goaded, the Rigellians began to win. They deployed their boom-stick shotguns and blew down two or three salamanders with every blast.

  “Hold on, hold on!” I shouted. “As your first-man, I order you to pull back!”

  Startled, the Scupper officers looked at their queen. She was at the back of the pack, standing and leaning on her massive spear. She looked winded. I got the feeling she didn’t march off to battle all that often.

  “Obey the first-man!” she said.

  The Scuppers fell back, and the Rigel boys circled up. They helped their stunned troops back onto their feet.

  “Squanto!” I called out. “I’ve decided this isn’t the right place for battle. We came here in peace, and we should part ways in the same fashion.”

  Squanto eyed the crowd. More and more salamanders were marching up every minute. It was obvious that he might kill a thousand—but he couldn’t kill them all. Eventually, they’d run out of ammo, or be stunned over and over until they’re hearts stopped beating. However this was going to end, it wasn’t going to be pretty.

  “I will withdraw,” he said.

  “Good. Let’s let bygones be bygones. I can forgive and forget about this day, if you can.”

  Squanto stared. I got the impression my offer surprised him.

  “No, McGill,” he said. “The events and words spoken today can’t be so easily forgiven. This is not finished between us.”

  “That’s a crying shame…” I said, watching the Rigellian troops turn and limp away toward the tubes.

  A familiar figure approached me then. He was tall, blue, and skinny. He’d been my second-man before running out on me days ago.

  “Second-Man?” I demanded. “Where have you been?”

  “Let me apologize for my absence, First-Man,” he said. “Your unexpected arrival here has cleared my mind. I now live only to serve you.”

  “Yeah, yeah… right.”

  “I have a suggestion,” he said, sidling closer. “We can manipulate the fields inside the tubes. My people did construct them, after all.”

  “Uh… what are you suggesting?”

  “A simple matter,” he said, waving his cups delicately in the air. “We’ll turn them off at an opportune time, such as when a journey is near its ending. Without any braking action… well, the soldiers of Rigel will experience a difficult landing…”

  He painted a grim picture. I looked after the Rigel troops. Could it really be so easy? Would it be worthwhile?

  I could order them all murdered. Rigel would know, of course. They’d know I’d fought with Squanto, publicly humiliated him and his men, then arranged to have them killed as they withdrew under the terms of our truce. We transmitted these details on open channels to impress Sateekas.

  “No,” I said at last. “Don’t do anything to the tubes. Let them find their way to the surface again.”

  Second-Man waggled his fingers slowly, clearly disappointed. “It will be as you command. All agreements shall be honored.”

  He slunk away, and I looked after him. I wasn’t sure if I liked the guy anymore. In fact, I was beginning to think I didn’t like him at all.

  After the troops from Rigel had all left, I stared after them. How would things turn out in the end with old Squanto? I’d bested him twice, but he seemed determined. It would be hard to trick him a third time.

  Try as I might, it was hard for me to visualize us becoming friends someday.

  Being First-Man of the Scupper forces wasn’t quite like being the Pharaoh of Old Egypt. Instead of wielding absolute power, I found I had to do a bit of convincing and cajoling to get their cooperation.

  My first idea was simple: gather all the salamanders I could and take them up the tubes with me to Fort Beta. That idea was met with laughter.

  “Impossible,” Second-Man said.

  Somehow, despite the fact I didn’t really know or like him, I was saddled with him. The queen had decided that he would act as my second-man to their entire Scupper force. This seemed to make perfect sense to them, while the logic of it completely escaped me.

  “Why is it impossible?” I growled at him.

  “It simply cannot be done. There are too many commitments. Everyone can’t go on a mad adventure.”

  “This is your planet,” I said. “We’re here to help you out. Why do we have to fight and die when you refuse to?”

  “You don’t,” he said.

  “And if we threaten to withdraw? If we return to our ships and exit this world?”

  “Faced with such a cowardly act,” he said, “we’d be forced to swear allegiance to Rigel.”

  “Right… that’s what I thought. Your word means nothing.”

  “It means much—but we can’t allow our species to be exterminated on your whim. Most of these soldiers are only militia—meaning they are only bound to fight when defending the city. They can’t be forced to march to the surface and fight off-world armies.”

  I scratched at my face. The world down here was kind of… stanky.

  “All right. How many troops can I take topside?”

  “A thousand, or maybe twice that if your manner is convincing. They must all be volunteers.”

  “Wonderful. What about other cities, other queens?”

  He blinked in surprise. “There are other dwellings, but most of them exist under the sea. We shelter there from the endless storms that disturb surface waters.”

  “Will they join me?”

  Second-man considered carefully. “They might, if you can defeat their leaders. Soon, however, they will hear of such an effort and move to stop you.”

  I threw up my hands. “I’m trying to help you people! I’m not here for my health, you know. I’d rather go back to Earth and let Rigel enslave the lot you.”

  “It is fortunate, in that case, that your superior officers have given you orders that conflict with these base impulses.”

  Second-Man really had my number. These guys seemed primitive, but they weren’t,
not really. They had decent tech and they were cunning when it came to diplomatic matters. They knew I couldn’t just pull up stakes and take off. Central would never go for it.

  “All right,” I said. “What if we send out messengers to the other cities asking for adventurers to join us?”

  Second man brightened. “Will there be looting?”

  “Uh… looting? What do you want to loot?”

  “The bodies of fallen Rigellians, of course. They have excellent weapons and even better armor suits. We would like to study them.”

  Knowing full well I was on shaky ground, I grinned and nodded. “Sure thing. If you can get me a few thousand more soldiers, you can loot what you want after we beat Rigel. I guarantee it.”

  “This is excellent news. I will spread the word, and I’ll take on the task of requesting aid from other cities personally. If you’ll wait here for a few weeks, I’m sure—”

  “Forget it. Send an electronic message.”

  He looked crestfallen. “But… First-Man. The cities are distant. They aren’t culturally aligned with us directly. The personal approach, sucker-tip to sucker-tip, is bound to be more successful in winning support.”

  “Is that so? All right… follow me.”

  He did so, but he moved apprehensively. I found Big Green and ordered him to accompany me to the queen’s chambers.

  We found her snoring on her rocky throne. After clearing my throat a few times, I got her attention at last.

  “What is it, Champion?” she asked. “I thought you’d gone to relieve my world of all invaders. Please, make haste.”

  “I surely will, your majesty—but I’ll need a bigger army.”

  I quickly explained my plans. Both Big Green and the queen seemed alarmed at my ideas.

  At last, however, I managed to get the queen to order Big Green out to the depths of the ocean. He was to journey from city-to-city, using the tubes that ran along the seafloor.

  With luck, he’d send up a steady flow of recruits. Even if that failed, well, at least there would be one less hater behind me prattling to the queen.

  Big Green left after an hour of objections and weaseling. As good as he was at coming up with excuses, the queen was better at swatting them aside. Watching her get her way and rule her subjects, I began to appreciate her capabilities as a ruler.

  She knew how these salamander troops thought, and she’d heard it all before. She didn’t take any crap from anyone, wet-skin or dry.

  Before the day died in the cavern, Big Green was on his way, and I went in the opposite direction. He travelled out to the sea, downward at a slant into the deep. I led three thousand odd troops back to Fort Beta.

  Would they be able to stop Rigel, or the Wur? I had my doubts, but they were better than nothing.

  -60-

  By the time I got back up to Fort Beta, Graves was annoyed.

  “What took you so long, McGill?” he demanded in my headset.

  I considered telling him the truth—but quickly passed on the idea. He didn’t like it when I dealt with foreign dignitaries on my own. Hell, no one did.

  “I apologize, Primus,” I said. “But I’ve got a little surprise for you.”

  “What’s that? Did you give one of these salamanders the clap?”

  “Uh… I’m not sure that’s even possible, sir. But no, I’ve brought back some of them. Several thousand of them, actually.”

  Soon, they were popping out of the ground, exiting the underground subway system at speed. As they were well-practiced with the procedure, they came out fast, at least one a second.

  Graves took in the camera feed I relayed to him, and his manner changed.

  “Well, I’ll be damned… You did it. It’s raining lizards down there. I’ll report this to Armel. Good work, McGill.”

  The channel closed. Carlos swaggered up to stand at my side. He clucked his tongue as he watched my fountain of amphibians.

  “Most of them are blue,” he said thoughtfully, “but there are about thirty percent green ones, and maybe fifteen percent brownish, or mixed.”

  I glanced at him. “You’re keeping score, huh?”

  “Yeah. There’s this bio chick who’s trying to work her way into the xenobiology corp. I promised I’d get her some firsthand data on the locals.”

  “Hmm,” I said, considering. “Well, I’ve got some more info for you, in that case. You want to see something… unusual?”

  Carlos sidled closer. “You know I do. What did you do? Pierce it?”

  It took me a second to interpret his comment and his odd grin. When I did, I almost clocked him one, but I settled down instead.

  “Check this out,” I said, and I played him a snippet of the vicious fight I’d had with Squanto.

  “That’s awesome!” he exclaimed. “You’ve got to pass me that vid, McGill. I’m sure to get in tight with this girl in Blue Bunker with that.”

  “No way,” I said. “You can’t show anyone. That’s a private vid, like I said.”

  “You cock-blocker,” he said, throwing up his hands. “Everyone is out to shut down old Carlos.”

  “I just can’t—”

  “Fine. Whatever. If that’s the way you want to play it, forget I asked.”

  Carlos stalked off, looking pissed. I shook my head. I shouldn’t have shown him the clip, I realized that now. He was the last person a man could trust with a secret. I just couldn’t afford to have the brass find out how I’d gotten my native army.

  I’d been under the impression Graves would be so impressed with my efforts he’d overlook what I had to do to get these results. Unfortunately, he didn’t seem all that appreciative. I’d gone to insane lengths to get him his army, and he was off to report the news to Armel. He hadn’t told me to report to Armel in person, oh nooo. He was going to do it. Maybe he’d even forget to mention my part in the effort. That wouldn’t be like him… but sometimes people changed.

  Could Graves be hoping for advancement to tribune? Did he want to run Varus himself? I supposed it might be natural for him to want more recognition after having spent ninety-odd years in the service of the legion.

  “This whole thing seems unfair,” Cooper said in a conversational tone. “I mean, you’re not getting much of the credit here, and it’s like I’m invisible or something.”

  I jerked my head, looking around. Of course, no one was there. Making an educated guess, I reached out a glove and caught a hem of fabric.

  “Hey!” he called out, but I didn’t let go.

  “You’re going to rip it!” he complained.

  “Then take it off.”

  He did so reluctantly.

  “How long have you been standing around spying, Cooper?”

  He sniffed. “I don’t know… maybe a few minutes.”

  I tossed the stealth suit at him, and he caught it.

  “Leave it off,” I told him. “Come with me.”

  We began walking toward the bunkers. Cooper joined me in the chow line, as it was just after dinner time. The KP bots tried to tell me it was too late to eat, but I pulled rank on them, and they backed off. We got our food and ate it in silence.

  “Ah…” a voice said. “McGill and Cooper… Our heroes of the hour.”

  Tribune Armel swaggered up to our table. “May I join you gentlemen?”

  “Of course, sir,” I said with my mouth full.

  I was pretty happy to see Armel. Obviously, Graves had told him where the reinforcements had come from. I shouldn’t have mistrusted him.

  Armel pulled up a chair and sat down. “You have done something…” he said. “Something I didn’t expect. What was it?”

  I froze, mid-bite on a pork chop.

  There were, as a matter of fact, several very large possibilities he could be referring to. I’d gathered an army, sent out representatives to muster more, fought Squanto nearly to the finish—and contacted Governor Sateekas directly without authorization. I didn’t want to forget about that one.

  Armel looked at
me expectantly.

  After a big swallow, I smiled back at him blankly.

  “Uh…” I began, stalling for time. My mind is fertile, if not the quickest. Dredging for ideas, I brought up the best I could come up with on the spur of the moment. “We brought an army of salamanders back home to defend our walls, sir. Is that what you’re thinking of?”

  “That you did,” he admitted. “But there’s more to the story than that… isn’t there?”

  “Um…” I said.

  Cooper cleared his throat. “Maybe, sir, you’re talking about—” he began.

  But Armel raised a finger and put it into his face. He didn’t even look at Cooper. He kept staring at me. “Silence, little insect. You’re like a mosquito—almost invisible, and that’s good, but also no one wants to hear your tiny whine in their ears.”

  Cooper looked pissed, but he shut up. He was new when it came to talking to arrogant brass like Armel.

  Despite being shut down, Cooper had given me time to think. “Are you talking about the queen, sir? The giant alien I met down there?”

  Armel’s lips formed a tight line. I could tell right off I’d guessed wrong.

  Dammit.

  “That does sound frightfully interesting,” he said slowly. “But I was thinking of a conversation you had with an even more critical personage.”

  I got it then. He wasn’t happy about me contacting Sateekas directly. I could understand that, as the Governor of Province 921 had the power to summarily erase our species from existence.

  “Oh…” I said, chewing slowly. “You must mean Sateekas.”

  I just stared at him after that, chewing. He stared back, growing increasingly annoyed.

  Twitching his head toward Cooper, Armel curled his upper lip. “Begone.”

  Cooper slid away like the ghost he was studying to become. I watched him go—but he didn’t make it all the way to the door. He shrugged on his stealth suit and vanished instead.

  That sneaky bastard…

  “You dare to smirk?” Armel asked dangerously.

  He was watching me. To him, Cooper was unimportant.

  “Uh… no sir. I’m just enjoying my dinner.”