“I’m trying not to jump to conclusions.” His tone was patient but she sensed a great deal of emotion roiling beneath the surface calm. “We left a lot of gear on the planet when we pulled out. The enemy could have done the same. Although to my knowledge there weren’t any Chimmer reported here. No one ever detected an actual Mawreg infestation. If they had, the planet would’ve been destroyed.” He faced her. “Sara, I know I promised to get you home safe and I will, but I need to follow up on something.”
“Ok, I’ll wait.”
He shook his head. “Not here. I found a partial message in the headman’s office, from a larger town to the west; probably three days walk at the rate we can move. The message was a warning, cut off abruptly. I think the same thing may have happened there. I might be able to find out more if we go check out the situation. I know what to look for and in a bigger population center the people may have had time to leave more clues, intentionally or otherwise. I have to go, it’s my duty.” He could tell from the frown on her face, she wasn’t convinced and he genuinely wanted her to understand why he had to take a detour on what must sound like an unnecessary side trip. Why he expected her to take more risks despite his promises about her safety. “No other Sectors operator is likely to be here ever again so I’m in a unique position to gather intel. If there is or was Chimmer involvement on Farduccir, Command needs to know.”
Not meeting his eyes, she drew a circle in the dust with the toe of her battered shoes. “Can’t we just report what we saw here? I’ll corroborate your account.”
He shook his head. “Not conclusive enough. I know how Command thinks. My report about this one remote village would get shunted aside. But what if there is ongoing involvement from the Mawreg side? We can’t afford to have an infestation here in the heart of the Sector.”
She took a deep breath, squared her shoulders and challenged his assumptions. “Playing devil’s advocate, didn’t the Sectors defeat the enemy here? Isn’t the victory why you all left? So how could there be any Chimmer presence now?”
“It would be unprecedented. But the Mawreg and their client races are devious, play a long game. Their concentration on the future is part of what makes them so dangerous to our civilization. Maybe the enemy tried a new tactic here, after we thought we’d won and we left. Or maybe a planetary official made a deal with them and they launched a fresh effort here.”
Umarri’s sly grin flashed before her eyes. Could he sell out the entire Sectors? Hesitantly she voiced her interpretation of what Johnny had said. “The warlord?”
“I’d bet my paycheck on him as the culprit.”
“My head is swimming,” she said frankly, leaning against the wall and pushing her hair off her face. “But you’ve convinced me against my better judgment we should investigate the larger town. I don’t like it and the idea scares me to death, but I see why we need to do it.”
He squeezed her arm and gave her a huge smile. “I like hearing you say ‘we’.”
“We’re a team, soldier, like it or not.”
He dug something out of the pack. “I snagged you these.”
The gift was a pair of sturdy walking shoes, beautifully worked in supple black leather and decorated with elegant blue and green stitchery along the side panels. He’d also brought a pair of incredibly soft blue socks.
“I think these’ll fit,” he said. “Since we’re going to the town, I’ll have to break into one of the shops or a house or two here, and find us clothes. We don’t look like Farducciri but in robes and hoods we can fool an observer from a distance. The last two days we’ll have to be pretty much in the open.”
“No caves?”
“No, we’re done with them for now.”
He sounded oddly relieved.
CHAPTER SIX
Johnny made a return trip to the heart of the village, after finding a secluded spot for Sara to wait. He was gone for so long her nerves were frayed by the time he came back, lugging a sack full of Farduccir robes. Sara ducked inside the nearest hut, Johnny on her heels and took a few moments draping the stolen clothing over their own Sectors garb.
“How do I look?” she pirouetted on her new walking shoes, causing the blue and gray tunic and long skirt to flare out.
Johnny took his time, gaze traveling from her head to her toes, and gave her a grin and a low whistle. “Fine. From a distance no one will suspect anything. Put your cloak on and the hood up.” He continued fussing with his own rust brown robes, making sure he could access his blaster and knife with ease.
“What’s our plan?”
“Walk cross country until we have to take the road. Are you ready to march?”
“Yes, although I hate being in the open.” Frowning, she glanced out the open door at the countryside. “Not much cover, nowhere to hide fast. I didn’t realize how safe I felt in the highlands.”
He nodded. “Me too, but these disguises are good and I speak fluent Farducciri. If we meet anyone, we both need to hide our faces with the scarves and I need you to play mute.”
“Gladly.”
The first day of the trip went smoothly. They saw no one and made good time, avoiding the road but paralleling its course. After camping in a small grove of trees for the night, Johnny rose early, persuading Sara to follow suit, munching energy bars as they walked.
“I hate being on the road,” she said, stepping onto the pockmarked pavement. “We’re too exposed.”
“I know what you mean, but it’s the only route for the next two days. There’s no good cover along the way.” Johnny paused for a moment and glanced behind them. Heat shimmered off the pavement. “I don’t think anyone’s used this road for a long time. We should have seen traffic, even if nothing more than farm vehicles going to market.”
“It is in pretty bad repair,” she agreed, skirting a pothole big enough to take a bath in. “If the Mawreg were here, or one of their high level client races, what would have happened to the people?”
“From what we’ve seen, as far as any briefings I’ve ever been given, when the Mawreg take over an inhabited world one of three things happens. Least often, they leave the whole place alone. Life goes on like there never was an invasion.”
Jaw dropping, she said, “How can that be? No one ever discusses the possibility of living in peace after the Mawreg arrive.”
“Sectors command doesn’t publicize it. The higher echelons don’t want people to get the idea we’re fighting this war for nothing, to know there’s any possibility you can be safe on a Mawreg-held world.” Johnny gave her a glance. “It’s never been seen on a planet where Terran-descent humans were the dominant species. The Mawreg seem to have identified us as their most dangerous foe. They’re not fond of any of the humanoid species but those Terran genes scare them beyond all reason. ”
“So what does usually happen?”
“The Mawreg clear the entire planet. If they’re directly involved in the invasion themselves, as far as we can tell, the population becomes food.”
Eyes wide, Sara stopped in the middle of the road, feeling faint. “Farmed? Slaughtered?”
“More like hunting. The Mawreg don’t make any attempt to keep anyone alive or breed humans, or whatever the dominant sentients were. The troops find every living being on the planet, including animals, and fish in the ocean, and process them in giant factory ships.”
“You’re making me sick to my stomach,” she said. “What’s the third outcome?”
“Client race status. We can’t fathom the Mawreg mind, why they do anything but on occasion their rulers choose to grant specific sentients a lot of independence, in exchange for serving their purposes. The Shemdylann, the Betangray, the Chimmer, a few others.”
“What would stop the Mawreg from deciding you were a client today and food tomorrow?”
Tapping his nose with his index finger to indicate the accuracy of her question, he said, “Exactly. We’ve found signs of at least once where that happened, a race of beings we call the Lost Ones. In the
early decades of the war, we used to run into them and then suddenly no more reports of them. We found a few abandoned ships in the star lanes but the sentients themselves were gone.”
“So what’s your assessment of events on Farduccir?” She wasn’t sure she actually wanted to know, suspecting the truth could be awful, but no one had ever told her these kinds of details before. Hearing Johnny talk, it was apparent to her how hard the Sectors worked to keep the general population at ease and confident about the war.
“I believe we may have a hybrid situation, which would be unprecedented. Part of why I’m taking this calculated risk, heading to the city to check it out, is because the situation would be so unusual. Entire populations being carted off in Chimmer ground trucks suggests option two, food, but this isn’t how the harvesting usually happens. And the animals were left to die. Mawreg take any organism with a protein base. We’d have seen the factory ships in the star system. Another interesting fact is the way the warlord is operating as a space pirate. I’m speculating whether Umarri made a deal somehow with the Mawreg, to be a client for them, while they depopulate the planet of everyone not in his clan. Umarri could be a cover for whatever the Mawreg are doing here, fool the Sectors for a long time into believing things are more or less normal for a fairly primitive planet. He hijacks a few ships, holds small numbers of people for ransom, behaves as a low level irritant to the Sectors, reinforces the idea this is nothing but a backwater world ruled by thugs.”
“Scary.”
“You have no idea.” Johnny’d given her a carefully edited, high level report. No need to burden her with the horrendous details of events the Sectors had recorded where the Mawreg ventured.
“I wanted to get home before but now I’m terrified.” She rubbed her arms as if chilled, even though the sun was warm today and a total lack of wind.
“We’ll check out the city and be on our way again to the north, to call for extraction, I promise. I just need to see if there are any concrete indications of continuing Chimmer or Mawreg activity after our forces pulled out.” He didn’t want to linger either but duty pulled at him. The stakes were too high for the Sectors to walk away from the planet after his making a half assed report. He broke stride for a moment, kneeling as if to fix something wrong with his boot. “There’s a person on the hill ahead, watching us.”
He was proud of Sara for keeping her cool and not turning her head in an attempt to see the observer, merely asking, “What do we do?”
“Keep walking, fix your face scarf.” He adjusted his own, so only his eyes would show. “Have your blaster loose so you can pull it if needed. Probably a Farducciri but we can’t be sure till we get closer.”
Johnny hiked toward the watcher as if this was a normal day and he and Sara were out for a stroll. As he drew closer, Sara in his wake, Johnny took note of the man’s small flock of sameel and one or two garbisi busy grazing on the sparse grass hillside while he sat and ate crumbly journey bread. “Fair day to you, old one,” he said in Farduccir.
“There are no fair days any longer.” The man’s voice was guttural, dispirited. “Where are you bound?”
“To Mesmiil.”Johnny gestured in the direction they were going. “And you?”
“Not there. Nothing is there. I take my flock and stay far away. It’s the season to move to the pastures in the high plateaus.” He gestured toward the dark purple mountains on the horizon. “I have nothing better to do until the spirits take me, so I keep to the rituals.”
From the old man’s facial tattoos, Johnny identified him as a member of the warlord’s clan, which meant he was a potential enemy. “Do you know what happened in Mesmiil?”
The shepherd frowned. “Where have you been, that you don’t know?”
“We wander from place to place. I’m taderbiir.” A sort of itinerant cross between a monk and a lay priest, respected in the Farduccir society. One who couldn’t be identified with any clan. Johnny had used the disguise before in his time on Farduccir.
“You must have seen in your travels how the villages and towns are becoming empty. Local headmen said in the clan circles Umarri had won a great victory even the all mighty Sectors themselves couldn’t achieve, and got the alien overlords to grant him and our people special status.” The old man spat. “Our clan was supreme, had the best of everything. Who cared if those who are not Umarri’s disappeared, when we could feast on the riches left behind? But now, these past two years, our places also begin to sit empty. I fear those with whom Umarri bargained will eat him last.”
Johnny made the Farducciri sign against evil. “May it not be so,” he said. “Thank you for the warning, honored elder, but my path takes me onward.”
Wielding his crook, the shepherd nudged his motley flock into motion. “We’ll not meet again then.” He trudged off without a backward glance.
Johnny strode along the road, trusting Sara to follow. After they’d climbed a rise and began descending on the other side, he said, “Thanks for not asking questions till we were well away from the old man.”
“His voice sure sounded grim—what did he tell you?”
Johnny gave her the overview.
“Well, that’s it then,” she said, coming to a halt in the middle of the road. “You’ve got the old man’s tale about alien overlords. Why are we continuing on to the city?”
“I have to see for myself. The shepherd’s tale is circumstantial evidence but not enough. He could have meant the relationship with the Shemdylann for all I know and the Sectors doesn’t care much about situations with them.” He considered how best to explain. “Again, it’s a matter of proof Command will accept and find compelling enough to take action as a result. This isn’t the only possible hot spot in the Sectors, not by a long shot, and there are never enough resources to check them all. Command has to prioritize. I’m trying to figure out if the Mawreg or the Chimmer, or some other client race involved in invasion and destruction are still here because that fact would make this a very high priority.”
She shivered. “The longer I know you, soldier, the more things you tell me I wish I could not know. I think I liked being a naïve citizen with a rosy vision of the war.”
Her visible distress upset him. He berated himself for saying too much to an innocent civilian because it felt good to unburden himself of a few facts he knew about the real world. Sara was too easy to talk to, a rare experience for him. He didn’t talk to many people other than Mike about anything beyond superficial topics. Reaching to touch her hand, he said, “I’m sorry. I’ll try to do better about keeping the details to myself.” He swallowed hard. “We’re not supposed to be sharing intel with civilians anyway. It’s just I’m so used to talking to you and you seem like a woman who wants to know the truth–”
“I am.” She interrupted his apology in a firm tone. “Being naïve and ignorant is what landed me here on Farduccir in the first place. Which in turn caused you to be in danger in order to rescue me. I admit I find some things hard to hear. But that doesn’t mean I want sugar coating.” She took a faltering step toward the town, straightened her spine and fell into a smooth pace for sustained hiking.
He followed her, debating what, if anything he should say and finding nothing appropriate.
They walked in silence for a while.
“Look,” she said, giving him an enigmatic sideways glance. “I’m not upset. I asked you to persuade me of the necessity of this trip to the town and you gave me the facts I needed. I get it now. Doesn’t mean I like it but you’ve thoroughly convinced me we have to do this reconnaissance. As long as we get off this planet at the end of the adventure, I’ll be fine.”
“I gave you my word.”
“And you’re a man of your word. I know, I can tell.” Sara poked him playfully in the ribs. “So stop brooding and start talking again.”
“About what?” He gave her a wide eyed glance.
“No more politics and warcraft, not right now. More boyhood tales of growing up on Azrigone would be fi
ne.” Laughing she said, “I enjoy hearing about you as a kid. I’ll even tell you about selected instances of my less savory adventures if you like.”
Relieved to see her in a better mood, he relaxed. “I can’t imagine you ever getting in trouble. I bet you were a sweet kid.”
“I had my moments especially as a teenager. Ask my Mom and Dad.” She shot him a glance. “If you’re really good, I might share a few of the better stories, things even my parents remain blissfully ignorant of.”
Sara exerted herself to keep them both cheerful so the rest of the day’s march passed smoothly, although Johnny never slackened his situational awareness. There were no other encounters with Farducirri. In the late afternoon he called a halt. Pointing to another copse of trees next to the roadbed, lining a small stream, he said, “I think we can shelter there for the night. Let’s set up camp and then I’ll see if I can find any game. There should be ground marmints at the least. Running water attracts them and a whole colony will build nests close to a stream.”
“What do they taste like?”
He made a face. “A bit gamy, but the meat would be a change from the energy bars.”
“How do you catch them?”
“Entice them out of their burrows and snare them. It’s not too hard. Marmints aren’t big enough to shoot.”
She shivered. “I’m not cut out for this living off the land stuff. If they’re small and fluffy, I probably can’t eat them.” Her tone was apologetic, as if she feared disappointing him.
He found himself laughing and the unexpected amusement was a relief. “Big teeth and claws, squinty eyes, rough fur. Not at all appealing. I’ll do all the work, including the cooking, don’t worry. All you have to do is eat. We have to keep your strength up. Energy bars are adequate but it’s best to supplement them with real food.”
“Adequate is being generous.” She made a face, clutching her throat as if gagging. “Once we get off this planet, I’m never eating another one. Bring on the one course dinner.”
Hostage To The Stars: A Sectors SF Romance Page 8