When Eagles Dare

by Doug Dandridge

  Xou laughed again, reaching into a belt pouch and pulling out a small object. “This is one of its brothers.”

  The object he held was less than a quarter inch in length. A close look revealed the tiny rotors folded up on its back. Very low powered, getting all of its energy from the sun. It could stay powered up for fourteen hours with no energy input, so it could stay up through the night.

  “So it’s impossible for anyone to spot?”

  “No, Sarah,” Jonah said, shaking his head, “but it’s extremely difficult to locate if you have no idea it’s there.”

  Sarah still didn’t look satisfied. That was okay with Jonah. As long as she followed orders, she could think what she wanted. If he was wrong about using the drones, it was on his shoulders.

  “We will stop in those hills tonight,” said Xebraferd, dropping back from his place just behind the front of the line.

  “You’ve been this way before?” Charley asked, making his way from the rear of the column.

  “A couple of times,” said the Kalagarta, looking back at the Human. “Once as a child, when I accompanied my father on a trip to the council of chiefs, and a couple of years ago when the invaders first came, to attend the meeting in the place of my father, who was not strong enough to journey.”

  “Your father?” Jonah asked, the connection forming.

  “The village chief, Honctorsh. I am his eldest. When he dies, I will assume the leadership of the village. If there is a village left,” he continued, looking down to the ground.

  The warrior let out a breath, then looked ahead, his eyes narrowed in anger. After another huff he let it go and held himself straight as he trod on.

  “Any more rivers to cross today?” Charley asked, bringing the subject back to one they could discuss without dealing with possible recent loss.

  “Not today. We are on the high ground, and what streams there are flow down the hill parallel to us. Once we cross the hills, the great river will be ahead of us. We will pass you off to the tribe that controls that region, and they will see you across.”

  Jonah thought about that as he kept walking. Of course the Kalagarta who’d been leading them would head back to their village when they were no longer needed, to find out what had happened, if anything. He personally didn’t want to know what had happened behind them. There was enough to worry about in the here and now. But then, it wasn’t his people who might have been attacked by invaders who had a history of atrocities toward the Kalagarta.

  Something moved in the brush, and all the Humans immediately crouched down and leveled their weapons toward the noise. In an instant some of the mercenaries turned to cover the other avenues of approach.

  The colonel noted that the Kalagarta hadn’t moved, and were standing there with open mouths, croaking out their laughs. A moment later an animal stumbled into sight, still at a distance, but very familiar.

  Mugra, Jonah thought, recognizing the general shape of the bear-like creatures he’d only seen as shadows the night before. During the day, they didn’t look anything like bears. They had thick fur, but the plates of bony armor showed through, while a pair of curved horns rose from the side of the face to point forward.

  “They are everywhere in this area,” said Xebraferd, gesturing with his spear at the animals. “Great herds of them. As long as we leave them alone, they will do nothing to us.”

  Some smaller animals, looking much like tiny antelope, moved along at the feet of the larger herbivores. An animal that looked like a fat zebra moved in the far distance.

  Jonah came to the realization that this was a wonderful biosphere, full of life. A wonderland, unlike any place remaining on Earth. Sure it was deadly, with danger hidden beneath the beauty. He could understand why the Kalagarta loved it so. He could also see that he could come to love it, too.

  They ran into other herds on the way over the small range of hills that led into the small valley beyond, several prides of predators on the prowl and many more that were taking advantage of the weather to sleep in the open. The Kalagarta moved quietly enough that people looking for them at a distance wouldn’t find them, while sharp-sensed animals would get enough warning that they wouldn’t panic.

  “We have found a good place to camp,” said another of the Kalagarta warriors, running up with a mate to report in to his chief. “Good cover and close to water. I believe we can actually build a fire tonight.”

  “How far?”

  “Another hour ahead,” said the Kalagarta.

  “We should be there about an hour before sunset,” said Xebraferd, looking to the Human leader for approval, “and I will send hunting parties out to get us some fresh meat.”

  “Sold,” Jonah said. One hour here or there wouldn’t make that much difference in the long run. If they kept to their schedule, they’d reach the vicinity of the invader compound with two days to spare, enough time to scout it out so they could give the Ravagers good intelligence. If the Ravagers were coming. If not? Well, he’d make that decision if it became necessary.

  * * *

  “Damn this planet to the hells,” one of the soldiers cursed, a shadow in the night to the sergeant in charge of the squad. “Every damned flying thing seems determined to leave me a bloodless husk.”

  Sergeant Lrator had to agree. They knew most of the aliens on this world weren’t sought out by the bloodsucking insects, but something in Xlatan blood seemed to attract the damn things.

  “Where are the damned Humans?” another of his squad growled from a hole twenty yards away. “Shouldn’t they have been here by now?”

  “If they do come, they won’t have any trouble determining where you are,” Lrator said, hissing in anger.

  The area where they were dug in had been chosen by Mmrash—one of the passes that was over a half mile in width. It had been up to Lrator to figure out the best placement once they were on the ground. He’d decided to place the ten in individual holes ten yards apart, allowing them to cover a hundred yards while keeping everyone within mutual support range. The Xlatan with the grenade launcher was nearest to him, in the center, where he could control the firepower of the warrior.

  He’d spread sensors out a couple of hundred yards to each side, one every twenty yards. There were also small active sensors out a couple hundred yards to their front, giving them advance warning. Add to that a couple of small drones hanging at the tree tops, and he felt they had their assigned area well covered.

  The sergeant looked down at the control he was holding in his two lower hands. It gave him a readout of the sensor net, and control of the dozen directional mines he’d deployed to cover the most likely angles of approach. A couple of them were placed to break up any attack that came right at them, while the others covered the regions to either side.

  Of course, there was no guarantee the Humans would come into his area, which was why there were five squads deployed. Nor was there a guarantee they’d come tonight. By tomorrow? They’d have to get here by then, unless they were crawling on their bellies.

  “Quiet, all of you,” he hissed, “unless you want the damned soft-skinned creatures to creep up on you tonight and cut your throats.”

  “I’d like to see the weak creatures try,” one of the soldiers said further down the line.

  I wouldn’t, Lrator thought. He’d faced them once, in the underworld that led to the midlands. He had no doubt some of the devious creatures would be able to sneak in and kill silently.

  “Every other man, get some sleep, while the rest stay on watch,” he ordered. “And I don’t want to catch any of you sleeping on watch. This is a combat situation, and you know the punishment that brings.”

  There was some grumbling, but he could tell everyone took him seriously. He wouldn’t sentence them to death, but Mmrash surely would, and they knew it.

  The sun came too early, and Lrator felt like he’d been swatting at the bugs all night. The good thing was, everyone was still alive. The bad, that everyone was in a horrible mood from lack
of sleep.

  The damned creatures better hit our line today, the sergeant thought, glaring at the first soldier to catch his eye, or we’re going to have to go out and go on the attack.

  * * * * *

  Chapter Eighteen

  He was freezing to death. Muscles cramping from the cold, the colonel continued to struggle forward through the storm. There was really nothing else he could do. He fought to draw a breath, but not enough air was entering his lungs. Jonah’s vision was darkening, whether because the sun was going down or because his brain wasn’t getting enough oxygen, he wasn’t sure. He looked down at the gauge on his oxygen tank and saw it was in the red. He was out here on the uplands, by himself, dying. Not knowing how he got here was the least of his concerns. That he would soon be dead was. Looking up from the frozen ground, he noted a dark line ahead. He tried to will himself to stop, to turn around, but his muscles could only move him in the one direction. Toward the cliff, where he would plunge to his death.

  Jonah opened his eyes as the noise of people moving woke him. It was still dark, but his implant told him it was less than an hour till sunrise. He shook his head, groaning as he remembered the dream, the nightmare of being on the high plateau. Memory of where he was came flooding back. His people were safe, in the warm lands of this continent, and in the care of the people who knew it best.

  The colonel stretched, then climbed out of the light bag they all carried for sleeping. A few of his people were already at the fire, stirring up the embers while throwing more wood on it to get it going.

  “Something to eat, Colonel?” Babich offered, holding a pan of an extremely light alloy over the fire.

  The odor of cooking meat rose into the air, and Jonah realized how hungry he was. The meal the night before had been filling, but they’d burned a lot of calories during the day.

  The commander pulled his boots on, looking toward the opening of the campsite. The Kalagarta had found an area surrounded by rocks and had erected a cover of woven branches over it, allowing for a fire that didn’t give them away at night. There was a chill to the morning, and the heat of the glowing coals was welcome.

  “We need to make good time today,” Jonah said to Xebraferd as the Kalagarta war chief came into view.

  “The going should be easy,” said Xebraferd, looking into the eyes of the Human. “There are many game trails in the valley ahead that go in the general direction of our destination.”

  “Any open areas we need to worry about?” he asked.

  “Not that many. And we should be able to work our way around them.”

  Jonah nodded with a slight smile on his face. That was good news. As long as they traveled during the day and stayed under the trees, they should be able to avoid the enemy air patrols. If they had patrols on the ground, it might be another matter. He couldn’t see the Xlatan being enough at ease in this jungle to mount that kind of patrol.

  After everyone had eaten their morning meal, a couple of Kalagarta came into the campsite carrying some animal skins that sloshed with liquid. The two warriors carefully poured the water over the fire, smothering the coals with a hiss of steam. One stirred the soggy mess with the butt of his spear, making sure there were no live coals.

  The colonel approved of their actions. If someone just happened upon the fire pit, they’d know someone had camped here, but there would be no wisps of smoke to give it away at a distance.

  As on the previous day, they assumed an adjusted tactical formation while travelling. The path was wide enough for two mercenaries to travel shoulder to shoulder. Ten yards between each pair, twenty from the lead squad to the following group. If they made contact, they could quickly move into a pair of v-shaped formations. The Kalagarta moved as they always had, a trio a couple of hundred yards ahead, the rest arrayed before and behind the Humans, another trio several hundred back, and a pair on each side, further into the forest and off the path, providing flank security.

  “I’m worried about going through the escarpment ahead,” Charley said, walking alongside his friend and partner for the moment. “That would be the most likely place for the cats to put a stopper in our path.”

  The colonel had to agree with that, but they need to take one of the passes, preferably one that wouldn’t take them too far out of their way. Otherwise, they’d have to walk more than a day out of their way, possibly two, then the same to get back on course. They could angle back in the direction of the compound, but it would still cost them three days they didn’t have.

  “If they’re there, I’m tempted to fight through them,” Jonah said, looking over at his friend to see the approving expression on his face.

  “We’ll have to kill them sometime,” Charley said, nodding, then he dropped back into the line.

  They walked through the day, stopping for breaks every hour and a longer break at midday. The colonel was beginning to get a good feel for the forest. It wasn’t the same as the forests of his homeland, or even the jungles of the Congo and Amazon where he’d trained, but he was growing accustomed to the sights, sounds, and smells. He could pick out the plants that might be trouble and the sounds of animals that might be a threat.

  He looked at the people in front of him, Manny and Sandra, who were also walking with quiet ease, aware of everything around them. Basil and Ujjal walked behind, talking quietly to each other. Joey was beside the colonel, and the young man was seemingly lost in his own thoughts, looking at the path ahead. Every ten seconds or so, the young mercenary looked up and around, paying attention to his surroundings. Finally, he looked over at Jonah.

  “What’s going to happen here, sir?” he asked, gesturing with a hand to let the colonel know what here he was talking about.

  “Well, if we kill the bad guys or chase them from the planet, they won’t be clearcutting this planet. The Kalagarta will continue to have their world for their own use.”

  “Won’t someone else come along after we get rid of this crew, sir? I mean, from what the Kalagarta tell us, that substance in their trees is valuable, like a drug. No law is going to stop people from coming here to get it. The people who come after stuff like this are only in it for greed.”

  Jonah had tried not to think about what might happen here after they chased off the current exploiters, assuming they succeeded. And these people were exploiters. A legitimate operation would be gathering their product with the approval of the natives, the current owners of the planet, and they would do it in a limited manner. The Syndicate was obviously clearcutting without the permission of the natives, and they were enslaving them as a workforce, as well.

  The colonel looked up the path where a couple of the Kalagarta were walking, talking quietly among themselves in their croaking voices. He wasn’t sure the natives would want any of their world harvested by off-worlders. They might not have a choice, since Invigorate was a high demand substance. Someone was going to come after it, and they’d do whatever they had to do to get it.

  “I don’t know, Joey. All I’ve had time to think about is how we’re going to push the current bastards off the planet. Until we do that, everything else is a moot point.”

  “These poor bastards are going to be exploited no matter what,” the young mercenary continued, “and the damned laws of the Galactic Union are working against them. If we could give them the means to defend themselves? Hell, they could harvest it themselves and use the credits to buy what they needed to keep others away.”

  But that’s not the way the Galactic Union works, Jonah thought, shaking his head. The older and so-called wiser species didn’t allow primitive races to be raised up to technological civilizations. Even Earth was considered primitive by most of the more advanced species. Fortunately for Earth, their tech was good enough to be useful in war.

  “I don’t know what’s going to happen, Joey. Will the people who hired us just come in and do the same as the old boss? Maybe. But it’s not our problem. We were hired to do a job, and that’s all we need to worry about.”

&nbs
p; “It’s a shitty job,” Joey growled, spitting on the ground.

  “Yes, it is. But it’s our job, kid. If you don’t think you can stomach that, maybe you should consider another career.”

  Joey didn’t respond to that, but simply kept on walking, leaving Jonah alone with his own thoughts. He wondered how many of his people were thinking like Joey. Yeah, it was a shitty deal the Kalagarta were getting. How did that make them any different than thousands of other peoples who had gotten screwed by more powerful people? It had happened to his people and to Joey’s. Most of his people were from cultures that had their day in the sun. Some were still powers on Earth. His wasn’t. The choices were to just keep pushing on and do the best you could, or to play the victim and complain the rest of your life. Most didn’t care about the victimhood of others, so that choice really didn’t get anyone anywhere.

  “We’ve got something up ahead, Colonel,” Xou reported, running up from the rear. “Multiple electronic signatures. None very powerful. If not for the microdrones, I wouldn’t have picked them up before we were in their detection range.”

  That was just before the entrance of the pass they were heading toward. If it had been him, he’d have dug in further up. The pass was wider at the bottom, and that would give his people more room to maneuver.

  “Everyone,” Jonah said into the comm, “all electronics down, now. Including comm.” He went ahead and disconnected his own comm, then every other system he had. It was unlikely that something not right on top of them would detect the company, but one didn’t become an old, rich, and retired mercenary by taking chances.

  “I only have a couple of drones activated, sir, and they’re on passive. You want me to deactivate them as well?”

  “Leave them up, and let’s see what they give us.”

  The electronics expert nodded and went to work on his control unit. It was as shielded as Earth engineering could make it. An alien detection system right on top of them could probably pick it up, but something at a distance of over a mile wouldn’t have a chance.