The Tetra War_The Katash Enigma

by Michael Ryan

  “You’d think they’d have attacked here first.”

  “Maybe not,” Mallsin speculated. “It’s probable they knew that captives would be unarmored and unsuited. Had they brought a battle here, it’s likely you’d all be dead.”

  “You do find the optimistic answer so easily, don’t you?” Abrel asked.

  “It’s better than thinking Command doesn’t care,” she answered.

  “You’re here,” the lieutenant interjected. “That’s what’s important. We should have another week, give or take, until the next supply transport arrives.”

  “Then our priority is to find the other two suits. We’re going to need them, besides the fact they’re our friends.”

  “Roger that,” he said. “I’ll begin organizing people and inventorying our supplies. We need to find out what weapons the lizards keep stocked here and if we’re capable of firing them.”

  “How many of you are military?”

  “Everyone,” he said, “from Earth and Purvas. I’m not sure about the people from the other planet; we haven’t been able to find a way to translate words like war, army, and country. Abstract concepts are difficult without communication tools, and, well, the fact we’re in a slave camp and not given a lot of leisure time.

  “Damn,” Mallsin said. “This is all terrible, but it sure explains a whole lot of MIAs.”

  “Going back for years,” the lieutenant said. “It was the easiest way for them to remain undetected. When soldiers went missing during the Tetra War, everyone assumed the other side was responsible. Blaming aliens would have been laughable. It was a perfect cover.”

  With Callie by my side, I slowly approached the group.

  I turned on my external speaker. “Do you speak Common English?”

  “I do,” a man said. “I’m Major Zalator of the Chemecko Marine Corps.”

  “I’m Lieutenant Ford of the Joint Forces Unified Army. We’re all allies, now, sir.”

  “Who is we?” he asked.

  “Everyone from the tri-planets, sir,” I answered. “All the countries put down their differences to fight the Drekis.”

  “The who?”

  “The Dreki-Nakahi. It’s what we call the lizards.”

  Callie and I explained the basics of the international coalition and how we’d come to be stranded on Drekiland.

  The major told us that he was part of a group of escapees who had managed to remain hidden in the jungle for six months. They numbered twenty-seven men and nineteen women, and they were all military personnel who’d been secretly captured during engagements.

  Zalator ran his fingers through his ratty beard. “It sort of explains why the lizards, the Drekis…why they continued to take slaves throughout the whole Tetra War. None of us can produce children.”

  “Jouzchen,” I said, putting to use yet another foreign curse word.

  The lieutenant asked me a question in Mecko.

  “Sorry, sir,” I answered. “I don’t understand. I’m not Chemecko. I’m not even talarrstan. I’m a Guritain. And mostly human, actually.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “I’ve picked up a few Mecko and Rhan curse words,” I explained. “It’s a long story. I’ll tell you sometime if we survive this snafu.”

  “Where’s your company?”

  I explained how Callie and I had ended up downriver of the mining operation, and that there were only four of us here in total.

  “It’s nice to feel so loved that Command sent a rescue party of four,” he said at the conclusion of our story.

  “It’s nice to be stranded,” Callie said sarcastically, “on such a lovely planet.”

  “We need to move out,” I said. “Mallsin and Abrel are undoubtedly dragging the river bottom for us by now.”

  “Roger that, Lieutenant,” the officer said. “But I need to discuss with my group what they want to do. I’m not certain everyone will be thrilled to become soldiers again. And if we do, it’s going to be a mess to determine who’s ranking.”

  “No mess, sir,” I said. “The JFUA Command supersedes all previous arrangements; I’m ranking. Period. There’s no discussion.”

  “Well, I suppose I can’t argue with a suit while I stand here mostly naked.”

  “No, Major,” I said, “but I’ll offer you every other courtesy and respect.”

  “After you, then, Lieutenant,” he said, extending his arm towards a small pathway in the jungle.

  Abrel had sent Mallsin and a small group upriver to cross to the opposite side.

  “Here goes,” Mallsin said before taking a running start and throwing a baseball-size rock attached to a mason’s string.

  It plunked in the water well before reaching Abrel.

  “Shit,” she said. “I’d have bet money on that throw.”

  “I thought you were too optimistic.”

  “Okay, plan B.”

  One of the men claimed he could easily swim across the river as long as he started well upstream of the jegulje.

  Callie handed him the end of the rope, and he dove into the water.

  “Seems brave,” she said over the comm.

  Abrel watched the soldier as he freestyled through the current. He ended up downstream a good click and a half. The spool of rope was plenty long, and it spanned the expanse as Abrel pulled in the slack. He attached the rope to the chain. “It’s all yours,” he said.

  Mallsin pulled the chain across the river and looped it around a tree.

  They dragged the links across the bottom over and over. By pitching the slack in the chain downriver, they could get the loop past where Avery and Callie’s footprints had entered the water several hours previously.

  Abrel, after many tries, said, “This seems pointless.”

  “Maybe we need to move farther downstream,” Mallsin suggested.

  “Maybe we need to–”

  Avery’s voice interrupted their conversation. “Use a private comm if you’re going to gossip about me.”

  “Avery!” Mallsin blurted. “You’re alive.”

  “You seem a little too excited to hear from him,” Abrel complained.

  “Don’t be jealous,” Mallsin said. “Callie, are you there?”

  “Yes, we’re both fine,” she answered.

  “Well, hurry up,” Mallsin said. “We’ve missed you.”

  “We discovered a group out here,” Callie added. “We’ve got a lot to talk about. I’m assuming you were successful?”

  “Yes, nine dead Drekis and hundreds of rescued slaves. They’re mostly from the tri-planets, Callie. Soldiers, missing since…damn.”

  “What?” Callie asked.

  “Heli-jet incoming,” Abrel said. “Avery, we’ve got to take cover. Your ETA?”

  “We’re close. Under three. Get those men hidden.”

  “Should I cross the river?” Mallsin asked.

  “No time. Hide.”

  A minute later the Dreki heli-jet began a strafing run on the compound.

  CHAPTER NINE

  Then fight in the cause of Versus, and know that He hears you, sees you, and knows everything.

  ~ Holy Writs of Vahobra, 18:4

  We had a healthy supply of missiles, but four soldiers against a heli-jet was a bad bet.

  Callie and I left Major Zalator and his group hidden in the jungle, and we raced to the compound. The Drekis unloaded a small group of soldiers from the heli. Whether they were guard replacements or special ops killers, we had no way of telling for sure. They weren’t in heavy armor, an indication they weren’t special forces. It was also the only thing that convinced me that we had a chance to survive.

  Abrel sent me several pics showing their location.

  My system picked up their signatures and tracked them the best it could. Without satellites relaying positions, it was much harder to keep tabs on enemy forces.

  “Should I send up a few drones?” Callie asked.

  “Can’t hurt. Try one and see,” I answered.

  She did
, and a few seconds later the heli-jet gunner blew it apart.

  “I’m counting eight lizards on the ground,” Mallsin reported.

  “In the air, there’s one gunner, a pilot, and copilot,” Abrel added.

  “Copy that. Callie and I will concentrate on the heli.” I picked a medium-sized tree and climbed to a sturdy branch.

  Callie did the same.

  The heli-jet seemed more inclined to kill slaves than search for snipers. That would change the moment they realized we were targeting them. The enemy was aware of Abrel and Mallsin, but they’d have no way of knowing how many additional troops were in the area. If I were in their shoes, the last thing I’d be thinking was that a mere four soldiers had attacked their encampment. I hoped they’d lean toward caution and stay defensive.

  Nobody likes surprises on the battlefield, not even killer reptilian aliens.

  The thought of surprises triggered an idea, and I decided on an unorthodox method of engagement. “I’m going to try sniping,” I said to Callie.

  She didn’t respond for a moment and then asked, “Why?”

  Making the perfect shot and taking down a heli-jet is a sniper’s dream. While I knew the odds were slim, it’s much harder for a flying craft to pinpoint the exact source of an APA round than it is for them to track missiles. They’d likely defeat missiles, and because of the heated plumes, they’d locate us. Or at least figure out what trees we were in. The Drekis probably had a hundred times the ammo we did.

  I ignored Callie’s question and ordered her to target the copilot.

  “Wilco,” she answered.

  That very old-school response meant “I will comply.” It was a phrase she only used when she was upset with me. She usually meant it sarcastically, but I knew she’d follow through.

  If anyone could make a head shot on a strafing heli-jet pilot from over a click out while hiding in a tree, it was me.

  But I’ll admit that Callie was a close second.

  Abrel and Mallsin were fighting defensively against the eight ground troops. I surmised they were guards who’d come to relieve the forces at the camp. If they’d been special ops, their tactics would have been more aggressive. Nevertheless, a four-to-one disadvantage wasn’t easy to overcome, even fighting greenie infantry boots.

  Instead of stabilizing my SCG-16X to my armor and the branch, I held it in my arms as if I were one of those ranger cowboys in an old Earth western. I locked down my suit from the waist to my feet. This new feature was so handy I wondered why it hadn’t been invented sooner. I attached my telescope to the sniper coil-gun and linked it to my DS.

  “Callie, can you laser range that thing at the bottom of its sweep without getting caught?”

  “I think so. Wait one.”

  I had a clear line through an opening in the tree branch. I fired my laser when I felt there was little chance the crew could trace it back. It was a gamble, but when a few moments passed without having a missile incinerate my tree, I decided it was a good one.

  <>

  “What’d you get?”

  Callie sent me her results.

  <>

  “We’re going to have to guess a bit here,” I said.

  “A manual shot?”

  “Why not? Sit on the branch, and only lock down your lower body.”

  “You’re nuts,” she said. “But I admire your overconfidence.”

  “Whadda we have to lose?”

  “Our lives.”

  “I meant besides that?”

  “A couple of APA rounds. No biggie. I’m just nervous, Avery. I love you.”

  “Back at you. Now, we need to time this. Send me a counter.”

  “There’s no way we can coordinate that,” she said. “Let’s link. I’ll aim manually, but you’ll trigger both shots.”

  “Make it happen,” I said.

  I watched her programming in a small window I’d placed in the background of my display screen.

  The heli-jet had flown into the distance and was making a wide turn. I didn’t think they realized anyone was targeting them. They were taking the task of mowing down slaves casually. In retrospect, I didn’t think they killed many. Unless they were the worst shots in history, the strafing runs were designed to scare them, not kill them. It did seem like a waste of resources to murder unarmed captives, but perhaps shooting a small percentage made the others work more efficiently, resulting in a net gain.

  When Callie finished programming, I concentrated on the front of the flying craft.

  The manual-mode crack Callie had installed into the fire-control system didn’t completely remove computer solutions. The main difference was that I would be triggering the shot; there would be no yellow-to-green change on the reticule. I used my finger as if I were pulling a physical trigger. Another of Callie’s hacks created pressure as I moved my index finger in the air.

  Concentrating on the view in my DS, I watched the heli return on its run toward us. I could see the lizard pilot through the craft’s forward windows.

  His cone-shaped eye sockets were unhindered by a helmet.

  I placed the red dot slightly off center and tracked.

  The heli wasn’t coming at me head-on, but I could see the reptile’s head as if he were sitting at a table across from me. I pulled the virtual trigger by moving my finger a mere fraction of a millimeter. The next four seconds passed in slow motion.

  The pilot’s head exploded.

  The copilot moved, and Callie’s APA ricocheted off his head.

  The heli-jet went into a full dive. Being that it was only seventy-five meters off the mud, it crashed.

  I fired four HE missiles at the downed aircraft, aiming for where I hoped the ammo bays were located.

  As soon as I released Callie’s fire control, she followed with two additional high explosives and a kinetic round at the gunner, who’d tried unsuccessfully to crawl from the burning wreckage.

  Secondary explosions shattered the area when the ammunition caught fire, creating a massive fireball that got everyone’s attention. Abrel and Mallsin each scored a kill in the shock and confusion of the downed support craft. The Dreki guards were definitely not the same quality as the suicidal armored troops we generally faced in battle.

  “Let’s go,” Callie said. “Stop admiring your work.”

  “You know me too well,” I said.

  “That was a miracle shot. Don’t let it go to your head.”

  “I couldn’t have done it without you.”

  “Good answer.”

  We jumped from our perches.

  Callie and I moved into a position to help Abrel and Mallsin catch the remaining enemies in a four-way cross fire. Mallsin was still across the river. Abrel was using a dry hole in the clay as a makeshift bunker.

  I found a tree to climb, giving myself a good view of the battlefield.

  Callie went upriver and crossed at the narrow point and then climbed a tree.

  Between the four of us, we had the area well covered. Killing the remaining Drekis took less than fifteen minutes.

  “Should we evac?” I asked the group. “How soon until reinforcements show up?”

  “If they were called, they’ll be here shortly,” one of the raggedy-looking purvasts said. “The trip to the nearest base takes over an hour, at least.”

  “I think two hours,” someone else said.

  Another soldier who seemed like an officer, in spite of a long hair and beard, said, “They can’t reach the base from their standard radio. At least, it doesn’t seem so. Besides, the guard troops don’t seem to like getting caught failing. I don’t think they called anyone. That’s my guess, anyway.”

  “Okay, let’s organize,” I said. “We should bury the dead and then collect resources.”

  “We never bury the dead, Lieutenant,” one of the leaders said. “We’ll handle it. It’s been the same since we got here. We feed the jegulje.”

  “Versus,” I said.

  “It hasn�
�t done anything wrong, sir,” someone said. “It’s just an animal.”

  “Roger that,” I admitted. It just seemed bizarre to me, and I sent Callie a private message. “If I die here, don’t feed me to that fish.”

  There were thirty-nine dead, which was less than I imagined. A detail carried the corpses to the river and tossed them into the water.

  “Sir, the carcasses of the…lizards?”

  “Might as well throw them to the fish, too. The less evidence, the better,” I said.

  During clean-up operations, Major Zalator appeared from out of the jungle.

  A short reunion was followed by a demand among the senior leaders for a clear mission.

  “We need to create units,” I said. “We’ll take whatever resources we can use from the lizard’s stockpiles and then bug out of here. I want to be moving in an hour.”

  They organized without my help, nothing less than I’d expect considering there were several majors and more than a handful of lieutenants. There were six hundred and thirty-three troops remaining in the camp, with the escapees agreeing to rejoin us, we numbered nearly seven hundred. Unlike the Gurts, the JFUA used the term battalions for a group of companies, instead of regiments. It was a throwback to older customs on Earth.

  I assigned Major Zalator to Alpha Company and gave the order that he’d serve as the provisional battalion commander in my absence. I had a good feeling about him, but first impressions could be deceptive.

  I field promoted myself to lieutenant colonel.

  It seemed reasonable, and besides, who could argue?

  My battalion was a little on the small side, but that was a minor technicality. Since pay scales had been negotiated for months when the armies were combined, I knew a little bit about all the crazy rules and situational adjustments to pay. There was a bonus for being stranded on a hostile planet, so combined with my temporary rank, I was making bank.

  On paper, at least.

  All I had to do to spend the money was survive.

  I formed the battalion into six companies. The company commanders, a mixture of majors and captains, organized their soldiers into platoons, and the platoon leaders they chose organized their charges into squads of roughly twenty. By creating a reasonably standard military-style branching hierarchy, I hoped to keep all the troops structured enough to avoid the confusion that would undoubtedly result due to our lack of electronic communication.