“I understand,” Darrin said. He would have agreed to anything, as long as it kept him there to watch as the others were rescued. “I won’t get in your way.”
“See that you don't,” Nick said. He glanced at his watch. “We leave in an hour. Get your shit together or remain behind.”
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Was this the result of deliberate malice? Perhaps, to some extent; it certainly suited the Grand Senate to leave citizens unaware of how the Empire actually worked. But it seems far more likely that, in the words of the long-forgotten Heinlein, that the whole system was created by stupidity and incompetence rather than malice.
- Professor Leo Caesius. Education and the Decline and Fall of the Galactic Empire.
Darrin had seen the steamboats earlier, during their exploration of Sabre City, but this was the first time he'd ever actually been on one. It seemed bigger on the inside than on the outside, although that might have been because most of the militiamen were crowding the decks. The crew, a family who lived and worked on the boat, largely ignored the newcomers.
He felt like a fifth wheel as the boat made its slow way upstream. Most of the militiamen ignored him, choosing instead to check and recheck their weapons. Nick, their commander, spent most of his time pouring over a map, speaking in hushed tones to his subordinate officers. Darrin couldn't tell if they were making genuine plans or if they were putting on a show for the benefit of the soldiers. There was something about the way they talked that bothered him.
The sun was slowly setting in the sky when they reached the place he’d entered the river, hours ago. It looked familiar, he decided, although he wasn't entirely sure it was the right place. He hadn't realised until he’d seen the map just how large the unsettled zone actually was, or how many places there were to hide. An entire army could camp out in the wilderness and no one would be any the wiser. From what Nick had said, while trying to draw specifics out of Darrin’s mind, the bandit camp suggested that there were more than a handful of bandits in the area. It was too big for one or two people to build alone.
One by one, the soldiers stepped off the boat and waded to the shore, carrying their packs and rifles above their heads. Darrin had thought the pack he had carried ever since the crash was heavy, but the militiamen carried far more weight on their backs. The supplies they’d brought with them seemed enough to feed an entire army, not just a hundred men. And he honestly wasn't sure how they planned to crawl through the undergrowth with those packs on their backs. They’d look like giant turtles, he decided, as he was helped to the shore himself. The men certainly couldn't hide.
“You can go ahead,” Nick said, addressing one group of men. They didn’t carry packs, merely rifles, which were slung over their shoulders. “We will follow at a more sedate pace.”
The men nodded and vanished into the forest.
Nick watched them disappear, then grinned at Darrin. “Silent running from here on,” he added. “Don’t say a word.”
With that, he led his men into the forest.
It felt different, walking with a small army. Darrin had felt isolated even when surrounded by Austin and the others. Now, the forest no longer seemed so threatening. The militiamen kept a sharp eye out for trouble, but otherwise marched with an easy confidence that reminded Darrin of Austin, although considerably more practiced. They didn't look like any soldiers he’d seen on the entertainment flicks, but there was something about them that made the militiamen look reassuring. And they looked capable of marching for hours.
Thirty minutes after they began walking, Nick put a hand to his ear. He had to have a communications earpiece, Darrin realised; he started to use his hands to indicate orders moments after receiving the first message. The soldiers split up into smaller groups, then started to advance towards the darkness, towards where the bandit camp had to be.
Despite himself, Darrin felt cold. Nick had said enough to tell him that there were never any guarantees in hostage-rescue operations, particularly when combined with bandit suppression. They might carry out a successful mission ...
... And his friends might still wind up dead.
***
Kailee slumped to the ground as darkness fell over the bandit camp. Austin and Gary looked tired, but she felt mentally drained as well as physically exhausted. The bandit doctor seemed to have decided that the best way to keep Kailee out of trouble was to work her halfway to death – and she was definitely succeeding. Cleaning the so-called hospital ward had been followed by a dozen other tasks; some disgusting, some appalling. By the time she had finally been allowed to take a break to eat, she had been too exhausted to even try to talk the doctor into helping them escape.
Not, she suspected, that the doctor would have helped. Kailee had seen women like her on Earth, women who had been so completely broken they couldn't have raised a hand to defend themselves, even if they had been faced with imminent death. They were so far gone that they didn't even bother to come up with excuses for their actions – or their failures to act. Instead, they just sleepwalked through life. Kailee had a feeling that, if she had asked the doctor for help, the doctor would have immediately reported them to her master. It was probably what she’d been told to do.
Or perhaps she would think she is saving us, Kailee thought. The bandits did make it clear that escape attempts would be severely punished.
She gritted her teeth, remembering the patients she’d helped examine. Her ignorance had been a blessing, she suspected, even though all she could really do was look at the wounds and express her horror. The pregnant woman seemed unharmed, but there was a look in her eyes that told Kailee that she had been abused – and abused badly. One of the men had been beaten bloody; the doctor, in a rare moment of candour, had admitted that he’d been fighting over something and his opponent had ended up dead. Their leader had been unimpressed with the outcome and threatened bloody murder if the bandit fought again.
The odd thing was that she might have liked medicine, if she’d been given half a chance. She’d helped the pregnant women – and then the women had given her a shy smile that had melted Kailee’s heart. Helping people felt good. It might not have the glamour of being an actress, but perhaps it was more satisfying. And yet ... who would want to be a doctor on Earth? Kailee didn't have to ask to know that medicine was one of the most stressful professions on Earth, no matter what legal documents were signed before the patient entered the clinic. Would medicine on the colonies be any better?
Don’t be fucking stupid, she told herself, as she lay down on the floor. You can't even read and write. Do you think they’d let you study as a doctor?
She shook her head, feeling another of her dreams fade away into nothingness. Earth no longer held anything for her, not now. But would she be happy on Meridian?
It doesn't matter, she told herself, savagely. At least I would feel safer.
***
Nick leaned close to Darrin, pressing his lips to the younger man’s ears. “You have to stay here,” he warned, as he pulled a pair of goggles over his eyes. “If you can't promise me you’ll stay here, I’ll cuff you to the tree.”
“I’ll stay here,” Darrin said, quickly. The moon was rising in the sky, but hardly any light filtered down to the undergrowth. “Good luck.”
“Thank you,” Nick said, dryly. “Stay here.”
He turned and slipped away into the darkness.
***
“Charges in place, sir.”
Nick nodded. He would never have admitted it to anyone, but he was privately impressed with both the bandit camp and the boy from Earth. The camp itself would probably have remained undiscovered for years if Darrin hadn't located it and then made his way to the settlement. And he’d survived four days in the wilderness. Surviving such a trek was impressive when one had so little experience, even if he did have a Scout as an advisor.
The bandits were organised, he’d realised, as soon as he’d seen the wall of bushes. That boded ill for the future. They
couldn't hope to take over the planet, he was sure, but they might well be able to cause a great deal of trouble for the militia. He’d checked the reports from the edge of the settlement zone and noted a handful of disappearances, mainly indents. In hindsight, he decided, they should have checked more carefully.
But the bandit camp was far enough from the settlements to remain undiscovered ...
Pushing the thought aside, he keyed his earpiece.
“Go.”
***
Austin was used to hard work. He’d helped on the farm as soon as he’d learned to walk, taking on more and more responsibility with each passing year. By the time he reached sixteen, he was effectively doing a full share of the farming chores, including a number that needed brute force. In that respect, working for the bandits hadn't been too bad. But they’d definitely been trying to exhaust him and he had to admit that they’d succeeded.
He’d been looking for ways to escape, but found none. The village was impressive, he had to admit, yet there was nowhere to hide. None of his half-formed plans for escape had included a way to get over the bushes or through the entrance without being spotted. The only idea he could think of that had even a hope of working was digging a tunnel, yet it didn't take much imagination to realise that the bandits could hardly miss that. It seemed that they were trapped, for the moment. He could only be grateful that they hadn't been shackled to the wall and left there until the ransom was paid – if, of course, it was paid.
Austin knew little of Earth, save what he’d been told by various people, but somehow he doubted that Earth would bother to pay ransom for two kids. Janet was still at Sabre City, he recalled; she might make such a decision, if she had the funds on hand. And if she didn't ... Austin suspected that the colonial government wouldn't advance her the money. They certainly wouldn't want to encourage hostage-taking ...
He closed his eyes and tried to sleep. His entire body ached. Moments later, the ground shook violently, followed by a series of loud thunderclaps. Austin jerked awake, realising that the camp was under attack. The sound of shooting broke out moments later, coming from outside the camp.
“Stay down,” he hissed. Gary had started to stand up, even though the wooden walls of their prison would provide absolutely no protection if the bandits or their attackers started firing into the building. “Keep your fucking head down.”
He crawled over to Kailee and climbed on top of her. She let out a sound that was half-gasp, half-cry, then clamped her mouth shut. Austin felt her body shivering against his, as if she found his touch repulsive. But it was the only way to provide her with even a little protection.
Outside, the sound of shooting grew louder.
***
There was a brilliant flash of light in the sky, followed by a pearly white light that seemed to blaze down from high overhead. Darrin had to cover his eyes until they had grown accustomed to the light, but even when he could open them safely he couldn't see much. He could hear shooting, yet he couldn't see very much at all. All he could do was wait.
He forced himself to stay where he was, even though his instincts were telling him to run. It was common for violence to break out on Earth – and bystanders were often caught up in the fighting, no matter how innocent they were. Darrin knew he should run, yet he didn't want to flee the battlefield, even though he was no combatant. There was a level of violence being unleashed that was far outside his experience, no matter how many violent entertainment flicks he’d watched.
A loud voice bellowed through the trees. “THROW DOWN YOUR WEAPONS AND SURRENDER,” it ordered. “WE WILL NOT KILL YOU IF YOU SURRENDER.”
The sound of shooting grew louder. Darrin hesitated, hopping from one foot to the other, then dropped to the ground as a flight of bullets flashed through the trees above his head. In the distance, he saw a flash of light, followed by a massive explosion. Something had just blown ...
He shuddered, then forced himself to lie still. All he could do was wait.
***
“Women and children in this room, sir,” the report said. “Two of the dames are pregnant.”
“Get them on the ground,” Nick ordered. The bandits had been completely surprised, but it seemed the bastards slept with their weapons under their pillows. He didn't dare unleash his full firepower for fear of wiping out innocents along with the guilty, so they had to take the village house by house. Thankfully, none of the houses were built of anything that might stand up to bullets. “Then make sure you cuff them.”
He ignored the mutter of protest. The militiamen liked to think of themselves as heroes, heroes in a way the Civil Guard had long since forgotten. Nick rather envied their closeness to the local population; hell, they were the local population. But it also meant that they sometimes took dangerous chances. The women had been held captive for years, assuming that they were all genuine captives. They might easily have bonded with their captors, which might lead them to turn on their rescuers. Cuffing them all was safer than trying to sort out the safe from the dangerous in the midst of a firefight.
“Got some of them making a break for the wall,” another militiaman said. “Colonel?”
“Cut them off at the knees,” Nick ordered. They’d catch the bandits or kill them. He’d read reports from older colony worlds, where bandits had grown into a major headache for the authorities. This particular bunch of bandits would never have the opportunity to become more than a local nuisance. “And try to take them alive.”
He wanted prisoners. There would be complaints, of course, that the bandits simply hadn't all been shot, but he wanted to interrogate them to confirm that there weren't any other bandit camps. After that ... there were islands where irredeemable criminals could be dumped, if they didn't merit the death penalty. They couldn't hope to escape – or hurt anyone who wasn’t a criminal.
Slowly, the sound of shooting began to die away.
***
Gary felt oddly composed as he lay on the ground, even when a stream of bullets blasted through the walls and punched their way out the other side of the building. Someone could kill him by accident, he knew, yet he felt much calmer than when he'd faced Barry. His tormentor’s death had taken many of his fears into the darkness with him. Even when someone started tearing at the door, he found it hard to panic. He waited, calmly, as two armed men stepped into the room.
“Keep your hands where we can see them,” the leader snapped. He knelt over Austin, secured his hands behind his back, then hauled him off Kailee and dumped him to one side like a sack of potatoes. Kailee squawked in protest, which earned her a knee in the back as her hands were bound. Gary submitted without a fight. “Stay here until we come back.”
Gary almost snickered. Where did the newcomers think they were going to go?
It seemed like hours before the men returned, hauled the prisoners to their feet and marched them outside. The bandit camp had been shattered, once-proud buildings had been ripped apart or burned to the ground. A number of women sat on the ground, their children sitting next to them, staring around with fearful eyes. Behind them, a handful of men were clustered together, their hands bound behind their backs. Gary saw a dead body lying in their midst and guessed that their new captors weren't inclined to take backtalk ...
“Austin,” a voice called.
Gary swung around to see Darrin, running towards them. Behind him, there was a tall black man and a pale-skinned woman. Austin let out a delighted chuckle. Gary shook his head in disbelief. Who would have thought, really, that one day he would be pleased to see Darrin?
He shook his head, inwardly. Darrin had grown up. They’d all grown up a little, apart from Barry. But Barry was dead and gone and wouldn't be tormenting anyone any longer. Gary wondered, in the months and years to come, if he would feel shame and guilt for what he’d done to Barry, then dismissed the thought. Barry had never felt any guilt for what he’d done – and Gary hadn't been his only victim. In the end, his victims had destroyed him. A fitting conclusion to hi
s life.
“You made it,” Austin said. “Well done!”
“These are my friends,” Darrin said, addressing the black man. He seemed to be in charge of the newcomers. “They shouldn’t be tied up.”
“True,” the black man agreed. He nodded to his men, who cut through the bonds. Gary immediately started rubbing his wrists. “We will need to ask you some questions, though.”
Kailee groaned. “Not again.”
“Don’t worry,” the black man said. “You’re safe now. We’ll fly you back to the city, where you can recuperate. You can probably even sell your story to the newspapers, if you feel so inclined. They'd be thrilled to hear from a set of real heroes.”
Gary blinked in surprise. “We’re heroes?”
“Yep,” the man said. His face twitched into a grin. “A bandit camp destroyed, prisoners rescued ... not a bad day’s work. They might even give you the keys to the city.”
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Those on the outside of the system never understood it; those on the inside were forced to play by the rules the bureaucrats had built up over centuries. Fixing even the slightest problems was impossible, as those who saw the problems had no authority to change the rules or even try something new.
- Professor Leo Caesius. Education and the Decline and Fall of the Galactic Empire.
“I wish I’d been with you,” Janet said. “It might not have made much difference, but I wish I’d been with you.”
Kailee shrugged. They’d been flown back to the city and immediately transported to the hospital, where they’d been given separate rooms and told to rest. Kailee had forgotten how good it could be to sleep alone, even though she kept jerking awake every time she heard a sound in the room. The phantom touch of Barry’s hand on her skin would fade in time, she’d been told, but for the moment she half-wished someone was sleeping with her. It might have made life easier.
The Empire's Corps: Book 07 - Reality Check Page 35