They were already firing. I looked through the telescope. Suddenly I was twenty feet away from the house Rafe was firing on. Then I shifted to M.Verdai’s house. They’d started by shooting the catches off the corral gates. When someone ran out of the house to stop the horses his chest exploded. They knew exactly what had to be done.
I shifted my aim to the corral gate latch at the house I was to tend to. I didn’t recall pulling the trigger, but the gate latch went away. The rifle didn’t move one bit. I was still looking exactly at the point I was looking at before I fired. The horses ran out and away. I shifted aim, and put rounds through all of the windows and shot the door off its hinges. I shifted again to the spot where the chimney came out of the roof. I must have fired fifty shots before the chimney collapsed into the house. Shortly thereafter smoke started billowing out of the windows and door. The men tried to escape, but I picked them off one by one, no matter what they tried to take cover behind.
No one moved, so I glanced over to the representation of the valley. My light had gone out. Looking back down to the valley, I saw men running out of the main house toward the corrals. They didn’t make the distance. I remembered how I’d been ambushed and in a flash of rage shot all the windows out of the main house. I saw no further movement there, so I turned my attention to my next target.
I treated it the same. When I could see no one moving any longer I glanced over to the display and saw only five dots remaining, and the main house. My rifle was making a barely hearable noise like a chirping cricket. M.Verdai heard the noise, laid her rifle on her table, and reached back for a new drum. She rose and came over, took my rifle and showed me a lever in front of the drum which when moved released the empty drum. She pushed the new one in until it clicked, tested that it had gone all the way in by pulling at it and handed me back the rifle with a pat on the back. I was now a part of their team. From the fine lines near her eyes, I got the impression she was very old and almost tired of it all. Then the impression was gone, probably an incorrect conclusion anyway.
I refocused on the valley and caught some more figures trying to escape. They didn’t. I could imagine how insanely scared the inhabitants were. There was no one visible for three miles around them and still people were dying.
I started my routine on yet another house. They weren’t totally daft. These people had put out their fire so the chimney going down had no effect. Oh well, it would just take longer and use more of the abundant ammunition. I started chewing at the walls of the house a foot down from the roof. I had to change drums again. The second one was chirping, when they lost their nerve and tried to run. They didn’t make it to safety, wherever that was.
The destruction of my last house had consumed my attention. When I looked at the display again all the outlaying red dots were gone. I looked around Constanza’s valley with the rifle telescope and saw only death. Bits and pieces of bodies were all about the houses, but we weren’t done. I asked, “One of you want to watch the main house while I have a brief rest?”
Colonel Rafe said, “Sure I will. What does this Don Constanza look like anyway?”
“He’s a small thin fellow, but he’s no fool. He probably changed clothes with his cook and is long since gone.”
M.Verdai said, “No, he’s still here. He’s waiting for some help from somewhere, something he was promised for his cooperation.”
Colonel Rafe asked her, “You don’t think there’s a nest here, do you?”
“Might be one close by.”
“In that case, let’s get this thing done quicker and get out of here. I’m going to up the ante.”
He went to the car and came back with something which had a four foot tube and two feet held to the tube by a band. One end of the tube had a square plate loosely attached to it. He put the plate down on the ground, extended the two legs which had shoes on them resulting in a stationary placement. He then took out an instrument and attached it to the tube.
Colonel Rafe ordered, “M .Verdai, you watch while I bring out munitions. You, Jason, rest and fortify and come back to help her pick off the runners.”
I did as ordered. When I came back, there were four big boxes placed around the weapon. When I was in position again, she went off inside the car.
When she came back, Colonel Rafe went off for a while. When he came back he said, “Last dance of this party. Put in fresh drums. Place two more next to your tables.”
She and I did as ordered and then he said, “Here we go.”
He dropped a cylinder down into the tube, and it was immediately spat out. By and by, it landed in the middle of Don Constanza’s house. Roofs and walls caved in. I could hear the explosion way up here. He turned a knob slightly and dropped another cylinder in the tube, ‘whomp’ noise, then waiting, and another explosion in the house.
They ran out of every opening. Either she or I killed Constanza. There might have been a slight chance I was mistaken, but I thought not. We picked off the rest of the runners until no movement was seen. I glanced over my shoulder; the last red light was gone. I rested my rifle on the table top and asked, “What’s next?”
“We’ll wait to see if someone comes, maybe an hour. It’s important we know whether his help was the French soldiers, or something else. Meanwhile, Jason, we'll use the opportunity to convince you that we can protect you.”
He took out of a case a double spyglass and continued, “You’ll notice here on the top an adjustment knob and a button. Look through the glasses and adjust them to your eyes and focus on some object. Then push the button and continue to watch.”
While I was doing that, I sensed him doing something with the mortar.
“Got it. A large boulder by a wash. Here goes the button.”
Behind me I heard the now familiar ‘whomp’ and after a moment the boulder was blown into small rocks.
Rafe said, “Focus on some different targets.”
I did and they were blown to bits. The descending darkness made no difference to the glasses. It was all visible, like daylight. A stone bridge took two hits. I took the glasses from my eyes and considered. A dozen of these up on the bluff, and I would be unapproachable as long as the shell supply was plentiful.
She interrupted my thoughts by saying, “We want you to realize that this mortar is perhaps the simplest weapon we use. We have weapons that if fired from Sante Fe would destroy Paris, France. Beyond that we have weapons that can destroy whole planets. Do you now believe we can protect you and yours?”
“Yes, I do. But the question always is from who and how long. You can’t answer that in the present moment.”
Rafe answered, “Absolutely true. It takes faith in each other to make a working relationship, and that only comes with time. What we want to know here, is, do you have enough faith in us to carry on for a while longer?”
“Yes, but in the end it might come to us moving to my Caribbean island.”
Rafe acknowledged by a wave of his hand to the sky, “Maybe you would be safer up on, or under a high mountain. We can do that, too. As we see it, your island will be safe from nature for another hundred years. There are more islands where yours is. We can put a wall around all of them.’
“It may come to that. We should make some definite plans later.”
I took a last look around the valley. It reminded me of sacked towns I’d seen in Africa. A flicker of movement near the valley entrance caught my eyes. “I think visitors are coming.”
M.Verdai took out her ‘night rifle’. “Someone comes. It may be our snake friends. What do you want to do, Rafe?”
“Tighten the Wagon's Invis’ field and wait to make sure who this way cometh.”
I also took my ‘night rifle’ out of its case and looked through a tube which turned night into day.
She said, “Use the green tube. Red is for the darkest night.’
The soldiers advanced slowly into the valley using cover and advance techniques without any visible commands. They appeared to be part of one mind s
et, or very well trained.
Rafe said, “We might need a Rail Gun Dock. If we bring the one from behind the moon they might be warned and escape.”
“True. Let some more enter the valley and then order the Rail Gun to come in with Invis’ shields up. When they’re all in, the Frigate can keep them from escaping, with its plasma cannon, by laying down a continuous surge at the entrance. Better get our helper into a body shield.”
I saw one soldier pick up a piece of someone and take a bite. I raised my rifle to kill it when Rafe cautioned.
"Let them eat. They get slow when they’re full, we’ve been told. Their leaders won’t permit much feeding for that reason. Let’s get you into a Body Shield, protects you from most man carried weapons. M.Verdai made special ones for her and me, but the standard issue one is excellent. She’s quite an inventor. Rachel will like to talk to her. They have a lot of traits in common.”
He brought a gun belt out of a locker with two pistols and who knew what else on it. “Here, buckle this around you. Turn the buckle's latch clockwise.”
I did as he ordered and felt a tingle around me.
“It’ll stop anything we think they have. However, they change equipment and tactics quickly. It’s risky now, so be very alert.”
“Oh Rafe, come see your surprise.”
I hurried out of the car with him and saw the soldiers had almost completed something they had carried separate parts for.
She said, “I venture about a thousand watts. No?”
“Yes, at least. Jason, you load. You saw me do it. Make sure you don’t load before the last one’s out, real, no, no. I’m going to bring out another mortar and some White Phosphorous.”
He left and M.Verdai said, “I’ll call out the loads. There are just three colors, white, red, and spotty yellow. Don't touch red. We’ll start with yellow. We don’t want them to get that thing finished. Drop it down the tube when the light on the arming light turns green.”
She took up the glasses. I stood ready with the yellow shell, guessing it was, grape shot. It would be my call.
“Attention, load.” She called as the tube light changed to green.
I didn’t bother looking for damage. I just grabbed the next yellow shell and waited for my green light. I noticed Rafe's return with another mortar and more ammunition boxes.
He sat it near the one I was already feeding and said, “You’ll have to load both. Just look for green lights, and drop the shell.”
From the tension, in his voice I gathered this was no longer a turkey shoot. We could die, despite the fancy weapons. I felt a pressure in the air of something swooping down upon us and thought of finding a hole to hide in. But I continued loading and out of the corner of my eye caught a terrible stream of burning light. It came from above the valley entrance and just kept on coming. The very rocks glowed. The stream of light was aided in brightening the valley by my pops of light. I didn’t know what I was killing, but didn’t care. No one would eat me without a fight. My fellow fighters came from the future, and probably not from Earth in M.Verdai’s case. I sought some solid mental ground and found none. Just a hope, that I and mine would have a safe place to live out their lives.
Rafe yelled, “White, Jason, go to white, both tubes.”
I switched.
I heard M.Verdai say in a harsh tone, “Rail Gun’s got a lock. Jason, the Wagon. Now!”
Rafe grabbed my arm as he went by. He almost lifted off my feet like a small child, not regaining my balance until we were inside the car.
“Don’t look out!” Rafe said sternly. “You'll be blinded.”
The glass in the windows went totally black. Despite that, the reflected brilliance in the valley behind me was evident. It seemed to go on forever.
When it stopped, everything was in total blackness.
“Don’t move, Jason.” M.Verdai said, “The instruments will search the air for any possibly harmful dust. The enemy may have caused a special condition which we call radioactivity. If so, the dust will make the water in your blood will boil.”
I was thinking of Revelations in the Bible when five evenly spaced chimes sounded.
“We’re clear. They didn’t have time.”
Rafe said, “Not for the cannon. Imagine powering that with atomics, primitive, but risky. They also had some sort of dampener, or absorber. Most of our power is gone. We’re going to need a lift out. The enemy is taking the gloves off.”
Nobody I knew of boxed with gloves, but I got his meaning.
He continued, “You can go out and look around if you like, Jason. We are the only life in ten miles.”
I followed his suggestion taking along the night rifle for vision. I needn’t have, the valley was bright as day. The molten material the valley once had been was blotchy blue turning to red. There was a circle to include a part of yonder hills, all molten. There was peace in this valley, now, the peace of glowing rock. That scene moved me deeply. I let go of my cares and concerns and they wafted down to the glow below. Rafe and M.Verdai gathered equipment. I would just be in the way as I knew not where to store anything. I stirred myself and put my rifles in their cases, and in the Wagon. Then I went back to watching the valley cool. It reminded me that my life had shrunk from a world wanderer, to a state in the USA and a state in Mexico. How much more would it shrink?
Rafe called, “Come on in, Jason. We’ll be picked up soon. All of what transpired is recorded. You’ll get a copy and a device to view it again if you wish.”
I went inside and sat in my old seat. I was fifteen again, without a care in the world. A part of me knew it would all come back, but I was fifteen for the moment.
Suddenly we were lifted right up in the air. The straps closed across my chest again. The ride upward didn’t last long. I couldn’t see much, but we were nearing an odd contraption. We bumped, and I could hear us being secured, or so it appeared to me.
Rafe stood and slung the large case over his shoulder and then picked up his two rifle cases. I hoped we didn’t have long to go. M.Verdai and I followed suit. The three of us stepped out into a long hallway which seemed to stretch forever in both directions. I was getting ready for a long walk. Instead, we walked about two hundred feet and into a doorway exactly like the one we left. Just before I stepped through I saw something which made me question my remaining shreds of sanity. Maybe I existed in a bad dream.
I asked, “Did I, or didn’t I, just see a huge bear type creature with human head and hands and feet?”
They both laughed and Rafe said, “Relax, your sight is not failing you. That was a Reg. They are our allies.”
That relieved me. Snake people wanting to eat you were enough enemies for one day. It was good we had allies. I about opened my mouth to inquire about other aliens. I thought M.Verdai would be offended. Leave well enough alone.
Rafe asked, “Where to? Your ranch, or your home in Sante Fe?”
“I should get messages to my men in Hermosilla to tell them to go home.”
“No need.” Rafe said, “They got messages this morning to strike the enemy. They did. All of them are well and on their way home as a group.”
“More magic?”
M.Verdai said, “Magic is only that when understanding is missing. You’ll also understand by and by.”
She had such a comforting voice. “Can you send messages to Sante Fe and tell them I’m safe?”
Rafe said, “Done already, Suzy too, and your gang in the wall, and Rosita in Mexico, and Martha.”
“Then we’ll go to the ranch.”
Rafe continued, “Certainly. Don’t look outside. We’ll be going fast and you’ll just get dizzy. We’ll be at your ranch in a half hour or so. Hope you can put us up for the night.”
"Certainly, we have cabins for guests."
M.Verdai asked, "Can we park the ship next to the cabin?"
I said, "Plenty of room, glad to have you. If you'll send a message ahead someone will have dinner on the table."
She said, "
I'll probably disturb the message receiver, but folks get used to the strangest things."
She chose to send the message to Rachel, a printed note on top of her telegram pile. Rachel chose to think she was sane and had dinner waiting. Dinner wasn't the object of the exercise. I was just testing these people. So far they did what they said they would do. We landed and went into the dining room.
When we were seated I asked Rafe, "How did the war start?"
"The Federal Fort in the Charlestown South Carolina harbor, Fort Sumter, was fired upon. Then different states started seceding. After that, it was like everyone in the North and the South had lost their senses. We know of a town in Missouri which is inhabited by the Snake people. We think they have been stirring the troubled pot for years before the War started. We destroyed the town in 1585. But that didn't make any difference in your time, as far as we know. Looking at the build up, I've concluded there were many influences brought to bear. We know no better way of intervening, than to cut the heads off of those influences."
Rafe asked Rachel, "Would you pass the stew, Rachel? Thank you. I'll have to get the recipe or maybe a hint at it, or maybe my cook could spend a few days here. No, he's quite human, though not from this time, 1500's. He's a Nubian, from the Lake Victoria area."
I said, "Is that so? I'm in business with two of them in Georgetown. Send him down. We'll ride over and let him look around, takes about a day of riding."
M.Verdai said, "I'm afraid your riding days are over, Pierre. He'll bring along a wagon like ours, with a load of mortars for up on your bluff, but we do not have time to spare that we can amuse ourselves riding."
I laughed, "It's not amusement for me anymore. I use my coach. Still takes a day."
"No riding coaches either. We need some reborn people familiar with your time to accompany you as body guards. Didn't you have a battle in the Mexican War at the Alamo? I was reading your history."
Tritchka said, "I read, too. Rachel teach me. Many heroes die at Alamo."
M.Verdai said to Rafe, "Do you see it?"
Rafe said, "I see it. Everyone on both sides. DO, please acknowledge."
Greener Green II: The Balls Brigade Page 7