“Full Link and ship wide broadcast. Attention, the Krall are bringing down the first four of the captured ships. These people have no idea what they are facing and are not prepared for the gravity or heat. We need to arm ourselves to help, so please load out with small buckshot. Whichever entrance they land close to, we need to guard them and help them get into the dome.
“Pass this along to the people in the dome, ask them to help. We will not let these people die for the Krall’s amusement. Move now! Mirikami Out.”
Turning to the committee members, “Our work is cut out for us for a couple of days I suspect. We need to move trucks and people with guns to every entrance, or move them around to where we need them as the landings take place.
“Dillon, contact Jimbo and Ray; the Fireball Brigade will ride again. Neri worked out the igniter problems so they will all work as yours did that first day. Spread out and cover three entrances. At the first sign of wolfbats overhead, make some big fireballs they can see. They stayed away last time after that was done.”
Thad volunteered. “I’ll get hold of Deanna to organize some people to go outside with rifles to take pot shots with soft nose rounds to keep them high. We’ll need your Jazzers and Sonics for skeeters, because even buckshot isn’t safe if they get into a crowd.”
“Right,” Agreed Mirikami. “Those are kept charged, as are the spare packs. I’ll have them issued to the Stewards again, and they all have body suits now.”
“Some of the Jazzers are with us civilians Tet,” Maggi reminded him. Aldry and I have one and body suits. We can ride with the trucks to protect the new people, and save our legs.”
“Good idea. We need to ask for Jazzers from the new ships as they get down. All of them will have a small armory as we did. Perhaps we’ll have coverage for each truck. Somebody needs to get rooms identified in the dome where we can send people after we process them through the Great Hall. Collect names and make housing assignments. Deanna will be better used to run that operation than on wolfbat duty.”
“Tet, please delegate,” Aldry told him. “You have a committee for those details, and volunteers from the dome. We’re all Kobani now.” She grinned.
“Oh. You’re right. Sorry, I’m acting as if I’m still running a ship. I’ll go up to the bridge where I can see what’s happening overall, and guide resources to where we need them. Noreen, the Flight of Fancy needs a command staff again, even if she can’t fly.”
“Yes Sir. I’ll head up now to get the screens and cameras tasked to watch for bugs bats and ships.”
“I’m going with you. Good luck everybody, let’s save some lives today.”
Once on the bridge, Mirikami asked Jake to put him in contact with the first human ship expected to land. It was going to pass below the horizon in fourteen minutes, so he had to be quick. Jake placed the ship’s ID on screen, with the Captain’s name.
“Captain Mobutu of Marimba Destiny, this is Captain Mirikami of the Flight of Fancy calling. I’m sitting on the ground at your destination. Can you hear me?”
A reedy woman’s voice answered as her image appeared. She was a tall thin black woman with short graying hair, and her ship was registered to Greater West Africa, a Rim Colony settled by a number of former African nations that had merged after the Collapse. “Ah, thank the stars Gentle Sir. I was afraid I would have to do this in complete ignorance. Where are we landing?”
“Captain, you will be landing next to a large dome at the center of a twenty six mile radius ringed compound. The Flight of Fancy is parked on the east side of that dome, by one of four large entrances to the dome, one each on the north, south, east and west sides. We are making sure that any entrance will be ready for you. We will have armed protectors out to cover your people’s movement into the dome by truck.”
“Armed protectors? Do you mean these alien Krall that just blew up one of the ships out here?” She didn’t sound like that seemed like much protection, and she was correct.
“No, the protectors will be other human captives that have been here for some time. If you have nonlethal arms aboard, issue those to crew that you trust to be level headed. This world is dangerous, but the only native animals that will attack you inside the compound are all airborne.
“Jazzers, Sonics, or shotguns are practical defenses, and if it flies consider it deadly. You shoot it when it is in range. Before you disembark, we will bring trucks out to you to transport your people quickly to the dome. The gravity is one point five g’s and can be a killer to new arrivals.”
“Our ship’s computer told us this. How many trucks do you have? We have six hundred thirty seven passengers and seventy two crew men.”
“Our thirty one Krall made trucks will be unloading all the people on each inbound ship. Do you have fuel for more than one return to orbit and landing? You might be needed for ferry service out to the larger transports that can’t land.”
“We were told, by someone that said he was one of these Krall people that everyone but the flight crew must evacuate. I have fuel for several trips but that will be very expensive, who will repay my company? We need to be compensated for that.” Obviously, their predicament had yet to impress itself on her.
“Captain, the Krall will cheerfully kill anyone that fails to follow their instructions, as fifty eight of my people learned the hard way, and we were trying to follow instructions. I have no doubt you will see some of the big red Krall bipeds after landing, but let me send you a picture of them as they appeared on my ship when we were boarded. You don’t have very long to watch so pay careful attention to what you have so far been lucky to avoid.”
As soon as he switched off, he had Noreen play an edited scene recorded as the first Krall reached the Bridge, and some scenes in the corridors as the smoke billowed out over dying passengers. It was a sight intended to scare and to impress Captain Mobutu. She was in no position to deny the Krall anything they demanded.
The same process was repeated and streamlined for each of the other three ships about to land. It was inadequate, but all that Mirikami could provide in the time he had.
Jake informed them that the Clanship that had left orbit with the human ships was apparently coming to Koban Prime on a more direct route, but numerous other Krall ships appeared to be landing at the main Krall compound on the south east coast.
“Jake, do you know if the Clanship coming here is Parkoda’s?” Mirikami asked.
“That is the same Krall ship where his transmission originated Sir.”
Looking at Noreen, he speculated. “I wonder if he’s coming here to take command of the compound or to find out how much we helped Telour. Either case seems a bad choice for us.”
Noreen agreed. “Parkoda wanted to capture more humans for combat testing and he did that using our towing proposal. However, you also helped Telour produce a better fighting force. I wonder if he’s coming to thanks us, or to make everyone pay for helping Telour?”
“I’d not bet on any thanks from a Krall, so pissed off is more likely.”
“Sir, the Clanship is signaling.”
“Human clan leader, I learn you won immunity.” It was indeed Parkoda’s voice.
Mirikami decided to divert him from that subject. “Parkoda, I see the large raids returned soon, with many captured ships.”
Parkoda instantly went into a bragging session, as expected. “The raids were all good because I captured the first prize ship you are on. I have status for teaching to all clans to do as I did. Telour found smaller status to prove humans can fight if they have surprise and advantage. I now must share my victory because he made you fight. Something any warrior could do. I return with a K’Tal that saw pictures when humans fought wars.”
“You found proof of our old wars?” Mirikami asked.
“I sent a translator K’Tal to look inside a ship I killed. She saw pictures of humans fighting humans showing on a screen. The K’Tal said humans in the pictures used some weapons like Telour told the clan leaders that you used on T
esting Day. Three of the warriors that hunted you that day told the clan leaders of other weapons Telour did not report. The pictures my K’Tal saw on the dead ship had no color, and came quick, one after another, each with a small change. There were very many fast pictures she told me, but she could not record them. Do you know of such pictures?”
The description sounded like one of Maggi’s old flat screen movies. His guess was that the rate of frame refresh was so slow for a Krall’s eyes that they didn’t see them as a continuous moving image as a human did, but rather as a fast series of still pictures.
“Parkoda, I believe I have many war pictures like that for you to show to your clan leaders, of human wars from the past. I didn’t know these were never seen by the Krall.”
“I will send the same K’Tal to see you and record the pictures. She was not able to do that on the dead ship. But I did not come for this, so do not waste my time. The Great Clans meet now.”
Then he delivered the chilling reason for his visit. “I am here to make combat on Koban more real for humans and warriors. This Maldo clan compound is small for battles like you humans proved are possible.”
Mirikami and Noreen shared worried looks. “We will fight someplace else?” Mirikami asked.
“Still from that dome. But you will go outside of the compound to make hunters search longer, and they will face the Kobani animals as well as the human tricks you made to help Telour.”
Well, he knew about their work for Telour, so he surely wanted to exact a penalty.
He snorted. “Facing Koban animals is a good test for a novice, and humans will learn if rhinolo and rippers believe in their tricks.”
Since Parkoda knew Telour had benefited from things Mirikami had done, he dreaded the next response. “Why would humans leave the compound?”
“It was safe in the compound in the past; it will not be safer for new hunts. Why make the search too easy if many more warriors hunt them?” Obviously, he intended expanding the hunts, with more hunters and more people hunted.
“What advantage would a human gain to leave the compound, which we know so well?” Mirikami asked, sensing the answer.
“There is no advantage to stay in a small area if the danger is the same in or out of the compound. Both warriors and humans must watch for Kobani animals when I open the walls.”
There was the new danger Mirikami had sensed was coming. They all were being made victims of his cooperation with Telour, to save the Flight of Fancy. Only about one third of the compound was practical for concealment and ambushes. Now they would be dodging native animals from the savanna and jungle, and the predators that hunted them.
“When will this happen?” The Krall seldom wasted time, so he wasn’t surprised when Parkoda didn’t this time.
“My Clanship will destroy the gates while my K’Tal records your war pictures.”
Mirikami tried a pointless appeal, “The arriving humans are not prepared for the dangers here. They will not be safe until they enter the dome, can this wait for two days?”
“Then you will need to move quickly. The Kobani animals will see open walls, untouched grass, and very slow new prey. You should carry many guns.” He snorted several times at this sage advice, obviously enjoying the images that came to his mind.
Parkoda had one final order. “My K’Tal will go to my prize ship. Give her pictures you say you have of human wars. If they show what I want, the prize ship will stand another day.”
Crap! He needed a carrot to dangle. Some advantage given for what cost a Krall nothing had worked before.
“To save you the waste of a missile to destroy your first great prize, I will give you war pictures to take to the clan meeting. Where humans are fighting battles and using better weapons than I made for my own Testing Day. It would be inefficient to lose all of the war pictures saved on your original prize. Any clan leader could come here to see them for themselves, on the very prize you captured. Do you agree Parkoda?”
He sounded reluctant, but told him “If the K’Tal brings back true pictures of human fighting against human in a war, I will keep the other pictures safe in my prize.” With that, he was gone.
“The channel is closed Sir,” Jake informed him.
The large Clanship touched down over a mile away, a hatch opened and a K’Tal with a hand of warriors leaped to the hot tarmac, running towards the Fancy.
“Ship wide broadcast and Link,” he ordered.
“Attention, a “K’Tal and four warriors will be entering the Fancy by the cargo hold ramp, and at least the K’Tal will be coming to the bridge. Everyone stay clear of the stairs.”
As he watched the Clanship lift again, he Linked to Maggi.
“Maggi, I need to make this quick so listen fast. The Krall never knew we recorded our wars or made dramas about them. I think their super-fast visual perception and impatience is poorly suited to watch our slow frame rate movies. Parkoda wants a sample of a movie depicting a past war right now, almost this minute. He’ll blast the ship if I don’t produce. He knows that I helped Telour, and he’s going to make us pay by blowing up the outer gates now. I might be able to save the ship if I give him evidence of our wars.
“I want to show them scenes from an old war movie, with weapons something like we built to fight with here. Probably one from the mid twentieth century. What can you recommend?”
“I’m sorry, but I really don’t know, Tet,” she replied, “I’m not a fan of war stories. I watch cowboy and pioneer dramas. However, Jake can look for movies with an actor I liked as a cowboy. I know he made some war movies about what they called World War 2. John Wayne was his name, but these are not documentaries, they were entertainment.”
“Thanks Maggi, I’ve seen some samples in the past and don’t think the Krall will know the difference. I just need to show them that humans made war within a recent time frame, and the weapons used match the low tech weapons we made.”
As they spoke, Jake’s perpetual monitoring had sent him searching the ship’s vast library for movie titles, with the actor’s name mentioned by Maggi placed in the credits. By the time Mirikami asked for examples, he had a list of war movies.
With time short, he had Jake flash short samples on screen. He found images of ground warfare of the type he wanted, but it proved particularly uncomfortable for him. The title was The Sands of Iwo Jima, which had pitted American Marines against his Japanese Empire ancestors. He glossed over a synopsis of the story.
“The K’Tal has entered the stairwell, Sir,” advised Jake.
“Right. I will use the movie that’s on screen now Jake. Can you display only battle scenes of the invasion of the island and the fighting there, and skip the training and conversational scenes? I want the combat portions.”
“I can try Sir, but some conversation is involved in the portions of the movie where there is fighting.”
“OK, fine. I’ll tell you when to play the battle parts or to skip to another scene”
He heard a whisper of sound and caught a flash of brown uniform as the K’Tal landed on the deck by the stairwell railing. He faced her. “Thank you for coming. I believe I have images of former human warfare for you to see.”
“Parkoda wants me to make a recording of that fighting, an explanation of why you made war, who was fighting, who won, how many died, and how long ago the war was fought.”
No preliminary social interaction with a Krall, he reminded himself. She spoke much better Standard than Parkoda he noticed, wondering if she also dumbed herself down in front of him as Telour did.
“The images I have are of a small part of a worldwide war that took place six hundred of our years ago and lasted for about six years.” He hoped he had the general details mostly right. Earth history wasn’t an important school subject on New Honshu.
“The war was between many different human clans for control of territory and for the power to rule over other clans. It was fought on our home world, and more than fifty six million humans were killed. My cl
an was one of three large allied clans that lost that war, and my clan is fighting in the pictures I will show.”
“Your clan submitted to the stronger victors?” she asked.
“Yes,” was all that he volunteered.
She detached a six-inch black cube from her utility belt. “Where will you show the images?”
He pointed to the main view screen. “Here, on this large screen.”
The K’Tal, who hadn’t bothered to tell him her name, aimed what must be a lens that popped out towards the screen.
To Jake, but as if speaking to Noreen. “Play the segments of combat.”
The scenes started with the naval and aerial bombardments of the rugged volcanic island, and progressed through the amphibious landing, showing chaotic random deaths from bullets and explosions, as well as more direct and targeted individual killings by both sides, in the usual old Hollywood dramatic fashion.
When prompted Jake skipped to scenes of close quarters fighting, machine gun and artillery firing, tanks, explosions, flame thrower use, hand grenades thrown, and bayonet and sword use. The pictures followed the full gamut of movie style combat of that era. He hoped he wouldn’t have to explain how the camera managed to catch the faces and killings without interfering with the battlefield action.
The K’Tal kept her recording device aimed at the screen until Mirikami could see that the battle had essentially ended. “Stop the movie.” The screen froze on a scene of devastation and dead bodies.
“Is that what you needed to see, and have you recorded the images accurately?” Mirikami asked.
Glaring at him because of the unintended inference that she had not performed her task properly, she nevertheless played part of the record back. Watching the image presented on the backside of the device for a moment, she was apparently satisfied.
“The images were recorded accurately. Are they typical of your warfare and ways of fighting?”
Koban Page 62