Ranh

by Ian J Miller

  "You heard," Hadell said. "Never fear. I have sufficient authority to find your name, so for you there are two choices. Very quickly, despatch officers to enforce the law, or else you will find your future to be very unpleasant."

  "I'll be onto it right away."

  "Yes, before you get too excited, here is where the trucks were a couple of minutes ago, and here is the direction they were going. Take notes. They were at . . ."

  "And that, hopefully, will sort that out, at least for a while," Hadell said, "but I wouldn't count on that being a long-term solution.

  Chapter 40

  The convoy stopped midway along the block, and opposite an air intake. Three Guards clambered down from the vehicle, and approached the grill. One looked along the street, and mentioned to the officer who had finally got out of his vehicle that they were in a residential zone.

  "Yes, we are," the officer replied. "Well don't just stand there. Get that grill off."

  "But what happens if –"

  "You want to be on the Cardinal's report sheet tomorrow?"

  "Of course not, but –"

  "No buts. Get that grill off!"

  The Guard looked towards the other two, but there was no help there. With a shrug of, orders are orders, they approached the grill. However, since the grill had never been removed recently, it was stuck.

  "Well, what's wrong now?" the officer snarled.

  "It's stuck!"

  "Then unstick it!"

  "We need a sledge hammer to loosen it, and, well . . ."

  "Just get on with it."

  "You didn't bring a sledge hammer," the Guard finally blurted out. He had to quickly get the blame onto the officer.

  "Oh!" the officer said. He walked over to examine the grill, and after a few minutes during which inspiration failed to come to him, and during which the other Guards were having a quiet snigger behind his back, he finally said, "Then just bring the hose over here and place it over the grill. The gas will still go down."

  "But it might go down the street as well."

  "Just do it, or you're on report!"

  The guards stared at each other. The one other thing they knew that was missing was gas masks. This had all the makings of a disaster, and there was no reason they could not return to base and get the proper equipment, but this idiotic officer seemed determined. Coupled with which, going on report to the Cardinal was also almost certainly a disaster. One Guard had immediately taken control of the opening valve, thus putting himself at the maximum distance from the grill, and under the increasingly angry stare from the officer, very reluctantly, one Guard took the end of the hose and began pulling away from the drum. He approached the grill with the hose.

  "You are not permitted to do that," came a voice.

  "What? Who said that?"

  "There is Ulsian property down below that could be damaged by chlorine gas," the voice continued.

  "That's unlucky," the officer replied, as he stared around trying to work out where the voice came from.

  "Unlucky for you," the voice continued. "Under the Treaty, an attack on Ulsian property is dealt with under Ulsian law. Your actions are being recorded."

  "Yeah, well they're over a thousand years away. So what?"

  "There's an Ulsian battleship right above you."

  The Guard with the hose turned towards the officer. Surely this officer would not continue. However, the officer was made of sterner stuff, and in any case, he could not go back to the Cardinal without having made some attempt. "That'll be an Ulsian surveillance module," he said, hoping he was right. He turned to his electronic expert and said, "Find it."

  The electronic counter-measures began, and as Marcellus realized the Ulsian machine would be found, he sent out fake signals from nearby.

  "Got it!"

  "Then kill it!"

  There was a blast at the wall of a building, and a blinding flash emanated, and a shower of wall came tumbling to the ground.

  "I think that got it," the Guard said. "It must have self-destructed because my beam could never have done that."

  What the Guards did not know was that it was a shot from the Actium that did that damage. The surveillance machine went in ultrapassive mode.

  "No signals, and no electronic activity," a Guard who had the detector reported. "If it turned itself off, maybe I wouldn't find it anyway, but –"

  "No buts. We got it. Something caused that shower of rubble, and the disruption of its energy banks is just about the only possibility. Now, get the gas going!"

  "I can't get past this grill."

  "Just hold the hose over the grill and stop pissing around. The fans that make the air flow will suck it down."

  The hose was held against the grill, and a valve was opened on the tank.

  The surveillance machine had informed Katya what was going to happen, and Katya had one of the humans ready to work the switch. She looked across, and said, "Reverse the flow . . . Now!" The switch was thrown. "Give it a minute, then block all the air intakes other than those in buildings."

  On the street, a cloud of chlorine gas burst from the grill, and the Ranhyn holding the hose jumped back with a fit of coughing, and at the same time, he dropped the hose. The others near the truck saw the cloud and ran, including the Guard who had taken on the valve duty. Nobody thought to turn off the valve, and chlorine kept flowing into the street. Soon, the heavy, light green gas was spreading.

  In the distance, a siren sounded, and very shortly a number of police cars and two special vans stopped just short of the gas, and then quickly began reversing, although two Ranhyn wearing full body protection suits emerged from one of the vans and waddled towards the source of the gas, where he turned off the valve. A major truck soon appeared, with a very large container on the back, and began spraying a solution at the gas cloud.

  Meanwhile, the police officer in charge, an Inspector, approached three of the Conclave Guards, and swearing at them, he impolitely asked them what they thought they were doing.

  "None of your business," the Officer responded.

  "Gassing citizens and killing them is illegal," the Inspector responded, "and dealing with murder is definitely my business."

  "Nobody's died."

  "You don't know that. As of now, we have no idea what that gas has done, so, once again, what did you think you were doing?"

  "We're Conclave Guards, and it's none of your business."

  "You!" the Inspector said, pointing to the other police, "arrest these Guards."

  "Let's see you try," one of the Guards sneered, and began to draw a handgun.

  "Don't!" screamed one of the police, although don't what was unclear. It did not matter, as the Guard fired the weapon and an officer fell down. Immediately, another beam was fired, and the Guard fell down, dead.

  "You'll pay for that!" the Guard officer swore, but no more weapons were drawn.

  "Now, real slowly, put your weapons on the ground. My officers are starting to get nervous, and you don't want more of you to be shot."

  The Guards slowly began to put their weapons on the ground. The police were obviously very nervous, and it was obvious that the situation was not under control, but the police now significantly outnumbered the Guards, their weapons were drawn, and although the barrels were trembling, at that range it would be hard to miss. And with one of their own wounded, they were angry.

  "Into the vans," the Inspector ordered.

  The Guards almost thought of refusing, but the increase in the trembling of the weapons aimed at them convinced their leader that there was nothing to be gained from that, and plenty to lose, so he ordered compliance.

  As the vans drove off and ambulances began appearing, a health inspector and an engineer began the task of seeing what damage had been done. While the police had little to do other than to ensure the experts had a clear field, a Sergeant came up to the Inspector and said, "Those scum won't be held for long. You need to take care."

  "I know," the Inspector said, "but i
f we hold them long enough for the local residents to get organized, I don't think it will matter. And also, I don't know who fired and killed that Guard, but I think it would be better if none of us ever find out. Spread the word that we really don't want to know, even if we are forced to ask."

  "Consider it done," the Sergeant nodded with approval.

  * * *

  Below ground, the news that the chlorine attack had been averted was greeted with cheering, but that soon was stopped when a report came in that ten Guards had avoided both the chlorine and the police, they had entered a building, and they had apparently found an entry point to the underground tunnel system.

  "It's entry point thirteen," Lucius said. "Get the equipment ready and take cover."

  Entry point thirteen was one of the wider tunnels, its slope was less than most, and the ground rougher. As such, it was an obvious place for the Guards to try their luck. However, it was still sufficiently narrow that Ranhynn could not come down more than two abreast.

  Alexis found himself in charge of the critical entry point, which involved the point where the tunnel system entered an open space before requiring a turn to the right at about one hundred and thirty degrees. Four meters from the end of the tunnel and immediately in front of it was a solid stone wall that contained two slits. Behind the slits were two ballistae, automated to take a series of bolts, and two tanks of hydrocarbons together with a hose and pump. These were to be flamethrowers. Experience had shown that the Ranhyn body armour would reflect beam weapons, but the ballistae bolts, although based on relatively ancient technology, were not reflected, and arrows were largely unaffected. Nobody knew what flame would do, but it was worth a last desperate try. The problem for body armour was energy. Beams were relatively easy to reflect because they were waves, and waves naturally reflect, but to reflect a solid, twice its momentum was required, and a means to impart it. The energy required to do this in a concentrated form was too great for any wearable armour.

  At right angles to the exit from the first tunnel was a further similar stone wall, with wider slits and again, two ballistae that could be swung around. Four archers were also stationed behind the wall. Finally, further down the tunnel leading to the more general living space were archers and others hiding behind a makeshift wall. This was the last line of formal defence here, although if this fell there would be further fighting deeper down. Besides the arrows, each soldier had access to a long spear and a handgun – a beam weapon only to be used at very close range, and to be aimed at the head. The weapons were prepared, and the humans began their wait.

  The wait was short. Soon, a heavy bulkhead was lifted off, and a Guard dropped down into the tunnel. As it was, the angle was such that he was out of sight of the ballistae, and the Guard could not see the stone wall. A further one dropped in, and they began to work their way down. The humans knew they were there, but they kept strictly silent. Alexius had drilled them into staying very quiet until it no longer mattered.

  Feet came into view. The ballistae aimed at where the body would be when it came lower. The Guards were creeping down, apparently hoping to surprise the defenders.

  "Fire!" Alexius called.

  Two bolts flew through the air, and there were roars of pain. One of the Guards tumbled down and fell into the open space, while a second continued to yowl with pain. There was a pause, then the sounds of a general retreat. Then quiet.

  "It's not over yet," Alexius said calmly. "Keep your attention up."

  The Guard on the floor was not dead, but he had lost his weapon. He crawled towards it.

  "Stop!" Alexius said, in the Ranhyn language. "If your friends leave us alone, we shall try and tend to your wound. Keep going towards that weapon and we shall kill you."

  The guard stopped crawling.

  "Good thinking," Alexius said. "Now, if you can crawl this way, when you get out of immediate sight of that tunnel, we shall get help to you provided you surrender. That means no more effort on your part to hurt any of us. Tap the floor twice if you surrender."

  The Guard tapped twice, and although he was clearly in pain, he began crawling. When he reached the edge of the tunnel, he grasped a length of wood held out towards him, and he was pulled to safety. He was then put on a makeshift stretcher, and taken to another room.

  There was a further noise from within the tunnel, then the sound of feet, and something else.

  "They've used doors as shields," came the explanation from behind the first stone wall.

  "Hold your fire," Alexius called. "Be ready with spear and sword, and be ready to fire if you can see around the doors. Remember, if you can't see them, they can't see you either."

  The two Guards holding doors before them saw their problem only when they emerged from the tunnel. They might be shielded from the front, but they were not shielded from the sides. Two ballistae bolts tore through the air, then arrows. The front right Guard fell, with two bolts embedded in his side, and when he fell, the door he was holding also fell. The Guard on the left yelled, and fell with three arrows in him. As the doors fell, two further ballistae bolts tore into the tunnel, and there was more cursing, another Guard came tumbling down to lie inertly on the ground, and as there seemed to be some indecision in the tunnel, two further bolts tore into the tunnel and also struck home.

  The remaining Guards in the tunnel fled upwards, and, as Marcellus was to report later, they fled from the building. As the last unwounded Guard reached the top, he apparently sealed the hatch, so that the two wounded Guards in the tunnel had no way out.

  Alexius again shouted out in Ranhyn, "If you two surrender, and promise to take no further part in any struggle against us, we shall let you come down and we shall tend to your wounds as best we can. If you refuse, we shall have to kill you."

  The Guards surrendered.

  The spare weapons were secured, the bolts recovered and cleaned for further use, and the wounded Guards were taken to where the other was being treated. The dead Guards were also taken away.

  "Right," Alexius told those taking away the dead. "Treat the bodies with respect."

  "We should eat them," one of the soldiers muttered. "They were going to eat us."

  "Yes, but we are better than them," Alexius said.

  "Also," Katya added, "this is not over by any means. If we can negotiate your way out of this, the last thing we need is more provocation."

  There was a muted silence. Everyone had been so pleased that they had won. Now they were told that perhaps it was just the beginning of something much worse. It would be a sombre time for all when they took their break at the mess that evening.

  Chapter 41

  "You will be pleased to hear," Antonia said, "that something is going to happen to relieve the boredom of which you characteristically complain."

  "There is activity on the satellite?" Lucilla asked.

  "Fortunately, no. The long range sensors detect a ship decelerating on approach to the satellite."

  "A warship?"

  "Too early to be sure, but the exhaust signature is more typical of a freighter. It could be a very cautious warship."

  "Then we should go out and meet it," Lucilla said. "It could be carrying these bombs we are so concerned about."

  "Yes, but there has to be a decision as to what to do here. Remember, you have two warships at your disposal. You could leave the Livia with instructions."

  "Once again, I command a force of machines," Lucilla smiled. "Then we shall set out and intercept this ship, while the Livia monitors this satellite. Hopefully, nothing will happen, but if there are signs of motors starting up from within the deep, the Livia must request such motors be turned off immediately." She paused for a moment, and added, "These are under the delegated orders from Space Marshall Scaevola. If they have some reason to dispute their validity, they should signal Ranh immediately, and the Ulsian warships will immediately comply with any correcting orders from the Space Marshall. If the circumstances arise, tell them it would be in everyone's best
interests if the situation were to be resolved from Ranh. Then warn them that the delegated orders require me to warn them that failure to comply will lead to their being sealed in, as I am sure the Livia's weapons can melt enough ice on the exit route."

  "And if they ignore your warning?"

  "Seal the exits," Lucilla said. "Why? Is that a problem?"

  "Not at all," Antonia said. "It is just that we machines like explicit orders. That way we can't be blamed if things go wrong."

  "I am not going to blame anyone," Lucilla countered, "unless, of course, we fail to get started."

  "I never suspected you would blame anyone, but the principle applies as to why machines like clarity. As for getting going, you should check the view. We are already far enough away you will not be able to see the Livia, and the satellite should be seen as smaller by you."

  "Excellent!" Lucilla walked over to the command chair and sat in it. "When can we order that other ship to turn away from its course towards the satellite, slow, and prepare to be boarded for a cargo inspection?"

  "Now is as good a time as any."

  "Then do it after you can give it a suitable course and velocity. Oh, and if it objects to being inspected, inform it that Space Marshall Scaevola has received a communication from the Xanex that they fear there is illicit cargo, and Space Marshall Scaevola has undertaken to reassure them there is no such illicit cargo."

  "Not entirely true," Antonia smiled.

  "Good enough, though. Tell them if the Xanex clears them, there is no need for the inspection, but they would have to wait for the clearing."

  "And if they refuse to comply?"

  "Tell them, when they actually refuse, that would be taken as confirmation that they are carrying illicit cargo. If they refuse to permit the inspection, the ship will be destroyed."

  "Your brother will love all this."

  "He has delegated the authority," Lucilla said. "If this is resolved satisfactorily there will be no problem, and if it is not resolved satisfactorily we are at war."