Lazarus Rising

by David Sherman

  A young couple emerged, off-worlders. "Identification! State your business!" the sentry demanded.

  Each word and every image of each encounter was monitored and recorded by an officer behind protective glass in his control booth. "Ambassadorial personnel," the duty officer said into his throat mike, "give them a hard time."

  "Where are you going?" the sentry demanded, holding their ID crystals but making no effort to read them.

  "We're just taking a morning walk, soldier," the young man replied affably. The men of the Special Group hated being called "soldiers," and the young man knew that.

  "You can't do that in the compound?" the shooter asked. "Wait here." He stepped into the control booth.

  "Let them stand out there for a while," the officer said. "Leave their IDs with me until I feel ready to let them go."

  "Stand by," the sentry told the couple.

  "What's the problem?" the young woman asked.

  "The problem is you're here," the sentry answered. "Now stand back, you're in the way of traffic."

  "This is absolute nonsense," the young man said at last. "What's your name? I'm going to log a protest when we get back!"

  A vehicle flying the ambassador's pennant rolled up to the gate. Two shooters approached. "Good morning, Mr. Ambassador," one said. "May we ask where you are headed this morning, sir?"

  "No you may not," Spears replied. "You keep this up this nonsense and I'll land a shore party and have you all wiped out." This too was a ritual the sentries were used to—except they didn't know that this morning Spears meant it.

  The sentry peered inside the vehicle. "Ambassador Spears, General Banks, and Mr. Carlisle, destination unknown," he reported to the duty officer. "He's making threats, as usual," the man added.

  Aha! the stormleader on duty thought. At last, something to report to headquarters! "Let him through." He turned to his noncom. "Track them." He gathered up the young couples' IDs and stepped outside. "You may proceed," he announced with an airy wave of his hand.

  "I'm going to report this," the young man said firmly.

  "Oh?" The stormleader turned back to the pair. "Well, excuse me, sir," he said with a polite bow, "but obviously you have me confused with someone who really gives a shit," and all the SG men within hearing laughed. "Have a nice day," he said to their backs as they stomped off.

  The surveillance operation at Interstellar City was performed by the SG Security Service, a small but well-trained detachment commanded by the equivalent of a colonel. It was good duty.

  By treaty agreement, there was only one way in or out of Interstellar City. Before de Tomas seized power, the Convocation of Ministers restricted contact between the diplomats and the faithful of Kingdom because they were afraid of the possible "contamination" of new ideas that they were sure would be spread by the unbelievers of the Confederation. De Tomas continued the strict surveillance while permitting free passage because ideology did not bother him—he just wanted to know what everyone was up to.

  "Arrogant bastards," Carlisle muttered as the SG man waved them through the checkpoint.

  "Has this vehicle been swept today?" Spears asked the driver.

  "Yessir."

  "Good. Good, too, that General Lambsblood borrowed one of our technicians to sweep his own office suite. At least we'll be able to talk indoors today instead of walking around on the parade field. Why do you think Lambsblood called for this meeting, Dick?" Spears asked Brigadier General Banks. "Do you think he's ready to make his move?"

  "Maybe, sir. Major Devi's been on this detached duty with that armored battalion for some time now. It's the most potent military force he has immediately available. The CNSS Marne is in orbit, and the general knows she's up there."

  "Prentiss?"

  "I agree with Dick, sir."

  "I think it's time. I've talked to the captain of the Marne and he's ready to lend us whatever support we request. As soon as the action starts, he'll land a shore party. I have the authority to ask for protection from the navy in case of civil disorder here." He pulled back his coat and displayed a compact hand-blaster in a shoulder holster. "Gentlemen, may I introduce my faithful Sig-Walther? I never go to a revolution without it!"

  Mugabe lighted a cheroot, sucked in the smoke and exhaled it luxuriously. "These things taste best at a time like this." He smiled at Uma.

  "They never smell any good to me." She grinned, running a fingernail down the stormleader's chest.

  "It's my only bad habit," he said. "Well, one of my only two bad habits." He laughed.

  "And the other?" Uma Devi asked playfully.

  Mugabe pretended to think about that. After a moment he said quite seriously, "You."

  She scowled and grabbed him. "It's not me, my dear stormleader, but this that's going to get you into trouble!"

  "Yiii!" he rolled away from her and sat on the edge of the bed. "Uma, I've been thinking."

  "A bad habit for a member of the Special Group."

  Mugabe smiled. "Uma, we're a compatible couple. We've known each other for how long now, weeks? That's a long time. We both come from good families. I'm an officer in the Special Group. We're both unattached, never been attached to anyone else, in fact. What do you say we get married, you and me?"

  Uma said nothing at first; either from surprise or shock, Mugabe wasn't sure. She rolled over on her side, took the cheroot and inhaled. She blew smoke out through her nostrils. "All right," she said.

  Later Uma said, "I guess that day the Leader rejected me as his consort was really my lucky day. I met you. Did he ever find anyone, I wonder?"

  "Yes, I've heard he did. Some girl from the provinces, I hear, a really scrappy bitch. He's spending all his time with her, up in his sanctuary. It's a bad thing when a man allows sex to get in the way of his duty. I hate to say it of such a great man."

  "A girl from the provinces?" Uma mused.

  "Yes. Bottle is her name, or something like that. We arrested her when we attacked her village, New Salem. Thought there were Skinks there but only found these miserable survivors of the City of God sect. She's the only one who survived." He shrugged. "Anyway, our leader picked her as his consort, so now she lives in splendor up in his penthouse."

  Later, while Mugabe slept, Uma padded into the toilet. She pulled out her comm. "Krishna?" Her brother answered. "I have something you may want to know. I give it to you with only one condition."

  "I think I know that man," Spears muttered as they were ushered into General Lambsblood's private office. The general and his guests stood as the ambassador and his party entered.

  "Mr. Ambassador, so good of you to come on such short notice." The general extended his hand. "May I introduce my special guests? You know Major Devi, but here are Mr. Zechariah Brattle and Mr. Charles Bass."

  Jayben Spears took Bass's hand and shook it warmly. "Well, Mr. Bass, a pleasure! Have we ever met before?"

  "I don't remember, sir," Bass replied, and told him in as few words as possible what had happened to him, as far as he could remember. "I guess we won the war against the Skinks, whoever ‘we’ are," he concluded.

  "Yes, we did," Spears said. He was positive he'd seen this Bass before, but where?

  They sat. "We don't have much time," General Lambsblood said. "I am going to launch an attack on Wayvelsberg Castle. I am going to overthrow Dominic de Tomas or die in the attempt. I'll decide when after this meeting, but it'll be today. I need your support, Mr. Ambassador."

  "We thought so," Spears said. "You have it, of course. Please continue."

  "It will be a tough fight," Prentiss Carlisle offered. "You're going up against the Special Group. They're well-armed and highly motivated, General. Forgive me for saying so, but your men have had a very rough time these last months."

  "I don't think so," Bass said. They all looked at him in astonishment.

  "They're very tough men," Ambassador Spears said.

  "I don't think so, sir," Bass repeated. "Oh, they're tough when it comes to breaking i
nto peoples' homes and arresting them, executing unarmed men, burning villages, torturing people. But remember, in your war with the Skinks," he looked at General Lambsblood, "where were they? You fought the aliens, you stood with the Marines, you took casualties while they hid out in their dungeons or that castle of theirs on the other side of town, doing karaoke to the tune of the ‘Horst Wessel Lied.’"

  "I think Charles is right, sir," Raipur chimed in. "When they attacked Mr. Brattle's village, they were totally unopposed by any real military force, but they still took casualties. Of course they claim it was a great victory and all that, but so far as I know, that was the first and only tactical military operation any of them ever participated in. No wonder they think it was a walkover."

  "Gentlemen," Brigadier General Banks spoke up, "we hit them hard in the head, knock out Wayvelsberg, hit them fast and with everything we've got, and I think Mr. Bass is right. They'll fold up like an old field shelter." He was half out of his seat now, pounding one fist into the palm of his hand, eyes flashing, an old war-horse awakened by a distant trumpet.

  "Mr. Brattle." Major Devi spoke directly to Zechariah. "I know where your daughter is." He briefly explained what his sister had told him earlier in the morning. "And moreover, she knows how to get into Wayvelsberg."

  Zechariah almost jumped out of his seat at the news.

  "Gentlemen, gentlemen." Lambsblood held up a hand. "One thing at a time! Let's coordinate our plan now, shall we?"

  "Mr. Bass." Spears tapped Bass on the knee. "You look like a military man and you talk like a military man so you must be a military man. Does the name Ted Sturgeon ring a bell with you?"

  Often great landslides that rush down upon unsuspecting villages are started when a single boulder on the mountainside is jarred loose. It tumbles a way, dislodging somewhat larger cousins as it rolls along, gathering rocks and dirt and trees until it becomes part of a roaring wall of earth rumbling and crashing inexorably to the bottom of the valley.

  Ted Sturgeon. That name was Charlie Bass's boulder. He sat bolt upright in his chair, eyes staring, face drained white as if he'd seen a ghost or had a vision of his own death. Or as if he were having a heart attack! Zechariah, alarmed that it was the latter, put his arm around Bass's shoulders. "Charles! Charles! What is wrong with you?"

  Bass could not get any words out, although his lips moved as he tried to form them. For a moment he did not even know where he was as memory after memory crashed in upon him. There was poor Dupont again! Top Myer! The Skipper! Camp Ellis! Big Barb's! Wonderful schooners of sparkling cold Reindeer Ale! Cigars, delicious, divine cigars! All the faces of the men he'd come to love and respect, the living and the dead, danced before his eyes.

  "Get him water!" General Lambsblood ordered.

  "A medic! We need a medic!" Raipur started for the door.

  Bass shook his head vigorously and held up a hand, gasping, chest heaving to get air into his lungs. A thin film of perspiration covered his forehead. And then tears came to his eyes and he grinned. At first he said nothing, could not say anything, he was too choked up, just sat there, looking triumphantly at the people nervously gathered about him. "I am—" he croaked, swallowed and started again:

  "I am Gunnery Sergeant Charles Bass, commander of third platoon, Company L, 34th Fleet Initial Strike Team, Confederation Marine Corps!"

  Zechariah Brattle hugged Gunny Bass, tears forming in his own eyes, and, looking up toward heaven shouted, "Praise the Lord God Almighty, Lazarus has risen!"

  Chapter 28

  "General," Bass said, the color back in his face, "I'm ready to go again."

  "Gunny Bass! I thought I recognized you!" Spears interrupted. "I know Brigadier Sturgeon very well, and I know two men from your platoon also, Lance Corporals Claypoole and Dean. They were with us on Wanderjahr, when we raided Turbat Nguyen-Multan's hideout. So, wouldn't you like me to dispatch a message to Fleet, telling them you're alive and well?"

  "Small universe, sir," Bass replied. Claypoole! Dean! My God, how he wanted to be back on Thorsfinni's World, eating a big steak at Big Barb's, a schooner—no, a battleship!—of ale at his elbow! But first there was Comfort Brattle. "But not just now, sir. Could we wait until our present business is concluded? I'd like to hear the general's plan."

  "Excellent! Gentlemen, Major Devi will brief you."

  "Here's what we've worked out. H hour is midnight. The forces involved consist of—"

  "Excuse me, General, Major," Zechariah interrupted, "but I came here to rescue my daughter, and this major of yours here said he knows where she is."

  "I came here for the same reason, General," Bass said. "Her name is Comfort and we want her back."

  "And General, sir, if you have no objection, I would like to go with Gunnery Sergeant Bass," Raipur added.

  "Well?" Lambsblood looked at Chet and Colleen, and they nodded. "Very well, then. Major Devi? But be quick, time is of the essence."

  Major Devi explained what his sister had told him. "She has been into de Tomas's private quarters and knows how to get into Wayvelsberg Castle. You'll need explosives to get through the doors—small shaped charges should do—and we have them at the depot where the assault force is waiting to move out. I suggest you accompany me there when we're done here, and we'll outfit you. My sister requested one condition, though."

  "What's that?" Zechariah asked.

  "There's a certain stormleader in de Tomas's Lifeguards Battalion, Mugabe is his name. She wants him spared any harm."

  "Why?" Zechariah asked.

  "I think they're going to get married. He's my brother-in-law-in-waiting, I guess you'd say." He shrugged and his face turned red with embarrassment, but there it was. As a good staff officer, he just didn't keep things from the boss.

  "Well, this day has been full of surprises, hasn't it?" General Lambsblood exclaimed.

  "Will your sister go along with us?" Bass asked.

  "I think so. I think she'll have to go at least as far as the castle grounds."

  "Tell her we agree," Bass said, wondering how they would know who this Mugabe was if they saw him, and how to take him down without injuring him if he fought them. "General, can we coordinate your attack with our busting into this place?"

  Lambsblood looked at Devi, who nodded. "Yes. Major?"

  "Now, here's the plan." Briefly he explained how the operation would work. The armored battalion at the depot consisted of twenty Gabriel fighting vehicles, each with the capacity to carry fully armed infantrymen and a three-man crew. Those men plus the maintenance personnel and the battalion's supporting infantry company, recon, signal, mortar platoons, and the rest gave the unit a combat strength of five hundred men when fully manned. Over the past weeks, however, Lambsblood had secretly reinforced the infantry company with men drawn from field units so that the battalion's fighting strength was closer to six hundred. All the men were loyal to the general and eager to attack.

  "There are roughly a thousand men in the Lifeguards Battalion at Wayvelsberg," Major Devi continued. "They're housed in barracks about half a kilometer from the castle itself. We'll have the element of surprise, and we'll be attacking at night, so the garrison at the castle will consist of no more than a hundred men. Half our force will attack the barracks, while the remainder hits the castle; the mortar platoon will take out the airfield that is next to the barracks. Gunny Bass, you go in the back door as we go in the front. We'll be in constant radio contact from the moment we leave here to go to the depot. General Lambsblood will coordinate the operation from here; Ambassador Spears will stand by at Interstellar City.

  "Call signs: the general's is ‘Wholesaler’; the armored battalion commander's is ‘Shipper’; you, Ambassador Spears, will be ‘Middleman.’ Gunny, we'll call you ‘Customer.’ And Wayvelsberg is the ‘Store,’ while the barracks and airfield are the ‘Apartment.’ The signal to commence the attack will be ‘Home.’ Use those words in whatever combinations work. We know the Special Group monitors radio communications closel
y, so only use the radios when it's absolutely necessary."

  "I can have the Marne jam all electronic communications on command," Spears offered.

  "Not a good idea, sir," Lambsblood replied. "We'll need to be able to communicate with our forces to be sure nothing goes wrong, or to let each of the three attack elements know if anything does." He nodded at Devi to continue.

  "Everyone will be in position to attack by 2345. We've rehearsed this over and over at the battalion. The streets will be free of traffic at that hour so we'll have a clear route to Wayvelsberg and be there before anyone realizes what's up. Any questions?"

  "What if something does go wrong?" Bass asked. "What are the contingency plans?"

  Major Devi shifted uneasily in his chair. "We've considered various contingencies, Gunny. Basically, we'll play it by ear. We're flexible. We'll be in constant touch with one another from now until the attack. Our armored battalion is the most potent military force in the city. Remember, the Special Group is spread out in garrisons all over Kingdom, and by the time any of those garrisons can reinforce the Lifeguards, the battle will be over.

  "Remember also, we have the strategic initiative. Tactically, we're outnumbered, that's true, but the enemy is dispersed. We will mass our forces to concentrate our firepower to the best advantage. If the forces attacking the barracks do not completely destroy the garrison there, they'll prevent it from reinforcing Wayvelsberg, and the Wayvelsberg defenders will be outnumbered four-to-one."

  "What about the city's population?" Carlisle asked. "You know how popular de Tomas is. What are you going to do to secure the channels of public information, so you can explain the revolution, win his supporters over?"

  "We don't have the forces to do that," General Lambsblood answered. "We had to keep this operation secret. I could not even bring in my staff, much less civilian counterparts who might be with us. Besides, by two hours tomorrow de Tomas will be in our custody, and once he's out of power, we will fill the vacuum. There may be a short period of instability, but without de Tomas, his government will topple. We'll win the people over during his trial, when we can bring to light all his crimes. Until then, of course, we may have to deal with public demonstrations. But on the other hand, de Tomas has enemies, and once his oppression is at an end, they'll come out of the woodwork. Anyway, the army is with us."