« Channel One! », and Kirrah, standing on the top of the pier with her allies, turned her wristcomp to the international hailing channel.
« Terms for hostage release, » said the mild computer-synthesized voice driven by the Kruss’ alien mind.
« Imprimus: do not fire on Pssittagk. Detector sees energy beam, causes small explosion, kill small humans. Pssittagk drink blood. Arrows also foolish, hurt humans, not Kruss armor. Other weapons cause fire, these wood rods burn fast, cook Pssittagk’s dinner very tasty. Notice to human soldier on roof with long gun, if this Kruss cease reset timer, Kruss beamer then shoot, ignite wood. Also activate small explosions. »
“Damn!” said Adrianne, rising from cover on the block’s roof just behind a faded sign. “Sorry, Ma’am. No shot.” The mild voice continued, apparently using an archaic numbering system the language file rendered in Latin:
« Secundus: No shuttle flights, no small fliers within bzzzz eighteen point seven kilometers of Pssittagk. Also send these wood boats away. »
« Tertius: Kruss and prey now take long river voyage. Pssittagk call one O’dai ship for pickup, must return to base for… Must return to base. ssKirragk must allow one O’dai ship up river, meet Pssittagk, depart. No attacking.
« Quartus: Kruss to need meat-food soon. Accept delivery two ways only. One way, ssKirragk put meat on raft in river, rope across river. Raft in center. Good meat only, small humans must swallow first.
« Other way, Kruss eat parts of small humans. Plenty meat for voyage. ssKirragk choose way one or two. Pssittagk allow shuttle flight to place food, first delivery by bzzzz fifty-two minutes after dawn tomorrow.
« Pssittagk apologize about long contract, over-fill slow human mind. Pssittagk tries to think of everything, no surprises. Good trading partner. Give ssKirragk time needed return Lssghack. Final trade at Kruss base, safe there. Good deal, yes? Alternative, if Lssghack visit Regnum, small humans visit Krusslath. »
Kirrah stood in stunned silence, as every avenue of attack her frantically racing mind considered, was blocked by something the Kruss had set up. Check and mate. She watched the powerful little creature lash Akaray’s ankles to one of the logs, then bend the boy on his back over the brushpile and secure his wrists to the other side. Then a sobbing Tash’ta was similarly spread-eagled on the raft, and the Kruss settled down comfortably between its human shields. The current continued to carry them down the lake. Kirrah made to follow along the shore when Irshe stopped her with a firm hand on her arm.
“Warmaster, the fight is not there. The fight is here.” He touched her forehead with a fingertip. She recoiled, took a deep breath.
“Irshe-ro’tachk is wise as always. I am sorry. I forget I am not the only one wanting those two returned. Let us go back to Stone-in-a-River school and consider our options. And please ask Captain Og’drai to shadow that Kruss down the river. He should take four steamships and a complement of archers and cavalry, and keep back five doi’la unless otherwise ordered.
“Lieutenant Warden, would you please make the arrangements for a shuttle flight tomorrow before dawn? We will take a raft aboard, and a coil of rope, we can deliver a sha’pluuth carcass a few kilometers down-river from the Kruss’ position. And could you have someone track them down the river from a Tango, with a good optical suite? I’d like to supplement the Argosy’s optics. I assume if we ever learn that little horror has killed our people, we can strike at will. And have them take a local guide, there are tso’ckhai on the plains, your people won’t see them in time.”
Two hours later, a glum group was still gathered in Kirrah’s quarters at the Stone-in-a-River school. She sat behind her small desk. Irshe, Slaetra, Doris Finch and Brai’klao shu’Naei, the school’s law professor, occupied the modest suite’s normal complement of four padded chairs, while Peetha, Issthe and Adrianne Gilman rested on a light outdoor bench brought in for the meeting. Marcus Warden was perched on one corner of Kirrah’s desk, fiddling absently with a complex-looking twenty-centimeter cylinder of machined hullmetal, a souvenir he’d lifted from the damaged Kruss flier still lying in several pieces in the courtyard outside.
“Perhaps if we stopped for refreshments,” Slaetra said, “we might also refresh our minds a little. I fear we have been wearing ruts around the problem.”
“Refreshments would be good,” said Kirrah. She got up and paced around her desk.
“How about a slow-acting poison in its meat?” said Doris. “Something toxic to the Kruss but not the humans, or something to incapacitate them all and let us separate them?”
“There is still the problem of its self-acting not-sword,” Irshe replied. “If the Kruss loses consciousness, I thought you said its suit would be able to cause the deaths of Tash’ta and Akaray.”
“Well, yes, but…” Doris retreated, a bit embarrassed to be tripped up by an indig on a technical point. “Wait a minute, it can’t keep that deadman timer running all night, or it will fall asleep and lose its hostages. Sorry, Kirrah,” she added, seeing the look that scenario brought to her friend’s face. “But it has to know it’s dead meat if it kills them, even accidentally. So it has to turn the timer off sometime.”
“The problem is, we can never be sure when,” Kirrah replied. “That wretched creature is completely in control of the situation.”
“My Warmaster’s enemy is very clever,” said Peetha, who had been silent for most of the discussions. “But all enemies have a weakness. Kirrah Warmaster herself has taught me this.”
“You are doubtless correct, Peetha. I just can’t see what its weakness is.”
“Neither do I see it, Warmaster. But as a child learning Wrth ways, we were taught to sense an enemy’s weakness by observing where he protects himself. It seems to me that although we do not know what this creature’s weakness is, we may guess where it is.” All eyes turned to the young Wrth warrior.
“There is something I cannot quite set my blade to, about its need to return to its base under the O’dai palace. If it simply wanted its mate back, it could bargain just as well standing outside our walls. Instead, it sets out on a five or six day voyage, because it wants to be home. This draws my attention.”
“Damn, she’s right,” said Doris. There’s something fishy about its determination to get back to its base in… is it ‘O’dakai’? There can’t be room for more than one or two more Kruss there, I’ve been over the shuttle’s sensor logs three times myself, once with the raw data.” Kirrah’s professional experience told her she could implicitly trust her shipmate’s expertise with sensor data.
“Then what we need is to make it impossible for the Kruss to return to its base, without seeming to be the ones responsible,” contributed Adrianne. “You have no wet-navy forces between the Kruss and the lake?”
“No,” said Kirrah. “Everything was kept here, for the defense of Talameths’cha, of this city.” More glum looks around the circle. “I can’t believe that little shit is holding our combined forces at bay with two cheap sensor boxes and a goddamned timer circuit!” She pounded her desk in frustration, not for the first time that afternoon. Issthe observed the outburst calmly, without judgement.
“This concerns me in a different way as well,” said Brai’klao. “I would like to hear your Doctor Penni’ten speak to this, as I know no Civil’ym law. But law between star nations surely seeks to look on all arguments equally. If I were the Kruss, I would tell how I was stranded on a planet full of strangers, how my Reg’num enemies helped the enemies of my allies by teaching them tech they did not have, how they kidnapped my… you say it’s not ‘mate’ exactly - my family member, and destroyed my device-that-flies when I attempted rescue. Thus there are facts which could be assembled to make the Kruss capturing Tash’ta and Akaray, look like us capturing the first Kruss.”
“No!” Kirrah nearly-shouted.
Irshe took the next words out of her mouth. “The Kruss we captured was taken in battle on our own lands, not stolen from his own home! Surely these differences
are important!”
The law professor replied, “They would be decisive in Talamae law, of course. Does Civil’ym law see these distinctions the same way?”
Kirrah paused, one hand in mid-gesture, and considered the thought. “In fact, I do not know, Brai’klao.”
“On that cheery thought, ladies and gentlemen, I notice Kirrah and I are nearly due for an ‘interview’ with Admiral Dunning,” said Lieutenant Warden. “I most earnestly suggest we not keep her waiting. I have experienced her ‘interviews’ in the past, both as observer and as main dish, and I don’t have a good feeling about this one. Partly because she hasn’t asked to see you, Adrianne.”
“That’s true,” she replied mock-seriously. “A good commander never chews out her lieutenants in front of the grunts. I’d better prep some fast-heal for your six, Lieutenant, sir.
“Thank you all for your hospitality,” Adrianne continued, getting up to leave with her CO. “I can see why Lieutenant Roehl cares so much for you all. And Kirrah, I can see how much the boy and girl mean to you. I am truly sorry I wasn’t able to nail that lizard for you like I promised. Turns out I was setting up my shot just three or four meters in front of one of its damned little smartshot pickups lying on the roof. It must have got a great picture of me setting up my ambush.”
“I thank you, Adrianne, you did all that could be done. It gave you no shot, and with that dead-man timer on its beamer, it wouldn’t have mattered. We need to come up with something else.”
“Thank you, ma’am. If we can help in any way…”
Chapter 43 (Landing plus one hundred thirty-eight): Chain of Command
“Personally I'm always ready to learn, although I do not always like being taught.” – Sir Winston Churchill, op.cit.
“I’m sorry, Lieutenant Warden, we cannot help in any way,” Admiral Dunning said over the comm relay in the parked shuttle half an hour later. “You may use the shuttle to transport items deemed essential by our allied indigenes and their Warmaster, as part of our mutual cooperation treaty. Even to go this far, we have had to put Lieutenant Roehl on extended compassionate leave.
“But you are expressly ordered not to use any weapon on the shuttle against the Kruss in person, or against their base, except to defend Regnum personnel or equipment. This specifically does not include those two children. I don’t like it any more than you do, but until the planet’s status is properly adjudicated, we cannot and we will not take an active part in on-planet hostilities.
“The actions you took firing on the O’dai government building this morning was already over the line, Lieutenant Warden. If you did not have good video showing a barely-plausible threat from those rooftop snipers, at this moment you would be in my brig awaiting transport to court martial at Trailway.” The Admiral’s strong face leaned slightly forward into her vid pickup, becoming, if possible, even more intimidating.
“Do not cross my lines again. They are there for a reason, and I will not have this task force’s accomplishments overturned by a Civilium Justice Board, to save a set of enemies from being butchered by their own people, no matter how barbaric. Are we quite clear?”
“Ma’am! Yes Ma’am!” said the ramrod straight and highly uncomfortable Marine Lieutenant. Kirrah, sitting just outside the vid pickup three seats away in the shuttle’s passenger compartment, felt a strong twinge of sympathy for the soldier who was the subject of such an expert and thorough reaming for acting at her behest. She marveled anew at Admiral Dunning’s uncanny ability to transform any place she happened to be, into her own personal royal court, even when only present electronically.
The hard, iron-edged voice rolled on. “Let us review the rules of engagement. You will require each and every Marine under your command to read and sign the document delineating these rules, which I am downloading into a data wafer on the shuttle.
“In accordance with our treaty with the nation state of Talam, we will challenge, engage and destroy any hostile forces entering this system, down to the top of their planet’s atmosphere, or farther in hot pursuit.
“On the planet, we will defend ourselves if fired upon. We will defend the city of Talameths’cha and our embassy there. We will not otherwise intervene militarily in the O’dai-Talam-Kruss conflict, except to provide passive intelligence and images, and transport when requested, where such activities will not likely bring Regnum forces under hostile fire. Say ‘aye ma’am’, and mean it, Marcus, I know this is difficult.”
“Aye, Ma’am. Orders received and understood.”
“Good. Now get me… ahem. Would you please pass on my request to Kirrah Warmaster for an immediate consultation.”
“Aye, Ma’am. She is standing by now.” Marcus stepped back, rolled his shoulders and let out a long, long breath as Kirrah stepped forward into the vid pickup. It felt rather like being the next meat course at an official barbecue, where everyone was ordering ‘well-done’.
“Yes, Ma…, excuse me, Yes, Admiral Dunning,” Kirrah said. Her double role was making every step seem like a waltz in a minefield.
“I appreciate you are in a difficult and ambiguous position, Ms. Roehl. Your indefinite leave from the Survey Service is now official, but Dr. Pennington counsels me that we are skating on some very thin ice indeed. The future of this planet, indeed many lives, including many Regnum Navy lives, depend on us keeping ourselves very strictly within our legally defined roles, as those roles will be defined at some future time, by others who were not present in the field. I hope you can understand why I must take such a strict interpretation of the law as we understand it.”
“I do, Ma’… I do, Admiral. Talam is very appreciative of the help you have already provided. We will do our best not to abuse your generosity.”
“Thank you, Ms. Roehl. And thank you for the scan data your flight obtained. We now know the Kruss have no more than the two rooms, both under the palace.
“We began the day with several judicial assets, namely the Kruss’ violations of interstellar law in firing on Arvida-Yee, and your, that is, Talam’s complaint against the Kruss Empire for use of illegal weapons. By the way Dr. Pennington says that will be exactly the right way to prosecute - the Empire, not the individuals.
“However, the actions taken in the O’dai city this morning may well lead to countervailing charges against the Regnum Draconis by the O’dai nation. If those charges should prevail, it could in large measure counterbalance Talam’s claim. The Regnum’s only real defense is that Lieutenant Warden evaluated the sudden appearance of hostiles on the rooftop as a plausible threat to his forces, not to the O’dai wounded. Crossbow bolts do not constitute such a threat, and he will doubtless be explaining in excruciating detail why he believed those hostiles may have been equipped with modern weapons from the buried Kruss chambers.
“I want you to understand, both of you, each and every restriction I place on the use of my forces against our enemies on-planet is there for just one reason: to avoid providing the Kruss or their allies with any further shred of legal ammunition for what will ultimately be a full-fledged sovereignty-determination hearing.”
“I understand, Admiral. I have exactly the same goal,” said Kirrah.
“Good. Because there is one other thing I must mention. The Kruss aboard my ship is not in fact my prisoner. He is your prisoner, in my custody for transport. I am not advocating any course of action, Ms. Roehl, but if you want it back down there to trade for those hostages, I am compelled to deliver it.
“You understand, you already have enough physical evidence to get a Scrutineer’s order for a forced psycho-pharmacological interrogation, and what that thing may babble under truth drugs could well be a key part of Talam’s case against the Kruss Empire. And therefore of any sovereignty hearing.”
A long silence followed, while Kirrah wrestled inwardly with the implicit offer. Akaray’s life, in possible exchange for a planet. The Admiral’s gold-flecked brown eyes gazed levelly at her, challenged her, sympathized with her heart, measured
her soul. Kirrah found her eyes beginning to sting. Finally, she spoke.
“No, Ma’am. I can’t do it. As much as I appreciate your offer, I have a larger responsibility than to these two children.” Her voice was steady, despite the tears suddenly starting to course down her face:
“Talam hereby reaffirms its request of the Regnum Navy, to transport the Kruss prisoner to Civilium authority on Trailway as material evidence. We ask this request to be irrevocable from this point on.” The Admiral nodded understanding. “I don’t… we can’t just let… sorry, ma’am. We will solve our problem by other means.”
“I understand and respect your decision, Kirrah Warmaster. On behalf of the Regnum Navy, good hunting. Would you please inform the shuttle crew I wish to speak with them next?”
“Yes ma… of course, Admiral.” Kirrah stepped back in turn, opened the door to the flight deck and gestured to the somewhat pale-looking young pilot and an apprehensive flight engineer. Behind them, the gangly young red-haired gunner fidgeted nervously with his uniform collar. Next up to the sausage machine, Kirrah thought with relief and considerable sympathy. She sat down beside Marcus, in one of the unused seats.
“Ensign Margaret Piersall, Petty Officer Lorraine Thornlea and Chief Petty Officer Gary Cavanaugh reporting as ordered ma’am.” Margaret’s salute was as snappy as her eyes were frightened.
The Admiral said, “Thank you, Ensign Piersall. You will all shortly have an opportunity to review the written rules of engagement, but since it was your crew who actually fired my shuttle’s weapons on that large metal door this morning, I wanted to have you all together to ask a question that’s been on my mind since reviewing the mission log.
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