by Mel Odom
“Biopirates, sir. We were on them before we knew it. They reacted and Jahup and I were forced to defend ourselves. There were casualties, and we shut down another operation.”
“We’ll talk about that later.” Halladay waved a hand. “You two follow me.” He led the way down into the underground hallway that connected all the buildings.
1422 Hours Zulu Time
“What happened to the fort?” Jahup demanded. He emulated Sage, standing in front of the colonel’s desk at parade rest.
Sage throttled the urge to dress Jahup down. If Jahup had been a regular soldier, he would have.
A nerve twitched high up on Halladay’s cheek and he hesitated just a moment before taking his seat. “You’re a recent recruit, Private Jahup, and not fully trained in how chain of command works, so I’m going to ignore the tone you’re presently taking with a superior officer. If, however, you were regular army and completely trained, you’d be in the brig in two minutes. Are we clear?”
Jahup’s jaw flexed and he nodded.
Sage cleared his throat.
Glancing at him, Jahup realized his mistake and quickly returned his attention to the colonel. “Yes sir. We’re clear.”
“Good. Now the two of you have a seat and let’s talk about what you found. Then we’ll talk about the fort.”
1447 Hours Zulu Time
Since Sage and Jahup hadn’t learned much, actually, about the Phrenorian base other than it existed and Zhoh GhiCemid had been there for reasons unknown, though he didn’t look like he was in control, what they knew to tell didn’t take long, but it gave them a lot to think about.
Halladay had a steward bring in sandwiches and black coffee and they ate while they talked.
“You don’t know how much of the base is underground?” Halladay asked.
“No sir.” Sage set his coffee cup on the colonel’s desk and knew he shouldn’t have drunk it. With the residual effects of the stimpack still rattling around in his system, he felt restless. He needed some serious rack time, but he didn’t think that was likely to happen anytime soon. Not until the ambush was dealt with.
The colonel leaned back in his chair and took a breath, then made notes on his PAD. “What would you put out there, Top?”
“If I was going to attempt to take this planet from an opposing military force?”
Halladay nodded. “I can’t see any other reason for the Sting-Tails to build a stockpile out there.”
“I’d put in everything I could. Rolling stock. Air support. Powersuits. Weps.”
Jahup’s hands knotted, but he didn’t say anything. It might have been easier to have the discussion without the young man present, but Sage knew they would have had a fight on their hands. He was sure the colonel knew that too. Jahup had already seen the base—twice. He’d assured Sage and Halladay that he hadn’t told anyone else.
“I would too,” Halladay said. “We need to find out what they have in there.”
“The Phrenorians are breaking treaty,” Jahup said. “Tell the Quass what the Phrenorians have done.”
Halladay turned to Jahup. “What have they done?”
“They have put a fortress out there and filled it with weapons.”
“Did you see any weapons?” Halladay kept his voice quiet and calm.
Jahup hesitated. “No, but—”
“Then we can’t tell the Quass the Phrenorians are stockpiling weapons.”
“Why else would they have it there?”
“For research purposes. Just like their treaty says they can. They’re identifying flora and fauna just like our science teams are, and like the corps are doing. All according to treaty.”
“The Quass can demand to see what is out there,” Jahup said. “That is also according to treaty.”
“Okay, let’s say the Quass throws its weight around, that enough Quass members agree to pull rank and demand a review from the Phrenorians to challenge them for a look inside that secret installation of theirs. And you know many members of the Quass are looking at the Phrenorians for support, not us, because the Phrenorians want all Terrans gone from Makaum.”
Jahup’s mouth and eyes tightened and his shoulders rounded. Getting the Quass to agree to risk offending the Phrenorians was next to impossible and Sage knew the boy was aware of that.
“But let’s, for the moment, imagine how such a visit would go,” Halladay continued. “The most passive way would be to allow a review team made up of Quass to visit the site. They bring the Quass members in, show them around, show them all the science experiments and observations they’ve been doing. Most of that isn’t going to be anything those Quass members will know anything about.”
Jahup’s cheeks darkened with anger, but he kept himself in check. He knew the limitations of his people.
“So they see nothing out of the ordinary because the Phrenorians have hidden their secrets really well. It’s what I would do.” Halladay’s face remained grim. “But there’s another way such a demand by the Quass could go. Feeling pressured, knowing they’re about to be exposed, the Phrenorians could decide that then was as good a time to spring their attack as any and they’ll kill those Quass members.” He paused. “Then this sprawl becomes the battleground that the Terran Army is here to prevent.”
Horror widened Jahup’s eyes.
Sage knew the boy had been thinking about such a thing. The attack by DawnStar on Sage and Kiwanuka in the sprawl marketplace had nearly destroyed one of the Makaum people’s oldest landmarks. That had been the first time the Makaum had had a taste of what was coming if war broke out, and it had split the Quass and the populace even more. Some of the people and the Quass had faulted the Terran Army for causing violence to erupt in the sprawl, and others had seen the Phrenorians as saviors because Zhoh GhiCemid had taken advantage of the moment and ridden to the rescue.
“Then the Phrenorians have won,” Jahup said quietly.
“No,” Halladay replied. “They haven’t. Since we know about the base, now we can do something about it. If we can figure out more about the base, we can launch a preemptive strike.”
“You mean just attack them?”
“Yes.”
“If you do that, you’ll be breaking the treaty.”
“Before we do that, if we can, we have to win the Quass over to us.”
“Do you think telling them about the base will convince them there is a threat?”
“If you hadn’t seen it, would you believe it?”
Jahup didn’t reply.
Halladay tapped his pad. “Why do you think that fortress is filled with weapons? Because Sage told you it was?”
“No, because putting weapons out there would be the smart thing to do. It’s like when I lead a band hunting a quekton. I station hunters in front of and behind the quekton in case we don’t bring it down quickly. You put spears and bows in the bush to protect your flank.”
Halladay shook his head. “Sounds like a good assessment, but I don’t know what a quekton is.”
“It’s one of the native lizards, sir,” Sage said. “Dinosaur-sized. Mean, ugly, and smelly. Hard to kill.” He’d only seen a few of them out in the jungle and he’d given them a wide berth.
“They’re intelligent too,” Jahup added. “Natural predators, and trying to take them out in the jungle is dangerous. We only hunt them when we’re desperate for meat, when the hunting has been scarce. Which it has been more and more since offworlders have moved further away from the sprawl.”
That had been the outlaw drug labs and biopirates. Some of the hunting bands had been attacked by offworlder criminals defending their turf.
“With these extra bows and spears in place, your odds of taking the quekton increase,” Halladay stated.
“Yes,” Jahup agreed.
“Do you think most of the Quass will think like yo
u think?” Halladay asked. “That the Phrenorian base is filled with weapons?”
Jahup let out a disgusted breath. “No. Most of my people have never been hunters. They’ve lived in the sprawl and tended gardens and built homes. My grandmother tells me our people have gotten soft. Back in the Dark Times, after the Crash, our ancestors had to learn to survive. Mostly they hunted and stayed on the run. Not much technology survived with them, and they had to abandon the ship for many years because the jungle there was so hostile. By the time they were able to return, not much of the ship was usable, and the survivors didn’t know how to use it anyway. The captain and crew had died.”
“We have to find a way to prove that the Phrenorian threat exists,” Halladay said, “and do it at a time we can take advantage of that. Do you understand?”
“I’m a hunter,” Jahup replied. “Of course I understand. You build a trap and you have to wait for your prey.”
“Good. In the meantime, you can’t tell anyone about this. Only Sage, you, and your team will be given information about the base. We have to keep it quiet until we have leverage.”
“I understand, but I don’t like the idea of keeping this a secret from my grandmother.”
“I don’t either,” Halladay admitted. “I’m going to draw a lot of heat from my general when I tell him, and if I tell him, he’s going to have to tell the diplomats. If the diplomats get involved, nothing is going to get done and everyone will know only a little. So we’ve got to figure out what we’re going to do and be quick about it.”
“The first thing we do is step up security around the fort,” Sage said. “Given the attack this morning, that will be easy enough and not put anyone on alert. The Phrenorians will expect us to be more agressive.”
“We’ve also got to decide how we’re going to handle the attack,” Halladay said.
Sage knew that was true, and he knew that Halladay was concerned about affecting the tentative acceptance the Makaum showed to the military. “Doing nothing isn’t the answer, sir.”
“No. But first we’ve got to find out who the attackers were.”
“I thought you had a witness.”
“I do, but she’s not talking.”
Jahup leaned forward. “Who is the witness?”
“It would be better if you let us handle this,” Halladay responded.
“It has to be one of my people. No Phrenorian would give you information, and no corp member would tell you unless there was a payoff involved, and no other offworlder would want to get involved because he or she would be vulnerable to retribution.”
The young man was smart, quick to pick up on things. That was one of the things Sage respected about him.
Halladay flicked a glance over to Sage, letting him know he could choose how to play the situation.
“You’re right, Jahup, it is one of your people,” Sage replied. Holding back the information wasn’t possible. As soon as Jahup was out with the soldiers, or at least in the sprawl, he would know who the witness was. “Noojin was with Telilu and they saw the whole thing. Noojin alerted the soldiers who were in danger and probably saved their lives. But she’s not telling us anything.”
Jahup took a moment to assimilate that. “Let me talk to her.”
Sage shook his head. “That’s not going to happen. I’m going to talk to her first.”
Coolly, Jahup sat back and folded his arms over his chest. “She won’t tell you anything.”
“She has to. I’ll make her see that.”
FOURTEEN
Security Building
Fort York
1701 Hours Zulu Time
She’s tough,” Halladay said as he stood beside Sage at the observation window that peered into Interview Room D. “I’ve got two daughters, both about Noojin’s age, and despite being gone as much as I am, I still have a good relationship with them. I know girls.” He sipped his coffee. “I spent a couple of hours with Noojin. Came at her from every angle I knew. She’s not going to crack. I think we’re wasting our time here. She’s not going to give up what she knows. If she knows anything.”
Sage peered at Noojin as she sat in the chair inside the small room. In her mind, he knew, she wasn’t in that room. She was someplace else, maybe on a hunt or talking to Jahup. She had a predator’s mindset, a sniper’s cool calm. She would understand how to sit still and not think and just let time pass because time worked against the people who were holding her and she knew it. Quass Leghef had given permission for the Army to keep her for now, but that wouldn’t last.
“With all due respect, there’s something you’re forgetting, sir.” Sage focused his mind, knowing he had to be sharp to talk to Noojin. He was freshly showered and wore a clean set of ACUs, not the hardsuit, which was getting repaired. He would have been better if he’d managed to get some sleep before interviewing the girl, but that wasn’t going to happen.
“What do you think I’m forgetting?” Halladay asked.
“That she’s not your daughter. That she’s not just a kid. You have to approach this girl a different way. We have to raise the stakes and take off the kid gloves.”
“I came down pretty hard on her. Threatened her with locking her up no matter what the Quass says.”
“She figures she’s going to be able to handle anything you throw at her. Especially with the Quass looking out for her. You have to move the threat off of her and let her know that she and the Quass can’t control everything. She’s not the only one in danger. She just hasn’t seen that yet.” Sage adjusted the meal box he had under one arm, palmed the security panel to release the locks, and opened the door.
Noojin flicked back to awareness as Sage entered the room. Her eyes took him in, then darted to the door behind him as if she was expecting someone else. She only looked disappointed for a moment when the door closed behind Sage, then she wiped that response from her face. She wasn’t going to let him see weakness.
Without a word, Sage sat on the opposite side of the table from her and put the meal box in front of her. He took two disposable sporks out of his pocket and placed them, and napkins, on the table as well. He’d brought enough food for both of them. The sandwiches in Halladay’s office earlier had taken the edge off his hunger, but hadn’t filled him up.
Blazing with unspoken defiance, she pushed meal box away.
Patiently, Sage reached for the box and opened it. The meal consisted of Makaum food, roasted lizard meat and jellied insects that Jahup had sworn were Noojin’s favorite. The spices in the meal filled the room. Sage removed two bottles of amber corok juice. The small melons were popular on Makaum and grew readily. He twisted the tops off the bottles and slid one over to Noojin.
“You should eat,” he told her.
“I’m not hungry.” Her tone dripped with rebellion.
“You’re hungry, and you’re thirsty. Colonel Halladay says you haven’t eaten or drunk anything since you’ve been here.”
“I am a prisoner, not a guest.”
“Yeah, you are a prisoner.” Sage looked over the breaded meat in the meal box. The pieces were finger length and about as thick, and the breading was golden-brown and flecked with red and purple spices. “Jahup said slor was your favorite meal because it was so dangerous to hunt.”
Noojin sneered at him. “You don’t hunt slor. You kill those that hunt you—if you can. We’re just fortunate that they’re edible and that killing them isn’t wasteful.” She shot him a look of disdain. “If you were to encounter a slor without your combat suit, with only the weapons we use to hunt, it would kill you.”
“Maybe.” Sage tore into the meat and discovered that it was surprisingly good. He chewed and swallowed. “This morning I killed an omoro with an etess before it got to Jahup. Probably saved his life. Maybe an omoro isn’t as big as a slor, but it’s faster and more lethal in some ways. And I managed that without
the help of other hunters.”
She blinked as emotions twisted within her. Sage had deliberately told her about the attack on Jahup to get her head out of her own situation.
“You’re lying,” she said.
“No. You can ask Jahup. After we’re finished here.” Sage took another bite and chewed.
“You’re going to let me out?”
Sage swallowed. “After we’ve finished talking, sure. If you had answered the colonel’s questions, you could have been out of here a long time ago.”
She crossed her arms. Her pointed chin rose in open defiance. “The Quass is forcing you to release me.”
“Nope.” Sage wiped the grease from his hands on a napkin.
“She will.”
“Not till after we’ve finished this talk.”
“Do you think you can get me to answer you when the colonel couldn’t?”
“I know I can.” Sage didn’t look at her, didn’t give her any kind of direct confrontation. She would have become even more sullen over a challenge like that. He just spoke the words like it was already the truth. It was. She just didn’t know it yet.
“Try all you want. I’m not saying anything. I can wait until Quass Leghef orders my release. Which will be soon.”
Sage gave her a flat stare, the kind he used on a green soldier in boot who had just failed an inspection. “She won’t do that. Not until we release you.”
Noojin worked her jaw like she was going to say something, then she chose to remain silent.
“That attack this morning blurred a lot of lines between the Army and the Makaum people,” Sage said. “The Quass knows those lines have to be straightened out again if we’re to be effective. And she wants us to be effective. Otherwise the Phrenorians will take this planet.”
“You keep making the Phrenorians out to be monsters. The only thing I’ve ever seen them do is save you when you confronted DawnStar the second night you were here, and they put out the fires that burned part of the marketplace after your fight with the DawnStar Corp triggered that. Terrans are the monsters.”