Stranded on Haven

by William Zellmann

  Meanwhile, we would swoop in over Firstlanding on silent gravs, all lights dark. The lander from the Zone would approach the same way. I would hover over the palace long enough for my gas-mask equipped troops to jump onto its roof. Oh, there would be guards on the roof, of course, but Colonel Grandig assured me he had sharpshooters that could easily take them out. Once the roof was secure, I would ground the lander, the bulk of the palace protecting me from fire from the palace grounds.

  Grandig's men would string a circle of explosives, and blow them just as the Zone lander arrived with the gas. I would open the valve on the Zone lander's tank and drop it down through the hole by remote control. The Zone lander would head out over the ocean, where it would hover; Lisa and Jane would be too busy to control still another lander. By dropping the tank into the palace itself, I wouldn't have to worry about the wind blowing away the gas or attenuating its effect. Grandig's men would drop through the hole and follow the billows of gas downward as they spread throughout the palace. Sleep gas works with the first breath; I doubted Grandig would encounter much resistance.

  We were certain Heidi would be in one of the several dozen cells in the dungeons beneath the palace. The raiders were carrying a collapsible litter. They would strap Heidi down to it, and start back up. Everyone would re-board the lander, and we'd take off for the Cellia border.

  With any luck, Duke Richard and General Hunto would be peacefully napping, unable to order New Home airships to intercept us. Even if they did, though, I was confident I could out-fly the lumbering craft or, if necessary, boost into the stratosphere, or even orbit, well beyond the range of anything on Haven except the disabled lander remaining behind in New Home.

  That was the plan. I hoped fervently that it would survive contact with the enemy!

  It very nearly did, thanks to Lisa's radio communications blackout.

  Duke Richard's telephone rang just as someone pounded excitedly on the door. He struggled up from sleep, and shouted a hurried "Come in" as he fumbled for the telephone receiver.

  "Your grace! your grace!" a frantic voice shouted from the telephone. "It's back! Carver's ship! It's back!"

  Duke Richard cursed under his breath as he turned up the gas jet under his lamp. As it flared, he reached for the paper in the hand of the messenger that had just entered while he waited for Edward to calm down and make sense.

  "RADIOS OUT STOP UNDER ATTACK FROM REAR STOP. DETAILS FOLLOW STOP", the telegram read. It was signed "TRIN". The colonel was in command of the detachment occupying the International Zone. They were face-to-face with solders of the so-called 'multinational force'. Only a broad white line whitewashed across the entire Zone separated them. Had Runtz' forces managed to infiltrate the swamps bordering the Zone and attack from behind? Was this the first attack of The War?

  Duke Richard glanced at the messenger. "And the radios?"

  The man shook his head. "All radio communication is out, your grace. Nothing but static."

  Carver. "Double the guard on the dungeon levels, and alert the palace security forces. And ask General Hunto to join me." The man muttered a quick "Yes, your grace" and hurried out as Duke Richard turned his attention to the telephone. "Calm down, Edward. What's happened?"

  "Carver's ship is back," Edward replied in an excited voice. "It just sailed into orbit, all external lights burning."

  Duke Richard nodded, though he knew Edward couldn't see it. "And did that happen to occur at the same time the radios went out?"

  "Why, why yes, sire, That hadn't occurred to me." Edward's voice was more controlled now, his admission embarrassed.

  "Very well. I doubt anything more will happen in space, but keep me informed."

  "Yes, your grace."

  He hung up the telephone, and it immediately began ringing again. Duke Richard rolled his eyes. What now?

  "Report from the duty officer at Furlett Base, your grace. A few minutes ago, both of the serviceable landers lifted off. No pilots were visible."

  "What about the other one?"

  "We still have it, your grace. It was being examined by our scientists, and was partially disassembled. The scientists believe it wasn't flyable."

  The Duke nodded. "Good. Tell the scientists to continue their work, but they are not to get it flyable again. Is that clear?"

  "Yes, your grace."

  Another knock at the door. As he hung up the phone, Duke Richard called "Come in" and was relieved to see the bulk of General Hunto. He was less happy to see the messenger following the general.

  He sighed. "All right, General. Here's the situation. Carver's ship is back in orbit, and has cut off all radio communication, apparently on the entire planet. The force guarding the Zone seems to have been attacked from the rear, and two of the landers we seized have just flown off without pilots."

  The General waved a dismissal. "Those things were a waste, anyway. It was going to take years to figure them out without Carver's help. But this attack in the Zone could be a disaster. What do you know, sire?"

  Duke Richard handed the general the telegram from Colonel Trin. "I've heard nothing else."

  There was a distant thud, and both men raised their eyes to meet. "Carver!" they said simultaneously. The general whirled and hurried to the door, shouting for his orderly. "Find out what that was, and get some men to wherever it happened!"

  The orderly snapped a smart salute. "Yes, sire. Uh, it sounded like it came from above."

  The general's eyes widened. "Above? His Majesty! I want a full platoon on the royal bedroom. Now!"

  The orderly threw him another salute, and left at a dead run. The general turned to return to the office as another messenger approached. Seeing Hunto in the hallway, he quickened his pace. He saluted and handed him a telegram. "For Duke Richard, sire."

  Faba turned and reentered the office. "Telegram," he said shortly "Maybe Trin has news." He handed the envelope to Duke Richard, who tore it open viciously.

  "NO ATTACK STOP EXPLOSION ON ROOF CARVER'S BUILDING STOP REPORTS OF LANDER LAUNCHING FROM THE ROOF STOP TRIN"

  Duke Richard frowned. Another lander? It must have been hidden under that dome on top of Carver's building. But what –

  A sudden commotion in the hall interrupted his thoughts. He nodded to General Hunto, who went to the door and opened it. It seemed there was some sort of mist in the —. Blackness descended, and he never saw the masked figures that stepped over Hunto's body in the hall.

  ********

  I couldn't believe it; we were able to get nearly to the palace's roof before we were detected. And apparently it was our troops' fire that raised the alarm, as they targeted the half-dozen sentries on the roof. Flashes of gunfire erupted from the palace's manicured grounds, but it was too late; we were already over the building's roof, and Grandig and his men were jumping from the hatch even as we descended the last two meters.

  Four of the commandoes split up and ran to the corners housing the anti-airship guns, while two more lay the bags of explosive in a two-meter circle.

  I was busy watching for the Zone lander with its tank of gas. I spotted it only a dozen meters away just as the explosion startled me. I assumed remote control of the lander, and guided it carefully to the hole in the roof, while the soldiers donned their gas masks.

  When the tank was directly above the hole, I triggered the tank's valve and the release. Spewing clouds of gas, the tank slipped through the hole and onto the building's fourth floor. Grandig and his people followed, guns at the ready, as the Zone lander's black bulk faded back into the darkness.

  I keyed my implant. "Heidi, we're here. Remember the sleep gas? Well, you're going to be taking another nap But when you wake up, you'll be safe."

  Her voice was troubled. "Jerd? You're here? Are you insane? If anything happens to you … And I hate that sleep stuff. It gave me a headache that lasted for hours!"

  I grinned. "Quit complaining. Unless you like your current accommodations and attire."

  There was a smile in her a
nswering tone. "Not really. I guess it's worth a nap. But if anything happens to you I'll … I'll never speak to you again!"

  "You just watch for clouds or men with ugly masks. You probably won't have much time, but try to let me know when you see one of them."

  It was an excruciating three minutes before she said, "There's a white cloud coming in under the door it …" Her voice went silent as the gas reached her. Now there was nothing I could do except sit in the lander's hatchway, stunner in hand, and wait.

  It seemed an eternity before the soldiers began climbing out of the hole. Grandig was first, of course, and then the two men carrying Heidi on the litter. I hurried over, but she was asleep, of course, breathing quietly and peacefully. I stood back as the men picked up the litter and headed for the hatch. It was then I noticed the gleam of gold on her litter. I looked around, and realized that every one of the commandoes carried a souvenir, mostly made of gold.

  I frowned at Grandig. "This was supposed to be a rescue mission, not a looting raid."

  He grinned. "Mercs will be mercs. It was all I could do to limit them to one piece each. In fact, I was tempted to bring King David along. He'd probably fetch a nice ransom."

  I rolled my eyes. "A nice war, you mean! All right, get them all aboard, and let's get out of here!" Several of the soldiers had dropped to their knees behind the building's parapet, and were returning the fire from below. But they and the men manning the anti-airship guns came at a run to Grandig's whistle. Grandig and I were the last to board, of course, and it was a vast relief to lift off that roof, even though it meant flying through rifle fire. I lifted straight up on gravs before leveling off at 1000 meters and lighting off the reaction drive.

  Safely airborne, I breathed a huge sigh of relief, and turned to Grandig. "Where to, Colonel? We'll be over Cellia in a couple of hours."

  He shrugged. "The camp, I guess." He paused. "A couple of hours?"

  I grinned. "You'll be watching the sunrise from the camp."

  He shook his head. "Impressive." Another pause. "Messer Carver, you have made it possible to raid New Home’s Royal Palace and get out again without losing a man. If you ever need our services again, I hope you'll call on me."

  I smiled. "Oh, I will, Colonel. After all, how many mercenaries are there that I could trust to resist the temptation to kidnap me?"

  He chuckled. "Well, I was tempted …" He looked over at the sleeping Heidi. "She's beautiful, isn't she?"

  I nodded. "The most beautiful woman I've ever had the courage to talk to. But she's more than just beautiful. She has saved my life at least twice. She even worked as my assistant for awhile." I shrugged. "She asked me to give her the chance to change her life. Well, she certainly has changed it, but she had a lot more to do with it than I did."

  He returned my nod. "Are you two …"

  "Involved?" I finished for him. I shook my head. "She was too smart to get involved with me. We've never even kissed." His interest was obvious, and I was pretty sure it involved more than just lust for a beautiful woman.

  His eyebrows rose. "Really?"

  I sighed. "Yes, really. Though I can't take any credit for it."

  He was still watching her. "There's not many women can handle getting involved with a merc," he said in a distracted, ruminative tone.

  "And there aren't many men that can handle getting involved with a woman who's a bodyguard and former assassin," I replied.

  Grandig didn't say much on the for awhile, but he glanced frequently over at the sleeping Heidi.

  I, meanwhile, called Ellie on my implant. We had argued for hours, and amazingly I had won; I convinced her that I needed a skilled commando more than a secretary on this mission.

  Of course, that didn't mean she liked it. In fact, for the last two days, I'd been getting the cold, silent treatment. Still, she couldn't resist the chance to hear about the mission.

  "We're all okay," I said briskly. "We have Heidi, and no one was even injured. Everything is fine." I added brightly.

  It didn't work. She grunted a disbelieving "hmph!" and demanded to speak to Heidi. "She's sleeping," I replied. "She got a dose of sleep gas. I'll have her call you when she wakes."

  Another grunt was followed by a "You'd better!" before she clicked off.

  Finally, after nearly an hour, Heidi awoke. Grandig jumped to his feet and released the straps holding her to the litter. She sat up, groaning. "I told you that stuff gave me terrible headaches," she said. I smiled and handed her a small capsule. "This should help."

  It did. In a few minutes, her eyes widened as she caught sight of herself in the mirror-like polish of the control panel. "Oh! Horrors!" she cried, and ran for the boat's tiny 'fresher, followed by more than a few male chuckles.

  She was in the 'fresher for almost fifteen minutes. I don't know how she did it; she had no cosmetics, and no beauty tools. Yet, when she emerged from the 'fresher, the wild, matted hair was fluffed and framed that beautiful face perfectly. That face was clean, now, and even without makeup, she made those hard, tough mercs fall silent when she emerged from the 'fresher.

  Grandig's eyes widened, and it was obvious he was dumbstruck. I wasn't the only one that noticed. A confident half-smile arose as Heidi straightened, and the sway of her hips became more pronounced. Perhaps Grandig wasn't the only one smitten.

  Hips swaying provocatively, she strode to me, ignoring Grandig completely. Taking my head in her hands, she planted a kiss on my cheek. "Thank you, Jerd. But if you ever risk yourself like that again, you'll get a slap instead of a kiss!"

  Then she turned to Grandig. She frowned. "I believe I know you, sire," she said. "Major Grandy, isn't it?"

  "Uh, Grandig, Mistress," Grandig replied. "And it's 'Colonel' now."

  "The colonel commands a mercenary unit now, Heidi," I told her. "And your rescue would not have been possible without his help and that of his men."

  Heidi smiled at Grandig. "I'm grateful, Colonel." She turned to face the men crowded into the lander's seats and raised her voice. "Thank you all. Somehow I doubt that King David and Duke Richard had my best interests at heart."

  A roar of laughter erupted; probably louder and longer than her poor joke deserved. I smiled as I watched Heidi expertly captivate the hardened veterans.

  Grandig laughed as loud as any of his men, and stared admiringly at Heidi. He leaped from the copilot's seat and, taking her hand, ushered her to the seat as though it were a throne. Of course, all the other seats were full of commandos and equipment; that gave him an excuse to hover over Heidi, and in moments the two were chatting quietly while he squatted at her side. She actually looked irritated when I interrupted them to ask her to contact Ellie. Of course, the irritation disappeared when I mentioned Ellie's name. She jumped to her feet and briefly excusing herself to Grandig, headed back to the 'fresher. She evidently wanted privacy for her talk with Ellie.

  I had other concerns, though. We were racing the rising sun, and Ellie was waiting at the Cellia safe house. That meant I couldn't just fly the lander to the safe house; the neighbors were sure to be awake and active. And that meant a seething, furious Ellie spending another day alone there. As I saw it, that left me three alternatives. I could drop the mercs at their base and lift off for Startrader to wait for darkness to again fall, or I could leave the lander at the merc camp, since it was lockable, and take the train to Gorn Creek and the safe house. Jane could retrieve the lander by remote control, and Lisa could send the gig down after dark. Finally, Heidi and I could simply remain at the merc camp until night fell, and I could fly direct to the safe house.

  Not too surprisingly, Heidi favored the last option. I'd brought along her shipsuit and a weapon belt I'd been planning to give her as a present. As soon as we'd grounded, she snatched at the shipsuit and belt, and fled to the base's 'fresher. When she came out, wet hair plastered to her head, every male head in the camp swiveled to center on her.

  The shipsuit was one of those she'd had tailored, and as I've said before, someh
ow the combination of shipsuit and gunbelt slanting across her hips was incredibly sexy. She was blushing slightly at all the attention, but she walked tall and proud. Grandig, of course, couldn't take his eyes off her.

  We discussed the possibilities, and with a quick side glance at Grandig, she promptly voted to remain in the camp. "We're certainly well protected here," she said, "And we even have armed guards to keep sightseers from mobbing the lander."

  I shrugged. "All right, but you're the one who's going to have to explain it to Ellie!" she laughed aloud and promised she would.

  If I hadn't been so happy for Heidi, I might have been hurt at the lack of attention I was getting. There was a constant mob of men around Heidi, until Grandig pulled rank and invited her to his office.

  I, on the other hand, was largely ignored as I puttered about the lander, double-checking things that didn't need it. Ellie was still refusing to talk to me. It wasn't a fun day.

  I really was happy for Heidi, though. The growing grimness around her mouth had disappeared, and it was obvious that Heidi and Grandig were becoming close. When night finally fell, and I went to get her, she announced that Grandig had offered her quarters on the base, and she had accepted.

  "Nothing's really changed, Jerd. King David is going to be even more desperate to capture one of us. You're going to have to go to your 'hideout', wherever that is, until this thing sorts itself out. We've hurt New Home, but we haven't killed the threat.

  "I'm much safer here, even if Duke Richard finds out where I am. I have over a hundred armed guards protecting me 23 hours a day."

  I nodded. "All right, Heidi. Colonel, I assume I can trust you to keep her safe."

  He grinned. "Safe as a church. Don't worry, Messer Carver, I'll keep an eye on her." The glance he threw at her testified to the truth of that statement.

  I shook my head. "Heidi, please do me a favor. Call Ellie and talk to her. Try to calm her. The last few days have been torture. Oh, and tell her to get ready. We'll need to boost out as soon as possible."