“It is agreeable,” Marsha said; then she turned to Lucky and whispered, “What do you think?”
“I think,” Lucky whispered back, “that Judoff and Janette haven’t given up yet. We’d better be extra careful, Mars.”
She could only shake her head and wonder where all this was going to lead.
19
IF HIS INSIDES HAD KNOWN HOW TO DO IT, Henley would have swallowed his heart. Instead, his heart threatened to escape up his throat, and it took all his control to hold it down.
He tried to distract himself by thinking about the last fifty days since his arrival on Mungtinez. In that time Sergeant Denoro had managed to whip him painfully into top physical condition along with the rest of Ingrivia’s Z-company, and he had managed to form some interesting friendships among her troops. Most of the company couldn’t understand why someone as old as he was would volunteer for their heavy training schedule, but later many had expressed their respect for him because of his efforts and that made him feel good.
Now lngrivia’s Delta Company and two other Z-companies from the Three Hundred Seventy-First Legion were packed in a landing craft that was plunging through the dense atmosphere of a planet code-named Fruitbasket, in a system codenamed Vine One. As the landing craft vibrated and shuddered it reminded Henley far too much of the ride down to Sutton that he had taken with Caffey almost a year earlier. The worse the shuddering got, the more he strained to hold back that same kind of nausea.
Rasha’kean looked across the narrow aisle in the crowded troop bay and sympathized with the pale expression on Stanmorton’s face. No matter how much they had practiced mock landings back on Mungtinez, nothing could have prepared them for the real thing, because the real thing was frightening. Crammed onto the decel-benches were more troops and equipment than the landing craft was ever meant to carry. The air was heavy with the smell of sweat, and nausea, and fear.
But Rasha’kean felt more exhilaration than fear. She was proud to be here, proud that her unit had been chosen to be part of the first assault, and more proud that she was finally going to get the revenge on the Ukes for her mother, for her father, and, in some symbolic way, against the treacherous Uke cousins her mother had told her about.
All of that made up for the queasiness she felt under her exhilaration and on impulse she gave Stanmorton a thumbs up sign. Just as she did so, the landing craft lurched heavily, and then seemed to float for a second before slamming to a bone-jarring stop. They were down.
Immediately the deboard horn filled the craft with its staccato series of blasts. Seconds later the big, square loading hatch opened, and Denoro was already standing in the narrow aisle between benches, shouting for them to unbuckle and move out, cursing the ones who were too slow, and physically jerking some of the troops onto their feet.
Henley stood with a sense of relief and followed the troops in his company. His nose was almost touching the pack in front of him and the trooper behind pressed against his back. They moved slowly down the narrow aisle until they reached the hatch where the pressure from behind them spewed them out onto Fruitbasket’s spongy soil.
Several craft had landed before them, but everything looked chaotic. Commanders shouted orders. Troops ran in every direction. Two, then three, more landing craft burned their way out of the sky close to them. In the distance the firing of heavy weapons rolled toward them with dark certainty.
Someone screamed. Henley turned in that direction in time to see a landing craft crash and crumple atop a low, rocky ridge eight hundred meters away.
“Let’s go, Chief,” Denoro shouted.
Henley shook his head, saw her waving, and ran to join the company as it formed a double-staggered-V and began moving toward the sound of the heavy weapons.
“You keep to my right flank,” Rasha’kean told him when he caught up with her and Denoro. “I want to know where you are at all times.”
“Will do,” he replied. “Where’s Archer?”
“He’s supposed to come with the second wave. She paused and sighted through her polar compass. “We’ll guide on that split rock to the left of the gap in the ridge, Denoro.
“Guide to the left of the gap!” Denoro shouted to the platoon leaders, “On the double! And keep your military eyes open!”
Her order was relayed by the platoon leaders. The point troops turned, and the company shifted behind them. They jogged slowly across the spongy field then ran at a well-disciplined pace when the ground got harder as they approached the ridge.
Henley wished they would run faster. He hated the open field and the danger it represented. The heavy weapons fire sounded as if it were just on the other side of the ridge. If they could get to the rocks, at least they would have some cover.
A piercing whistle filled the air. Henley was diving for the ground even as someone yelled, “Incoming!”
Two rounds exploded behind them. Then three more a light shower of mud and rocks spattered their backs.
“Move out!” Rasha’kean shouted. “They d’not have the range. Move out! Move out!”
The troops were on their feet quickly with Henley close behind, their V-formation ragged but still intact as they ran from the explosions they scrambled up the rocky ridge, weapons ready, fear riding behind them as the explosions got closer.
The point troops had almost reached the top of the ridge when the air rattled with automatic weapons fire. Three troops fell. Another screamed and clutched her gut as she tumbled backward down the slope.
Henley ran a few more steps and dodged behind a low, flat-sided boulder, his heart pounding insanely.
Twanging bullets splintered the rock just above his helmet. Fear burned in his gut. He pressed himself closer to the rock and tried to see if there was anyone else close to him.
Upslope he could see people firing back at the unseen enemy. Downslope another company was pinned down by the light artillery fire that chewed up the ground between them.
Then he saw lngrivia worming her way between the rocks belly hugging the earth, with Denoro hard on her heels and the Commo Tech close behind Denoro. Another burst of fire splintered his rock, and he ducked as low and as flat as he could go.
With her rifle cradled in the crooks of her elbows, Rasha’kean crawled past a wounded trooper. “Check her, Denoro,” she said without pausing. Her first priority was to control this ridge and secure the landing zone for General Archer.
Ahead she could see two bodies, lifeless and bent, and another wounded trooper already being bandaged by a fourth. Slightly beyond them in a narrow defile between slab-shaped rocks, five of her troops were pouring fire back at the enemy. As quickly as she could, she crawled up the defile until she reached the first of them.
“How many are there?” she asked.
“Don’t know, Colonel,” the trooper said, his pale face dripping with sweat. “Can’t see them.”
“Cease fire,” she ordered. Four more startled faces turned to look at her. “Count your ammunition and sound off.”
None of them had more than one hundred rounds left.
The enemy had paused, too, as though waiting to see what she was going to do. Denoro crept up the defile beside her.
“Menikos will live, Colonel. We have two dead and three more wounded. I called for fire support. We should have it any time.”
“Good. Get some more ammunition up here and Lieutenant Haultcour with the rest of his platoon. As soon as the mortars cut in on our reception committee, Haultcour can take his platoon to the head of this defile and flank them. Or lead us out of here if the mortars are doin’ their job.”
Henley waited twenty or thirty seconds after the firing subsided before trying to see what was happening. As he did so, he heard a roar. Looking up, Henley saw a larger landing craft with a fireball clinging to its tail wobbling out of control down toward the field behind them. He barely had time to bury his head in his arms before it crashed in a tremendous explosion.
A fierce wind filled with debris tore at his
clothes. The heat scorched his exposed neck. He fought for breath in the stifling air. Only the shelter of the rock kept him from being wrenched free and swept away. He felt an odd pain in the back of his head, and everything went black.
Before the wind had subsided, Rasha’kean had her platoon leaders checking their troops. Meanwhile, her point troops had gained the top of the ridge without taking further fire. Apparently the enemy had withdrawn. Haultcour’s platoon secured the top of the ridge, and after she had satisfied herself that everything was in order, Rasha’kean joined Denoro and the Commo Tech in the shallow depression between rocks where the medics were treating the wounded.
“That was General Archer’s ship,” Denoro said when Rasha’kean sat beside her. “And the chief caught a rock in the head.”
Rasha’kean’s stomach turned several times. “You sure about Archer?” she asked, praying it was not true.
Denoro nodded slowly. “We’re sure.”
“How’s the chief?”
“He’ll be all right except for a minor concussion and a fierce headache. He’s just a little groggy right now.”
“We’ll leave him here with the rest of the wounded and get the rest of the company to the top. Haultcour’s spread pretty thin up there.”
“Will do,” Denoro said, rising to her feet. “Then what?”
“I d’not ken,” Rasha’kean answered. “We’ll hold what we got until we find out who’s in command and what they want done.”
◊ ◊ ◊
Frye released a long sigh and looked straight into Hadasaki’s eyes. “I have reason to believe that my eldest daughter is privy to Sondak military secrets,” he said slowly. “She warned me that the Saks were going to hit the Ivy Chain, but I didn’t believe her.”
“You mean you knew this was coming?” Hadasaki asked angrily.
“I meant what I said, Meister. I received a warning that I could not verify. Consequently, I put the occupation commander out there on alert, and at least they were not caught totally unprepared by the Saks.”
“Why wasn’t Bridgeforce informed of this?”
“Because, Meister, until you and Bridgeforce relieve me of my command, decisions like that are mine to make. As soon as I received the first verification that Sondak ships were entering the Ivy Chain, I notified you.”
“I am disappointed in you, Charltos. Very disappointed.”
“Then relieve me,” Frye said quickly, his own anger overflowing. “Either I am in command or I am not. Decide. Call a Bridgeforce meeting and decide. It’s Bridgeforce that has endangered us in this-”
“Be careful. Be careful, Charltos. Do not let your frustrations cause you to do something rash.”
“Dammit! I’m up to my chin in your conservatism. Bridgeforce chose this war. It chose to attack Sondak. But ever since then it has been retreating from the kind of commitment necessary to win the war. You take it. You command. I quit.” Even as he said that, Frye felt relieved.
“You cannot quit,” Hadasaki said patiently. “We will not let you quit.”
Frye wanted to turn his back on Hadasaki in the ultimate gesture of disdain, but he forced himself to remain calm. “Order as you will, Meister Hadasaki, he said in carefully controlled words, “but do not allow yourself to be surprised if your orders – Bridgeforce’s orders – are slow in being carried out.”
“I believe that is called treason, Admiral.”
“No, Meister. That’s disgust. No one wants to win this war more than I do. But no one is more hampered in his attempts to win it. I have to put up with the kyosei and Judoff. I have to put up with the damn bombship project. And I have to live with Bridgeforce constantly second-guessing everything I do and compromising every plan for victory I present.
Hadasaki smiled. “You’re getting better, Charltos. I must admit that I have had my reservations about you – too reserved, too polite, too stuck in the conventions, too timid for the job you were given. But now, now I think you might be stronger than I believed.”
“How long have you known me?” Frye asked.
“Since you were an officer applicant,” Hadasaki said, “Why?”
“Because you should have known, before now whether or not I was strong enough. If you didn’t, you were stupid.”
Hadasaki laughed. “I believe you’re right, Frye. So how are we going to adjust to this new Sak move?”
“We’ll have to divert part of our invasion fleet to harass them in the Ivy Chain and prevent them from advancing any further. Then we’ll need to – wait.” Frye suddenly realized what he was doing. “I thought you were disappointed and ready to get rid of me?”
“You’re the one who brought up that foolishness about leaving. And I was disappointed. But this enjoyable display of aggression from you has helped me overcome that. Now, back to what you were saying. What elements of the invasion fleet do you want to use for this harassing defense?”
It was Frye’s turn to smile. “The flank reserve fleet under Commander Fugisho.”
“Why? Half of that fleet belongs to Judoff and she’ll be screaming for it when she gets back from her auction.”
“True,” Frye said, “but even she wouldn’t pull them out of a defensive position. In fact, I think she would find certain advantages there.”
“You will have to enlighten me.”
“Judoff’s long-range goals seem to be ones of coming out of this war with more power than anyone else. If she is in the defensive position, she is closer to Gensha, closer to the seat of power and closer – at least in her estimation – to achieving her goal.
Hadasaki shook his head. “If you are right, then what you suggest is dangerous.”
“I understand the dangers, sir. But I believe it makes the most sense from a military perspective. The flank reserve fleets are made up of mostly older, slower ships. Why shouldn’t they be the ones used in a defensive effort while we use our newer, faster ships to strike at Sondak? Besides, I think Commander Fugisho functions better heading an independent force.”
“Like when he attacked Oina?” Hadasaki asked sarcastically.
“Exactly. He was only acting creatively on the basis of Judoff’s orders. Not bad having someone with a little imagination in charge of defense.”
“I suppose not, Admiral. Shall we confer with the rest of Bridgeforce on this?”
“Give me a day, sir. Then I can present a unified plan for consideration,” Frye said, rising from the chair.
“Very well, Charltos.” Hadasaki gestured for him to sit down. “There is something else we have to discuss – your newly emerged daughter. Where is she?”
“I don’t know,” Frye said. He didn’t sit down because he did not want to be trapped into a long, pointless discussion about Barra. All I know is that she seems to know what the Sak are planning and has found a way to relay that information.”
“I see. Well, then, I suppose I should let you get to work. But you will notify us immediately of any further information you receive from her.”
“Of course, sir. I’ll let you know personally as soon as I hear from her again. If I hear from her, that is,” he added, wondering if she would contact him again.
20
“WHY DID RANAS NOT ACCOMPANY YOU?” Leri asked. She knew the answer, but she still had hope that he would change his mind.
“He declined, Proctor.” The translator on the back of his carapace squawked seconds behind his clacking whistles, and Glights twisted a claw around to adjust it as he spoke again.
“Ranas did not give a reason, and I did not press him for one. However, he did say he would contact you as soon as he had anything further to report on the messages from the Verfen.”
“Do you have any opinion about this, Glights?”
“No, Proctor. I only wish we could communicate with home to see if the Verfen have tried to contact Castor, also.”
“How soon before you will know?”
“Ten of our seasons. Maybe twelve. There is a fairly strong radiation storm so
mewhere between Cloise and Castor, but my technicians assure me that it should dissipate fairly soon.”
“And in the meantime you fight the pirates.”
“We try, Proctor. The human ships are heavily armed, and they are using collecting techniques we have never encountered before. Their main ship seems quite capable of collecting methane while moving, so they collect, and we chase them, and periodically they pause for reasons we do not understand, and then we fight. It has not been an easy thing.”
“I do not want your excuses, Glights. I want you and your human mercenaries to fulfill your agreement and rid Cloise of the pirates. Can you do that or not?”
“We are trying, Proctor, but the humans are dangerous and cunning, and now they have two of the new collecting ships, each with ten ships guarding it. It is no easy thing.”
Leri spat a fireball over his head in frustration. “Leave me, then, and go do this difficult job of yours. And tell Ranas I want a full report.”
“As you wish, Proctor,” Glights said, backing from the chamber and clacking his claws over his head.
Every time a Castorian did that, Leri felt a small chill curl down her spine. It was a gesture she would always equate with the treacherous Exeter, who had tried to eat her and whom she had executed in the fires of revenge.
As quickly as she could, she dismissed those thoughts and turned on the music of Shetotem, her favorite composer. She called for Isthian who had been waiting to exchange with her since before Glights appearance and then began her meditations. As usual, the Isthian slipped into the chamber unseen and climbed quickly up her back to the nipple on her neck. She felt its reassuring presence and said, “Welcome, tender one.”
“May the Elett bless you,” he replied.
“And may you share the blessing.”
“The mighty Verfen are coming to Cloise, Proctor. Does that interest you?”
“The Verfen? Coming here? How do you know that, tender one?” If he had told her she would bear a Castorian’s guplings, she could not have been more surprised. A message from the Verfen was troubling enough, but to have them come to Cloise?
Double Spiral War Trilogy Page 68