'Tell me briefly–" the Prof said, "and accurately – how and why the Nightstalkers came to this planet, and how you ran into these aliens."
"We were running from the UMC. Some of the brothers had stopped paying their taxes. That was a very stupid move. So the UMC was raiding our bases. We needed a new place to hide. Bliss was ideal. It was totally uninhabited and so far off the edge that nobody was ever likely to bother us here. So we thought. About two months after we got here, this alien ship shows up. And they start wandering around all over the place, like they're on vacation or something. They're completely unaware of our presence. We lay low and watch them, count them, get a grip on their movements. And then we wrap them up – two days ago. But we missed some of them so we've been tracking them down. And then you folks kick in the door. You're not with the UMC, are you? What is that insignia? Look, we should join forces. We have the contact! Billions! There's plenty for all of us!"
"Hey bitch, we ask the questions, not you," I said. "Do you have enough yet, Prof? I'd like to slit her throat and watch her bleed."
"There was no fighting with the aliens?" the Prof asked.
"No, they were all strangely passive. They seemed surprised to see us."
"Weren't they armed?"
"Not at all. Or at least they didn’t carry anything."
The brainscan lit up red: DECEPTION BY OMISSION.
"Tell us about the weapons," the Prof said.
"Well, yeah, the weapons were in the ship. They had a lot of stuff in the ship."
"Tell me about the ship."
"There were no defenses. We seized it. And hid it real good. See, that's why you should join us. Billions – maybe trillions, in credits."
"Were all these aliens females? Weren't there any males?"
"Yes, there were. We normally kill the males and retain the females. Unless there's a good reason not to kill the males. We killed about five, six males before Monk told us he wanted no more killing."
"This Monk – he sounds like a real humanitarian," I said.
"Ha! Well, not quite. If there's extra money to be made by not killing somebody he'll reluctantly go along with it. He really enjoys killing people."
"Prof! We're back." It was Scout, standing in the doorway with his E. "We've got two female Brights. Where do you want 'em?"
"Bring them in here, now. Bees, Prophet, communicate with them all. Give the new ones some canteens. The message is we are friendlies. Tell them the criminals who imprisoned and mistreated them do not represent the human race. They are our enemies, they are outcasts. Tell the Brights they are safe now, and we will protect them at all costs. We will die for them if necessary. Make that clear, and do it quickly. We are running out of time."
The two new Brights entered the room, accompanied by Ice and Saka, and were greeted with joy by their three comrades. Although there was no speaking, I was aware of their thoughts – wild butterflies, shooting around the room, joy joy joy love love love, warm hearts for you, tears of love love love. They embraced each other warmly.
Bees took charge. She stood there in her silvery Bright armor, that scary Bright symbol on her breastplate, as the two newcomers stared at her with awe. To me, she looked like some kind of galactic superhero. We are friends, she telepathed. Close friends, to you, close friends to your people. You are safe safe safe. We are ConFree ConFree. We guard you, we protect you from the evil, from the thoughtless dead. We will return you to your people, to Heaven. You are safe with us. The thoughtless dead are not our people, they are evil. Where is the one named Good Soul? It was amazing how clearly I could hear Bees' thoughts.
We do not know, they responded. Good Soul ran, when the dead appeared.
Why did you not fight them? Bees asked.
We are scientists, not soldiers. We came here to learn, not to fight.
"Bird, Prof." Prof was on the tacnet.
"Prof, Bird."
"Get over to that group of rats who are headed this way. Take them all out from the air. The eyemotes show they don't have any captives. Erase them quickly and then hurry back here. I want to evac all these Brights to the Vampire soon as poss. Doggie, do you approve?"
"Sounds good to me," Doggie replied.
"I'm on it," Bird said. "Lifting off."
Ice sat astride the Mocain bitch, slammed the Mocain's shoulders down to the deck, and then spat in her face. She held a cold knife to the bitch's throat. "Are you finished with this one yet, Professor?" Ice asked eagerly.
"Not yet, Ice. Please get off her."
"What a shame," Ice said. "We'll see you later, bitch. You can count on it." Ice got to her feet. The Mocain did not dare to move.
"Where is this Monk?" the Prof asked.
"Oh, can I ask? Please?" Ice asked.
"Oh, all right. Don't hurt her."
Ice leaped onto the Mocain again, straddling her waist, placed one hand over the Mocain's face, then slammed the back of her head to the deck. Then she placed the cold knife to her throat again, and moved her own face so close to the Mocain they could have been kissing. I caught a quick glimpse of Ice's cold grey eyes. They were burning with hatred. Ice spoke in a whisper. "Where is Monk?"
"Ah, ah, on his way back, in the Hellcat. It's our second ship. He may have the buyer with him – or a representative."
"How would you like to die? Knife? Plasma? Maybe we'll skin you alive. I'm going to make a purse out of your breasts."
"I've already claimed her nipples," I interrupted, as if annoyed.
"Thank you, Ice," the Prof said. "That was very useful. You know, I think you might make a better bad guy than Prophet."
"That's because I really mean it, and he's only acting," Ice said, as she stepped away from the Mocain.
The Prof knelt by the Mocain, and dropped a silky tacmap print to the deck. "Show me where the Bright ship is hidden," he ordered.
Δ
"Prof, Bird." The Prof was seated at a navtable in the cockpit, looking over the tacmap.
"Bird, Prof, go."
"We've got a problem," Bird said. "I was about ready to hit those rats when the eyemotes noted these guys have a captive. He was dressed in camfax fatigues like the rest of the guys, with a hoodie. But there's a wire leash leading to one of the pirates. He's not armed. Looks like a male Bright, but whoever he is he's not one of them. They're hustling. They must have heard what happened to the other group. Have they been calling the base?"
"That's a twelve," the Prof said. "There's not been a peep. Either they're on comdown or they don’t want to announce they're coming, just in case something's wrong. And something is wrong. All right, Bird, call off the strike. Get back here quick. We'll need to do another ambush and recover that Bright. Our strike team will be ready for pickup the instant you arrive here."
"On my way."
"Delta, Vampire." Now what, I wondered. Why would the Vampire be calling us?
"Vampire, Delta, go," the Prof said.
"Delta, we've got a target approaching Bliss. We ID it as the PS Foxy Lady, which was starjacked 382/09/32 from the PPDD."
"Thank you, Vampire. Please observe covertly, let it land, and stand by for further instructions."
"Will do, Delta."
"Prophet, please bring that Mocain woman in here."
"Yes sir." I pulled her in by her blouse and stood her before the Prof. Her arms were still secured behind her back. She looked a bit uneasy. Understandable, considering the situation.
"The Foxy Lady," the Prof said. "Speak." He wasn't even looking at her.
"The Foxy Lady is the Hellcat. That's the original name, before we re-named it the Hellcat. Monk will be in it, like I told you. And maybe the buyer."
"They'll be coming here. Right? Or will they go to the alien ship first?"
"Don't know," she said. "Most likely they will come here first, show off the aliens to prove it's all real, talk, and make sure all is well before they bring the buyer to the ship. Which is the big money."
"Why haven't they called
in yet?" the Prof asked.
"Base, Hellcat. Report." The comset in the instrument console came to life.
I slammed the Mocain into a chair before the cockpit and rested the barrel of my E against her temple.
"Answer them," the Prof said. "Make it real. If you say anything remotely suspicious, my friend will blow your head clean off your body. Got that?" The Mocain nodded grimly.
"Hey, Monk," she said calmly. "Welcome back. Did it all go all right?"
"Yeah, fine. We'll be there shortly. How about you? Did you round up the rest of those mutes?"
"We sure did, Monk. We got 'em all now."
"You didn't hurt 'em, did you?"
"Why, Monk, I'm surprised you would say that. You know how I detest violence."
Monk laughed heartily. "All right, we'll be landing in a bit. See you then."
"Good work, Miss Octopus," the Prof said. "Perhaps we'll let you live a bit longer, if you continue to prove useful. Just sit there and wait for further transmissions. We'll guide you on what to say."
"Does this mean I don't get my nipples?" I asked.
"Be patient, Prophet. Perhaps she'll make a mistake. Be patient. All right, Delta, this is Prof. A second pirate ship – the Hellcat – is going to be landing here shortly, most likely close to the Golden Summer. Bird, your pickup mission is cancelled. Stand by overhead to support us as necessary. Bees, Ice, I want those Brights out of this ship now. Prophet, Saka, get a cloaked hot line deployed for all the Brights. Activate it and accompany Bees and Ice with the Brights out of here and into the forest. Find a quiet place out of shooting range and guard them, maintain cloaking at all times. Doggie, Scout, Nitro, Smiley, maintain cloaking and deploy outside to target these new pirates. Bird, keep us alert on the location of the group that is headed this way on foot. Stand by one." The Prof turned his attention back to Miss Octopus.
"How many of your colleagues may disembark? How many total in the ship? Quickly!"
"Total of six Nightstalkers will prob debark immediately with two others remaining aboard to watch over the ship. Monk may have one or two others representing the buyer."
"Delta, Prof. Expect seven maybe eight to disembark with maybe two remaining onboard. Smiley, I want a stunstar on the group as they near the Golden Summer. I will be inside with Miss Octopus. I want the stunstar to net us some live prisoners. Kill anyone who's still moving after the star, I don’t want this to last long and I don't want any one of them getting into the Golden Summer. If the new ship launches, Bird, shoot it down. Doggie, does that meet with your approval?"
"Perfect, Prof. If you get tired of being a genius we can get you a slot as a squad leader."
"Bird reads and will do."
"All right, let's get moving, boys and girls – now!"
Chapter 6
The Angel of Death
We splashed madly across the swamp to reach the forest opposite the site where the Golden Summer was hidden. I chose that stretch of forest rather than the one that partially surrounded the ship because the objective was to get the Brights safely away from the vicinity of the ship. We were all cloaked but moving flat out because we expected the Hellcat to land very soon. The Vampire was giving us a progress report and the Hellcat was dropping quickly. Saka and I led the column, holding the front of the activated cloak wire. The five Brights held onto it while running, and as long as they had a hand on the wire, the cloaking enveloped their bodies. Bees had explained it well – they all held on tight despite the run. Bees and Ice took up the rear, keeping the wire out of the swamp and relatively taut.
We ran past the ragged tree line and into the forest, and were soon surrounded by thick dark trees with massive leafy limbs blotting out the sky. I found a good spot; we unfolded a cloaktent pack and set up the tent, surrounded by mighty trees. When activated you could step inside and disappear from view or detection from the outside world while remaining visible to all who were inside. It was just what the Brights needed as they found the invisibility factor kind of spooky.
"Bees, stay in there with them," I said. "Saka, Ice, we guard outside. Saka, cover any approach from the forest side. Ice, you and I will cover that damned swamp. Anyone who tries to come at us through the swamp on foot is going to be exposed and vulnerable." The Prof had put me in charge. Why, I did not know. I found a good tree and settled in with my E, scoping out the Golden Summer, seemingly deserted, but actually covered very well by Doggie, Scout, Smiley and Nitro. With the Prof inside, in charge of the charming Miss Octopus.
I knew that I would very shortly be engaged in killing people that I did not know. For some unknown reason it did not concern me as much as it had in the past. I was still tense and nervous, but not quite ready to jump out of my skin. Mass murder – fine. That was my profession, after all. And it was for a good cause. These slavers were subhumans. They kidnapped, raped, murdered, enslaved, and bought and sold innocents. They did not deserve to live. And I could fix that.
Δ
The Hellcat glided over our heads serenely and slowed for touchdown, raising a wet spray of mud, leaves and debris. This was the former Foxy Lady, an impressively large luxury tourist yacht built like a gigantic blunt triangle with a very wide fuselage dotted with panoramic armored plex viewports. I could see the faded remnants of a colorful paint scheme but now it was a dirty, dark camo pattern.
The ship settled down not far from the Golden Summer and the vapor cloud slowly drifted down all around it. They didn't appear fearful of attracting attention, which told us that they were unaware of us, the overhead Ruthie, and the Vampire in orbit. Good!
"Delta, Doggie. The Hellcat has landed." Honey showed me that my blood pressure was rising, but I knew that already.
A door slid open in the fuselage and a landing ramp dropped into place. A few fracs later several men in A-vests came down the ramp. They were armed with SG's and looking around suspiciously. They paused at the foot of the ramp. It was getting dark fast, leaden violet clouds overhead.
"Delta, Prof. Octopus is going out to greet our visitors. The plan does not change."
The Octopus lady strolled out of the Golden Summer and gave the new arrivals a casual wave. "Welcome home, Monk. We've even tidied up the place for you." The squad tacmod, Dolly, had connected us to the pirate's frequency.
"Aren’t you the little domestic," Monk said. "Well, I like it messy, so just sweep everything back onto the deck where it belongs." Honey showed me that the Prof was outside, cloaked but keeping his distance from Octopus, who had paused now, waiting for the pirates to approach her. She was holding a cup of dox – perfectly relaxed. The pirates appeared to have accepted that all was well. There were seven of them now, a ragged column led by an overly large oaf who was presumably Monk. I set my sights on the last man in the column. A faint tingling ran over my flesh but I was perfectly calm.
"Fire," Doggie said. We fired. Smiley's stunstar erupted right at the head of the column, a mighty blast, scattering them all like rag dolls, SG's flying through the air. A couple of pirates near the end of the column twitched and started to struggle to their feet in a daze. Ice and I gunned them down at once with auto x that blew them to shreds, splattering blood everywhere. Somebody near the front of the column was also trying to get up – bad idea. He was met by a hail of xmax from our invisible ambush team near the Golden Summer.
"All right, all hostiles down," Doggie said. "Secure the site, detain the unconscious for interrogation. Go! Ruthie, the Hellcat is launching. Shoot it down. That all right, Prof?" Sure enough, the Hellcat was rising in a cloud of swamp spray, the landing ramp disappearing into the fuselage, the door slamming shut.
"Perfectly all right," the Prof said. "Don't hurt Miss Octopus, she's recovering. Detain her." Octopus had been knocked down by the stunstar as well.
"Gotcha," Bird said. "Want to save the ship? I can knock out the power and force them into emergency landing mode"
"That's even better, Bird," the Prof said. "I should have thought of that. I'd like to se
e who else is on board. Do it!" Damn it! That would give us something else to do, assault the ship after it crash lands. More killing, more time wasted. Fine!
"Prophet, Bees. I've gained direct telepathic contact with Good Soul, with the help of our Bright friends. She's not far from that column of pirates that has the male Bright prisoner. We've got to…"
"Yes, Bees, that's great," I said. "But we don't have time for that now. Please stand by for whatever the Prof decides is next. I believe the plan will be to evac the Brights to the Vampire, soon as poss."
"But we have to rescue Good Soul, and that male Bright first!"
"Sure, we'll do that. Stand by."
The Hellcat was disappearing quickly, far above now, almost out of sight. A thin white line suddenly appeared, scratching its way across the darkening grey sky towards the Hellcat, then touching it. There was a little flicker and then the ship abruptly plunged downwards erratically. Something was clearly wrong.
"Delta, Bird. I've taken out their propulsion with an exhaust frag. They're on their way down. I can't predict where they'll land, but they ain't going to be taking off any more, that I can guarantee."
"Thank you, Bird," the Prof said. "We'll handle them when we get a chance. Prophet, Ice, get back here now. Fast as you can! Saka, Bees, maintain your position with the Brights and stand by for further orders. Bird, ID the spot where the Hellcat lands, then hightail it back here. You're going to be lifting our strike force in to ambush that pirate column and rescue that Bright, and another one that is evidently not far off. Doggie, you lead the ambush party. I'll be here with Prophet, Bees and Saka to deal with the Brights and debrief the pirate prisoners. Ice, you will accompany the ambush team to communicate with the Brights."
"Can't I go instead?" Bees cut in. "I'm in direct touch with Good Soul."
"Negative, Bees, that's a twelve. You've got to keep your gang calm and quiet, you're our best telepath and you belong there." By that time Ice and I were splashing our way back though the swamp towards the other side where the Golden Summer was hidden in the trees.
Prophet and the Blood March (Prophet of ConFree) Page 11