Theogony 1: Janissaries

by Chris Kennedy

  “Calvin, this is Shuttle 01,” said a voice he recognized as Night’s. “Evac is inbound, ETA two minutes. We are requesting instructions for where to land and the situation on the ground, over.”

  Calvin looked at Contreras, who was the combat air controllman and the person responsible for controlling air-to-surface operations. “I got it sir,” he said through clenched teeth.” He was happy to have the implants; it hurt less to talk that way. “When we get outside, I will fire off a red smoke flare. Until you see it, aim for the open area next to the palace. The palace is the building with the large tower located in the center of the town. Find the building with the 30 foot high walls and land in the open area to the south of the building. Copy?”

  “Copy all,” said Captain Park Ji-hun, the shuttle’s weapon systems officer. “ETA now 90 seconds. We’re looking for the smoke.”

  “Situation report follows,” Calvin continued. “There are nine friendlies in the castle building. We intend to come out the south door and proceed to the shuttle once it is down. We have four locals with us, including two lizards. Three of the locals are high value units to be protected at all costs. Repeat, high value units to be protected at all costs. Any forces wearing red uniforms are the enemy. Terminate them on sight. Anyone else that is armed or who shows hostile intent, terminate them on sight. Be on the lookout for an eight year old boy being held by hostile civilian forces. The boy is also a high value unit. Take no chances with his safety.”

  “OK,” said Calvin, “let’s go!”

  The group started up the stairs. They were halfway up when the door above them suddenly opened, and two soldiers came through. Too far away for swords, the twins both fired, and the men dropped. Worried that someone might have heard them, the twins threw down their weapons and drew their dragons as they charged up the stairs.

  There was a third soldier, and the brothers could see him running off yelling for help as they came through the throne room door. Both men aimed and fired at the same time, and the man went down, falling forward to roll to a stop.

  “That was a great shot, dude,” said Bad Twin.

  “Thanks,” replied Good Twin with a smile.

  Bad Twin turned to look at his brother. “Dude, you’re missing the point,” he said, “I was saying that I made a great shot with that little pistol. I’m the one that hit him.”

  Good Twin shook his head. “You know I’ve always been the best shot,” he replied. “You’re obviously delirious from loss of blood. I’m the one that got him.”

  “This is so not the right time for that,” said Top as he hurried past them. He handed them each a gun from the two soldiers that had been killed in the stairwell. “You guys cover our exit,” he ordered.

  “Sure thing, dude!” they chorused as the rest of the group went by. They reached the door to the courtyard, but before they could open it, a roar was heard from outside. “I think our ride’s here,” yelled Top as he threw the door open.

  The Tall Tower, Remurn Castle, Remurn, Epsilon Eridani ‘a’, May 4, 2019

  “Lord Stref!” shouted the soldier. “There are gunshots in the throne room. The prisoners are escaping!”

  “Why are you here then, fool?” asked Stref. “Sound the alarm and stop them!”

  He looked at Plung as the soldier ran off. “Let’s go,” he said. Before he could say anything else, a loud roaring was heard from outside. It seemed to be moving.

  “What’s that?” asked Plung.

  “I don’t know,” said Stref. “But we better go find out. Bring the king in case we need him.”

  Remurn Castle Walls, Remurn, Epsilon Eridani ‘a’, May 4, 2019

  “What in the nineteen hells of Jubarf is that?” the sergeant of the watch shouted as the...thing...came from the sky and landed in the courtyard. From his position on the wall-walk that ran around the interior of the castle wall, he watched as the back of the craft unfolded and...people?...started coming out of it. There were another two figures on top of the thing, one of which was carrying something that looked like a giant blunderbuss. Those must be forces coming to rescue the soldiers that the First Advisor captured today, he thought. If so, they were the enemy.

  “Fire!” he yelled. He took aim at one of the ones on top of the vehicle and pulled the trigger.

  From all around the wall and courtyard, other soldiers began firing at the invaders.

  Remurn Castle, Remurn, Epsilon Eridani ‘a’, May 4, 2019

  Top slammed the door shut again as every redcoat in the courtyard started firing at once.

  “Don’t come out yet,” Night commed. “We’re clearing out some of the redcoats.”

  “You’re never going to believe this,” said Top, “But it looked like Tiny was on top of the shuttle as it came in.” Most of the troops that were pouring out of the shuttle were firing their lasers, which made very little noise, but every once in a while they could hear the blast of the .95 caliber rifle going off.

  “Watch out behind!” cried one of the twins as both fired their guns. A cloud of black smoke filled the entranceway of the palace. “More troops are coming from the rear!” yelled the other twin.

  Shuttle 01, Remurn Castle, Remurn, Epsilon Eridani ‘a’, May 4, 2019

  Tiny rocked as the blast from the blunderbuss hit him in the shoulder. Although it didn’t have the kinetic energy or the shape to penetrate the suit, the impact of it stung. BTO had seen the shooter and called out the targeting. Tiny brought the oversized rifle into line and saw a redcoat that had more stripes on his sleeves than any of the others, ramming his next round into the blunderbuss. Tiny fired once, and the man fell backward with a fist-sized hole in the front of his chest. The exit wound that could be seen as the soldier collapsed was enormous.

  While BTO looked for higher priority targets, Tiny worked his way down the ramparts of the wall, clearing out any of the redcoats he saw. As the rest of the platoon charged out of the cargo bay, the enemy soldiers started falling as the platoon’s lasers joined in. Tiny continued to look for additional targets, but a flash of movement by the keep caught his eye. “Sirs,” he commed, “we’ve got a problem.”

  Remurn Castle, Remurn, Epsilon Eridani ‘a’, May 4, 2019

  The twins had fired all of their blunderbusses and were reloading when the redcoats started pouring out from several of the doors across the throne room. Calvin knew that they were going to be overwhelmed. Thankfully, the sounds of firing were slowing from the outside. They’d have to chance it; they were going to be overrun if they stayed in the palace. “OUT THE DOOR!” he commed. “We’re coming out with numerous redcoats in trail!”

  The Terrans went out the door as quickly as they could with their wounded. The Twins fired one more time into the mass of more than 40 redcoats that were now storming across the throne room, then turned and ran. As they made it out the door, they saw a firing line of suited Terrans forming up, facing the door with weapons pointed at them.

  “We’re the last ones!” one of the twins commed.

  “The redcoats are coming!” commed the other as the group slipped through the firing line and ran toward the shuttle.

  The door opened, and the pursuing redcoats were met by the coherent light of ten lasers. They fell back into the castle, leaving their front ranks in the doorway, dead or dying.

  Top led the group around to the back of the shuttle and up the ramp. If the princess had any qualms about going into the ship, she didn’t show it. Her fiance was too far gone to have noticed or cared. The wounded members of the platoon went up the ramp next, happy to be safe and on their way to better medicine. As the ambassador and the queen made it to the ramp, the queen screamed and pulled away from him. Calvin saw her push away the ambassador’s hands as he tried to grab her, and then she turned and ran back toward the castle. As Calvin started in pursuit, he heard Tiny comm, “Sirs, we’ve got a problem.”

  Night saw the woman running with Calvin chasing her toward the wall. “CO and high value unit in transit toward the cast
le wall,” he sent. “Cover them!” Laser fire quickly eliminated anyone in red on that side of the castle.

  The queen stopped at the wall, looking up. Calvin stopped alongside her and looked up to see the king’s two advisors on the wall-walk. The First Advisor was holding the king as a shield. “Shit!” he said under his breath as he saw that the advisor was holding him over the edge, ready to drop him.

  “Give me my son!” screamed the queen. It was the first words that Calvin had heard her say.

  “I’d be quite happy to,” said Stref, “as long as I am given free passage out of town along with all of my troops that still remain.”

  “Just you?” asked the Second Advisor, standing next to him. “What about me?”

  “I’m done with you,” said Stref, reaching over and giving him a push. The Second Advisor fell headfirst from the wall. He hit the ground 25 feet below headfirst with a sickening crunch and didn’t move after that. Looking at the angle of his head and neck, Calvin didn’t think he would ever move again.

  Calvin looked back up at the First Advisor. “What do you plan to do with them?” he asked, stalling for time. “Tiny, do you have a shot?” he asked.

  “There are other lands and places that we might go,” replied the First Advisor. “I’ll leave here with my men and will release the king when we get to the edge of town.”

  “Yes sir, I do,” Tiny commed. “The boy is out of my line of fire.”

  “You can’t be trusted!” screamed the queen. “You’re just as likely to kill him at the edge of town as release him!”

  “Well now, you really don’t have a choice, do you?” asked the First Advisor. “Those are my terms. Take them or leave them.”

  Calvin edged forward to stand beneath the wall and looked up at Stref. “I think we’ll leave them,” he said. “Take the shot!”

  The First Advisor opened his mouth to say something, and his head exploded under the impact of the eight ounce bronze bullet, which struck with the kinetic energy of a 2,800 lb automobile traveling at 20 miles per hour. The impact threw him backward, and he released the king, who missed the wall-walk and fell.

  The queen screamed.

  The boy seemed to fall in slow motion, cartwheeling slowly...down...down...only to be caught up in Calvin’s strong arms, 25 feet below. Calvin gently placed him on the ground. Mother and son ran to each other, and the queen caught her son up in a hug, tears streaming down her face.

  “Ma’am, there are still a lot of redcoats around,” said Calvin. “If I could get you to come somewhere a little safer, I’d surely appreciate it.”

  The queen put her son down and moved to stand protectively in front of him. She looked at the Terran as if seeing him for the first time. “Who are you, and where did you come from?” she asked.

  * * * * *

  Chapter Nineteen

  CO’s Conference Room, Vella Gulf, Epsilon Eridani ‘a’ Orbit, May 5, 2019

  The conference room was packed. In addition to the department heads and their assistants, the human queen and the two therapods were also in attendance, which meant that the entire crew wanted to be there. The shuttle had dropped Gurp off at his farm.

  “All right,” said the CO, “let’s get this started. I’d like to discuss a way forward for both of your civilizations independently first, and then how they might work together. Before I start, you all know where you are right now, correct?”

  “Yes,” said the therapod princess, “we are on a ship that flies between the points of light in the heavens at night. Each of those is a star, much like our own, with its own planets around it.” She gave what the CO thought was probably a smile, although it was disconcerting to see that many sharp teeth. The human queen just nodded her agreement, unfazed by the teeth.

  “It is amazing to me that you have been able to understand this so quickly,” the CO commented.

  “Really, it is not,” said the princess. “We have stories of others coming to our planet, so we knew it was possible, but it has been thousands of years since that happened.” She gave her scary smile again. “We are excellent story tellers and can keep verbal records for long periods.”

  “We have those stories too,” remarked the queen, “but we thought that was all they were, just stories. It is...uncomfortable...to find out that they are true.” She smiled, and her smile was much more comforting. “I will say that it is much more comfortable dealing with this new information than it was being in the dungeon, so I am happy to have this problem.”

  “Speaking of which,” said the ambassador, “we had the soldiers go back to the castle, and there is no sign of any of the redcoated soldiers anywhere to be seen. There are a large number of men in brown uniforms now in the palace courtyard, led by a man calling himself General Sern. He said to tell you that they are anxiously awaiting your return, and that he will ensure the city is well-governed until you do.”

  The queen sagged in obvious relief. “The general is a good man,” she explained. “He was the only loyal officer who wasn’t at the party where my husband was killed. He is the one remaining general that I have that I can trust. If he says that the city will be well-governed, it will be well-governed.”

  “I imagine that you will still want to get back down to the planet as soon as possible,” the CO remarked.

  “That is correct,” answered the queen. “The people will be very confused and will need to know that they are safe.”

  “We will get you back as soon as we can then,” agreed the CO. He turned to look at the princess and her fiance. The male therapod was moving on his own, a little, but it would be a while before anyone called him ‘healthy.’ The CO wasn’t an expert on the race, but even he could tell the male was in bad shape. “As for your civilization, I understand that you could use a little assistance.”

  “Yes, we could,” said the princess. “We have a swarm of redcoats of our own that we could use some help with. Now that I am free, they don’t have as much leverage over our society, but they do still have my mother, the queen. Our males will do whatever it takes to avoid harm to her.”

  Calvin raised his hand and was acknowledged. “Captain Deutch, I believe that the gap in technology between our platoon and the locals would allow us to go down and help them out. Although the redcoats’ firearm technology poses some danger for us, it is far less than it would be for the princess’ troops. We can be suited up and ready to go in a couple of hours.

  “From what I’ve heard about the redcoats,” replied Captain Deutch, “they need to be removed. You are authorized to take the platoon and restore the queen to the throne.”

  “Yes sir!” agreed Calvin, who had had enough of the redcoats and was ready for some payback of his own.

  “Thank you for helping my people,” said the princess. Her fiance smiled and shook his head in agreement.

  “Once we have everything back to normal, I look forward to working with both of your civilizations,” said the ambassador. “We have much to talk about.”

  Platoon Briefing Room, Vella Gulf, Epsilon Eridani ‘a’ Orbit, May 6, 2019

  Night finished up the briefing “Any questions?” he asked.

  “I have just one,” said the princess entering the room. “Where am I going to be during your assault?”

  “Safely here onboard the Vella Gulf,” Night replied.

  “While I greatly appreciate your assistance in doing this for us, I am afraid that will not be possible. Our males are very territorial, and if a hostile force is seen approaching the palace, they will all die to defend it.”

  “Even if we don’t shoot at them?” asked Top.

  “Even if you don’t shoot at them,” confirmed the princess. “Just the fact that you are moving toward our queen will trigger the urge to defend her. They will never give up; they will make you kill them all instead. What would you think if strange looking beings suddenly paraded into your town and moved toward your king?”

  “OK,” said Night, “how do we avoid this?”

&nbs
p; “You take me with you, of course,” replied the princess. “They won’t attack a group that I am in, for fear of hurting me.”

  “I can’t guarantee your safety princess,” warned Night, “and if you get hurt, it will be very bad for relations between our two nations.”

  “I am not worried about my safety,” stated the princess. “This is something that I must do. My family has always led our armies into battle; how can I not do the same?”

  Calvin saw that the Terrans weren’t going to win this discussion and gave in gracefully. “We will bring you along,” he allowed, “but you have to let my men and women lead. You must stay behind them.”

  “I have to go,” said the princess, “but I do not need to lead. I will gladly stay behind your troops.”

  “And I will make sure that she stays there,” said the princess’ fiance, walking into the room behind her. It was the first thing any of them had heard him say. While his voice was weak, it was firm in its commitment.

  “How are you going to do that?” asked Calvin, “when you can barely walk?”

  “I have led our armies into battle,” the lizard replied, “and all of the warriors will recognize me. If they see me with her, they will know that she is not under your control. Our soldiers will do as I say.”

  “But that still doesn’t address how you’re going to make it there,” said Calvin. “We may have to walk several miles; I don’t think you’re up to it.”

  “I will help him,” offered Irina Rozhkov, who had attended the briefing. “I have no responsibilities, and I would like very much to be there for the assault.”