by S. H. Jucha
“It’s time to move to recovery, Ude,” Matnok said. “We need you to recline.” She expected Petra to vacate the room, as discussed, but that didn’t happen.
Petra eased off the table and helped Ude lay back. Then she pulled the cloth covering to his shoulders.
As the medical techs moved Ude’s table to a connecting room, Petra walked alongside, holding his hand.
Having watched the doors close behind Ude, Petra, and the techs, Matnok allowed herself a quiet chitter. She’d enjoyed the interactions between Ude and Petra.
Watching the proceedings on a monitor that faced his tank, Zimgell had observed the events surrounding Ude’s wakening. His huge fleshy head nodded in affirmation of his judgment. The lieutenant was Ude’s anchor.
Two Pyrean cycles later, Ude was able to sit, eat soft foods, and stand with assistance. He eschewed the grav assist device to support him, but he was content to brace his arm across Petra’s offered shoulders, not that he minded.
Nata was Ude’s second visitor. She entered his room and stared aghast. “What happened to you?” she declared.
“Guess this was always the way I was supposed to be,” Ude replied.
“How does it feel?” Nata asked, as she crossed the room to the couch, where the couple sat.
“It’s strange,” Ude replied. “This body feels strong, but I don’t have the greatest control over what it does.”
“Is that a mistake by the Jatouche?” Nata asked with concern.
Petra chuckled and said, “Ude’s fine. He just has to develop his mind-body coordination. He keeps trying to signal his muscles via his implant.”
Ude grinned and shrugged. “Old habits,” he said.
Before Nata ended her visit, Alex and Renée arrived.
Renée rushed into the room, leaned over, and hugged Ude. “You look wonderful,” she said.
“The new me,” Ude said self-consciously.
“Well, I approve,” Renée said, stepping back and admiring Ude’s glowing health and his new stature.
Ude struggled to stand, which he did with Nata and Petra’s help.
“I want to say thank you,” Ude said, extending his hand toward Alex. “I haven’t deserved the graciousness that has always been allowed me, but I’ve come to appreciate the gestures.”
Alex advanced until he was arm’s length from Ude. Then he gripped Ude by the shoulders, ignoring the outstretched hand. “You’ve always deserved it, Ude.” he said. “Life dealt you and the clones nasty hands. All that the rest of us have tried to do is make up for what happened to you.” Then he embraced Ude.
When Ude’s legs wobbled, Alex eased Ude onto the couch.
“Trouble switching from implant to mind control?” Alex asked.
“It’s odd,” Ude replied. “I’ve become dependent on my implant for motion.”
Alex smiled and sat in a seat across from Ude. “Let me help you with that.”
When Alex closed his eyes, Ude did the same, and Alex linked with him.
Renée signaled Nata and Petra.
“How?” asked Petra, switching to vocal communication, as the room’s door closed behind them.
“Alex has several skills with his implants that others haven’t perfected, if they ever can,” Renée replied. “When our ship was in danger, and two actions had to be simultaneously activated by two different individuals in two different locations, Alex handled that.”
“What do you mean he handled that?” Nata asked.
“Via his implant, Alex signaled the muscle movements in the arms of the other two individuals,” Renée replied. She smiled, as the two young women stared agape at her.
“How?” Petra asked.
“I’ve no idea,” Renée replied, raising her hands in surrender. “Alex tried to explain it to me a few times, but I’ve never understood it.”
“And he can do other things like that?” Nata asked.
“Oh, yes,” Renée replied, eyeing the two women carefully.
“It’s a good thing Alex doesn’t have a bad temper,” Nata said quietly, thinking of the number of times she’d confronted him.
“Oh, don’t you believe that,” Renée said, laughing. “Alex has a temper, but it takes a lot for him to give it free rein. When he sees injustice or individuals in power being foolish, he’ll use his power.”
While Renée spoke, she recalled Council Leader Mahima Ganesh being on the wrong end of Alex’s temper.
“Then Alex might be able to help Ude?” Petra asked hopefully.
Renée hooked the women’s arms and led them down the corridor. “If anyone can help Ude with this issue, it will be Alex,” she said.
“Where are we going?” Nata asked.
“Midday meal,” Renée replied. “Those two will need some time.”
In the room, Ude concentrated on the series of apps that Alex supplied his implant. He’d been instructed to open the first one.
By the time Alex and Ude finished their lengthy session, Ude was drenched in sweat, and he’d never left the couch.
“You make it sound easier than it is,” Ude commented, breathing hard and opening his eyes.
“It takes practice,” Alex allowed. “You ready to test it?”
“Now?” Ude asked uneasily. Alex’s calm gaze made him feel like a coward for panicking.
“You want to stand,” Alex encouraged. “Your mind knows what the effort requires. It remembers. Direct your implant to assist you, using what I’ve taught you.”
Ude closed his eyes, took a breath, and concentrated on driving his body to stand. He imagined standing and signaled the implant to activate the muscles in his body, much as he had for annuals on Talus.
“It’s not working,” Ude said disappointedly. He heard Alex laugh, and then he opened his eyes. He was standing. Immediately, he began to teeter, and he expected Alex to brace him. When Alex didn’t help, he focused on maintaining his balance, using his implant to help.
“Now, let’s get you cleaned up before the women return,” Alex said.
Together they walked to the facilities. Ude did it haltingly by himself, but Alex stood nearby just in case.
After the facilities and a change of clothes, Alex and Ude were served a meal, but Ude couldn’t sit still. He’d stand, and then he’d practice walking and turning.
The door opened, and Ude, who had his back to it, heard the women talking. Then they went silent. Ude turned around and grinned at Nata and Petra.
Renée, who had been forewarned by Alex about the progress, stood by the door.
“You’re walking,” Nata said aghast. She glanced briefly at Alex. Then she ran to Ude.
“Careful,” Ude said, laughing and preventing Nata from bowling the two of them over. “I might look robust, but this balance thing is tenuous.”
With tears streaming from he
r eyes, Petra threw her arms around Alex’s neck, hugged him heartily, and planted a kiss on his cheek. “Thank you,” she said, and then she too hurried to talk with Ude.
“How is it you can teach Ude to use his implant that way, yet the rest of us don’t understand?” Renée asked, in the corridor.
“All you have to do is have your mind’s body control curtailed for a few annuals, live in an avatar, and drive it remotely with your implant,” Alex replied. “Then you’ll have the preparation you need to adopt the technique.”
“No, thanks,” Renée said, after a moment’s consideration. She heard a rumble and said, “I thought you ate.”
“Earther portions,” Alex replied.
“We’ll have to fix that when we board the traveler,” Renée replied. She hummed as they walked arm in arm. It had been her heart’s desire to see Ude happy.
Throughout the next few cycles, fleet visitors flowed in and out of Ude’s room. He was shocked by the number of individuals who wanted to see him and personally wish him well.
After the most recent group of guests left, Ude shook his head. “So many people thought well of me, and I hardly took notice of them.”
“That was then. This is now,” Petra replied.
32: Survival Test
“The Usaanans have completed their training, Commander,” Homsaff said. “I’ve directed the Drake’s captain to prepare the carrier for launch.”
“I hadn’t heard that Mickey was finished with his new design for eliminating the Colony’s weapons in the tubes,” Lucia said.
“He hasn’t,” Homsaff acknowledged. “I deem it necessary to put the Usaanans in the field now rather than let them sit in their cells. There are planets unoccupied by sentients that the Colony landed on before we removed their rings and shuttles.”
“You’ll test the Usaanans on these planets,” Jess said, understanding Homsaff’s intention.
“I don’t expect they’ll last long,” Lucia commented.
“There’s not much hope for two of them,” Homsaff said. “As to the other eight, fortune might be with them.”
“Preserve the warriors’ documentations of what happens to each of them,” Jess directed.
“The Usaanan directorate,” Homsaff surmised.
“And the Tsargit,” Jess added. “Smooth sailing and good hunting, Queen Homsaff.”
Homsaff delivered a warrior’s response at the wish for a successful hunt. Her long jaw opened, and the tongue lolled alongside.
Jess laughed, and Homsaff resumed a dignified posture. She saluted Jess and Lucia with the Pyrean spacer’s two finger touch to the brow and exited the suite.
After a quick farewell to Alex and Renée, Homsaff boarded a traveler for her carrier, the Drake.
The troops aboard the Drake were a mixed lot. Homsaff had her Dischnya warriors, who were shepherding the Usaanans. Menous commanded the Norsitchian brassards, whose numbers had dwindled to a little fewer than one hundred, halving the original number. Sylians made up the remaining nearly two hundred total troops aboard the carrier.
Within the next Pyrean cycle, the troops were recalled, and the Earther captain sailed the carrier for Homsaff’s initial target planet.
During the voyage, she addressed the Usaanans. The warriors encircled them to ensure their queen’s safety.
“Several Colony shuttles managed to land on an arid world before we shut down their access,” Homsaff said, eyeing the serpents. “Telemetry indicates limited water, which is seen in small pools. Extensive greenery surrounds each pool, and the term oasis seems applicable. More than likely, the pools are fed by underground streams and are refreshed by the occasional rain.”
“Which predominates, sand or rock?” Usslert, the Lemgart serpent, inquired.
“Both,” Homsaff replied.
Simlan replied.
“If you adhere to your training, it will serve you well,” Homsaff continued. “You’ll remain with my warriors for every planetfall.”
“How long is this deployment?” Uggert, the leader, asked.
The warriors chortled, and the serpents hissed softly at the insults.
“I don’t think you understand the nature of the Resistance,” Homsaff said. “We don’t wish to fight the Colony for battle’s sake. That’s foolish. We exterminate the Colony, planet by planet. That’s the only way to defeat the race. We make planetfall, and we leave only when we’ve made accommodations for every adult and juvenile.”
“What do you mean accommodations?” a serpent asked.
“We’ll eliminate the majority of the insectoids, concentrating on the adults,” Homsaff explained. “Then we’ll let shadows loose to scour the planet for the remaining individuals. It might take our self-sufficient weapons an annual or two to finish the job, but eventually, the planet will be clear of the Colony.”
“How many of the Colony do you estimate are on this first planet?” a serpent inquired. He was one of the two individuals who hadn’t taken the training seriously, and the Dischnya had marked the pair as probably the first to fall under reds’ or grays’ pincers.
Seven Pyrean cycles later, the carrier orbited an arid planet. Using the telemetry collected by an earlier command, Homsaff designated landing positions for the nearly two hundred troops.
While several teams targeted the original Colony landing sites, Homsaff knew that the insectoids wouldn’t remain in the vicinities. They would seek sources of food, water, and shelter for their coming young. The female insectoids who rode the shuttles were always pregnant.
With the carrier possessing only four shuttles, the pilots were kept busy ferrying troops and shadows below.
The first travelers landed at dawn, and the pilots would pick up the last troops as starlight faded on their locations.
After making planetfall, Homsaff strode off the ramp of her traveler, as shadows streamed off the nearby shuttle.
The warriors organized the serpents and directed them off the ship. Weapons were issued to the serpents, but the warriors waited to give them dart drums.
Homsaff indicated the lush area of green that surrounded the nearby pool of water. When she did, the warriors separated into two squads and positioned the serpents in the attack formations that had been practiced. Then drums were handed to the serpents to attach to their shortened Loopah weapons.
Several warriors in each squad were designated to keep their eyes on the Usaanans. They had orders from their queen that if they suspected a serpent was targeting a warrior with a fang strike, they were to immediately eliminate him.
Simlan replied.
The two squad leaders had a private chortle about their queen’s wily ways.
As Homsaff approached the deep pool, they saw evidence of the insectoids’ presence. The bones of avian species, which had depended on the water source, were scattered everywhere. They’d been slow to learn that vicious predators were now in their midst.
At the edge of the thick green, composed of odd, twisted trees, vines, and thick brush, Homsaff signaled her squad leaders to circle the lush vegetation before they attempted to penetrate it.
Simlan and Hessan signaled their warriors into new positions. In turn, they shifted the Usaanans’ positions. Slowly the squads walked the perimeter, constantly eyeing the thick brush.
Twenty shadows waited behind Homsaff, as she observed her warriors via their implants circling the oasis.
A third of an Omnian hour later, there had been no Colony contact.
Homsaff detailed an attack plan to the shadows, and they scurried to execute their orders.
Ten shadows spread along a line, facing the vegetation. A second shadow waited behind each shadow that formed the line.
On Homsaff’s cue, the first shadow fired its laser at the green and moved forward.
Continuing to fire and penetrate the brush, the first shadows were backed by second shadows, which were tasked to watch for attacking insectoids. The shadows were vulnerable to being mangled by the bite of a red’s pincers.
The queen’s keen ears and the shadows’ sensors picked up the telltale sounds of scuttling insectoid legs, as the adults scrambled through the thick flora in an attempt to flee their attackers.
Out of sight of both locations of aggressors, insectoid adults and juveniles exited the green, skirted the pool, and entered the brush on the far side from the advancing shadows.
None of the insectoids dove into the water. The species didn’t float and couldn’t swim.
Homsaff waited outside the perimeter until the shadows showed that they’d broken through the thick vegetation to reach the water. Checking her implant’s reception of Hessan and Simlan’s views, she noticed that they anxiously waited for her to flush the insectoids.
Stubborn or smart, Homsaff thought of the insectoids’ choice to remain within the far belt of green. She signaled the shadows to repeat their attack pattern on the pool’s other side.
The primary shadows fired at the brush, and the pairs entered the small tunnels drilled into the smoking vegetation.
“Get ready,” Simlan whispered to his five Usaanans, and Hessan repeated the message. The warriors had heard the adults disturbing the flora.
Suddenly, reds, grays, and juveniles broke from cover. While only four Colony shuttles had managed to land on the planet, the females would have had ample time to reproduce. The adult number was limited, but the juveniles, some a meter in length, flooded from the brush.
Two serpents, the ones the Dischnya most suspected of failing, hissed stridently. They flung their weapons aside and dropped to the ground to race away from their impending deaths.
The other eight Usaanans held their ground with the warriors.