SWNOVELS Chapter 10
“Gena,” I called the young Terran to my side.
“My lady?” she curtsied.
“I’m not your lady,” I replied with a frown.
She glanced to Elspeth boxing stuff up with the help of Joyce. “Lady Broaden asked me to call you that.”
“Why?” I hadn’t had the chance to say two words to her since last night but she had called over Gena a number of times during the night.
“Orders my lady, I am pledged to her. She asked me to obey you as I do her.”
I didn’t know what to make of that. “Gena what would your companions say if I put you in charge of them?”
“Me in charge, why?”
“They need organising I think they’d rather trust one of their own instead of one of mine?”
“I see, your aliens do scare us.”
“They are people just like us.” Although I wouldn’t go as far as classing the Orsini as people I had my bias.
“Yes my lady.”
“Gena? Please don’t call me that, Major Locke will do.”
“Your orders Major Locke.”
“Well Sergeant Guerro find the strongest and the most careful of your squad I need them to carry the stretchers that Vanwasshova is making.” I pointed to Sarah making stretchers for some of the Terran wounded out of the metal rods and canvas the archaeologists had brought with them. Abe was helping her. “Whoever is left can help the archaeologists to carry their equipment.”
Gena saluted Terran style her fist thudding to her chest unlike the Confederacy salute of a hand to the brow. “I won’t let you down Major Locke,” then added, “you called me sergeant? I’m a sergeant?” She saluted again.
Finally we were ready. Tutor stood beside me the sun was already high on the horizon and I could feel the heat on my face a Terran helmet I found that fitted in my hands. I watched the archaeologists and Gena’s squad exit the bunker. The blood stains on the floor of the amphitheatre I couldn’t think of it as anything else had faded to a dull rusty brown.
Lottie spoke suddenly almost making me drop my helmet. “The Ezaran’s trying it again,” Lottie sounded annoyed, “I can’t monitor the relays if I have to fight her!”
“Vorra?” I barked.
“Major?” Vorra said looking slightly guilty.
“You have been trying to hack Lottie again?” I could tell that she was embarrassed.
“I won’t do it again major.”
“Accepted Vorra, have you got anything back from the Terran cruiser?”
“Not a peep.”
I asked the same question to Lottie. “Lottie anything?”
“I’m getting nothing from the relays. It’s still out there and as far as I can tell it’s moved away from the planet. The Ezaran’s got the Havok’s comms codes ask her if she’s heard anything?”
“Can’t you? Contact the Havok?”
“I could but I can’t do that and keep the Terran cruiser off your back.”
“Any word from the Havok?” I asked Vorra.
“Nothing.”
“Ok Vorra keep an ear out for either. LT?”
“Major?”
“Beta take point, Alpha and Delta watch our guests.” I changed to Terran. “Sergeant Guerro get your team moving.”
“Your command Major Locke,” she saluted with her fist against her chest.
I watched her go my concern for the young Terran playing heavily on my mind. I was unsure if I was doing the right thing.
I stepped aside as Shawna and Kriaeusus climbed out of the amphitheatre watching them disappear over the lip. Bacare and Vorra flanked the file of Terrans burdened down with equipment. Some of them carrying their wounded too injured to walk others limped behind dressed in clothes borrowed from the archaeologists. Tutor trailed behind while Sarah flittered from stretchered wounded to wounded checking that they were comfortable. I waited until Elspeth and Joyce had drawn alongside before walking pace with them. She stopped briefly at a mound of rubble touched by the morning sun.
“Do you think she’ll be happy here?” I heard her say to Joyce her hand clutching the older woman’s arm.
“We will come back later and give her a better resting place I promise,” Joyce looked to me, “don’t badger Ellie, major?”
“My mind’s made up Sandra,” Elspeth said to me looking through tear tainted eyes.
I wondered who had told her my first name I certainly hadn’t. “We desperately need your help. The Rhosani are a threat to everyone.”
“We can deal with the Rhosani later. You do want to stop the war and the only one that can effectively do that is my mother.”
I liked the idea of stopping this senseless war but I had my doubts. “Surely you are being biased. I suppose your mother is dear to you but I can’t see how this will stop the war?”
She gave me a look for a moment I thought she was going to burst into tears but she drew a deep breath. “My mother was close friends with Constantine and she knows the entire Admiralty staff by first name. She will know who to contact to stop the war.”
“Why hasn’t she done so before?” I was floundering over my objections and we both knew it.
“If as you say it was a quick change over. She wouldn’t have time to organise resistance,” She sounded puzzled, “she must have had an inkling of something. I spent months trying to get her to relent and let me join the expedition then out of the blue she says go ahead.” She paused and drew another deep breath. “Had I known I would have never let Jeanne come with? Her father…” She looked close to tears. “Her father was Admiral Adrian Jones of the Home Fleet. I’ll have to tell him.”
Her words reminded me that this was a war no one wanted. Fighting the Commonwealth was easier. I had no qualms about killing them. I began to wonder if I had gone soft but Elspeth’s statement about her dead friend forced me reassess my current stance. There was a question I need to ask no matter the pain it could cause.
“It could be your mother is dead or captured?” I remembered the tone of voice the mad man on the recording had. He wanted all the Broaden Clan destroyed.
“She’s alive I know it. She’d not run without a plan.”
“You sure about this? I will have to contact Com Ops but I’m sure they will turn down your request.”
“You know my price otherwise I will consider myself your prisoner.”
“Please don’t do this to me,” I begged had she been military then things would have been different.
She looked to Joyce and glanced behind her to her fellow archaeologists. “I will grant you one concession if you grant mine.”
“That is?” I replied through gritted teeth.
She shook her head. “Let’s not fall out over this.”
“What do you want?”
“I will come with you to your ship if you leave the rest of us behind.”
“I can’t do that,” I told her. It would at least solve the problem about what to do with the Terrans. I really didn’t want them to suffer the indignity of incarceration in a detention centre. They had enough trauma learning that they were pawns in a political assassination only to be marked for death afterwards.
“It’s the only logical choice,” Joyce remarked, “perhaps we can teach these youngsters something useful while we wait for the supply ship?”
“It’s against regulations.”
“Regulations be damned!” Joyce snorted, “this has nothing to do with your precious Confederacy.”
I didn’t want to hear any more so I dropped back forming the rear guard.
Sometime later we reached the bridge over the circular lake and halted. I hurried forward to find the Terrans gathered around the broken and burnt railing staring into the lake.
“Why have we stopped?” I demanded I must admit I had pushed everyone hard. There seemed to be an argument between Tutor and Gena neither understanding each other’s language.
“LT?” Then to Gena in Terran. “Sergeant Guerro?”
“These Terrans’ want us to retrieve their dead. That’s what I guess they are saying. We should head on.”
I glanced over the railing but I couldn’t see any bodies. “We need these Terrans on our side LT.” I nodded to Gena and switched to Terran. “What’s the matter Sergeant Guerro?”
I empathised her newly acquired rank. I noticed that she had drawn three chevrons on the arm of my jumpsuit with a lipstick. Sheila one of the other girls had that colour on her lips. I wasn’t going to pull her up on that after all I did steal her armour.
She saluted smartly her fist on her chest I had to get her out of doing that I wasn’t an Imperial. “Major Locke,” she eyed Tutor, “permission to retrieve the bodies of our fallen?”
“Granted. Do you know what happened here?”
“I wasn’t on that shuttle,” she glanced to the others.
“None of us here were. Phillips told us they fell in…” She hesitated and licked her lips. “He ordered us to carry on.”
“You did what could but you had to follow orders. I can’t find any fault in that.”
“But they were so wrong,” She looked across to Elspeth, “my lady I am truly sorry about what happened.”
“You couldn’t know we certainly didn’t,” she replied her voice calm although it didn’t match the expression on her face.
“Sergeant Guerro. Pick two of your squad and we’ll lower them down.”
“Richard, Theron front and centre!” she yelled.
“Ready sergeant!” they shouted standing to attention.
“The rest of you lower Richard and Theron down.”
After several false starts we lowered the two Terrans down. They hadn’t even been taught basic knots or even how to make a rope harness. It made the decision to leave them behind all the more relevant. These children I suppose I couldn’t define them any other way didn’t deserve to be placed into a detention centre. They were as much victims as the archaeologists. I watched the two Terrans lowered to the floor seeing the strain on the faces of their companions.
“Bacare, Kriaeusus give them a hand.”
Both T’Arni slung their weapons and hauled on the rope gently lowering the Terrans to the floor.
“Sergeant,” Richard called up from the bottom.
“Richard?” Gena called back leaning perilously over the edge.
I reached across and pulled her back. “Careful Sergeant Guerro I don’t want you to fall over.”
“Sorry major I’ll be more careful.” Then shouted. “Report Richard?”
“There’s nothing here sergeant although I do see some marks on the floor I reckon they weren’t dead just injured.”
“Look there’s an entrance to a tunnel over there they must have dragged themselves in that direction.” Theron remarked. “We can get them.”
“Hold you two!” I barked I knew this wasn’t so. “Bacare!” The T’Arni had been certain they were both dead.
“Major!”
“Scout out the tunnel,” I had a bad feeling about this, “eyes peeled.”
“Yes major!” He repelled down a rope landing on the ground next to Theron and Richard. He waved them back. I saw him changing magazines switching to high explosive rounds.
“Bacare?”
“Get the humans back up the rope major. There are tracks here nothing like I’ve seen before and big.”
“Stay Frosty Bacare.” I swapped to Terran. “Sergeant Guerro get your squad to the other end of the bridge once we’ve pulled up your friends, take the archaeologists with you.” I turned to Reed Walters. “How big are these reptiles? Big enough to drag a body away?”
“We have seen some large reptiles but none large enough to do as you say. Most…” he held his arms wide, “ are this big. Nothing bigger but there is nothing to say we have seen anything to indicate either way. I did say these creatures are nocturnal.
“Bacare hold position. Beta, Delta other railing covering fire if needs be.”
“On it,” Tutor reported.
Richard and Theron literally flew up the rope. Gena quickly gathered her squad and hurried them across the bridge closely followed by the archaeologists.
“Vorra with me.”
“Yes ma’am.”
“Bacare!” I shouted down, “on the rope.” I grabbed the other end with Vorra. “Haul away Vorra, LT eyes sharp.” We pulled hard hand over hand pulling Bacare up.
A hand came over the remains of the railing and gripped hard.
“Vorra help him.” I took the strain on the rope as Vorra helped Bacare scramble back on to the bridge. “LT take the squad across the bridge I’ll take the rear.” Watching as Tutor and the squad joined those that had crossed. Leaning over the railing I could just about make out the entrance to the tunnel. Keeping my sights firmly fixed on the entrance I backed away.
“Clear major,” Tutor shouted.
I crossed the bridge my senses on alert. Elspeth was waiting for me on the other side.
“Miss Broaden,” I spoke formally still annoyed by her stubbornness I could be stubborn to.
“Sandra don’t do this”
I could hear the despair in her voice I felt uncomfortable. “Look I’m sorry we’ve come a long way to find you.”
“A long way when you could have been doing something else?”
“The 43rd is fighting and dying in a war we didn’t start.”
“You feel guilty that you are not with them?”
“Yeah I suppose so,” I admitted, “Com Ops thought this was important enough to send me out here.”
“Tracking down the Rhosani is important but stopping the war is more important. We cannot achieve the former if the Empire is fighting you. To do that we need my mother.”
“And if Com Ops refuses?”
“They won’t if they have any sense.”
I knew I wasn’t going to win this particular battle. “We must get going if we hope to reach the base camp by nightfall.”
“Gena says they destroyed the shuttle but the buildings are still intact.”
“I hope to God you are right.”
Elspeth smiled a pale smile. “I know so Sandra.
I wished I had her certainty.
Sometime later we reached the shuttle wreck the fire had stopped but the shuttle still smouldered. Gena waited with two of her squad she saluted Terran style on seeing me.
“Sergeant Guerro?”
“Major Locke,” She glanced to the two with her, “there were a half dozen of us on this shuttle.”
“They never had a chance I saw it.”
“You saw it?”
I explained my tree climbing and how I witnessed the shuttle’s accident. “There were no survivors. You know who was aboard the shuttle?”
“I can account for everyone except the pilot I don’t know his name. “We weren’t allowed to mix with the crew. Our quarters was sectioned off Phillips said it was for security but now we know different. The bastard was going to have his fun with us then kill us.” She spat on the floor. “Apologies Major Locke.”
“Was it Phillips that ordered the shuttles to fly in line formation?”
“Line formation?”
I found myself having to explain the differences. Again showing the wide gap in the Terrans’ training.
“Our shuttle pilot did complain at the imbecile orders he had been given,” Gena went red and swallowed hard, “he said the d… head had an imperial writ.”
“What did the captain of the ‘Tunis’ have to say about that?”
“Our pilot said that there was a lot of bad air between the captain and Phillips. He would have shoved the bastard out of the nearest airlock if it had been him writ or not.”
“Thank you Sergeant Guerro go rejoin your squad.”
“Yes Major Locke and thank you for rescuing us even those who died. At least they died doing their duty even if the duty was the wrong one.”
“Accepted Sergeant Guerro now join your squad. I want to get back to base camp before nightfall.” I watched her go. “Lottie got anything for me yet?”
“I’m not picking up any comms traffic from the Havok or the Terran cruiser Sandra.”
“Any chance they’ve destroyed each other or even left the system?”
“The comms relay would have picked up something.”
“Thanks for the update. Could I ask you something?”
“That depends Sandra there are several things I can’t tell you but ask away.”
“What’s your opinion on Elspeth Broaden’s demands?”
“You’re asking me when you’ve already made up your mind?”
“I am asking you if she is right?”
“We both know the answer. Everything she says makes sense this is your only option to stop the war everything else is secondary.”
“I doubt Com Ops will see it that way.”
“You’d be surprised by what Com Ops thinks, have no doubts that they will want this as much as you do.”
“That still leaves the problem of getting off this world.”
“Have faith in yourself it will work out.”
“I hope so Lottie I really hope so.”
We headed away from the wreck much subdued.
I breathed a sigh of relief on seeing the archaeologist’s MREV.
“LT, Sergeant Guerro get the equipment and wounded aboard the MREV.” Switching between both languages.
“Square major,” Tutor said as Gena saluted.
Shawna wandered over as the MREV was loaded. “You look exhausted major a massage will relieve the tension in your body.”
I decided now was the time to speak to Shawna. “Sergeant walk with me.”
She gave the others a quick glance and hurried after me.
After we were clearly out of earshot from the other others she asked. “What’s this about major?”
I noted she was being formal she must have expected something was up. “Shawna we need to talk?”
“Major, Sandra?”
“I don’t know what I’ve done to give you the wrong impression of me.”
“Damn!” She uttered, “so I was getting the wrong signals. There’s me putting all that effort in without a result. You must be laughing at me?”
“Laughing I’d never do that to anyone.”
“I don’t need your pity either,” she snapped back.
“Shawna!” I spoke sharply, “you've been a good friend off duty and I like that to continue but I’m not your type ok.”
“Sorry major I shouldn’t have mouthed off at you like that. I feel such a fool. I really thought that there was something there you were showing all the signs.”
“Signs?”
“The way you spoke, the way you moved little things like that I thought you were attracted to me. I see the truth now you were being friendly I just misinterpreted it wrong.”
“If you are looking for that sort of affection I might know of someone that might be amiable to you.”
“Who not Vorra or Sarah. It can’t be the Havok’s crew their all so stiff necked”
“Marsha Yanik.”
“Now you are joking, no Valkyrie would do that!”
“I’m going to tell you something in the strictest confidence. You will not repeat it to anyone is that clear. If I hear even the slightest whisper I’ll know were it came from.”
“Yes major you can count on me.”
I talked explaining the night and Marsha’s awareness of her feelings for me, a sentiment I couldn’t reciprocate. “I told Marsha about you and she said she would think about it. Note she said think about it and not just turn you down flat and deny she had those sort of feelings.”
“Look major I’m sorry if I cause you problems. Captain Yanik who would have thought. Ok Sandra you’ve given me a lot to think on and thanks for setting me straight. One other thing Sandra?”
“That is?”
“If you want I can still give you a massage.”
“I’ll look you up once we get back to the ship.”
She smiled. “Best we get back otherwise Tutor would have won his bet.”
“Bet?”
“He bet me I would have seduced you by the end of this mission. Had you been what I thought you were I would have.”
“Oh? Does everyone know you were out to get me?”
“Just Tutor so far he had you pegged wrong as soon as he saw you.”
“Let’s go and disappoint him. And no mention of Marsha let her approach you when she’s ready.”
“I’m cool with that Sandra,” adding, “Captain Yanik, I certainly didn’t see that coming.”
Sarah was bent over on of her makeshift stretchers by the time we returned to the MREV her hand held scanner playing over a wounded young woman. Her other casualties had already been placed in the back of the MREV.
“Problems Vanwasshova?”
“I really thought we were going to lose Miriam but she’s pulling through she’s lost a lot of blood and I’m worried about the baby.”
“Baby?”
Sarah looked up. “She’s pregnant about two months.”
I hazarded a guess at who the father was but I wasn’t about to say that out loud. “Ok Vanwasshova do what you can. We may have to bring her aboard the Havok.”
“That would be for the best.”
I saw Gena hovering close I motioned to her. “You knew?”
“We guessed Major Locke but she held it close to her heart.”
“She’ll have to come with us while we leave you behind will you be ok with that?”
“We are under your orders. Besides it’s for the best she wants to keep it.”
“That surprises me?”
“Miriam’s from a poor family while he was a noble, his family will have to pay for the baby that’s the law.” She frowned. “Unless it has been changed since we left.”
“You and anyone sworn to me have the protection of my family,” Elspeth announced she must have heard our conversation. “Sandra we’re ready to go as soon as Miriam has been loaded. Will you be riding with us?”
“We’ll walk.” I turned to Gena. “You and your squad ride on the roof make sure everyone is strapped down.”
“At once Major Locke!”
“Vanwasshova ready?”
“Ready major!” She jerked her thumb to two Terrans. “Pick up, put in!” she ordered in rough Terran English.
“I see you’re learning.”
“I picked up a few words.”
“Get yourself aboard.”
“Aye major.”
Sarah settled in the back of the MREV her hand on her patient. We were ready God knows what awaited her back at the base camp or even if there was a base camp to go back to and we still hadn’t heard from the Havok.