Undying Mercenaries 2: Dust World (20 page)

When I reached the ramp to the lifter, I was surprised to see it had been lowered. Leeson stood at the head of it looking down into the bluish light of dawn. I realized with a shock I’d spent half the night in the lifter, working that damned alien machine.

“McGill?” Leeson asked, seeing me. “Is everyone back on their feet?”

“No, sir. I came out to see what happened. Why did the primus stop hammering on the cliffs?”

“I don’t know,” he said, looking worried. “The tribune called for a ceasefire. There’s something going on.”

I dared to brighten. “A ceasefire? Has peace and sanity broken out on this forsaken rock?”

He shook his head. He had the attitude of someone listening. I stopped bugging him, realizing he was concentrating on the command channel. As an adjunct, he wasn’t really expected to say anything on officer chat, but he was allowed to listen in.

Suddenly, he looked at me with wide eyes. “Go out there,” he said. “Take your weapon. Look up, and tell me what you see.”

I shouldered my belcher and marched out into the cool dim light of early morning. There was no direct sunlight, but at least the pools of shade all around the valley weren’t impenetrable to the eye.

Gazing up, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I’d expected something unusual, but not anything this shocking. There was a looming object lowering itself down silently from the skies.

The ship was huge. It wasn’t any configuration I’d seen before, either. There was a dish-like silver structure at each end. These rippled with a quiet, powerful, amber light of some kind. I didn’t know what to make of it.

But then I thought that maybe I did. I contacted Leeson.

“Sir? There’s some kind of big ship out here—it must be a kilometer long. It’s coming down right next to the lake between us and the rest of the cohort.”

“
I’ll be damned,” Leeson said.

Right then, I realized he was still up at the top of the ramp while I was outside. I was exposed to possible incoming fire, but I figured it didn’t really matter. If this monster decided to lay a salvo down on top of our lifter, there wasn’t much we could do. We’d be obliterated.

“What do I do, sir?” I asked.

“I don’t know. No one does. The commanders are all talking about it. We’re relaying the imagery to all the lifters.”

I used the rangefinder on my cannon to sight on the ship. It had to be about five kilometers off. That was too far for me to damage it from here.

“Could it be that the Galactic Battlefleet has arrived? Is this what they look like?”

“There’s a lot of talk about just that possibility. We don’t have a record of a ship with this configuration—at least, when we last saw Battlefleet 921 this type of vessel wasn’t recorded in orbit over Earth. But that was nearly a century ago. Maybe the Galactics have updated their vessels since the last time they came to this region of the Empire.”

“Sir?” I said. “It’s down now.”

I watched as the rippling amber effects around the two dishes stopped strobing. Beneath the ship, countless massive waxy flowers had been crushed down.

I heard footsteps coming down the ramp behind me. A hand pushed my tube down. I looked at Leeson.

“Were you about to shoot that ship, McGill?” he demanded.

“It had occurred to me,” I admitted. “But it’s out of range.”

“Don’t shoot anything without orders! If this is a Galactic vessel, you might screw up everything. Notice that they haven’t fired a shot yet? Whoever they are, they look peaceful. We’re not to take any chances.”

Shrugging, I put the rangefinder back to my eye. “Safety’s on,” I said. “Just to be sure though—shouldn’t we abandon the lifter?”

He shook his head. “I don’t have any orders in that regard.”

I looked at him. “The brass is going to be pretty upset if we lose the ship
and
the revival machine inside.”

That got through to Leeson. In Legion Varus, we were all pretty much expendable. Even a permed unit was less important than just one of those precious revival machines. We couldn’t replace equipment like that, especially now that Earth was hard-up for Galactic Credits.

“Yeah,” he said, nodding half to himself. “We’ve got to take precautions. Let’s get that machine out of there. We’ll stash it in the rocks to the south.”

I immediately thought of the colonists who liked to haunt the rocks all around their home valley. But I didn’t bring it up. Leeson looked worried enough. I knew his orders were to protect the lifter and the revival unit. He didn’t want to lose them both at once, no matter what happened.

Leeson tramped back up into the dark ship and disappeared. “Stand watch out there,” he said. “Tell me if anything happens.”

I watched the ship, feeling uneasy about it. The design was so alien, so different. I’d made a study of local shipping in the Empire as had every schoolboy from Earth. This thing didn’t look like anything I’d seen before.

The ship didn’t do anything for several long minutes. Finally, a door opened on the side of the vessel. I stepped from foot to foot in anticipation. What kind of creatures would be manning a real Galactic ship? Would the crew consist of the spidery-looking guys I’d met before on Cancri-9?

I watched for several long minutes and was disappointed when I saw a delegation of what appeared to be humans walk down the ramp and halt at the bottom. They moved with precision and it was clear they were soldiers. Nine of them stood in a perfect square three ranks of three. They wore what looked like armor, but it was black and shiny like the carapace of a desert beetle.

Straining my eyes and adjusting the scope on my rangefinder I was able to see them with greater clarity. I had to go up the ramp a ways to get enough height so that my view wasn’t inhibited by the towering flower-like growths between them and my position.

Then I began to frown. The flowers—could they be smaller over there next to the ship than they were here at my position? I stared, and my heart began to race. The men who had marched down the ramp and now stood motionlessly at attention were
tall
. They were about as tall as the flowers themselves.

“Adjunct Leeson?” I called. “Something’s happened all right. A squad of men just marched out of that ship.”

“Men? Did you say men?”

“Yes, sir. Well, not exactly normal humans. They’re about three meters tall, all of them. At least, that’s what it looks like. It’s hard to tell.”

Leeson came running down the ramp to stand beside me. He pulled out a scope of his own and stared into it.

“You’re right,” he said. “They’re big, and they look human. They can’t be, though. If it’s a Galactic ship…”

“Maybe they’re using some other race of humanoids from a distant star system for troops,” I suggested.

Leeson looked baffled. “I’m reporting this. Keep watching. I’ve ordered the techs to send buzzers over there. We’ll have more info shortly.”

“What about the revival machine, sir?” I asked.

“Here it is now.”

Several grunting troops in battle armor struggled and heaved a very large object down the ramp. One of them was none other than the freshly reborn Carlos. He looked at me in disgust.

“This was your idea, wasn’t it?” he asked. “It has to be.”

“Yeah, pretty much,” I admitted.

“Where are the
pigs? Aren’t they supposed to be helping?”

“Not this time. I guess they’re doing something else,” I said. The drones often helped with heavy lifting, and I had to admit that moving a revival unit qualified in that regard.

“Where are we supposed to drag this monster?” Carlos demanded. “Grant is going crazy. She’ll recycle us all next time around, just for fun.”

I chuckled and shook my head. Carlos and the rest dragged the machine down the ramp and off toward a sheltering circle of boulders. The group returned a few minutes later.

“We’ve got it stashed in a safe place for now,” Leeson said, coming up to me. He was breathing hard. Everyone had to strain when carrying the revival unit. Even with exoskeletons to help out, it was heavy.

I turned back to the strange visiting ship and as soon as I sighted on the ramp I knew things were heating up. Previously there had been a squad of nine giants standing outside the ship. Now, instead of a single squad, there were at least a dozen squads. Each group stood in a perfect square of nine. Another group marched down in locked step order as I watched. Their gait was so carefully timed, if I hadn’t known better, I would have thought they were robots of some kind.

“Sir?” I called to Leeson. “There are about a hundred troops at the base of the ship now.”

Leeson came back to my side and stared through his scope. “That’s weird. According to command central, they’ve made no attempt at radio contact. They’re not listening to any attempts to hail them, either.”

For perhaps the first time, I felt a little nervous flutter in my guts. Something was wrong. These guys—whoever they were—weren’t operating like Galactics or humans.

Something occurred to me then. What if they were human colonists of a different variety? What if the local people that we’d been trying to blast out of these cliffs had more advanced brothers? This might be a rescue mission, come to save the local population. Or it might be that Della and her crew were really hunted like rats, and another group of aggressive colonists had come here to wipe them out.

I wasn’t sure which hypothesis held water or if any of them did. But I was sure that the situation was a strange one.

The procession continued and became even odder as it progressed. The troops stopped marching out of the ship and began unloading equipment instead. Huge boxes, taller than the giants themselves, were carried down and deposited on the ground. When there were about twenty of these lined up outside the ship, I heard a sound I didn’t want to hear.

A hissing sound passed my faceplate. I saw the bolt in a flash, but it didn’t hit me. It struck the support arm of the lifter instead, uncomfortably close to my nose.

I reached up and slammed down my visor. Turning in a crouch, I aimed my plasma cannon in the direction I thought the bolt came from. I scanned the foliage—but only briefly.

A figure stood at the edge of the forest. She had a slip of white cloth in one hand which she was waving wildly. In the other hand was a crossbow which she’d just used to shoot at me.

I knew the woman by this time. It was Della.

-19-

Any thinking man would have melted that little witch down without hesitation, but I held my fire. I looked for her comrades but saw no one. Of course, that didn’t mean they weren’t hiding somewhere nearby.

I thought about contacting Leeson, but I was worried he’d freak out. I’d taught this girl what the white flag meant, and she’d now decided to use the technique on me. Would it be right to take revenge now?

Heaving a sigh, I decided to take a chance. I knew I’d probably take another trip through the guts of that damned revival machine for my troubles, but for the sake of peace between the colonists and Legion Varus I lowered my cannon and walked toward her.

Della withdrew a few feet into the flowers. I walked up to her and flipped open my visor so she could see my face clearly.

“You are McGill?” she asked, staring at me warily.

“You know who I am,” I said.

She extended a long tan arm toward the alien ship.

“Your
littermates have come for you. Are you happy?”

“I don’t know who those people are,” I said. “And I’m definitely not pleased about them crashing this party.”

She stared at me oddly, turning her head this way and that, as if she was listening to my words and trying to understand if they were true or not.

“How can you not know what they are?”

“You’ve seen them before, that’s what you’re saying?” I asked.

“Of course. They’re marauders from the stars. They come here on off-years when the planets align. They capture as many of us as their ship will hold and fly back into the heavens. We kill some of them—but they always come back, and they always take more than we can kill.”

I frowned. “Is that right?”

Looking at the ship, I got a creepy vibe from it. “Are you telling me these guys aren’t related to you? They aren’t your people? They look human enough.”

She laughed bitterly. “They
are
related to us, but in a perverse way. They’re bred from our bodies. They’re twisted and unnatural, like plants that grow in neat rows under the earth, nourished by lamps rather than sunlight.”

I was beginning to catch on. “You told me about this before, right? You said they were
littermates. Are there nine in every litter?”

She nodded, staring across the lake. “For this variety, yes. The armored ones always come in nines, and they always march with their brothers. There is some humanity still left in them, I think. If you kill one of the brothers, the rest go mad.”

“That sounds encouraging. I thank you for the warning. I’ll pass the information on to my superiors. Do you think they’ll attack us?”

“No,” she said. “They never harm anyone unless you harm them first. But they will come, and they will take your weapons from you and destroy them. Then they will place rings around your arms and touch them together like this.”

She crossed her wrists to demonstrate. “Then you will never be able to separate your hands from one another again until they will it. Once bound, you will be herded into the ship and carried away.

At first, it’s said that many of my people didn’t fight. They thought it was better that way. They didn’t believe in violence. But all those people are gone from this world by now.”

“Only the fighters are left, huh?”

“That’s right. For each individual, the choice is clear. Fight and die, or hide and live—maybe. Or submit and know you will live on in a different place.”

I chuckled. “Don’t worry. We’ll all fight. Every last one of us.”

Della looked at me suddenly. Her eyes flashed with a fire I’d seen there before. She was a killer, I could see that. A killer, through and through.

“Good,” she said. “Perhaps there is room for talk between us. You killed my people on this ship, did you not?”

“Yeah,” I said. “Sorry about that. They didn’t give us any choice.”

She laughed. That surprised me, as I didn’t think anything about the situation was funny.

“You had a choice,” she said. “A man always has a choice. You chose to fight, rather than to die.”

“Well, yeah. I guess so.”

“Never apologize for struggling with an enemy who attacks you,” she said, almost as if she was quoting a proverb. “That is the path to slavery.”

“Okay…” I said. “How about we make a deal? You don’t attack us, and we won’t attack you. Not as long as this ship is here. We’ll all fight these invaders instead.”

“Why should I choose one intruder over another? They only want to enslave us. You are trying to kill us.”

She had me there. I thought hard for a second.

“Would they offer you a deal to kick us off the planet?” I asked her.

“No,” she said, shaking her head. “They never offer deals. You obey them, or you die. There’s no room for anything else in their minds.”

“Okay then,” I said. “Call a truce with us to improve your situation. It’s easier to fight one enemy at a time than two at once. Accept my deal so that we both have a better chance of winning in the end. We’ll kill them first then decide what to do about each other afterward. The odds of victory will improve for both of us.”

“I will not stand at your side. I do not trust you. Your bombs—to us, you’re worse than the littermates! You have destroyed homes carved in stone that have stood safe and cool for decades.”

I lifted a hand, and she retreated back a step as if I was threatening her. I dropped it again quickly. These were very suspicious people.

“No alliance,” I said. “We’re not expecting any direct cooperation. All I’m saying is that both of us will fight only these intruders, not one another. When they leave or are destroyed, then everything goes back to the way it was.”

Della nodded and then flashed me a tiny, tight smile. I think it was the first smile I’d ever seen on her face. “I can get the others to agree to that,” she said. “But don’t ask for more.”

“I wouldn’t think of it,” I said. I was proud of that lie. From her expression, I could tell she believed me. It had been smoothly told, and it was for a good cause. That’s the best kind of lie a man can tell.

Naturally, I wanted more than a truce. But outright peace wasn’t going to come easily, especially not after the Primus had bombed-out their homes so relentlessly. We had to earn their trust and this sounded like a good first step.

“Watch the skies for the little things that waver in the air,” she said, pointing over the ship toward the cliffs. “They have aircraft that will drop canisters. The vapors will render the strongest man unconscious.”

I turned toward the ship and stared above it where she’d pointed. I thought I saw something up there—something like a black leaf with a triangular shape to it.

I turned back to ask Della if that was what she’d meant—but she was gone.

* * *

Explaining the deal I’d arranged to my superiors wasn’t an easy task. I was only a Specialist, a non-com, and a junior one at that. I was told by Leeson in no uncertain terms that I lacked the authority to do what I’d done. He kicked the connection up to Graves, who rumbled something about me having larger genitals than was normal on a human being. I took this as a compliment, but I wasn’t sure if he’d meant it that way. He kicked me up to the Primus, connected the two of us and then quickly exited the channel.

When I made my report to the Primus, I was met with outright fury, rather than mere disapproval.

“You did
what
?” she demanded. “Who the hell do you think you are?”

“I’m Specialist James McGill, sir,” I said evenly. “And I was following orders.”

“Whose orders?” she said quickly, guardedly.

I’d been referring to
her orders. She’d instructed me to talk to the colonists and make contact. Sure, she hadn’t indicated I should arrange any deals, but I’d seized the opportunity that had presented itself.

By her tone, I knew right off she wasn’t thinking about her orders. She was wondering who else might have given me leave to operate independently. In the past, I’d been given private orders by the Tribune himself. I’d executed those orders, and the Primus had gotten herself into a lot of trouble by interfering in the matter. I decided to bluff my way through.

“I think it would be best, sir, if you pass me up to the Tribune himself,” I said, knowing that she’d been reprimanded for not doing so in the past.

“You’re a red-assed bastard, McGill,” she commented, then connected me to the Tribune.

“McGill?” Drusus said. “Why do I know that name so well, Specialist?”

“I’m not sure, sir. But I’ve made contact with the enemy.”

“Which enemy?”

“Uh…the ones hiding in the cliffs, sir. The wild colonists.”

“Good,” he said, sounding amused. “Now, what was the nature of your contact? Is the legion being sued for paternity, or—?”

I knew he was joking, of course, but I was alarmed. Did I have that kind of reputation all the way up to the top? The thought was disturbing. How could a man hope to succeed with the ladies if he was infamous?

“Nothing like that, sir,” I said. “I talked to a leader who called herself a scout. I understand she’s a military officer of sorts. Anyway, we agreed to halt all fighting until this new threat is dealt with.”

“We’re not connecting clearly, McGill, you and I,” Drusus said dangerously. “Are you saying you negotiated a ceasefire with an enemy combatant without orders?”

“No, sir!” I shouted. “I’d never do that. Primus Turov ordered me to make contact with them yesterday. I was to see if I could get them to talk peace. Well, I managed it.”

“Hmm,” he said. “A day late and a dollar short, as they used to say. But, I think we’ll honor your unsanctioned ceasefire. You do realize that you were operating without authority on this?”

I swallowed and hesitated. I could bullshit most people—ask anyone, especially my parents—but I had known right from the start that Drusus wasn’t just
anyone
. He always seemed to know what I was thinking almost before I did.

When caught red-handed, there are only two moves a man can make. You can deny everything in the face of the facts or confess utterly and try to look dumb or at least harmless. Drusus wasn’t going to fall for a lie so I chose the latter strategy this time.

“Yes, sir,” I said, and left it at that.

“Good. I want no misunderstandings on that point. If there is future diplomacy to be done, let me do it. But I’m willing to take the opportunity to improve our tactical situation. We’re in a bad spot, McGill. I’d like to fly the other lifters to your valley to repel the enemy, but I don’t dare now. The lifters are unarmed, and they are our only ships. They’ll be destroyed if I try to come to your position. Your cohort is cut off—we all are.”

I didn’t like to hear that. I’d had in the back of my mind the assurance that the rest of Legion Varus could always back us up if things went badly here.

“We’ll stop shooting at the colonists as long as they stop shooting at us,” Drusus went on. “At least until these new arrivals demonstrate their intentions.”

I explained to him then what Della had told me about the invaders and what I’d seen with my own eyes.

“Very strange,” he said. “And alarming. If true, this isn’t a Galactic visitation. It’s either an off-shoot of the same colonists, a separatist group among separatists—or these giants are in league with the cephalopods.”

“After talking to Della, I think it’s the cephalopods, sir,” I said.

“That’s worrisome news. If they’re behind this, we can claim innocence when order is restored to this system—but it might not matter. The Galactics might well blame us for something our own species has done, even if it was done by specially-bred human slave troops. I’m liking this entire situation less and less.”

“What are your orders, sir?” I asked.

“Obey your officers. Man your cannon. And above all, McGill, try not to get us into a fresh war of some kind.”

“I’ll do my best, Tribune.”

A quiet, tense stand-off began after that, which lasted for several hours. The invaders from above didn’t seem to be in any kind of a hurry. They’d first unloaded about a hundred
littermates, then began unloading a great pile of other stuff. Natasha and I watched them from the ramp of the lifter, excited about whatever it was they were doing.

“Just imagine the tech they must have,” she said. “An entirely alien species unspoiled by Galactic influence. It’s moments like this that make first-contact situations unpredictable and memorable. I hope I’m allowed to collect some scraps of it. We’ll have to steal a few pieces before the Galactics blast it all to fragments. Are you with me, James?”

“Yeah, sure,” I said, bored and tired. I was, in fact, trying to take a nap. Natasha was cute and all, but she liked to talk too much and was overly interested in what I considered to be a pile of alien junk. My only interest in it was whether it could kill me or not.

“We’ll have to do it after they march into the catacombs and try to fish out the colonists,” she said.

I looked at her and frowned. “Do what?”