Conquest ~ Indian Hill 3 ~ A Michael Talbot Adventure (42 page)

“
Sir,
perhaps one of the prisoners has some information we could use
?” he asked
.

The commander turned, the frustration and fear quickly evaporated with the chance of success still in his grasp. “The prisoners? Yes
,
the prisoners
.
B
ring them to me at once.”

“All of them
, sir
?”

“Yes
,
all of them
.
W
e will teach them a lesson if they do not talk
to us freely.”

“Yes
,
sir
,”
t
he second said
,
hoping one of the hu-mans had something useful to say
.
H
e had no desire to die on this little dust speck in the middle of nowhere and he sure didn’t want to become fodder for the games. He shivered at that thought as he headed across the still smoldering complex.

Thirteen people were lined up in the old mayor’s office. Five men, seven women
,
and one child.
All were more frightened now tha
n any of them had been in their entire lives and two of the men were
W
orld
W
ar
II
veterans. That enemy had been savage and brutal in their own right but at least they had been human; mostly.

The commander walked over to one of the wome
n, tears streamed down her face.
S
he began to
say the L
ords prayer
—
without a hint of hesitation he
shot her. The stink of the burnt flesh hung in the air for a moment before the realization of what happened finally took hold. The remaining six women and the child began to sob. Three of the men stood stoically, realizing that if they were in the final moments of their lives they wanted to go with some measure of dignity. One of the men made a run for the door, he was cut
down before he could even grasp the handle
.
T
he
fifth man, having completely given up any chance at hope or dignity
,
loosed his bladder
.

T
he commander knew the
male
child and the inferior females would have no answers. The three men who stood firm
might,
after some brutality
,
give him the information he desired or more likely
, they would die holding on
to what they knew. But the weak one he would tell all without the slightest provocation.

“Guards
,
put them back in their pens
,” the Commander said
, relief flooded on their faces. “All except this one
.
”
T
he Commander
placed his meaty paw on the
shoulder of the man who had wet himself
.”

And there it was again
.
S
pindler couldn’t believe it
,
he had squeezed blood from a stone. He had not a drop of moisture in him yet he had relieved himself in his pants twice within the last five minutes
.
H
e wasn’t proud of it, but the rapidly cooling liquid on his
leg let him know he was still alive
.

As the people were lead out
,
the commander asked
S
pindler if he would like some water. Spindler could think of nothing else to say
,
except, yes.

He
gulped down the water, the searing pain in his throat immediately eased. Spindler was scared
,
no doubt about it, but he was also intrigued. And just enough to see how far he could get.

“More
?” he asked
raising his glass.

The alien leaned in
,
sneering
.
This is it
,
thought Spindler
I went
too
far
,
he’s going to chew my head off
.

“Certainly
,”
c
ame the very distinct inhuman voice.

The burly commander
waved over his under commander
and in a harsh language asked for what Spindler could only assume was water.

“Hmm
,”
Spindler muttered.

The commander turned his attention back
to
him. “Do you have a question hu-man?”

“Ah, not really
,”
Spindler said licking his lips.
“Well,
maybe I do.” In for a dime
,
in for a dollar
,
he figured. “Why is it that you speak English?”

“You mean why do we lower ourselves to speak a language so far beneath us?”

“I didn’t ask it that way, but if that’s the way you want to answer then yes
,” Spindler said
nervously.

“I can speak almost every one of
your
E
arth languages and
a hundred sixty-two
languages from worlds you don’t
even know exist
. When we take over a planet
,
it is a sign of our superiority. Not only do we take your land and your oceans we take your languages
.
I
t is total domination.”

From where Spindler was looking
,
it didn’t look like total domination. The alien encampment had been reduced to a molten crater, if the prisoner pen hadn’t been so far from the center of the camp he would be dead also. “What happened he
re?” Spindler asked in sincerity.

T
he
b
ase
commander took it as a taunt
standing
up abruptly
.
Spindler shrunk back in his chair. The commander’s huge arms quivered. Spindler knew just one backhand from
the
mighty
hand
and his spine would shatter.

The commander sat back down, his rage under control for the moment.

“
I am not quite sure
,” he answered
almost in a whisper. “And that’s why you are here.”

Spindler sat back up, realizing that at least for the moment his life was not yet in jeopardy.

“What is it you want from me?” Spindler asked.

“It says here
,” the
c
ommander said
,
pointing to a file. His huge hands having difficulty
maneuvering
through the hole punched pag
es. “That you were a principal.”

“Yes
,
th
at’s correct.” Spindler
tried
i
n vain to grasp what significance a small town high school principal could have to do with an alien invasion.

“Well,
‘
principal
’
means of utmost importance. A hu-man that is of utmost importance must have information. True?” The commander asked.

“Well,
I think you may have the meaning…” Fortuitously for Spindler
,
he was looking at the commander as he began to answer, even in an alien facial expression
,
he knew he
wasn’t
giving the appropriate response. He cleared his throat. “What I meant to say is that yes
,
‘p
rincipal
’
as a verb means of utmost importance as a noun it signif
ies that I am the head.” Of what he didn’t finish.

“Then you are a leader?”

“Oh
,
most
definitely
,”
Spindler answered without hesitation.
I
t was the truth even if it was stretched out like salt water taffy on a hot day.

CHAPTER FIFTY-
N
INE

The Supreme Commander

Kuvlar was in a quandary, the battle was not going as well as planned. Yes who would win was never in doubt, but the losses were staggering. Progerians valued material assets above all else, there were the countless broken backs of the discarded Genogerians to prove this theorem. When the battle fleet arrived, someone would have to stand tall and feel the full wrath of the Dominion, Kuvlar did not want that Progerian to be himself.

He had known the whereabouts of the Supreme Commander Vallezt since the hu-man had done him the huge favor of getting his competition out of the way. He had made a show of trying to launch a rescue, but the damage to the ship had been a perfect cover to allow the hu-mans to get away.

His secondary plan had been to send a raiding party to save their missing leader, only to have that ship fail miserably upon return, thanks to some strategic subtle sabotages that were sure to have the ship explode on its return. The Progerians and the Genogerians would mourn and Kuvlar would be the Supreme Commander without question. And there in lay the problem when the fleet arrived he would first and foremost be held responsible even though it was the dolt Vallezt that had allowed himself to be taken captive.

'No.' He decided, a successful rescue was to be his salvation, but it was going to take a delicate balance of timing and cunning to stay in power. Vallezt could easily send Kuvlar to the games merely for taking so long to launch troops to recoup their leader. Kuvlar shivered at the thought, he was a thinker, a schemer not a fighter, he wouldn't make it through one fight. He was a TRUE leader of men, always willing to let others die for his ideals.

He had at least
two years
before the fleet arrived, but he could not wait until that long to make a rescue. Too many things could go wrong, Vallezt could die or be killed by the hu-mans if they did not value his importance or one of their experiments did not go as planned. But to bring him back now was even more distasteful. And then the equivalent of a Progerian smile crossed his features, it was not a sight any human would draw comfort from.

'Quarantine.' Was the one word he thought. "Yes he will be infected with some rare and exotic microorganism that could wipe out all the personnel on board, he will need to be restricted to his quarters with guards." 'He will know the ruse for what it is.' Kuvlar thought. 'But what will he be able to do? I will keep him in a drugged stupor the entire time until I need to drag him onto the carpet when the Battalion Commander arrives
.
Kuvlar rubbed his hands together, it was an eerie mimicking of Earth's less than savory villains.

"He will very much look the part of an idiot when I release him. That many drugs for that long will have put holes through his brain."

Kuvlar walked onto the helm with a lightness in his step he had not had since he had taken command of the ship.

"Sub-Commander do we still have a lock on the Supreme Commander?" Kuvlar asked his subordinate.

Sub-commander Tuvok had been raised to this position when his superior Sub-Commander Krulak had mistakenly questioned Kuvlar's lack of commitment to launch an immediate rescue of their leader. The words had no sooner left Krulak's snout when the Interim Supreme Commander had shouted 'Treason!' Krulak had not even the chance to explain his side at a tribunal, ISC Kuvlar had said War superseded normal protocols and that mutinous insubordination had to be dealt with swiftly. Krulak had died on the way to his cell when a Genogerian guard had mistaken his movement to his pocket as an act of aggression.

Krulak had died unattended in the hallway while the guard that had shot him was given two weeks of liberty for stopping an insurrection. All of this went through Tuvok's head, he had been waiting for the rescue attempt to happen but he was not foolish enough to demand it.