Tarizon, Civil War, Tarizon Trilogy Vol 2 Read online



  Tarizon: Civil War

  Book II

  By

   

  William Manchee

  Top Publications, Ltd.

  Dallas, Texas

  Tarizon: Civil War

  Volume II

  © COPYRIGHT William Manchee

  2009, 2013

  Cover Design by Dan Silverman

  Top Publications, Ltd.

  Dallas, Texas

  ISBN 978-1-935722359

  Library of Congress #2009921759

  No part of this book may be published or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or information storage and retrieval systems without the express written permission of the publisher.

  This work is a novel and any similarity to actual persons or events is purely coincidental.

  Dedication

  The Tarizon Trilogy is dedicated to my grandchildren,

  Joshua, Alex, Isabella, and Andrew.

  Find Maps of Tarizon at

   https://tarizon.com

  Prelude

  Unknown to the inhabitants of Earth, in another galaxy millions of miles away, there existed a sister planet known as Tarizon. Both planets were settled by humans who had occupied the mother planet, Pharidon. Pharidon’s civilization was so advanced that its people lived nearly a thousand years. Consequently, Pharidon became overcrowded and the planet’s natural resources could not support the growing population. When the situation became critical, explorers began searching for other inhabitable planets where their citizens could relocate. One of these groups of explorers came to Tarizon and another to Earth.

  It is believed that these settlers brought many animals, plants, insects, and other life-forms from Pharidon to Earth and Tarizon. They were raised and nurtured by the first settlers and then released to live and evolve on their own. Although Earth and Tarizon were settled about the same time and brought with them Pharidon’s advanced technology, their civilizations developed quite differently. At the time of Tarizon’s Unification it was the early twentieth century on Earth. While Earth was about to experience its first World War, Tarizon had already endured its seventh.

  Prior to the war Tarizon had been divided into thirty-one separate nations. These nations had been fighting amongst themselves for thousands of years. In the twenty years before global peace finally came millions of soldiers and civilians had lost their lives and much of the infrastructure of the planet had been destroyed. From out of the rubble a peace movement was born led by a charismatic holy man named Sandee Branh. Sandee had been elected Chief Minister of Lyon, the largest nation of Tarizon. Sandee claimed as a child that God had chosen him to save Tarizon from self destruction.

  From the day He first appeared to him, Sandee devoted his life to spreading God’s message of peace and unity. Sandee told his followers that the petty national governments should be scrapped in favor one worldwide authority. Since so many were weary of war and feared the destruction of civilization on the planet if something wasn't done, Sandee's movement gathered momentum until there was enough support to call a World Assembly.

  At the World Assembly, representatives from all of the thirty-one nations hammered out the Supreme Mandate and then called for a worldwide referendum to ratify it. If the Supreme Mandate was ratified by a majority of its citizens, each nation agreed to subject itself to it and the new World Assembly. On the day of the referendum nearly seventy percent of the population voted and the Supreme Mandate was ratified by sixty-one percent of the popular vote.

  The new government on Tarizon was called Central Authority and it ruled in accordance with the Supreme Mandate which guaranteed the right to assemble, to speak freely, to vote, and a fair trial for those accused of crimes against the public. It abolished slavery and provided many other civil liberties as well.

  Unfortunately, Central Authority was only able to maintain order in the major cities of Tarizon. Huge domes had been constructed over these cities so water and air could be filtered and purified. A controlled environment allowed the urban population to go about their daily lives without protective clothing and risk of radiation poisoning. Some areas outside of the domes were governed by local town councils or regional governments who were pledged to uphold the Supreme Mandate but only loosely controlled by Central Authority. Much of the rural area had no government and a state of anarchy persisted. The dominant populations of these rural areas were mutants who hadn’t enjoyed the protection from radiation and pollution that the domes provided and suffered the consequences.

  There was much hope and optimism about Tarizon’s future until a series of cataclysmic super volcanic eruptions plunged the planet once again into chaos. The tremors, tidal waves, floods and toxic ash that had ravished the planet for over a year left Tarizon nearly uninhabitable. In a desperate move to save the human race and Tarizon’s other life-forms, emissaries from Tarizon were sent to Earth to arrange for the reception of millions of evacuees from Tarizon. However, the best treaty that could be arranged with the U.S. Government was to allow citizens of Tarizon to come to Earth for a five to seven year visit for the purpose of mating and conceiving children in a healthy environment and then returning with them to Tarizon. In exchange for a new generation of healthy Tarizonian citizens, the United States was given advanced technology that would guarantee it was the dominant military power on Earth for generations to come.

  Two political parties emerged on Tarizon during this post eruption period, the Purists and the Loyalists. The Purists represented the unspoiled humans who believed they were superior to the mutants and all other life-forms on Tarizon and should rule over them. Their opponents, the Loyalists, considered themselves loyal to the intentions of those who had written the Supreme Mandate. They believed all life-forms were protected by the Supreme Mandate and should be treated equally.

  Because the government feared the American people couldn’t handle the knowledge that alien life existed elsewhere in the universe and would not approve of hundreds of thousands of children conceived on Earth, and technically U.S. Citizens, being sent off to another planet, it elected to keep the program secret. The CIA was given oversight of the program, however, it was administered primarily by military commanders from Tarizon. On rare occasions, private citizens like attorney Stan Turner, were recruited as trouble shooters to help prevent information about the government’s secret treaty from leaking out to the media. These private citizens were watched closely by the CIA and these Tarizonian military commanders.

  When Stan Turner’s son Peter inadvertently discovered that his father was working with the CIA and the Tarizonians on the Tarizon Repopulation Project, the project was compromised and Stan had to accept the exile of his son to Tarizon or see him killed. He chose exile and on a stormy night Peter was swept aboard Earth Shuttle 21 and brought to Tarizon.

  When Peter arrived on Tarizon Videl Lai was Vice-Chancellor but was conspiring to become Chancellor at any cost. Once in power, he planned to renounce the Supreme Mandate and order the extermination of all non-human life forms. The Loyalist party, anticipating Videl's rise to power, had been planning a civil war to restore rule under the Supreme Mandate and stop the genocide. But the Loyalist Party was weak and there was little hope it would be able to defeat Videl Lai and the formidable TGA. The only hope seemed to be a prophecy that foretold of the arrival of a Liberator from Earth who would lead a revolt to rid Tarizon of a ruthless dictator.

  Peter Turner, much to his shock and dismay, soon learns that many on Tarizon believe that he is this Liberator and is expected to lead the revolution against Videl Lai and stop the genocide of the Nanomites, Mutants a
nd Seafolken. When he arrives Videl Lai tries to have Peter killed, but Councillor Robert Garcia and other Loyalists protect him and try to help him fulfill his destiny on Tarizon as the Liberator. While Peter tries to comes to grips with everyone’s expectations of him, he falls in love with Lucinda Demitri, the Tarizonian woman assigned to help him adapt to his new life on Tarizon.

  When civil war finally breaks out Peter Turner is instrumental in two early Loyalists victories but the tide quickly turns when half the Loyalists’ command staff is captured along with Peter’s new love, Lucinda Dimitri. Although Peter manages to rescue the command staff, Luci, is taken to Shisk where she is held prisoner at the Chancellor’s Mansion making her rescue nearly impossible. The situation further deteriorates when Robert Garcia is elected Chancellor of the new Loyalists’ government but is assassinated just moments after he is sworn in.

   

   

   

   

   

  1

  The Battle of Tributon

   

  The PT22 streaked across the treetops of Southern Tributon hoping to avoid radar detection. Aboard the small transport jet was Captain Leek Lanzia on his way to join up with the 3rd Loyalist Army, the new name for the old mutant army, which was about to engage the enemy along the Rini River. On Earth Leek Lanzia was known as Peter Turner, and many on Tarizon believed he was the one the Prophecy had predicted would come to save Tarizon from the tyrant, Videl Lai. Nobody knew the source of the Prophecy, but it first surfaced shortly after the unification of Tarizon under the Supreme Mandate by the holy one, Sandee Brahn. The Prophecy forewarned of dark, desperate days for Tarizon and the rise of a ruthless dictator who would enslave anyone who refused to abide his will. Thirteen cycles later a series of super volcanic eruptions enshrouded the planet in dark poisonous gases that killed billions of humans and other life forms and threatened the very existence of life on Tarizon. Fortunately the Prophecy promised an eventual end to the planet’s doom.

   

  When the sun and the moons align,

  amongst the Earthchildren will come

  one wise and pure in heart.

  A man of humble birth,

  who'll tame the savage rhutz,

  unite those who'd have liberty

  and justice restored to Tarizon,

   and rid it of its evil tyrant.

  Known as The Liberator,

   he'll restore the Supreme Mandate

   and free from bondage

  The mutants, seafolken, and nanomites.

   

  Even though the enemy outnumbered the Loyalists ten to one and they’d likely be slaughtered in battle, Leek’s mind was not on that imminent peril, but on his mate Lucinda Demitri who’d recently fallen into the hands of the enemy. Since that tragic event he’d been scarcely able to think of anything else but the urgent need to rescue her and the baby she carried in her womb. He played the words of Videl Lai’s closest confidant, Rupra Bruda, over and over in his mind. “... you’ll never see your darling Lucinda again. Videl plans to parade her through the streets to show the citizens of Tarizon how impotent you are. The crowds will spit on her, and then they'll hang her in a public place so everyone will know what happens to traitors! ...”

  He had learned that Lucinda was being held in the Chancellor’s Mansion in the capital city of Shisk on the continent of Turvin. He had lived there for a while when he first came to Tarizon and knew it well. In a news conference Chancellor Videl Lai had offered to let Luci go if Leek would surrender, but Leek knew Lai would say anything to get what he wanted and couldn’t be trusted to keep his word. So, that left rescue as the only option. But to rescue Luci in the deepest, most secure part of the enemy’s territory would be suicide, yet it had to be done, because, to Leek, death would be preferable to a life without Luci and their child.

  Joining Leek on the PT22 were Lt. Loonas Levitur from Merria, known by his friends as Red, Lt. Tamurus Lavendar from Serie, who everyone called Tam, and Rhin, a life-form known as the rhutz, who had bonded with Leek soon after they first met over a cycle earlier. Their destination was a small town called Gulh where the 3rd Loyalist Army had hastily built a military base.

  Just days earlier Robert Garcia, the newly elected Chancellor of Tarizon’s Loyalist government, had been assassinated by Rupra Bruda, Videl Lai’s closest confidante and chairman of the Purist Party. Bruda had been apprehended and during an intense interrogation Leek had managed to break through Bruda’s mental defenses and scan his mind for useful information. He found a lot about Videl Lai’s plans for the civil war that had just began as well as his plans for Luci.

  “So, how do you plan to take command of this army when you know nothing about it?” Red asked cautiously.

  “Oh, I’m not really going to command it. I’m sure they have capable officers who can do that. I’m just here to reassure the soldiers that the Prophecy is real and that Sandee is behind them.”

  “I don’t know,” Red replied. “While you were off giving speeches at the investiture, I spoke with several mutant officers and, believe me, they have higher expectations of you.”

  Leek sighed. “Well, they may be in for a disappointment. The only knowledge I have of the mutant army comes from the memories Threebeard gave me during my brief telepathic training.”

  “Well, that’s a start. What do you remember?”

  Leek closed his eyes. “The army’s been in existence for less than a cycle.”

  “You’re kidding?” Red gasped.

  “I know. It gets worse. There were only about ten thousand seasoned soldiers with military training when they began to organize it. Out of necessity these ten thousand were made officers and given the task of training the other 990,000 or so soldiers. Since the TGA didn’t allow mutants to be officers, none of them had leadership or advanced training of any sort.”

  “Wonderful,” Red moaned.

  “The biggest problem, though, has been outfitting the soldiers. Videl Lai has been monitoring all military supply outlets, so Threebeard had to go to the black market to get uniforms, equipment, weapons, and supplies. As a result, most of what they have to offer is old, outmoded stock.”

  “What kind of weaponry can you get on the black market?” Red asked.

  “Rifles, pistols, power knives, impact grenades, gravel mines, bayonets—occasionally a portable Muscan missile launcher, if you’re lucky—that’s about it,” Leek replied.

  “No lasers?”

  Leek laughed. “A few—a thousand or so if we’re lucky.”

  Red shook his head. “We’re going to get slaughtered.”

  Tam, who’d been sleeping, sat up and stretched. “You forget that many mutants have gifts and powers that will be more valuable than any laser.”

  “That’s true,” Leek said. “They did an excellent job of getting us into the TGA detention compound to rescue Lorin and General Zitor.”

  “That was an elite group that assisted us,” Red noted. “You won’t see that kind of talent throughout the mutant army.”

  “Maybe not,” Tam replied, “but we must carefully assess those kind of skills and use them to our advantage.”

  The pilot’s voice came over the intercom. “We’ve got a couple TGA fighters on our tail. Taking evasive action.”

  The TGA was Tarizon’s Global Army which was now under the command of Videl Lai. When the war started two of the TGA’s armies defected to the Loyalist cause and three stayed with Purists.

  The jet abruptly began to climb, banked sharply starboard, and then dropped into a narrow gorge.

  “How much farther, I wonder?” Leek asked evenly, not seeming to notice the plane’s violent lurch and downward plunge.

  Tam looked down at his data pod and said, “Just two or three loons according to my calculations.”

  “Where’d you get a data pod?” Leek asked.

  “Lorin gave it to me before we left. I’ve got one for you and Red too.”

  “Good. The
y will come in handy.”

  Lorin was Chancellor Garcia’s daughter and many thought the best person to replace him as Chancellor when he was assassinated. The pilot’s voice came over the intercom. “A missile has locked on! Ejecting decoys.”

  Red peered out the portal and swallowed hard. “Oh, Sandee! Have mercy.”

  There was a explosion from behind them. The plane accelerated and then rocked wildly. “Hold on,” the pilot’s voice said. “Prepare for landing.”

  The three soldiers braced themselves as the small jet hit the runway hard and rolled to an abrupt stop. They were up on their feet quickly as it was apparent the base was under attack. Leek pushed a button, the cabin door retracted, and a disembarkation ramp slid into place. Rhin rushed down it to the ground and began sniffing around. Leek stepped out and gazed over the battle zone.

  A small contingent of mutant soldiers rolled up in personal transport vehicles or PTVs, and jumped out. “Captain Lanzia! You must leave immediately. The base is under attack and the enemy is less than a kylod away.”

  Leek looked out at a panorama of explosions, burning buildings, and heavy smoke billowing into the sky. “Where’s Lt. Leode?”

  “He’s in an emergency meeting with his command staff trying to keep them from taking their men and fleeing to the Doral Mountains.”

  “Why would they do that? Are they a bunch of cowards?”

  “No. It’s just that we’re not ready. We weren’t expecting an attack for thirty days. This has taken us completely by surprise. I’m afraid if we try to engage them, it will be a slaughter.”

  “What’s your name?”

  “I’m Sergeant Hawkh.”

  “Well, Sergeant. I appreciate your concern, but we came here to fight.”

  “The situation is hopeless. Can’t you see that? If you don’t leave now you’ll be killed and, with you gone, the war will be over.”

  “I think you overestimate my importance. I’m just but one soldier.”

  Sergeant Hawkh looked at Leek and then back at the battle scene. “All right. I’ll take you to Lt. Leode, but he’ll be angry. My orders were to get you back on your plane and out of danger.”

  “Thank you, Sergeant. I’ll tell the lieutenant it wasn’t your fault.”

  Sergeant Hawkh shrugged as Leek, Tam, and Red disembarked. Just as Red stepped onto solid pavement, a low-flying fighter, bearing markings of the TGA, streaked by dropping a string of cluster bombs. About twenty feet off the ground the cluster of twenty bombs shot out in every direction. Fear gripped Leek as a bomb narrowly missed him and his companions. There were explosions all across the runway turning it into a heap of concrete and rubble. Leek turned and looked on in horror as the last bomb headed straight at them.

  “Run!” Leek screamed just before the bomb hit the PT22 and it exploded. Red, Tam and most of the soldiers managed to dive into a ditch beside the runway, but one of the mutant soldiers was hit by shrapnel from the exploding plane before he could find cover. The piece of mangled metal severed his spinal cord, killing him instantly.

  Sergeant Hawkh ran over to him and felt for a pulse. Leek dusted himself off and staggered over to help out. “He’s dead,” the sergeant said.

  “I’m sorry, Sergeant,” Leek replied softly. “Is there anything we can do?”

  “No. The medics will be here in a few tiks and they’ll take care of him.”

  Leek nodded and then looked over at the burning PT22. “So much for turning around and going home.”

  Red suddenly appeared out of the ditch holding a blood soaked handkerchief on his arm. He was sweating profusely and breathing heavily.

  Leek rushed over to him.“Are you okay?”

   “It’s nothing. I’ll live. What are we going to do now?”

   “Whatever we’re ordered to do,” Leek responded.

  “Sorry about all this,” Sgt. Hawkh said. “You’re lucky you got here at all with the number of fighters the TGA has in the sky today.”

  “How long has this attack been going on?” Leek asked.

  “The fighters have been softening us up for two days now. Command expects two armored divisions here in a few kyloons and six infantry divisions right behind them.”

  Leek’s stomach turned. He looked at Tam and Red and shook his head. “I sure hope Lt. Leode convinced his men to stay and fight.”

  Tam and Red didn’t respond but just stared out over the vast camp of mutant soldiers readying for battle. There were endless rows of camocubes, transport vehicles, piles of armaments and supplies of every sort. As they were surveying the camp, a PTV pulled up and Sergeant Hawkh motioned for them to get aboard. Rhin jumped in and the others followed. The PTV began to move slowly along the crowded roadway that led through the base for some time until it finally reached a large bunker. Sgt. Hawkh got out and led Leek and his friends inside.

  They went down several flights of stairs until they were deep underground. A soldier met them at the bottom and escorted them to the battle room. Lt. Leode was talking excitedly to one of his junior officers when he spotted Leek step inside.

  “Captain Lanzia! What are you doing here? I told the sergeant to send you home.”

  “I’m afraid the TGA has destroyed our PT22 and your runway as well.”

  He shook his head. “You’ve come at a bad time. We’re about to go into battle. There’s no time to deal with you.”

  “Deal with me?”

  “Right. I can’t be distracted right now. Sgt. Hawkh will have to look after you until this battle is over.”

  “Can’t we help?”

  “There’s no time,” he replied angrily. “The enemy is pounding at our door.”

  “Of course,” Leek agreed. “We’ll stay out of your way.”

  “Thank you,” he said and then rushed off.

  Leek scratched his head and looked around. Many of soldiers were staring at Rhin.

  One of them asked, “This is your rhutz?”

  “Yes,” Leek replied. “Meet Rhin.”

  The soldier raised his eyebrows and backed away.

  Leek smiled and looked at Sgt. Hawkh. “I don’t think Lt. Leode is happy about our arrival.”

  “No. I’m afraid not. He’s not a believer in the Prophecy, but the soldiers will be glad to hear you have arrived.”

  “Yeah, a big help we’re going to be. All our gear blew up in the plane.”

  “Don’t worry,” Sgt Hawkh said. “We’ll have you refitted immediately.”

  “Thank you. It’s doesn’t sound like we have much time.”

  “Yes, I’m afraid not.”

  “So, do we have any chance at all of stopping the TGA’s attack?”

  Sgt. Hawkh forced a smile.”Well, now that you’re here the morale of the troops will go up a notch. I’m sure we’ll give them a hell of a fight.”

  Leek glanced over at Red and Tam, then back to Sgt. Hawkh. He wasn’t surprised by Lt. Leode’s obvious resentment at his arrival on the eve of battle. He knew he’d feel the same way if the circumstances were reversed. He wondered if there really was anything he could do at this late date to change the mutant army’s fate. “Can you give me a quick assessment of the situation?” Leek asked.

  “Certainly,” Sgt. Hawkh said, strolling over to a map of southern Lamaine Shane. He pointed to the southeast border between Tributon and Quori. “We are here near Gulh. Just to our south is the Rini River. It runs from the base of the Doral Mountains some two hundred and fifty kylods to the Coral Sea. About a quarter million troops are positioned along that border. To the north, the Liehn River runs approximately fifty kylods from the Doral Mountains to the Dark Sea. We have about a hundred thousand troops there. Another fifty thousand troops patrol the Doral Mountains. The rest of the army is in Northern Tributon and Southern Rigimol.”

  “What about the TGA?” Leek asked.

  “They have nearly a million soldiers along the Rini River and another half million north of Gallion along the Liehn River. Troop concentrations suggest a thre
e pronged attack in the north across the Lienh into Rigimol, just below the Doral Mountains across the Rini River toward Rizi, and in the southeast across the Rini River toward Gulh.”

   “What kind of armor do they have?”

  “Their standard armored vehicle is the Lutzva Hovertank. It’s very fast, equipped with a long range turbo laser blaster, twin Muscan missile launchers, and with its lemdinium shell is nearly indestructible.”

  “What about air power?” Leek asked.

  “The TGA has a squadron of two thousand fighters based in central Quori near Mapi. They have another smaller one near Gallion to the north.”

  “What do we have?”

  “Ah, not much, I’m afraid. Just the fighters you and your friends stole from Pogo Island and the ones that made it up here after the battle of Lortec. I’d say a hundred at best.”

  Leek felt sick but tried not to show it. He forced a smile and asked, “So, what’s your command structure?”

  “Colonel Shanziba is in charge of the 3rd Loyalist Army. He’s touring in the north today. Like I said, we didn’t expect the attack to begin so soon. Major Linz is the second in command and is on his way here to meet you.”

  A wave of despair washed over Leek. He wondered what he would say to Major Linz when he showed up. He’d expect brilliant ideas and insights into how to meet the TGA’s imminent attack, but Leek didn’t think he had any. He wondered what Tam and Red thought about the situation.

  “While we are waiting for Major Linz, is there somewhere we might get a bite to eat?” Leek asked.

  “Of course, I apologize for not offering you anything.”

  “It’s no problem. I just think better with a full stomach.”

  Sgt. Hawkh led Leek, Rhin, Tam and Red to the officers’ dining hall where he excused himself to go arrange to get them outfitted. A sober-looking chef gave them the day’s standard rations and a cup of luri. Leek stared at the red liquid in his cup.

  “What’s this?”

  “Luri,” Red advised. “It’s a drink made from the luri berry which is very common in these parts.”

  “Hmm.” Leek said as he cautiously took a drink. He raised his eyebrows. “Not bad. Kinda like our cranberry juice back on Earth.”

  A loud thunderous clap shook the building. Red and Tam looked up nervously.

  “So, you think they’re going to run over us?” Red asked.

  “Not necessarily,” Tam replied. “You keep forgetting the mutant’s extraordinary abilities.”

  “Oh, I doubt being able to read someone’s mind is going to stop a hovertank.”

  “No, but being able to strangle the driver with your thoughts might do it,” Tam retorted.

  “Sure, but not every mutant can do that. I’ve only heard of a few with that kind of talent.”

  “Stop it,” Leek said angrily. “I’m sure the command staff will be putting the mutant’s talents to good use. We can ask Major Linz about it when we see him.”

  “Speaking of hovertanks. We need to learn more about them,” Tam said. “They must have a weakness. No hardware I’ve ever seen is perfect.”

  “We’ll ask Sgt. Hawkh about them when he returns,” Leek replied.

   “What are we going to do when the battle begins?” Red asked.

   “Maybe they’ll let us borrow some fighters,” Tam replied. “We’d be a lot more help in the air than on the ground.”

  “I don’t know what plans Major Linz has for us,” Leek said. “I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.”

  When they got back to the battle room, Major Linz was waiting for them. “Captain Lanzia, it’s so good to finally meet you. I heard your address at the investiture. It was quite moving.”

  “Thank you. It was such a shock to have the Chancellor assassinated right in front of our eyes. I’m afraid I went a little bit crazy.”

  “It was just what was needed to keep the people committed to resisting the TGA and defeating Videl Lai and the Purists.” He looked at Rhin and smiled. “And Rhin. How remarkable it was that she sensed the traitor and stopped his attack.”

  “Yes, she’s done that more than once.”

  “Remarkable!”

  “So, Major,” Leek asked. “How can we help when the TGA forces get here?”

  “You’ve already helped. Your presence during the battle will give the soldiers great confidence and hope.”

  “But we want to fight.”

  “No. No. That would be too dangerous. Sgt. Hawkh has a vehicle with your gear packed up and ready to go. He’s going to take you out of the battle area until we can arrange transport out of here.”

  “We’ll do as you order, of course, but we’d be happy to fight. We’re all pretty good pilots. We thought we might be of greater value in the sky.”

  Major Linz shook his head. “No, your death would be a disaster to our war effort. We can’t afford for anything to happen to you.”

  Leek let out a sigh of disappointment. Major Linz shrugged and said, “But we do need pilots, so your comrades would be welcome to take up fighters.”

  Tam’s eyes lit up and Red smiled. Leek gave them an envious look. “Well, can I at least get a briefing on the enemy’s armaments and equipment, so I’ll know what we are up against?”

  Major Linz gave Leek an irritated look then managed a smile. “Of course. Sgt. Hawkh will see to it. But you’ve got to leave soon in order to ensure your safety.”

  “I will. Thank you, Major.”

  “Now your friends will need to go with Lt. Virga to inspect the aircraft they’ll be flying and be briefed on our battle plan.”

  “Sure,” Leek said, turning to Tam and Red. “I’ll see you two after the battle. Good luck. Give ’em hell for me.”

  The three embraced as Major Linz motioned to a soldier standing near the door. When he got up close Leek noticed he had four ears, two on each side, and a lumpy spike on his forehead. He glanced at Tam and Red and noticed them stifling smiles.

  “Gentlemen, this is Lt. Virga. He’ll escort you to the airstrip that’s being repaired as we speak.”

  “Very good, sir,” Tam said. Red nodded and they both followed Lt. Virga out of the room.

  Major Linz spoke into his communicator and a moment later Sgt. Hawkh approached.

  “Take Captain Lanzia to see Sgt. Mohr for an intelligence briefing. Then get him out of here as we previously discussed.”

  The Sergeant saluted, turned and they left the room. Sgt. Hawkh led them through a maze of corridors until they reached a small waiting room. Inside a tall, lean soldier with very large green eyes stood up.

   “This is Sgt. Mohr. He’s attached to our intelligence section and can tell you what we know about the enemy’s arsenal of weapons. I’m afraid you won’t have much time, though. I’ll be back at 0600 kyloons and then we’ll have to leave.”

  “Thank you. I’ll see you then.”

  Sgt. Hawkh nodded and left. Sgt. Mohr moved quickly to the door and motioned for Leek to follow. “My office isn’t too far from here. Come on. We have a lot to cover before you go.”

  Leek hustled to catch up. They went to an elevator and went down two levels. Sgt. Mohr said nothing as they left the elevator and turned left down a long corridor. When they were nearly at its end, Sgt. Mohr stopped and peered into a retinal scanner mounted on the wall. There was a beep, a click, and then a sliding door opened and the two soldiers walked into Sgt. Mohr’s office.

  The office was furnished with a steel desk at one end and a small conference table at the other. Along the far wall were computers and other electronic equipment. Maps and aerial reconnaissance photos covered most of the exposed walls.

  “So, what exactly do you want to know?” Sgt. Mohr asked.

  Leek took a deep breath and replied. “Well, I’m particularly interested in the hovertanks, because I understand they are the biggest threat to our army.”

  “Yes, that’s a fair assessment. A hovertank can destroy anything in its path and they’re difficult to tak
e out.”

  “Do you have pictures of them? I don’t think I’ve ever seen one.”

  “Yes, pictures, schematics, specifications, reports—we’ve got it all.”

  Leek poured over the voluminous information as Sgt. Mohr pulled it out and placed it before him.

  “So, what makes the hovertank so invincible? These pictures and specifications don’t mean much to me.”

  “Unlike a conventional tank that moves quite slowly on the ground, the hovertank travels above the ground on an air pulse. It doesn’t need roads or even a hard surface and travels quite fast.”

  “A missile will still take it out, won’t it?”

  “Well, a direct hit would, but the hovertank comes with an array of defensive abilities that make missile destruction difficult.”

  “Like what?”

  “It has a detection device that tells it when a missile has locked on. When that happens the tank can accelerate or change course rapidly. It has an incredible ability to maneuver itself behind cover too. And, as a last resort, it can shoot out decoys to draw the missile away from it. In the few encounters we’ve had with the hovertank, less than two percent of our missiles have destroyed their targets.”

  “What about their crew? Doesn’t it take many men to run a hovertank?”

  “No. The few that we’ve captured have had but two or three men inside. We suspect one operates the craft, one handles weaponry, and the other keeps in communication with command.”

  “So, if missiles are not effective, what about disrupting their communications?”

  “We’ve tried that, but they have a very sophisticated communication system that we haven’t been able to jam or disrupt.”

  “What about their air pulse. Can’t you break that somehow and make them crash?”

  “I don’t know. Like I said, we’ve only had a few encounters with them.”

  Leek looked at his watch and frowned. “Well, I guess I’m out of time. Now, at least, I have something to think about. Thanks for your help, Sergeant.”

  “No problem. I hope you come up with something.”

  They returned to Sgt. Mohr’s quarters and found Sgt. Hawkh there waiting anxiously. He shook his head.

  “There you are. We must leave, the enemy has penetrated our perimeter.”

  They rushed outside where a PTV was waiting. It reminded Leek of one of the monster trucks that he watched on TV back in Texas. A driver and one soldier rode in the front seat, Sgt. Hawkh and Leek were in the crew cab, and two more soldiers rode outside on the rear cargo bed.

  As they sped away planes screeched overhead, bombs fell around them pelting them with debris, and the smoke was so thick it was all Peter could do to breathe. But soon they reached the opposite perimeter of the camp and were leaving the battlefield behind them. When they reached the top of a nearby hill overlooking the base they stopped and watched the TGA’s assault on the Loyalist army. One Loyalist fighter after another was taking off and flying into battle.

  To their horror a line of hovertanks came swooping in and decimated everything in their path with lasers, machine guns, and endless streams of fire. Thousands of soldiers perished in just a few tiks. Those who miraculously survived the first wave of hovertanks ran for their lives. Nothing the mutants threw at the hovertanks seemed to phase them as they advanced forward with hordes of TGA infantry in their wake. Leek watched in disbelief as the command bunker where he’d met with Major Linz and Sgt. Mohr exploded into a fiery inferno. He wondered if either of them were still alive.

  Within an hour the battle was over and TGA was marching northward without resistence. Leek and his escort pressed on to the northwest toward the Doral Mountains where they’d planned to hide from the TGA. As they continued on, Leek looked toward the sky wondering what had become of his friends. Had they been able to get airborne before the enemy assault or were they lying dead in a ditch somewhere? He prayed to God they’d somehow survived.

   

   

   

  Everyone stood as Videl Lai entered the conference room and took his place at the head of a long marble table. He looked mournfully at the empty chair next to him where Rupra Bruda should have been seated. In attendance at the meeting were General Bratfort, Commander of the TGA’s 4th Army, Essyria Bruda, Rupra Bruda’s mate and head of TGA Intelligence, Lt. Muri, Videl Lai’s assistant and lover, Lt. Evohn Cystrom, Videl Lai’s adopted son, and several other members of the general staff. The mood was somber.

  “Any word on Rupra,” Videl asked.

  Essyria looked up. “They’re holding him at the Northwest Regional Detention Camp in Shini. He’s in solitary confinement.”

  “Yes, I’m sure they are afraid to go near him,” Videl noted with a glint of a smile. “We will rescue him soon, don’t worry Essyria. In the meantime we must celebrate his great accomplishment.”

  “Yes, indeed,” Essyria said. “He has cut off the head of the serpent.”

  “Yes, and now we must show the people that their government is strong and that the Loyalists are weak. And I’ll have the Liberator’s mate at my side to show just how impotent their savior is.”

  “What if she is rebellious like she was at your dinner the other night?” Lt. Muri asked. “Wouldn’t it be better to keep her locked away where she can’t cause any trouble.”

  “No. She will sit by my side and if she disobeys me this time I’ll put a bullet in her head.”

  Lt. Muri looked away, stifling her shock and anger.

  Videl turned to General Bratfort. “So, how is your attack against the mutant army going, General?”

  “Very well. We began the attack at dawn this morning and the mutant army is already on the run.”

  Videl smiled broadly. “That’s what I expected. The mutants are a cowardly bunch. How did our new hovertanks do in battle?”

  General Bratfort’s face lit up. “Extraordinarily well, actually. The enemy has nothing that can touch them. We haven’t lost a single one, so far.”

  “Good. We need to destroy the Mutant Army quickly and then march all the way to Shini while the Loyalist are weak and without a leader.”

  “I can’t see how they can stop us,” General Bratfort boasted. “The mutant army is a joke.”

  Videl laughed. “Then we have much to celebrate–the twenty-fifth anniversary of our glorious party, the death of the scoundrel Robert Garcia, and the imminent defeat of our enemy.”

  “I’m told people are already gathering for our parade this afternoon. They too are anxious to celebrate.”

   

   

   

  Lucinda Demitri woke with a start when she heard someone banging at her door. She got up shakily, stumbled to the door and opened it warily.

  Lt. Mari slipped inside and closed the door behind them. “I’ve only got a moment but I wanted to warn you,” she whispered. “They’ll be coming to get you dressed soon. There’s a big parade today—it’s the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Purist Party—and you are going to be one of the featured guests.”

  “I’m going to be a guest?” Luci questioned.

  “Yes. You’ll be riding with Videl and he’ll expect you to smile and wave to the crowd.”

  “You’re not serious?”

  “I’m afraid I am. You are his prize and he wants to show you off. Particularly since Rupra Bruda was captured after assassinating Robert Garcia.”

  “What! The Councillor is dead?”

  “Yes, actually he was the new Chancellor elected by the Loyalist to lead them in the civil war. Bruda would have gotten away unscathed had it not been for Rhin.”

  “Peter’s rhutz?”

  “Yes. Somehow she sensed that Bruda was in the audience, went after him and nearly ripped off his leg.”

  “It’s too bad she didn’t kill him?”

  Lt. Muri shook her head angrily, took Luci’s arm and rudely escorted her into the closet. “Let’s check your wardrobe. You must look nice for the parade.”

 
“You’re hurting me,” Luci complained once they were inside.

  “That kind of talk is what’s going to land you in Pritzka Prison! You’ve got to swallow your pride and do as you’re told if you want to live to see Peter again.”

  “Okay. Okay. What are we doing in the closet?”

  “This is the only place in your room where nobody can watch you.”

  “What?” Luci exclaimed. “You mean there are cameras in my room?”

  “Yes. You are like a fish in a fish bowl. Videl spends hours watching you.”

  An alarmed look came over Luci’s face. “You said this was the only place I’m not on camera?”

  “Yes.”

  “So, when I take a bath they are watching me?”

  “I”m afraid so. I complained about it but Videl and Rupra just laughed off my objections. . . . Traitors don’t get any privacy, I believe was their excuse.”

  “That’s despicable,” Luci said. “I’ll never take another bath.”

  “No. You mustn’t let on that you know anything about the cameras or you will put me in danger.”

  “Why do you care about me, anyway? How do I know all this concern your showing isn’t just a ruse to get me to do the Chancellor’s bidding?”

  Lt. Muri sighed. “I a friend of Threebeard. We communicate telepathically on a regular basis.”

  Luci’s eyes widened. “You’re a spy?”

  Lt. Muri smiled. “Yes. But don’t ever say that word again.”

  Luci studied Lt. Muri for a long tik. “I’d like to believe you but how do I know you’re not lying to me?”

  Lt. Muri began unbuttoning her blouse. “I’m trusting you with my life by showing you this.”

  “Showing me what?”

  “This,” Lt. Muri said as she opened her blouse revealing gills beneath both breasts.”

  Luci’s eyes widened. “Oh, my God! You’re a seafolken?”

  Lt. Muri quickly buttoned up her blouse. “Yes, so is that proof enough for you.”

  Luci nodded. “How do you keep this from Videl? He’s surely seen you naked.

  “Yes, but the venom of a seafolken woman causes memory loss. While we make love I bite him so he’ll have no memory of what he might have seen while we made love.”

  Luci shook her head. “You’ve got more courage than I would have.”

  “Perhaps, but you’ve got a lot to live for with a mate like Peter and a child growing inside you. So, I would suggest you toughen up and develop a little courage yourself.”

  Luci nodded. “You’re right. I guess I have been feeling sorry for myself.”

  “You have and it’s understandable. You’ve been through a lot, but I promise you it could be a lot worse. Swallow your pride and do what Videl asks of you.”

  Luci sighed. “But what will Peter think if he sees me sitting next to Videl, waving and blowing kisses to the crowd.”

  “He’ll know it’s coerced. He’ll know you are playing along to protect your child.”

  “Maybe. But it’s so humiliating.”

  Lt. Muri nodded. “I know. Believe me, I know. I hate Videl Lai. He’s a ruthless thug who would slice his mother’s throat if it would help his political career.”

  There was a knock on the door.

  “That’s your chamber maid coming to get you dressed. I’ve got to go.”

  “Thank you,” Lt. Muri. “I’ll try to behave, but it’s not easy.”

  “I know. I just don’t want to see you get hurt. I promised Threebeard I would do whatever I could to protect you and the baby.”

  Luci nodded as Lt. Muri opened the closet door and strolled out to let in the chamber maid. When she opened the door the maid was startled to see her. She walked in tentatively.

  “Make her beautiful,” Lt. Muri said as she walked out the door. “This is a very important occasion and millions throughout Tarizon will be watching.”

  The maid nodded. “Yes, Lieutenant.”

  Luci wrapped her arms around herself, shuddering at the thought of having to endure hours with Videl Lai and having people believe that she has forsaken her mate. If only she could get her hands on a gun, or even a knife she’d show Videl Lai what she thought of him.

   

   

   

   

  2

  Earth Shuttle Rendevous

   

  Tam and Red followed Lt. Virga outside, relieved and excited that they’d be able to participate in the battle from the air. Neither officer relished a direct confrontation with the TGA ground forces with their overwhelming superiority. From their T-47 fighters they’d have the weaponry and firepower to seriously hurt the enemy and, if they got in trouble, they had a much better chance of escaping and returning from the battle alive. Not that they were cowards but they were young, having only recently graduated from officer training school on Pogo Island, and still had a lot of living to do.

  The T-47 wasn’t the most sophisticated fighter on the market. It had been the workhorse of the TGA, however, since it was much cheaper than the more technologically advanced fighters. The T-47 was powered by a combination pulse detonation engine and kerosene fueled ramjet which gave it both atmospheric and limited space flight capabilities. Its skin was made of lemdinium with sirilic leading edges which allowed it to withstand the extremely high temperatures experienced in reentry from outer space. In addition, it had the ability to change its skin color using electrical charges. By emitting light through a series of slits, the aircraft could match the luminosity of the surrounding sky, making it nearly invisible to the naked eye. Its shape and absorption qualities made it impossible to track on radar as well. Since it flew at mach-8 it outpaced its own sound waves and arrived at its target without warning.

  The noise level outside the command bunker was worse than when they’d first arrived. Enemy fighters streaked across the sky dropping bombs and firing missiles at will. Tam wondered how any Loyalist fighters could have survived such an aerial assault. Presently, however, Lt. Virga led them down a flight of stairs into an immense underground hangar.

  Tam quickly tried to count the aircraft that stood before them, but gave up when he realized he didn’t have a high enough vantage point to see them all. Most of the aircraft were fighters but he saw at least one transport plane and a couple of PT22s.

  “You have more PT22s,” he said to Lt. Virga. “We could have still gotten out of here when ours was destroyed.”

  Lt. Virga stopped and looked back at him. “True. But the runway was destroyed, remember. Even if we could have sacrificed one of these PT22s we wouldn’t have been able to get it off the ground.”

  “How are we going to get in the air now without an operational runway?” Red asked.

  “Ever since you came we’ve had a construction crew working on a temporary airstrip. As you can see we’re about to be overrun, so we have to get all of these aircraft out of here in the next few kyloons. It’s lucky you came, actually. We were short a couple of pilots and since we couldn’t leave any of these aircraft for the enemy, we’d have had to blow them up.”

  “Where are our planes?” Tam asked.

  Lt. Virga turned and pointed. “Over there. I think you’ll recognize them.”

  Red gasped. “That’s the plane I stole from Pogo Island.”

  “Yes, and Lt. Lavendar’s is behind it.”

  Tam and Red rushed over to their planes and gave them a cursory inspection. “They look like they’re in good shape,” Tam noted. “Just a few new scratches here and there but otherwise just like we left them.”

  “When do we go up?” Red asked.

  “Soon. Right now we need to go to the battle room for a tactical briefing. It’s about to start.”

   Lt. Virga led them to a corner of the hangar where pilots were streaming into a conference room. Maps and charts covered the walls and three soldiers sat to the side manning computer terminals. Major Linz and another officer stood in front of the pilots waiting to begin. When the last pilot st
epped into the room, he shut the door and the briefing began.

  “Ladies and gentlemen. As you know too well, we are under siege and it is unlikely that we will be able to hold our position. It is no secret that the enemy’s forces are far superior to what we have been able to muster here in such short order. Just a few moments ago I received a communique from General Bratfort, Commander of the TGA’s 4th Army. He has demanded our surrender within one kyloon or he will order the complete annihilation of our forces. He says no prisoners will be taken.

  “Obviously, we cannot surrender. To do so at this stage of our struggle for freedom would be a disaster. We must stand our ground and do as much damage to the enemy as possible. Our only hope is to slow them down so that the forces to our north will have time to strengthen themselves before confronted by the enemy.

  “Soon you will be ordered to battle. You will be outnumbered in the air at least ten to one, so it is imperative that you avoid direct contact with enemy aircraft. Fly at top speed and in stealth mode. You’ll only be attacking hovertanks. We must destroy as many of them as possible if the assault on Tributon is to be stopped. Find your targets, attack them, and then disappear. Don’t hang around to see if your target was destroyed. With so many enemy aircraft in the air it won’t take but a few tiks for one of them to lock onto you. Get in and out quickly, then disappear. Any questions?”

  Major Linz looked around at each of the officers, but nobody said a word. Finally, he raised his fist and yelled, “Then man your planes! The destiny of Tarizon is in your hands!”

  The pilots responded with cheers of approval, and as they scrambled out the door, one of them screamed Seama lo dante, which in Tari meant death to the tyrant. Tam and Red started to follow them when Major Linz called them back.

  “I have another assignment for you two,” he said.

  “What’s that, sir?” Tam asked.

  “I understand you’ve been up to the refueling docks that service the shuttle craft coming and going from Earth.”

  “Yes, sir, we have,” Tam replied.

  “There’s a shuttle that’s just arrived from Earth. It’s manned by Loyalist forces and needs to be escorted to the surface. Can you two handle that?”

  “Well, we were kind of looking forward to knocking out a few hovertanks,” Tam replied, a little disappointed, “but whatever needs doing is fine with us.”

  “Good. It’s important this Earth shuttle be protected so it doesn’t get into enemy hands.”

  “You can count on us, sir,” Red assured him.

  “Your planes are ready and your flight plan has been programmed into your computers. The shuttle is waiting for you before it attempts reentry.”

  “Yes, sir,” Tam replied.

  Major Linz returned the salute and then turned away from them. Tam and Red made their way quickly to the door and then ran double time to their planes. The ground crew had the two planes fueled, loaded to the hilt with Muscan missiles, and fully stocked with food and survival gear since it was unknown where they’d be going once their mission was complete.

  By this time planes were starting to line up for takeoff. Tam and Red got into theirs and taxied into the long line. The ground rumbled from the bombing that was going on up on the surface above them. Tam wondered how much of a beating the underground hangar could take before it caved in on them. He prayed he and Red would be long gone before that happened. Finally the fighters made it to the tunnel that led to the surface.

  Red gave his fighter full throttle and it lurched forward into the tunnel. By the time it reached the tunnel’s end it was going three-quarter’s speed and immediately lifted into the air. Tam followed right behind and urged his fighter to climb quickly before the enemy could lock a missile onto it. A stream of hot bullets flew by him. He held his breath, praying to God and Sandee that none of the bullets would find its mark. None did and soon he and Red were high above the clouds heading for the edge of space.

  “Renegade 3. You read?”

  “Loud and clear, Renegade 2."

  “You get away clean?” Tam asked.

  “Not a nick,” Red responded.

  “Me either. I’ll take point, you watch our back.”

  “Acknowledged, see you at the pumps.”

  When they got close to the refueling station Tam checked his radar and saw nothing but Red following him. Without hesitation he pulled up and locked onto one of the big hoses. Red came up a few tiks later and locked onto the hose next to him.

  “Be sure she’s filled up,” Tam said. “It takes a lot of fuel to break out of Tarizon’s gravitational pull.”

  “I’m kind of nervous about this,” Red replied. “We’ve never taken one of these birds into space.”

  “Don’t worry. The computers do all the work. We’re just along for the ride.”

  “I know, but what if they fail and we have to go to manual pilot?”

  “Has your computer ever failed you in the past?” Tam asked.

  “No, but I’ve heard of it happening before.”

  “Just relax, we’ll be there in a flash.”

  The two fighters disengaged from the refueling drone and sped off toward their rendevous with Earth Shuttle 26. They looked back and noticed Tarizon getting smaller and smaller as they plunged upward into the darkness of outer space. Once they’d escaped Tarizon’s atmosphere they sped toward the tiny speck on their radar screens which they knew had to be the Earth shuttle.

  “Approaching ES 26,” Red reported. “Rendevous eleven loons. Attempting radio contact.”

  “I’ve got your back, R3.”

  “ES 26, this is R3, do you read?”

  Static came out of the radio for a moment and then abruptly cleared. “ES 26 here.”

  “R2 and R3 ready to escort you to the surface.”

  “Did you encounter any traffic coming up?”

  “No. Skies were clear.”

  “Good. Let’s take her down.”

  The ship’s powerful rockets came to life and the big shuttle began to move slowly at first, but quickly picked up speed. Tam and Red circled the ship looking in all directions for signs of the enemy. Tam wondered where the shuttle would be landing but didn’t dare ask over the radio. He didn’t have a secure channel and he knew anybody with a military receiver could be listening to them.

  The Earth Shuttle reentered the atmosphere and descended quickly. Tam and Red followed it closely, continuing to keep an eye out for trouble. As the three crafts descended toward the surface of Tarizon, Tam quickly calculated in his mind that they were heading for the coast of Lamaine Shane near the Quori and Rigimol border. As they descended, the shuttle’s speed increased to an alarming level. Tam wondered if the pilot had lost control of it.

  “R2 calling ES 26. Is everything okay?”

  There was no response so Tam repeated his question: “R2 calling ES 26. You’re going too fast, decrease your speed or you’ll crash!”

  But there was still no response, so Tam hailed Red, “R2 to R3, do you read?”

  “R3 here. What’s going on?”

  “I don’t know. Can you see anything wrong from your angle?”

  “No. Not a thing.”

  “What in the name of Sandee is going on?”

  As Tam and Red looked on in helpless horror, the shuttle continued its perilous descent until finally the radio crackled to life. “R2 are you there? R2 are you there?”

  “R2 here. What’s your situation?”

  “We’ve lost our rear thrusters. Attempting to re-engage.”

  “Can we help, ES 26?”

  “I don’t see how.”

  Tam couldn’t believe what was happening. He’d never heard of a shuttle crashing during reentry. What was going on? Then just as the ship was about to crash into the Coral Sea it veered sharply in a northerly direction. Tam swooped down behind it and saw it dump tons of debris into the ocean. Then it went stealth. Suddenly, Tam knew what was happening.

  “Oh, God and Sandee. No! No! It’s cras
hed. Oh, my God! . . . R3, did you see that?”

  Red didn’t immediately respond. He hadn’t seen the shuttle crash but he saw the debris in the water.

  “R3 did you see that?” Tam repeated.

  “Ah. No, but I can see where it hit.”

  “Do you see any survivors?”

  “No. Not a soul. . . . I’ll circle around and look again.”

  “I’ll join you but I doubt anybody could have survived a crash like that.”

  Finally Red caught on. “You’re probably right. It sank so fast. I can’t believe it.”

  Tam and Red circled the area where the debris had been dumped, pretending to be searching for survivors. Then their onboard computers received a communique changing their flight plan. They put both fighters on autopilot and relaxed. Soon they were flying over northern Quori and the Doral Mountains. Several loons later a flashing light told them they were near their destination.

  As Tam took back control of his fighter he looked below for a landing strip but saw nothing but trees and rugged terrain. He began to worry as it was starting to get dark and he was low on fuel. Finally, coming over a ridge he saw a valley below and noticed landing lights flickering on and off. He switched to a secure channel and hailed Red.

  “R2 to R3. Do you read?”

  “R3 here.”

  “I think our destination is below. Does that look like a landing strip to you?”

  “Affirmative.”

  “Then I’ll see you on the ground.”

  Tam broke off and headed for the strip. It was a dirt runway that had obviously been hastily constructed. When the fighter hit the ground the plane shook so violently Tam feared it might break apart, but finally it came to a grinding halt. Red rolled in a few tiks later in a cloud of dust and nearly collided with Tam’s fighter.

  As they climbed out of their cockpits they noticed a squadron of soldiers had come out to meet them. They were wearing the uniform of the mutant army. Their leader was a seafolken who stood a head taller than Tam and Red. Seafolken were a race of amphibious humans who lived in or near the sea. They had been enslaved and persecuted by Vidal Lai and the Purists and were allies in the Loyalists’ cause.

  The seafolken introduced himself as Sgt. Ponde. “I have orders to bring you to our commanding officer.”

  “That’s fine, but we’ll need to camouflage these fighters first.”

  The seafolken nodded. “Can we help?”

  “Yes,” Tam replied. “We could use some help putting on the nets.”

  Tam and Red pulled out the nets and Sgt. Ponde’s men helped cover the planes. When they were done they followed Sgt. Ponde up the side of a hill. When they got to the top and looked down at the valley below they saw Earth Shuttle 26. It was an enormous vessel but it appeared to be partially buried in the ground.

  “What happened?” Tam asked. “Did it crash?”

  “No. It comes equipped with its own drill that allows it to burrow underground. That’s how it was able to keep from being detected while it was on Earth.”

  “So, why bury itself here?” he asked.

  “Ah. You’d better ask Captain Shilling about that. Come on. She’s expecting us.”

  “She. Captain Shilling is a woman?”

  “Last time I saw her she was.”

  Tam looked at Red, shrugged and then followed the sergeant down a narrow path that led to the valley below. It wasn’t that women weren’t the equals of men on Tarizon, but since the great eruptions women were generally barred from anything that interfered with their childbearing. So, it was unusual to find a woman in the military, particularly in a command position.

  When Tam and Red got to the shuttle, Sgt. Ponde left them and the guard on duty escorted them to the bridge where the captain was waiting. The captain still wore the uniform of a TGA officer minus the TGA insignia. The Loyalist army was young and uniforms hadn’t been a high priority. Tam and Red saluted.

  “Gentlemen, be seated.”

  They took a seat on a bench across from her. She gave them a motherly smile.

  “Thank you for escorting us in. I’m sorry we couldn’t let you in on our deception. We couldn’t risk communicating our plans with you. I thought you’d catch on and you did, quite nicely.”

  “Yes,” Tam said. “I was a bit confused there for a minute, then it suddenly dawned on me that you wanted it to appear the shuttle had crashed.”

  “Really?” Red said, squinting. “Is that what all that was about?”

  The Captain and Tam laughed.

  “That’s all right, Lieutenant. At least you went along with the charade even if you didn’t know what was going on.”

  Red shrugged.

  “So, Captain. Have you heard how the battle turned out? We missed it since we had to escort you in.”

  The captain’s face turned somber. “Well, as we feared we were no match for the TGA Army. They broke through our lines and are half way to Rizi by now. We’re going to make another stand there and hope we can stop them.”

  “Have you heard from Captain Lanzia since the battle? As you may know we went to boot camp together.”

  “Yes, the Liberator. I’ve heard you two were close to him. Unfortunately, we haven’t heard from his party yet. We’re trying to make contact now, but haven’t had any success so far.”

  “What became of all the soldiers encamped at the mutant base we were at?”

  “A good many were killed. The ones who survived were ordered up here to the mountains to regroup. That is why we landed the ship here. We are to be the new Loyalist Army headquarters for Quori and Tributon.”

  “I’ve never seen a shuttle before. I didn’t realize it could bury itself.”

  “Yes, the shuttles were designed for the Tarizon Repopulation Project on Earth. Since most of the population wasn’t aware of the project, the shuttles had to be hidden. It’s not easy to hide something this large, so our engineers built the bottom of the shuttle like a drill bit. When a shuttle landed it simply started rotating until it had buried itself. When it was time to leave it simply reversed its spin.”

  “That must be something to see.”

  “Well, you’re in luck. We’re about to commence rotation right now. We don’t want the TGA to find our new headquarters.”

  Suddenly the ship started to move and vibrate slightly. There was a jolt and then the rotation picked up speed. Tam and Red looked around nervously. The Captain smiled. “Don’t worry. We do this every time we land. It’s quite routine. We scan the terrain before we land to make sure we get a soft spot.”

  Red looked at the Captain skeptically. Tam leaned forward and asked, “Can we refuel and then go help defend Rizi?”

  The Captain nodded. “Yes, that’s what I’d like you to do, but first I want you to meet someone.”

  “Someone on the shuttle?” Tam asked.

  “Yes, a returning guide. She’s got news she wants you to convey to Captain Lanzia when you see him.”

  “Why doesn’t she tell him in person or tell you?”

  “She’s being sent up to Rigimol and may not see Captain Lanzia anytime soon. Apparently what she has to say is of a personal nature and she thought it better she talk to someone close to the captain.”

  Tam nodded. “Okay, where is she?”

  “I’ll have someone take you to her. She’s in the dining compartment right now. I’m sure you two must be hungry. You can eat while you talk. In the meantime, we’ll have your fighters refueled and readied for battle. You can leave tomorrow at dawn to join the battle at Rizi.”

  “Thank you,” Tam said.

  “Oh, and one last thing. She’s part seafolken. Be careful.”

  “Be careful?” Red replied. “Why?”

  Tam nodded thoughtfully. He’d heard stories about seafolken women and their uncanny ability to seduce unsuspecting human males into unwanted relationships, often to the victim’s great peril. It was said that seafolken women once swam in the seas on Earth and were known as mermaids. One
of the ways these seafolken women were able to seduce men was on account of a small stinger on the tip of their tongues. The stinger’s natural function was to paralyze fish so that they wouldn’t thrash around in the seafolken’s mouth during feeding, but it was also used on males during mating for intense sexual stimulation.

  “I will,” Tam said.

  “Why should we be careful?” Red asked puzzled by the warning.

  “I’ll tell you later,” Tam replied.

  After they’d gone Red asked, “What was that all about?”

  “You don’t know about seafolken women?”

  “Ah. . . . Well, I guess not. What about them?”

  Tam laughed and then told him. “Wow! We need to find us a couple of them and have a party. Do you think there might be some on board?”

  “Maybe, I saw some male seafolken.”

  “Where there are males there are bound to be females, wouldn’t you think?”

  Tam was grinning as he hailed the guard who’d escorted them to the captain. He asked him to take them to the dining compartment. A beautiful young lady sat alone eating when they arrived. The first thing that Tam noticed was that she was pregnant. He looked for signs that she was part seafolken but couldn’t see any. He and Red walked over to her.

  “Hello,” Tam said. “I’m Lt. Lavendar and this is Lt. Levitur. But you can call me Tam and we usually call this brute, Red.”

  The woman smiled and replied, “Oh. You can call me Tehra.”

  “So, Tehra. The captain told us you had a message for Leek.”

  “Leek?”

  “Ah. Perhaps you know him as Peter.”

  “Yes, Peter Turner. So, he’s changed his name?”

  “Yes, he’s called Leek Lanzia now. It was the name he used when he was in officer training school at Pogo. It was the name most everyone knew him by, so it stuck.”

  “Of course,” she said, nodding. “What I wanted to have you pass on to, ah, Leek, is that while I was on Earth I met his father. In fact, I spent a good amount of time with him.”

  “Really? Leek will be so glad to hear that. How is his father?”

  “Fine. Now he’s fine. He went through some rough times, but when I left him everything was okay. His mother is doing better now as well.”

  “How was it that you knew Leek’s father?”

  “Commander Kulchz, the Tarizon officer in charge of the Repopulation Project, assigned me to him as a guide. It was my job to help him adjust to the difficult task that had been assigned to him.”

  “Really. What task was that?”

  “Oh, that’s too complicated to get into right now and it’s not what’s important. The thing Leek needs to know is that his father helped destroy a TGA shuttle and saved, not only my life, but many others as well. He’s already a hero to our cause and I’m going to report his heroics to the Loyalist command in Rigimol when I get there.”

  “Is that so?” Tam laughed. “That’s incredible. Leek will be flabbergasted.”

  “How did he save your life?” Red asked.

  “Well, after I’d been taken prisoner by Kulchz and his men, he came to rescue me even though there was no realistic way he could have done it. He risked his life coming to the shuttle and probably would have died trying to rescue me, but fortunately, he ran into some of my Loyalist compatriots. Together they managed to stall the shuttle’s takeoff and eventually free everyone held hostage. Once we’d escaped he took us to a place to hide until we could be picked up by a friendly ship.”

  “Why would he do that?” Tam asked. “Men don’t usually risk their lives just for the hell of it.”

  Tehra nodded. “Yes, you’re right about that. I suppose over the few months we worked together we became close. And then there was the baby . . .”

  Tam and Red looked at Tehra’s large belly, then they looked at each other. It appeared she was nearly term. There was an awkward moment of silence and then she took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

  “So, what Leek needs to know,” she said proudly, “is that he will soon have a brother living on Tarizon!”

   

   

   

   

   

  3

  Succession

   

  The control panel next to Lorin Boskie’s door buzzed. She went over to it and switched on the video. General Zitor’s face appeared. She pushed a button and the door lock disengaged. General Zitor quickly entered the compartment. His face confessed great weariness. Lorin locked the door behind him, turned and smiled expectantly.

  “So, did you hear anything?”

  “The delegates are close to a decision.”

  “Close? They’ve been debating who should succeed my father for three days now. In the meantime the enemy is advancing with impunity on every front. They must make a decision now!”

  “I know. I’ve been assured the decision will come very soon.”

  Lorin took a deep breath and began to pace. “They’ve got to elect me, General. We’ve been planning this war for almost two cycles. Everything was coming together just like we’d planned. Videl Lai is such a coward. He knew he couldn’t outmaneuver Father, so he sent an assassin. But he forgot about me. I will see to the TGA’s demise. I’ll avenge my father’s death!”

  “I know you will.”

  “If I’m given the chance. What if they don’t elect me? What will I do?”

  “You’ll help whoever is elected. That would be your duty.”

  “Sure, but they wouldn’t listen to me. They’ll want to be the architect of their own victory. But it’s too late to start all over again. The war will be lost if we don’t act now. Every moment of inaction brings the TGA closer to victory.”

  “They’ll make a decision before the sun sets. I’ve been assured of that.”

  “I hope you’re right for the sake of Tarizon.”

  A beep came out of General Zitor’s communicator. He stopped talking and listened intently to the caller. He smiled and said, “You’ve been summoned to the chairman’s office.”

  “Finally,” Lorin said, grabbing her coat and rushing to the door. The knot in her stomach tightened as she feared the delegates would cast her aside and go with a more seasoned politician to be the next chancellor of Tarizon. They rushed outside and walked quickly across the street to the building where the delegates were meeting. After going through a tedious security check they were escorted to a conference room where the chairman and a handful of delegates awaited them.

  The delegates stood when she entered. Lorin didn’t know what to make of the summons. Had she been elected? The chairman smiled and motioned for her to sit.

  “Thank you for coming, Madam Boskie. The delegates have asked the executive committee to ask you a few questions about your plans should you be selected to fill your father’s position as chancellor of our new government. To be fair, I’ll tell you that the list of candidates has been narrowed to you and Senator Mammett.”

  “Thank you, Mr. Chairman. That’s encouraging.”

  “Just so you’ll know, the full delegation will be listening to what you have to say here today. They will, of course, be listening to Senator Mammett as well.”

  “What questions do you have, Mr. Chairman? Whoever is chosen must get to work immediately or all may be lost. I understand TGA troops have already pierced our lines in northern Quori.”

  “Yes. So, let’s get right to it. Many of the delegates are concerned that you have no political experience. You’ve never been elected to public office nor do you have any military training.”

  “That may be technically true, but I have devoted my life to assisting my father in his many elected and appointed positions. During that time he has entrusted me with great responsibility which has given me an intimate knowledge of the inner workings of the Senate and the Council of Supreme Interpreters. At every stage of his career I was right there with him, helping him carry out his responsibilities. Therefore I think I have as much or mo
re experience in government as Senator Mammett.”

  “What about your lack of military experience and training? Senator Mammett is a veteran and served six cycles in the TGA.”

  “As you know, my husband Jake Boskie was a Lieutenant in the TGA and has joined the Loyalist cause. He is in Quori today helping to defend our southern perimeter. For the past two cycles Jake, General Zitor, myself and my father have been carefully planning the civil war that is at our doorstep. Senator Mammett was not a participant in these planning sessions and it wasn’t because he wasn’t invited. We contacted him and many other senators asking them to help us fight Videl Lai and his Purist movement, but most, including Senator Mammett, felt it imprudent to associate themselves with our cause. They feared we’d fail and then they would be subject to Videl Lai’s wrath. Do you want a coward as Chancellor?”

  One of the delegates stood and yelled, “I beg your pardon, Senator Mammett is not a coward! Mr. Chairman, this is outrageous.”

  “Sit down. Everyone here knows Senator Mammett and can decide for themselves whether he’s a coward or not. Now, Madam, one last question.”

  “Yes,” Lorin replied.

  “If you are elected to complete your father’s term, what exactly would you do to defeat Videl Lai and the TGA?”

  “I’m glad you asked that, Mr. Chairman. As I said, over the past two cycles my father, General Zitor, my husband, myself and many others have been carefully considering every aspect of a military operation against the TGA should Videl Lai be elected Chancellor. We were certain that if he were elected he would try to suspend the Supreme Mandate and strip the legislative and judicial branches of all authority. We also had intelligence reports that he was in the process of seizing control of many of the state governments throughout Tarizon. He in fact accomplished that objective through bribery, intimidation and murder.

  “Of course, we would have preferred to keep him from getting elected Chancellor, but he had such powerful friends and allies it would have been suicide to openly confront him. All we could do was get ready for the moment when his true identity was unmasked. Then we knew a majority would rally behind us to protect the Supreme Mandate and the rights and freedoms of the inhabitants of Tarizon.”

  “Yes, I understand that. But, what specifically will you do if you are elected Chancellor?”

  “I’m getting to that. One of the responsibilities that was given to me from the outset was to develop an intelligence network throughout Tarizon. This required me to make contacts on every continent, in every state and as many cities and towns as I could. The intelligence network would have two jobs. First, it would provide us information on Videl and the activities of the Purist Party throughout Tarizon. We could also use it to send out information about the Loyalist movement throughout Tarizon. Secondly, the members of the network would begin to create Loyalist cells that would be used to recruit members and soldiers to fight against the TGA.

  “As we speak there are over 8,000 cell leaders waiting for instructions. If they don’t hear from somebody soon they will assume we’ve already lost and be forced to abandon our cause and step in line behind Videl Lai. Since I personally set up this organization on behalf of my father, I know the cell leaders and communicate with them regularly, the moment I give instructions they will be followed. If you don’t elect me, of course, I would encourage them to cooperate with the new Chancellor, but what I fear is that Senator Mammett would not immediately set this organization in motion. He would want to study it and decide if it would be useful to him. Or, if he did immediately set it in motion, I fear the people would not respond to him as well as they would to me.”

  “Thank you, Madam Boskie. I think you have answered all of our questions. If you would like to go to the main hall now you can watch the delegates cast their ballots.”

  Lorin took a deep breath and stood up. “Thank you. May God and Sandee be with all of you in this hour of great peril.”

  The guards escorted Lorin and General Zitor to the main hall where 350 delegates waited to cast their votes. Lorin felt relieved that it was out of her hands now. For a few moments she could relax and do nothing. She sat in the gallery and watched the delegates milling around. Many friends and supporters stopped by to offer her encouragement and wish her good luck. She thanked them appreciatively. Finally the chairman took the podium.

  “Fellow delegates. It is time to consider the matter of electing a new chancellor to fill the vacancy caused by the assassination of Robert Garcia. Please cast your votes.”

  Lights suddenly flashed on a large screen to the right of the podium. The two names, Senator Zenor Mammett and Lorin Garcia Boskie, suddenly appeared. Numbers started flashing beside each name. Mammett 23, Boskie 14. The delegates broke out in conversation. There were screams of delight and despair as the numbers changed. Mammett 39, Boskie 37. Lorin looked at General Zitor and began to tremble.

  “It will be all right,” General Zitor assured her.

  “Ah! No!” someone screamed as the tally went to Mammett 72, Boskie 67.

  Lorin put her hands over her eyes. She couldn’t bear this. What would she do if she lost? It couldn’t happen. She couldn’t bear it. The number changed again. Mammett 139, Boskie 141. Lorin’s heart soared. General Zitor put his hand on her shoulder and squeezed it gently. She smiled up at him. “How many votes left?”

  “280 voted, 70 to go,” General Zitor replied.

  “Oh, God. Please. Just 36 more votes.”

  Once more the tally changed. Mammette169, Boskie 171.

  “Only ten more votes. You’re almost there,” General Zitor assured her.

  The board was quiet for a moment. Everyone looked around to see who hadn’t voted. The chairman stepped up to the podium. “Last call for votes. If you want to vote you must do it in the next 100 tiks.”

  The number 100 appeared on the top of the vote tally. It began counting down 99, 98, 97. The tally changed again: Mammett 171 Boskie 172.

  There were screams of anxiety from delegates all around as the countdown continued—67, 66, 65. The tally blinked again. Lorin stared at the numbers: Mammett 172, Boskie 172. Her heart sank. General Zitor stood and exclaimed, “For the sake of Tarizon you must elect Lorin Boskie!”

  The chairman frowned at General Zitor, but said nothing as the countdown continued—37, 36, 35. There was a flicker and Lorin looked up anxiously at the tally. Mammett 173, Boskie 173—20, 19, 18. Lorin closed her eyes. She couldn’t stand it—11, 10, 9. The general shook her. “Wait. It’s going to be okay!” Finally, there was one last blink as time ran out. Mammett 176, Boskie 174.

  Lorin collapsed in her chair, tears flowing from her eyes. There were screams and jubilation from the Mammett supporters. General Zitor just stood there in shock. A delegate muscled his way through the crowd and sat in the seat next to Lorin.

  “I’m sorry, Lorin. I did everything I could to convince the delegates to vote for you.”

  Lorin looked up. It was one of her father’s friends, Senator Marcuzzi. She sighed. “I know you did, Senator, and I’m very grateful.”

  “I know Senator Mammett very well and I fear he will be no match for Videl Lai.”

  “I hope you’re wrong,” General Zitor said. “We have too much at stake to let him win.”

  Lorin got up. “If you’ll excuse me, I’m not feeling well. I’m going back to my room. If Senator . . . I mean . . . Chancellor Mammett wants me he can reach me there.”

  “What are you going to do now?” Senator Marcuzzi asked. “Do you have any plans?”

  “Yes, I have a funeral to plan. It had to be put off due to the urgency in selecting a new chancellor, but now it must be done. I hope I will see you there.”

  “Of course,” Senator Marcuzzi replied.

  A guard escorted Lorin back to her compartment as General Zitor and Senator Marcuzzi continued to talk.

  “We must convince our new Chancellor to act quickly. What Lorin said about the urgency of the situation is true. Any delay will be
disastrous.”

  “Yes, I agree. Let’s go see if we can get an audience with him.”

  The two men attempted to approach the new Chancellor but he was surrounded by guards and well-wishers. They waited for an opportune moment to get his attention but were thwarted at every attempt. Finally, the new Chancellor was taken away to the Chancellor’s quarters. When they asked one of the guards if they could speak to him they were brushed off and told to contact his appointments secretary the next day. They both retired to their rooms bitterly disappointed and fearing the worst.

  The next day General Zitor attempted again to contact Chancellor Mammett but was told the Chancellor was in conference, so he went to see how Lorin was doing. She was glad to see him, as she wanted to thank him for all he had done for her.

  “I didn’t do it for you, necessarily. I did it for your father and because it was the right thing for Tarizon. You should be leading this war, not Mammett!”

  “Yeah, well. We just have to hope he’ll be up to it. I just wish he’d contact me. I need to tell our cell leaders something.”

  Just as she spoke those words her communicator chimed. She picked it up and said, “Boskie here.”

  A few tiks later she put it away and looked at the general.

  “We’ve been summoned to the war room.”

  General Zitor raised his eyebrows. “Well, it’s about time.”

  Moments later they were strolling into the hastily constructed war room. Most of the Loyalist command were assembled to brief the new Chancellor on the situation and give him their recommendations. A huge map of Tarizon was mounted on one wall and a large VC monitor on another. General Lugwin stepped to the head of the table.

  “Ladies and Gentlemen, I’d like to introduce Chancellor Zenor Mammett.”

  The officers stood and began to clap. The new Chancellor shook everyone’s hand, smiling proudly as he worked the room. When he got to Lorin he took both her hands in his and said, “That was a great interview you had with the executive committee. You almost had me convinced to withdraw my candidacy.”

  Lorin smiled wryly. “Well, it’s not too late.”

  Everyone within earshot who heard the exchange laughed heartily, but the Chancellor remained focused. He moved quickly through the line of well-wishers until he came to his chair. After he’d taken his seat, he motioned for everyone to sit down. “Thank you, but we don’t have time for personal tributes. I need to know what’s going on. I’ve heard many conflicting reports and I must know what the facts really are.”

  A tall, grey-haired general rose. “I’m General Rosz. If I may, I’d be happy to bring you up to date.”

  The Chancellor nodded and then whispered something to his aide. General Rosz signaled to an assistant and the lights dimmed. A map of Tarizon appeared on the big screen. Lortec was highlighted. “TGA forces from Ock Mezan have initiated a heavy assault on Lortec. They seem bent on retaking the island. So far, we have repelled them but if they keep up the assault they will likely be successful.”

   The Chancellor nodded grimly. “I see. Do we have reinforcements that we can send there?”

  “Not really, sir. Our main army is in southern Rigimol and the mutant army is facing the enemy in northern Quon.”

  “I see.”

  “As you know, we had to evacuate and destroy our base in the Beet Islands after we took Lortec. A freak clearing of the atmosphere and Evohn Cystrom’s treachery made it a sure bet that the TGA would be able to pinpoint our position. We were lucky to get our forces off the island before it came under attack.”

  “Pogo and Muhl, of course, remain in TGA hands and the enemy continues to use these two islands to train their troops.”

  “General,” Lorin said. “Leek Lanzia was able to enlist the support of the seafolken on Lortec. Are they being utilized in any capacity in the defense of the island?”

  “Not to my knowledge. I’m afraid only Captain Lanzia knows how to summon them.”

  “Then we must contact him and ask him to summon them again. We can’t afford to lose our foothold in the Coral Sea. As long as we are there the TGA will have to watch their back as they try to move north into Tributon.”

  “Does anyone know how many seafolken there are?” the Chancellor asked.

  “It’s difficult to know exactly since there has not been a census, but I know for sure there are millions worldwide,” Lorin replied.

  “Well, why don’t we mobilize them? I’ve heard they are great warriors.”

  “The problem,” Lorin replied, “is that they don’t live in cities and towns. They are free and independent and always keep moving, particularly now since Videl Lai has ordered them to surrender for military service or be shot.”

  The Chancellor shifted in his chair nervously. “Well then, how was Captain Lanzia able to summon them?”

  “I don’t know exactly, but Threebeard taught him how to do it. Some kind of mental telepathy, I believe. Even then only a few with the gift can communicate with them.”

  “Where is Captain Lanzia now?”

  “He’s with the mutant army,” Lorin replied.

  “Yes,”General Rosz interjected. “The mutant army’s morale was bad, so we thought if the Liberator was sent there it might help in the upcoming battle.”

  There was snicker from several of the officers and Chancellor Mammett smiled. “You mean, that was a good excuse to get him out of your hair.”

  “Well. Yes, that too.”

  More soldiers laughed and Lorin scowled at them.

  “Although we acknowledge Captain Lanzia for his skill in the air and courage on the battlefield, he is still but a novice in the art of war. I seriously doubt he’d have a prayer against Videl Lai if he were in command.”

  “You know, General,” Lorin said. “I used to feel the same way about Captain Lanzia. How could this boy from Earth be the fulfillment of the Prophecy? But at every turn he has astounded me by his ability to adapt and learn just enough to be successful. If you want my opinion, Liberator or not, he will be a key factor in this war.”

  “Your opinion is so noted,” the General replied. “But so far Captain Lanzia’s presence has done little for the mutant army. The reports we’ve been getting indicate the mutant army is getting slaughtered. The TGA has broken through at three critical points along the Rini River and there’s nothing between them and the capital city of Rizi.”

  “Well, you can hardly blame that on Captain Lanzia. We all know the mutant army is inexperienced, poorly equipped and lacking in seasoned leadership. We knew they’d be no match for the veteran TGA forces. Besides, Captain Lanzia’s only been with the mutant army two days.”

  “True enough. I guess we were hoping to be astounded.”

  Chancellor Mammett and many of the other officers laughed again. Lorin shook her head and looked away. She had grown fond of Captain Lanzia and hated to see him ridiculed. If only her father were here, she thought. He’d not put up with this outrage.

  “Anyway,” General Rosz continued. “ The mutant army will make another stand at Rizi in a few days, but unfortunately there is no reason to believe they will be any more successful there than they were on the Rini River. We just hope they can at least slow down the TGA to give our regular army time to prepare for an assault on Rigimol. For if Tributon falls Rigimol will be next!”

  The door to the war room opened and a messenger rushed in. He handed a letter to General Rosz. The general opened it, read it and then passed it to the Chancellor.

  “What is it?” Lorin asked.

  “It seems that Videl Lai has ordered the genocide of all Nanomite swarms. He says it’s a preemptive strike to prevent them from joining in the Loyalist movement. Apparently the operation has begun and is expected to take only thirty days.”

  “Oh, God and Sandee, no,” Lorin moaned. “What are you going to do to stop it?”

  The Chancellor shrugged. “I don’t know. Are we to send troops to every Nanomite swarm? That would be an extraordinary comm
itment. I don’t—”

  “You must protect them. They have been invaluable already to the war effort. We’ve got to protect them.”

  “Yes, of course we will,” the Chancellor said evenly. “General, look into this and give me your recommendations by midday tomorrow.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Lorin was stunned by the Chancellor’s apparent indifference to the imminent genocide of the nanomites. She looked at General Zitor. He rolled his eyes. Lorin folded her arms and glared at the new Chancellor. Finally, he said irritably, “So, what would you have me do?”

  “If you can’t afford the troops to protect them, then you should move the swarms and keep them hidden. That way they will survive and when we need their help we’ll be able to find them.”

  “Fine. General Rosz. Consider Mrs. Boskie’s comments when you report to me tomorrow on the Nanomite matter.”

  Lorin gave the Chancellor a cold stare. Mammett turned to General Rosz and said, “What about the Loyalist cells that apparently are waiting our orders?”

  “Well, I think that’s going to take some study. I’m not sure exactly what to do with them at this moment. We’ve got to concentrate on defending Rigimol.”

  Lorin stood up angrily. “Well then, you won’t need me any more today. May I leave to plan my father’s funeral?”

  The Chancellor stood up. “Yes, of course. Thank you for all your help. We’ll be in touch.”

  Lorin bowed slightly and made her exit. She rushed across the street and ran up the stairs to her room. Once inside she went to her GC and punched in a code.

  “R1, come in! R1, come in.”

   There was a momentary pause and then Leek’s voice came through.“R1 here.”

  “R1, this is base.”

  “So, am I talking to the new Chancellor?” Leek asked expectantly.

  “No, I’m afraid not,” Lorin replied somberly.

  “Oh, no. What happened? I thought you’d be a shoo-in.”

  “The senator’s a better politician, I’m afraid.”

  “I’m sorry. You’d have made a great Chancellor.”

  “Listen. We just heard that Videl has launched an all-out attack on the nanomites.”

  “What?”

  “He means to exterminate every last one of them. You’ve got to warn them. I don’t know if they can do anything to protect themselves, but you’ve got to give them a chance.”

  “Well, I’m in a bad spot right now. We’re running from the TGA. They’ve broken through our lines and our troops are in retreat.”

  “Oh, Leek! Don’t let them catch you. Can you get away and hide somewhere?”

  “We’re trying to make it to the Doral Mountains. There are vast forests there where we can quickly get lost.”

  “What can I do to help the nanomites?”

  “I don’t know. When we stop for the night, I’ll sneak away and try to make contact with them. I’ll tell them you’re ready to help in any way you can.”

  “Leek. This new Chancellor is a joke. He has sent you to Tributon just to get you out of the way. He doesn’t believe in the Prophecy.”

  “Hmm. Well, you didn’t either.”

  “I know, but I know better now.”

  “Well, that explains why they whisked me away just as soon as I got here. At least they could have given me a plane like they did Tam and Red.”

  “They’re fighting?”

  “Yes.”

  “Jake’s down there somewhere too,” Lorin groaned.

  “Really. I’ll keep an eye out for him.”

  “Thanks. Please contact the nanomites as soon as possible and warn them. We can’t let Videl Lai carry out this genocide.”

  “I will. Don’t worry. I’ll get through to them.”

  “Thank you.”

  There was an explosion just fifty strides behind Leek knocking him to the ground. He picked himself up and looked behind him. “Oh, jeez. I’ve got to go. There’s a hovertank coming at us. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

  The GC went quiet and Lorin took a deep breath. She was worried sick about Leek and Jake. And now she had to add the nanomites to her list. At least she’d done something to try to prevent their genocide. She wished she had telepathic powers like Threebeard and Leek. Then she could summon them herself, warn them of the imminent attack and offer her help. But now all she could do was hope and pray that Leek would somehow escape the TGA pursuit and be able to contact them. But even that might not be enough. Even if the nanomites were warned they still had to figure out a way to defend themselves against the full wrath of the TGA army.

   

   

   

   

  4

  Genocide

   

  Lorin’s news shocked Leek. He couldn’t imagine an intelligent and creative life form like the nanomites being exterminated like common house flies. He recalled the magnificent Hall of the Interpreters in Shisk where he worked for Councilor Garcia when he first came to Tarizon. It was an incredible architectural masterpiece built entirely by the nanomites. He recalled his first dramatic encounter with them. To demonstrate their substantial talents and abilities they cut his lights and sealed off his room like a tomb. He thought he was going to die. When the lights finally came back on there was a message on the wall assuring him that he was the Liberator and letting him know the nanomites were counting on him to fulfill the Prophecy. Since then Threebeard had taught him how to communicate with them telepathically and he’d had several fine conversations with several of their swarmmasters.

  The big transport vehicle lurched to one side, sending Leek hard against the door. Rhin flew off the seat onto the floor where she scrambled to get her footing. Leek struggled back into an upright position only to be jolted the other way into Sergeant Hawkh. Bombs were falling all around them and a hovertank had a bead on them.

  “It’s got a lock on us! Abandon ship,” the driver said slamming on the brakes. Leek opened the door and he and Rhin jumped out just a few tiks before it exploded into a million pieces. Leek hit the ground and rolled into a clump of tall grass. Rhin scampered in after him. Lie down, girl. Don’t make a move. They sat there for a moment taking advantage of the cover. Leek knew if they were spotted by the hovertank’s gunner they’d be killed. Hovertanks killed everything in their path without exception. He peered out of the grass and saw the hovertank’s machine gun mow down their mutant driver and two soldiers. Leek rolled back on his back and didn’t move. Stay down. While he was lying there he noticed Sgt. Hawkh between him and the fiery inferno that used to be a transporter. He wasn’t moving. Leek wondered if he was alive.

  The hovertank finally moved on but Leek knew the infantry would be close behind, so they didn’t have time to lose. He crawled over to Sgt. Hawkh and shook his shoulder. “Sergeant! Sergeant! You okay?”

  Sgt. Hawkh stirred. Leek rolled him over and was glad to see his eyes open. “You okay?” he repeated.

  Sgt. Hawkh sat up and dusted himself off. “Yeah, I’m okay. Just a few bruises. That was close.”

  “We’ve got to get out of here. The infantry will be here soon.”

  Sgt. Hawkh glanced behind them nervously. There was a cloud of dust on the horizon and the sound of vehicles approaching. “But where?” he asked.

  Leek looked east and saw nothing but grassy plains. To the west he saw the snow-capped Doral Mountains. “Our only hope is to get up into the mountains out of the way of the advancing troops. We’re sitting dirkbirds out here.”

  Sgt. Hawkh nodded and scrambled to his feet. Rhin sniffed the ground and then took off to the west. They followed after her and had to go double-time to keep up. The mountains were several miles away and they knew they were in a life or death race to get there before the TGA came through. The advancing troops were in a wide horizontal formation leaving nowhere to hide while they passed by. The only escape was to reach the mountains before the TGA troops got there.

   Halfway to the mountains it became apparen
t to Leek that they weren’t going to make it. The far eastern flank of the line of advancing troops was moving faster than the rest. Before they’d be able to get to the mountains they’d be spotted and quickly killed or captured. Over here! Follow me!

    Rhin often interjected her thoughts into Leek’s mind. He’d gotten used to it. He looked ahead at Rhin and saw her dart down a ditch and disappear.

  “Follow me!” Leek yelled to Sgt. Hawkh as he started running as fast as he could toward where Rhin had disappeared. The sergeant followed, wondering if Leek had gone out of his mind. Then as he watched Leek dart left and right, Leek disappeared. When he got to where Leek had vanished he saw why. There was an above-ground pipeline that ran across the valley. Sgt. Hawkh stopped and searched for any sign of Leek and Rhin. Finally, Rhin came running out of a drainage hole that went below the pipeline. Sgt. Hawkh quickly ran to it and went inside.

  “Come back in here. I don’t think the TGA soldiers will come searching down here,” Leek said. “We can hide a few kyloons until they’ve passed.”

  “I don’t know. If they’re good soldiers they’ll be all over this place,” Sgt. Hawkh cautioned.

  “Maybe, maybe not. I think they’ll be tired and anxious to get on to their destination. There’s no reason to suspect anybody would be down here.”

  “Well, I don’t know that we have any better options. If we go on toward the mountains they’re going to spot us. At least down here I can get a little shut-eye while we wait for them to pass.”

  “Yes, something tells me it’s going to be a long time before we get a good night’s sleep again.”

  Sgt. Hawkh, Leek and Rhin retreated deep into the drainage pipe and settled in to wait for the TGA forces. Sgt. Hawkh fell almost immediately to sleep. Leek was too wound up to sleep. He was worrying about the nanomites and how he was going to contact them. He wondered if he could contact them from a distance or if had to be close to them to make contact. The one time he had communicated with them he was in close proximity, but he knew the swarmmasters communicated over long distances. He decided to give it a try.

  He closed his eyes and thought of an image he had created of them in his mind since no one had ever seen a nanomite. He knew he had to purge himself of all other thoughts to make contact. Unfortunately that wasn’t easy to do since he was still sick over Luci’s capture, upset that he was being excluded by Loyalist Command from any meaningful role in the war, and had a hundred thousand TGA troops breathing down his neck. Just when he thought he’d purged his mind of all those thoughts, he thought of Lorin’s defeat in the vote to replace her father as Chancellor. He wondered how the delegates could fail to realize that Lorin was the only person who could lead the Loyalists to victory.

  There were noises above them—vehicles, soldiers marching, and an occasional burst of gunfire. He wondered if the TGA front line was passing overhead. He didn’t dare go up and look. He’d just have to wait and hope they wouldn’t search their temporary hideout. Then there were voices. Rhin jumped to her feet and disappeared into the darkness. Her thoughts flashed through his mind. Stay here. I will keep them away.

  Leek readied his weapon and then awakened Sgt. Hawkh. “There’s someone coming down here. Rhin’s checking it out.”

  “Huh?”

  “She’s telepathic. We communicate without words.”

  “Right. I heard that. Is it the TGA?”

  “It must be. Who else would be coming down here?”

  In the distance they heard Rhin growling. “Should we go help her?”

  “She said to wait here,” Leek replied. “She’ll tell us if she needs help.”

  There was more growling and then gunfire. I’m leading them away. Go to the mountains. I’ll catch up with you there.

  “Come on,” Leek said. “She’s distracting them so we can get away.”

  Sgt. Hawkh looked skeptical but didn’t argue. He grabbed his gear and followed Leek outside. To the north they could see the front line of the TGA pushing onward. To the east they saw several soldiers chasing Rhin. She was a good distance ahead of them and moving at an incredible pace. Leek wasn’t worried about them catching her. He figured the soldiers would soon give up the chase, so they’d better get away while they had the chance.

  As darkness fell they reached the mountains and followed a stream a few kylods before setting up camp. Exhausted, they rested awhile and then Leek made a fire while Sgt. Hawkh managed to kill a rabbit for dinner.

  After dinner, Leek peered out into the darkness nervously. “I hope Rhin is all right,” he said.

  “It didn’t look like she was in any danger from those TGA soldiers who were chasing her,” Sgt. Hawkh replied.

  “No, but Videl Lai has ordered the death of all rhutz. They may have called for help. I hope she shows up soon. She saved my life once.”

  “She did?”

  “Yes, when I first came to Tarizon. My guide and I were stranded in a bad part of Shisk. While we were waiting for Central Authority to send someone to pick us up, we ran into a street gang that had ugly plans for us. I thought Luci and I were done for until Rhin showed up and took a bite out of one of their thighs. The rest of them scattered in a hurry.”

  “Wow! I can see why you’re so close to her,” Sgt. Hawkh said. “It still seems strange, though, to see a man with a rhutz. I know they say Sandee walked with the rhutz, but I always thought that was a myth.”

  “No. I don’t think so. A rhutz once saved Sandee Brahn’s life too.”

  “Hmm.”

  Leek suddenly remembered he had to somehow make contact with the nanomites. “Listen. You don’t happen to know where the nearest nanomite swarm is, do you?”

  “Nanomite swarm?”

  “Yes.”

  Leek explained to him about the ordered genocide of the nanomites and his need to warn them. “I tried to contact them earlier but it didn’t work. I think I need to be close by a swarmmaster to have any luck.”

  “Well, there is one near Rhule. It’s at the foot of the Doral Mountains about twenty kylods from here. It was the main source of nanomite swarms for construction in the capital city of Rizi.”

  “Good. Just as soon as Rhin returns, I must go there and try to warn them.”

  “That could be dangerous. There’ll be TGA patrols in the area.”

  “We’ll stay in the cover of the mountains as long as we can and then sneak down to the farm while it’s dark. Hopefully no one will see us.”

  “Okay. That might work. Why don’t you get some sleep? You’ll need your strength tomorrow if you’re going to be able to communicate with them.”

  “You sure? I could take the first watch.”

  “No,” Sgt. Hawkh replied. “I can sleep later. You’ve got to have a clear head tomorrow.”

  “Thanks,” Leek said. “Wake me when Rhin returns. Then I’ll take the watch and you can sleep.”

  Sgt. Hawkh nodded as Leek lay back and put his head on his backpack. He was asleep almost immediately and began to dream. He was in Rhin’s head and could hear her growling.

  This isn’t going to work. If I confront them they’ll shoot me. If I retreat they’ll discover Leek and Sgt. Hawkh and either kill them or take them as prisoners. There’s only one thing I can do. I must lure them away so the Liberator can escape to lead our armies against Videl Lai.

  Rhin lunged forward and before the two soldiers knew what had happened she had bolted past them, traversed the length of the drainage pipe, and was sprinting across the prairie.

  “Was that a rhutz?” the first soldier said.

  “I think so,” the second soldier replied.

  “Come on. We can’t let it get away. We’ve got orders to kill any rhutz we come across.”

  “But it’s so fast. How are we going to catch it?”

  “Call in some air support. We’ll get a copter to cut it off and drive it back toward us.”

  “Understood. Will do,” the second soldier said, grabbing his GC. He barked in his requ
est and then the two soldiers began jogging after Rhin. Several loons later two copters could be seen approaching in the distance. Rhin stopped and perked up her ears.

  What is this? They called in air support for a lone rhutz roaming the prairie? Videl Lai is such a coward and a fool. He should know the rhutz are a peaceful species. We have never been a threat to humans nor did politics interest us in the least. It is only when we are left no choice do we take sides in a conflict.

  Many cycles earlier, when the world was in conflict and found itself on the brink of self-destruction, the great Sandee Brahn took up the cause of unification and the institution of a world government under the Supreme Mandate. Since all would have been lost had Sandee Brahn failed, the rhutz stood beside him and helped him restore stability to Tarizon.

  After unification, the rhutz retreated once again into the background, not caring to have any sort of relationship with the human race. The rhutz only sought to be left alone to live in peace. When the great eruptions came and as a matter of survival of the planet the rhutz joined with Central Authority to respond to the global crisis that threatened the very existence of life on Tarizon.

  And now the rhutz was again forced into an alliance with humans. The Purists, who had recently seized power under Videl Lai, ordered the genocide of the rhutz as they did for every other life form on Tarizon that refused to be subjected to slavery. They preferred not to be involved in the conflict as it was against their nature, but the survival of their species was at stake, leaving them no choice.

  Videl Lai is a fool to force us to be his enemy. Does he not realize that every rhutz is connected to every other rhutz on Tarizon and will act collectively to protect one another? This was because each rhutz had two levels of consciousness. They had an individual consciousness in which they lived their daily lives independent of each other. But above that primary consciousness there was also a collective consciousness that was common with every other living rhutz on Tarizon. The collective consciousness was rarely invoked but when it was, it interrupted the rhutz’ primary consciousness and put him in direct communication with every other rhutz on Tarizon.

  This was how he’d been recruited to befriend the Liberator. When Threebeard told him that the Liberator had arrived on Tarizon all rhutz knew through their collective consciousness that he must be found and protected. Since I came across him first, it was my duty to befriend him and become his protector.

  And now through the collective consciousness I will summon help from a local pack to thwart the pitiful attempt of Videl’s lackeys to destroy me.

  The two soldiers stopped to watch the copters swoop down to finish off the rhutz. Suddenly one of the copters veered to the left. The two soldiers squinted to see why it had done that. To their dismay they saw another rhutz running away from it. Their attention was then drawn back to the other copter as it had veered off in yet another direction. The two soldiers suddenly realized there were three rhutz now running away from each other. The confused copter pilots took off after their new targets only to see more rhutz appear darting in and out of the tall grass, and running in all different directions.

  As the two soldiers watched in dismay, they heard a menacing growl from behind. When they whirled around two rhutz were on them before they could position their weapons for a shot. Their teeth sank into the soft tissue of the soldiers’ necks, severing arteries and spraying blood in every direction. They clamped down on their throats with a vise grip that made it impossible for the soldiers to breathe. Within a few tiks they were dead. When the rhutz looked up they saw in the distance the copters spinning out of control.

  Rhin looked on with satisfaction as the two copters continued to spin until they finally hit the ground and exploded. You have taken us for granted, Videl Lai. You assumed we were a helpless life form, but you should have studied us more before you made us your enemy.

  Rhin thanked her fellow rhutz who had come to her aid and then bounded off to find the Liberator. She had been forced to leave his side to protect him, but she was anxious to find him to make sure he was okay. When she got to the drainage pipe she picked up their scent and began to follow it. It was nearly dawn when she found Leek and Sgt. Hawkh sleeping next to a fire that had long since died. Leek woke up, sensing Rhin’s return.

  “You’re back,” Leek said, rubbing Rhin’s head affectionately. “You had quite an adventure, girl.”

  Sgt. Hawkh opened his eyes and then sat up abruptly. “Oh, Sandee Brahn! I must have dozed off.”

  Leek laughed. “It’s okay. Nobody knows we’re here. It’s good we both got a good night’s sleep. We’ve got a big day ahead.”

  “Thank you, but falling asleep on watch is inexcusable. I don’t know what happened to me.”

  “It’s all right. Make us some breakfast and I’ll forgive you.”

  After breakfast they set out for the nanomite farm. It was slow going across the rugged mountain terrain and through dense forests without a road to follow. Although it was only 20 kylods away, it was late in the afternoon before they saw the farm in the valley below. It looked more like a dry lake than a farm. There wasn’t a speck of green or any other color for that matter in the whole place. Up closer they saw many white mounds which they assumed were individual swarms. The only sign of a human presence was a huge garage with several large trucks parked around it. Leek assumed they were used to transport the nanomite swarms to construction sites. There was no sign of the TGA anywhere.

  “You should wait up here, sergeant,” Leek said. “I’ll go down and try to make contact. Rhin can watch my back and you can keep an eye out for the TGA from up here where you can see for many kylods in all directions.”

  “Okay,” Sgt. Hawkh said, pulling off his backpack. “I could use the rest.”

  “Don’t fall asleep.”

  “No. Don’t worry and good luck down there. I hope you can make contact.”

  “Thanks. We’ll give it our best shot,” Leek replied as he took off down the mountain with Rhin at his side. As they walked, Leek wondered how he was going to get through to the nanomites. He didn’t know their swarmmaster’s name, so it would make it difficult to channel his mind to one single nanomite. When they reached the perimeter of the farm Leek looked around for any sign of a headquarters or primary mound that might be larger than the others, but each one looked exactly the same.

  As he was pondering the situation, Rhin began walking toward the center of the farm. Not knowing what else to do, Leek followed her. Directly in the center of all the mounds was a smooth area of crystal, diamond shaped and glistening in the morning light. Rhin stopped in the middle of it and lay down. Leek looked at her and said, “Okay, I guess this is a good a place as any.”

  Leek sat next to her and crossed his legs. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes and slowly exhaled. The key to telepathic contact, Threebeard had told him, was to channel all of his thoughts toward the one whom he wanted to contact. Since it was impossible to see a nanomite he had to imagine what one would look like. In his mind’s eye he painted a white ant and focused on it.

  Great swarmmaster of the nanomites, I come with a message of great urgency. Videl Lai has ordered the extermination of all nanomites on Tarizon. TGA soldiers are probably making plans now to implement this edict. You must evacuate all of your farms immediately and hide from the TGA until the Loyalist forces can destroy Videl Lai and restore law under the Supreme Mandate.

  Not feeling any response, he repeated his message in his thoughts. After doing this several times he opened his eyes and looked at Rhin.

  “I don’t think I’m getting through.”

  Keep trying,” Rhin urged through her thoughts.

  Leek closed his eyes and concentrated even harder on the little white ant he’d conjured up in his mind. Midway through his message the little white nanomite came alive.

  “We are honored by your visit to Nanomite Farm 2279, Peter Turner, Liberator of Tarizon. Your warning is most appreciated. We will convey it to
our brothers and sisters throughout Tarizon.”

  “Do you have a name?”

  “Not like humans. You can call me Master 2279 or Thine, if you prefer a more intimate name.”

  “Okay, Thine. You can’t delay this evacuation. I’m sure the TGA attacks will start very soon.”

  “Unfortunately, as you probably know nanomites can only live in a controlled environment. This will make it difficult for us to evacuate our farms.”

  “I know. We figured as much. Lorin Boskie is waiting to assist you in any way she can. She has a network of Loyalist supporters all over Tarizon. They will be mobilized immediately to assist you as needed.”

  “Thank you. We’ll need drivers to load our swarms on the transport trucks and take them to safe locations.”

  “I’m sure that can be arranged. In the meantime we saw a garage and motor pool complex on the outskirts of the farms. I’ve got Sgt. Hawkh with me. Perhaps we should start moving your mounds right now, if you know of a safe place we could take them.”

  “Yes, take us to the Cathedral of St. Robbith in Rhule. We built this cathedral several cycles ago and it would make an excellent place to hide. If we’re discovered there we could ask the church for political asylum.”

  “Excellent! It will be done. Get your swarms ready for transport.”

  “Yes, Peter Turner, Liberator of the nanomites, seafolken and mutants of Tarizon. No preparations are necessary. We have been awaiting your command.”

  “You have?”

  “Yes. You must tell us how to help you defeat Videl Lai.”

  “Ah. Okay. I will. Just as soon as I get you to a safe place.”

   Leek stood up and immediately got on his GC. He first contacted Sgt. Hawkh to see if there was any sign of the TGA. The sergeant said there wasn’t, so Leek told him to come down the mountain immediately to help move the nanomite swarms. Then he called Lorin.

  “Good news. I’ve gotten through to them.”

  “Oh, I’m so glad. Do they need our help?”

  Leek relayed his conversation with the nanomites and told her to alert her cells to be ready to move.

  “I’ve got a list of all of the farms. I’ll have them start lining up drivers right away. You’ll need to find out the transport locations so I can pass them on.”

  “Right. We’re going to start moving Farm 2279 now. I’ll call you back just as soon as I’m given the information.”

  When Sgt. Hawkh arrived, they went to the motor pool and began surveying the equipment. Neither of them had ever participated in the transport of a swarm and had no idea how to operate the equipment. As they were looking around the yard they spotted a small shack. Smoke was billowing out of the chimney.

  “I bet whoever is in that shack can help us out,” Leek said.

  “True enough, but what if the TGA has already contacted them?”

  “We’ll just have to chance it.”

  They approached the shack cautiously. Sgt. Hawkh went around back and Leek went up the front door. Ordinarily he didn’t think there would be any danger in knocking on the door, but if the order to kill the nanomite swarms in Farm 2279 had already been sent out, the assigned assassin might well be right inside the door. He held his breath and began knocking gently. There was movement inside and then Leek heard someone grumbling.

  “Can’t a man sleep in on his free day?” a voice said as the door opened slightly. “What do you want?”

  Leek relaxed when he saw the man was a mutant. His pointed chin and contorted nose made that quite clear. “Sir, my name is Captain Lanzia. “I’m here—”

  “The Captain Lanzia?”

  “Yes, the one and only.”

  He extended his hand and Leek took it. “I’ll be a cross-eyed prickeltern. You’re the last person I’d expect to find knocking on my door.”

  “Well, yes. I bet that’s true. What’s your name?”

  “Ernee Swanh.”

  “Glad to meet you, Mr. Swanh. I’ve come because we desperately need your help.”

  Leek explained the situation and the urgent need for immediate action. Swanh grabbed his hat and coat and rushed outside. “Come on. I’ll show you how it’s done.”

  Mr. Swanh gave them a short tutorial on operating the equipment and then let them watch while he loaded a swarm onto a truck. The hives lived in a hard but brittle substance that was most conducive to their growth and productivity. Each hive was held together by a wooden frame which made for easy transport. The hives were delicate, though, and had to be handled with care. If it were dropped or jolted too much, the hive would shatter and the swarm would have to be relocated. Even if relocation were possible it had to be done quickly and many nanomites inevitably died in the process. If evacuation was not possible, they would all die.

  There were 121 hives and each truck could transport eight hives at a time. That meant they would have to make five trips to the Cathedral in Rhule to get the job done. Since it would take a little less than a kyloon per trip they’d be lucky to be done by nightfall. This concerned Leek because, by his calculations, the TGA could show up at any moment. Remembering how effective Rhin and his fellow rhutz had been against the copters and TGA soldiers, he asked Rhin if she could muster up a pack of rhutz to help guard the nanomites while he, Sgt. Hawkh, and Mr. Swanh were gone.

  “Yes, just as the nanomites, we are at your command,” Rhin assured him without speaking a word.

  Leek smiled, still not quite used to having such a devoted following. He enjoyed the respect and loyalty shown to him, but it was a bit overwhelming to have so much responsibility. But he knew he couldn’t give that more than a moment’s thought. There was too much to be done and time was too short for indecision. He just had to have faith that God would make him strong enough for the task.

   

   

   

   

   

  5

  The Battle of Rizi

   

  Red and Tam were in a daze after their meeting with Tehra. The news she’d brought was shocking and seemed surreal. They were anxious to find Leek and tell him the news about his father and Tehra’s baby. But nobody had heard from him since the battle at Rini. They’d been informed that the TGA army was about to launch its siege of Rizi, the capital city of Tributon. The assault was expected at dawn. It was no secret if Rizi fell that the border city of Khor would be next.

  It wasn’t generally believed that the mutant army could stop the TGA, but it was imperative that they inflict serious damage on them if the regular Loyalist army was to have a chance when it was confronted by the TGA at Khor. The air war at Rizi would be particularly important. The mutant air force had to be able to control the skies or its troops would be decimated by cluster bombs before the battle ever began.

  Even if they kept the TGA fighters away from the front line, they’d still have to deal with the hovertanks. Tam and Red had been discussing that problem all night, but much to their chagrin, hadn’t come up with anything. But when Tam fell asleep that night he immediately began to dream.

  For a while he didn’t know where he was, then he realized he was inside Leek’s head. He’d somehow made a connection with Leek and was getting his thoughts about dealing with the hovertanks. Leek believed the hovertank was vulnerable. The key was to disturb the pulse it rode upon. If the pulse were interrupted the hovertank would be forced to the ground where it would be as vulnerable as a conventional tank. It was true the hovertank had numerous defenses, but its most potent defense was its agility and ability to change positions quickly. If they could interfere with the hovertank’s pulse generator, they might have a chance at destroying it.

  The dream then shifted to a vast prairie and Tam saw Rhin being chased by two TGA soldiers. The scene shifted again to a copter spinning and lurching out of control. He saw the fiery crash and wondered what it meant. Why had it crashed? Had Rhin somehow caused it?

  A pain shot through Tam’s head. He turned over restlessly. Then he was in th
e middle of a telepathic exchange between Leek and someone else. He wasn’t sure what it was all about but he knew somebody or something was being evacuated. He awoke with a start and looked at his digital readout. It was time to get up.

  He shook Red. “Red. Get up! It’s time to get ready for battle.”

  Red groaned but finally rolled over and sat up. They dressed quickly and went to the dining hall for a quick breakfast. While they ate, Tam filled Red in on his thoughts about the hovertanks.

  “So, what you are saying is that we shouldn’t try to hit the hovertanks directly but create an explosion beneath them,” Red summarized.

  “Yes. You program your missile to explode under the hovertank and interrupt the pulse. Then when it hits the ground I’ll be right behind you to nail it while it’s vulnerable. It will take precise timing to be effective.”

  “Well, we can try it. It can’t hurt anything. If it works we’ll pass on the technique to the other pilots.”

  Just as the sky began to lighten in the east, Red and Tam got in their fighters and started their engines. They were each loaded with sixteen Muscan missiles, six cluster bombs, and 25,000 rounds of heat-seeking bullets. Tam was advised that the main body of Loyalist fighters and bombers from bases in Rigimol and northern Tributon were already in the air and the assault on Rizi had already begun.

  “R2 ready for takeoff,” Tam advised.

  “R3 ready as well,” Red added.

  “R2, you’re cleared for takeoff. R3, follow R2 after 30 tiks.”

  “On my way,” Tam advised as the big fighter lurched forward and accelerated down the makeshift runway. Thirty tiks later Red’s fighter burst forward and was in the air quickly heading north over the Doral Mountains on a collision with Tributon’s capital city of Rizi. Tam looked down at the grey forest below and imagined how it must have looked before the great eruptions brought darkness and despair to the planet. The dark green evergreens that had survived the climate change were now pale and sickly looking. The shrubbery and underbrush were a mixture of greys and pale yellows and flowers were a rarity. Tam wondered if he’d ever see the sun again in his lifetime.

  When the two fighters broke out over the plains of Tributon they could see billows of smoke rising in the distance. The battle was on and they could scarcely wait to join in. To their left they saw a Loyalist fighter approaching.

  “L21 calling R2, is that you?”

  “Affirmative, L21. How’s the battle going?”

  “Badly. Very badly. We were ambushed before we even got into Tributon air space. It was a disaster.”

  “How many of you are left?”

  “I’m not sure. Fighters were exploding all around me. It was a miracle I was able to escape. You should go back to your base.”

  “No way!” Tam said. “We came to fight. Why don’t you come with us? They won’t be expecting company from the south.”

  “What use are three fighters against three thousand,” L21 asked.

  “We’ve got some ideas on how to put a hovertank out of action. We need to at least try them out.”

  “I don’t know. It sounds like a suicide mission.”

  “Don’t worry,” Red chimed in. “We got these ideas direct from the Liberator.”

  “Captain Lanzia?”

  “Yes, he wants us to try them out. We could use your help,” Red said.

  “Affirmative then. If the Liberator needs my help, I’m in.”

  “Let’s go then. When we see our first hovertanks, L21, you go in low to distract them. Red, you come in next and aim for the pulse.”

  “The pulse?” L21 asked.

  “Yes, directly beneath the hovertank. We’ll explain later. Then I’ll come in for the direct hit. If we’re successful we’ll repeat the drill on the next one.”

  “Affirmative,” Red said.

  “All right,” L21 said. “Let’s find us some hovertanks.”

  As they flew over the battle scene they saw utter and complete devastation left by the hovertanks and infantry following behind them. Bodies of dead mutant soldiers were lying everywhere, thousands of them piled one on top of the other. Tam muttered his disgust as they flew over the ravaged landscape.

  “Up ahead,” L21 said. “I see them.”

  “Right. There they are,” Tam replied. “Okay, L21. You’re up.”

  L21 broke off and swept around to make a run going west to east. Tam and Red broke off following him, spacing themselves to facilitate the 1,2,3 punch they’d planned. As L21 flew by the first hovertank it jerked around and shot off a missile, but it was off the mark. Suddenly Red was on top of the hovertank. He fired his missile, but decoys flew out of the hovertank and the missile locked onto one of them and exploded.

  “No! Don’t lock on the hovertank. That will activate its defenses. You’ve got to hit the ground beneath it.”

  Tam aborted his flyby and the three fighters regrouped for another run. “Let’s try it again. This time let’s get it right.”

  “Sorry,” Red replied. It’s hard to intentionally miss.”

  “Okay, L21. Let’s go. We’ll soon have company.”

  “On my way,” L21 replied. “Follow me.”

  L21 broke off again and flew across the path of another hovertank. It jerked around again but L21 was long gone before it got a shot off. This time Red came in low and locked his missile on a truck directly beneath the hovertank. When the truck exploded the hovertank dropped like a rock from the sky. Before it hit the ground its stabilizer rod engaged as if it were going to fire its cannon. At that moment Tam locked on it and fired. Decoys immediately shot out and the missile locked onto one of them and exploded harmlessly in the distance.

  “Skutz!” Tam yelled.

  “Its okay,” Red replied. “I’ve got an idea. L21. After you streak by, circle back around to follow R2 with a second shot.”

  “Affirmative. Good idea. Let’s try it.”

  After they’d regrouped, they found another hovertank destroying everything in its path. L21 flew by just as he had before but then circled back in for a final shot. Red found a target below the hovertank and locked onto it. When it exploded the hovertank plunged to the ground, causing it to automatically engage its stabilizer rod. Tam immediately launched his Muscan missile and, as before, a flurry of decoys flew from the hovertank luring away the missile, but this time another missile locked on the big hovertank and there were no decoys to divert it away. The hovertank took a direct hit and exploded into a giant fireball.

  “Yes! We did it!” Tam screamed.

  “Affirmative. We have a kill,” Red said.

  “The first one of the war,” L21 added.

  “All right!” Tam said. “That was fun! Let’s do it again.”

  L21 banked off and found another target. With perfect precision the fighters executed yet another coordinated attack, and a hovertank exploded and plunged helplessly to the ground. Soon over a dozen of hovertanks were burning across the Tributon prairie. Unfortunately, the three fighters were running out of fuel and ammunition, so they had to leave the battlefield and head back to their secret base sooner than they would have liked. Nevertheless, they felt good, like they had really accomplished something. Although the TGA won the battle of Rizi and took Tributon’s capital city, for the first time they’d suffered some significant losses and it was clear they were not invincible after all.

  When Tam and Red got back to the shuttle, they introduced themselves to L21. It turned out he was Lt. John Sillmar, an Earthchild who’d grown up in Lower Serie. Sillmar had graduated from officer candidates school in Pogo a cycle before Tam and Red. He’d also been in Sgt. Baig’s platoon and had studied under Lt. Londry. While they were reminiscing, Captain Shilling walked in for their debriefing. She was in a somber mood.

  “So, I see two birds left and three returned. Very interesting.”

  “Yes, Captain. This is Lt. Sillmar. His entire squadron was wiped out so he joined up with us during the battle.”

  “I see. I und
erstand you had an excellent day—the first hovertank kills of the war. Very impressive. Unfortunately, that’s about the only good news coming from the war front today.”

  She described how the mutant army had been totally annihilated during the battle and how the Loyalist air force was severely crippled. Only one hundred and twenty planes had made it back to their Rigimol bases—a loss of over one thousand planes. This meant when the TGA and Loyalist army met in just a few days, the TGA would have complete air superiority and the few planes that remained would have to be used strictly in a defensive posture.

  When Captain Shilling asked Tam for a detailed report, she listened intently as he described how they’d experimented and finally figured out how to destroy the first hovertank and then went on to knock out a dozen more. “Unfortunately,” she pointed out, “without an air force it was a moot point.” Nevertheless, she said she’d pass on the information to Loyalist headquarters for analysis. Tam then asked about Captain Lanzia.

  “I’ve been told he’s helping to evacuate nanomite farms,”she replied. “Apparently Videl Lai ordered the eradication of all nanomites and Captain Lanzia went to warn them. Now, I think he is helping with the evacuation. You probably flew over him on your way here. The farm is located in Rhule.”

  “Permission to join him,” Tam asked.

  “Affirmative. Tomorrow morning you should go find him and bring him here. He’s been ordered to take command of what’s left of the mutant army.”

  Tam smiled broadly. “What happened to Colonel Shanziba and Major Linz?”

  “They were both killed. Captain Lanzia is the highest ranking officer surviving at this time, so Threebeard has appointed him commander of the 3rd Loyalist Army.”

  “What about you? Don’t you have seniority?”

  “Yes, but I’m a shuttle commander. I know little about ground warfare. Besides, I’m not the Liberator.”

  “So, you believe the Prophecy,” Tam observed.

  “Indeed I do. I’m anxious to meet your friend Captain Lanzia, so don’t let me down. Find him and bring him back here.”

  “Will do, Captain.”

  “And while you are looking for him, I’ve got a few strategic targets I want you to destroy.”

  “Sure. What kind of targets?”

  “There’s a road stretching from the Rini River through Rizi and up to the TGA front line. It’s the TGA’s main supply line. I want you each to unload a double load of cluster bombs on it. If we can create a little havoc along their supply lines it could slow down the pace of their forward movement.”

  “Sounds like fun,” Tam said.

  “Good, then. Now there’s a party waiting for you in the lower deck. You better get going?”

  “A party?” Red asked.

  “Yes, it’s estimated each of the TGA’s hovertanks have killed over four thousand of our fine soldiers and today you’ve taken out thirteen of them. I’d say saving the life of 50,000 men is worth celebrating.”

  A feeling of great exhilaration swept over Tam, Red and John as they made their way to the lower deck. When they got there the entire crew of the shuttle stood and applauded them. When the applause ended, the music started and the party began. The shuttle had an abundance of female guides who fought over the privilege of taking care of the three heroes. After Tam, Red and John each selected a companion for the evening they ate, drank and danced the night away. It was a night they’d never forget.

  Although Captain Shilling had authorized the party, she had banned alcoholic beverages because of the following day’s mission. Hung over pilots couldn’t very well fly a dangerous mission over enemy territory. And if the pilots couldn’t drink she didn’t think the crew should either. But the lack of alcohol didn’t seem to dampen the party or slow it down in the least. It went on until the early hours of the morning.

  During the party the three heros were dubbed “the Three Avengers,” as Captain Shilling wanted to make sure word about their heroics would spread throughout, not only to the Loyalist territories, but all of Tarizon. She knew the Loyalist forces needed hope and the TGA army needed something to worry about.

  The next day the shuttle’s doctor gave the Three Avengers a specially formulated energy drink to combat their fatigue from the previous night’s celebration. After they’d drunk it they felt as wide awake and alert as ever and were anxious to go out on their mission. When they got to their fighters they were shocked to see the incredible number of cluster bombs attached to them. They wondered if they’d be able to get off the ground.

  “Don’t worry,” Captain Shilling said. “Your thrusters can handle the payload. Since we only have three fighters to work with we have no choice but to load you to the hilt.”

  “I don’t mind,” Tam said, “just as long as she’ll still fly.”

  “She will. Don’t worry.”

  Tam was skeptical but didn’t question the Captain. When he started down the runway he held his breath, but his concern wasn’t necessary as the fighter took off effortlessly as usual. Once they were in the air they headed southwest toward Rizi where they picked up the supply line going north to Khor. They flew as far as they could in stealth mode to avoid detection. Since there were enemy fighters patrolling the supply route, once they were over their target they knew they’d have to come out of stealth mode, drop to the desired elevation, and then quickly unleash their cluster bombs. At that point the enemy would know they were there and any TGA fighters in the area would close in on them in a hurry.

  John came in first with his load of cluster bombs and took out a dozen trucks loaded with supplies and ammunition. The ensuing explosions left giant craters in the roadway. Red came in next and took out a two-kylod stretch of the road a little farther north. They seemed to have taken the enemy completely by surprise as there was no resistance to their assault. At least until Tam made a third run a few kylods to the north. As he was approaching the road, two TGA fighters suddenly appeared and took up chase. Just as he released his cluster bombs one of the fighters locked on him and fired a missile. Tam immediately fired his decoys and took evasive measures. The missile, however, wasn’t fooled by the decoys and kept on his tail as he dived down and circled back toward the fiery inferno he’d left in his wake. The missile had almost caught up with him when he plunged into the smoke and flames billowing from the convoy he’d just bombed. When the missile hit the draft of heat from the burning trucks it suddenly began spinning and jerking erratically until it finally flew straight down and collided with one of the burning trucks.

  Tam breathed a sigh of relief only to realize the two TGA fighters had followed him through the smoke and were still on his tail. He gave his bird full throttle hoping to outrun them, but they managed to keep up with him and he feared they’d lock on him again. He didn’t know if he could outmaneuver another Muscan missile. Just as he’d about given up hope he noticed Red and John had sneaked up behind his two pursuers. He saw two puffs of smoke as two missiles were launched. The two planes suddenly plunged downward and a slew of decoys shot out in all directions. One of the missiles took the bait and followed a decoy out of sight. The second one, however, went straight through the debris and hit its target. The big fighter burst into flames and plummeted to the ground below. The second fighter came around one more time for another look but apparently decided three against one was more than he wanted to tangle with.

  “R2, are you okay?” Red asked.

  “Yeah. I’m fine. Let’s get out of here.”

  “Amen. Let’s go find Leek.”

  “Setting heading for Rhule. Last one there is a dirkbird,” Red challenged.

  The Three Avengers gave their fighters full throttle, leaving a chaotic scene behind them. Twenty kylods of the Rizi roadway lay in ruins cluttered by hundreds of burning trucks, transport vehicles, and dead soldiers. Tam felt good as he figured it would take them several days to get traffic flowing again. In the meantime the TGA would have to ration their supplies right when they were ready to confr
ont the regular Loyalist army.

  When they got to Rhule they kept a lookout for the nanomite farm. When they saw the clear white area in the midst of the prairie they knew they had found it. They circled around looking for a spot to land and discovered the entire area was infested with mounds where the swarms had been kept. It didn’t appear there was any suitable place to land until they found the caretaker’s shack and a clear patch of ground behind it. Once on the ground they looked around for any sign of life. The swarms were already gone and the place looked deserted.

  “So, now what?” Red asked. “He’s obviously gone.”

  “Yes, but where did he go? Where would he have relocated the nanomite swarms?” John asked.

  “Why don’t we ask him?” Tam said.

  “What? You gonna take a nap and dream about him?” Red said.

  “No. Lorin gave us a data pod, didn’t she?”

  “Oh, right. Can we contact him with that?”

  “I believe that’s why she gave it to us,” Tam said and pulled his out of his pocket.

  The device looked like a small calculator but had no number or letter keys. Tam held it up to his face and said, “Leek. Where are you?”

  The words he spoke were displayed on the face of the pod. A moment went by and then there was a reply. “I’m at the Cathedral in Rhule. Are you close by?”

  “Yes, we’re at the farm. We’ll come find you.”

  “No, I’m about done here. Wait there. Sgt. Hawkh and I are leaving now. Watch out for the TGA. They’re looking for the nanomites.”

  “Okay. We’ll keep our eyes peeled. See you soon.”

  Tam looked at Red. “Pretty nice, huh?”

  “Yeah. How does it work?”

  “It’s just the cheap version of the GC. It bounces its signal off of orbiting satellites. It’s only good for communication between a limited number of people. In this case it will allow Leek, you, and me to communicate with each other.”

  “Doesn’t the TGA control all of the satellites?”

  “Yes, but they can’t keep us from bouncing our signals off of them.”

  “Yeah, but can’t they intercept the messages?”

  “True, but they are encrypted, so getting the message won’t do them any good.”

  “They don’t have code breakers?”

  “Yes, but it will take them time to break an encryption and they are changed randomly each time you use the device.”

  “That’s impressive. Can I get one?” John asked.

  Tam shrugged. “I don’t know. We’ll have to ask Leek when we see him.”

  Less than a kyloon later they saw a cloud of dust in the distance. They got in their fighters and readied them for takeoff in case it was the TGA. As the dust cloud got closer they saw it was just a single transporter. Two men were in the cab and one on the bed watching over a single crate containing nanomite swarms.. They relaxed, figuring it must be Leek, and got out of their planes. The transporter came to a stop in front of them and Leek, Rhin, Sgt. Hawkh and an old man got out. Tam and Leek embraced.

  “It’s a relief to see you. When those hovertanks came blasting their way through the base, I was afraid they’d catch you. I’ve never seen anything so destructive.”

  “We managed to hide from the hovertanks and with Rhin’s help escaped the infantry and a couple of copters.”

  “Good girl, Rhin,” Tam said, starting to pat her on the back, but then thought better of it when she gave him the evil eye. “You’ll have to tell us all about it later. Right now, we need to get out of here before the TGA spots us.”

  “Good idea. We’ll need to load that crate on the plane.”

  “What’s in it?” Tam asked.

  “Nanomites.”

  “Really. Why are we bringing them with us?”

  “If they are going to help us against Videl, I need to be able to keep in contact with them.”

  “Makes sense.”

  “Where are we going?” Leek asked.

  “To your new headquarters. You’re about to take over command of the 3rd Army.”

  Leek frowned. “What?”

  Tam smiled. “Come on. I’ll tell you about it on the way.”

   

   

   

  Essyria Bruda thrashed back and forth in her bed. She had been devastated by her husband’s capture. She was used to communicating him telepathically when he was away and not being able to feel his presence in her mind was unsettling. She had gone with him to Shini to help him carry out the assassination of Chancellor Garcia and had narrowly escaped capture herself. She wondered why she could not make contact with him. Was he dead?

  That was one possibility but Loyalist Command had reported that Rupra had been captured and was being held in a detention facility near Shini. She didn’t think there would be any reason to lie about something like that, unless the Loyalist were hoping there would be a rescue attempt. That certainly was being planned, but realistically it would be difficult to pull off. She finally decided they must have him in a cell underground or one fortified with lead or some other type of material that would make telepathic communication impossible.

  Nobody really knew how mental telepathy worked. There were many theories. She personally liked the wave theory—that mental thoughts were unleashed in waves that traveled endlessly in all directions, through any substance without obstruction and at speeds greater than light. The tricky part about mental telepathy was having the ability to differentiate between the billions of waves passing by any one person. People in close proximity had no problem picking up these waves because they were strong and both parties were focusing their attentions on receiving them, but it would be nearly impossible to do that with someone on the other side of the globe, unless both parties had previously made contact and had each other’s telepathic signatures. It was theorized that once you had someone’s signature your mind could pick that person’s waves out of the multitudes quite easily.

  If the wave theory were right she should be able to communicate with Rupra no matter where he was unless he was sick or had suffered some sort of brain injury. Her stomach tightened at the thought. She looked at the clock and was relieved to see it was 0600—time to get up. After drinking two cups of sankee and a leaberri muffin, she took the subtram to the Capitol Building where her office was located. Her secretary greeted her with another cup of sankee and told her the Chancellor had scheduled a General Staff meeting at 0900.

  After reviewing the intelligence reports for the previous night, she gathered her things and walked to the Chancellor’s office. Lt. Muri intercepted her along the way and warned her the Chancellor was in a bad mood.

  “What’s the matter?”

  “Bad news on the war front?”

  “You’re kidding. I thought we had the mutants on the run?”

  Lt. Muri shrugged. “We do, but we’ve lost some hovertanks.”

  “What?” Essyria exclaimed, shocked by the news.”

  After they had taken their seats Chancellor Lai called the meeting to order. “General Bratfort. I have heard some troubling reports that we have lost some of our hovertanks.”

  The general swallowed hard. “Yes, sir. I’m afraid that is true.”

  “How can that be? The mutants couldn’t possibly have any weapons that could hurt a hovertank?”

  “No, they don’t. It was a coordinated assault by three T-47s stolen from us at Pogo Island.”

  “You mean the ones Peter Turner and his friends took?”

  “Yes, but not the one the Liberator took himself.”

  “Don’t call him that!” Videl said. “He’s just an ordinary soldier.”

  “Right. Two of his friends were assigned those planes and the third was stolen from Ock Mezan several weeks ago.”

  “So, how many did we lose?”

  “Thirteen.”

  “Thirteen!” How could that be?”

  “Apparently they discovered a vulnerability we hadn’t anticipated. By using thr
ee fighters in a coordinated attack they overloaded our defensive systems which allowed the first fighter to circle back and lock on to hovertank when all its defenses were otherwise engaged.”

  “I can’t believe this! Have you talked to our engineers? Is there a way to fix the problem?”

  “No. It would take many phases to modify the weaponry. A simple solution is to make sure we have a couple anti-aircraft missile launchers traveling close by each hovertank. If we do that we will be able to prevent any of the fighters from circling back for a second shot.”

  “How long will it take to get missile launchers in place?”

  “Just a few days.”

  The Chancellor shook his head. “We can’t afford delay. We must hit the Loyalist while they are weak and unorganized.”

  “Two days shouldn’t make a difference,” General Bratfort said. “We all but destroyed the small air force they had. What’s left they will have to pull back to defend their capital. I wouldn’t be too concerned about the situation.”

  “Perhaps, but don’t underestimate Threebeard. I have done that before and regretted it.”

  “Don’t worry. Threebeard may know how to make lots of money running taverns, but he’s had limited military training and no experience and General Zitor is only a mediocre tactician. I promise you the war will be over in thirty days.”

  “I’m going to hold you to that promise, General.”

  Essyria wasn’t comforted by General Bratfort’s confidence. She knew Threebeard very well and knew defeating him wouldn’t be easy, but she kept her mouth shut not seeing any advantage in playing devil’s advocate.

  “General,” Essyria asked. “I noticed in some of the intelligence reports I was reviewing this morning that some several rhutz took down some jet copters during the battle. How is that possible?”

  General Bratfort shrugged. “The reports must be wrong. I’m looking into it. The two copters must have had mechanical problems.”

  “That’s a very disturbing report, General,” the Chancellor said. “Let me know just as soon as you get to the bottom of it. That reminds me, Essyria. How are the Nanomite exterminations going? I don’t want to give them a chance to infiltrate our cities. You know what havoc they can cause if that happens.”

  “Extermination crews went out immediately when you gave the order and many swarms were neutralized, but many swarms have disappeared and are in hiding.”

  “What are you going to do about it? We can’t let a single swarm survive. You know how fast they multiply.”

  “Yes, indeed. We are searching for them diligently and questioning any known contacts or sympathizers. Unfortunately, it is a very tedious task.”

  “Yes, but one I trust you will continue to pursue with tenacity.”

  “Absolutely, Mr. Chancellor.”

  Evohn Cystrom leaned forward. “General. I have heard that thousands of mutant soldiers have fled into the Doral Mountains.”

  “Yes, that’s true.”

  “What are we doing about that?”

  “Nothing. They are weak and disorganized. Most of them will starve to death in a few weeks.”

  “Don’t you think we should send troops in to track them down and kill them.”

  “No. No.” The Chancellor said. “We need all of our troops concentrated on the Loyalist armies to the North. The mutant army has been destroyed. Let what’s left of them cower in the mountains. After we have taken Shini we’ll come back and put them out of their misery.”

  Lt. Cystrom nodded but didn’t look happy. Essyria wondered if the Chancellor wasn’t making a mistake. The reports of rhutz taking down copters and hovertanks being destroyed by obsolete fighters was unsettling. She wondered if they all were missing something, but she couldn’t put her finger on what it might be.