Forging Zero (64 page)

“Just
us, Battlemaster,” Joe said.

Battlemaster
Nebil’s slitty eyes homed in on Joe in an instant.  “You.  Zero.  You sootwad. 
What did you do?”

“We
assaulted the enemy’s barracks and detained them for questioning, sir,” Joe
replied, finding it hard to keep a straight face.

Battlemaster
Nebil gave him a flat look.  “You what?”

“We
tied them up and drew on their faces.”

“How
many of them?” Nebil demanded.

“All of
them, sir.”  Several recruits around him snickered.

For a
moment, Nebil stared at him as if he had not heard.  Then, slowly, he said,
“Where are their clothes?”

“Submerged
in the baths in our barracks, sir,” Joe replied.

Nebil
glanced at the sky.  For a long time, he simply watched the reddish clouds,
looking like he was counting.  Then, dragging his head back down to face them,
Nebil said, “You furgs better pray they’re too stupid to look there.  If they
don’t catch you before tonight, I want all their clothes dumped inside the chow
hall and left there.  If anyone sees you, I’ll skin your fire-loving hides. 
Until then, you earned yourselves an extra hour of free time.  Get out of
here.”

#

After
their assault on Second Battalion, Joe began leading a nightly raid on the
enemy, sparing no one.  Every morning, several more platoons were found with a
‘0’ scrawled across their foreheads.  As long as Joe and the others were back
in their beds by wake-up, Nebil quietly ignored their nightly excursions.  He
even supplied them with new markers when they ran out of ink.

Joe and
Sasha came to a sort of understanding after the first night.  As long as Joe
followed her commands during the hunts, she kept her mouth shut and sometimes
even went with him on the night raids.  The other members of Joe’s ground
team—notably Libby and Monk—refused to speak with him on these occasions, of
the opinion that they should leave her behind, but Joe was determined to mend
the rift between them and let Sasha come anyway.

Joe was
having more fun than he’d ever had in his life, and for the first time, he felt
like he really had a purpose.  For their part, Fourth Platoon followed him
religiously on the raids.  Even during the daytime, battlemasters from other
platoons asked his advice on the deep den hunts.  And, for the first time since
coming to Kophat, Joe felt like he really had a purpose in life. 

To
lead
. 

He was
good at it.  The way the kids followed him made Joe’s chest swell with pride. 
Each night he took them on a raid, he fantasized about leading them into the
deepest, darkest Dhasha tunnels to root out a rebel prince and win the war.  Even
the thought of small spaces didn’t quell his fantasies. 

For the
first time, Joe realized he
wanted
to be a soldier.  He
wanted
to
lead a squad on some rebel planet.  He
wanted
to secure the win that
turned the tide of a battle.

He
wanted to be a hero.

CHAPTER
30: 
Elf’s Release

Tril
stifled a chuckle at seeing Lagrah’s assistant.  The girl had apparently been
sleeping in the barracks when Nebil’s platoon had struck.  A fading ‘0’ stood
out on her forehead in a childish scrawl.

Lagrah’s
recruit turned beet red under Tril’s stare, though she continued to hold her
message out for Tril to accept.  As expected, it was another invitation to a
hunt.  Lagrah’s pride had been wounded and only blood would ease his fury.

Excellent. 

Tril
nodded at the recruit battlemaster, who hurried from the room.

“It’s burning
hard to miss, isn’t it?” Commander Linin asked.  “Who do you think is leading
them?”

“Zero,”
Tril said reluctantly.

“Thought
so.  Everywhere the Fourth goes, heads burning turn,” Commander Linin said,
nodding.  “It’s like every other battalion out there turns into Takki pussies
when they go by.  They stand out like a Jreet hit squad.”

Tril felt
his sudah flutter excitedly.  “Really?”

Commander
Linin grunted the affirmative.  “Makes me burning proud to see it, I tell you.”

As Tril
watched the recruit battlemaster hurry away, an idea began to form…

#

Joe was
resting against a glistening black wall, enjoying one of the first moments of
true free time he’d had since the hunts with Second Battalion started.  He had
finished his task of unloading a haauk laden with prepackaged scum soup and was
now taking the moment to close his eyes and give his aching body a break. 

That
morning, Commander Tril had made the announcement that all of Sixth Battalion
was now required to roll up their sleeves.  Fourth Platoon, Joe included,
believed
they
had earned the sleeves, not the rest of the battalion. 
The complaining that followed had gotten them neck-deep in extra chores, with
no end in sight.   

Further,
Tril’s stepped-up training had been taking its toll.  Even with the green slime
Congress was feeding them, Joe was now feeling a constant, underlying
exhaustion in everything that he did.  He had even been forced to cut back on
the number of nightly raids in favor of more sleep.

Everyone
in Sixth was near the end of their resources, even the battlemasters.  Joe
didn’t know how much more training they could take.

Joe was
in the middle of a blissful, impromptu nap when he heard Elf’s whisper.

Joe
lunged up, glancing around to see if anyone had caught him sleeping. 

“Joe.” 
Elf crouched under a stone staircase, his scarred face twisted and almost unrecognizable
in the shadows.  An Ooreiki rash spread over half his head from someone’s rough
handling.  His sturdy Congie shirt was ripped at the neckline and he was
bleeding from several cuts along his jaw and cheek. 

It was
Elf’s fear that caught Joe’s attention.  He was afraid for his life—Joe
recognized the look from his time with Knaaren.  Elf was disheveled, insanity
shining in his eyes.  He was a totally different person than Joe had seen
earlier that morning, when Sasha sent him and Maggie off to rake gravel
somewhere deeper in the city.

“What’s
wrong?” Joe asked, getting to his feet.

Elf
licked his lips.  His eyes darted to the side, then he said, “You remember how
you said you’d take me home if I got you a ship?”

Joe
stared, uncomprehending.  “What?”

“A
ship,” Elf said.  “You told me to get a ship.”

“What
are you talking about?” Joe asked.  “Did you leave Maggie alone?”

“I
found one,” Elf said.

“Elf,
why aren’t you with—”

“I
killed her,” Elf interrupted.

Joe
felt a stab of dread.  “What?”

“I killed
her.  She had this egg sac on her back.  Like a burning spider.  I could see
them wiggling around in there, trying to get out.”  Elf’s eyes were wild,
pleading with Joe to understand.  “I saw them and I snapped.  I couldn’t take
it anymore.  You know what the Takki did to you.  They’re all aliens, Joe. 
Aliens
. 
Congress doesn’t need any more of them.  We’re the good ones, Joe.  Not them. 
They don’t deserve to live.”

Slowly,
Joe said, “Elf, did you just say you killed Maggie?”

Elf’s
wild-eyed look grew frustrated.  “No, the
pilot.
  I killed her and the
guard outside.  Rammed my knife in her neck and crushed all her maggots with my
rake.  Now we can all go home.”

Joe
stared, aghast.  “You killed an Ooreiki?”

“Lots
and lots of them,” Elf said, bobbing his head up and down happily.  “Now we can
all go home, just like you said, Joe.  We’ve got a ship.”

“A
ship?  What are you burning talking about?”

“Back
when we first met.  You said you’d take me home if I got you a ship.”

Joe did
not know what to say.  He opened his mouth several times but couldn’t find the
right words, knowing he was talking to a dead man.  Finally, “I don’t know how
to fly a ship, Elf.  None of us do.  You know that.”

Elf
nodded, smiling

“Elf,”
Joe said sharply, “Get out of here.  Go hide in the woods.  Okay? 
I’ll see if I can find Yuil.  Maybe she can help you.”

Elf’s
eyes darkened.  “No.”

“Elf…”
Joe started, moving toward him.

“No,”
Elf said, backing out of reach.  “I’m going on the ship.  I need you to fly it
for me like you said you would.”

Joe
stared at Elf in helplessness, wondering how much sanity remained behind his
feral eyes.  Slowly, he said, “I can’t fly a ship, Elf.  Only the aliens know
how to fly the ships.”

Elf
jerked, his expression turning to disbelief.  “But you said—”

“I
never
meant
it,” Joe snapped, desperation and fear pushing him over the
edge.  “I never thought you’d actually
try.
  Elf, you’ve gotta hide.”

Elf
suddenly sprang from the shadows, his torn lip quivering. 
“You were
supposed to take care of us!”

Joe
glanced around them to see if anyone had heard.  “Elf, listen.  Let me take you
to the edge of the city.  You can hide in the woods…”

“No! 
Help me, Joe,” Elf shouted.  “You said you would fly the ship if I found one
for you.  Now I found one and they’re gonna catch me if we don’t leave right
now!  We have to
go
!”  Elf reached out to grab his arm.  “Maggie ran
off, but you can still come.” 

“You’re
crazy!” Joe shouted.  “I can’t help you!” 

“Please
get me off this planet, Joe,” Elf said.  The insanity in his eyes was replaced
with a shot of fear.  “They’re gonna kill me.”

“You
need to hide, Elf.”  Joe felt a burning in his chest.  “I can’t fly a ship.” 

Elf
stared at the ground.  “I know.”  The whisper was almost too faint to make out.
“I knew it when I killed them.  I just couldn’t stop.  I thought…”  He looked
up, his hazel eyes bloodshot. “I thought maybe you could help me, Joe.”

“I
can’t,” Joe said.  “I never could.”

“Yeah,”
Elf said softly.  He wiped tears from his eyes.  “I learned that when Lord
Knaaren took me away.  Nobody tried to help me.  Everyone was too afraid.”  He
hesitated.  “I don’t know why I killed them.  I just…”  His voice cracked and
he glanced at the ground.  “I’ll go now.  I don’t want to get you in trouble,
too.”  He turned.

“Elf.”

His groundmate
turned, his hopeful expression that of a little boy’s.

“Let me
help you hide, Elf.”

His
friend’s face collapsed and he nodded.

It
wasn’t until he’d left Elf inside the abandoned building at the edge of the
city that Joe realized he was shaking.  He had no idea how to find Yuil.

#

Elf did
not return with Maggie that evening and Sasha was punished for it.  She, in
turn, blamed Joe and gave him pushups, which he did quietly and without
complaint. 

Joe did
not sleep that night.  After he had helped Elf hide at the edge of Alishai, he
had spent the night hours wandering outside the barracks, doing everything he
could think of to catch Yuil’s attention.  Yuil had never showed.

The
next morning, instead of going to the hunt that was scheduled that morning,
Battlemaster Nebil told them to leave their guns behind.

“Chins! 
Form them up outside and march them to the plaza.  Prime Commander Knaaren will
be there in an hour to inspect you.  He’s ordered all Ooreiki to stay behind,
so pray to your heathen Human gods that you don’t catch his attention.”  He
said the last looking at Joe.

Monk
tugged on Joe’s shirt, her face fearful.  “You think Elf—”

“Fourth
Platoon!” Sasha interrupted, scowling at Monk.  “Get down the stairs, you
ignorant furgs!” 

As
Sasha marched them to the plaza, awful scenarios played through Joe’s mind. 
Any human on the planet was either a slave or a recruit, and either one would
be punished for hiding.  Still, Joe had given Elf the akarit, and as long as he
kept his head down, he should be able to survive until Joe could find Yuil.

Second
Battalion was already waiting, looking crisp and professional—as long as one
didn’t pay too much attention to the fading 0’s scrawled across their
foreheads.  Sasha brought Fourth Platoon into Sixth Battalion’s place several
yards down the plaza and made a show of making sure none of her charges had
untucked shirts or poor stances.  Then she fell back into her spot at the head
of the platoon and they waited as the rest of Sixth Battalion arrived, their sleeves
crisply rolled.  Bannerless, with their sleeves rolled, Sixth Battalion stood
out sharply amongst the others, giving the impression they didn’t follow the
rules.  Joe caught several recruits from other battalions staring at them as
they formed up.