The Expendable Few: A Spinward Fringe Novel (23 page)

Davi could barely hold down the urge to pistol whip him. “I’m a patriot, you half-wit fuck up. I always will be. If I knew that getting back into the service would change Freeground for the better, I’d move worlds to get back in, but they’ll never stop watching me. If I so much as litter near the Parliamentary Chambers, they’ll throw my ass in jail or send me to the furthest end of Freeground space to some asteroid post. Instead, I’m going to have to make my way alone, like you.”

“Samuel,” Judge said, calming Davi down. “Don’t be so sure you’ll be alone out here. We all need someone to watch our six.”

“Don’t know what your problem with me is,” Kipley said peevishly. “But the ape-man is right.”

“Now you’re overestimating your place with us when we get free,” Judge told Kipley. “You still have to earn a spot on that shuttle.”

“What did he do to get pressed into service?” Remmy asked, nodding at Kipley.

Judge pulled Kipley into a headlock and proclaimed, “he thought it would be funny to drop an empty grenade into his C.O.’s lap at a bar near post.”

“And you?” Mary asked Judge.

“I got disavowed on mission,” Judge replied, releasing Kipley. “But headed home anyway. Had to see my three girls, even if it took years of good behaviour in the stockade.”

“What kind of mission?” Remmy asked.

“Snatch-and-grab on Persephone Four. Got there in time to see our guy get killed, was caught in the open, and Intelligence thought I was the one who exposed our target as a Freeground spy. I didn’t get close enough to mess things up that bad, but once Intelligence makes their mind up about something, there’s no changing it.”

“I thought you served with Davi?”

“I did, but went into special ops when he got locked up. Then, bam, first mission goes south,” Judge replied. “Just the luck.”

“Who was Freeground spying on?” Remmy asked.

“Never heard of the Persephone system before?” Judge asked. “It’s the nearest solar system owned by Regent Galactic. It’s probably been completely converted to Order of Eden by now. You think Freeground Intelligence is keeping their distance from the Order? Guess again.”

“So you’ve seen Regent Galactic civilized space?” Remmy asked.

“Only one city,” Judge answered.

Everyone stared at him as they waited for him to elaborate, especially Remmy. After sometime he finally asked. “And? What was it like?”

“It’s a lifestyle experience tailored to suit your every need,” Judge said in an uncharacteristically chipper tone. “That’s what the artificial intelligences like to tell the more talented residents, but everyone has more than they need unless you’re talentless and luckless. It’s pretty easy to earn a lot of credit with the corps there, but living there is expensive, so you need to keep working to keep your credit level up. The poorer you are, the fewer freedoms you have.”

“Sounds like a great place to live if you’re talented,” Remmy said.

“Yeah, but talent isn’t everything. You have to be pretty social,” Judge said. “From what I saw, some pretty intelligent people went real deep into debt. Companies used to buy people for their debts, or jail them. Now they join the Order of Eden, who clears their debt in exchange for a long service contract.”

“Seems they’ve got so many ways to trap people,” Mary said.

Davi hadn’t heard the stories of Judge’s time in Regent Galactic space, but wasn’t surprised. The big soldier wasn’t typically forthcoming about his experiences unless asked a direct question. Silence settled over the group until they reached a bend in the tunnel and met their contacts.

“Clear waters, Mentor Losame,” Mary said, raising open arms to an issyrian that Davi found difficult to look at. The better part of one side of the man’s head was held together by a fine latticework of rods and strands. If it weren’t for the transparent helmet he wore, and the suspension fluid within, his head would fall over onto his crudely shaped, bulbous shoulder. Most of the people with him were undergoing similar, but less grisly repair processes. They were the roughest looking dozen issyrians Davi had seen. They carried large crates like pack animals. Extra tendrils extended from their torsos to the ground to add strength and support. It never occurred to Davi that being a shapeshifter could provide extra strength, but these diseased ones proved it.

“I am glad to see you, Mary,” replied Mentor Losame.

Emiss touched Losame’s chest with her bare hand and nodded. “It’s time for you and your people to come with us. The humans are moving in to the cities west of here.”

“I would be hesitant,” Losame said. “Except there is already a raid planned on the old spawning pools.”

“Mentor,” interrupted a healthier looking issyrian. “They have humans with them. They cannot be trusted.”

“I felt your objection before it was spoken, Itirit,” Losame replied. “Your ignorance would blind us to opportunities, like trustworthy allies.”

“Can you give us directions to the spawning pools?” Mary asked. “I’d like to do something about that.”

Emiss’ group of issyrians started to take some of the supplies and share the load as she regarded Mary. “That is above the call,” she said. “It also may be too easy for you to lose life.”

“If you want Mentor Losame’s people to have an easy time getting to Trest Under City, they’ll need a distraction. Besides, we need equipment.”

“Then I’ll leave the decision to you, as you’ve been correct in your actions until now,” Emiss said.

“I’ll give you directions,” Mentor Losame said. “Thank you very much.”

“We need weapons anyway,” Mary said. “And these humans need to stretch their legs.”

“We’re starting a firefight?” Kipley asked no one in particular. “That’s the best news since I got here.”

Davi recalled the images of issyrian homes from Patterson’s neural report, and upon seeing them with his own eyes, at street level, he realized that the man hadn’t taken a good look. A lot of the report indicated that Patterson was so focused on his mission that he missed a lot of details.

The stench Davi and his people encountered in Trest was in the winding streets, but to a much lesser extent. The homes were bulbous things, round globes piled atop and against each other and dried. Impoverished, seemingly bored issyrians peered at them through dark oval doorways.

“This is Rolue, a city built in the bottom of a dried lake,” said Emiss as she returned from telling several households that there was a raid coming. “Their homes are made from incubation sacs, they harden when dry.”

“So these are all kids?” asked Kipley.

“No, idiot,” Emiss said as she split off again, heading for the next cluster of homes. Expectant issyrians waited for her with worried expressions.

“Their children are dead,” Mary said flatly. “Their broods need to incubate in an underwater clutch.”

“What the hell is a clutch anyway? I thought it was some kind of bag,” Kipley replied.

“It’s a group of eggs. Issyrians fertilize in groups, so the children belong to the whole community, it’s one of the reasons why they’re a peaceful people by nature.”

“Nasty,” Kipley said with a shudder.

“Best if you stop talking now,” Judge growled.

Emiss returned to them, looking more anxious. “The Order soldiers have been seen just ahead,” she said, pointing up a pathway.

“That’s our cue, time to buy these people time,” Mary said.

“Are you sure these can be trusted?” one of Emiss’ issyrian companions asked, eying Kipley up and down.

“They’ll fight for you, don’t worry,” Remmy said.

“Or I’ll kill them myself,” Mary added.

They began the quick jog up the path, between green and brown stained issyrian homes that were quickly emptying. “Sir, I have to advise you,” Tamera said in as low a whisper as she could manage while being heard. “If you open fire on Order of Eden soldiers you’ll be in direct violation of your orders. There will be no way you or any of your people will be able to return to the ranks of any arm of Freeground military.”

“That’s if you and your Gretch report us,” Davi replied. “None of us have neural recorders, they wouldn’t let any of us near them if we did.”

“He’s right, this can be swept right under the rug,” Remmy said. “Just in case any of you really want to go back.”

“You don’t?” Kipley asked Remmy.

“Hell no, there’s a mess here. If you have any heart at all, you’ll want to help out. Maybe if I survive this, I’ll be able to go see that great big galaxy out there too. Why would I want to go back to an overgrown space-can?”

“The fucking smell alone is enough to get me wishing I was back in that can,” Kipley said. “Don’t get me wrong, I’ll fight for you because I follow Davi’s lead - he keeps me alive - but I can’t wait to get back home. Freeground might be an old can, but she’s safer than this place, probably any place.”

“That ends if you open fire here,” Tamera reinforced.

“We’ll see if you get to make that report, bitch,” Kipley said so casually that it caught most of them by surprise. “Sleep with one eye open.”

Davi wasn’t surprised. Kipley could be easy to talk to one moment, and borderline psychopathic the next. “Stow it, Kipley. This mission is staying out of their reports because it’s the only way for us to gain the issyrians’ trust in a short amount of time. We’ll just make sure the Order doesn’t find out that we were from Freeground, that’s all. Just a bunch of travellers who sympathize with the people here.”

“You can’t dictate what I tell Intelligence, nor is it my place to decide how they act on the information I give them,” Tamera replied.

“Keep that up and I might start agreeing with Kipley,” Judge told her.

“We don’t have time to discuss it,” Davi said. Mary was listening to everything from where she led the group at the front. He had to bring this to a close in the issyrian’s favour. “This is happening right now. You only have a few seconds to decide if throwing in with these people is worth the mission’s objective. If you think there’s another way, or you can’t help, you’re on your own.”

Tamera thought for a moment, looking from Davi, to the ground at her feet, to Mary and back at Davi. “It’s the only way to gain the issyrians’ trust in time.”

“Tamera,” her Gretch objected from behind her. “This is premeditated and exactly the situation we were supposed to prevent.”

“Not at the expense of the mission.”

“That’s not specified,” he replied.

“You’re new to field Intelligence, so I’ll spell it out for you,” Tamera replied. “When you’re on your own, stripped of mission critical resources, like our cloak suits, emergency beacons, and high-trans comm gear, then you have to think on your feet and do the best you can.”

“Yes, Ma’am,” he replied.

“You’re here and you can help a few hundred people escape whatever these soldiers have planned,” Mary said. “This is how people really make a difference out here. I know it’ll be hard because it’s the opposite of Freeground Intelligence’s ‘watch, wait, and withdraw’ strategy, but I’m sure you’ll get the idea.”

The panicked shouts and screams ahead were all the group of humans needed to get them moving faster up the hill. A gust of wind sent fine sand down the path and into Davi’s eyes. He never missed his combat vacsuit more. He’d be helmeted and well protected if they were on a sanctioned mission, but he was getting the feeling that he’d never see that combat armour or orders sanctioned by the Freeground Military again.

They reached the top and took cover in a couple of entrances there. Looking down the hill they could see retreating issyrians to the west and, just around the bend, two squads of Order soldiers in dark blue and green carapace-like armour were marching purposefully. Davi scanned the houses on the corner down the hill and spotted a crowd of issyrians gathering, slowly starting to move away from the oncoming soldiers. “They won’t see them in time!” he said, pointing out the cover at the bottom of the hill to Judge and Kipley.

“I’ll take point,” Kipley said as he launched into a run.

Mary almost lurched after him, following his lead, but Davi grabbed her shirt and shook his head. “Wait until I finish counting to ten,” he told her. He watched Kipley expertly duck from one good cover point to the next with impressive speed. “Now, go!” All the humans followed Mary and Davi as they followed Kipley’s path.

“He’s good. I’m surprised,” Mary said.

“Best point man I’ve ever served with,” Davi replied as they ducked behind a crumbling wall, halfway down the side of the hill opposite the one they’d climbed. As soon as Davi broke cover he saw Kipley signalling for them to rush down the opposite side of the street. He was already setting up on a firing perch above one of the rounded roofs. The soldiers wouldn’t see him; he was dug in and well under cover.

“Too bad he’s a complete ass outside of a firefight,” Remmy said, out of breath.

“Guy doesn’t fit in anywhere else,” Judge replied. “He’d have a chest full of medals if he didn’t fight the chain of command.”

They finished their run to the corner and easily found cover between the cluster of small homes. Davi was able to climb atop one, across from the one on which Kipley perched. The soldiers would pass through the intersection right in front of them. They came within sight, and were within firing range of their rippers when he saw their leader, a man in heavier armour signal the double column to stop.

Two issyrians burst from one of the homes just ahead of the soldiers, and without hesitation one soldier stepped forward with a large bore rifle and fired. The slow moving round that popped from the weapon sailed through the air and burst right behind the soldier’s target, throwing a cone of webbing material forward. The issyrians were stunned by an energy burst and trapped in position as millions of strands caught them upright.

“This is a capture mission? What are their plans for them?” Davi asked.

“Medical research, Doctor Marcelles says. Maybe to develop new medical tech,” Remmy said.