Guerilla (12 page)

He walked to the back of the crawler and saw a number of protective black cases inside the crates. He'd been wrong about the shooters working on a drug lab. They'd been stealing plants, mushrooms, and other flora.

“Were they making drugs?” Jahup asked.

“No.” Sage picked up one of the protective cases and scanned the information contained on it. “They were bio­pirates. Gathering up samples.” He put the case back and stared around the jungle. “I don't know if this is all of them, so let's be careful looking.”

1151 Hours Zulu Time

The biopirates had operated from a small camp set up in a tree hut constructed eight meters from the ground. The hut was five meters by five meters and two stories tall. Lab tools and a small kitchen occupied the lower floor and bedrolls were on the second floor.

There were no other biopirates.

The dead were a mixed bunch. Two of them were Tyxetis, who were mostly humanoid but had double-­jointed limbs, and hooves instead of feet. Two of them were Terran. And the remaining one was a Worall, a being covered with light green fur and an opossum's narrow features.

Three of them were in the criminal database in Sage's files. Two of those were wanted for murder in addition to other crimes.

“They might have been stealing plants,” Jahup said as he stood at the lab on the first floor of the hut, “but that wasn't all they were doing.”

The hut was dark with shadows due to the mosquito netting that covered the windows. Evidently the transplas sheets hadn't kept all of the bugs out. Or maybe the netting was part of the hut's disguise.

“What do you mean?”

Jahup tapped a transplas container where yellow spores sprouted on a piece of rotting meat under a grow light. “The spores are
vesgar
. They're hallucinogenic. The offworlders who trade in this call it Snakedream. When the spore is properly prepared and ripe, you burst it and breathe it in. The spore dust moves slowly and comes up in a twisting stream.” He took his hand back. “If it's not prepared correctly, it causes brain death.”

“That doesn't sound like something someone not from this world would know,” Sage pointed out.

“
Vesgar
occurs naturally in the jungle,” Jahup replied. “
Honits
, small flying lizards, eat the
austa
plants that grow at the top of the canopies. The
honit
can't digest the seeds. If the
honit
dies before it can pass the seeds, which happens when a predator fails to kill them, the seeds turn into spores. But only in
honits
.”

“Why?”

Jahup shrugged. “We don't know. My ­people learned to stay away from
vesgar
. We destroyed it where we found it. It is the offworlders who have turned it into
product.
They are the ones who embraced the evil the spores contain.” Anger colored the young man's words.

Sage thought about the attack on the fort that had happened that morning. He wondered how Jahup would react to that. The boy was torn between two worlds as it was.

“The biopirates didn't learn about
vesgar
on their own,” Sage said. “Someone had to tell them about it. Someone had to show them how to cultivate it and prepare it.”

“I know.” Jahup faced Sage. “But your ­people brought the temptation to my world. If your ­people had never arrived, we would not have the problems we're now facing.”

“My ­people are here to help,” Sage replied. “The Army isn't like all offworlders.”

“Yet some of them have cooperated with the drug manufacturers and others who steal from us.”

“That's right. Some of them have. But most of us haven't. We're here because we want your ­people to get a fair shake on the interplanetary scene. You've worked with us. You've seen that.”

Jahup looked like he wanted to say something, but he didn't.

“Would you have shown an offworlder how to find
vesgar
?” Sage asked.

“Never.”

“Why?”

“Because it is evil.”

“Yeah, I heard you say that. But one of your ­people showed somebody, Jahup. That's how ­people are. Not all of them have the same values. When ­people are given choices, they don't always do the right thing.”

“No!
We
were not like that. Not until the arrival of your ships. Not until you brought your war to us.”

“The war was going to find you,” Sage said quietly. “It's been headed this way for a while. We didn't bring it. We're trying to stop it. We're trying to protect your world.”

“Can you?” Jahup demanded.

Hearing the harsh, ragged fear in the boy's voice, Sage realized that the anger wasn't from the discovery of the
vesgar
. And it wasn't anger. It was fear about the Phrenorian base. Seeing that fortress out in the jungle, knowing what it was, had made the war more immediate to Jahup. His world was suddenly more fragile than he'd thought it could be.

“Can you stop the Phrenorians?” Jahup asked. “Because if you can't, if my ­people make the wrong choice by joining you, then they will be killed by the Phrenorians.”

“If you work with the Phrenorians, they'll make slaves of you. I've seen it happen. They'll strip this world down to nothing, take everything they want, and leave you ­people to die. If you're not dead before they accomplish that.” Sage met Jahup's gaze. “You and your ­people don't get the luxury of sitting this one out. If nothing else, that base we found should tell you that. The Phrenorians want Makaum, and they'll take it if they can. If we hadn't come—­if the Army hadn't come—­Makaum would have been lost to the corps and then to the Phrenorians. One of the problems we have facing us now is that your ­people are trying to stay out of things, not choose one side or the other. That's not going to save you.”

For a moment longer, Jahup stared at Sage, searching for something, but Sage had no clue what the boy was looking for. Sage knew the decisions were hard. He'd seen his mother and her family have to make similar decisions when war had ravaged their country in South America. At the time, Sage had been young, but the things he'd seen, all the death and carnage, had stuck with him.

In the end, his mother had lost her country, her home, and things had never been the same for her again despite her husband and son.

Sage put a hand on Jahup's shoulder. “All I can promise you, Jahup, is that I'm not going to quit on you. I'll be here. I'm not going to leave.”

Jahup nodded. “Not everything is in your hands, though, Sergeant.” He turned and walked away.

Sage watched the boy go, knowing there was nothing he could say.

 

THIRTEEN

Outer Perimeter

Fort York

1413 Hours Zulu Time

A
head of Sage, Jahup passed through one of the checkpoints to the fort. The gates slid smoothly to the sides as the RDCs approached, already alerted by Sage when he sent their identification on ahead. The boy stood up on the crawler and took note of the constructor bots repairing the damage to the training building. New steel gleamed in the afternoon sunlight on the patched portion of the fence that had been burned through.

Jahup slowed down and almost stopped.

Sage rode up beside him and opened the comm link between them. “Come on. We've got a lot to do.”

“You knew about this?” Accusation rang in Jahup's voice.

“I knew.” Sage wasn't going to lie to him.

“You didn't tell me?”

“No, I didn't. We were concentrating on getting back alive. You didn't need to be distracted about this then. We couldn't do anything about this while we were out there.”

“What happened?”

“We'll talk about that when we get inside.”

Jahup sped up through the gate and raced toward the blocky motor-­pool building, where crawlers, Bubbles, and other rolling stock sat outside in neat rows. Jumpcopters occupied the top two floors.

Sage noticed that the motor pool had more armed soldiers standing guard today than normal, but didn't know if that was in response to the attack or to the fact that Jahup was riding in. He sped up and followed the boy into the massive building.

“You're late, Top.” Colonel Halladay stood in the doorway of the hallway leading from the motor pool dressed in a hardsuit. His helmet was adhered magnetically to his hip and he carried a Roley slung over his shoulder. The colonel didn't usually carry an assault rifle through the fort.

Sage leaned the RDC on its side and booted the kickstand into place. Jahup parked his crawler beside Sage's. He fidgeted, as if uncertain what to do, but Sage knew he was upset.

Sage took off his helmet, slung it at his hip, and saluted. Halladay returned the salute, and Sage was aware that the three of them held the attention of all the motor-­pool personnel in the cavernous space.

“We ran into some trouble on the way, Colonel,” Sage replied.

Halladay glanced at the new scars on the RDCs and frowned. “What trouble?”

“Biopirates, sir. We were on them before we knew it. They reacted and Jahup and I were forced to defend ourselves. There were casualties, and we shut down another operation.”

“We'll talk about that later.” Halladay waved a hand. “You two follow me.” He led the way down into the underground hallway that connected all the buildings.

1422 Hours Zulu Time

“What happened to the fort?” Jahup demanded. He emulated Sage, standing in front of the colonel's desk at parade rest.

Sage throttled the urge to dress Jahup down. If Jahup had been a regular soldier, he would have.

A nerve twitched high up on Halladay's cheek and he hesitated just a moment before taking his seat. “You're a recent recruit, Private Jahup, and not fully trained in how chain of command works, so I'm going to ignore the tone you're presently taking with a superior officer. If, however, you were regular army and completely trained, you'd be in the brig in two minutes. Are we clear?”

Jahup's jaw flexed and he nodded.

Sage cleared his throat.

Glancing at him, Jahup realized his mistake and quickly returned his attention to the colonel. “Yes sir. We're clear.”

“Good. Now the two of you have a seat and let's talk about what you found. Then we'll talk about the fort.”

1447 Hours Zulu Time

Since Sage and Jahup hadn't learned much, actually, about the Phrenorian base other than it existed and Zhoh GhiCemid had been there for reasons unknown, though he didn't look like he was in control, what they knew to tell didn't take long, but it gave them a lot to think about.

Halladay had a steward bring in sandwiches and black coffee and they ate while they talked.

“You don't know how much of the base is underground?” Halladay asked.

“No sir.” Sage set his coffee cup on the colonel's desk and knew he shouldn't have drunk it. With the residual effects of the stimpack still rattling around in his system, he felt restless. He needed some serious rack time, but he didn't think that was likely to happen anytime soon. Not until the ambush was dealt with.

The colonel leaned back in his chair and took a breath, then made notes on his PAD. “What would you put out there, Top?”

“If I was going to attempt to take this planet from an opposing military force?”

Halladay nodded. “I can't see any other reason for the Sting-­Tails to build a stockpile out there.”

“I'd put in everything I could. Rolling stock. Air support. Powersuits. Weps.”

Jahup's hands knotted, but he didn't say anything. It might have been easier to have the discussion without the young man present, but Sage knew they would have had a fight on their hands. He was sure the colonel knew that too. Jahup had already seen the base—­twice. He'd assured Sage and Halladay that he hadn't told anyone else.

“I would too,” Halladay said. “We need to find out what they have in there.”

“The Phrenorians are breaking treaty,” Jahup said. “Tell the Quass what the Phrenorians have done.”

Halladay turned to Jahup. “What have they done?”

“They have put a fortress out there and filled it with weapons.”

“Did you see any weapons?” Halladay kept his voice quiet and calm.

Jahup hesitated. “No, but—­”

“Then we can't tell the Quass the Phrenorians are stockpiling weapons.”

“Why else would they have it there?”

“For research purposes. Just like their treaty says they can. They're identifying flora and fauna just like our science teams are, and like the corps are doing. All according to treaty.”

“The Quass can demand to see what is out there,” Jahup said. “That is also according to treaty.”

“Okay, let's say the Quass throws its weight around, that
enough
Quass members agree to pull rank and demand a review from the Phrenorians to challenge them for a look inside that secret installation of theirs. And you know many members of the Quass are looking at the Phrenorians for support, not us, because the Phrenorians want
all
Terrans gone from Makaum.”

Jahup's mouth and eyes tightened and his shoulders rounded. Getting the Quass to agree to risk offending the Phrenorians was next to impossible and Sage knew the boy was aware of that.

“But let's, for the moment, imagine how such a visit would go,” Halladay continued. “The most passive way would be to allow a review team made up of Quass to visit the site. They bring the Quass members in, show them around, show them all the science experiments and observations they've been doing. Most of that isn't going to be anything those Quass members will know anything about.”

Jahup's cheeks darkened with anger, but he kept himself in check. He knew the limitations of his ­people.

“So they see nothing out of the ordinary because the Phrenorians have hidden their secrets really well. It's what I would do.” Halladay's face remained grim. “But there's another way such a demand by the Quass could go. Feeling pressured, knowing they're about to be exposed, the Phrenorians could decide that then was as good a time to spring their attack as any and they'll kill those Quass members.” He paused. “Then this sprawl becomes the battleground that the Terran Army is here to prevent.”

Horror widened Jahup's eyes.

Sage knew the boy had been thinking about such a thing. The attack by DawnStar on Sage and Kiwanuka in the sprawl marketplace had nearly destroyed one of the Makaum ­people's oldest landmarks. That had been the first time the Makaum had had a taste of what was coming if war broke out, and it had split the Quass and the populace even more. Some of the ­people and the Quass had faulted the Terran Army for causing violence to erupt in the sprawl, and others had seen the Phrenorians as saviors because Zhoh GhiCemid had taken advantage of the moment and ridden to the rescue.

“Then the Phrenorians have won,” Jahup said quietly.

“No,” Halladay replied. “They haven't. Since we know about the base, now we can do something about it. If we can figure out more about the base, we can launch a preemptive strike.”

“You mean just attack them?”

“Yes.”

“If you do that, you'll be breaking the treaty.”

“
Before
we do that, if we can, we have to win the Quass over to us.”

“Do you think telling them about the base will convince them there is a threat?”

“If you hadn't seen it, would you believe it?”

Jahup didn't reply.

Halladay tapped his pad. “Why do you think that fortress is filled with weapons? Because Sage told you it was?”

“No, because putting weapons out there would be the smart thing to do. It's like when I lead a band hunting a
quekton
. I station hunters in front of and behind the
quekton
in case we don't bring it down quickly. You put spears and bows in the bush to protect your flank.”

Halladay shook his head. “Sounds like a good assessment, but I don't know what a
quekton
is.”

“It's one of the native lizards, sir,” Sage said. “Dinosaur-­sized. Mean, ugly, and smelly. Hard to kill.” He'd only seen a few of them out in the jungle and he'd given them a wide berth.

“They're intelligent too,” Jahup added. “Natural predators, and trying to take them out in the jungle is dangerous. We only hunt them when we're desperate for meat, when the hunting has been scarce. Which it has been more and more since offworlders have moved further away from the sprawl.”

That had been the outlaw drug labs and biopirates. Some of the hunting bands had been attacked by offworlder criminals defending their turf.

“With these extra bows and spears in place, your odds of taking the
quekton
increase,” Halladay stated.

“Yes,” Jahup agreed.

“Do you think most of the Quass will think like you think?” Halladay asked. “That the Phrenorian base is filled with weapons?”

Jahup let out a disgusted breath. “No. Most of my ­people have never been hunters. They've lived in the sprawl and tended gardens and built homes. My grandmother tells me our ­people have gotten soft. Back in the Dark Times, after the Crash, our ancestors had to learn to survive. Mostly they hunted and stayed on the run. Not much technology survived with them, and they had to abandon the ship for many years because the jungle there was so hostile. By the time they were able to return, not much of the ship was usable, and the survivors didn't know how to use it anyway. The captain and crew had died.”

“We have to find a way to prove that the Phrenorian threat exists,” Halladay said, “and do it at a time we can take advantage of that. Do you understand?”

“I'm a hunter,” Jahup replied. “Of course I understand. You build a trap and you have to wait for your prey.”

“Good. In the meantime, you can't tell anyone about this. Only Sage, you, and your team will be given information about the base. We have to keep it quiet until we have leverage.”

“I understand, but I don't like the idea of keeping this a secret from my grandmother.”

“I don't either,” Halladay admitted. “I'm going to draw a lot of heat from my general when I tell him, and if I tell him, he's going to have to tell the diplomats. If the diplomats get involved, nothing is going to get done and everyone will know only a little. So we've got to figure out what we're going to do and be quick about it.”

“The first thing we do is step up security around the fort,” Sage said. “Given the attack this morning, that will be easy enough and not put anyone on alert. The Phrenorians will expect us to be more agressive.”

“We've also got to decide how we're going to handle the attack,” Halladay said.

Sage knew that was true, and he knew that Halladay was concerned about affecting the tentative acceptance the Makaum showed to the military. “Doing nothing isn't the answer, sir.”

“No. But first we've got to find out who the attackers were.”

“I thought you had a witness.”

“I do, but she's not talking.”

Jahup leaned forward. “Who is the witness?”

“It would be better if you let us handle this,” Halladay responded.

“It has to be one of my ­people. No Phrenorian would give you information, and no corp member would tell you unless there was a payoff involved, and no other offworlder would want to get involved because he or she would be vulnerable to retribution.”

The young man was smart, quick to pick up on things. That was one of the things Sage respected about him.

Halladay flicked a glance over to Sage, letting him know he could choose how to play the situation.

“You're right, Jahup, it is one of your ­people,” Sage replied. Holding back the information wasn't possible. As soon as Jahup was out with the soldiers, or at least in the sprawl, he would know who the witness was. “Noojin was with Telilu and they saw the whole thing. Noojin alerted the soldiers who were in danger and probably saved their lives. But she's not telling us anything.”

Jahup took a moment to assimilate that. “Let me talk to her.”

Sage shook his head. “That's not going to happen. I'm going to talk to her first.”

Coolly, Jahup sat back and folded his arms over his chest. “She won't tell you anything.”

“She has to. I'll make her see that.”