Prophet and the Blood March (Prophet of ConFree) (15 page)

"The Foxy Lady is the Hellcat. That's the original name, before we re-named it the Hellcat. Monk will be in it, like I told you. And maybe the buyer."

"They'll be coming here. Right? Or will they go to the alien ship first?"

"Don't know," she said. "Most likely they will come here first, show off the aliens to prove it's all real, talk, and make sure all is well before they bring the buyer to the ship. Which is the big money."

"Why haven't they called in yet?" the Prof asked.

"Base, Hellcat. Report." The comset in the instrument console came to life.

I slammed the Mocain into a chair before the cockpit and rested the barrel of my E against her temple.

"Answer them," the Prof said. "Make it real. If you say anything remotely suspicious, my friend will blow your head clean off your body. Got that?" The Mocain nodded grimly.

"Hey, Monk," she said calmly. "Welcome back. Did it all go all right?"

"Yeah, fine. We'll be there shortly. How about you? Did you round up the rest of those mutes?"

"We sure did, Monk. We got 'em all now."

"You didn't hurt 'em, did you?"

"Why, Monk, I'm surprised you would say that. You know how I detest violence."

Monk laughed heartily. "All right, we'll be landing in a bit. See you then."

"Good work, Miss Octopus," the Prof said. "Perhaps we'll let you live a bit longer, if you continue to prove useful. Just sit there and wait for further transmissions. We'll guide you on what to say."

"Does this mean I don't get my nipples?" I asked.

"Be patient, Prophet. Perhaps she'll make a mistake. Be patient. All right, Delta, this is Prof. A second pirate ship – the Hellcat – is going to be landing here shortly, most likely close to the Golden Summer. Bird, your pickup mission is cancelled. Stand by overhead to support us as necessary. Bees, Ice, I want those Brights out of this ship now. Prophet, Saka, get a cloaked hot line deployed for all the Brights. Activate it and accompany Bees and Ice with the Brights out of here and into the forest. Find a quiet place out of shooting range and guard them, maintain cloaking at all times. Doggie, Scout, Nitro, Smiley, maintain cloaking and deploy outside to target these new pirates. Bird, keep us alert on the location of the group that is headed this way on foot. Stand by one." The Prof turned his attention back to Miss Octopus.

"How many of your colleagues may disembark? How many total in the ship? Quickly!"

"Total of six Nightstalkers will prob debark immediately with two others remaining aboard to watch over the ship. Monk may have one or two others representing the buyer."

"Delta, Prof. Expect seven maybe eight to disembark with maybe two remaining onboard. Smiley, I want a stunstar on the group as they near the Golden Summer. I will be inside with Miss Octopus. I want the stunstar to net us some live prisoners. Kill anyone who's still moving after the star, I don’t want this to last long and I don't want any one of them getting into the Golden Summer. If the new ship launches, Bird, shoot it down. Doggie, does that meet with your approval?"

"Perfect, Prof. If you get tired of being a genius we can get you a slot as a squad leader."

"Bird reads and will do."

"All right, let's get moving, boys and girls – now!"

We splashed madly across the swamp to reach the forest opposite the site where the
Golden Summer
was hidden. I chose that stretch of forest rather than the one that partially surrounded the ship because the objective was to get the Brights safely away from the vicinity of the ship. We were all cloaked but moving flat out because we expected the
Hellcat
to land very soon. The
Vampire
was giving us a progress report and the
Hellcat
was dropping quickly. Saka and I led the column, holding the front of the activated cloak wire. The five Brights held onto it while running, and as long as they had a hand on the wire, the cloaking enveloped their bodies. Bees had explained it well – they all held on tight despite the run. Bees and Ice took up the rear, keeping the wire out of the swamp and relatively taut.

We ran past the ragged tree line and into the forest, and were soon surrounded by thick dark trees with massive leafy limbs blotting out the sky. I found a good spot; we unfolded a cloaktent pack and set up the tent, surrounded by mighty trees. When activated you could step inside and disappear from view or detection from the outside world while remaining visible to all who were inside. It was just what the Brights needed as they found the invisibility factor kind of spooky.

"Bees, stay in there with them," I said. "Saka, Ice, we guard outside. Saka, cover any approach from the forest side. Ice, you and I will cover that damned swamp. Anyone who tries to come at us through the swamp on foot is going to be exposed and vulnerable." The Prof had put me in charge. Why, I did not know. I found a good tree and settled in with my E, scoping out the
Golden Summer
, seemingly deserted, but actually covered very well by Doggie, Scout, Smiley and Nitro. With the Prof inside, in charge of the charming Miss Octopus.

I knew that I would very shortly be engaged in killing people that I did not know. For some unknown reason it did not concern me as much as it had in the past. I was still tense and nervous, but not quite ready to jump out of my skin. Mass murder – fine. That was my profession, after all. And it was for a good cause. These slavers were subhumans. They kidnapped, raped, murdered, enslaved, and bought and sold innocents. They did not deserve to live. And I could fix that.

Δ

The
Hellcat
glided over our heads serenely and slowed for touchdown, raising a wet spray of mud, leaves and debris. This was the former
Foxy Lady
, an impressively large luxury tourist yacht built like a gigantic blunt triangle with a very wide fuselage dotted with panoramic armored plex viewports. I could see the faded remnants of a colorful paint scheme but now it was a dirty, dark camo pattern.

The ship settled down not far from the
Golden Summer
and the vapor cloud slowly drifted down all around it. They didn't appear fearful of attracting attention, which told us that they were unaware of us, the overhead
Ruthie
, and the
Vampire
in orbit. Good!

"Delta, Doggie. The Hellcat has landed." Honey showed me that my blood pressure was rising, but I knew that already.

A door slid open in the fuselage and a landing ramp dropped into place. A few fracs later several men in A-vests came down the ramp. They were armed with SG's and looking around suspiciously. They paused at the foot of the ramp. It was getting dark fast, leaden violet clouds overhead.

"Delta, Prof. Octopus is going out to greet our visitors. The plan does not change."

The Octopus lady strolled out of the
Golden Summer
and gave the new arrivals a casual wave. "Welcome home, Monk. We've even tidied up the place for you." The squad tacmod, Dolly, had connected us to the pirate's frequency.

"Aren’t you the little domestic," Monk said. "Well, I like it messy, so just sweep everything back onto the deck where it belongs." Honey showed me that the Prof was outside, cloaked but keeping his distance from Octopus, who had paused now, waiting for the pirates to approach her. She was holding a cup of dox – perfectly relaxed. The pirates appeared to have accepted that all was well. There were seven of them now, a ragged column led by an overly large oaf who was presumably Monk. I set my sights on the last man in the column. A faint tingling ran over my flesh but I was perfectly calm.

"Fire," Doggie said. We fired. Smiley's stunstar erupted right at the head of the column, a mighty blast, scattering them all like rag dolls, SG's flying through the air. A couple of pirates near the end of the column twitched and started to struggle to their feet in a daze. Ice and I gunned them down at once with auto x that blew them to shreds, splattering blood everywhere. Somebody near the front of the column was also trying to get up – bad idea. He was met by a hail of xmax from our invisible ambush team near the
Golden Summer
.

"All right, all hostiles down," Doggie said. "Secure the site, detain the unconscious for interrogation. Go! Ruthie, the Hellcat is launching. Shoot it down. That all right, Prof?" Sure enough, the
Hellcat
was rising in a cloud of swamp spray, the landing ramp disappearing into the fuselage, the door slamming shut.

"Perfectly all right," the Prof said. "Don't hurt Miss Octopus, she's recovering. Detain her." Octopus had been knocked down by the stunstar as well.

"Gotcha," Bird said. "Want to save the ship? I can knock out the power and force them into emergency landing mode"

"That's even better, Bird," the Prof said. "I should have thought of that. I'd like to see who else is on board. Do it!" Damn it! That would give us something else to do, assault the ship after it crash lands. More killing, more time wasted. Fine!

"Prophet, Bees. I've gained direct telepathic contact with Good Soul, with the help of our Bright friends. She's not far from that column of pirates that has the male Bright prisoner. We've got to…"

"Yes, Bees, that's great," I said. "But we don't have time for that now. Please stand by for whatever the Prof decides is next. I believe the plan will be to evac the Brights to the Vampire, soon as poss."

"But we have to rescue Good Soul, and that male Bright first!"

"Sure, we'll do that. Stand by."

The
Hellcat
was disappearing quickly, far above now, almost out of sight. A thin white line suddenly appeared, scratching its way across the darkening grey sky towards the
Hellcat
, then touching it. There was a little flicker and then the ship abruptly plunged downwards erratically. Something was clearly wrong.

"Delta, Bird. I've taken out their propulsion with an exhaust frag. They're on their way down. I can't predict where they'll land, but they ain't going to be taking off any more, that I can guarantee."

"Thank you, Bird," the Prof said. "We'll handle them when we get a chance. Prophet, Ice, get back here now. Fast as you can! Saka, Bees, maintain your position with the Brights and stand by for further orders. Bird, ID the spot where the Hellcat lands, then hightail it back here. You're going to be lifting our strike force in to ambush that pirate column and rescue that Bright, and another one that is evidently not far off. Doggie, you lead the ambush party. I'll be here with Prophet, Bees and Saka to deal with the Brights and debrief the pirate prisoners. Ice, you will accompany the ambush team to communicate with the Brights."

"Can't I go instead?" Bees cut in. "I'm in direct touch with Good Soul."

"Negative, Bees, that's a twelve. You've got to keep your gang calm and quiet, you're our best telepath and you belong there." By that time Ice and I were splashing our way back though the swamp towards the other side where the
Golden Summer
was hidden in the trees.

"Delta, Vampire." Damn it! Now what?

"Vampire, Prof. Go."

"Delta, alert. We've ID'd muffled re-entry debris from a starship exiting stardrive somewhere in this sector – looks like it's close. The entry was over an hour ago, sorry about the delay but we only just confirmed this data. This will be an advanced starship, and looks like it is fully cloaked because we can't find a trace of it."

"Vampire, Delta, thank you and stand by to support us if required."

"Will do, Delta."

"Delta, Bird, alert! I'm breaking off the Hellcat, there's something coming at you, dropping to low altitude, I'm pursuing, can't ID the target yet. Oh damn, it's coming right at you, Delta!"

"All right. Max alert, max alert." Right in my ears. My adrenalin was flooding my veins. I dropped belly down in the reeds, A & A, armored and armed, fully cloaked, my E in my arms. Dark grey clouds scudded close overhead as a faint mist blew through the cold air. Then I heard it, a faint buzzing. It shot overhead like a meteor, only a quick frozen glance and it was gone, but that's all I needed to ID it, a Mocain armored assault car, Pterosaur model. Unmistakable. Damn it! Mocains! What the hell were they doing here? The reeds blew around madly in its wake.

"Delta, Prophet. A Pterosaur A-car just overflew me!" I reported.

"Advance." It was like the crack of doom. Advance, of course. No idea what was waiting for us out there.

A titanic blast lit up creation ahead of me, dazzling white-hot stars dancing on my retina as Honey darkened the plex, a heavy concussion wave flattening the reeds and about a million phospho streaks radiating everywhere. The boom shook the earth and I tried to bury myself in the mud. Oh damn, was I still alive? I realized kind of vaguely that this was my DX dream – I had dreamt it, exactly the same thing. The ship! They must have hit the
Golden Summer
! Was anybody still in it?

I charged out of the swamp, headed for the tree line and the
Golden Summer
, which was marked by a blazing plasma strike and a rising cloud of dirty black smoke swirling with flame.

"Delta, Bird. Two Pterosaurs are touching down and dropping off troopers, see the tacmap. All right, they’re off. The troops are cloaked but the ships are not, want me to shoot 'em down?" I remembered we had been briefed that UMC starships were cloaked and their armored troopers were cloaked but the older model System Pterosaur armored aircars had not yet been updated with cloaking. It was a significant advantage for us.

"Twelve, Bird. Not yet," the Prof said. "We've got to see what we've got first. We can deal with their aircars later. Keep track of them. Those troopers will be headed this way, probably two squads. Delta, we clear the area. Abandon those surviving pirates. Starburst and make your way through the swamp and set up around the Brights. Doggie, over to you."

"The pirates will tell them about us," Doggie said.

"Sure they will, but meantime we've got to regroup. Go!"

Doggie began barking specific exfil instructions. Ice and I turned around and re-entered the swamp. Two squads! Armored and armed and cloaked and totally alert. These were professional soldiers, Mocains and Inners and Outworlders. They knew what they were doing. We were no longer dealing with a scruffy gang of pirates. We were about to take on the United Mocain Coalition, and the UMC Startroopers had inherited the traditions and equipment of the United System Alliance's DefCorps. The Legion had always had respect for the DefCorps, even if we hated the System. It's hard not to admire people who are willing to die for their squadies. The Legion always treated DefCorps prisoners right. It was only the politicals that we killed without mercy.