Zero Recall (56 page)

“Let me guess,” Jer’ait
muttered, padding up beside them.  His Jikaln body blended with the foliage,
and his toothy muzzle was opened to expose a row of glistening white fangs. 
Even to Daviin’s ears, he was quiet.  “There’s eight Lieutenants.”

The Human glanced at the
Huouyt.  “
How many lieutenants?
” he asked.

“
I can’t give up that
kind of information.
”

“
You will,
” Joe
said, “
Or you can bet your petite white ass we aren’t moving from this
fighting hole.
”

There was a long silence
before Phoenix said, “
Eight.
”

The ridges over Joe’s
eyes drew together.  “
Eight.  One for each surviving team.
”

“
Fortunate, isn’t it?
”
Phoenix said.

“
Just dandy.  Give me
a tic.  Gotta take a dump.
”

Out loud, he said, “Is
everyone back at Headquarters a ghost-burning jenfurgling?  Or is that just
me?”

“No,” Flea said, “I think
you’re right.  I was rooting through their files and got a look at some of
their I.Q.s and it’s pretty sad.”

“Okay,” Joe said, “What’s
this mean?  He’s slowly killing us all off…why?  He sure as hell could’ve killed
us all just like he killed those three Trith, if he’d wanted to.”

“Who are you talking
about?” Galek said, giving them a suspicious look.

“Fill you in later,” Joe
said.  “Jer’ait, what you thinking?”

“I’m thinking maybe
Jemria doesn’t want us alive, after all.”

“Of course he doesn’t
want us alive,” Daviin said, gesturing at the stinking fields of corpses that
surrounded them.  “He wants to see how we die.”

“But what the hell
difference could that make to him?” Joe demanded. 

“In ancient wars, Morinth
would send all its prisoners of war to Va’ga,” Jer’ait said.  “They used to
experiment on their enemies, see how much they could take before they died.”

“Don’t be disgusting,”
Daviin snapped, repulsed by the very idea.

“Would a Geuji really
need to experiment on us?” Joe asked. 

Galek’s meaty face
scrunched in an Ooreiki frown.  “What is this about a Geuji?”

“Later,” the Human
assured the youngster.  To Jer’ait, he said, “I’ve just heard the legends, but
couldn’t he figure it all out for himself, what makes us tick?”

“Yes,” Jer’ait said
reluctantly, “But, like you, I find it highly…odd…that the first message
intercepted from the Vahlin during the entire war lists eight lieutenants, one
for each groundteam that survived.”

“So maybe it’s the Vahlin
laying a trap for us,” Joe said.  “Maybe there really is a Vahlin.”

“Who said there wasn’t a Vahlin?”
Galek asked, his big, sticky brown eyes confused.  And wary.  He looked like a
Jreet warrior who had just found himself in an elevator filled with Ayhi.

“
Commander Zero, it
would be best if you didn’t play games with me.
”

“But the Geuji has to be
involved,” Flea said.  “Who else killed those three Trith?  You, Joe?”

Joe snorted.  “I wish.”

“Who killed three Trith?”
Galek demanded, looking even more nervous, now.

Daviin waved off the
boy’s question.  To the others, he said, “Look, there’s no question the Geuji
is involved.”  Daviin glanced at each of his companions individually.  “We all
agree on that, correct?”

“Yes,” Flea said.

Jer’ait nodded.

“Yeah,” Joe said.

The Ooreiki watched them
as if they’d all suddenly lost their minds.

“Then we also agree he
isn’t on our side,” Daviin said.

“How do you figure?” Joe
asked.

“Who else would be
predicting where we’re going to land every time?” Daviin demanded.  “The
Trith?”

“Maybe,” Joe said. 
“Hell, maybe Jer’ait’s right and this is a battle between a Geuji and the
Trith.  Maybe we’re just pawns.”

“We are just pawns,” the
Huouyt said.

Joe gave Jer’ait an
irritated glance.  “Yeah.  Okay.  So what if the Trith are helping the Dhasha
and the Geuji is helping us?”

“Then we’d be doing a lot
better than we are,” Jer’ait said.  “The Geuji’s a vortex.  Anything he does
muddies the Trith’s vision.  He starts telling us where to go and what to do
and the Trith wouldn’t be able to pre—”  The Huouyt stiffened.  “It
is
the Geuji helping the Dhasha.  The Trith wouldn’t be able to foresee us coming. 
Jemria is a vortex.  And he’s been using us, playing us like pawns.  The Trith
are trying to
stop
him, because everything relating to Neskfaat is going
to be unreadable for them.  Which means that
we
are going to be
unreadable to them.”

“
Commander Zero, if
you want a pickup at all, you’re going to stop screwing around.

“
No need to jump up
and down, Mag.  You’ll lose those pretty contacts of yours.
”

“
Joe…
”

“
Please.  Call me
Zero.  Joe’s reserved for friends and decent Human beings.
”  He met his
groundteam’s eyes.  “
Make that decent beings.”

“
I’m sending the
coordinates to your PPU.  We want you to the den and into the tunnels within
the next day and a half.
”

Phoenix ended
the conversation.

Joe took out his
PPU and glanced at it.  Then he sighed and put it away.

“Time to go,
Commander?” Galek asked.

“No.  It’s a
day’s hike, at least.  We’ll camp here a few nights, then head out.”

Galek blinked.  “But
she said the next day and a half.”

Joe turned on the Ooreiki
sharply.  “Do I look like I give a rat’s ass what that de-scaled Takki turd
wants?”

“No sir,” Galek said
meekly.

“All right,” Joe
said, turning back to the rest of them.  “So it’s the Geuji.  He’s patching us
up, keeping the Trith off my back
and
sending us into the tunnels to
die.  Does that make sense to anyone?”

When no one
answered, Joe said, “All right, let’s look at it from another angle.  What
could the Geuji get out of this?  There’s gotta be something or he wouldn’t be
doing it.”

“Maybe he wants
to see a bunch of princes die,” Flea suggested.  “They get on people’s nerves.”

“That’s hardly
the reason to start a war,” Jer’ait said.

“What if he
wants us to blow up Neskfaat?” Joe asked.

“Then he
would’ve let us do it in the first week of the war, when the Space Corps first
petitioned for it,” the Huouyt said.

Daviin frowned,
the tinglings of a memory tickling the back of his mind.  “How many groundteams
started this fight, Joe?”

“A little over two
and a half million.”

“And we’re down
to eight?”

“That’s right.”

Understanding
hit Daviin in a sickening wave.  “I know what this is.”

“What?”

“We do it on
Vora, with our young.”

Joe snorted.  “You
give them rifles, pat them on the butt, and send them after Dhasha?”

“We kill them
off,” Daviin said.  “Only the strongest survives.  They fight to determine
which gets to live.  Only one from every hatch.”  Daviin tensed.  “Joe, I think
this Geuji means to whittle us down to one.”

CHAPTER
28:  The Lieutenant

“
So?
” Joe
asked, peering through his scope.  “
How’s it look?
”

“
Empty,
Commander.
”

“
I’m looking
at a field of corpses, Flea.  I doubt it’s empty.
”

“
Yeah, but
it’s been four days.  Maybe Phoenix was right.  Maybe he moved on.
”

“
Nope,
”
Joe said, unscrewing the scope from his rifle and returning it to his pack.  “
There’s
a Dhasha in there.
”

“
Why do you
say that?
” Daviin asked.

“
Because that
vaghi of a Geuji wants us to fight one, that’s why.
”

“
Simple, yet
effective logic,
” Jer’ait said.  “
How do we test it?
”

“
By going in
there and getting him.
”  Joe pulled out a viewfinder and enhanced the
nighttime image in front of him even more than his nightvision-altered eyes
allowed.  He scanned the fields of dead around them, seeking movement.  After a
moment, he frowned.  “
Anyone notice anything strange about those corpses?
”

It took Jer’ait
only a moment.  “
There’s no plasma wounds.
”

“
Right,
”
Joe said.  “
Every damn one of them’s been ripped apart by a Dhasha.  The
same Dhasha.
”

“
How ya
figure?
” Flea asked.

“
In the ones
that aren’t torn completely apart, there’s a certain distance between claw
marks,
” Jer’ait said.  “
It’s always the same, and they’re very big
claws.
”

“
So this
lieutenant is a paranoid S.O.B.,
” Joe said.  “
Kills them all himself. 
No Takki.  Jer’ait, you’re gonna be pretty useless to us this time, unless you
think you can outrun a Dhasha.
”

“
I have a few
patterns that might, but I’d rather not take the chance.
”

“
No kidding.
”

“
Okay, Flea,
take it inside a few rods.  The Dhasha sees you, you get out of there, bring
him back up for Daviin, if you can get him to follow you.
”

Flea responded a
few tics later, “
Man, what’s that smell?  It’s making my carapace itch.
”

“
Describe it,
”
Daviin said.

“
Dead meat. 
Rot.
”

“
Perhaps you
didn’t see the piles of corpses nearly plugging the tunnel entrance,
” the
Huouyt said.

“
No,
”
Flea said.  “
This is different.
”

“
So they’re
not dead and rotting?
”

“
Quiet,
”
Joe said.  “
Flea, have you ever smelled cheese?
”

“
What?
”

“
Listen,
”
Joe said.  “
Flea, be very careful.  What you’re smelling is probably the
Dhasha.  When they don’t have Takki, they start to stink, and stink bad.
”

“
And you know
this because…
”

“
Let’s just
say I’ve had intimate experience with it,
” Joe snapped.  “
Keep your eyes
open.  He’s in there somewhere.
”

“
Well,
”
Flea said eventually, “
Looks like you were right, Joe.  He’s down here maybe
a hundred-twenty rods.  Sitting in his own shit.
”

“
He’s sick?
”
Daviin asked.

“
No,
”
Flea said.  “
He’s staring at the entrance.  Not moving at all.
”

The tiny hairs
on Joe’s neck stood up.  “
Flea, how close are you to him?
”

“
Two and a
half rods.
”

“
Get out of
there.  Now.
”

But he was too
late.  Flea sent them a startled broadcast of confusion, then the line went
dead.

“
Flea!
”
Joe snapped.

Nothing.

“
He’s waiting
for us,
” Joe growled.  “
He’s been waiting for us all this time.  Goddamn
it!
”

“
I got the
bastard,
” Flea muttered.  “
Right in the face.  Wouldn’t stay stuck to
the floor, though.
”

“
Tell me what
happened.  The prince is dead?
”

Flea gave a
mental twitter.  “
Crack no, he’s not dead.  I’m lucky to be alive, Joe.  Bit
off his own toe to get unstuck from the floor.  He’s crazy.  And
huge
.”

“
Where you
now?
”

“
Doin’ a
million lengths a tic through the tunnels.  The booming counter’s right on my
back.
”

“
Daviin, you
hear that?
”

“
I’m waiting
for him.
”

Joe trained his
viewfinder on the tunnel entrance.  After a few moments, he saw a tiny black
shape burst out of the tunnel and gain altitude as if it had been shot from a
cannon.  He waited, tense.

To Joe’s
frustration, nothing followed the Baga.  “
What’s going on?
” Joe
demanded.

“
He won’t
follow me out,
” Flea said.  “
He’s standing inside, watching me.  Guys,
he’s
huge.”

“
Daviin, can
you take him?
”

“
Not without
pinging, Joe.  I don’t know where he is.
”

“
He’s right
there!
” Flea cried.  “
Right
there!”

“
Screaming
doesn’t help me, furg,
” Daviin snapped.  “
I’m blind when I raise my
energy level.
”

“
He’s backing
up,”
Flea screamed. 
“Daviin,
get
him!
”

“
I can’t hear
him!
”

“
I thought
you guys had good hearing!
”

“
We do,
”
Daviin snapped.  “
But as soon as I ping, I give away my location.
”

“
Look at how
carefully he’s walking,
” Jer’ait said.  “
Joe, he’s trying not to make
noise for Daviin to pinpoint.
”  Then, after a moment,
“And Joe…”
 
The Huouyt actually sounded nervous. 
“This one’s big.”

“Like maybe
Daviin can’t take him, big?”
Joe demanded.

“Shriveled balls
of Takki, I can take any Dhasha,”
Daviin snapped, at the same time Jer’ait
told him privately,
“Commander, I think we might need a new plan.”

Joe considered
that.  “
Jer’ait, time to show yourself.  We’ll give the Jreet a chance to
excel.  Be ready to run if Daviin can’t hold him.
”

Near the
entrance, the Huouyt stepped from the brush in the form of a thin, four-legged
creature that looked built for speed.