Give Me the Man Pt. 08

Apologies for the delay in submitting Part 8 -- over three years -- but the sudden death of my beloved wife in November 2019 caused me to stop writing for a while. But my wife was a writer, too, although not on Literotica, and I think she'd want me to keep on going. So here, at last, is part 8.

Any doubts they may have had about the basic compatibility of Kira Els and Tor Belar were dispelled within an hour of them meeting for the first time. Both Kira and Tor were keen to take the conflict to the enemy, and ready to take their part in scouting for other pockets of resistance, and quickly each of them recognised the innate skill of the other. Tor was the older of the two, in his mid-twenties, while Kira was almost exactly the same age as Leara. She'd been stunned when it was suggested to her that she join the scouting party, but agreed quickly, soberly.

"Just the thought of striking back at these invaders makes me want to help, in any way I can. If it's my climbing ability you need, I'm ready. In fact, any way at all that I can help, just ask."

Leara laughed. "Right, pack some clothes, get your boots, your bedroll and your weapons. We leave for Vilna Station in ten minutes." Kira had grinned and left at a dead run. She was back in five, barely out of breath.

Tor Belar was almost as surprised as Kira had been.

"Why do you need a tracker?" he'd asked.

"It's your woodscraft as well, Tor. I think, I feel, that if there are other groups resisting the invaders, like us they'll be keeping themselves out of sight. Some of them will have outdoor skills, a lot won't." Ardan shrugged. "You might spot something the others miss. In any case, four of us makes a useful party, and we can work two and two if need be, or as a group."

Tor smiled. "The twos being you and Leara, and me and Kira?"

"Probably, but the two girls, or you and me, if circumstances warrant. Either way, either I or Lea stays with the flyer, as we know how to fly it, whereas you and Kira don't."

Tor nodded. "We could learn, but now's not the time. I'm ready whenever you are."

"Get some sleep. Lea and Kira are sorting out supplies and weapons. We're taking invader weapons on any patrols, but we'll have Terran weapons on the flyer. Be ready to leave as soon as it's dark."

"You can see to fly, in the dark?" Tor's tone was wry.

Ardan laughed. "Actually, yes, I can. We found something in the locker on the Terran flyer, rather like protective goggles, but with a third lens in the middle. I've got no idea how they work, but when I'm wearing them and I press a switch on the flyer's console, I can see everything. It's all green and black, no colour, but shapes are clear, and night flying isn't a problem."

Tor grinned. "Consider me relieved." He picked up his pack, and his weapon. "I'll get my head down until dark."

They left the Vilna Station camp an hour after dark, lifting off quietly into the night sky. Ardan was at the controls, the night-vision goggles on his head.

"I'm going to keep the speed down, about as fast as a galloping horse," he said. "At that speed, it's almost impossible to hear the flyer. I know because we tested. The rest of you, keep a keen look out left and right, and behind. If you see a light that might be a party of our people, or even that of the enemy, let the rest of us know. Landmarks will be difficult to see, but between us we may be able to make one out."

"I'll take the left," said Leara. "Kira? The right? Tor? Behind us?" The others nodded. "Let's be off, then." She gave Ardan a quick kiss, and the flyer lifted into the night sky.

They hadn't expected to find anyone particularly close to their home locations, scouting parties having only found ones and twos, usually in hiding, and dawn was greying the sky when Ardan brought the flier down, easing it under the canopy of a pair of massive gelin trees. He switched off the night goggles, and stretched.

"I take it no-one saw anything?"

"Nothing at all," said Leara. "Not a light anywhere." The others nodded in agreement.

"We'll need to keep a lookout in case any of the enemy flyers come by, but it only needs one of us. We'll have something to eat, first. Cold, this time, I'm afraid. Then we can settle down. I think two hours each, that will give each of us six hours rest. Tor, you and Kira take first and last watch, as there's less disturbance for you that way. Tomorrow, we'll swap round. Who's first?"

"I'll take first watch," said Tor.

"Wake me in two hours. I'll wake Lea, and Lea can wake Kira. It will still be light, but we can discuss our route when we have something to eat tonight. Any questions?"

"Toilet facilities?" said Kira. She grinned. "I need to pee."

Ardan pointed. "Ladies over there, men over there. Use your belt knife to dig a hole, and bury what you leave. Okay?"

The others nodded, and shortly afterwards anyone who happened to pass by, unlikely as that was, would have found only three bedroll-bundled shapes, and an alert figure cradling a weapon.

The day was quiet, and they risked a small smokeless fire to heat some food before the night set in again. They were near the rough country which lay between Tanart's Hold and the gorge of the Xeni river, not far from where it joined the Jena. As darkness fell, they cleared the camp, trying to hide evidence of their presence, although they knew that a skilled tracker would have no problems.

This time, Leara took the controls, Ardan watched right, Tor left and Kira behind them. With full dark, Leara pulled the night-vision goggles over her head and they lifted off. Over the rough country, Leara flew slower than when they were over open terrain, but even so, they covered the distance easily. It was Kira who saw the light.

"Ardan?" she hissed. "Behind us, a little to the left. A light!"

"I see it. Lea? Come to a hover, please. Kira? Landmarks?"

She pointed. "See the peak? A little like a needle with a broken top? Hold your arm out. About three fingers left of that?"

He laughed. "Three of your fingers, perhaps, only two of mine. Excellent. Lea? Can you put us down somewhere handy?"

"It's rough terrain, and no trees. We'll be out in the open."

"Back about half a klick? There were trees there," said Ardan. "It's on the way to that light, too."

"And the light has gone now," said Kira,

"We have a bearing, that should help. We'll need to wait until morning, the country is too rough to move in the dark."

"How far back do you think that light was, Kira?"

"Ardan, I don't know. All I saw was a light. It could have been a candle, or a torch. Distance would change it."

"It can't be too far back," said Tor. "We came around the shoulder of the mountain about four klicks back."

"So it's somewhere around two to three klicks? There's the trees, Lea. Put us down."

When the sun had lifted high enough that they could see, Tor and Kira set off towards where they thought the light had been. Each of them carried one of the invaders' tube weapons.

"Take no chances. If it's our people you find, try to find out if Tanart's Hold is still fighting. And try to find out about any other groups. Oh, heck, you know what to do!"

"Relax, if you can, Ardan. On this ground it will take us near half a day to get there and back. We'd be resting up during the day, anyway, so you might as well take turns to sleep."

"You're right, of course. Travel safe, both of you, and we'll look for you from mid-afternoon."

As Tor and Kira made their way towards the suspected location, Ardan turned to Leara. He shrugged. "I guess we should try to get some sleep."

"Not sure I could," Leara replied, a wry expression on her face. "Under other circumstances, I think I'd be scheming to get us out of our clothes and making love. But," she shrugged, "this just isn't the time."

"No, it isn't. Put your head down, sweetheart, and I'll take first watch."

"Okay." She came close and hugged him, then raised her lips for his kiss, a long kiss, a kiss of promise. "As soon as we're under a roof, and there's a bed?"

Ardan smiled, and nodded. "My promise."

Neither of them managed any sleep, and by noon they had given up trying. They sat, or stood, staring into the distance where Tor and Kira had gone. Their return took the watchers by surprise.

"Ardan! Enemy flier!" Leara dived for her energy gun, ignoring the enemy tube weapon. Ardan had tensed, seeing the flier coming towards them. He shaded his eyes and Leara was startled to see a big grin appear on his face, even more startled when he stepped out from under the trees, waving to the flier, which altered course, coming straight towards them.

Ardan turned to her. "It's all right, sweetheart. See the banner? Tanart's Hold!" He laughed. "We might get some news of Jandol."

As the flier got closer, they saw Kira and Tor, and three others. Two of them strangers, not surprisingly, although the pilot seemed familiar to him, but it was only after the flier touched down that Ardan realised.

"Velna!" He turned to Leara, indicating the woman. "It's Jandol's sister!"

The woman climbed down and came straight across to them, reaching out to hug Ardan.

"Ardan! It is so good to see you safe!"

"Jandol? How is he? We've heard nothing since the day we brought the weapons."

"He's fine. He was leading a raid on the enemy when I came this way. We were going to try to get through to Vilna station. Jandol wanted to know if we could get any more weapons. We saw your flyer last night, and realised it wasn't one of the enemy fliers. We took a chance and showed a light. Kira tells me it was she that spotted it?"

"It was. Sharpest eyes of all of us." Ardan grinned. "Or perhaps because her post was watching behind last night."

"You were flying near three times as fast as we dare, at night, and we avoid travelling by day, there are too many enemy fliers about in daylight." Velna grinned. "They've learned to be scared of the dark."

"So far as the fast flying is concerned, it's simple. Night-vision goggles. Terran."

Velna nodded, and turned to Leara, who had been standing quietly by. "You must be Leara? Jandol's description didn't do you justice."

"He's well?"

"He's fine. He tells me you were the one who led the climb up the Tower?"

"Aye, I was. Under other circumstances I'd have really enjoyed it, just for itself."

"Jandol was very impressed with your skill and courage."

Leara shrugged. "I've been climbing all of my life, but if you're talking about courage, I think the bravest thing I've ever witnessed was his leap into the night onto the enemy flier."

Ardan nodded. "Lea's right. Possibly the single most courageous act I've ever seen." He laughed. "And I barely saw it! He leapt in the dark."

Velna's eyes were wide. "He just told us he'd managed to capture an enemy flier."

Ardan laughed. "Well, that was the result of it." He sobered. "You want more weapons?"

"We do. We've had some success against the invaders, so much so they don't dare send single fliers against us. Never less than four, usually more."

"Do you know of any other groups fighting? Not necessarily with captured fliers, but fighting the enemy?"

"One or two, yes. One of them, further up the Jena, has captured a flier. Another group, further west, goes in on foot, but they've had some successes. Mostly, though, it's us and your two groups, with fliers and Terran weapons, that are hurting the enemy most."

"You say you were hoping for more Terran weapons?"

Velna nodded. "If we can get them."

"That's where we are headed. We were hoping to check on other groups on the way, but from what you say, it's only isolated pockets."

"That's what we've found, yes."

"Using captured weapons?"

"And crossbows."

"Crossbows? Yes, good thinking, that. Excellent penetration at close range, silent, and can be used by relatively unskilled fighters. I like it!" He paused. "You'll fly by night?"

Velna grimaced. "Yes, but slowly. We have no seeing aids for the night."

"If we were to rig a shielded lamp at the rear of ours, could you follow it?"

"I don't see why not. You watch where we're going, and we just follow? Is that what you're suggesting?"

"Exactly that. I know you came over to us in daylight, but we feel that it's safer moving at night."

"It is. As for the follow-my-leader, we'll never know until we try, will we?"

"No, we won't. For now, though, let's have something to eat, and I think if we can get your flier further under the trees, it would be better."

"We can manage that."

It was dark again when the two fliers lifted off, headed for the Grey Tower. Ardan was at the controls, Kira watching right, Tor left, and Lea behind, her concentration mostly on the flier following them. they'd agreed that about five flier lengths was the right distance to have between them. Close enough to see the light, far enough back to have time to dodge if they needed to.

Velna's companions had been introduced as Dran and Hani, brother and sister, and veteran fighters now. Dran stayed close to Velna, and it was obvious to Leara that they were more than friends, confirmed by Velna in a quiet moment.

"We were planning to get married when this conflict started. We've had to postpone."

Leara nodded. The two women were sitting together, Kira was chatting to Hani, and Tor, Ardan and Dran were discussing weapons. "Ardan asked me to marry him," said Leara. She grinned. "I said yes, of course. Both of our mothers said that if we got the chance to do it, we should, even if no-one of either family could be there. Mama said we could always have a sort of ceremony when we could all get together, even if we'd been married for a year or two."

Velna laughed. "And have children!"

Leara smiled, but shook her head. "No, I keep the contraceptive implant until this conflict is over."

"Wise," said Velna. "So is the 'get married whenever you can manage it' advice. That makes a lot of sense."

"We'll just set up house together if we can't manage." Leara giggled. "I'm starting to feel horny."

Velna reached out and squeezed her fingers. "Makes two of us."

"Not until we get these weapons. We should be on the plateau before morning."

And they were, but morning was approaching fast. Ardan touched the flier down beside the cave, and keyed the entry code, watching as it opened, and then easing the flyer deep into the cave. They'd discussed this, and Velna eased the other flyer in behind it. There was room in fact for another, had there been one. The Tanart's Hold trio gaped in wonder, as did Tor and Kira.

"There are still a lot of weapons here," said Ardan. "Even two full flyer loads won't clear them. There were some things we didn't take time out to check, before, and I want to take my time and check some of the other stuff out, as much as we can, in fact. But I see something over there that might help our night-flying, because it looks as if they're night-vision headsets!"

"I want one!" said Velna. "Following you, even if you were going slower than you usually do, was still more than twice as fast as I normally dare. Anything that helps night flying has got to be good."

"As long as you don't mind everything being green," said Leara, laughing.

"We'll need to check to see if they work by themselves," said Ardan. "The set we've been using came with the Terran flyer, and they operate from a switch on the control panel."

"If they work in isolation, we could use them for night attacks!" said Tor.

"Yes!" said Dran. "If we can see in the dark it could make a tremendous difference."

"We'll check them later, but I suggest we rest now," said Ardan. "We can work during the day, here, with the door closed behind us, as none of the enemy will be able to see us. I wish I knew where their base is. They must have one, surely."

"But if they're from off-world, it could be in space," said Dran.

"It could, in fact it probably is, but there must be somewhere that they land."

"Nobody has come from the Bekan Basin area," said Velna. "We've had refugees from almost everywhere else, but not there."

"So you think that might be their base?"

"It could be, if they're stopping anyone getting out. Most areas, they leave the women alone. Goodness knows why, as some of our best fighters are women." Velna shook her head. "I suppose I should qualify that by saying that it's the women in the towns and villages, and holdings, that they leave alone. The women fighters are as likely to be killed as the men."

Leara nodded. "That's been our experience, too."

"Enough, let's rest. We can sort through things after we've had some sleep," said Ardan, fighting a yawn. "The night-vision goggles help, but it's still tiring flying in total darkness."

"Try it without," said Velna, her tone dry.

Ardan laughed. "I have, and you're right."

They settled down, and were soon all fast asleep. They didn't notice, but the lights dimmed automatically when everyone lay down and Ardan was confused when he woke in total darkness, but when he sat up the lights started to brighten again. He shook his head. 'Clever,' he thought, and lay back down again.

When they had all woken, refreshed, Ardan drew them together. "Do we all have experience of the Terran weapons that we brought last time?" Everyone nodded. "In that case, we'll look for things that aren't familiar. If you see anything like that, bring one example, and leave it on the floor behind the Tanart's Hold flyer. Once we think we have one of everything, we'll examine what we have and try to determine two things. The first, is how to use whatever you find without hurting ourselves, the second, whether we should load them onto the flyers. Does that make sense?"

It took most of the morning, but when they'd finished they had a big pile of things to work through, and it was not just weapons. They found hand lamps, clothing, bags obviously designed to sleep in, which folded down to almost nothing.

"Much smaller than our usual bedrolls," said Kira. "Lighter, too. I'd definitely want one of these."

They found cooking stoves, utensils, folding tents, backpacks, tools, yes, and weapons. Some were already familiar. The Terran short and long guns, and projectiles for both, the bigger guns, which they already used for base defence, and the energy weapons, but there were others, too. To their surprise, they found crossbows, and big knives designed for multiple purposes, with a very sharp cutting blade, and supporting belts with sheath.

"I want one of these for myself," said Ardan, "but do we take these back with us?"

"If there's space, then yes," said Leara. "But the priority is weapons, and ammunition for those we already have. The knives are good, but I'm not sure I'd want to take on one of those things armed only with a knife."

"Fair point, I think," said Velna, "but does anyone have any idea what this is?" 'This' was a tube, with a base plate, and struts to support it, at an angle to the ground.

"Yes, I do," said Tor. He brandished a handbook. "It's a sort of gun. It takes these projectile things with the fins. From the book it looks as if you just drop the projectile down the tube and it fires itself. It seems to carry some form of explosive charge, judging by the illustrations."

"Might be rather tricky to test. If we take two each, with enough projectiles to make it worthwhile, we can test them back at base when we know there aren't any of the invaders around. Here, they could be just around the corner, literally, and we won't know. Not until it's too late, anyway. Anything else?"

"What's our biggest problem?" said Leara, and answered herself. "Communication. I've been looking for something that would enable us to communicate between groups. I think I might have found something. Ardan, remember that device you brought back from the first raid you did, the one that the invaders used to communicate?"