Give Me the Man Pt. 10

The meeting between the leaders of the three groups fighting the invaders using Terran weapons and the crew of the Sirius took place five days later, on board the shuttle from the Sirius. The people from the Sirius had used the time well, managing to produce Standard to Ha'aran translation devices. Although of an initially limited vocabulary the devices allowed the planet's residents to converse with the Sirius personnel and the technicians on board the spaceship were producing updates virtually hourly.

"Our technicians have prepared maps for us, using photographs taken from orbit," said Colonel Beltan, "and I have had copies printed off for you. The first is of the mining activity on the coast, here," and he handed out three copies of the map.

"The other is of the Bekan Basin, where you suspected the invaders were landing their personnel and supplies. We've confirmed this from orbital observation. Not only that, but we've confirmed the type and size of lander that they're using and I can confirm that the weapons you already possess are capable of taking it out." He passed out copies of another map.

The three Ha'aran teams studied the maps for a while, then Gerlan held up his hand for silence.

"We need to establish priorities, I think. First, we try to release those of our people held captive at this mining location." He turned to Beltan. "Have you established exactly what it is they're mining for?"

"So far as we can tell, and we're fairly confident, gold and copper, both of which are used in electronics and both metals which are scarce on the Alkonians' home world. From our observations, so far as we can ascertain, nothing has yet been taken off-world. The Besa'alans have concentrated on stockpiling the extracted raw ore for the copper. The gold is easier to get at, technically, so they have that stockpiled separately."

"Have you established how many of our people the invaders are holding?"

"So far as we can tell, about five hundred. There appear to have been some deaths, probably because of inadequate safety measures, but we cannot say exactly how many. The Besa'alans, if they're following their usual practice, get the prisoners to dig a pit and just throw the bodies in."

"How many guards?" asked Jandol, present as deputy leader of the Tanart's Hold fighters.

"About sixty, working in three teams."

"Accommodation?"

"Pre-fabricated huts, sleeping about twenty."

"And the prisoners?"

"Tents and rough shelters they've contrived themselves from branches and woven grasses."

"What about security?" asked Alna, "what keeps the prisoners in check?"

"If they're using their usual methods, a neural fence with automatic weapons. Alkonian technology, the Besa'alans aren't that advanced. And, of course, regular patrols by the guards."

"Any thoughts, anyone?" said Gerlan. "We have the night-vision goggles, so I'm thinking night attack, try to take out the guards that are off duty, rocket attack on the huts, then I think it will be a case of taking out the remaining guards on an individual basis."

"You should have the element of surprise, provided you can get close enough without alerting them," said Beltan.

"What about this neural fence," said Ardan. "How do we disable that?"

Beltan reached for the photograph of the prison camp. He pointed to what appeared to be a large metal box, a little indistinct. "That is the neural fence controller. Blow that up and the fence will become inert, and the automatic weapons inactive."

"I've been thinking about the guards on duty," said Porl Vellik. "The energy weapons are virtually silent, and we have some very sneaky hunters. We could get close enough to the guards to take them out, almost without anyone noticing."

"Good thinking," said Gerlan. "If anyone notices, we escalate the other aspects of the attack."

"Is there a camp nearby with just women? I know for a fact that some women followed their captured men, and the invaders left them alone," said Ardan. "If we could get to them without alerting the invaders, they might have some knowledge of the guards' habits that we could use to our advantage."

Beltan nodded. "Yes, there's a women's camp about two klicks away. What are you thinking? Sneak in and question them?"

"Either that or bring two or three of them back here. As I said, they might have some useful knowledge."

"It will be a couple of days before we're ready to strike, so how about you take your flyer down there tonight and see what you can find out? We'll keep an eye on the guards, make sure there's nothing unusual."

"I'll go as soon as it's full dark."

"You mean we'll go," said Leara, with a grin.

Ardan grinned back at his wife."We'll go."

An hour after full dark, Ardan and Leara, along with Jandol. lifted off from their temporary base, carefully keeping high ground between themselves and the mining operation, and brought their flyer down about two hundred paces from the women's camp, and Ardan and Leara set off to walk the remaining distance.

There had been an obvious stirring in the women's camp when the flyer landed, clearly visible through night-vision goggles and as Ardan and Leara approached the camp four women approached them and paused, waiting. Ardan scanned them, then grinned.

"Greetings, Vella," he said.

"Ardan? Is it you?"

"As ever was. Is there somewhere we can talk?"

"Talk about what?"

"Getting your men free from this place."

"This way," said Vella, leading off. A short walk, to a clearing, obviously used for meetings judging from the scuffed state of the ground. Several other women joined them and when they sat, Ardan and Leara were studied carefully by about a dozen curious women.

"Ladies," said Ardan, "in a few days time there will be a night attack on the mining operation, intended to eliminate as many of the guards as possible, disable the neural fence, and free the prisoners. We need to know their night watch habits and to ask you if you have any way of communicating with the men."

"If we try to talk to them, they stop us," said Vella, "but Elva, over there, knows sign language and if the guards aren't looking, can communicate with her brother, one of the prisoners."

"Elva? Join us, please, and if any of you have made any particular study of the habits of the guards, please come closer. "

Elva, thirty-something, rangy, and two other women made their way over and sat closer.

"I'm Ardan Tearo, and this is my wife, Leara. We're from Vilna Station and have been fighting the invaders with Terran weapons from a cache that was made many years ago for just such a situation as we have now. Things have changed over the last few days, as there is now a Terran cruiser in orbit, our allies, and they are helping us."

"I'm Orla Bejin," said one of the other women. Slightly built, medium height, possibly early forties, Ardan thought. "I have trouble sleeping so I tend to watch the guards at night just for something to do. They're creatures of habit, that's for sure."

"And I watch them during the day, just something to occupy my mind. I'd go crazy otherwise," said the other woman. "Ana Bel, by the way."

"We'd like to take the four of you back with us to consult with the strike teams. Better you know what's coming, so you can keep out of the way."

"Do we need to take anything with us?" said Vella. "Bedrolls, say?"

Ardan nodded. "Just bedrolls. We can feed you if necessary, and get you back here before the attack." He looked round at the women. "Have any of you flown before? No? Don't worry about it being dark, we have night-vision goggles. And it's only a short ride."

"Let's go, then," said Vella "If there's a chance to defeat these invaders, I want to be part of it!" There were murmurs of agreement from the other women and shortly afterwards they were being introduced to the Sirius people, and the Ha'aran groups.

"What we need to know is the night patrol patterns, if there are any?" said Gerlan. "So, any comment?"

"Like I told Ardan," said Orla, "I have trouble sleeping so I tend to watch the guards. As far as I can tell, there are sixty guards and they work in teams of twenty. I'm not sure of the exact team change times, but they seem to change over at dusk, and at first light, so one team of guards covers the night, the dark period." She pointed. "Is that a map of the prisoners' compound?"

"It is," said Gerlan.

Orla moved closer so that she could see the map. "Their usual practice is for two pairs of guards to set off together, in opposite directions, then another two pairs when the first lot are half way around."

"Meaning that at any one time there are eight guards in motion around the perimeter?" said Ardan.

"That's right," said Orla, "and they always move at he same speed, a slow walk."

"What about the other twelve?"

"They're usually resting, or eating, or getting ready to do their turn around the compound."

"So we could probably take four of them out when they're furthest from their starting point, as they cross half way?" said Gerlan.

Orla nodded. "Probably, yes."

"If we timed the attack on the neural fence controller for that same moment," said Ardan, "and if we forewarn the prisoners, so that they're away from that area, with the four guards taken out and the fence disarmed, we could orchestrate a mass breakout of the prisoners."

"I think there's a good chance that could work," said Gerlan. "But how do we alert the prisoners?"

"I think that's where Elva comes in, with her sign language," said Ardan, "but I've been thinking. If Elva can alert her brother to look out for an arrow with a message attached, we can use a longbow to fire an arrow into the middle of the compound and attach a message to the arrow, to tell the prisoners what to expect."

"Great idea," said Gerlan. "The arrow shot? When?"

"The night before the attack," said Ardan, "give the prisoners time to spread the word, not so much time that the guards cotton on."

"Okay," said Gerlan, "let's proceed on that basis." He turned to Elva, who had been listening. "Can you alert your brother to look out for an arrow with a message?"

She nodded. "I can. We usually look out for each other mid-morning. All I need is for the guards to be distracted for a couple of minutes, so I can pass the message."

"I think I can help with a distraction," said Vella. "Some of us have been learning Sheaka dance forms, mainly for something to do. If we started a dance exercise off to the side, the guards will probably watch, at least for a while, to make sure we're not a danger to them."

"Right," said Gerlan, let's get this all set up. Who takes the guards out, and who fires the missiles to take out the guard huts and the fence generator? Suggestions, anyone?"

This started an animated discussion, as everyone wanted a part in destroying the invaders. Eventually, the decisions were made and there was a mood of solid determination in the Ha'arans as they settled for the night. Tomorrow was the start of taking back their planet.

The distraction worked, the guards watching the dancers, and they were worth watching, and Elva managed to get the message to her brother. They'd spent some time discussing how to word the instructions to the prisoners, then Jandol. judged to have the clearest hand, wrote the instructions down and the sheet was carefully fastened around the shaft of an arrow which, in the dark of a virtually moonless night was fired into the centre of the prisoners' compound. Leara, watching through a pair of Terran night-vision binoculars was able to track it and ...

"Yes! They have it! We are go!"

"When?"

"Tomorrow night!"

The following night, Ardan and Leara, in camouflage outfits and face paint provided by the Terrans, together with two others from Vilna Station, Peri Ban and Vel Rorn, all four equipped with Terran energy weapons, weapons with which all four were familiar, were concealed about fifty paces from where they expected the two pairs of guards to cross. The women in the camp had informed them that the guards usually paused for a brief discussion. The four raiders made themselves as invisible as possible and waited for the signal.

"Here they come," said Ban in a low voice.

"Be ready," said Ardan.

As the four guards met up and paused, obviously conversing, in the distance, there was a flash of light then the noise of a distant explosion as the bazooka shell destroyed the neural fence generator, followed almost immediately by the noise of two other explosions. Inevitably the four guards turned to look and died that way, never knowing what killed them. Ardan and Leara dashed to the fence and cut it with their energy weapons, the work of seconds then stabbed a spike into the ground with a lamp on top. Ardan switched it on, then he and Leara stepped back. A figure came up to them. Vella.

"The women are all in place," she said, gesturing. Ardan looked where she pointed, to see a line of shielded lamps disappearing into the distance.

"Excellent," said Ardan. Leara touched his arm as Vella trotted off.

"Here comes the first," she said, gesturing towards the compound, where a ragged figure could be seen approaching.

"Follow the lights," she said and the figure nodded and trotted on. Shortly, there were others, a trickle at first, then many. Ardan recognised only a few of them until a familiar white-haired figure approached, slower than the others, supported by another figure. Relieved, he recognised his grandfather and sister. They made to pause but he shook his head, gesturing.

"Follow the lights, I'll see you shortly." They nodded and moved on.

They waited, but eventually no more prisoners came and the dawn approached, the sun lifting into a virtually cloudless sky. The four of them at the fence relaxed.

"Look, why don't you and Leara go and see your grandfather and your sister?" said Ban. "Vel and I will stay here in case of any stragglers. " He grinned, tight. "Or stray guards."

"If you're certain?"

Ban nodded. "Go! I know my family is safe, go and see to yours."

"Thanks, Peri. Lea? Come on, let's go and see grandfather and Sana."

It was about a klick to the compound where the prisoners were being fed, and plied with hot drinks, by the women in the compound, aided by a couple of Terran crew familiar with the field kitchen which was producing the drinks. Ardan spotted Sana just about the same moment she spotted him and within seconds he was being fiercely embraced by his sister.

"Goddess, when we received the message about the attack, I was so pleased. And to see you again is just wonderful." She turned to Leara. "Fral Asolan. Leara."

Leara held up her hand to stop her. "No, sister, it's Fra Tearo now."

A spontaneous smile crossed Sana's tired face. "You're married? Wonderful!" She laughed. "You must tell me about the wedding some time, but I'd better check on grandfather first." She hurried away.

The communicator clipped to Ardan's belt chirped, then Gerlan's voice. "Strike one to strike four?"

"Strike four, aye?"

"All clear here. How about your end? Over."

"All clear here, Strike one. Grandfather and Sana are safe. Over."

"That is good news. Strike one out."

Ardan turned to Leara. "Let's go and see grandfather."

Andor had a broad smile on his face as they approached. He held out his arms to Leara and embraced her. "Welcome to the family, granddaughter."

"Thank you, grandfather," said Leara, hugging him back. As he released her, Sana hugged her new sister, kissing her cheek.

"You and I are going to have a long talk sometime soon," she said with a grin, a grin reflected on Leara's face.

"I'll look forward to it."

"Wherever did you find a priest?" said Andor, turning to Ardan.

"Polldo Ford. There's a group of six there, irritating the invaders. We gave them some weapons. One of them, Fenn Barden, is a priest. He married us. Did you know, grandfather, that the actual legal and sacred aspects of a marriage can be completed in ten minutes?"

Andor laughed. "No, that I didn't know."

Just then, the communicator clipped to Ardan's belt sounded. "Strike one to strike four?"

"Strike four, aye?"

"Ardan? Back to base, please. Bring your grandfather and Sana, too."

"Will do. Strike four out."

They were soon on their way, after collecting Peri and Vel, and were soon landing their flier near the Terran shuttle.

"It's been a long time since I last saw one of those, said Andor, with a grin.

"Of course, you're Terran," said Jandol. "I'd forgotten."

Andor laughed. "So had I, almost. I wonder if I can still remember Standard."

Gerlan came up to them. "You're the last team back," he said, "debriefing in ten minutes, over by the Terran shuttle." He turned to Andor. "Good to see you safe home again, father."

"And good to be here, son."

The debriefing was relaxed, mainly because as far as they knew they'd achieved total success. The guards had been killed, the prisoners released and the stocks of ore and unrefined gold were under guard.

"The word from Sirius is that, as far as they can tell, all of the Besa'alans on the surface are making their way back to their base in the Bekan basin, probably to evacuate since the balance of power has changed in our favour. And because we've captured or destroyed so many of their fliers, quite a few are on foot, so it will take a while for them to get back," said Beltan. "They're ruthless killers, true, but the only thing I can think of to say in their favour is that they never knowingly leave one of their own behind, so I'd estimate we have about three to five days before their lander will lift off."

"And we blow it out of the sky," said Porl Vellik. He shook his head. "Normally, I'd give an enemy in their position the chance to surrender, but you say they never do?"

Beltan nodded. "They'll fight to the last man."

"Well, they invaded our planet without warning, and without attempting to negotiate for the metals they wanted, so I'm quite happy to blow their lander out of our sky, and every single Besa'alan with it. We just need to make sure there are no Ha'arans under it when it comes down. A thought, though," and Vellik turned to Beltan. "What about the Alkonians?"

Beltan smiled, a cold, totally humourless smile. "You can leave the Alkonians to us. We have outstanding scores to settle with them. I can assure you, none of the invaders, Alkonian or Besa'alan, will be going home again." There was total conviction in his tone and none of the Ha'arans present doubted him. "In the meantime, we'll keep an eye on the stragglers heading for the Basin. As for the Ha'arans still in the Basin, Sirius should be able to spot them using thermal imagery scans and you can put a couple of teams in the field to warn them about the expected big bang overhead. Once that's done, we can see about ending this invasion."

Ardan and Leara looked at each other. She smiled. "And we can finally set about establishing a home for ourselves."

"And the keeta," said Ardan. "Don't forget the keeta."

She nodded. "And the keeta." She laughed. "Have to admit, ours was an interesting courtship."

"And in a few days time, life should begin to return to normal." Ardan grinned. "Whatever normal is. First, though, we finish off these invaders."

That's it for the moment, folks. Probably one more part to this story should see it concluded, which means I need to do some thinking! Part 11 will be along as soon as I can manage, but ill-health still slows me so don't hold your breath. Constructive criticism welcome, as always, and a vote would be welcome. Go on, it's only a couple of mouse clicks.