"Damn, did you have to hit him so hard?" Pound cried. "I told you I wanted him alive!"
"Uh, sorry," the man answered lamely. "I was a little nervous. I’ve never been this close to a live one before, you know?
"Well, hell. No damage done, I guess. He's alive," Pound said after checking the large monster. There was a large purple stain of the alien's blood on his uniform but Pound found no indication of a wound.
"Here, help me tie him up. You," he shouted to another of the human soldiers hiding in the darkness of the building. "Go fetch Avery. We’ll need her to talk to this thing."
The boy, who was probably no older than sixteen or seventeen, Pound guessed, nodded and rushed out to find her.
"This is the last of them," Pound announced to no one in particular. "All the rest are dead."
It took four men to carry the unconscious beast toward the Inner Square. They had to step over four alien bodies lying inside the doorway as they made their way out. The four had been killed by Pound and his soldiers almost an hour before, trying to make it back to the Inner Square and the carrier vehicles there.
* * *
Brun and Zal were in the ship's command center. The large room doubled as the ship's bridge when in space. They waited for news of the raid on the human prison.
While they waited, Zal relayed the human traitor's tale of the six hundred year old soldier and Brun listened with much interest. He knew the humans were extremely advanced in some areas of the physical sciences but this degree of advancement was thoroughly impossible, he agreed.
"I have to agree with you, Zal. It seems impossible that the humans could have accomplished such a feat." He picked at the dry skin on his fingers while he talked. The layers of dried, green flesh came off in thin sheets that he dropped to the floor.
“Still, I would enjoy speaking with this human. It might help pass time while we wait for Lieutenant... Tril, was it?"
"Lieutenant Treel, sir," Zal corrected. "I can have the prisoner brought here if you wish. Perhaps one of your personal guards would be so kind?"
"Ah, yes. I almost forgot. All but a handful of your soldiers are at the prison." It was a mild rebuke. His way of telling Zal that leaving the ship virtually unprotected was most unwise.
Zal ignored the admonishment. He would have the last word once his forces destroyed the human resistance.
"Certainly, you may order Corporal Drant, there, to retrieve the slave."
Drant, upon hearing his summons, bowed to both Zal and Brun.
"The human is in the Zone, Drant," Zal directed the underling. The corporal bowed again and left the room.
* * *
With the assistance of Avery's map, Grant went about the business of relocating the Zone. Although he had been there before, the layout of the ship would easily have had him lost without the map. It was laid out in a circular pattern, much like the square pattern of Violent's Prison. Instead of stone walls separated by open spaces, the ship consisted of rooms laid out in six concentric circles. Separating the circles of rooms were equally concentric corridors approximately ten feet wide. These circular corridors were broken up by six straight hallways that began at the ship's center and continued to the outermost circle of rooms. To Grant, the map of the ship resembled a series of six giant wheels, each smaller than the one surrounding it, connected by six large spokes.
After one false turn that was quickly corrected, Grant found the Zone. He opened the door quickly and entered it with his weapon held high. There were no Minith present but there was one human and Grant walked over to where he lay sleeping on the same table where Avery had been restrained only days before.
"Blue," Grant prodded the sleeping man with his toe. "Get up." The obese administrator opened his eyes. When he saw that it was Grant who had disturbed his rest, he sat up as quickly as his overweight body would allow.
"Well, it certainly took you long enough!" Blue reprimanded. "The beasts damn near killed me with their torture!"
Grant looked the man over carefully with trained eyes and detected no signs of torture or rough treatment.
"I'll have Rolan's job for this maltreatment," he ranted.
Grant rolled his eyes at Blue's huffy manner.
"I should have refused the Council's request. I mean, a man of my stature being degraded at the hands of these monster! It's... it's preposterous!"
Grant had heard enough.
"It was an order from the Leadership Council, not a request, Blue. And if you don’t be quiet, I'll treat you twice as rough as the Minith did."
"Well, I... I mean... how could you even think of harming me? Who do you think you are?"
Grant took Blue's arm and gave a small but firm squeeze.
"I'll tell you who I think I am, Blue. I'm the man that's going to try and save your ass! If you don't shut your mouth, I may have to reconsider."
He released Blue's arm and the man massaged it gently. He kept his mouth shut, though, and Grant nodded his approval.
"Very good, Blue. It's nice to know that a man of such stature can be intelligent as well."
Blue swallowed a reply and looked at the ground. He was not happy but Grant had no time to care.
Grant dropped his pack to the ground and took out the map once again. This time, he plotted the quickest path to the command center. The room was directly in the center of the ship and any of the spoke corridors would lead them to it.
He put the map back and told everyone, "All right. It's show time. So far we've been fortunate in not meeting any Minith soldiers but you can bet your ass there will be at least a few where we're headed now."
"We? What do you mean we?" Blue asked incredulously. "I'm no soldier. I'll wait for you here."
A quick glare shut the man up, but Grant knew the man could not keep quiet for long. It was not in his nature to do so.
"Do you want to stay here? Fine. But I'm not sure if we'll have time to pick you up on our way out."
Grant turned his back on Blue to let him soak in that thought for a while. Maybe a dose of fear would bring him to his senses.
"The rest of you get ready to move out."
"Hey, Grant." Mouse said matter of factly from the doorway. He had been keeping watch on the corridor and Grant had a sinking feeling he knew what the man was going to say.
"Yeah, Mouse? Don't tell me we have company."
"You guessed it, boss. One soldier, wearing a side arm. I think he heard us, but he doesn't seem to be concerned."
"Yeah, well good for us and bad for him," Grant said to Mouse, switching to his native Afc’n language. He did not want to tip their hand by speaking Earth Standard. Not many of the Minith knew the language but there was always that chance.
He motioned for everyone else to be silent.
"What's he doing?"
"He's heading this way. Listening to what we're saying but he doesn't understand." Mouse, speaking in his own native tongue, looked directly at Grant and smiled. "If he did, he wouldn't be acting so nonchalant."
"Probably thinks we're just a couple of the ship's slaves."
"What do we do?" Mouse raised his rifle slightly but Grant shook his head.
"No. We have to take him out quietly if we can. We don't want to alert the rest of the ship if we can help it."
Mouse nodded and quickly removed a knife from his right boot. Sue, not understanding what Grant nor Mouse was saying but certain of what the knife meant, took out her own knife and stood on the opposite side of the door. Blue, realizing what the two at the door were planning, gasped in horror. Grant saw Blue's reaction but did not act quickly enough to stop the man from alerting the Minith soldier.
"No! You can't kill him! He may be Minith, but you cannot commit violence upon him."
The shout itself would have been enough to alert the approaching soldier, but Blue yelled in Earth Standard.
"Shit, he's drawing his weapon!" Mouse yelled.
Grant dropped his
pack and raced for the door. He entered the corridor and turned directly for the alien soldier who did indeed have his weapon drawn. Grant covered the ten feet between himself and the Minith in seconds but the Minith had plenty of time to fire his weapon and he did so just as Grant left his feet to deliver a kick to the monster's chest. The blast from the alien gun seared a streak along the left side of Grant's face. Grant's right foot struck the alien square in the chest and knocked him down.
If the alien had been human, he would have had a broken sternum floating around in his chest. As it was, the alien simply crumpled under the blow and lay unconscious in the middle of the corridor.
The Minith soldier had been stopped before he had a chance to hurt anyone but the damage was done, Grant knew. Though not as loud as a human weapon, the blast from the Minith's weapon had to have alerted the ship's crew.
"Everyone get ready!" Grant shouted, no longer worried about maintaining silence. The element of surprise was taken away. Now speed had to rule their movements. "We have to move. To the command center. NOW!"
* * *
The human voice resounded around the command center. One of the crew had opened a communication line into the Zone when he heard the weapon discharge just moments before.
"Humans! They’re inside the ship!"
"It's probably just one of our slaves, Brun!" Zal insisted illogically. He raged at the thought that a human would dare to enter a Minith ship without permission.
"Get a grip, Zal. Denial is not called for in this situation!" Brun openly chastised Zal in front of his subordinates.
"Your actions have been bordering on incompetence for weeks now. It is fortunate that I had the foresight to leave Lieutenant Treel behind as my confidant. Without the lieutenant's reports, Minith Command might still be ignorant of the situation here on Earth."
"Treel! He is the spy?"
Confusion and anger at having been deceived by someone he had trusted fought for dominance within Zal and anger won out. His fury made him more certain than ever about his plans. He would not be stopped by anyone. This was his command and he meant to keep it or die trying, he no longer cared which.
Brun obviously had other ideas. There were eight crew members staffing the command center and he pointed to three of them.
"You three, head toward the Zone. Stop the intruders. Tinag, Yat, guard the doorway!"
Zal stared in disbelief at what was transpiring in front of him. Brun had just ordered three of his men, as well as two of Brun’s own personal guards, to fighting positions. His command was being stolen from him!
"You, on the communications console, what is your name?"
The Minith who had brought them the voices of the humans from the Zone turned toward Brun.
"Nial, sir."
"Nial, you have acted admirably. You are hereby promoted to the rank of sergeant."
"Thank you, sir."
"Do not thank me, sergeant. The promotion was earned. Now, get me a communication line with the Minith War Council."
"The War Council? But why, Brun? This is nothing but a slight inconvenience! I can handle this, I assure you," Zal exploded. The Minith Minister of Earth advanced a step toward the general, his fists clenched.
Sergeant Nial hesitated but a moment before carrying out Brun's order.
"Zal, you are hereby relieved of your command. I will assume responsibility for this ship and this planet. As soon as the corridors are cleared of these human rodents, you will report to your quarters and remain there until directed to do otherwise."
Brun's words were crisp and precise. He obviously wanted Zal to understand them without question and without argument. His wishes were not granted, however.
"You will not do this, Brun! This is my command! These are my soldiers. And this is my ship!"
"Not anymore," Brun cited calmly. He turned his back to Zal in dismissal and addressed Nial. "Have you received a reply yet, Sergeant?"
"Still waiting, uh, sir," the sergeant stammered. The argument between two senior commanders seemed to be taking its toll on the young soldier. "It...It normally takes a few minutes, sir!"
"Very well, then. We shall wait." Brun was turning back toward Zal when the blast took him between the shoulders.
Purple blood splattered about the command center and Brun, former General of the Minith War Council, fell to the floor. None of those in the room doubted that he was dead.
The remaining soldiers stared in horror at Zal. He appeared calm except for the hand holding the weapon. It shook uncontrollably.
The soldiers stared at Zal, unsure of what to do for several seconds. Nial broke the silence.
"I have the War Council on the line, sir."
Zal's hand stopped shaking at once and he looked toward the communication specialist.
"Inform them that Commander Brun has arrived safely and that the human situation is under control."
"Yes, sir," Sergeant Nial whispered.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Grant took Blue and six of the prisoners down one of the corridors leading to the center of the ship. Mouse led the remaining seven, including Sue, down the next corridor. They agreed that assaulting the command center from two directions made the most sense, especially if there was going to be significant resistance. Grant's group reached the innermost corridor of the ship without incident and turned right, toward their destination. The corridor at this point in the alien ship was curved and they could not see further than thirty meters or so ahead. This slowed them down since Grant did not welcome the idea of running blindly into a Minith ambush.
They did not encounter an ambush, but they did run into a team of three Minith soldiers. Except for Blue, the three aliens seemed more surprised to see the humans running at them than vice versa. Blue began to wail as soon as he spotted the approaching aliens. The noise he made distracted the aliens momentarily and Grant was able to take out the lead soldier before the alien giant could fire his weapon.
They were not so fortunate with the other two, however, and both got off shots. Two of Grant's men went down with holes burned through their torsos. Grant shoved Blue, who wailed even louder at the sight of the two men dying, to the ground. Grant wondered why he bothered but, despite his dislike for Blue, he couldn’t just leave him unprotected.
The rest of the group hit the ground around them and got off shots at the alien soldiers. The two former 'masters' were quickly dispatched, but not before taking out another of Grant's recruits.
Grant checked the three fallen men. Nothing could be done for them so he, Blue and the three remaining soldiers continued on. They heard firing before they reached the command center and Grant surmised that Mouse's contingent had reached the goal first. They stopped at the final turn and Grant peered quickly around the curve of the hallway.
He spied Mouse and his group assembled on the opposite side of the command center's open doorway. He also saw two large alien bodies sprawled in front of the door and watched as several blasts were released from inside the room. The firing was very effective at keeping Mouse and his soldiers away from the doorway.
Grant motioned for two of his group to remain in the corridor as rear guards. He did not want any alien soldiers coming up behind them while they were occupied with the command center. He whispered to Blue to stay with them. The large man nodded and slumped to the floor.
Grant and the remaining prisoner, a woman who had picked things up quickly in training, moved forward to link up with Mouse.
Mouse waved and smiled as Grant approached. The reaction from the rest of Mouse’s group was mixed. Some nodded, a couple seemed to be crying, and one was seated on the ground, his head in his hands. The sight reminded Grant that these individuals – some of the most violent on the planet – were not warriors. For the most part, they were products of the Peaceful world to which they had been born.
He hoped they would hold up to finish the battle just ahead.
; The blasts pouring from the command center slowed. Stopped. Grant wasn’t sure if the aliens were conserving their weapons or waiting for the humans to make the next move.
In a low voice, Grant asked Mouse in Afc'n if he had placed a rear guard.
Mouse shook his head, but quickly corrected the problem. One of the crying soldiers was dispatched to the task.
"Welcome to the party," Mouse jibed, then fired a wild volley of rounds into the room. He did not aim. Just jabbed the rifle into the doorway and pulled the trigger. Grant doubted he hit anything, but it would keep the Minith away from the door.
Another hot flash sizzled through the doorway in response, struck the opposite side of the corridor. The metal wall was darkened, blistered by the heat of successive blasts.
Grant just nodded. "We ran into a small problem. It’s under control, though. You ready to do this?"
Mouse smiled. “Oh yeah.”
Grant switched from Afc’n to Minith and addressed the aliens trapped inside the command center.
* * *
"There is no way out. We demand your surrender," the human voice shouted from the corridor.
Zal glared disbelief at the open doorway, slammed his fist into a control panel.
It's him! Zal thought.
The Minith underlings looked to Zal. The stares were full of questions but Zal did not know what to do. He was staggered by the revelation. He always knew what to do.
The humans had them trapped. He did not know how many there were, but they were well armed. Well enough, at least. One thing was certain. Surrender was not an option. He would destroy the ship and the planet before surrendering to these weak slaves.
He quickly ran through his options and came up with the only one that offered any hope of his success.
“You three,” Zal pointed to the remaining guards who had arrived with Brun. They and their weapons had been key in keeping the humans from entering the command center.
"Rush the humans at the door. Kill them quickly."
The three soldiers looked at each other. Two stole furtive glances toward the fallen Brun. The purple stain around the body was large, but had stopped spreading. Zal wondered how they would react to the order and waited. They finally looked at him and he waved the weapon he had used to kill Brun. The gun, along with Zal's obvious willingness to use it, became a threat as real as the one posed by the humans.