I grimaced. "I guess I'm pretty ripe. Any chance of a clean up around here?"
"I think that could be arranged." He drank his coffee, still watching me. I stretched some more, rotated my head making the bones crack gruesomely and making Ilyan grimace.
"Any breakfast on?" I asked.
"The others will be up soon," Ilyan said. "We'll get some then. Will you want to get on your way after you've cleaned up?"
I shrugged. "To be honest, I haven't a clue where I am or how to get back to HQ." I took out my broken Snapper and showed it to him. "No maps. I've been trying to tag up with a unit, but I swear the bastards are all hiding from me." I grinned at him. "Maybe they can smell me coming."
He laughed then turned more serious, looking at the Snapper.
"That was pretty close, wasn't it?"
"You're not wrong there, mate. Um, sir," I added, trying to rein myself in a bit. This lad had a way about him that made me relax. I had to watch that. I still didn't know what the story was here, had to be on guard.
"You don't have to call me sir," he said. "Ilyan is fine."
"Okay."
"You were assigned to a native platoon? Maiga told me."
"Yeah," I nodded. "Me and a lieutenant. We got hit by a shell."
"And the rest were all killed?"
"Yeah."
Well let's not mention that some of them were still alive when I bugged out of there. Hey, the bastards were going to eat me. Why the hell shouldn't I run?
We drank our coffee in silence for a while. A cold breeze started up, stirred his long hair. After a while he put down his coffee cup.
"When were you last home on Earth, Jadeth?"
I had to think about it for a moment, trying to recall. "About five years ago I think. Why?"
"Do you miss it?"
I thought about the question. Did I miss it? One place is pretty much like another isn't it? Except…
"The sky," I said. "I miss the sky." I looked up into the green sky above us. It was beautiful actually. Silver streaked clouds scudded across it. Beautiful, but wrong. "Nowhere else has that blue, you know. Never the same, waking up to a sky the wrong colour." I sighed. I remembered training, camping out and waking up to the blue. Nothing like it. "When were you last there?" I asked, wanting to ask him if the sky was still blue. That was stupid, what else would it be?
"Three months ago."
"Barely had time to miss it then."
"No. I hope I'll get to go back one day." He looked wistful suddenly, sighed.
I frowned. "Why wouldn't you?"
He looked at me and smiled. "Long story."
I glanced at the sky that the sun lightened only slowly. No movement came from the rest of the weirdo squad yet.
"Long day," I said, looking back at him. Come on, pal, spill it, what the hell are you lot doing out here?
"Yes. Yes it is, I suppose." He poured himself more coffee, sipped it and winced. Either cold or stewed, I guessed. He didn't speak again at once, just sat there looking thoughtful. I almost gave up on it and started thinking about that clean up, when he finally spoke.
"Jadeth, what would you say if I told you I think the aliens will turn on us?"
I shrugged. "Wouldn't surprise me."
He frowned. "It wouldn't?"
I grabbed a stick from the ground and poked the fire a bit then held my hands out to it, trying to warm up.
"To be honest, that's what happened to my unit. The L.T. fucked up bad and the lizards took the hump and tried to frag us. Can't blame the scaly sods."
Ilyan stared at me, looking shocked.
"So how did you get away?"
"Oh there was a shell, like I said, right when they were about to gut us." I grinned. "Kind of distracted them a bit. Shell killed the lieutenant and I had it away on my toes before the lizards got their wits back."
"Right," Ilyan said slowly. Then he stopped staring at me and pulled himself together. "But what I mean is something on a larger scale. And not just the Muaan Qacia, but the Kitsnujitar, the Chiamajan and the Ayokidishi."
The names of "the big four", as us grunts called the major powers, tripped off his tongue naturally and with the accents and pronunciation perfect. Shame he spoke so beautifully about such a bunch of crap.
"What all of them? Turn against us all at the same time?"
It seemed unlikely. Right now humans fought on the side of the Muaan Qacia in one of their usual territorial disputes with the Chiamajan. Elsewhere we worked for the Ayokidishi in some religious themed trouble with the Kitsnujitar. Of course, if the Chias or the Kits offered us enough cash then things would change sharpish.
"I believe," Ilyan said, "that they are about to settle their differences, at least temporarily, and deal with Earth." He took another sip of coffee and looked back at me. "And when I say 'deal with', I mean 'destroy'."
Strange thing, he didn't look like a madman.
"Are you nuts?" I shook my head. "The Kits blew up the Oki's capital city. Twice! The Qacians and the Chia have eaten each other's young. Every one of the lizards is under a general order to kill any Chia they find."
"The Chiamajan and the Kitsnujitar are under a general order too. In battle, always kill the humans first. They know we're the most dangerous."
"Yeah, well, we are," I said and grinned. "We're the best and they all know it."
"But twenty years ago we fought alongside the Kits, against the Muaan Qacia. And the Qacians had that same general order."
I shrugged. "So that's a sign that we're good isn't it? It's just the same way we're trained to kill the officers first."
"What if they all decided to apply that order at the same time? Even the ones we're currently working for?"
"But they would never team up!" I argued. "Have you ever met any of them? They hate each other more than they could ever hate us."
"Are you sure about that?"
I shook my head. "Who the hell are you? Where the hell do you get such a mental idea?" I laughed. "Don't tell me. You had a vision of the future!"
He smiled that wry smirk again.
"Perhaps." He glanced over at the tent I'd seen Maiga go into last night as she came out of it, stretching. She nodded to him, ignored me and strolled off to where someone had pointed out the latrine to me last night.
More movement followed, a few other people emerged, including the other civilian. He looked grouchy and severely mussed.
"Good morning, Tesla," Ilyan said. "Tesla, Jadeth here wants to know who I am. Why don't you tell him?"
Tesla glanced between the two of us, and then spoke.
"You're the Prophet."
Chapter 3
Just my luck, to run into not just weirdoes, but actual full-on nutters. Maiga came back then and started bossing people about to get some food on the go, so I didn't have a chance to ask Ilyan any more questions. Not sure I wanted to really. I knew crazies when I saw them.
After we ate they boiled up a pot of water for me and I took it round behind a tent to wash. I'd started dressing again in my last set of fresh clothes when the Tesla bloke poked his head around the corner.
"Are you decent?"
I didn't even know what the hell that meant.
"What can I do you for?" I asked, pulling my undershirt over my head. As he approached he tripped on my boots and I scowled at him.
"Watch it," I snapped. Nobody touches the boots.
"Sorry." He looked at my gear, which I'd unpacked and laid out. "My, you manage to fit a lot into your pack don't you? How do you carry it all?"
Stupid question. Doesn't he know a soldier carries his life on his back?
"Do you want something?" He got on my nerves. Weasely little sort.
"I just thought I should explain what I meant before when I called Ilyan 'the prophet.' I don't want you to get the wrong end of the stick."
I thought I had a pretty firm grip on the right end of the stick, but I let him talk. He didn't look much good for anything else.
"
Ilyan is an intelligence analyst. I am too."
"Spooks, huh?" Might have guessed.
"Yes." He laughed. "Spooks. That's what you people call us, don't you?"
I started packing my gear away, thinking about the phrase 'you people'.
"Well Ilyan's speciality is making predictions. About where trouble may occur. He's very good at it. Very good. That's why he ended up being nicknamed 'the Prophet'. In fact, well I came up with that nickname. As a joke really. But it caught on." He smirked, apparently proud of himself. When I didn't answer he went on. "Anyway, Ilyan was so good that High Command themselves considered him a top advisor."
I frowned. A man who had the ear of High Command and now he's camping out in a combat zone on Muaan Qacia? How did that happen, huh? Maybe they noticed he'd gone howling off round the bend? I sat down and started putting on my boots. Tesla didn't seem to mind me not answering him, he still rattled on.
"Then he told them about the prediction, the one he told you about. He says he analysed the data twenty different ways and they all led him to the same conclusion. Within a year the big four will settle their differences and come after us."
"Sounds unlikely," I said.
"High Command thought the same. They rejected it out of hand!"
"Yeah, well High Command usually knows what they're doing."
"I've checked the data too," Tesla said, his face turning serious. "I have to agree with Ilyan."
"Oh well then, that's me convinced."
His face darkened into a deep scowl.
"There's no need to take that tone." He gestured impatiently. "I suppose there's not much chance someone like you would understand."
I stood up pretty fast then. I was only a couple of inches taller than him but he backed off quick, almost falling over on the rough ground. I smirked.
Maiga appeared at his shoulder, scowling at me.
"Tesla, get your stuff together, we're moving out." He nodded meekly, gave me a dirty look and hurried off. Maiga turned to me. "Leave him alone." I heard a clear warning in her voice.
"Nothing would make me happier. Ma'am." She added to the morning's collection of dirty looks and then folded her arms and watched me finish packing my kit.
"What are your plans, Sergeant?"
"Try and find a friendly unit and get back to base."
"Right. And when you get back?"
I looked up. Her hand rested on her sidearm. I saw her point.
"Who the hell would believe that I met a bunch of weirdoes camping out in a combat zone? Must have been hallucinating. I get like that when I'm hungry."
She took her hand off the pistol. I heaved my pack up and settled it on my shoulders.
"Well see you, ma'am. Have fun with the nutter patrol."
I'd taken five steps when she called out "wait." I stopped and looked back.
"What makes you think you'll find a unit?"
"I found you lot."
She smiled and glanced back over her shoulder, gave me a wry look.
"Yeah, that's something to boast about." She looked thoughtful and I waited. "Look, we're on our way to an infantry unit, I'm pretty certain I know where they are. Why not tag along? You can share our food and help me keep my people from getting killed, and then we'll leave you with them."
I thought about it for a moment. Nutters this lot may be, but they had food. And her "pretty certain" about the location of a unit beat my "zero clue".
That was the moment right then, when I made the choice that changed everything.
"Okay, whatever."
****
I took rearguard. That way I could keep an eye on all of them. The military sorts kept up a pretty good pace, but the spooks were slower and obviously found the going rough. They needed to toughen up if they were going to hang around in the wilds.
After an hour or so Ilyan stopped to adjust his boots. I caught up and waited for him. He smiled up at me and then stood up and we set off walking together.
"So you've decided to join us for a while, Sergeant?"
"For a while."
"Good. We could use an experienced man like you. Aside from Maiga I'm afraid most of my group are rather young and inexperienced."
"Yeah, well you've got me till we meet up with this unit she thinks she knows about." I nodded to where Maiga led the way.
"Oh, she knows about them. Their officer is a friend of hers. He's agreed to let me talk to them."
I frowned at him. "About your prediction?"
"Yes. I believe Tesla explained a little more about it to you." I glanced at Tesla, who seemed to be having trouble with the bugs, swatting like mad.
"Yeah, said you told High Command your idea, and they weren't having any of it. I suppose then you got the hump and came out here to…" I shrugged. To do what? He'd not explained that part yet.
"Got the hump?"
"Took the huff, sulked."
"Ah. Yes, I, um." He grimaced. "I suppose there's an element of that. I was accustomed to being listened to. And when they wouldn't listen, well then, my ego may have been bruised."
"See, that's the part I don't get yet. What are you doing out here? Long way to come for a sulk."
"Yes." He looked thoughtful for a while, eventually spoke again. "Well, back at university they taught me there are two ways to approach a problem. Top down and bottom up."
"Yeah? Sounds like the way I approach the problem of women." I grinned and he looked mildly shocked, which made me grin some more.
"Er, quite. Anyway, I'd tried the top, High Command, and that didn't work. So I decided on a different approach."
"The bottom. Well…" I looked around at the grim terrain and the distant smoke rising into a sky now heavy with rain clouds. "You found the bottom all right."
He sighed, looking around. Maybe he missed the blue sky too. "Yes. But what I mean is I want to get out and meet and talk to the troops at the sharp end. The humans who are out here fighting other people's wars, when they should be back home, preparing to defend Earth."
"So, what are you going to tell them to do?" I asked, intrigued. "You gonna stand up in front of a bunch of grunts and tell them to mutiny?"
"I'm going to tell them to stop fighting."
I laughed for at least a minute. He waited me out, not even looking at me. I guessed he'd had the same reaction before.
"Stop fighting?" I said in the end. "Stop fighting?" I almost started laughing again. "You really are bonkers. Fighting is what people are for."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Didn't you go to school?"
"For too long I suspect."
"So you want us to stop fighting. And do what?"
"Go home. Go back to Earth and prepare. Oh, we will have to fight again. But at home."
I looked at him long and hard. He'd lost the amused little smirk and the look in his eyes that suggested something funny was going on that I couldn't even understand.
"You're really serious about this?" I asked, surprised by the hush in my voice.
"It is going to happen. All we can do is fight to defend ourselves when it does. If enough of us are not at home to fight then Earth will be destroyed and the remaining humans hunted down until we are all gone." He looked away, looked ahead again, walked on in silence. I noticed he'd started limping slightly, probably blisters. But he kept walking.
These intelligence types. They had it pretty cushy. Nice accommodations, good pay. And this one, top advisor to High Command, he must have been living the high life. And he gave all that up for this?
"What about the others?" I asked, nodding at the weirdo squad.
"Tesla is an old friend of mine. He believed in me and he agreed to come with me when I… left Earth."
He almost said 'ran' there. Maybe doesn't want to think of himself as running.
"The rest are people we've encountered on the way, who've decided to follow because they believe me."
My gaze instantly settled on Maiga. Nice view from the back.
"Because
they believe you," I said with a touch of cynicism in my voice I'll admit. "No other reason?"
He frowned at me, some disapproval there.
"Maiga agreed to come with me before she and I began--"
"None of my business." I cut him off. More than I wanted to know about.
Perhaps Maiga sensed us looking at her because she glanced back and then turned and gestured to the group, called out.
"Break. Ten minutes." The others stopped and dumped their packs. Tesla sank to the ground and clutched at one of his feet groaning. An Oriental looking woman, sat beside him. Tanashi, I recalled her being introduced as, star ship officer, doctor. She ran a med scanner over Tesla as he complained about his feet.
Ilyan and me caught up with the others from rearguard position and Maiga came to meet us.
"Want to take point for a while, Sergeant?"
"Sure, if I knew where the hell we're heading."
She scowled at me and pointed to a nasty jagged looking outcropping sticking out of the ground, about ten klicks ahead.
"Just get us to that BFR. Think you can manage that?"
"I'll give it a go, ma'am. Think the kindergarten class can keep up with me?"
"We'll give it a go." She stalked off.
Ilyan watched her leave, maybe appreciating that nice back view too, and then he turned to me.
"What's a BFR? Is that a military term?"
I shook my head and laughed. "Shit, you lot really are screwed out here." I pointed at the outcropping. "That's a BFR."
"It's a rock," he said, not getting it.
"What kind of rock?"
"Damn, I knew I should have brought my Big Book of Geology with me." He smiled at me sidelong and I grinned.
"Nah, I meant size."
"Oh. Well, I suppose it's a… big rock?" He frowned, face thoughtful. Then he lit up and grinned back at me. "Oh! It's a Big Fucking Rock!"
And I laughed because, well hell, he just sounded so pleased with himself for figuring it out. Maybe he didn't have a clue how to survive out here, but he caught on fast.
He glanced at his watch, winked at me and turned back to the others. "Come on then, everyone," he called out, clapping his hands. "Sergeant Jadeth is going to lead us to the Big Fucking Rock."
They stared at him like he was crazy, but started getting up.
"That was never ten minutes," Tesla moaned. Rish and another marine, Rin (did they assign these guys alphabetically I wondered) helped him to his feet. I started to move ahead, and then I stopped.
"Ilyan. Just tell me one thing." I paused, shook my head. "Why? Why would they turn on us? We fight their wars for them. They pay in money instead of blood. Why would they want that to change?"