"Do you remember me from the transport ship, sir?" he asked Illyan. "My name--"
"Is Diliph," Ilyan finished for him, making me stare. How the hell did he remember the name of one man out of the hundreds he'd talked to? Mind you, young Diliph here had been especially enthusiastic.
"Diliph," Ilyan said again, smiling at him. "Yes, I remember. What can I do for you?"
"I want to join you," Diliph said. His face flushed as we all stared back at him.
"Diliph, I--" Ilyan began. Before he could finish I stood up, grabbed a chair and pushed Diliph into it. He didn't resist, but looked back at me with a scowl.
"You're drawing attention," I growled.
"Don't mind him," Ilyan said. "He's security conscious. Diliph, I'm not really looking to, well, gather disciples. What I want is for those who believe me to spread the word." He glanced around at the group. "Yes, I have some followers who accompany me, but because they have roles to play."
"I'm a medic," Diliph said. "I can--"
"We've got a doctor," Maiga said.
"I'm a field medic, that's different."
Well he had a point there. A surgeon isn't always what you want out on the battlefield. But the more people we had the trickier it got to keep an eye on them all. Not to mention feed them. Ilyan looked at him for a while, and then got up. He put a hand on Maiga's shoulder and she stood too. Diliph rose as Ilyan approached him.
"Come over here," Ilyan said. "Let's talk." The three of them took another table, out of earshot of the rest of us. They started to talk pretty intensely. The rest of us watched for a while.
"I suppose I could use an assistant," Tanashi remarked.
"A second medic would be useful," Tesla put in. I assume he meant as someone else for him to moan at about his aches and pains.
"A marine," Rin said, without expanding, but making Rish nod in agreement.
"And if we run out of food on a hike we can always eat him," I said. I smirked around at their mostly disgusted faces. Shit, grow a sense of humour. Bloody-stick-up-the-arse officers.
Ten minutes later Ilyan, Maiga and Diliph returned to the table and it was a done deal. Diliph had joined up. Well the interchangeable marines could take care of this guy, until he proved trustworthy.
I'd concentrate on Ilyan.
****
I didn't just concentrate on Ilyan I started to dream about him. We stuck around town all day, gathering supplies. Maiga went off to secure us some transport to the combat zones. The sun beat down fierce and by the time we hit a hotel in the evening I went out like a light soon as I put my head down.
I guess all the exercise and the hand-to-hand training meant I had Ilyan on my mind. I dreamt of us walking together in a field. Long grass. Blue sky above us. And both of us boys, no more than seven or eight, walking holding hands. He walked slightly ahead, leading me, telling me all about the prophecy. How strange it sounded in a high, unbroken, child's voice. Like a fairy tale.
A dark speck circled lazily far above us in the blue. The smell of flowers filled my mind as a soft breeze stirred the meadow's long grass. Insects buzzed and clicked. A cool breeze blew down from the mountain. No, the prophecy couldn't be true. Death and destruction could never touch this place. Could never destroy this beauty and peace.
The eagle screamed. It screamed with Ilyan's voice.
"No!"
I woke to hot, dry darkness. Hotel room. Ayok. Get a grip, soldier.
"Jadeth?" A voice came out of the dark, unfamiliar for a second. Then I recognised it as Diliph, the new lad, who I shared the room with tonight.
"I'm okay." I gulped a couple of times. Damn heat. How can anyone sleep here? Whole damn planet feels like a pile of kindling ready to go whumph.
"Bad dream?" Diliph asked in a quiet voice.
"Yeah." Don't switch on the light. Don't switch on the light.
He didn't switch on the light and I sighed with relief. He didn't ask about the dream either. He's young, but not too young to learn that you don't ask a soldier about his nightmares.
"You need anything?"
Just for you to shut up, I didn't say. Kid sounded sincere though. Maybe he already had enough bad memories of his own to know about nightmares.
"No. I'm okay." Like fuck. Need to stop shaking.
"Hotter than a damn furnace in here," he observed, in an attempt to get promoted to Captain.
"Yeah. Sorry I woke you, kid."
"I wasn't sleeping."
"No? Something on your mind? Having second thoughts? Not too late to get back to your unit." Yeah, if you pissed off back to the marines I could get some peace here.
"No, just… Can I ask you some things, Sergeant? About the group and about the Prophet?"
The Prophet? He's seriously calling Ilyan that? I sighed. An idealist.
"Ask away."
"Um, the Prophet and the marine captain, Maiga, they're… ah…"
"They're shacked up, yeah."
"Oh."
"And the doc and Rish. Vim and Jia are heading that way too. So basically all the women are taken, if you're after any action."
"Oh no, nothing like that!" He protested. "Just want to know, you know--"
"Who's shagging who? Yeah."
"About the captain. I don't quite understand. She seems to give the orders but surely the Prophet is in charge?"
"Think of her like an X.O.," I said. "Ilyan says what he wants to happen she makes it happen."
"She's very impressive."
"Yeah, she's something all right." But what? Only the darkness saw me grin.
"So how long have you been with the Prophet?"
Okay, that 'prophet' thing had really started to bug me.
"Let me give you some advice, Diliph. If you keep calling him 'the Prophet' you'll just piss him off." Him and me, I didn't add. "Did he say to call him Ilyan?"
"Yes, but--"
"Then be a good lad and do what he says."
He went silent for a while. I shifted on the bed, trying to find a bit where the sheets weren't heavy with sweat.
"You didn't answer me," he said after a moment, just when I thought he'd dozed off. "How long have you been with him?"
"About…" I started and paused. The answer seemed ridiculous. Trivial. "Three… just over… ah, just under a month." What the hell's that about? It's a shade over three weeks why try to inflate it?
"Oh, is that all?"
Oh there we go. That's why.
"A lot's happened in that time." So defensive I embarrassed myself.
Silence again for a while and I hoped it meant he really had gone to sleep this time. But no, he started making his mouth go again. A tone of deep admiration crept into his voice.
"He's so charismatic, isn't he? The Prophet, sorry, I mean Ilyan. When he addressed the meeting I couldn't take my eyes off him."
Oh great. I'd have to keep an eye on this one. Didn't want him bothering Ilyan with his hero-worshipping crush. Crush? Hmm, worth enquiring about that, just for the sake of the wind up if nothing else.
"You fancy him?"
"What?" Diliph sounded flustered. "Of course not!" He made me snigger a bit at the vehement denial.
"Well just watch it. The captain's not inclined to share." I could imagine her face if she caught out Diliph making a move on Ilyan.
"I don't--"
"Shut the fuck up now, there's a good lad. I need my beauty sleep."
I listened hard, but if he said something on the lines of "more than most" it must have been in his head. Finally, he shut up and I closed my eyes, blocking out the darkness outside with the darkness inside.
Chapter 10
To my vast lack of surprise, the next day proved hot as hell. Even first thing in the morning heat haze shimmered off the road outside and the eggs we had at the hotel tasted like they'd in fact been fried on said roads.
Eggs though, still a treat. This place must have a hen house to have fresh eggs available. This far from Earth a humble chicken could change han
ds for silly money.
After that, we packed up all our gear and headed out. Maiga had outdone herself and rustled us up a vehicle. A small troop carrier with a retractable roof.
"Someone's gonna be missing that," I said as we looked it over.
"Well they can whistle for it," she said, sounding cheerful and triumphant. "Everybody aboard. Rin, you're driving."
We set off and I found myself seated next to Tesla. Ilyan sat on Tesla's other side, but snuggled in talking to Maiga, all quiet and intimate like, leaving me stuck listening to Tesla's waffle. He regaled me with tales about his days at spook central. Sounded like he'd stuck close to Ilyan from day one, eager for reflected glory no doubt. To be fair though, he'd gone on sticking by Ilyan even when it meant going on the run. Had to give him that.
I stifled a yawn and he frowned.
"Am I boring you, sergeant?"
"It's the heat. And I didn't get much sleep last night." I yawned again. "And to be honest, a soldier gets on a transport for a long journey, he goes to sleep. It's kind of a reflex, 'cause you don't know when you'll get the chance again." I nodded around, and he followed my gaze to see that most of the other soldiers had their heads down already.
"Oh. Well don't let me stop you resting."
"You should do the same," I said. "We're going into harsh conditions. You'll need all your strength. You're stronger than before, but you're still not fighting fit."
"You think I'm stronger?" He smiled.
"You're doing okay." I yawned again and settled down. "If I lean on your shoulder just push me away." I knew he wouldn't dare. So he shut up and a few minutes later I fell asleep.
We had lunch in the transport and pushed on, deep into the combat zone. Two factions of Okis were fussing about mineral rights or some such thing and humans fought on one side and sold weapons to both. Selling what else? I wouldn't put it past High Command to trade intel to both sides.
Maiga had faked up similar orders to the ones that got us on the troop ship. A 'Safe passage, do not interfere with' order. So checkpoints waved us through with no more than a cursory glance. Why not after all? We're all humans. We're all on the same side.
****
We drove for two days solid before we found any front line troops. By then we all felt ready to chuck a grenade into the transport so we didn't ever have to see it again.
The evening of that second day, we rested up. But I didn't let anyone get lazy. Ilyan and Tesla needed to keep up their training, so I had them doing push ups and squat thrusts before dinner.
"Give you an appetite," I told them. For my blood, going by the glares the two of them directed at me. After dinner, I strolled up to where they now sat relaxing.
"Nice dinner?" I asked, as if I'd not had the exact same dinner as them. They glanced at each other and then at me. Tesla looked nervous, but Ilyan grinned, playing along.
"Very, nice, thank you, Sergeant."
"Good, so you're ready for some more work."
Tesla moaned. "I'm too tired!"
"Don't worry, no more PT." I drew my pistol and slapped in a clip, with a satisfying thunk. "On your feet. Weapons training."
I lined up some empty food packs on a nearby LFR and we pointed the lights from the transport at the makeshift range. Maiga came to help out, but Ilyan made her coach Tesla, doubtless worried again about distraction, when I showed him the best way to help a beginner get the stance and hold right is to stand real close behind them, pressed up against their back.
"Get this off your face." I pulled his hair back with one hand and he sighed in a long-suffering way and took a band out of his pocket.
"You do it." He handed the band to me. He couldn't do it with the pistol in his hand. I gathered his long hair into a tail and put the band around it.
"Okay," I said, once I'd done that. "Firing it is easy. Hitting anything is the hard part." I moved in closer to him. His body against mine already felt harder, tauter than it had two weeks ago. He'd been working hard.
"Turn sideways to the target." I half guided and half pulled him around. "Feet apart. How's the gun feel?"
"Heavy," he said. His back felt hot against my chest and sweat showed through his clothes. The unbearably dry air burned my throat.
"Don't grip it too tight, or you'll shake too much. Firm, but flexible. Now..." I cupped his elbow and lifted his arm, slowly raising and straightening it. "Slow, bring it up to shoulder height, nice and straight. Sight down the barrel."
"Can't I use the laser sight?"
"Not yet. Have to learn without it. Sometimes you can't use the sight. If you risk warning the target. Or if the battery in the sight runs out."
"Good point."
"Are you right or left eye dominant?"
"What?"
I sighed. Back to the nursery.
"Sight on the target and then close each eye in turn. See how the target jumps? Whichever open eye makes it jump least, that's your dominant eye. It's usually the same as your dominant hand."
"Oh, how fascinating." He paused a moment, still sighting.
"Right," he said eventually. "I mean my right eye."
I glanced over to Maiga going through the same routine with Tesla. Like me with Ilyan, she stood close behind him.
"Am I ever going to fire this thing?" Ilyan asked impatiently. I turned my attention back to him.
"You think you've got it sighted?"
"Yes, yes."
"Okay, the trigger needs a gentle squeeze that's all, don't yank it."
He fired. The kick startled him and I thought he would drop the weapon, but he kept hold of it. The rest of the gang cheered, but in a teasing tone as the round skimmed the rock, wide of the target, and spat stone chips into the air. Ilyan scowled.
"Damn."
"Don't worry, and ignore the audience." I glared at them. "You weren't that far off. Bring the gun up again, arm nice and straight," I guided his arm again, running my hand along the underside of it. Tesla fired and he got closer than Ilyan, so close that his target actually wobbled.
"Well done," Maiga said, looking at me, a tad triumphantly. Oh, thinks she's a better coach than I am, eh?
"Nice, Tes," Ilyan said, then turned back to his target. "The recoil was stronger than I expected."
"That's nothing," I said. "Just wait until you get your hands on the rifle."
He sighted the pistol and loosed off another round. The target leapt off the rock and the audience cheered sincerely this time. He glanced back over his shoulder at me and grinned.
"I can't wait."
****
In the morning, we drove on and that afternoon found our first company of marines. Ilyan gave them his speech. It had started to change, I noticed. Sharper. Less likely to send them to sleep.
After that, the days started to become routine, almost rhythmic. We drove through the near desert terrain and tracked down companies of marines, who occupied this whole area. We picked up food, fuel and intel from them. Usually we passed on a message from the last unit we'd met. The message being: "listen to this Ilyan guy. He may be on to something."
And in-between we kept on training Ilyan and Tesla, kept on pushing them with the PT and the weapons. Ilyan loved the rifle, just loved every mode of it. Armour piercing rounds, manual, semi automatic or full rock and roll, plasma pulse, plasma beam, the mini grenade launcher. He would finish a session of target practice with a big cheesy grin on his face, drag his hair out of the band he'd tied it back with, and just laugh.
I can remember that same feeling when I first got my hands on a serious rifle, not just a training piece. You're sixteen years old when the standard infantry rifle first kicks back against your shoulder. Sixteen and suddenly you're strutting around like the cock of the walk because you know you can handle this big weapon.
Tesla did okay, but he didn't enjoy it like Ilyan. The rifle frightened him. Probably scared of shooting his foot off.
****
After nearly a month of this, the routine changed. We
reached a mountainous region and knew our little transport couldn't go much further.
"There's marines in them there hills," Ilyan joked as we stood beside the transport and contemplated the foothills and the mountains beyond.
"There's Oki too," Maiga warned.
"So we'll have to be careful." Ilyan looked at the rest of the group. All of us looked beaten down and worn out by the heat. "We have to go up there. The vehicle can take us a short distance farther on, but then we're on foot. I want to get right to the most inaccessible areas, where the soldiers are living and fighting right on the edge. I know it will be hard, but if I can manage it I know all of you can." He glanced at Tesla, as if not sure that applied to him. "You can all help me, as you have so well up to now. I'd never have come this far without you." His gaze rested on Maiga and then briefly on me.
I looked at the others, the youngsters all busting with pride. I felt proud too. Proud I'd helped bring him this far, proud that he was letting me train him and protect him. And proud of him. Six weeks or a month ago I know him or Tesla wouldn't have had a chance of hiking though these mountains, under sun hot enough to fry your brain. Now both of them looked hard and sleek. Their faces and hands tanned, their hair lightened from hours under the sun in the transport with the retractable roof peeled back. They'd worked, even when it hurt, and Tesla made sure we all knew about it when it hurt. But they'd worked and we could all see the results. Another six months of work and they could even be called soldiers.
"Tomorrow," Ilyan said. "Tomorrow we climb."
Chapter 11
Late the next morning we found a place to stash the transport behind some rocks, under the cover of a couple of stunted tree things. We ate some lunch while we prepared our packs and gear, making as much room for water as we could and leaving behind whatever we dared.
I wanted Ilyan carrying one additional bit of weight though. I approached him, undoing my pistol belt.
"Here," I said, standing over him. "You take this. I've got the rifle."
He looked up at me. He'd been doing well at the weapons training, but hadn't actually started carrying a gun around all the time yet. Time he did. We had a spare one lying around somewhere. Tesla could have that.