Intro Chapter 01 . 02 . 03 . 04 . 05 . 06 . 07 . 08 . 09 . 10 . 11 . 12 . 13 . 14 . 15 . 16 . 17 . 18 . 19 . 20 . 21 . 22 . 23 . 24 . 25 . 26 . 27
For the next few seconds the crowd did just what I wanted them to do: nothing. But I knew I was getting in deep water fast. This terrorism stuff is a sideline to getting planetary defenses disabled and prior to this moment I'd've figured it was a going to be a cold day in hell before I became a terrorist platform speaker. But here I was trying to distract what you might call a hostile crowd while my compadres got their act together and joined me.
I look around. What should I say next? "I want all of you to lay down your arms. Now!" Hell, these people couldn't hurt me. It was stupid to say that, but it seemed like the thing to say, and it certainly beat standing there saying nothing.
"Al, Chin, how are you coming?"
"We ain't doin' bad, but, Christ, they've got a lot of wood in this pile. Chin's got the boys off; I'm clearin' a way to the armor. It's hot in here.... Ah, here we go. I got to one suit. It'll be a minute more before they're both out."
Chin added, "These guys are both out of it. This experience must've freaked 'em out pretty bad and one got sparks in his hair. He'll have a headache for quite a while."
"Okay, get them buttoned up and in herd mode and get over here, fast. I'm going to entertain."
The audience was getting restless. Some old codger on the platform drew his sword; started yelling and charged me. It was probably the best thing that could've happened. He had blood in his eyes as he closed. He was ready to die for God, mom, honor, the country or whatever. Then at the last moment, I swung one of my hostages, still in hand, between us. The hostage yelled and squealed and the old man seemed to see him for the first time. He stopped, then dropped the sword. I'd apparently made a good choice in who I'd grabbed.
"Back in line!" I yelled at him. "The rest of you, drop your weapons!" I lifted the two hostages by their collars and swung them slowly around while they kicked and screamed a bit.
"You people on the platform: lie down on your stomachs and don't move. You people in the square: time to go home. The party's over. You policemen: disperse this crowd before someone gets hurt. DO IT!"
I kept yelling this as I turned slowly around. I let the two I was holding down so they weren't hanging and could breathe again. "Tell them to do it. Tell them who you are, then to do it." I said to the one I'd used to stop the old man. I pushed him in front of the mikes. This way I'd find out who I had.
He choked a bit then said, "This is High Commander Shultz. Do what this creature..." I shook him roughly.
"Who am I?"
"...this man, Kull the Conqueror, says."
"Thanks for your testimonial, Commander." I did the same with the other. He was some ranking clergy.
And things were finally happening. The platform crowd was about half down and a few of the police were starting the crowd out of the square.
"We're coming." announced Al.
Ah, but just when the rays of sunshine start coming through the parting clouds, some idiot decides to water the lawn. From above and behind me came a blast of machine gun fire. It rattled off my armor harmlessly, but my two hostages were sporting red, ugly holes.
"You're not the only ones with enemies." the High Commander gurgled. I put them down somewhat gently and returned fire. The assailant dropped, but the damage was done. Sporadic shooting started breaking out here and there. By the time Al and Chin arrived with the others in tow, any one with an enemy on the plaza had decided now was the time to settle the score. It was clear that within five minutes everyone on left on that plaza would either be stiff or finishing off an enemy. The shooting was spreading, as was the kicking, clubbing, trampling and screaming. One or two of the soldiers on the roof were even tossing grenades.
That was the bad news. The good news was that we were practically ignored in the chaos. One squad leader managed to muster a volley of fire on us from the far side of the podium. Before I could return fire one of his enemies dropped a grenade on him. "Lets get out of here. Follow me.", I said.
The building at the end of the plaza was clearly the oldest. It was dwarfed on one side by a couple of skyscrapers, but it was a massive stone edifice that clearly said, "church and pride" or "government and pride." I wasn't having much luck with people hostages, so we might as well try property hostages. We run for it.
Inside the building is labyrinthine: halls and corridors of the sort that says offices. Rats, I was hoping for a church, but beggars can't be choosers.
"Lets head down. There'll be tunnels or something that can get us out of here unobtrusively when the time comes." We break a few doors finding stairs down, but it doesn't take long. In the basement we find central power or central communications or something, and a thick-wall storage room of some sort adjoining it. We camp there.
"Al, you've got sentry."
"Armor-in-sentry mode okay?"
"That'll do. These guys won't be sneaking up on us with anything sophisticated for a while. Armor sentry should do for now. Lets get about finding out where we stand."
Cleaning, diagnosing and fixing, cleaning, diagnosing and fixing, a soldier's work is never done. I start diagnostics and hop out of the suit to help with the others.
"Christ, that fire burned off most of my ablation protection." says Al.
"That's what it's suppose to do: disintegrate under heat -- laser blast or otherwise."
"Yeah, but it's a shame it went to a silly bonfire. And it's gone all over. I feel naked."
"Fortunately for you bonfires is about all you'll need it for: these people seem exclusively projectile-based."
"Still, that'll be the first thing I fix when we get off this rock." he sighed.
"Yeah." I ducked the unasked question. When will we get off this rock?
Chin isn't doing badly. Her armor wasn't in the fire nearly as long and the drugs have her concussion under control. She's checking one of the mercs and his armor. I start the diagnostics on the other.
Their suits are in worse shape than ours. They had survived the trip down, but barely. The operator-repair facilities are still working, but without spare parts these units will never shoot or fly.
Gunter and Johanne are even worse off: broken bones and massive internal damage. If the natives hadn't been slow to get them out of the suits so the healing could start, they'd be dead already. The experience of being ripped out, thrown into the clink and lashed to the bonfire post didn't help any, either. The closest a merc normally gets to this kind of body- and mind-abuse is a barroom brawl ending in a quick trip to the clinic.
"How long before they're functional?" I ask Chin.
"Minutes, days, weeks, how should I know?" she was testy.
"You've been with them a little longer than I have, that's all."
"I don't know. They may have been drugged." said Chin. "They were pretty frantic up on those posts. I know they're in bad shape, but are we in any better? Have you got a plan yet?"
"Hell, we're alive and we ain't catatonic like these two. Are we doing that badly?" interjects Al.
"Ask me tomorrow." She starts cleaning her suit. I walk back to mine and do the same. It helps me think.
So here we are in a circle in the room. Three of us out-of-suit cleaning and adjusting diligently, and two in-suit healing.
"Well folks," I say to the group as we work, "We can avoid capture and death as long as our suits stay operational -- if we don't get nuked or surprised somehow. That'll give us 'til the power supplies run out, right?"
"Right." said Al, "I've got about 20 battle hours on mine."
"24 on mine." said Chin.
"I've got 21." I said. I checked the newcomers. "Damn, one is damaged and on reserve -- fifty minutes -- and the other's at 26."
"Can we get the fleet back?"
"For five of us? I doubt it."
"They may come back for a second try."
"They may, and that would be the easiest for us. We just sit on our ass and stay alive. But I wouldn't plan on it."
"We can pirate a ship."
"Yup, and get blown out of the sky ten clicks up. Whatever their other deficiencies, these people are obviously very good at shooting things out of the sky."
"Stow away?"
"Now there's a possibility. I wonder where space ships from this world go to? Lets keep that one in mind."
"Go native?"
"Well, if we can find an isolated part of this world, one that hasn't heard about the invasion, or doesn't care. And we can learn the language and culture. And we can find gainful occupation. And we can hide the armor.... It sounds possible."
"Someone is coming."
Intro Chapter 01 . 02 . 03 . 04 . 05 . 06 . 07 . 08 . 09 . 10 . 11 . 12 . 13 . 14 . 15 . 16 . 17 . 18 . 19 . 20 . 21 . 22 . 23 . 24 . 25 . 26 . 27