“Typical croatoan behavior,” Charlie said, unable to conceal his contempt.
The croatoan ignored him and returned to the conversation around the table.
A thought struck him. It was the first time he felt sympathy for an alien. Charlie never experienced it killing or watching harvester drivers or surveyors dying on Earth. They would often be tormented and kicked around by the guards or hunters. Back then they were all just the same—an invading force that murdered and oppressed humanity.
Vingo raised his helmet. “Charlie, I’m sorry.”
“Can you move?”
Vingo got to his feet and glanced around the cavern before turning to Charlie. “They have my villagers too. It’s all over.”
Charlie struggled to move again, but it was no use. “What’s all over? Who are they?”
“Slavers. If we’re lucky, we’ll spend the rest of our lives on a mining planet. Our quest on Tredeya ends here.”
“It doesn’t end until I say so,” Charlie said. He wasn’t ready to give up and let the slavers ship him off to a distant planet. Death was preferable over a life as an alien slave. Rage bubbled inside. If he was going down, some of them were going with him. “Can you remove this thing on my arm? We’re not surrendering to anyone.”
“If the croatoan sees me do it, he’ll kill me. He has a different motivation for capturing us.”
“Which is?”
“He works for the croatoan council and tracks betrayers and terrorists.”
“Is he hunting me or you?” Charlie said, curious about Vingo’s choice of words. “You don’t seem like the terrorist type.”
“I am trying to secure information to gather allies. The situation is complex, but my work makes me a target.”
“Are you telling me you’re a traitor?”
“Would you class yourself as a traitor if the work involved ridding Earth of the croatoans? Galactic politics are beyond your comprehension.”
Charlie suspected Vingo was up to something, but it didn’t matter at the moment. The immediate priority was to engineer a chance to escape. “Whatever. Just do as I say and we have a chance.”
Vingo’s eyelids fluttered over his black beady eyes. “We will die.”
“If we die, we die trying. Now take it off.”
A tredeyan approached their cell, holding forward a rod. Electricity crackled between the two prongs at the end of it.
Charlie bucked in his suit. “Vingo, take the damned thing off my arm.”
The cell door swung open.
Chapter 14
GUNFIRE CRACKLED OUTSIDE. Augustus bolted up, threw his bearskin blanket to one side and reached across for his radio.
A loud explosion shook the rafters in his bedroom. The camp was under attack. Augustus jumped off his bed, hastily dressed, and ran through the compound until he burst out of the doors into the night.
Contorted bodies of the dead and injured lay around the square. Fires blazed and crackled in three different locations, lighting up the night sky. Croatoans and humans dashed around like headless chickens. One pointlessly carried half a bucket of water toward a flaming charred shuttle.
Augustus balled his fists and seethed. Unity had gotten the jump on him. It had to be them, which meant his scout who reported their lackadaisical state earlier today was wrong. The scout had been compromised.
He took a deep breath and considered his options as all around him panic and chaos ensued. Now was the time to keep his cool. Show his neophyte soldiers his leadership. This attack would be a good lesson to them. They needed hardening to allow courage to grow.
Zoe staggered toward him with a blackened face. She hunched down, placing her hands on her knees, and took a few deep breaths. He remained silent, waiting for her to take the initiative.
“There were two of them, sir,” Zoe eventually said, wheezing between every few words. “One human, one croatoan. They attacked two hover-bikes, our guards and bombed a shuttle.”
Augustus clenched his teeth. Two, against his army! “Show me.”
Maria peered around the breeding lab door. He gestured her over. The information she provided earlier on Mike was next to useless, but being flanked by two women while carrying out an inspection of the damage would foster the right kind of image: one of power and control.
Maria scurried over and bowed her head. “What do you want, Augustus?”
“What do I want?” Augustus let out a sarcastic laugh. She couldn’t comprehend what he desired. The height of her ambition was to be ruled. How could he expect her to understand he wanted the world. “I would like you to accompany me while I survey the damage.”
“Um, okay, sure,” Maria said and shuffled to his side.
Zoe glanced across and narrowed her eyes. He enjoyed her jealous streak, but would keep an eye on her to make sure it didn’t turn physical. Maria was a useful pawn in his game of chess. The Jacksons were finished, but he wondered how Mike and Mai would react when he had her on her knees outside Unity, with a knife against her delicate throat.
“If you’ll follow me, sir,” Zoe said. “They took us by surprise.”
“Who was responsible for posting the sentinels?” Augustus said.
“Excuse me?”
“Guards, sentries, don’t you know anything?”
Zoe looked back toward the square and fidgeted with the buttons on her camouflage jacket.
“I saw Zoe placing them earlier,” Maria said.
Zoe snapped her head back and grimaced at Maria.
Augustus liked both responses, but it wasn’t time to humiliate his senior officer. “Who is your second in command?”
“It’s a croatoan called Triplan. He’s placing out fresh guards to give us better protection.”
He thought for a moment. “Have Triplan and the scout arrested, and erect two crucifixes in front of the surveyors’ warehouse.”
“Are you sure?” Zoe said. “Triplan’s one of the better croatoans.”
Augustus stepped toward her and leaned down, placing his mask inches from her face. “Am I sure?”
“Yes… of course… right away,” she stuttered.
“Good.”
Augustus thrust his elbow out toward Maria in invitation. She glanced at him with fear in her eyes and gently linked arms, wrapping her dainty fingers around his wrist. This would be punishment enough for Zoe. Triplan would pay for her incompetence. She would answer later.
Zoe approached the site of the first fire. Croatoans had beaten it out with blankets from the storeroom and stood around the charred remains of the two hover-bikes.
Losing transport was a blow, but as long as he still had some, it only meant that more of the army would have to travel on foot. That would teach them to be on their guard all of the time. Augustus learned this the hard way at the battle of Adrianople, when the Visigoth cavalry made a surprise arrival and split his ranks, leading to the ultimate defeat of his army.
“What about the other two fires?” Augustus said. “I saw a man carrying some water toward the shuttle bay. You’re not telling me we’ve lost them?”
“Not all of them,” Zoe said and led them to the open hangar.
Augustus quickened his pace and yanked Maria along. She stumbled in the dirt. “Careful, my dear. We don’t need any more casualties tonight.”
She remained silent and wiped her hair away from her face.
Fire licked around the roof of the closest shuttle. Electric sparks shot from the cockpit and engine. Relief washed over Augustus when he saw that the raid only managed to damage a single craft. They still needed them for rapid troop transport, high-level reconnaissance of Unity, and his transport.