The first soldier to encounter the enemy in the smaller caves hesitated too long. He just found it too difficult to open fire on a naked pubescent girl. The girl raised something like a metre-long razor fish and it repeatedly spat at him. The soldier hung in the air screaming as worms bored through his environment suit and into his flesh. The next soldier shot the girl, hurling her back with her chest burst open and jetting smoke. Then it was his turn to scream when the worms leaped from his comrade and started on him. The General’s aides were both young men, and probably very inexperienced. Kellor had noticed that people who did not feel secure in positions of power tended to gather other people around them who were not too much of a threat. He, on the other hand, felt completely secure and had as his first officer and com officer, Jurens and Speck, who were both hardened mercenaries with years of experience. Kellor glanced at Jurens and gave a slight nod when Talist, the aide Jurens had chosen, went to puke in the toilet just off the bridge, then returned his attention to Conard. There would be no sound from the toilet, but there might be a bit of a mess. Jurens’ preference was a knife for close work. The young man in the hologram was trying not to cry. Blood was pouring from two circular holes in his cheek and in the background other soldiers were screaming.
“Little girls!” yelled Conard. “Fucking worms!”
The whole incredible fiasco brought home to Kellor that there could be only one result now. There seemed no chance of him thieving some of this Jain technology, and he still had no idea who Conard’s contact was. If he judged Conard right, the man would go tactical next, and if that didn’t bring the ECS ship in, Christ knows what would. He glanced aside as Jurens came out of the toilet looking annoyed. Kellor attributed this to the patch of blood on his first officer’s trousers — Jurens made a mess but was normally very good on not getting it on himself.
“We’ll have to use the tacticals,” said Conard.
It gave Kellor no satisfaction to be right. He gave the nod to Speck, who had moved close to the other aide. Speck preferred the garrotte for close work. He was so completely casual as he opened out the shining wire and looped it over the aide’s head. One quick jerk and a ballet twist and step away. The aide staggered, making horrible gobbling sounds and spewing blood everywhere. His head still remained on his shoulders by dint of the garrotte stopping at his vertebrae. Conard spun around and saw the man stumble and falclass="underline" the spastic movements, the bubbling tube of an oesophagus sticking out where it should not. He turned back and froze, staring into the hollow-mirrored cube that was the hole-making end of Kellor’s favourite little plasma gun. Kellor smiled. That moment again.
“No tacticals,” he said. “Tell him.”
Conard glanced at the hologram. The young soldier could only see Conard, and was too far gone in shock to know something was wrong.
Conard said, “Fire all the tactical nuclear weapons into that cave.” You’ve killed me, thought Kellor, then lowered his weapon and incinerated Conard’s groin and thighs so the man dropped screaming to the deck. Speck quickly transferred the holocamera to Kellor.
“Obey that order and you won’t get out of there alive,” said Kellor to the soldier. “And if you return now there’ll be a good bonus in it for you.” He knew he’d made a mistake right from the first word. The soldier stared at him for a moment then cut com. Kellor looked down at Conard who had stopped screaming and was now groaning. There would have been no pain at first anyway, thought Kellor, though there was pain now. He deliberately stood on Conard’s thigh so the cooked skin tore away from muscle. Conard started screaming again and scrabbled at his wrist holster. Kellor stamped on his hand then removed Conard’s little gun. He’d almost forgotten about that.
The sounds of battle died though the screaming lasted for some time after. The Janes did not scream. They fought even with the most hideous wounds. Abaron had seen one of them stooping over a struggling soldier, choking the man with something. It was only when Abaron stepped in close and shot the man in the head that he realised the Jane had the stump of her wrist jammed in the man’s mouth. That Jane had nodded her thanks and run back into the fray. Abaron retreated behind the slabs he and Chapra had chosen as their last place of defence.
“What’s happening now?” he asked. “Have we won?”
“You heard what Judd said,” said Chapra. She lay with the singun propped before her, staring out to where the cave was lit by luminescents spattered on the walls and floor. Suddenly she tensed, then relaxed. Judd and two Janes came quickly to join them.
“We must go deeper,” said Judd.
“Oh my God,” said Chapra, perhaps guessing.
The ground shifted and rock began to rain down. Abaron had time to see a wall of fire hurtling towards them before a Jane pushed him down and pressed herself over his head — protecting his precious brain. Without that protection his death might have been less protracted and painful.
“Have you got them on com yet!” yelled Kellor. He knew he was losing it. “For Chrissake try again!” Speck kept sending, kept trying to get something.
“Shut up!” yelled Kellor and fired once, silencing Conard’s crying. He turned back to the com consoles and screens. Tactical nukes, a hundred square kilometres incinerated. Thank Christ the CTDs remained aboard under ship control. He peered at the readouts on another screen. Nothing but chaff and fuzz. Well, if the ECS ship attacked he’d make a fight of it, maybe get away… Then the Cable Hogue shut down its screens and jamming. There was an energy surge. Some kind of particle weapon. All the screens went out for a moment. When they re-established Kellor saw that the remaining gunships were now just metallic fog.
“Get us out of here!” he screamed at Jurens as he reached for the controls to the CTD launcher. Perhaps it would delay… perhaps…