Commodore (21 page)

I nodded. "So let's get out of here before they do it again."

There was never any doubt that I'd have to carry my share, just like the rest of the Rabbits. We had too many wounded with us to permit anything else. Due to the fact that I'd been so recently unconscious, however, I was given one of the lightest available loads—one end of Nestor's stretcher. Sniffing him lying there so deathlike and helpless didn't do anything for my mood, however; he'd saved my life I didn't know how many times, and being a fellow Rabbit was in many ways a closer friend than even James could ever be. The tunnel went on and on and on, and all the while I grew ever more worried about my aide.

"Hold up!" I heard Heinrich call at the front of the line, and like the rest of the laboring bunnies I placidly stopped and waited to be told what to do next. It was good to be serving as muscle-power rather than the chief decision-maker, I decided—the sensation felt much more natural than playing the leader in more ways that I really wanted to count. Then the illusion was broken when Heinrich came back to make his report. "Sir," he explained. "I've been thinking. If the Imperials have mapped Tunnel Seven at all, then the odds are good that they've located the  secret entrance, even though we've never used it."

I nodded. "Right. But what choice do we have?"

He smiled, the expression barely discernable in the light of an improvised candle. "You must've missed the briefing sir, not that I blame you. All the escape tunnels have at least one side exit as well, bored to within just a couple feet below the surface but not quite poking through. We tried to run these where they wouldn't show up very well, like along a joint or fault line or whatever. This one's cut through a basalt dike." Then the smile faded. "The problem is that we'll have to blast through the last bit of rock, sir. It won't be in the least bit subtle, and there won't be any friends waiting to meet us. But of course there shouldn't be any Imperial reception committee either, as there might very well be otherwise."

"I see," I replied, though in point of fact I had only a tiny fraction of the data I needed to form a proper picture of the situation. But Heinrich didn't know any more than I did, nor did anyone else. "I take it you prefer the side tunnel?"

He nodded. "We could get killed either way, of course. But if we’re going to go, let's at least do so with the element of surprise on our side."

"I concur. Lead away." Then I picked up Nestor's stretcher again and returned to my physical exertions.

*****

The side-tunnel rock was only slightly more interesting than that of the main bore— basalt was black, apparently, and a bit more crumbly than whatever the rest of the mountain was made of. Here the tunneling machine had drilled a very small radius pathway, so much so that the humans were forced to stoop over. Even my own eartips slid along the smooth, cool rock ceiling much of the time, which was sort of nice because it kept me from hitting my head. At intervals the bore diameter grew smaller and smaller until, at the very end, even I was bent almost double and the humans were crawling.

"Well, this is it," one of the human marines whispered when the tunnel sprouted a side-branch. It was a dead end, however, barely large enough for everyone to squeeze into. "Should I go on ahead and connect the charges, sir?"

"Yes," Heinrich agreed. Then he turned to me. "This is a bunker, sir. To protect us when we blow our way out. We're only few feet deep here. Everything should be wired up and ready for us, but we've left a few final connections as a safety precaution."

I nodded wordlessly, then gestured my load-partner towards one of the best-protected corners. Once there we lowered our burden to the stony floor. "Might as well get everything ready, then. What will this branch open up to?"

"A meadow, unfortunately," Heinrich replied.

"A big one!" Fidel added. "In high summer, it's the best grazing around."

I nodded and scowled. So, we were going to be breaking out into the open in broad daylight, immediately after announcing our presence with a loud bang and large cloud of dust. How much more perfect could it get? We'd be lucky if the bloody
satellites
didn't take note, much less local troops on the ground!

"We're a long way from anyplace where we might reasonably be expected," Heinrich countered, even though I'd not spoken a word aloud. "We'll have that going for us, in any event."

I nodded. What would be would be—the only thing that was certain was that I'd go down fighting if I had to. Or,
we'd
go down fighting, rather—by now I was confident that my little band was made of very stern stuff indeed. "The able-bodied should lead; we'll come back for the wounded once we're certain that the area's secure."

"Precisely what I was going to suggest," Heinrich agreed.

After that, there wasn't much to do but draw my blaster, check one last time on Nestor and the rest of the wounded, and wait. It took a lot longer for the marine to return than I'd expected, until I thought about how far we'd have to be from an explosion in a confined space to be safe. "We're all ready, sir," he reported to Heinrich. "Just open the cabinet and close the switch."

My friend looked to me for permission, and I nodded. "You do the honors," he ordered the trooper.  The young private smiled, then closed the contact. Suddenly the tunnel came alive with a juddering roar, the air was full of dust and the reek of humus...

...and I was squinting at an unbearably bright beam of sunlight shining through all the smoke and dust and nastiness.

40

"Nownownow!" I urged, more out of reflex than anything else. Then it was a mad footrace for the entrance with blasters drawn. We Rabbits were quick, but Fidel was a good ten yards ahead of us by the time we clambered our way up the convenient earthen ramp the explosion had created and burst through the raw wound we'd opened in the turf. It was like entering another universe, after being underground for so long. The sun was shining, the meadow was a brilliant wildflower-speckled green, the air was sweet and pure, and majestic sharp-tipped mountains soared thousands of feet into the heavens behind us. But we didn’t have time for that—the most beautiful sight of all was there wasn't an Imperial anywhere near us. That couldn't last long, so I resolved to take advantage of every second. "Heinrich!" I ordered before the humans even made it all the way to fresh air. "Go back for the wounded and the dunnage. Fidel and I will hold the entrance."

"Aye-aye sir," my friend replied without hesitation.

Meanwhile, our Dog was romping about joyously. "I know just where we are!" he declared. "Getting us down into a populated area will be easy!"

"Good," I replied, smiling. "Which way is out?"

"We'll follow Dale Creek," he replied. Then he pointed. "That one over…" But he never finished his words. Instead his eyes opened wide.

Because, suddenly, we both realized that he was pointing at the business end of a long-barreled Imperial artillery piece.

"Get down!" I ordered, falling onto my belly. All that we could see of the big gun was the newly-elevated muzzle, which meant that the weapon's crew wasn't high enough off the ground to see where we were yet. Though of course that was going to change the instant they sent out a patrol to find out what the big noise had been about. Then Fidel was lying alongside me, panting. "Oh my!" he gasped.

Oh my!
I agreed, though I didn't speak the words aloud. We had to get away
fast
, and that was all there was to it. "Hurry!" I shouted down the tunnel. "We'll have visitors real soon now!" But there was no audible reply, so I couldn't be sure whether my words were heard or not. Then I turned back to Fidel. "Tell me more about this meadow," I snapped. "What else do you know?"

"We graze sheep in it," he explained. "I've had my flock here lots of times. What more is there to say?"

I sighed, closed my eyes, and forced myself to be patient. "Look," I explained. "Large guns are rarely deployed alone, and almost never without at least a couple squads of troops at hand for local security. There's probably three, maybe even four or five more cannon just like that one sited all around us, and there's Imperials actively patrolling and looking for trouble. So… What can you tell me that might help us dodge 'em all?"

Fidel's eyes grew large again, and I knew that we were indeed in serious trouble. "I… Sir…. It's a meadow! Grassy, with gently rolling terrain. I—" Then his eyes went wider still, and he pointed again, this time off to the right. "Look!"

At first I didn't realize what I was seeing—all I could make out were a group of dark spots rising over the ridgeline to the south of us. And then… "Horses!" I cried out!

"We never graze horses up here," Fidel replied. "Only the sheep! But—"

Just then the first of our Rabbits came trooping up out of the crater, carrying one of our supply backpacks. I looked at him, frowned…

…and had an idea. "Hey there!" I cried, leaping to my feet and waving my arms towards the horses. "H-e-e-e-y!"

The equines, which had been moving at a trot, stopped dead.

"H-e-e-ey!" I declared again, still cavorting about like a fool. Then inspiration struck again. Only one Rabbit in this part of space was known for carrying a Sword. So I drew mine and waved it about, letting the glittering blade flash in the sun. It'd draw the eyes of every Imperial for miles around, but then again so would the brand-new crater I was standing next to. "H-e-e-e-y!"

The Sword was enough. As one the horses surged towards me at a full gallop. Or Horses rather, I decided—it'd take an advanced brain to recognize me. The big animals moved deceptively quickly—they came skidding to a halt, blowing and snorting, just as Heinrich helped the last stretcher case up the difficult slope.

"I… Will you carry us?"  I asked the largest of the Horses—he was the lone stallion, and therefore as nearly as I could guess in charge. "It'll be terribly dangerous, and the odds are we'll all be killed regardless." He nodded violently, then did a little dance of joy to show what a pleasure it'd be.

"Thank you!" I replied. Then I bunny-hugged his left-front leg, which was all I could reach of him. Meanwhile Heinrich and the rest mounted up, draping our unconscious friends across the Horse's backs before them. We were all going to be riding bareback, and even if we'd had saddles and such there wasn't time for anything fancier regardless. "Hurry up, David!" Heinrich encouraged me from atop his white mare.

I nodded and pressed my lips together in determination, then squatted down and leapt as high as I could towards the stallion's shoulders. My effort was far too energetic, and I ended lying in the dust with a sore tail for my troubles.

"Don't tell me you've never ridden before!" my friend protested.

"All right then," I agreed. "I
won't
tell you." The fact was that mounting and riding either a true animal or a fellow slave had always felt like a very wrong thing for me to do, though I wasn't sure quite why. Not that the issue arose in this case—this particular stallion was okay with it, apparently. "Hold still!" I urged him. Then I tried again, and this time landed true.

"Head for the creek!" Fidel directed, pointing again. "It's the best way down the slope and into town!"

"You heard him," I repeated, making it official. Then, feeling a little silly, I barely touched my heels to the stallion's massive ribs. "Please?"

His reaction was altogether unexpected at the time, though I've learned since that because they're mute Horses tend to be more theatrical than the other sentient species. So, I was only just barely able to hang on as my mount reared, screamed defiance at the universe, then led his little family towards the sound of running water at a trot so rapid it jarred me to the bone with every step.

41

Riding a Horse, I soon decided, wasn't nearly as comfortable a mode of travel as riding in a starship. Your typical space-faring vessel, for example, doesn't bounce up and down with every foot of progress. The decks are nice and level, unlike a Horse's sharply-sloped and rather slippery back, and while traveling between the planets I've never once had to resort to holding onto my ship's mane with both hands for dear life. And yet Horses had their virtues too, not least among them being available in my hour of need.

"He says they up here because of all the fighting down below," Fidel explained—apparently as a farm worker he'd learned to interpret the snorts and ear-cockings that a Horse used to somewhat approximate speech. "The big guns shoot sometimes, but nothing ever fires back."

"Of course not," Heinrich agreed from the far side of Fidel. "They're not worth unmasking one of our own batteries for. From here, they can't do us any real damage. At least while we're in the tunnels, I mean."

I nodded silently, trying to think ahead. It wasn't easy while being jostled so continuously and within earshot of such interesting professional conversation. "Where would you have located the rest of the battery, Heinrich?"

He thought about it a moment and sighed. "I'm not sure, really. In my opinion, this is such a ridiculous deployment to begin with that—"

Just then we topped a little rise and found another of the guns. This one had its barrel lowered, so that it wasn't visible from a long way off like the other had been. Nor was it pointed directly at us— the weapon was slewed well off until the left. But the officer was pointing at us, the barrel was swinging our way, and...

...suddenly I was out of time and options alike. There was only one thing to do. "Charge!" I cried out in what was supposed to be a blood-chilling shout but came out instead as a lapine squeal. Then I drew my Sword and waved it again, to make sure that everyone got the point. "Charge!"

Then I was off in a headlong rush, the stallion's hooves like thunder and the world blurring around me. It was the most ridiculous situation I'd ever found myself in—with my Sword occupying one hand I was forced to hang on for dear life with the other, and everything was jiggling and shaking and roaring along so fast that I hadn't a prayer of sheathing my blade and drawing my proper weapon. So feeling like a total idiot and not at all certain that anyone was following the stallion and I raced like the wind...