Space Chronicles: The Last Human War (40 page)

The searing heat of an energy blast burned the skin on the side of Shilgar’s face. He rolled to one side, away from the glowing barrel, trying to be a difficult target.

The Heptari fired again, this time making a hole in the floor where Shilgar lay, an instant before.

W
ell-trained, the scout leaped to his feet and circled the Heptari, moving toward the enemy’s limp arm to avoid the weapon. The soldier stopped tracking his human opponent for a second and used his teeth to pull at the painful knife, still imbedded in his only good arm. His weapon pointed down for an instant, as he struggled with the knife.

Shilgar lunged
, knocking him off balance. This time, the Elder-Scout anticipated the reptilian tail-swing and stepped back in time for it to whip past, harmlessly.

The Heptari
’s back was exposed, a fatal mistake in martial arts of any race. Shilgar leaped onto his enemy, slipping his forearm around the reptile’s throat. He tightened his chokehold with all the strength he possessed while the enemy tore at the human’s crushing forearm.

Claws drew blood as they punctured soft flesh, but Shilgar borrowed strength from
the pain-induced adrenaline to further tighten his strangle hold.

As the combatants fell to the floor,
he spread his legs to prevent the heavy soldier from rolling on top of him. The enemy’s tail lashed across Shilgar’s back, shredding his clothes and leaving bloody scrapes across his upper torso, but he never let up, even when the Heptari soldier’s movements became weak and erratic, and his burning muscles begged for relief. When the enemy’s neck muscles went limp, and his head slumped to one side, the free human leader released his chokehold and rolled off the dead soldier.

Kerl-Ga
lay motionless on top of her kill with the lizard-soldier’s throat still clenched in her teeth. A large pool of red hicay blood floated on top of denser green blood.

A Tasker-human scout team ran past Benjamin’s elevated position without noticing him. Two enemy soldiers pursued, firing wildly as they did.

He
aimed the hand weapon Kob had given him and pressed the firing button. The trailing enemy soldier crumpled to the ground, smoke billowing from a hole in his side. The lead soldier dove sideways, rolled over his shoulder, and came up firing from a kneeling position.

The blast hit stone next to Benjamin’s arm, spraying tiny drops of molten rock across his hand and setting fire to his sleeve.
The senior scout fired back as he scrambled for cover.

Another flash
, from a different angle, killed the enemy soldier who collapsed in a smoking heap. Kob remained in his firing stance with his weapon trained on the crumpled Heptari until he was certain the soldier was dead.

Benjamin slid down from his observation perch just as the fleeing scout team circled back.
They briefed him in short phrases, between gasps of air.

“They’re right over
the next bank. You gotta get outta here. We’ll hold em off.”

Both Taskers and the human expressed concern for their
leaders. The Elder human ignored the advice and climbed back to his observation post with binoculars in hand.

In the distance, the first wave of hicays attacked the rear guard of the enemy formation. The beasts used instinctual hunting patterns, staying low to the ground and moving as close to their prey as possible, before they charged.

Heptaris fired at each hicay as soon as it they spotted one. A few animals fell under the pulse beams, but many successfully crossed the short distance to take down their prey.

Benjamin hated his helpless feeling. From his location, all he could do was watch waves of hicays, as they entered the battlefield without
his guidance.

Despite the
enemy reputation as fierce fighters, a few lizard-soldiers lost composure at the frightening sight of six-legged carnivores and ran out of their ranks. The fast beasts quickly disemboweled them.

Dr. Hadje and the scout team joined Benjamin, watching the battle below.

One of the Taskers could not believe his eyes, “Where did all those hicays come from?”

“I’m no
t sure. I’ve never seen so many,” he said.

H
icays penetrated to the center of the Heptari force, and forward units of enemy soldiers turned back to assist their embattled comrades. Tanarac-human scout teams, emboldened by the hicay attack, emerged from concealment to cut off those enemy reinforcements.

Kob a
nd the scout team with Benjamin left to join the fight below. Intensity of the battle grew to a fever pitch as Heptari tactical warfare disintegrated into the chaos of widespread hand-to-hand and hand-to-beast combat.

Hicays mauled lizard-soldiers across the battlefield while Taskers and scouts double-teamed Heptari
fighters. Stun cords flew through the air, and human scouts used their hunting skills with ruthless efficiency.

Occasional flashes from particle beam weapons rose randomly
from the mining depression until the last of the enemy soldiers met their deaths. The end was not dramatic. Fighting simply slowed until the last Heptari died.

Benjamin and Dr. Hadje worked their way down to the carnage below.

“We did it!” Kob called out, as he ran up to the human leader, squeezing him in a tight embrace.

Blood was everywhere, much of it green, some red and some blue. At the far end of the field, several hicays were dragging Heptari corpses toward the distant jungle.

“Rosh, I’ll be right back.”

“Where are you going?”

Benjamin called over his shoulder, as he limped around Heptari bodies.

“I have to stop our hicay friends. We have an agreement
. They do not take the remains of dead humans. I’m going to ask them to extend the same courtesy to the Heptari soldiers.”

He
hobbled as fast as he could toward the looming atrocity. When he reached the far end of the battlefield, a particularly large hicay stepped in front of him, blocking his path. He attempted to step around the magnificent beast, but it paralleled his movements, intentionally blocking him each time.

Puzzled by the behavior, Benjamin began signing to the animal. It responded with low-pitched throat sounds and a few carefully articulated head positions. Several times during their conversation,
he leaned to one side to look past the beast’s shoulder. Nearby, two hicays picked over some dead Heptaris, before selecting one to drag away.

The human leader
turned around, shaking his head, and limped, in growing pain, back toward Dr. Hadje and Kob. When he reached them, he walked right past without comment. They followed.

“Are you going to let the hicays take those soldiers? That isn’t right.” Dr. Hadje was surprised by
the lack of effort to stop the objectionable behavior.

Benjamin turned around to face his Tanarac peer and looked deep into his eyes.

“Rosh, those hicays are not our friends. They’re wild.”

S
till mystified by the realities, he explained his lack of action.

“Apparently, our jungle companions recruited
their cousins. They promised wild ones meat, Heptari meat. That’s why there are so many hicays. We have no control over wild hicays. I would never have guessed they had such sophisticated communications among their species.”

Benjamin resumed his slow walk up the hill, still confounded by the hicay agreement. Only then, did he remember a promise he made.
He called back to Dr. Hadje.

“I have to go find the hicay who saved my life. She needs help.”

“We can use the glider,” Dr. Hadje said as he caught up with his friend.

They only walked a few steps when
the doctor’s comm alarm sounded.

“Just a moment
, Benjamin.” The scientist answered his comm. “Yes. It’s about damn time!”

The doctor ended his call and
pointed to the sky above the quarry wall.

“Watch this
.”

A dozen military scout gliders burst into view, circling aggressively
with firearms extending from every opening. They landed in strategic high spots overlooking the battlefield. Numerous heavily armed Tanarac combat soldiers leaped from each glider and immediately pointed their weapons at nearby humans and hicays.

Some Taskers ran up to the soldiers, yelling for them to hold fire, while others stepped in front of their human and hicay allies to shield them.

A tense standoff took place as the commander of the fast strike team approached Dr. Hadje and Benjamin. The combat officer stared at the strange looking human while he spoke.

“Dr. Hadje, I’m First Tarnoc, Adzol, reporting for orders. General Krit sent us to rescue your people. He told me to report to you personally. Where are the rest of the Heptaris?”

The doctor broke into laughter. He couldn’t help himself. After all the difficulties faced by his people on this day, something seemed oddly comical about these highly skilled combat troops dropping in, well after the battle was over.

He
stepped to the side of the young officer, put his arm around the soldier’s shoulders, and gently turned him to face the carnage.

“Look for yourself. There are no more
live Heptaris. Son, we would deeply appreciate it, if your men will clean up the mess. My Taskers, and our human friends, are quite tired. Oh, and don’t harass the hicays. They are our friends. That includes the ones carrying away a few Heptari bodies. We have an agreement with them. Leave them alone. That’s an order!”

The Tanarac officer’s confusion was obvious, but as a professional soldier, he replied the only way that he could.

“Affirmative, sir.”

Dr. Hadje made one more demand of the combat leader.

“Our glider is damaged. We are taking one of yours. We have an injured hicay to transport.”

The officer resisted.

“Sir, I’m not allowed to let a civilian pilot an armed glider.”

“Kob, come over here please.”

The doctor introduced Kob to the lower ranking military officer. Kob’s heavily damaged uniform still showed a scorched, but clearly identifiable, flight insignia, leaving no doubt about his authority to operate military aircraft.

Soon, they skimmed across the quarry searching for
the special hicay. Dr. Hadje talked on the radio while they scouted for the animal.

“Yes, it’s a hicay! I don’t care. You’ll do it because I say you will. I take full responsibility for the hicay.
If any of your staff are afraid of the hicay, they may leave. We’ll be there shortly. Be ready.”

Dr. Hadje
said, “The infirmary will treat your friend, but they’re not happy about it. I suspect it will be a while before my people learn to trust hicays.”

“There she is!” Benjamin spotted the scene of his personal fight with the Heptari soldier.

Kob banked the craft and landed close to the place where the injured hicay patiently waited. She purred when Benjamin touched her.

Shilgar kneeled at Kerl-Ga’s side and stroked her golden fur. There was no response. He placed his ear on her chest before speaking into the air.

“Simon, can you hear me?”

“Yes. What happened? Are you okay? Kelly said she could see you. She said something about Kerl-Ga being hurt, then, she blacked out.”

“I’m okay, but
,” he leaned over the body of the big hicay, running his fingers gently through thick neck fur as he talked. “I’m afraid we lost Kerl-Ga.”

“Hold on Shilgar
,” Simon said and turned his attention to Kelly. “Are you okay?”

He reported to his human leader, “Kelly’s awake. She seems okay,
now. Do you need help down there?”

Before Shilgar could reply, faint footsteps c
ame from the engineering room. He cautioned Simon to keep quiet and moved up against the wall near the door.

He felt naked without his knife. It was only a stride away, embedded in the dead Heptari’s arm.
The scout crouched low and reached for the handle. His fingers touched the familiar hunting tool and slowly wrapped around its grip. With a mighty pull, the blade tore free.

Shilgar
thought,
I have a fighting chance.

“Jokah! Lyssh! Where are you?”

Shilgar’s ear translator continued to work.

“Jokah
, Lyssh, report.”

A few moments passed with no sound.
His heart pounded.

“Jokah
, Lyssh, I order you to report!”

T
he tip of a small weapon extended cautiously through the doorway. The forearm of this soldier was much thinner than the previous two.

As Shilgar poised to strike, he reviewed lessons he had just learned about these beings. He burst from concealment driving his empty hand against the
Heptari elbow to trap his range of motion with the weapon.

A bright flash of energy crossed the room, but this
soldier was different. Instead of resisting the scout’s attack force, he simply spun away from the trapping hand to release his pinned arm. As he came around, his tail whipped painfully across Shilgar’s body, and the Heptari’s trailing fist slammed into the side of the human’s head.

The scout’s vision blurred
from impact.

Pulse weapons would be most dangerous at a distance
, so Shilgar knew he must stay close to his opponent so he could control the aim of that device.

Despite blurred vision, he took the only action he could, clenching tightly to the body of his enemy and stabbing wildly with his knife. The blade tip bounced harmlessly along rows of scales while the enemy soldier attempted to throw him off.

The Heptari dropped his firearm to the floor and brought both hands to Shilgar’s waist, virtually ignoring the flailing knife. With a mighty heave, he lifted the human into the air, and threw him onto the body of a slain enemy soldier.

V
ision returned as Shilgar jumped back to his feet and poised for hand-to-hand combat.

The Heptari officer made no at
tempt to retrieve his firearm. He did not even seem concerned, taking a moment to tear off the remnants of his knife-shredded shirt.

A large tattoo of an ancient looking serpent covered the officer’s entire chest. Parts of the image wrapped out of sight around his sides. The lizard-soldier’s mouth curved into a wicked smile as he positioned his feet in a strange stance.
The ornate handle of a knife, carved in a dragon’s head, protruded from his red waist sash. Light glinted off its red-jeweled eyes.

“You must be a human. Your race is weaker than I imagined. I will
add your head to my trophy room.”

This Heptari soldier moved with amazing speed, crossing the distance in a swift spinning movement. One fist thrust
toward the human’s head while his second hand pinned the knife to one side.

Shilgar studied such moves in his youth, during ancient
-Earth martial art training. He pivoted to the side of the centerline of attack, freeing up his knife and positioned for immediate counterattack. His empty hand was closest to the enemy so he struck the only target of opportunity. Eyes.

A quick
finger-thrust found its mark, sinking deep into soft tissue inside the eye socket.

The Heptari hissed in pain and
stepped back from combat to rub his damaged eye with the back of his hand.

“Good move, human. Perhaps I underestimated you. Your head will be a greater treasure than I thought.”

The Heptari withdrew the dagger from his belt. It was twice as long as Shilgar’s. The soldier twirled the weapon in one hand, demonstrating proficiency and intended to intimidate.

Backing away slowly, the
scout leader studied his opponent’s deliberate stance, looking at balance points, as the enemy inched forward in a series of short steps. The soldier lunged and Shilgar reversed his evasive direction from the last attack.

The martial arts trained Heptari expected a repeat of the human’s first escape move.
His dragon-dagger stabbed deep into empty air where Shilgar would have been, if he had repeated the direction of his first escape. The Heptari was not discouraged.

“It’s just a matter of time, human. You can only escape in two directions. One time, you will not guess correctly
,” the Heptari hissed in arrogance and attacked again.

For the third time,
the scout guessed correctly, but as he rotated away from the Heptari’s knife thrust, he spit directly into his opponent’s face.

The Heptari
officer became enraged at the insult.

Shilgar’s rudimentary plan was working.

“How dare you mock me, human?” The reptilian soldier wiped saliva from his face. “You forfeit a merciful end. You will beg for death before I kill you!”

The infuriated Heptari lost his composure
and charged recklessly up Shilgar’s centerline. This time, the highly trained scout did not step aside. Instead, he parried the longer blade with his own knife and smashed his forehead into the Heptari’s face, pushing away only after delivering maximum impact possible.

Green blood ran down the face of his opponent. In the same instant,
he noticed the red of his own blood dripping on the front of his shirt from his damaged forehead.

Shilgar backed
toward the doorway leading into the engineering room. He recalled one of the earliest rules from Earth martial art chronicles. A doorway narrows your attacker’s options.

“Human, I see you know basic martial combat, but that doorway will not save you.”

The Heptari approached, carefully this time, having recovered from the mistake of losing his self-discipline to anger.

Shilgar transferred his weight to the balls of his feet so he could adjust quickly to the next attack
lunge, a lunge that did not come.

Using a swift underhand motion, the soldier pitched his dagger across the short span between them. It hit
Shilgar’s left shoulder, penetrating to the hilt. More than half the blade protruded from his back.

“Why don’t you attack
me now, human? I have no weapon,” the Heptari taunted.

Shilgar’s vision blurred almost immediately. He dropped to his knees.
His knife clanked loosely on the floor.

The Heptari
approached the kneeling scout and grabbed him by the hair, tilting his head back so he could see into the eyes of his victim.

“Are you feeling faint, human? My blade is coated with a powerful narcotic.
Before you pass out, I want you to see the knife I will use to take your head.”

The Heptari
officer reached deep inside his belt line, retrieving a small, hook-shaped knife with a diagonal handle. Like the dagger, the handle was ornate with jewels and engraved with the head of a serpent.

Shilgar could not resist the powerful drug any longer and slumped
backward onto the cabin floor, unconscious.

“Simon
, I see Shilgar again!” Kelly’s mind visions returned.

“What’s he doing? Is he okay?”

“He’s lying on the floor. There’s a Heptari standing over him. He’s going to kill Shilgar. Simon, do something!”

Kelly watched in her mind as the Heptari
straddled her limp friend and lifted his head off the floor by his hair. The enemy soldier studied the head much the same as a hunter might look over a trophy kill.

She
suddenly remembered how she was able to see this scene.

“
Kerl-Ga, get up girl. Shilgar needs you!”

She
commanded the hicay out loud and mentally while Simon listened. Her view of the impending carnage began to change. Movement was slow and wavering at first, but it became steadier as it got closer to the Heptari’s backside.

The enemy soldier positioned the ceremonial knife to the side of Shilgar’s throat, raised his head
toward the ceiling and let out a long, primal hiss. In that instant, a golden paw of razor sharp claws wrapped around the Heptari’s neck, yanking him backward.

Kelly’s vision moved wildly, as she witnessed a kill through the eyes and ears of a hicay
. There were no adequate words to describe the scene for Simon.

Kerl-Ga
dragged the Heptari corpse away from her lifelong friend before she collapsed and Kelly’s mind vision went black.

Simon and Kelly
exited the light lift and ran past Kerl-Ga to Shilgar.

“He’s alive, Kelly!”

She opened the medical kit. One of her first courses as a stripper plow commander was on how to treat bad puncture wounds. It was rare, but sometimes a blade would fail on a stripper plow cutting drum. It could penetrate the boom operator’s cabin with devastating results. She practiced many long hours for just such an event.

“Simon, when I tell you, pull the blade completely out. It must come completely out
so I can seal the wound. Do you understand?”

“Say the word.”
He got a good grip on the handle of the Heptari knife.

Kelly surrounded the base of the blade with some kind of white cream.

“Now!”

Simon gave a strong pull but the blade did not come free. Shilgar’s skin stretched up at the base of the blade, but the dagger did not release.

“It’s got barbs.” Simon had seen pictures of fishing arrows and understood the problem.

“Hold him up.”
He pulled Shilgar to a sitting position and instructed Kelly to lock her arms around his abdomen.

“What are you doing?” she asked
.

“I’m getting that blade out.”
He grabbed the handle of the dagger and snapped it to one side. It broke easily in his strong hands.

“How
are we going to get it out without a handle?” Kelly shouted in anger.

“Lay him on his stomach.”
He ignored Kelly’s anger.

He
rolled Shilgar over and grabbed the pointed end of the Heptari dagger with both hands. Drops of blood fell from his knuckles as the blade cut into his fingers. With a mighty heave, he pulled the dagger blade completely through Shilgar’s shoulder.

Kelly immediately went to work on the
exposed wound, applying antibiotic cream, followed by suture drops to seal the puncture on both sides.

“
Let me see your hands,” she said and used the same treatment to repair his cuts. She administered a stimulant to both men when she realized the blade’s narcotic effect on Simon.

While Kelly dressed his wounds, Simon pointed to the growing pool of blood under
Kerl-Ga.

“What are we going to do about
her?”

Simon could see
she needed help, but he was afraid to approach her.

Kelly closed her eyes and attempted a telepathic link. The connection was instantaneous. Even when Kelly opened her eyes, the contact with
Kerl-Ga remained strong.

“It’s okay, Simon. She understands. We can help her.”

She approached the big hicay and kneeled at her shoulders. Simon was still reluctant. The hicay’s eyes opened for a moment as she attempted, unsuccessfully, to roll her over.

“I nee
d your help.”

He hesitated.

“Now!”

Kelly had never been so forceful with Simon. He reacted instantly, rolling the big hicay onto her back. The fur on her belly was matted with blood
and a gaping hole oozed a mixture of blood and other fluids. Burnt flesh and hair around the hole smelled terrible.

She
packed antibiotic and steroid ointment into the wound, and, with Simon’s help, they pulled together the ragged edges of the hole and used liquid suture to seal it.

Simon
felt an odd vibration in the ship. Metallic noises came from engineering. Somehow, the ship was expelling foreign metal and restoring instrument panels along the wall. The ship was healing itself.