Children of Steel Read online

  "Sit down gentlemen," said the Captain returning his salute. "We are here to discuss terms, not trade insults."

  I pulled out a chair for the Captain and stood on his right, so I could still make a quick draw if I had too. Everybody else sat then, I wanted to remain standing, but the Captain motioned for me to sit too.

  "Now as to the terms of your surrender. You shall forfeit all your gear, except that which can be construed as personal." Started the Captain.

  "Isn't that a little outrageous?" asked the Colonel.

  "Not really, I don't expect you have a corporate sponsor to ransom you? Or even pay your freight home?" The Colonel shook his head no, "I thought so, any more problems then?"

  "No, I guess we can accept that." sighed the Colonel.

  "Next, the matter of the surrender. Your forces shall lay down all arms, and cease all resistance within one half hour of this meeting's conclusion."

  "How do I know you won't just butcher us? Those animals of yours haven't been taking prisoners!" he replied hotly.

  "That's your own damn fault!" Said the Captain angrily, "You tortured and killed their friends! What in the hell did you expect? These things are done by rules, and your treatment of the prisoners broke those rules!"

  "They're only animals dammit!" he banged his hand on the table, "They're not worth squat!"

  I heard growling then, and suddenly realized it was me. I noticed when I stopped that both of the other guards on my side were pretty agitated as well. I carefully moved my hand down to the butt of my pistol.

  "I don't have anything to do with you anti animen types,” the Captain continued, “Personally I have always considered you a waste of time. But this does bring me to the third point. You murdered quite a few humans; I'm not willing to forgo that item. You and your staff shall stand trial for war crimes, as well as any other personnel directly involved." He gave them a hard look.

  "No way!"

  The Colonel was getting excited now and I could see the rest of his staff were getting edgy, I got ready to jump myself. I could feel my temper rising and started thinking just how nice it would be to shoot him and be done with it.

  He continued, "They were just a bunch of damn animal lovers, I ain't standing trial for them. They were just as bad as the animals we killed."

  "What about those 'animals' that were forced to grace your bed?" The Captain had raised his voice quite a bit himself now, and was angrier than I had ever seen. "That would seem to make you an 'animal lover' too, wouldn't it?" He didn't wait for a reply but just plowed straight on. "I don't like having to write those things off myself, but I don't want to lose anymore of my own people, and I figure that all your troops can't be scum like you. Now that's my final offer, take it or leave it!" He spit out the last.

  I was furious myself; I wanted to kill this bastard and all the others with him. I had my gun in my hand now under the table; my temper was at the breaking point.

  "Then I leave it!" Shouted the Colonel, and he jumped up as he reached for his pistol.

  I was faster, because I had already drawn mine, so I just brought my gun over the table as he jumped up. I shot him between the eyes and then pulling the Captain's chair over backwards, jumped up myself. They started opening fire themselves then, mostly aiming at where the Captain had been, I stepped in front of him and managed to put six rounds into the Major before he fell down. He had left his visor down, like myself, so I didn't get the satisfaction of a head shot.

  The other two guards managed to finish off the remaining four before the Major had even hit the ground. I heard distant fire then, and felt an impact slam back my shoulder. I looked up and saw enemy troops were running towards us, firing as they came. I grabbed the table edge with my left hand and heaved it over.

  I took cover behind the table and turned to check the Captain, he was behind the table with me. The other two had taken cover behind us on the edge of the clearing.

  "Thanks, but I think I could have dodged it myself." He had his gun out, and was looking me over. "You okay?"

  I looked down at myself. I had about three holes in the abdomen, one that was definitely bleeding through my armor that must have made it all the way in, quite a few more in both legs, and another one in the right shoulder that looked bad. I had lost my gun, and my right arm was useless. I got out the grenade with my left.

  "Could you pull the pin on this for me sir?" I asked, and risked a quick peek over the wall. The attackers were about fifty yards away and closing fast. A couple of shots dinged off the side of my helmet as I ducked back down.

  I checked the grenade, the pin was gone.

  "Thanks Sir," and I tossed it over at the troops. "I think you better run for it sir."

  "What about you?" he started to say something more but the explosion drowned it out.

  "GO DAMMIT!" I yelled and pushed him with my good hand.

  He sprinted for the cover at the edge of the clearing, as the other two provided covering fire. I could see our guys coming in from the other end of the clearing. I risked a peek over the top again, and could see the enemy getting organized to charge once more. The grenade had cut down the front ten or so. I guess they hadn't thought of that.

  I watched the Captain retreat with the other two as I felt my shoulder start to hurt. I noticed that my legs were starting to hurt as well and I could see blood there now, I guess one or two of the bullets there had made it through my armor as well so I didn't think I'd be walking out of here. I also noticed that there were quite a few dents and chips in my armor. They must have had their guns on full auto to do that many hits, of course four of them were pointing at the same spot. I guess they just hoped to take our staff with them. Stupid fanatics, at least they were dead.

  I was starting to feel pretty weak, so I dragged out my medkit and started sticking patches on the worst spots. I was having a hard time of it with just one hand. I could see my side's troops were still advancing carefully, and the other side hadn't made it to me yet. It was getting harder to keep concentrating on what I was doing. I dropped the kit again and it was getting difficult to see. I especially couldn't understand why the people from my side hadn't left with the Captain?

  I was just a lowly Warrant Third Class, my mind fogged a second, wait that's right I've got a colonel's rank tabs, they probably think I'm somebody important. I started to pull them off, then felt something punch me in the back and then I couldn't get my left arm to move now either. I watched a squad moving closer as blackness descended, and then I didn't care or know anything.

  12

  I was in a world of darkness and pain. The pain wasn't a big one, yet. But it was there, waiting patiently for the drugs that held it at bay to go away. That led to the realization that I must still be alive. I wondered were I was, I could feel some kind of movement, and there was noise, a lot of noise. But I couldn't make anything out.

  Time went by, how much I wasn't sure, but the drugs went away and the pain came on. It had waited patiently, and its time had finally arrived. It was worse than I had remembered, and I tried to run from it.

  "Damn it, shoot him again! It's wearing off." I heard someone say.

  I couldn't figure out whom, but I know I didn't want to get shot again. I had been shot enough. Suddenly though all the pain went away again, then after a while the moving and the noise all stopped. I heard some more talking, and somebody complaining about a mess somewhere. Then nothing.

  When I finally came to, I was lying on something comfortable. I could smell that antiseptic scent of hospitals that I had learned at the age of two. I opened my eyes; they took a minute to focus. Sure enough I was in a hospital bed; it looked like the hospital at the spaceport.

  I looked myself over, my shoulder was bandaged, my left leg was in a cast, and there were a lot of tubes going into my gut, as well as my arms. I tried to lift my head, but found I was totally restrained in the bed, even my good arm. I waited until I saw somebody moving around the room and softly called them over, no reason to d
isturb anybody else.

  "Ah, awake at last I see." It was the doctor who had patched me up the last time.

  "How long have I been out?" I asked curious.

  "Three days. You lost a lot of blood of course, and both your kidneys shut down. Actually one was destroyed, and we had to replace it."

  "How bad am I?" I wondered just how many new parts I might have gotten.

  "Not too bad really. You also lost about a foot of your small intestines. Not enough to justify any transplants from the clone tanks, so I wouldn't worry about that. These tubes," and he gestured to the plumbing in my gut, "are mostly sensors, they should be coming out tomorrow.

  "You'll be discharged then too, but you're going to be pretty weak for a while. You were unconscious in that field for a good half an hour. The only thing that saved you was those field dressings you used. They slowed the bleeding down quite a bit, but your body's own poisons did a lot of damage."

  "How's the war going?" I was surprised that I was getting tired already.

  "Oh it ended about two hours after you were brought in. The Captain made an announcement that anybody who didn't surrender by then wouldn't be allowed too. That did it for most of them."

  "Could you release the restrains please?" I asked sleepily, as I started falling asleep.

  "Just the arm, you were thrashing around quite a bit there." I fell back to sleep then.

  The next time that I awoke, there were no tubes running into me at all and the leg cast was now a brace. I saw Herza smiling at the foot of the bed.

  "Rise and shine hero!" she pushed a wheelchair around to the side of the bed.

  "Ugh, do I have to use that?" I asked as I sat up. I started to stand but suddenly felt lightheaded.

  "Not so fast love!" She grabbed me as I started to fall. "You've been through a lot, and if you don't go slow you'll keel over on us."

  She helped me to stand up, and put on a robe. I then sat down in the chair; I was still a little dizzy.

  "How long am I going to be weak like this?" I asked.

  "You'll be walking by tomorrow I'd bet. But you'll be weak as a kitten for a few more days. The Doc says no exercise for a week, wants that new kidney to set right."

  "What time is it anyway?" My watch had disappeared with everything else.

  "Eleven o'clock. Let's get your belongings and head to town. Your sister threatened to gut me if I didn't bring you by her post today."

  "We talking about the same girl? Gutting was never her style!" I smiled weakly at Herza.

  "You worried quite a few of your friends there Raj. Twice in one day is a record for most people. You got a death wish maybe?"

  "At least I had the pleasure of shooting that piece of garbage right between the eyes." I laughed, and found out I shouldn't have, it hurt! "And I got his second of command too!" I added smugly.

  "And saved the Captain's life at that." she added. "You had a record day alright, I'll give you that."

  One of the assistant's handed Herza a blood stained duffle bag.

  "What's that?" I asked.

  "Your gear lover boy," she looked inside, "Or at least what's left of it."

  Just then the Doctor came up.

  "Ah, checking out I see." He took a quick look at a computer slab the nurse handed him. "Nothing strenuous for a week, and spend the one after that taking it easy too. You can take off the bandages tonight, and be careful with that shoulder, I just finished rebuilding the bones yesterday. Keep it in a sling for a few days and let somebody else do the hard work okay? Oh, and I'll be giving you a flight physical in a week or two, so if you want to get in the air again, behave."

  He handed the nurse back the slab, and walked off to check on another patient. Herza wheeled me over to the elevator, and we went upstairs.

  "You didn't bring me a uniform did you?" I asked Herza.

  "Terease sent some of your stuff down from the ship, and I got that new rifle of yours from the Major."

  "That came from the guy who died on the shuttle, I don't know if I can keep it." I replied quietly.

  "The Major said he had no will or survivors, so it's yours now. Anyway the stuff is back at my room in the Barracks, where you're staying for now," she smiled at me.

  "Hey, the Doc said nothing strenuous, didn't you hear?" I protested smiling.

  "Would you rather sleep alone? And I promise to be gentle, okay?" She gave me a feigned look of innocence.

  "Fine, fine. I really don't want to be alone anyway." We left the building and she pushed me up to a truck that was loading supplies from the ship.

  We were able to hitch a ride without a problem, Herza and I sitting in the front with the driver. From his uniform I could see he was one of the local's.

  "Hey, thanks for getting us out alive," he said shaking my hand.

  "No problem," I said returning the handshake left handed, I turned back to Herza as I eased back into the seat. "So what happened anyway? After I was shot I mean, and why'd they come back for me? I mean shouldn't they have been protecting the Captain?"

  "They came back for you because they knew the enemy would have killed you as soon as they found out you weren't human. Seems they thought you were important for some reason, and were hoping to take you hostage."

  "I guess they couldn't see my tail from across the field, I had my visor down and locked and was sitting most of the time. But wasn't it a big risk for a lowly Warrant third class?"

  "The Captain was safe, as soon as he got past our front lines, so they weren't risking anything. Remember, nobody in this organization abandons anyone if they can help it."

  "Well I appreciate it, believe me. What happened next?"

  "While they were fighting to get you, the Captain made up an announcement saying that if everybody didn't surrender by six, They'd never get another chance.

  "Then they spent the next two hours making sure everybody heard it, and the order went out to take prisoners. By six most of them had surrendered, and the majority of the remainder suicided. A few holdouts were left, and those were cleaned out by midnight."

  "It's hard to believe that mob could even take this place over!"

  "They didn't," supplied the driver, "they were the occupation forces." I looked at him with disbelief.

  "That's right Raj," said Herza, "Their main forces left about two weeks before we got here it turns out. They were the real bastards; most of the people here didn't take part in the murders."

  "I know the Colonel did," I replied hotly, "He said as much just before I killed him." I noticed the driver turned for a second and gave me another look.

  "Balizar mentioned to me that the Captain was surprised at how quickly you drew and shot him. That the Colonel's gun was only just coming out of the holster when you nailed him." Herza looked at me suspiciously.

  "Ummm, well if you both promise to keep it to yourselves, I'll tell you something." I looked at the driver, then Herza.

  "Hey, I hated them all. I won't tell," He said.

  "And you know better then to doubt me Raj," added Herza.

  "Well the truth is I kind of lost it. I had my gun in my hand already, and as soon as he started to rise I decided to kill him." I admitted.

  "Whose gun came out first?" asked Herza.

  "Well, mine was hidden by the table and he was grabbing his as it came out from underneath. So I guess technically he began drawing first."

  "If the Captain asks, tell him you drew when the other guy jumped."

  "I don't know, I mean, I shot him as he was still rising. If he hadn't gone his gun, I think I probably would have shot him anyway." I said quietly.

  "Listen Raj, in this business it's results that count. Balizar said the Captain was sure he was going to be shot the second that Hassenbock got up. So just keep to that story and act humble, the Captain was impressed. Balizar even told me that the Captain put you in for a bonus, so just go along with it. Tell him that you saw his shoulder dipping and figured he was drawing."

  "You know, he was going to tr
y them only for the human murders," I told Herza quietly. "He was willing to forget the others."

  "There was no way they'd surrender otherwise Raj," she said quietly, "and everybody knew it. Balizar said the Captain figured he'd still get the worst offenders that way and he didn’t want to lose anymore of his people. But they really blew that deal, now they're being tried for everything."

  "Yeah," said the driver with a big grin, "By an animan Judge, with animen juries!"

  "You're kidding?" I started laughing then, but had to stop again as it hurt a lot.

  "That's right, Balizar is the prosecutor, and Lieutenant Colonel Dane is the judge." she smiled too, "They hung seventeen people this morning. They were the only ones taken alive who were guilty of murder. The rest are probably going to be let live, but I expect to see quite a lot of public floggings over the next few weeks."

  We had arrived at the Central complex by now and as we pulled up to the guard station, I could see quite a few troops patrolling the grounds. They weren't taking any chances; I could see other groups already working on new defenses.

  "This is where we get out. Thanks for the ride!" Herza said to the driver.

  He wished us good luck, and I climbed down carefully into my wheelchair. She then started to push me over to the guard post. I saw Lisa coming running over.

  "Raj!" she came up and gave me a hug.

  "Oww! Hey not so hard, please!" I yelped.

  "Ooops! Sorry, I'm just happy to see you out of that hospital bed. You weren't a very pretty sight, believe me!"

  "I didn't enjoy it either. Thanks for coming though, even if I didn't know it."

  "Well Jemaal told me you were there, so I came by once I was off duty. He was one of the guy's that saved your butt you know!" she beamed at that.

  "Actually I didn't. Tell him thanks," I gave her a grin, "I hope you're being nice to him."

  "Oh, I thanked him quite thoroughly believe me!" she grinned, "As a matter of fact I believe he's getting thanked again tonight too!"