Chapter 5

The morning began crazily with the new people being shown the jobs they had been assigned. A handful of the new women worked with each of our family’s women, or the female summer help our family had already hired. The teen boys worked with my cousins, siblings, and summer help the family had already hired. The older youth worked with my cousins and siblings who were near the same age. When I went out to help, Dad pointed at the house. “R & R doesn’t stand for Raking and Removing shit,” he growled. “We want you well rested when you report back.”

“I was just trying to help.”

“The next week or two will be rough as we bring everyone up to speed, but when they’re all able to help us, you will have helped a lot. The rest of us can then take on new jobs that will allow us to finally expand our orchards,” he said.

“Has anyone checked on Tom?” I asked Dad.

Tom lives just across the border in Trindi. Fortunately, his farm was well south of the area that had been bombed and strafed when our fighters and bombers targeted the Gilohan troops hiding in the jungle. Tom and Dad had been best buddies since they were young teens, hunting together in the jungle every chance they got. They remained good friends and Tom’s family usually joined us for dinner once a month or so.

On two of the hunting trips with Gramps, Tom’s daughter Alice joined us. Alice is my age and as good a shot as me. Two other times, Tom’s son Leo joined us. Leo is two years younger, and almost as good a shot as his sister. Tom could also qualify as a sharpshooter. Tom’s wife Amy was the worst shot of the four but could still beat any of the men I watched practicing at the firing range when the Lieutenant tested my marksmanship.

You might wonder if I had dated Alice. She gave no indication that she was interested in me that way. Besides, as good-looking as she was, I assumed that she had a whole flock of potential boyfriends from which to choose.

“Shit, with everything that’s happening, I haven’t even thought about him,” Dad replied. He commed Tom, but the conversation was very brief. “Tom says there are a bunch of Cambakian troops shooting at their house right now. He estimates that it’s a platoon,” Dad said. The good news was that Tom and his family were now safely in the house. When Gramps upgraded our houses, he did the same for Tom, even installing an underground safe room with a hidden access panel. Two escape tunnels were dug from the safe room, one heading towards our ranch and one the opposite direction. They could use the four grav cycles in the safe room to make their escape and be at our place in under half an hour. To be safe, the grav cycles were still equipped with the training gyroscopes. They also had an IFF transponder, so our defenses didn’t blast them.

While Dad called Gramps, I ran for the house. I was back five minutes later wearing my uniform, although it definitely wouldn’t pass muster. Grabbing one of the transports, I shot off towards Tom’s place. Dad commed and gave me the radio frequency and call sign the platoon was using.

“Red Raider, this is Striker 1, come in,” I radioed them.

“Striker 1, this is Red Raider 3. Who are you?” they replied.

“Red Raider 3, this is PFC Lucas Powell of The First Vanguard Battalion, Charlie Company. I know the civilians in the house you’re firing at. They are non-combatants and good friends of our family. We live just across the border and my family was the one that had first contact with the Gilohan troops massing near the border.”

“Sorry Striker 1, but the Lieutenant ordered the attack,” he replied. “Besides, they’re firing back.”

“How many dead and wounded do you have?”

“None, they’re not very good shots,” he responded.

“If you don’t have casualties, they’re not firing at you, just near you. Two of the civilians are sniper-quality marksmen. The worst of them is as good as any of your men. Tell the former lieutenant that I’ll be landing my civilian shuttle between you and the house in one minute. If he shoots at me, he’s a dead man because I’m also a trained sniper.”

The lieutenant didn’t shoot at me, but he sure did scowl. “What the fuck are you trying to do?” he nearly yelled at me as he eyed the medals on my uniform.

“I’m trying to save you from facing a military tribunal for killing a non-combatant,” I replied caustically.

“They fired first,” he growled.

“Are you sure they shot at you?” I asked. “There are a lot of predators in the jungle around here. I know for a fact that this family has shot and killed hundreds of them since I first met them.” I saw the first sign of uncertainty on the lieutenant’s face, so I commed Tom.

“Tom, this is Lucas. What were you shooting at before the Cambakian troops started shooting at you?” I asked, keeping my phone where the lieutenant could hear.

“I shot one of those fucking Gilohan bastards that I caught creeping around just south of the barn. They shot Leo in the leg yesterday. The Cambakian idiots started shooting at us a few minutes later. One of them winged Amy before we all got inside the house,” he replied angrily.

“Well Private, it looks like you’re in a bit of a pickle,” I smirked. “If your men hadn’t hit anyone, you’d lose one grade of rank. Now that there’s a wounded civilian, you’ll face a court-martial, loss of all rank, and a dishonorable discharge. Consider yourself lucky that nobody was killed, or you’d face a firing squad,” I reminded him, but loud enough for the rest of his men to hear.

“Since the rest of you now know that the people inside are civilians, any of you that fires another shot will be joining the Private here at his court-martial,” I reminded them.

“You’re the only one who knows that,” the lieutenant retorted, reaching for his sidearm.

“Actually, every word has been broadcast to my dad and recorded as well,” I told him. Even if he drew his weapon, he was close enough that I could disarm him.

“You’re lying,” he replied.

“Lieutenant Tomkins, this is Colonel Williams. You are to carefully hand your weapons to PFC Powell. Everyone else, you are to stand down,” the voice from my military-issue phone ordered.

Tompkins was crestfallen, but properly handed me his sidearm. A military transport landed next to me a minute later. I snapped a salute when Colonel Williams stepped off the transport, as did everyone else. He returned the salute and strode over to us, followed by six MPs and a medic. “Take Lieutenant Tomkins back to the transport,” he ordered two MPs. “You start recording statements from his men,” he ordered the other four. “Check on the civilians inside the house,” he ordered the medic.

“Thank you for stepping in before the situation got worse,” he said, shaking my hand. “How well do you know this area?” he asked, motioning around us in a broad circle.

“I’ve hunted every part of it and know it extremely well, Sir.”

“These men were trying to track down a group of about fifty Gilohan soldiers reported to be somewhere in this area. Would you take charge and help locate the enemy? I’ve seen your service record. Even as brief as it is, I’m sure you’re capable of doing it.”

“Sir, shouldn’t the Sergeant assume command?”

“Probably, but given your record and knowledge of the area, I think you’re better qualified. I’ll give you a temporary field promotion to an acting Lieutenant,” he offered.

Since I’d have gone after the Gilohan troops with just Tom and Alice, I accepted. I didn’t care about the temporary promotion. “Sir, won’t the Sergeant be upset by my field promotion?”

“I’ll talk to him and make sure he isn’t,” he promised.

“Sir, I’ll need to run home and get the rest of my gear,” I warned.

“Move it,” was his only comment. He was already headed for the Sergeant when I tried to salute.

Forty-five minutes later, I was back in full battle gear with all my weapons. I even had a replacement TLK-19 four-barrel mini-gun that Gramps had acquired and had prepared for me by attaching brackets to match my original. The military transport and the Colonel were gone. Everyone saluted when I stepped off the shuttle, although they were surprised to see Striker on my arm. He quickly flew off. Kate gave me a longing look and took the shuttle home.

“No more saluting,” I ordered. “If I was acting as a sniper, I’d target the person everyone just saluted.”

Tom was outside by then. “Thanks,” he said. “The Colonel took Amy and Leo to the nearest civilian hospital.”

“Any idea where the Gilohans are headed or holed up?” I asked.

“The ones I’ve tracked are coming from the southwest,” he replied.

“The Banyan grove?”

“Probably; there’s not much else in that direction,” Tom replied. I unpacked the two drones I brought and sent them aloft, programming one to stay above us and search around us. I directed the second drone to the Banyan grove to begin searching.

That one tree produces more than three tonnes of the fig-like fruit each year. When we harvest it, six men stand guard, watching for predators on the ground and in the tree, as well as the venomous red asps that are common in this part of the jungle. Tom’s family joins ours each winter as we pick the fruit. On their own, it would be impossible for four people to harvest and stand guard. Our family eats or makes preserves from our share. Tom’s family sells most of their share. Not many people are willing to risk cavorting through the tree to pick fruit with possible predators in the tree and on the ground, so the fruit brings a high price.

Only twice has anyone in our group been bitten by a red asp. Fortunately, we all carried anti-venom, which if administered within ten minutes, completely counters the effects of the asp’s venom.

While the adults stand guard, the older kids climb the tree. Each of them wears a backpack with an emergency braking unit. It’s the same sort of anti-grav unit that was on the transport my unit was in when it was hit. If the unit senses a free-fall, it activates to slow the descent until reaching the ground. The kids can’t even jump down from the lower branches of the tree without activating it. Each kid carries a front pack they fill with fruit. When one part of the tree is stripped of ripe fruit, they empty the packs into a collection bin and start on the next section. The adults on the ground tie brightly colored ropes on tall stakes to designate ten-meter square sections.

I had the Sergeant assign two men to scout in front of us, two to watch our six, and two to watch each flank. I walked next to him and watched the screen of my handheld as the one drone flew above us and the other raced for the Banyan grove.

“Did you really earn a Silver Merit Cluster less than a month after enlisting?” the sergeant asked.

I explained about the training Gramps had put me through, as well as the hunting trips into Trindi and Giloh that were actually recon trips.

“I feel a lot more comfortable with you in charge than Lt. Tompkins. I had the feeling he was a glory-hound, willing to do anything to get noticed and promoted,” he explained.

“He’s the type of officer Gramps warned me about, which is why he wanted me to finish school early and enlist right away. I still think he pulled strings to get me assigned to his old unit.”

“What’s with the eagle?” he asked, so I explained about Striker. I was surprised that I had managed to leave the house without him the first time this morning.

“There they are,” I said to nobody in particular, noting a large group of heat signatures near the edge of the Banyan grove. I had the sergeant direct the men to move more to the east, southeast so we would arrive from the best direction to attack.

An hour later, our men were in position. “I’m going to sneak around to our left, flanking them. They’ve been here long enough to know that’s the best way to escape. When I’m in position, you’ll hear three clicks on your radio. Reply with two clicks so I know you heard me. Then, broadcast a warning to surrender. If they surrender, have them lay down their arms and come out one at a time. I can watch to make sure they don’t try anything. If they decide to fight, I’ll be in a good position to hit them from an exposed flank. Have two men continue watching behind you for predators and have the men on each flank stay alert for predators. There are enough of us that predators should avoid us, but it’s always a possibility. The men also need to watch out for red asps, the only reddish snake in the area. They’re common in this area. If someone gets bitten, I have several auto-injectable antidotes in my gear,” I said, patting my belt pouch.

Half an hour later, I was in position. My three clicks were answered with two. I watched the overhead view from one of my drones as the Sergeant broadcast an order for the Gilohan troops to surrender. They all dove for cover and scrambled for their weapons. When the Gilohan troops fired the first shots, our men returned fire, quickly winnowing the number of enemy troops.

“Shit,” I hissed when I saw two Gilohan troops readying an RPG. I’d have to expose myself too much to rake them with gunfire. Instead, I flew one of the drones directly at the men reading the instructions on the RPG, trying to figure out how to use it. Just as one man shouldered it, the drone flew into his face, knocking him on his ass, unconscious. Watching from my second drone, I saw several men gather around him and detonated the self-destruct device on the first drone. Between that explosion and the growing number of Gilohan troops killed or wounded by our men, the remaining dozen uninjured men surrendered. I continued to watch the surrender until every man had been accounted for. Then I scanned the area one final time, making sure nobody was hiding.

Confident that all the Gilohan troops were accounted for, I finally stood up and headed back towards our men. The burning, stinging sensation in the side of my neck surprised me and I groaned just before blacking out.

“Anders, take someone and check on the Lieutenant, now! He just went down,” the Sergeant hollered, watching in surprise as the eagle dove towards the Lieutenant.

“It’s a snake bite,” the Sergeant radioed a couple minutes later as the eagle rose back into the air with a red snake in its talons.

“What kind of snake?” the medic radioed back.

“I don’t know. The eagle has it, but it was red, and the Lieutenant said to keep an eye out for red asps,” the Sergeant replied anxiously.

“Okay, he has anti-venom for the red asp in his gear,” the medic replied almost a minute later.

Meanwhile, the Sergeant radioed in. “I need two Medevac transports. One is for a Lieutenant bitten by a venomous snake. The other is for fifteen wounded Gilohan soldiers. We also need transportation for our men and twelve Gilohan prisoners.”

When I came to, my vision was a bit blurry and my head was spinning. Worst of all, my stomach was ready to revolt. I was lying on the ground, looking up at Sarge and someone else. “What happened,” I groaned, knowing better than to try to sit or stand up.

“One of those red asps you warned me about dropped down onto you from the branch above you. We found the anti-venom in your gear,” Sarge explained.

“We found all kinds of anti-venom in your gear,” the medic added.

“Yeah, for two kinds of scorpions, one spider, and three types of snakes,” I replied, closing my eyes to see if it helped with the dizziness. I remembered what my cousin told us he felt like three years ago when he was bitten.

“Looks like you’re in charge again,” I told the Sergeant. “I’ll be wiped out for several hours as my body fights off the effects of both the venom and the anti-venom,” I warned.

“You’ve mostly had me in charge the entire time,” he chuckled.

“You know your men better that I do. I just know the area better,” I replied.

“Hey, Striker,” I greeted him with my eyes still closed. I heard the rustling of his wings nearby.

“Your eagle grabbed the snake and bit the head clear off before bringing the snake’s body back,” Sarge commented.

“If he didn’t tear the body up too badly, hang onto it. Tom’s family will enjoy the meat, and they’ll prepare and sell the snakeskin,” I explained. I heard transports land nearby and looked up in time to see Kate running over to me.

“Are you okay?” she asked as she knelt next to me, tears in her eyes.

“I’ll be fine. They got the anti-venom into me quickly. I’ll still be wiped out until tonight, though,” I replied tiredly. “Do me a favor and take the snake’s body to Tom, and then take Striker home. They won’t appreciate him at the hospital,” I chuckled when I saw Charli standing behind Kate.

Two medical attendants were right on the heels of the girls. They photographed the snake’s body and took the expended auto-injectable anti-venom syringe before loading me onto a stretcher. “How are you feeling?” one of them asked.

“Dizzy, and I’m probably going to hurl soon,” I warned. Several seconds later, I leaned over the edge of the stretcher and did just that. “Aaaaahhhhh, my stomach feels much better now,” I sighed after wiping my mouth on my sleeve.

“You don’t seem to be very concerned about being bitten by a venomous snake,” the second medic commented, so I explained about harvesting the Banyan fruit every year and how two of my cousins had been bitten previously.

Just over an hour later, I was wheeled into a private room at the hospital closest to where we lived, and not the military hospital at the base. Fortunately, the room was very large. My family was there, as were Kate and the teenage girls who were our slaves. Tom and his entire family were there, too.

“I can’t believe that you remembered to send us the snake’s body,” Tom laughed.

“My brain was working just fine although I was a bit dizzy. My stomach was the main problem,” I replied.

“Colonel Williams recommended a solution to keep Tom and his family safe,” Dad spoke up. “They’ve agreed and are now temporary, provisional slaves. They are free to leave anytime they want to and will retain all rights and property. Tom wants to stay with us for a while. The Gilohans killed all their farm animals and trampled and destroyed their crops. They’ll work with us until they’re ready to return home.”

Tara, the fourteen-year-old slave walked over and took my hand between both of hers. “I’m sorry that you were hurt,” she said emotionally. “When you feel better, I want to live in your house, too,” she added nervously.