Chapter 12

The following characters reappear from previous stories:

Bland, Mercy

SFC, member of Team A-23, Magic user, 5’-6’’ tall, 135 pounds, 36B-23-35, 32 years old, long blond hair, blue eyes, fully enhanced, a strong Talent

SSG Walker

Staff Sergeant, mechanic, 5’-10’’ tall, 155 lb, 28 years old, short blond hair, blue eyes

Work the next morning did not start out well. Those who drove the tractor trailers and the forklifts for us were late for work. They had been informed yesterday, that there would be shuttles arriving this morning. Most of them spoke fairly good Standard, so there shouldn’t have been a problem, yet they were late today.

The first shuttle had landed just after 0800 hrs. It was a cargo shuttle and not one of the Marines’ larger assault shuttles. To make things worse, the new employees for the kitchen hadn’t arrived yet either.

The shuttle had just dropped its ramp to begin unloading when the small bus that the drivers normally arrived in came screaming into the area of the runway. The windows were open and men started firing out of the windows at us and at the shuttle. The bus swung around creating a tail of dust and stones before screeching to a halt as men began spilling out of it, while continuing to fire at us and the shuttle.

At the same time, a group of men emerged from the nearest rice paddy and charged toward the main gate and us also firing. They soon realized their mistake in doing this, but it was too late for most of them.

First, those on the shuttle were Marines, and not the normal crew from the Navy. They immediately began firing back at those from the bus.

Second, the shuttle hadn’t come down alone. There was a Marine assault shuttle flying cover for it. On seeing what was happening, the assault shuttle dropped like a meteor from its cruising altitude and opened fire with its four forward guns as it passed over those from the rice paddy, killing most of them.

Third, none of those attacking us were Magic users, so they couldn’t sense the wards that we had set up between the fences around our compound. None of their bullets had any effect on the wards.

Lastly, Lucy, Joel, and I were still waiting at the main gate for the new kitchen help to arrive. Joel and I quickly cast wards around the shuttle, and Lucy cast a freeze spell on those from the bus. The attack was over in less than a minute or so, but it had attracted the attention of everyone in our compound, especially the Colonel and Major Roanoke.

“What in the world is going on?” the Colonel demanded in an upset voice on arriving at the main gate.

“The drivers’ bus arrived late, and those on it began firing at the compound and the shuttle as soon as they were close enough. There was also a second group of men who appeared out of the nearest paddies and started to assault the compound.

“The Marines on the shuttle engaged the attackers as did the assault shuttle flying cover for it. Joel and I cast wards around the shuttle, and Lucy cast a freeze spell on the remaining attackers,” I informed her. She turned to Major Roanoke.

“Greg, try to get a hold of the Marines and have them put a hold on unloading for a time. We need to get this straightened out and drivers for the trucks,” the Colonel told him. Greg had arrived with his radio on his back. He really needed a radio man. Captains Rodeo and Desjardin had also arrived, and they had heard most of the explanation. The Colonel turned to them then.

“Why would our drivers suddenly do this?” she asked.

“Are we sure that they are our drivers?” Della asked.

“Do either of you recognize any of them?” the Colonel asked. Rodeo and Desjardin went out and looked at those under the freeze spell. They weren’t long in returning.

“Those are not the people who have been driving the trucks and the forklifts,” Rodeo told us in a positive voice.

“We’ll use the truth spell later to find out who they are and why they attacked us,” Lucy added.

“Joel, in the meantime, get our winged Partners in the air and start a search for anyone else who may be planning an attack, Also have them look for our drivers out there. That is their bus, isn’t it?” the Colonel asked.

“Yes, that’s definitely their bus,” Rodeo told the Colonel, who turned to me.

“Cleve, get a patrol ready to go out if the Eagles find anything. Has the kitchen help arrived yet?” she also asked.

“No, that’s something else that’s missing,” I told her.

Joel soon had all of the Eagles and the Falcons ready for reconnaissance flights guided by their Human Partners. Joel and the Colonel would be guiding Samson and Sara.

In the meantime, Greg and I had gone out to the shuttle to talk to the crew and the pilots. Greg had reached the Marine CO and explained what had happened. He had already heard from the shuttle flying cover, so he was aware of part of what had occurred. The pilots of the grounded shuttle had also advised Navy operations of what had occurred.

Following that, I alerted Team A-31 and those on Tiger Team to be ready to go out on patrol if the Partners found the missing people. It wasn’t long before Joel reported that they had found not only the missing drivers, but also a small van that could be our new kitchen employees. They were located about a mile or so down the road around a bend where the road moved to the left to accommodate additional rice paddies.

I formed up the patrol in the parking lot before we set out. Joel and the Colonel had already joined us with their Partners.

“Samson and Sara will fly ahead of us looking for trouble. Chet, Millie, and the Falcons will remain here resting. The three Tigers will take point as usual,” the Colonel told us before turning to Greg who had also joined us.

“Are you interested in joining us, Greg?” she asked.

“You couldn’t keep me away, sir,” he told her with a smile.

“Good, bring your radio, just in case we need one,” the Colonel replied. We set out on foot following that.

All of those under the freeze spell had been moved into the area near the shuttle by the Marines on it. They would be keeping an eye on them for us. Sergeant Bland cast a ward closing the main gate area after we had moved through it.

During our move to where the drivers had been spotted, Samson and Sara flew cover for us looking for anything suspicious. Bob, Susie, and Clare checked the road and the paddies on either side of it for any scent of trouble also. It didn’t take long to move the mile or so to where we indeed found the drivers tied up on the side of the road. The small van near them contained the six people who would be our kitchen help plus their driver. While the Colonel questioned the drivers after we released them, I moved to check the van which was about ten feet further down the road.

“What happened to you?” I heard her ask the drivers. All of the men started to explain at the same time. Some in Standard and others in what I had learned was Thai.

“Wait!” she shouted over the confusion after a few seconds. They fell silent.

“Pick one of you to explain. I can’t listen to all of you at same time,” she told them. Most of them looked at one man. He was the one who usually drove the bus.

“We were coming to work. As we approached here, we could see the van stopped, and a man came out into the road and waved for us to stop. We thought that they had broken down. When I stopped, other men appeared and pointed guns at us. They told us to get off the bus. They tied us up when we got off, and then took the bus. Later, we heard loud noises and were sure that wasn’t good. We were very surprised when we saw you and your Partners. We thought you might be dead,” their spokesman told her.

“No, none of our people were injured but many of those who attacked us are dead. We didn’t bring your bus because it has some damage from the shooting. We will have our mechanics look at it to ensure that it is all right,” the Colonel told them.

In the meantime, Lucy had cast wards around all of us. The Eagles had settled in the trees to rest, and the Tigers had set up a watch around us inside the wards. Natalie and Joel were supervising our Partners.

When I reached the van, I found the people in there terrified. Susie had checked out the van by moving up to it on the side with the open doors, and then stepped up with her front feet on the floor of the van to look around the insides. Her short appearance had frightened those inside it badly. She had then moved to take up her lookout position following informing me of the people in the van.

“Are you all right?” I asked on arriving and looking in the open doors.

“No!” the man in there answered in fairly good Standard. “A demon appeared and looked in at us before you arrived,” he told me in a still frightened voice. I had to chuckle, which didn’t reassure him.

“Don’t worry, that wasn’t a demon,” I told him.

“You’re sure! It appeared to be a demon,” he told me in a very convinced voice.

“Yes. I’m sure. Are you the driver?” I asked.

“Yes.”

“Good. I’ll release you and give you the knife so you can release the others. Have them step out of the van when they are released. Do any of the women speak Standard?” I asked the driver. It was much too crowded in there for someone my size to get in there with them.

“Perhaps some of them may,” he told me as I cut the ropes holding him and then gave him the knife. The women were soon released and stepped cautiously out of the van one at a time. The driver joined them after releasing the last one.

“What happened to you?” I asked him.

“We had left the city on our way here, when we came to what looked like an accident that was blocking the road. When we stopped, those from the accident came out and pointed guns at us and demanded that we get out. They tied us up and pushed all of us into the back of the van. Two men got in the front. One drove and the other one pointed his gun at us. The trucks moved out of the way and led us out here where they stopped. The men who rode on the trucks got off and the trucks left but the men remained. Later, the small bus came. They stopped it and tied up those from it. They then drove the bus away after a time,” the man told me. The Colonel had heard most of the explanation, as she had finished with the drivers.

“Is the van still working?” she asked him.

“Yes, I think so. They just stopped it here but didn’t do anything to it,” the driver told us.

“Will it go slow enough to follow us as we walk back to our compound?” she asked him.

“Yes, it can go very slowly,” he told us.

“The women can ride in the van. The rest of us will walk. It’s about a mile to our compound. That’s less than two kilometers,” she told him.

“We have a little problem with those from the van,” I told the Colonel.

“Problem?”

“They think that Susie is a demon,” I told her.

“OH!”

“Yes, they will need to meet Susie and Clare. I don’t believe that Bob would be interested in meeting them,” I told her before calling Susie and Clare from their lookout positions. Natalie came with her Partner.

The six women and the driver were shocked to see not just one demon but two of them approaching.

“It’s all right,” I told him and had him translate for the women. “These are our Partners. They are Tigers not demons, and they are very friendly. They will not hurt you,” I told them as Susie approached me and rubbed up against me, Clare was also rubbing up against Natalie.

“I will have the Tigers move close to each of you so they can get your scent, so they will remember you. You can pet them if you wish. They are really just like large house cats,” I told the driver, and he continued to translate my words for the women, but he didn’t sound like he believed what I had told them. They didn’t look ready to pet anything as large as our Partners. The women loaded back on the van following the Tigers sniffing them, and the driver got it started with just a little trouble. It was time to leave.