Chapter 40

Work helped but I thought of the three that had perished on this mission so far. They were my mates and no different than a wife. I was not like an Arab Sultan of old because I knew them intimately through telepathy. They were so close that it hurt unbearably. The mission came first though and I had to compartmentalise this pain until later.

There was one of us in each of the boats so we could navigate around the giant trees. Maska said verbally, "Wally, we have to get our sleeping arraignments made." The motors were very quiet but the vibrations were transferred to the boat and this made a noise, though not very loud.

Eldhino said, "You just want to fuck. Later we will be too tired for that."

"Speak for yourself. Wally always makes me horny."

Tors was only slightly more quiet. "It's probably time to have another child. You got to have them while your young so you can chase them around."

This was the usual innuendo I heard. This was not really allusive or oblique it was blatant the way the Tomma naturally were. They loved sex and saw no reason to hide the fact.

I said, "Ladies, I will do my best to make you happy but no children until this mission is done."

"You said that a year ago."

"And it is still true."

I was in the lead because I could see the best channel to take. We found the occasional sapling. We cut them down and used them to push us over the shallow areas. It was an hour later that we came onto Sadderis. She smiled at us and got into one of the more empty boats. Corrma was out of the way and took another hour to reach.

Eldhino continued to relayed information to me even though any of the others could have done this. The operation so far had gone pretty much as planned. Some of the equipment pods had been damaged but the girls worked on them with glue. They had tied duct tape on earth but it was not quite good enough for this task. Some pods were too damaged but we could double up. I changed course twenty degrees to link up with one group that had only three boats and eight ladies.

We had our drones out. They used very little power and their transmissions would not be detected in this poorly monitored area. They were to help us find our way but also to avoid the occasional native.

The ships far overhead were still fighting. Fonduush had taken a lot more hits but her shield still held. As yet there were no deaths on her though there were three cadet deaths when their ships died. One more cadet was picked up and I was sure she was happy about wearing her armour now.

Ultrawave messages went back and forth through repeaters but in actual fact some of them were meant for us. They gave what news they could but all of it was heavily encrypted.

The weapons platform on the battleship was no more. We tried to not do much collateral damage because one day we may finish this ship if we survived.

Some of our missiles made it through the planetary defences and struck some of the shields protecting cities. We were aiming for the ship and missile production areas. We made it look like we were attempting to destroy the cities but in actual fact we had other plans. The noise sometimes was deafening and we were far from the battle.

There were a lot of defences and we allowed our missiles to be intercepted close to their targets. There was a similar effect to EMP. The electromagnetic pulse produced gamma rays and a surge of electrons. Our missiles as well as the ones the Aristis used produced surges in the upper dimensions that effected unshielded equipment. Our missiles used much more antimatter and it looked like we were out to destroy the cities completely. Our pulses though were strong enough to usually damage crystals that were protected within the shields the city used. They were going to get bombed as far back as the stone age if we had to do it.

The missile batteries though were hardened much more and they would take a direct hit. We could not take these out without destroying the city. Our plan called for us to hammer away and make it looked like we were chased off.

It was our job to take out these batteries and also the city of Toxlo. We knew that this city was going to be very well protected and very little of the crystals within it would be damaged.

As yet there was little work to do. The little electric motors worked beautifully. The prop was protected by the hull to make it similar to a jet boat. We stole small amounts power to charge the capacitors from the worldwide energy grid. Paddles helped us move too.

We came upon the other group of four hours after we set out. We went through the equipment. Their damaged boat could be used as a barge though. We were out of glue after its repair and the ladies found some local materials that would assist. We used the local equivalent of balsam gum along with some of the parachute.

That night we made camp on a dryer section of ground and listened to the battle being fought in space or the portion that came into the atmosphere. We seemed to be making headway here but the Aristis could be just luring us in so they could hit us hard.

Our chutes kept out the local wildlife. Taking off my suit felt like a mistake. The air was heavy and humid. The suit had provided a measure of air conditioning.

Corrma layed naked on her back with her knees up. "Hurry up Wally. I'm horny."

"You are always horny like our daughter."

"I see that you are ready. Don't pretend that you are not interested."

"I just have to show that I can control myself more. I like to work slow and do a good job."

Corrma stroked her slit as her clit stood up. The rest of the girls had paired off. An odd number would not make a difference. We were all sweaty. I used the cleanser on myself but it was not as good as what a shower would be on this hot planet.

Corrma was anxious. "Just stick it in."

"Patients is a virtue Corrma. Now let me torture you." I did just that. She squirmed around and wanted desperately to grab me but she had learned some restraint over the years. She had ripped my back with her nails when our daughter then our son had been conceived but then again so had many others.

The three that were lost came to me but I tried to hide it from the rest. Our children still lived and this was the only comfort I had. This was not the time to deal with our losses. I used my telepathic abilities to get closer to her Corrma's mind. The more rational Tomma males could work on the mind as they made love to their mate and I was able to do this too.

Corrma's mind was stroked as I worked within her vagina. Her emotions flared from the feelings running through her body. Her orgasm built slowly and the voyeurs in our group which meant all of them felt their own orgasm's approaching. We were a family. We knew each other intimately. The joining together was a natural process but only happened when there was a Tomma male in the group. I was able to serve this function. From other areas of the planet, I felt my other ladies joining. Betts did too and she seemed just a bit different.

The orgasm shook us all. It was the strongest I had felt yet. My analytical mind attributed it to the stress and the loss of some that we loved but it could also be the combined minds of all Tomma that were linked subconsciously. I felt comfortable if the latter was the cause and hoped that there was a way of storing the identities of those that died so they could be resurrected later. This was too much like religion though to be rational.

The orgasms got stronger as I went through the ladies. There were a few more than normal but they seemed to give me enough energy to continue.

Sleeping that night was not difficult even with the heat and the warm bodies nearby. I felt love and the strong feeling of family.

Eldhino kissed me passionately the next morning and said, "I don't remember any of our men doing as good a job as you did last night. Its better here at our home but I think our home is actually with you and the children."

"I feel at home here too. I would like the children to be close along with all my mates but the time is not right."

"We decided last night that since this was so dangerous that we will try to have another child."

"We agreed to wait until after."

"If any of us die then that is fate but if you die then there is no more. Betty wants another child too."

"That is going to effect how the mission goes."

"Perhaps that is a good thing to happen. There are few of us and the risks are great. We all like to fight but now we will just have to use our mind more than just our emotions."

I argued with her and the rest in our group but I was outvoted. The thoughts of imminent death caused us to act instinctually but it did not seem wrong. I was worried more because a commander sometimes had to take risks to win substantial gains. I had been restricted to start with and now there were even more constraints on me.

We had our meal in silence. I was the commander but getting pregnant or not was not up to a commander or even a male Tomma. The women knew their own bodies and did what was best for the family.

The next day we were manoeuvring through the swamp with the motor and some collapsible paddles. In some sections a pole was not the best tool to use. The insects were worse than earth but I had a suit on and the Tomma had built up a scent that the insects did not like. The rain was not heavy most of the time.

The drones detected activity two thousand metres ahead through the rain. It looked like a small family unit comprised of four females six children or young adults and two males. This was odd. Family groupings were usually eighteen to twenty-four females. These ones wore packs and were on the move. Males usually travelled separately unless there was a threat to the group. Bows could be used but by an ancient tradition they were not used in warfare. They all had short spears though. These ones had bows out.

There was an alternate path available for us and we shifted to the right. An hour later we had to portage over a kilometre to the next area. The ground we walked over was only marginally less saturated than the land we floated over previously. I was glad that only a portion of the planet was this way.

It was just before we decided to camp for the night that we were almost discovered. A young male came down from a tree only fifty metres from us. We did not look up into the canopy much because none of the Tomma were known to live in this environment.

He was only detected when he called out to somebody above. He did not seem to be worried and simply walked on some firmer earth to a stone road. We had been paralleling the road for the last hour. We simply stopped and pulled some drones in to search the treetops and to follow the young man.

There was a male grouping thirty metres in the air. An intricate lacework of bridges and platforms linked one tree to another. We counted thirty two individuals. Eldhino whispered, "More are supposed to be coming. They had a good hunt."

"Which way?"

Eldhino pointed and it was in the direction the young man went and roughly where we were headed. We had to find an alternate route. We were actually under some of the buildings. I left first to find the way. One boat made less noise than two. I had to backtrack only once then the rest followed one at a time.

Visibility was poor for both the native Tomma and for us but we could still see what the drones saw. We did find a camp site but it was dark by the time we started to set up. The ever-present rain had slowed down somewhat. Most of the water tended to hit the leaves and then fall further down or to the trunk and then down. The branches of the trees tended to point upwards so this could happen more efficiently.

Our campsite was still too close to the males to have sex with the same intensity we had last night but that did not mean we could not hold each other. The next morning we broke camp early and as quietly as possible left for the river that was only four hours away.

We saw many examples of the wildlife here on Cralto. There were different varieties of primates that lived their entire lives in the trees. Like the primates on earth, they were omnivores and preyed on each other and the birds and lizards.

A giant crab lived in the swamp that found the Tomma to be tasty tidbits. The tidbits hunted the crabs too. That is what the males had been able to kill the day before. There was something that looked like a water buffalo too. It had quills like a porcupine. It had a nasty disposition but a nice flavour I was told. All sorts of amphibians found Cralto a great place to live. They came in the large economy size that weighted up to twenty tonnes to the small size that was smaller than a salamander. All of them had teeth and the smaller ones were poisonous.

Birds were beautiful but none were large in this area. Some areas with less rain and better drainage also had cleared farmland. Larger birds like the ostrich lived here too. These did not hunt and peck for seeds but were carnivores that hunted in packs. The Tomma and the Tappic found each other tasty. Here the Tomma bow made the contest almost equal though the birds usually won. Curiously the Tomma did not act like humans and go out to kill all of the Tappics after a Tomma was killed.

The Tomma had domestic animals to pull a plough. There were a whole raft of farm animals but most were for eating. There were cats here too but not too many of them were seen in the wetter areas. It was the cats though that filled the position a dog would have on earth. These cats did not walk around with their noses and tails in the air but were actually friendly and helpful. My ladies wanted pets and the dossla was the animal they wanted. It was good that this cat at least was able to eat plants too or they would clean out a lot of wildlife. They had long teeth and very long retractable claws. They grew larger than a Bengal tiger and were nearly all white with short dense fur.

There were a multitude of fish varieties and they abounded in great numbers. Some fish ate the plants while other fish ate the smaller fish and so on. The fish were usually not poisonous but most had nasty teeth like the piranha. Some were up to six metres long. This is why we wore our suits other than for protection from the Aristis and the cooling properties. It was understandable that few Tomma had learned to swim.

We paused an hour before reaching the river to eat and Maska said excitedly, "Wally, there's a child fighting off a clova. She's going to die."

The clova was the giant crab. We all interfaced with Maska and saw through her communicator the fight. The clova had emerged from the swamp when the child of about ten pulled in a large fish. The child had fought off the clova with a staff. I could see that the child was limping. There was blood running down her left knee.

"Forty fives, silenced. Move. The rest keep a look out. The clova are in family groupings too." The bullets had Teflon tips on 550 grains of lead. The bullets were massive but had to be to defeat some of the opposition. They gave a lot of recoil even with the improvements we made.

We opened our throttles wide and hurried nearly a kilometre. The route was through deep water and near the river. The child was now behind a tree. She was throwing mud at the clova's eyestalks. There were four of them. Her staff lay snapped in two nearby. The clova had its large claws open. They shot out but the child was able to avoid them. They were big enough to pinch her in two. By the time we got close it looked like the child was too tired to continue. Sadderis said mentally, "Fight child. We come."

The child found the energy to roll to her right and the claws came down and grabbed the root of a tree. The child was so close that the clova must think that it had the child and tried to pull the body to it. The claw pulled away after the clova found its mistake.

I stopped my motor and pulled out my gun. The clova's head and brain were away from us. The claw pulled back in preparation to shoot out when my bullet hit the joint right behind one of the two main claws. The claw shot out but there was no control. The claw broke completely off. Pain must have now registered. The clova turned to face me.

I had a split second to make a decision. To act like a human or a Tomma? I decided on the latter. The clova saw all of us and abandoned the girl and scuttled back into the water then to the deeper portion of the channel. I looked beneath the water and saw its powerful tail pull it rapidly away. In time it would regrow a new claw if it remained alive that long.

My mates put out pickets with their guns at the ready. It was Maska that got to the girl first. There was a lot of hysterics mainly because she wore a full body suit and a mask over our lower face. Maska pulled her mask off to show the girl that she was a Tomma too. The girl was still mentally screaming that monsters were after her.

The girl stopped as Maska spoke to her. "Don't worry child. We wear King Rontem's uniform."

"Your face. Your body?"

"We would go as you do but we must wear this. Where is your family?"

The child was a girl and said as she pointed, "Over there. They come now."

"I know. Now stay still as we use the power of the king to heal you." The med unit was brought by Corrma and run over the girls naked body. All the Tomma were normally naked because of the weather. When we did as much as we could do the med unit was put away. The partially severed fish and a large claw were brought close and laid near the girl. We got in our boats and pushed off once more. The girl's family would be near in five minutes at the rate they were now moving.

There was a lot of excited verbal talk now but it was in whispers. I knew my girls liked the way the modified 45s worked. They had bitched about it on earth. Eldhino asked, "Wally, why did you not kill the clova?"

"The Tomma like to fight. They also try to not upset their world. I could feel that you all wanted the child to be saved but not to kill the clova unless it was unavoidable. I thought that was a good idea too. That particular one was a father looking to take food home to his children."

"I knew that by its colouring but how did you? You were never here before."

"I got the flavour of feeding its young and I happen to know that the father does most of this."

"The mother does this too."

"This one felt like a father. I did not really communicate thoughts because its mind is far too simple. I saw multiple images of hundreds of clova and as I said, the flavour was male." I opened my mind and the girls looked at what information I had gathered. Apparently none of them had ever heard of this happening before.

By way of a drone, we saw the girls family burst into the view, looking for enemies. The girl by now was standing and holding the larger portion of her broken staff. The father ran to the girl and hugged her to him as we heard excited mental conversations of what had happened.

We were much further along when we saw the giant claw being compared to the size of the child. The fish and claw were carried back to camp and I guess the family would eat well tonight.

We hit the river a half hour later. The watercourse looked to be kilometres wide but the section clear of trees was actually only thirty metres wide. The canopy of trees covered the river and kept us from the view of the satellites.

The rest of the paddles were broken out. They had been used during the trip to help steer the boats around obstacles and to give us a little more speed.

At this distance from Toxlo, broadcast power was more readily available. We took small amounts of it during the day as we ran and at night we tried to replenish what we had used from the capacitor. We took so little that I doubted that they would notice. If they did, they would not know who or where the thieves were. The number of broadcast receivers was small so they always had to be shared. They were operating crystals and a drone could detect this if they happened to stumble upon us.

We made good time until we came to the mouth of a smaller river and here we waited. An hour later Betts and Sam showed up with their group of sixteen. We now numbered thirty, almost half or our forces on the planet.

We were in a hurry. Our forces did not have an unlimited supply of missiles or of cadets. The space forces were hanging back and using missiles to keep the Aristis busy. They had much more capacity but we were making them too on the Fonduush.

That night we tied the boats together. We posted watches and guided our flotilla down the river to link up with Chuck and Jerry. Near local dawn we stopped and slept apart for those that had to continue their watch.

We had a breakfast for all of us. I could still see in my mind the faces of the three that had died. The faces though did not look sad. There were sixty eight of us. Not nearly enough to take on a planet but possibly enough to try to do some damage.

Toxlo was about the same distance away as it was before but now we had a river that lead more or less directly there.

We hurried upriver. The Tomma used this river but with the war on it was nearly deserted. The river was wide if you did not count the trees in it. We were able to head in the general direction even if there was other river traffic. Though we were not as fast, it was much safer.

The Tomma saw King Rontem as their leader and we got a sampling of what the Aristis were feeding the Tomma for the last few years. They had the truth but I was a hireling of the Wikki. I also killed innocent Tomma while their edited history neglected to say what they had done to gain this planet. I was attacking now so I could enslave all of the Tomma and make them like the humans they showed in their versions of movies.

King Rontem countered by making me his second in command over the ungrateful Aristis that dared to try to thwart their rightful king. To keep this position I would have to fight the Aristis. First with an army but then one on one.

The Aristis were impelling the Tomma to work harder but the Aristis had given little real power to the Tomma to do anything other than be guards or soldiers.

Walt's talks as King Rontem gave hidden messages to us. Sometimes one ship contacted another and the Ultrawave message would reach us even though other ships answered if it was not dangerous to point out their position.

Toxlo was hit regularly by our forces but the pattern had moved to the others side of the city as if looking for a weak spot.

We came close to the city four days after meeting the other group. There was actual semi-dry land a few hundred kilometres back. Scarlet called her daughter Holly who was supposed to be on the ship but was back on earth. They talked about cleaning fish and preparing a meal. Scarlet said to us after deciphering the message, "They will avoid Toxlo now. Our drones were monitoring us. The city shields should come down in a few hours."

We hurried into position but it was difficult. There had been some tall trees near the city that were now turned to fragments and this was still thirty kilometres from the city. The closer we got the more devastation we saw. There were a lot of bodies but most were wildlife. We saw dead Tomma but tried not to look at them. My own senses told me that my ladies were not blaming me or humans for this but the Aristis that started the insurrection. I knew that the Aristis may well know that I had defeated Rontem and were trying to make the best of it. The Tomma did not like death even in war and tried to gather captives. I wish the Aristis and the human were that way.

We were twelve kilometres from Toxlo when the city shields went down. Our progress became slower as the props fouled and had to be cleaned. There was a lot more solids that were disturbed that found its way into the shrouds. The explosions had blasted a wide lake around the city and scattered the soil for hundreds of kilometres. The more or less constant rain of this season washed everything clean and even filled the large lake.

It was getting dark as we came near the city. There was nobody wanting to stare out onto the devastated land and the sensors around the city were now toast or we hoped so.

Toxlo was a city built on a stone outcrop. It had walls for protection because of its barbaric history. Rainwater collected within the walls and had to find a way out. Our own drones had found a possible way into the city almost a year ago.

A storm sewer had been cut through the rock and a channel dug to the river. The Tomma had placed bronze rods then ceramic rods had been placed in a shallow cave by the Aristis to keep people like us out. The Aristis had added sensors to the ceramic bars and more were inside. We had been targeting all around the city and this cave was hit twice with larger than usual warheads. There was no indication of a channel now because of the wide and deep moat.

We pulled into the cave that barely was able to contain all of our boats. There was a lot of water flowing out of the grating that was eight metres wide and three high.

A rope was thrown through the bars until the end came back on the other side of one. Chuck was tied to the rope and then slipped to the water. His suit would supply air as it would in space. We pulled him against the current until he got near the ceramic bars. He took a putty-like substance and placed it around one of the bars. The explosive was like thermite and produced a lot of heat. There were sensors far inside the tunnel and we needed the water to shield the fireball that was sure to come.

We drifted out of the cave with Chuck and when clear, the charge went off with flame that filled the entire cave. There was a lot of noise too but there were still a lot of detonations occurring in the atmosphere.

I could see that the charge had worked and a small portion of the ceramic rod had vaporised. We hurried back in and constructed a mount for a hydraulic jack, the base was secured to an intact bar and pushed against the broken one. Our ceramic was much stronger and lighter than the strongest steel. A second and then a third jack was added. An electric pump provided power and we left the cave once more.

The motor was screaming at the load put on it but the bar finally snapped. Pieces of ceramic flew around inside the cave and out the opening. To be hit by them would kill us even in our suits. We did this four more times until the opening was wide enough. Chuck and Jerry manhandled an empty boat sideways through the opening. I passed my equipment to them and then crawled into the new craft while my old boat was brought through.

Betts disregarded orders and got into my boat. "You need somebody with you Wally. You said so yourself. I am going with you."

"You don't follow orders."

"I will if I am going with you. Remember, you are not supposed to do any heroics. I am here on our children's behalf. We want you home safe."

This was hitting below the belt but that was why she was doing it. I resigned myself to the situation and proceeded up the sewer. Even at full throttle we were making very little progress. Betts uses the paddle as I scanned the walls for trouble in the form of active sensors. Our own sensors were in here and I made use of them but I liked to see with my own ability.

We were perhaps thirty metres in before I spotted the first functional sensor. The information it transmitted was picked up by my own communicator. It was encrypted but the packet information was clear. After recording three minutes of the data stream I got the basic idea. I programmed one of my own drones now. I allowed it to record the data being sent out until it mimicked the information perfectly even without breaking the encryption.

The 45 was overkill now but it was what I had. Betts got us to the wall and I used this to hold my hand steady. The distance was only fifteen metres but this was an important shot. The gun fired and hit the sensor right on. As soon as the sensor died, our own began to transmit.

Operating sensors were now every three metres and some were below the water. I had to use drones with explosives to get near these sensors before mine could take over.

Everybody was inside the sewer now but they were all waiting on me. Basically they stood down and slept if they could while I worked. A half kilometre down the tunnel was a large room. Four smaller tunnels fed this room and I detected a door for inspections or a work detail. This was what we had been after though there were other doors up the four feeders.

There were rings in the wall to tie off boats and I used one. The door turned out to be a real challenge. There were series of sensors tied together behind it. If I substituted one sensor at a time then the alarm would go off.

I coaxed four drones through a crack in the rough stone into the area on the other side of the door. The Aristis had not made the connections through the rock but mounted everything on the surface of the rock. I followed the substrate back to the equivalent to a junction box. Here under the city I could use my communicator as long as it was not too strong. The four drones worked on the box as they assessed it and transmitted the information to me.