Zal pondered his soldier's words carefully. The lieutenant had more time on planet than he but the studies he had undertaken upon his assignment as commander offered a single possibility.
"Of course," Zal said, more to himself than to his lieutenant. "It has to be at the human prison, does it not?" Zal's smile returned. There was no longer any doubt that he could take care of the human problem before Brun's arrival. He turned to the lieutenant.
"Ready all three Battle Groups. That should be more than enough force to eradicate a few unruly sheep. I want them at the human prison by tomorrow morning."
"It will be done, sir," the lieutenant said. He bowed to Zal and left the room with a purpose.
"Yes," Zal spoke as he left the room, the cowering human inside now forgotten. "I will show Brun how I deal with wild sheep." He smacked one of his leathered fists into his other palm. The sudden crack of noise was pleasing.
* * *
Inside the Zone, Blue's heavy form sank to the cold floor of the empty alien chamber and shivered. His stomach growled loudly and he began to cry. He had never felt so alone. He suddenly wished he had asked the aliens for something to eat before they had left him.
He did not know why the Leadership Council had asked him, of all people, to deliver this news to these aliens.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
"Lieutenant Treel, you are in charge of the extermination."
It was apparent to Treel that his commander viewed his soldiers' mission as nothing more than an eradication of diseased vermin. Something that had to be done to reaffirm Minith dominance and, even more importantly, rescue his position as commander of that dominance. Treel cared nothing for Zal. And he knew the humans had to be removed. But he was not sure his current orders were the correct ones.
"Take no prisoners."
"I understand, sir. It will be done." Treel bowed in deference to his commander, but he still felt uneasy. Unsure of the plan. He took a deep breath, wrestling with the need to express the concerns he felt. His words, if received poorly, could mean his removal and execution. But his loyalty to his race was strong, and he could not ignore his judgment as a skilled warrior.
"Sir, do you think it wise to send our entire battle force? Surely, one third of the group is more than enough?"
Zal, in the middle of returning Treel's bow, froze for a fraction of a second, then completed the bow. Both knew the question questioned Zal’s judgment, if not his authority. Treel felt the force of his commander’s stare. Smelled the scent of danger wafting off his commander’s skin.
"Lieutenant, I am well aware of our capabilities. I understand that your concerns are fueled by your selfless devotion to our success. However... I will hear no more objections. Is that understood?"
Treel bowed his head. He felt shame for having openly questioned his superior. And anger at Zal for not listening to his concerns.
"Yes, sir." He bowed again.
"Very well," Zal said, ignoring Treel’s second bow. "Success to you and your soldiers, Lieutenant."
Zal turned on his heel and left the ship's launching area.
Treel watched his commander leave then turned toward the soldiers under his command and shouted orders. Within minutes, a hundred armed soldiers, nearly the entire Minith force on Earth, were loaded onto the human-built carrier vehicles.
Treel thought about the nearly empty Mothership and was again struck by the poor judgment his commander displayed in leaving their base unprotected. As soon as the thought entered his head, however, he erased it and debased himself again for his lack of respect. Zal was commander. Besides, the ship still held a small force, capable of defending against a human attack. The animals might be rebelling, but they were still lacking in skill and weaponry. If anything happened, the forces on the ship should be sufficient. And they had orders to contact Treel and the carriers if anything unusual happened. With that final thought, Treel entered the lead carrier and closed the hatch.
"Onward," he commanded the pilot. The carrier lifted from the launch area and exited the ship. Five other carriers, transporting the remainder of his force, followed close behind.
* * *
Sue saw the fleet of carriers and quickly pointed them out to Grant and the others. No one made a sound, but each tried their best to sink into the ground beneath them as the vehicles passed almost directly overhead. Grant kept sight of the carriers as they passed over and sighed with relief when they made no attempt to land or circle back. Their group was undetected.
He smiled when the carriers banked in the sky and headed in the direction of Violent's Prison. He nodded to the others in the group. They waited to allow any other carriers a chance to leave the ship and, when none did, the group left their temporary sanctuary and continued their silent journey toward the ship. Grant led the procession with Sue directly behind him. Then came the others with Mouse bringing up the rear.
* * *
Avery stood next to Titan while he spoke with some of the soldiers of Violent's Prison. She caught only the occasional snatch of conversation as the man issued orders. Her thoughts wandered constantly to the Minith Mothership and Grant.
How was he? Had it begun? She found it difficult to concentrate on her surroundings and Titan must have guessed as much for he had stopped giving her tasks hours before. She felt badly about her inability to concentrate on the ongoing battle preparations but she could not help herself. Not that she could do much in the daylight, but she still felt like she was shirking her responsibilities. It was just a matter of time before the monsters arrived, she knew. And they would come prepared for battle.
Of all the men and women here at the Prison, she, more than anyone else, understood how the Minith acted and thought. She had lived with them long enough to understand how they would react to the uprising of their human charges. They would not be lenient with the people inside the stone walls of the prison.
One of the prisoner-soldiers interrupted her thoughts.
“Titan! Titan," the man shouted as he raced toward the group gathered around the large man. "They are coming! Davis has spotted several carriers approaching from the South!"
"Easy, man. Get back to your post and make sure that the watchers keep their eyes open. We don't want to mistake carriers flown by men for those that will bring the enemy." The man stopped in his tracks. He had obviously not considered the possibility of humans approaching and turned to do as he was told.
Avery watched as Titan proceeded under the assumption that the carriers held Minith troopers and issued orders accordingly. Everyone was dispatched to man his or her post. With luck, the Minith expected this to be a simple operation and Avery knew that every possible step had been taken to maintain that belief for as long as possible.
"All right!" Titan yelled to the scampering men and women around him. They rushed to their places, their nervousness causing them to appear confused and frightened.
"Let's get it together! We fight for our world today!"
* * *
Grant dropped suddenly to the ground. The others, having been trained in how to respond, did the same. Grant looked around and saw no one still standing in the waist high brush. He had hand picked each of them based on how well they had performed during their initial training and, so far, had not been disappointed with their performances.
He looked up and spotted the source of his concern. What had begun as a low hum soon became a roar as the strange craft dropped from the sky, not more than a mile behind them. The ship descended rapidly but slowed noticeably as it got closer to the ground. When it reached a height of a few hundred feet, the ship tipped sideways, its nose now pointed toward the Minith ship. The maneuver complete, it regained momentum and zipped speedily over their heads. Grant watched, amazed, as the craft flashed past and entered an open port in the Mothership’s near side. The entire passage, from the ship’s initial appearance to its landing in the Mother Ship, had lasted
no more than a few seconds.
Definitely not human.
Which meant the Minith had just received visitors from off world.
Grant silently cursed the timing. The craft and its passengers were an unexpected card in the game and Grant hoped the card was not an ace. If it delivered a fresh batch of alien recruits his small team could be in the midst of a suicide mission.
But that did not matter now. They were committed. There would be no turning back.
The group waited several minutes before continuing toward the ship. If they were quiet before the spacecraft's arrival, they were noiseless now. There is nothing like the sudden arrival of the unexpected to slap you back into reality, Grant thought.
* * *
Lieutenant Treel ordered the Minith battle force to fly once around the prison. Unlike many of his kind, he was not one for rushing into a situation blindly. The effort was wasted, however, as nothing out of the ordinary could be seen. There was some activity inside the prison's walls but that was to be expected. Treel pondered his next move and elected a direct approach. His previous encounters with humans had shown him that, as a rule, they were a cowardly bunch, unable or unwilling to defend themselves against trained soldiers. Even if the humans inside the stone walls below were willing to fight, they would be unarmed and not very well trained. It would be a slaughter, and one he looked forward to. A quick scan of the soldiers in his carrier showed that they, too, were anxious for the upcoming events.
"Forces, ready!" Treel received acknowledgement from the other carriers, then ordered his pilot into the vacant area of the Inner Square.
The plan called for them to kill all of the humans in the prison. Starting with the smallest, inner square made tactical sense. It would be a simple matter to clear the square and, once cleared of the human vermin, would provide them a defensible base from which to begin clearing the larger, outer squares. One at a time. The sheep would have nowhere to flee except to the outer squares.
"Forces, deploy!"
The carriers swept down in pairs. The Minith soldiers in the first group exited the vehicles in a tight defensive formation and set up a perimeter. Once in position, the other carriers quickly followed them and, within minutes, Lieutenant Treel and the Minith force were deployed to the inner courtyard. The walls of the Inner Square of Violent's Prison surrounded them.
"Forces, report." Treel received negative contact reports from his eight subordinate officers. Each officer led a team of ten soldiers, as did he. Each reported the same thing. No humans encountered or observed.
"Forces, forward." Treel ordered his soldiers to move out. They complied at once, heading for the four doorways that led into the stone building of the First Square.
* * *
Unseen or heard by the Minith, Davis, the lookout hidden atop the building of the First Square, reported the arrival of the aliens back to Titan.
Titan, upon hearing of the size of the Minith force, smiled. If Avery's estimate was correct, then the entire alien combat force on Earth had been delivered into his hands. Just as Grant had predicted. He keyed the communication device at his side and relayed that information to Tane. He got the appropriate response and knew that Grant would soon know that the first step in his plan had worked to perfection.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Brun’s arrival a full day ahead of his announced schedule was an unpleasant interruption. Zal chafed at being bothered now, when the human situation was not yet under control. The attack on the human prison was just getting underway. Worse than the interruption it caused, the early arrival revealed how little faith his superiors had in his abilities.
Zal struggled to restrain his anger as he rushed to the launch area. Other than the scheduled flights to ferry troops on and off Earth once every four months, the launch area was never used. The reliance on human vehicles for on-world transportation left this part of the ship vacant most of the time. This was good. It meant none of the few remaining troops should be in the area. He needed to intercept Brun before he had a chance to talk with any of the crew. He did not want Brun’s spies spreading false rumors or planting seeds of doubt. But mostly, he wanted to deliver the news of the humans' pending defeat personally.
He nearly collided with Brun as he turned into the final corridor leading to the launch area. Brun was accompanied by three soldiers and all were well armed. Zal took notice of this with some discomfort and wondered briefly if they were there to apprehend him. If so, he would not go willingly.
"General Brun, I am honored by your visit." Zal wanted desperately to ask his superior why he had chosen to arrive early but suppressed the urge. It would be unwise to question the actions of his commander, even though Zal considered him a bumbling fool.
"Yes, Zal, yes." Never one to avoid a subject, Brun got right to the point of why he had returned to Earth.
"How is the problem coming? Have we taken care of our unruly flock?"
Zal rankled at the 'we' part of Brun's question. The leathered bastard had done nothing to take care of the rebellious slaves and the insinuation that he could take any credit for what would certainly be accomplished chafed. He allowed none of his displeasure to show, however, and answered.
"Yes, Commander. The sheep are being sheared as we speak. Lieutenant Treel has been dispatched to exterminate the rebellious few."
Brun tipped his head and looked carefully at Zal. "Tell me, Zal. What is happening?"
"In summation, Commander, I learned that the humans were sowing their seeds of rebellion from inside their human prison. The prison where they send those who actually show some courage." Although still rankled by Brun's recent attempt to accept undue credit for his successes, Zal gave no second thought to taking credit for Treel's accomplishment of identifying Violent's Prison as the haven of human rebellion.
"Our combat forces departed not three hours ago to destroy the human slaves located there."
"The human prison? Surely the trouble makers cannot be located there, Zal. If these humans are good at anything, it is locking away those few who might dare to stand up against us. Are you certain of your information?"
"Positive, Commander. One of their own came forward with the information. He said he only wanted peace returned to his race." The word 'peace' passed from Zal's mouth like a piece of rotten carcass. His distaste for the foreign concept was clear.
"You idiot, how long have you been here on Earth?" Brun's voice took the tone of an angry stepmother scolding a much-hated child. Zal flinched slightly at the reproach, unsure of his mistake but sure of his need to answer his superior at once.
"Only a few months... you trained me, Commander.”
"I know that, you fool! Did you learn nothing?" Brun raged at the Minith Minister of Earth and the three guards standing behind him looked at each other in confusion. None of the three was more confused than Zal, though and he said as much.
"Zal, humans are sent to the prison for life! Once inside, they remain there until they die. The only ones who ever leave there are those that we take for our slaves on this ship!"
"I still don't see--"
"Are you truly stupid?" Brun stepped close to Zal, their faces separated by inches. "How can these prisoners attack us if they are incarcerated? That could not happen unless..." Brun ceased his ranting as quickly as he had begun. "Have you questioned the human Leadership Council?"
"No, commander," Zal offered. His thoughts went to the recent raid upon their chambers. "But we have paid them a visit. They were warned against any rebellion! They could not have condoned the actions that have been taken against us."
Now it was Zal who fell back into an explanation of how their human slaves behaved. "They are sworn to uphold the concepts of 'Peace.' Never have they gone against their beliefs in this area. To do so would mean that they support the rebellion, encourage it even."
"Yes," Brun answered, thinking. "It would. Perhaps we were wr
ong to allow this human council a free hand. We have always stayed out of their activities as long as the quotas were met. Perhaps they have finally become tired of the slave's life."
Zal heard his commander's words and recognized them as being his own wish. He did not say that, however.
"Is this possible?"
"It is unlikely. These humans have proven themselves to be weak. Unwilling, unable even, to fight against us. You saw it yourself at the human farm when you first arrived.” Zal recalled how Brun killed the human family while the father refused to act.
“But one thing is certain," Brun vowed to his subordinate. "We will not permit a successful rebellion. This planet will be destroyed first."
"Of course, Brun. But that should not be necessary. When we have destroyed the human prison, we will visit the human leaders again. They will know the price that must be paid for standing against their masters."
"You should hope so, Zal. As Minister of this planet, it will be your responsibility to accomplish its destruction. Personally."
Zal understood what would be expected of him and immediately dismissed the possibility.
* * *
Treel ordered all nine teams to proceed. The darkness inside the stone building was complete and his troops advanced slowly, carefully. All ears were tuned for the slightest noise in the eerie blackness, but they heard little. An occasional thump or shuffle, but nothing that would indicate the presence of the humans for which they searched.
Treel had studied maps of the human prison and knew its layout well. All nine teams were inside the stone building of the Second Square. They had crossed through the inner, First Square building and the open area between it and the second building in under ten minutes.