Tarizon, The Liberator, Tarizon Trilogy Vol 1

  33

  Eve of Battle

  At the next morning's briefing General Zitor told the officers assembled that it was imperative that they destroy the TGA base on Lortec. If they did that they could probably take Muhl and then set their sights on the small continent of Ock Mezan which was strategically placed between Turvin and the Beet Islands. This then would set the stage for an assault on Pogo and another continent, Lamaine Shane. They already had a base in Rigimol, the northern most province of Lamaine Shane, and several guerilla strongholds in the mountains of Tributon to the west. With a little luck by year's end they would control the entire continent.

  "But first things first," the general said. "Our immediate plan is a preemptive strike against the TGA base on Lortec to eliminate any threat to this base. We know there is huge army being assembled there. There's no telling how long it will be before they are ready to launch an all out attack against us, but probably sooner than later. Time is critical. If they attack us now, we'd be doomed. The only chance we have is to launch a preemptive strike and catch them off guard."

  It was agreed a simple air assault wouldn't be sufficient since the TGA command now knew they'd been discovered. General Zitor asked for any thoughts on how to handle the assault. Several of the staff presented ideas. The one that seemed most likely to succeed was a surprise air attack just as the sun was rising in the east. If the assault force came in from the east in stealth mode they wouldn't be detected by radar until they were over the island. The harsh glare of the sun would also impair visual sighting. If their fighters could knock out the runway and hit the TGA aircraft on the ground most of them could be destroyed. It would take them many phases to rebuild them and get in replacement aircraft. By the time they were back up at full strength the Loyalist army would be much stronger and on the offensive.

  The General, however, didn't seem impressed. "They'll have several patrols in the air at all times and they could get off twenty or thirty fighters before we could knock out the airstrip."

  Peter thought about that for a moment and then raised his hand. The General nodded. Peter told him what he was thinking. The general raised his eyebrows, "That's brilliant. Thank you, Leek. They've trained you well at Pogo. Since you and your squad have already been to Lortec, I think you should lead the ground unit."

  "Yes, sir. That makes sense," Peter replied eagerly.

  "Good. I'll have my staff put together a detailed plan this afternoon. We'll launch early tomorrow morning so we'll hit them at daybreak."

  "Very well, sir," Peter said.

  After the briefing, Tam, Sy, Red, and Peter went to the nutrition center for lunch. It was their first opportunity to really talk since they'd arrived at LB1. There was a lot to reminiscence about and much to consider before they left that night for Lortec.

  "Are you going to be able to leave Luci after just one day with her?" Tam asked.

  Peter looked at him and sighed. "I don't want to, but I guess I don't have much choice. Besides, if all goes well I'll be back tomorrow night."

  "Yeah, but if your brilliant plan doesn't work we could all end up dead," Red noted. "There's only going to be twelve of us and 50,000 of them."

  "That's true," Peter said, "so we'd better come up with a good strategy for getting in and out of there quickly and without anyone noticing us."

  "Why not just go in with our fighters like we did last time?" Sy asked. "It worked once, it will probably work again."

  "I don't know," Peter replied. They're going to be on high alert. They may detect us coming in and that would be a disaster."

  "What about a parachute drop?" Tam said.

  "That's possible, but the plane that dropped us might be spotted or someone might see us coming down," Peter replied. "No, I think there is just one way to get in and out. A small boat could come in nearly undetected. There were a lot of fishing boats in the harbor near the Zodilla range. If we came in there and borrowed some of the Zodilla pacers we could get in position without anyone noticing us. Being so early in the morning there isn't likely to be anyone at the range."

  "Except the Zodilla," Red reminded them.

  "Well, we'll just have to avoid them," Peter said. "We can stay outside the run."

  "Good. Those monsters move faster than leaprohds on ice," Red replied. "I don't want to get in their path again."

  "Leaprohds? What are they?"

  "A Leaprohd is a type of bird commonly found on Glacier Dome. They travel very fast on snow, but on ice they are unbelievably fast."

  Glacier Dome was the equivalent of the South Pole on Earth. Peter hoped some day he'd get to see a Leaprohd. They sounded fascinating and it would be fun to see them run at full speed. Red's fear of the Zodilla made him wonder, though. Would they have to go across their run to get into position for the assault on Lortec? Tam had said they wouldn't, but honestly he didn't know. Red was a worrier so he didn't want him losing any sleep over the Zodilla. If they had to cross their run, they'd do it very carefully. Worrying about it now wouldn't help.

  After their strategy session Peter talked to the general and suggested that their ground unit go in disguised as fishermen. The general agreed and said he would round up a boat to use and have it fitted. He gave Peter the rest of the afternoon off to be with Luci. She was in a somber mood.

  "So, you really have to leave? It’s so unfair."

  "I know. It’s unfortunate that we have to attack Lortec so soon, but if we don't, I fear all will be lost in short order. This is our only hope."

  Luci sighed and looked away. "When you get back, how long will we have together before you must leave again?"

  "I don't know. Not long I fear."

  "So, why am I here if you don't have time for me?"

  "Because I love you and I need you. I can't stop thinking about you. I know it's selfish and I had no right to break up you and your mate, but I can't help my feelings."

  "I just want us to be together,” Luci said frustrated. “I hate being alone."

  "You sound like my mother. My father was a big trial attorney and we didn't see much of him. My mother hated it, but she loved him so she put up with it."

  "How long do you think the war will last?"

  "Jeez. I have no idea. On Earth wars usually take many cycles to be resolved unless one side is weak and then they are over quickly. If we don't destroy the TGA forces on Lortec tomorrow I fear the war will be very short."

  "I almost hope you lose," Luci said. “Then we could be together.”

  "No you don't," Peter replied. "If we lose we'll all be shot as traitors."

  She shook her head angrily. "Why does it have to be this way? Why can't Videl live with the Supreme Mandate? It is so unfair to drag everyone into this war because of one man."

  "It's not just him. He has many followers who believe as he does, that humans are a superior life form and all others should be enslaved or eradicated. We had a man on Earth much like him many cycles ago when my grandfather was alive. His name was Hitler."

  "Did your father fight Hitler?"

  “Hitler was before his time, but my grandfather did?”

  “Really?”

  "Yes, he served in the army during both World War I and World War II."

  "So, was your father a soldier as well?"

  "Not really, he came of age right after the Vietnam war. He served in the Marines briefly but was never in a war."

  "It's been peaceful on Tarizon for a long time. It's a shame it's about to end."

  "I'm going to have to leave soon. We shouldn't waste one minute of our time together."

  "We haven't been wasting time, have we? I've learned a lot about you and your family and you’ve had your way with me more than once."

  Peter blushed. "Right, but—"

  "Is sex all you Earth-aliens think about?"

  Peter laughed and replied, "No, but when you're a teenager it's something that is always on your mind. It's certainly been on my mind a lot since I met you."

  "Hmm. I'm jus
t so worried that something will happen and you won't come back to me."

  "Yeah. Well, that's a possibility, but the Prophecy says I'm going to liberate the planet, remember. I can't die then, right? At least not until that's been accomplished."

  Luci shrugged but didn’t looked convinced. Later that night Peter slipped away leaving a tear-drenched Luci behind. His unit was taken to a small cove where a fishing boat lay waiting for them. It looked old and dilapidated, so it wouldn't likely attract any attention. However, below deck it was a state-of-the-art gunboat ready to do combat at a moment's notice. It was well stocked with all the missiles, guns, and ammunition that they'd need to complete their mission. They were told they'd have to leave immediately to get to Lortec and set up before dawn. That gave them seven kyloons to sleep before they had to disembark. The crew quarters had six bunks. They weren't very comfortable but Peter was so tired it didn't take him long to fall asleep and begin to dream. In his dream he was on the seashore.

  In the distance he saw Threebeard approaching flanked by three Seafolken. They were armed with a few rifles but mainly swords and knives. When they met, Threebeard smiled. "These are the three generals of your army of Seafolken, Talhk, Rusht, and Quirken. They await your command."

  Peter looked over at them warily. "Do you think the Seafolken will have a chance against the well-trained soldiers of the TGA?"

  Threebeard straightened up and replied, "Don't ever underestimate a Seafolken. There is more to them than meets the eye."

  Threebeard nodded to his three generals. Talhk bent down and picked up a large rock. He took two steps and threw it, what must have been two hundred strides out to sea.

  "Wow! He'd have made a hell of a quarterback," Peter remarked.

  Rusht dropped into a starting position. Threebeard said "Heed!" and Rusht took off down the beach at an incredible clip. A few seconds later Threebeard yelled "Yonga!' and Rusht put on the brakes, changed directions, and came right back at them faster than any Olympic runner Peter had ever seen.

  Peter’s eyes widened as Rusht flew past him. "Okay! I'm sure you can out run them, but—."

  Threebeard raised his hand and nodded to Quirken. Quirken turned and looked at Peter with his penetrating eyes. Suddenly, a weird sensation came over him. He felt light, like he was being lifted up. Looking around frantically, he realized he was floating in mid air. Panic seized him and he began to flay the air with his arms and legs. Threebeard let out a thunderous laugh and the others joined in. Finally, Quirken relaxed his concentration and Peter fell to the ground.

  He got up, brushed himself off and shook his head, "Okay, I’m impressed. So, how do I summon these Seafolken if I need them?"

  "Go to the edge of the water, close your eyes, and say silently 'Come Seafolken, soldiers of the Southern Sea, I command you to come and do battle!"

  The boat lurched, nearly knocking Peter out of his bunk. He sat up and looked around. Sy was snoring and Red had one leg dangling over the side of his bed. Tam was awake and looking at him.

  "You talked to Threebeard?"

  Peter nodded. "I guess I did, kind of."

  "That's good. We'll need all the help we can get."

  "How much longer until we get to Lortec?" Peter asked.

  "We're half way there. Go back to sleep. You'll need every morsel of strength you can muster at daybreak."

  Peter nodded and laid his head back on his pillow. This time his dreams took him back to Luci's bed. She was sleeping peacefully. As he watched her breathe, he longed to be with her and wished somehow he could transport himself back to LB1 to hold her and smell the sweet scent of her body. Suddenly the ground began to rumble and there was a bright flash of light. Peter's heart stopped as he saw the walls implode and Luci's body tossed across the room and plummeted with rubble.

  "No! Oh, please, no! Luci! Luci!" he moaned.

  Tam put his hand on his shoulder. "It's just a dream. You're okay, Leek. Nothing actually happened. Relax."

  Peter sat up sweating profusely. "Are you sure? It seemed so real."

  "Dreams often seem real, but they are not."

  "But dreams are sometimes premonitions. What if—?"

  "But usually they don't," Tam said. "Don't worry about fate. It will do you no good. You'll just have to trust your God and Sandee."

  Peter took a deep breath and said, "I can't sleep. How much longer? I want to get this over with."

  "Not long now. We should be seeing the lights of Milvess soon."

  "Milvess?"

  "Yes, that is the name of the town where we saw the harbor and the fishing boats. Or, I should say, you saw it. I was crammed into the storage hold and saw nothing."

  "Milvess. Hmm. I wonder what life is like in Milvess."

  "It's probably a boring place to live unless you are in love with fishing."

  "I do love to fish. It was something my father did with us a lot. It was one of the few times I saw my dad totally relaxed and having fun. Usually he was stressed out over one case or another, but when he went fishing it was like we had entered into another world. There was nothing on our minds except finding the fish and catching them."

  "Maybe the General will give you this boat when the war is over. Then you can become a fisherman," Tam said.

  Peter laughed. "Nah. Fishing is great for a day or two but then it gets boring. I don't know how these fisherman do it day after day."

  Squinting, Peter could see lights in the distance. They indeed were close to Milvess. He figured it would be less than a kyloon now before they'd be docking in the harbor. Peter's stomach felt funny, like it did before it was his turn to debate or when he played baseball, just before his time at bat. He knew it was normal—a combination of fear, excitement, and the effects of too much adrenalin in his system.

  "We should get everybody up and start getting our gear ready to go," Peter said. "We don't want to dilly dally in the harbor. The quicker we get off the boat, the better."

  "Okay, I'll wake up Sy and Red," Tam said.

  Although it was very early, the harbor was bustling with activity. Peter had forgotten that fishermen would be up early to get to the fishing grounds by dawn. This made it a little scary coming into the harbor. They couldn't afford to be stopped and questioned. There would be no way to explain the armaments they had on board. The captain came in slowly, being careful not to create a wake that might attract attention. The ship moved slowly toward slip 32 where they were to dock. Just as the slip came into view Peter noticed a TGA patrol boat approaching from the opposite direction. His heart skipped a beat.