"Sure," I said. "You can promise that. Promise that traitor anything you want. Find out his current location and the location of the others."
"Where are you?" texted Guido. "Colonel Czerinski offers you amnesty if you surrender to the Legion."
"Under what conditions?" asked Corporal Wayne. "I cannot tell you our exact location. We are always on the move somewhere inside the DMZ."
"Kill Desert Claw and David Torres. Bring in Lieutenant Barker, alive," I texted.
"Do you offer Lieutenant Barker amnesty?" texted Corporal Wayne.
"Yes," I texted back. "If he comes in immediately."
"What about Sergeant Toock?" asked Corporal Wayne.
"Kill him," I texted.
"That was harsh," commented Captain Lopez. "But I agree. I never liked Toock anyway."
Lieutenant Barker and the other insurgents and deserters fled to the old Miranda Homestead. Lieutenant Barker suggested the hideout because he had used it successfully before. It had food stockpiled in the tunnels. Lieutenant Barker visited his parents" graves up on the hill. Their presence seemed to calm him. He could hear Desert Claw and David Torres arguing and plotting their next bank robbery.
Corporal Wayne approached Lieutenant Barker. "We have been relegated to banditry status," commented Corporal Wayne. "With no refuge or safe haven on either side of the border, we will not last long."
"I"ve been in tougher spots," replied Lieutenant Barker. "I"ll survive."
"No, you will not," said Corporal Wayne. "Neither of us can pa.s.s a checkpoint without embedded Legion chips activating alarms. Colonel Czerinski offers us both amnesty and a second chance."
"You have informed the Legion of our location?" asked Lieutenant Barker, visibly upset. "It"s a trick. Colonel Czerinski cannot be trusted."
"I have revealed nothing," advised Corporal Wayne. "Czerinski only requires that we kill Desert Claw, David Torres, and Sergeant Toock. It"s the best offer we will ever get, and time is running out. It is rare to get so generous a second chance after making such poor decisions. Seize the moment now."
"I wonder, what is in it for Czerinski?" said Lieutenant Barker. "He is very vindictive. I"m surprised by his offer of leniency. Okay. Let"s get it over with."
Lieutenant Barker got up and led Corporal Wayne down the hill. They found Sergeant Toock in an outbuilding, cooking a meal. Without warning, Corporal Wayne slit Sergeant Toock"s throat. Sergeant Toock did not die without a struggle. He burst outside, staggered a short distance, grasping at his throat, and fell. Wayne and Barker followed.
Desert Claw and Torres ran over to Toock"s body as his blood still dripped from Corporal Wayne"s knife. Wayne wiped his knife clean on Toock"s uniform.
"What happened here?" demanded Desert Claw, pointing his rifle at Wayne and Barker.
Lieutenant Barker shrugged. "Spiders and ants just can"t seem to get along. I"ve tried to mediate between those two. They got into it over an old score."
Desert Claw relaxed. He seemed to understand, being that he did not like Formicidaen ants either. Those oversized ants are a menace to the galaxy, Those oversized ants are a menace to the galaxy, he thought. Desert Claw gave Wayne a nod, then left. One less ant to worry about was the unsaid agreement. he thought. Desert Claw gave Wayne a nod, then left. One less ant to worry about was the unsaid agreement.
"That big ant creeped me out," commented Torres, also leaving. The other insurgents dispersed.
"What about Desert Claw and Torres?" asked Corporal Wayne. "When do we kill them?"
"Forget about those fools," said Lieutenant Barker. "Let Czerinski do his own dirty work. Those two will get killed soon enough, trying to rob banks or just being stupid. When the camp sleeps, we will leave. It"s not that far on foot to the MDL."
At midnight, Barker and Wayne hiked south to the MDL, where a Legion patrol took them into custody. Captain Lopez brought the fugitives to me.
"What shall we do with them?" asked Captain Lopez. "Something painful, I hope."
"Interrogate them," I said. "Then shoot both at dawn."
Lieutenant Barker did not take my comment well. He lunged, but Captain Lopez knocked him to the ground. Corporal Wayne was stoic.
Anyway, I was just messing with them. Neither faced a firing squad yet although that"s what they both deserved. General Kalipetsis intervened, wanting the matter resolved with as little scandal as possible. Also, it appeared that Barker still had some friends and conspirators among the New Colorado planetary elite. So, both Barker and Wayne were spared, for now. Both were busted down to private. Officially, Barker was disciplined for losing control of his command and negligence of duty. He also forfeited his substantial enlistment bonus. Wayne was disciplined for obeying illegal orders, and poor judgment. I posted both privates to MDL guard duty in the canyons east of town.
Private Barker, Private Wayne, and newly promoted Corporal Valdez walked along the MDL fence, watching for insurgents, smugglers, drug traffickers, and rattlesnakes. It was boring duty. Motion activated fence alarms warned them of activity or breeches. Most alarms were caused by coyotes or other wildlife.
"I can"t believe I outrank you two," mused Corporal Valdez, full of himself as they hiked through the sagebrush. "It seems like just yesterday, I was a private and you two were big shots lording over me."
"It was just yesterday you were a private," said Private Wayne, drawing his large combat knife and p.r.i.c.king Corporal Valdez under his chin. "Do not let your promotion go to your head, or you will lose your head."
"I say we kill the little zit and leave him for the buzzards," suggested Private Barker. "My feet hurt from all this walking. We stop here and do it now."
"Please!" begged Corporal Valdez. "We can rest for the night. We can rest all day tomorrow, too! We"ll set up an ambush in this arroyo. It will be easy duty for everyone."
Private Wayne put his knife away, and they settled in for the evening. The dry sand of the arroyo made a soft bed as he happily snoozed. However, at about 0200 there was movement at the MDL fence. Five spiders cut the wire and quickly pa.s.sed through. The lead spider carried a rifle.
"Halt!" yelled Corporal Valdez. "Drop you weapons! You are under arrest by the Legion!"
Private"s Barker and Wayne woke up and flanked the spiders. All five spiders surrendered without incident. They were a family.
"This is my lovely wife, and those are my three children," advised the father spider. "We immigrate south for freedom. Many of us tire of being ruled by an Emperor and being taxed to death."
"Too bad," said Corporal Valdez. "You"re going back. You can"t just sneak across the MDL."
"Why not?" asked the father. "I have lots of friends who have done just that. Now they are rich Americans."
"There aren"t any more better jobs south of the MDL than there are north," argued Corporal Valdez.
"I heard the streets of America are paved with silver and gold," insisted the father spider, excited. "I bring my family south to the Land of Opportunity, to the Land of Milk and Honey. We will do any work to get started. Our determination cannot be stopped."
"Our streets are paved with gravel," said Corporal Valdez. "You will be locked up and deported."
"Jeez," said Private Wayne. "Let them go. We aren"t out here to arrest lettuce pickers. It"s a waste of our time. We are supposed to be fighting the insurgency."
"I say let them go, too," commented Private Barker. "Everyone deserves a second chance and a new start, as long as they are willing to work hard. That"s what America is all about."
"We can"t just let these spider peasants overrun the New Gobi," argued Corporal Valdez. "Insurgents sneak in with these d.a.m.n spiders. No offense to present company some of my best friends are spiders. But you know what I mean."
"Are you going to let them go?" asked Private Wayne, getting more agitated. He drew his large knife, again.
"I guess they pose no real harm," conceded Corporal Valdez nervously. "I guess there"s room for everyone. Welcome to America, amigo amigo!"
"Thank you very much," replied the spider father. "We are glad to be here in the USGF, and glad that the Legion is out making the countryside safe for democracy."
"Maybe your baby spiders will even grow up to be legionnaires," commented Corporal Valdez.
"Now that is something to aspire to," said Private Barker, sarcastically.
"Don"t pay any attention to him," said Corporal Valdez. "He"s just a disgruntled employee. He"s the type you have to watch out for at the Post Office."
"You would rather deliver mail than fight for freedom?" asked the spider father, incredulously.
"You are lucky that the Legion took you back," commented Private Wayne. "You are lucky to even be alive."
"Whatever," said Private Barker. "No army is worth being a member of unless you are an officer. Don"t worry about me. Every dog has his day. My ship will come in someday."
""Ship?" asked Corporal Wayne. "In the desert? Ha! That"s a good one. Your ship will never float."
Chapter 10.
"The bacterial plague we developed could potentially kill about half the spider population of the North Territory," announced the Legion scientist. "It is carried by normally benign mites that thrive on spider exoskeletons. The mites are usually helpful to spiders in that they clean a spider"s exoskeleton, keeping it healthy. But this germ, once it finds a host, is very nasty. It attacks the blood and lymph glands."
"Spiders have lymph glands?" asked General Kalipetsis, alarmed. "This disease can"t make the jump from spiders to humans, can it?"
"That would be almost impossible," advised the scientist. "We designed the bacteria for spiders only."
"What are the downsides, if any?" asked General Kalipetsis. "If we used this weapon, would the spiders know we did it?"
"Most certainly," said the scientist. "Our technological fingerprints are all over these little critters. Any spiders that lived would be very upset at us. But the Arthropodan Empire is doing the same type of research. Don"t think they couldn"t release some nasty germs on us, too."
"That is exactly why we maintain a biological warfare capacity," said General Kalipetsis. "We want to have a credible deterrence to their reckless adventurism."
"Another problem is that a spider plague would kill our spider citizens, too," advised the scientist. "It kills quickly, and there is no vaccine."
"What if we release the spider plague in the Far North?" asked General Kalipetsis. "Would our spiders in the South be safe then?"
"No matter where your release point is, epidemic diseases circ.u.mvent all obstacles and travel the world," insisted the scientist. "You could never responsibly use this plague."
"What about bio weapons that blight their crops? The economic impact alone could be enormous. The Empire depends on the New Gobi to be their galactic bread basket."
"We have wheat, fruit, and vegetable fungus that we can release in the North. As long as we don"t allow their crops to cross the border, we should be safe."
"Work on ways to disguise delivery systems. I want to attack soon."
"You are way overdue to address the troops," advised Captain Lopez. "The men need to know you care about them."
"But I don"t care about them," I said. "Besides, my ribs still hurt when I move. Even raising my voice hurts."
"Some people may mistake your humor for cruelty and callousness," said Captain Lopez. "But I know better. Speak directly into the microphone and tell the men you love them. They need a pep talk. Let it be a message from the heart."
I was nervous. The truth of the matter was I didn"t like public speaking. I hated to be in front of crowds. How does a highly decorated hero of the Legion come to fear public speaking? Maybe it has something to do with my audience all carrying automatic weapons. Any one of that rabble could turn on me. I limped up to the podium, gripping it for support. I looked out at a sea of bright young faces. It always amazed me how these baby faces could be such a lethal fighting force.
"Gentlemen, and Medic Corporal Elena Ceausescu, thank you for saving me from terrorists. I am recovering nicely from my injuries. Even though the insurgents should not have ever been able to sneak into the tunnels in the first place, you all did a great job of saving me later. This is not the first time you have saved me, and it will not be the last I hope!
"General Kalipetsis told me just today in my office, we legionnaires are our nation"s first line of defense against the spider hordes from the North. Take pride in being given the awesome responsibility for securing our borders. Every time you arrest spiders infiltrating the MDL, know that many of them are probably insurgents in disguise. You save lives every time you turn back the hordes to their Empire. Have a nice day."
Nothing but silence followed. I turned to Captain Lopez. "Well? How did I do?" I asked. "They don"t seem happy."
"That speech sucked," replied Captain Lopez. "Next time, I"ll give you cards to read. Get back out there and tell your men something they want to hear!"
I faced my legionnaires again. "I am ordering all company commanders to give everyone in the battalion a three-day pa.s.s. Also, I am buying every one of you brave lean-mean-fighting-machines two beers at the Blind Tiger Tavern. Bring your ID to show the bartender. Have a good weekend!"
Legionnaires cheered wildly as I walked off. "Not bad, eh?" I asked Captain Lopez. "I rebound well. Am I The Man or what?"
"Good save," commented Captain Lopez, grudgingly. "But you"re so cheap. Is that all your life is worth? Two free beers? You will make that back many times over in gambling revenues from them."
"It"s the thought that counts," I said, as I waved at my men. "I"m a businessman. I still have to turn a profit. Keep smiling. Remember, they all carry guns and grenades."
We waved and nodded at the troops as they departed en ma.s.se for the Blind Tiger Tavern. Many were singing old Legion songs from antiquity. "I want to be an Airborne Ranger; live a life of constant danger. I want to go to Vietnam; I want to kill a Charlie Cong!"
After General Kalipetsis" last visit, my tropical office plants at Legion Headquarters died. I couldn"t prove it, but I suspected General Kalipetsis killed them. The general was last seen loitering about my mini palms. I didn"t think anything of it at the time, but now I wondered. General Kalipetsis made a comment about how healthy my plants appeared. He said I had a green thumb, but he was snickering. Now, all the leaves had dropped off, and I needd to rake my office floor. That b.a.s.t.a.r.d! That b.a.s.t.a.r.d!
Then General Kalipetsis called me on the phone today to "chitchat." He asked if there was anything new. When I failed to complain about my indoor jungle dying, General Kalipetsis mentioned how much he admired my office plants, and asked about where I bought them. He said he wanted plants just like mine for his office at Legion Headquarters in New Phoenix. I told General Kalipetsis that I was admiring how well my plants looked as we spoke. He abruptly hung up.
I rushed to the New Gobi Nursery to buy replacement plants before General Kalipetsis" next inspection tour. I didn"t want to give General Kalipetsis the satisfaction of knowing his evil plot to kill my office plants succeeded. There will be payback. Someday Kalipetsis will pick teeth out of his beard.
Chapter 11.
David Torres entered the Blind Tiger Tavern, played a few hands of blackjack, and left. As Torres mounted his dirt bike, he nodded to three insurgents out front. Two humans and a spider quickly entered the Blind Tiger. They threw grenades at the customers, then escaped through the smoke and chaos. As deputies, legionnaires, and ambulance crews arrived, a car bomb exploded out front.