Caines mutiny, p.22
Caine's Mutiny, page 22
part #4 of Caine Riordan Series
“This is madness,” Jrekhalkar muttered before his sire silenced him with a look.
“I agree the conclusion beggars belief,” Yaargraukh answered with a single, deep nod, “but I can find only one explanation: that these humans are indistinguishable from a group that last lived almost two centuries ago.”
“So is that how you conjecture the humans have invaded us?” Z’gluurhek shouted, his long, black tongue thrashing about in a fit of hilarity, “By sending an army of their own ghosts across great expanses of not only space, but time?” Phlegm rolled richly in his snout. “The campaign on Earth may have wounded more than your body.” Although his tone was sardonic, his eyes were eager and alert, shiny black marbles that waited, hoped, for a sign that he had struck enough of a nerve to elicit a Challenge from Yaargraukh.
Who turned slowly, deliberately away from Z’gluurhek. “Revered O’akhdruh, it does me no honor to advance such a strange hypothesis. If I could offer another in its place, I would gladly do so, both for the sake of our people and to preserve their opinion of me. But you have tasked me to make a full report. I cannot in good conscience gloss over these inconsistencies, since they may be of prime strategic and tactical importance.”
Yaargraukh had hoped that the former Voice would ask him how such a situation was possible, but O’akhdruh merely folded his claws together in contemplation, refused to give him the opportunity to explicate what these strange facts might signify about the so-called invaders—and conversely, what they might preclude. “Have you other pertinent information on the human operations or equipment to share, Yaargraukh?”
“I do. It appears that, except for the four slain during the attack on the MG-42, these humans died from wounds sustained solely from their own species’ firearms. And since none of our Warriors commandeered human weapons, nor have digits small enough to employ them without modifications, it seems certain that these humans were slain by their own kind.”
“Perhaps it was an execution over a disciplinary matter?”
“Unlikely. As I mentioned, the senior-most officer we saw in the footage of the raid was among the dead. Furthermore, the wounds were not consistent with execution, which, in humans, usually involves several wounds to the front of the body, or a single one to the rear of the skull. In this case, the wounds were distributed widely and from various angles; they were close-quarters combat wounds. Lastly, although they had full control of the town, the humans were evidently panicked and in a hurry to depart. They reclaimed equipment from the dead, but did not spend any additional time gathering spoils. They did not even stop to retrieve their cartridge casings, which they had invariably done before and have continued to do since.”
“Their obsessive concern with the cartridge casings might be a clue to why they are using what you call ‘antique’ weapons,” interjected O’akhdruh with a quaver in his voice. “Because these older firearms still utilize brass cartridges, the humans can generate new ammunition locally by reloading the spent rounds. Therefore they are less dependent upon resupply.”
And in trying to explain away those peculiarities, you have opened a door that leads to still greater ones, you old bigot. “I concur, O’akhdruh. But is it not strange that an invasion force, dispatched on so provocative a mission, by so formidable an opponent as the CTR, is not provided with the most effective modern arms and sufficient ammunition? By what logic would the Terrans so willfully undercut their own chances of victory with uniformly outdated equipment?”
O’akhdruh’s long, narrow lower jaw closed with a sharp, upward snap. “War compels strange choices, Yaargraukh. Perhaps they were uncertain of their ability to reinforce this expedition promptly, and so equipped it with simpler gear, that it might more readily preserve its own battlefield readiness if it became isolated.”
“However,” Yaargraukh rebutted carefully, “their primitive dentistry, uniforms, and needlessly absent electronics, all remain unexplained.”
“We need not explain every anomaly to know that our people are being killed by these human invaders,” O’akhdruh snapped in return, and was then visibly irritated by having thus lost his composure. “Quickly: what else have you to report?”
“After the raid on Haakh’haln, the indiscriminate killing of our Unhonored stopped. If I correctly understood the conversation I overheard while spying upon the human cadre in Ylogh, their commanders now attempt to minimize all casualties, wherever that is practicable.”
“An account for which we have only one source: you,” Z’gluurhek pointed out.
“Which is why I present it last, and merely as support for data I have already advanced through more objective sources.” Besides, half of what I heard while listening to the humans in Ylogh I dare not mention here, not without courting accusations of perjury, treason, or both. “Lastly, there is no longer any report of human invaders wearing the gray uniforms I conjecture as being German. Some still wear the helmets, but repainted and with all insignias removed. This, I believe, is highly significant.”
O’akhdruh straightened, painfully, to his full height. “I do not deem it so.”
And so he shut down the key point toward which Yaargraukh had hoped to build and that he had suspected now for months: these were not merely Germans, were not merely connected—inexplicably, impossibly—to Earth’s twentieth century. More importantly, they had been executed by their fellow humans who, immediately afterward, had rejected their barbarous tactics and even erased their insignias in what seemed like a frenzy of repudiation. Which was not entirely surprising to Yaargraukh, because of all the military units in human memory, none was more reviled and hated than the Nazi Schutzstaffel.
Or, as commonly abbreviated, the “SS.”
Chapter Twenty
IARZUT’THRUK, BD+56 2966 TWO (“TURKH’SAAR”)
O’akhdruh waved a dismissing claw at Yaargraukh as if he was attempting to telekinetically push him back out of the circle. “I have heard all I need to hear. I consider your report complete.”
“You have the data, Silenced Voice, but you have yet to hear my hypothesis—as you assured me you would.”
“I suspect we already know what that hypothesis is, but I give you leave to share it—as one, short, declarative sentence.”
Dung and folly: one sentence? To do that might be worse than silence, if Yaargraukh’s statement seemed too simplistic or implausible. But he who dares nothing gains nothing, so—“Given the many inconsistencies and inexplicable peculiarities of the operations and technologies of the humans, I consider it extremely unlikely that they came to Turkh’saar with the intent of invasion.” He waited for O’akhdruh to ask him what reasonable alternative explanation there might be.
But the shrewd old Silent Voice did not open the door to that topic. Rather, he nodded faintly, and stood forth from his son’s side—who kept a supportive hand near the frail Hkh’Rkh as he advanced, and then spoke in a surprisingly strong voice. “I have heard much counsel. And I have arrived at a conclusion: that the human raiders who have been on this planet for some months are merely a pathfinder force. Their strikes against our outlying communities had a hidden purpose: to serve as both a practical reconnaissance and a clearing of the landing zone for the ships which violated the sovereignty of Turkh’saar tonight, and which may be but the first of a much larger wave of invaders.”
The mutters around the circle grew into growls and grunts of affirmation. Yaargraukh estimated he had about three seconds to make a statement—as provided for by tradition—between the time that a Voice pronounced his determination and his plan of action. From that point, the scions’ approval would carry the Clanhall forward on a confrontational path out of sheer social impetus, regardless of defects in logic. Unless those defects were exposed boldly and fearlessly.
Yaargraukh bowed his head. “Silenced Voice O’akhdruh of the Moiety of Gdar’khoom, if these humans were charged with carrying out a military invasion of this planet, why did they not commence their operation by shattering Iarzut’thruk, our main citadel and settlement, with a rain of munitions from what we must presume to be the invisible ship that brought the first group of raiders? Since they would have been undetectable until they attacked and we are clearly without defenses against bombardment, what would have stayed their hands?
“Today’s events are equally confounding. Specifically, after eliminating almost forty interception missiles that—apparently—were secretly arrayed in defense of the Site, why would the humans not simply continue to orbit until their weapons came to bear upon us here, and so destroy our hub of political exchange and action? For surely they know that this is the place where we will mobilize and project a counterattack against their ground forces.”
O’akhdruh swayed, cast off his son’s proffered arm, steadied himself, waved a negating hand that seemed to carry Yaargraukh’s objections away like fading cobwebs. “The presenting of data and discussion is at an end. My son called this Council that I might hear the many perspectives that exist upon this matter, and the report of those who have seen the humans’ handiwork firsthand. His counsel and that of many of your Clans has become known to me.” O’akhdruh’s eyes travelled around their circle, which stood before the large pedestal bearing his son’s bier. “Now I have heard from Yaargraukh Onvaarkhayn of the Moiety of Hsraluur, as well. I shall now presume upon my son’s role as Voice and Fist of my Family to speak for it one last time, for my hours are short and my wounds weigh heavy upon me.
“My eldest’s death and the attack upon Ylogh made it necessary to wake me. It is fortuitous that the human ships have landed in this last hour, for now I may counsel you with a full understanding of their intents.
“Their recent changes in raiding could have been optimistically construed: that the humans were reconsidering and relenting in their initial savagery. Until, that is, their new invasion forces landed tonight, in a region that has now been well-scouted and cleansed by their advance group. And we may rightly understand the inconsistencies of that first group as no longer puzzling, but shrewd: theatrics meant to give us pause in our response, to waste precious weeks gathering evidence and attempting to discern what strange manner of raider was besetting us.”
And because in this one instance he was neither allowed nor able to quickly and conclusively rebut O’akhdruh’s hypothesis, Yaargraukh felt the last shreds of tenuous credibility he had built among the scions dissolving from under him like tidal sand being carried out by a greedy, receding wave.
“So,” O’akhdruh continued, “we spent months failing to mount what should have been our first response: a direct counterattack with all our force.
“But, unbeknownst to you, my friends and scions, you did not have access to the maximum force at your disposal. Indeed, that could not be achieved without awakening my eldest son, and then, given his unforeseen mortal wound, myself.”
Z’gluurhek’s unusually broad, short-snouted head waggled in perplexity. “Revered O’akhdruh, I do not understand your words.”
“And you would have no reason to, loyal Scion. My son and heir Jrekhalkar was not so deaf to your entreaties for action as you may have thought. And he did not awaken me primarily for my counsel but for knowledge—knowledge that only I possess.”
“Knowledge of what, O’akhdruh?”
The Silent Voice collected himself, looking more pasty by the moment. “Nearby, there is a well-hidden cache of decommissioned military equipment, enough to arm two Tassles, along with some light armor and mobile artillery. Knowledge of its presence, location, and access codes was entrusted to a mere handful of this colony’s most senior leaders, long before most of us were called away to war against the humans. The three who possessed the knowledge and remained behind died when you sent our few transatmospheric interceptors up in an attempt to repel the Slaasriithi raiders. They were to have entrusted the information to Jrekhalkar before gambling their lives thusly, but I am told that duty called upon them so quickly that they lacked the time to observe that precaution—”
—Or they were already well-acquainted with the intemperate nature of O’akhdruh’s second scion—
“—And so the ability to access the hidden equipment was lost. Not wishing to risk Uzkekh’gar’s and my own life, having no clear data on the severity of our wounds, Jrekhalkar delayed rousing us as long as possible. His decision to do so was a greater sacrifice than most Warriors are ever called upon to make. For the good of our colony, he had to awaken his older brother, and then his own sire, into losing battles with mortal wounds.
“But he did what he had to, and now so must you. But your choice is far easier than his was. You have but to resolve to expunge this alien pestilence from our planet, our home. And as swiftly as possible. Every day invaders are left unopposed, their strength and preparedness grows greater.”
“But, my lord O’akhdruh,” Z’gluurhek almost groaned, “those few of our brothers who were foremost in readiness, who had trained frequently with the militia, were slain during the Slaasriithi raids or at Ylogh. There are but a handful who remain.”
“And they shall train you as best as they may as you move to engage the enemy. Any who have militia training shall report to former-Advocate Yaargraukh. Despite his excess of caution, he is a flag leader of the Patrijuridicate Great Host and served acceptably not merely on First Voice’s staff, but in the field. He will organize the training and exercises the others shall conduct over the next forty-eight hours.”
“Do we dare leave the adversary unengaged for so long?”
“We shall not do so. As we speak, our scouts north of the Site-lands are preparing to rendezvous with a larger strike force closing from the west. It is equipped with the remainder of our militia gear, and although most of its Warriors have only rudimentary training, they are officered by several band leaders with sufficient experience. The scouts shall locate the anticipated human beachhead, then both forces shall advance to contact and fix the invader in place, or at least delay him and keep him engaged. Then the more numerous, heavy forces we are readying here in Iarzut’thruk will arrive to destroy the invaders.” He raised a calar claw high; his voice was surprisingly strong: “We will carry human heads to the Accord as evidence of their invasion.”
Yaargraukh appreciated the expert manner in which Silent Voice had maneuvered him into a trap from which he could not escape or even continue to mount objections. Now honored with a prominent role in the coming battle for Turkh’saar, the former-Advocate no longer had the freedom to express his doubts and disagreements. If he uttered those views now, they would be tantamount to treason, to aiding and abetting a foe that was ravaging the world of his birth. But if the ships that had brushed aside the missiles earlier in the evening had in fact been human, then it stood to reason that they might be bearing an envoy—Caine, perhaps—who could shed some light on the origins and intents on the first group of intruders.
And perhaps those missiles, realized Yaargraukh, were the key to arresting the headlong rush to war. “Revered O’akhdruh, if I am to ready our Warriors for all tactical eventualities, there is a crucial datum I lack.”
O’akhdruh nodded slowly, wary. “Ask.”
“What other missile defenses do we possess, and what is the nature and location of their support infrastructure?”
Although almost all Hkh’Rkh males were Warriors, most of them had no formal military training. Consequently, a majority of the heads in the circle first swiveled toward Yaargraukh in surprise, then back toward O’akhdruh in curiosity.
The Silent Voice was silent for three full seconds. “We have no additional missiles. Those were the only ones we possessed.”
“Then I must broaden my question: What other unrevealed military assets are at our disposal?”
O’akhdruh’s voice was slow, his eyes watchful. “Why do you anticipate further assets?”
“Because the Patrijuridicate has apparently seen fit to provide various military resources surreptitiously, thereby evading the constraints of the nonmilitarized codominium of this system.” I won’t say “violation of our treaty with the Arat Kur,” but I hardly need to; the broad wings of that stooping ut’hakash hover ominously over every word spoken today in this Clanhall. “Firstly, there were the interceptors with which Turkh’saar defended itself against the Slaasriithi raiders. Just now, you have revealed that there is a cache of weapons and armored vehicles which, in number and type, clearly exceed the expected legal limits. And lastly, the Site’s defense missiles imply a deeper investment in useful communications and sensor arrays.”
Jrekhalkar’s digits flexed anxiously as O’akhdruh, who remained very still, explained. “These missiles were left as a precaution to prevent unauthorized reentry to the Site. To my knowledge, they were left behind long ago, and depend upon no additional systems.”
Ah. Now I have you. “Indeed? But then how were the missile batteries alerted and the weapons targeted?”
O’akhdruh eyes wavered. “They were self-seeking.”
Yaargraukh allowed his genuine perplexity to show, while carefully concealing his dubiety. “I confess some confusion, Silent Voice. As one of First Voice’s tactical advisors on Earth, I know something of our self-seeking missiles, particularly those used for surface-to-low-orbit intercept. They are self-seeking only during the latter third of their flight. Without external targeting sensors to guide them until they enter the terminal intercept phase, it would be blind luck for them to hit a target at all.”
O’akhdruh’s response was halting. “Our electronics specialist informed me that evidently, one of our satellites is still working, at least intermittently. It was probably roused from its post-battle lurk mode when the human craft entered the Site’s defensive airspace. The satellite acquired the target’s general trajectory and relayed that by lascom to a ground receiver, which automatically launched the missiles.”
