Amanda was the first to push her way
through a small ravine and dig the dirt away, revealing sunlight.
The comparatively cool air made them stop and savor each clean
breath, before continuing out from under the ship. In a moment
of panic Amanda dug furiously, throwing dirt on the other two
until she pulled herself out into the sunlight. She held her
hand inside the hole for the bags, and pulled them from the hole
one at a time. Mili crawled free next, followed by a wildly
scrambling Maltin, who turned and looked behind himself
suspiciously.
"I swear, there's something down there,"
he pointed at the hole.
"I wouldn't be surprised," Amanda nodded.
"The trolls come from a heavy gravity planet, they are very
strong, and very good at digging. Perhaps we should leave
quickly."
"Leave quickly," Maltin said
sarcastically. "You know, Amanda, you are so damned smart."
"Yes," she said, leading the way
north.
"I don't like her," Maltin pointed at
Amanda's receding back.
"Yes you do," Mili said with a smile.
"Ok, maybe I do, just a little."
"Yeah and maybe you want to have her
babies," Mili said with a giggle.
"I don't like babies, they're loud and
they stink," he said, looking at her abdomen. She covered it
protectively while he hurried to catch up with Amanda. Mili
kicked dirt at him, then heard a noise under the ship. She bent
to look in the hole suspiciously, then ran to catch up with
Maltin. She glanced fearfully over her shoulder as she ran.
As they were disappearing over a rise, a
dirty, dark figure crawled from the hole they made and looked in
their direction. It sniffed the air, turned it's black, leathery
face from side to side, then set out at a gentle lope.
As the time approached midnight, over
thirty miles away at Alpha Base, all hell was breaking lose.
"General, I don't know what's there," a
harried scanner operator said as the general hovered over him,
glaring at the screens.
"Just give me the facts, Sergeant."
"The facts are, sir, that a common troll
shuttle went down to the surface, I waited for nearly an hour,
but it never reappeared. Next three troop transports shot down
to the surface, apparently landed, and never reappeared. The
last was a galaxy class cruiser. It dropped almost to the
surface, discharged it's primary weapons repeatedly at some
unknown target, then it dropped off the scanners too. We tracked
debris from it before it disappeared, so we believe it exploded.
The fact is, general, that somebody seems to be eating enemy
ships like candy on a dieters paradise planet."
"Thank you, sergeant, that was a very
concise report," the General said sarcastically.
"You're welcome, sir."
"So," the general turned and looked at
the room full of half-dressed officers, "can anybody tell me what
the hell is going on?" He waited, but nobody volunteered any
information.
"What do we have in that area, Ops?"
The Operations Officer swallowed
nervously and stood, looking at his fellow officers before he
spoke. "Nothing sir, not a damned thing from either the fleet,
marines, or the army are out there?"
"So apparently all these trolls died of
natural causes?"
"Yes... I mean no sir."
"First Sergeant, is anybody unaccounted
for?"
"Yes sir, one Staff Sergeant and one
Corporal. She is... or was his prisoner."
"Would they be in that area?"
"Yes sir, they would."
"Then get your butts out there and find
them. If they are destroying half the troll fleet single-
handedly, we should find out how they're doing it, don't you
think?"
"Yes sir," the room full of officers
chorused. The general waved a disgusted dismissal, then motioned
the First Sergeant forward.
"First Sergeant, not a damned one of
these titless wonders has a brain between them. Find out who is
the closest to that area and send them on recon. Tell them to
call for a transport convoy when they find them."
"Yes sir. The 76th Rangers should be in
that area."
"Good, an excellent command, see to it
will you?"
"Consider it done, sir."
"If nothing else, maybe they can protect
my rangers," the general mumbled as he went back to bed.
Maltin, Amanda, and Mili huddled close
together for warmth, hugging the small fire they had built far
back in a cave. Amanda assured them that they would be safe
there. She said the enemy had only primitive heat and motion
sensors.
"I would make you keep your promise about
kissing my butt, but it's too damned cold to take my pants down,"
Mili giggled, shaking and clutching her shirt around her
neck.
"Maybe later when I can take my time," he
offered with a twisted smile.
"Forget it, Maltin. Just give me that
rifle so I can start my watch."
Maltin reluctantly surrendered his rifle
to Mili, so she could take the first watch. He dug in his bags
until he found a white phosphorus grenade, and hugged it in his
sleep for comfort. He was fast asleep in sixty seconds. Amanda
smiled, from where she sat with Mili at the fire.
"He is a man with many men inside him,"
she said quietly.
"Say what?" Mili gave Amanda a "your
crazy" look.
"Maltin. He is many men all wrapped up
in one body."
"How do you figure that? As far as I can
tell he's one shallow, mean, self-centered man."
"Oh no, Mil E, you're wrong. He is very
deep. He's hard then he's soft, mean but forgiving and gentle,
savage while at the same time being protective and considerate.
I've never seen such a complex man before."
"You're a newborn, sister, he's the only
man you've ever seen."
"I was referring to my database of
knowledge, more than personal experience."
"You got a computer up in that pretty
little elf head of yours?"
"No, but I'm in constant contact with my
city. In a way, I am part of the city no matter where I go."
"Other than that, you're the same as
us?"
"I believe I am. How does it feel to be
in love, Mil E?"
"I have no idea."
"Do you think Maltin could love me?"
"I guess so, if you have all the right
parts."
"What parts would I need?"
"Well it's obvious that you can have sex,
I figured that out from the smile on Maltin's perverted face.
But what else do you have inside you?"
"I have all the usual organs."
"Can you have babies?"
"Oh yes, I'm a perfect replica."
"Yeah, well I wouldn't mention the baby
thing to Maltin for a few years, he's touchy about such
things."
"No, he's jealous of you, Mil E."
"No way."
"I'm afraid so. Maltin imagines that he
will never have a family, you are carrying your family around
with you, wherever you go. He's jealous. He's also wrong, I
would be more than happy to provide him with a family."
"You and him?" Mili said. "Well, I'll
be..." Mili looked at Maltin in wonder. "What else can you tell
me about him?"
"Well he fears nothing, but he also fears
everything, especially fear itself. His ultimate fear is that he
will turn and run, so he's overly aggressive to cover this
fear."
"Wait a minute. How can he fear nothing,
and still fear everything?"
"He fears on an instinctive level, all
humans do, it stems from your primitive ancesterage. His
instincts are strong, so his fear is equally strong. But he
counters that fear with rational thought, which is a human trait.
His will is so strong that it constantly battles and suppresses
his fears and this makes him stronger."
"Ok, so what else?"
"His latent homosexual tendencies bring
out..."
"Wait, I don't want to hear any more.
When you start talking about that stuff my skin crawls."
"Very well, Mil E. Would you like me to
keep watch in your place. I need less sleep than your race
does?"
"No, but thanks anyway. It's my job to
do. If you see me nodding off though, give me a kick, would
you?"
"In which area of your body."
"Say what? No, just wake me," Mili said
with a wave of her hand. She walked to the cave entrance,
mumbling to herself and shaking her head.
Amanda nodded and turned to watch
Maltin's sleeping face.
Mili kept a good watch, at first. She
studied the brightly lit landscape with a sharp eye until she
became bored and began looking for distractions. Her eyes went
to the heavens, of course, but the little light guys were not
there. She studied the three moons, positioned in different
areas above the horizon like stepping stones. The smallest was
about the size of Earth's moon, the next was a little bigger,
then there was that big sucker that filled a quarter of the sky
and glowed a pale yellow. It was unusual to see all three moons
up together and made a beautiful picture. Unfortunately, she had
no digitizer, and nobody to show it too.
The wind came up, ruffling her hair and
sending slender finger of cold through her clothing. She
shivered and slid down to sit with her back against the boulder.
It blocked of most of the wind. A large cat screamed from the
forest about half a mile ahead of her. She stared in that
direction, unconcerned. Nothing but the trolls were hostile to
humans on that planet. The cats were about twice the size of a
normal house cat, and really cute. Maybe they were responsible
for the fact that there were no birds on this planet...
Amanda turned from the fire and looked at
Mil E. She smiled sympathetically when Mil E nodded off to
sleep. She was a tired girl with her own burden to carry.
Amanda considered waking Mil E, then she decided to call on one
of her mechanical friends instead. She positioned the 9-16 just
above the crest of the hill, nearly fifty feet above her head,
and gave it explicit instructions concerning hostile actions.
Then she too turned with her back to the fire and went to sleep
with her face on her hands.
As Mili slept a dark figure moved in the
shadows to her left. Under the watchful eyes of the 9-16, it
crept closer to Mili, examined her skin and hair, then with a
slight whimper it sat against the rock next to her. Shivering
with cold it slid a little closer until it's strong back was
resting against hers. They both slept the rest of the night,
undisturbed.
With the sun beginning to warm the cave,
Amanda's eyes flickered open. She rolled over on her back and
made mental contact with the 9-16 above her. Her eyes widened
and she shot up off the ground, turning toward Mili. She heard
Maltin moving behind her and held out a restraining hand as he
was about to hurry past.
"She's asleep on watch," Maltin whispered
harshly.
"She's not alone," Amanda said in an
unemotional voice.
"What? What's that supposed to
mean?"
"Just how many interpretations can such a
statement have?" she asked sarcastically, in a good approximation
of Mili's sarcastic tone?
Maltin glared at her and tiptoed closer.
His eyes widened in horror when he saw the black skin and hair of
what appeared to be an animal. He judged the distance to the
rifle, wondering if he could make it in one long dive and shoot
the animal before it tore Mili apart. He was about to try for it
when Amanda's firm hand grabbed him by the back of his shirt. He
spun around angrily and slapped her hand away.
"He is a juvenile," Amanda whispered.
"A juvenile what?"
"Troll, a juvenile troll. He came to
Mili for warmth and solace, a very important step between your
two species. It's parents must have died in that ship."
"A troll," Maltin's whisper was nearly a
scream, "that's a troll?"
"Just a small one," Amanda nodded.
Mili awoke slowly and looked toward the
commotion. She watched Maltin and Amanda arguing for a moment
with a half smile, then noticed that her back was touching
something warm and... well a little softer than the boulder. She
turned and looked at the troll. It's eyes opened and regarded
her with innocent trust, unafraid and undisturbed.
"Hey guys, where did this come from?" she
asked in a quiet voice.
"You gave birth in your sleep," Maltin
said sarcastically as he edged slightly closer to his rifle.
"Very funny, asshole," Mili said,
standing slowly. The troll stood with her, moving closer to Mili
as Maltin approached. Maltin calmly bent and picked up his
rifle, then swung quickly around to hold it on the troll.
"Don't do that, Maltin," Amanda said in a
strained voice.
"Why not, he's a troll?"
"Because it's all I can do to keep you
from being evaporated."
"Huh? By who?"
"The machine keeping watch over us," she
pointed over their heads. Maltin looked up and saw the 9-16.
"Oh shit," he mumbled in defeat.
"Would you please put down the weapon so
I can release it. This is causing me a great deal of pain," she
pleaded, clearly straining.
He set the rifle carefully in the dirt
and backed away. Amanda gasped and collapsed on the sand.
Maltin rushed over and helped her to her feet.
"What the hell is that thing doing up
there?" he demanded when he was sure she was all right.
"It was guarding us from any acts of
aggression. I never anticipated the need to guard the trolls
from you."
"Yeah, life's full of surprises," he
growled, looking at the troll.
"That's very good, Maltin," Amanda said
in wonder, "a very profound observation."
"Huh? Well thanks," he said, coloring
slightly. Mili giggled. He glared a warning at her. The troll
barred it's teeth at Maltin, so he growled at the troll. It
immediately hid behind Mili with one hairy, long-clawed hand
around each leg for protection.
Happy, now that everyone was put in their
place, Maltin slowly picked up his rifle and slung it over his
shoulder while keeping a watchful eye on the 9-16.
"Shall we eat breakfast and get
underway?" he asked grandly, presenting his arm to Amanda to
escort her to the cave. Amanda stiffened and looked up at the 9-
16. She turned and looked down the hill, while Maltin sat their
with his arm extended, waiting.
"I think we should talk to them first,"
she pointed with a frown.
Maltin spun around and looked down the
hill. It took only a moment to recognize the Lieutenant leading
the 76th Ranger Group up the hill.
"Oh, shit, I've go a lot of explaining to
do," Maltin looked around himself in horror.
"Boy, don't you ever," Mili laughed,
patting the furry hand holding her leg, while she stared from
Amanda to the 9-16.
"Oh boy," Maltin said in horror. "Amanda
you restrain that thing," he pointed at the 9-16, "Mili, you
restrain that thing," he pointed at the troll, "and I'll try to
restrain them," he said with a pained expression and hurried down
the hill.
"Boy, this is turning out to be a really
great day, isn't it?" Mili asked with a giggle. Amanda laughed
with her and they went into the cave to feed the hungry
troll.
"Staff Sergeant, you do remember that
little black book called Army Field Regulations don't you?" the
lieutenant asked as he sat by the fire and watched Mili feeding
the hungry troll. The lieutenant took a small bite of beef
flavored protein and glanced at Maltin.
"Yes sir, I do."
"Does it mention anything about spoon
feeding the enemy?"
"No sir, but hey, shit happens," Maltin
said with a nervous laugh.
"Yeah, I guess it does," the lieutenant
laughed as he looked at Amanda again. He found it hard to take
his eyes off her, a fact which made Maltin very
uncomfortable.
"Sir, transport is on the way," a
corporal called from the cave entrance. It was as close as he
wanted to get to the troll.
"Thank you, Corporal Polaski. Well,
Maltin, in 30 minutes you will be standing in front of the area
commander. I suggest you come up with a better explanation than,
shit happens."
"Oh, boy, this is turning out to be a
really bad day," Maltin mumbled. His eyes went to Amanda and his
insides turned over. The lieutenant saw the glance and looked
from Maltin to Amanda with dawning comprehension. The lieutenant
glanced at Mili, who gave a slight nod and crossed two finger.
Maltin stared at Mili and she returned his glance innocently.
Amanda watched everyone looking back and forth, and giggled.
"Everything will work out, Maltin, don't
worry about your male prerogative," Amanda said, winking at
Mili.
"What's that mean?" he growled, not
looking at anybody.
"She's telling you everything will work
out... for you," Mili said with a growl.
"Huh?"
"She's proposing, stupid."
"She is?" he looked at her in
astonishment, then looked at Amanda shyly, "you are?"
"Yes, Maltin, I am."
"Then let's not sit around, let's go see
the General," Maltin jumped to his feet enthusiastically.
"The transport's not here yet," the
lieutenant reminded him.
"Oh, yeah."
"Maltin, you are about to make my life
very hard, but orders are orders. My orders are to bring you all
in, so I guess that includes the little monster over there," he
pointed at the troll.
"I don't think we have to bring him,"
Maltin stared at the troll."
"He'll die without somebody to take care
of him," Amanda said.
"Yeah," Mili put a protective arm around
the troll. It grunted expressively and put a huge clawed hand on
top of Mili's head. She squealed, then untangled the hairs from
his claws before firmly placing his hand in his lap.
"Did you people really destroy half the
troll fleet?" the lieutenant asked in wonder.
"Naw, just six or seven ships, although
that last ship was big enough to count as half a fleet," Maltin
said in wonder.
"Amanda did most of it," Mili pointed
out.
"Yeah, she's great," Maltin said, moving
closer to Amanda.
"I can see that. Well, the transport
should be here in a few minutes, let's pack this stuff up and get
ready."
Six APC's crawled over the beautiful
alien landscape, surrounding a large APU, or Auxiliary Power Unit
fixed with an impenetrable force field. The APU was wider but
shorter than the APC's, holding only a pilot and engineer at the
front of the crawler. The small group of machines moved so close
that their repulsor beam legs touched, creating a small
electrical explosion at times, but the computer controls
compensated for such trivial problems. Maltin watched their
progress from a small porthole near the rear of the front APC.
He swallowed uncomfortably and looked at the Lieutenant.
"This is how we have to travel now?"
"It's the only way to concentrate enough
firepower to withstand a troll attack. So far a convoy like this
has never been successfully stopped."
"I'm not surprised," he sat back on his
seat and stared at the other sweaty faces in the cabin.
"Just relax and endure the heat, Staff
Sergeant, we'll be there in minutes."
"Yeah, I know," he said as he stared at
Mili on the opposite seat, huddled over the troll child. Amanda
swayed on the seat beside her, obviously in contact with the
city, or something. Her eyes suddenly opened and he was caught
like a bug on glass, by those intense, blue eyes. After a moment
the eyes smiled and her whole face changed in seconds. He
suddenly remembered the artificial smiles she had used when they
first met. Was she getting better at smiling, or just better at
artificial smiles. He also remembered that Amanda was an alien.
It's funny he knew that before, but it didn't seem important
until now. Neither did the fact that Mili was his prisoner and
he was about to arrive at their destination. As soon as they
arrived several large MP's would step forward to take Mili into
custody. She looked up, seemingly aware of his glance.
"The moment of truth, huh?" she said
nervously.
"All hell is about to break lose, girl.
Are you ready for it?"
"God no, but do I have a choice?"
"No, none of us do."
"I'm worried about Junior here."
"Junior," Maltin smiled for the first
time.
"Yeah, Walt Junior."
"You deserve everything you get," Maltin
growled in mock anger.
"The Lab boys have been trying to get
their hands on a live troll for months," The Lieutenant whispered
near Maltin's ear. "They'll take that little guy apart in a
matter of hours."
"Oh, shit, they can't do that," Maltin
said in horror.
"We all take orders, Staff Sergeant."
"Not that order. I'll shoot the first
man who lays a hand on him."
"Well get your shooter ready, because
that's Alpha," he nodded at the forward viewscreen. Maltin
looked up and groaned.
"Want another piece of bad news?" the
Lieutenant asked with a twisted smile.
"Sure, drop it on me, sir."
"Since the destruction of Delta, they
take a visual roll call of all APC crews before allowing them to
enter. How will your little troll answer up?"
"He'll probably grunt and vomit up half
his breakfast," Maltin said in a defeated tone.
"The alien princess is kind of short on
human identification too."
"Any more good news, sir?"
"Nope, that about covers it."
"Good I thought you'd give me some really
bad news."
"There's the general."
"Yeah, I know about him," Maltin said
with a sigh.
"No, THERE is the general," the
Lieutenant pointed at the viewscreen.
Maltin looked at the viewscreen in open-
mouthed horror. The tailgate dropped behind him and a crowd
surged forward to meet them. When they saw the troll, they
scrambled backwards in horror, trampling those behind them.
Somebody fired a pistol. The beam
ricochet off the upper right corner of the APC and dissipated
harmlessly in the force field above the base. Maltin brought up
his rifle, but the Lieutenant shoved the barrel down.
"Corporal, deploy the squad now!" the
Lieutenant shouted and waved his squad forward. They poured out
of the back of the APC, taking up a defensive position at the
rear and ringing in the opening. The Lieutenant stood,
straightened his uniform, then stepped out of the APC like a
conquering hero.
"Well, you got around the head count,"
The Lieutenant whispered out of the side of his mouth. He
surveyed the crowd with a frown, then looked up as the General
approached. He saluted and stepped down as the General
arrived.
"All present and accounted for,
General."
"Excellent. Where are they?"
"This way, sir," he led the General to
the back of the APC. The General climbed in without looking up,
then saw Maltin's terrified salute. He returned the salute with
a smile. The General turned to survey the others in the interior
and froze. He looked at Maltin, then back at the troll.
"Staff Sergeant, is HE a member of your
command?"
"Yes sir --- well sort of."
"And how did you come by... oh, never
mind, I'll expect your full report on my desk by noon. Right
now, we... what the hell is this a fairy?" he asked, suddenly
noticing Amanda for the first time.
"Well, sort of, sir."
"There are a hell of a lot of "sort of's"
in your vocabulary, Sergeant."
"Yes sir, it's hard to explain on the
spot."
"I imagine. And this is your
prisoner?"
"Well..."
"Don't even say it, Sergeant, I'm known
for my good nature, but you're stretching it."
"She was, sir, but I feel she was wrongly
accused and has access to information vital to our survival. She
can destroy the troll ships, sir."
"She can, can she? But not from behind
bars, is that what you're trying to say?"
"Yes sir, exactly."
"Good, now we're getting somewhere. So
who is this lovely lady with the pointed ears?"
"An indigenous civilian, sir. She has
been a great deal of help."
"Well somebody certainly has. We've been
keeping score and it's 5 and 0 in the final quarter. That's why
I sent for you."
"I'm grateful, sir."
"Good. Now tell me how you did it."
"You've got to be kidding, sir, you want
me to explain it here?"
"Lieutenant Keily, have you ever known me
to kid," the General turned to the leader of the 76th Ranger
Group.
"No General Keily sir, not in the 25
years that I've known you."
"There, you see. I'm not kidding," the
General took a seat by the Lieutenant and ruffled his hair.
Since the Lieutenant was about 25 years old Maltin realized there
must be a family connection there.
"So what is this tongue-tied Staff
Sergeant trying to tell me, nephew?" the general asked
fondly.
"Well sir, the absolutely ravishing
blonde is the only surviving member of her race. We are
trespassing on her territory, by the way. She is madly in love
with the Staff Sergeant and they are getting married as soon as
you sign the approval form. The black woman there is an
honorable woman, she is dedicated to the Army, fearless, and very
pregnant. The troll kid is the sole survivor of the last ship
they blew up, so she adopted him. Just over the horizon the
scanners will pick up a squadron of 9-16's that are at her
disposal," he pointed at Amanda.
"And what can I say about the Staff
Sergeant there, he doesn't have a brain in his head, but he has a
big heart and is the most heroic son-of-a-gun I have ever seen.
When this is all over he's going to become my Top Sergeant, with
your approval, of course."
"Great, good!" the General said, slapping
his knee. "Now we're getting somewhere. But... who shot down
the troll ships?"
"I don't know, you'd have to ask the
Sergeant," Lieutenant Keily looked at Maltin expectantly.
"We all did, sir. A lot of the credit
goes to Amanda, but we all had a hand in it. It's really kind of
easy, once you know how."
The General looked from Maltin to the
Lieutenant. "It's really kind of easy, once you know how," he
mimicked Maltin sarcastically. "I don't know if I should slap
the son-of-a-bitch or stick a medal on him. Here I've lost half
my ground forces and he... never mind. Keily, get security
badges for all four of them. You are all on R&R until further
notice. And Lieutenant, tell the MP's to go home. The prisoner
never arrived. But Maltin, I want that report on my desk in 4
hours. I have a lot of planning to do and a lot of it will be
centered around what you tell me. Be precise, but fast.
Understand?"
"Yes sir."
"But sir, what do we do about the troll
kid? He will cause panic in the base," Lieutenant Keily
said.
"Stick a hat on him or something. That's
your problem, Lieutenant, mine is destroying his relatives."