Maltin finished his report, one painful
word at a time. He checked the clock when he pushed the "send"
button on his miniature computer. He finished with 11 minutes to
spare. He dropped his computer in his shirt pocket and leaped
out of the seat, now free to do what was uppermost on his mind.
Make sure his small army was staying out of trouble. Despite
Lieutenant Keily's predictions of frightened crowds trying to
escape the evil troll, he found Mili, Amanda, and Junior
surrounded by a huge crowd in the shopping mall. Amanda was
putting on a light show with her newly revived little light guys.
Mili was trying to teach Junior to speak English. She had a lot
of help, all gathered around and making faces, gestures, or
otherwise making themselves look extremely stupid. Maltin shook
his head and pushed his way through the crowd. Mili looked up in
relief.
"Are you Staff Sergeant Maltin?" an
official sounding voice asked from behind him.
"Yeah... yes sir," he noticed the colonel
clusters on the white coat. A LAB COAT!
"We need to borrow your little friend
there. As amusing as he may be, we need to study him to analyze
our enemies weaknesses," the Colonel started to step forward.
Maltin placed a hand on his chest and stopped him in his
tracks.
"Sergeant, you're out of line!" the
colonel roared in surprise an outrage. The veins stood out in
his angry, red face, accenting his white lab coat nicely.
"No sir, you're exceeding your authority.
This troll kid is a guest of the base, in case you didn't notice
the security badge. He's here at the General's request. And,
even if the General gave his approval, I'd shoot you in your
tracks if you tried to dissect that little guy."
"You tell him, Staff Sergeant, he's been
threatening me for the past hour. I told him he'd have to talk
to you," Mili said with a protective arm around the troll.
"I can have the MP's here in minutes and
simply take him," the colonel said.
"And I can have my company of Ranger here
in half the time and kick your butt all over this mall, sir, and
you still won't touch that kid," Maltin said, getting very
angry.
"Whoa, whoa, time out," Lieutenant Keily
said as he pushed his way through the crowd. "The General
anticipated this problem and he's already decided that the kids
remains unmolested. If you don't believe me, you can talk to him
yourself, Colonel" he held up the miniature phone.
The Colonel hesitated, then snatched the
phone out of the Lieutenant's hand. The Lieutenant turned and
winked at Mili, then watched with a look of unconcern.
"General, I have come to appropriate the
troll for routine studies. I have run into treasonable
resistance," the Colonel said haughtily as he surveyed the faces
around him.
"Are you in MY army Colonel?" the General
roared.
"Yes, sir," a surprised looked crossed
the colonel's face. He was used to doing the yelling, not being
yelled at.
"Are you a soldier?"
"Yes sir, West Point, class of 2354."
"Then act like one, Colonel. If you want
a troll put a squad together from those worthless lab rats of
yours, requisition an APC and go out and get one."
"Sir?"
"You heard me, Colonel. You have the
only non-productive department in my command. You take what
supplies you want, snatch up soldiers without my approval, and I
get nothing in return but your monthly complaints. It's worse
than PMS. Well it stops now, it's time to pay the piper."
"Well, I guess we really don't need a
live troll that bad," the Colonel looked embarrassed, "autopsy's
should reveal..."
"That wasn't a request, Colonel."
"Oh Lord," the Colonel said as he snapped
the phone closed and handed it to Lieutenant Keily.
"The Armory is that way," Keily pointed
down the passageway. "The rifles are those long things with a
hole in the end. Glad I could help," Keily saluted his back as
he hurried off.
"And now on to important matters.
Amanda, I am formally requesting a lease on your city or any
parts you deem appropriate, for use by the Combined Space Fleet,
and the Combined Army."
"Granted, Lieutenant, but I must warn you
that I am even now reactivating a small percentage of the
population. I would recommend the Northern outskirts of the
city, since it has access to the lower mainland through a
connecting tunnel."
"Fine, we can build as necessary."
"I can sell you about a billion tons of
alien metal real cheap," Maltin laughed. "Well actually, it's
not mine to sell, it belongs to Junior here."
"Ah, that's another thing I need to
discuss," a look of regret passed over Keily's face. "Your
transfer to my rangers has been disapproved."
"It has?" Maltin's face suddenly
fell.
"Yes. The General feels you can be of
more help organizing an attack on the troll fleet from the city,
and acting as liaison between Amanda's people, and our sole
contact with the troll race. As of now, Lieutenant, you are the
permanent M791A-5 ambassador."
"That's quite a title," Maltin said as he
repeated it silently, trying to memorize his new job.
"My people called this planet
Ethroaxuaphor," Amanda said brightly.
"Why?" Maltin said then shook his head,
"never mind, I like M791A-5 better. You make your planet sound
like a disease... hey, did you say Lieutenant?"
"Goes with the job," Keily slapped him on
the shoulder and handed him a pair of golden bars.
"Congratulations."
"Thanks, sir... Keily."
"Good luck guys, I'll see you when this
is all over. Especially if you reactivate more women that look
like you," he said to Amanda with a wink. He disappeared through
the crowd.
"It's too crowded here," Maltin said,
suddenly uncomfortable at all the attention. "Let's go shopping,
requisition an APC and get the heck out of here," he pushed his
way through the crowd.
The first phase of the attack plan was to
retake the northern city. It would have been an impossible task
without Amanda's help. Lieutenant Maltin got to work with the
Rangers after all. He and Mili joined up with the Rangers and
took transports to within 30 miles of the northern city. They
disembarked and marched the remaining 30 miles to the city in
small, fifteen minute marches. It took them two days. They were
nearly exhausted as they arrived and stared at the tall, snow-
covered mountain above them.
"This is it," Maltin said as he stared at
his computer screen and the map Amanda had provided them.
"There is no way in hell we are getting
up there," Keily said, studying the snowy ridges through his
visual amplifier.
"We may not have to. Amanda just needs a
line of sight on the city. She gave me this little gadget here,"
Maltin took a small lacey fan out of his pack and set it in front
of them.
"What is it?"
"Beats me, she just said to point it at
the city and open the little fan, then get away because it
protects itself."
"And what does that give us, exactly?"
Keily stared at the fan in confusion.
"I don't know," Maltin said in annoyance
as he pointed the fan at the top of the peak and opened it. "It's
supposed to help us... somehow."
The fan finished opening by itself,
forming into a spider web of thin metal veins. As it finished
they found themselves looking at a satellite dish. A long black
rod poked out from the center and three legs shot down from the
base to form a tripod. As they watched, the dish began to
glow.
"I suggest we get the hell out of here,"
Keily said, putting his words into action. Maltin followed right
on his tail. The dish turned and seemed to lock on to a target,
then it... did nothing.
"Well that was quite a let-down," Mili
said from her boulder.
"Yeah, but don't expect me to go kick it
to see if it's working," Maltin stared at the dish
suspiciously.
"Shit, troll transport descending from
the mountain," Corporal Polaski yelled and pointed. Everyone
scrambled for cover. The troll ship landed just in front of the
dish, then turned off it's engines.
"This should be good," Maltin said as he
stared at the dish turning to face the small ship. He was
waiting for the fireworks to start. The door opened on the side
of the ship, but nobody came out.
"Well I'm excited," Mili said in a bored
voice.
"Somebody has to look inside that ship,"
Maltin mumbled. "Keily, who's your village idiot?"
"These men are Rangers, Maltin, we don't
have idiots."
Maltin waited with a skeptical
expression.
"Barbet, front and center!" Keily yelled
over his shoulder.
"Sir," a tall gawky soldier ran forward
and saluted.
"Go look inside that ship and see if it's
empty."
"In the ship, sir?" he looked
confused.
"Yeah, Barbet, now."
"Yes sir," he saluted again and started
reluctantly forward.
"Oh, somebody kick me," Maltin said and
lunged to his feet. He ran up next to Barbet and pulled him
forward by his sleeve. They approached the ship, leaped and
rolled inside, then came up with their weapons hanging lose.
"It's empty," Maltin called. "This is
our ride upstairs."
"Ok, everybody, load up," Keily shouted
and waved them forward.
"You heard him ask for a kick," Mili
said, giggling in anticipation.
"If you do, after what he just did, I'LL
shoot you solider," Keily mumbled and moved over by the entrance
of the ship, waiting for his squad to board.
"Oh, sir, you're no fun," Mili complained
as she stepped into the ship.
"I reserve my fun for Saturday nights,
Corporal, this is only Tuesday."
The ship rose gently in the air. Since
the destination was straight up, they simply rose in place. The
mountain streamed past as they watched from every veiwport.
After what seemed an endless wait, the first shimmering blue
reflection of the city's offset field came into view. They
looked around in awe at the white city below them. It was
immense. It was also crawling with trolls and machines. A
matching offset field sprang up around the ship and it slid
through the city's field with ease.
"Holy shit, there must be a million of
them," Keily gasped in surprise.
"We are SO dead," Mili said with a shake
of her head. "I hope Amanda takes good care of Junior."
"I hope she takes good care of us,"
Maltin said in horror. "Look at that they have tanks, flying
cars, anti-gravity belts, they've got everything!"
"We are SO dead," Mili said again.
"Would you stop saying that!" Maltin
shouted.
"Well look at this thing, it's landing us
right in the middle of them. If Amanda was pissed at you, why'd
she have to kill us too."
"She's not pissed at me. Now knock it
off, she must have a reason for landing us here."
"Yeah, it's called divorce."
"Were not married yet, pathetic pregnant
woman. Now let me think. I did everything she said, we got here
and I opened the little fan thingey, and it brought us this
ship... THAT'S IT!"
"That's what?" Mili asked.
"She controlled the ship. She must have
control of the city now. All we have to do is get out there and
shoot something, and she will do the rest. She's in control,"
Maltin said in relief.
"And you believe... ok, ok," Mili said,
ducking as he started to backhand her.
"Well either way," Keily ejected his
power crystal then shoved it back into his rifle, "we're Rangers
and we die fighting."
"I'm not a Ranger," Mili pointed out.
"Well... tough," Keily said with a smile,
"you can be a Ranger when you grow up."
"Man that door switch, Corporal Polaski,"
Keily said as he made a final check of his men.
"We're going to die, aren't we?" Mili
asked Corporal Polaski as she stood by the door.
"Yeah, so die..."
"Proud?" Mili asked in a bored voice.
"No, die kicking and screaming, fight
until the last breath leaves your body. Take as many of those
assholes with you as you can."
"I like you philosophy better than
Maltin's."
"And also," Corporal Polaski said in a
whisper, "don't go out that door first, the bravest dies the
fastest."
"Oh," Mili said, suddenly looking around.
She pushed her way through the crowd until she was as far from
the door as she could get. Several soldiers noticed and laughed.
Keily made his way back to the door and took a firm grip on his
rifle. He nodded at Polaski. As the door started opening he
felt somebody jostling his elbow. He turned and smiled at
Maltin.
"In a hurry to die?"
"No, I've just got to shoot something
before my brain explodes. All this suspense is killing me."
"Better than a troll killing you," Mili
called from the back of the bay, "suspense can't eat you for
breakfast."
The door opened and they poured out of
the ship. Trolls stood frozen in surprise as the Rangers began
shooting into tightly-packed groups. The trolls, taken by
surprise, turned and ran. There wasn't a troll weapon in sight,
since they felt secure inside their stolen city.
Maltin passed out his entire collection
of white phosphorous grenades, pulled the pin on his own
canister, and tossed it as far as he could. Grenades rained down
all over the town square. A hovertank turned toward the Rangers.
Keily waved Corporal Polaski forward. He took several rockets
from the Corporal's pack and passed one to Maltin.
"You know how to use these?" Keily asked,
then ducked as the white phosphorous grenades began exploding.
It was hard to hear over the animal howls of the wounded
trolls.
"Sure. Press the red switch and toss it
like a spear," Maltin yelled as he prepared his anti-tank rocket,
while keeping an eye on the approaching tank.
"And duck so the rocket blast doesn't
take your head off," Keily yelled and tossed his rocket. The
rocket telescoped until it was six feet long, then as it started
to fall back to Earth, the engine kicked in, propelling it
against the tank with an awesome explosion. The tank rocked, but
kept on coming. Maltin tossed his own rocket and squatted as the
rocket engine shot fire over his head. The rocket hit in the
exact same place as Keily's and the tank began exploding.
Several dozen explosions rocked the tank and took it apart, one
piece at a time. The final horrible blast sent the turret
sailing up into the air. It paused, forty feet in the air and
came slamming back down on a group of running trolls.
"Look at that shit," Mili pointed. A
squad of armed trolls was approaching using anti-gravity belts.
"Why can't we get shit like that?"
"Areal targets," Keily shouted and knelt.
As he sighted in on the first troll, something seemed to go
horribly wrong. The trolls stopped advancing and shot toward the
ground at full speed. All 18 trolls were rolling and screaming
in pain. It took little effort to put them out of their
misery.
"Amanda must be helping," Maltin said
proudly.
"She is one sick puppy," Mili said,
staring at the dark troll blood spreading on the ground. Troll
energy weapons sent lances of fire into their ranks. Three
soldiers were tossed backwards. Two lay dead and the third was
horribly wounded. His entire midsection was missing.
"Spread out and fire at will," Keily
shouted. He fell on his stomach and began returning fire. A
roar of shouts and voices started at the far side of the square,
out of their sight. In a moment the trolls fighting them turned
and attacked somebody behind them.
"I don't know what they're shooting at,"
Keily yelled, moving his head from side to side for a better
view, "but let's charge those suckers. Spread out and charge!"
he yelled, leaping to his feet.
As they started forward the offset field
suddenly fell from around the city and the cold arctic air swept
over the city in a blast. Snow obscured their vision as they
neared the trolls. Light from their weapons glowed in the
blowing snow like lightning in a thunderstorm.
A squadron of shadows passed over their
ranks. They looked up in alarm just as the disrupter style
weapons from a squadron of 9-16's began blasting the troll ranks.
The residual noise sent the Rangers tumbling to the ground with
their hands over their ears. After one pass the 9-16's sailed up
and out of the city. The offset field was suddenly reinstated.
Lances of blue energy pierced the troll ranks as the snow
settled. The Rangers added their one fire to the melee and
suddenly found themselves facing an army of Amanda's fairy
people.
"Hold your fire," Keily yelled, bringing
up the barrel of his weapon.
"I think we've just wiped out the entire
troll ground forces," Maltin said in amazement. He started to
make a troll body count, then gave up. The leader of the fairy
people was approaching.
"Who is Maltin and Mil E?" the gray
haired troll asked, staring at the faces.
"That would be me --- and her," Maltin
turned and pointed at Mili.
"Good. Amania... Amanda wanted to make
sure you were all right. She is relieved."
"Tell her we send our thanks," Keily
said, shouldering his weapon. The leader of the fairy people
paused, then nodded.
"I have told her. Thank you for helping
us clean out our city. It was most courteous of you. And I hate
to be discourteous, but we will need the bodies of your wounded
and dead now, if you intend to reanimate them."
"Say what?" Keily said with his eyes
bulging out. "You can bring them back to life?"
"Of course. Reanimation is much simpler
than a complete manufacture such as we required. But time is
short," he waved several men forward.
"Sure, sure, go ahead," Keily said, "do
whatever you have to do. Uh, how long will it take?"
"An hour perhaps. Would you like
refreshments? I believe the city has cleansed itself
sufficiently for a light lunch to be served. This way," he bowed
and waved them toward the nearest building.
"Hey, the bodies are gone," Mili shouted,
pointing at the town square.
"They have been converted into energy and
sent to their fleet as a warning. Their ships have been returned
also, with the exception of the one you arrived in. That one has
been deeded to you for your personal use."
"Could you send us to the troll mother
ship," Maltin asked thoughtfully, "like you just sent those
bodies?"
"Certainly. It's a very simple process,
we completely destroy the original, digitize the data needed to
recreate the body, and a perfect duplicate shows up at the focal
point."
"Uh, never mind," Maltin said, swallowing
quickly.
I took less than an hour for the three
soldiers to be revived. Mathews showed up first with a look of
horror on his face.
"Look, Lieutenant, look what they've done
to me," he pointed at his stomach. The Lieutenant stared at
Mathews, then shook his head.
"I don't see anything wrong, Mathews,
what's your problem?"
"They gave me Greco's stomach. I look
pregnant."
"When we received the body, he had no
stomach," the gray haired fairy explained. "We used another
solider as a prototype."
"You hear that Mathews?" Keily said with
a smile. "Which would you prefer, a big hole where your stomach
should be, or Greco's stomach."
"I'll take this one," he said in
embarrassment. "But it will take me a month to work all this fat
off."
Greco and Lane suddenly appeared in the
far doorway. As Greco approached the crowd looked at his stomach
and laughed.
"What?" Greco asked defensively.
"Just sit down and fill that huge stomach
of yours," Keily said, laughing with the rest of them.
"It will take three days for our fleet to
arrive from Earth," Keily said as he tried an assortment of
cookies.
"That gives us a little time to organize
our assault," Maltin said as he stuffed his face.
"It also gives you time to marry that
girl," Mili pointed out.
"There's plenty of time for that," Maltin
said uncomfortably.
"That's what Daniel said too," Mili
patted her stomach with a sad, faraway look in her eyes. "Do it
now, Lieutenant Maltin," she said in all seriousness.
Maltin paused with a tinned spoon at his
mouth, then nodded.
"Ok, Mili, but you'd better be there or
I'll kick your butt all over this planet, I can't do this
alone."
"I wouldn't miss it, Walt."