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The
Regent:
By Markus Thyme:
Previous episodes are in The
Master’s Hand archive.
As the flyer fled the encounter,
no one needed to tell Maliki he had blundered badly. Nor was it necessary to
explain that an entire squad of marines had been slain as a result. He did not
need to see the bodies to know they were dead. He had completely underestimated
the situation. Where he had expected to deal with frightened undisciplined
animals, he had encountered organized resistance. He realized he was not
dealing with animals, but an intelligent species.
“Get this thing
moving,” he screamed at the pilot.
“Yes sir,” snapped
the pilot and took the flyer to top speed.
Maliki sagged and finally sat
to breathe deeply, trying to recover his composure. It would not do to let the
others see him out of control. He calmed down and looked around at what he had.
Najaf was dead, killed by a feathered shaft from the cave. He also had one dead
marine, struck in the throat with a different kind of shaft from a remarkable
device. He picked up the crossbow and weighed it in his hands. He studied it
carefully and understood how it worked. He had never seen the like of it
before. It was definitely a weapon made with skill and cunning. Again, he
realized these humans were not ordinary animals, but an intelligent species.
He would have to discuss
these issues with the marine commander. He was sure Colonel Pervez would not be
pleased with the loss of one of his squads. Even so, the colonel was a military
man and would act as such. It might be possible that he could have knowledge of
these strange weapons these humans had used so well.
When the flyer put down,
Maliki did not run, but walked swiftly to the colonel’s office with the
crossbow in hand. He burst in.
“Colonel, I have very
bad news for you,” he blurted.
Pervez looked up from his
desk with a quizzical expression.
“Your captain and ten
of your men are dead,” continued Maliki “killed with devices like
this.”
He placed the crossbow on the
major’s desk.
Prevez
quickly recovered from the look of shock that Maliki’s news brought.
“Eleven of my men have
been killed?” he queried. “How could that happen?”
“One was killed by a
human he was attempting to capture. The others were slain because I sent them
into an ambush.”
“Here? What
ambush?”
“They were ambushed by
a group of these humans,” answered Maliki. “It seems Colonel that
these humans are not the dumb animals they have been made out to be. They had
the wit to craft many weapons like this. They used them against your brave
marines today.”
“But, how could they be
ambushed?” whispered Prevez.
“It was my error,
Colonel, an error I deeply regret. I sent them storming into a cave where the
humans waited in ambush. I am sure none survived, though I could hardly
investigate. They fired on the flyer from the cave and killed Najaf. The rest
of us escaped. We closed the ramp and took the flyer out of their range.”
“Great
Alloh,” whispered Prevez. “You had to flee from these humans? What
next? First the prince and his entourage are dead. Then several workers are
slain. Now 11 of my marines are ambushed. What next, Regent?”
“I
think you and I must decide that, major.”
“I
think we must first attempt to recover the remains of my marines,” said
Prevez. “We must think of how best to do that. You were there. I was not.
Your knowledge of the situation and terrain will be important, Regent.”
“I
agree, colonel. I will place myself at your disposal.”
Prevez
picked up the crossbow and examined it carefully.
“I
have seen something like this in the Marine’s Museum.” He said.
“It was not quite the same, but it was similar. It was a weapon used by
primitives, before we discovered firearms.”
“That
was eons ago,” remarked Maliki.
“Indeed,
Regent, eons ago, but now we know the weapon can be deadly. We must proceed
with caution. I have no wish to lose more of my marines in an ambush. It is my
painful duty to write missives to the kin for each one of them.”
“I
deeply regret the deaths and the pain I have caused you, Colonel.”
“Yes,
of course. I was a regrettable error, but an error nonetheless. Regret can
wait. What of the strength of these humans, Regent? How many are they?”
“I
wish I knew, Colonel. They could be a hundred, they could be a regiment, or
even an army. It seems we have been quite careless in this operation. We have
not paid attention to these humans. We considered them to be wild animals until
this happened. Neither I, nor the Emperor, nor anyone at court had any thought
of this. It seems the details were left in the hands of The Abdul-Aziz packing
company. In retrospect, that seems to have been a serious oversight.”
“Perhaps,”
said Pervez, “but that is an issue for you and the Emperor. I am more
interested in what I can do here and now. I would like to recover my marines.
While we do that, we may inadvertently learn more of these humans.”
“Would
you return to the cave in force, colonel?”
“I
have to weigh the risk, Regent. I do not want to send more marines into an
ambush, nor do I wish to risk my entire command in a single operation. It vexes
me that I do not know their strength.”
“The
only thing I can tell you is the missiles that came toward the flyer indicated
50 or more weapons were fired almost at once.”
“That
is helpful, Regent. If they are fifty or a few more, I could send a company
with two platoons assaulting and two held in reserve. We could used hand bombs
and automatic assault weapons. If this is a cave as you say, we need not
approach it directly. We can assault from either side.”
“I
admire your military acumen, Colonel,” said Maliki. “Will you go
out today?”
“Not
at all, Regent. It is regrettably too late in the day. It must wait until dawn.
There is not need to risk a scrimmage in the night where the enemy knows the
terrain and I do not. We must wait. In the meantime, I will brief my officers
and marines.”
“I
will be pleased to accompany them tomorrow and offer what knowledge I
have,” said Maliki.
“You
will do nothing of the sort, Regent,” smiled Prevez. “I have no
wish at all to try to explain to the Emperor how I got you killed. You and I
can remain here and await reports from the field.”
“As
you wish, Colonel.”
On
the following morning, Bruce and Randolph watched from the oak tree as the
Invaders hustled and bustled around the compound. Then four fliers rose in the
air and headed toward the tunnels of the folk. Each contained a platoon of marines.
“This
be bad,” whispered
“Indeed,”
replied Bruce. “If I think aright, they go to hunt for our kin.”
“Indeed,
and we have no way to warn them,” said
“All
we can do is watch, wait, and hope,” said Bruce.
“Perhaps
one of us should return to the tunnels.”
“If
needs be, we can do so later,” said Bruce. “Now, let us watch,
wait, and hope.”
“Aye,”
replied
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