Jethro Goes to War (Wandering Engineer Jethro's tale) (63 page)

“
No one's
going anywhere. That's what they want. All our food and ammo is up
here,” the shuttle pilot snarled. “They want us out in
the field, exposed. We've even got a bargaining chip.” He
jerked a thumb to the back of the cave where soft whimpering could be
faintly heard around the bend.

“
Yeah, but
this ain't no local hunters. Them is serious,” one burly guy
said, spitting rock and broken teeth. “We're down to seven, one
of which is wounded. They get another grenade up here we're all dead
meat.”

“
No, their
grenadier took a hit. He's down slope, out of range. I'm telling you
we can win this. Just sit tight,” the shuttle jock said. He was
the officer and they damn well would follow orders.

He looked over the
berm. Rounds were peppering the boulders and rocky lip in front of
them. A few were chewing into the overhanging rock above them,
raining debris down onto them. He ducked and then brushed it off.

“
See? Can't
hit shit!” he yelled. He turned back with a laugh just as
Jethro's claws tore through the right flank's exposed throat.

The man grabbed his
gushing throat and fell over just as Jethro rolled into the pit.
“What is it?” he screamed trying to figure out what was
going on.

“
He take a
round!” the men screamed.

Jethro flicked blood
off his right hand and then reached out for the plasma gun. One rip
and he tore it out of the gunners hands and off the tripod. He threw
it over his shoulder and down the hill.

The gun rolled down
hitting a rock. The plasma bottle ruptured and it exploded lighting
the hillside up once more. The marines in their positions ducked at
the ball of flame and heat and then peeked when it burned off. “What
the hell was that?” Hurranna said, peeking through the broken
branches and burning underbrush.

“
Seems like
Jethro got up there,” Asazi said with a grin. They could see
the blurry infrared signatures turning away, hear panicked shots,
none coming their way.

“
Move
Marines!” Valenko snarled already past them. The wounded bear
tore up the landscape on all fours.

“
Man on a
mission. You heard him!” Schultz followed.

 ...*...*...*...*...

Jethro slammed one
man to the ground hard then spun a kick into another who was
frantically trying to find him. He'd taken two out so far. He had to
buy time for the team to react. Every moment the pirates were focused
on him meant the team was covering ground, climbing the hill to back
him up.

His claws ripped
through the man's exposed abdomen. The big male went down trying to
hold his guts in. That made three. Another fired a pump action shot
gun into the air. Some of the buck shot caught Jethro in the arm and
shoulder spinning him off balance. He went down on the wounded arm.
The pain kicked but adrenalin soared higher.

His cloak failed as
he gasped. “What the fuck is it!” a man jabbered. His
eyes were wide, gun at his feet.

“
It's dead
that's what it is,” the needler gunner snarled, tossing his
empty rifle and pulling a pistol out of the front of his pants. He
looked up as a shadow fell over him. He screamed as bear paws reached
down and pulled him up. The bear tore through the man’s throat
and then tossed him aside and roared.

Jethro blocked out
the scent of human vomit, blood, and urine as he rolled to his feet.
The guy with the hunter's shot gun tried to turn on the bear. The
panther lashed out with a kick, hitting the guy in the groin. He felt
claws sinking into the tender flesh there. His victim doubled over
just as the gun went off into the ground.

The pellets
ricocheted off the hard rock back at him and Jethro. The man
shrieked, holding his face, arm, and crotch. Jethro winced but turned
on the shuttle pilot.

“
Officer!”
ee snarled to Valenko just as he was about to swipe. The bear checked
his swing enough to just tear the needler out of the guys hands. A
second swipe was more controlled, a back handed one that sent the man
sprawling.

Jethro snarled at
the last man standing. He gibbered backing away. Hurranna dropped
onto him from above and pounded him with the butt of her rifle. “Now
stay down!” she snarled. The man whimpered and obeyed.

“
Damn,”
Jethro said shaking his head. He turned, feeling the buckshot. He was
hit all over.

“
Yeah,”
the bear said sitting back. His lips curled in a snarl. The pilot
looked up to see the bear standing over him. One look on the
smoldering grizzly bear's face and the shuttle pilot fainted. “Well,
that works. Make sure he's out and not playing possum.” Valenko
said with a snort.

...*...*...*...*...

“
Medic!”
Sergei called from down the hill.

“
Oh you're all
right you big pussy. You’re not bleeding,” Asazi snarled.
“Collar bone's busted,” Sergei panted. “That
and I've got splinters in some private places.”

“
Yeah well,
triage. You’re on your own 'til the bear gets help,”
Asazi said giving the body of Chirby and then the body of Miles a
look. “Count your blessings your're still in once piece.”

Sergei followed her
gaze and sobered. “Yeah,” he breathed, instantly sober.
The greyhound passed him without a glance. He paused at each fallen
warrior, shook his head and then kept climbing. “Damn he's fast
for a little guy.”

“
He's a
greyhound, what'd you expect?”

Letanga climbed out
of the tree and gave Sergei a helping hand. The Liger groaned as he
rolled onto his back.

“
This gets
better and better,” Schultz said, examining the quivering,
bound shuttle pilot. His fingers pushed the man's head to one side to
expose the crude universal jack embedded into his right temple. He
turned to see Hurranna leading a battered and disheveled girl out
from the back of the cave. Now that the area was secure they were
moving into post combat chores. It felt good to see the girl still
alive. The look of her, and her terrified expression made him look
away however.

“
Look what I
found back there,” Hurranna said. The girl was larger than the
lynx but held onto her like she was the only thing that mattered in
the world. She looked at the burned bear and squealed a little, eyes
wide in fright, burying her face in the lynx's fur to get away from
the sight.

“
We're friends
kid. We're the marines. We were sent to rescue you,” Jethro
sighed sitting on a rock as he tried to spray biofoam into the pellet
wounds he could reach himself. His implants were holding off the pain
and controlling the bleeding but he didn't want to shake anything
loose when they moved out.

“
He's right,”
the bear growled. The battered filthy girl was shaking like a leaf.
He winced as he tried to roll his singed shoulder. “Even if
we're a bit tore up at the moment,” he said, carefully
modulating his voice and trying to keep as much anger and pain out of
it as possible. The kid had been through enough. The fact that the
greyhound medic was slathering burn cream on his burned back, picking
dirt and debris out didn't help though.

“
I think she's
had a rough time,” Hurranna said softly.

Asazi came over the
rocky outcrop and half slid half fell. She knocked a shower of dirt
and gravel ahead of her. The others flinched, weapons raised to her.
She paused and then raised her hands. “Easy easy. All friends
remember?”

“
Next time say
something. We're kind of jumpy remember?” Jethro snarled ears
flat, eyes slitted. She gave him a look taking in the wounds and then
nodded quietly. They had all trained for post combat jitters but this
was the first time she or any of them had experienced them for real.
Or at least some of them anyway, she thought to herself, looking at
Valenko and the gunny.

“
Looks like
you've seen better days. Both of you,” she said turning to the
bear. The lieutenant grunted. “But you most of all miss.”
She turned to the human girl. “Want to get some of your own
back?” she asked quietly, eyes intense.

The girl looked up
shaking. She blinked through her tears and rubbed at her bloodshot
eyes with a dirt encrusted finger. Hurranna held out a canteen but
she pushed it away. “What do you mean?” she asked
battered and bruised eyes locked onto the heavy worlder. She could
barely see out of one eye, the swelling had it nearly completely
shut.

“
Oh, I see
we've got three live prisoners. I bet you could have fun with one.
Sort of get some of your own back. I for one wouldn't mind. We're
probably going to do all sorts of things to them until they wish
they'd never been born.”

“
All but this
one. He's got an unpowered implant,” Schultz said, indicating
the pilot. A rag was stuffed into the man's mouth. Rigging tape and
zip ties kept him in a tight, hogtied bundle on his stomach. He
closed his eyes and whimpered a little, trembling in his bonds.

“
Go on. Just
don't kill them,” Asazi said, giving the girl a stick from the
fire. The charred end burned for a bit before ebbing to a muted glow.
The girl's eyes locked onto the glowing tip with savage light.

The girl hefted the
stick and then looked at the men. She poked one, and then another.
They grunted. She looked at the bear who rolled his eyes. “You're
going to hit them or what lady?”

She smiled
tentatively and then slammed the stick down. The gunner groaned as it
hit him in the arms. He tried to roll but she kicked him and then hit
him again and again. She got a toe under him right into his balls. He
squealed, trying to bend in a fetal position to protect his privates.
She kicked him again there and then his eyes rolled back. He went
flacid, out cold.

She turned her
attention on the wounded man, slamming him with the stick so hard he
passed out. She turned huffing and held the stick up. “How
about I shove this up his ass? Won't kill him but since he did it to
me over and over I think he deserves it! He loved to hear me
scream...” she said, voice trembling in fear and rage.

“
Fair's fair,”
Asazi said with a nasty grin. The man looked at them wide eyed and
then quivered. His head shook back and forth. The girl raised the
stick and then stopped. The man's eyes rolled back as he fainted. She
dropped it without a word and turned, falling into Asazi's arms
sobbing.

“
There there,”
the marine said, patting her charge. “I think that should help
a little down the road. But for now, I think it's enough,” she
picked the girl up gently.

“
I want to go
home,” the girl said in a small voice. “Please take me
home.”

“
That's the
plan ma'am,” Jethro said softly. “Your uncle said little
brother is waiting.”

“
He's alive?”
she asked burying herself in Asazi's chest. Asazi gently stroked the
girl's hair, picking out some of the leaves and dirt.

“
Yes. Yes he
is. And in need of his big sister now more than ever. We'll get you
home. Count on it,” Asazi said softly.

...*...*...*...*...

“
Called higher
yet?” gunny Schultz asked, giving the wounded bear a look as
Asazi moved off with the girl.

“
In a minute.
Ox get over here.” He pointed to a rock nearby. The Tauren came
over and sat, then pulled out his satellite link.

Valenko plugged into
it as the Tauren adjusted the dish to get the best signal. Normally
they'd do this wirelessly but after the day they just had he wasn't
taking any chances of an intercept or of signal loss. “Red one
calling Red three six come in over.”

...*...*...*...*...

The captain looked
up as the RTO Private Harley Quinn came in and waved. He grimaced and
made an excuse to the negotiation team and got up.

In the hall he
practically glared at the Neo hyena. “What is it?” he
growled. “Can't you see I'm busy?” He'd finally made some
headway in the negotiations and didn't need distractions.

“
Sir Red one
is calling in. You said to let you know. I tried your implants but
they bounced me back.”

“
That's
because I turned the radio off and wasn't accepting calls,” the
captain grimaced as he closed his eyes and opened the link to her
implants.

“
Red one to
red three six come in over.”

“
This is Red
three six, come in red one.”

“
Sir, we've
found and taken out the raiders.”