wants to know what the hell is going on! We can’t get Division or Corps. Them damn hills round the pass block us, I bet.”
“I’m on my way.” He paused for an instant, listening. High above, he heard the sound of motors, lots of them, and they weren’t Nancys. The night suddenly brightened with the lights of what looked like falling meteors that illuminated the bellies of Grik zeppelins in the sky. The things didn’t light up until they’d fallen some distance from the ships, and he guessed that made sense. They were using some kind of delayed-ignition system to protect their hydrogen-filled airships. The first meteor struck out on the plain and burst amid a roiling ball of spreading flames. It was followed by many more. None landed on North Hill. They probably couldn’t see it in the dark. Some probably burned Grik when they fell, but several splashed fire on South Hill, and Flynn swore.
“C’mon,” he said to the ’Cat. “Now they’re throwing Grik fire at us! If the Air Corps can’t keep those bastards off us, they’ll burn us out for sure!”
“What the hell’s going on out there?” General Pete Alden demanded, storming into the briefing room adjacent to the comm shack in Madras.
General Taa-leen commanded 1st Division, and while it occupied the city, he was essentially Pete’s Chief of Staff. “A counterattack, General. A big one. Beyond that?” Taa-leen spread his arms.
“Where?” Pete asked, shoving through milling, confused staff officers to stand before the most current map they had, tacked to the wall. He did a double take when he saw Hij-Geerki lying on a pair of the common Lemurian cushions in a corner, as inconspicuous as he could make himself. He’d thought Rolak had taken his pet Grik south. He shook the distraction away.
“Everywhere. Or so it seemed at first,” Taa-leen answered.
“Show me what we know; then we can wonder what it seems like.”
“Of course. In the south, Third Corps has not been directly attacked, but a strong force has assembled opposite it. Fifth Corps is heavily engaged and has been forced to pause its advance and assume a defensive posture. Its supply lines south have been cut. General Rolak has encountered increasing spoiling attacks, he calls them, but continues to push First Corps south even now. He thinks the large enemy force that he hoped to fix in place for Fifth Corps to hit from behind has turned to crush Fifth Corps, or at least drive it south and prevent it from linking up with him.”
“Nobody could ever call Rolak timid,” Pete said respectfully.
“No, sur.” Taa-leen blinked. “And perhaps he is right to push. Where he had been the anvil, he might now become the hammer, and the result could be the same.”
“Is that what you think?” Pete asked, eyebrow raised.
“It is. The Air Corps saw no indication that fresh enemy troops had moved against Third Corps. Co-maander Leedom believes it faces the same battered troops that the fleet gave such a pasting.”
Lieutenant Commander Mark Leedom had been assistant Commander of Flight Operations on Salissa, and was acting COFO of the 5th and 8th Bomb Squadrons and the 6th Pursuit-all from the lost Humfra-Dar. He also had two new squadrons that had literally been assembled in Madras, right off the transports.
“If true,” Taa-leen continued, “it cannot be a steady force and is likely there only to fix Third Corps in place.”
“Okay,” Pete agreed. “We’ll give General Rolak his head. If anybody can keep it together in a night march, it’s him. We’ll know more about the big picture in the morning. In the meantime, if he runs into anything he even thinks he can’t handle, I want him to pull back.”
“Yes, sur.”
“So, what’s the worst of it? There’s got to be more, or you wouldn’t have sent such an urgent message. There’s nothing going on here, so that leaves Second Corps.”
“Yes, Gener-aal,” Taa-leen admitted, “I don’t think the Orphan Queen is in a jaam; I know she is. All physical lines of communication have been cut between here and the place they were calling Rocky Gap. Wireless transmissions report that her situation is dire indeed.”
“What happened?”
Taa-leen explained what they knew so far; that II Corps was basically trapped in the gap and the 1st Amalgamated, the 1st Sular, the 1st of the 2nd Marines, and several companies of cavalry were independently trapped beyond it. At first they’d been on separate hills, but now they’d consolidated. Losses, particularly to the 1st Sular, had been high. To make matters worse, a very large enemy force was assembling, and likely advancing from the west. “We are in wireless contact with Colonel Flynn and General Maraan,” Taa-leen continued, “but they cannot communicate with each other. Of the two, the smaller force is in the greatest jeopardy. I have just received confirmation that zeppelins are bombing it with Grik fire! I suspect the rest of Second Corps will soon receive the same treatment.”
“Get Leedom in here,” Alden barked at an aide, who dashed out of the briefing room.
“You will send planes up there? In the dark?” Taa-leen asked, blinking concern. “The air crews are all tired. Most have flown numerous sor-tees, and we lost two more aircraft today for no apparent reason. Commander Leedom blames hasty maintenance caused by the pace of operations.”
“Night flying here is different than it was for those guys in Second Fleet,” Pete conceded. “India’s a hell of a lot bigger than New Ireland! But Leedom’ll take care of those damn zeps, if he has to do it himself,” he ground out. “I’ll tell him to ask for volunteers.” He looked at Taa-leen. “He’ll get ’em too. You know why? Because nobody in Ben Mallory’s Air Corps could sleep a wink tonight knowing the damn Grik are burning our people!”
He turned back to the map. “So,” he muttered. “That’s the deal. I think you’re right about the south. It’s clever and might even work, but I think this General Halik has deliberately tossed his best dice at Second Corps, hoping to wipe it out. The question is, what the hell are we going to do about it?” He turned and looked at Hij- Geerki, who was watching attentively. “What do you think?” he blurted with a sour expression.
“I no t’ink,” the creature answered tentatively in its strange but improving English. “I… ’e-long to Lord Rolak. I t’ink what he t’ink. I can’t… self t’ink like Gen’ral.” Geerki hesitated. “Ony… ’aybe dis Gen’ral Halik not t’ink like Grik Gen’ral.”
North Hill was ablaze and the trees that stood atop it flared like great vertical matches in the dark. A lucky hit by the first flight of zeppelins had landed on its flank and ignited one of the Marine artillery caissons and the resultant flashing detonation had drawn the attention of the other airships. Most had already dropped their firebombs and the plain between the two hills was dotted with dying fires. The tall, damp grass just wouldn’t burn, at least without a wind to fan the flames, but the few airships that still carried loads quickly dumped them on the illuminated hill. Finally out of ordnance, the zeppelins departed, but they left plenty of misery in their wake.
“Get the wounded in the ditches!” Flynn roared over the hideous, wrenching screams. Bad as the cries of the wounded were, the agonized, squealing wails of scorched paalkas were probably worse. “Throw dirt on those fires… and put those poor damn animals out of their misery!”
“What about the trees?” someone cried.
Flynn wiped the soot from red, streaming eyes and looked up at the crackling trunks and naked limbs above. The flames were already diminishing. The tree bursts had been the worst, spattering the Grik fire over a broader area than the ground impacts. “Nothing for ’em. They’ll have to burn out.” He stared a moment longer. “I don’t think they’ll burn once the fuel is gone. Pretty wet wood.” For the first time, he was grateful for the almost daily rains and high humidity. “Jesus,” he mumbled, taking in the rapid activity and smoldering bodies around him. He didn’t know how he’d escaped with little more than a few light burns; most of the Grik bombs had fallen right around him. He coughed on air that was thick with smoke and the stench of burning fur.
Bekiaa appeared out of the swirling gloom and stopped beside him, gasping, her hands on her knees. Flynn offered his canteen.
“You better save that, sir,” Bekiaa grated. “We lost all the Sularan water butts, and I don’t know if ours made it through this or not yet.” She waved around.
“Take a drink,” he ordered grimly. “We have only about half the Sularans to worry about.”
“We were lucky to get that many out,” Bekiaa reminded him, and relenting, took the canteen. “The Grik nearly got them all, and the caav, once they figured out they were retreating.” She took a small sip and handed the
