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| The Return 9: The Battle of Belli |
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“It is time.” The phrase again emerged deep in Luke’s subconscious. He heard Jackov’s voice far away, like at the end of a tunnel. His eyes opened slowly, squinting tightly at a bright light. Jackov was standing over him, a dark shape silhouetted by the light. “It is time,” he repeated softly.
I’m getting tired of that phrase, Luke thought. Luke had been enjoying yellow-blue skies and green pastures, enlivened further in his imagination by a naked woman. He had not yet finished what he dreamed.
Reluctantly, Luke got up, dressed quickly and followed Jackov back to Compartment Three. He yawned and rubbed his eyes as he walked. He was hungry again.
Once there, Luke saw Jackov had activated a pair of large monitors, one marked “Surface” and the other “Orbit.” The Surface monitor showed a clear footprint of the Obelisk complex and its area. The other appeared to be a projection of Belli from space. He thought nothing of either monitor, until he noticed some fifty or so red dots on the Surface screen. They were divided into three separate groups more or less equally sized and spaced and were moving toward the Obelisk from three different directions. Luke’s eyes widened.
“We’re being attacked,” said Jackov without emotion. “It’s the Griffons.” Instantly, Luke came fully awake, his hunger forgotten.
Things began to happen quickly. As Luke watched, the red groups converged rapidly and forcefully on the Obelisk. They were close, and Luke calculated they would reach him within minutes. His stomach tightened and his bowels began to gurgle noisily.
Then two groups of blue dots appeared suddenly left and right near one of the red groups. In a rapid series of small flashes the two blue groups seemed to consume and extinguish the red group. The remaining two red groups did not at first react, apparently unaware so far of what had happened to their companions.
Luke’s voice was strained, but he was impressed: “Wow. I hope the blue dots are on our side.”
“It’s Sledge. And his soldiers.”
“Really?” Luke knew there was nothing he could do about the red dots but watch. His nervousness welcomed something else to think about. “Uh. Who is this Sledge anyway?”
“He’s descended from the Djin,” Jackov explained; but he did not look at Luke. His attention was on the Surface monitor, studying the action. Luke could see him deftly manipulating its controls, zooming in on one angle then another. At one point Luke thought he could almost see the dots resolve themselves into bipedal silhouettes, but the perspective moved too quickly to be sure. “We encountered the species during the tenth century,” Jackov said. “Most of them were concentrated in the Twelfth Quadrant.”
“Same place as the Shrike came from,” Luke said absently as he watched the remaining red dots still getting closer and closer. He swallowed hard; and his bowels gurgled again, prompting a small, deadly explosion of air.
Jackov turned to stare at Luke, admiring again Luke as a quick study. “Yes,” he said. Then he wrinkled his nose at the smell that was emerging and turned back to the monitor. “And like the Shrike they were a nasty lot. … Did some pretty creative things to their captives, especially our human wounded. It took me decades to suppress them.”
As Luke watched, the two blue groups now slowly turned and circled in opposite directions around the Obelisk to confront the remaining groups of red dots. This time the red dots reacted, and a few leading blue dots winked out with small flashes.
Jackov continued his explanation, but his voice showed his concentration on the monitor: “We had the Djin almost exterminated. Then I thought … these creatures have incredible advantages as fighters. Natural organizers … strong … There. Yes!” he said, as a small part of the blue dot attack yielded particularly good results. “… Fiercely loyal to their officers … able to communicate telepathically … even as an offensive weapon.”
“Telepaths. Of course,” realized Luke. The distracting conversation was beginning to relax him. “That’s how I could hear Sledge without hearing him.”
Jackov zoomed in close on another intense exchange of flashes, then quickly out again. “Yes. We could use such skills. … We only needed … to tame them.”
“Tame them. Right.” Luke’s tone was skeptical.
A few more blue dots winked out, but then even more red dots disappeared in quick succession. The two groups of red dots began to move away from the blue—and away from the Obelisk. Luke began to breath again.
“Interbreeding,
“Really? So Sledge is part human?”
“Yes. Watch this,” said Jackov, pointing to the monitor.
The blue dots kept pressing, so the red dots tried to fall back on each other. But then a third and fourth group of blue dots appeared behind them. In apparent response, the red dots now tried to form a circle.
Jackov smiled. Still watching the monitor, he now relaxed a bit and continued more evenly: “Although insectoid in shape and social behavior—like ants—the Djin were warm-blooded and produced live young, not eggs. … Yes!” A small pocket of about a half-dozen red dots disappeared in a rapid series of flashes. There did not appear to be any more blue dot losses. “We started by retaining about a thousand young ones and fetuses of both sexes—of course killing all the rest. …”
“Of course.”
“… They also have a short gestation period, so it took us only about 100 years to perfect the strain you see.”
“Now they call you master. So, are you part Djin also?”
“No,” Jackov looked at Luke and laughed. “That is just Sledge’s term.” He looked back at the monitor. “Like I said, they are very hierarchical. And, like some species, they imprint or fixate on a ‘parent’ figure virtually for life. … In their case, it just happens to be
“Convenient,” observed Luke.
The red dots proved unable to complete their circle, and the blue dots quickly surrounded and invested them. One by one the red dots winked out. In moments they were all gone. Watching, Luke just shook his head.
Jackov nodded approvingly, then turned his attention to the Orbit monitor, showing Belli from deep space. He zoomed the view to a particular section of near-space. It showed a single red triangle, flanked by two blue ones. “This is a replay,” Jackov explained. “Happened about the same time as what we just saw.”
Jackov still watched both monitors, but was now much less hurried describing Sledge and his companions: “One of our first field tests with our Djin was in a war against Teutonica. Just a battalion, but they were most effective. It literally put the fear of god into the Teutonics,” Jackov laughed. “The Teutonics even formed a silly religious sect as a way to increase home morale and organize opposition. Something called the ‘Whisperers.’”
Startled, Luke looked from the monitors to stare at Jackov.
Streaks of light on the monitor indicated a rapid exchange of fire between the red triangle and its two attackers. Most shots initially missed as the triangles maneuvered around one another.
“Over time we developed the Djin primarily as clones, although we did try a few other alternatives. They’re a self-controlled
Luke looked back at the screen. Flashes indicated both sides were beginning to score hits. “So Sledge is a thousand years old, too.”
“Not exactly. He’s cloned, not manbotted. Anyway, it’s only been about six hundred years since our final strain worked. The Sledge you know is probably the ninth or tenth generation since the original Sledge.”
One blue triangle now scored an obviously direct hit on the red. A second hit followed quickly from the other blue triangle. The red triangle glowed brightly for a second, then winked out completely. The blue triangles appeared completely unaffected.
“Probably?” snorted Luke, wincing at the sudden brightness on the screen. “If you are running these guys, don’t you know?”
With the battles done, Jackov sat back and laughed. “I’ve been in a statue, you know.”
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