Rebel's Revenge - Chapter 23

Chapter 23



There was no pursuit that he could see. They had been driving with their lights off as there was plenty of light from the planet's three moons which had risen to the right. Within half an hour they made it to the end of the desert and back into the cover of the woods. Five minutes later they halted at the stream where Monday had told Mike to hide his people. He flashed his lights on and off twice, and then called out.

"Mike, this is Monday," he called out in a low voice.

He spotted several shadow figures leave the rocks around the stream and head in his direction. It was Mike and the man called Tony Boy.

"Where'd you get these Getmees?" Mike questioned his eyes bright in the moonlight.

"We more or less borrowed them from Colonel Dig's motor pool," Monday replied. "Any problems since we left?"

"None."

"Have your people load up. We'll drive on for a while to put a little distance between us and Albuquerque then camp for the night."

Half an hour later Monday pulled up to the crest of a small hill with a thick growth of trees to hide the vehicles in. A rock formation jutted up to the right side of the hill and he ordered Mike to post a guard there and make sure it was manned throughout the night. He then told the people they could start a small fire down in the recesses of a small gulley if they wanted to cook something to eat. To his surprise, the back of the third Getmee contained five large wooden cases of canned goods and other items he couldn't identify in the dark. There was food enough for all.

Grady explained their trip into town and how Monday had fooled the gunmen by pretending to be one of their own intelligence officers. Most of the men were in awe at this daring act and laughed at how easy it had been to fool the scum.

"You can bet this Colonel Dig will have men out looking for us at day break," Monday stated, "so we must be ready to leave this position as soon as it's light enough to travel by. Hopefully, we destroyed most of his vehicles but I'm sure he can scrape enough up to put out a roving recon patrol, and no matter how hard we try we're bound to leave some tracks in this soft woodland soil. Plus, we don't know how far we can go in these vehicles before they run out of power."

"I looked at the ohmmeters," the Professor stated, "and they were almost fully charged. We should get at least another ten thousand miles out of them."

Monday and Grady were shocked.

"How's that possible," Monday asked?

"Forgot, you're not from our time line or world line," the Professor replied. "You must remember, we were in a state of undeclared war for almost twenty five years. Oil reserves ran out as fast as we could find them. Therefore, our scientists worked day and night on alternate energy sources. They tried the atomic path but could never reduce the power sources to manageable sizes. A few years ago they came up with an amazing battery which could store megawatts of power. About the same time they came up with the pulsarator, which could be used to charge a battery while the vehicle was running. So, each vehicle has two batteries. One, you use to drive on which has enough power to last for about ten thousand miles, and the other which is constantly charged while you drive. Almost the perpetual motion machine."

"So, in effect, these machines will drive forever if we take care of them," Grady stated.

"Not quite," the professor replied. "There's a chemical in each battery which must be replaced about every fifty thousand miles or the batteries begin to meteorite rapidly."

"That's why your weapons appeared to be a bit more advanced than ours," Monday stated, "you had a need for improvement."

"It's a proven fact," the Professor replied, "more inventions are created in time of war or possible war than at any other time, and when you have a period of constant conflict like we did, large advances in war technology were achieved."

"That makes it even more imperative that we return to Albuquerque and salvage the University library," Monday replied. "We can use whatever we can find to fight the unknown terrors of this world. We came close to total extinction in our fight with the Tyberian Empire."

"Maybe God destroyed our civilization because of those weapons," Mike stated, chewing on a piece of canned ham. "Maybe he didn't mean for us to have them."

"Maybe God brought us to this planet for a reason," Grady stated, "but I don't think it was to bring us untold light years from earth to laugh at us while we all died."

"Maybe God picked up scattered pieces of civilization from all worlds and threw them here to see how well they could live with each other," the Professor added.

"And its possible God had nothing at all to do with any of it," Monday replied, "who knows what forces exist in the universe that intelligent beings have never thought or even dreamed of? We better call it a night and get some rest, tomorrow will be a long day."

They awoke to a bright clear day. The people were loaded onto the Getmees and they were on their way before the sun had cleared the tree tops. Monday checked the terrain as they traveled but could see no signs of wheel marks. He and Grady each drove one vehicle and the Professor drove the third, their driving skills improving as they tried to stay to the high ground so as to leave as few tracks as possible.

In less than an hour they were driving through terrain which Monday recognized as being near the cave where he'd left their party. He scanned the surrounding hills then made a beeline for a hill to his left front. Sure enough, there was the entrance to the small ravine up which the cave was safely hidden.

"Monday climbed down from the vehicle and looked at the rise next to the ravine. It took a few minutes but he eventually spotted two figures sitting behind a clump of bushes observing the small convoy.

"Come on down Chris, Gary," he yelled, "it's me and Grady. The two figures stood up and slowly made their way down the small hill.

"Well I'll be," Chris exclaimed, "where'd you get the vehicles?

"Long story," Monday replied, "how about running up to the cave and have Henri join us in that clump of trees over there," he pointed at a small grouping of trees about two hundred yards away. "Tell him to bring everything and be ready to travel."

Chris took off at a fast trot up the ravine and Monday signaled Grady and the Professor to follow him to the clump of trees. As they arrived he faced them in three different directions like a wagon train then climbed down from the cab of the one he was driving.

Checking the terrain behind them for any sign of pursuit, he saw none, then sat down on a fallen tree to rest and take a drink of water. Gary was looking at him with an expectant stare.

"Anything happen while we were away?" he asked Gary, wiping his face with a wet hand.

"We managed to find several of the big birds and cut them up for cooking," Gary replied, somewhat hesitant. "We found no new tracks from the strange men. Where did all these people come from?"

"I'll explain as soon as the others get here," Monday replied, watching the ravine. He could tell from Gary's hesitation that he was hiding something from him.

Ten minutes later Henri came walking out of the ravine followed by the others. He spotted Henri, Chris, Throwar, and four of the female warriors. Two of the females were missing, Aileea and Senior Sergeant Tobeia.

"Where did you get these vehicles?" asked Henri, rushing up and grabbing Monday's shoulder, "and these people?"

"Have a seat and I'll explain," Monday answered. "First, where are Aileea and Tobeia?

"We went out early yesterday after you left looking for the birds and for sign of the enemy," Henri stated. "Aileea and Tobeia insisted on going with us. Several hours later we found one of the Gahns alive but with a bruised leg. Aileea insisted that she be allowed to return to the closest garrison to warn her people of the danger of the enemy we ran into. I argued with her, but she's a real stubborn one Monday. She wouldn't listen even when I tried to pull rank on her. Sergeant Tobeia tried to persuade her to wait, but when she refused, Tobeia went with her on the Gahn."

"I'm sure you tried your best," Monday stated, trying to sound sincere. Have a seat and I'll fill you in on the last thirty hours or so."

"It's a sure bet that this Snake person is moving right in to conquer the Allach Empire," Henri stated, "and he has quite a jump on us. The women told me their capitol is about three hundred and fifty miles in a north easterly direction from here. Figuring that his army can march an average of eight miles to the hour, given twenty hours of daylight, that'll put them pretty close to the capitol by now. What do you recommend Top?"

"Our first obligation is to our own people," Monday replied, aware that he was thinking of Aileea. "Even with their speed Dhar and the Ionar scouts are still a long distance away from the settlement. With these machines we can probably be there about the same time as they are. I suggest we head directly for our own people then decide what course of action we take from there."

"If you figure an average of eighteen miles per hour over this rough terrain, and eighteen hours a day minus lunch and breaks, we should be able to reach the settlement within two days," Henri stated, "even with detours around impassable areas."

"Well, let's get to it," Monday replied. "Henri, you ride with the professor and learn how to drive one of these things. Chris, you and Gary double up with me and Grady and do the same. Keep your eyes peeled for any signs of pursuit. Since this is Allach territory I recommend you take the lead Henri and get your bearings from that Ensign Janeea or whatever her name is and keep to the far western boundary of their Empire. I'll take the rear with Gary and the other Ensign, Taileea. Keep your eyes on the rearview mirrors and if anyone needs to stop for any reason, pull over to the right. Maintain at least fifty yards between vehicles except for when we stop, and then pull into a defensive circle like we're parked in now. Any questions?"

They made very good time. The only time they had to stop unannounced was when Monday noticed trash and empty cans being thrown from the back of the Getmee in front of him. He was extremely mad and stopped the convoy and thoroughly chewed out those inside then made them backtrack for several miles picking up the trash. Other than that single episode, the day progressed as if they were out for a joy ride in the country. They continued to drive until it became too dark to safely see the terrain around them then pulled into a bivouac site on the slope of a small hill with plenty of cover to hide the Getmees. There had been no signs of pursuit throughout the day.

Monday climbed down from the cab and stood for a minute stretching his stiff limbs. He was so hungry he could have eaten a horse, literally. He walked a hundred yards downwind from the bivouac and emptied his bladder which was near the bursting point with a sigh of relief.

"My odometer indicates we made four hundred and eleven miles today," Henri stated, joining Monday and emptying his own bladder, "pretty damn good in this terrain."

"Should put us into the settlement by noon tomorrow barring any unforeseen complications," Monday replied. "Terrain's become pretty rocky, should help in hiding our trail. I'll take the lead tomorrow, you take drag. Keep your eyes out for those idiots from Mike's people. They have a stupid habit of throwing their trash out the back of the vehicle. I told them today if I saw it happen again I'd zip up the back of their tarp and they'd ride the rest of the way in darkness."

Early the next morning they came to the same broad river which Monday and his party had traveled down in search of the kidnapped children. They took the bank up the right side of the river until several sharp cliffs barred their way. Monday pulled over and signaled for the others to form a defensive circle. He approached the Professor as soon as they had secured the area.

"You told me these vehicles will float, Professor," He asked, "what do we have to do to get them ready?"

"Nothing," the Professor answered. "The electrical components and batteries are triple sealed. The tires have special flotation foam inside them which has enough buoyancy to float the entire vehicle. On your instrument panel you'll find a switch for an intake and exhaust fan. As soon as you enter the water, hit this switch and a powerful induction fan will give you enough exhaust for mobility. There are rudder appendages near each wheel which will help to guide the vehicle in the water just by turning the wheel. Very simple."

The river was no more than a hundred yards wide at this point and the banks sloped gently down to the water’s surface on both sides. There was no better place to cross if the vehicles could truly float as the Professor stated.

"You go across first Grady," Monday stated. "As soon as you get there set up a security perimeter. I'll send the Professor across next, and then follow him."

They had absolutely no problem crossing the river, the vehicles performed beautifully. An hour before noon they came to a small ridge overlooking the valley of the settlement. As Monday looked down into the beautiful valley his heart came up into his throat. It was a clear sunny autumn day and it was so peaceful and beautiful looking, like a small alpine village nestled in the emerald green slopes of Switzerland with the Alps in the background.