Rebel's Revenge Chapter 17

Chapter 17



As he entered the cave he halted for the short amount of time it took for his eyesight to adjust to the dimness, and then headed back towards the rear. After about a hundred feet he could sense the presence of others.

"We're not being followed," he said to the darkness, "Move back to the entrance to the cave and we'll discuss our options." Without looking further he turned and headed for the bright opening. He watched as they slowly came into the light at the cave entrance. There were six of his team, Himself, Henri, Chris and Gary, General Zanik, and Throwar, and there were six of the female warriors, five in yellow tunics and one in a blue tunic. Evidently Tom Thumb and Appius had been with the other part of the squadron which had fled to safety. The females sat on one side of the cave, the men on the other, each eyeing the other with heavy suspicion but not open hostility.

Monday could see the distrust in the eyes of the female warriors; he could also sense their tension. After all, they had held them captive a few short hours ago, now the odds were even. Not quite even, he knew he could eliminate all six of the warriors by himself if it comes to that, but he desperately needed allies, not enemies.

"Hemdall followed you back down the ravine," Henri stated, "he wouldn't listen to reason."

"Hemdall got himself killed," Monday replied, "the price of arrogance and stupidity." Henri knew there was no need for further details.

"How do we communicate with them?" he asked Henri, setting down next to him.

"English is out of the question," Henri replied. "I think some of them may understand the language of the Northlanders or Vikings as you call them since they've been raiding them for centuries."

"Give it a try."

Henri spoke some Viking language to the women, slow enough so that Monday could follow with his rudimentary knowledge.

"We who were slaves would be your friends," Henri said, his tone soft, his face smiling.

The female warriors looked at each other then at the young pretty one who seemed to understand.

"Why?" Aileea questioned in the tongue of the Sea People, which this man had spoken.

"She speaks Norse," Henri said to Monday. "Odd accent but understandable."

"I understood what she said," Monday replied. "Tell her we are not her enemies, that our mission to her country was an exploration in peace. We do not have any hatred for them because of our capture. We seek only peace."

Henri spoke at length to the young warrior who looked at him then turned to her companions.

"They want to be friends," Aileea said to her companions, "or at least they want to form an alliance with us against those others."

It was Senior Sergeant Tobeia who spoke. "I saw the way the tall handsome male handled the slovenly male warriors," she said. "He dealt death quickly. He had no malice in his eyes, he could have prolonged their deaths, and he could have killed us at any time he wished. He I think is a man of honor, a great warrior, and probably a leader among his people."

"Have we a choice," Janeea stated, "they are all well-armed now with the odd weapons of the strange men and the spears of our warriors."

Aileea looked at Monday when she spoke to Henri. "You have the weapons," she stated, "what choice do we have."

Monday understood enough of what she said to get the message across.

"Give them your weapons," he ordered.

His men looked at him in surprise but quickly lay their weapons on the ground before the female warriors. After all, Monday always knew what he was doing.

"They lay their weapons before us," Taileea remarked.

"The handsome one could kill all of us before we could reach the weapons," Senior Sergeant Tobeia stated, in a matter of fact voice. The young Ensigns knew she made this statement from years of combat experience and not from mere supposition.

"What are your terms," she asked, "do we share joint command and decisions?"

"No," Monday quickly stated, looking at the sudden suspicion on her face. "I will command. We cannot have a committee to make decisions, some of which must be made in a hurry. That is far too dangerous for all of us. As for decisions which we have the time to discuss in detail, you will be consulted on them if it involves you and your soldiers."

Aileea took the time to explain what he had said to her companions.

"He's right about command decisions," Senior Sergeant Tobeia stated, "He's combat wise as well as handsome."

"Does he know these men who shot our squadron down?" asked Taileea, "he appears to be very familiar with the weapons he took from those men he killed."

She put the question to Monday and Henri.

"They say they have no idea who these men are," she answered. "As for the weapons they are similar to the ones we took from them when we captured them."

"I agree with Senior Sergeant Tobeia," stated Nyleea, one of the young Cavalry warriors who had survived. "We are faced with something we know nothing about and I trust this tall man with the gray eyes."

"So do I," chimed in her friend Karleea, the other Cavalry warrior.

"We are agreed to the alliance," Aileea told Monday and Henri. "Where do we go from here?"

Monday picked up one of the weapons and looked at it in closer detail. The basic operation appeared to be like that of an old time M-1 Garand. The ammo casing was flared near the primer like that used in the AK-47, but was at least a 7.62 caliber round. A twenty round magazine was locked in a well beneath the breach opening yet there didn't appear to be an automatic selector lever anywhere that he could find. There were numbers along the left side of the weapon, Arabic numerals, but they meant nothing except possibly the serial number of this particular rifle.

"What do you make of this Henri," he said, passing the weapon to him.

"A bit more modern than what I'm used to seeing," Henri replied, passing the rifle to General Zanik, who took time to examine it in detail.

"Sort of like an M-14," Grady replied, but also like the M-1. I can't identify it."

"One thing for certain," Monday stated, "this creates an entirely new factor in the overall scheme of things. Between your men Henri and my people at the settlement I had no doubt we could handle the primitive female warriors this territory, or country or empire seems to have. Finding another civilization which has anti-aircraft weapons and automatic rifles is another thing altogether. Our first priority must be to make a reconnaissance of this area to determine their numbers, what weapons they have at their disposal, and their political infrastructure. They could pose a very serious threat to us."

He motioned for Henri to repeat what he had said to the female leader...., whatever her name was.

Henri turned to the females and explained what Monday had said. "She calls herself Ensign Aileea," he replied, after she had talked with her warriors. "She says to continue."

"We know these men have already attacked her people," Monday stated, pointing for Henri to continue his translation, "but we don't know if this attack is a result of a border dispute between them or if their intentions are to conquer her country."

"She indicates this is the first time they have ever seen these aggressors," Henri stated.

"So it's safe to assume they may have plans to conquer her people. If I understand my geography from where we left on this little expedition, their borders are next to the land of the Vikings and we're only two hard day's march north of the Vikings. If these people conquer her people that will put them within a few days striking distance of our settlement, and who knows what other modern weapons they have at their disposal."

"That makes it absolutely clear that we have no choice but to find out as much about them as we can," General Zanik stated. "In fact, we may have become allied with these women whether they liked it or not."

"You're right Grady," Monday replied, "but after what I saw in one of those draws on the way here, I think these female warriors will prefer our alliance to an alliance with these unknown men."

His look gave them all the information they needed or wanted to know.

"What's first?" asked Chris, still eyeing the women with suspicion.

"First we round up some food and locate a water source, then, on a full belly we'll make some plans," Monday replied. "Henri I'd appreciate it if you stayed here and gave the females a detailed background on who we are and what we stand for. Grady if you and Chris will start gathering some smokeless firewood and get some coals going, I'll take Gary and Throwar and head for the supermarket."

"No problem Top," Henri replied, finally reverting to the name that Monday's men called him. He turned and explained to the female warriors what Monday had said.

"I think we got lucky and got us a smart leader," Senior Sergeant Tobeia stated, looking at the young women around her. "Let's get comfortable and listen to what this warrior in black has to say." They each nodded in agreement, noticing that Monday did not take the strange weapons but instructed his men to take the lances instead. "Too noisy," Aileea casually thought, as they disappeared down the ravine.

Two hundred yards before the end of the ravine Monday ordered Gary and Throwar up the side. No need to advertise to anyone who may happen by while they were hunting food that they had come from the ravine. From the height of the small hill they surveyed the surrounding countryside. There was no sign of movement anywhere. Hemdall's body still lay in the open where he had been shot down. They slowly made their way down the brush covered hill and by using as much cover from the brush as possible, worked their way towards the thickly forested area. As they slowly progressed through the thick forest they begin to see signs of the last battle. Dead female warriors, dead birds, most carved up, and tracks leading off in all directions. He ordered the boys to police up whatever weapons they could find.

After half an hour they came to the area where Monday had rescued the female warriors. Here they encountered what appeared to be vehicle tracks in the soft earth. They led off in a southerly direction. The men Monday had killed, and the other two, were still lying where they had fallen. Feeling somewhat disgusted, Monday rolled the bodies over and inspected the bodies for personal effects. There was nothing. No papers, no food containers, wallets, money, nothing at all. Someone had picked them clean.

Backtracking up the side of the depression he found the bows and quivers of arrows the female warriors had left lying in the grass. He picked them up and shared their weight equally between the three of them. They had seen no sign of wild game. Evidently the battle had scared the normal animal life away from this area.

They continued to head back towards the ravine in a circular direction to cover part of the woods they had not been through. There were signs here also, dead birds, several bodies of female warriors, and something which stopped Monday cold.

What appeared to be the imprints of tank treads had chewed up the soft earth. Many of them. They were either tanks, personnel carriers, or some type of all-terrain vehicles which used treads for locomotion. They were headed in a northeasterly direction. He pointed them out to Gary who shook his head in a knowing way, Throwar looking confused.

They made most of the way back to the ravine without spotting wild game of any kind. Less than half a mile from the ravine opening they found a small stream of ice cold water. They poured out the old water and refilled the skin jugs they had liberated from the saddles of the dead birds from the fresh running spring. Suddenly, off to his right Monday caught movement. He cautioned the others to lie down and be quiet. For five minutes he scanned the sparse terrain leading off towards the hills without seeing anything, and then movement again caught his eye.

It was one of the giant birds the female warriors used as flying mounts and it was badly crippled. Its entire right leg had been blown off and it was lying in the bushes slowly dying from loss of blood. He motioned for Gary and Throwar to follow him and headed for the bird. As they came close, he could tell from the glazed look in the animal's eyes it didn't have long to live. He took one of the large arrow like spears and quickly pushed it into the animal’s breast, bringing forth a quick gush of air and blood as the animal died.

"Dinner," he stated, pulling a knife he had liberated and pointing at the bird.