This story's been added to the Ursa Major Awards Recommended Reading List for 2014, in the Anthropomorphic Short Fiction category!

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War Story
(From ‘Atshnegjir: Rebirth)
© 2006, 2014 by Walter Reimer
Rights reserved.

Art by  rjbartrop



Novy Korint
Sentawri System:

I woke up slow, some cursed bell ringing in my ear, and rolled over slightly. Why would she leave the com on? I tried to reach for it with my right arm, but it was pinned down somehow.

My tail slid out from under the blanket and silenced the alarm, then wound itself around the com unit and brought it to my ear. "Mmph?"

"Gorwan b’Shakdh? Gorwan Keshin b'Shakdh?"

As soon as I heard the voice I started to groan. It was my wing's duty officer.

"Ulnt, aana," I replied, yawning.

"Verify ID, Lieutenant. Now."

Damned officious brr’dakh.

The subcaptain probably never slept, either. The ‘Now’ wasn’t just him being irritating. If I didn’t speak up, Security would be around in moments, homing in on the com’s signal. I yawned again and recited, "Four two nan eight eight seven tvah seven four four four."

"Identity confirmed, Lieutenant.” His tone got a little less peremptory. “Your unit is scheduled to deploy tomorrow. This is a recall order. Report to the base at once." The connection ended before I could tell the bastard what I thought of him, and my tail replaced the com as I finally opened my eyes.

I found myself looking at a luscious pair of hairless breasts, the areolae nearly two fingers wide and a shade darker than the surrounding skin. So, that's what was pinning me down - I had almost forgotten. What was her name again? Oh, yes, Jiang something-or-other; met her in a bar. She slowly opened her eyes, probably roused by my movements and the sound of my voice. I can never get over the color of her eyes. They’re a perfect blue.

I smiled at her. "I have to get going, Jiang. I probably won't be back." She blinked at me several times and I realized that I had no idea if she understood me at all, and I'd never learned Terran Basic outside of a few words. I leaned forward and gently ran my muzzle over her lips. It's the closest any shlan can get to a human kiss, but she understood and I nestled next to her as I felt her fingers slide through my pelt. My hands slowly roamed over her. Powers, I love furless skin - it's so responsive.

Her smell? I won’t deny that humans stink to us shlani, but after enough time you can get used to anything.

Gradually I felt myself getting aroused by her responses, her actions, and her closeness. I gently rolled her onto her belly as my hands caressed her hips. She looked back at me and did one of those up-and-down things with her head that I think mean ‘yes’ - not that I needed any urging just then.

A bit later she got cleaned up, then watched me while I showered. Duty planetside, especially on a planet like Novy Korint, can be great. All the little comforts, like hot water, are still intact. It was nice of the humans here to give up as soon as we entered their system. I took a little time getting my uniform on and admiring myself in the mirror.

As you might have guessed, I'm in the Army. Tactical Air Department to be exact, but you can tell that easily enough by the sky-blue stripe down the side of my uniform. My unit had been rotated here from Kormorant when Novy Korint asked for inclusion in the Empire, and I managed to arrange a little bit of leave.

Jiang walked up to me and laid a hand on my arm, looking up at me. I honestly think she may have been sad to see me go. I smiled at her, my tail sliding around her waist in a tight hug, and I was out the door.

It was a beautiful day, sky clear and the air very mild. I'm not sure I liked the idea of that dim little sun shining in the sky but not every system is as ideal as your home might be. Me, I was born on Sankat; wonderful place. Several times I got passed by a groundcar with some Constabulary riding patrol, and they offered me a ride. I refused. It was just too nice a day to ride, even though the gravity was a bit heavier than what I'm accustomed to.

I figured the exercise would be a side benefit.

The spaceport was a hive of activity. There were transports being loaded up, loadmasters screaming, the usual. I checked in with that dhot of a duty officer and asked him where my transport was. Bay Ninety; good, another walk in good weather.

I'm sure you've seen one of these transports before. It's designed to land on ground or water, or hover on a-gravs while launching or recovering planes. Really a nice arrangement. Aka, here it was, a great monster of a ship, with room for a hundred planes and all the people needed to run things.

Two of my friends were at the top of the loading ramp conferring as I came up. Verun and Kavin; enh, they're about as alike as a jorhim and a korip. She's almost too tall to fit in her fighter, while he looks a bit on the delicate side (but don't let that fool you). Verun's face carries a long scar on it that she insisted she be allowed to keep. Squadron rumor has it that she threatened to kill the morphosurgeon when he tried to erase it. She got it when her plane was shot down on Fomalhaut.

"Aka, look who's here," she laughed as she saw me coming up the ramp. "How's it swinging, humanmifhek?"

I grinned. That's what they call me; human-lover. "Nice and loose, Verun. Care to try it out?" She laughed, and I noticed her move a bit closer to Kavin. Both are deeply in love with each other, and I suppose they'll get married when their service is done. At one time I thought they were going to propose to me too, but I'm not interested in being Kavin's co-husband.

"Who was she this time, Keshin?" Kavin asked.

"Her name was Jiang. A very nice female, too. From what I could understand she works clerical in a bank."

Verun snickered and her tail flicked across the front of my trousers. I dodged to avoid getting hit too hard as she sneered, "Did you make a deposit?"

I laughed as I walked past, my tail swatting her on the rear. "Several." The pair of them laughed as I entered the hangar deck and went to inspect my plane.

You might think putting a person in a plane and sending him willingly into a combat zone in this Year of Civilization is crazy, or redundant. Aka, the fact of the matter is that remote-control or computer-driven planes are part of our arsenal, but an enemy can jam them or corrupt their signals. No, you need a living mind at the controls for some things, and it's always been that way. And I wouldn't be in the army if I couldn't fly.

Artificial intelligence? Don’t even think about it. That’s one of the reasons we’re fighting the Terrani.

My plane was sitting in its launch cradle, wings tucked in hypersonic and wheels up, the perfect attitude if you launch from a carrier at high altitude. It's an RKZ, a fighter and patrol aircraft. It's not spaceworthy, but one fast mover in atmosphere. Its ion pulse engine can run for two days without recharge, and it's an awfully forgiving plane.

I ran my hands and tail over the wings and fuselage, then went updeck to my quarters.

I downloaded some news and letters from home to my desk terminal and read them. The news from home was pretty tame, and my younger brother's wife was expecting their third child. I then took off my uniform and stretched out on the bed and fell asleep.

For some reason, I dreamt of Jiang.

I was awakened by a stomach-dropping lurch and I lay still as I felt a soft vibration through the bedframe. We'd lifted off and I almost slept through it. I got up and flipped on the desk terminal, switching it to the exterior monitors.

It was pretty dark outside except for dazzlingly bright lights on the ground. Our transport just kept going straight up, leaving Novy Korint far behind. I shut off the monitors before we inphased. There’s no sense in watching that - you see it once and it never changes.

Figuring it was time to get something to eat, I pulled on a fatigue jumpsuit - pilot blue but pretty grimy; I like to tinker sometimes - and went down to the commissariat. I got myself a tray and settled down, waving or greeting friends and wingmates. Most greeted me with ‘humanlover’ again. I suppose it's a better term than zooerast, but humans are sophonts too. They just look different.

A hard slap on my shoulder and Kavin sat down beside me, his tail snaking into my lap. "So," he said, "we're off again."

I smiled around a mouthful of food, swallowing. "True. Sol System."

His eyes widened as his pupils narrowed. "How'd you find that out?"

My tail wrapped around his and squeezed in a friendly way as I took a sip of my henal. "It was on the computer. Ship's infonet."

"Shit," he groused, "I need to check that every once in a while. ‘Ik, Keshin, interested in coming with me to the gymnasium after you eat? A few of us are getting a game of wearam together."

I smiled. Contact sports – apart from sex - aren't really my style. "No, thank you, Kavin."

He shrugged. "Suit yourself," and he got up and walked away. I finished my meal and went to the gym.

I stripped down after setting the weights up, and dialed the gravity up to twice normal. Damn, but you really feel it in your knees. I went to the weight bench and began my workout. Cycles later I was wringing wet with sweat, so I reset the grav units and put the weights away, then got cleaned up. Ship's info said there would be a pre-drop briefing the next day, and I really wanted to relax, so I dropped by the dispensary.

The dispensarist gave me a small green lozenge, a mild soporific; perfect. I went back to my room and got into bed before taking it, and as I chewed it slowly I watched as the walls seemed to spread outward and the ceiling seemed to recede to infinity. I think I fell asleep at that point.


*********


The next day the entire wing was waiting in the briefing hall when the adjutant screamed "Dalfor!"

We all came to attention, straight and proud, tails high. The commanding general of our wing came in and said, "Be at ease, pilots.

"I want you all to know that we've entered Sol System." I winked at Kavin, and he gave me a dirty gesture with his tail. "According to Fleet reports, Terra has already fallen. Our objective is the second planet insystem, local name Afrodite." A large holoprojector lit up with an image of a pretty planet with lots of water. "Gravity's higher than standard so watch yourselves. You'll also notice the fact there isn't much land, so the surface navy's running search-and-rescue in case you have to eject over water.

"There are no planetary defenses, so inserting you will be easy. You'll need to be wary of air defenses and some smart munitions that have survived. The watchword is be careful, pilots. Full data downloads are being sent to each plane's computer as well as your own comppads.

"We'll be outphasing in three cycles, and insertion's scheduled for two cycles after that. Dismissed." I went straight to my quarters as the meeting broke up.

Some pilots, you see, get nervy, almost cocky at the prospect of battle. I get quiet and keep to myself. I took my time getting cleaned up, brushing my fur and slipping into my flight suit and battle harness. I slipped on my boots and hopped a bit, testing the flexible metal soles, then took my sidearm from its locker and strapped it on. My flight suit is actually a tiny miracle of engineering; in a tight spot it can keep me alive for about two kershi in complete vacuum. I took my helmet from its rack and went to the hangar deck.

The maintenance crew helped me into the plane as I strapped in snugly and put my helmet on, connecting the air supply and starting the powerup sequencer. Hmm, the armorers gave me a full weapons loadout, with enough firepower to keep me well protected. Power cells at full charge and everything in the black. I settled back in my seat and glanced up at the small design etched into the canopy frame.

I'm not religious, and few people are these days. But I feel like I need something at times, so I etched into the metal a likeness of the Deity Sek'tol, which governs luck, hospitality and is supposed to look after travelers.

'Ik, every little bit helps.

I tense a bit as the other pilots scramble in, climbing into their planes and getting things ready. The maintenance crews head out of the hangar deck as a prolonged trembling fills the entire ship. We're cutting atmosphere.

My ship pitches forward and down in its cradle as the floor of the hangar folds away, revealing a pitch-black sky. So, they're launching us at night. Through my transparisteel canopy I can hear a high-pitched howl of wind swirling into the hangar. My comm system whispers in my ears: "One sterom to insertion. Stand by."

That one fraction seems to drag on forever.

Then - a metallic pop! A sickening downward lurch and I plummet groundward.

I fall maybe a full bevek before I power up the drive, then I put my hands on the control harness and test the controls. Damn but the air's thick, even at this altitude. I pull out of my dive and follow my map, heading for my patrol sector.

The indicated area is mostly ocean, with five large islands and about twelve smaller ones scattered about. I settle down and relax. There’s nothing showing on sensors, nothing but black sky, dark ocean and stars. Just me and my plane and my joy in flying. Out of sheer playfulness I snap the wings out to full extension and do a few rolls.

Damn!

The threat receiver goes off loud enough to split my skull. There’s an energy source to my left, and from the sensor signature it’s possibly an old-style pulsecannon. Old it may be, but it could cause a troop carrier some grief. I turn toward it and send two missiles streaking after its power trace. I'm about to change course when the damned threat sensor goes off again, this time louder.

Missile. Shit, I walked into the oldest trap in the books - distract the pilot and flip a missile at him when his back's turned. Two missiles. I start radical evasive twists and turns, switching on my countermeasures package. Three missiles. The sky's getting busy.

Damn it, they’re smart missiles, and they aren't being fooled. I fold my wings and dive straight for the ruins of the pulsecannon, then pull up fast. One missile doesn't pull up fast enough and flies into the ground, leaving two left. I cut my engine and turn hard to the right, and another missile goes flying off in the wrong direction.

But the third keeps after me. I put on full thrust and start climbing.

I see the flash out of the corner of one eye and feel its effects instantly. The thing blew awfully close to my left wing, and my controls are getting really soft. Still have enough power, though, and maybe I can set it down somewhere. Sensors are starting to go blue on me, but the map's still good. A large island off to the left; great!

I bring the wings out fully, increasing its lift so I can glide a bit. The controls are really bad now. As I make my approach the plane lurches to the left as a main spar gives way. My plane and I hit the ground sliding. The left wing rips away at the roots and I flip to my left side, the plane's skid curving from the odd shape and the off-center mass.

Sparks start to fly from the panels as two dark shapes rush up at me. I can just make them out through the canopy. Suddenly there’s a terrific grinding shock, a tug, the sensation of flying and everything went completely black.


*********


Darkness; then a falling sensation, a hard impact, then water. Water! I can feel it on my fur, which means my suit's punctured. I have no idea how deep the water is.

Belatedly I remember that I can't swim.

I flounder and claw my way to the surface, finding a muddy embankment and crawling up it. My face mask's full of water, so I pull my helmet off and toss it aside. A few coughs and I don't recall anything past that.

How long was I out? No idea; the first thing I did was to open my eyes. Morning, obviously. I glance at my helmet and wince in sympathy. I didn't think you could damage a helmet like that. I roll over on my back and take inventory.

Suit, ripped up in spots, and my sidearm is gone. Some cuts and bruises, I think, and a ringing headache. I go to stand up and fall back down as pain rockets through me.

Powers, my right leg's broken. I can feel the upper thigh bones grinding together. My tail is still pretty well-off, though, and following my emergency medical training I wrap it around my leg as a type of compression splint and start to crawl up the bank.

I stop face-to-face with a drainage pipe as big as my head.

I blink and refocus. No, it’s not a drainage pipe. It only looked that way since it was a finger's width from my eyes. It's a projectile weapon.

I look up and see an older human male holding the weapon pointed at me. We look at each other for a while. Very slowly I move my arms out to the sides and spread my fingers wide. See human? I'm unarmed, cold, wet, hurt, and – what the?

I can feel something crawling around in my suit!

The human raises his voice, and I find myself wishing I knew what he was saying. Two more humans arrive, both male. They slide down the bank and start to search me. Not gently. One of them twists my bad leg and I have to avoid lashing out since that weapon's still aimed at my head. I have no idea what it could do, but it'd probably make a mess of my good looks. One reaches into my tattered flight suit and pulls out a squirming, pale-fleshed wormlike thing which he casually tosses back into the water. They roll me onto my back and I get a really good look at what happened.

My plane - or what's left of it - is wedged between two trees. The wreckage of my canopy means I must have been thrown through it. The waterhole I landed in looks like a sinkhole or an ancient crater filled partway with water. Either way, it's still nasty.

The pair help me up on my feet and I can't help but cry out now. One of them accidentally drove his knee into my thigh. They exchange words and put me back down. This time the older one steps back, but keeps his gun ready. I glance at him.

Don't worry, Father, I don't bite and you have nothing to fear from me.
There is a sound of machinery, and a small vehicle with a flat space on the back appears. It pulls up and they help me into it, then drive off. I'm happy enough to be out of that hole, so I just lie there nice and quiet, my hands on my chest, and wonder where they're taking me.

A set of small buildings comes into view, and I guess I landed on a farm or something - the briefing said Afrodite was mostly agricultural. The vehicle stops, I get hauled to my feet and half-carried into one of the buildings. Awfully nice of them, except when they dump me on my back in the middle of the floor. I wince as my head starts to hurt again, and I blink up at the people around me.

Old male human, old female human, two mature copies of him and one of her, and one little one - quite the family. The Old Male (I guess I'd better call him that) sticks that gun back in my face and I lie there meekly while everybody else, armed with rags and lots of water, clean me up sort of haphazardly.

One of them starts to move my tail and I try to stop him.

A jab in my ear with that damned gun. Thanks for the reminder, Father. I lie there as my tail gets unwrapped from around my leg, and strong fingers dig into my thigh. "You know," I say and don't really care if they understand me or not, "if you want to torture me you're doing it the right way." The one giving my leg the massage stops and says something, and the younger female goes running. She comes back maybe a fraction later with a box.

The male takes out splints. So, he's trying to help; I expect no better since, after all, I dropped in on them unannounced. The other young male looks up at the Old Male and leaves the house after a short conversation. The older female fills a cup with water and offers it to me as the male backs off enough to let me sit up a little.

Although my face isn't exactly built for it and I'm hurting pretty badly, I manage a human smile before I gulp down the water. "Thank you," I say, which is just good manners on my part.

The male works carefully and after a while has my leg all taped up while the youngest male drapes a plastic sheet over a chair. I get helped to my feet and sit down rather heavily in the chair. As time has passed I'm more aware of my injuries now. There's a dull throbbing in my shoulders, beating in time with my skull. I slump in the chair, tail trailing along slackly over my boots and up into my lap. I look at the Old Male and say, "You can put the gun away, Father. I'm not going anywhere. Too tired."

He talks back at me, and the only words I can catch are ‘Kashlan’ and ‘Afrodite.’ Well, a failure in communications means only one thing, so I lapse back into silence. I gently raise one hand and wince - the pain in my shoulder just got worse. How many things have I broken today?

I can't help but laugh as I take the inventory: my plane, my helmet, my leg, my shoulders, my head . . .

While time passes, the Old Male and the females talk, never taking their eyes off me. I try to make meaningless conversation, talking about their world, the weather, anything that can keep me from falling asleep. If I've got a concussion, it's the worst thing I can do.

Once they offer me something to eat, but I keep my mouth firmly closed. The first thing they drill into your heads when operating in alien space is if it didn’t come out of your ration pack or the commissariat, don’t eat it. I have no intention of adding poisoning to my list of health problems.

My ears perk as I hear a low-pitched thrum getting nearer. The sound dies away and the male who left earlier comes stampeding in, jabbering excitedly. The Old Male puts the gun away just as a shlan pokes his head in the door.

"Lieutenant? You all right?" The male's Army Ground Forces, and his uniform's left sleeve shows a series of vertical orange stripes.

A medic!

"Sergeant, am I glad to see you!" I exclaim. "No, I'm not all right. My plane crashed."

He smiles as he unslings his medpack and starts to run a scanner over me. "Yes, I heard. We've been looking for you after your transport reported you missing. This human found us and brought us here." He grunts. "Aka, you're pretty badly off, Lieutenant, but forty days in the infirmary will set you right."

Two other soldiers come in, fingering their weapons nervously. "'Ik, it's fine, males," I tell them, "there's nothing in here to worry about."

The two soldiers, both senior privates, sling their rifles and help me up, half-carrying me to the waiting jumpcar. We pause as the small human comes running up to me. He's got my helmet in his hands, and he holds it up to me.

I look at it, then take it in my left hand and examine it. It’s a total loss; I'll have to get a new one from Supply.

I smile human-style and put it on the child's head. "Keep it," I tell him, and we get into the jumpcar, which rises swiftly on its a-gravs and flies off.

The medic starts undoing my splints. "So, did those humans take you in, sir?"

I smile. "No, I was their prisoner." He looks up sharply, as do the soldiers. I start to laugh. "I ended up on their property, they took me prisoner, and gave me the best care they could."

Slowly they start to see the joke too and chuckle. "But right now," I said, "I want a bed and a bath. Has my wing grounded yet?"

"Yes, sir," one of the soldiers said.

I lean back on the cushions, letting myself fall into sleep. "Good, wake me when we get home."

Who knows, I think to myself, maybe there’s something to Sek’tol after all . . .


end