Clidepp Requital Read Online Free Page B

here to watch your backs until you take off. There's no question that the third fighter is incapacitated. Give us thirty minutes to get into position near the rebels before you start the engines. Then take off when you feel comfortable with the controls. After you complete your mission, park your fighters in the clearing where we left the shuttles and stand by for new orders. Confirm."
    "Confirmed," both pilots said.
    * * *
    The fighter roared over the rebel camp in what was, locally, the middle of the night. Everyone had been asleep and staggered out of their shelters, trying to comprehend what was happening.
    Sydnee completed a three-sixty, coming in so low on the second pass that leaves on the ground rustled from the trailing vortices. The rebels dropped flat to the ground, sure the fighter was attempting to land in the camp clearing until it disappeared over the trees again. Weems, in the other fighter, completed wide, looping circles around the camp at three hundred feet above ground level. After Sydnee had completed several more ground-shaking passes, she headed for the clearing where the shuttles were parked. Weems broke off and followed.
    "What's going on, Currulla?" one of the rebels shouted.
    "Like I know," Currulla said testily.
    "That looked like a Clidepp fighter," another said.
    "Yeah," several more chimed in as they stood up.
    Following Colonel Suflagga's death, military discipline had all but disappeared. Perimeter sentries were never posted at night, and recently they had even been lax with keeping campfires burning all night since they had never been bothered by creatures unless they entered a swamp. Besides, the fires only attracted more insects.
    "Light the fires," Currulla said. "I think we're about to have visitors."
    "You think our rescue ship is finally here?"
    "Yes, but not one from our people."
    "What do you mean?" someone asked.
    "I think the Spaccs have finally come for us."
    "Everybody grab your weapons," someone screamed.
    "No!" Currulla screamed. "No weapons. Put your hands on your heads."
    "You intend to surrender?" someone shouted.
    "Would you rather spend the rest of your life on this miserable planet? It's a pretty good bet our own people aren't coming to get us, and I want off this mud-ball. If we resist, they might decide to leave us here. This is the GA, not the Clidepp Empire. That means there are no death camps here. A clean prison cell with clean clothes, hot food, and a peaceful nighttime without biting insects would be a thousand times better than this life."
    Currulla punctuated his remarks by dropping the knife and scabbard he had in his belt to the ground and placing his hands on his head. A second later, one of the other rebels joined him. Like a ripple spreading out on a pond, the rebels dropped the meager weapons they had and put their hands on their heads.
    * * *
    "Well, I'll be damned," Burrows muttered to himself as he witnessed the spectacle of complete surrender before he had demanded it and even before he had announced the presence of his platoon among the trees that surrounded the camp clearing. On Com-Two, he said, "Lt. MacDonald, light up the area now that the fighters have left."
    Several hover-flares streaked skyward from somewhere among the tree cover and held position over the camp area as they blossomed into a light that suddenly turned night into day. The rebels twitched in surprise, but all held their positions with their hands on their heads.
    On Com-Two, Burrows said, "MacDonald, move your people towards the center of the camp and herd the rebels into a group away from their weapons."
    "Everyone move in," Lt. MacDonald said on Com-One. "They appear to be surrendering, but watch them closely for any indication of treachery."
    Two hundred three rebels remained from the original two hundred eighty-three that made it to the planet. Sixty-three had been killed in battle, and the rest had either been killed by the indigenous life forms while hunting for the Marines