Government Men by Gary J. Davies
CHAPTER 42
CLEAN GET-AWAY
The only thing we have to fear on the planet is man.
- Carl Jung
Twig cursed profusely in several languages as she bit the head off another snake that hissed at her from the jungle foliage overhead. What kind of snake it was, she didn't know or care in the least. Whatever it was, the species would be extinct in a few days anyway, and good riddance.
She was traveling alone, having eaten much of her Guatemalan/Mayan guide earlier that morning. Though it was satisfying to hear and feel the man scream and wail in terror and pain as he slowly died, it hadn't been as satisfying as she hoped it would be. Her physical hunger was satisfied, but the act fell far short of filling the need that she felt to make humanity suffer.
She wanted revenge for her comrades and for herself! Dannos was too quick and kind a fate for Bates, Barns, and their companions. Still, she was glad that she ate the Mayan guide. After all, he was probably the last human that she would ever see. Today she would be leaving Earth for good, and deserting the hated Ca'Ra. She and the rest of the remaining Ra would desert Ren'Ca and flee carrying high-value human treasure. It would be a clean get-away with rich rewards. They would be heroes. With a strong Dow'Na recommendation, maybe she would even be promoted to a group-leader rank.
She was relieved when the probe that she carried at last indicated that she had reached the Warren Ship; for she had begun to feel strangely confused and disoriented over the last hour or so. She found the ship covered with tree branches, but didn't immediately attempt to enter it.
She first placed the probe near the Warren Ship, and activated programming to completely replace the Warren Ship's functions electronically. This included simulating the communications of the Mother Ship. Hopefully, Ren'Ca would never know that he was talking to a computer simulation of Dow'Na when he next called the Mother Ship. The actual Mother Ship would leave Earth and Ren'Ca unnoticed.
Searching the area, she soon found the equipment that was supposed to be jamming Earth news signals. As she expected, it was set to only half power. Apparently Ren'Ca was not completely oblivious to the possibility that his fellow Ra might try to leave Earth in the Mother Ship without him. Only when Dow was sure that Earth newscasts were jammed would he consider leaving. With the ground based jammer at only half power, the Mother Ship would be obliged to stay near Earth until Renson returned.
Twig rigged the jammer to indicate half power status regardless of what its true setting was; that way Ren'Ca could not know that she had now adjusted it to actually jam at full power. She wondered if any Earth news-casts had gotten through to the Galactic League monitoring equipment while the jammer was set at only half-power and the Mother Ship was busy chasing the humans. If so, she would not receive a very warm welcome when she got back to Ra.
She entered the Warren ship and began to reprogram it, then sent a message to the Mother Ship that she had successfully completed her mission. She received no reply. Perhaps Dow'Na decided that a reply might be sensed by Ren'Ca.
She tuned to a human COM news broadcast and soon found out that the Mother Ship had been destroyed! She would have collapsed in shock, had she not been sitting in the Warren Ship pilot's seat. Dow and crew were dead and gone! That left only herself, Melberg, and Ren'Ca on Earth!
She had to consider the Melberg situation. Without doubt, by now her Warren-mate was on his way here to commandeer the last remaining Warren Ship himself. Was she better off with or without Melberg? She had to think about that question more, but at the moment she couldn't think of any compelling reason not to let him die here with Ren'Ca.
And what about the humans? Would they come here? When? Was the Warren Ship a match for their Bus? A day earlier and she would have laughed at such a consideration; but that was before the Mother Ship had been destroyed. In addition, what was the big secret here in the jungle that everyone was so interested in? Was it also dangerous? Or, even more intriguing, was it valuable? Was it a prize that the Ca’Ra order coveted for themselves that she could obtain and sell to the Na'Ra or on the black market?
Twig decided not to stick around Earth-bound, waiting for Melberg, the humans, Ren'Ca, and whatever mystery was compelling everyone to come to Guatemala. That could be far too dangerous. She powered op the Warren Ship and in less than a minute the sleek saucer lifted out of the jungle and up into space.
However, she didn't go very far. Not just yet. She put the ship into geosynchronous orbit above Guatemala, then sat back to watch what would happen next, and to ponder her next move. Destruction of the Mother Ship had thrown all previous plans out the window. She needed time to re-assess things, and she judged that she had some time to do so. Even if Earth broadcasts were on their way to alerting the Galactic League, it would take several more days for any League response. By that time Earth would be struck by Dannos and direct evidence of Ra involvement would be destroyed. Perhaps there was even a chance that somehow she could still pull off more of the mission after all, and get all of the credit and riches for herself.
CLEAN GET-AWAY
The only thing we have to fear on the planet is man.
- Carl Jung
Twig cursed profusely in several languages as she bit the head off another snake that hissed at her from the jungle foliage overhead. What kind of snake it was, she didn't know or care in the least. Whatever it was, the species would be extinct in a few days anyway, and good riddance.
She was traveling alone, having eaten much of her Guatemalan/Mayan guide earlier that morning. Though it was satisfying to hear and feel the man scream and wail in terror and pain as he slowly died, it hadn't been as satisfying as she hoped it would be. Her physical hunger was satisfied, but the act fell far short of filling the need that she felt to make humanity suffer.
She wanted revenge for her comrades and for herself! Dannos was too quick and kind a fate for Bates, Barns, and their companions. Still, she was glad that she ate the Mayan guide. After all, he was probably the last human that she would ever see. Today she would be leaving Earth for good, and deserting the hated Ca'Ra. She and the rest of the remaining Ra would desert Ren'Ca and flee carrying high-value human treasure. It would be a clean get-away with rich rewards. They would be heroes. With a strong Dow'Na recommendation, maybe she would even be promoted to a group-leader rank.
She was relieved when the probe that she carried at last indicated that she had reached the Warren Ship; for she had begun to feel strangely confused and disoriented over the last hour or so. She found the ship covered with tree branches, but didn't immediately attempt to enter it.
She first placed the probe near the Warren Ship, and activated programming to completely replace the Warren Ship's functions electronically. This included simulating the communications of the Mother Ship. Hopefully, Ren'Ca would never know that he was talking to a computer simulation of Dow'Na when he next called the Mother Ship. The actual Mother Ship would leave Earth and Ren'Ca unnoticed.
Searching the area, she soon found the equipment that was supposed to be jamming Earth news signals. As she expected, it was set to only half power. Apparently Ren'Ca was not completely oblivious to the possibility that his fellow Ra might try to leave Earth in the Mother Ship without him. Only when Dow was sure that Earth newscasts were jammed would he consider leaving. With the ground based jammer at only half power, the Mother Ship would be obliged to stay near Earth until Renson returned.
Twig rigged the jammer to indicate half power status regardless of what its true setting was; that way Ren'Ca could not know that she had now adjusted it to actually jam at full power. She wondered if any Earth news-casts had gotten through to the Galactic League monitoring equipment while the jammer was set at only half-power and the Mother Ship was busy chasing the humans. If so, she would not receive a very warm welcome when she got back to Ra.
She entered the Warren ship and began to reprogram it, then sent a message to the Mother Ship that she had successfully completed her mission. She received no reply. Perhaps Dow'Na decided that a reply might be sensed by Ren'Ca.
She tuned to a human COM news broadcast and soon found out that the Mother Ship had been destroyed! She would have collapsed in shock, had she not been sitting in the Warren Ship pilot's seat. Dow and crew were dead and gone! That left only herself, Melberg, and Ren'Ca on Earth!
She had to consider the Melberg situation. Without doubt, by now her Warren-mate was on his way here to commandeer the last remaining Warren Ship himself. Was she better off with or without Melberg? She had to think about that question more, but at the moment she couldn't think of any compelling reason not to let him die here with Ren'Ca.
And what about the humans? Would they come here? When? Was the Warren Ship a match for their Bus? A day earlier and she would have laughed at such a consideration; but that was before the Mother Ship had been destroyed. In addition, what was the big secret here in the jungle that everyone was so interested in? Was it also dangerous? Or, even more intriguing, was it valuable? Was it a prize that the Ca’Ra order coveted for themselves that she could obtain and sell to the Na'Ra or on the black market?
Twig decided not to stick around Earth-bound, waiting for Melberg, the humans, Ren'Ca, and whatever mystery was compelling everyone to come to Guatemala. That could be far too dangerous. She powered op the Warren Ship and in less than a minute the sleek saucer lifted out of the jungle and up into space.
However, she didn't go very far. Not just yet. She put the ship into geosynchronous orbit above Guatemala, then sat back to watch what would happen next, and to ponder her next move. Destruction of the Mother Ship had thrown all previous plans out the window. She needed time to re-assess things, and she judged that she had some time to do so. Even if Earth broadcasts were on their way to alerting the Galactic League, it would take several more days for any League response. By that time Earth would be struck by Dannos and direct evidence of Ra involvement would be destroyed. Perhaps there was even a chance that somehow she could still pull off more of the mission after all, and get all of the credit and riches for herself.