The Quiet God (Earth Exiles Book 4) Read online

  Everett laughed, “hell, I knew they were up to something. They didn’t tell me, though.” He put the globe back down on the table.

  “So, what’s up?” Mike asked.

  “We got some intel,” Everett explained.

  Mike rolled the globe back to the other hand, “And?”

  “Looks like they’re going to hit another village.”

  Mike grabbed the globe, “Do we know where?”

  Everett nodded, “Yeah. It’s southeast of Althus’ village. We have a tentative date as well.”

  “Have you done a map recon yet?”

  “Of course. There are a couple of places we can infil into. We can go in a few days’ prior, let Caul go in and explain what’s happening to the head man, then set up for an ambush. It will be a good operation for the Contai, a simple ambush.”

  In Matki’s language, Contai simply meant, ‘The people.’ Mike and his team had started using that to identify Matki’s tribe and the other locals. They’d also started calling other hominid species the Sjurai, which meant, ‘The others.’ Matki tended to include the old Earthers and Shar’s team as Contai as well. A new concept of us and them, Mike supposed.

  Mike took another drink from the tea, “That’s a good idea. We’ll lay back and let Caul run the operation. We’ll step into advisor mode.”

  Since Matki was still limping with a bad leg, Caul had taken up the mantle of acting commander in the field. With Matki still hobbling around, Caul had been the obvious choice for field commander. They put together a company sized force, with Geonti, Rieci, and the two brothers, Dind and Leth chosen as Caul’s lieutenants. That company size force was paring with the men from Althus’ village to get them trained for operations.

  With approximately thirteen hundred rifles, and a ton of ammunition, they could project a force in the south big enough to keep the grey men busy. Mike and his team had gone back to their Special Forces roots, and now they were training the local indigenous forces how to counter and fight the bad guys.

  Currently, Mickey and Tom were working down south to train the Contai in small unit tactics and basic marksmanship. The nice thing about that was, as soon as they had faith that the Contai could conduct operations effectively, the team could stay in the canyons and act as training cadre, going out to the field occasionally if needed.

  “Hey, what about Ken and Rich?” Everett asked.

  “What about them?”

  “We need to start taking them out with us. We can only teach them so much here. They need to go into the field if they’re going to learn.”

  Mike thought about it. Mike had set up a training cycle with two of the team down south to train the indigenous hunters. Here, in the canyons, whoever wasn’t down south continued to train the security team, plus some of the younger Contai. Ken and Rich had excelled during the training. So much so that Mike and Everett were considering adding them to the team.

  Mike nodded, “Yeah, that’s a good idea. They need to get a few operations under their belts. We’ll take them out with us this time.”

  Everett hooked a thumb at the entrance to the room, “You want to go and talk to John and Luis.”

  Mike nodded, “Yeah, let’s go take a look at the intel.” He stood up, and pointed to the entrance, “After you.” He reached down and grabbed the globe.

  “Why are you bringing that?” Everett asked.

  Mike grinned and tossed the globe to him, “Catch.”

  Everett caught the globe, returned the grin, and then ducked through the curtain. Mike followed him outside.

  They stepped out of the room and into the canyon fronting it. The perpetual mist drifted slowly through the air, currents creating strange, wraith like shapes that drifted as gusts of cold air stirred it. The mist dampened sounds, making the area seem even more ethereal. There was a perpetual dankness that beaded up on every exposed surface. The water ran down from the rock face in trickles, creating rivulets of water that ran continuously. These, in turn came together to create small brooks that met up with the hot water streams that ran down the center of the canyon.

  Mike and Everett had to work their way through the crowd. The residential canyons bustled during the day. Women stood around in groups cooking and watching each other’s children. A group of small children almost collided with Mike as they barreled down the curving canyon, hell bent on some game. Mike nodded at the greetings that some of the Contai yelled at him as he and Everett walked.

  A few times, they stopped to exchange pleasantries with people they knew. Some of the Contai, the survivors of the Sjurai dungeons, stared at them as they walked past. Mike waved at a group of them, but they turned away. He knew it would take a while, possibly a long while, before they accepted the old Earthers as non-threatening.

  This particular area with the canyons had been a good choice for them. The area was filled with canyons, but only a few of them were deemed appropriate for what they needed. They’d settled in this particular set of canyons because it seemed more defensible, with a large area for habitation. There was even a box canyon that was barely big enough to park the shuttles in, which was also the area where Hank and Will had carved out the offices for the engineers and techs, and where they set up the control room for the security cameras. It was less distance to drag all the equipment from the shuttles and set it up. That was where Mike and Everett were headed to.

  Two canyons ran down from the mountains, and met at open junction, where they turned into three canyons that, after many twists and turns, opened into the large valley at the bottom of the mountains. From above, it looked like a long armed starfish, with the three canyons leading to the valley generally longer by a half than the two canyons that led back into the mountains. They’d made their homes in the two shorter canyons closest to the mountains, and they had defenses in the the three canyons that led down to the valley.

  Right in the middle of the five canyons was an open area they called the junction. That was where the five canyons came together, the body of the starfish. This area was used for maintenance, to ensure that the mechs were checked and serviced. The engineers and techs rotated the mechs on guard with the two at the junction.

  Security was still uppermost in everyone’s mind. Even though it was too cold for the dragons here, there were still large predators around. They’d seen sign of the talgit bears in the area. If one of the bears, or another predator got into the canyon, it would be catastrophic. This many people in a concentrated area was just too good a target for the large animals. Plus, they still had to worry about the alien humans. There was always a possibility that the grey men might find them, so they couldn’t let their guard down.

  Mike put one of the mechs in each entrance canyon. They’d put cameras everywhere they could to feed the threat situation to control. They had cameras in all the canyons and some at the opening to the canyons, facing down into the valley, hopefully to identify problems at a greater distance. The mist complicated surveillance for them just as much as it did for their potential enemies. Still, thermal imaging wasn’t as big a problem down in the valley since the water and air temperature had mostly cooled by the time it arrived there.

  Closer in to the mountains, in the two residential canyons, they’d found a few caves that Hank and Will had carved out further for the elderly, the sick, and the younger children, who they’d moved into shelter first. Once that was done, Hank, Will, and some of the Contai that weren’t afraid of the pulse laser started working to make housing for everyone. For the people that hadn’t gotten housing yet, graphite fabric lodges had been erected over wooden shells. Now that most of the families had their own cliff face homes, only the young Contai men slept in the lodges when they weren’t out hunting or training.

  Everett turned toward Mike and threw the globe to him. They turned it into a game as they walked back to the security office.

  As they walked, other carved caves appeared in the limestone. Children were everywhere, busy running back and forth, doing errands fo
r their parents or just having fun. That was a change for the better. Life had been tough when everyone arrived. You had three disparate groups suddenly shoved together, distrustful of each other, trying to find common ground to work and help each other out. You can’t suddenly force five hundred plus people from different backgrounds together without some problems. The refugees from the grey man facility had been horribly traumatized, not willing to trust anyone. Add to that the two pilots and two mechanics they’d brought with them, and sometimes conflicts arose.

  Still, things were going okay. Nobody had drawn blood in several weeks, and nobody had killed anyone, though there had been a few close calls. Mike thought that was a good sign of progress. Joacar was still a pain in Mike’s ass, but not as bad as he could be. Strangely, Mitchem had been invaluable working with Joacar to decrease tensions. Mike could only guess that the two scoundrels recognized kindred spirits in each other.

  Weitz hadn’t been a problem since he came back. They didn’t let him anywhere near the computers, of course. Now, he spent his time helping Mitchem. Food prep had been taken over by the tribal women, because they didn’t like the way that Mitchem smoked everything. That worked out, because it freed up Mitchem and Weitz to work with the engineers. They were trying to figure out how to create a hydroponic garden in one of the canyons.

  They’d gotten pretty lucky with the raid on the grey man compound. It turned out that humans weren’t the only biologicals that the Sjurai were experimenting on. There was an entire building dedicated to hydroponics and local vegetation. Among the hydroponics they’d found different types of plants that were compatible with their old Earth biology and were suitable for sustainable agriculture. Mike had ensured they’d taken everything that wasn’t nailed down. They wouldn’t have to worry about starving anytime soon.

  Now though, Mike was living in the moment. Everett motioned for Mike to go long, and launched the globe. Mike ran around a group of girls and caught it. He held out his hand, pretending to fend off the nonexistent opposing team. The girls stared at him like he was crazy.

  Everett yelled out behind him, “And . . . He . . . Could . . . Go . . . All . . . The . . . Way!”

  Mike stopped and held up his hands like he’d just made a touchdown. He ahhhed the crowd noise and pumped his hands up and down. He acted like he was going to spike the globe.

  “Jesus Christ, Mike! What the hell are you doing?”

  Mike stopped and looked around. Dr. Ed Nachmann, one of the three Amigos, was standing there, aghast.

  Mike grinned, “Don’t worry, doc. I wasn’t really going to spike it.”

  “You’re damn right you aren’t going to spike it. Give it to me,” Ed walked over to Mike and held out his hand.

  Mike sheepishly placed it in Ed’s hand, “Damn Ed, no reason to get upset. You told me that it was unbreakable.”

  Ed shook his head, amazed at Mike’s naiveté, “Yes, it is, under the circumstances we tested it in. Who knows what might damage it, though.”

  Mike shrugged, “Sorry.” He looked like a kid who just been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

  Ed sighed, exasperated, but then he smiled and patted Mike on the arm, “No problem, Mike. It’s undamaged. And, truth be told, there’s probably nothing you could do to damage it anyway. Still, better safe than sorry.”

  Everett walked up to Ed, grinning, “That’s right Ed, you get on him. He shouldn’t be throwing it around like that.”

  Ed stared at Everett, “I just watched you throw it to Mike. Don’t play the innocent with me, Everett.”

  Everett shrugged, then pointed at Mike, “He made me do it.”

  Ed shook his head, “God, you two are like little kids sometimes.”

  “Tell me about it,” Joan walked up to the group.

  Ed grinned at Joan, “I’m pretty sure I don’t need to. I bet you could tell me stories.”

  Joan slipped her hand in Everett’s arm, “Yes I could.” She pursed her lips and made to give Everett a kiss on the cheek. He had to lean down so that she zero in on her target.

  After she kissed him, he patted her on the arm, “That’s okay, baby. You keep me in line.”

  She smiled at him, “Most of the time.”

  He chuckled, “Yeah, most of the time.”

  Mike grinned, “But not all the time.”

  Everett chuckled again, and leaned down to kiss her on the lips, “No, not all the time. Definitely not all the time, isn’t that right, honey?”

  Joan blushed, “No, not all the time.”

  Ed changed the subject in a hurry, “Ah, so, how’s the baby doing, Joan?”

  Everett put his hand on Joan’s rounded stomach, “Yeah, how’s the little guy doing today?”

  Joan patted Everett’s hand, “She’s doing fine. Kicking a little bit, but not too fussy.”

  Ed continued, trying to change the subject again, “We’re going to have to have another meeting soon.”

  Both Mike and Everett groaned.

  Joan laughed, “You just said the one word that they hate, Ed.”

  A smile slipped onto Ed’s face, “Sorry, nobody likes meetings, but they’re necessary.”

  Mike sighed, “I don’t know, Ed. If nobody likes them, why do you have so many of them?” A thoughtful look slipped onto Mike’s face, “You could brief us right here, and I’d be pretty happy about it, Ed,” Mike pointed out. “That way I don’t have to sit around for an hour while everybody bitches about what they don’t have or how wet it is here.”

  Ed shrugged, “It’s true though, Mike.” He held his hands up to indicate the canyon walls, and the moisture on them, “It’s not like this is the best place to set up equipment. We’re just trying to figure out how to put the electrical conduits together so that nobody gets electrocuted.”

  Mike held up a hand, “I understand, Ed. Still, you’d think that everybody would be happy with all the stuff we liberated from the grey man compound.”

  Ed nodded, “Well, they’re very appreciative of the stuff you stole.” He looked at Mike and Everett’s faces, “Err . . . found. The chemists are pretty happy with that one machine you brought back. Turns out it’s a molecular printer.”

  That diverted Everett’s attention from his wife, “What the hell is that?”

  Ed grinned, savoring the small moment, that, during which, he knew something that they didn’t. At their questioning looks, he started speaking, happy to share his knowledge with them, “It’s exactly what I said it is. It takes precursor compounds, and combines them to make specific molecules for biological components. We’re going to be able to make the spider silk fabric again. Plus, we can make the polymer that we use to stiffen the graphene threads. We can continue making the individual combat suits. Oh, and we can use it to make more meds.”

  Everett smiled, “Mickey will be really happy about you guys making more meds. He’s always worried we’re going to run out.”

  “He’s not the only one,” Joan pointed out.

  “Can we make more mechs?” Mike asked.

  Ed paused to consider the question, and then ticked through the pros and cons, “Well, we could if we had enough titanium. We’re running short on computer processors, though. Hank and Will made every piece that’s on the mechs right now, except for the quantum processors and some of the peripheral electronics, so the frame wouldn’t be a problem. I think we’re probably constrained by the amount of quantum batteries we have.”

  “How many of those do we have left?”

  Ed had to think. He started counting on one hand, looking up, and touching each finger to his thumb. Mike didn’t think that was a good sign until Ed did that once, twice, and then three times.

  “Well, Mike, I think we have about thirteen more for the mechs.”

  Mike’s jaw dropped, “You mean, we could build thirteen more mechs?”

  Ed held up both hands to forestall Mike’s enthusiasm, “That’s just the batteries, Mike. Remember, we’d still need to put weapons systems on all of them.
I’m not sure how many of those we have right now.”

  Mike looked over at Joan.

  She shook her head, “That wasn’t my part of the project.”

  “Who would know?” Mike asked.

  Ed spread his hands, the globe firmly held in his left hand, “I’m not really sure.” He looked at Joan, “Tracy maybe?”

  “Possibly. I think she dealt with that. I think Weitz had something to do with it as well.”

  Mike thought about it, “Yeah, I think Tracy definitely. Maybe John as well. They were the two that attached them to the mech armor back when we first got here.”

  Everett nodded, “Yeah, they were. I remember. John and Tracy put the pulse laser and the rail guns on the mechs and Weitz ran a systems check to make sure that everything was working.”

  Mike looked over at Everett, “We need to talk to Tracy and John.”

  “Yeah, we do. We can talk to John first. He’s monitoring the valley right now.”

  “Good idea.” Mike looked at Ed, “I guess we can plan a meeting. How about tomorrow morning?”

  “Today?” Ed asked.

  Mike shook his head, “Can’t be today. We have to do some training with security.”

  “Alright then, tomorrow morning. How about twelve hundred?”

  Mike thought about it. With their thirty-three-hour day, that would put the meeting about mid-morning.

  He nodded, “That sounds good.”

  Ed looked at the globe in his hand, and then back at Mike, “And if I find this missing, I know exactly who to look for.”

  Mike pointed at Everett and Everett pointed at Mike.

  Ed started laughing, shook his head, and turned away, “See you later.”

  “Later Ed,” Mike called as he walked away. Ed held up his hand over his shoulder and waved without looking back.

  Everett looked down at Joan, “Where are you going?”

  Joan’s face grew serious, “I have to go help Joel. We think Billy might have kidney stones.”

  Everett’s face screwed up, “Ouch. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.”