Part 42

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"Had we sufficient forces in the area, we would have secured the estate arns ago" Authority Guide Gulmac mildly replied to the grating alien looking imperiously down at him as she stood at his desk.

"Your forces will not dare act at this point. Did no one heed the information I supplied?" the alien woman tensely reminded him of her attempts to tell them what was coming, speaking in spite of her voice betraying the effects of severe long term thirst and abuse. Her clenched speech brought a slight seep of her strange alien blood at her neck where the collar now resting on Gulmac's desk had been excessively used.

"Clearly we were remiss in not taking your somewhat strained information at face value" he replied with a mildness that almost hid his sarcasm. Gulmac checked his information to remind him of the name. "Sikozu Shanu. Scarran ops units being perhaps too remote from our memory."

The traces of reflective scales around her neck and shoulders seemed to whiten and she took a deep breath before sliding her bloodshot eyes back to him. "Since you now have proof of what I said, and you are want for a means to quickly regain control of the situation, may I suggest a possible solution?"

"You may" Gulmac stood, now towering over the petite lady. "That we regain control is necessary, not that it is done so quickly" he pointedly added. "The Urlain sector has not been an area of wide common concern for some time" he explained, and, she felt, understated.

After a moment of intense consideration, she regained whatever authority she could to her poise. "Neither have Scarran ops units. Are you prepared to contend with their savagery?" She waited for his expected lack of a reply. "I am able to irradiate this infestation."

"You?" he seemed to be close to scoffing, but thought twice. "Howso?"

"Me, by means unique to me" she nearly barred her teeth. She seemed about to rip out of herself compared with the cold, collected Authority Guide. "Take me to the location and I will do so. My price is my release. Where and how I proceed from there is my concern."

It was his turn for intense consideration. There was little choice at the moment. After a moment he made a polite nod of acceptance. Sikozu had no expectations that they would willingly let her go, but she too had few options. She held her shackled wrists out.

Gulmac took the release chip from the desk. Moving around the desk, he approached the somewhat fetid prisoner. Bringing the chip near to the shackles on the dirty, battered and starkly bony wrists, he held from releasing them. Her frustration intensified the slight trembling of her arms, but he could see in her piercing glare at him the same determination which had thwarted their attempts to force her to give useful information. There was nothing for her to lose that he could gain from. "Agreed" he half sighed, releasing her shackles.

The shackles fell to the floor in a crash and she drew in a loud breath of exaltation. Raising her hand up, she looked at her freed forearm as though it were a sculpture and smiled with a wide eyed glint to freely move her fingers. After all the bitter ends she seemed to be faced with, there was hope. Just as John Crichton and Chiana had told her in their ways. A fitting change of circumstance, she thought, a trace of a grin remaining on her face. "Then take me there."

Gulmac nodded toward the door. Two Nebari filed in. One led the prisoner from the room. Fanning the air with a note pad, Gulmac spoke to the other, watching the prisoner being led away. "And they were supposed to have been entirely eliminated."

"Guide?" the remaining assistant asked.

"Her kind" he replied, his eyes narrowed. "Or she was essentially telling the truth."

"Surely not? Perhaps more interrogation?"

"You did not see the condition she was in when she first approached us. If she were not broken then, it is unlikely we would be served by furthering those tactics. No, let us track her. With patience, we may find our answers."

The assistant nodded and left the Authority Guide to watch from his shadowed window while the prisoner was led along the street below towards the Estate. She looked back and up slightly, back towards the windows. A satisfied grin was clear on her face. Gulmac frowned.

---

Clouds of smoke and debris which hung over the swath of garden that was now a battlefield began to lighten. No random shots stirred the sudden cease fire. The heavy air kept voices from traveling well. At the edge of the rubble of the damaged outer wing of the estate facing the garden, Takshaek heard her operation leader all too well.

"Your failures here will reflect upon your people!" the pallid Sebacean woman cursed the troops, clenching her out held hand into a fist. "I will see to that."

Takshaek growled her displeasure, hissing and striking at a grunt kneeling on the ground manning his mortar launcher. The humiliation burned in her face. Thoughts of how she raised herself to her position seared in her mind. The personal orders of the Emperor now forced her to tolerate the ignorant whining of the preposterous leader of the embarrassed Peacekeepers. The situation was forcing Takshaek to find new depths of self control. But Takshaek held her tongue, letting the pallid Sebacean operation leader interpret her frustration as she liked.

"I see you cannot strike a target within plain sight, despite thirty rounds," the pallid lady who thought she was in command scolded the same grunt in low tones. "I see now the extent of the price I had to pay for working with your kind."

Takshaek could see the outrage in the grunt's eyes looking back at her. At the Emperor's command, they were to follow the Sebacean's orders of killing or capturing the targets with only one difference. They were only to attempt to capture, but not at any cost kill, the targets. Takshaek could see and hear the Emperor's command in her mind as if she were kneeling before him now. It renewed her strength. Her inferiors, as well, said nothing.

Ten yards ahead, on an area now blown to bare soil and littered with underground mechanicals, someone emerged from the clouds of dust. A delicate Kalish woman with stringy red hair, an elaborate black top of thick straps crossed over front and back, low riding rough gray pants, black high heel boots and no weapons slowly walked to within eight yards. Two Nebari guards watched her over both of her shoulders. Despite being a prisoner, abused and severely neglected, her head was held high and she cast her eyes slightly down and aside at everyone in front of her. She seemed alarmingly arrogant. So much so, Takshaek was going to wait for the Kalish to speak first.

The Sebacean wasn't intimidated. "You make a mistake if you believe we are interested in your capture alive, or if anything Scorpius may possibly think will have any effect on your behalf, Sikozu Shanu."

Sikozu's eyes narrowed slightly. "I am not the fool here, Mele-On Grayza" she coyly replied, although her voice was savagely raw from thirst.

There was a smile and intensity behind the Kalish's face that alarmed Takshaek. Slowly, subtly, the Ruling Order Scarran commander began drawing further away.

The Nebari guards weren't prepared for any situation like this. Despite orders only to escort the prisoner while she confronted the Scarran operation unit, one decided it would be best taken back under control elsewhere. "Come with me" he quietly gestured her to withdraw.

"I suggest you leave" Sikozu whirled to the guards, her teeth nearly barred. "Run! While you can." Turning again, Sikozu faced Grayza and the Scarrans.

"Kill her" Grayza coolly ordered. The Scarrans looked for their leader's signal instead.

Moments later, a strange glow shot out from the Kalish. It was too late for anyone to run.

---

"They're still not giving fire" Orren observed. "They could be maneuvering to better advantage. Are we prepared to remove John Crichton and Chiana by some means in the event they close in?"

"That would be too bad, our positions are our advantage right now. Of course we have no plans" Tannac continued talking to Orren while signaling one of Clan's militia unit to draw nearer the Cordon Wing. "There may be other ways out we could take them. If we have to remove them, it would probably be better to remove them separately. But we'll take them together, with Oshana" Tannac dropped her forehead onto the tree branch she was sheltering behind.

Orren quickly moved from a nearby tree to place a hand on Tannac's neck and lift Tannac's eyelid with her thumb.

Tannac stuck out her tongue and smiled. "I think I'm dying. Anyway as I was saying, Oshana is tied to this soul exchange with the Sister somehow. Besides, John Crichton and Chiana are a pair and wouldn't take to kindly to being separated, even if necessary. That could create more difficulties handling them."

"They didn't say that" Orren gawked oddly. "A pair. Nobody said that."

Tannac looked to Orren, puzzled. "Why, did you get the celibate version of the Sister mythos? Anyway I always assumed they were, they look so cute, besides, why else would she have stayed around him?" she scratched the back of her head and raised her head, resting with her forearms folded on the tree branch. "Oh, Perkunas? They wouldn't know to have advised you anyway."

"Then do you think Larran can still be a threat if he takes over Chiana?" Orren stared stonily towards the battlefield.

Tannac cut Orren a wry look with one brow raised, but her reply was interrupted by an intense glow lighting the dusty air between their position and the enemy. The strange glow bloomed, flickered slightly a couple of times, and had completely stopped in a moment. The fire didn't resume.

"What was that?" Tannac gawked at the dusty air.

"I have a suspicion" Orren said. "I'll have to investigate. You proceed with our unit to defend the central accommodation. If...."

"Yes, yes" Tannac tossed a hand at her. "Hurry back, Stoneface."

Orren smiled back in both bewilderment and amusement. Then she hesitated. "Does Clan know what to do?"

"Clan could barely keep the volunteers showing up for the most basic training meetings. Which was okay, since she didn't have much to teach them. I'm the only one on this giant mechanical gloom ball with any real training or experience. Next bet is Bursamen, the grebol. Make him do it. Anyway they'll figure something. They're just way over their heads. But who isn't? Did I even mention I went to South Walden Prime?" Tannac glanced around to find that Orren was already lost in the clearing dust. "Well I guess it doesn't mean much anymore."

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"Oh goody a surprise!" John hit the dirt with Chiana and shoved Oshana down on his other side. Shots ripped from the windows John, Chiana, Oshana, Bursamen, Koresh, Clan and her unit had rushed towards, near where the wing adjoined the Cordon Wing.

Clan looked over her shoulder from her position behind a dense shrub, horrified to see her unit standing and returning fire, exposed to opposing fire. "Get down!" she tried to yell, but a feeble squeak came out instead.

"Get frelling down!" Chiana yelled.

A couple heard Chiana and responded, a couple took hits, and the other couple were forced down by Bursamen's quick action. Crawling to the two wounded militia, Clan looked at the first, a young lady, and began to screech.

The wounded young lady smacked Clan across the face. "I'm not dead!" she protested before falling back down and whining in pain.

After staring at Clan and the young lady a moment, Bursamen hurried up to Chiana and John. "I don't know who they are in there, but am I right that they are blocking the entrance to the Cordon Wing?"

"Spot on old thing" John made a hard pat on Bursamen's back. "You're beginning to understand how our luck works."

"The battle seems to have died off below" Bursamen observed "perhaps, now that we are all together again, we could spread our forces to create a diversionary fire and allow the three of you, under my cover, to get past them and enter the wing."

"Man that'd sound alot better coming from Tannac" John remarked. Bursamen's face puckered up in emotion. "Forget it, forget I mentioned her" John stopped his hand from patting Bursamen again.

"Look ah Bursamen" Chiana hung an arm around Bursamen's shoulders and patted his chest. "Why don't you find Tannac? Hypertongue, Oshana and I'll go find another way in. I know one. Those fekkits probably haven't gotten in because the shield for the wing is still up. The rest of you follow us after we get away. We'll....take Kastara just in case" she whipped her head for the bewildered onlookers in her plan to follow.

Bursamen had Clan reform the standing members of the militia to cover and divert attention while Chiana, John and Oshana snuck away along the front of the Cordon Wing.

"But hooow do we get in?!" Oshana asked, her posture timid and eyes wide, giving her the look of an abandoned orphan "and! And how do weee get out?!"

"Follow The Sister" John robotically droned, lightly guiding Oshana by the shoulders to go in the direction Chiana was going.

Chiana cut a look back and aside to John. He stuck his tongue out and quivered the tip of his tongue at her. Chiana flicked the tip of her tongue out at him with mock impudence.

"If he asks, tell the Evil Spirit Formerly Known As Larran that we're taking him where he wanted to go, and to sit tight" John told Oshana. "And he better think of something brilliant, mwwaaha!"

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