I envisaged what must be happening in my mind’s eye. The defenders, struck suddenly by an all-out assault, trying to repel the offensive while, behind them, a silent killer struck again and again. Jock had the highest rating in the Legion and had once swum through a massive swamp to kill his enemy and escape. The Communists would be utterly unprepared for him as he took them apart from the rear. They wouldn’t even notice him until it was too late.
The sound of shooting grew louder and then dimmed suddenly. “They’re through the outer wall,” Ed reported, as a series of sharp cracks resounded in the air. “They’re pushing the bastards hard… hell, sir; some of them are trying to surrender.”
“Tell them to take them alive if possible,” I ordered, sharply. The local government could have them afterwards, but I wanted information first. “Standard procedure, but try and get them to our interrogators before someone puts a bullet through their heads.”
“Understood,” Ed said. We shared a long look. There had been times when some prisoners hadn’t made it all the way to the detention camps. None of my people had been involved, thank God, but some of the civilians had lynched captive Communists before we could get them to safety. I couldn’t really blame them, but I needed the information in their heads.
My earpiece buzzed again. “Boss, I got the prisoners secure,” Jock said. “Sir, one of them is talking about Muna!”
“Find her,” I snapped, ignoring the danger. “Look for her and find her now!”
“Of course,” Jock said. “I’m on the way now.”
“The advance guard has penetrated down to the inner surface levels,” Ed commented, from his position. “We took nine prisoners, six of whom are badly injured.”
“Get them treated and then send them direct to the interrogators,” I ordered. I thought about ordering a field interrogation, but there wasn’t time. “Jock?”
“Met up with your men,” Jock said. He sounded annoyed under his tight control. “Next time, brief them better… sir. One of them almost killed me.”
“Well, tell him to take another shot,” I snapped back, angrily. “What are you doing now…?”
“Hunting for other prisoners,” Jock said. “Hang on.” I heard him picking someone up. “Show me where the other prisoners are and I won’t cut off your cock, get it?”
The prisoner seemed to get it. “He’s taking me somewhere,” Jock said. “I’ll report in as soon as I find her.”
There was a long pause. “Found her,” he said. I felt my heart turn over in relief. “She was held in a private cell. It looks as if they wanted to interrogate her, but couldn’t decide if she was more use as a dead mercenary or a live hostage. I’ve got her, boss.”
“Get her out when you can,” I ordered, turning my attention back to the map by force of will. “I’ll order the assault units to keep an eye on you so that no one shoots you this time.”
It was nearly twenty minutes later when Jock and Muna finally showed up in an armoured car. She looked tired and wan, but alive. They hadn’t hurt her, just kept her as a prisoner and considered killing her. I couldn’t resist and reached out to give her a hug, feeling her body hardening against mine. Whatever she had gone through, in the past, had left her unable to touch anyone, even me. She’d never had a boyfriend, as far as I knew, and a husband was out of the question.
“It’s good to see you too, sir,” she said, breaking the embrace as soon as she decently could. “I hope you didn’t let anyone near the logistics computers, right?”
“Of course not,” I said. “I left all the paperwork for you.”
She laughed. “Jock,” I ordered, “escort her back to the spaceport and ensure that the medic takes a good look at her before we do anything else. You’re both on leave for a week. I think we can finish up here without you.”
“You couldn’t get out of a paper bag without me,” Jock said, quickly. “In fact, without me you’d still be…”
“Out,” I said, firmly, and turned back to the display. The fall of Strongpoint Four left only seven strongpoints in the city and now that Muna had been recovered, along with a few dozen politicians, we could afford to blow them into dust from a safe distance. Too many people had died already. “Ed…”
Ed was looking down at his console. “Sir, I’m picking up a signal from the Communists,” he said. “They’d like to discuss terms.”
“Get a lock on where the signals coming from and blast it,” Jock suggested, echoing my own thoughts. “Or send me back in there with a knife and licence to kill…”
“I said, get out,” I snapped, angrily. If Jock wanted to risk himself, I didn’t mind, but Muna needed an escort back to the spaceport. Honestly, there were days when things wouldn’t go right if you paid them. “They want to surrender?”
“They said they want to discuss terms,” Ed said, once Jock had stomped out of the command post. “I think they’re stalling.”
I smiled as the sound of firing broke out again in the distance. “Tell them that we’ll accept their surrender now if they wish to surrender,” I said. “We won’t make promises, but I think that most of the small fry might be sent to work camps for a few years instead of being executed.”
“It might not be best to remind them of their executions,” Ed said, dryly. I nodded as he bent his head to the console. “I’ll tell them that we’ll take them all prisoner rather than shooting them on the spot.”
I listened absently as the discussion raged backwards and forwards. I suggested a ceasefire to see how sincere they were and was surprised when they accepted without demur. They had to be desperate, I realised; perhaps they were even short on food and supplies. They’d been firing off ammunition like it was going out of fashion and we’d overrun some of their supply deports. It was just possible that they were very short on ammunition…
“They’re willing to surrender as long as they can keep their personal arms with them,” Ed said, finally. I snorted at that one. “Thought not; they’re asking what guarantee we’ll make for their safety.”
I considered it. “Tell them that we’ll provide the guards and protect them from being lynched,” I said, finally. “As a condition of their surrender, they respond to questions and help us sort out what actually happened. If they cooperate, we’ll put in a good word for them.”
Ed leaned over to me. “Sir, the Acting President isn’t going to like that…”
“I know,” I said. “If it comes to that, we can recruit the small fry into the Legion and take them off-world. We won’t have to stay here for the rest of our lives.”
Ed chatted backwards and forwards for nearly ten minutes, and then he looked up at me. “It’s over,” he said, simply. “They’re surrendering.”
Chapter Nineteen
Honourable terms of surrender are for honourable foes, but one must always remember that one must develop and keep a reputation for keeping surrender terms, even if they prove to be disadvantageous later.
One by one, they crawled out of the remaining strongpoints, their hands in the air.
I watched, grimly, as the remaining Communists stumbled forward. We hadn’t taken any chances; they’d been ordered to come out naked and to be very careful that they didn’t do anything that might alarm the armed guards. They’d tried to protest, objecting to the thought of showing everything they had to the world, but I’d been firm. They came out naked, male and female alike, or they would be shot down like dogs. I just wanted the fighting to end.