A Cat Among Dragons Read online

  After Blake Krather died in a warp accident, the Komets began taking less reputable contracts and Staff Sergeant dar Ohrkan decided to leave before the unit degenerated into scum-for-hire. He wasn’t the only one to seek better work and Col. Ingwe Adamski was heard openly gloating over his good fortune. Because of his experience, obvious smarts, and a recommendation from someone within the Adamantine Division’s officer corps, dar Ohrkan joined as a Second Lieutenant. “You’re not the only mustang in the Scouts, so don’t worry about it, sir,” the Master Sergeant in charge of personnel assignments and quartering reassured him.

  The new officer soon found out who the other mustang was, but not in a way either of them could have anticipated. Yori walked into a pre-mission planning briefing and noticed several people clustered together and whispering about something. “No shit sir?” one of the other junior officers asked a scaly, reptilian captain.

  “No shit, gentlemen, ladies. Captain Ni Drako is in the stockade on quarter rations, in irons, for eight more days. The only thing that saved her from being cashiered is that she did not start the fight. At least four good witnesses testified that Major Chicarter provoked her and threw the first punch.” Lt. dar Ohrkan was impressed that she’d managed to keep her cool that long, if it was the same Ni Drako he’d known.

  Captain Soliman Ssiliar continued, “The Major is recovering and should be out of the infirmary before the mission, but Major Gupta and Colonel Adamski are pissed with both of them. We all know the rules about fighting in barracks and Ni Drako’s been warned about that temper of hers before. You’d think a former noncom would have better self-control.” There were nods and some satisfied looks among the scouts. “However, since we are without the ‘benefit of her expertise’ for the next eight days, we’re going to have to work that much harder to make up the lack,” Capt. Ssiliar reminded the junior officers, pulling them back to the topic at hand.

  A much quieter Rada Ni Drako rejoined the scouts just before the final preparation for their mission. She never said a word about the fight or the results, but Yori harbored a shrewd suspicion that at least one of her former victims had settled a score or two while she was unable to defend herself, judging by the bruises on her face and the bandages on her wrists. She kept to herself when not on duty, “trying to catch up on work I missed,” she explained when someone pressed her.

  The mission concluded successfully and the Adamantine Division’s scouts decided to celebrate and unwind a bit at a local tavern. The others coerced Capt. Ni Drako into attending and Yori dar Ohrkan took the opportunity to approach her. “Ah, Captain?” he started.

  She looked at him, a bit puzzled, and then recognition dawned. “Well hello Lt. dar Ohrkan! Sorry I was unavailable earlier,” and she gave him a wry grin. “Good to see you looking well.”

  They chatted for a few minutes, catching up a bit. “Yeah, I heard about Col. Krather. Talk about a damn shame. He was good people. A stuck-up prig, but good people,” she mused. “Who took over the Komets?”

  “Major Majorica,” and dar Ohrkan smiled at her look of disbelief.

  “You’re shitting me.”

  He shook his head, then raked chestnut hair out of his eyes. “No ma’am; wish I was. Majorica started taking all sorts of ‘interesting’ contracts, if you get my meaning, and a number of us headed for the escape pods.” She raised an eyebrow but didn’t say anything. Then her expression changed, suddenly wary and focusing on someone behind him.

  “Ah, if you’ll excuse me Lieutenant. I need to,” she started backing away, keeping her attention on the front of the bar.

  Yori turned to see Major Chicarter and two civilians standing there. This doesn’t look good he thought. Both the civilians were tall and slender, with pale skin and fair hair, like the weapons dealers they’d caught on Terra. An air of smug satisfaction hung around the officer from Neo Sicilia and he pointed towards dar Ohrkan and Ni Drako.

  Old habits died hard and dar Ohrkan followed the captain as she started towards the back door. “Hey Ell Tee, what’s up?” one of the other Scouts queried as Yori slid past their table.

  “Trouble,” he replied over his shoulder, gesturing towards the trio following in his wake. The taller man caught up with the other officer just before she slipped out the door. “I’m on your six, Captain,” he assured her under his breath.

  “Stay out of this, Lieutenant. This predates my service and I don’t want anyone else caught up in it,” she snarled, eyes scanning the shadows for the trouble she knew was there. As he watched, Ni Drako changed aspect: black ears appearing from the top of her skull, fingers elongating, accent growing thicker. “Just get the hell out of here Yori,” she warned again.

  Before she could say more or he could leave, the door opened behind them. “There she is,” one of the civilians called, lunging for the small woman. To the lieutenant’s surprise, Ni Drako ducked and took off running up the alley rather than trying to fight. The three men from the bar followed her and dar Ohrkan slipped in behind them.

  Yori caught up with the second civilian and grabbed his arm and shoulder, slinging him into the back of a building. The much lighter man hit the bricks with a thud and collapsed into the muck at the foot of the wall. One down, two to go he thought. He scented fear and satisfaction and carefully peeked into a passage between a restaurant and store, then ducked back out of sight. Oh this is very not good. What the fuck is going on here?

  The civilian was laughing and holding a blaster on Ni Drako, cornering her in the blind alley. Major Chicarter advanced on the slender female, flourishing a dagger at her. “Little bastard, this is going to be so much fun. I get back at an upstart bitch and fund my retirement at the same time!” he hissed. Ni Drako had her hands up, unarmed but ready to defend herself. Dar Ohrkan hesitated for a moment, trying to decide what to do, when Chicarter lunged and Ni Drako gasped with pain.

  The Trader never knew what hit him. The last thing he saw was his target, not the massive figure that slammed a clenched fist into the back of his head, crushing his skull and breaking his neck. The sound distracted Chicarter, who started to turn. As he did, his victim snarled and charged him, knocking the man off balance as she tried to escape. Chicarter slashed her again but she got away, ducking behind Yori and hesitating as if trying to decide which way to flee. The senior officer took in the injured woman, the growling, red-eyed junior officer, the deceased Trader, and laughed!

  “Perfect. Both of you will go to the wall for murdering civilians and attacking a senior officer, and I come out even farther ahead,” Chicarter grinned.

  “And the captain’s wounds, Major? How do you plan to explain those?” dar Ohrkan growled, voice distorted and rough.

  “I was defending myself. Again. Everyone knows how Ni Drako assaulted me, and obviously the stupid bitch didn’t learn from the experience,” the man said in a cool, calculating tone.

  Yori looked down at Ni Drako. Bitter resignation had replaced the fear in her eyes. «I’m sorry Yori. This is why I told you to stay out of it,» she explained into his mind.

  They heard people behind them and Yori recognized the voices and footsteps. “Captain Ssiliar! Over here,” he called, bringing the Scouts’ leader up short. Bright light filled the passage, revealing a flattened Trader with a blast pistol in his hand, a bleeding Captain Ni Drako, and an apparently unarmed Major Chicarter.

  “Good thing you got here Captain Ssiliar! Arrest these two for murder and assault,” Chicarter began as he approached the Scouts officer.

  Before he could get any farther, two of the Scouts got a good view of Captain Ni Drako’s injuries. “What the fuck? Capt’n, what happened?” Sergeant Gomez demanded as she saw the wounds on the officer’s hands and arm and the knife slash on her side.

  “She attacked me again, forced me to defend myself,” Chicarter announced, confident that no one would contradict him.

  Captain Ssiliar looked at Chicarter and nodded his understanding. “Take him,” Ssiliar ordered and three of the Scouts
grabbed the senior officer, hauling him off before he could recover from the surprise. They also took his weapons, including the still-bloody knife.

  “You two had better get back to looking human unless you want to do some explaining,” the reptilian officer suggested to Ni Drako and dar Ohrkan. The woman nodded and the ears, tail, and claws faded into her skin. Yori tried to calm down, felt a trickle of energy come from the older officer, and used it to make himself relax. Apparently the trick worked because Ssiliar gave them a thumbs-up. The captain also gave them a speculative look as they resumed their usual aspects. “I can see why you are both Scouts. Explains a lot.”

  Ssiliar continued, “Good work, dar Ohrkan. Ni Drako, we followed you two as soon as the ell tee gave us the heads’ up. We saw the whole thing, especially you not fighting back. And the other Trader’s going to have some nasty bruises, but he’s conscious.” He rubbed his neck under the tight tunic collar and hissed a little. “Ni Drako, I suggest you get back to quarters. Dar Ohrkan, it’s an order.”

  “Yes sir,” and he and the small woman made their way the three kilometers back to the barracks.

  “Thanks Lieutenant,” she said quietly. “And if we’re not being official, just use my name.”

  “You’re welcome, Rada. Why were they after you?” he asked.

  She didn’t answer and he started to apologize before she waved him off. “It goes back to my parents, actually, and I’d rather not talk about it.” She kicked at a rock and started swearing, then caught herself so abruptly he heard her teeth click. “So much for staying with the Scouts,” she muttered.

  Yori couldn’t restrain his curiosity any more. “Why leave, Rada?”

  “Because if Chicarter is willing to sell me out, so are others. And I can’t risk getting more people tangled up in this mess. Look what damn near happened to you, Yori. What if the other Scouts hadn’t been trailing us? I’ll talk to Major Gupta tomorrow morning and see how soon I can cut my contract loose.” The Wanderer didn’t bother trying to hide her feelings and Yori got a full dose of her frustration, sorrow, barely-banked anger, and a large dash of fear.

  Yori and Capt. Ssiliar both beat Ni Drako to Gupta’s office the next morning and gave him both the full account of what happened and what she might be planning on doing. Apparently Gupta in turn had a word with Col. Adamski, because both dar Ohrkan and Ni Drako found themselves confined to barracks when off duty for the next two weeks, “for causing a disturbance.” Actually, it was for the officers’ own protection, Major Gupta explained privately, while Col. Adamski sniffed around to see if anyone else planned on selling out a fellow soldier. A court martial convicted Major Chicarter of assault with intent to kill and of accepting bribes. Several other, far more serious violations of the regional law turned up in the course of the investigation, and Col. Adamski himself executed Chicarter, with the approval of the local law enforcement supervisors.

  During their two weeks of enforced boredom Ni Drako and Yori found themselves in the common room in the evenings, playing strategy games. A few of the other Scouts joined them and the period became, among other things, a series of impromptu classes. Yori realized quickly that Rada was a lot older than she seemed and had more kilometers behind her than he could guess. She’d been there, seen that, and bought the holocard, and was quite willing to pass on what she’d learned. Rada also didn’t try to hide her own screw-ups, some of which had bordered on spectacular.

  * * *

  Two or so years later, Captain Ni Drako, 1st Lts. dar Ohrkan, Gomez and KssTali, and Major Arriman Gupta gathered around a briefing display. It revealed some very rugged topography, dar Ohrkan thought, looking at the series of narrow glacial valleys and the steep ridges between them. “The so-called nationalists are holed up here, here, and probably here,” Major Gupta said, highlighting positions on two of the ridges and at the head of one valley. “They don’t have heavy weapons anymore, thanks to Third Squad’s making them accelerate their retreat,” and Ni Drako gave a small bow and flashed her fangs. “But they still have local knowledge of the terrain, determination, and prepared positions,” the stocky, horn-nosed, bipedal lizard cautioned.

  “Ni Drako, you’re going to sit this one out here as our flying reserve,” Gupta said, and the woman pretended to be disappointed. “Lt. Gomez and her squad will be taking Tardala Ridge,” and the terrain in question turned yellow, “KssTali, you get Karmatha Ridge,” and the southernmost high ground became orange. That left the valley, and dar Ohrkan felt his muscles tighten with anticipation. Settle down, he told himself as Capt. Ni Drako raised an eyebrow at him. Major Gupta took off his display monocular and looked at dar Ohrkan. “Dar Ohrkan, the valley is yours. We’re not certain that there’s anyone there, but assume there is until you prove otherwise.”

  Yori nodded, “Yes, sir.”

  “Since all three positions face the sunrise, they’ll probably be expecting us to attack at dawn. By dawn, we should have already taken their positions.” Night attack: oh grrreeaaat, all three lieutenants groaned silently, forcing Ni Drako to bite her tongue very hard to keep from smiling. Gupta continued, “Gomez and KssTali will start moving first, since they have harder terrain to cross, but the goal is for simultaneous attacks, to catch all three positions. Air support will be...” and everyone listened closely, making notes and doing their best to memorize the landscape and possible threats. “Any questions?” Ni Drako raised a hand. “Yes Captain?”

  “Major Gupta, has anyone accounted for the mortars that were reported missing by the local militia?” the woman asked, frowning slightly as she studied the map.

  “No, but they were older models, and over half of them were reported too unsafe to use even before they vanished,” the reptile explained. Ni Drako seemed unsatisfied but didn’t say anything more.

  Late that afternoon, Yori took a seat beside his friend in the mess tent. “Haven’t seen you in public for a while Capt’n,” he observed before digging into the day’s mystery protein. She grinned and produced a brand new certification card. He looked at it and whistled, making her cringe. “Sorry. Forgot you don’t like high frequencies up close. Congrats, ma’am!”

  Captain Ssiliar sat down on the mammal’s other side. “What’s this Dar Ohrkan, Ni Drako?”

  She shrugged, “Oh, I just finished a dual certification in mammalian and reptilian emergency medicine.”

  Both men were impressed. “Well done Rada!” Ssiliar hissed. “So you’ll be making the high credits from now on?” he teased.

  “If only. No, it means I get the long hours and double-up assignments if we’re short on medics,” she snorted. “What’s the Colonel’s saying? No good deed goes unbalanced?”

  They discussed light topics and bitched about the food, and then Rada and Yori excused themselves. The pair walked back to the barracks in silence, she thinking and Yori practically vibrating with excitement. “Throttle back, Awful Clawful,” the older woman said, knowing why he was so impatient and eager. “You’ve seen enough combat to know better,” but she smiled.

  “Aw come on Hairball,” he mock-whined once they reached the semi-privacy of the officers’ quarters, “It’s going to be relatively easy for once. Good weather, no heavy weapons that we know of, and the air support is on our side! What’s not to like?”

  Rada gave a long-suffering sigh and rolled her eyes before flopping out onto her cot. She ticked off her points. “Easy Yori. First, high terrain on three sides. Second, may or may not have someone waiting. Third, those missing mortars. Fourth, time of night. All that smells like bad juju to me.”

  The junior officer thought about it and agreed that she had some valid concerns. She knows what she’s talking about part of him cautioned. The rest of him grinned So? This is my chance to prove what I can do and to show everyone how much I’ve learned. He got up to go check his weapons and make certain his patrol was accounted for and getting ready to hit their bunks. Ni Drako dozed off before Yori left, whistling a little in her sleep. I wonder if that’s h
er other half showing the HalfDragon speculated as he walked out.

  Rada had been awake for quite a while when Yori and the others finally struggled out of their dreams, three hours before time to move out. She’d dressed, armed, briefed, and seen that her squad was fed and ready to go, in case they got called out, all before the three lieutenants had finished their hot wake-up drinks. “Hey Yori, how come Capt’n Ni Drako is still commanding a squad?” Gomez asked.

  The brown-haired man blew on his drink to cool it. “I heard it’s because they are waiting for Gupta to slide over to intel so they can bump Capt. Ssiliar up to command the Scouts.”

  KssTali snorted. “I think she pissed Gupta off once too often and they are trying to force her out without having to buy her contract. At least that’s what Sgt. Minko told me.”

  “You’re both wrong. It’s because she asked to stay with a squad because she needs the experience, after having spent so many years in a non-combat position. And we don’t have anyone else ready to take it yet,” a cold, quiet voice said from the shadows. All three junior officers stiffened and KssTali blushed blue. “Sgt. Minko is full of it, KssTali, as you should know by now.” Ni Drako continued, “Major Gupta wants us at the Command Post in twenty,” and she vanished back into the night.

  Yori and the other two lieutenants exchanged curious looks. “Wonder what put the flea under her helmet?” KssTali groused as he grabbed his gear and started for the door.

  “She always gets this way before action,” Yori reminded the others. “Especially if she doesn’t like how things are set up.”

  After getting the last updates, the three patrols moved out and Capt. Ni Drako settled into a dim corner of the C.P. where she could listen but remain out of the way. Her troops dozed or otherwise tried to relax as they waited and hoped they wouldn’t be needed.