The Wild Ba’Neesh Chapter Forty-Four ©2019 Fay Thompson All Rights Reserved

Mick aimed the group toward the nearest thick clump of trees. This was so close to the underground facility they could hear the ongoing concussions and blaring of alarms. Vents, formerly well hidden by cloaking and design were now streaming plumes of smoke and stink.

“So close?” Aenor asked, turning the Ba’Neesh in a circle to face outward.

“Have every other team seek Tule Soc airborne and ground.”

“How?” She asked.

Mick nodded toward the Soek tagging along with wide worried eyes, fingering their weapons. “They are the nature of Tule Soc, you have seen the devices. Get a sense of the generic enemy that is the entirety of Tule Soc. Like a flavor.” He moved over to help Elias off Freya’s back.

He turned to Gisela and said, “Tell these two to cut three long straight branches, cut one in half, notch the ends and I’ll show you how to make a fast gurney.” Gisela nodded, gesturing the Soek toward the trees.

“Knife?” The massively larger Soek with the heavily muscular build asked bluntly. He was also the one struggling the hardest to overcome the compelling action of their words.

“Give them two knives.” Mick said, leaning down to squat next to Elias. He gestured the third Soek over with the rest of the clothing and together they worked on dressing Elias properly.

“Oh and Gisela, that big one wants to kill you.” Mick glanced over. “No, you don’t get to kill him first. Use speech on him frequently until he stops being stupid.” She grimaced. “More fun to gore him.” She announced to the agreeing grunts of other Ba’Neesh.

“No doubt.” Mick nodded, observing that her horns were noticeably longer. “But, he’s got muscles, good to carry Elias. You can kill him later, maybe, if he stays really stupid.”

“Men leaving hole in ground like rats.” One of the Ba’Neesh who’d climbed a tree passed her words down to her partner who was poking around inside a hole in the tree, hopeful of food.

“Toward us or not?” Mick called out, a move that Aenor and several other Ba’Neesh didn’t like. He noticed. He shrugged. “They know we’re here cause the shit was done to their underground secret place. Okay?” He said. “That smoke means Iiyiko started some fires down there and those alarms mean they haven’t put them out. That means they have to surface or die. Oh, they want to kill us no doubt. Just look at the expressions on these dumb-ass Soek faces. Murderous indeed. But, we aren’t their first problem now.” Elias pushed his hands away and finished dressing himself. “They will come for us, Mick. Fire or no fire.” He said, his voice weak and full of nearly intolerable pain.

Helewidis, turned away from her post to hurry over, glaring at Elias. “You all over one big fuck up, Elias.” She said.

“Thank you.” Elias said, nodding miserably. “I’m going to get all of us killed.” He answered despondently. “You should have left me to die alone.”

“I fix.” She said cheerfully enough. Before Mick or Elias could answer she lowered her head and rammed forward hard enough to knock Elias to the ground with a pained grunt. She laughed, saying. “Borrowed fucking Vrill, aye fuck Mick? Chain me!” She reached over to palm Mick’s chest where his two-bones hid under his shirt. The Vrill in her hand slammed him into a loud squeal and then Mick felt it reverse, as if she sucked out of him only it wasn’t him being sucked. His back arched like someone had plugged his spine into a powerful outlet.

He squealed again. “Son of a Vrill sucking Bitch.” He yelled. And, then he was a conduit, a channel to channels, a gods-be-damned chain in a linkage.

Elias took his turn screaming as the healing Vrill slammed into him. This wasn’t gentle friendly Helewidis, this was the power of Old One Horn macked out through a MagC and arguing with Healer Jeffrey toned chain. It lasted mere seconds. For both Mick and Elias it felt like hours or days before Helewidis stepped back grinning.

“Now that Vrill.” She said, shaking her hand as if it were a wet dog.

Aenor grabbed her by the upper arm. “They will see us. The Vrill!”

“No. Aenor.” Mick held up one jerking hand, still rippling from the overload charge of Vrill to his entire body. He knew he was high as a kite and fuck if he didn’t care. Except. “No, Aenor. We don’t hide anymore. Kill any Tule Soc that turns toward us. Sigil and chain up. Don’t use Iiyiko’s bone like she did.” He pointed at Helewidis, but, use Edda. Edda touched Iiyiko I’m not sure exactly when, been trying to climb out of my pack for since or whatever Helewidis did that chain thing that has me all fucked up. I think she burnt a hole in my chest.” Mick pulled up his shirt to explore his chest where a second burn blistered and swelled right before his eyes. He groaned. “Fucking overachieving Ba’Neesh.”

Then he stared at a spot between himself and Elias, who was moaning and rubbing his head as if poleaxed. They recognized the high in each other and both pointed at the Vrill distortion spot floating between them. “That’s Edda?” Elias asked. His memory flooding painfully with what that meant, the reality of her death.

“Baby Iiyiko Edda, I think.” Mick said, nodding. He grunted as the Edda bone in his hand sparked. “Yeah, well…” He lifted it to say directly to it. “You ain’t got her power yet, Edda. Ain’t my fault. You’ve only been dead a couple days. Learn faster.”

Aenor dropped Helewidis’ arm in the midst of this and reached over to grab the two bones in Mick’s hand. “Edda?” She yelled like he did, right into the bones. Then she jerked back and dropped them staring at Mick like it was his fault they sparked on her too.

“What?” Mick said crawling toward the still gleeful Vrill drunk Helewidis and her growing horn. He wondered when he had missed noticing that each horn seemed bigger and more pointy.

“Edda say…” Aenor stiffened and turned toward the three Soek mules who had ceased their efforts with the makeshift gurney to watch and listen. Aenor lifted her right hand and pointed it at the big, thick one calling himself Karl. “Molcom. Encapsulate.” She yelled the order with a hard Vrill edge.

It was their turn to squeal. Mick leaned over to Elias, who was looking quite a bit better, like an animated punching bag. “Better them than us.” He said in a faux whisper.

Helewidis leaned in toward him, the exact right angle. He stood up in perfect alignment so that her horn touched his burn spot. The pain vanished. He staggered back and rubbed at his chest, giggling. “Fucking Ba’Neesh healing. You going to be able to walk then, Elias?” His voice had a drunken wobble.

“Fucking A.” Elias tested out his new boots and groaned, they were too big.

“Wrong size?”

Aenor rolled her eyes. The Soek mules were busy clutching their heads and spewing foul language in German while she observed.

“Yeah.” Elias nodded. “Let me try that guy’s boots.” He pointed at the second of the Soek whose name Mick was pretty sure he’d never heard, even during the German swearfest, so it was okay he had no memory of it.

Mick staggered over to the crying Soek and demanded his boots.

Aenor said. “Assist Mick.” Nice and loud and loaded with Vrill.

The Soek took off his boots with obvious reluctance and received the pair Elias rejected.

Mick wandered back to Elias, not feeling quite as drunk.

“Do you feel compelled to help me, Elias? Or, is she broadcasting to ALL stupid Soek in the area again?” He asked.

Aenor snorted. “I not broadcast.” She said.

“I am not stupid.” Big Karl gasped out, interrupting her.

Mick just laughed and spun back around. “You have like zero idea how big a fucking stupid you are stupid Karl.” He said. “You and your two nameless Soek mule friends here have all been trying to kill the Ba’Neesh, your own mothers, daughters, sisters, you know, family. You dumb ass twit.” Mick had rounded on the three of them, waving the boots in one hand, his voice rising in the other. “Further, she just made you kill the fucking molcom in your brain that Tule Soc was or will try to use to turn you into a killer mule. Right. She fucking showed you how to kill it instead of them kill you. And, you are so stupid you are wanting to kill her for your puny little Soek cry-baby pain. Fuck off you weenie.”

Elias started to laugh somewhere mid rant and was now doubling over in amusement, surprised he felt almost alive again. “The boots, Mick. Give me the fucking boots.”

“Yeah, right.” Mick said, handing Elias the boots.

“Incoming drone.” The cry came from up the tree.

An argument ensued between Ba’Neesh in two trees both wanting to kill it.

Mick tilted his face up. “First to call, kills first. If low on Vrill yell pass.” He ordered.

He turned when a hand pulled him around. Big Karl. Big Mad Karl.

He looked at the flustered outraged Soek. Was he ever that totally stupid? “Yeah?” He asked and tapped the Soek’s grip with his own Vrill laced finger.

Karl jerked his hand back. “You tell me what is happening.” He yelled, “Or I break you in half.”

Mick looked up at the thickness of the Soek’s neck. In a regular world no doubt this guy was a tank, capable of breaking mere puny humans in half with ease. In Ba’Neesh world, he was a low-powered Soek at the mercy of Vrill he had been bred to be low in. But, he was still Soek. Mick blinked. Vrill used to build muscle and mass. Power of a different kind. Asset.

“Karl. You can only touch me because Aenor, that’s that Ba’Neesh right there, is allowing you to do so because she is slightly miffed at me and might want to kill you and is contemplating it.” He said as the Ba’Neesh in the trees chortled she had the first stupid drone. Mick continued. “She likes hand-to-hand die bloody fighting. Got it? So, if you want to live today, you stop threats you cannot back up to Vrill. I’ve got Vrill enough to cut you in half with this single fucking finger. Imagine what she can do.” Mick paused, realizing the other Soek were listening. They needed analgesic. He reached down to his pack, somehow on the ground between him and Elias and he pulled out the med pak. Clearly a Tule Soc med pack and a Tule Sock pack. He watched these realizations hit home with Big Mad Karl’s expression.

He opened the med pak and pulled out three analgesic packages, handing them to Karl who received them hesitantly, as if certain they were poison.

“For your fucking headers.” Mick said. “Now, what’s happening is this. We rescued Elias here and in the process you responded to Vrill speech directed at Soek, that means you are mules or were. Now, you are outside with Ba’Neesh who are taking you. That means they will compel you to obey them until you do so without needing to be compelled. That means when your brain catches up with the truth here. Until then, Tule Soc will now try to kill you too once they realize your molcom no longer works, you become simply disposable Soek, like me and Elias. So, they are now your personal enemy and they are sending more drones over to try to kill us. But, I have an idea.”

He turned away from stupefied Karl who was being approached by the other two former mules for the analgesic and Mick walked almost normally over the few steps to Aenor.

She had been listening, as all of the Ba’Neesh were prone to do when Mick ranted. “What now?” She asked.

“Can you think send to Mael through Edda? Reserves. Red?” He said.

She reached out to grab his necklace again. “Why the fuck not, Mick.” She said sarcastically, narrowing her eyes and targeted the Turtle so vivid to Mick when he dreamed.

Mael jumped, saying. “Fucking kid. Or wait, that’s a Ba’Neesh. What the fuck does he mean? Reserves. Red?”

The two words ran around the room like an echo before Brad powered over to Mael. “How did you hear something?” He asked.

“In my head.” Mael’s voice grew thoughtful. “Telepathy? Is Mick saying the damn Ba is a form of telepathy? Crude though. He sent two words that weren’t clean words, more emotional displays of some kind through a Ba’Neesh.”

“Chaining.” Anya offered, her expression one of growing excitement. She turned away saying something about bone links to the Ba’Neesh.

“Recall Mael, his foster father is high up in the Reserves.” Brad said. “He is telling us something about the Reserves. Code Red. That has to be danger. Reserves Danger? Shit, he is saying the facility is in the Reserves and he is in danger. No, wait. It can’t be in the Reserves, that is illegal. Ahh. Rat them out. Can we fucking triangulate on the Vrill spikes. Of course we can. Smart boy. Rain shit on the bastards, hoist in their own petard and all that.”

Brad turned back to his onboard system as word passed to run triangulations for the exact location of the recent Vrill spikes. Everyone knew the search would be triggering the Tule Soc snoopers riding their communications systems. The only difference being, Tule Soc didn’t need to find the facility, they already knew where it was.

Brad waved the room to silence. He opened a broadcast channel to the national military directed toward the Head of National Reserve Endangerment. “I wish to report an unauthorized likely illegal structure, fires, and injured armed men at…he gave the exact longitude and latitude of the Vrill spike. That is within your protected Reserves.” He closed the channel.

Thuds pounded on the aircraft door. Damien Thorne, normally housed in the aircraft next door stood in the ramp, his face a mixture of fury and desire. “What the hell is going on?” He thundered when they opened the door.

“Elias was rescued.” Mael said calmly.

“What?” Behind Thorne two men in military uniforms arrived on the run negating any further semi-private conversation.

Thorne pivoted saying. “I assure you no DireSec operative has left this compound or entered the Reserves.”

“Not quite true.” Mael spoke over Thorne’s head knowing a pickup would be feeding all of this live to Tule Soc. “See, technically Elias is still a DireSec operative. He has been lost in the Reserves since the day of our arrival here. He was caught by Tule Soc and held for ransom on the side, we believe without national knowledge. What is true is that his rescue was not done by DireSec operatives. We haven’t left here. We haven’t brought any new operatives across the border as per our agreement with you. The rescue team is not affiliated with us in any official capacity.”

“We received a message about an illegal structure and armed men in the Reserves.” The lead military man said abruptly.

“Yes. We reported our intel to that fact as soon as we understood the intel.” Mael continued. “Have you directed satellite footage to observe?” He knew they had, Brad was nodding. “Ahh. I see yes. You can see the smoke plumes and running men as well? You will be busy then sending Reserve Teams in immediately to assess the damage to the environment? Excellent.”

“What team did this rescue?” The military man demanded.

“Quite the question.” Mael said. “I expect we will all learn more when the National and Reserve Teams explore the area to demonstrate affirmative intel about what is taking place there as we speak. We know only that our single DireSec operative in the Reserve, is alive and is no longer being held prisoner for ransom.”

The military men spun away, bringing Damien Thorne with them who sent a bitter glance toward Mael as the ramp closed behind him. Clearly the negotiations and discussions had just leveled up a new step or two.

Mael turned on Brad saying, “We need eyes on them. How the fuck do we get eyes on them? Mick would sigil something but damned if a casting Seeker on our end would remain stable like that eye of his. How did that happen anyway? When did an eye become its own sigil? Bent like a panorama too. Damn useful.”

“I can’t do a sigil eye thing we haven’t invented yet.” Brad said, “But, I did just launch three observer drones at the same time the nationals did theirs. I have mine broadcasting on continuous the word DireSec, in case Tule Soc tries to shoot down the nationals and blames us. I would. If I were in their shoes and trying to hide that base.”

“We have technicians manning each drone?” Mael asked. Serla had walked over from the third aircraft to pound on the ramp door, bringing three more senior Akaitapi with him. Clearly the situation was changing.

“Yes, Sir.” Brad answered, they were only too eager to fly ops considering the forced boredom we have all been suffering here.

“Right.” Mael realized his own boredom had vanished. He asked himself, again, what was he doing here? He wasn’t political, hated negotiations and had wanted to leave almost immediately when it became clear they couldn’t mount a direct rescue of the youngers inside the Fels facility, not once nationals arrived. All they had been doing was preventing Tule Soc from further damage. Health and Welfare teams were now in place to observe the drugged Ba’Neesh and Tule Soc was not being allowed inside, for any reason. The holo screens in the aircraft began to display the fast flight over the forest. The smoke plumes were easy to find and close.

“We have Tule Soc up.” Serla said, taking a seat next to Brad so he wouldn’t tower over his seated position. “And, as expected, they are trying to shoot us and the nationals down.”

The drone views danced as DireSec operatives maneuvered to avoid the drone-on-drone shots. They watched two of the three national drones explode before DireSec techs decided to protect the last one by flying defensive circles around it.

Brad yelled in to the open communications. “It isn’t our drones firing on you. Check your footage. Take evasive maneuvers as our drones are observer only, we have no weapons mounted.”

Mael grinned, they were nearly on top of the plumes and DireSec’s excellent long-range opticals was picking out the sight of running Tule Soc clad figures, with weapons out.

As the drones passed over the site Brad upped the audio feed from national, now a steady stream of outraged cursing with orders flying for armed response teams from both their military response team aircraft and the Reserves division.

“And there, as we say, is a well-executed plan. Go Mick.” Brad’s tone had a bit of glee to it. “I’m peeling one off to try to find the Ba’Neesh. There is spiking Vrill nearby. Clearly they are no longer hiding. Why are they no longer hiding? Shit. Did you see that? Someone just lasered a Tule Soc drone. She’s in a damn tree taking potshots at a distance. Good range.”

“Yeah, she’s chaining.” Anya said. “Everyone gets a right index finger bone, now!” The Ba’Neesh inside the aircraft hurried forward with finger bones which had already been drilled.

“What’s this?” Mael asked when Anya forced one into his hand.

“Linkage.” She announced. “We are fools. We link with bones. We knew this back when you and I mounted that first battle and had to cut off Rojer’s finger to make one. Why didn’t we follow the thought out then? Stupid. We stupid like some Soek.”

Mael received a narrow string and made a crude necklace. Ornius would make them fix these into proper jewelry, later. He put his over his neck and instantly felt a Vrill spike against his chest. “Ow.” He said, running one hand up under his shirt to rub at the hot spot.

(More fun! Elias is back, I've missed him.)