Grendel Unit Read online

  Grendel Unit

  Bernard Schaffer

  CONTENTS

  I. BAD DAY at KHOR-WA

  1. Assets

  2. Ops Plan

  3. Previous Intel

  4. Mission is Go!

  5. Tango Down

  II. IGNITION SEQUENCE

  6. No Vaseline

  7. Shut Up, Be Happy

  8. When Will They Shoot?

  9. New Jack Hustler

  10. You Can't Fade Me

  11. Body Count's in the House

  12. Kill at Will

  13. There Goes the Neighborhood

  III. SUICIDE PLANET

  14. Prelude to Conflict

  15. S.N.A.F.U. (Situation Normal, All…)

  16. The Green Hell

  17. Suicide Planet

  18. Close to Home

  IV. FIGHT THE POWER

  19. Night of the Living Baseheads

  20. Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos

  21. Rebel Without a Pause

  22. Welcome to the Terrordome

  23. Fight the Power

  V. ANY MANS NECESSARY

  24. Immigrant Song

  25. Black Dog

  26. Bring It On Home

  27. Kashmir

  28. No Quarter

  29. Houses of the Holy

  30. Achilles Last Stand

  VI. AUTOMATIC FOR THE PEOPLE

  31. Copperhead Road

  32. Moonage Daydream

  33. Are the Good Times Really Over

  34. Subterranean Homesick Blues

  35. Maggie's Farm

  36. Don't Take Your Guns to Town

  37. The Streets of Laredo

  38. Finest Worksong

  39. I'm Housin'

  40. Turn You Inside Out

  Author's Dedication

  About the Author

  Copyright

  I. BAD DAY at KHOR-WA

  1. Assets

  The prisoner wouldn't shut his yap. Yaps. Whatever, Pern thought. Cryndian scum, always coming onto decent human outposts like Khor-Wa, causing trouble. Greasy and pungent amphibianoids, Cryndians were known for decorating their long, arched necks with gaudy gold chains. They clipped medallions to the lips of their gills like earrings, so that they bounced and jingled when they spoke. The Cryndian mouth was good for little more than mute puckering and it annoyed Sergeant Pern to have to bend his ear to their gills to make out whatever deceitful nonsense was being spewed out of them.

  Maybe somewhere there are good Cryndians who have jobs and contribute to society. Shame the only ones I've ever met seem only intent on smuggling and freeloading. Aliens, he thought bitterly. He'd even heard of Unification allowing some of them into their military academy. Talk about letting the fox into the hen house.

  Finally, the racket became too much and he slammed his news screen down on the desk. "What the hell do you want, fish?"

  The Cryndian hissed at Pern and pressed his webbed fingers against the cell door's electricity field. "How long are you keeping me? Your officer took my hydrator. I need it."

  "There's a sink right there. Behind you."

  The Cryndian smiled condescendingly, "I'm sure it's a perfectly good sink, sir, but you see, I require hypersaline or else I will literally fall apart in this dry heat."

  "Well I guess you should have thought about that before trying to smuggle narcotics onto my outpost."

  Another smile, "I'm not a smuggler, sir. I'm on an assignment for Unification."

  "Sure you are."

  "I work for Captain Victor Cojo. He sent me here on a covert mission to locate a man of particular interest. That's what I was doing when your man arrested me. I understand this is a serious misunderstanding, but if you don't let me out, you will all lose your jobs, and possibly your lives."

  Sergeant Pern leaned against the cell door, "Let me get this straight. You were sent here to find a bad guy, so you brought drugs?"

  "Of course," the Cryndian said. "To give the proper appearance of being connected to the underworld so the man would take me more seriously."

  "And this Captain Cojo saw fit to send you to my outpost without the courtesy of letting me know?"

  The Cryndian held up his hands, "Forgive me for saying so, sir, but the… ah… uniformed ranks, have never been much known for their subtlety. I believe that is why it is called a covert mission."

  Pern smiled at the slight insult. "Tell you what. I'll put your name out on the network as well as this Captain of yours and we'll see what happens."

  "No! Do not do that, I entreat you, Sergeant. You'll blow my cover and risk years of hard work, the lives of a dozen agents. Please, just let me out and I'll make contact with Captain Cojo and have him notify you directly."

  Pern nodded slowly and said, "Do I really look that stupid, fish?"

  The Cryndian hissed in protest and slapped his hands against the field, leaving a slimy, wet smear across the electrostatic surface as Pern turned the cell's volume all the way down. He walked back to his desk and picked up his newsscreen in relaxed silence. He scanned through the articles about the Khor-wa's baseball team's pathetic performance in the East Quadrant Series and the Regent Governor's attempts to bring gambling to the outpost, sighing with boredom. As an afterthought, just for laughs really, he leaned over the keyboard of his network terminal and typed a message that read: Cryndian male in custody, claims to be operative for Unification Captain Victor Cojo. Direct all requests for further information to Sergeant Pern, Khor-Wa Outpost.

  Six hours later, Pern was sleeping soundly at his desk. The lights were dimmed and softly buzzing. He'd locked the front door and activated the perimeter alarm so that anyone approaching the station would trigger it, allowing Pern to straighten his uniform and wipe off the drool.

  The streets were dark outside, patrolled from high atop the towers and rooftops by rotating cameras. The cameras scanned the buildings and windows and faces of pedestrians, constantly searching for signs of disturbance or wanted criminals. There were only three actual policemen on the outpost, and Pern had already factored in losing one of them to his next budget.

  That might get me Lieutenant's bars, he thought happily as he adjusted himself in the seat and tried to get comfortable. If I could do away with both, they'd have no choice but to make me Chief.

  A light cough in the office made Pern jerk awake, kicking his feet off of the desk and nearly throwing him sideways from the chair. He opened his eyes in horror to see a scruffy-looking man in a dark coat leaning on the desk, looking at him. Pern's hand flew to his side for his gun, but cursed when he realized he'd never bothered to take it out of his locker that day. He balled his fists and shot to his feet, nostrils flaring. "Who the hell are you?"

  The man held up his hands passively and said, "I'm sorry I frightened you, Sergeant. I tried to get your attention from the window but you wouldn't budge."

  "How did you get in here?"

  Pern's eyes widened as he saw three more figures standing in the police station's entrance. Each of them, armed with pistols and assault rifles slung across their chests. He stared at the one in the back in wonder, a shaggy, mountainous beast that was forced to stand slouched so its head didn't touch the ceiling. The mantipor looked at Pern and growled lightly, showing just the smallest tip of its fangs.

  "Who the hell are you people?" Pern shouted. "And what is that, that thing, doing in my police station with a weapon?"

  The mantipor snarled menacingly at Pern, and the man inside the office said, "Easy, Big Man." He reached inside his coat for a small black triangle that shimmered even in the dim station light. He cupped the badge as he held it out for Pern to see, "Captain Victor Cojo. These are my men. You have a Cryndian by the name of S'bal in custody. That's my fish."


  Pern's mouth opened in disbelief, his mind racing to assemble all of the facts, even as they bombarded him. Cojo certainly did not look like any captain Pern had ever seen. He'd served four years with Unification Forces as secretarial assistant to the command staff of the 14th Air Support Division, and never once had he seen any of them without brightly-shined shoes and a crisply pressed uniform. To this day, he buzzed his hair bald on the sides and straight up to form the military high-and-tight, just like the men he emulated. The ruffian in his office was unshaven and unkempt, his hair shaggy and stuck up in the front. And where was his uniform? This so-called Captain wore nothing more than a pair of dark jeans and shirt with a long black coat like some sort of street-person. Some sort of terrorist. Pern's eyes narrowed and he said, "You can't have him."

  The smile stayed frozen on Vic's face as he said, "Come again?"

  "He was breaking Khor-Wa law by possessing controlled substances for sale. He's not a citizen, so I have to arraign him. That's the law."

  Vic nodded, "I see. Well, you can rest assured that he's going to face a lot worse by the time I get finished with him."

  "I said you can't have him."

  "What makes you think I was asking?" Vic looked over his shoulder at one of his men and said, "Bob, go get the fish."

  The muscular man in a knitted skull cap looked down at the computer tablet mounted to his forearm. "It's a pretty standard detention system, Cap. Give me five minutes."

  The mantipor nodded at Pern and said, "Tell this rent-a-badge to stop jerking around and give us the prisoner before I get cranky."

  "Who in the hell do you people think you are? You're all under arrest!" He stared at them with his most serious look of authority, aiming his finger at all of their faces. "All of you turn around and put your hands behind your backs."

  Vic stared back at him but did not move, "What's the charge?"

  "Breaking and entering into a police station. Trying to intimidate a public official! Tampering with the custody of a prisoner. Kidnapping!"

  "Tell you what," Vic said. He unsnapped a small metallic card from the back of his badge and passed it to the Sergeant. It had his name, rank and serial number. In small letters printed across the bottom, it read: Please forward all comments, questions or concerns to General L. Milner, Unification Operations. "You go ahead and file a complaint with him if you want. He's probably getting concerned because it's been three whole days and he hasn't gotten any new ones. Must think we're on vacation or something." He leaned back to see the cell area. "How we making out, Bob?"

  "Just another minute."

  "Sooner the better."

  "They've got an old system, Captain. Doing the best I can. Unless you want Monster to come punch a hole through the wall."

  "Sounds good to me," the mantipor said just before lumbering down the corridor to the cells, out of their sight.

  Vic sighed and looked back at the last man, "Don't let them break anything."

  Lieutenant Frank Kelly had a black medical bag strapped across his chest, a red cross stitched across its front was barely visible in the light. "I'll see what I can do."

  Moments later, Pern heard something smash from the rear of the station and the Cryndian's microphone suddenly came back on. "I'm staying right here! You heard the Sergeant. I'm in his custody."

  "Get off your fins, you slippery piece of trash. You double-crossed us, and you're lucky we don't drag you out back and shoot you."

  The mantipor snarled, "I'm getting hungry. It's been awhile since I ate some fish."

  Something else broke and the lights in the office flickered, a sudden drain on the station's power supply. "What are they doing to my station?"

  "Nothing too bad, I hope," Vic said, looking up at the ceiling. "Hey, I said not to break anything!"

  "The door's open, Captain," Buehl shouted back. "This knucklehead won't come out, though."

  "Get out or I'm going to put a hook through your face and drag you out," Monster growled.

  "Let go of me!" the Cryndian cried out. "Stop! I'm dried out from these hot lights, you maniac, you'll—" S'bal's voice broke into a horrific shriek, all of his gills now wide open and singing in agony.

  Sergeant Pern pushed past Vic to get back to the cellblock and reared back suddenly, his face twisting in disbelief.

  Captain Cojo came up behind him and stopped short at the sight of the mewling Cryndian being held up by two of his men, while Monster looked down at the Cryndian's severed arm in his paws. He looked up at Vic, his snout twisted in shame and said, "It just snapped off, Captain. All I did was give it a little pull."

  Vic lowered his head into his hand, "Just get the prisoner. That's all I said to do."

  "It's not my fault," Monster said.

  Vic looked at his Lieutenant, "Can you fix it?"

  Frank paused long enough to reveal his real answer, but then he nodded and said, "Sure. No problem. It's first year medical school stuff."

  "Well, let's get him on the ship then. I think the sooner we leave the good Sergeant to his duties, the better."

  Buehl looked up at the ceiling with concern and said, "Looks like they've got this whole place wired for video and audio, Cap."

  "Not surprising," Vic said.

  Buehl looked over his tablet at Pern, "Is it a two-two-four surveillance system?"

  Sergeant Pern stared dumbly at the mantipor as he carried the twitching severed arm past him. "I think so," he finally managed.

  Buehl raised his tablet and punched in a few keys, typing until he heard a corresponding series of beeps. The surveillance console on Pern's desk popped and showered the floor with sparks inside the dark office. The stink of burnt wires filled the air as black smoke from the console's burned out circuits billowed out of its casing. Buehl smiled satisfactorily, "The two-two-four is junk. It was time for an upgrade anyway."

  Vic watched his men file out of station and let out a deep sigh. "Well, sorry we met under these circumstances, Sergeant. I'm sure General Milner will be hearing from you. Anyway, good night."

  "Who the hell are you people?" Pern whispered.

  "I told you. We're with Unification."

  "No, I mean what unit. What designation? What the hell just happened here?"

  Vic let out a half smile as he popped the station door open, "Have a good night, sir. My tech will turn your security system back on as soon as we leave."

  Pern stood looking through the station door into the dark parking lot, only able to make out a few small running lights. The ground rumbled beneath as a ship's engine roared to life and he watched the thrusters ignite against the lot's hard asphalt surface. The rumbling grew faint as the ship ascended, moving above the station house's roof and out of Pern's sight.

  He flinched as the station's front door locked electronically and the perimeter alarm suddenly blared back to life.

  Frank pushed the Cryndian back into the medical bed and said, "S'bal, hold still or there's nothing I can do."

  "It hurts! You people are savages! Get away from me!"

  "Hold still or I'll tear off the other one and feed it to you!" Monster roared.

  The Cryndian collapsed back on the bed and sobbed, clutching his face with his remaining hand until blue tears squirted over the top of the webbing. "I'm sorry, Captain. I didn't mean to break my promise. I know it was stupid. Can you please stop them from hurting me anymore? I'll do anything you want."

  Vic smiled forgivingly and waved his hand at the other two to back away as he walked up to the side of bed and said, "Do you think Yultorot is still on Khor-Wa?"

  "I know he is. That's why I had the Phendicyn. I was going to sell to a couple people and see if I could move up the chain to get to him."

  "I'm not in the business of selling Phendicyn, S'bal. You know that."

  "You told me I had to get to Yultorot any way I could. He's addicted to Phendicyn! He gobbles them up like candy. I thought I was doing the right thing, why can't you see that?" he moaned. The Cryndian looked at the
ruined stump of his arm and said, "And now look at me! I'm disfigured for life. Just leave me. It won't be much longer now anyway before I shrivel up and die."

  The skin around S'bal's face was no longer shining and blue. It had gone dull and yellow, and fault lines in the flesh were starting to show around his mouth and eyes. Vic reached down and suddenly clamped his fingers around the Cryndian's lips, twisting violently until the skin around his mouth cracked and bled. "Now you listen to me, and listen good. The only reason you aren't rotting in Gratersfield Penitentiary is because you signed a contract with Frank to act as an asset. That doesn't include selling drugs."

  S'bal squealed from his gills and begged for mercy, but Vic continued to twist until the upper lip began to tear away. "So help me, God, I will tear you apart with my bare hands if you ever try another stunt. Do you understand me?"

  "I do! I swear it!" S'bal cried.

  Vic stepped back and wiped his hands on the Trauma bed's sheets. "Put him in the tank. Put his arm in there with him until we can figure out how to sew it back on."

  Frank leaned close to his ear and said, "I'm still not sure if I can. His skin's too rubbery and glandular. I'm not sure stitches will hold."

  "Then get sure. This op isn't finished yet and he's our only lead on the target."

  The Trauma Unit's intercom buzzed and Buehl's voice crackled, "Incoming message for you Captain. Unification priority channel."

  Vic closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Well, I guess I knew that was coming."

  S'bal sat up in his bed nervously as the captain left the room and said, "Please, just get me into the tank. I'm on your side in this."

  Frank nodded to Monster, and the behemoth carefully scooped up S'bal's fragile form and carried him over to the modified water tank at the opposite end of the room.

  "Lower me down. Gently. That's it," S'bal moaned as Monster lowered him into the water. Monster withdrew his wet paws and watched as the Cryndian's flesh absorbed the hypersaline like a sponge. The cracks vanished and soon his scales were shimmering silvery and blue, more brightly than the cheap gold jewels along his neck.