Devil's Due (Destroyermen #12)(162)
“Good girl. Just stay low.”
“Go! Us hold!” Corporal Tass slurred, proving once and for all that much of the human speech Grik-like beings managed came from their throats and the backs of their tongues. His broken jaw never moved.
“No way, Corporal,” Sandra stated flatly.
“We came for you,” Minaa pleaded. “Get hurt an’ dead to save you. Don’t let us fail!”
“We’ll be okay,” she snapped irritably. “Chack’ll be here soon. Listen: the fighting’s only a few hundred yards away.”
“Runnin’ Gaa-reiks’ll get here quicker,” Minaa objected.
“He is right,” Ruffy reluctantly agreed. “They came to save us. They have done all they can. My kaiser would expect me to get you to safety.”
Rizzo had finally spit the gag out of his mouth. “Do as he says, signora,” he begged, his expression at least looking sincere. “You have a chance to escape. Take it!”
“Shut up, you!”
Corporal Tass tumbled back, the top of his head and right eye a pulped wreck. The ball that hit him whined into the trees and struck one with a loud thwok! “Damn!” Sandra swore, and fired a few precious rounds over the palisade. To her surprise, there was no answering fire. A moment later, however, there came a voice: one she knew and hated.
“Your position is hopeless, Mrs. Reddy,” Kurokawa yelled. “You have—what? One or two companions left? You will soon be surrounded, overwhelmed by my army. Surrender now and you will not be harmed!”
Sandra barked a laugh. “How ironic,” she called back. “If we get surrounded by your army, that’s running from the fight. Even more ironic is that you think your position’s better than ours. You’re about to be surrounded by my husband’s army!” She twisted the knife. “I guess you saw your getaway ship go up in smoke, and your whole damn fleet is done!” She only hoped the last was true, as she was unable to see past the bay with the building blocking it. But the cruiser’s fate was obvious. “I’ll tell you what,” she countered. “If you surrender now, I give my word you won’t be roughed up too much—before you’re hanged.”
The laugh that returned was maniacal, and Grik troops suddenly filled the doorway, rushing out, bayonets fixed. Sandra rose and shot one before her bolt locked back on an empty magazine. A few shots came from Ruffy and Minaa, dropping a couple more, before they were also empty. Ruffy dove for Tass’s rifle, but a staccato clatter of musket shots chewed through the palisade and sent him sprawling. Ten Grik remained and they bounded toward them.
This is it, Sandra thought, almost relieved. She groped for the little .380 in her waistband and stood, prepared. Diania rose to stand beside her. To her astonishment, so did Maggiore Rizzo.
“Stop!” Kurokawa shrieked. “Stand down! Keep them covered—nothing more!” Briskly, he strode through the door, and the Grik parted before him. He stopped on the other side of the splintered pickets, pointing a Nambu pistol at Sandra’s belly. “Maggiore Rizzo. What a pleasant surprise,” he said, then glared at Sandra. “Not running troops,” he snapped, continuing the argument as if there’d been no interruption. But he spoke as if trying to reassure himself. “My reinforcements are on their way.”
“Keep telling yourself that,” Sandra replied. She knew she was shaking but couldn’t help it. Her adrenaline was spiking and all she could think was that if he shot her there, hers and Matt’s baby would die. Of course, she was about to die anyway. “You just don’t get it!” she shouted suddenly, surprising herself. “You’re beaten!” She pointed south with her left hand, using his distraction to get a firm grip on the little Colt. Running Grik were visible now, very close but not coming this way; they were running for the trees, chased by muzzle flashes and puffs of smoke. “That’s Chack’s Brigade,” she said harshly, “the best light infantry in this whole crappy world, and those’re probably your reinforcements on the run! You’re finished, General of the Sea!” She laced the title with as much contempt as she was capable of. Oddly, instead of shooting her in a rage, as she expected, Hisashi Kurokawa only smiled.
“Perhaps you are correct, to a degree, Lady Sandra,” he retorted with his own sarcasm. “But what you don’t understand is that I can never be beaten as long as I have you. Whether you believed what you told me or not is immaterial; you were wrong. Captain Reddy came after all, risking everything to save you. Don’t you see? He would lose the war to save you.” He shrugged. “He may already have. Even while he is here—with the bulk of his fleet, no doubt—General Esshk mounts his Final Swarm to overwhelm Madagascar and roll back every gain you’ve made. So while I may have lost all I achieved, so have you.”
Without warning, the pistol in his hand barked twice, three times.
Sandra blanched, expecting the pain to come, but there was nothing. Instead, Maggiore Rizzo gave a small, surprised cry and slowly sank to his knees. Then, utterly lifeless, he fell face-first against the palisade and slid to the ground.
“You’re insane,” Sandra whispered.
“Possibly,” Kurokawa agreed, his face oddly troubled. “But I’m also quite valuable. Even more so now that he is dead. I know a great deal about the League of Tripoli. I also know more about the Grik than any man alive and can help against General Esshk as well.” He pursed his lips. “Many of my people, made prisoner over time, have been released in the Nippon of this world. It is one of your allies in the war, but no matter. I and the rest of my people can make a place for ourselves there, just as that traitor”—he flared—“Sato Okada did.” He calmed himself. “More important, however, to that end, though I’ve never met Captain Reddy, I know him quite well. By all accounts, including yours”—he glanced disdainfully at Rizzo’s corpse—“and his, based on League intelligence, Captain Reddy is a man of honor and keeps his word. If I surrender you unharmed in exchange for assistance against your enemies and safe transport”—he paused and lifted an eyebrow—“home, your husband’s honor will never let him harm me.”