Chapter 6

The three men crept silently towards the natural boundary between lands occupied by General Devon’s people and Settlements. The long running ridge, with a few natural passes, was what had kept them being discovered by the Generals forces. An early warning system needed to be put in place, should they began exploring in the Settlements directions. The threat and danger were real.

The first set of landers making up the Generals base, had come down together in a planned landing. The base was intact and functioning. All in All, it appeared to be successful, despite what the runaways were saying. The secret surveillance of the base revealed that the General was still in control vie his right-hand man, the Major. The heavy handiness the base was ruled under, made life for many there miserable.

The job of the three men was to place monitoring equipment to alert the Settlements if the General began moving in their direction. The placements had to be done in secret. The equipment had to remain undiscovered for as long as possible.

Due to their past actions, the Generals knew full well that they had competition on the new planet. They deduced that things hadn’t gone well for the Mother ship after they departed. Once landed they couldn’t contact the ship. They did however contact the one satellites that was launched. From it they began mapping the planet, and searching for any sign of others.

There had been several scouting missions by the General, but so far, the settlements had not been discovered. That too was just a question of time. So, the mission was to install the warning devices, to give them time to react if and when the General moved against them. For Tom, there was another mission, one that he’d vowed to do from the start. The Generals Aide, the Major was one that he would enjoy killing.

In secret conversations, away from Shondra’s eyes and ears, Tom and Richard had agreed that the General and his righthand man the Major, needed to be eliminated. Once those two were out of the way, maybe they could reach a peace settlement between the two groups of people.

Tom carried two weapons. His assault rifle, and the long-range sniper rifle Richard had made for him. While Steve and Ron set up the warning devices, Tom would keep a look out. Besides being a look out, his assignment was to kill the General. The Major was a personal hit, that Tom was looking forward too.

Tom led the way through the forest, staying just off the trail by fifty feet or more. There was a chance that the General had sent scouts out looking for more deserters, and could be on the old tracks. Tom didn’t want to run into any of them, not before the devices were in place.

Coming to the Red cliffs, they scanned the area before crossing the open ground and climbing up what looked to be an easy slope. Now it was becoming a struggle for all of them. Steve and Ron climbing with packs full of detection gear, were having problems. The passing of a morning mist had made hand holds slippery. It took long than it should have to reach the top, but they did after sliding back several times and getting covered in mud and grime.

Tom had to take time after reaching the top, to clean the rifles. Steve and Ron waited nervously while he finished and then double check each one. Then he spent another two minutes cleaning the ammo. All the while Steve and Ron were sweating like nervous bridegrooms. Finally, they got started again. Tom assured them both that the General would be there. With a little luck he might be visible from a long way off. Course they weren’t really interested in the General, they wanted to plant the warning devices and get the hell out of there.

“If you get a shot at the General, don’t you think that will give us away? I mean, they’ll know which direction to look for us.” Steve questioned the wisdom of sniping the man.

“They know already which direction were coming from. It’s a big area, and so far, we’ve kept a light trail. A good tracker might be able to follow it back, but remember we didn’t come in a straight line. They will have some problems, but we still have the kill zones. Richard will be waiting for any reprisals from the Group.” Tom hoped he sounded sure of himself, but he wasn’t. If he managed to kill the General and that Damn Major, then they might be safe for a good long time. There were others that would try to take control, but that would take some time. Especially if there were several that wanted to be the leader.

“I just hope they don’t keep searching until the come across our warning devices.” Ron wasn’t so sure about killing anyone and having their instruments remain undiscovered. There would surely be a through search of the whole area afterwards. He voiced his concerns about all their efforts being in vane if all the devices were quickly discovered.

“Just do a good job of hiding them, and they won’t be found. They’ll be looking for me, not an instrument package.” He assured his two companions. “Besides that, I’ll give you a head start. I’ll wait until you’re well on your way back.”

The rest of the walk was done in silence. They were all well aware of the Ape men that lived in the forest above the cliffs. The Ape men had moved to the sides of the paths the three men were taking. They knew they couldn’t fight with spears against bullets, but they still might be determined to defend their territory. It gave Tom a idea, for the path he might take on his way home.

Nearing the area where the devices would be planted, the three men stopped to put on Ghillie suits, and stick some of the local vegetation in the netting. It made for an over all covering that blended in with the terrain. Tom made sure his was the right color to blend in with tree limbs and foliage. He was beginning to enjoy the mission.

They could see the Domes of General Devon’s settlement, and a raised platform in the middle of it all. Tom had to move to the side to get a clear view through the dome tops, to see the dais where there appeared to be someone speaking to the crowd gathered in front. He wanted to start shooting now, but had to wait for the whistle from Steve or Ron, that they were through setting up the early warning devices.

While he waited, Tom scanned the group and picked out the General Sitting by the Major. Oh he was pleased, and anxiously waited for the signal from his partners. Scanning the whole area, he saw the security forces standing around, all well-armed and watching the crowd. Tom figured there were a lot of people unhappy with the General, and the security guards made that even plainer.

The signal finally came, and Tom readied his aim. A well-shaped limb that afforded a good rest, helped center the cross hairs on the General. Suddenly the man stood up and took the place of the speaker behind the podium. The General was now an even better target, which Tom still waited, giving Steve and Ron extra time to fade into the forest.

Counting to one hundred, Tom waited while the General orated to the crowd and Steve and Ron were long gone in the forest. On reaching one hundred in his count, Tom squeezed the trigger and sent the bullet flying. He’d checked the windage and the temp. The scope had been set and the bullet flew true. The generals head suddenly flew back, with a red mist filling the air. Tom quickly adjusted to the Major who had a shocked look on his face. Tom figure that was a good enough look for him, and sent the other bullet on it way. The Major had started to rise when he was impacted, and toppled over backwards. He landed behind his chair, with every one else on the platform diving for cover.

The job was done, and Tom dropped down out of the tree. He didn’t need the sniper rifle any longer, nor the weight of it on his back. So he smashed it against the tree trunk and threw the two pieces into the brush. Now he was armed only with the automatic rifle, which was smaller but could put out a deadly spray of lead. Any one on his trail would make a mistake of getting close enough for him to use it. Which he was hoping he could, but wouldn’t admit it to himself.

Tom took the path he’d thought on, and went through the general area that he figured the Ape men were living. They were slow to react and Tom was through the area and headed for the cliffs with only a few thrown rocks coming close. There were huffs and grunts as the ape men began grouping to discuss what action to take. Tom was over the edge of the cliff, and climbing down with the aid of vines. He reached the ground with a thud and rolled to a running position. He couldn’t wait and catch his breath as the rocks were beginning to fall. He noted the ape’s reaction time was improving. Something to remember in future encounters.

He was well into the forest and making good time heading south to where he knew the lakes lay. Behind him, he could hear screams and gun fire. The pursuing generals’ men had finally met the Ape men. The shooting lasted for several minutes and gradually faded. Tom assumed they had either wiped out the group of apes or they were retreating. He didn’t expect them to give up the chase, so when he came to the lakes, he dove right in and began swimming to a patch of lily pads and what looked like skunk cabbage. There he stopped and hid behind the leaves sticking up out of the water.

Ten minutes or less, there appeared several men with rifles. All in uniforms and scanning the area and waters. Tom covered his head with a leaf and only kept one eye out to see what the men were doing. There was look of determination on all their faces, and their voices carried over the water. They were determined to find where he lived, and were going to mount an expedition to find it. For the time being, they would give up on this hunt, and go prepare for an extended search. Tom waited a half hour before moving again. There was always the chance that one of them was still watching and waiting.