The Battle (10.3)

"Please sir, it is urgent," Laurie insisted.

"I'm sorry, but rules are rules— besides, even if there was such a way to 'teleport' anything, it is too great a distance."

"Laurie knows what she is doing, sir; I can assure you of that. Now, we are in great danger just now, and I ask you to please do as she has requested," a voice behind Laurie said.

Laurie turned in surprise to see a haggard Captain Mitchell; Chris was standing beside him, out of breath.

"A few minutes please," a mechanical voice intoned, before the screen went dark blue, and red letters spelling out HOLD filled the screen.

"Thank you, Chris and Laurie; if you two hadn't had heads on your shoulders, by the looks of the army camped outside our wall, we wouldn't have any hope." the Captain said as he slumped into a chair beside the desk. "The Platonians think they have us trapped, they have given us till morning to surrender."

The MTD screen came to life again.

"We have acquired the requested materials- they shall be at the Kennedy Space Center in twenty minutes. They are top of the line; just released a week ago, each refills by drawing H2O from the moisture in the atmosphere, though I still don't understand how you plan on getting them to Exandra."

"We'll take care of that, just leave the shipment outside in the open and send Miss. Laurie here the exact GPS coordinates of the location," Captain Mitchell requested as the screen then went back to reading HOLD once more.

"I must get back outside to help organize the defense. The Platonians seem to be quiet for now but there's no telling whether they will strike tonight or wait till dawn. Laurie, Chris, will you be okay handling this?"

"Yes sir," Laurie answered, confidence in her voice.

"It's been twenty minutes," Chris said to Laurie, who was staring at the screen expectantly, even though nothing had changed. Then suddenly the man from the EASA office was back on the screen.

"Transmitting the latitude and longitude now," Chris typed the numbers into the teleporter.

"Thank you, sir," Laurie exclaimed as the screen went blank.

"Energy cells at full capacity. Five minutes until we get the shipment," Chris stated.

It seemed like the longest five minutes ever.

Once Chris and Laurie received the water guns, they were dismayed to find that they were all still in their retail boxes. Ripping away the boxes, Chris and Laurie filled and carried the guns out four at a time. Once outside, they handed the water guns, along with brief instructions, to the first Allied member they came across. They continued running back and forth, quickly enlisting the help of the non-combatants. After a water gun had been delivered to each ally, Chris and Laurie each grabbed water guns and joined the wall defense.

"We are as ready as we will ever be," Laurie whispered to Captain Mitchel in the darkness. "Why aren't we attacking?"

Captain Mitchell jerked his head to the right. "A group of ECOPS are climbing down the wall on the opposite side of the city, before daybreak they plan to surprise the Platonians before we launch our assault from the wall."

From the light of the moon, Laurie could just make out motion on the wall on the farthest side of the city. The city was quiet. Most of the defenders had already slumped against the wall at the top of the battlements, sleep tugging at their weary bodies. Captain Mitchell followed Laurie's gaze around the top of the battlements.

"You know, when they suggested we build this wall during the planning stages of this colony, I thought EASA was being a bit medieval. They reasoned that we had no idea what was on this planet, and they were right." He mused.

Laurie yawned and he patted her on the shoulder before making a motion toward Chris who had since curled up along the wall and was sleeping peacefully.

"You two have done a great job today." He assured her. "You may want to try to rest before the battle starts up."

Laurie awoke to urgent whispering by Captain Mitchel who was trying to quietly rouse the sleeping defenders. She jumped up as the sound of the ECOP battle cry sounded from outside the wall. She peered over the wall to watch as the ECOPs charged around the eastern side of the city to block the Platonians from attempting to escape back to their base. They startled the Platonians out of their tents and sent them into disarray, pushing them toward the city wall. Captain Mitchell gave the signal and Laurie and Chris joined the wall defenders in firing their water weapons over the side of the wall onto the Platoninan army below.

It was actually starting to look as if the Allied groups would finally have some hope; more and more of the Platonians were being vanquished. The Platonian Leader, Escrib, called for a retreat, and the Allied armies pursued them northwest to the edge of the marshes. Giving the order to push the Platonians into the marshland, Captain Mitchell noticed the Squirrels were no longer among the defenders ranks. Scanning over the forces he noticed a few Squirrels clipping off into the trees ahead of the Platonians.

"Keep up heart and fight valiantly troops, we still have them on the run!" Captain Mitchell yelled in encouragement as the Platonians neared the marshes.

Just as the Platonians came upon the Marshland trees, an order echoed through the Marshland trees to 'fire' at will. The Squirrels in the trees let loose with their water pistols, soaking the Platonians below them. Not waiting for a command from their leader, the Platonians broke ranks and ran, escaping by the seashore, heading back east towards their mountain.

The allied armies give a yell of triumph, but their leaders were not satisfied that the threat was vanquished. They conferred amongst themselves while the defenders celebrated.

"Form ranks," Captain Mitchell called out.

The creatures all looked from one to another, confused. The humans chuckled when they realized that none of the tribes knew what he was talking about.

"Get into groups of five by ten," Captain Mitchell specified and the troops obeyed without delay.

The leaders ordered the troops to head back to Dirin City in case the Platonian troops stopped there first. Upon reaching Dirin City, and finding no sign of the Platonians the wounded were dropped off to receive care in the medical facilities of Central Station. The rest of the troops regrouped and kept marching on. They reached the Platonian Mountain after a few hours of walking. It took half of the Allied Troops to force open the door at the base of the Platonians' Mountain hideout. Trib led a team of fighters up the mountain to the air shaft he had used before.

One by one, they slipped through. The cave-city appeared deserted. Meeting in what appeared to be a main square, the two forces broke into recognizance teams to see if they could find any one. Laurie, Chris, Bushwhacker, and David set off down one of the long corridors.

"My MTD is reading something," David said, as the group gathered around him to check it out.

"Let me see, Dad," Chris asked.

"It's a life form reading," Laurie stated, looking over Chris' shoulder.

She pulled out her own MTD and led the group in the direction of the signal displayed on her screen.

After traveling down two floors and through a maze of corridors and passageways, they came upon a door with a sign that, once the MTD had translated the Platonian script, read 'Solitary Confinement.' Rechecking her MTD, Laurie pushed open the door. The gray-walled corridor was lit by only a soft light strip on the ceiling. Feeling a little pensive, Laurie pushed open the first cell door while the others followed suit working down the hall on both sides. Chris was halfway down the hall when found one locked and peered through the barred cell window to see who might be inside.

"Tarpin!"

The others rushed over.

"What are you doing here?" Laurie questioned their weakened friend as she stood on tiptoe to see him through the bars.

Bushwhacker continued searching the remaining cells.

"They are all here, Tarpin!" Bushwhacker called out.

"I believe the keys are on a hook on the wall out there," Tarpin said in a barely-audible voice, lifting the chains that secured him to the back wall of the cell; David quickly retrieved the keys.

"There was a rockslide," Tarpin told Laurie and Chris. "It knocked the other spies and me unconscious, and next I knew I was chained here, for how long, I don't know."

David ran back with the keys and unlocked the door of the small cell before kneeling to unlock the chains bound around Tarpin's wrist. He then went to free the others. Supporting the released captives, the group headed back up to meet with the rest of the troops.

The Allied forces checked every level inside the now- abandoned Platonian fortress. No one else, enemy or otherwise, was found.

*****

In the end, there were only a handful of casualties, most from injuries sustained in the first battle. A plaque was built on top of Fortress Hill bearing their names and the whole account of the battle. A memorial to the unity of the species in common cause. Peace returned to the planet and the various species left to take up their lives as if nothing had ever happened.

"That is just their way," Tarpin told Chris and Laurie, as he joined the earthlings on their return to Dirin City.

Just before they entered into the outskirts of Dirin City, Tarpin pulled the children aside.

"I'd like to thank you," he said, "for helping in the battle and for rescuing my team."

"You're welcome," Laurie answered earnestly. "It was nothing."

"We did our duty," Chris added.

"You two have turned out to be great ECOPs; I am proud of you. You have come a long way since I met you on the riverbank not so long ago," Tarpin said with a laugh, as Laurie and Chris smiled and hugged him.

"Don't hesitate to call for one of us if something comes up," he said, waving to them as he walked away in the direction of the forest. Chris and Laurie waved in return.

"Keep an ear out for the ECOP call," he shouted to them, just before going out of sight over a hill.