When the Devil Dances

“That’s an understatement, sir,” the captain replied with a smile. “Let’s just say we tend to wait until we have to fire. So what is the plan?”

“Unfortunately, I think it’s to go up there,” Mitchell said, panning an external monitor up into the mountains. “I’ve been looking at a map. And it’s even worse than it looks on the screen.”

“That’s nearly vertical, sir,” the Meemie commander said hesitantly. “I think that Meemies can handle the slope, but it’s also covered in trees, which we can’t handle. And isn’t a SheVa a little top-heavy for those slopes? Not to mention… wide?”

“I think we’re about to find out,” Mitchell answered. “I think I’ve plotted out a course that we can take; up through Chestnut and Betty Gap and down Betty Creek. It’s not going to be fun or easy — the slope in particular around the back side of Panther Knob is going to be a special nightmare — but it’s all wide enough for us to fit, according to the map, and with nothing worse than a thirty-degree slope. With all our rounds loaded, we actually have a fairly low center of gravity, despite the look. I think we can make it.”

“And if you can’t?” Captain Chan asked.

“Well, if we go back, we’re going to run into the Posleen,” Mitchell answered. “At least, that’s a very good chance. And if we go… up, there are a series of possible bad outcomes. For one thing, we don’t know that the Posleen aren’t on Betty Creek in force. But it’s also the only path that doesn’t involve getting immediately overrun. If the Posleen are there, but not in force, well…” He grinned ferally.

“What about your resupply units?” she asked, thumbing over her shoulder. “And us, for that matter.”

“I’ve updated a map,” he said, handing her a flash card. “Do you have a…”

“I’ve got a map module,” she said with a smile, pulling out her map reader and popping the chip in. “We’ve got all the modern refinements.”

“You’ll go up by Mica City and over Brushy Fork Gap; there are some roads. On the map the path is usable by my trucks, your tanks…”

“Are pretty damned heavy.”

“Yes,” he said. “There are some hairpins I’m not sure about you being able to make. I’ll be honest about that. If you get permanently stuck, I suggest you get out and board our trucks. But I hope you’re able to meet us on the far side. God knows we can use the help.”

“We might take a different route,” Chan said scrolling around the map. “I really don’t think this road will take us.”

“I agree,” Mitchell said with a sigh. “But I don’t see another way out of the valley.”

“I do,” Chan said with another smile. “We’ll follow you.”

“Uh,” the major paused. “We…”

“Make a hell of a mess,” Chan said. “I know, we followed you here, remember? But you smash stuff more or less flat; heck, sir, you smash tree stumps into sawdust. It’s bumpy, nearly impossible, for most vehicles. But an Abrams doesn’t have a problem with it at all. So we’ll just tag along behind you.”

“Okay,” Mitchell said. “Sounds like a plan.”

* * *

“Well, sir, this was a hell of a plan,” Kitteket said sourly. The Humvee was perched on the edge of a precipice that did not appear on the map.

The path up to this point had been no picnic. It was a forestry road and hadn’t been maintained in years, certainly since the war had started. The road had not been particularly good to start with and washouts and fallen limbs had slowed them considerably. But this was certainly the icing on the cake.

“Good stop there, Specialist,” he said, considering his map again. “This certainly is not what is supposed to be there. Or, rather, what is supposed to be there is not there.”

“Whichever it is, we need to find someplace that is there,” Kitteket said grumpily.

“Ah,” he reached into his briefcase and pulled out a bottle of pills. “Take one,” he said, handing it to her.

“What is this?” the specialist asked.

“Provigil,” he answered, taking one himself. “It’s getting late and it’s been a long day and we’re all tired, right?”

“Right,” she said, taking the pill.

“Not anymore,” he said. “What, you never read a manual on Provigil?”

“No,” she said. “I’ve heard the name, but I don’t know what it is.”

“It makes you ‘untired,’ ” he said. “It’s not an upper; it’s sort of the reverse of a sleeping pill. You don’t get sleepy. You do tend to get stupid and you don’t notice, but tomorrow some time, assuming that we don’t get to sleep, which is likely, I’ll pass around some uppers and those will increase our thought speed as well. We’ll be almost good-to-go. Right up until the spiders start crawling all over us.”

He considered the map again and frowned. “If we back up and head downhill there’s another road that heads over towards Betty Gap along the ridge. It should be passable.”

“If it’s even there,” she grumped, putting the Humvee in reverse.

“Oh ye of little faith,” he said, leaning back. “Things could be worse, things could be much worse.”

“Oh really?” she asked sarcastically.

“Trust me,” Ryan said, fingering the 600 insignia on his chest. “Been there, done that, got the scar.”

* * *