[Sutherland to Colonel Tarik -- come in please!]
"Tarik here."
[The Ben-Gurion and the Simon Bolivar are due on station within the next four hours, with relief forces. Upload your current strategic and tactical situation to the Sutherland so the landing can be coordinated.]
"Acknowledged. Data stream to follow on Tac channel Epsilon, current encryption protocol." Tarik tapped keys on a field terminal, then transmitted the data.
[Data received. We will advise when the landing is to commence. Sutherland out.]
Tarik was relieved--the two ships between them could hold an entire Marine brigade -- nearly 5,000 troops. More than enough to not only decide the battle for Az'reel but to secure the planet.
Not that there was much that needed to be done to secure the planet at this point. Az'reel City was a heap of ruins, having been sacked and burned by the irregulars of the La'kon Legion. The irregulars now were deployed in a line about thirty kilometers southeast of the city, with the Federation forces along another line to the south. Captain Wallace's raids had proven effective in wiping out much of the Mulluran command structure. There were reports of mutinies among isolated barracks, with the Mulluran troops either surrendering to the Federation or changing sides and joining the irregulars. Of course, the mutineers had to be examined carefully but so far no incidents had occurred to cause anyone to question their newfound loyalties. Unfortunately, none of them had high enough rank to provide any valuable information.
The command post had shifted from the hospital south to a small deserted farmhouse as the front moved away from the city. The people occupying the farmhouse had left several days before, apparently in a hurry. A great deal of food had been left behind. Tarik helped himself to a chunk of unidentified meat of some sort that had been left on the table. The bitter cold from the storm front had kept the meat from spoiling.
Seated at the table were Mer'an and Tiyanna; tied up in another room were three Mulluran officers who had been captured in the fighting.
"It looks like we're getting help. About 5,000 combat troops, maybe the same number of support personnel, in about four hours," Tarik announced.
"The gods be praised!" Mer'an said. "With that level of force we'll have this battle won by nightfall!"
"If the weather holds," Tarik said. The storms had kept the Banshees and Hammerheads from flying close-air support, although they apparently had wreaked havoc on the Mulluran supply train.
[Bicardi to Tarik -- come in please.]
"Go ahead, Captain."
[I've located Schmidt and Beckett. They're banged up but still in the fight. I'm on station with them right now, assisting in repairs.]
"Understood. I will advise Banshee Squadron." Having the two pilots back in the fight would loosen the situation in the air up a little.
[Outstanding!] Commander Carter said. [That's almost makes up for the bar fight -- almost!]
"Put it on our tab," Tarik said. "A round of black coffee for everyone once they let us out of our cage!"
[We'll see. Carter out.]
"Colonel, our forward observers report more tanks. They're picking up heavy weapons fire from a range in excess of 10,000 meters," Mer'an said, listening in on a captured Mulluran comlink. Unfortunately the Mullurans had been able to rotate frequencies at a higher rate than the Federation could monitor. When the Mullurans were good, they were good.
"How many of those damn things do they have?" Tarik exclaimed rhetorically.
"They started with two hundred," Tiyanna said matter-of-factly. "They have however many are left."
Tarik and Mer'an looked at her.
"The men in the other room told me. In my head."
"I wonder what else they could tell us," Tarik said, taking Tiyanna by the hand.
Tarik and Tiyanna entered the room, once the bedroom of the farmhouse. The three Mullurans had been tied up with torn bed sheets hand and foot.
"All right, one more time -- what is your overall troop disposition for this continent? How many garrisons? How many total combat effectives?" Tarik demanded.
"You have no right to ask that of us!" one of the Mullurans snarled. "You can't force us to betray our own people!"
"Okay, honey, you find out for me," Tarik said.
Tiyanna tentatively walked up to one of them and reached out to touch one. As he made a move at her, she jumped back for a moment. Then she got a look on her face and glared at him with all her little six year old attitude could muster. "You can't hurt me now," she said. She put her hand on his head and closed her eyes. "He says there are fifteen gar... garrisons... and 3500 combat effectives."
"I did not tell you that!" The man snarled, "You little witch! You pulled that from my mind! You are nothing but a witch!"
At the outburst Tiyanna glared more and stuck her tongue out at the man. "I didn't like you either!"
Tarik chuckled as he watched the exchange. "Very good, Tiyanna. Okay, you men know what she can do. Now, unless you want her traipsing around in your mind again, you'll give me whatever I ask for, up to and including your first-born. So, which of you is going to tell me how many days' of fuel reserves are left for the tanks?"
"I already know that," Tiyanna said, here green eyes looking at him. "They only have two days left..." With that she smiled and added in a sing-song voice, "Then they're in trouble!" She laughed softly.
Tarik could see the mixture of anger and frustration on the bound men's faces.
"This is an outrage! You'll be reported to the Khitomer Convention!" another of the officers shouted.
"Really?" Tarik said. "I suppose you'll also tell them about the concentration camp you were running, your slave trafficking activities, and the use of POW labor in manufacturing war materiel. I'd say a little harmless interrogation--meant to save as many of your people's lives as possible, among other things -- won't phase them a bit once they hear about that!" Tarik patted Tiyanna on the head. "Now, ammunition reserves. Where are they kept?"
Tiyanna went to another man and touched his head though he tried to roll it away from her. At one point almost threatened to bite her. She stared him down, and something in her eyes made him stop. She didn't even touch him after that and she had her answer. It was as if the two were mentally linked.
"There are there. There is one 20 kilometers to the West. Another 15 Kilometers to the South, and another 30 kilometers to the East."
She pulled her stare away from the man and looked to Tarik with a smile on her face, but the man she had been linked with continued to stare off blankly.
"Tarik to Banshee Squadron," Tarik said into his communicator. "I need fire missions on the following coordinates." He gave the squadron the map coordinates corresponding to the information Tiyanna had supplied. "Probable reinforced bunkers at each location."
[Acknowledged. Carter out.]
"Very good. Nice to see we're cooperating! This should wrap this whole nasty business up rather quickly, I'd expect," Tarik told the Mullurans cheerfully.
"What about our friend here?" one of the men said, motioning to the man still staring off as if catatonic. "What has that witch-child done to him?!"
Tarik looked at the catatonic Mulluran. He shook the man by the shoulders and got no response. Suddenly he began to regret this whole enterprise: Intelligence would want the prisoners alive for interrogation and later exchange. "What did you do to him?" he asked Tiyanna sternly.
"I made his mind sleep so I could ask him questions since he wasn't being very nice..." she said. "Don't worry, Tarik! He'll wake up again in a little while." Her smile was soft and reassuring, as if she knew exactly what she had done.
"You sure about that?" Tarik said, doubtful. Vivid images of what Kassia had done to the alternate Kelly came unbidden to his mind.
Tiyanna nodded. "I learned it early... before here..." Suddenly she picked up images from Tarik's mind. "Kassia was never taught. She didn't know she had the power... She'll learn."
Her eyes met his and looked deep into them, trying to comfort his concerns.
"I see," Tarik said. It made sense: just as in physical combat, one would have to learn to pull a punch in mental combat lest someone get horribly hurt in the process of training. "I think you're done here," Tarik said. "Go back into the kitchen and get something to eat."
"Okay," she smiled. On impulse, she went to him and embraced him. A moment later she disappeared into the other room.
Tarik was surprised by the embrace. At the moment he was reasonably sure he didn't appear very child-friendly. A few minutes later the Mulluran came to his senses. "Name, rank, serial number," Tarik asked. He'd already gotten the information earlier; this was an attempt to ensure that no brain damage had been done.
"Valki Desarti. Subaltern First Class. 0370461," the man said groggily. Tarik nodded. The information was the same as he'd recorded earlier. "You're okay."
With that, Tarik left the room to rejoin Mer'an. "All right, it looks like they're on the ropes. They've got less than fifty tanks left and only two days' worth of fuel for them. Less, once the airstrikes are completed. There were a total of fifteen garrisons on the planet; thirteen of them are in our hands. And they've got fewer than 500 line troops left now."
"Excellent," Mer'an said, nodding in satisfaction. "Once your relief forces arrive the Mullurans will have to surrender!"
"I doubt it. They seem to be the kind who want to die heroically in a futile struggle," Tarik said. "We know where most of them are right now. Have your people move the front farther to the south about five kilometers; I'll move the Federation line in on your flank. We'll surround them and grant them their fondest wishes." Tarik turned to Tiyanna, who was eating a sandwich made with stale bread and the meat from the table. "Finish up, little one. We're going to be leaving in a few minutes and I'll need your help herding our guests!"
"Okay," she replied, and quickly ate the last few bites. Obediently, she went to Tarik. "I'm ready."
The three Mullurans, once confronted with Tiyanna, moved with alacrity. Two G'kar irregulars held them at gunpoint as Tarik and Mer'an broke down the command post and moved the front forward.