David Sherman - Starfist: Double Jeopardy

Does the Mother bless this? Hind Claw asked.

Mercury flicked a hand at Hind Claws face, barely nicking the side of his snout. You know the Naked Ones keep the men and women in separate camps, he snarled. The Mother doesnt know about it.

Then what does the Father say? Hind Claw asked, not to be dissuaded in his search for proper authorization.

This time Bobtail smacked Hind Claw on the back of his head. You know the Father is kept caged and guarded by the Naked Ones, so none can approach him.

Hind Claw slowly bobbed his head up and down on its long neck. So, he said, there is no authority for what you propose doing.

Mercury leaned forward with his knuckles on the ground and his head stretched out, his whiskers close enough to tickle the side of Hind Claws face where hed nicked it: the classic intimidation stance. Proper authority or not, he said softly but threateningly, it needs to be done.

If we fail? Hind Claw asked, unfazed by the threat.

Then we are dead.

And if we succeed?

Then we have freed the people of our clan, Ares said.

Hind Claw nodded again. And we gain status in our clan. He looked into Mercurys eyes. And you could challenge for the Father. I would like to be allied to the Father. He drew back far enough that Mercurys whiskers no longer tickled the side of his snout. He raised his head high, baring his neck in submission. Hind Claw had been the last of the six to be persuaded. They were ready now.

They took turns napping until the early moon set, then squeezed through the bars of the aboveground cage where they were kept at night.

Where are you going? a sleep-slurred voice asked, someone awakened by the sounds of their squeezing between bars that were more symbolic of imprisonment than intended to keep them in.

Well be back, Dewclaw whispered. Go back to sleep. He heard a faint rustle as the questioner resettled himself next to his mates.

Hunched over, their narrow shoulders blending into long necks, the six slipped through the prison camp until they reached its edge. Mercury had scouted the way on several nights and he knew where the perimeter sentries were stationed. He also knew that the sentries would not be alert, that they werent afraid of other, still-free clans launching a night attack. Besides, the sentries were positioned to watch out, not in.

They found the hidden armory that Mercury remembered preparing during the war against the Moon Flower Clan, a war that was interrupted by the arrival of the Naked Ones and their rapid subjugation of both the Moon Flowers and Mercurys own Bright Sun Clan.

The armory was well camouflaged; the Naked Ones had not found it, even though tracks on the ground made it clear that their vehicles had come by many times during the year theyd held the Bright Sun and Moon Flower clans in slavery and increased their sphere of control to include all the clans of Bright Suns Brilliant Coalition and Moon Flowers Starwarmth Union. For all Mercury knew, the Naked Ones had conquered part or even all of the world beyond those two nations.

The Naked Ones had come from the sky, roaring down in flaming sky vehicles such as none of the people had ever seen and only the most imaginative had ever conceived of. Their weapons were terrible, advanced far beyond the rifles and artillery of the people, and that, combined with the surprise and speed of their attack, had allowed them to conquer all the clans of two nations quickly and decisively. No one had been able to resist them for long, and none had been able yet to rise against the Naked Ones. At least not so far as Mercury had heard.

But the Naked Ones had become complacent, and Mercury believed it was time to strike at them, to begin to free his people. But to do that they needed weapons.

Getting into the hidden armory was harder than finding it. But get into it they did. They loaded themselves; each took two rifles and four hundred rounds. One carried a mortar tube and another a baseplate. The other four each took two of the canisters displaying the red skull, the mark of weapons that dispensed a lingering death. Each also carried four rounds for the mortar. They also each took four grenades. By the time they were finished, each was carrying his own weight in weapons and ammunition.

They would have liked to rest before the long run back to the prison camp, but there was too great a chance that the Naked Ones would notice they were missing in the morning. So, heavily laden, they ran until they were within half a kilometer of the camp, where they hid the weapons and ammunition in a place Mercury and Hind Claw had prepared over the previous several nights.

They only had an hours sleep before the Naked Ones roused the camp for the days labor in the mines.

After the nights exertions, the day was difficult for Mercury and his small team. But they took every opportunity they could to dig into the roof of the tunnel for grubs, worms, tubers, and anything else they could eat to give themselves energy; tonight would be just as difficult as last, even if they wouldnt have to run for hours carrying their own weight in weapons and ammunition. Last night they would have died if they had been caught; tonight they might die regardless.

Mercury already knew who the other eight he wanted to recruit were. Over the previous several weeks hed listened carefully to the guarded grumblings of his fellow prisoners and sounded out those who seemed most realistic about what theyd do if the opportunity arose. The eight were also males alongside whom hed fought the Moon Flowers or other clans with whom the Bright Sun Clan had been in conflict. During the day he and Hind Claw approached each of the eight and told them to slip from their cages after moon fall and meet at a specific location.

The two did not tell the eight why.

It was half an hour after the moon set before all fourteen were assembled. Even then, Mercury didnt tell them whyalthough their restrained excitement showed that they were sure of what was up.

Follow me, Mercury whispered to his squad. Keep your tails low until you see mine go up, then run as fast as you can to keep up with me. Mercury was well named; he was a very speedy runner.

Without another word, they followed their leader at a safe distance past a drowsy guard post, dropped to all fours to lope through the scrub, then galloped tails high when Mercury began his sprint.