AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The feeding didn't take long. Valentine counted vein pulses in the Reaper's pallid hand, held against the dead baby's bottom. After seven it lowered the child and closed its blood-smeared mouth. The yellow eyes were no longer dangerous, just drunken.
"Most exquisite, when fresh there is a blend, a residual of the mother's full, mature body overlain with the delicate new energy, it sparkles, it sparkles. ..." The Kurian lord favored Valentine with a grin.
Death discussed as one would a wine tasting left Valentine cold and nauseated. "If your lordship has no-" Valentine began.
"It wasn't supposed to be like that," Xray-Tango said, trying to stand on his feet but failing. He sat with his back to the wall, arm around a wastebasket.
"General, the idea of you setting conditions on my actions ... it's just impossible, I hope you do not need a further lesson."
"But you agreed, this was just a test, the baby wasn't to be hurt."
"It didn't suffer," the thing said, approaching Xray-Tango. It dropped the drained newborn into the wastebasket with a empty, wet thunk. "If, after all this time, you haven't learned that we take what we want, when we want it, perhaps- "
The Reaper grabbed Xray-Tango by the scruff of the neck and lifted him like a kitten.
"No, I've got my ring, you can't!"
"I wasn't going to," it hissed, "stop the games, general, this shell game you play with the POWs, it stops from this moment, be grateful for them, otherwise we'd be more rigorous in looking for sustenance elsewhere."
"It's for your lordship to say, of course. But in Texas and Oklahoma, you took so few. I thought that's all you required."
"We limited ourselves out of necessity, better times are here; we will enjoy the fat years as we made do during the lean ones, more prisoners, general, if you want to keep us happy, and keep your ring, you'll gather more prisoners, the lives are up in the mountains, go up and bring us them to fill our need."
"I've made everything ready here. Logistics aren't holding us up anymore; it's the wet."
The Reaper turned to Valentine, "Le Sain, we are told you hunger for combat command, distinguish yourself, bring the remainder out of the mountains, and you'll have a ring too."
At last, a chance at honesty. "I'm ready to fight," Valentine said. Some of the warmth returned to his stomach. "Give us the guns. We'll show you what we can do."
"Consul Solon will deliver the Trans-Mississippi as promised, my lord. This isn't a riot, or a collective farm that's grabbed a truckload of rifles. Those are trained soldiers in those mountains, and damn tough ones, man-for-man. If you want those troops alive and functional at the end of this, we have to go about it properly."
"We are weary of reasons not to fight, general, it is our will that the colonel be transferred to a combat corps, as soon as his men can be readied, you will turn your fat clerks into riflemen, your construction engineers into artillerists, consul solon allows too much haft and not enough point on this spear he has forged; the terrorists should have been subdued long before now. There is disorder in Texas. our cousins in Illinois look across the great river with hungry eyes, New Orleans hopes for us to hollow ourselves so they may fill the void should we collapse, the campaign must be brought to a conclusion, or even those with rings will be held accountable, now go and consider how you will do this."
* * * *
Valentine wanted nothing more than to return to his cot and sleep. Sleep would bring oblivion. No more memories of the wriggling infant in his arms, or the blood being flicked from the tongue of the Reaper as it returned to its mouth.
Xray-Tango wouldn't let him out of the office. The general stood holding himself up on his trophy sideboard, fish-mouthing as though he were about to vomit on his awards.
"I swear to you, Knox, on my mother's grave, I didn't know he was going to do that to the baby. We thought it up as just a test. See if you'd do it. If I'd known he really wanted it, I would have taken it myself. I can't let someone else do something like that. God, I've served them for twenty-three years. That's the worst thing I've ever seen."
Valentine looked out the window and saw Solon's banner on the pole in front of the entrance. In the distance, across the graded rubble, the bone white Kurian Tower shone in the glare of spotlights.
"Then you haven't seen much, sir."
"Well, maybe it was the worst thing I'd seen happen. We came across some bodies once-jeez, that's no conversation for a night like this. C'mon and have a drink. Steady our nerves."
"I've got to go see the parents. Want to come along and explain how it was all a mistake, sir?"
Valentine's icy tone stiffened the general. "You don't have to say anything to them. If they start anything, the MPs can-"
"No, I've got to do it myself."
"You're the opposite of my other officers, Le Sain. You avoid the pleasurable, and you take on the worst jobs yourself."
" 'If you want to prosper, do the difficult.""
"Who said that?"
