America's Galactic Foreign Legion - Book 4: Demilitarized Zone (8 page)

* * * * *

The column of Legion armored cars raced
across the MDL. Their dust could be seen for miles. Private Wayne,
perched atop a machine gun turret, expected more from the enemy.
However, this far out into the desert, there were no border
checkpoints or guards. They made their own road when not following
tracks left by squatters.

“I don’t get it,” complained Corporal
Williams. “Why are we crossing into spider country?”

“To protect trespassers,” said Private Wayne.
The big spider legionnaire enjoyed annoying Corporal Williams, and
would play devil’s advocate just for an excuse to argue. For that
reason, he had printed on his flack vest: DON’T SHOOT, I AM NOT
FROM TENNESSEE.

“Anyone who crosses the MDL deserves to get
shot,” griped Corporal Williams. “The border is clearly
marked.”

“Anyone but us?” asked Sergeant Green. “Shut
up!”

“It’s our manifest destiny to colonize the
New Gobi before the Empire does,” said Private Wayne. “General
Kalipetsis planned this all along.”

“There will never be enough water to grow
crops here,” commented Corporal Williams, blowing dust out his
nose. “This place is an endless dust bowl.”

The column traveled about seventy-five miles
north of the MDL, passing several burned-out cars and shacks. They
arrived at the Miranda-Pineda enclave at about noon. Captain Lopez
immediately scattered the armored cars to establish a
perimeter.

“Put a gun on that hill,” ordered Captain
Lopez, turning to Sergeant Green. “I want a body count. Search for
survivors!”

They spent the day clearing rubble. Lying in
dugout shelters under the rubble they found the burned and charred
bodies of the colonist families. Three colonists still lay up on
the hill where the initial confrontation took place. After burying
them, Corporal Williams and Private Williams took a break.

“Why did they kill everyone?” asked Corporal
Williams, expecting his spider friend to have special insight.
“They even killed little kids.”

“Because they were trespassing,” explained
Private Wayne. “Trespassing is a big deal.”

“It’s not that big of a deal,” argued
Corporal Williams. He took a drink from his canteen. “This was
murder.”

“Only fools cross the border when there is
free land on the American side,” insisted Private Wayne.

“You can join the others,” said Corporal
Williams. “I want to stay up here on the hill by myself for a
while.”

Private Wayne shrugged and joined the others
sifting through the burned-out buildings. There was a cool breeze
up on the hill. Corporal Williams intended to enjoy that breeze for
a few moments longer. As he walked through the high grass, he
tripped over another body. It was a boy of about seven years old.
His brown skin was covered with dirt and thistles. The boy was cold
to the touch. Corporal Williams stooped down and picked the boy up
by his shoulders, shaking him. “Kid, are you alive?” asked Corporal
Williams. “Come on, be alive!”

The boy’s eyes opened. He pulled a knife and
pressed it to Corporal Williams’ throat, pushing Corporal Williams
onto his back. “Who are you, and why did you bring spiders with
you?”

“We are the United States Galactic Federation
Foreign Legion,” replied Corporal Williams. He could feel the sharp
knife poking against his throat. “We are here to protect colonists
and to save you.”

“That was a spider you were just talking to,”
accused the boy. “You let murderous spiders in the Foreign
Legion?”

“Anyone can join the Legion,” said Corporal
Williams. “You must swear an oath to defend the United States
Galactic Federation.”

“Can I join the Legion?” asked the boy.

“How old are you?”

“I am ten and a half. What’s it to you?”

“I think you are lying about you age. You
look to be about seven, but it doesn’t matter. You have to be an
adult to join the Legion.”

“If they let a funny-talking hick like you in
the Legion, there should be room for me. Where are you from?”

“Tennessee,” answered Williams defensively.
“Tennessee is the Volunteer State. It’s a long tradition in my
family to enlist.”

“It’s not fair,” said the boy, pressing the
knife in anger against Corporal Williams’ neck. “Who are you to say
I can’t join the Legion?”

Corporal Williams closed his eyes and thought
about dying in the desert grass at the hands of a crazy homicidal
little boy. It was not how he envisioned his death. At least not
after all the action he had seen across the galaxy.

“Your hands aren’t even big enough to grip an
assault rifle,” said Corporal Williams. “You have too much hate in
you. Chill. Be a little kid for a while longer.”

“I do not need to join the Legion to kill
spiders,” said the boy, loosening his grip on Corporal Williams’
throat. “Just remember, I am your worst nightmare. I will make the
chupacabra look like a sweet puppy.”

“Whatever,” said Corporal Williams, relieved,
but feeling drained. Perhaps it was just from closing his eyes, but
it felt good to block out the world for a few moments. He fell
asleep. When he woke hours later, it was dark. Flashlights shined
in his face. Legionnaires were tromping through the high grass.
Private Wayne knelt beside Williams, shaking his shoulder.

“Where did that boy go?” asked Corporal
Williams. “He was right here. I tripped over him.”

“I see no hatchlings here,” said Private
Wayne, shining his flashlight across the grass.

“There is no one out here but you,” snapped
Sergeant Green. “You have been hiding to avoid work again. That’s
okay, because I have a special detail for you and Wayne! Since you
are all rested up, you can dig graves all night. Get back to
camp!”

“There was a little boy out here,” said
Corporal Williams. “We need to find him. He might be lost.”

“What boy?” asked Captain Lopez.

“Williams was asleep hiding in the grass,”
said Sergeant Green. “If he saw anyone, it was in his dreams.”

“The boy wanted to join the Legion,” insisted
Corporal Williams. “He held a knife to my throat and spoke of the
chupacabra. What is a chupacabra?”

“The boy was Latino?” asked Captain
Lopez.

“I guess,” said Corporal Williams. “He
sounded like he was from Texas.”

“The colonists that were attacked were
Latino,” said Captain Lopez. He grabbed Corporal Williams by the
collar and examined Williams’ neck, seeing a trickle of dried blood
from a pinprick on his Adam’s apple. Captain Lopez immediately
started giving orders. “I want this field searched in a grid
pattern! And I want Guido and his dragon out here sniffing for that
boy!”

“We have a timetable,” said Sergeant Green.
“There are other homesteads out here.”

“We will camp here until dawn,” said Captain
Lopez. “Then we move out.”

After an extensive search, the boy was not
found. Captain Lopez left a stash of food and water next to the
graves. Corporal Williams eventually convinced himself he’d just
dreamed it all. That was what everyone seemed to believe. Or maybe
the boy was a ghost.
The Devil knows there must be enough ghosts
and restless souls out here,
Williams told himself.

* * * * *

The spider commander sat in his office,
wondering what had gone wrong during recent negotiations. He had
shown proof to the human pestilence general that squatters had
invaded Arthropodan territory and had attacked border guards. Could
it be that the human pestilence were just not capable of
negotiating in good faith like civilized beings?

The Governor of the North Territory called
several times. The spider commander put him off, telling aides to
inform the governor he was out inspecting the troops. Finally the
Emperor himself called. The spider commander had not talked to his
uncle in a long time, and did not particularly want to talk to him
now. However, aides refused to lie to or hang up on the
Emperor.

“Hello, Uncle,” said the spider commander,
cheerfully greeting the image on his communications monitor. “I am
so glad to see you after so long. What may I do for you?”

“The first thing you can do is address me as
Your Majesty,” snapped the Emperor. “Or would you rather I reach
across the galaxy and pop your puny head like the pimple that it
is?”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” replied the spider
commander. “I am at your service.”

“I already know that,” said the Emperor. “I
posted you on the most remote part of the most distant inhabited
planet of the Empire as a favor to your mother, and to keep you out
of trouble, but still you are able to screw up to the point of
causing an intergalactic crisis that might start another war. I
swear you could screw up a wet nightmare.”

“What have I done, Your Majesty?” protested
the spider commander. “The human pestilence have invaded the New
Gobi Desert. It is not my fault.”

“It
is
your fault!” said the Emperor.
“I just watched your little massacre of civilians on cable TV. Now
the whole Royal Family is being publicly dragged through the mud by
the press, and it is your fault!”

“What can I do?” asked the spider commander.
“The human pestilence are overwhelming us with sheer numbers. They
breed like vermin, you know.”

“Millions of our own settlers will arrive
soon,” said the Emperor. “You will provide them protection as they
burrow into their farms and habitats. Understand?”

“But what about the trespass of the human
pestilence?” asked the spider commander. “The honor and integrity
of the Empire is at stake.”

“You let me worry about my honor and
integrity,” said the Emperor. “The New Gobi Desert is a large
place. There is room enough for all. If the MDL gets moved a few
miles one way or another, it is not that big of a deal. You will
establish a stable border and bring order to the frontier. Get your
engineers to work bringing in water. The New Gobi is now a valuable
part of my Empire. I will not have the New Gobi destroyed by war.
It will be the Empire’s breadbasket. You will protect our colonists
and escort them to their new farms. Once our colonists are in
place, the border will mostly take care of itself.”

“With all due respect, Uncle, appeasement of
the human pestilence is ill-advised,” said the spider commander.
“They only respect military force.”

“I have been reading much human history,”
said the Emperor. “You are wrong. I studied this matter in college,
too. The more you bloody the human pestilence, the more stubborn
they get. They hold grudges forever. Their Legion still shout and
sing slogans about defeats that happened centuries ago. Remember
the Alamo, remember Pearl Harbor, remember Nine-Eleven, and
remember the Islas Malvinas – these are just a few examples.”

“I agree they are odd,” said the spider
commander. “But the more contact I have with the human pestilence,
the more I learn the lesson of how really odd they are. I will
follow your orders. I will resist their onslaughts where I can. I
will establish the MDL where I can. But, I need more troops.”

“More troops are on the way,” promised the
Emperor. “But more troops are not the most important issue. Key to
our claim on the New Gobi is the fundamental tenant that no other
power has the right to settle the New Gobi without leave from His
Majesty’s government or the taking of an oath of allegiance from
His Majesty’s government or submitting themselves to His Majesty’s
government as subjects of the Crown, because of our right by
discovery as well as settlement.”

“Yes, Uncle,” said the spider commander.
What a windbag,
he thought. “I understand completely.”
Actually, he understood none of it.

“Good. I am glad to hear you are capable of
learning. One more thing,” added the Emperor. “The next time the
governor calls you, answer his call. The governor’s military
insight and experience are invaluable. And stop calling me
Uncle!”

* * * * *

Captain Lopez’ column found several more
burned-out homesteads before coming across five families that had
banded together for protection by building a stockade of rocks and
sod. They were greeted at its front gate.

“It’s not safe here,” announced Captain
Lopez. “You are on the wrong side of the MDL. Your fort cannot
stand up to cannon and missile attacks.”

“We know where we are,” replied the leader of
the colonists. “This was the best land available.”

“There is no water,” argued Captain Lopez.
“My engineers will not build canals or lay pipe across the MDL. So
where do you expect to get water? From the spiders?”

“We will dig wells if necessary,” said the
colonist. “God will protect us.”

“God didn’t protect
them
,” said
Captain Lopez, crossing himself and pointing to smoke on the
horizon. “What makes you think God will protect
you
? What
will you do when the spiders come?”

“The spider marines have already been here,”
said the colonist. “When we refused to leave, they said we could
stay and farm our lands for as long as we wish.”

“What?” asked Captain Lopez. “It’s a trick.
Their Air Wing will bomb you at their leisure, like they did to the
others.”

“It’s no trick,” said the colonist. “The
spider commander only required that we swear an oath of allegiance
to the Emperor. We all swore the oath. Now we are all protected
subjects of the Crown.”

“That won’t hold,” insisted Captain Lopez,
angrily jumping down from the armored car turret. “I am
establishing a new MDL here. You are still inside United States
Galactic Federation territory.”

Legionnaires put up prefabricated buildings
for barracks and administration. Others strung fence wire, posted
border markers, built bunkers, and placed land mines. Then they
moved on to contact other settlements.