Kara Discovered: Episode 12, It’s Not Over
After wining the battle Jeffries finds part of his prize gone.
Preston, tied down not far away, said, “Sixteen of the bears and two of the reptiles carried the brown dwarf out of here, taking corporal Donaldson, two privates, and the three doctors with them. I think the dwarf’s back is broke. If we hurry, we can catch up. I could use some water too.”
Jeffries took his canteen over to him, knelt down and gave him a drink. “The only place you’re going, soldier, is back to base. Every freed prisoner and wounded man we have is going back.”
“What about the prisoners?” the sergeant in charge of squad three said, coming up behind him. “Not all the bears died in the fighting. We have four uninjured and six with injuries that surrendered, Sir.”
Damn, he’d never considered taking POWs.
“Use these ropes,” he said, pointing to what was being removed from the staked down men. “The injured can take them back to camp and turn them over to Major Wilson and make them his problem.”
“A couple of them might not make it.”
Jeffries considered his options. None were good. “They make it or die.”
Corporal Wes spoke up. “I would like command of the detail getting everyone back to camp.”
Jeffries got down on his knees next to him as the last of the ropes on him were coming off and looked the man in the eye. “Are you sure you’re up to it?”
“Yes, Sir. If it is possible to get them there alive, I will.”
What he did not say but passed between them is that if it was necessary to kill any of them, Wes would do so himself, sparing anyone else the charge of murder. As an injured ex captive of them himself, if someone took exception to it and decided to charge him, he would suffer less than others might.
“Very well Acting Sergeant Wes. You have the command.”
Preston said, “Sir, you are going to need me with you.”
“And they need you even more back at base. Until we find more that can see, you are too important to risk in the field.”
Disappointment was heavy in his voice when he answered, “Yes, Sir.”
Jeffries stood and raised his voice, “You found their trail yet, Top?”
A distorted voice, not his Top, answered from some distance away. “I think this is it, haven’t checked it out far enough to be sure yet.”
He raised his voice, “Top, one squad checks it out. They follow it no more than five minutes. If they find them, they sound the alarm, but do not close.”
“Yes, Sir,” came his Top’s voice from some distance beyond his sight.
Using the staff he now had as a walking stick, he moved to examine the bodies accompanied by two of his squad leaders. Acting Sergeant Wes stood and joined them.
A squad leaders spoke. “We counted thirty-three bodies. Not only were they not good individual fighters, their tactics sucked. Splitting their forces and trying to hit us from both sides only sped up their defeat.”
“I don’t think they expected to win. They may not even have expected to survive, Sergeant.” Jeffries theorized, “The only reason to attack a larger force that was as deadly as I and a few others had shown ourselves to be with this few, is to delay us while the rest made their getaway. That may be why they left our people alive instead of killing them when they left, too. They forced us to delay to take care of them. They also cut down the number that will be following them. Over one third of us will have to return now for medical care. We don’t know enough to know if doing that was good or bad tactics on their part.”
He knelt down by a body and pulled a knife out of the creature’s belt. The blade was sharp, but brittle and shattered when he tried bending it. “Make sure the party heading back takes all this stuff back. If these are the blades they have, I can understand why they carry staffs instead of spears. Make sure that all these staff get into the hands of Legionnaires going after our people.”
“Taking the prisoners back, I would like a few of those staffs,” Wes said.
Jeffries handed the man his. “Find five more. Get the glasses off the injured for your able-bodied men. You need those too. We will be moving out and you need to get out of here soon after we leave.”
