Kara Discovered: Episode 15, Failure
Jeffries must face that he is not going to be able to rescue those people.
As sweat ran down the back of Jeffries’ spine, he tried to pierce the blur and see down the road.
He’d failed five people. No six. Mustn’t forget his dead, though those he had little choice but to obey orders.
How had these alien creatures forced those doctors to keep up? Modern medicine might have had them in perfect condition, but so were his legionnaires before he had added an endurance workout to their training routine those months ago. They should not have been able to outdistance them.
Yet they had.
Failure was written so broadly in the body language of every man here that not even the blurred vision hid it.
“I have the measurements, sir.”
“Since we don’t have electronics or even paper, make sure every sergeant and corporal memorized them. An accurate measure of the road must get back through the gate, along with a good description of it.”
The private standing with his Top pealed away to carry out that order.
“You expect an attack?” his Top said in low voice once the man was out of earshot.
Jeffries didn’t think one would happen, but he could be wrong. Keeping his own voice low, he answered. “It would be a tactically good move. We are far weaker than when we started and we will be weaker still by the time we get back. They have three of us to gage how much this would have weakened us by.” He nodded in the direction of his men but kept his voice low enough that only his Top heard him. “All ready, the men are paying less attention to their surroundings than they were, despite us being next to a road that could bring truckloads of enemy troops to us at any minute. If they can build a road, they can build things to use it.”
In truth, the road looked like it was designed for foot traffic and animal carts, but even a historian such as himself might be wrong.
His Top’s head snapped up and he looked both directions. “I’m sorry, sir. It’s my fault. I’ll get on them.”
In part it was true, when his Top relaxed, so did the other sergeants, but only in part. Jeffries pushing them that hard to catch up and, knowing that they failed at it, played a much bigger part. Jeffries held up his hand, forestalling him. “We move out in two minutes, it can wait until we are on our way. Barking out orders now would be taking away the much needed rest these men need. It is a long, grueling march back. But assign another sergeant to lead the way and see to it each squad understands that an attack could come at any moment still.”
Looking down the road to his left, he wondered again if that was the way they had gone. If he had to choose a direction, that was the one he would choose. Watching what men he could see, it looked as if most thought so, too.
He suppressed an urge to take the squad in best shape and start after them at a run while the rest returned. The chances are that they would catch them if that was the direction, and they ran. But without water, even an hour at a jog in this heat would mean not surviving the march back to the gate. Damn it.
“We’ll get them back, Sir.”
The faces of the four missing people flashed before him. He could not shake the feeling that he would never see any of them again.
“Fall in!” said his Top, turning away from him.
Jefferies began inspecting the troops. Getting them all back alive would be hard enough.
