They did not possess artillery, heavy weapons, or fighters. Handheld weapons were their only real fighting tools. Their tactics were simplistic. Instead of carefully picking and choosing targets within the disarray that had been inflicted on his forces, they had established crude fighting lines from which they pressed their attack. As they had done for years, they relied solely on the individual aggressiveness of their foot soldiers and their unwavering desire to kill their opponents. And while those tactics, combined with their intimidating size and appearance, had served them well when Earth operated as a Peaceful society, they were no match for the superior forces Grant had a.s.sembled.

It was clear to Mouse that the Minith commander had no clue what he was facing when he decided to land and face the humans head-to-head. Seven years earlier, a hundred Minith warriors had enslaved the entire planet. The aliens must have thought the four to five thousand they brought back to Earth would be enough to re-enslave the world's Peaceful population.

Well, welcome to the new Peace World.

On the other hand, reports coming out of the battles in the Urop'n capitol were not as positive. The latest report included a rumor that the Leadership Council had been killed or captured, and Mouse waited anxiously for further word.

In the meantime, he considered their next move. It was a no-brainer. If these ships were like the one that had been stationed here on Earth for a dozen years, they each carried a weapon capable of destroying the planet. The humans would have to take the fight to the forces that remained inside the aliens' ships before they had a chance to employ them.

Mouse opened a communication line to his subordinate commanders and issued his orders.

Treel was marched to the command center along with Eli and the other young human. He had asked that they be allowed to remain behind while he met with Soo, but the request had been denied. With their shorter legs, they struggled to keep up. After a few meters of awkward walk-running, Eli did the "jump-click" move that activated the wheels attached to his strange footwear. The second human followed suit and the boys easily kept up for the rest of the journey.

Five minutes later, the Minith lieutenant entered the doorway to the heart of the ship and came face-to-face with his brother for the first time in nearly a decade. Soo stood proudly in the center of the s.p.a.ce, his feet shoulder-width apart and his hands held loosely behind his back. He wore a general's rank, and his place in the center of the room announced his position as commander. Three subordinates were sitting at their places on the console behind him. He appeared calm, untroubled, and in control.

A lifetime of examining his brother's mannerisms informed Treel that Soo was neither calm nor untroubled. His brother was ready to boil over. As a youngster, Treel had been on the receiving end of Soo's anger more times than he cared to recall or admit. It had not been a congenial relationship.

"Brother," he greeted.

"Treel. How are you, my brother?" Soo acknowledged. He then turned toward Eli and his friend. "I see you've brought guests."

"Not guests. I used them to bargain for my pa.s.sage here."

"Ah, hostages."

"Yes. They were needed to get past a single human soldier," Treel conceded. He did not like the way Soo was eying the boys. "But now their usefulness has expired. We should release them so they can return to the fortress in the distance."

"Can they understand what we are saying?"

"No, General." Although Soo was his brother, Treel was still technically a soldier. In his agitated state, he felt it best to use his t.i.tle. "Neither of the young humans speak Minith."

"Hmm. Tell me, brother, why would we want to release them?"

"They are of no use. They pose no threat. Why would we not release them?"

"I can see that the years you've spent among these 'peaceful' creatures has affected your judgment-made you soft," Soo responded. "Why not just kill them and toss them into the garbage?"

Treel was careful to keep his ears still and his emotions in check. He had not meant to put Eli or the other human in danger by bringing them to the ship. Unfortunately, that is exactly what he had done. That knowledge caused the Minith warrior to understand for the first time that he felt... fondness...for the boy. It was a strange, but sobering feeling. One he could not allow his brother to discover.

"Yes, that is another option," he responded. "Would you like me take care of it?"

Soo stared intently into Treel's eyes, and the younger brother struggled not to give any of his thoughts or feelings away. It reminded him of the game he and Rala had invented and often played-the one that had made her so good at hiding her thoughts and intentions. The first to flinch or twitch lost. Treel had never been as good as his mate, but he was apparently good enough for his brother.

"No." Soo waved the suggestion away. "That won't be necessary. Yet."

The back and forth between the brothers was interrupted by one of the workers seated at the command console spread out behind Soo.

"Sir, we've captured another human approaching the ship. A female."

Soo looked at Treel with a questioning look. "Another of your hostages?"

"I have no idea who the human is, General."

Soo turned to the worker. "Have her delivered here."

Eli stood to Treel's right and tried to become invisible. He had often hoped for a brother, because brothers are supposed to care for and look out for each other. At least that's what his dad had always told him.

But it didn't look like Treel had that kind of relationship with his brother. Although he couldn't speak more than a few words of Minith, Eli understood the basics of the aliens' body language from spending so much time with Treel. And the brother's body language was screaming "trouble."

Although he trusted Treel, that feeling did not extend to his brother. The best thing he could do was to stay as alert and as quiet as possible, and he worked to do exactly that. Jonah's constant fidgeting beside him didn't help, but he couldn't tell the older boy to knock it off. It would have drawn more attention from Treel's brother than the fidgeting itself.

Ceeray was half-dragged, half-pushed down the corridor. Her entrance into the ship had gone just about as well as she had thought it would go. The rifle had been taken from her right away, and she wondered briefly why she had even wanted to bring it. She had no intention of shooting her way onto the ship. Armed rescue was not her forte and would have been useless. She had no training, no skill, and no desire to fire a weapon.

Her goal was to get inside the ship and talk sense to the Minith who held her friend's son and Jonah. That had been her plan, and in hindsight, it now seemed exactly what it was-incredibly naive and stupid.

Treel recognized the female the guard escorted into the room. She was Avery's friend-the former interpreter who had been stationed on the mothership. He watched in growing anger as the guard deposited her easily next to Eli. She gathered the boys into her arms and hugged them tightly.

"Thank goodness you're both okay," she squealed as only a human female can. Treel did not wait any longer to gain control of the situation.

"I know this female, General Soo. She is the caretaker of many human children. Like the young males, she does not speak Minith." The lie felt right. He just hoped the woman understood and played along. To his relief, she did not respond or refute his statement. She merely stayed on her knees and continued holding the hands of the two boys.

"This is becoming humorous, Treel." Treel knew Soo did not think that at all. In fact, he probably felt just the opposite. "Here, inside the ship, we have two human babes and their nurse. While outside, my men have been killed by human soldiers."

Treel was surprised. He had not thought of the ongoing battle much since Eli released him from his room. His only thoughts had been of escape.

"The fight has not gone well?" he asked with trepidation and caution. Surely, not all of the Minith could have been killed in so short a period of time? He hesitated to ask for clarification, but couldn't fight the need to know. This ship held the key to his pa.s.sage back to Waa-to his family.

"You could say that, Treel." Soo grimaced and slammed his hand down on the console behind him. The facade of calm he had been presenting was shattered. "All the warriors on these two ships are dead-outdone by a flock of sheep who have somehow been turned into a pack of rabid vermin."

"All of them?"

"Yes, all. Except for those of us in these two ships, only our forces on the other continent remain." Treel watched as his brother tried to regain the veneer of calm that was previously pasted to his being. Failed. "Not that it matters. We will leave one of our ships behind to crush the entire planet."

Treel was stunned at the announcement, was prepared to argue against the act. But before he could speak, the human female-Ceeray-stood and spun angrily toward Soo.

"No! You cannot!" She took two steps toward Soo. Her fists were balled and her eyes flashed with defiance and rage. "I will kill you with my bare hands before I let you do that!"

Time slowed for Treel. He watched, as if from a dream, as Soo drew his sidearm, took two steps toward the approaching human, and raised the weapon. Ceeray took another step toward the Minith general. The weapon fired, and Treel knew the human was dead before she hit the floor.

From the corner of his eye, he saw Eli rush to the fallen woman. Soo saw the movement as well and turned the weapon in the boy's direction.

Time slowed even further.

Without conscious thought, Treel crossed the two steps that now separated him from Soo. His attention was focused on nothing but the arm... the hand... the weapon that was pointed toward Eli. He saw the finger tighten on the trigger and pushed the gun away just as the flash left the barrel. What's done is done, he thought, not knowing if the blast struck its target or not-not caring just yet. Instead, he continued to push through the movement, grabbing Soo's elbow with his left hand and twisting Soo's wrist to hyperextension with his right. As he knew it would, the weapon dropped from his brother's hand.

Treel did not hesitate before pivoting on the ball of his right foot. His momentum, in concert with the leverage caused by his hold, worked together and helped him throw his brother over his shoulder and slam him to the ground in front of the command console.

The "oomph" and crash of Soo's landing brought Treel back to real time. He stepped quickly back from his brother. He had time to wonder what he had just done before Soo jumped back to his feet and charged.

Soo had never been so angry. First, the humiliation of his forces' defeat to these...humans... and now his brother-a lowly lieutenant-thought he could challenge him on board his ship. Never.

His charge caught Treel standing flat-footed. The shoulder he drove into his midsection carried them across the room into the far wall. Treel smacked against the wall brutally and Soo felt a surge of satisfaction. He followed up that attack with a swing of his right elbow. He put all his weight into the blow and it landed soundly on the side of the idiot's head. It felt good to dish out physical pain. It was like a lance on the boil that had been growing within his guts since seeing his forces routed by the humans. He added another, similar strike to Treel's head with his other elbow.

"How does that feel, Treel? It feels great to me. But you know what's going to feel even better?" He delivered a knee to Treel's side as punctuation. "Making Rala my mate when I get back to Waa."

He added another knee to the opposite side, and Treel slumped down the wall.

"Where are you going, brother?" Soo teased the now-unconscious slab of green leather and bruised bones. He picked him back up and grasped his throat in a crushing grip. "I'm almost finished with you, but-"

"-aglen vrggna roogte!"

No one noticed Eli pick up the dropped weapon. All three of the aliens seated behind the console were watching intently as the mean alien-Treel's brother-beat up on Treel.

He had waited for Treel to recover, but he had not, and Eli had seen enough. When the brother began squeezing Treel's neck, he finally pulled the trigger. The flash of light leaped from the barrel of the gun and struck the alien exactly where he had been aiming-the back of the head.

Without thinking too much about the blood that immediately began spurting, or what it meant to take another being's life, Eli pretended he was back on the paintball course. He turned the gun in his hand on the three opposing players still alive and, as he had done in the arena, chalked up three more "hits."

"Eli, you... you killed them." Jonah's voice trembled with emotion.

Eli turned toward the older boy, then slowly pointed at the broken, b.l.o.o.d.y body of Ceeray.

Jonah just nodded. He apparently got the message.

Them or us, Eli thought. It was them or us.

He then rushed over to check on Treel. In Eli's mind, the alien clearly fell into the "us" category.

"I knew I could trust you," he whispered to the unconscious Minith.

CHAPTER 34.

Master Shan paced the length of the command center and twitched his ears nervously. His forces had done well in capturing the human leadership, but they were now engaged in an uncomfortable standoff with the human defenders inside the city. Occasional exchanges of fire were still taking place, but for the most part, each side was taking advantage of the lull in fighting to regroup and rea.s.sess.

The humans had lost control of the rooftops and their leaders had been captured. Shan could only guess at the how the humans might respond over their taking of the Leadership Council members. For now, the human soldiers arrayed around his forces seemed content to wait. Above the city, the human aircraft buzzed angrily, no doubt anxious for another chance to eat up his troops.

Although his forces controlled the high ground, the human leadership building, and had captured the human council, they were effectively pinned in place. The only transport vehicles the Minith had left were the ten still sitting on top of the human buildings, and a half-dozen that had somehow managed to make it back to the two motherships. The humans had blasted the rest from the sky. Shan had no doubt the human aircraft would slaughter his remaining transporters if he ordered them back to the mothership.

They had reached a stalemate.

The situation was exacerbated by the fact that General Soo had gone quiet. Despite numerous attempts to contact the Minith commander over the past two hours, he had received no response. A twinge of worry had begun to gnaw at Shan's ears. Was it possible the humans had turned the battle in their favor? Possible, but not likely.

Still, the worry grew.

"Can we get a video feed of General Soo's command center?"

The soldier working the external video feeds looked up at Shan. The twitching ears showed his fear.

"I understand you may have difficulty, Tcho. It may not be possible. All I'm asking is that you try."

"Yes, sir," the corporal replied and began entering commands into his console.

Shan wondered how anything ever got done in the Minith military when so many leaders ruled only through fear and intimidation. Soo was an excellent example. He commanded his subordinates through a combination of bullying, anger, and threats-all of which were needed, of course. No officer could control his forces unless he was willing to whip them into shape. But the willingness to employ the whip had to be tempered with an understanding of individual capabilities. Striking or killing a subordinate because he did not know how to perform a task that had never been performed before was counterproductive. Yet, every Minith soldier expected that type of response from his commander.

"Repeat that, Alpha One."

"Um, General. The bay door of the alien ship to the east of Violent's Prison is open. And there are two humans standing there. Children, sir."

Mouse wondered what kind of game the Minith were playing now. He knew the load capacity of a mothership-they couldn't have many fighters left on board. Would they try to use humans as shields to stop an attack?

"Can you get me a close-up vid feed, Alpha One?"

"Hold on, sir. Swinging around to approach. Should have it for you shortly."

The Minith capture of the Leadership Council had been confirmed. His foot tapped and his mind tried to steer his focus toward that problem, but he managed to push it down for the moment. He needed to concentrate on this new development. His forces had both motherships surrounded and were preparing to advance. Now this?

He stared at the video being transmitted from the nose of Alpha One's jet carrier. The video showed slanted images of the distant sky and the scorched earth as the vessel banked back toward the alien craft and initiated its descent. The view leveled off and the mothership suddenly filled the screen. The open bay door was like a dark, gaping maw in the side of the giant ship. Mouse could barely make out two tiny figures standing at the center. As the jet got closer, the figures got larger and he noticed that one of the figures-it was definitely a human-was excitedly waving both hands over his head. It was obvious he was trying to signal the approaching jet.

"General?" The transmission from Alpha One was clear, but the voice was hesitant. "Is that who I think it is?"

The figures grew on the screen until they filled it. Mouse slumped back into his seat, his foot finally stopped tapping. Mouse shook his head. Grant had only put four items on his list, and he had obviously failed to perform the most important one.

"If you think it's General Justice's son, then, yeah... that's him."

"What are they waiting for?"

"They probably think it's a trick or something," Eli replied. "That's what my dad thought when t.i.tan brought the first mothership back last year."