Reconnaissance
"The place looks like it's been wrecked." Castle said, looking at the satellite photos of the town. Or rather what was left of the town.
'It truly was." That was the Intelligence major. "An oddity around here. The town had two clans or tribes or whatever trying to control the town. They were evenly matched in numbers and weapons. One side supported good Duke Erwin, the other supported Duke Gerhard. Or should I say the bandit Gerhard in deference to our fine allies." He ended sarcastically.
"So, the town was trashed and the few survivors on each side headed for other parts. Why have us look at it?"
"We don't have enough space craft, satellites, drones, aircraft, people, intelligence analysts or computers to keep a constant eye on every part of this planet. The computers tagged this town for a look two days ago. It took that long to get to an analyst to check it out." The major brought up another satellite photo. "Fifteen days ago, a blue tarp suddenly appeared over a hole in the roof of this building. It was there for two days and then disappeared. A check of other sources showed nothing. Brigade wants someone to go out and check it out. That's you."
"Suppose there's an enemy battalion dug in there?"
"Give us some credit. If there was a battalion, a company, a platoon or even a squad, we'd have seen them. Maybe it was a small enemy patrol, maybe just some poor bastard trying to stay out of the way of the fighting. Maybe something else."
Castle didn't have the same confidence that his platoon could handle what ever was there, if there was something there, but he had his orders. What he didn't have was lift ships to take his platoon there.
"We have no lift ships available?" He asked Captain Norden.
"Not a one. Brigade is moving on Short Tree Valley and wants every bird we can get in the air. But, the armored cav troop is going to take you in."
"That'll take forever." He grumped.
"Embrace the suck, my friend." Norden said with a smile.
Hours later, Castle and his platoon were squashed into the back of three armored infantry vehicles as the bounced down a dirt road in the dark.
"They'll hear us coming from three miles away with all this noise." Sergeant Saava said over the roar of the engines and the clatter of tracks.
"They're dropping us about five miles from the wrecked village. We'll have a nice long walk in the forest before we get there." Castle said.
"We're an aero scout platoon." Saava replied. "After being shut up in this thing with all the mechanical stench, I'll be lucky to be able to smell myself."
"That's the way it is."
Saava was a good NCO and said nothing further, but his thoughts were sulfurous.
Later, Castle heard the voice of the track commander in the earphones of the intercom.
"We'll be at the drop off point in five minutes, sir. Tell your men."
"What's the weather like outside?" Castle asked.
"Like a cow pissing on a flat rock, sir."
That was exactly what it was like when the dismounted.
"Okay, head for the trees, that'll keep some of the water off of us." Castle ordered.
Maybe it did, but no one noticed any particular relief.
In a mile they came to something they hadn't expected.
"There's no stream on this map. Must be a gully filled by all the rain. Can anyone sense anything on the other side?"
The wind was at their backs and the rain was washing out both odors and sounds. No one could tell a thing.
"Anyone a good swimmer?" Castle asked. No one was and Castle stripped to take a rope across the rushing stream.
"I'll tie the rope off and then I'll get back in the water and help anyone who needs it across."
None of his troops wanted to admit they might need help, although he did have to help several across, but finally the whole platoon was across.
"I think you're turning blue, sir." Saava said.
"I know I am." Castle said, his teeth chattering.
"Whaan, do you have anything to warm the lieutenant up?" Saava asked.
The medic rummaged in his bag.
"I have something that'd help us Tarkai, but I don't know how it'd work on a human." He said, uncertainly.
"Give it to me."
He was handed a small bottle and Castle downed it in one gulp. He coughed loudly.
"Fuck! I think I'm on fire inside."
"That means it's working, sir. I think."
Castle dressed and they got moving again.
Eventually, they got to the outskirts of the town. Castle stopped the platoon to look the place over. He looked at the town and then at the satellite photos he had.
"There are two strongly built houses there. One on the north end and one on the south. I'd bet those are the headquarters of the two families that fought over the town. And, they'd be a good place for an enemy patrol to hole up and a good place for us to do the same. The one to the south is the closest to us. If we go in straight from here, we'll have the wind blowing towards us. Third squad will take the point and the rest will be ready to give them covering fire."
When the third squad reached the building, they signaled that they could detect no one inside.
They entered the building and when they announced it was clear, the rest of the platoon went in too. There were two stories and a basement. He made sure they were checked thoroughly and then set up defenses using two squads. The other two dried off as best they could and ate. When they were done, they'd switch with the other squads.
Meanwhile, Castle, Sergeant Saava and Corporal Tarn looked around.
"Bones, sir." Tarn said as they entered a room.
Castle looked around and saw a rope hanging from a beam. Checking the skeleton, he found the remains of a rope around its ankles.
"Looks like they hung him up and tortured him." He knelt by the skeleton. "I think these are ribs and they look broken. His teeth are knocked out, too. There are some dings in other bones, maybe knives or clubs?"
"More bones over here, sir." Saava said.
He knelt beside the bones.
"Shit! If I ever find the bastards who did this, I'll kill them the same way. Fuck the laws of war."
"Sir?" Saava said. He'd never heard his commander talk like that.
"Look at the size of the two skulls there. They were children. One was an infant. You can see where they used bayonets or axes on them. The big skeleton has what's left of a woman's clothing around it. That's probably the wife and children of whoever they strung up. I bet they made him watch while they murdered his family."
"The killers are probably dead themselves, sir."
"I hope they died just like this."
"There are more bones down here, sir." Someone said.
Indeed, there were bones in the basement and more on the first story. The upper story had no bones.
"The bastards probably lived up there. Didn't want their handiwork disturbing their dreams." Castle said angrily.
No one gave an order, but the bones were carried down into the basement. No one went down there after that.
Castle decided to keep the platoon in the house for the night. It was still raining outside and he wanted everyone to be well rested and dry when they searched the rest of the small town.
They were up and on their way well before dawn.
"Sergeant Saava, the building where the satellite picked up the blue tarp is on the right side and four houses down from here. The buildings on each side of the street up to there are just one room shacks. We'll check them first and then go after the blue tarp building. First squad will take the right side of the street, fourth with take the left, third will go behind the buildings on the right and second will go behind the left side. Command group will follow on the right."
The platoon moved through the buildings and found little of any interest. They did find empty cartridge cases and more skeletons. The skeletons looked like they had been killed in combat and left where they fell.
Finally, they reached the blue tarp building.
The building had had two stories at one time, but the upper floor had collapsed. One squad searched inside while the other three kept watch outside.
"All clear in here, sir." Said the squad leader, sticking his head out of what was once a doorway.
"Find anything?" Castle asked.
"A couple of skeletons. Looks like they got shot. A lot of trash that you'd expect to find in a wrecked house. Nothing to indicate any enemy troops have been here. There's been no fire lit here, and none of the trash you'd expect a military unit to leave behind. No ration packages, no cigarettes, no piles of shit or toilet paper. Whoever was here didn't leave anything behind."
"Okay, we'll keep moving down the street the same as before. The big house at the end is set back a bit from the rest of the town. When we get to it, we'll hold up and check it out before we go in."
The houses were mostly one room shacks, but there were a few stores mixed in. All of them had been extensively looted. What hadn't been stolen had been smashed.
Sergeant Saava stopped in front of one store and inhaled deeply.
"They sold meat here. None left now. I don't even smell any rotting meat. They took it with them."
He stopped at the next building and looked up at the sign above the door.
"Public restroom. Why the hell would humans need a public place to rest in a town so small? Anyone could just walk back to his home if he needed to rest."
Castle laughed.
"That's a fancy name for a latrine, Sergeant. In fact, I need to take a leak, I'll be right back." He said as he went inside.
The boom of the rifle shot stunned him for a microsecond and he saw a hole blown in the wall by the slug. His trained reflexes took over and he turned to his right and fired three shots into the man at the far end of the latrine. Before he'd fired the third round, a whole squad was inside, ready to…Ready to do something, but not finding anything to do.
"Get back out." He yelled. "There could be more of them. Don't get all bunched up."
The squad quickly left and he, Sergeant Saava, Corporal Tarn and the medic, Corporal Whaan remained.
"Not a soldier, I'm thinking." Saava said.
"No uniform but plenty of the bandits don't wear one. But he's skinny. Emaciated skinny. The bandits will steal any food they come across so he's probably not one of them." Castle said.
"He was wounded. Right leg. No gangrene, but he's been losing blood." That was Whaan.
Corporal Tarn picked up his rifle.
"Bolt action rifle. I think it's probably an old hunting rifle." Tarn checked the magazine and checked the dead man's pockets. "Three rounds in the rifle and seven in his pockets. He's also got a knife."
"Poor bastard probably just crawled in here because he couldn't go any further. Maybe some farmer or something. If he hadn't shot at me, he'd be getting fed and having his wound taken care of. Shit. What a waste."
"Doesn't look like he has a blue tarp on him." Whaan said.
Saava removed the bold from the rifle and then smashed the wooden butt against the wall.
"Dammit! It's my fault. I was pissed off that the platoon had been sent off to some wrecked town with no one and nothing in it and I wasn't paying attention. I should have been aware of what was going on around me."
Saava shrugged.
"And maybe if you'd waited a second, he'd have killed you. Maybe he was one of the killers here. Maybe he was the worst killer on the planet. Maybe a lot of things. You didn't start the war. But, we need to check out the last house."
The last house was as bad as the first one they'd searched.
Castle and Saava stared down at a pile of bones.
"It looks like they set up some kind of assembly line." Castle said.
Saava wasn't sure exactly what an assembly line was, but he saw what had been done.
"They shoved their victims' feet into the fire in the fireplace until they died, in agony. Again, they spared no one: Men, women and children."
"There's nothing here?" Castle asked.
Saava shook his head.
"Then let's get the hell out of here."
"Should we bury the dead?"
Castle shook his head.
"Leave them here as a reminder of what can happen."
He called for a pick up and he and his platoon trudged back through the forest. They arrived at the road shortly before the armored cav troop got there.
Once back at base, he reported to Captain Norden. He didn't seem very interested.
"You missed the big one, Rick."
"Sir?"
"We caught a full brigade of the bandits in Short Tree Valley. Wiped out two complete battalions and mauled the third. We captured most of their artillery, too. Don't worry about it. There'll be more in the future. In the meantime, you had a peaceful walk through an empty town."
Castle didn't say a word.
TBC