<USS Avalon> Day Seven: ...And Let Loose the Dogs of War

Day Seven: ?And Let Loose the Dogs of War

-Dodge Thomas

 

 

Dodge remembered chocolate ice cream?

?Then he opened his eyes and sat up. The familiar faces of Leila Criswell and 
Carson Fuller.

?I hurt?all over.?

?We were pretty worried about you after you keeled over like that. Thought you 
might have caught an arrow or something.? Carson looked around the room 
nervously.

?Anyway, we have to go.? Leila also looked anxious.

?What are you talking about? We won, didn?t we??

?Yes and no. What we defeated, apparently, was nothing more than a survey 
party.?

?But that was over what? Two, maybe three thousand troops??

?A drop in the bucket. All night long, the entire city of Vanngard has been 
alive with activity. Rhonth says that within the hour they will attack full 
force and Castle Vestooth will be nothing more than a grayish-red stain on the 
ice.?


Dodge sighed. ?Great.?

The door flung open and Rhonth stumbled in, looking a good deal more haggard 
than he had the previous day. ?They move!?

?We have to go, now.? Carson said, moving towards the door.

?Can you walk?? Leila asked.

?I suppose the question is, can I run?? Dodge forced a weak smile. ?Let?s go.?

The ground was beginning to rumble from the combined forces of Vanngard. The 
Admiralty had really outdone itself this time.

?Where are we going?? Dodge asked, almost as an afterthought.

?The surface.? Rhonth didn?t even look back at him.

Bits of mortar were starting to fall off the walls.

?What is making it do that??


?They have weapons, massive things of stone that fly through the air.?


?Catapults.? Carson retorted. ?With that kind of artillery, they really could 
reduce this place to a pile of gravel.?

?We have to stop them!?


?We can?t. All we can do is run.?

The castle shook, and a large stone arch directly behind them collapsed. Bits 
of wall and ceiling crumpled all around them. They entered a large chamber in 
the lowest level of the castle. Urma was waiting for them patiently.

?You took your time. I thought the entire building would swallow me before you 
came.?


?Where are the others??

?They have already made the passage.? She indicated a large circular pit in the 
floor. Dodge immediately recognized it.

?Not again.?


?It is the only way. Do not worry. This passage is less vertical than the 
previous one you traversed..?


?How many of these paths do you people have??

Rhonth squinted. ?The planet is?how do you say?holey with them??

?Honeycombed??


Rhonth did not answer. 

?We must go?now. The building will surly collapse any minute.? Urma dove into 
the gaping hole, unsheathing her sword as she did.

Rhonth followed. ?We will probably be forced to defend ourselves en route, so 
be armed.? He jumped after Urma.

Carson shrugged. ?This little teddy bears of yours are going to get us all 
killed, Dodge.?


?They aren?t mine.?


?Ladies first?? Leila said before she jumped.

?I?ll bring up the rear.? Dodge insisted.

?Right.?

Seconds later, both of the humans were falling down roughly a seventy degree 
angle incline. Both managed to keep their balance, but just barely. A delicate 
balance of gravity, resistance and sheer luck kept them from careening into 
each other.

?Hi Dodge!? The gleeful voice of Leila called to him. He looked from side to 
side, noticing the roughly circular shape of their passageway. ?Up here!?


He looked up to see the beaming face of his ensign looking down to him.

?Isn?t this a blast?!?


?Yea?right??

From up ahead, Rhonth called out. ?Beware of the intersections.?

Seconds later, Dodge almost vanished into one such intersection. Apparently, 
?honeycombed? was an accurate assessment. The planet was practically hollow!

For a while, Dodge simply focused on keeping his balance and following Rhonth?s 
lead. But soon, the roaring howls of the Admiralty?s army echoed down to them.

?They come full force!? Urma shouted.

Then all at once, hundreds of furry little barbarians filled the tunnel. It was 
the most three dimensional, high speed battle Dodge had ever seen. 

Traveling at nearly eighty kilometers an hour in a twisting, turning, ice lined 
tube, Dodge was able to fight on the ground, on the walls, and on the ceiling. 
To his left, he could see Rhonth and Leila, both happily chopping away at their 
foe. Directly above (below?) him, Carson was also doing a fine job.

Light shone up ahead and someone shouted that the tunnel was about to end. 
Dodge turned and looked back down the tunnel. Something hit him, hard, nearly 
knocking the wind out of him. He looked around in surprise. Far down the 
tunnel, one of the enemy soldiers was grinning at him. He was hit again. This 
time, the wind was knocked out of him and his feet were knocked out from under 
him. He looked down. Two feather adorned arrows protruded from his body, one 
just above his navel and the other square in the middle of his right pectoral 
muscle. For a few seconds, he floated above the ground. It slowly grew light 
around him, even as his vision began to narrow.

Vaguely, as if in a dream, he felt himself land on the hard, uncaring ice. What 
little breath he had left in him exited rapidly in a loud, painful whoosh. He 
coughed, blood spattering his face and the ice around it. Leila?s face came 
into view, badly out of focus. He saw a shuttle?..a shuttle???men in Starfleet 
uniform??the furry faces of the Vann????Leila???..darkness???silence??..



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