America's Galactic Foreign Legion - Book 2: Reenlistment Read Online Free PDF Page A

wild animals out there, perhaps
we should wait until daylight,” suggested Guido.
    “Perhaps the human pestilence is right,”
agreed the dragon leader, not wanting to go outside.
    “I make the decisions here,” said the Lion of
the Forest. “We leave now!”
    “I tried,” said Guido, giving the dragon
leader a wink. “At least untie me. If I get attacked by a pack of
wild animals, I want to be able to defend myself. I heard about the
javelina in these parts.”
    “Javelina?” asked the dragon leader. “What is
a javelina?”
    “Javelina are a pig-like animal imported from
Old Earth to enforce the curfew,” said Guido. “Except they have all
gone feral. Now they just roam the streets at night, killing
everything. Haven’t you noticed the legionnaires don’t like to
patrol at night?”
    “It’s true,” said the dragon leader. “The
human pestilence don’t like to patrol at night.”
    “Nonsense,” objected the Lion of the Forest.
“We conduct operations at night all the time, and we have never
lost anyone to javelina.”
    “I don’t see how you can say that,” said
Guido. “You just lost someone. His head was torn off.”
    “I’m not going out there,” said the dragon
leader. “There could be packs of javelina waiting in the
darkness.”
    “I’ve never seen javelina,” said the Lion of
the Forest. “There is no such thing.”
    “You never do see them until it is too late,”
advised Guido.
    “I found mention of javelina in the data
base,” said the dragon leader as he read his notepad. “It’s a
fierce pig-like creature from the American Southwest. See. It’s
American!”
    “Let me see that,” said the Lion of the
Forest, snatching the notepad. “It says nothing here about javelina
being used for military purposes.”
    “It wouldn’t,” said Guido. “It’s probably
classified.”
    “Fine,” said the Lion of the Forest, turning
to the dragon leader. “Radio all pickets to withdraw indoors until
daylight. Tell them to keep an eye out for javelina. They run in
packs, and we have already lost one freedom fighter to them.”

    * * * * *

    “Lopez, what is a javelina?” I asked.
    “It’s a small wild pig that lives in the
desert,” said Lopez. “They might be extinct.”
    “Are they dangerous?”
    “No, but I hear they taste good. They are
afraid of people, and for good reason. Usually they run away
because they have been so extensively hunted.”
    “Corporal Kool tells me he is intercepting
Spider radio transmissions about javelina,” I said. “It seems the
spiders are afraid to go out at night because packs of wild
javelina are loose on the streets, put there by me. They’ve already
lost three spiders to the javelina. Bodies were found badly mauled
and decapitated.”
    “No, that can’t be right,” said Lopez. “But
let’s go with it. We can put up signs that say anyone violating the
curfew will be eaten by javelina. It will help bottle up the city
while we conduct house to house searches.”

    <> <chapter>> <> <>

    CHAPTER 3

    “Captain, it’s the Lion King on the radio
again,” said Corporal Kool. “He is demanding to talk to you.”
    “Thank you, Corporal,” I said. “Mufasa! It’s
been a while since we last talked. Is Private Tonelli still
alive?”
    “Yes, but not for long if you don’t come up
with his ransom,” threatened the Lion of the Forest. “Do you have
the money? Are you releasing all political prisoners?”
    “In a show of good faith, I will release a
few hostages today,” I said. “But I need permission from General
Kalipetsis to release more. Also, we are having trouble raising the
ransom.”
    “To show my good faith, I will lower the
ransom to a half million dollars,” said the Lion of the Forest.
“How much money have you raised?”
    “Forty-six dollars,” I said. “It’s the
economy. That, and no one cares much for Tonelli. He kind of grates
on people.”
    “Don’t you want your