NEWS OF THE DEFEAT of two dangerous aliens who had crept into town after dark and hidden out in the invader’s abandoned nest flew across Upper Forest with the first rays of morning light. Many mink-tails were excited by the victory, which showed how well the town could defend itself against outsiders when the need arose.
But many others were frightened. The return of the aliens, one of whom was rumored to be the deadly invader herself, was widely viewed as a declaration of war. Why else would the aliens have come back except to spy and plot more mink-tail murders?
“They are after our hides, no doubt about it,” Barker told an official group of command minks who had gathered in the white oak to examine the battle site. “The Elders are in total agreement on this point.”
By some means not entirely clear, Barker had managed to put himself in charge of the other command minks and their operations. He was now Supreme Commander Barker, who spoke hourly to the Elders. They relied on his advice.
“And the sure sign of the aliens’ intentions is this,” he went on. “That they brought their prisoner with them to dangle cruelly under the noses of our troops.”
“You mean Brown Nut? She is still alive, then?” a command mink in charge of the pond quadrant inquired.
“She was alive when last seen,” Barker corrected. “The aliens brought her confined in a box, which they flung to the ground when our attack began. Later they were seen dragging poor Brown Nut away again. She remains in their hands, suffering who knows what tortures.”
“Ach! It is bad. What is the world coming to when such barbarians rise up to occupy our trees?”
“What it is coming to,” said Barker, with a cool flick of his tail, “is that stronger action must be taken. It is no longer enough to think simply of defending ourselves. We mink-tails must sharpen our wits and go actively on the attack if we are to survive.”
Several command minks groaned when they heard this. Their troops had so little experience with, military action. It was hard enough to organize the daily marches around Forest’s perimeters and to keep the volunteer lookouts awake at night. To have to go further, into the planning and carrying out of ambushes and attacks, well, when would anyone have time to sleep?
“I should think after last night the aliens would see the madness of continuing their invasions,” the command mink in charge of the Random River quadrant piped up. “Perhaps they will just stop. And then we can stop. And then life can go on as it did before: peacefully and independently on both sides.”
Barker sized up the speaker with quick eyes and made a mental note to replace this commander. He would advise the Elders about it that very day. No weak or spiritless leadership could be tolerated in the mink-tail army. The future of Forest’s mink-tails depended on it, not to mention the future of the Supreme Commander (ahem). After all his hard work persuading the Elders to trust him and do what he said, Barker wasn’t about to let this war fizzle out.
He narrowed his eyes and addressed the Random River command mink sternly.
“Be careful, Officer! Your words sound remarkably like those of the traitor and coward Woodbine. His own sister is kidnapped, and yet he refuses to join our troops. Do you know that he goes out to the pond every day to sleep in a blackberry bush? His family is disgraced. His sister is abandoned. Meanwhile, he complains that he does not believe in fighting. Hah! He is afraid, as everyone knows. One little ear blown off and he runs away to hide.”
“It is said that Woodbine speaks admiringly of the invader,” the pond-quadrant command mink said. “Can this be true?”
“I can say no more than that we are watching him,” Barker replied. “If he should try to contact the aliens again, for any reason, we would be forced to take quick and drastic action.”
“Contact them again! Does that mean he has been passing information to the Lower Region?”
“Draw your own conclusions. I must be silent for reasons of mink-tail security,” Barker replied in such disturbing tones that the command minks looked at one another in alarm.
“And now let us turn our minds to nobler things—to the waging of war!” the Supreme Commander commanded. “The Lower Region may have its blasting weapons, but we have our numbers. Our army is truly massive. It is training now to travel in power swarms through our trees and to strike like lightning. The aliens are few, by comparison, and separated by their box nests.
“Despite our brilliant victory against the invader and her sidekick last night, our future strategy will not be to attack the aliens directly,” Barker went on. “They are larger and stronger. Our goal will be to destroy their living systems. For instance, there is a juice that runs through the wires along their paths and roadways. Their nests are addicted to it. They quickly shut down when the juice is interrupted.”
A juice? The command minks were amazed to hear of such a thing. They had traveled these wires for years, and never guessed. They knew so little about the Lower Region. They had not really thought of it as a place before. Barker had certainly done his homework.
He continued briskly, “I have discovered also that the aliens’ communication systems are extremely primitive. They depend on complex sending and receiving devices that most aliens cannot understand. One small malfunction and crunch!—the device is out of order. Then no one can fix it until specialists are called in. And what if the paths and roadways have been blocked by various means I have in mind?
“Command minks, draw near! The time has come for us to begin work on a plan that, if successful, drive these barbarian aliens from the town of Forest—forever!”
The command minks were so impressed by this forceful speech that they came forward to applaud the Supreme Commander.
“Hooray, Barker!”
“This is clear thinking, I must say.”
“Congratulations, old chap!”
“You know, I believe we may have a chance of defeating these evil aliens!”
“A chance! It’s a sure thing!”
From the center of a blackberry bush somewhere in the Second Quadrant:
“Well, Laurel, this town is certainly heading for trouble.”
“Oh, Woodbine! I’m so scared!”
“The mink-tails of Forest are going to war for the first time in our long and quiet history.”
“It’s unbelievable. Our troops are massing even now.”
“Who knows what will happen next. We may be defeated and driven from our trees. Our town may be destroyed by alien weapons. Even if we win—for Barker is a brilliant commander, a military genius, it is said—even then, many hundreds of mink-tails will be killed in battle. Those who survive will live on, alone, weeping for their lost ones.”
“My whole family has volunteered for the army! My mother, my father, my sisters and brothers. They say all those things will happen if we don’t fight. The aliens have plans to wipe us out. We must attack first if we are to win and save ourselves.”
“Rubbish and corn rot! Barker and his power-hungry friends have invented these tales to frighten us.”
“I’m not so sure. The aliens might not be as innocent as you think, Woodbine. Anyway, why would Barker and his friends wish to frighten us?”
“They want to go to war, for their own purposes. They like giving orders and being in charge, and are probably plotting to get rid of the Elders as soon as they can.”
“I don’t know. It’s so hard to see clearly.”
“If only we could speak to the invader. Though she is young, she is powerful I’ve seen her eyes. She would not be in favor of this war and might help us try to avoid it.”
“Speak to the invader! Woodbine, are you crazy? How could we talk to such a strange being? Have you forgotten how she kidnapped your sister and still holds her captive?”
“I believe the invader was bringing Brown Nut back to us when Barker’s troops struck last night.”
“How do you know? The aliens act in confusing ways—you said it yourself.”
“I was there watching. I saw how the invader came with her companion, the little alien. While our army was scrambling into formation, I saw how carefully she climbed the tree, carrying a pouch on her back. When she reached her nest, I saw her take a box from the pouch and open it with gentlest fingers. Inside was Brown Nut. I saw the invader speak to my sister and tell her to go free.”
“But, Woodbine, how do you know what she said? No one understands the aliens’ bubbling noises. Maybe the invader was planning to make Brown Nut into an example by slaughtering her before our eyes.”
“There are some things that can be understood no matter what the language.”
“For a dreamer, Woodbine, you are certainly wide-awake.”
“Laurel, you are my only friend. I have a plan. Will you come with me to visit the invader?”
“But that is more dangerous than battle. The invader was wounded last night. Reports say she lies in her nest, surrounded by killer aliens. Also, Barker is watching you. One false move and he will have you arrested.”
“Will you come, anyway? We’ll try to sneak past the guard-minks. It’s our only chance to rescue Brown Nut before the war begins.”
“War! What have we idiot mink-tails come to?”
“Please, please say yes? I would feel so much better if you came along.”
“Of course I’ll come. But I think we may be sorry we ever left this blackberry bush.”