“That would have to be the Krahn base,” Rachal said softly, pointing toward the group of buildings. Fajel was definitely awake now. They were near their destination, and the danger of being discovered was at its greatest. He could feel his mouth grow dry at the thought.
“We head southwest,” Belani said, pointing out the direction. He had an edge to his voice that made Fajel pause.
Is he going to crack under the pressure of the mission? Fajel wondered as he looked at Belani’s pinched face. They were all under a lot of stress, but Belani’s anxiety had seemed to become worse the farther south they had traveled. They walked on for a short time before Rachal, who was on point, suddenly crouched down, motioning for the others to do the same. Fajel knelt down uncomfortably, his pack threatening to topple him over, and wondered what Rachal had seen. He soon heard the sound of footsteps approaching. He saw that both Rachal and Belani were clutching their weapons tightly.
Fajel was surprised when Belani suddenly smiled and said something softly in a language that he’d never heard before. The sound of footsteps stopped abruptly, and there was only silence for a moment. Then someone answered back in the same language as three figures emerged from the gloom. It was another strike team.
There were quiet but happy greetings all around as the two teams came together. Fajel had never met the Rajani named Velden nor the Sekani named Golena, but the Jirina named Ardel had been a friend of his brother. Ardel embraced him warmly when he saw who it was. “Tenel would be proud of you, Fajel,” he said.
“Don’t hug him too hard,” Rachal said, smiling. “He’s liable to go off.” Even Fajel had to laugh.
“We did a preliminary reconnaissance of the airfield,” Velden said. He was a young Rajani, and seemed very excitable to Fajel. “There was no ground cover on the western side, so we backtracked to go around east. There are some trees that are close enough on that side that should provide what we need.”
“We can’t go that way,” Belani said sternly. “It takes us too close to the Krahn base. We’re liable to get trapped between the Krahn on the airfield and those at the base.”
“But there’s nothing on the western side of the airfield except a very small grove of trees,” Golena said. “We saw for ourselves.”
“You go east if you want,” Belani said, “but my team is going west. I won’t risk their safety or the success of this mission.”
“You always were a stubborn fool,” Golena said. Fajel guessed that the two Sekanis had known each other a while. It was hard to guess their ages, but he thought that Golena seemed the older of the two.
“Be that as it may,” Belani said, moving closer to look straight into Golena’s eyes, “no one is telling me how to run my strike team. If you’re heading east, then go.” Belani turned and began walking the way he had initially pointed before they had joined up with the others.
Golena looked like he might have pursued Belani to continue the discussion, but Velden placed a hand on his shoulder. Golena finally shrugged off the hand and turned away from the direction that Belani had departed. He didn’t say another word.
“Well,” Ardel said, “I guess this is where we part ways.” He gave Fajel one more quick embrace and whispered “good luck,” and then the two parties set off in their separate directions.
Fajel carried his pack in his arms, still uneasy about its contents. Rachal shook his head and muttered quietly, but Fajel couldn’t make out any of the words. His own joy at seeing his brother’s friend had been dampened by Belani’s attitude. Finally, they caught up to the grumpy Sekani.
“Hope you know what you’re doing,” was all Rachal said. Belani didn’t reply.
They walked a moment in silence. Fajel was beginning to wonder if they were doing the right thing, or if Belani’s stubbornness would cause their entire mission to fail.
They walked nearly to the top of a low knoll when Belani motioned for them to stop. He took off his pack and crawled to the crest. “The airfield is just over the hill,” he said quietly. Fajel gratefully placed his pack on the ground and stood up straight.
“Now, how would you—” Rachal began, before the sound of gunfire rang out, silencing the dran that had been singing out, welcoming the early morning. Fajel thought Rachal had punched him in the middle of the back. He turned slowly to ask why the Rajani had hit him and saw that Rachal was now lying on the ground, a look of surprise on his face and a large puddle of blood growing next to him.
“No!” he heard Belani cry out.
“What?” was all Fajel could say, confused still. His legs felt heavy. He looked down to see his own blood running down his legs from a gaping wound in his abdomen. Just then, his knees gave out, and he tumbled to the ground, his pack forcing him to his side on the soft grass.
“You said they wouldn’t be harmed,” he heard Belani say.
Fajel’s legs felt cold now. Belani stepped into his field of vision. Fajel could see a group of Krahn warriors now behind the Sekani. Belani came closer and bent over him.
“Stupid youngling,” Belani whispered. “I don’t care about the Rajani oppressor, but I tried to save your life on more than one occasion.”
Fajel was still confused.
“I did what you told me,” Belani said. He had stood back up and was talking to the Krahn. “Where are my siblings?”
The last thing that Fajel saw before the world went dark was one of the Krahn warriors raising its weapon and pointing it at Belani’s head.
The End - Resistance
The Rajani Chronicles III: War
by Brian S. Converse
Coming in early 2019!
Updates on
www.BrianSConverse.com
Rajani Chronicles II Page 25