“Hey, catch.” Bennett bent down and hooked his fingers around the straps of a rucksack, then tossed it to the Lieutenant.
Knoble caught it in his arms and nearly fell backward. “I thought I said pack light,” he said, surprised by how heavy it was.
“There’s a lot of useful equipment in there,” Bennett told him. “You should be happy I packed it for you. If I hadn’t, we would all be ready to move while you were still stuffing frags in your bag.”
“Good thinking, Corporal.”
Lieutenant Knoble and his team waded through deep pools of swamp water. It washed up against his waist, cold and wet, and left slimy green algae on his uniform. The thick algae floated atop the surface like a blanket, glittering with the light of fireflies.
Alpha Team had been out in the woods for a while now, trying to track the beacon of a Drocain escape pod, but they were having a hard time getting to its location. The route they’d chosen was apparently the fastest but, with all of this water and mud, Knoble was beginning to think they should’ve taken a different path.
And to add to his frustration, there was one soldier amongst them who was becoming more and more edgy with every passing second.
“You know, I wouldn’t have minded at all if you guys had left me behind at the camp,” Private Sevadi complained, his voice shaking uncontrollably as he shivered from the cold water soaking his clothes. “It was warm and dry there, and we didn’t have to fight off swarms of stupid bugs . . . and these ones are biting! I mean, look at this! Does this look infected to you?”
Tucker slapped him across the face, not hard enough to leave a mark, but enough to make the younger soldier shut his mouth.
“Can it, Sevadi,” Tucker said. “And grow a pair, would ya? There’s gotta be worse things out here than bugs, kid.”
While Knoble could understand where the Private’s apprehension was coming from, he also knew that they had a mission, and that they needed to avoid drawing any unwanted attention to themselves. Sevadi should have known as well. There was also the fact that he had joined the military of his own accord and he wasn’t being paid to bitch and whine.
Just when Knoble was starting to think they would have a bit of peace and quiet for the rest of the journey, he heard the poor kid speak up again from the back of the group.
“Uh, guys . . .” he murmured.
“Private, we need to keep quiet. Shut your mouth already!” Knoble ordered.
“No, seriously, there’s blood in the water.”
At that, the whole team whipped around to face Private Sevadi. They pointed their flashlights to the pool’s rippling surface and, sure enough, there were streaks of crimson blood swirling all around them.
Private Tucker stepped forward and kicked at the bottom of the pond, then jumped when a pasty-white face floated up in front of him. Sevadi aimed his battle rifle at the body and backed away as well, almost tripping over his own feet.
Knoble inspected the corpse. It was a man, middle-aged. The right-hand side of his face had been ripped to shreds, his jawbone exposed, and his neck looked like it had been chewed on. His uniform was torn open across his chest; claw marks stretched from his collar bone to his abdomen.
“What did this?” Private West muttered, pulling her lock-and-key print scarf over her nose.
“Drocain?” Stanford suggested.
“This ain’t no lizard kill,” Tucker told him.
Lieutenant Knoble shook his head in agreement with Tucker and said, “They don’t maul their victims like this. They have the teeth and the claws for the job, but I’ve never actually seen them put to use.”
As his teammates carried on with their guessing, Knoble’s attention was drawn to the shadows. He aimed his flashlight at the edge of the pool, illuminating drag marks in the muddy bank . . . then his light caught something in the bushes at the top of the hill.
A huge pair of eyes glared at him from the darkness, and when Knoble pointed his flashlight directly at them, the thing they belonged to began to growl.
The other five soldiers turned and watched in fear as the massive animal stalked out of the bushes, head lowered and shoulders hunched. It drew in a long breath, spread multi-hinged jaws, and let out an ear-piercing screech.
“Shoot it!” Knoble snapped as the creature launched itself from the bank and landed in the pool. He opened fire and peppered its flank with lead, but it didn’t seem to be taking any damage. It was sucking up their ammunition like some kind of bullet sponge.
A scream escaped Tucker’s mouth as the creature’s jaws clamped down around his midsection and dragged him under the water. More beastly screeching sounded out from somewhere in the distance and Alpha began to retreat, continuing to fire into the water as they did.
Tucker was beyond their help.
“Get out of the water!” Knoble ordered, moving as fast as the water would allow. He made sure his teammates were out before he tackled the mud bank. It was a challenge to climb but he managed to scramble up and tumble over the other side, and once he was on his feet again he sprinted after his team.
He was hoping the beast would have been too busy with its first kill to chase them, but then he heard a splash and the sound of feet pounding on the ground somewhere in the trees behind him.
His headset crackled; Sergeant Shepherd was on the channel. “Lieutenant, keep your eyes peeled,” he said. “The damn lizards escaped from the compound.”
Knoble didn’t reply right away, but his mind was reeling.
How could the prisoners have escaped? The Hornet’s Nest was one of the most heavily guarded bases in Terrak, and the prison cells were topnotch with three-foot thick walls made out of concrete, and titanium doors that could only be opened from the outside. There were no windows, guards were always on watch, and there were cameras mounted to the ceiling in every cell.
“How the hell did they get out?” Knoble asked breathlessly, two fingers pressed to his headset as he hurdled over a fallen tree.
“We’re looking into it. Cells look fine, nothing broken—but we’ve got nineteen dead men.” Shepherd paused and then asked, “You sound exhausted. What’s going on out there? Find anything yet?”
“Some animal attacked us, took Tucker. Couldn’t shoot it down so we ran.”
“What’s it look like?”
“It’s got a shitload of teeth and it’s bigger than a damn horse. Please, for the love of god, tell me you know how to kill it!”
“It’s probably a tyliven. A shot directly between the eyes should do the trick.”
Lieutenant Knoble cast a look over his shoulder and wondered if he would even be able to make that shot. The creature was moving around so much he couldn’t see how it would be possible to get a well-aimed shot in anywhere.
Not like I’ve really got a choice.
Knoble slung his assault rifle over his shoulder, yanked his pistols from their holsters and pivoted on his heel, facing his attacker.
The tyliven sprang forth, forepaws spread and jaws stretched wide. Green lasers fixed dead in the center of its forehead.
This was his chance.
He squeezed the triggers.
Chapter
———SIX———
2119 Hours, December 01, 2438 (Earth Calendar) / Marshlands, near Terrak Mountain Range, planet Calypsis
Kenon could hear the wailing of more tyliven echoing throughout the marshland. Their howls were followed by human voices, screaming and shouting in alarm, then two muffled gunshots, a bloodcurdling screech, and finally silence.
His creature companion lifted her head and let out a small sound, a nervous whimper. The pained cry of one of her own kind had unnerved her, but she quickly shook it off and resumed the search for the missing ship commander.
Somewhere along the way, Kenon had decided to call her “Lithe”—or “Kote” in the language of the Drahkori. He’d named her after the fluidity and grace in the way she moved. It was not the most original name he could have thought up, but it was th
e first that had come to mind and it fit her well.
She seemed to agree.
The young warrior lurched forward as Lithe came to an abrupt halt and assumed a defensive stance, flexing her toes and digging her claws into the ground. The horns on her head trembled as she listened intently to a sound that Kenon soon heard as well.
It was a strange high-pitched noise that alternated between a howl and a birdlike warble. Kenon would have guessed it was the call of an animal, but something about the tone made him think otherwise.
He gently patted the tyliven’s neck and urged her to keep moving. She cautiously continued down the path, head held high as she searched for the source of the howling. Kenon did the same, watched his motion sensor closely—but the only signatures that showed up on it were his and Lithe’s.
The noise then seemed to change position, now coming from above the young warrior rather than from someplace further into the marsh. He tilted his head back, scanned the trees, and through the flittering leaves, fifteen feet overhead, he saw the glimmer of green lights.
Straddling one of the tree’s long, broad limbs was a human soldier, a female who had her hands raised to the sides of her face as she let out a shrill sound.
So she was the source. But what was she trying to do? Was this some kind of beckoning call? Was she lost?
Kenon eased his way off Lithe’s back and was careful not to make too much noise as he set foot on the damp grass. He signaled for the tyliven to stay where she was, then he reached over his shoulder and drew his rifle, picking his way through the bushes to get closer to the tree. He had a clear shot at the human from here. He brought his weapon to aim at her head, finger on the trigger.
Just as he was about to fire, the human stopped her shouting and lowered her hands, then looked down and stared at him with wide, azure eyes.
How could she have known he was there?
Kenon cursed himself and with reluctance, opted not to pull the trigger just yet. Not taking his aim off the soldier, he stepped out of the bushes. She immediately dropped her rifle to the ground and threw her hands up in the air.
“I’m unarmed,” she said calmly.
Strange behavior for a human, the warrior thought, then turned his attention to the gun she’d dropped. He bent down and picked it up, examined it to find that the magazine was empty. She must’ve run out of ammunition. So even if she had wanted to, she couldn’t have taken a shot at him.
But when he looked back up, he saw she’d drawn a sidearm and was clutching it with shaking hands. She was terrified.
Liar.
“You’re . . . not going to shoot me?” she asked after a moment, raising a brow inquiringly. She narrowed her eyes, confused by his lack of hostility. “Any other warrior would have blown my brains out by now.” A teasing smile then crept onto her face and she added, “Are you scared?”
Kenon glared at her. No, he was not scared—not the slightest bit. He simply didn’t know how to react to this . . . to her. Everything he had been taught back on Si-Gheila told him that humans were a threat that had to be eliminated, but right now his intuition was telling him to leave this girl alone—to let her live.
Why?
Would he really be making such a horrible choice if he allowed just one human to leave with her life?
Take no prisoners, show no mercy . . .
When Kenon joined the Drocain Royal Empire he had taken an oath, and breaking that oath would result in his execution.
“Do you honestly think you can kill me with that?” Kenon spat accusingly. “It’s a mere handgun. I could take you out before you even had the chance to break my shields—” he paused and turned to a group of trees to his left, sure he’d heard a voice. Cocking his head, he walked away from the human.
She chattered on profusely in the background, tone sharpening as the distance between them grew.
Kenon studied the forest floor and saw droplets of blue blood on the grass. There were also footprints in the mud—and where the left print should have been, there were drag marks.
Kenon hurried to the other side of the trees, and there he saw the Ship Commander—sitting on the ground leaning against one of the rough trunks with his hand clutching a deep wound in his hip.
The Drahkori crouched down beside him and gave his shoulder a gentle shake. “Levian?” he urged. “Levian, can you hear me?”
The Ship Commander did not respond. His eyelids fluttered as he tried to look up, then closed again. He was losing awareness, slipping in and out of consciousness. If his injuries weren’t treated soon, he would die.
Approaching footsteps drew the young warrior’s gaze and he saw that the human female had come down from her tree and followed him. Beside her was his tyliven companion, who was, surprisingly, showing no aggression towards the soldier.
Odd . . .
“Is he injured?” the human asked, weapon pointed at the ground.
Kenon held her gaze for a second and then shook his head, an irritated hiss slipping out through his jaws. He wanted nothing more to do with this girl; he had more important matters to deal with. She was a nuisance to him, an enemy, and he wanted her gone.
But to his disappointment, she did not leave. Instead, she came closer and continued to press him with questions.
“Is he going to be all right? How bad is the wound?” She walked around to the other side of the Ship Commander and knelt on the ground, watching the Drahkori warrior as if she expected him to say something. And when he did not, she said, “I can help.”
That was a greatly unexpected offer. Kenon stared at the human female for a long moment, waiting for her to say that she was joking.
She didn’t utter another word.
He wondered if he had heard her correctly, then decided that he most definitely had. Perhaps this was a trick, some sort of plan? Warm up to the enemy, pretend to be a harmless little human, then, when his back was turned, she would whip out her sidearm and take him down, leaving the Ship Commander to succumb to his injuries?
Or could it be that this human was simply being friendly?
Kenon warily accepted the offer and she holstered her weapon.
“Listen . . .” The human pulled a silver and green canister from her belt and started to shake it. “I know you don’t like me, and I know you don’t trust me, but the way I view you and your Royal Empire has changed. I’ve found out some things that could change the direction of this war and I need to report to my CO if I’m going to do anything about it,” she explained. “I only want to offer my help to you in exchange that you let me live. Do we have a deal?”
You had the chance to leave a moment ago, why did you not take it? It was like she wanted to help him. And now that she’d offered to aid the Ship Commander, Kenon couldn’t let her go. He needed her.
Once the warrior had given her a slow nod, she carried on with her task, lifting Levian’s hand away from his hip and carefully inserting the canister’s nozzle into the open wound.
The pain seemed to bring the Leh’kin warrior back for a minute. His muscles tensed, heels scraping the ground when the soldier pushed a button on top of the canister and filled the gash with a clear fluid that foamed up, then hardened.
“By the way, my name is Alana,” the girl said. “I assume you guys have names, too?” She withdrew the nozzle and slipped the canister back into the pouch on her belt.
“. . . Kenon,” the young warrior told her, absentminded. Having never seen a tool that could close an injury so fast, he was curious as to how it worked. His interest then faded when he heard a voice crackle through the human’s headset.
“Carmen, you there?” It was a man who spoke to her.
She raised her hand to the side of her head and responded to his call. “Affirmative, Jenkinson. Nice to hear that the comms are working again.”
“Oh, thank god. We thought we’d lost you. Activate your tracker and I’ll come to you. There’s a whole pack of tyliven hunting in the area tonight. It’s not safe. Alpha Team
was attacked; we were jumped again, too; and Reynolds’ team was stripped down to two guys.” The man breathed a heavy sigh. “I’ll tell you all about it later.”
Alana cast an awkward look at the Drahkori warrior. “My tracker is . . . broken, Jenkinson,” she lied. “I’ll have to find my own way back to the nest from here. Don’t worry though. I’m a big girl, and you know I’m a pro when it comes to retracing my steps.”
“Among other things.” Jenkinson laughed. “Take care of yourself. If you’re not back by first light, I’ll come looking for you myself. Jenkinson, out.”
Alana let out a long breath and relaxed. “So, what do you propose we do with your friend here?”
“There is no we,” Kenon growled as he rose to his feet. He put one arm around the Leh’kin ship commander, brought his teammate’s limp arm over his own shoulder, and then tried to lift him up. The warrior’s weight almost dragged him to the ground, but he managed to muster up enough strength to hobble over to Lithe and lay the unconscious body across her wide shoulders. The Drahkori then pulled himself up onto the tyliven’s back and looked at the human soldier, who was standing a meter away with her arms folded.
“Where are you going?” she asked.
“Away from here,” the warrior replied, indignant.
“What about me? You can’t just leave me out here on my own!”
“I can and I shall. Besides, I thought you said you were a pro when it came to retracing your steps,” he hissed, then patted the side of Lithe’s neck, telling her to move.
“Wait a minute!” the human snapped at him as she stepped up to the tyliven’s flank, giving the hybrid’s hind leg a light tap to make her stop. Lithe growled furiously and rounded on her, teeth bared, and the soldier backed up, raising her hands in the air. “I know a place where he can be treated with proper equipment.”
“Why should I trust you?” Kenon asked, watching her suspiciously.
The Calypsis Project Boxed Set (Books 1-2 - The Echo-Alpha Duology) Page 8