by Sara King
“Our information has never been wrong before,” Tevval said. “They’re here. An entire groundteam. Why haven’t we found it yet?”
The room fell into a nervous silence. As he paced, a glimmering purple Takki skittered from a slave tunnel and rushed forward, blue eyes betraying its panic at being in a room filled with Dhasha. It stopped beside Tevval, head down, and waited.
“Speak!” Tevval roared, resisting the urge to tear the beast apart for wasting his time.
“Twelve slaves are missing from the surface, master,” the Takki said. Its voice quaked with terror.
Bones. “Which entrance?”
“Entrance Six, master.”
“Scour the main shaft and all the side shafts.”
“We already did, master. We’ve found no markings. The tunnels are still sealed.”
“Then they haven’t punctured yet.”
The Takki quivered, head down. “Eight more are missing, master. Searchers we sent to scour the tunnels.”
Tevval’s scales tightened against his chest. “They’re inside?”
“The entrances are still sealed,” one of his lieutenants rumbled. “I’ve got a Takki stationed at each with com equipment. They tell me they’ve heard no attempts to open any of the shafts since we killed the last team.”
“All are still in position?” Tevval demanded.
“Yes, sire.”
“Could one of them be a Huouyt? I was told we would have thirty-nine teams with Huouyt on them. How many Huouyt have we recovered?”
“Forty, sire.”
“Forty? One had two?”
His heir looked embarrassed. “No, sire. Two teams had two Huouyt on them.”
Tevval swiveled to frown at his lieutenants. “So only thirty-eight teams had Huouyt?”
“The slaves easily could have made a mistake in the count.”
Tevval snorted. “There’s a Huouyt loose in the tunnels. Are you certain one of your Takki monitoring the entrances is not actually a Huouyt masking his companions’ approach?”
“Our slaves are using closed-circuit chips, same technology as the Congies, sire. It can’t be an intruder.”
Tevval began to pace again. “Tell me which species you recovered thus far.”
A Takki dutifully held out the list for his lieutenant. The lieutenant cleared his throat. “Sire, there were seventy-two species represented in this attack. The main components were Ooreiki, Ueshi, Jahul, and Jikaln.”
Tevval snorted. “They send Takki to fight warriors.”
“The list also consists of a few Grislek, Dreit, Hebbut, and Grekkon.”
Tevval grunted. “At least you found both Grekkon.”
Instantly, his lieutenant looked stricken. “We only found one Grekkon, sire.”
Tevval twitched. “You missed one? They should have been your first priority. A Grekkon can penetrate our tunnels.” He began to pace again. He was not liking this. The final team had a Grekkon and a Huouyt. A bad combination.
“Perhaps we should contact the Vahlin, sire.”
“The Vahlin will contact us,” Tevval snapped.
“But it’s been over a week since we’ve heard anything from him. Perhaps he was wrong and another of the teams stayed behind.”
“The team is here, you leafy furg,” Tevval said, his voice low. “Do not make me repeat myself again.”
None of his lieutenants would meet his eyes to ka-par. Not one. Cowards. Declawed, bony cowards. It put him in the mood to kill one of them.
“The Vahlin has never been wrong,” Tevval continued, irritated. “A week ago, I was told they would attack today, midway through the third hour. They did. In that same conversation, I was told to watch for thirty-nine teams with Huouyt and two Grekkon. We already have one dead Grekkon and forty Huouyt.”
“The Vahlin said nothing about Jreet?”
Tevval swiveled to face his heir with growing irritation. “I think the Vahlin would have found that fact important enough to mention, don’t you?”
His lieutenants seemed to relax. Tevval gave a disgusted snort. They were all descaled by the thought of an oversized worm. “Get out of here, vaghi. Go patrol the shafts.”
His heir bowed his head slightly. He stood at Tevval’s shoulder, but he still did not have the courage to challenge him. “Sire, wouldn’t it be wise to leave a few of us here to guard you?”
Tevval roared and slammed the smaller Dhasha across the room, tearing away scales in a rainbow shower. As his heir slowly picked himself from the floor, Tevval said, “I can protect myself.”
His heir retreated in silence, leaving Tevval alone. Even the Takki had departed while he’d been distracted with disciplining his heir. A shame. Tevval had been looking forward to a meal.
#
“He’s got eighty-two adult young,” Jer’ait said. “I’d say the oldest six will have to be killed, including the prince. We can let Congress bury the rest.”
“You learned all that in thirty seconds?” Joe asked the Huouyt. “I’m impressed.”
“I’m a professional.”
“Describe the prince,” Joe told his Second.
“He’s a large one,” Jer’ait said. “Less than a rod at shoulder. Probably five hundred turns.”
Smaller than Bagkhal. Joe took a deep breath, relieved beyond measure. “Flea, what about you?”
“They’re looking for us,” the Baga said. “I’m spending most of my time clinging to the ceiling now.”
Joe cursed. “What gave us away?”
Jer’ait was utterly calm when he said, “Nothing. The Vahlin has an agent inside PlanOps. The prince not only knows how many teams would be attacking, but he also knows which species to look out for, and how many of each. Further, the Dhasha prince has had this information for over a week.”
Joe’s heart began to pound. “We haven’t even been on Jeelsiht for a week.”
“So it would appear.”
What in the ninety hells was going on?
Joe relayed the Huouyt’s report out loud for Daviin’s benefit.
The Jreet nodded, but offered nothing. He’d been almost demure since the confrontation in the shuttle. The perfect soldier. Except, of course, for the fact he didn’t have a chip.
That still rankled on Joe.
“It is possible that the Dhasha said that for my benefit,” Jer’ait offered. “He might have sensed my disguise.” Joe heard the intense reluctance in the Huouyt’s voice—he didn’t want to admit he might have been outed.
“No,” Joe said, “You probably misunderstood him. Even if he had an agent in headquarters, there’s no way the Vahlin could have known which den we’d be assigned to. No one knew that until three hours ago.”
“Perhaps,” the Huouyt said. “I’ll be there soon.” He said nothing more.
They were hiding in a short side-shaft Scarab had dug into the side of a Takki tunnel and Joe had masked with a hologram. Daviin lay somewhere in the main shaft, waiting.
Eventually, a Takki scurried up the hall toward them. When he came within reach, Daviin lashed out and wrapped him in a coil. The Takki jerked and left the ground, seemingly held by the air itself.
“Release me, Sentinel.” The Takki’s words were cold, utterly unafraid.
Thankfully, Daviin did. Joe was acutely aware of the fact that that moment would have been a perfect time for the Huouyt to ‘accidentally’ get crushed to death. And, considering how Daviin had quietly overlooked his order to get chipped, Joe was doubly concerned that the Jreet would find an unfortunate way for the Va’gan to meet an untimely end.
Jer’ait brushed himself off, looking completely unconcerned that a massive predator had just held him in a death-grip. Calmly, he told Joe, “The tunnel is safe for fifty rods. However, it doesn’t connect to a main shaft until we pass the Takki nesting area, which is full of females and young.”
“Should we attempt a different approach?” Joe asked.
“Yes,” Jer’ait said. “Too much traffic for even the inv
ertebrate to go unnoticed.”
Joe heard Daviin snarl, but the Huouyt did not even bother to look.
“Flea, can you get back here?” Joe asked.
“We’re leaving?” The Baga almost sounded…disappointed.
“Finding another way down.” Joe said. “This one’s got too many faces.”
“Coming.”
“There’s something I want to talk to you about before we go further,” Jer’ait said out loud. For the Jreet’s benefit, no doubt. Which meant it was important enough for the Huouyt to overlook his disdain for the Sentinel.
Joe scanned the tunnel behind them with his eyes. “What?”
“This place.” Jer’ait gestured vaguely at the walls of their tunnel. “There’s something wrong here.”
“How so?”
The Huouyt’s scaly purple, Takki-patterned face strained to find the words. Finally, he said, “I’m not sure. They killed every other team before they even had a chance to enter the tunnels. They were waiting for us. Not just waiting for us, but ready for us.”
“Because they have an inside man,” Joe agreed. Nothing really weird about that. Irritating, but not weird.
“It’s more than that,” Jer’ait insisted. “They knew everything, down to the hour we would appear. We didn’t even know that until this morning. No one did—except, it seems, the Dhasha Vahlin. And yet, despite knowing the exact moment we would arrive, the Vahlin did not give out our team specifics. The prince has no idea we have a Jreet with us. He had no idea which tunnel we would be assigned to penetrate, which should have been much easier information to obtain than our arrival time.” The Huouyt paused, his Takki-blue eyes shimmering like polished sapphires. “I’m finding the situation odd.”
“Which means,” the Jreet said from thin air, “It’s scaring the piss out of him.”
Jer’ait made a rude gesture at the Jreet with one clawed Takki hand.
“I saw that, Huouyt.”
“No you didn’t,” Jer’ait said. “You’re blind when you’re invisible and you’re too Takki slavesoul to ping.”
“You’re one to talk,” Daviin snorted. “Considering.”
Joe sighed and glanced down the tunnel behind them. For the last three hours, the same thought had been tickling the back of his mind. Something was definitely off about the whole affair. If they left now, headquarters would be satisfied with the intelligence they had gained. Escaping with the knowledge that someone in PlanOps was leaking their secrets was worth leaving the prince alive.
The Baga arrived without them seeing, crawling upside-down from the ceiling of the tunnel. “What’s scaring the piss out of him? That he’ll see a Dhasha?”
“Silence, pest,” Jer’ait said casually.
“You look good in that pattern, Huouyt. It compliments your character.” The Baga dropped from the ceiling to land on Joe’s shoulder.
Jer’ait’s borrowed Takki eyes were glacial as he turned to regard the Baga. “I think if we were to take a poll, Baga, you would not win any awards.”
Flea made a disgusted sound and took to the air again. He landed a distance away, on the Grekkon’s huge jumping legs where they were folded over its back. If the Grekkon noticed or cared, it made no indication.
“So what are we doing?” the Baga demanded. “What next? Why are we still standing here like terrified Takki?” Then he glanced at the Huouyt’s patterned form. Smugly, he said, “Oh.”
“Joe is trying to decide whether we should return to the surface or continue after the prince,” Galek said softly, beside Joe.
“Why would we leave?” the Baga said. “We’re almost there.”
“Someone’s giving out Planetary Ops intelligence…a week in advance.” Jer’ait glanced at the Baga. “The Vahlin knew we were coming before we knew we were coming.”
“That’s impossible,” the Baga said.
“It’s not,” Jer’ait said. “It just means it’s one of the higher-ups doing the talking.”
“It’s impossible,” the Baga repeated. “I was in the room when the Overseers decided to send us in. They all wanted different times based on their species’ strengths. The Ooreiki, for instance, wanted to wait for nightfall—their eyes are better in the dark—while the Jikaln wanted the heat of the day, so they’d have faster reflexes. They ended up on a compromise. Averaged it all out. Big calculation. Had some Bajna work it out based on averages and numbers of each species still left alive after all the infighting and other stuff I don’t really care about. That was this morning.”
Joe stared at the Baga, stunned. “Why’d they let you in the meeting?”
The Baga did not reply, its faceted red eyes flat.
“You’re furging me,” Joe cried. “You eavesdropped? On the Overseers?”
“It’s not my fault if other species never take the time to look up,” Flea retorted.
“You stupid bastard,” Joe growled. “They’d have executed you. They would’ve thought you were the traitor.”
“You don’t learn interesting, possibly life-saving information twiddling your claws in a barracks room.” The Baga seemed to have absolutely no remorse.
“So you eavesdropped on the burning Overseer battleroom,” Joe blurted.
“And I’ll do it again, too. It wasn’t boring.” The Baga cocked its insectlike head at Jer’ait. “Like the rest of you.”
Joe opened his mouth to tell Flea not to, then hesitated. “So, basically what you’re telling me is that there’s no way the Vahlin knew when we were gonna arrive, because the Overseers didn’t know when we were going to arrive.”
“Not a week ago,” the football-sized alien confirmed, his faceted eyes glittering almost maroon despite the Congie technicians’ darkening job.
Jer’ait’s theory that the prince had said everything for his benefit was beginning to look more plausible. “Well, soot. Jer’ait, if the prince knew you were a spy, why the hell didn’t he kill you?”
The Huouyt’s response was reluctant. “Perhaps he wanted me to pass on wrong information.”
“That he knows we’re here? Why?” Joe demanded. “To scare us out?”
“Perhaps his meeting with his lieutenants was contrived,” Jer’ait replied. “There might be three times as many and they’re waiting for us to come out of hiding, so they can get us all at once.”
“I suppose that’s plausible,” Joe said. “And he could have deduced that we had a Huouyt and a Grekkon on our team after Takki started disappearing in the tunnels.” He frowned at Jer’ait. “But, bones, he’s gotta be stupid to let a Huouyt assassin go once he’s identified one.”
“I couldn’t have said it better myself,” Daviin said loudly. Catching the reference, Joe scowled at the empty air where he knew the Jreet to be huddled.
It was the Grekkon who broke the silence. The voicebox affixed to the small concavity in the underside of his plated body said, “I’m a PlanOps Battlemaster. I’m here to kill Dhasha. Why do we stand around?”
“I agree,” Daviin said. “They know we’re here, but they don’t know where. As long as we keep to the slave tunnels and stay out of the main shafts, we should be able to surprise them.”
“How?” Jer’ait demanded, turning on the Jreet, who remained invisible. “They can hear your echolocation and as soon as they see one of us, all bets are off. This isn’t a training mission—these Dhasha are on high alert. The moment we step in the main shaft, we’re all going to die.”
“I could lie in wait.”
“Blind?” Jer’ait snorted.
“If I have to, yes,” Daviin said tightly.
Scarab interrupted again. “My species spent six million turns on Grek learning how to surprise our enemies. If we can separate the Dhasha, I can give the Jreet the surprise he needs to overpower them.”
Joe nodded. “Show us.”
CHAPTER 16: The Best Laid Plans…
Daviin dangled from the ceiling, his scales tingling with the higher energy level, listening to the Dhasha lord stridin
g closer. It was a small one, but still easily large enough to rip him apart, should things go wrong.
“Flea and Jer’ait say it’s clear,” Galek whispered into his ear.
Daviin winced as the Ooreiki then scrambled away from his coils, making a rustling sound deeper in the tunnel behind him. Below, the Dhasha paused. Daviin could hear its indestructible scales grate against each other as it cocked its head, waiting for the sound to come again.
Come on, Daviin thought, growing frustrated. It was the first target that had shown itself without other Dhasha nearby.
To his relief, the Dhasha grunted and the sounds of his talons scuffing against the floor resumed as he continued his walk.
They are so arrogant, Daviin thought. A Jreet warrior would have vanished instantly. This one simply strutted along, unafraid.
A moment later, its hulking body passed under Daviin. Daviin dropped from the ceiling, landing atop its cold, massive back. As the Dhasha tensed, Daviin whipped his body down and under, twisting violently around his victim’s middle, knocking the Dhasha off its feet and immobilizing his dangerous talons in one swift, bone-breaking cinching motion. As the Dhasha began to struggle, its powerful legs flailing for purchase, Daviin tightened his body around the creature’s thick neck. He felt the familiar pressure of constriction as he threw more coils around the stronger creature, careful to keep his body away from the black rows of triangular, razor teeth.
He tensed his muscles, tightening down on the massive neck and torso. The sheer weight of a Dhasha left him straining, the power behind its muscles hard to control. For a moment, Daviin thought that he would lose his grip and allow the razor claws to tear him apart. For several tics, the Dhasha twisted, writhed, and struggled. Slowly, it made a strangled, gasping roar through its meaty neck and went still.
As soon as the Dhasha had exhausted itself, Daviin began throwing loop after loop around it, tightening until the force of his coils began to force the air from the Dhasha’s chest in a fleshy gurgle.
To finish it, Daviin ripped away a huge rainbow-colored scale under the creature’s neck, then followed with the smaller golden underlayer. He felt the Dhasha sluggishly try to struggle again as it realized what would come next. Daviin slammed his tek into the creature’s body, ending its protests.