by Sara King
It took Jer’ait only a moment. “There’s no plasma wounds.”
“Right,” Joe said. “Every damn one of them’s been ripped apart by a Dhasha. The same Dhasha.”
“How ya figure?” Flea asked.
“In the ones that aren’t torn completely apart, there’s a certain distance between claw marks,” Jer’ait said. “It’s always the same, and they’re very big claws.”
“So this lieutenant is a paranoid S.O.B.,” Joe said. “Kills them all himself. No Takki. Jer’ait, you’re gonna be pretty useless to us this time, unless you think you can outrun a Dhasha.”
“I have a few patterns that might, but I’d rather not take the chance.”
“No kidding.”
“Okay, Flea, take it inside a few rods. The Dhasha sees you, you get out of there, bring him back up for Daviin, if you can get him to follow you.”
Flea responded a few tics later, “Man, what’s that smell? It’s making my carapace itch.”
“Describe it,” Daviin said.
“Dead meat. Rot.”
“Perhaps you didn’t see the piles of corpses nearly plugging the tunnel entrance,” the Huouyt said.
“No,” Flea said. “This is different.”
“So they’re not dead and rotting?”
“Quiet,” Joe said. “Flea, have you ever smelled cheese?”
“What?”
“Listen,” Joe said. “Flea, be very careful. What you’re smelling is probably the Dhasha. When they don’t have Takki, they start to stink, and stink bad.”
“And you know this because…”
“Let’s just say I’ve had intimate experience with it,” Joe snapped. “Keep your eyes open. He’s in there somewhere.”
“Well,” Flea said eventually, “Looks like you were right, Joe. He’s down here maybe a hundred-twenty rods. Sitting in his own shit.”
“He’s sick?” Daviin asked.
“No,” Flea said. “He’s staring at the entrance. Not moving at all.”
The tiny hairs on Joe’s neck stood up. “Flea, how close are you to him?”
“Two and a half rods.”
“Get out of there. Now.”
But he was too late. Flea sent them a startled broadcast of confusion, then the line went dead.
“Flea!” Joe snapped.
Nothing.
“He’s waiting for us,” Joe growled. “He’s been waiting for us all this time. Goddamn it!”
“I got the bastard,” Flea muttered. “Right in the face. Wouldn’t stay stuck to the floor, though.”
“Tell me what happened. The prince is dead?”
Flea gave a mental twitter. “Crack no, he’s not dead. I’m lucky to be alive, Joe. Bit off his own toe to get unstuck from the floor. He’s crazy. And huge.”
“Where you now?”
“Doin’ a million lengths a tic through the tunnels. The booming counter’s right on my back.”
“Daviin, you hear that?”
“I’m waiting for him.”
Joe trained his viewfinder on the tunnel entrance. After a few moments, he saw a tiny black shape burst out of the tunnel and gain altitude as if it had been shot from a cannon. He waited, tense.
To Joe’s frustration, nothing followed the Baga. “What’s going on?” Joe demanded.
“He won’t follow me out,” Flea said. “He’s standing inside, watching me. Guys, he’s huge.”
“Daviin, can you take him?”
“Not without pinging, Joe. I don’t know where he is.”
“He’s right there!” Flea cried. “Right there!”
“Screaming doesn’t help me, furg,” Daviin snapped. “I’m blind when I raise my energy level.”
“He’s backing up,” Flea screamed. “Daviin, get him!”
“I can’t hear him!”
“I thought you guys had good hearing!”
“We do,” Daviin snapped. “But as soon as I ping, I give away my location.”
“Look at how carefully he’s walking,” Jer’ait said. “Joe, he’s trying not to make noise for Daviin to pinpoint.” Then, after a moment, “And Joe…” The Huouyt actually sounded nervous. “This one’s big.”
“Like maybe Daviin can’t take him, big?” Joe demanded.
“Shriveled balls of Takki, I can take any Dhasha,” Daviin snapped, at the same time Jer’ait told him privately, “Commander, I think we might need a new plan.”
Joe considered that. “Jer’ait, time to show yourself. We’ll give the Jreet a chance to excel. Be ready to run if Daviin can’t hold him.”
Near the entrance, the Huouyt stepped from the brush in the form of a thin, four-legged creature that looked built for speed.
Through his viewfinder, Joe watched the entry. Nothing. He scanned the terrain around them for movement once more before returning his attention to the tunnel entrance. “Ghosts, guys, what’s happening?”
“He’s sitting down,” Flea said, sounding baffled. “He’s just sitting there watching Jer’ait like a furg.”
“He knows Daviin’s waiting for him,” Jer’ait replied. He was still standing in the open, facing something inside the tunnel.
“Bones,” Joe said. “Jer’ait, stay there and watch the prince. Daviin, don’t move.”
“I didn’t plan on it,” Daviin said. “I may be brave, but I’m not stupid.”
“Time for plan B,” Joe said. “Grekkon, dig us a hole into that den. Flea, come here. Circle around low so he can’t see where you go.”
“Wait,” Daviin said, sounding worried. “Joe, what are you doing?”
“The four of us are going to kill the prince while you and Jer’ait keep him distracted.”
“How?” Daviin demanded. “Joe, your two best assets are out here in plain sight.”
“I know,” Joe said. “And I’ve got the feeling that smart bastard down in that tunnel knows it, too. He’s not gonna move until he hears you, Daviin, so just shut up, breathe real quiet, and keep your head low.”
Flea met up with them in a buzz of wings. “That Dhasha’s creepy. I was staring him right in the eyes and he never moved.”
“Get down the tunnel,” Joe said. “We’ll find a way to deal with him inside.”
#
Daviin had to fight the impulse to squirm. His body had been tightly coiled for an attack, and now his muscles ached where they ground against his bones. It had been almost ninety tics since Joe and the others had punctured the den from the other side. He was beginning to ease the pressure, bit by bit, when the Dhasha spoke.
“I know you’re out there, Jreet,” the Dhasha said. “I know you can hear me.”
Daviin froze, afraid to breathe.
“I didn’t think your kind cowered in the brush like worms. I thought you prided yourselves on killing Dhasha.”
Daviin did not respond, but he felt his muscles tightening despite his best efforts to control them.
“But here we are,” the Dhasha continued. “Me waiting. You hiding. You must be from Vora. A Welu would have the tek to attack me.”
“Don’t let him provoke you,” Jer’ait said privately.
Daviin fought down the urge to tell the Huouyt to dance on his tek.
“It’s unfortunate, that it’s come to this. I’d always thought the Jreet prouder than that. That Welu I killed was.”
“He knows you’ve got a short temper,” Jer’ait said, “And he knows you’re Voran. Just ignore him while Joe sets up a distraction.”
“Stop coddling me,” Daviin growled. “I know what he’s doing. Go help Joe.”
“I’m staying,” the Huouyt said. “If you two get into a brawl, I’m going to be here to help you out.”
“Screw you, Huouyt. I don’t need your help.”
“Jreet,” Jer’ait said, “You’re not seeing what I’m seeing.”
#
“So what the hell is it?” Joe stood at the edge of an enormous pit, looking down into a blackness that could have been an entry into Hades. Water
fell from high above, cascading through the air and disappearing into the black without a sound.
Galek peered over the edge, but he looked perplexed.
“Come on,” Joe said. “Galek, you’ve been sulking ever since I cannibalized your PPU.”
“What’s wrong?” Jer’ait asked.
“Nothing. Galek, what am I looking at?”
“I think it’s a sinkhole, sir.”
“You think? Well, how deep is it? Where’s that water going?”
“I don’t know, sir.”
Flea sighed and jumped from Joe’s shoulder, launching himself over the edge. A few moments later, “There’s a ledge at the bottom around a big pool of water. Big Dhasha tunnels radiating outward. I think it’s the watering hole. You guys would probably be okay if you jumped off the edge, as long as you aimed for the middle.”
“I can’t swim,” Galek said. “My kind are too dense.”
“We’ll take the stairs,” Joe said, nodding at the Grekkon. Scarab backed down, giving them a sloping path toward the bottom.
At the bottom, Joe glanced up at the enormous black chamber that seemed to go on forever. Out of the blackness, water dripped past his face, spattering into a huge, luminescent pool of water near his feet.
Surrounding the underground lake, dug into the rippling stone edges of the sinkhole, were nine different main shafts. Once again, there were no slave tunnels.
As soon as they left the Grekkon’s tunnel, they’d have no cover. If the Dhasha caught them, they’d be ripped apart.
“Flea, go see if you can figure out where we are.”
Flea crawled out of the Grekkon’s tunnel, scaled the sinkhole wall, and then slipped into the nearest main shaft and began proceeding along the ceiling.
Joe and Galek waited in the back of the Grekkon’s tunnel, squatting below the twin spearlike arms that protruded from the front of Scarab’s body.
“Yep,” the Baga said, finally. “I found the prince. He’s right where we left him.”
“Okay,” Joe said, “Stay on the prince. Galek and I are gonna figure out a way to kill him.”
#
“Ready, Flea?
Flea held absolutely still in the shadows behind the Dhasha, his eyes fixed firmly on the prince’s tank-sized butt.
“Damn right I’m ready.”
“Galek, are you ready for this?”
“The charge is in place, sir.”
Over the common channel, Phoenix’s voice once more demanded, “Commander Zero, why is your team stalling? We know you’re alive. Go in there and kill the lieutenant.”
The Human responded with, “Don’t worry, Mag. We’ll do everything in our power to see you get that Corps Directorship.” Then he terminated surface contact.
“That Takki brooder would make a nice Dhasha casserole,” Flea muttered.
“She can still hear you,” Jer’ait said.
“Somebody needed to tell her eventually. It’s cruel to let her think anybody gives a soot what she says.”
“All right. Everyone take your positions. Flea, go.”
Flea began spitting. He landed three good hits around the back claws, but not enough to make the prince stick. Then he dropped from the ceiling and buzzed back toward Joe.
Behind him, he heard a crash, then a roar and the clatter of rocks. Flea chanced a glance behind him and wished he hadn’t.
The Dhasha was closer this time, and his empty green eyes gleamed murder. Chunks of rock clung to the scales around the Dhasha’s back feet. The Dhasha was catching up.
“Joe, I hope you’re ready. He’s right on my ass.”
“Just bring him on.”
Flea did. He shot through the sinkhole, getting water on his carapace as he flew through the trickle and on to the tunnel on the other side. The Dhasha skirted the pool, but lost little time regaining his speed and catching back up.
When Flea saw Joe standing alone in the hall up ahead, a plasma rifle trained on the Dhasha, Flea almost fell out of the air in shock. In a panic, he screamed, “Joe, get out of the way! Run! He’s coming!”
Seeing the massive Dhasha on his heels, the Human’s face slacked with surprise and he turned and ran.
“What’s going on?” Daviin demanded.
Flea caught up with the Human in moments. Instead of passing him, he slowed. “Joe, you keep running. I’ll spit on him a little bit, try to slow him down. I—” Flea’s words died in his throat when the Human started laughing and came to a stop. Flabbergasted, Flea turned. They were alone in the tunnel. He stared, confused.
“He ran away?” Flea asked, trying to figure out where the massive Dhasha had gone.
The Human was still laughing. He walked forward three rods, to where he had been standing when Flea appeared in the tunnel. He bent, then stuck his hand through the floor, followed by his head.
Not onto it, but through it.
While Flea was trying to comprehend that, a massive, angry roar shook the tunnels. It sounded close.
“Joe, I think—”
“It worked!” Joe shouted, straightening. “The sonofabitch isn’t getting out of there. Set it off, Galek!”
Joe deactivated the little device inside and the hologram fell away, leaving a huge pit marring the center of the tunnel. When Flea hesitantly flew overhead, he saw the Dhasha prince in the bottom, ripping at the rock walls and floor, screaming in fury.
“Scarab dug this?”
“Yeah,” Joe said, watching the Dhasha struggle, “But he’ll just claw his way out if we don’t hurry up.” With his headcom, he said, “What’s taking so long, Galek?!”
“Sorry, sir.” They heard a tiny popping sound, then a roar of bubbles in the underground lake beyond their tunnel.
“Did it work?”
“Can’t tell yet…” Galek said. “Yeah. The water-level’s going down.”
From the pit below, the sounds of splashes echoed up to them and the Dhasha roared again.
“Time to get the hell out of here,” Joe told them. “Flea, you alright?”
“Fine. Won’t he swim out?”
“Too dense,” Joe said. “He’ll suffocate.”
“I could stick him,” Flea suggested.
“No,” Joe said. “Let him die.”
Joe was answering the other grounders’ questions on the status of the prince, when a voice called to them from above the sloshing water below. “Joe?”
The Human froze. Slowly, he peered down into the pit.
“How’d he know your name?” Flea demanded.
Joe looked like he’d been kicked in the stomach. “Oh Mothers.”
“Joe?” Flea eyed the Dhasha, then returned his gaze to the Human. “You know him?”
“Mothers’ ghosts,” Joe said, turning away from the pit. “It’s Bagkhal.”
“Who?” Flea glanced down at the Dhasha, who was watching them with eerie calm. “You know him?”
The Human ignored him. He stared down at the Dhasha, looking stricken.
It was the Dhasha who spoke first. “He said they’d send you to kill me.”
Joe was shaking. “What?”
“Don’t fret about freeing me, Human. If I somehow find a way out of here before I drown, I’ll kill you all. My loyalties are elsewhere, now.”
“To the Vahlin,” Joe said. “Why?”
When the Dhasha did not respond, Joe added softly, “Why? You said we needed Congress. You were loyal.”
“My experiences led me to believe that Congress was the only force that could keep my kind from reverting to barbarism. I was wrong.”
“He led you to a war you can’t win,” Joe said.
The Dhasha’s egg-shaped eyes glittered with gemlike amusement. “This war will still be raging nine hundred turns from now. Even if Neskfaat is lost, the Vahlin will live on. His power will only grow.”
Flea stared down at the Dhasha, confused. “You know who the Vahlin really is.”
“Of course,” Bagkhal said. “Did you really think I’d bo
w my head to another Dhasha?”
Joe looked stunned. “If you knew it was the Geuji, why serve him? What’s his purpose here?”
“I serve him because he has a plan that would truly bring peace. Once and for all. True peace.” Water was sloshing at the Dhasha’s knees, drawing dangerously close to his chin.
Joe glanced at Flea, then back at their captive. He looked pale, ill. “I can’t let you out, Bagkhal.”
“I know. Jemria told me I would die today. Though I tried to fight it, I never once thought he was wrong.”
Flea watched his Prime narrow his eyes. “And I’m supposed to let you die.”
Flea made a startled wing-flutter. “Of course you’re supposed to let him die.”
“That’s for…you…to decide,” the Dhasha coughed.
“For what purpose?” Joe demanded. “Is this a trap?”
Bagkhal snorted through the water quickly filling his mouth. “A trap? No. It’s a test.” He began to choke and struggle as water began to press against his nostrils. He lunged awkwardly onto his back feet, his stubby hind legs giving him another rod of breathing room.
Flea glanced over and saw the Human’s muscles straining. He’s gonna let him out. He’d never seen his Prime get so obviously upset before. Almost like this Dhasha was a…friend. Nervously, Flea waited for the order for Scarab to drain the water so the Dhasha could breathe. Instead, the Human said, “A test for what?”
Bagkhal didn’t answer. His claws had sunk into the stone like it were clay and his front paws lost purchase, his body sliding back downward before he could struggle to lift his huge head above the surface again.
“A test for what?!” Joe shouted.
“Jreet hells, boy,” Bagkhal gurgled, thrashing his head to stay above water. “Isn’t it…obvious?”
“Goddamn it, enlighten me, Bagkhal!” His Prime had something wrong with his eyes—they were leaking fluid down his shirt. “What the hell were you thinking, you damned furg?”
“It’s a test for you.” Bagkhal continued choking.
There was a long, miserable silence as the Dhasha struggled to breathe in the pit beneath them. “I’ll kill the ashsoul,” the Human whispered. “I swear it.”