They took turns at point position, though they kept a loose diamond formation. It was never a planned or spoken thing, but whenever Solia found herself drifting to the back, Gian would give her a little nudge forward and keep that last position for himself. When Mol or Marius lost speed and Gian took point, he’d find a way to make sure she marched between himself and the person in the rear.
None of it helped. She felt alone, even with three people around her. Solia wiped away another tear as she thought about Lee being left back there. There’d been no discussion of bringing him along. It was a hard enough job for them to try to make it on their own, let alone lugging two hundred pounds of straight muscle. It still didn’t sit right. “The first thing we’ll do is get a cruiser and come back for him.”
No one else said a word.
Solia put her head down and marched on.
Her throat felt as cracked as the ground beneath her feet by the time they reached the halfway point and soon after, the well. Her thighs were mush and she was sure there wasn’t enough ointment on the moon to handle her aching calf muscles. She almost crawled the last few feet.
Gian, ever the hero, brought water to her. “Take it slow. It might burn going down at first.”
She nodded, but the pail was already lifted and delivering life. Yeah, it burned, and her stomach turned at the rusty taste of the treatment chemicals. She didn’t care. She drank until she threw up, then drank some more.
Clones were here, as expected. Some stood still, waiting for the direction of curiously absent human watchers. Solia tried not to think about what was keeping them away.
Gian stood by, eyeing the clones while she, Mol, and Marius drank their fill in silence. Only after she’d finished another round, did Gian point from her to the clones, indicating that she should take watch. He dumped a bucketful of water over his head before sending it down for more. His Adam’s apple bobbed up and down, pushing much-needed fluid into his body.
Though his shirt had been wrapped around his waist ages ago, the hike had been too rough and generally miserable to enjoy the view before. Now she took in the perfection.
Brief though it was.
Gian drank so much water that his six-pack—she counted again—eight-pack developed the smallest and cutest of pooches. Under different circumstances…
“I know.”
Solia yipped, not expecting Mol’s voice behind her ear.
The bucket crashed to the ground as Gian reached for his weapon. “Everything all right over there?”
Mol waved back. “Just talking about the good things that can still be found on this rock. Half-full glasses, you know.”
Solia couldn’t help but grin at the winking Mol and wondered what the woman had been like before. Was it the power she had over this place that had changed her? Maybe it was the money. “Do you think if we’d met each other on Earth or Venus, before all this happened—”
“I’d still be a heartless bitch and you’d still hate me.” Mol dismissed her with a wave and called out to Gian. “Can we go now?”
So much for a redeeming moment.
Still bent and gasping, Marius begged for five more minutes. Solia laid a sweaty hand against his forehead. No fever, but he was drenched with far more perspiration than she or anyone else. “He’s overheated, Gian. We could use an extra five minutes.”
“Three, that’s it. I don’t like this place; there’s too many of them here. It’s great these are so docile, but we don’t know for how long or if any of them are just faking it.”
Mol snorted. “For what? Collecting intel?”
“Are you going to put it past them? Why don’t you run it by Lee, then get back to me. Three minutes, all of you. Drink another bucket, pee it out, then down another. We’re pulling out.”
***
Despite the reprieve, the last leg of the journey was much harder. Perhaps because of it. Every half mile someone stopped to work out a cramp or Marius’s lungs would seize up and slow him down.
It wasn’t just their muscles requiring attention either.
They’d expected to see growing numbers of clones the closer they got to the main facility. Instead, they saw miles of unoccupied landscape in every direction.
“Where the hell are they,” Gian asked no one in particular. “We’ve got to be nearly there.”
Solia patted a wheezing Marius on the back before launching into a thigh-seizing jog to Gian. “We are. This is about as far out as they allowed me to go without security. This place should be swarming with people. Both kinds,” she added quickly. “Up ahead is a ridge. From there we’ll be able to see the main building.”
Gian walked backward a couple of steps, and then resumed his normal pace. “How’s it going back there? Marius going to make it?”
“He’s slow, but should be all right.”
“As long as he can run when he needs to.”
“I’ll stay close to him.”
“No you won’t. Solia, we’ve been watched this whole time. You’ve got Mol telling me they’re trained animals; well, they’re doing what animals do. They’re hunting us. Hell, if they’re as smart as I think, they’re herding us too. They’ll go after the weakest and he’s it.”
“I’m a doctor. No matter what he’s done, I won’t leave Marius behind.”
“He’s a coward and don’t think for a second he won’t sacrifice you to save himself. I’m trying to get us all out of here alive. That’s my job. But if it comes down to it, I’ll knock you out and sling you over my back if that’s the only way to keep you from risking your life to save his.”
“Is that all I am to you? A job?”
“We’re not doing this now.”
The liquid blue in his eyes glowed like the inner part of a burning star. She didn’t doubt for a second that Giancarlo Sable wouldn’t do exactly what he promised.
“Animals in the wild only go after two types of prey: the weak and the unsuspecting. He’s both. Don’t walk behind him for the rest of the way.”
“He needs me back there to help him keep up.”
“I could shake you right now.” Instead, he kissed her forehead. “I’ll slow down. Stay beside him, but don’t try leading from the back. Don’t let Mol get too far ahead of you either.”
The spot where his lips had warmed her, filled her with new hope. And memories. She’d been an idiot once for not listening to him. It wouldn’t happen again.
Another hour passed before they spoke. They’d reached the ridge and from there had a clear view of the main building. The grounds were empty, save for three clones walking along the main fence line like sentries at their post.
Marius took a loud gulp of air. “What are they doing?”
Solia snaked her fingers through Gian’s as he helped her up and she flushed at his reassuring squeeze. She stared a great long while before answering. “Marching. They did what advanced animals have the ability to do. They watched and they learned.”
“But that’s impossible.” Mol’s voice, always so confident and loud, registered lower than whisper. “We took all kinds of precautions. We made sure to…”
Solia rolled her eyes while Mol tried to ignore what everyone else could see. She opened her mouth just as Gian gave her hand another squeeze and shivered. His jaw was clenched tight and his eyes narrowed to roving slits.
Solia stood on her tiptoes as he leaned down. “Don’t turn around. Keep nodding to Mol. When I clutch your hand, drop to your knees and pull out your gun. Never get farther from me than you are right now.
Then he squeezed her hand.
Chapter Eight
Giancarlo shoved Solia down while calling out to the still-arguing Mol and Marius. Seven clones poured across the ridge, each armed with a pickax or diamond-cut shovel.
He took aim but was shocked to discover that the first round fired wasn’t his. He spared a glance and saw that though Solia had taken a knee, she’d also taken to firing. That’s my girl.
“Use the scope,” he shouted before taking out
one of the clones. He dropped another one a second later and Solia, a third. “Attagirl! First round’s on me sweetie.”
The levity didn’t last long, her shout keeping him on his toes. “To the right!”
One of the clones wrestled with Mol. Gian let out all the air from his lungs, settled his grip, and moved two steps to the left. He aimed at the midsection of the thing, hitting it clean through, sending the bullet parallel to the screaming woman.
Marius had two to deal with, and while he drew a great deal of blood with his knife, it was in no way a fair fight. The jumble of limbs and arms made it impossible for Gian to take a clear shot this far out.
“Cover me, Solia.” Gian holstered his gun and ran toward the frenzied mass of dueling flesh. He jumped on the back of the clone holding Marius down and it reacted like a rabid, cornered dog, head butting and clawing, nails latching onto the skin around his eyes.
There were a series of screams, but none registered as Solia’s so he kept his attention on the fight at hand. This clone was tough, wiry, but all muscle beneath the skin.
He fingered his firearm but the clones, seemingly realizing his purpose, held his wrists down. Gian tightened his legs around the thing’s waist and dragged his free arm up the clone’s body, resting under its chin. Readjusted, he let his legs hang free, putting the full weight of his body on the clone’s neck.
The hand that had once held down his right wrist now clawed at his left forearm. Gian hooked his newly free hand against the other and applied even more pressure to the clone’s neck.
Thirty seconds later, the thing passed out.
One second after that, Gian snapped its neck.
Out of breath, he staggered backward, not paying much attention to his footing. He stumbled over something, flipped as he fell, and came face-to-face with a glassy-eyed, unblinking Marius.
Chapter Nine
Gian dragged both women along, hating himself for not giving them time to grieve. They’d looked at him, mouths hanging open, as he pried the knife from Marius’s fingers, wiped off the blood, and handed it to an unspeaking Mol.
He used the dead man’s belt as a makeshift back sling and shoved two of the pickaxes used by the clones inside the space between his back and the belt. He offered Mol the other, but she shook her head and turned away. Gian wrenched her hands from beneath her underarms, and forcefully curled her fingers over the handle. “Take it. Live. Hate me later,” he said, then started walking away, praying they’d follow.
“I’m going to die out here.”
Gian slowed but didn’t stop or turn around. A nagging in the back of his mind told him where this was leading.
“I know I am,” Mol’s voice continued. “I never believed in karma, but it’s picking us off one by one, isn’t it?”
“C’mon, Mol. We’ve got to keep moving,” Solia said.
“Don’t push me. Get your hands off me. They outnumber us a hundred to one and you have no idea what else is out there.”
That had him skidding to a halt. “What are you talking about?
But Mol didn’t answer, at least not directly. “Lee and I were gonna strike it rich. We had it all laid out. Just a few minor modifications to the template and bam!” She clapped her hands in the air. “Billionaires.”
“Mol, what have you done?”
The redhead cackled at Solia and held her index finger and thumb millimeters apart. “Modifications and improvements. Evolution can take forever. We sped up the process. Whoops. Now look around. There’s no one here. Those things have taken over the complex. I know it. I’d rather stay here and get it over with.”
“You’re talking crazy. Gian, tell her not to give up. Not now.”
Mol howled a demented imitation of a laugh. “Didn’t think that one through, did you, sweetie? Let’s say we live somehow. What’s in store for me? Life in prison if I’m lucky. Isn’t that right, Sheriff? I have a lose-lose situation, darling.”
Gian faced them head on and saw determination in the eyes of both women, but Mol was right. Her best shot earlier involved long trials and bad press, but things had rapidly deteriorated into a massive pile of shit since then. He’d seen too much.
More than that, she’d lost the will to fight. Mol, by whatever means, did not intend to leave Enceladus. He could try forcing her, but it would only slow them down—possibly kill them all. The thought of Solia dying for Mol cemented her fate. “Are there any entry codes we need to know about?”
“Giancarlo, no! Mol, don’t listen to him, we’ll figure something out.”
But Mol had already started reciting a sequence of numbers.
“Solia, let it be. Look at her.”
In the seconds Solia left Mol’s side to confront him, Mol had taken the blade from its sheath and sliced open one of her wrists. She ran back, but Mol glared at Solia and sliced through the other one. When Solia ripped off strips of fabric, Mol turned the bloodied knife in her direction. “Stay back or I’ll take you with me. I’ve done worse than you can ever imagine.” She shrugged. “I would have had you both killed the second we got back to base. I’d already called it in before the storm hit.”
Giancarlo shoved her back, positioning himself between she and Mol, though he didn’t make a play for the knife. “We’ll stay until the time comes. Can I hold your hand, Mol?”
“I don’t care what you do,” she said, but she grabbed his outstretched hand all the same. “I’d have ridden you like a rented mule.”
He erupted with true, if brief, laughter and was relieved to hear both women chuckle. Mol dug into her pocket and tossed a small torch. “You’ll need this at some point.” Then she closed her eyes and spoke of tunnels and supply caches in the first landing building. The air went silent and Mol opened her mouth again, this time repeating the entry access codes she’d recited a few minutes earlier. She did it over and over, until the grip on his hand went slack.
Chapter Ten
She bit her lips to stop them from quivering, though it did nothing to stem her flowing tears. Damn Mol. That bitch didn’t deserve to lick her shoes. Yet here she was, crying over the woman even if the galaxy was better off without Molly Anne McDermott.
“You hanging in there? Don’t give in to it. Not yet. Remember that she caused all this. If you’re going to fix it, you can’t let her hold you back, not even in death.”
Gian was right of course. Energy devoted to the death of a slaver would have to wait. She tried to keep her mind occupied by saying the access codes aloud, but Gian shut that down too.
Cross contamination, he’d claimed, ensuring her that it would be better if they separately remembered the numbers. If they repeated them to each other, they risked confusing the digits.
As if he’d known the reason for her talking was more than reciting numbers, he grabbed her hand and held it step after agonizing step, filling the time with soft-spoken stories of his life since they’d parted ways.
He kept it up all the way to the ravine where, per Mol’s instructions, they hooked a left and followed it to a massive sewage-drainage pipe. Gian withdrew Mol’s torch, flicked it on, and led the way into darkness.
A half mile out, her eyes were burning. A few steps in and even Gian was coughing into the bundled tunic that had been at his waist. Fifteen steps later and he’d shorn off two long sections, tying one over her nose and the other his. It didn’t help much, but it was something. Or maybe they’d just gotten used to the stench.
Then it hit. The only thing worse than smelling sewage, was wading calf-deep in it. “I can’t.”
“You have to.” He’d offered letting her hop on his back, but she knew he needed to be ready to fight, if it came to it and declined.
“Can I make a joke about a shitty situation?”
“Not the time, Solia. If those clones hear us, it’ll start a shit storm in here.”
“That was bad.”
“You started it.”
“I can feel it sinking through my shoes.”
“S
eeping through your socks, wiggling into your pores. Making a home… Just think of the microbial orgy happening—”
“Stop. And thanks.”
“Watch your step here, there’s a divot. And you’re welcome. Just trying to bring some humor to a—”
“I said that’s enough.”
“Solia?”
“Yeah?”
“I’m not dying on this rock. I’m going to get us out of here and take you to dinner. Preferably after you bathe. We are going to have baths for days and days when this is over. After that, I intend to bury myself balls deep inside you.”
“Then what? Never mind, forget it. I can’t have this type of conversation slogging in three day old sewage.”
“Shhh.” Gian let go of her hand and rounded a corner before his hooked finger beckoned her in.
Artificial light shone through small holes and patterned across Gian’s face. He shoved his hand against the metal, transforming the sliver of light to a circular shape. He swore and stepped aside, dodging a minor deluge.
“Is that what I think it is,” she whispered. “The bottom of a toilet?”
“Yep. But more than that, it’s light. The humming…they have power here. They must have had time to cycle the electricity before being overrun. We haven’t been paying attention. Stand back.” Gian reached for one of the pickaxes and started chipping away at chunks of the floor above them. “Take off your shirt.”
“Excuse me?”
“I need you to catch as many chunks of rock as you can. In case one of those things is close, we need to blunt as much sound as possible. I’ll try not to think of the view.”
She couldn’t help but laugh at the eyebrow-wiggle he threw her, before going back to mining their way out of the sewers. He was able to make good time by leveraging one edge of the pickax above the floor and the other beneath it.
After a moment’s rest, he hoisted Solia through first and, handing her the other axe, together they worked to ease out enough room for him. He picked up her shirt, dusted it off, then draped it around his neck before pulling his way up. The first thing he did was rest on the floor, laying his cheek against the cool, silver tiles. “I could sleep here forever, or at least give me a few minutes.”
Nebula Nights: Love Among The Stars Page 172