“Dallas! You okay?”
“Peachy. Just communicating with the enemy, so to speak.”
“Twenty-three minutes,” Mr. Toad said. “That’s our ETA.”
“Got it,” Dallas confirmed. “We’ll try to keep ‘em busy. Over and out.”
Eliska felt the Cloudrunner bank and heard the engines ramp up as the pilot fed in the new course and speed information into the computers. Mr. Toad slumped back down in a seat and said, “That gives us twenty-three minutes to come up with a plan.” He looked annoyed. And worried.
Eliska smiled. “We’ll think of something. Besides, at least now we’re doing the right thing.”
“Well, not that I want to distract you from the task at hand, but if we’re all about ‘doing the right thing’ today, there’s something you should know about the girl at ARCOB.”
3.5 SAELIKO
Something’s not right, she thought as she lifted her head above the rock she was hiding behind to peek at the advancing Zodo soldiers. She focused on the Kye-shiv behind them. Now why would they do that?
The Kye-shiv had landed (with great gusts of wind from the powerful engines) next to the river with its ass-end facing the road and starboard toward the wrecked pickup truck. Once on the ground, the craft had vomited three handfuls of armed and armored soldiers, some of whom went straight for the overturned vehicle while others began advancing toward the trees Saeliko’s group had sought shelter in.
These actions told Saeliko two things. First, Zodo hadn’t immediately determined whether Haley had died in the crash, and second, the Kye-shiv pilot had spotted the five runners before they had managed to reach shelter. The word sprint was a tad generous; Kettle had performed a medium-speed limp, and Haley had had to be half-carried by Soup and Dallas.
And therein laid the problem. Zodo had quickly confirmed that Haley’s corpse wasn’t in or near the truck, so they were aware that she was one of the five runners slash hobblers. Furthermore, they also knew by the runners’ lackluster speed that they wouldn’t make it far on foot.
Dallas knew it, too. The Marine had quite obviously come to the conclusion that there were two strategic options available. They could run deeper in the woods and try to escape. However, with Haley and Kettle possessing the peak physical condition of ninety-six-year-old street beggars, the odds of a smooth getaway were close to nil. Alternatively, they could pick a good spot to hunker down and shoot back. To his credit, at least in Saeliko’s opinion, this was Dallas’ choice. It was better to control your defensive tactics than have those tactics forced on you. By taking shelter behind portly boulders and thick tree trunks where the forest butted up against the field, they could take potshots at the oncoming soldiers, who were far more exposed.
That worked for about half a minute. Dallas shot first, pegging a Zodo soldier in the left leg. The impact spun the poor sod around like a ragdoll and dumped him in the grass. “What the shit is that?” Soup mumbled in disbelief a few moments later when the soldier clambered back to his feet and started advancing once more. It was too far away to tell, but it looked as though the bullet hadn’t penetrated the armor covering the man’s leg.
“Let’s try that again,” Dallas said and took careful aim. This time it was harder to tell where the bullet struck him. Saeliko guessed the shot hit right in the middle of the man’s torso, and there was a loud crack in the air to signify the moment of impact, but the soldier only stumbled backward a few steps. It was if he had been pelted by a half-heartedly thrown coconut rather than a high-velocity bullet. More disturbingly, the air shimmered in front of him.
“Force field,” Kettle stated in disgust.
Saeliko’s memories flashed back to the meeting room where she had tried to kick Saris in the face, only to discover the invisible shield with her foot. She was about to remark on her recollection, when a clicking noise in her ear indicated that Dallas had turned on the magic communications tech.
“Toady? Doctor? You there?”
Saeliko only half-listened to the conversation that played out between himself and Eliska. She was more interested in the Zodo soldiers and their strange approach. Soup and Kettle both took shots with their rifles, each of them selecting different targets. The results were similar. One of the soldiers fell on his ass and dropped his weapon after being hit in the upper body, but he lifted himself up and retrieved his weapon a few seconds later. Another soldier got hit in the groin; his only reaction was to bend over in surprise for a breath or two.
“This isn’t fair,” Haley said to no one in particular.
“Okay,” Dallas said, having finished his conversation with Eliska. “We’ve got cavalry coming in about twenty-three minutes. Not sure how useful they’re going to be, but if we can hold out till then, at least they might be able to give us a few more options.”
“Like what?” Kettle asked.
“Not a clue. But I’ll be damned if I know what else to do right now?”
Saeliko knew what to do. She understood Dallas’ problem; he thought like a soldier. Even worse, he thought like a soldier who relied on technology and measured the enemy by the technology they brought to bear. Saeliko, on the other hand, thought like a pirate. And although pirates generally had their own fair share of shortcomings in the art of warfare, they tended to recognize an opportunity when it presented itself.
“Dallas,” she said, drawing the Marine’s attention.
“What?”
She flashed a grin. “They’re idiots.”
“Who?”
She tilted her head toward the Zodo soldiers, who had now covered a good ten percent of the distance across the field. “They are.”
“Could’ve fooled me. Why are they idiots?”
“They parked the Kye-shiv right over there.”
Dallas glanced at the metal beast next to the river, and then fixed his eyes back on the Saffisheen. “Yeah, because they don’t need the bloody Kye-shiv. Look at them, Saeliko. Those bastards can just walk right up to us and hit us on the head with a club.”
Saeliko unhitched the assault rifle from its holster on her back and tossed it to Haley, the only unarmed member of their group. “Dallas, they’re a bunch of inbred ingrates.”
“Huh?”
“Haley, Kettle, Soup. You three stall them for as long you can. Use the grenades, but try to conserve bullets. Remember, you’re not trying to kill them; you’re just trying to fend them off as long as you can.”
“And what do you want me to do?” Dallas asked, and Saeliko noted with satisfaction the level of curiosity in his voice.
“You’re coming with me.”
“Where?”
“To go get that Kye-shiv.”
“Fuck off.” He took aim at another soldier and fired his rifle. Soup and Kettle did the same. Haley was still setting herself up with Saeliko’s weapon. Dallas looked back at her and raised his eyebrow. “Wait. Are you serious?”
“Of course I am. They left the back door open for us.”
“Yeah, but there’s a field of soldiers with force fields in our way. What are you going to do? Are you going to sprout wings and fly over their heads when they’re not looking? Or are you going to strip and walk right up to them buck-naked hoping they’ll go all googly-eyed?”
“Hurry up, jackass. Follow me.”
“Where?” he yelled.
“The river.”
“What the . . . holy shit.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Bugger me.”
“Uh-huh.”
“We run fast through the trees so they can’t see us and then jump in the river.”
“That’s right.”
“Okay, if that actually works, what do we do when we get to the Kye-shiv? What if the pilots have force fields, too? We can’t shoot them.”
“Not sure about you, but I’m going to hit them so hard that their heads bounce off the nearest wall.”
Dallas thought about it for a moment and then said, “Yeah. Let’s do it. Soup, you got all tha
t?”
“Yes I do, brother. But I’m not sure what you’re going to do even if you do secure the Kye-shiv. Last I checked, you don’t know how to operate one of those things.”
“One bridge at a time, Soup. If all else fails, Saeliko and I will raise hell and draw them off in the other direction. That’ll buy you guys some time before Toady shows up.”
Soup and Kettle both fired a few rounds at the advancing soldiers. This time, the return fire started, forcing all five of them to duck their heads behind the rocks and trees. “Okay!” Soup yelled above the racket. “Do it! Go!”
Saeliko checked with Dallas, who reflected her hard look and nodded in agreement. She mouthed the words let’s go and pressed herself low to the ground where she could scramble back into the undergrowth of the forest unseen by the enemy. She didn’t have to look behind to know that Dallas would be close on her tail.
Once she was far enough in the woods to be certain that she could make a dash to the river undetected, she stood up and ran. There was no need for stealth; the gunfire would hide any sounds of them trampling over fallen branches and dry leaves.
They were nearly at the bank when the compressed booms of grenade explosions reverberated through the already disturbed air. She remembered how much power the blast waves carried; on the Skag, a grenade had thrown her sideways through the air and left her breathless in shock and wonder.
Saeliko didn’t hesitate when the river appeared before her. She slid down a rocky slope and straight into the frigid water, glancing back only once to verify that Dallas was still there. The draught was deep but the current gentle, and she found herself paddling and kicking her legs under the water to speed her progress.
The bank wasn’t high, but because the water was deep enough for them to fully submerge themselves close to shore, there was no line of sight between their bobbing heads and the Zodo soldiers in the field. However, the Kye-shiv was a different story. The cockpit of the marvelous piece of Zodo engineering was high above the ground, and if the pilots were still in their seats, there was a chance they’d spot the two would-be surprise attackers.
Saeliko spun around and treaded water until Dallas caught up with her. When his face was only a couple hand lengths away, she said, “How long can you hold your breath?”
“I’m a United States Marine.”
She had heard him say that before. She still didn’t know what the term meant but assumed from the way he used it that it was a boast of ability. “Show me what you got,” she said and flashed a grin one more time before taking a deep breath.
Submerged and pointed in the right direction, she drove herself forward with her arms and legs. The river was murky enough that visibility was almost nonexistent, but that was probably a good thing since prying eyes would have that much more trouble spotting them.
Even under the water, the continuing reports from the rifles and grenades were plainly audible. She took comfort in the sounds; they signified that the Zodos were still preoccupied. She kicked hard and swam straight as an arrow downstream. Her lungs signaled her brain, alerting her that the ache of oxygen-starvation was beginning. She had experienced that ache frequently enough to know she still had plenty of leash to play with before she needed to surface, a fortunate fact given the length of the field next to the river.
She opened her eyes periodically, not to check her surroundings, for the water wasn’t clear enough to afford her that luxury, but rather to verify her depth. The sunlight filtering down into the water served as a gauge, and she was able to keep herself sufficiently below the surface. Pain began to set in. The leash shortened. She knew she’d have to stick her head up soon, but she also guessed that she was very close, thanks in part to the current’s addition to her own progress.
Her guess was confirmed when she noticed a dark object blotting out the sunlight above the water – the Kye-shiv’s outstretched wing. Just in time, she thought to herself and came up for air. She torqued her body and headed as close to the bank as she could, her head emerging from the water without so much as making a ripple. Her hands found purchase among the larger rocks just under the surface by the shore, and she used them to keep herself from floating any further.
A strong hand grabbed her left shoulder, which was still beneath the surface. Saeliko turned to watch Dallas’ head materialize out of the water next to her, and she noted with slight admiration that he appeared unperturbed by the long underwater swim. He really was an impressive specimen as the male species went.
Dallas pulled out the knife from his boot and held it above the water. She approved of this, too. He could have drawn his rifle instead; Saeliko knew these future guns were impervious to water, as improbable as that seemed to her. Nevertheless, blades were a better choice for close-quarters combat.
She unsheathed her scimitar and glanced at him. His face was close to her own, and she could read the emotions written in his eyes. The steady blue irises evoked a calmness under pressure that matched her own, but there was also a measure of uncertainty expressed by the modest narrowing of his eyelids. He didn’t trust her. He didn’t want to trust her. He didn’t like the thought of fighting by her side. She understood his feelings and didn’t blame him for them.
“It’s okay,” she told him in a voice only a fraction above a whisper.
“What’s okay?”
She put her own hand on his shoulder and said, “You don’t have to like me.” She then released his shoulder and lifted herself higher out of the water, getting ready to clamber up the bank toward the rear of the Kye-shiv. “But you and I are on the same side today, Dallas Stalock, so let’s go let these guys know they picked a fight with the wrong crew.”
At the top of the bank, Saeliko took one quick look downfield to see how far the enemy had advanced on Haley, Kettle and Soup. The three of them must have changed positions because the Zodo soldiers were now firing at three different locations in the trees spread far apart. But while the new tactics would ensure that a grenade wouldn’t take out all three at once, it was only delaying the inevitable. The Zodos were still trudging forward.
She turned her attention to the Kye-shiv and eased toward the boarding ramp at the rear hatch. They had exited the river at the rear of the Kye-shiv’s wing, and it didn’t take long for them to edge up to the back entrance.
There were voices inside. Two of them. Saeliko couldn’t hear what they were saying, partly because of the ongoing gunfire on the field, but also because the owners of the voices were deep inside the ship, most likely in the cockpit itself. Dallas was right beside her now, and he whispered, “We go in hard and fast?”
“Hard and fast,” she agreed. “I’ll take the one on the right, you take the one on the left.”
He nodded and held up three fingers. Then two, and one.
They leapt onto the ramp and bolted their way into the Kye-shiv, each running down one aisle separated by the central engine cowling. They could see the two pilots sitting in their chairs watching the action in front of their windshield. Saeliko kept her steps light, as did Dallas.
By the time one of the pilots sensed the danger coming, it was too late. Saeliko didn’t bother using her blade, instead choosing to use her free hand to shove a pilot’s head laterally against the padded sidewall of the cockpit. As soon as she struck him, she knew that he wasn’t equipped with the same shield technology as his comrades on the field. That was going to make things a lot easier.
Dallas had made the same discovery. He wrapped his muscled arm around the pilot’s neck and was dragging him backward into the passenger compartment, the chokehold preventing the surprised pilot from mustering any sort of challenge.
Saeliko caught her pilot’s head on the rebound from the wall and checked to make sure he was still conscious. He was, so she ripped the helmet off his head, grabbed a handful of hair and placed the blade of her scimitar to his neck.
“Move and I cut your throat,” she told him. “Do you understand me?” No answer was immediately forthcoming,
so she pressed the blade deeper into the flesh beneath his chin. “I only need one of you, you know. If you want to keep me from spraying your blood all over this ship, you better start playing nice with me. Do. You. Understand?”
“Y . . . Yes.”
“Good. Close the rear hatch.”
“Sorry?”
She pressed harder. The blade broke skin and caused him to whimper. “Close the hatch.”
“Yes ma’am.” His hand slowly and with no small amount of shaking reached out and flipped a toggle switch. A mechanical sound indicated that the ramp mechanisms had been engaged.
“Good. That was the easy part. Now comes the more challenging part.”
“What do you want?”
“You’ve got some guns and bombs on this lovely vessel.”
“Oh,” the pilot said, understanding what she was going to ask him to do. “No.”
“Yes.”
“I can’t.”
“Relax, Ace. You don’t have to kill them. Just scare them off. Shoot ten meters in front of them. Force them to go hide in a ditch somewhere.”
“I . . . I’m not sure I can . . .”
“Now or never,” Saeliko whispered. “Five, four, three, two . . .”
“Okay! Okay!”
“Do it now!” Saeliko yelled and eased up her blade and grip on his hair so he could activate the Kye-shiv’s weapons. “And no tricks.”
“Oh, God. Okay.” His left hand began tapping commands on a display panel. Saeliko watched the words on the screen and saw the phrase 30-mm gatling. That sounded right.
A targeting hologram appeared in front of the pilot that superimposed a grid over the landscape in front of the Kye-shiv and placed a crosshairs symbol in the middle. The pilot stared at the map and made it zoom in and shift to the right so he could better aim the crosshairs. Saeliko understood he was doing this using the tech implants in his head. “Hurry up,” she told him, aware that the Zodos were still firing at the three people making their stand at the edge of the forest. “Fire!”
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