From the winged helmet and red-gold scaled armor, Elizabeth recognized her as one of the dark-elf mages that had attacked them at the paintball range. She held a long, gleaming curved sword and put the tip of the weapon under Elizabeth's chin, using it to force Elizabeth's head up. Then she spoke in her odd alien language, but the words had no meaning to Elizabeth. The contempt in them, however, came through very clear. This was Horlastia, she knew with absolute certainty, Tlathia's younger sister. "Go … to hell," Elizabeth snarled.
The sword flicked away, leaving a streak of pain that burned through Elizabeth's chin. Several drops of blood dripped from the weapon's tip.
Elizabeth tried to channel lightning through the Brace, but just then, she realized she no longer wore it. Before she could do anything, Horlastia dropped upon Elizabeth, ramming her knee into her solar plexus, sending staggering pain coursing through her and stealing her breath. Helpless, she could do nothing as Horlastia calmly set her sword aside before probing Elizabeth's pockets, searching her. The woman laughed in joy, her face beaming, as her fingers closed over the Shatkur Orb in the cargo pocket of Elizabeth's pants. She drew the orb free, her white teeth gleaming against her dark skin, and spoke once more to Elizabeth in a tone that was almost friendly.
"Screw… you," Elizabeth gasped, certain she was about to die.
But instead, Horlastia slipped the orb into a pouch on her belt then reached forward and pulled the dwarven crown from Elizabeth, staring at it, her eyes shining with excitement. She said something else to Elizabeth, but Elizabeth spit blood at her, missing her face but hitting her golden armor, the bloody spittle running over the scales. The dark elf reached for her sword, her eyes filled with rage.
The sword flew away from her before spinning about on its own, its tip pointing at Horlastia's own face. She stumbled back, knocking the sword tip away with the crown, but the sword came again, as if wielded by an invisible opponent, once more darting at Horlastia's face. The dwarven crown clattered to the surface of the bridge as the dark elf woman cried out, scrambling away with blood dripping from her fingers.
Then Cassie and Leela, each leaning on the other, staggered through the smoke, advancing on Horlastia. Blood dripped down the side of Leela's face, and her eyes were unfocused, as if she was barely lucid, but cold determination filled Cassie's eyes. She channeled, levitating the sword once more and sending it hurtling at Horlastia with lethal force. But at the last moment, a magical red disc appeared before the dark elf, and the sword blade shattered against it.
From behind her shield, Horlastia cast another spell at the two women. Magical flames washed over the invisible dome Leela had just put in place.
Cassie cast lightning at the dark elf, but without the Brace, her offensive spells were weak, and the bolt disintegrated in sparks when it struck the red disc.
The wyvern shrieked in rage and shot forward through the smoke, smashing into Cassie and Leela and beating them down with its wings. The beast lifted its head back, its rows of jagged teeth ready to rip into the two women.
"Hey!" a man yelled, and the beast hesitated, its head twisting about.
One of the Recce Squadron soldiers, a young man, rushed forward, brandishing a burning piece of metal. He waved it at the wyvern, and the beast, likely more surprised than threatened, stumbled back. Elizabeth stared at the young man. I … know him. But—
An earsplitting burst of machine-gun fire hammered into the wyvern, punching massive fist-sized holes in its torso. The wyvern fell back, its wings still beating as it slammed into the surface of the bridge.
Alex dropped down from the FOO LAV, holding the crew commander's C6 against his hip, a belt of linked 7.62mm ammunition wrapped around one arm. As the young Recce Squadron soldier dragged Cassie and Leela out of harm's way, Alex turned on Horlastia, firing a long burst of machine-gun fire at her, but the bullets disappeared against her magical disc. Huck joined Alex, firing her pistol. The two soldiers advanced on the dark elf.
Horlastia cast air, bowling Alex and Huck over. Elizabeth rose to help but fell, her vision once more going dark. She must have passed out again, because when she opened her eyes again, Horlastia stood before a fiery gateway. "No!" she moaned, reaching out and grasping at the woman's boots. Horlastia stepped through the fiery ring, and the gateway winked out of existence, leaving behind a ring of black smoke.
Elizabeth lay on her back, listening to the wind screeching—no, the wind is beating.
As she slipped away, she saw a massive shape descend toward her.
PART V
COUNTER-ATTACK
43
Elizabeth woke to a pleasant but frightening sensation of heat coursing over and through her, similar to waking up in a hot bath. Her eyes snapped open to see Cassie's face peering at her. On her left hand, Cassie once again wore her Brace, which she was using to heal Elizabeth. The mana stopped abruptly, and Cassie sat back, watching Elizabeth through big blue eyes now red with fatigue. "How do you feel?"
"Better than you look," she said, sitting up.
And it was true—she felt remarkably well.
She was in a bed—no, not a bed—a hospital cot, covered to her waist by a sheet. Someone had clipped a heart rate monitor to her finger and taped a half dozen or so sensors to her chest as well as inserted an intravenous tube into the back of her hand. The tube ran to a half-full saline bag hanging on a stand beside the cot. How badly was I hurt? She pulled the sheets down to make sure her legs were still there.
Everything seemed to be in place.
Unlike Cassie, who still wore the same rank-smelling combat clothing, she now wore a hospital gown, the kind that tied in the back. Looking about, she saw that the cot sat in a large canvas chamber—a huge green tent—lit by overhead fluorescent tubes and filled with other cots and hospital equipment. A half dozen other patients, all lying on similar cots, were crammed into the tight space.
She stared at Cassie. "Where are we?"
"We're in the 1 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group Main Defensive Area, which everyone now just refers to as the MDA—as if it were always here. We're south of the Kiskatinaw River and the new Alien Quarantine Zone, which is called … wait for it ... the AQZ. The army loves its TLAs."
"Huh? What?"
Cassie giggled. "Three-letter acronyms, honey."
Elizabeth reached out and grabbed Cassie's wrist and hung onto it, peering intently into her face. "Cassie, are you okay? You're slurring your words."
"I'm fine. I slept for a couple of hours, until … well … best you hear that for yourself."
"Hear what?"
"Later. For now, just know that no one's allowed north of the river—under orders of the UN Security Council and the Canadian government. Can you stand?"
"I…" She swung her legs over the side of the cot and kept her grip on Cassie's hand as she stood up. She swayed for a moment but then recovered her balance, feeling no worse than if she had slept for a day or two. "Other than a bit of a headache, I'm fine, which I guess I have you to thank for—again. What happened? The last thing I remember is a loud noise."
"Helicopter," answered Cassie. "They landed a huge-ass helicopter near the bridge and medevac'd you. The rest of us are on sort of an honor system where we police ourselves."
Cassie picked up a clipboard sitting at the far end of the bed and scanned it, her lips moving as she read. "Seems your skull was fractured—one very long crack—and you had… severe cerebral edema—brain swelling." Cassie flashed a smile, her big blue eyes filled with amusement. "I could have told them that."
"I … what?" Elizabeth's fingers flew to her head, but she felt fine.
"It's okay. I fixed it for you. Hopefully, I didn't scramble anything along the way. You might not be a straight-A student anymore."
Elizabeth sighed. "I think we're both done with school."
"I also healed that nasty dueling gash you had on your chin. Even on you, that scar would have been too much." Cassie took her hand and gently extracted the IV n
eedle. She then channeled for a moment, healing Elizabeth's hand. While she was doing this, Elizabeth watched the other patients in the tent, watching her and Cassie. All were young men, some badly burned.
"Hey, Gunz," one of the young men whispered, his voice raw, the bandages on his face turning yellow and pink. "Glad to see you made it."
These are Recce Squadron soldiers!
She stared at Cassie. "What's going on?" Then she remembered what had happened—the dragon, Horlastia and her wyvern, and—oh shit! "The orb! That elf bitch has the orb."
The heart rate monitor began to beep faster. Cassie reached out and gripped Elizabeth's arms and held her in place. "Calm down. The medical staff doesn't know about magic. They're overwhelmed right now with the others from Recce Squadron, but if they come in to check on you, they'll throw me out—and we need you, Elizabeth. It's important."
There was fear in Cassie's eyes, and Elizabeth breathed deeply, focusing on calm. The beeping slowed and settled as her heartbeat and blood pressure normalized once again.
"Hang on," said Cassie, peering at the monitoring equipment. "I want to shut this down before I remove the sensors. Otherwise, it might alarm at the nurses' station." Cassie glanced over her shoulder.
Elizabeth followed her gaze to a canvas tunnel that must lead to another tent area and this nursing station. How big is this field hospital?
"Ah, here we go—remote display off." She glanced at the heart rate monitor as well as the sensors taped to Elizabeth's chest. "You can take those off now… I hope."
"How long was I out?" Elizabeth pulled the sensors from her chest and removed the heart rate monitor. Nothing happened.
"About six hours. It's not yet noon on the twenty-fifth of August."
"The dark elves?"
"Stopped. In fact, they've actually pulled back to Fort St. John entirely. The army seems to think it's a good thing. They believe it's because of the MDA, which has now given the government a chance to 'deescalate the confrontation and facilitate dialogue.'" She sighed, shaking her head. "They won't listen to us."
"Who won't listen to you?"
"Anyone in charge." Cassie slipped the Brace into the pocket of her combat pants. She faced the tunnel leading from the tent chamber. "Lee," she whispered, hissing between her teeth.
A second later, the same good-looking young man who had scared the wyvern away from Cassie and Leela popped his head past the tunnel opening, making eye contact with Cassie as she held up three fingers. He nodded before disappearing again. "Get dressed, fast," Cassie said, bending over and lifting a duffel bag from the floor and placing it on the cot. "You've got less than three minutes."
"Where do I know that guy from?"
"Lee Costner. He went to high school with us in Fort St. John."
That's it. He was captain of the hockey team. "What's he doing here?"
"Creating a diversion. Hurry up!"
Elizabeth dumped the contents of the duffel bag on the cot: combat clothing and a pair of white running shoes. She began to dress, and Cassie turned to face the other patients. "Dudes, how about a bit of privacy? Don't be pervs. Close your eyes."
As the young men rolled away or shut their eyes, Elizabeth pulled the gown away and quickly pulled on the clothing. She sat on the edge of the cot, tying the shoelaces. "I meant, what's Lee Costner from Fort St. John doing here?"
"He's from Hudson's Hope, actually, same as me, and I know what you meant. Turns out he's in Recce Squadron. I knew he was joining the army, but what are the odds he'd end up in the same unit sent to save us? Now, he and his buddies won't shut up about how 'Gunz saved their lives' … makes me a bit ill, actually, seeing as how Leela and I were there as well. You done?"
"Done," she said, jumping up. The pants and shirt were too big for her, but a belt fixed that problem, and she rolled up her sleeves. She'd never pass for a real soldier, but from a distance…
They heard a young man—Lee—begin crying out in a panicked yell about "aliens" coming to eat his brains. Then they heard equipment fall over with a resounding crash and the sound of breaking glass.
"Lee," said Cassie with a smile. "Not bad for the third wise man in the grade-three Christmas play."
Other voices began yelling, and they heard pounding footsteps moving in the direction of the ruckus.
Cassie grabbed Elizabeth's wrist and yanked her along. "Come on."
The tunnel led to another large tent chamber filled with cots, medical supplies, and a desk covered with computer equipment. Two other tunnels led from this second chamber, and they saw a quick glimpse of Lee wrestling with five or six medical orderlies at the far end of one of the tunnels. No one remained in this chamber other than five more patients, all young men from Recce Squadron who watched the two women in surprise. Cassie pulled Elizabeth toward the opposite tunnel, but at the sound of pounding boot steps, the two women threw themselves up against the tent wall near the tunnel opening. Cassie raised a finger to her lips as she met the eyes of the other patients. "Shh."
Two men in green medical scrubs burst from the tunnel and rushed away to help the others secure Lee. Cassie pulled Elizabeth along with her as they ran down the tunnel the orderlies had just come from, leaving the sound of the ruckus behind them. Cassie led her through a mazelike series of tent chambers and tunnels until they came to a set of closed canvas doors. Cassie looked behind them, making sure they were alone, then slid the zipper on the doors down, exposing a dark chamber. She pulled Elizabeth into the darkness with her then pulled the zipper back up once more.
The first thing Elizabeth noticed was the chill in the air. This room was refrigerated. Then she noticed the smell of chemicals and … death. Her stomach roiled with realization. This is a morgue.
When her eyes adjusted to the dim light, she saw the long rows of body-shaped bags lying tightly wedged one against the other that lined most of the floor.
Cassie slowly edged past the body bags, pulling Elizabeth with her to the far end of the morgue. She placed her mouth against the canvas and whispered, "Huck? It's us."
At first, nothing happened. A moment later, the blade of a knife stabbed through the canvas about six inches away from Cassie's face. Cassie jerked back. "Goddamn it, Huck! Be careful."
"Sorry," the FOO answered from the other side of the canvas. The knife slid down, cutting a three-foot slash through which daylight poured. Huck and Sharon Chan, the Task Force Devil helicopter pilot they had rescued, waited just outside. Sharon, obviously on guard, watched their rear. Huck waved her hand at them. "Come on. Hurry."
Elizabeth followed Cassie through the gash, and forcing themselves to walk at a brisk pace rather than run, the four women stalked away from the field hospital. From the outside, it looked like a collection of dozens of tents all connected by canvas tunnels. Generators sat nearby, humming as they ran, with electrical cables and heating pipes running into the canvas walls. The smell of diesel and gasoline fumes hung in the air. It was, she imagined, what a circus complex must look like from outside—except for the layers of green camouflage netting propped up by wooden posts so that it hung over the tents.
They nonchalantly passed dozens of other soldiers, some carrying supplies, some erecting barricades or filling sandbags, and some erecting HESCO bastions—the collapsible wire mesh containers filled with stones or dirt that provided protection against shrapnel. The HESCO bastions ran in a protective wall all the way around the field hospital. The soldiers were in full "battle rattle," wearing load-bearing vests, body armor, and helmets, their assault rifles hanging from carrying straps. Elizabeth felt eyes on her and the other women and noticed most of the men were watching them. She cast a worried glance at the other women. "Uh, guys?"
"Ignore them," Huck said. "It's like construction workers. Their mothers never taught them any better. Besides, this close to the field hospital, they'll assume we're nurses or doctors. This is the one place in the entire MDA where there actually are a lot of female soldiers."
"So where are we
going?" Elizabeth asked.
"Got someone you need to listen to," said Cassie. "Like I said earlier, it's best you hear it for yourself."
They moved away from the field hospital, but the bustle of activity and construction continued. It was like walking into a small town of military tents and HESCO bastions, looking like a fortified town. Stockpiles of military and construction equipment sat everywhere, with soldiers bustling about like ants. Diesel fumes filled the air, accompanied by the steady rumble of large engines. Forklifts and massive dark-green cargo trucks crept along, led by soldiers on foot. Farther away, green army tractors shoved mounds of dirt into walls. Clearly, the army was planning on staying put.
"The others are just up ahead," said Sharon, now glancing about warily.
For the first time, Elizabeth noticed none of the women was armed, not even Huck.
Sharon and Huck led them to a large tent complex with long rows of dozens, maybe hundreds, of identical tents, each about twenty feet long and surrounded by individual rings of HESCO barricades. Most of the barricades were still empty, clearly having only just recently been set up, but in time, they'd all be filled with dirt and stones. Elizabeth turned about in wonder. "Just how big is this… MDA?"
"You're only in part of it," said Huck. "This is the main logistics camp. It's about a kilometer square and contains the brigade group headquarters, the airfield, the main logistics depot, and the field hospital. There are six other camps set up along the river, housing the front-line combat units, including my artillery regiment. And that's just the military camps. There are other civilian camps farther back housing the refugees. The province and the UN are overseeing those, but the refugee camps are still pretty basic, with little more than food, water, and overhead protection. There are close to fifty thousand civilians, I'm told. I'm amazed we have the tents, to be honest."
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