by Elin Wyn
“Look at the slimy scum,” another sneer followed the first.
Five fanatics surrounded me, cutting off my escape. I fired my blaster at one of them. Nothing happened. I was out of ammunition.
Skrell.
I tore my blade from its sheath. The fanatics laughed in my face.
“Remember when we used to think the aliens were scary?” one chuckled.
I’d been crouching behind some storage crates for the sake of maximizing the element of surprise. Now that I’d been discovered, there was no reason to stay low. I stretched up to my full height. I towered over even the tallest of the fanatics.
Not going to lie, seeing their faces blanch was satisfying.
At my best, I could handle three of them in hand-to-hand combat. Not five. Even if they hadn’t figured it out yet, I knew this wouldn’t end favorably for me.
“Come on,” I snarled. “Who’s brave enough to make the first move!”
Even knowing that they outnumbered and outgunned me, they hesitated.
“Suit yourselves,” I grinned and flipped my blade.
They scattered when I darted forward. I caught one of them in the arm with my blade, though without the serum it was little more than a paper cut.
“Son of a bitch,” he snarled, whirling around to strike me in the chest. I didn’t flinch, but he sure did.
He’d struck my circuits, which was akin to punching a control panel. Thankfully, my augmented tech was sturdier than the average control panel.
I smashed my fist into the side of his head, dazing him. By now, the others realized that they couldn’t just stand there. I knew they’d figure it out sooner or later. I’d been hoping for later.
The one I’d just struck in the head crumpled to the ground. He wasn’t knocked out, just dazed. He’d be back on his feet swinging at me again sooner than I would’ve liked.
One of the fanatics charged me. I blocked him, but quickly realized he was nothing but a distraction so someone else could drive armored knuckles into my side. My ribs didn’t appreciate the assault.
I brought my knee up, driving it into the groin of the man who’d charged me. A low blow, but I couldn’t make myself feel bad.
Suddenly, my comm started squawking. “Heads up, guys!”
Mariella?
She continued for a few seconds, but I couldn’t focus on what she was saying.
Something about rocks? Maybe they’d found more writing.
It would have to wait.
As I fought the five fanatics, I saw glimpses of the fight happening in the center of the camp. Every strike team member I saw was in a similar situation as me. Too many fanatics and not enough weapons.
This wasn’t going to end well.
I hoped Teisha was safely inside the mountain, unaware of how badly things were going down here.
I didn’t hear the rumbling at first. It blended in with the usual din of battle. It was only when it escalated into something like a roar that I paused. The fanatics paused, as well. They heard it, too.
“Shit!” one swore, and immediately ran away. The others quickly followed suit, looking over their shoulders at the looming mountain as they ran.
I looked up the mountain as well.
My jaw dropped.
Rocks.
An avalanche of stones tumbled down the mountain, doubling in speed with every passing second. At the forefront of the rockslide was a boulder large enough to take out an aerial unit.
The fanatics had a good idea for once. I spun around and ran as fast as I could.
“Rockslide,” I shouted as I ran through the fight. “Take cover!”
How did one take cover from a gigantic, speeding boulder?
I grabbed as many of the strike team members as I could and urged them to get out of the enclosed camp. The only downside was, the entrance to the camp was directly in the path of the rockslide.
The first boulder slammed into one of the camp’s storage buildings.
As I ran, a fanatic made a half-assed attempt to trip me. I stumbled, grabbing onto his sleeve for balance. He tripped and fell. I didn’t.
I didn’t look behind me to see if the rockslide had eaten him up. His screams told me the answer.
As soon as I cleared the camp, I veered off toward the tree line.
The border of the camp was enough to stop most of the rockslide. Some mid-sized boulders and slabs were launched over the border and into the tree line, but those were easy to keep clear of.
When the dust settled, the camp was in bad shape. Fanatics stumbled out of their ruined camp, bleeding and bruised.
I wagered we’d destroyed most, if not all, of their supplies and shelter. Hundreds of them gathered beyond the camp fence. They glared at us, their eyes glinting under a thick coating of dust and grime.
I braced myself for the fight to continue. Now that most of them had sustained injuries and lacked weapons, I felt less dire about our odds. The fanatics knew that, as well. They didn’t resume the fight.
My comms unit hissed to life. Someone’s garbled voice came through. I couldn’t make out anything. I shook the unit and tapped the sides, dislodging dust and small pebbles that had gotten caught in its tiny crevasses.
“Oh, skrell, that was good!” came a cheerful, crackling voice.
“Tu’ver?” I blurted. “Is that you?”
“Damn right!” he whooped. I’d never heard him sound so excited.
“You didn’t have something to do with that rockslide, did you?”
“No, but I know who did.” I could practically hear him grinning through the commlink.
“Oh?”
“Mariella!”
“You’re joking,” I laughed. “How do you know?”
“This isn’t the first time she’s done this,” he said proudly.
“What’s your location?” I asked.
“Just get to the nearest outcropping on the mountain and I’ll meet you there,” Tu’ver instructed before disconnecting.
“I’m going to meet up with Tu’ver, then locate the human women,” I announced to whoever was nearby.
I wasn’t in the mood for going through the chain of command. Knowing Mariella had caused that rockslide made me feel better.
Teisha was likely with her, meaning she was out of harm’s way.
For now.
The climb up to the nearest outcropping was easy. Tu’ver was already there, waiting for me and patiently cleaning his sniper rifle.
“That looked rough,” he tutted when he saw me.
“It was,” I replied. “The Gorgos were assisting combat.”
“What?” Tu’ver brow furrowed. “Were the fanatics going mad?”
“No,” I shook my head. “It was like the Gorgos were offering guidance in battle, rather than taking over completely.”
“That’s unsettling,” he frowned. “I’m not sure what to make of that.”
“Me, either,” I shrugged. “Maybe the women have found something helpful in the mountain.”
“Speaking of the mountain, any idea how to get back inside?”
“The archway we came out of is up there.” I pointed straight up. The climb was going to be difficult, especially without any grappling equipment.
“We should’ve thought of this before sliding down the mountain like fools,” Tu’ver sighed.
“We should’ve,” I agreed. “If the women ask, we were definitely smart enough to plan this far ahead.”
Teisha
I surveyed our handiwork with a grin.
“I can’t believe that worked!”
“I just hope our soldiers had the good sense to pay attention to our comms message,” Mariella muttered.
My face went pale.
“You don’t really think any of our guys were buried in the rocks, do you?” I asked.
“No,” she reassured me. “In fact, I doubt many of the enemy jerks were crushed to death, either. My goal was to cause chaos, not a massacre.”
“That makes m
e feel a little better.”
“If someone down there saw the rockslide and decided not to get out of its way, I can’t be held responsible for that,” Mariella shrugged. “That’s just poor decision making on their part.”
“I’m starting to think people have it wrong when they call Leena the scary sister,” I joked.
“You’re right about that.” Mariella winked and flounced back to the archway in the mountainside. “Shall we go check on our men?”
“Yes.” I scrambled over loose rock, careful not to start another slide. “I’d like to verify that both Sa'lok and Tu’ver are smart enough to move out of the way of a rockslide.”
“I feel like that’s a good entry-level requirement for a relationship,” Mariella chuckled.
“I’ll make sure Sa'lok knows what’s expected of him.”
“So, you’ve decided you’re in a relationship with him now?” she prodded.
I sighed heavily as I switched on my flashlight.
“I have more important things to worry about than arbitrary labels to describe the social interactions between Sa'lok and me.”
“Did you mean social or did you mean sexual?” she waggled her eyebrows.
“Were you saving that line for a special occasion?” I quipped.
“Nope. I made it up on the spot. You’re welcome.”
“My point is, I’m not labeling anything until we’re off this damn mountain of mystery,” I said with a decisive nod.
“That’s fair. Do you have anything to mark the walls with?”
“What for?” I asked.
“I don’t want to explore the same length of the tunnel over and over again. If we mark the wall, we’ll know we’ve been here and that we should choose another path when we come back through.”
“Smart,” I nodded. “But no, I don’t have anything. If you have a knife, we can use blood.”
“Goodness me,” Mariella wrinkled her nose. “I’m not that desperate to mark up a wall.”
“Well, excuse me!” I chuckled. “I was trying to be helpful.”
“Helpful? More like creepy,” Mariella laughed.
We chit-chatted back and forth as we made our way to the lower part of the mountain. It wasn’t long before we heard the rumbling sounds of deep, familiar male voices in the tunnel ahead.
“Sa'lok?” I called out.
“It’s the ghost of Sa'lok,” Sa'lok called back.
“Damn,” I swore. “I was really hoping that rockslide would’ve taken you out for good.”
He appeared in the beam of my flashlight, grinning from ear to ear.
“You’ll have to try harder than that to get rid of me.”
Acting on my new resolution not to feel weird about expressing affection for Sa'lok, I ran up to him and threw my arms around his neck. His muscular arms slid around my waist as he pulled me in close.
“Did you discover anything new while I was gone?” he asked once we broke apart.
“No, but we’re about to go explore the tunnels we haven’t covered yet.”
“How will you tell the difference?” he asked. “Did you mark them in blood or something?”
“Funny! Leaving a blood trail was my first thought too, but Mariella was having none of it.”
“You’re both creepy!” Mariella shouted from further up the tunnel, where she was checking Tu’ver over for injury.
“Thank you,” Sa'lok called back. “I’ve worked hard to become so.”
Mariella looked like she wanted to say something back, but before she could get any words out, the ground beneath our feet began to tremble.
“Is that another rock slide?” I shouted.
“I don’t think so,” Tu’ver replied. “It feels like it’s coming from inside the mountain, not on top of it.”
“Shit,” I swore. “It could be a cave-in.”
“Stay close,” Sa'lok urged.
He tucked me under his arm and took a step toward Mariella and Tu’ver.
A slab of rock shot straight up through the floor of the tunnel. The last thing I saw before it completely closed us off was Mariella’s pale, frightened face.
“What the hell?” I coughed when the dust settled.
“Did that rock rise through the floor?” Sa'lok sputtered. “You saw that, right?”
“I did.” I placed my palm flat against the slab that now separated us from Mariella and Tu’ver. Part of me expected my hand to go right through it as if it was nothing more than a trick of light and shadow.
“Sa'lok, come in!” Sa'lok’s comms unit crackled.
“Tu’ver, do you read me?”
“Yes. Are you all right?”
“We’re not injured, just confused,” Sa'lok replied. “What about you?”
“We’re fine. We think our end of the path leads out of the mountain. We’ll head out and regroup. The strike teams are still in the area.”
“Copy that. We’ll find a way out and join you when we can.”
The comms unit clicked off.
“You have a real knack for getting trapped in caves, don’t you?” I joked in an attempt to hide the fear that was slowly taking hold.
“We all have our unusual talents,” Sa'lok smirked.
He reached out for me in the darkness. This time, I didn’t feel at all strange about seeking comfort with him. He wrapped me in his arms, his chin resting gently on the top of my head.
“At least we’ll have a chance to explore,” I said.
“Exactly. Who knows? Maybe we’ll solve the mystery of this place on our way to finding a way out.”
“If only,” I sighed wistfully. I wasn’t a fan of being inside the mountain before, but I could bear it, knowing I had some idea of where the exits were. Now, that wasn’t the case. With each step, I felt my heart rate increasing.
“Your pulse doesn’t feel normal,” Sa'lok frowned.
“Oh,” I laughed awkwardly. “I was really hoping you wouldn’t notice that.”
“Are you well? Human hearts can only beat so fast for so long,” he said. “I don’t want your heart to pop.”
I held back a laugh.
“Pop?” I asked, fighting a smile.
“I heard that human hearts can explode when they’re put under too much strain.”
My sides started aching with the effort it took to stop myself from laughing. I couldn’t laugh at Sa'lok, not when he was looking at me with such earnest concern.
“No,” I said, though my voice came out high and tight.
“Why are you talking like that?” he asked. “Is your heart okay?”
“Where did you learn that human hearts pop?” I squeaked.
“I’ve heard humans say so many times,” he said. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Like what?” I asked.
“Like you’re underwater and running out of oxygen.”
I couldn’t hold my laughter back any longer.
“I’m sorry,” I cackled as I gasped for breath. “That was just too damn funny.”
“I don’t understand.” Sa'lok still looked so concerned which, of course, only made me laugh harder. “Is excessive laughter a sign of a deeper heart problem?”
“There’s nothing wrong with my heart.” I placed my hands on his shoulders reassuringly.
“Why are you crying?”
I pulled one hand away from him and touched my cheek. Sure enough, I found tears.
“I’m just laughing too hard,” I explained. “You’ve never seen a human laugh so hard they cry?”
“Humans do that?”
He looked so concerned. I felt terrible as another round of laughter took me.
“Yes, humans do that,” I said when I caught my breath. “Human hearts don’t explode, either. It’s an expression we use for a lot of things. I once saw a puppy so cute I thought my heart would explode. See?”
“Not really,” he shook his head. “Did your pulse also climb to an unsettling rate when you saw said puppy?”
“Probably n
ot,” I admitted. “My pulse is so high now because I’m afraid.”
“Yet you’re laughing?”
“Humans go completely haywire when we’re scared enough,” I said. “You should’ve noticed that by now.”
“You needn’t be scared,” he assured me.
“I’m lucky your circuits glow the way they do. I’d be way more scared without that light.”
“But you have a light of your own,” he pointed out.
“I know,” I shrugged. “But, for some reason, the glow of your circuits makes me feel better. Safer.”
“Glad I could help,” he smiled in the dark and held out his hand for me. I took it.
“So, hearts don’t explode?” he asked once we were walking again.
“No,” I laughed softly. “But it can feel like they’re going to.”
“Humans have odd bodies,” Sa'lok said thoughtfully.
“Should I take offense to that?” I snorted.
“No!” He whirled to face me, looking frantic. “Your body is amazing. I adore your body. There’s nothing odd about it.”
“Watching you panic is fun,” I grinned.
His frantic looked faded the moment he realized I was teasing him.
“You’re cruel,” he smirked.
“Maybe,” I shrugged. “But the more I tease you, the less worried I am about being trapped in a mountain temple for all of eternity.”
“Is it a temple?” He tilted his head to one side.
“I’m not sure,” I admitted. “I haven’t found anything to indicate what this place was used for.”
“Tu’ver thought it might be residential,” he offered. “Simply because it looks nothing like the other sites.”
“His guess is as good as mine at this point,” I sighed.
“While we’re stuck in here, we might as well look for clues,” Sa'lok offered. “If anything, it’ll help keep your mind busy.”
“Good idea,” I said, my eyes lingering on a wall of unreadable text. I wished I knew what it said.
I also wished there was something to be done about the growing buzzing sensation in my head.
Because the deeper we went, the louder it became.
Sa'lok
I kept an eye on her as we walked.
We trudged through the darkness slowly, careful not to step on loose rocks, and went further into the mountain.