Beyond the door was another room. This one had a medical exam table in the middle of the room with a gurney sitting beside it. Beyond the table, against the far wall, was a counter, on top of which sat an array of equipment. The equipment and the room looked familiar and she knew exactly where she'd seen it before; this was the same setup as in the lab at the Harvesters' main processing building where she and Nicoli had found the computer.
This was life essence transfer equipment!
She had to tell Nicoli. She turned to leave and in doing so, noticed that her shoes had tracked in dirt. Unlike the other footprints which led only to the pallet of equipment and back out, hers trailed about the room. There was no reason for the Harvesters to suspect anyone other than one of their own made the prints, so she didn't give them more than a passing worry as she hurried from the room. She headed directly back to the door through which she'd entered, but upon reaching it, she hesitated before opening it.
What if the shuttle had returned?
She spared a glance at the nearest window, thinking maybe she could look through it to check, but it was too high up. Feeling the weight of time running out pressing upon her, she decided to take her chances and opened the door.
She was in luck. There was no shuttle.
Hurrying outside, she crossed the open area to the escarpment where she began climbing. She ignored the scratches and scrapes as she groped for handholds to support herself while her feet fumbled for toeholds. She felt certain that Nicoli and her grandfather would have returned to the ship by now and noticed her absence. The sooner she returned and told them what she'd found, the sooner they could return.
The climb back up seemed interminable and several times, Angel found herself leaning precariously to the side in search of a hand or foot hold. By the time she reached the top and dragged herself over the top onto level ground, she was breathing hard and the palms of her hands and her knees were scratched and bleeding.
She only gave herself a minute to recover before she was on her feet; then suddenly she realized she wasn't sure in what direction to head. Worse still, when she'd set out from the ship, she'd had the dying light of the two suns to light her way. Now the suns had set and each step away from the ravine carried her further into the dark abyss of night.
The memory of hiding in a small closet rose up sharply, along with the bitter taste of fear.
I am not that little girl anymore.
The knowledge did little to soothe her.
Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and thought back to the route she'd taken after leaving the ship. She'd cut straight across the open fields until she'd reached the ravine. When she'd looked down, the warehouse had been slightly to her right. Since she had just climbed up directly in front of the warehouse, it stood to reason that she had only to head off to her left to be on the correct path back.
She opened her eyes and the darkness seemed less oppressive, so she headed off to the left. She'd only taken four or five steps when, on the next step, she went to put her foot down and there was no ground. As her foot dropped into the crevice, her momentum carried her forward and she fell, hitting the ground hard and twisting her ankle.
Pain lanced up her leg and prickled the palms of her hands where she had scraped them. Perched at an awkward angle, she realized that her foot was stuck in the crevice. Gritting her teeth, she used her hands to push herself into a standing position and tried to pull her foot free. It wouldn’t budge.
She threw her hands up in the air in a gesture of helpless frustration.
Could things get any worse?
She should have known they could.
Off in the far distance came the sound of a ship. If it was the cargo shuttle returning, they would use the ship’s perimeter lighting to help them land in the valley beyond the escarpment and she was standing too close to the edge for them not to see her.
With renewed vigor, she pulled at her foot, trying to free it. She bent over and clawed at the rocks, ignoring the way the hard dirt and rocks tore her skin.
Suddenly, a beam of light hit her with an intensity that blinded her. Instinctively, she threw her arms up to shield her face and realized with a sick feeling that she'd been spotted.
Chapter 25
The beam of light bobbed but otherwise remained fixed on her so she couldn't see beyond it to the ship. She silently chastised herself for not being more alert. She never even heard it land.
Then she heard the crunch of gravel beneath booted feet and felt an icy cold dread course through her. What would they do to her? Kill her on the spot? Turn her into a donor?
She could try to fight them off, but with her foot stuck, the fight was lost before it'd even begun.
“Good God, woman. You’ll be the death of me yet.”
Angel’s knees almost buckled in her relief. “Nicoli?”
“What are doing out here?" He asked, nothing more than a disembodied voice.
“Not much, she replied, voice filled with sarcasm. "My foot’s stuck in these rocks.”
She heard Nicoli’s sigh. It sounded closer but she still couldn’t see him. It didn’t help that he was dressed in dark clothes. “Let me take a look.”
“No. Don’t turn on a light. They'll see.” Angel looked up to scan the horizon.
"Who'll see?"
"Listen. Do you hear that ship? It's transporting medical equipment to a warehouse at the bottom of a ravine not far from here. Nicoli - I found the Harvester's transfer facility. We don't want to be standing here when it flies overhead."
“Did it mean nothing to you that I ordered you to stay on the ship?"
"Did you hear what I said?" she countered. "Harvesters. Here."
"I know," he said, kneeling before her and sliding his hands down her calf to her ankle, exploring first one leg and then the other, until he determined by touch which foot was stuck. Despite the gravity of their situation, she thrilled at the warm roughness of his hands. "The entire village is made up of reborn Harvesters."
"We have to do something."
"We will, as soon as I figure out how to free your foot."
Nicoli’s hands left her foot to explore the surrounding rock, leaving her to feel bereft and cold. In the silence, the sound of the approaching aircraft grew louder.
“Is there any place to hide around here?” Nicoli’s voice sounded strained and she felt his hands working feverishly to dislodge rocks from around her foot.
“There’s an escarpment about five meters behind me and a line of trees about fifty meters to the left. Not much else.”
“How steep is the descent on that escarpment?”
“Steep enough, especially in the dark.” She glanced up once more to check on the ship’s progress. “Hurry, Nicoli!” The ship’s lights were visible now. It wouldn’t be long before it was directly overhead and she and Nicoli made easy targets.
A quick, painful, tug on her foot and it came free.
“Come on.” He grabbed her arm and started leading her back to the ravine. The moment she put weight on her injured foot, intense pain shot through her ankle and it refused to hold her weight. She stumbled and only Nicoli’s grip on her arm kept her from falling.
Draping her arm around his neck, Nicoli held her by the wrist to keep the arm from slipping and then wrapped his other arm around her waist. In this way, he shouldered most of her weight and they moved with surprising speed toward the escarpment.
Reaching the edge, they stopped. The lights from the warehouse were visible below but their illumination didn’t reach all the way up the escarpment. The top few meters were treacherously hidden in shadow.
Nicoli released Angel's wrist to grab his searchlight which he directed downward. He flipped it on and then almost immediately off. How he saw anything in those few moments, Angel had no idea, but they were out of time.
The drone of the ship’s engines was loud enough that Angel didn’t need to turn around and look for the ship’s lights to know how close it was, but she co
uldn't help herself. The ship’s landing lights cut a serpentine path across the surface of the field with each sweep of light just a little closer than the last.
Then suddenly, Angel was pulled off balance, over the edge of the cliff. Her scream was cut short as she somehow landed on her feet with Nicoli’s body pressing her into the face of the cliff. A gust of wind buffeted them as the ship roared past them.
Unable to look away, Angel watched the ship descend. The canons on such a shuttle were intended for use on other ships and the crew must have known better than to discharge them in the tight confines of the ravine. That didn't mean the crew wouldn't pull other weapons to use on them as soon as they landed.
The ship continued past them, the heat of its thrusters blasting them like a desert storm. Angel held on, her face buried in Nicoli's shoulder to protect it from flying debris. She could just catch the smell of the soap he'd used that morning and she inhaled deeply, letting the scent soothe her. She found herself thinking she could stay like this forever.
Then the ship descended past them, further down into the ravine and Nicoli eased himself back from her, letting the cooler night air between them.
"Are you okay?" she asked him in a hushed voice. He may have protected her from the flying debris, but he'd had nothing to protect himself.
"No permanent damage," he assured her, his attention on what was happening below.
The ship’s hatch opened, spilling more light into the basin. Two men emerged guiding an anti-gravity pallet bearing items. It was impossible from this distance to tell if they were the same men Angel had observed earlier that evening or even what they were carrying. It didn't matter though since she'd already been inside once.
“You shouldn’t have gone in there without me.” Nicoli’s whisper brushed warmly against her ear. His tone clearly suggested that he did not approve of her actions. “What if they'd caught you?”
“They didn't, ok? And you're with me now. What are we going to do?” When he didn't respond immediately, she went on. "Do you have any explosives on your ship? We could wait until the ship leaves and then blow up the facility – destroy all the equipment. My grandfather will send warriors to deal with the villagers."
Nicoli only nodded, his eyes still watching the activities below.
“What’s the matter?”
He glanced at her in surprise, then shook his head. “It's something I saw in the village. I'll tell you about it later. For now, though, you're right. We need to do something about that facility - and an explosion might be what we need to flush out the Harvester leader and force him to expose himself."
Nicoli’s voice drifted off as he fell into thought, leaving Angel to focus on her ankle, which throbbed painfully. Afraid to move, lest they draw attention to themselves, they remained where they were and watched until the men below finished unloading the ship.
Closing the shuttle doors, they carried their last load into the warehouse. A few minutes later, the lights blinked out inside the warehouse. The shuttle's landing lights still provided enough illumination that Angel could see when the two men exited the warehouse and returned to their ship.
“I guess they’re not coming back tonight,” Angel observed.
As the ship lifted off, Nicoli once again pressed himself against Angel, blocking her from the buffeting heat and debris. They remained in that position until the ship cleared the ravine and the sound of the ship's engines faded into the night.
“Wait here.” Nicoli’s words seemed unusually loud in the sudden stillness.
“What are you going to do?”
“Shake things up.” He flipped on the searchlight and started down the escarpment. "This won't take long."
Angel’s foot and ankle hurt too much to protest, so she eased herself into a sitting position and resigned herself to wait. With each step down the steep embankment, Nicoli took the light further away. When he reached the bottom, Angel saw him walk to the building and try the door. It opened and he disappeared inside. As the door fell shut, the night enveloped her.
Once or twice while she waited, Angel pressed her fingers against her ankle in an attempt to relieve the pain. Each time she did, her ankle seemed more swollen, leaving her to dread the long walk back to the Icarus. The only thing she looked forward to less than that walk was the lecture she was sure to get from Nicoli for disobeying his orders.
It seemed a long time before she heard the sound of the warehouse door opening. Then Nicoli flipped on the searchlight and quickly climbed up the escarpment to where she sat.
“Time to go.” He offered her a hand up, for which she was grateful because she wasn't sure she could've stood without help. Her foot was killing her and she groaned out loud when she tried to put her weight on it.
“Can you walk?” Nicoli asked, shining his light on her ankle which was now swollen to twice its normal size.
“I’ll try.”
“Come on. I’ll help you.” Handing her the searchlight, he once again draped her free arm around his shoulders, put an arm around her waist and started up the escarpment. Nicoli moved quickly as he maneuvered them upward and by the time they reached the top, despite the cool breeze blowing, he and Angel were both sweating.
“Can we rest a minute?” Angel asked, trying to catch her breath. She knew Nicoli heard her, but he didn't stop. He kept them walking across the rocky surface, away from the ravine. Angel did her best to keep up, but the pain was becoming excruciating.
“I can’t go on, Nicoli. I’m so sorry, but I have to rest.”
“There’s no time, Angel.” His tone was affectionate but urgent. “We have to get further away.”
“Why? I don’t think the shuttle is planning to return tonight.”
“No time to explain.” Nicoli swept her up into his arms and strode across the field as she clung to him.
They left the rocky terrain around the escarpment and reached the grassy field.
When the explosion came, it shook the mountain. Nicoli fell to the grass and covered Angel with his body. Rocks and debris fell like a small meteor shower.
Nicoli remained on top of Angel for several minutes until the sound of falling debris subsided. Then he pushed himself up and off to one side so he wasn't crushing her.
“Are you all right?” His tone was tender as was the gaze he used to study her face. The brush of his finger against her cheek was as light and airy as the butterflies it evoked deep inside her.
"I'm...I'm fine," she assured him. "What...how'd you do that?"
He smiled. "What? You think you're the only one who knows how to blow shit up?"
* * * * *
“I heard an explosion.”
Nicoli ignored the High Counsel, pushing past the man in order to carry Angel to his cabin. He set her down on the edge of the bed and bent to remove her shoe. Even though he’d carried her most of the way, he worried that the walk back had done serious damage to her ankle. He undid the fastener, but couldn’t remove the shoe because of the swelling. Crossing to his desk, he opened the drawer and took out a knife.
“I’ll have to cut it off,” he said, coming back to stand before Angel.
She looked up at him, her eyes wide. “My foot?”
He smiled. “The shoe.”
“Oh. All right.”
Nicoli knelt before her and propped her foot on his knee to give him better access to the shoe. “Once the shoe is off, your foot will probably swell even more. When we get back to the palace, I’ll have Yanur look at it.”
“We have a palace physician.” The High Counsel spoke from the open doorway. “He will see to my granddaughter’s injury.”
“No.” Nicoli didn’t trust the palace physician.
“Nicoli, we need to get out of here before someone comes to investigate.” Angel sounded tired.
“I’ll see to this first.” He inserted the tip of the knife into the side of her shoe and applied pressure outward, neatly slicing through the side. He did the same on the other side and then sli
ced the top of the shoe open. Slowly he peeled it from her foot and tossed it in the corner.
“Okay. Shoe’s off. I’ll be okay, just get us out of here.” Angel reached out to touch his hand as he stood next to her. He didn’t want to leave her alone and it wasn’t solely because of her injury. He didn’t like leaving her with her grandfather and as unsettling as the thought was, he actually wanted to stay and take care of her.
“Go,” she ordered when he hesitated. He knew she was right.
He leaned down to speak softly in her ear. “I won’t be gone long. I’ll get us on course and then come back and check on you.” He pressed his lips to hers in a kiss too brief to get him into any real trouble, then walked to the bridge with the High Counsel hot on his trail.
Sitting in the pilot’s seat, Nicoli fired up the engines. A quick look at the perimeter scan revealed no other ships nearby.
So far, so good.
It would be nice to get back to the palace before the news broke. Then he’d get to see Victor’s reaction. The sooner he ended this mission, the sooner he could get Angel away from this place.
“What was that explosion?” The High Counsel spoke from behind him, reminding Nicoli of a gnat that wouldn’t go away. “I deserve to know what happened,” the gnat continued, moving to sit in the co-pilot’s seat.
Nicoli sighed. “We found a warehouse where the Harvesters were building a transfer facility. I thought I might get the Harvester leader’s attention if I blew it up.”
“Without consulting me?”
“I didn’t consider that necessary.”
“You didn’t consider it necessary?” The High Counsel’s voice rose. “Need I remind you that I am the High Counsel?”
“I don’t particularly care.” And he didn’t. Nicoli was physically tired from carrying Angel all the way back to the ship and had done his best to control the anger and fear still simmering from when he’d returned earlier and found her gone. He simply didn’t have the energy to be polite anymore.
Too Close to the Sun (The Sun 1) Page 27