Back at the camp, the learning centered more around practicalities, and though he liked those parts, as well, he often found himself longing to return to the Cottage. He had begun to consider his specialty and knew that he had a decent chance of becoming an assistant scientist or maybe a techie, both paths that, given time and hard work, could lead to scientist positions at the Cottage. He lifted his gaze from the textbook, Intermediate Materials Technology, and looked out at the quiet part of camp where he had sat down next to a thick tree trunk to study. A couple of initiates were studying nearby, engaged in hushed discussion over something on their infopads. A Warden, a few years older than Dave, was telling a small group of initiates a tall tale, with the initiates staring wide-eyed at him. Two other Wardens were smoking, their futile attempts to suppress their giggles only making them look all the more stupid. Kissweed, he thought.
Discipline among the Wardens was generally lax, completely different from what he had expected. Compared to school back in Charlestown even. It normally suited him just fine. He couldn’t imagine himself surviving the strictness of Janissary life, or the back-breaking Corpus serfdom. He had a hard time understanding why the Covenant needed such an institution as the Corpus, but every time he mentioned it, the scientists would tell him it was necessary to preserve the integrity of the Covenant. And though he didn’t fully agree, he understood their reasoning. Also, he knew there were things he wasn’t told, and that only as a full citizen would he be privy to some of the secrets that the Moon people held back from the English, and that everything would make sense to him one day. Once he learned the truth.
There were some aspects of the lax discipline he didn’t like as much, though. He had noticed already on his first day in camp that Wardens openly smoked kissweed. Few initiates did, but as far as he could tell, almost every seasoned Warden did from time to time. He shook his head. He couldn’t imagine how otherwise bright young people, citizen prospects, with an eternity of discovery ahead of them, would consume something that would dull the senses, and over time make you as dim as the neighborhood drunk.
He turned his eyes away, trying to concentrate on the subject at hand. He enjoyed the lectures, and he had a knack for learning, something the scientists were already noticing, he knew. But as he sat there, focus seemed to elude him. He kept thinking about what was soon to happen. The Wardens were tasked with protecting the Covenant from what lay beyond the Rift. As much as it was the reason for their existence, it was something no one discussed in detail. Whenever a discussion touched upon this, the final words were something along the lines of “You’ll see” or “Give it time, you will learn soon enough.” Dave had a hard time settling for that, but he knew he’d get no answers.
He had a few ideas, though. He’d heard talk of the infected. And the skirmishes and the patrols. And some of the older Wardens had a particular stare. As if they had seen things that were impossible to put into words. He knew there were some things you couldn’t “un-see.” And even if he got his choice of specialization, which would be far from physically demanding, front-line duty, he knew that every scientist, every steward had been out there at least once, and had seen whatever it was no one would talk about. That was the way of the Wardens. No one was to remain innocent. Everyone shared whatever burden they had to carry. Though he thought it sounded like a nice idea, he often wondered what it all meant. And there was something unsettling about it, as well. As if, once he crossed some particular line, there would be no going back.
SUE
Sue shook her head and wiped dirt from the outside of her visor. A scream pierced her ears from the helmet comms system, before it was muted. Brad. She glimpsed the enemy in front of her withdrawing, and turned half way around. Brad was lying on the ground, cut almost in half by the explosion. Dead or dying, it didn’t matter. Even the fabled Janissary suit couldn’t save him from such a blast. Quinn was also down and lay motionless. She saw Tac Hordvik crawling toward him, firing short bursts every few seconds. She couldn’t see what he was aiming for, but she threw her weapon around and fired a long burst in the general direction he was firing, before getting up. She ran over to him, followed by Julian, while Keisha stayed back, covering their backs. There was a low dip in the terrain, where they would be safe from direct fire. At least for a little while.
“I’ve already called for backup,” the tacticus said. “But unless we take out that rocket launcher, the airship will not come. They’re not risking an airship for a bunch of green initiates.” Sue could see he was gritting his teeth, and for a moment, she thought it was anger at their superiors who would sacrifice them so easily. But then, she saw where his suit had been penetrated. The nano bots were already covering the hole in the suit, just above the knee, but there was no hiding the blood soaking through.
“You’re hurt,” she said. He nodded.
“Yes, but the bots are stitching me up as we speak. Hurts like hell, though. AI won’t give me anything but weak local anesthetic, either. Have to stay alert.” She nodded, thought for a second, before she spoke.
“Tac, you stay here with Quinn and Keisha. Julian and I will take out the launcher.” The tacticus stared at her and seemed about to say something. She cut him off, a bit too harsh.
“Tacticus, sir, we have no choice. You are incapacitated whether you like it or not. This is the only way.” She didn’t wait for an answer as she motioned for Julian to follow her.
“Now,” she said, her voice calm, though her thoughts raced. She had just relieved her superior of command. If they survived, which was anything but certain, she could face dire consequences. Nevertheless, this was their only chance, and looking at the remains of Brad, she didn’t think they’d get another.
Sue and Julian leapt from cover simultaneously, firing everything they had while they ran. The ammo in the magazines would only last for a few more steps. When she estimated they were down to the last twenty rounds, she shouted, a little too loud, for Julian to take cover. As soon as they hit the ground, she turned a switch on the side of her weapon, lifted it to point up in a 45-degree angle, and fired. A blast of heat passed to the side of her helmet. The heat-seeking missile should search out their attackers within seconds. She craned her neck to see, knowing she was exposed, waiting to see where the missile hit.
A blast just to the right of where she had expected it told her the location of their attackers. Both she and Julian took a knee, fresh magazines clipped onto their weapons, and blasted away. Fifty rounds each, give or take, before they stood up and moved forward, firing short bursts with every step. As they reached the tree line, she knew she would soon be out again. They both took a knee as soon as they stepped into the shade of the forest.
“Keep firing. I’ll switch first,” she said. Julian just nodded. Once she was done, he did the same, while she covered. Once they’d both reloaded, they moved forward again, slower now. After twenty or thirty meters, they came upon the remains of the enemy position taken out by the heat seeker. The dead lay strewn, and some sort of off-road vehicle still burned.
“Let’s hurry. They can’t be far away,” she said. “The launcher must be slowing them down. See the mount?” She pointed at the burning vehicle. It had clearly been fitted with a weapon.
“Those weapons are powerful, but cumbersome. I can’t believe they plan to carry it off,” Julian said.
“Yeah, I guess they would have a hard time replacing it,” Sue answered, knowing well that the northerners didn’t have nearly the resources of the Covenant.
They ran through the forest, knowing that they could be running into an ambush at any time. But if they didn’t take out the launcher soon, Quinn would be dead. And if that airship wouldn’t come pick them up, they would all die.
The air was crisp, and outside of a few rays of light coming through the canopy of the forest, shadow covered the ground. The visors adjusted swiftly between light and dark, though, so Sue had no problem seeing.
“Careful,” she heard Julian whisper inside he
r helmet as something snapped. She cursed quietly and pulled her foot from the broken branch. The enemy didn’t have the equipment of the Janissaries, but they still had ears. She took a moment to look around. Nothing. Then they kept walking, a quick pace, but more careful with where they put their feet down. Julian took the front, while Sue tried to cover both sides. They needed to move fast, but if they came upon the enemy without the element of surprise, it would be two against who knew how many. And not even Janissary suits or their superior weapons could be relied upon to keep them alive through that.
~
After a few minutes, Julian stopped, raised his left fist, and took a knee, weapon raised and ready to fire.
“Twelve o’clock.” Sue heard his voice, an amplified whisper. She took a knee and waited. After a few seconds that seemed to last an eternity, Julian lowered his hand, palm down and out to his left. Although even the barest whisper would be heard inside the helmets, using hand signs for when they preferred quiet was something Tac Hordvik had emphasized time and again. You never knew what the enemy heard, or what equipment they might have gotten their hands on. Sue crept carefully forward, taking up position a few meters left of Julian. They were almost ready.
They looked at each other, and Sue held up five fingers. Both made sure their spare magazines were within easy reach and pointed the right way. Everything to make time spent changing as short as possible. Four. Sue glanced through her scope and made a small adjustment for distance. The enemy was no more than sixty or seventy meters in front of them, dragging the heavy rocket launcher between them. One looked injured. Three. There seemed to be six or seven of them. With the element of surprise, Sue and Julian should be able to take them out swiftly. Sue was acutely aware that these would probably be hardened veterans, though. Two. She was green. So green. But training did count for something, and there was no better training than that of the Janissaries. One.
They fired simultaneously, and two enemies fell at once. Sue moved the barrel slightly and fired again. One more down. She heard Julian fire two quick bursts, and followed up with one of her own. Missed. One of the savages managed to get a burst off in their direction, and she heard a scream both through her helmet and from the outside.
“Shit shit shit!” Julian screamed as he dropped his weapon. Sue fired another burst, and the shooter fell to the ground. She looked at Julian, who had taken cover. He was clutching his hand, bleeding. The medics would fix that back in camp. Painful, obviously, but nothing serious. His weapon was done for, though. Now, she was on her own. She focused, leaving Julian with his injury. How many left?
A stray bullet almost got her, but the defense bots deflected it. The suit was designed to deflect or stop bullets, but it didn’t always work, and some parts of the body were more difficult to cover than others. The helmet, though, had some of the best defensive capabilities, including nano bots that within a microsecond could merge into an almost invisible shield in the air, a centimeter or so outside the helmet itself, and deflect the incoming bullet. It would destroy the bots, but could save her life. It just had, and she gave a quick thanks to the now wrecked little invisible fellows that would have to be replaced once they got back. If they got back.
She moved a meter to her left, in order to make for a less obvious target. In a split second, she saw movement, and she raised her weapon and fired a long burst almost even as she was still lifting the weapon. She heard a scream, and another voice shouted something. A female voice.
Sue edged forward to have a closer look. There, pinned down in a small depression, Sue could see one leg sticking out. Careless, she thought, taking aim. A single shot, and another scream. She got to her feet and ran toward the enemy, hunched low, aware that she might be wrong, there might be others.
She stood above the woman, covering her with the rifle. The woman rolled over, wincing from the injury.
“Me tuer, meurtrier!” the woman said. She couldn’t be older than Sue, but the wide eyes and scruffy hair did nothing to hide her contempt. Sue didn’t know what to do. Clearly, they couldn’t let her go. But they had strict rules that taking prisoners was to be avoided. But here she was, holding her weapon at a girl that could have been her sister or a friend back in Charlestown, and she couldn’t simply shoot her. She had no idea what those words meant, but it didn’t matter. She glanced over at Julian as he came walking toward them, hoping that he would come up with a solution.
It all happened in an instant.
The woman drew the sidearm from underneath her and pulled the trigger. Had she been steadier, more experienced perhaps, Sue would be dead. Instead, the shot went off a split second before the gun actually pointed at her, and Sue reacted instinctively. A three-round burst. The woman shook a couple of times before she fell silent, eyes still wide from the shock.
“Shit, that was close,” Julian said. “Are you okay?”
Sue nodded, dazed. She had just killed five people. That was in addition to the five or so killed back by the tree line. And the last one was a woman her own age. A prisoner. Nausea was quickly building up.
“Hey!” she heard Julian say, distant at first. “Hey! Don’t break down on me now, Sue. You did what you had to do. Let’s just do what we came to do and get the hell out of here.”
Sue could feel a calm coming that didn’t seem completely natural. The AI, she thought, as her mind began to focus on the task at hand. She breathed deeply, and exhaled, the nausea gone and composure regained.
“You got a charge ready?” she asked. Julian nodded and tried to reach his pocket on his left side with his good hand. He fumbled a little, and Sue reached over.
“Let me,” she said. Their eyes met, and she noticed his half-smile behind his visor. She looked away and reached into his pocket, grabbing the multi charge. She walked over to the rocket launcher, which looked intact still, with just a few small dents from the small-arms fire. She placed the charge beside the firing mechanism, so that it would inflict the most damage.
“Let’s go,” she said, keeping her eyes away from Julian’s.
They walked for a couple of minutes, Sue in front, weapon ready. Just in case. Once Sue thought they were far enough away, they stopped. Sue took out a small controller unit and pressed a button. After a moment, a red light turned green, and she pressed the button again.
The blast wasn’t as powerful as she remembered from training. But here, in these woods, all sounds were muffled by foliage. They waited for half a minute before resuming their walk. Neither of them spoke. Instead, Sue switched to team frequency.
“Two-One-Bravo, this is Two-Four-Bravo.”
“This is Two-One-Bravo. You guys done yet?” Tac Hordvik answered.
“Affirmative. Any news on exfil?” Sue hoped the airship would be there in time to save Quinn and get them out before the enemy realized they had wounded Janissaries that would be an easy target if they came in force. The tacticus remained silent for a few seconds before replying.
“We have a go for exfil. So get your butts over here A.S.A.P., before the big shots decide to leave without you.”
“Don’t worry about us. We’ll be there. Two-Four-Bravo out.”
“You hear that?” she said to Julian.
“Yeah. Let’s get a move on.”
They ran as quickly as they could, and Sue worried that if an enemy spotted them, they would be defenseless. But there were no more enemies around, and they soon reached the clearing where the others were waiting, just as the airship arrived. Keisha ran a few meters off and began directing the airship as it lowered toward them. Once it hung just five meters or so above ground, a cage that looked like a cross between a basket and an elevator was lowered. Two heavily armored airmen, sporting some fancy weaponry Sue didn’t recognize, leapt out and covered the Janissaries. Two medics lifted Quinn onto a stretcher and carried him into the cage. Julian followed right behind, clutching his damaged hand.
“Shouldn’t we pick up Brad?” she said to Tac Hordvik, who looked like he was about t
o fall over from blood loss. He just shook his head.
“He’s gone, either way, Atlas. Care for the living.” Keisha came running, and Sue followed her in. Once his team was inside, Tac Hordvik ushered the airmen to follow, and he got in last. The cage quickly rose up inside an opening in the belly of the airship. The doors underneath them banged shut, and they exited the basket and strapped themselves into seats in the back.
Once the airship picked up speed, Sue finally let herself relax. She took off her helmet and laid her head back. She was restless, though, and she could feel her hands begin to shake. No magic injections from the AI this time, now that she wasn’t in any immediate danger.
Her mind was racing. Could she have done anything differently? How would the tacticus feel about her taking charge back there? Why did that woman have to draw that gun on her? What if she had disarmed her properly in the first place, would the woman be alive now? She had killed people…
Tac Hordvik scooted over to sit beside her. She could see he was in pain and wondered why he hadn’t received any painkiller meds yet. They sat quiet for a moment, and she was the first to break the silence between them.
“I’m sorry, Tac. I shouldn’t have run off like that. Injury or no injury, you are still my superior…”
He waved her off.
“You did well out there, Atlas. If not for your quick thinking, we’d still be down there, and Quinn would be dead for sure. For an initiate, you sure did raise hell today.” He grinned, as she blushed.
“Okay… Are you sure, I mean, Tac…” He shook his head.
“What you did out there today took a lot of courage. You did the right thing, even though it could have cost you, had you pulled that on someone else. Me, I don’t care about any of that.” He smiled again and offered his hand. She took it and returned his firm grip.
“Oh, and Sue, my first name isn’t Tac. It’s Evan. Evan Hordvik.” Sue laughed softly. The day had been so full of loss and hardship, but in the end, she had gained a new friend.
RIFT (The Rift Saga Book 1) Page 6