A mob of Ghal packed the beach, hissing and howling. They had retreated to dry land once their prey had moved out of reach. It didn’t look like they were leaving anytime soon; in fact, more seemed to be joining them.
Kala thought for a moment. It might be summer, but the night air was cool, they were wet, and the river water was cold. She and Wilm would be okay for some time, but the humans wouldn’t be able to stay here much longer. She turned and looked across to the far shore, her enhanced eyesight penetrating the dark. No Ghal over there, but the river was wide and the current tugged at her strongly. She wasn’t sure the humans could make it, even if Kala carried the baby.
The minutes ticked by and Kala was considering giving it a try for lack of any other option when she heard a strange whistling noise, steadily growing louder. A few seconds later, the riverbank exploded with a blinding flash of light and a thunderous boom. Kala and the others ducked, throwing up their arms to shield themselves. Dirt, rocks, and pieces of Ghal began raining down on them. When the disgusting hailstorm stopped, Kala looked at the riverbank. A smoking crater now existed in the middle of the beach; all around it lay the mangled, burning corpses of Ghal. An acrid smell of smoke and explosives drifted out to them over the water.
“Whoa,” breathed Brandon. “Was that a rocket from a launcher?”
“Look,” Jennie cried, pointing at the top of the riverbank.
Kala had noticed them at the same time; bobbing lights and human figures at the top of the riverbank, slowly making their way down toward them. There was a rattle of heavy gunfire, and some Ghal who had foolishly tried to attack the newcomers dropped to the ground. The few remaining creatures fled in terror.
Kala’s shoulders sagged with relief. She had no idea what to expect from these people, whoever they were, but at least now she could get the humans out of this freezing river.
She nodded to the others, and they waded to shore. Some of the newcomers came forward to help Jennie and the baby struggle out of the water. The strangers surrounded them as they stood shivering on the beach. Someone shone a light into their faces, causing them to squint, and Brandon scowled.
A small, thin man with his hair pulled back into a stubby ponytail stepped forward and surveyed the group. He flicked one hand, and several of his people came forward and searched them briskly for weapons. They took Bessie and the tire iron and stepped back.
The leader strolled closer, examining each of them in turn. It seemed to Kala that his gaze lingered on her and Jennie a little longer than the others.
“Come with us,” the man said abruptly. He turned and walked away up the riverbank, apparently confident that they would obey.
Brandon looked at Kala; she shrugged. They were outnumbered by a heavily armed group. She might have been able to take them on with her drones, but there was a chance one of her group might get shot. Even if she succeeded, how could they go any further with the Jeep stuck in river mud?
Go on with them, dear heart, Araka urged. You can handle these humans when the time is right.
Kala admitted to herself that she was too exhausted to fight or travel any further tonight; this way they might at least get some food and a place to sleep. She didn’t have the impression that these people were really bad. Hard, maybe, but not evil.
Glancing back as the group climbed up the bank, she saw a group of the humans pushing the Jeep out of the water.
Surrounded closely by the Blue Lake denizens, they walked west for about half a mile, moving deeper into the city. Their hosts peered in every direction, their lights sliding over the buildings and piercing dark alleys, their weapons at the ready. The procession arrived at a barricade, where an armed guard let them through a door to one side of a set of wide double gates.
Kala looked around at the streets and buildings inside the compound; it reminded her vaguely of the stronghold of her first beta-hunting expedition. But these buildings were different; they were lower, made of wood, and looked somewhat utilitarian. The place was secure, with built-up walls and razor wire strung between buildings.
This was a college before, Araka told her. A place the humans went for higher learning.
Kala smiled at the idea that one would have to go to a certain location to learn.
Their hosts directed them to a long two-story building, and they went inside. They were led up a flight of stairs and down a hall to a door that opened into a large room. They filed in. The room was austere, but it was clean and warm. One wall was lined with narrow bunks.
One of the Blue Lakers, a middle-aged woman, came in with them. “There’s a bathroom with a couple shower stalls you can use,” she said, waving her arm at a wide door in one end of the dormitory. “We’ll bring you up something to eat in a bit.”
Before they could thank her, she turned and left.
They took turns using the showers to wash off the mud, travel grit, and other unpleasant things. There were several rough towels, which they had to share.
Kala came out in her underwear, carrying her wet clothing and armor. Looking around, she could see nothing to hang them on, so she spread her things on the floor to dry, and wrapped herself in a sheet. She caught Wilm’s eyes on her and gave him a quizzical look.
“Your arms,” he said in Unathi. “You were in the thick of the battle, but you haven’t got a mark on you. My wounds are healing fast, but yours are already completely gone.”
She glanced down at her arms, then back up at him, eyebrows raised.
Wilm smiled. “Right—another one of your differences, along with your sentient symbiont, your unusual strength, and so on. I’m definitely going to have to study you.” He hunched his shoulders forward, giving her an Unathi wink. “With your permission, of course.”
Kala yawned widely. She had been awake for almost two days, not counting the few hours of sleep she’d gotten before Crisfer’s drones attacked Jennie. “Let’s discuss it later,” she mumbled, and he nodded.
Before she could climb into bed, the door opened and several Blue Lake women came in with trays of hot food, which they began handing out.
Brandon said, “Oh, yeah!” and jumped up.
The ponytailed leader, followed by two of his men, slipped into the room just behind them. Somehow, he knew to go straight to Kala. She stood up wearily and faced him.
“I’m Ian,” he said, crossed his arms and waited.
Kala looked at him mutely, trying to blink away her exhaustion. She was slightly taller and definitely heavier than this man, but he carried himself as though he were powerful. His men had hung back and were surveying the group with interest. She didn’t care for their expressions.
Brandon came over and said through a mouthful of food, “Hi, Ian. I’m Brandon, and this is Kala.”
“Can’t she talk?” Ian asked.
“Of course I can,” Kala said. “Thank you for your assistance today.”
“Yeah, we owe you one,” Brandon put in.
Ian glanced at him. “That’s right, you do.” He turned back to Kala. “I guess I should thank you, too, for alerting us to that goon army, although I got a feeling that helping us wasn’t exactly on your agenda. They were getting ready for a full-on attack. But we don’t know you, so we can’t trust you—yet. That depends on your story. I’d like to know how you got hold of that military J10 a yours, where you were coming from, and where you were going.” His gaze moved to Kala’s armor spread out on the floor and he studied it, his brow furrowing.
She said nothing, and Brandon followed her lead.
Ian shrugged. “Somethin’ strange about you lot, and I’m gonna find out what it is. Nobody’s gonna bother you tonight, but we are gonna talk in the morning. First thing.” He shot Kala a meaningful look and then turned and walked to the door, the women following.
Ian’s men lingered behind, staring at them.
“That one’s mine,” the larger of the two said, studying Kala. He spoke quietly, but his voice carried; he wanted her to hear.
The other man laughed. “She�
��s a big girl. I reckon you’ll have your hands full.” His eyes moved to Jennie and Brandon jumped up, bristling.
“Ian promised me the little one. She’s kinda scrawny, but pretty enough.”
Brandon started forward; Kala stopped him with a hand on his arm. “Wait,” she whispered to him. “It is not time yet.”
The two men laughed, and then left the room, closing the door behind them.
The tumblers of a lock clicked into place. Brandon swore, but Kala was past caring about anything but sleep. After a few bites of food, she fell into bed and slept like the dead.
Chapter 20
McKinley Mega, Blue Lake District
July 12, 2079
TIME TO WAKE UP, dear heart, Araka said. Things to do, places to go, as the humans say.
Kala opened her eyes. The sun wasn’t up yet; it was very quiet except for Brandon’s soft snoring. She yawned, stretched, and sent her drones sweeping out over the compound.
These Blue Lake survivors were fairly sharp. There were three night-shift guards still on duty: two at the front gate where they had come in last night, and one at a pedestrian back gate. They would probably be relieved soon by a day shift. There was also a handful of people moving around in a large kitchen in one of the buildings, probably getting ready to prepare breakfast for the compound. The Jeep was parked in a small lot near the front gate.
Kala threw back the covers and swung her legs around to sit on the side of the bed. She rubbed her face and then put her head in her hands. What am I doing, Araka? Where is this going to end?
Don’t worry about that right now, dear one, he said gently. Just keep yourself alive. You are still needed.
Kala shook her head, feeling miserable. This is ridiculous. How long am I supposed to keep running? What is this going to accomplish in the long run?
Listen closely, my dear. Although it may seem that you are acting at cross-purposes to the mission, the truth is—and I suppose this is going to sound incredible—the future of humanity rests squarely on you.
What are you talking about? You’re not making any sense, Kala said irritably.
Just trust me on this one, dear heart. You know that I can do things no one can explain. So believe me when I tell you that you have a special destiny.
I’m not listening to this anymore. Kala got up and moved from one bed to another, gently shaking the occupants and whispering, “Wake up, it is time to go.” When they were ready, she sent out her attack drones to pacify everyone, asleep or awake, except for one guard at the front gate. It took some time to cover the whole compound. When it was done, she broke down the locked door and they hurried down the stairs.
Outside, everything seemed peaceful. They walked briskly toward the lot where the Jeep was parked. The guard Kala hadn’t pacified was crouched over the other guard, trying to shake him awake. He saw them, stood and leveled his assault rifle at them. “Stop right there!” he yelled.
They stopped running and Brandon and Jennie threw up their hands. Kala and Wilm looked at each other, eyebrows raised, and then followed suit.
The guard approached slowly. “What are you doing out here?” he asked. “Back to the dorm—now.”
“Ian said we could come out to the Jeep and get our personal stuff,” Brandon said. “We need our clothes and things.” His voice was so confident, Kala could almost believe it was the truth.
The guard walked closer, gun carefully trained on them, and snorted. “Did he, now? I’m gonna have to check with Ian on that one, I think. Now turn around and start walking.”
Brandon pointed at the other guard, who lay sprawled facedown on the ground. “What’s wrong with your partner?”
“Why—you a doctor?”
“I’ve been to medical school. Want me to take a look at him?”
The guard stepped up to Brandon, poking the gun at his stomach. “All I want you to do, smartass, is—“
He never finished his sentence. Moving so fast she was no more than a blur, Kala stepped forward and kicked his weapon hand, knocking the rifle upward. When he reached for it instinctively with his other arm, she grabbed it and threw him. The gun flew out of his hand and Brandon rushed to get it while Kala knelt on a pressure point on the man’s back.
“Get off me!” he spluttered. She did and he looked up, straight into the muzzle of his own gun.
“Up,” Brandon said, gesturing with the weapon.
“Take us to where the Jeep key is, please,” Kala said politely, and Brandon rolled his eyes.
They marched the guard to a small building across from the gate. The front door led directly into a large, well-lit office. Kala spotted rows of electronic key fobs hanging from hooks on one wall.
A woman dressed in a camouflage uniform sat slumped over at a desk, her head resting on its scarred surface. A tiny puddle of drool glistened on the desk below her open mouth as she snored.
“What in the hell is going on?” the guard asked, bewildered.
Kala walked over and grabbed the Jeep key fob. “Lie on the floor, please,” she said to the guard.
He stared at her blankly until Brandon prodded him with the gun, and then he got down, grumbling. A few seconds later, he was asleep, pacified by her drones.
“Bessie!” cried Jennie, pointing to a corner in which the crowbar was propped, along with the tire iron. Wilm took them both and they headed outside.
Slinging the SMG across his back, Brandon went to the gates and pulled them wide open.
Kala checked inside the Jeep. Their supplies were missing—all the stuff they had kept within reach while driving.
Brandon returned, scowling. “Those bastards!” He crawled into the back and opened the secure compartments where they had kept some equipment and personal things, punching the code into the electronic lock. “All your equipment is still in here, Kala, and some of the rations. From the looks of these scratches, they tried to get in, but couldn’t. Ha!”
From across the compound, the sound of a window sliding open carried through the morning stillness. They all turned to look, and Brandon scrambled out of the back of the Jeep, raising his gun.
A man’s figure, a mere silhouette in the dim light of a lamp behind him, had appeared in a window in the second floor of a building opposite them. Kala recognized Ian; he must have come out of his pacification sleep already. The man gave them an exaggerated salute.
Brandon growled and raised the SMG.
Kala reached over and pushed it down. “Let it go,” she said quietly.
“Come on, let’s get out of here,” Jennie said, climbing into the back seat of the Jeep with the baby.
Brandon sat half turned around in the front passenger seat of the Jeep, keeping watch on the road behind them as Kala drove through the silent streets, heading north. “You check for Ghal?” he asked Kala in a low voice.
“Yes,” she answered.
He decided to take that to mean they were A-okay.
The mega quickly fell behind them and Brandon sat back and relaxed, thinking about their adventure. That was pretty cool, the way they broke out of the place. He watched Kala drive, fascinated by the muscles working in her arms and legs. She was one super-strong woman. And those drone things, wow. She was more like an alien than someone from the future. He still wasn’t sure he believed that stuff about time travel. He should be more creeped out by all this than he was, but for some reason he felt pretty relaxed around her.
“So what’s the plan?” he asked.
“I will take us as far north as I can,” Kala answered. “Tonight we will find a place to camp far from any other humans. There is some wilderness about two hundred miles northeast of here that looks promising. We have enough food for now, and I will scavenge more. The Jeep has enough fuel to take us about another three hundred miles.”
“Will we be able to get a hold of any more fuel?” Jennie asked.
“It is possible, but unlikely,” Kala answered. “The places that would have hydrogen fuel are probably in the megaci
ties, where we do not want to go.”
“Oh,” Jennie said. “So wherever we end up after three hundred more miles is where we stay.”
“We may be able to get about another hundred miles from the electric battery after we run out of hydrogen fuel, but after that, we will not be able to recharge it.”
Brandon picked up his new treasure and began examining it lovingly. “Hey, this baby’s a beauty. Super lightweight submachine gun, gas recoil compensation, caseless telescoping ammo, smart targeting—”
“How much ammo is there?” Jennie asked.
“Right now all we got is this full magazine.” He patted the long, curved box protruding from the underside of the SMG. “Maybe we can find more somewhere.”
“You can keep that weapon, Brandon, as long as you promise never to use it except in self-defense,” Kala said. “Even then, you must give me a chance to pacify the attackers first. Do you promise?”
“Okay,” Brandon said reluctantly. He had been looking forward to getting good with it.
They drove through pine forests for hour after hour, occasionally passing tumbledown shacks or open areas that had been burned out or razed to the ground. They stopped once for a quick meal, then got back on the road. At last they emerged from the forest’s northern end into bright afternoon sunlight. It was nearly two in the afternoon; they had been driving for about eight hours.
The road they were on merged with NAU Route 5 and they drove north, crossing into Oregon. Kala drove another fifteen miles and then turned off the highway onto a country road that veered northeast, into wilder country.
Brandon spotted a sign that was still legible, though barely. “Dead Indian Memorial Road,” he read aloud.
“What a morbid name,” Jennie remarked.
“What a long name.”
The going was slow; the roads out here had obviously been neglected for a long time and were peppered with potholes, tree limbs and fallen rocks. They crossed higher ground, where they could see the misty blue shapes of mountains in the distance, and then entered forest again, gradually moving into lower, flatter land. The sun had dropped into the western sky, and the ranks of pines cast long shadows across the road.
The X-Variant (The Guardians Book 1) Page 16