by Chris Bostic
Jade grabbed his arm, slowing them. Odysseus skipped on ahead to rejoin the column of clones. “This is good news, Sarge.”
“Not that we would have known.” His eyes narrowed. “What else aren’t they telling us? I’m getting sick to death of all the weirdness.”
“That’s not nice,” Jade scolded.
“Neither are they,” Connie said.
Joe couldn’t totally disagree. He felt safe enough walking through the woods with the savage-like creations, but he knew any operation closer to the complex would be a challenge if they couldn’t count on the new arrivals to tell the whole truth.
“You’re always so truthful,” Joe told Jade. “What’s the deal with these guys?”
“I suppose they’ve been programmed to be spies. No doubt they’re less likely to volunteer information than you or I might be.”
“That’s a huge problem,” Connie interjected. “And now we’re supposed to let them sneak us inside? No thanks.”
“You have to give them the benefit of the doubt,” Jade said. “You never worry about me that way.”
“You have a point,” Joe said. “It’s just that Sarge doesn’t trust anyone. That’s the way he’s programmed.”
Connie bristled at his words. “I’m no android. I can think for myself.”
It was Jade’s turn to stiffen. “That’s not kind, Sarge.”
“No offense, darling. It’s just these, uhm, whatever they are really give me the creeps. I don’t trust ‘em.”
“You trust Jade,” Leisa shot back. “Other than their appearance, which I really don’t like either…but, I don’t know…maybe you should give them a chance.”
Joe was a little surprised to hear her talk that way. Then again, he figured they were basically on the same page. What did they have to lose at that point—other than their miserable lives.
“Yeah, Sarge. That seems like a bunch of rude talk for an android lover.” Joe tipped his head toward Jade with a teasing grin.
“Jade isn’t a computer,” Connie deadpanned. “At least not like those creeps.”
It was unclear to Joe whether that comment won Connie any points with Jade. She didn’t show any outward reaction, which was uncommon for her. If anything, her eyes seemed to drift away from the group. Then she tilted her head.
“Shhh.” Jade raised a hand to halt the others. “I hear them.”
The savage clones kept tromping on ahead, leaving Joe’s group farther behind.
“Who?” Joe asked.
She squinted, twisting her head more sharply as if trying to hear something over the footfalls of Odysseus’ group.
“I lost it. Thought I heard the dogs, but now I’m not so sure.”
“I’m sure we’ll find the others,” Joe said. “Those guys seemed convinced that they’d already rounded up your siblings.”
“But how, I wonder,” Leisa said. “If the, uhm, creations, keep getting more advanced, does that mean they’re able to have more like cutting edge detectors or whatever?”
“I believe so,” Jade answered. “It took me a moment to recognize they were not actually living creatures. Their electronics must be deeply concealed. Their mechanisms are extremely quiet and with an unnaturally low resonance. They also looked and acted so much like living creatures it is uncanny.”
“As realistic as I’ve ever seen,” Joe quipped. He thought back to how he’d nearly pulled the trigger. Other than their voices and the lack of the distinctive odor, there was no way he could have told any of them apart from the actual enemy. “If the real savages get too close, we may not be able to tell the difference.”
“I’m afraid they already are,” Jade said.
“Say what?” Connie interjected. “That’s just fabulous. How close?”
“I heard more shooting while I was listening.” She paused and quickly apologized as if concerned that Connie might be mad at her. “Sorry, I didn’t want to alarm you.”
He shrugged it off to ask again, “How close are they? And don’t be too specific. I don’t need to know to the tenth of a meter.”
Jade smiled, which made it all the more disturbing when she said, “Very. I would say they’ll be on top of us by morning.”
Still a few hours away, Joe assumed. So they had a reasonable head start. Seeing how the savages very rarely attacked during daylight hours, Joe felt like they still had a chance to get into the complex and get out unscathed. But only if they kept moving. Too bad he was already dead tired.
He stumbled through the brush, and was mildly relieved to notice that the slope had seemed to flatten out. Though he couldn’t be sure how much farther it was to the top, he got the impression from the occasional streak of weak moonlight cutting through the tree canopy that it might be close.
Incoming hordes of savages or not, he wondered if he might need to catch a little sleep before they took on the complex. They could hardly stand to waste the stealth that darkness provided, but he could hardly stand. When they came to a halt at the top of the hill, he swayed in placed and nearly crumpled to the ground.
“Made it,” he said, and bent over awkwardly to keep his balance.
“Where are the others?” Connie asked, his dark eyes scanning the edge of the woods. Not twenty yards away, it was apparent the forest changed over to a rolling, open field.
The savage clones had gathered up in a little group off to their right. With a groan, Joe followed behind his sergeant and the others to catch up to them.
Joe moved so slowly the others pulled away, but he didn’t care. He kept his head down most of the way. Partly to avoid tripping over random vines, but as much to save the strength involved in lifting his head.
Weaving between trees, they kept working their way toward the forest fringe. Before they reached it, he picked up on a low rumble from off to the west.
“Sounds like thunder,” he mumbled to himself without bothering to turn around. “As if my feet weren’t wet enough. Why not get drenched?”
A white flash, then another, streaked through the trees. Definitely lightning.
“We need to get outta here. We’ll get fried,” Leisa said as the thunder rumbled again from behind them.
“Yeah. This is great.”
They hurried onward, rushing as quickly as they could. The distant lightning offered no helpful illumination, and Leisa soon crashed to the ground when she tripped over a tree root.
Joe stopped to pull her up. “C’mon, Leis. No time for slacking.”
“Yeah, whatever.”
When their hands locked together, another flash ripped through the trees with a burst of electricity. It was how he always felt whenever they touched, and the thought elicited a smile.
“You’re electric, Leis.”
“You’re not funny,” she said, climbing back to her feet with a huff.
“I know,” he whispered, and let the fleeting thoughts evaporate. Another long rumble rolled over them so loudly that it shook the ground. “You rock my world.”
She groaned, but it turned into a chuckle. “You’re so lame. You might want to get some better pick-up lines from Sarge.”
“I just picked you up. Get it?”
“Ouch.” She kept hold of his hand. They stumbled off together, intent on beating the storm, though they had nowhere to hide.
Heads down again, they hurried to catch up to the others. Once they got far enough that Joe could see beyond the timberline, right when he had almost reached Odysseus’ group, his perspective changed. He wished he’d never raised his head.
Off to the east, the complex sat down in a valley, lighting up the whole area like daytime.
Worse yet, off to the west, the storm raged. But not in the way Joe had expected.
Explosive bursts ripped through the night sky like fireworks impacting the Earth. All around the blasts, sparks like photo flashes winked as the savages’ outdated cartridge rifles fired.
CHAPTER 26
“They’re farther out than you think,” Jade said of
the savage horde. “We still have time.”
“I’m just amazed how much it sounds like thunder,” Joe said, shaking his head. He had been positive a completely different kind of storm was headed their way. “Nothing like before.”
He thought back to the northern hills, and how the sound traveled. Sharp rifle cracks and the whining of mortar fire mixed with grenade blasts into a unique cacophony that he wouldn’t ever forget.
Joe was similarly amazed that no one seemed all that concerned about hurrying to get away from the savages, regardless of how close Jade said they were. Truth be told, there was no energy left to propel him forward.
“This is nuts,” Leisa mumbled. “Unholy alliance I wanted it to be thunder. Never have I wanted it to rain so badly.”
She gripped his arm so tightly that he ordinarily might have tried to shake free from her grasp. Instead, he found it oddly comforting.
Right when his heart rate had settled back to a fairly normal rhythm, the woods came alive from behind him. He wheeled around, slipping his coilgun off his shoulder out of reflex—but froze as two furry shapes bounded toward them.
“Bruno,” Jade said. “And there’s Bruce.”
The dogs stopped to wag their tails. Then they bounded off toward the others as if Joe’s group was supposed to follow them.
Connie watched them run ahead. “They look fine,” he told Jade. “Guess everything did work out okay.”
She grabbed his wrist and gave him a tug. “Let’s go see the others.”
Joe and Leisa followed behind. He wasn’t sure what to expect. Having not seen anyone since the drone blast hours before, he wondered if Mira and the savage clones were correct about everyone being together.
He found out soon enough.
Stepping into a big circle, he noticed Jade running to wrap her arms around a much taller girl. Barta looked as good as could be expected, though it seemed as though she’d crawled out of a coal mine.
While Jade hugged her sister, Joe spotted Connie retreating to hide behind her.
“Big guy!” shouted a similarly blackened Faith. She launched herself at Connie. He cringed, but didn’t avoid her.
Probably because he thought she’d fall over if he sidestepped her, Joe thought.
“Those two did make it,” Leisa whispered to Joe. “That’s shocking.”
He nodded. “And the dogs. Go figure.”
“They found us right before the fire got there,” Barta was telling Joe when he turned back to listen to about six different conversations at once. “Good thing too, because we didn’t have much time.”
Joe noticed the rips in both of the girls’ shirts. Faith’s was especially tattered to the point that it almost looked like a half shirt. Though initially tentative, Connie no longer seemed to mind the attention—especially from a scantily-clothed Faith.
“Bruno and Bruce were really helpful,” she said. “They basically dragged us up the hill.” She ran a hand through her long, disheveled hair. “I’ll bet I look terrible.”
“Not at all,” Connie lied.
“I’m sure you already want a shower,” Jade deadpanned, elbowing her way over to Connie. “I’m just glad you guys are okay.”
“We heard about Smig,” Barta said so softly that Joe barely heard her. “It’s awful to think about.”
Odysseus jumped into the conversation. “We’ve got more problems than that. We best put the little reunion on hold and get moving.”
Joe agreed with those sentiments. He turned to Jade and asked, “We really don’t have much time, do we?”
“Just a second and I can get a better idea on distance.” She fiddled in her pocket and pulled out the special earpieces. “It’s getting rather loud out here.”
Too loud, Joe thought, though that wasn’t entirely the case. The volume of the shots or the boisterous girls only annoyed him when they were mixed together in a mind numbing cacophony. When considered by themselves, the distant blasts sounded no louder than his dad’s snoring, or a harmless storm from miles away. Though deeply concerned, he held out hope it was a good sign.
After shushing everyone, Jade concentrated for a moment. “About eight miles.”
“Seven point two,” Odysseus corrected. “If a stronger defense cannot be organized, the leading edge will definitely be here by daybreak.”
“So your house is already behind enemy lines?” Joe asked her.
“Yes,” she said, but not without looking sidelong at Odysseus to see if he would correct her again.
He had already moved on to talk to his fellow clones. Joe didn’t hear him say a word to the others, but they nodded as if they understood some sort of unspoken command.
Just like the real savages. He cringed at the thought. Everything about the enemy soldiers was spooky.
Other than a weird sort of humming along with clicks and tongue pops, Joe had never heard the savages say a single word. Not even their spooky-robed shaman, who had been willing to heal him when he had been knocking on death’s door.
“This is too much,” he muttered to himself.
“What’s up?” Leisa brushed her hair out of her face and tilted her head at him.
He took a long look at her green eyes and smiled. “Everything.”
“I heard that.”
“We need to get going. I thought we were a minute ago, but now they’re back to jabbering again.” He gestured with his head toward the savage clones. “The sooner I get away from these crazies, the better.”
“Then let’s get ‘em moving.”
Leisa inserted herself into a conversation between Jade and Odysseus. Evidently they’d been arguing over exactly how long it might take for the savages to reach the group.
“If we need to get to the south side over by the training grounds or whatever, then let’s get moving,” Leisa insisted.
“Indeed,” Odysseus replied. “We can keep to the edge of the forest. Once we’re about a mile past that corner,” he pointed to the nearest fence, which shimmered in the bright white light of the complex, “then we’ll be ready to make our move.”
“Good,” Leisa said forcefully, though Joe didn’t see anything particularly good about it. “Then let’s do it.”
“I’ll lead,” Joe volunteered. He didn’t necessarily want the cyborgs behind him giving him vague, agonizing memories of savages chasing him through the woods like back in the northern hills, but he much preferred to be doing something more productive than playing rear guard.
Bruno and Bruce ended up taking over the lead. As soon as Joe and Leisa had headed out to the front of the group, the two dogs had raced past. That didn’t bother Joe. He was happy to have them scouting ahead.
Connie and Jade were fairly close behind. As expected, the big guy became a human crutch for Faith, even though Odysseus had offered up the other cyborgs to carry her. Joe had a feeling Sarge would take him up on the offer soon enough.
Jade helped the unsteady Barta along, but that was less of a challenge. Her height let her lean heavily on the shorter Jade. She didn’t seem to notice, much less show any signs of strain. Besides, Barta was more jerky than unstable. Other than an unexpected vine or uneven ground, she was much more mobile than Faith.
As they hiked, Joe spent his time running different scenarios through his mind. In every one, he hoped they left Jade’s siblings behind before infiltrating the complex. By his estimation, a dozen savages would be enough.
Odysseus came alongside Joe. He cringed, expecting a foul fishy odor when the cyborg opened his mouth to talk. Instead, his breath was completely odorless. It was more the rows of pointed teeth like a shark’s that had him momentarily distracted.
“Joe?” Leisa said, nudging him.
He staggered for a second before regaining his balance. “Yeah?”
“He wanted to know if we’ll go on ahead with him when the time comes.”
“Oh, yeah, Uhm…” Joe froze for a second as his brain restarted. “Of course, right?”
“Yes,” she
said with a chuckle and looked to Odysseus. “We’ll do whatever we can to help.”
“Outstanding. So here’s the plan…”
Joe’s breath hitched. After all they’d been through, he wasn’t sure they’d even have a chance to pull something off. And it suddenly appeared like they were mere minutes away.
Odysseus continued, saying, “When we get close, we’ll go down to the back gate and call for the guards to open it up for us.”
“Won’t they shoot you on sight?” Joe said, assuming everyone in the Republic would gladly shoot a savage the second they saw one.
“I have a transponder. We’ll activate that on approach to tip them off, and then wait at the gate.”
“Sounds good, but why do you need us?”
“To subdue any guards when we get inside.” Odysseus glanced at Joe’s coilgun. “We were sent out weaponless. A few bolts should dispatch them more quickly and quietly than my compatriots’ methods.”
“And your programming doesn’t allow you to hurt a living being?” Joe asked.
“No. Why ever would you think that?”
Joe was so surprised he simply stammered, “N-no reason.”
Leisa raised an eyebrow at him. He shrugged. A curious development, but more of a positive than he had expected. If the savage cyborgs were willing to fight, then things appeared to be shaping up nicely.
So, of course, that was all about to change.
Jade’s voice carried to them from the rear.
“Take cover! Hunter-Killer incoming!”
CHAPTER 27
“Where?” Joe said, crouching. He felt silly for doing it. If the incoming drone had any types of advanced sensors activated, there wasn’t much of a way for them to hide.
“From Pasun. Headed our way.”
Joe stole a glance at Leisa. Knowing that fiery death could be raining down on them any instant, he tensed up to run.
“We should split up,” he whispered to her.
She nodded, but showed no sign of moving.
“There’s no safety in numbers,” Joe said, raising his voice.
“Sit tight.” Jade had crouched a couple trees farther over. “They’re on a mission to repel the advancing enemy.”