Challa

by Linda Mooney

  “Get back to the house, Roni,” the deputy told his wife. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

  He closed the phone without saying goodbye. “Roni couldn’t get to work because six miles outside of town the road’s been blocked by at least a dozen large, full-grown trees that were pulled up by the roots and piled from one side of the road to the other. The way’s completely impassable by car.”

  “Sheriff?” It was the other deputy again, peering back into the room.

  “Let me guess,” Klotsky rumbled. “Roadblock?”

  The man gasped. “How’d you guess?”

  “Off 223?”

  The deputy frowned. “No. Off 2A south. About six miles out.”

  “Fully grown trees that seemed to have been pulled up by the roots?” DeGrassi added.

  “Yeah.”

  “Who could have done something like that?” Compton asked, just as astonished that something so unusual could have occurred twice in the area.

  Instead of answering, DeGrassi and the sheriff hurried out of the office. Compton, Challa, and Hall followed them as more calls began to flood the station.

  “Sheriff, we have another roadblock sighted six miles north of 2A,” the woman manning a computer console called out.

  “Ditto that for 802!” another voice shouted.

  Klotsky swore. “We’re being circled.”

  “By someone pulling up trees?” Hall asked.

  “Not someone,” DeGrassi corrected the man. “By the Arra. They’re caging us in.” He looked at others, and Compton could see the man’s terror in his eyes. “Roni smelled the Arra on the trees. She’s contacting Simon and Jeb.”

  “Can’t you fight back like you’ve done before?” Compton asked as he felt Challa’s rising fear as well.

  DeGrassi ran a hand over his pale face. “You don’t understand. When we fought them before, it was in the middle of the night. It’s daylight out there now. The Ruinos are locked into their human forms until sunset. They can’t change. And if they can’t change, they can’t fight.”

  Giving Compton and Challa a little push toward the hallway leading back to the parking lot, he ordered, “We have to return to the house. If we’re going to have a chance against them, it’ll have to be with all of us together. But we have to hurry! There’s no telling where the Arra are landing, or how many of them there’ll be.”

  “I’m staying in town to see what comes down,” Sheriff Klotsky told them. “Keep a line open, Thom!”

  DeGrassi promised as they rushed back to their vehicles.

  Chapter 37

  Road Blocks

  Compton watched DeGrassi on the phone all the way back to his house. Lawson Hall rode with the deputy.

  “Challa.” He could tell when she gave him her full attention. “Tell me about the Arra. Tell me everything you know and remember. On this world, we know that the best defense is the best offense. ‘If we know our enemy, then they are ours’,” he semi-quoted.

  It was amazing how easy it was to slip into his lieutenant skin. The danger factor started his adrenalin pumping, and the fear surrounding this unknown enemy brought him back to a point of clarity. Compton, the easy-going country boy from Cooper sloughed away, leaving behind the rock-hard and hewn military man bent on a single mission.

  “They’re large, but they have no bodily form,” she answered.

  “What do you mean, no bodily form?”

  “They…they’re like water. They’re fluid. They can assume any shape they want. And they’re white.”

  “What about arms and legs? How do they maneuver?”

  Challa shrugged. “They don’t have arms or legs. They sort of flow over things, and around things, and through things.”

  Compton got a mental image of a smokelike creature, but with more substance than smoke. “What about weapons? What kind of weapons do they have?”

  “They use an adjac, which is kind of like a knife only it does more damage than a knife. And they have a paralyzer.”

  “What does the paralyzer look like?”

  “Round.” She formed her fingers into a circle about the size of a coffee cup. “Like a disk. It’s silver, like the adjac.”

  “Any other weapons?”

  “I was told there were others, but I haven’t seen them. You’ll have to talk to Tiron or Jebaral about them.”

  Compton started to ask more when DeGrassi took the turnoff onto his property.

  As they pulled into the short drive leading to DeGrassi’s home, they spotted the vehicles already parked. Apparently no one had been able to leave. Pulling the truck up behind DeGrassi’s, Compton told Challa, “Go inside. I’ll be right there.”

  She glanced at him, knowing he was preparing himself. Preparing to fight for her and the others. Although she didn’t know how he was planning to do that, she nodded and hurried into the house.

  Compton unlocked the tool box seated across the back of the cab and pulled his deer rifles from beneath the olive drab blankets folded over them. He was vaguely aware of the front door closing and someone approaching as he stuffed cartridges into his hunting vest.

  “How many of those things do you have?” DeGrassi asked. Compton looked over at the man who had exchanged his uniform shirt for a plain blue t-shirt. In addition to the pistol he wore around his waist, DeGrassi had strapped on a shoulder harness, complete with a 9 mm.

  “Three. Want one?”

  “No, thanks, but bring them inside with you.” The deputy started to say more, but stopped when he saw Compton pull up one leg of his jeans. The artificial prosthesis gleamed like it had been freshly waxed. Compton pulled one side of the calf away to reveal a small compartment with a sling. The SIG Sauer dropped snugly into the makeshift carrier, and Compton slid the covering back into place.

  “Your invention?” DeGrassi asked with amusement.

  “Yeah.” Slinging the rifles over his shoulder, Compton followed the man back into the house where the others were waiting in the living room.

  A woman he hadn’t met yet was sitting at one end of the couch. Simolif stood directly behind her, leading Compton to believe she was Sarah, his mate. She was speaking when they entered.

  “—must have approached from the southern hemisphere, which is why we didn’t get any advance warning of their approach.” She paused as the two men came through the door.

  “Give it to us again, Sarah,” Jebaral asked.

  Unlike Hannah, Sarah wasn’t a striking beauty. Neither did she have a lithe figure or a beauty queen quality like the other women. But there was a sense of great inner strength and intelligence about her that immediately earned Compton’s respect. That and the fact that the others looked upon her as their group advisor.

  “From what we can gather, it’s one ship, but it’s a large one. It’s keeping low so that conventional radar can’t track it,” she stated.

  “Then how do you know it’s there if it’s invisible to radar?” Compton queried.

  Sarah threw a thumb over her shoulder. “I’m hooked up to SETI and UNICOR at the moment. They’re bouncing signals off two weather satellites, one in the northern and one in the southern hemispheres. That’s how we finally caught sight of the Arran craft approaching from the southern tip of the planet.”

  “So, rather than come down directly from above us, they came up from below?” DeGrassi clarified.

  The astronomer nodded. “That’s exactly what they did.”

  “And you’re certain there’s just the one ship?” Tiron asked. DeGrassi moved to stand behind her, and Compton caught the Ruinos woman leaning back against him for emotional and physical support. A moment later, Challa walked over to do the same. Compton stared at the tableau of all four couples in the living room, mate to mate.

  “We’ve double-checked and triple-checked. It’s just one ship, but it’s a big one. Bigger than what I’ve tracked before,” Sarah said.

  DeGrassi opened his phone and called the sheriff’s office. “This is DeGrassi. What’s the st
atus on the roadblocks? Uh-huh. Okay. Okay. Keep me posted. Yeah, let me speak to Klotsky.” As he waited to be connected, he told them, “Every road leading to and from town has been barricaded. Yeah, George.” He turned back to the phone. “What’s the latest? Okay. I’ll let you know what we decide to do. Okay.”

  “What brought the Arra back?” Hannah whispered. “I thought Dr. Fitzhugh said Challa didn’t have an implant.”

  “It’s very possible it’s pure coincidence,” Simolif suggested. “They’ve already been here twice. Once when you and Jeb mated, and then for me and Sarah. It’s possible they decided to close in, hoping to capture at least one mated pair.”

  “It doesn’t matter what brought them back,” DeGrassi said. “The only way that hasn’t been blocked is through the harbor. George told me the mill is sending both of its large cranes to help clear 2B south and 223.”

  “The Arra will expect us to try and clear the way,” Sarah added. “They’re going to make their move before we succeed.”

  Compton looked around the room. “Well, if we stay here, it won’t take much effort to round us up like cattle. If they’ve been here before, they’re definitely going to come back and check the place out. We need to leave. Now.”

  “And go where?” Hannah asked.

  “To the only place that’s ever been really safe for us,” Tiron softly replied. “To the one place where the Arra can’t follow us.”

  DeGrassi nodded. “Let me get the rest of my gear and I’ll meet you out back.”

  As one, they filed from the living room into the kitchen and out the back door. Thirty yards away the forest rose up like an enormous wall. The vegetation was dense, so thick as to be nearly impenetrable.

  “Care to let me and Hannah have one of those?” a voice asked behind him. Compton turned around to see Sarah giving him a smile that made her look beautiful. “Hi, I’m Sarah,” she added, holding out a hand to shake his. Compton complied.

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

  “In spite of current circumstances?” She laughed lightly, accepting two of his extra rifles, one of which she slung over her head and shoulder.

  DeGrassi soon joined them, carrying a large knapsack on his back. “Klotsky phoned again. Seems the mill’s cranes are missing.”

  “Missing?” Simolif repeated.

  “Probably at the bottom of the river,” Jebaral surmised.

  DeGrassi nodded, and everyone turned to head into the forest.

  It was not quite ten o’clock in the morning.

  Chapter 38

  Cabin

  DeGrassi was in the lead. Compton took the rear. Between them, the others walked in single file down a barely visible trail between the trees. Deeper and deeper into the woods they hiked for several hours. When they reached a small clearing, DeGrassi called a halt.

  “We’ll rest here for a few minutes. Then Roni is taking us the rest of the way.”

  “Where are we going?” Challa asked.

  “To a ranger cabin. In the winter it’s used whenever there’s a search for a lost hunter or camper, and the weather is too severe,” Tiron explained.

  “Just exactly where are we?” Compton inquired.

  DeGrassi produced a map from his knapsack and laid it on the ground. He also brought out a package of peanut butter crackers, and Hannah handed a serving to everyone. A canteen of water followed.

  The map was of the Flatlock National Park Forest and the Beering Game Preserve. “Our house is here.” DeGrassi pointed to a spot at the far southeastern corner of the map. “Jeb and Hannah’s place is here.” He noted a place closer to the southwestern corner, back-to-back with the southern end of the game preserve. Pulling a pen from his duffle, he placed Xs on the four roads leading in and out of Tumbril Harbor. “I’m guesstimating six miles from town to be here, here, here, and here.”

  Compton eyed the map with a trained eye. “Where are we?”

  “About here.” They were deep inside the park and not far from the game preserve.

  “And this cabin is where?”

  “Not far. Another couple of hours in,” Tiron said. “We’ll keep parallel to the game preserve.”

  “And then what?” Hannah asked. “We get to the cabin and do what? Hide out?” Her tone was part sarcasm and part fear, with a smidgen of irritation.

  Jebaral reached out to run a hand over her hair. “We wait and plan what we need to do next.”

  “Like what?” Sarah spoke up. “We don’t know how many of them there are.”

  “Not to mention the fact that those pus balls can split into two…or three,” DeGrassi added. “No, we’re going to wait until it’s after sunset. By then we should have a plan of action.” He pulled out his cell to check the reception. “I can’t get a signal this far in.”

  “Not a problem.” His wife smiled. “The cabin has a ham radio and satellite phone.”

  “Then let’s get moving,” Sarah suggested.

  This time Tiron took point. DeGrassi stayed right behind her, and Compton held up the caboose. Challa chose to keep close to him.

  Strangely, he didn’t feel tired or weak from the hike as he’d expected. The terrain was among the roughest he’d ever encountered, but he seemed to be as full of energy as when they started. Compton eyed the woman walking in front of him. Unconsciously his gaze dropped down to her tight rear, and memories of last night came back to him. A smile crawled onto his face.

  Challa turned around to see him smiling. She answered with one of her own, and it hit him. She was feeding him some of her strength. His jaw dropped slightly as he tried to absorb the enormity of what he was feeling.

  In front of Challa, Simolif and Sarah walked close together. Compton watched them, and presently he saw Sarah falter slightly. The woman stumbled, but Simolif was quick to grab her by the elbow. Almost immediately she straightened up and continued on as if nothing had happened. Compton caught the grateful, loving look that passed between them.

  They didn’t stop to rest again until they reached the cabin. It was made of roughly hewn logs, not constructed from a kit. Compton admired whoever had the talent to put the thing together. The structure was a thing of beauty.

  DeGrassi opened the door, surprising Compton that the place wasn’t kept locked. Then again, keeping track of a key or locking code would be too ponderous. They entered the small cabin that smelled dusty and unused. There was a table constructed of more shaved logs, along with four chairs. A few folded cots leaned against the wall, and an empty stone fireplace was built into the corner. Attached to the opposite wall was a long, low shelf containing the radio band and phone. Below it was a cabinet which Compton suspected held cooking utensils and other items.

  Tiron went immediately to the satellite phone and checked it. “Battery’s fresh,” she announced, looking around. “This place was reserviced within the past month to get it ready for the winter.”

  “Can you call the sheriff’s office?” DeGrassi asked.

  Tiron punched in the code to activate the receiver then dialed the number, handing the phone over to her husband. Everyone stopped to listen.

  “Cynthia, this is DeGrassi. Yeah? Okay.” DeGrassi placed his knapsack on the floor. “Hey, George. Yeah, we’re here. What’s the latest? Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Got it. Okay. We’re keeping a low profile here until sunset. I’ll call you then. All right. Okay. Later, then.” He handed the phone back to Tiron, who closed connections. “The mill has logging trucks wrapping chains around the trees and dragging them off the road. So far nothing and no one has shown up to stop them, but that doesn’t mean they won’t. Klotsky says the crews are staying on it until the roads are passable.”

  “Do you think the Arra will be able to find us here?” Challa asked.

  “I don’t see how,” Jebaral said. “Even so, I think it would be wise if we took turns keeping watch outside.”

  “I agree,” Compton said. “We can’t assume the Arra being here is a coincidence. Maybe it is, but who’s to say they didn’
t track me and Challa some other way? Or maybe they have another way of keeping tabs on the Ruinos?”

  Sarah nodded. “He has a point. As much as I’d like to believe the Arra showing up now like they did is merely coincidence, I think that doing so would be a dangerous thing to do. We can’t make assumptions when it comes to the Arra. Never make assumptions about the enemy.”

  “Do you think they blocked the roads because they knew Compton and I were here?” Challa asked.

  “We have to think that way,” Tiron said. “We can’t take anything for granted. Not when it comes to the Arra.”

  “So…what’s the next step?” Hannah spoke up. “Once the sun sets and you guys can change into your Ruinos selves, what do we do then?”

  “That depends on what the Arra do next,” Jebaral said.

  “What do you mean?” Hannah asked.

  Compton snorted. “You want to wait to see if the Arra come back to put the roadblock up again. Maybe sneak up on them while their concentration is on the rebuilding?”

  DeGrassi grinned. “You’re sharp. How’d you figure that one out?”

  “Easy. The map.” Compton smiled. “When you showed me the location of the cabin on the map, I noticed how close it is to one of the roadblocks. How near do you think we are?”

  Tiron and DeGrassi exchanged looks before DeGrassi answered. “About two or three miles, give or take.”

  Compton cocked his head. “The only thing I haven’t figured out is why you’re targeting that particular roadblock.”

  “Because it’s the one closest to our homes,” Tiron answered. “It’s also the road we all take every day to go to work.”

  Chapter 39

  Arra

  DeGrassi shot a couple of rabbits, which Hannah cooked over a fire in the fireplace. The Ruinos ate a salad of mixed greens which Tiron and Challa gathered from the woods. When they were finished, DeGrassi once again laid the map out on the table and revealed his strategy.

  “Hopefully the Arra won’t be suspecting a direct assault on them while they’re rebuilding the roadblock.”