Deadly Cargo (Jake Mudd Adventures Book 1)

by Hal Archer

  As he dropped his goggles, out of the corner of his eye he caught Nadira and Brun doing the same.

  "It's clear," Nadira called out.

  Hodin waved his arm forward. "Let's move."

  They traveled another minute or so, the air cooling noticeably. The sky grew darker, as thick clouds of heavy gray and muted amber moved in across the mountains. The wind picked up, filling the air with a constant rushing noise, soon to be too loud to hear one another.

  A loud crashing sound struck from the west and echoed through them. All of them halted. Jake looked to the mountains behind them, thinking they'd been struck again or collapsed where they'd blown through the cave. They'd traveled far from the cave, but from what he could see, it still looked as they left it.

  Alara, seeing him look back, yelled through the wind, "It's the storm, Daedalon's anger. It's coming for—."

  Did she say 'you' or 'us'?

  "You're right," Nadira looked skyward toward the mountains, "the storms are cresting the mountains. But if the sky is angry, its wrath is for Kharn."

  Jake watched the dark mass roll over the peaks. "Where's the flash?"

  "What?" Nadira said.

  "Lightning, it comes with light."

  "He's right," Hodin said. "I fear it is the thunder of war, but we Waudure have nothing that would shake the earth as that."

  Hanlan, who had run as only his kind could, caught up with them as Hodin spoke. "Our task is all the direr."

  "Hanlan!" Brun turned to greet him as everyone stopped at hearing the sniper's words. Brun embraced his brother-in-arms with the Waudure bond, arms clasped. The two were glad to see the life still well in the other.

  "Good to see you," Nadira said.

  Hodin went up to Hanlan and greeted him as Brun had done. "Yes, it is."

  "How'd you get down here so fast?" Jake asked.

  Hanlan didn't respond.

  Nadira approached Jake, and leaned in to him to whisper. "He won't admit it, but I've seen the apparatus he uses to fall from the sky. Must've used it to get down the mountain."

  "Hmm. I see."

  "The storms," Hanlan said, looking even more serious than usual, "they're unlike anything we've ever seen."

  "That bad?" Hodin asked. "We saw the clouds. Didn't think they ever made it over the mountains, at least not the high ones surrounding this land."

  "If not for the weapon fire," Hanlan said, "and the light from the explosions, they'd be fighting in utter darkness. Just before I headed down here— the storms —I couldn't see what was happening on the battlefield."

  "It's a sign," Alara said. She spoke, peering into the distance, toward the Cracian base.

  Jake thought he saw her lips form a faint smile, but he wasn't sure.

  "We can't help them by standing here," Hodin said.

  "He's right." Nadira looked toward the mountains as she spoke. "And I'd rather not be standing out here when those storms reach us."

  Most of them nodded their assent. They resumed their path across the plateau. Soon, crossing another ridge, Kharn's base came into full view. Only a few hundred feet to go, Jake thought.

  To their left, far away, through the pass in the mountain range, the tail end of the Cracian forces were visible. The ground troops and several transport vehicles, along with a few ships overhead, looked to be driving back the Waudure advance. Kharn's forces were moving deeper into the mountain pass, attacking relentlessly. Little return fire pierced the gloom. Garbled, muted echoes of the battle reverberated off the mountains.

  The storm's creeping mass of blackness spread across the sky, enveloping the tops of the mountains, and casting a single shadow over all below.

  Then a flash blinded Jake. His vision returned slowly as the boom of thunder sounded a second later. He, along with the others, shifted footing to avoid falling to the ground from the quake caused by the shockwave.

  Once he recovered, he grabbed his viewing goggles. He saw rain pouring down into the pass between the mountains. The fight of the Cracian forces he could see collapsed under the deluge. The flood turned the ground in the pass into a slurry. Few could stand, let alone continue their attack. The Cracian ground transport vehicles lost all traction and became immobile.

  The rain had not yet made it to where Jake and the others stood. It continued to spill into the mountain pass, and slowly overflowing beyond the mountain range. The mighty storm was moving toward the base. It would be upon Jake and his companions soon.

  "I've never seen such a thing," Brun said. Then he slowly lowered his viewing goggles.

  Jake saw the stunned look on his face.

  "We need to keep moving," Hodin said.

  They set off again, this time at a near run.

  Jake watched the scene unfolding at the mountain pass. The storm did not respite. Only flickers of weapon fire were visible, coming from farther inside the pass. A bolt of lightning struck one of the Cracian ships. It exploded in the air. Jake saw one of the larger pieces of the craft, aflame and spinning, fly into the side of a mountain. The other two ships turned away from the battle and flew toward the Cracian base, headed toward Jake and his team.

  Jake waved his arm to Nadira and the others, as he took off toward the cluster of buildings beneath the curved metal superstructure. "We need to get inside before they see us!"

  Nadira saw the two craft approaching and cried out, "Net ships! Hurry!"

  She and the rest of them ran with Jake toward the base.

  The two ships flew in close to the base, then one of them turned toward the infiltration team.

  Nadira, seeing it targeting them, screamed to the others. "Don't let it get over you!"

  They ran as fast as they could to take cover under the half-domed construction that loomed high above the base's many connected buildings, but there was too much distance to clear.

  The storm pushed beyond the confines of the mountains and rolled toward them, crossing the plateau rapidly.

  The ship swooped in and took a position above Hodin, tracking his movements as he ran.

  Jake turned and fired at the ship with his blaster, but it wasn't enough to penetrate the ship's armor. Nadira and the others joined their weapons with his, firing relentlessly at the net ship. They couldn't stop it. Their handheld weapons weren't enough. The net ships, built to operate at low altitudes in the midst of enemy fire, were constructed to withstand more than Jake and the others had available to them.

  A panel on the bottom of the craft slid open and a heavy net of thick metal cable shot out toward Hodin. Fixed on the edges with weighted balls of iron, the net spread wider as it flew down toward Hodin. The central point of the mesh web tethered to the ship by a single cable, the same metal as the net itself. The device fell onto Hodin and enveloped him, knocking him to the ground with its weight. Then, the thing electrified.

  Jake watched as the charge lit up the cables with a white glow, and sparks arced across several points. He aimed at the line connecting the net to the ship that fed it the charge. He fired. His blaster shot couldn't get through the energy field built up around the cable. He couldn't cut the connection.

  Hodin screamed as Jake and the others ran to him. It took only a few seconds for them to reach him, but when they made it to the edge of the netting, Hodin fell silent.

  "No!" Nadira cried out before turning her weapon on the ship once again.

  Jake peered through the cabled web and saw Hodin no longer needed saving.

  "He's gone," Jake said. "The other ship is coming. We need to get inside."

  Brun pulled Nadira by the arm and forced her to run toward one of the buildings. Alara, Hanlan, and Jake headed for it as well.

  The leading edge of the storm reached them. The rush of wind, cold with a heavy mist, bowled into them from their left as they ran. Shielding their faces from the weather, they struggled to keep going. Gusts almost pushed them off their feet. The rain crashed against them, pelting them in sheets, obscuring their view of the Cracian base ahead. But they kne
w they were close, so they kept going.

  The other ship circled in on them. They pushed their legs to move faster, trying to escape the second net ship. Jake reached back as he ran, shooting against the cockpit to obscure the pilot's view. Then he veered away from the rest of the group, continuing to fire at the craft. The net ship took the bait, maneuvering to chase him down. Jake continued to shoot at it.

  Jake led the ship away from the others, giving them time to reach the base and find one of the entrances. Brun slid into the wet ground, slamming against a steel door. He pulled his pack off his back and dug into it, taking out several explosive charges and their triggers.

  Alara, Hanlan, and Nadira settled in beside him, surrounding him and aiming their weapons back toward the net ship, which still flew after Jake.

  Jake managed to out maneuver the ship by running erratically, changing directions and pace multiple times. He continued to shoot into the ship's cockpit viewing window as much as possible.

  Nadira reached past Brun, who furiously put together his explosive array, and tried the handle on the door. It didn't move. Brun looked up at her.

  "Had to try it," she said.

  Brun shook his head and then raised the now connected explosive charges to the door and attached them to it with an adhesive putty.

  "He'll never make it," Nadira said, looking at Jake as he ran from the ship, leaping over rocks and mounds. "Can't we do something?"

  "I am doing something," Brun said. "Now everyone needs to get back." He gestured for them to move away from the door.

  They repositioned themselves farther down the wall, to what seemed like a safe distance.

  "That's good," Brun said. Then he made a last adjustment to the charge and joined them.

  "Jake!" Nadira holstered her weapon and waved him down with both arms.

  Brun flipped the trigger on the device in his hand. The explosives attached to the door blew a hole through it. Not only did the door fly off its hinges, breaking into numerous pieces, but the wall around where the door had been also collapsed. The blast splayed the metal and curled it inwards, creating a bigger opening than they needed to get through. They rushed over to see it was done.

  Alara peered inside, her weapon drawn. "It's clear. Get in." She stepped in through the space where the door had been.

  Brun followed. "Be careful."

  Nadira watched Jake run toward them. The ship stayed with him.

  Jake caught his pack on a large rock as he planted his hands midway onto it and leapt over it. The strap tore, and his pack fell to the ground, but he kept moving.

  "He's not going to make it," she said, then she looked at Hanlan, pleading with him with her eyes.

  "I'll put him out of his misery." Hanlan unslung his rifle from his back and slipped off the wrap that protected it. He held the rifle up to his cheek, tucked his shoulder in against it, and took aim.

  "What are you doing?" Nadira said, reaching for his rifle.

  Before she struck it with her hand, he let loose a shot. As she knocked the barrel down, she looked at Jake.

  He continued running toward them. The ship flying in low after him stuttered and veered off course, slowing slightly. Jake, kept going, putting more distance between him and the pursuing Cracian.

  "He's going to make it," Nadira said.

  "You're welcome." Hanlan wrapped his rifle again and swung it around onto his back.

  "I thought you were going to—"

  "Why would I do that?" Hanlan asked.

  After a few more seconds of the ship tipping this way and that, the pilot seemed to recover from the shot Hanlan placed directly in front of his face. The flash that close to him must have startled the pilot, but now the net ship corrected its course and renewed its pursuit of Jake, who still had a couple hundred feet to make it to the door.

  "Oh no!" Nadira grabbed Hanlan's arm and pointed to Jake and the ship.

  "He'll make it," Hanlan said.

  "Wait. Look. The storm."

  As Jake ran toward them, the ship flew above him.

  Keeping pace with Jake, the pilot opened the panel on the underside of his ship to launch the net. As he reached for the lever to send it out, a mass of thick dark clouds dropped onto the ship like a weight. The Cracian craft disappeared into the storm momentarily.

  Jake heard the event but didn't look back. He ran, reaching Nadira and Hanlan seconds later.

  Standing next to the opening into the Cracian base, he looked back only to see the net ship ejected from bottom of the black clouds. It flew out at an odd angle, hurtling toward the ground. Just before impact, Jake saw the nose of the ship pull up slightly. Then the whole of it crashed against the dense dirt and hard rock, exploding in a fireball whose black smoke rose and fed into the darkened sky above.

  "Unbelievable," he said.

  Nadira took his hand. "Daedalon bestows her fortune on the Waudure when our cause is just."

  He gazed upon the flaming wreckage for a moment before turning his attention to her. A tear clung to the corner of her eye. He felt her hand tremble in his own.

  "I'm sorry we couldn't save, Hodin," Jake said, glancing at Hanlan for a split second, but focusing his words more toward Nadira.

  Hanlan moved to step through the opening in the wall. Then he paused. "He'd say he died well, but I'd say he lived well." He passed through the opening into the base.

  Jake reached a hand to Nadira's face, extending his index finger.

  She didn't move, but continued to look at him.

  He wiped the tear from her eye. He spoke softly. "Come on. We've got a job to do."

  CHAPTER 31

  T he lone guard stood in the cave, many levels above the heart of the Waudure stronghold hidden underground. Accustomed to the wind and dust, to the shifting elements of Daedalon, he stood in his well-worn uniform, tan like the rocks around him, only his face and hands showing the Waudure red. He could no longer see the hundreds of his fellow people that had earlier set out across the vast rocky plain toward the Cracian mountains. He would have served with them in battle, but his place was here, keeping watch over those that remained.

  One of only a handful of trained soldiers not facing off against Kharn's forces, he, like the other guards stationed in similar caves around the great perimeter of their home, took pride in his position. To guard the stronghold meant honor and trust. No stranger to fighting, he'd risen to his current station by choice of the Elders. They recognized his steadfastness and bravery. No Waudure would think of turning down a decision of the Elders, whose mystic ways were unfathomable to all but those of royal blood. He wasn't royal, like the three Elders; he was a Waudure man, humbly doing his part for his people.

  For hours after his people's forces were no longer in sight, he scoured the horizon for any signs of Cracian scouts or spies. As it was most weeks on watch, whether with his naked eyes or with his viewing goggles, he saw nothing but the occasional pack of wild crag beasts or a few scurrying drasils making their way from the cracks and shade of one cluster of rocks to the protection of another. The ever-changing sky loomed overhead, often confusing day for night and night for day.

  He saw nothing unusual. Yet, in the distance, beyond even the scope of his goggles, he knew his people would face the might of the Kharn's army. He'd heard rumors as to why his people, who had spent years avoiding detection deep in the Untamed Lands, now set out to attack the Cracian land. He remembered the times when the daily huntings took many of his neighbors and friends, never to reappear.

  Rumors. Rumors that the de facto peace they who resisted enslavement enjoyed for so long was near an end. Rumors that Crassus Kharn, the diabolical leader of the Cracians, had found a way to root them out, even in the safety of their deep hidden home. He will turn the sky against us, many whispered.

  As a guard of the stronghold, he had his place. The council of the Waudure military leaders and of the Elders was not his to be heard. Rumors. But, as he stood, watching across the vast plain for signs of the enem
y, he could think of no other reason sufficient to send their forces in a direct assault against the Cracian land.

  And then, his reverie broke.

  It was to the north, so faint at first, he questioned his eyes. Grabbing his viewing goggles, he homed in on the spot where he'd seen a glimmer far in the distance. Something approached, but he couldn't yet make out what it was.

  Every so often, light would dance off the back of a crag beast or some other wild creature, only to later reveal the beast for what it truly was. He adjusted his goggles and focused on the object of interest. It was moving fast.

  The light spread to five times its width, then it faded. In its place, four Cracian assault vehicles drove toward him. They were miles away, but from the dust cloud they were kicking up, he could tell they weren't wasting any time making their way to the Waudure stronghold. Before he lowered his goggles to head downstairs to alert those in the base and the few guards and soldiers still there, he caught sight of several more vehicles.

  "They must've known," he said. "We've no chance."

  He raced to the back of the cave and down a set of stairs carved into the rock.

  "Cracians! It's a large assault force coming in from the north. At least nine vehicles, heavily equipped, probably two hundred men."

  The men in the room, five of them, clambered to their feet. They ran down the five corridors that fed out of the room toward different sections of the stronghold. Each racing to alert their counterparts in the base, setting off a chain reaction of communication. Within minutes, the entire base knew of the approaching threat.

  Teams, each led by the most seasoned of the fighters that hadn't left to take part in the assault on the Kharn's base, took positions at every point along the northern end of the stronghold, armed with the meager supply of weapons not taken to the Cracian mountains.