Eli didn’t know enough about Waa history to know when they started exploring the stars, or when the motherships were first used. It was another item on a growing list of items he planned to ask Aank about.
The Minith didn’t question him when he returned to camp. He was their leader, and it wasn’t their place. On his command, they simply shouldered their weapons and set off on another day of marching.
As they headed out, Eli could only assume the Chih were somewhere nearby. Following.
Chapter 24
Down, down, down.
Climb, climb, climb.
The unspoken words washed across his being. Eli stopped moving and held up a hand to halt the Minith trailing along behind him.
They had been moving all morning and making good time toward the mine. With luck, they would reach it before nightfall, which was less than six hours away. He wanted to keep pushing on, but he had learned to listen to his new friends. The Chih hadn’t failed him yet.
You want me to climb down to the next level? he asked. He wondered if that’s where they traveled—a level below the one that he and his team traversed.
Yes, yes, yes.
Down, down, down.
Eli didn’t question the instructions. Instead, he looked around for the nearest trunk and spotted one less than thirty meters to their left. He then waved for Sergeant Drek, who quickly moved to his side.
“We’re moving to that tree,” Eli stated, pointing to the one he’d selected. “I’m going to climb down to the next level of the forest and scout around. It shouldn’t take long.”
“Of course, Captain. I’ll go with you,” Drek rumbled.
Eli’s first thought was to dissuade the Minith from joining him and to have him remain with the rest of the Minith. But the sergeant hadn’t been overly pleased with Eli’s unexplained absence the previous evening, so Eli decided it best not to press the issue. For now. He didn’t know what the Chih wanted, but he didn’t think having the sergeant along would be a problem. If they wanted to meet with him alone, that could be arranged easily enough. All Eli had to do was order Drek to return to his men.
“Excellent, sergeant,” Eli said with a nod. “Set up the team in a defensive posture and we’ll see what lies below.”
Five minutes later, Eli was scaling downward. Drek was easily keeping pace two meters to his right. Eli watched the Minith moving down along the heavily veined trunk without any difficulty and realized the Minith had been born to climb. The long arms, strong hands, and longish toes gripped the tree easily and helped make the trek a quick one. The long, fingerlike toes really helped, Eli noted. He had been somewhat surprised when the sergeant began removing his boots prior to the climb, but it now made sense. The boots were currently slung around the Minith’s neck by the laces.
Eli paused regularly as they descended to scout out the area below them. He cycled through the visual displays to make sure the way was clear. He spied nothing except the vast expanse of twisted, interlaced branches and limbs that made up the floor of this level. The Chih had yet to make an appearance. He wondered again what they wanted to show him.
The pair reached the thick floor of the dim level and Eli looked around and noted nothing of seeming significance. The air seemed a bit damper than usual, though, so Eli brought up the environmental assessment system and went over the readings it offered. All readings were in the normal range . . . except for humidity. The humidity here seemed double what Eli had come to expect on the level when the rains weren’t present. Interesting. Still, it didn’t explain why the Chih had asked him to come here.
He stopped trying to puzzle it out for himself and asked directly.
Why did you want me to come here?
He didn’t have to wait long for their reply
Down, down, down.
Quiet, quiet, quiet.
Down. So they hadn’t wanted him to see anything on this level, but there was something on the surface level below? Fine.
“Sergeant Drek,” Eli addressed his companion. “Wait here. I’m going to check out the surface level. I won’t be long.”
Eli expected the sergeant to contest the announcement, but the argument never came. The other’s ears twitched and his lip curled, which let Eli know the Minith wasn’t happy with the declaration. But the reality was that Drek couldn’t see well on this level. He’d be virtually blind on the level below. Apparently recognizing his own limitations, the soldier merely nodded.
“I’ll keep watch from here,” he said. The tone was low and gravel-like—not quite a snarl. “Watch yourself. There are some deadly beasts on this planet, and most of them reside on the surface.”
“I don’t plan to put a single boot on the surface, Drek,” Eli countered. He recalled his previous experience with the wolves and knew that there was danger here on this level as well. The incident had given him an appreciation for the perils the planet posed. “I’ll scope things out from the tree trunk. Keep an eye out for wolves on this level. Maybe climb up a few meters?”
The Minith looked around, then up at the tree trunk they had climbed down. He nodded.
“Good idea. I can see more from five meters above.”
Without another word, the pair retook their places on the rough bark of the tree. Drek climbed up and Eli down.
Eli passed below the level of intertwined branches and paused to scout the surface, which waited seventy meters below. Even with his enhanced vision, he couldn’t see much. The air was filled with a strange cloudlike mist that curtailed visibility. Even his thermal systems couldn’t see through to the ground. He moved lower.
At the halfway point, Eli halted once again and looked down. The mist was even thicker here, and he wiped a hand over his face shield to clear the water that had built up. He still couldn’t see the ground below.
The mist seemed more dense on his left, so he moved right, circling the mammoth trunk. The further he moved, the less humidity beaded his mask. By the time he reached the far side of the tree, the mist had disappeared entirely. Strange.
He looked down and found he could see the ground if he looked toward the south. To the east and west, in what seemed like a straight line, the strange mist still obscured his view. Even more strange.
It was as if the mist was contained to a straight line leading east and west, and it extended only to the ceiling of this level. It seemed artificial in its design, and Eli wondered what could cause such a phenomenon. He was immediately met with a mental flashback of Telgora and the battle with the Zrthns. The Zrthns had exited their ships accompanied by a network of misting devices. Those devices had provided them with an environment in which they could move and fight on the dry, sandy surface of the planet. Could he be looking at similar technology here?
There was only one way to find out.
He climbed lower.
Despite his assertion to Drek that he wouldn’t leave the tree, he had to investigate. If there were misters here, it meant the Zrthns were here as well. He had to know for sure.
Eli stepped to the surface and quickly moved to the left, circling the trunk. From the ground, seeing into the mist was much easier. It was like being in the rain. The ground beneath his feet wasn’t nearly as muddy or waterlogged as it had been with the natural deluge Cerbius had offered. The surface seemed to be sucking the moisture into itself almost as quickly as it was hitting the ground. Still, it provided a wet slickness that a Zrthn might enjoy.
Eli moved to the east, tracking the outer path of moisture. Some type of device or technology had to be creating the wetness that surrounded him, and he scanned the landscape around him, searching for the source. Forty meters farther on, he found what he was looking for. A spherical metal device, roughly a meter in diameter, was perched atop a tripod stand. Strong streams of water were being spewed up and out in a semicircular pattern from more than a dozen small spouts. Eli stood on the drier, south side of the mister and squatted down, inspecting it to see if he could determine how the thing worked.
&
nbsp; The spouts were directed up and away from where he sat, and he watched as strong streams of water poured forth from each. Strangely, the water arcs changed into mist at a point five meters in front of the device. Eli couldn’t tell how that was accomplished, but the result was a thick, effective mist that covered an area at least fifty meters to the front and to both sides of the mister. A metal tube extended from the bottom of the sphere. The tube seemed to connect the entire device to the ground. Eli wondered if this was the water source. It made sense. The water had to come from somewhere, and from a pool beneath the planet’s surface was the most likely place.
The mister was an interesting development, but Eli had a bigger question he needed to answer. Why was it here?
He looked to the east and the west and cued up his vision enhancement. The trail of mist traveled in a straight line for as far as he could see. Eli wondered how wide the mist pattern was, and, after looking around for possible threats, he sprinted into the mist. He hadn’t traveled far—only about sixty meters—when he reached dry ground. So the misted area was long but not wide.
A pathway? Why would the Zrthns need a pathway through the forest? The mine was another ten kilometers to the west, so it was possible that was where the path originated. But where did it lead? The remains of the Agate were to the east, but that was all that lay in that direction, as far as Eli knew. But if that was their destination why put down what looked like permanent misters? Why not just use portable ones, like they’d done on Telgora?
It was a mystery, and not one he was likely to solve without additional information, and he didn’t want to spend any more time than necessary on the puzzle. The Chih had wanted him to see this, and he had seen it. His primary goal, though, was still to find the survivors of the crash. Once he’d done that, he could think more about this pathway through the forest.
He turned to the east and began heading back to Drek and the team of Minith. He hadn’t made it ten meters, though, when he pulled up and stopped. Just ahead, still clouded by mist, lay a large, hulking shape. Around the shape, also clouded by mist, he spied quick flashes of movement. He recalled Drek’s warning about the dangers on the surface and pulled the Ginny from its holster.
Slowly, he moved forward toward a trunk that sat off to the left, halfway between his location and the large, mysterious bulk. He reached the tree and debated climbing up and out of this level, but his curiosity was too strong. The movement ahead had been joined by the sound of growling and he immediately thought of the wolves he’d encountered. Did they also exist on the surface?
He cycled his helmet to thermal and noted two things. First, the size, shape, and quickness of the half-dozen heat signatures he saw ahead pointed to his being right about the wolves. Second, the large mound was another animal. But the warm radiance it emitted, combined with the ripping and tearing motions coming from the wolves, showed that it was recently dead.
The wolves were eating their dinner. And their dinner appeared to be an adult giantpillar. It seemed to be at least four times the size of the ones Eli had seen above. It was too large to navigate the trunk tunnels between the levels, so it had to be a permanent surface dweller. Perhaps all giantpillars eventually turned into surface dwellers? It was just one more mystery on a planet full of mysteries.
Eli’s attention was yanked from the scene ahead of him by a loud slithering sound coming from behind, and he quickly ducked down and spun to face the potential threat. He nearly fired the Ginny, but held back at the last moment.
Instead, he slunk backward and put the tree trunk he was kneeling beside between himself and the approaching figures. Slowly, carefully, he began climbing the tree where it faced away from the mist. When he reached a height of twenty meters, he moved slowly around so he could safely observe the procession below.
A flash of light leaped out from the front rank of the Zrthns passing below him. It was quickly followed by another, then several more as additional alien weapons were fired.
Eli watched as the lasers cut easily through the pack of wolves feasting on the adult giantpillar. The hungry creatures hadn’t stood a chance against the hundreds of aliens that continued their movement, unabated, to the east. So this was a pathway, after all. Their destination was a mystery that would have to be answered later. The need to find the survivors, install the comm device into a carrier, and notify the Alliance of what was happening here superseded everything else for now.
The ranger waited twenty minutes for the column of enemy fighters to pass. Once they disappeared into the distance, he scaled the giant tree and quickly made his way back to Drek.
The need for haste—already strong—had become even more urgent.
Chapter 25
Drah paced behind his desk. His head was down; his eyes saw only the floor ahead of his next footstep. He’d lost count of the number of passes he’d made along the shortened path. Four steps to the wall on the right, spin, four paces to the window on the left, spin. Repeat.
Then repeat again.
Step after step, footfall after footfall.
The movement was necessary for his well-being. It greased his thoughts and helped keep his mind focused as he pondered the events of the last two weeks. This small mining outpost had been his sanctuary—his island of dominion in a sea surrounded by the threat of lifelong slavery and subservience—until the alliance scout ship’s appearance.
But now he was surrounded by the Zrthns. His sanctuary was limited to the confines of the four walls that surrounded him. He wondered when the fishlike slavers would come for him. Wondered when they’d arrive and take away even this small space.
Technically, he was still in charge of the mining facility. He still oversaw the Minith workers and still made his reports to Oinoo. But that was a matter of time, he knew. The Zrthn had to know he’d been lied to regarding the Alliance’s lack of knowledge about the agsel on the planet. The alien wasn’t stupid. Just the opposite. If Oinoo had been Minith, the ax would have already fallen across Drah’s neck. At least, that’s what Drah would have done if their roles were reversed. He had no patience for disloyalty and no tolerance for lies from his underlings. Surely, the Zrthn was no different.
A light knock on the closed door pulled Drah from his thoughts, and he finally stopped his pacing. He glanced at the timepiece sitting on the desk and noted he had been stomping back and forth for hours. He felt better for the effort.
He returned to his desk, arranged his giant frame into the seat behind it, and snarled, “Enter!”
Lieutenant Chall, his new assistant, opened the door and stepped inside the office at Drah’s command. Drah watched the underling station himself across the desk, assume the position of attention, and wait to be addressed.
Good, Drah thought. This one is smarter than the last. Perhaps he will live longer.
That was fortunate since the supply of warriors currently under his boot was severely diminished. He could only kill so many and still get the job done. Examples had to be made, obviously, but he had to be judicious in making them.
“Speak,” he ordered.
“Colonel Drah,” Chall began. “The relief squad we dispatched to the Alliance crash this morning found something . . . disturbing . . . when they arrived at the ship.”
Drah sat up straighter in the chair. His ear twitched at the news. “Disturbing” was never a good descriptor to hear. He nodded at Chall to continue.
“We found one of our warriors tied up inside the damaged craft. The remainder of the squad was gone.” Chall paused briefly. He seemed hesitant to continue but pushed ahead. “Apparently, the other six warriors have deserted.”
Drah slammed a fist on the desk and bolted to his feet.
“Desertion,” he growled. How dare they? “Who?”
“Sergeant Drek and his squad,” Chall answered. His eyes were cast downward, and he seemed intent on studying the floor between where he stood and his superior’s desk. “And . . . and they might have left with a human. A Shiale Ranger.”
“A ranger? Here?!” Drah’s entire being went taut, then shuddered. He wanted to lash out, wanted to slam his fist into Chall’s weak face, but he managed to have restraint. Chall wasn’t responsible for the news; he was just the bearer.
“That’s what Corporal Krun, the soldier we found tied up inside the ship, stated, Colonel,” Chall said. “It’s possible he made a mistake.”
“Where is Krun now?”
“He’s waiting outside, Colonel. I thought you might wish to speak with him.”
“Bring him,” Drah ordered.
The Minith colonel slowly lowered his bulk into the seat. Thoughts swirled around his head and struggled with his roiling emotions for attention. He wanted to think rationally about this new development and what it meant, but the need to lash out—break something, anything—was staking its claim for dominance.
The rangers were responsible for his and the Zrthns’ defeat on Telgora. They were the reason he’d been cast out by the Alliance and turned over to the Zrthns like common chattel. The human rangers were the reason he and his followers had been enslaved and relegated to this backwater planet.
Chall returned, pushing the soldier, Krun, ahead of him roughly. The corporal still had his hands tied behind his back, Drah was pleased to note. Chall had been thinking.
The Minith colonel stepped around the desk and stood directly in front of the bound warrior. He studied the other’s face and noted a large egg-shaped welt on the side of his head. That has to hurt, Drah thought.
The colonel lifted his right hand and slapped his underling so that the flat of his palm landed soundly against the raised lump. Krun staggered at the assault, his knees buckling, but Chall caught the corporal’s elbow and prevented the fall. He stood him up straight, so that he faced their commander.
Stranded Justice (The Justice Trilogy Series Book 2) Page 15