Mark of Eon: Eon Warriors #5

by Hackett, Anna

  “Aerial patrol,” Aydin hissed. “Don’t move.”

  They stayed pressed to the rock, watching the Kantos flying bugs overhead. They wheeled through the air, moving farther away.

  Thank God.

  “Go,” Aydin said.

  Jamie picked up the pace, climbing faster. She jammed her boot against a foothold and reached up—

  The rock crumpled and her leg slipped.

  “Jamie!”

  She slid a meter before she caught herself. Fuck. Her pulse thundered. “I’m okay.” Gritting her teeth, she started upward again. “Keep moving.”

  Moments later, he called down. “I can see the vent. It’s embedded into the rock.”

  She paused and arched her head back. Just past Aydin, she saw the metal doorway in the rock. Not far above it, she saw several rows of windows.

  Fucking Kantos. She continued up until she reached Aydin.

  He gripped her shoulder for a second, then nodded. He pulled a small tool off his belt and carefully worked the cover off the vent shaft. He tossed the cover behind them and it sailed down toward the ground. Then a small light with a greenish tinge appeared from his shoulder, spearing into the round vent tunnel.

  Jamie really, really wanted a helian.

  The vent tunnel was large enough for Aydin’s big form. He crawled in and Jamie followed.

  It was mostly smooth rock, but in some places were sticky patches of…she lifted her glove. She had no idea what the goo was, and she probably didn’t want to know.

  “Ugh.” She tried to shake the stuff off.

  “I can see the end of the tunnel,” he said.

  They reached the end of the vent, and he slowly opened the internal hatch. He peered through, and then nodded. He slid inside the Kantos lab, and Jamie went in right behind him.

  Their boots touched the rough floor and they stood there for a second, looking around. The place was typical Kantos construction, with hard, brown walls, and glowing, gold lights fixed into the walls.

  Aydin closed the hatch and checked his scanner. “The air quality in here is okay for us.”

  They retracted their helmets.

  Jamie wrinkled her nose. As usual, the place smelled bad.

  He looked at his scanner again. “Wait.” The scanner chimed, and then a wide smile split his rugged face. “I’m detecting helians.”

  Finally, some good news. She smiled back.

  “That way.” He jerked his head down the corridor.

  “Let’s do this,” Jamie said.

  * * *

  Aydin moved down the corridor, his body alert.

  The helians were in this facility, somewhere. And they were going to find them.

  They turned a corner, and he noticed several tubes running along the walls. Some were filled with lava, while others were filled with toxic, blue water from the lakes outside. The Kantos were utilizing the native resources for whatever experiments they were conducting. No surprise there.

  He and Jamie moved into a large, cavernous room.

  “What the fuck is that?” Jamie breathed.

  In the center of the room was a huge, brown, gelatinous pile of…organic matter. He wasn’t sure what it was either.

  Aydin scanned the pile that rose up toward the ceiling. “I have no idea what it is.”

  The mass moved, wobbling gently like—

  “Is it breathing?” she asked incredulously.

  “Let’s not find out.” They circled around the pile, staying close to the wall.

  On the other side of the space was an arched doorway. They left the pile of brown goo behind, and entered the next room.

  “Shit, watch out,” Jamie said. “There’s a huge hole.”

  The next room held a giant chasm that glowed with a faint, golden light. It was circular, and extended both up and down.

  Aydin looked up, but the ceiling was lost into the darkness above. Huge, winged insects flew through the space. Down below, he could just make out the floor. It was a long way down, and he saw smaller, drone-like insects rushing around.

  “I wish I had some industrial-strength bug spray,” Jamie muttered. “The helians?”

  He pointed down.

  She winced. “I knew you were going to say that.”

  Both of them scanned the rock walls. “There are some decent handholds.” It’d be a long, dangerous climb down, but they could make it.

  She nodded.

  Aydin lowered himself over the edge and set one boot onto a small ledge.

  He started down, and she started climbing beside him. It was no surprise to him that she was good at it, moving easily over the rock face.

  When she’d slipped earlier, he was certain his heart had stopped, but in typical Jamie fashion, she’d regrouped and kept going.

  “Do you do much climbing?” he asked.

  “No. Just in training.”

  He gripped a jutting rock tightly and moved down. “What do you do for fun?”

  “Fun?” She sounded like the word was a foreign concept.

  His marine needed to learn to relax. “Yes, fun. Things you do when you aren’t working.”

  “What do you do for fun?” she shot back.

  He gripped a handhold, carefully shifting his body weight. “I’m as bad as you. I’m either at work, training, or asleep.”

  “You’re driven,” she said. “Because of your family.”

  “Yes, I’ve always wanted to make life easier for them. I want to make them proud.”

  “I bet they are so proud of you.”

  Aydin paused and then grabbed her hand. He knew she’d been alone most of her life.

  She lifted her head.

  “You’re an impressive woman, Jamie Park.”

  She stared at him for a beat. “Dammit, don’t make me like you.”

  “You already do.”

  She snorted. “I like your body.”

  Suddenly, there was a sound of rushing air and beating wings. Big ones.

  Cren. Aydin looked over his shoulder.

  “What is it?” Jamie asked tensely.

  “I can’t see in this darkness.” Even with his helian-enhanced vision.

  A rush of air hit them, and then Jamie’s body was yanked off the wall.

  “Fuck!” she yelled.

  “Jamie!”

  Aydin saw the winged creature—it had a long body, and a dual set of wings that were made of a translucent lattice. The Kantos carried Jamie out over the chasm.

  No. He ground his teeth together, trying to think of a way to get to her.

  Then he heard more fluttering wings, and a second later, claws gripped his back and he was plucked off the wall.

  The alien insect struggled with his weight, but it beat its wings wildly, heading out over the abyss.

  He heard Jamie curse, then lost sight of her.

  Cren. Cren.

  He looked down. By Alqin’s axe, if they fell from this height, they’d be crushed by the fall.

  “Hold on, Jamie,” he bellowed.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Jamie’s body swung wildly below the Kantos flying bug. She felt its claws digging into her back, shredding her suit.

  She looked down.

  God. She might be a hardened space marine, but even her stomach rolled.

  At the bottom of the chasm was a heaving mass of bugs.

  They were too high. If she got herself free, the fall would kill her, for sure. She needed to get lower.

  She pulled out her blaster, then aimed it at one of the wings of the bug carrying her. The laser whined.

  The bug let out a bloodcurdling screech and dropped to one side.

  Crap. Jamie jolted, almost losing her grip on her blaster.

  They’d dropped a little, but they still weren’t nearly low enough.

  Another bug flew in close to them, and she saw Aydin hanging from beneath it.

  They flew close to each other, she saw his intense gaze on her.

  Aydin reached out a hand. “Jamie,
be careful. If you fall from this height, you won’t survive.”

  She raised her blaster. “Let’s go a little lower.”

  She saw his fierce frown. She aimed her blaster at one set of wings on his bug. She fired, saw the laser tear through the fragile wing. His bug started to plummet.

  Jamie aimed the blaster up at her bug again. The laser hit the bug’s translucent wing again.

  The alien creature dropped like a rock, screeching again.

  Shit. Jamie felt like she was on a bad roller coaster ride. The bug dropped and flew like it was drunk. Her stomach lodged in her throat.

  Her bug flew in closer to Aydin’s and she saw him punching up at his bug’s body. They were lowering down in the chasm, and now she could see more detail of the bugs on the bottom of the hole. They looked like ants, with overlarge heads and brown, sturdy bodies.

  Her bug flew onward, tilting one way, then the next.

  Oh, shit. They were heading straight toward the side wall.

  “Turn around, you stupid bug,” she yelled.

  They crashed into the rock.

  Oof. Pain rocketed up Jamie’s side and the wind was knocked out of her lungs. Her bug’s wings collapsed, and they started to plummet downward.

  Air rushed against her face, and then she felt the claws release her. Then she was free-falling through the air.

  Oh, fuck.

  She dropped past Aydin and she windmilled her arms and legs, trying to slow her fall. The floor of the chasm was rushing toward her.

  This was going to hurt.

  Then arms wrapped around her and pulled her close to a hard chest. Shocked, she stared up into Aydin’s face.

  He curled his body around hers, turning so that he was beneath her.

  “Aydin?” Her pulse was hammering. “What the hell are you doing?”

  “Saving you.”

  “You’ll get crushed to pieces!” Fear made it impossible to breathe.

  “You should know that I’d do anything for you,” he said.

  She gasped, her eyes flying wide. “Aydin.”

  He hugged her tighter. “I’d fight for you, die for you.”

  Then they hit the bottom.

  The force of the fall drove the air from her chest. Fortunately, rather than slamming into the rocky ground, they’d hit a pile of dead bug carcasses.

  Aydin groaned, rolling to the side. The carcasses crunched and popped beneath them.

  “Aydin, are you okay?” Jamie scrambled up, patting his body.

  “Yes.” He sat up and let out another groan. “Bruised my ribs, but my helian is already taking care of it.” Then his gaze sharpened on her. “You’re hurt.”

  She looked down and saw the slash marks across the top of her stomach. She fingered the ruined fabric. “I’m okay. The flying bug’s claws didn’t scratch my skin, only the suit.”

  A frown creased his forehead. “Once we get outside…”

  “I’ll patch it as best I can.” And send up a few prayers that she could make it back to the ship.

  They rose, the carcasses crunching underneath their boots.

  “Lucky we hit this pile of dead bugs.” She tried to breathe through her mouth, because the stench was awful.

  She looked up. There were flying bugs everywhere. They looked like dragonflies.

  On the ground, the ant-like bugs swarmed and heaved. Right now, they were diverting around the carcasses Jamie and Aydin were standing on.

  Then she turned and smacked his chest. “What the hell did you think you were doing? You could have been killed.”

  “And you would have been killed. I wasn’t going to let that happen.”

  She opened her mouth to blast him, but his big hand touched her cheek. She looked up to meet black-green eyes. Her throat tightened. This amazing warrior had just risked his life.

  For her. For hardass Jamie Park.

  He’d plummeted through the air to save her. Risked his own life to keep her alive.

  That freaked her out way more than the bugs around them.

  Hell. Jamie leaned in and kissed him. He tasted so good, and she didn’t care that they were on a mission, or in danger. He made a hungry sound, pulled her closer, and kissed her back.

  “You will not risk your life like that again,” she muttered.

  “I’ll do whatever I have to do to ensure your safety.”

  His tone was firm and unyielding. Jamie sighed. “So stubborn.”

  “That’s my line.”

  She shook her head. The quickest way to get him to safety was to finish their mission. “We have helians to find, warrior.”

  His thumb ran across her jaw. Then he took her hand and together they climbed off the pile of bugs.

  Aydin lifted his scanner. Jamie saw that it was looking a little dented on one side, but its screen still worked.

  He nodded his head. “That way.”

  They moved cautiously across the floor of the chasm. She watched the bugs intently, expecting the creatures to rush at them. But the giant ants ignored them, thank God. Still, Jamie kept a tight grip on her blaster.

  “There,” he said.

  On the far wall, she saw a mass of golden growth. It pulsed with a gentle light and looked like honeycomb. It was made up of hexagonal shapes.

  They moved closer and she saw that each honeycomb compartment was closed off with some sort of membrane.

  She leaned in close and then she saw the shadow of something move inside the compartment. She jerked back.

  Aydin’s jaw tightened. “They’re growing new bugs inside.”

  “And the helians?”

  “In there, too.”

  Jamie sucked in a breath.

  “They must be trying to force a bond,” he said darkly.

  His sword formed on his arm, and then he slashed the membrane on the first hexagonal compartment.

  A rush of fluid drained to the floor, and Jamie stepped back. A misshapen lump slid out, a larva of some kind, and fell to the floor. Then she gasped. A pulsing, blue helian was attached to the creature.

  Aydin crouched and carefully cut the helian free. He slid off his backpack—which was slashed up from the claws of the flying bugs, but still mostly in one piece—and pulled out the special container he’d brought to house the helians. It was made of a rugged, tough black material. He opened the container and carefully slid the helian inside.

  He rose. “Let’s free the others.”

  Jamie lifted her combat knife and slashed open the next hexagonal pod. Another helian, this one attached to some sort of bright-green bug, came out.

  Aydin cut the helian free and eased it into the container. “Got it.”

  They moved along, freeing the helians one by one. Each bug they were attached to was different and more hideous than the last.

  Finally, Aydin slipped the helian container into his backpack. “We have them all. Some are in bad shape. We need to get them out of here.”

  She nodded, then froze. Silence echoed in the chasm around them. All the buzzing and screeching of the bugs had stopped.

  Slowly, she looked up, and saw that the dragonflies had gone from overhead.

  “Aydin,” she murmured.

  He stiffened. Together, they turned, and her stomach dropped to her boots.

  A line of Kantos soldiers stood nearby. They held up their sharp arms, their four legs set and ready to fight.

  An elite, slightly taller than the others, glided forward.

  You will not leave here.

  The Kantos soldiers couldn’t talk, but the elites had some creepy, telepathic abilities. Jamie hated that they could get inside her head.

  She cocked her hip. “Oh, who’s going to stop us? You?”

  Aydin’s low chuckle filled the air.

  The Kantos elite’s four beady eyes glowed bright gold. Attack.

  * * *

  Despite his amusement at Jamie’s fearlessness, Aydin’s gut was as hard as a rock.

  There were more Kantos soldiers than they co
uld take down.

  But they had to get the helians out.

  He needed to get Jamie out.

  He saw her hand move up to her shoulder, knowing she was going to draw her combat sword. Their gazes met. Then the Kantos soldiers swarmed.

  Aydin lifted his arm, his sword forming. In a smooth, practiced move, Jamie freed her sword.

  They met the Kantos soldiers, their swords swinging.

  Aydin spun, slicing into a soldier’s arms. Jamie whirled, her blade glinting in the golden light glowing off the hexagons. She sliced an arm off the soldier.

  They turned then lunged, swung, and parried. They ended up back to back, fighting each soldier as they charged.

  “You like that?” She skewered another soldier.

  As a second one rushed in, Aydin lunged and brought his sword down. The soldier flew sideways, bleeding badly.

  “I’ll keep them busy.” Jamie swung again. “You get the helians out.”

  Every muscle in his body locked. “Absolutely not.”

  With a grunt, she met the swing of a Kantos’ arm. “Aydin—”

  “No. I’m not arguing with you.” He used the rush of anger to take down another soldier. A spray of green blood covered him.

  He kept fighting. He knew they were both tiring. He was perspiring profusely, and Jamie’s brutal swings were getting slower. Her face was grim, but she wasn’t giving up.

  That was his tough Terran.

  A big bug flew in overhead and sprayed fluid around them.

  What the cren? The fluid solidified into a sticky, white web. It covered his chest and arms, making it hard to move.

  He looked over and saw Jamie struggling against the substance, as well.

  Then, the soldiers were on them. One hit Jamie hard across the back, and she went down to her knees.

  Several rushed at Aydin. He tried to fight, but the damn sticky substance had trapped his sword against his side.

  Soon, he was facedown on the floor, with several sharp arms stabbing into his back. He felt a trickle of blood down his sides and grunted.

  Jamie was slammed down beside him. Her glare was hot enough to melt steel.

  The elite moved closer and wrenched the bag containing the helians from Aydin. He gritted his teeth.