by P. A. Piatt
They tapped mugs in the dark and splashed some on the sand.
“DINLI.”
Fortis tipped his mug into his mouth, but instead of the searing heat of raw alcohol, he tasted a mild, fruity flavor atop the alcohol. He swallowed without choking.
“That’s pretty good. What is it?”
“It’s DINLI, sir. But the lads distilled this batch from some jungle fruit Lily told them about. Beats the shit out of the rotgut they were making before, doesn’t it?”
“No doubt.”
The pair settled into silence and stared out at the darkness. The warm spot in Fortis’ belly grew and spread through his body, and he was grateful for the sense of wakeful relaxation it gave him.
“Why can’t every night in the Corps be like tonight, LT? Nice weather, a taste of the good life, and peace and quiet?”
Fortis snorted. “We’re being punished for our sins from past lives, Ystremski. We’re all sinners and the Corps is our penance.”
“Ha! You’re awfully cynical for someone so young.”
“It’s all the good influences I’m surrounded by.”
They laughed quietly and then lapsed into silence. Fortis’ thoughts turned to Hawkins and his team, and he wondered what they were doing at that moment.
Ystremski seemed to read his mind. “It’s no use worrying about them, sir. Gunny Hawkins will bring them all back safe and sound.”
“Yeah. I’m sure he will.”
* * *
Nesbitt lost count of how many colonists he’d beaten in his search for information about the missing miner. The last one had been a young man barely out of his teens, with scraggly whiskers and bad skin. Nesbitt had hit him with a crushing fist and knocked him to the ground, then pulled him up by his hair and kicked him in the stomach. The young man retched and screamed as he bent double on the ground and continued to scream as the test tubes dragged him away.
A withered old man, his eyes wide with fear, held up a shaking hand. Nesbitt waded into the crowd and jerked the old man clear.
“You have information for me?”
“No, I have to piss.”
Nesbitt shook the old man by the front of his tunic and pulled him close until their noses almost touched. “What did you say?”
The old man’s eyes rolled around, and Nesbitt realized that what he had thought was fear was really madness.
“I said, I need to piss. Now, get out of my way.”
“Bah!” Nesbitt shoved the old man to the ground. “Go on, you crazy bastard.” He delivered a boot to the old man’s ass. “Get out!”
Exasperated, Nesbitt decided it was time to target the children. He hated to do it, but the colonists loved their children, and he knew he could overcome their obstinance by threatening the youngsters.
He seized a little girl by her arm and dragged her away from the crowd, clubbing at the hands that tried to pull her back.
“See what you’re forcing me to do?” he roared as he drew back his hand to strike the screaming child. “Is this what you want?”
“No!”
A woman darted from the crowd and rushed at Nesbitt with her arms outstretched. He twisted the child away with one hand and grabbed the woman’s throat with the other. The woman struggled, but she was no match for the mercenary. He squeezed her throat until her face turned red and then purple, her eyes bulging out.
“What do you know about a missing miner?” he demanded. The woman’s mouth worked up and down, and he eased his grip to let her speak.
“His name is Vandemeer,” she gasped. “Johan Vandemeer.”
Nesbitt let go of them, and the woman collapsed to the cavern floor, choking. The little girl ran to the woman and huddled over her. Nesbitt laughed at the defiant scowl on the child’s face. He glared at the cowering colonists.
“That wasn’t so hard, was it? Why couldn’t you do that to start with and save some of your friends from a beating?” He spat on the ground and turned back to the woman and child on the floor. “Get up. It’s time we had a talk.”
* * *
The old man limped along the passageway that led to the bathrooms, guiding himself along the wall with his fingertips. He was nearly blind, and the wall sconces didn’t cast enough light to help him. He’d made this trip countless times before, and he knew the door he sought was only a few paces away. As expected, the wall ended and he turned to follow it around the corner. His fingers brushed something hard, like a plate. As he opened his mouth to speak, a rough hand was clamped over his mouth, and he was dragged into the bathroom and forced to the floor.
“Not a sound, grandfather,” a voice hissed in his ear. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
The hand covering his mouth pulled away. The old man gasped for breath. “What do you want from me, master? I know nothing.”
“I’m not your master. No man is.”
“But… the company… you are the masters.” The old man sounded confused.
“Stay here, grandfather, and be quiet.”
The old man lay still. He heard a whispered conversation on the other side of the room. There were two of them, but he couldn’t make out their words. The whispering stopped and someone leaned over him.
“What is going on here? Why are the test tubes here?”
“Test tubes?”
“The soldiers. The artificial soldiers. Why are they here?”
The old man’s mind began to wander, but a rough shake brought him back to the present.
“The soldiers. Why are they here?”
“Ah, the masters. They say there is a miner missing and they are looking for him.”
“Do they have a name?”
The old man searched his memory for a name he’d overheard.
“A name, grandfather. Do they have one?”
“Johan. Johan Vandemeer.”
“That’s the name of the miner they’re looking for? Johan Vandemeer?”
“Yes… yes…” The old man’s voice grew weaker with every word. “Now leave me. I have to piss…”
The acrid stench of urine flooded the room as his bladder released, and hot liquid soaked his clothing. He laid back, defeated.
The vague shape disappeared, and he was alone in his shame.
“All I wanted to do was take a piss.”
* * * * *
Chapter Twenty-Three
Nesbitt finished questioning the woman and her daughter and shoved them toward the other beaten colonists. The woman only knew the name, Johan Vandemeer. She couldn’t tell Nesbitt what he looked like or when he’d gone missing.
He joined Brinks at the front of the auditorium and watched while the other mercenaries and test tubes kept the crowd subdued.
“Who’s next, boss?”
“Did the search turn up anything?”
Brinks shook his head. Nesbitt looked out at the sea of faces and his stomach soured.
“This is pointless. We could beat everyone in this room, and we wouldn’t get any useful information.” He turned toward the tunnel. “Round up the troops and let’s get out of here. I’m going out front to call Beck.”
* * *
Hawkins crouched halfway down the tunnel and waited for a sign from Lily, who was scouting around the bend. The screaming had stopped, but the buzz of human voices still echoed along the tunnel.
Finally, Lily returned at a fast trot. When he reached Hawkins he grabbed him by the shoulder.
“We gotta get the fuck out of here,” he whispered urgently. “One of the GRC guys is coming this way, and the troops are right behind him. Come on!”
“Did they see you?” asked Hawkins as they ran.
“I don’t think so, but I didn’t wait around to find out.”
Just then, the old man they encountered earlier stumbled out of the bathroom and collided with Lily.
“The masters! The masters!” The old man’s eyes were wide with fear as he turned and ran down the passageway back toward the auditorium.
Lily drew his kukri and took a step, but Hawk
ins stopped him.
“No! Let him go!” He pulled Lily toward the colony door.
“Let’s hide in the bathroom,” Lily suggested.
“No way. If the test tubes seal the door, they’ll trap us here with the colonists. If that old man tells them about us, they’ll search until they find us. We have to go!”
They slowed to a cautious walk as they approached the open door. They stopped to peek outside. The sky was lighter, so Hawkins knew sunrise was not far off. He dialed up the frequency for Kilfoy.
“Kilfoy, this is Hawkins, do you read me?”
“Gunny, this is Kilfoy. I read you loud and clear.” He heard the relief in her voice. “What’s your status?”
“We’re at the door. Is the drone up?
“Affirmative. I brought it back for a battery change and relaunched about an hour ago.”
“Are we clear to exit? We’ll go out the same way we came in.”
“One sec… yeah, it’s clear. Exit to the right and hug the wall. There are two sentries on that side, but they’re too far away, I think.”
Hawkins and Lily were moving before Kilfoy finished talking.
“Okay, we’re moving.”
“Wait—”
Hawkins ran headlong into a test tube sentry leaning against the wall. He drove his fist into the artificial soldier’s throat and slugged him in the stomach. When the test tube doubled over, Hawkins grabbed him under the chin and twisted until he heard a sickening crack. He lowered the corpse to the ground and dragged it against the wall.
“What the fuck, Kilfoy?”
“I’m sorry, Gunny, I didn’t see him. He was—”
“Too late now. Are there any other sentries on this side?”
“Negative. It’s clear.”
Hawkins arranged the dead test tube into a seated position, ducked under his arm, and hoisted the body into a fireman’s carry.
“Lily, take point.”
Lily led the way along the wall toward the jungle beyond. They made it into the dark foliage undetected and stopped to listen and watch for signs of pursuit. Satisfied they were alone, Hawkins dumped the body in a shallow depression and scraped some leaves over it.
Kilfoy, who had witnessed the savage violence caused by her error, apologized again. “Gunny, you’re clear, and I’m sorry about that.”
“Don’t worry about it. They won’t find him until we’re long gone.” Lily and Hawkins moved toward her position. “Get the bird down and packed up, and you and Winaki get ready to haul ass. We’ll be there in a few minutes.”
* * *
Nesbitt strode down the passageway toward the exit. The visit to the colony had been a waste of time. The colonists lacked the tools to dig through the solid rock walls of their subterranean prison, and there was no reason for them to help the GRC locate the missing miner.
Up ahead, he saw the crazy old man from the auditorium shambling toward him. Nesbitt stepped aside, but the old man grabbed his arm.
“Master! The walls. They came alive!”
The stench of urine hit him and he pushed the old man away in disgust. The old man was persistent and he grabbed Nesbitt around the ankle.
“Please, master! The walls are alive. They grabbed me!”
Nesbitt kicked himself free and made for the exit. He left the old man man in a heap on the floor, moaning and clutching his head.
Fucking lunatic.
He stepped outside and opened a comm to the GRC headquarters.
“Beck, this is Nesbitt. Do you read me?”
“This is Beck. Go ahead.”
“We’re done here. I got a name for the missing miner: Johan Vandemeer. That’s it, just a name. Nothing else.”
“You’re on your way back?”
The test tubes streamed through the door, and the mercenaries pushed and shouted them into ranks under a lightening morning sky.
“As soon as we get these guys formed up, we’ll move out.”
“Roger that. Keep me posted.”
* * *
“Command, this is Hawkins. Do you copy?”
“This is Command, I copy. Stand by, I’ll get the lieutenant.”
“Negative, Command. We don’t have time. We are en route to the layup point to hook up with Kilfoy and Winaki and then we’ll head home.”
“Roger that, Gunny. Any other traffic?”
“Yeah. Tell Fortis I had to kill a test tube to get away.”
“Shit.”
* * *
Nesbitt waited impatiently while the test tubes formed up and counted off. Brinks made them count off again and then approached Nesbitt.
“Hey, boss, we’re missing a sentry.”
“Missing? Are you sure?”
“Well, I had ’em count off twice, and the squad we left outside came up one short.”
“Are you sure we didn’t leave one inside?”
“It’s possible, but why would a sentry go inside? They had orders to stand watch out here. They might be dummies but they obey orders.”
Nesbitt fought back the urge to explode. It had been a long and fruitless night, and now this. Instead, he shook his head and sighed.
“Send out a couple search parties. Have them search a half-klick in every direction. And keep track of how many searchers head out. Make it quick, I want to get out of here.”
* * *
Hawkins and Lily met up with Winaki and Kilfoy.
“Are you ready to go?” The pair nodded. “Lily, take point. We need to put as much distance as we can between us and that dead test tube.”
After ten minutes of high-speed ducking and dodging through the jungle, Lily called a halt at the edge of the road. It was broad daylight, so they would be in full view when they crossed the road. Hawkins realized his auto-flage battery was dead, and he noticed Lily was becoming more visible with each passing minute. The LBA had used a tremendous amount of power reflecting the mottled gray walls of the colony, and it had drained their batteries dry.
“You got any good batteries left, Winaki?”
Winaki doffed his pack and dug inside. “Negative, Gunny.”
Hawkins turned to Lily. “How about you?”
Lily shook his head. “We used my last good ones before we entered the colony.”
Hawkins grimaced at the news and looked at the bright sky. “All right, it doesn’t matter. Once we get across this road, it’s jungle all the way home. Let’s get it done.”
The group crouched beside the overgrown road and looked both ways.
“It looks clear. Lily, go!”
Lily dashed across the road and disappeared in the jungle beyond. They watched and listened, but there was no response to his crossing.
“Kilfoy, go!”
The drone operator scrambled across the road, and the jungle stayed silent.
“Winaki, go!”
Winaki started running, but his feet tangled up on some hidden roots. He tripped and fell, face first. The top of his pack tore open and used batteries and gear spilled onto the roadway.
“Damn it!”
Hawkins ran out and helped the struggling Marine to his feet. He threw the batteries and gear into Winaki’s pack, then shoved him toward the jungle where Lily and Kilfoy waited.
“What the fuck, Winaki?” Hawkins demanded when they gained cover.
“Sorry, Gunny. There was a root—”
“Not that, you idiot. Your pack.”
Winaki shrugged. “I thought I had it tied up.”
Hawkins yanked on the straps of Winaki’s pack again to make sure they were tight and then slammed him on the shoulder.
“Let’s move out, Lily.”
* * * * *
Chapter Twenty-Four
“We found the missing test tube, Nesbitt. He’s dead.”
Nesbitt jogged through the undergrowth on the road and cut through the jungle until he reached the spot where Brinks and a group of test tubes and mercenaries were gathered. He looked where Brinks indicated and saw the body of a test t
ube with his head twisted at an impossible angle.
“How long has he been there?”
Brinks shrugged. “No way to tell, but it hasn’t been too long. The blood that leaked out of his mouth hasn’t dried yet.”
“Any idea who did it?”
“The escaped colonist, I guess. More than one, though. It looks like they went through there.” Brinks pointed, and Nesbitt could just make out a faint trail through the jungle foliage parallel to the road. “There’s a couple broken branches, so they’re either sloppy, in a hurry, or both. What do you want to do?”
Nesbitt thought for a second. “Get your best trackers and a platoon of test tubes and follow this trail. Make sure you take a satellite comm link and stay in touch. It looks like they’re headed north, but they have to turn west at some point before the sea. I’ll get on the horn with Beck and see if we can get some troops in front of them. We want them alive, if possible.”
* * *
Hawkins urged Lily to increase the pace until the patrol was almost running through the undergrowth. The ground was hard and dry, so they made good time. He called a halt after thirty minutes, and the Space Marines sank to the ground, exhausted. He motioned to a small hillock nearby.
“Kilfoy, get up there and keep an eye out.”
Kilfoy scrambled onto the mound and peered intently into the jungle. Hawkins pulled out a hydration pack and sucked it dry in one long pull. He took pride in his physical conditioning, but thirty hours of marching and fighting in Pada-Pada’s gravity was taking a toll on him. Lily gave him a thumbs up from the other side of their little clearing.
After he sated his thirst, Hawkins keyed his mic.
“When we jump off from here, we’ll strike out due west, only this time we move quiet, like we did on the way here. If there’s anyone following us, I want them to lose our trail here. Let’s move.”
Kilfoy walked across the mound to join the group. Suddenly, the ground gave way and she sank up to her chest into a hole.