Alex hit the ground, falling onto his hands and knees and arresting his fall just before smashing face-first into broken stones, but his shiny new assault rifle slammed against the stones.
Amateur, he admonished himself, shaking his head to clear the fog.
It was dark. Two moons, one red, one blue, cast their odd radiance upon the shattered stones of what was once a magnificent city, now strangled by new forest growth, snakelike vines, and a carpet of moss. The hot, sticky air brought back memories of his last mission to Faerum.
He was on another world.
The shadowy forms of Strike Force soldiers darted about, and his radio set crackled with commands as platoon leaders and noncommissioned officers took charge, establishing a perimeter defense. He scrambled to his feet, waiting for his night vision to adjust from the bright glare of Nevada but then remembered the QM had said his helmet visors had a night-vision mode. His fingers trailed over the rubber-coated buttons on the side of his helmet, and he depressed the one that lowered his visor. The visor slid into place, energizing and providing nearly perfect vision in sharp shades of green and white. Data displayed across his visor, but he didn't know how to interpret it. Blue diamonds flashed over the silhouettes of each Strike Force soldier, showing their radio call signs and distance from him in meters. Blue for friendly. Makes sense.
He turned in place, scanning the ruins. Something bothered him, but he couldn't put his finger on what. The Strike Force soldiers assumed firing positions facing outward, creating a cordon around the headquarters personnel in the center, including Alex and Leela. He saw no red-marked hostiles in his visor, nor did the radio chatter mention contact with an enemy force, implying the LZ was no longer hot. The QM also said contacts only registered as hostiles if someone tagged them, so for all Alex knew, at this moment, there were dozens of invisible dark-elf mages preparing to rain fireball spells upon them.
But nothing happened.
Then he realized what was bothering him—the rift was gone. Where it should have been, there was only empty air. It was already closed.
Gone.
"Alex," Leela called out, worry in her voice.
"I'm here."
"Can't see."
"Use your night vision." He depressed the button on her helmet for her, and the visor snapped into place.
"Oh, right," she said with a trace of embarrassment. "Well, that's much better. Where are we? And what happened back there? It was as if we were… floating through space. Is that normal?"
"No, it isn't normal," he said, the only answer he had.
As he helped her to her feet, Alex considered the data streaming across his visor, like a heads-up display for a fighter pilot. Each time he heard someone speak over the radio net, that person's call sign flashed over their blue silhouette. If they weren't in his field of vision, arrows and numbers showed where they were about him. It was a breathtaking technological advantage. No military force had ever gone to war with this level of situational awareness. Throughout history, armies trained to mitigate the uncertainty and confusion of battle. Standard Operating Procedures—SOPs—were drilled into soldiers for just that reason, to provoke an immediate response from men and women too frightened to think clearly. But that had now changed.
Will it be enough?
The ruins of a flattened city surrounded them as if swept clean by the plane of a cosmic carpenter. The remains stretched for kilometers: vine-covered blocks of broken stone, lopsided marble pillars choked by grass and weeds, and stones cracked apart by meandering tree roots. His heads-up display provided navigational markers and compass bearings, but the software only applied the concept of north, south, east, and west, forcing a shared location to ground them. North was where his visor said north was.
Thick jungle bordered the northern and southern ends of the ruins. A wide flowing river ran to the east next to the shattered remains of a pier, now strangled by new growth. Tall dark cliffs, curving inward, stood several kilometers away to the west, and in the center of the cliffs stood a massive black stone fortress. He had seen a fortress like that before—the stronghold of the dark-elf mage who kidnapped McKnight, prompting the first battle of the Dark-Elf War. It was shaped like an upside-down bowl, but a massive explosion had shattered the fortress's outer wall, leaving behind only a broken shell. Just past the ruined wall, a single stone tower rose. Whatever force had flattened the city had originated in the fortress. The devastation reminded him of Fort St. John in the aftermath of Elizabeth's destruction of the Culling Machine. The damage had spread across both worlds, taking out the dark-elf city as well. Way to go, Elizabeth.
"Arach Warren," Ylra said, now standing beside him. "The queen's fortress. Never thought I'd see it as ruins. If I had balls, they'd be tingling with satisfaction right now."
Alex smiled. "You're a special lady, Ylra."
"Believe it."
Huck's voice came over the radio net. "Long Bow, this is Sunray. We're a negative on contacts. Are you sensing mages? Over."
Liv Nilsdottir's voice answered, "Sunray, this is Long Bow. No, no channeling. There are no mages in the vicinity."
Not necessarily, Alex knew. Bekka had failed to detect a cloaked mage and almost died for it. He activated his radio. "Sunray, this is…" He paused, realizing he didn't have a call sign. "This is Ranger. Message. Over."
"Go ahead, Ranger," Huck answered.
"No offense against Long Bow, but if there are cloaked mages, she might not detect them. The only person I ever met who could detect a cloaked dark elf was Cassie—I mean Starlight."
"He's right," Leela said over the radio. "I'm terrible at it myself."
"Acknowledged," Huck answered. "Long Bow, switch to thermal."
Moments later, Long Bow answered. "Sunray, that's a negative on infrared."
"Roger that," said Huck. "Acorn, launch a bird. Give me a one-kilometer scan on IR."
"Sunray, this is Acorn," a male voice answered. "On it. Over."
Acorn was the radio call sign for military intelligence. Alex had been correct in identifying the soldiers operating the Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, the UAVs. They were the Strike Force's S2 intelligence detachment. Alex watched the team now, not twenty feet away, as they removed one of their backpack-portable UAVs and prepped it for flight. In seconds, the UAV was in the air, its engine nearly silent as it sped away. The S2 operators sat before a laptop control console, with one soldier flying the device with a pair of joysticks while the others examined the video feed.
His radio chirped. "Sunray, this is Acorn. We're picking up animal life but nothing larger than a rabbit or cat. Nothing I'd categorize as a threat. I think we're alone."
Doubt that, Alex mused, his nerves on edge despite the high-tech assurances.
"Acknowledged," Huck answered.
Just then, one of her platoon commanders called in. "Sunray, we're looking at what looks like the remains of a firefight, explosive residue, blood splatter."
"Ranger, this is Sunray. Alex, can you look, tell me what you think?"
"On it," Alex answered.
"I'm coming," Leela said.
"Of course you are. You're a better tracker than I am."
"I'm going to see Long Bow," Ylra said, resting her rifle across her shoulders. "I'll try to link her rig to Snow White's, maybe give us her location."
"Let me know."
Alex and Leela moved off to examine the ambush scene.
On hands and knees, Alex and Leela used penlights to scrutinize the site of the ambush. Night vision had its uses, but they needed white light to interpret the tracks and disturbed ground. Even Alex could figure out what had happened here: a large force of dark elves had lain in wait for the contact team. Judging by the blood splatter, boot prints, and other clues, Alex guessed at least a hundred enemy warriors had ambushed the contact team. They must have found the UAV with the keying device then lain in wait for the gateway to open. He stood up, brushing his palms against his pants. A hundred dark elves and who knows ho
w many mages. Lee and the others didn't have a chance.
Leela joined him. In her free hand, she held a severed troll's head by a fistful of its greasy black hair. "They took their corpses with them but missed where this rolled under rubble." She dropped the head at Alex's feet with a wet thud. "The neck wound is cauterized."
"Kargin's ax," Alex said. "You think he got away?"
She shook her head. "Don't think so. The ground was disturbed. I think a dozen of them jumped him."
He nodded, feeling both angry and useless. "It would take a dozen."
"I found feces—big, foul-smelling feces."
"Trolls. I counted tracks for six, maybe five now. They're not terribly subtle."
"Dark elves don't poop?"
"They do, but they hide their waste so people like you and me can't track them. What I don't understand is why there's no boggart tracks. Usually, it's a four- or five-to-one ratio of boggarts to dark elves."
"Well, they left easy trails to follow, heading toward that fortress. I counted two pairs of boots with our treads. That means at least two prisoners."
"Probably wounded as well." He pointed his penlight's beam at a disturbed patch of broken stone, where the light glistened against something. "That's an oil-based fluid from Snow White's rig."
"The dark-elf mages must have recognized her as a magic-user the moment she stepped onto the ground, probably took her out first. Could a troll carry someone in a rig?"
"If one can't, five can."
"Ranger," Huck's voice came through his radio set. "Safe to come over?"
Alex flicked off his penlight, lowered his visor once more, and saw her standing thirty feet away with First Sergeant Martinez, another soldier, Ylra, and Long Bow in her rig. Alex waved them over then went over what he and Leela assessed had taken place.
"And you're sure they took prisoners?" Huck asked.
"At least two." Alex pointed to the broken fortress built into the cliffs. "Even if the trail wasn't clear, I'd start there."
"I agree," said Ylra. "Even ruined, Arach Warren is important. Hold the fortress, hold the city… or at least what's left. This is still strategic ground."
"What about this linking thing you mentioned earlier?" Alex asked Ylra. "We can open a gateway right to Snow White… or to her rig."
Long Bow shook her head. "Her suit beacon isn't active."
Unease rose in Alex's gut. "What do you mean, 'isn't active'? You saying they turned off her suit?"
"No, but maybe it was damaged," Long Bow said.
"We'll send a bird," said Huck, turning away.
Alex and Leela followed.
The UAV operator pushed forward on the joystick, and the UAV rose into the air a hundred feet high before heading east toward the broken fortress. The XO, Captain Elias Shapiro, stood behind the intelligence operator. Alex, with Huck and the others, watched the UAV's camera feed. Every few seconds, a red blur was visible on the screen. "You're on infrared?" Alex asked.
The intelligence operator nodded, his attention focused on flying, and increased his throttle, gaining even more altitude. "Nothing larger than a fox on IR. Are there foxes on this world?"
"There are," Ylra answered then shrugged. "More or less."
Alex glanced at her, wondering at the tone in her voice. Probably poisonous or breathe fire or some such shit.
As the UAV approached within several hundred yards of the broken fortress, they gained a better appreciation for how large the ruined structure was. Hundreds of meters wide, the shattered fortress wall was built from smooth black stones. The broken gap in the wall was almost a hundred meters wide, and the explosion had thrown blocks of stone hundreds of feet out, littering the cleared ground before the fortress.
"Take us inside," Shapiro ordered the operator.
"No! Don't do that," Ylra warned.
"Why not?" Shapiro challenged, his tone sharp.
"Because I'd bet my great-grandfather's hairy testicles a dark elf is watching. Get too close, and they'll see you. Dark elves have wonderful eyes, and their mages can cast spells so that they see in the dark."
"Listen to her," Huck said. "Bring it in to a hundred meters. That's all you need for an IR scan, anyhow."
"Ack," said the operator, adjusting his joysticks.
The UAV slowed then stopped as the soldier put it into a hover. Then he scanned the broken wall. After only moments, he stopped the slow scan on a red flare amidst the gray stone—body heat. He then focused the camera lens, zooming in on the life form… no, life forms. They recognized the silhouette of sentries, six, atop the broken wall.
"Someone's home after all," Alex whispered. "Dark elves, I'd guess."
"There's more," the operator said, panning the camera. "I count three… no, four more groups of guards and two patrols on the ground in front of the wall. This place is heavily defended."
"What do you think, Sergeant?" Huck asked the intelligence operator.
The man chewed his lip for a moment, his gaze going from the screen to the fortress in the distance. "Well, ma'am, if Ranger is right and they hit the contact team with an ambush in company-plus strength, then I'd assess we're looking at a hardened outpost with an enemy force in battalion size, probably somewhere north of three or four hundred fighters. But there may be more we haven't seen. That's a big fortress, broken outer wall or not."
"I think you've got the right of it," said Ylra. "And if there's that many fae seelie, then they've probably got at least a dozen mages."
Huck turned to Long Bow.
The young woman sighed. "I can't–I just can't. With Snow White to blind them, I can fight, but not without her. Maybe two of them, if I caught them by surprise. The elves' mages are way ahead of us."
"I can deal with the mages," insisted Alex.
"Me too," said Leela. She touched Long Bow's hand. "You're not alone."
"I don't know, ma'am," said First Sergeant Martinez, shaking his head. "I don't like leaving anyone behind, but the elves can hide behind those walls for days while we shoot at them. This isn't a good fight."
"I concur," said Long Bow.
"Elias?" Huck asked her XO.
"Ma'am, I'm with First Sergeant Martinez and Long Bow. I hate to say it, but I think we lost our window of opportunity here."
"This is bullshit!" Alex said. "They're there. We're here. We have surprise and firearms. I say we open a gateway inside that fortress and make maximum use of speed and violence. By the time they even realize we're there, we can be on our way out another gateway again with our people."
"Can't do it," Long Bow said. "I need coordinates, some place in the open, or I risk putting the gateway underground or in a wall."
"Okay, we take the chance and send a UAV in first," Alex insisted to Huck. "We can be in and out again in minutes, Huck."
"Nuh-uh," said Long Bow, shaking her head. "Even if we don't set off a ward, my Shatkur crystal is running on fumes. I was on point in the assault in British Columbia. That's why Boko went with the contact team. I've got two or three gateways left at best."
"She's right," said Ylra. "It'll take days, maybe a week to recharge the crystal with the ambient mana. There's more mana on this world than Earth, so it might recharge faster…"
Huck frowned. "Might isn't going to cut it."
"Huck," said Alex. "Please…"
She shook her head. "My priority is the mission. We get to Deep Terlingas with Watchmaker-Niner. Later, once Long Bow's crystal has recharged, we can consider a rescue operation."
"That'll be too late," Alex said. "You don't know what the dark elves can do. We need to go in now."
"He's right," said Ylra. "They'll torture them, use grimworms to break their will, turn 'em into slaves. Kargin is the strongest dwarf I've ever met, but even he can't hold out against a grimworm for more than a few days. Your people will break much sooner. They'll tell them everything—especially the existence of Deep Terlingas. I'm with Alex. We should rescue them."
"I'm sorry, Ylra," said Huc
k. "I can't risk the mission for two or three prisoners. The best way to protect both humans and dwarves is to form an alliance. Our weapons would be better used defending your city than assaulting this fortress."
"This isn't right," said Alex. "You're making a mistake, Huck. Trust me. Fighting dark elves is what I do."
Huck glared at him with silent outrage. From the hostility in the faces of First Sergeant Martinez and Captain Shapiro, Alex knew he had gone too far, challenging her authority, especially in front of her subordinates. But he couldn't stop now.
"I'll go in alone," he said. "Give me two hours. I'll bring them back."
"The hell you will," insisted Leela. "I'm coming."
"I'll go too," said Ylra.
"Nobody is going anywhere!" snapped Huck. "I'm in command, not you, Alex. If you can't live with that, you can go pound sand. I've made my decision."
"Yes, ma'am," said the First Sergeant, glaring now at Alex.
"Yes, ma'am," parroted Captain Shapiro.
Alex swallowed his pride and nodded, doing his best to look sorry. "Your command."
Huck addressed the sergeant in charge of the intelligence team. "Send the UAV north, go to max range, then get coordinates for Long Bow. We should reach the edge of the jungle, maybe even get across the river and the cliffs."
"Yes, ma'am," the sergeant said.
Huck turned to Long Bow. "Once we have coordinates, open a gateway. Then we'll send another UAV to Deep Terlingas. Two gateways, that's all I need from you and your crystal. I want to be on site in two hours, even if it means burning through the last of your crystal's charge."
"Yes, ma'am," Long Bow said.
Huck faced her XO. "Elias, have the troops ready to move as soon as we have coordinates. Until then, we keep one hundred percent stand-to. We are in enemy territory. Let's pay attention to the ground surveillance radars. I want nothing larger than a bunny coming near us, and I don't want to be surprised if there are bunnies. Got it?"
"Yes, ma'am." Captain Shapiro darted away.
"What about us?" Alex asked. "Are you sure I can't convince you to—"
"If I need you, I'll ask. Ylra, you're with me. We need to discuss how we will approach your people without freaking them out."
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