Desolate Tides (Earth Exiles Book 5)

by Mark Harritt

  She’d fallen asleep, comfortable in the knowledge that the vermin couldn’t get to her while the grinder was around, and that the grinder couldn’t get to her because of the size of the duct. Her sleep was loudly interrupted by the piercing whistle that grinder made when it had trapped prey. That whistle was followed by light flooding into the area, so much so that she was blinded, even at the end of her small tunnel.

  Then, there was the terror of the explosions, pop, pop, pop. She’d never heard anything like it in all her life! The echoes reverberated through the tunnel and she put her hands over her ears, screaming. Those explosions paled in comparison to what came next; multiple explosions, the booms much louder than the previous pops she’d heard. She put her hands over her ears. It sounded like the world was ending.

  Then there was a roaring sound and she saw a different kind of light that made her eyes water, a flickering bright light. She listened to the whistling screams of the worm, much different than the hunting whistles she’d heard previously, and wondered, what could possibly hurt a grinder. Grinders were some of the most vicious and dangerous predators in the tunnels. It was hard as hell to kill one of them. She’d only known a few instances when her people had killed one, and it usually took an entire clan to put one down. A clan could expect heavy losses if it ever had to face a grinder.

  Then, she heard a loud slam. She knew that sound. It was a door slamming close. Whoever had dealt with the grinder had ensured that the grinder couldn’t get to them anymore. She had no illusions, though. She knew the grinder was still out there, waiting for her. She wasn’t going to make this easy for it. So, again, she waited. She fell back asleep, and woke up, listening. She waited for hours, and then a full day.

  Still, waiting that long, she didn’t hear anything at all. Grinders weren’t patient hunters. Previously, she’d heard the grinder moving back and forth outside the duct she was in. She didn’t hear it now. Knowing that it was probably still out there made her cautious. She listened for a long time before she decided to stick her head out into the larger room. She started when she saw the large gelatinous mass of the grinder in the room, and started to pull back into the tunnel. Then she noticed that it wasn’t moving.

  Afraid that it was playing a trick on her, she stared at its motionless hulk for quite a while before she decided it was dead. She moved back into the tunnel and found large pieces of the debris that had blocked her retreat and moved forward to chunk it at the grinder, to make sure it was truly dead. The debris hit the grinder, but it didn’t move. Slowly she came out of her tunnel and approached the monster, ready to run back to the small duct.

  It was truly dead, though. It was leaking foul smelling liquids from both orifices. Something had done incredible damage to the great worm. Its body was pierced with multiple holes, literally hundreds of them. Its great tentacles had withered under intense fire, flesh peeling off of it.

  Tekepli stared at the windows, wondering what she would see on the other side. She walked over, but the windows were well above her short stature. She piled debris high enough that she could climb and look out into the open bay beyond. The only thing she could see was an island of light around a large machine in the distance. The debris below her shifted and she put her hand out to stabilize herself, placing her hand on the window. The ooze of the grinder was still on the window, and she left a hand print comparable to that of a small child’s.

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  Chapter Nine

  Matki squatted, staring at the body. The throat was cut deep, severing both the carotid and jugular, slicing through the esophagus. Durzai’s sightless eyes stared into the sky. Durzai had been subjected to a long and arduous torture session before he’d been killed, his hands and ankles tied, a gag in his mouth. Matki could see that Durzai had been severely beaten before his throat was slit. He’d been tortured well away from this area so that no one would hear what was happening, killed sometime in the night, and dumped in this area so that someone would find the body first thing in the morning. Matki could tell because there was extremely little blood on the ground.

  “Why did they kill him?” Jendi asked.

  Matki looked up from the body, “To send a message.”

  Jendi looked perplexed, “What message?”

  Matki stood up, “They wanted to tell me that it wasn’t over.”

  “What isn’t over?”

  Matki placed his hand on his son’s shoulder, “The struggle for who’s going to be the leader. They’re telling me that it isn’t over.”

  Jendi stared down at Durzai, “Who would do this?”

  Matki looked at his son, “Why don’t you tell me who you think it is?”

  Jendi thought, turning the possibilities in his mind, “It has to be Walleg. You’ve always said that he was the instigator, the mastermind behind Joacar. He wasn’t among the three that attacked us. You told me that he doesn’t like to get his hands dirty, and that he prefers for others to do the work.”

  Matki clapped his hand around the back of his son’s neck, “Exactly right. We removed most of the rot, but he was the one that instigated all of this. We’ll have more trouble from him before this is over. I guarantee that he’s already plotting with his allies to defeat me.”

  Matki turned his attention to the man who had informed him about Durzai’s corpse, “Tunlin, what do the rest of the men think about this?” Matki was speaking about the men that followed Durzai. “How many of the men can we count on?”

  Tunlin mentally counted who he thought was dependable, “Well, all the Emurecuns of course, but their fighting men are depleted. As a fighting force, the attack in the canyons broke them. Among our men, I would say thirty, thirty-five at most.”

  Matki nodded. Tunlin’s assessment matched his own. If it came down to an armed engagement, they would be outnumbered two to one, “I thought as much. We need to separate our families from the rest of the Contai. The others can no longer be trusted. I don’t want our families held as hostages.

  “What if some of our men want to stay where they are?” Tunlin asked.

  Matki looked at him, “Then we will know who we can count on, and who we can’t. Make sure you work your way from the ones that you trust absolutely to the ones that might be less reliable. I don’t want the less reliable men to spread the word until we have our families in a safer area.”

  “Where are we going to put them?” Tunlin asked.

  Matki pointed up, “Put them on the ridge above the Emurecuns. Durzai warned me this might not be over. I found a place that we can use. I’ll talk to Mitchem and Diane about moving to higher ground.”

  Tunlin looked down at his friend’s corpse, “What do we do with Durzai?”

  Matki looked down at his friend and confidant, “There’s nothing we can do right now. I don’t want to move him, because I don’t want things to come to a head yet. They’ll be watching his wife and children. Move them after you’ve moved the reliable ones, but before you work your way down to the ones you trust less.”

  Tunlin grew angry at this last, “What, sacrifice them?”

  Matki shook his head, placing his hand on Tunlin’s arm, “I would never sacrifice Durzai’s family. But if we move them too soon, Walleg will know something is up. Do you want to sacrifice everybody else’s families?” He pointed at Durzai’s corpse, “Do you think he’d want that?”

  Shamed, Tunlin’s eyes dropped from Matki’s face, “No, I’m sorry I suggested that.”

  Matki closed his eyes, saddened by the decisions he was being forced to make. He opened them, and squeezed Tunlin’s arm, “There was no dishonor. We’re shocked by the loss of a good friend. We’ll weather this storm, and then we’ll punish the ones responsible. But we have to live to conduct our revenge.”

  Tunlin nodded, “I will do as you say.”

  Matki held up a finger as if to emphasize what he said next, “Make sure you take two of the trusted with you. Watch your surroundings. We don’t want t
his to happen again.” He motioned toward Durzai.

  Tunlin nodded and then departed.

  Jendi looked at his father, “What do we do now?”

  Matki studied his son. After killing Cadwai, Jendi had changed. The boy had always been more serious than the other children his age, but now his posture and how he conducted himself had changed. Jendi was growing into a strong, capable man. Matki was proud of his son, but like all parents, he wondered where the little boy that he used to carry on his shoulders had disappeared to. Matki’s pride in his son was tinged with sadness as he realized that he was losing his little boy.

  Matki put his hand on Jendi’s shoulder, “We go to warn the Emurecuns. They may be watched right now, but they have two new babies and an invalid. We have to make sure they are safe.”

  Jendi looked back down at Durzai, “He was a good man, wasn’t he?”

  Matki nodded, “He was. He took care of his family, and he honored his commitments. He was dependable. He was my friend.”

  Jendi looked up at Matki, “Why do good men die?”

  Matki’s eyebrow shot up, not expecting such a deep question from his son, “Life is what it is, Jendi. We can prepare for the worst, but even the smartest and the bravest can be overcome. The motivation of an animal is easy to understand. It wants to eat, so it hunts, and sometimes it hunts you. You know what to expect from it. People are different. They hide their motivation. Some want to take from you. Those that take from you don’t want others to know what they’ve done, and they will kill you to cover their trail.

  “Others are petty, and enjoy watching others suffer. I believe that Walleg is this kind of person, one that derives pleasure from the pain of others. They’ll destroy you with their words, or with their actions, and sometimes with both. Watch the people around you. You’ll gain wisdom by understanding the actions that people take, and what their motivations are.”

  Matki motioned to the area around them, “Right now, we are surrounded by people who fear for their lives. Fear turns people into animals that jump when they see their own shadow. Those fears are being exploited by Walleg to make people do things they normally wouldn’t do. Now, we must ensure that we protect as many of our people as possible when the predators come in the night. We have to prepare everybody, so that when they do come, they die, and we live.”

  Jendi looked at the forest around them, and then back at Matki, “Is there is no other way? How can we defeat them?”

  A wry smile painted Matki’s lips, “No, there is no other way. People are who they are. They do not change. If a man changes the way he treats you, then odds are good that he is trying to seek an advantage.

  “What do you mean?” Jendi asked.

  Matki continued, “Well, let’s consider this. Suppose Walleg came to me, right now, and said that he wanted to make peace. Would you trust him?”

  Jendi started to say something, but Matki stopped him, “Think before you speak. Think about what has happened over the past few days.”

  Jendi closed his mouth, and Matki could tell that he was adding up what had he’d witnessed in his head. Jendi looked at his father and said, shaking his head, “No, I wouldn’t trust him.”

  Matki took his index finger and tapped the front of Jendi’s forehead, “And what is your reasoning?”

  Jendi held his hand out, and closed a finger every time he presented a different point, “First, he spread lies about the Emurecuns. Second, he pushed Joacar to oppose you. Third, he tried to cheat you in the fight, thinking that you had a bad leg, by setting you up with a younger opponent,” Jendi grinned, “but he underestimated you and failed, and lost an ally in the process. Fourth, he sent Gegit, Cadwai and Santhit to kill you, to kill us; but, once again, he underestimated you and didn’t think that you would be waiting for them.”

  Matki nodded, “Yes, at every turn, he’s tried to defeat me, at first with lies, and then by killing me. So, if he came to me and professed peace, why would he do that?”

  Once again, Jendi had to think about it, “If he was strong, he would just try to destroy you.” He looked up at his father, “Possibly because he’s weak and seeking time to gain strength?”

  “And how would he gain strength?” Matki asked.

  “By seeking out others that have something against you, and teaming with them?”

  Matki nodded, “Exactly, by seeking alliances. But he is not weak, so he will . . . ?”

  Jendi sighed, “He will attack us.”

  Matki grinned, “So what can we do?”

  Jendi glanced up at his father, “Sun Tzu, when you are weak, appear strong.”

  “Are we weak?” Matki asked.

  Jendi nodded, “We’re outnumbered, two to one.”

  “And they know that, so they will understand that we are trying to bluff. What else can we do?”

  Jendi yielded to his father’s logic, “Sun Tzu: With regard to precipitous heights, if you are beforehand with your adversary, you should occupy the raised and sunny spots, and there wait for him to come up.”

  Matki nodded, “So that is what we are going to do. We will move the Emurecuns and the people we trust up further on the mountain, and then we will improve our defenses. That way, when they come to attack us, our people are safe, and hopefully we can kill them.”

  “How long do we do that for?” Jendi asked.

  Matki thought about the question, and then answered, “Until we kill enough of them that they no longer have an advantage.”

  Matki stopped Jendi’s edification in strategy for the moment. He pointed back to the area where the Emurecuns were set up, “Let’s get on with it. We need to let them know that they need to move.”

  He motioned for Jendi to start out on the path back to their campsite. Matki had moved his family’s campsite closer to the Emurecuns because he felt they were safer there than with their own people. With Durzai’s corpse moldering in the forest, Matki was sure that he’d made the correct decision.

  “We need to be prepared for the worst. I think by moving up the mountain, we’ll be better prepared and in a better location if they attack us.

  “You said that even the most prepared can be defeated,” Jendi pointed out.

  Matki nodded, “I did say that. But, we are going to be prepared anyway. The most prepared may possibly be defeated. The unprepared will be defeated every time.”

  Once again, Jendi could find no flaws with Matki’s logic. Plus, it was the only option available to them.

  They walked the path back to the Emurecun’s encampment. When they got there, Matki sent Jendi out to find Mitchem and Diane. Matki waited, and soon Mitchem and Diane, who was now the most senior security person, came walking to his position with Jendi leading them. Diane was smart, decisive, and had the respect of the few security people they had left. Even Mitchem agreed, reluctantly, that she was the best person to head their security while Michelle was dealing with being a mother for the first time.

  Mitchem started, “What’s going on, Matki?”

  “We have a very serious problem,” Matki replied. “I found one of my men with his throat slit.”

  Mitchem’s eyes narrowed, “I thought you had all of that under control.”

  “I dealt with three, maybe four of the leaders, but there is one that is still at large,” Matki replied.

  Mitchem leaned back on the rock he was sitting on, “Walleg?”

  Matki nodded, “Even so. Walleg is still at large. He’s made inroads with the other tribe, and the other tribe members are upset, easy to manipulate, and are looking for, how you say, a scape goat.”

  The look on Diane’s face wasn’t pleasant, “And they’ve chosen us?”

  Once again, Matki nodded.

  “What can we do about it?” Diane asked.

  Matki pointed up the mountainside behind her, “We climb. I’ve found a good place to defend, and, when they come for us, if we can kill enough of them, maybe we can make them reconsider.”

  Diane’s face paled, “It’s th
at bad?”

  Matki spread his hands, “It is beyond my control now. They have sixty men to my thirty. Two to one odds. We need to consolidate our position so that they can’t overrun us.”

  “Don’t forget about us, Matki. We can fight, also,” Diane added.

  Matki smile was sad as he answered her, “Diane, you lost most of your fighting men in the canyons. You have what, five security people left? You, Rita, John, Scott and Keisha? And Keisha is not dependable. Are you going to arm the chemists? Maybe Lenny? Do you think they can match a Contai warrior in combat? You don’t have the mechs to rely on anymore.”

  Diane started to speak, then stopped. Finally, she nodded, “You’re right. We have a handful of people we can rely on. Still, we’ll do what we can.”

  Matki nodded, “I know you will. You always have.”

  “How much time do we have?” Mitchem asked.

  Matki stared at Mitchem, his eyes hard, “We are out of time. Walleg has stoked the flames of hatred. Unfortunately, he’s set the sights of the other tribe on you, instead of the aliens. You must get everybody moving right now. Walleg will catch on to what we are doing soon. We must be in position before he finds out. My men are moving their families, also. They will join us in the new position.”

  “Are you going to bring them to our new location?” Diane asked.

  Matki shook his head, “No, I’m going to get my family and join you. Once they are there, then I can worry about other things.”

  Diane looked puzzled, “How will they find us.”

  Matki grinned, “Don’t worry, they will find us Diane. There’s no way they could miss us. My warriors are the best hunters in these mountains. They will follow our tracks.”