Arnica

by I. Christie

  "No! We just didn't hear ya behind us, is all," Jer's voice snapped back.

  "Well, let's get moving then," Alexandra encouraged. The men were on the edge of falling apart.

  The three men noticeably dropped behind them though not too far back.

  Alexandra clicked three long and three short and Vanstar replied with one long, an affirmative. Something was waiting for them up front. Alexandra found the small opening in the side of the trail and pulled Vanstar alongside of her. Both pressed themselves against the wall, waiting for the men to pass them. When the men were ten strides ahead, they fell in behind them.

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  It was so simple to fall behind the men that Alexandra had to remind herself not to let her guard down. So far, they did not seem to be very complex or cleaver by any means, but if they had resisted the local authorities for ten stan years, then they had to have something going for them.

  A shout ahead of them barely prepared for something that came whizzing over their heads. It seemed like a flock of something, squeaking and mewing as the air from their movement swept over them. Both women covered their heads and dropped to the floor, waiting for the noises to subside.

  "Like maci or bats," Vanstar muttered, getting back to her feet. "Helgas moon, they stink!"

  "Yes."

  As they cautiously moved forward, their tunnel opened up into another cavern that had the stifling smell of the creatures that flew over their heads. They both quickly reached into their pacs for something to cover their faces with to filter out some of the smell. Once more they moved forward, still not finding the men. They could hear the water flowing somewhere, but as with all the caverns they had entered, there were multiple exits.

  The women found the men by their screams. Whatever had been chasing them was now whirling around the men who were frantically beating it off with their hands.

  "You dirty traitor! Get away!" Amonic shouted furiously.

  "Ya demon thing! We gave ya the heathen women! Get the bloody hell away!" Jer shouted angrily.

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  "You're nothing without us! Go get what you were called up for!"

  Then all three voices started screaming unintelligently, though from what, neither woman could see.

  "Oh, oh," Alexandra muttered under her breath as it turned toward her. She could feel its animosity. Alexandra closed her thoughts, and retreated to her heart center.

  It bounced into her and knocked her off her feet. Somehow, she managed to roll to her hands and knees and crawl over to two dark figures. The men looked like they were looking for a way to break away and run. Two took off screaming down one tunnel.

  Alexandra took off after them, hoping to stop them from falling off a cliff.

  The men ran like panic herd animals, not paying attention to where they were going. Their run took them over a cliff, splashing somewhere below the path. Alexandra did not hesitate to follow them in. The river was a key to something. She was already loosening her pac as it carried her to the bottom of the river. She released the catch when the weight was keeping her on the bottom. The button on it's side turned it into a floatation device, no matter how heavy it's contents. It took her quickly to the surface.

  She found the men by their splashing and yelling. They found a tree trunk, handily floating in the center of the river.

  Alexandra grabbed onto a root partially under water and then dragged herself toward the men.

  "So, what was that all about?" she demanded, referring to the conversation they had overheard.

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  "Dark damnation!" Sys'mara exclaimed breathlessly. "Where did you come from?

  Where's Jer?"

  "I don't know. I'm sure Lt. Vanstar is making sure he doesn't hurt himself too badly."

  "You saying we deserved this?" Amonic demanded, picking up on her unspoken thought.

  "Let's get something straight here. If I am accusing you of something I will come right out and say it. That way it will save us a lot of wasted words…"

  "Well that's fine with…"

  "Shut up and listen. We don't have much time," Alexandra cut him from further conversation.

  "No heathen tells me…"

  "Amonic," his companion growled.

  "This current is flowing fast which tells me we're heading to a waterfall and chances by the fast pace it's going to be a steep drop. We're going to have get out of here before it's too late."

  "Why the hell for?" Amonic demanded angrily.

  "Do you want to go over a waterfall attached or entangled in a log?"

  There was silence in the dark. Alexandra considered her message delivered. Now she needed to concentrate on getting to a safe location. Not wishing to abandon the log 328

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  yet, she found a place she could break away without getting entangled on the branches.

  She listened for sounds of the shore.

  "Shit and hell holes!" one of the men cursed. She could hear splashing as they moved around, rocking the drift wood.

  "Damn demon!" teeth chattered.

  "Shut up, Amonic," Sys'mara shouted as their life raft suddenly dipped and dropped into a trough, thankfully not a great distance down, and then picked up speed.

  The three fell in awkward heaps on different parts of the log getting stabbed and scratched from the branches they clung to.

  "We have to let go of this thing!" Alexandra hollered to the two men over the increasing roar. Peering through the darkness for anything that they could use as a focus to swim to Alexandra thought she spotted a slower part of the river bed.

  "Can you two swim…over there where it looks like dry land?"

  "Where are you looking?" asked Sys'mara, his teeth chattering so hard Alexandra thought he may chip a tooth.

  "Over your shoulder," she shouted back.

  Surprisingly enough, the three got to shore, finding that it got shallow three strokes from the center of the river. The chill of the river sent them searching for wood.

  Alexandra could hear them slosh around, slapping their arms for warmth. They found nothing.

  Wearily Alexandra dropped to the sand. Her pack was gone and she could not remember losing it. She was surprised to find that it was warm. She did not realize she 329

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  had fallen asleep until an awful high pitched screech made her bolt up to a sitting position.

  "Bloody moon," she gasped trying to regroup to her surroundings.

  "Get away…get away…kick it…kick!" Amonic was terrified.

  "Where? I…" Sys'mara screamed and gurgled.

  As Alexandra went to help Amonic and Sys'mara she tripped over a stone and landed against the side of something slick that pulsed at a slow beat. She found herself looking through a transparent veil. Beyond it was the two terrified men. With controlled emotions, she laid her hands against the veil and attempted to communicate on every level she could think of. She felt a powerful surge. The next thing she knew was lying on her back gasping for air.

  "Not that way!" Vanstar grabbed Jer by the back of his shirt and jerked him into a small space between the two tunnel entrances. "Don't even think," she whispered close to his ear.

  For once Jer obeyed without argument. She could feel his heart pounding as franticly as hers. Whatever it was followed them and paused at the fork in the tunnels.

  It chose the tunnel to the left and Jer was about to bolt for the right but Vanstar kept a vise-like grip on him. It angered her more that the colonists may have created it.

  The idea that Commander Montran was right about the planet and what this energy thing was did not make her happy, but a soldiers' life was not measured with 'happiness' but by adrenalin rushes. And this was a big one. She only had herself and she was doing 330

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istie

  good…so far. Her primary goal was to get both of them out of this situation. Her secondary was to find the Commander, and then the Corporal.

  The energy and stink came roaring back up the tunnel where again it hovered between the two tunnels as if trying to sense them. Everything she could remember on being absolutely still was in two words Zohra had told her once, 'don't think'. It seemed easy then. At the time she wanted the special ops job of infiltrating a tight group that provided protection for one of the largest smuggler cartels in GCFC space. Without much surprise, Zohra was given the task of softening the group up to accept its first female member. After three years of being alone in the Black Rose, they finally acknowledged that women could be just as mean and crazy as the men. It was not that women were not assigned to the troop, it was that the hazing from the men was more brutal to women.

  Zohra's method was beating the men to the punch and never leaving herself open. She spent three years in enemy territory, trusting no one. Images of the hardened soldier came back to Vanstar easily. The Zohra of that time was not the same person she spent years of training with at the academy.

  Suddenly whatever it was, was gone. Vanstar let a small puff of air out.

  Memories. She needed to put those behind her. She had a job to do.

  "I'm not going in there!" Jer whispered nearly hysterical as Vanstar pushed him into the same tunnel their assailant went down.

  "Jer, get the bloody hell moving and stop with this crap!" she whispered firmly.

  "I'm not following that thing anywhere!"

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  "Really? From the conversation you and your friends were having, this is your creation and you're supposed to be the boss. What happened? You didn't give it enough supplication?"

  Jer said nothing, but Vanstar could feel his angry thought and then it was quickly squelched. Vanstar turned into the tunnel, knowing Jer was not going to stay behind alone. She led them down a steep incline when her boot kicked something. She stopped suddenly but Jer kept moving forward. She quickly grabbed onto an outcropping of the wall and stopped both of them from falling over the cliff.

  "What is with all these bloody drops into the water!" Vanstar muttered.

  They searched along the wall until Jer found another tunnel.

  "I'm not to sure about this one. No air movement," Vanstar whispered.

  "Tunnels with a lot of twist and turns are like this. The demon will not go into these."

  "You know this as a fact, huh? Alright. I'm getting tired of being bounced off walls."

  It was after the third turn that the ground dropped from under them and both fell into a pool of cold water, sinking to the bottom. At the bottom Vanstar grabbed Jer's arm when she realized he was not rising. Her life pack was engaged and it lifted them both upward. She dragged his choking body up to the shore, over rocks, and then further away from the water.

  Wetfoot pulled E'l onto a drifting log. They both clung to it as the quickening current carried the log faster downstream. Before long they lost their grip on the log when the river dropped out from under them. Both were flung away from the log and came up sputtering.

  "Gi!" Wetfoot spotted the shimmering form on the bank of the shore. "E'l, over that way! Can you swim!"

  By E'l's frantic thrashing she guessed not. Quickly she grabbed her and put her into a life saving position, swimming for them both. Gi waded in and pulled them out easily.

  Around the warm fire the women enjoyed a warm cup of tea that Gi had prepared.

  "We will continue along this way and meet up with the others," Gi explained to the two tired women. "For now, you need rest. We will move on when you are rested."

  Chapter 12

  Captain Malchi looked around her as she stepped from her shuttle. She was flanked by four of her sisters, each was a high ranking member of the guild, Hekate's Inner Circle. Malchi was proud to be the spokesperson. Before them was the temple.

  They would be meeting in the garden below the tall tower. As each one of them stepped onto the surface they all had to stand for a few moments and adjust to the energy that surged into them. Captain Malchi shook her hands out to flick some of the charge into the air. Otherwise, she knew if she touched someone, she would shock them with more energy than he or she may be ready for.

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  A tall Micas was standing still in the shadows of an old knar tree. When Malchi spotted him, he came forward. He was alone, but the hilt of his sword could be seen over his shoulder. Since Hekate's Inner Circle were all warriors, they admired the Commander's weapon, his carriage, and most of all, the sense of power that he carried without having to project it around him as some soldiers felt was necessary.

  He bowed his head and gestured for them to follow him. Captain Malchi remembered that conversations would not be started until they were in an area Commander O'Malley indicated was safe. Thoughts were also held quiet as they could easily be picked up by spies.

  "Greetings Captain Malchi, Lieutenants Fra Colomi, C' Chia, Juumat, and Fra Jo,"

  the Micas began formally. "I am Commander O'Malley of the Queen's Kiuzi."

  "Greetings Commander O'Malley," the five chorused.

  "What plans have you for us, Commander?" Captain Malchi started, not one for prolonged conversations when battle plans were being formed.

  "Your subjects are settling on an island off 4th continent, Octuple." His gestures brought up a holographic map of the planet. "This is where we are now…this is where they are moving. The island has no one that they can threaten. The chain of command is simple. There is one civilian that gives orders to one military figure. He has four military leaders below him. In two weeks, they shall be completely moved out of the mountain and residing here. They will be highly suspicious of anyone that approaches their island.

  They have been studying it for over a year and know it has not been visited during any of that time."

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  "Why hasn't it?" Captain Malchi asked suddenly.

  "The Queen ordered it," he stated simply.

  "She can see the future?" she asked, feeling rather stupid when she asked it.

  "As you understand it, yes."

  The holograph changed to show the island from the beach perspective.

  "Without the proper equipment a tortuous cliff to climb. Rocks that can break any craft not made for that purpose rules out simple approaches from the beach. I see we got an interesting challenge. Before I tire my brain out figuring how we're going to get on the island unseen, I'm sure you have that already covered. What to share?" Bian Malchi asked with a grin.

  "We have the one tone that will render the chip of all but one inoperative."

  Now it made sense to Captain Malchi. When the MS were unconscious she and her group would pick them up, store them in the SEC ship and no more problems.

  She glanced at her sisters. It was too easy. "All but one?"

  "Our agent has no chip. She will make sure that there is no interference."

  "One? How sure can you be sure that she is working for your interests?" Malchi asked.

  "Because we have already removed her chip."

  Malchi was uneasy. Alan never messed with females unless he wanted to torture them to feel their terror. With the exception of Lady Alexandra, implanting a chip in his female victims was not his style.

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  "Perhaps it is because you expect things to go wrong that they do," Commander O'Malley suggested.

  The sisters around her broke into laughter and then Malchi.

  "Yes. Or, it's just planning for possible outcomes to not be taken by surprise," she countered.

  Commander O'Malley nodded, his eyes seeing more than what Malchi wanted seen. "Knowing the difference between self deceit and being practicable is a useable skill."

&
nbsp; Malchi laughed again. "So, what do we do now?"

  "Wait. Until then, we have warriors that would like to meet you." His smile was broad and had enough challenge in his eyes for the women to know what it was about.

  "Bring them on!" Lt. Visu reported rubbing her hands to activate chi. She was the best hand-to-hand fighter Malchi had met in a long time.

  "Good. If you don't mind my asking, would any of you wish to have a friendly spar with me?" He touched the hilt of his sword.

  Malchi and the others looked at each other. Clor!

  "We have such a sister that would give you a challenge," Malchi told him. And give her one. Blasted woman needs someone that can take her down a notch.

  The others agreed.

  Malchi was relieved they would not have to just wait around with nothing to do.

  The long journey and then inaction was driving many of her shipmates to do irresponsible things. None had experienced long journeys with only themselves to amuse. The koan had given them assignments, with mediation as one of the many tasks but prolonged space travel seemed to change something.

  She dug her foot into the ground, relishing the connection and just as the feeling gave her satisfaction it dawned on her what the sensitive staff was suffering from. She laughed to herself. They all needed to touch the life of a living planet periodically to rebalance.

  This awareness she sent out in thought to the other koan members so they would work out a plan to alleviate the unnecessary tensions in her crew.

  Chapter 13

  Tukuli's raised his aching head from his filthy hands. He heard unfamiliar footsteps enter the temple. If was his young helper he would give him a tongue lashing for being late, though he did not really know if there was a set time the boy was to attend to him. He was still not able to tell time and he could not hear thoughts. At first that terrified him, the silence, then he was quite happy not to have to hear commoners thoughts. Who want to hear their boring chatter out loud and mentally. It would be incessant noise.

  He was about to shout indignantly at someone disturbing his peace when he remembered this was a public building, and the local authorities could order him to leave for unbecoming behavior. He had nowhere else to go and certainly was not going to ask any monk for help. Instead, he slid further down on the bench to avoid being noticed.