by Casey Lea
To Zak’s shock Magreth winked at him. “You won’t be seeing my entrails, honey.”
She pursed her lips again and gave a piercing whistle. The ridge above them exploded upward with a dozen new silhouettes. A full Alliance strike team deployed up and down across the bank to cover the surrounding area. A burly human trotted to join Magreth and she gave him a nod.
“Ish,” she said. “Take half the wing and get the teks back to town. The rest of us will help Mr Brooding with his vermin problem.”
“I don’t want help,” Zak protested.
Magreth patted him on the head and he froze in shock.
“Don’t whine, kid,” she advised. “You need help. Admit it with dignity.”
She turned and twirled a finger at the remaining troops. “Form up, gentlemen. We’re going hunting with Sir Pouts-alot. Where to?”
Zak realized she was talking to him, but he was still trying to figure out exactly what had happened. Events had somehow rocketed out of his control.
“Look, lady-”
“Ain’t no lady and that’s what I’m asking. Where should we look?”
Zak could feel a vein pulsing in his temple. “Nowhere. What about ‘piss off’ confuses you? Is it the piss or the off?”
Magreth grinned again. “Neither, but I don’t do pissed off. Waste of energy. Since you haven’t a clue how to track this killer critter I guess we’ll have to do all the work.”
“I do have a clue.”
“Then prove it, Pouty.”
“My name’s Zak.”
Magreth’s smile was as warm as ever. “Nice to meet you, Zak. What say we agree to call a truce and try working together? Just for now. I won’t think we’re friends or anything. Promise.”
Zak opened his mouth to protest, but nothing came out. His anger was suddenly gone. A strange weight lifted off his chest and he grinned. “I should warn you, I don’t play well with others.”
He expected her to say something sarcastic, like she never would have guessed, but she just nodded.
“Duly noted. Come on, Zak. We’ve got your back.”
“I’m looking for a friend,” he admitted and held up his wrist to show the little light that was Mac. He was still in the same place, deep within the mountain.
Magreth made a beckoning gesture. “Throw me the tracking signal.”
Zak sent her the data before he had a chance to think about it.
“Thanks,” she answered, turning away and taking off at a jog.
Zak gathered himself and stopped wondering why he still felt like a kid. He was twenty-one and well used to danger. There was no reason for him to defer to random strike-teams. He accelerated in an effort to catch Magreth, but she was well into the chill bite of the cave before he reached her.
The strike team was close behind and stopped in a line, well spread out, following Magreth. Black walls danced in the light as she spun in a circle to assess their surroundings. The bright beam from her gauntlet seemed to grow weak and fuzzy when it hit the walls, making it impossible to see any detail. She moved on anyway and the rest of the team forced their way after her, pushing Zak aside. He skidded on slime and went down on one knee. He couldn’t see the Leader through her six soldiers, but her voice was clear.
“Rapid-recon formation with the civvie in the middle. We’re hunting a Big Bad, so stay alert. Let’s show this wannabe monster that we’re the predators.”
“Hell, yes,” the team chorused.
The Leader and her six followers formed up around Zak while a hand on his shoulder jerked him to his feet, then guided him forward. He stiffened and the man behind pushed harder to steer him into the middle of the group. Who did they think he was? Some sort of dainty princess? He took off after Magreth, catching his nanny by surprise and breaking away from the man.
Zak shoulder barged the next soldier and managed to shove his way into line right behind Magreth. He sensed annoyance from the other males and heard the troops behind him conferring, but ignored them to settle into a jog behind their leader.
The cave began drawing in and Zak had to duck to continue. His shoulders brushed both walls as he pushed along a tunnel that grew increasingly narrow. It twisted like a spring and they all went with it, hugged tight by its rough walls. However, around the last corkscrew was a dead end. Zak could see it above Magreth’s head and stopped, but she kept on going. At the last minute she dropped to a crouch then crawled forward into a dark opening. He had a brief view of her cloth clad bottom and then she was gone.
“Move,” the man behind him hissed and Zak felt the soldier’s impatience to back up his leader.
Zak dropped to all fours and crawled, but not very far. The floor fell away under him, sending him tumbling into darkness.
Cold walls scraped both of his shoulder and his wings twitched, but there was no room to open them. Fear brushed past him too, until the pit he’d fallen into opened out. It was impossible to see anything, but he could sense fresh space around him. He flicked his wings open far enough to jet and stopped in mid-air. A scraping noise was the only warning he had that the next of the soldiers was about to fall on him.
Zak looked up, just as a light snapped on somewhere below to show a dark-haired soldier half his size hurtling at him. Zak darted aside, but grabbed the man by his armor as he fell past. Pain shot up Zak’s arms and through his shoulders. The weight tipped him forward, but he’d stopped the soldier’s momentum and the floor was close.
Zak looked down, to see Magreth shining her gauntlet light upward, as she sat in the dirt a few meters below. He dropped the soldier, who landed easily on the soft ground. Zak jetted upward, ready for the next entrant, but he could hear Magreth on the com and the rest of her troops slid down on energy discs. Each anti-grav support looked like a glowing plate under the soldiers’ feet. They all made it safely down the pinch and settled on the floor of a cave so large that its walls remained hidden in darkness.
Zak followed them down to land with a muffled thud, but when he took a step something crunched underfoot. He peered through the dim light to see white sticks scattered over the muck on the cavern floor.
“Thanks,” someone breathed behind him and he twisted to see the warrior he’d saved. The man bowed his head. “I’m Hiro and I’m in your debt.”
“You’re welcome,” Zak said, looking round for Magreth. She was sitting in a pool of light, deeper into the cave.
“Careful,” she whispered. “We’ve landed in a graveyard.”
There was another crunch, caused by Hiro, who stopped mid-stride and beckoned to his officer. Magreth rose slowly and kept her arms wrapped around her torso while she shuffled forward. She was hurt. It seemed the soft floor hadn’t saved her from harm.
Zak hurried to reach her and more sticks crackled under his foot. He looked down to see a mess of jagged white ends where his boot had crushed the chest of a skeleton. The loamy floor was littered with death. Bodies that had been pulled apart and eaten to the bone. He kicked the remains away and moved on. The dead he couldn’t fix.
There was more cracking when Zak reached Magreth, as Hiro poked and pulled at the faded yellow frame of a beast that definitely wasn’t bipedal. It’s skeleton rose out of the mire like a petrified forest reaching as high as their knees, but it must have been mighty once. The bones had been broken and split until they collapsed into little more than a random pile. Hiro lifted one of the scattered body parts to show a skull, with most of its fangs still intact. The largest tooth was sharply curved and as long as Hiro’s hand. The dead beast had been a carnivore. Whatever killed it must be a supremely capable hunter.
Magreth nodded and eased back onto her heels, flicking a thumb along her com to release an impressively large blaster into her waiting hands. Her gesture was practised, but jerky and she remained awkwardly crouched, with her right arm tucked close, while her jaw set tight. How much hurt was she in?
Zak didn’t usually pry, but sometimes fronds were useful. He let the strand closer to Magreth
lift slightly and was hit was by pulse of pain as taut and controlled as a bow string.
“You’re injured,” he said. “Let me see.”
Magreth snapped him an exasperated look and whispered back. “You don’t get into my armor that easily, newbie.”
“That’s Doctor Newbie to you. Open up, while we have a chance.”
Magreth’s frown drew a crease between her eyebrows, but she didn’t protest. Instead she hit her wrist and the strips of carbonised metal protecting her arms and torso softened to chain mail. She pulled at the more flexible material and then dragged the leather lining of her tunic up with a grunt.
“Old injury,” she muttered. “Banged it up a bit when I landed. Can you get it to shut up?”
Zak ducked to study the curve of her hip and the rise of her body from her waist. Smooth dark skin gave way to the mottled yellow and green of massive bruising. He probed it gently and the tissue felt hot and still swollen. The ribs underneath seemed solid, but this wasn’t a recent injury and it was impossible to tell how bad it had been. He moved higher and his probing fingers felt wrongness. His patient winced and hissed between her teeth.
“Sorry,” said Zak and meant it. He checked his com scan for confirmation and it agreed with his diagnosis. “You’ve cracked a rib and aggravated a hell of a lot of soft tissue damage. Why didn’t your drakking medics fix it?”
“They did.”
“Truly?”
“They pulled my ribs out of my lung, reset my humerus and got the circulation going again to save my arm.”
“Alright, yeah. I can see there’s still crush damage here. Why didn’t the assholes finish?”
“That’s not on them. It’s my responsibility. I insisted I had places to be, so they let me go.”
“I bet they did.”
“Can you help, or are you just playing?”
Zak found himself smiling. “Much as I enjoy a good grope, I’m actually collating specific instructions for a med strip. It won’t concentrate on healing the rib first as it usually would. Instead I’m programing it to prioritize support and pain relief. A complete cure will take longer than normal, but you’ll hold together better in the meantime.”
Magreth’s eyebrows curved higher and her dark eyes seemed to hold something more than surprise. Was that a hint of respect? Zak’s fronds confirmed the emotion and he felt strangely euphoric. It was nice not to be considered a liability.
“Thanks, Doc,” she murmured. “That’s perfect. Let’s move out.”
Mac’s tracker-signal was still pulsing against Zak’s wrist and he turned with the others to find the strongest beat. It was difficult, because the signal was increasingly faint, even at its strongest they were in danger of losing it. Mac must be much deeper in the cave complex, but at least the tracker was still working. His friend hadn’t been reduced to bone. Not yet.
It was hard to remember that as the team snapped and cracked their way through the chamber. The brittle noise when they waded through bones set his teeth on edge and he hurried to draw level with Magreth. She gave him a brief smile.
“What are you doing here anyway?” Zak asked, his voice loud enough to cover the crunching.
Magreth turned back with a frown. “Checking out Blizzard to see if it’s a safe place to send Alliance prisoners. Look, Zak, it’s charming that you’re so chatty, but save it for some other lady, or some other time. If you can’t keep quiet, we’ll have to leave you behind.”
Zak was so stunned two soldiers managed to push their way past him. Chatty? That was a new one and he almost snorted, but managed to stop himself. Didn’t want to get sent home like the class brat.
“Close the gap, civilian,” a deep voice muttered from behind.
Zak did exactly that, moving forward at double time to take up his position in the line that was forming. He tapped the man ahead on the shoulder to let him know Zak was there and settled into a steady pace with every sense on high alert. Who the hell did they think they were calling a civilian? It was time to stop letting Magreth get under his skin and be professional. He might be masquerading as a doctor, but he knew that underneath he was still the warrior Nikareon raised him to be. Nothing he did could ever change that.
Glimpses of rough wall curving overhead came into sight in the jerking com-lights. Magreth raised her fist and everyone stopped. She steadied her torch and swung it along the end of the cave, searching for an exit. Unfortunately, there were far too many. It was impossible to tell which of the dark openings might lead to Mac.
Hiro moved up to join Magreth and Zak followed him. The Strike Leader gestured at the three largest tunnels and Hiro raised a wrist covered in a com that ran all the way up to his elbow. He must be the unit’s tek guy. A hum came from the soldier’s arm and three tiny probes rose from his palm. They were a nondescript brown and almost too small to see, with blurred wings that hid further details. They could easily pass for some sort of insect.
The trio of spy drones spread out and darted into the tunnels Magreth had indicated. Half of the troop dropped to their haunches and a couple drew food bars out of storage. The others remained on their feet, but drank deeply from the water feeds at the neck of their half-mail jerkins. No one spoke, but all six of them seemed relaxed. Magreth ran a good unit.
Hiro crouched down with the images from his probes playing in front of him. He watched them intently, while his left hand wandered across the cavern floor and his right hand spun a knife. Zak looked back to check and the soldier was definitely playing with a scalpel. The man’s fingers gripped something on the ground and dug deeper to pull up a piece of crystal. It was the same deep purple as the veins that filled the ranges and the fist-sized piece glowed in the faint light.
“Almost as pretty as Colonel Sims,” Hiro said and Magreth grinned.
“I didn’t think he was your type,” she said.
Hiro waggled his eyebrows. “I’ve heard he’s everyone’s type. What sort of charm do you want me to carve?”
“The way this mission’s going? Good luck all the way.”
“Entwined shamrocks it is. I won’t be able to finish it in one break though.”
Magreth shrugged. “That’s strange. I hear you always finish in less than thirty seconds.”
There were quiet hoots from the rest of the troop and Zak grinned too.
Hiro joined in the smiles and lifted a shoulder at Zak. “The boss loves me. Can’t you tell?”
“She loves you for thirty seconds,” Zak replied and there was a shocked silence, then Magreth laughed.
“He wishes. Get carving, Hiro.”
Zak felt indignation from the rest of the soldiers and realised he’d crossed a line. The emotions were strong enough for his fronds to pick up without effort. Most of the men resented his presence and considered him an outsider, which was true enough. He was a stranger along for the ride, but despite his initial reservations they were competent soldiers and exactly the help he needed finding Mac.
A data stream joined the images from the probes, but Hiro kept whittling his piece of crystal. Flakes fluttered to the ground like butterfly wings. Zak moved closer, fascinated despite himself. He bent over the soldier who looked up and opened his hand. Half of the violet lump had been replaced by delicate leaves. Some sort of plant winding round itself.
A soft cheep from Hiro’s com made Zak straighten and he rose through the spiralling lines of a growing hologram.
“Data’s in, sar,” Hiro announced and Magreth joined them to study the inside of the mountain.
The fake insects must have been full geological probes, because the map they’d created went far beyond three tunnels. Golden lines branched in front of Zak, spreading like a vast cobweb to fill the air around him.
“Holy crap,” Hiro muttered and Zak silently agreed.
“These aren’t just random burrows,” Magreth said and pointed to one side of the projection. “See all the branches running this way? They’re parallel and follow the same line. Straight toward Ju
stice.”
The entire team came to their feet and a chill ran down Zak’s spine.
“These things are going to invade,” he realized. “How many are there? Have you got any life signs?”
“Nope,” said Hiro. “Can only fit so much tek in probes that small. If we want more answers we’ll have to work for them.”
Magreth’s teeth flashed in a grin. “Isn’t that true of everything? Form up, folks. ‘Handro, Smith and ‘Chandra you’re with me. We’re going to help Zak find his friend. The rest of you stay with Hiro and rig this place to blow.”
Everyone stood straighter, while Hiro scowled at the golden hologram. “To get a good blast we need to plant the bomb deeper. Say here.” He pointed past tunnels to the blob of a fairly central cavern. “We can leave magnifiers as we go. Enough to take the side off the mountain if you want, boss.”
Magreth stared at the map, but didn’t hesitate. “I really do.”
“You want a timer on that?”
“No,” Magreth replied and Zak felt the soldiers’ tension ease. “Stick a remote in everything you plant and we’ll blow it once we’re all out and can check that the valley’s clear.”
Hiro bounced upright with a nod, tucking the carved crystal into his armour, while flipping the scalpel back into his com. “Whatever you wish, Mrs Claus.”
Magreth groaned and the rest of the troop chuckled.
“I’m not going to live that Christmas party down anytime soon,” she sighed. “Leave something under the tree, Hiro, and make it a present from the top of Santa’s naughty list.”
“On it.”
The soldier bent to slide a heavy disc from his com. It landed with a thud in the churned mud of the floor. It was half-a-metre in diameter and once on the ground it shimmered, its colour shifting until it was invisible in the muck. Zak recognised it as a magnifier, designed to enhance and transmit the blast from any explosion. Things were going to get much hotter down in the dark.
“Let’s go,” he said to Magreth, who was still studying the hologram. Zak looked at it too and noticed a flashing red light. Mac’s tracker. The Captain had superimposed it on the map and he could see how far away it was. They needed to travel much further up into the mountain.