“Be ready for anything, Daf,” reminded Crystal. “According to S, there may be some patrols out here, so keep your eye on the HDC.”
Just hours before, S had typed that she was almost half a million years old, which worried Crystal about S's authenticity. How could anyone be so old? But, who knows anymore...just a week ago her entire race was convinced they were the only ones in the Universe, and how quickly THAT had changed.
Making their way to a high ridge, they walked along its irregular base, doing their best to conceal themselves within the shadows that were everywhere. The sun on Lumus never dropped completely below the horizon, so dusk was their night.
Crystal tapped her HDC to see how long it would take them to reach Forever Mountain, and based upon their coordinates, she thought no more than an hour. Then she checked to see if her camera was functioning, something she intended to do every few minutes or so, just in case. The good news was that it was functioning, and the bad news? Plenty of time for that.
“Keep following the base of the ridge as it slopes down into Gutter's Pass, then we'll eventually cut over to Stab Straights.”
“Aye, Chief,” responded Daf.
Gutter's Pass was a large canyon with a wide overhang on one side that extended almost the entire length of the canyon. When it rained, water would flood over it like an overly full rain gutter, creating a very wide waterfall. It was a beautiful site on a rainy afternoon but it wasn't raining at the moment, so using a waterfall as cover wasn't going to happen.
“When we get to Stab Straights, we'll move slowly from rock-jut to rock-jut, understand?”
“Aye, Chief.”
Stab Straights had gotten its nick-name because of its thick rocks that jutted upward like knives stabbing at the sky. Each rock was much wider than a Mech, protruding nearly a hundred feet into the air and they were spaced no more than fifteen to twenty feet apart. It would be a perfect place to conceal themselves, moving between the great jags that might also interfere with the Drag's radar.
Crystal's com link crackled as Daf's voice reported, “I'm getting a heat signature two miles west—do you see that?”
Crystal searched the holographic map on her HDC, saw the heat signature and rubbed her brow. “It's stationary, so I think we're fine for now, but keep an eye on it.”
“Yes, Chief.”
Daf must be in a good mood. She was answering orders without hesitation or annoyance, which wasn't usual. “You enjoying the ride?”
“More than you know, Chief.”
They continued walking, and mostly in silence. Daf continued to check her HDC, making sure that the heat signature wasn't moving toward them, which it never seemed to do.
When they finally reached the end of the ridge, they entered an open field of rocky ground and walked until they began their descent into Gutter's Pass. Deciding to hug the cliff's wall, Crystal looked up and could see that they were under the guttered overhang that would also cover them nicely from a topographical view.
“I can't wait to see Jerrod's face when we get back,” said Daf, pulling Crystal out of her concentration.
Crystal's stomach hardened. That was a low blow. She pinched her lips, her voice monotone. “Why is that?”
“He doesn't know we left, so he'll be looking all over for us. He'll do his cute little doctor thing, you know...being worried for our safety and well-being and all that.”
Crystal didn't respond, so after a long pause Daf broke the silence. “Sitting on the couch next to him last night was bliss, holding hands...” Daf released an innocent sigh and Crystal's breathing shallowed. Daf continued, “and when we kissed—”
Kissed? Blushing, Crystal blustered, “Alright, enough of the love talk!”
“You don't want to hear about last night...or about the night before? But he's so good!”
Crystal was sullen, and to get Daf to shut up she growled, “I kinda' don't care, Daf!” and walked her Mech faster.
Daf laughed. “I'm just kidding, Crystal, we didn't do anything. He's a great guy and breathtaking with the looks...those eyes and smile could melt stone, but it doesn't matter. If you weren't so off in your own little corner of the ship and so much inside of your head all the time, you'd see how he looks at you and blushes when he talks with you. You'd see how he shines whenever you walk through the door.”
“Really?” Crystal asked excitedly, but then caught herself and flatly replied, “He looks at you like that, too, Daf.”
“Are you that unaware, Crystal? In truth, I might be able to seduce him, but why settle for being second choice?” She thought for a moment and concluded, “He's a good man. If you could let him into your life a little more, you'd see that.”
“Okay, Miss Love Guru, thanks for the advice.”
“And if you don't give him at least a few minutes of your time when we get back, I'm gonna' kick your ass, okay?”
Crystal rolled her eyes, thinking how Daf wouldn't last five seconds in a fight with her. “Daf, I'm not interested in dating.”
“Yep, that's the Crystal I know...the person who avoids any feelings of happiness. You might try to smile once in a while. You're the master at disguising your emotions, which is pretty impressive, but it's a sad talent. I’m not trying to be mean, but perhaps that’s why that political wanna-be guy on Matrona broke up with you?”
Crystal bit her lip. That was something that had pained her ever since the break-up and she didn't like thinking about it. She wanted to tell Daf to shut up and mind her own damn business, but this wasn’t the time or place. They needed to concentrate on what they were doing and, besides, she respected Daf in a strange way. So, instead, Crystal coolly responded, “Chase is an Overseer now. I guess he won his governance race a couple of weeks before we were attacked.”
“Oh, goodie for him—I bet he's enjoying that position right about now.”
Less than we are, thought Crystal. “So, Jerrod likes—”
A beep sounded, then another, and she stared at the HDC and barked, “Three craft approaching—shut down your Mech—now!”
All systems shut down except the HDC and Crystal checked the camera to make sure that it was recording, then whispered, “Keep voice communication at a minimum until I deem it safe.”
Three aircraft were twenty miles away and approaching fast. They'd be upon them in less than a minute and Crystal eyed the time, 5:13 am. Getting to the mountain was taking longer than expected and the sun was already rising. The canyon shadows were disappearing, making them easier targets. She hadn't been paying attention when a re-occurring thought that had been haunting her oddly popped into her mind, we destroy everything we touch...maybe the drags would be doing the universe a favor by getting rid of us so we can't keep stripping the planet of its resources...then the next planet, then the next.
Another beep snapped her back to reality and she focused on the craft that were now hovering just above the canyon. She was thankful for the gutter covering their position, and hoped the craft wouldn't swing around to see under it. If they did, she and Daf were surely doomed.
Closing her eyes, Crystal pleaded in her mind, please work your Magic, S... I'm sorry I hung up on you—just help us—please, please, help!
Suddenly, the craft flew off at accelerated speeds, moving miles away in just seconds.
Thank you!
Daf blurted, “What the Guild?! Why'd they hover above us and then just take off? If they hovered, they'd obviously spotted something, but they didn’t even investigate...!”
Crystal swiped away the perspiration on her forehead, thinking that S had most likely lured the craft away. “I don’t know, Daf. Let's get moving. We’ll talk about it after the mission.”
“Just lead the way, Chief!”
They walked a fast pace for another thirty minutes until they entered Stab Straights where they immediately butted up against the first knifed rock they saw. Crystal said, “Dammit! Why didn't I have Wrench paint these Mech's red to camouflage us with the landscape? We'd be p
ractically invisible to the naked eye!”
“We're only eleven minutes from the mountain, so don't worry, we'll be fine,” responded Daf.
They moved from rock to rock, taking it slow and easy and in truth, it was becoming exactly what Crystal had wanted—an easy trip to Forever Mountain. As soon as she recorded the mountain and it's surroundings, they'd return to the ship and show her mother that it was safer for everyone to travel there versus staying where they were and being destroyed.
Crystal's Mech suddenly fluttered. It was odd, so she viewed the HDC damage application, just in case. When nothing seemed out of the ordinary, she started to sigh, but her eyes caught the map blinking on the screen for just a split second, and then disappear. She shook if off, thinking it must've been caused by all the new wiring, and that the system was straightening itself out. Concentrate, Crystal.
“Did I ever tell you about the time I cut all power to our Mech Warehouse?” asked Daf, interrupting the concentration that Crystal desired.
“Uh…no. But, that was you?”
Daf giggled. “Yeah, I hated mining. I wanted to go back to the biosphere to be with the plants and animals again, so I cut the power.”
Crystal couldn't help it and released a chuckle. She had assumed that someone had to have done it on purpose, but she never knew who. “It took them a week to get it back on line. I had to work at another warehouse while you guys all got to stay on the starbase. A paid time off, I trust?”
“Nope, but I was able to spend some time in the biosphere swimming and canoing.”
They walked forward, hiding against another rock.
“I can't believe that was you. How'd you do it?”
“Well, I didn't do it. I had a friend, Savanna Levens' assistant, Devon, hack into the system and disconnect a whole lot of things and I don't know exactly what he did.”
“He cost us a lot of money is what he did, and he could've been thrown in jail. How did you get him to do such a thing?”
“Uh...you don't wanna know.”
Crystal pursed her lips. “You slept with him?”
“Not exactly.”
“Okay, what did you do?” interrogated Crystal.
“Umm...Devon doesn't know what to do with women. He's never been with one—I don't think. Anyway, I let him paint me.”
“Ooh, scandalous!” replied Crystal sarcastically. “Paint on you, or paint a picture of you?”
“Of me. I was nude.”
Crystal asked, “Okay, why?”
“He told me I was model material and he needed...well...a model.”
“You better hope my mom doesn't have that painting of you hanging in her office,” said Crystal, half joking.
“There's more. He goes under the name of Robert Rose.”
“Uh huh, Daf,” replied Crystal. “And I’m Admiral Byrd.”
“I saw the painting. There’s no doubt in my mind that he’s that Robert guy. I saw other paintings that he did, too, but they weren’t released to the public...you know, his donations and stuff.”
“Devon is not Robert.”
“How do you know? Why can’t Devon have an alias?”
“Because he’s not Robert Rose. You got duped, Daf. I don’t know what got you to take your clothes off, but—”
“It’s art, Crystal. Nudity is art—if viewed from an artist’s perspective. And, from what I saw of Devon, he has the eye and the skill for it.”
“Okay, Daf, you keep thinking that. He’s simply a good artist that got you to take your clothes off. I’ve been—”
An explosion hit the ground just in front of Crystal’s Mech, ricocheting chunks of rock off her window.
“Take cover!” yelled Crystal.
Not knowing where the shots had come from, she frantically twisted her Mech around and dodged behind a rock. Quickly eying the map, she didn't see any blips of enemy Mechs or fighters, only Daf’s Mech hiding behind another rock exactly twenty two yards away.
“Daf, you still with me?”
“Here, Chief! I can’t locate the point of origin and shutting down our Mechs is out of the question!”
Since they'd already been located, shutting them down to erase their heat signatures wouldn’t do any good, so Crystal pressed a holographic icon of an ion blaster and two laser impulse cannons appeared. She clicked on “all”, knowing that Wrench had designed the weapons to fire when they made a fist. The lasers would fire with her left fist clenched and the ion blaster would send a cluster when she clenched her right hand. Calling out “aim” would pull up the cross hairs, then all you had to do was point a fist where you wanted to shoot. Simple enough, but we haven't had any practice.
“Got your weapons system on?” asked Crystal.
“Aye, Chief, but I still can’t locate the enemy.”
“Call them Drags from now on.”
Before Daf could reply, another explosion slammed into a boulder several feet away.
“Why don’t we see them, Chief?”
“I don’t know. Use your eyes and survey everything in front of you. The HDC maps are being scrambled or something. I’m going to peek around the rock here.”
Crystal moved her Mech, then slowly twisted the Mech's upper torso to look around the rock while leaning more on one leg, causing the Mech to teeter for a better look. Not too many Mechies could do such a thing, but her expertise in a Mech was beyond normal. When she was inside of one, it became an extension of her body, rather than an inanimate thing that just did as it was mechanically directed.
“One large Mech, dead ahead,” said Crystal. It was green, twice the size of her Mech, and slowly moving toward them. The Drag piloting it obviously assumed that Daf and Crystal were unarmed because he made no attempt to conceal himself. He didn't know about Wrench's lethal upgrades.
Crystal teetered her Mech the other way, steadying her Mech on both legs, then twisted her torso back around. “I’m going to run to the rock directly to the side of me while I fire at the Drag. You go the other direction and fire at will. You see the knifed rock twenty yards to your left?”
“I think so.” There was hesitation in Daf’s voice, then, “Yes.”
“Run and fire, Daf. It’s no different than mining ebb. Just do what Wrench showed us, aim your hand and squeeze your fist shut like you're grabbing ebb. The only difference is that a cannon or blaster will fire. Don't forget to say 'aim' to bring up the cross-hairs.”
“I know, I know. Just count it down, Crystal.”
Crystal twisted her Mech's upper torso again and leaned her Mech to the side, garnering another look and there it was...a big, green Drag coming at them, no less than fifty yards away. She teetered back, repositioning her Mech.
“On the count of three,” ordered Crystal.
“Got it,” replied Daf.
“One…two…three—go!”
Crystal ran toward the next rock and saw an ion blast from Daf fly past the Drag, then a laser impulse shot that grazed its shoulder. The enemy Mech shuddered for a moment, but then corrected itself. Crystal yelled aim, squeezed her fists, and rapid fired while running straight to the rock directly across form her. Her shots sailed over the Drag’s head, so she lowered her aim, but those shots hit the ground near the Drag’s feet and rocks were flying everywhere. A dust cloud formed around the Drag, masking much of it from view. She reached the next rock, nudging against it as close as she could, making sure there was no way the Drag’s weapons could get a piece of her. Looking in Daf’s direction, she could tell that Daf was doing the same.
“Pick a rock straight across from you, Daf, and let me know!”
“Okay, got one!”
“Me too!” said Crystal. “One, two, three—go!” ordered Crystal, moving quickly into the open, firing her weapons as fast as she could, not worrying about her Mech overheating. Shards of protective armor flew from the Drag’s Mech as a volley of Crystal’s shots struck it's hip and upper torso.
A burst of laser impulses flew from the Drag’s mounted should
er weapon, hitting Crystal's Mech square on the shoulder, but she had twisted just before the moment of impact, limiting the Drag’s shot from sending her Mech onto it’s back. However, twisting had caused her to lose all visuals of the Drag, and another shot struck her back. Her Mech lunged forward and all systems went off line for a second, then back on, allowing her to keep her Mech upright enough to run to the next knifed rock.
“I got him!” screamed Daf, her breath heavy.
“You did?! Is he down?”
“I don’t think so, but it slowed him for a moment!”
Crystal turned her attention to the HDC map, but nothing was there. The Drag is still invisible. How's it doing that?
“Where'd you hit him, Daf?”
“In the middle of the chest.” There was a pause, then Daf said, “I found another rock to run toward. Are you ready for another attack?”
Crystal shook her head. “Too predictable. He’ll be waiting for that tactic again.”
“Then what do we do?”
Crystal peaked around the corner of the rock, seeing the Drag maneuvering behind a rock as well, copying Crystal and Daf’s ploy.
Perfect, thought Crystal. “We sneak up on him. I’ll move forward, but in a short arc to his right. You do the same, but on his left. One of us will get him on his flank. Use as many rocks for cover as possible.”
“Will do, Chief!”
“Okay, go!” barked Crystal.
While moving around her rock and running to the next and then to the next in a circular arc, she didn’t see the Drag move an iota. Its shoulder was slightly exposed in its hiding place, but not enough to justify another round of blasts, plus, doing so might give away her position. But, she also knew that if the Drag had an HDC or something similar in its Mech, then it was watching their tactics. But, two against one was always good odds.
Star Guild Episodes 1 - 9 (Star Guild Saga) Page 30