Incursion: Merkiaari Wars Book 5

by Mark E. Cooper

  “Is that likely?” Tei’Shima said.

  Kazim chuffed in amusement. “Not at all. Can you imagine someone like me not filming the landings?”

  “There is no one like you,” Tei’Shima said dryly. “A good thing too. Pandora couldn’t survive two of you.”

  Everyone laughed.

  “There’s rioting in the streets,” Mark went on. “Panic. The usual. Those with the ability are fleeing into the hills.”

  “A fat lot of good that’ll do them,” Zelda said. “They’ll starve without their malls and autochefs.”

  “She’s right, Tei,” Varya said. “The Humans don’t have keeps to shelter them, and they aren’t hunters. It will be worse than the first time the murderers attacked us.”

  Tei’Shima struggled to keep her ears up and the horror out of her voice. “Help will come. Until it does they must hide as we did. We survived. So will they.”

  “Some will,” Zelda agreed. “Those living in remote areas like this probably have stores of food and water. As long as they have solar or wind generators for power they’ll have refrigeration. They’ll make it.”

  “Not many live like that on Pandora,” Mark said. “This is the core, not the border zone.”

  Zelda nodded glumly, but then brightened. “There are a lot of soldiers here for the games. The Merkiaari are in for one hell of a fight. Your people will be a surprise, Tei’Shima, and the vipers won’t sit idle.”

  “That is a truth,” Tei’Shima said. “And it brings up our situation. It’s my thought that you should stay here. The chance of rescue is slim while the Merkiaari threaten, and you’re ill-suited to the conditions.”

  “You mean us,” Zelda said indicating herself and the other Humans. “You’re saying Humans can’t keep up with Shan?”

  “I’m saying you should be safe here. I’m saying a rescue by air is unlikely, and none of you are dressed to survive winter conditions. My people have evolved to survive harsher weather than Pandora offers, and we can hunt for food as we travel.”

  “She’s right,” Mark said. “We should stay here and wait for Fleet.”

  “That could take months,” Zelda protested.

  Mark shrugged. “So it’s months. The autochef can handle it. There’s only five of us.”

  “But I can’t!” Zelda appealed to Shortcut. “Tell her, Selene. Tell her she has to take us with her. I’ll go batshit!”

  Shortcut grimaced at Tei’Shima. “She will. You haven’t seen what she’s like when she’s bored. She gets so hyper; she’ll try to kill us for entertainment.”

  Bruiser and Haze laughed, but they were nodding. Mark obviously didn’t care what the others did. He’d decided to stay at the station. He was already putting distance between himself and any decision the others made. Not physically. He didn’t walk out or anything, but in the Harmonies he was no longer part of the group.

  One down, four to go.

  Tei’Shima turned to the sensible ones. Bruiser and Haze were warriors. Surely they could see the futility of venturing the wilds? In the Harmonies they were linked to their Tei, but their loyalty to each other was far stronger.

  “Will you stay here and protect Mark if I ask it?” Tei’Shima said. Maybe if she appealed to their honour they would do the sensible thing. “He shouldn’t stay alone.”

  “You said it was safe here!” Zelda said.

  “Safer than the wilds I meant.”

  Zelda scowled.

  “She’s our employer,” Haze said with a sidelong glance at Bruiser. “We go where she goes.”

  “Right,” Bruiser said, though he looked a bit sour.

  Zelda smiled. “Guys, that’s so sweet of you. Selene and I’ll be fine. You don’t have to come.”

  “We will?” Shortcut said.

  Zelda looked unsure for the first time. “I won’t ever let anything hurt you, Selene. I’d die first.”

  “That’s what worries me.”

  “Right,” Bruiser said, and nodded in agreement.

  Zelda gave him a scornful look, and took Shortcut’s hand for a squeeze. “If you’re scared you can stay here. It’s okay.”

  Tei’Shima sucked in a sharp breath as Shortcut’s mind glow flared briefly and then dulled in the Harmonies. Her aura had recoiled as if struck. Zelda’s words had hurt her deeply.

  “Everything together. Wasn’t that what you promised me when we started this?”

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean—”

  “You never do,” Shortcut said. She stood abruptly and headed for one of the bedrooms. The door slammed behind her.

  “Well,” Zelda said looking at the now closed bedroom door.

  “Riiight,” Bruiser said. He’d managed to sound sarcastic, and Haze elbowed him.

  This was fast unravelling. Tei’Shima tried one final time to make them see sense. “You cannot come with us.” There. It had to be said, and she’d said it. “You’ll die of exposure in the wilds. You’re all staying here. That’s my final word.”

  “Right,” Bruiser said. He sounded more approving this time. He could put a lot of emotion into that word.

  Zelda wasn’t listening. She stood and without a backward glance headed off to join Shortcut.

  Kazim chuffed. He switched off his camera. “They’ll be coming.”

  “I forbid it!” Tei’Shima said.

  “How much do you want to risk?” Varya said.

  “I said no!”

  Kazim gestured a shrug with his tail. “Ten credits?”

  “I’ll take some of that action,” Haze said. “Ten that they’re making out in there, plus another ten that before morning all is forgiven and we’re all going.”

  “I’m in,” Bruiser said sourly.

  Tei’Shima stared at him. He could say more than a single word after all. “It’s decided. Don’t waste your money. You’re all staying with Mark.”

  Kazim laughed.

  Tei’Shima didn’t rise to the bait. It was lunacy to consider anything else. They weren’t equipped to survive. Therefore, they had to stay. Humans were brave not suicidal. She would give them until the storm ended to see sense.

  The meeting ended with people drifting away. Kazim went back to his reviewing and voice-overs, while Bruiser and Haze watched the vid. Mark and Varya were the last to leave. Both chose to find their beds, leaving Tei’Shima alone with her thoughts. She watched Kazim work for a while, and then decided to try the comm. Shortcut hadn’t learned anything from it earlier, but it was worth a try. Although she had no reason to think the Merkiaari would trace a transmission, she wouldn’t broadcast just in case.

  Segs later, Tei’Shima decided she’d heard enough distress calls for one lifetime, and switched the comms off. She hadn’t learned anything useful. Military channels were encrypted, so she couldn’t tell how the war was going or where the Merkiaari had landed. She did know there wasn’t anywhere worth attacking in Southaven. The briefing she’d attended with Tei’Laran for the games had made that clear.

  Tei’Laran would have to lead his warriors out of the province in order to fight. He might use the storm as cover. It would depend on where the murderers had landed. Would the storm last long enough for him to get into position? She didn’t know, but knew he’d try. He wouldn’t be fighting alone. He had to consider his allies. Human warriors were slow but vipers were as fast as Shan. Was Tei’Laran in company with vipers, or Marines?

  There was no way to know.

  Tei’Shima consulted her wristcomp and thanked the Harmonies for her laziness. It still had the briefing maps for the games in its memory. She’d meant to delete them before now, but hadn’t gotten around to it yet. She studied the map of Southaven and tried to guess where Tei’Laran would be. More importantly, she tried to guess his plans.

  She needed to project forward a few cycles she realised. She couldn’t simply head for his last known location. If she did, she would arrive to find him already gone, but with a little luck and planning she should be able to cut his trail. If she was
very lucky, she’d be able to catch up. A lot depended upon Tei’Laran moving slower than she could. He should, she mused. He probably had Humans slowing him down, plus he needed to move in stealth. Her job was infinitely easier than his. She only had to keep three Shan alive and hidden, not thousands.

  Tei’Shima looked up when she heard a door click. Bruiser and Haze had just retired for the night. Kazim was nowhere in sight, but a quick consultation with the Harmonies reassured her. He was asleep and dreaming of pleasant things. Probably fame and glory. He was safe again, at least for a while. At night and asleep was the only time she was certain of that where Kazim was concerned.

  Tei’Shima used Kazim’s mind glow to soothe her own thoughts, and let herself drift into her meditation sleep. It felt good to finally relax. If she survived Pandora and boarded a ship again, she would use her hibernation sleep to replenish herself. She hadn’t taken the opportunity on the trip to Pandora. She’d needed the time with Tei’Laran for research and to brush up on her youngling lessons.

  As her thoughts slowed and the Harmonies welcomed her, she silently thanked her ancestors for protecting Kazim and Varya. She knew now what it must’ve been like for Tahar at the fall of Hool Station. He would’ve feared for her and Chailen, not for himself. She silently thanked him for being her father, and fell asleep dreaming of him.

  * * *

  41 ~ Well Met

  Southaven Province, Pandora

  Varya lost his bet with Bruiser and Haze, but only because Kazim cheated. If Tei’Shima had known what Kazim would find during his explorations of the station she would’ve locked him in his room to prevent it. Zelda called it a game changer, as if survival was merely a game to be won or lost. Kazim’s curiosity would be the death of them all one day.

  She wasn’t playing games, but if she had been Kazim’s discovery would have ensured her defeat. She’d given her Humans the duration of the storm to come to terms with remaining behind, but here they were, journeying through the wilds. Three Shan and four half-dead-of-exposure Humans.

  After days of travel through wintry conditions the Harmonies led Tei’Shima straight to a hidden sentry. Hidden from sight but not from her. Nothing living could hide from her in the Harmonies.

  She’d had to run through deep snow in leaps and bounds to reach her. It was slow going and tiring, but it was a necessary duty. She was her party’s best scout and pathfinder. It was up to her to bring Zelda and company to safety. And she had. That was an accomplishment, considering their lack of skills and warm clothes.

  Tei’Shima halted and addressed the snowdrift. “Well met, Gina. May you live in harmony.”

  The snowdrift shifted and the white-armoured viper revealed herself. She raised her visor. “No fair, Shima. You cheated!”

  Tei’Shima laughed. “Sorry,” she said, but she wasn’t really. Her skills had brought her safely to Gina just in time. “Did you know mountain rescue stations come equipped with machines for riding on snow?”

  “Snow mobiles?” Gina said, struggling out of the drift and through deep snow to hug Tei’Shima. “I’ve never used one. I’m so glad you’re not dead! Don’t ever die. I forbid it, okay?”

  “I’ll try to avoid it,” Tei’Shima said and hugged her friend. “I promise.”

  “See that you do. I can’t lose you too.”

  That chilled her. “Who did we lose?”

  “Our ship. Everyone aboard her.”

  “I’m sorry. May their ancestors comfort them.”

  Gina looked past her, along the valley. “Where’s Kazim?”

  The Harmonies revealed Gina’s sudden fear. Tei’Shima turned to look back the way she’d come. No one was in sight but she heard the machines closing.

  “He’s fine. I swear he’s been blessed by the Harmonies. No one could survive the trouble he gets into without help. He’s with Varya. That’s them coming now.”

  “I have six unknowns on sensors, not two.”

  “Four snow machines and two soggy Shan,” Tei’Shima agreed. “If not for the machines we’d be three.”

  “You don’t like snow mobiles?”

  “I don’t like the way they empower stupidity.”

  Gina blinked, nonplussed.

  “I wanted to leave everyone at the station. I was winning until Kazim found the dratted things. There was no dissuading their idiocy after that.”

  Gina grinned at the sight of four space suited people riding snow mobiles.

  “The suits are low on power. The last few days we’ve been scavenging mine and Varya’s to keep the heaters working.”

  “A bit chancy leaving safety that way.”

  “That is a truth,” Tei’Shima said wearily. “I’ve said as much. Many times.”

  Despite her insistence Mark was the only one to stay behind at the rescue station. It still annoyed her days later. Tei were meant to lead and be obeyed, but Humans didn’t care about that. Kazim thought it all very funny. He knew how reluctant she’d been to join the clan-that-is-not, and now here she was complaining about not being obeyed. She was hilarious according to him.

  Zelda arrived ahead of the others. She grinned and waved to Gina before revving her machine. It sprayed a plume of snow into the air behind her. It was her way of saying hello. She had to keep her visor down to conserve warmth, and the suit’s comms used a closed channel.

  Varya and Kazim arrived last, herding the rest of the Humans ahead of them. They hugged Gina and murmured their greetings. Kazim chattered away, bringing Gina up to date. He made gestures in the air to emphasise a grand tale of epic heroism and adventure.

  Shima’s ears went back at his wild exaggerations regarding her exploits. Not again! “No,” she snarled. “No more heroes, no more sagas. Do you hear me? No more!”

  Zelda and her friends looked on in uncomprehending silence. Kazim’s story and Gina’s exclamations were spoken in Shan, as were Tei’Shima’s protests. Zelda and the rest joined in with Gina’s laughter, but only to be polite. They didn’t speak Shan.

  “Oh! Fine,” she snarled. “Have it your way. You will anyway, and you’ll look foolish. When everyone watches your show, they’ll see what really happened.”

  Kazim sobered. “Yes. They will see.”

  Varya flicked his ears. “They’ll see the horror. The fall of Hercules and Nstar, and the triumph of our escape.”

  Tei’Shima had a flashback of the frozen corpses. Hundreds of them. Many many many dead younglings bumping into the pod and each other. Reaching out to her, pleading for her aid—

  Gina gently stroked the fur of Tei’Shima’s arm. “Are you okay?”

  “We need to get them out of their suits and into warm clothes.”

  Gina nodded. “I’ve already reported in. I can’t leave my post, but you’ll find everything you need in camp.”

  Tei’Shima flicked her ears and took her leave. She’d find Gina later and have a proper visit.

  She led the way along the valley toward the camp. The Harmonies revealed other Human sentries hiding along her route. They were probably vipers too, though she couldn’t be sure. She didn’t recognise them, but she hadn’t met all the vipers on Pandora. The unseen sentries didn’t interfere with their approach.

  The camp finally came into sight and Tei’Shima paused to study it. The others joined her and waited. The camp was a big one and horribly exposed. The Merki could wipe it out from the air with ease. She sensed Shan mingling with the Humans and tried to separate Tei’Laran from the crowd, but there were too many people.

  They entered the camp without fanfare but their arrival caused a stir regardless. It didn’t surprise Tei’Shima. She’d made a spectacle of herself by arriving in company with space suited Humans riding noisy machines. Zelda didn’t help matters. Her flamboyant nature came to the fore as she accelerated and spun out, spraying a plume of snow into the air in a flashy fan.

  Kazim loved it.

  Tei’Shima rolled her eyes as Zelda’s friends parked their machines flanking her, and then removed
their helmets in unison with Zelda as if they’d rehearsed it. Their audience reacted like maniacs, cheering and chanting Zelda’s name. She waved and pointed at people as if she knew them. She clapped as if congratulating them for surviving, and then gestured grandly at Shortcut before tucking her mate in close by her side.

  Tei’Shima watched from a distance, feeling a profound sense of release. Her duty to them was done. Kazim muttered happily as he recorded the scene for posterity. Varya chuffed in amusement as some of the Marines hoisted Zelda and Shortcut onto their shoulders for a parade through the camp. They loved her. Zelda was one of their heroes come back to life.

  Tei’Shima glanced furtively around. Some of her people were taking an interest in the excitement but they hadn’t noticed her yet. Thank the Harmonies for that. She slipped away using the fuss to hide her movements and felt Varya follow. He was unmistakable in the Harmonies. Kazim yelped indignantly when he realised she’d snuck away. She was still close enough to hear him. Varya laughed as she dropped to all fours and dashed into the crowds.

  “He’ll find you,” Varya said, keeping pace by her side. “The interview is just a matter of when not if, Tei.”

  Tei’Shima smirked. She knew all right, but making Kazim work for it appealed to her sense of rightness. He would find her, but not until he’d exhausted his current material. Zelda’s antics would keep him busy while she sought out Tei’Laran and brought herself up to date. She wanted to know why her people were camped in such an exposed position and not marching to war.

  It her took a while. There were too many of her people clustered in tight quarters to give Tei’Shima more than a vague direction to follow. The further she went the more people recognised her. They followed in greater and greater numbers until she gave in to the inevitable. She greeted her people and asked for Tei’Laran.

  Armed with certain knowledge of his location and escorted by a crowd of warriors who wouldn’t be dissuaded, Tei’Shima and Varya finally reported their arrival to Tei’Laran in one of the larger tents. He wasn’t alone. Eric and a Marine she hadn’t met before were discussing plans over a holo-table. She heard enough to raise more questions in her mind before they noticed her enter.