Uncommon Loyalty

by Toby Neighbors

  “Man, that was close!” Kal shouted.

  “There’s a good chance they know we’re here,” Nick shouted back. “Or at least suspect it.”

  Gunny Tveit agreed. She had already given the order to leave when Nick and Kal made it back. Nick was anxious to share their success, but Gunny ordered them to power on their helmets and help break down the surveillance gear.

  “The test was successful,” Gunny Tveit told them. “I’m still not a hundred percent certain it was an FTL drive, but whatever they were hoping for, they got.”

  Nick wanted to say how it looked like a drive engine to him, but he kept his mouth shut since his helmet was back on. It was good to hear everyone’s voices again. They took the long-range sensors apart, including the thermal viewer, and loaded everything onto the sleds as quickly as possible.

  “Time to move, Team,” Gunny Tveit said. “Pull down the tent and camo tarp.”

  “What about our beds here?” Ember asked, pointing to the bundles of grain they had cut with their knives and piled together to make a nest under the tarp.

  “Leave it,” Gunny said. “There could be more drones coming.”

  They had just begun their retreat when two agriculture drones came flying toward them.

  “What’s going on?” Ty asked, flicking the safety off his big trident plasma cannon.

  “Easy, Private,” Gunny Tveit said. “They’re going to put out the fire.”

  Nick looked behind them and saw black smoke billowing up from the fallen drone.

  “You think they’ll come after us?” Jules asked.

  “They might,” Gunny Tveit said. “I’m not sticking around to find out.”

  “Back to the forest,” Ty said sarcastically. “Oh boy. I can’t wait.”

  “You aren’t scared are you, big man?” Kal asked in a teasing voice.

  “Let’s just say I’m glad I’m packing heat,” Ty replied, patting the large barrel of his TPC.

  “Nick, you’re back on point,” Tveit replied. “We’ve got a full day team. Let’s make the most of it.”

  They set off through the waist-high wheat. Nick’s GPS program outlined their course through the fields, and soon the city was out of sight behind them. More drones were spotted moving toward the downed security craft. When Nick looked back, he could still see a line of black smoke smudging the pink sky. His legs felt heavy, and the pack he carried was like torture to his shoulders. Still, he was glad to be moving. Glad to have his weapons, and more importantly, his friends around him again.

  A few hours in the march, Nick was exhausted. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d slept, and the knowledge that they were still at least two full days of hiking away from the forest and three days from the evac zone made him feel faint.

  “Gunny, can we take a break?” he asked.

  “You okay, Nichols?” the NCO asked.

  “Just tired,” Nick admitted. “I need to mix up a meal and get some caffeine pumping through my veins.”

  “I could use some too,” Kal said.

  “We all could,” Gunny Tveit said. “Let’s take five.”

  Nick dropped to the ground. He wanted to lie back and close his eyes, but he knew that was out of the question. Instead, he drew a pack of energy-enhancing protein powder. He mixed it with some water and chugged it down through the filter line in his helmet.

  “Alright,” he said after a minute. “I’m good to go.”

  “Everyone set?” Gunny Tveit asked.

  “Yes, Sergeant,” Ember replied.

  “I’m good,” Ty added.

  “Ready to go,” Jules said.

  “Phillips?” Gunny Tveit asked.

  “Ah, just five more minutes, Mom, then I’ll be ready for school. I promise.”

  “Get on your feet, Private,” Tveit said, but Nick could hear that she was trying not to laugh. “I’m not your mother.”

  They pressed on, and Nick was thankful for the Proxy’s use of stimulants in their rations. He was still tired, but he felt a rush of energy and knew he could push through until dark. The day wore on and on. The Dragon Team stopped only one other time before dark, and Nick watched with satisfaction as they covered nearly thirty miles before the light from Issip Major began to wane.

  “Alright, let’s halt for the day,” Gunny Tveit ordered. “Two-man watch, change it up every two hours. Get some food and get some sleep, people.”

  They ate quickly. Jules and Ty volunteered for the first watch. Nick and Kal powered down their helmets to sleep, but Ember and Gunny Tveit joined them.

  “Well?” Tveit shouted with her helmet pressed against Nick’s.

  “We got something,” Nick said. He pulled out some of the data chips from his pocket.

  “What’s on them?” Gunny Tveit asked.

  “We don’t know, Sarge,” Kal said. “We couldn’t read anything on their computers or data screens.”

  “Saw what they were testing, though,” Nick said. “Looked like an engine to me.”

  “Good enough,” Gunny Tveit said. “Divide up the data chips. We’ll all take a couple. Don’t talk about them. Just keep them hidden. I know someone who can help us pull the files off them.”

  “Can I go to sleep now?” Kal asked.

  “Go ahead, Private, you’ve earned it,” Gunny said. “Good work, you two.”

  Nick smiled at the praise. Gunny Tveit and Kal moved away to find a place to sleep. Ember stayed close.

  “Why didn’t you tell me?” she asked.

  “It was better to just go with Kal,” Nick said. “I didn’t mean anything by not telling you. I thought you needed your rest.”

  “I’m not mad, but I don’t like being left out.”

  “It was a spur-of-the-moment decision,” Nick said. He wanted to say it was all Gunny Tveit’s idea, but in reality, the choice to take just Kal was Nick’s. And he had also made the choice not to tell the others what he was doing. They would have insisted on going with him, and he knew it would be easier to get their forgiveness than to convince them to stay behind.

  “Well, I’m glad you’re okay,” Ember said.

  “Me too,” Nick said.

  They found a spot on the edge of the repulser sled. Their heads were near each other as they stretched out, and sleep came as soon as Nick closed his eyes.

  When Kal woke him up four hours later, Nick hadn’t moved a muscle.

  “This is your wake-up call, Private Nichols. Rise and shine,” Kal said.

  Nick powered on his helmet and got slowly to his feet. He stretched and looked around. There was nothing but gloomy shadows across the plain. Kal was asleep before Nick was fully aware of what he was doing. After stumbling around the small camp and shaking some energy powder into a drink, he finally got his bearings.

  “Good morning,” Ember said.

  “How are you so chipper?” Nick asked.

  “Oh, we’re a little grumpy this morning,” Ember said. “Welcome to the PMC.”

  “You know, in the ULU I got a full eight hours of sleep every night.”

  “So do convicts and school children,” Ember said. “But they don’t get to see that sky.”

  Nick looked up. Issip Major was a paper-thin sliver that rose up to the south. The purple night sky seemed crowded with too many stars. Some were bright enough that Nick could tell what color they were.

  “We must be in the interior of the galaxy,” Ember said. “Who knew there could be so many stars?”

  “It kind of looks like the sky is getting ready for Christmas,” Nick said.

  The energy drink was helping him wake up, and despite his grumbling, the four hours of uninterrupted sleep had helped him a great deal.

  “What’s on your bucket list, Nick?” Ember asked. “What do you want to do when our enlistment is up?”

  “Re-enlist, of course,” Nick said. “Who wants to give this up?”

  “Do you ever think about Elysium?”

  “All the time,” Nick said.

  “Woul
d you be happy as a farmer?”

  “I’ll be happy if we’re all together,” Nick said. “That’s all that really matters to me.”

  “I’m not sure I like being in the PMC,” Ember said.

  “What? Do you want to be back on Earth?”

  “No, it isn’t that,” she admitted. “I just feel like we might be on the wrong side of things, that’s all.”

  “How so?”

  “Oh, I know we’re doing a job. There’s nothing wrong with work. My dad always said to never despise work, no matter what it was. A person who is willing to work deserves respect. But I can’t help but feel like I’m doing something wrong.”

  “Because you’re unhappy?”

  “No, just the opposite. I love this. I love being a Recon specialist. And the money is great. The food is mostly amazing. And the things we’ve seen, I just can’t believe it. But I don’t think I should like it so much.”

  “Who knew?” Nick said, shrugging his shoulders as he started out across the dark plain. “Maybe if we could do anything we wanted we might pick something else, but given the limited choices we had, this is pretty great.”

  They were silent for a while, thinking about how good they felt about their lives at that moment. Nick knew the only thing that would make his better was also the thing that would wreck it. Ember was constantly on his mind. He needed to put some distance between himself and his feelings for her. Just enough to insulate himself. And despite what she had said, if given the chance, he would give up the PMC to be with her. He knew that.

  The light from Issip Major was growing, although the direct reflection had not reached their position when Nick heard a new sound. It was coming from the east, and he tried to see what was causing it but couldn’t.

  “What is that?” Ember asked.

  “I don’t know,” Nick said. “I can’t see it.”

  “Here, boost me up,” she said.

  Nick knelt down. Ember climbed onto his shoulders, and Nick grunted a little as he got back to his feet.

  “Watch it, Nick,” she warned him. “I don’t weigh very much.”

  “Sorry,” Nick said with a grin as he held her knees.

  She tucked her feet around his arms and used her helmet’s telephoto abilities to zoom across the landscape.

  “What do you see?” Nick asked.

  “I can’t make it out,” she said. “Looks like the grain is moving. Being thrown up into the air or something.”

  “It’s a harvester,” Gunny Tveit said.

  Nick turned so fast Ember nearly fell. He had to hold her legs to keep her up on his shoulders.

  “Morning, Gunny,” Nick said.

  “Anything to report?” Tveit asked.

  “Just the harvester,” Nick said. “We just heard it a few minutes ago.”

  “Better get moving then. We don’t want to get caught by them,” she advised. “Wake the others and power up those repulser sleds. We can eat while we walk.”

  “Another glorious day in the Corps,” Ember said as Nick helped her slip off his shoulders.

  “Who could complain about that?” Nick said.

  Chapter 14

  The harvesters came in waves. Never just one of the large, unmanned units. They had huge cutting wheels that rolled through the wheat like steam-powered paddle boats from the nineteenth century.

  Four times, the Dragon Team had to stop and wait for the drones to pass by. Once, they were even forced to change course for a while. The only upside was that traveling over the freshly cut wheat was even faster than through the tall stalks of grain. Nick felt more exposed out on the open plain, but the harvester drones were programmed to ignore animals.

  That night, they camped on the open ground, gathering enough of the tall stalks to make soft beds off the wet ground. When they woke up on the third day of their retreat, a thick fog had settled over them.

  “This is great,” Kal said.

  “At least we can’t be seen,” Jules said.

  They hiked for three hours before they heard another machine approaching. It was impossible to know just how close the drone was, or if they needed to stop or keep moving. Fortunately, the machine passed close but didn’t threaten them. It was different from the harvester drones, which cut the wheat. The new machine rolled across the wet ground and gathered the cut stalks with long, narrow implements that rolled over the ground in front of the big machines.

  “I don’t know what’s worse,” Ty said. “The animals in the forest or the drones cutting the wheat.”

  “At least the drones let you know they’re coming,” Ember said.

  “If you can see them,” Kal interjected. “In this fog, they could be right on top of you before you realized it.”

  Perhaps it was a self-fulfilling prophecy, but around midday, the group was caught by a trio of the gathering machines. The fog made it impossible to see what was where. They heard the first drone, stopped, and before they knew it, a second loomed out of the fog. It was headed straight for them.

  “Move!” Gunny Tveit shouted. “Get those sleds back.”

  They all dashed out of the way, pushing the hover sleds, which bounced and glided on cushions of air. But just as they escaped the second drone, they realized they had jumped from the frying pan into the fire as another drone came out of nowhere right on top of their position.

  There was no time to save the sleds full of equipment, which were battered out of the way. The sleds went gliding into the fog and out of view as the team of Recon specialists dashed for safety.

  “Man, that was too close,” Ty said.

  “We have to find that equipment,” Gunny Tveit said. “Mark this as rally point one on your nav systems, then spread out.”

  “And pray there aren’t any more drones,” Kal said.

  “Keep your pessimism to yourself,” Jules said. “It was your big mouth that got us into this mess.”

  “Yeah, man, you jinxed us,” Ty said.

  “Don’t be superstitious,” Ember said.

  “Whoever finds the sleds gets a night without watch duty,” Nick suggested.

  They spread out, moving through fog, trying to find their lost equipment. No one knew what was tracking them through the fog until it was too late.

  Gunny Tveit was the first one to see the creature. It came racing out of the fog behind her and hit her right leg. The creature had a wide cranial shield on the top of its head, like a triceratops without the horns. The edges of the shield were sharp and would have severed her leg if not for her armor. Still, the impact was jarring and knocked her leg out from under her. She nearly flipped and landed hard on her back.

  An injury signal sounded in Nick’s helmet. Gunny Tveit’s name flashed in red at the bottom of his HUD in tiny letters.

  “Sarge?” Nick said. “You okay?”

  There was silence, which made Nick’s heart race. He turned, looking in every direction but could see nothing but fog.

  “Gunny...” Nick tried again.

  “I’m... okay...” she said in a rasp. “Something... hit...”

  Beth Tveit was not a coward, but she felt a growing sense of fear. She couldn’t see her assailant. The creature was fast and was using the fog to hide. She was on her knees trying to catch her breath when the animal came charging at her again. She rolled to the side, hoping the animal wouldn’t be able to change its course at speed. She came back up to her knees just as the animal was disappearing in the fog again. There was just enough time for Gunny to squeeze off one round from her ABR. The rifle bucked in her hands and the round flew high, missing the creature.

  Another alarm went on Nick’s helmet. This time, the flashing name was Ember Gracie.

  “Ember!” Nick said.

  “Em?” Jules added.

  “Holy shit,” Ty declared. “What is going on?”

  “Dragon Team,” Gunny Tveit said. “There is... a creature here. Do not, I repeat... do not fire at it... We can’t be sure... we won’t hit someone.”

  Nic
k’s blood turned to ice. His body began to shake as he rushed forward. Fortunately, he remembered to snap his rifle across his chest armor using the electromagnets to hold it in place and free up his arms. He drew the D-Garr as he rushed through the fog. Jules’ scream had to be muted by Nick’s helmet. His heart was pounding as the warning sounded and Jules Ormond lit in red at the bottom of his HUD.

  “Jules!” Kal shouted.

  “My knee,” Jules said in a shaky voice. “Oh God, it’s my knee.”

  “We’re coming, Jules,” Ty said.

  Nick heard his friend grunt. Ty was taking off the big weapon he carried. The fog seemed alive. It swirled around Nick until he wasn’t sure where he was or where he was going.

  “Get back to the rally point,” Gunny Tveit ordered.

  “What about Jules?” Kal asked.

  “I can’t make it,” Jules said.

  “We can’t fight this thing,” Gunny said, “if we can’t see it. We’re too spread out.”

  “I see something,” Ty said. “Wait a second.”

  “What about Ember?” Nick wanted to know.

  “Dragon Team, return to the rally point! Now!” Gunny said in a loud voice.

  “It’s a sled. I found one of the sleds,” Ty said triumphantly.

  Nick brought up the GPS and saw that the rally point was behind him. He was starting to turn when the creature raced into sight. Visibility was only a few meters at best, and the animal came fast. It was the size of a large dog, with a narrow body and muscular legs. The cranial shield covered its head from the top and spread out to either side. Nick reacted on instinct, jumping to the side and slashing down with his D-Garr. The animal’s cranial shield missed him by centimeters, but Nick’s knife blade caught the animal across its rump. It had thick skin, and the heavy blade only managed a shallow cut, but the blow knocked the creature down.

  “I got it!” Nick shouted as he dove at the creature.

  “Nick!” Kal shouted.

  The animal was scrambling to get back on its feet, but Nick managed to grab hold of its rear leg. The creature tried to jerk free, but Nick wouldn’t let go. He raised his knife just as the animal twisted and tried to cut his arm with its shield. The bony plate grated across Nick’s arm, but his armor held. There was a blood-curdling wail as Nick stabbed the creature. The D-Garr blade sank deep into the animal’s side. It was a mortal wound, but not one that would kill the animal quickly.