Pursuit of the Bold

by Jamie McFarlane

  Dim light filtered through small holes in the round disk covering the top of the tunnel. Wide enough for both to fit, Sklisk and Jaelisk hung onto the cover and listened for movement. Vibrations transmitted through the ground, alerting them to the presence of Kroerak. However, it was clear that the bugs were unaware of their presence.

  With the palm of his hand, Sklisk pushed on the heavy disk, attempting to dislodge it. It didn't move much, but he was elated to discover it was not frozen in place.

  "Brace me," he said as quietly as he could manage.

  The tunnel was narrow enough that Jaelisk could push against the wall with her back and pin Sklisk in place with her front. How she wished their intimate proximity could be under different circumstances. Would she ever get another opportunity to playfully accuse her mate of taking advantage of a situation such as this?

  "Such contact is merely a pleasant coincidence," Sklisk said, picking up on her unintended communication.

  With a grin on his face and Jaelisk holding him, he used both hands to push against the disc. Loose dirt fell through the narrow opening and he blinked rapidly to avoid being blinded. Unwilling to push their luck too far, Sklisk paused, waiting to see if they'd attracted attention.

  "You do feel good," he communicated with vibration from his tongue.

  "You are such a male," she answered.

  After a few minutes, he pushed again on the disc, sliding it over just enough that a single Piscivoru body would fit through. Again, they waited until both were satisfied they'd garnered no new attention.

  "Careful," Jaelisk warned as he crept upward, leading with his tongue, flicking it out through the opening.

  Staying low to the ground, Sklisk crawled over the lip of the opening and into scrub brush that dotted the once pristine street. Jaelisk, recognizing Sklisk was safe, followed. Many Kroerak were within only a few dozen meters, but the two Piscivoru were careful to move only when the closest bugs turned away. Reaching a tall building, they skittered around to a side that was in shadow and cautiously climbed.

  "I see Engirisk's building," Jaelisk said, having poked her head around the corner of the structure on which they climbed.

  "We have gone too far, almost by twice," Sklisk said.

  "Half again," Jaelisk agreed. "But our direction was true. The openings to the surface are regularly spaced. We could count them."

  "Engirisk will be proud of your reasoning when the story is recounted," Sklisk said, turning to run down the side of the building.

  "Slow!" Jaelisk warned, but it was too late. Sklisk's enthusiasm had caught the attention of a Kroerak warrior. "No. Race. We've been discovered."

  Still ten meters from ground level, Sklisk released the building and fell the remaining distance. Jaelisk followed suit, although with only three legs to absorb the impact, the shock to her body momentarily stunned her. Unwilling to leave her behind, Sklisk waited for a few breathless moments. Then he urged her forward and they skittered back to the hole. Pushing her through in front of him, Sklisk narrowly avoided the claws of a bug as it attempted to strike. Seeing opportunity, he pulled the Iskstar from his back and swung it in a graceful arc as the second bug's claw impacted the ground next to him. A bellow of pain erupted from the Kroerak warrior as the forward half meter of its heavily armored claw detached. Deftly, Sklisk snatched the limb and pushed it into the hole in front of him, allowing it to fall.

  "You need to be more careful when topside. We know the bugs orient to movement," Jaelisk chastised as they climbed down, still hearing scraping as several bugs clawed ineffectively at the entry, now twenty meters above.

  "I was hungry?" Sklisk defended, weakly.

  Jaelisk trilled her tongue, calling him on his ridiculousness. She relented once they started down the passage toward Engirisk's building. "It will be good to feed."

  Sklisk discarded the end of the claw, as it was mostly tasteless shell, and split the remaining flesh, handing the best part to his mate. The food provided much needed energy and they ate as they ran forward, counting the openings above.

  Jaelisk stopped beneath the opening that would take them to street level outside Engirisk's building. "This is it."

  "The Kroo Ack know our destination," Sklisk said. "We will not be able to sneak past them within the flattened space between the structures."

  "I have been thinking," Jaelisk said. "Why would these tunnels exist and what are the small tunnels that branch off?"

  "I do not know, but our destination is this way," Sklisk said, crawling up to a smaller branch tunnel. The fit was so tight he had to remove his weapon and pack and push it ahead.

  "Are you sure of this?" Jaelisk asked, following him.

  Sklisk didn't have an answer. Instead he pushed on, discovering that the tight-fitting tunnel angled upward sharply. He dreaded the idea that the tunnel might narrow again. Crawling backward down the long distance would be difficult at best.

  "There is a blockage," he said, when he discovered he could not push his staff forward. The dim light of Iskstar crystals illuminated a grate. Beyond the grate, he could feel an open space. "A room lies beyond."

  "Can you push through?"

  "I will," he answered. "Be ready, I may need to retreat quickly."

  "I am ready."

  Sklisk jammed his staff into the grate which popped up easily and clattered onto the floor, echoing loudly in the open space. Without hesitation, he skittered in. Unlike the broken building where they had spent their first night in the city, the room was completely intact.

  "How do we know if we are in the right structure?" Jaelisk asked, her voice carrying a sense of awe as she surveyed the room's contents. Ancient machinery, now dormant, suggested a civilization she had difficulty comprehending.

  "It is time to try Engirisk's machine once again," he answered.

  "Do you not believe it is broken beyond use?"

  "It is time to discover this."

  She extracted the machine and handed it to Sklisk. The translucent face was spiderwebbed with lines, but when he poked the activation, the surface lit up just as it always had.

  "Quickly, what does it say?" Jaelisk pushed.

  "Proceed to sub-level 2," the machine spoke, startling them both.

  "Won't the bugs find this machine as they did on the cliff?" Jaelisk asked.

  "Current shielding is sufficient to mask electromagnetic radiation," the machine answered. "Please proceed along recommended path." Even though the screen was cracked, an arrow indicating the direction glowed on the pad.

  The landscape of the interior was foreign, but with the machine's help, Sklisk discovered the correct operation of the door that allowed exit from the room. After climbing a few levels, a crashing sound from above made Jaelisk and Sklisk freeze, fearing their presence in the building had not gone unnoticed.

  "The machine is wrong," Jaelisk hissed. "We are discovered."

  "We must be close to the room," Sklisk asked. "Perhaps we can hide within."

  "You have arrived on sub-level 2," the machine answered. "Your destination is at the end of the hallway."

  "We'll be trapped," Jaelisk answered, exiting the ramp leading upward and walking into the dark hallway. "Turn off the machine. We must flee."

  Sklisk turned off the machine and pushed it into his pack. "I cannot leave. Our people rely on the devices Engirisk seeks. You will go to the tunnels and flee. It is to me to continue."

  "Behind!" Jaelisk said, as the crumbling building crashed into the stairwell and a Kroerak warrior fell through the opening, thrashing in its attempt to gain its feet.

  Sklisk scurried over, drew his weapon and cut into the bug before it could gain equilibrium. "You must go now," Sklisk said, as he dispatched a second and third warrior. The vibrations from above indicated that dozens, if not hundreds, were pushing in behind.

  "I will not leave without you," Jaelisk said.

  "Then we move," Sklisk said, turning away at a momentary break in the flow of bugs. Feeling a pincer on his back
, Sklisk was thrown sideways into the wall. Without hesitation he spun his weapon and cleared the bug. As he fought, it occurred to Sklisk that the bugs could not fit into the passageway. Dodging pincers, he poked the Iskstar into the closest bug's skull, leaving the creature in one piece where it fell. If he could create a blockage at this end of the passage, they would be afforded a short respite, although he might end their ability to flee afterward.

  They skittered down the hallway and attempted to enter the room they had struggled so hard to reach, only to discover the latch was frozen.

  "They come," Jaelisk said. Sklisk dared a glance. A warrior crept forward and he felt vibrations from above as more dug their way toward this level.

  Once again, he raced to the warrior and ended its progression, only this time the bug was pulled out of the way and replaced by another. A crashing sound alerted him to a break in the ceiling behind where he stood, cutting him off from Jaelisk. He turned, unwilling to leave his mate defenseless. Sklisk felt the impact of a pincer into his back and his scales gave way to the heavy claw. The pain, unlike anything he'd felt, was blinding. He responded in the only way he knew how, swinging his weapon around and cutting randomly into the bug.

  A scream from Jaelisk alerted him to the danger she faced. Sklisk pushed away the pain, turned to look over the pile of debris in the passageway, and threw his staff as one would a spear. The weapon struck home and the warrior that pursued Jaelisk bellowed in pain. Sklisk raced forward, intent on retrieving his weapon when the unthinkable happened. The warrior, instead of pursuing Jaelisk or turning to fight, pulled back and scrabbled up into the crumbling ceiling, the Iskstar staff dangling from its carapace.

  Knowing the weapon would be lost without action, Sklisk skittered into the ceiling and launched himself at the bug, grasping his staff. A second bellow was accompanied by a sideways swing of its great claw, which smashed Sklisk into the wall. Stunned but not completely disabled, Sklisk arced the staff through the bug's torso, pulling it free. Shaking his head to clear the confusion, he felt the bug convulse and knew he'd completed his task.

  Sklisk could feel more bugs coming and he rushed back to join Jaelisk at the door. "Open it," he said with his back to her, ready to face the onslaught of Kroo Ack.

  "It will not open," she said. "There is no mechanism. You must ask the machine, Sklisk. Turn it on," she pushed.

  Sklisk pulled the machine from his pouch and started it. He felt the vibrations of heavy machinery turning within the walls holding the door, and a moment later it cracked open.

  Chapter 16

  Any landing you can walk away from

  "We're down there," I said, pointing down the mountain to where Gaylon Brighton rested.

  "That is your space ship?" Tskir asked.

  "Yes, and we must leave now. The Jarwain need our help."

  Without hesitation and to my horror, Tskir leapt over the side of the sheer cliff and quickly fell away.

  "Frak!" I exclaimed, thinking she was making good on the suicidal comments from our previous conversation.

  I jumped after her and accelerated against the free fall with my grav-suit. Tskir fell dangerously close to the face of the mountain and I edged in closer, preparing to pluck her from certain death when the unexpected happened. The small alien extended her feet and impacted the stone, grabbing on with her claws. Having slowed her fall by skidding against the mountain face, she jumped across and landed on the edge of an outcropping. Her unexpected redirection caused me to shoot past and when I recovered, she'd dropped even further, skipping down the face of the mountain, in complete control.

  "Everything okay out there?" Tabby asked.

  "Just learning about the Piscivoru," I said, trying to get my heart rate back into a normal range. "Open up and bring the weapon systems online. We'll take off as soon as we're all in."

  Once we were loaded into the ship, I accepted Sendrei's weapon so he could go forward and join Tabby. I kept Tskir with me as I stowed the weapons in the armory.

  "What is amiss?" Tskir asked.

  "Just what I said," I answered. "Those that hunt us are attacking the Jarwain. Two of our crew were left behind and we believe they are in danger. I need you to stay in the lounge until we get it worked out."

  Tskir nodded. "I will do as you ask for now." I led her back to the crew lounge and turned the vid screen to show output from the forward vid sensors.

  The ship lifted as I palmed my way onto the bridge. Jumping into the pilot's chair next to Tabby, I pulled at the holo display's projection of the Jarwain village. From this distance, the only thing visible was a plume of thick black smoke.

  Tabby urged Gaylon Brighton forward and I scanned the skies for any sign of the Kasumi ship. "No ships on sensors. Jonathan, are you finding anything?"

  "Nothing beyond Petty Officer Bray's last communication," he said. "She captured the signature of the Kasumi ship that stalked us from the Santaloo system."

  "Where are they then?" I asked. "Tabby, be careful, this could be a trap."

  "Missiles are loaded," Sendrei said.

  I wanted to take the flight stick from Tabby, but knew it would cause more problems than I had time or energy to deal with. One-on-one her skills as a pilot were fantastic, but I was the sort to want control in tight situations. With Sendrei on weapons, I had nothing to do other than sweat out the final minutes of our flight.

  Even from fifty kilometers, the ship's sensors told a story of destruction I couldn't fathom. Not a single building was left standing in the peaceful village and the sensors could find no signs of either the Kasumi ship or of life on the ground.

  "Frak. Frak," Tabby cursed as we arrived to within a kilometer. "Where are those bastards?"

  Smoke trails curled away in the light winds and our sensors showed a scene of complete destruction.

  "Set us down," I said, my eyes searching for Peris's home where we'd shared a meal no more than two hours previous.

  "They're all dead," Tabby said, tears in her eyes, setting down in the sand. Next to one of the buildings, my AI showed a splotch of red that looked like part of the vac-suit material Hunter and Bray had worn. My heart raced as I considered the implications.

  "Captain, we recommend caution," Jonathan said. "If the Kasumi catch you in the open, it will be difficult to defend you."

  "Tabby, with me," I said. "We'll go fast, Jonathan. Gain altitude and locate the Kasumi."

  "A reasonable precaution," Jonathan agreed.

  At the junction to the airlock, Tskir stopped us, holding up her small hand. "Why have we landed?" she asked.

  "We are at the Jarwain village," I said. "They have been attacked. I believe it is the same enemy who was attempting to keep us from finding you."

  "Why would you endanger yourselves in this way?"

  "We can talk when I get back, but if there are any Jarwain alive, we have to help them. We brought this danger to them. It's our responsibility to help. Please go back to the room you were in. It is safe there."

  Tabby, who'd stopped at the armory, handed a blaster rifle to me. Impatient to be out the door, Tabby turned, jogged down the passageway to the airlock and opened it. I joined her and we cycled through.

  "We're clear, Sendrei," I said.

  "Copy that, Liam," he answered.

  "Liam. Here," Tabby said. My heart sank as I looked down at a shock of blonde hair that rustled in the breeze. Blaster fire had ripped through Larkin Bray’s back, cutting her down in mid-flight. Rolling her over, Tabby discovered the frail body of a dead juvenile Jarwainian Larkin had obviously been shielding in her last act.

  I pulled Larkin’s arms onto her chest, crossing them so that she looked peaceful. Somewhere along the line, I'd lost the capacity for tears, but it didn't stop the hollow feeling of loss from tearing at me.

  "What was the point?" I asked, no one in particular "Why kill them?"

  "The destruction is consistent with a Kroerak benefactor," Jonathan said. "It is a Kroerak belief that knowledge of Piscivoru
must be eradicated for their survival."

  "We brought this," I said. "It was not the fault of the Jarwain that the Piscivoru came here. Their blood is on my hands."

  My confession quieted the comm channels as Tabby and I worked our way into the ruined building. Dead Jarwain lay everywhere and my throat constricted as Tabby laid the juvenile she'd picked up next to its family. We went from building to building. Everywhere we looked there were dead Jarwainians and our sensors showed no signs of life, although we'd yet to find Hunter.

  In the home of Galtawain and Peris, my eyes found the couple lying against the hearth. Their skin was abraded, and blood stained their clothing, evidence of a violent interrogation. In the end, however, a single clean shot to the head showed how they both had perished.

  "They were tortured," Tabby said, taking in the scene. "Frak. Hunter." She pointed to a corner where our other crewman lay against the wall. In one hand he had a cup of coffee, the liquid splashed on the ground in front of him.

  "Didn't go down without a fight," I said.

  "How's that?" Tabby asked.

  "Looks like he threw that coffee on someone before they got him."

  "But why the torture?" Tabby asked.

  "To find us. They didn't give us up and they died for it," I said woodenly. My mind was stuck in a well of guilt at my part in bringing destruction to this simple species. I leaned down and pulled at the leather cord that hung around Peris's neck. An oval stone a centimeter in its longest dimension hung on the end. I tugged at it.

  "What are you doing?" Tabby asked.

  "I don't ever want to forget," I said, pushing the stone into a pouch on my waist. "Our actions, intentional or not, have consequences to those who can't protect themselves."

  "We have inbound Kasumi at a thousand kilometers," Sendrei warned, breaking me from my stupor.

  Turning to leave, my eyes landed on the water containers we'd delivered. Someone had shot holes in the containers spilling the contents onto the rocky floor where the water disappeared between the cracks.

  "There's no one alive." I lifted Hunter's body and carried him from Peris's home.