They didn’t talk while they went, saving their energy, and the few minutes’ walk she’d taken turned into somewhere around twenty as they slowly stumbled through the slick tunnel. They almost fell twice, but she managed to balance her front leg out just in time, avoiding a dangerous spill.
Finally, they stopped near the exit of the cave. Jules lowered Dean, and he sat against the wall, holding his stomach.
“Now can I check?” She didn’t wait for an answer as she unzipped the jacket, and then his jumpsuit. There was a lot of blood, but he’d done a good job containing the wound. Maybe the cold slowed it. She didn’t know for sure.
“How is it? Gaping hole?” he asked.
Jules ignored him and rushed into the tent. The place was in disarray, but she found a medic kit in the waystation, returning with it. “I need to clean it before we can wrap you up like a mummy. Let’s get you out of these clothes.”
“If only you’d asked last night instead of today.” He coughed out a laugh and grimaced as he removed his arms from the sleeves, the jumpsuit’s upper half dropping behind him.
Jules dabbed the wound with some clean cloths before using the alcohol wipes. The Shimmal had some advanced tech, and once it was devoid of blood on his skin, she believed the wound wasn’t as bad as she’d initially expected. She patched him, knowing the medical device would start to work, speeding up the healing. If there was internal damage, it wouldn’t help, but maybe she could get him to a doctor by then.
“Anything in there for the pain?” he asked.
The patch would numb the area of the wound, but by now, his head would be aching; his arms and legs would be weak and wobbly from the blood loss. She found a painkiller, and he swallowed it dry.
“I’ll check the tent again.”
Dean was already shivering, and Jules sought something dry for him to wear. She found a trunk with a fresh white jumpsuit. It was chilly, and she shook it out, finding it heavily creased along the folds. “Put this on.” She helped him out of the jumpsuit and into the new clothing. By the time they were finished, his teeth were chattering. They needed to move him into the Snow-Tracker.
“How did you find me?” Dean asked.
“I used her passcode to access the computer system.” Jules led Dean to the Tracker, opening the door while he climbed into the secondary seat.
“How did you do that?” Dean grunted out as he secured the straps around his shoulders.
Jules wasn’t in the mood to talk about the sphere and its mysterious message. “I got lucky.” With the doors closed and the heat on, Dean slowly seemed more alert. She passed him a bottle of water, and he drank it greedily, thanking her.
“And you traced her here?” Dean asked.
“Yep. The Tracker has an ID chip.”
“Crap.”
“What?” she asked as the vehicle lurched. She still wasn’t used to the controls.
“If you saw her movements, maybe she can see yours.”
“Only if she has the neighbors’ Snow-Tracker programmed into her radar, which is highly possible.” The sled raced forward, and Jules set the destination as the Core, where Bolid had suggested Yeera might be heading. She flipped out the Locator, realizing he’d been right. Jules passed it to Dean, and he took it without comment.
“That’s where she is. We have a bit of a hike. Can you handle it?”
“What are my options?” Dean asked.
“I can drop you off at Sub-Base Eleven, but it’ll waste more time.” Snow kept flying toward the windshield, and it felt the storm would never subside.
“Not without you. Are you really going after her?” Dean’s voice was low.
“She’s planning on detonating those thermal devices. She’s already killed her own partner, and has done the same to the other base camps. She’s gone over the edge, Dean. I think Yeera’s doing this today.”
“Then we have to stop her.”
“That’s the idea.” Jules kept the vehicle on track, cranking it as fast as she could.
“I just have one question.”
“What is it?” she asked.
“Did you bring me a gun?”
____________
Everything was blue. Then I broke past the rippling barrier.
Slate emerged behind me, the barrel of the rifle first, then his bulky form. “Wasn’t so bad,” he muttered, swinging the gun to each corner of the room.
My eyes were quickly drawn to the panoramic window across the space, and I walked over, my footsteps heavy and tired. The pane of glass was twenty feet high and matched the entire width of the room. Outside it was a view of the water we’d landed near, and we could see most of the city under us. Beyond the lake was a different city in the distance, one I hadn’t even seen on our descent, since we’d emerged from the opposite direction.
We were at the top floor of the city’s centermost building. I strolled around it, seeing the view from each corner of the penthouse, and was impressed with what I saw. But we hadn’t come to sightsee. We had business to attend to.
“Boss, check this out.” A skeleton lay near a desk, and I had a good idea who it was.
“Do you think it’s the one from the drone?” I asked, and he nodded.
“Has to be.” The bones were bleached white, and the figure had a tail, an elongated skull, and arms about a third shorter than my own. A tablet and spear-shaped gun sat beside it. From the looks of things, it had been there for years.
“I’m guessing he didn’t find what he was after,” I whispered, moving to see what the desk held. There were more of the controls, the claw handles on retreated arms. “He must have known how to operate their mechanisms if he utilized the drone. What happened to him?”
Slate bent over the form, respectfully leaving the bones where they lay. “I don’t know, Boss, but we can’t share his fate. I have a wife to return to. And you have a family, and countless people who rely on your decisions.”
“We haven’t seen any of the locals at all. Maybe we should have investigated the other buildings first, to get the lay of the land,” I suggested. The blue portal was still glowing a short distance from me.
“They’re gone, like you said. But their program’s running. All we need to do is turn it off.” Slate reached for the control arms, but I blocked him.
“I’ll manage it. I’ve used them more, and…”
“You think I may have already been compromised, don’t you?” His eyes betrayed his calm voice. “Is that it?”
I shook my head, angry he’d even suggest it. “I wasn’t until you just said that. You bring up a good point.”
“Then who’s to say I won’t shoot?” Slate asked.
I jabbed a finger at his chest. “Are you planning on killing me?”
“No. I feel fine, but I agree. Take the controls. See if we can end this mess.” Slate stepped away, giving me access to the controls.
I was tired of being in this spacesuit and wanted nothing more than to be done with this mission so we could return home with Slate intact. He was the best guy I knew, and the idea of him turning insane seemed impossible. But clearly, when it happened, he wouldn’t have a choice in the matter.
I stared at the desk and the pony-wall attached to it, thinking of young Carolyn Lauder’s drawing of the monster in her journal. The claws, the arms, the red eyes. This was it. I took the controls, pulling the arms from the wall, and the screen flashed on. The mysterious language returned, and I closed my eyes, letting my mind do the work.
How do I access the drone network?
Nothing happened.
Are you alive?
No response.
Where is the central control room for the drone network?
I heard the screen chime, forcing me to open my eyes. The view on the screen displayed a satellite image of what I assumed was this planet. A green dot indicated our location, judging by the central spot in a city, with a nearby lake. Far from this spot, on an island in a vast ocean, was another indicator, a blue marker
. A line connected the two of them, and Slate slammed a fist onto the table beside the monitor.
“Why can this never be easy? We can’t shut it off from this room?” he asked.
“I’m afraid not.” Just to be sure, I asked. Can I access the drone network from here? The map flashed, and the line between our two locations grew brighter. Can you send a drone to transport us?
“What are we waiting for? Let’s find this island,” Slate said anxiously.
“Hold on.” I peered through the glass, the bright constellations giving ample light in the night sky. A drone was approaching.
“That’s like the one that fired at us!” Slate arced his rifle up, aiming at the side of the room.
“This is our chauffeur to the island,” I said dryly.
“Are you certain?”
“No.” We waited, and the moment the ship was close enough to blast us, the glass on the far edge began to slide wide. The winged drone slowed, spinning sideways as it lowered directly below the window. “Now I’m sure. After you.”
The cockpit door hissed open, and Slate looked into the cramped space. “I’ll need a hot tub when we get home.”
“That’s what I like to hear.”
“My neck pain?”
“No, your optimism.”
Slate clambered in first, and I glanced at the skeleton, wondering what had happened to that being. Maybe they’d asked the wrong question, or perhaps they’d given up. Either way, we weren’t going to end up like them. Not on my watch.
The moment we were both inside the cockpit, the door closed, sealing tightly. We barely fit together on the floor, as there were no seats. It was a drone, not meant for passengers, but I imagined the locals had used them to move important goods across their planet at one time. Now we were the cargo, and I was eager to land on the island.
“Boss, I don’t see any controls. What if…” The craft lunged upwards, shoving us against the wall as it flew at an intense eighty-degree angle toward the sky.
“This better not be bringing us to space,” I managed to croak out.
Before we exited the atmosphere, the vessel leveled out and decelerated.
“It’s not used to having anything organic on board,” Slate remembered. “We’d better pray it doesn’t drop its cargo mid-flight.”
An uncomfortable two hours later, we began our descent. We’d traveled halfway around the world, and it was daylight now. I had no idea if we’d moved a day ahead or behind, but it didn’t matter. The important thing was that the drone had delivered us to the right location. The departed alien race had an intuitive communication system, and I was sure Suma would want to return to dissect their network. Perhaps we could use pieces of it to our advantage.
I climbed to my feet, glancing out the cockpit window to see a green ocean below. The waves were enormous, giant whitecaps clapping against each other, and it made me wonder what kind of creatures lived on this planet. Just because the locals had died off or moved out didn’t mean there weren’t a million varieties of creatures thriving in this environment. As if it heard my thoughts, something slithered near the surface, and a massive tentacle lifted before submerging again.
“Did you see that?” Slate asked. “Remind me not to go swimming… or walking on the beach.”
“No kidding. We’re almost landed.” I was nervous as the drone vessel slowed, abruptly changing trajectory. I shoved into Slate, nearly knocking him over, but we both managed to stay upright.
The island was thick with vegetation, and I noticed a swarm of bird-like animals lingering above it. They danced in an orchestrated pattern as they moved across the treetops. The ship settled in an outcropping near the island’s lower edge, and I scanned it for any obvious structures. There was one visible building, and it was at the highest point of the landmass.
The cockpit opened, and we scrambled out, bringing our packs with us. Slate already had his gun ready, and I cringed as I gaped at the building. The island wasn’t big, making the destination only a couple of kilometers away, but the terrain was treacherous.
“Do you think we can use the jetpacks?” I asked Slate, but he quickly shook his head no.
“Those birds, or bats, or whatever the hell is flying in formation up there might take that as a sign of aggression and come for us. Too risky. We have to hike.” Slate took the first step, but I didn’t move.
A horrible shriek filled the air. Something primal bellowed its annoyance at our presence. “Guess they know we’re here.” I nervously peered around, seeing no sign of the wailing beast.
“Whatever made that noise doesn’t sound friendly. Keep your eyes peeled,” Slate ordered.
The nearby trees were short, squat, and bristly. They had quills covering their trunks, probably evolving to keep some land creature from climbing them.
The animal roared again, and on we went, deeper into the alien forest.
Twenty
Ice crusted the outer edges of the windshield as Jules drove farther inland. She checked the external temperature, and even though she was warm inside the Snow-Tracker, she shivered at the insanely low number. The snow wasn’t as deep now, and it seemed like the storm had slowed closer to the Core.
“She hasn’t moved in an hour,” Dean said from behind her.
“How are you holding up?”
She heard him attempt to turn, and he grunted in pain. “I’ve been better, but I think I’ll be fine once we deal with Yeera.”
He’d consumed a lot of painkillers, not to mention the antiseptic bandage on his stomach wound. He was awake from the adrenaline and drugs, but she fully expected him to hit a wall and stay down soon. Hopefully after they’d stopped the radical doctor.
“Keep alert, Dean. If you’re feeling off, let me know and…”
“And what?”
“We’ll stick you with a booster,” she whispered. It was a last resort, a concoction of supposedly safe chemicals that would keep a Gatekeeper going for as long as twenty-four hours in case of injury.
“Okay. I’ll do that.”
Jules verified their location and marked that they were within minutes from arriving at the Core. Already she saw what Bolid had been referring to. The Core was dense ice, with odd shapes emerging from the entire landscape. There were frozen hills, what looked like icicle geysers rising in the air, mountains of pure shimmering frozen water.
“There it is,” Dean said, pointing his hand past her ear toward the right corner of the windshield. Jules picked out the white structure among the bluish ice and slowed the Tracker. If Yeera heard them coming, it would complicate things. She searched for somewhere to hide away from the building and saw a particularly blocky stack of frozen cubes a hundred meters from them.
Jules drove as slowly as she could, keeping their volume low. Yeera was a kilometer from the Tracker, according to the Locator, on the far side of the central Core.
With the Tracker parked behind the obstacle, Jules turned to Dean, finding his face ashen and droopy. “We’ll need to walk a short distance. The ground may be slippery.”
“I found these.” Dean showed her floppy rubber soles. “You stick them on your boots.” He lifted a leg to demonstrate and groaned at the tug on his stomach.
“Better let me do that.” Jules shifted, lowering to attach the spikes to the bottom of his feet. She did the same with a second set, pulling the rubber tight, and smiled. “This might actually help.”
Dean was quiet, oddly so, and she shook his knee, getting his attention. His glassy gaze met hers, and he muttered out a few words. “I think it’s time for that booster.”
She hesitated, knowing there could be complications, but Yeera was about to do something irreversible to Shimmal. They couldn’t let her, no matter the cost.
Jules found the med kit and cautiously pricked him in the neck with the injector, pressing the fluid into his bloodstream. His eyes grew focused, his color returning in the snap of a finger.
“I’ve never felt so alive,” Dean said with a s
trong voice.
“Don’t kid yourself. It’s temporary and masks your symptoms. It’s just telling your brain that you’re okay, but you have to be careful, Dean.” Jules glanced at the windshield and started to open the door.
“Wait.”
Her finger drifted over the exit handle.
Dean cleared his throat, and she stared forward. “If this is the last thing we say…”
“It won’t be,” Jules interjected.
“If it is, I want you to know…”
She spun, angry at his bad timing. “Dean, we’re going to get through this. We always do.”
He frowned, leaning forward. “Stop cutting me off. I love you, Jules Parker. I have for years. You’ve always amazed me, and I’d do anything for you.”
Jules fought her forming tears. It sounded like he was on his deathbed, trying to say goodbye, but she wasn’t having it. “I love you too, Dean.” It was the first time she’d been able to say it. Her hand went to her chest, where the star necklace he’d given her sat pressed against her skin. “But we have to go kill a demented alien now.”
Dean’s expression was blank, and he laughed loudly. “You’re so cute when you talk like that.”
Jules rolled her eyes and pulled the handle. It was time to find Yeera before she set off the detonations.
Dean hunched down, keeping his hand near his wound, and held the pulse pistol up with his right, chasing after her over the icy ground. Jules found the spikes did help, and she maneuvered around the frozen block they hid behind. She stopped at its edge, peering at the Core’s Sub-Base camp.
“How did I miss that before?” Jules asked as her gaze lifted.
“What are you talking about—” Dean followed her stare and gasped.
The ice at the Core rose like an eruption from the surface. It went high, on and on, pressing up two hundred meters into the air. It looked like a flower blooming, and she couldn’t stop gawking at it. “It’s beautiful,” she murmured.
“It’ll be a memory if we don’t hurry.” Dean took the lead. She’d follow him anywhere. Had he just said he loved her? And had she said it back? In all the excitement and fear, Jules didn’t want the expression to be lost in the shuffle. She forced herself to concentrate on the moment.
The Survivors | Book 15 | New Beginning Page 19
