by Terry Mixon
The occasional clearing allowed him an unobstructed view of the megacity, and he was hoping for a better look at the horde city, if he could find a hill with a view. It irritated him that he’d once had access to drone video of the two cities, but it was now locked away in his implants. His personal memory of the details wasn’t good enough to plan with.
Relying on his implants had made him sloppy, and he vowed that future Marine Raider training would include more working without implants. Basic skills needed to be maintained, even if new recruits thought they no longer needed them. This situation had thoroughly proven that.
There were animal paths crisscrossing the underbrush, so those were what he mainly followed. That brought risks, but it was significantly more difficult to move through the foliage without using them.
Not being familiar with the normal sounds of the forest life, every movement of leaves or snap of twigs on the ground made him freeze. He saw a few small creatures with bushy tails. Some of them chittered indignantly at him.
Once, he saw a larger four-legged creature, but it was obviously an herbivore, even with the magnificent rack of horns on its head. It stared regally at him for a few seconds once he tried to move, and then bounded off with far more grace and beauty than he’d expected.
He’d thought travel through the forests would be easy. Wrong. The travel time projections for getting to the Imperial Vault would need to be extended. Rather than speeding their journey, the horses might slow them even further. At this point, six to eight months might be optimistic.
He continued on his way, focused on the area around the trails as he moved. If he were the enemy, this kind of chokepoint was where he’d put any traps or observation points. That meant he had to go slowly and be exceptionally careful.
They’d discussed this before he’d left the temporary camp, and he’d decided that his look around would take as long as needed to make sure this was done right. If that meant he stayed overnight, he’d prepared the rest for that option as well.
Talbot found his first sign of other humans maybe two kilometers from the horde city. There was a small blind set up away from the path, but within view. It was almost a pillbox set into the side of the hill, made of logs covered over with dirt and foliage.
He probably wouldn’t have spotted it, if it’d been well maintained. Whoever was in charge of making certain that it wasn’t visible hadn’t kept the plants atop it alive, so the dead growth tipped him off.
Perhaps it was only occasionally manned. If the horde didn’t have a full-time force working in the forest, then they’d rotate between observation blinds similar to this throughout the area around their city.
Its presence told him something important. The horde expected people to try to sneak up on the city. That meant that there was going to be more difficulty getting in than they’d hoped for.
Or perhaps the observation posts were to keep people from leaving. From his point of view, it was difficult to tell. They knew virtually nothing about the horde, other than their murderous intent. Maybe they had slaves. Or something worse that he couldn’t imagine at the moment.
To satisfy his curiosity, Talbot headed closer to the blind.
He moved cautiously, trying to stay away from the path so that he wouldn’t be easy to spot as he moved through the undergrowth. Since it had been a damned long time since he’d trained at moving through the wilderness, he certainly hoped nobody was inside the damned thing, because there was no way they could miss hearing him coming.
He really wished that the marines had taught more ground operations of a covert sort during his training. There’d been a couple of exercises and classes over the years, but whatever he learned in them was long out of practice. He made more mental notes to adjust the as yet theoretical Marine Raider training that he was supposed to be helping formulate.
When he got close to the observation post, he could see the door leading into the back of it. No one had bothered trying to disguise the thing from the rear.
He wondered what made this particular path more viable for travelers than the other animal trails that he’d seen. It didn’t look any larger than the others. Perhaps it was because it moved more directly toward the city. Or perhaps they were all monitored at some point.
The door leading into the bunker was manually operated and didn’t seem to have a lock. He considered the possibility that it was protected by some kind of alarm but dismissed that.
While it was obvious that the horde had some of the means to generate power and construct high-technology items—as demonstrated by the EMP weapons and the antiarmor rockets—he doubted very seriously that they used such technology for anything as pedestrian as an alarm system so far from their city.
Looking inside was going to be a risk, but only a small one that might pay dividends down the road. He tested the handle and found it unlocked, just as he’d suspected. He opened the door and looked in, his hand on the hilt of Kelsey’s borrowed sword.
It was dark inside, but he could make out the general details from light filtering through the observation slit on the far side of the structure. As he’d suspected, there was no power, no lights, and no indication that this post had been occupied anytime recently.
In fact, based on the debris that had been deposited inside the small, low structure—likely by bad weather—it had probably been at least a couple of weeks since the last time anyone had been inside it. Maybe a month. Assuming, of course, that they cleaned up after themselves.
There were two chairs and a slender shelf built into the wall beneath the observation slit. It was likely that the observers were stationed here during times that the horde suspected there would be unauthorized travelers moving around the city.
The slits weren’t useful for firing bows—being laid out horizontally rather than vertically—so he suspected anyone stationed here was meant to simply observe and warn someone else about what they saw via a runner or some other low-tech method. As there were no signs of any kind of communication device, that would be the only way they could do it.
He was still thinking about how the horde would carry out those tasks when he heard the sound of a branch snapping somewhere outside the observation post. It was probably an animal, but he needed to be on his guard. If somebody spotted him now, they were all in very deep trouble.
Moving as quietly as he could, Talbot exited the observation post and eased the door closed behind him. The slight squeaks that the hinges had made when he’d opened the door the first time now sounded like screams in his ears. He certainly hoped that if that was someone out there, they wouldn’t hear it.
Talbot eyed the surrounding forest and tried to judge which direction the noise had come from. There was a path—though it wasn’t well-defined—leading away from the observation post and deeper into the forest. It sounded as if something or someone was coming down it.
He needed to get out of there and do it now.
Even as he started moving, he saw some of the branches farther up the path move and caught the outline of a human form. No, two human forms.
The horde had finally sent people to watch the trail, and he was directly in their way. He was moments from discovery.
No matter how quiet he tried to be, Jared felt as if he’d stepped on every single twig and brushed against every branch as he’d moved. Each noise sounded incredibly loud in his ears, though he knew most of them were too soft to carry. Most of them.
He tried to emulate Captain Beauchamp, but he’d never capture her grace and skill at moving through the forest like a ghost. For someone who he’d only ever seen ride a horse, she had a lot of grace at moving through the forest.
None of the rest of them did, that was for sure. Each and every one of his people seemed unable to miss anything that made noise, and the animals around them quickly went silent as they passed. If any trained woodsmen were lurking out there, they’d immediately know something was wrong. He just hoped they didn’t figure out exactly what the silence meant wh
ile he and his people were still here.
Even as he was thinking that, Beauchamp froze and held up a hand to halt the rest of them. Everyone else shambled to a stop, though their eyes were all darting around, looking for what had caught her attention.
She took two steps back and placed her lips directly next to Jared’s ear. “There’s someone up ahead. It might be Talbot, but I’m seeing some kind of movement on the side of the hill. There’s too much underbrush in the way for me to get a clear look, but the man I see seems to be about the right size for him. I’m not sure what he’s doing, but it feels like he’s hiding from something. If so, we should do the same.”
Taking a risk, Jared stepped forward until he could see what she’d seen. It took him almost ten seconds to spot the man on the side of the hill. He was crouched behind what could have been a low wooden wall, so there was some kind of structure up there.
Beauchamp was right. It was impossible to tell exactly who it was without getting a little closer, but Jared’s years with the marine made him feel certain that it was Talbot.
“It’s him,” he said softly back to Beauchamp. “What’s he doing?”
“Hiding,” she said with more than a hint of tension in her soft voice. “There’s someone else up there.”
Jared motioned for Kelsey and Lieutenant Laird to join them. In a low tone, he explained what was happening in front and above them.
“Chloe, I want you to take point on this,” he said when he’d finished. “Kelsey will assist you because she’s got the best hand-to-hand skills of any of us. I’d put her as the lead, but you have better tactical training than she does. Sorry, Kelsey.”
His sister shrugged slightly. “It’s all going to come out in the wash. If there’s trouble up there, both of us are going to be involved. Talbot has one of my swords, so if he has to come out swinging, he’s going to be effective. With his training in the Art, he has a good grasp of melee combat with a blade and his body.
“The key here is that we can’t let anyone report our presence. We not only need to ambush the people he’s looking at, but we need to make sure that even someone who gets away is taken out before they get back to the city.”
“I think that’s where Captain Beauchamp and Julia come in,” Chloe said, brushing her tangled red hair out of her eyes. “We need to let them take the other side of that building Talbot is behind. They’re both experienced with bows, as are you, and they’ll be able to pick off people that are fleeing at a distance.
“But even that isn’t going to be enough. If we start chasing someone through the forest, they’re going to lose us unless we stay on their heels. Bows are going to be useless beyond a fairly short range in this environment. This is going to be blade work.”
“Yes, it is,” Jared said grimly. “Once you engage, we’ll come up behind Talbot and provide a backdrop behind him with extra bodies. None of us are trained for this kind of fighting, but we’ve all got swords and marine knives. If we have to help with the fight, we’ll do it. We’ll just hope it doesn’t come to that.”
At his nod, Kelsey, Chloe, Julia, and Captain Beauchamp moved out. The rest of them stayed where they were for the moment, because they didn’t want to risk making any noise until the fighting started. They’d make their way up the hill as quickly as possible once things got rolling and come in behind Talbot.
With any luck at all, they’d be able to silence whatever patrol Talbot had spotted. That was only a short-term solution, though. Someone would eventually miss those people.
At this point, they were committed to making this crazy plan work. Even if killing the patrol set off a search for them, it wouldn’t happen immediately.
But the clock was ticking. It was time to make the magic happen.
29
Kelsey followed Chloe Laird up the hill. They both moved slowly because neither one of them was skilled at woodcraft. They couldn’t afford to make any loud noise because that would alert whatever group Talbot had spotted to their presence. If that happened, whoever they were, they’d have too great a chance of warning the city that they had intruders.
By the time they’d reached the top of the slope, at least some of the people up there had moved into the structure. Her husband had slipped around to the closer side of the low building but hadn’t noticed her presence yet. His attention was focused on the back of the structure.
She didn’t know if that meant there was no one else outside but decided to take the most pessimistic view. They’d assume there were more people in the woods and that it was her responsibility to take them out.
As she was edging onto the area above the slope, Talbot sheathed his sword, drew his marine knife, and darted inside the structure. There was a muffled shout and the clang of steel on steel. Well, hull metal on steel, which was pretty close to the same.
With the attack in progress, Kelsey immediately discarded stealth and raced toward the forest behind the structure, her bow up and ready to engage targets of opportunity. Laird had a captured sword and was standing beside her side, scanning the forest for threats.
Farther across the hill, Kelsey caught a glimpse of blonde hair and spotted Julia and Beauchamp, who were both using their bows to seek out potential targets. She ignored them and continued to scan for any enemies.
She didn’t see any.
With a gesture, she sent Chloe deeper into the forest to see if she could spot anything. Beauchamp was moving forward to do the same thing.
Kelsey watched their backs, ready to fire her bow or race after them, but she also kept an eye on the structure. The sounds of combat had already ceased, so she certainly hoped her husband was victorious.
She really should check just to make sure.
Keeping the majority of her attention focused on Laird, Kelsey edged closer to the door leading into the strange, low structure. “Talbot, tell me you’re okay,” she said, pitching her voice low enough to carry inside, but softly enough not to warn everyone in the general vicinity.
“I’m fine,” he answered with a hint of a growl. “I got a cut on my arm, but it’s not serious. Both of the people I spotted are down in here.”
Kelsey considered passing that information along to Laird but decided against it. They should treat this as if Talbot had missed some of the enemy. Instead of fretting about it, she kept watch while she waited for Talbot to come out.
He stepped out of the short building a few moments later. He had his right vambrace off and was using a piece of cloth to wipe at a bleeding cut about five centimeters long on the back of his forearm. He was right. It didn’t look too bad, so the armor there had mostly stopped the blow. The gash would need stitches but didn’t seem immediately dangerous.
She half snorted at how her conception of what made for a serious injury had changed over the years. This kind of cut would’ve freaked younger her out. Now? Losing a finger might qualify as a moderate injury.
“Tell me what you’ve got,” she said, keeping her eyes on the woods. “We spotted you from down below, so we have no idea what’s going on up here.”
“Two warriors came up the path from deeper into the forest. This observation post seems like it’s only manned intermittently and isn’t very well maintained. The plants on top are dead, so its camouflage is gone. They may’ve been coming to repair that rather than actually performing observational duties.
“At this point, it hardly matters. Now that I’ve killed them, somebody is going to be asking questions about them soon enough, and then they’ll start looking for them.”
He frowned toward her. “Aren’t you supposed to be back at the camp waiting for me? Did something happen? Is everyone else okay?”
“We had a group of riders come past, likely heading toward the city. It made us feel a little exposed, so we left the horses tethered where they were and followed you in. Our window of opportunity is closing faster than we’d have liked. We need to get inside the city, get what we need, and be gone before they start looking for us in earnest. On
ce that happens, getting clear of the area is going to be a lot harder.”
He grimaced at her words. “It’s going to be hard no matter what we do. Those bastards will be all over us. I haven’t gotten close enough to the city to see much yet, but I’m sure it’s well guarded. I’ll bet that it has a wall and plenty of roving patrols to make sure that nobody gets in or out without being challenged. These people strike me as the kind that don’t want their ‘citizens’ wandering off, if you know what I mean.”
“Yeah, I get that impression too,” she admitted.
This wasn’t the time or place to rush things, but the situation had been out of their control from the moment they’d landed. They just hadn’t known it. Now they did.
Laird and Beauchamp came out of the woods with their weapons lowered, shaking their heads. Julia joined them as they converged on the observation post.
“There’s no sign of anybody else out there,” Beauchamp said. “It doesn’t look as if that path is well traveled. Sending two people out into the woods like this isn’t really a patrol. These men must’ve had some kind of task that they were performing.”
Talbot nodded. “I’ve got some ideas on that, but it doesn’t really matter what they were doing. Whoever sent them is going to be wondering why they don’t come back once it gets dark. We’re going to have to get rid of the bodies and clean this site up so that no one can tell anyone has been here.
“The goal of this is to leave them wondering exactly what happened. If we could arrange for an animal to eat them, that would be great, but we can’t count on that. We’re going to have to stash them somewhere and hope they remain undetected for a couple of days.”
The local woman shook her head. “No matter what we do with them, crows and buzzards will feast upon their corpses, and that means that they’ll be visible circling over this area. Anybody with half a brain will follow the carrion birds to see what they’re eating once the missing people are remarked upon.
