“I’m not some stupid kid, Mark,” she nodded. ”I’ve been around the block.”
“That’s not the block,” Jill called out at the doctor, looking up from where she was finishing stowing her camp kit. “I mean, I’m sorry. I know you’re good at what you do and all, but don’t start talking to us like you know what we go through. Just because you got your ass saved by one of us on a mission that, forgive me, sounds pretty tame in comparison to half the crap we’ve been through means you know absolutely zip about what the battlefield is really like.”
“That’s not what I was doing,” Rayne said. None of the softness remained in her voice as she turned to Jill. The words ‘cat fight’ flashed through my head in big, vibrant, excitable letters, but I knew I couldn’t let it get that far. “I’m sure I could never know what it’s like to do what you Marines do, but I’m equally sure the same is true for me. I look at these samples from a distance and after they’ve been through the hell of transport. To see them like this, in their natural environment, is something I could have never expected.” She shook her head. “It’s not something I’m going to pass up.”
Claire growled at the doctor. “Remind me again why we woke her up.”
“Because, like you, I have work to do. I have something very special to share with these bugs.”
“And the only way you’re going to be able to share that is if you survive long enough to do it,” I reminded Rayne. “Now, like it or not, I’m in charge here. Not you, Doc. I call the shots here, and the shots I’m calling at this particular moment consist of us moving as quickly as possible. That means no pit stops.”
“Mark-” Rayne shot back, her tone like that of a petulant child who wasn’t getting her way.
“I’m sorry, Dr. Garmin,” I said, using her position to remind her of her place here, “but this isn’t your call, and you’re the least qualified person here to make it. We’re going through the night, which is unprecedented on Turan. It’s dangerous, it’s sketchy, and it’s stupid. Still, it might give us a better chance to make it out of here. That means we need to get out of here before the sun comes up.” I shook my head. “Because, with the sun, comes a whole new set of problems, militarized problems.”
I turned, looking at Mina as I did. She nodded her approval, which was unnecessary, but nice all the same.
“Everyone, get ready,” I commanded. “We’re out of here in ten.”
24
“You okay?” I asked, looking over at Mina as we marched through the dark on the surface of Turan.
Over us, Jill’s invention floated, moving with us like the center of our solar system. It served several purposes. First of all, it lit our way in what would have otherwise been a completely dark plain. What was more, it shone like a beacon to whatever enemies we might encounter along the way.
Normally this would have been exactly the opposite of what we would have been after. Silence and discretion is the rule of the day when you’re on a covert mission in an alien world. We weren’t in the day though, and this wasn’t a normal situation.
Luckily, this wasn’t a normal sun. Any enemies who might have been attracted to us because of the glowing light overhead would soon find themselves destroyed by it as well, every drop of energy from weapons, armor, and their own bioelectric impulse sucked up. And the creatures who roamed this place at night were much like those who walked along a prison yard, word spread quickly. You show some muscle, and you usually get left alone afterward.
All we needed was one thing to get its ass decimated, and we would likely have a clear shot to our destination, straight ahead and then down into the valley where the coordinates led us. Well, that was the plan, at least. Like any other, it probably wouldn’t survive first contact with the enemy.
Mina had the pulse laser in her hand that she had purchased with her free upgrade coupon the last time we were here, armed and at the ready, the very same one I still had in my inventory. Her eyes were as alert as ever, and the elements of exhaustion she had shown before we took on the Centis were gone. I wasn’t so bad of a pep talk man, after all.
What surprised me more was her answer to my question. “Actually, I was going to ask you the same question.”
I tried not to show that surprise, though. “Why would you think I was anything less than fine?”
“Well, you know the valley we’re headed to.” Mina was studying my face very intently now. “You remember what’s there.”
“Of course, I know the valley,” I grumbled, trying to place what I was obviously missing. “I’ve got the coordinates memorized, and that’s where Rayne said there’s an appropriate DNA sample for testing this thing.”
The fact that Mina John, the dedicated soldier and second-best Marine in history, showed a hint of real concern made me worry just a hair. “Oh God, Mark, you don’t know.” Her lips pressed into a tight line. “Considering what happened, I supposed if I were you I might have forced myself to forget.”
It clicked then. I didn’t need for Annabelle to confirm it from my mission files, but I still mentally nudged her to call up the data. It was a big flashing red X on the mission map in my HUD, a literal one before my eyes.
“Billy Langham is buried there, on that very spot,” I said flatly, an agreement with Mina’s unsaid words. Her hand was on my shoulder, just for a moment, a brief gesture of support before the rest of the squad noticed.
“I’m sorry,” Mina said softly. “I thought you knew the second it came up in the briefing.”
I wasn’t sure if there was meaning to this and if I started to dwell on it, I’d either get pissed off at Rayne for not bringing this up earlier or I’d get melancholy. Either would jeopardize the mission at hand, and the lives of the squad and the chance to take out the bugs once and for all trumped any personal feelings I might have.
“It’s okay.” I nodded slowly to myself. “I’ll give Rayne a talking to later, see what this is all about.”
“I can if you’d prefer,” Mina said as she shifted her focus back her usual cautious overwatch of the surroundings. “I didn’t know Langham like you did, but if her plan involves desecrating any Marine’s grave, well, I consider that an issue. I’m not a fan of secrets, and she is still keeping some, even if she doesn’t think so.”
That made me smile. “I guess you and I have more in common than I thought,” I responded. “I wasn’t a huge fan of secrets either, which was why I didn’t like the idea of Jill and Claire not knowing the real reason we were here, especially with the Commissioner’s crap hanging over us.”
“I would have done the same.” Mina glanced at her squadmates and grinned. “Speaking of things I couldn’t have done, I’m not sure I’d have ever been able to think of the move you pulled out there with the Centi-walkers. That was impressive, to say the least. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone do something like that before.”
“Like that, did you?” I grinned in response. “I call it the Thor.”
“Because of the Norse god?” Mina asked, biting her lower lip. “That’s obscure of you.”
“You too apparently,” I suggested, wincing in the light of our sun.
She rolled her eyes. “My father was a history professor.”
“My aunt was a teacher too,” I shrugged. “Music, I think. Something unnecessary like that.”
“Well, then you know how they are. They never stop teaching. Even off the clock, they’re always working.”
“I guess I know where you get it from now.” I nudged her gently with my shoulder.
She let out a short laugh. “Hardly. My father was a peace-loving man. He would never hurt a fly, that man. Spent all his time with his nose in books. If he had lived, he would have never wanted this life for me.” She sighed again. “Of course, if he’d have been a different type of a man, he might actually be alive now.”
I sensed something else in her tone, a tragedy that went unspoken. While I had been in her gray matter earlier, I was a little preoccupied with not getting us kille
d to rummage through everything. There were still things I didn’t know about Mina and honestly, that was for the best.
I decided not to press deeper though. My own father had died because of these damn bugs, and it did much to shape who I was and why I fought. It was also still a sore spot after all these years, an open wound of indignity that went better untouched. I had to imagine Mina was the same way.
“Taught you mythology?” I asked, veering the subject over just slightly.
“Among other things, but those were my favorite, the stories, the stuff that could never have actually happened.” She shrugged. “Especially given how fucked up the stuff that actually does happen is.”
“Yeah,” I nodded. “I think maybe that’s why I liked it too.”
“Great minds.” She laughed loudly. “While we’re being all talkative, what about the three-way you had with both of my subordinates while you thought I was asleep in the next room?” She looked over at me, grinning. “Though something tells me you’re less than remorseful about that.”
Heat rose in my face, not so much because of the memories mentioning what happened a few hours ago brought back, but because Mina knew about it. There was something about that which reminded me of being the principal’s office, of being scolded for cutting class or being caught making out under the bleachers during lunch hour. Of course, in this scenario, I’d have to be making out with two girls at once, and I’d have had to have already banged the principal. So, it’s safe to say, I had moved up a little since high school.
I narrowed my eyes. “Should I be remorseful? Does knowing this make you remorseful about what happened between us?”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” she balked. “I’m a big girl, and I sure as hell haven’t asked you for a promise ring. You don’t have to be sorry about anything you did, especially with those girls.” She winked at me.
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“Just that they’re no strangers with sharing their toys if you know what I mean.”
“Wow. No wonder they were so in synch.”
“I want you to know that I’m cool,” Mina continued. “I like what we do, and I’m sure you like what you do with them too. You don’t need to keep it a secret from me.” She glared up at me with bright eyes. ”In fact, if there ever comes a time when the three of you are feeling a little extra adventurous, then maybe we could – “
The rocky red sand of the wasteland behind us bulged and shifted, cutting off Mina’s words and shaking the ground under our feet. Looked like our chat break was over and our first contender of the night’s festivities had come out to play.
25
I didn’t need to wait for the thing under the sands to crest the surface to know what we were facing. The only plus side of what was about to happen is that it wasn’t a sandworm, this was far smaller than that. Of course, considering sandworms can swallow tanks whole, that isn’t saying a whole lot.
“Landshark!” I cried as I broke to the right. “Scatter!” As I moved, I kept talking but directed it inward to Annabelle. “Annabelle, get me my pulse laser.”
“Of course, Lieutenant Ryder,” she said. “Might I suggest activating thrusters as well? Standard tactical procedure in this instance is – “
“I know what standard procedure is,” I grumbled as the bulge of sand about the size of a tank plowed towards us. Jill and Claire’s AIs must have told them what Annabelle was trying to tell me and broke in opposite directions, jetting off the ground but not going too high. Mina, though, was sticking to the ground because of one critical factor.
In the infinite wisdom of Alliance Command, the enviro-suit issued to Rayne for protection in the harsh sands of Turan lacked almost all the tools a conventional Marine power suit would have, such as any real defensive shields, any kind of weaponry, and most importantly at this moment, thrusters. Part of me wondered if that lack of equipment had been on purpose. More and more, I was looking forward to getting back to the Halls to give our new commissioner a piece of my mind … and some bullets.
It didn’t help matters that the scientist still hadn’t gotten that whole ‘wonder of direct observation’ out of her crazy head. Rayne was staring wide-eyed with a stupid smile on her face as the moving dune split asunder and the biggest Acburian landshark I had ever seen leaped above the surface of the ground.
Though the name fit these bastard bugs completely, the thing hurtling towards us wasn’t a shark of any kind. Like the rest of the Acburian family of species, the landshark was a nasty, exoskeletal creepy crawly, more akin to a massive scarab beetle than anything else. One of the dumber varieties of bug, landsharks were constantly moving and constantly hungry, their twelve-part, razor-sharp mandibles sucking in sand and soil before expelling it out of the ass of the thing for underground propulsion. One thing landsharks shared with sandworms was their ability to sense vibrations on the ground above, but the landshark’s antennae were tuned for different frequencies, going for smaller prey than their sandworm cousins.
You know, like a small group of Marines.
Normally, a landshark wouldn’t be a huge deal. Though that insane multi-limbed mouth could tear a Marine to shreds in seconds, they were, as their names implied, landlocked creatures and, well, stupid. Really stupid. Landsharks had enough brains to eat, breathe, and shit, and that formed the outer range of their intellectual capabilities. Unable to spit or blast like spitters, a Marine not taken by surprise could easily keep his distance from a landshark and whittle it down with ranged fire.
Most Marine squads didn’t have a near-defenseless civilian scientist they had to escort, though.
“What a fantastic specimen!” Rayne cooed. “We’ve never recorded such an enormous one befooooore!”
Rayne’s words turned into a shriek when the danger percolated through her brain, those tearing mandibles mere inches from her face as I threw her over my shoulder mid-sprint. Her enviro-suit was so tight to her bountiful curves that I could feel every tremor of fear from her body as her legs kicked next to my head. Firing blindly behind me to hopefully dissuade the landshark from this meal, I glanced upward at the artificial sun.
“Drain that thing dry, Jill,” I called up at her hovering form as she launched a psi-arrow into the thing’s side. Claire was lashing at the shark from the opposite side, trying to tangle its many legs, but even her fiery lash was slipping off its smooth shell. I couldn’t see Mina’s position now, obscured by the bug bearing down on me, but I knew whatever she did would be productive.
“On it, sir,” Jill chirped as she flew towards her invention as the fizzle of lasers rebounding off the angled plates around the shark’s head let me know how effective blind firing was being.
“Thrusters, Annabelle!” I turned my head towards Rayne’s large hips. “And hold on, Doc!” Normally, I’d be way more appreciative of the view, but right now that beautiful ass was more of a load than anything else.
“Affirmative, Lieutenant Ryder,” Annabelle acknowledged as my boot jets ignited. “Be forewarned that with Dr. Garmin’s current position, your maneuvering thrusters are limited, as well as your afterburners.”
I only grunted in response as I pushed off the ground with a leap to give my initial thrust some extra oomph. Good thing, too, because the bug made its best imitation of a pouncing tiger as its three pairs of back legs shoved off the sand. I heard its shriek, the whistling wind past my helmet as my thrusters roared, and Rayne’s renewed trill of both excitement and fear, and I knew this was going to be close.
It might have been the kind of close that got the landshark’s mandibles around my leg if it hadn’t suddenly stopped in mid-air, as if it had the end of its leash, before crashing back to the ground. Twisting in mid-flight, I saw what Mina had been up to this whole scuffle. She had driven an anchor, like the ones used to hold down elements of our camp kits, into the ground, merged it with a Neo Lasso, the same weapon I had told Billy to buy all those months ago, and fired it through her psionic bow with a Sticky Hand
s glue warhead mod.
Though telekinetic arrows had a hard time piercing the landshark’s thick carapace, the glue bonded on impact and literally kept our big bug on a nanofiber leash. It wouldn’t hold for long, but we didn’t need long.
Jill arced down from above, mini-sun glowing fiercely in her hands, and thrust it right into the center of the bug’s thorax. As with most Acburians that were actually shaped like Earth bugs, it couldn’t reach her there and even before the orb touched the landshark’s shell, arcs of energy sparked between the two. The bug shrieked bloody murder as it tried to thrash clear of the lasso-anchor combo, but its energy was being rapidly sucked away, the very exoskeleton starting to soften and crumble as its molecular bonds were eaten for brunch by Jill’s invention.
That gave me the perfect way to end this little dance. Still balancing the doctor over one shoulder, I had to aim and balance my pulse rifle in one hand, but I wouldn’t be, well, me, if I couldn’t do that. Holding my breath for a half-second to make for a perfect aim, I pulled the trigger of the laser, a rhythmic burst of photons lancing out of the barrel and vaporizing pin-point accurate holes through the softened shell.
Landsharks might be big, but few bugs could survive Dr. Ryder’s expert laser surgery session. Laser pulses tore through its guts, its liver, its lungs, and its heart, blasts made even worse as they reflected off the still-fully armored underside of the beast. The entire inside of the landshark turned into a photon ping-pong table with all its internal organs acting as the bumpers.
I didn’t lay off the trigger for a good three seconds. I wanted to make sure this bastard was stone-cold dead before I landed.
The landshark made one last shuddering step before collapsing into the sand, an involuntary spasm shooting black Acburian blood and regurgitated sand out of its mouth. The sun, still resting on the top of its back, continued to feast, disintegrating a clean hole from the top to the desert sands as it consumed every last bit of bioelectricity and chemical energy left in the corpse beneath it.
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