It hadn’t surprised any of them that the Z'Sorth shopkeeper didn’t stock Talvanium. He did confirm that there was plenty of it at the mine, and for a single credit he had agreed to provide a note, written in Z'Sorth, that announced their intentions. It would no doubt be an interesting effort in communication if he was wrong about there being other Z'Sorth at the mine. The shopkeeper also let the team in on how much it would cost to rent one or two Wolrasi. They could afford it, but just barely, and they agreed they had better save their money for the Talvanium.
So, after a frantic radio transmission from Dana complaining about Byron and the mission, they’d departed Metzqual. Byron was being his typical self, but it was unlike Dana to exhibit so much emotion and doubt. Christie’s heart tore at her friend’s fear, and of course she shared it. It did seem like an undue risk to obtain the Talvanium if it would only make the Faith somewhat safer from attack. Dana had submitted that it should be easy enough to hide somewhere until the Faith’s engines were recharged, but the others had remained adamant. Improving the ship’s weaponry was vital. John was also keen on considering other options that made better firepower all the more appealing.
For now, it was time to check on their progress. Christie sped up enough to draw close to Richter, and spoke in a low voice.
“What’s the pace count?” she asked.
“Thirty-seven clicks, six hundred meters, and fifty-seven paces. Almost time to rest.”
“Thank God.”
“That’s close enough,” said John. “Let’s start looking for a place to make camp.”
“I’ve been eyeballing that hill over there,” said Ray, pointing.
Richter nodded. “Me, too. It’s far enough off of the old road so that we won’t be set upon by accident. It looks like there might be some good cover, too. I like the size of some of those boulders.”
“Okay,” began John. “Let’s divert over there when it’s directly to our nine. Richter, take an azimuth and start a new pace count at that point. We might have more trouble finding the road than we’d guess.”
“So far the ambient light has been pretty good,” said Ari.
“If we rest for eight hours, Delta will have set,” said Christie. “It will be darker when we resume.”
The hill was deceptively far away, and it took the team another ten minutes to reach it. Upon arriving they discovered it was more like a mesa, with a diameter of about one hundred meters. The top was covered with large rock formations and boulders, resulting in a few narrow passageways among the open areas. After snooping around the entire hill, the team gathered in the center.
“Perfect,” said John.
“Not really,” countered Richter. “No matter where we camp, only one side will be facing the desert. Someone could easily get within ten meters on our blind side. There’s a clearing on the north side that gives us a good vantage point back towards the road as well as a single entry point into the boulders to the southwest. We should eat the beef stew for dinner tonight and then use some 550 cord to tie the cans across that point. Then a single person on watch can be aware of all directions.”
“Sounds good. Let’s go.”
The team followed Richter to his recommended spot. Once sleeping arrangements had been made, they gratefully shed their rucksacks and sat down. Luckily, the hard-packed earth wasn’t too dusty to work with.
“Who wants a can of stew?” asked John.
Each of the others raised a hand.
“Forget it,” said Ari. “I’ll stick to one of my MREs.”
“Me, too,” added Ray. “I am on rear security for a reason.”
“How do you want to handle watch rotation?” asked John, opening a can.
“Five people, eight hours,” began Richter. “I’ll take first watch for three hours, then each of you can take one hour after that.”
“That’s not fair. You’ll only get five hours of sleep.”
“True, but it will be uninterrupted sleep.”
“I call last watch!” Ari said suddenly.
Richter smiled. “See, she gets it too.”
“Are you sure you won’t nod off?” asked John.
“Trust me, I’ll be fine. You know, this planet reminds me a lot of Afghanistan.”
“You mean Operation Anaconda?”
“Yeah. The nights were much colder, though. This is downright luxurious. It’s ironic, I think, that considering all the time I spent in the Marine Corps, I didn’t see any combat until I joined the CIA. They sent me further afield than the Marines ever did. Afghanistan, Pakistan, the Philippines... after the September Eleventh attack, we were everywhere. Shit, I hope Devonai is doing all right. I can’t even imagine the shit storm he’s dealing with right now.”
“Don’t forget, it’s been five years since we left back on Earth.”
“Oh, yeah. Well, the sentiment still stands.”
“Oh my God, these little bottles of Tabasco sauce are awesome!” said Christie.
“In the Marines, we used to save them for watches. If you find yourself nodding off, slam one of those. I guarantee you forget all about...”
Richter cut himself off and raised his hand. He cocked his head to the side and listened. He motioned for the others to stay down and he crept to the side of the hill. Once there, he went prone and made his rifle ready. A moment later the others joined him.
“Down there, on the road,” he whispered.
Back on the desert plain, barely discernible at the six hundred yard distance, a caravan moved down the road. The race of the occupants was unknown, but the animals hauling the carts were clearly wolrasi.
“At that speed they must have left right after we did,” whispered Ray.
“Are they following us?” asked Ari.
Richter shook his head. “I doubt it. They aren’t exactly equipped for stealth travel. We’ll find out when they get to where we turned off. We didn’t hide our tracks. Fuck, that was stupid.”
“Startin’ to lose it in your old age, eh?”
“Shh...”
The team watched in silence. The caravan passed by the turn-off point. After a few more minutes Richter turned towards the others and shrugged.
“I guess they’re not interested in...”
A loud explosion tore through the night air, and a bright flash illuminated the desert. Back on the road, a small fireball rose from the ground and quickly dissipated. Shots began echoing across the plain, and shouts in an unknown language soon followed. The caravan began to circle the wagons, and individual attackers could be seen advancing from the north.
“Holy shit, they’re being ambushed,” said Richter.
“Poor bastards,” said Ari.
“Should we help them?” asked Christie.
“Absolutely not,” replied John. “This is not our problem.”
“We could use it as a chance for some free target practice,” Ari said, smiling.
“Just lay low and don’t make a sound.”
“Let’s hope they can repel the attack,” said Richter. “If not, guess where they’ll be headed.”
John’s eyes widened. “Oh, shit.”
As Richter predicted, a gathered group from the caravan began running at full speed towards the hill. Shots were being exchanged in earnest, and the number of those fleeing rapidly dwindled.
“It’s a shooting gallery,” said Ray. “They don’t stand a chance.”
“They must be using projectile weapons like ours,” said John.
Christie nodded. “That makes sense. Energy weapons wouldn’t work out here.”
“Shut the hell up,” Richter hissed.
Two remaining caravaners made it to the base of the hill. One of them spun around to fire at the enemy, and was quickly cut down. The last one, now identifiable as a Kau’Rii, sprinted up the hillside and disappeared into the rocks. Half of the attackers peeled off and began running towards them.
“This is going to get really interesting fast,” whispered Richter. “We have no choic
e but to take sides now. Everybody get on line and prepare to fire.”
Each of the team members searched for a good firing position that was more or less in line with the side of the hill.
“Four hundred meters and closing,” said Ray.
“Scherer, I want you on the left flank,” Richter said, pointing. “Go about twenty-five meters down. You’ll start to catch return fire first because your Garand doesn’t have a flash hider. When that happens, displace and cover our six.”
“Roger that,” John replied.
“Three hundred and fifty,” said Ray.
“Remember, don’t rush your shots,” said Richter. “Scherer, you initiate fire when you’re ready.”
John nodded and ran off to take his position. As the enemy grew closer, Christie realized she couldn’t identify the species. Each of them moved in a different way, and a few of them even appeared to run on four legs. The raiders had stopped firing, and an eerie silence returned to the desert.
John’s Garand shattered that brief peace. His friends were jarred out of their adrenaline-induced stupors and began to fire as well. The enemy responded to the sudden fusillade by going prone, so it was initially impossible to detect any hits. Soon they started to get up one by one and rush the hill. Four of them did not get up. Two more fell before incoming fire raked John’s position.
“I’ll be in my office,” yelled John as he displaced, slapping another clip into his rifle.
The others continued firing.
“Reloading,” said Ray, doing so.
Three more of the raiders dropped to the dirt and stopped moving. The remaining five disappeared around the northeast side of the hill.
“That’s it,” said Richter, leaping to his feet. “You three grab some better defilade on this flank. I’ll reinforce Scherer. Watch for that Kau’Rii if you can, we might as well try and avoid shooting him.”
“Roger,” said Ari.
For the next several moments it was dead quiet. Then, hushed voices could be heard coming from elsewhere on the hill. Nearby, the sudden sound of a violent confrontation burst forth. There was the clash of steel on steel, and then a horrible scream. There was a brief silence, and then somebody swore. There was a sound like somebody dropping a watermelon, and a severed Kau’Rii head rolled into the clearing. Christie clamped her hand over her mouth and squeaked. John and Richter tensed up.
A creature appeared from behind the rocks leading to the clearing. In the darkness it could not be definitively identified, but at first glance it looked like a Rakhar with two extra arms. It had a three-foot long sword in one hand and a pistol in the other. It’s eyes focused on John and Richter and gleamed in the moonlight. Richter’s selector switch made a clear click as he flipped it to full auto. The creature took a deep breath as they opened fire. The thing dropped to the ground instantly.
Almost immediately, another raider appeared from the west side of the clearing. Ray was looking in that direction and fired wildly, crying out in surprise. Christie looked in his direction. Ari kept her focus on the north side of the clearing, and thus was not surprised when a third raider leaned around the corner. It was holding a long arm and took aim at her. Ari fired once and shot it through the neck. It dropped to the ground, trying vainly to breathe. Ari finished it off with one more shot. The raider that Ray fired upon advanced through his hail of rounds. Ray fired rapidly and took a step backward in shock. The thing was almost upon him before it seemed to trip and fall. Ray and Christie fired together at the body. It did not move again.
“Reloading,” said Christie, fumbling with the stock pouch.
Something jumped on Ray from the rock above. It was small and black, and found a grip on Ray’s head and neck. Ray screamed and dropped his rifle, groping for the creature. Christie dropped her own rifle and tried to help Ray. She reached for the thing and was rewarded with a backfist to the face. Ari lunged forward and jammed the barrel of her rifle into the creature’s clothing. She pulled laterally with all her strength, and with Ray’s help managed to dislodge the raider from his shoulders. It flew through the air, slid down the hill a few feet, and regained its footing. It hissed loudly at Ray and Ari. Ray smoothly drew his revolver managed to hit it in the head. Ari lowered her rifle and looked at Ray approvingly.
Again, there was silence.
“Everybody sound off!” said Richter.
“Clear to the west, tango down.” said Ray, his voice wavering.
“Clear to the south, tango down.” said Christie.
“Clear to the east,” said John.
“Clear over here,” said Ari. “Tango down.”
Richter nodded. “That’s five, then. Everybody take cover again.”
The team did so. Richter motioned back towards the road.
“Nobody else is coming,” whispered Ray.
“They’re waiting to see what happened,” replied Richter. “Let’s let them know. Ari, would you do the honors please?”
“You bet,” Ari replied, taking position.
Ari aimed at the several torch bearers that now littered the caravan. Slowly she began firing. The raiders began to expedite their activity, and a few of them went down. After about a half a minute Ari’s bolt locked back on an empty magazine, and she reached for the stock pouch.
“That’s good enough,” said Richter. “It looks like they’re withdrawing.”
The remaining torches were extinguished, and the raiders began moving away to the north. They took all but one of the wagons with them. Soon, all that the team could see were bodies. Richter waited another two minutes before getting up.
“What now?” asked Christie, climbing to her feet.
“Now we get the hell out of here,” said Richter. “We can’t stay here now. They might come back with more men.”
“Shall we continue the last two clicks to the mine?” asked John.
“We should. Everybody get your gear squared away and get some chow. When we’re done eating we’ll skirt around the battle area and continue to the mine. Hopefully we can rest there. Agreed?”
There were no objections. Ray pushed over the body of the first raider that had attacked him.
“What the hell is this thing?” he said.
The corpse looked like a minotaur. It had been shot multiple times.
“I don’t know,” began John. “Seth never mentioned anything like it.”
“This one looks like a Rakhar except that it’s got four arms,” said Ari.
“Mutants, maybe?” said Christie.
“Who knows? As long as we can kill them.”
Richter kneeled down and picked up one of the raider’s pistols. He found the magazine release and ejected it. John kneeled next to him.
“Looks like a standard firearm, at least the kind we’re familiar with,” said John.
“Yeah,” said Richter. “We finally get to grab some alien hardware, and it doesn’t look any better than our own stuff.”
“We could go check the bodies for weapons. We should check them anyway to see if there are any survivors.”
“That’s not our problem,” said Ari.
“I agree,” said Richter. “We can check on the second to last guy to make it to the hill, but going out there back towards the caravan site isn’t a good idea. We don’t have the medical resources to do much of anything anyway. I hate to leave anyone who is still alive too, but we’ve got to look after ourselves.”
“It’s a damn shame,” said Christie.
“It is,” replied Ray. “Hey, let me look at that bruise.”
“Does anybody want any of these alien weapons?” asked John.
“They look like pieces of shit,” said Ari.
Richter shrugged. “Grab a couple pistols if you want, Scherer. Just remember that we’ll be hauling out all that Talvanium tomorrow. If you don’t mind the extra weight, be my guest.”
“I’d like to see what Seth can tell us about them,” said John. “At least we won’t have to wait for fifty scientists to spen
d a month doing so.”
Ray laughed. The others began gathering their gear.
“Shall we choose another clearing for dinner?” asked Christie. “I can’t say I care for this one any longer.”
“Yeah, let’s move along. Be careful, one or two of those things may have escaped our notice. We don’t want to add one of ourselves to the menu.”
13.
One hour later, after a quick meal and a rather tense march, the team arrived at a small canyon. Once they’d drawn within a hundred meters of the canyon they were able to distinguish a few artificial structures. They approached cautiously, but were able to reach the perimeter of the structures without being challenged. There were no lights within the structures, and the surroundings remained silent.
The purpose of the buildings was quite clear. This was a mining operation. Elevators and stairways led into the canyon, and a row of four conveyor belts led up a steep slope and into one of the buildings. A few pieces of equipment remained scattered about, apparently no worse for wear after some time of disuse. A few signs were posted here and there, illegible to the humans.
The team crept about slowly. A slight gleam caught John’s eye, and he motioned for the others to stop. Near the corner of one building lay a small pile of something. Part of the pile glowed a pale green. Richter motioned for Ari and Ray to keep an eye out, while he, John and Christie went to check it out.
There were a few baseball-sized lumps of metal in the pile that were responsible for the greenish glow. Christie picked one up. It was heavy, but when she scratched it with her fingernail she was able to scrape some material away.
The Tarantula Nebula Page 17
