Kierce
Page 21
“Do you have a theory?”
“I don’t know enough about them to even hazard a guess. If an external or internal event blocked or shorted out their connection with MARL Primary in the valley, did it affect him too? And if it did, then what about the protective camouflage over this island? Over the ship?” Her speculations were wide ranging and highly concerning.
“Or the protection over the entire sanctuary valley.” The ramifications were presenting themselves in his mind and he didn’t like what he was thinking. “Are we protected here now?”
“I have no idea. We have to take MARL17’s word for it. Walt told me once the Badari had an over reliance on the alien AI to protect them, not that Aydarr’s had much choice.” Eyes wide and distressed, she stared at him. “What do we do now?”
Kierce took her hand and leaned in. Elianna was a person who found comfort in taking action. “We report the anomaly, and we don’t go off halfcocked. The MARL’s have never gone offline before and they did reboot on their own, right? But definitely the Alpha needs to be made aware. We have to hope it was localized to this island, maybe something in the Chimmer ship caused them to malfunction.”
“Which isn’t too reassuring since the smaller MARL unit is supposed to be their astronavigator once the ship goes off the planet. And I’m beginning to think MARL17 is going to go along too, to be the systems manager. He basically soaks up every scrap of knowledge about what I’m doing and how the ship works.” She shook her head. “I’m not saying there’s anything nefarious here. It would make more sense for a MARL unit to go than to send another human, like me. It’d be easy to overstress the ship’s systems, trying to do life support for too many people versus the Chimmer contingent the vessel was designed for. Humans are more of a load on the life support assets.”
Kierce had a violent reaction to even the remote suggestion of Elianna going along on the desperate mission. Adrenaline flaring, mind and body in battle ready status, he said, “You’re not going.” His talons deployed, and he had to fight to keep his fangs from lengthening. Was this another reason Walt had been so interested in her? To recruit her for the possibly one-way trip?
She gazed at him in mild disbelief, mouth open. “Relax, no one asked me to go. But, if me being on the ship meant saving all the humans and Badari here, I would go. I’d have to, just like Gabe is going to leave his mate behind when he goes. But it’s not an option on the table. Once I certify the Nicolle as flight ready, they won’t need me. The ship was built to be pretty much self-sufficient and I’m tuning it to function at an even higher level.” Elianna took a deep breath and a second look at his massive claws. “Let’s focus on the topic at hand, shall we? Can Camron include this in his comms burst tonight? Is there a way for him to encode it so the MARLs don’t know what we said?”
“I’m sure he can. I’ll give him a full briefing on it as soon as we’re done here. And Walt and Gabe are arriving later today or maybe tomorrow so we can also entrust a verbal report on it to them.”
Obviously unsettled, she chewed her lip.
Kierce hunkered down beside the rock she was perched on and put his arm around her shoulders. “Don’t worry about it too much. The odds are it was a local thing and probably didn’t affect our camouflage, let alone the main MARL unit at the valley. We’re so isolated here and off the flight path of the Khagrish that the odds they’d have picked up on anything even if our cover did lapse briefly, is pretty nil. Just keep an eye on MARL17 and the other one. Hell, if we had to, we could move the damn ship ourselves to another remote location.
She scrambled to her feet. “I’d better get back to work—we’ve been here way too long. You’ll tell Camron?”
“Right now.” He sent the other soldier a report as he escorted his mate to the site of her tasks. Camron was surprised and concerned but not inclined to make too much of it.
We’ll see what happens the rest of today. We’re hell and gone from any route the Khagrish have ever flown to their various installations and as we all know, the enemy doesn’t indulge in idle exploration. So I’d say we’re good. Are you returning to patrol?
Kierce verified he was indeed already jogging to resume his circuit of the island and the conversation was concluded.
Despite everyone’s reassurances—even his own to Elianna—Kierce remained on edge for the rest of the day. All afternoon his nerves were on edge, demanding he keep an extra watchfulness, so when he first saw the flyer in the sky above the island, he took cover in a stand of trees. Something was off about both the craft and the way it was flying. If this was Gabe and Walt arriving for their planned visit to test Elianna’s upgrades, why would they be circling the center of the island as if flying a search vector? As the flyer banked for another circle, he noticed weaponry extruding from the underside. The flyers the valley residents had stolen were all unarmed.
There’s an armed Khagrish flyer overhead. Evacuate Elianna and the others now, he sent urgently to Camron. It’s definitely not Gabe and Walt. Adrenaline pumped through his body as the many scenarios involving his mate’s possible safety ran through his mind. Ruthlessly he quashed the train of thought. She needed him to be the stone cold soldier right now.
Camron’s answer was prompt. On it. Go and reconnoiter. Keep me advised.
Although his number one desire was to sprint to the Chimmer ship, grab Elianna and disappear into the forest with her, Kierce accepted the order. He was the closest member of their patrol in proximity to the enemy. He’d have to trust Camron to take care of his mate until he could rejoin the group although making the choice required all the discipline of his training.
The flyer was landing so Kierce worked his way through the forest toward the spot where he guessed the pilot would set down, in a large meadow within a mile of the huts and the ship. He moved as rapidly as he could in the dense undergrowth not worrying too much about staying undercover until he was quite close. Speed was more essential than stealth right now. The camouflage must be holding or they’d have landed right in our laps. But why are the Khagrish here?
By the time he got to the landing site, he could tell from the tracks and the scent that a sizable party of Khagrish had debarked and marched off toward the coast.
You have incoming, at least eight, he sent to Camron. Tell me you have Elianna and the others in a safe place.
No reply from Camron.
A cough distracted Kierce, and a black clad Khagrish security officer left the enemy’s flyer, stumbling and clutching his gut. The man hesitated before walking off to the side and throwing up.
Kierce took aim and shot the man in the head. Even before the body dropped Kierce broke into a run up the ramp and into the enemy flyer. He was ready to spray the interior with blaster fire, but the vessel was empty. Apparently, the man he’d killed was the only person left behind by the landing party, perhaps because he was obviously unwell.
Kierce took precious time to disable the flyer and its communications gear, relying on his previous training, before he went to drag the body of his victim out of sight into the woods, covering it with leaves for now. Let the other Khagrishi debate what had happened, if they ever made it to the safety of their flyer. His intention was to ensure none of them survived to return to the spot.
He rekeyed the flyer’s entrance to respond to him alone. It could be undone by a Khagrish with the proper codes, but the need to do so would be a delaying tactic.
Killing the entire Khagrish landing party was the mission objective, but it was always good to have a backup plan.
Now he took off for the ship himself, following the track of the party of invaders. He was concerned not to have heard from Camron. Status?
No response, which was not good. Worrying about Elianna made him feel as if cold fingers were clawing at his heart. Redoubling his speed, he reached out for Brant, the other Badari guard who had been off duty for the afternoon and gone fishing on a remote beach. Where are you?
On my way. Another mile to reach the huts.
<
The Khagrish had obviously beaten him to the area of the Chimmer ship. As he got closer, he smelled smoke and realized they’d set the huts ablaze. Kierce refused to allow himself to think the worst—the Khagrish would be desperate to interrogate the humans and Badari found at such an unusual site. Elianna and the others were probably in no immediate danger of execution. His mate bond was a taut steady pain in his chest, so he knew Elianna was alive, but frightened.
He had to be careful and precise how he set about rescuing them. No room for errors.
Nevertheless, when he got close enough to see the situation, the outlook was grim. Camron was lying unconscious and in restraints, bleeding from several wounds. His Badari physiology would take care of those soon enough but, in the meantime, the solider was neutralized. The three humans were off to the side, expressions ranging from sullen to terrified as the Khagrish officer in charge berated them. There was no sign of MARL17.
Kierce’s heart beat faster as he stared hungrily at Elianna, wishing he could teleport her out of danger, or at the very least telepath to her that he was here. He wondered if the mate bond worked in reverse for a human so she’d know he was close, and dismissed the issue as irrelevant. Time to concentrate on next steps. He considered and rejected attempting to shoot the Khagrish. Even with his Badari speed, he’d couldn’t eliminate them all before at least some of the hostages were shot.
“I want answers,” the Khagrishi was screaming in Basic as two guards held Sam tight. “Where did you get this ship? What are you doing with it on this island?”
The Khagrish threw Sam to the ground, where he lay curled up as if in pain. His face was badly bruised, and Kierce guessed the soldiers had been working him over pretty hard. The alien stalked over to Elianna, yanking her to her feet. “So, maybe you’re the one with all the answers, since the other human was useless. Talk to me and save yourself unnecessary pain.”
She shook her head. “You’ll get nothing from us.”
The Khagrish leered, fingering her hair then stroking her cheek as she glared at him. Kierce stifled a growl as the officer said, “Oh, I think we will. You’ll be happy to sing for me.” He glanced at his rustic surroundings. “But not here.”
“We should go back to the ship, sir, report in,” said another of the Khagrish nervously in his own language. “Command doesn’t know where we are or what we’ve found, and the sun will set soon. There might be more of them out there.”
Baring his fangs, Kierce nodded. Oh yes, we’re here, as you’ll soon learn to your sorrow.
Brant’s latest report-in crossed his private thoughts. At the tree, waiting for orders.
“Are there more in your party?” the officer asked Elianna.
She shook her head. “Just us and our guard, who you already captured.”
“I can’t raise Miggrixx at the flyer,” said another Khagrish. “He’s not answering.”
Two more Khagrish came running from the direction of the Chimmer spaceship. “No one on board, sir,” one said with a snappy salute. “No sign of the Chimmer.”
Still holding Elianna’s arm, the officer frowned. Glancing at his lieutenant, he said, “This whole setup is weird. Are these escaped prisoners in an alliance with the Chimmer? The customers have been known to play devious games before but this—.” He waved his hand at the burning huts and the forest, “—would be an extraordinary departure from the treaty. Dealing directly with the humans? And a Badari?”
“Maybe the Chimmer are trying to trick us? A loyalty test of some kind?” the other officer hazarded.
“We must get to the bottom of this. Can we identify the Badari yet? Which lab he’s from? Which generation?”
“I don’t have the right equipment here. We weren’t expecting to find the animals. Since our mission was to sweep for that reported crashed Sectors scout ship.” The man glanced at the forest setting with distaste. “I wish Command had narrowed in on the possible vectors of the crash more closely instead of sending patrols all over the ass end of this damn planet. Sloppy work on their part.” He sniffed in obvious disdain. “I hope the new security commander will tighten things up, yank control out of the hands of the oblivious scientist caste.”
With part of his brain, Kierce was collecting the valuable intelligence the stupid Khagrish was giving away while the rest of his attention was on sorting out plans for taking the enemy off the board and rescuing his mate, and the others.
“This may be much better for us even than locating the downed scout. Their ship probably burned up leaving only cinders to find, if anything. Finding a Chimmer ship abandoned raises many questions.” The officer sneezed, and Kierce was interested to see his subordinate retreat a few steps, visibly paling. “Oh, don’t give me those panicked looks, I must be allergic to thirty things in this damn place.” The officer scowled. “I’m as healthy as a dreebna—I don’t have mountain fever.” He pushed Elianna to the ground roughly. “All right, let’s head back to the ship. I want to talk to the new head of Security personally and no one else. This is our find, and this will boost our status.”
He stalked away from the captives, heading toward the edge of the trees, in the general direction of their flyer. Pausing, he pivoted. “Well, what are you waiting for? Bring them and let’s go. I want to be in the air before dark.”
The guards hastened to herd the three humans to their feet and shove them toward the forest, and two others loaded Camron onto an antigrav sledge. Kierce retreated, making his way to the tree he’d designated as a rendezvous point and found Brant waiting, impatient for action.
“You have a plan?”
Kierce was senior to the other Badari and appreciated the soldier’s willingness to look to him for orders. “I do. There are too many of them, and they’re too heavily armed for us to attack head on. The prisoners might be hurt. I’m going to follow them and pick them off one by one, make the odds better for us.”
Brant flashed his talons. “Sounds good. It’ll be easy enough to track them. They’ve no idea of moving quietly.”
“I want you to work your way around them and establish an ambush at the flyer. I’ll stay in touch telepathically, let you know as we get closer.”
The soldier prepared to leave. Kierce delayed him for a minute. “I need you to see something. I won’t be harrying them in this form.” He pointed at his chest.
Brant eyed him. “I heard rumors about you being a mutation. I’m a Generation 9, a few of my peers were experimented with along those lines, and died pretty bad deaths from all accounts. You figured out how to overcome the genetic manipulation?”
Kierce was grateful Brant had at least a passing familiarity with the concept of what he’d become, although obviously the other experiment had had a grim outcome. “Yes. I’ll explain more later but we’re losing time. For now, just watch, so you know what not to shoot.” Kierce set aside his weapons before kicking off his footgear. He decided to find out what would happen to his clothing when he transformed. The Khagrish had kept him naked so it was never an issue before.
Elianna needed him to be the tiger right now. But I have to keep control, have to make sure to operate as a man mentally. He reached for the tiger form, afraid there’d be a problem, now when he needed the capabilities so desperately, but the feeling of expanding, of becoming other was more familiar and growing comfortable, like putting on his favorite pair of well broken in boots. The change proceeded faster too, and he was soon standing next to Brant in tiger mode. Torn cloth on the forest floor was all that remained of the utilities and T shirt he’d been wearing.
“Impressive.” The warrior swallowed hard and retracted his own talons and fangs, which he’d apparently deployed in automatic self-defense mode as the reality of what Kierce could turn into became clear. “Can we still communicate?”
Good question. When he’d been the tiger before he’d only been able to catch fragments of the mind communications from the pack, other than the crystal clear orders from Aydarr. He was no Alpha, but he had his own strength. And he was a blooded pack member himself now as well. Can you hear me?
Absolutely. Brant grinned. I’ll be on my way now, find the right spot for a sniper’s blind. Good hunting. He raised one hand in farewell and sped off into the forest.
Kierce made his own path, following the direction the Khagrish patrol had taken. When he caught up, he heard the officer complaining loudly and bitterly about the slow speed at which the squad was moving, carrying Camron. Keep blathering. He bared his fangs at the officer’s stupidity. You’re distracting your men. He snuck up on the rear guard, who was facing the direction of his officer’s tirade, and took the man down with one swipe from a huge paw. The Khagrish was dead before he hit the ground, and Kierce dragged him deep into the brush before moving at an angle to intercept the guard on the right flank of the patrol, who met a similar fate a few minutes later.
The column was moving again. The officer seemed oblivious to the loss of two men, so Kierce switched sides of the column, moving with the stealthy grace the tiger form possessed and eliminated his third victim. This time, however, the Khagrish turned at the wrong instant and saw his own impending demise, getting off a warning cry as Kierce struck. He left the body on the trail, fading into the underbrush then scaling a huge tree, jumping to the next trunk and again, in case the Khagrish were clever enough to track him.
The appalled Khagrish clustered around the body of Kierce’s last kill, with only one man left to guard the prisoners.
The officer pivoted to stare behind him, clearly realizing too late he was two men short on top of losing this soldier. “Where are the others?” Keying a comlink on his lapel, he demanded they report in. When silence was the only thing to greet his call, he swore. “You and you, go scout the way we came and see if you can find the idiots.”
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