The flames continued to flicker and make the shadows dance. More bullets and bolts flew to either side of the group at the creatures that still advanced.
Anallin heard a low curse from Dan and turned fast, finding that the gun had been knocked from his hand and that arm hung semi-useless while the Marine backed up, trying to get his weapon back before he was caught in the big grasp of the beast. Anallin fired another shot, aiming over Dan’s head and catching the creature center mass. It wasn’t enough to kill the creature, but it did make it stagger back.
In that next moment, Jade covered the space and leapt between Dan and the creature with her torch. The beast roared and flailed. Two Arkana bolts lanced the darkness, one catching the beast in the head and the other catching it in the throat. That took the animal down and Anallin glanced to see Enzo and Ingo with their guns pointed.
“Good shot,” Anallin said, and that was it.
It turned back to the fight.
22
Hour Six
“Riad? Riad!”
The group all halted of their own accord at the sound of Viator’s pained voice. They turned to look and saw that Viator and Ingo had set down their stretcher as Viator had his hands on his friend’s shoulders, shaking him a little with each call of his name. The longer it went without any response, the harder he shook.
“Ingo,” Marthe said gently.
The large Arkana put his hand on Viator’s shoulder. “He’s gone,” he said quietly.
Viator seemed to deflate as he sunk back into himself and dropped his head. “We were almost there,” he said quietly.
“I know,” Marthe said gently. “He was barely hanging on as it was.”
Andy looked around at the Arkana soldiers, sighing softly. She hadn’t lost anyone in her squad, but she had lost people under her command before. It was never easy, and it felt like a personal insult against you from the universe.
“I’m sorry,” she said simply.
Marthe’s steely blue gaze met Andy’s eyes. “Truly?”
Andy wasn’t surprised by the woman’s surprise. They were supposed to be enemies, weren’t they? “Truly.”
After a moment, the Arkana woman nodded once. “Viator,” she said gently. “We must keep moving.”
He blinked rapidly, looking up at her. “What? We can’t just leave him here.”
Marthe’s expression was firm, but not without compassion. Andy had struggled to maintain that expression for herself at times. All commanders had. “Yes, we can, and we will. We can’t afford to carry a body, and we still have Odila to take care of.”
Viator stared at her for a long moment, and then his gaze swept around to everyone. He held Andy’s eyes for a long moment, and she hoped he could tell that her condolences were sincere.
No one wanted to lose a friend.
Finally, he nodded and got back to his feet. Without their burdens to carry, they took up their rifles and joined the defense perimeter.
They started walking again.
23
Hour Seven
No one had slept well since they’d landed on this wretched planet, and the hours were starting to wear on all of them.
“Short rest,” Andy said. There were sighs all around. “Eat something, whether you’re hungry or not, and drink some water. Keep a watch. Anything, Roxanna?”
There was a pause, and then, “Not at the moment. We’re clear.”
“Good.”
Andy sat down on a large fallen tree, feeling just as weary as everyone looked. She rested her rifle over her legs, keeping it easily in reach, while she reached into her pocket for one of the protein bars from the emergency supplies in the shuttle. It tasted something like ground-up hull composite held together with whatever that white stuff was they were forced to eat in boot camp, but it was food and would keep them going.
They were over halfway there, and there had only been one creature attack. She knew that should be something that made her happy, and it did in a way, but she also felt like there was something worse waiting in the wings.
The Sword of Damocles hung over her head, and it had a dog’s face and four arms. Who would’ve thought it?
Marthe sat down beside her, eating something they’d recovered from the Arkana wreck that Andy guessed was similar to her meal.
“I don’t understand you, Major Dolan,” the Arkana said bluntly. She wasn’t looking at Andy, but Andy was only sparing one or two glances to her as well. They were both watching the trees for any sign that the creatures were coming back.
“I can’t imagine why it’s so difficult,” Andy said plainly. “I’m pretty simple.”
Marthe laughed. At least, Andy was pretty sure that it was a laugh. It sounded kind of like a bark. “You are anything but that. You are half-Arkana and half-human. Okay, so, that’s happened a few times. The DNA is so close that it’s easy to happen, but they all come home to us. The Arkana have never found one of the half-bloods who didn’t come back…until you.”
This wasn’t news to Andy, so she just nodded.
“And then because of you, one of your father’s favored children left the world. Not just fled, but joined the enemy.” Marthe’s words didn’t hold any rancor this time, though. She sounded…curious.
“I know all this already,” Andy said, but she smiled slightly to show she wasn’t being snappish. “Why tell me it?”
“I suppose I am…thinking out loud,” the Arkana replied ruefully. “I just wonder… Why you? What made you so different?”
Andy had asked herself that question so many times, for so many different reasons, and yet she never found an answer for herself let alone for the woman sitting next to her. “I don’t know,” she said simply. “I don’t know how those other… What did you call them? Those other half-blood children grew up. I just am.”
“Major, you are anything but “just” anything,” Marthe said, shaking her head a little. “You have killed or captured how many of my people? And we have killed and captured how many of yours? We are at war, and yet we make a deal and you keep it.”
“You weren’t keeping it?” Andy asked, turning a faint pointed look on Marthe briefly.
“I was,” Marthe replied with a faint smile, “but I don’t know if I would have gone so far as to insist we use our resources and take the extra time to carry two of your injured for so long. It would have been impractical…for one of my enemy.”
Andy snorted in a sort of laugh. “Well, lucky for you and your remaining soldier, it’s me who was in charge then.”
Marthe sighed as she looked hard into the trees. “Lucky for us,” she said, so softly that Andy wasn’t sure she was meant to hear it.
24
Hour Nine
An hour after they ended their break, they were attacked again.
Thirty minutes after that, they realized they had gotten turned around and had to backtrack to start on the right path through the trees.
“Are you sure we’re heading the right way now?” Andy asked for the third time.
Fortunately, Hanarans weren’t prone to anger, although the rapid-yet-erratic eye-clicks showed its agitation. “Yes, sir,” Anallin replied, consulting its hand-scanner. “We are on the right course again. We are still projected to reach the landing site roughly at the same time as the shuttle, despite the delays so far.”
She nodded and elected to leave it alone for a time. It was hard to not worry, though, when they were being worn down bit by bit.
None of the group was unscathed by this point. Anallin had its injuries partially reopened with another claw to the face, while Andy also had some gouges on her face. She had thought she’d lost an eye for a moment, but she hadn’t. Dan’s arm was losing feeling by the moment, while Jade had bright purple bruises around her throat. Roxanna’s crazily swirling skin was covered in dried blood from a hand injury, and Anath was limping. Of the ESS personnel, only the pilot was mostly untouched, but even he sported some injuries.
The Arkana soldiers wer
e no better off, with blood and limps and pained grimaces to boot.
At least four more hours of walking. Four more hours where anything could happen. Four hours where they could get attacked again, and again, and again. She didn’t know how much more they could handle. Their disadvantages were considerable, and advantages were slim…if any at all.
Marines and soldiers, they all prided themselves on being strong, being able to endure, but they were all only mortal.
25
Hour Twelve
“We have approximately two hours until we reach the site,” Anallin announced after consulting the scanner.
They were on another break, and Andy could tell that it was going to be a lot harder for all of them—herself included—to get going again. They had all been through rigorous training and difficult battles, building endurance and stamina the hard way, but they were being pushed to the limit now.
Andy felt the constant stream of adrenaline, that fight or flight instinct, taking its toll on her. She was sure it was the same for the others.
The only thing she could think of in favor of this planet was the temperate climate. It hadn’t rained or snowed, and the temperature remained roughly the same and rather favorable throughout. Although if given the choice between snow and the four-armed beasts, well, she probably would have chosen the snow.
Anallin was still working with the scanner as they moved on at their slow pace.
“I’m picking up a problem, sir,” the Hanaran said suddenly.
Andy called for a halt and then moved back to his side. “What’s the problem?”
It frowned slightly. “I’m using the Arkana scanner which is better than ours, although I’m still learning all of its readings. I’m pretty sure this is showing a large clearing ahead of us, very large, with…many heat signatures. I have gotten various heat signatures from just plants so it hasn’t been good to track the creatures, but this many and this strong…suggests more than plants.”
Before it had even finished speaking, Roxanna had walked up beside them and was staring ahead. “Yes. Those heat signatures… I think they belong to the beasts, but it feels different. It’s hard to tell because it’s rather far at the edge of my senses. Like when you see something out of the corner of your eye.”
“Different how?” Andy asked anyways.
“Not…hostile,” Roxanna said, tilting her head and closing her eyes for a moment. “It almost feels like…” She sighed. “Maternal feelings. Caring?”
“What the…” Andy began, then frowned. “Could there be nesting grounds?”
She didn’t like the sound of that at all.
“How large a space did you say this was?” she asked Anallin.
After looking at the scanner again, the eye-click rate jumped. “As far as the scanner can see to either side, but I can see beyond it. Like…a long but narrow corridor.”
Andy rubbed the back of her neck. “Fantastic,” she muttered. “We have a potentially huge group of these beasts just ahead of us, standing right between us and home. We could try to go around, but do we have the strength for that? I doubt it. And if the creatures hated us before for being here, just think when we roll through the mothers and children.”
“How do we get through then?” Roxanna asked wearily. There didn’t even seem to be fear in her voice, just exhaustion.
“I’m thinking,” Andy said.
“We could use the fire,” Marthe said, joining them. “Go for the trees or some plants, burn them out.”
Andy made a face. “You want to light a bunch of mothers and children on fire?” she asked. “That’s not the first plan, no. We’ve defended ourselves when attacked, but I’m not going to resort to that kind of massacre. I won’t potentially kill off an entire species just because they’re in my way.”
Marthe’s expression changed dramatically, and Andy couldn’t decipher it. She didn’t really have the time to either.
She had to think, and she had to come up with a plan.
This seemed impossible, and her brain and body were tired. Too tired to figure it out.
She couldn’t afford to be too tired to figure it out. This was her command and these were her people. She had to get them through this. Their way off this rock, their way home, was just on the other side of this…
It occurred to her that maybe it wasn’t a nesting ground, but she felt she should operate as if it was.
“Even if we just make a run for it, what about the stretcher?” Roxanna asked. “What about Odila?”
“She looks pretty light,” Anallin said. “I could carry her on my back, if someone would take my place as guard.”
“What?” Ingo said, although the expression was shocked rather than upset.
Anallin turned its blue eyes on the Arkana and clicked. “It is logical. I am small but strong, and we Hanarans tend to have better stamina. I am likely the best able to bear this weight. If we could fasten her to my back, I could run. We cannot run effectively with a stretcher between you, and without the stretcher gives us one extra fighter, when counting me out because I’ll be carrying her.”
The Arkana just stared at Anallin for a moment and then looked at each other, then Odila, who was unconscious.
Andy looked at the Hanaran. “Are you sure you’d be fit to do that, Anallin?” she asked somberly.
“It is the most practical course, so, yes, sir.” It nodded.
“Are we really talking about just…running and hoping for the best?” Viator asked anxiously. “That doesn’t sound like a great plan to me.”
“Hope usually isn’t,” Andy agreed. “Our resources are finite, in time, energy, and supplies. I’m not sure what else to do.” That admission tasted bad, but she wasn’t going to lie to any of them either.
“Those of us who are about to die, we salute you,” Dan said with a mirthless smile.
“None of that, Thomas,” Andy said, but not sternly. “No one is dying today. Not if I can help it.”
26
Hour Thirteen
They discussed the plan for as long as they dared, but no other option seemed like a “good” one.
It would have been better if they could have done some reconnaissance, but none of them could see in the dark or had functional night-vision gear, and they figured that flashlights or torches would cost them their only advantage—the element of surprise.
The ideas kept circling back to facing straight and running.
Of course, they figured there would be pursuers, but they were hopeful that if it was indeed mothers and young, they wouldn’t want to leave their offspring or chase with them in tow. Perhaps a little judicious use of the fire could dissuade them from following.
But they had to get to the other side, and they couldn’t afford to wait too long to do so.
“Tell me this isn’t the dumbest thing I’ve ever done,” Andy said to her brother, pitching her voice low so only he would hear her. The others were busy watching their surroundings or helping to tie the unconscious Odila to Anallin’s back.
“That’s hard to say I haven’t known you very long,” he replied.
She gave him a dry look.
“But this isn’t the stupidest of things,” he went on. “Is it a good thing? No, but we don’t really have many options. That way is home.”
Andy sighed and shook her head, wondering if she was going to see her squad die today, or if she would be the one to go.
“We’re ready, Major,” Marthe said, turning toward Andy. There was something different about the set of the Arkana woman’s shoulders. Andy wasn’t sure what it was, but it reminded her of her own soldiers and squad mates.
It wasn’t the time to ask or analyze, but she couldn’t help but notice.
“Alright, folks. I want the torches on the outside and the guns in between them. We are going to keep Anallin and Odilla in the middle since they will be more or less defenseless.” She nodded at the pilot. “You keep your torch, but stay close to Anallin and help defend there.” She t
ook a moment to meet everyone’s eyes in the flickering light. “We take care of each other, all of us, and just…keep moving forward.”
“Yes,” Marthe said quietly, looking at her own soldiers. “Keep moving forward.”
There was still something nagging at Andy’s mind, but she just couldn’t let herself think about it. “Form up,” she ordered. Roxanna was close to her. “Sensing anything?”
“Nothing new,” the Selerid replied.
“Then we’re ready.”
Absolutely none of them were ready, but they were going to go anyway.
“Go,” Andy said, this time taking point and leading the way.
At first, they didn’t run. They picked up a better pace than what they had been, but kept it slower until they absolutely had to speed up. Everyone stared at the trees beside them and above them, trying to penetrate the darkness. With every step, it felt like that darkness was closing in more and more. The light seemed less and less effective, even though she was pretty sure that was an illusion of her nerve-wracked mind.
“Any change?” she whispered to Roxanna after a time.
Roxanna didn’t answer at first, although her eyes were slightly unfocused. Then she said, “Yes. They know we’re coming. I sense…fear.”
As they drew closer, however, something strange happened.
They saw light.
Andy frowned and motioned for everyone to keep moving forward at the pace they had been, but it didn’t take long to reach the edge of the invisible boundary and discover a world so drenched in light, they were nearly blinded.
As soon as her eyes adjusted, she was able to look into what they had all assumed to be the nesting grounds of those four-armed beasts.
But that wasn’t what they saw.
Their view was filled with small creatures, perhaps no more than waist-high to Andy. They were roughly humanoid, but looked like lizards, or maybe more like the armadillos of Earth that she had once seen. They watched the group with wary eyes, the larger ones half-hunched into ball-like shapes over smaller ones.
Earth Space Service Space Marines Boxed Set Page 54
