by Greig Beck
The big HAWC stepped forward and pulled a thicker version of the weapon Dempsey had from over his shoulder. He telescoped the barrel, and held it ready.
Dempsey nodded. “Just to make things interesting, our big friend here is packing a portable plasma cannon, with an optimized composite ceramic structure to contain the two thousand degree temperatures from a plasma pulse that will terminate anything that gets in front of it.” He closed down his own rifle and cradled it in his arms. “Like I said, Dr. Weir, we’re better prepared this time.”
Aimee wanted to stay angry, but couldn’t help feeling a little relieved. We might just survive the day after all, she thought.
“Movement,” Hagel said, staring down as the small device in his hands gave off rapid proximity pulses.
Dempsey held up a fist. The HAWCs and the McMurdo soldiers froze. “Distance?”
Dawkins crowded in close, trying to see over Hagel’s shoulder.
“Two hundred feet, coming fast,” Hagel said, elbowing Dawkins back a step.
Aimee kept ambling forward, lost in her own thoughts, barely hearing the words or aware that everyone had stopped moving around her, until Casey Franks grabbed at her. Casey placed a finger to her lips, Aimee getting it immediately. She followed Franks as she shrunk back into a small depression in the wall of the tunnel.
Dempsey made a chopping motion, left and right, and the team went to either side of the tunnel, flattening themselves against the wall, or crouching, weapons ready. Lights went off, and the HAWCs went to infrared.
“If this shit goes bad, stay behind me,” Franks whispered.
CHAPTER 25
Aimee crouched, concentrating on the tunnel. Without lights or night vision equipment, the darkness was absolute. After a few more seconds she heard the sound of voices, soft at first, and then the fall of boots on stone, coming fast, jogging. She waited, barely breathing. The voices became more distinct, Chinese, and then lights appeared.
Blake got to his feet. “Wènhòu zhōngguó péngyǒu – wènhòu zhōngguó péngyǒu.” His voice was loud in the tunnel.
Immediately the Chinese group froze, and though Aimee understood nothing of their language, she could sense their fear and surprise.
“Shì lái bāng.” Blake stepped out more, one of his hands up. “English?” he asked.
There was a single woman, about the same age as Aimee who pushed through the group. “I speak English.”
Aimee saw that the men behind her didn’t look like soldiers, but each of them had flashlights and many held them, club-like. It looked like fight or flight was kicking in – Blake needed to work fast.
“They’re going to run,” Aimee whispered.
Casey shrugged “Like where?”
They needed to take a chance or they’d lose them, she thought. Aimee got to her feet, also stepping out. “Hey, we’re here to help. My name is Dr. Aimee Weir. I’m a scientist, just like you.”
The woman spoke rapidly over her shoulder to the other men and women, before turning back, her eyes now cautious. “My name is Dr. Soong Chin Ling. We heard an explosion. Was that you?”
Aimee shook her head. “No, but it was someone in your camp. They detonated the base, and now the elevator shaft to the surface is now sealed.”
Soong half turned, translating again. The words flung back and forth were fast and furious, until finally she turned back to Aimee.
“Because of you, we think,” Soong said.
Dempsey’s voice was low. “Dr. Weir, I suggest …”
Aimee exhaled, ignoring the HAWC Captain. “Probably. We couldn’t get them to understand we came for peaceful reasons. We need to find Shenjung Xing.”
Soong’s eyes narrowed. “How so?”
“We need to talk, explain things; is he among you?” Aimee grimaced as Soong Chin Ling remained mute. She felt the weight of Dempsey’s focus on her. “Look, there’s bigger issues at stake now. One of our submarines is missing.”
“Dr. Weir …” the note of warning in Dempsey’s voice went up a notch.
She turned momentarily. “We’re all in this together now … trapped together.” She spun back to Soong. “You have a naval vessel off the coast, so do we. Soon, more ships will join them. The situation is becoming tense … dangerous. Whatever mining you are doing down here, right now, we don’t give a damn. But you can’t go lower down. You don’t know what you’ll find. It’s off-limits for a reason. Your team, Shenjung Xing, everyone, is in grave danger.”
Silence hung for a few moments, before Soong turned and translated slowly and carefully for her colleagues. She listened for a moment and then faced Aimee.
“They think you will trick us. There is no reason to trust you. If this is of such importance, why did you not tell Beijing?” Soong’s face refused to soften.
Aimee groaned. “Please! Time is running out. We need to stop your people from going lower. You must come with us.”
“No.” Dempsey, cradling his gun, came and stood beside her. “Can’t take ’em with us.”
Soong snorted. “They would not go with you anyway. We will wait here.”
“For what?” Aimee opened her arms. “Even if they started tunneling now, it would take days, weeks, to clear the shaft again.” She looked at their packs. “You might have supplies for a day or two, then what?”
While Soong turned and spoke to her group, Aimee spun to Dempsey. “We can’t let them stay, they’ll die.”
Dempsey’s expression was blank. Blake came and stood at Aimee’s other shoulder. “Forget it, Dr. Weir, they won’t come. The distrust runs too deep.”
“We damn well have to try,” Aimee snapped back.
Blake was cradling his rifle, and half turned. “Boss, say the word, and I can transl …”
The single bullet took him in the crease of his neck, just above his armored suit collar, and spun him around to lay flat on the cave floor.
“Down!’
Dempsey dived, pushing Aimee to the ground, but she knew enough to hit the deck, and roll to the side of the tunnel. Soong did the same, crouching with hands over her head. The Chinese engineers stood frozen and bewildered, turning one way, then the other, as the six tall PLA came up from the tunnel depths, moving fast and going into a V-attack formation.
“Hold,” Dempsey hissed into his mic to the HAWCs, who had flattened to the floor or sides of the cave. And then: “Light ’em up.”
Red laser dots picked individual targets, the small cherries appearing on the chests or foreheads of each of the PLA soldiers.
“Halt or die.” Dempsey had a bead on the lead PLA.
Aimee looked to Blake, the man down and coughing. If ever they needed a translator, it was now. She wracked her brains for what fragments of the language she knew, with nothing suitable coming to mind.
The PLA soldiers whispered among themselves for a moment. Dempsey waited, and other than Blake’s coughing, there was absolute silence and stillness from the HAWCs.
The lead soldier’s gun was coming up, and she saw the man start to bunch the muscles in his thighs. Don’t even think about it, Aimee silently pleaded.
In a split second, the PLA leapt and fired.
In response, there was the sound like a soft whine, and a pencil-thin beam of light touched the diving soldier, passing right through him. He was dead before he hit the ground.
Blake coughed blood and turned on his side. His words were croaked and strained, but the fluent Chinese filled the silent space.
After a moment, there came a few words in return. Blake groaned, exhaling his exasperation. “They think we have set a trap for them.” He looked across to Aimee. “Hug the floor, it’s going to get ugly.”
“Works for me,” Casey Franks said, and Aimee could imagine the grim smile on her face.
The silence stretched and the PLA soldiers didn’t flinch. They waited, but with their command structure taken out, there was no one to issue new orders. So they did the only thing they knew how to do – fight. They came fas
t, yelling and their guns set to full automatic.
Rapid gunfire filled the tunnel, and Hagel, the most exposed, took a round in the chest, punching him backwards.
But the HAWCs were also trained to respond, quickly and efficiently, and the only way they knew how. Unfortunately for the PLA, the HAWCs were better at it, and better equipped. In seven seconds, the PLA were all lying dead, and there was just a whiff of burning skin floating in the air.
Casey Franks was first on her feet. “Look’s like we just declared war on China. Cool.”
“Stow it, Franks,” Dempsey said, also now on his feet. “Parcellis, check on Blake.” He half turned to the McMurdo team, searching for Jennifer. “Hartigan, see to Hagel, then check on the Chinese engineers. Franks, make sure we don’t have any active shooters.” He walked down the cave and crouched next to Aimee.
Aimee nodded. “I’m okay.” She got to her feet, and crossed to where Parcellis was helping Blake sit forward.
“Lucky you were so close.” Jennifer Hartigan joined Parcellis who had Blake’s suit open as he examined the graze. He turned, showing her the injury. “The bullet was still hot; singed the wound closed – immediate self cauterization.” Parcellis applied a med-patch – the swatch of synthetic skin contained antibiotics, steroids, and painkillers. “Good as new.” He pulled the uniform back into place. “Well, hardly, but you know what I mean.” He grinned and then turned.
“Hey, how you doin’, Hagel?”
The young HAWC sat forward and spat onto the tunnel floor. He knocked on the armor plating over his chest. His fingers stopped at a chip in the ceramic plates.
“Feel like I’ve been mule-kicked, if Officer Hartigan could just take a look …”
“Yeah, yeah, you’re fine,” Parcellis slapped Blake on the back and got to his feet, pulling his friend with him.
“Five down, boss,” Casey Franks spoke over her shoulder, as she stood glaring at the cowering engineers, as if hoping another PLA soldier would miraculously rise up to challenge her.
“I counted seven coming in.” Dempsey growled and looked around. “Fuck, we lost two.”
Franks turned. “Let me chase ’em down. They get back to their pals, and we’re going to be fighting every step of our way.”
Dempsey stared off into the dark. “Negative on that.”
Aimee walked over and crouched beside Soong. “I’m so sorry.”
Soong looked at the downed men. “Typical American negotiation.”
Aimee winced. “You saw they left us no choice.”
Soong lips turned down. “These men were not our friends, and I do not grieve for them. But there are a lot more soldiers down in the tunnels, and I think you are in big trouble when those two fleeing ones get back to their squad. Maybe they will negotiate with you in the same manner.”
Dempsey appeared beside Aimee. “I suspect they will, and then more of them will die. Maybe some of us too, but they’ll find out we don’t die easily.” He stared hard at her. “So my money is on them going down – all of them.”
“You said you need to find Shenjung Xing,” Soong said softly. “He is my friend, and he is with them. I would like to find him too.”
“Well, you want to stop more deaths, keep your friend safe?” Dempsey said. “Then come with us, and tell them to talk first, rather than shoot. Their only chance.”
Soong glanced over her shoulder at the huddle of engineers and scientists. “I do not think they will come with you. They will trust in their own government to save them.” She turned back to look Aimee in the eye. “But I will check.”
She walked back in among the group, and within a few seconds, agitated, rapid-fire dialogue bounced around the tunnel. Aimee shook her head, wondering how any of them could understand the other, with everyone talking at once. There were a few foot-stamps, and pushes in the chest before Soong returned with just two smaller men at her shoulders. She pointed to them: “Lee Pinying and Bo Xingmin will also come with you. The others will stay.”
Aimee saw that one of the men with Soong had an intricate tattoo just showing above his collar. Hagel walked towards him, and at first the man cowered, but Hagel held up a hand. “It’s okay, brother, just want to check out your cool ink.” He peeled down his collar a few inches.
“Whoa, dig this.” He stood back.
Just showing was the tip of an intricate dragon tattoo appearing from under the collar of the man’s gray coveralls, the reds, yellows, and greens all swirling in a maelstrom of color and movement – wisdom, luck, and ferocity, Aimee bet he would have told her if given the chance.
“Cool stuff, man.” Hagel swatted his shoulder, and then rolled up one of his sleeves showing his own tattoo of an eagle crushing a snake.
Rinofsky snorted with derision, and lifted half of his armored top – there was a blur of colors and designs. “Two days’ work.” He grinned and winked.
“Nice.” Hagel nodded. “Who did it, a blind twelve year old?”
Rinofsky’s grin broadened as he flipped Hagel the bird.
The engineer said something to Soong, who grunted. She took the pack off her shoulders and handed it to one of her engineers. “Shenjung Xing will listen to me.” Her eyes were expressionless. “But the other men, the soldiers, are not the same. Their leader is very, ah, patriotic.”
Aimee took that to mean the likelihood of negotiation with him was probably zero.
“We only need one to hear us.” Dempsey turned to his team. “Franks, Parcellis, out at point.”
Jennifer Hartigan pointed at the downed soldiers, and the huddle of very confused looking Chinese engineers. “What about them? Will someone stay and …”
“Not a chance,” Hagel said, his lips turned down.
Aimee saw the look on Soong’s face, and knew they needed her cooperation. “Captain, one of us should at least secure this position. Remain here to … supervise.”
Dempsey shook his head. “Can’t spare a single body, Dr. Weir.” He stepped closer to her, but his voice was loud enough for Soong to overhear. “You know I can’t make them come with us, and I’m not about to drag them under guard. Besides, hopefully we’ll all be back soon, and working on a way out together.” He smiled. “Think about it. They’ll probably be safer here, than where we’re going, right?”
Aimee looked to Soong momentarily, and then back to the HAWC captain. She exhaled, knowing the answer. “Yes.”
“We’ll leave ’em some extra water.” Dempsey grunted and turned away. “Let’s move.”
*
The two surviving PLA soldiers, Han Biao and Fan Kai Ling, ran hard. Not that Han Biao was afraid of the Americans, but he knew that it was best to inform Captain Yang of their numbers and firepower, so they could make preparations, organize and ambush, and then wipe them all out.
He grinned as he ran. They don’t know just what they have done – rouse the dragon, as Captain Yang would surely say.
“Stop!”
Han Biao skidded and turned to look back at his comrade. Fan Kai stood, legs planted and his fists clenched in the glare of Han’s flashlight.
“What are we doing? We must fight them.”
Han Biao frowned, and then shook his head. “No, we must stay ahead of them, tell Captain Yang, and then regroup. Together we can overwhelm them. We are many more than them.”
“Stay ahead of them, or lead them to us?” Fan Kai glared. “We are PLA, not frightened children.” His eyes narrowed. “Yang will call you a coward. Perhaps even shoot you for running away.”
Dung eater, Han Biao thought. How dare he call me a coward? He grunted, thinking. “Then we should do both. You stay and slow them down. I will contact the captain via walkie talkie as I get closer to them, and bring back support.” He bowed. “Good luck, brother.” He turned and started to jog away into the dark. He had no intention of talking to anyone.
CHAPTER 26
Alex froze, listening, letting just his eyes move over the alien landscape. He pushed out with other senses, reac
hing out into the gloom, searching for traces of something that set his nerves on their very edge.
After a moment he relaxed, but the knot in his gut remained. He turned to find Cate, now a few dozen feet back and crouching beside a small plant. He watched her as she used the back of her hand to knock at its leaves, making them shrink back inside a sheath below the ground. She mouthed some words, and then smiled as if satisfied by her classification.
Alex turned back to the wall of drab green before him, inhaling the scents and hearing the tiny movements – so much life, he thought. He stepped back, craning his neck. Huge limbless trunks shot up into the air, and everywhere that should have had a fern or frond had something that looked similar, but instead its leaves were bulbs or polyps. Water dripped from everything, and some of the plants were covered in a greasy brown slime that was either a sign of rot, or some sort of natural coating – he couldn’t even guess at its function. But the overwhelming impression was of a mad, living density.
Alex swung back to Cate again, feeling his impatience climb. He needed to get to the submarine and then find a way out as soon as he could. The signal from the pulser in his hand was loud and clear – his objective was located many miles away. He looked up at the odd treetops. He needed to get to some sort of higher ground. Where they were now made him feel buried.
He continued to look higher – what might have seemed like a night sky full of tiny blue stars was actually a cave roof … and above that, miles of rock, ice, and snow. He half smiled – What was I thinking? I’m already buried.
The jungle was a solid wall before him, and the pulser only gave him an indication of which way to go. If he was off by even one degree, it could mean miles more hacking through the green knotted jungle. He didn’t have time for mistakes. He turned slowly, stopping at one direction. His gut told him that was the way.
