“Looks like a ghost town,” Kal said.
“Yeah, it’s spooky,” Jules said.
“Stay alert, Team,” Gunny Tveit said. “We’re the only backup those teams on the ground have.”
“Roger that,” Ty said. “I’m in position with Jules.”
“We’re secure behind an outcropping,” Jules announced. “The front of the mining complex is in full view.”
“I’ve got movement,” Kal said. “Looks like Dragon Team Four is rolling out the welcome mat for Thirteen.”
“Roger that,” Gunny Tveit said. “Landfall is secure and by the numbers. Let’s hope the rescue operations go as smoothly.”
Nick agreed with his NCO’s hopes, but he knew deep inside that was just wishful thinking. Whatever had taken the people from the mining complex wouldn’t let them go without a fight. He just hoped it was a fight they could win.
Chapter 26
“Alright, I’ve got all teams assembled and in position,” Master Sergeant Florez announced on the command channel. “Here’s the SITREP. We found evidence of heavy fighting outside the buildings, and probably casualties from the marines charged with security. Those casualties and possible captives were carried away, to the east. Inside the buildings, it looks like the Proxy miners were overrun in their work. I’ve got reports that say as much. They say the miners that got captured were carried away by the natives, and there’s evidence here that a force smashed their way into the building. No blood or evidence of a fight, so I’m guessing the workers were captured alive.”
“So we’re going after them?” Staff Sergeant Bevins of Dragon Team Thirteen asked.
“That’s right, Staff Sergeant,” Florez continued. “Team Seven will hold the facility from overwatch positions, Teams Four and Thirteen will head in pairs to search for captives. Mission parameters are to stay in radio contact at all times. The mining facility has a good transmitter, so if we all sync up to that, we’ll be good to go. Second, this is a stealth mission. Observe and report, do not engage if possible. I repeat, do not try to rescue the hostages without approval. If the locals aren’t keeping all the hostages in one place, we could tip off the others by attacking too soon. Is that understood?”
“Ask questions first,” Donny Calloway said, “shoot later.”
“That’s right. If we stay in radio contact, that shouldn’t be a problem,” Florez said.
“And if the locals come after us,” one of the Dragon Team Four specialists said, “we could be overrun, just like the security force.”
“I have assurance from the 2257B that infantry is on its way,” Florez continued. “They want their people back, but they also plan to hold the mining facility and continue the work being done here. There are more marines inbound to the system. That’s not our fight. We get the hostages and get the hell out of Dodge.”
“Roger that,” Staff Sergeant Blevins said.
“Team Seven, you are to report any sign of the enemy as soon as you see it,” Florez ordered. “If things go south, we may need a distraction. That will be all you, Team Seven.”
“Master Sergeant, we have only small arms,” Gunny Tveit said. “Sniper muskets and sidearms.”
“There’s some heavy firepower down here in the mining camp,” Florez said. “Some explosives too. I suggest you get some people down here and gear up. There won’t be time once we run into trouble.”
“Already on it, Master Sergeant,” Tveit said. “Ormond, Lonzo, head to the facility and give me an inventory of those heavy arms.”
“Roger that, Sarge,” Ty said.
“On our way,” Jules added.
Nick glanced over and saw them moving across the open space that fronted the mining facility. With his helmet linked to the sniper musket, his view screen mimicked looking through a high-powered scope when he was facing forward but changed back to his regular view when he turned his head.
It only took Ty and Jules a few minutes to reach the facility, and by the time they arrived, the other Recon specialists were gone. Nick had watched them spread out, moving east, their guns held at the ready as they searched for any signs of the captives.
“What are the odds that our people are still alive?” Kal asked on the team-only channel of their com-link.
“By our people, do you mean humans?” Jules asked.
“From the looks of things,” Ty replied, “the Proxy locked their marine detachment out when the natives attacked. I haven’t found any evidence that humans fought in this building.”
“So the Proxy sacrificed the marines,” Kal said. “Wonderful.”
“You all act surprised when the aliens who pay you to fight for them expect that you’d actually do your jobs,” Gunny Tveit said. “We’re marines. Hiding in the building with the Proxy isn’t what you should want to do.”
“I’m just saying, they might have lasted longer fighting from cover in these buildings,” Ty said.
“Or maybe the natives would have destroyed the buildings, killing the marines and the Proxy,” Ember said, playing devil’s advocate. “Perhaps the marines fought in the open by choice.”
“Either way, the odds of finding anyone alive is slim,” Nick said. “The creatures on this world have devoured their resources and turned on one another. Odds are, they captured the Proxy for food.”
“Yuck,” Kal said. “How desperate do you have to be to... Hey, Sarge, I’ve got movement. Halfway up a spire nine o’clock from my position.”
“Roger that,” Gunny said.
“What the hell is that thing?” Ember asked.
It took Nick a few seconds to find the creature. It was solid black, with no markings on its segmented body. The head was almost as large as the body, and the creature had six legs and two massive mandibles. Nick couldn’t see eyes, but there was a set of furry antennae that sprouted from the crown of the giant head.
“Master Sergeant, we have movement on spire eighteen,” Gunny Tveit said. “GPS location reads 49.017 by 211.78 degrees. The creature is halfway up the spire.”
“Roger that, Gunny. Thanks for the warning. We’ve got the creature in sight now,” Florez said.
“Looks like it came out of that cave,” said one of the Team Four specialists.
Nick was scanning the area and spotted another creature on a different spire.
“Mark!” Nick announced, giving the coordinates of the second creature, but before he could finish, Ember had found a third, and Gunny was reporting a fourth.
“Looks like they’re coming out of the spires,” said Staff Sergeant Bevins of Dragon Team Thirteen.
“Surely they didn’t take the captives up into the mountains,” Donny Calloway said. “How would they get them up there?”
“Let’s not make assumptions. Let’s just follow the evidence, shall we?” Master Sergeant Florez said.
“We can’t go up and get in the way those creatures are coming out,” Ariel Summers said. “Not without being seen.”
“Let the snipers take them out,” Donny Calloway said. “Then we can get in.”
“Master Sergeant?” Nick said. “Is it possible that what we’re seeing are just lookouts? It could be possible that these spires are like castle towers guarding a central entrance to a larger, underground stronghold.”
“He may be right, Master Sergeant,” said a member of DT4. “I’ve got what looks like a large hole near the bottom of one of the spires.”
“What’s your position, Hawkins?” Florez asked.
A few minutes later, both Dragon Teams Four and Thirteen had converged on the hole.
“If this is the entrance, you can bet your ass they know we’re coming,” Donny Calloway said.
“So why aren’t they manning the gate?” Staff Sergeant Blevins asked.
“Perhaps they want us to go in,” Florez said.
“Which is why we aren’t going to do that, right, Master Sergeant?” Ariel Summers asked.
“What choice do we have?” Florez asked. “Does anyone see another way in?�
��
“Maybe on one of the spires,” someone said.
“It would take hours to climb that thing,” Staff Sergeant Blevins said.
“I could get there,” Nick offered. “Base jump from this plateau and land on that spire.”
“More like crash into and alert the whole damn swarm,” Calloway grumbled.
“The wind would make that extremely hazardous,” Gunny Tveit warned.
“Beats the hell out of going into that hole just to see what’s waiting for us,” Staff Sergeant Blevins said.
“I’m inclined to agree. Private Nichols, can you make that flight?”
“Nick,” Ember grabbed his arm. “You don’t have a parachute left, remember?”
“Damn, that’s right. Better give me yours.”
“Are you crazy?”
“Yeah, a little,” he said with a grin she couldn’t see. “I can make it, Master Sergeant. Stand by.”
Nick got to his feet and closed down the telescoping sniper musket while Ember shrugged out of her parachute.
“If I get killed because I couldn’t get off this rock, I’ll never speak to you again,” she said.
“You won’t get killed,” he said. “I would never let that happen.”
“You’ll probably be splattered all over the rocks,” Ember said, clearly unhappy. “You know you don’t have to volunteer for every dangerous assignment that comes along. The goal is to survive our five-year enlistment, remember?”
“I’ve got it,” Nick said. “And don’t worry. Nothing could keep me from seeing you again.”
He pulled the parachute pack onto his back and fastened the clasps.
“Nichols, watch out for the crosswind,” Gunny Tveit said. “Don’t get close to those spires until you’re ready to land.”
“Roger that,” Nick said. “Master Sergeant, I’m ready to go.”
“Do it, Private Nichols. And good luck,” Florez said.
“Don’t die, Nick,” Kal said.
“I’ll do my best,” Nick replied.
He ran toward the edge of the plateau, his heart racing as he activated the webbing between his arms and body. He was nearly carried off his feet from a gust of wind before he reached the edge. When he jumped, his leg webbing activated immediately and a sudden updraft shot him into the air like a rocket. Nick couldn’t help but shout for joy as he flew through the air of the alien world. The wind gusts had made parachuting difficult, but it made flying in the wingsuit exhilarating.
Nick soared between the spires, sailing left and right to avoid the massive stony structures. It was more exciting than flying in the open. The strong wind gust that knocked him off course also lifted him higher, and Nick guessed that if the winds continued, he could have flown for hours without ever needing to deploy his chute and land.
When the spire above the cave entrance came into view, Nick circled it. There was more than one entrance into the spire, but he aimed for the highest one and began closing in.
“I’ve got an opening in sight,” Nick said. “Stand by for landing.”
Nick let the air current swing him close to the spire, then he flared his arms and legs at the same time he popped the reserve chute. It wasn’t a textbook landing. The parachute opened and caught air, slowing Nick considerably just before he made contact with the wall. It was still a jarring collision, but he was unharmed and managed to hold on to the craggy spire. A second later, he cut the chute and it fluttered away.
“Private Nichols, hold your position,” Florez said. “I want to see if those creatures come looking for you.”
Nick held himself close to the opening. He was on a narrow ledge, with only his toes holding up his weight. His hands found a place to grip onto, but he knew that if his feet slipped the crumbling surface under, his hands wouldn’t hold him up.
“Alright, Nichols. Go on in. Nice and slow,” Florez said.
“Gunny, I thought we were supposed to be doing this in pairs,” Ember complained.
“Do you think you could have made that flight?” Tveit said. “I couldn’t. And Nick volunteered.”
“He’s always been crazy like that,” Kal said. “You can’t tame the wild man.”
“I haven’t heard that nickname in a long time,” Ty said with a chuckle.
Nick ignored his friends as he crawled into the opening. It was the size of a large drainage pipe, with enough room to turn around if he had to, but not to stand up. His arms could touch either side of the tunnel, and he was in no danger of banging his head on the roof.
“The interior is dark,” Nick said over the command channel of his com-link. “But well maintained. It’s smoother than the outside.”
“Any sign of life in there?” Florez asked.
“Not yet,” Nick said. “The tunnel is angling down sharply.”
He climbed for nearly five minutes. It was actually more of a controlled slide. He shifted to the seat of his pants and scooted down the tunnel, letting gravity do the work. He kept one hand on the tunnel wall, and the other held his pistol ready to fire.
“Report, Private Nichols,” Master Sergeant Flores ordered.
“I’ve seen what I think is the big tunnel,” Nick said. There are several others converging into a cavern here. I’m at the edge of an opening that looks pretty big. Give me just a second. Oh, damn. Master Sergeant, there’s a big shaft here. It’s got to be several hundred meters straight down. It’s crawling with those creatures, and I can’t be sure, but it looks like the captives are sealed up inside a kind of honeycomb near the bottom.”
“Good work, Private Nichols. Any sign of the enemy in the other tunnels?” Florez asked.
“Negative, Master Sergeant. The way in looks clear,” Nick said.
“Alright, hold that position but stay out of sight, Private. Team Thirteen, form up at the entrance and hold that ground. Team Four will go in and get the captives.”
“Roger that,” Staff Sergeant Blevins said.
Nick moved back from the trench and waited. It only took the members of Dragon Team Four a few minutes to reach him. Master Sergeant Florez looked down into the deep trench and confirmed the report that Nick had given.
“Okay, here’s the plan,” he said. “Team Seven will attack. I want sniper shots at those creatures you have visuals on. If that doesn’t move the creatures guarding our people, we’ll move on to explosives. As soon as this area clears out, we’ll go down and rescue the captives.”
“Alright, you heard the man. Pick your targets and fire when ready,” Gunny Tveit said.
“Like shooting fish in a barrel,” Kal exclaimed.
“Only with much higher consequences,” Ember replied.
Then the shooting started, and all hell broke loose.
Chapter 27
Ember fired the first shot. Her cobalt round punched into the head of one of the isopteran creatures and blew the back out like a shattered watermelon. The sniper musket was not a particularly loud weapon, and Ember was certain the report would take several seconds to carry across to the other creatures, yet they reacted to the shot instantly.
Kal and Gunny Tveit still managed kill shots, but the Isopterans moved as if in a panic. Down in the trench, the creatures reacted as well.
“What the hell is going on?” one of Team Four’s specialists said.
“Man, they’re going crazy down there,” another remarked.
“We need to draw them up here,” Master Sergeant Florez said.
“That’ll be a hell of a fight,” said another specialist.
“So don’t fight them,” Nick said. “Hide, let me draw them away, then you go down and get our people out.”
“You think you can do that?” Florez asked.
“I’ll lead them back up the tunnel,” Nick said pointing.
“And what do you do when you get to the top?” asked one of the specialists.
“Then I fly,” Nick said.
“Okay, I’m for it. Let’s move over there,” Florez said, pointing to a shadowy
place near the wide tunnel that led out of the spire. “Private Nichols, give us a minute to get our gear together.”
Nick nodded in agreement and drew his sidearm. The pistol held forty rounds of small, bullets that were an alloy of metals formulated to be incredibly soft. The bullets flattened on impact, the edges splitting to form jagged, razor-sharp surfaces that ripped through flesh and transferred the maximum amount of kinetic energy on impact. They were only accurate for fifty meters, but Nick wasn’t planning to spend time aiming. The pistol fired semi-auto in the default setting but could be switched over to full auto.
Nick checked the setting and then drew a full magazine from the belt around his waist. When Master Sergeant Florez gave the order, Nick turned on the exterior lights of his helmet, letting the bright beams shine down into the hole. Then he fired the pistol, emptying the magazine in several quick bursts. Several of the insectile creatures crawling up the sides of the big trench fell, some even knocked others loose, but Nick didn’t stick around to see the result of his actions. Instead, he started running. Along the way, Nick hit the release on his pistol and dropped the empty magazine. He rammed a fresh one home and slid the rack to load the first round. At the mouth of the tunnel that led up into the spire, Nick flicked the indicator back to semi-auto and waited for three full seconds until the first of the Isopterans crawled out of the trench and spotted him.
“Time to move, Nichols!” Florez ordered.
Nick didn’t bother to answer. With his helmet lights still at full brightness, he started scrambling up the tunnel. His boots found purchase as long as Nick used his arms against the sides of the tunnel to transfer his weight. The scramble wasn’t as fast as he wanted and he could hear the creatures behind him. They chattered and popped in a strange, rhythmic language that Nick couldn’t begin to decipher. When he felt the creatures were getting too close behind him, Nick turned and fired his pistol. The sound was loud in the enclosed space. Nick’s helmet muted the sound to protect his hearing, but the bullets couldn’t miss their mark. The leading creatures fell dead and bought Nick some much-needed time as he continued his climb.
Uncommon Loyalty: DT7 - Book 2 (Dragon Team Seven) Page 17
