by G. E. Stills
“Had,” he corrected. “It’s dead. It stopped breathing and its eyes glazed over a little while ago.”
“Had,” she continued. “It had very little knowledge about the null weapon or anything else technical. That is part of the bad news. I do know where to get that information though. More bad news. We need to capture another of these things. This one a member of that upper caste. It won’t be easy. The bug we seek is never alone, but I think we can do it.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
Weeks passed, and the injuries suffered by the ambush team were for the most part healed. Even Bonn’an was up and around, although her arm and leg remained in a cast. With her new knowledge and Drago’s help, Rho’naa deciphered most of the tech manual they had, along with the functions of the equipment they had taken. To her dismay there was still much that she didn’t understand. The knowledge she had pulled from the soldier bug was limited.
She strolled on the grassy slope in front of their shelter. Keish’ar walked at her side. A place he almost always occupied these days. “We need to plan another ambush,” she said.
“I know. I know also this time it will be even tougher and probably more costly in injuries. It may even involve losing lives.”
Rho’naa’s lips tightened. His was the same conclusion she had reached no matter how many times she made plans in her head with Drago’s help.
“Still, I agree, it must be done,” he continued.
“We’ll need to have a larger group, which means we’ll need both Stan and Marda. It also means it will take more trips for Tylee to get us back here to Refuge.”
Keish’ar slipped his hand in hers and guided her behind an outcrop of boulders. She didn’t remove his hand. “We can talk more of this at a group meeting. Right now I have something else on my mind,” he went on.
Rho’naa twisted her neck to face him. “And that is?”
“This.” He pulled her against him and pressed his lips to hers.
In shock, her eyes remained open and grew wide. His arms went around her and his kiss deepened. She didn’t pull away as her first reaction dictated, but instead returned his kiss. Her arms in turn went around him and her eyes closed. Her mind screamed no. Her body said different, it wanted more, much more. He broke their kiss and gazed into her eyes.
“We can’t do this. My entire life I have been taught to despise your species.”
“We can, we are. Can you honestly tell me that you hate me? Say it and I won’t try to go further.”
“You know I can’t.”
“I’ve fallen in love with you.”
“Oh God.”
“Tell me you don’t have feelings for me.”
“Oh God.”
He started to fumble with the zipper of her suit. She didn’t resist. Instead, her hands started to unzip his. Soon both of them were naked. He guided her to the grass and kissed her more. She hadn’t had any sexual relation since her time in Las Vegas. Her body demanded that situation be ended. When they parted hours later, it had been sated. A tear trickled down her cheek as she leaned on her elbow and faced him.
“Regrets?” he asked.
Reaching out, she grazed her hand gently across his cheek. “None,” she whispered.
“Good.”
“You know what we feel for each other is going to complicate things.”
“Yes and no, I couldn’t imagine seeing you get hurt or die before, this just reinforces those feelings.”
“We have to keep this a secret from the others.”
“I know, although Tylee will suspect. She already knows we have deep feelings for each other.”
“Yes, Tylee will know, but no one else can.”
They each started to dress while they continued the conversation.
“Agreed.”
They stood and shared another kiss.
“Well one thing is for certain,” she flashed him a smile and chuckled, “you’re certainly not my enemy any longer.”
“And you’re not the cold heartless person you pretend to be.” He kissed her again before she could respond to his comment. They strolled from behind the boulders holding hands and strolling slowly on their return walk to camp.
****
Rho’naa and Keish’ar took turns peeking over the low walled enclosure. Behind the two overflowing trash dumpsters left no question of what the enclosure was. Madra knelt in one corner. Through several teleportation jumps, she had brought them here. Across the lot from them was a large warehouse building. Numerous bug soldiers patrolled around the exterior. For hours, they watched and whispered their observations.
“I count at least thirty soldier bugs,” she said. “What about you?” she asked Keish’ar.
“I count the same.”
Rho’naa recalled the interior layout of the building she had gained from the knowledge she had stripped from the bug they had captured. “Now that we know what the building looks like on the outside and how well it is guarded we need to jump one more time.” She summoned Madra to join her and had the woman peer over the wall with her.
“I doubt we will appear exactly where we wish, but now that you have seen the outside of the building and have studied the drawing I made for you, can you get us in the room we want?”
Madra nodded then added, “I think so.”
“That’s all the more I can ask.” She and Keish’at both drew their weapons then joined hands with Madra. Seconds later, they appeared in a large and thankfully empty storage room on the second floor. There were no windows and only two doors along one wall. One of the doors was like a garage door, the other was normal in size.
Rho’naa stole across the room and cracked the small door slightly. She peered outside and gradually opened it a little wider so Keish’ar could look out too. Along the outer wall of the room they hid in, two forklifts sat idle. On the far left was a large freight elevator. Scattered around the space about the size of a football field were a number of crates and canisters.
Rho’naa cautioned her two companions to wait, then dashed over to the nearest crate. Cautiously, she moved from one crate to another making her way across the space. Just as their bug captive had pictured, there was another large room on the other side. This one had two normal sized doors. There were three bug guards stationed in front of each. On the far wall was a stairway leading down.
Rho’naa nodded and headed back the way she had come. The whine of the elevator alerted her and she dove for cover behind a crate just in time. The doors opened moments later and ten bugs exited the elevator car. They scuttled across the open space headed for the room she had just finished observing. When the danger of immediate discovery had passed, she finished crossing the space and ducked through the door Keish’ar held open for her. He closed it behind her quickly.
“That was damn close. Well?” he asked.
“I’ve seen all I need to. The layout exactly matches the pictures I have in my mind.”
“Good.”
“Madra, time to get us the hell out of here.”
“With pleasure.” She took them by the hands and they vanished from the warehouse. The return trip to where they met up with Tylee was much shorter.
Back at camp, she called a group meeting. They gathered around her in a circle while she drew a picture in the dirt and explained her plan. “Tom, are our homemade bombs ready?”
“They’re ready.”
“I’ll be honest, people, what we plan is dangerous and there is a good possibility some of you won’t make it. I’m open to suggested alternatives.” She waited, but none were offered. “Okay there are six bugs guarding outside. Three to a door. I estimate there are at least twenty bugs inside with our target. We must disable the elevator and block the stairs leading up from the lower floor or we will be overwhelmed with bug reinforcements. Three of you will remain behind at the prison complex with
Tylee, the rest of you will be with me. No one will remain here on Refuge, just in case.” She went over and over her plan, assigning certain people to critical tasks. “Get some rest, friends, we go tomorrow night.”
The group disbursed as Rho’naa headed for her quarters someone tapped her on the shoulder. When she turned to see who it was, a smile stretch her lips when she saw Keish’ar.
“Can we talk for a moment?” he asked.
“Certainly.”
“Not here. In private.”
“Of course.” She followed him outside, away from camp, and into the darkness. There he took her hand.
“I don’t know how exactly to say this, one or both of us may not make it back tomorrow.”
“I don’t want to talk about that.” She tried to pull her hand from his.
“Rho’naa, I want to make love to you, just in case—”
She stood on tiptoes and fitted her lips to his for a moment. “No in case, but I would enjoy making love.”
They strolled further into the dark and to the boulder arrangement. When they returned to the encampment hours later, they strolled slowly hand-in-hand. Tylee greeted them at the entrance and flashed them a knowing smile. Reluctantly, they parted and each went to their own bed.
****
The storage room didn’t seem so big now with thirteen people standing in it. It had taken Stan and Marda six trips to bring everyone. Rho’naa refused to think about how it would take the same number of trips to evacuate once they had their captive and had stirred up a hornets nest. Marda and Stan were to remain here at the door to act as a rear guard for one and to keep the two teleporters relatively safe.
She didn’t need to issue orders. Everyone knew their assignments by heart. She opened the door a little to make certain the coast was clear. Then opened it wide. Quickly and silently, her team joined her in the open bay. Two peeled off to take position near the forklifts. Madra and Stan crouched at the storeroom door. The remaining eight followed her, dodging from one crate to another to maintain cover. When they had crossed the bay, she glanced to each side to see that all was ready.
“Now,” she said loud enough for all to hear. Nine intensely hot red beams flashed out at the guards. Six bugs crumpled to the floor, each of them headless. Rho’naa gave thanks that the beam weapons were silent. No warning noise had announced the way it would have been if they’d had projectile weapons like the bugs. She watched the two men peel away and race toward the stairs. There would be loud noise soon enough. Each man tossed a bomb down the steps then dove for cover. The huge explosion that followed shook the floor.
Now they’ll know something is wrong. I’m certain they will barricade the doors. A humorless smile stretched her lips. She didn’t plan to use the doors. The two forklifts raced into view. They headed straight for the wall between the doors. Faintly she heard the popping hissing sound of melting metal and knew that Madra had used her transmutation ability to melt the elevator car and cause it to be useless.
At the last second, both drivers of the forklifts dove from the seats and rolled to each side. The forklifts punched through the wall creating a huge hole. She and the others fired their weapons into the surprised bugs on the other side, killing many of them. She raced forward with the rest and waded into the melee.
“Don’t kill the one with wings,” she shouted to be heard above the noise of bug weapons. She put her gun back in its holster and drew two knives.
“Fight mode,” she ordered Drago. Chemical enhancement roared into her blood stream and Rho’naa became the killing machine she had been designed to be.
She needed to get close to the winged bug and disable it before it could flee. From the corner of her eye, she saw Keish’ar, a pistol in each hand, firing rapidly. Each shot of his severed a leg or exploded a bug head. Too bad for the four bugs that attempted to stand in her way. She blurred into motion quickly reducing the four to masses of green blood oozing from bodies and each one missing its head. She next faced the winged one. It was larger than the common soldiers and just as fast. It’s speed was nothing though compared to hers. She ducked, dodged, leapt, and struck again and again. In a short time, the insect was wingless, legless and its deadly mandibles lay on the floor.
With her main objective incapacitated, Rho’naa turned to help the others of her team. Kicking, hacking and beheading, she flashed into battle wherever she saw one of her team in trouble. The last insect fell to the floor headless.
Rho’naa paused to take stock of things surrounding her. To her relief, Keish’ar stood to one side. He was bleeding from several wounds, but he was alive. Four members of her team hadn’t been that lucky. They lay on the floor drenched in green and red blood and not moving. She checked each one for a pulse. Sadness clutched her heart when she found none. The remaining people had wounds varying in severity. She chose three of the less critical, including Keish’ar.
“You three, help me carry the prisoner,” she yelled. “The rest of you get to the storeroom and have Stan and Madra start the evacuation.”
The ones not chosen limped away, some supporting each other. The ones with her lifted the body of the La’new and followed.
When they got to the storeroom, they opened the large door to take the bug through. She noted with approval, Stan and Madra, along with four members of the team were gone.
Keish’ar took station with her at the open bay garage door, Stan and Madra blipped into being. On the next trip, Stan teleported the bug. The evacuation proceeded until she and Keish’ar were the last two. Breaking glass jerked her attention from the bay to one of the windows mounted high on the wall. One of the bugs began to scuttle through the broken pane.
She and Keish’ar fired in unison and the bug’s head vanished in a cloud of green. The sound of more breaking glass alerted them to the fact bugs were at many of the windows. The bugs had climbed up the outer wall to enter the second story. They were coming in from too many directions to stop them all. A number of them jumped to the floor and scurried toward them.
Madra reappeared and placed her hands on the shoulder of each of them. The vision of the warehouse setting vanished. Seconds later, they reappeared in the prison operating room. Rho’naa breathed a sigh of relief. Glancing around, she saw that Tylee and Stan were busy moving from one person to the next using their healing ability.
The captive bug had been strapped down in the center of the room waiting for her. Rho’naa’s swelled with pride. Her team might be battered, but they still functioned efficiently.
Keish’ar took charge of the team while she set up the mind probe. This time when the flood of foreign thoughts poured in, Drago was ready and the pain she felt had been dampened to a tolerable level. When she opened her eyes hours later, Keish’ar was standing beside her, concern written on his face.
“I’m so glad you are alert again. You’re okay?”
“I’m okay.”
She watched his expression change to one of relief.
“Tell me you have the information about the null weapon.”
She smiled and took his hand. “I have that and so much more.”
He squeezed her hand tighter. “Good. Then what we’ve sacrificed is not in vain.”
“Now we only need to figure a way to get this information to our people on the cruiser out there.”
“Our people, or yours?” he asked.
“Ours. Our societies must combine if we are to have any chance at defeating these bugs before they overwhelm all of us. There are billions of them scattered throughout many galaxies. The only reason we haven’t encountered them before is they are a relatively new society, but their reproduction capability is ominous. There are five main leaders…for lack of a better way to describe them, queens. They are each capable of laying millions of eggs each year. They’re spreading through the universe. They devour every living being on each planet they invade then move on t
o the next.”
“Gods!” he exclaimed.
“Take heart, they have the null weapon, but other than that, their technology is far behind ours. With the knowledge I now have, I know we can destroy masses of them. Hopefully faster than they can reproduce. We must get this information to our scientists. I hate the thought, but we need to steal a ship and get to the waiting cruiser. Everything depends on that. I just hope we succeed.”
“I’ve been thinking about that. We know the insects don’t use communication devices, but the Men-gar do. There are transmitting stations scattered over this planet. Suppose we were to use some of those to send the info to that cruiser.”
His suggested solution caused the stress she felt to fade. “Yes,” she hissed. “Yes, that would be much better than trying to steal a ship. I need to transpose the knowledge I have in my head to a transmittable document and it’s doubtful we would be able to send everything in a single transmission without it being intercepted but—”
He arrived at the same conclusion as if reading her thoughts. “But we could send it in short bursts from different locations.”
“Yes.”
Showing no emotion, Rho’naa stepped in front of the insect and fired her weapon point blank into its head, killing it. Four of the team untied it and carried the body away to be disposed of.
“Another item I find encouraging is I now know their command structure. There are five main queens and a number of lesser queens. They do all the planning and issue mental orders to the intermediaries, call them drones. The drones receive these orders and in turn issue mental commands to the soldier/workers. The soldier/workers make up the bulk of the species. What is encouraging is these soldier/workers are largely incapable of independent thought. They just receive orders and act.”
Keish’ar rubbed his chin. “So destroy the queens and we not only eliminate their reproductive ability, but we do serious damage to their control structure?”
