Stranded Justice (The Justice Trilogy Series Book 2)

by Steven L. Hawk

  “I just did, Lieutenant.” Blink-blink. Aank returned his attention to Eli. “I do have one concern, Captain Justice.”

  Eli looked at the Waa and gave him a mental nudge to continue.

  “I do not wish to leave the Chih, Captain.”

  The words were accompanied by a mental plea that described his friend’s feelings more than words ever could. Having rediscovered the Chih after so many years of the Waa’s searching, leaving them behind on a planet populated by an enemy was more than the green alien could fathom.

  “I understand where you’re coming from, Aank,” Eli replied. The feelings he’d witnessed and experienced—from both Aank and the Chih—when they had been reunited after so many generations were indescribable. Neither race would willingly desert the other now that they’d been reunited. “None of us would consider abandoning the Chih here. My father wouldn’t allow it and I’m certain your elders on Waa wouldn’t permit it, either.”

  Blink blink.

  “But we may have to leave them here for the time being,” Eli continued. “They’ve been safe for more than a thousand years. They should be okay for another few weeks until we can come back for them.”

  Doubt, sadness, and regret flooded into Eli’s being—compliments of Aank’s emotions, which the Waa shared freely via their mental connection.

  I wish to stay here with them, Eli.

  Aank. You can’t, Eli countered. We need you to set up the comm unit. And no one else here has the skills to reconfigure the portal. You have to come with us.

  Eli felt the Waa engineer struggling to find a way he could do everything that was needed and also stay. Felt the other come up short. The feelings of sadness flowing from Aank into Eli multiplied.

  “What if we took some of the Chih with us?” Eli offered. He had no idea how the small creatures would react to such a request. His thoughts to Aank stated as much.

  “That would be acceptable,” Aank replied. Mentally, he let Eli know it wasn’t the ideal solution, but that he was resigned to it being the best one available.

  “Good,” Eli said, glad to be past that hurdle. Hopefully, the Chih would agree to sending a contingent with them. “Now let’s work out the details of how we’re going to this.”

  Chapter 33

  “Are you sure this is a good idea, EJ?”

  “No,” Eli answered, looking sideways at Benson. Once again, they lay side by side, hidden from enemy eyes by the foliage surrounding them, the night, and their camouflaged suits. Using the suits’ night-vision enhancements, they had an unobstructed view on the mining facility, which spread out below them. “But our options are limited. This is our best chance for alerting the Alliance about what’s waiting here. It’s also our best bet for getting off this planet alive.”

  “Yeah,” Benson replied with a resigned sigh. “I know. It’s just . . . We’re two dozen against eight hundred.”

  “You heard Drek. We won’t be up against eight hundred.”

  The intel provided by Sergeant Drek had been vital to working out their final plan. The base worked on a rotating schedule that involved almost every one of the eight hundred Minith at the facility. A third of them—more than 250—were below ground at any one time. They worked a ten-hour shift, operating the sensors and the machines that located, extracted, and hauled the agsel from the mines to the surface. Another third was off duty and spent most of their ten hours of downtime sleeping inside the barracks.

  It was the remaining third that concerned Eli. They were assigned to guard duty and base operations. Like their less fortunate brethren who’d been relegated to mining duty, this portion of Drah’s forces worked rotating, ten-hour shifts. Half worked while the other half slept. They’d planned their move to take place at night, eight hours into the shift. Those on guard would be at their most weary; those off duty should be sleeping.

  “As long as we execute the plan and move quickly, there shouldn’t be more than a hundred and fifty that we need to worry about,” Eli reminded Benson.

  “Hmmph,” was all the response he got.

  “Team two in place.”

  Eli checked the head’s up display on his face screen and noted that Sergeant Jerrone and his team were exactly where they should be: on the far, southern side of the mine, opposite from Eli and the main attack force’s position.

  “Good job, Sergeant Jerrone,” Eli answered. “Do you have eyes on your targets?”

  “Excellent view from here, Captain,” Jerrone replied. “Ready when you are.”

  Aank, you ready for this?

  Yes, Eli. The Chih are here and ready as well. The ranger received a mental picture of the two dozen small, six-legged canines that had volunteered to join them. They were huddled about the engineer, and he saw that most were shivering. He wondered if it was a sign of fear, anxiety, or being cold.

  No fear. No fear. No fear!

  Okay, so that answered that question. They were either anxious or cold.

  Despite his strident, mental warnings about the dangers involved, the Chih response to joining them on this endeavor was overwhelming. The possibility of meeting more Waa had filled the tiny creatures with excitement and wonder. In their rudimentary way of communicating, they managed to convey to Eli that the two dozen he was allowing weren’t enough to fill the demand. The tiny creatures were concerned about being left behind, afraid they’d be left alone on the planet once again. After a lengthy exchange, he’d finally convinced them that they wouldn’t be abandoned—that he and an entire army would return for them soon. Having noted Aank’s response to their discovery, and learning how much the Waa meant to the Chih, Eli had no fear that he’d be unable to keep the promise. Now that the Chih had been found, the entire Waa race would never rest until they were fully reunited.

  But that was in the future. First, they had to make their way into the facility below and replace the mine’s comm unit with the one from the Agate. Everything else was secondary.

  Eli looked to his left. Saw Drek looking back at him, expectancy in his eyes. He didn’t have to ask if the Minith sergeant was ready; he could see it in every fiber of the soldier’s being, so he merely nodded.

  Eli keyed his mic and said the word everyone was waiting for.

  “Execute.”

  A brief, silent flash of light from Jerrone’s sniper rifle marked the other team’s position on the far side of the mine. A second flash, only two seconds after the first, indicated the first step of their plan was in motion. Eli increased the magnification of his night vision and was happy to note the two Minith manning the far guard tower were down. The plasma cannon they commanded was now out of play.

  Two more flashes from the far rim of the forest meant the guards in the second distant tower were now dispatched. Eli shifted his focus to the nearest tower—one of two on his side of the facility—and was pleased to note the plasma cannon located there was no longer a threat. A scan of the fourth and final tower showed that Corporal Aquino had accomplished his task just as readily as Jerrone had on the far side.

  A quick glance at the mine beneath them showed no immediate response to the initial volley of the battle. All was still quiet. Good.

  “All teams. Move out,” the captain ordered as he rose to his knees. He didn’t wait for a response—knew none would be coming. He merely grabbed the coil of safety line that was tied into the tree behind them and tossed it out as far as he could. He watched as it sailed out, uncoiling as it disappeared over the wall of debris the Minith had built from the forest.

  Eli took the line in his gloved hand, took two steps backward, then ran toward the jungle edge and leaped. The line sliding through his right hand slowed his descent slightly and he worried for a second that he might not make the top of the wall. But only for a second. The suit’s power gave him all the momentum he needed and he landed easily atop the wall, his powered knee joints bending as designed to absorb the impact.

  He glanced quickly to this right and left—saw Benson and Drek also land safely
—then jogged to the wall’s far edge. Without slowing down, he scanned the mine below, gripped the safety line in his left hand, and jumped out and away. Gravity and physics took over, and he plunged toward the surface of Cerbius 140 meters below.

  He allowed his body to fall for the first fifty meters, then closed his grip around the line, breaking the descent. The suit’s ability to accommodate the action was never in question; over the past eighteen months, Eli had experienced what the armor was capable of and had learned to trust in its abilities.

  The tightened grip countered the gravity which pulled him downward, but the laws of physics were still in play, and Eli felt his body being yanked toward the earthen wall. Hundreds of hours spent jumping from the rappelling tower his father had built on Waa suddenly paid off, and he twisted his body expertly. As he knew they would, his feet met the wall. He waited the fraction of a second it took for his knees to bend with the impact, then kicked out and away from the wall, releasing his grip as he did so. He fell another twenty meters until another brake of hand and physics once again pulled his body toward the wall. As before, his feet hit, his knees bent, and he kicked away. He continued the maneuver three more times before reaching the surface.

  Once on the ground, Eli wasted no time in pulling his Ginny from its holster. The shotgun was up and ready but found no immediate target, so the ranger looked up at the wall to see how the others were progressing. Benson wasn’t too far behind, aided by his suit. Sergeant Drek was still two thirds of the way up the wall. Without PEACE armor to assist, he was descending the old-fashioned way: leather gloves, rappelling harness, and a behind-the-back hand brake.

  Eli took another look around the surface and still saw no sign of guards. After looking down on it for days from above, it felt strange to be standing on the tarmac of the landing pad. Benson landed three meters to his right and pulled his plasma rifle from its sling, ready to confront whatever might come at them from the darkness that lay between their current position and the first building fifty meters away.

  “Ming, Aquino. Go.”

  The line he’d taken to the surface jerked, and Eli looked up in time to see Ming jump from the wall above. A moment later, Aquino executed the same maneuver on the line Benson had used. Drek was still halfway up the wall but making steady progress.

  When Ming and Aquino landed, Eli directed them and Benson to move out ten meters and establish a defensive line. The three moved out and Eli radioed up to the next two rangers to proceed.

  “Turner, you take it slow,” Eli ordered. Turner had been assigned to deliver Aank to the base of the wall. “That’s precious cargo you’re carrying.”

  “Understood, Captain,” the private answered. “Like a mother carrying a baby.”

  A mental flash of prideful indignation splashed across Eli’s being; it was Aank.

  I am older than this soldier by more than a hundred years, Eli.

  Relax, Aank. It’s just an expression, Eli replied. He couldn’t help but smile at the mental rebuke. Aank obviously didn’t care for being carried down the wall.

  I should not have to remind you that I can read thoughts, captain. This one—Private Turner—is amused by my need to be carried down on his back.

  Turner wasn’t the only one. Eli couldn’t help but smile at the Waa engineer’s need to ride down the wall in piggyback fashion.

  Again, Captain. I can hear your thoughts.

  Um. Sorry, Aank. It’s a human weakness. We often look for humor when put into dangerous situations.

  Well, look for humor elsewhere.

  Eli knew he was being chastised but couldn’t prevent the smile from turning into a grin. That thought was met with the Waa equivalent of a mental sigh.

  How are the Chih doing, Captain?

  The engineer was obviously changing the subject, but it was a good question.

  The canines had communicated their ability to navigate the wall on their own without providing details. Eli had taken them at their word and told them to wait until Aank was on his way down before beginning their descent. A hint of movement of the top prompted the ranger to focus his attention there, and he enhanced the magnification of his visor.

  Whoa.

  The Chih were winding their way rapidly down the wall in a single file, easily keeping pace with Turner and Aank. Backward. Eli amped up the magnification again and was able to see exactly how they navigated the mesh of earth and limbs. He never would have guessed it from looking at them, but the Chih were expert climbers. They used their rear legs for stability while their front and middle pairs of legs acted to reach out, find, and grip the handholds they needed. He had the feeling that they could have easily outpaced Turner had they wished but were holding back, unwilling to let Aank leave their sight.

  Impressive.

  “Team two is on the surface and ready to move,” Sergeant Jerrone announced. The team on the far side of the facility was smaller, consisting only of Jerrone, Private Sweeney, and the remainder of Drek’s Minith squad.

  “Excellent, Sergeant,” Eli replied. “Set up a defensive perimeter and hold your position until we’re ready on this side.”

  “Yessir.”

  It took another ten minutes for everyone to hit the surface. Despite Drek’s assurances that the guard here was lax, it surprised Eli that they’d gotten this far without being spotted. Apparently, Drah’s forces relied almost exclusively on the four guard towers for security. Crazy. The stupid kind of crazy.

  But Eli wasn’t one to allow unexpected gifts to go unappreciated. Or unexploited.

  “Sergeant Drek, you and I will lead the way,” Eli ordered once all was ready. “Ensign Sheen, you and your crew follow closely behind the leading line of rangers. Benson, you take the flank.”

  The ranger captain collected affirmatives from all around, then keyed his mic.

  “Team two, move to the target. Remember, the longer we go undetected, the better, so give up speed for stealth.”

  “Roger, Captain. Moving out now. See you in a few.”

  * * *

  Eli and Drek were halfway across the open space between the wall and the first building when the shot was fired.

  A spear of light reached out and caught Eli in the chest. He was too stunned by the unexpected hit to immediately understand that he was completely unaffected by the blast. His mouth was still gaping open when Drek returned fire and caught the Minith soldier who’d shot at them with a single blast of his plasma rifle. Unlike Eli, the Minith soldier went down. The extensive damage to his unprotected torso and the purple blood painting the wall behind him were evidence of the kill shot.

  “Zrthn weapons, EJ,” Benson said. The words yanked Eli from his stupor, and he suddenly remembered. “They only work on organic matter.”

  Eli could have kicked himself for the oversight. Of course they were up against Zrthn weapons. Drah and his minions hadn’t been given any Alliance weapons prior to their being handed over to the Zrthns. And they had learned from their previous battle against the Zrthns that their weapons were only effective against organic matter—the PEACE armor that Eli and his rangers wore protected them.

  “Rangers form a wall and move toward the target building. Everyone not wearing armor, tuck yourselves in close and keep up.” Eli spied a second Minith guard rounding the corner of the building ahead of them and had a moment to wish he had a rifle and not a shotgun. But a second shot from Drek once again solved the problem. “Let’s move!”

  Eli and the eight rangers with him moved forward quickly, making sure to not outdistance Aank, the Chih, or the Agate crew that followed along closely in their wake.

  “Team two, the gig is up. Forget stealth. Go for speed.”

  “On our way.”

  Eli and his team were rounding the first building, their target building in sight and only thirty meters ahead, when the sirens began to wail. Another Minith ran toward them from the right but was met with fire from several rangers before the enemy guard could get a round off. Two more approac
hed at a sprint from the left. They managed to get shots off, but the rangers’ armor on that side of the formation absorbed the energy from the weapons without any effect. The two were quickly dispatched and the group pushed onward, their goal only twenty meters ahead.

  Chapter 34

  Drah rushed to the window of his quarters and looked outside. Below on the tarmac, rushing toward his building, was a group of Shiale Rangers. Behind the rangers trailed a motley crew of humans, one Waa, and a gaggle of tiny creatures unlike any with which he was familiar.

  He immediately recognized the single Minith in their midst, though.

  Drek.

  That pitiful, deserting coward.

  Drah clenched his right fist in a ball and punched through the window that offered the offending view. The action got the attention of several members of the approaching group.

  “Drek!” the Minith commander shouted. “You will die a slow and painful death for this treason!”

  One of the rangers in the lead lifted his weapon—a Ginny shotgun—and got off a shot. The distance between them saved Drah from serious damage, but a few metal pellets peppered his flesh through the window.

  “You’re one to talk about treason, Drah!”

  The human’s Minith was quite good, Drah thought as he ducked sideways and down to avoid a second blast. The window shattered inward and glass rained down on his head.

  He growled and slammed his fist against the floor.

  “Chall!” Drah yelled for his underling, anxious to react to the threat which was likely just now reaching the entrance to the building. The desire for swift and deadly violence was overwhelming, a rancid thirst aching to be quenched. “Chall!”

  The door slammed open and Chall appeared. He seemed confused and shaken, unsure of what was going on. Idiot.

  “Arm yourself, fool,” Drah muttered, then spun toward the cabinet next to his bed. He pulled two weapons—a Zrthn rifle and a handmade agsel staff—from their place and stood up. He slipped the rifle’s sling over his shoulder and gave the staff a slow, steady twirl. He imagined slamming the staff’s heavy end across Drek’s head. “We’ve got some killing to do.”