Exodus: Empires at War: Book 05 - Ranger

by Doug Dandridge

  We really hurt you bastards, she thought in triumph. Her very next thought was that she really didn’t want to die. But the Universe, the cold and heartless bitch, really didn’t care what she wanted. The pain in her arm increased to the level of agony, as if something was ripping through her flesh. A scream bubbled at her lips, overridden by another round of vomiting.

  The creatures were growling at each other, and though she couldn’t understand what they were saying, it was obvious that an argument was going on. She couldn’t tell what it was about, but had an inkling she was the topic.

  The argument was cut short by a yell, and the bone deep buzzing sound of what could only be a particle beam.

  * * *

  By the time he had walked a couple of hundred meters he was feeling better. He knew it would take several hours for the nanites to complete repair of his cells. The warhead had a tiny amount of fissionable material in its makeup, so long term radiation and fallout really wasn’t a problem. The burst of initial radiation from the heavy pellet of compressed solid hydrogen had caused the cellular damage.

  Cornelius looked over the blasted plain and to the total annihilation of the jungle up to the top of the hills that bounded that side of the valley. Stick figure caricatures of trees stuck up from the ash that was still swirling around as the fireball rose slowly up to the stratosphere. .The grassland as now truly treeless, and devoid of animal life, anything capable of still moving having run off into the jungle.

  They don’t have nanites, thought Cornelius, feeling bad about what he did to the animal life. As a former hunter and farmer he loved and respected animals, even the ones that wanted to eat him. He deflected the blame onto the Ca’cadasans. If they hadn’t come here and attacked the New Terran Empire, hell, all the human governments, this wouldn’t have been necessary. He was happy that he sent so many of the cruel creatures to whatever hell they occupied.

  Cornelius slowed and went into a crouch as he spotted what he was looking for, and more than he had planned on. The small figure lying on the ground had to be Rebecca. He wasn’t sure where the Hunters had come from, but five of them were clustered around the child, and from their stance he was sure they weren’t administering medical aid to her. One reached down with a paw that was extended into an almost human looking hand, a single claw showing on the index finger, and did something that cause the child to cry out, then vomit. He could barely hear the sound, his hearing not yet back to normal. But it was enough to send him into a rage. He almost charged forward at that point, screaming and yelling to get the attention of the creatures. Wisdom controlled his rage, and instead he looked over the situation to see what the best course of action was.

  I like the way those three are lined up, he thought, getting into a kneeling position and bringing the particle beam rifle up to his shoulder. He sighted in on the forward Hunter, waiting a moment for the ones behind him to get in line. It didn’t take long, and first one, then the other, shifted over into the perfect alignment.

  Cornelius squeezed the trigger and the rifle bucked hard into his shoulder. He realized at the last moment that he still had the weapon set for maximum power, the same setting he had used against the gunships.

  The one second burst of protons connected rifle to target almost instantaneously. The beam hit the creature, who was standing on all fours, in the head and shoulders. Those areas of its body converted to vapor in an instant, all the way back to its tail. The one behind it was in a bipedal stance and the beam hit it in the abdominal region. That area vaporized into reddish colored steam and the upper torso fell away to the side from the groin/leg area. The third was also standing upright, though crouching over, and received the blast through the chest. The first Hunter was killed instantly, with no chance to feel the pain that Cornelius would have wanted to impart. The second let out a short scream before his lungs stopped working, and the torso lay writhing on the ground for several seconds before it died. The third fell to the ground in pain, but was unable to voice it without an upper torso, and soon died. A cloud of superheated steam swirled around above the bodies, moved by the convection currents stirred up by the nuke.

  The other two looked up with what must have been shocked expressions on their faces. Cornelius swung his rifle onto the next one in line and pulled the trigger. And nothing happened. He looked with dismay on the weapon, not sure why it hadn’t fired. The load gauge was dark, getting no power, and he suspected that something had burned out after that last shot. That was all the time he had for speculation. He dropped the rifle and started running toward the two surviving Hunters and his friend. His right hand pulled his mag pistol, a weapon he had yet to use on the mission, from its holster, while his left grabbed the hilt of his Wakizashi. He went into overdrive, the world blurring to his vision as he rocketed ahead, everything else moving in slow motion. He aimed his pistol at the Hunter furthest from Rebecca and started to send shots into it.

  The first couple of rounds hit the Hunter on its survival suit, without enough power to penetrate. The creature brought its own rifle up to its shoulder and fired back. The round hit Cornelius in the chest, a hard impact that didn’t make it past the stiffening armor of the suit. He brought his arm up over his face just in time to catch a round that would have hit him in the head. That round penetrated into the meaty part of his forearm, stopped by the impact armor on the other side. His hand spasmed, and he almost dropped his blade. Only through a supreme effort of will was he able to maintain his grip.

  It hurt like a bitch, but even worse, he couldn’t see his target while trying to protect his face. Another round cracked by his head, and he took the chance of lowering his left arm while his right hand flipped the pistol to auto fire. The rounds would come out with less velocity that single shot, but it didn’t look like he would get penetration of the alien’s survival suit anyway.

  The pistol chattered in his hand, going through twenty rounds in a second. Most hit the Hunter on his suit, bouncing away. Several hit the rifle and sparked off, spoiling his aim as he fired a shot that barely missed the Ranger’s head. And one round hit perfectly in his face, blasting through an eyeball, blowing through the optic nerve and into the brain. The Hunter got off one more shot from reflex action, missing badly, then dropping the rifle and following it into the ash.

  “Stop,” yelled the other Hunter, holding Rebecca up with one hand while the other caressed her throat. “Drop your weapons, or I will kill her.”

  “And then you kill us both,” growled the Ranger. “No thanks.” This was a hostage situation, and doctrine called for never surrendering your weapons in such an event. But I can’t let him kill her. So what the hell do I do? The pistol was empty. He had two more magazines, but he really doubted the Hunter would allow him to reload.

  “I will let you go if you let me go,” said the Hunter. “But I must know that you will not shoot me in the back, so I must have your weapons.”

  “What about loyalty to your masters?”

  “We have no real loyalty to those creatures,” spat the Hunter. “We do what we must to survive, and pray for the day when we are free of them.”

  Cornelius stared at the creature. He thought it might be telling the truth in that last statement. But he was also sure that it would kill both of them if he disarmed himself. Rebecca moved one of her hands, reaching for her belt until it was resting on the hilt of the knife he had given her before they parted.

  “Be still, child,” growled the Hunter, tightening his grip on her throat.

  Cornelius glared at the creature, but dropped his already useless pistol. He started to slowly lower the short sword, his eyes locked on those of the Hunter. And then Rebecca made her move.

  The child jerked her knife from its sheath and plunged it into the leg of the alien that held her. The ultra-sharp blade sliced into the survival suit and the muscle beneath. At the same time she twisted her head to the right. The claws of the creature, set to tear out her throat, instead gashed her on the side of the face, cutti
ng down to the bone.

  The Hunter threw her to the side to land hard on the ground, its other hand reaching down to grab the knife. It looked over at the child with hate filled eyes and started to take a step toward her.

  That was a mistake, and Cornelius took off in a run as soon as the child was out of the Hunter’s grasp. The Hunter saw him coming and changed its stance, facing him, the combat knife held out in its right hand, the claws on its left hand extended. The Ranger slowed his head in rush and crouched just out of reach.

  The Hunter moved, a blur of motion, and one of the fastest things Cornelius had ever seen, faster than most Rangers. Most being the key word. Cornelius was still in overdrive, knowing the price he would later pay, and his reflexes were exceptional even for an augmented human. He blocked the slash from the left claws with his right arm, then grappled the right wrist coming in with the knife. Quickly leaning back he brought a side kick into the creature’s waist and pushed it back, then leapt in with a backhand to the face.

  The Hunter went down to the ground and rolled back to its feet. It leapt like a wolf at the man, and Cornelius moved to the side with a step and struck out with his sword. The blade went into the side of the creature, and the Ranger pulled it out with a draw cut. A moment later the hurtling creature hooked its rear claws into the deltoid of his right arm, ripping through the suit and deep into the flesh.

  Cornelius grunted in pain, then looked at the creature as it landed on all fours and turned in place. Blood was pouring from the wound in its side, and he wasn’t sure what was keeping it up.

  “I could be of great use to you,” said the creature, moving forward slowly. “I could give you information that would benefit your side.”

  “I can see that,” said Cornelius, just before the Hunter leapt for his throat. He swung his short sword in an arc and ducked, and the head of the Hunter went flying over his shoulder while the body slammed into him. Lying on the ground, Cornelius pushed the creature off of him, stood up, and looked down at the headless body. “I can also see the benefit it killing all of you lying sons of bitches.”

  Rebecca moaned, and Cornelius was at her side in an instant. His body was starting to shut down from overdrive, and it was demanding that he rest. But he had things to do first, including making sure that this child who had done so much for him survived.

  Her eyes were open, but from the looks of the cornea she had been blinded by the blast. “We’ll fix that,” he told her as he sprayed the wound on her neck with nanites, then gently placed a self-sealing bandage on the gashes. Next he injected more nanites into her neck, sending them on the way to clean up the radiation damage in her cells.

  “What happened?” asked Rebecca, her blind eyes staring ahead. “Are they all dead?”

  “They’re dead, honey. And I would be dead without you, even though I should put you over my knee for disobeying me.”

  Rebecca smiled, despite the pain she must be feeling. “You’re welcome.”

  “Now hold still,” he ordered with a gentle voice. He shrugged off his backpack and pulled the full med kit from its depths. Once inside he found the patches he was looking for and placed them in a container where they would be programed for their task. That done, he set them onto her eyes, one at a time, then wrapped her head with bandage to hold them in place. “These might not do the whole job, Honey, but they’ll start the process. OK?”

  “Are we in danger out here?” she asked, turning her face toward him. “Shouldn’t we be moving?”

  “If there were any survivors of that hell I visited on them, I’m sure they have better things to do,” he said. At least I hope they do, he thought, looking around and seeing absolutely no activity across the valley. Someone might have survived in the bunker, or some of those hardened buildings at the base, but those are still hot spots. Of course there always was the possibility that the Ca’cadasans would send a relief force here, to search for survivors, and he had no illusions what they would do to Rebecca or himself if they were found here.

  “I’m going to pick you up, Honey,” said Cornelius, grabbing her by the waist and lifting her into the air, setting her buttocks on his back and her legs over his shoulders. “Now, let’s get the hell out of here.”

  It was a short walk to the jungle, which was mostly untouched behind the scorched front that the heat of the blast had caused. Some trees were missing branches, some had toppled over or been uprooted, or broken off at some point on the trunk. That made it hard going at first, and the Ranger felt like his eyes wanted to close on their own in mid-walk. By willpower alone he forged on, until the jungle was again whole. He noticed that there were no sounds in that jungle. Every animal had gone to ground, and probably the plantimals as well.

  There it is, he thought, picking out the safe tree. At the base he lowered Rebecca from his shoulders. She was snoring away, exhausted by her ordeal. Just like me. But I’ve got to make sure we’re safe first. Putting her over his shoulder, holding her legs with his right arm, which was starting to stiffen up from its wounds, he began the climb. Fifteen meters up was the first bole. He would have preferred to go higher, but really wasn’t sure if he was capable of doing so. He lay Rebecca again the trunk and pulled her sleeping bag out of her pack, then laid her on it. He gave her another booster shot of nanites, then pushed the remainder in the syringe through his own skin.

  One more thing, he thought, pulling out the sprayer of pheromones and circling the bole. After that he lay down on his own bag and closed his eyes. And was asleep before he knew it.

  * * *

  Rebecca awoke the next morning, at first panicked when she tried to open her eyes and couldn’t. Memories came flooding back, the horror of the preceding day, from the nuke going off across the valley to the encounter with the Hunters. She stifled a scream, putting a hand to her mouth.

  “What’s wrong,” said the man who had carried her to safety.

  “Nothing,” she said, a feeling of security coming over her. “Just bad memories.”

  “You’ll have to deal with those for a while,” said Cornelius. “But it will get better.”

  “Are we going to get out of here?”

  “Yes,” said the man without hesitation. “We will get out of here. We’re just going to wait until you have your vision back.”

  “And how long will that take?”

  “A couple of days, I would think,” he said. “I won’t lie to you. The flash burned the hell out of your retinas. I think you will regain some of your vision, but total reconstruction will have to wait until we get you to a medical facility. Fair enough?”

  “I guess I can live with that,” she agreed, grateful to just be alive. “And what happens to me after that?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I don’t have any family,” said Rebecca, shaking her head, her feelings shifting now to the realm of sorrow.

  There was silence for some minutes, Rebecca lost in her thoughts. Finally the man cleared his throat. “I’ll make sure you have someplace to go,” he said. “You will not be an orphan. You have my word on that.”

  But you’re a soldier with no family yourself, she thought, not voicing her worries. How can you take care of me?

  The next couple of days went by slowly. Rebecca really had nothing to do but recuperate, while the Sergeant made sure that she was fed and protected.

  On the morning of the fourth day after the nuke Cornelius removed her bandages. She could tell something was happening to the good from the way the light was leaking around the patches. Cornelius pulled the left patch off first, and Rebecca blinked the painful tears from her eyes as she tried to focus. She could see the blurred figure of the man in front of her, and another blur, this one brown, that she assumed was the trunk.

  “I can’t see much,” she told Cornelius, more tears rolling out of her eye.

  “Just take it easy,” said the Ranger, patting her on the shoulder. “We’ve still got one to go, and they may improve over the day.”

  T
he next patch came off, to another blurry view, though somewhat better than the other eye. Cornelius still looked blurry, though she could make out his features, and some of the bark of the tree behind him.

  “That one’s better,” she told him, smiling. “Still not good enough to shoot with, but I think I can get around.”

  “Good enough to walk out of this hellhole?”

  “I don’t know,” she said in a quiet voice, thinking about that dangerous jungle. “I’m sure to miss a lot of the threats.”

  “Now look, little girl,” said the man, putting his hands on her shoulders. “You led me through the jungle with your eyes. Now, let me do the same for you. You just make sure that you walk straight and don’t trip, and I’ll take care of everything else.”

  She nodded, all of her doubts about making it out of the jungle gone. This was the guy, after all, who had single handedly taken on the mission his whole company had been assigned, and had completed it. And survived.

  The next morning they started out. Her vision was a little better than the day before. The left was still more than useless, though her right was almost normal. Still, she could see enough to stay close to the Ranger, who also kept an eye on her the whole way. They spent the nights in safe trees, and Cornelius was now an expert on preparation of the secure spot for each sleep period. They spend several days walking to the village where Rebecca had spent time with her brother, where they hoped to spend a day cleaning up and replenishing their supplies.

  Instead they found a grounded aircar in the center of the village, and human soldiers searching the buildings.

  “We’re coming out,” yelled Cornelius from cover, looking at a soldier in light battle armor who stopped in his tracks and turned his weapon in their direction. “We’re human. I’m a Ranger, and I have a civilian survivor with me, a child.”

  “Come out, but slowly,” yelled the soldier after talking into his com.

  Cornelius grabbed Rebecca’s right hand in his left and raised both into the air, along with his other hand. The soldier covered them with his weapon for a few seconds, then lowered it, his visor raising to show a smiling face.