Crystal peaked around the corner of the rock, seeing the Drag maneuvering behind a rock as well, copying Crystal and Daf’s ploy.
Perfect, thought Crystal. “We sneak up on him. I’ll move forward, but in a short arc to his right. You do the same, but on his left. One of us will get him on his flank. Use as many rocks for cover as possible.”
“Will do, Chief!”
“Okay, go!” barked Crystal.
While moving around her rock and running to the next and then to the next in a circular arc, she didn’t see the Drag move an iota. Its shoulder was slightly exposed in its hiding place, but not enough to justify another round of blasts, plus, doing so might give away her position. But, she also knew that if the Drag had an HDC or something similar in its Mech, then it was watching their tactics. But, two against one was always good odds.
“Its not moving, Crystal,” said Daf.
Crystal moved to another rock, gaining a better view of the Drag and by the look of things, the enemy Mech's window pane was blasted open. The occupant, wearing a green outfit with a mask outlined in gray, looked dead or unconscious. Its body was hanging by the Mech’s shoulder straps, with blood splatter on its chest and legs. She thought the pilot must have been hit several times through the shattered window, but lived long enough to move its Mech behind a rock before it died.
“I think the occupant is dead. I’m going in for a closer look,” said Crystal.
Daf replied, “Um…better thought—let’s just get to the mountain.”
Crystal nodded. “Yes, no time to waste, and there might be more of them.” They moved their Mechs quickly through Stab Straights, moving from rock to rock while keeping their eyes open for another attack. Exiting the straights and trekking up a barren hill, they saw Forever Mountain right in front of them. Crystal looked at her HDC and said, “3 minutes to the base of the mountain.”
“I’m counting my lucky stars,” responded Daf.
Me too, thought Crystal as she surveyed the wide open space between them and Forever Mountain. No boulders, just a large mass that would be considered a meadow of ebb, which would also be mined some day. If they wanted to hide or be invisible, this wasn’t the right place.
“This doesn’t look like the safest places to cross,” said Daf. “What should we do?”
“Look for any signs of—”
Her Mech shuddered backwards as an explosion beneath her rocked her upward, jolting her head backward and then violently forward. If it weren’t for the shoulder restraints, her face would have plastered onto her HDC. A second blast exploded. All of her systems went down, then the HDC went dead with her com link airing static.
“Oh, shit!” She stared out the window to see black smoke rising. She was hit hard, but she didn't know by what. She tried to move forward, but her Mech wouldn’t respond. Then she heard a clank and a grinding sound as she felt her Mech falling backwards, then felt the jolting force of her Mech slamming against the earth, whiplashing her neck back and forth a second time.
S, where in Guild are you? But then Crystal realized that she may have walked right into a trap set up by S. How could she have been so stupid, trusting someone on the other side of a screen, someone unseen and belonging to the race that was attacking her?
She unstrapped her restraints to kick at her HDC. “Dammit! What do I do now?!” Then she peered out the window, trying to get a clear view of Daf, hoping that perhaps she'd have taken out whatever it was that had just killed her Mech. But, since her Mech was lying on its back, her view was blue sky through black smoke.
She pressed her cheek against the window, trying to gain a better angle to see where her Mech was damaged. When she couldn't get a good look, she moved from the window and fussed with the com link line, trying to fix it.
A loud clank sounded against her Mech as something bumped it hard. Her heart pounded as her eyes moved back to the window, then her mouth dropped open. Coming down on her was a giant Mech foot that seemed to move in slow motion.
Without thinking it through, she automatically pressed the hatch button, opening the dome of her Mech's head. The heat of the day entered, stirring gently across her skin and making her recognize the folly she had just committed, but it was too late.
She scrambled out of her Mech onto the hard, rocky surface of the Lumus, with the giant mountain directly in front of her. Then a thump knocked the wind out of her from behind as fire erupted from her Mech, throwing her through the air to tumble across the rocky ground. When she stopped tumbling, she looked up to see her Mech's cockpit crushed underneath the enemy Mech's foot, then watched as the enemy twisted around and run toward Daf.
“Daf!” screamed Crystal, wanting her to run away as fast as she could, but instead, Crystal stared in amazement as Daf and the Drag started shooting back and forth at each other. But, there was no way Daf's Mech could hold its own against the Drag. The sounds of the shots were loud and the impacts even louder. Daf ducked away from the cannon fire, getting off two laser successions at the Drag, hitting it squarely in the chest and causing it to sway backwards for a moment. But, able to steady itself, the Drag moved to the right, successfully avoiding another hit and getting off another four rounds of cannons, but missing Daf with every single shot.
“Go, Daf, go! Run! Get out of here!” yelled Crystal, hoping that Daf could somehow hear her.
Daf shot another round and then another as the Drag spun around. Daf moved forward at a quick pace, but the Drag's Mech was also quick and it turned, firing its blasters, yet wildly missing Daf. Was it just dumb luck or was the driver inside of the Mech a novice or was S actually helping them by somehow screwing up the Drag's aiming abilities?
“No, Daf! No!” Crystal stood, raising her hand in the air for Daf to stop, but Daf obviously couldn't see or hear her,and most likely thought she was dead. But, Daf's strategy was as unintelligent as Crystal had ever seen, charging like a bull, firing one cannon after another, slamming laser impulses and ion blasts all over the Drag's Mech.
Armor flew and smoke streamed from the Mech, but Crystal knew that Daf's full on charge wouldn't work against the much larger opponent. The Drag waited for Daf, its weapons still firing wildly, as if malfunctioning, and when Daf finally got close, the enemy Mech raised its forearm and slammed it against Daf's Mech. Daf's window burst through the air, littering the ground. Her Mech teetered backwards and toppled hard on its back.
Crystal ran toward Daf, then stopped dead in her tracks when the Drag lifted its foot and brought it down on Daf's cockpit.
Crystal dropped to her knees in defeat. “No!” How could Daf be so dumb? She shook her head, wanting to run at the enemy just like Daf had done, screaming and slamming her fists against the evil Mech's feet.
The Drag backed up and peered down at Daf's Mech, then turned around and walked in the opposite direction, away from Crystal, obviously thinking that both of its opponents were dead.
Crystal raised both fists to pound the ground with frustration, but stopped mid swing. There was something wrong about the ground. What exactly was she looking at? Shocked, she gaped and stood up, seeing what she had always seen as plain red, gray, and black ebb, now had shining specs of gold and sparkles of clear crystal. Looking around, it was everywhere the eye could see.
“What is this?”
But then she thought of Daf, who might still be alive, so she pushed herself forward, running on the strange new ebb. But, it wasn't new at all, it had to be here all along. How could she not have seen it like this? Why would the gold and sparkling rock not show up in the ebb buildings or walls in the warehouses, on the starbase, or anywhere, for that matter? Shaking her head, she realized that for right now, it didn't matter. Daf was in serious trouble—if she wasn't dead.
Sparks and smoke were rising from Daf's cockpit and Crystal ran as fast as she could. If her friend was alive, she would have to get her out of the Mech, or Daf wouldn't have a chance if the wreckage burst into flame.
Crystal got to the Mech and s
topped just before peeking into the smashed cockpit. She didn’t want to see a bloody body shredded up, especially Daf’s. She'd always been a headache, but she was still a friend, and living with that image in her mind for the rest of her life wasn’t something she wanted to do.
A small explosion suddenly occured in the cockpit, coming from the area that the HDC would be, interrupted her thoughts. Thicker black smoke trailed out of the cockpit and Crystal placed her hand over her heart, knowing that Daf most likely wasn’t alive. She took a quick glance over her shoulder to see the enemy Mech even further away, then grabbed a piece of armor just below Daf’s cockpit and pulled herself on top of the downed Mech. Then two minutes registered in her mind, making her stop and look around in a panic. How long had she been out of her Mech? Shouldn’t she be dead by now, or at least experiencing excrutiating pain? She'd been out of her cockpit gravity stabilizers for at least five minutes, if not more, so gravity sickness should have already kicked in.
What the Guild is going on? Am I dreaming?
She checked her pulse. It was strong and her eye sight was clear and her fingers and toes weren’t tingling, either, which would have been a sign of the gravity on Lumus beginning to crush her, or so she had always been told.
A spark from a broken wire fizzed brightly, pulling her thoughts back to where they needed to be, and the gravity conundrum could wait.
Crystal pulled herself to the edge of Daf's cockpit and looked in, holding her breath, then let out a deep sigh of relief when she saw that her friend was fully intact with eyes closed and still breathing, her chest covered with blood.
“Daf!”
No response. She was unconscious, which didn't surprise Crystal, so she jumped down into the cockpit, unstrapped Daf, pulled her out of the straps to hold her in her arms and shout, “Daf! Wake up!” Then she tapped her face, crying, “Daf!”
Crystal heard a loud snap and looked wildly around. She pulled Daf out of the way as the HDC fell through the shoulder straps where Daf had just been. It crashed, landing on the back of the cockpit, and with another sizzle, sparks blew out of the HDC as a wave of panic swept through Crystal. She had to get them out of the Mech in case it blew up.
Pulling Daf close to her body, Crystal screamed Daf’s name again. If Daf could wake up and help Crystal move her out of the Mech, then it would be that much easier. But, of course, Daf didn’t wake up.
Crystal tapped the hatch button. It unlocked with a hiss, then opened so Crystal could pull Daf's limp body out of the Mech. Then Crystal began dragging her across the ebb meadow. After fifty yards or so, she stopped, let go of Daf and fell to her side, gasping for air.
Crystal had to calm herself down. She was panicking and losing too much energy. She leaned over, ready to vomit, but nothing came up. She wiped spittle from her mouth and eyed the immediate vicinity to find a place to hide, and fast. The base of the mountain was just another hundred yards away and she knew what she had to do—find a tunnel. She grabbed Daf by the arm and started pulling her up the slight incline toward the mountain as her mind spun with memories of killing time by exploring the tunnels that were riddled throughout the mountain. This was good and she knew she would probably find one soon.
Then she dropped Daf again, bent over and put her hands on her knees to rest. Drips of sweat fell from the tip of her nose to her shoe. She moaned, but she knew she had to keep going, so she slipped her arms under Daf's armpits and pulled her along as she watched Daf's shoes scraping wavy lines in the golden-red dust of the rocky terrain. Only about thirty more yards.
Her legs burning and her head pounding from adrenaline, Crystal released a loud growl and abruptly dropped Daf with a thud. Then she leaned over again, trying to catch her breath. How hot is it? She glanced at the sun, then back at the ground, thinking it must be at least 120 degrees and the heat was getting to her. She knew she didn't have much time.
Loud sounds filled the sky and she looked up, wondering what it could be until she saw them.
“Oh, Guild!” She forgot about her lack of energy and pulled Daf by her arm pits as fast as she could. Two starfighters were in the sky and coming in fast. She figured she had less than a minute to find cover.
“Daf!” She yelled, then stopped herself, realizing that if Daf woke up at this moment, it might slow things down.
Crystal desperately looked behind her as she pulled and saw a huge boulder at the mountain base. Tunnel entrances were usually around boulders and she prayed that this boulder was one of them. If not, it might at least provide enough cover to shield them from attack.
Ten more yards, you can do it Crystal!
The starfighter sounds got louder and the ground began to rumble as they approached.
When she got to the boulder, the two large craft thundered overhead in a blink of an eye. Relieved, she watched them leave for a moment, then dropped Daf to the ground and leaned against the boulder. She wiped the sweat from her brow and slid to the ground, crossed her legs and let her head fall into her hands.
There she cried, glad to still be alive, knowing that she and Daf should be dead by Drags or the gravity. But, the gravity had to be another lie created by the governance. In frustration, she hit the ground with a fist, then rubbed her knuckles, seeing the red dirt with gold and clear sparkles dotting her skin. Then the sound of starfighters again filled the air. They were swinging back around, which got Crystal to her feet.
Crystal gripped Daf's wrists and pulled her around the boulder, where she stumbled backwards into the mouth of a tunnel. The starfighters zoomed overhead, obviously searching for more humans. She pulled Daf further into the dim tunnel, wishing she would have grabbed a flashlight out of her Mech. She laid Daf on the ground and leaned against the wall, grateful for the coolness of the dark as she stared out the tunnel entrance, looking for any signs of movement.
“Why is it getting so dark? Am I dead?” Daf asked in a soft whisper.
“Daf?” Crystal bent over Daf, stroking her hair. “We're in a tunnel,” she whispered.
Daf touched Crystal's hand. “Are we inside of the mountain?”
“Yes, we made it to a tunnel.”
“I can barely see you.” Daf moved her head, opening and closing her eyes. “Am I losing my sight? Am I dying?”
“You aren't losing your sight and you're not dying. It's just dark in these tunnels.”
Daf tried to get up, but dropped back down and said, “My leg hurts.”
Crystal touched Daf's thigh “This one?”
“No, the other one, just below the knee. It's on fire.”
Crystal felt the area and said, “Yeah, its hot and most likely swollen. Hopefully, it's just a bone bruise and not a break. Can you move it?”
Daf cringed. “Yes, but it hurts.”
“Wiggle your toes, Daf.”
Daf wiggled her toes slowly. “I can.”
“Good. It's probably just banged up pretty good and not broken. You also have blood on your chest, but I haven't checked to see what's going on there.”
Daf's eyes widened as she blurted, “Well—check!”
“It's too dark in here to see.”
“Where's your flash light?”
“In the Mech,” replied Crystal, bringing her hands to Daf's chest, not too excited about feeling for something that was probably bad, perhaps an open wound, or at least a cracked rib. On second thought, if her ribs were cracked, Daf wouldn't be talking because just breathing would be difficult. Perhaps it was just a flesh wound.
“You don't have it clipped to your buckle?” Daf was a bit surprised.
“No, do you have yours?”
Daf felt her buckle, then nodded. “Here.”
“Wow, some good luck after all.”
Crystal unclipped it, turned it on and pointed at Daf's chest. There was indeed a slash across Daf's Mech suit that had cut the skin just above the sternum, but it wasn't bad at all and the blood was drying nicely.
“Am I okay?”
“Yeah, you'll
live. It's just a scratch wound.” Crystal pointed the light down the tunnel and stood up, her face twisting in confusion.
Daf slowly turned onto her side, but yelped, “Owe!” Then she moved her foot and flinched. “Damn, there is something wrong with my shin.”
Crystal took several steps forward, ignoring Daf, as she aimed the light at the ground and moved it back and forth as she proceeded forward.
“Crystal? My leg is killing me.”
Crystal held up her hand. “Shh.” Then she bent down, examining the ground, then lifted the light to look down the tunnel again. “Foot prints.”
“Foot prints?” Daf touched her lower leg. “Yow!”
“Shh!” Crystal tilted her head, still studying the footprints. “Dozens of them heading that way.” She pointed her flashlight down the tunnel. “They look like children's feet, but much wider.”
“The Drags?”
Crystal shook her head and moved over to Daf. “I'm helping you up and we're following these footprints to wherever they go, even if I have to carry you on my back.”
“What if they're Drags?”
Crystal frowned. “They aren't. They're too small.”
“Human?” asked Daf.
“No. Too wide to be human, so I don't know what the Guild they are!”
∞
Eden was staring through Swift's viewing screen in awe of the beautiful red planet, Lumus, her old stomping grounds. But, then she almost laughed. Stomping grounds? She'd only been planet side a couple of times, having preferred the biosphere on Starbase Matrona by far, as did most others. Plus, Lumus was practically off limits to everyone except the miners who wandered around in Mechs.
A loud beep sounded on the bridge. She flinched, then twisted around to eye Thomas Berard standing on the landing just a couple of steps away, studying the vid screen. His eyes moved to hers, instantly calming her with the peaceful wisdom and understanding of his sweet and gentle gaze. He pointed to the vid screen. “Twelve O'clock. We have Scavengers.”
Eden looked at the screen to watch the odd sight of a large ship sucking chunks of wrecked Thunderbirds and debris into its great belly like a vacuum cleaner. Then a soft fingertip touched her forearm. It was Nyx with her sparkling eyes. “Eden, they're hailing us.” Nyx gave a nod to someone else and Eden looked beyond her to see one of the three bluish cat-like humanoids she'd previously met. Oh, yeah, that's a Sirian.
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