by GARY DARBY
“So, my thought is that we link up with TJ and Sami, head downstream, and then cut back across the valley. Then we’ll either circle back toward the scouters from the other side or head for that downed Star Scout transport.”
He peered at the two, who gave him nods of acceptance. “Good. I’m going to try and contact Sami and TJ first. We’ll just have to chance whether or not those Faction goons are listening. After that, we head across the valley.”
Dason crawled out of the tiny earthen room into a calm and cool morning. He did a quick sweep with the LS, and finding the area clear, switched on his comms.
“This is the hare,” he began, “anyone up in the warren?”
“Dason!” TJ’s voice seemed to explode in his earpiece. “Good to hear you!”
“You too, TJ. Sami, you up?”
“The engine’s cranked and runnin’ 110 percent,” Sami answered. “Give the word and let’s blow this place.”
“I know how you feel,” Dason returned. He took a deep breath and said, “I have Shanon and Nase with me.”
TJ was quick to ask, “Captain Ruz? Any others?”
He all but choked as he replied, “No. I’ll explain when we meet up. We’ll be moving in a few minutes. Ready to head for the prearranged point?”
“That’s a big roger, TL,” Sami replied, “and the sooner, the better.”
“Does that include everyone?” Dason asked pointedly.
“Yes, Dason,” TJ replied, “everyone.”
“Good. Wait for my call and limit the comms chatter for obvious reasons. Understood?”
“Understood,” TJ replied.
A few minutes later, Shanon and Nase came to stand beside Dason. “Ready?” he asked. Getting nods from both, he said, “I’ll take point. Let’s move.”
Dason turned and made his way down the incline and into the forest. With eyes, ears, and mind alert to their surroundings, the trio made their way back across the valley.
Except for the now familiar soaring antics of the birdlike creatures, the woodland was still and quiet. Toward midmorning, Dason stopped the group and opened his comms. “This is TL,” he said.
“Go ahead,” Sami replied.
“We’re near the stream and I’m pretty sure we’re downstream from you; time to move.”
“Roger. We’re gone.”
With quick paces, the three came to the water’s edge and waded across a shallow spot to the far bank. They concealed themselves in some bordering broadleaf vegetation and waited.
Time dragged on for Dason. He needed to get his team reunited and out of harm’s way. Noticing that he rocked back and forth while he knelt, Shanon reached over and said, “Take it easy, they’ll be okay. It’s just taking a little longer than expected.”
“I know,” Dason replied while he gazed upstream. “But, what’s taking them so long?”
“Hey,” she said, “if something bad were going on, Sami or TJ would let us know. Remember how slow the Kerebs moved before?”
“No kidding,” Dason commented. “Unlike after we rescued them, huh?”
She gave him a little smile. “No, certainly not like that.”
Dason jerked his head up. Sami was coming around a small bend next to the stream. Dason stood and gave a short wave. Sami raised a hand and trotted up to greet his teammates.
He stopped and looked around with arched eyebrows, a questioning expression evident on his face. At once, Dason understood; he was wondering about Bianca and the others.
“I’ll explain when TJ gets here,” Dason answered.
Sami nodded and reached into his vest to pull out Dason’s LifeSensor. “You might be needing this,” he said.
Dason nodded his thanks. He looked past Sami but didn’t see TJ or Alena, or any sign of the Kerebs. “Where are the others?” he asked.
“About thirty meters back,” Sami replied. “The little guys are a handful to move, so I went ahead to meet up with you. Alena’s no help and TJ practically has to push them along.”
Shanon nudged Sami. “You sure they’re guys?”
Sami opened his mouth, but then closed it. “Come to think of it, no, I don’t, or rather, we don’t.”
“No,” Dason returned, “but does it matter? You sure they’re okay?”
“They’re fine, Dason, but to tell you the truth, between Alena and the Xees, I’m about ready to shoot all—”
“Whoa,” Dason said, “calm down. What’s been going on?”
“Tell me this,” Sami retorted. “Did you make a pass at Alena when you two were alone and she clobbered you or did you not make a pass, and she was expecting one?”
Dason glanced over at Shanon, who returned his look with a bemused expression. “No, to both, Sami. What are you talking about?”
“Let’s just say the comments she’s made about you haven’t been exactly complimentary. It’s odd, but for some reason, it’s like you’re in her personal bull’s eye.”
“Got the picture,” Dason said. “And the XTs?”
“Phhh!” Sami said between pinched lips. “They woke just after sunset last eve. Since then, it’s been constant, chit-chit-this, chit-chit-that at each other.
“Anyway, after they woke up, they would come over, look at us, go back, chitter some more and repeat the once-over act. I was beginning to think they were cannibals, and I was a piece of beef they were sizing up for a meal.”
He smiled as he said, “They tried it with Alena, and she shoved two of them so hard that they nearly skidded halfway across the cave. Boy, did that get them chattering!
“After a while, they decided to leave. We didn’t try to stop them. They went outside for maybe two minutes before they came scurrying back into the cave.”
“Shortly after sundown, you said?” Dason asked.
Sami nodded while saying, “Yeah, about then. Why?”
Dason explained about seeing the huge alien ship. “Did any of you see or hear it overhead?”
“So that’s what that noise was,” Sami replied. “No, we didn’t see but heard it. We thought it was another one of those flyers that we saw before and stayed out of sight.”
“Guess that settles the question of whose ship it was,” Dason said. “If it belonged to the Kerebs, they wouldn’t have come running back, but would have tried to contact it somehow.”
Sami shifted his stance and went on. “When you called this morning, we simply left the cave without trying to get them to move or follow. They followed, but they have two speeds, slow and slower.
“TJ feels obligated to watch over them, and I think Alena can’t make up her mind who she hates worse, you or them.”
He turned and his eyes caught movement on the trail. “And speaking of the little devils . . .”
TJ and the three Kerebs came around the stream’s tight bend. Alena trailed behind, and it was apparent that she had no desire to help move the XTs along.
However, when the aliens saw Dason and Sami, they speeded up, leaving TJ behind with a perplexed expression on her face.
The little aliens surrounded Dason and rapidly spoke among themselves in their language. Sami quipped, “Hail, the conquering hero. You seem to have acquired a fan club.”
Dason waved to TJ and Alena. For a brief time, the young scouts treated themselves to a heartfelt reunion. Then Dason gave Sami and TJ the bad news regarding Bianca and the other Star Scouts.
Afterward, with the little aliens practically chittering in his ear, he said to the group, “This is the plan. We’ll follow the creek and go farther down the valley.
“Then we cross over and head toward the valley’s far end and the hills. If it looks clear, we’ll try for our landing site. If not, we hunt for the downed transport.”
He drew in a breath. “Hopefully in all of this we avoid the Jakuta.”
TJ pushed one of the Kerebs aside. “One little problem, Dason.”
“What’s that?” Dason asked.
“About an hour or so after you called this morning, I was partwa
y up the hillside surveying the valley floor. Saw a scouter, flying low, just above the hills before I lost sight of it.”
Sami said with a little shrug, “So, either the Jakuta ripped off one of our scouters or you know who got their hands on a ship.”
Dason gave a slow nod of agreement before saying, “And if Captain Ruz or one of the other Star Scouts were at the helm they would have contacted us to effect a linkup.”
“My guess,” Nase commented, “is that at least one or more Gadion fought their way out of the battle and made their way to the scouters.”
Dason glanced skyward and shook his head. “If that’s the case, and if TJ saw the scouters lift, there’s a good chance the Jakuta saw it too. By now, they’ve probably found our landing site.”
Dason slammed his open palm against his thigh. “My mistake. We should have taken the chance and tried for the ships!” he exclaimed to no one in particular.
“Dason,” Shanon said, “it was a gamble we took, and it didn’t pay off. No one is blaming you. The only thing to do now is to try for that scout transport crash site.”
Dason met her gaze and nodded. “You’re right. It’s a stretch but perhaps our best chance. We’ll move downstream, find a good place to cut through the hills.”
He then turned to Alena. He dug into his torso vest, hesitated for a second, before handing her his last comms spare set.
“Shanon will show you how it works,” he said.
Stone-faced, she said, “I think I can figure it out.”
Dason shrugged and then said, “Nase, TJ, and Alena, overwatch the Kerebs. If they slow down again, do what you must to get them moving. Sami, Path Finder. Shanon, cover our six.”
Alena held up a quick hand. “I don’t play nursemaid. You want to babysit these three, go ahead. I’ve stomached about as much of them as I can.”
Before Dason could coldly respond to Alena, TJ offered, “Nase and I can handle it. Besides, they seem to think you’re the group’s alpha, so lead on. I believe that they’ll follow.”
Dason glared at Alena, who stood with a defiant stare, almost daring him to do more than just glower. With a disgusted grunt, he headed down the path, the aliens hurrying behind.
For an hour, the group trudged through the woods alongside the ever widening creek. The aliens stayed almost right behind Dason, with their clicks and squeaks almost in his ear.
Irritated by the constant noise, Dason turned to TJ. “Isn’t there any way to shut them up? They’re going to give us away.”
In a curt tone, TJ shot back, “Don’t you think we’ve tried? They just ignore us. You’re the Pied Piper—you do something.”
Dason opened his mouth to retort, but took a deep breath instead. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have snapped.”
Just then, his communicator came on and Shanon said, “TL, we’ve got trouble. Jakuta on our back trail and closing.”
“Distance?” Dason asked in a tense voice.
“Maybe a kilometer. Only reason I saw them was that they crossed an open space on the hillside. They’re on the high ground above us.”
“Got it. Sami, pick up the pace.”
“What about trying one of these ravines off to our left?” Sami asked. “It might be a way through the hills.”
“Unless you can find a trail with a fairly gentle upgrade,” Dason replied, “I don’t think it’ll work with present company. But, if you see something that you think might work, let me know—otherwise, keep moving.”
“Roger,” Sami said.
Dason dropped back next to Alena. “You heard?” he asked.
She nodded. Dason paused and then said, “The Kerebs are going to slow us down. I need your help.”
Dason felt as if her cold, hard stare could freeze flowing red-hot lava.
Dason met her hard expression with his own before his face and voice softened. “Please. Not for me, for the team.”
The lithe young woman frowned at Dason, her eyes never softening. Then, without a word, she broke into a lope to catch up with TJ and Nase. She started prodding the aliens into a faster pace. Dason stayed where he was until Shanon came into view.
“The Jakuta?” he asked.
She gestured upward at the hill’s flank and said, “At least two parties, one on the hillside, and another behind us.”
He and Shanon concealed themselves beside the rippling stream and gazed upstream. “Any ideas?” he asked Shanon.
“Well,” she answered, “I wouldn’t suggest a shootout, for starters. What do we have, four or five laz-guns between us? Not good odds.”
She glanced at him under lowered eyebrows. “Keep moving, try and stay ahead of them, head for that scout transport. That’s about as far as my thinking goes.”
Dason eyed the forest before he said to Shanon, “Do you think we can stay ahead of the Jakuta? Those Kerebs aren’t moving real fast and I don’t know how to speed them up.”
“I know,” Shanon replied. “Maybe we should split up. Send a two-person team ahead to find the transport, while the rest find a place to hide. Either way is a big risk.”
Dason shrugged while saying, “What isn’t a risk right now, but—”
He was cut off by Sami speaking in a rapid voice over the comms, “TL, we’ve got a problem. Everyone needs to go to cover and you better get up here.”
“Understood. Team, freeze, go to ground,” Dason ordered.
To Shanon he said, “Stay here. Keep me posted.”
He moved away and in stoop sprinted by the leading group which, along with the Kerebs, were hunkered underneath some low-hanging tree limbs.
Topping a small knoll, he spotted Sami kneeling behind the trunk of a large tree that sat next to the widening stream. He motioned for Dason to join him. Dason scrambled down the short slope and went to one knee.
“Three problems,” Sami began. With an outstretched hand toward the forestland across the small river, he said, “Problem number one.”
Dason turned to look at where Sami indicated. He leaned forward and said, “What is that?”
“Actually,” Sami responded, “ss Captain Ruz would say, it’s what are those? Look further back.”
Dason spotted movement and understood what Sami meant. A herd of ten or more of the creatures moved in a ponderous fashion through the forest. Every so often, one of the animals would make a soft booming sound and swish its massive head back and forth, causing its single trumpet-like horn to jiggle.
One of the smaller ones bumped its head against a larger edition. Dason gestured at the group as he said, “Looks like they have juveniles in the herd.”
“Which probably makes them a whole bunch more dangerous,” Sami replied.
“What do you think? Herbivore or carnivore?” Dason asked.
“Does it matter?” Sami snorted. “Something that looks like an elephant-sized Rhinoceros Beetle has my vote to stay away from no matter what they eat.”
“Yeah, but we need to get across,” Dason replied.
“I don’t think that’s going to happen anytime soon,” Sami remarked. “They don’t seem to be in any hurry to get wherever they’re going.”
Dason took a deep breath and clicked open his communicator. “Shanon, how are we doing back there?”
“Not good,” she answered. “They’re closing. There’s a group on the stream’s other side as well, and they’re moving pretty fast.”
“Okay, keep monitoring.” Dason grimaced and asked Sami, “The other problems?”
“Follow me,” Sami said.
Sami led Dason by the stream until they topped a small hill. A muted rumbling filled the air. Sami gestured downstream and said, “Problem number two.”
Dason took one look and stopped cold. Upstream the little river narrowed between a series of high, tree-topped hills. The water had carved the hillside into sheer cliffs on both sides that funneled the racing river through a narrow chute until it plunged over a jagged precipice and into a sharp gorge.
Over the jetting water, a c
rown of sparkling mist half-hid the yellowish rocks that lined the narrow canyon walls beyond. Sami pulled at Dason’s arm and motioned below. “Problem number three.”
Just below Dason was a gushing, gray-green torrent of water that churned through a boulder- and tree-lined channel to empty into the broader waterway.
This watercourse was no babbling, gurgling brook, but rather a raging flood of water that pounded at the rocks with liquid fists.
Dason peered at the sharp hillside to his left. Thick brush and short, yellow-leafed trees covered its flanks. Hemmed in by the steep, vegetation-covered hill on one side and the river on the other, the only real navigable way for the team to follow was the stream bank.
“What do you think?” he asked Sami. “We try the hill or follow this channel up farther and find a place to cross?”
Sami studied the dense undergrowth and the hillside’s steep slope. He shook his head emphatically and declared, “Not unless we all turn into Sherpas and carry the XTs piggyback are we going up that hill.”
He rubbed a grimy hand across his forehead and said, “Plus, if the Jakuta have a party above us, they’ll probably see us long before we spot them.”
Dason surveyed the roiling waters before he said through his cheek mike, “Shanon, stop your surveillance and join the main body, I need you up here.”
“On my way.”
“TJ, Nase, bring everyone forward,” he ordered.
A few minutes later, the main party came over the small hill and joined Dason and Sami. Just after, Shanon closed ranks with the group. “How much time do we have?” Dason asked her.
She hesitated for a second before saying, “Best guess? Twenty minutes, top.”
Grim-faced, Dason turned to the group. “We’re cut off on three sides. We can’t go back, or up the hill, nor can we go over the river to the other side.”
He pointed at the rushing water. “We have to cross that.”
Alena laughed aloud. “Are you crazy? I suggest you take another hard look. And in case you haven’t noticed, there’s a waterfall just downstream. One of us slips, and—”
Dason motioned with his head, and the five scouts turned away from Alena and walked to the roaring stream’s edge. The water surged against the boulder-lined banks and slapped at exposed tree roots.
