Vaughn snapped the case shut and leaned over to scoop it up. "Oof! Heavier than it looks!"
"We got company," Riga said.
"Same here," Umi replied.
Shapes moved in the hall and crept ahead through the shafts of light. Outside a pack of the hunters prowled through the rusted hulks. Out of the darkness a pair of eyes shone back with a touch of emerald green.
Umi focused his aim on the closest set. "You got it, Vaughn?"
"It's heavy!"
"Tolly, take it!" Umi yelled. He stepped backwards slowly without lowering the weapon. "Everyone get ready."
The hunter didn't leap, or jump, or even move. It simply sat on the edge of the darkness. It breathed in and out, a rumbling sound, and waited. Others crept up near it.
"Everyone out, nice and slow," Umi said.
Vik and Vaughn stepped out first with Tolly right behind. Every single weapon was raised up and pointed at one of the hunters. On the outside the predators stood in the sunlight and stared.
Umi stepped into the light and sweat poured down his face. He wanted to wipe his brow but didn't dare release his grasp on the weapon. The green eyes stared back at him and he waited for it to pounce. "Sevel, things might get interesting. We're going to—"
"They're above!" Vaughn yelled. He cracked loose a three round burst.
Half a dozen of the predators darted back into the cover of the building. The roar of the gunfire echoed through the dead city.
Umi snapped his eyes up to the empty windows, then back down to the darkness. The green eyes were gone. "Move!"
The hunters scattered as the echoes roared back through the buildings. Shapes darted past buildings, from one shadow to the next, and appeared for no more than a moment. The Sigg ran as fast as Tollefson could carry the awkward case. His face was tight and sweat poured down his arms. White teeth shone in the sunlight as he grunted with each waddling step.
"There's one!" Vaughn said. "It's gone."
"One more," Kelly said.
Umi tracked one, then another, then another. Each time he caught a good look it disappeared into the ruins. A moment later a different hunter appeared somewhere else.
"They're getting closer," Riga said. He slung his sniper rifle over his shoulder and popped out a handgun.
A hunter darted out in front of them and clambered up on top of a heap of rubble. It glared down with green eyes and bared its teeth. Riga snapped the pistol up and drummed off a string of rounds. Brass flew over his shoulder as the hunter flew back and growled.
The first round struck it in the mouth, while the others hammered into its shoulder. Its tongue lolled out and red blood trailed down its face. The other wounds punctured the skin but instead of flesh peering out there was a twinkle of wet steel. It roared and reared back.
"Shit," Riga said.
Vik stepped ahead and punched out a full burst. The rounds slapped into the hunter's stomach and the beast fell to the ground. It thrashed for a moment and was still.
Umi tracked one hunter after the next but the moment he had aim it disappeared into the greenery or ruins. He quickly wiped the sweat from his face and in an instant one of the hunters appeared and rushed ahead. He fired a burst into it and the creature darted back into cover. "They're testing us!"
They held a steady pace through the maze of destroyed vehicles. The hunters surged in one at a time, then by twos. The Sigg fired in bursts and drove them back each time.
"The hell are they waiting for?" Vaughn yelled, soaked in sweat.
Riga pointed his pistol at the street they were heading to. "For us to get in there."
"Tolly, can you run?" Umi said.
"Da," Tollefson said. He strained the words. The cords of his neck were tight.
"Keep formation on Tolly. Everyone stick together. Now go!" Umi yelled.
They ran through the wreckage and down the middle of the street. Buildings loomed overhead like odd caricatures. It was silent for a moment, the hunters disappeared.
Umi's heart pounded in his chest. He kept turning and expected to see the maw of the hunter closing but they were gone. They were almost to the square. The cutter hovered above, barely visible in the haze. We're going to make it, he thought.
The first one leaped down from above and swatted Vaughn aside. The infantry leader tumbled against a heap of rubble. The others fired on the cat-like creature.
It stumbled and roared and tried to snap its stout jaws at Tollefson but missed.
Vaughn was back on his feet and running with a limp. He stopped for a second and fired off a long burst into the dark windows above. "There's more!"
Umi grabbed onto Vaughn's arm and the pair ran like two drunks.
Vik spun, dropped to a knee, and fired past Umi and Vaughn. "Go, go!"
Umi wanted to looked behind him, he wanted to know how close, the animal part inside of him needed to know. But instead he ran.
Kelly halted and fired. Vik sprinted past and they leap frogged ahead. Vaughn, then Blaser, then Kelly, then Vik. Riga sprinted in the lead, leaving the rest behind.
A hunter pounced out and Umi shot it in the chest.
The beast tumbled and roared. It rose up again with its green eyes alight.
Umi pulled the trigger again and was greeted with a click. "Out!" He spun Vaughn to the side and Vaughn let loose.
"Sevel! Now!" Umi yelled.
The cutter dropped down out of the haze and roared to the ground. Jets blasted debris away and mud rocketed out into the air. The hunters fell back into the shadows and they attacked.
One of them latched onto Tollefson's shoulders. Its claws dug into his back and pushed him to the ground. Vik raced to the creature and emptied his clip into the side of its head. It fell to the side and they pulled Tollefson out.
Umi passed Vaughn to Blaser and dropped to a knee next to Tollefson.
Tollefson's eyes fluttered and blood poured from his wounds.
"Riga!" Umi yelled. He cursed and grabbed onto Tollefson's arm. He never expected the mercenary attitude to include one of his own men. The coward ran, he left them for dead to save his own hide. His white hot anger drove him.
"I got the other!" Kelly said. She grabbed Tollefson's other arm. The two pulled him toward the waiting cutter.
Vik stooped down and grabbed the case. He groaned and shuffled ahead. Only Blaser and Vaughn continued to fire but more and more of the hunters raced down the street. It was as if they understood what would happen if the case made it onto the cutter.
Umi, pulling backwards with all his might, could now see the approaching hunters. Anger and fear washed over him. He couldn't stop and fight nor could he just continue. Blaser continued to fire while Vaughn covered the buildings above.
But still the hunters charged.
A hunter leaped toward Umi. Its claws glittered in the humid light. For a split second it seemed to hang in the air, poised to land directly on Tollefson.
Umi saw it. He knew the moment, felt it in his heart, and tried to pull up his sidearm.
A shot rang out and the side of the hunter's head exploded. Another high pitched crack roared, and another, and another. Riga laid on the floor of the cutter and fired from the prone position. The sniper fire poured out and finally the charge broke.
The cutter hovered and the Sigg passed the crate, and Tollefson, up before everyone else climbed in. The hunters prowled on the edge of the square but none ventured any closer to them.
Umi was the last one in. He leaped up, took Riga's hand, and grinned at the sniper. "I thought you left us."
"Ain't no bonus for me if you're dead, eh?"
Tollefson lay on the floor with bandages covering his back. The digital compresses hissed and pulsed and staunched the bleeding. Then he snored.
"Tough son of a bitch," Kelly said with a smile.
"Hold on!" Sevel said.
Umi sat and closed his eyes. They'd made it. Now, hopefully it was all worth it.
#
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Lishun Delta - 300 Kilometers South of the Mackinof Front
They drove like an ancient caravan traversing the wastes. The column stretched out through the snow. At the lead a single tank crawled hesitantly along a high slope. For a moment it stopped, pivoted, then continued forward.
Tomi blinked hard and focused on the numbers. Diagnostics data and force sensors sparkled on his viewscreen. All of it was overlaid on the panoramic view from outside. He studied the load dispersion and pivoted a bit more. "It's soft on either side, I think we're okay."
"Keep moving," Sergeant Nikov said.
Bulldog crawled ahead and gently tested the sides of the route. Behind her the column followed exactly in her track.
Tomi focused on the path ahead and studied every feature he could see. Was that slope too sharp? Did that rise look brownish and wet? How far would this finger lead? His eyes darted to the mountains and he cursed the hydraulic pressures that caused the groundwater to percolate up.
He hadn't slept in forty hours. The first twenty-four were the worst. His eyes ached and felt raspy. He nodded off once and woke to Sergeant Nikov kicking his helmet. Luckily he didn't slide off into the muck.
How anything could remain liquid in these conditions amazed him. Once they stopped at a wide flat of mud. The entire column drove in reverse for an hour until he could find a new route. It was his greatest fear, he was leading them into nothingness.
At about thirty-six hours he got a second wind. Lights danced on the edge of his eyes and he started second guessing himself. He slowed the tank and studied the force readings. One bogey wheel showed too much force, or was it too little? He blinked again and cursed.
Behind him the infantry talked. Boredom was overwhelming. Hess and Wellington continued to gamble. Any conversation was a group conversation.
"Well I prefer liquor, beer just takes to long ya know?" Mick said. "You can get good and drunk, then just sip and enjoy it."
"I dunnom Mickey boy," Puck said. "A bottle of wine now—"
The crew roared in laughter.
Tomi couldn't help but smile. He missed not being part of the conversation but was glad they were talking. If all he did was drive in silence the stress would have overwhelmed him.
"Culture, you guys need culture," Puck said.
"I say cheap and quick. It's quantity, not quality," Private Sophia said. He drummed up his voice and tried to drown out the protests.
"Gotta have standards," Hutchins said.
"See!" Puck yelled.
Tomi sighed and released the accelerator for a second. He saw something in the distance. A building, a rounded roof and some outbuildings. I need to close my eyes, he thought. Just a moment to relax the eyes. When he opened them again it was still there. "Sergeant?"
"What?" Nikov said.
"I see buildings."
Puck started up a new conversation.
"Shut the fuck up!" Nikov yelled over the crew comms.
The crew went instantly silent.
"Clouds moved in. Keep moving, I'll relay it to Torori."
Tomi drove again in silence and hoped he wasn't seeing things. At one point he swore he saw a tree a few hours before but when he looked again it was gone. He started to sweat and his hands shook. A pit rolled in his stomach and all he wanted was to lay down. Sleep tugged at him. But no, he'd not fail, not now. This was his chance to prove.
Prove what? His mind replayed the night in the wildcat mine. Prove that he wasn't a criminal? His sentence verified that, maybe it was more, maybe it was to prove to himself that he wasn't just a useless piece of shit. He thought on that and continued to drive.
The ground leveled out and the tank dropped into a depression. After a few hundred meters it rose out again. It stopped and the column came to halt.
"You see it, Sergeant?" Tomi said.
"Yah, I see it. Hold tight."
Tomi shivered. He took a drink from his water bottle and paused to relieve himself in an almost full container. He stared at the buildings and wondered if he was dreaming.
"Colonel wants to talk to you," Nikov said.
Tomi almost choked on the water, then regained his composure.
"Private Morgan? This is Jailbird."
"Yes sir," Tomi said.
"Can you see a good route for the column to approach in an enveloping formation?"
Tomi studied the snows and the lay of the land. He focused on one rise and then the next. "I, I, don't think so, sir, we're riding a good edge."
"Keep leading the way, we're all right behind you. You're doing a hell of a job, son. We're all proud of you. Jailbird out."
"You heard the man," Nikov said.
The tank lurched ahead once more. The main cannon crawled up from its stowed position and the turrets came to life. Slowly they worked across one drift to the next. The buildings became clear.
"Bravo, prep to sweep, drive left flank. Bulldog, let us know if it gets solid. This is the original colonial facility," Lieutenant Torori called on the comms.
Chatter rose throughout the column as orders were sent. Tanks slowly weaved and tested the softer ground on either side of Bulldogs track.
"Stop," Nikov said.
Tomi brought Bulldog to a gentle stop.
The main gun traversed from one side of the complex to the next.
"Bulldog, dismount and sweep," Lieutenant Torori ordered.
The infantry rushed out and the cold air flowed in. It wasn't nearly as cold as in the North and the air had a moist feel to it. The infantry rushed past the tank and across the broken ground.
Tomi's heart pounded in his chest. He zoomed up magnification on the cameras and tried to scan for the infantry. There were three main buildings and a handful of others that had collapsed. The infantry reached the first and disappeared inside. The walls were gray with frost with red streaks of rust poking through.
"Clear!" Mick called. "Hit the next one."
"What is this place, Sergeant?" Tomi said.
"Original front line. It was a monitoring post back before the war. The position wasn't defendable."
"Bulldog," Mick called. "Sweep is clear. Lotsa empty buildings."
"Bravo Command, it's clear," Nikov said. She yawned loudly.
"Find us somewhere nice, Bulldog. We're going to hole up here for a few hours."
Tomi never heard sweeter words. He drove across a broken concrete pad and followed Puck into a sheltered corner. The tank crawled up onto a drift and then settled with a crunch. He set the parking brake, leaned back, and pulled the headset off.
"Hey, good work. Now get yourself some—" Nikov stopped.
Tomi snored loudly.
She leaned down and patted him on top of the head. "Sleep."
#
Chapter Forty
Lishun Delta - 400 Kilometers South of the Mackinof Front
Eight hours later they rolled out.
"Anything from Reach?" Colonel Clarke asked.
"Negative, sir. All Vasilov channels are jammed," the Comms Sergeant replied.
"Keep listening," Colonel Clarke said. "Spunky, how's it looking?"
"Stone, sir, the ground done firmed up nicely."
Colonel Clarke sighed. The mud flats they'd struggled to cross had set them back a few hours. Shortly after leaving the old Colonial buildings the ground firmed up. Though on the downside boulders were strewn everywhere.
The column moved in a rough wedge. Vehicles leap frogged forward and back, sometimes to cover an area, but usually because they could make good time. Then they'd hit gravel or a slushy spot and struggle ahead.
"Rear contact, moving fast," a voice reported.
Colonel Clarke slapped at his comms key. "Disperse! Cover and hold!"
The command tank slewed to the side and rumbled to a halt. Colonel Clarke fumbled to get his cap off and the headset on. When it finally lit up he stared across a broken landscape and tried to see him own tanks. They all blended in with the boulder field.
A shape app
eared out of the distance. It was just a tiny black smudge but it was moving closer and fast. Then it crested a rise and came into view. It was a transport train riding on the distant rail. Cargo cars stretched out behind it for at least a kilometer. The nearest Vasilov armor was half a kilometer away.
"Permission to engage," Arap called on a public channel.
Colonel Clarke swallowed and his heartbeat rose. They'd kill it, he had no doubt, but he wanted to get to Reach without the Kadan knowing. "Negative. No one fire."
Arap changed to a private channel. "Cole, we can knock that fucker out, look at the size of it!"
"Negative, Arap. Kadan don't know were here, I don't want to advertise that fact."
"That thing's just begging to get shot," Arap called.
"Oh, don't worry, you'll have your chance."
The transport roared in the distance. It blasted past and continued to a distant location somewhere in the darkness. Then it was gone and the silence returned.
"Keep 'em moving," Colonel Clarke said.
He called up an old map. So old it bore the mark of the Colonial division and not of the Vasilov military. He traced the contours and wished he had a better resolution. He checked their track against the contours. Where were the Kadan? They had to have a railhead. He leaned back in his seat and changed maps.
The next was a more modern view of Reach. The oceans stood out as boundaries and the stony island that was Reach sat alone at the end of a peninsula. A dual spit of rock and sand was the only thing that connected it to the Southern extent of the mountains. One spit went on one side of the mountains, the other spit toward the plains leading toward Lishun Command.
His eyes stopped and he zoomed closer. The contours leveled out half a dozen kilometers away. The lay of the land obscured it from view from Reach. If I had to make a railhead, I'd put it there, he thought.
Arap called on the private channel again. "A goddam train. A fucking train. How did we let a railroad get built to haul troops and we didn't even know? We deserve to lose this planet, man, we fucked up."
Colonel Clarke wanted to agree, to tell him exactly how he felt. Instead he changed the subject. "I'm sending over some plans. We follow the tracks, hit the railhead, then sweep to the coast and drive in toward Reach."
Steel Breach Page 24
