Reason For Vengeance (Dark Vengeance Book 1) (19 page)

The rattle of her back pack was loud in Valerie’s ears as she jogged along the rough ground.  The animal trail she was following was strewn with rocks and pebbles, making the footing treacherous.  Four days had passed since she left the Spectre and she had covered almost forty kilometres of her journey.  In reality, she ran much further with the constantly rising and falling terrain.  Twice she needed to backtrack, after finding herself in a blind ravine not showing from the Spectre’s scans.  Her grav-belt was now out of power, three long vertical ascents and a descent used all of its energy.

Long days of jogging and nightmare filled nights were taking their toll on her body.  She felt emotionally, mentally and now physically drained.  Concentrating only on pushing forward and her footing to make sure she didn’t fall. 

Movement out of the corner of her eye was her only warning.  It was swift and large.  Valerie reacted as quickly as she could, diving to the left and away from whatever was coming at her.  She landed on the stones, feeling them scrape over her and one particularly large boulder narrowly missing her head, as a large brown shape passed her.  Continuing the roll, she came to her feet and reached for her pistols automatically.  The right was missing, but the left came out of its holster smoothly.

The creature came to a skidding stop, its massive weight giving it a lot of momentum and still it managed to spin round surprisingly fast.  A large powerful maw with teeth as long as her hand and four fangs twice as long, sat on the end of a long powerful neck.  Taller at the shoulder than Valerie with eight gangling and muscular legs, each one ending in a paw with three curved claws a match for the fangs in length.  All of this was topped off with twin tails, long, and powerful.

“Shit,” Valerie swore as it prepared to launch itself at her.  Stone Dragons were the top of the food chain on Blaze A.  Nothing else came close and they were one of the reasons so few humans were to be found this high up the Ginormican Mountains.  Solitary creatures that made their homes in the large caves, they were excellent hunters and their tough hide made them very difficult to kill while their colouring allowed them fade into the background.  Closer to Earth lizards than mammals they were difficult to pick up on infra-red sensors due to a lack of body heat.

Valerie didn’t think, she acted.  Her empty right hand hit the release button on her pack, dropping it to the floor behind her as her left squeezed the trigger.  Bending her knees at the same time, she prepared herself to leap as the Stone Dragon came charging towards her.  Almost ambidextrous, her shots landed precisely where she wanted them, penetrating the thick hide and stopping in the creatures bone.  Five shots was all she had time for before it was upon her.  She was able to leap to the left, keeping her gun clear, only just in time. 

Teeth flashed past her and the beast howled in pain and anger.  This little thing stung it and escaped its jaws a second time.  The Dragon stopped faster and instead of turning, used one of its tails to smash Valerie in the chest, sending her flying back. The breath was blasted from her lungs, the body armour saving her ribs and she lost her remaining pistol, as she came crashing down onto her back.

Using the momentum, Valerie went limp and rolled to prevent as much damage as possible.  She felt something rise up inside of her, the rage she felt on Furioso swamped her.  She could not get her family back, she could not see Daphne laugh, she could not be kissed by Tom, she could not hug Bobbie again and she could not get to those responsible.  What she could do is fight this creature, give life to her rage and kill it with her own hands.

Rolling back to her feet, she drew the knives from her boots.  Valerie flicked on the blades so they hummed a light red, and snarled at the Dragon.  It turned towards her and came on more slowly, roaring at its tiny opponent and Valerie charged forward.  The Dragon’s surprise was obvious, never in its life had anything run towards it and Valerie could see old scars on its back, proof it had tangled with humans before.

The hesitation was only momentary and its massive jaws snapped at Valerie as she ducked underneath it, slashing her right blade across its maw.  The super-heated blade sliced deep into the creatures cheek and carved the top off one of its fangs.  The Dragon roared in pain and tried to snap at her.  Using the same technique she taught her daughter in the garden of her home, to avoid the opposing teams tackle, Valerie spun out of its way and leaped to its back.  She had no intention of riding the beast and rotated gracefully in the air.  Her left blade cut deep into the shoulder.  Continuing the movement brought her right blade around and that too sunk deep into its flesh.

The Dragon roared as it had never done in its life.  Never had anything hurt it as this thing did and it shrugged her off violently.  Fully expecting this Valerie used the movement to propel her much lighter body through the air, twisting and landed catlike on her feet, blades ready at her sides.  Luck was with her, she managed to land cleanly and she showed a predator’s smile.  The Dragon glared at her, its front right leg slumped down, the tendons destroyed by Valerie’s second strike and blood seeping slowly from all three cauterised wounds.

The two opponents moved towards one another slowly and began to circle far out of reach of each other.  It seemed for the first time in her life, Valerie could think clearly.  The rage burned bright and deadly in her mind as she analysed the situation.  The Dragon was injured, slow, hurting, wary and most important of all it was afraid of her.  Never before had it faced anything like her and it felt fear.

Darting suddenly forward, Valerie crossed the distance between them in moments.  The Dragon hesitated and paid for it as her blades scored slashes across its face.  Before the creature could react to her attack, Valerie retreated back to her original position.  The slashes did not do any real damage and she had not meant them to. 

Roaring at her, the Dragon warned her to keep her distance.  She smiled back and continued circling, waiting for her opportunity.  The creature did not know what to do, it dare not run and expose its back and nor did it want to face her tooth to blade.  Valerie could see this in its body language. It may have evolved on a planet alien to humans, but it still had the same rules.  Never pick a fight you can’t win and never turn your back on a superior predator.  The rules of the jungle were just as real here, as they were sixty-five light years away and a hundred thousand years ago, when her ancestors left the trees on Earth.

Valerie feinted a move forward.  The Dragon snapped at where she would have been if she attacked the same way as before.  Now was the chance, now was the time to finish it.  She charged forward and this time the Stone Dragon reared up on its rear four legs.  With its head and neck too high for her to reach it slashed at her with the working front three legs.

Bobbing, weaving and slashing, Valerie darted through them, leaving deep angry cuts on all three legs.  Her target was the beast’s underbelly.  Both knives dug deep into the flesh next to one another and Valerie pulled her arms wide, leaving two deep long slashes.  Screaming in pain, the Dragon fell towards her, seeking to crush its tiny opponent.

Leaping back, she barely got out of the way as it crashed down on the ground.  Rolling clear she came to her feet as the beast snapped at her.  Its teeth gashing her lower right leg, just below the knee and her blood flowed freely onto the rocks.  As the beast drew her blood, she buried both of her knives directly into its eyes and watched as the life drained away.

The greatest of predators on the planet Blaze whimpered as it died, knowing it had met something far nastier and deadlier.

Slumping down next to the corpse, Valerie felt all the rage drain out of her and the tears came back.  They started as a slow trickle down her cheeks and grew until she was sobbing quietly, arms and head resting on her knees.  She stayed there for some time until she managed to take some semblance of control and raised her head slowly.

Taking a deep breath, she wiped her eyes and inspected the wound to her lower right leg.  It was a deep gash and only her armoured combat boots saved it from being worse.  They had taken the brunt of the impact and prevented the Dragon from slicing her foot clean off.  The fang glanced from the boot and scored across her shin, cutting deep into the calf muscle.  Adrenalin and endorphins muted the pain to a degree.  Now that she was out of danger, they were reducing and the pain was growing steadily.

Reaching into one of the deep pockets of her coat, she pulled out a small bottle of Skinseal and a bandage she stowed there before setting off.  The Skinseal slowed the bleeding and numbed the pain, the bandage pulled the wound together to allow it to heal.  For anyone else Valerie knew such an injury would take weeks to heal.  For her, she guessed she would be able to walk on it in a couple of days.  She would need somewhere to lie up until she was ready to move on.

Looking around the recent battle ground, she saw her pack still lay where she left it and using the Dragon’s shoulder she pulled herself up.  Hobbling over carefully, she picked it up and then searched the ground for her pistols.  Replaying the fight as best she could, she managed to find her right pistol fairly quickly.  The left hand one was further away and had been knocked quite a distance out of her hand, so it was harder to find.  Both were undamaged and slotted easily back into their holsters.

She needed somewhere to lay down and rest her leg, some sort of crutch would also be useful.  Designed for the harsh conditions of combat, her wristcomp came through the fight completely unscathed.  It projected a holomap and Valerie studied it intently.  Made in a fast sweep by the Spectre, it was light on detail and concentrated mostly on the rock formations.  There was an area of Red Barks, the deep red, tall plants that were Blaze A’s version of Earth trees, marked about half a kilometre from the trail Valerie had been following.  It might be a good place for her to hole up with water and cover while she recovered.

Grimacing to herself, she considered the walk and was not looking forward to it.  It was going to be slow and painful going.  She could see nothing around here she could rig into a crutch, there was a real chance she would re-open the wound on the way.  With no other option she squared her shoulders and set off carefully.

Unlocking the door, Arlene stepped into her dark flat.  Normally the quiet left by her son Todd would affect her but not today.  She didn’t bother putting the lights on as she made her way by memory and the dim light filtering in from the night outside, to the kitchen.  In the fridge was a cold beer and she relished its taste as the amber liquid slid down her throat.

“Hard day?”  The voice came out of the darkness and Arlene spun.  With the bottle forgotten in her left hand, she drew her small hold out Mag pistol with her right, aiming at the voice.

The main lights came on, showing a tall, blonde woman with broad shoulders and not a gramme of fat on her.  The short sleeved t-shirt she wore kept her powerful arm muscles visible.  Unarmed, she held her hands up, but something about her told Arlene not to let her get close.

“Who are you and what are you doing in my home?”  Arlene demanded.

“Do you mind if I have one of those?”  The woman pointed to the beer in Arlene’s hand and then without waiting for an answer, walked carefully around Arlene to the fridge to help herself.  Arlene moved with the woman, keeping her gun trained on her while ensuring she did not get any closer.

“Ah.  You can’t beat a cold beer.”  The woman said with a sigh as she took her first swig.

“Answer my questions.”  Arlene couldn’t help the slight quiver that entered her voice.  All the fear and uncertainty plaguing her in the month since Furioso, were taking their toll.

“Billy sent me.  I’m Julianna.  Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing.”  Arlene’s eyes widened as the woman gave the code greeting only known to the highest levels in the Rebellion.

“Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortals ever dared to dream before.”  Arlene gave the answer and lowered the gun.  She felt her shoulders begin to shake.  The woman didn’t hesitate and was instantly at her side.  Gently she took the gun away and with a strong hand on Arlene’s shoulder she guided her out of the Kitchen, into the living area.

“What is it?  Has it been that bad?”  Julianna asked as they sat down on Arlene’s sofa.

“They’re all gone.  I’m the only one left.”  She admitted and now her voice quavered on the very edge as she struggled to hold it together.  “We went to ground after Furioso, but that shook people up too much, especially after the Privileged released everything on Novajkovui.  No one was safe and they began picking people off one by one, until it was only Bastian and me.  I heard an hour ago they got to Bastian.  He’ll be disappeared, like the rest.”

“What do you mean?  I only arrived yesterday.”

“The bastards aren’t admitting they have anyone.  No news coverage of the arrests, none of my intelligence assets can tell me what happened to them.  They’re just gone.”

“What about the network?”  Julianna asked.  “None of the normal contacts responded so I came here.”

“I had to shut them down when it became obvious people lost faith in us.  It was too dangerous for everyone involved.”  Suddenly Arlene turned to the other woman.  “You have to get out of here.  If they have Bastian it’s only a matter of time until they come for me.”

Shaking her head Julianna said.  “They’re not here yet so we have time, but why are you here?  You must have a safe house only you know about.  Somewhere to lie low.”

Arlene could only shrug at that.  “Of course.  I just didn’t see the point.  It’s only me left.”

“Not anymore.”  Julianna stood up briskly.  “Now there are two of us and we are not going to get caught.  Billy needs to know what happened.”

Looking up at the younger woman Arlene felt a sliver of hope.  Julianna was right, she owed Billy that debt and she had to tell him the Rebellion had nothing to do with Furioso.  Right now she thought she was the only one outside the Pantheon leadership, that knew Lance Corporal Rubin Novajkovui was being set up.  The real question though, was why?