Syn-En: Plague World: The Founders War Begins (12 page)

The man in the lead wore blue cotton trousers and a vest of bright red. A Gandalf beard squirmed over his muscular chest. Shells tinkled against the crooked, bone-white staff in his hands.

Two young couples skipped behind him. Blood red trousers and blouses shimmered around the women. Indigo blue vests and knee-length shorts revealed nappy hair on the men’s legs and chest.

“They appeared on that hill not more than five minutes ago.” Bei pinged her brain box.

“Yeah, well, it seems like forever.” Serotonin filled her limbs with warmth but her mouth dried from the dose.

“They should be cautious.” Standing on Bei’s right, Doc rolled his shoulders. The green diagnostic beam in his wrist flashed on and off before he clasped his hands behind his back. “They may never have seen a stranger.”

“Yeah, well, that may be a good thing, considering what some people on the other worlds have been told.” Nell sidled to the left.

Glancing over her shoulder, Apollie narrowed her red eyes. “You agreed to stay behind the admiral for your protection.”

Nell hated those three words. If her husband and the Syn-En had their way, she’d be tucked safely away on a distant world—for her protection. “I can bounce bullets off my skin. I don’t think the leader’s staff will hurt me.”

Not that she wanted to be beaten with a stick. Although between that and bullets, she’d take the stick. Her arms tingled. Glancing down, she saw watery sunshine wink off her fingertips. Dang it. Now was not the time to flash her inner metal.

Bei pinged her brain box again. “Did you download the basic self-defense program?”

She slapped her hand over the back of her skull. “I can feel you rooting around inside my head, so you know I did.” Not that she wanted to use it. Activating the program meant the real Nell Stafford stood on the sidelines while she unleashed her inner Jackie Chan. “What if these people don’t speak any of the languages in your repertoire?”

“There are a million languages and dialects. I don’t think Humans would have invented a new one in a hundred years.” Apollie snorted. Sarcasm didn’t look good on the Skaperian.

Medic Brooklyn and Security officer Richmond bookended Bei, Doc, and Apollie.

On the side next to Doc, Richmond ducked her head. The teenage soldier’s hair formed a ponytail down her back, alongside her rifle. “If they do not speak any of the languages, then they won’t believe we are cannibals, or monsters, or baby thieves like some of the others. And they will accompany us peacefully.”

“Silence.” Bei pinged Nell one last time.

Instead of a flood of hormones, she sensed her husband’s presence in her mind. It caressed her thoughts before withdrawing, leaving her with a calming memory.

The Syn-En assumed identical positions—arms loosely at their sides, knees slightly bent, and weapons at their backs. Apollie’s raptor claw retracted into her toe.

Nell shook the traces of silver from her fingers. This was a peaceful rescue mission. No reason for anyone to get hurt.

Except that people had been injured on other worlds. The Decripi had caused the refugees to stampede on Zeta-99. Fear had driven other people to jump to their deaths while holding their children on Omega-alpha-532
.
A hail of rocks and stones had greeted them on Silas
,
Leddon
,
and Roba. Too many had lived with their masters for so long, that hope had become synonymous with anger and fear.

And the Syn-En had been their targets.

Nell hooked her index finger through her husband’s waistband.

He ghosted across her mind, but otherwise didn’t move.

The white-bearded leader marched into the valley. His brown eyes widened as they skimmed the
Starflights
. When his attention shifted back to them, he lingered on Apollie then moved on. He smiled, revealing white teeth that had been ground down to nubs.

The young couples with him, fanned out on either side. They, too, smiled. Their brown eyes crinkled as they bounced along the line.

Nell counted seconds until she reached a minute. Then two minutes. Really, they were going to stand here and smile at each other all day. She jerked on Bei’s waistband.

He pinged her, hard. “Hello.”

His voice was soft, soothingly modulated, a snake charmer’s tone that betrayed none of his annoyance at her.

She didn’t care, just so long as it accomplished their mission.

Muscle rippled along his back. He raised one arm and flattened his palm against his chest. “My name is Beijing York.”

The leader tilted his head to the side and blinked.

Bei repeated his message in the Founders’ languages. One after the other until all five were spoken.

The leader stroked his white beard and glanced at his companions. The men’s brows furrowed. The women shrugged. None of them said a word.

Nell blew her bangs out of her eyes. It could take hours to find their native tongue if they didn’t start talking.

Sweeping his arm toward the sky, Bei pointed south. “We are from Earth, the birth place of all Humans.”

In unison, the five refugees glanced at the sky. The leader held out his hand, palm up, and caught a raindrop. The others stared at it as if they’d never seen it before.

Water sprinkled Nell’s head, then pelted her hair. Great, it was starting to rain in earnest. She slipped between Doc and Bei and pointed to her mouth. “Do you speak? Any language? Any at all?”

White-beard craned his neck. Water dripped off his aquiline nose and roped his beard.

“Don’t be afraid. We can speak many languages.” She enunciated each word, stressed each syllables.

The dark-haired girl on the right tapped the old man’s bicep. She pointed at Nell then her open mouth and moved her fingers in a shoveling motion.

White-beard’s caterpillar eyebrows crawled up his forehead. He mimicked the shoveling motion.

Bei’s shoulders shook and he chuckled. Doc snorted and Richmond giggled.

“It’s not funny.” Nell poked her husband’s chest. “They think I’m hungry.”

Soon, the pantomime rippled through all five members. The women turned away first and headed back the way they came. The young men followed.

White-beard beckoned Nell and the Syn-En with a wave of his hand then trudged behind the two young couples.

Nell hid her face in her palms. “We have to tell them that I’m not hungry.”

The hair on the back of her neck stirred. Bei had opened the WA again. Brooklyn and Apollie turned to follow.

“We will allow them to take us to their camp. There we should meet someone capable of speaking.” Bei cupped her elbow and guided Nell behind the two soldiers taking point.

A green beam shot from behind them and trailed up White-beard’s back. It lingered on his neck before blinking off.

Gravel crunched as Richmond and Doc fell into step behind Nell.

“Admiral, I’m not registering any trauma that would render the refugees mute.” Doc flipped open the compartment on his right forearm. “But I’ll run a diagnostic on my systems to make certain they are functioning normally.”

Nell doubted he would find anything no matter how many checks he ran. Was it the minuscule fermites or something else? Something to do with the Plague? Her stomach cramped. “Do you think they lost their language when the virus hit? Or...”

She drew up short. Ice formed in her veins. No, not that. She’d seen it once in a SciFi program and things didn’t end well for the people.

“Or?” Bei stood by her side.

Doc cocked an eyebrow. Richmond scanned their surroundings, her hand on her sidearm.

The thought poured from Nell’s lips in a flood of fear. “What if, like everything else on this planet, they’re made from fermites and not people at all? What if they are replicants of people who once lived here? What if they want to duplicate us?”

Richmond’s attention snapped to Nell. “The fermites have sabotaged our shuttles’ systems, stranding us on the planet.”

Nell nodded.
Oh, God. It made a horrible kind of sense.
“We’re going to wake up as pod people.”

Brooklyn and Apollie paused at the crest of the hill. They glanced back at them then the refugees.

Bei shook his head, before escorting her up the hill. “We will not wake up as pod people.”

Doc stroked his black goatee. “I suppose it is possible that the fermites rebuilt the world that was destroyed, including the people.”

Bei growled.

Raising his hands, Doc backed up a step. “I simply meant, the fermites had some residual repair programming. I do not think they represent a threat to us. Our tech malfunctions may just be a result of them trying to learn our systems, not ill-intentions.”

“Nice save.” Nell skipped to keep up with Bei’s long strides. “Do you really think they won’t replicate us?”

Wrapping his arm around her, he pulled her against his side. “There can only be one of you Nell Stafford. Just one.”

She hooked her arm around his waist. “You’re pretty unique, too. Especially in the way you make a tactical maneuver look like a lover’s embrace.”

He winked at her before switching his attention to the ridge of pines about a mile away.

“What do you spy with your bionic eye?”

A muscle ticked in his jaw. “Humans in the ridge line. A hundred and two of them.”

Doc closed the distance, practically walking on her heels. “Men and women.”

Richmond’s finger lay alongside the trigger. “I’m not detecting any weapons, even rudimentary ones.”

Nell panted. Her side twinged in protest at the pace.

In the lead, Apollie and Brooklyn slowed.

Nell dug her fingers into her side as they reached them.

Apollie’s raptor claws were fully extended on her feet. She adjusted her scarlet speckled breastplate. “Do we think it’s an ambush?”

“Only one way to find out.” Bei jerked his chin toward the backs of the refugees.

“How?” Nell clipped her tongue in an effort to recall her words. Sweet metal flooded her mouth. She really didn’t want to know. She really didn’t.

“We head straight for it.” Bei increased his pace.

Nell’s stomach dropped so low she could have used it as a kick ball. Next time, she wouldn’t ask. “At least, they won’t try anything while their people are in front of us.”

Apollie tied her braids into a ponytail. “Many races consider it an honor to die for their people.”

Nell clamped her lips together. She’d say that was messed up, but her husband’s job description included messed up. Worse, she knew the five of them would encircle her and fight to the last to keep her alive. A mile never seemed so long.

#

The sun cast a net through the forest and warmed Nell’s head. The clouds burned away. Water dripped. The scent of wet ground permeated the muggy air. A cool breeze whistled through the oaks and aspens, and a gravel path gave way to a worn trail over smooth rock. Here and there, tufts of grass erupted through the fissures.

Nell scanned the trees. Still no sign of people. Just a preternatural stillness. She shivered and rubbed her arms. This world was wrong in so many ways. And she counted them in the quiet in her mind—no animals, except fish and people, not insects or bacteria to aid in decomposition, and yet everything appeared pristine, paradisiacal.

There had to be a serpent around here somewhere with a juicy red apple.

In front of her, blocking her view, Apollie and Brooklyn straightened. Bei released her, serrated blades ran down his arms, tenting his uniform sleeves. Behind her, Richmond thumbed off her safety and Doc cracked his knuckles.

Nell took a deep breath.
This is a rescue mission. A mission of peace.
The Syn-En were just taking precautions. Alas no one told the refugees. She exited the forest next to Bei. Sunlight burned her eyes. Raising her hand, she created shade to see as they slowed.

Brooklyn and Apollie shifted, giving her a view of nothing. The plateau ended in a life-altering drop, one with an abrupt splat at the end.

Nell covered her mouth. Could she turn her NDA into a set of wings? “Holy—”

“—Shit.” Bei finished. He rolled his shoulders. “Looks like it’s single file from here on out.”

The four youngest of their welcoming committee lined up along the edge of the cliff.

White-beard squinted in the sunshine. Wrinkles formed canals down his cheeks. He made eating motions with his hands then pointed over the edge.

With her heart in her mouth, Nell followed where he pointed.

Strangers formed a protective fence along a path winding down the side of the cliff.

Relief nearly brought Nell to her knees. “Oh, thank God.”

Grasping her hand, Bei hooked her finger through the back of his uniform pants. “Do not thank Him yet. We are not at our final destination.”

She nodded. Right, things could still go haywire. “I’m just glad we’re taking the long way, not the short cut.”

He pinged her brain box. “Just in case.”

A file opened inside her head—schematics for a hang-glider built for one. She threw it back at him. No way would she save herself at his expense. “Together or splat, Bei. I’m counting on you to make certain it’s together.”

“Yes, Ma’am.” Turning, he lobbed the file back to her, then closed the WA, and marched forward.

“You’re such a cheater, cheater, pumpkin eater.” Nell slapped a smile on her face and followed him. Just because she had the file, didn’t mean she had to use it. Unless... Maybe she could enlarge it, make it hold two...

Men and women lined the upper portion of the path like pickets on a fence. Their clothes were simple colors of blue, yellow, red, green and off-white. The men had tentacles of dreadlocks reaching to their knees. The women created swirling confections of hair atop their heads, cemented in place with mud. Brown eyes watched them from cinnamon and cafe au lait colored skin.

Treetops appeared between the human pickets.

Then thick branches.

When the path began to level out, children appeared. They captured giggles behind cupped hands when a few adventurous ones brushed their fingers along Nell’s legs. A boy of six jerked back when Apollie’s vambrace shifted. His arms flapped as he tried to regain his balance.