Warrior's Valor (31 page)

“Yes, ma'am,” the other three echoed.

Before Kellen and Owena left Rae and Emeron, Kellen looked pointedly at her without saying a word.

“I know,” Rae said quietly. “I know. And you too.”

“Yes. See you soon.”

Rae and Emeron returned to the forest path, since walking along the wide trail would create much less sound than forcing their way through the tall grass and bushes among the trees. Emeron used a scanner Leanne had given her, since the EMP had incapacitated her own earlier. It wasn't as elaborate as Owena's, but it showed how well Owena and Kellen progressed.

The three green dots that indicated the location of the enemy kept nearing, veering off farther to the east. The clearing was yet another fifteen minutes away, and a larger yellow dot showed where the rest of the mercenaries, and presumably her mother, were. At this point, Rae could care less if they apprehended M'Ekar. She was only interested in rescuing Dahlia.

When they were ten meters from the location of the three mercenaries, she and Emeron slipped into the undergrowth, careful not to make a sound. Ducking, they sneaked up on the closest one. A young man, dressed in black, dusty coveralls and carrying at least ten bottles slung over his shoulders, walked along a smaller path, looking back and forth, obviously searching for something.

Emeron gestured toward the man and mimicked drinking. Rae nodded. She'd already figured out he was searching for water. The possibility that her mother had been without water for quite some time, something that hadn't even occurred to her before, enraged her. Emeron gestured to her, her weapon ready and set to heavy stun. She nodded and ducked out of the way, allowing Emeron to take aim.

Five seconds later, she heard a faint thud. The mercenary lay on the ground, the bottles scattered around him. Emeron scanned the immediate area again and nodded. “The others are thirty meters to the northeast,” she whispered.

“Good. Let's take care of this one.”

They ran over to the man and Emeron grabbed some thin restraints from her belt. She secured his hands and feet and connected them behind his back, then pulled out a roll of bandage and pressed some of it into his mouth before she wrapped the rest around his head, to keep the muzzle in place. Rae made sure his airways were clear, grabbed his legs, and with Emeron's help dragged him into the dense shrubbery behind two fallen trees.

Another scan later, Emeron smiled broadly at her. “Second one down,” she said quietly, and held up the scanner. Another green dot had stopped, apparently immobilized by the two blue dots that indicated friendly forces.

“Perfect. Let's go help them with the third.”

They crept forward, ducking when the trees temporarily grew farther apart. She checked Emeron's scanner and saw that Kellen and Owena were approaching from the north.

“Arrto? Where did you go? Arrto,” a female voice called, startling Rae since it sounded so close. She tugged Emeron with her and ducked behind a tree.

“Arrto? Belliaz?” The woman started to sound worried, and if she yelled any louder, the mercenaries at the clearing would descend upon them. Rae knew she couldn't wait any longer. Stepping out on the path, right in front of a young woman, she smiled politely. “Hello. Lose someone?”

“Who are you? Where's Arrto?” The woman's eyes grew wide. “You're SC.” She raised her weapon, but Rae fired first. Another beam singed the air from behind the woman, who slumped to the ground where she stood. Kellen appeared behind the female mercenary, looking sternly at Rae.

“I thought you agreed to be careful,” she said.

“I did. And I was. I actually think I stunned her first.” She checked the woman's pulse. “Oh, dear. I don't think she'll be a problem for quite a while. She's been double stunned, and that's a bit too much for such a small creature.”

Emeron used her restraints again and they hid her like they had the others.

“She recognized the uniform instantly,” Rae said. “But before she saw me, she acted very casual.”

“In other words, they don't have a clue we're on their trail,” Emeron said. “And we can safely say they have no scanning capability. We would have seen some action from the clearing by now if they did.”

“I agree,” Kellen said. “I suggest we stay divided and approach the clearing from two directions.”

“Good idea.” Rae thought quickly. “Kellen, Owena, you have the better scanner. Circle the camp to the east side and remain there. Emeron and I will reconnoiter from here and also connect with the base team when they're in position. If you notice an approaching backup ship or anything else that dramatically changes our plan, break radio silence and page me and the base team.”

“Understood.” Kellen and Owena climbed a small ledge and began to circle the clearing at a safe distance.

Rae motioned for Emeron to follow her, and they stepped off the main path, careful where they placed their feet. Birds chirped and the sun was now so low the trees created long shadows that efficiently hid them. Her heart picked up speed as they approached the clearing. Something was in the air, something tense. She could practically smell it. Was it her own fear of what she would find when she reached the place where her mother was held captive? Shrugging off the ominous feeling, she ducked under some low branches and sneaked up behind a dense thicket. Emeron joined her with the scanner ready.

“All mercenaries within the clearing,” Emeron mouthed. “The protector and Commander Grey halfway to their position.”

Rae nodded briskly and carefully parted the thin branches of a bush. The sun bathed the people clustered at the south end in a warm golden glow. It was hard to distinguish individual features at this distance. The group of mercenaries was about seventy-five meters away. She took out her binocular specs and made sure they were set on anti-reflection mode. She certainly didn't want to send flashes of light from the bush they hid behind.

After pulling on the binocular specs she adjusted the magnification. People were standing or sitting in groups, and at first she couldn't detect any familiar faces. She adjusted the sharpness of the binocular specs, and this time it took only a moment to find Dahlia.

*

Dahlia watched White stalk back and forth, glancing at her chronometer. “Something's wrong.” She stopped in front of Weiss. “They've been gone too long.”

“I agree.” Weiss stood and waved two of her crewmen over. “Go check out the situation. Don't separate.”

“Aye, Captain.” The young men walked toward the tree line and soon were out of sight.

Dahlia looked down at her lap, where M'Ekar's head was resting. She'd convinced Weiss to place his stretcher farther toward the tree line, for more shade. When he moaned with every breath, Dahlia couldn't ignore him. No matter what he'd done, it wasn't in her to remain indifferent while another person was in such agony.

“If they're not back with water soon,” she said to Weiss, “M'Ekar will slip into a coma and we won't be able to get any fluids into him.”

Weiss knelt next to them and gazed closely at him. “He's in bad shape,” she agreed. “Damn it. What's keeping them?”

Dahlia wasn't sure if Weiss was talking about the people she'd sent to look for water or her backup.

“I could shorten his agony,” White said, hovering over them with her weapon slung over her shoulder.

“Harness your helpfulness, White,” Weiss hissed. “They'll be back soon with water, and we're not performing euthanasia on anyone just yet.”

“Fine.” White resumed her pacing.

Dahlia shifted to shield M'Ekar's eyes from the rays of the setting sun. Her own mouth was parched and her lips were beginning to chap. Licking them didn't help. She estimated that she hadn't had anything to drink for eight hours. During normal circumstances that wouldn't pose such a problem, but sweating profusely during their march through the forest had dehydrated all of them. Weiss looked remarkably unaffected, as did White. Had they hidden bottles of water that they didn't share? Dahlia wouldn't put it past White, but Weiss somehow possessed some “honor-among-thieves” characteristics. She probably wouldn't betray her own crew that way.

Time went on, and Dahlia was so tired she lost track of how long it had been since the two crewmen left to search for the others. Only when Weiss stood and looked in the direction they had gone did Dahlia realize that the two men were probably missing as well.

“What's going on, Madame?” M'Ekar whispered huskily.

“I don't know. People are walking into the woods and apparently not coming back.”

“The forest has predatory animals?” He coughed from the exertion of talking.

“I don't think so. Not big enough to take down five people.”

“Then it should be obvious.”

“What do you mean?” Dahlia leaned down to catch his broken words.

“You shall see...very soon, I think.” He closed his eyes. Apparently talking had worn him out. His breathing was shallow and ragged, and his thin lips looked bluish.

Dahlia tipped her head back against the tree, trying to make sense of what he had said. She was exhausted and her entire body burned and ached. Stars began to appear in the sky, and she tried to focus on the beauty of dusk.

Suddenly she noticed what looked like a meteor streak so close it startled her. She blinked and tried to grasp what she actually saw. The streak in the sky was green, a space phenomenon she'd never heard of. Only then did her brain process what her eyes saw, and she realized someone was firing on them.

*

Kellen and Owena huddled behind a low-growing bush, about thirty meters from the group of criminals, who seemed exhausted. Behind them, two men lay unconscious, tied up with vines Kellen had cut from a tree. They had easily spotted the two individuals on Owena's scanner, and Kellen had knocked them unconscious without having to use any weapon but her rods.

“I see Dahlia,” she whispered, and tried to remain calm. She wanted to go in weapons ablaze, but maintained radio silence and waited for Rae's command.

“What's that noise?” Owena mouthed, looking up. “What the hell—”

“Gods of Gantharat.” Kellen stared in dismay as a fleet of bots entered the clearing from all directions. Whirling, they glittered in the last rays of the setting sun.

“I don't understand.” Owena spoke louder. “The scanner's not picking up anything this time either.”

Kellen tugged the communicator to her mouth. “O'Dal to Jacelon. Come in.”

“Jacelon here. We see them, Kellen. Mogghy and Leanne just got here. Move in. Move in.”

Owena and Kellen leaped to action, and Kellen had only one thing in mind. They had to get to Dahlia.

Emeron ducked as she dashed along the tree line, firing at the bots. They swarmed around the cluster of people at the east end of the clearing, and she laid a volley of plasma-pulse discharges to draw attention away from Jacelon's mother, who had to be among them.

Mogghy suddenly showed up behind her. “The civilians are safely tucked away, ma'am,” he informed her, slightly out of breath. “We found a place behind some massive trees— Watch out, ma'am!” He pushed her sideways.

Four bots flew toward them, firing blue and orange beams, which missed her by a few centimeters. Rolling to her side, she aimed at the nearest one and fired. At first nothing happened, which made her fear these bots had impenetrable shields. Then smoke billowed out from between its antennas and it began to whirl in a crazy pattern. It collided with another one and both exploded in a cascade of sparks.

Mogghy shot the remaining two that now hovered above them, but suddenly he collapsed next to her, grabbing his left shoulder. “Ah.”

“Mogghy.” She took aim, furious at the mindless machines that kept appearing and threatening them, injuring them. She kept her finger on the sensor, spreading a wide ray of plasma-pulse fire, and watched with satisfaction as the bots exploded. Scorching debris hit her, but she reveled in the heat, knowing she'd taken them out. Mogghy slumped beside her.

“Mogghy, let me see. Let me see.” She tried to pry his hand away.

“I'll be fine, ma'am. Go on. They need you. I'll cover you. Go on.”

She stared at him for a few seconds, then began to advance toward the clearing. Jacelon crouched behind a large rock about fifteen meters in front of her, with Ensign Noor. They were fighting the bots that hovered over the group of mercenaries by the tree line. The mercenaries were defending themselves, but not all of them were armed and some were too injured to fight.

Emeron crawled to Jacelon. “Have you located your mother yet?”

“I think she's over by that tree—covering someone with her body.” She raised binocular specs. “Damn it, if I didn't know better, I'd say it's M'Ekar, on a stretcher.”

“Do you have a headcount of those bots?” Emeron fired at a group of three that hovered just above the tree that sheltered Dahlia Jacelon.