CHAPTER EIGHT
Her partially burnt but savory fish dinner was messy and filling, and Jill drifted off to sleep shortly after sundown. Awakening at dawn, she breakfasted on a nutrition bar and set off on her mission to rescue her sisters and the other colonists. MARL floated next to her, having retracted or absorbed his manifestations until he could see what was best suited to her plan.
“I prepared this for you,” he said, projecting a small object in her path.
Jill paused to accept the gift, turning it over. “An ear piece?”
“We can communicate subvocally. Much more efficient when infiltrating an enemy facility. If we have to separate to accomplish the mission, it will also be ideal.”
“Good thinking.” She inserted the tech into her left ear. “How do I make this work?”
“Basically just think at me, no need to speak.”
“You can read my mind?” She wasn’t sure she liked the idea.
“Only those thoughts which would have become speech,” MARL said. “I can scan those neural pathways via this device.”
Like this?
Exactly. His tone was crisp in her ear and what she’d come to think of as the happy lights rippled across his smooth exterior.
“Were you able to hack into the lab’s AI?”
“With ease. I’m monitoring but can control all the systems now and have absorbed the data bases for organization and examination at our leisure.” MARL’s tone was critical. “I have all the years of data and experimental results, among other files. Your enemies are certainly not skilled in the use of AI capabilities, exactly as you said yesterday.”
“Any problems?”
“The other four complexes are not networked to this one or to each other, from what I can tell. The super user whose account you hacked does have the same privileges on each AI, but it will be more difficult to gain complete access. I’m working on it. Should our penetration be discovered, or should anything change, we don’t want to lose the opportunity to gain as much intelligence on the Khagrish as possible.”
“Good thinking. You’re an excellent sidekick, MARL.”
“What is this term you keep using?”
“I have no idea where it came from, but it means a special companion, a helper in everything I undertake.” Jill stopped, staring at the goat track leading up the imposing bluffs. “Like climbing out of this valley. Are there any easier ways to ascend?”
“Scanning topography. No, the hooved animals have identified the best egress for you.”
“I don’t suppose you can levitate me to the top?”
If an AI could sound apologetic, MARL did. “Regretfully, no. My unit is only adequate to support my own needs.”
“I wish I had my antigrav boots from the military but, since I don’t, let me explain the principles of ascending a steep cliff and we’ll see how you and your handy robot offspring can help.”
With assistance from MARL’s manifestations, who basically cut steps in the goat trail for her, and using sturdy vines as handholds, Jill managed to get out of the valley in better time than she’d anticipated. Although it was annoying to have MARL pacing her, floating easily in the updraft on his built in antigrav, but unable to offer direct assistance.
After a short rest, she set off at a good steady pace to the east, through the forest and toward the lab. It was a much less nerve wracking journey with MARL doing surveillance in all directions. She was free to take the easiest route, in the clear spaces between the trees, and she made better time. Although she cautioned herself against overconfidence. MARL was a game changer all right, but there could be other surprises in the Khagrish arsenal she might not like.
It was early afternoon when she arrived at the edge of the forest and reconnoitered the situation across the field at the abandoned, partially collapsed buildings where she’d take shelter and forage, and the gleaming lab complex beyond.
“Check the security records again, would you? Make sure Security hasn’t gotten suspicious about the old buildings or the ventilation shafts.” She crouched in the tall grass and waited.
“All clear. I’ve inserted a note in the file certifying the vents were swept and nothing was found.”
“Are you sure a fake cert is a good idea? What if the commander checks up and nobody takes credit for actually doing the surveillance?”
“According to protocols, the vents were required to be swept regularly but like many other things here, the enforcement has been quite lax for two decades now. I doubt if the current security chief will even check.” His tone was disapproving. “I can make it appear the sweep was an automatic function.”
“I’ll take your word for it – good idea. Quiet mode now, we’ve got to get across the open field.”
“I can project a distortion field in my immediate vicinity,” he said. “The effect would screen you as well, if you stay within two feet.”
“This just gets better and better. Distort away.” She and MARL set a deliberate pace through the meadow and, even knowing he was scanning and distorting, Jill heaved a huge sigh of relief as she ducked under a cantilevered slab of building and into the relative safety of the ruins.
“What’s the plan? Will you wait until tomorrow to attempt the rescue?”
Jill shook her head. Now that she was so close, impatience rode her. “I’m going in tonight. Based on my experience when I escaped, the place closes down pretty completely, only a token guard. I’m sure the Khagrish don’t expect me to set foot there ever again. You stay here—we can communicate with the ear piece. I don’t want to risk you.”
“I exist now to assist you. It will be more efficient if I am on the scene. I may detect aspects of the technology you will overlook.”
Taking a deep breath, Jill said, “Your lights and sounds attract attention.”
“I can shut those off.”
“Maybe send in a manifestation or two with me?” She felt she was losing the argument. Her AI sidekick had spent a long time cooped up in the cave and now acted determined to be present for any and all action or interesting events.
“My strong recommendation is that I accompany you. You might require another distortion field, which only I can generate.”
Impatient at the time she was wasting, Jill capitulated. “All right, but you have to promise to do what I say.”
“Agreed.”
Jill made her way to the spot inside the ruin where she could boost herself into the ventilation shaft, MARL right behind her. He was silent and running dark, per their agreement, except for one light illuminating the area where she moved. She tried not to think about the long subterranean crawl toward the newer lab. At least this time she had backup in MARL and who knew what the true limit of his capabilities might be.
At the point where the shaft entered the new lab complex, she had MARL turn off his light and then proceeded, following the route they’d worked out, to reach the chamber where the files indicated the humans were being held.
Bad news.
What? Jill’s nerves were so tight with tension she could hardly breathe.
There is no ventilation shaft leading to the room your people are held in.
You’re just telling me this now? She wasn’t happy.
We’ll have to climb out of the shaft in the closest room, which appears to be a storeroom, and then make our way through a short hall.
Swell. Jill kept moving forward with her now perfected quiet crawl. What choice was there, really? She had to rescue her sisters and as many of the others as she could tonight. You turned off the vids in this room and the hall, right?
Right. MARL sounded as confident as always.
Carefully, she opened the vent in the storeroom closest to the people she intended to rescue and climbed into the room. Pulse rifle at the ready, she took a deep breath and opened the door to an empty corridor. With MARL floating silently behind, she hastened to a heavy portal emblazoned with warning symbols. She waited while the system processed her request for entry, accepting her illicit super user authentication. As it slid open and the lights inside came up, she took one step over the threshold and stopped in utter shock.
She faced a huge room, containing well over two hundred humans, each spread eagled inside a transparent container, as if freeze dried in place. The containers floated and even the breeze caused by opening the door sent the packages moving and spinning, colliding with each other and bouncing off, rotating lazily in midair. The people closest to her had their eyes wide open, without blinking, and she wondered if they were awake, held in these stasis cages. Jill fell to her knees and dropped her weapon, stomach heaving, as memories of being helpless inside such a device herself surfaced. She realized she must have been imprisoned in one of these prior to being placed in the Preserve for Aydarr and his packmates to find.
What’s the matter? Jill? MARL’s voice in her head became insistent.
She took a deep breath and counted to ten. Even if she’d been inside one of these containers she was out now, she had a weapon and an ally and she was here to find her sisters. She groped along the floor for her rifle and then used it as a crutch to stand. She forced herself to focus on the people nearest her, floating helplessly. She recognized a few, members of the colony she dealt with from time to time. Most were in their nightclothes, as she’d been. Walking forward a few feet, trying to find her sisters and hoping perhaps Lily and Megan had escaped the alien dragnet, Jill took a tiny bit of comfort from the fact there were no children and none of the few elderly residents of the Amarcae 7 colony. She hoped the raiders had left them left safely behind. She tried not to touch the envelopes, since even a slight disturbance sent them spinning.
So many.
Off to the right, by the wall, she caught a glimpse of a woman with red hair. Pulse pounding, she ran that way, hoping she’d located Lily. She had to rotate the container, touching the edge gingerly. Under her hand the surface was hard, like glass. A moment later she was gazing into the wide, unblinking green eyes of her sister.
“Lords of Space, now what?” How do I open this thing? She searched the edges of the container for any kind of latch or button, finding nothing. Briefly she considered her pulse rifle but decided discharging her weapon was a last resort. “Any suggestions?”
“I’m attempting to analyze the material,” MARL reported. “It’s nothing I’ve ever encountered.”
Jill drew her knife and tried to work the tip of the blade into the seam where the halves of the envelope met, attempting to pry the container apart. Not making any progress, she stabbed the knife directly into the material, at the bottom, well away from her sister’s legs. Although the blade penetrated, Jill was unable to make a cut and when she pulled the knife free, the material sealed itself with a tiny pop. Swearing, Jill retreated a step to think. She glanced at the man imprisoned in the container next to Lily, not recognizing him. He was obviously a soldier or an ex-soldier, as the Special Forces tattoo on his bicep was unmistakable. He might know how to open these. Special Forces had rescued humans from Mawreg experimentation camps during various battles. Ironic to realize the answer might be right there, but unobtainable under the circumstances. Where had he come from? Had the Chimmer raided more than one world? Or captured a spaceship perhaps?
“Any ideas?” she asked MARL, looking away from the soldier and her sister. “Do I need to try shooting at the damn thing?”
“A review of the AI’s vid records indicates there is a red handheld device which unseals these specimen pods. The aliens identified as the Chimmer demonstrated it to the Khagrish when you humans were delivered and then left three of these units with the staff.”
Jill’s hopes rose.
“I’ve scanned this chamber and there are no such devices present.” MARL hummed. “We are running close to the time limit you established for this part of the mission.”
“Yeah, well, I wasn’t counting on these problems. I’m not leaving without my sisters and I still have to find Megan.” She raised the pulse rifle, swiveled and shot the left corner off the bottom of the container holding the Special Forces operator.
The energy radiated through the envelope in a flash of blinding light and then the substance vanished. The soldier fell heavily to the floor, apparently unable to break his fall.
Jill went to him, to checking whether he was breathing and then rolling him onto his back. Tapping his cheek gently, she asked, “Hey, buddy, how’re you doing?”
“Fucking seven hells, lady, couldn’t you give a guy some warning?” Voice rusty, as if he hadn’t spoken for a long time, he rasped the words out, hand over his eyes. Turning on his side, he threw up.
“You could hear me?” She sat on her heels and glanced at the nearest prisoners.
“Yeah, everyone’s fully conscious in their pods,” he said, wiping his mouth with a trembling hand. “Part of the aliens’ torture process.”
“Sorry,” she said. “I needed a test case before I tried the rifle on my sister. Figured you being Special Forces and all, you’d survive and might even come in handy.”
“There’s supposed to be a revival kit with restorative crap the Chimmer make a freed prisoner drink,” he said, sitting up with visible effort.
“I find no such item in this chamber,” MARL reported.
“Just telling you what I learned liberating a few of their diabolical labs, when I was on active duty. Are you the entire rescue force, lady? And your whatever-it-is here?”
“Tech Sergeant Jill Garrison to you, and yes, there’s only MARL and me.” She rose, bracing herself to free her sister next. “I was a Special Forces support tech—I’ll show you my unit tatt later.”
“Gabe Carter, captain, retired.” He got to his feet shakily. “We should try to catch your sister when you blast her envelope. The floor is damn unforgiving.”
Jill glanced at him. “Right now I doubt your ability to catch a fly, let alone Lily.”
“Pretty name.” He staggered to her sister’s container and braced himself. “We’re wasting time—do it.”
Taking careful aim, Jill shot out the corner of Lily’s cage, wincing as the entire container lit up with rebounding energy, before her sister fell in a limp heap. Gabe managed to break her fall, even if he hit the floor with her. Jill moved to her sister’s side, setting the pulse rifle close at hand.
Gabe grabbed the weapon and rolled away before she could stop him.
“What the hells do you think you’re doing?” she asked.
He was moving among the ever shifting lines of containers. “I need my crew. You need my crew. We’re obviously in a bad situation here.” Glancing over his shoulder, he said, “What’s our escape plan?”
“I don’t have time to explain everything to you now. We’ve got to traverse a short hallway, but MARL can provide cover. Then we have to crawl for a long time through ventilation shafts and pray we don’t get discovered, so don’t rescue anyone bigger than you are, because my guess is you’ll barely make it, with those wide shoulders. After that, it’s a day’s hike to a river valley where we can hide out and regroup.” She heard a controlled blast from the rifle and then another. Cradling the unresponsive Lily’s head in her lap, she said in a fierce whisper, “Hey, two men, maximum. We’re tight on time. We can’t rescue everyone today—we’re outnumbered and outgunned.”
“We’re also over the time limit you allotted,” MARL said. “The Khagrish will be making their late night rounds and the door to this chamber is ajar.”
“Can’t you close it?” Gabe reappeared and laid the rifle on the floor next to Jill. “The guards haven’t opened the door once since I’ve been here.”
“This chamber cannot be opened from within, except via special command to the AI system,” MARL said. “Do you want to take that chance?”
“No.” Jill was decisive. “We’ve got to move. No fucking time to search for Megan, damn it.” Leaning over Lily again, she brushed her sister’s hair away from her face. “Come on, sis, we’ve got to get out of here. Wake up.”
“We’ll have to carry her.” Gabe leaned over.
“We can’t carry her through the ventilation shafts.”
“And there’s no other way out?”
“Not at this time, other than on foot through the complex. MARL and I didn’t anticipate the need to withdraw through the building.” Jill glanced at the floating, imprisoned humans packed into the room. “I had this naïve idea I could set all the colonists free and we’d crawl to freedom.”
“Yeah, that’s not happening.” He squeezed her shoulder. “You did good getting this far in the situation, sergeant.”
Leaning on each other, a man and a woman in utilities staggered to a stop behind Gabe. Both were white faced and barely keeping their balance as they stared at Jill and MARL.
“What have we got going down here, sir?” the man asked, his voice hoarse.
“A selective rescue. Time to evac and plan for another try later.” He turned to Jill. “Meet Brent and Flo. This is Jill.”
Acknowledging her with a nod, Brent asked, “Weapons?”
“We might be able to scavenge a few more from the abandoned complex on the way out,” Jill said.
Brent and Flo exchanged dubious glances and checked with Gabe. He shrugged. “It’s her party. We owe her for getting us out and she’s in charge.”
Lily moaned and curled into a ball of misery on the floor. Her eyelids fluttered, but she didn’t waken.
“We gotta go.” Gabe scooped Lily from the floor and adjusted her in his arms. “Lead the way, sergeant.”
Jill worked her way through the crowded room, pushing the envelopes holding her fellow colonists aside as gently as she could. She felt the weight of their combined gaze as a physical pressure on her shoulders. At the door she halted, facing the room. “We won’t leave you behind next time, I swear.”
“The hall is currently clear, but the guard has begun evening patrol,” MARL said. “He’ll be here in five minutes at the present rate.”
“Can you hide us with your distort shield all if we go in one tight group?”
“Probably.”
“All right, MARL can project a limited distortion field, so stay tight on my six,” she said, pushing the door open.
With the AI floating at her side, Jill led the way to the room where she’d exited the ventilation system, relaxing fractionally as the last member of her newly extended party slid past her. She shut the door and locked it, going to check on Lily, who Gabe had set leaning against the wall.
“Jill?” Her sister was conscious but groggy. “What happened to me? Where are we? Where’s Megan?”
“It’s a long story,” she said, giving Lily a hug. “We were kidnapped from the colony by aliens, probably the Chimmer. Right now we have to get out of here. I—I couldn’t ‘t find Megan, not yet anyway. Do you think you can crawl?”
Her sister did a double take. “Are you kidding me? Crawl to where?”
Jill gestured at the ventilation grate, which Gabe was in the act of removing. “We have to go through there to get out of the complex and make a run for a safer place.”
The soldier gave Lily an encouraging smile, holding out his hand to her. “I’ll give you a boost.”
Jill helped Lily to her feet. “If we want to be clear by dawn, we need to move.” She addressed the other two soldiers. “We have to proceed quietly. There are several places where we have to work our way past rooms where the Khagrish guards usually congregate. So far I’ve been lucky.”
“Let’s keep the streak going then. You should take point,” Gabe said. “I’ll bring up the rear. Brent, give her a hand into the maze.”
“MARL needs to go first.” Jill waited for the AI to propel himself through the opening. “And be sure to close the grate behind you,” she said to the captain. He was probably insulted at the reminder but merely nodded.
Lily retreated a step. “I can’t go in there, there’s no way. I can’t.” Tears running down her cheeks, she appealed to Jill. “You know I have claustrophobia—how can you expect me to crawl into a box? Isn’t there a door to the outside we can use?”
“There are exterior doors, but we’re too far away from any of them, and we’d be caught by the guards before we got there.” Jill tried to rein in her impatience. “I’ve gone through this shaft twice with no problems, and I know the route is clear. Please, sis, this is our only chance at escape. You’ve got to try.”
Gabe stepped forward, giving Lily’s shoulder a squeeze. “My team and I’ll be right there with you. I give you my word nothing bad will happen. Take deep breaths and focus on Brent—he’ll go ahead of you.”
The guard is on patrol. MARL’s voice in Jill’s head amped up her tension. She grabbed Lily by the elbow and dragged her to the wall below the vent. “We’re all going to get caught if we don’t move now. And since I tried to kill the head scientist in charge here, I’m better off dead than taken prisoner again. If you love me, sis, you’ll make yourself crawl.”
“You what? What happened to you?” Lily’s question was shocked and sincere.
Jill gritted her teeth. “Long story. I’ll tell you later, but trust me, we cannot get caught.”
Gabe said, “I’ll guarantee your sister will be right on your heels. Go on into the vent.”
Brent made a stirrup with his hands, and Jill got herself through the opening. As she crawled away, hoping the captain would be more effective than she’d been in getting Lily past her phobia, she heard the others coming one by one behind her.
MARL moved steadily ahead, turning his lights off as he approached each grate and then re-illuminating as soon as he was safely past. Jill was relieved to see the Khagrish guards’ break room was empty at this hour, since she felt that was the most dangerous point in the escape route and had doubts about how silently her companions could move. The three ex-soldiers were doing fine but she was sure her sister was having trouble. Clearly Lily wasn’t bouncing back well from her imprisonment in the Chimmer cage.
Brent had been behind her, and he slid from the vent into the ruined building with ease, pivoting to help Lily, who was white-faced and trembling. He half carried her to a clear spot and Jill joined her. Flo and Gabe arrived in short order.
“Next?” said the captain, surveying the ruins with a frown.
“It’s a hard day’s hike to the river valley where I’ve been hiding out,” Jill told him. “That’s where I found MARL. He’s been shielding the place from scans and overflights, and he says he can defend it against a ground attack if required.”
“Did you say we might be able to get our hands on weapons here?” Gabe’s voice was dubious.
“I found two pulse rifles, so yeah. We should grab more of the rations as well. I can show you where. By myself I couldn’t move enough debris to search all the cabinets but with your help—”
Lily grabbed her sleeve. “I need to rest. My legs are jelly.”
Gabe snapped off a few orders. “Flo, stay here with the lady. Brent, you and I are on foraging duty with Jill.”
“We can’t linger too long,” Jill said as she led them deeper into the building, two of MARL’s manifestations lighting their way. “The Khagrish are going to get suspicious of this place sooner or later. I’d hate for tonight to be the night.”
“Point taken.”
The two men were able to dislodge a stack of debris in the storage area Jill had plundered previously, uncovering a small treasure trove of the ration bars, more containers of fluids and a locker with six pulse rifles and two hand weapons.
“Now I feel better,” Gabe said as he checked the blaster he’d grabbed and slung a rifle over his shoulder by the strap. “I prefer to be able to shoot back at the enemy.”
Jill sent a thought to MARL via the earpiece. How are things at the main complex?
Systems quiet, no reports about missing humans. We should go during their early morning shift change. Less likely to attract notice then.
Agreed. “MARL says everything is good. We need to move out in a few, while the Khagrish rotate guard units over there at the lab.”
But when they arrived at the rendezvous point, Lily was slumped over, asleep or unconscious. Flo was checking her pulse as the others came into the area. “She doesn’t seem to be in physical distress, pulse is good, but she keeps slipping in and out on me.”
“I’ll carry her for the first part of the journey,” Gabe said, holstering his blaster. He nodded at Brent, who was going over the salvaged weapons. “We’ll trade off if she’s not up to walking.”
Jill touched her sister’s cheek. “Why is she having so much trouble? The three of you are doing ok.”
The captain hoisted her sister into his arms. “How did you do when you were released?”
“I don’t know. I woke up in the Preserve, face down in the rain. I was a bit shaky but not like this.”
“I’m thinking maybe the four of us have a measure of protection from all the injects and implants we had over the years, courtesy of the military,” Gabe said. “Your sister’s a civilian, yes?”
“Right, she’s a teacher and her twin is a doctor. I persuaded them to join me in living on Amarcae 7, being part of the colony.” And I surely do feel guilty about the decision now.
“Ever heard of stasis syndrome? I saw it once in civilian expedition members who’d gone on an extended field trip and didn’t prepare adequately. I think Lily may be suffering from that.” Brent shook his head.
“What can we do for it?” Jill asked.
“I’m no medic but a lot of rest, concentrated nutrients, fluids–”
“At least she was able to make her exit from the lab complex,” Gabe reminded Jill. “I’m thinking she has maybe a touch of this syndrome Brent’s referring too, and just overexerted herself. Let’s get her to somewhere safe as rapidly as we can. “He gestured at the ruins where they stood. “Certainly there’s nothing here we can use to improve her condition. How about your valley?”
“Good fishing, caves for shelter, small game to hunt,” Jill said. “MARL can generate heat.”
“We catch whatever passes for small, furry rodents on this planet, I can make a good nourishing broth,” Flo said. As they all stared at her, she shrugged. “I grew up on an outer rim planet, kind of low on amenities so we did a lot of subsistence hunting.”
“Lucky for us.” Jill straightened. “All right, decision made. We head for the valley as fast as we can go. Time to run silent. We have to cross the open field, although MARL can provide a distortion cover as he did in the corridor over in the complex. Then it’s a day’s hike to the river valley.”
“The guards are changing shifts as scheduled,” MARL said.
“Time to move. I’ll take point, since I know where we’re going. Brent, Flo, stay close on Gabe’s six until we all reach cover across the field.” Gabe might technically outrank her in the Sectors but this place was off the charts, she knew what she was doing and she gave the orders.
The group made good progress during the day. Lily continued to be weak although Jill found it encouraging to see her sister remain conscious and coherent for the most part. The men took turns carrying her when necessary, while Jill led the way and Flo brought up the rear.
In the mid afternoon thunder clouds gathered overhead. Gabe jogged ahead to confer with Jill. “Should we search for shelter before the downpour begins? I’m concerned about your sister—being caught in the open during a big rain won’t be good for her.”
“I’m not arguing,” Jill said. “When I was first released into the Preserve, there was an awful gale, but fortunately the Badari had a shelter.”
“I want to hear more about these Badari of yours, but first things first. Where do you recommend we hole up?”
“I don’t know.” She studied the forest as if an answer was going to reveal itself on demand. “I headed straight to the river valley, made myself push through. There’s a system of caves in the bluffs there.”
“No problem, I’ll go reconnoiter ahead.” Gabe took off at an easy run.
Jill kept moving along the direct route to the valley as the first fat drops splattered from the sky. Nothing about this rescue was going the way she’d planned, other than Lily being safely out of the lab. But Megan was still there and in danger, along with all the others from her colony. The sense of failure was a gnawing in her gut but no matter how she reviewed her actions and decisions, there was no way she could have obtained a better outcome.
Gabe sprinted through the brush toward her about fifteen minutes later. “I found a place between some rocks where we can make a shelter and not be at risk from the lightning. We’ll have to veer east.”
Jill studied the sky and realized there was no way her party could descend the cliff at the valley in a gale such as the one she’d experienced on her first night with the Badari. Even if she called for a forced march and reached the rim, then she and her companions would be in an exposed position on the cliffs and vulnerable to wind and lightning. “I’m not happy about the detour but lead the way.”
The captain had found a good spot, in the lee of a rock formation jutting from the ground. Lily was placed against the back wall under an overhang, with MARL close by to provide heat for her, while the Flo stood guard and the others gathered branches to build a barrier blocking as much of the exposed opening as they could. The men worked fast, drawing on survival training from their military days.
“How’s your pet for power?” Gabe asked as he and Brent tied vines around the larger poles to give their structure stability in the rising winds.
“He says he has unlimited resources,” Jill said, tossing her wet hair out of her eyes as she held the branches together.
“No need for a fire then.” Gabe glanced at the sky. “Smoke wouldn’t give us away tonight, not with this storm coming but better to be safe than sorry.”
“I have a few ration bars in my pack, which will have to be it for dinner. They’re about as tasteless as the ones in the Sectors. Once we reach the valley tomorrow, I’ve got dried fish, berries and fruit in my cave larder.” Jill grinned. “All the comforts.”
As soon as the shelter was done, the humans gathered in a cluster close to MARL for warmth and Jill shared out the ration bars, giving Lily a whole one, despite her sister’s protests.
“The storm will blow itself out before morning,” she said, raising her voice to be heard. “We can be on the move at first light and reach the valley by midmorning. At least the Khagrish can’t put anything into the air to do a recon sweep tonight, even if they figure out we pulled off a raid under their noses.”
Gabe merely nodded as he shut his eyes and leaned against the rock wall in an attempt to sleep.
“I’ll take first watch,” Flo said. “Since I wasn’t helping to carry Lily, I’m probably more alert than these guys.” She jerked her finger at Gabe and Brent.
“Sounds good.” Wake me next and then I’ll hand off to Gabe.” Jill wasn’t about to shirk her duty.
Lily curled closer as the wind howled outside the scant protection the rocks afforded. “You didn’t even see Megan?” she asked, speaking directly into Jill’s ear.
Pain made Jill’s heart clench. “Do you think I’d have left her there if I did?”
“No, of course not but couldn’t you have stayed a little longer to look? She has to be there.”
“The Khagrish guard patrol was on its way and would have noticed the room was open,” Jill said. “I couldn’t take the chance of getting recaptured and losing you as well.” She smoothed Lily’s hair as she used to do when the twins were toddlers and she was the bossy older sister. “We’ll go back for her, Lil, I promise. I’ve got help now, with Gabe, Brent and Flo, not to mention MARL. And you, when you get to full strength. As soon as we’re safely in the valley, we’ll be planning the next raid on the lab and we won’t leave without her, and all the others.”
Lily yawned, closing her eyes and shifting position to use Jill’s lap as a pillow. “I know you will, sis.”
Jill leaned against the rock and watched the sheets of rain blowing past the opening of their shelter. She was already reviewing new action plans in her head, trying to remember which members of the colony were ex-military and might recover from the stasis faster, as Gabe and his team had done. I should prioritize freeing them first, to assist with the others, and to help fight off the Khagrish. We’ll have to carry in as many weapons as we can.
A blast of thunder directly overhead startled her and she patted Lily’s shoulder in automatic reassurance. Remembering the last storm she’d weathered in the open on this world, she thought about Aydarr and the pack. I hope they’re doing okay on the combat mission. I hope he comes back to me. Their Great Mother needs to watch out for her children.
She felt she couldn’t delay the attempt to rescue the other humans, but it worried her if she was successful—or if she tried and failed— the Khagrish would take additional security measures, making it harder to free the Badari later. Humans were outnumbered and outgunned on this fucking planet. No one else was going to be as invested as she was in rescuing her mate and his pack. She glanced at MARL and smiled. My ace in the hole. What other capabilities might he have, if asked the right questions? Rubbing her forehead, Jill closed her eyes and tried to calm her racing thoughts enough to fall asleep. The situation was fluid, multi-faceted and there weren’t going to be any easy answers. She hoped Gabe would be an asset in planning the next raid, but officer or not, he’d better not think he was going to take charge. This is my rodeo—I have the most at stake. On that possessive note she sighed and distracted herself with bittersweet memories from her last night with Aydarr, focusing on the happy moments she and her mate had experienced being together. I hope I can dream about him at least.