CHAPTER NINE
Aydarr’s first thought upon wakening from cryo sleep was of Jill. He hoped she was all right and could find a way to stay safe in his absence. As the lid slid open, Aydarr sat up in his pod, relieved to see Mateer and Reede on either side as always. Climbing from the cramped enclosure, he joined the rest of the pack, already doing the mandated exercises to get the blood flowing. The Khagrish guards and the scientist in charge of these military sorties stood off to the side, watching closely.
You left your mate well? Mateer gave him a sideways glance.
She was sad, trying to hide it from me, but fine. Aydarr wondered if she knew, as he did, how high the odds were against ever seeing each other again. Even if he survived this mission, the capricious Khagrish might keep them apart and there’d be nothing either of them could do about it.
At least the bastards didn’t bring her with us. Mateer offered comfort.
Aydarr shuddered. That idea hadn’t occurred to him. Although she said she was a soldier in the Sectors.
I’m not surprised. She has fire and strength. You’re fortunate in your mate.
Aydarr wholeheartedly agreed with Mateer’s assessment but forced himself to change his focus. The Khagrish officer in charge was calling for the pack to get dressed and consume their rations, so the final briefing and staging could begin.
“We’re on a timetable here,” the man reminded then harshly. “The assault on the city will begin promptly, and we have to be deployed before the first bombardment.”
As he led his pack through the spaceship’s corridors to the briefing room, Aydarr briefly speculated what people his pack had been brought to wreak havoc on this time. As he’d told Jill, as far as he was aware he and his men had yet to be sent against the Sectors, although he was curious who’d conducted the raid that captured her entire colony. His pack had been sent out on a variety of reconnaissance missions, to sabotage facilities, to retrieve high value data, several times to obliterate outposts, all on different worlds.
The Chimmer evidently waged war far and wide in the galaxy on behalf of their masters, the Mawreg. Yet they avoided the Sectors for the most part. Maybe Jill’s people would make formidable new allies, if he ever had a chance to contact them.
Pipe dreams. Bittersweet hopes, all useless. Aydarr settled into his chair and waited for the briefing to begin. His job was to keep his pack alive and performing well enough on these missions to persuade the Khagrish to allow his DNA subset to continue, to keep the cubs and cadets alive. But if they ever slip up and give me an opportunity to escape, take the young with us to safety…
He cut off the wishful thinking. No use in distracting himself right now. Only the Khagrish could get him home, to Jill and to the young, so accomplishing the mission objectives was key. The packs whispered a tale that at least once an entire squad had been executed onsite, for an unspecified but egregious failure causing the Khagrish commander to look foolish and ineffective. Not my squad. He must have made his vow on the open mental channel, because Mateer gave him a surprised glance.
After the briefing, the pack changed into combat fatigues and were assigned pulse rifles. This was when the Khagrish projected the most fear of their prisoners, fingering the controller for the stun bracelets. Aydarr knew his men wouldn’t be on their feet a minute after turning the weapons on their captors here on the ship. Everything was monitored, superior forces waiting to move in if the Badari made any aggressive moves. His pack was outnumbered and outgunned, and the Khagrish with the nerve bracelet controllers stayed well out of reach. And the cubs and cadets would be killed at the lab. Oh yes, he was boxed in by those who’d created him and kept him captive.
And now there was Jill to consider.
The shuttle taking them to the surface zigged and zagged as it dropped through the still unnamed planet’s atmosphere, avoiding the defensive sensors and weapons. The three assigned Khagrish guards kept their weapons activated and at the ready, in case the Badari entertained any notions of commandeering the shuttle.
To go where? Aydarr and his men craved their freedom, but not at the price of the lives of the young. The cubs and cadets might not be my children or even my brothers, but they’re of my species. I want to give them a chance to live and perhaps outsmart the Khagrish as none of us have been able to do since this nightmare program began.
His pack debarked in a smooth, well-rehearsed operation, taking cover in a wooded area on the bluff above the target city as the shuttle lifted off seconds later.
“All right, we know the route to our objective and we’ve seen the high value targets we’re to capture,” Aydarr said. “Reede, take point—”
“Just a minute, 801.” The scientist in charge had an odd expression on his face, as if he was eagerly anticipating whatever he was going to announce. “The mission parameters have changed. We want to see how you handle unexpected revisions when deployed in the field.”
Aydarr tamped down his anger. As long as no member of my pack gets killed in the process of your ad hoc test. “What is our new target?”
The Khagrish handed over an AI. Aydarr scanned the information, went through it once more, his disbelief and anger mounting. Take out the soldiers in three. None of his men betrayed their surprise at his sudden mental order with even a blink. Aydarr shot the scientist at close range, taking care to blast the bracelet controller hanging from the man’s belt and then a second shot through the enemy’s chest.
The pack members fired within a heartbeat of his own blast, and the guards fell dead.
The Khagrish had been overconfident, not realizing the new orders had pushed him beyond his limit, even with the lives at stake back at the lab.
The pack surrounded him, staring.
“A place of worship. Our new orders were to target a building where families are sheltering in place, hoping to survive the bombardment,” he said, knowing his voice was vibrating with rage.
“These people have no limit to their depravity.” Mateer toed the guard he’d shot.
“Indeed.” Aydarr looked around the circle of his pack. “We were to capture twenty of the healthiest civilian adults for future experimentation and any children. That I will not do. I’ll take full responsibility for this.”
There was silence. No one dissented.
“We’ll co-ordinate a proper story,” Reede said.
“What are we going to do now?” Mateer checked his chrono. “We have five hours before the shuttle meets us at the extraction co-ordinates.”
“We leave the dead here. Let the inhabitants of this planet learn what they can from the bodies.” Aydarr had other worries on his mind.
“Dissect them for a change,” Mateer growled. “The Khagrish have certainly dissected enough of us over the years.”
“We make our way to this building and see what we can do about getting those people to safety, or at least out of reach of the Khagrish today.” Aydarr looked at the circle of men, all of whom nodded agreement with his plan.
“And then?” Reede asked.
“Anyone who wants to stay here, take his chances on this planet, I’ll release you from the pack bonds and you can escape.” Aydarr made his genuine offer, but he wasn’t surprised when no one took him up on it. “Of course you’d still be wearing the bracelet but no one native to this planet has a controller and the Khagrish aren’t likely to spend time pursuing a few fugitives.” He grinned, displaying his fangs, although humor was far from his mind. “They’ll be too busy punishing me for this unheard of insubordination.”
“We live or die together.” Reede’s face was grim.
“You should know this may be the last mission. Jill was told the Chimmer are pushing the Khagrish to pick one DNA strain to continue the program and eliminate the others. I made my choice to disobey today and I’ll stand by it, although I realize I’ve put you all in jeopardy. And our cubs and cadets.” And Jill. He swallowed hard. His reaction to the Khagrish’s new orders had been instinctive, a total refusal from deep in his heart to carry out the kidnapping of more innocents, but the stakes couldn’t be higher.
“We’re running out of mission time,” Mateer said, breaking the silence. “You did the right thing. I wouldn’t follow an alpha who chose otherwise today.” There was a low growl of agreement from the rest of the pack.
Aydarr reached out to squeeze his friend’s shoulder, warrior to warrior. “I’m grateful for the support. “
“I’ll always have your back, you know that.” Mateer shrugged. “It’s part of the job. We’ll figure this out. We’ve lied to the Khagrish before, we can do it again. Now we’d better get moving if we’re going to save those people.”
“Agreed. Reede, take point and get us there via the most expedient route.”
As he made his way through the city, taking cover when the aerial combat threatened, Aydarr reviewed the maps and plans in his head, and figured out the best way to evacuate the building when he got there with his troops. Much was going to depend on how many people were sheltered in place.
The squad took cover and waited while two men completed a reconnaissance on the target building.
Do you suppose the other packs were also diverted to new targets? Mateer asked while they waited.
Probably. The Khagrish are constantly raising the stakes for all of us.
The Tzibir might not have our scruples about noncombatants. Mateer was dubious. They’ve been forcibly evolved in a much more drastic fashion, further away from the source material.
The last evolution of genetic experimentation on them was especially brutal, Reede chimed in. I think they’re unstable but the Khagrish seem to like their unbalanced minds.
The scouts reported in. “Fifteen adults, with six children of all ages—two old men with side arms, thirteen women. One woman was also armed. Barricaded in one room in the center of the main building.” The lead scout drew a rough diagram in the dirt. Aydarr and his two enforcers studied it.
“We’ll break in at each of the windows and the door,” he said.
“What if none of them speaks Basic?” Mateer asked.
“We’ll improvise.” Aydarr brushed his hand across the rough drawing to obliterate it.
The assault on the location went smoothly and by the book, with Aydarr’s men easily penetrating the flimsy barricades the occupants had placed at the windows and doors. The elderly men got off a few wild shots, and the woman managed to wound one of the Badari before she was disarmed.
Reede and the pack members guarded the panicked adults and children after herding them into one end of the large room. The woman who had been armed was unquestionably in charge so Mateer brought her to Aydarr, while Timtur took care of the wounded pack member.
The people of this planet were humanoid, like so many throughout the galaxy, blue-tinted skin, glossy black hair. She faced him defiantly, although he could tell by her scent she was terrified.
“Do you speak Basic?” he asked, hardly daring to hope.
“A little. We do business with the occasional Sectors free trader.”
“We’ve come to rescue you and your friends, get you out of here and away to safety.”
She took a step backward, running into Mateer standing close behind her. “Why would you do this? Your forces invade our world, bomb our city, and yet you say you want to save us?”
“You’re my mission today, one way or the other. Our motivations aren’t your concern. You should be happy to have help.”
Mateer pushed her closer to Aydarr. “Three hours left, commander.”
“Listen, if my men and I walk away, if you stay here, there’s a good chance another unit will be sent to take you captive.” He debated how much to explain. “This place is not defensible.”
“It’s a sanctuary.” Her jaw clenched and she fisted her hands as she glanced at the broken windows.
She reminded him a bit of Jill, so fierce and determined. Aydarr pushed the stray thought away and concentrated on the discussion at hand. “Not in the eyes of the people running this attack. To them it’s a trap, and you’re the helpless prey.”
“We tried to get out of the city, but the roads were blocked,” she said. “So I believed staying here was the best we could do.”
“Map,” Aydarr snapped out the command, and Mateer brought up a map of the surrounding area on his AI. He pointed at a long tunnel indicated in blue on the chart. “If we could get you to this underground transportation system, could you hike through it to safety in the countryside?” He gestured at the solemn cluster of children. “Are they able to walk that far? Or can your people carry them?”
A frown line creasing her forehead, she studied the map. “But it’s nearly a mile from here to the nearest station, and with the fighting going on—”
“The battle this time is focused on aerial bombardment of specific targets.” He didn’t care if he was divulging Khagrish military intel. “With a few units on the ground as we are, after specific targets.”
Waving her hand at the citizens around her, eyebrows raised, she said, “And out of all the warlike activity, we were a target?”
“The Khagrish like to conduct perverted experiments,” Aydarr said. “The command thought you would make good subjects. If they get their hands on you, you’ll wish you’d died here in the rubble, believe me. I don’t have time to keep arguing. Either we move out in five minutes and escort you to the tunnels, or my men and I are pulling out and leaving you to your fate.” He wasn’t actually planning to abandon them, but she didn’t need to know that.
“Some of our men will help carry the children,” Mateer offered.
Her cheeks had gone paler blue in color and she held her hand against her stomach as if nauseous. “All right, you’ve convinced me. Give me five minutes to get my people organized and gather their belongings.”
“Leave everything behind—you’ll have to carry the children,” he warned. “We need to move fast.”
The pack made its way to the extraction point outside the city limits and settled in to wait for the shuttle. Aydarr handed his weapon to Mateer. “I surrender. You should put me in restraints before the Khagrish arrive.”
His enforcer took the rifle with a frown. “Don’t ask me to do this. We all stand with you—we all agreed to change the mission parameters.” The men voiced their agreement in rumbling growls.
“And we executed the Khagrish minders right alongside you,” Reede said. “We’re not going to let you take the blame for this rebellion.”
“You have to.” Aydarr injected all the power of his alpha role into the command. “The Khagrish don’t understand how a pack works, but they do know—because we’ve convinced them for our own reasons—everyone else is compelled to follow my orders. No free will if I or any other alpha issues a command. So the enemy will accept the concept that the guilt is mine alone. Tell them now because I’m mated, I couldn’t stomach the idea of capturing women and children to serve as test subjects. Which is true.” He pointed at Mateer. “The Khagrish in charge will let you step into the alpha spot. And at the lab they’re more likely to allow our cubs and cadets to live, if you’ve turned me in. I need you to rough me up, make it look like you challenged me for dominance and won. The Khagrish won’t know our rules for such a fight.”
A murmur ran through the pack members, and they exchanged appalled glances.
“How else could this end? What did you think I’d have to do to save the pack?” Aydarr asked. “I yield to you, my friend.” He knelt and tilted his head to expose his neck in a sign of submission, although it took every ounce of his willpower to force himself to take the action.
“And Jill?” Mateer handed the weapon to Timtur while Reede and the third in command took positions on either side of their alpha to hold him while Mateer carried out the orders.
Aydarr swallowed hard. “If you’re allowed to see her, tell her I held her in my heart.”
Reede and the third hauled Aydarr to his feet. Mateer clenched his teeth. “I call upon the pack to witness that I do this only because you ordered me to. I am not challenging you for leadership. And if by some miracle we all come through this, I’ll step aside and be proud to call you my alpha.”
“Acknowledged.” Aydarr looked his friend in the eyes. “Thank you. Now get on with it before the Khagrish arrive.”
Mateer administered a beating serious enough to fool the Khagrish when he recited the agreed-upon lies, but which didn’t do any deep or permanent damage. Still, by the time he was allowed to fall to the ground, Aydarr bore aching bruises, and his vision was blurry, one eye swollen shut. His enforcers bound his hands and the pack settled in around him, waiting in silence for the shuttle to arrive.
I hope this gamble works.
Jill was restless, impatient and couldn’t shake a feeling of impending doom. They’d been safely ensconced in the river valley for a few days now. Lily was improving by the day, after resting, eating nourishing stew made from the game Flo brought in daily and drinking huge amounts of water to rehydrate.
She sat with the others at the lake’s edge, fishing for their dinner while Lily napped in the sun. Jill and Gabe were having the recurring argument about strategy and logical next steps. The two of them had been wrangling over mission scenarios ever since arriving safely at the valley. Part of the problem derived from the fact there simply was no ideal solution to defeating the Khagrish and rescuing those held at the lab.
“I intend to go back in now,” Jill said, as she’d declared stubbornly before. “Seven hells, I ought to have made a second sortie that night, after the guards finished their patrol of the area. I could have located Megan in the room and set her free. I wasn’t thinking clearly.”
“We’ve been over this,” Gabe said. “We had all we could do to get Lily to freedom, as sick as she was. Getting her to safety was our top priority. You’ve got to stop blaming yourself – I’m not too sure we could have made our escape with a second person as debilitated as she was.”
“And we don’t know for sure your other sister was even in the room,” Flo said as she baited her hook with a new crawly.
“I do blame myself so don’t waste your breath.” Jill jiggled her makeshift pole in an attempt to attract a nice fat fish to her bait. “I’m going tonight and I’m not leaving that fucking place without Megan. I need one of you to stay here with Lily, and the others to come with me. I can’t wait any longer. The Khagrish could be experimenting on my sister and the other humans right now and it’d be my fault for leaving them.”
Gabe stared at her, his brow furrowed. “If you’re set on this, I’ll go along and watch your six, but I still think we need an overall plan for taking down the facility and rescuing all the prisoners. Which, as we’ve discussed endlessly these last few days, presents giant challenges and even bigger risks.”
“And I believe I can get my sister out safely without jeopardizing the eventual rescue of the others. MARL hasn’t intercepted any signals giving orders to release the humans from stasis, much less to begin experiments. It’ll be good to conduct another recon of the facility in any case.” Jill knew she was attempting to justify her obsession with rescuing Megan now but there was a kernel of truth in the idea of doing more research on the lab’s vulnerabilities. “We might find a few more human ex-soldiers to release too, to swell our ranks.” Enthusiastically she prepared to enlarge on the encouraging theme when MARL sent her a private message.
I have good news and bad news.
A bit unnerved by his tone, she took a shaky breath. What?
I intercepted a new alert in the lab’s AI system—the Badari have returned from their mission and are being processed for reimprisonment. That’s the good news.
Mouth dry, heart pounding, she rose to her feet, setting the fishing pole aside, but forced herself to wait for MARL’s next piece of data. And the bad news?
Aydarr has been labeled an experiment failure and been scheduled for execution.
She couldn’t form words and had to sit on the closest boulder as the world spun around her. In her agitation, she forgot to use their private mental link. “Does the report say what happened?”
No details. He’s in Dr. Cwamla’s personal custody.
“And the rest of the pack?”
Marked for transfer to medical experimentation in another facility.
“I’ll be at the cave as soon as I can get there, and we’ll be moving out,” she said, realizing for the first time she was speaking aloud. Her companions gaped at her. “We’re not waiting for cover of darkness after all.”
“What’s wrong?” Lily asked.
“My pack’s returned from their mission and something’s gone seriously sideways. Aydarr’s going to be executed. I have to go.” She regained her feet, ready to sprint to the cave. “There’s no time to waste.”
Gabe grabbed her arm before she could take a step. “Stop and think this through.”
Incredulous, she tried to yank free. “There’s nothing to think about—those men saved my life, Aydarr’s my mate—I have to go rescue them. We have to—”
Voice cold, the captain said, “And what about your other sister and the two hundred colonists we were talking about two minutes ago? Are they still a mission imperative? Or have they slipped your mind?”
Staring at him, she said, “I’d never forget Megan or the other colonists. I’m going to have to rescue all of them this trip.”
“And you said there were Badari children in the compound as well,” her sister reminded her. “You can’t leave them behind.”
Jill glared at Gabe, and he carefully removed his hand from her arm. “Are you in, or are you out on this?” she asked, moving a step away from him.
“My point is so far you’ve been lucky, and no one at the facility apparently wanted to expend much energy searching for you. As far as we know, my crew and your sister haven’t even been missed.” He rubbed his hand over his face, took a deep breath and visibly tried to project a calm demeanor as he continued his objections. “There’s no way we can sneak in there and extract this Aydarr guy without exposing the fact we have access to the facility and information about what’s going on there. So if we go in, we have to be smart about it, and we have to have a plan to extract the humans, the pack, and the pack children. We won’t get a second chance. So far I’ve heard nothing resembling a plan.”
“If we go back in?” Jill was outraged, her voice rising up the scale. “Of course we go in. We’re out of time, or my mate and the pack are anyway. We have to hit the Khagrish hard, render the facility inoperable and resolve the situation for everyone held prisoner there.”
“All five of us?” Gabe gestured at himself and then the others. “You were Special Forces tech support, we were Special Forces operators so together we might be able to defeat your lazy, unsuspecting alien guards and untrained scientists in a sneak attack, but those are long odds, lady.” He glanced at Lily, sitting on her sunny perch. “And no offense, but I think we’re actually a force of four because your sister isn’t ex-military and she can barely navigate from the cave to here without getting the shakes. She’s a long way from being fully recovered.”
“We can’t shuttle two hundred groggy humans through ventilation shafts to safety, if that’s part of this audacious plan I haven’t heard yet,” Flo said. “No offense, Lily, but just bringing you along was challenging enough.”
“Not all of the colonists are claustrophobic,” she said with a weak smile. “That will help.”
Gabe pulled the discussion back on point. “Even if we miraculously get our hands on the actual tool for opening the specimen envelopes and the restorative nutrients, we’re not likely to have time for a clean getaway. And we’re ignoring the issue of the Badari men and children.”
“Are you saying you expect me to let Aydarr die? Let the pack be experimented on?” Jill took a breath and counted to ten before continuing. “The Badari deserve a chance to escape as much as the colonists do. I liked your first point—agreement it’s time to rescue everyone—better than the direction this line of thought is going.”
“Maybe you need to decide where your loyalties lie,” Lily said. “What are these aliens to you, really? As opposed to my twin?”
“Aydarr is my mate. I love him.” Jill felt like her jaw would break, she had it clenched so hard. “I love Megan too, and I’m going to forget you asked me the question. I have to rescue both of them.”
Again the captain interposed himself into the debate, addressing Jill. “What I’m saying, sergeant, is we need a battle plan with some chance of success.” His use of her rank was like a slap in the face. “There’s only four of us operationally ready, plus your AO tech toy, and now we’re talking about taking down an entire facility full of armed guards. Rushing off with blasters blazing won’t do anything but get us killed or recaptured. We can’t help anyone then.” He eyed her then went on in a softened voice. “I understand the urgency, believe me, but we’ve got to be strategic here.”
Jill forced herself to take a deep breath and relax before she answered. “All right.” She nodded. “But we don’t have time to stand here and talk. Even moving at best speed, it’s a day’s travel to the facility. Precious time’s being wasted while we argue.”
“Agreed.” Gabe detailed Brent and Flo to bring the fish and the poles, then he and Jill jogged to the cave.
Colors flashing across his shiny exterior, MARL met them below the mouth of the cavern. “A Chimmer ship transported the three packs to the facility but has now left the planet and is on its way out of the solar system.”
“Well, a piece of good news,” Jill said. “I wonder if they’d return if Dr. Cwamla sent a distress call. Taking on the Chimmer is a whole new level of difficulty.”
“I’m defending this valley from scans and flyovers,” MARL said, repeating information he’d given her before. “I can’t defend the planet.”
“Do you have offensive capability?” Gabe asked.
“I’m not a weapon,” MARL said. “I can protect Jill’s immediate vicinity. I could shield the lab facility if she was there but then I have to allow the valley’s coverage to lapse. I can’t do both. If I had my full self, from Njindak’s sunken ship—”
“Show us the facility again,” Jill said. There was no point in discussing the potential treasure trove in the now drowned alien spacecraft.
Marl projected a 3D representation of the Khagrish installation, rotating slowly in the thin air, as he’d done before every time Jill and Gabe argued themselves to a standstill over how to attempt a mass rescue.
“I need the interior layout,” Jill said. “Indicate location of the people we’re interested in—Aydarr, the packs, the kids, and the humans.”
Gabe rubbed his chin as MARL added additional models to his midair display. “ I’ll admit having the Badari in the mix adds to the possibilities.”
Six different areas lit up. Jill forced herself to focus. “This is the communal cell where we were all held,” she said, pointing at one large room. “And this is where I met the cubs. I was never anywhere near the other packs’ cells. I can see Aydarr’s current location is close to where Dr. Gahzhing’s rooms and office were. Either Cwamla took over his quarters or had rooms close by.” Jill didn’t like the implications of Aydarr being held in Cwamla’s personal space. She remembered Aydarr had told her occasionally the female scientists would insist on a Badari male taking his place in their beds.
“Display the ventilation shafts,” Gabe said.
For the next few minutes, Jill and the three mercenaries studied the layout in silence while Lily, who’d followed much more slowly, sat on a nearby boulder and watched them.
“Will this pack follow you and help us free your boy, and fight to destroy the rest of the facility?” Gabe asked all the right, tough questions.
Jill swallowed hard. “Aydarr made them swear to follow my orders in his absence, the children as well.”
Gabe exchanged grins with Brent and Flo. “So we could have ten more trained fighters who want to kick a lot of Khagrish ass? I like those odds.”
“But we only have a few weapons between us.” She gestured at the circle gathered around her, staring at MARL’s version of maps. “The guards have pulse rifles, blasters, and stunners. And the controllers for the bracelets.”
Gabe held up one hand. “I’ll get to that in a minute. What about the other two packs?”
“Jamokan would probably throw in with us if he saw a reasonable chance of escape. The Tzibir I have no idea. They’re a lot further removed from the human stock.” She shivered as she remembered encountering them in the cadet area. “They’re scary.”
“The Tzibir were declared the successful DNA line,” MARL said.
“Which makes Jamokan more likely to side with us and them less likely,” Jill said. “OK, try this on for size and let me finish before you poke holes in it I get into the complex, find my packmates and set them free if they agree to help us. Then I free Jamokan’s bunch, since they’re apparently right next door and I halfway trust them. I believe I can convince him to join us.”
“And the Tzibir?” Gabe asked. “Do we leave them alone for now, no need to introduce a potential Khagrish ally into the mix? Time enough to deal with them later and, if we’re wrong about their allegiance, at least their lives and kids aren’t in danger right now.”
Jill frowned. “I’m not okay with leaving them in their cell, at the mercy of the Khagrish. Just because the Tzibir were selected as the strain the Khagrish plan to continue doesn’t mean they won’t be subject to experiments and torture. I’ll talk to their Alpha and free them if I’m convinced he’ll at least stay neutral.”
“Fair enough—you’re the expert here,” Gabe nodded. “My team and I’ll break into the armory and load up. You and the packs meet us there, and we go after the kids, the humans and Aydarr in a coordinated, three-pronged attack. MARL here locks up the entire place so no one can move but us.” He pointed at the AI. “You can do that, right?”
“I retain my control over the lab’s systems, yes.”
Not yet done with MARL, Gabe drilled down to more specifics. “You can unlock individual doors and hallways as we need to move?”
“Yes. As far as getting instructions when to make changes in the lockdown status, I mentally link only to Jill, however.”
Raising an eyebrow, Gabe glanced at Jill. “His devotion to you is heartwarming but a bit inconvenient in the field, to put it mildly.”
“Can’t you manifest ear pieces for them as well?” Jill asked. “For this one occasion?”
“If you wish me to do so, then I will.” MARL hummed and pale orange flashed over his silvery exterior. “Processing begun.”
“What’s our plan for evacuating the colonists?” Flo asked.
Gabe pointed. “See these two flyers parked off to the east? We steal those and send the weakest humans and the Badari kids to safety here in the valley. All three of us are certified pilots so we should be able to figure the damn things out, especially with MARL’s help. If there’s time we make more than one round trip.”
“Time?” Jill asked.
“Before the other installations send troops to help the forces here.” Gabe frowned. “Are you saying they won’t bother? Because in that case, seven hells, we keep the damned facility for ourselves. Be a lot more comfortable than these caves.”
Jill shook her head. “I don’t know how the labs are allied. We know the facilities aren’t connected via one central AI, which helps us, but the planet is run by the Khagrish under the Chimmer’s loose control. There aren’t any big troop transport type flyers, as far as MARL and I can see, just shuttles of various sizes and configurations. So the other guard forces may not be able to help Dr. Cwamla’s troops even if their commanders want to. I doubt the Badari would agree to remain at the lab in any case.”
Gabe frowned at the holo of the lab complex. “How many men does this woman in charge have?”
“There are five scientists, fifteen staff members, five lab techs and fifty guards currently in the facility.” MARL’s report was concise.
“Seventy-five to four—great odds.” Gabe’s grin was fierce. “Works for me.”
“And we’ll have the element of surprise,” Jill said. “Plus not all of Cwamla’s people are trained to fight.” She remembered poor Dr. Sheyall. MARL had verified she’d been removed from the facility and taken to another one.
“Rules of engagement?” Flo asked. “Shoot to kill? Leave the buildings intact when we withdraw?”
“Shoot to kill if we encounter resistance. I think we blow up as much of the place as we can, after we’ve liberated all the supplies we can carry. Success of each phase depends how much time we have, whether anyone gets a distress call out and if the other labs respond.” Gabe shook his head.
“We won’t be going back,” Jill said. “I intend to keep the flyers and any land vehicles we can steal, although there don’t seem to be many of those. We have to rely on MARL to keep his promise he can maintain the safety of this valley.” There was a nagging feeling she’d left a crucial problem out of her calculations. Reviewing the situation, she said, “Damn, what about the bracelets? The method the Khagrish use to control the Badari. Are those centrally run, MARL? Can we deactivate them?”
“I can dampen the effect in my immediate vicinity, but that’s the extent of what I can offer.”
“So we have to get our hands on the controllers the guards have.” Jill saw confusion on Gabe’s face and she explained, “The Badari all wear these neurobracelets the Khagrish can use to paralyze or inflict pain, up to and including death. The Khagrish put one on me but it never worked and eventually my body rejected it, which hurt like hell.” She extended her arm and displayed the scar.
“Even the children are forced to wear these devices?” Lily asked in a near whisper.
“Yeah, these Khagrish aren’t any better than their Chimmer masters. Another reason to show no mercy, shoot to kill the bastards.” Hands on her hips, Jill challenged Gabe. “We done with planning mode? I’m ready to move out.”
“How are we going in?” Flo asked.
“Not the shaft from the ruins,” Gabe said before Jill could speak. “I know you and MARL haven’t seen any indications in the AI reports that the shaft’s been discovered, much less checked or booby trapped, but I’ve got a bad feeling about trying to use it a third time. How dumb can these Khagrish be?”
“So where do you plan to make a breach? The front door?” Jill knew she sounded pugnacious, but she was far from convinced her private way in and out was unsafe. All this talk, even as necessary as advance planning was, tore at her nerves, knowing Aydarr was in danger. From the one time I saw her, Dr. Cwamla was ruthless and every bit as cruel as Dr. Gahzhing. Time was definitely at a premium.
Gabe walked to the rotating map. “MARL, hold this steady, would you? And now add the external perimeter.”
Jill pointed at the preserve outlined in bright blue. “This area is cordoned off by a force field.”
“Which I’m guessing your friend here can disrupt. Am I right?”
“I can eliminate the field in its entirety via command routed through the lab’s AI or I can make a temporary, smaller void in the coverage with my own fields.” MARL’s answer was prompt as always.
Gabe raised his hands in a ‘see there’ gesture. “MARL makes a void, we slip inside from a direction the Khagrish won’t be expecting and the element of surprise is definitely on our side.”
Jill turned to her sister. “Lilly, you’ll have to stay here. I’m sorry but you’re not fully recovered yet.”
“I’d slow you down too much—I get it.” Her sister swallowed hard and gave Jill a tiny smile. “I’ll be fine. I can hide in the cavern if anyone comes while you’re gone.”
Jill gave her a hug. “Waiting is the hardest part, I know. But when we do start shuttling survivors to the valley, can you take charge? Get them organized? I know I’m asking a lot—”
A big smile on her face, Lily shook her head. “No, it’s a great idea. After all, if I could organize the school on Amarcae7, I can certainly keep this place in order till you get back. And you did say some of the Badari are children, right?”
“Not like human children though. These poor kids have been raised to be super soldiers, killers. But when Aydarr took me to meet them, they were polite and well mannered.” Jill stood tall. “I’m their alpha, after all, in Aydarr’s absence and I’ll warn them to treat my sister and her orders with respect.” She looked at the three ex-Special Forces soldiers. “Gear up and meet me at the goat track to the summit in ten. I want to make damn good time before the sun sets.”
With a sardonic grin on his face, Gabe snapped a salute and his two team mates followed suit. “We’ll be there.” Pivoting smoothly, he and the others took off at a trot for the cave they’d selected as their own dwelling.
Lily walked over to Jill and gave her a big hug. “Be careful, big sister. And bring Megan, okay?”
“You got it, I give you my word.” Making herself sound more confident than she felt, given the odds against them, Jill patted her sister’s shoulder before moving off to the cave to get her gear. Megan, Aydarr, the pack, the kids—all depending on me, whether they know it or not. I’m not failing any of them this time.