Epic: Book 02 - Outlaw Trigger (25 page)

Tactically.

She resumed her task.

The majority of the Ceratopians lurked on the opposite side of the street. Her eyes darted amid them as she performed a headcount. Eleven. There were eleven Ceratopians on the other side, swapping turns to fire around the corner. As she’d predicted, there were no necrilids or canrassis at all.

With the four remaining on her side, there were fifteen in total. Between the Fourteenth and Eighth, they could be stopped, especially if demolitions from the Eighth were involved. There was no doubt about it.

She scanned to the northeast. The Eighth came into view. They were grouped together between two buildings, out of visual range of the Fourteenth beyond the neon flashes of neutron. They crept steadily closer to the Ceratopians’ position. Soon their presence would be known.

Esther’s heart rate quickened as she waited for the Ceratopians to spot them. She knew her instructions well. As soon as the aliens saw the Eighth, she would tell the Fourteenth to attack. It had to be perfect timing. She waited for the Ceratopians to show any sign of averted attention, any momentary glance away from the Fourteenth at all. It would happen at any second.

She flinched as she watched the exchange of gunfire. Her fingers trembled. Her brow dripped. The right moment. Wait for the right moment. Wait for the right moment, when the battle would shift in their favor.

The right moment.

Then it happened.

The Ceratopians shifted around. Their horned heads turned as they held their fire and surveyed the Eighth. They were now aware of the newly arrived unit. Their weak side was exposed.

This time there was no hesitation.

She hurriedly adjusted her comm, and relayed her message to the Fourteenth. “Their attention’s away from you, engage now.”

Then, something happened. Something she didn’t expect. The Fourteenth questioned her—a voice she didn’t yet recognize. “Are you
sure
?”

“
Yes!” she answered. “You have to engage
now
.”

“
We are going,” the voice answered.

Her heart raced. Adrenaline pulsed through her veins. She had done it.

Scott dropped to his knees and reloaded a new clip into his rifle. When his comm crackled to life, the voice he heard made him go rigid.

It was Captain Ulrich of the Eighth. His voice was confident and clear.

“
Eighth engaging!”

Before Scott could utter a word, Jayden’s voice blurted through the comm. “Holy hell! The Eighth is engaging!”

Scott froze. David spun to face him. The world was thrust into slow motion.

The Eighth was attacking. They were stepping into the open, right when the Ceratopians were aware of them, at exactly the wrong time.

They were engaging out of sync.

The Fourteenth watched in horror as the Ceratopians unleashed their fury.

Esther fought back a grin as tingles sparked through her body. She was redeemed. She was in the game. She had done what she was trained to do. And now she watched as the attack she’d called in began to take place. As soon as it did, her entire body went numb.

The Eighth. The Eighth was pressing forward. And the Ceratopians were firing on them. Her heart pounded. Her breathing stopped. What were they doing? Why were they on the offensive? They were doing exactly what she had told the Fourteenth to do. And the Fourteenth wasn’t doing anything at all. It was as though they had both gotten their orders confused.

All of a sudden, she froze. She froze colder than she’d ever frozen before. Her heart nearly died in her chest.

Her fingers trembled to the surface of her helmet, where they shivered against its cold metal frame. Her lower lip started to quiver.

…
please no
…
please God, please no
…

As soon as she felt the comm pad, she knew why the Eighth was attacking. They had no reason not to.

She had just commed the wrong unit.

Scott leapt to his feet as a tidal wave of neon swept over the Eighth. Everyone in the Fourteenth fired their weapons. “Captain Ulrich, what are you doing?” he screamed. “We haven’t made our attack!”

The situation immediately worsened. As the Eighth stumbled under the initial attack, the Ceratopians made their own charge. The alien warriors dwarfed their EDEN enemies as they physically overtook them. Demolitionists were thrown aside like rag dolls. They were bludgeoned and flung through midair. They were crushed by the Ceratopians’ sheer strength.

They were utterly dominated.

The Eighth’s channel screamed with chaos.

“
Captain Ulrich!” shouted Scott again. “You have to fall back!”

Ulrich’s voice hollered through the fray. “You told us to engage!”

“
Negative, sir, we did not! Fall back! Fall back!”

David’s mouth fell open as a pulse grenade flew amid the retreating members of the Eighth. “Oh my God!” When it detonated, EDEN operatives flew in all directions.

Clarke’s voice cried through the comm. “Ulrich! Fall back!”

Scott reloaded yet another clip into his rifle. “They were supposed to wait for our signal!” He and David unloaded their weapons, but the Ceratopians barely paid them mind. The Eighth was the easier prey. The Fourteenth watched helplessly as one demolitionist after another was blown away by the force of the Ceratopians and their weapons.

“
Will an’ Derrick!” Becan screamed through the comm.

“
Grenades!” Scott yelled as he pulled one from his belt. “Hit them with grenades!” He pressed in the activation button and flicked it toward the Ceratopians. Seconds after the orb landed amid the aliens, it exploded with a fiery, ear-shattering boom.

David followed suit, as did the team across the street.

The Ceratopians split for the cover of the warehouses. The remaining Eighth fled in retreat.

Clarke’s voice crackled over the open airwaves. “Captain Ulrich, how do you stand?”

“
Damn you, Fourteenth!
How do you
think
we stand?”

Scott shook his head as he took up his rifle again. “We never began our assault!”

“
Why did you lie to us?” Ulrich screamed.

“
I swear to you!” Clarke said. “We didn’t say a thing!”

“
Captain Ulrich,” said Scott. “
No one
relayed the engagement order!”

Ulrich was livid. “We even asked you to confirm!”

“
We didn’t confirm anything!”

“
For the last time,
yes she did
!”

At exactly the same moment, Scott and David froze. Their gazes locked on the battle, as Ulrich’s words echoed through the air.

David fell backward. He fell backward, right on his rear, and dropped his gun to his side. “…oh no…”

Across the street, Becan lowered his head to the ground.

Esther was listening to the entire episode from the rooftop. Her hands were locked in front of her mouth; her fingers trembled like leaves in a hurricane. When Scott spoke her name, her entire body flinched.

“
Esther Brooking…”

She had to answer. She had no choice. She wanted to run away—to run to the ends of the Earth, but the tone of his voice kept her frozen. Her stomach turned inside out, and her hand shook wildly over her comm.

She already knew she was gone.

“…
I thought I was talking to you…”

Back at the dumpsters, David pulled off his helmet and covered his face.

Scott lost all control.
“You thought you were talking to me?”

Tears streamed down Esther’s face. Her voice quivered beyond recognition. “Lieutenant, I’m sorry! God, please, I’m so—”

“
Get back to the landing zone!”

Her panicked response was immediate. “Yes sir, I’m coming!”

Scott closed the channel and hurled down his rifle.

David reached out to grab him. “Scott, calm down.”

“
She’s a trashing
scout
! And she doesn’t know how to work a trashing
comm
?”

Becan’s voice quivered over the channel. “Remmy, please, she didn’t mean it.”

“
She just killed half the Eighth!”

“
Travis,” Clarke said over the airwaves, “bring the
Pariah
down to pick us up. We’re going back to
Novosibirsk
.”

Scott snapped a glare across the street. “No!” he yelled through the comm. “It’s not too late to press on!”

“
Lieutenant Remington!” Clarke hollered back. The captain’s patience was gone. “The Eighth are pulling out! Do you think Dostoevsky can capture the Cruiser by himself once they leave him? Do you think we can hold this street by ourselves?”

“
We can defend this town!”

“
No we cannot!
Travis, bring down the
Pariah
at once!”

“
Yes sir,” said Travis.

Clarke’s irate tone carried on. “Commander Dostoevsky, we will be picking you up at your drop point. Abandon your assault on the Cruiser.”

Dostoevsky snarled through the comm.

David was the first to see Esther when she stumbled back to the dumpsters. She hinged on the verge of hysteria. “It was my fault!” She could barely stay on her feet.
“It was my fault!”

David grabbed her before she could fall. She hid her face in his chest. “It’s all right,” he said, resting his hand on her head. “Esther, it’s all right.”

As soon as Scott saw her, he ripped his helmet off. “What in the hell was
that
?”

Esther twitched at the sound of his voice.

David turned his head around. “Scott, leave her alone, she’s traumatized.”

“
You think the Eighth’s not traumatized?”

“
Scott, stop!”

Their attention was averted as the
Pariah
touched down. As soon as it did, the Ceratopians fired upon it.

Scott grabbed his rifle and knelt to the ground. His finger assaulted the trigger.

“
Come on,” David said to Esther, “let’s get on board.”

She struggled back. “No! Please, I don’t want to go. Just leave me here, please!”

“
Esther,” David said, as he lifted her chin to see her eyes. “You’re going to be okay. I won’t let anything happen.”

She could barely speak through her sobs. “I don’t…”

David grabbed her and pulled her close. His arms wrapped around her back as she fell against his chest again. “Esther,” he whispered, “we’re not going to leave you behind.” She didn’t have the strength to resist. All she could muster was a terrified whimper. As Scott ferociously covered them, David led her back to the ship.

Scott had had enough. He didn’t care what Captain Clarke had ordered. He could hold this town. Maybe they couldn’t, but he could. As his assault rifle ran out of ammunition, he unholstered his sidearm. Walking into the open street, he aimed it at the Ceratopians and unleashed.

Within seconds, one of the massive aliens fell.

Still, Scott pressed on toward them. As his sidearm unloaded his wrath, he screamed with fury—a sound that was almost inhuman.

It didn’t take long for the rest of the Fourteenth to board the
Pariah
. As Jayden held suppression from the ground, the injured Clarke was assisted into the ship. As soon as he was aboard, Travis grabbed the controls. “We’re about to go!”

Suddenly, Jayden’s attention snapped ahead. “Scott!”

Scott did not hear Jayden’s cries. His ears echoed with gunfire. His vision was reddened with anger. As another Ceratopian fell, his screaming became violently worse.

Then Jayden was there.

“
Scott, come on, man!” He tugged at Scott’s side as the Ceratopians returned fire. Scott fired for another moment before the Texan forced him back. “We can’t hold this place, man! We gotta go!”

Scott was the last one inside. His finger did not relax from the trigger until the bay door finally whirred shut. The
Pariah
took off immediately, and the lieutenant threw down his sidearm and sat. He banged his head back against the wall.

“
Remington!” Clarke said. “Please calm yourself.”

“
We could have held it.”

“
You know that’s not true!”

David guided Esther down in the far corner of the troop bay. She clung to his side the whole while. “Anyone hear from Will and Derrick?” he asked.

Nobody had.

David adjusted his comm. “Will, Derrick? You guys out there?”

Several seconds of silence passed, and then the demolitionist’s voice crackled through. “We’re here. We’re okay. We’re loading people aboard, and we’ll see you when we get home.”

“
Good enough,” David said as he closed the channel. From beside him, Becan sighed in relief.

Farther back in the bay, Scott and Clarke exchanged verbal blows. “If nothing else, we could have kept them in check!” Scott said. “All we needed was time to reorganize!”