Mission To Mahjundar (13 page)

“Vreely had his chance at me, and he missed it,” Johnny said. “He ain't getting another opportunity, my word on it.”

Leading the others from the tomb, Mike moved from the cover of one boulder to the next, ducking behind stands of the impenetrable rollweeds as he worked his way down the valley toward Lindia's tomb. Johnny and Mike had been doing this kind of thing ever since they played kids’ games on their home planet and then on a life-or-death basis in the last twenty years as Sectors Special Forces operators on countless worlds. Vreely had no idea of the vengeance that was coming his way.

Saium kept up easily, noiselessly, apparently drawing on the skills he’d learned as a boy in forests and mountains of Mahjundar.
 

After a few minutes, Mike reached a position to the side and behind Vreely and his men, who were in a half circle facing away from them, all guns trained on Lindia's open tomb.
 

Nudging Mike's arm, Johnny pointed with his chin, to a spot beyond the horses. A small bundle of colored rags lay there in a broken heap. “The maid,” he whispered, face drawn in grim lines.
 

Mike nodded, continuing his assessment of the soldiers. “Waiting for us to make a last break. Not too worried about the outcome, either, judging by the careless way they're handling their weapons and joking around.”

“They're in for a surprise.” Showing his teeth in a feral grin, Johnny didn’t try to disguise his eagerness to engage the enemy.

“Vreely's mine,” Mike said, taking careful aim. “On the count of three.”

At the last second, the Mahjundan major moved and Mike's bullet only grazed his shoulder. Johnny and Saium were more fortunate, killing their first targets. The remaining six soldiers dove for cover behind rocks and returned fire. Saium picked off the one closest to the tomb when the man overconfidently ducked out to try for a quick shot.
 

“Going to be a standoff unless we get the drop on them again somehow,” Johnny said, picking off a soldier who rashly tried to streak for better cover. “Mike, let's you and me work our way up the valley wall, try to get behind them.”

A fusillade from the empress's guardsmen sent rock splinters flying from the top of the boulder sheltering Mike. Immediately, Saium popped up and answered the fire, ducking to safety as another concentrated round of incoming imploded where he’d been seconds before.
 

Mike holstered his gun. “You're right. This could go on all day if we don't outmaneuver them. Saium, lay down covering fire while we try to outflank them.”
 

Taking the guardsman’s agreement for granted, he and Johnny slunk into the tall grass and boulders, going toward the temple, far enough away to get out of Vreely's direct line of sight, before climbing the steep slope unseen by the Mahjundans. Mike found it fairly easy to work his way across the top of the cliffs without being spotted. Settled in behind a big red rock, Saium shot often enough to keep Vreely’s troops pinned down. Mike’s plan called for the decoy to keep any of the soldiers from making an escape.

Vreely evidently decided Mike had to be out of ammunition or else trying some kind of flanking maneuver. Suddenly, he and his remaining four men made a concerted rush for the tethered horses. Mike and Johnny shot from their new location high on the valley wall. Rising, Saium started blazing away. Only Vreely managed to get to the mounts. He ducked under one, tugged the reins free and, keeping the horse’s bulk between him and the attackers, rode at a breakneck speed toward freedom.
 

Keeping his balance somehow, Mike slid down the steep hill, gun in hand. He half rolled to a stop next to the thoroughly spooked horses, and stood. Yanking the reins off the tether line, he mounted the black stallion and galloped after Vreely.

The assassin had a head start, but the black horse was faster. Mike was gaining ground easily. As soon as he came into the limited range of the local weapons, he shot, but missed. Vreely returned fire as the horses swerved around the next bend of the valley. Stinging along Mike’s cheek signaled the enemy had scored a near miss.
 

As the half-ruined temple came into sight a few hundred yards ahead, Mike urged his horse to greater speed.
Once Vreely’s out of the valley, he could go to ground anywhere and I won’t be able to spare the time to hunt him down. Can’t let him escape to carry tales to the empress.
Trying to accelerate in response to Vreely's furious goading with his spurs, the other horse stumbled on a patch of gravel, collapsing with a frightened whinny. Mike rode at full gallop, leaning on the stallion's neck to obscure his quarry’s field of fire. The Mahjundan fought to free himself from the stirrups, rising and getting off one more shot as Mike dismounted in a spray of gravel from his horse's abrupt stop. The bullet whizzed by his head and Mike didn’t give the enemy another chance to kill him, firing at point-blank range.

When Mike came walking slowly back through the twisting valley to his companions awhile later, he was leading the black stallion, Vreely's body slung over the saddle. Johnny and Saium were carrying the bodies of the other soldiers into the open tomb directly across from Lindia's. They stopped to watch him cover the last few yards.
 

“Vreely's luck finally ran out, gentlemen,” Mike said as soon as he was in earshot. “He won't be doing any more dirty work for Maralika.”
 

“Stick him in the tomb with the others.” Johnny hooked his thumb toward the cave. “Saium and I figure the less evidence we leave for the empress, the less trouble later.”
 

“Not a bad idea, but how are we going to get the door closed? It isn't even placed on its hinges yet.” Mike turned and stared at the black door to Lindia's tomb. Sometime during the fighting, the portal had quietly and efficiently closed itself, per the legend. The key was nowhere to be seen. Mike swallowed hard, imagining their fate if Kajastahn had been a less superstitious man.

“The hell with the damn door,” Johnny said. “I'm sick of all this mumbo-jumbo stuff. I figure we can start a big enough rock slide on the valley wall to do the trick. The debris will appear natural. We brought a few small explosive charges in the climbing gear, remember?”
 

“Anyone check on Shalira?” Mike asked, as he dumped the late Captain Vreely from the saddle.

“Twice,” Saium assured him. ‘She sleeps now. I told her about the poor maid.”

“How’d she take the news?”
 

“Shalira only asked that we not inter the girl with her murderers,” Saium said with a shrug. “The serving girl was a spy for the empress. We were aware of her true loyalties, of course, and Her Highness never confided in her unless it was something she wanted Maralika to hear. Still, the poor girl didn’t deserve what was done to her today.”
 

“I guess we can honor the request for a separate resting place. There must be another tomb we can give to the maid.” Mike contemplated the long valley.

“I'll take care of it,” Saium told them. “I know the proper words to be said.”
 

“Fine. Johnny and I’ll finish here.”
 

Johnny pointed at Mike’s cheek. “You ok?”

“Just a scratch, nothing to worry about.” He touched the mark with his fingertip. “I had to put down the other horse. Vreely’s mount broke its leg when it fell.”

“Just one more innocent casualty of the day,” Johnny said.

Mike and his cousin worked in silence after that, piling the bodies inside the empty tomb. The sun was close to the horizon, ominous black clouds rising over the far rim of the valley.
 

Dusting his hands on the seat of his pants, Johnny asked, “What's the plan now?”
 

Hands on his hips, eyes narrowed, Mike surveyed the steep hills surrounding them. “We seal off the tomb with your landslide. Then I want to get the hell out of this valley before the storm breaks. I don't want to spend the night here in the open.”

“Couldn’t pay me enough to bunk down in one of the empty tombs, not after what we saw today,” Johnny said.
 

“No,” Mike agreed. “Talk about an idea with no appeal at all. If you can finish up here, I'm going to get Shalira. If she’s awake, she's probably nervous being by herself.”

Walking to their packs, Johnny rummaged in the contents, pulling out explosives. “Go ahead. I'm going to set off the charge and start the rockslide in a couple of minutes.”
 

His own grim errand completed, Saium said, “What can I do to help? Those clouds are ominous, and this area is famous for sudden downpours and flash floods. We don’t have much time.”

“We don’t need to be caught in a flash flood,” Mike said, frowning in dismay. “Thanks for the warning.” He wasn't too pleased with himself. There had been a lot of luck involved in their escape from the empress's plot.
Luck has a way of deserting you just when you need it most.
 

Leaving his two companions busily at work on their assigned tasks, Mike hiked through the valley and climbed to the emperor’s unfinished tomb.

“It’s me,” he called as he came through the entrance, not wanting to startle the princess if she was awake.
 

“Is the fighting over? Are we free to go from here?” She was sitting, arms wrapped around her knees, propped against the rough stone wall. “What of Vreely?”

Crossing to her side and laying a hand on her shoulder in reassurance, Mike said, “He's dead. You’ll never be troubled by him again.”

Mike was glad she sounded a little stronger than when she had first awakened after escaping her mother’s tomb.
Maybe the sleep did her some good
. Even in the half-lit vestibule, he could see a tremendous bruise on her temple, where she’d grazed the edge of the sarcophagus. “I’m here to escort you to the horses. We'll be ready to ride out soon. A major storm is brewing and this valley isn't the place to take shelter, for a lot of reasons. Saium says flash floods come right through here when it rains hard enough."

“No argument from me. I want to leave and never come back. This has been the most awful day.” She reached out in his direction. “Please–”

As he pulled her to her feet, she came naturally into his arms. Breathing deeply of her floral perfume, accented with a note of entrancing spice, he enjoyed the way her soft curves pressed against him. Weary from the tension and the adrenaline of battle, Mike stopped fighting his attraction to her, tightening his embrace.
 

Not resisting the intimacy, she leaned into him, putting her arms around his waist, head resting on his chest. “How can I ever thank you for all you've done today?”

“Johnny and I want to go on living too, you know,” he said lightly. “How's your head?”

“Pounding.” She touched the area around her eye gingerly. “I keep dozing off, as if I hadn’t slept a full night.”
 

He examined the bruise as closely as he could in the dim light. “You might’ve suffered a concussion. Riding a horse isn’t the best idea under the circumstances but we’ve got no choice. I'll have Johnny do a diagnostic once we make camp outside this valley.”

“Thank you, as always.” She squeezed his hand.

Seeing the sheen of tears in her eyes, he caught her chin, gently raising her face to his. “What’s on your mind?”

 
“My poor maid.” Shalira sighed and swiped at her eyes. “She was the empress’s spy, but—”

He laid one finger on her lips. “Don't guilt-trip yourself. Her death wasn’t your fault, and you can't help her now. I promise you, Vreely and his men paid for their crimes.” Bending over, he gave in to the impulse to kiss her, which he’d been fighting all day. At first it was a gentle meeting of their lips, as she responded to him, instinctively moving closer. Then he held her against him and deepened the kiss, his tongue seeking hers. Her arms went around his neck, her breasts pressing against his chest. Tenderness, desire, and a host of other unfamiliar emotions flooded through him as they clung to each other.

A moment later Shalira protested, pushing against him. Immediately he let her go.

Hand to her lips, eyes wide open, cheeks flushed, she said, “We shouldn’t have—
I
shouldn’t have indulged myself.”

 
He caught her fingers, bringing her hand to his lips and kissing her palm. “We both wanted to, don’t deny the truth.”

She slid her hand from his, clenched her fingers into a fist and hid it behind her. She half-turned away from him. “It doesn’t matter what I wanted.”

Mike was torn between duty and desire, buffeted by emotions that had broken loose from where he’d locked them away. Unsure what to do or say, unsure what he’d do with her answer, but driven to ask, he said,
“Are you still set on traveling to the highlands? Marrying this guy you’ve never met?”
 

“You speak as if I have freedom to make choices.” Her immediate response was surprisingly angry in tone. “I must carry out my duty to my father and marry Bandarlok. There’s a treaty to be honored and a large dowry was paid, so the chieftain would agree to the union.” One hand raised as if to fend him off, Shalira retreated.

Mike caught her in his arms when she stumbled over loose rocks on the tomb’s floor. “What if there was an alternative? Would you be willing to consider it?”