Mission To Mahjundar (33 page)

He hesitated. “We don’t have time.”

Driven by the need to possess the item calling to her, she stepped further into the room, and answered him over her shoulder. “I’m not leaving without this, so either help me yourself or send Saium to aid me.”

Seeming curious to see what could have possibly skewed her priorities so badly all of the sudden, what could make her forget the need for immediate escape, Mike joined her, crushing small valuables under his space boots. She fell to her knees, tugging to free the object she sought from a tangle of other golden debris. He was just in time to catch her as the prize broke free and Shalira toppled over with a small scream.

For one precious moment, she cradled her find in her arms. Cold flooded her body as she touched the treasure. She closed her eyes, overwhelmed by a vision of warriors fighting, then the scene of a man dressed in an ancient version of the Mahjundan emperor’s armor, on his knees, pleading for his life before knives plunged into him—

She recoiled, gasping, yet clung to the item she’d salvaged.

Mike grabbed her with one arm, blaster out and ready to cut down whoever or whatever had frightened her. Voice shaking, he said, “Sweetheart, what’s the matter? I don’t see anything here but loot. What’s got you so upset? Talk to me.”

.
Leaning into his reassuring warmth, she opened her eyes, finding the visions and the unbreakable pull were gone. “Do you know what this is?” she said, holding her treasure out to him.

He took an impatient glance at it as he steadied her on her feet, before executing a perfect double take. She was cradling a faceted purple stone as big as his fist, in a golden setting bracketed by two solid gold cherindors
,
wings spread. The gem was set into the top of a dark wooden staff, which ended in a jagged mass of splinters.

“Impressive. How the hell did you see this one object in the midst of all the loot, and what makes it such a big deal?”

“It’s the most sought after item in all of Mahjundar, the Scepter of the Lost Emperor,” Shalira said. “It called to me.”

Eyes narrowed, Mike touched one wing with the tip of his finger. “So they killed your ancestor and tossed his scepter into this pile of loot?”

“Apparently.” She gave a bitter laugh, remembering stories she’d been told as a child. “So much for all the gallant legends of how he threw it in the Suaga with his dying breath to keep the Nathlemeru from stealing it. Just now I was given a vision of him offering the scepter to the priests, in return for sparing his life, right before they cut his heart out.”

Mike frowned, seeming troubled. He brushed her cheek with the back of his hand, as if to reassure himself she was all right. “Channeling the power again, sweetheart? I think this is a dangerous place to open yourself to unknown influences.” Staring around the room, he said, “Probably a lot of tragedy and horror associated with all this loot.”

Relieved that he didn’t question her ability, she nevertheless corrected him on one detail. “The scepter called to
me.
I’m not sure why. It never would have occurred to me to search for it in this trove otherwise.”

“I’m not sure I like that aspect of the recovery necessarily, but we can sort it out later, in a safer place. We’ve got to move. There’s nothing else you need to find?”

Shaking her head, she got a better grip on the scepter.

“Good,” Mike said, leading her from the stack of boxes and furniture.

Everett stuck his head in the door. “We’re out of time, sir. Lot of yelling going on at the other end. We gotta find another way out.”

Ignoring the surge of pain from his ribs, holding Shalira’s hand, Mike was at the door in a few steps, joining Johnny and Saium. The sergeant edged out into the hall, blaster drawn. Mike followed, setting the princess on her feet in the corridor. Saium acted as rearguard. Mike could hear for himself the shouts Everett mentioned. Frustrated at the lost advantage, he said, “We’re cut off. And as soon as someone takes charge over there in the other wing, they’ll come running to check on us. Let’s move, people.” Mike gestured to Johnny. “Take point. We need to know what we’re heading into.”
 

“I’m on it.” Johnny broke into a full run, disappearing around the curving corridor.

“Everett, back him up,” Mike ordered. “Saium, you’re the rear guard.”
 

Renewed yelling broke out behind them and he tried to ignore his aching ribs, move faster. Saium half turned as he ran, firing the unfamiliar blaster over his shoulder at the newly arrived enemy. From behind, several poorly aimed arrows flickered past Mike, striking the stone walls and falling to the floor. Ahead there was the sudden buzz of blasters and a yell choked off in mid cry.

As Mike followed the curve of the featureless, white stone corridor, he found Johnny and Everett shoving a dead or dying local out of the way so they could pull a heavy pair of doors shut. Behind him, Saium fired his blaster on full power at whoever was coming to investigate. Making a mental note to instruct Saium later on saving blaster charges, Mike pushed the princess ahead of him and through the steadily closing gap between the thick, metal clad wooden doors. Saium squeaked through sideways at the last second and the two Sectors operators dropped a massive iron crossbar into place, sealing the opening as arrows bounced off the door.

CHAPTER TEN

Breathing hard, leaning on the wall because inhaling was like a knife in his rib cage, Mike assessed the room they were in, pleased to find it a good place to defend. There were no other entrances and no windows
.
The door was stout and made of some iron-hard wood, no metal cladding on this side. Still, with enough time, it could probably be burnt down or smashed through.
Hopefully we won’t be here long enough.

As if reading his mind, Johnny pounded one fist on the door. “This’ll hold for a while. Guess the astronomers liked their privacy. But we gotta figure on the enemy breaking in sooner or later.”
 

“Didn’t Ishtananga say there were two priests on duty?” Mike asked Shalira.

Drawing in huge breaths, chest heaving, she nodded.
 

Mike issued crisp orders. “Johnny, see who or what’s above us. We need the high ground. And find the other guy.”

The sergeant nodded and cautiously ascended the stone steps, pressing himself against the wall as he climbed, weapon at the ready. A moment later he yelled, “Secure. Found our missing priest. He’s no threat.”

Mike looked at his newest recruit. “Everett, guard the door. Sing out if they make any progress on breaking through.”

The other man nodded, flicking a casual salute. “Don’t forget about me when the extraction ship arrives.”

“No way, you’re what this mission’s all about.” Clapping him on the shoulder, Mike moved to the stairs Johnny had recently climbed. Saium followed him, with Shalira on his heels, still clutching her ancestor’s bejeweled scepter. Johnny tied the last knot on makeshift ropes restraining an unconscious man as Mike arrived on the second floor. Rising, retrieving his blaster, the sergeant said, “I barely tapped him. I think he fainted, to tell you the truth. Going to explore the next floor now.”

“Yeah, make sure we don’t have any other company in here.” Scanning the chamber, Mike realized a feast had been laid out on a table close to the far wall, under a tapestry depicting men and women dancing while off to the side someone was stretched on an altar, about to die. Mike yanked the offending wall decoration down with a curse before perusing the crowded tabletop. “Guess they were planning an early morning feast after they took their star sightings.” Glancing at Shalira, who had sunk on to a low couch close to the stairs, “Want something? You should eat while we have a lull. Keep your strength up.”
 

“I’m a little hungry,” Shalira admitted. Leaving the scepter on the couch, she joined him, filling a woven, leaf-shaped plate with fruit and a roll. “Saium?”

He shook his head, remaining at the top of the stairs, weapon at the ready.

Space boots clattering on the stone stairs, Johnny re-entered the room. “Two more levels, then the building’s open to the sky. We’re above the roof of the main temple complex. No other way in or out of this tower except for the big door below,” he said. “Unless you want to take the scenic route straight down the sheer cliff face.”
 

Mike shook his head. “Only as a last resort.” His cousin nodded in mutual understanding of his unspoken vow not to allow the Nathlemeru a second chance at capturing them. “Any signs of activity on the temple roof?”
 

“No. It may take them some time to think of attacking us from there. Third level of this tower gets even smaller, with another trapdoor and a shielded balcony. There’s a spiral staircase going from the balcony around the outside of the tower to the roof. Funny design.”

Mike considered. “Sounds like a good place to survive a siege, although I’m not planning to linger. Any cover on the temple roof for them to attack from?”
 

“Nothing but red clay tiles. Hadn’t we better get a move on, call for extraction? I’m not any too happy about only having one door between us and them.” Johnny snagged a piece of fruit and took a big bite. “Nice of them to provide us with breakfast.”

Mike rubbed his eyes for a minute. “You’re right about calling for extraction. The gear’s in our bags on the first level.”
 

Johnny flung out a hand to stop Mike from moving toward the stairs. “You sit, rest those broken ribs. Enjoy the lull, like you told the princess a minute ago. I’ll get the stuff and give Everett a quick sitrep.”

When his cousin returned moments later, Mike left Saium with Shalira. Taking the curiously designed spiral staircase on the outside for the last section of the climb, the two operators ascended to the top of the tower. Johnny carried one of the black kit bags. Mike eyed the surroundings with satisfaction as they emerged into the pale dawn. “Signal ought to make it out of here clear. Nice of the Nathlemeru to build us a good platform. Things could get kinda dicey otherwise.” Taking a second, he walked the perimeter, whistling at the sheer drop down the side of the mountain plateau the temple was sitting on. The ground far below was lost in mist. Exchanging glances with Johnny, he said, “Not a very appealing escape route.”

“We could do it though,” his cousin said. “Got an antigrav disk in the gear.”

“Yeah, but only one. Spares must have been in the missing bags. One disk can’t take five people.”
 

“Come on, you and I both know the units are built to float two men our size in an emergency, so there’s capacity to spare.” Johnny joined him at the low wall. “You or I can ferry the others, one at a time.”

Mike broke a tiny piece of rock from the crumbling wall and tossed it into the abyss below. He glanced at Johnny after watching the fragment disappear into the mists. “If our survival comes to descending this cliff while they’re shooting at us from above, we won’t be able to make more than one trip. Everett’s the high value target of this mission, so we’d have to prioritize his survival. Send him with Shalira.”
 

“He may have the memory enhancement, but he ain’t got fastlink. I asked him. He needs you to call in the cavalry.” Johnny’s voice was matter-of-fact. “We can’t send him off on his own, not even to save the lady.”

Taking another look over the side, estimating how many thousands of feet it might be to the bottom of the cliff, Mike rejected the idea. “We’ve got no idea what’s at the base. I think we’re stuck here unless the situation deteriorates significantly. Then we’ll see.”
 

 
Leaving the question of the problematic descent, he walked to the uplink device, which Johnny had established in the exact center of the roof. He’d pushed aside a stack of crude Nathlemeru astronomical observation equipment and long rolls of paper-thin hides, covered in notations and charts.

 
Placing his blaster in its holster, Mike knelt next to the small black box. He punched in the sequence he’d memorized before the current mission—evac codes changed every time someone was sent out, to prevent the Mawreg from luring unwary military ships into an ambush.
 

A low-pitched hum purred across the roof, vibrating in the tiny bones in his ears. Barely visible, a violet beam pulsed skyward from the cone-shaped top of the device. “Now for the hard part, sending a detailed message in fastlink.” Acknowledging Johnny’s sympathetic grimace with a rueful smile, Mike sat cross-legged, next to the beacon. No Special Forces operator ever enjoyed hooking into fastlink. The technology took a toll on the operator, which made its use a last ditch choice.
I think Command likes it that way.
Mike flipped open a small compartment on the instrument's base, removing a black disk which he pressed to his skull behind the left ear. The violet glow spread to enclose him as well.
 

Concentrating to add his will power to the device’s broadcast and send an intelligible request via the beam, Mike’s muscles grew stiffer the longer he sat, which was his only clue how much time the process was taking. On the periphery of his awareness, Johnny was prowling, constantly checking the roof while keeping an eye on how Mike was doing.
 

Well, I’ve done all I can.
Mike released his mental hold on the fastlink and let his hand fall away from his skull, the amplifier dropping to the roof from his nerveless fingers and bouncing across the floor. As suddenly as it had begun, the expanded violet glow contracted away from him, merging into the narrow beacon pulsing skyward, hum decreasing to its original, near subliminal frequency. With a shower of sparks and a whoosh, the beam cut off. The silence was startling.