To be fair, she didn’t think any of them, even Alex at his pessimistic worst, had expected the extent of the carnage they’d found. He’d gone pale with what she pegged as fear before fury quickly replaced it. Even that emotion had been brought under control, although it had taken him a few minutes.
A noise had her whirling, her eyes straining to see into the brush that surrounded the clearing. She stared, unblinking until Alex said quietly, “It’s just an animal. Relax.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yes.” The headset crackled with one of the search teams checking in and Alex responded, ignoring her again. Stacey monitored the transmission, but nothing new had been discovered.
The facility stood in the center of the clearing, the prefab walls looking a sinister gray, and she repressed a shudder that wanted to work itself from the inside out. She was glad to be standing outside. Glad it was Dr. Mitchell in the building with the bodies and not her. And glad Alex had appointed himself her babysitter. His presence comforted her, kept her from running, screaming back to the transport.
Stacey felt the hair stand up on the back of her neck, but forced herself not to whirl again. She’d been jumping at shadows all day. Despite finding pools of dried blood on the floor and nineteen body bags in the facility freezer, everyone else on the team had remained steady. She couldn’t give in to her fear. Alex already considered her a liability; she wouldn’t prove him right. Slowly, cautiously she turned her head. A small, furry animal looked back at her, its head cocked in curiosity. Her shaky laughter had a worrisome edge to it. She stared at the animal until it scampered away.
After thoroughly searching the facility and finding all the comm equipment damaged, the Spec Ops team had begun a sweep of the surrounding area. They hadn’t located any signs telling them which way the men had gone with the lone CAT team survivor. Instead they had found the remains of more bodies.
Stacey shifted until she could see the abandoned transport leaning mournfully to one side. Holes had been punched into the fuselage and the interior looked even worse with all the control panels and circuitry destroyed. She didn’t need Alex to tell her the military transport had been built to withstand enemy attack, not to mention entry into a planet’s atmosphere. Whatever had damaged the vehicle had inhuman strength.
Another prickle of unease rippled across her skin. The flight crew guarded their transport, she reminded herself. They wouldn’t be stranded on Jarved Nine. She couldn’t help thinking of Ravyn, and anyone else who’d survived, fleeing with almost nothing but the clothes on their backs. Stacey knew her friend was the lone CAT survivor, even though Dr. Mitchell hadn’t run the DNA tests yet. The sensation she’d had the other day still resonated strongly within her. She’d been connected to Ravyn; she couldn’t doubt it.
A beeping noise made her jump before she remembered she’d set the alarm as a reminder. Alex had ordered hourly reports to the ship orbiting Jarved Nine. Stacey tried to collect her thoughts so she would sound professional, not completely out of her element and scared out of her mind.
“Johnson.”
Stacey jumped again and felt stupid when it registered Alex had been the one speaking. He hadn’t missed her display of nerves, but he didn’t look condemning. No, she thought, he appeared sympathetic. She must be seeing things.
“Tell the ship the number of casualties has reached twenty-five and get an update on that damn storm. Also tell them we’ll be leaving the surface at dusk and spending the night aboard.”
“We’re leaving?” Stacey asked. She couldn’t have been more shocked if Alex started flapping his arms and flying.
“Yes. We’ll return tomorrow at first light, but it’s too dangerous to spend the night here.” He put his hands on his hips and looked at the sun riding low in the sky. Stacey watched his mouth tighten and knew he didn’t want to leave without his sister. His desires, though, took a backseat to the safety of the rescue team.
Alex moved off, quietly issuing orders in his headset to the men combing the area, and she began her transmission. Somehow she managed to sound cool and concise, but as she disengaged after sending the sign-off code, she noted her hands trembled. Stacey leaned her head back and took a deep breath. She couldn’t wait to return to the ship. It wouldn’t be much longer till dusk, maybe another hour or so. She just wasn’t looking forward to being confined in the transport with the remains of the dead.
*** *** ***
The day already felt hot and oppressive and the sun had barely risen. Alex tried not to let this sense of time running out interfere with what he knew needed to be done. Dr. Mitchell and Stacey stood together, talking quietly. Both looked tired, but then their duties had kept them from getting all the sleep they needed.
It had been late last night when the doctor had completed the identification of the bodies. Stacey had sent the information back to Earth using the most complex encryption program the military had devised. They didn’t want news of the dead getting out in the media before the families had been notified. The encryption program bought CAT and Alliance Command time to send out representatives while the news media worked furiously to break the code.
They had remains for everyone except Ravyn and Brody. Of course, there was no guarantee something hadn’t happened to them farther from the facility. Alex pushed a hand through his hair. He’d bet money Ravyn was still alive. Or at least she had been three days ago. He couldn’t write off what he’d felt, and he didn’t want to. It gave him hope.
He had mixed emotions about Brody being the other survivor. On one hand, he’d become a top officer in Spec Ops. On the other, Alex couldn’t forget how he’d screwed up eight years ago. Sam still didn’t have the use of his legs despite all the operations and advances in medicine.
Alex frowned, but he was glad Ravyn wasn’t alone. He thought he’d given her all the training she could need, but he’d been wrong. He should have tried harder to discourage her from joining the Colonization Assessment Teams. His lips turned up slightly at the corners as he imagined how that discussion would have gone. Ravyn could give lessons in stubbornness, and she’d been able to talk him into things with alarming ease.
Three weeks had passed since the emergency beacon had been activated. The odds that tracks remained to tell them which direction Brody and Ravyn had gone were slim. They’d spend a few hours making sure the pair wasn’t hiding in the vicinity, but Alex doubted they’d find anything here. His internal clock continued to tick, winding him tighter.
He heard the beep that signaled it was time for Stacey to transmit an update to the ship. He strode over to her and waited. When she finished, he asked, “What’s the latest on the hurricane?”
“It looks like it will make landfall this afternoon,” she told him. “The best guess is in the vicinity of the Old City.”
Alex muttered an expletive. The storm bearing down on the coast made his blood run cold. Something he couldn’t name told him they had to find Ravyn and Brody before it hit, that if they had to search afterward, it would be too late. If he were in Brody’s position, he’d head for the Old City. The wall made it easier to defend and there would be places to hide and take shelter. Alex wanted to forget his training, put the team in the transport and head right for the city.
“Do you remember the time,” Dr. Mitchell said gently, breaking into his thoughts, “when Ravyn was about seven? You’d gone sailing with your friends and wouldn’t take her with you.”
“I remember,” Alex said. It wasn’t a good memory. His father had been out on a mission. Marie had been busy with the wounded from one of the last battles in the Second War. For once Alex had stood firm against Ravyn’s pleas to be included and had dropped her off at the childcare center on his way to meet his friends. Only he hadn’t made sure she’d gone inside.
“What happened?” Stacey asked.
Alex remained quiet, letting the doctor tell the story. He didn’t know why she’d brought it up. He still got the shakes if he thought about the incident too long. He turned away, trying to close out the doctor’s voice, but not wanting to miss the point she undoubtedly had.
“Ravyn followed Alex. She didn’t get to the marina in time to talk herself onboard. He and his friends had already set sail so she decided to go after him. She managed to find a little boat with a motor and get it started.”
“Ravyn stole a boat?” Stacey’s voice rose in shock.
“She was just a baby,” Alex tossed over his shoulder, the instinct to defend his sister too ingrained to put aside.
“This seven-year-old,” Dr. Mitchell said, “was so determined and resourceful, that though she knew nothing about boats, she was able to start it and drive out of the marina.”
Point taken, Alex thought, but the doctor had left out a big part of what had happened. He turned back to the women. “That seven-year-old didn’t know how to swim and wasn’t wearing a life vest. She saw a sailboat and thought I was on it. As soon as she got close, which took some doing with her lack of skill, she stood and jumped up and down, calling my name.”
Stacey gasped. It had been the first time he’d felt the connection with Ravyn and known she was in trouble. Alex closed his eyes briefly and took a deep breath. He couldn’t let an old memory rattle him when the current situation required all his attention. “She capsized the boat. Luckily, the people onboard the sailboat saw her go under and someone jumped in to save her. She wasn’t breathing when they pulled her on deck.”
“She survived, Alex,” Dr. Mitchell said.
“She easily could have died,” he replied, voice tight. He pivoted and stalked off until he couldn’t hear anything else the doctor might say. He wanted to be out searching with the team, but knew he needed to organize the effort and keep an eye on the women. Dr. Mitchell carried a sidearm and knew how to use it, but Stacey had no weapon or any skill with one.
Time dragged. Every hour he returned to get a report on the storm, but he didn’t hang around long enough for any more trips down memory lane. His body became more and more tense, but Alex couldn’t prevent it. It was as if some voice in his head kept whispering, “Hurry, hurry, hurry.”
It was midmorning when Alex heard Stacey transmit on the rescue team frequency. “Colonel Sullivan, you’re needed here.”
The tone of her voice made him hurry to where she stood. “What is it?”
She held up her hand, silencing him. He watched her frown in concentration for a moment and then he turned to Dr. Mitchell. “What is it?” he asked quietly so he wouldn’t disturb Stacey.
“A short-range beacon is sending a signal,” she answered, her voice every bit as quiet as his.
“Frequency?” Alex asked, but the doctor shrugged. He leaned over and read the numbers on Stacey’s equipment. Not only was it a military frequency, it was one Spec Ops used. He tuned his own comm unit so he could hear it. He frowned as he listened. Short-range beacons were supposed to give out steady, regular beeps. This one emitted short and long tones in some pattern he couldn’t identify. Without warning, it ceased.
“How long was it broadcasting?” he demanded.
“About three minutes,” Stacey answered.
She started to say something more, but Alex cut her off. “That means Brody is still alive.”
“So is Ravyn. The message was in code. It’s a rudimentary one we learned early in our studies at comm school, but it’s not used anymore and hasn’t been for decades. Out of everyone who was on this planet, Ravyn is the only one who could know it. She’s also the only person I’m aware of who could tamper with a short-range beacon and get it to broadcast in code.”
Alex barely registered Stacey’s excitement with his own running riot. “What was the message?”
“The Old City. It was repeated for the three minutes.”
Alex allowed himself a quick grin, then flipped his comm unit back to the frequency of his team. He relayed the info, then added, “Come on, let’s move.” He looked in the direction of the Old City, noted the dark clouds in the sky. “Stace, transmit this info to the ship. Tell them we’re heading to the Old City, and get a weather update.“
He wasn’t surprised to hear the hurricane still appeared headed for the settlement. At least now, if the storm hit before they found Ravyn and Brody, they didn’t have to leave J Nine. They could hole up in one of the buildings and wait it out.
“Hurry, hurry, hurry,” hummed through his head again and his gut tightened. He herded the two women to the transport. The flight crew already had it fired up and ready to go. Alex stood outside the hatch until the final man boarded. He took one last, lingering look at the horizon and then got on himself.
Time was definitely running short.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Ravyn stood inside the doorway of a little shop off the square and watched Damon. He had barricaded a part of himself off from her and she didn’t like it. Knowing what she did about warriors, she suspected he was up to something, but if she asked what, he’d work harder to keep her in the dark. She had a good idea about his plans anyway.
Pushing herself away from the doorjamb, Ravyn joined him at the fountain and put her hand over his. He linked their fingers, but didn’t turn from his study of the sky. She looked up. The sun was eclipsed by a thick cover of roiling black clouds. Lightning flashed, stabbing viciously across the horizon. Rain sheeted down. Yet the Old City remained dry and the wind calm. Bright light glowed from some unseen source as if the late afternoon sun continued to shine. She understood now what had captured Damon’s interest. She found it mesmerizing herself.
“The Old City is encapsulated,” he said.
Ravyn nodded absently. “By a pyramid of energy. Isn’t that why we go to the edge of the city every morning to deploy the beacon instead of doing it from home?”
“I had a feeling the beacon wouldn’t be able to transmit out of here if we weren’t by the wall, but I didn’t know why.” Damon turned his attention to her. “The atmosphere has always felt artificial. Why didn’t you mention the pyramid?”
With a shrug, Ravyn said, “I saw it the morning after I took the barb. If I’d said anything then, you would have thought I was hallucinating. You were already worried about me.”