Satan's Forge (Star Sojourner Book 5) (14 page)

There!

In the clearing by the lake. The image came like a holo stage of real life. I forced the tornado to swell, an electromagnetic storm that enveloped the men outside the cabin, and then I threw the message: Danger! Enemy approaching! I felt it invade minds and flash through neurons. And I knew I had hit my mark.

I couldn't hold back a groan. My breath came quick and I leaned my head against the seat, suddenly weak and overheated. I pressed my hands to my temples as lightning strokes seared my brain.

Joe and Chancey would read the send and know it came from me. They would understand that the campsite was about to be discovered. Through the pain of the headache, I felt a sense of elation at the knowledge that I had just increased my tel power. It would never again revert to its former dimensions.

“Are you all right?” Mack asked me.

I opened my eyes and nodded. “Long day.”

Darryl pulled up to a shack in the woods. The other two cars stopped alongside us.

“Let's go inside,” Mack told me. “You make the call and then you can rest and get something to eat.”

“Thanks.” I stumbled out of the vehicle. “That's kind of you.”

“Anything to help a compatriot.”

Ten men left the two vehicles and talked in groups.

I went inside and glanced around the one-room shack. The walls were rotted and moldy. Rodents scurried out through broken planks in the floor. If this were HQ, where was the control center? The room was bare, but in one corner sat the SPS unit. That much was real.

Mack went to it, turned it on and put in a call to a Lieutenant Colonel Jack Adams.

Sure,
I thought as he handed me the mic.
Lieut. Colonel Jack Adams of the Lithium Love Mine.
Even his voice had a metallic ring, but his Terran dialect was perfect. I guess I was supposed to be impressed that he talked to me in Terran instead of stelspeak.

“I've heard of you, Mister Rammis,” he said. “Have you given our undercover agents the location of your base camp so they can link up?”

“It's difficult to find, sir,” I said. “I'll take them there.”

“Good enough. Corporal Mackenzie is in charge. You'll take orders from him.”

“Certainly, sir.”

“Over and out.” He broke the link.

Don't hold your breath,
I thought as I shut off the unit.

Damn, I was hungry. I hadn't eaten in probably a day. I looked around the room. No sous chef. No stove. No sink. “You keep any food in here?” I asked Mack.

“There's some power bars.” He gestured toward a cabinet.

Power bars! I hate power bars. But I went to the cabinet, took out a box of
Taste of the Natural: granola and raisin bars,
and ate one.

“Take the box,” Mack said, “and let's go. The sooner we hook up with your people, the better.”

Not in my book,
I thought and walked out of the shack.

One of the tags from another vehicle came out carrying the SPS unit and put it in a vehicle's trunk.

Some headquarters,
I thought.

I led Darryl on a circuitous route through thick woods to our camp to give my team the most time to prepare, and leave, and finished the whole box of granola bars on the way.

Finally, Mack leaned forward and peered out the front windshield. “Are you sure about this route?” he asked me. “We should have hit a road by now.”

“It's secluded,” I said. “Off the road…and the map.”

He checked his watch. We've been traveling for forty five minutes. We're climbing into the next mountain range. It's snowbound. There's nothing up there!"

“It's not that much further,” I said. But as I looked around, I realized I was lost.

“Are you playing games with us?” he asked.

“No.” I bit my lip. “I think I'm lost.”

“That's just great!” he said. “What town is the camp near?”

“Bolton Springs.”

“Why the hell didn't you just say so? We're northwest of Bolton Springs. Darryl!” He pointed to our left. “That way.”

Darryl turned the vehicle left and we bounced through vegetation. The two other vehicles followed.

“How do you know which way is southeast?” I asked him.

“For Christ's sake, don't you have any sense of direction?”

The campsite was deserted. You'd never know anybody had lived there. We got out of the vehicles and Mack's people checked the area. A few of them went into the cabin, then emerged. One man looked at Mack and shook his head.

“So where the hell are they?” Mack asked me.

I glanced around. “They were here when I left. Must've decided to move on. You know how it is with guerrilla fighters. Hit and run, and set up a new camp.”

He came close to me. His teeth were yellow. I smelled tobacco on his breath. “And they didn't tell you where they'd be running to?”

I backed up. “I left kind of suddenly.”

“You know what?”

“What?”

“I don't fucking believe you.”

“What reason would I have to lie to you? We're compatriots, right?”

“How were you going to find your platoon, compatriot?” He grabbed my vest. “What's the plan to hook up at the next camp?”

“No plan,” I said. “Stragglers are supposed to meet with a team member at Two Sons and a Dad's Tavern in Bolton Springs.”

He let go of my vest. “Then that's where we'll go,” he said too softly and patted my cheek. “Now get inside the vehicle.”

“You're coming on a little strong for a compatriot, aren't you?” I said, hoping to convince him that I still thought we were on the same side." I mean, I'm supposed to take orders from you, but –”

“Get into the vehicle!” He smacked my cheek. I fell back against the door. “I don't care what you thought,” he said. “After that ride you took us on in the woods, I don't trust you. You got that? You could be one of Slade's boys.”

“Who, me?” I got in, holding my stinging cheek.

Mack slid in next to me.

Time to form an escape plan
.

I could probably influence Mack and Darryl with a deep probe. But twelve men were far too many. The best I could do was to tel-link and find out what they were thinking. No help there.

We pulled up in front of the tavern, got out, and went inside. George, behind the bar, straightened and plastered a smile on his face. Thirteen customers. That should make his day. His sons hurried to wipe tables that still had empty dishes and glasses.

“Sit down,” Mack told me and motioned to an empty table.

I sat.

He looked around. A few patrons were at the bar. Two others played pool. “Well?” he said. “Which one is he?”

“He's not here yet.” I checked my watch. “He's supposed to show up at six o'clock. It's only four thirty-five.”

Tall, skinny Ted came to the table, all smiles, and wiped it off with a damp dishcloth. “What can I get you gents?”

Mack slid me a look.

“Coffee,” I said.

Ted held his smile and waited.

“You buying?” I asked Mack. "My credcount's locked.

“Whatever,” he said.

“A slice of mudpie,” I told Ted.

He nodded at Mack. “And you, sir?”

“What the hell's mudpie?” Mack asked. “All right. Mudpie, and a beer.”

It would be dark in half an hour. I decided to wait until then to make my move.

The mudpie was dry, with added fillers. The coffee was weak. The cream was powdered.

Smoke thickened the air as the men lit cigarettes and cigars. An old holo stage replayed a Terran film, probably sixty years old, and flickering.

A woman with platinum hair piled on her head, eyes so green they never came with the DNA, and a low-cut tight, shiny pink dress, sauntered to our table and leaned on it.

Mack's gaze was glued to her breasts.

“Hi, cupcake,” she said to me and smiled. “Want to buy me a drink?”

“Sorry.” I shrugged. “Locked credcount.”

She slid into the chair between me and Mack. “Then suppose I buy you a drink?” She pursed her bright red lips and threw me a kiss.

“I can buy you a drink,” Mack told her.

She kept her eyes on me. “I was asking cupcake.”

I smiled.

“You should do that more often,” she said.

Mack leaned toward her and was inches from her cheek. “He's with me, slut.”

She moved away from him. “Is that true?” she asked me.

Dusk was settling into darkness. It was time to implement my plan. “Well,” I said and fluttered a hand, “he pays the bills.”

She sighed and got up. “What a shame.” She swished her dress as she walked away.

I stood up.

“Where do you think you're going?” Mack asked.

“I've got to pee. Want to come along?”

“Yeah.” He got up.

“OK.”

He followed me to the men's room.

I took a urinal, closed my eyes and spun a red coil as I peed. This was a new experience for me. I wondered if I could chew gum at the same time. A probe was easy after the tornado I had conjured.

Mack was in the next stall. I strengthened the coil, spun it faster, and attached a message as I threw it.
Close your eyes and keep them closed.
You cannot open your eyes.

He moaned and rubbed his closed eyes as I tiptoed toward him and grabbed his stingler from out its holster. He felt it, turned, and almost sprayed me with urine as I shoved the weapon in my waistband and went to the small window.

“Where are you?” he called and staggered out of the urinal, his hands waving as he felt for something solid. “Come back here!”

I opened the window, lifted myself, and slid outside. “If I wanted to come back, crotefucker,” I called, “I wouldn't be leaving.”

“Get him! He's escaping,” I heard Mack yell as I trotted to the closest vehicle, slid into the driver's seat, and started it.

Mack's men piled out the front door as I threw the vehicle into gear and floored it, spewing a fantail of gravel and dirt as they raced toward me. “Eat shit and die, mother fuckers!” I threw back.

But I knew they wouldn't be far behind. I raced down the road and skidded into a dirt path.

Shouldn't have done that,
I thought, as I saw the raised dust in my taillights.

I heard tires screech as the two vehicles plowed to a stop on the main road, drove back in reverse, and sped down the dirt road behind me, lights blazing.

Open terrain ahead. I tied the seatbelt around the steering wheel, slowed the vehicle, and then punched in buttons to program it to gain speed in ten seconds.

“Go fetch!” I said, jumped out and rolled. I ran to a big-boled tree with a spiky trunk, climbed it, and huddled among thick branches and bushy leaves.

I closed my eyes and tried to relax as I lowered my shields and probed. The simple thoughts of forest animals were a barrier I had to break through. After a few minutes, I linked with a human mind. Unfamiliar. One of Slade's men? But then, a softer awareness, a gentler psyche.
Feminine,
I thought. I felt her deep concern and sadness. Sophia! Her presence came like an image seen in subdued light. An image familiar in its way of moving and thinking.

I climbed down the trunk and sprinted in the direction of Sophia's siren call. It shouldn't be far. The tel-link was strong. I saw an image of three campfires in thick woods. Shadowy figures moved among them.

Suddenly, angry thoughts clawed at my mind like frustrated predators. Mack's men had found the vehicle overturned in a ravine. Empty. Its wheels spinning. They were not pleased.

For the next two hours, I moved cautiously through heavy woods. One of New Lithnia's moons was up. It threw enough eerie light for me to pick my path.

Sophia… Her concern was for me, I knew. I felt her guilt and regret that she had betrayed me.
No!
I sent.
You didn't betray me, my Sophia. My beautiful Sophia.
But she was not a sensitive and there was no response. We moved in different spheres, Sophia and I. But I was closing the rift between us as I sprinted across a clearing, breathing hard.

Finally, I had to stop and rest. I sat with my back against a tree, felt around in my vest pocket, and pulled out half a granola bar. I was about to eat it when a small, brown-furred creature with white stripes down his back crept cautiously to my foot, stood on hind legs, and sniffed the air.

I tossed the bar to him. He scurried away. With my shields down, I felt his sudden fear, his small heart quickening in his chest. On a hunch, I enveloped him in a soothing link and felt him respond. The diminutive forest creature had a simple cell cluster in his brain to receive.

I smiled and remained very still as he came back, hesitating with each step, holding up a paw as he watched me. Then he grabbed the bar and fled.

I hope you enjoy it more than me,
I thought, got up, and continued toward Sophia and my team. I think it was then that I realized I loved her.

I saw the lights of the three campfires flickering between trees as I jogged toward the camp. And was knocked to the ground with a cry. I swung a fist at the dark figure that held me down with his arm across my throat. He blocked it. I tried to kick him. He blocked that too. He pressed down on my windpipe. I gasped for air that wasn't there and grabbed my stingler. He gripped my wrist and yanked the weapon out of my hand. I made a desperate try for a tel-link. I connected, but the coil was too hurried and weak for a message.

Suddenly he let go of me and jumped up.

I coughed and got to my knees. “Don't hit!”

“Jules? Oh, crotes!” he said. “Sorry, tag.”

I sat up and stared at his mop of black hair, his deep-set eyes, and blades for cheekbones. “Attila?” I croaked.

He helped me to my feet. “I thought you were one of Slade's people. Chi of the Great Lee Family! Why didn't you call out, man? Let us know you were coming?”

I coughed. “I didn't expect to be attacked by Kung Fu!”

“Oh, here.” He gave me back the stingler and brushed leaves off me. “We got your tel message and broke camp. We figured Slade's squad might be right behind us, you know? Ready to relay our position back to his HQ.” He took my arm. “Come on, man, the boys'll be happy to see you. So will Huff and your lady.”

I rubbed my throat as we walked into camp.

“Hey, tags,” Attila called, “look what I found in the woods!”

And almost killed in the woods,
I thought but didn't say.

The men came forward from the campfires.

“If it ain't pretty boy!” Big Sarge strode up. “Where the hell've you been?” He slapped my back.

Not my back,
I thought.

“C'mon,” he said. “There's some people here been crying in their soup over you. Me, I want a debriefing.”

The men gathered around me.

“Hey, Superstar!” a few called.

I nodded and walked to the closest fire. A tall, bulky white figure stood under the shadow of a tree.

“Huff?” I strode to him. “Huff!”

He threw his forearms around me and lifted me off the ground. “Jules! My Terran Jules friend. I did not know if I should interfere with the welcoming congratulations happy-to-see-you-again.”

“Huff.” I laughed as he put me down. “My good friend Huff. When aren't I happy to see you again?”

He paused and furrowed his brow. “When you are in the woods locked with the Sophia female Terran.”

“OK. But that's the only time.”

He shook his head and wiped tears. “I have worried my fur off for you. Look.” He extended a hand. Patches of fur were missing. “This much have I worried. But my liver is glad for your return.” He licked my cheek and I laughed.

“Ah,” Chancey said as he strolled over, “fur ball's got his cub back. Now we can all get some friggin' sleep without listening to him whine.” He grinned broadly and threw his arms around me. “Are you still in one piece, man?”

“I try to be. How's Bat?”

“He's coming along.”

“That's a relief. Where is he?”

He pointed to a campfire. “Over there, with Joe.”

As we approached, I looked around for Sophia, but didn't see her.

Bat was propped against a bedroll. Joe sat next to him.

“Joe.” I nodded. “Hi, Bat.”

He waved.

Joe got up. He looked tired. I extended a hand, but he hugged me. “Are you all right, son?”

“I'm good,” I said.

He took my face in his hands and just stared at me. Then he let go and shook his head.

“I'm OK. Really, Dad.”

He nodded toward Bat. I sat beside him, cross-legged. “How you feeling, rebel?” He did look stronger.

“A little better. Good to see you, Superstar. Slay any dragons lately?”

I laughed.

“Yeah, man,” Chancey said. “I saw a stack of them in the woods. And that's just today's kills.”

“Kid.” Joe gestured toward a tree.

There, in the shadow of branches, she stood with a hand on the trunk.

“She's been waiting for you, Bubba,” Bat said. “Your lady was worried sick that something happened to you because of her.”

Joe motioned toward Sophia. “Talk to her, Jules. Get things straightened out between you. She's a good woman.”

I bit my lip. “You think she still wants to see me?”

“I think,” Huff said, “she sees you from here. Her eyesight is good.”

“Damn!” Chancey kicked a rock. “For a smart tag,” he told me, “you sure are dumb.”

I stood up and glanced at Joe. He nodded. I walked toward her.

“Hey, pretty boy!” Big Sarge called in his booming voice."

I paused.

“When she turns you loose of her apron strings, I want to debrief you.”

“OK.” I went to her and smiled. “Hi.”

Her lower lip quivered. Then she began to cry.

“Don't do that.” I wiped her cheek with a thumb.

She cried harder.

“Sophia. Don't cry. Please!”

“I'm sorry.” She wiped her eyes.

“No. No, I'm sorry. It was my fault.”

She shook her head. “I should have known better.”

“No. I should have explained better. I mean, it wasn't your fault.”

Her shoulders shook as she sobbed harder.

“Please don't cry.” I felt tears burn behind my eyes.

She threw her arms around me. “I love you so much!”

“I…” My throat choked up. “I know.”

“You know I love you?”

I nodded and sniffed, then wiped an arm across my nose.

“From the first time I saw you.” She wiped my eyes with her sleeve. “Your tattoos are peeling off.”

“Sophia.” I took her face in the palms of my hands. “This isn't easy for me to say.”