The Caverns of Mare Cetus (15 page)

   "…got it in the leg with a shot from…bleeding badly, and I can't…don't want…to go into shock…having a…"

   "We didn't pick that up," said Renata. "Repeat! Who's hurt?"

   "…he's hunting it down…" said Trent as heavy, grating static spilled through their coms. "…got to help her…stay calm, Isis, please stay…"

   "Oh, my God!" exclaimed Richelle, getting to her feet. "Isis! Oh, my God." She began to shake. "No! That just can't happen!"

   Edison moved behind her and took her in his arms.

   "Oh, Lord," said Arielle, her face coated with sweat, Ramon holding onto her as if he was glued to her body. "Isis is hurt. Trent needs help." She looked at Ramon. "We have to do something. We need to get to them."

   Ramon nodded. "She's right, Hunter. We have to do something."

   The group, except for Devon, crowded around Renata like they were disciples crowding around Christ, anxiously waiting for him to reveal the mysteries of God.

   Renata repeatedly told Trent she had programmed Kalo One to rendezvous with them and that their identifier signals had vanished. Then she asked how Isis was doing.

   "…passed out…" said Trent. "…stop her bleeding…shot went clean through…a nasty-looking wound…don't know how…"

   "Garrett here, Trent…" came over their coms. "I'm not…be screening its frequencies…damn leprechaun, but that's not going to help…I do…blow that bastard to pieces…"

   "We're coming out after you!" shouted Hunter suddenly into his com. "Trent! Garrett! Stay put! We're coming out!"

   "Apresúrese," said Ramon, taking Hunter's cue. He began rifling supplies into his pack. "Just take what we need."

   "He's right," said Hunter, motioning to the others. "We'll use the BAT to bring in other supplies if we need to." He noticed Devon standing near one of the light poles, kicking stones with the toe of her boot, her head lowered. "Come on, Iob. It's time for you to help here."

   "Listen, Hunter," said Devon, looking up. "I've heard enough of that crap. Say it to me again—I'll flatten you."

   Startled at first, Hunter laughed. "Okay, Miss Snow—Devon. Help us get supplies together."

   She smiled. "I'm glad you see it my way." She snapped her fingers. "It would have been just like that." Her smile faded.

   "Just like that?" He snapped his fingers, looking at her with amusement, then his face grew grim. Her suddenly cold expression, the way she was looking at him now—it bothered him.

   Richelle abruptly stepped up to Hunter, blindsiding him. There was anger in her eyes. "How c-c-could you let this happen?" She pushed on his chest with both of her hands. "I hold you responsible for this."

   "Uh, Richelle, I followed protocol, I didn't…let's…"

   Devon moved up behind Richelle and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Richelle. Calm down. Hunter didn't cause this."

   Richelle turned to Devon. "Then who did—you? If he's not responsible for the safety of his t-t-t-team, then who is?"

   Devon stepped back from Richelle. "Wow. I didn't expect that…"

   "No—no," said Richelle. "I d-d-didn't mean that. I wasn't blaming you, but I'm furious about this. This never should have happened."

   "I understand how you feel," said Devon. "But we need to stop blaming, and we need to start working together. I'm sorry this happened to Isis, and I know how close you are to her, but Hunter isn't to blame."

   Richelle's voice calmed. "You really do understand how I feel then, d-d-don't you?"

   "Of course I do, Ritchie," said Devon.

   "Ritchie? Isis calls me that. She's so sweet, isn't she?" Richelle turned to Renata. "Renata, let me take over the coms." She took her own Vimap out of her pocket. "You're drained. You need a break. I've had some extensive first-aid training. I'm sure I can help Trent with Isis." She began calling to Trent on her com as she walked toward Renata.

   "Thanks, Devon," whispered Hunter. "She took me by surprise. You're quite the diplomat. I'm impressed."

   "Don't be," she said. "Apparently she's full of surprises. I'm really not sure what's going on here yet—I have my doubts." She abruptly turned from Hunter and walked toward Edison and began to help him with the supplies.

   Hunter scratched his forehead in bewilderment.
What Devon had
just said—it didn't make sense.

   "…can't get a fix on that bastard," said Garrett over their coms. "I don't know…jamming my targeting. It's silent now, but…to be around…missed it three times al…to have…other tricks…"

   Renata shook her head in dismay. "How can that thing evade him like that? His rifle's targeting system should be able to easily key in on its central core. I just don't like this."

   "I couldn't agree more," said Hunter. He crouched by his pack and started cramming supplies into it.

   Renata stepped behind Hunter. "I'm worried," she said. "Garrett's no fool, but he'll hunt that thing down until he gets it."

   Hunter looked up. "He can handle himself. He's had more experience with these types of situations than anyone here. In fact, all of the experience."

   "Why doesn't that reassure me?" She stooped beside Hunter and placed a hand on his thigh. Her voice softened. "This may seem like an odd moment to tell you this, but please call me Rene. All my good friends call me Rene. I prefer that."

   "Okay, Rene." He gave her a demure smile. Her unanticipated display of friendship having hit him like a bomb, he realized her touch, her voice, had caused him to respond sexually as well. He blushed.

   "Something wrong?" She seemed to be scrutinizing every inch of his face with her piercing eyes.

   "No," he replied, though he knew she couldn't imagine the keen excitement that was racing through him. "You just took me by surprise. I just never thought you'd think of me as a friend."

   "More than a friend," she said, "I mean—I do."

   "Come on, Señor Larson, Señorita Stone," said Ramon. "In case you two have forgotten already, Isis is hurt."

   Renata blushed; Hunter winced.

   "We're ready," barked Hunter. He stood up and slipped on his pack. "Go ahead. Take the lead."

   "Gracias, señor. But will you be able to follow orders in Spanish?"

   "I'll be able to follow you if you speak in Navajo," said Hunter.

   "Sigueme." Ramon motioned to the others with his hand. "Los encontraremos."

   "Si, si, Señor Ramirez," said Hunter. "Yo comprendo."

   "Bueno," said Ramon as the group started to work their way down the stair-step passage, Hunter and Renata by his side.

   After about ten minutes of hiking, the passage leveled out. Ramon glanced back at Arielle and the others who were now quite a few steps behind them. "A propósito, Señor Larson," he said. "Desde entiendes el Español muy bien, entonces entenderás todo digo ahora. La morena es muy simpática. Es un beso grande, también."

   "Huh?" said Hunter.

   "Cállate!" said Renata. "Te buscas tres pies al gato."

   "No preocupa," said Ramon. "Soy muy experto. No saben Español."

   "Idiota," said Renata. "Devon habla Español."

   "Hace?" He shook his head. "No. Devon no habla Español."

   "Whoa!" cried Renata as she suddenly kicked her foot into a limestone block and stumbled, falling into Ramon and grabbing onto him, causing him to go down with her.

   There were cries of surprise from behind them.

   "Damn, Renata," said Ramon. "How clumsy can one be?"

   "Are you guys all right?" asked Hunter as he stepped up to help them.

   "Stop this crap already, will you?" said Renata in a hushed voice. "Devon speaks Spanish."

   "No, she doesn't," said Ramon in a whisper. "I've checked her out a bit like you asked me to. No habla una palabra de Español." The tone in his voice changed. "Hey. Look what you did to my hands." He held them out to Renata.

   Hunter helped Renata to her feet. "Uh. What are you guys talking about?"

   "Sorry about that, Ramon," said Renata. "You're wrong. She does. I'm telling you—I didn't mean to fall into you."

   The rest of the group gathered around.

   "Nice trip," said Edison.

   Arielle stood over Ramon, chuckling. "Hey, stumble-butt. That was pretty funny. Are you okay?" She gave him a hand and helped him to his feet.

   Ramon looked at his left forearm, then brushed away the dirt on his sleeve. "It wasn't me." He pointed at Renata. "She caused this. Renata the klutz. Pay attention to where you're stepping, will you? And next time don't use me as your cushion. Lo hiciste adrede, hiciste no tú?"

   "I always watch where I step." She smirked. "Haces indagaciones sobre su otra vez, por favor."

   "Rene," said Hunter. "I didn't know you spoke Spanish."

   "Neither did I," said Arielle. "Maybe it's time I learned some Spanish myself. It couldn't hurt, could it, Ramon?"

   "Dulzura," said Ramon, his eyes opening wide, "Renata surprised me too. I had no idea she spoke Spanish." He chuckled. "Spanish is so full of surprises, isn't it?"

   The expression that came to Arielle's face was as if Ramon had lost his mind.

   "Hey, security girl," he called out to Devon. "Vale más pájaro en mano que ciento volando y al que madruga, Dios le ayuda."

   "Huh?" exclaimed Devon. "What's that supposed to mean to me?"

   Ramon looked toward Renata. "Se. Sabe nada."

   Devon appeared piqued. "Is this some kind of crude joke everyone's getting except me? If you think you're going to get laughs at my expense, guess again." She stepped toward Ramon. "Maybe you're the one that doesn't know anything. Obviously, you don't know anything about me. So, to finish your joke, which one am I? The bird in the hand? The early bird? The worm? Or the bush?"

   The others laughed as astonishment spread to every corner of Ramon's face.

   "Nice comeback, Devon," said Hunter, chuckling. "Apparently we have two besides Ramon who are fluent in Spanish. Tough luck, señor."

   "Who are you talking about?" asked Devon. She glanced around at the others. "Who else speaks Spanish?"

   "Enough of this nonsense," said Hunter as he eyed Devon and Ramon with suspicion.

   "So what if I can speak a bit of Spanish," Renata whispered to Hunter. "It's no big deal. Ramon said something about Devon I didn't like. I just tried to put him in his place, that's all."

   "Since when are you protecting Devon?"

   "I j-j-just changed my mind about her, okay? I can do that, can't I? I actually kind of like the girl now. She's interesting and uh— sweet."

   Hunter nodded, though he thought it was odd Renata would suddenly take such an about-face on Devon. And what actually had Ramon and Renata been talking about in Spanish? He wondered. Perhaps Devon could tell him.

   Ramon rapped his knuckles on his hardhat and pointed down the passage. "Let's go. This way."

   As Ramon led the group deeper into the cavern, they were soon forced to crawl through a number of painstaking, downward-leading stretches of tight channels. Once they had traversed them, the hiking became easier, and after about twenty minutes, they approached the passage that connected with the channel the others had followed to find the robotic.

   Despite their proximity to Trent's last position, Arielle still couldn't get their HIDs to display on the Vimap. Fortunately, Richelle had been able to pick up an occasional transmission from Trent, though the static that assaulted their communications made most of what he said unintelligible. They did learn Trent had gotten Isis' bleeding under control, and Garrett was still stalking the robotic down some interconnecting side-passages. It had been over thirty minutes since the last transmission from Garrett, but Hunter postulated he was probably playing cat and mouse with the robotic and might have determined it was using his signals to calculate its movements.

   "Wait a second," said Edison, stopping suddenly. He slowly turned. "Do you hear that?"

   The others stopped, a hush falling over them. Hunter looked over at Renata just as Devon bumped into Renata's back, pushing her forward.

   There was ire in Renata's eyes. "Give me some room. Please."

   Devon stepped back, putting up her hands. "Sorry. I couldn't help it."

   Hunter put a hand on Renata's shoulder. "Your sweet girl, eh?"

   "Shh," said Renata as they heard a high-pitched chirping sound in the distance.

   "Kalo One," said Arielle. "It's made its way here."

   "Wait a minute," said Edison. "It sounds like it's behind us, not ahead."

   Renata examined her Vimap. "It's One all right, but it should have gone through the passage ahead of us to get to Trent, not come around from behind us. And it's late, very late."

   "Hunter, do you think…" said Arielle. She nervously bit her lip.

   "…that another Kalo's gone flaky," finished Ramon.

   "Rene," said Hunter, "what are you reading?

   "They could be right. It's responding as if it's in line, but some of the signals are giving me inconsistent control checks. My signals out seem to be attenuated as well."

   Arielle ran a quick scan with her Vimap. "No indication of any lotonite. Damn. What's wrong with this thing?" She hit the side of the Vimap sharply against her palm a couple of times.

   "Forget lotonite," snapped Renata. "Scan for other oddities, please."

   Devon nodded forcefully.

   "Gotcha." She hit the Vimap against her hand again. "That is if this damn thing would stay locked in. Is there something loose in here?" She began shaking the Vimap next to her ear.

   "The data hint it's gone FASI in Intrinsic," said Renata, staring at her Vimap, "but I can't be certain. Right now I can't get it to stop."

   "You'll stop it," said Hunter as the others gathered around him.

   With the chirps closing in on them, Hunter hurried through a plan to deal with the robotic as Renata continued to work on gaining control of the Kalo. Since the wide passage was littered with loose slabs of rock and contained a number of large stalagmites, stalactites, and columns, Hunter thought it might afford them some protection. His orders laid out, he took the Machine Cutter out of Renata's pack and quickly assembled it. The group went into hiding as Hunter aimed the MC down the hall toward the sound.