Alliance Hunter
Chapter 20

The shudder of the shuttle woke me from my sleep. As I glanced around I could see I wasn’t the only one to take a nap on the way in. The door to the cockpit was open. I unbuckled the restraints holding me to my seat and made my way to the cockpit door.

“Audbjorg status report?” I asked our pilot.

“Just a bit of turbulence as we entered the atmosphere.”

“Have we been detected yet?” I had been worrying about that. Runa hadn’t been specific about how she had arranged getting us to the planet. I hadn’t assumed anything, knowing that whatever I’d say Runa would brush it aside and tell me not to worry.

“Ages ago,” Audbjorg said like it did mean anything.

I took a deep breath to calm my mounting fears. “So they know we are coming?” So much for stealth. If they knew about us, then they knew about the ship lurking on the edge of the system.

“Yes and no,” Audbjorg replied. “They know a shuttle is inbound. They also think it’s from Nemos a gas giant. There is an orbital mining station in its atmosphere.”

Which when I thought about made sense. “How?”

“Shuttle ID codes.”

More logic, frankly I was surprised we had lasted this long. I shut my dismal thoughts from my mind. “How long to the objective?”

“At least forty minutes. I’ll have to fly low.”

Leaving Audbjorg to her flying I picked up my equipment and ran through a check. I wasn’t the only one to do this. Jervic disappeared into the wash room. Emerging five minutes later in his armour.

“Training,” was all he said to my querying raised eyebrow.

I took the hint and used the washroom for other things. I wasn’t the first to do so and I wasn’t that last. Feeling my nerves jumping I buckled up my restraints and waited anxiously.

“Entering the forest!” Audbjorg called out. She seemed to be enjoying herself.

I on the other hand felt the tension rising within me.

Suddenly the shuttle jerked to the left throwing me around in my restraints.

“Fuck!” Audbjorg growled. “Fucking railgun!”

I wasn’t sure I heard her right. “What?”

“Shut up in there and hold on tight!” Audbjorg shouted back.

The shuttle jerked left hard. I as thrown to the side my restraints creaking under my weight.

“And another one!” Audbjorg snarled gone was the humour of earlier. “Fuck you!”

The shuttle made a sharp sudden turn that nearly had me heaving up my guts. Kelli’s face turned green.

“Kelli?” I asked her gently.

Before she could answer the shuttle spun three sixty degrees. She puked, luckily she had grabbed a sick bag and emptied her guts into that. All the spin did was to make me dizzy. I hadn’t time to draw a breath as I heard a thud and the shuttle shook violently.

“Shit!” Audbjorg yelled. “We’ve been hit!”

Instinctively I gripped my restraints as the front of the shuttle dipped.

“Damn it!” Audbjorg let out a string of curses. “Can’t maintain altitude. Brace for impact!” I could feel her fight to keep control.

The shuttle wobbled for a moment trying to gain altitude. Suddenly it dipped again and I felt myself slip forward held in place by my restraints. I concentrated on my own plight. The shuttle straightened and dipped again. I felt the shuttle bounce and jerk as we lost height. I couldn’t see what was going on but from the thuds on the hull we were falling through the trees. We hit something and I was jerked forward roughly my restraints cutting into me. I winced in pain as the shuttle came to a halt. The interior lighting flickered and died. Low-level emergency lights replaced them.

“Is everyone alright?” I asked.

“A bit bruised and battered,” Kelli replied. “But we’re ok.” She pulled on her medical glove and released her restraints.

I did the same feeling pain in my shoulders and belly where the restraints had cut in.

“Audbjorg?” I called out.

“Couldn’t be better.”

I wasn’t sure about that Valkyrie had a habit of understatement when it came to injuries. “Kelli please check on her?”

“Sure Gwen,” she replied in a professional tone I envied.

I turned to the rest of my team including Bergljot and Kadlin in that. “We need to get out!” I told them.

“Aye ma’am,” was the chorus as everybody grabbed their gear.

“Grab what you can we need to be away from the shuttle!” I ordered putting enough force into my words. Funny I should have been shaking in my boots but at the moment I felt calm and relaxed.

Getting out was harder that I thought. It took the combined strength of both Valkyrie to force the door open.

I blinked in the influx of light as a wave of humidity washed over me. Besides the stench of smouldering vegetation I could smell a damp musty scent. The shuttle had cut a swath of destruction through the forest the angle of our descent gentler than I had expected. From what I could see we had cut a tunnel through the trees. The smoke curling it to the air couldn’t have been a plainer marker as to where we crashed. Then I took another look. There was a low mist covering the tops of the trees. It seemed to be obscuring most of the smoke from the crash. I scrambled out onto the forest floor and took a deep breath relieved that we were relatively unscathed. The stench of the crash and the smell of the damp forest brought that short. The others followed with Audbjorg the last looking worse for wear.

“Kelli?”

“A couple of broken ribs but I’ll medicate for that.” She knew I was asking about Audbjorg.

“I’ll be fine,” Audbjorg said waving Kelli away.”

“Let Kelli help. That’s an order pilot!” I remembered my own injuries on saying that.

I addressed Audbjorg again. “Audbjorg?”

“Ma’am,” she responded.

“How long before the ones that shot at us replace us?”

Audbjorg considered my words. “Unsure, I reckon at least a couple of hours.” She waved at the canopy of trees above our heads. “They can’t fly a shuttle in here.”

That would give us time. I considered our options. “How far are we from the LZ?” I directed my question to Audbjorg.

“About fifty k’s.”

I winced inwardly. A long trek through wild and dangerous territory. For a journey like that we’d have to strip the shuttle of anything usable. “Right,” I said half to myself. I turned my attention back to my team. “Get what we can off the shuttle. Make food and water your priority.”

“Yes ma’am,” they said and disappeared back into the shuttle.

Audbjorg stepped in close beside me her voice lowered. “One thing LT, I didn’t want to say it in front of the others.”

“That is?” It must be serious if she hadn’t wanted to say anything earlier.

“We lost comms with the Karki.”

“When we crashed?”

“Before that. Our comms are ok. I’ve got green across the board.” She hesitated. “It was the Karki.”

I knew she wouldn’t be saying it if she wasn’t concerned about it. Bad news for us whatever way we looked at it. It put things in an impossible situation. I briefly considered calling the Keepers but didn’t. They hadn’t been near me since Digger pulled that thing out of me. As far as I was concerned I’d be better off if they just stayed away. Anyway things weren’t that dire yet. “No matter there’s not much we can do about it.”

Audbjorg nodded stoically. The others emerged from the shuttle carrying as much as they could.

“Got the food and water,” Jervic said placing a box and several canisters on the ground.

“I have the med supplies,” Kelli said clutching the shuttle’s medikit.

“Tools,” Bergljot said as Kadlin added.

“Found some shelter sheets!”

I had no idea what they were but anything that helped would be for the best.

“Alright,” I said coming to help. “Distribute all these items and we’ll get going.”

I quickly distributed what we had giving everyone an equal share of the weight. Heaving my overloaded pack onto my back I beckoned my team forward. I groaned under the weight but there would come a time when we would need the items we carried.

“One thing before we head out?” Denassi said.

“Denassi?” I said to him.

He handed each of us and when I say that, all those not in combat armour a small copper looking bracelet. “Wear these they’ll mask your heat signature. Combat armour has it already incorporated.

“Where’s yours?” I asked him.

Denassi just smiled and shook his arm his was already in place.

“Got it,” I told him snapping the bracelet on next to my silver one. I regarded my team. “Bergljot, Kadlin take point. Jervic and I are the rear guard. Everyone else keep between us. Keep each other in sight at all times.” It was the best I could say at the moment. “Move out!”

Slogging through the rainforest was anything but fun. The ground was damp and slippery from constant drip of the trees and the rain. No training in the forests of Alfheimir could have prepared me for this. I had thought them dense wilderness but compared to this that was a pleasant walk in the park. Around me I could hear the sounds of the wildlife that made the rainforest it’s home. I replaceing it hard going trudging through the trees and bushes. Carefully we moved forward trying hard not to leave a too obvious trail. Every now and again I’d check our direction from my holo map on my comms. Other than that we maintained comms silence. Sweat glistened from my face and I could feel it trickling between my breasts. We moved silently no one talking. Each of us not in combat armour enduring scratches from errant brush and the bite of savage insects.

We marched on our goal still distant. The pack on my back threatened to drag me down my muscles aching for the effort of carrying it. It added to the dismal feeling only the fear of being found pushed me on. Suddenly we halted Bergljot signalling for caution. I held my breath and couched down cradling my AR 32 coil assault rifle in my hands. I could hear the rumble of a shuttle somewhere on our flank. It wasn’t the first time we’d heard the sounds of a shuttle. It could only mean one thing there were ground forces tracking us or even setting up an ambush somewhere ahead. The sound moved off becoming fainter. Bergljot signalled move on. I rose and carried on putting one foot in front of the other. Finally the light began to dim as Bergljot signalled for a halt. As we crouched down waiting she moved back towards me.

“Bergljot?” I asked as she approached me my voice lowered.

“We found a spot to camp.”

I saw her glance at the darkening sky above us. “Good, make sure it’s secure and we’ll rest.”

“Aye ma’am.”

I was grateful for the break. The campsite Bergljot found was a dome of rock surrounded by a canopy trees and thick brush. I studied the area carefully it was less than ideal but I doubted we could go much further today anyway. The large boulder would protect us from the worst of the elements. A fire was out of the question. Any heat source would draw unfriendlies to us like moths to a flame. I crossed to the rock a tapped it hard. It seemed solid enough. I took off my pack and drew out the shelter sheet glad of the weight off my back. I noticed the others doing the same. By that I meant those not in combat armour.

“We’ll eat first and rest,” I said. “Jervic you are on first watch, Bergljot second and Kadlin third. Keep within the confines of the campsite and stay frosty!” I knew their combat armour had low light vision, which the rest of us did not.

“Aye ma’am,” they said in lowered voices.

I just nodded too tired to speak more. I unfolded out my shelter sheet and examined it. It was a waterproof T shaped thin waterproof sheet in Confederacy green and grey patches. It had a conical hood with flaps. The top of the sheet had drawstrings to pull the top tight. I began to see how it worked. The hood and flaps would keep the water from soaking in and the bottom of the T was to sit on. I had to admit I wasn’t ashamed in copying Audbjorg. She knew how to use the sheet. I saw her prop herself against the rock the bottom part of the sheet a place to sit on. I could see a problem it meant your legs would be wet. I did wonder if that had been an oversight. Still it had one thing going for it. It had power pack and a thermal regulator. You could be warm inside and protected from most of the wet. We ate in silence and sat with our backs against the rock and Jervic and the two Valkyrie patrolling the outer perimeter. I closed my eyes and tried to sleep the constant patter of rain and croak of unknown creatures kept me awake. I took snatches of sleep where I could. Despite my best efforts wet seeped into the legs of my jumpsuit.

The touch of a hand on my shoulder woke me from a less than restful sleep. I looked up to see Kelli above me. There was more light I guessed it was dawn. She handed me a ration pack and walked stiffly to her shelter sheet and sat on it. The ration pack the taste of, I was growing to hate heated in my hands when I broke the seal. I washed down the bland food with a mouth full of water from my canteen. Fed and watered another need came to the fore. I unwrapped myself from my cocoon of dryness. I guess the thermal regulator was good for something.

“Kelli is somewhere I can go for a bit of private time?” I was holding on but I knew if didn’t go now I’d have a mess to clean up.

She pointed to a gap in the brush and handed me the folding shovel. “Don’t go too far.”

“Thanks,” I said to her.

Relieved I walked back to the camp and refolded my shelter and shouldered my pack. “We all ready?” I asked my team.

Another day of slow going another day of constant worry. There was too much going against us. Concern grew with every step and nagging doubts filled my mind. Suddenly Bergljot signalled to take cover. I ducked behind the nearest bush my AR 32 coil assault rifle cradled in my hands. I shook with fear I knew it had been too good to last. My hearing picked out a low hum. I stiffened fear coursing through my bones. Overhead moving slowly was a drone. The next thing I heard was the whine of a coil rifle and the drone exploded in a shower of pieces. Slowly we stood up I could see the remains of a surveillance drone. Denassi was the first to approach it.

“Denassi?” I spoke to him anxiously.

“Fairly simple tagger,” he said shifting through the remains.

“Tagger?” I looked to the others. They all shrugged which didn’t fill me with a lot of confidence.

Denassi turned over the largest piece of the wreckage to show an underside studded with pipes. “What it would have done is fired a pellet of a radioactive substance at us. Which any passing shuttle could scan for and then easily track us.”

I glanced to the rest of my team none seemed happy about that. “That’s not good.” I hesitated, thinking about our ammunition. Which was limited at best and how far we still had to go. I consulted my holo map before asking my question. “How many more will we have to deal with?”

“One less than they had,” he replied flippantly.

“Denassi!” I snapped at him. I was wound up too tight I shouldn’t have shouted like that but the stress was getting to me. I was supposed to be in charge but I was close to losing it all. I knew I wasn’t cut out to command.

I saw him glance at me then nod slowly. “The truth is I don’t know. I could have easily hacked it’s system and traced it back to it’s originator.” He turned his gaze to the three Valkyrie. “If someone, I’m not naming names, wasn’t as you humans say it so ‘trigger happy’.”

Kadlin started at his accusation. I really didn’t blame her it was in her blood.

“I saw a danger and dealt with it,” she stated firmly.

“Had I been able to hack it I could have found out who we were dealing with,” he retorted.

“Enough!” I roared startling myself with the sound of my voice. I glared hard at the two of them. “We need to get moving. We can’t stay here!”

“Aye ma’am,” They both said.

We set off again as a faster pace trying to put as much distance between the drone wreckage and us. Everyone was on high alert constantly listening out for the sound of a shuttle or a drone. The ground started to slope upwards and became rockier without any thinning of the tree cover above our heads. I was glad of that but I never forgot that we were probably being hunted. Kadlin halted and signalled for caution. I moved forward carefully. Kadlin was crouched at the side of some bushes, which Bergljot was probing with a branch stripped from a nearby tree.

“Kadlin, Bergljot?” I asked them and edged closer.

Kadlin’s hand shot out to stop me. “Careful ma’am. This area’s littered with sinkholes.”

“Sinkholes here?” I couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary.

Bergljot pulled the bushes aside to reveal a jagged hole in the ground. “Limestone caverns underground. We had these back home.” She glanced at my waist seeing an imaginary sash there. “A Martin, told me about them. She was a geologist.”

I knew enough about the Martin Clan to know that Miranda Martin had been a geologist aboard the ‘Marco’. The clan specialised in mining every clan had one specialisation.

“Ok Bergljot stay alert I’ll alert the rest of the team.”

I made my way back to where the others waited.

“Problems?” Jervic asked.

“Dangerous sinkholes watch where you put your feet. I don’t know how far they go down.” I paused reordering my thoughts, another worry in my growing list. “Everyone follow our trial blazers step where they step.”

“Aye ma’am,” the team chorused.

We continued on a slow pace. It grated my over taut nerves but I couldn’t risk anybody’s safety by pushing them harder. We stepped carefully often taking a detour even when the way ahead seemed safe. Sometimes the sinkholes had collapsed causing deep ravines. Finally to my relief we discovered what seemed to be a game trail. Try as I might I couldn’t see no signs of human traffic just the signs animals had been using it.

We followed the game trail. I had to admit it was faster going and at the moment the trail was heading in the direction of travel. About midday, well as close as I could think of it as we halted for a break. We were tired and dirty all I could think of was a hot shower. We ate in silence and then carried on walking. We had been walking for at least half an hour when I noticed my lace had come undone. I must not have tied it properly at our last stop. Jervic was at my side as I stopped.

“Jervic carry on I catch up in a minute,” I told him ignoring my own advice about keeping the team in sight. “Once I’ve retied this.” I knelt and pulled the bootlace tight. It snapped. “Damn it!” I cursed pulling off my pack. I had a spare set in my pack.

“You sure about this?” he asked sounding concerned.

“Yes. Now get going.”

“I could wait?”

My ears pricked up hearing the concern in his voice. This was the first time he had spoken like that to me in a long time.

“Get going and let the others know what has happened. I need to get this done. The last thing I need is for it to trip me up when we need to move fast.”

“Ok Gwen,” he said.

My heart gave a lurch he had called me Gwen like he used to do. “Get going!” I told him pulling off my boot and ripping the broken laces off.

He hesitated then gave me a nod and headed off down the trail. I watched him go and re-laced my boot pulling it back on.

I was just about to get up when I heard movement off from the trail in the opposite direct we had been travelling in. I stiffened my heart began beating faster and I reached for my coil assault rifle. I heard the characteristic whine of a coil rifle powering up as I fell to floor. Bullets shredded the bushes where I had been kneeling. “Ambush!” I yelled and fired.

I heard an angry yell and something thud. I rolled back using the brush as a cover. I fired again in the general direction of the sound and edged back trying to make myself a smaller target. I took another step back into nothing. I dropped my gun as I slid backwards my hands grabbing for anything to hold on to. For a heartbeat I’d thought I’d found safety in a protruding root. Before I could use it to pull myself up it snapped. I tumbled feeling every hit as I bounced my way to the bottom. Battered and bruised, blood streaming from a cut to my head. I tried to stand but waves of dizziness rolled over me. I felt myself fall back pain wracking every part of me. “Mouse!” I cried out as blackness took me.