A Bond Unbroken by Vicky Seleya

[Reviews - 0]
Table of Contents [Report This]
Printer

- Text Size +

A BOND UNBROKEN, Part 2

Danziger and Walman trudged through the underbrush, reluctant to come out into the open for too long at a time. They carefully edged along the DuneRail's path, ever watchful for a trap. By the time they reached the point where Devon and Alonzo had been seized, both men were exhausted and dripping with sweat in spite of the cold temperatures. Danziger bent to examine the remains of one of the sets of communications gear while Walman circled the area, looking for more evidence to indicate where their friends had been taken.

Danziger motioned Walman over to his side and pointed to a small pool of dried blood on the ground. "This must be where 'Lonz was hit. There isn't much blood here. He could still be alive. Any sign of Devon?"

"Not a one." Walman admitted dejectedly. "I did find tracks that look like the DuneRail was dragged from here. Probably by that hovercraft we saw when they were ambushed." He looked at the mechanic quizzically. "Why would they drag it? Even if 'Lonz managed to wipe the mem unit it'd still be drivable."

Danziger shook his head uncertainly. "No idea. Let's take a look at those tracks." He followed Walman over to where the crewman indicated two sets of tracks skidding into the distance. "Think it's a trap?" he asked Walman absently.

"Dunno. Sure could be. Why else would they drag a perfectly good vehicle? If it were damaged, wouldn't they just leave it behind?"

"You'd sure think that. Maybe they think they can still extract coordinates from it. If they do, they're deluding themselves." The mechanic shrugged. "Who knows. Let's just be extra careful now, just in case."

***

Alonzo opened his eyes cautiously. Bennett had given up the torture as the pilot continued to lose consciousness. Now, only the pain remained as a ceaseless reminder of his predicament. Alonzo awkwardly twisted in his restraints to check on Devon on the table next to his own. The woman, Elizabeth, stood over her sleeping form, making notations on a pad.

Alonzo breathed a sigh of relief as he watched his leader sleep. "Is she all right?" he hoarsely demanded when their captor finally looked up. "What have you done to her?"

Elizabeth met Alonzo's piercing gaze only for a moment before glancing away. "She's asleep and we have been unable to wake her. I do not understand why. The drugs should not have reacted this way in her system, especially this far into a scenario." She frowned and hesitantly met the pilot's gaze. "Believe me, this was not my doing." As Alonzo closed his eyes in distress, she rounded Devon's table and approached the pilot tentatively.

Alonzo opened his eyes again to find Elizabeth standing over him, reviewing his readouts. As soon as she noticed his scrutiny, he weakly asked, "Why?"

"Why? 'Why' is a long story. If you are asking if your death will have any meaning, I'm not sure I could answer that."

"Your friend, Bennett, seems to think I'm not going to like his 'friend'."

"No one has, and no one has survived to complain, either." She leaned forward and pleaded, "Just tell us where your base camp is. I'll do my best to ensure the safety of your group. Reilly has yet to be contacted. You have to trust me."

Ignoring the woman, Alonzo stared at the ceiling wearily. He closed his eyes and looked away as she tipped her head to meet them. Alonzo relaxed as he sensed her retreat. Once again he reached for the dreamplane, only to fail.

***

"Would you look at that..." Danziger whistled under his breath as he surveyed the small outpost crouched at the base of two mountains. Three buildings clustered together in the narrow valley, surrounded by perimeter markers. The mechanic noted the power grid and the lone guard keeping watch on a widow's walk atop the largest building. The only vehicle evident was their own DuneRail sitting next to the central building. Behind the buildings, a small Phalene class shuttle squatted, covered by a camouflage tarp. As the sun came from behind a mountain, Danziger noticed the glint of a metallic barrier lying on the ground. "Do you see that? The ground cover?" he asked as he handed the jumpers to Walman. "What do you make of it?"

Walman took the jumpers eagerly and scanned their surroundings thoroughly. "Looks like some sort of mesh." Walman watched closely as two people quickly strode from one building to another. "They didn't step on it. There are walkways on top of it leading from one building to the other. Suppose it's charged?"

Danziger accepted the jumpers back and scrutinized the camp layout. "A Terrian barrier... It must be!" He looked over at Walman, furrowing his brows in thought. "That's why they didn't drive the 'Rail. I bet they're afraid of the Terrians."

Walman nodded. "Makes sense. Can't say that I blame them. But, why be here at all?"

Danziger shrugged. "Who knows. It could be for any number of reasons. With that mesh on the ground, at least we know what we see is most likely all there is. We'd better get back to camp, at least now we know where they are."

They quietly debated their findings until a detailed map resulted, then crept away from their vantage point. As soon as they dared, they rose and ran.

***

As Alonzo slowly drifted to consciousness, his only sensation was the incessant pain as it radiated through his body. The pilot desperately struggled for rational thought as, without warning, the agony aggressively asserted itself even more. Rolling his head to avoid the bright light overhead, he opened his eyes, worriedly seeking Devon. Alonzo could see her sleeping just as she had been the last time he could remember checking, peacefully resting with a slight smile on her face. He moaned as a sudden pressure on his ribcage brought renewed distress, turning his head, squinting, as the pressure continued. Alonzo watched gratefully as Elizabeth tilted the light out of his eyes only to grimace as she bent back to work on his side.

"I'm sorry if this is a little uncomfortable. I need more samples."

Alonzo looked at the woman blankly. "You're sorry?" he rasped.

She sighed and paused from her work to look up at the pilot. "Yes. I'm sorry. As I told you before, this was not my doing. I am simply taking orders."

Alonzo snorted, then immediately regretted it as he began to wheeze uncontrollably. Elizabeth quickly rummaged in a drawer and injected medication into Alonzo's neck. He gasped for air as the medicine gradually took effect.

"Now, if you would just relax... I don't want to make this any harder than it already is."

"How hard is it?" Alonzo wheezed defiantly, still fighting to bring his breathing under control.

"Much harder than you may think." the woman replied resignedly before explaining, "We have been here for eight years, monitoring this planet and its lifeforms from our satellite. Of the fifty people who arrived eight years ago, only twenty-one remain. In that time, we have been subject to all types of bizarre happenings and failures. The only ship we have left is here, so we could find you and bring back the child. Unfortunately, Reilly has decided that locking the controls until we have your group in hand is the only way to ensure our success. We are trapped on this dreadful planet until we fulfill our directive."

Alonzo surveyed the woman curiously. "How did you know where to look?" he asked anxiously.

"We were simply going to wait for you to arrive in New Pacifica but Reilly is impatient to resolve this issue. He is still in an absolute rage over Dr. Heller's treason. When you encountered the Z.E.D. three months ago, Reilly was able to determine approximately which zone you were in. The pass where we found you is one of the few passable routes for hundreds of kilometers in either direction. We were exiled here as soon as he had the coordinates of what he considered a good place to set up an outpost. We have lost eleven people in our time on this planet waiting for you. Now will you cooperate?"

Alonzo shook his head slightly. "I'd die first." he spat.

Elizabeth regarded the pilot sadly. "You may soon get your wish."

***

The people of Eden Advance sat quietly around the small campfire, contemplating Danziger and Walman's report. No one had said a word when Danziger finished, they all simply stared into the fire, pondering their options.

"There's no way we can know if they're still alive." Baines pointed out glumly.

"Do you want to take the chance that they're not and leave them there?" Bess asked shrilly.

"No one is going to be left behind." Danziger asserted.

"But, if we do try to rescue them, we could all be captured." Magus observed, looking around to the other faces for agreement.

"Well, what do you propose we do?" Julia asked irritably.

Magus threw her hands in the air in frustration as Danziger reiterated forcefully, "If there's any way to do it, we'll get them out of there."

"How?" Morgan asked. "From what you've described, it's a pretty tight little installation. We're not exactly commandos, you know."

Yale returned to the campfire from seeing the children off to bed and regarded Morgan quietly. "Perhaps you forget, Mr. Martin, a lifetime ago I was." He raised his eyebrows to punctuate his point and turned to Danziger. "I have reviewed your map. This will not be easy, but there may be a way."

"What are you thinking?" the mechanic asked hopefully.

Yale leaned back, surveying the group clustered around him. "Taking each person's profile into consideration, we have quite an eclectic assortment of useful abilities. That, combined with the element of surprise, may be enough for us to prevail." The tutor turned to the doctor. "Julia, precisely what does Reilly know about our group?"

Embarrassed, Julia shyly glanced around the circle then studied her boots as everyone watched her attentively. She looked directly at Yale as she recounted, "He knows about Uly and his Terrian connection. He knows Morgan is with us. He saw Devon, True, John and Alonzo in VR. He knew that a man was shot in the shoulder by the Z.E.D. Other than that..." She shrugged. "Oh, he also knew we were in an arid region well before we encountered the Z.E.D."

Yale nodded his approval. "So he has no idea as to the size or make-up of our group."

"No. Once he knew about Uly, that was his only interest."

The tutor paused, his eyebrows quirking suddenly as he looked intently at Julia. "Did you ever mention Alonzo's link with the Terrians?"

Julia's eyes widened. "No. It never came up..."

You must login (register) to review.