Story Time 1.7 Heir Hunt

WARNING: The following is not edited and there will be spelling and grammar mistakes. Sorry.
Please read forgivingly (and if you have the time corrections are welcomed).

 

By the time they got to the edge of the forest near the caves it was full dark and the torches outside the main cave entrance were plainly visible. There were two ‘aliens’ on guard, both with the same distinctively shaped heavy rifles, and the brightly lit cave mouth hinted to many more inside.

Se-se looked expectantly to Chase. She had earlier been made to describe the back way in to Felton but had remained adamant throughout that only she knew the way well enough to get in and out without getting lost and a simple description would be no help to the elder Sergeant with the many dead ends and pitfalls. Reluctantly, Chase had conceded the point, but held to having Felton going with the teenager. He would not risk a child to such murderers, all the more so as his suspicions on Se-se and the way she behaved were peaked in a way he could not define. Chase had asked, during their walk, if Se-se was the name on her birth certificate but had received only a casual shrug with the Se-se admitting to have never seen the document and always been called ‘Se-se’. It was an unsatisfactory answer but the only one he got because Se-se then drifted back to Felton remembering some detail or other about the caves she had previously omitted.

“Alright, this will do.” Chase called the men to a halt. “We’ll fan out and keep an eye for patrols. Sergeants, good luck and don’t take any risks. We need to know what’s going on but we don’t need for either of you to get hurt, clear?”

“Yes, sir.”

This was the cue for both women to strip themselves of all extra gear until they were left with only clothes, boots and pistols, but Se-se then picked up the heavy rifle and began to systematically strip the sheathing that covered the actual workings of the energy weapon.

“What are you doing?”

“Something the Colonel taught me.” Came the response as the rifle’s barrel, it’s focusing point, was removed and handed off. “It’ll fit now.”

Chase was horrified. True, the rifle would technically work, but there was no heat shielding to protect the wielder and nothing to focus the energy past a random wide burst, it was a monstrosity and something both regulations and common sense expressly forbade. “Not a chance. For one thing you said even an M82 would be no use in the tunnels and for another that’s ridiculously dangerous, it’s not happening.”

“Oh yes it is.” Se-se’s tone went flat and cold. “This is my planet and they are my squad. Besides which, I have no intention of using this, I am going to hand it to Colonel Castleman who will. You have your orders, I have mine.”

“You have yours?” Chase asked, eyebrows raised.

“Yes. All of Babel squad have been drilled in what to do in case of emergency and if you have a problem with that Captain you can question the Colonel when we get him out.” The sharpness of Se-se’s voice made all of the marines instinctively stand straight.

Chase stood still for long seconds as he considered his options. By rights he should take the rifle out of the reckless teenager's hands and stop the accident waiting to happen but again something he could not define made him think again. “Alright,” he said finally. “If that’s how you want to play it. But you’re only going to show Felton the way so unless you walk straight into where ever the Colonel’s being held and it is safe for you hand that over you will be coming back to us with the rifle and if it’s energy cell isn’t fully charged when you return there will be hell to pay.”

Se-se nodded, then she turned to Felton. “Ready to go?”

Felton looked briefly at the Captain before nodding her agreement. “Lets get this over with.”

The trip past the cave entrance was taken at a wide berth and it was almost half an hour before the women were on the narrow path up the mountainside. The going was slow, they could not use light to see the path any better and they dared not make any noise that might have been heard below, but eventually Se-se squeezed her way into a small crack in the rock face.

Felton watched in admiration as Se-se disappeared inside, she had not even seen the gap and she had been looking for it for some time. The girl was right though, it was a very tight squeeze even for her, and Felton was forever being told she was built like a boy.

Once they got a few metres in there was absolutely no light so Felton contorted herself to reach into a pocket and pull out a chem-stick. The green glow it gave off was just enough to see the slime and damp on the rocks and a low hole that Se-se was already beginning to push the L84 into with a chem-stick gripped between her teeth to light the way. Felton had never felt claustrophobic before, but dropping down to follow she began to understand what it felt like.

Se-se spent the time worrying over what they might find. If the ‘aliens’ had meant to kill Babel squad, surely they would have done it back at the camp, but why they were doing any of this was a mystery so she could not know if they were still alive at all. And why were they doing it? That was the one question that kept coming into her mind, why would they kill everyone on an inoffensive colony and then herd the teenagers off into the caves. Perhaps they were after Colonel Castleman, he had had a very distinguished career before opting for semi-retirement as the colony's military liaison, perhaps he knew something important and they were using Babel squad as pressure to make him talk. But again, why would they kill everyone else, and why the alien costumes?

Not concentrating on the route made Se-se almost lose her way twice but she did not snap out of it until Felton grabbed her as she slipped and would have tumbled down a black drop into nothingness. She mumbled a thanks to Felton and took a few deep breaths. There would be time for answers later, first they had to get to the caves.

When a dim light filtered in Felton signalled for the chem-sticks to be dropped and she took the lead.

The low passageway they emerged into was, as predicted, empty but the echoes of conversations and movement were cast eerily in, bouncing off the rough stone walls and making it impossible to gauge direction or distance.

“Stay here.” Felton hissed as she drew her pistol and crept forward.

Se-se was uneasy, but she stayed in shadow in the crack that was all that hinted to the back way.

Carefully, Felton eased her way round the corner just enough to get a narrow view of the passage beyond, her pulse rising in anticipation. It was clear, but up ahead she could just make out a heavy door that had been put on the opposite side of the passage wall. Se-se had told her there were side caves turned into individual rooms, a remnant of the early use of the caves as an emergency shelter when the colony was still merely a fledgling.

With a deep breath, Felton stepped out into the passage, scanning it for anything electrical that would hint to surveillance, but she could see nothing save the few torches lighting the place. The noise of people was still there, but only in echoes, far off. She crept further forward, seeing three more doors along the way.

Moving past one, she was sure she heard hushed voices. She steeled herself for the occupants to burst out only to then realise that the door was bolted from the outside, whoever was in there was imprisoned. Was that the wayward cadets?

Then there was a distinct sound of footfalls, definitely moving closer. She rapidly moved back to the low passage, only to virtually trip over Se-se, who had been watching her progress.

With the noise growing closer she could say nothing, but instead treating Se-se to glare.

Se-se shrugged and returned the look.

Looking carefully round the corner, Felton squinted to see three men, one held roughly between the other two. Undoubtedly a captive, he looked badly beaten and was being dragged through the passage not because he was fighting back but because he was too insensible to walk unaided. One of the doors, separate to the one from which she had heard the voices, was opened and the man was thrown inside. The door was bolted and the men walked back the same way they had come.

Se-se had stopped breathing. That captive was Colonel Castleman. She started to move, but was grabbed firmly by Felton.

“Not yet.” Felton mouthed.

They waited for a long minute until the sounds were again distant.

“We know where they are, we have to report to Chase now.” Felton whispered. She did not want to leave a hostage like that but there was nothing she could do to help him.

“We don’t know how many of them there are.” Se-se hissed. “The Colonel will. He can tell us more than we’ll ever find out sitting here.” Se-se jerked out of Felton’s grip and rounded the corner.

Felton swore but instead of dragging the girl back ran passed her to the next intersection and gestured to Se-se to go inside and find out what she could. She knew that Chase hated the idea of relying on a teenage girl, but any tool that worked was the right one to Felton and her initial suspicions about the girl had proved themselves to be unfounded when she was clearly just another colony kid, all be it a gifted one. She just hoped no one would be coming back before the girl was finished.

Se-se threw back the bolts and pulled open the door to find Castleman still on the ground where he had been thrown, but he was struggling to get up since hearing movement.

He focused on the person walking in and stopped his struggles. “What are you doing here?” he demanded in a hushed voice. “You have to get out of here.”

For a moment, Se-se stood frozen on the spot. The Colonel was covered in blood and bruises, he had been badly beaten and looked awful. “No,” Se-se dropped beside Castleman. “I’m here to get you out. Where are Babel squad?”

“Two rooms up, but we can’t all get out the back way, you should know that.”

“I do.” Se-se nodded. “But, I’ve got a squad of marines in the forest, we just need to know how many of those so called aliens there are and where they are and we can come through the front door.”

Castleman treated Se-se to a long look. “How did you meet up with them?” he asked slowly.

“They were at the farm searching for survivors. They were in the system on exercise and got orders to check what was happening because we went out of contact.”

“What about Joe and Tam?”

Se-se tried to answer but felt tears forming.

The look was enough of an answer and in itself a painful blow. Since coming to the colony Castleman had grown close to the pair, close enough to consider them good and dear friends. “Is that fully charged?” he looked at the rifle, forcing his thoughts back to the present.

“Yes, sir.”

“There’s a crevice behind me with a lip, put it there. As soon as I hear you all coming in I’ll blast my way out and cause hell from here.” He cupped Se-se’s head with a blooded hand. “You’ve done really well, but don’t take any more risks, let the marines do their job.”

“But,”

“I know you can do everything they can,” he said softly. “But you’re too valuable. You and Babel are all that’s left, you all need to get out alive and well. Take it as a request from an old soldier. Sit out of this one.”

“Yes, sir.” Se-se was reluctant, but her trust and respect for Castleman was absolute. “Should I take the little ones with me?” At least some of Babel could get out via the back way and when Castleman had been treated so badly Se-se was worried for her friends.

There was a moment of agonised silence, the answer was plain but difficult. “No. It's going to take you a while to get back out and start things rolling, if they check in the mean time and find some of you gone they might well,” he broke off.

“Kill everyone left.” Se-se finished Castleman's sentence quietly.

This got a nod. “And that's something that can't happen, so this is what I know about these aliens,”

Bare minutes later Se-se slipped out of the room, leaving the door unbolted.

The Colonel had told her that he did not know if his captors would be back before it all kicked off but if they were and the door was unlocked they would only have themselves to blame. If it was open he would not have to waste a charge of the rifle blowing it open.

Felton swiftly led the way back into the low passage, not bothering to ask where the rifle had gone before they squeezed back through the crack in the wall.

Chase knew it would take the women at least two hours to get in and back out, but he was impatient none the less. There was no way he should have let the girl go, especially with the rifle, but there was something about her that made it very difficult to prevent her from doing what she wanted and he suspected that would have rubbed off onto all of her ‘Babel’ squad. If they did not get back soon they would have to leave it another day before making any sort of attack. It would soon start to get light and any assault needed the dawn sun in their favour or it would be suicidal. As it was a frontal attack appeared to be their only option, and a messy one at that. Given the importance of their task and the apparent urgency these alien imposters assigned to their slaughter it had to be a rapid assault or it would be too late for the captives.

“Contact, friendlies on their way.” The whisper came over the radio to Chase’s ear.

Chase resisted the relieved sighed he wanted to breathe and waited impatiently for the Sergeants to arrive.

“Report.” He said when they were finally in front of him.

“Babel squad are all there. They’re locked in but they have an escape method,” Felton looked to the rifleless Se-se. “They’ll make use of that when they hear us coming.”

Se-se took over then to report all Castleman had told her.

Chase took it in with a façade of calm. There were a lot more of the mysterious enemy in the cave than he had hoped for and any rescue was bound to be messy, but they could not afford to wait when the teenagers and the Colonel could be killed at any time.

He ordered Bateman over and gave him the job of keeping Se-se safe and away from the fighting. Those two would remain in the forest glade whilst everyone else attacked.

Se-se accepted this silently, she had known the order would come, but Bateman at least felt the need to grumble about the baby-sitting duty.

Ignoring his own worries, Chase ordered the attack. There was a good chance that the squad would be wiped out in this forced frontal attack, but there was no other way and no other time. They had to free the last of the colonists before they were murdered.

Back in the glade, Se-se tried to close her ears as the first shots range out followed closely by shouts and screams. She did not want to be in the midst of that terror, but wanted so much to be the one to help her friends. They were the only family she had left and it was such a guilty feeling to be sitting safe as they were going through so much pain. Although Castleman had been careful to say nothing, it had choked Se-se to see him in the pain those ‘aliens’ had inflicted and she so wanted to see him and her friends safe and away from people who would do such things.

Then a huge blast echoed out of the caves. The L84 had just been let loose.

Se-se closed her eyes and tried not to imagine the scene in the caves.

FraidyKat Runs - On another world