Collision Course (Class 5, #6)

Chapter 29

CHAPTER 29

Dav and Nortega led the group, working in an easy partnership of covering each others’ backs as they moved through the debris inside the bunker.

They kept to the top floor, which Sazo had said was where Rose was being kept, but all comms with Sazo had been down since hell had broken loose.

One moment, they were firing at the Kimol, the next, skimmers were coming into the basement garage and firing at the same group Dav and his team were firing at.

The door had burst open, and the soldiers who ran out had tripped and fallen over Dav and his team.

They hadn’t wasted a moment moving out of the way and taking advantage of the open door.

They’d had to press themselves up against the wall a few times to let Kimol soldiers by, and they didn’t know what caused the massive earthquake that had rumbled through the building at one point, but each room they’d checked had been empty.

They had passed a large hall with mattresses scattered on the floor, but it was empty, too, and then they’d headed down a darkened passage.

A soldier came running toward them, staggering as if he was injured, and now that he was past them, Dav could hear sounds from up ahead. A strange whirring sound, and scratching. It made him think of claws on a hard surface.

He and Nortega shared a look, and she turned and signaled for the rest of the team to move very quietly.

They crept forward, turned the corner, Dav going high, Nortega going low, and froze in astonishment.

Three aliens turned to look at them, and the whirring sound intensified. One of them opened up wings behind him or her, making them look much bigger.

Dav lifted a hand, and drew back his visor, and all three aliens suddenly quietened down.

The one who’d spread their wings spoke to him and he shook his head.

“I don’t understand.”

They shared a look and one of them pointed to Nortega, then lifted a hand to a point just below his shoulder, then made a movement down their chest and then out and rounded down.

Like a pregnant belly.

“Rose?” Dav asked.

“Rose,” the alien said. Or at least, tried to. Dav was pretty sure that was what they were trying for.

“Where?” he asked, pointing deeper down the passage.

They all nodded. Then one pointed a long, clawed hand and made a noise Dav guessed was meant to be the sound of a Fisone weapon discharging. Then they held out two fingers.

“Two armed soldiers that way?” Nortega asked.

“I think so. I think they’re stuck here. But they know Rose, so I’m happy to clear the way for them.” These must be the Hasmarga Vichea had mentioned.

Nortega gave a nod, turned back to the others, who fortunately still had their visors down, or Dav guessed their mouths might be hanging open in astonishment.

“Ready?” Nortega asked.

Everyone nodded.

They moved, working like the team they’d become in the last few hours.

Dav registered the aliens took up the rear, moving fast, keeping to the walls.

They passed a Kimol soldier partially buried under rubble, and after Wangao checked for a pulse, he shook his head. Then they turned a corner and found another alien, this one lying on the ground, and Dav couldn’t tell if he or she was dead or unconscious.

His team stepped around the downed alien, waiting for the three behind them.

The aliens surrounded their friend and checked for life, and Dav could tell it was good news by the tone of their conversation. Two of the three picked their fallen friend up and carried him.

It made Dav like them more.

Light flashed up ahead, and Dav caught the aliens cringe back at the sight of it.

Weapon fire.

He and Nortega moved forward more cautiously, turned the corner, and found a Kimol soldier standing over two of the aliens. One was obviously down, the other had a hand raised over their face.

Dav shot the Kimol without hesitation, and he and Nortega stepped into the room.

The aliens behind them called to their friend, and then the one not carrying their fallen friend pushed past Dav’s team to crouch beside the second alien who’d been shot and Dav could almost see the relief when he patted his friend’s chest.

The alien pointed to himself and the alien they’d just saved, mimed picking up his friend, and then pointing.

Dav saw there was a staircase just ahead.

He turned back, and the alien made a fist, made the noise of a spaceship, and then smashed his fist into his open palm, then pointed up the stairs.

“That rumble we heard and felt was a ship coming down?” Mosteret asked.

“It sounds like it.” Dav took a step toward the stairs, but the alien made a sound and he stopped and turned back to look.

The alien pointed to Nortega again, then mimed a bump. Pointed up the stairs. Then made a fist again.

“Rose went that way, but there is a downed ship in the way?” Nortega guessed.

Dav didn’t care what was in the way. If that’s where Rose had gone, he was going there, too.

He jogged up the stairs, Nortega on his heels, and saw the door frame had been cracked, and the door couldn’t close properly.

The Hasmarga was right. There was a large people carrier on its side a little distance away.

There were a few people congregating around it, but no one was looking their way.

He turned back and saw the rest of the team were standing a few steps below, and the aliens were carrying their friends up.

Everyone made room for them, and the one who’d been signing to them gently laid his friend down at Nortega’s feet and then joined Dav at the door.

The alien said something, crouching low and sniffing the air.

He pointed away from the ship.

“They track by smell?” Wangao asked.

“Maybe.” Dav didn’t know, but the Hasmarga seemed sure of the direction. “Right, we go fast, and we keep an eye on the soldiers around the fallen ship. Ready?”

“Ready,” they all responded.

Dav had a feeling they were enjoying themselves. There had to be a certain number of soldiers on each explorer ship in the Grihan military, but they didn’t often get this kind of action.

They were getting action now.

He and Nortega stepped out, making room for the two Hasmarga carrying their friend. They moved away slightly, and the second set of aliens came out of the door, followed by the rest of the team.

Venuti and Mostert each took a side, and Wangao brought up the rear, checking behind him often as they moved forward.

The aliens started to run, headed to a rock formation in the distance, and Dav had the feeling if they weren’t each hauling a downed friend between them, they would have been impossible to keep up with.

“We’ve been spotted.” Venuti’s voice was a little out of breath in his ear.

Dav turned to look, saw a few soldiers standing by the fallen ship had turned their way, a few with weapons raised.

They were too far away to shoot, but they watched them run for the rocks.

Nothing they could do about it. Still, it would be nice if they could have gotten away unseen.

He looked back at the aliens, powering ahead, and had to increase his own pace so as not to lose them.

“The fuckers can move,” Wangao muttered with reluctant admiration.

As long as they were moving toward Rose, that’s all Dav cared about.