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Abby looked around her at the beauty of the planet, and suddenly, it lost its appeal. Drak’s words came back to her. The better the beauty, the more dangerous the inhabitants are. “Fantastic.”
The Veslors drew her attention. They were spread out, helmets removed, going near each of the holes and crouching. “What are they doing?”
“Sniffing to see which ones have recently been used. Those are the ones we’ll blow up today before leaving. It’s the best chance of killing more of them if they’re close to the surface. From past explosions we’ve set off, a lot of these holes lead to nowhere since they collapsed underground.”
“Thanks.” She was grateful that Peters was being decent enough to answer her questions.
The Veslors wrote big “X” marks in the dirt near some of the holes, moving systematically to check each one. Abby took a seat on a rock. The suit didn’t have a cooling system and the two suns were making her hot. There was also no shade in the large open space. Her babysitters stayed close until Rogers whistled loudly.
“Let’s drop the charges. I think we’ve got enough targets.”
“Stay here,” Milts ordered.
“Sure.” Abby wouldn’t be any help with that kind of work.
They left her alone. She watched them open their backpacks and remove grenade-like devices. The team tossed them down the marked holes.
One of the team members approached her after a good ten minutes. It was Tellis.
“What’s up?”
“I’m out of bombs. I gave most of mine to the Veslors for the caves.” He stopped about five feet away and gave her his back, watching the two teams. “Be careful, Miss Thomas.”
She stiffened. No one else was near them. “Why?”
“You’ve pissed off Rogers big time.” He paused. “He’s going to cause trouble for you.”
“I’m not surprised. Thanks for the warning, though.”
He remained quiet for a full minute. “Older men like the commander have a lot of pride. They don’t take kindly when they feel someone has made a fool out of them.”
“I don’t understand what you’re trying to say. Just spit out what you really mean.”
“I don’t want you blindsided. Jealousy can be an ugly thing. Rogers ordered us to complain in our reports that you were hitting on us today. He figures the old man will send you packing for embarrassing him by letting it be known he isn’t keeping you happy in bed. You know what I mean?”
She rolled her eyes. “It won’t work. I’m not sleeping with the commander. He was one of the groomsmen when my parents got married, for God’s sake. Howard is like an uncle to me. I’ve known him my entire life.”
He glanced back at her. “For real?”
“For real.”
He faced away again. “Shit. Rogers is determined to get you sent packing.”
Abby just laughed.
Tellis turned his body her way. “You think it’s funny that we’ve been ordered to say that shit?”
“I do. So will Howard. He’s been to tons of social functions with my family over the years.”
“I don’t understand…”
She stood from the rock. “My family is worth billions. Everyone on Earth knows that. I hate social events because it’s like open season on me. Every guy with a love for money, or who thinks he can use my family connections to advance himself in some way, hits on me. My family, including Howard, enjoys the hell out of watching me dodge them. I don’t even date anymore, and I haven’t for years. My last boyfriend tried to take me for a few million. I learned it’s not worth the hassle to waste my time on anyone. The commander knows all of that.”
Now Tellis gawked at her.
“So, Rogers saying I hit on all the members of your team? Funny as shit. Remember the lead male star in Galaxy War? Everyone has seen that vid.”
He nodded.
“My last ex. No offense to you or your team, but Tony is hot as hell. He spent a fortune on plastic surgeons and had two personal trainers living with him around the clock. He’s also a douchebag who thought he deserved two million for the four months we were together. If anyone should have been paid, it would have been me for putting up with his shitty personality and his rotten bedroom skills. That’s what being lonely enough to try a relationship again got me. Lesson learned.”
Tellis continued to stare at her with his mouth partially open.
“Let Rogers say whatever he wants. Write your report to accuse me of sexual harassment. You’re cute, Tellis. You can even quote me on that. But you’re not my type. That part you can leave out to avoid getting into trouble with Rogers and your team. And like I said…thanks for the warning, though.”
He nodded and gave her his back once again. “They’re almost done.”
“Good. I’m going to need a shower, and I’m hungry. Don’t you guys take meal breaks down here or was that another Rogers stunt by making me starve?”
“We don’t carry food. It attracts the Cadia.”
She swiftly touched her suit. “Shit. Not sealed stuff though, right?”
He turned, frowning. “Why?”
“I kind of packed some energy bars and water packs. I never leave home without a snack. Life motto. Not to mention, I wasn’t sure if anyone would remember to bring a meal for me.”
“You have food?”
She startled, turning to see that Rogers had approached without her hearing him. He moved super quiet on the crunchy ground. “Sealed packs. Not many.”
“Goddamn civilians. This is why you shouldn’t be here, Thomas.”
“Well, I’m still alive, and the Cadia are sleeping.”
“Fucking women,” Rogers spat. He pulled out the pad and glanced around. “Time to blow these tunnels. Hadder? Signal for a pickup!”
One of the men in the distance pulled out a portable communications device. “Yes, sir. On it.”
“Let’s get past this area to the other side,” Rogers shouted, walking off.
The teams began to move farther away from the settlement. Tellis stayed close but Milts and Peters flanked her. They all had to dodge holes in the ground.
“Why aren’t we returning to the hilly area where we came from?” It made more sense to her than walking deeper into the vast flat area with hundreds of holes.
“Always fucking questions,” Milts muttered. “She never shuts up.”
“The wind,” Tellis answered. “When we blow the holes, it’s going to cause a large dust cloud. We’re going upwind to make certain the shuttle has an easier time of spotting us once the initial dust settles. They’ll be here in about ten minutes. We’ll need to walk for at least five of that to get out of the area. There’s also a risk that when the explosions happen, the entire ground area around them might cave in. It’s happened once before. The shuttle will hover feet from the ground since it’s too heavy to risk landing this close to all those tunnels, and we’ll climb aboard.”
“Got it. Thank you.” She’d forgotten that there were mazes of tunnels under her feet. Her respect for what the tactical teams did rose. Just not for Rogers. He made the Veslors do his team’s dirty work.
She turned her head, spotting each of the Veslor grouping. Drak was about twenty feet behind her. Their gazes met but she faced forward fast, not wanting to trip or fall into a hole.
She mentally went over everything she planned to talk to Howard about at dinner. Things needed to change. The Veslors would be safer without another human team. That left other problems, though. Like if the pilot “accidently” didn’t get their pickup signal, and they were stranded on the surface overnight. Then again, she’d make damn sure that wouldn’t happen. She’d just follow their shifts, make certain they returned on time, or there’d be hell to pay.
“That’s far enough,” Rogers yelled. He stopped walking and turned. “The shuttle should be breaking orbit by now. Stand your ground.”
She didn’t know what that meant but a quick glance at the three men nearest her, Tellis, Milts, and Peters,
proved they were bracing their legs. For what, she wasn’t sure, but she planted her boots a good foot apart the way they did and kind of hunched a little to mimic their odd stances.
Rogers pulled the detonator pad from one of the many pouches attached to his suit and tapped at it, probably bringing all the explosives online. She wondered if there was ever a signal problem to reach the devices underground, but so far, she hadn’t seen that issue. Weapons weren’t her thing since D Corp didn’t manufacture them.
“Brace!”
That was the only warning she got, shouted from Rogers, before there was a loud boom.
The ground under her jolted violently. Motion out of the corner of her eye had Abby turning her head. Dust and debris flew from the ground where the bombs had gone off. It rose in height, spread, and rolled their way.
A wall of hazy dust hit, surrounding them.
Someone to her left grabbed her arm all of a sudden and shoved her. She stumbled, trying to stay upright. She saw a form come at her and someone else grabbed her other arm. She looked up, pretty sure it was Tellis. He had her by the wrist.
A sharp pain hit her hip, what felt like a boot kicking her, and Abby went flying.
The grip on her wrist tightened, then Tellis was falling with her.
Only they didn’t hit the ground right away.
Instead they fell for a few terrifying seconds, then slammed into something hard, and slid. Darkness blinded her. The grip on her wrist was torn away.
“Fuck!”
That was Tellis shouting. She slammed into him, then they were sliding again. Her body bounced around, sometimes hitting something hard, but she knew Tellis was with her. His grunts matched hers.
It finally ended. She came to a halt on her side. Darkness surrounded her; she couldn’t see anything.
She had to take a few breaths before she could speak. “What happened?”
“Those fuckers shoved you into a hole! I tried to grab you to stop it. Peters pushed me. They sent us both down.”
Tellis’s words penetrated…and then understanding dawned. “Oh shit. We’re in the tunnels.”
“Yes.” Tellis lowered his voice. “They’ve killed us both.”
“We need to climb out.”
The silence ticked by. “We aren’t going to get out of here.”
* * * * *
Drak stood still until the dust started to settle and he could see better as the light breeze blew it away. When they collapsed tunnels, it always sent a lot of debris into the air. He checked his grouping. All of them seemed fine. His gaze went to the area they’d blown in the distance. The ground had collapsed in a few sections and the holes they’d targeted were now much larger.
“I hate that,” Gnaw growled. “My ears hurt, and I don’t care if they say there are filters in these helmets. I taste dirt.”
“We’ll be back on Defcon Red soon to take showers.” Roth brushed off his helmet face plate to clear the dirt.
“Oh fuck!”
Drak turned toward the human team at Rogers’s shout. He instantly searched for Abby…but didn’t see her. Drak moved before giving it thought, rushing toward where he’d last seen the female. Milts and Peters stood without her now.
“Where is the female?” Drak got to them first.
Milts pointed to a hole. “The dumb bitch stumbled when the dust came! It was like she didn’t see the hole.”
“Yeah,” Peters nodded. “Poor fucking Tellis tried to grab her to stop her from falling but she pulled him in with her. They were both gone before we could react.”
“Goddamn it!” Rogers bellowed, walking over to stare into the hole. “Fuck! The commander is going to have our asses.” He spun, glaring at Milts.
Milts took a step back. “Total accident, sir. She stumbled right into the fucking hole! There’s nothing we could have done. It happened too fast and the dust blinded us for seconds. Tellis tried to stop her but she took his dumb ass with her.”
Drak shoved Milts out of the way and looked at the ground. There were some scuff marks near the hole. The dust settling had made reading exactly what had happened difficult. He didn’t know if they were telling the truth or not but Abby and Tellis were gone.
He peered into the hole next. About six feet down, he saw the slant in the tunnel, the normally smooth dirt there had been disturbed as if weight had landed hard, but there was no sign of either human.
“Get out of the way. I’ll yell down to see if they somehow didn’t fall far.”
Drak rose up and got in Rogers’s face. “You won’t be yelling anything. It will summon any of the Cadia if they are near.”
Roth, Maith and Gnaw rushed forward, circling the hole and crouching. “Quiet,” Roth ordered.
Only the wind blew, making a soft rustling on the ground. Minutes passed. There weren’t any sounds coming from the hole.
Abby might not know not to yell out, but Tellis would be aware of the danger of making noises. Drak didn’t know if that was a good thing or bad. What if they were too hurt to attempt to climb? Dead? Or they could have slid very deep into the ground.
“Shit,” Rogers muttered. “I see the shuttle in the sky.”
Drak looked up, spotting it too. A slight sound came to him within seconds, the engines from the transport. “We must send down a rescue team.”
Rogers shook his head. “It’s too dangerous. Night is going to fall soon and this is where those ugly bastards come up hunting. The best we can do is come back at first light and send down a drone to see if they’re alive.”
“That’ll be a waste of time. They’ll be eaten soon.”
Drak snarled at Milts, not liking what the male said.
The human raised his hands and took a step back. “You know those fucking Cadia were awakened with the blasts we just set off. They’ll be digging and crawling all over down there. No way will Tellis or Thomas survive, if the fall didn’t kill them already. Either way, we’re all aware of how deep these fucking tunnels go and how twisted they are. They would have been like pinballs bouncing off rocks and shit all the way down to wherever they landed. Best scenario, they hit a section that will collapse. They’ll be buried and crushed instead of eaten alive.”
Drak didn’t like what he heard.
“We’ll send a team down at first light with a drone to search.” Rogers shot another glare at Milts. “The fucking commander isn’t going to like that we lost his piece of ass. Fuck. What were you thinking?”
“I didn’t do shit,” Milts denied. “Ask Peters. Hell, Tellis was one of ours. He’s lost too.”
Drak looked at Roth. “I’m going after her.”
“No, you are fucking not!”
He ignored Rogers.
Roth hesitated. “It’s too dangerous. They could have fallen so deep that they reached the breeding cavern. The Cadia would have attacked already. The sound of the explosives had to have woken them all. The humans would have stood no chance of fighting them off. We’re not even sure of the air quality that deep.”
“The Cadia need oxygen to survive, so the air quality must be breathable. And she’s a female. I can’t walk away. I won’t.” Drak glanced at Gnaw. They were both the risk takers in their grouping. “How would you like to explore the guts of this planet and possibly see these breeding grounds?”
Gnaw grinned. “I love a good fight.”
Roth appeared torn, his emotions unclear, but Drak knew the male well. He was worried that they’d die but he also understood that his males weren’t about to leave a female to die if there was a chance of rescuing her.
“I said no.” Rogers stomped closer. “We’ll return with a rescue team and a drone to send down the hole to try to find them, and ropes to bring them up if they’re alive. The shuttle is hovering. We need to go now. The sunlight is down in fifteen minutes. Our asses are out of here.”
Drak held Roth’s gaze. “I won’t be alone. Two of us will at least give the humans a chance of survival. Make sure we’re sent a rescue team in the morning.
”
Roth glanced between him and Gnaw, nodding. “Be safe and smart. I can’t lose you both.”
Maith stepped forward. “We go together. Three are better than two.”
Drak glanced between Maith and Roth. “Equal split in case there’s trouble. You need to make sure help comes after us.”
Roth nodded. “Solid thinking. I agree.”
Maith stepped back, looking grim. “Understood.”
“I said no!” Rogers ranted. “Are you fucking listening to me? I’m in charge!”
Roth handed over his weapons, stripping them off his body. So did Maith. Gnaw and Drak accepted them.
“Be careful,” Roth ordered. “We’ll be here at first light with a drone and ropes. Trust us.”
Drak had no doubt he could. “We’ll be waiting.”
“No way!” Rogers bellowed. “We’re all leaving on the shuttle.”
Drak turned to the red-faced human team leader, glaring at him. “I’m going after the female, even if you won’t.” He shoved him aside roughly, walked to the edge of the hole, and hesitated.
There was a good possibility he’d die. Abby only had a small blaster on her, the one Drak had given her. It wouldn’t do more than stun a Cadia to give her time to run. Those tunnels would prevent escape. She needed help—and he’d give it to her.
He jumped, knowing Gnaw would be right behind him.
Chapter Six
Abby slowly sat up in the darkness. She couldn’t see a thing and her body ached. She blindly touched the side of her helmet, remembering that it had lights. The suits weren’t just used for day crews but night ones, too.
The light blinded her when it came on. She blinked a few times, and when her eyes adjusted, she was staring at dirt and rock. They were in a small chamber, about five feet high, maybe seven feet wide, and roughly ten feet long.