Minutes to Burn

Chapter 42

Cameron jerked to her feet when she heard something crash through the brush at the edge of the forest. They all squared defensively until Savage's figure cut from the dark, charging toward them.

"Where the fuck were you?" Derek yelled. "You're over an hour late and we couldn't transmit to Tucker. Szabla said his transmitter just cut out."

Savage didn't answer as he neared the circle of logs, his eyes steeled on Szabla.

"Where's Tucker?" Cameron asked, concern coloring her voice.

Without slowing, Savage passed the fire pit and seized Szabla's under-shirt around the thin arm straps. He tore the straps forcefully to the sides, ripping the shirt down the middle and exposing her breasts. He towered over her, his knee pushed tight between her legs on the log as she leaned back. Before anyone could reach him, his knife was out of the sheath and pointing at the small raised circle of her transmitter. Cameron and Derek were tense on their feet, ready to pounce on Savage if the opportunity arose.

"This is not a fucking toy!" Savage yelled. "Fuck!" He stepped back and threw the blade hard at the log. It stuck deep. Tank was between him and Szabla in a flash, but Savage didn't make another move toward her. He yanked the bandanna off and ran his fingers through his hair, grab-bing the back in a ponytail before throwing his hand off to the side. "He's gone. He's fucking dead."

Mouth ajar, eyes glassy, Szabla sat dumbfounded on the log, making no effort to cover herself. In the silence that ensued, Cameron walked over and pulled Szabla's shirt back up. She stood in front of Savage and raised her face to his. "What happened?"

"He got eaten. By this huge fucking thing. With snapping front legs. Like… almost like a praying mantis."

Derek snorted. A strange expression worked its way across Rex's face, then vanished. He turned to Diego and something passed between them. Cameron's stomach turned over once, as it sometimes did just before she vomited.

"What are you talking about, Savage?" Justin said. "Where the fuck is Tucker?"

"It was swinging upside down like a fucking bat and it grabbed him in those legs, clamped down on him like a bear trap." He shook his head. "You shoulda heard him screaming."

Cameron sat down heavily. "Is this a fucking joke?" Derek asked.

Justin's breathing was so shallow it sounded like panting. Szabla dipped her head, running a hand across the back of her neck, her nails leaving red streaks. She murmured something in a low whisper. They stood for a few moments in silence, breathing together. Savage glared at them expectantly.

"Fuck this," Justin finally said. "Fuck this."

"Calm down, Justin," Derek said. "We don't really know what's going on here."

"What the fuck do you mean we don't know what's going on?" Savage yelled. "I just told you there's a mammoth fucking creature on the loose. Nine feet tall and just as long. We have to kill that motherfucker."

He stripped off his shirt and flung it to the side. His body gleamed with sweat. "We gotta kill the larvae. They're its offspring. We got one in the tent and four more in the forest." Savage held up three fingers at first but got the fourth one up quickly. "We gotta get to them before they transform."

"I am not standing by while you attempt to exterminate a species," Diego said. "So don't even think about it."

"Nothing's transforming," Derek said wearily. "And we don't know that these larvae or the egg sac have anything to do with what you saw. We don't even know what you saw. The worst thing we can do is jump to conclusions."

"We don't have time not to jump to conclusions."

Cameron spoke in an uncharacteristically low voice. "He may be right, Derek."

Derek shot her a glare reserved for liars and traitors. She recoiled from it.

Savage threw his arms out to his sides in frustration. "They teach you this in leadership school, champ? You've been a whole lot of indecision since we landed here."

For a moment, Cameron thought Derek might charge Savage. He was clenching his jaw, the corners of his cheeks flexed out in points. His voice was calm, but there was an element of lunacy hidden in it. "You weren't getting along so good with Tucker, were you, Savage?" Derek asked.

Savage froze. He glowered across the fire at Derek, his beard bristling as his mouth worked noiselessly on words. When he finally spoke, his voice was so close to a growl the words all rushed together. "I would love nothing more than to slit your throat and paint my face with your blood."

"Having some problems with him, you're a little loose around the pegs to begin with, maybe you slipped and your knife got stuck in him. Seems a bit more likely than a nine-foot mantis, doesn't it?" Derek jabbed a finger in Savage's direction, his upper lip curled into a snarl. "You'd better fucking pray you didn't touch him."

Szabla still had not spoken. A spot on her right cheek was quivering like crazy even though she wasn't close to crying. She was never close to crying. Tank sat quietly, digging a stick in the dirt.

"Let's go," Cameron said. "Let's run a recon, see if we can find Tucker." She caught Savage's eye. "Or recover his body."

"Nobody is going anywhere unless I tell them to," Derek snapped. "What, are we gonna search in the dark with flares and elbow lights? We don't have any tactical lights. We'll wait till morning."

Savage backed up on his heels, laughing. He raised a finger and pointed at each of them in turn. "You're a bunch of fucking cowards. Tucker's been your comrade for years. Let me tell you something." His eyes gathered emotion. "Whether I liked him or not, I just saw a man go down before my eyes and I'm gonna do something about it."

He stormed over to Szabla and she flinched away, but he was just retrieving his knife. Resting a boot on the log next to his Death Wind, he yanked it out, running it back and forth across his thigh. It sliced the fab-ric of his pants, opening a slit as thin as a paper cut. He pointed the tip of the blade at Derek. "You want proof?! I'll bring you proof."

Cameron ran after him a few steps as he headed for the forest, but Derek yelled at her, "Cameron, get back here. Let him go."

Cameron halted and Savage disappeared, fading into the blackness between the trees.

Derek issued combat orders, taking the first patrol. Marching along like a dazed distance runner, he circled the fire, then headed all the way out around the perimeter of the open field, keeping a safe distance from the forest on the north side.

Diego removed the larva from the cruise box and placed it outside. He tested its responses to a number of stimuli-different touches, movements, and sounds-until the larva inched away, curled up and ceased responding at all. Tank was reclining on the grass, a safe distance from where the larva lay. Cameron stared at the larva blankly, trying to quell the storm rising inside her.

His boots shushing through the grass, Derek walked past them. The fire flickered over his face. He'd completed the route five times, passing right in front of them, and not once had he spoken. Aside from the large black crescents under his eyes, his face was pale. His lips, moving as he mumbled to himself, looked blue.

Savage had left his shirt on the ground, and Szabla leaned over and picked it up. Removing her ripped undershirt, she slid his shirt over her bare skin.

Derek moved past them and around the fire like a ghost, and Szabla raised her head to watch him walking away. She tried to laugh, but it came out angry. She lowered her voice so that Diego and Rex, sitting on the far log across the fire, couldn't hear her. "He's not being level and he's not making good assessments."

Cameron ran her fingers through her hair, scratching her scalp near the back.

"He's not taking charge," Szabla hissed. "He hasn't been on top of things since he's been back. It must feel too similar to-"

Cameron interrupted, her voice slow, weighed down. "He'll get it under control. He always does." She leaned over and gently touched the larva's back before she realized what she'd done and pulled her hand away.

"I called in to Mako today. Just before I paged Tucker."

Tank propped himself up on his elbows. Cameron turned slowly. "You did what?" she asked.

"You heard me. I am the AOIC and I have grave concerns about Derek's ability to lead this mission. Now that a legitimate threat has been introduced into the equation, I'm even more concerned. We need to bump him and reestablish the chain of command."

"With you taking over."

"That is how it works," Szabla answered coldly.

Cameron found a stick and pushed it into the ground, her lips pressed together. "Glad we're being supportive. His comrades in arms. I mean, if he can't count on his platoon-"

"Cameron. Fuck you and wake up. This isn't Aunty Jane going into rehab. This has turned into a serious military op. Loyalty is not the most useful attribute right now."

Cameron cleared her throat sharply. "What'd Mako say?"

Szabla looked away. "My complaint has been registered, but he doesn't want to contradict an officer downrange. If he shuts Derek down, it looks bad all the way around. It would take a substantial amount of pres-sure to get him to do that-we're not gonna have the time to tap dance around."

"So what are you saying?"

"At some point, it might be worth being more…active, even if it means we get brought before the commander when we get back," Szabla said. Cameron shook her head, cursing softly. "You're gonna be key here, Cam." Szabla leaned back, studying the sky. "You're the one every-one trusts, though why exactly that is beats the shit out of me."

Cameron looked over at Justin, but he was watching the fire, the flames playing across his face. Tank angled his arm back, cracking his shoulder.

"Regardless of how swell and interesting our scientists and Derek might think this thing is," Szabla said, jerking her head toward the larva, "we have no idea what it's gonna metamorphose into. Savage's story may be true."

Tank regarded the larva suspiciously. Justin laughed, a dry, hollow laugh. "Or we could be wrong and this thing could be harmless."

Cameron's face contracted as though she were going to cry, though she felt no tears moving through her. "I hope so," she said quietly. She rose, brushing the dirt from the log off her behind. "In any event, I'm gonna go warn Ramon and Floreana."

"Who?" Szabla asked, but Cameron was already heading for the road.

Szabla pried a piece of bark off the log between her legs. "Maybe the world is coming undone," she said. "Cam didn't request permission."

The wind was drawing through the watchtower again, howling like a banshee. Somewhere, moving beneath the surface of the sound, Derek thought he heard his baby daughter's laugh. It twirled like a wind chime and vanished back into the howling.

He trudged along the field, reflecting about responsibility. It was something he spent a lot of time thinking about, particularly Before. He had a responsibility to complete the mission, to assist in all aspects of Rex's survey, but there was also something more than that. A responsi-bility to life, a responsibility to protect things that could not protect themselves.

He had failed once already.