Operation: Mongolia

- 13 -

The first hour of Banks’ and Hynd’s run had gone well. They made good time under a clear starry sky, running on rocky terrain that wasn’t too hard or too soft. They’d been trained for times like this, maintaining an even loping pace that ate up the miles. Neither had spoken, saving their breath to keep them moving forward. They only stopped when Banks noticed the sky was darker ahead, clouds moving in from the north. He tasted moisture in the air as he slowed to a halt.

“Take five, Sarge,” he said. “We’re on hard ground here. Let’s see what’s coming our way.”

Hynd took the chance for a smoke but Banks’ concentration was on the still darkening horizon and the increasing hint of dampness at his cheeks.

“More fucking rain on the way. That’s all we need.”

“Do we head back, try to stay ahead of it?” Hynd asked.

“No way. We’re too far in. I’d rather get caught trying to make headway than have something snapping at my arse as I run away.”

“You’ll get no disagreement from me on that score.”

Banks tried to gauge the ground ahead of them but the cloud was already sweeping overhead, bringing deeper gloom without even the benefit of starlight. Raindrops pattered, already wetting the rock.

“I’m ready to push on if you are, Cap,” Hynd said, flicking the butt of his smoke away where its red glow was quickly extinguished as the rain spattered heavier. As of yet, there was no sign of any blue flashes.

“Let’s do it then, but we stick to the rocky ground—first sign of it getting soft underfoot we backtrack to firmer stuff.”

“Lights?”

“Let’s keep them off as long as we’re able. We don’t ken what triggers the beasties into action, so best not to give them any excuses.”

They set off running again.

The first swathe of blue flashes appeared twenty yards off to their left minutes later.

“Cap?” Hynd said.

“I see it. We’re fine as long as they’re over there and we’re over here,” Banks said and upped his pace, concentrating on trying to stay on solid ground, peering to identify the darker patches that indicated better footing. Rain dripped down the back of his neck and his rucksack had begun to chafe at the shoulders again. He knew from experience that the first hour of running was always deceptively easy and that aches, pains, and discomfort were all ahead in his immediate future. He was also aware they still had a couple of hours running ahead of them and without the GPS or stars to guide them, they were running blind, trusting to gut instinct and lines of sight in increasing gloom.

But what choice do we have?

The quicker pace couldn’t be sustained as the rain got heavier and the rock turned slippery underfoot. The swathes of blue increased in number and density and soon the two men were forced to a halt, standing on a slab of rock raised only a foot above the main surface of the plain, surrounded by dancing, crackling blue flashes.

He moved so that he and Hynd were standing back to back, weapons raised. There was an area of sand only half a dozen steps to his left, seething and roiling as the worms coiled just under the surface, the sand itself lit by a blue crackling haze that ran across its surface sending loose grains swirling. The rain was heavy now, pattering hard on the top of Banks’ head and running down his brow to drip steadily from his nose. His suit protected him from the worst of it but he was going to be damp through and through before too many more minutes passed. The only thing in their favor was that it wasn’t cold so the possibility of hypothermia wasn’t a problem.

Besides, we’ve got other things to worry about.

A worm’s head rose up from the sandy area to Banks’ left, a foot-wide cavernous mouth open, tasting the air and the rain. Blue static ran around the white, stick-like fangs. Banks switched on his rifle light and washed a beam across the area, hoping that the beast was a subterranean thing that would react adversely to the sudden brightness.

No such luck.

The worm took no notice of the light and pushed itself farther out of the sand so that three feet of it was raised upright like a tree trunk—a red, glistening tree. It was soon joined by others, a whole forest of a score or more, all pushing straight up as if to suck down the rain deep into their bodies. They varied from eight inches in diameter to one monster farther out in the sand right at the edge of their visibility that looked to have a gape nearly two feet wide with a glistening red torso of the same width below it. When that one rose up out of the sand, its mouth was more than eight feet high as it sucked at the rain.

“Steady, Sarge,” Banks said, little more than a whisper as he felt Hynd tense. At that, the nearest four of the beasts swung their heads—they had no faces as such—to point their wide-open, fang-filled mouths directly at where Hynd and Banks stood.

They heard me. They’re keying in to sound.

All four of the nearby worms, the biggest being the first one they’d seen with the foot-wide gape, dropped flat to the sand then came forward, straight at them.

Without speaking, Banks put a finger to his lips and took six quick steps north out of their path. Hynd followed without a word as the worms came on, not deviating from their course, crossing the rock where the men had been standing and coming to a halt with their heads raised, tasting… listening.

Banks held his breath, expecting an attack… but none came. Ten seconds later, the worms slithered back off the rock into the sand and raised their bodies upright again, joining the others in tasting the rain. It was coming down in curtains of water now, small streams forming at the soldier’s feet as puddles merged and water tried to find low ground. The blue flashing became a hanging, swirling aurora above the uplifted mouths of the worms and the red bodies swayed, all in time, as if dancing to some unheard rhythm.

Banks retreated six more steps north with Hynd at his side. The worms paid no heed and stayed where they were, swaying in the rain. With their mouths raised and the red glistening torsos moving slowly from side to side in unison, they looked like a field of exotic plants.

Banks watched them for thirty seconds more to ensure an attack wasn’t imminent, then led Hynd out again, finding a patch of rocky ground and heading north in silence into the rain.