Quest

Chapter 30

Bones heard the shots exchanged, but stayed put, despite his inclination to help out. Maddock wouldn’t want him to abandon his post. Besides, it had been a while since he’d heard the last shot. He wondered what was going on. Perhaps this meant the battle would soon be shifting in his direction.

No sooner had the thought passed through his mind than he heard the sounds of lots of feet running through the jungle. He raised his M-16 and waited.

A group of men broke through into the clearing, all of them natives of Kephises. From within the depths of the jungle, someone fired off three shots in rapid succession, and two men went down. This was it! His eyes probed the darkness, seeking out a target.

He saw a burst of muzzle flash, and the ground erupted beneath the running men. Bones squeezed off two quick shots and hit the dirt, rolling behind a giant fern. Bullets sizzled through the spot he’d just occupied. Nearby, men cried out in pain. A few struggled to regain their feet, but others did not move at all. Bones had seen too many of those glassy eyed stares in his lifetime.

He wondered if the attacker could see him hunkered down here. The fern wouldn’t offer much protection, but it would hopefully hide him from the night vision-enhanced eyes of the ScanoGen men. Another muzzle flash and, before he could return fire, another explosion, this one too close. He squeezed his eyes shut and turned his head as rocks and debris scoured him. Over the ringing in his ears, he heard an explosion from somewhere in Maddock’s direction, and then footsteps pounded close by — the guy was coming right at him. In fact, he was almost on top of him!

“Hey!” Tam shouted. Bones looked up to see the man turn his head in her direction just as she pulled the trigger of her dazzle gun.

The man’s scream was one of sheer agony. Reeling, he dropped his rifle and ripped off his goggles. A dazzle gun temporarily blinded a man, but what would it do to someone wearing night vision goggles? Bones had no sympathy for this scumbag who had so callously cut down the men of Kephises, who were only defending their homes and families. As the man turned, Bones drew his Glock, took careful aim, and shot him in the groin.

If the man’s screams had seemed agonized before, he now reached a whole new level. He collapsed, one hand pressed to his eyes, the other clutching his ruined groin. Blood seeped between his fingers. His screams quickly gave way to pitiful wails, echoing those of the hurt and dying Kephises men. Bones stood and approached him slowly, ready to finish him off, but Tam beat him to it.

She drew a knife and pressed the tip to the man’s heart. “All right Brown, who else is with you?”

“Broderick, you traitor!” The man spat. “I’m not telling you anything.”

“I’m not a traitor. I’m a Fed. Now tell me, and I’ll make the pain go away. Don’t tell me, and I’ll leave you here to die. I’ll even stab you in the gut to make sure you don’t make it. Of course, you might enjoy being a blind man. Then again, you’re not really a man any more, are you?”

“The hell with you!”

“Last chance.” She moved her knife to his abdomen and pressed down. “Who is here?”

“Kennedy, Wesley, and Smithson. Everybody else is dead.” He groaned again and shuddered as a spasm of pain racked his body.

“What’s your plan?”

“They’re going for the tree behind the pyramid. Smithson’s swinging around the left, Kennedy’s going to sneak through wherever he can, and Wesley’s holding back until he’s called.” He convulsed. “That’s all I’ve got. Now finish it like you promised.”

Tam nodded and rose to her feet. She drew her Makarov, took aim, and fired a single shot to Brown’s head.

“It sounds like Maddock has engaged with Smithson,” Bones said. “If this guy, Wesley, is hanging back, that just leaves this Kennedy guy trying to get to the tree. I say we fall back there and wait for him.”

“I agree.” Slinging her dazzle gun over her shoulder, Tam took up the fallen man’s rifle, checked to see if it was loaded, then took off toward the pyramid.

The defenders who had not been killed or seriously injured were dragging the wounded men to safety. “They’re going after the tree!” Bones called to one of them. The man nodded, and then barked orders to his men. Two of them put down the injured men they were carrying, picked up their bows and arrows, and followed Bones.

Great! My army is me, a crazy chick, and some dudes with bows and arrows. Bones grinned in spite of himself. I kind of like my chances.

As soon as Smithson heard the explosion, he fired off a grenade of his own and took off running. A sharp, stinging pain sliced across his shoulder as bullets buzzed through the air like angry hornets. Whoever was shooting at him hadn’t aimed for his muzzle flash, but to the side. A lucky shot, but he’d had worse. It would take more than that to stop him.

Forty yards and he was out from behind cover. Another bullet clipped the ground at his heel, and then he was behind the cover of an old stone building.

He paused and leaned against the wall, catching his breath, when a hissing sound filled his ears and something cracked against the wall just above his head. He ducked down just as another projectile whizzed past. Arrows! He fired off two shots in the direction from which he thought the arrows had come, and kept moving. This was, without a doubt, the craziest operation he’d ever taken part in.

At the first glimpse of muzzle flash, Dane pulled the trigger on his M-16, aiming to the right, just as he and Matt had planned. He assumed Matt fired to the left, but the world was suddenly engulfed in flame as an explosion rocked the hut behind which he was hiding. Burning debris showered him, and he rolled away as quickly as he could. Up above, he heard Matt fire off a single shot.

“Missed him!” Matt called down. “Are you all right?”

“Yeah.” Dane climbed to his feet. “I’m going after him.”

Kennedy could not believe his eyes. Brown’s limp body lay splayed on the ground, blood pooling around his head and between his legs. Rage boiled up inside of him.

“Wesley, do you copy?” He didn’t bother to keep his voice down. Nearby, one of the local men who knelt tending one of the wounded cocked his head, as if he’d heard something strange.

“I’m here,” came the eager reply.

“Your objective is the tree behind the pyramid. Come at them will everything you’ve got. I want to kill every last one of them.”

“Roger! Over.”

Kennedy didn’t bother to hide; he didn’t bother to creep. He strode forward, cutting down the men one at a time. One actually charged toward him, brandishing a spear. Kennedy’s shot took him in the throat. Another managed to fire off a single arrow, which went wide, before Kennedy shot him down, too.

He strode through the village, putting a bullet in every man who didn’t look dead. He killed everyone he saw: those who fought, those who ran, those who dropped their weapons and tried to surrender. The pyramid rose up in front of him, and he smiled. His objective lay just on the other side, and anyone who tried to stand in his way would regret it.

Wesley barreled down the winding path, his rifle at the ready, but no one rose up to challenge him. Not a single arrow flew. He didn’t even see anyone running away from him. Damn! Kennedy had held him back so long that all the defenders had retreated, probably to the pyramid. It wasn’t fair. He had made the same trek everyone else had, and survived the zombie Indians down in the canyon. He deserved his chance to see this operation to the end. He quickened his pace, determined not to miss any more of the fighting.

He burst forth into a residential area. Dirt paths worn smooth over the ages ran between stone houses and wood and thatch huts. He saw the glow of fire to the left and to the right. Some of the huts must be burning. He kept an eye out for anyone who might take a shot at him, but still saw nothing. The sound of gunfire told him that fighting was going on up ahead where the pyramid lay.

He rounded the giant stone structure at full-tilt and came out on a well-tended greenspace. Up ahead, a ring of defenders knelt at the base of a tree. One of them spotted him, shouted a warning, and a cloud of arrows flew in his direction. He dropped and rolled, letting the projectiles pass over him. Shoot at him, would they? He’d show them. Springing to his feet, he unloaded with his grenade launcher.

Gunshots rang out up ahead as Dane dashed forward, careful to remain behind cover as much as possible. He heard more shots, and cries of pain as men fell to ScanoGen’s assault.

The pyramid loomed up in front of him, and he clambered up to the first level to get a better vantage point.

He reached the far side and stopped short as gouts of flame burst all around the sacred tree. Every man who stood in its defense was blown off his feet by the fiery blast. The shooter kept coming, firing two more grenades, and then switching to rifle fire.

Dane took aim, but before he could squeeze the trigger, something invisible thwacked the ScanoGen man in the gut, and he tumbled backward, rifle falling from lifeless hands. Dane recognized Bones’s whoop of delight. Good man.

That was when the shooter Dane had been stalking made his presence known. He fired off a grenade that exploded somewhere near Bones’s hiding place. Dane didn’t have time to look for his friend. He had finally spotted the attacker, who wasn’t watching the pyramid, but was looking to see if he’d gotten Bones.

Cold determination fixed Dane’s resolve. He lined up his shot, took careful aim, and squeezed the trigger. He didn’t need to look to know he’d hit his target, but he took a grim satisfaction in watching the man fall from a perfect shot to the head.

He dashed around the pyramid, the faint light of the burning tree flickering across its eroded surface. Reaching the far corner, he sprang down and called Bones’s name, and was relieved to hear his friend answer, though his voice was weak.

His relief was short-lived, because just then, a dark figure smashed into him, and he tumbled to the ground, his M-16 clattering to the ground. As he grappled with his attacker, he struck out blindly and his fist met bone in a glancing blow that didn’t do much damage. The man struck back, but Dane ignored the punch, focusing on trapping the man’s arm.

He was a big man with a buzz cut and a scar on his right cheek. This was Kennedy, whom Tam had described as the most dangerous of the ScanoGen force. Dane barely had time to register the thought when Kennedy raised a knife and brought it plunging down.

Dane put up an arm to block the strike, but before the knife could find its target, a snarling black shadow flew out of the night. Kennedy shouted in surprise as he was bowled over. He rolled to the side beneath the dark shape that continued to snarl.

Unburdened by Kennedy’s weight atop him, Dane clambered to his feet and saw the man fleeing from Hamilcar, who was brandishing an ancient sword, and three men armed with spears. Isa the jaguar stood protectively in front of Dane, her teeth bared at the retreating figure. She had come to his aid at just the right time.

Dane knelt and scratched her between the shoulder blades. She nuzzled his arm and purred contentedly. “I should take you home with me, girl. Do you think you’d like it on the beach?”

He heard Bones call his name, followed the sound of his friend’s voice, and found him lying on the ground, shaking his head. Tam lay in a heap nearby, bleeding from a scalp wound.

“She’s not dead,” Bones grunted. “But she’s out cold. How many did we get?”

“I got the guy who shot the grenade at you.”

“Nice one, bro.” Bones rubbed his temple. “He gave me one hell of a headache. Tam got one and I got that guy over there. That just leaves one more.”

“Kennedy. He just bolted.” Dane hauled Bones to his feet.

“Looks like we failed.” Bones shook his head sadly as he stared at the ruined tree. Despite his devil-may-care exterior, Bones retained some of his people’s values, and his regard for nature was one of them. He would not relish the destruction of any ancient tree, but this one was particularly tragic.

Dane looked at the charred remains of what, just minutes before, had been a one-of-a kind, miracle of nature. Its silver bark was now a scorched, black hull. The limbs had been blown apart, the leaves incinerated, and now the single fruit was a shriveled ruin in the midst of the burning remnants. No one would ever make use of its power again, but perhaps that was for the best.

“Do we go after Kennedy?” Bones asked.

“I don’t think you’re up to it. Besides, he’s alone and unarmed. I think they can handle him. Let’s get help for Tam.”

“I’m all right.” Tam was sitting with her head between her knees. “Just a little cut.”

Dane knelt and inspected the wound. It wasn’t deep. Still, the girl was tough. “Let’s get this patched up, and then we’ll get out of here.”