“Sounds good. Which way?”
“See that tunnel off to your right? Take that one.”
On the overhead view, Aeron set off in the direction Rona had indicated, moving at inhuman speeds. He was so fast, it was a challenge for Rona to call out her directions rapidly enough. If she hadn’t already known the mine like the back of her hand, she probably wouldn’t have been able to keep up.
“I can hear them,” Aeron whispered to her through the speakers.
“Yeah, you’re getting close. Just one more turn. Go left at this next junction, and… that’s it. Be careful, they’re only about fifty yards ahead of you.”
“Not for long.”
Rona watched as Aeron moved up behind the unsuspecting mutants. The air inside the cockpit was cool, but her body was drenched in sweat. Her hands were welded to the armrests of her seat. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt so alert, so alive.
Actually, yes she could—that night so many years before when she’d taken Tulliver’s eye.
“Twenty yards…” she whispered. “Ten… five…”
Sounds came over the speakers. A series of loud, quick thumps as Aeron’s auto shotgun unloaded into the raiders from behind. The first few mutants didn’t even have a chance to scream. A few in front actually managed to turn around and raise their weapons, but the shotgun tore them apart before they could return fire. In a matter of seconds, it was all over, and the place where the raiders had been standing was just one big splatter of white on the screen. A few days ago, Rona probably would have been grateful that she didn’t actually have to look at all the blood and guts. Now she felt cheated.
“That all of ’em?” Aeron asked.
Rona grinned. “That’s it.” She paused. “Well… except for the other group who went the other direction.”
“I’ll deal with them after I’ve freed Murdok and Zeth.”
Rona’s grin disappeared. She got dead serious again. “Let’s make that happen.”
With her guidance, Aeron was able to reach the western end of the mine in a few minutes. He immediately started rolling aside pieces of fallen rubble. It was hard to get a clear read of the situation from the hologram, so Rona just closed her eyes and listened to Aeron grunting through the speakers as he worked.
Please let them be okay,she thought.Please, please, please…
Someone on the other end coughed. It sounded too quiet to have been Aeron. Rona’s heart lifted with hope.
“Fucking took you long enough,” a voice said.
Murdok’s voice.
Now Rona’s heart was doing a full-on happy dance in her chest. She wanted to say something, but she didn’t want to interrupt the two Mercs. She could hear them both working to dig their other companion free. After a minute, a third voice could be heard, honey-sweet but bruised. It was the voice of an angel who had fallen from heaven and hit the ground hard.
“Ahhh, that’s quite a relief. Thank you.”
At last, Rona allowed herself to speak. “Murdok!” she shouted. “Zeth!”
“They’re both fine,” Aeron reported happily. “Their equipment got damaged in the collapse, that’s why they couldn’t answer us, but no serious injuries.”
Rona wondered what counted as a serious injury for the Mercs.
Tears of joy were rolling down her cheeks. She let them roll for a few seconds more, then she smudged them away and turned her attention back to the map. There were still a couple dozen loose ends to tie up.
“Remember that other group of tangos?” she said. “Well, they’re making their way around toward Checkpoint Alpha.”
“How many?”
Rona did a quick count. “Twenty-five.”
Aeron chuckled. “Twenty-five against three. Those are terrible odds.”
Rona didn’t have to ask who the odds were terrible for. She watched as Aeron handed over the two pistols he’d taken with him as backups. One for Murdok, one for Zeth. The shotgun he kept for himself.
