I heard weapons whine as they powered up. The soldiers were behind us in lined formations, ready to follow us out. I’d pointed out that usually the commanders came in behind the soldiers’ back home. Aga had sneered and called the leadership of human military history lowly cowards. Apparently, leaders in the alien armies always led from the front. If you weren’t good enough not to die, then you didn’t become a leader. Sounded pretty risky to me, but then I was a brawler and not a leader. I left that stuff to those that didn’t have the urge to rip the heads off of people who annoyed them.
The humming grew louder. If the wind wasn’t blowing, I was sure we’d see the dirt and grass stir under the craft as it hovered over the ball. The shimmery distortion in the air, like a mirage, was more obvious now that Aga had told me to look for. Aga stepped forward, hefting a gigantic cannon over his shoulder, a feral light in his eyes.
I cocked my head and took a step back when Aga winked at me. The cannon fired. The blue fire of the plasma exploded out with a deafening crack, burning the air in its wake, closing the distance between it and the enemy craft in an instant. The shimmer erupted in blue flames, revealing the black of the hull under the cloaking, then the fire turned red, and the enemy’s ship broke apart into pieces. No one cheered.
The jungle remained silent while we watched the craft burn.
“Let’s go,” Ohem said. We marched out of the jungle and into the remaining shuttles to continue on our hunt.
Chapter 23
We made it past the separatist settlement without incident. The storm had died, leaving a muddy mess with fallen branches and jungle debris all over the valley floor. Even the grass was churned up in many places. No one shot at us, nor did we see any signs of enemy movement. Still, we proceed with extreme caution. The rail guns we hadn’t had the chance to fire last time were primed and ready, rotating slowly in every direction, just daring someone to try us.
No one did.
We remained incident free until the clear cut valley ended. A wall of trees tall enough to put the empire state building to shame loomed in front of us.
The dark gray trunks of the trees were wider than houses. I pressed close to the transparent door as we passed under the behemoths. It was so dark in this part of the jungle, there were thick vines crisscrossing between trees, scattered with black flowers. Ferns covered the forest floor, all in differing shades of gray. It was a really odd color scheme for a jungle. Not a single vibrant color to be found. I had seen no sign of animal life. No bird calls or even insects. It was unsettling as hell. I almost preferred the howling of the storm. Now it was only silence broken up by the sound of our own convoy humming along at a steady clip.
“We will be at the ruins soon,” Ohem said from a spot behind me. I twisted to look at him, eyes wide.
“You just jinxed us,” I said, flicking his chest with my fingers.
I’d changed back when we’d entered the transport, thankful for the handy armor that Sam had helped make me. It kept Ohem’s growling at the crew to a minimum. It hadn’t hindered my shift at all, except for the helmet, which was long gone. I hadn’t bothered to locate it before we left the settlement.
Ohem chuffed. “I do not believe in curses.”
I stepped into him and his arm that wasn’t holding onto the jellyfish hanging strap wrapped around me.
“Well, I do. So keep the jinxing to a minimum,” I said, rubbing my cheek on his armoured chest. Ohem’s hand stroked down my spine in a soothing manner.
“Yes,ursang. In that case, we will encounter all the bad things.”
I smacked his chest with my palm. “Smart ass.”
Ohem chuckled and covered my hand with his own, pressing it hard against him. “Such violence towards your mate.”
I opened my mouth to give a retort when one soldier started coughing. It was violent enough to prompt him to retract his helmet and bend over at the waist. One of his buddies next to him slapped his back a few times, and the coughing subsided. When he sat up straight, his alien features were a picture of embarrassment.
“Sorry,” he mumbled, his helmet flowing over his face.
I frowned at him, my hair standing up on end. I know it was probably paranoia but coughing after finding an entire settlement of dead, diseased bodies was making red flags raise in my mind. Everyone had been elbow deep in corpses while they dug graves and buried them. Including Ohem. I took a step back away from him and stared. They were all so confident that no disease could touch them with their nanos working to kill anything that might enter their bodies. Maybe they were right. Something was just so off about this whole thing.
One scout and his mutant dog? No backup soldiers or storming cavalry? With their links, the scout could have relayed our position immediately. We should be in the middle of a major fight right now and yet we were driving through a silent jungle, unhindered.
Another soldier coughed. I whipped my head around, trying to pinpoint which one it was. An alien at the back was having a coughing fit. Icy fear settled deep in the pit of my stomach. Holy shit. They were fucking sick. They shouldn’t be coughing at all! The nanos kept them healthy. The first I could brush off as someone sucking spit down the wrong pipe, but two? It was a hacking, wet cough that lasted a minute before tapering off and the alien recovered its composure.
Then another coughing fit by a different soldier. I brought my wide, fear-filled eyes to my mates. Ohem cocked his head to the side in question? and started coughing. Oh god. I clutched his arm, my heart pounding in my throat while he hacked. He was joined by a few others on the shuttle. I hadn’t even realized we’d come to a stop until the door slid open and Aga stuck his shoulders inside our craft. He met his gaze with my own and there was worry in his eyes.
“We have arrived. I think you both need to see this. The crew will stay in the shuttles.”
Ohem’s coughing ended, his Izi flaring in slow pulsing patterns. “I think we are sick, Aga.”
“I know,” Aga answered, his voice grim. Aga reached in, wrapping a hand around Ohem’s forearm, and pulled him out of the shuttle gently.
Ohem turned to the soldiers in our shuttle. “Stay here. We will get answers soon. If it gets worse, link me immediately.”
The crew saluted him. I followed behind Aga and Ohem quickly, looking back over my shoulder at the soldiers and crew gathered just inside the shuttle door. Most had their helmets retracted, with worried eyes that followed us as we walked away. Aga had his hand hovered over Ohem’s back, guiding the larger male towards a scattering of large stones. They towered over the shuttles that floated a few feet away from them, shining bone white in the gloom cast by the gray skies with pocket marks of wear and tear all over them.
