“We’re going to make it.” Striver adjusted his arrow bag tighter to his back. “Stop being all gloom and doom. You sound like you’re telling the tale of Old Earth.” He pointed to a circular route, his eyes flicking to Eri. “We’re going around this way. Keep low to the ground and follow my lead. Skirt the foothills. Stay out of the open.”
“Yes, sir.” Eri saluted him like a lieutenant. Striver smiled and slid down the nearest rock. Riley waved his hand for her to go next, so she checked on her laser and followed Striver into the shadows.
Her heart beat so fast, she thought it would fly out of her mouth if she gasped for too long. So many things could happen, and she didn’t want anyone to get hurt because of her. She feared what the Lawless had done to her teammates, and she feared what they’d do to her if they caught her. Surprisingly, she feared losing Striver the most. Was it because he’d risked everything for her? Or was it more than just his sacrifices?
They closed the distance, and Striver put a finger to his lips and waved them back. Eri huddled with Riley behind a jutting rock as Striver crept to the mouth of the cave. She bit her nail backward as he snuck in with an arrow raised.
“Always the hero.” Riley sighed and settled back on his butt, crossing his arms. Eri remained silent, too nervous to reply.
Two second later, Striver emerged and signaled for them to join him. Eri and Riley ran across the naked expanse and slipped in.
Darkness swallowed them as the air cooled, leaving goose bumps on her skin. The crack cast a sliver of light behind them.
“We need light to go on.” Riley shuffled in the dark. “I should have thought ahead.”
“No problem.” Eri raised her laser gun and pressed a button on the side. White light erupted, illuminating walls dripping with water and moss. A multilegged bug skittered across her boot and she kicked it off, jumping back.
“What in cyberspace is that?”
“A spidermite.” Striver kicked it away and placed his hand on her shoulder. “Their bite is poisonous, but it would take thirty of them to make you sick.”
Eri cringed. “I don’t even want one to bite me.”
Riley took up the lead. “They swarm, so we have to move fast.”
The cave narrowed until Eri had to squeeze against slick walls crawling with spidermites. She brushed one off her shoulders, stifling a shriek. This was worse than the air ducts she used to crawl through as a kid. These critters were ten times as large as the little brown spiders on the
Heritage
.
Don’t think about the bugs. Think about your team.
“You doing okay?” Striver whispered into her ear.
Eri nodded, aiming the light ahead so Riley could continue in the lead. The walls pressed around her, and all she could think of was a cave-in, of the rock trapping her underneath its weight and her never again seeing the light of day. What if the tunnel narrowed so much they couldn’t squeeze through?
Stop being stupid. If they lugged Litus and Mars through, you can fit easily.
The group rounded a bend and Riley turned. His face shone white as a ghost in the light of her laser. “There’s something ahead.”
Eri’s throat tightened.
Judgment time.
Golden light leaked from a source beyond the tunnel. The radiance grew so strong, Riley didn’t need the light from her laser anymore. Eri turned it off, not wanting to announce their presence. She made sure the laser still buzzed with energy.
Riley gestured over his shoulder for them to join him behind a stalagmite in a pool of stagnant water. Eri and Striver waded behind it, huddling next to Riley. Peering around the rock, Eri saw the tunnel open to a larger cavern.
“Why are we stopping?” Striver whispered to Riley.
Riley held up his finger and they listened. Voices.
Eri couldn’t make out the words, but she could definitely hear a man’s voice. It wasn’t Litus. She squelched her disappointment. Litus was still in there. Locators never lied.
She glanced at Striver. “What should we do?”
He’d already pulled out his bow and a long, slender arrow, the end decorated with what she recognized as a Guardian’s iridescent feathers. “We catch them by surprise.”
Riley brought out his bow and nodded in agreement. Eri’s grip on her laser tightened, the weight straining her wrist. She didn’t think she’d ever get used to holding it, always feeling like a child wielding her parent’s weapon.
Remember—you killed the alien in the simulation, plus the giant boar. You can do it, even when you don’t want to.
They tiptoed toward the light.
Striver and Riley released the first volley of arrows. They ducked as shouts rang out and the men inside returned fire. Striver gave Eri the signal, and he and Riley distracted the attackers as she snuck forward to get a better look.
Hope bubbled through her limbs. “They’re alive! They’re tied up in the back.” She wanted to run to them, but two men shot at Striver and Riley from different points. In the center of the cavern, a golden pool of light glimmered like a basin for the gods.
“Get to your friends,” Striver shouted, throwing her a black blade. “We’ll hold them back.”
The weapon skidded to her feet and she picked it up. Eri nodded and slid it into her boot. In the distance, Mars and Litus shouted, sending more adrenaline through her limbs. She bolted to the next stalagmite, every moment she was out in the open tingling on her skin. She ducked behind the rock gasping for air. Two more and she’d reach her team.
She jumped out of hiding just as an arrow whizzed across the cavern toward her. She rolled and came back up behind the next rock. Panic made her squirm, feeling around her body for the end of an arrow, but she hadn’t been hit. Another arrow flew over her head and hit the rock wall behind her. They knew she was there.
Striver yelled—in pain or frustration, Eri couldn’t tell. Her heart tore as she cast a glance over her shoulder. She couldn’t see if he’d been hit. Was he drawing the attention away from her? Should she go back?
No. She was too close now. One more rock to go.
Waiting for another volley of arrows to end, she fired in the general direction of the men and scurried between the two stalagmites, keeping close to the ground. She reached Litus first, pulling out Striver’s blade to cut his ties. His camouflaged uniform sagged on his body like he’d lost weight.
“Eri?” he whispered through dry, cracked lips. “Is it really you?”
“What are you doing wearing their clothes?” Mars looked at her with a mix of incredulity and distrust.
“I’ve made friends.” Eri pushed the thought of a wounded Striver from her mind. They were there to save her team, and that’s what she had to do right now.
Litus rubbed feeling back into his wrists. As he fumbled with the bonds on his legs, she cut the ropes around Mars’s hands.
“Where’s Cursor and the rest of the team?” Her locator had registered them as gone, but she refused to believe it.
Litus shook his head. His shoulders slumped with failure.
“Damn bastards.” Mars stood and stretched her legs. She’d already kicked off the ropes. “We’re all that’s left.”
Eri swallowed a lump in her throat.
All that’s left.
Even though she’d found Litus and Mars, she still felt empty-handed. Tank had helped her with her oxygen mask. Even now she could see him playing Galaxy Battlefield with Mars.
Don’t think about the others. Save the people still alive.
“Come on.” Eri rubbed her nose with her sleeve. “We have to get back to the tunnel.”
“Not until I’ve given him a dose of his own medicine.” Mars hurled herself into the arrow fire, running directly at one of the men. He saw her coming and reached behind him, into his arrow bag for another arrow.
“She’ll never make it.” Eri brought up her laser, but Mars stood in the line of fire.
“You don’t know Mars,” Litus said from behind her. “Give her a second. She’s been waiting for this chance since she woke up.”
Just as the man pulled the bowstring back, Mars lunged, hurling through the air. She rammed his chest before he could release the arrow. Eri’s heart sped as they fell in a tangle to the ground, wrestling.
“Push ahead!” she heard Riley shout from across the cavern. Striver and Riley ran and hid behind a stalagmite in the middle of the cavern. Striver was still alive and well enough to keep fighting. That much kept her going. As they closed in on the younger man, Eri watched Mars fight the older pirate on the ground. He managed to get the upper hand, pushing his weight on top of her.
Eri held up her laser.
“Can you get a good shot?” Litus’s voice was hoarse and weak.
“I’ll try.”
While Mars looked like she’d stored her energy up on the floor of the cave, Litus looked as though they’d leaked his energy from him. Eri wanted to help him, but she had to make sure Mars didn’t get killed. She focused on the man’s back just as Mars punched him in the jaw and they rolled over together, limbs entwined.
“Nope.”
The man pulled himself from Mars’s grasp and stood, reaching in his shirt. He pulled out a black blade and swung it as Mars regained her footing.
Mars jumped back as the blade swung a millimeter away from her gut, slicing her camouflaged uniform. She turned and side-kicked the man in his belly. He stepped back, teetering over the golden pool. Mars recovered from the kick fast enough to land another punch in his chest. Flailing his arms, he fell backward into the liquid.
Litus cheered, pumping his fist into the air. Eri shouted across the cavern, “Way to go, Mars!”
Instead of splashing, the golden substance enveloped the man like gel. He screamed as molten ooze covered his face. The surface lay placid a moment later.
Eri and Litus joined Mars on the edge, staring into the golden liquid.
“What happened to him?” Eri offered them her water pouch. She checked across the cave for Striver and Riley. They stood with their bows raised, cornering the other man. To her relief, they looked unharmed.
Mars took a swipe of water. “Sent him back to where he came from.”
“Where’s that?”
Mars’s eyes looked like they could shoot lasers of their own. She handed Litus the water pouch. “Hell.”
“Hey, Eri, look at this.” Litus took the pouch and pointed to strange symbols carved along the side of the pool. “Can you figure out what it says?”
Eri crouched down, tracing her fingers over them. “It’s nothing I’ve ever seen before.”
“You’re the linguist.” Mars joined her by the symbols. “I bet with enough time you could.”
For a moment, she forgot about the battle, intrigued. Besides the
S.P. Nautilus
, this was the find of her life. Any linguist would be excited to get a chance at something this foreign. “With enough time, I’d figure out the whole language.”
“Tie him up.” Riley’s voice echoed from across the cave. Eri tore herself away from the symbols.
Striver.
She had to check on him and make sure he was okay. She left Mars and Litus and ran across the cavern.
Riley tied the man’s hands behind his back. “Stupid, betraying weasel worm.”
Striver watched with such strange pity and emotion in his features, it made Eri’s stomach quiver.
“You guys okay?”
“We’re fine.” Pain tainted Striver’s voice.
“What’s the matter?” Eri placed a gentle hand on his arm. “Are you hurt?”
“Only by his traitor brother,” Riley said, yanking on the ties. The man he’d bound fell to the cave floor with a
thud
. Brown hair covered his face and he blew it back with defiance. His nose was broader than Striver’s, his features softer, but he had the same green eyes.
His brother?
She turned to Striver and he pulled away, not able to meet her gaze. “Are your friends okay?”
“We’re fine. What’s left of us,” Mars answered from across the cave. Although she’d just won in battle, her shoulders slumped. “Where’s the fastest way out? I have a date with the leader of these savages. We’re going to a nice little spot I call
revenge
.”
“Enough, Mars. You and I need to rest. To eat.” Litus held up his hand. He looked at Riley and Striver. “Can you help us?”
“Where are the laser guns?” Striver scanned the cave.
“They took them back to the main camp.” The man tied on the floor struggled against his restraints. “You’ll never get them back with your ragtag army.”
Riley moved to kick him and Striver grabbed his arm. “Not now.”
“I want to show the little traitor just how much it hurts to leave your people.”
The man on the floor coughed and spat as if Riley’s words sent a blade to his gut. “You have to get out of here. Jolt’s coming back with more men. They’ll be here any minute, and you will all be boar’s meat.”
“He’s right.” Litus stepped forward. “I heard them talking. He is coming.”
“Why don’t we wait here and take him out now?” Mars punched her fist into her palm.
“Because he’ll bring more men with him. He’ll block the entrance once he knows you’re here and send for backup.” The man on the floor stared at Mars, looking almost amused by their predicament.
“We’ll be trapped like a weasel worm in a hole until they dig us out.” Riley tightened the strap on his arrow bag. “And these two need to rest. They can’t keep fighting without food or medical attention. Let’s get out of here.”
“I agree.” Litus looked at Mars as if she’d stay behind by herself just to get at revenge. “That’s an order.”
“Then it’s settled.” Riley walked toward the tunnel. Litus followed along with Mars, muttering curses.
Striver didn’t move. Eri tugged on his arm, but he stared at his brother. “Weaver, come with us,” he pleaded.
“Are you crazy?” Riley shouted from across the cavern. “You can’t trust him.”
Striver ignored Riley, focusing on Weaver. “Jolt will kill you once he sees you let us get away.”
Weaver shook his head. “You’d better leave now.” There was a hint of concern in his eyes and Eri wondered how much he cared for his brother. He could have kept his mouth shut and let them be found.
“I can’t leave you here like this. Come on, Weave.” Striver bent down to touch him and Weaver whipped his head away. Red blotches of anger covered his face. His lips trembled with rage.