Viper (Second Wave Book 1) (5 page)

“I’m much more confident that
Viper’s in good hands, my friend.” Niklosi said to Dread as he looked at the
latest trap with respect. It was basic as hell, but it sure had worked to take
out another enemy.

“Let’s go.” Dread said, giving the
latest trap one last look before running to catch up to Gibly. He wasn’t going
to feel better until he found his brother.

*****

The cabin was just up ahead, and
Lara couldn’t be more grateful that it was. She was exhausted, and her shoulder
was on fire. Or maybe it was the rest of her that was on fire; she was too
confused to tell. Either way she was glad that they had finally made it.

“We’re almost there. Just another
hundred yards.” Lara muttered almost to herself as she led Viper along a now
distinct path that had obviously been heavily traveled.

“Are you all right?” Viper asked
with concern. He had noticed over the last several hours that Lara had begun
stumbling more and seemed a little disoriented.

“Yeah, yeah I’m great. Let’s get
inside.” Lara said distractedly as they finally emerged from the forest into
the small clearing where the cabin stood.

Lara led Viper to the tiny porch
and left him there while she went to the side and dug around in the dirt until
she found the hidden key.

“Whoops!” Lara said as she stumbled
up the porch. Viper leaned quickly forward to try to keep her blurry form from falling.

“I’m good!” Lara said as she
righted herself and pulled away from Viper’s hands.

Putting the key in the lock, Lara
finally got the door open and ushered Viper quickly inside before she slammed
it shut and pulled a huge, thick board across it to bar it closed.

Viper stood where Lara left him and
tried to look around at the dim interior of the cabin. He could barely make out
what appeared to be a small couch of some kind, some tables, chairs and a bed
in a corner.

Lara headed into the kitchen and
using the hand pump; she poured water into the bucket in the sink. Then,
filling two glasses, she handed one to Viper while she downed her own in one
large swallow. Still, it did little to cool down the raging heat she felt all
over.  

Seeing that Viper was still working
on his water, Lara filled another glass and downed it just as quickly. Grabbing
Viper’s half-f glass, she refilled it and led him over to the couch. She
gently pushed him down onto the couch, then handed him back the glass.

Lara stowed her packs in the trap
door underneath the kitchen table, then lit three of the lanterns around the
cabin to light the dim interior.

“You wait here; I'm going outside
to check a few more traps and to close up the shutters on the windows.” Lara
said, standing in front of Viper.

“Is there anything I can do to help
you?” Viper asked, wishing that there was something, anything that he could do
to help her.

“No tremora’, you rest. I will be
back in a minute.” Lara said as she headed out the door.

Viper stared at the partially
opened front door in shock. He didn’t hear her correctly. There was no way that
he did, Viper thought, shaking his head as if to clear it. Putting the glass
down on the table beside the small couch, he stood and walked over to the door.

Stepping onto the very small porch,
he looked around for where Lara had gone. Hearing the gunfire again, he turned
his head towards where the sound had come from. He knew, without a doubt, that
it had come from the forest in the direction they had come from.

Since the gunfire had only been the
two periodic bursts, he believed Lara when she told him that it was most likely
just a reaction of fear when the Relian’s encountered the traps she had set on
the way to the cabin.

It didn’t stop Viper from fearing for
his brother and the others that were most likely looking for him. He hoped that
they were far enough behind the Relian’s to know to look out for whatever traps
that Lara had set.

“You need to be back inside. You
make a much too easy target standing out here.” Viper turned to the sound of
Lara’s voice and waited until she came upon the porch and led him back inside.

Viper allowed her to push him back
down onto the couch and took the glass of water back that she handed him. “Wait
there a minute, while I make us something to eat. I don’t know about you, but I
am starving, and we need to eat before they show up.”

“Yes, I’m very hungry.” Viper
admitted, unable to disguise the loud rumbling of his stomach at the mention of
food. Lara just laughed at him.

“I’ll have us some warm food in a
minute.” Lara said, moving into the small kitchen and looking in the cabinets.
Pulling out several cans, Lara grabbed a saucepan and opened the four cans of
beefy flavored pasta.

Viper listened as Lara hummed to
herself as she heated up the oddly smelling food in the kitchen. When the pasta
sauce was bubbling rapidly, Lara turned off the propane on the hotplate and
poured the pasta into two bowls.

“Here. It’s not the best, but it’s
got enough carbs in it to keep us moving for a little while anyway.” Lara said,
placing a warm bowl into Viper’s hands.

“Thank you.” Viper said gratefully
as he shoved a big mouthful into his mouth and chewed. It tasted strange to
him, but it was filling and warm and he finished off his bowl quickly.

Lara had sat in one of the chairs
near the couch and had barely eaten two spoons before her stomach began
rebelling and threatening to bring it back up. Shoving the spoon back in the
bowl, she took the empty bowl from Viper and handed him her full bowl.

“Why aren’t you eating?” Viper
asked with concern.

“I’m too wound up to eat. I’m not
sure my stomach can handle it right now. You eat it. You need the nutrition in
order to heal.” Lara said as she stood up and swayed slightly before catching
herself.

Lara didn’t wait for Viper’s
response and headed into the kitchen with Viper’s empty bowl. She rinsed it
out, before leaving it in the sink. Reaching into the cabinet above the sink,
Lara pulled out a bottle of antibiotics and a bottle of pain reliever/fever
reducer.

Shaking out the correct dosages and
adding a couple of extra pain relievers, Lara downed them at one time with a
glass of water. Closing her eyes against the pain in her shoulder, Lara took a
deep breath and tried to concentrate on her plan.

“What is… you are on fire! What is
wrong with you?” Viper asked, coming up behind Lara and laying a hand on her
arm. Feeling the heat of her arm, Viper moved his hand to her head to verify
that her temperature was really that high.

“I’m fine! Just a little overheated
from getting here.” Lara said, jerking away from Viper and moving to the
fireplace.

“You’re lying to me! I can hear it
in your voice. Tell me what is wrong?” Viper asked again, following her blurry
image over to the fireplace, thankful the place was sparsely furnished.

“We don’t have time for this. I
don’t have time for this. We need to get ready for them.” Lara said, kneeling
down at the hearth of the fireplace.

Even without his vision, Viper
could tell that she had a hidden place beneath the floor when she lifted up a
small door and disappeared inside.

He moved to the other side of the
room where she had been, hoping to see where she had gone. The gaping black
hole in the floor told him that the hole was pretty deep, and he could smell
the packed earth inside. He moved back in surprise when Lara started putting
weapon after weapon onto the floor around the opening.

When there was barely enough room
around the edge of the opening for her to crawl out, Lara finally climbed back
out of the hole and started grabbing up the rifles and handguns.

Viper stood back, out of the way,
as Lara moved the furniture around the room, placing the tables next to the
only two windows in the small, one-room cabin.

“How long until they get here?”
Viper asked as Lara started loading down the tables with weapons and
ammunition.  

“I think we have maybe an hour.”
Lara said, grabbing her throwing knives and inserting them into their sheath
before strapping them to her chest.

“While I get us ready, why don’t
you tell me about yourself? I’m thinking if we can fight together, then I
should at least know a little about the man I’m fighting with right?” Lara
asked, hoping that she would learn something that would tell her she had made
the right choice in saving him.

Viper heard what she didn’t say,
and she was right. If she was good enough to possibly die for him or with him,
then she had a right to know the truth. Maybe if he explained it to her, it
would jog her memory. At least, he hoped it would. If not, he was getting ready
to make a huge mistake. One he wasn’t sure could be fixed.

Chapter
Five

Viper sighed heavily, then sat in a
chair near where Lara was pulling bullets out of a box and putting them into
clips for the weapons.

“I am one of three brothers. The oldest
is Dread, and the youngest is Drago. Does the name Kinara mean anything to
you?” Dread asked suddenly, catching Lara off guard.

Lara stopped for a moment, running
the name through her head. She knew it. Or at least, she thought she heard it
before, but couldn’t remember where.  

“It sounds very familiar, but I
can’t place it. Why?” Lara asked, going back to loading the clips.

“Never mind.” Viper said with
another heavy sigh. “Anyway, we come from the planet Tezaria in the Quinlonin
Quadrant. We came here when we received a distress call from a friend of
Dread’s, a warrior from the planet Valendra.” Viper paused to see how Lara was
taking it so far.

“You do realize that you could have
just told me to fuck off rather than mock me for asking.” Lara said angrily as
she got up from the chair.

Viper reached out quickly and
grabbed blindly for her, luckily he grabbed her wrist and pulled her towards
him so fast she lost her footing and fell into his lap. Using her momentary
lack of stability in his favor, Viper hurriedly put his arms around her to keep
her from getting up and walking away from him.

“Let go of me!” Lara hissed angrily
as she tried to break free of his hold.

“Please, give me a moment. I’m not
lying to you; I swear! Please, just listen. I can prove what I am saying. We
have an hour, maybe less, until they get here. I’m only asking you to listen.”
Viper pleaded with the angry woman who was just about spitting fire at him.
Even without his vision working correctly, there was no mistaking the pissed-off
look on her face.

“I’m supposed to believe you when
you start off telling me you’re an alien? Really? How stupid do I look? Never
mind, don’t answer that… obviously dumb enough to try to save your insane ass!
Damn and I thought I was crazy! At least, I don’t think I’m from another
fucking planet!” Lara said through gritted teeth as she tried again to get off
his lap without his arms hurting her shoulder.  

Viper let go of her rather than
have her harm herself trying to get away from him. He even helped to steady her
when she scrambled out of his lap too fast and almost tripped.

“I would not lie to you Lara. It is
why I have avoided telling you anything. You asked if there were others like me
and yes, there are. The assholes hunting us, the ones, I’m assuming you met
overseas, are a species called the Relian’s. Earth is one of a thousand planets
that they have attempted to destroy, and so far it’s the one that has resisted
them the longest.”

Viper paused and looked at Lara,
who was angrily shoving bullets into a clip. He took the fact that she hadn’t
left the room yet as a good sign and continued.

“You’re a very smart woman, Lara,
listen to me. Haven’t you wondered why they look so much alike? All of them? Why
the ones over there in Afghanistan look so much like the ones hunting us right
now? They are clones, genetically made and altered at will.”

Even though Lara never said a word,
Viper noted that she had slowed down in her movements, and he could feel the
curious energy emanating from her.

“They came here over a thousand
years ago, leaving a path of destruction in their wake. The only thing that
stopped them here, was the Valendrans had already come and embedded themselves
in your society. They have worked behind the scenes for hundreds of years, trying
to stop the Relian’s.”

“My people, the Tezarian’s came to
help the Valendrans. It will be a mix of Valendran’s and Tezarian’s that will
come for me. That are already on their way to us. My brother Dread, Niklosi,
Jax, Reven and probably the annoying man-child Traze. He can take a lot of
getting used to, but he’s got a huge heart.” Viper couldn’t help the smile that
came to his face at the thought of the overly energetic young man.  

Viper looked over at Lara and
noticed at some point, while he was speaking, she had stopped loading bullets
and just sat there. Staring at him. He couldn’t see the look on her face
clearly, but he could feel the heat of her stare.  

It was too late for him to stop
now, so he continued. “The most important thing you need to know, before they
get here, is about the dark ones. Humans have no ability to see them. They
exist in a light spectrum that can’t be seen by human eyes.”

“The Valendran’s and my people have
something known as a Beast inside of our brain that allows us to see more than
one light spectrum and enables us to see the dark ones.” Viper paused when the
clip Lara had been holding clattered to the table.

“You’ve seen them?” Viper asked
curiously, trying to read her energy.

“I… of course I can’t see them. You
said so yourself, humans can’t see them. Go on. How can these dark ones be
killed?” Lara asked, trying to calm her racing thoughts. She picked the clip
back up and started loading it again, hoping Viper would answer her question.

Viper stared at Lara for a moment,
trying to sort through the emotions that she was emanating through her energy.
Unable to really pinpoint anything, he went on.

“Surprisingly enough, salt will
kill them. Regular salt. The ammunition we use is impregnated with it.”

“Wait… all we need is salt? Regular
table salt? That’s the only way to kill them?” Lara asked in surprise. Even in
the science fiction movies there was always another way to kill something.
Viper’s story wasn’t much different than any other bad sci-fi movie she had
seen.

Viper shook his head. “No, they can
be killed by puncturing their brain. Bullet, knife, even a sharp stick
penetrating deeply enough into their brain will kill them.”

“Oh, that’s just fucking awesome
isn’t it! Humans can’t see them, so how the hell am I supposed to puncture a
head I can’t see?” Lara complained angrily, smacking her fist on the table.

“How do you know they are coming?”
Viper asked, knowing she had seen something in the forest. Something that scared
her. The dark ones were enough to scare even hardened warriors, so he could
understand her fear.

“I told you, I know this forest. I
know how many feet it takes to trample the undergrowth. Eight people could not
trample the kind of ground they were covering.” Lara said hesitantly, unsure if
he would believe her.

“Damn! How many do you think there
were?” Viper asked, afraid to know the answer.

Lara shook her head, still hesitant
to entertain the idea of alien insanity that Viper was pushing on her. “I don’t
know. They could have doubled back… a lot. Or maybe camped there…”

Viper wouldn’t let her finish. “You
know that’s not true, they were on the move. After us. How many do you think
there were?”

Lara just stared at Viper’s green
eyes and couldn’t help but feel drawn to the man. Crazy or not, it wouldn’t
hurt for her to play along with his delusion; she thought.

“If there were invisible men with
them… there would have to be… maybe another eight or ten to leave that kind of
trail.” Lara was surprised when Viper cursed.  

“Damn it! You need to go. Anywhere
but here. Hide. When this is over, I will find you.” Viper said, reaching
across the table to gently hold one of her hands.

Lara drew back in surprise at the
intensity of Viper’s plea. She could have sworn she could feel his fear. Great,
she thought to herself, now I’m as bat shit crazy as he is!

“I’m not going anywhere. This is my
forest and my home. This IS the place where I run and hide. I have nowhere else
to go. So here is where I stand and fight.” Lara said, getting up from her
chair and moving into the kitchen. Viper’s eyes tried to follow her movements,
but it was too blurry to know what she was doing.

“You need to get somewhere safe
Lara. My brother will be here soon; I will be fine…” Viper didn’t get to finish
before Lara exploded. Viper leaned back in his chair as Lara stormed over to
him.

“Shut the fuck up! Damn! Do you
really think some stupid shit like that is going to make me go run and hide?
You may be a few bulbs short of a chandelier, but I made a promise, and I damn
well will keep it! Now sit there and shut up while I think!” Lara was scared,
though she would never admit it. Especially not to the crazy man she was
leaning far too close to.

Lara jerked back from him as if
burned and went back to gathering items from the kitchen. Why she was
entertaining the man’s craziness was beyond her own comprehension, but here she
was, doing just that.

Then again, there was really
nothing left to do but wait, and she hated waiting. This at least gave her
something to occupy her time while she waited for the world to erupt around
them.

Dark ones, that no one could see
but the special aliens? Lara snorted while she carefully measured items in the
biggest pot she had. She had to admit, even if the story was as crazy as the
man telling it, she still had questions. Hypothetical ones of course, she
thought.

“What do these…” Lara struggled to
remember the name Viper had used. “Relian’s, have to do with Afghanistan?”  

“I think you know the answer to
that. It’s why you were coming out here to begin with isn’t it?” Viper knew he
was right when Lara flinched. Not wanting her angry again, he continued.

“We found that they are embedded in
every government, every religion, just about every organization on the planet
is infested with them. We have a few ex-military among us who have spoken of
their encounters with the Relian’s in the military.”

“I have no personal knowledge of it
since my brothers and I have only been here a few months, but Lt. David Jacobs
is an ex-Navy Seal, and he could fill you in on what he experienced.” Viper
hoped that bringing up a fellow member of the military would lend some credence
to what he was telling her.

Lara sighed in irritation as she
checked the consistency of the goop she was making in the pot. Blowing her
bangs out of her face, she added more ingredients before responding to Viper’s
wild tale.  

“Is this imaginary Seal here now?”
Lara asked without turning around. She wasn’t sure she could look at him right
now without either laughing at him and his imagination or smacking herself for
being a fool.

“No! He’s a real man, and he’s
either with the team coming or back at one of our command centers.” Viper hated
that Lara doubted him, but he honestly couldn’t blame her.

From her point of view, this had to
be the craziest thing she had ever heard; he thought. Until a few months ago,
even he would have laughed at the thought of something called a dark one. He
had hoped that she would recognize something in what he had said, but if she
did, she had hidden it very well.

Lara tested the consistency of the
goop in the pot and began ladling it carefully into some large freezer bags she
had kept to store her jerky in. Once it was filled, she sealed it, then taped
it closed to make sure it didn’t leak before starting on the next bag.  

“What weaknesses do they have?”
Lara asked. When Viper just looked at her in confusion, she tried the question
again.

“Is there a sweet spot to hit? Does
something besides salt work on the… Relian’s or the dark ones?”

“As far as we know, only salt and
brain penetration will kill the dark ones. The Relian’s can be killed just like
any human can. They can bleed to death. Shots to the head and heart will kill
them quickly. There are no specific weaknesses that we are aware of, I’m
sorry.” Viper explained.

“Good enough. If they can bleed,
they can die. Stay here for a minute, I’ll be right back.” Lara said as she
carefully carried several large bags to the door.

“What are you doing?” Viper asked
curiously.

“Leveling the playing field. Stay
here, I’m just going on the roof.” Lara said with a grin as she headed out the
door.

Viper followed her out of the open
door and watched as she carefully placed each bag on the low-hanging roof.
Moving to the side, she climbed a ladder attached to the side of the house.
Viper leaned his head back and watched as she grabbed the large bags and moved
them behind the arch in the center of the roof.

“Can I help?” Viper asked, feeling
useless and curious as to what she was doing.

Lara panted slightly as she jumped
down the last few feet from the ladder. She was exhausted, and it was starting
to show. Just a few more hours, she thought, and one way or another, this
chapter in her book of bad days would be over.  

Lara looked up at Viper and sighed.
Walking past him, she said, “Yes, you can be my pack mule. It’ll save me some
time.”

Viper wasn’t sure what a pack mule was,
but he knew by the tone of her voice it was going to be something physical.
Even though his head hurt like hell, he welcomed the chance to do something,
anything to help her.

He knew he was right when he
entered the kitchen area, and she handed him a bunch of light-weight, squishy
bags. When his arms were full, she led him outside and placed each bag on the
ground at his feet.