Drelloc awoke as something prodded her in the ribs. Several of her eyes opened and she realised that she was lying on her side. Memories of the last few days flooded her awareness as she realised where she was. It took her a moment to gather her bearings but as soon as she had she sat upright. Sitting next to the door pulling on his boots was Donner. The human man looked like his normal alien self, the strange draw she had felt the night before still lingered and a part of her ached to fall once more into his strong arms. But they couldn't, they were needed desperately on the battlefield.
Instead of indulging the strange emotions that fluttered in her middle she pulled herself upright and made a happy gesture to the man. He smiled, those strange blocky white teeth of his showing between the fleshy lips of his face. So unlike her own features, and yet she had come to love them despite these differences, maybe even because of them.
She crouched low and passed him, letting two of her hands linger on his shoulder and chest as she slipped by. She heard him make a slightly surprised noise before exiting the shelter and looking around. The small dip in the ground was surrounded on three sides by tall scrub brush. Their sage colored leaves making them look desiccated.
She threw out all four arms in a stretch, feeling several muscles pop as she rotated them in their full range of motion. A small rustling behind her alerted her to Donner’s appearance and she watched the man exit the shelter stiffly without having to turn her head or body. Her rear facing eyes picked him up well enough, though to call it her rear wasn’t exactly true. They were simply attached to her least currently dominant quarter.
Turning to face him with her dominant side she smiled again, the skin around her eyes crinkling in pleasure. “Hello Donner, I trust you slept well last night.” She added a little purposeful mystique to her tone as if she was implying something else.
Donner paused and looked at her, his head cocked ever so slightly. “Er.. yea. I did. I hope that you as well, did sleep well.. I mean.” The man stuttered, causing her to chuckle.
“Oh yea, I slept better than I can remember in the last.. oh I don’t know?” He nodded at her comment.
“Good. That’s good, because we have a lot of ground to cover today. And there is every chance that we might encounter actual resistance from rebel forces today.” That sobered her up quickly.
She made an affirmative gesture. She watched as the man rummaged around in the survival duffel, fully expecting him to break out the breakfast gear. Instead of pulling out the small electric heater and some food rations he instead pulled out the 3011 pistol and spare magazines. He paused, then handed them to her wordlessly.
She swallowed heavily, she had not fired her gun in anger before. Sure she had training and the knowledge of how the device worked, but there was a huge difference between putting holes in a target downrange and ending the life of another sapient being.
Seeming to sense her concern, Donner stood and gestured towards the hazy smoke filled air to their rear. “You need it, I can't guarantee that we will make it through this alive. But I can promise you that I will do everything in my own power to get you out of here alive. I know you trust me, and I trust you in return. You saved my life last night.” She flinched slightly as he stepped much closer and rested both hands on her shoulders. “I.. I need to know that even if I don't make it you will have a fighting chance out there.”
The human seemed to hesitate and then leaned down and planted a kiss on the top of her head, directly above her secondary eye. She stiffened from the gesture, she understood its significance. As he moved to turn away she reached out and grasped his cheeks with two of her hands.
He protested for a moment, “Hey, what are you..” But silenced quickly as she pressed her head against his own forehead. The deeply intimate gesture had a similar connotation amongst her own people, symbolizing two beings that had found a common ground and wished to make more out of their lives with each other.
She held him like that for a few more seconds before releasing him, the man seeming a little dazed by the show of emotion from her. She punched his shoulder in a playful manner. “Come on, we need to pack up the tent and get moving. He nodded a bit absently and she quickly helped him take down the hastily set up survival shelter.
After packing it away they ate a quick breakfast of some sort of small fibrous bites that Donner called ‘tater tots’. They were quite good she had to admit, especially with the chunky white gravy that he made to go alongside them.
What followed was a frantic flurry of activity as they both tried to get ready without dwelling on what lay ahead. As she shouldered the last of her gear and triple checked the gun on her hip she turned to Donner and spoke, “Donner. When this is over..”
He waved a hand for silence. “Don’t you know that it's bad luck to talk like that? Lady Luck helps those who help themselves, you know.”
She made a positive gesture and allowed for the man to take the lead as he liked to do. She followed behind him closely, maybe a little closer than was strictly necessary. But the danger of mines in the area was negligible as they were once more traveling off the beaten path.
They continued on this way for a time before Donner made a startled noise and motioned for her to drop down low behind a nearby boulder. She felt a spike of alarm in her core as the man peeked out from behind cover as minimally as was possible.
She swallowed, “What is it? Rebels?”
She tensed as Donner nodded. The man sitting back against the rock. “Yes, it's a patrol. We can't kill them without alerting every rebel in the area to our presence, we are going to have to wait till they move away and then try to push past.”
She nodded, her primary and secondary eyes wide with anxiety and more than a little fear. What would they do if they got caught, surely they would be tortured and then killed? She trembled with fear as these thoughts ran rampant in her minds.
***********
Donner was skeptical of his life choices at that moment. Here he was, crouched behind a small rock with nothing to his name but a beat up MR-12 and a desk jockey spook with a pistol.
‘Oh yeah, with these tools he would conquer this world.’ he internalised. No, he would make it through, but not with brute force. He would have to be incredibly careful about how they went about it.
He hunkered low behind the rock, feeling one of Drelloc’s hands reach out for his shoulder. He gave her a reassuring glance, or at least one he hoped she would take as such. Her own alien features were often incomprehensible to him, he could only hope that the look placeted her own fears in some small measure. He wasn’t exactly feeling one-hundred percent about their situation himself.
Here they were, still trapped behind enemy lines. At least they had the element of surprise, it was very unlikely that anyone would actually expect them to break through their lines. But it was too early to tell if news of the ambushed convoy had had any effect on the battle lines.
After another few minutes the rebels had pressed on, leaving them alone. He stood cautiously, Drelloc’s hand slipping from his shoulder to trail down his back. He whispered, “Okay, follow me. As close as you can.”
With that he pushed out of cover and dashed towards another nearby shrub, leaning down behind it and looking back. He swore as he realised that Drelloc was not anywhere near as fleet of foot and was still only halfway to his current position. He stood and scanned their surroundings as she caught up, panting slightly as she crouched by his side.
“We.. need to move.. Faster.” She said in what he thought was an apologetic tone.
Donner shook his head. “Yes, but I am not leaving you behind. We will move as fast and carefully as we can.”
She gave him a grateful arm wave, the wrinkles around her eyes softening slightly as she looked at him. He smiled in return as he looked at her before turning his attention back to their immediate surroundings.
He had taken several infiltration courses in the past, almost all members of the Union military were trained how to move covertly in some manner or another. With what they had they could only do so much without the cover of darkness, but he wanted to get much closer to the actual lines before hunkering down and waiting for night.
They should be able to get at least part of the way to the front without too much in the way of trouble. After all, the patrols at the back of the enemy’s secured lines were sparse.
He motioned for her to follow and then moved out again, this time keeping a slower pace to help match her own. They weaved between large rocks and scrubs, through narrow gullies and dried creek beds. Over the top of hills and between monolithic rock formations. After several hours of this stop and go Donner’s nerves were shot and he was sweating buckets. Drelloc was faring much worse, the woman swaying slightly from side to side in her fatigue. Even without considering her long life behind a desk, her people were not known for their incredible stamina.
He leaned down and then sat with his back pressed up against the small rock formation they had chosen to take shelter behind. A small stand of brush sheltered them from the sun and the elements as wella s any potential prying eyes. He motioned for her to rest and was surprised when she tottered over and pretty much fell on top of him, her body leaning onto his chest as she sat by his side.
He chuckled and supported her with his arms as she squirmed slightly, apparently settling down to rest. He asked, “Feeling alright? Have you been drinking enough water, Drelloc?”
She made a small affirmative gesture with a single arm and then spoke up, “Yes.. but I think my water pouch is empty. The last two times I went to drink, no water came out.”
Donner reached out and checked, her water pouch did seem empty. That wasn’t good, he remembered the last time she had gotten dehydrated and nearly died from heat exhaustion. He held his own drinking tube over her mouth and pressed the small button. “Here, drink.” he prompted.
She wasn’t given the chance to decline as the warm water trickled forth and into her lipless maw. He heard her swallow heavily several times before stemming the flow. She sighed and closed all but one of her eight eyes. “Thank you. I needed that.” He felt her cuddle up to him a little, her last eye closing.
He frowned, not that he was adverse to her proximity. But they were in hostile territory and needed to keep alert after all. Before he could say anything she mumbled, “You should probably set an alarm and get some shut eyes. We don’t know when we will get the chance to sleep again.”
He wanted to argue but couldn't fault her logic. To be fair, he had chosen their hiding spot well. If they were discovered it wasn't as if they would be able to do much about it anyways, and so he allowed himself to relax. His chin resting on the edge of her wide head. She rested two of her hands on his chest as he cradled her gently, the soft movements of her breathing working to sooth his hyperactive mind.
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Donner smiled, and closed his eyes.
**********
Fire and smoke assaulted him. The sound of screaming metal being shorn and the clatter of distant gunfire.
Donner ducked and tried to run, but his legs were like lead. Some great weight holding him down, pinning him in place as a great burning hulk bore down upon him. The screaming faces of his friends called out to him, their flesh sizzling and crisping as they reached out to him from that inferno with skeletal fingers wreathed in smoke.
Donner screamed and then jerked awake.
He looked around frantically, the surroundings becoming familiar after another tense moment. He relaxed and then let out a sigh, leaning back into the rock behind him. He felt something move and noticed that Drelloc was still asleep on his chest. The razah’vool woman snoring quietly as her eyes flicked under their closed lids.
He carefully checked his assistant, the time was nearly upon them to get moving. It would be dark soon, his internal clock must still be functioning if it remembered to wake him just ten minutes before his scheduled alarm went off.
He prodded Drelloc gently, forcing her awake with a yawn. She stirred and then blinked her eyes rapidly, seemingly confused about her location.
As she settled them on him she smiled in her strange way, “For a second I thought it was a dream, then I woke up into an even better one.”
He tried to extract himself from her alien embrace and failed, her limbs forming a prison that had him pinned. She giggled in a girlish manner that was strange to hear from her alien countenance.
“Oh no, you stay right there.” She countered, constraining his flailing limbs. He tried to struggle out of her iron grip for another moment before he conceded defeat with a sigh.
He looked into one of those blood red orbs and shrugged. “Alright, you win.”
She smiled with her eyes once more, the wrinkles forming swirling patterns that held significance to her people. To him they looked like her face had a fingerprint, the complex muscles that controlled the display must have been intricately complex. He found himself mesmerised by the shifting patterns as she drew close and pressed her forehead to his tenderly in her version of a kiss.
They stayed that way for another moment, as close together as they could be in the situation before he broke contact. She withdrew with a disappointed sigh. “I wish we could stay together forever. When I’m close to you..”
He nodded. “I feel it too. But as much as my heart wants it, we need to get moving before it's dark.”
They separated slowly, Drelloc taking a long step back as he stood and checked his gear. Once he was sure he was as put back together as he was ever going to be he nodded to her.
“Okay. This is it, Drelloc. Once we move out we either make it to friendly lines or we don’t.”
She seemed to shiver slightly. Whether it was fear or anticipation he couldn't discern, but what was obvious was the conviction in her voice as she answered him. “I am with you. All the way to the end Donner. We are going to walk into Zeslov’s office together and break these rebels at the same time.”
Donner nodded, what else could he do in the face of her confidence. He was a little less sure of the outcome, but he refused to allow himself to falter no matter the cost. She had to live, even if it meant wading directly into the deep.
He shouldered the last of the gear and nodded, mostly to himself. “Okay, let’s head out. Stay close, and keep your weapon handy.” Drelloc patted her sidearm and gave a thumbs up simultaneously, causing him to snort.
They left the relative safety of the sheltered alcove and headed straight towards their all too distant goal. The small strip that separated them from their goal was only a few hundred meters when all was said and done after all. They just needed to get close enough to radio for direct support, then they could rest.
The night was dark and full of perils. More than once Donner had to throw himself behind cover to avoid foot patrols, vehicles or static defenses. While the going was slow, the progress thay were making through the hostile area was significant. Donner looked back at Drelloc and mused, how far they had come. Not just over land, but together.
Almost as if she had heard his thoughts he heard her whisper, “We must be getting close.”
Donner paused in the shadow of a large fallen stone. He took a second to catch his breath and then retorted, “Yes, but not enough. When we get to the front lines we are likely going to have to call for an extraction. I just don’t see how we are going to make it across the nuetral zone without getting shot by somebody.” he hung his head and let out a stiff breath.
Drelloc seemed less deterred as she answered his unspoken question. “I have a plan for that. I was thinking, I have my distress pulser in my suit. It can act like a homing beacon, but we are going to have to make contact with our own lines first.”
Donner shook his head, he wasn’t sure what to do now.
**********
Drelloc followed the man silently, hoping beyond hope that her somewhat clumsy footfalls wouldn't disturb the ground and send an errant warning to any nearby rebels. So far they had managed to avoid the many patrols, static positions and sentry towers. But for how much longer?
She had to admit she was growing tired, her muscles ached from three long days of activity the likes of which she would never have imagined she was even capable of. Instead of letting it get her down, she instead bolstered herself with the knowledge. She was just as capable of doing hard things as others, moreso even.
She thought once more about her half-webbed plan. They would need an inordinate amount of luck for it to work, but as far as she had done the odds it might in fact be their only chance. A small chance of success was infinitely better than a guaranteed failure.
She crept around the rear of a large patch of bushes when Donner froze causing her to stumble to a halt. She cringed as she made more noise than she would have liked, but Donner didn’t chastise her. Instead his focus was on something ahead of them. It took her a moment to realise that he was looking up, following his gaze she saw the gently hovering form of a floater drone. The stable aerial robots being akin to sentries, but more flexible and cheaper than building a tower.
She leaned back into the relative cover of the bushes. “What are we going to do? That thing looks like it has wireless power receivers, it can probably stay up indefinitely.”
Donner shook his head and sighed. The human seemed so utterly dejected by the sight. She wanted to cheer him up but had nothing to offer him. “This is it I think.” he suddenly muttered, making her eyes crinkle in a frown.
“What do you mean, it’s time to do the plan? Already?” She watched in morbid curiosity as his face rotated between a variety of emotions before settling on something she understood as resignation.
He just nodded and gripped one of her shoulders, a tingle rushing through her at the contact. “Yes. Do it, we are going to have to take that risk.”
She took a deep breath. “Okay.”
He stood up and unslung his gun, the long barreled MR-12 looking subtly menacing in his gloved hands. She reached down to her belt and pulled out an emergency location pulser, the small silver cylindrical device about the length of her palm but thicker than her fingers. It was not exactly the kind of thing that one would want to activate in their situation, but she was all out of options. The plan was to activate it along with sending a brief synopsis of their situation and hope to all hope that somebody was listening and would understand its importance. If that didn’t work then they would almost certainly be found and killed, or worse.
“Should we find a better place to defend?” She muttered as she keyed in the activation code to the pulser.
Donner gestured ahead of them. “There is a mortar pit up ahead, I don't see anyone in it so we can hunker in there for the time being. But that’s only going to work for so long, as soon as somebody notices the pulsar for what it is we are going to get rushed. We might..” he was getting a little too grim and so she cut him off. Two hands going to his face and her other two continuing to work on the distress beacon.
She made a shushing sound. “Stop worrying about the worst, and think about the best. We are going to be alright. Why? Because we have each other, and that is all we will ever need, that is all I will ever need.” She smiled at him with her eyes, the man’s own features softening at her comment.
He let out a shuddering breath. “Okay. But I want to say ahead of time that this was not my idea. So if anyone here is going to get court marshalled it will be you.”
She punched him playfully in the shoulder and gestured towards the drone. “If we play it cool and don't make ourselves obvious as intruders then I am sure the drone operator might ignore us for another few precious minutes.” She was being completely fake, but confidence was important even if it was largely a facade.
He seemed to see through her display but nodded regardless. “Well, finish up with the pulsar on the way then. Let's move out, act natural.” he added for effect.
She smirked softly to herself. He liked to be incharge alright. They moved out from behind the cover of the bushes and to the nearby path, walking briskly but unhurriedly towards the mortar pit that Donner had mentioned earlier. The slight whirr of the distant overhead drone frayed her nerves, she kept expecting it to increase in volume or for some manner of alarm to bray any second. But there was nothing, no angry hum of approaching combat drones. No shrill screech of alarms.
They made it across the wide open area without incident and dropped down the side of a shallow embankment into the relative cover of the mortar pit. It took only a second for her to determine why the pit was abandoned.
The bottom of the pit was littered with scraps of charred metal and cloth, a few white ceramic looking fragments caught her eye. They looked suspiciously like bleached bone and she tried not to think about the darker smears that stained the hard packed clay around the side of the pit.
At the front was a small dugout that acted as some manner of bunker. Earthen walls and a large plate of wood reinforced steel acted as its roof, sandbags sat along the forwards edge, many of them ruptured from the blast that had rendered it inoperable.
She finished with the pulsar quickly and looked at Donner. “Okay, here goes..” She activated the small device.
Immediately a small purple light began to flash on its upper surface before a small rod extended from the top, lifting that purple light along with it. As it reached out the antenna clicked out, four small petals unfolding from the tube and slotting into place under the flashing light. She nodded to Donner and then set it up on the highest point of the bunker’s roof.
After another moment the purple light flashed to green and then stopped. She had set it to inconspicuous mode, so the light would not flash and give away the position of the small beacon. I had a range of only a dozen or so kilometers, but given their position near the front lines that was more than was required.
She could only hope that the small signal would be initially lost amongst the rebel’s transmissions, while her own people would be alerted to it almost immediately as its significance would be well understood. She settled back into the small bunker and pulled out the 3011 pistol that Donner had handed her.
He nodded at her grimly as she turned the weapon over in her hands. “It doesn't get any easier ya know.” The man said softly.
She looked up at him. “What doesn't get easier?”
He shrugged. “Killing.”
She was a bit taken aback. She had seen him kill scores of rebels while they fled in their frantic flight that had culminated in their current plight. “Surely you don't feel sympathy for them?”
She frowned internally as the man shrugged. A strange mixture of emotions dampening his features. She thought she could see guilt and rage, but it seemed to be mixing with loathing or perhaps contempt. After another moment of this he finally spoke. “Yes. Yes I do, and I dare anyone including you to tell me that it’s wrong to feel remorse for the death this damned war is causing.” He was breathing heavy, his proverbial hackles raised as he placed the gun across his knees. His knuckles going white as he gripped it tightly.
She felt as though she had overstepped somehow. As she was thinking of ways to make it right she heard a sound that made her bones turn to ice under her skin. From somewhere distant a low whine began, it rose in pitch and volume till it grew into a howl that signalled an alarm. She stood and peeked out from the cover of the bunker. She couldn't immediately make out anything out of the ordinary, she was about to comment on the fact when three bright flashes burst overhead causing her to jerk back into the safety of the low bunker.
Donner was standing, looking out one of the side firing slots as the surrounding area was lit with a stark white light. “Starburst shells.” he grunted.
She had heard of them of course, large flares that could be launched to illuminate large expanses of the battlefield. But what were they doing launching them now? Were they trying to find her and Donner?