Five heads bobbed up in good time, then Kayla fell into a horrible moment of panic while waiting for the sixth. Her head whipped back and forth until she saw someone catching their breath far upstream before ducking beneath the gentle waves. It had to be Ray. Whenever Kayla led, she went last, and after who knew how many years in Valkyrie, the woman would likely have gained vastly superior fitness.

“Hey Juse, what the hell was that?” a voice called out.

Kayla froze and did her best to bob naturally.

“A meteor show, man,” another voice replied. “We get them all the time here because of the moon.”

“Freakin’ awesome dude. It’s beautiful.”

With a sharp intake of breath, Kayla dropped beneath the surface and kicked away.

The last stretch felt easier, and she continued until the channel deepened slightly. Then she rose to the surface where the roar of falling water broke her silent bubble. She checked for the distant lights of the old town, then scanned ahead. A figure waved at her from a small pebbly beach running along the canyon wall. As she closed, Kayla was relieved to see every member of her squad waiting for her. Before she joined them, she made sure to replace her headset, and activate the mic.

“Banshee, Viper two-one passes Helios,” she said. Somehow, the message made their safety official, and the immense weight of displaced exhaustion began to settle on her shoulders.

“Banshee copies Helios—great work, Viper,” came the reply.

Kayla returned to her waiting Rangers. “Short rest here, then we have to hike into the hills,” she said as she stepped out of the water into much chillier air.

“Two hours to sunrise,” Tian observed. “Maybe we can manage a longer rest?”

“Oh, how I wish we could,” Kayla said before stifling a yawn.

Like the others she stretched out on the rocky surface that seemed as inviting as a soft mattress.

After a blissful pause, she managed to regain her train of thought. “Problem is the cold,” she continued, slurring her words. “We can’t dry out and warm up unless we walk.”

Tian said nothing. Kayla’s ears filled with the waterfall’s soothing lullaby, and she fell asleep immediately. A dull pain in her ribs woke her up, and she opened her eyes to see Ray standing over her.

“Short break, you said?” the private asked sweetly. “It’s been twenty minutes, and I’m starting to shiver.”

Kayla moaned softly with misery, then reached up to untie her shoes from her webbing.

A trail took them further up into the hills, until Rackeye glowed below them in the distance. Following the directions she had been given, Kayla turned off into the trees to follow a ridgeline cutting south-west. Forests nestled in the valleys and crept up the slopes. The squad headed towards a prominent hill, where Kayla hoped to find a ravine hidden by trees.

The world turned from darkness to grey, to light blue, and warm light soon streamed through the overhead foliage. Soft leaves crunched underfoot as they navigated the undergrowth, and a distant chorus of birdsong quickly joined the repetitive sound of their feet.

Still drowsy, Kayla almost freaked out when she checked behind her and only saw six figures. Her brain was running on automatic, and years of training had taught it to look for seven. A needle pricked Kayla’s heart as she realized that another friend would never see the sunrise again. Throughout the journey, fear had kept a chorus of doubts and regrets about the mission at bay. Now it began to break in on her, weighing her body down even more than the fatigue.

Once again, she shrugged away the dark thoughts, as she expected to do for the rest of her life. They were all still in danger, and she couldn’t afford reflection. All any of them could do was make Kes’ sacrifice worthwhile. Kayla briefly wondered how long she could keep up the psychological tug of war. Maybe she’d get lucky and die before it became a problem.

The sound of a stream trickled out of the silence, and a low whistle stopped them all in their tracks. A chunk of foliage stood up and walked over to them, looking cheerful.

“Viper two-one?” the shrub said in a female voice. “Good timing. We were worried you’d get stuck in daylight,” It turned and pointed between the trees. “Command Post is down that way, and they’ll get you some food and water.”

Kayla’s stomach chose that moment to gurgle loudly, and tired giggles broke out behind her.

“Appreciate it,” she said cheerfully. “I was about to suggest cannibalizing our rookie.”

Find this and other great novels on the author's preferred platform. Support original creators!

Kayla awoke with a big arm stretch and found that she was laying snugly against a nice boulder. Someone had draped a sleeping bag over her, and she saw groups of figures moving between the trees. The smell of cooking sausages drifted into her nostrils, and before she could stop herself, she belched.

“Hey there, sleeping beauty,” a familiar voice said nearby.

Kayla turned, and saw Masey Laukkenen sat against a wide trunk as she sharpened a knife.

“You slept like a log,” Masey said. “Good evening, by the way.”

“Huh?” Kayla blinked tendrils of fatigue away and yawned. The sky seemed bright. Surely she had only slept a few hours?

“Yeah, sun’s going down. You slept like a log—all of you. I’m surprised you had the energy to eat as much as you did.”

Filled sleeping bags lay around the boulder. Vague memories of indiscriminate foodstuffs drifted through Kayla’s mind. One image in particular stood out.

“Ice-cream?” she asked in confusion.

Masey nodded. “My team raided a strip mall on the way out of Rackeye. Others grabbed some stuff too. Cara’s cooking up something if you’re hungry again.”

“FFfffffffgghghhghghrrrrmmmm,” Kalya said as she stretched again. “What’s happening?”

“We’re moving out come nighttime. Urtiga will give a briefing before then. You have maybe two hours to get some food, get washed and get organized.”

“Oh,” Kayla said, then yawned again. “Where is she?”

Masey pointed with her knife, then looked back with a grave expression. “I’m sorry about Kes. She was a friend of mine.”

Kayla nodded, but couldn’t think of anything comforting to say. “Thank you.”

“You go on, get yourself up to speed—I’ll take care of your dozing flock.”

A small crowd had gathered around the cook stove where Cara Favre, one of the task force’s pararescue jumpers, was cooking up burgers and hotdogs. Women turned as Kayla approached and flashed her respectful smiles.

“How’s it going, Barnes?” a Raider asked.

Urtiga looked around. “Hola! How did the rock star sleep?”

“Oh,” Kaya said nervously. “Okay, I guess.” She grew extremely self-conscious as the crowd of tier one operators focused their attention exclusively on her.

“Great job out there,” Gucci said as she gave her shoulder a squeeze. “Sorry about Kes.”

A chorus of both sympathetic and congratulatory words followed Kayla as she took a seat next to Urtiga. She managed an embarrassed smile, and felt a touch of pride when she saw how well known and respected her squad leader was.

Her mentor reached out and handed her a plate of mouth-watering meat as her eyes flashed with mischief.

“I heard that you managed to win over a cute Marine while you were in town.”

Kayla blushed. “Oh…um… I mean, this one guy was super helpful…”

Cara looked up from the grill with a grin. “A little bird told me that she met him in Zula, and followed him back to Rackeye.”

Kayla tried to clarify. “No, no it was just—"

“Remember how she went hounding after that kid she knew from school?” Gucci said. Her voice switched into an imitation of a whiny teenager. “I can’t live without him! I have to see him.” She pretended to swoon, then laughed at Kayla’s incredulous expression.

“Always the same story with this one,” Cara said with a shake of head. “Falls desperately in love, then nearly brings the whole world crashing down trying to chase after the poor guy.”

“Crazy stalker girl,” Gucci said, and winked at her.

Urtiga flashed a cheeky smile. “Only got into Valkyrie ‘cos she was stalking me.”

Now bright red, Kayla tried desperately to save herself. “I am not a stalker,” she insisted. “I just… well there are these circumstances, where—”

Urtiga gave her a small shove. “It’s okay, we’re just messing with you.”

With the whole crowd cackling at her expense, Kayla grabbed a burger and shoved it firmly into her mouth.

“But in all seriousness,” Urtiga said, “It was a really tough day, and you pulled through it like a Ranger.”

“Like a Viper,” a voice said, and Kayla saw Ray approaching the group.

She wore fresh clothes and looked like she had had a wash. It did not escape Kayla’s notice that the Raiders acknowledged her presence with respect.

“She was cool as a cucumber in that hostage crisis,” Ray added. “A natural team leader if I ever saw one.”

Kayla swallowed. “Just gave my whole planet up to the League, but thanks, I appreciate it.”

Ray shook her head as she sat down. “No, you didn’t. Rayker was always going to get this place, and it wasn’t our job to stop her.”

Kayla didn’t acknowledge the comment, and went back to eating.

“Hey, Myra,” Urtiga said to a woman who had been quietly reading on her phone. “What was that you were saying about our new friends? The First Guards?”

“Oh,” Myra said and put her device down. “Well, I just thought that their T, O and E was a bit of a weird choice. Barrochians have had this ongoing trend in their force structure, which I find interesting.”

“Whaddya mean?” Kayla asked as she sprayed crumbs.

“They’re very biased towards heavy vehicles. Surprisingly high-tech, but light on infantry. It’s based around what they call a Battalion Tactical Group, which emerged after the end of the Frontier War as a sort of—”

“I think Kayla might be interested in your strategic conclusions,” Urtiga said patiently.

Myra’s brow furrowed. “Did I have a conclusion? I was more thinking out loud. But… well, I suppose that they would have a lot of problems confronting a more flexible and balanced opponent.” She sat up as she became more engaged. “What with the whole galactic war everyone was freaking out over, I only wanted to point out that there might be a lot of possibilities along a more covert approach. You know, if you take those militias you have in the Lanstead area—”

Kayla nearly spit out her mouthful. “Are you saying—” she swallowed quickly and coughed as she almost choked. “Sorry. Are you saying that Caldera could defeat the League?”

Myra paused and looked unhappy with that suggestion. “I’m suggesting the First Guards regiment could be effectively handled with a properly fleshed out indigenous engagement strategy. Think of the ‘by, with and through’ approach the League’s Special Forces have used.”

“But with Valkyrie?” Kayla demanded.

“As I said,” Myra said hesitantly. “I was just thinking out loud. And I make absolutely no commitments as to how the broader conflict might evolve.”

“It’s an interesting thought experiment,” Urtiga said. “One we can pursue after we get through this little adventure.” She gave Kayla a significant look.

Kayla nodded slowly. Was there any limit to the crazy schemes this gang of immortal women could come up with? But Urtiga was right, and she felt a rush of anger as she thought about what Rayker might be doing to Christie and the other missing Rangers.

“Oh yeah,” Urtiga said, and reached into her pack. She produced a shampoo and conditioner bottle which she handed to Kayla. “That’s your brand, right? You can go and wash in the stream, and I left you new clothes in the rucksack by your sleeping bag. Eat up quick and get moving, because I want to start my briefing soon.”

Kayla nodded and wolfed down the food on her plate.

“Hey now, stalker,” Gucci said. “If we catch you taking selfies for your new boy-toy, you’ll be carrying all the camping equipment.”