risking full exposure, and I’m sure our display of firing skills hasn’t made them eager to risk it. We’re at a stalemate.
On my VDU, keeping my voice low: “I’m going to have to kamikaze it.”
“Hold on, Aly, let me think,” David responds.
No. Thinking is only going to make me reconsider. “You two start suppressive fire in three…two… now !”
Relying on their discipline more than my faith, I run down the slight slope, bent forward and firing at every potential target, my senses lit up like the core of a supernova. It’s only adrenaline, but this isn’t the first nor will it be the last time adrenaline saves my life. The sound of David and Soltznin’s cover fire is almost as faint as drops of water in a deep cave as my brain cycles into a sense that supersedes sound or sight and becomes something stronger, far more powerful. A sixth sense known as survival.
An explosion of blood, which to my overattentive focus appears a thousand times redder than normal, erupts across one of the ATVs as its driver rises too high and one of David or Soltznin’s bullets ghosts him. I’ve covered the gap between me and the nearest ATV at the speed of arterial spray and shoot the man behind it before he realizes I’m there. My aim isn’t perfect this time and only hits him in the shoulder. Before I can finish the job, one of the other scavs sees me and fires in my direction. His shot does finish the job, unintentionally hitting the scav I’d shot in the shoulder, and my target goes down for good with half the brain matter he used to have.
I take cover behind the slimed ATV, now only meters from the other two sets of scavs. They know I’m here, but they can’t get a good shot without exposing themselves to my cohorts. Of course, neither can I.
“Aly?” David asks.
“I’m clear.”
“Can you draw them out?” Soltznin chimes in.
“Any ideas how I might do that?”
Silence.
The clock, if there were a clock, would be ticking. The buzzards, if there were buzzards on this rock, would be flying overhead. My patience, if I had any patience, would be at its limit.
But battles are often won in the silences between shots, and I’m just not ready to become the next bleeder on this dusty piece of earth.
Soltznin: “I’m moving in. Erikson—both of you—keep your eyes open.”
My turn to create a distraction. “Boys, you know you’re not going to win this one!” I yell.
“You shouldn’ta landed where you don’t have any friends,” one of them responds. “We’re going to tear you up and feed you to the rats! That ship is as good as ours.”
“Speaking of friends, you’re down to two, buddy.” A wild shot whines through the air above me to illustrate how little my new conversationalist thinks of this observation. “Good idea. Use up all your ammo. You’re going to win this fight for us.”
This is received with an angry silence.
I hear Soltznin advancing through the rocks, drawing closer. With me so near, none of the scavs dares move into position to fire at her, making her approach much easier. David’s vantage from above and she and I working on the ground could be all we need to beat them with our better aim and experienced military tactics. If we’re lucky.
“I’m just behind you, Aly. Coming to your position in—”
I hear it at the same instant she does. Another vehicle approaching. With the shadows cast by the three lowered suns, I don’t see anything but a dark speck about a hundred meters out, approaching from the same direction Soltznin and I had come from. It’s moving slowly, but the engine is louder than the battery-powered quad’s. Friend or foe? Or just an innocent passerby? There’s no way to tell at this range.
“David, can you see what that is?”
After a second he gets back to me. “It’s an ATV or a quad, boxy, like a land trans, but too small to be a regular trans. It’s moving way too slow, though, like he’s getting a read on you.”
“Take a
On my VDU, keeping my voice low: “I’m going to have to kamikaze it.”
“Hold on, Aly, let me think,” David responds.
No. Thinking is only going to make me reconsider. “You two start suppressive fire in three…two… now !”
Relying on their discipline more than my faith, I run down the slight slope, bent forward and firing at every potential target, my senses lit up like the core of a supernova. It’s only adrenaline, but this isn’t the first nor will it be the last time adrenaline saves my life. The sound of David and Soltznin’s cover fire is almost as faint as drops of water in a deep cave as my brain cycles into a sense that supersedes sound or sight and becomes something stronger, far more powerful. A sixth sense known as survival.
An explosion of blood, which to my overattentive focus appears a thousand times redder than normal, erupts across one of the ATVs as its driver rises too high and one of David or Soltznin’s bullets ghosts him. I’ve covered the gap between me and the nearest ATV at the speed of arterial spray and shoot the man behind it before he realizes I’m there. My aim isn’t perfect this time and only hits him in the shoulder. Before I can finish the job, one of the other scavs sees me and fires in my direction. His shot does finish the job, unintentionally hitting the scav I’d shot in the shoulder, and my target goes down for good with half the brain matter he used to have.
I take cover behind the slimed ATV, now only meters from the other two sets of scavs. They know I’m here, but they can’t get a good shot without exposing themselves to my cohorts. Of course, neither can I.
“Aly?” David asks.
“I’m clear.”
“Can you draw them out?” Soltznin chimes in.
“Any ideas how I might do that?”
Silence.
The clock, if there were a clock, would be ticking. The buzzards, if there were buzzards on this rock, would be flying overhead. My patience, if I had any patience, would be at its limit.
But battles are often won in the silences between shots, and I’m just not ready to become the next bleeder on this dusty piece of earth.
Soltznin: “I’m moving in. Erikson—both of you—keep your eyes open.”
My turn to create a distraction. “Boys, you know you’re not going to win this one!” I yell.
“You shouldn’ta landed where you don’t have any friends,” one of them responds. “We’re going to tear you up and feed you to the rats! That ship is as good as ours.”
“Speaking of friends, you’re down to two, buddy.” A wild shot whines through the air above me to illustrate how little my new conversationalist thinks of this observation. “Good idea. Use up all your ammo. You’re going to win this fight for us.”
This is received with an angry silence.
I hear Soltznin advancing through the rocks, drawing closer. With me so near, none of the scavs dares move into position to fire at her, making her approach much easier. David’s vantage from above and she and I working on the ground could be all we need to beat them with our better aim and experienced military tactics. If we’re lucky.
“I’m just behind you, Aly. Coming to your position in—”
I hear it at the same instant she does. Another vehicle approaching. With the shadows cast by the three lowered suns, I don’t see anything but a dark speck about a hundred meters out, approaching from the same direction Soltznin and I had come from. It’s moving slowly, but the engine is louder than the battery-powered quad’s. Friend or foe? Or just an innocent passerby? There’s no way to tell at this range.
“David, can you see what that is?”
After a second he gets back to me. “It’s an ATV or a quad, boxy, like a land trans, but too small to be a regular trans. It’s moving way too slow, though, like he’s getting a read on you.”
“Take a
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