Guerilla by Mel Odom

outstretched hands raked over the grassy jungle floor and exposed roots of the trees. He cursed her luck and his, and Noojin had no doubts about what he intended to do with the pistol when he found it.
    Another man ran through the alley and nearly plowed into Mosbur.
    â€œLet’s go!” the new arrival shouted. “The Terrans will be on us!”
    â€œThis girl has seen me!” Mosbur protested.
    The second man turned and clawed for the pistol belted at his waist.
    Before he could get the weapon clear, Noojin grabbed Telilu and fled back between the houses, hoping that she didn’t encounter any more of the ambushers, hoping that the man’s vision wasn’t good enough to allow him to shoot her.
    A laser beam snipped a lock of her hair and the stink of it burning filled her nose. She tightened her hold on Telilu so much that the girl instinctively fought back despite her fear. Noojin tried to think calming thoughts at her, but she was screaming inside her own head and knew that she was failing.
    Ahead of her, twisting flames coiled against the fort’s fence line and the building nearest it was a mass of fiery debris. A shadow came toward her and she spotted the rifle in the gloved hands, picking out the armored soldier carrying the weapon in the next instant.
    â€œNo! Don’t shoot!” Noojin dropped to her knees and covered Telilu with her body, expecting bullets to rip through her at any minute. She remembered to call out again in Terran the second time.
    Another shot from the laser pistol in the hands of Mosbur or his companion struck the armored soldier and burned a bright spot on his thigh near Noojin’s head.
    Autofire ripped out in a steady roll.
    Then the soldier stood before her, towering above her, and said, “Don’t worry. I’ve got you.”
    Noojin almost felt safe, but she didn’t trust the Terrans any more than she now trusted Mosbur and his friends. Her world was never going to be the same. She held onto Telilu and stayed down while the Terran troops set up a defensive perimeter in the area.

 
    SIX
    X Point
    Southwest of Makaum City
    Loki 19 (Makaum—­colloquial)
    0408 Hours Zulu Time
    R estlessness clouded Sage’s mind as he watched the base on the other side of the swiftly moving river. Almost an hour had passed since Zhoh GhiCemid had disappeared within the structure. Sage wanted to know more because he knew Colonel Halladay would be as frustrated as he currently felt.
    But they were running out of time on the scouting op. Dawn would come in a little less than an hour. They would be hard-­pressed to clear the danger zone without being seen by the drones and the sec systems in that amount of time.
    Jahup touched Sage’s shoulder lightly.
    Sage turned to face the younger man.
    We go? the young scout signed.
    Sage hesitated only a moment before signing his reply. Yes. We go. He hated pulling out with so little information. What they had discovered had only confirmed they had a big problem on their hands, and that knowledge led to more questions. Just as he was about to move away from the tree, Jahup put a hand on his shoulder again.
    Wait.
    Following Jahup’s pointing finger, Sage slid back to the tree and glanced back at the Phrenorian base as the door irised open again. The sec drones pulled in closer to the river and viewed Zhoh’s departure from the base.
    This time Sage noticed the three by three-­square formation of warriors around Zhoh that told him the Phrenorian warrior didn’t exactly have the run of the place. In fact, the Sting-­Tails escorting the captain treated him more like a prisoner than a commanding officer.
    That was interesting.
    The guards walked Zhoh to the riverbank and stood there waiting. After a ­couple moments, a small underwater sled surfaced. The craft hardly caused a ripple in the river due to its streamlined design, and the camo skin closely blended it to the darkness of the water.