the brigade to arrive.
I turn to Commander Sharma. I feel slightly guilty about not letting Marina heal him, but for all I know, he’s set this up as an elaborate trap. ‘How’s your arm?’ I whisper to him.
With a grunt, Commander Sharma lies down and sets the barrel of his gun on a flat rock. He looks up and winks. ‘I only need the one.’
Out of the corner of my eye I can see a helicopter buzz overhead but it leaves almost immediately. Either Marina took care of it, or the pilot couldn’t penetrate the thick canopy of the valley. I look through the trees, hoping to manipulate the clouds surrounding the peaks of the mountains, but the afternoon sun has burned them off. With no wind, and no clouds, there aren’t any elements to control. I can turn invisible if I need to, but I prefer to keep that hidden from the commander for now.
‘What do you see?’ Ella asks.
‘A whole lot of nothing,’ I whisper. ‘Commander, how far away is Number Eight?’
‘You mean Vishnu? Not far. A half day’s walk, maybe.’
I’m about to ask him to tell me where, exactly. We should know in case something happens to the commander and we need to move forward without him. But I’m distracted when a rusty pickup truck swings into the narrow valley at full speed with a man standing in the open bed. Even from a distance, I can see he’s nervous as well as armed. He jerks his gun from side to side, frantically trying to be everywhere at once. As soon as our SUV comes into view, the pickup skids to a stop and the soldier in the back hops out. More vehicles appear and pull up behind the pickup. A soldier drops out of a red van and sets a rocket launcher onto his shoulder. I see an opportunity.
I nudge the commander with my foot. ‘I’ll be right back.’
I don’t give him a chance to argue as I run quickly into the woods. When he can’t see me any longer, I use my invisibility Legacy to disappear and sprint down into the valley. The soldier has our truck in his crosshairs, but before he can pull the trigger I rip the rocket launcher off his shoulder and slam one end into his belly. He doubles over and goes down with a scream. Hearing the commotion, the driver of the truck rushes over with a pistol in his hand. I point the rocket launcher at his face. The soldier takes a split second to decide if the freefloating launcher is about to do its thing, then turns and runs away with his arms above his head.
I aim at the now empty, rusty pickup and pull the trigger. The rocket flies out of my launcher and a wave of fire explodes under the pickup, blowing it thirty feet into the air. The burning truck lands hard, and bounces and rolls quickly forward, the momentum sending it into the back of our SUV with a crash. I watch it lurch forward, rolling slowly over the small mounds in the road that had stopped us from advancing. The next thirty seconds are filled with ear-splitting, rapid detonations, as soldiers fire blindly around them and the mounds in the road explode. Thousands of birds burst out from the trees all around us, their sounds quickly drowned out by the snap, crackle and pop of munitions doing their thing. I was right; they were land mines. And now our SUV is nothing more than a smoldering pile of metal.
Evidently, this was just the opening act. The main attraction – armored vehicles, small tanks, mobile missile units – is closing in on the mountain. There have to be a couple thousand soldiers on foot. Five or six attack helicopters hover overhead. I hear a whirring and turn to see a missile launcher rising and rotating, going into operational mode. The tips of five white missiles turn up and towards the area where Marina and Crayton have taken cover. There’s movement in the tree line, and the commander’s young soldier runs down into the valley. He’s unarmed and headed right for the missile launcher. At first I think he’s going to sacrifice himself somehow to save my friends, but no one fires at him. He stops
I turn to Commander Sharma. I feel slightly guilty about not letting Marina heal him, but for all I know, he’s set this up as an elaborate trap. ‘How’s your arm?’ I whisper to him.
With a grunt, Commander Sharma lies down and sets the barrel of his gun on a flat rock. He looks up and winks. ‘I only need the one.’
Out of the corner of my eye I can see a helicopter buzz overhead but it leaves almost immediately. Either Marina took care of it, or the pilot couldn’t penetrate the thick canopy of the valley. I look through the trees, hoping to manipulate the clouds surrounding the peaks of the mountains, but the afternoon sun has burned them off. With no wind, and no clouds, there aren’t any elements to control. I can turn invisible if I need to, but I prefer to keep that hidden from the commander for now.
‘What do you see?’ Ella asks.
‘A whole lot of nothing,’ I whisper. ‘Commander, how far away is Number Eight?’
‘You mean Vishnu? Not far. A half day’s walk, maybe.’
I’m about to ask him to tell me where, exactly. We should know in case something happens to the commander and we need to move forward without him. But I’m distracted when a rusty pickup truck swings into the narrow valley at full speed with a man standing in the open bed. Even from a distance, I can see he’s nervous as well as armed. He jerks his gun from side to side, frantically trying to be everywhere at once. As soon as our SUV comes into view, the pickup skids to a stop and the soldier in the back hops out. More vehicles appear and pull up behind the pickup. A soldier drops out of a red van and sets a rocket launcher onto his shoulder. I see an opportunity.
I nudge the commander with my foot. ‘I’ll be right back.’
I don’t give him a chance to argue as I run quickly into the woods. When he can’t see me any longer, I use my invisibility Legacy to disappear and sprint down into the valley. The soldier has our truck in his crosshairs, but before he can pull the trigger I rip the rocket launcher off his shoulder and slam one end into his belly. He doubles over and goes down with a scream. Hearing the commotion, the driver of the truck rushes over with a pistol in his hand. I point the rocket launcher at his face. The soldier takes a split second to decide if the freefloating launcher is about to do its thing, then turns and runs away with his arms above his head.
I aim at the now empty, rusty pickup and pull the trigger. The rocket flies out of my launcher and a wave of fire explodes under the pickup, blowing it thirty feet into the air. The burning truck lands hard, and bounces and rolls quickly forward, the momentum sending it into the back of our SUV with a crash. I watch it lurch forward, rolling slowly over the small mounds in the road that had stopped us from advancing. The next thirty seconds are filled with ear-splitting, rapid detonations, as soldiers fire blindly around them and the mounds in the road explode. Thousands of birds burst out from the trees all around us, their sounds quickly drowned out by the snap, crackle and pop of munitions doing their thing. I was right; they were land mines. And now our SUV is nothing more than a smoldering pile of metal.
Evidently, this was just the opening act. The main attraction – armored vehicles, small tanks, mobile missile units – is closing in on the mountain. There have to be a couple thousand soldiers on foot. Five or six attack helicopters hover overhead. I hear a whirring and turn to see a missile launcher rising and rotating, going into operational mode. The tips of five white missiles turn up and towards the area where Marina and Crayton have taken cover. There’s movement in the tree line, and the commander’s young soldier runs down into the valley. He’s unarmed and headed right for the missile launcher. At first I think he’s going to sacrifice himself somehow to save my friends, but no one fires at him. He stops
Similar Books
