Vanished (13 page)

Needing to escape, she stood, racing for her room. Turning the corner to her door, she crashed into Vendas. He caught her in a tight grasp before she could tumble back.

“What’s wrong?” He gripped her shoulders, but she shook her head, refusing to meet his gaze. “What happened?” he asked.

“Nothing.” Please…”

He released her. “I heard what happened when you were sparring.”

She glanced up, catching dark green eyes studying her. Sensing the question he wasn’t asking, she shifted her weight, uncomfortable.

“I’ll be fine in the field.”

“Is Radek the problem? Or Zoltan? Or both?” His tone was serious, and she realized how obvious it must be.

“Yes and no.” She saw no reason to be dishonest. “As I said, I will be fine.”

“I can keep them away from you.”

“No. I can handle myself.” She hurried into her room
, forcing deep breaths into her lungs. Her suit, neatly folded, and her guns rested on the couch, and she wondered who she owed thanks. Then it occurred to her that she knew the answer. She worked the zipper down, the tug of dried blood snagging on her back. With gritted teeth and a sharp moan, she ripped the fabric free of the wound and stepped out of the white suit.

Without thought, she slid into the white armor and zipped it to her throat before snapping the flap closed. The crossbow slid into her thigh holster, the rifle on her back. The static crackle of the speakers overhead
injected electric heat into her blood.

“Landing sequence activated. Please brace for impact.” A netting dropped from a compartment in the ceiling and she wound the hanging fibers around her body and lifted her feet from the ground. Curling into the clinging material, she stared out the window as they descended.
Green rushed up at them, colors giving way to shapes. Rusty red-brown buildings formed and the ship shuddered and came to rest on the ground between large structures and a wide open field.

Fear rumbled in her chest like thunder. Something wasn’t right.
Where were the people? Why were the buildings so run down? She wished they’d been able to send drones ahead for some kind of communication.

Slicing free of her nets, she hurried to the door before sprinting to the airlock. Radek stepped aside, out of her way and she shot past
him into the box while it filled with men.

Vendas looked to her with an arched brow. “Orders?”

She glanced around, taking inventory of the weapons and faces around her. “Gerand, Camter, you’re team alpha. Scout the ground for anything.”

The men nodded. “Opreden, Ferner, You’re cover for alpha team.” They nodded, but Opreden spoke.

“You’ve got better aim than both of us. Are you sure-“

“I’m sure. I seriously doubt there will be much hostility. Xteral, Blaran, you’re cover for team bravo.” They nodded, Blaran refusing to meet her eyes.

“Hadrain, you medic for bravo team. Vendas, you medic for alpha team. Radek, Stenrad, you’re with me, bravo team.”

Only Zoltan remained, and he watched her with wary eyes. As much as she didn’t want to admit it, she knew he could handle almost anything and could make up for her lack of experience in the felid. Wishing she’d have thought ahead, she motioned him to her side.

He approached, still leery. She dismissed the men as the airlock disengaged. The door slid open, and she gasped.

Something was very wrong.

She stepped onto the soil, the scent of metal and crushed mint assaulting her nose. Gerand and Camter moved past her, their weapons drawn and forward as they walked along the street. Cracked pavement, overgrown with weeds and grasses gave glimpses of broken down cars left decaying in the sunlight.

Buildings shifted in the winds, the screech of metal on metal
jerking the men’s aim toward them. The dilapidated structures protested further, the shrill sound slicing through Papria’s head. Her mind pieced together the structures. This was a town, these were homes, but where were the inhabitants?

The snipers
hesitated, but she grabbed her karabiner and twine and snapped the gear to her built in harness. Radek mirrored her, snagging the other end of her twine and threading it through his own clip before handing it off to Hadrain. Zoltan refused the clip, earning a glare from her. He wouldn’t challenge her here, like this, would he?

Angry eyes met hers, a fragmented memory accompanying them.

“I can’t do it. I hate being
tied down.” Zoltan held the line, his distaste clear.

“You have to. Protocol. If
Daddy catches you-“

He glared at me
. “It’s practice. I’ll save the real thing for when I need it.” He pitched forward, his expression dropping to shock. Father stood behind the spot Zoltan had just occupied, peering over the edge.

“Always assume it’s the real deal.”
Father stepped off the line holding Zoltan, and I jerked, the line snapping taut. I’d tied it off, though, and gave Daddy a smug grin.

“Me: one.
Zoltan: zero,” I said, victorious.

He
nodded. “You’re less inclined to follow your gut, more likely to follow protocol. But never trust someone else to follow through. People will let you down.” With a deft motion, he severed the base line, and the full force of Zoltan’s weight ripped at me.

I fell
, bracing at the edge of the precipitous. Zoltan dangled at the end of my line, the breeze swinging him. His weight dragged at me.

“Cut the line!” Her father shouted, but
I shook my head.

“I can hold him!”

“Cut it!”

I
flinched. “No!” I slid a fraction of an inch toward the edge.

“If you don’t cut him loose, you will die.”

“Daddy, I can’t.” I turned tear-filled eyes to him, not wanting to let him down, unable to let Zoltan plunge to the ground.

“Then you die.” He turned away, shutting down the simulation.

Zoltan stood beside me, his arm darting up to cradle my shoulders. “He’s the toughest tech for a reason. He knows the weakness you don’t show.”

The memory dissolved as Zoltan, glare locked on her, snapped the line to his karabiner. Wonder coursed through her. Did he recall the same memory she did? With a quick shake of her head, she pressed forward.

She made her way up to the nearest good-sized, two story house and opened the door. The men followed and the snipers kicked into gear, making their way to the top of the ship to cover. The handle of the door turned easily and she pushed it open. The ste
nch of rot and death hit her like a sucker punch and she doubled over, gagging. The foul odor in the kitchen sent her body into spasms, and she glanced around before pressing the button on her collar.

The mask sprang into place over her mouth and nose and she took a deep breath of the recycled air, trying to calm her stomach.
She pressed into the room, noticing, among the mess and fuzzy mold, a heap of fur.

Pulling a scanner from a pocket, she knelt, scanning the lump. The data scanner returned a result that forced tears to her eyes.  A beloved family pet, left behind to die, locked in the house. The creature, the report stated, died of dehydration. Papria stood, gazing around. What could have caused the people to just leave their pet behind to die?

Unease nagged at her. All scans had been clear. There were no threats. No danger. Some signs of life, but nothing that would account for this absolute dereliction.  She moved deeper into the house, searching for answers. The place seemed clean. The only mess seemed to be that of once-thriving family life.

Having seen enough, she turned, motioning the men to the door. They made their way back out to the street. She pushed toward another building, one she recognized as a store.
Thankful for a lifetime of learning about Earth, she pushed forward. Grass stuck up between cracks in the pavement, tall as her chest. She released her clip, allowing the line to fall at her feet.

She glanced back, seeing the men stay clipped and noticed a strange look on Radek’s face. She turned forward again, catching sight of a creature that ignited her blood. Frozen, she stared at the lioness, a
n ache in her tightening core.

Three
shots rang out, one she recognized as a sniper blast, the other two, pistols. She glanced back, catching sight of the sun glinting off a scope and nodded her thanks, before staring down the barrel of Radek’s pistol. Off to the side, Zoltan stood, refusing to glance at her, his own gun smoking.

Glancing back at the lioness, she gulped in a deep breath. “They hunt in packs. Keep an eye out.” Another shot rang out, and she knew the snipers were on the ball. The men nodded, and she moved forward, an odd thought circling her mind.

This was a town, why would lions be wandering free? Digging through her memory, she processed a quick answer. Based on the amount of decay in the buildings and streets around, she assumed that a local zoo – another place humans kept dangerous animals for show, if memory served – would be overgrown as well, allowing the animals to escape. Without humans to keep them in check, they’d revert to feral status, hunting and killing for sustenance. 

But why would things be allowed to get to this point? It didn’t make sense. Even if the town were deserted, several disasters in human history proved mankind was vigilant about details, like zoo creatures. Everything their drones had learned from snagging humanities information seemed wrong.

Another shot rang out, and she scanned the grounds before her. Seeing nothing, she pulled her crossbow out and moved on with silent steps. Making her way to the door of the store, she stepped through a broken window. Weapon trained forward, she flinched at the crunch of glass under her teammate’s feet. Throwing a glance over her shoulder, she gasped.

She saw Radek pull the trigger, felt the wind of the bullet as it whizzed past her cheek. His eyes narrowed, staring at something over her shoulder, before meeting her gaze. The serious expression on his face seemed alien to his usual self, and she couldn’t help the startling heat roaring through her.

She turned, the fallen body of another lioness commanding her attention. He pushed past her, shoving her back a bit. He paused, speaking before glaring down at her.

“Perhaps I should lead.” He arched a brow, and she sensed he was daring her to cross him.

She nodded, and his hands grabbed her belt, jerking her off balance. She grabbed his shoulders for balance, staring up at him. Those blue eyes darkened, pupils snapping toward the edges. His black mask protruded out an inch over his mouth, the lower half of his face concealed by the apparatus. The click of her karabiner grabbed her attention, and she realized he’d snapped the emergency line to her.

He stepped back, the line tugging her forward a step. The imagery of being bound to him didn’t escape her, and his gaze dropped to the ground as he turned away from her, making his way to the stairs.
The overwhelming silence rang in her head, their silent steps upward dragging on. They reached a landing, yet still Radek pressed on. She counted three flights in all before they came to a door.

Radek hesitated, before slamming a booted foot against the rusted metal. The thing crashed open with a shrill scream that prompted her to clap her hands over her ears. The click of her crossbow
tapping her head drew Radek’s aim. She flinched. He dropped the barrel of his weapon toward the floor, narrowing his eyes at her.

He leaned close to her, his chest pressing to hers as his mask brushed her neck. She shivered
with his proximity, but his words chilled her.

“Damn it,
quiet
.”

She nodded, with a gulp, and he pulled away. A flash of something crossed his expression, and he shook his head. She sensed his anger, and realized he was a hardened soldier trained for this exact situation. This was his element; she was a mere inconvenience in this drill.

They stepped out on the roof. She blinked in the brilliant light, and the line tightened while Radek moved toward the edge of the building. He spun, his fist closing around the line, jerking it toward him in a swift yank.

Papria stumbled forward a step; the line snapped taut. The ground under her feet shifted, the crack
of cement sending a shock of fear through her body. Radek’s eyes met hers. Her mouth popped open, silently begging him to help her.

Her footing gave out. A scream tore from her throat as
gravity ripped her toward the floor. The twine caught, the weight of three men catching her. Her rifle slipped from her back, the butt of it smashing into the ground. She clamped her hands over her ears as it discharged, the sound reverberating through her head for a timeless instant. One end of the line went slack.

Radek fell toward her, his expre
ssion blank. She screamed again. Her back hit the floor and she crashed through. Her hand grabbed the line, holding the distance between them. Radek fell past her. The line again snapped taut. Dirt and pebbles rained down on her. Zoltan slid into the hole, his overhead grunt catching her attention.

She glanced down, watching the seams of her suit straining. Gerand’s words echoed in her mind.
“I didn’t know your weight, so I tested it with the same restrictions as the guys.”