This story starts after the successful raid on the water plant in V: The Final Battle. There are some minor changes in the events that occurred before that as well; they will be revealed as the story progresses.
He was dying.
He knew he was dying. Every laboring breath he took reminded him of that. Instinctively he tried to drag himself upward, to reduce the pressure on his lungs and make it easier to breath, but his arms had dislocated hours ago and he had no strength. He gave up, letting himself hang.
Dimly he could hear voices around him, alien voices that reverberated. He couldn't understand what they were saying, even though they spoke English. The questions had ended hours ago, when they finally realized he really couldn't answer them. Now they were just letting him die, without even the mercy of simply killing him.
He thought of his family, of his wife and tears he thought could no longer exist welled from his eyes. He wished he could see her one more time but at least, he consoled himself, she was safe. And the others were safe.
He could hear scornful laughter as he started to fade back into blessed unconsciousness. Laughter at his tears as they fell from his eyes to splatter on his chest and onto the broken ivory amulet they could not remove from his neck.
A universe or more away, she rose restlessly and stalked from the council clearing, her sharp hooves striking the ground so hard they shattered stone. She'd been restless for days now but this was worse, much worse and she was determined, despite her sister's admonishments for patience, to find out what was going on. It was, after all, her right and no one, not even the Queen herself, could deny her that.
She made her way to her sleeping area to scoop up her double-bitted axe in one hand and then headed to the training area for a brief glimpse of her five daughters. She had no fears that she wouldn't return … her kind were notoriously hard to kill … but she had no idea how long she would be gone.
"So you go anyway?" He sister didn't sound surprised and she turned to look at her.
"Yes. I must."
"I know." Her sister thrust a packet at her and surprised she took it. "This may help. Don't do anything stupid."
She grinned. "Have I ever?" She vanished before her sister could remind her of all the really stupid things she had managed to do in her lifetime.
Sancho Gomez blinked, rubbed his eyes then raised the binoculars again, looking down at the Visitor installation once again before swearing in two different languages. He hated this. He hated the fighting, he hated the fear, he hated being the one who had volunteered to come up here and keep an eye on what was going on below while the others got ready for the raid. They knew there was likely going to be prisoners and they knew the prisoners would most likely die.
But they didn't know this.
He brought up the walkie-talkie and broke radio silence, something he knew he shouldn't do but this … this he couldn't deal with.
"Caleb." He hissed into the walkie-talkie, talking quickly to override anything the other man wanted to say. "Send Tyler up here. Pronto!"
Caleb must have hear the urgency in Sancho's voice because within minutes the man called the Fixer was climbing up the slope toward him, his large friend, Chris Farber, right behind him. The expression on the man's face was grim and Sancho knew he was going to hear about this later but at the moment he didn't care. Instead, before Tyler could speak, he thrust the binoculars at him.
Tyler's glare didn't diminish as he studied Sancho, finally concluding that the little Mexican wouldn't ask for him if it wasn't important. He took the binoculars and crawled up to peer carefully over the ridge.
Sancho, still watching Tyler, saw the spasm of pain flicker across the normally impassive face and reflected that he had been right. Chris had seen it as well and threw Sancho a questioning look but before Sancho could say anything, Tyler rolled over onto his back, thrusting the binoculars at Chris. The big man took them gingerly, as if he expected them bite, and looked over the ridge. The next second, he was swearing viciously.
"Ham …" He turned but Tyler was already gone, sliding back down toward where the others were gathered. Chris thrust the binoculars back into Sancho's hands. "Tell us …" He stopped dead but Sancho understood.
"Sure." He wanted to ask what they were going to do but he knew nothing had changed. The mission had to be completed and it was very likely any prisoners would die.
Chris reached the group seconds after Tyler, just in time to see him disappear into the woods nearby, the others looking at him in bewilderment. Caleb Taylor made a move as if to follow him but Chris gripped his shoulder.
"No."
Caleb looked at him, surprised at the depth of pain and anger in the other man's eyes.
"What's going on?' He asked. At Chris' hesitation, he pressed harder. "We need to know."
Chris looked after his friend, now out of sight. They did need to know. Not that it changed anything. "Prisoner. Just one that we saw." He said tersely then stopped, finally forcing the words out. "Ben Tyler. Ham's father." Something swore behind him and he was surprised to realize it was the priest. He glanced at the woods. "Give him a minute."
"What do we do?" One of the others asked.
Chris shook his head. "What we were planning on doing." He said grimly. "Nothing's changed. We knew there could be prisoners. And we know what could happen." He glanced toward the woods. "He knows it too."
Ham Tyler stopped the minute he was out of sight, taking deep breaths in an attempt to ease the agony that tore at him. It didn't work and he finally collapsed to his knees with a moan, hammering his fists uselessly against the hard ground.
What had happened? They'd only seen his father, where were the others? He hadn't seen the others …. He took a deep breath. No, he hadn't seen the others. They weren't there. They hadn't been captured. If they had, the lizards would have had them near, to witness the older man's agony.
Rational thought kicked in, driving away the despair that had begun consumed him. Whatever happened had to have happened in the last four days, the time he and this group had been out of touch. His father's capture could have been a quirk; he could have been away from the compound and was taken in one of the sweeps. This meant, of course, that the compound had been immediately abandoned.
But why was he here, being tortured? Did they know who he was? Were they trying to get information on the resistance?
Ham closed his eyes, forcing himself to bring the image of what he'd seen back into his mind. The one-time conservation camp was being turned into a concentration camp, though, of course, the Visitors didn't call it that. It was meant to be a place where scientists could be safely interred. No fences, at least none that could be seen and minimal guards. It would be a showplace of camps, a way to convince the public that the Visitors only wanted to help and, see? We've built this nice, safe, comfortable camp for our captured enemies to live in. No one would ever see those other highly-secured camps that the Visitors were building in the mountains.
But now the camp was still in the stages of being converted. Visitor workers had been scurrying all over; doing whatever it was that needed doing while troopers stood guard at the parameters. One Visitor looked to be in charge, standing near the center of the camp, watching the others. That Visitor looked to be an older male or at least one with a middle-aged human bodysuit.
All ignored the naked man hanging from a makeshift cross near the commandant. Tied with ropes, not nailed to it but that didn't lessen what was happening to him. Even through the binoculars, and now in his mind's eye, Ham could see blood where the ropes cut into his wrists, the dislocated shoulders, the bruises and blood and filth that covered him.
It was possible, he knew, that the man was already dead and a part of him almost hoped he was, that he was no longer in pain. He heard himself moan at the thought and he clamped his lips tightly closed. He couldn't deal with it now. They had to go through with this raid. He gulped air and pushed his emotions down. He couldn't think of his father, couldn't think of the others. He had to deal with …
The sound of running feet distracted him and he whirled on his knees, bringing his gun up and just as quickly lowered it when he saw Chris hurrying toward him.
"Sancho says something weird is happening." The big man sounded confused and Ham stared at him briefly before sprinting for the ridge. He snatched a pair of binoculars from someone as he ran through the group, Chris right behind him.
He scrambled back up the slope, settling next to the intent Sancho and raising the binoculars to his eyes. The next moment, he was lowering them, aware of Chris next to him doing the same. For a second he considered rubbing his eyes. Sancho second-guessed him.
"Won't help. It's still there." He said without lowering his glasses.
Tyler blinked rapidly in an attempt to clear his eyes anyway then raised the glasses once more. Sancho was right, it was still there.
He wasn't sure how to describe it. Maybe a humanoid horse? But no horse had what looked like ivory plates growing from its body to form armor. Or a horn growing from the end of its nose. Or carried a huge axe. Or …
Tyler took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down and look at the newcomer objectively. He estimated the creature to be perhaps nine, maybe even ten feet tall, not including the nasal horn that curved upward even higher. It was bipedal, with hooves instead of feet but with what looked like five fingers to each hand. No, maybe just four fingers. Oh, hell, he couldn't count them from here. The head was definitely horse-like, though the teeth looked to be sharp and fang-like. The coat under the ivory armor looked to be white while the mane and tail were solid black. It stood in front of the cross, turned to face the commandant, hands resting on the butt of an axe easily as tall as any Visitor standing down there.
And then there was the armor itself. Ivory covered the creature's whole body, curving around the abdomen like a sharply rippled cuirass. A separate piece formed a groin guard while more ivory covered the front of the legs and arms, even covering the hands in ivory-armored gauntlets. The long neck had its own ivory armor and a face plate curved from forehead to muzzle. A horn curved upward from just above the nostrils.
"Well, whatever it is, it's no friend of the Visitors." Sancho murmured.
Tyler started to agree, since at least half of the Visitors previously visible were now hiding and the other half obviously couldn't decide if they wanted to hide or attack but Chris murmured a correction.
"She." Astonished, both Tyler and Sancho turned their heads to look at him. "There are breasts under that chest armor."
The other two men looked at each other then back at the newcomer. As far as Tyler could tell, the armor grew naturally from it's … no, Chris was right … her body. There was a hint of breast under that chest plate.
"Figures you'd notice that." Tyler muttered and Chris grinned briefly. "And definitely not a friend of the lizards."
The commandant looked like he was ready to pitch a fit but the newcomer simply stood there, looking as solid as a wall of granite. Nothing, Tyler concluded, was going to move her. But what was she and why was she here? It looked like it had something to do with his father but why? And how did she get here?
"Where'd she come from?"
"Don't know. She just appeared." Sancho caught the look on Tyler's face. "I mean it, man! Literally! One minute not there, next minute there! Boom!"
Tyler frowned but didn't argue, watching as the commandant turned and started spitting angry orders. The camp became a swarm of activity, all taking place well away from the crucified man and the newcomer.
"They're leaving." He said suddenly. Most of the Visitors were heading for ground vehicles and piling into them, the vehicles speeding off as soon as they were filled. The commandant and what appeared to be his staff had vanished into a building, leaving only a handful of troopers outside. Tyler was amused to note that the troopers were very carefully ignoring the newcomer and were just as carefully avoiding pointing a weapon anywhere in her direction. It was making for some interesting positions. He turned the glasses back at the newcomer.
The creature was glaring at the building the camp staff had vanished into. After a moment, she tossed her head and then let out a sound that the three men could hear from where they hid. No, more like feel. Tyler felt a shiver go down his spine and he wouldn't be too surprised … nor the least bit ashamed … if his face had gone white.
"That." He said shakily. "Wasn't very pleasant."
"Even less pleasant for them." Chris said as the remaining Visitors ran from the buildings and piled into the two shuttles. Even the commandant was throwing off dignity to beat his people into the nearest shuttle. The next moment, the shuttles rose into the air and were gone.
"They'll be back." Tyler murmured, turning the glasses to look at his father. The man hadn't move in all this time, even when the creature had let loose that awful cry. He couldn't tell if he was alive or dead and a part of him was afraid to find out.
Then his view was blocked by the creature. She walked around the cross, studying both it and the man still tied to it, looking as if she had no idea what it was. She probably didn't, Tyler realized. After a moment, she crouched to set the axe on the ground and stepped behind the cross. She towered over it by a good two feet, making it easy for her to hook her hands under the cross' arms and lift it straight up out of the ground. She paused, looking around before taking three long steps backwards and lowering the cross to the ground. It took Tyler a moment to realize she had deliberately put the cross and its occupant down in the shade.
That accomplished, she crouched next to the man. Something appeared in her hand and Tyler's heart almost stopped when he saw that it was a knife then the creature, with a surprisingly delicate touch, used the thin blade to slice deftly through the ropes binding his father to the cross. She flipped the ropes away then paused. Apparently she could see his arms were dislocated but there was nothing she could do about it. Not without causing more injury.
Tyler rolled onto his side. "Gimme the walkie." He ordered and Sancho handed it to him. Pressing the 'talk' button, he spoke tersely into it. "Caleb, bring up the first aid kit."
Chris hissed. "I think she heard that!"
Clipping the walkie-talkie to his own belt, Tyler rolled over to peer through the glasses. The creature was glaring their way, ears flat against her head. After a moment, the glare faded and she returned her attention to the injured man.
Tyler heard Caleb scrambling up the slope toward them. Rolling over, he sat up, stripping off his jacket and handing it to Chris. He took the first aid from Caleb, thrusting the binoculars into the other man's hand. "Everyone stay where they are but be ready to move fast."
Leaving Chris to explain what was going on; Tyler climbed over the ridge and started down the slope.
Tyler moved slowly down the slope, one eye on the creature, the other on his footing. He had step carefully if he didn't want to arrive at the bottom in a seriously undignified heap. He found himself having to concentrate more on his footing then on the creature and was startled by a sudden explosive snort not far away. He looked up and froze, realizing suddenly that he'd traveled further then he'd thought. The creature, still crouched over his father, was eyeing him thoughtfully, her axe now on the ground by her side. He was close enough to confirm that she did indeed only have four fingers per hand and to see that her eyes were a startling storm-cloud gray.
Slowly he straightened from his half-crouch, hoping she realized he wasn't trying to sneak up on her but was only trying to keep his footing. He moved forward, keeping his hand well away from the holstered SMG. She eyed him curiously, nostrils flaring then she snorted and looked back down at the injured man.
Relaxing slightly, Tyler walked over to crouch on opposite side of the cross, wincing at the close-up view of his father's injuries. Setting the first-aid kit down, he hesitated then reached up to press his fingers against the older man's neck. There was a pulse, weak and thready but there and he almost sagged in relief. He heard a quiet rumble and looked up at the creature, surprised at the look in her eyes. In a human, he would say it was a look of compassion.
"Do you understand me?" he asked suddenly.
The creature rumbled again then spoke clearly in a deep, rumbling voice but the words she spoke weren't English. Tyler had the feeling she was asking him if he understood her and he almost grinned.
"So we don't understand each other. Well, I hope you don't misunderstand what I have to do." He turned his attention back to his father, wincing at the sight of his dislocated arms. "First things first …" He knelt, searching for the right spot. "I've done this before." He muttered. But not, his thoughts interrupted, to someone he loved. 'Shut up." He looked at his father's face, etched with lines of pain and suffering. "Don't wake up." He whispered. "Just, please, don't wake up." With that, he wrenched the arm back into place. His body tensed, waiting for the man to scream but Ben Tyler was too far into unconsciousness to awaken.
He heard a snort above him and tensed again, wondering what the creature thought. When he looked up though, all he saw was that same look he'd seen before. "I'd say you've seen this done before. Maybe even done it." For some reason, talking with this alien creature calmed him and he stood, walking around the cross. The creature obligingly rose and stepped aside to let him kneel there.
"Same procedure." He muttered. "Don't wake up." The man didn't and Ham rested the arm, now properly back in place, next to the man. He looked up, startled to realize the creature was gone. Alarm shot through him until he noticed hoof-prints heading for the nearest building. Apparently she had decided to look around and he shrugged. He had enough to worry about.
Ham wondered how long his father had been hanging from the cross. Blood, vomit, urine, and excrement covered his body and Ham knew he'd have to clean him up before he could evaluate all of his injuries.
There was a thump as two jugs of water were set on the ground next to him and Tyler looked up, startled. "Damn, you move quietly." He said to the creature and she seemed to laugh as she stepped over the man and the cross. She set down her armload and Ham realized she had brought out several sheets and towels. "You have definitely done this before." He reached for one of the jugs and twisted the top off. The water inside was stale and warm. Well, it didn't need to be fresh to wash someone clean.
The creature didn't help clean up the man and Ham didn't expect her to. As big and strong as she was, she could easily do more harm than good.
"Doesn't look like he's been too long without food." Ham muttered. "But damn! These bruises …" The creature snorted, seemingly in agreement. Ben's chest, stomach, and groin were so bruised they were almost black in places. "What the hell did they want from him?" He slipped an arm under Ben's shoulders, meaning to raise him up but the feel of torn skin made him freeze. The creature rumbled in obvious inquiry then twisted into a totally undignified position to peer at the unconscious man's back. The rumble became a series of sharp clacks and Ham realized she was snapping her teeth together.
After a moment, she straightened, reaching out to support Ben with a single broad hand and gesturing for Ham to look. He did, gritting his teeth at the sight of horribly torn flesh. "Those bastards! What the hell did they want?"
The creature rumbled, setting Ben back down. She reached for a sheet and easily tore it length-wise, creating a series of wide bandages. Wordlessly Ham took them, letting her support his father as he wound the makeshift bandages around him. That, he realized, was the best he could do. His father needed a doctor.
Ham reached for the walkie-talkie, pressing the 'talk' button. "Caleb?"
The other man answered quickly. "I don't think she likes that."
Ham glanced up at the creature, seeing that her ears were flat against her head and she was glowering again. He took a deep breath and spoke rapidly. "Send down one truck, no more then five people." He signed off and, after a moment, the creature's ears came up. "Hurts your ears, I bet."
The creature reached for a sheet and spread it out on the ground then reached over to pick Ben up as easily as Ham would have picked up a kitten. Gently she set him on the sheet and wrapped it around him before rising. She stepped to the cross, picked it up with deceptive ease and threw it hard enough to make it vanish in the underbrush.
"My sentiments exactly." Ham said. The creature rumbled then turned abruptly toward the road, ears alert. Suspecting that it was his people coming, Ham forced himself to stay relaxed, hoping the creature would follow his lead. She was indeed watching him, gauging his reaction and when he showed no alarm at the truck pulling into the camp, neither did she.
Five people climbed out of the truck, eyeing the creature suspiciously. Ham rose.
"Maggie, Elias. See if you can make a comfortable spot for him in the truck. The rest of you, search this place for anything we can use and get those bombs planted. And hurry! Those lizards will be back any minute." They rushed off to obey.
The creature, obviously realizing what they intended to do, walked over to the truck and peered inside. She drew back with a snort and looked around, finally striding into a building. She stepped out and into another one, this time coming out with a twin mattress tucked under her arm. She tossed it into the back of the truck. After an astonished moment, Maggie and Elias hastily dragged it to one side, shoving it against the wall.
The creature returned to Ben's side and once again picked him up. Ham grabbed the remaining sheets and reached the truck before her, tossing one to Maggie, who spread it over the mattress. The creature handed Ben to them and they gently maneuvered him into place.
"His back is bleeding." Maggie said.
"Nothing we can do about it now." Ham said grimly. "Maggie, you mind staying with him?"
"Sure." Reaching for a canteen, she sat down next to the injured man.
"Come on, let's go help loot this place."
The slender black man shook his head. "Probably not much here."
"Wanna bet?" One of the other rebels barreled out of a building, pushing a heavily loaded wheeled cart in front of her. "Apparently they left the infirmary stocked. There's even a locked drug cabinet."
"I'll take care of that. Empty the cart and bring it back." Elias pulled out his lockpicks and disappeared into the building.
Ham grinned and looked around. The creature, he realized had once more vanished. "Where'd the big lady go?" He bellowed, making more then one rebel jump. One of them gestured toward another building, the one the camp staff had been in right before they left.
Ham walked over to the building and peered inside, not surprised to see that it was the offices. Desks had been shoved aside to make room for the creature's bigger frame and he wasn't surprised to see the wooden floor staved in at various places. Luckily there wasn't a basement.
The creature was crouched uncomfortably over a computer, using a pencil to poke gingerly at the keyboard. He walked over to look at the unfamiliar characters on the screen. It was obvious she could read it and Ham frowned.
"Now how can you read that?" He muttered. The creature looked up at the sound of his voice and rumbled. Reaching over, she grabbed a box and emptied it by simply turning it upside down. Reaching over, she scooped up a handful of wafers, about the size and thickness of Hershey bars and dropped them into the box, looking at him intently before grabbing some more up and doing the same thing. He realized that she wanted him to gather up all the wafers and pack them up. He almost refused then paused, remembering that this creature had helped save his father's life and there must be a reason she wanted these items.
Taking the box, he began to toss in every wafer he could find. They had something to do with the computer, he saw; a way to store things, similar to a floppy disk. He grimaced. He hated computers, mainly because they tended to do nasty things whenever he got near one. It didn't help that his uncle was remarkably proficient with them.
He quickly searched every desk and every cubbyhole, even tossing in those that were still packaged up and obviously unused. Opening a drawer on the largest desk, obviously the commandant's desk and seemingly made out of an alien wood, he froze, staring at the items thrown carelessly into the drawer. For a moment, black rage blinded him then he set the box carefully down and reached in to lift out a familiar gold and silver wedding ring. His father, he remembered, had had it and its counterpart specially made. To see it here, tossed like a piece of junk into a drawer, angered him more then he thought possible. To see it somewhere other than on his father's finger made him sick.
"Tyler?"
Ham closed his hand over the ring and turned his head stiffly to look at Caleb, now standing in the doorway. There was a look in the older man's eyes that said he understood what Ham was going through but he was smart enough not to say anything, a restraint Ham was very grateful for. "Yeah?" His voice was hoarse with suppressed anger then he frowned. "I thought you were with the others."
"Elias called us down. Kitchen's fully stocked with food. We brought down the other truck to get loaded up." He glanced at the creature. "You almost done?"
Ham followed his look, seeing that the creature was in the processes of packing up the computer and several of its components in a box that once held something very different, though it looked like it would work all right. "I think so, yeah. Be out in a minute."
Caleb eyed him for a moment then nodded before walking back outside. Turning back to the drawer, Ham searched through it, finding first his father's watch … a present from his mother … then his wallet. It was the same familiar brown leather wallet, battered and well-worn, that he'd used for years. Ham frowned then he opened the wallet and relaxed, thankful to see an unfamiliar name on the identification. 'Bill Tucker' was the name on the driver's license and credit cards, all so well done as to look real. The picture of 'Bill' and his wife was just as false; Jake's lovely blonde girlfriend, Amy, stood in his mother's place and the three 'children', while bearing a minor resemblance to either Ben or Amy, were actually two of his father's students and one of his uncle's employees. There was even a picture of a family dog.
"Damn, Jake does good work." Ham muttered. Slipping the ring and watch into his jeans pocket and the wallet into a back pocket, he quickly double-checked to make sure he'd gotten all the wafers. Satisfied there weren't any more to be found, he turned to see the creature carefully lifting the now filled box.
"Well, you're ready. But do we have everything?" Ham stepped over to the filing cabinets and started opening drawers, hoping to find any paperwork that could help them. To his surprise, the cabinets were all empty.
The big creature rumbled and, when Ham looked at her, tapped the box she held lightly then gestured at the box of wafers. "They keep everything electronically? I suppose that makes sense. Of course, that probably means everything's encrypted and password-protected." He took a final look around the room, feeling certain he'd missed something. With a muttered curse, he returned to the big desk and searched it again, unable to squelch the feeling that something was off. It was only when he straightened, looking down at the desk, that he realized what it was.
He'd left all the drawers pulled out and, for the first time, he realized that the drawers were shorter than the desk. The creature noticed it at the same time and set her box down, moving to tower over the desk.
"Hidden compartment, I bet. Let's see if we can figure this out … Well, that works too." Ham said in amusement as the creature dug her fingers into the wood and tore the desk apart. The sharp crack of splintering wood brought Caleb and Elias running in, guns drawn.
"Tyler?" Caleb eyed the desk and the creature who'd torn it apart warily. She was looking rather pleased with herself.
"It's all right. The big lady's found us the commandant's hidden stash." Ham reached into the now exposed secret area and pulled out a handful of wafers. He hesitated, wanting to keep these separate from the others.
"Here." Caleb reached over and dumped out the contents of a small box, offering it to him. Ham slipped the wafers in then tucked the box securely into the other box.
"I think that was supposed to be some kind of safe." Elias commented and Ham grinned.
"Not so safe with the big lady around." He grunted, pulling out a sheaf of papers and a bunch of envelopes, dropping them into the box of wafers. He took one final look inside then, finally satisfied that they had everything, he picked up the box
"Okay, come on. We better get out of here." He walked from the building, pausing at the sight of another truck parked in front of another building with the remainder of the rebels filling it as quickly as possible.
"The food." Caleb reminded him.
Ham nodded and handed his burden up into the other truck, stepping aside so the creature could set her box carefully inside. She disappeared back into the building and came back with what looked like a printer and a box of other items, storing them with the computer before stepping back and glowering at the skies.
"I think we're about to get company. Everybody! Let's go!"
"What about her?" Elias asked. "She won't fit."
"She'll have to make her own way." Ham scrambled up into the truck and Elias slammed the gate up, a sound that made the creature jump. She snorted then resumed glaring at the skies. Ham hesitated then slapped his hand on the tailgate. "Let's go!"
The truck pulled away from the camp. "When did you time the bombs to go off?" Ham asked one of the rebels, a thin, dark-haired man named Nick Lenner.
"Twenty minutes from now." Nick's accent was pure mid-west and Ham sometimes wondered what he was doing here, on the east coast. He also sometimes wondered where a high-priced lawyer who had never been in the military learned how to rig explosives. Then again, maybe he didn't want to know.
"Good." Ham grunted, looking out of the back of the truck, not surprised to see the creature gone. "With any luck they'll be searching the buildings when they blow."
They'd been on the road less then ten minutes when the truck suddenly jerked to one side and Ham reached for his weapon, moving to peer from back of the truck. Behind him, he could hear Maggie using the walkie-talkie to ask Elias what had happened. He could hear the other man's curt reply.
"Just got startled. That big lady just appeared … I mean just appeared! … out of nowhere at the side of the road. She's following us somehow."
Ham reached over to take the walkie-talkie from Maggie. "I think I know how she's following us. Ignore her. But remind me to tell Gooder and the others about her when we reach base." He grinned briefly at the reaction her unexpected appearance could bring.
Handing the walkie-talkie back to Maggie, he checked on his father. Still unconscious but it seemed that his breathing had improved slightly and his color was a little better. Of course, just being off that damn cross was a big improvement. With the stress removed from his internal organs, breathing would be easier. Ham felt a pang of regret. His father was going to be a long time healing and it wasn't going to be pleasant.
For the first time, he noticed how swollen the fingers of his father's left hand were and examined them closer, realizing that his fingers had been broken when they had forcibly removed his wedding ring. He set the hand down carefully.
"What all did we get?" He asked suddenly, turning to settle against the wall by his father's head. Blade, called that because of her penchant for sharp, pointy weapons, looked up with dark blue eyes that were almost always amused, no matter what she was doing.
"From the look of it, the Visitors took control of the camp right before the work season was to begin. They must have stocked up right before hand. Lots of first aid equipment, some drugs. Nothing mind-blowing but everything's helpful." She ran her hands over short dirty-blonde hair and grinned cheerfully.
More out of habit then anything else, Ham scowled back then nodded, looking around the crowded truck. Besides the medical supplies, they had grabbed sheets, pillows, blankets, towels, even mattresses, all of which would be useful. That, along with a truck full of food, made for an excellent day's haul.
He looked back down at his father's face. The right side of his face was turning black and Ham suspected his cheekbone was broken. Both his eyes were swollen and black as well. He wondered what they had beaten him with.
"Ham?" Maggie said tentatively, her face concerned. "His back …."
Ham's face tightened. "They whipped him. Flayed the skin off his back."
Someone hissed in sympathy, someone else gagged.
"Maybe … maybe we should turn him on his side?" Maggie asked and Ham could have kicked himself.
"Yeah. I didn't think of that."
"I'd say you were a little distracted." Maggie said kindly as they gently turned the man on his side. For the first time, Ben made a sound, moaning with pain. Ham stayed crouched over the man, waiting to see if he was waking up but Ben sank deeper into unconsciousness. Ham hoped desperately that he wasn't bleeding internally as he settled back down, this time next to the older man. Maggie shifted to sit by Ben's head.
"Here." Nick shoved several pillows at them. "Put them behind him. They'll cushion his back if we take a quick turn."
"Good idea." Ham grunted as he placed the pillows behind the unconscious man. Maggie shifted a pillow under Ben's head and Ham muttered a quiet 'thank you."
"We should be back at the base in a few hours." Maggie said and Ham nodded grimly.
"Any morphine in the medical supplies?" He asked suddenly.
Blade grimaced. "No. Some over the counter painkillers and antibiotics but that's about it."
Ham nodded again, eyes locked on his father's face, his stomach tight with a worry he didn't dare allow to reflect on his face. If something went wrong now, they wouldn't be able to save him. If he had extensive internal damage there would be nothing they could do even if they did make it to the base.
Ham forced those thoughts from his mind, refusing to dwell on what might happen and concentrated on what was happening now.
They stopped halfway back to the base, pulling the truck into a thick grove of trees to hide it from any shuttles. While the rest of the rebels stepped out to stretch their legs and keep a wary eye out for any Visitors or police, Caleb helped Tyler clean his father up. Unconscious or not, bodily functions were still working; which, Caleb reflected, was actually a good sign, though not necessarily one he cared to deal with.
Once that was done, Blade slipped into the truck to keep an eye on the man. Caleb went over to talk to Elias for a few minutes before starting to round people up. It was then he noticed Tyler was gone. He frowned, snagging Sancho's sleeve as he passed. "Where'd Tyler go?" He asked quietly.
Sancho jerked his head toward the woods. Caleb hesitated then headed that way, wishing Chris had been with this truck rather than going with the other one. They had split up shortly after leaving the camp to keep from looking too suspicious, the other truck taking a different route back to the base.
He found Tyler standing on a ridge not too far from where they had stopped, staring at the Los Angeles mothership, which was so big that it could be seen from miles away. Caleb could see his face, see the hate and anger etched there. There was grief there as well and, Caleb realized, more than a little guilt.
So Donovan was wrong. Tyler wasn't made of stone.
A slight movement caught Caleb's eye and he turned his head, surprised to see the huge creature standing in the shadows of the trees, watching him. The head of her huge axe rested on the ground, her hands folded on the handle's end. She was, Caleb realized, watching over Tyler. After a moment, the big lady turned her attention back to Tyler and Caleb followed suite, walking over to stand just behind and to one side of the other man.
"Tyler." He said quietly, though he suspected Ham already knew he was there. At least the other man's face was once more impassive.
"Tayler." Ham replied with some humor, not taking his eyes from the mothership, and Caleb grinned slightly.
"Weird, isn't it? They come here looking just like us and no one ever stopped to consider that maybe they would end up being just like us."
"You mean greedy, lying bastards? Some of us did. But no one wanted to listen to us." Ham paused. "You think maybe it would have been better if they didn't look anything like us? If they looked like the big lady maybe?"
Caleb snorted. "The big lady may look like a walking nightmare but she helped your father. And she's had amble opportunity to kill you."
Ham threw him a questioning look and Caleb realized he didn't know the big lady was near. He nodded his head toward the shadows and Ham turned to look, eyebrow arching in surprise.
"For something so big she sure is quiet."
Caleb nodded. "And the Visitors don't like her. Or at least they're afraid of her."
"That's a plus in her favor. But does that mean we should trust her?"
Caleb opened his mouth then paused. "This may sound weird but I suspect she'd be disappointed if we did."
Ham looked as surprised as Caleb had ever seen him. "Funny, that's what I was thinking." He eyed the big lady for a long moment then walked over to stand in front of her. Caleb stayed where he was, watching this tableau warily.
Ham was maybe five-ten and the big lady towered over him by a good three feet. Her axe was taller than he was. There was a glint of humor in those storm-gray eyes and a vast amount of intelligence as well as she stared back down at Tyler, as steadily as he was staring up at her. Suddenly Ham raised his hand, resting it lightly on the ivory armor covering the creature's arm. He jerked it back just as quickly and the creature gave a deep rumble that Caleb realized was laughter.
"What?" He asked sharply.
Ham shook his head. "I got a weird feeling on my skin when I touched her armor. Almost like a tingling." He eyed the big lady thoughtfully. "She doesn't seem surprised by it." Ham studied his hand, seeing no difference there; no burns or obvious reaction. "Weird." Then he shook himself, looking up at the darkening sky. "We better get going."
The two men walked back toward the truck, leaving the big lady standing in the approaching gloom, staring out at the mothership.