Chapter Two
It was with hesitation that Walman had to agree that having Bess along on the hunt was a good idea. He had no idea she was so adept with unconventional hunting techniques.
"Looking at the terrain around here," she'd commented, "I think a deadfall would be the perfect trap. There are plenty of steep hillsides and boulders to work with." Sure enough their northerly route took them back out of the open plains and into the wooded foothills of the mountains they'd just escaped from.
"Hey, guys," Alonzo said from a perch on top of a particularly large boulder. "If we place the perimeter alerts through these woods, we'll know where he's coming through. If he leaves the woods, he'll either have to circle miles back around to find a way up the mountain that isn't nearly vertical or he'll have to come out onto the plain where there's no cover. The grass out there is still low enough that Zero will be able to spot him easy."
They looked out across the vista Alonzo was describing. Then Bess had an idea. "Why don't we use the perimeter alerts as a sort of herding device. The ZED will know the alerts are there before he gets close enough to trigger them. We could set them in such a way that to go around them, he heads right where we want him to go," she suggested.
"Right into a trap," Magus concluded.
"Something like Bess's deadfall. That's so low tech he'd never pick up until he was right on it," Alonzo added.
"Hey, guys," Walman called, "check this out." He'd spotted a tall bluff, right on the edge of the tree line. "If we string our alerts from this spot to out in the plain, we might get him. We can set the alert just far enough away to leave maybe eighteen inches of clearance—not enough to be suspicious, but enough to make him think we were working fast and got a little sloppy."
As Walman, Alonzo, and Bess constructed a savage deadfall, Mazatyl and Magus strung out the alerts in an arc between the bluff and the plain. After an hour of hard labor, they were set. All they needed was bait.
At last Magus volunteered to serve as bait. She would talk to camp on gear from behind a set of boulders that should shield her from any oncoming projectiles from the ZED's assumed position. The ZED would know she was there and would come beneath the bluff, hitting the tripline that would trigger the fall of boulders they'd spent hard work destabilizing and propping up again.
The rest of the group would watch from a distance over the jumpers, prepared to go in shooting with the magpro should the deadfall fail to immobilize the ZED. Mazatyl went on ahead with the jumpers and magpro to set up the observation position.
"This is just damned cunning, guys," Walman sighed in gratification at their hard work.
"I just hope it works," Alonzo responded. "We've only got one shot at this."
"To get to this spot from the position Danner gave us, he's either got to pass through our perimeter sensors or climb a sheer twenty foot bluff," Bess added. "It looks to be as good a spot as any we could come up with."
"Danner to scouting party," came the chirp over the gear as Alonzo, Walman, and Bess prepared to leave the area.
"Magus here," Magus replied, figuring there was no time like the present to begin baiting the trap.
"I've just picked up a reverse communication from the ZED to Riley," Danner responded. "Danziger is charting the signal now to give you his position relative to yours."
"Okay, guys, I make him as--" Danziger's voice began. "Oh man, he's behind you guys. He's behind the perimeter already," he shouted in warning. "Drop the gear and run. Get back to camp now!"
Back in the Ops Center, Danner and Danziger listened in horror as Magus responded affirmatively, but then cried out in fear and surprise.
"Walman!" she screamed. Then they heard a rustle and commotion. "Run!" someone's voice—probably Alonzo's--could be heard in the background, followed by a choked cry.
Danziger listened breathlessly as Magus ran through the underbrush. "Ditch the gear, Magus," he commanded her again, but she was apparently too upset to obey.
At last, she seemed to stop, her breathing ragged and shallow. "He's not chasing me," she panted.
"You can't know that," Danziger retorted harshly. "Ditch the gear and come back to camp."
"No," she answered. "Mazatyl is here watching over the jumpers."
"I can see the ZED back at the deadfall," Mazatyl said in the background. "He isn't pursuing us."
"Take the jumpers, Magus," Danziger ordered quietly. "Hook the view into the POV."
Danziger swung his eyepiece into place for visual and watched vicariously over the gear as Magus scanned the area.
"Oh, no, Terry," she moaned as the jumpers focused in on Walman who lay crumpled beside a large boulder.
"What else is there?" Danziger asked gently. "Keep looking, Magus."
The view scanned about to reveal a large human form, clad in black armor. He'd once been a red haired man, but now he was a ZED, genetically altered and unstoppable. Behind him, Bess cowered on the ground, apparently unhurt. Alonzo lay on the ground beside her, also unmoving.
"What's he doing?" Danziger asked, as much to himself as Magus.
"I think he's talking to Bess," Magus answered, her voice quivering only a little as she fought for control.
"Keep watching, Magus," Danziger ordered. "At the first sign that he's onto you and Mazatyl, dump the gear, the jumpers, and the magpro and get yourselves back here. Do you understand me?" he asked sternly.
"I understand," she answered weakly.
"We're on our way." Danziger hoped his words offered comfort to her at least. He did not look forward to what he had to do next.
A few minutes later, Julia, Morgan, and Yale had joined him and Danner in the Ops Center.
Without preamble, Danziger launched straight into the bad news. "The ZED's got them—Walman, Bess, and Alonzo. Magus and Mazatyl are watching from a distance."
At Morgan's immediate reaction, Danziger held up his hand and continued, "Bess seems to be just fine. The ZED has been talking to her, but hasn't harmed her that we've been able to see." Then he turned to Julia. "Walman is injured but has been moving a little." He stopped and looked Julia straight in her blue eyes, vividly aware of the fear he could see there. "Alonzo hasn't moved. We don't know what is going on with him."
"I'll get my equipment," she said roughly and left the room.
She opened the door to exit, revealing True standing with a very subdued looking Uly.
"What happened to Alonzo, Dad?" True asked in her direct fashion.
"What makes you think anything has happened?" Danziger answered, wondering how they could possibly have known.
"Uly, maybe you should tell him," True looked at Uly with a hint of accusation in her eye.
"Lately, it's been like I could Dream with Alonzo when he wasn't asleep," Uly began. "He didn't know I was there, but I could kind of look in on him."
"Eavesdropping in his mind?" Yale sounded shocked.
"Not really. I couldn't hear his thoughts or anything," Uly explained rapidly. "I just kind of knew where he was."
Danziger wondered if he was getting the whole truth, but decided now was not the time to pursue it. "So what do you get now when you try to Dream to him?" he knelt down to get on Uly's eye level. He didn't want to scare him, but he did want to know.
Uly looked at him with a deep hurt in his eyes. "I don't get anything," he whispered. "Is Alonzo okay?"
"We sure hope so, Uly. You keep listening for him to tune back in and let me know when he does, all right?" Danziger responded as positively as he could considering that Uly's words had sent a chill down his spine.
Then he included True in his look and addressed the both of them. "Julia, Morgan, and I have to go out to see if we can help the scouting party. You two are going to stay here with Cameron, Yale, and Danner. Uly, I want you to listen for Alonzo and let us know if you hear him. True, I want you to help Cameron and Yale with whatever they ask you to do. Danner is going to be in here relaying communications between us all. Can you two take care of that for me?"
The two children nodded and he sent them off to find Cameron. They left the room just as Julia re-entered, her backpack of medical equipment on her shoulders and a look of fierce determination coupled with deep worry on her face.
"Danziger, what are we going to do?" Morgan began desperately. "How did that ZED get behind them? Danner, I thought you had him pinpointed outside the grid."
"I did," she answered defensively. "He must have known where they were and circled back around them."
"Which brings up the question, how did he know where they were?" Yale asked.
"I think I might have an answer for that," Julia responded. "Riley as much as admitted that we were in a blackout area that he couldn't surveil until we came upon Bennett's ship. I think we're back in his range, and he's using the biostat implants to track us. That's what they're there for—to relay information on our health status to the station authorities."
"What if they relay more than our health status?" Morgan asked with a paranoid edge. "What else could Riley know about us and what we're thinking?"
"Who knows at this point," Danziger intervened. "But what's important is that the ZED can possibly get information from Riley on our whereabouts at all times. Danner, it is more important than ever that you and Yale crack the coded transmissions between Riley and the ZED. Find out what they're saying and let us know."
"We could possibly use a little of the same support that Morgan used to break into the coded files left by the settlement's doctor," Yale suggested.
"I don't think I could do it without Bess to help," Morgan replied. "I don't know if the planet would talk to me without her."
"That gives me an idea," Danziger began. "Julia, take Baines and the ATV and home in on Magus's signal. Stay in touch with Danner on gear at all times though. I've got an idea I want to try out, but you need to be on your way there to help Walman and Alonzo."
Julia nodded and quickly left the room, her lips pressed together tightly with suppressed emotion and worry.
"I'm going with her," Morgan began to follow, but Danziger held him back by one arm.
"No, you're staying here," Danziger commanded.
"That's my wife out there, Danziger," Morgan cried. "I have to help her."
"I need you here to try to uncode those transmissions," Danziger responded firmly. "We've got to know what Riley is telling this ZED to do."
"I can't do it without Bess," Morgan whined. "Like I've told you all over and over, the planet doesn't like me very much."
"Yeah, but I like you, Morgan," Danziger said with an evil grin.
Out on the trail, Walman could feel the bones in his broken hip and ribs grind against themselves any time he tried to move or even breathe. The pain was excruciating and several times he nearly passed out as he attempted to adjust his position on the hard ground.
When the ZED had attacked them, it first tossed Walman aside against a boulder, then threw Alonzo headlong into a tree. His head had hit the tree with a sick crunch. Walman tried to watch for signs that he was still breathing, but from his position on the ground, all he could see was Alonzo's legs, which hadn't moved.
He also couldn't see Bess, but could hear the ZED as it spoke to her.
"Your name," it asked.
"Bess Martin," she answered weakly.
"Bess Martin, how have you altered your biostat implant?" it asked.
"I haven't altered anything," she answered.
"You will answer my questions or I will be forced to begin interrogation procedures," the ZED responded. Then it paused as if receiving a communication. "I have been ordered to remove you from this area for questioning and examination," the ZED continued in his flat, emotionless voice.
"I will now terminate the other prisoners," it began. Walman could see the ZED's boots as they rounded the boulder he lay beside.
"No," he managed to whisper through the pain.
The ZED knelt down into view, extending his cybernetic hand, which now sported some kind of needle.
"Do not struggle," the ZED began. "The pain will be less if you do not struggle against it."
As the needle approached his neck, Walman tried to protest, but found he had neither breath nor strength to do it.