Chapter Thirteen: The Rescue
"Damn!" Courtney swore, as Yaha finished cleaning her newest trophy, "we are not getting anywhere, these people have mouths like pit bulls, locked tight."
"There is still Gerard," Yaha suggested, putting her prize in a bag, "his tongue is quite loose, and he is still alive. He may know where the...lab...is." she said fumbling with the English word she had no equivalent for.
Far away from the searching party, the ATP was busy. Everyone was excited about the new discoveries being made daily about the alien technology "Procured" from their captive.
Tarry and Ben were two of the scientists heavily involved with trying to figure out the mysteries of the alien devices. They were working mid-shift tonight, on the plasma cannon, trying to yield information on how it worked.
Ben moved away from the table rubbing his aching eyes, he had been looking over the schematics of what was believed to be the controlling device, for over an hour. He stood and stretched, moving restlessly about the cramped basement of an ordinary looking two story ranch house in the middle of the desert.
He noticed the creature lying lifelessly on the floor of its cell, and walked over. It was on its stomach, and the one eye he could see stared unfocused out from under the cascade of what was their hair. Its breaths came short and shallow, completely irregular.
Ben picked up a nearby hammer and hit one of the bars hard with it, the clang echoed off the walls. Its' head jerked, lifted a few inches off the floor and regarded him, then slowly lowered back, its' eyes losing focus again.
"Our friend looks sick." he stated to Tarry, who looked up from his work.
"Huh?"
"It looks sick." he repeated, motioning over his shoulder, Tarry glanced at the cage.
"It's probably just sleeping," he said with irritation, "Don't let it fool you, I heard Jim Taylor was attacked yesterday, Damn fool went in there on his own."
"We all know how he likes to torture animals, Tarry." at that a low growl could be heard from the cage, Ben looked wide-eyed that direction, "Besides, they retrieved his stick from the cell, we all know what he does on watch. They were not able to prove it until now. If you ask me he got what he deserved." He finished slowly, not really paying attention to what he was saying, "You know I sometimes get the feeling crab face here understands us." he said suddenly.
"Don't be stupid," Tarry retorted, "C'mon lets get back to work."
Ben looked one more time at the large creature in the cage, it was staring his direction, and with none of the lack of focus he had seen earlier. He shivered, feeling small, seeing intelligence behind those bright orange eyes, and returned to the table. The two of them continued to chatter, but it was now all science.
Gui'Yata heard their conversation, but the words, unless he really concentrated on them, had no form or meaning, sounding like a gurgling brook. It was soothing, tempting him to let go, to fall gently into the blackness that beckoned. He was trying to fight it, knowing it was his sickness, he was slowly losing the ability to do so. A pang of helplessness overwhelmed him, but was quickly gone as he slipped back into the murmur that demanded all of his attention.
Gerard paced the floor of the ornate room, thinking again on a way to get out. He was really tired of this place, how long had he been here? It seemed like forever. His pacing stopped as the door slid open, and the woman entered, what was her name? He could not recall it being mentioned.
"What do you want now?!" he said viciously.
She looked down trodden, and it confused him. But he could not resist taking a stab at her.
"You look lost, did someone steal your play-toys? What no snide comments?"
"Shut up!" She growled smacking him hard. She turned away from him, as he rubbed his burning cheek, tempted to retaliate.
"I'm sorry." she said suddenly, taking him by surprise.
"An apology? Whoa, you must want something." he said with a twinge of smugness, "What do want from me, O'fearless leader?"
She fidgeted, obviously having a hard time bringing herself to the matter at hand.
She took a deep breath, "I need your help, I have nowhere else to turn. The rest have agreed that you are my best bet. One of our party is in trouble, and you may know something about where he might be."
"What do you mean?"
"Your people have managed to capture one of my party."
Gerard wanted to laugh, but knew that it would be dangerous to do so.
She went on, "How much do you know about these creatures you have been hunting for so long?"
"Not much, just what will hurt them." He shrugged, "I was only a soldier, just hit and run stuff."
"Well," she sighed, "The atmosphere of this planet is not sufficient to sustain them. And your people are slowly killing a friend of mine. You see they have stripped him of his tanks..."
"How do you know that?"
"We got the information from several of your people, before they were killed." she said casually, he swallowed hard at her tone, "The problem is that none of them could give us the information on where they have him. We think that you can."
He turned away from her, of two minds about helping her. That day so long ago, on that alien ship, had scared him more than anything he could remember. That was why he had quit, and why his life had been a virtual hell these past thirteen years. Then again, this could be his chance to repay the Organization for their treatment of "Loyal soldiers". "I wish I could help you. But I wasn't lying when I told you I had quit that organization. That day spooked the hell out of me, so I turned in my resignation. They in turn tried to have me eliminated, something about my knowing to much to stay alive..." he shrugged, "Anything I told you would be outdated information, over ten years old."
He saw the depth of her feeling for the creature that she had been referring to play across her face. His brows furrowed, she was so very strange, yet there was something about her. Something innocent and vulnerable under the callous exterior she had erected, to protect herself from her new world.
"I...I can show you where they used to keep the lab. I don't guarantee that they are still there, but it is worth a try."
She looked at him searching his face testing his sincerity. She smiled weakly, "Thank you. I'll be back." she said starting toward the door, she paused a moment, "I lied to you about your men...They were killed shortly after arriving on Soona, some of the natives of the planet took them, when they tried to escape. I'm sorry." with that she left. And Gerard began to cry for the first time since the loss of his company.
The next day Gerard was taken from the room he had been in all this time, and escorted outside. The light nearly blinded him, when his eyes finally adjusted he took in the scene.
They were in a heavily forested area, probably Griffith Park again, but a different spot. There were several of the creatures busily preparing six strange mounts, in the clearing at the end of the ramp. The creature that had brought him this far left him there without any concern for what he might do.
Gerard slowly moved down the ramp observing the way the beings interacted with the birdlike mounts. He noticed off to one side was the woman, and he still did not know her name. He headed that direction, she was looking over a large map.
"Hello," he said tentatively.
"Um, morning." she said, "Can you show me on this map where this place is?"
"It is out here," he pointed to a section of the map, a good distance from where they were now, "Out in the desert."
"That's about a days travel time." she calculated, "here." she handed him a bundle, as he unwrapped it she walked off to consult with one of the creatures.
The package contained a set of clean clothes.
He approached her again, "UH, thanks," She nodded and continued with what she had been doing. Her hair was loose and she had let it fall down one side of her face. He looked at that face for long moments, tracing scars he did not remember being there the last time they had met. He cleared his throat at thoughts he knew he should not be thinking, "I... never was told your name." he said, she stared at him a moment, then smiled.
"My name is Courtney. You are Gerard."
"Call me Scott, please, my last name reminds me too much of the Organization. You must trust me a little, to be letting me run around."
"I don't think you'll go anywhere. If you tried I suspect you would not get very far, everyone here is a deadly aim."
"I believe that." he said sincerely, "I still don't understand, you have been living with these creatures for thirteen years?"
"Yes." she said suddenly mad, "your people didn't give me much of a choice."
"I'm sorry, but what I meant was... I mean from what I've seen here, it looks like a strict set-up. How'd you manage?"
Her head cocked to one side, "It has not been easy, you do what you have to, I guess that is why they say humans are the most adaptable species on Earth." She motioned to the members of the party, her brows furrowed, "These creatures are Soua, and those you see here are the nucleus of my family. The only one missing is the one ATP has in captivity, he is my best friend, my bondsman." she looked at her feet a moment, "There is a long story behind our meeting."
After an hour of explanation Gerard had a little better appreciation of her sacrifice, and the incredible feat she had accomplished in such a rigid society. She stood up looking down at him, then turned her attention to one of the creatures approaching her. The creature stood about seven perhaps seven foot one inch tall, he was light brown with chocolate brown crosses and diamonds decorating his skin. There was an ugly oblong scar on the creatures left leg, vague teeth marks showing. Gerard listened as she spouted a series of unintelligible squeals, and clicks to the creature.
"We can not take the time to move over there on Yimhi, it would take to long. We will have to move Quarta closer to the target, and operate from there."
"Then we are risking detection, Raha." Yalsa argued, always thinking first of the ship.
"To Chai with detection! We're trying to save a life here! By the time they know, we will be halfway to the desert!" then she quieted, "Hopefully halfway home."
Yalsa acquiesced, then turned to the others, "Load the Yimhi on the ship, we leave in ten minutes."
Gerard did not know what was said but he got the gist, the clearing was suddenly a flurry of activity, creatures loaded the mounts back onto the ship. And equipment was gathered hastily but efficiently and brought back on board.
"Time to go." Courtney said to him, ignoring the activity around her.
"You mean..."
"If you think I'm leaving you here, mister you've got another thing coming. You're now a voluntary prisoner, C'mon." Something in her tone made him laugh. He stood, shrugged and walked up the inclined ramp.
"This should be interesting," he mused.
Quarta settled about five miles from the targeted house, among rolling dunes. They had already prepared the Yimhi and were mounted awaiting the ramps opening. They had given Gerard his own mount, but he was unsure whether he was going to be able to handle it. He had ridden horses, but had the feeling this was nothing like it. The woman approached and spoke in low tones to the bird, before mounting her own.
The glare of the desert welcomed them and Courtney signaled them to move out. Gerards bird lurched forward, and he was hard put to keep his balance. He watched in amazement as those ahead of him disappeared, and panic rang through him. But he figured the bird knew what it was doing if he did not.
He had just gotten settled into the birds rhythm when they came to an abrupt halt. He gave the bird the signal Courtney had taught him, it settled on its haunches, and he slid off. He began to think his mount had gotten him lost when the group materialized just under the ridge. He quickly clambered up slope and joined them.
The house was a paradox, Courtney thought, it was peaceful, quiet. She watched the horses graze in the oasis of green grass, set in the middle of arid desert. She looked at Yalsa then to Gerard still not sure that the information was correct.
"Are you sure this is right?" she asked.
"Positive. If it is still in use. It was specially built as a research facility for these creatures. I was in charge of security when they were in the process of building it. Don't let it's looks fool you." He moved his rifle to a more comfortable position.
She sighed, looking back at the house, "Ok lets go." she said in English, and motioned the group back down the hill.
They approached the house stealthily, though their refractors hid them. They kept sharp eyes out for any resistance, knowing full well that this organization may have developed technology to detect their presence. It remained deathly quiet.
"Sir, perimeter alarms have been tripped at research station Alpha-ten-Charlie. Nothing shows up on visual scans. Pheromone scanners have picked up twelve cloaked targets heading for the entrance to the ground level. Two fit the human profile, four are identified as the alien previously encountered, the other six are unknown, they match no known profile."
Santos hit the intercom and alarm at the same time, "Scramble the strike team, we have a situation zebra at research station Alpha-Ten-Charlie, this is not a drill!" he was a natural leader, "Damn, I thought they hunted alone! Twelve of them?" He whispered to himself.
"BEEP, BEEP, BEEP", the perimeter alarm also alerted Hopkins of the danger, at his post. He was a man who took his job seriously. He punched up the cameras and was met by blank screen.
"What the...?" he mused, a blank screen did not mean much however, not when they had a creature that could hide itself with light, in their cage. He dashed out of the control room, stopping to relay his information to Taylor.
"Hey, man, we got a perimeter breach, sector five delta."
"What you get on the cameras?" Taylor asked nasally from under his bandage, a good reminder of the viciousness of their captive. Hopkins had been surprised that the creature had not killed him with that blow. He knew this front Taylor put on was to cover how embarrassed and scared he felt over what had happened.
"Nothin' that's what's got me spooked, could be more O' them things like our friend there." he nodded toward the cage.
"Gimme a break, probably got a malfunction in the sensor."
"Well, I'm going to check it out."
"Have fun." he snickered.
"Lazy son of a bitch." Hopkins smoldered, climbing the stairs out of the sub-basement. He silently wished that Taylor had gotten canned over that incident, but he had a few strings to pull with his influential father. Damn he deserved to get fired, sadistic bastard had almost ruined everything. As Hopkins disappeared up the dark stairwell, the two scientists and Taylor shared a laugh on his behalf.
Hopkins drew his weapon as he reached the door leading outside, sector five delta was immediately opposite this door. He opened to door and was hit with the heat and the glare of the desert noonday sun. He stepped through the door cautiously, looking for the distortions that were rumored to mark the creatures camouflage. That was going to be hard when the air itself was distorted in this heat.
As careful as he was he barely saw the motion of the jaws, just materializing from its cloak, "Jesus!" he exclaimed as he dropped and rolled out of the way of the snapping beak. He fired twice at the creature, bigger than two grown men, and watched in horror as the bullets ricocheted off its scaled hide. He rolled again as a four-clawed foot stomped the ground where he had just been.
He regained his footing and started to run, right into Quona's Raspa. "Auuk" was the startled cry from the man as he grasped the spear in his gut. Quona put the man quickly out of his misery.
Courtney motioned the group inside, stopping Gerard, "Are you sure you're going to be able to handle what happens in there?" It was genuine concern, not a sneering challenge, as he first thought it was going to be.
"I...I think so."
"Ok, let's go." she locked her helm in place, and followed him closely. Relaying in Sou what Gerard was saying about the layout he remembered, to the party.
The group split up scouring the upper levels of the house. Outside of the one guard they had encountered, they had moved around unchallenged. This was going too easy, Courtney thought, it was making her edgy.
When the all clear was given, Gerard showed them where the basement level was. It was well lit, with several doors on either side of the room. Each was silently and methodically checked, each member's report was the same. No signs of any lab work at all. Courtney looked angrily at Gerard.
"What is this some kind of joke?" She asked menacingly. She did not notice Nobaya leaving their huddle.
"It used to be here, I gave you no guarantee that it was still an active station, remember? They have dozens of these." He retorted hotly, feeling more than a little out of place with these killers. Courtney had no comeback for that, no he had not promised her anything. She began to despair, thinking that they were going to be too late to save Gui'Yata.
It was just then that Nobaya rejoined them, "Here." he whispered urgently, a drawn out hiss, they went to the last room on the left side, "They are here, close, I can hear them. I also can smell them, their foul odor permeates this place." He walked up to a wall hanging hung a little too conveniently on one wall, "Here!" he said flinging back the hanging, behind it stood a heavy wooden door. Courtney passed him and set her ear to the door, sure enough she could hear voices coming up from a hidden room below. She pounded Nobaya's arm affectionately, thank heaven for Soua ears.
She slowly opened the door, and lithely made her way halfway down the steps, motioning the others to sit tight. She sat in the shadows taking in the scene.
There were two men in smocks sitting at a long bench, looking over a printout, they were talking loudly, more joking than working. They were exchanging insults between themselves and another guard who was leaned against the wall.
The guard's nose was bandaged, and his cheeks bruised, he looked as if someone ran him into a wall. She almost laughed, realizing that what she was looking at was probably Gui'Yata's handiwork. She knew he would try to get even with these bastards on his own. Heaven knew he was sitting far enough away from the cage. She knew though that he had not been successful, for he had not contacted them.
The cell was directly opposite the man, its' bars humming with electricity. Her smile faded when she caught a glimpse of Gui'Yata's condition. He lay lifeless on the floor, he was gaunt, his once healthy body wasted, his coloring dulled. Ugly purple-black welts covered his back. She switched to infrared and studied his heat signature. Body temperature was down, multiple bright spots showed her serious internal injuries, and his brain activity was down.
"Son of a bitch!" she whispered, feeling her hands make fists.
She crawled back up the stairs seething, and explained to the rest of the group the situation. Quona got up and left for a moment, when he returned he held the headless corpse of the first guard.
"A distraction." he stated coldly. Courtney nodded.
"Nobaya, Yaha, you are with me. Follow me down, when we have the situation in control, the rest of you follow, and search any rooms we have not been able to see. Sora, you stay up here and keep an eye out for reinforcements."
They all nodded, readying themselves. Gerard felt lost, he did not even know what had been said. He decided it best to let the others handle it before he showed himself.
With a loud thumping sound the body came rolling down the stairs, taking all in the lab by surprise. The body was thoroughly mutilated and the head was missing. One of the lab technicians puked at the sight the other was too horrified to do anything but gawk. Taylor unlocked the gun in its holster, hand floating over it in readiness.
"Who...Who's up there?!" He queried his mind in overdrive not even noticing the bloody corpse at his feet.
The wind was knocked out of him as something tackled him, it rolled over him then stood up. It was a woman! Two very large creatures similar to the one in the cage had followed her down. One took the scientist who was not retching and shoved him into the table, he groaned as the corner found his groin, the other one was lifted and bodily hung on a peg on a wall.
"Get up!" the woman snarled, a command only slightly muffled by the mask she wore. He looked at her with wide scared eyes. He did as she said, "Take the gun out of your holster and set it on the ground." She did not even watch the gun drop. She whistled and Quona, Yalsa and Gerard quickly came down the stairs, covering the rooms, then they returned to the main room. They growled something toward the woman, and she responded in kind. He gaped at her, it was the same sort of noises he heard from the creature they had captive.
He looked back at the man who had come with them he was familiar. "Gerard, you stinking son of a bitch! You sold us out!" he screamed, before he was silenced by Courtney's sasa at his throat.
"We'll do the talking around here."
Gerard looked at Taylor sideways, "You haven't been dodging an Organizations bullet for the last thirteen years, Taylor. Having a death mark will make you do just about anything. I swore I'd get you fuckers back, and I never renege on a promise."
Courtney nodded solemnly, then turned mean, "Now deactivate the cage."
"Fuck you bi..." he stopped short as she pressed the sasa deeper against his jugular.
"Let me tell you something, asshole. I have no qualms about snuffing your miserable life. Deactivate the bars!"
She held the sasa at the back of his skull, her palm on the butt of the handle, as he made his way carefully across to the junction. Silence replaced the humming. "Now give me the keys to both the cage and the shackles."
When he did, she pushed him into the grip of one of the aliens. The creature forcibly twisted his head in different directions studying his head intently. It finally let his face go with a snap, and Taylor's muscles started aching. The creature sniggered something to his companions, and there was an all to human laugh that filled the air.
The woman quickly unlocked the door and moved to the side of the alien. She put her fingers to a point on the small of his back, shook her head and then turned him over. Taylor was astonished at her strength. She looked into his glazed eyes, then placed a finger on the inside of his mouth. She motioned a grisly creature over, who carried a cylinder of something, the woman put it over the aliens mouth.
Everything the woman did she accomplished with practiced ease, Taylor thought.
"Gui?" she said, shakily, anxious now that she had finally found him. The creatures' eyelids flickered, then slowly opened.
"Courtney?" he said, the sound muffled from beneath the mask, "You found me.", It was barely audible, but enough to assure her slightly. Her heart was in her throat.
Taylor was really confused now, the creature spoke English to her. Gui'Yata rolled his head over to look at the guard, "Here Puppy" he said a little more strongly, "Hows the nose, Asshole?", Taylors eyes flew wide open, and he would have screamed had he not been so paralyzed.
Courtney helped him to sit up, and then unlocked the shackles, rubbing the scars on his wrists. He wanted to stand, and was helped to his feet. He stepped unsteadily over to the retreating guard. There was not anywhere to go the alien behind him held him firmly in place.
"There are no chains now Taylor, want to try some more batting practice?" He made a mock swing like he was holding a bat, on the backswing, with an angered roar, he lay the guards throat open with his nails. Courtney smiled wickedly as blood squirted from his throat. Taylor shuddered as he fell to his knees. Gui'Yata was not far behind him, the exertion taking what little strength he had from him.
"Take it easy Gui'" Courtney said, "We're here. Please no more exertion." His now bony hands clutched her arm, for support, Nobaya came to her aid in getting him back to his feet. "Help him up the stairs", she turned to the other two aliens, "These two are yours," she said nodding to the two scientists, "Gerard, let's get out of here, you don't want to see what's coming."
Sora decloaked, and shushed the group as they came up the steps onto the ground floor, "We have got company, Raha. Looks like they did have some kind of warning system."
"Shit!" she said, "Get everyone upstairs, we might be able to defend ourselves from up there."
Two of the Taysa Taru helped Gui'Yata up the stairs, Nobaya took the lead and Courtney covered the rear. They moved into the largest room, on the corner of the house, easily defendable, with only one entrance. Each of them took a position that allowed them maximum potential for retaliation.
Outside the troops had gathered, surrounding the house. Santos waited to see what would happen.
"Pheromone scanners put them on the second floor, with exception of the six unidentified signals, which are positioned at one side of the house. Those upstairs are positioned for defense. I get no response from the crew that had been on shift, do you want them listed as casualties?"
"Yes. Get those helo's in here now, I want sniper fire at the second floor, keep those bastards pinned down. Get two companies of men on each exit, do not penetrate the perimeter till you are told. Keep clear of the unidentified creatures, but keep them surrounded, I don't want them getting free."
About the time they had gotten into position, the first wave of soldiers attacked. They swarmed up the stairs in an attempt to reach the holed group. Courtney felt almost sorry for them as they fell to the superior technology. No, they did not deserve it, this was the extremity of the cruelty men were capable of, the head of the vanity of mans "Superiority" to other creatures.
Some of the smarter of the soldiers had taken refuge at the base of the stairwell, waiting. It fell silent for a time, that is when the thup, thup, thup, of the helicopter could be heard. Courtney crawled to one of the windows and peered over the sill. Cobra gun ships loomed over the mountains loaded to the hilt with missiles, she counted four of them.
"Sora," she said, "I have four targets approaching at high velocity." He nodded, breaking out the window nearest him, he watched closely as the helos moved into a hover near their position, Courtney targeted another through the window she had broken. Sora stood raspa at full extension and lobbed it at the cockpit, but the crew of the aircraft was ready for the move. The ringing of bullets could be heard. Sora growled as he was hit by about six of the shots, he fell heavily on the ground. That did not however save the pilot, Sora's aim was true and after shattering the side windscreen, it neatly severed the head of the co-pilot and pilot. The helo spun wildly to the ground, scattering some of the ATP troops. It rolled end over end coming to rest against a small dune, before exploding.
Courtney gritted her teeth in anger as she fired her plasma cannon at the next aircraft, smiling wickedly as it blew up making a small nova over the desert. Two other ships pulled up to avoid the flying debris.
The attack on their position continued as the attack from below resumed, their position was harder to defend now that the parties attention was divided. Courtney heard the crack of Gerards rifle and the repeated fire of plasma, as she crawled to Soras side.
"Are you alright?"
"Nothing vital was hit, Raha, I will be alright. Did the plane go down?"
"Your mark is true as always, Sora," She smiled as she quickly applied totant to the wounds. Sora kept a watch out the window. That was the first time he had lied to her, he felt the pain radiating out, and overlapping from the slugs in his lung. It would not be long before he would drown in his own blood. Were they near the ships facilities he might be saved, but they were not. Courtney had not noticed, or taken the time to check him more thoroughly, in her attention to their fight. He prayed that she would not, it was time for his mockery of life to end. And he would end it fighting for the life of his friends.
Courtney stood without thinking to check on the failing Gui'Yata, hearing the shot at the same time she felt the slug tear into her leg. She landed on her stomach grimacing at the intense pain. She rolled into a sitting position, sliding against the wall near the window.
"Son of a bitch!" She gasped putting pressure on her bleeding leg. She was mad more at her stupidity than the actual event. Hearing the chopper outside she angrily targeted it, the first shot was way off. She took some time to calm herself than tried it again, grinning maliciously as an orange blossom of fire appeared, the final product of helo plus plasma.
"Call in the yimhi, Sora. I want two on those helicopters, two downstairs and the others up here for evacuation." She quickly clicked in Sou.
Sora nodded trying to hide his pain, quickly tapping codes into his computer, each specific for the mount.
The yimhi entered the lower level amidst the screams of frightened soldiers. They had easily broken away from their 'guards', and they moved through the melee, slashing with their beaks and horns. Kicking and stomping they made their way toward the stairs, tearing through fragile soldiers and their weapons. Blood would stain the walls for years.
The house shook as two more took to the roof. Courtney dragged herself up to look out the window, as a shadow darkened the sky. The yimhi had leapt from the roof to the rail of the helicopter, somehow missing the rotor blades. It frightened the pilot and dangerously destabilized the choppers flight. The bird reached into the open sliding door and pulled the sniper from the craft. The bird quickly lost interest in the dead man and turned to snapping at the protective glass behind which were two fresh meals. Frustrated it raised its head bellowing, tangling its horns in the composite blades. Pieces flew everywhere as the craft spun wildly to the ground. The crunch of the metal was deafening, and the impact had killed the crew and the yimhi.
"Yalsa, have the Yimhi made it up the stairs yet!?" Courtney screamed over the din.
"Not yet," he boomed, "The soldiers are offering resistance."
"Great," she muttered, "what a time for them to grow balls!"
Gui'Yata would have appreciated the humor in that statement, she looked worriedly over at him, wishing he was conscious.
The Yimhi remaining on the roof crouched low, braying and screaming at the noisy chopper, just out of its jumping distance. But that also put the helo out of sniping range.
"Sir this is Squelch unit four. We are pinned down by one of the unidentified creatures. Please advise repeat can not approach target. Request permission to arm missiles."
"Are you crazy?!" Came back, then the controller composed himself, "UH, negative Squelch unit four, keep your distance, repeat, keep your distance. They want these guy, but not bad enough to take out our whole unit. Hold your position, will advise."
"Great!", the pilot said frustrated.
Courtney grimaced in pain as she tried for a more comfortable position. "Where are those damn birds?" she growled, looking at her bondsman, his breathing was becoming irregular. Gui'Yata was fading fast, they needed to get out of here and get him medical attention. Even the emergency breather was not bringing him around.
"Damn it Gui', you hold on, you hear me!" She screamed at him over the din, "We have to get free of here!" she said looking around desperately for an escape route, to go out now would put them right in the line of fire of the troop firing up at the window from below. About that time the two scarred and bleeding yimhi topped the stairs and ducked into the room. They trilled quietly at Sora who struggled up to pat them on the head. He moved over beside the still form of Gui'Yata, and lifted him onto the larger of the mounts backs.
"Get Sai and the rest to the ship." Sora said grabbing her arm. "Head out the window, go on, get away."
"What are you going to do, Sora?" she said with more than a little confusion.
"I am staying to cover your escape." he said in monotone.
He looked her straight in the eyes, and she felt herself go cold, she had seen that look before. He was on the edge of an episode. "You can not, Sora, no..." she tried to convince him.
He ignored her flipping his computer open, and programming to detonator for twelve minutes, "Sora, there has got to be another way!"
"Get out!" he screamed at her, and she just noticed the blood trickling out of the corner of his mouth as he turned and leapt with a glass shattering scream down the stairs, in the middle of the soldiers.
"Nooo!" she screamed trying to follow after him, Yaha grabbed her around the waist, signalling the rest out, "SORA!!!" Courtney screamed, as she was moved out of the building, tears streaming down her cheeks. They moved out onto the balcony, some on yimhi the others on foot. The yimhi providing an effective shield against the rifle fire. Several well-placed plasma blasts scattered them momentarily.
Yaha turned her around, shaking her, "Raha let him go! He was dying already! Let his death come honorably! Do you not see, you have saved him, he is sacrificing himself to save us. We must go before the explosion!"
Quarta had picked up on the parties distress and met them a mile from the building. Hastily it set down, just long enough for the party to clamber on board. To all around, the roar of the engines sounded like thunder amplified. Before the ramp had sealed Gui'Yata had been rushed to the soyara, under the expert care of Quartas' infirmary.
Courtney had refused to be treated, instead she had isolated herself from them staring out the view port of the aft war-room, in shocked silence. Unconsciously digging her nails into the seal around the port, waiting for the flare that would mark the devastation that would consume Sora.
Sora, thoroughly bloody, paused as he heard the thunder of the Quartas' engines pass over the house, giving a message to be passed on. His madness burned away, it seemed at the same rate at which the roar died. He looked over the devastation, the pile of bodies, and he finally felt whole, for the first time in his life. He wheezed as fluid filled his lungs, his arms went slack at his sides, and he turned his eyes skyward. He did not feel the final searing heat as the detonator went off, and the building was consumed.
Courtney watched from the ship already several miles up, as the explosion consumed the building and several square miles of land, she wiped the tears again. She was sad that Sora was gone, but she had to smile, Quarta had given her Soras' message.
"Thank you, for your time, patience, and faith, I know now that it was too little too late, through no fault of your own. Your help gave me hope, let me live a small part of my life with my people. You told me that the Soua were better to you than humans. I can honestly say that humans have been better to me than my own kind, at least one of them has. Again I thank you for not giving up on me. Good hunting, Lightning, you are Soua now. Sora."