~*~*~
T'Phai
After training, all I wanted was to talk to Ellen and to see how T'Alos was doing; my very brief experiences with him had given me insights into his nature that I plan to use. T'Alos is nothing more then a child, he has a great deal demanded of him a fair sight more then I ever had at his age and that is great weight to sit upon his shoulders. L'Meariea and I had sat up with him for most of the night, he had been unwell, assuring him that he would be all right when he returned to Tophet, something we were unsure of ourselves.
Something still does not seem right about this whole situation, why are they sending us back to Tophet with two psychics? When they told us that we were not likely to return home during service. No something was not right and we would find our soon enough.
"Private T'Phai, Corporal L'Meariea a minute." Razak said as we were leaving the bay to return to our own barracks. We turned to him almost in time due to the speed of our reactions. "There are new uniforms awaiting you in your barracks, you will not be required to wear a helmet but I must point out the fact that where we are going is likely to be dark at times."
"Where are we going sir?" L'Meariea asked boldly, I remained silent I would never ask such a question.
"Into the caves on the other side of Tophet to where you both come from," He told us both, I started ever so slightly.
"But sir, doing so is suicidal." I said despite myself, "The beings that live there are not to be trusted and they are un-evolved and primeval,"
"Strangely enough Higgins said something like that upon meeting you all for the first time."
"I concur with T'Phai sir, it is not safe to go there, and all children are told so."
There was a silence and I realised something in a flourish. "SICON thinks that there is a Brain bug there, do they not?" I asked sharply, I knew I was right and I knew that this was the only sensible reason; how else would the control bugs have kept control over the enslaved members of my kind after the Brain Bug in my city had been exterminated?
He looked to me, I knew that I was one of the few people he felt he owed the truth in these maters to; I was a leader too after all. "Yes," He told us simply, there was another pause that lingered in the air like a bad smell. "You are not to tell any one of that yet, am I making myself clear?"
"Yes sir," We answered and he dismissed us.
We did not speak on the short walk back to our barracks, I was not in the right mood to speak of it and it was clear she was not either. We entered the small barracks to be greeted by T'Alos and Ellen; I shoved down the thoughts of the brain bug hiding them away from T'Alos who had to have known already.
"Where have you two been?" Ellen asked, her blue eyes fixed on the bar of chocolate I carried. I threw it to her without warning and she caught it; it was an unspoken rule that I gave her any chocolate I had due to my reactions to it in the past. "Thanks, you didn't answer my question."
"Razak wanted to speak with us both, about our new uniforms for work on Tophet."
"Oh, why bother with new ones? Your old ones are just the same," She flicked a glance to my bunk where mine was lying and she was right. Mine was the same; I would have thought they would have chosen a camouflaged colour rather then green!
I then noticed a slight imperfection in the fabric and reached to pluck it off; the cover about the suit came off in my grasp. It was just the film that was green and not the actual suit, the suit itself was orange with golden swirls on it like my green one. "It is green is it?" I asked in a slightly teasing voice, she was used to my being like this.
She looked over at it and then at me, "Ok, ok, that's orange, mum always said I was colour-blind!" I realised her joke and let her have it I was not in the habit for cutting her down for her little teases.
"Welcome back T'Alos, I am glad to see you are feeling better." I greeted the younger being with a fond manner I usually reserved for my own young; there was something wrong about allowing a youth of his age to join the forces and I could not help but feel that he should be at home with his mother.
He bowed his head, ~I know I am young but I am still needed Colonel,~ I gave a slight start as I heard his voice in my head; I did not know he could do what he was doing. ~Yeah, I do see it as a little odd too.~ He was smiling at me from where he was sitting next to Ellen.
Quite probably noticing the look of shock on my face, L'Meariea turned to him. "It is not nice to do that and you will hurt yourself." She instructed and her tone was very reminiscent of my mothers or of L'War's when she had told off T'Phal and M'Rette.
"That is the good news that we have for you,"
I noticed that my friend and the young being beside her wore similar expressions, it was very close to a maniacal smile, and I was quite disturbed by it. "Ellen has found a way to stop the psychical symptoms, I would merely faint were I to use my powers excessively. I can live with that, it is better then being cut for merely moving a book to my hand." To prove a point to us both he drew a book, which Higgins had leant me, to his open hand with a smile.
L'Meariea did not look convinced, her expression was decisively cynical and I supposed mine must have been too; I do not see how a being who has been told time and again that he cannot use his powers without hurting himself is suddenly able to do so without a slight scar.
"To be fair I may just have held off the symptoms," Ellen admitted, it took very little for her to doubt herself and her achievements; she did not think a lot of some of the incredible things she can do. "He may not show the pain until an hour or so later but at least then he can finish what he starts."
T'Alos looked at us both and I realised suddenly that L'Meariea and I were his parent figures - he had lost his mother during the Human's campaign on Tophet and his father had been killed years before, he had to have someone to look up to and care for him.
I sat myself on the bunk next to his own, facing him; his eyes fixed on me like that of my own child's when seeking approval. "It is better for you this way?" I queried in a soft voice and he nodded. "Then it is better for us all." L'Meariea remained standing by the beds edge, she may have known T'Alos longer but she may not know him as well as I did.
~She knows me well enough,~
Focusing slightly so I could speak back I did so, *She does not know what you need, she does not know what you desire of us both, she is not a parent.*
~No, but she has cared for me longer then you have.~
~*~*~
0800, Arrival on Tophet.
The Roughnecks and Romeo squad arrived on Tophet precisely when then intended too; arriving at the base they would be staying at. They would not have time to acclimate themselves to the atmosphere and they would be out on patrol as soon as they were ready.
T'Alos, L'Meariea and T'Phai all wore an orange suit with gold swirls and at points it would be clear that they would all be perfectly camouflaged, unlike the Human's who wore green. Ellen had said, upon seeing T'Phai in his new uniform that he would be very lucky not to be lost in the vast desert of Tophet wearing that shade of orange and made another dig at his old Colonel's uniform.
For most of the human's it would be their first meeting with T'Alos, who was deciding to be more mysterious then his peers by not talking very much. "Hey Carl," Dizzy got her friends attention noticing an air of almost disgust from him towards the other psychic. "Are you getting an attack of the green eyed monster?" He rounded on her, and she backed down; he was definitely jealous of the Skinnie.
"Please, he's a child." Carl insisted but his tone was one of such coldness that she could not help but think he was a little jealous.
Razak and Orson led them to a cave, which SICON had decided was important but had not sent anyone to check out yet. "Use extreme caution, SICON is convinced that there are Skinnie's still controlled here!" Razak ordered as they entered the cave, all of them went on automatic alert.
~*~*~ An hour later, Dead end.
"Are either of you getting anything?" Razak asked the two psychics, T'Alos waited to see what Carl would say. The units were in a cavern towards the middle of a cave network, which a SICON mapping tool had marked out; it was dark but as L'Meariea had pointed out there was light coming in from somewhere because neither she nor the other Skinnies had weakened.
"There's something here,"
T'Alos nodded to agree with Carl, "There are several, I believe I can pick up twelve additional thought patterns." Carl scowled slightly and it was clear he was very envious of T'Alos's higher psychic prowess. The cavernous room was a perfect area for attack, everyone was clearly aware of that for Orson had looked ready to give the same order as Razak.
A constrictor blast shot flew past Doc's head and splattered on the ground by Higgins feet, the reporter raised his camera in the direction of the shooter after taking a step back. "Skinnie's on the ridge," He yelled out. They all turned that way, some of them already drawing weapons.
"Cover, don't shoot back, T'Phai concussion weapon." Razak ordered all at once, the Skinnie officer, after flattening himself behind a rock pulled the weapon from his backpack, a new addition since his time as a colonel and pointed it at the shooter.
Brutto threw a cautious look over his own shoulder towards the cave mouth, "We're surrounded, there's no way out of here without a fight."
"Will one of you give me something I can use?"
T'Alos nodded, "There are six of my kind here and they are all under control by the bugs, there are more bugs approaching our location and T'Phai's going to miss his first shot and hit you," Razak looked a little startled, T'Phai made sure he was pointing the weapon away from his LT, they would need his judgements.
"L'Meariea, did your bring your concussion weapon too?"
"Yes sir," She removed it from her own backpack and held it out to him from where she was crouched behind a rock. Higgins was recording the two Skinnie officers more closely then the others, he had never seen their agility as clearly as he was now; it was incredible to see two beings taller then himself manage to hid themselves so well. T'Phai was not down as well as L'Meariea, he needed a clear line of shot after all and the only way for him to get that would be to prioritise it over his hiding. Another barrage of constrictor blasts flew towards them, one catching Gossard's foot.
Rico broke his own cover and dragged the other Roughneck into a poor shelter; removing the constrictor solvent from Gossard's pocket to free him. "Right, T'Phai set up cover, Brutto take L'Meariea's weapon and assist him; Doc check Gossard and all you other apes move it!" Razak ordered; they did as he said.
There was a clutter as T'Phai's weapon fell to the ground, all turned to him, T'Phai rarely dropped his weapon; he made no effort to retrieve it his eyes fixed on the ridge. T'Alos followed his gaze, knowing already what he had spotted. "What's the problem Private?" Orson demanded, being closest to him at the time.
"It is L'War," T'Alos said chiefly so T'Phai was saved the pain of having too, "She is up on the ridge," The Roughnecks looked up to the ridge whereas Romeo Squad looked confused. T'Phai's shock had given the Skinnies against them an advantage, now that everyone's attention was focused on the ridge they could close in.
Feeling it was time for them to move Razak started to bark orders. "Weapons out, only shoot to wound not to kill. T'Alos, L'Meariea, I want you on the flank." Razak ordered; aware of T'Phai's emotional connection to his wife he made a bold move. "T'Phai I want you on point!" T'Phai woke abruptly from his own silent daydream, he nodded, retrieved the weapon and took the position assigned him.
It was a credit to his strength that he did not look back once, he kept moving - his own reasons for this were multiple, if he looked back, he was sure he could no longer go forward and the most important of which, this was his fault. He had made the situation worse by loosing his focus.
~*~*~
20:00 Base, Private medical quarters.
Ellen
People think I'm stupid, I know that and if I ever care then someone will have to let me know; I knew that I hadn't cured T'Alos's problem permanently but I had delayed his reactions to the use of his psychic abilities which meant he had warning before he was hurt.
I was sitting alone in my room, when it comes to Human's the only ones I really know are the Roughnecks and they don't see me as a friend, no the only friends that mattered to me were my honest and loyal Skinnie friends who cared when something bad happened to you.
My music system was on and playing my favourite music, well mine and my mums, Queen; I could sit and listen to Freddie's fantastic vocals for hours, especially when it had the guitar work of Brian May to top it off, the whole band were amazing! I did this a lot of the time, I'd even tried introducing Teph to it . It didn't really work but it was worth a try!
My comm panel bleeped and I knew whom it would be, no one else bothered with me so it had to be one of the Skinnies and I was more likely to think T'Phai for I've known him longer. I activated it, sure enough, it was him and he looked . sad.
"What is it?" I asked I wasn't annoyed at him; I was concerned I wanted to know what was wrong with him to make him forget his exterior appearance enough to let me see his sorrow.
He tried to say something, his voice failed him and he just looked at me. Somehow, this upset me more then if he had told me what he was going to say, I knew that it was something really bad now. Sensing the pain T'Phai was feeling T'Alos stepped towards the screen.
"L'War was in the cave, she was working against us." I have never known such a simple sentence to cause me such pain, not my pain obviously, because she wasn't my wife! I was sorry for T'Phai. He had been looking her and missing her for years and now she was there fighting against him!
"Oh . Teph ." My own voice failed me and I fell away to tears on his behalf, he couldn't cry himself after all being from Tophet. I turned off the panel and shut down what I was listening to, making my way to the barracks where T'Phai was; I had to be there for him now more then ever.
When I'd pulled on the powersuit in the air lock and waited for the air around me to change, I entered; cursing out loud for my human clumsiness. We are an impractical race; not being able to breathe Methane is a big problem when your best friend is a Skinnie.
I didn't say anything and neither did anyone else, L'Meariea and T'Alos were sitting nearby, both showing their own silent respect for his pain and staying out of the way. I sat on the bunk besides him and, with no more then a seconds thought threw my arms around him in a hug; trying to stem my own tears because I can't dry them inside the suit.
No one moved for the next quarter of an hour, I could feel my friend shuddering against my shoulder and I have never known him to do this, it scared me in a funny kind of way. I've seen T'Phai do loads of stuff, including fixing his busted ribs when we'd first met without as much as a thought but now he was truly defeated. He had shook but then he had a physical reason.
A noise caught his attention; T'Alos had opened a cupboard by his own bunk, probably for bandages and the moment was over. I let him go and sat with my head down and my eyes watching my gloved hands. "She was controlled by the bugs, there is still hope for her." The youngest member of the group insisted, he was looking at me, I could feel it.
I looked up and was staring strait into his big black eyes, "T'Alos is right Teph. There is still hope for her." I tried to drive the uncertainty from my voice; T'Alos nodded slightly showing me that this was the right thing to do. "There really is, I can see it."
When T'Phai spoke it was very strange, I've never heard him sound so stuffy before, his tones were quiet and for the first time ever, very uncertain. "What if she is doing this of her own free will?" He queried softly, when he raised his head to look into my eyes, I could see how hurt his features looked.
"She was not, I read the bug within her mind, and she did nothing of her own free will just then."
"I am going to ask Razak to reassign me tomorrow; I will not risk doing what I did today again. I will not risk letting my emotions get in the way of things again. I cannot be responsible for the death of the squads around me!"
I looked to T'Alos for an explanation, ~He dropped his weapon, froze for a while, he was perfectly focused again afterwards.~ I nodded slightly. "Your not going to get anyone killed if you stay with the Roughnecks, you could free her tomorrow yourself." I insisted, maybe a little foolishly because I don't know the whole story.
"I would prefer to stay out of the way."
"And do what? Lay around here moping? I can't be here with you, it may surprise you to learn that I have a job!" Whilst my tone was a little harsh I didn't mean it, I was trying to stop him from making a big mistake and messing up his life.
It worked; he snapped his head towards me and glared with a ferocity I was unused to. "And . to top things off, what'd happen if one of the others hit her? How angry would you be?" He looked at me, his glare softening slightly as to be nearly normal again.
"Very much so, how can I be sure that I will not loose my focus again?"
"I will help you with that all I can," T'Alos assured; I know now better then ever why I'm friends with Skinnie's, they're so nice all of the damn time! Never nasty to anyone and always ready to help one another unlike most human's who can't ever be bothered. "Just listen out for my voice,"
I saw the decision T'Phai was making clearly like the weights on a scales, on one side there was the potential harm he could cause the others and on the other side of the scales was his overwhelming desire just to see L'War again. Just to look upon her face for the first time in over 3 years, to know she was alive if not safe. ~He's staying on duty Ellen Baxter,~
"Quit it with the Baxter!"
The three Skinnie's looked at me, "Oh crap," I muttered. "Ok ok you all know what happened there, T'Alos speaking in head game which he seems to love," T'Phai looked at me, I swear there's a universal 'I'm a patronising parent' face because my best friend was currently pulling it. Obviously it is something that both parents and teachers know and none of us non parental people can't do it. "Fine then, blame me, again!"
I looked out of the corner of my eye at T'Alos and he nodded, this was better for T'Phai then thinking about L'War being only a few minutes march away.
~*~*~
The Next Morning, Patrol at 0350
Higgins
I cannot help but wonder why we go out at this time of the morning, oh wait ok I get it now, if we're not expecting it then the enemy isn't either. I've heard this plan three times and it seems more insane each time, get ourselves into the Skinnie's base to find out information and break ourselves out again afterwards; Madness sheer madness.
T'Alos was humming something to himself; I could only hear it because I was so close to him, he was marching next to me with his mother on the other side. ~She is my friend, my mother is dead.~ I was shocked to hear T'Alos's voice within my head, it scared me half to death myself! ~Sorry, I forget that people are unused to hearing others in their heads, it is so natural for me now.~ I smiled slightly, the kid was weird and we all knew it, he picked up my thought and smiled at me too.
It dawned on me what T'Alos was humming, something I've heard Ellen hum at times too, it was one of her songs; 'The show must go on' I gave a snort due to the irony. The song was one claiming that the show, life, must always go on and there was a being younger then myself humming it.
Ellen had told me his age, well I'd pinned her down about it and he was only sixteen; no human was ever conscripted at sixteen, ~No Skinnie either! I am unusual.~ I thought to him, stop it and he did; he was focused on T'Phai as well, the two kept throwing one another little looks, almost like those of co-conspirators!
Suddenly, T'Alos dropped to the ground loosely, Carl did the same; the two had both picked up something but no one knew what. "There are Skinnie's approaching," Carl yelled.
"There are 3 here Einstein," Brutto sneered; he hated the psychic's gifts and when they used them it seemed to heighten his bad mood even more. Razak ordered silence; two from Romeo squad fell in behind me; out of the new squad, the Roughnecks still only really got on with L'Meariea. I didn't turn to look at them more then once and then it was only to check who was watching my backside! Corporal Zaphod, their fast shooter who didn't touch T'Phai's skill was behind me along with Private Lee, she was a tanned girl and she was a worse shot then I was, behind the two of them Dizzy, and Rico and on our actual rear, was Doc in his marauder.
We waited for a minute as Razak made T'Alos tap into his predictive powers, he could do this unlike Carl, who could only really have future flashes when they came to him. I watched as the two older Skinnies kept a watchful eye on the younger one almost as if he were their own child; I wasn't surprised, T'Phai was a parent after all and parents keep an eye on everyone's kids due to instinct.
"They are coming this way, L'War and two others, they know we are here." T'Alos mumbled, his lip catching on his large buckteeth. "They will be here in a matter of seconds, there is no escape from this cave; the entrance is about to be blocked by warrior bugs."
"X Ray guns out!" Orson ordered, I groped for the weapon on the order, not listening to a Lieutenant was life or death and I didn't really want to die quite yet. "Watch one another's behinds; there is no telling where a control bug will come from!"
"T'Phai, get your can up front; Doc watch our rears, we're going out the way we came in!" Razak ordered, T'Phai nodded and filed into the position assigned to him by his leader; that had to feel a little strange for him being a colonel and referring to a Lieutenant as boss. Behind me Lee was moaning, she said that the two psychics were bad because they had gotten us into this situation already and she was moaning to Zaphod about Razak's decision as well.
"The Skinnie froze yesterday; I mean what's Razak trying to do? Get us all killed?" As she finished I rounded on her, glad to see that Rico and Dizzy were ready to defend T'Phai and Razak with me. I didn't move towards her, neither did Dizzy or Rico, we were fine where we were.
"The Lt would never do anything to get us greased," Rico snapped, his voice was barely above a whisper so that the man himself didn't hear. "He knows that T'Phai feels crap about yesterday, he's giving him a chance; something you should understand!"
"What do you mean by that?"
"C'mon princess, it doesn't take a psychic to figure what he meant," Dizzy sneered; this was her ball field so to speak, Dizzy is great when it came to speaking her mind and this tended to mean being cruel. "Your shooting in training was poor, even Higgins managed to shoot more people then you and he's a reporter! No offence Bobby," She threw a rapid apology to me, which I accepted with a bow of my head.
"What's going on?" Doc asked he looked down on our little argument from where he was in his marauder; the duck shaped thing had been given special support for walking in the sand and not sinking.
"Nothing," I insisted innocently, "Private Lee doesn't think Razak was right putting T'Phai on point we're just helping her to see she was wrong." A slightly dubious look crossed his face but he didn't push what I was saying. Nothing more was said, I think what Dizzy had said had hit Lee a little harder then it had seemed to at first and she remained silent.
From a small passage to our rights emerged a small gathering, I saw that I wasn't the only one looking towards T'Phai as they emerged. I can't imagine what he must be going through, L'War was fighting on the wrong side and whilst he knew it wasn't her choice, I suppose there's always the issue of whether or not she was acting of her own free will.
"Bugs at six o'clock," Doc announced, he was the only one facing our exit. I turned and saw that there were a hoard of bugs in the entrance, there was only one way out of this room too and that was where the bugs were. This cave network was an invaders nightmare, there was nowhere for us to run.
One of the Skinnie was speaking, L'Meariea looked to T'Phai and nodded; I assumed the decision over who would translate was made. "Humans, Skinnie aligned soldiers you are to perish."
"Real nice wife you got there," McKenzie sneered coldly, his manner was as pale and cold as his face looked. It was a shock to say the least when T'Phai rounded on him and hit him on the arm; which probably wouldn't hurt McKenzie at all through his powersuit. I've never seen the freed T'Phai so mad that he'd hit out, Rico had told us of that time when T'Phai had been ill and Rico had made the alien mad on purpose to warm him up but that was different.
No one said anything, T'Phai remained fuming slightly but a little way from McKenzie, he was confused and it showed clearly. Someone discharged an x ray gun and the moment was gone in a flash; soon we were all trying to hit the three Skinnie's with the high beam.
L'War's two companions went down, bugs bursting from their necks; I could hear the desperate yells L'War was giving and I was quite sure I didn't need a translation. The Bugs descended on us all, one grabbed McKenzie and carried him away in its jaws. I looked to the other Roughnecks, they'd hit the instant replay button too; this stank of Hydora and it had unnerved us all.
~*~*~
Captured by the bugs, Centre chamber of the cave.
The two squads were dropped to the ground, pushed by their bugs into the obedience position of slaves; T'Phai was unconscious but he was the only member of the squad who had been hurt in any way. "Are we all here?" Razak queried into his mike.
"All Romeo squad are present and correct,"
Rico was in the middle of doing the rapid count up and looked sideways towards his LT. "Sir Doc's not here, I didn't even see what happened to him," Rico announced when Orson was finished, "He may have gotten away."
"You hope to highly," Lee sneered. "The guy was in a marauder, there's no hope in hell." T'Alos looked across towards her, he was grinning slightly despite the gravity of the situation; he was pinned down to the ground but he could still lift his head to see around easily enough.
He looked to Rico, "You are right, Corporal LaCroix is safe and healthy, he is returning to base for backup as we speak." Relief set in over them as they realised there was a very small chance at rescue.
A tender look crossed over L'Meariea's face that none of the others noticed as she looked towards her erstwhile Colonel, she was concerned about his health from a strictly professional viewpoint. "What happened to T'Phai?" L'Meariea asked, she looked towards T'Alos and then towards Higgins because she thought he may have some medical knowledge because he knew Ellen.
From the other side of T'Phai, Mikwell looked at the Skinnie besides her closely. "Guessing by the cut on his head he was knocked unconscious," She muttered. "It's a bloody mess," She had meant bloody in both ways, the cut was easily a nasty one that would need medical attention when they were back at base. "I think he'll be out for a while, lucky bastard he gets to be unconscious!"
They all knew what she meant and most of them agreed, T'Phai was less likely to feel torture pain being unconscious already. From a recess in the cave there was a commotion, something heavy was moving their way. T'Alos and Carl both looked to Razak who shook his head; there was no point in scaring everyone yet. The large white and brown brain bug emerged from the recess, walking by its side was L'War but she was the only Skinnie there.
"Your petty, pathetic minds have only one use now; you will fuel your foes strength." L'Meariea translated for them, her voice sounded harrowed and terrified. "Ironic really, that you fight against our cause and your feeble minds will feed your efforts in your races extermination."
"I guess we're up for the permanent head split," Brutto guessed; Razak looked to him, the pinpoint laser in his prosthetic arm was working but it would not be enough against the bugs and Skinnies within the vast cave network. "I thought we'd already killed one of those things!"
With a thought of clarity that seemed to have evaded him as so far due to the blinding childish jealousy he felt toward T'Alos, Carl decided that it was time to tell the others what INTEL had told him to say. "We did," he spoke up from his side, "There was another one, Tophet is a big planet and the interference in the air is high due to the heat." Razak nodded, typical INTEL description for a situation - blame anything except their precious psychics.
"We need to get back to base and soon, T'Phai's wound will need treating soon if it is to be healed."
"Are you hearing this?" Carl rounded as best he could on T'Alos; he motioned his head to dictate that it was a bug's thought pattern. All of a sudden his jealousy was back with vengeance, he did not have anything against T'Alos when he did not speak. "We are not going to live long enough for him to be treated."
T'Alos said nothing; he was busy watching L'War and the bug. "Say T'Phai's name repetitively, then watch L'War's reaction." They did so, each watching closely the effect it had on the enslaved Skinnie; she was flinching, each time the past and familiar word was spoken, she flinched.
"The bug is not in complete control of her mind, this was starting to happen with my own when I was freed," L'Meariea explained. "The bug has been on her for too long and her mind is getting back some of its own control."
They watched as a warrior bug selected one of them, it dragged Sergeant Perez to the brain bug and set him down before it. The brain bugs feeder extended towards Perez's head, "Focus on my voice," Carl insisted.
"That is not going to work,"
"Shut up," Carl snapped at T'Alos. "Focus on my voice, concentrate." The Brain bug squealed in piercing pain, when the sound had died away they looked to it and saw the cut on its face, its feeder had been snapped in two.
"What the hell happened?"
When Zaphod snapped out his question to Carl, the pale faced youth looked to T'Alos, who gave the slightest shrug in his shoulders. "I am sorry there was nothing else to be done; I did not want to see somebody die."
When the shock settled like a dust cloud they all started to think on their situation, "There's only one course of action," Razak surmised. "We have to destroy that brain, it is too risky to try and capture it due to the beings it controls. Jenkins, T'Alos, you know what to do. This is not the time for professional envy, I want that bug destroyed!"
Carl looked to T'Alos, who gave the slightest tiny smile; he had never had anything against Carl after all. "Alright," Carl muttered, he looked towards Rico and Dizzy. ~You do this for them?~
*I do it for everyone I know,*
~Then I do it for them as well, I have no family of my own.~
Focusing both their powers the psychics stared at the Brain bug, the bug was blown up instantaneously and the cave started to collapse. The Roughnecks and Romeo squad collected their teammates, the bugs had scattered moments before the Brain had been destroyed as if sensing the psychic brain waves, and ran to the cave entrance.
It was not until they were outside that some raised the very expected question. "What about L'War?" L'Meariea asked, "Are we going to leave her there to die?" her voice playing with hurt at the idea of leaving another of her kind behind, or maybe she was just voicing out their collective thoughts.
"It's too dangerous to go after her now corporal, T'Phai would understand that, she may have gotten out already."
"She's alive," Carl said. "I can feel it." They all looked to him and then to T'Alos who was already stumbling due to what he had just done; Carl walked to him and helped him along. The selfless nature of the Skinnie using his gifts was a shock and a surprise because he had no one to fight for.
~*~*~
T'Phai
After training, all I wanted was to talk to Ellen and to see how T'Alos was doing; my very brief experiences with him had given me insights into his nature that I plan to use. T'Alos is nothing more then a child, he has a great deal demanded of him a fair sight more then I ever had at his age and that is great weight to sit upon his shoulders. L'Meariea and I had sat up with him for most of the night, he had been unwell, assuring him that he would be all right when he returned to Tophet, something we were unsure of ourselves.
Something still does not seem right about this whole situation, why are they sending us back to Tophet with two psychics? When they told us that we were not likely to return home during service. No something was not right and we would find our soon enough.
"Private T'Phai, Corporal L'Meariea a minute." Razak said as we were leaving the bay to return to our own barracks. We turned to him almost in time due to the speed of our reactions. "There are new uniforms awaiting you in your barracks, you will not be required to wear a helmet but I must point out the fact that where we are going is likely to be dark at times."
"Where are we going sir?" L'Meariea asked boldly, I remained silent I would never ask such a question.
"Into the caves on the other side of Tophet to where you both come from," He told us both, I started ever so slightly.
"But sir, doing so is suicidal." I said despite myself, "The beings that live there are not to be trusted and they are un-evolved and primeval,"
"Strangely enough Higgins said something like that upon meeting you all for the first time."
"I concur with T'Phai sir, it is not safe to go there, and all children are told so."
There was a silence and I realised something in a flourish. "SICON thinks that there is a Brain bug there, do they not?" I asked sharply, I knew I was right and I knew that this was the only sensible reason; how else would the control bugs have kept control over the enslaved members of my kind after the Brain Bug in my city had been exterminated?
He looked to me, I knew that I was one of the few people he felt he owed the truth in these maters to; I was a leader too after all. "Yes," He told us simply, there was another pause that lingered in the air like a bad smell. "You are not to tell any one of that yet, am I making myself clear?"
"Yes sir," We answered and he dismissed us.
We did not speak on the short walk back to our barracks, I was not in the right mood to speak of it and it was clear she was not either. We entered the small barracks to be greeted by T'Alos and Ellen; I shoved down the thoughts of the brain bug hiding them away from T'Alos who had to have known already.
"Where have you two been?" Ellen asked, her blue eyes fixed on the bar of chocolate I carried. I threw it to her without warning and she caught it; it was an unspoken rule that I gave her any chocolate I had due to my reactions to it in the past. "Thanks, you didn't answer my question."
"Razak wanted to speak with us both, about our new uniforms for work on Tophet."
"Oh, why bother with new ones? Your old ones are just the same," She flicked a glance to my bunk where mine was lying and she was right. Mine was the same; I would have thought they would have chosen a camouflaged colour rather then green!
I then noticed a slight imperfection in the fabric and reached to pluck it off; the cover about the suit came off in my grasp. It was just the film that was green and not the actual suit, the suit itself was orange with golden swirls on it like my green one. "It is green is it?" I asked in a slightly teasing voice, she was used to my being like this.
She looked over at it and then at me, "Ok, ok, that's orange, mum always said I was colour-blind!" I realised her joke and let her have it I was not in the habit for cutting her down for her little teases.
"Welcome back T'Alos, I am glad to see you are feeling better." I greeted the younger being with a fond manner I usually reserved for my own young; there was something wrong about allowing a youth of his age to join the forces and I could not help but feel that he should be at home with his mother.
He bowed his head, ~I know I am young but I am still needed Colonel,~ I gave a slight start as I heard his voice in my head; I did not know he could do what he was doing. ~Yeah, I do see it as a little odd too.~ He was smiling at me from where he was sitting next to Ellen.
Quite probably noticing the look of shock on my face, L'Meariea turned to him. "It is not nice to do that and you will hurt yourself." She instructed and her tone was very reminiscent of my mothers or of L'War's when she had told off T'Phal and M'Rette.
"That is the good news that we have for you,"
I noticed that my friend and the young being beside her wore similar expressions, it was very close to a maniacal smile, and I was quite disturbed by it. "Ellen has found a way to stop the psychical symptoms, I would merely faint were I to use my powers excessively. I can live with that, it is better then being cut for merely moving a book to my hand." To prove a point to us both he drew a book, which Higgins had leant me, to his open hand with a smile.
L'Meariea did not look convinced, her expression was decisively cynical and I supposed mine must have been too; I do not see how a being who has been told time and again that he cannot use his powers without hurting himself is suddenly able to do so without a slight scar.
"To be fair I may just have held off the symptoms," Ellen admitted, it took very little for her to doubt herself and her achievements; she did not think a lot of some of the incredible things she can do. "He may not show the pain until an hour or so later but at least then he can finish what he starts."
T'Alos looked at us both and I realised suddenly that L'Meariea and I were his parent figures - he had lost his mother during the Human's campaign on Tophet and his father had been killed years before, he had to have someone to look up to and care for him.
I sat myself on the bunk next to his own, facing him; his eyes fixed on me like that of my own child's when seeking approval. "It is better for you this way?" I queried in a soft voice and he nodded. "Then it is better for us all." L'Meariea remained standing by the beds edge, she may have known T'Alos longer but she may not know him as well as I did.
~She knows me well enough,~
Focusing slightly so I could speak back I did so, *She does not know what you need, she does not know what you desire of us both, she is not a parent.*
~No, but she has cared for me longer then you have.~
~*~*~
0800, Arrival on Tophet.
The Roughnecks and Romeo squad arrived on Tophet precisely when then intended too; arriving at the base they would be staying at. They would not have time to acclimate themselves to the atmosphere and they would be out on patrol as soon as they were ready.
T'Alos, L'Meariea and T'Phai all wore an orange suit with gold swirls and at points it would be clear that they would all be perfectly camouflaged, unlike the Human's who wore green. Ellen had said, upon seeing T'Phai in his new uniform that he would be very lucky not to be lost in the vast desert of Tophet wearing that shade of orange and made another dig at his old Colonel's uniform.
For most of the human's it would be their first meeting with T'Alos, who was deciding to be more mysterious then his peers by not talking very much. "Hey Carl," Dizzy got her friends attention noticing an air of almost disgust from him towards the other psychic. "Are you getting an attack of the green eyed monster?" He rounded on her, and she backed down; he was definitely jealous of the Skinnie.
"Please, he's a child." Carl insisted but his tone was one of such coldness that she could not help but think he was a little jealous.
Razak and Orson led them to a cave, which SICON had decided was important but had not sent anyone to check out yet. "Use extreme caution, SICON is convinced that there are Skinnie's still controlled here!" Razak ordered as they entered the cave, all of them went on automatic alert.
~*~*~ An hour later, Dead end.
"Are either of you getting anything?" Razak asked the two psychics, T'Alos waited to see what Carl would say. The units were in a cavern towards the middle of a cave network, which a SICON mapping tool had marked out; it was dark but as L'Meariea had pointed out there was light coming in from somewhere because neither she nor the other Skinnies had weakened.
"There's something here,"
T'Alos nodded to agree with Carl, "There are several, I believe I can pick up twelve additional thought patterns." Carl scowled slightly and it was clear he was very envious of T'Alos's higher psychic prowess. The cavernous room was a perfect area for attack, everyone was clearly aware of that for Orson had looked ready to give the same order as Razak.
A constrictor blast shot flew past Doc's head and splattered on the ground by Higgins feet, the reporter raised his camera in the direction of the shooter after taking a step back. "Skinnie's on the ridge," He yelled out. They all turned that way, some of them already drawing weapons.
"Cover, don't shoot back, T'Phai concussion weapon." Razak ordered all at once, the Skinnie officer, after flattening himself behind a rock pulled the weapon from his backpack, a new addition since his time as a colonel and pointed it at the shooter.
Brutto threw a cautious look over his own shoulder towards the cave mouth, "We're surrounded, there's no way out of here without a fight."
"Will one of you give me something I can use?"
T'Alos nodded, "There are six of my kind here and they are all under control by the bugs, there are more bugs approaching our location and T'Phai's going to miss his first shot and hit you," Razak looked a little startled, T'Phai made sure he was pointing the weapon away from his LT, they would need his judgements.
"L'Meariea, did your bring your concussion weapon too?"
"Yes sir," She removed it from her own backpack and held it out to him from where she was crouched behind a rock. Higgins was recording the two Skinnie officers more closely then the others, he had never seen their agility as clearly as he was now; it was incredible to see two beings taller then himself manage to hid themselves so well. T'Phai was not down as well as L'Meariea, he needed a clear line of shot after all and the only way for him to get that would be to prioritise it over his hiding. Another barrage of constrictor blasts flew towards them, one catching Gossard's foot.
Rico broke his own cover and dragged the other Roughneck into a poor shelter; removing the constrictor solvent from Gossard's pocket to free him. "Right, T'Phai set up cover, Brutto take L'Meariea's weapon and assist him; Doc check Gossard and all you other apes move it!" Razak ordered; they did as he said.
There was a clutter as T'Phai's weapon fell to the ground, all turned to him, T'Phai rarely dropped his weapon; he made no effort to retrieve it his eyes fixed on the ridge. T'Alos followed his gaze, knowing already what he had spotted. "What's the problem Private?" Orson demanded, being closest to him at the time.
"It is L'War," T'Alos said chiefly so T'Phai was saved the pain of having too, "She is up on the ridge," The Roughnecks looked up to the ridge whereas Romeo Squad looked confused. T'Phai's shock had given the Skinnies against them an advantage, now that everyone's attention was focused on the ridge they could close in.
Feeling it was time for them to move Razak started to bark orders. "Weapons out, only shoot to wound not to kill. T'Alos, L'Meariea, I want you on the flank." Razak ordered; aware of T'Phai's emotional connection to his wife he made a bold move. "T'Phai I want you on point!" T'Phai woke abruptly from his own silent daydream, he nodded, retrieved the weapon and took the position assigned him.
It was a credit to his strength that he did not look back once, he kept moving - his own reasons for this were multiple, if he looked back, he was sure he could no longer go forward and the most important of which, this was his fault. He had made the situation worse by loosing his focus.
~*~*~
20:00 Base, Private medical quarters.
Ellen
People think I'm stupid, I know that and if I ever care then someone will have to let me know; I knew that I hadn't cured T'Alos's problem permanently but I had delayed his reactions to the use of his psychic abilities which meant he had warning before he was hurt.
I was sitting alone in my room, when it comes to Human's the only ones I really know are the Roughnecks and they don't see me as a friend, no the only friends that mattered to me were my honest and loyal Skinnie friends who cared when something bad happened to you.
My music system was on and playing my favourite music, well mine and my mums, Queen; I could sit and listen to Freddie's fantastic vocals for hours, especially when it had the guitar work of Brian May to top it off, the whole band were amazing! I did this a lot of the time, I'd even tried introducing Teph to it . It didn't really work but it was worth a try!
My comm panel bleeped and I knew whom it would be, no one else bothered with me so it had to be one of the Skinnies and I was more likely to think T'Phai for I've known him longer. I activated it, sure enough, it was him and he looked . sad.
"What is it?" I asked I wasn't annoyed at him; I was concerned I wanted to know what was wrong with him to make him forget his exterior appearance enough to let me see his sorrow.
He tried to say something, his voice failed him and he just looked at me. Somehow, this upset me more then if he had told me what he was going to say, I knew that it was something really bad now. Sensing the pain T'Phai was feeling T'Alos stepped towards the screen.
"L'War was in the cave, she was working against us." I have never known such a simple sentence to cause me such pain, not my pain obviously, because she wasn't my wife! I was sorry for T'Phai. He had been looking her and missing her for years and now she was there fighting against him!
"Oh . Teph ." My own voice failed me and I fell away to tears on his behalf, he couldn't cry himself after all being from Tophet. I turned off the panel and shut down what I was listening to, making my way to the barracks where T'Phai was; I had to be there for him now more then ever.
When I'd pulled on the powersuit in the air lock and waited for the air around me to change, I entered; cursing out loud for my human clumsiness. We are an impractical race; not being able to breathe Methane is a big problem when your best friend is a Skinnie.
I didn't say anything and neither did anyone else, L'Meariea and T'Alos were sitting nearby, both showing their own silent respect for his pain and staying out of the way. I sat on the bunk besides him and, with no more then a seconds thought threw my arms around him in a hug; trying to stem my own tears because I can't dry them inside the suit.
No one moved for the next quarter of an hour, I could feel my friend shuddering against my shoulder and I have never known him to do this, it scared me in a funny kind of way. I've seen T'Phai do loads of stuff, including fixing his busted ribs when we'd first met without as much as a thought but now he was truly defeated. He had shook but then he had a physical reason.
A noise caught his attention; T'Alos had opened a cupboard by his own bunk, probably for bandages and the moment was over. I let him go and sat with my head down and my eyes watching my gloved hands. "She was controlled by the bugs, there is still hope for her." The youngest member of the group insisted, he was looking at me, I could feel it.
I looked up and was staring strait into his big black eyes, "T'Alos is right Teph. There is still hope for her." I tried to drive the uncertainty from my voice; T'Alos nodded slightly showing me that this was the right thing to do. "There really is, I can see it."
When T'Phai spoke it was very strange, I've never heard him sound so stuffy before, his tones were quiet and for the first time ever, very uncertain. "What if she is doing this of her own free will?" He queried softly, when he raised his head to look into my eyes, I could see how hurt his features looked.
"She was not, I read the bug within her mind, and she did nothing of her own free will just then."
"I am going to ask Razak to reassign me tomorrow; I will not risk doing what I did today again. I will not risk letting my emotions get in the way of things again. I cannot be responsible for the death of the squads around me!"
I looked to T'Alos for an explanation, ~He dropped his weapon, froze for a while, he was perfectly focused again afterwards.~ I nodded slightly. "Your not going to get anyone killed if you stay with the Roughnecks, you could free her tomorrow yourself." I insisted, maybe a little foolishly because I don't know the whole story.
"I would prefer to stay out of the way."
"And do what? Lay around here moping? I can't be here with you, it may surprise you to learn that I have a job!" Whilst my tone was a little harsh I didn't mean it, I was trying to stop him from making a big mistake and messing up his life.
It worked; he snapped his head towards me and glared with a ferocity I was unused to. "And . to top things off, what'd happen if one of the others hit her? How angry would you be?" He looked at me, his glare softening slightly as to be nearly normal again.
"Very much so, how can I be sure that I will not loose my focus again?"
"I will help you with that all I can," T'Alos assured; I know now better then ever why I'm friends with Skinnie's, they're so nice all of the damn time! Never nasty to anyone and always ready to help one another unlike most human's who can't ever be bothered. "Just listen out for my voice,"
I saw the decision T'Phai was making clearly like the weights on a scales, on one side there was the potential harm he could cause the others and on the other side of the scales was his overwhelming desire just to see L'War again. Just to look upon her face for the first time in over 3 years, to know she was alive if not safe. ~He's staying on duty Ellen Baxter,~
"Quit it with the Baxter!"
The three Skinnie's looked at me, "Oh crap," I muttered. "Ok ok you all know what happened there, T'Alos speaking in head game which he seems to love," T'Phai looked at me, I swear there's a universal 'I'm a patronising parent' face because my best friend was currently pulling it. Obviously it is something that both parents and teachers know and none of us non parental people can't do it. "Fine then, blame me, again!"
I looked out of the corner of my eye at T'Alos and he nodded, this was better for T'Phai then thinking about L'War being only a few minutes march away.
~*~*~
The Next Morning, Patrol at 0350
Higgins
I cannot help but wonder why we go out at this time of the morning, oh wait ok I get it now, if we're not expecting it then the enemy isn't either. I've heard this plan three times and it seems more insane each time, get ourselves into the Skinnie's base to find out information and break ourselves out again afterwards; Madness sheer madness.
T'Alos was humming something to himself; I could only hear it because I was so close to him, he was marching next to me with his mother on the other side. ~She is my friend, my mother is dead.~ I was shocked to hear T'Alos's voice within my head, it scared me half to death myself! ~Sorry, I forget that people are unused to hearing others in their heads, it is so natural for me now.~ I smiled slightly, the kid was weird and we all knew it, he picked up my thought and smiled at me too.
It dawned on me what T'Alos was humming, something I've heard Ellen hum at times too, it was one of her songs; 'The show must go on' I gave a snort due to the irony. The song was one claiming that the show, life, must always go on and there was a being younger then myself humming it.
Ellen had told me his age, well I'd pinned her down about it and he was only sixteen; no human was ever conscripted at sixteen, ~No Skinnie either! I am unusual.~ I thought to him, stop it and he did; he was focused on T'Phai as well, the two kept throwing one another little looks, almost like those of co-conspirators!
Suddenly, T'Alos dropped to the ground loosely, Carl did the same; the two had both picked up something but no one knew what. "There are Skinnie's approaching," Carl yelled.
"There are 3 here Einstein," Brutto sneered; he hated the psychic's gifts and when they used them it seemed to heighten his bad mood even more. Razak ordered silence; two from Romeo squad fell in behind me; out of the new squad, the Roughnecks still only really got on with L'Meariea. I didn't turn to look at them more then once and then it was only to check who was watching my backside! Corporal Zaphod, their fast shooter who didn't touch T'Phai's skill was behind me along with Private Lee, she was a tanned girl and she was a worse shot then I was, behind the two of them Dizzy, and Rico and on our actual rear, was Doc in his marauder.
We waited for a minute as Razak made T'Alos tap into his predictive powers, he could do this unlike Carl, who could only really have future flashes when they came to him. I watched as the two older Skinnies kept a watchful eye on the younger one almost as if he were their own child; I wasn't surprised, T'Phai was a parent after all and parents keep an eye on everyone's kids due to instinct.
"They are coming this way, L'War and two others, they know we are here." T'Alos mumbled, his lip catching on his large buckteeth. "They will be here in a matter of seconds, there is no escape from this cave; the entrance is about to be blocked by warrior bugs."
"X Ray guns out!" Orson ordered, I groped for the weapon on the order, not listening to a Lieutenant was life or death and I didn't really want to die quite yet. "Watch one another's behinds; there is no telling where a control bug will come from!"
"T'Phai, get your can up front; Doc watch our rears, we're going out the way we came in!" Razak ordered, T'Phai nodded and filed into the position assigned to him by his leader; that had to feel a little strange for him being a colonel and referring to a Lieutenant as boss. Behind me Lee was moaning, she said that the two psychics were bad because they had gotten us into this situation already and she was moaning to Zaphod about Razak's decision as well.
"The Skinnie froze yesterday; I mean what's Razak trying to do? Get us all killed?" As she finished I rounded on her, glad to see that Rico and Dizzy were ready to defend T'Phai and Razak with me. I didn't move towards her, neither did Dizzy or Rico, we were fine where we were.
"The Lt would never do anything to get us greased," Rico snapped, his voice was barely above a whisper so that the man himself didn't hear. "He knows that T'Phai feels crap about yesterday, he's giving him a chance; something you should understand!"
"What do you mean by that?"
"C'mon princess, it doesn't take a psychic to figure what he meant," Dizzy sneered; this was her ball field so to speak, Dizzy is great when it came to speaking her mind and this tended to mean being cruel. "Your shooting in training was poor, even Higgins managed to shoot more people then you and he's a reporter! No offence Bobby," She threw a rapid apology to me, which I accepted with a bow of my head.
"What's going on?" Doc asked he looked down on our little argument from where he was in his marauder; the duck shaped thing had been given special support for walking in the sand and not sinking.
"Nothing," I insisted innocently, "Private Lee doesn't think Razak was right putting T'Phai on point we're just helping her to see she was wrong." A slightly dubious look crossed his face but he didn't push what I was saying. Nothing more was said, I think what Dizzy had said had hit Lee a little harder then it had seemed to at first and she remained silent.
From a small passage to our rights emerged a small gathering, I saw that I wasn't the only one looking towards T'Phai as they emerged. I can't imagine what he must be going through, L'War was fighting on the wrong side and whilst he knew it wasn't her choice, I suppose there's always the issue of whether or not she was acting of her own free will.
"Bugs at six o'clock," Doc announced, he was the only one facing our exit. I turned and saw that there were a hoard of bugs in the entrance, there was only one way out of this room too and that was where the bugs were. This cave network was an invaders nightmare, there was nowhere for us to run.
One of the Skinnie was speaking, L'Meariea looked to T'Phai and nodded; I assumed the decision over who would translate was made. "Humans, Skinnie aligned soldiers you are to perish."
"Real nice wife you got there," McKenzie sneered coldly, his manner was as pale and cold as his face looked. It was a shock to say the least when T'Phai rounded on him and hit him on the arm; which probably wouldn't hurt McKenzie at all through his powersuit. I've never seen the freed T'Phai so mad that he'd hit out, Rico had told us of that time when T'Phai had been ill and Rico had made the alien mad on purpose to warm him up but that was different.
No one said anything, T'Phai remained fuming slightly but a little way from McKenzie, he was confused and it showed clearly. Someone discharged an x ray gun and the moment was gone in a flash; soon we were all trying to hit the three Skinnie's with the high beam.
L'War's two companions went down, bugs bursting from their necks; I could hear the desperate yells L'War was giving and I was quite sure I didn't need a translation. The Bugs descended on us all, one grabbed McKenzie and carried him away in its jaws. I looked to the other Roughnecks, they'd hit the instant replay button too; this stank of Hydora and it had unnerved us all.
~*~*~
Captured by the bugs, Centre chamber of the cave.
The two squads were dropped to the ground, pushed by their bugs into the obedience position of slaves; T'Phai was unconscious but he was the only member of the squad who had been hurt in any way. "Are we all here?" Razak queried into his mike.
"All Romeo squad are present and correct,"
Rico was in the middle of doing the rapid count up and looked sideways towards his LT. "Sir Doc's not here, I didn't even see what happened to him," Rico announced when Orson was finished, "He may have gotten away."
"You hope to highly," Lee sneered. "The guy was in a marauder, there's no hope in hell." T'Alos looked across towards her, he was grinning slightly despite the gravity of the situation; he was pinned down to the ground but he could still lift his head to see around easily enough.
He looked to Rico, "You are right, Corporal LaCroix is safe and healthy, he is returning to base for backup as we speak." Relief set in over them as they realised there was a very small chance at rescue.
A tender look crossed over L'Meariea's face that none of the others noticed as she looked towards her erstwhile Colonel, she was concerned about his health from a strictly professional viewpoint. "What happened to T'Phai?" L'Meariea asked, she looked towards T'Alos and then towards Higgins because she thought he may have some medical knowledge because he knew Ellen.
From the other side of T'Phai, Mikwell looked at the Skinnie besides her closely. "Guessing by the cut on his head he was knocked unconscious," She muttered. "It's a bloody mess," She had meant bloody in both ways, the cut was easily a nasty one that would need medical attention when they were back at base. "I think he'll be out for a while, lucky bastard he gets to be unconscious!"
They all knew what she meant and most of them agreed, T'Phai was less likely to feel torture pain being unconscious already. From a recess in the cave there was a commotion, something heavy was moving their way. T'Alos and Carl both looked to Razak who shook his head; there was no point in scaring everyone yet. The large white and brown brain bug emerged from the recess, walking by its side was L'War but she was the only Skinnie there.
"Your petty, pathetic minds have only one use now; you will fuel your foes strength." L'Meariea translated for them, her voice sounded harrowed and terrified. "Ironic really, that you fight against our cause and your feeble minds will feed your efforts in your races extermination."
"I guess we're up for the permanent head split," Brutto guessed; Razak looked to him, the pinpoint laser in his prosthetic arm was working but it would not be enough against the bugs and Skinnies within the vast cave network. "I thought we'd already killed one of those things!"
With a thought of clarity that seemed to have evaded him as so far due to the blinding childish jealousy he felt toward T'Alos, Carl decided that it was time to tell the others what INTEL had told him to say. "We did," he spoke up from his side, "There was another one, Tophet is a big planet and the interference in the air is high due to the heat." Razak nodded, typical INTEL description for a situation - blame anything except their precious psychics.
"We need to get back to base and soon, T'Phai's wound will need treating soon if it is to be healed."
"Are you hearing this?" Carl rounded as best he could on T'Alos; he motioned his head to dictate that it was a bug's thought pattern. All of a sudden his jealousy was back with vengeance, he did not have anything against T'Alos when he did not speak. "We are not going to live long enough for him to be treated."
T'Alos said nothing; he was busy watching L'War and the bug. "Say T'Phai's name repetitively, then watch L'War's reaction." They did so, each watching closely the effect it had on the enslaved Skinnie; she was flinching, each time the past and familiar word was spoken, she flinched.
"The bug is not in complete control of her mind, this was starting to happen with my own when I was freed," L'Meariea explained. "The bug has been on her for too long and her mind is getting back some of its own control."
They watched as a warrior bug selected one of them, it dragged Sergeant Perez to the brain bug and set him down before it. The brain bugs feeder extended towards Perez's head, "Focus on my voice," Carl insisted.
"That is not going to work,"
"Shut up," Carl snapped at T'Alos. "Focus on my voice, concentrate." The Brain bug squealed in piercing pain, when the sound had died away they looked to it and saw the cut on its face, its feeder had been snapped in two.
"What the hell happened?"
When Zaphod snapped out his question to Carl, the pale faced youth looked to T'Alos, who gave the slightest shrug in his shoulders. "I am sorry there was nothing else to be done; I did not want to see somebody die."
When the shock settled like a dust cloud they all started to think on their situation, "There's only one course of action," Razak surmised. "We have to destroy that brain, it is too risky to try and capture it due to the beings it controls. Jenkins, T'Alos, you know what to do. This is not the time for professional envy, I want that bug destroyed!"
Carl looked to T'Alos, who gave the slightest tiny smile; he had never had anything against Carl after all. "Alright," Carl muttered, he looked towards Rico and Dizzy. ~You do this for them?~
*I do it for everyone I know,*
~Then I do it for them as well, I have no family of my own.~
Focusing both their powers the psychics stared at the Brain bug, the bug was blown up instantaneously and the cave started to collapse. The Roughnecks and Romeo squad collected their teammates, the bugs had scattered moments before the Brain had been destroyed as if sensing the psychic brain waves, and ran to the cave entrance.
It was not until they were outside that some raised the very expected question. "What about L'War?" L'Meariea asked, "Are we going to leave her there to die?" her voice playing with hurt at the idea of leaving another of her kind behind, or maybe she was just voicing out their collective thoughts.
"It's too dangerous to go after her now corporal, T'Phai would understand that, she may have gotten out already."
"She's alive," Carl said. "I can feel it." They all looked to him and then to T'Alos who was already stumbling due to what he had just done; Carl walked to him and helped him along. The selfless nature of the Skinnie using his gifts was a shock and a surprise because he had no one to fight for.
~*~*~