Chapter 26

"I'm assuming you're here to rescue us?" asked Ivan.

"That's the idea," said the strange man named Guppy. "But we gotta get moving." He pulled off the backpack he was wearing and opened it. "Here, put these on. Ditch your other stuff." He handed them a set of inky black skinsuits that Ivan recognized as stealth garments. Same sort the EnBees used to ambush us. Anny Payne didn't hesitate for a second in stripping off her coveralls and pulling on the stealth suit. Ivan did so as well. The suits had hoods that covered the whole face except for the eyes. Goggles covered those. As he sealed it up, the suit activated and the black turned to a dark gray that matched the color of the stone walls. Even just a meter away, Anny was difficult to see.

"Aren't you wearing one?" Ivan asked Gupta.

"Don't need one. I'm naturally stealthy."

"Do you have a suit for the boy?" asked Anny. "I won't leave him behind."

"Yeah, we suspected he might be here. Had a helluva time finding a suit to fit a kid." He pulled another one out of his pack and handed it to Anny. She pulled back her hood so as not to scare the kid out of his wits, gently woke the boy, and tried to explain what was happening and what they had to do. He was amazingly quick on the uptake.

"Don't watch while I take my old clothes off, okay?" he asked. She obligingly turned her back.

"The EnBees probably have vid pickups in here," said Ivan.

"Got 'em scammed," said Guppy, tapping a small box on his belt. "But they'll catch on to that soon. Gotta move."

"How'd you find us in this maze?" asked Ivan. The boy was still getting dressed so they had a few seconds to chat.

"Got lucky. Came up in a little underground lake. Even had a little beach, and two of the EnBees were there making out. Knocked out the one and fast-penta'd the other. He gave me a real good description of the base layout and where you two were being kept."

"We going out the same way?" Swim?

"That's the plan. I've got rebreathers for you three left back at the lake. We're gonna hafta go pretty deep; hope you folks can handle that." Ivan kept staring at the strange creature and suddenly realized that he was some sort of amphibian. Webbed fingers and toes. And those strange slits along his rib cage… gills? Ivan shuddered.

"We're ready," said Anny.

"Okay, let's put the goons in here and we can get going." They exited the cell and Ivan sighed in relief to see that the corridor was deserted except for the two unconscious guards. He and Anny grabbed one and threw him inside. Anny pulled a stunner off the man's belt.

"Better leave that," said Gupta. "They might be able to track the power pack. And if you fired it, they'd pick that up for sure. I've got a dart gun if we need it."

Anny reluctantly let the stunner fall to the floor and they bent to move the other guard. A gasp from down the corridor made them twist around. A figure was standing there. Damn!

"What…? Don't anyone move!" It was Da Silva. Come back to renew the debate? To take the kid away? It didn't matter. She had a weapon in her hand and Ivan saw that it was a nerve disruptor, not a stunner. She came closer and stared. "Payne? Is that you? Vorpatril? But who… what are you?" she pointed her weapon at Guppy, who just stood there.

"Crap," he said.

"Whoever you are, back into the cell!" commanded Da Silva. She gestured with her weapon and took another step forward. She was only a few meters away now.

"Vorpatril," said Anny in Russian. "I'm going to jump her. Grab that stunner and take her out when I do."

"Anny! Don't be crazy! You'll be killed!"

"No choice. We have to warn the regiment."

"Shut up, both of you!" cried Da Silva. She couldn't understand them, but she obviously didn't like them talking. "Get in the cell! Move or I'll shoot!"

Payne tensed and Ivan was in an agony of indecision. Let her do it? Try to jump Da Silva himself before Anny could sacrifice herself?

But before either of them could do anything, he heard movement behind him. "No more lies!" cried a young voice. He turned his head and there was Paulo, barely to be seen in his stealth suit. He had the stunner that Anny had dropped, clutched in both hands.

"Paulo?" gasped Da Silva in amazement. The nerve disruptor wavered.

The boy fired and Da Silva collapsed in a heap.

Guppy gave off a long, gurgling sigh. "Well, that's torn it. Unless the EnBee's are all asleep, someone will have noticed that. But good work, kid."

"I had to," said Paulo, voice husky with tears. "She lied."

Ivan gently took the stunner from him while Payne scooped up the nerve disruptor. "Come on, let's get out of here. Which way?"

Guppy pointed down the corridor in the opposite direction of the way they'd been taken the other day. They moved out, leaving the unconscious bodies where they lay. Anny took Paulo's hand and pulled him along, Guppy led the way, with Ivan right behind. They went about a hundred meters along the curving corridor, Ivan whispering to Guppy. "So where the hell are we?"

"Under the volcano."

"On Tamborete?"

"Yeah."

"That's what we were guessing."

"Looks like a big base. Must be a few hundred goons in here, right?"

"A few hundred? Try four or five thousand!"

"Crap, you're kidding, right?"

"Afraid not."

"Hell, the Admiral never said anything about that!"

They reached an opening in the wall, beyond which was a vertical shaft through the rock, with stairs leading up and down. "Down we go," said Guppy. The steps were metal, but the soft soles of their stealth suits let them proceed silently. Not so the boots of the men coming up the stairs. They heard them long before they saw them.

"Crap. If there are only a few, maybe we can fight our way through."

"Sounds like more than a few," hissed Ivan.

"Up! Go back up!"

They reversed their course and backtracked up the stairs. When they reached the floor they'd been on, Ivan stuck his head into the corridor for a look and quickly pulled it back. There was a party of men down the corridor.

"Hey!" cried one of them. "There's something over there! Got a power reading on the scanner!" Ivan snapped off a shot with his stunner and several bolts splashed off the wall in reply. Anny came up behind him, thrust her hand past him and fired. A horrible scream echoed off the walls, then shouts and curses.

"That'll make 'em mad," said Guppy.

"It'll make them scared!" snarled Anny. "Non-lethal weapons are no use here!" She dashed back to the stairway and fired down over the railing. No scream this time, just a loud clang as something heavy hit the metal stairs. Then more shouts. Ivan shuddered. Nerve disruptors scared the shit out of him. Hopefully the EnBees would react the same way. "Come on! Ivan, take Paulo! Move!"

She led them up the stairs, the shouts fading behind them. Ivan held onto the boy's hand and dragged him up after him. They came to one landing but kept on going. At the next one, they barged right into four EnBees, who seemed unaware of their approach. This time Anny didn't use the disruptor. She launched herself right into the midst of them and in five seconds of flashing hands and feet put all four of them down. Ivan stared in amazement. He considered himself pretty good in the martial arts, but this…! The short fight had knocked her goggles askew and the fire in the woman's eyes would have made him step back if she hadn't been on his side.

"Wow," said Guppy.

Anny quickly relieved the EnBees of a couple of plasma arcs, handed one to Guppy and kept one for herself. She handed the disruptor to Ivan, who really didn't want it.

"Any idea where we're going?" he gasped.

"I only got info about the lower part of the base and where you guys were kept," said Guppy. "No time for any more than that."

"If we're under the volcano, then up seems like a good idea. But in the meantime…" She looked out into the corridor and Ivan cautiously did likewise. It was deserted, but Payne pointed up. Due to the tunneled-out nature of the base, all the utilities, water lines, air ducts, and power conduits were left exposed, attached to the ceiling. "Let's give them something else to worry about." She aimed the plasma arc at a bundle of conduits. "Shield your eyes!" The beam sliced through the conduits and there was a spectacular shower of sparks for a moment

"Shame the rock won't burn," said Ivan.

"No, it's not," said Guppy. "You people are crazy! The Admiral never said anything about that!"

It may have been coincidental, but almost immediately, an alarm began sounding. They quickly went on up the steps, but at the next level they ended and they were forced back into a corridor. This one was deserted, fortunately, and they followed it around. The corridors all curved, apparently following the shape of the volcano. They found another stair leading up and followed it as far as it went, but then had to go back out into a main corridor again. Anny blasted another bundle of conduits. "We need to get out of these big corridors," said Ivan. They passed several side-passages branching off, but these only went a dozen meters or so before ending in armored doors.

"It's not going to be long before they track us down," said Guppy.

"Well, what do you suggest?" snapped Ivan.

"There's something blocking my communications. Probably the same stealth shielding that's keeping this whole base hidden. If we can find a door or window to the outside, then I can make contact. There are shuttles standing by to pick us up."

"Any way out is going to be closely guarded," said Anny.

They went a bit farther but then heard noise ahead of them. The base was being aroused and they had so much manpower they'd soon be able blanket every passage. They fell back, but then heard more voices from the other direction. They backed into one of the side corridors. There was nowhere else to go. "Dead end," sighed Ivan, looking at the heavy door.

"I might be able to get this open," said Guppy. "I've got tools. But it will take a few minutes."

"Then we'll buy you some time," said Anny. She took a position at the opening to the main corridor. Ivan swapped his nerve disruptor for the plasma arc that Guppy was carrying. Why was he more comfortable burning a man to ashes than leaving him a vegetable? He'd have to think on that later—if there was a later. He joined Payne at the corridor entrance.

It wasn't long before they heard people approaching. Some of them were talking, but Ivan's Portuguese was none too good. Payne's was a lot better. "They're tracking the energy emissions from our weapons," she whispered. "Get ready."

They waited another half-minute and then Payne said: "Now!" They both leaned out and fired. The white hot beams blasted down the corridor in both directions. Ivan briefly saw a man outlined in flames before he ducked back. There were shouts and screams and a few stunner bolts fired in reply. He and Payne fired again. This time there was no return fire and even he could tell that the cries now were to fall back. Okay, they'd bought some time.

"How's it coming?' he called to Guppy.

"This one's tricky. Your cell door was easier."

"Can you do it?" demanded Payne.

"Think so…"

"Well, hurry!"

"Doin' my best…"

They hunkered down and waited. They could hear more activity, but the EnBees had retreated beyond the curve of the corridor and couldn't be seen. The nasty smell of charred flesh reached Ivan's nostrils and he tried not to think about what was causing it. Those guys are gonna be really pissed.

Anny fired a couple more shots, just to keep the EnBees cautious, but they made no attempt to rush them. Guppy didn't seem to be making any progress on the damn door…

"Lord Vorpatril!" came an amplified voice, echoing down the corridor. "You can't possibly escape. Surrender now and you and your companions won't be harmed. If you refuse, we can make no guarantee of your safety."

"What do you want to do?" he asked Anny.

"It won't be long before they get men up here in half-armor with plasma mirrors. Once that happens, they can just walk in here and stun us. But we can't give up!"

"No. But the only hope left is to get through that door. Guppy?"

"Working on it!"

Ivan frowned. And even if they did get the door open, it would probably only lead to another dead-end corridor. It was too much to hope that it was a door to the outside.

"Last chance, Vorpatril!" came the voice again. Why are they assuming I'm in charge here?

"Guppy?"

"Almost there…"

Noise came from out in the corridor and Payne fired a shot. There was an odd flash of light and she cursed. "Plasma mirror!" The woman seemed to coil herself for some last spring.

He put a hand on her shoulder. "It was a good try, Anny. But getting yourself killed now isn't going to help your regiment. And they know we're here now. They'll be on alert. We need to wait and see what happens."

He could see the distress in her eyes even through the stealth goggles. But then she slumped and nodded.

From behind them, there was a mechanical hiss and a cry of triumph. "Got it!" The door was open! "Come on!"

They fell back through the opening into a narrow utility passage. The door slid closed again at the push of a button next to it. "Stand back!" cried Payne. She put the plasma arc on narrow beam and then slagged the control box and welded the door shut. "That will only hold them for a little while. Let's go!"

The passage only went a dozen meters before ending in a 'T' intersection. To the left, it receded into the distance, but to the right… "Look at that," said Payne. A huge bundle of power conduits came up out of the floor. Some branched off into the passageway, while most of them went up through the roof. "Move back, I'm gonna blast that."

"Uh, is that wise?" asked Ivan. "It's so close in here."

"Wise or not, I'm going to do it. Move back!"

They retreated down the left hand passage, Ivan, leading the boy. "Okay, shield your eyes!" commanded Payne. She fired and the conduits dissolved in a blinding explosion that nearly knocked them down. A cloud of thick, choking smoke engulfed them and they fell back even farther, bending low to stay out of the cloud.

"Hey!" coughed Guppy suddenly, hand to one ear. "Hey! That did something! I've got communications!"

"Good!" said Anny. "Communicate with someone!"

[Scene Break]

"You had absolutely no business doing what you did, Lieutenant!" snapped Colonel Fetherbay. "You should have told me before trying this cockamamie scheme!"

"B-but sir…" stuttered Alby.

"And your analysis on the locations of the EnBee bases! That should have been shown to me immediately! Why, this could be the key to ending this war!"

"Sir…"

"When I agreed to let you work with those mercenaries, it was with the understanding that anything you came up with would be reported to me! What the hell were you thinking, Vorsworth?"

"Colonel Fetherbay," said Lieutenant Commander Langsda. The man looked completely at ease and Alby was jealous—there wasn't anything Fetherbay could do to him! "I did urge Lieutenant Vorsworth to delay telling you. My mission was to retrieve Lord Vorpatril and I feared that an all-out assault would put his life in additional danger. My superiors and I felt a small rescue mission sent in early would greatly increase the chances of his—and Lieutenant Payne's—survival."

That made an impression. Alby knew that Fetherbay was nearly as anxious to get Anny back as he was. "And where is this rescue mission? You say you've had no contact in over a day?"

"We were expecting that, sir. The only hope of penetrating that base undetected was to completely avoid using any energy sources. The only way inside that we could find was an underwater route. We had an… asset that could exploit such a route, but only moving slowly. We aren't expecting to hear anything from him for quite a while yet."

Fetherbay frowned ferociously, glaring at Langsda and then Alby. "I should have been informed!"

"Sir," said Major Danilov. "While I agree with you completely, I think the most urgent thing is to assemble the Regiment and get this information up to BEF HQ. Despite the delay caused by Lieutenant Vorsworth, he's still presented us with a huge opportunity. We shouldn't waste it."

"Get on it immediately, Major," said the Colonel.

"Yes, sir!" Danilov started issuing orders and the situation room burst into activity.

"Sir?" ventured Alby. "Shouldn't we at least give the rescue mission a chance before we start blasting our way in there?"

"We'll have to see what headquarters decides. It will take us a while to get ready in any case. Now, I want a complete briefing on this rescue mission and anything else you've found that you haven't told me about! And what the devil is Lady Vorpatril doing here?"

Alby exchanged glances with Langsda and sighed. "Yes, sir. Let's sit down."

It took nearly an hour to tell the tale; then Fetherbay called in Lady Vorpatril to get her part of the story. All the while, Alby was getting increasingly nervous. When were they going to hear from that Dendarii amphibian? He had scarcely believed it when Admiral Quinn explained her notion of using the genengineered man from Jackson's Whole to penetrate the EnBee base from the sea. It had seemed crazy, but somehow he'd let himself be persuaded. Initial recon with drones had discovered several places on the sea floor where it appeared that the roofs of the lava tubes had collapsed, exposing them to the sea. Their man might be able to enter that way, but the only way to know for sure was to try—they didn't dare send the drones in for fear of setting off an alarm. But this Russo Gupta could swim in and would—in theory—look like nothing more than some sea creature on sensors. So, about thirty-six hours ago, a Dendarii shuttle had dropped him off. They'd been waiting for word ever since. Alby wasn't quite sure how Fetherbay had been tipped off to what was going on, but he clearly had been. Part of Alby was relieved, but somehow he still had to delay any full-blown assault until Gupta had either rescued Anny and Vorpatril—or failed. He might have been killed or captured in the first hour—or still be lost down there! Not knowing was driving him crazy.

By the time they were done briefing Fetherbay, responses were starting to come back down the chain of command from the HQ in Araxa. The 61st was to assemble and prepare for an assault, but wait for the word to go in. Several warships were being vectored in to provide support, if and when needed. Other forces were being sent to investigate the other areas Alby's analysis had indicated might be EnBee bases. Fetherbay finally released them and went to coordinate his command's activities. "So what happens now?" demanded Lady Vorpatril.

"It would appear that the Barrayarans are preparing to assault the enemy base," said Langsda.

"And you don't think they should?" The woman's eyes looked anxiously between the two men.

Langsda hesitated a moment before replying. "I don't know. If our agent has succeeded in getting to your husband and the others, then the assault might actually help him free them and get away in the confusion. But if he hasn't managed to reach them, then… well, this attack could put them all at greater risk."

Lady Vorpatril looked at Alby and he was forced to nod in agreement. The situation was not good. He'd read the report of the Cetagandan's attack on the one big underground base they had discovered. The place was a regular rabbits' warren of underground rooms and tunnels with a garrison of over five hundred and some nasty built-in defenses. The EnBees had fought savagely and exacted a heavy toll on the attackers. Toward the end, the Cetas had resorted to just tossing grenades and demolition charges into every room. Not a good tactic if you were trying to rescue hostages. But if Anny and the others were loose, maybe the attack could cover their get-away…

Vorpatril frowned, got up from the table and tracked down Fetherbay. They were too far away to hear what was said, but neither one looked happy. After a minute or two she came back, fuming. "He says that he has orders to attack!"

"When?" asked Langsda.

"I don't know! Soon, I guess."

Alby checked the time and was surprised to see that it was mid-morning. He'd been on the go non-stop for so long he'd lost track of day and night. He excused himself, got up and left the situation room, and found a window. Yes, it was a beautiful day. The window looked out from the HQ building on the central square of Milagres. There was a lot of activity going on out there. The orders had gone out to pull all the battalions off of their search missions and get them ready for battle. It would take a while, but he expected they would be ready in a few hours at most. And then what? What should he do? He hadn't worn his armor in months, but perhaps it was time to get it ready. Maybe he could persuade Fetherbay to let him lead a small force of picked men to specifically try and rescue Anny and the others…

"Alby!" The shout made him jump. Langsda was there, just down the hall.

"What?"

"We've got a signal from Gupta!"

[Scene Break]

"Who are you talking to?" demanded Anny Payne of the strange being named Guppy.

"Well, first I got the shuttle that was waiting to pick us up, then they routed me to the Admiral, and now she's linked in with your Barrayarans. But reception is terrible; I can barely make out anything. They noticed the explosion you caused right off, but the communicator signal is having a hard time getting through all this rock."

Anny looked anxiously down the narrow utility corridor. The smoke had mostly dispersed by now, but she could hear noises in the distance. The conduits she'd blasted had exploded with amazing violence, bringing down part of the stone ceiling and walls. She wasn't sure if the way was completely blocked, but she hoped it would slow down the EnBees a bit. Even so, they didn't have much time.

"Can they locate us? From your signal?"

"They're working on it, I think."

"Well, tell them to hurry!"

"I did! I'm not stupid, y'know!"

She turned as Vorpatril came back. He'd gone farther down the corridor in the opposite direction to see if there was any way out. "No luck," he said. "The thing just dead ends after about fifty meters. Another big batch of conduits, if you want to blast them, too. You were hoping that cutting them would bring down their stealth fields, weren't you?"

'That's what I was hoping, yeah."

"Well, it worked. Good thinking."

"Maybe. We aren't out of here yet."

"Okay, I'll tell them," said Guppy. He looked at them and said: "They've triangulated on my signal. We're up on the side of the volcano, but there's about thirty meters of rock between us and the outside. They're gonna try to figure out some way of cutting through to us."

A loud clang from the way they'd come got all of their attentions. The EnBees were getting through the door.

"No time for that!" cried Anny. "Tell them to aim where they detected the explosion and hit it with something big!"

"Are you crazy? We're right here!"

"There's no choice! Now tell them!"

"Damn, the Admiral never said anything about this!" Guppy protested, but then started talking into his com.

"We better move back as far as we can," said Vorpatril.

"Yes, come on Paulo."

"I want to go home!" whimpered the boy as they retreated.

"We'll get you home soon," she promised. "You're being very brave, you know."

"All right!" cried Guppy. "They are gonna give it a try! Take cover!"

[Scene Break]

"They're asking us to try and blast through to them," said Colonel Fetherbay. "What have we got in the area that can do the job—without killing everyone?"

Tej looked anxiously at the seeming bedlam in the situation room. People were coming and going and the big holo-displays flowed with information—none of which made and sense to her. But they'd found Ivan Xav! The crazy scheme to go in and rescue them had worked—sort of. They were loose, but the EnBees were tracking them down. Now they just needed to get them out of there!

"Our assault shuttles don't have anything that can blast through that much rock," said one of the officers.

"The warship's weapons are too powerful, sir," said another. "They could bring down the whole side of the crater."

"Forget that, then," said Fetherbay. "We're trying to rescue our people!"

"How about the heavy mass drivers in the AT platoons? They've got the power and the fine control."

"Sounds like it's worth a try. Which platoon is in the best position to hit that location?"

"That one!" cried Alby Vorsworth suddenly, pointing at one of the displays. "H Company, 3rd platoon!"

Fetherbay's face took on an odd expression. An expression that sent a chill through Tej for no reason she could define. The man looked at the display and then at Vorsworth. Then he nodded. "Major, give the order. Tell them what to do—and tell the commander exactly what he is being asked to do!"

[Scene Break]

"So what the hell is this all about… sir?" asked Sergeant Shusterman.

"Beats the hell out of me," replied Jer Naddel. All around them the men of 3rd Battalion were assembling. He had heard that the other two battalions were forming up nearby. The militia companies were being mustered as well. If there was time, he would try to get over to his company and make sure everything was okay. Flora Levine had been filling in as the acting company commander more and more, and doing a good job, but he still liked to keep an eye on her. And nothing like this had happened since the Regiment captured the island. To make the mystery even more mysterious, instead of forming up near their camps, they were way out on the northwest corner of the island, near the big volcano. The assault shuttles had just landed on a ridge about four kilometers from the base of the cone and Jer was wondering if he should off-load his heavy weapons or wait.

The morning had started normally enough: go out and search for Anny. It had almost become routine—at least for everyone else. For Jer, it was still a burning obsession. Find her! Find her! But then a few hours ago, a call had gone out on the general channel for everyone to drop whatever they were doing, gear up, and assemble at the locations shown on their tactical displays. Only a few of the men searching did so in full armor, so this had produced a mad scramble back to bases and armories. And now they were here, waiting… for what?

Jer checked over his platoon. Everyone was here and all the gear was in order. He checked with Captain Andronov, but he just told him to stand fast and wait for orders. Shuttles were still landing to bring in other parts of the regiment and there were a half-dozen more buzzing around the volcano. Why?

They had been waiting for over an hour when he got a sudden call from Andronov: "Naddel! Get your guns unloaded and set up! At the double!"

"Yes sir!" said Jer, startled. "Sergeant! Let's get deployed! Move!"

His men exploded into action. The ramps on the shuttles were already open so, in just a few moments, the rail guns were sliding out on their float cradles. Troopers were fitting in the power packs and ammo magazines as they moved. It was done efficiently and in less than a minute, the guns were ready for action. But what action? A moment later, he got the answer over his com.

"Lieutenant Naddel, this is Major Danilov. We are feeding you some coordinates right now. They are on the slope of the volcano. We need you to blast a hole through the side of the mountain. Carefully. Your fire needs to be very precise and not deviate from…

"Jer!" a new voice inserted itself into the instructions and it sounded like…

"Alby?"

"Yeah! Listen, Jer, we found Anny!"

"What! Where?" Jer's heart was suddenly pounding. Anny!

"About fifty meters from where you are being told to fire!"

"Lieutenant Vorsworth!" snapped Danilov. "I'm handling this!"

"What!" cried Jer, looking toward the mountain.

"Jer!" continued Alby, ignoring Danilov. "Anny and the others are loose, but the EnBees have them cornered. We need to blast through to them and we need to do it right now! But for God's sake, shoot straight!"

"Vorsworth! That's quite enough!" said Danilov. "Lieutenant Naddel, do you understand your orders? Fire one shot at a time and wait to hear if you've broken through before firing again. Understand?"

"Y-yes, sir," said Jer in a daze. "C-Can I take a couple of ranging shots at low power? To make sure we're on target?"

"Yes. Now carry out your orders. Time is critical."

"Yes sir." He looked around and saw Shusterman staring at him. Had he been listening in?

"We just got some targeting data downloaded, sir. We can shoot on your order. Don't worry, sir, our boys can shoot the eye out of a squirrel at five klicks."

Jer swallowed and tried to clear his head. He had a target, but Anny was way too close. Just like that day in Milagres when he knocked out that bunker. But she'd been in armor then. Now, now she had nothing to protect her. Could he do this?

"Sir? We're ready."

There was no time. No time at all to think about this. If he hesitated it would be too late. "Very well," he heard himself saying. "Gun Number One, ten percent power. Verify you are on the target coordinates."

"On target, sir!" answered the gunner, a man named Hayes. He was good. Good enough? Shusterman was looking over the man's shoulder and nodded at him.

"Stand by! Fire!"

The rail gun lurched back as it flung its three kilogram projectile at the mountain. Two seconds later a puff of dust and debris rose up from the slope of the mountain. Jer's armor allowed him to zoom in on the spot. Even at low power, the shot had torn away the surrounding vegetation and gouged a chunk out of the mountainside. He repeated the process with his other gun. "Deviation?" he snapped. Reports came back showing they were a bit off target. Sophisticated sensors allowed them to compare the target coordinates to the actual fall of shot. Wind, air density, humidity, even the gravitational pull of the planet's large moon could affect the path of the projectiles. Data came flowing in and adjustments were made.

"Fire!"

Two more shots went out and this time they were dead on, within a meter or so of the desired spot. "Adjust for full power!" commanded Jer. At full power, the shots would follow different trajectories, but the computer could adjust for that, using the data from the test shots.

"Gun Number One, ready!"

"Gun Number Two, ready!"

"Ready, sir," said Shusterman.

This was it. Had he done everything right? Anny's life depended on it. His gauntlet brushed against his chest armor. One of his great aunts back on Komarr, an eccentric and rather superstitious old woman, had sent him a medallion when she'd found out what his job was. She said it was an antique, a relic from Old Earth. Jer remembered that she had a collection of stuff like that. The medallion was to someone named Saint Barbara and the legend said that she was a patron of gunners. His aunt had said the medallion would bring him luck. It was a beautiful thing and he'd taken to wearing it under his shirt. He couldn't get to it in his armor but it was there. Saint Barbara, do your stuff!

"Gun Number One… Fire!"

[Scene Break]

"What are they waiting for?" hissed Anny. There was movement down at the junction in the corridor. Someone moving around, clearing debris. Once they were past the block, they could just come get them. With men in half-armor with plasma mirrors, their weapons would be useless. They could just walk right up and stun them. Damn! They'd been so close! She could see someone climbing over the debris…

"Vorpatril!" came that amplified voice again. "We are losing patience! Come out with your hands up. Do it now!"

"Guppy?"

"They say they are just about to…"

A loud thud cut him off and there was a slight shudder in the corridor. Some small rocks fell from the roof and the figure at the junction halted. A moment later, there was another thud. A short pause and then two more. A longer pause and then…

Wham!

A massive impact shook the whole tunnel. Dust and bits of stone rained down on them. Wild cries came from near the intersection and Anny thought she could hear someone calling for them to fall back.

"Did that make it through?" asked Guppy? "They want to know."

"No!" shouted Anny. Her ears were still ringing.

"Hang on, they're gonna hit it again!"

Wham!

Another impact; louder and stronger than before. More debris pelted down and the glow bulb over them fell to the floor and broke. It was almost completely dark now.

"Through?"

"No!"

"Man, the Admiral never said anything about this!"

The third shot was the strongest yet. There was a bright flash as superheated plasma blasted through the rock and travelled halfway down the corridor towards them before dissipating. The noise left her partially deafened and she coughed as a cloud of dust enveloped her. The noise of falling and grinding rock came to her, muffled by her stunned ears. She blinked and blinked to clear her eyes of the after-image the plasma flare had left. The dust was so thick, she couldn't see…

"Look!" cried Vorpatril. "is that…?"

"Daylight! They're through!"

"But can we get through?"

Anny hesitated. Call for another shot? It might bring the whole roof down. But if they went and found they couldn't get through, it might give the EnBees a chance to…

The hell with it! "Guppy! Tell them to cease fire! Come on! Let's get out of here!" She lurched to her feet. "Paulo! Come with me!" She grabbed the boy and started forward, stumbling over rubble in the corridor. Vorpatril and Guppy came behind.

As they got closer to the light, there was more and more rubble. As she neared where the corridor intersection used to be, she and Paulo were crawling and climbing over piles of rock. She had a moment of panic when she couldn't find a way through the rubble but then she saw a gap and squirmed through, pulling Paulo after her. Beyond, there was a larger space and, to the left a new tunnel leading slightly down and at the end.…

"Outside!" cried the boy. "Look, Anny! A way out!" The boy started to move.

"Wait, Paulo. We need to stay together. Wait for the others." Vorpatril was having trouble fitting his large shoulders through the small gap in the debris and Anny had to help him move a few small boulders before he would fit. Guppy was much more slender and slid through with no trouble. Off to the right, where the EnBees had been coming from, was a solid mass of shattered stone. It would take them a while to clear that. Or at least it would if they still wanted to take them alive… If they bring up heavy weapons…

"Come on! Let's go!" They slid and stumbled down the slope toward the light. A rock the size of her fist smashed down, only missing her by half a meter. "Careful!" The light got closer and she could hear the roar of an assault shuttle's turbines growing louder. Twenty meters to go… ten…

Something partially blocked the light; large figures were silhouetted against it. Men in battle armor.

"Lieutenant Payne? Lord Vorpatril?"

"We're here!" They clawed their way the last few meters and then the troopers had them and hauled them into the light. They were far up the side of the volcano and a green landscape stretched out below them, dazzlingly bright in the sunshine. The shuttle hung there, throwing up dust, with its doors invitingly open.

"Is this everyone?" asked the trooper in charge.

"Yes! Now let's move! You need to get us to headquarters right away! I need to warn the Colonel!"