Cut Off (32 page)

Twelve days after leaving the farmhouse, Sebastian signaled that he'd spotted land. Ness knew they hadn't gone remotely far enough for it to be Hawaii—according to his calculations, it was probably Wake Island, a little past the halfway point—but after so much uninterrupted blue, white, and gray, it was good to see some green through the binoculars. If they'd needed to, they could have stopped for food or water, but they hadn't yet gone through a third of their total. They cheered, waved some arms and tentacles around, and continued on.

Besides that, his navigation duties, and the odd spot of whale watching, it was all pretty dull. Three days past Wake Island, all that changed. The winds switched direction, pushing against them, forcing Sprite to tack back and forth. A wall of clouds appeared in the west, as black and solid as a cliff. The waves, calm for days, undulated deeply, tossing Ness' stomach up and down.

Sprite came out from the cabin. "If we care about the sails, we'd better take them down. And if we care about our lives, we should start praying. Because that looks like a god damn typhoon."

21

Tristan's headache and nausea receded in a swoop, replaced by the thunder of her heart and the electricity of adrenaline. "Taken? By who?"

Alden's face was ashen. He turned to gaze up at Haleakala, all but hidden behind the fronds of the palms. "Them."

"How do you know? Did you see them? Alden, what happened?"

"We were at the pools. Having a swim. We got out to dry off. After a few minutes, Robi got up and said she was going down to the beach. I dozed off. When I got up, she was still gone. On the beach, her footprints led to a cave. There were fresh marks in the sand—holes and lines."

"Spikes and tentacles."

He nodded. "I went inside, but I didn't have any light. I couldn't hear anything. I left and came straight here." He stared in the direction of the pools. "I should have gone after her."

"And been taken, too. Was there any blood?"

"Not that I saw."

She began moving around the lanai, gathering weapons and supplies. "How long was she gone before you noticed?"

He rubbed his palms up and down his cheeks. "I wasn't asleep long. Between fifteen minutes and an hour."

"Here's the plan." She stuffed a thin rope and a large, sheathed knife into her pack. "Ke and I go after her while you let Papa Ohe'o know what's going on. Tell him to tell everyone to stay away from the beaches."

"No
way
," Alden said. "I have to help get her back."

"You are. That's why you came to me." She slung her rifle over her shoulder and headed down the steps. "We're getting Ke because I could use a second pair of eyes. And because if I didn't, he'd wear my skin for a cape."

"I don't see what sense it makes for me to stay out. And who cares about the locals? All that matters is Robi."

"Wrong.
You
matter." She loped across the yard toward the road. "What's more important here, your ego, or Robi? What will she do if you get yourself killed saving her?"

Alden let out a grudging sigh. "Mix herself a poison cocktail. Or head into the caves to go all
Kill Bill
on the aliens."

"When did you see
Kill Bill
? That was way too violent for you back when we had movies."

He laughed humorlessly. "I probably should have watched
more
stuff like that. Would have made good training."

They ran up the trail worn into the grass alongside the creek. Ke was around back, cutting up an old tire, likely for tougher sandals or surfing armor. Seeing Tristan and Alden together, he looked confused; an instant later, his face went hard. "Where is she?"

"Taken," Tristan said. "Aliens. You and me."

He nodded. Wordless, he sprinted up the back steps and banged into his house. Ten seconds later, he was back outside, a pistol holstered on his hip, a pack on his shoulders. "Where?"

She fell in beside him, jogging back to the stream. "Beach below the pools."

"That close?" Ke glanced at Alden. "You want to go, don't you? Do you know why you can't?"

Alden shook his head. "Because I have you two to sacrifice in my place."

"You talk like that ain't right—but that's what we're here for."

"Why? Don't you deserve lives of your own?"

"This
is
my life." Tristan hurdled a root protruding from the damp soil. "I never told you this, but I saw Mom one last time while she was sick. She asked me for one thing: to always keep you safe."

His voice cracked. "What gave her the right to ask that of you?"

"The fact you were thirteen. That Dad was gone. And she knew she would be soon, too." She glanced at him. Fresh tears slid down his face. Seeing this, her eyes stung, too. "But you're not a kid anymore, are you? Let's make this the last time."

"We'll go to the Big Island. Okay? Find ourselves a new home. No aliens. No crazy people. Just us."

"I'd like that," she said, and then her throat closed too tightly to say more.

They ran past the falls and the pools. On the beach, the cave was hidden by a wall of vines. She never would have noticed if not for the mess of tracks around it. Before the entrance, she went still, listening, nostrils flaring with the smell of shrimp and beached kelp.

She withdrew and found herself in Alden's arms. She hugged him for a long moment, then pulled away. "Tell Papa Ohe'o, then go to the house and wait. If we're not back in two days, go to our beach, get in my canoe, and go to the Big Island. You swear?"

He nodded. "Only because I know you'll be back."

"You're god damn right."

He sniffed and wiped his face, composing himself, then turned and ran down the beach. She looked to Ke. He nodded and swept the vines from the cave. Tristan drew her pistol and a gunmetal flashlight. She hadn't used it in months, but it clicked on, illuminating the cramped, humid tunnel. She stepped forward.

Like the cave by the black sands, a dozen paces into the tunnel, the floor became coated with the orange matting. Tristan stopped at its edge, tasting the vomit rise in her gorge.

"What is it?" Ke murmured.

She swallowed, took a breath, and stepped forward. The spongy material grasped at her shoe. She advanced, picking up speed, the beam of the flashlight swaying side to side. Ke squished along beside her. The tunnel floor pitched upward, then curled around a bend in the hill. The tube was irregularly round, the dark walls striated in layers. Tendrils of a fibrous plant or fungus hung from the roof. She couldn't tell if it was earth-native or alien.

They moved onward, the ground smooth beneath them. The orange showed no traces of footsteps. There were no openings in the tunnel walls. After ten minutes and perhaps a mile of climbing, the circle of light sparkled on something metal. Tristan knelt and picked up a tiny silver turtle, a twist of black thread clinging to its loop.

"Robi's bracelet," Ke said. "Used to be our mom's."

Tristan handed it over. "Think it fell off? Or did she leave it for us to find?"

They continued up the constant slope. It wasn't growing any cooler and she sweated freely. The tunnel seemed to grow wider, darker, swallowing up the light.

"Oh fuck," she whispered.

Ke swept up his pistol. "What do you see?"

"It's what I
don't
see. My flashlight's dying."

"Got more batteries?"

"I lost everything I had when they attacked Lahaina." Either it was her imagination, or the light was shrinking before her eyes. "Everything I've seen in Hana's been corroded."

"I've got a lantern. But I doubt it's got fuel for more than a few hours."

The tube stretched away in the darkness. "We have no idea how far this goes. If it's to the crater, it could be another ten miles."

Ke spat something that wasn't English but was obviously a curse. "I'm sorry. Should have thought to bring more."

"I didn't know it would die this fast. And I doubt you packed your ready-bag for spelunking." She swore through her teeth. "We don't have a choice. We go back for more light."

They turned around and headed back at a fast jog. Within minutes, the flashlight barely lit their feet. It gave out just as the entrance glowed ahead. After their trek through the tunnels, the noise and light of the day felt overwhelming.

"I've got another idea," Ke said, toweling himself off with his shirt. "I know someone. Lives upstream. Very serious survivalist by name of Sam."

"Never met him."

"Her. And like I said, she's very serious."

"Spit it out."

"Night vision. Almost positive she'll have it."

Tristan bit her lip. "Will she part with it?"

"Can't say." He jogged toward the trail, still squinting against the glare. "It would be a hell of a lot less conspicuous than a flashlight. Worst case, we barter batteries from her."

"Your sister. Your call."

Several emotions wrangled for possession of Ke's face. "If they mean to kill her right away, then it's already over. We can't catch up to them. If they want her for something else, then we can spare a few minutes to grab the advantage."

They ran hard up the trail, panting. The shade of the trees felt good. Tristan drank on the move. Ke passed his house and continued through the jungle, diverting from the stream and locating a game trail. He stopped beneath the gnarled, reaching branches of a koa tree, reached into a hollow in its trunk, and withdrew a dingy metal whistle. He blew it and set it back. A moment later, a second whistle replied from deeper in the forest. Ke ran up the trail.

"Neat security system," Tristan said.

"It's more for our health than hers."

Ahead, a woman emerged from the trees, middle-aged, Hawaiian, dark hair pulled behind her head. She wore camo and an assault rifle. Her eyes leapt straight to Tristan. "Who's she?"

"Robi's been taken by aliens," Ke said. "This is Tristan, and she's going to help me get her back."

None of this appeared to ruffle the woman. "Talk."

"We need night vision. Two of them."

"What kind of light you operating in?"

"None."

"None as in the dead of night? Or none like none?"

"Pitch black. The hermits are using lava tubes to get around and they haven't bothered to install lights. Is that a problem?"

Sam shrugged mildly. "Not for my
good
stuff. But it's my good stuff. Why would I let it go?"

Tristan leaned forward. "Because we're using it to kill aliens."

"And I
want
you to rile them up?"

"If they're coming down and snatching humans, I'd say they're already riled. We'll bring back your gear. If we don't, you'll know it's because we're dead. Seems like that would be useful intelligence about their forces. Kind of thing that might let you know it's time to move."

"Don't imagine they'd be able to find me here."

"No?" Tristan said. "Do you know they're using dogs now?"

"You're serious?" Sam eyed her, then grunted. "That one I didn't know."

"Cameras on the collars. Careful of strays."

"You've earned my attention. Still haven't heard an offer."

"This is my sister," Ke said.

"Irreplaceable," Sam nodded. "Just like my gear."

"Human gear's nice," Tristan said. "But how about the alien kind?"

A smile diffused across the woman's face. "You bring me back whatever you find?"

"With the understanding the objective isn't loot. It's Robi."

"Wait here." Sam turned and ran into the undergrowth.

Ke waited until the threshing of brush faded. "That was good."

Tristan nodded and glanced at the sky. It had only been fifteen or twenty minutes since they'd left the tunnels. Sam jogged back with two sets of what looked like futuristic binoculars.

"Here's the go button," she said, tapping one pair. "These are the good shit. Operate in full darkness, nearly zero blooming, and you won't go blind if someone flicks on a light in your vicinity."

Tristan gave hers a quick look. "How long do they last?"

"Two thousand hours? Four? Long enough that the only way it's a worry for you is if one of them asks for your hand in marriage." She delivered this with no particular meanness, then unzipped a black bag and removed two black pistol-grip shotguns with a second grip attached to the pump. "If you're in tunnels, you can't do better than these."

"For reals?" Ke said.

"Seems like the best way to ensure my NVGs make it back to me." She got a box from the bag and tapped two pairs of orange, bullet-shaped objects into her palm. "Just in case you're fans of your hearing."

Tristan split the earplugs with Ke. "You'll be repaid in full."

The woman simply nodded. Ke thanked her, then they ran back toward the beach, using the travel time to work out a quick series of hand gestures. They hit the sand and went quiet, stalking to the vine-curtained entrance. It was as vacant as before. Inside, they strapped their goggles on and flipped the switch. The tunnel lit up with green.

"This is like being in a documentary about lions," Tristan said. She extended her arm and waved her hand back and forth. The motion was clear and crisp, but the goggles put a sense of distance between her and the action, as if she were watching a landscape pass from inside a car.

They fitted their earplugs and Ke trotted down the tunnel. She caught up, sticking by his side. The goggles made her face feel top-heavy, but allowed her to see far deeper into the tube than the flashlight had penetrated. At straightaways, they jogged forward, slowing when the tube turned sharply enough to cut down their line of sight. At one such spot, the tunnel squeezed tighter, curling to the right. Ke slipped ahead.

White light flashed in the green; a gigantic bang pounded down the tunnel. Ke fired a second time. The air hazed thickly, more than seemed possible; the stink of burnt powder crowded her nostrils.

Ke advanced, pumping the slide, the spent shell tocking against the wall. Tristan moved in behind him. An alien lay on the rubbery floor, its carapace collapsed, goo everywhere. It stunk like half-digested fish. The creature's tentacles curled and uncurled, claws yawning dumbly. It was all in shades of green and Tristan lifted her goggles to see it with no filter, only to snap into the utter darkness of the cave. She blinked and reset the goggles to her eyes.