The Prize: Book One (15 page)

"Cease-fire!  You're just wasting power!”  Penn yelled, the firing immediately diminishing and silence returned.

"Who the hell are we shooting at, Major?” someone hissed.

"Damned if I know trooper.”  She whispered softly as she crawled by.  Just then, an amplified voice boomed out across the jungle. 

“We see you, Drath, and if you surrender now, we promise a quick painless death!”  A hissing sort of laugh followed this.

"Who is it, Major?"

"My guess is Thrakee.”  The Thrakee's definition of a quick death was being tortured, dismembered, and eaten alive.  The Thrakee felt the fear induced a chemical change in the body of their victims that added an extra spice to the meal.

"Shit!" Sergeant Jaxx muttered.

"Close," Ellis answered, cursing their luck for running into them so fast, "stay down and watch your front.”

“Hey Major… what's a drath?” trooper Merl asked, and Ellis laughed.

“The closest translation would be a bottom feeding scum sucker… something like a lawyer.”

“Oh, I get it….  Hey!  That's not nice!”  He exclaimed with a chuckle.

Penn slithered deeper into the undergrowth, out of sight, and out of the line of fire, from either side, munching on an energy bar as he did.

He wouldn't put if pass one of these Girl Scouts to 'accidentally' shoot him.  Without a weapon there was little he could contribute to the spasmodic firefight, so he didn't try.  His turn would come later, under the cover of darkness.  Making himself comfortable, he watched and listened to the world around him from beneath the brim of his bush cap.  While he waited, he thought about a certain Sub-Major and what she would look like out of uniform.  It didn't take long for the said Sub-Major to realize he wasn't contributing to the on-going battle and crawled around looking for him.

“What the hell do you think you are doing?” She hissed, finding him at last.

"Oh, you want me to go charging off into the bush with my bare hands?"

"You could at least keep a watch for the damn lizards.”  Ellis countered, half a mind to give him Rune's blast rifle, then thought better of it.  It was bad enough he had his damn knives.

"Oh, that's who it is, the Thrakee.  I wondered who crashed.”

"You heard it and said nothing?”

“Why should I give a pinch of bat shit what happens to... this lot!” he amended.  He was going to say to her, but thought better of it.

"So what do we do now?”

"You're asking me?”  He lifted the peak of his cap and looked at her in surprise.

“I'm not asking the bloody man in the moon you moron!”  Penn chuckled hearing that.

"Well if it was me, I'd just wait until nightfall.  The lizards don't do well at night.  Bad temperature control, unlike us superior mammals.”

"Is that all?"

"Well, about dusk, we should be able to break contact and move away, at least until daylight.”

"And then what?" it irritated her to have to ask.

"Oh, we'll see.  I might have one or two ideas to make them change their mind about tangling with us.  Otherwise, they'll be all over us like white on rice tomorrow.”

She elbow walked her way back to the perimeter through the mud puddles and crawling insects, cursing and swearing, furious at Penn for taking all this so casually.  She gave the troopers the same instructions, seeing Trooper Vanira, the mother hen trying to comfort Callis.  Death in combat was one thing, but to have the blood and brains of someone you spoke to a few moments before splattered all over you was something else.  Ellis remembered the first time she'd seen something similar, and threw up much as Callis had.  Now she was hardened to it, but even so it made her feel queasy.  The rest of the day passed with just the occasional probing shot from each side, letting the other know they were still awake.  Any sort of flanking assault was out of the question with the few troops she had at her disposal, betting the Thrakee were in about the same position.  They also had the prime objective in mind, and getting to the pyramid before anyone else, not getting into a running battle.  At dusk, they broke contact and carefully worked their way backward.  Ellis looked around for Penn, but the place he'd been resting was empty.

"Now where had that shithead gone?” She muttered to herself, finding out half an hour later, when a hand reached out of a bush, and grabbed her by the ankle.  She spun around, her weapon coming up, heart pounding with fear.  It was Penn.

"You do that again, and I'll blow your damn head off!” she snarled.

“A little testy aren't we?”  Penn asked, emerging from his hiding place.

"I've been crawling through this garbage pit for half an hour, what do you expect, hearts, and roses?"

"Just thought I'd tell you, we are safe for the moment, and can make camp.”

"Says you,” said Ellis, skeptical.

"Says me.  I scouted their position, and they've pulled back as well.  They're about half a mile from here making camp for the night.”  She listened for a time, and she had to conclude he was right as no shots came their way.

But, he'd gone to scout the Thrakee camp by himself?  Was he crazy?  Penn was an enigma, and the more she saw of him in action, the more she worried about her own soldiers.  Compared with him, they truly were Girl Scouts in here.  Ellis doubted they'd get much sleep inside the hull of a wrecked starship they came across.  She worried the sleepless night would slow them down tomorrow, but she didn't have much choice.  The last thing she wanted was to get her position overrun, and the inside of the wreck offered the best defensive position they'd found to spend the night.  Ellis set a defense perimeter and a command post inside the wreck.  Out of sight, troopers Gelbow, the cook lit a small fire.  Shielded as it was, it would at least give them warm food and some hot Kaf.  Ellis waited until all her troops had eaten before grabbing a quick meal herself.  After that, she crawled the perimeter, checking each position, identifying herself as she moved up.  In the gathering gloom, she didn't want some nervous individual mistaking her for a Thrakee.

Back at the CP, she looked around for Penn, finding to her annoyance he was sleeping as peacefully as a baby in a snug corner out of the rain.  It irked her, and for a moment, she thought of waking him up, giving him a rifle and making him stand point.  The thought also occurred to her that the reason he'd hadn't picked up a rifle that first day was so he wouldn't have to stand guard, but maybe that was being unkind.  Standing there looking at him in the flickering light from the dying fire he looked even younger.  Her heart seemed to do a flip-flop.  How could someone so young, be so confident?  In the end, she let him sleep.

CHAPTER - TWELVE:              Things that go bump in the night

As night fell, Ellis worked her way around the perimeter and back to the CP, checking each trooper.  Knowing the enemy was out there, she was confident they'd stay awake and spot anything crawling toward them with their night-vision equipment.  Hopefully that, and the defense shield was enough time to get everyone into their fighting positions before any attack.  Despite what Penn said, her people were professionals and knew what they were doing in a situation like this.  It was just this damn jungle that had them all spooked.  Everyone except Penn that is.

Instinctively she looked for Penn when she completed her rounds and returned to the makeshift CP, but he was gone.  By now it was so dark under the all-enveloping canopy it was hard to see anything without night-vision optic.  Ellis scanned the ground for signs, but other than his gear stacked neatly in the corner out of the rain there wasn't any.  Walking outside she finally spotted him behind the hull section, stripped down to his undershorts and tee shirt.  Puzzled, she watched as he walked over to a pool of mud and scooped up a handful.  He threw the first handful down and then the second.  He dipped his hands into the mud a third time, and she saw the flash of a greenish white smile in the darkness as he found what he was looking for.  Ellis worked her way over to him as he lay down and began to wallow in the evil smelling stuff.

"Have you gone crazy?” she asked softly, sinking to one knee beside him while keeping a watchful eye on the perimeter, “what on Earth are you doing?"

"Oh, just a mud bath before the dance.”  He was humming a tune to himself that Ellis half recognized.

"What the hell are you talking about?” she asked as Penn began to roll around in the leaf litter nearby.

Bewildered, she watched him repeated the process, rolling in the mud, then the leaf litter, covering himself from head to foot in the mess.  Once completed, the whites of his eyes, was all thing Ellis could see beneath the black, mud dripping shape.

"Instant cammo,” he grinned.

“You know your BDU's has active cammo built into the fabric.”

“Yeah, but even if you can't see the person, you can pick up on the power source and the IR leakage with the right equipment.”

Penn was right about the flaw in the active cammo, but that sort of detection required extremely hi-tech equipment.  Still, she didn't know what sort of technology the Thrakee had at their disposal so it made sense, but it begged the question of why he needed it.

"And you need this because?" she held onto her temper.  Why couldn't he just tell her what he was going to do like a normal person?

"I'm going dancing, and you're not invited.”

"Dancing?  Dancing with who, for Christ sake?"

"That's whom.”  He answered, patronizing her like a third grade English teacher speaking to one of his slower students.

"I don't need a damn English lesson from the likes of you,” Ellis hissed, clenching her fists in irritation, “whom?" she said at last when he didn't answer.

"The lizards of course, who else?” he answered blithely.  ”Unless of course you want them crawling all over you come morning.”

"I'd rather not, thank you very much.”  She sniffed.  ”What are you going to do?"

"Can't tell you that until I see their camp up close.  I'll let you know in the morning.”  He smeared more of the thick mud all over his cap before placing it on his head.

"If you come back!” she turned her head to conceal the expression on her face.  She stared into the dark, threatening world beyond the camp's perimeter, a place with too many unknown dangers for Penn to go wandering around in it at night.  ”I can't permit this!” she said at last.  ”You have a job to do.”

"Yes, and that's to get your cute tush to the bloody Prize in one piece.”  Her face tightened.  Men didn't refer to her behind as a tush, at least not to her face.  An odd feeling rose up inside her, and it wasn't anger.

"I still can't permit you to go, it's too dangerous.  The benefits don't outweigh the risks.”  She knew he was going to argue, but there was no changing her mind on this issue.

Penn didn't answer.  She waited a moment, listening to the sounds of the jungle around her as her head swung from side to side.  Hearing nothing, she looked over her shoulder.  He was gone. One second they were talking, the next he simply became part of the jungle, indistinguishable from the plants and shadows.

“Penn, get your ass back here!” she hissed, hearing a soft chuckle coming from somewhere off to her left.  For a moment, she considered using the pain inducer to force him to return.  Her hand reached into her pocket, fingers stroking the warm plastic.  But no, having Penn thrashing around in the bush, screaming in pain wouldn't help the mission.  At least that's what she told herself, angry that he'd slipped away from her so easily.  She made her way back to the CP through the deepening darkness, cursing him under her breathe, doubting she ever met a more infuriating man in her life.  He'd left before she'd got the chance to say something.  Maybe she'd have added, 'be careful'.  Maybe.

"You okay, Major?”  Captain Carras whispered, startling her.  Distracted, she hadn't noticed his approach.