Page 168 of Pets in Space 10
Rescued
Adele watched the tall, auburn-haired pilot leap from the flyer, followed by a militia sergeant. The pilot seemed familiar, but her tired mind could not place him.
“Nickolas, well met.” Lochan grasped the other man’s forearm. The relief in Lochan’s voice and the familiarity of the greeting attested to how much he respected the pilot.
It also surfaced the pilot’s identity: Lieutenant Nickolas Cyncad, Serengeti warrior, former protégé to Monsignor Lucius, and a hero of the battle for the Thirteenth System.
Before the Nightingale’s launch, the handsome green-eyed warrior had been the darling of the media, a living example of Bright Star’s valor.
Now he was here. On this strange new planet. Rescuing her from despoilers. Her. An ordinary commoner. An engineer with a minuscule commerce enterprise. She was not certain why it was amusing, but she could not contain the laughter bubbling up through her exhaustion.
Lochan’s hands were on her shoulders, his voice filled with concern. “Adele?”
Shaking with laughter, she leaned into him. “Heroes. Despoilers. Tigers. Equines. Strange new worlds.”
Lochan’s arms went around her. “Sweetheart?”
Leaning back in his embrace, she met his puzzled expression. “How did this become my life?”
A worried whine by her ankles brought on more laughter, this time with tears. “A disappearing dog.” She wriggled out of Lochan’s embrace to collect her pet. “A brave, clever, rescue dog.”
Crouched on the ground, her face buried in Rogue’s soft, musky fur, her laughter subsided, but the tears did not. Once again, Lochan’s strong arms enfolded her. His husky baritone murmured soothing words. “Easy, sweetheart. We are safe. All is well. Be easy.”
***
Sprawled on the ground, his arms full of crying woman, Lochan was torn by duty and desire. He could not release Adele, but matters on Prime remained dangerous.
Nickolas crouched next to him with an injector. “I can give her a sedative.”
“She is more exhausted than aught else. As am I.” Lochan blinked against sore eyes. “It has not been three bells since we were in a fireburst battle. She slayed two despoilers.”
Nickolas’s eyes widened and he glanced at Adele with new respect. “Mayhap a stimulant?”
He dug through the medic’s aid bag, pulling out two objects. “Juice or injector?”
The injection would keep Lochan awake and alert for another six bells. The juice would ease him enough to think, but last no more than two bells. “Injection for me and hand me the juice pouch.”
Adele’s tears were subsiding, replaced by ragged breathing as she regained her equilibrium. Ignoring the prick of the injector and the sensation of cool water running up his arm, Lochan encouraged her to sip from the pouch. “It will make you feel better. We will get you to the Nightingale, soon.”
After a few sips, she took the pouch from his hand, smiling when Rogue rose up to her lap to sniff the strange object. “It is not for little dogs. And you are not hungry. You ate that furry thing while we waited for the flyer.”
Relieved to hear her acting and sounding like herself, Lochan pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Can you rise? There are yet despoilers at large and we need to get Samson to the Nightingale medics.”
At her nod, Lochan sprang up, already feeling the beneficial effects of the stimulant.
Now that Adele was steady, his priority was the despoilers.
“Nickolas, I need to communicate with Raleigh. There are at least two despoilers by the flyer wreckage and as many as a dozen at an encampment in the woods. They have two flyers, and at least three collapsible carts. Or rather, had. Two carts are ours now.”
Nickolas chuckled. “They had two flyers.”
Lochan had Adele on her feet when he heard Nickolas’ words. “Had?”
“We launched flyers as soon as we received your distress call. We were too far out, and you were too low for us to pick up your flyer signal before you went down.” His expression turned dark.
“The despoilers were high enough that we caught an echo. We chased them to the far side of the planet before destroying them.”
Pieces snapped into place. “You searched the other side of the planet for a base.”
“Half the flyers have been running a grid search of these mountains seeking a beacon or wreckage. The others were seeking a base.”
“I need to speak with Raleigh.” He turned to Adele, pleased to see some brightness in her expression. “Adele, take the sergeant and check on Samson and Lace. Nickolas and I will join you when we can.”
***
Adele was impressed by the efficiency of the Nightingale crew.
Somehow, the media plays detailing their heroic exploits failed to communicate the level of intensity.
Within half a period, six more flyers landed on the beach.
One was piloted by Bran, and each carried a militia guard.
Only four of the new flyers were the distinctive scarlet.
When Adele asked why they were not all scarlet, Bran explained that of the ten original Nightingale flyers, only five survived the battle.
Serengeti seconded three of its surviving flyers to the Nightingale until replacements could be constructed.
An eighth flyer reported destroying the despoilers camped by the wreckage.
Regrettably, the cannon burst also destroyed the cart.
That same pilot was flying patrols over the area on the off chance the despoilers had another cart or other means of attack.
The two remaining Serengeti flyers had returned to the spear to protect the crevasse in case this somehow turned out to be an elaborate diversion.
Their shelter had become a makeshift command center.
The carts were moved to the beach near the flyers and Samson shifted to a medic’s sled.
As soon as Bran was satisfied that Samson and Lace had revealed all they could of the despoiler encampment, they would be sent to the safety of the Nightingale.
Samson was noticeably stronger, steadily sipping on a third nutrient pouch. The medic’s potion both hydrated and promoted rapid replacement of blood loss.
Bran was frowning at the battle plan. “The colonists are the challenge. We can destroy the encampment with ease, but that will slay the colonists.”
“This group is lax,” Lochan answered. “Unlike the disciplined fighters from their combat transports. A warning canon burst or two along with the sight of flyers, and they will surrender.”
Bran sighed. “The despoilers have a nasty habit of slaying their captives when faced with defeat.”
Samson finished the pouch and set it aside. “With the commander and the lieutenant chasing us, they would’ve left the sergeant in charge. He’s a mean one. Kill him and the rest will do as they’re told.”
Lochan exchanged glances with Bran and then asked, “How will we recognize the sergeant?”
***
Anxiously, Lochan watched the Serengeti flyer carrying Adele and Rogue rise into the dawn sky.
There was no need for fear, Adele would be safely on the Nightingale within a bell.
The stimulant injection that kept him awake also left him on edge.
Two more Serengeti flyers took flight, carrying Samson and Lace.
Taking a rifle, extra fireburst packs, and his replenished satchel, Lochan followed Bran down to the flyers.
With the passenger seat retracted, a collapsed cart fit neatly in the cargo area.
Four militia would remain at the shelter guarding the weapons, fireburst packs, and other supplies they scavenged from the despoilers. Once they had secured the encampment, the militia would guard any surviving despoilers and colonists until Raleigh could determine their fates.
At Bran’s signal, Lochan set his flyer into flight, followed by Nickolas.
They made a wide loop, going east beyond the wrecked flyer before turning south and crossing the forest at an altitude that would keep them undetected.
The patrolling flyer had detected no other flyers, or other transportation, but the sound of flyers was distinctive.
They would land well east of the container field and use the carts to approach along the woods.
Taking advantage of the early bell, Lochan set the flyer down in the long shadows cast by the woods.
By the time he had the cart ready, Nickolas and the sergeant were on the ground.
Of the three of them, the sergeant was their best sharpshooter and rode in the storage area, prepared to repel any of the predators that might yet be hunting.
The valley’s grasslands were far smoother than the pebble beach, allowing them to reach the target zone in half a period.
Lochan was going to use the despoilers’ tactics against them, covering the last half mile on foot.
With a few quick taps to his slate, Nickolas alerted Bran that they were approaching the encampment.
After a quarter mile, Lochan led the way into the forest. The location was well chosen.
Located on a bluff overlooking the river, they were close enough for easy access to the water and high enough not to fear floods.
A hundred paces inside the woods, it was not visible from the basin.
Twenty paces of trees and brush had been cleared around the circle of escape modules as a buffer against the nocturnal animal life.
Fifty modules were arranged in a rough circle with a gap blocked by a gate crafted from felled trees and secured with a wooden bar.
More trees had been used to create two platforms that rose over the modules.
Each guard tower held an armed despoiler.
Both figures were slumped in some type of chair, rifles loose in their laps.
Their purpose was to keep the captives within the improvised stockade, and they appeared no more diligent than the ones Lochan killed by the lake.