Alien Worlds (16 page)

“Take mine, too.” Robert shrugged. “We might need the extra energy.”

She smiled and nodded. It took only a few moments to strip the packs and attach them in line to each other.

As she finished, she said, “The only way this will work is if everyone holds onto me.”

Joss sniffed. “Not a secure mode of travel.”

Impani stood with the device in one hand and the linked power packs in the other. She took a deep breath and nodded. “Here we go.”

W
ith trembling fingers, Impani plugged the power packs into the motherboard. Immediately, the board vibrated with an almost inaudible hum. A whirling sensation stirred her stomach.

Joss whooped and crushed her in a bear hug. “The ring is coming! We’re on our way!”

Trace wrapped one arm about her shoulders and held Natica with the other. Robert held onto her waist. Impani closed her eyes, willing the device to work.

The ring never arrived.

“What happened?” Robert asked.

Impani shrugged from the group embrace. “Not enough power.” She disconnected the unit.

“But we’re almost there,” Trace told her. “You put the components together. You figured it out.”

Suddenly, she wanted to cry. “What good does it do if we can’t make it work?”

Joss burst into gales of laughter. She glowered, caught between embarrassment and indignation.

“Don’t leave without me,” he chortled and ran into the trees.

“Where’s he going?” Robert asked.

Natica shook her head.

“Who cares?” Impani’s gaze dropped to the board in her hand. “Joss is right. I’ll never do it.”

“But you
have
done it.” Trace cupped her chin. “I felt the ring.”

“I didn’t feel anything,” Robert said, sullenly.

Trace shoved him. “Joss felt it.”

“Joss is crazy!” Impani cried.

“So what are you going to do?” Trace asked. “Give up?”

“At least we’re on a hospitable world,” Robert said. “Joss has lived here for two years.”

“And what happened to the other Scouts who landed here?” Trace glared at him. “Did you ever wonder about that?”

“They died of parasites.” Robert lowered his voice. “The
grapes
call it the children’s disease—little worms that eat you from the inside. Joss said it’s a long and gruesome death.”

“Great,” Natica said.

“This is hopeless.” Impani let the board fall from her hand. It sank into the grass. For a moment, they all stared at it. She felt like she was at a funeral.

Then Robert screwed up his face. “Do you hear yodeling?”

Head cocked, Impani led the group across the clearing. She stared down the village path. Joss walked briskly toward them, yodeling at the top of his lungs. He carried an armful of equipment belts over one shoulder.

The belts from the other Scouts. Joss hadn’t meant to ridicule her—he’d gone for more power packs. She clamped her lips tight against a swell of renewed hope. Did she dare try again? The others looked to her to save them. What if she failed?

She hung her head, wishing that her friends weren’t standing so close behind her, wishing she had time to think. But an odd sound stole her concentration—a discordant, multi-leveled buzz. It took a moment to realize what it was.

The villagers were screaming.

Silvery bubbles settled over the forest, bobbing as if tethered. Thin fingers of smoke wavered in the air. Then a silver hot air balloon cleared the trees behind Joss.

She cried, “Look out!”

Joss turned as the balloon sped toward him. A man leaned low over the basket’s edge and pitched a fist-sized glass ball. It struck Joss in the chest. Immediately, flames engulfed him. Joss dove to the ground, the belts flying.

Impani cringed. The skinsuit wouldn’t burn—but his beard would. She rushed forward to help him.

Robert pulled her back. “I’ll handle it.” He ran down the path.

A soldier in the basket threw out an anchor that tangled in the trees. The balloon bobbed in place.

“Hello, Joss,” the man called. “I finally found a use for fish oil.” He wore a skinsuit and a handlebar mustache. Beaumont. He held out another ball. It looked like a Christmas ornament with a wick.

Joss extinguished the flames by rolling on the ground. Smoke curled from his beard. Robert reached him and helped him up. He tugged Joss’ arm, but he wrenched it away.

“Molotov cocktails?” he yelled at Beaumont. “Not very original.”

Beaumont laughed so hard he nearly fell out of the basket. “What’s the matter? Can’t keep up?”

Joss hooted and shook his fist. Both men grinned. Beaumont released the balloon and drifted over the lake.

Looking disgruntled, Robert gathered the belts. He said something to Joss.

Joss leaped up and down, yelling, “I can’t go yet. The game isn’t over.” With a hoarse battle cry, he ran toward the village.

Robert gaped. Was he finally seeing that Joss was insane? Or was he deciding whether or not to go with him?

The voices of the villagers grew louder. Crashing footsteps sounded in the woods. The balloons once tethered over the village moved steadily nearer. One followed the path toward Robert, dipping low enough for two soldiers to jump from the basket. They brandished long swords.

Robert pulled out his stat-gun and fired at the ground in front of them, gouging a black gully. “Just cross the line!” he yelled. “Go ahead!”

The soldiers collided in an attempt to back away—but the balloon kept coming. The lone balloonist tossed several flaming balls overboard. They fell nowhere near Robert—but he fired anyway.

Robert’s shot crackled in arcs over the metal-foil balloon. The ropes that attached the wicker basket snapped. With a strident screech, the balloonist fell into the trees.

“Robert, no,” Impani cried. “We aren’t here to butcher the—”

She stopped at the sight of another balloon. Its occupants peppered the cabana with glass balls as if hoping to flush someone out. Smoke rose from the grass roof.

“The circuit boards.” She headed toward the cabana.

Trace grabbed her arm. He pulled her back just as a mob of villagers burst from the trees. The three cadets huddled together, tossed and jostled as the panicked crowd streamed around them. Balloons bobbed overhead, and soldiers leaped from them as if impervious to harm.

Impani covered her ears then yelled to Trace. “Get Natica to safety!”

He looked startled. “But—”

“I have to get the components before they’re trashed.” She pushed him away and entered the mayhem.

For a moment, all she saw was purple skin and white hair, all she heard was a roar—and she felt like she were back again in the frothing rapids. She bounded from body to body, fighting her way crosscurrent as the villagers stampeded blindly toward the lake. Then Trace was beside her, shouldering the people away, and keeping her from falling beneath their pounding feet.

Together, they pushed through to the cabana. Smoke poured from the door. Flames crackled inside. Impani searched for the circuit board—and found it kicked against the side of the hut, chips askew.

“Any damage?” Trace shouted.

“I hope not.” She scooped the fallen chips into their package. “Where’s Natica?”

“With Wilde.”

An arrow whizzed past his ear. He yelped then turned to shield her.

Like a tsunami, Joss’ warriors surged from the trees and engulfed Beaumont’s soldiers. The air rang with the clash of swords against chainmail. Arrows flew, finding their mark in throats and torsos. Within moments, the clearing filled with bodies.

“This is insane,” Impani cried.

Trace leaned close and yelled, “We have to get to the others across the clearing.”

“How?”

As if in answer, he secured his mask. Impani did the same. She stared at the teeming warriors as they hacked and grappled and died. There was no path through them. No way across. Then at her back, the cabana collapsed in a flurry of sparks.

“Drel!” She leaped away.

A warrior careened into her, his rubbery face sliced nearly in two. She screamed and batted him to the side.

Trace shook her shoulders. “Do you have everything?”

“What?”

“The circuit board.”

She blinked then searched the package. “Yes. I think so.”

He took out his gun. “Follow me.”

Together, they rushed into the melee. Bodies littered the ground. Some trampled to death—others hacked to pieces. Beaumont’s soldiers wielded their swords deftly. One came after her and Trace.

“Stay away!” Trace pointed the stat-gun.

The soldier charged them, sword high overhead. Trace fired. But instead of striking the person, he shot the sword, causing less damage. A wave of love washed through Impani. They weren’t there to butcher the locals.

The metal sword glowed bright white. The soldier twitched convulsively, but he would not release the weapon. Impani whirled about and landed a solid kick on his chest. He flew backward and landed in a heap.

Trace grabbed her arm and pulled her forward. A volley of arrows rained over them. She looked back as warriors shot straight up in the air, trying to hit the hovering balloons. One arrow reached its target. The silvery foil tore, and the basket plummeted. With a braying sound, Joss’ warriors stormed the balloonist.

“Come on!” Trace tugged her, and she realized she’d been almost stationary, mired in horror.

Ahead, Robert and Natica beckoned from the village path. Head bent against a torrent of arrows, she sprinted toward them.

Robert caught her. “Are you all right?”

“We have to get out of here,” she cried.

Trace asked, “Has Joss shown up?”

“That loony.” Robert glanced down the path. “When we get home, we’ll send someone back for him.”

When we get home. The words echoed against Impani’s misgivings. She straightened. “Where are the belts?”

“We’ve got three more power packs.” Robert handed her the resonators. “The others are depleted.”

“Let’s hope it’s enough,” said Natica.

“It will be.”
It has to be.

Impani carried the components and the resonators deeper into the trees, away from the battle. Sitting in a flattened area of grass, she examined the circuit chips for damage then clipped them back into place.

Natica said, “Maybe Joss was right about this not being a secure way to travel. I mean, just holding onto one another—”

“Impani, remember when we connected our belts to secure that creature to the sled?” Trace said. “Maybe if we join these extra belts, we can strap the four of us together.”

“Do it,” Impani said without looking up.

She linked two of the packs in line with the others—but the third was so old, its connector crumbled. She had to hotwire it into the chain. At last, she got to her feet.

“Ready?” she asked.

“Done.” Trace dragged the string of belts.

Natica moved to Impani’s side. Eyes wide. Lips tight.

Impani gave her an encouraging smile. “Hold onto me, just in case.”

“Look,” Robert said. “The village is burning.”

A dirty smudge rose over the trees.

“I won’t miss this world,” she murmured.

“Me neither.” He fastened his mask then draped his arms over the girls’ shoulders.

Trace wrapped the belts about them and snapped the buckle shut. He faced Impani. “It’s up to you now.”

Time to take a chance. She plugged the power coupling into the board.

Immediately, a familiar tug grasped the pit of her stomach. Darkness formed within her mind. She imagined a circle of swirling black energy, sensed tendrils reaching toward her, pulling her from the world on which she stood.

It was working! They had summoned an Impellic ring. For a moment, she felt faint. She concentrated on the nearness of her friends, their arms about her, supporting her. The void took hold—deep and empty yet giving the impression of extreme velocity.

Then blinding light speared her eyes. She winced into the glare. Her vision wavered then focused upon a mirrored room.

The Impellic Chamber.

“We did it!” Robert yelled. “We’re back!”

Natica bounced up and down, causing the belts to fall to the floor.

Trace cupped Impani’s face in his palms, his deep eyes luminous. “You are amazing.”

Impani gasped, not yet willing to trust her voice, not yet certain she should believe.

Then the door burst open, and a man she recognized as Chief Astrut rushed into the Chamber. He gaped at them.

Impani grinned. “We’re ready for our debriefing.”

I
mpani held Trace’s hand as they walked toward the door to Natica’s hospital room. She felt a twinge of guilt. They had been back for a day, yet this was the first chance she’d had to visit her friend. It wasn’t her fault, really. The debriefing had been long, and then she’d slept nearly twelve hours while the medical staff pumped fluids into her. She must have needed the rest; she felt much stronger now.

Taking a deep breath, she pushed open the door. Natica sat in bed with her back to them, staring out a circular window at a fading sunset. Her smooth scalp showed a large purple splotch. Impani was relieved to see her sitting up. When she heard that Natica hadn’t been released from the hospital, she imagined tubes and monitors, and her friend lying listlessly among them.

“How are you feeling?” Impani approached the bed.

Natica looked about as if she’d been deep in thought. She smiled then gave a mock groan. “Terrible. They want to keep me here another two days. I’ll miss graduation.”

“You won’t be any less a Scout.”

“That’s quite a bump you’ve got.” Trace smiled. “I think the skinsuit was the only thing keeping your head on tight.”

Natica chuckled. “How did you two check out?”

“A few bruises, a bit dehydrated.” Impani shrugged. “Nothing serious.”

“I still can’t believe that out of the four of us Robert was the only one to contract those worms,” Natica said. “He’ll be in ICU until the doctors figure a way to flush them from his system.”

Impani caught Trace’s eye, and they smiled.

“You should have been at the debriefing,” she said. “Strangest thing I ever saw.”

Trace laughed. “Yeah, now that we’re privately funded, the interviewers asked all sorts of personal questions. How do we feel about this? How could that have been handled better?”

“They actually wanted your opinion?”

“They want to make scouting safer.”

“We told them about Joss and Beaumont,” Impani said. “They’re going to send a retrieval squad.”

“They need to do more than that.” Natica leaned back against her pillows. “Those poor people are killing each other, and I bet they don’t even know why.”

Impani nodded. Would their culture return to normal after two years of Joss’ interference? Someone should be accountable. Abruptly, she thought about Missus and the colonists holding the Scouts responsible for their situation.

Quietly, she said, “We also told them about a group of miners we found on an ant world.”

Natica blinked. “Ant world?”

“Horrible. I’ll tell you about it some time.” Then she brightened. “But you’ll never guess who was at the debriefing.”

“Mr. Ambri-Cutt. I know.” Natica laughed. “He came by to thank me for goading him into the rescue. I couldn’t bear to tell him that I don’t remember doing it.”

“You still don’t remember anything?”

“Bits and pieces.” Natica plucked at her bed sheets. “I remember being in the auditorium. I was crying. And Robert was there, furious that they had suspended operations.” She looked at Impani. “He really cares about you, you know.”

Impani scoffed. “Obsessed is more like it.”

Natica smiled mischievously. “Right. So you can pair up with Robert, and I can go with Trace.”

“I’m taken.” Trace held up his hands, laughing.

Natica laughed, too. Impani felt her cheeks redden. She was happier at that moment than ever before in her life.

“I think the four of us are going to be too busy to worry about who goes out with whom,” she said. “We’re Scouts now.”

“I like the sound of that,” Natica said.

“In the meantime, you’d better get some rest,” Impani told her. “We’ll be back to see you tomorrow.”

“Goodnight,” said Trace.

Natica nodded. Trace and Impani stepped out into the hallway, closing the door quietly.

Once out of earshot, she poked Trace in the ribs. “What’s all this about you being taken?”

“You know I am,” Trace said. “By you.”

“But we haven’t even kissed.”

He stopped walking and placed his hands upon her shoulders. “I’ve wanted to kiss you since the time I bumped into you in the doorway of the Astrophysics Lab.”

She gave a little gasp. “I remember that.”

“Those three days we spent lost in that wormhole were right up there with the worst of my life. But they were wonderful, too. Because I got to spend them with you.”

Leaning forward, he brushed her cheek with his lips, teasing. She lifted her face toward his. Softly, his lips closed over hers. His kiss was warm and gentle, as she knew him to be, and she found herself wishing it would go on forever. When he pulled away, she looked up at him dreamily.

“Now, you’re taken,” she whispered.