Tara The Great [Nuworld 2] (42 page)

Lunians, he wasn’t sure, but he thought he saw two individuals escape from the tunnel.

The first round of explosions wiped out the unprepared Lunians, and as the smoke

cleared, the two individuals—if they’d ever really been there—were gone.

“It’s amazing their landlink technology isn’t more advanced,” Gowsky commented.

“They didn’t even see us coming.”

“I noticed that,” Darius answered, as he stood by his glider, consulting a landlink.

With his comm hooked around his ear, he seemed to be constantly in conversation.

He’d decided not to enter the battle, but instead monitored activity from the side.

Three nations were a lot of people to lead in battle. He wished Tara were here. He was

doing her job as well as his, providing information to her advisors and his. Answering

questions and delegating responsibilities. Directing troops and preparing strategies. The

best way to accomplish this successfully was to allow his troops to fight and keep

himself out of the confusion of battle.

As desperately as he wanted Tara by his side so she could do her job, he also

worried for her safety. True, she’d be harder than any other woman the Lunians

captured to get to cooperate with their atrocious scheme. But if they drugged her…

The smoke thinned around the aboveground campsite, and the troops—which had

actually done very little work—assumed formation. Lunians corpses were scattered

about.

Darius remained still, watching the ground, the canopy, and the hole, his eyes

burning from smoke. No one appeared. He didn’t like this, no. Lunians should be

crawling from that hole, begging mercy, and pleading for their lives.

“I’m not convinced their technology is that inferior.” Darius studied his

surroundings. “This was way too easy, but not because they didn’t know we were

here.”

“What are you saying?” Gowsky almost whispered.

“I’m not sure yet. My instincts tell me something’s not right here, they do.”

“You’re an outstanding warrior. I trust your skills,” Gowsky said confidently.

“Make the call.”

Darius looked at Gowsky quickly. He wondered if the Neurian knew the

compliment he’d just paid him. Neurians weren’t warriors though. Darius decided that

the man simply made a statement, an accurate statement.

“We need to go down that tunnel, we do. I just wish I knew whether we were

walking into an ambush or not.” Darius rubbed his forehead, thinking. “It would help

to get a count of how many Lunians are down there, it would.”

Darius’ comm beeped in his ear.

“Ask Gowsky to use their radar sensor, you should.” It was Torgo’s voice.

Darius quickly felt his temper rise at the fact that his brother, once again, was

eavesdropping.

“If one person can get down there and have two or three minutes to do a scan, we

should be able to get a count and a layout of their tunnels, I’m thinking.”

Darius didn’t respond to his brother. It was a good idea, but one of these days

Torgo would get into more trouble than he knew with his listening habits.

Instead of reprimanding his brother, he turned to Gowsky. “Do you have a radar

sensor here?”

“I’m pretty sure.” Gowsky didn’t look surprised that Darius was aware of their

technology. “That was Tealah’s department. I’ll have to check.”

Gowsky spoke into his comm, a slightly smaller version of the Runner device.

“One’s on its way,” he said to Darius. “It won’t read through the ground, though.

Someone will have to take it under.”

“Pick your man,” Darius ordered.

Within minutes, a Neurian woman, slightly stocky and with streaks of gray running

through her inky black hair, approached them. She carried a shoulder bag made of

leather.

“Will this thing tell us how many people are underground and the formation of

their tunnels?” Darius asked.

“I told you it would, I did,” Torgo spoke in his ear.

“Yes, lord,” the woman answered, looking a little nervous as she threw a side-

glance to Gowsky.

He smiled reassuringly.

Darius thought the Neurian would make a better diplomat than leader. “Come with

me.” He moved toward the open field, gesturing for the woman to follow.

She did so, Gowsky with her.

Darius instructed several of his men to escort her down the tunnel. They were to

ensure she had time to take her readings and get back out. His men understood. They

moved proudly. It was a potential suicide mission, and they knew it. A Gothman would

die in battle without hesitation. Better that, than old age.

Obviously Neurians didn’t share the same belief. The woman looked at Darius,

then at Gowsky with pleading in her eyes.

Gowsky placed his hand on her shoulder. “These men will see to your safety.

They’re outstanding warriors and would take a bullet for you without hesitating,” he

said quietly.

The surrounding Gothman probably heard him but none, including Darius,

acknowledged his comment.

“Tell them to transmit their readings directly to my landlink.” Torgo’s voice was

beyond irritating Darius. “I can translate it faster for you, I can.”

“Where are you?” Darius let his frustration come forth.

“At the med unit where you told me to be, I am.” He sounded defiant. “Where else

would I be?”

“Get over here; it’ll be easier for you to listen, yes.”

“On my way.”

Moving with caution, the Gothman soldiers headed toward the hole under the

canopy. About three feet in diameter, it was large enough for an adult to climb down.

The grass growing in the field stood tall enough that it provided a natural camouflage

for the entrance. Two men approached on all fours, two others walked behind them

offering backup. The Neurian woman followed. She studied her equipment as if she’d

never seen it before, appearing to be psyching herself up for the mission she’d been

ordered to undertake.

Darius positioned his men so they’d be ready to enter quickly, as soon as they ruled

out a possible ambush. The two guards looked down the hole, then one of them threw a

small Gothman-designed hand bomb down the tunnel. This particular explosive, with

its quick detonation, worked best for maneuvers exactly like this one—to flush out the

enemy.

Immediately after the Gothman soldier threw it into the tunnel, frantic voices were

heard. Their suspicions were correct. An ambush laid waiting for them. The bomb

rolled down the hallway and out of their line of vision, while the two soldiers cast light

with their beams, trying to see farther into the underground complex.

Darius felt the ground shake as the muffled explosion went off.

“Now move,” he ordered.

The two warriors leapt down the hole, not bothering with the large wooden ladder

resting against the entrance.

“Move, woman!” Darius put a hand on her back and pushed.

She obliged, but took the ladder.

“Get your readings and get out of there.”

Gunfire could be heard and smoke drifted up from the entrance. The two other

Gothman warriors jumped down the hole and immediately started firing. Darius

signaled several other soldiers who immediately ran for the hole, also, jumping and

firing almost simultaneously.

Minutes seemed like hours before the Neurian woman crawled out of the hole. She

was covered with dirt. Even her skin looked ashen, instead of the glistening black it had

been when she climbed down.

She looked up at him and smiled. Her teeth glistened white in her soot and dirt-

covered face. “I got it!” She held the instrument above her head as she climbed the last

few ladder rungs. “I did it.”

Torgo surprised Darius as he reached around him and grabbed the instrument.

Torgo quickly attached it to the flat landlink he held, and the woman moved to his side

to watch the results.

Darius saw Gowsky look at Torgo with interest, obviously noticing the strong

family resemblance. Their eyes quickly returned to the hole as voices cried out.

“My lord,” one of the Gothman soldiers yelled from below. “We’ve secured the

entrance, we have.”

“How long is the hallway?” He moved to the hole and bent down to be heard

better.

“I daresay about fifteen feet, yes m’lord,” the Gothman spoke with a thick local

accent. “I wouldn’t be for sure on that though, to be certain. The hallway splits, it does,

and goes in two different directions after that, yes.”

“Good job men,” Darius yelled, and some of the troops behind him hooted in

support. “Try to maintain the entrance, I say. We’ll send down reinforcements as soon

as we get these results, yes.”

The Neurian woman worked with Torgo to plug a printer into the landlink, and

printed copies of what they had discovered for Darius and Gowsky.

As the two men studied the information, Torgo explained, “We’ve successfully

obtained a map of the Lunian underground camp. I believe these large rooms might

house the prisoners, I do.”

Darius noted the authority in his younger brother’s voice. He looked up

approvingly and noticed Torgo looking directly at him. Darius saw a small smile

appear, then disappear. The boy thrived on his praise, he thought, and he certainly

hadn’t given him much over the winters. But approval acknowledged a job well done.

Torgo knew what he was doing, and he knew what he was talking about. That merited

commendation as far as Darius was concerned.

Now if he could only get the boy to show respect and learn how to follow orders.

Darius realized it would be worth his effort to spend more time with Torgo and fine-

tune him into a great warrior.

“This place is huge,” Gowsky said, as he stared at the sheet. “There are several

ways to get to each large room. How do you suggest we proceed?”

“We have enough troops, we do,” Darius said. “We’ll send a squadron through

each tunnel. It will guarantee quicker annihilation of these people, I’m thinking.”

“We plan to annihilate them?” Gowsky seemed surprised by the suggestion.

“Do you want to give them land to settle on your continent?” Darius cocked his