The Caverns of Mare Cetus (24 page)

   
"Hey," said Keyes, "that means your rifle was immobilized."

   
"Right," said Garrett. "Pretty much put me in a fix."

   
"So you surrendered, right?" asked Renata. She smiled at Trent who
was on the other side of Garrett.

   
The men broke into laughter.

   
"No, babe, the Afaras weren't taking prisoners. Think about it."

   
"All right," she said, grinning sheepishly. "But you said earlier you
didn't have any means of counteracting neurocharges." She took some
round chocolate mints from a bowl and laid ten of them on the table.
"Then you must have used your AVA to turn The Mecon back toward the
Afaras." She placed her piece of frosted, yellow selverri cake on top of the
mints. "Right?"

   
"I should have been so lucky to have been fighting a piece of cake,"
laughed Garrett, the guards snickering in response. "I told you, I lost my
AVA during the second wave when it was knocked out by…"

   
"Okay," said Keyes, his annoyance apparent. "You've proved your
point. We're all aware Renata's not a military expert."

   
"Don't be so impatient, Tom," said Garrett.

   
"Wait a second," she said, putting two fingers to her forehead. She
pointed them at Garrett. "You said it was a DZA series Mecon. Didn't
that series have a low profile flaw in its sensors because of the way its highfrequency neurocharge structure operated? It was called a GATOR,
right?"

   
"I'm impressed," said Keyes. He clasped his hands together in front of
him. "You're right. Where'd you learn about Mecons?"

   
"Don't have the foggiest idea." She smirked surreptitiously. "As you
said, I'm not a military expert."

   
"It's like I told you, Tom," said Garrett. "If she wasn't so caught up
in computers, she would have made a damn good commander."

   
"Still," said Keyes, staring at her. "We're talking battlefield
conditions. Would she be thinking that fast out on the field?"

   
"Come on," said the red-haired guard.

   
"What happened?" asked the third officer. He was pulling at his mop
of curly brown hair that fit perfectly with his handlebar mustache.

   
Garrett motioned for quiet with his hands, and the men immediately
obeyed. "Because of the GATOR, I was able to crawl up to the top of the
ditch without being cinched. Before I could blink, the Mecon was rolling
right over me, and all I could do was pray the edge of the hole would
hold."

   
"And it did," added Renata. "And as we all know, the Mecon's
neurocharges are posiforward shielded, so as not to disrupt the weapons
of the soldiers behind."

   
Keyes nodded and took a sip of coffee.

   
"Since it hadn't detected me and zinged my ass with an M-wave—the
second it passed over me, I jumped up and laid my G17 on the edge of the
hole. I pulled off three quick bursts." Garrett simulated the action.
"Count five Afaras down and five routing."

   
"Way to go, Garrett!" exclaimed the brown-haired guard.

   
"When I turned around…" Garrett chuckled. "I found the Mecon
standing on end in a trench about fifty meters behind me, its treads racing
like mad. It looked like a damn gopher in heat."

   
The three guards let out with a round of hearty laughs.

   
"And knowing it was trapped, the Mecon must have used APROpel to
dislodge it from the trench. Too bad it was stuck in the same one where
we'd stashed our explosives." Garrett motioned with his hands.
"Kaboom!" He grinned.

   
"You old dog," said Keyes. "You make it seem like you're in trouble
when all along you had everything under control."

   
"But Garrett, my love," said Renata in a sultry voice as she placed her
left hand on top of her piece of cake. "This is a great Mecon simulator."
She pushed her fingers into it, breaking it into pieces. "Kaboom."

   
The group broke into laughter, causing others to look on.

   
"It'd take some pretty fast thinking to put something over on Rene,
wouldn't it, Trent?" Garrett nudged him with his elbow. "Trent."

   
"Uh, what, yeah," said Trent who appeared to have been woken from
a dream. "That it might." He began tapping his fingers on the table.

   
Renata began licking the cake off her fingers. "Hmmm, sure is a tasty
Mecon."

   
"You know, Trent," said Garrett. "Rene reminds me most of a Sister.
Don't you think? Her left-handed logic is impeccable."

   
Trent sighed.

   
"A sister?" asked the red-haired guard. "What's that?"

   
"You've never heard of a Sister?" asked Garrett. "Well, they're the
counterbalance of a Mendrax."

   
The guards chuckled, except Keyes.

   
"Don't laugh, my friends. The Mendrax are the highest level of SC."

   
"No one buys that crap," said the red-haired guard. "Mendrax. Oooh.
I'm scared."

   
"I've heard they're an easy lay," chuckled the other guard. He held up
his hand, and the red-haired guard gave him a high-five. "Bring on the
bitch. I'll mow her down."

   
"Yeah, bro!" exclaimed the red-haired guard.

   
Garrett slammed his fist on the table, his face growing red like he was
about to explode. "You think you're a match for a Mendrax? Let me tell
you something, hotshots. She'd nail you before you got close enough to
take your first shot. I've seen it. Seen their work. It's an unimaginable
horror."

   
Renata took notice of Garrett's abrupt change in demeanor. Fear
seemed to be written all over his face.

   
"DRAX," said Renata. "Wasn't the DRAX a supercomputer that
played a key role in the Techno-Wars on Earth? I'd bet there's some
connection between the Mendrax and the DRAX. The names are too close
to be coincidence, don't you think?"

   
"Good point," said Trent. "The DRAX was used to kill a lot of people.
Humans have this innate fear of things more powerful than they are, so
it's no surprise stuff like this keeps coming back to life." He nudged
Garrett. "Now that you've told them they don't stand a chance against
a Mendrax, don't you think it's only fair to tell them how she can be
spotted?"

   
"Oh, yeah," said Garrett. "As Trent says, there is one way to detect a
Mendrax—if she'll allow it. It's their teeth. They're perfect."

   
"If she'll allow it?" The brown-haired guard chuckled. "Come off it.
The only thing I've heard about them I actually believe is that they're
lesbians."

   
Garrett grimaced as if he had been stabbed through the heart. "That's
the Sister-Mendrax relationship you're referring to, wise guy. A Mendrax
needs a Sister, and their apparent closeness to their Sister is for strength
and resolve."

   
"You know, I think I'd rather be a Mendrax," said Renata. "They
sound so much more exciting than their sisters. So mysterious, so
dangerous."

   
"Dangerous is right," said Garrett, sitting up straight. "Rene. I get the
impression you don't buy everything I've said either."

   
"To be honest," said Renata, "it seems too much like mythology to me.
I mean, a woman with perfect teeth that's some kind of warrior…"

   Renata returned from her daydream. The Mendrax and her perfect teeth—the one thing Renata could verify! Suddenly she felt a hand on her shoulder.

   "How's it going?" asked Hunter. "You doing okay?"

   "Fine," she answered brusquely, glancing at him. "I'm fine."

   "I want to apologize for what happened earlier. We were out of hand."

   "If you think that's going to get you back…"

"No. That's not what I'm doing. Can't you trust me, Rene?"

"Rene?" she choked. "What happened to Jennifer?"

"A bad decision," he said. "A very bad decision. I'm sorry."

   Renata glanced back at Devon. She was a good distance behind Renata now, in fact all the others were except for Arielle. The passage had widened considerably; her explorers had become stretched pretty thin. "Hunter…"

   "You were right," he said. He was looking down as he hiked. "I'm not thinking clearly, and it's not helping our situation. I want to work with you, not against you."

   She gulped. "You're not angry with me for doing what I had to do?"

   "I am angry but not with you. It's my own fault."

   "On that I will agree," said Arielle, coming up beside them. "But my bozo boyfriend is just as much to blame."

   "It was your right to do what you did," said Hunter, continuing to look down as he hiked. "With the way I was acting, I had it coming."

   "I'll say," said Arielle.

   Hunter looked up. "Whatever you decide, Rene, is fine with me. You're in command. You deserve it."

   Renata sent another probing glance back toward Devon.

   "Just tell me who deserves this?" asked Arielle with bitter sarcasm. "You make it sound like it's some kind of honor."

   "It is," said Hunter, his voice filling with indignation. "Command is always an honor. And you'd better respect her for that."

   "Jesus Christ!" exclaimed Arielle. "What do you know about respect?"

   "Come on," said Renata. "Let's not start up again. Not you two."

   "I'm sorry, Hunter," said Arielle, her voice calming. "I know what you did for me. I didn't mean that…Rene, I need to clear something up."

   A knot instantly ballooned in Renata's stomach.

   Arielle's voice fell to a whisper. "It's what Ramon said. It's been eating at me. What did he mean…"

   Suddenly everything went black.

   Renata stopped in her tracks.

   "What the hell?" shouted Edison. "What happened to the lights?"

   There were mixed shouts of panic from the others.

   "Everybody stay where you are!" cried Renata. "Don't move!" Sinister darkness had utterly enclosed them. She strained her eyes for even a hint of light but couldn't see an inch in front of her face. Blindly, she began working with the controls on her symotes, trying to get them to engage. "What's going on? These lights shouldn't be doing this."

   A hand grabbed Renata's shoulder, startling her, causing her to drop her Vimap.

   "It's me, Hunter," said Hunter. "Sit down."

   He guided her to the cold limestone floor.

   "Arielle, where are you?" cried Ramon.

   "Here!" she answered. Renata felt both of Arielle's hands grab onto her arm, her knees bumping into Renata's leg. "I'm with Rene, I think."

   "Arielle's with me," said Renata. "Stay put, Ramon."

   "I don't like this," whimpered Richelle. "I d-d-don't like this at all. Someone g-g-get to me. Please."

   "Secondary lights!" cried Renata. "Use the backups!"

   "I've already got mine out!" shouted Edison. "They're not working."

   Renata felt Hunter slide in between Arielle and herself, pushing them apart. He put his arm around her and pulled her close.

   "Please," said Richelle, continuing to whimper. "Someone get to me. I'm scared. I c-c-can't see anything. Please…"

   "Calm down, Richelle!" shouted Renata. "We're in the same boat as you. We're working on the lights. Just sit tight. We'll get to you."

   "Edison!" shouted Hunter. "What about your flashlight?"

   "Jesus, Hunter," grumbled Renata, "you nearly blew out my eardrum. My head's right in front of your face."

   "Man, this is a crock!" shouted Edison, his voice filled with frustration. "I've got it out. And the IR scope, too. They're not working, they're not working…"

   "Arielle!" cried Ramon. "Where are you?"

   "I'm safe!" shouted Arielle. "I told you, I'm with Rene."

   "Every light source you can think of!" shouted Renata as she slipped her backup symotes into her right pocket. "Anything at all. Something's got to work."

   "The blind's leading the blind!" shouted Ramon. "Find an answer already! You're supposed to be in command."

   "Shut up!" said Hunter. "We're doing everything we can."

   Renata began groping on the ground for her Vimap, and after a moment she found it. She picked it up and ran her fingers over its controls. Then she began punching buttons from memory, trying to get it to work, but the screen remained black, lifeless, not a signal emanating from its photonic cells. "This Vimap's not working. I don't understand."

   "What's to understand?" asked Arielle, her voice breaking into a sob. "We're doomed."

   "No, we're not," said Renata. "Calm down. There has to be…"

   "This can't be happening," continued Arielle, her voice rising. "It can't. We'll die down here if we don't have light. Without lights we can't go anywhere. We're doomed."