Michael Hudson - Thieves of Light

Higher, higher, the grenade flew, spinning gracefully end for end, until it reached the apogee of its arc and started downward. Too late the sniper saw it, and redirected his fire upward. But the phaser cannon was a poor weapon against a small, fast-moving object, and the grenade fell untouched on the high plateau just a few meters to the east of the sniper's position.

An instant later that entire section of the cliffs edge lit up with an eerie light like a massive lightning strike, and a sound like thunder rumbled through the valley. Lowering the pulse cannon from his shoulder, Pike slipped down from the entry way and went to Li-hon's side. A hundred meters away on the valley floor, Bhodi came to a stop and started walking back.

"What the hell was that?" Pike asked.

"An enhanced-yield grenade," Parcival said, coming forward out of the ship. "I've been working on them for the Sarge."

"Correction," Li-hon said. "That was the end of one sniper." He reached for his chest pod and signaled the ship. "Captain Yier. Send the pod down, all possible speed. The Regulars have a lot of work to do down here, and we've got an Arrian warren to find."

It was all over, and yet not quite. Bhodi found himself waiting for someone to recognize him for what he had done, for Li-hon to amend his estimation of Bhodi's worth to the platoon.

But beyond asking about Bhodi's condition-a hamstring had suddenly tightened up when he stutter-stepped at full speed-Li-hon said nothing to Bhodi while they waited for the pod's arrival. Bhodi was not sure what he expected or even deserved-do you thank someone for doing their job? Or their duty?

But a short time later, as they left the pod after docking with Zephyr, Bhodi overheard a brief exchange between Yier and Li-hon that gave him everything that he could have asked for.

"How did the kid do?" Yier asked.

"I didn't bring any kids with me," Li-hon said as he brushed by. "But Bhodi did all right."

It took three hours and two orbits to locate the Arrian warren. The entrance was at the center of a small crater in a lightly cratered, boulder-strewn plain-well-disguised, except that the freshness of the diggings showed on one of Parcival's instruments.

"The warren can't be very extensive," Li-hon said, leaning forward over the battle board and its projection of the cratered plain. "They've been here at most five days. I'd expect three or four chambers at most. But that means that they'll be sitting right inside. We'll pay for every corner and foot of passageway."

He glanced up at Bhodi. "I have to tell you that this isn't what I thought we'd find here. I expected the Arrians and the crystals both to be gone, and all you'd have to deal with would be bodies and wrecks. But the Arrians and the crystals are here, and we have to go after them. You don't."

"Are you saying you don't want me as your partner?"

"I'm saying I've got no authority to order you to go down with us. Not when your finger is still bare. You can stay with the ship-"

"No way," Bhodi said. "You've got all the authority you need, from me. You tell me what has to be done, and I'll try my damnedest to get it done."

"No one will judge you if you stay. I have to know that you understand that."

"Yes, they will. And even if they didn't, I would," Bhodi said. "Come on, we're wasting time. How are we going to do this?"

Li-hon looked hard into Bhodi's eyes as though trying to take the measure of his soul through them. "Thank you," he said at last. "Frankly, we're shorthanded for a warren assault. I wish I had the whole platoon and another squad of Regulars. But we don't have them, and the Arrians will be gone and this planet contaminated before reinforcements could get here. So we'll do what we can with what we have, and with the blessing of the Light we'll take our enemies down."

"By the Light," Pike murmured in agreement.

Crossing his arms over his chest, Li-hon stared down at the battle board. "They haven't had any time to build any decoys, so we have to respect the possibility they'll take a shot at the pod on the way down. Corporal Mlas-"

"You know I'll take you in as close as you want," Mlas said. "I'll drop you in the crater itself if you ask me."

"I think the closest we can risk is somewhere in here," Li-hon said, drawing an arc over a boulder-free region east of the warren with the tip of his finger.

Pike frowned. "It'll take a while to get to them from there. How much time do you think we have?"

"They've already surprised us twice, once by striking here, and again with the ambush. At the risk of being surprised again, I'd say that we have until their ship appears, plus maybe an hour."

Nodding, Parcival said to Bhodi in an aside, "They don't put much of a delay on the timer. Once the Dark Terror starts moving in for the pickup, you know that the clock is running."

"Maybe we can surprise them ourselves," Pike said thoughtfully.

"How?" Bhodi asked. "They already know we're here."

"Right. So we don't lose anything if we move Zephyr right overhead. Let them think they know where we are and wonder when we're coming down after them. While they're wondering, we'll be coming in on the deck in the pod."

"Because we separated on the other side of the planet."

"Right. Hopefully they'll be so busy watching Zephyr that we'll be able to get down without any interference, and maybe a lot closer than the Sarge thinks." He grinned crookedly. "You know how I hate to walk."

Ten minutes later they were on their way down. Jikt of the ship's crew piloted the crowded pod, which carried six Regulars in addition to Bhodi and the three Guardians.

Either Jikt's reflexes or the terrain-hugging radar was superb. The pod pitched and dove so violently as it followed the contours of the ground that Bhodi had to turn his head away from the forward view to keep from becoming nauseous.

At no time were they ever more than twenty feet above the surface, and Bhodi swore that they were clearing some of the outcrops of rock by mere inches. Finally they came down out of the foothills and skimmed over the boulder field, remnant of a glacial epoch long ago in Ehl's history.

As they closed on the target, Jikt sang out the range: "Two thousand meters. Eighteen hundred. Sixteen hundred-"

"Don't you wish sometimes you could just bomb the hell out of them and bury them in their caves?" Bhodi asked Parcival on the whisper link.

"Every time," was the answer.

As they approached the 1200-meter circle, a jarring alarm started to sound inside the pod. "Somebody just pitched a rocket at us," Jikt called out.

"Perimeter guard," Li-hon said tersely. "Put us down here."

"Roger. Hold on."

The sudden deceleration threw Bhodi forward against the restraining straps, and he fought his stomach as the pod pitched downward sharply. A few moments later they were on the ground. As Bhodi tore at the strap catches, a muffled explosion nearby made the pod vibrate.

"I think we went right over top of them. Too fast for them to take a bead. They just tossed up a prayer," Jikt said, craning his head and listening.

"Range to target?"

"Eight hundred thirty meters," Parcival announced.

"Too close to leave the pod here," Li-hon said, standing in the crowded cabin. "Jikt, take it back out the way you came in and put it down at the site on the 3000-meter circle."

"Shall I assign sentries to stay with the pod?" Corporal Mlas asked.

"No," Li-hon said. "We can't afford to surrender twenty percent of our strength in the name of standard practice. Sorry, Jikt."

"I'll be all right," the pilot said easily.

Li-hon nodded. "Let's move, people. Everybody out."

The terrain where Jikt had set them down was less rugged than some they had flown over. There was a slight uphill slope in the direction of the crater. Fewer boulders were in evidence, and those that were present were more deeply buried. All of those features were courtesy of the meteorite that had created the crater, splashing the material that had filled it onto the surrounding plain.