Expendable - James Alan Gardner [119]
Battle
Somehow Oar had learned what I wrote in my note. I had hoped she couldn’t read English; but maybe she could. It didn’t matter. Oar was here now with hate in her eyes…and that made her a prime target for Jelca if he was nearby.
He was. A trigger clicked; then came the soft whirr a stunner makes to tell you it’s fired. The sonics made no sound themselves—they were too tightly focused on Oar to spill in my direction. Oar staggered and looked around wildly, unable to understand what had happened to her.
“Festina!” Jelca shouted. “Now would be a good time for you to surrender.”
The way Jelca’s voice echoed off the mountain made it hard to pinpoint his position, but I could narrow it down. He had to be hiding behind one of three rocks on the far side of the elevator entrance. Hugging half a dozen throwing stones to my chest, I worked my way through the forest, circling toward him.
Oar shook her head to clear it and raised her axe. “Where are you, fucking Explorer?”
The trigger clicked, the gun whirred. Oar shuddered but held her ground.
“Festina,” Jelca called, “you know I can kill her. If you don’t come out, her death is on your head.”
I didn’t answer. The fool was living some dream now—picturing himself as a desperado who could beat the world through sheer ruthlessness. What had happened to his Explorer training? I felt ashamed any ECM could blind himself with such romantic notions.
Oar jumped from where she was, hit the ground, and rolled up against a rock: an imitation of my own defensive move. The maneuver took her out of the immediate line of fire; I heard a clatter of scree as Jelca moved over the mountainside to draw another bead on her. This time I glimpsed his head for a split-second—not long enough to nail him with a stone, but now I knew where he was.
“This is ludicrous, Festina!” he shouted. “Are you going to let her die to save your own skin? Not very sentient of you.” More rocks clattered under his feet. “You know,” he continued, “she’s the closest thing you’ve got to a partner now. You want to lose another partner, Festina?”
You are such a bastard, I thought. But I was an Explorer; he couldn’t goad me into doing something rash. Anger is unprofessional.
The stunner whirred again. Oar groaned, then called, “It only tickles, fucking Explorer! You are stupid and boring and your gun is weak!”
Her voice sounded raspy. I pictured crystal fragments lying ragged in her throat as bits of broken glass splintered off her tissues. Other attacks might bounce off her hide, but the sonics were killing her. Was she dying already? I pressed forward as fast as I could; Jelca would soon be in my sights.
He was moving again—moving for a better shot at Oar, but also moving into clear view. It was a gamble on his part…but he must have thought I was still on the other side of the forest, back where the trail came out of the trees. The rocks gave him adequate cover in that direction; he might think he was safe.
I’d teach him otherwise.
Slowly I cocked my arm back, ready to hurl a stone into the side of his head. His concentration was centered on Oar; he wouldn’t see it coming. But before I could throw, Oar surged to her feet yelling hoarsely and brandishing the axe. Jelca shied away, and lifted his stunner. I could imagine his finger tightening on the trigger…so I heaved the stone with all my strength, a shot aimed at his body rather than his head, because I couldn’t afford to miss. Maybe Oar could withstand another blast and maybe she couldn’t.
The stone hit him on the upper arm—not his gun hand, but I prayed it was enough to foul his aim. Without waiting to see, I sprinted forward, grabbing another rock from my arsenal and hurling it in Jelca’s direction. He spun toward me, ready to fire…but the incoming stone made him duck and then Oar was screaming, racing at him with the axe. Jelca shot her again, pointblank range, then flinched as my next stone caught him on the shoulder. I had swung out wide, far enough that he would need to turn away from Oar to aim at