Metal Boxes - Trapped Outside (12 page)

Stone looked behind him. Thomas, Dollish and two other navy enlisted stood behind him. “What do we need to do, Major?”

“We are as secure as we can be right now. That’s crap, but it’s the best we’ve got. We have everything in a ring around us. We’re putting mortars and heavy-caliber guns along our south border. I don’t think anything else will come out of the jungle from that direction. Nevertheless, we can’t stay here too long. The Hyrocanians will come looking for us soon enough.”

Stone nodded, “Doctor Menendez is working in a tent back there.” He hooked a thumb over his shoulder. “We need to get the wounded back to her and the medical staff right away and we need to get everyone under cover. If the Hyrocanians overfly this meadow, they will spot us easy enough. What can Master Chief Thomas help you with?”

“We have some wounded—”

Stone interrupted. “Master Chief, please make sure the doctor and her staff have as much camouflage protection as we can give them and begin moving all wounded to her for triage and aid. Oh, and Chief, tell our people not to touch any native plants without gloves on, including any makeshift tent poles.

“Aye, aye, sir,” Thomas replied.

Numos added, “My men can handle the body bags, most are ours anyway, but if you let me know where you find anyone, I would appreciate it.”

Dollish whined, “I work in the kitchen, not in graves registration.”

Stone spun on the man. “Then go cook something, dammit.”

Dollish looked surprised, “But—”

Thomas interrupted, “But nothing spacer. You have your orders.”

Stone said, “Build a fire. That shouldn’t be hard. Half of the forest around us is still smoking. And cook that.” He jabbed a finger at the dead male drasco. “I’ve eaten one and they don’t taste as bad as they look. Almost, but not quite.” He still wanted to ask about Allie, but he didn’t want to hear the bad news. Instead, he turned to Thomas. “Master Chief, please get anybody who is fit, working at doing something. I don’t care what, but helping with the wounded is priority one. As soon as you can, get me a roster of survivors and an inventory of what we have.”

“Aye, aye, sir.”

“Major Numos, we have got to get under cover soon. I know we are hurting here, but—”

Numos nodded. “It won’t take the Hyrocanians long to figure out they didn’t get all of us. They’ll be back. I have Lieutenant Vedrian scanning through our geographical maps looking for some sort of defensible position.”

“Allie is okay?”

Numos smiled. “No. She’ll be better once she finds out you’re all right. You are all right?”

Stone shrugged. “I’ll take my turn with the doctor, but I’m on my feet until then.”

“Allie is over that way. Why don’t you go check on her progress with the maps?” He waved a hand in the general direction Stone had just come from.

Stone grinned, “Yes, sir. I should check on that.”

Numos asked, “Where are Tuttle and Tzickle?”

“Tuttle lost a hand. She’s mobile though and I have her helping the medical staff set up a temporary hospital. She said Tzickle didn’t … um, she’s—” He let it go, seeing understanding in Numos’s eyes. “Sorry to interrupt, sir.”

He turned, noting he no longer had an entourage and backtracked looking for Allie. He felt he was being completely selfish. If she was working, then she would be all right and he should be working with Thomas to help the more seriously wounded. However, he managed to justify to himself that he should check on Allie’s maps to see if they could locate a more defensible position. An open meadow at night on Allie’s World was nothing less than a buffet for the local fauna.

Stone found Allie sitting on a blanket under a tarp. She was leaning against her backpack with a display from her dataport hovering over her lap. She didn’t see him slip under the tarp at first as there were a dozen unsuited marines scurrying about doing whatever unsuited marines did. Allie was alternately scanning maps and shouting for something or other to get done.

The bandage across her head had slipped down and he could see fluid oozing from where her eye had been. There were tear tracks streaked down her cheek from her good eye. A split lip still oozed blood. Her hair was partly plastered across her head and partly sticking out at odd angles, held up by strange bits of goo, blood and what looked like drasco snot. A fresh bandage wrapped across her chest from her right shoulder down to the bottom of her ribcage on the left. She only had one boot on. Her feet were propped up on an inflated pillow.

A discarded half-used first aid kit lay on the ground near her. Stone wobbled to it, rummaged around until he found a can of liquid bandage with a little still left in it. He also found a bandage for her head. It had already been opened and probably wasn’t sterile anymore, but it hadn’t been used before so he reasoned the bandage was better than what Allie was already using.

He knelt down on her blind side and started easing the old bandage off her head. She swatted at him without looking, as if brushing away a gnat. She dialed up the magnification on a map, studying it, pushing the map around and rolled it back out, her desperation to find them a hidey-hole evident. Stone slipped a knife from her boot and cut the bloody old bandage away from her head.

She spat out, “I told you to leave me alone. Go take care of someone else.”

Stone replied, “Shut up Lieutenant, and take your medicine like a marine.”

She slapped the screen out of the way and grabbed Stone in a bear hug to her chest. The crushing squeeze nearly knocked the air out of his lungs. Feeling woozy to begin with, his head started to spin. She released him, but wrapped her hands around his face and kissed him long and hard. She smelled like sweat, copper, dark chocolate, and the strange mint he smelled earlier. He assumed the copper was the odor of blood, whether his or hers, he didn’t know. He assumed the chocolate was a holdover from some energy bar or something she must have eaten. The mint was—well, everywhere.

With a sigh, she released him. Their faces were so close the tips of their noses still touched. “They told me you dove under the male drasco and disappeared. I thought—”

He nodded. “I saw him throw you. I thought the same.”

She chuckled. “I thought he would chew me in half. I guess the bastard didn’t like the way I tasted.”

“I do.” To prove his point, he kissed her gently on the lips, the tip of her nose and her remaining eyelid. He pushed back from her, aimed the can of liquid bandage at the ooze coming from her damaged eye and sprayed. It only took a second longer to slide the relatively fresh bandage over the gouge and press the button. The new bandage cinched tight.

Since she wasn’t kissing or squeezing the breath out of him, he hoped his woozy feeling would go away. Instead, it kept getting worse. He shook his head trying to clear it but had to squeeze his eyes shut to ward off the pain.

Allie said, “Are you all right? Don’t lie to me, Stone. You look like shit.”

Stone grinned, “You look wonderful. Yeah, I’m okay—I think. Mostly I got a few scrapes and scratches.” He held up his arm. “I got a pretty bad gash. Doctor Menendez already taped it shut. And well, I shot myself in the ass.”

“How the hell did you shoot yourself in the butt with a rifle?”

Stone’s chuckle was interrupted by a violent sneeze. Pain washed over him, but it didn’t hurt as bad as earlier. Rather than answer her question, he asked, “Where is that mint odor coming from? It just keeps getting stronger and—”

A medic squatted down next to them. “Sorry to interrupt, but we are moving.”

Everyone around them was on their feet. Three unsuited marines and a navy petty officer, each wearing thick gloves had grabbed the poles at the four corners of the tarp. Other people grabbed at ropes and stakes. Each person tried to stay under the camouflage as much as possible.

Stone stood up and reached a hand down to help Allie up. He didn’t think he would be much help, even when he was a hundred percent, her mass was more than he could handle, even though he spent more time in the gym since meeting her. Without thinking he stretched out his wounded arm. His fingers tingled and the palm of his hand itched, but he refused to retract it, instead he reached out with his other hand as well, even though the palm of that hand was riddled with cactus-like thorns.

She shook her head. “Sorry. No.”

Two marines grabbed the corners of her blanket, lifting her off the ground, backpack, pillow, and all. Everyone shuffled along under the camouflaged tarp until it connected up to the ever-growing hospital tent. He took her hand as Allie was carried from one place to the next. He felt woozier by the moment. Even though she held his hand on the damaged arm, she steadied him.

Someone tacked up tarps as walls to prevent a low flying Hyrocanian shuttle catching sight of them. Stone sighed. For the first time since the bombing at the compound, he felt like he was inside. He was surrounded by a thin canvas covering, but even that was better than nothing.

Once back on the ground, Allie pulled her hand free from his. She stared at her own hand, wiggled her own fingers and rubbed them against her palm. “Weird. Your hand feels strange.”

Stone shrugged. It felt strange to him too, but then he felt strange all over. He smelled his own hand. Nothing too unusual, but the odor of mint was everywhere. He spotted Menendez and waved her over.

The woman looked haggard and was covered in blood, but most people in the hospital tent and those outside looked much the same. She grabbed Stone’s head and flashed a scanner at him. She grunted, her bedside manner all but gone. “How are you still on your feet, Ensign? Go sit down somewhere.” She shook the scanner. “Damn thing’s gone all wonky.” Shouting across the tent, “Baker, bring me a new scanner.” Turning her back on Stone, she crouched down next to Allie.

The two women were talking softly, yet he was close enough to hear each word as the doctor ran scan after scan over Allie’s body. He was shocked. Allie was broken here, paralyzed there, and had nerve damage to this and that.

A hand touched him on the shoulder. Spacer Dollish interrupted his thoughts, “Sir, you better come quick before someone gets killed.”

EIGHTEEN

Following resolutely behind Dollish, he spotted a small cluster of civilians gathered near Jay and Peebee. They were only roughly near his drascos, as Jay hovered over Peebee, protecting her sister, keeping everyone away. Jay was angry. Eyes flashing red, she hissed and spat if anyone got within a dozen feet of them, anyone except Corporal Tuttle who was standing between the two groups. Her suit was gilley, but her faceplate was open.

Even camouflaged from normal sight, Jay and Peebee recognized Tuttle as someone they had played games with on Lazzaroni Base, and someone who had occasionally sat with them when Stone was away for some reason or other. Stone was sure Tuttle had shared breath with his drascos on more than one occasion marking her as a friend. Anyone getting close to Jay and Peebee without blowing their breath into the drascos open mouths was in danger. Drascos had friend and foe sensors inside their mouths, sensitive smell receptors allowing them to identify and remember individuals.

If any scientists tried to get close to Jay or Peebee without a proper introduction, the drasco would treat them as an enemy. Stone wobbled forward as fast as possible. Tuttle liked his pets, but they were just animals and she would be forced to protect the humans, even if the humans were at fault.

The civilians were waving all manner of instruments and tools at Jay and Peebee, wanting to get closer. Their efforts were frustrated by Tuttle, who herded them away. Everyone was shouting and standing in the open where any passing Hyrocanian would get a clear view with or without special optics. Stone noticed Tuttle’s gilley setting was starting to fail. He wondered if some circuit was damaged when she lost her right hand to the grenade because he could see a shimmering edge to the suit. He could still see clear through it, but the outline was clear enough, though it wobbled a bit.

He stepped between the civilians and Tuttle, holding up his hand for silence. Stone stood still until the scientists quieted down. Dr. Triplett, the team’s xeno-biologist and second in command of the civilians, nodded to Stone. “We need to talk. Now.”

Stone nodded back. “Get your team members under camouflage cover.” He pointed at the sky. “We don’t want to be spotted if someone is still looking for us.” Triplett blanched and herded her team under the nearest tarp. He called after them. “I will be there shortly.”

Turning to Tuttle, he started to say something, but a sneezing fit caught him in mid breath, watering his eyes. He finally managed to croak out, “Corporal, thank you.”

“Sure thing, boss.”

Stone shook his head. The mint odor dissipated and a sweet coppery scent of flowers wafted over him. “Are you all right, Barb?”

“Well, since we are on a first name basis, Ensign, I will let you know I haven’t had sex all day and I’m getting a bit raggedy around the edges, but my suit just shot me another dose of morphine, so that kind of takes the edge off. So, if you need a little Tuttle time to take your edge off, you let me know.”

Stone wasn’t sure what to say. Normally Tuttle made him a bit tongue-tied. This time he could tell she was only being friendly, her offer for sex was real, but the friendly gesture was made without any hidden agenda.

Still, he didn’t know how to respond to it. “Thanks. Maybe later. I’ll ask Lieutenant Vedrian if it would be okay.”

Tuttle chuckled, “Not if I ask her first. Maybe she and I can make a navy sandwich.”

Stone smiled and started to step around her, then stopped in his tracks. Jay whipped her head around at him, her neck stretching as far as it could reach. Her tail spike shot over her head as she scorpioned. Peebee rolled to her stomach. Unable to put weight on all of her feet, she still managed to bring her tail spike into a defensive position over her head.

Jay hissed a warning at him. Peebee wonked weakly.

“Stop that,” Stone said. “Jay and Peebee, you settle down now.”

The drascos shared a look and then stared back at Stone. Jay again stretched her neck as far as she could sniffing the air. Stone took a deep breath and blew as hard as he could, hoping he could reach across the distance. The girls had to be confused by this morning’s activities, he was covered in male drasco blood, his own blood, and the gods knew what else. He probably smelled so weird they were having trouble identifying him. Still, it would be the first time they hadn’t recognized and identified him. He was sure they could track him by smell from a couple hundred yards away whether he had just showered, been working out in the gym, or finished scrubbing pots in the galley.

Stone inched forward. Jay sniffed and huffed at him. He moved close enough he could smell them. He wondered why he hadn’t noticed Jay smelled slightly more musky than Peebee and the odor of mint wafted from the two in waves. Peebee wonked and hobbled to him. She wrapped her arms around him, wrapping him in a blanket of vestigial wings. Neither of the girls had ever hugged him like this. He breathed deeply into her mouth. Her breath came back soft and sweet, full of mint and chocolate. She sighed, released him, rolled over onto her back, and held up her hurt leg.

Jay hung her head, her tail flopping back to the ground behind her. She scooted forward as if embarrassed at having hissed at him. He grabbed her head, ignoring any potential damage to his already distressed skin, and hugged her. She wrapped him in her wings and hugged him back, her breath warm and fresh, almost with the same smell as her sister Peebee, but minutely different. Stone wondered why he hadn’t noticed it before and could only imagine it had something to do with being on Allie’s World and the slight difference in the air.

He unwrapped himself from Jay and took Peebee’s hurt leg in his hands. The ragged shirt he had used back in the compound to tie up the leg was long gone. He pulled the remains of a liquid bandage can from his pocket. He hoped it had a few squirts left after using it on Allie. He played it across her leg until it emptied out. Pushing the discard button on the bottom, he tossed the can away before it disintegrated to dust. The gash in Peebee’s leg looked deeper than it had before, looking angry red, puffy and painful. He didn’t feel any broken bones.

He looked around at the forest’s edge, noting the gilley-suited marines had set up effective crossfire lanes and even managed to lay out a few mortar and big gun emplacements. He didn’t know why he looked, but something caught his attention. He felt fuzzy headed, but he stared until his vision cleared and he spotted what he looked for.

“Corporal Tuttle?” he called out.

“On your six, boss.”

“Did you check in with the Major when we got here?” he asked, without turning around.

“Yes, sir. He said I was to find you and stick with you. He said if I let you die, he would let Lieutenant Vedrian determine my punishment. So, I’m yours, sir, just so long as you don’t die.”

“I’ll try not to die on your watch, okay?”

“Fair enough. Sex now or do you need something else?”

Stone smiled and glanced back at her. Her gapped tooth smile hovered above the shimmering outline of her gilley suit. “As much as I appreciate the offer, maybe you should have your suit dial back on your morphine. I need to keep a clear head and you aren’t helping any.”

“Aye, aye, sir. Dialing back on the morphine, sir.”

He pointed across the meadow. “Do you see that tree with greenish leaves and the ring of reddish bushes around the bottom?

Tuttle shook her head. She slammed the faceplate closed and stared in the direction he pointed. Her faceplate popped back open. “Good eyes, sir. I see the one you mean.”

Stone said, “I know you’re supposed to watch my back, however, I need as much of that tree as you can drag over here.” She was gone before he could say anything else.

“Sir?” a voice called out.

Stone looked over his shoulder, “What is it, Spacer Dollish?”

“Them civilians are getting antsy to talk to you.”

“You tell them I will be there as soon as I can. Unless they want more drascos rampaging through this camp, they will have to wait until I calm these two down. And weren’t you fixing something for people to eat?”

“Sir, the fire was easy like you said. And they taught us in cook school how to cut up meat, but my knife won’t make a dent in that critter’s hide.”

Stone waved around him. “Find the closest marine. About every third one has a vibro-blade that will cut through titanium. Get the meat harvested fast and make sure any remains are hauled off to the forest. If we leave guts laying around, we’ll be swamped with carrion eaters by dusk. And, believe me, Spacer, on this planet they come at us up through the ground, through the air, and in hordes coming out of the forest from all directions.”