Transmission Lost (32 page)

Aria had encountered devices like these before. They were a kind of incendiary explosive package, operated either by an internal timer or a remote. She sincerely hoped it was the latter rather than the former. Her rage grew even more. The humans didn't want to just invade her home, they wanted to destroy it as well. Luckily for her, military devices were designed to be as idiot-proof as possible, and were very simple to defuse. So much the more for her, since after her first encounter with human explosives, years ago, she'd given herself more education on the subject. She pried one claw into a depression in the bottom of the cylinder and popped off a small panel, exposing a knob with rough edges. Grasping this between two fingers she began to twist it, unscrewing the knob until it came out from the rest of the package. The light on the device winked out and Aria tossed the fuse away. She set the bomb back on the floor where it could be safely recovered later.

With this unexpected task complete, Aria got up and left the room again. Certainly this hadn't been the only bomb planted inside, so now her search was even more urgent. The next thing she needed to do was get to the front hall, where she could use a communicator to call for help. Then she would find any human she could and dispose of them properly.

******

Jack reached the divide between the third garden tier and the fourth garden tier, on which sat the bath house. He'd made it there without much difficulty, staying to the shadows for the most part. He wished he had bothered to take the dead commando's night vision goggles; he'd nearly turned an ankle on the rocks more than once. The human had barely started to learn his way around the estate in the daylight, and now he was having to navigate it in the dark. He was starting to envy Ailians and their superior night vision.

He pushed his way carefully through a clump of low flowering bushes, wincing as some of the thorns pricked his bare chest. If Aria hadn't been rushing him so much, he would have thought to grab a shirt. Too late for that now. Slinging his pilfered rifle over his shoulder, he climbed up the rocks, rolling up onto the level ground of the top tier. He lay there motionless for several seconds, scanning the area. He couldn't see much, but his eyes were slowly adjusting to the darkness and he thought he could see well enough to be sure that he was safe. Jack stood up, starting to bring the rifle back into his hands.

A sudden crack and spray of dirt against his leg told Jack that he'd been wrong, and he threw himself back down to the ground. As more bullets thudded into the ground around him, he rolled to the left and fell into one of the streams flowing through the gardens. Though the stream was shallow, barely six inches deep, it was lined on all sides by rocks, effectively protecting him from the rounds coming his way. Whoever was shooting must have realized this, because the fire stopped. After a second, Jack chanced a peek over the edge of the stream. He'd heard barely any sound from the gunfire, so he wasn't sure where they'd been firing from.

No bullets came his way this time, which gave Jack a chance to have a good look. He could barely see movement straight ahead of him, and it looked like a single person moving in a crouched posture near the outer walls of the bath house. Jack brought himself up to one knee and raised his rifle. Taking aim at the dark blob against the slightly less dark wall, he pressed the trigger and let fly a short burst. His aim was just a hair too high, but the impact of the rounds against the wall made the other person tuck and roll. Jack adjusted his aim, but before he could fire again the man ducked into the doorway, disappearing into the bath house.

“Shit...,” Jack cursed, gritting his teeth. If Sami was still in there like Aria had said, she was definitely in trouble now. He stood up, stepping out of the water and back onto dry ground. Throwing caution to the wind, he moved towards the bath house at a flat out run. When he got to the door, he paused. “Okay...Okay okay okay...” Taking a breath, he ducked inside, crouching low as he entered.

In the enclosed space, the sounds of suppressed gunfire seemed as loud as unsuppressed shots. Jack kept moving, feeling tugs of air as bullets flew past him. He knew that his survival depended on his ability to stay mobile, and that he'd be dead if he didn't find some cover quickly. Luckily for him, the bath house was designed like a natural hot spring, with plenty of rocky outcroppings to hide behind. Jack found a large one to take shelter behind, his mind racing as he tried to think of what to do.

Jack almost called out for Sami, but thought better of the idea. If she was smart, she would be hiding, too, and her voice would alert the unfriendly human to her presence. As it was, he didn't hear anything that sounded like it could be her, and hoped that just meant she was too frightened to move. The alternative wasn't something he wanted to think about.

What he did hear was an unfamiliar voice. “Listen to me!” the voice said. “Come out now, surrender, and I won't hurt the cat.”

Bullshit,
Jack thought to himself. He chanced a glance out from behind his rock. He saw a crouched figure near the other side of the bath house. He couldn't see Sami at all.
Maybe she left...or she's already dead...
Pulling his head back into cover, Jack crept to the other side of the rock. This was going to take some tricky maneuvering, but he had a plan. Making as little noise as he could, Jack slid one of the spare pistol magazines from the belt he was wearing. With a flick of his wrist, he tossed it across the rocky floor and to the side of the rock he'd just peeked out of. The metal magazine made a loud scraping sound as it traveled.

Before the magazine halted its journey, Jack popped out from behind the rock, bringing the rifle up to his shoulder. His gambit had worked. His opponent was focused on the spot where he'd seen Jack last, and he was already peppering that area with rifle fire. Jack never gave him a chance to recognize his mistake. He depressed the trigger on his weapon, and started walking his rounds up the man's body. Shots hit the other human in the thigh, hip, belly, and chest. As the commando grunted and fell backwards, Jack's final shot caught him underneath the chin, snapping his head back as a spray of blood and tissue erupted against the back wall of the bath house. The man crumpled to the floor and didn't get up again.

His rifle now empty, Jack laid it on the floor and drew the pistol, standing up. He walked towards the man, keeping his sights lined up on him just in case he showed any signs of life. When he reached the prone form, he nudged him with one foot. No movement. The man was dead. Jack finally let out the breath he'd been holding.

“Sami?” he called out, looking around. “Are you in here? It's alright, now.”

“Ne...Ne ka'lera...,”
a shaky, quiet voice answered him.

Jack turned his head towards the direction the voice had come from, and moved that way. As he got closer, he saw a huddled form in one corner of the bath house. It was Sami, still wrapped up in a bath towel. Jack knelt down next to her. She looked absolutely terrified, curled up into so tight a ball that she looked as small as a house cat compared to how she normally was. He was a little surprised that an Ailian could be that scared of violence, but then he realized that most of humanity's experience with their species had been military encounters. Sami had probably never experienced anything like this in her life, and it was only natural that she would be this scared.

“Are you hurt?” Jack asked her, reaching out and putting a hand on the younger girl's shoulder. Her fur was still damp from the bath.

“Na cha'le me...ah...”
Sami's voice was quavering, and she seemed too frightened to be able to draw on her limited English vocabulary. She had to take a few deep breaths before she could answer him. “No. Not hurt.” She glanced towards the fallen commando. “Not see.” Jack took that to mean that the man hadn't had a chance to find her, though he'd certainly known that she was in here somewhere.

“Good. Well...Aria sent me here to make sure you were okay. We're staying here until everything is safe, alright?”

Sami gave a shivery nod. Then she reached out with her arms and grabbed Jack, pulling the smaller human into a hug. He could feel her trembling against him. Jack felt awkward, but he let her hold him for a while. Gradually she started to calm down, though she still clutched him tightly. Her face was pressed into his neck, and he was sure that she didn't want to look at the dead man lying a short distance away from them.

“Ara le...ah...
Thank you,” Sami whispered.

******

“Krai ta ka'la na ra'zel!”
Aria snarled, firing her human rifle twice down the hall. The commando she'd been aiming at sidestepped out of her line of fire, raising his own weapon and shooting back at her. He ducked around a corner, disappearing out of sight.

After Aria had gotten to the front hall, she'd found that the estate's communication systems were still operating correctly and had placed a hurried call to the police in Hayikwiir, informing them of what was going on. She hadn't waited for a response before leaving to continue her search. She'd cleared the western wing of the building and then had moved to the eastern wing, where the bedrooms were located. Along the way she'd found and disarmed three more of the incendiary explosive devices. Of her family members that she encountered, all of them were unharmed though they were highly confused by what was going on. Telling them to stay hidden until she called for them, she kept on the move. Finally she'd caught up to the invading humans, finding two of them in the hallway preparing to set another bomb.

Following the retreating soldiers quickly, Aria advanced down the hallway, keeping the corner they'd disappeared around covered with her rifle. The Ailian was absolutely thoroughly furious now, quickly slipping into her blood rage. She didn't just want to kill these humans, she wanted to tear their guts from their living bodies and devour them as they watched.

Abandoning stealth for speed and ferocity, Aria charged around the corner. She took the commandos completely by surprise, as they'd doubtless been expecting her to try to move more cautiously. They were waiting for her just around the corner. Aria bashed the one nearest to her in the face with the butt of her rifle, then quickly swung the rifle around to fire point-blank into the second man. The high-powered rounds tore through the man's light body armor like it was tissue paper, spattering the wall and floor with blood.

Turning her attention back to the first man, Aria threw the rifle to the floor and grabbed him by the throat, lifting him up. Her lips were drawn back in a fearsome expression, exposing her razor-sharp fangs to the man. She ripped the mask off of his face, revealing a human who looked to be younger than Jack. His eyes were wide, and he seemed aware of himself despite the punishing blow he'd just taken to the head. He looked absolutely terrified, like most humans were when they were this close to an angry Ailian. Aria lowered her head until her nose was almost touching his, her tail lashing that air behind her and her orange-and-black-striped fur standing on end.

“Should kill you,” she growled. The human's mouth opened slightly, partly in surprise at hearing her speak English. He tried to say something, but her fingers were too tight around his neck. She squeezed even tighter. Reluctantly, as much as she wanted to kill the human in a very painful way, she forced herself back under control. “Should do. But need you.”

Aria then hammered the man's head against the wall, knocking him unconscious. She let him drop to the floor. Shaking with barely contained anger, Aria spotted a hard case on the floor next to the dead commando. She grabbed it, unfastening the latches and opening the case up. Inside the case was divided into separate open compartments, nine of them. Four of the compartments were empty, while five of them contained more of the explosive charges. All of the remaining charges hadn't been activated yet. Aria sighed in relief. None of the other commandos she'd encountered had been carrying cases like this one, and she'd found four explosive devices, so that probably meant that the bombs posed no more danger.

-It's alright!- Aria called, standing up. She looked back towards the bedrooms, cupping one hand around her muzzle. -Everything is alright, you can come out now!-

After a few minutes, Aria's family slowly emerged from their rooms. They looked astonished at the scene that greeted them, with their eldest sister standing naked in the hallway among the blood and human bodies. Arn, Aria's father, looked particularly sickened by the sight. Aria counted the Ailians standing in the hallway.

-Ana, Sana, Jin, Mari...- Aria trailed off, puzzled by her counting. She was one off. Her blood went cold. -Where is Li'ara?- Her youngest sister was nowhere to be seen. She looked among her siblings, who all looked as surprised by her absence as she did. -No...No no no...- Aria forced her way through her family, running down the hall towards her youngest sibling's bedroom. Li'ara's room was right near where she'd caught up to the commandos, and she made for the door, rushing inside. She froze.

Lying on the bed, the covers tossed aside carelessly, was Li'ara. The sheets were stained with blood that had dripped and pooled down onto floor. The young girl's throat had been cut, and the fur on her neck and chest was matted with her own blood. Her eyes were open, staring blankly at the ceiling in death. Aria's legs went weak, and she slumped against the door frame, unable to tear her eyes away from the gruesome sight.

She felt herself shoved out of the way as her father came into the room, and he cried out in anguish. The elder Ailian sank to his knees beside his youngest daughter's bed, reaching his arms out and cradling her body. His shoulders hunched and he buried his muzzle against the top of Li'ara's head, sobbing.