Page 70 of Game on Askole

The remains of a hunting lodge stood in a barren clearing. The walls had been reduced to mounds of useless rubble. Eerie shadows of an incinerated woman and child were imprinted on the tiled courtyard. Apparently, they had been running for the bunker when the blast hit.

As soon as we were all in the square, the outer hatch shut.

My Spidey sense jangled a warning. I scanned the area. “Hostiles two clicks away.”

“There’s a shitload of beasties out there too,” Aunt Tess cautioned.

A sibilant hiss sounded.

I searched for the source. There. Funky, milk-white cobra eyes peered out from under a tangle of jack-strawed trees.

Zoey looked around nervously. “I thought the naugers were cannibalistic and ate each other?”

“They are and they do,” Detja answered, a hand on the butt of her laser pistol. “I have never seen so many in this area before.”

The theme song from that shark movie ran through my head. “Think someone has been chumming the water?”

“Wouldn’t surprise me if that skinny bitch Lilkee and her Legionnaires are behind this,” Kaylee snarled.

“Great booby trap.” Aunt Tess’s gaze locked on the jumble of trees. “I think a tactical retreat is in order.”

Detja nodded. “I agree.” She touched an icon on her bracelet. The blast hatch refused to open. She hit the icon again. The control panel blew, spewing sparks in every direction.

“Shit!” Bree climbed off her hover sled. “Let’s teleport out of here.”

A shiny red sphere smashed into the courtyard.Snap! Pop!A wave of crackling yellow energy slammed into us, knocking us down like ten pins.

My head spun dizzily as I climbed to my feet. “What hit us?”

“Good question. God, it feels like I’ve been on a two-day bender,” Aunt Tess groused.

The funny black spots finally cleared from my vision, and I noticed that Bree, Kaylee, Zoey, and Detja were down. “Oh shit!”

Aunt Tess kneeled beside Detja while I checked the medical readouts on my cousins’ bracelets.

“Detja’s out cold. The stun grenade messed up her neural pathways.”

I nodded. “I’ve got the same readings. Good thing we aren’t Coletti, or we’d be taking a nap too.”

A nauger slunk toward us.

I shot it. Two more appeared. I took them out. “We need help. Like now.”

“I can’t link with Rho, Voss, Talree, Jaylan, or Zarek,” Aunt Tess advised.

I tried with the same results. “Crap, I can’t connect with them either.”

Aunt Tess vaporized another nauger. “They’re getting bolder.”

“Can you drive them away?”

“I’ve been trying. My critter wrangling abilities are on the fritz.”

“Fuck.” I surveyed the area for any kind of cover. Next to the bunker wall, an overhang of rock formed a small, defensible cave. I pointed to it. “Let’s put the girls there and use the sleds to form a barricade.”

“Sounds good.” Aunt Tess grabbed Kaylee’s arms and dragged her in.

Using a fireman’s lift, I picked Bree up and carried her into the cave.

---