Page 2 of Legacy's Destiny

A bullet’s whap landed on the mountain behind him, and a spray of rock stung his neck and shoulders. He lifted his weapon, laying down suppression fire until Ranger called him back, then backed into the mouth of the mine, still firing even though Ranger was covering him. Water dripped from his uniform, and his boots squelched, expelling the rainwater through the vents at his arch.

“Cap.” He turned at Ranger’s call. “Look.”

Explosive charges lined theinsideof the mouth of the mine, set and rigged for an explosion. As he watched, the red light on the detonation device flashed.Fuck.To go back out was certain death. “Inside. Move.”

They pounded down the shaft as the explosives ruptured the air with a percussive blast that knocked him off his feet. He covered his head and waited for the debris blast. He wasn’t disappointed. Huge pieces of debris pelted him, burying his legs in dirt, rocks, and lumber. When he could, he looked back. Fuck, that was too close. “Sound off.” He yelled the words because he couldn’t hear his own voice. His ears were ringing too fucking loud to hear shit.

Lights bounced around in the thick dust. Finally, he saw Ranger walking back toward him, then Rip, Ace, and Bandit. “Thank fuck.” He dropped his head to the ground. “I could use some help.”

Ranger was already lifting big rocks off his legs, and the rest of the team scooped the loose shit away from him.

“Can you feel your legs?”

Deacon looked up at Bandit. His medic was in his face. He waved off his teammate’s concern but answered, “Yeah, and this shit is heavy.”

Bandit snorted, shaking his head, but got back to unburying his legs. As soon as he could, he elbowed himself out of the debris. Bandit was feeling him up before he could tell him to stop. The medic knew his job, but … “You should buy me a drink first.” Deacon winced as Bandit’s hands palpated and checked his legs. He was bruised, but he didn’t think anything was broken. Not that Bandit would let him up without making sure.

“Shut up, Cap. I’m doing my job.” Bandit rolled him over and narrowed his eyes. “That cut needs attention.” Bandit pointed at him. “Not open for fucking argument. God only knows what shit will get into it from this jungle.”

“We have to getout tothe jungle first,” Ace said as he flashed his light to the mountain of rocks and dirt blocking the mouth of the mine. “There are at least ten tons of mountain right there.”

“There are always other exits, air shafts, and such,” Ranger said before planting his ass on a boulder that, if it had rolled three feet to the left, would have squished him like a stink bug. Bandit cleaned and bandaged a wicked jagged slice on Deacon’s shin. He’d laid the skin open pretty damn good, so Bandit used some medical-grade superglue to help seal the wound.

“Let’s get you up and see if I missed anything.” Bandit offered him his hand, and Deacon grabbed it. He was pulled up, carefully put his weight on his feet, and then moved. The cuthurt, and his muscles were sore. He was banged up, but he’d be able to move.

“I’m good.”

Ace snorted. “That isn’t what your last girlfriend said.”

“You’re right. She said I was amazing,” Deacon shot back. He reached up to his ear, ensured his comm device was still there, and asked his operator, “Click, can you hear me?”

“I can. I have a weak signal. If you go much deeper into the mine, I might have a problem.”

Thank God for Guardian’s advanced communications system. Deacon asked, “Do you have a blueprint of this mine called up?”

“You know I do. The main shaft extends down for about five hundred feet. The grade looks pretty steep. At the second junction, you’ll want to go left. That should take you back up to the airshaft. There’s an alternate entrance, probably where your bogies will come after you.”

“And where is that in relationship to the airshaft?” Ranger asked as they started walking deeper into the shaft.

“You’d take a right at the junction, and then it’s a maze to the exit. Do you want the directions?” Click would rattle them off in a heartbeat.

“No,” Ranger said. “Just going to leave the fuckers a little present, aren’t we, Rip?”

“Damn straight,” Rip said. “How much time do we have?”

“Best case scenario, fifteen minutes.”

“Worst case is someone is in the mine already.” Deacon’s reminder silenced his men. “Ace, take point.” The rest of the team formed up, and they started the trek down the shaft.

Click continued, “Once you get to the airshaft, you’ll see a bulkhead and a fan. The fan will have to be removed. The way up is a cylinder-constructed shaft four feet in diameter. One hundred and sixteen feet straight up.”

Which was a fucking joy to hear. He limped along with his team. He hurt like a motherfucker, but he was going to suck up that bullshit and push on. Ace’s flashlight swung to the left and stayed there. “Well, well, well …” Ace chuckled. “Look at that, will ya?”

Deacon made his way to where Ace had stopped. “Shit. Ranger, grab that paperwork. Rip, let’s rig it up.” A massive cove of weapons, crates, and explosives sat off the main shaft. Rip tossed him the detonators, then glanced over at Ranger. “Get that loaded.”

“Working it,” Ranger said as he shoved the paper into his pack.

A small meow came from the corner of the cave, and every last one of them stopped and turned to the noise. A kitten, maybe a couple of months old, stood in the tunnel, covered in dust.

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