Page 35 of Soliv Four
“It looks like a small duffel on the floor in front of the cargo. We could carry some of the stuff back in that.”
“I’ll see if I can open the crate with the tablets. Having com units would certainly help in coordinating our efforts,” he said.
“Maybe I can get to the duffle.” Angie stepped inside the wreck and reached for the bag. Just as she reached for it, something brown slithered out from behind it. She yelped and jumped back.
“What?” Tomak straightened with his knife in hand.
“Snake.” She shivered in distaste. “It went into the cockpit.” She stepped back inside and gingerly picked up the bag. Just a bit dirty on the outside, the inside was clean enough.
Tomak managed to pop open the crate carrying the coms. It contained twenty units in their original packages. They were older models, but should still be workable. He took out ten of them and packed them in the small duffle, one for each of his team and their mates.
“Will they be able to trace these coms if we use them?” Angie wondered.
“Emon will know better than I do, but I believe if we set up our own linked unit within the system, it won’t be traced,” he said. “We can dump them if we find out differently. I’m going to take them now because I don’t know when we will get back here to get them.”
They were small and light, so Tomak opened the crate containing the stun sticks and added ten of them to the duffle.
“We should head back now so we can be out of this part of the jungle before dark. That’s when the large predators come out.”
“Do you need me to carry something?” she asked.
Tomak looked wistfully at the case of Shalorian ale. “I wish we could take the ale, but it’s been here this long.”
“I’m a little curious myself if it’s anything like what we called ale back on Earth.”
“It goes down smooth, so you don’t realize you have drunk too much until you are intoxicated.”
“Ours gets smoother as you go along, but it’s not something I could afford to indulge very often.”
Tomak nodded. “Let’s go. We’ll be back another rotation to see what might be hidden under the crates on top and in front. I hope the others found some useful items to get that ship off the ground.” He led the way back down the trail, and Angie followed close behind.
“Too bad, we can’t find one that is already flyable.”
“We can’t even get close to the shuttles that bring in new prisoners. The only time that the fence isn’t electrified is when they bring the females. They want us to see the incoming females.”
“What about that compound on the other side of the prison?”
“Surveillance is too heavy. There are cameras everywhere, and armed drones that shoot any intruders.”
“Of course. It was just a thought. You don’t think your people will send another evac for you?”
“I didn’t even think they would send one. Our missions were not officially sanctioned, especially into the Szeqart Empire. What we did was an act of war. We’re mercenaries as far as they are concerned. On that mission, we didn’t even shoot anybody, yet here we all are.”
Angie let out a rueful laugh. “I didn’t shoot anybody either, and here I am.”
Tomak stopped and turned to face her. He rested his hands on her shoulders, “I’m sorry for the circumstances, but I’m not sorry that you have been here with me these past months.” He held her face between his hands and kissed her lips lightly, then hugged her. “I wish I could tell you we’re going to get off this miserable world, but I don’t know if that’s really going to happen.”
Angie had slid her arms around him and hugged him back. “I know. All we can do is try.”
TWENTY-ONE
Backtracking through the jungle to the site of the military evac ship, they met Emon there.
“Hey, Boss,” he said. “I think I have found enough parts to repair the hydraulics and raise this bucket off that rock. I stowed them inside it.”
“Good plan. There won’t be any more time to work on it today. I’m glad we caught you on the way back. The downed ship we found was a drone transport with some interesting cargo.”
Tomak opened the duffle and took out one of the com tablets to show him.
