Chapter 76

Chapter Seventy-Six

The retreat was a blur to Connor. His brain ached, and the air became a choking, strangling mass. Their guide took them to where the hallway turned upslope, then into a room, then into another, then they were outside, sprinting uphill.

Overhead, black forms circled in the gray sky. The incessant buzz of the huge wings drowned out everything else, and sulfur filled the air.

Somewhere past the building where they’d lost Drew and Rudy, Kalpana’s rifle finally boomed.

A headless bug staggered from behind the uphill wall.

More gunfire followed: Vicente’s machine-gun, Selen’s assault rifle.

Connor pounded ahead, stopping only to dispatch any bugs that came for his team. The things led with their tails, leaving them vulnerable to someone quick and armed with a stinging weapon of his own.

Then they reached Kalpana’s position. She fired a last shot and dropped to the ground to run with them.

Selen came from the cover of a building, spraying the sky wildly. She fell in at Connor’s side. “Why didn’t you fall back?”

“We did.”

“Not when I told you to.”

“I never heard—”

She glared at the greasy-haired woman. “Who’s that?”

“Our rescuer.”

Then he plunged through the pollen-spewing underbrush, then racing uphill to the edge of the woods. That was because he made a point of counting everyone and making a fool of himself, celebrating Gregor escaping.

It wasn’t Gregor, though; it was their rescuer.

She held out a hand. “I’m Elise.”

Selen broke that up, scowling at Connor. “We have to keep moving.”

And they did. Although he herded his team and shouted encouragement, there were times where his thoughts drifted back to Gregor’s death.

The radios had cut out, and Connor had missed the call to fall back.

Would that have saved the old communication expert’s life?

They pushed through the night as long as they could, and the fog that had clouded Connor’s head finally passed. He felt feverish and weak.

Lem squatted and set out his medical kit. “You have a cut.”

Connor glanced down where the android indicated. The T-shirt was torn and wet at the shoulder. Moving the arm sent sparks of fire through the arm. “How?”

“One of those stingers, most likely.” Lem tapped a section of the chest plate near the wound, where an impact had left a dent. “It must not be much venom, or you would likely be dead already.”

“That’s good, I guess. When…?”

“You switched to one sword shortly after we exited the building.”

During the fight in the room, then. Connor realized he’d come close to death.

Selen dropped to a knee beside him as Lem cleaned the wound, apparently with acid. Burning pain shot the length of the arm and into the chest.

Her eyes narrowed. “Stinger?”

The android prodded the wound with a hot poker. Or maybe it was just really sensitive.

Connor’s jaw ached from grinding his teeth. “It feels like fire.”

Lem stared at his pocket computer. “You should have passed out long ago. The venom causes—”

Selen shook her head. “Nothing technical. What’s the problem?”

“Asphyxiation through paralysis. He is not getting enough oxygen.”

“Fix it.”

The android held up an auto injector. “I have already applied the broad-based cocktail. This will help counter the toxins.”

Another fiery sting radiated out from the wound, and Lem smiled.

Connor looked around. “All good?”

“We should know in a few minutes.”

“Aubriella and Tim? They were hit, too.”

“Not by the stingers.” The android pulled a swab from his medical kit and rolled the tip in the dented area of the armor. When he pulled the swab away, a dark gel coated the end. He sealed it inside a vial. “This should do for an antidote. Excuse me.”

He wandered away.

Selen slapped Connor on the chest plate. “What happened?”

“I don’t know. The radio went out, I guess.”

“You didn’t hear me? Seriously?”

“You started breaking up around the point of that building where Drew and Rudy died.”

“We can’t let the others know.” Selen scanned the camp. “They’ll break.”

“Maybe they should.”

Her eyes whipped back around to him. “What’s that mean?”

“This mission is a disaster. We can’t do it.”

“Of course we can do it.”

Tingling radiated out from Connor’s shoulder. “Selen, every time we try to do something on this planet, it goes wrong.”

“You sound like a superstitious kid.”

“It’s not superstition. I don’t think it’s all inexplicable.”

“Then what?”

“Well…” Connor searched around for Mosiah. The old man was at Aubriella’s side, chatting. She held Gregor’s assault rifle, as if troubleshooting it. “I don’t trust our client.”

Selen snorted. “I warned you.”

“You didn’t say he’d try to get us killed.”

“I told you not to trust him. And now that you mention it, I think everything we’ve had go sideways can be tied back to him.”

“Can you prove it?”

“Well, no. It’s just a hunch right now.”

Connor massaged his wounded arm. The fire was lessening now. “Sometimes, all you can work from is hunches.”

“Yeah? Well, my hunch says your stray is a bad idea.”

“Stray?”

“The second smelly woman you’ve dragged along with you in the last month.”

“Oh.” Connor spotted the woman huddled against a low mound at the edge of the group. “Elise. Right?”

“Don’t get attached.”

“You don’t trust her?”

“Why should I? You found her in the ruins?”

“Hiding in…like a closet. A small room off a larger room. I can’t figure out what these buildings are meant for.”

“And she just happened to be hiding where you took cover?”

“Don’t you think her best chance to betray us would’ve been when we were attacked by the bugs? We weren’t getting any support.”

Selen looked away. “I didn’t know if you were alive.”

“Our odds would’ve gone up with some of those bugs pulled off our backs.”

“I told you before, a commander has to make the tough calls. If we lost you, we’d be at half strength. That would’ve made for a tough retreat.”

Connor pulled his helmet off. “I get it.” But Selen’s explanation stung. How could he explain to Aubriella, Lem, and Tim that they’d been left on their own because their boss had done the math, and they weren’t worth the risk?

“Hey. Don’t pout.”

“I’m not pouting.” But he was. He set the helmet on the ground and leaned his head against it. “The best way to figure if she’s reliable is to test her.”

“You have an idea?”

“Questioning, mostly. Who is she? How’d she get here? What was she doing there? Listen for inconsistencies. That sort of thing.”

Selen scraped a thumb over her own helmet. “Be careful. I…can’t afford to lose anyone else.”

He smiled. “Will do.”

The pain in his shoulder lessened, and he started to drift off.

Whatever he planned to do, it would have to wait until they were safely back aboard the Lucky Sevens.