“Why do I suddenly have the image of a giant spider in my head?” Smith muttered.
“Why do I have the image of a Dreen warship that just looks sort of like a giant spider?” Himes replied. “Big bulbous body, sixteen spiderlike landing legs. And a whole passel of Dreen rhino-tanks, dog-demons, thorn-throwers…”
“We get the point, Himes,” Berg said. “Can it.”
“You brains get this sorted out?” First Sergeant Powell asked, bouncing over. He’d swept around the crater and gotten Third Platoon up to the ruins, searching for survivors.
“I think we’re looking at landing jacks, First Sergeant,” Guzik said. “Just a guess. I’m not an alien tech specialist. But they’re not probe holes. They taper, nothing appeared to be picked up, they’re partially melted on the side… Sixteen narrow somethings which were intensively hot were shoved into the ground under enormous weight. That says landing jacks to me. I’d suggest getting Lieutenant Fey out here while we continue our sweep. And look for indications that something deployed from the ship. If there was a ship.”
“All teams,” Lieutenant Monaghan said. “Up to the ruins. Keep an eye out for tracks or traces. The base is in our sector. Bravo, you’ve got point into the secondary base. Move it out.”
“Let’s go,” Berg said, gesturing to the hills above. “Vector right a bit. There’s a path.”
The path had been heavily used but if any aliens had used it, it wasn’t evident. The secondary base was reported to be partially built into one of the ruins, mostly underground. It wasn’t visible from the approach path and when Berg’s team neared it he slowed down.
“Anybody got anything on sensors?” he asked.
“Negative,” Himes reported. “There should be at least some electrical secondaries from equipment. But I’m getting nada.”
“Ditto,” Smith said.
“Ears,” Berg said, cranking up the gain on his external audio systems. He could hear the teams behind him scrabbling up the hill but that was about it. He changed frequencies.
“Top, we’re trying to do an audio—”
“All teams, freeze,” the first sergeant said before he even finished.
With the sounds of the teams gone all there was was a light whistling from the thin atmosphere’s wind on the rocks.
“Negative on sound or emissions at the site,” Berg said.
“Teams, continue mission. Two-Gun, check it out.”
Berg tracked his gun back and forth and then started forward.
“Slow and careful,” he said over the team freq.
Cresting the edge of the ridgeline they could see the opening to the base. It had been sealed with heavy sheet plastic with plastic reinforcing. The sheet plastic was torn, the reinforcing had been ripped out of the tunnel and part of the opening was fallen in.
“I think somebody tore that up,” Himes said.
“Possibly,” Berg said. “Or a one megaton nuclear blast could have done it.”
“Point.”
“Lieutenant Monaghan, containment on the base has been breached,” Berg reported. “It’s still unclear if it was from hostile action or the nuke. Continuing.”
“Roger,” Lieutenant Monaghan replied. “Watch your ass, Two-Gun.”
“Whoa,” Himes said. “Got something again. These ain’t human tracks.”
Berg panned a camera around to see what Himes was looking at and nodded, his machine gun panning up and down.
“Looks like claw marks,” Berg said, hitting a control. “Sir, sending video. There appear to be claw tracks.”
“Dreen,” Miller said from in the conn.
“Oh, yeah,” Weaver replied. “Shit.”
“Captain Zanella, this is the CO,” Spectre said over the radio. “Those tracks have been identified as Dreen. Proceed with caution. I’m taking the ship up to orbit. I’m not going to get jumped on the ground by a Dreen warship.”
“Understood, sir.”
“Sir, permission to deploy before we take off,” Weaver said.
“Why?” Spectre snapped.
“Because I think I’ve figured out a way to communicate with Earth, sir,” Weaver said. “I’ll need about twenty minutes to set it up. And I’ll need a commo tech.”
Specter considered that for a moment, then nodded.
“We’ll scramble for altitude while you get ready,” the CO said. “When you’re ready, we’ll drop you off.”
“Agreed, sir,” Bill said, standing up. “Permission to go get ready.”
“Go. You too, Chief Miller.”
“What are you thinking?” Miller asked.
“I’m hoping is more like it,” Bill replied. “I’m hoping that they’ve got some smart people monitoring the dangerous gates.”
“All teams. The ship is heading for orbit in case we need firepower. Be aware that First Platoon has found definite signs of Dreen presence. They’re probably gone, but remain fully alert.”
“Two-Gun.”
“Yes, sir,” Berg replied to the platoon leader.
“Move into the base and look for evidence of Dreen presence or any survivors.”
“Roger, sir,” Berg said. “Okay, boys, now’s when it gets interesting. I’ve got point. Follow me.”
“Gladly,” Himes said. “Very dangerous. You go first.”
The opening was low due to the rubble and Berg had to hunch the suit through, keeping his weapon up and forward at the same time. The walls, once past the outer edge, were smooth and delicately patterned. They shone a faint blue in the glow from his suit lights.
The passageway went straight down at a slight slope then turned sharply to the left. There was rubble on the floor, some of it shoved to the side but more fallen recently. Most of it was probably from the shocks from the nuke. The floor was too solid for tracks and it wasn’t possible to determine if any of the rubble had been moved. At least not to Berg.
Turning the corner they could see an open area ahead. As they approached, it was apparent there had been another seal there. But it, too, was ripped down.
“We got anybody?” Berg asked.
“Top, Two-Gun,” the first sergeant replied. “I’m setting up a relay system. And monitoring your video.”
As they entered the center of the base it was apparent that the Dreen had been there ahead of them. A dog-demon — a pony-sized beast that was low-slung with a chopping jaw head — was lying dead at one side of the room. Some folding tables had apparently been set up as a barricade across the door. They were ripped apart and tossed about the interior.
There were several patches of dried blood but not one body, not one piece of electronics was left. Packs had been ripped apart, the contents strewn about the room. Cots were overturned, sleeping bags ripped open and a blister bag of water had been breached, the water pooling at the rear of the room.
“This had to really suck,” Himes said. “But somebody had a weapon, apparently.”
“Looks like a lucky shot from a pistol,” Smith said, examining the body of the dog-demon. “Couple of scratches on the chest armor but whoever it was got a shot into that soft patch under the neck.”
Berg looked around and shrugged inside his armor.
“No exits,” he said, swiveling his turret back and forth. “So anybody in this room was doomed.”
“Got a map,” Himes said, pulling a large sheet of paper out from under a table. “Looks like the map they were making of the ruins.”
“Got some lab books over here,” Smith said. “Can’t exactly open them in this suit.”
“Top, we’ve got some intel down here,” Berg said.
“On my way down,” the first sergeant replied. “Hold your position.”
“This looks interesting,” Smith said, straightening up with a book held in his suit claws. “Somebody drew all over the cover with red ink. It says ‘Dreen!’ ”