“Hmm. This could be a setback.” Entoryua kept a straight face as he lit a cigarette on a smoldering personnel carrier.
A few United Mankind soldiers ran around, roping off the area, glowering at Entoryua and his men. Those wounded in this battle were already at a field hospital somewhere.
Kite heard from one of the soldiers the story of the unexpected battle during their attempt to apprehend Citizen Minh Kursap of the Anti-Empire Clasbul Front.
“Well?” asked Entoryua, when Kite came running back.
“It seems Citizen Minh Kursap is a very high-ranking member of the Independence Party. They found a sizeable stockpile of weapons here.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me!” Having recently read the case file on the network (Eifu), Entoryua frowned. “It’s been at least three years since Minh was a member of the Independence Party.”
Kite shrugged. “Want to hear the rest?”
Entoryua took a languid puff on his cigarette and grunted. “Probably not.”
Kite explained how the simple arrest morphed into a gun battle that enabled the suspects to escape. It was unclear whether one of the suspects was Abh, and also where they went.
“Can we find out?” Entoryua dropped his cigarette and ground it out.
Nodding, Kite peered at his communication equipment screen. “Holy… Listen to this. ‘At eight seventeen, standard military time, Citizen Minh and six accomplices escaped underground from point R-C-19-3-4-01. Five soldiers died, including Military Police Major Aranga. Two others were seriously wounded. Eight soldiers gave chase under the command of Lieutenant Muhammedov. At eight thirty, standard military time, they requested backup, and HQ dispatched three infantry platoons, who are still engaged in the pursuit/ “
“Standard military time? Is that different from our clocks?”
“Yes, it’s now nine thirty-five.”
“It’s twenty-one minutes slower?” Entoryua sighed. His brain could hardly handle the conversion — he couldn’t remember how many days it had been since his last good night’s sleep.
“What should we do, join the pursuit?” “Nah, we’d just get in the way,” answered Entoryua. “So, we just give up, then?”
“No, of course not. They’re in the Guzornyu Big Cave. Criminals and thrill-seeking kids have been disappearing down there for years. It’s like a playground for the Guzornyu police; they even have guys on the payroll called hole divers. We can probably get some good intel from them, don’t you think?” Kite smiled.
“It’ll be different if the Abh is cornered down there, but we should still act on this. Are your friends using interior-trace and temperature-source detection?”
“I’m sure they are.”
“Great. Then we should be able to figure out the Abh’s destination. Can you determine the current location of your men down there?”
Kite nodded excitedly. “Of course.”
“You know,” Entoryua paused to take a deep breath, “there’s still a chance the Abh isn’t with them — the caves could be a dead end.”
Kite groaned.
✦ ✦ ✦
The glowing numbers on Lafiel’s Kreuno were the only source of light in the dark cave. Using the computer crystal’s heat source detection function, they were able to devise a rough estimate of the soldiers’ position.
“Just a thousand Daj away,” Jinto whispered.
Lafiel nodded.
The enemy had no lamps, implying that they might be using night-vision goggles or some other special technology. Even though Lafiel had her Frokaj, the enemy would have a distinct advantage.
Ji-ji-ji! Instantly, countless beams of light ripped through the darkness!
Fortunately, due to their position next to a fork in the cave, the bullets didn’t reach Jinto and Lafiel. But they were close enough to send little chunks of rock flying through the air.
“Get down,” Lafiel urged him.
As soon as Jinto obeyed, Lafiel threw the Yapeil she was holding, temporarily disrupting the darkness with a sizeable explosion.
The enemy fire stopped for a moment.
“Run.”
Running deeper into the cave, he could see the mouth of another small tunnel up ahead. The light from Lafiel’s attack waned, and darkness settled upon the cave again.
“Let’s wait here,” Lafiel instructed him as they reached the small passage.
“You want to ambush them?” asked Jinto, his voice trembling. He was momentarily ashamed of his fear, before realizing that it was a perfectly natural reaction.
“Yes. Get low and have your gun ready. When I signal, shoot it that way, fanning the shots from low to high.”
“Okay, but I probably won’t be able to hit any enemies since I can’t see them.”
“You wouldn’t hit them if you could see them.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence.”
“Now!” Sensing the enemy with her Frokaj, Lafiel started squeezing off shots all over the place.
On cue, Jinto did the same, spreading his shots out as he was told.
Screams.
Oh, heavens. I’m shooting people.
This battlefield was truly bizarre. There was no anger, nor guilt — just an overbearing fear that initiated all response.
Klanraj were invisible to the human eye, but the points of light they made burning through human flesh temporarily lingered in the darkness like fireflies.
Due to their position, it was much easier for Jinto and Lafiel to shoot the enemy soldiers than the opposite.
Bodies piled up.
Jinto felt sick.
A shot struck the wall startlingly close to Jinto.
Instinctively, Jinto returned fire.
“Gyaaaah!” yelled a soldier, flailing backward.
At least my aim is improving, thought Jinto. Man, I’m thirsty. I’d trade my Sune for a glass of water right now.
Amid the sparkle of death, a soldier’s hand moved, and something flew through the air.
“Move!” Lafiel kicked Jinto in the side.
Perfectly understanding her direction, he rolled into the small cave. Lafiel slid in after him, not a moment too soon.
As they dove for safety in the cave, an explosion propelled them forward. The enemy grenade made their Yapeil look like toys.
Behind them came the sounds of collapse. It was a cave-in.
“Hurry!” Jinto rose and pulled Lafiel to her feet.
Large chunks of rock struck them as they retreated deeper into the cave. Finally, the debris ceased falling.
Jinto looked around, but it was too dark for him to see anything.
“How does it look?”
“The cave is blocked.”
Jinto used his gun’s illumination mode to check it out. The cave was completely blocked. Jinto couldn’t tell whether or not he should be relieved.
On one hand, they can’t get to us. On the other hand, he thought, we might be stuck in here until we run out of air and suffocate.
“Well,” Jinto said, “may as well keep going and see where it leads.”
“Yes. That’s all we can do.”
Replacing the spent Yapeil in his Klanyu, Jinto pressed into the unknown.