Finding Darkness

Chapter 35 Escape

"This is watcher sixteen. I have movement on shaft twenty eight. It might be nothing, but just be ready to send backup if it isn't."

"Rodger that sixteen. We have two full battalions on stand by, both within two minutes of your location..."

"Wait one, overhead," the Rougarian officer lifted his spotting glasses to his eyes again. "I have confirmation, our target is moving down slope from shaft twenty eight. We need to move fast. It has the creature with it, and they're headed for the far canyon. If they make it there, there's a possibility they could escape again."

Plans that had been laid ever since Tamar and Malachi had disappeared down the mine shaft were put into motion in seconds. Vapade had known they would come out sooner or later, so had decided to post watchers at every entrance or exit from the complex. Now that precaution was bearing fruit.

Within thirty seconds of their quarry being spotted, Vapade had an overhead view of the situation on the main viewer on his bridge.

"Get those Saltek into position. I want no screw-ups this time. We have one weapon that can hurt this thing and one only. The one who messes this operation up will answer to the Prince himself, is that clear?" The lack of acknowledgment over the communications network meant his warning was well received.

"I've already prepped my fighter. It's on finally approach, two minutes out. Once it's here, we leave." Malachi had a firm grip on Tamar's hand and they were both running for a flat piece of ground about a quarter of a mile from where they'd exited the cave network.

He stopped so abruptly that Tamar ran into his back.

"Something's not right here." was all he said. "It's too quiet out here."

Out of the distance, a low rumble was heard by both of them. They'd both heard that sound before.

"Here they come!" Tamar shouted. "I knew it was a bad idea to come back up here."

"We have twenty seconds before my fighter gets here. Once it's here, get ready to get on board."

"How am I going to get into your fighter?" She turned on him and asked.

"Trust me." He responded as his suit sealed with a snap hiss and his eyes once again shone a brilliant red.

He met the Saltek horde head on, the wave of alien flesh broke against him like water upon rock. Then the battle degenerated into a pitched hand to hand battle, Malachi keeping the horde from Tamar, the Saltek doing their best to work past him.

A sphere of scarlet energy erupted from Malachi, scouring a circle of everything above ground level save Tamar thirty feet across. In that reprieve, Malachi raced back to Tamar, lifted her in his right hand, and kissed her hard on the lips.

"I'll be right behind you," he shouted above the roar of the Saltek, then threw her into the air.

Tamar had no idea why he'd done what he'd just done, but knew he wasn't trying to hurt her. None the less, she screamed as she shot skyward, until she slammed her back into something heavy and solid, then dropped hard, and everything went black. She didn't lose consciousness, just where ever she was dark. Getting her feet under her, she had just enough time to watch a thin strip of light close off.

"Where in the world did he just toss me?" She wondered aloud, then the sounds of battle monopolized her attention.

The sounds were a ways away, how are she could tell as she couldn't see anything to give her reference. She was close enough, though, to picture the scene in her mind's eye. Malachi, tall and proud, wading into a sea of Saltek, the alien warriors pounding on him in a wave, yet not laying as much as a scratch on him. Tamar's imagination brought a smile to her face and warmth to her heart until her entire world shattered.

One seconds she was fine, her minds playing out the scene below her, Malachi's scream loud in her ears. The next she was flat on her back on the cold steel, fire lancing through her entire body, fire that originated from her side, just below her ribs. She claws at it, wanting to tear her flesh away to just stop the pain until something unexpected gave her pause. She couldn't hear Mal anymore, nothing. His scream had been cut off as if someone had sliced it with a razor. The pain in her side was a deep burning, like someone was pouring acid into her abdominal cavity. But pain was nothing new to her, so she shunted it to the side and concentrated on what truly gave her pause. Where was Mal? The sounds of combat had died down. Which could mean only one thing? No, that wasn't possible. He couldn't have been, not her Mal!

Then whatever she was in rocked to the side as if struck by something heavy. The deck beneath her tilted and she was flung against what she guessed was the back of whatever compartment she was in. The pain returned then, more than she could handle. Tamar clung to consciousness with grim determination. She would not pass out now. She didn't even know where she was. But the pain was beyond anything she'd ever experienced. It was like being flayed alive. Every nerve she had screamed in unison until she felt nothing. Tamar's head hit the cold steel floor a split second after unconsciousness mercifully