Blood in the Fire

Chapter Twelve Luke's Plan

Elizabeth                          

 

We moved through the maze of caves for another four hours. At each turn, Anton and I disabled guards and anti-intrusion measures. Our power-levels had started to dwindle and fatigue was setting in. My legs were soar from crouching against the wall and I had paused multiple times to stretch my aching muscles. Several clusters of locked-up prisoners had met us as we treaded on, but none had Eln's DNA.

At first the extra oxygen in the atmosphere had given us some added liveliness. Since then, short bursts of adrenalin followed by long periods of intense silence had worn everyone out. Mark and Luke looked especially worn. Their motions were sluggish and less alert. Had they been agents with powers, I would have sent them home, but as it was, they needed one of us to take them off this planet. Anton and I couldn't overlook the importance of our mission. Even so, I didn't think any of us could keep up the search for much longer. 

Halfway through a long hall, Anton halted. There are definitely people behind this wall, he told us as he waved his hand to the right. I peered past my brothers to make out Anton's expression. He turned back and met my eyes to let me know we'd shared the same thought. Prisoners hidden behind a solid wall would be harder to get to. Breaking through this barrier could lead us to Eln.

So what are we waiting for? Mark asked. Let's appear on the other side.

How many life signs? I asked Anton. We were both hesitant to face more guards and weapons.

Three. I think, he replied. But we have a bigger problem. This wall is highly defended and I don't see an easy way to pass through or bring it down without setting off every alarm and anti-intrusion system in here. He was being careful not to say what I knew he meant: it would take hours to disable the security embedded in this wall and we didn't have the power to do that and defend ourselves for that long.

Anton looked up from his monitor and we exchanged another look through the darkness. There was something else too. A room as well defended as the one behind this wall had a very good chance of containing Eln.

We're just going to have to bust in, Anton said. If we find Eln in there, we'll take down the two wizards, grab him and teleport out before World War Four comes raining down on our heads.

I moved out of position to read over Anton's shoulder. It'll happen too fast, I said, studying his readouts. His figures moved expertly over the dimly backlit screen as he worked to show me all the information it contained. Even if we use brute force, the alarms will go off at least thirty seconds before we can make it through this wall. At best. An army will come down on us long before we can execute any plan to take out two wizards and escape. I sounded confident, but I'd only had a few moments to survey the readouts and my stomach churned. Anton put a comforting hand on the small of my back as I continued to mull over his monitor.

"Is retreat ever considered?" Luke whispered. He spoke out loud to protect his private thoughts.

"We're too close," I replied verbally. "Eln could be on the other side of that wall. Do you want to give up, or do you want to be creative?" My own words made me nervous. How much would I risk to execute this hypothetical solution?

 Luke sighed. I smiled ruefully as his eyes turned away from me. After all we'd been through, he wanted this too. "If the alarms have to sound, then why don't we set them off elsewhere?" Luke suggested. "You know, a diversion."

My wistful smile blossomed into a proud grin. Not bad, I replied with my mind. Obviously, we would still have to set off the sensor connected to this wall, but I can do it remotely.

How would that help? Mark asked. I was surprised to feel his tightening chest through the mental link. The notion of splitting up made him anxious.

The system will relay to them my location, I replied. That's where they'll look.

Anton continued the thought. One or two guards will come to check out this area, but we can set up an illusion for them. They won't be looking very hard because they won't expect to find anyone.

An illusion? Mark probed. What if they stay and watch the wall?

Won't matter, Anton replied. We overtake their senses. In this case, sight and sound. Then, send them neural messages we design. Our team can be here and working, and they will think they are standing in an empty hallway.

Tamer will walk you through it, I instructed while looking at Anton. He nodded and initiated contact. The version of this spell that Anton and I could pull off wasn't very sophisticated. At best, we might be able to block a neural signal, but creating a fake one was beyond our skills, especially given that the wizards were trained to sense such deceptions. Tamer could show a pair of guards what they expected to see.

 However, I did have second thoughts about pulling our resident psych expert away from his post. Without him there, our escape would have to be done in two stages: first, transport to the planet's surface and then get to the ship that awaited us in orbit.

Before I could voice my doubts, Tamer appeared. He started to set up the illusion while Anton worked out a way to bring down the wall. Neither one said anything about the risks we faced. I didn't either. It's a good plan. My private affirmation did little to quiet the sense of impending danger taking hold of my stomach.

Instead, I went to stand guard as far away from my team as I dared. If I ventured too far, the caves could shift and take me away from them. The darkest spot, located midway between two lamps would provide good cover. I crouched there with my back against some rough boulders and stared into the black. My eyes would need to adjust if they were to spot an incoming wizard.

Do you think this will work? Mark asked me telepathically. He couldn't see me. I looked back and spied him standing in a shadow, arms crossed and leaning back against the wall. Was he scared?

It's not the biggest risk we've ever taken, I replied. Unfortunately, it is a one shot deal. Either Eln is behind that wall or we've failed this mission. The enriched oxygen atmosphere in these caves was making me a little lightheaded. I paused to take a controlled breath. After I set off the alarm, we won't have much time; and once we leave these caves, there's no coming back. I didn't mention the fact that we would need to budget our power precisely. It would take us down to our last drop to pull this off and that was assuming nothing went wrong.

I guess we'd better hope he's in there, Mark said.

Hmm, I agreed. That and that there aren't any surprise security measures keeping him, or us, here. My thumb ran along the side of the laser gun in my hand and I felt the smooth surface slide against my skin. The object seemed like a toy and didn't do much to reassure me against the looming blackness stretched out before me. Mark's got good reason to be scared, I thought privately. We're going to need a lot of luck to pull this one off.