Of Knights and Aliens

Chapter 57

Lena's pleased by how far they've made it in such a short amount of time. She had thought they would be much slower. Though she isn't surprised when she thinks about it more. Lena has a high stamina from her training and from her time scouting this kind of place. And Kara, Kara's Kryptonian. Nearly endless supplies of energy, like a humanoid solar panel, and superspeed means that Kara can match any pace that Lena sets. She can't help wondering if that extends to the... She cuts off her thoughts there, her cheeks turning pink.

Lena shakes herself out of her daze and focuses on the terrain in front of them. She's the main guide, since she knows the area better than Kara. They're off any of the paths now in an attempt to stay off of Lillian's and Cadmus' radar for as long as possible.

If Lena's memory is correct, and it usually is, then they should be coming across the edge of the disputed territory. They have been planning on the fact that there are guards patrolling the perimeter, knowing they would be subtle as to not draw attention to their operation, but not so subtle that an expert Markswoman and a Kryptonian wouldn't notice them.

Lena has to admit, it's handy to have Kara with her. Instead of Lena being anxious and constantly on her guard, she can almost relax. As much as she can on any potentially dangerous mission, that is. She can rely on Kara to be her eyes and ears, what with her having super senses.

Kara is more than happy to help, and takes it even more seriously than Lena expected. She's constantly at the minimum semi-alert, ready for anything. Just like Lena.

"Two guards, 36 degrees." Kara whispers.

Lena nods in understanding. Instead of the confusing clock times that people in novels seem to favor, she and Kara have agreed to use degrees instead. The zero degrees is the line straight ahead in their field of vision. Kara has explained it like if someone drew a line from their noses, that would be zero degrees. And then to the left is 30, 45, 60 degrees. As if they had taken a unit circle and set it in front of them, standing and facing the zero.

It makes sense to them, and that's what matters. Especially in situations like this.

"Can we go wide, around them?" Lena murmurs back to her girlfriend as they stop in order to make a quick plan.

"If we go to the left, we'll go straight into their field of vision. We have to go right a bit. There's a guard another couple hundred feet to the right, and I can't tell if he's napping or dead. Oh, napping. His heart's beating, at least."

Lena pulls Kara in for a quick kiss, oddly charmed by her adorable commentary in such a serious situation. Kara gives her a beaming smile and pecks her again, taking Lena's hand in hers and squeezing briefly before letting go. They can't hold hands for too long in case of a surprise attack, where they would have to hastily let go and Lena would have to pull out her weapons. The extra second or two it takes them to let go could end up getting one of them seriously hurt.

On a slightly lighter note, avoiding the guards is an almost laughably easy accomplishment. Her mother's lackeys are either idiots or unprepared for anyone to attempt to come through the territory. Lena would guess idiots, Lillian needs all the help she can get, and she would never let her workers be unprepared.

"Wow. That was easy." Kara remarks quietly and winces exaggeratedly when Lena lightly smacks her arm, even though they both know she could barely feel that.

"Don't jinx it, darling."

Kara frowns. "Oh, right. Oops."

Lena and Kara continue on like that, with Lena leading and Kara as the lookout. They manage to avoid quite a few guards, who Kara says look bored out of their minds. They're coming up on the two possible castles of the four that are closer together.