And There Was Another✔️

Chapter 20: Uncomfortable Silence

Seth enjoyed most of the ride over to the wind farm.

The sun was shining, the cool wind was whipping past him, the clean, fresh smell of nature surrounding him. There was even a herd of those strange gray flapping things in the sky, majestically roaming off to the north. And of course Nova was at his back, holding him tightly around the midsection. It felt so good to have her against him, especially from the way she was holding him. There was affection in her touch.

It was during the last minute or so of their approach that a feeling of cold dread began to seep slowly into his guts, worming its way around in his intestines and doing a slow creep up his spine. Something about that dead wind turbine...it took on a sinister quality as they drew closer. Now it seemed like a monolithic thing, presiding over some terrible secret. Nova could sense it, too: he felt her grip tighten, her body tensing.

They stopped an appreciable distance from the site, and as he killed the engine and surveyed the area, he immediately caught sight of several warning factors. There were two unmoving bodies sprawled in the grassy area around the turbine itself, and a scattering of random debris, including a small crater from what might have been a concussion grenade. He and Nova both got off silently, each on opposite sides, and drew their weapons.

"Sweep the area," Seth said quietly. "Meet at the turbine."

"Understood," Nova replied tightly.

They split off. It was a bad place to be, too much open ground, no trees around, just a lot of grassy field and the turbine itself, all of it flat. Seth kept a sharp eye and ear open as he approached the first corpse. Crouching briefly, he checked the man over. One of the locals, he surmised. The man wore a blue jumpsuit, all the pockets of which were emptied. He'd been shot in the head with a blaster. Seth grit his teeth together as he rose.

Death had come to Dantooine, and he'd bet it was the damned Mandalorians.

Keep focused, he reminded himself. He hurried over to the next corpse, this one a woman, local security, also shot dead and picked clean. He and Nova performed their sweep of the area. They found a third corpse, another tech, behind the turbine, and then met at the structure itself. Near the front, and only, entrance was a sort of makeshift work area. A canopy had been lashed to the side of the structure, held up by metal poles, and beneath it were a pair of basic tables, some foldout chairs, a metal shelf, and a few crates. There were some tools, a few spare parts, scattered across the ground, but it looked like the place had been cleaned out.

The crates were emptied, the shelf and tables almost totally bare. Blaster fire marked the walls in one area and the canopy was ripped. It flapped in the wind, the only sound for miles. He and Nova gathered at the entrance, which looked like it had been blasted open with explosives.

"Mandalorians, no doubt," Nova said, and spit angrily on the ground.

"Come on, we have to see if anyone made it. I'm pretty sure the bastards who attacked this place are gone, no speeder bikes left, but maybe some of ours are holed up," Seth said. Nova just nodded tightly and he led the way in.

Keeping the blaster rifle charged and tucked tight into his shoulder, Seth cleared the first room they came to. The lights inside had failed. He flicked on the barrel-mounted flashlight and the pale beam burned away the shadows that were gathering along the peripheral of the room. The room they'd come to was the size of the whole turbine. It was packed with crap, tables mostly, and several crates and shelves. Mainly they were shoved up against the walls but really they were placed wherever there was room.

A circular stairwell led up to the next level over to the right and, below it, another curved stairway led down, into the basement.

"Stay here, make sure nothing comes out of that basement," he whispered. "I need to clear the upper stories."