And There Was Another✔️

Chapter 36: Survivors

Seth's mind raced the whole way back to the outpost.

Even his growing attraction to Kato couldn't derail the paranoia that now laced his thoughts. The jungle around them seemed a living thing, a malevolent, omniscient presence that watched them with the cold malignancy of cancer, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. And nothing seemed to exemplify this reality more than the strange, cloaked being they had encountered in the clearing. Seth kept seeing the man, (for some reason, he was convinced that it was male, he had no idea why this conviction stuck with him), as an uncertain outline, cloaked in a field of stealth technology and wreathed in writhing smoke.

He could be anywhere. He could be watching them right now.

Seth and Kato did not share a single word as they hurried back to base. His guts were hurting like a bitch now. That dart had teeth. Glancing down once at the patch slapped over his armor was a mistake, because he saw that it was stained red, and his skin was slick and wet around the area inside the suit. He was bleeding. Faster they got back to the outpost, the better. As they walked, Seth tried to push past the pain and the fear and the anxious paranoia edged faintly but perceptibly with panic, instead trying to think of a way to deal with this situation. They needed information, but they also needed a plan for dealing with this rogue element.

He only had a few ideas by the time they got back, none of them very appealing.

"Okay, we need to regroup, figure this out," Seth said as they finally made it back.

"You need to get to Seri," Kato replied. "You're bleeding."

"I'm fine," Seth replied. "You go to Seri."

"I'm fine, Seth," she said, rolling her eyes.

"You're bleeding."

She glanced at the patch on her shoulder, which was now stained red, which was running down her armor, mixing with the rainwater that still fell. "Dammit," she muttered. "Fine. We both go."

"Fine," Seth replied, and they began marching towards the ship. He activated his radio. "Maya, where are you? Over."

"Almost back. Is everything okay? Over."

"Yeah. Meet me in the infirmary on the ship. Over." He activated the ramp. "Nova, Yex, meet me in the infirmary on the ship, too. We need to sort this mess out. Out."

He and Kato walked up the ramp. His gut was really damn hurting. They found Seri already waiting for them in the infirmary.

"I was listening," she said. "Take off your armor and lay down."

"Yep," Seth replied and began to strip off the top part of his armor. It was painful, miserable work, but by the time he was topless and laid out on one of the two examination tables, the others were crowding into the room.

"So what happened out there?" Nova asked, looking angry and anxious, staring at his wound.

"We were attacked by a cloaked figure. I have no idea who or why, but whatever stealth tech they have, it is powerful. They could run and jump and remained cloaked," Seth replied.

"Is that possible?" Jensen asked quietly.

"Clearly it's possible," Kato replied, then winced as Seri began cleaning her wound. She'd come to Seth first, but he'd waved her off and begun cleaning his own wound.

He grunted, feeling the biting sting of pain as he carefully wiped away the blood around his wound. It was small but ugly, in the mid-right portion of his gut. Near his liver. Not a great place, but he didn't think he was screwed. "Obviously, this person is causing trouble. They have darts, Mandalorian darts, on a moon known for Mandalorians. So I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that we might be dealing with a Mandalorian."