First Contact Fallout by Aer-ki Jyr (novels for teenagers .TXT) 📗

branch…and when he did so he finally got a mental signature. He grasped his mind immediately and froze the individual in place, then began rifling through his memories, the first of which confirmed that his helmet was the only piece of his armor that was shielded, and it covered everything except the base of his neck where it connected to the rest of his body. That was why standing beneath him gave his Ikrid line of sight access to his brain from up through the rest of his anemic body.

His mission came from the Zor’do. He’d been ordered, along with others, to track down the people who had fled, and with some considerable difficulty he had found the Era’tran’s tracks and lost them again each time they crossed a body of water. He and others had spread out in both directions each time and were able to find the spot further up or down the water’s path where they had come back out.

There were two Era’tran here. One inside the tent and another that kept watch from the elevation on the far side. That’s why the Zan’for was here, because if he got too much closer the Era’tran’s Pefbar could have outed him. All he had to do was keep his distance and wait, for he’d already reported back their location for the rest of the hunters to group and approach towards. He didn’t know how soon they’d get here, but his mission was to monitor and track them if they moved again. He couldn’t engage on his own, despite the fact that neither Era’tran had armor. Their psionics were potent enough, and he wasn’t sure what these two possessed. They couldn’t take control of his mind, but his weapons would only sting the larger enemies, and they possessed enough muscle to be able to physically crush him if they caught him.

Jo’ra looked for position information and other details, but knew he didn’t have time to do a thorough interrogation. The Zan’for had sent word hours ago, meaning reinforcements were already on the way. Perhaps close.

With a thought he put the Zan’for to sleep, then waited for his collapsing body to fall off the branch. He caught it with his Lachka so it didn’t crash into the ground, then the Zen’zat stepped up and crouched over the scout as he set him down. He put a kill shot into the base of his neck and telepathically called out to the Era’tran, identifying himself and informing them of the scout that had unwittingly been calling the enemy to their location.

The Era’tran outside the tent came crashing back into the under canopy clearing, but the one inside didn’t emerge as the giant red muzzle of an Era’tran female soon arrived and looked down on Jo’ra and the dead scout from two meters above him.

“I cannot move him. He is comatose and I do not have the equipment to bring him out of it.”

“They will be coming here. They have this location,” Jo’ra reminded her. “What do you want to do?”

“I cannot carry him, and I cannot leave him. Are you alone?”

“For the moment. There are three others who survived nearby. They are searching different locations to find you.”

“Can four of you help me move him?”

“Not far and not fast. And we would make such a disturbance in the jungle that we would be easy to follow. We cannot stay here, we have to move. Our only option is a distraction.”

“What kind of distraction?” Sol’an asked, her eye ridges furrowing.

“They have to find someone here. If there is a way to hide Tu’vac and you flee, we might be able to get them to chase you and miss him, but that’s unlikely unless we can conceal him.”

“So this is the end? We fight and die here?”

“I have no other suggestions.”

“What do you wish to do?”

“Use you as bait and ambush the attackers if they come on foot. That will be my best chance of killing the most.”

“Do so then. How far away are the others?”

“I don’t know, and I don’t know how far away the…” Jo’ra said, stopping as he received a comm message. He replied silently, as far as Sol’an was aware, then looked up at her muzzle again. “Mario’topa has a gunship and an additional rescued Zen’zat. He also has aerial pursuit coming from the Zor’do. A Kardopa transport that is not heading his way. It is most likely headed here.”

“A Zen’zat gunship?”

“It can’t shoot down a Kardopa.”

“Can it carry Tu’vac?”

“Not inside.”

“Do what you think is best, Zen’zat. I leave our defense to you.”

Jo’ra immediately got on the comm, broadcasting loud enough that it could be tracked to his location, but he knew their position had already been compromised.

“I’ve found the Era’tran, but Tu’vac is immobile. I killed a scout that already reported their location and requested reinforcements.”

“Define immobile?” Mario’topa asked.

“He’s seized up and Sol’an can’t revive him. Right now he’s inside a camouflage tent. I haven’t seen him personally. Is there a way we can strap him to the gunship?”

“There’s no time to try. You’ve got 13 minutes.”

“How long until you get here?”

“If I don’t pick up the others, 6 minutes. 9 if I do.”

“Get them and harass the transport. There’s no point in you dying here too.”

“Do they know he is immobile?”

Jo’ra glanced at the scout’s body. “I don’t think so.”

“Then they’ll most likely drop their troops off nearby and hunt you down in the jungle using the transport for air cover, not for making the primary kill. They won’t get close enough for the Era’tran psionics to snag them.”

“You think this is a specialized…” Jo’ra said breaking off.

A moment later he got a location ping from him, with the symbol that meant ‘active firefight,’ and the transport was nowhere close to