Discovery (Science of Psionics Book #1) by Dave Renol (sad books to read .txt) 📗

I crawled over to the guys, stripping thepack off my back as I went so I could get at the first aid kitinside. Other than some minor burns and scrapes, Mark seemed to beok, just pale and unconscious. He looked sort of like he did afterthe plastique test knocked him for a loop.

Carl started groaning at this point and begantrying to sit up. I started to help him and, giving him the onceover, noticed only a big bump on his forehead. “Are you all right?”I asked, concerned.

“I think so,” he replied after takingpersonal stock. “What happened?”

“Sid happened. We flew right into a trap.”Taking out a roll of bandages, I crawled back to Linda. “HelpMark,” I called back over my shoulder.

Needing a rag, I ripped open the front of myshirt and cut out a large strip to use as a towel. I cleaned outLinda’s head wound, rinsing it liberally and wrapped it tightlywith the bandage. She had bled quite a bit out of her nose as well,but the flow seemed to be slowing on its own already. Finished withthe obvious wounds, I began inspecting her for other injuries. Sheseemed to be mostly ok, so I allowed myself to marginallyrelax.

“How ya making out over there,” I inquired,wiping my own face with the makeshift towel.

“I think we’ll live, but Mark is still outcold.”

“Same with Linda, and if it’s like I think,they’ll both be down for a day or two.”

Nodding his understanding, he began rootingthrough our gear. “Let’s see if we can get some beds or at leastpillows for them.”

“Good idea. Maybe that knock to your headbroke loose some common sense. By the way, you might have aconcussion so you shouldn’t go to sleep.”

“What exactly happened out there? Did someoneattack us or did we blunder into a trap?”

“It could have been either. Someone couldhave been stationed there to watch for us and triggered theexplosion. We slowed down toward the end and that might have thrownoff their timing enough to keep us from eating the full force. It’salso possible that it was an unmanned trap and we just triggered asensor, perhaps infrared. Either way, we underestimated the bastardand were far luckier than we deserve to be.”

“Should we build a fire to help keep themwarm?”

“No, it’s too risky. This cave is too shallowto hide it and I don’t want to lead the bastard right to us. If hefinds us before Mark or Linda are able to defend against him, thenwe’re as good as dead.”

Carl stopped pulling stuff out of the packsand sat up, looking at me speculatively. “You were the only oneconscious after the blast?” he asked.

“Yeah, I was hanging below Linda and holdingon for dear life the whole way here.”

“If they were both out, then who flew usup?”

“I was shouting instructions into Linda’s earand she must have had enough awareness to follow mydirections.”

“Hmm, it’s possible but highly improbable.Are you sure that you didn’t do it yourself?”

“Don’t be ridiculous. Linda’s just a lottougher than you give her credit for. I think you must have crackedyour coconut harder than we thought.”

“Maybe,” he replied unconvinced. “If yourecall, I had a brush with telepathy earlier. If I can do it, thenit’s logical that you could too. Especially under stress, and Ithink it’s safe to say that plummeting toward the ground qualifiesas stressful.”

“Flying is like a dream come true. I would doanything to be able to fly, but I think you’re wrong. Linda was theone who saved us.” Despite my words, I silently tried to liftmyself off the ground. I tried my hardest for several minutes butwithout success. Crushed, I turned back to tending Linda.

Carl was surprisingly diplomatic and gave methe time to myself that I needed right now. We all teased andinsulted him a lot, but that was just in good natured fun. He wasreally very smart and there was no doubt that he knew what I wasthinking.

We spent the rest of the night tending ourcharges. Linda’s blood was sticky and drying in my hair and Idesperately wanted to give it a good washing. I was reluctant touse up our meager supply of drinking water though, no matter howicky I felt. I was pretty sure that both Mark and Linda were inshock, but there was nothing we could do for them tonight. Maybeafter they recovered we could retrieve our decoys and salvage theclothes, if the coast was clear.

That was highly unlikely. By now the bastardknew we had left the house, and the explosion up at the pool wouldhave been clear as day, even if there wasn’t a man at the scene. Itwas frustrating as hell. By tomorrow morning, his men would be allover the area and there wasn’t a single thing we could do otherthan hunker down.

I was freezing with my shirt half gone and myjacket covering Linda, but she needed it more than I did. With fourpacks full of gear, why didn’t I bring a damn spare shirt? Carl andMark were worse off than I was, since they had gotten soaked fromlanding in the water after the explosion.

Wet and cold was bad enough, but it couldhave been worse. If we hadn’t slowed at the last minute, then wewould have either been at ground zero when the bomb went off, or wecould have flown right into the cliff at full speed. I was tooangry to feel lucky though; I wanted to murder the bastard with mybare hands.

“It’ll be dawn soon,” I remarked quietly.

“What’s your plan?”

“I don’t know yet. There’s a bit of cover atthe mouth of the cave so I can keep watch, but that’s all I can do.If I spot anyone, I can’t do anything or I’ll give away ourposition. The bomb going off is bound to bring them up to the pool,but hopefully we’re safe in here for a while.”

“So we’re basically screwed until Mark andLinda are back to normal. That sucks.”

“You’re supposed to be the genius. Why don’tyou come up with a plan?”

“Fine, ask them nicely to hold off onmurdering us so I can properly research the problem.”

I had to laugh at