Chapter 46

"Go and get Vicky!" I barked once more at my daughter, urging her to move and do as I'd told her. As I spoke, I brought my carbine to my shoulder and pressed my eye up against the scope. Instantly the night vision capability of the scope kicked in bringing daylight to the darkness. As it did, I panned my carbine slowly from left to right trying to spot who was out there and where they were.

That was it. I knew it was a 'who' and not a 'what'. The two arcs of lightening hadn't been natural. There wasn't a creature that I knew of that could have produced it. However I did suspect that it was one of the Turtle soldiers. That meant that we were under attack.

I spotted the soldier after only a minute of looking for it. The scope showed him to me as if it was a clear sunny day. He was in the process of rising up out of a squat when I spotted him. He was near the head of the lake, a few feet out into the water and he was just standing there looking around. He was taller than an average man and bulkier and he certainly looked a lot like a turtle. A glint of metal reflected in what I assumed was his hand. Seeing him, I took aim.

"What is it?" a voice whispered inches behind me, causing me to start. It was Vicky.

"A Turtle soldier," I whispered in reply. "It just shot Duchess and Lady."

There was a gasp of distress behind me. It wasn't from Vicky. Obviously others had come to see what had sent Karen scurrying into the cave. I tried to ignore the others. Instead, I peered through my scope and came back onto the soldier. As I did, I heard the click-clack of the action of the big rifle chambering a round. I smiled knowing that if I missed, Vicky would be there to follow through.

The Turtle soldier had moved from where he'd been standing when I first spotted him. He was now out of the water and moving towards the stone wall of the east side of the valley wall. At the moment Vicky chambered a round, he was about half way to where he was heading. The sound of the big rifle caused him to pause in his tracks. Suddenly I saw the glint of metal again. Instinctively I sensed danger. I squeezed off a three round burst.

The burst ricocheted off the Turtle's front shell. That pissed me off. Still it had some effect. The sudden burst of ammo startled the soldier and instinctively he'd shifted his position as he'd tried to bring his weapon to bear. His first shot at us lit up the growing darkness, but didn't hit anything but a tree. The affect was spectacular. The blast shattered the tree, throwing bits of it around. It also caused the others behind me to screech in fright. Then Vicky took her shot.

The big rifle was deafening. It was also deadly and effective. One minute the Turtle soldier was in my sights and the next he was gone.

We waited. We waited a whole fifteen minutes to see if anything else happened. By now all the women in our group were armed including Soo Hong. I found out that later. While Vicky covered the fallen soldier, the rest of us scanned the valley towards the direction the soldier had come to see if we could spot anyone else. We didn't.

I finally decided it was time to go and check on the Turtle soldier and to see what had happened to the two dogs. I had Helena go and fetch a couple of flashlights. I told everyone else to stay put and to cover us. Vicky wanted to come with me, but I told her no. I wanted her on the big rifle and that was that. Taking a flashlight from Helena, I led the way over to the fallen soldier. We found him lying spread eagle on his back about four hundred yards away from our vehicles. Panning the flashlight over him, I quickly spotted the hole that Vicky had put into him. She'd punched him dead centre in what could be described as his chest. His armoured chest had a huge hole in it. He was clearly dead.

Helena found his weapon and gave it to me. A quick check of his body revealed that he wasn't carrying anything else. Obviously, he didn't need much to survive. When we were done with the soldier I led Helena in search for Duchess and Lady. It didn't take much to locate them. As we got closer we detected the thick stench of burnt fur. Both dogs had been electrocuted to death and their fur had been singed where the lightening bolt had hit them. It caused my heart to ache when I saw them. Sighing, I sent Helena back to the group with word on what we'd found and instructions to find a couple of shovels. I wasn't going to leave the two dogs lying about for any predators. As for the soldier, I didn't care.

Helena returned a few minutes later with two shovels and Lizzy. She'd come along so that she could help me with the burying of the two dogs. Helena held the flashlights for us, so that we could see where we were digging. It took us half an hour working together to make a big enough hole for the two animals. Then I ended up having to carry both dogs over to put them in the grave. Finally, it took another fifteen minutes to fill in the hole. By the time we were done, Lizzy and I were drained. All I wanted to do was to wash up and have a drink. Naturally, that's not what happened.

I did get to wash up and I did get to grab a cold beer. So did Lizzy. After that there were questions to be answered and a daughter who needed comforting. It took a while. We all ended up back into the cave. Vicky came in last and she made certain that the trip flares were set.

"What happened?" Soo Hong asked once I was seated by the fire with my beer in my hand.

"A Turtle soldier must have followed you after all," I said coldly, glaring at her as I spoke. "The dogs must have heard him and they went for him. He in turn killed them. You were there for the rest."

"Oh," was all she said as she looked away.

"Yeah," I said in response, "oh."

"Do you think there's anymore out there?" Helena asked after a second.

"I don't know," I replied shaking my head as I did. "We waited for a bit before looking about and no one spotted anyone else. If there was someone out there watching us, then I figure that they're on their way back to Buktohesh with the news that there's someone out here capable of stopping them."

"That means we'll need to go after them tomorrow," Lizzy interjected.

"Yep," I said bluntly before taking a big swig of my beer. "We most certainly will."

Karen joined us at that point. Her face was streaked with tears. Samantha was holding her. I looked up at my daughter and sighed.

"It's okay Dad," Karen said, dismissing my unspoken concern for her. "I understand now. I'll be ready in the morning to come with you. We'll make those Turtles pay."

"Baby," I said rising out of my seat and stepping over to her, "I'm so sorry."

Karen tried to push me away but she had not where to go. Samantha kept her from getting away and I wrapped her up into my arms and held her. In seconds she was sobbing into my shoulder about the poor dogs. It took a while for her to calm down enough for Samantha to take her off to bed. I kissed her one last time before she left. Lizzy kissed her as well and hugged her. When she was gone, I told everyone else that it was time to think about doing the same.

"I guess that kills our plans for the night," Soo Hong said standing up from where she'd been sitting beside Gaeta. She was still holding Vicky's carbine.

"Can you use that?" I asked, ignoring what she'd just said.

"Yes," Soo Hong replied with a grin. "The moment I picked it up, I knew exactly what I needed to know about its operation. I was even able to adjust its stock to accommodate my reach."

"Good," I said curtly, "now hand it to Gaeta."

That surprised both Soo Hong and Gaeta. Still Soo Hong did what I asked after a second or two. She handed the weapon to Gaeta. As Gaeta took it, I watched the expression on her face change. It was an interesting sight.

"Magic!" Gaeta exclaimed aloud. "It must be magic. I know that this is a tool for killing now, like my spear but much deadlier. Touching it has told me how to use it."

"Excellent," I replied. "That means both of you can now stand sentry duty tonight. I'm putting a watch on and I want whoever's standing guard to be armed and familiar with their equipment. With Karen distressed and Samantha taking care of her, I needed two more volunteers. You two are it. I'm pulling the first shift and then Vicky will pull the second. Soo Hong gets the third shift and Gaeta gets the fourth. Helena and then Lizzy get the last two shifts. The shifts will be two hours on so I suggest if you're not on guard then you should get to bed."

With that I finished off my beer and got rid of the empty. As I did, I heard Soo Hong grumble again to Gaeta about her plans being ruined. I just ignored them. I went over to the fire pit and tossed some more wood on the fire. Then I dug out a campfire coffee pot and got to work boil water for coffee. I was going to need it.

The night passed without any incidents. I woke in the morning to the smell of coffee brewing and bacon frying. Lizzy was spending her time on watch to whip us up breakfast. Vicky was already up and she'd taken a look around out side. The sun was up already and it was a chilly day. I joined her outside for a moment to find out if there was anything to report. When she said no, I headed to my camper and the bathroom. When I got back into the cave breakfast was served.

Breakfast turned out to be a quiet affair. There was little to no conversations going on and the air was filled with tension. A quick look at Karen told me that she was still upset about last night. She looked tired as did Samantha. They'd slept separate from the rest of us last night. Samantha had moved an air mattress into one of the other chambers to allow Karen and her some privacy. While her intensions had been good, the effort hadn't succeeded. I ended up chewing my lip over that and making a decision.

"I think we should leave at least two people behind," I informed everyone after finishing my meal, "just in case we run into problems. If we do, those two people can head back to the settlement and warn the others. I've decided that Karen and Samantha should stay here with Shell and Little Fish."

"No!" Karen responded violently, rising up out of her seat as she spoke. "You're not leaving me behind Daddy. I know what you're trying to do but I'm not letting you do it."

"Honey," I started to say in protest.

"No Daddy," Karen snapped back, tears welling up in her eyes. "I appreciate what you're trying to do, but the answer is no. They killed our dogs and I'm pissed off at them. I'm going with you and that's that."

With that Karen turned and walked away, leaving me with my mouth open and everyone else pretending that they hadn't heard a thing. I just sighed as I always do and let it alone. There were things to do before we left and I wanted to leave soon.

Shell and Little Fish were an issue. I really didn't want to take either of them into a battle. From what I'd read about the Ka-Fay-La I knew that they were a non-aggressive species. The fact that the biggest weapon that they had was a trident that was meant for fishing told us a lot. My intent had been to leave them here in the cave with someone watching over them. With Karen saying no, the idea became a problem. I went and spoke to Little Fish about this. I found her sitting on a stone by the lake watching Shell fish.

"Hello," I spoke in greetings as I walked up behind her.

My voice startled Little Fish and she jumped to her feet and turned to face me. For a second I detected the same glare of annoyance that Pebble always gave me whenever I spoke to her. I chucked softly at the thought. Then I paused as I watched Little Fish's expression change to one of cordial acceptance. It made me wonder.

"Can you tell me something Little Fish?" I asked quizzically.

"Of course Adam," Little Fish replied giving me a smile, "I will try to answer any question."

I explained to her what I was thinking about, that her reaction and initial expression had reminded me of Pebble and her responses to me. I also told her that I understood about the Ka-Fay-La's ability to use natural telepathy to hide themselves from the Ka-Fay-Tah and how Pebble always hissed at me because she couldn't keep me from seeing her. Then I asked my question.

"Why don't you hiss," I queried, "and look annoyed whenever I'm near you? What makes you different?"

Little Fish chuckled in response and then explained.

"Age," she replied with confidence. "I am older and wiser and I have greater experience than Little Pebble. I have just spent the last few months as a slave in a camp filled with alien men. That is an eye opener for one of my race. I learned quickly that I was unable to hide myself from their sight and because of my age, I was able to accept it. Perhaps Little Pebble will accept it now that you have mated her."

"Perhaps," I noted in a doubtful manner, 'and perhaps not. We'll have to see. In the meantime, I've got a problem to discuss with you."

I told Little Fish that we were going after the others this morning and that I didn't want to take her and Shell with us. I kept it simple and explained that everyone including Soo Hong and Gaeta was going with me. Little Fish just nodded her head in acknowledgement as I spoke. Then I pointed out that she and Shell would be here all by their lonesome.

"We will cope," Little Fish declared, sure of herself. "There is fish in this lake and the cave will give us shelter. In some ways it is better than the warm beaches that we normally live on. You will leave us air mattresses and sleeping bags and pots to make warm drinks. We will be okay."

I didn't leave it at that. I suggested that if a week went by and we hadn't returned that Little Fish and Shell should take the Argo and make their way back to the settlement. I explained how simply touching something would teach her how to use it. Little Fish was impressed with this piece of information and asked me to show her. I let her scramble into the driver's seat of the Argo. Her eyes grew wide with wonder as knowledge flowed from the vehicle into her mind.

"A wondrous thing," Little Fish gasped with delight.