Chapter 18

Xi Pegasi
Survey Team 1.2
September 10, 2057

“There he is!”

Roger swore and threw himself over the ridgeline. The jagged rocks ripped at his clothing as he rolled down the opposite slope. He had stayed too long, hoping to get a clean shot at his pursuers. He was down to his last rifle magazine, and he had only scored one hit so far. He blinked against the sunlight, and his head throbbed constantly, robbing him of desperately needed sleep.

A helicopter roared overhead, being careful to stay out of rifle range. He could see the gunner in the door, but they made no move to shoot at him. The enemy was apparently trying to capture him, and that wasn’t going to happen. He had made that promise to himself the night before. He had something they wanted, and they weren’t going to get it. The helicopter turned for another pass, and Roger scrambled down the hill. There was no way to reach the rendezvous point now, and he looked for a place to make his last stand.

“Maria, I think he’s gone to ground,” Hollis panted into his headset. He rubbed at his right knee under the shredded, bloody uniform pants leg. He’d had to hurl himself into a bed of volcanic rocks to avoid being shot. He’d kidded Roger about being a poor rifle shot. He was devoutly thankful for it now. Had it been Tony or Yamina they were chasing, half of the team would be dead.

“Try to talk to him, Hollis.” Maria’s helicopter orbited a safe five hundred meters overhead. The other helicopter had landed on the beach, and the second search team was working its way toward them.

“We’ve been talking to him for the past several hours. He won’t even answer us.” Hollis inched his way to the crest and peeked over. Lousy shot or not, Roger could get lucky. “Can you see him?”

“No.” Maria peered though her electronic binoculars. “Circle to the left,” she told the pilot.

“Got it,” Thi Kim pushed the cyclic to the left, and the helicopter banked around in a wide circle. “Don’t want to get too low. Rita’s been shot once. I don’t think she’d thank us for a second bullet.”

Maria chuckled. “You’re driving.” Suddenly, she spotted a flash of green moving across the gray rocks of the ravine. “Hollis, he’s still moving. Eighty-five meters from you, next to the tree fall.”

Hollis lifted his binoculars, just in time to spot Roger as he dived into a small cave opening at the base of the ravine’s sheer eastern cliff. “Alright, he’s gophering on us. Let’s keep him here until we figure out how to capture him.”

Two hundred meters east, Tony’s team labored up the opposite ridge. “Hollis, we’re coming up above him. I didn’t see any way out, but we’re setting up the ground radar to look for cave openings on this side.” He turned to his team members. “Everyone spread out along this ridge. He does not get past us this time.” Hollis gave orders of his own, and eighteen people closed in on Roger’s hiding place.

“Search One, Base.”

Maria sat up straight and selected her comm channel. “Search One, go.”

“Maria, this is Lenna. What’s happening?”

“Roger went to ground in a cave. Unless there’s a back door, we’ve got him cornered.”

“I wish I knew what was wrong with him. He must have a head injury. If you don’t get to him soon, he will probably die.”

“I know,” Maria replied glumly. “I just don’t see how we can get to him without being shot.”

“Don’t use drugs on him,” Lenna warned. “That will kill him as surely as if you shoot him.”

“Copy that. When we get into position, we will just have to go in after him.”

“Understood. Base clear.”

Xi Pegasi Survey Team One September 10, 2057

“No, they’re not going to shoot Roger,” Faith sat down beside Yamina and hugged her tightly. “They all care about him, or they wouldn’t be out there working so hard to rescue him.” Faith had come to visit Yamina at her home, and had found her listening in to the comm chatter from the rescue team.

Yamina nodded jerkily and wiped her eyes. “I know. Dammit, I’m a soldier, I should know.” She scrubbed irritably at her face with a tissue.

Faith sat back on the couch. “You’re also a wife and a mother. That makes it personal, Yamina. It’s okay to be afraid for your husband.”

“Thank you.” She placed her hand on her still-taut stomach. “I want my child to have its father.”

“Hollis and Tony will rescue Roger. No matter what.” Yamina nodded silently, and Faith tucked her leg under her body. “Anyway, I need your help.”

Yamina looked at her sharply. “My help?”

Faith nodded. “I have been looking all over to find out why you’re pregnant. I’ve checked everyone’s notes. I’ve looked at the food supplies. I’ve examined medical records, performed biopsies and checked them, and studied the samples you’ve provided for us.”

Yamina blushed as she remembered the embarrassment of having to give someone her dirty bedclothes.

“I know, but it helped us.” Faith smiled and patted Yamina’s hand. “It’s direct evidence that Roger is different than the men who’ve lived and worked with him for months, and that just doesn’t make sense!” She sighed in frustration. “They all breathed the same air, ate the same foods, and drank the same water. Everyone quit using the contaminated food at the same time, but Roger is fertile, and everyone else isn’t.”

Yamina’s head jerked up, and her eyes widened.

“What?” Faith eyed her curiously. “What is it?”

“No, it couldn’t be!” Yamina’s dusky face split as she grinned. “Roger’s drinks! That’s it, Faith!”

“What drinks?” Faith’s eyes narrowed.

“Roger loves fruit drinks. He’d gather them up when we went out, and then he’d bring them in and make his own drinks. He had them tested to make sure they weren’t poisonous, first.”

Faith jumped to her feet. “Do you have any of these fruits here?”

Yamina stood. “No, but I might be able to find some of them. He mixed up all kinds of different fruits. He’s been doing that since we arrived here on this island chain.” She reached for her boots. “Come with me. Lenna will kill me if I go out alone.”

Lenna stepped out of the shower and reached for a towel. One of the luxuries of being planetside was the ability to take real showers and real baths. Lenna did not deny herself the pleasure, and she sighed blissfully as she wrapped herself in the oversized towel. She also loved to swim, and the colonists at Colony One had found an idyllic pool about twenty kilometers away. She promised herself that she would visit...

The comm chimed, and Lenna keyed her PDA. “This is Lenna.”

“Lenna, meet me at the lab. I have something to show you,” Faith said.

“Okay, Faith. I’ll be there in five minutes.” She scrubbed herself dry and dressed in a fresh set of clothes. Lenna stepped out of her quarters and walked the twenty meters to the lab. She stepped inside to find Faith and Yamina in front of a workstation covered with sliced fruit. The bluish juices had run all over the work surface and down onto the floor.

“Lenna! Look what Yamina and I found!” Faith waved her over to the workstation.

Lenna minced across the floor, careful to not slip in the mess. “What did you find?” She glanced at Yamina, but she decided to keep her peace about her apparent field trip.

Faith pointed at the display. “Yamina told me that Roger liked to make mixed fruit drinks from the native fruits he found while he was exploring. We went out a couple of hours ago and found some of them. I also searched the team’s field notes and I found references to the ones Roger had tested. When I looked at these, they match five of the eight edible varieties he used.”

Lenna turned to Yamina. “Did he have a favorite combination?”

“Yes, he did,” she shrugged, “but I can’t tell you what it was. To be honest, I didn’t pay that much attention to what he was actually making. I didn’t like the stuff. I’m sorry.”

Lenna waved a hand. “Don’t worry about it. He did have the drink here, correct?”

“Yes. He made some just the other day, before we left for the island. I had to clean up the mess when I got home...” she trailed off as Lenna’s eyes widened. Faith swung around at the same instant. “The trash,” the three women spoke in unison. Yamina stepped past Lenna and opened the lab door. “The trash pit is this way. We sort out the biodegradables from everything else.”