Chapter 51
Reunions
“Bighted thundering hell,” Mat swore loudly. “This is not what we need right now!”
Ezra sat staring forward, thinking furiously. “We should... we have to go out there after them.”
“Hawkins, believe me, I want to help Gal and her team just as much as you do,” Sarah said, voice calm. “But you can't let emotion cloud your judgment. We are in no position to fight a thunder-struck. We should find a place to hide and try to make contact with Gal's team, but right now we have information that the Guild, maybe even all of Sanctuary needs to survive. We need to play it safe.”
“No, listen,” Ezra said quickly. “You're right, we aren't prepared to fight a thunder-struck right now. But they are.” He pointed emphatically at the silent console. “Also, any thunder-struck in the area clearly knows where the wormhole was. They'll be blocking us in, killing transmissions. It's their standard modus operandi once they know the Guild is involved. I've also read mission reports that suggested they can track any transmissions we try to send, blocked or not. Which means that they're probably heading here right now, so we need to leave.” He raised a finger into the air. “And, the only skiff that could possibly get us out of this mess is currently in the possession of Gal and the rest of combat team thirty two.”
Sarah blinked at him a few times, then looked helplessly at Mat. “I'm with Ezra on this one,” he said, wearing a feral grin. “Plus we owe those strucking bastards for Rob.”
Sarah's mouth hardened into a thin line, but she nodded and began running diagnostics on the origination point for Gal's transmission. “They must be out in the hills, holed up somewhere... probably underground.” She shook her head. “I can get us close, but it's still going to be tough to pinpoint them.”
“Let's get started then,” Mat said with a grim eagerness. He began rooting around in their gear. “I'm pretty sure I grabbed a bandolier of non-conductive bolts for the manual bolt throwers. Ah ha!” He pulled out his prize and began removing the metal darts from two hand-sized weapons. Sarah held out her hand and he slapped one of them into it, fully loaded. She checked it, grunting in approval, then began pulling out various dart guns and crossbows which had been secreted on her person, tossing them to the floor. Ezra looked over to find Mat doing the same and started to unbuckle his sword. “No,” Mat stopped him with a word. “The hilts are non-conductive, and the blades are only semi-conductors. Plus, if you're close enough to have a chance to use it, you're gonna want it.”
Ezra nodded slowly. “Anything else I should know about what they can do? I mean, I've read the mission reports, and a couple of squads noted that some thunder-struck can even discern electrical impulses from the human body at a short range, do I need to cover up, or... I don't know, hide near conductive metals?”
“Those are definitely the exceptions, Hawkins,” Sarah snorted. “One thing you should be aware of is the way that they think. A thunder-struck is a lunatic. They are absolutely convinced that they are in the right, that there's some god watching over them. That said, they know what can shut them down. Most have very little control over what they do. They're always on, all the time, and you can get them to shock themselves without too much trouble. A thunder-struck will usually run if it's raining, or if there's too much metal in the ground, but...”
“Hoover,” Mat said, checking over a little bolt-thrower.
Sarah nodded. “The more powerful ones can turn off their ambient electricity, the halo that marks them. Those ones are bad, but they still can't fight effectively if you give their currents somewhere better to go. Once, in a little town named Hoover, we ran into this Daughter of Lightning.” Sarah paused as she guided the skiff through a small ravine. “She didn't look like anything special, but we managed to take out a bridge and drop her into this lake. I don't think...” She shook her head.
“She performed electrolysis on the spot,” Mat said softly. “We had to shut down all our communications and run, weapons and skiff dark. She had been playing us the whole time, was listening in on our chatter... we high-tailed it back home and got three other teams involved, and she still went down hard.” He gave Ezra a sickly smile. “So keep your guard up, no matter what.”
Ezra met Mat's eyes and nodded seriously, going over everything he'd read about thunder-struck as the landscape drifted past.
As they skimmed toward their destination, Mat pulled the railgun's scope off and began scanning the area, switching between night and thermal vision. Ezra glanced around nervously. A few moments later Mat hooted in triumph. “I see her! Over there, half a kilometer, at the ridge of the crater!” Ezra squinted in the direction Mat had indicated and saw a dark shape rise to its feet. A cloud passed from in front of the moon, illuminating Gal, adorably spunky haircut bobbing as she ran toward them, arms waving. Ezra frowned, it almost looked like she was waving them away...
“–away!” her voice came through their communicators as Mat activated the audio beam. “You have to get away from here! They can track your communicators!”
The hair on the back of Ezra's arm started to raise, and it took him a confused moment to realize that it wasn't in fear. Sarah slapped at the back of her neck. “Mat,” she snapped, jumping to her feet, then spinning and kicking Ezra hard in the chest. And straight over the side of the skiff. She and Mat were diving after him before he hit the ground.
It was not a moment too soon. Lightning arced from the clear sky, transfixing the skiff as thunder crashed through the quiet night. The little ship began veering wildly as it was struck again and again. The air crackled and buzzed as the skiff clipped the edge of the crater, tumbling out of sight. Several heartbeats later, it exploded with a brilliant flash of light and heat. Gal reached them and groaned. “No no no. No!” she screamed. “That was our chance! Why didn't you come like we told–” Her eyes widened as she recognized Ezra. “Ezzy?” she squeaked. “But... why would they send out a research...” She trailed off as she took in their travel stained appearance and lack of any significant weaponry. “Oh... oh no. They didn't send you. But that means that you were out here...”
“We had a bad encounter with some fire-kissed and wind-scarred back in Helena,” Mat said gravely. “Couldn't get back to our wormhole home, so we headed this way. Any port in a storm.”
Gal grabbed Ezra in a fierce hug, then quickly pulled his communicator from behind his ear and crushed it. “Oh, but this is perfect!” she said suddenly. “You'll have a set of rods! You can set them up and we can get the hell out of here!” Gal's laugh was sudden and nearly infectious as she threw her arms around Ezra's neck and kissed him hard.
Ezra placed his hands on her hips and slowly pulled her away. She gave him a questioning look. “Gal, we... we don't have any. I'm sorry.”
The spunky girl looked briefly crestfallen, then her face resolved into a tight little smile. “Well, at least you're here. We'll figure something out, even if it means walking to the nearest port.” She smiled brightly at Sarah, hand tapping Ezra's shoulder. “The beasts of burden here can carry us lovely ladies.”
Sarah smiled a little at that, and Mat chuckled under his breath. Gal nodded her head back toward where she had been waiting. “Come on, you two can lug my stuff for me. Seb's waiting back at our lair.”