Wilkins stood. 'What the fuck is this shit? There are no bodies here.' He glanced around. 'I know I got at least one of those bastards.'
Julia scoured the area. Spent brass casings littered the ground; she could see the impact points where bullets had apparently hit the rocks of the cave walls. But she couldn't see any blood. And no creatures lying on the floor dead or dying.
Nothing.
She glanced at Mick but he was only staring down the tunnel toward where the light had originated. She came up beside him. 'What the hell just happened here, Mick?'
She shrugged. 'Wish I knew.' He lifted his rifle. 'I shot a whole bunch of those things, whatever the hell they are. I saw them fall down dead. We all heard their shrieks. That didn't sound like they hadn't been injured to me.'
'They sounded like they were dying,' said Julia. 'I know I shot at least two of them.'
'I'd bet we all shot a lot more than that,' said Kendall suddenly behind her. Julia turned and saw the serious look on his face. 'But the fact remains there are no bodies here.'
'Any theories?'
Kendall shrugged. 'I wish I had one. When we started firing, I could see them in the flashes of light from the muzzle blasts. They were all around us. Ready to pounce. I think they wanted a sense of surprise.'
'They knew we were here,' said Julia. 'I got that impression, too.'
'But where are the damned bodies?' asked Wilkins.
Mick sighed. 'This doesn't make any sense. We had our targets, we found them, we should have bodies.'
'We've got another problem,' said Nung.
Julia turned. 'What is it?'
Nung chewed his lip. 'Havel's gone.'
'What?'
Mick came over. 'What did you say?'
'Havel's gone. When the firefight started, it was all I could do to keep shooting at those damned things. I heard a scream-'
'I heard it, too,' said Julia.'
'— and just now when we got the lights on, I looked over. Havel's gone. His rifle is still here. But he's gone.'
Julia leaned against the cave wall. Another team member missing. And not one indication that their bullets and all that commotion had done one lick of good at warding off their attackers.
Mick let his rifle slide down to his side. 'Dammit.'
Julia looked at him. 'What the hell just happened here, Mick? Why didn't our bullets work? What the hell are these things? I need some answers here. I'm missing another team member and I'm not at all happy about it.'
'I wish I had something to tell you,' said Mick. 'Fact is, I'm as stumped as anyone else. Way I figured it, we had ourselves a slaughter going on. Even if they did know we were there, we still should have killed a bunch of them.'
'Why did you call a cease fire?'
'I could see them shrinking back the way they came.'
'Shrinking?'
Mick nodded. 'Looked like they were retreating.'
Julia frowned. 'What if-?'
'What?'
Julia shook her head. 'Is it possible? What if it was some type of hologram?'
'You mean the entire attack was just an illusion?'
'Yeah.'
'It could happen I suppose,' he said.
Kendall nodded. 'Sure, why not?'
'Seems like the only thing that makes sense,' said Darren. 'I'm no Rambo, but I know I brought down some of those bastards.'
'Some hologram,' said Wilkins. 'Had me fucking convinced, that's for sure. I was scared shitless.'
'I think we all were,' said Julia. 'I still have to go to the bathroom.'
'So they — whoever they are — do this hologram for what purpose? To make us waste ammo?' Mick frowned. 'Strange tactic.'
'Not so strange,' said Nung. 'Actually kind of ingenious.'
'How do you figure?'
Nung sat down on a rock. 'Figure they send up this hologram thing. We see it coming, complete with audio and figure it for the real attack. So, of course, we let loose and hose the place down.'
'Which reminds me,' said Julia. 'Was I the only one concerned about ricochets?'
'I thought about it,' said Mick. 'Not much choice, though.'
'While we're hosing the place down, convinced as we were that they were all over us,' Nung grinned. 'They slip in behind us and grab Havel.'
'So the attack was a feint,' said Kendall. 'Smart bastards these things, huh?'
'Why take Havel?'
'Was he reloading his gun then?' Mick looked serious. 'If he was, then it makes sense. Grab him while he can't shoot.'
'Which means the things that grabbed him were here,' said Julia. 'But not in the numbers we thought they were.'
'And,' said Mick, 'if they were waiting until someone reloaded, it might also mean they are vulnerable to our weapons. That's good news. If they hadn't waited but simply stormed in, I might be more concerned right now.'
'Cripes,' said Wilkins. 'I changed mags twice. They could have grabbed me just as easily.'
'Me too,' said Nung.
'I had to change magazines as well,' said Kendall.
'We all did,' said Julia. 'It could have happened to any of us. Or maybe they had their eye on Havel all the time. I don't know. I don't know what makes sense anymore.'
'I'm not sure anything does at this point,' said Mick.
'Well, I'm still concerned,' said Julia. 'After all, they've still got Havel.'
'Yeah,' said Wilkins. 'What the hell are we going to do about that?'
Julia looked down the tunnel at the darkness. 'The only thing we can do,' she said. 'We go and get him back.'
14
Mick wanted to leave immediately. 'Better to hit them now while they think we're recuperating from their pseudo-attack.'
Julia stopped him. 'Does that really make a lot of sense? We're not even sure how to get to wherever it is they came from. If we make a half-hearted stab at finding them now in the darkness, we might just wind up in some sort of nasty ambush.' She lowered her voice. 'And I certainly don't want to lose another man.'
Mick sighed, his breath spilling over her like a hot wave of steam. 'You're probably right. After that firefight, most of them will need some rest.'
'What about you?'
'I could use a few zzz's myself.'
Julia looked around. 'Are we safe here? I mean, now that they know where we are?'
'Not much of a choice otherwise. If we go back toward the mouth of the cave, we'll have to deal with the
