If only his records weren’t sealed.
Niva’s intelligence clearance didn’t grant her access to his files. She was convinced there’d be a wealth of information, a whole evaluation that explained him in great detail. She wondered if finding all that out would make it easier to work with him… or if it might shatter the illusion of competence.
The humans had expressed interest in making a big splash. Their high command wanted quick results for currency when they informed their people about the existence of aliens. Prytin involvement had been kept secret for fear it would disrupt their culture… their entire civilization.
Niva knew Griel’s intention was to convince the humans to send the Triton on missions with them from the start. His jump to drafting them for Renz fell in line with that thinking. She wondered what her people back in intelligence would have to say. They tended to be far more conservative with resources than the military guys.
Griel hardly qualifies as military now. He’d been on his own with the Brekka for a long time. Putting him under some staunch officer would be disastrous. No, he had to make the missions… do what he felt was right with only a helpful nudge here and there to get him going. I need to know what got him to this point.
He’ll tell me eventually, Niva thought. If we survive long enough for him to come out of his shell, he’ll tell me. That was the trick. So far, so good.
Chapter 8
Kyle stood in their camp as Lysa launched the ship. The resulting wind whipped up the area but it was far enough away to be little more than a menace. He pulled on a pair of goggles to protect his eyes from the brightness of the lasers. When she opened fire on those rocks, it would be quite the sight. He didn’t want to miss it.
I hope she’s right about the power of that shield. Kyle didn’t have her technical expertise. That was just one of the ways they complemented one another. His understanding of survival techniques in various climates helped them more than once. She relied on the basic education from the military. His father had taught him before he’d joined the military.
The ship circled around, dipping low into the quarry. Kyle gritted his teeth, clenching his fists. It looked too tight for his taste. She navigated their vessel with incredible skill with no more than twenty feet of clearance on either side. Once in position, she nudged forward a dozen feet.
“Can you hear me?” Lysa asked.
“Loud and clear. We’ve got a great connection. By the way, that was incredible. Stressful… but incredible.”
“It’s not as bad as you think,” Lysa replied. “Well… never mind. It was pretty bad. I’m glad you didn’t have to sit up here. You’d be claustrophobic. I’m initiating the first blast in thirty seconds. Power output is only ten percent. This will give us a baseline for what the debris will tolerate. I can measure the shields this way too and…”
“Hey,” Kyle interrupted, “I trust you. Just go for it. I want you out of there as soon as possible.”
“Roger that. I hope you have your goggles on. Here we go.”
The beam weapons on the nose of the ship discharged, twin lasers that cut into the rocks. They were on a swivel, giving them some degree of motion. As she made a quick sweep from bottom to top, the stone superheated… turned red… but didn’t break. Ten percent wasn’t quite enough.
“I’m increasing power to twenty-five percent. The shield that’s protecting the chamber was not impacted at all. Here goes.”
The next attack shattered many of the smaller rocks. Only the largest didn’t break apart completely. They still split, sending smaller boulders and pebbles scattering to the ground below. She maintained the attack for a solid minute, sweeping the weapons up and down, side to side, clearing away the entire area.
Kyle swayed as the ground shook. “Whoa!” he called out. “Um… I think you’re going a little far.” The lasers stopped. “I just felt a quake up here.”
“That’s odd,” Lysa replied. “Nothing came up on the scanner. From up here, your area still looks safe. No pebbles falling. I wonder… hold on. I’m conducting a serious sensor sweep. Something could’ve happened in the chamber.” She paused. “Oh Kyle… can you see this from your perspective?”
Kyle only saw the rock wall beneath all the debris she cleared. Anything worth seeing must’ve been obscured by his vantage point. “I can’t see anything interesting. What’s going on?”
“We can probably access the site.” Lysa pulled the ship back, landing in the quarry. “You need to get down here. Fast as you can.”
“Damn it.” Kyle grabbed his rifle, slinging it over his shoulder. He paused at the path, turning to snatch his survival pack as well. It was heavy as hell but he felt like they might not want to come back up when they were done. We can stay in the ship after our initial exploration anyway. “We should’ve packed up the camp.”
“What’s it matter?” Lysa asked. “We’re the only people out here. It’s not like we’re running the risk of anyone stumbling on this place and giving us a hard time about littering. Besides, we’re not going anywhere for at least a week. Probably more. Whatever we find in there will need to be categorized… isolated… tested for contaminants. You know the drill.”
Yeah, I do. Kyle started down the path, his heart racing. He had to take several deep breaths to calm down. This may well have been a dream come true but it also represented a descent into the unknown. No other human ever laid eyes on what they were about to see. This is a privilege… and a responsibility.
“You worried?” Kyle asked. “Scared even?”
“Excited,” Lysa said. “Maybe a little
