“Look up! Watch out, falling mines!”
That’s what it was. One of our own mines. The creature had somehow plucked it up without detonating it, and it was now falling into our midst.
Screaming and rushing in every direction, the column tried to scatter. Some went to ground. Others went uphill, more still went back down again.
But… then there were three unlucky souls. Maybe they’d been too freaked out to think. Maybe their training had kicked in at a bad moment, or they’d just gotten turned around somehow while they scanned the dark water above for falling death. Whatever the case, they stepped over the rails and died, jerking and flopping in the water for a few seconds like gigged frogs.
“Watch your damned step!” I shouted, but of course, it was too late for some of them.
The bomb dropped down into our midst—but it didn’t explode.
“I deactivated it,” Kivi said, breathing hard in my ear. “It wasn’t easy, that was one of Natasha’s. But the codes are the same. We’re okay. The bombs are all deactivated now.”
It was a good thing, too. That shadow over our heads was sweeping by, doing a long pass. One at a time, the bombs dropped onto the path harmlessly. I had to roar and curse to get my troops to stop lunging away from them.
After a few minutes of this, the creature must have run out of bombs. We got up, reassembled and started climbing the hill again. Everyone was in a foul, fearful mood. We eyed the waters overhead like a column of ants waiting for a farmer’s boot to fall among us.
-45-
The tunnel of water seemed endless and without pity. Going uphill was much more exhausting than it had been going down. After a few hours, no one was talking or laughing. We were all saving our breath and gazing up fearfully now and then. It was all we could do to keep placing one boot in front of the other. The pace was hypnotic.
“Don’t stop. No breaks. We’re going to keep marching until we drop, or we see daylight.”
People groaned aloud when they heard this order, but they didn’t argue with it.
Every ten minutes or so, the sea monster that haunted us pulled some trick or another. I was really beginning to hate the thing. It was sneaky, smart and as mean as cat dirt.
Once it had figured out the bombs were useless, it began dipping the monofilament into our midst. Sometimes, it snagged a soldier by the ankle or dropped a loop around a man’s helmet. If the victim wasn’t quick, it would yank them off the path and let them die in the crushing depths.
I got the feeling it was enjoying itself. Toying with us. We were entertainment for this thing—nothing more.
Ideas surged in my mind, of course, one after another. But I couldn’t come up with a way of hurting it.
At last, Carlos did the trick. He didn’t actually have an idea, mind you, but he triggered a thought to spark up in my brain.
“It’s like being a fish and having some kind demented fisherman after you. I hate this thing so much, I wish we could electrify that wire or something.”
Pausing, I grabbed him. He looked up at me curiously.
“The wire…” I said. “That’s the key.”
“Uh… sure it is, McGill. If you say so.”
He trudged ahead, and I sized him up. He was plump, loud, and useless. The perfect bait.
“Kivi? You got any more mines on you?”
“Yessir, but I don’t recommend dropping any more behind us. The creature deactivated them and dropped them back onto our heads.”
“Right, right, I’m well aware. What I’m thinking of is something a little more direct. I’m thinking of bait, and hooks. Like fishing.”
“Um… what?”
I pointed at Carlos. “He’s the bait. The fishing line is that monofilament the monster keeps dropping down into our troops. The hook, though—the thing that’s going to catch this fish—that’s where your bombs come into the story. Rig a few of them so they’re deactivated, but they’ll go off with a signal.”
“Oh… that’s evil, James. Will you even tell Carlos?”
“Nah… bait has to act natural to catch a smart fish. Besides, he might argue if he knows what’s coming next. Get together a sack of bombs, and set them all to go off when they get a signal from you.”
Kivi began to work on it, and she was done fast. “I don’t feel good about this, James.”
“I know, I know. Look, here he comes. Play along.”
“Hey!” Carlos said, bobbing as he hopped downhill to where Kivi and I stood together. We were at the very rear of the group now, as everyone had been walking by us while Kivi worked. “Are you hitting on my best girl again, McGill? Are things really that hard-up on Green World for you?”
Carlos had been Kivi’s boyfriend now and then for years, but lately that’d been more off than on.
“Hey Specialist. You’re just the man I wanted to see.”
“Um… what? Oh jeez, no way. Don’t tell me—”
“That’s right, you’ve been volunteered. Take this sack of bombs to the rear of the column and wait until you see the monster come by again. Then, you start planting them one at a time, about ten meters apart.”
“Ah come on, McGill. You know the bombs failed miserably last time around. I don’t deserve this. None of us do.”
“This time will be different. Trust me.”
Carlos narrowed his eyes, and I could tell it would be a cold day in Hell when he trusted me during a campaign. But, as I was the centurion and all, he didn’t have much choice.
Grumbling, he followed the long column. Immediately, I saw him bend over to plant a bomb like an Easter egg.
“Hey, hey! Not
