CHAPTER 27

   
Gabe had grown up in the city and, until he had joined the Navy, he had never really seen much of anything else. Being in the wilderness had scared him the first time he was confronted with it while training to be a Navy SEAL but, that did not last long. Gabe had discovered that he actually liked it. He had figured he had cultivated the right set of skills and, even in his off time, he liked going up to Alaska where he got away from everyone. Most people had thought he was hunting and, while he never said otherwise, he was actually taking pictures of wildlife. Blowing them away would have been too much like his day job.
The one thing he definitely learned how to do, while prowling the the northwest, was to be quiet while moving in a forest. The Hurt was not even a challenge for him. The over sized trees really minimized undergrowth and tree limbs tended to be the size of King Kong's arm, so, stepping on one by accident was generally rare. That was why he became very concerned when he heard just that, the snap of a twig. He slowly eased to cover and as he scanned the surrounding terrain. Then he heard another click. There was no doubt this sound came from the hammer of the weapon that was pressing against the top of his head. Gabe gulped.
Angie laughed and pulled her weapon back. She wiggled down out of the little hole, in the root of the tree, and was all smiles as she straightened her gear out. She noted to Gabe as she did, “thought this spot would make obvious cover.”
It was the rally point after all. Gabe realized it had given the girl some advantage but, how did she know that Gabe was near? There was no way she heard him! Then the little elf girl came crawling out of the tangled roots and answered his question without even having to be asked, “cause you smell like a human.”
Gabe gave her a half snarl and replied, “you guys read minds too?”
Angie was not in the mood so she seriously asked, “Gabe, what the fuck is going on? Where the hell is Melanie?”
He crossed his arms and became slightly smug, “you wouldn't be asking me that question if you hadn't been near Uea-Au.” Then Gabe got very nasty when he noted, “got news for you Sergeant, I was in Uea-Au when they hit.”
Cami crawled up on a root and pulled a piece of food from the leather bag that she kept on her belt. Gabe had seen an elf enjoy a snack once and it made him sick at his stomach. He tried to ignore it as the girl told him, “we went in too. It doesn't make any sense.”
Gabe growled, “ya think?” Then he turned some scorn on Angie, “and what the fuck were you doing, going into the city? That's not your job and...”
Angie snapped right back, “Melanie missed the drop, ok? I was trying to get to our secon...”
“They're not there anymore ether,” Gabe blasted. “I don't even know why you would think they would be.”
Angie got right in his face, “cause it's my job Gabe!” She then backed off and stomped over next to her elf friend. Angie leaned up against the root and ignored the smell of Cami's snack. Angie crossed her arms and then said, “they're taking prisoners, Gabe, our people. We followed them for a while. We don't know exactly which trails they're were headed for but, we don't have to. They're headed for the triangle.”
Now Gabe winced only this time his contorted face was in confusion, “why would they do that?”
Cami seemed almost disinterested as she added, “all women too, American women at that.”
“I know,” Gabe replied to no one in particular. “I saw it going on in the city.”
Angie took a deep breath of concern, “you don' think...?”
Gabe shrugged it off, “Melanie? She was staying with the local Boss Hogg, that place got overrun but we took it back. There were a lot of bodies there but...”
Cami looked up now, “the what?”
Angie ignored the girl and asked, “how much does she know Gabe?”
Gabe shrugged, “not enough I think but...”
It was obvious that was Gabe's only concern and Angie could see it written all over his face. The guy was nice enough. Sometimes he was even charming. He had sure charmed Angie when he recruited her but, to him, the mission was always everything. Angie did not even try and hide her frustration when she pointed out, “oh let's just forget the fact that she's a human being that's being carted off for dinner.”
Gabe ignored the rebuke and asked the practical question, “think we can pick the trail back up?”
Cami snickered, “that's the easy part.” Gabe waited for an explanation and Cami was almost laughing when she gave it to him, “just follow the army sized road they trampled under the trees. Course the army that made it might not like it too much.”
Angie added, “Gabe, we'll never even get close.”
Then Cami followed her with, “we have another rally point to make anyway. Sorry Seal boy but, we have a previous engagement.”
Gabe got quite forceful when he said, “we had a deal.”
“You can take that up with John when he gets back,” Cami said with a sneer as she put away her food and slid off the root. Once on her feet, next to Angie, she went on, “I didn't make any deals with you. I need to find out what happened to my sister and...”
“Wait a minute,” Gabe was now a little alarmed, “John's not up here?”
Angie sullenly replied, “they went down to Merlin to pick up Taylya. We haven't heard from them in days.” He didn't say anything but Angie knew that look. She became a bit more stern when she asked, “what is it Gabe?”
“Uh,” Gabe picked his words carefully and then said, “we kind of took Merlin with a strike. Things back home were going...”
Cami became very concerned, “what does that mean? A strike? You attacked us?”
“I didn't attack anybody,” Gabe blurted out and then followed that up with, “that's not your base anyway. There were no elves there.”
Cami snarled, “my sister!” She stomped off in the direction of the team rally point.
This left Gabe standing there staring at Angie. All she had to say on the matter was, “well?”
Gabe knew the score. Without the help of the Camelonians they were not about to go anywhere, not up here. He motioned for Angie to follow and then he took up the rear. Fortunately they did not have a long way to go and, to Gabe's surprise, the forests were unusually quiet, or, to be more accurate they were not quiet. The wildlife seemed to be lazily going about the business of feeding, as if there were no real predators in the area. That meant no Orc. He still kept his guard up but, with the elf they had something better than radar. Cami set the pace and the path. It meant that a trek, that should have taken days, only took hours instead.
When they arrived at their destination, the situation only got more confusing. It was being guarded but, not by who Gabe would have expected. The Gnomes were nowhere to be seen. Major Cross looked to be at ease despite the lack of local help and he even raised his little cup of tea at the American, “didn't expect to find you here, Commander.”
“I'm good like that,” Gabe told him as he noted the two elves hugging each other. He had never seen them do anything like that and it was a bit surprising but, only for a second. Gabe got his head back in the game and asked Taylya, “where's everybody else?”
Taylya broke her sisters embrace and became just as business like, “Foster? What are you...?” She grumbled under her breath and then stated, “we were hoping you knew. They're not here?”
Cami told her sister with a hostile tone, “they were at Merlin.”
That was enough to get a snort and some angered rumbling from Taylya but, Gabe told her, “if they were detained at NIKA, I would have heard about it, ok?”
That made Taylya's spine turn cold, “the Orcs may have gotten them.”
Cross was still sitting and lazily sipping at his tea, “I'm not that fucking lucky.”
Taylya shot him a nasty look and Angie responded with, “no, they're too good for that.”
All of the little snippets of facts were rolling so fast that it took Cami a minute to realize what was going on in the south. She blurted it out in an almost panic. Taylya was surprised that her sister did not know any of this and told the girl, “yes the south is under attack too. Don't worry, home is safe. It's just...”
Cross let them know the really bad news, “the temple got blown away. We lost contact with Earth.”
Now it was Angie's turn to panic, “what?”
She looked angrily at Gabe who bit right back, “would everybody stop blaming all this shit on me! We do have a job to do here, you know?”
Now Cross finally stood and seemed not the least bit concerned, “you have a job to do here Commander. I've done mine. Taylya got here safe and sound. Ian didn't say anything about taking on an Orc army.”
Taylya practically growled at the man, “oh you can't be serious David. Are you not in the Caladfwich? It's your duty too...”
“It's my duty to do what the fuck I'm told,” David shot right back, “and hell will freeze over before a goddamn elf tells me my duty.” The conversation caused Angie and Gabe to exchange glances of confusion. The uncomfortable silence that followed, and seemed to suggest the possible drawing of weapons, left them even more confused and, even scared. Then Cross eased up but, was no less hostile when he told the elf, “I didn't have nothing to do with what happened to you and Hoop.” He then pointed at Angie, “if you remember, I was busy getting this little lady to...”
“Yes,” Taylya shot back, “always Ian's ever faithful errand boy. How convenient for you David.”
“Oh I see,” Cross replied, “you want to talk convenient? I wouldn't look any further than lover boy. It sure was awfully convenient that he was back home when all that happened. In fact, I'd be willing to bet that's why...”
Now Taylya's eyes narrowed and her hand did slip for a sidearm. Cross responded and Gabe had to step between them, “would you two grow up! I have no idea what's got your panties in a wad but, I think we got some more serious issues here.”
Cross did not draw but, he did not back down either. He kept his eyes locked on Taylya as he told Foster, “this is none of your affair. I don't even know why you're still here Commander. I think it's pretty obvious the Fairy Dust thing is a bust. It's not like we didn't tell you that from the start.”
Gabe stood his ground, “this hasn't been about that since you guys found..”
Taylya snapped, “he wasn't there.”
“Whatever!” Gabe snorted in anger, “we have a very new problem and it's one that I think should concern all interested parties.”
Angie had been ready to start shooting, just like everyone else. Her only problem was that she was not sure who she should be aiming at. She decided to try and be the reasonable one. Angie lowered her weapon and stepped up next to Gabe as she calmly told everyone, “the Orc are taking prisoners. They're going out of their way to snatch women from Earth.”
Taylya eased off on her sidearm and blinked. She was almost stunned and then even looked scared, “you can't be serious? The Orc do not...”
Cami lowered her crossbow and told her sister, “I saw it too. Angie isn't lying.”
Even Cross looked confused, “what the hell would they do that for?”
Now Gabe tried to sound more authoritarian as he told them all, “glad there is some common sense left. The question is, what are we going to do about it?”
Cross actually laughed, “what? You can't be serious. A rescue operation? Are you insane or just stupid?”
Taylya ignored her traveling companion and then became more reflective as she asked, “that's not the real question. It's not what ARE we going to do. It's more like what CAN we do.”
Cross found it amusing that he was now agreeing with the person he was just about to kill. He now abandoned that idea entirely and became far less threatening as he told everyone, “exactly. Look, John's not here.” He gestured to Gabe, “your operation is tits up. I say we get back on the chopper and get the hell out of here.”
Taylya still sneered when she looked at Cross. Then she said, “I didn't say we should run. I meant we need to find out what this is about. Any change in their behavior and we have to find out why. That is our core mission and you know it David.”
“I would think the recent change in their behavior is pretty fucking obvious,” David shot back. When no one agreed with him, Cross laughed and asked, “what? What is it you all think we're supposed to do here? Walk up to them and just ask?”
Angie snickered when she got an idea and then told them all, “that's actually not a bad idea.”