Chapter 89

CHAPTER 89

KIRA LED LIAL down the left-hand path, the one with the crazy turns. It wasn't easy to navigate in the dark. Surface roots and drooping vines appeared out of nowhere, knocking them off balance as they ran. When Kira looked back, she saw light beams slicing through the jungle behind them. It looked like every man in the unit was out on the search.

Kira rounded a bend and pulled Lial behind a thick tree. They were both breathing hard. "We need to split up," said Kira. "Divide their attention. It's our best chance."

Lial nodded, looking into the tangle of trees and vines around them. She pointed left. "I'll head that way. You stay on the trail." Lial grabbed Kira's arm. "Don't worry. I won't lose you."

Kira looked toward the approaching lights. "They're almost at my trapline."

"What kind of traps?"

Kira's face flickered with a tight smile. "Every kind we learned in school."

There was a loud snap in the distance, followed by a sharp cry of pain. "One down," Kira whispered. Lial nodded, then ducked under a vine and disappeared into the darkness.

Kira gave Lial some lead time, then cupped her hands and made a howling sound, part animal, part human. She saw a cluster of lights shift in her direction. She headed off down the trail. From behind her, she heard another scream, then another, as the pursuers hit her trip wires. Kira couldn't even remember how many traps she'd set. Not enough. The lights kept coming.

She heard the rush of the river to her right, but she wasn't about to risk another night crossing. Instead, she took another branch off the main trail, moving in an arc toward where she estimated Lial would end up. By then, she hoped the mercenaries would be spread out and scared. Maybe they'd even give up. What was she worth to them anyway? At this point, she was just another slave in the mine.

The trail narrowed and dipped into a small ravine. Kira slowed down to traverse it, placing one foot in front of the other. Suddenly, she sensed movement to her rear. She froze in place, still as a stone. Flashlight beams flickered overhead. One of the teams had moved ahead of the rest! Kira could hear footsteps on the sodden jungle floor. She flattened herself against the bank of the ravine, held her breath, and waited for the patrol to go past her.

After the footsteps receded into the distance, she followed the ravine until the trail rose again. The instant her right foot touched level ground, she heard a loud crack. Her right leg collapsed. She dropped straight down. Her hip stopped her fall with a bone-jarring jolt. When she tried to pull herself out, pain shot through her left leg. She pushed aside a pile of dead brush and looked down to see a cluster of wooden spikes jabbing into her thigh.

It was a pit trap.

And not one of hers.

Kira heard foliage rustling to her right. She twisted her upper body to face the sound. "Lial?" she called out in a hoarse whisper. "I need help!"

The foliage parted.

Rupert Gurney stepped through.

His thick hair was matted and he was sweating through his green uniform. He held his rifle at his hip. It was pointed at Kira's head.

"You think you're the only one who can set a trap, Shaba?" Gurney's eyes were bloodshot and he sounded a bit deranged, maybe drunk. "I hope our design meets your standards."

Kira twisted and strained, but the more she struggled, the deeper the spikes dug into her flesh. She was in agonizing pain, but damned if she was going to show it.

"Why not just set a few land mines and be done with me?" she said through gritted teeth.

"Blow you to bits?" Gurney sneered. "Then how would we know for sure it was you? Unless you left some hair behind." He took a step closer. His jaw tightened. "Look. Shaba. Whoever you are. I don't know where you came from. I don't know how the hell you got away. All I know is that it's time for your little legend to be over. Time for me to bring home the trophy."

He aimed the gun and fired.

The shot clipped Kira's shirt and barely nicked her right shoulder. Gurney dropped the gun and stood for a second with his knees partly bent. Kira froze as he fell to the ground face-first. A three-inch metal prong was sticking out of his brain stem. A shrouded figure stood behind him.

"Vanda!"

The skinny young Black woman bent over Gurney's body and twisted the shiv. "For my son," she whispered in his ear.

Vanda crawled over to Kira. Together, they managed to work the spikes loose from the springs and drop them into the pit. When Kira crawled out, dark red patches were seeping through the punctures in her pants.

Vanda reached up and grabbed a handful of wet leaves from a bush. She knelt down and pointed at Kira's wounds. "Wash!"

Kira grabbed Vanda by the shoulders. "Vanda, you have to go back! Same way you came. Back to your tent. No talk. Say nothing. Understand?" Kira put a finger over her lips. "Nothing!"

Vanda nodded. She understood. As she backed up on her hands and knees, her foot bumped into Gurney's body. She started shaking. Tears streamed down her face.

Kira wrapped her in a tight hug. "My friend," she whispered. "My good, true friend." Then she let go. Vanda stood up and slipped into the underbrush. In a second, she was gone.

Kira slid her shirt off her shoulder and checked the red stripe left by the bullet. A mild graze. Nothing to worry about. But her thigh was another matter. It was burning from the puncture wounds. Kira sat with her back against a tree and sliced her pant leg open with Lial's knife. She assessed the damage. Her quads and hamstrings were intact, but if the spikes had been dipped in poison, all the wet leaves in the world wouldn't help.

Suddenly, a powerful light blasted through the darkness in the distance. It was a spotlight, descending from the sky. Kira could hear the throb of an engine and the whipping of rotor blades.

The sound was coming from the compound. A helicopter was landing.

Reinforcements?

Kira grimaced and squeezed her eyes shut. Could this night get any worse?