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reached into his gear and pulled out a tracer-transponder. It wasn't really necessary, and he was
probably overreacting, but they'd all hate to lose such a prize. It couldn't hurt to mark it, so he did. He
slapped it onto a corner and the molecularly thin film of it fused with the artifact's surface and became
effectively part of it and invisible.
Dagger had slipped alongside him, undetected until the last moment. Bell Toll started slightly, but
kept it from showing. Dammit, he hated when the sniper did that. He did it just because he could, and it
only encouraged him if he thought he'd got one over on you.
"Yes, Dagger? Are you here to take advantage of the commander's open-door policy?" he asked.
"Nah, just wanted another gander at the box, sir. I didn't get a good look earlier," he said, moving
in close. He was shoulder to shoulder now, and it made Bell Toll uncomfortable. Frankly, he'd rather
have Tirdal that close than Dagger. One was unknown, the other a pain.
"Well, this is the artifact, Dagger. Artifact, meet Dagger," he said, trying to inject some levity into
the situation.
"Charmed," Dagger joked. Hell, he wasn't that bad, Bell Toll thought. Just another kid with
something to prove. Give him five years and he'd mellow. When he'd first arrived he'd been all attitude,
now it was partly an act. He'd get over it, and if there were opportunities to let him act like a mature
person, they should be encouraged.
Dagger was poring over the device in the growing light. His fingers traced the raised symbols that
might be long dead controls, followed the contours and hefting it. "What is it and why is it here?" he
asked, mostly to himself.
"We might never know," Bell Toll said. "Some can be opened inside a stasis field, though some are
equipped to self-destruct. Others are unresponsive. The fact that this one still has latent power is a good
sign."
"Any guess what it might be, sir?" Dagger asked, his sharp, perfect eyes still focused on the box,
examining every line, every dirt-filled pit.
"No clue. A ship's control box, unlikely. A base computer, possible, though I'd think they'd have
extracted it when the base was abandoned, or an enemy would have seized it. Anything else I couldn't
say. I've had briefings, but I'm no expert." He shrugged.
Dagger shrugged also. "I see what are obviously seams, but I don't see a way to make them budge.
We going to take turns humping this?"
"No, Dagger," Bell Toll replied, smiling. "In this case, the commander will assume the horrible
burden of carting the cargo, thus to spare his troops a strain that wasn't in the original plan. Besides, it's
my ass if we lose it."
"Yeah, I could just see that one. 'We found this Aldenata artifact and dropped it in a lake. So
sorry. but it really was cool at the time.' I can't see them buying that."
"Right," Bell Toll chuckled. "Well, I'm going to wrap it back up, so show and tell is over."
"Right, sir. I'll keep an eye out tonight. And I can set some of my sensors to act as additional
alarms if you'd like."
"Please," he agreed as Dagger walked in a crouch back across to his gear. He reflected that
Dagger wasn't so bad when his interests were challenged. It was boredom that made him awkward.
It was dinnertime again. Hopefully, there'd be few more of those on this patrol. As shifting, flashing
sparks of false dawn warned of the coming light, they plowed into their food. Hunger helped and so did
long practice, as well as awareness that they'd be out of here in very few sleeps.
"Tuna again," Gun Doll bitched. "Who eats this crap?"
"Sorry, Doll," Thor said. "But I'm not swapping my pork fritter."
"Doesn't matter," she said, resignation and a sigh in her voice. "I'll eat it."
Dagger said, "Be right back. Gotta drain the vein," as he rose and walked toward the large rock.
"Why didn't you go in the stream like the rest of us?" Thor joked. Then he wondered why the
sniper was walking out past the rocks, and with his rifle. "Hey, Dagger, the slit is over th "
As he passed the rock, Dagger grabbed a neural grenade from the pouch on his harness and
tossed it back into the middle of the team.
Chapter 10
Tirdal felt Dagger's aggression smack him. It was palpable, vicious, and thoroughly emotionless
under the surface. The incoming feeling was so strong, it was one of the few visual senses he'd ever had.
The feeling hit him and rolled over him, creating a link for a bare fraction of a second. He could feel the
callous smirk on his/Dagger's face, see the grenade arc from his/Dagger's hand. The sudden image of a
fangar, a predator on Shartan, came through clearly. Dagger was not only committing mass murder, he
was enjoying it. It was an intense moment, the sensat equivalent of orgasm, personal and powerful. They
were Tirdal's specialty. He couldn't always "feel" people in his area. But he always knew when they
were participating in a kill.
He also knew that there wasn't time to stop it. His punch gun would go right through the boulder
the sniper was using as a shield against the neural lash but the grenade was already in the air as the
Darhel surged to his feet. Stopping to kill the sniper would just leave the entire team dead on the ground.
Their vital information, and the possibly more vital artifact, would never make it back.
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