Chương 71: 2.12 Pushing Boundaries

Hector surveyed the forward encampment, frowning. Mathews had ordered the technicians to forgo most of the usual fortifications—only the sentry turrets and a few low-flying patrol drones. He understood why, what with the rift still quickening and threatening to close early, but it still made him nervous. Evie had confirmed Bobby's calculations on the rift's pulses, and Hector had a timer ticking down in the upper-right-hand corner of his AUI: 19: 23: 54.

It wasn't much time, but if they were lucky, it would be enough for everyone to make some money and potentia. At the thought of potentia, Hector turned toward Gomer and his techs, setting up their processing stations. He wanted his share from the reaper before Mathews laid out whatever her plan was. //You received 54 units of potentia when you last killed a reaper. // Hector snorted. Yeah, but I only had to share with Yoshi and Brennan. He surveyed the gathered raid team.

The security team members were watching the perimeter, like him. Perry to the north, and Kristy on the south side—a shadowy silhouette against the distant glow of the rift. Freddy and Red were on the western line, staring into the deep darkness beneath the acid-willow boughs. Everyone else was in the cleared area at the center of the turrets—Mathews, Bobby, Paige, and the thirteen techs. As he checked them all off, he kept a mental tally.

"Twenty-one." //Security personnel receive a larger percentage. // As if she'd read his mind, Mathews spoke through comms, "Coming around with your potentia cut, Hector. I'll hand out your orders at the same time. Keep alert." Hector turned back to the dark plain on his side of the camp. He'd seen shapes moving out there, highlighted by his helmet's enhanced multi-spectrum feed. Most were distant packs of lurkers, but he'd seen other, more dangerous creatures—even a floating "spine bag."

He shuddered, glad to see that it had drifted out of sight toward the horizon. Spine bags were the brood queens for spine thrashers. They carried young spine thrashers inside their floating, blimp-like bodies, and if they saw prey, they'd deposit their spawn with dozens of ropy, fifty-meter tentacles.

"An army of nightmares in just a few minutes."

"What's that?" Mathews asked, her voice rising in amusement as Hector spun to face her.

"Talking to myself."

"That spine bag still out there?" He shook his head.

"Moved east."

"Damn. If we'd taken it down—""Don't tempt fate," Hector growled. He had no doubt they could kill a spine bag and its payload of monsters, but he was also certain they'd take casualties. Mathews stared at him, her black-tinted visor impenetrable. After a moment, she nodded.

"Fair enough, but you understand the situation, yeah? We've gotta push some boundaries if we're going to make this run worthwhile."

"The reaper—""The reaper will pay for the subs. What about months of prep work for the core team? People have families… debts. You understand." Before he could answer, she held up a matte-black cylinder about ten centimeters long and maybe twice as thick as her thumb.

"Besides, some of us are here for the potentia, am I right?" Hector stared at the cylinder, then slowly nodded.

"That's part of it, for sure." She twisted the end, clicking some hidden dial, then held it out to him.

"Ready to receive?" Like twitching a muscle, Hector started his aura system's intake process. It was different from scraping; every aura system could receive potentia, but only high-end systems could take it.

"Ready." Mathews tapped the side of the cylinder, and it beeped. A few seconds later, the very end of it began to glow with a faint amber light. Watching, Hector saw tiny particles of sparkling, misty potentia streaming toward him. He braced himself for the rush, and then it hit him. Warmth soaked into his body, originating at his chest and then flowing up into his skull. It was like a perfect buzz, and his eyes unfocused.

He might have drooled or groaned or something, but luckily his helmet saved him from a public display. //33 potentia gathered. Potentia available: 50. // Mathews was talking, but he barely heard her: "For the reaper and the lurkers. I gave you a bonus percentage on the reaper kill." Hector stared into nothing for a few seconds, then she reached out and shook his shoulder.

"You good?" He blinked, licked his dry lips, glad his helmet was hiding his reaction. His skin—his stolen body —despite having gained seven levels, just wasn't used to the aura rush yet—not even close.

"Yeah, good."

"So, I watched Kristina's vid feed when you took out that reaper, and it opened my mind to some possibilities. I wouldn't have considered this idea before, but dammit, you killed that thing so easily. I'm going to put you to work, Hector, and it's not going to be exactly safe. Still, like I said, if you want to earn some—" Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Potentia," Hector finished for her. Mathews nodded.

"Exactly. I can't send Perry or Red. Hell, I don't think even Kristina could manage…" She shook her head, sighing through her helmet's speaker.

"Anyway, you're our only bet. Well, you and Freddy." Hector scowled, but she didn't see it.

"Why?" Before she could answer, he clarified." Where?"

"Into the trees. You, because you're smart, quick, and we've got enough acid gear to keep you covered for a couple of hours. Freddy, because his armor can resist the acid."

"Why the trees?" Hector knew the answer: reapers. Mathews surprised him.

"I got a peek at an intel dossier on this rift site. There's a bloom patch in there." Hector's mouth was suddenly awash with saliva." Blooms?" He knew Mathews was smiling, even if he couldn't see her face.

"Got your attention?"

"I'm listening."

"So, like I said, there's a report of a bloom patch in there, and I've got the coordinates. The risks are obvious—the trees and maybe more reapers. That reaper that came out of there wasn't the first sighted in that wooded area. In fact, that's the reason the IG's patrol window is so wide; they're about a month late harvesting those blooms. They figure some civilian losers like us wouldn't be able to mess with their little secret, even if we knew about it, so…" She trailed off, shrugging.

Hector shook his head, looking up at the dark sky.

"Seems too good to be true, but it is a night cycle…" Mathews knew what he meant; blooms didn't produce potentia during the long period when the planet swept closer to its sun and its axial tilt produced days that lasted for months.

"So you get it? This is a chance to make this run worthwhile, even if it's short." Hector grunted, nodding his helmet.

"How far?"

"Seven klicks. An easy hour in and out for you and Freddy. We'll set up some lures and auto turrets near the edge of the woods. Hopefully, we'll draw any wandering reapers our way."

"You'll just piss them off."

"Reapers are opportunists. They'll run when the turrets start blasting, but it should keep them busy." Hector had his doubts; reapers were smarter than Mathews was giving them credit for. Still, he didn't think the risk was to the team, not if they stayed inside the perimeter. It was Freddy and himself that he was worried about. He frowned, looking around the camp.

"Can't spare one or two more?"

"You really think it'll help?" Hector tilted his head, considering.

"Maybe Kristy. She's fast." Mathews sighed, the sound crackling through her helmet grille.

"That's why I want her out here. If a reaper does get through, we'll need someone fast." Images of Kristy's ashen face and nervous chatter when they'd spotted the earlier reaper ran through Hector's mind. He shrugged, shifting his rifle as he started toward the camp.

"Let's get going, then. I'll need a few ponchos."

"Yep. Just grab them from the mule." Mathews switched her voice to comms: "Freddy, meet Hector and me at the mules. You two are going on a mission. Everyone else stay on security, expand your perimeter radius to make up for their absence." Perry immediately spoke into comms, "Commander, do you really think—""Not now, Perry. You've got north by northwest. Stay sharp." Mathews walked with Hector over to the mules, and as they approached, Frederick arrived from the other side.

"Take a couple of extra mags each. Go ahead and take all six ponchos; none of us are going into those trees." Hector scowled, digging through the mule's cargo space for a pack in which to stuff the acid-resistant rain gear. They'd protect him for a while, but he'd still want to hurry—and that was besides the fact that he had a doomsday clock ticking down on his AUI.

"I'll need a scraper." Mathews nodded and held out the black cylinder. As he took it, she leaned close, and her voice came through her helmet's speaker as a harsh whisper.

"If you kill any reapers, you'll get your bonus share—also for the blooms—you and Freddy both. But remember: I can look at the log on that scraper. I'll know—""I get it," Hector growled, taking the device and clipping it to his magnetic gear belt. Freddy was standing there, his expression impossible to read beneath his golden visor. Hector thumped him on the shoulder and handed over the pack.

"Wear this, Freddy. It'll be easier for me to get the ponchos out as I need them." It seemed the kid wasn't stupid; as he took the pack, he turned to regard the pitch-black forest.

"My armor's rated for that acid, but I haven't tested it."

"It'll be fine." Hector wasn't being dismissive; Freddy's armor had active shielding that would keep any liquid from touching it long enough to do any damage. Mathews nodded, stuffing some extra mags into the pack as Freddy slung it over his shoulders.

"Just follow Hector's lead, kiddo. This is your chance to earn some skulls—make your family proud." Hector glanced at his countdown: 19: 05: 21.

"Let's move, Fred." He didn't waste any time looking at Mathews for approval. The minutes were ticking away, and he was not going to be late getting back to the rift. Still, as he jogged away from the encampment, down the slight slope to the edge of the dark, acid-dripping forest, he opened a private channel with Mathews and asked, "How'd you get the intel?" Her reply was immediate.

"I'm sleeping with the chief logistics officer at the base." Hector snorted, sliding to a stop at the edge of the trees.

"Come here," he said, motioning for Frederick to turn around as he came to a stop beside him. While he dug out his first poncho, Frederick asked, "What the hell are we even doing, man? I wanted to ask up there, but I didn't want to look like an idiot. Everyone was acting like nothing was wrong."

"Well," Hector said, pushing his head through the neck hole and pulling the hood up over his helmet.

"Nothing's wrong, but the main reason nobody was saying anything is because they don't know what we're about to do." He could see Mathews's name lighting up on comms, and he was sure she was organizing the others to set up the lures and turrets—a distraction that probably wouldn't work. It was a nice thought, but Hector and Freddy were going to be moving quickly, deep into the woods.

Any reapers between them and the bloom field were going to be much more interested in them than the noise the rest of the team was making.

"Which is?" Freddy asked, still grasping for any concrete information. Hector turned.

"Help me pull this thing over my gear belt." While Freddy complied, he said, "We're going into these woods to find a bloom field. Mathews probably just sent the coordinates to you." He glanced at the blinking red dot on his mini-map. It was almost due west, directly into the dark woods, and, just as Mathews had promised, it was almost exactly seven kilometers away.

"Come on," he said, ducking under the acid-laced fronds of the purple and black willow-like trees.

"We need to move fast." As if to punctuate the statement, a fat droplet of acid fell onto his hood, sizzled and slid off onto his shoulder, where it sizzled again. Hector growled, increased the gain on his helmet's infrared spectrum, and then started running.