Part 41 (1/2)
And then Duke was there, standing over me, offering me a hand. I thanked him as I pulled myself to my feet. He glanced around at the three burning worms. ”You want to remember you're a guest here and leave something for the rest of us?” And then he was away, pointing and directing the rest of his team to fan out.
I looked at the three worms myself. ”Babies, huh?” And shook my head. I didn't know if I wanted to meet Mama or not. Larry's team was already moving to the far side of the dome. My team was moving into position, but uncertainly; several of them were staring at me and the still-burning carca.s.ses. They looked stunned. I clicked on my microphone. ”G.o.ddammit! Move out! Haven't you ever seen a man burn a worm before?” I started striding toward the back of the but. ”Burrell! Get your a.s.s in gear!” I wondered how badly mine would hurt tomorrow from that hard landing. I wasn't going to worry about it now. I hit the breakaways on my chest, kicked out of the drop harness and kept going.
I planted myself directly in front of the back wall of the dome. I gave it a lot of room. I checked the charges on my tanks. Still half full. Good. More than enough.
I glanced around behind me. Amy Burrell, white as a sheet, was fifty feet away. She held her rifle in a death grip. But she was ready. I looked at the wall again. Nothing. I checked the rest of my team. They were ready too.
My mike was still on. I switched channels and said quietly, ”Apple.”
”Baker,” said Larry.
”Charlie,” said Duke. ”Hold your positions.”
I looked at the rear wall of the dome. It was blank and featureless.
”All right,” I barked. ”Bring me a freeze machine. On the double.”
The freeze machine was a large plastic crate filled with styrofoam doodles. Inside the doodles were two tanks of liquid nitrogen and a spray nozzle. They'd been dropped after everyone else was down safely. We had two of them.
If we hadn't wakened the Chtorrans with our arrival, we would have used the liquid nitrogen instead of the torches. Gottlieb and Galindo wheeled up one of the kits. Riley and Jein were just unloading the other. They touched the release and the crate popped open with a thump.
”I'll take the kit. Michael, you cover me with the torch.” Gottlieb grinned as I pa.s.sed it over to him. He loved the excitement.
The nozzle for the freeze machine was lighter than the torch, and I didn't wear the tanks on my back. It was Galindo's job to move them-if we had to move. I wore a pair of insulated gloves so thick they could have been used in a boxing match. I closed the faceplate on my helmet again and I was ready.
The back wall of the dome remained unchanged.
Duke's voice whispered in my earphones. ”You okay, McCarthy?”
”I'm fine. But when this is over, my a.s.s is going to hurt.”
”You did good.”
”I know,” I said. And then I added, ”Thanks.”
There was silence for a bit, so I asked, ”What happened with the blimp?”
”I don't know. I didn't have time to ask. We came over the edge and the wind s.h.i.+fted. But Ginny did her job. n.o.body hit the water.”
”When we get back, I'm going to buy her flowers.”
”Do that. Better yet, buy her a bottle. It looked like a quick save.” He was silent a moment, then asked, ”Jim, how long do you want to wait?”
”At least a half-hour. Remember what happened to that team in Idaho.”
”Right.” Duke said, ”There was a lot in that report to worry about.”
”You mean the tunnel they found?”
”Yeah. If the worms are changing their nesting behavior . . .” He didn't finish the sentence; he didn't need to. The job was already difficult enough.
I studied the wall some more. There was no evidence of a hidden exit.
”Do you want to send in the Robe?” asked Larry. The blimp had also dropped a meter-high mechanical walker-a more sophisticated version of Shlep, the Mobe, only it didn't have Shlep's good looks or personality.
”No,” said Duke.
Larry argued for it half-heartedly for a few moments, then trailed off. Duke didn't reply. I couldn't see either of them. There was just me and the wall.
”Jim?”
”Yeah, Duke?”
”You want to switch positions?”
”Naw, I'm fine.”
”You sure?”
”I'm sure.”
”All right.”
The wall was unchanged. Something very small and loud buzzed around me. A stingfly? It was too fast to see. I waved it away with one gloved hand.
”Burrell? Time check.”
”Twelve minutes, thirty seconds.”
”Thank you.”