Chapter 1365 (1/2)
For several seconds, Alana frowned down at the message that she had received from Randidly Ghosthound. She rapped her knuckles against the wooden tent pole in front of her, considering. She didn’t hesitate because of the content of the message, she understood very clearly what Randidly wanted. In addition, she had been in contact with Tatiana, who had said some things that made Alana suspect that Randidly was hiding the seriousness of the situation with his body from her. His words made the request casual, but she felt the ominous depth laying beneath the surface.
But even her hidden worries weren’t what Alana now considered. No, the reason that Alana was so annoyed was the fact implied by the message: of the four Task Forces created to clear out the Corrupted Invaders in the Danger Zones, her independent task force was the slowest.
The only reason that Randidly would request she delay was if all the others had already finished. Only the final Danger Zone cleared had meaning.
Clicking her tongue, Alana left her tent and trudged up the sand dune to reach the overlook. Immediately after she escaped shelter, the low hum around her turned into a dull roar. The sandstorm wasn’t the worst she had seen, but it was still quite persistently going. She pulled a scarf over her mouth to keep the worst of the sand away as she walked upward. Their Danger Zone was called the Desert Maw, a land of swirling winds and bitting sands.
With the buffeting gusts and the sand scratching at her eyes, the passage was an uncomfortable one. Alana could obviously leap upward, but she didn’t want to send the wrong message. Besides, some part of Alana wanted to practice a bit of self-discipline.
If Randidly could endure pain, so could she.
At the top of the dune, she found Hank spinning his repeater idly. Up here, the air was mostly clear of sand and visibility was vastly improved. This was where Hank waited, ready to signal the beginning of the assault. His expression immediately brightened when he saw her, but Alana quickly smirked and shook her head. “Tell the troops to stand down and get some rest. We are going to delay our attack by two days.”
Hank’s eyebrows shot upward even as he snapped his fingers and shot a bolt of red light into the sky. Across the surrounding dunes, their Task Force blinked in confusion and pulled back.. “What the hell…? Did something happen back on Earth?!?”
Alana shook her head. “No. But we are the only Danger Zone that has not yet been cleared. It was likely necessary for us to delay in order to prepare all the independent groups to work together, but… those two days of training exercises seemed to mean we have come in last.”
“We came in last…” Hank said out loud. Then he chuckled. “Even that haphazard force led by that slug King Phirun beat us ta the punch…? That man could’na outrun a three-legged mule.”
“Apparently Sydney moved to reinforce them. She apparently fights like a woman possessed. Perhaps seeing Randidly’s images at his birthday had a strong effect on her,” Alana said calmly. The two began trooping down the sand dune toward the shelter of the tents. Around them, the rest of the group also returned to the came to hunker down. “They were close before the System, you know.”
Hank just nodded, continuing to shake his head. He was probably still thinking about Phirun. It was the seventh day after the Ghosthound’s birthday party, which meant that the other Task Forces had cleared their Danger Zones in under a week. Considering the two-week time limit imposed by Randidly Ghosthound, the Earth was currently making good time toward their goal.
But it could be seen from the delay that what lay beyond this last Danger Zone would be quite a bit more difficult. Despite the approaching deadline, the Ghosthound still wanted two days before the final portion of this trial began.
Alana glanced at Hank after they walked back into the tent. “Want to spar?”
He gave her a withering look. Alana sighed. “You are no fun. Just because the last several spars have been your loss, that doesn’t mean you won’t figure something out to turn it all around…”
“Cowboys aren’t much fer spars and skirmishes.” Hank flashed a smile at Alana. “Pretty good at last stands though.”
*****
The weather was currently surreal in a way that Helen had never seen before. Just another wonder of Kharon, she supposed. Thunderous explosions rumbled across the midday sky, yet there wasn’t a cloud to be seen for miles. Everything was blue and warm.
BOOOOOOOM! BOOOOOM!
Helen hid a yawn behind her hand as Naffur walked up and stood upon the small stage that had been erected for just this purpose. He was dressed sharply, finally looking more like a man than a lost teenager. Seemed like the training with her and Ajax was finally pasting some muscle onto his frame.
She was slightly amused to note that the one thousand or so people that were gathered together to listen to his orientation speech weren’t looking at Naffur at all. They were staring in fear up at the crouching form of Kharon, the Wandering City, that was behind him. Even from this distance, the growing skyline of the city was buzzing with activity, a testament to its rapid development.
Yet who was she kidding? Even Kharon itself couldn’t hold these people’s attention. More accurately, they were staring up at the island floating above Kharon, wreathed in silver mists and appearing completely inert and distant… except for the intermittent rumbles that it released, creating the illusion of constant thunderstorms.