“So, this is Jacinto's Fall,” Indra said as the Rover approached the field of space junk. “I've heard of this place. They say Jacinto was the first of mankind's great space cities—came crashing down in a blaze of glory. Now look at it, nothing more than a heap of scrap that's been picked clean to the bones.”
“You really think we'll find an alien amidst all this crap?” Kaidan asked.
“Maybe,” Dane replied with a shrug. “Anything on the scanner yet, Indra?”
Indra glanced down at the holo-projection at her wrist and tapped a few buttons. A single red dot flashed faintly at the edge of the scanner. “A single life source near those mountains,” she said, pointing east to the jagged spires that rose up in the distance.
“Then that's where we're going,” Kaidan said, putting his foot down on the gas and swinging around to the left.
They parked the Rover some distance away from the source of the blip, not wanting to alert the target to their presence with the roar of engines. Kaidan took point as they navigated the scrapheap, moving slowly closer to what Dane hoped and prayed would be the alien the old man had mentioned. Simple would be nice for once.
As they drew closer to their target, Kaidan paused at one of the corners, lowering his shades to peer out. He turned back to Dane and shook his head. “Guess we're shit out of luck,” he said, motioning for the others to take a look.
Dane stepped out first, still sighting down his gun out of caution. In the distance, climbing over a pile of scrap was a four-legged beast with yellow-orange fur and black spots.
“That's our alien?” he asked, dropping his aim and scratching his head. It certainly didn't look like any alien he had heard of before. Nor did it match the description they had been given.
Indra tapped a few buttons on her scanner. The hologram disappeared, to be replaced with a three-dimensional image of the beast.
“It's a leopard,” she said. “One of Earth's native life forms.”
“You don't think this is what the old geezer was talking about, do you?” Dane asked.
Indra shook her head. “I doubt a leopard would have forcefields that can deflect bullets. Better keep searching.”
Kaidan shouldered his gun and began to backtrack to the Rover when a flash of light flew past him, striking the ground near his foot. He ducked quickly behind cover, dragging Dane with him.
“Shit,” Kaidan swore under his breath. “What was that, Indra? Thought you said there was only one life form out here.”
“Must be something wrong with the scanner,” she replied, furiously tapping away.
“Or it's not alive,” Dane said. “Maybe it's a machine, not an alien we're hunting.”
Kaidan kneeled down to pull a large, serrated blade from his boot. He lifted the blade to eye level, using the flat edge as a mirror to peer round the corner. A second later he jumped back, dropped the knife as a second bolt of light struck it, sending it spinning through the air. The knife was thrown into a twisted plate of metal, colliding with a clang before coming to rest on the ground.
“Well that explains why the scanner didn't pick it up,” he said. “Damn thing's invisible.”
“A cloaking device? Interesting,” Indra said, rubbing her chin. “Such technology wasn't invented until after the inception of the Third Planetary Council. I'm surprised we'd run into advanced tech here on Earth of all places.”
“Forget that,” Kaidan snapped. “Just tell me how to find it so I can blow the bastard's head off. The sooner we do that, the sooner we can get off this blasted planet.”
Indra reached into her utility belt to pull out a small round object with a single red button on top. “Never know when you'll need a short-range EMP,” she said handing it to Kaidan. “The burst should disrupt the cloaking device so you can get the shot.”
“Should?” Kaidan asked, raising an eyebrow. “What's the range on this thing?”
“Fifty feet,” Indra replied. “You've got five seconds from releasing the trigger until it goes off. Think you can manage that?”
“Piece of cake.” Kaidan flashed her a tooth-filled grin as he reached down to his other boot, pulling out a second blade—armed to the teeth, as always. This time when the bolt of light struck, he threw the EMP in the direction of the shot and began to countdown from five. Upon reaching zero he jumped out from cover, with Dane following suit. Sparks of electricity outlined the shape of a humanoid, crackling and arcing across its large frame. They fired simultaneously, but their shots appeared to bounce off it.
“What the hell is that thing?” Dane yelled above the deafening snapping of Kaidan's rifle, and the buzzing of his pistol discharging white-hot blasts of plasma. The humanoid turned to run as one of the bolts struck its head. A flash of light emanated from the creature as the cloaking device came down, revealing a back of leathery, beige skin covered in metal plates. It jumped down from its perch, disappearing behind a pile of scrap.
They started to give chase after it, following its now visible energy signature on the scanner as they contemplated what exactly they were chasing. The chase continued to the edge of the Jacinto ruins, the land giving way to a gaping chasm. A single narrow ledge descended into the shadow of the cliff face, stopping outside the entrance to a small cave.
“Down there?” Dane asked, his eyes looking left and right for any other alternative to the ledge.
Not unless it can fly.
Indra nodded. “Scanner says the target has stopped moving. It's right beneath us.”
As before, Kaidan went first, treading lightly down the precarious path until he reached the entrance to the cave. He peered inside before diving to the other side of the cave mouth, allowing Dane to take up his position. Kaidan held up three fingers and began to countdown. On zero they burst into the cave, scanning each of the dark corners. Nothing.
Indra double-checked her scanner. “Doesn't make sense. We're right on top of it.”
Dane turned on his flash-light and began to venture towards the back of the cave. The place was empty, save for something small and rounded discarded on the floor. He kneeled down to pick it up, and spotted a narrow passage in the rock that had previously been hidden from view. No doubt the alien had managed to slip through the space between the rocks. Dane looked down at the object in his hands, shining the light onto it. In his hands he held a helmet covered in beige, leathery scales and metal plates. And on the left side a large black scorch mark decorated it, where Dane's final shot had landed.
“Left its helmet behind,” Dane said, and tossed it to Indra. “Maybe now we can get a clean shot at it.”
Dane managed to squeeze through the narrow space with ease. A few meters in, the passage began to descend and loop back around. Up ahead, the cave widened and the dark was becoming lighter. Dane switched off his flash-light and paused at the corner, inching out slowly to try and get a glimpse. A flash of white light burned onto his retinas as he ducked back into cover, narrowly avoiding the plasma bolt that struck the wall, sending sparks in all directions.
“Woah! Hey, we just want to talk,” he said.
“Talk?” the reply came. “Who are you?”
Male. Most likely human. Sounds fairly young. “My name's Dane. Dane Stiger. What's yours?”
Kaidan and Indra, having heard the commotion, came racing down the passage. Dane held up a hand, signaling them to hold.
“Name? Don't have one.”
“Okay,” Dane said, trying to think up something to break the ice. “That some impressive tech you've got there. Where'd you find that?”
“It's mine. You can't have it,” he replied.
The thought hadn't entered Dane's mind, until then. With the right contacts, equipment that could shrug off disruptor ammo and plasma bolts was bound to fetch a decent price. And with his current financial situation being as it was, a back up plan was definitely in order.
“Did Jackal send you?”
“Yeah. Thinks you're some kinda evil alien,” Dane said, hoping the stranger might reveal some clue as to his identity.
A harsh laugh filled the cavern. “Hate to disappoint you, but I'm only human. I'm not like them though. Guess that makes me alien.”
“You're not from here, are you?” Dane asked, noting the fluidity in his voice. It was nothing at all like the rough, jagged accent usually associated with Earth-dwellers. “How'd you get here?”
There was no reply.
“What about the mutilated cattle? Was that you?”
“We were hungry,” he replied.
“We? There's more than one of you?”
“Just me, and Spot.”
Dane raised an eyebrow. “The leopard?”
“Leopard? Never heard that name before. He's my friend. I found him when he was a baby.”
Dane took a deep breath, his suspicions confirmed—this wasn't someone he needed to kill. While he might have taken a few ethically questionable jobs in his time, he wasn't about to lower himself to killing a human being for a piece of metal. “I'm going to throw down my gun and come out, okay?”
“Okay,” the voice replied. “But don't try anything.”
Dane gripped the handle of his gun between his forefinger and thumb and tossed it out into the open before edging out with his hands above his head for the second time that day. A young man stood before him, his features highlighted by a ray of light that spilled in through a small hole in the wall to his side. He wore a suit of battle armor, the likes of which Dane had never seen before.
No wonder they thought he was an alien.
His black hair was long and shaggy, falling over eyes that reminded Dane of the seas on Altherion, a deep crystal blue. He was an inch shorter than Dane, maybe a little more without the suit, his tanned skin marred with streaks of dirt.
The young man took a step forward, his arms beginning to tremble from keeping the gun aimed. He pressed the gun up against Dane's chest. “So, are you going to kill me?”
“No,” Dane replied without needing to think about it.
“Let's just kill him so we can be out of here,” Kaidan said, groaning. The young man's head snapped towards Kaidan and Indra. He moved quickly behind Dane, placing an arm around his chest and using him as a human shield.
“No,” Dane repeated. “We are not killing someone for just trying to survive.”
“What about the people he killed?” Kaidan asked.
“They tried to kill me first,” the young man answered, tightening his hold on Dane.
“They want proof of a dead alien,” Indra said, toying with the helmet in her hands. “We could fool them into thinking he's dead with this. Jackal said he's seen the alien before. He should recognize this helmet.”
“You're really not going to kill me?” he asked. “You want to fool Jackal?”
Dane nodded. “I meant what I said. We're mercs, not murderers.”
The young man released his hold on Dane and took a step back, reaching down to pick up Dane's discarded gun in his free hand. “Okay, but I'm keeping my eye on you.”