“It’s quiet down here,” he said after a moment. “Nothing to indicate enemy activity.”

Other than the tunnel itself, of course, he thought, without stating the obvious. After a long look, he made a choice. “All right, guys, I’m cutting the tether.”

He unhooked his leg from the cable and snapped back upright as he triggered the release and dropped the remaining four meters to the ground. The sound of his landing echoed around him as he came down in a crouch, retrieving his rifle from where it was latched to the back of his armor.

In the passive night vision of his HUD, the tunnel appeared endless, vanishing off into eternity with only minor thermal variations apparent. The space around him cooled, only a few degrees above the air temperature, which was running at a relatively high thirty degrees Celsius.

Savoy took a few steps down the tunnel. “I’m switching to active night vision now.”

A few motions brought up the options, and then he turned on the infrared spotlights built into the helmet and shoulders of his armor. The HUD lit up bright green. For a second, it instantly darkened as its filters kicked in. Now he could see a tunnel he estimated at about fifty meters long, with branches moving off to either side at roughly ten-meter intervals.

“Industrious little bastards,” he muttered as he moved forward one foot in front of the other. Dry dirt and gravel crackled and crunched with each step as he began to plumb the depths of the alien tunnel system.

The three small flying devices approached the medical center together, something that might have prompted an attempt at defending the building if the military command hadn’t placed a call through several minutes earlier to warn the guards of the approach.

They spread out slightly as the lead device swooped in and dropped off a hulking figure that carried a weapon at least three times the size of their laser rifles. He, or it, walked directly to the closest guard, not showing any sign of caution or fear and spoke sharply.

“Is this the medical center?”

The guard nodded, blinking in surprise at the odd accent. He’d never heard anything quite like it; it was almost like a total lack of accent, a flatness that he couldn’t place.

“Good,” the hulking figure said, not moving but somehow giving the impression that he was doing something.

The other two devices approached, and the guards saw the limp figures dangling from them.

“Doctor!” the guard yelled over his shoulder, nodding at two of the others.

The other two guards stepped aside, and three of the medical staff rushed out with a hovering platform sliding obediently along behind them.

Immediately behind them were another three and another platform.

The guard turned back to the hulking figure and was surprised to see that the anonymous faceplate was no longer blacked out. He could see the face behind it, lit up by a series of soft-red lights. The grim-looking man actually looked a great deal more frightful than the impersonal black of the faceplate.