“Doesn’t save us in the end,” Kalico told her. “There will be a day when The Corporation lands here with . . .”

Kalico saw the flash. A blink of yellow-orange in the treetops down the slope. The detonation made Kalico jump. It clapped out over the forest, a wave of sound rolling away through the trees. More flickers of burning orange. Treetops torn, bits of detritus flying high.

Then a series of detonations—like deafening crackles—sent shockwaves through her. All of it followed by a rattling of automatic fire. More concussions carried on the night, the chime having gone still. Blue fliers and a haze of invertebrates rose from the forest, flying outward, fleeing.

Kalico was on her feet, staring, her heart hammering. She could see the tops of the trees thrashing, the ripples of it rolling out over the forest to the south.

Again, another series of rapid concussions, the sound of it like a battlefield barrage.

“That’s about it,” Ralph Smith, the marine, said from behind her. “That’s a full load. Enough detonations to exhaust both of their boom tubes.”

And down in the trees, the rifles kept firing, the chatter unending. Had to be magazine after magazine, including the occasional louder boom that she knew was Dek’s high-powered hunting rifle.

The ever-spreading ripple from excited trees kept expanding out like a tsunami, leaving thrashing trees in its wake.

Chapter 66

  66  

In the wake of the explosions—and as Capella dropped behind the distant tree line and shadows fell across the pad at Southern Diggings—Kalico told the two marines, “We’re going down there. Weapons hot, on safety. I want those boom tubes charged.”

“Ma’am?” Chin frowned. “That’s . . . I mean . . .”

Kalico stepped up to him. “Did you hear me, marine? Those are our people down there. Now, button up your yap, get your shit wired, and let’s go.”

“You sure this is a good idea?” Raya Turnienko asked from where she stood, looking down at the violently thrashing forest. They could hear the trees, the cracking of splintered wood, the lashing and snapping branches. The chime had gone berserk. Occasional hoots, calls, and screeches rose as the wildlife panicked and fled. Several flocks of blue fliers and a horde of invertebrates darkened the air above the treetops.

“Damn straight, Raya. That’s Tal, Dek, and Briah.” Kalico started down the hill, pulling her pistol from her belt. “Hope we’re not looking at more casualties. Last thing I want is for you to have a busy night.”

Raya called after her, “You’re crazy! And you thought I was being silly when I said that Soukup and The Corporation were the least of your problems? How’s being dead suit you?”

Kalico gave her a buzz-off gesture with her fingers. Checked to see that the marines were still behind her. They’d locked their helmets down, had their rifles up, looked ready for action.