Skathi-Tooth
Tara Loughead
Copyright 2010 Tara Loughead
A Bulays and Ghaavn Adventure
The Karshi Imperative Part 2
For Peter O’Donnell
"No snow monsters this time, I hope."
"No, there should only be flying blue aliens with laser beams," Ghaavn said with a slight smile. It will still be quite chilly, Bulays, I believe."
"What do they want with a small chunk of rock that calls itself a moon in Skathi?"
"That is what we need to find out. They appear to be steering clear of planets and basing their activity on moons."
"How do we know we haven't missed any of them so far?" Bulays asked, gearing up for cold weather combat.
"We don't," answered Ghaavn sombrely. "We probably have, given they were here before we knew about it."
"We're heading for The Tooth, then?" Bulays suggested, indicating the lump of rock to the north that sort of looked like a large upside-down canine.
"Yes, Mount Gladman."
"Not much of a mountain, love. Guess that's why everyone calls it The Tooth."
"Yes," replied Ghaavn, checking his weapons. The pair wore camouflage gear to blend in with the rock and ice. No experts on the vision or capabilities of their opponents, they weren't sure it would help but thought it best to stick with procedure.
They advanced cautiously, woman over man. "There," said Bulays quietly. "I think I see them." She unlimbered her rifle and set up. Squeezing off a shot, she saw a small figure fall. The others scattered into the air, evading randomly.
"Looks like it worked, at least. The element of surprise is gone now, though."
"Should've brought jetpacks?" Asked Bulays.
"No, I am very sure they'd fly rings around us. That would put us in their element."
"Right," his partner replied. "We don't have air cover, so what to do next?"
"No, Buck said she would stay in space, to intercept anything they might have lurking. That is something they don't know. I think they are going for The Tooth. I don't think we will be their primary interest until they get what they came for, and maybe not even then. If I were them, knowing they now have opponents on the ground, I'd split up. Leave a harrying party to cover the others. Judging by their numbers, it should only be two or three of them."
"Maybe we should 'ave brought help, then."
"Lady G wanted to keep her options open. Also, I think the intelligence will be valuable. No-one really better qualified than us to observe them in close combat," Ghaavn answered matter-of-factly. The pair were no strangers to being outnumbered, and hunting superior forces. They had not had much call for opposing people that could fly personally, though.
"It also depends on where they are going. Is what they are after on the surface of The Tooth, or somehow inside?" Bulays pondered.
"Yes, that is the trick of it," said Ghaavn, as his hand signal directed them into action.
The pair took off running, covering the broken ground a quickly as possible, trying to limit their exposure to attack. None was forthcoming. They passed the corpse of the smallish blue alien Bulays had shot, and stopped briefly. Ghaavn turned the body over and Bulays searched it. The fringed face was strange, but still recognisably humanoid, although clearly of avian ancestry.
"Just a handgun and a communication device, by the look of it," said Bulays. "The usual other sort of stuff you'd expect. That fine feathery down probably insulates against the cold quite well, too. They're light, but those nails look like they could be nasty. Hand-to-hand we've got the muscle over them, but those seriously even things up if they carry some sort of poison or disease. Need some sort of lightweight thin protective gloves in that case. Snow gloves are fine for now, but useless for accuracy at close combat distance. We also didn't bring much in the way of antivenom, not that we would know what works, necessarily."
Bulays and Ghaavn made it the base of The Tooth without incident. Their quarry had gone around the other side, and were now out of sight. Being smaller did have its advantages, and two Karshi fighters launched themselves from prone positions upslope behind rocks into the air. Hand weapons firing, Bulays and Ghaavn dived to the either side, rolling. Bulays had been hit by an energy beam, but her coat and body armour had absorbed most of it, leaving a minor burn. The alien who shot at Ghaavn had missed, and so had the rolling Titanian's snap shot in return. Bulays' luck was better. Her first thrown knife pierced the gun hand of her attacker. He screeched, dropping his weapon in pain. He hovered briefly, which gave Bulays time to recover. She locked her rifle into use with a bayonet and stood ready. The Karshi hesitated and Bulays drew her other knife, eyeing a throw. He flew off to the side out of range, and Bulays ran upslope, heading for the rest of his party on the other side. He couldn't allow that and attacked in a dive. Bulays' bayonet made impact, but the alien's body armour held, and it slowed his momentum slightly. Enough for Bulays to take the offensive and stick a knife in his right eye. She didn't escape unscathed, though, a nasty scratch bled copiously down her right cheek as she threw the dying blue flyer clear.
The running-and-flying gunfight between Ghaavn and the other Karshi had left Ghaavn with the top of a boot burned off and the alien with a bullet lodged in his shoulder. Seeing his partner go down, he flew off in an evasive pattern. There was no point in dying at the end of Bulays' rifle.
Bulays, however, knew better than to waste time trying to duck hunt, and led her partner up The Tooth. When they reached the summit, they saw nothing. No evidence of the rest of the Karshi raiding party. Just the slope down and the view to the edge of Skathi. As they stood deciding what to do next, Bulays staggered, then collapsed.
Ghaavn managed to catch her well enough to lower her to the ground. It appeared their fears of toxin were well justified. Her colour was terrible, and she was very hot. Ghaavn took out their field med-kit and dosed her with what they had. It didn't seem to make much difference, and her pulse was extremely erratic.
"Let me help," came a mellifluous woman's voice from behind.
Ghaavn's head spun, surprised. The striking woman of curvaceous but average build was dressed in skin-tight ice-blue leather in a spiral pattern that alternated skin and clothing. From the neck to the knees, anyway. She wore boots of a matching colour to deal with the terrain. Her hair was dark, and restrained by a blue metal tiara of sorts, that was formed of a vine-like pattern. The look in her eyes, however, held a familiar power.
"Sister number two, I presume?"
"Yes, Ghaavn. Introductions later. First, we save Bulays' life."
Ghaavn cradled his partner as the Htapele woman rushed to his side. She put her hand on Bulays' forehead, and murmured something Ghaavn couldn't understand. The blue earrings in her right ear glowed with a strange light that spread, and strengthened, moving to his partner and covering her face in an ethereal azure luminosity. She bent and kissed Bulays on the lips, the forehead, and each cheekbone. Then she rose. "She will recover, now. Although she will need some rest."
"Thank you," Ghaavn said sincerely, eyes tearing with relief. Ghaavn put his scorched coat under Bulays' head as a pillow. "Any chance you can do the fadeout manoeuvre, too?" He looked at the unconscious form of his partner, and the distance he would have to carry the large, muscular blonde woman.
"Asking for help, Ghaavn?" She smiled amusedly. "Well, come here then."
He did so, and she took his head in her hands, then suddenly kissed him hard and deeply. The surprised agent knew better to resist, and took her shoulders and returned the favour. She broke it off. "My name is Avar. I just thought I'd see what all the fuss was about." The Frost Princess of Neptune's eyes twinkled mirthfully.
The un-lip-lo
cked now moved to help Bulays up, as she slowly regained consciousness. Enough so that draped between Ghaavn and Avar she wouldn't collapse like a jellyfish washed up on a beach. "If I let you carry Bulays in her condition, my elder sister would be extremely displeased. The effort is well worth avoiding that."
An icy mist began to envelop the trio, then they disappeared.
*****
"There was supposedly a part of some sort of ancient superweapon on Skathi, according to what is left of the records Emar could dig up. She sent a message saying that even they weren't sure what or where it was. Apparently even if you live a very long time you can't remember everything. Ancient superscience abounded, apparently. Who knows what the Thaumoforming did to any of that?"
"What we need to now is where the rest of that raiding party went," said Bulays, lying on a couch in Lady Gerald's office, listening to her speak.
"They might not have gone anywhere. Some sort of concealment, perhaps," said Ghaavn.
"Or a teleport, or other possibilities. Buck didn't notice anything, but they may have stealth transport, too." Gerald looked a little stressed.
"Looks like overtime for the research girls and boys, then, Lady G?" A tired-sounding Bulays asked from her lying position.
"Yes, and some of them are going to take a look at you. You are staying here for the night, no arguments," said Lady Gerald, in a tone that suggested disobeying was an extremely bad idea.
Bulays sounded resigned. "Go home then, Ghaavn. Come and give me a lift in the mornin'...so, Lady G, any pretty nurses then?"
Ghaavn smiled as he left, confident of his partner's recovery.
THE END
Artwork by Miralys
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You can find all of the Adventures of Bulays and Ghaavn as well as The Gender Switch Adventures at :
Coming Soon
The Adventures of Bulays and Ghaavn
14 Rent Boys of Jove - Tara Loughead
15 I, Lysithea: The Karshi Imperative Part 3 - Tara Loughead
The Gender Switch Adventures
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