Eden's Children (Earth Exiles Book 2) Read online

  He climbed, and set several more anchors. He arrived at the top of the crack and now he had to make a decision about his route. They could stare from the ledge all day long, but it was different when you were on the rock face. The lead climber had to figure out the actual route. If he couldn’t find a way up they would have to go back down, do more reconnaissance, and try to find a different route.

  Mike looked at the cliff face. He was at the point where he had to make a decision, left or right. First though, he had to secure himself. The crack was narrow enough here that he could use a piton. He secured one with his right hand, and wedged it into the crack. He pulled the piton hammer from the sling, and started hammering the piton in. The ‘Ping, ping’ of the hammer on the piton reverberated back and forth across the cliff face. He tested the piton, and put a carabineer in it. He hooked the rope through the carabineer. Now that he was secure, he could rest. He took a loop of one inch strap, and hooked it into the carabineer on the piton, and then into the one on his harness. He put his feet against the cliff face, and leaned back to look at his choices for the route up.

  Rock climbing was an exercise in risk management. Now he had to weigh risk against his own capabilities to decide where he could climb. As he looked across the cliff face, though, his choices were slim. Above and to his left was crack that climbed for another fifty feet. The problem was, he had no way to get to it, other than a leap across the intervening space. That kind of thing looked great in a Hollywood movie, but could get you killed in reality. He could climb to the right, but it looked like the holds diminished and was replaced by flat, un-climbable rock. He looked back to his left. That crack was very appealing; he just had to figure out a way to get there.

  The crack was only ten feet away. He looked up and saw a possibility. It was an incredibly small and narrow ledge, just big enough for his fingertips. There was no place to put his feet below it. He would have to slide, hand to hand, across that slender ledge. That would be very tough.

  The body was used in a very specific way by the climber. The climber held on with his hands, but he tried to keep his body away from the cliff face. This levered the feet into the cliff face, and gave the feet purchase to support the weight of the body. Mike wouldn’t be able to do that across this span. Climbers lived by their fingers and toes. He was going to be at a fifty percent disadvantage. Now, he would only be able to use his fingers. He would be flat against the rock face and all of his weight would be resting on his fingertips.

  He unhooked from the piton, leaving the belay rope in place. He climbed up to the narrow ledge. He slid his left hand out onto it. He didn’t want his body to swing, so he let his left foot dangle. He put his right hand on the ledge, and then let his right foot dangle. Now his weight was completely resting on his fingertips. He slid his left hand, and then he slid his right across the ledge. As one hand slid, his weight was completely on the other. It was tough going, but he thought he would be able to make it across.

  A shower of dirt from the ledge marked his track across the cliff face. He had to look down to keep the dirt out of his eyes. Right now, his entire world consisted of the ledge that he was sliding across, and the imperfections of the rock that he was staring at as he inched across the ten feet to the vertical crack.

  He was half way there, and he began to feel the strain in his hands. Still, in for a penny, in for a pound. He knew he was tiring, but there was no way in hell that he was going to fail in front of the team. He focused. He didn’t even see the rock face in front of him anymore. His world became that little ledge, and the sensation of his fingers sliding across it.

  It became a mental contest more than a physical one. He knew he could do it. He had done similar things when he trained. It was tough, but he would get there. Sweat dripped from his forehead onto his cheek. The sweat got into his eyes and blurred his vision. Then he slid his left hand, and almost fell as he realized that the ledge ended.

  “What the hell?” he thought. “I thought this ledge went all the way to the crack.”

  He looked up. A grim smile slid onto his face. In fact, he’d gone about a foot past the crack. He had been concentrating so much on getting across the ledge that he had gone too far. Now he looked for hand holds to get up to the crack, which was about a foot and a half above his head. There was a hand hold that he could use, but it was going to be tough to get to. He needed to find a way to get his hand up that high. He looked down, and found a small depression he could fit his right foot into. He placed his foot there, and used it as a step.

  It was enough, and he was able to wedge the fingers of his right hand into the crack. He bent his fingers, his knuckles putting pressure against the rock wall. He was able to stabilize his grip. His left hand came up and he put his fingers in. Now the palms of his hands faced away from each other, and he could push against the crack in both directions to maintain pressure. The crack was narrow at that point, so he secured a wedge, and put in another anchor. He put the carabineer on, hooked the rope through it, and leaned back. He flexed his hands to loosen them up.

  He looked at the crack that led up. It was a piece of cake. It was wide enough that he could use it to anchor his fist and use as a step. A few minutes of rest, and he was ready to go again. He started climbing. He anchored a few more times, and then he had both hands on a ledge. He powered his way up, and then he was kneeling on a broad ledge. It was twenty feet deep, much wider than the one that the team was on below. Hopefully, this was the ledge that they were looking for. It should lead to the left towards the rift at the top of the cliff.

  Mike sat there for a moment, composing himself. He took the pack off and tossed it over to the cliff face on the inside of the ledge. He walked over and checked for a good anchoring place. He pulled a piton out, hammered it in and put a carabineer through the lead. He pulled rope out of the pack, tied a figure eight knot, and hooked it through the carabineer.

  He walked back over to the cliff, and yelled down, “Rope!”

  He heard Mickey yell back, “Clear!”

  He dropped the rope, aiming it toward the team. Now the rest of the team would use ascenders on the rope to climb. They didn’t have time to mess around with the entire team climbing up the rock face. They had to get the team up, plus all of their equipment. The less time they spent on the cliff face, the less likely it was that they’d have a mishap.

  Mike watched as Tom, Everett, and Matki used the ascenders. As each one arrived, he helped maneuver them onto the ledge. Next, Rob and Mickey secured the equipment onto the rope. Mike and the other three pulled all of the equipment up. They had back packs, battle rattle and weapons that had to be pulled up.

  Mike was just glad that they didn’t have to carry all of the old crap that he had to carry on missions back on old Earth. Heavy radios, military batteries for the radios, and extra ammunition would increase the weight of the packs until he had been carrying anywhere from ninety to one hundred and twenty pounds on his back into combat. That didn’t even take into account the combat vest he had to wear with armor plates and his combat load of two hundred and ten rounds of ammunition. Then there was also the water they had to carry. They used to make jokes about the equipment getting lighter, but command making up for it by giving them more to carry. That wasn’t a problem now. The backpacks were still heavy, but much lighter compared to what Mike used to carry, only about sixty pounds.

  They didn’t know what they would run into up here, but they knew there were some dangerous animals around. Not only did they have their weapons, but they stocked up on explosive munitions as well. Mike and the team were carrying multiple frag grenades, thermite grenades, flash bangs, det cord, C4, and Mike’s personal favorite, Claymore mines. Once the equipment was up, Rob and Mickey used the ascenders and were up the rope in a flash. Ropes, harnesses, and the climbing hardware were stowed in packs. They moved everything off the ledge and took it to the base of the rift leading up into the mountains. There was one thing left to do.

  Mike pulle
d out the radio, “Base, this is Patrol, over.”

  John Smith replied, “Roger Patrol, this is Base, over.”

  “We made it to the top. We’re ready to start the patrol, over.”

  “Roger,” there was a pause, “Hey, Mike, you have somebody that wants to say something to you.”

  Mike had an idea who it was. He was proven right when he heard Jen’s voice, “Mike?”

  “Hey Jennifer.”

  “Be careful, okay?”

  Mike was about to reply, then looked over at the team, who were all grinning at him. Mike was a newlywed. He and Jennifer had tied the knot before he left.

  Mickey’s smile was the biggest, “Go ahead, lover boy, we don’t mind.”

  Tom nodded, “Go ahead, newlywed.”

  Everett chimed in, “Man, you have to. She won’t be happy unless you say it.”

  After a lifetime of Army protocol, Mike felt like he was committing a sin. He took a deep breath, “Love you, baby.”

  Hoots and cheers broke out behind him. He would never hear the end of it, but it was worth it when he heard the emotion in her voice, “I love you, too.”

  “Okay, I have to go, honey.”

  “Bye.”

  “Hey, is Michelle there?” Rob asked.

  Things hadn’t been going as well for Rob and Michelle. Rob was trying to figure things out with her, but she wasn’t giving an inch.

  Mike called back to John, “Hey John, Rob wants to know if Michelle is there.”

  He waited for a moment, then John called back, “She’s here, but she doesn’t want to say anything.”

  Mike looked at Rob, “Did you hear that?”

  Rob looked downcast as he nodded.

  Mike called back to John, “Okay, Spec team out.”

  Mike turned around. The team’s grins were even bigger. Even Rob was smiling, happy for Mike and Jennifer. Everett began to say something, but Mike forestalled the quip by holding up his hand and stopping him, “Okay, everybody get it out of your system, then ruck up, and shut up.”

  A chorus of ‘lover boy,’ ‘you the man,’ and ‘sexy beast,’ hit him all at once. He let them continue until they stopped.

  Mike looked around at the team, “Now that you’re done, is everybody ready?” He passed the radio back to Rob to carry.

  Their plan was to keep a lookout for anyplace that looked good for another settlement, preferably with game, water and other resources. Right now though, they were going to head southeast to find a path to Matki’s tribe. If the team could find a route, then maybe they could trade iron implements for salt, information, maybe food. The possibility that they would be able to do all this was slim, but they wouldn’t find anything if they didn’t search.

  He got a thumbs up from everyone. He turned, and walked down the path. Rob fell in behind him. The order after that was Matki, Everett, Tom, and Mickey bringing up the rear, all of them with smiles on their faces.

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  Joseph sat on the steps of the gateway. He slapped at a bug on the side of his neck. In front of him, Lieutenant Jondreau was rattling off about something. That’s all he seemed to do, talk, talk, talk. Joseph was going on guard duty with Trevino, Murph, and Yee. While Jondreau talked, Joseph watched the team climb. They looked like bugs from here. They spent the better part of a day getting up the side of the cliff.

  He’d watched Pang with Nosstrand, Sheffield, and Franklin. If Trevino wasn’t about to go on guard duty, she’d be over there as well. Joseph didn’t understand it. The team guys had the best looking women.

  Things weren’t going well for Joseph. He wanted to go home. This place sucked. He wished he could have a cold beer. He wanted to be back in a honky-tonk in Great Falls. There were always girls there who wanted to spend time with him. He couldn’t claim to be the smartest or the funniest guy, but eighteen inch arms went a long way with the girls he liked to sleep with. He also enjoyed putting a beat down on a few guys every once in a while. Things had been fun in Great Falls.

  Now, there was nothing. An unending, unrelenting nothing. All he did was eat, sleep, and slap at the no-see-ums that surrounded him when he was on guard shift. The only fun he had was throwing rocks at the dragons when they showed up.

  Lately though, he found himself staring at Lieutenant Pang’s ass. She was tiny, and he was a big guy. He thought about some of the interesting things they could do together. He didn’t know why he fixated on Pang. Hell, it could be dangerous for him now that Pang and Mike were an item.

  There were other pretty girls here. Not as many as there were at home, but there were a few. The girls here talked too much, though. Over educated, that was the problem. The girls back in Montana weren’t nerds like the ones here. He didn’t like the idea of having to spend a lot of time with them either. They always wanted to talk about something. A few girls showed interest at first. He’d hooked up Maria Roberts, but he lost interest after a few romps in the sack. He’d moved on to Michelle Tomiko after that. Lately though, he wasn’t able to hook up. The girls blew him off when he tried to chat them up.

  “Joseph, you paying attention?” Jondreau asked him.

  He turned around and looked at the lieutenant. Sometimes, Joseph just wanted to beat Jondreau’s face in. Jondreau had always pushed his buttons. Jondreau was such a pussy. Now though, Jondreau wasn’t really a lieutenant anymore. Joseph didn’t have to listen to a thing he said. He stared at Jondreau for a minute, then blinked, “Yes sir, I’m paying attention.”

  Murph looked at him, “Dude, you okay?”

  Joseph nodded, “Yeah, no problems.”

  Murphy frowned, concern on his face. He turned his head back to look at Jondreau.

  Joseph looked at his friend for a moment. Murph didn’t understand. Hell, Murph could have his choice of the women here. He was knocking boots with Laura Roberts, one of the techs. They even had a ceremony. He didn’t understand why the people here were getting married. It wasn’t even legal. There weren’t any priests, so how the hell could they get married. It didn’t make sense.

  Of course, he wasn’t the only one that couldn’t get laid here. There were a few others as well, not enough girls to go around. It was strange that he couldn’t get laid. Hell, even that pussy Stein was getting some. He and Stephanie hit it off when Stein started teaching her Aikido.

  Joseph looked back out at the team guys on the cliff. It looked like one of them had just reached the top. Of course, that meant that the team guys wouldn’t be around for a while. Joseph thought about Pang’s ass some more. He really wished he could have a beer.

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  Mike felt someone shaking his shoulder. He woke with a start, and drew back to punch.

  “Whoa, Mike, it’s me, Tom.”

  Mike relaxed and put his arm down. He looked around, and saw Mickey and Tom looking at him.

  “What’s up?” he asked.

  Tom spoke, “Something’s out there.”

  Mike stretched, “Isn’t there always something out there? That pretty much sums up this world.”

  “Yeah, but I think there’s something out there stalking us.”

  Mike was suddenly wide awake, “Where?”

  Tom pointed to the southwest, “It’s over that way. Mickey saw if first, then he grabbed me.”

  Mike sat up and looked around him. The cold air fogged his breath. They’d walked into the small rift above the cliff, and climbed steadily upward since. They were at least two thousand feet above where they had started. There was a light fog, but it didn’t hide the scenery around them. It was magnificent. Mike had lived in the Rockies, but it was nothing like this. Everywhere, as far as the eye could see, there were mountains. High craggy mountains towering up to the sky. Snowcapped mountains that looked like God’s own throne.

  Mike looked out across the slope of the mountain in the direction that Tom was pointing at. It was strewn with rocks, boulders, and talus. Evergree
n trees, or something closely related to them, were scattered across the landscape.

  “I don’t see anything.”

  Tom nodded, “Yeah, I didn’t see anything either when I first started looking. But, eventually, I saw something move. Not much, but it was there. Then it was gone.”

  Mike studied the area. He still didn’t see anything, “Well, if its intent is serious, I’m pretty sure it’ll show itself again. Until then, we just need to stay on our toes.”

  They doubled the watch, and Mike went back to sleep until it was his turn.

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  They started early the next morning. Matki cooked and made tea for the team. They were on edge, knowing there was something out there trailing them. Tom was pulling rear security, and had been watching their back trail through the telescope on his rifle, so he was the first one to see it.

  “Yeah, it’s back there. I still don’t know what it is though. I tried to look at it through the scope, but I couldn’t get it on target in time. It’s still paralleling our course, along the base of the mountains up there.”

  The smaller valley they had initially climbed merged with a larger valley that led up into the mountains. The valley floor changed from talus and rock to a springy moss carpet. The moss was punctuated by stones thrusting up through the green floor. A small stream flowed through the middle of the valley, taking melt water from the high mountains down to some far away river down slope. They were looking for a way to cut over to the south of the mountain they were heading for. They had to find a pass in that direction, otherwise they would be heading too far northeast.

  “So, it’s stalking us?” Everett asked.

  Tom nodded, “Yeah, it’s definitely stalking us.”

  Mike looked at the faces of his patrol. No fear, they just wanted to know how to deal with the situation.