Star People Legacy by Smith, T.L. (feel good books to read .txt) 📕

dropping her face to dirt floor, praying as tears came faster. She was invoking St. Zavala. Believing I was her, the other Ci’in being my angels. She prayed that I save their lives and souls. I stepped back. Why wouldn’t she think that? We were glowing.

“Get up and go with one of these soldiers. They’ll get you to safety.” I rattled it off firmly, stepping out of their way.

The man managed to get to his feet. Hands still on his head, letting them down slowly to help the woman up. Still nothing to show he was infested as he passed by me and a Ci’in took his arm. She gave me a nod to confirm he was clean.

They stumbled, the woman still crying. As I turned around, Chucky was kneeling down to peer inside the room. “Damn!” He covered his face, backing away. “Fucking animals.”

I looked into the cell, glowing green with the light stick. It was barely more than a hole in the wall, a little longer than wide, maybe six-by-eight. A bucket was against one wall, two more on the other wall. I didn’t have to go inside to know one was a toilet. I could smell it. “They had no choice.”

“I wasn’t talking about them.” Chucky headed for the next cell door.

I couldn’t blame him for his disgust, but I knew it was only going to get worse.

Three more cells released the same grateful, desperate hostages. We had the cycling pattern down as we reached the next section of tunnel and sets of doors. I leaned against the wall behind the door, then jumped back. I’d started to glow hotter. “Bingo!”

The Kwia at the door backed away. “The stench. Something in there is dead.”

“It isn’t the larva.” I looked at the cells we’d already passed. In ten thousand years we still didn’t know everything about the infestation process. We didn’t want to and only learned what we did from those hostages rescued before their turn came.

It was brutal. The victim became nothing more than a wild animal. A wild animal in such pain that its only reaction is to kill. This was the stage where they usually died, but this one hadn’t. He was strong enough to make my skin crawl.

I swung my rifle around and rapped on the cell door. Something inside threw itself against the door in response, the screeching inhuman. “Give me a glow stick.”

One plopped into my hand and with some twisting, I tore off the end, using the gel to mark the door as I’d seen in dozens of plague disaster movies, only with a ‘Z’ for zombie. “No one needs to see what’s inside these cells until we have to.”

Everyone agreed.

Two more cells yielded uninfected hostages, the third gave me a bad vibe, but a woman’s voice answered the rap. She pleaded for help, that her husband was sick. I gave the Kwia a nod to open the door and she spilled out, kneeling on the ground, her clothes torn until almost nonexistent. Deep scratches ran down her arms and legs, and across one cheek. She rattled off words, pointing inside the cell.

“We’ll take care of him.” I nodded to the team to take her out of the cave. They pulled her off the ground, carrying her weak body away. She kept begging us to help her husband. I couldn’t tell her he was beyond help. I certainly couldn’t let her see what would happen to him.

A glow stick was tossed into the hole. Against the back wall was the man. I could see why her clothes were nothing but rags. She used them to make restraints, tying his arms and legs. Smart woman. From the way he was thrashing around and gnashing his teeth, I doubt she’d still be alive to beg for his salvation.

When I got the message she was in the hands of triage, I gave Chucky a nod. He locked the door, marking it. I moved on. “How many of these cells are there?”

“Eleven more.” Lutz appeared ahead of me, walking backwards. “The guy we ran into that first day is in the group heading down. He doesn’t look too good, but I don’t see any wounds. He’s stumbling and two others are carrying him. I think that thing is happening to him.”

“Maturity? Shit!” I turned back to Chucky. “I don’t have time for this. Lutz says we got a new Maxa’xak emerging.”

“Got it.” He spun back. “Split up. If you speak Spanish, stay here to evacuate the victims. If you get a live response, open it. Get a glow and no human, mark it.” He waved his arm as he turned towards me. “Everyone else with us.”

Lutz disappeared, returning to our advance team. Another round of explosions sounded, screams, then clearance to move on. We kept running into assailants, sacrifices meant to slow us down.

They had no concern for their own survival, only gaining time for the new offspring to emerge and escape. If it chewed itself free before we got to it, it would be small enough to slip into the cracks and crevices of this mountain, this aquafer. It could evade us for ages.

“Hold up. They set explosives to cave in the tunnel.”

Chuck jerked and swung away from Lutz’ sudden materialization, stomping his feet as he pointed his M9 at the ceiling. “Damn it! Announce yourself before popping up like that. My trigger finger is jumpy enough.”

“Sorry, dude.” Lutz grinned. “You can shoot me if it’ll make you feel better.”

“Sarcasm from the dead guy. Cute.”

I turned to the group. “Bombs… anyone?”

“Did you see the final hook up?” A Ci’in stepped out of the team.

“Yeah. Electronic trigger. Watched them wire it.” Lutz shrugged. “I took training classes for IEDs. I can’t touch it, but I can talk.”

“That much is clear.” Chucky snarked at him.

“Man, I wish I was still alive. You seem like a hoot to hassle.” Lutz grinned as Chucky pointed his gun at him. “Casey’s going to have to be close enough for