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“It was worth waiting. The other teams I bet will be close to the hut, but tired out. We can go in, check see what they’re up to or if they have anything planned and they won’t even know we’ve been here.“ Belanna was talking to Opheliad. “I did some reading up on this planet and where we are now, there are some caves not too far off?” Opheliad looked at her, puzzled? “One of the caves, leads to a passage, which winds back, then up and comes out just above the hut. it should give us a good view over them.
Might even be advantageous to us, as a team with ropes to drop in and surprise them.“ “How do you know all this?” “Archaeology. My favorite subject. Most ignore the old maps and the usual terrain maps but me I love them, so I know this area pretty well.“ She looked ahead then stopped abruptly. ”Though I have to tell you, the maps are not complete. Someone started them but never finished them, so we can’t be sure of the accuracy of them.
As for how long its been, since anyone went into any of those caves? Rock falls, pit holes that, if you stepped too close and fell into them, could drop you to your death, or badly injure you. “Keep the main torch light on the ground ahead of us. NOT in front of us, down and in front of us, that way we shouldn’t have any nasty surprises to walk into. “Do you still want to go on with this?“ “Any minute now and we should see the cave, its not very big you’d probably miss it if you didn’t know it was there.“
Opheliad stared then gasped “You’re right Belanna there it is.“ Something was moving in the shadows, Ophelliad grabbed hold of Belanna “DON’T move. “ The hand had moved to her side, she had grabbed the small laser device and raised it. From the shadows, there was sound of movment? Critters? It was not that loud so pehaps there weren’t many of them, which was as Ophelliad had to remark later, a definite bonus given the charge in her laser stunner was getting low. A fault in the unit was causing the power cells to leak, something only recently discovered to her horror.
Some Ixas, small carnivorous creatures, bat like to us, not deadly where the Kets were concerned but capable of giving a nasty bite, apart from scaring the e b jeebies, out of you. That grey mass coming at you in the darkness, well, almost. Was a most unpleasant and frightening experience.All you saw, were these bright red eyes, UHH! A heck of a lot of them!. She fired the laser to the side of the creatures.
Some of the chemical in the wall ignited and sparks were more than visible. The creatures retreated at speed. “They weren’t realform I can tell you.” Belanna was curious to know how she thought they weren’t? “Uh well B, you don’t want to look on your shoulder. Let alone sniff, what’s there. Some of them left you a parting gift.“ Belanna moved her head then realized the pungent aroma of the creatures deposits waft across her nostrils.“
“Wipe it off.“ She squeals. Ophelliad did just that. “They stink.“ Belanna was relieved to be rid of the stench. “Are we likely to come up against anymore of them?” “Best to be prepared just in case.“ Belanna now reached down for her laser. “They come back and they’ll get my laser right up their.“ They fell about laughing. It was Belanna had to admit, the first time she had seen Ophelliad laugh. The things had certainly brought her out of her shell. Ocasa and Fre were almost directly opposite them. A thick wall between them of solid rock, neither could hear each other.
Belanna and Orphelliad would come across the entrance, that led into a small cavern, there, as predicted, the sight below them, of the hut.Occupied.by. “NARYA.“ “Well, at least we can report back, as to who has the hut at the moment. I see that they haven’t raised their flag, They will forfeit the Hut if its not raised soon. it has to be raised within three hours or lose the advantage. Ocasa and Fre were lower down and closer to the hut. No direct access to it, even if it was more than visible to them. They too had noticed the absence of the flag. “If it’s not posted within the regulation time period, they will have to vacate the hut and forfeit their flag. Bet Narya won’t be too happy about that.“
“Do you think they’ve lost it?“ “Doubtful. Misplaced it and probably too tired to find it. Did you see any sentries posted?” Fre was looking through the ‘Optica’ he had in his hand. “Nope. They sure are being complacent about this.“ “Or they want us to think that.“ “A trap. Come on into my web. Gotcha.“ Fre was still staring through the Optica, when he let out a hiss. “You’re right. Two hidden, tucked out of sight, or so they thought.“ He grinned, passed Ocasa the Optica. Ocasa now took a look.
“They, never thought we would be here to spy on them. Approaching from the usual places would keep them hidden from view until the last minute.” “An ambush. A large number of over eager, casualties.“ Belanna and Orphelliad were back with the others, minutes before Ocasa and Fre. Sadowan listened, as did several of the team, to their findings. “I suggest we launch an attack from that cave, above them and drop in on them. Surprise the guards and steal the flag, once we have the flag, they have to forfeit the hut."
“Something to sleep on and act on tomorrow.“ Belanna yawned. “Time to get some rest.“ It would not be long before they were doing just that. The rustle in the bushes nearby had gone unnoticed. Did Sadowan neglect to post guards? Narya had other issues, worrying about the Kets, keeping morale up and protecting their prize. Other teams thoughts were of course on taking it.
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