“We need to scout the Skorpis base,” I told them. “And, if possible, to get inside it.”
Quint made a snorting laugh. “Sure. We’ll just walk up to their perimeter and ask for a tour.”
“Or tunnel from here to there,” Frede suggested, grinning.
“I’ve done some tunneling in my time,” I said, “but I don’t think that would work in this case.”
“Then what do you have in mind?” Quint asked. Then he added, “Sir.”
I considered telling them about my telepathic contact but decided against it. I wasn’t certain that I believed it myself. But the thought that the Skorpis might have allies inside their base was too important to neglect.
“I’m going alone,” I said.
“You can’t do that,” Frede snapped. “With all due respect, sir, you can’t go out on a suicide mission and leave your command to fend for itself.”
“It needn’t be a suicide mission, Lieutenant. I’m not a total fool.”
“Then let me do it,” she said without hesitation.
I shook my head. “I’ve had more experience at this sort of thing than you. I’ll do it. If I’m not back by sundown tomorrow, you can consider me dead.”
Frede looked as if she wanted to argue, but she knew it would be pointless. Manfred looked as if he thought I was crazy. Quint almost smiled. If I was killed, he would be in command.
Manfred cleared his throat. “May I ask, sir, how you intend to get to the Skorpis base? There’s a couple of klicks of empty beach between the edge of these ruins and their perimeter.”
“Wait until dark?” Quint asked.
“They see better in the dark than we do,” Frede reminded him. “Any advantage we have, it’s in daylight.”
“Cross the beach in daylight?”
I smiled. “No, that would be like trying to sneak up on a pack of Tyrannosaurs.”
“Tyranno-what, sir?”
“Very large carnivorous reptiles, ten meters tall, teeth the size of your forearm,” I explained.
Frede looked as if she thought I was making it up.
Manfred brought us back to the subject. “Sir, if you can’t get across the beach without being seen, how are you going to get to their base?”
“Swim.”
“Swim?”
I said, “Their base is laid out along the beach, isn’t it? There are even some projections like piers that extend into the water, aren’t there?”
“Yessir, but—”
“I’ll double back to the bay, slip into the water there, let the current carry me into the ocean and then swim along the beach to the Skorpis base.”
“That’s a lot of swimming, sir,” said Manfred.
“I’ll use a flight pack. I assume they’re watertight.”
“Yessir, but salt water is very corrosive and—”
“What if there are animals in the water like the ones we met in the swamp?” Frede asked.
I hadn’t thought of that. Sucking in a breath, I said, “I’ll have to outrun them, I guess. Or kill them.”
“It’s suicide,” she said flatly.
I gave her a tight smile. “I’m not asking permission.”
CHAPTER 8
The water was surprisingly warm.
I had expected the bay to be cold, fed as it was by the river that came down from the snowcapped mountains. But instead the water was almost bath temperature, warmed by the sun during the long hot days.
The current was strong and swift, once I got away from the shore. I made a mental note to remember that for when I returned. I would have to struggle against that current unless I hugged the shoreline closely. The flight pack would help, of course, if it wasn’t drained of power or corroded by the salt water.
With a final wave to Frede and Manfred, who had accompanied me to the edge of the bay, I ducked beneath the surface and let the powerful current carry me out to sea. I had stripped down to nothing more than shorts. The only equipment I carried was my pistol, my knife, and the flight pack strapped to my back.
I have strengths and abilities far beyond those of normal humans, even the cloned warriors that made up the involuntary army of this era. I could stay underwater for a quarter of an hour without difficulty, and even longer if I needed to; in an emergency I could squeeze spare oxygen from my body cells.