Unfamiliar chirps and croaks filled Cipher’s ears as he crept quietly through the darkness. The forests on Calyx were strange to him, especially this high up in elevation. Most of his life had been spent on warships or on deployments in the worst sort of sandy, hot, miserable places. This lush planet was a mystery that he wanted to explore, but so far, most of his days had been spent on the Valiant, The City or the settlements where nature had been pushed to the far edges.
Vaguely, he wondered if he would come across any of the predators he had been warned about in his briefing. His hand drifted to the holstered weapon at his hip as his gaze swept the shadows. He hated night vision goggles and avoided them whenever possible. Wondering just what might be surrounding him, he slipped them into place, dragging them down from the top of his head, and blinked until his eyes adjusted.
His heart rate ticked up a few notches as he noticed all of the beady eyes staring back at him. Everywhere he looked, there were animals watching him. Most of them seemed small and unlikely to bother him, but there was one set of eyes shining out from the low vegetation of a bush that drew his concern. He noticed the strange sound in the background of all the chirping insects and croaking frogs. It was a deep, growling hum.
A warning.
Not in the mood to tangle with some wild animal that wanted to rip out his throat, he kept moving. His steps were deliberate and unhurried. He didn’t want to spook the animal or give it a reason to chase him. Gradually, the growling faded into nothing, and he relaxed his shoulders. Keeping the goggles in place, just in case, he continued on the path indicated by the GPS unit on his wrist.
The mission tonight was a simple one. He was meeting with a Shadow Force asset who had intel needed to plan Terror’s rescue mission. It had been only twenty-seven hours since Torment had received the photos of Terror, alive but in captivity. He was being held in an abandoned mine, deep in the wilderness. The asset, a miner from a long line of miners, had the necessary maps and the explosives skills that were likely to be required.
He didn’t often take missions like these, but sometimes the Special Response Unit where he served as the chief engineer loaned him out to the Shadow Force. Once, he had considered taking an offered spot on the elite team of covert operatives, but he had seen too much of their handiwork to ever be comfortable in their ranks. He had a moral code, and it wasn’t compatible with their directive.
The unit on his wrist vibrated to alert him that he was closing in on his destination. The map included with his mission briefing had shown him a small cabin tucked away beside a stream. It was located high up the mountain, higher than any of its neighbors. The next closest cabin was more than two miles away. He likely could have been dropped down right in front of the cabin by his flight crew, but he hadn’t wanted to rouse any sort of suspicion. It was imperative he get the mine maps and secure the help of the asset without alerting the Splinters holding Terror captive.
When he neared the edge of the tree line, he crept forward carefully and used a wide trunk as cover. He surveyed the area, noting well-worn paths in the dirt leading up to the rickety porch and another leading behind the cabin, probably to the stream nearby. He tapped the side of his goggles to change to the infrared setting and searched the area for heat signatures. There was only one inside the cabin. It moved back and forth. Pacing. Waiting.
Certain it was safe to move forward, he tapped his goggles, turning them off, and slipped them up to the top of his head. He let the moonlight above guide him forward, his boots crunching on twigs and dried grass. There was one window on the cabin, the glass illuminated by the flicker of a lamp or candle. The closer he got, the more he worried about the rundown shack. It had been sturdy once, but now, after years of neglect and the abuse of the environment, it was sagging and decrepit.
His focus was so intent on the cabin that he didn’t even notice the thin, clear