The Nemesis Origin by Dean Crawford

Author:Dean Crawford [Crawford, Dean]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Science Fiction, Alien Contact
ISBN: 9781508512714
Google: uLvurQEACAAJ
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
Published: 2015-02-02T16:00:00+00:00

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XXI

Ethan hurtled down the hillside with Lucy hot on his heels, and behind them he could hear the Americans plunging through the undergrowth in pursuit. He recalled that they were wearing jungle kit and were laden down with water, webbing and weapons. Ethan and Lucy were encumbered only by their light rucksacks, but the soldiers’ fitness would likely even the odds.

Ethan began to slow slightly as they descended the mountain side, knowing that even the slightest injury would render them unable to escape. Lucy closed in behind him as they ran, aiming for the open tracks used by the motorcyclists and tourists to reach the waterfalls below. Both of their mopeds were parked down there, and although Ethan was certain that such battered old vehicles would not have been stolen he could not be sure that the headlights worked.

A shot cracked out behind him and he flinched instinctively as the round smacked into a tree to his right.

‘Get in front of me,’ Ethan insisted as he moved to the right and allowed Lucy to pass him.

Another shot impacted close beside Ethan’s head and sprayed him with wood chips as he ducked down and followed Lucy through the darkness. Moments later she found the path that they had followed up the hillside, a slightly clearer passage through the forest toward the waterfalls below. Lucy picked up the pace as she regained her confidence on the narrow trail and Ethan likewise accelerated as they raced through the darkness.

‘Why the hell are Americans shooting at us?’

‘I don’t know and stop talking, they can hear us!’

Ethan heard the crashing of the waterfall as they approached it, a useful feature that would help disguise the sound of their movement. He quickly began considering his options, wondering whether it might be better to hunker down in the jungle and hope the American soldiers would pass them by rather than continuing their headlong flight down the hillside. The solution came as another shot cracked out and narrowly passed between Lucy and Ethan in the darkness. Two highly accurate shots in otherwise pitch black forest could mean only one thing: the platoon sharpshooter was using night-vision to pick them out as they ran.

Ethan began dodging left and right on the path in an attempt to spoil the sharpshooter’s aim, but two more shots cracked out and hit the path almost at his feet. He heard Lucy cry out as though she had been hit as she stumbled, but she picked herself up and kept moving.

A voice bellowed out from the jungle behind them.

‘Another step and we’ll shoot to kill!’

‘Keep moving!’ Ethan growled ahead to Lucy, knowing that the soldiers were intent on killing them anyway.

The path plunged away down the hillside a short distance ahead and circled the elephant pool, the water just visible now plunging into its limpid depths. Lucy ran down to the edge of the pool and circled it with Ethan close behind. They were almost at the edge of the tree line when a fresh shot cracked out and hit the path directly in front of them.

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