Operation Phoenix:  The hunt for Samhain


Part 4


 
	Samhain took the lashed-together bundle of wood, rock, and the 
Jihadlink to the river, and tied a long vine to it, which he secured the 
other end of it to a large tangle of fallen trees in the river, wading into 
the river up to his waist to do so.  He checked the buoyancy of the mass... 
it was perfect, it floated below the surface by about 8 inches, but would 
not sink if cut loose.  He checked for where it ended up downstream, and 
stuck one of those long, hollow reeds into the muddy bottom a few feet 
upstream from it.  He hoped this would work... if it didn't he may end up 
dead, very, very soon...

	He checked his own reed section and made sure he could hide 
underwater and still breathe.  He could.  Good.  He reached down to the 
underwater Jihadlinker, and pressed its emergency call beacon activator, 
then hurried a ways downstream, next to some other reeds, and took up his 
hiding place, Katana at the ready...



	The X'hirjq communications officer hurried up to his commander.  
"Sir, you were right!  He's trying to call for help with his Jihadlinker.  
It'll lead us right to him, as planned.  The call is being intercepted and 
squelched sir.  We've got him now.  He's just a little ways upstream now."

	"Of course I was right, that's what they do when they're in 
trouble... they run for help, or look for bigger guns!  Now shut up, and 
keep yourself safe... I don't want his signal getting out."  And with that, 
the X'hirjq commander raised his arm in an attention signal, and started 
giving orders in silent sign language.

	Without a sound, the group fanned out around the spot that the 
Jihadlinker was submerged.  One of them pointed at the reed sticking out 
upstream...  he half grinned.  The oldest trick in the book.  No way slugs 
would go anywhere through the water, though...

	A X'hirjq warrior with an ion beam rifle hurried forward.  The 
ion beam would penetrate the water and still massacre anything below it, 
especially when the water around the beam exploded into its separate atoms, 
and then instantly rejoined, releasing energy in an explosive blast of heat 
and shock.

	He took careful aim just barely downstream of the reed, and fired.  
There was a loud explosion as water flew everywhere, the reed more or less 
disintigrated, and steam rose in a cloud.  The X'hirjq watched, expecting 
to see some remnants of a corpse or something to indicate a kill...

	As expected, the vine broke, and the Jihadlinker started floating 
downstream.  The comm officer pointed, tracking the signal downstream.  The 
commander scowled, pondering, then motioned for a couple of the troops to 
wade in after it, to verify the kill...



	Samhain fought the urge to move, howl in pain, or react at all as 
the explosion of sound from the ion beam hitting the water nearly burst his 
eardrums.  But he knew he had to be ready... for his only chance was coming 
soon... the Jihadlinker floated past him, and Samhain grabbed it, and set 
its auto-destruct overload sequence in motion...

	The 2 X'hirjq approached... (20 seconds)
	Samhain readied himself... and popped out of the water.  (15 
seconds)
	He tossed the Jihadlinker onshore, into the middle of the group
		as closely as possible (14 seconds)
	The approaching X'hirjq raised their weapons (13 seconds)
	Samhain swung the Katana in an arc, slicing the first X'hirjq's 
		head off (12 seconds)
	The remaining X'hirjq fired wildly (11 seconds)
	The blast whizzed past Samhain harmlessly as Samhain swung back 
		again with the katana (10 seconds)
	The X'hirjq Commander's eyes went wide, and he dove for cover
		as the Jihadlinker, wood, and rock, arced downward towards 
		his position (8 seconds)
	The X'hirjq bodies fell into the water, dead... (7 seconds)
	The other X'hirjq on shore saw their folly, and turned to flee...
		(6 seconds)
	Samhain snatched the 2 energy weapons from the X'hirjq (4 seconds)
	Samhain ducked back under water and headed downstream (3 seconds)
	The X'hirjq onshore ducked and covered (2 seconds)



	There was a brief moment (about 2 seconds worth) of silence, and 
then the calm and quiet of the forest was shattered by the tremendous noise 
of the exploding Jihadlinker...

To be Continued...


"The Hunt for Samhain"
Copyright 1995, David R. Hibbs
All Rights Reserved.