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“How will that be their downfall?” Serenity asked.
“The element of surprise, for one thing,” Alyx answered. “The nith think we don’t know about their invasion. They think they’ll be taking us by surprise when actually we’ll be the ones ambushing them. But that’s not all. We’ve got a few extra tricks up our sleeves as it were.”
“What tricks?”
Alyx smiled. “Over the past several years, we’ve managed to collect a pretty good stockpile of nith weapons that we’ve looted from their facilities. Of course, the ukkur warriors don’t like to use these weapons. They prefer their traditional spears and slings. But now we have the perfect opportunity to break out some of those nith weapons.”
“What kind of weapons?” Serenity asked.
“Explosives.”
Alyx’s eyes glinted wickedly in the torchlight, and Serenity realized that beneath her gentle and motherly exterior the woman had a cruel streak. Yet even that part of her was motherly, wasn’t it? It was the cold and violent disposition of a mother bear who was willing to go to any length to protect her cubs. This wasn’t just war for Alyx. This was personal.
That realization made Serenity like her even more.
Alyx gestured to the map again.
“We’ve long assumed the nith would eventually discover our encampment and mount an invasion, so we’ve made some preparations of our own. These three wide tunnels may look like the best path for an invading army, but what the nith don’t know is that the tunnels are unstable. The ceilings are supported by natural columns of stone, but if those columns should be damaged, the entire section of tunnel will collapse.”
Serenity’s eyes widened in amazement.
“You’re going to blow up the columns and bring down the tunnels while the nith army are coming through.”
“Yup. We’ll squash as many of the fuckers as we can. Our foot soldiers will have no trouble mopping up the rest.”
Serenity grinned at the brilliance of the plan. It seemed like some of Alyx’s wickedness was rubbing off on her. Behind her, Jagga growled in appreciation too. He was wearing the translator device, so he understood everything Alyx had said. He began explaining it to Grodd.
Alyx placed her hand on Serenity’s shoulder.
“Serenity, you are invited to take part in the battle if you wish,” Alyx said. “Of course, you don’t have to if you don’t want to. It will be dangerous, and after everything you’ve been through, I wouldn’t blame you for saying no.”
Serenity looked at her in surprise.
“You would trust me to do that?” she asked. “Even after I tried to run away from the camp? Even after the role I played in bringing about this whole mess?”
Alyx just smiled that friendly, gentle smile of hers.
“Of course I trust you. You came back, after all. And as I already told you, none of this is your fault. In fact, it’s thanks to you that we found out about the attack ahead of time. I thought the best way would we could repay you was to give you the opportunity to kill some nith.”
“I’m in,” Serenity said without hesitation.
“I thought you would be.”
Serenity knew it would be dangerous, but she wasn’t afraid. She would have her ukkur companions there to protect her. Her mates. Jagga and Grodd…
…and Hruk.
Serenity had been so caught up in Alyx’s explanation of the battle plan, she had almost forgotten about her missing mate. Actually, she had hoped she would find Hruk here with the tribal leaders, but the dark ukkur was nowhere in sight. She needed to find out where he had gone.
“Alyx, what happened to the ukkur who arrived here ahead of us? The one who first brought you the warning about the nith.”
“Hruk?” Alyx said. “I’m not sure. After he told us everything he knew about the invasion, he pretty much disappeared. Said he had to take care of some important personal business.”
A cold, heavy feeling settled in Serenity’s belly.
Important personal business?
Alyx noticed the concern on Serenity’s face. Using the ukkur language, Alyx said something to her three mates. Serenity assumed she was asking if they knew where Hruk had gone. The three males just shrugged and shook their heads.
