FORESIGHT and SCOPE: BOOK TWO

C H A P T E R E I G H T

THIRD PERSON POV

Fern and Echo were gone for another thirty minutes before returning to Romar's home. Upon reentry, Fern noticed the owner and Tech sitting together to the right and Omega was nowhere to be seen.

"Where's Omega?" Echo beat Fern to it.

"She, was just here." Tech said quietly, realizing she was gone just then. Fern smacked her forehead. "Are you kidding me, Tech? You had one job!"

"My repelling cable's gone." Romar uttered in a concern tone.

"I suspect then she went after the war chest." Tech said.

"You suspect?" Fern growled, clenching her fists and turning to Echo. "Go and find her. With luck, the Empire doesn't find her first. I will help Tech and we'll catch up as fast as we can." Echo nodded and bolted out the door. Fern, with an angry scowl on her face, rushed to gather their belongings, cursing under her breath. Tech watched her hasten with a frown. "I'm, sorry, I did not see her sneak out." he sighed.

"I'm not angry at you." Fern grumbled, throwing her backpack over her shoulders and rising to her feet. "But Omega isn't going to be so lucky when we find her and get off this planet."

"She, does a tendency to wander off, doesn't she?"

"Yeah, and causing trouble when we are already in deep enough." Fern huffed, holding out both hands. "Come on, we have to hurry the best we can."

"You two won't get far in his condition." Romar said.

"We can manage." Tech and Fern said in unison, made eye contact and back at Romar. Fern then bowed her head to the old man. "Thank you for your help. I hope things turn out better for you in the future." Romar only returned the gesture, rubbing the back of his head.

Tech accepted Fern's help and the two began their long hobble back to the war chest site, with Tech's left side leaning into her right and her hand gripping his around her shoulders. She supported him around his torso the best she could, but she wasn't as strong as Echo, so their progress through the dark woods was more or less stagnant. Tech's grunting and panting did not ease Fern's already engrossed mind. She squeezed his fingers. "Just a little further, Tick. You got this."

"Your, attempt, to stimulate our current rate using words of encouragement," Tech groaned. "is ironically making this ordeal much more unbearable."

Fern rolled her eyes. "Sorry, Wired-Brain. Next time, I will go with Echo and leave you to crawl your way back. Promise." Her eyes observed their surroundings, searching for any unnatural movement. Ahead, she could see the clearing where they first climbed up the cliffside. "We're almost there. Just a— Oh, no..."

"What is it?"

"Over here." Her voice dropped into a whisper and pulled him to the left behind a colossal tree that was so immense in its circumference the two of them could hide easily side-by-side. "There are troopers already at the site. I don't see Echo or Omega, so they must down in the container. I'm going to get a closer look." Fern ordered in a low voice, then stared at the injured clone's leg with a grimaced line across her mouth. "If you hear blaster fire, stay here."

"Fern, I do not think that is wise—"

Fern ignored him and curved her body around the tree's trunk, the bark digging into her back. With her single blaster in hand, she stealthfully maneuvered herself closer to the treeline, crouching behind the natural barriers to remain unseen. There were not many clones—she counted only three—and she aimed her first shot at the trooper who was assembling an E-web automatic rifle. The moment she stunned him, the other two quickly engaged and she was forced to retreat back the way she came.