The Last Mission of the Living (The Last Bastion #2)(72)

“Keep us updated,” Torran said, then cut the scientist out of their conversation. Looking at Lindsey, he could see the computer behind her eyes already whirring to life. He trusted that look implicitly.

“The power junctions were sabotaged, meaning they couldn’t lock the doors,” Lindsey said. “They barricaded the doors to keep the Scrags in the building trapped while they got a few of the containers onto the transports before shutting the loading doors.”

That sounded about right, so Torran gave her a quick nod. “So the question is: did they then kill themselves?”

Lindsey glanced at the bodies around her, then opened a direct link to Hobbes and Franklin. “Check all the bodies in the room. See how many have holstered weapons.”

The two soldiers hurried off as Lindsey squatted in front of one of the piles of dead soldiers. A Sci-Tech and his escort were just finishing at the nearby storage unit. The tech marked the unit with a large red X, then moved on. Another sabotaged unit.

Crouching beside her, Torran asked, “What are you thinking?”

“I suspect there was a battle. Some of the people in here were defending the food depot. The others weren’t.” Lindsey pointed at the weapons still holstered in the belts of the bodies in front of her. “Indications are that they were ambushed. They’re nearest the control center. Exit wounds look like they’re in the front of the head, not back.”

“Shot from behind most likely.”

“Killed unexpectedly. Then I think there was a skirmish.”

What she was suggesting seemed to make sense in the light of the sabotage and bodies around them. Torran didn’t like where the investigation was pointing at all.

“Vanguard Rooney,” Hobbes said, running up, Franklin on his heels. “Most of the bodies around the control room had weapons on them, but they were not drawn. Toward the loading docks, those bodies were armed and appeared to have additional wounds other than the head shot.”

“Neither side truly won, but the saboteurs failed. That meant someone managed to kill them before they were able to finish their job,” Torran decided.

“Why destroy the food? Why murder these people?” Lindsey directed her focus to the people at her feet again. “Who would do something like that?”

With a frown, Torran said, “The Gaia Cult.”

“The people who wanted humanity to die?” Hobbes asked.

“People who believed humans had outwitted their extinction event and overstayed their time on Earth,” Franklin amended. “They wanted to save the planet from us.”

“So they destroyed the resources we might need to survive.” Lindsey straightened and glanced toward the loaders. “Maybe they’re the ones who started the Scrag infection in the building.”

The cult had been responsible for opening the gate and letting the Scrags into the valley that surrounded The Bastion. Their ardent belief that humanity’s time was at an end spurred them to horrific acts of terrorism. This seemed to be yet another one.

“It had to have been the Gaia Cult,” Torran decided. “This looks like their work. They just didn’t get to finish. What is beyond those doors?”

“Those are basic interior doors,” Lindsey said. “They swing outward. Enough force will push them open.”

Torran tapped on his wristlet screen and summoned one of the drones. “Then we should be able to peer under it.” He gestured to the tracks in the floor used to move food from the processing part of the facility to the storage. “I got a drone on its way.”

“I have an update on the containers,” Dr. Curran said through the channel to the three in charge.

“Report,” the chief defender’s voice ordered over the comm.

“A little less than half of the containers are still operational and have viable food products within,” Dr. Curran answered.

“That’s a much smaller haul than anticipated,” Solomon groused.

“The containers were sabotaged. There’s not much we can do about that,” Dr. Curran replied, her voice clipped.

“It’ll have to do then. MacDonald, Rooney, what is our status?”

The aerial drone sped past Torran and headed toward one of the doors. Its long spidery legs extended from under its body as it settled on the cement floor. “Running a scan on the hallways. We can’t move the loaders yet.”

“Transports arrive in two minutes,” the chief defender said briskly.

“Understood,” Lindsey said, glancing at Torran. Her expression was very tense.

A small beep in Torran’s helmet indicated he was about to get a new feed. A second later, the data from the small scanner the aerial drone had scooted under one of the doors appeared in the corner of her faceplate. It took several tries with the filters for them to finally get an adequate scan. Torran’s heart thumped harder in his chest.

The image was of countless feet standing perfectly still.

The Scrags were outside the doors. Fear filled his veins with ice. Swallowing the hard lump that formed all at once in his suddenly tight throat, he toggled over to the chief defender directly.

“What is it?” Solomon asked. From across the room, she directed her gaze toward him.

“There are Scrags in the lower left hallway. We’re checking the others w now. We’ll need to move the loaders, which will make sufficient noise to waken them.” Torran kept his voice surprisingly steady despite the dread clawing at his insides.