“You swore to protect our young, and already you have failed in your task.”

The Sonoitii Overseer Bidras’nassa glared down at the group, flanked once again by its companions. “The enemy noisemakers harmed many of my people, land creature. What is merely bothersome to your kind is virulent to mine.”

“The attack came without warning,” Holme explained, defending their actions, “and we reacted the moment we realized the danger they represented.”

Rúna knew the colonel was right, but she couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling they could have done more. The problem was resources, as the Valkyries were not an affluent organization. No Terran Clan was. Without a homeworld their options were limited, and what equipment they could spare for operations had to be portioned out carefully, placed in the locations they could do the most good. Unfortunately, that left them vulnerable, and a clever enemy could exploit that to their own advantage.

Which they had.

“And how do you intend to remedy this deficiency?” Bidras’nassa demanded. “When they come to our world in strength, how do you propose to stop them? When even a scattering of mindless drones defeated your best efforts?”

“Overseer, may I point out that we destroyed every probe on land in less than ten minutes?” he asked. “The drones that landed in water were more problematic for us, granted, but your people silenced those before we even got our boats in the water. Since you informed us at our first meeting you could protect the seaward passages, we have focused all our efforts in covering the land side. We regret we could not come to your aid sooner, but you have specifically forbidden us from approaching the sea except in the direst of circumstances.”

Fighting back a smile, Rúna waited for the Sonoitii’s reaction. Having its own restrictions thrown back in its face had to have stung a little, though as she watched the massive water dragon seemed to brush off the colonel’s riposte.

“And we will continue to forbid it, as history has taught us well regarding the trustworthiness of your kind,” Bidras’nassa hissed. “We will see to the safety of our oceans, as we always have. You keep your attention focused on the land.”

“As you wish,” Holme agreed.

The Sonoitii trio drew themselves up, high out of the water, gazing down at the humans in their tiny boats. “We said at the beginning we had few expectations of your race. I see now it was for the best that we did not set them any higher.” With one last glare, they sank back into the ocean, disappearing without a ripple.

The colonel sighed. “That could have gone better.”

“I’m not sure how, sir,” Inaba replied. “They’re pissed, understandably so. All we can really do is brace and take it.”

“And do better the next time,” he vowed, before giving the “Start them up” gesture to the coxswains manning the controls, ordering them back to shore.

“... if those ‘Screamers’ were a shot across the bow, like the colonel figures, then we have to assume whatever comes next will be the real deal,” Kai said thoughtfully, leading the squad to a set of coordinates designated on his map.

“Unless we pack up and leave, or at least unlock the front door for them,” Rúna said with obvious distaste, bringing up Bravo team behind him.

“You heard the old man, it’s pretty obvious that isn’t in the cards,” he replied, “even if in a sane universe, it probably should be.”

“Excuse me?” she retorted, coming to a halt, aggrieved by the very notion they might consider surrendering.

“I know he wants us to think more like Marines,” Kai shrugged, stopping as well, “but the fact is we’re just not there yet. Give us another fifty years, and maybe that’ll change. But until then we’re still mercenaries, with the mindset to match. Which means protecting what we have, even if it means walking away from a contract to do it.”

The rest of the squad watched the back and forth, not wanting to get in the middle of whatever was going on between them. “Some things are more important than just surviving, Sarge,” she sniffed. “Are you telling me there’s nothing you’d be willing to lay down your life for?”

“Sure there are,” he conceded, “just not alien egg sacs. The colonel is asking a lot from an organization that ten minutes ago only fought for credits.” Checking his GPS, Kai took a moment to take in their surroundings, verifying they were in the proper spot. Satisfied, he tucked it back away. “All right, we’re here. Drop your gear and let’s get to work.”

Sighs of relief greeting his announcement as the squad happily dumped the equipment they’d been toting since setting out from the Supply Depot. “Hey, careful with that, goddamnit!” Rúna barked. “You always toss explosives around like that?”

“They’re not armed,” Yendrick pointed out, “plus you and the Sarge are the only ones carrying the detonators.”

“And you’re willing to trust your life to that? Are you absolutely positive someone didn’t screw them up somewhere before we got a hold of them?” Yendrick started to answer, but she waved him off. “Let me rephrase; are you willing to trust my life to that?” She folded her arms, waiting for an answer, while Kai hid a small grin.

“Umm...no, corporal,” he mumbled. “Sorry.”

“It’s no different from being handed a strange weapon,” she reminded them, “until you’ve checked it yourself, you always assume it’s loaded. Times that by a hundred when you’re talking about explosives. Understood?”

A chorus of “Yes, corporal” drifted back to her, as she and Kai conferred for a moment, before each taking a handful of markers and began placing them in a specific pattern, the others waiting patiently until they finished. Surveying their work, the two NCOs nodded in agreement.

“All right, everybody pick a lane and get to work. This minefield won’t set itself up,” Kai informed them. “Dig out a hole next to the marker, place and level the mine, cover it with dirt, leaving the top exposed, and then move on to the next one. When you’re done, Rúna and I will go back and arm them. Questions?”

Arthur’s eyes darted back and forth, before tentatively raising his hand. “You’re on supply detail, private,” she informed him. “Make sure everyone has what they need at all times. That includes canteen runs,” she explained, patting the water bottle riding on her hip.

His relief was unmistakable. “Thank you, corporal,” he nodded gratefully.

“Don’t thank me yet,” she cautioned, “because when you’re not hauling gear back and forth, you’ll be with me, learning how to do this for next time.” Arthur looked crestfallen at the news. “Only way you’re gonna master it, troop,” Rúna stated matter-of-factly.

“What are you standing around for?” Kai barked. “Get to work!”

Leaving behind their rucks but keeping their weapons handy, each of them picked up an anti-personnel mine and carried it to the first marker in their lane. Lying just below the surface made digging simple, while leveling was done by eyeball alone. Camouflaging the mine was merely a case of carefully replacing the dug-out dirt until only the arming mechanism remained exposed. Despite that it was tedious work, the squad moving at a snail’s pace as they double and triple checked their work as they went. Arthur scurried back and forth, resupplying mines and filling canteens, until Kai called a halt for lunch.

Field rations were parceled out and consumed with the inevitable complaints and food swaps, the squad laughing and joking around with each other as they polished off their meal. Kai and Rúna ate together in silence, each lost in their own thoughts, both pleased to see the teams in good spirits.

Once lunch was over and the garbage stored to be trucked out, they picked back up where they’d left off. Crawling around on all fours turned the task into a slow slog, but as the sun grew lower in the west they were just wrapping things up, when Becca suddenly froze in place.

“Rúna?” she said carefully, “I think I’ve got a problem here.”

“What sort of problem?” she asked, rising to her feet.

The scout swallowed. “Pretty sure I’m dead.”

Everything came crashing to a halt. “Talk to me, Becca,” she ordered, making her way towards the lance corporal’s position while Kai ordered the others to fall back.

“I didn’t realize until too late there was a detonator already in the mine,” she struggled to get out. “I was covering it back up with dirt, when I heard a ‘click’.” Her eyes were wide, stricken with fear. “It must have malfunctioned, otherwise it would have already detonated, but I’ve got to assume it’s armed. If I ease up on the pressure, if I do anything, I’ll blow myself to kingdom come.”

She approached her carefully, making no sudden moves. “Just stay calm, Becca,” she told her, “we’re going to get you out of this.”

“No, you’re not,” she contradicted her. “There’s no way to keep up the pressure and still get clear, and it might just be taking its sweet time to explode all on its own.” Becca took a deep breath. “Get the others back. I should soak up most of the blast.” The young scout was doing her best not to panic, but her nerves were frayed and jangling. It wouldn’t take much to set her off.

“I don’t want to hear that,” she shot back, closing in. “That’s quitter talk, and I won’t have it in my squad. You read me?”

“... aye, aye, corporal,” she whispered, staring at the land mine in her hands. “Guess we should have listened to you.”

Arriving at her position, Rúna carefully knelt down beside her. “Ok, I need to get a better look at what we’re dealing with,” she told her, “so I need you to keep pressure on the arming plate. Can you do that? The longer we wait, the more likely it blows up in our faces.”

“I’ll try,” she nodded. “My hands are getting stiff though.”

“I’ll work fast,” she promised, as she began carefully brushing away the dirt to get a better look.

Wiping the sand and dirt off the mine, she saw Becca was correct. The arming plate was being held down by her thumbs, the detonator in position and primed. Why it hadn’t exploded already was uncertain, but right now the smart move was to not jostle the device and keep the conditions exactly as they were. Anything else, and her next conversation would be with her ancestors.

“Rúna, what do you need?” Kai asked, the rest of the squad now safely out of range.

She thought furiously, wracking her mind for a solution, even as she watched the scout’s hands tremble. She needed something to hold the pressure plate in the exact position it was in now. A rock, maybe? She glanced about, but the dozen or so rocks she spotted nearby she quickly rejected for several reasons: too big, too small, too irregular. None of them would fit the bill. So what did that leave?

An impractical idea popped into her head, but as she turned it over in her mind, she could find no fault with it in theory. “Just keep them back,” she told the squad leader, as she reached down and unfastened her belt, dragging it free from her trousers, “I’ve got a plan.”

Becca blanched. “You’re insane,” she hissed. “Just go. No sense both of us dying today.”

“No one is dying today,” she countered., “not on my watch.” Sawing the belt back and forth, she slid it under the mine body, before yanking one of her canteens free and unscrewing the cap. It held the cap in place with a hunk of plastic, but it only took a handful of seconds to work free. Setting the canteen itself aside, she placed the cap next to the pressure plate as she met Becca’s gaze.

“Okay, this is where it gets a little tricky,” she grimaced. “I need to slide the cap onto the plate while we keep the same pressure. Slow and easy now. Take your time,” she said with a calmness that belied everything her central nervous system was shouting at her.

“Just how much time do you think we have here?” Becca asked her.

“… the rest of our lives,” Rúna snorted, her face twisted in a grimace.

“Right,” she nodded. “Good to keep things in perspective.”

“Then let’s do this,” Rúna said hoarsely, her mouth suddenly gone bone dry. Bit by bit she edged the cap onto the plate, while Becca slowly transferred her efforts from the plate itself to the cap resting atop it. After several tense minutes, they allowed themselves to breathe again.

“Okay, almost there,” she promised the young scout, as she wrapped her belt over the cap and began cinching it tight. Becca bit her lip as it crushed her thumbs under the strain until the corporal gave her the nod. “Just need to slide your fingers out,” she told her, “and we’re done.”

“And then?” Becca asked her.

Their eyes locked. “We run like hell.”

“Got it.” She closed her eyes, murmuring a quick prayer. “Okay, on three. One… two… three.” On “three” Becca eased out her thumbs while Rúna tightened the belt, the prong slipping into the next hole as the pair waited to see if it would hold. Several tense seconds later, nothing happened.

“Time to go,” she told her, gently pulling her hands off the mine and easing her to her feet. The two women supported each other, staggering away until they broke out into a run, desperate to put as much distance between them and the landmine as they could.

The blast knocked them both off their feet, throwing them to the ground.

Doc Svoboda was at their side in an instant, with Kai half a heartbeat behind. “Are you hit?” he asked frantically, checking for wounds, but it soon became apparent that other than a handful of minor cuts they’d survived the explosion unscathed.

“... that was too damn close,” Becca wheezed.

Too exhausted to answer, Rúna just closed her eyes and collapsed back onto the dirt, wondering how many more near-misses she’d be able to walk away from.