Deathstalker 04 - Deathstalker Honor

places, the thick armor plating split and buckled like paper. More than enough to kill any human passengers. Anyone merely human.
    At least the engines hadn’t blown up yet.
    Random turned his head away and concentrated on the cliff face before him. It was definitely closer.
    Which was good, because he felt like shit. Every step jolted his broken ribs, and he was pretty sure he had serious internal injuries too. There was always blood in his mouth now, no matter how often he spat it out. Ruby was leaning on him more and more heavily, and had stopped complaining, which was always a bad sign. They had to find shelter soon, somewhere they could rest and hopefully heal. Even the more than human had their limits. When they finally stumbled to a sudden halt at the base of the cliff, it seemed like a miracle. Random spotted a cave opening and pointed it out with a harsh croak that was all that was left of his voice. They hauled themselves up the jagged cliff face with a last burst of strength, buoyed by a possible end to their struggle. The cave opening was a good ten feet in diameter, its interior an impenetrable darkness. Random pulled a penlight from his sleeve, and played the thin yellow beam around the cave’s entrance. The interior stretched away before him, farther than the light could penetrate.
    Still leaning on each other. Random and Ruby stumbled into the cave.
    It went some way back, and they followed the tunnel until they reached the sealed end, and then collapsed on the hard rock floor, their backs against the comforting support of the end wall.
    The air was still now, and perhaps fractionally warmer, though the never ending storm still howled outside, as though angry at being cheated of its victims. Random and Ruby sat together, shoulder to shoulder, their breathing and their heartbeats slowly returning to normal. Their various pains seemed comfortably far away for the moment, though neither had the strength to move another inch. Random turned off his penlight. Might need the power yet, and besides, there was really nothing he needed to see right now. He felt deathly tired. Since passing through the Madness Maze, he’d grown accustomed to his occasional wounds healing quickly, but it had been a long time since he’d been busted up this badly. He wondered if there was a limit after all to how much damage his body could repair. If so, this was a hell of a time to find out. He could hear Ruby beside him, breathing jerkily through her mouth. She didn’t sound good. “Ruby? You still with me?”
    “Unfortunately, yes.” Her voice was strained and harsh. “I feel like shit. How about you?”
    “I’m getting there.” Random gritted his teeth against a sudden surge of pain from his broken ribs, and then had to cough, which hurt even more. A thick wad of blood and something else came into his mouth, and he spat it out. “Damn. I have a horrible feeling there was a bit of lung in that.” “You’re just trying to cheer me up. I always knew I’d end up in Hell, but I never thought I’d get there while I was still alive.
    Maybe I didn’t. Maybe we both died in the crash—“ “No,” said Random. “If this was Hell, all my
    friends would be here. Sit. Rest. Get your strength back. When morning comes, we’ve got a two-mile hike ahead of us.”
    “Oh, shut up. I’m not going anywhere. Any chance we could contact anyone through our comm implants?”
    “Afraid not. The constant storms create a supersaturated electrical and magnetic field. Plays hell with all kinds of communications. We’ve no way to let anyone know we’re alive. Can’t even send up a flare.
    We’re on our own.” “Somehow I just knew you were going to say that. So, how are we supposed to find our way to Vidar in weather like this?”
    “I can feel where it is,” said Random. “So many people, I can feel their presence. Reach out with your mind. See if you can feel them too.” “Damn,” said Ruby after a moment. “You’re right. It’s like having a compass in my head. I didn’t know we could do this.”
    “Unlike you, I haven’t been taking my abilities for granted,” said Random. “I spent my spare time testing what I could do, trying to expand my limits.” “I’ll bet you were a teacher’s pet at school. It’s a pity you didn’t work out how to speed up our healing abilities.”
    “Be patient. They’ve got a lot of work to do. We’ll heal, in time.” “Hope you’re right. Random. I’ve never felt