Dek observed as he unfolded the packet in his hand into what looked like a doll-sized pair of shadowskins with attached hoodies, gloves, and booties. He pulled on the paper-thin material, stretching the silver suit until it encased his body, then expanded the attached hoodie but didn’t pull it on.
“Now you,” he said.
Dek mimicked his actions, stretching her own garment to encase herself completely, except for the hood. She fought off a brief flicker of anxiety at being trapped in the tight-fitting unitard, willfully refocusing her attention on Sno.
“We’ll need to go ears out to get through the barrier. The suits insulate against the effects of the infrasound, but the receptors are sensitive enough to pick up the soundwaves and amplify them inside your ear. You don’t want that.”
“That’s a definite.” Dek agreed. She studied the sleek material that now covered his body like a metallic second skin. “Guess it’s lucky for me you had two.”
“I always carry extras in case one fails.”
Dek jolted. “Has that ever happened?”
“Not yet,” he said, “but the material is mega-thin. Stay away from sharp surfaces.”
“Point taken.” Dek glanced at the StarDog sitting patiently at his feet. “So what happens to Cassie?”
“These suits were modified with a special pouch to accommodate her. She knows the drill.” He held his hand out to her. “Ready? Ears out and I’ll get you sealed up.”
Dek handed over her ear receptor and he motioned her closer. He expanded the hood on her suit then slipped it over her head and adjusted the built-in padded coverings to fit snugly over her ears.
Auditory dampers? Infrasound-blocking suits? Even as the second-in-command of a high-security site, she’d had no clue the Network had developed such cutting-edge trickery.
Sno sealed up the face of her suit and she fought a tinge of panic, working to control her breathing while she watched him deploy his full head coverage. Her suit had two transparent lenses over her eyes that allowed a limited field of vision, but the only thing she could hear was the sound of her own elevated breathing. This experience was getting uncomfortably close to the sensory deprivation tank training she’d undergone in her past life.
Dek attempted to refocus her thoughts while Sno was busy tucking Cassie into the pouch on the chest of his unitard. It must have been a difficult decision for him to reveal these secret Network assets to her. But if his mission was just an exercise in friendly territory as he claimed, General X and Network leadership must’ve also factored in the potential discovery of this advanced tech by the site’s security team.
Of course, General X hadn’t been aware when Sno was deployed to Site D that there was a possible turncoat in their ranks. And the scenario that had played out between her and Sno wouldn’t have been in General X’s equations either.
Maybe the most significant factor was that Sno was trusting her with this knowledge. Would she have made the same choices, if she’d been in his field boots?
He signaled their advance through the infrasound barrier. She held her breath and marched into the psychoacoustic hell at his side. The immediate pressure of the sound waves rippled across the sheer material, like tiny energy snakes writhing over her body and head. Dek fought off the urge to frantically brush the phantom serpents away.
She jolted when Sno reached out to tug off the hood of her suit—they were through?—then offered her back the earbud. She dropped to her knees, panting, and inserted it.
“We’re in the clear,” he subvocalized, extracting Cassie from her pouch to place her next to Dek. “You all right?”
“Just terrific.”
Cassie planted herself directly in front of Dek, and touched her knee with a paw while gazing up at her. Dek ran her hand over the shivering but empathetic StarDog. “I’m okay, girl.”
“Let’s disrobe.”
Her gaze cut to Sno’s face. “We won’t need the suits again,” he clarified, “until we leave the site.”
“If we leave the site,” she muttered in a return subvoc.
He ignored her remark and went to work stripping off his silver covering. Dek unsealed the front of her garment, extracting her arms and pushing the unitard below her hips, peeling it off one leg at a time.
Sno watched as she fought to untangle herself then moved in to help her shed it. The material instantly retracted to its former miniature size. She folded it up and offered it to him. “Thanks.”
“Any time,” he said in a throaty whisper.
Their hands brushed when he took the garment, and Dek’s heart raced. Sno ducked his head and packed both suits in the backpack then pulled out a small device that looked suspiciously like a stunpulse. He pointed the barrel in her direction.
Dek stiffened.
“It’s only a thermal dryer,” Sno reassured her. He motioned for her to turn full circle while he ran the silent device over her body. Her clothes dried almost instantly, leaving her toasty and unencumbered by water-weighted garb. Then Sno placed Cassie in her hands and made the same motions to dry his partner’s sopping fur.
He handed the device to Dek, and she returned the favor, passing the dryer over the wet sand camos that clung to his wide shoulders and athletic frame. And, Fire Lords, what a frame.
Mind back on the mission, girl.
Sno gave her an appreciative glance and tucked the device away. Taking Cassie in hand, he started toward the cave entrance.
“Wait? No night vision?” Dek subvocalized.
“Not workable inside the refraction pocket. It has a negative effect on amplifying available light.”
Dek frowned. Super tech always had a trade-off and this would leave them at a critical disadvantage.
“Don’t worry.” Sno patted his StarDog. “We have something better.”
Dek nodded and smiled at Cassie. Dogs, cats, and members of the weasel family had evolved to be nocturnal hunters. Cassie didn’t need night vision to see in the dark. And Dek knew the best routes to guide them through the cave undetected.
“Maybe let us take the lead.”
Sno didn’t argue. He returned his partner to Dek’s shoulder and they started toward the narrow entrance to the lava tube. They’d only traveled a few steps when Cassie went rigid. Dek motioned a halt to Sno by closing her fist. His partner was no doubt picking up the presence of the night watch posted at the cave entrance, not far ahead.
Dek carefully negotiated the scattering of rocks and basalt debris outside the cave entrance until they could peer into the mouth of the tube. There, Sergeant Garr was flip-scanning through his wristcom while the device lit him up. He’d propped his back against the cave wall, one leg crossed over the other—the absolute opposite of alert and prepared. Whatever he was reading seemed to have captured his full attention.
All the better for them, but Dek couldn’t help staring daggers at the man as they stole by. Yeah, okay. She definitely had some dueling loyalties at play here, but she wasn’t intentionally breaching the site to compromise it. Quite the opposite.
That was, if her instincts about Sno held true. If she was wrong about him, she could kiss her career goodbye. And possibly her life.
Sno once again matched strides with her as they moved deeper into the underground system of paths, descending to the heart of the security encampment. Dek led them down the seldom-used passages—dodging known guard stations and side-stepping random personnel the StarDog sniffed out before they could see them. Eventually, they reached the lifts to Lower Cave without being detected.