When the people in the cave saw we were flying to them, they calmed down and watched us approach. They stood imobile as they watched us land. I was able to see what kind of people they were at last.
Amazons.
Four tall, powerfully built women dressed in leather armor, but with pieces of some chitinous material at their shoulders, hips and knees; each carried a spear with a long blade, jagged on one side, smooth on the other. A short sword rested on the left hip of each woman as well. The woman in the front had a red ribbon braided into her raven-black shoulder-length hair.
"Return what you have stolen," she demanded the moment Alpha and I shut off our jetpacks.
"What do you mean?" I asked. If the orb was theirs, I'd like a little information about it if I could get it.
"The Forest Orb is not for one such as you or that," she said with a disgusted look at Alpha. "It is for the Amazons of Tanglewood alone. And not for an exiled daughter of one."
I let that pass for now and looked hard at the spokesperson of the Amazons. "What is the Forest Orb, and why is it only for Amazons?"
"As man and machine cut back Tanglewood, the Forest Orb will be used against them. In the possession of the Amazons, it is an unstoppable force of nature."
Interesting.
"How does it work?"
"That is no concern of yours. Only heed my warning or there will be blood!" With the last word of her statement, she pounded her fist against the force field.
"Did I see the force field flicker when she struck it?" I whispered to Alpha.
"Indeed you did."
"And what if I don't heed your warning?" I said to the Amazon.
"Then know this, child of man, that I, Queen Anza of the Tanglewood Amazons, vow to retrieve the Forest Orb from you in any way possible, no matter the consequences."
"Queen Anza? I thought Callista was queen," I said.
"Mother has died," Anza said. The other three Amazons behind her smirked. "I am queen."
Why hadn't Mom told me about this? She went to the Amazons when she left Dad, to find herself, she said. We still talked, but not recently enough it seems. And what was with the smirk?
"So, Queen Anza of the Tanglewood Amazons," I said. "You seek the Forest Orb and are willing to do harm to obtain it. What does it do? Why is it important to you?"
Anza pounded a fist against the force field and screamed, "Release us now!"
Alpha and I looked at each other. "Get out the way you got in," I said. I activated my jetpack and leapt from the cavern entrance. Alpha was right behind me.
When we landed on the other side, Beta stood waiting for us, even though he kept watch on the Amazons. "They screamed when you left," he said, "and tried breaking the field. They just went back into the cavern."
"It is highly unlikely we have seen the last of them, Alice," Alpha said.
"I agree. Beta, the Forest Orb is still safe?"
The boys could convey emotion even though their faces weren't overly expressive, being robots, but I swear Beta gave me a very pained look like I had hurt him by that question.
"Point taken," I said. "You may need to head back to Arcadia Stat..."
"Hey, you guys!" Omega yelled. "We got incoming!"
Omega pointed across the canyon. At the top of the canyon wall, near the cavern, stood the Amazons. One of them was on her hands and knees, and her entire body glowed with a green light, similar in color to the Forest Orb's luminescence. The vertical wall directly below her began to grow in our direction. The stone was shaping into a bridge, and I guessed she was responsible.
"That is not possible," Alpha said. "How can she shape the actual stone?"
"Beta, get out of here," I said. He leapt into the air, activated his jets and flew in the direction of Arcadia Station. "Alpha, do we still have the stunners?"
Small compartments in Alpha's forearms opened, and a small stunner barrel popped out of each arm. He reached down to his main storage compartment in his stomach, opened the hatch and pulled out a stunner pistol for me. "I am always armed, Alice."
"Omega!" I yelled. "Stunners only."
"Awww," he yelled back.
"Can you hit them from here, before they step out on that bridge?"
"I don't think so. Beta might have been able to."
"I don't want them to fall to their deaths if we can help it. The survivors would just bring back more of them."
"Then we wait until they are on this side," Alpha agreed.
"Take cover!" I yelled for Omega's benefit. "Wait until they get across."
Omega fired a warning blast across the canyon, at least I hoped that's what it was. He looked at me, then dove into the nearby tent. Alpha and I took up positions behind some nearby rocks and waited for the Amazons to approach.
The bridge now extended about halfway across the canyon. At the Amazons' end, it was about thirty feet wide, and narrowed to five feet wide at the end moving towards us. "She weakens," Alpha said. He had his telescopic lenses in place. "Whatever ability she is using, it is taxing her body to the limits."
I could just make out the Amazons across the way. The leader, Queen Anza, paced back and forth like a panther in a cage, ready to cut loose as soon as the door opened. One of the other Amazons knelt next to the glowing one and put her hands on the other's shoulder. She, too, began to glow and the bridge grew faster.
When the approaching tip of the bridge still had about twenty feet to go before it reached our side, Queen Anza charged across with a primal scream escaping her lips. As she neared the end of the stone bridge, the spun her spear around, planted the butt end near the bridge end, and pole vaulted the remaining distance, landing cat-like on her feet. She didn't break stride and charged directly for Alpha and I.
"Cut loose," I said. I raised the stunner pistol and fired. She dodged. I blinked in disbelief. Alpha didn't have any success either. We both fired multiple shots, and Anza dodged them all, twisting and turning her body so the shots either missed or glanced off the chitinous pieces of armor. I needed to find out what that was, a natural body armor that can deflect or absorb stunner bolts would be invaluable.
"What the--?!" I said. "How do we..." And then she was upon us.