by T. Y. Carew
In that Adamanta-rich environment, Matt could only comfortably keep two swords in the air while flying four cameras. She could do more, but it was best to reserve her strength for a battle.
As the darkness grew deeper farther from the small bit of light behind her, Matt reluctantly decided to use her light. Reaching to her belt, she twisted the lens to a tight focus and pushed the button. Nothing. She could see the thin shadows cast by her Adamanta eyes, but no Beltine fighters.
At the far end of the hallway was a set of double doors. Leading where?
Matt moved forward, checking behind her frequently. She expected some treachery, some trap. Nothing appeared. When she reached the end of the corridor, Matt cracked open the door and sent the eyes in to reconnoiter.
Behind the doors, she saw a large room. The high ceiling was a lighter gray than the walls and cast a dull illumination over the hall. Doorways in the walls opened onto dark spaces. A long table with benches occupied the center of the room. A mess hall? It hadn’t occurred to Mattie that the Beltine had such places.
Entering cautiously, Matt had her swords ready to launch. She called back the eyes to free up the energy and concentration they required. The call of the alien Adamanta was strong in the room.
“We know you,” a deep voice hissed from some hidden loudspeaker.
Matt took her fighting stance and nervously scanned the room.
“We know you,” the voice spoke again.
Launching six swords and fanning them out across the room in front of her, Matt set her jaw. There was no chance she was going to engage in conversation with a Kyraos, or worse, an Anassos.
“And I know you.” Matt could not help herself. “You make your drones worse than slaves! You alter them and use them up in battle.”
Dairos began pouring from the other doorways, armed only with their nasty looking clubs.
“Matt?” Xander’s voice spoke into her ear via her comm. “Do you need backup?”
Matt almost declined the offer, her bravado pushing her to handle the fight herself, but the voice had unnerved her.
“I could use some company,” she said. “It’s a little spooky in here.”
“On our way.” Trey’s voice this time.
Two dozen Dairos gathered along the far side of the room, waiting to attack.
As the creatures advanced, Matt sent four sets of her zappers flying across the room and, in a moment, four Dairos were dead on the floor.
The front line began tossing tables and benches aside, clearing the room for the fight.
Matt brought four of her swords into play, spinning them like propellers. As they flew, they began to feel heavier. She strained to push them forward, but they stopped. She pushed harder, but the blades dipped toward the floor.
What the hell? Matt struggled with her frustration as much as with the swords. She could swear she felt dark fingers attempting to probe her mind. The creature behind the voice. It had to be fighting her for control of her weapons, and now it was trying to get into her brain.
Using all of the strength she could muster, Matt slashed the nearest Dairos. It fell in two pieces. The unseen force tugged at the sword, almost pulling it away from Matt’s control. She retrieved her zappers and let two swords fall to the deck so she could concentrate on the other two.
Thrusting with all of her strength, Matt drove her swords toward two Dairos. The blades stopped inches from their targets. She screamed her frustration, gritted her teeth and tried again. Controlling the swords became a vicious tug-of-war.
Matt felt the familiar trickle of blood down her lip, and her head began to throb. As she fought for control of her sword, she noticed that several of the Dairos had become immobile. Perhaps the creature behind the voice could only control just so many and still be able to fight for the swords.
The remaining Dairos were closing in. If they were under orders to take her alive, she could at least use that to her advantage.
She let another sword fall to the deck and put all of her focus into the one remaining blade. Before the Kyraos could react, Matt sent her sword swinging in a downward arc, taking out three more Dairos. Once again, she felt the resistance on her sword, and again she struggled to even bring it close to the enemy drones.
Matt was not giving ground to the Beltine that easily. She fought for control of the sword, gritting her teeth against the increasing pain in her head. Abruptly, she released her hold on the sword and sent four smaller blades sailing across the room. As the blades hit their marks, piercing the throats of four Dairos, Matt turned her attention to the sword. It became a battle of wills. She used all she had to wrest control, knowing her adversary would do the same.
At first, a few Dairos seemed to grow confused and wander off in odd directions, then a few more, until the creatures were all stumbling and aimless.
The fight had become a standoff over a single Adamanta sword.
Matt dipped into her last reserve and, with a burst of effort, took back her sword. Blood gushed from her nose and the pain in her head flared and left her faint.
Chapter 6
30 hours, 19 minutes, 52 seconds
Drew felt so tired. It was as if he had been without sleep for days. Of course, he knew that was not right. At least, he was pretty sure. It was hard to tell. He couldn’t remember where he was or why. Or if he had slept.
The escape pod. I’m still here.
A wave of nausea swept over him and Drew struggled to not throw up. He took slow, deliberate breaths and worked to calm his stomach.
He had heard that some people got sick in weightlessness. Not him. He had been in space many times before he was even six years old, so he was an old hand.
The queasy feeling in his stomach became a pain. He didn’t know when he'd last eaten. Probably a day ago. Hours, anyway.
His thirst was hard to manage. It was something he felt throughout his body. It was a craving that was hard to endure. The whole situation was hard to endure.
Drew suddenly felt hopeless. He was never going to be found. He was going to die alone, drifting in space. Unlike the nausea, breathing did nothing to help the tears. Salty drops formed bitter spheres in front of his eyes. Drew sobbed in a way he never had before in his life.
***
Xander met up with Trey at the junction where they had separated. He had heard Matt fighting. Her pain and frustration were picked up by her comm. It was clear that Trey had heard it, too.
The pair headed down the corridor at a run, each with weapons in hand. They burst through the door to find Mattie’s seemingly lifeless body on the floor with her head in a pool of blood. A dozen or so Dairos stood about the room, paying no attention to the new arrivals.
“Mattie!” Xander dropped to his knees at Matt’s side. He took her hand and checked her pulse.
“Just let me sleep a little longer,” Matt said, opening one eye.
Xander pulled a small first aid kit from his pack and used a wipe to clean the blood from her face.
“Quit it,” she said, turning her head away.
Xander turned to Trey, who stood facing the Dairos.
“We need to get her back to Contessa.”
“Boss?” Tyra’s voice came over the comm. “A landing pod just launched from the Beltine ship. They’re heading to the planet.”
“That must be why the Dairos aren’t attacking,” Xander said. “The Kyraos and Anassos have abandoned ship. Dock the Contessa with the cargo hold. We’re heading that way.”
“Aye, aye. How’s Matt?” Tyra asked
“She’s being a butt,” Xander said. “So, I think she’ll be okay.”
“Good.”
“Don’t ask about your poor injured twin brother,” Trey said, sarcasm in his voice.
“Just get back here,” Tyra said.
The Dairos began to focus their attention on the three humans, but they were sluggish and Trey easily picked them off one by one.
"Grab her swords." Xander gathered Matt in his arms an
d carried her, despite her protests. They led the way and Trey followed, covering the rear.
***
Tyra closed the airlock as soon as the rest of the crew was aboard. Trey and Xander supported Matt between them and took her directly to the Contessa’s small sickbay.
“That is a nasty burn, Brother,” Tyra said when they returned. “Does it hurt?”
“Not enough to keep me on the sidelines.” Trey took his position at navigation.
“How’s Matt?” Tyra asked.
“She actually wants to sleep,” Xander said, “so she must be worn out.” He took the copilot seat next to Tyra. “Get after that lander.”
Tyra detached Contessa from the Beltine ship and set course for Alton Three.
“Is it too much to hope that they’ve already wiped out that Provis guy?” she asked.
“Probably,” Xander said. “Maybe we can take him out and blame it on the Beltine.”
***
“Collateral damage,” Matt said, supporting herself against the doorway. She felt like hell and her hair was full of blood, but she was not going to leave her team to go it without her. Not today.
Trey jumped to his feet and helped her to her station.
“I’m sorry we don’t have time for a healing ritual right now,” he said. “There’s no telling what the Beltine will get up to if we give them time.”
“I’m okay,” Matt said. “At least I’ve been worse.” She felt a wave of dizziness wash over her, but it passed quickly.
“What made them abandon ship, I wonder?” Tyra said.
“I think it was me. An Anassos was fighting me for control of my swords. She must not have expected me to put up such a fight.” Matt grimaced as she tried to push back her blood-encrusted hair.
In the forward viewer, Alton Three was a thin crescent of light, beginning to widen as the ship flew around the curvature of the planet.
The Contessa shook hard for a moment as it entered the Alton Three atmosphere.
“Sorry about the turbulence,” Tyra said. “I took the fastest angle of entry.”
The planet spread out before them on the rear view, growing larger and more detailed as the ship dropped closer to the surface. It was all browns and blues and thin stretches of green.
“There is no sign of the Beltine ship in the landing area,” Tyra said. “They must have brought their ship down away from the city.”
“Or they’re hiding in the construction zone,” Matt said. She couldn’t shake the feeling of dark fingers digging at her thoughts. It was an unnerving memory. Was the Anassos trying to control her? Or had she just imagined it?
The Contessa settled softly onto the synthetic tarmac.
“Matt, you and Tyra stay with the ship. Be ready to fight or flee if the Beltine show up,” Xander said.
“I’m going,” Matt said. She set her jaw and glared at Xander in defiance.
Xander stared at her for a moment.
“Okay. Trey, you and Tyra stay with the ship. Mattie, if you’re sure you’re ready, then let’s go.”
Matt jumped to her feet and immediately regretted it. She felt woozy and faint.
“Are you sure you’re all right?” Xander asked, frowning.
“I’m fine. I just stood up too fast.”
“Let’s go then.”
Matt noticed Xander watching her from the corner of his eye.
“I’m fine,” she said. “I’m feeling better every minute. It’s not like I blew myself up or anything.”
Xander grinned and shook his head.
Matt kept her senses on high alert as they trudged to the construction office. She didn’t feel the presence of any foreign Adamanta nearby yet, but she was determined to be forewarned of any Beltine presence.
***
They entered through the airlock and removed their masks.
“Keep your tolerance on high,” Xander said, glancing over at Matt. “I don’t know how I would explain to the brass if you leave this guy in pieces.”
“Very small pieces. I know. He is supposedly on our side. I promise to keep my swords to myself. I can’t be responsible for what my zappers do.”
Xander laughed in spite of himself. He had his laser pistol at hand, just in case. The Beltine lander was a good half hour ahead of them. They could already be inside the Provis Paradise control room.
Nothing appeared amiss as they pushed through the door into the room where they had first met Otto Provis.
“Hello?” Xander called, waiting for the high-back chair to spin around. It did. So suddenly that Xander tightened his grip on his gun.
“You’re back!” Otto Provis exuded. “I knew you couldn’t resist a good investment.” He offered to shake Xander’s hand, but Xander declined the offer.
“A Beltine ship landed on your planet a little while ago,” he said. “Have you seen anything on your monitors?”
“Just progress in the construction work,” Provis said. “If a ship landed in this area, I would have seen it.”
“Did you see us land?” Matt asked.
“Well, no,” Provis answered. “But I was fixing a problem with a crane on one of the hotels. All my attention was on that.”
“And you spent how much time on that fix?” Matt’s voice dripped with sarcasm.
“I don’t know. An hour? Two, maybe?”
Xander gave Matt a warning glance and saw the sour expression on her face.
“What about your terra-forming crew?” he asked.
“They haven’t checked in,” Provis said. “They didn’t answer my last call, but that's not unusual. I figured they were busy.”
“Give me their coordinates,” Xander said with a sigh. Sometimes he could not believe the ignorance of the general population.
***
Tyra entered the coordinates into the ship’s computer and watched the readout.
“They’re about a thousand miles from here,” she told Xander.
“Get us there,” Xander said.
Tyra hummed quietly to herself while she piloted the ship on manual. It was faster to take Contessa back into the vacuum of space than to fly through the atmosphere of Alton Three. Besides, she reasoned, it gave them a better angle scanning for the Beltine ship.
She brought Contessa down a safe distance from the terra-forming work site.
***
To Xander’s surprise, the Provis crew was hard at work surveying and setting up equipment. After seeing their quarters, he hadn't expected such professionalism.
“I’m Colonel Finlay,” he told the nearest worker. His mask was an annoyance and he did not like holding a conversation with someone else in a mask. “Who’s in charge here?”
“Hi!” the worker said. “Are you from Netera? I really miss Netera.”
“Excuse me if I don’t have time for niceties,” Xander said, military rigidity in his voice. “A Beltine ship landed near here and the creatures could be swarming over us at any time.”
Xander played up the urgency a bit, hoping it would get results.
“He’s over there,” the crewmember said, his voice a little shaky this time.
A stocky man in a fluorescent orange vest looked up from his pad as Xander approached.
“Help you?” the man said.
Xander repeated his introduction.
“A Beltine ship landed somewhere in this general area a little while ago. Have you seen anything?”
“No, but we don’t worry about the Beltine. We’ve got a whole carrier overhead watching out for us.”
“That carrier was blown to bits over a day ago,” Xander said. “You’ve got no one watching out for you except us and our little ship.”
The supervisor stared at him. Xander could imagine the man’s mouth moving wordlessly beneath his mask.
“What should we do?” the supervisor managed to croak out at last.
“Good question,” Xander responded. “Maybe you'd better get back to your base.”
“We used ground transport. It t
ook us three days to get here.”
Xander closed his eyes.
“It just keeps getting better,” he said under his breath. “We can take you aboard our ship for now. Is your crew all here?”
“Five of my people are about ten kilometers that way,” the man said.
Xander sighed.
“Round up whoever’s here and get them loaded. We’ll go after the others. We need to use your ground transport.”
“And a driver,” Trey added.
***
Xander, Trey and Mattie rode with one of the crew to search for the Provis workers. The eight-wheeled vehicle bounced along the rugged terrain. A range of peaks rose up into the pink sky. Chunks of rock lay tumbled from the sides of the mountains and scattered across the plain. The way ahead was littered with big stones, but the driver swerved back and forth between them without slowing.
“They’re somewhere just ahead,” the driver said. “We should find them soon.”
They found them, but so had the Beltine.
Directing the driver to pull up a safe distance away, Xander jumped from the ground cruiser and rushed ahead, with Matt and the Lentarin hurrying behind. Two humans were dead and the other three cowered behind a group of large black boulders for cover.
The Beltine lander sat no farther away than the Provis crew’s other ground craft. Half a dozen elite Dairos opened fire on Xander and his team. Xander waved his crew into cover behind a cluster of large rocks.
“What do you think?” he asked Matt.
“I don’t know,” she said. “There must be at least one Kyraos aboard that lander and with the number of Elite Dairos probably two.”
“Well, lets see if we can flush them out.”
Xander and Trey opened fire as Matt lifted her Adamanta into the air, but instead of the usual tactics the Dairos hunkered down, firing back from behind a low ridge. Like they were protecting something.
Matt sent four of her eyes to reconnoiter without Xander asking.
“They are armed with something different,” she reported to Xander a few minutes later. “It’s some kind of laser I’ve never seen before. The battery packs are bigger, for one thing.”
