An explosion punched a hole in the hull to my left, and the blast took out a large group of fighters.
“This way!” I said, and we ran to the hole.
Sunlight spilled through the gap, and I peeked outside to assess the situation.
It wasn’t good. Not at all.
There were a dozen enemy fighters hovering around the Ardominus, and the capstone sill glowed brightly, ready to reduce the remains of the ship to ash.
The humming that issued from the pyramid increased in volume, and my heart sank.
“They’re going to fire that thing again,” said Orcag. “We’re as good as dead.”
“Step aside,” said Jules and placed a hand on my shoulder. She saw my concern and smiled. “As you like to say, I’ve got this.”
I offered her a respectful nod and moved out of the way. The rest of us watched with bated breath as the capstone surged with power. Had it not been for the visor on my helmet, I would have been forced to look away.
A thick beam shot out of the capstone toward us, and Jules raised a single hand.
The death beam ripped through the air with a thunderous retort, but somehow Jules stopped it in midair mere inches from her outstretched hand. She screamed defiantly as untold power crashed against her invisible forcefield. She glowed like a supernova, and I thought that any moment she would explode into a million pieces. She brought her other hand up and thrust them both outward, and to my amazement, she pushed the beam back a few feet.
The pyramid hummed and vibrated so violently that the sand surrounding it floated into the air, and stones bounced around erratically, like jumping beans. Jules’s defiant scream became deafening and took on a digital tone, and she continued to push the death beam back.
Enemy ships were coming toward us, and I turned to my teammates. “With me!” I screamed over the tumult.
I blasted skyward and went straight for the closest fighter. To my surprise, Orcag passed me, looking like Super Squidward in his nanosuit, and opened fire on the ship. The girls followed close behind me, and after we made our pass with our laser swords, the ship floundered off-course.
Orcag continued on to the next fighter and crashed through the cockpit. A moment later two aliens flew out of the cockpit in pieces, and Orcag emerged with another wrapped in his slimy tentacles.
The other ships blasted us, and we had to pull off some gut-wrenching maneuvers to avoid the bullets. Jules was still on the ground, locked in a stalemate with the capstone, but at least the thing was out of the fight for the time being.
“Split up!” I said when a barrage of bullets almost took out Purshia.
The girls veered off in different directions, and I zipped toward a fighter that had turned to follow Val. I summoned a laser gun in both hands and blasted the shit out of the right wing. The ship listed, and I fired a nanobomb at the cockpit.
I flew through the explosion toward another craft. I was about to fire when bullets sprayed my shoulder, sending me into a tailspin. After I regained control, I saw to my dismay there was a big hole in the armor, which was sparking and smoking. I guess the suits weren’t impenetrable after all.
Ella flew past me in the other direction and intercepted the ship on my ass. She sliced through the left wing, and the craft crashed to the ground, exploding on impact. I took out three more ships, receiving my share of damage in the process. The nanobots had already repaired the initial damage to the suit, but I’d taken a few more hits, and the suit sparked and smoked from more than one location. I felt no pain, however, and I didn’t bother inspecting my injuries. There were still dozens of fighters left, and they were regrouping and heading straight for Jules.
“Harry!” Ella said urgently through my helmet.
“I see them. Intercept!”
Orcag appeared beside me as I flew around the smoldering Ardominus. The girls joined us, and we raced toward the diving fighters. Jules was still locked in a stalemate with the capstone beam, and she was still pushing it back somehow.
The five of us hurried toward the armada and hit the bastards with everything we had. I was nailed by return fire, and half my helmet was ripped off. The impact snapped my head back, and my vision blurred.
The next thing I knew, I was tumbling through the air like a ragdoll.
I regained control of my jetpack at the last minute and pulled up hard, but I was too low, and I crashed through a tall sand dune and skidded across the ground. After I came to a stop, I fought through the vertigo and got to my feet. To my surprise, most of the enemy ships were falling to the ground, burning and broken. The girls were attacking the rest of them, but I couldn’t see Orcag anywhere.
The capstone was pouring more and more energy into the beam Jules was holding at bay, and I worried she would soon lose the battle. How in the hell she was keeping that damn thing from tearing right through her, I didn’t know. I wanted to help, but I didn’t know what I could possibly do.
I tried to fly, but my jetpack must had been damaged, because it lifted me five feet off the ground, then cut out like an engine that wouldn’t turn over.
“Enhance speed, endurance, and strength by 100 percent,” I commanded the nanobots inside me.
When they kicked in, I felt like I’d been hit by lightning. I charged across the sand toward Jules, intent on helping her any way I could. I was less than ten feet away from her when a ship strafed the ground around me with laser rounds. A dozen bullets hit my legs and back.
I went down hard and reached for Jules as I gasped for breath.
She turned her head toward me, and her glowing eyes went wide. “Harry!”
I tried to warn her of the fighter bearing down on her, but I couldn’t breathe, let alone speak.
Fury filled her eyes, and she glowed brighter than before. She screamed defiantly and unleashed her pent-up power. I watched through blurry vision as she lashed out with renewed strength, and the beam from the capstone doubled back on itself. The capstone exploded in a blinding flash of light, and the shockwave washed over the battlefield.
“Disengage… nanosuit,” I croaked.
The little nanobots that made up the suit folded back in on themselves, and I drunkenly rose to my feet. When the smoke cleared, the pyramid was still standing, but it was missing its capstone.
I spotted Jules in the rubble and limped over to her. Without the suit, the air was thin and smelled of sulfur, and I gasped for breath with every step. The girls landed beside me, battered but alive, and a moment later Orcag touched down.
“Help me get her out of here,” I said as I desperately dug her out of the rubble.
We got her out, and I carried her over to the soft sand. I laid her down and pressed an ear against her chest, listening for a heartbeat. I heard one, but it was weak.
“Is she alive?” Purshia asked anxiously.
“Barely.”
“We should transport her to the ship and get out of here,” said Elle, searching the sky for enemies.
“Look,” said Val, and I followed her gaze to the pyramid.
“Motherfucker,” I growled and rose to my feet.
Emerging from the wrecked pyramid was none other than our arena host, Gray. He probably had a name, but I never heard it, and that’s what I called him.
I enabled my laser gun and took aim, but Gray raised a hand, and I was suddenly paralyzed. Orcag and the girls tried to retaliate as well, but they stiffened and froze too.
“Now what do we have here?” Gray said snidely as he approached. “If it isn’t Team Warwick and Orcag, the one who got away. I see you have found Jules for us. I must thank you for that, Sheriff.”
“Go… fuck… yourself,” I managed to utter.
“Such a colorful character.” He squeezed his fist, and pain surged through every fiber of my being. “You seem surprised that I can control your nanobots.”
“I thought… you were dead.”
“The body I was inhabiting was destroyed when you blew up the arena, but I have many clones. You s
urprised us, Mr. Warwick. You and your team have proven to be very entertaining. I will enjoy watching you in the next arena, one we’re developing specifically for you. But first I will enjoy my time alone with you.”
The pain increased, and although I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction, a tortured scream escaped me.
“Leave him alone, you ugly fuck!” Ella cried, but then she too writhed in agony.
“This is just a taste of what awaits you.” He loomed over us and grinned like a demented turtle. Then a shadow descended upon him.
He whirled when the shadow landed behind him, but he was too late.
My drogan snapped his jaws around Gray from the head down and bit him in half. His lower torso and legs fell in a bloody heap at Drogy’s feet. Drogy chomped on his bones as blood poured out of his mouth.
We were released when Gray died, and we rejoiced as the drogan roared triumphantly.
“Boy, am I glad to see you, buddy.” I scratched his scaly snout as he nuzzled me. “Sorry about all that stuff I said. I didn’t mean it. I was worried about you, that’s all.”
Drogy purred deep in his throat, then he saw Jules and whimpered.
“I think she’ll be all right, buddy.”
“We need to leave before anymore surprises come out of that pyramid,” said Orcag.
“He’s right,” said Ella, “but will our ship fly?”
“Let’s find out.” I asked Drogy to watch over Jules while the rest of us went to inspect the ship.
The Ardominus was a smoldering heap, but our ship had been spared the brunt of the damage when two iron beams fell together above it, creating a kind of shelter. Still, we had to get it out of the wreckage, and that was going to be a hell of a job.
Our nanosuits had taken a pounding, but after fifteen minutes, the ’bots had repaired themselves, and we all enabled our telekinetic nanoarms. We carefully removed the debris covering the ship. It took about an hour of careful coordination, but we got it done. Purshia inspected the ship and reported it should be able to fly, so we loaded the unconscious Jules into it and took our stations.
Drogy was happy to leave with us and basically ran up the ramp to the cargo hold. Orcag joined Purshia at the helm, and the two of them went through the systems check quickly. Nothing else had emerged from the pyramid, and I didn’t think anything would, since it was now disabled, but the grays knew where we were, and we needed to depart as soon as possible.
“Here goes nothing.” Purshia bit her lip and powered up the craft.
“So far, so good, it seems,” I said as I listened to the steady hum of the thrusters.
“Steady now,” Orcag cautioned as Purshia raised the craft straight up out of the rubble.
We rose smoothly and headed for the clouds. A few minutes later we broke through the atmosphere and entered open space. A quick scan of the immediate area revealed no crafts nearby, but I didn’t think the grays would give up on us so easily.
“Where to?” Purshia asked.
I said, “I don’t know about you ladies, but I could use a damned vacation.”
“I have a safe house on Keplon 5,” said Orcag. “It is not far from here, and you can complete repairs on your ship.”
“No matter where we go, the grays are going to find us,” said Ella. “And with these nanobots inside us, we’re helpless against them.”
“Yes,” said Orcag. “I thought I’d figured out a way around being detected, but it seems we need to remove the bots if we ever want to escape them for good.”
“If anyone can figure out how to stop the grays from tracking us, it’s Jules,” I said.
“She is incapacitated at the moment,” said Orcag.
“Just set a course for Keplon 5,” I said and unstrapped from my seat. “I’m going to check on her.”
I went to the small infirmary. Jules was still unconscious. I took her hand in both of mine and gave it a squeeze. Her vitals came up on a display above the foot of the bed, and I thought they looked normal, although I didn’t know what normal was for a Binarian.
“I don’t know if you can hear me, but I want to thank you for all you’ve done for us.” She seemed to be sleeping peacefully. “Without your help we would have been screwed, and I intend to return the favor. I promise I’ll find someone who can help you recover, even if I have to search the entire galaxy. I owe you at least that much.”
I drifted off during my vigil and entered the world of nightmares. In my dreams I was in New York City, defending Earth from an alien invasion, but no matter how hard I fought, no matter how many ships I took down, they continued to pour through the clouds and rain fire on the city. Bombs incinerated skyscrapers and turned men, women, and children to ash. Lava spewed from the angry earth, turning the streets into churning rivers of molten flame.
Then a huge mother ship appeared. It was so impossibly large, I felt like a microscopic speck beneath it. The face of Gray filled the sky, glaring down on me like I was an insect.
“Because of you, Sheriff, Earth will die.”
“No!” I shot awake like a man possessed and swept the room with my laser gun.
“Harry!” Jules grabbed my right wrist.
I blinked, trying to focus.
“You were dreaming,” she said nervously. “Stand down.”
I disengaged my laser gun, fearful of what I might have done, and reminded myself not to sleep with the lethal prosthetic attached to my arm.
“Jesus, I could have shot you.” I ran a hand through my hair. I was covered in sweat and shaking. Visions from my dream were still fresh on my mind, and a feeling of dread washed over me. “I had a nightmare. My home planet was burning. Gray was there.”
“I have nightmares sometimes too.” She smiled at me kindly. “Luckily they are just dreams and nothing more.”
“Right.” I wanted to believe that, I really did, but I had a nagging feeling it was a prophecy.
“I’m sorry if I scared you. My systems shut down after I destroyed the capstone.”
I helped her sit up and offered her a glass of water. She gave me a grateful smile and drank greedily. I refilled the glass, and she finished that one off as well before letting out a contented sigh and swinging her legs over the side of the bed.
A robe hung on the wall, and I draped her in it as she stood.
“Thank you.” She wrapped it around herself, then surprised me by leaning against me and resting her head on my shoulder.
I wrapped my arms around her and held her tight. She was one of the most powerful beings I had ever seen, yet she sought comfort in my arms. The thought filled me with warmth and made me feel like the strongest man in the world. It also worried me to no end.
“Harry?” she said softly and nuzzled my neck.
“Yes?”
“Before we met in person, when you only knew me as a voice and a personality, how did you picture me?” She looked at me with big blue eyes and watched me closely.
“I don’t know. I guess I pictured you as human.”
“Are you disappointed in what I turned out to be?”
“What? Why would you say that?”
She didn’t answer for a long time, then, “Sometimes I wish I was just a regular person.”
“I could say the same about myself,” I said with a shrug. “But regular people wish they were extraordinary. We all tend to want what we don’t have, and once we have it, we want something else.”
“I’ve wanted you since I first saw you in the arena, and now that I have you, I don’t want something else.”
I didn’t know what to say to that, so I kissed her.
She took my face in her hands and whimpered as our tongues danced. I pulled her close as a wave of lust washed through me. Our kissing became urgent, and she shrugged off the robe and wrapped her arms around me as I hurriedly unbuckled my pants.
“I never want to let go.” She reached between my legs and helped me pull my erection free. “Make love to me. Make love to me and never stop.”
“I feel so safe in your arms,” she said.
I grabbed her ass and thrust deeper, filling her with my throbbing cock. Our lovemaking became more intense as our passion mounted. Soon I was up against the wall, and Jules somehow planted her feet to the wall behind me and ground against me using her newfound leverage.
I bit her soft, silver nipples and she pulled my head back and kissed me deeply, her tongue darting around mine. I pulled her free of the wall, carried her to the bed, and fucked her like the world was coming to an end.
Switching positions, I took her from behind, and she arched her back deliciously, face buried in the pillow, screaming in ecstasy. The visual of her soft pussy lips wrapped around my cock nearly sent me over the edge, and she must have sensed it, because she disengaged, sat up, and pushed me down on the bed.
“Let me,” she said with lustful eyes.
I saw what she was looking at and encouraged her. “Go for it.”
She sucked on my balls first, taking both of them into her warm, wet, mouth. After driving me mad with the best testicle massage I’d ever gotten, she swallowed my cock, deep-throating me.
“You’re so fucking beautiful.” My hands lightly rode the movement of her head as she bent over me, moaning with pleasure.
I almost came right then and there, but she stopped and trailed kisses up my stomach before straddling me and sitting on my shaft.
“Fill me with your love, Harry. I want to feel it inside me.”
An earth-shattering orgasm built inside me, and I could tell she was close, too.
I bellowed like a lion as the first wave hit me. She gripped me like a vise as she came, and we rode out the ultimate pleasure together.
We collapsed in each other’s arms, basking in the afterglow.
“Harry?” she said at length.
“Yes, Jules?”
“Thank you for saving me.” She kissed me and smiled.
Warwick: Episode 2: Galactic Fugitives Page 11
