by J. N. Chaney
“Hold onto me!” I told Elise.
I let go of the archway and fled towards the street, leaping over the stairs and hitting the ground running. The clanging sounds of metal beams ripping free in the building, reverberated all around me. The collapse happened in seconds.
I ran with Elise in my arms, knowing better than to look back.
The ground shook as the building tore itself apart, sending a wave of dust at our backs before the cloud overtook us. I tried to move, but quickly lost my footing, and we tumbled forward to the pavement.
I tightened my grip on Elise, keeping her close to my chest as I took most of the hits as we rolled. The shock of the pavement numbed my forearms and knees, but I ignored it.
The dust cloud blew through us, and the noise of the collapsing building was deafening.
Elise began to cry, clutching me with every ounce of her strength as I shielded her body with mine.
Through all of this, the city continued to shake. The tremor refused to end this time, even after the building had finished its fall.
The cloud was so thick around us that I couldn’t see where the shuttle was anymore. We’d have to get up and start moving, get our asses to the square, but which direction had it been in?
The tremor intensified at once, rumbling the city with such intensity that it felt like it was about to implode.
Time was up.
I forced myself to my feet, lifting Elise in my arms as she covered her eyes from the cloud. I took a step forward, trying to keep us both steady as the violent shaking continued. It was so difficult that I thought we’d fall again at any moment.
I opened my mouth to give Sigmond an order when I coughed, quickly covering my mouth and nose. The dust was too thick. Why hadn’t I brought my breathing mask?
I tapped my ear to open the comm. “Siggy!” I snapped, coughing immediately. “Did Abigail get away?”
“Not exactly, sir,” he replied.
“What are you—” The tremor knocked me to my knees, and I coughed so hard I thought my lungs would break.
That was when I saw the lights.
Inside the dust cloud, a glow of white and yellow seeping through the fog, accelerating to us from above. The street lamps! They must have lost stability in the quake. I had to get out of here before—
The shuttle appeared right in front of me, coming to a stop, and the door opened.
“Jace!” yelled a voice inside my ear.
The comm. It was Abigail.
“I’m here!” I yelled, trying to talk through the sounds of the city dying. I staggered forward, the ground heaving uncontrollably beneath my feet. Each step took everything in me to keep myself standing, but I had no choice. I had to get there.
Abigail appeared inside the ship. “Come on!” she screamed. “We have to move now!”
“Take the kid first!” I told her, reaching the edge of the shuttle. Abigail grabbed Elise’s arm and pulled her inside. Before she had a chance to tell me again, I grabbed hold of the inside rail.
Dust clouds parted behind us, swirling in circles as the engines lifted us away from the ground. Before I could drag myself off the floor, we’d already started accelerating in a mad hurry.
Taking heavy breaths, I looked back at the city of Verdun. Half the buildings had fallen, and more were going down as I watched. The outer fringes had disappeared completely.
Then, as we reached the ocean shore, a white and blinding light appeared, beginning from the center of the city and expanding to fill the whole of the sky.
Thirteen
The sky dimmed as we escaped the light. I could hardly see anything as my eyes adjusted, blue skies slowly fading into view.
I picked myself up off the floor of the ship as Abigail helped Elise to one of the seats. I was surprised to see Bolin in the pilot’s chair. “Glad to see you made it, Captain,” he said as I collapsed into the passenger seat.
I sank into the chair and closed my eyes, still breathing hard. “Same to you.”
“Sir, there’s something you should see,” said Sigmond.
His voice felt like a hammer in my temple. I just wanted things to slow down for two minutes so I could catch my breath.
I opened my eyes to see him standing on the dash. “What is it now?” I asked, sitting up and clearing my throat. I wiped a thick layer of sweat from my nose and forehead. When I brought my hand down, it was covered in wet clumps of gray dust. I needed a shower.
“The city, sir. It’s transformed,” explained Sigmond.
He looked to his side, where another holo appeared. This one showed a floating orange orb—the core from the fusion reactor, only it was several times its original size and sitting inside a kind of hexagonal sphere with gaps between each of the connected blocks.
“What in the gods’ names am I looking at right now?” I asked, leaning forward. “That looks like the core we saw in the reactor, but what happened to the city? And what’s that thing around it?”
“I am still in the process of analyzing it, sir, but if I had to postulate—” The holo zoomed in closer to the new object, which was still attached to the scaffolding that had been beneath the city. It loomed above the ground like an egg, partially hatched. “—I would say that the casing is likely intended to absorb the orb’s energy.”
“Like a Dyson sphere,” said Dressler.
Her voice threw me for a second. “Doc? Is that you?” I asked. “Siggy, why didn’t you tell me she was connected?”
“Apologies, sir. I thought it would help to have the entire team for this one,” explained the Cognitive. “Mr. Malloy and Athena are also connected.”
“Petra and I are on the line, too, Captain,” said Freddie.
“The gang’s all here,” I said, before looking back at the newly exposed fusion core. “Now, Doc, you were saying something about a sphere?”
“Not so much a sphere, I suppose,” she said, correcting herself. “The core is still visible through the gaps in the casing, but so perhaps a Dyson Array would be more applicable.”
“Decide on the name later. Tell us what you think it does,” I said.
“Oh, well, it’s as Sigmond suggested. Those panels are likely absorbing the orb’s energy, funneling a substantial amount to another location.”
“Another location?” asked Freddie.
“Sir, I hate to interrupt,” said Sigmond.
“What is it now?” I asked.
“Athena and I have been running a planetary sweep while you were talking and we’ve discovered several more transformations,” he explained.
“More? Are you talking about the other cities?” asked Abigail.
“Precisely so, Ms. Pryar,” he confirmed.
“Every elevated city on the planet has been reshaped and absorbed,” said Athena.
The holo changed to show a worldwide view of every location where the cities had once been, each of them now replaced by a single egg of fusion energy.
“My gods,” I muttered.
“All of them?” asked Bolin, dropping his mouth.
“There you have it,” replied Dressler. “Whatever this was, it was part of the next phase of the process. We need to find out what else is coming.”
“We’ll worry about that later,” I told her. “We have injured, we’ve lost our home, and worst of all, there’s a godsdamn Celestial on the loose.”
The ship tore through the clouds at supersonic speed, bringing us into view of the Beta Ark site. Only a few ships were here since the rest had been given orders to return to Titan for the time being. They’d be safe there until we could deal with the threat at our doorstep and figure out this whole terraforming debacle.
“Actually, I had a thought about that,” said Alphonse, his voice so casual that you’d think nothing was wrong.
“About what?” I asked.
“The Celestial is attacking, but we haven’t had a chance to stop and ask why,” he continued. “What is its motivation? What’s driving it to do what it is doin
g?”
“Hate for the Eternals, I’d imagine,” said Bolin.
“Perhaps, but Leif has already told us that these entities are highly intelligent, hasn’t he?” asked the Constable.
“What’s your point, Al?” I asked as Bolin touched our ship down.
“That Celestial’s ship is in pieces. It isn’t flying, not without repairs, and even then, where would it go?” asked Alphonse. “What if all of these attacks are intended to draw our attention away from its true target.”
“You’re saying it’s trying to distract us,” I said as the ship’s hatch cracked open. I eased my way out of my seat and grabbed the handle near the door, holding it until the hatch had fully dropped into the ground beneath us.
“Distract us from what?” asked Freddie.
I stepped off the ship and into the hard dirt of the lifeless field, letting go of the grip inside the hatch as my feet hit the ground. At that moment, I heard a sudden scream, pulling my attention to the dome.
The doors flew open, and several scientists appeared, each of them running in my direction. Before they made it six meters into the yard, the window pane above the door shattered, raining glass as a broken metal canister came flying. It tossed as it slid in the dirt, followed by the escaping scientists.
I took a step forward, gripping and unholstering my pistol. “I think we’re about to find out,” I said, breaking into a run as I started towards the dome. “Siggy! I need eyes on the Beta site!”
“The Beta site?” asked Dressler.
“That’s what I said!” I snapped, breaking into a hard sprint. “I’m heading in!”
People screamed as they continued to escape, but it was clear to me that more were still inside.
“I’m detecting movement, sir, but only our people,” informed Sigmond.
I reached for my side, breaking quickly out of the run, nearly sliding as I came to a full stop. I reached into my side and withdrew my pad. “Show me!”
The dome appeared on the screen immediately, giving me a bird’s eye view of the terrain. A filter swept across the image and allowed me to view what had to be thirty warm bodies inside the structure. They were in different positions, some running, others on their knees. Some weren’t moving at all.
“What’s going on in there?” asked Freddie. I assumed he must be seeing the same thing.
The mob was so chaotic. I couldn’t tell much of what was going on, except that whatever was after them had to be near the east side, maybe to the north.
One of the red bodies jerked towards the north wall so quickly I could barely follow. It slammed into one of the walls with so much speed, I flinched. I heard several more screams, matching the movements I saw on the pad.
My eyes widened, already knowing what that meant.
I started running, not bothering to put the pad away. I heard something beside me. It was Bolin, already caught up to me with his rifle, and Abigail was right behind him.
We reached the open doors right as the fleeing mob began to clear into the field, giving us room to enter. “Get out!” shouted one of the scientists. A man I recognized as Brenon. “It’s invisible! Get out of here! Everyone hurry! Get to the ships!”
Abigail grabbed him by the shoulder. “What are you talking about? What’s invisible?”
He shook his head and pushed her hand off. “It’s trying to kill everyone!”
Before she could say anything else, he was running in the opposite direction, headed straight for the landing platforms. “So much for that,” she muttered.
“Forget him,” I told her, lifting my pistol to the ready position. “Focus on the job.”
She nodded, raising her own rifle, butt against her shoulder. “Always.”
* * *
The dome was covered in debris when we got inside. Toppled equipment littered the area, while survivors screamed as they tried to get away. Glass crunched beneath every step I took as we entered through the doorway.
One of the birthing chambers was open, and orange slime bled out of its cracks to form a pool of goo along the floor.
There was a flash of gold light to my right, and I swung around with my gun ready.
The barrel stopped between Sigmond’s eyes. “Pardon me, sir,” he said, glancing at the weapon before flicking his eyes back to me.
“Siggy!” I snapped, dropping the gun. “What are you thinking, sneaking in here like that?”
“When did the holo-emitters get installed?” asked Abigail.
“Yesterday,” said the Cognitive. “More importantly, I thought it prudent to inform you directly that there are still no additional bio-signatures beyond the humans present in this facility.”
“That man said it was invisible,” said Bolin.
“To the eye, but it shouldn’t be that way for infrared,” said Abby.
“Correct,” said Sigmond. “Athena and I believe the creature has the ability to mimic the heat level of the area around itself. Its black body radiation must be equal to the rest of the room and the objects therein.”
One of the birthing chambers, still mostly intact, lifted off the floor, hovering high into the air. It bent and twisted, snapping free of the attached tubing and releasing a stream of orange slime, just like the first. It began to spin, dropping the birthing goo on some of the fleeing scientists, and then the chamber snapped forward directly towards us.
Abigail, Bolin, and I lunged out of the way, all of us moving in different directions.
A blue wall appeared, however, right in the object’s path. It crashed into the barrier, shattering it into bits of light, but it was enough to stop the chamber’s momentum and bring it to the floor.
I was on my side, near the back wall, staring in confusion as the object settled in place near the door with a loud thud.
Abigail and Bolin were both safe on the other side, much to my own relief, and I pushed myself to my feet in a hurry, then got behind a piece of debris. It looked to be one of the birthing chambers.
“What just happened?” asked Bolin.
I looked at Sigmond to find him gone, but as soon as I opened my mouth, he flashed back into existence. “That would be the emitters,” explained the Cognitive. “Oh, excuse me, sir. I cannot hold this form when manifesting other objects. Not with such limited power.”
“You’re good, pal,” I assured him, dusting some glass from the lower part of my coat. I glanced at Abigail, giving her a nod to let her know I was ready.
She returned it.
We were roughly ten yards from the enemy, maybe less, and I still couldn’t see it.
“Now, let’s see if we can find this thing and wrestle it down. Siggy, do whatever you can to help. Use those barriers.” I dropped the pad I’d been carrying and grabbed my second pistol, then edged my way to the side of the pod, peeking over the edge with my gun.
Slowly.
I saw eight or nine bodies on the floor, some buried beneath pieces of the wall. Others more exposed, their innards pulled free. Five of the seven scientists were in the center, and they quickly began to move in our direction. I kept my eyes fixed on the space above them, both guns raised and waiting. I had no idea what I was looking for, but I was certain I’d know it when I saw it.
“Everyone, break cover and move behind us!” I shouted to the survivors, some of whom were already leaving their hiding spots.
One at a time, they passed us, and we kept our weapons forward. If this really was a Celestial, the danger would be beyond anything we’d ever encountered. Leif had told what he knew of them, but his knowledge had been filled with gaps. Not many of the Eternals had encountered a Celestial in person. When they had, most had been killed. That only made the danger all the more real as we stood there, waiting and watching, trying to anticipate the actions of a thing we could not see.
As the five survivors fled through the doors behind us, I turned my attention to the remaining two. They were both pinned on the other side of the room. The moment stretched as I waited for something—a
nything—to happen. Another sign of movement from the invader. An opportunity to fire.
I took a slow, quiet step towards the two men, only one of which appeared to still be conscious as he reached out his arm, scraping the floor as he tried to drag himself free. “Eyes up,” I told my team. “Cover me while I—”
The man suddenly snapped free of the beam, flinging back and high into the air. I tried to keep focusing on the empty space, but I couldn’t keep my eyes off of him.
He flew higher still like a doll being flung by an angry child during an outburst, nearly hitting the eighty-meter-tall ceiling before coming to a full stop and hovering—no, hanging—so quickly, I thought his body might snap from the force.
He screamed like his ribs had been broken, and I suspected they had.
I sensed Bolin begin to move, but I reached out in front of him. He looked at me in confusion. I stared back, shaking my head as the sweat bled out of me. “Not yet,” I insisted. “This doesn’t make any sense. Why is this thing still here? What’s the endgame here?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” asked Abigail. I looked at her, and she eyed the floating scientist. “It’s trying to bait us.”
“You think it knows who we are?” asked Bolin.
“Remember what Leif said,” recalled Abigail. “They’re smart. Very smart.”
I scoffed. “I don’t care if it has six doctorates under its name. Siggy, how’s the range on those emitters? Can you make something to catch our boy if he falls?”
“The emitters cover the entirety of the dome,” explained Sigmond. “Although, several were damaged along the collapsed wall, but the rest remain intact.”
“And you can use them to catch a falling human being from fifty meters up?” asked Abigail.
“Seventy-three meters, Ms. Pryar,” corrected Sigmond. “I believe I can.”
“Alright, then, time to throw a wrench in with the bait,” I muttered, holding one of my pistols out and looking down the sight towards the floating scientist. I followed it down and to the right, where the room was at its widest. “Open fire on my mark.”
“On you,” said Abigail.
