Discovered (A Galactic Battle Series Book 2)

by L H Whitlock

  “No, baby, I don’t see anything, but I’m still not quite seeing straight.”

  “I do not see anything either,” Bixom said.

  A splash. Then the raft jostled with waves.

  “Hello? Please! Help us! My brother passed out.”

  “They need help,” Alyssa hissed.

  “It could be a trap,” Bixom cut in.

  “Even if it is, we can’t let them drown.”

  “Yes we could.”

  “Bixom,” Brock hissed. “Let’s just help them. If it’s someone bad we’ll figure it out. If they were dropped down here then it must mean they were recycled like we were.”

  “Fine, but I still do not think it is a good idea.”

  Alyssa squinted as she peered into the blackness but all she saw were the wispy tricks of her eyes.

  “Please help us!” a woman shouted.

  “We are coming. If you try anything funny we will toss you overboard,” Bixom shouted back. The Hilian had a dusting of stubble covering his cheeks and chin, making him look older.

  “Please! Please just help us. I can’t hold him for much longer.”

  Bixom glanced over his shoulder at Alyssa and Brock. Alyssa bit her lip and twisted her fingers together as she walked up to him.

  “Do you really think we shouldn’t?” she whispered so Brock wouldn’t hear.

  “I certainly do not think we should. But it is too late now. I think I see them up ahead.”

  “Where?” Alyssa squinted but saw nothing.

  “A little to the right.”

  “Oh,” Alyssa mumbled, spotting two forms bobbing in the oily water. One floated with their face barely peeking above the surface, the other struggled to keep the limp body up.

  “Please!” the woman choked out between mouthfuls of water.

  Bixom sighed heavily. “We are almost there.”

  He pulled the raft alongside the couple and he and Alyssa knelt on the edge, offering outstretched arms. The woman struggled toward them, paddling with only one arm. Bixom shined his light at the two.

  Brock stomped toward them, then halted. “Tally? Evin?”

  Tally was silent for a moment then said, “Oh! Brock! I can’t believe it! Thank the gods.”

  Brock eyed Bixom. “Don’t worry, they’re old friends.”

  “Thank the gods, Brock! I thought we were going to drown. Or we were going to get picked up by someone bad.”

  Brock fell to his knees and reached for Evin.

  “Please. Grab him, he’s heavy.”

  Brock grabbed Evin’s shirt and pulled him onto the raft. Tally hefted herself up then collapsed and laid on the wood, panting for breath.

  “He knocked out when he hit the water,” Tally said.

  Alyssa knelt next to the green-haired woman and wrapped a semi-dry blanket over her. “Here, this should help.”

  Tally nodded. “Thanks. You guys have anything to eat?”

  Alyssa frowned. “No, I’m sorry.”

  “How did you guys get down here?” Brock asked.

  “It’s a long story. We saw Alberta at the trading post and we decided to help them find the Developers. Then, when we got here, we were forced to land and the Developers forced us to jump off the bridge or they would shoot us.”

  “Alberta! Is she okay? Are the others with her?”

  “Last we saw of them they were on the bridge.”

  Brock released a heavy sigh. “Gods, they haven’t answered their RAB yet.”

  “Their RAB…” Tally mumbled. “That’s right! I’m sure they’ll answer soon. Maybe it got waterlogged or something?”

  “Maybe.”

  May wandered over and looked down at the green twins. He tilted his head and combed his fingers through his gray hair. “Well, I’m May. I’m the dude helping Brock out and then they agreed to take me with them.” He beamed. “Nice to meet you.”

  “Damnit May, yes, we are taking you. Stop being such an asshole.”

  “I am Bixom,” the Hilian replied. His brown hair was matted with oil and he had tried to roll up a sleeve on his slender suit over his forearms. It appeared to be cutting off the circulation, so he peeled them back down, covering the black Hilian spirals on his arm.

  “Hi Bixom, I’m Tally and this is my brother Evin.”

  “All right, let’s continue searching for Lily and the others, they have to be down here somewhere.”

  “Don’t worry,” Alyssa said, catching his hand with hers. “We will find them.”

  49

  Darkness engulfed the ship as it spiraled below the bridge.

  “Shit!” Alberta grunted. Her knuckles turned white with force and she tried to yank the ship up, but the shuttle slammed into a wall of liquid. Ice cold water flooded into the ship from the hole in the rear.

  Ulrick summoned his bio-energy and struck the window. The glass shattered and a wave of water slammed Lily into Gloria before tossing both girls to the back of the shuttle.

  Cold, heavy water filled the ship and it plummeted to the bottom, landing with a bang and a cloud of soot. Lily’s eyes burned against the polluted water and she spun, disoriented, trying to find the way out.

  Gloria grabbed her arm and hoisted her through the broken window. Pain seared her arm as a shard of glass cut her bicep. Her combat boots and cargo pants felt like boulders and she fought for each kick of her legs. When she breached the surface, the smell of oil, decay, and mildew turned her stomach. She choked back a gag as Alberta, Gloria, and Ulrick huddled close.

  “This is disgusting. What the hell?” Gloria mumbled.

  “Does see anything?” Alberta asked.

  “No, nothing,” Lily muttered.

  “We need to find solid ground,” Ulrick said, already striding forward in the darkness. Lily swam after him. Bulbs hung above them, woven into the underbelly of the engineered city, but they did little to provide actual light. With each stroke, her arms knocked against water-logged boards and pieces of rusty metal. A tangle of wires snagged her foot. She shook free, her heart racing with panic.

  “Whats fuck that!” Alberta flailed and splashed, bumping into Gloria and Ulrick.

  “It is probably just a fish,” Ulrick reassured.

  “Big fucking fish!” Alberta shouted.

  “Shhh,” Lily hissed. “You do not know who is down here.”

  “Oh my gosh! I felt it! I felt it!” Gloria screeched and frantically kicked to Ulrick.

  Lily’s heart raced and her eyes played tricks on her. Did she just see something jump in the water? Did something just brush against her? She froze for a moment and then hurried to the others.

  “I’m already t-tired,” Gloria stuttered.

  “It is because of the buoyancy of the oil. We have to kick faster and harder to stay afloat. Luckily, there is enough water to allow us to swim with reasonable effort, but we will tire rapidly,” Ulrick said.

  “Rights, whatevers, I hate swimming,” Alberta mumbled.

  “I love swimming,” Gloria said airily. “Well, not when it’s freezing and there are monster fish, but I like swimming. On my home world, Uinn, there were several, beautiful hot springs. Not all of them could be swum in because of the temperature or the flesh-eating bacteria, but they were amazing. The colors were beautiful…” Gloria sighed. “Damn Golan.”

  “I hate hot spring too.”

  “What! You don’t like hot springs!”

  “I hate being wet.”

  Lily laughed. “I am not a huge fan either.”

  “Hilians are trained in a facility that offers a deep sea simulator. It is a necessary skill and not often used for simple enjoyment,” Ulrick added.

  “That’s because there aren’t many places to enjoy water. It seems like it’s always either frozen or mixed with something deadly,” Gloria said.

  Lily pressed on the RAB and waited for it to start back up. Thankfully, the device was waterproof. She turned on the flashlight function and shone it over the water. Irradiant swirls of oil shone atop the
water’s surface. Slimy, algae-coated objects bobbed and moved to the slight tide. She strode forward, pushing aside a mushy board.

  “I can’t see anything,” Lily said. She punched at the RAB, calling the number Brock had used. It rang through, the sound sharp in the silence.

  “Hey.”

  “Brock?”

  “Ya. Who else would it be?”

  Lily smiled and rolled her eyes. “Where are you guys?”

  “Fuck if I know. We’re still beneath the city.”

  “So are we, but we do not have a ship anymore, we were shot down.”

  “Damnit. Let’s regroup when we meet up, there’s gotta be a way back to the top.”

  “I will call Rowan and see how close he is. Hopefully he can help.”

  “Are you able to track my RAB?”

  “No, I cannot seem to pull it up.”

  “Okay.., let me see if I can track yours. Oh, guess who we picked up—”

  Spotlights wandered over the water, scanning the surface back and forth before settling on the group. They stared into the light, frozen, then bullets rained into the water.

  Lily dove. Bullets sliced through the filmy water, cutting Lily off from her team. She swam beneath a board for cover. The light from her RAB created a hazy glow around her but she could see little other than shadows. She spotted Alberta several feet away, pushing a slab of metal in front of her as she surged back to the surface. Lily followed her example and gasped as she breached.

  “Are the gunshots you?” Brock asked through the RAB.

  “No,” Lily managed to gasp. “We are being shot at.”

  “I’m coming.” The call cut off.

  A single fighter ship dove at the water, firing bullets. They clanged against floating metal and splashed on the water’s surface. Ulrick grabbed Lily’s leg and yanked her down. She resurfaced just in time to see the ship loop around for another go.

  Gloria surfaced, held up her arms, and created a shield around them. The bullets ricocheted against the glittering surface. Some of the bullets struck one of the ships in the wing, but it managed to stay in flight.

  Ulrick threw a ball of bio-energy at the circling ship. Fire erupted from its side, flashing Lily’s face with heat. The ship crashed into the filmy water. Fire roared, igniting the oil on the surface.

  Alberta dove, followed by the rest of the team as the fire raced toward them. They surged to the surface once the blaze had passed.

  Gloria groaned as she breached.

  “Are you okay?” Lily asked. “What is wrong?”

  “It’s nothing,” she gasped. “Just burned my arm is all.”

  “Let me see.” Lily swam over and shined the light from her RAB over the wound. Alberta’s skin was bright red and puffy and already starting to blister. Lily brushed her finger over it and Gloria hissed.

  “Ah! It’s fine. I just got too close. I didn’t catch on fire or anything.”

  “Still, we need to get it out of the water. It could get infected.”

  “More comings,” Alberta said. Her hair hung in her face and her mascara had washed off, making her eyes look bigger than normal.

  A ship skimmed the water, firing round after round into the black water. Another followed, shining a spotlight into the darkness. Gloria summoned a shield and a ship crashed into it. It erupted in flames and struck the water. It flashed the oil with fire but it didn’t have enough heat to reach the team.

  “We can’t just continue to float here,” Lily said.

  “I’m exhausted,” Alberta agreed.

  Two ships swooped low, but instead of bullets they blasted the water with fire.

  Flames rushed across the surface. Balls of fire erupted, singeing their faces. The team dove deep and swam, looking for a safe opening, but all Lily could see was the orange glow.

  Gloria and Ulrick swam ahead of her. She glanced back in search of Alberta and saw her several feet away, tangled in wires. In the glow of the flame they appeared like thick tentacles from a sea monster.

  Lily swam toward the pilot, her lungs already protesting. Alberta kicked and flailed, but only managed to entangle herself further. Lily pulled the knife out of her pocket and sliced a wire around Alberta’s ankle. Alberta looked at her with wild eyes, the irises already losing their glow. Lily cut a wire around Alberta’s arm and the pilot was able to pull her arm free. She worked at untangling her other arm while Lily continued cutting the wires around her legs.

  Her blade slipped and sliced Alberta’s thigh. Alberta kicked away and blood mixed with the murky water. The fire consuming the surface above dwindled into blotches.

  Lily tugged Alberta toward the surface. Her lungs felt as though they would burst at any moment.

  Another wash of fire spread over the top of the water, the heat briefly warming the chill in Lily’s skin. Despite her efforts, her body forced a breath. Cold, heavy water washed down her nose and settled into her lungs. She instinctively coughed and choked, swallowing another gulp.

  She turned back to Alberta, but the woman’s eyes were closed. I have to get her... to... Lily had to focus. The surface was just out of reach, yet she couldn’t move her arms or kick her legs. She hung suspended, slowly drifting away from the air they so desperately needed. Blackness filled her vision and she vaguely recalled someone reaching for her. Or was that just her imagination?

  50

  “I got ’em!” Brock yelled as he transformed his arm into his machine gun and fired at two ships that were shooting streams of fire. The filmy water was dotted with patches of fire. A rush of new flames lingered for a few seconds then disbanded as it lost its heat.

  The ships spun and then blasted Brock and the raft with fire. The wood was too waterlogged to ignite, but fire lingered around the edges, making escape impossible.

  He focused his bio-energy, using the machine gun to funnel it, and blasted one of the ships. It fell and bobbed on the surface of the water as a ball of flame.

  The second ship flew at them. Tally and Evin hoisted a log into the air. The ship smacked into it, throwing both the log and the twins into the raft. The enemy ship spiraled and slammed into a pillar holding up the city.

  Metal groaned and the platform above teetered. Angry sunlight spilled over the water. Brock turned away as his eyes adjusted to the red light. Is it just me or does it seem larger? Brighter? Hopefully that was just his imagination.

  “Do you see your friends?” Bixom asked. Sweat poured down the Hilian’s face and his dark brown hair was matted with oil.

  Brock squinted but saw nothing. The patches of fire began fading out, and then he saw Ulrick surface a few yards away.

  Gloria popped up next to the Hilian and coughed for a moment before spotting Brock. She waved her arm. “Brock! Lily, Alberta!” She motioned in the general direction of the two women.

  Brock dove into the cold, slimy water. May jumped in after him and signaled for Brock to follow. It took a moment but then Brock spotted what May was heading toward. The two women floated almost peacefully in the darkness. Golden light kissed their skin, giving them an angelic glow. May swam past him and grabbed onto Lily, draped her over his shoulder, and hoisted her to the top.

  Brock pulled himself out of his trance and grabbed onto Alberta. Once he surfaced, Brock waived to Bixom. The Hilian guided the raft toward him and helped pull Alberta and Lily onto its wet deck.

  May laced his fingers and pounded on Lily’s chest, then bent to listen to her breath. He glanced up, his gray eye holding panic, and then he pounded on her chest again. The raft wobbled as Ulrick and Gloria climbed atop.

  Brock pumped his hands against Alberta, watching hopefully as water sputtered out of her mouth. He dropped his mouth to hers and breathed. When she didn’t cough or respond, he pressed his fingers to her throat. His heart froze for a moment but then he felt it: a small, weak heartbeat.

  Thank the gods, she’s alive! Thank the gods!

  He pumped his hands against her chest again.

  “What t
he hell!” Gloria shrieked as she stomped across the raft and shoved Evin.

  Ulrick dropped to his knees next to Lily. He looked up at May, who paled and immediately backed away. The Hilian locked his lips with hers, breathing for her, then he pumped his hands over her chest.

  “Gloria, what the hell is it?” Brock asked as he tilted Alberta’s head to the side and pounded on her back, trying to get her to cough up some water.

  Gloria punched Evin. The green twin spun and smacked flat against the wood. “You son of a bitch.” Gloria kicked the thin man in the stomach.

  “Ah!” Evin cried and rolled over as Gloria kicked him again.

  Tally ran up behind Gloria, grabbed her by her hair, and yanked her away from her brother.

  “Can someone please tell me what the fuck is going on?” Brock snarled. Ulrick didn’t seem to notice the altercation; he leaned in close to Lily, banging on her back and whispering to her. The ancient Hilian’s face was creased with worry, his eyes glistening, a look Brock hadn’t expected to see in the warrior.

  May helped Evin up from the water-logged wood but the man slammed his fist into May’s face. May stumbled backward and fell off the side.

  “Any of you assholes move and I’ll kill her,” Tally screeched, yanking Gloria down by the hair. Gloria’s hands grasped onto Tally’s and the green woman pressed a knife to Gloria’s throat, hard enough that a line of blood trickled down her neck.

  “They betrayed us!” Gloria snarled. “And they killed Gustavo.”

  “We didn’t kill that pretty boy, he was alive when I last saw him,” Tally sneered.

  “You mean when you dropped us!” Gloria tugged her head away and Tally yanked her back.

  “Gustavo’s dead…” Brock muttered, shock halting his hands for a moment.

  “They tried to steal my ship when we were in the asteroid trading belt and they betrayed us when we got here by dropping us so we would fall to our death,” Ulrick said as he gently pounded and rubbed on Lily’s back. A trickle of water seeped out of her pale lips.

  “Is that true?” Alyssa gasped.

  “Yes,” Gloria snarled and yanked against Tally, causing the woman to jerk and press the knife into her neck. Blood ran down Gloria’s throat, staining her porcelain skin.