by Ramy Vance
Roy wasn’t going to wait for them to make the first move. Against his better judgment, he leaned forward, threw his mech into high gear, and sped off to meet the helkates head-on.
The fighters scattered. It was difficult to count how many of them there were. They were small enough to swarm, bunching together once Roy had passed to throw his estimation off.
How the hell am I going to dump this satellite without them seeing me? Roy thought. The helkates fighters would attack anything that came off of Roy’s mech when they weren’t busy trying to blow him up. He needed a plan of attack.
Thin the herd; that was the only option. If the helkates were busy trying to stay alive, they probably wouldn’t notice anything else. And if Roy could stay alive, he could jet out afterward.
Roy leaned back in his cockpit and took a deep breath as he prepared to do one of the dumbest things he’d ever done in his life. Then he flew straight toward the helkates, blasting missiles from his dragon mech’s mouth.
The missiles weren’t the strongest weapon Roy had on the mech. In fact, they were the weakest. But they were the flashiest and the most surprising.
The helkates, which had bunched together, split up again, each of them going their separate way. Even then, they seemed to be moving in an integrated fashion, as if each were communicating with the others. Roy wondered if they were even piloted. They could have been organics for all he knew.
Just our luck, the Dark One’s figured out how to make shit that can live in space, he thought as he maneuvered the mech around to chase the group of fleeing helkates.
As Roy came around their backside, the fighters flipped around, their spikes vibrating, and an electrical charge firing. Roy was able to drop down and swing out of the way. He hit his thrusters, surging forward.
The mech plowed through the group of helkates, sending them flying, one of them bursting into a thousand pieces that floated, sparkling in the blackness of space before combusting.
A slight break in the helkates’ formation allowed Roy to push forward, kicking his mech into high gear and flying past them toward the dropships. He knew the helkates could keep pace with him easily. This would give them more to deal with.
The dropships were fast approaching and Roy punched up to the first one, close enough to see the crew in the front of the ship. They stared wide-eyed at him as he let his mech rest for a moment. He was going to give them something to remember the mech riders by.
Roy fired, blasting the front windows with freezing ice. The windows of the dropship instantly iced over, aided by the frigid space winds. He switched to his rockets as he glanced over his shoulder.
The helkates were still catching up to him. Great. Roy turned back to the window and let loose two rockets.
The rockets exploded, blowing out the windows of the dropship. The bodies of the orcs and goblins manning the ship were sucked into the vacuum of space.
As the helkates raced toward Roy, he shot upward, running the length of the ship as the fighters collided with their compatriots. Then he whipped around and fired his missiles, lighting the helkates up. Hell, yeah.
Just as Roy was congratulating himself, he spotted the other pack of helkates. They had come up right behind him. The fighters organized themselves in a trapezoid formation. The blank space in the middle of the helkates began to glow.
“This is not going to be good!” Roy shouted as he leaned forward, driving his mech toward the gnomish homeworld.
A purple energy blast shot out of the energy cannon the helkates had formed. It narrowly missed Roy, who was rocketing toward the gnomish atmosphere as fast as possible. As he headed toward the atmosphere, he realized this was the perfect time to drop the satellite.
Roy checked to see how many mines he had left. He hoped he had refilled them before leaving HQ.
Nine mines. Perfect. Roy pulled down his holoscreen and programed the mines to react to orcish and goblin organic material. He hoped his hunch was going to pay off.
Roy let the first mine go as he circled the planet, then the next. After the fourth mine, he dropped the satellite and then let three more mines go. He glanced over his shoulder to see if the helkates were still following him.
The fighters were weaving in and out of the trail of mines Roy had left. Given that the explosives hadn’t gone off, they obviously weren’t organic, or at least, not the organic material Roy had guessed. Not too big a loss, though. The helkates had already passed the satellite, too worried about Roy to concentrate on anything else.
At least the mission went off without a hitch. Don’t think there was anything in the briefing about me coming back alive.
Then Roy remembered Anabelle. There was a date hanging in the balance of all of this, and he wasn’t even in bad trouble yet. The helkates hadn’t managed to hit him. Actually, now that he thought of it, they didn’t seem to be attacking him.
Roy double-checked over his shoulder to see where the helkates were and couldn’t see any. He punched in the coordinates back to Earth and prepared to hit hyperspace.
What Roy could not see was that the helkates had positioned themselves in a bizarre geometric pattern around Roy. Their targeting reticles were set on him.
The mech hit hyperspace just as they shot at him. The combination of the shots and the accelerated speed jolted his cockpit, and Roy was thrust forward. If it wasn’t for his harness, he would have slammed his head on the dashboard. He heard cracks and knew the force of the jolt against that harness had caused bones in his body to shatter.
“Can’t pick your poison,” Roy gritted out as he slid into the hyperspace tunnel, the helkates glowing an eerie purple. Then their bodies stretched, connecting to the mech and following it into the tunnel.
Chapter Eighteen
Anabelle stormed into Abby’s and Creon’s lab, her eyes full of worry and fury. “I need your help right now!” she shouted.
Abby jumped up from her current project; she was trying to figure out how much damage she’d done to her body by injecting it with nanobots. “Uh, we’re kinda in the middle of something,” she muttered. “Assuming this is real important?”
Anabelle sat at one of the empty desks, flopping down as though her body could barely keep itself upright. “You’re damn right this is important,” the elf said, her tone sharp. “What do you have to do that’s more important than saving someone’s life?” Abby held her tongue. Anabelle didn’t need to know what was going on.
Abby glanced in Creon’s direction. The goblin was doing a great job of pretending he wasn’t interested in the conversation. But whatever was bothering Anabelle was serious. “Honey, it’ll be okay. How can I help you out?” Abby asked.
“It’s Roy. He’s in trouble, and I need to figure out how to help him.”
Abby rolled her chair away from her computer. So that was what was getting her so hot and bothered. “Details?”
Anabelle sighed as she threw her hands up in irritation. “All I know is that he went off to the gnomish world and got ambushed. He was being all cryptic and dramatic, but he’s never dramatic. I think he might be in danger. Like, real danger.”
Real danger? Roy seemed like the kind of guy who was able to take care of himself, and Anabelle didn’t seem like the sort to worry. Anabelle’s and Roy’s interaction was different from anyone else’s, and Abby suspected something was going on between the two of them. Maybe Anabelle was just worrying. “Roy knows what he’s doing. He’s one of our best,” she said.
Anabelle nodded as she picked at her cuticles. “Yeah, he does, which is why I’m worried. The last time he admitted he was in over his head, he lost an eye. Could be his legs next.”
“When you put it like that…”
“So, can you help?”
Abby turned to the holoprojector and swiped through the DNA breakdown she and Creon had been going over. “All you know is he’s in the gnomish realm?”
The holoprojector was displaying a map of the gnomish realm. Anabelle came over and stared hard a
t the screen. “Yeah, that’s all I know. That, and he was pretty close to the gnomish homeworld if that helps.”
“Yeah, that does. Let me see what I can find.”
Creon had left his terminal and had come over to the holoprojector, still silent, attention going from the screen to Annabelle, Abby, and back. After the three had been sitting in silence long enough, he finally said, “There’s a tracking device on each mech. We could use that to find his specific position.”
Anabelle’s eyes still looked somewhat frenzied, as if she’d already assumed the worst-case scenario was the only outcome. “Even if we do know where he is, how’s that going to help him? By the time we could make it there, if we could make it there, he might be dead.”
“It’s somewhere to start. We can work from there.” Creon went back to his desk and started typing. The holoprojector changed, zooming in on the planet. A blip on the screen was blinking brightly. “That’s Roy,” Creon said. “And it looks like he’s surrounded…by helkates. Oh, shit, that’s not good.”
Anabelle spun to meet Creon’s eyes as her own narrowed—as if he was one trying to kill Roy. “What exactly are helkates?” she asked, her voice heavy and accusatory.
“Helkates are the Dark One’s elite fighters. They aren’t the strongest ones out there, but they’re the fastest and most efficient. Their targets don’t often survive.”
Anabelle took her time responding. “So, you’re telling me he’s fucked?”
“No, I’m not saying that. I’m just letting you know what the situation is. If he’s…oh, wait, that’s interesting.”
Anabelle grabbed Creon by the shoulders and shook him. “What? What’s interesting?” she shouted.
Creon prised Anabelle’s hands off his shoulders and stumbled away while Abby rushed over to help keep the goblin from falling over. Once Creon had situated himself, he came over to the holoprojector. “It looks like Roy just entered hyperspace, and he’s flying by hand. He must be trying to lose them.”
“What does it matter if he’s flying by hand?”
Creon motioned for Abby to join him at his computer. “If he’s flying by hand, that means he’ll be traveling slower than usual, and that he’s in trouble. But we can track him. He would have had to punch in some general coordinates. We can get a rough estimate of where he’s going and guide him to a better jump exit.”
Anabelle hit her comm and pinged Roy. “Where should I tell him to go?”
Creon was staring intently at his screen. “There’s a bigger problem than that. He’s being followed. There are multiple helkates in his hyperspace tunnel as well. They’re following him. Once he exits, they’re going to be there too. He’s bringing them to Earth.”
Abby didn’t need the gravity of the situation explained to her. She could see it in Anabelle’s and Creon’s faces. This was obviously a big deal.
Creon leaned back in his seat, running his hands through his hair as he gritted his teeth. “If even one of those helkates gets away from Roy, it could do immeasurable damage. We should guide him somewhere away from people—say, the middle of the Atlantic. But he’ll need backup to get rid of the helkates. A good amount of backup.”
Anabelle shrugged as the goblin looked at the map. “I know how to pilot a fighter. I’ll go back him up. Where should I tell him to exit?”
Creon shook his head as he hobbled over to the map. “You’re barely a novice, and besides, one more fighter isn’t going to be enough. Uh, Abby, do you think now would be a good chance?”
Abby had been itching to get out of the lab. That and Creon had been filling her mind with all sorts of nonsense. He didn’t seem to think Abby integrating nanobots and an AI into her body was a bad idea. Creon even had a couple of theories as to what she was capable of doing now, and he wanted to test them. So did she. “I’m not sure,” Abby said at last.
Anabelle eyed her and Creon as she folded her arms. “What the hell are you two talking about? I don’t want to pull rank on you, but you two both need to let me know what’s going on right now because Roy is going to need help when he leaves that jump.”
The pair exchanged guilty looks before Abby said, “It would be easier if we showed you.” Then she walked over to one of the lab tables where an exoskeleton suit was splayed out. She slipped the suit over her shoulders and connected it to her waist.
Anabelle tapped her foot impatiently, casting a glance at the map. “We don’t have time for science experiments right now,” she shouted. “Roy needs to—”
Abby raised her hand, interrupting the elf. “Just hold your britches and watch.”
Anabelle stopped talking and gave Abby her full attention.
Abby closed her eyes and concentrated. As she inhaled and exhaled, nanobots began to pour out of her skin, connecting to the exosuit, binding her flesh and the steel together. Her skin fused with the wiring and electronics of the suit, the pigment of her skin becoming darker and more metallic.
Once the transformation was complete, Abby stood before Creon and Anabelle—an obsidian god, a symbiosis of flesh and technology.
Abby opened and closed her fist. She’d only practiced transforming her hand with Creon a couple of times earlier. This was her first full-body transformation. She felt cold all over, a cold that went straight down to her guts.
Anabelle nodded as she inspected the construct. “Okay, you got my attention. Let’s take you out for a spin, Abby.”
Creon had provided Anabelle with the coordinates to relay to Roy. She wasn’t certain if the mech rider had received them. His hyperspace jump was screwing with communications, but in theory, he should have received them even if he could not respond.
Anabelle and Abby were standing beside the hadron collider, waiting for their coordinates to lock in. It was hard not to stare. In all of Anabelle’s life, she’d never seen anything like Abby. The girl was beautiful, even if she didn’t look like she should exist.
“Hey, you okay?” Anabelle asked. Abby hadn’t spoken since her transformation.
Abby looked up suddenly. She no longer had human eyes; they’d been replaced with a white-hot glowing light. “Huh?” she exclaimed as if she had been rocked from sleep.
“I asked if you were okay.”
Abby smiled as she nodded. “Yeah, yeah. Perfect. Just a lot to take in. Martin’s kinda integrated into my mind. There’s a lot of information. A lot.”
“You good for a mission? Sure you don’t want to test out all this shit on the track field or something?”
“No, I’ll be good. Trust me.”
The hadron collider opened its portal. “Let’s do this thing,” Anabelle said as she stepped through the portal, Abby floating right behind her.
Abby came out the other side of the hadron collider’s portal. She looked down, and there was only ocean. When she scanned the horizon, there was more water. Initially, she panicked, worried that she was going to fall in and drown. She’d never been much of a swimmer.
Then Martin popped up. Or in. It was still hard to discern where or what Martin was doing. When he was working or thinking, it felt like another mind had opened inside hers. Distinct, but somehow connected.
Without having to think, the soles of Abby’s feet expanded, a propulsion system firing jets, keeping Abby afloat. Holy crap, I’m flying, she thought. I’m actually flying.
Anabelle dropped out of the portal, waving her hand in front of her, causing a pillar of water to rise and solidify into ice. Abby flew after her.
She didn’t look like someone learning to fly but rather glided with unexpected fluidity. Guess she’s a fast learner, Anabelle thought. “Not bad for a beginner.”
Abby shook her head as she laughed, flying in a loop. “Yeah, thanks. Still working out the kinks. I have to figure out what I can do…or can’t do.”
“Good, ‘cause we’re gonna have to find that out right now!” Anabelle pointed at the sky, not too far from where their portal had opened. The sky twisted and warped as if it were made out of taffy
and was being stretched. Then the heavens went black, and Abby could see stars stretching far back as if they were looking into infinity itself. The vision was beautiful.
Then there was a loud snap and Roy’s mech came racing through the sky, followed by the Dark One’s helkates.
The mech went skidding across the water, deploying a parachute too late.
Abby raised her hand, scanning the mech without realizing what she was doing. “He’s going to sink if we don’t get him out of there.”
Anabelle looked from the mech to the fighters, which were beginning to spread into an attack formation. “Help Roy!” she commanded. “Then give me backup!”
Abby leaned forward, her body working on instinct and whatever the hell Martin was doing in the background. Her thrusters fired and she soared toward Roy, landing on his mech. She grabbed the cockpit and ripped it open with a strength that almost made her scream.
Roy stared up at her, his eyes wide. He grabbed a pistol from his side and fired at Abby, shouting, “What the fuck are you?”
The slug bounced off of Abby as her skin hardened. “It’s me, Abby. I need to, uh…”
Rather than waste time speaking, Abby reached into the mech, her hand splitting into a dozen tendrils that embedded into the controls. Her eyes turned black for a second as she connected to the mech. The power systems flickered, then turned on.
“They followed you,” she said as she disconnected from the mech. “All of them.”
Roy popped his head out of the cockpit and stared at the helkates. “Oh, shit. Didn’t see that one coming,” he muttered. He winced, eyes glazed with pain, and Abby guessed he’d been wounded.
“How badly are you hurt?” she asked.
Roy touched his side. “I’ll live, provided we get me back to medbay sooner rather than later.”
That was bad. A wounded Roy wasn’t something they had expected. They needed him to fight. “Can you still kick ass?” Abby asked, injecting as much bravado into her voice as she could.
