Starship Invasion (Lost Colony Uprising Book 2)

by Darcy Troy Paulin

  Cailin consoled Jayleen, holding her hand while she quietly sobbed. Quin dealt with the bodies. He avoided looking at them as he covered their cold dead faces.

  They left the room and carried on down the corridors that lead through the main foyer. From there they headed down another locker and class lined corridor towards the main entrance where they had first encountered the squids. The halls were empty and most of the doors were closed, their usual state. Quin was reluctant to open any more doors, and the others seemed to be of the same mind. They made their way to the main entrance at end of the hallway and peered out the windows. Both the courtyard, and the apartment lined streets beyond were clear of any obvious squid activity.

  “Do you think it's clear?” Cailin asked.

  Quin and Jayleen responded in unison with a solid, “No.”

  “But we could go outside and see right?” Cailin said.

  The response, this time, came more slowly. After a pause Quin said, “I guess we could take a look. I know I could use some fresh air…”

  Jayleen's eyes widened slightly, but she said nothing.

  Quin said, “You could wait here if you want—”

  “No way,” Jayleen said, “we need to stick together.”

  Quin was the one to crack the door open. The smell of fresh outdoor air affected him more than he had imagined it would. There was a slight breeze, and the combination of the fresh air in his lungs and on his face was thoroughly refreshing. He gave his head a shake and refocused. He was stepping into dangerous territory. He pushed the door the rest of the way open and stepped outside. When he was not immediately leapt on from above, he took a further step, gripping his stick tightly. The other two followed, panning their heads up and down and side to side, scanning for danger. The courtyard was clear of both squid and people, alive or otherwise. But at the center of the courtyard they found a curious pile of large crab-stones, strongly suggesting that one of the large wagon train crabs had been here after the start of school the previous night.

  “Maybe we weren't abandoned after all,” Quin said.

  They carried on to the end of the courtyard and paused at the wide street entrance. The scene along the street in both directions was disturbing. Many houses were barricaded. Windows blocked either inside or out, or possibly both. In some cases, piles of debris were pushed up against the doors. Worse, houses that had not been barricaded looked to be in poor shape. Broken glass littered the ground below partially filled or empty window frames. Window coverings flapped in pane-less frames. A door rattled lazily shut in the breeze.

  Apart from the breeze it was quiet, much like the interior of the school. Quin suddenly saw what would happen when darkness came. The school would be ravaged just like the houses and apartments on street. The Sun and Mega were getting very close, False night would arrive in less than half an hour. Quin looked up to their cliff tops along the northern edge of the city. He could see their own rooftop; it was a mere speck that just barely peeked over the edge of the cliff.

  “We can't stay here,” Quin said. “I think we have to run for it. When it gets dark, they'll come back.”

  “That works for me,” Jayleen said, turning to go back into the school.

  “I don't think we can keep them out of the locker room,” Quin said.

  “Well… We can find something better. Like an inner office or…”

  “But then what? Stay in a tiny office, pooping in a bucket until… until we run out of food?”

  She crinkled her nose in disgust. “I want to go home too. I want to find my family. But it's so far. And it's no safer than here. Worse. Every room has windows to protect us, like those ones,” she pointed across the street at the shattered glass.

  “Our house is older.”

  “Ya! It's super old and crappy,” Cailin said, though his enthusiasm suggested that this was a good thing.

  She lifted her shoulders and raised her palms in confusion.

  Quin sighed. “It isn't crappy. It has character.”

  Jayleen, no less confused said, “I'm not in the market—”

  “It has shutters.”

  “How old is it?”

  “I don't know.” Quin could feel his cheeks reddening. “It will put us above the killing fields here in the city anyway. Did you see any squid up there? During the first night?”

  “No…”

  “Cailin and I are going. I can't tell you what to do… Come with us Jay. Please come with us.”

  “We can't go without Jayleen!” Cailin said.

  Quin looked at him and mouthed silently, “I know.”

  Jayleen looked uncertain, but nodded assent.

  They headed off immediately. Each of them had made the trek countless times. It was usually done in a sort of pedestrian commuter’s haze, head down, putting trust in the knowledge that eventually, one would have to arrive at one's destination. Now their attention was sharply focused, cautiously approaching each building and street corner as though it were a trap. But though cautious, they moved quickly. Never before had they traveled homeward in such a hurry, and yet never before had home seemed so far away. The first four of the roughly five blocks to the street-stair both dragged and flew by. They saw no moving squid, but Quin saw suspicious looking dark lumps pressed into nooks and crannies of the buildings, walls, and rooftops they passed.

  The last stretch before the street-stair was a green space, though the park was filled with the usual reds and purples and black in addition to green.

  They had stopped to consider their path when a frightened voice called from behind them. “What are you doing outside?” said the hushed but shouty voice, “it's not safe, you must get indoors.”

  A board had been pulled away and an older woman's face could be seen peering out from a house positioned opposite the park.

  Quin looked at Jayleen.

  “Let's go,” she said, indicating the house with the barest tilt of her head.

  Quin wanted to keep going. But it was hard to resist the advice of a little old lady. He looked again back up the cliff, which was only one more block from them, then sighed. “Okay.”

  They took a few steps towards the house.

  “Not here,” the woman said in an urgent whisper, “we're surrounded. I wouldn't even get the door open before they were on you. They’re waiting in the shrubs.” Her eyes were red and wet as she spoke. “They got Franklin, and Channin.” Her hand went to her mouth.

  “We'll be alright lady,” Cailin said. “They won't get us. Thanks for warning us about all the danger in yer yard.” He spoke in a lowered voice he thought appropriate for the situation. The shrubs rustled. It had not been low enough.

  The trio backed away from the bushes towards the park.

  “Don't go into the park,” the woman said, her voice high enough to crack.

  Movement in the park’s foliage punctuated her point

  Avoiding the park meant sticking to the road, putting an additional block between them and the street-stair. They stepped off down the street at a quick walk. But when the first squid bounded from the bushes, they quickly began running. The little squids put on an impressive bust of speed. But they soon slowed their pace and the armor-clad trio gained distance.

  The clomps of their feet on the road drew further attention, however. Squids leapt at them from bushes to either side of the road as they ran. One landed in front of them. It bounced from the cobbles but recovered quickly. Quin swung his stick wickedly at it. He connected, sending it flying back to the bushes.

  When the assault eased off for a moment, they slowed their pace to a jog. The heat of the sun and the fast pace brought sweat to Quin's forehead, down his face, and into his eyes. He tried wiping it away, but his face mask prevented him. He shook his head to remove the sweat from his eyes but to little effect. Looking up he realized that it was very close to False Night. He looked back at their pursuers, but they were gone, retreating to the cover of the bushes when they could not catch their prey.

  �
�The sun,” he said. “They don't like it much.”

  The other two looked over their shoulders.

  “Come on, let's pick up the pace, if we don't get there before dark…”

  They continued at a quick jog until the end of the block, where the road met the edge of the steep cliff face. No squid were currently in pursuit, so they paused a moment to catch their breaths.

  “We'll walk here for a bit if we can,” Quin said. “We need to have something left for the stair.”

  Jayleen sighed at the mention of climbing the stair, but said nothing.

  They walked on the cliff side of the road with their eyes on the park. No one made more noise than they had to and Cailin kept his mouth closed. Something heavy hit Quin's head, rocking him to the side. The squid lost purchase, then caught on with one short tentacle. Jayleen's stick sliced past his face, chopping the squid from his helmet, and smashing it to the ground. Then, without missing a beat, she hit a slap shot on it, sending it into the bushes. They started running even before the squids emerged from the bushes, having been alerted by the loud noise. Thuds came from behind as more squids leapt from above, missed their mark and bounced off the cobblestones.

  The trio ran the rest of the way to the street stair. Jayleen in the lead followed by Cailin and Quin in the rear. The squids kept attacking, pouncing towards the sound of the pounding shoes. Quin soon realized that for squid, it was more than disliking the sun, it was as though direct sunlight confused their vision, forcing them to respond to sound alone.

  Jayleen reached the stair first and took the first few steps before stopping cold. The two boys nearly piled into her and a squid ambled uncertainly in their direction.

  “What is it?” Quin said, his voice whispery.

  Jayleen pointed at the long winding stair. “So many turns, they could be around any one of them.” Her voice too was low.

  But still loud enough for the squid, which in a sudden burst, sped towards them. “Mind the squid,” Cailin said.

  “I'll go first, but let’s move,” Quin said, and climbed past her up the stairs.

  They easily outpaced the sole pursuing squid on the street-stair, and it soon gave up and crawled away to hide from the sun.

  The stairs seemed to be devoid of squid, as Quin had hoped. It faced mostly south and had therefore been a poor habitat for squid all through the preceding day. He also hoped that meant the squid were still not populating the cliff tops. But that good news soon worked against them. Without the pressing threat of the tiny murderers, their pace slowed, and Quin was unable to speed the others on their way.

  “You can rest when you’re dead,” he thought, but did not say. “Come on. If we don't get there before dark, we might not get there at all.”

  “I'm tired, Quin. I can't go any further. Just leave me here for the squids,” Cailin said from his current position, flat on his back at the lookout point, about halfway up.

  Jayleen, sitting against the stone wall that served as guard rail, smiled at him, but showed no sign of bettering him by getting up.

  “I may have something that will get your attention,” Quin said.

  There was zero response.

  “Candy.”

  All four of their eyes opened and turned to him.

  “You have candy?” Cailin said. “Here?”

  Jayleen too waited on the answer.

  “No,” Quin said.

  “Quin. Why do you tease us?” Cailin said.

  “I could really use some candy. Right now,” Jayleen said.

  “It's at home. If you get up and get moving, you can have one each. If not, then no candy.” There was no response, and Quin started to become frustrated.

  But then Cailin got up.

  Jayleen looked at him. Her expression said You're-not-falling-for-that-are-you?

  “He keeps it hidden…” he said, reaching out a hand to help her to her feet.

  She took his hand, though it was more hindrance than help, and got to her feet.

  The short break seemed to be enough and they pressed on. Soon they approached the top of the stair, but by then, Mega had eaten most of the sun. Quin peered up past the top step. There were no squid yet in view. They hurried along home under the last few rays of sun. Even when he spied their home, Quin resisted a sigh of relief. Their house was perched at the end of the road, on top of a small rise. The stone building had a small footprint, but was stretched over three full floors, four if you included a tiny domed observation deck on top. When they reached the door, Quin had his key ready. He unlocked the door and they scrambled in. Quin looked out towards the city, then back, further up into the clifftop community. Just before the sun winked out, he saw black shapes crawl from the rocky heights. They were far away still, but to see them at that distance meant they could only be the original, larger squid. He went inside, closed the door, and together they worked to shutter themselves in.

  Chapter 7

  When Greta woke it was night once more. False Night transitioned back to day, then two hours later, to regular night with a proper on-horizon based sunset. Greta had slept through all of it and then some. Her first action upon waking was to spy the exit. But the stairs were still guarded, and that guard directed her to the roof where she was quickly put to work. The False Night attack had ended with the return of daylight. The expected follow-up assault at sunset had not arrived, and so there had been time to complete much of the preparations for that eventuality. The invasion was expected to continue though no one knew for how long.

  Supplies were being stockpiled against a possible siege and Greta's part was for now, to pull on a rope. The lift had been repaired. But in an effort to conserve the collected rainwater that was usually used to power it they were supplementing muscle power, reserving water for emergency use.

  “How many people did we lose last night, does anyone know?” The man's voice came from behind Greta on the rope.

  “We didn't lose anyone; we held.” The prideful response came from further up the rope, though Greta couldn't see the woman any more than she had been able to see the man. There was contempt in her voice in addition to pride.

  “We held, but the north wall didn't.”

  “The whole north wall?” said another man.

  “Not the whole wall, just that part near the center.”

  “The shallows,” said yet another man.

  “Ya. Anyway, the reapers massed up…crashed right through. When they were finished eating Watchers they flooded into the city, scooped up anyone they found outdoors. Plus a few that hadn't bothered with their shutters.

  “My apartment doesn't even have half its shutters. They've been broken for ages. Worthless manager—”

  “It could be worse,” said the first voice, “it could have been us.”

  Which was precisely what Greta had been thinking. But she had a feeling there was more to it than that.

  “You're a real crab's anus you know that? I have family and friends … all over the city, it might be one of them who've been … taken.”

  The voices went silent.

  Greta was the one to break the silence. “It's worse than losing friends and family, It means there will be more of them.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “What do you think they are doing with all that food?” Greta said. When no one ventured to answer she did it for them. “They’re turning it into more squid.”

  Standing the way they were, positioned to hold tension on the rope, she still couldn't see any of their faces, not without turning her head, which she did not do. But she could imagine them, twisted in disgust. It was part of the reason she didn't bother talking most of the time. People were so sensitive.

  “Alright, hold the chitchat and get ready to pull,” said the corporal in charge of their detail. “Heave.” It was a casual command.

  He reached over to grab hold and help pull the line. There were enough Watchers around to make an otherwise difficult job easy.

  Only after they'd pul
led the rope about fifty yards, looping it around the first spindle, did the chatting pick up once more.

  “But they'll go away. We just have to wait them out…” The new voice trailed off uncertainly.

  Another new voice, bookishly confident, filled the gap. “These creatures are simply an example of long burst reproduction. Only in this case they are very long burst-cyclic cryomorphic cephalopodkin—”

  “Not this again,” said another voice, equally confident and only slightly less bookish.

  “I'm not making this up—”

  “Very long does not begin to describe it. No one has ever seen or even heard of these things before. And now they're everywhere.”

  “Maybe because they killed everyone that ever saw them?” said another new voice, laced with contempt.

  “Where were they sleeping? In the sky? They came from the sky. Or did no one tell you that?” said the less bookish voice.

  “Sure they did…” said the contemptuous voice.

  “There were hundreds of witnesses—” said the less bookish voice.

  “Nonsense. How could they come from the sky? Did anyone here see them fall from the sky?” When no one responded immediately, the contemptuous voice continued, “Exactly. No one saw that—”

  “I saw them,” Greta said.

  “You saw them?”

  “I just said I did.”

  “You're just saying that, you didn't see anything—”

  “I saw it too,” said the voice of Orian further up the line. Greta hadn't even realized she was there. “They floated down, ate my neighbor, escaped over the wall. Just like that.”

  “No way,” the contemptuous voice said.

  “What is the official opinion of the Watch corporal?” said another voice.

  “HQ says we kill all the squids we see and worry about where they came from after,” the corporal said.

  The line of Watchers reacted enthusiastically, with laughs and cheers. Greta thought it was a reasonable strategy for the Watch. But she hoped someone up there in HQ was thinking further. Just where did these things come from? Until now, she had been so absorbed with just surviving that she hadn't given it any thought herself.