Max furrows his brow. “Impossible. All of this is happening in your mind.”
“Right.” I pick up a rock and throw it into the trees at the back of the yard. We used to hit rocks out of the yard with a baseball bat, listening to them buzz away. Stopped when we broke a neighbor’s window.
“That is why,” Max says again, “we must become kin.”
“If choosing to use Max’s form makes you think we’re family, I’m afraid your great intellect is missing the point.” I throw another rock.
“You have experienced our pain,” Max says. “You understand us. We understand you.”
I laugh at Max in a way that I never would have, if this were really Max. “You’ve obviously never done this before. Not even with Brick.”
“What we are attempting…only once, with a woman named Kathy Connolly, who was far more intelligent and understanding than you.” Max hops off the swing and picks up a rock. “But please, explain your meaning.”
It’s possible the Europhids have already extracted my thoughts, but they’re at least pretending to respect my mental privacy. “Shared experience. Joy, hurt, contentment. Whatever. Glad sacrifices of time and resources. Not just willing, but happy to do it, even if the doing sucks. Over time, after layers of trust are established, then kinship develops. It’s not something that can be rushed.”
“But it can be,” Max says. “During extreme circumstances and times of shared danger, the bond between humans can become intense in a relatively short amount of time.”
I’m about to argue the point when Max makes his point with a single word.
“Hildy.” He throws his rock. Doesn’t clear the fence. “Apologies for using your recent memories. Knowledge of them was attained before our conversation began.”
I rub the rock in my hand with my thumb, feeling the authentic rough surface. He’s not wrong. Hildy was Union. We bonded through music. A shared human experience. Then bonded through the danger of our escape. Trust was fast-tracked, and now, in my mind, she’s one of my people. The same thing happened with Porter, Morton, and Burnett, but it took longer.
“You are far less fun and charming than Hildy,” I say. “And we don’t have a whole lot in common.”
“We share an enemy,” he says.
“The Union,” I say.
“It is more profound than that.” Max picks up another stone. It’s flecked with mica. He smiles at it. Admiring. “Knowing what you do now, would you condone the destruction of a Europhid colony?”
“No,” I say.
“Not for any reason?”
“I mean, if you start conquering the universe, maybe.”
“That is not our way.”
“And yet, you’re found throughout the galaxy. Throughout the universe. Sounds colonial to me. And from what I’ve seen of your red-colored buddies, not every being you encounter is happy about your arrival.”
“Can you keep your cells from dividing?” Max asks. “Can you prevent your immune system from destroying foreign invaders? Your body expands and grows despite what your mind might think. We are bound by biology, spreading throughout the universe. Growth is sometimes painful. Sacrifice is sometimes necessary. But when a colony is established, and an equilibrium found, the planet or moon we inhabit, and everything living on them become…kin.”
“Oh,” I say. “Huh. That include the Undesirables?”
“It does.”
“And that’s why you brought me here? To protect them?”
“To protect us all,” Max says.
“Can I ask… How did you do it? Bring us to the future?”
Max chuckles. “That would be like you explaining military tactics to a butterfly.”
“Hey.” I don’t disagree, but there’s no reason to insult my intelligence.
“In terms you can understand, we worked with a team of human scientists, augmenting a slew drive to work with space—and time. Two machines were created. The first was created to send the second back in time. The second was designed to activate when you were in proximity, and then bring you to this time and place.”
“But why Antarctica?” I ask. “Why not just send it to Fort Bragg?”
“Exposure.” Max throws his sparkly rock. Faces me. “You lived in the earliest days of the Union, before anyone noticed the brewing storm. But there were people in positions of power, in your military and your government agencies who would have been inspired by the technology on display. During that time, at that location, on that specific day, you and your team were the best choice available to your government. It was a risk, but…here you are. A little late, and tainted by the Union, but present and, perhaps, willing to help.”
“So, you’re not all-powerful and all-knowing?” I ask.
“Delusions of grandeur are not unknown to us, but…no. Mistakes have been made, including not predicting the complications created by those who joined your trip through time.”
“I thought you and Brick were tight.” I face Max, trying to read his face. He just stares straight ahead, his expression a mask.
“Hey, boys,” Max’s mother says from the back porch. She’s dressed in a flowing sun dress. Hair perfectly styled as usual. A red lipstick smile on her face. She always looked like a magazine advertisement. “You want some lemonade?”
There are few things in the universe more delicious than Mrs. Wells’s lemonade. She makes it fresh, with—
“Stop,” I tell Max. “You’re trying to avoid the question.” I turn to Mrs. Wells. “I love you, Mrs. Wells, but you’re not real. So, fuck off.”
She rolls her eyes and heads inside the house.
“We were not referring to Brick,” Max says.
“Chuy and Drago are with me, and if I’m with you, so are they.”
Max nods. “We know this.”
“Then who else—”
“Those you have not found on your quest were found long ago, by others.”
“What are you talking about?” I grab Max by the front of his shirt. “What the hell are you talking about?”
Max is undisturbed by my violent reaction. The real Max would have burst into tears. “Of the group transported from your time to the future, three were discovered by the Union and recruited. Being from a time when war was common and power could be taken, they quickly rose through the ranks, attaining positions of authority. We have identified two of the three. The man you call Whip. Another called Benny. The third man’s identity remains elusive, even to Brick.”
I release Max. I stagger back a few steps and then fall onto my ass.
After taking a moment to digest what he’s telling me…that Whip and Benny are with the Union. “That was really Whip, then? In the Zorak. And Benny was with him?”
Max nods. “We are familiar with the Zorak, and its crew.”
“The third man… He must be one of the Russians. Like Drago. Everyone else is accounted for. But what was he doing there?”
The rhetorical question lingers in the air. I don’t know, and neither do the Europhids.
“Has Brick attempted reaching out to Whip?” I have a hard time believing that Whip and Benny would join the Union. I turned a blind eye to the Union to find my people, but I never drank the Kool-Aid.
“Brick established contact with Whip early on, seven years ago.”
“Seven years ago? How long have they been here?”
“Whip and Benny arrived nine years ago, four years before y—”
“I can do basic math,” I grumble.
Max gives a nod. “After many years of discussions, Whip agreed to meet with Brick, in person. Here. The results…were catastrophic.”
I feel sick to my stomach. Whip and Benny betrayed Brick? It’s unthinkable. It’s…
No…
Oh, shit. Please, no.
“When did this happen?” I ask.
“Fifteen months ago.”
“Shit,” I say, punching the earth. “Goddamnit!”
I stand, fueled by rage and mourning, and I g
rasp Max’s arm. “Show me. Show me now!”
38
I’m back in the fire, consumed by pain. But this time, I can see. I can feel. I can move.
But I’m not me. I’m something else.
My arms are covered in short gray hair. I’m clinging to a twisting coil of vines that grow in spirals, reaching up into the sky, high above the jungle canopy. And I’m not alone.
A dozen more creatures, just like me, hide on the vines above. They’re full of energy, twitching back and forth and lashing out at each other. Their fear twists my gut. They’re monkey-like things with big eyes, long claws for climbing, and a killer overbite sporting a row of needle teeth. Each one is the size of a cat. Individually, they wouldn’t pose much of a threat to a human being, but in a group...
One of the creatures turns its back as it climbs higher. A glowing red growth at the nape of its neck reveals that it’s being controlled, at least in part, by the red Europhids.
Noting my attention, the monkey-thing spins around and charges up to me. While my human mind reels back, expecting an attack, the small creature wraps its thin arms around me in a hug. I embrace it, feeling the same kind of affection that I feel for the others with me.
I’m not in control, I realize.
I’m a passenger, watching this through the creature’s eyes, feeling what it feels. I’m surprised by the intensity. The creature isn’t intelligent. People would have no qualms about eating it. But the intensity of its emotions is as poignant as my own.
Is this a memory?
Yes, Max’s voice replies in my mind. This is the final memory to reach the collective mind from the colony you exposed to the Union.
Shit.
Brick attempted to interfere, Max says, against our recommendation. Beta-Prime had been removed from the Union database. We were hidden. And according to our collaborators, Beta-Prime and the Undesirables had become less of a priority. They were still militarizing under Whip’s influence, but the active scans for Beta-Prime had ceased.
But Brick couldn’t stand to let a colony die.
Rather than bring an army and start a war, he convinced Sara—the Undesirables’ leader at the time—that he could use his connection to Whip and Benny. He believed, as you do, that if he could just speak to them, they would ‘see the light,’ beg forgiveness, and turn on the Union.
Sara loved him. Believed in him. They went to intercept Whip and Benny together.
This was the result.
Below, a small army of soldiers scours the jungle. They’re dressed in robotic black armor that no doubt makes them faster, stronger, and capable of surviving a kinetic or lazzer attack. A shiny golden eagle head that represents the Union is emblazoned on their chests. I don’t recognize the weapons. They’re lazzer rifles, but I’ve never seen the model before.
Everything about them, including their glowing red eyes screams ‘Fourth Reich.’ Had I encountered this side of the Union when I first arrived in this time, I don’t think I’d have been blinded to reality. Hell, I’d probably have been killed on the spot.
The man leading the pack is nearly indiscernible from the others, but the whip hanging at his waist, identifies him as Whip. And he appears to be in charge.
Whip holds up a fist. The small army stops at his command. Two of the soldiers break rank, joining Whip.
“This the spot?” Whip asks. His voice is distorted. Deeper and mechanical, but it’s still him.
The shortest of the three checks their coordinates using a forearm interface. “Location confirmed.” The voice is distorted, too, but the Irish accent is impossible to hide. Benny. “Let’s drop our payload and bug out. Something about this planet doesn’t sit right.”
“You say that every time we visit a new planet,” Whip says.
“I don’t like aliens,” Benny says. “And I’m not a fan of walking into the unknown. Every new world is a potential shit show.”
“Yeah, well, let’s get this thermal enema started, and we can rotate home for a conjugal visit with our harems. Hell, last time we purged these little fuckers from a planet, we got our pick of the galaxy. Today’s a good day, Benny boy. Tonight’s going to be even better.”
The third soldier, an unknown, shakes his head at the banter, but says nothing. Just observes.
Benny taps his wrist, activating comms. “Get the therm-det in place, double time.”
Moving in the background, a group of armored soldiers directs a hovering platform containing a large device shaped like a jet’s engine toward the cave’s entrance.
Therm-det. Doesn’t take a genius to figure out what that does. This is what the Union uses to burn out Europhid colonies.
The unknown soldier tenses. Brings his weapon up. Aims it into the jungle beneath me.
Whip turns to the soldier, more annoyed than worried. “The fuck is up your ass—”
“Contact,” the soldier says, voice unrecognizable. “Someone in the jungle.”
“Lower your weapons,” says a familiar deep voice. Brick steps out from behind a tree, unarmed, hands raised to the sky. “I come in peace.”
“Brick?” Whip says, staggered.
Benny’s facemask snaps open, revealing his pale skin and his smiling face. “Brick!” His voice is unfiltered now. He rushes Brick and wraps his arms around him. Brick gives him the same warm welcome he did me, but the armor makes the embrace awkward.
“Holy shit,” Whip says. “It’s really you.” His helmet mask opens. Whip has facial hair, as blond as the hair on his head. Big and bushy like Grizzly Adams. It’s a tactical mistake. Gives the enemy something to hold on to in close quarters combat, but I doubt that’s an issue with their mechanized armor.
“In the flesh,” Brick says, accepting Whip’s offer of a handshake.
“What the hell are you doing here?” Whip asks, voice like I remember it now. “Did you land here? Tell me you haven’t been living on this shithole planet the entire time.”
“Not here,” Brick says. “As to what I’m doing here, I’m going to let my wife do the talking.”
“Wife?” Whip says with a chuckle. “Just one?”
“Just one,” Brick says.
“Man, you are missing out,” Whip says. “That will change now, obviously. You’re going to lose your mind when you see the digs we—”
Whip’s voice catches when Sara steps into the open. Like Brick, she’s unarmed, hands raised. “Hello.”
Whip’s mask snaps shut. He and the unknown soldier raise their weapons toward Sara.
“Identify yourself!” Whip shouts.
Brick steps between the weapons and his wife. “Whoa, whoa. This is my wife.”
“Fuck,” Benny says. “Guys. This is Brick. He’s one of us.”
It takes a moment to sink in, but Whip lowers his weapon. His mask, however, remains closed. The unknown soldier follows Whip’s lead, but keeps a finger on the trigger.
Sara leans out behind Brick. Eyes the weapons for a moment and then steps out in plain view. She’s tall and skinny. Has a nice smile. Her braided hair is tied back. Reminds me of my mother, to whom she is distantly related.
“Whip,” Brick says. “Benny. This is my wife.” The way he says ‘wife’ leaves no doubt that she is not to be screwed with. “Her name is Sara. Believe it or not, she’s related to Dark Horse.”
“Dark Horse?” Whip tenses. Scans the jungle. “He here, too?”
“Wish that he was,” Brick says. “But no.”
Whip relaxes. Brick doesn’t miss it.
Neither do I.
The unknown soldier takes a few steps back. Casually turns around like he’s watching the soldiers move the therm-det into place. From Brick’s position, his arm is hidden, but from high above, I watch the soldier activate his comms. My animal ears, which are large and cupped, have no problem hearing the soldier’s whispered message. “Union Command, we have an Undesirable on the planet’s surface. We might have stumbled across Beta-Prime. Please advise.”
He’s
cool and collected. No trace of emotion.
Until a transmission comes in. I can actually hear the voice on the other end, but it’s distant and muffled. No idea what is said, but the soldier’s body language changes. So does Whip’s. As the unknown soldier turns back, he shares a glance with Whip, who gives a subtle nod.
The pair raises their weapons toward Sara.
“Whip, what the hell?” Brick says.
“Sorry, big guy,” Whip replies. “Looks like you’ve gone and consorted with the enemy. Going to have to detain you both. She’s headed to Union Command. You…still have a choice. I get that she’s your lady, but you don’t need to throw away your life for her, right? Other fishes in the sea and all that. Hell, I can set you up with a few new wives by tomorrow. Choice is yours.”
“Came here to make peace,” Brick says.
“Can’t save Beta-Prime,” Whip says. “They threaten the way of life for bajillions of good people.”
“Doesn’t need to be like this,” Brick says.
My little heart is pounding, but it has nothing to do with how I feel. It’s the creature, responding to the Europhid’s understanding that shit is about to go sideways.
Don’t do it, I will Whip, even though I know how the story ends. Please don’t do it.
Benny turns to face Whip and the unknown soldier. “What the hell?”
“She called it in,” Whip says, nodding his head toward the unknown soldier.
She?
“And now we got orders,” Whip says. “You remember how to follow them, right?”
“Y-yeah.”
“Good. Then do me a favor and cuff them both. Now.”
Benny is conflicted, but he obeys. Approaches Brick and Sara with a frown on his face. “I’m sorry about this,” he tells them. “I don’t know why they’re like this.”
He reaches out to take hold of Sara’s wrist, but stops short. “Run,” he whispers.
“Everything okay, Benny?” Whip asks.
“Run!” Benny shouts, spinning around and raising his rifle. He gets off a single lazzer pulse. It cuts through the air between Whip and the unknown soldier.
Brick and Sara break into a run, fleeing the scene side by side.
Exo-Hunter Page 24
