Terminus Rising

by T. R. Harris

  Then suddenly, the team was hit with hard metal objects coming from behind. They turned to see a dozen wiry Aris robots lobbing anything they could carry from their containment rooms at the Humans. Dodging the incoming, Adam knew Te’moc had hacked into the Aris computers to take control of the robots. He wasn’t comfortable with the idea the alien could do that.

  The team spent a few rounds turning the robots into scrap metal, which allowed time for the panicking Cartel members to run deeper into the complex.

  Adam pursed his lips. This wasn’t getting him any closer to finding Summer.

  7

  …at the lost Aris base in the AD-14 star system

  Te’moc was confused—yet impressed. It had to be Panur. The mutant must have found a way to keep the interphase effect from forming. And then the flash weapons. Impressive. Now the Humans were making a game out of killing Cartel soldiers. The robots had been a last minute idea, never intending to be a factor in the one-sided battle. TeraDon and his people had nothing to counter the Humans. At this rate, the four defiant creatures would simply stroll uncontested throughout the base until they found J’nae.

  It was at this point that Te’moc decided to set his backup plan in motion. He had no choice. He could never make it back into the main part of the base to get J’nae without risking his own life. He took up a comm unit.

  “TeraDon.”

  A stressed face came on the screen. “Where are you?”

  “It does not matter. I can see your situation is untenable. Order in your ships to evacuate your troops and then attack the base. Leave nothing intact.”

  “The TD ships?”

  “Let me worry about them. And one other thing: Kill J’nae’s host.”

  “The Human? Why? Do you not want her with you?”

  “I doubt that will be possible.”

  “But if you do not believe I can get her out, then you also believe I will not survive.”

  “You see what you are facing. The prospect of extricating J’nae is questionable.”

  “So why kill her now? Let the Cartel ships destroy the base and her along with it.”

  “I order this so I can be sure. I cannot risk the chance of the host’s survival and J’nae turning against me to assist the Humans. The female appears to have been lying with regarding Cain’s fate, and now I see he is living up to his reputation, although I believe he has very little to do with what is happening at the moment. I believe we have Panur to thank for that.”

  “So you want me to sacrifice myself … and to kill the Human as my last living act?”

  “If afterward, you manage to escape, that would be fortunate. But kill the Human first.”

  TeraDon’s light brown skin was turning darker by the moment as anger and frustration consumed him. Impatiently, Te’moc waited for him to make a decision.

  “TeraDon—”

  “As you wish!” the Cartel officer barked. “But you should know I will survive, and when I do, I will expect you to fulfill your obligations to the Cartel—and to me. If Adam Cain dies in the base, I want the bonus you promised me.”

  “Kill the Human female and Adam Cain first; then I will honor my obligations if you survive. Now follow my orders.”

  Once the screen went blank, Te’moc switched the monitors to outside the Aris base, scanning the gray, barren landscape before focusing on the second TD starship, the one that had landed only moments before. There was a hidden emergency exit from the Aris base located a short distance from the ship. That would do nicely.

  Leaving Zaccs to coordinate the retreat of the surviving Cartel troops, TeraDon moved quickly to the medical bay; his mind firmed to what had to be done. It was the only way.

  The Humans were continuing their relentless march through the complex, coming ever closer to the command center. How they knew where to find it was another of the myriad of mysteries clouding TeraDon’s mind. Why had so much gone so wrong so quickly? There was no explanation.

  Entering the room, he approached the two guards watching the Human. Each had comm units and were fully aware of what was happening outside the medical bay. The evacuation order went out a few minutes ago, and now the guards were anxious to join their companions in finding a safe way past the Humans.

  Summer Rain glared at TeraDon. She had recovered from before and was standing near the hospital bed, too angry to sit.

  “What now? Are you going to take me to your master—”

  TeraDon pulled a short knife from his utility belt, and in a smooth, choreographed move, slashed the throats of both guards before they could react.

  The Human’s mouth fell open, and her eyes grew to round orbs.

  “What the—”

  “Come with me if you want to live.”

  “Where?”

  “We must find your companions. They are sweeping through the complex. We must get to them before the Cartel ships arrive. There is not much time.”

  “Why?”

  “As I said, my ships are—”

  “No, why are you doing this?”

  “I never cared for Te’moc, and when he ordered your death, I could not let that happen. Not to you.”

  He ordered your death! J’nae screamed in Summer’s mind.

  Shut up!

  Summer looked up at the handsome face and piercing blue eyes of the alien. “You’re saving … me?”

  “Yes. Although I do not wish to save the entity within you, I do not have a choice in that regard. But you do not deserve what is happening. Come now. We must warn your friends. The Cartel ships have been ordered to destroy the base and all inside. There is nothing I can do to stop it. We must leave.”

  Te’moc wasn’t immortal, but his slowly regenerative cells helped preserve his body against harsh elements, including the hostile environment outside the Aris base. The planet had no native life, so the thin, cold atmosphere was made up mainly of carbon dioxide with only trace amounts of oxygen. The temperature was just as uninviting, hovering around minus forty degrees Celsius during the day to far below a hundred at night. Both these conditions Te’moc could tolerate for brief periods. He wouldn’t need to for long.

  He passed through a small airlock embedded in the rock face of a hillside. The single long breath he took in the lock would sustain him for several minutes, long enough for him to accomplish his task.

  He hiked down the steep slope, dislodging a small avalanche of rock that cast off small clouds of dust that hung suspended in the light gravity and thin air. He had to hurry before the Cartel ships appeared. After that, chaos would ensue.

  The spaceship loomed large before him, about forty meters away on a flat plateau overlooking the other TD starship and the entrance to the base. It was an identical twin of the other and would do nicely for what he had planned. He approached from the aft section, sliding along the smooth hull to the side hatch. Security was off, allowing for a quick return by the Humans. He triggered the portal, and the panel cycled into the cobalt-blue hull.

  “The side hatch just opened,” Tidus reported from the pilot seat.

  Sherri was at one of the weapons stations, her eyes locked on the Arya and the entrance to the Aris base. There was no guarantee Te’moc wouldn’t somehow get to the Arya without her noticing. What she would notice was if the ship attempted to lift off. In that case, she would be ready.

  Sherri accessed her ATD. Adam, have any of you come back to the Sansa?

  What are you talking about? We’re knee-deep in the base. If not for the fact that we’re guys, you might even say we were lost.

  Seriously, someone just opened the outer hatch.

  She sensed a tightening in the mental connection between the two. It wasn’t us. Lock the ship down!

  I’m way ahead of you.

  And she was, but not by traditional means. While still using her ATD, Sherri closed the pressure door to the bridge and locked out the controls.

  Tidus heard the door close.

  “Did you do that?” he asked. Although he an
d Sherri were not part of the away team, they still wore flash weapons on their waists. The powerful bolt launchers were safer to use within the confines of a starship; less risk of hull puncture than from a ballistic weapon. Tidus had his out and aimed at the door before Sherri could answer.

  “It’s not the team. Someone else is in the ship.”

  Sherri began to manipulate the keypad in front of her, calling up the security cameras that covered most of the ship. That’s when she saw him. She had to assume it was Te’moc; although she’d never seen him. He was tall and slender, with red bands around certain exposed parts of his body, including his neck. She wasn’t sure if these were natural or not. It didn’t matter. He was looking into one of the cameras, a smirk on his face. He said nothing before turning aft and heading toward the engine compartment.

  As a trans-dimensional starship, the Sansa didn’t have large gravity generators, so the engine compartment was much smaller than that of a traditional vessel. Even so, there were plenty of circuit boxes and other components with ready access, both in the compartment, as well as along the passageway at the aft end of the ship.

  Through the cameras, Sherri and Tidus watched Te’moc as he removed the covers from a series of panel boxes and studied the interior components. After a few moments, he set to work reconfiguring the circuits. He did this in rapid succession to six of the junction boxes before spending time at the gravity generator. Neither of the observers could tell what he was doing, but it didn’t look good.

  “Should we go out there?” Sherri asked. “I don’t think he’s immortal; perhaps we can kill him.”

  “He came aboard without an environment suit,” Tidus pointed out. “Killing him may not be that easy. But you are welcome to try; however, one of us should stay locked on the bridge, just in case.”

  “In case I’m wrong?”

  “Yes. Precisely.”

  Sherri gnashed her teeth. She didn’t have a choice. She had to do something. The alien’s actions were purposeful; he knew what he was doing.

  She moved to the door.

  “Get ready,” she said to the Juirean. “I’ll open and close the door with my ATD. No matter what happens, don’t let him in. And if he tries, destroy the Arya. We can’t let him get away with it, no matter what.”

  “Perhaps he wishes to take the Sansa instead.”

  “Then what the hell is he doing in the engine room? Get ready; I’m going out—”

  “Wait!” Tidus yelled, his focus glued to a monitor. Te’moc was moving forward, through the common room and back to the airlock. “He’s leaving.”

  “And this is good?” Sherri asked. “What the hell did he do to the ship?”

  Ten seconds later Te’moc was outside and in the hostile environment of the planet, lost within the craggy gullies and ruts lining the hillside.

  “Do you see him?” Sherri asked as she and Tidus took up stations and began manipulating the exterior cameras.

  “I do not. Where has he gone?”

  “I don’t know, but let’s run a diagnostic to see what he did to the ship.”

  “And how is that done exactly?”

  Sherri shook her head, but then she accessed her ATD.

  Copernicus! How do I run a diagnostic on the ship’s systems?

  Eh, what? Hey, tone down the intensity, sweetheart. You just about gave me a stroke.

  Te’moc came aboard and did something in the back of the ship, with the engines, maybe more. We need to find out what.

  Copernicus turned serious. I’m not sure how deep it will run but try accessing the Control K function in the main computer. There should be a menu for the various systems. Check for any warning indicators. There will be a number of them.

  Coop was the resident starship tech and repairman, even if the Sansa was far above his paygrade. At least when Panur and Lila went through the training sessions, Copernicus understood more of it than Sherri.

  Okay, I see it. Damn, there has to be a couple of hundred systems. I don’t see anything wrong.

  Scan for the warnings.

  Oh, I see them now. I didn’t notice at first … because nearly every damn system has a warning light! I think this thing is rigged to explode!

  Get out of there!

  We will … but first.

  Sherri moved to the weapons station and grasped the control stick for the topside flash cannon. The weapons were already lined up on the Arya. She wasn’t about to let the fucking alien get away with the ship. With a wicked grin on her face, she fingered the trigger.

  Nothing happened.

  She did it again … and again.

  Tidus began tugging on her arm. “Come! I see a charge building. We don’t have any more time.”

  Sherri glared at the targeting screen and the static image of the Arya, resting two hundred meters away, a sitting duck—if the weapons worked.

  She noticed a movement on the screen. A tiny figure appeared from around the Arya, walking slowly toward the entrance hatch. Te’moc paused for a moment before entering, looking back at the Sansa. The image was too small for her to notice, but she was sure he was still wearing that sickening smirk on his face.

  Sherri and Tidus rushed for the airlock. They grabbed a pair of environment suits and portable oxygen masks from the wall but didn’t take the time to put them on before rushing from the ship.

  It was as if they hit a brick wall, as the most godawful cold either had ever experienced slapped against their bodies.

  Sherri gasped and shivered, feeling her throat begin to freeze before she could place the mask over her nose and mouth. Juireans were more tolerant of cold, but not much. The face mask helped, but the cold stabbed at their bodies, like a million stilettos, stiffening joints and causing them to stagger over nearby boulders heading for the edge of the plateau on which the Sansa rested. They tumbled over the sharp edge, numb bodies banging against frigid stone.

  Then the ship exploded.

  An incredible wave of scorching heat swept over them, sucking the nearby atmosphere into the torrent and dropping the temperature more from the speed of the rushing wind, even while intense flames raced overhead. It was a strange dynamic, wind chill below and fire above. Fortunately, the cliff face protected them from much of the flying debris, even the parts that now rained down from above. They huddled close to the jagged rocks, Sherri screaming through the maelstrom while Tidus let out agonizing moans.

  A few moments later, it was over. The heat from above was welcoming, but short-lived. Now the unbelievable cold returned.

  Sherri looked around for her environment suit. It was gone; she’d lost it in the confusion. Tidus had his. He handed it to her.

  “Put it on. I can withstand the cold better than you,” he said through chattering teeth.

  “Not enough. We have to make it into the base.”

  “It is too far. Please, just do it.”

  “Wait, I have an idea.”

  Sherri took the suit and slipped it on as fast as she could. Once it was zipped up, she activated the internals, and an almost orgasmic sensation filled her as warm air circulated inside.

  By then, Tidus was in bad shape. His pale green skin was almost pure white, his eyes barely moving, nearly frozen in place. Sherri leaned closer, placing her hands out in front of her in a grasping motion. A moment later, the light began to gather.

  Tidus noticed the flickering light, and he shifted his head slowly toward the source. It took more than thirty seconds for Sherri to form a sizeable ball of static electricity with the help of her ATD. The sphere gave off a considerable amount of heat, heat which Tidus gravitated to like a thirsty man to water. Sherri took her much smaller form and moved it against the taller Juirean. Residual heat from the suit, combined with that of the static electricity ball, was helping. He was safe for the time being. Even so, it wouldn’t be enough for the long-term.

  Just then, Sherri was distracted by a brilliant flash of light from behind her. She turned to see the Arya lift off on streams of brig
ht blue flame. The ship transitioned close to her and Tidus, bathing them in another temporary wave of heat before it was gone, zipping away toward outer space.

  Sherri sat for a moment, overcome by the tragedy of the past few minutes. She hesitated making contact with Adam. What would she say? The team was somewhere deep in the Aris base and by the time they found their way out, Tidus would be dead, and possibly she, too.

  And now Te’moc had the Arya, along with all her secrets.

  Sherri snickered. If Te’moc did what Panur said he would do with the Arya, none of them had much time left anyway. If he disrupted the Aris efforts to hold back the merging universes, it would all be over in a flash. Everything.

  It might be better just to let the cold take over. After all, from what she understood, freezing to death was a painless way to go.

  She blinked as she once again saw her shadow in stark relief on the rock wall, lit by another bright light source behind her. She turned again to the area just off the elevator platform to the base. A ship was coming in for a landing in nearly the same spot as the Arya had just vacated. Was Te’moc returning?

  No, it wasn’t him. The flames of the chemical landing jets for this ship were yellow and white, and not the pure cobalt blue of Panur’s high-efficiency landing system. This was someone else.

  A second ship then appeared in the sky. It was also coming in for a landing, but further toward the open plains below the hillside. These were Cartel ships coming to evacuate the survivors if there were any.

  Sherri extinguished the static electricity ball before its light gave away their position. If the plan she was developing in her mind worked, they wouldn’t need it any longer.

  Tidus had recovered enough to stand, but he wouldn’t stay that way for long. Out of desperation, Sherri removed a small knife from the suit’s tool pouch and cut a slit in the fabric of her right arm. She tucked her arm into the front of Tidus’s one-piece jumpsuit, letting the escaping air carry heat close to his body. It was a temporary fix, which also compromised the integrity of her suit, allowing the biting cold to begin seeping through the fabric.