A slender figure stepped into view and I found just enough strength to push myself onto my ass so that I could face her. “Becca, thank god.”
Another figure, this one blood-stained, approached, limping forward an arm clutched against her side. “Get away from her, you bitch!”
I blinked, my mind reeling as I glanced from my sister to Max and back again. Jykarr had hinted that one of them had betrayed us and I bit my lip trying to decide which one it could be. The choice was obvious, I pulled one of my phase pistols free and trained it on Max. “Don’t take another step.”
She paused and her face contorting into a grotesque display of pain as she held both hands out, one of them stained with her own blood. “Just listen to me. I’m not the one you should be worried about. I know this has got to be hard to hear, but I think your sister has been brainwashed. She’s betrayed us all.
“Impossible!” I yelled my hands shaking despite my best efforts to keep the gun stable. “Her mind hasn’t been bent. The doctor ran tests on her, we would know.”
“Okay,” Max said between pants. “Then it’s something else, but you’ve got to believe me. She’s the one who’s responsible for this. My people are coming and if we don’t bring the shield down the battle for Earth will end before it’s even started. Think about it, if I had betrayed you, I could have turned you over to the Qharr any time during our trip to Scottsdale. We sat huddled in a building for three days. I could have turned you in to the Qharr right there and then. What need for pretense?”
Doubts surfaced and I bit my lip glancing at my sister. There was something different about Becca. It wasn’t so much her physical appearance, but the way she held herself and the wild look in the eyes. I knew then and there that I wasn’t looking at my sister. I felt a cold chill run down my spine as I looked her in the eyes. Max was wrong, it wasn’t Becca who had betrayed us. It was her symbiote.
I don’t know how he had gained control of my sister without her consent, but I knew that it was him calling the shots. The how or why wasn’t important. I clenched my fist, gritted my teeth and let out a primal cry of fury as I scrambled back onto my feet. I grabbed Becca’s body by the shoulders and slammed into her at full speed pinning her against the closest wall with just enough force to hopefully disorient the symbiote.
“Becca,” I whispered in her ear. “I don’t know what he did to you or why he’s managed to take control of you like this, but I need you to come back to me.”
The symbiote didn’t exactly respond very warmly to being thrown around and despite my efforts I didn’t get through to my sister. My eyes grew wide as I felt something slide into my chest. I gurgled and stepped back, blood dripping from my mouth. I reached up touching the handle of my very own knife sticking out of my chest just about where my heart was.
I gasped, for a moment convinced that I was witnessing my last moments. Then I came to a little realization, my heart was still beating. The symbiote had missed it by mere millimeters. Either, he was a bad aim or Becca was fighting him. I had an opportunity that was too good to be passed up. It was time to play possum. I let my eyes slide into the back of my head and I collapsed.
“LEXA!” Lily’s cries were almost too much to bear, but I forced myself to remain still.
‘It’s time to remember.’ Khala’s voice trickled through my consciousness as disjointed images and voices echoed through my mind. The world fled from me, and my consciousness slipped away until I was consumed by darkness.
“We have a problem.” Lily’s voice drifted in, a whisper that reverberated through my mind with the power of a scream. It took me a moment that she hadn’t actually spoken to me. The voice had drifted in from some dark corner of my mind. The world just slipped away and a strange sort of stuttering image took its place.
I got the strangest feeling of deja vu as I looked over and I felt breath catch in my throat as I realized exactly why that was. There had been a moment after I had returned from Scottsdale that Lily had said those exact words to me. I’d felt a moment of dizziness just before we returned to our quarters to make love.
‘Sorry,’ Khala’s voice whispered. ‘That memory was a fabrication. You’ll understand why soon enough.”
“I found a listening device attached to the outside of the hull.” Lily’s voice and image resolved themselves into crystal clarity.
“The hull?” My own voice replied, but the words seemed like a distant echo spoken from far off. I hadn’t spoken them and yet I didn’t feel as if someone was speaking through me.
‘Khala!’ I cried out to my symbiote.
‘Watch Alexana. Clarity will come.’ She gave no other explanation, but I was so transfixed by what I saw that I didn’t press her further.
I studied Lily, taking in all the details as I sought to comprehend what had happened. “Listening device? You don’t mean that the Qharr have been…”
Lily shook her head, some of the sickly green grease on the back of her arm streaking across her forehead as she absently rubbed the sweat away. “I might have found it sooner, but it was a tunneler designed to embed itself into hull and eventually find its way inside the ship. We got lucky, the tunneling apparatus on this one failed or it probably would have picked up enough to screw us royally.”
I gasped, feeling the images around me cascade with a rainbow of colors as realization took hold. I knew what was happening, I was witnessing a memory, my memory.
“How long do you think it’s been there?”
“Can’t be certain, but best guess is when Duvak attacked the Renegade. I’ve never heard of anyone using them except inquisitors. I think they fired it at us when we were making our escape. The impact didn’t register on our sensors because they’re designed to make a soft impact.”
“It would it explain a lot.” I felt my hands on my hips as my past self let out a long sigh. “Do you have any idea what, if anything, was transmitted.”
“Listening devices don’t keep a record of what’s transmitted for obvious reasons, but I was able to dig through our sensor logs and decode what the Renegade’s sensors originally mistook for background noise. It only managed to catch snippets of information, but it did send along a few things that could cause us some trouble.”
“Shit,” I cursed running a hand through my hair as I turned away from Lily.
I clenched my eyes shut, gritted my teeth, before turning back toward her. “I need to hear everything.”
The rest came in a flood of images that rushed through my mind at such speeds that it became almost incomprehensible. The images resolved before slipping away until all I saw was darkness. I could feel the gears turning as my mind processed what I had witnessed. Finally, I understood.
Chapter Sixteen
My awareness of the present returned, but I kept my eyes shut as I let my sense of hearing slowly return. A renewed sense of clarity had awoken within me. Becca’s betrayal which had so deeply devastated me just mere moments before had been revealed for what it truly was, a ruse. It probably would have hurt a lot more, but it was hard to feel that way when I had pulled the wool over my own eyes.
My memories had been repressed by my symbiote at my request, to ensure that my reaction would seem genuine. All to distract Jykarr, to keep him from guessing our true plans. There were other motives, but they would become clearer all too soon.
It was hard keeping my eyes shut when I knew the sub-ascendant was so close and Lily was fighting for her life, but for our plan to work I had to remain still. Before too long, a blood curdling scream rang through the chamber and I knew Lily had been downed. I just hoped it had been Becca who’d struck the blow and not Jykarr.
“They’re both dead,” Becca’s voice said. She spoke so softly that I had strain my ears just to make out each syllable. “You have what you want. You can finally crush the resistance.”
Jykarr didn’t speak for the longest of time, but I could hear the sounds of movement. I risked opening my eyes and watched
, his back turned to me as he moved toward the console. I bit my lip, feeling my heart beat harder in my chest as my deepest fears came to life inside the darkest corners my mind where those sort of things were manifested. Had he bought it?
A shadow fell over me, and moment later I watch Becca’s form move slowly toward the console, joining the sub-ascendant at his side. Jykarr manipulated the controls and it flashed to life presenting the holographic image of a Qharr whose face was laced with scars.
“Supreme Inquisitor Ry’kk,” Jykkar’s voice rumbled through the chamber in his native tongue. “Have the human fighters been dealt with?”
“We’re having more trouble containing them than we had anticipated, Sub-Ascendant. They are illusive, they are a credit to their race.”
“You almost sound as if you admire them, Supreme Inquisitor. Do not make the mistake of fooling yourself into believing they are anything more than wily prey. They are clever, intelligent even, but they are not worthy enough to be considered equals. Put them down as you would a pest, but do not underestimate them.”
“As you speak it, your voice is but an extension of the Prime Ascendant. Glory be to him and to you.” The holographic image fluttered and died away and before I could even so much as bat an eyelash, Jykkar had his hand around Becca’s throat.
“Your usefulness is at an end,” he said raising her until she was at eye level. “Did you really think I would let you live?”
“Fuck, do you think she’s stupid,” I said lurching to my feet and pulling the blade free from my chest.
“Sorry to say this buddy, but you’ve been had.” I stopped just long enough for the wound to close before leaping into motion, slamming into Jykkar, my knife cutting through his chest as easily as if it were butter. The force of my impact was enough to send all three of us careening to the ground on the other side of the console.
“Lily!” I screamed out shaking my head as Jykkar’s hand rose out of the tangle of limbs to latch onto me. “THE MESSAGE!”
I didn’t know if she heard me or even she was still alive, but I soon had other problems. Jykkar, lurched back onto his feet, sending both Becca and myself rolling away. He grabbed me, flinging Becca away like a rag doll and lifted me off my feet. “Reveal to me what you have done and I may spare your life.”
My face stretched into what I could only guess was a rather gruesome grin and I started laughing as a recording of voice echoed through the chamber and presumably throughout all every communication channel on Qharr-occupied Earth. “Citizens of the Qharr Ascendancy, I am Alexana Briggs, leader of Human Resistance Movement here on Earth. The gray skins would want you to believe that the resistance has fallen, but believe me when I say we are still very much a threat to continued Qharr occupation of Earth.”
Jykkar howled, sending me flying away, lumbering across the room toward Lily, but it was already too late. The damage had been done. Lily dove away as he came tearing toward her, only just managing to avoid his swinging fists. The recording continued and I rushed across the room, slamming into the bastard as he made a move on the controls. Jykarr and I collapsed again, and Lily, once again at the console, let out a high-pitched squeal followed by a ‘woop’ of elation.
“I’ve disabled the shield control! The other teams must have done their part the whole barrier is coming down.”
“Today, we have a very specific goal in mind and should we be successful there’s a good chance that no human shall ever again suffer at the hands of our self-proclaimed masters again. My human brothers and sisters and every single Qharr citizen here on our Earth has had the wool pulled over their eyes. The sub-ascendant is the perpetrator of a lie so damaging that it could very well shatter the very foundations of his people’s society. I have been told for almost the entirety of my life that humanity was enslaved because we were an honor-less and worthless race, but the truth is a lot more complicated. Jykarr Bynd started the war against humanity. Not the other way around as the Ascendancy has always wanted us to believe. I can only guess why he would do it, but we have uncovered something which I believe he dearly wants to keep hidden.”
The sub-ascendant howled, backhanding me and as I staggered back he started toward the console again. This time it was Lily and Becca who intercepted him, Becca face to face and Lily from behind. My sister lunged at him, grabbing the knife that was still embedded in his chest and twisting it as Lily, armed with a piece of paneling from the console, clubbed him in the back of his knees. He swiped at Becca, hitting her across the cheek and sending her slamming flat into the ground.
He turned his attention to Lily, but I leapt over the console and pounded my fists into him. He shrugged the blow off and grabbed Lily by the throat sending her swirling away. He rushed toward me, but I lurched aside. He slammed right into the wall with enough force that it actually seemed to daze him. It was enough to give me hope that we were finally starting to hurt the bastard.
“Humans are the progenitors of the Qharr and their cousins the Dexagarmatrax. We believe that their creators, a race that legend tells us are called the Phyrr Lesch, used our people as a genetic template. Don’t believe me? Let the facts speak for themselves. A copy of our findings are being transmitted along with this recording. All one needs to do to confirm they are true is run a genetic comparison between the three races and you will find that our genetic structures are far too similar for it to be mere coincidence.”
Jykarr was finally beginning to weaken. When I slammed my fists into the sub-ascendant he actually staggered back and let out a below of pain.
“What does this mean for humanity? It means our enslavement has been a lie, a veil by which the gray skins could conquer us. Rise up, push back! We need your help. Today along with our allies from the Earth Return Fleet and the Nester Alliance we are fighting to bring down the protective shield around Earth. Should we be successful there is an entire fleet of allied ships that will fight to the very end to ensure that every last gray skin is driven from our world.”
The sub-ascendant backhanded Lily who had launched herself at him and sent her stumbling away. Becca pounced on him next, but he grabbed her by the shoulders and pushed her into Lily. I launched myself at him next, but as with the others, he was ready for me. He slammed a fist down, and sent me sprawling backward onto my ass.
“As far as the general citizenry of Qharr Ascendancy are concerned. You have been ruled over by a corrupt and dishonorable system that has finally shown its true colors. They speak of honor and pound their chests proudly and yet they have perpetrated a lie against you so great that it demands action. If you are truly honorable than you must be as horrified by this news as I am. Fight with us or stay out of the way. If choose to side with your government and resist, you are the enemy, and you will share the fate of Jykarr Bynd and his cronies. One way or another, tonight, Earth is ours.”
With this final comment Jykarr roared with a ferocity that was so inhuman, so bereft of anything a self-aware being should have been capable, I actually shuddered. He came charging toward me again and just as before I dodged out of the way, but unfortunately he stopped himself before he could slam into the wall again.
“Give it up, you overgrown piece of shit!” I screamed at him. “You’ve lost, you’ve been made. Everyone knows you for the honorless bastard that you are.”
A third time, he charged me and this time I wasn’t able to get out of the way. He pinned me against the wall and I gasped as he rammed something cold and sharp through my chest. “You! It is only because of your symbiote that you have been so successful. You humans are worthless. I would have exterminated you all long ago, but the constraints of our so called honor system would not allow me to eliminate you. Now I see that allowing you to live was a mistake.”
I spat in his face, splattering it with blood. “So you enslaved us instead? No doubt hoping we’d give you a reason to finally kill us all off.”
He slid his weapon out from my chest, but before I could make a move he plunged it back in. “Do
you realize what you have done? Our society will be torn apart, there will be civil war. We’ve kept the galaxy in order. Now it will be thrown into chaos. It is everything I feared.”
“You’ve kept the galaxy clutched in your iron fists. How many races suffer under your tyrannical rule? It’s time you relinquished your hold and let the galaxy get along without you.” I coughed up more blood, all of it going right into his face.
I heard Lily and Becca cry out, but even as he held me against the wall he managed to fend them off. He swept his other arm out and a long metal blade swept out from his wrist and sliced out at them. My view was blocked by his hulking form, but their cries at least told me that the attack didn’t kill them right off the bat.
“I will prolong your death as long as I can. I will bleed you, until there isn’t a drop left of your blood.”
He stabbed me again and pulled the blade out to impale me a fourth time, but this time I managed to knock his arm aside and kick him in the chest. He barely budged, but it I just enough wiggle room to slither out of his grasp and crawl away. I was still bleeding as I climbed back to my feet, but Khala drained the last of the energy from my phase pistols and the spare energy cells and I could feel the wounds begin to close as I spun around to face the sub-ascendant.
Lily and Becca came tearing toward us, and before I could pounce on him, Jykarr swept his fist out and slammed it into the side of my head, sending me reeling into the nearest wall. When I recovered, I lurched forward, but he’d already moved away to take on Becca and Lily.
When it came to fighting a single opponent, three was a bit of a crowd. So instead of joining them, I took off running across the chamber and once I’d gained enough momentum, sent myself hurtling up the side of the wall and up onto the ceiling. I position myself above them and waited for an opening, hoping that if I hit the bastard hard enough I might finally be able to do some real damage.
Back and forth they went across the chamber, and I clenched my hands and unclenched them over and over. I gritted my teeth and growled, but still I didn’t get a good opening. Lily and Becca were doing their damnedest to subdue their towering foe, but they didn’t seem to do much damage. He knocked Lily out of the way and a moment later Becca pounced on him, leaping up and onto his back throwing her arms around his neck in a strangle hold.
Battle For Earth Page 64
