Vanguard

by G. P. Hudson

  “Now!” Jamie said.

  Chapter 38

  Jamie and Anki made it through the breach before the rebels sealed it, as did Lieutenant Jarvi and the entire Chaanisar team. Up ahead, the mechs were wreaking havoc on the rebel defenders, stampeding through the base, guns blazing, leaving a trail of bodies and scorched machinery in their wake. Through all the commotion, Jamie felt an intense pull beckoning him away from the melee.

  He resisted the urge at first, opting to help his comrades in battle. His new abilities still surprised him. He was ridiculously overpowered, his gifts magnified exponentially by the combat suit. He had never known such clarity in battle. He took in everything at once and saw not only the direction of the battle but all the minute details too.

  As with the Triad, he knew when and where to shoot and did not miss. When the enemy fired back, he felt them targeting him and knew when to duck.

  There was a surprising number of rebels in this base. Reinforcements seemed to appear out of nowhere, along with a corresponding amount of heavy weaponry. That should have been expected considering the weapon they guarded. No matter how many Dvorkans fell, there seemed to be two more taking their place. But Jamie could not miss. Wherever a Dvorkan appeared, Jamie sent energy bolts to greet them.

  The Dvorkans had mechs too, and what must have been a platoon of them appeared without warning. The rebels had purposely hidden their mechs and armored vehicles, clearly going for the element of surprise.

  But they had never squared off against Diakan or Chaanisar armor before. The Diakan behemoths towered over their Dvorkan counterparts. If that wasn’t enough to intimidate the rebels, the Diakan preference for close quarter combat was.

  The Diakan mechs used their greater size to overwhelm their opponents, charging at them with guns blazing and closing the distance to the point of hand to hand combat. The Dvorkans seemed poorly trained in this type of tactic, futilely trying to fight off the flurry of mammoth sized armored fists and feet crashing into them.

  Amid this chaos, the Chaanisar mechs went after the rest of the rebel armor. The Dvorkans had opted to hide a large part of their arsenal from view. That arsenal was now deployed in full force. Tanks and other war machinery appeared as if from nowhere drawing the attention of the Chaanisar mechs.

  The Chaanisar mechs fired missiles and armor-piercing projectiles at the units, following up with heavy energy bolts. Once their superior mobility was added to their firepower, they totally outclassed the rebels.

  That left the regular rebel soldiers for Jamie and the other soldiers to deal with. They appeared in far greater numbers than expected and Jamie got the impression that his team had been lured into the base. If so, it was a clever tactic. The shield breach had closed behind them preventing many teams from entering and drastically improved the odds for the rebels.

  The enemy had not factored in the Chaanisar variable, though. Dvorkans were giant creatures standing well over seven feet tall, with some even reaching past eight feet. That gave them greater natural strength. But they were not augmented or trained from childhood like the Chaanisar. Nor were they galactic masters of warfare like the Diakans. Where the rebels tried to use their greater numbers to prevail, Chaanisar and Diakan alike calmly used superior ability and tactics to even the scales.

  As the battle progressed, the pull on Jamie grew. Before long, it became intolerable, and Jamie felt that he had to obey its call. By now the rebels had lost much of their advantage, and Jamie felt comfortable that he could leave his comrades to it.

  “The urge is too strong,” he said to Anki over his comm. “I have to find out what it is.”

  “Lead the way,” Anki said after squeezing off several rounds. “I’m coming with you.”

  Jamie broke into a jog heading away from the battle and Anki followed. When it became clear that they were leaving their unit, Lieutenant Jarvi called after them.

  “Where are you two going?” Jarvi said over their comms.

  “I need to investigate something,” Jamie said. “It might have something to do with the weapon.

  “I was informed that you were gathering intelligence,” Jarvi said. “Do you require additional support?”

  “I don’t think so,” Jamie said.

  “Very well. Good luck to the two of you. I will keep track of your movements through my command HUD.”

  Jamie ran in between two buildings heading to the far end of the base. Anki ran with him, taking care to keep a tactical distance between them. That proved wise when they started taking fire.

  The two took cover and returned fire. Jamie tried to spot the enemy, but his visor could not pick them up. He ignored his HUD and focused on the location where the shots had come from. His mind located them. Three. He couldn’t see them, but somehow knew where they were hiding.

  “Cover me,” he said to Anki.

  Anki laid down suppressive fire, and Jamie stepped out into the open and walked toward the threat.

  “What are you doing?” Anki said from her comm.

  “Trust me,” Jamie said.

  When the first rebel poked his head out Jamie shot him three times in the visor. If the rebel’s armor had shields, they had already failed. Jamie’s energy bolts punched a hole through the visor and into the Dvorkan’s skull.

  Without thinking Jamie dove for the ground and into a roll. Energy bolts sailed by overhead, missing him entirely. Coming out of the roll Jamie fired on his assailant pumping a steady stream of energy bolts into him.

  The first hit shielding but caused enough damage for the protective field to fail. The remaining energy bolts crashed into the Dvorkan’s armor throwing the rebel backward. The Dvorkan was not dead yet, but Jamie knew his armor was almost compromised. When the rebel foolishly tried to take a shot at Jamie, energy bolts breached the weakened section of his armor and fried the body inside.

  Jamie had picked up on the movements of the third rebel but also knew that Anki had him in her sights. With unerring accuracy, Anki hit the rebel with a barrage of energy bolts, sending him reeling to the ground. Jamie turned toward the Dvorkan and opened fire when he tried to get up, finishing him off.

  “That’s all of them. Come on.” Jamie again broke into a run with Anki close behind.

  “What the hell was that show you just put on?” Anki said.

  “It was not a show,” Jamie said. “I was baiting the enemy. Giving them a target. I knew what I was doing.”

  “Maybe you did, but I don’t like it.”

  “It’s hard to explain, but I just knew they couldn’t hurt me. I knew what they were going to do the whole time.”

  “Well just give me a chance to get used to this before you give me a heart attack again, okay?”

  “Okay. The sensation is stronger now. Much stronger. There.” Jamie pointed at a building. “That’s where we need to go.”

  They cautiously approached the entrance and flanked the doors from both sides.

  “Can you tell if anyone is in there?” Anki said.

  “No. Nobody is in there. I’m going in.” Jamie activated the door, and it slid open. Jamie waited, but nothing happened. He peaked in with his weapon and scanned the entrance. Nothing. He slowly stepped through the doorway, still scanning for threats. “Clear.”

  Anki came in and scanned the opposite side of Jamie, but no threat appeared.

  They went through another doorway and entered an open area used for storage. Weapons at the ready, they advanced deeper into the building when something did finally show up. Anki fired first this time, followed a split second later by Jamie. The energy bolts passed through their targets without inflicting any damage. Realization set in and they both stopped shooting.

  Just ahead, ancient eyes peered out from within swirling forms.

  Chapter 39

  Electricity arced out from the green swirling form, crackling past Jamie and Anki, just barely avoiding their heads. “You dare assault your gods?”

  “You are not our gods,” Anki said. “And I
don’t see any holes in you.”

  “Silence, vile creature!” the Green form bellowed.

  “Who the fu-”

  Jamie put up a hand, warning Anki to stop talking. He feared that she might provoke the aliens in anger. Jamie took a step toward the three Antikitheri. “Why am I here?”

  “You are the anomaly,” said the swirling red form. “We have sensed your presence.”

  “What does that mean?” Jamie said.

  “We summoned you, spawn of darkness,” the blue form said.

  Jamie suppressed his own anger, deciding that he would not let the name calling get to him. Was it possible that they had willingly brought him here? Or were the aliens lying? He wouldn’t normally question something like this, deferring to the mythical power of these aliens. But now he wasn’t so sure.

  What were the limits of his new abilities? Did his own instincts send him here, or was he in fact manipulated by the Antikitheri? He wasn’t sure but decided to play along to see where things would go.

  “Why did you summon me?”

  “Knowledge,” the blue form said.

  “Knowledge?”

  “You are an anomaly,” the green form said. “Investigation is warranted.”

  “I don’t-” Jamie stumbled backward as the Antikitheri rushed into his mind. The sensation was unlike any he had ever experienced. As a Chaanisar he had grown accustomed to having others access his mind. It was something he rarely permitted since gaining his freedom, but still something he knew well. There was nothing familiar about this experience.

  The Antikitheri charged into his head like a herd of stampeding elephants. The force of their violation felt overwhelming. Unstoppable. An emotion took hold within him. One he rarely felt since childhood. Fear.

  It resists, a voice said inside his head.

  Submit! another voice said.

  Jamie felt the combined will of the three Antikitheri push against his mind. How could he possibly withstand such a force?

  Yet, to his growing surprise, he did.

  The dark ones could not have empowered this creature so, one of them said.

  This is not their work, said another. They merely triggered the transformation.

  It brings uncertainty. Intolerable randomness. It must be destroyed.

  Jamie realized they were talking about killing him. You can’t destroy me. I won’t let you.

  Your desires are irrelevant, spawn of darkness, a voice said.

  Don’t call me that, Jamie said, his anger rising again.

  It destabilizes the continuum. Destruction is warranted, said a second voice.

  We are in agreement, said a third.

  Jamie dropped to his knees, debilitated by the crushing sensation. He writhed as the Antikitheri snuffed out his life force.

  Underneath it all his anger grew, and with it came a spark of defiance.

  Aliens had abused him his entire life. The Juttari were one thing. He could kill them. These monsters were another. To him, the Erinyie and the Antikitheri were two sides of the same coin, and he loathed them both.

  As the torture continued, it occurred to him that he hadn’t died. Why? Surely these all-powerful aliens could squash a lowly Chaanisar. Unless they couldn’t. At least not this way. Were all these new abilities protecting him?

  Jamie let go of his fear. His panic. He concentrated on the beings inside his mind. Focused. Saw them. Then, in an explosion of sheer fury, blasted them out of his head.

  Electricity crashed into Jamie’s combat suit, arcing out of the green swirling form. Vengeful eyes mercilessly watched him crying out in a mixture of hatred and agony. His body seized and spasmed. The burning charge touched every inch of him, inflicting unbearable pain. Impossibly, the pain increased, and he noticed that his combat suit was encapsulated in a blazing white.

  The surge threw him onto his back and held him there. He couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t possibly take any more. Unable to do anything else, he screamed.

  For a fleeting moment he was a child again, screaming at the claw marks the old cat left on his arm. And at that moment, he felt his mother’s soothing touch and her soft voice.

  “Don’t worry, Jamie,” his mother said. “This will pass.”

  “I can’t bear it,” Jamie said. “It’s too much.”

  “You can, and you will,” she said. “You must.”

  “How? Look what they did to me. What they’re still doing to me.”

  His mother’s face appeared. She locked eyes with him, her expression compassionate, yet stern. “You must,” she said and turned to dust before him.

  “No!” he pleaded, but she was gone.

  Jamie lay on his back, his combat suit a blazing white as the Antikitheri weapon raked his body. Inside him, something smoldered and caught. He felt it grow within him and turn into a blaze. Its heat quickly spread throughout his frame, into his arms and legs, hands and feet. Its warmth pushed back the pain, somehow protecting him from its effects.

  He opened his eyes and looked down at himself. The white was gone, substituted by a red aura. The Antikitheri weapon still speared at him, but the red aura somehow shielded him against it. Its fire continued to grow within him until he could no longer control or contain it. So, he stopped trying and let it go.

  A red blaze flashed outward from him, the aura somehow turning into a weapon. It countered the white Antikitheri arcs and hit the swirling forms with incomprehensible intensity. When the blaze dissipated, the Antikitheri were gone, leaving him alone with Anki. Anki?

  Jamie turned toward where she last stood but did not find her. Scanning the room, he saw her prone body lying on the floor. “Oh no. Anki!” He surged to his feet and leaped toward her. He tried to pull up her vitals on his visor, but nothing displayed. Frantically, he removed her helmet and checked her breathing. She was still alive. That was good. But what happened to her? Did the Antikitheri do this? He did not know.

  He needed to get her up to the Freedom. He activated his personal jump system, but nothing happened. He tried again. Still nothing. It was fried as well.

  At that moment he heard armored boots running into the building. He reached for Anki’s weapon, not knowing what happened to his own. Jumping to his feet, he spun around, weapon ready to fire.

  Despite everything he had just gone through, he was still capable of determining friend from foe and recognized Lieutenant Jarvi and his team of Chaanisar. He lowered his weapon and turned back to Anki.

  “What happened?” Jarvi said when he reached them.

  Jamie looked up at Jarvi. “My jump system is down. I need to get her to the Freedom’s sickbay right away. I don’t know how much time she has.”

  Without hesitation, Lieutenant Jarvi activated his personal jump system, and a portal appeared. Jamie took Anki into his arms and ran through the portal onto the Freedom.

  Chapter 40

  Jon and Breeah stormed into the sickbay and headed straight for Anki who lay unconscious at a med station. A doctor used a holographic display to examine her and Jamie stood to the side quietly watching the doctor work.

  “How is she, doctor?” Jon said upon reaching her bed.

  “At first, I thought she was in a coma,” the doctor said.

  “You mean you don’t know?” Breeah said in an accusatory tone.

  “I wish I did,” the doctor said. “But I’ve never seen anything like this before. My instruments cannot determine what is wrong either.”

  “You said at first you thought it was a coma,” Jon said. “What made you change your mind?”

  “She exhibits many of the symptoms one would expect from someone in a coma. She is unconscious and does not respond to any external stimuli. But when I examine her brain, I find an incredible amount of activity. That’s not something you normally find with someone in a coma. So far, our diagnostic equipment has not determined what is wrong with her.”

  Jon turned to Jamie. “What happened down there?”

  “It was the Antik
itheri,” Jamie said. “They tried to kill me. I think Anki got hurt in the process.”

  “Wait, back up a second,” Jon said. “When did you encounter the Antikitheri, and why did they want to kill you?”

  “I don’t know,” Jamie said shaking his head. “The urge I felt drew me to them. They said they summoned me, but I don’t know if that was true. They called me an anomaly and threatened to destroy me. They tried to kill me, but I managed to fight them off. When it was over, I found Anki like this.”

  “If the Antikitheri tried to kill you, how is it that you are still alive?”

  “I don’t know. Somehow, I was able to resist them and fight back. I don’t understand it either.”

  “Well you had better start understanding it,” Breeah growled. “Or you will wish the Antikitheri finished the job.”

  “I’m sorry,” Jamie said.

  “Sorry?” Breeah. “There is no sorry. Only answers.” She pointed a finger at Jamie. “Do you understand me?”

  “Yes,” Jamie said, looking away.

  Jon thought about trying to calm Breeah down but decided against it.

  “As for you,” Breeah said, turning to the doctor. “If I hear ‘I don’t know’ escape your lips once more, you will wish you were mute.”

  “But… I-”

  “No buts! You will save my child, or you will answer to me personally!”

  “It’s not his fault, mom,” Anki said, eyes still closed.

  “Anki? Are you awake, child?” Breeah said.

  “Yes, and I am no longer a child.” Breeah’s eyes opened, and she looked at each of them. When she saw Jamie, a tiny smile formed on her lips. “You’re alive. Thank the stars, you’re alive.”

  “Yes, Anki,” Jamie said, reaching out and gripping her hand.