by M. R. Forbes
“Firing up the dister- uh. Whatever the hell you call the thing that’s powering FTL on this boat.”
He hit a few more buttons. The gunship started to hum.
“Red cloud,” Bastion said. “Makes me sick.”
Hayley nodded. “I can’t see it, and it makes me sick too.”
She recognized the shift to FTL. There wasn’t going to be any time to relax. Genesia was only a few minutes away at faster-than-light speed.
She made the trip in silence. The rest of the Riders remained quiet too, locked in eager anticipation for what came next. They were all along for the ride. All of them save Bastion. He held the yoke lightly, his qi cool and confident. His arrogance was annoying most of the time, but it had a calming effect on her now that they were about to dive into the shit.
“We’re heeeerrrreee,” Bastion said, his qi gaining even more intensity as the Hornet dropped from FTL. Immediately, the onboard sensors started spitting out warnings, loud and harsh tones that filled the cockpit.
“Frag me,” Bastion said. “Hold onto your asses.”
The gunship shifted, making a tight turn that showed Hayley the thrusters of incoming missiles or drones or something heading their way. The inertia suggested they were taking some pretty hard maneuvers, the agile ship dancing through space, at first away from the heat trails, and then back toward them.
Hayley felt her mouth drop as Bastion somehow managed to squeeze the Hornet between four of the streaks, avoiding the shots and accelerating ahead.
“Looks like a dozen platforms,” Bastion said for her benefit. “Shooting projectiles at us.”
A flash of light zipped past the gunship up ahead.
“And lasers,” Hayley said.
“And lasers,” he replied. “Less, these systems are automated?”
“Affirmative,” the Oracle said.
“Then there’s no fragging way they’re hitting me. Come on!”
His hands were steady on the yoke, making adjustments both small and large. The gunship responded smoothly under his control, the changes in momentum pulling Hayley against her restraints in every direction.
“Should I bother to shoot back at them?” he asked.
“Negative,” Hayley said. “Leave them intact for Thetan to deal with.”
“Roger.”
They kept moving forward, sometimes taking lateral breaks and sometimes backing up to avoid the platforms’ attacks. It stopped firing missiles after the fourth or fifth salvo, at first relying purely on lasers.
Hayley saw the energy build on the closest platform before Bastion or the sensors. It was blue and bright, a kind of power she hadn’t ever seen before.
“Worm, there’s something happening on the platform. Some kind of energy.”
“Sensors don’t have it,” he replied.
“I’m telling you it’s there.”
“Laser?”
“No. Something else. It may be naniate-based.”
It was building from the center of the platform and spreading to multiple sites.
“I can’t avoid it if I can’t see it,” Bastion said.
“Gant, nothing?” Hayley asked.
“I’m dependent on the ship’s sensors, Witchy. I’m not registering a threat.”
“I don’t like this. At all.” she reached out, putting her hands on the co-pilot’s controls. “Worm, pass over control.”
“What? Witchy, no offense, but you’re blind.”
“Not to this, I’m not. Give me the damn controls, or we’re going to die.”
Bastion let go of the yoke, tapping something on the dashboard. Hayley felt her side suddenly gain feedback, the ship’s computer simulating pressure and resistance to help give her a feel for the gunship.
The energy began lancing out, launching from all of the platforms at once. Spears of some kind of power lashed out toward them, and she shifted the controls, throwing them hard to the side and away from one of the bolts and nearly into another.
“Easy,” Bastion said. “Small adjustments.”
“I’ve never steered a starship before,” she replied.
“For obvious reasons.”
The Hornet rolled through space, shaking hard as she fought to match her wants to the ship’s response. One of the bolts must have hit the gunship because it blared out a warning.
“Damn it,” she cursed, adjusting the controls to avoid another pair of bolts. They were getting close to the platforms now. She had to react before the energy left the surface of the platforms.
She watched the source closely. The glow increased in intensity before it released, and by monitoring the brightness, she could see when it was going to fire and have a good idea where. She guided the gunship through the storm, managing to get a decent hang of the controls.
“Witchy, don’t forget to not hit the platforms,” Bastion said as they drew closer.
She had almost forgotten, as crazy as it was. She couldn’t see the platform itself, only the energy forming on it.
“Give me directions,” she said.
“Uh, left,” Bastion replied.
She flipped her face toward him. “That’s not directions!”
“Thirty degrees starboard, Witchy,” Gant said. “Ten degrees tilt.”
“That’s directions,” Hayley replied.
She started changing the vector of the ship, with Gant telling her when she was in the right zone. The Hornet buzzed past the top of the platform, its hull within a hundred meters.
“Minus thirty degrees,” Gant said. “Don’t get shot in the ass.” The AI chittered.
She adjusted course, bringing them down toward the atmosphere. The flashes of blue light stopped the moment they were past the top of the platforms.
“I think we’re clear,” Hayley said. “Worm, take the controls back.”
“Gladly,” he replied, regaining the stick.
The cockpit started beeping again.
“Shit,” Bastion said. “It looks like they’ve got one more line of defense.”
He went back to work, handling the movements of the ship deftly and gracefully. The ship maneuvered more like a dancer, flowing and swaying as it sought to avoid whatever the new threat was.
“Drones,” Bastion said. “Small and fast. I don’t think we can outrun them. Permission to blow them to shit?”
“Granted,” Hayley said.
“Hey, Jil!” he shouted. “I’ve got a job for you. No offense, Witchy, but I need you to tag out for a gunner.”
“Roger,” Hayley said. “Don’t slam me into the bulkhead while I’m unstrapped.”
“Move quick.”
She released her restraints, rolling out of the seat and bouncing toward the drop station. Jil was already unhooked and unclasping the buckles on her battlesuit. She wouldn’t fit in the cockpit in the bulky armor.
They passed one another, both nearly thrown together as the Hornet rocked to the side, a new sound blaring from the cockpit.
“Shit!” Bastion said. “Hurry up back there.”
Hayley made it to the restraints, grabbing the tethers and hooking them to her lightsuit. Jil joined Bastion in the cockpit, out of her sight.
“We having fun yet?” Tibor asked.
“I am,” Narrl said, laughing. “Riiiddeerrrss!”
The gunship continued to shift and bounce, and now the hum of the plasma cannons overtook the hum of the engines, the gunship’s attack capabilities coming into play. Hayley could hear Bastion and Jil’s banter up in the cockpit as they worked together, whooping each time they made a kill on one of the drones.
The front of the Hornet changed color as they dove into Genesia’s atmosphere, heat filling Hayley’s view through the cockpit window. It didn’t stop the drones from chasing, and it didn’t stop them from firing back.
The gunship shook as it entered the air, finally meeting resistance in its maneuvers. It groaned and whined as it rolled across the sky, plasma bolts still firing.
“Less, where do we ne
ed to touch down?” Hayley asked.
“There should be a citadel,” she replied.
“What does it look like?”
“I don’t know.”
“Worm, you got that?”
“Find the citadel. Roger. On it. Freak-monkey, you getting anything?”
“I’m not answering that,” Gant said.
“Gant,” Hayley said. “Come on.”
The AI sighed. “Fine. Scanning.”
A loud bang sounded from their left side. The hum of the engines changed in pitch.
“Shit!” Bastion shouted. “Gant, find it faster.”
“I wouldn’t have gotten hit right there,” Jil said.
“I wouldn’t have gotten hit right there,” Bastion mimicked. “Whatever.”
Hayley kept her head turned, watching the sky through the cockpit’s viewport. Everything was dark beyond the interior of the ship.
Until it wasn’t.
Something passed in front of them. Something big and heavy with qi. Something airborne.
“Worm, what the frag?” she said.
“Shit,” Bastion said. “Dragon.”
Dragon?
32
The Hornet rattled as Bastion changed their vector, sending them streaking laterally across the sky.
“Gant, any fragging day now,” he said, waiting on the AI to find something that might be a citadel.
“You think this is easy?” Gant replied. “The ship’s sensors only stretch so far at one time.”
“Eighty-three percent of Genesia is water,” Less said. “It isn’t in the water, silly-face.”
“Roger that,” Gant said.
“What the hell do you mean, dragon?” Hayley said.
“You don’t know what a dragon is?” Tibor asked. “I mean, I’m from another galaxy, and I know about dragons.”
“You know what I mean,” she replied. “Why is there a fragging dragon flying around over Genesia?”
“It’s an Asuran beast,” Less said. “The citadel was once a power station for an early human civilization that numbered in the millions. It was intended to provide nearly limitless energy planet-wide.”
“Ebocite?” Hayley asked.
“Confirmed,” Less replied. “The creators didn’t know about the Asura. They didn’t contain the resonance, and it drew them through the Veil in great numbers.”
“So the planet is crawling with Shifters?”
“They are mainly gathered around the citadel.”
“And we’re going right to them?” Bastion said. “Like a fragging pizza delivery?”
“They don’t feed on organic matter,” Less said. “They attack because they don’t want you to take the Ebocite from them.”
“Oh. That’s so much better.”
“Found it!” Gant exclaimed. “Entering coordinates now.”
“Got it,” Bastion said. “On our way.”
The Hornet leaned, changing direction and bringing the dragon back into view. Its qi was bright in Hayley’s vision as it flapped its massive wings, carrying itself up and toward them.
“If we can get past the dragon,” Bastion said. “Hang on. Jil, hold your fire.”
He angled the gunship toward the creature, racing directly at it. The beast seemed confused by the maneuver, and it tucked its wings, rolling away from the Hornet.
“Yeah, you don’t want a piece of this!” Bastion shouted.
“It’s attacking the drones,” Jil said.
“Good boy.”
“How do you know it was a boy?” Narrl asked.
“I saw between its legs as it went past,” Bastion replied. “Dragons-”
“Too much information,” Hayley said, cutting him off. “Get us to the citadel.”
“Roger. We’re at three hundred klicks. We’ll be there in ten.”
The motion of the Hornet settled as they put some distance between themselves and the drones, the dragon distracting the Seraphim devices and giving them something else to worry about. Ten minutes later, the gunship rumbled as its hovering thrusters kicked on and it sank almost gently, touching down on top of the abandoned structure.
Hayley could feel the power of the ebocite from outside, as a tingle that raised the hairs on her arms. There was still so much energy flowing from here.
“How long has the reactor been active?” she asked.
“At least eight-thousand years,” Less replied. “A long time.”
“There must be millions of Asura here.”
“No. The Generals are very protective of their territory. They will fight back against any other Asura who attempt to lay claim to the energy. However; there may be thousands in the surrounding area.”
“And this is good for us, how?” Bastion said.
“There are only six of us,” Hayley said. “We need them to help us deal with Thetan and the Collective.”
“I get that, but I don’t think they’re looking to make an alliance.”
“We draw Thetan in, and then we stay clear,” Hayley said. “Let the Asura do the dirty work. We just need to make sure they don’t get off the planet.”
“That worked so well with the Collective,” Tibor said.
“That was my fault. I won’t make the same mistake again.”
“Making sure they don’t kill us would help too,” Narrl said.
“I’ve finished the updates to your TCUs,” Less said, coming down from berthing. “As long as Hayley can see them, they’ll register on your tactical overlay.” She was holding something behind her back, and she skipped over to Hayley and revealed it. “I made this special for you. Gant helped me.”
She held out what looked like a new visor; only it was much smaller than the original. A simple band that wrapped around her eyes, molded to the shape of her face.
“How did you do this?” Hayley asked, taking it from her and putting it on. Immediately, the whole world came into sharper focus.
“I’m a super-genius, silly-head,” Less replied. “It was easy.”
“We increased the amplification of your command frequency,” Gant said. “You should have greater control over the naniates, with less strain.”
“Scrunch your left eye to open the menu,” Less said. Scrunch your right eye to move through the options.”
“I have a menu now?”
Less giggled. Gant chittered with her. Hayley did as she said, opening a menu with a few different options. One of them was ‘Human vision filter. Beta.’
She selected that one and then lost her breath.
The colors of the qi didn’t vanish, but they drew tighter, blending until she could see new colors and shapes. Flesh. Hair. Eyes. The lightsuit was black and matte. The battlesuit was as dark gray. Tibor’s skin was a purplish color. Bastion’s eyes were brown.
“How?” she whispered breathlessly. The best witch doctors on Koosa hadn’t been able to return any part of her sight. Neither had Gant on his own.
Less wiggled her fingers. “Super-genius over here.”
Hayley couldn’t help but laugh. “This is incredible.” She looked at the side of the gunship. Then she looked through the viewport at the front. She could see the blue and orange of the sky. “How can I see where there isn’t any qi?”
“Technically, you can’t,” Gant said.
“It’s using the qi around you as a filter, along with your TCU link,” Less said. “You can see the sky because Xolo already looked at the sky with his goggles on.”
Hayley looked at Tibor. He was already wearing his TCU goggles.
“The TCU is interpolating what your teammates see and merging it with the qi formations,” Less said. “I wrote a few algorithms to express it. The mathematics are very advanced.”
“No wonder Thetan wants you back so badly.”
Less giggled again. “Think of what a few more like me could do.”
“It works both directions. They’ll also interpolate what you see and make it visible to the others. As long as you work together, you’ll all b
e stronger.”
“I like it,” Narrl said, putting his goggles on and covering his large oval eyes. “What now?”
“Now we send a distress signal using Thetan’s encryption keys,” Hayley said.
“Then we wait,” Less said.
“And try not to die,” Bastion said.
33
Hayley stepped out of the Hornet, heart pounding in wonder as she swiveled her head, looking at everything she could.
The citadel was made of stone and metal. The stone was dark and mottled, crumbling in some places from the passage of time. The metal was covered in a layer of rust, old and worn but still helping support the structure.
Bright green moss was growing along the edges of the building, encroaching inward toward where they had landed. There was nothing else of note on the rooftop save for a nearby open stairwell leading into the citadel, though it did offer a great view of the landscape below.
Not that the landscape had much to offer. It was brown and ugly, covered in dead trees and dead infrastructure. Crumbled stone. Torn buildings. Downed power lines that had nearly vanished into the muck. It was cold and lifeless for as far as she could see.
One big graveyard.
“This seems like a great place to make a stand,” Bastion said. “No cover. No high ground. No good defensive position. Fragging perfect.”
“Do you have to complain?” Hayley asked.
“Yeah.”
“How long will it take for Thetan to show?” Narrl asked.
“Anywhere from a few hours to a few days,” Less replied. “It all depends on where the fleet is positioned.”
“I hope it’s a few hours,” Tibor said. “This place is creeping the hell out of me. I’m just waiting for some clowns to pop up from those stairs over there.”
“There are worse things than clowns waiting inside,” Jil said. “Aliens that can move in and out of our spacetime? Seriously?”
“I bet there are spiders,” Hayley said.
“Phase shifting spiders,” Tibor replied. “Fragging terrifying.”
They shared a smile.
“You want to wait out here, or do you want to go down?” Bastion asked. “Because I’m fine to wait out here.”
Hayley pointed to the sky. The dragon had finished off the drones and was circling high above them. “And give that thing a chance to notice us?”
