Burning Eagle

by Navin Weeraratne

  She backed away, mouth open.

  “In all the hells! Who would do this?”

  “Keep your voice down. You need carbon to build nano-machines, and lots of it. You can also spin it into diamondoid armor.”

  “This is Union technology!”

  “It is, but the Union fights this kind of thing. It’s called Von Neumann Response, its caused wars.”

  “Then who did this?”

  “Whatever escaped from the alien ship-brain. This is what the backups are doing.”

  “They’re building nano-machines?”

  “They’re building something. A new brain? It happened with microtechnology. The beetles ate people, made more beetles, and finally formed that tornado mind. Here, it’s happening by the atom. The Xeno-Transcendent’s nanotech has improved with stolen, Union technology. This might be what they were working on, what they needed all that processing power for. They were adapting all our stolen technology. They just upgraded. We used to have a technology advantage - that’s gone now.”

  “Allow me to thank you on behalf of these people, for letting that happen.”

  A huge beetle flashed through the doorway, and landed on her neck.

  She screeched and knocked it to the ground.

  “Bastard bit me!” there was red on her fingers.

  “It’s your god, remember? It just infected you with nano-machines. That must be how they consumed everyone.”

  The beetle gleamed like polished crystal. It flared it’s wings, they were shot with rainbow brilliance.

  She stomped it, hard.

  “Oh, so now you can kill them, but I can’t? Women!”

  When her boot lifted it lay there crumpled, steam rising from oil-black innards. It flared its - undamaged - wings again, and its legs popped back into place. Slowly, its innards began streaming back.

  “You little fucker,” she aimed her PDW.

  “No!”

  A single three round burst. She looked up the Diamond’s slack-jawed face. It hardened into a glare.

  “What the fuck did you do!”

  “This!” and she shot it up again, another three round burst. “It bit me!”

  “Well now all its friends know! Come on, we have to get out of here!”

  They ran outside.

  In the street waiting for them was a centipede as large as a truck. It was coiled like a snake in a basket, its head raised like an angry cobra’s. Its diamondoid shell dazzled, its legs ended in glittering blades. Its red optics lit up and lased them both.

  “Run!”

  Diamond unloaded his hand cannons. The depleted uranium rounds tore into the creature’s head, sparking, punching, and throwing it back. It made a metal screech, and fled back down the street.

  Diamond shrugged. “Well that was easy.”

  Eight more centipedes appeared, peering over rooftops and coming out of doorways. Laser sights lanced him and gun barrels popped into place over shoulders. They started to turn.

  “Move you idiot!” Vidya yelled as she reached the first boulder. She opened up with her PDW at one of the creatures.

  Its body bucked and sparked, but the PDW didn’t have the same penetrating power as the hand cannons had. Laser sights swung to her. She threw herself down.

  Even behind the boulder, she was flung forward by the force of eight, high caliber, rail weapons tearing it into solid rock. The hammering was deafening - dust and pebbles gushed like liquid. They kept firing.

  She crawled ahead behind another boulder, and then ran back among the monoliths. Behind her, she heard the firing stop. Clattering sounded, like blades striking quickly against stone. It grew louder.

  She rounded a corner, and right into one coiled over a rock. Its head drew closer, a foot from her own. It optics bathed her in red light. She felt warm air gusting from its heat sinks. Its raised feet clacked together as if in a code.

  “Jack, Vidya, you guys alright?” her headset chirped. “I’m pretty sure I heard – “

  Its head turned a hundred and eighty degrees, in an instant. It lifted away from Vidya, and rose up on just four blades. It made a metal shriek, and tore off through the rock field. The others shrieked and raced after it. Following them came a large swarm of glittering beetles, flashing through the air.

  “Elise! Elise this is Jack, lift off! Lift off now!” her headset said. Then the man himself came running past, unharmed.

  “What? What about you guys?”

  “Elise! Just do it now! Just go!”

  “Wait there’s something out the window – oh Gods! Jack! Oh Gods!”

  Vidya tore off her headset just as the screaming started.

  Cullins XI

  The Washington broke through the cloud bank, descending over the valley.

  Lights blinked along its hull, or lanced out at the rocks below. Gun turrets tracked birds and deer, zooming in and studying them. Sparrowhawk and Raven fighters flew chase, their pilots panning for trouble. On the ground, white, power armored marines left muddy holes with each step. They held their rail cannons like rifles, their shoulder hard points mounted rocket launchers and jammers. Tilt-fan drones skidded above them, dipping into caves and plunging into streams.

  “Charlie Company Second Platoon reports F6 is clear Sir. Chaff cloud is thin.”

  “Good, let’s make sure it stays that way. Tell them to deploy their Hades turret and set it to anti-nano chaff.”

  A map of the Edmund Mountains was on the main viewer. Sprawling over most of them, was an immense, thick, cloud. Tactical grid lines overlaid it, with green dots and wire frames for friendlies. The green formed a ring around the cloud. Slowly, they moved inwards.

  “Zulu Flight reports no contacts in B2. Enemy chaff cloud at full saturation, line of sight laser communications only.”

  “Excellent. Order Zulu to B3, make sure they know we have friendlies on the ground, I won’t have a blue on blue on my watch.”

  Coffee mugs in hand, Cullins stepped on to the bridge. No one noticed, immersed in their tasks. Viegas stood before the Captain’s chair, arms folded and frowning. Holo reports scrolling in front of him, his eyes were fixed on the main viewer.

  “Someone’s been busy,” said Cullins. “Thanks for holding down the deck.”

  Viegas snapped out of his thoughts. “Sorry Sir, I didn’t notice you there.”

  “That’s alright,” he handed him a mug, “here. You could use one of these.”

  He took the mug and sipped it. His eyes widened.

  “This is really good!”

  “Would you believe it was grown in these mountains? How the quartermaster found it I don’t know.”

  “Maybe we’ll find the plantation Sir.”

  “It should be in F2.”

  “Oh,” he looked down. “We bombed F2.”

  “Well, I’m sure they got out in time. If not, well, then they would want you to honor their memory, with every sip.”

  “Yes Sir.”

  “Ease up Lieutenant. It’s not getting away this time. It’s cornered.”

  “I’ve been trying to hurry things along, make sure we don’t waste any time.”

  “Don’t worry too much about time, being thorough is more important. It can slip a hasty noose, but not a strong one.”

  “Yes Sir.”

  “Lieutenant, you are relieved.”

  “I stand relieved,” he stood straight and saluted, “Attention on the bridge, Commodore Cullins has the deck.”

  Cullins took his seat. “Any word from Colonel Baumgartner and his people?”

  “None Sir. the chaff is blocking our comms out of the mountains, they can’t make contact with us.”

  “What about the deep space array?”

  “That was abandoned during the battle, Sir. Getting it back online, well, I doubt that’s a priority for them. Shall I order a flight to Kashi?”

  “No, we’re more good to them out here. Let’s keep all our birds on the hunt. We scratched the enemy planet carrier, and this war is over.
”

  “Yes Sir. However, Colonel Diamond missed a check-in. It was before we entered too deep into the cloud to receive.”

  “That’s a very Diamond thing to do. He must be fine.”

  “Excuse, me Commodore?” the officer at Communications turned round in his seat. “I’m picking up a Union transmission, the encoding is mostly obsolete.”

  “Obsolete? What’s the source?”

  “I can’t tell you the true origin, but it’s being bounced off a point in C4.”

  “How is it getting to us through all that chaff, Ensign?” asked Viegas.

  “I don’t know Sir.”

  “Because the smart chaff is retransmitting it,” said Cullins. “Our own chaff can do that, block enemy comms while augmenting and relaying ours.”

  “But Sir, why would the aliens be transmitting a Union code?”

  “Depends on the code, Mr. Viegas. Ensign, do you know what it is?”

  “I’ve just identified it Sir. It’s called Clarion Alpha.”

  “Clarion Alpha?” Cullins’ eyes widened. “Are you sure?”

  “Positive Sir. It’s a century old, it was used mainly by -”

  “By Deep Space Patrol craft.”

  The ensign paused. “Yes Sir, that’s correct.”

  “Is it encrypted?” he blinked up a holo-file and waved it across. “Try using this key to decrypt it.”

  “Yes Sir,” a small pause. “Sir, it works! Decrypting now.”

  “Put it on the main viewer.”

  “What’s going on?” asked Viegas. “How did you know the decryption key?”

  The tactical map of the mountains disappeared. In their place, radar composite black and whites began to slideshow. They showed clouds of white specs against space, with chevron formations at their edges. They crew began to murmur and heads stopped to stare at the old pictures.

  “I know the key Lieutenant, because I sent this transmission. You’re looking at the first images we took of the alien fleet, on its approach to Paradiso ninety two years ago. Communications, how big is the message?”

  “Four point eight gigabytes Sir.”

  “This is it. The very last message we sent before we set the nova bomb and went through the Hedron. Our logs, flight recorder data, gun camera footage. Everything.”

  “All the information that was lost when you came through.”

  “Yes,” he turned to face Viegas. “This is why I was court-martialed and kicked out. All our computers fried the moment we came through. Even my watch stopped working.”

  “But somehow Sir, the aliens have a copy of this.”

  “Which is impossible. The message was sent by tight beam, they couldn’t have intercepted it.”

  “Excuse me Sir, but there are coordinates and a visual appended to the end of the message,” said the ensign.

  “What are the coordinates?”

  “They’re for a large, open area in C4. Probably where the message was bounced off.”

  “Is the image of the site as well?” asked Viegas.

  “No Sir. It’s – it’s an olive branch, Sir.”

  Cullins got to his feet.

  “Contact the main hanger; I want a Crossbow prepped for immediate departure with a complement of marines.”

  “Sir, I must – “

  “You have the bridge, Lieutenant. If there’s foul play, carry on with the mission. It wants to talk and I think I really need to hear what it has to say.”

  Saint

  “Easy there. You’re safe here, Gene Meat.”

  Diamond’s eyes slowly opened. The bed creaked as he shifted, it smelled of clean straw. He pressed the sheet and felt the fiber beneath. The IV bag hung from a nail on the wall. Sun-bleaching traced the picture frame that had been there just before it. Leather-bound tomes with yellowed pages roosted quietly on ancient, wooden, bookshelves. Over the doorway hung a white crucifix.

  “Here, drink this.”

  The man held a clay cup to him. The cold water tasted like an oasis. His cracked lips stung.

  “Where am I?” he croaked. “Who are you?” he got up on one elbow.

  “The Church of Saint Jude the Apostle. I am Padre Escobar.”

  Diamond sat up slowly, the priest held his arm. He looked up and checked the IV bag.

  “Jack. Jack Diamond. How did I get here?” He studied the priest’s face. It was young without being youthful. “How did you get here?”

  “I’ve always been here, Jack. It’s where I belong. Not war or peace will change that. The young girl outside kept you alive till I found you.”

  “Vidya?”

  “Yes. Lucky for you Mister Specialization, her design is baseline human. You were delirious with heat stroke when we brought you in. Do you have a headache?”

  “No.”

  “Try standing.”

  He got to his feet and looked down at boots yellow with dust.

  “I don’t understand,” said Diamond.

  “Neither do I, but I’m not going to question it. Just keep drinking water and electrolytes, and rest for a day at least.”

  “No, I mean, I don’t understand you. How are you even here? You’re the only catholic I’ve seen on this whole planet.”

  “Oh I know,” he poured Diamond another mug of water. “And we were rare enough to begin with. Where are you going? That’s not what I meant by resting.”

  IV bag in hand, Diamond ducked through the doorway.

  Before him stretched the nave. Wooden pews sat quietly in neat rows, waiting for their daily dusting. Light lanced through stained glass windows, their angles suggesting mid-morning. Behind him, over the altar, was a large, wooden, cross.

  “Where is she?”

  “Outside,” Father Escobar followed him. “I told her inside was fine, but I think her Gods are pickier than mine.”

  “What’s she doing?”

  Escobar raised an eyebrow. “What would anyone be doing at a time like this? Praying, of course.”

  They two walked to the entrance. Outside vegetables grew in neat, leafy green, rows. Beyond was an orchard with a pair of old, sleeping, donkeys. Goats studied them from inside a pen, chewing patiently.

  Vidya knelt in the sand, a small mound of rocks before her. Hands together and eyes shut, she chanted. Randomly she would stop, shake her head, and start again.

  “How far are we from Amli?”

  “A few days. I’ve never been there so I can’t tell you for certain. Just be glad I was out with Pedro and Ana,” he pointed at the donkeys. “Or I would have had to pick who to leave behind.”

  “I don’t think I’ve ever been in debt to pack animals.”

  “Then let that humble you. Those animals are my dearest friends in the world.”

  “In the world?”

  “Look around you,” he gestured with his arms. “We’re the only ones here. This church has been cut off since the invasion.”

  “That’s less than a year.”

  The priest smiled. “No, not that invasion. The invasion.”

  “Bullshit! How old are you?”

  “I’m a hundred and thirty six.”

  “But you’ve barely aged.”

  “I’ve never been bit. This part of the desert has no natural water sources, the Plague Roaches need a lot of water to breed.”

  “Plague Roaches? You mean the Servants of the Eye?”

  “Yes, they’re the same. If they bite you, you catch the plague. If you survive, you’ll live to catch everything else as well.”

  “What plague? They don’t cause plague.”

  “They used to. Then they started spreading something else. First we thought it was a weapon, to kill off the people they didn’t take aboard their ships. But as it spread it killed fewer and fewer people, and then the survivors started changing.”

  “The ageing?”

  “We only noticed that much later. First, the bitten stopped helping the resistance. Instead of sheltering fighters they started turning them in. Then they became gu
ards in the camps. Finally,” he pointed at Vidya, “this started. The end of our religions and the start of the alien cult.” He frowned. “She seems to be having some difficulty.”

  “How do you know all this if you’ve been cut off the whole time?”

  “I found out through a radio I salvaged from an army vehicle. First it was military chatter and emergency beacons. Then it was pirate radio stations, and announcements from resistance cells. In the end it was just people who wanted someone to talk to. The aliens ignored them; they were just too few to matter by then.”

  “You don’t seem surprised to see me here. Do you know what’s going on?”

  “When the stars started moving and blowing up, I started listening to my radio again. I know all about the UEF.”

  “And yet you still live here, on your own? You could have made contact. We would have helped.”

  “Helped?” he laughed. “I don’t need any help. We’re all doing fine out here. Aren’t we?” he looked over at the sleeping donkeys. “Pedro, Ana, and I have been taking care of this church for a long time now.”

  “Well it would have been a great help for us if we could have talked to you.”

  The priest looked down.

  “I wish you and the Union well, and I do pray for your success,” he said slowly, “but I also wish you had never come here.”

  “I’m sorry Father. For a moment I thought you said you wished we had never come here.”

  “That prayer she’s having trouble with,” he gestured at Vidya. “It’s for the dead. A lot people have died since the Union came back. And now that you’re losing – Jack, what was the point of it?”

  “Are you saying you preferred things under an alien occupation?”

  “No, not at all. I’m just saying there’s been a lot of suffering. You really need to ask yourself, was this fair on the people who live on this planet?”

  Jack paused.

  “I would have thought you to be the one person to think otherwise.”

  Escobar shrugged. “They are all God’s children. My ministry has been to bear witness to their suffering and to pray for its end. Can you imagine what it must be like, to have your prayers go unanswered for almost a century? I don’t see that changing.”