by C. S. Harte
They moved slowly through the tunnel of twisted vines.
“There he is…” Dren said, pointing his rifle at Anjali lying on the ground next to a collapsed fountain.
Samara rushed to him without hesitation.
“Stop, stop!” Dren shouted, failing to hold her back.
She didn’t seem to have heard Dren. As soon as Samara converged on Anjali’s body, a monster with the size and appearance of a polar bear appeared from a hidden path between Dren and Samara, cutting the two off from each other. It roared a deafening cry, shaking the ground beneath Dren’s feet. Its skin was hairless, gray and leathery like a shark. Dead branches poked out from its back.
“RUN!” Dren yelled to Samara. He opened fire on the creature.
The beast spun around, angered by the assault. It stood on its hind legs and roared again, but not from its mouth. Instead, the monster’s entire torso split in half horizontally. Teeth, once hidden by leathery hide, a dozen rows deep, projected from hidden pockets in the abdominal flaps. Burnt orange ooze flowed from the torso opening, drizzling down its leg.
Dren reloaded and fired again. The projectiles flattened against the coriaceous skin and clinked once they fell to the ground.
Samara held the unconscious Anjali in her arms. The monster blocked her escape.
Leave them! yelled a voice in Dren’s head. They are lost!
Dren regarded the advice of the voice. His best option for survival was to leave his Chordan friends and run. As Samara said, if he died, then all was lost. It took all of his will to stand his ground.
31
Screams to run grew louder with each passing second. Even if Dren stayed, he had no plan of action to save Samara and Anjali. Alyana’s face wouldn’t leave his mind, staring at him with disappointment in her eyes. She sacrificed everything, including her life, for the belief in her cause. The selfless actions of others had helped Dren many times. Compassion and empathy were two traits bred out of his variant line. If he wanted to be more human, he had to display them now.
The monster roared again, then vomited an amber ooze from its torso-mouth.
Dren dove to his right to avoid the chemical attack.
The stone flooring bubbled where the ooze landed.
He switched to fire ammunition and unloaded his entire 6-round clip at the monster. Each shot exploded as it made contact with the leathery skin, dousing the creature in a coating of flame. Through the fire, Dren glimpsed Samara trying to lift Anjali with her telekinesis but failed, resorting to pulling his body instead.
The monster howled in pain as it rolled on the ground. The fire charred its skin but did not exterminate the beast. Slowly, the monster lifted itself up from the ground and clawed at itself, shaking vigorously. Its burned skin sloughed off its body like dried mud.
“You’re kidding me…” Dren reloaded his rifle with his last clip of fire ammo. Instead of targeting the torso, he fired at the surrounding ground, igniting a ring of fire taller than the beast, containing it inside. He activated his strength neuromod while running to Anjali. “Take this.” He tossed his rifle to Samara and swooped the wounded Chorda into his arms. “The fire won’t hold him, let’s go!”
As Dren ran past the monster, its tongue lashed at Dren through the fire, tripping him.
Anjali crashed onto the ground, slamming his head into the cold stone. Syrupy blue liquid seeped from the back of his head.
The creature’s tongue could not recoil, burned to a crisp as it passed through the flames.
Dren tugged at the organ, ripping it from the monster’s mouth. He unwrapped the tongue from his leg and rushed to his fallen friend. “Hey! You OK?”
Anjali groaned as he patted the back of his head. Blue serum spread, dripping down his arm before he passed out again.
“We have to get back to the portal!” Dren shouted at Samara and scooped up Anjali.
With a pushing hand gesture, she knocked the beast down onto its backside. “Go! Do not wait for me!”
Dren didn’t hesitate, running through the vine tunnel and back onto the sky bridge.
Samara fired a few shots at the creature before following Dren.
Anjali was twice Dren’s body weight, and even with his strength neuromod, Dren was tiring. But if they were to escape this world, Dren needed to carry the Chordan scientist over two kilometers back to the portal platform. “C’mon, buddy…” He tried to jostle him awake. To his astonishment, Anjali’s eyelids fluttered open, revealing onyx pupils.
“Dren Arvol…” He coughed. “You came for me… I knew you would…”
The ring of fire died down, releasing the monster to pursue. But it was too slow to catch up. It continued its roar, each time the screams sounded more distant.
Every muscle in Dren’s body begged him to stop, to release the Chordan and catch his breath. He considered using his last combat stim, but they were only a quarter of the way to the platform. He saved it now that the immediate danger seemed behind them.
Samara caught up to Dren. She was breathing heavily. “There is something about this planet...”
“Yeah.” He scoffed. “It’s filled with nightmare monsters.”
“Beyond that,” Samara said between raspy breaths. “Something is draining me of my strength.”
Dren checked his oxygen levels and heart rate on his HUD. They appeared higher than his normal baseline but not unusual given the strenuous circumstances. His battery pack, however, was at 33% with about 20 minutes left before critical levels. “You could be right. Whatever this something is, it’s affecting my suit too. What do you think it could be?”
“I have no answers for you.” She pointed at the portal platform. “We must reinforce our haste.”
Dren could not suppress the yawns escaping his mouth. He felt compelled to fall asleep where he stood; the most tired he remembered being. They reached the part of the sky bridge with the glowing mushrooms.
Pale tendrils emerged from the fungi, carpeting the entire walkway. Stepping on them caused a shrieking sound from a nearby mushroom which reacted by ensnaring Dren’s arms and legs, forcing him to drop Anjali to the ground.
Tiny slits on the mushroom caps tore open, revealing a colony of eyes.
“Oh, that’s just gross.” With his strength neuromod still active, Dren ripped through the tendrils coiled around him then uprooted the closest mushroom. Thousands of tiny feet wiggled as he raised it in the air. He tossed the scourged mushroom off the sky bridge and shuddered as the organism gave one last high-pitched wailing on its way down into the jungle depths.
More mushrooms were coming for them, advancing like a tidal wave on the walkway.
Samara used her telekinesis to bulldoze them off, clearing a path for them to run through. Still, more replaced the ones that had fallen.
Dren grabbed his rifle from Samara and did a quick check of his ammo count. Only ice and non-explosive bullets left. While he switched to the ice rounds, he saw Samara faltering in the peripheral of his vision. He quickly caught her with one arm while the other fired ice shells into the mass of rampaging fungi. “I might clear a path through them. Can you get Anjali to the portal yourself?”
“My body is failing me,” she said, fighting to keep her eyes open.
“Anjali!” Dren kneeled next to him and slapped him across the face. “I need you to get up! We will not make it if you can’t walk on your own.” He continued shooting into the wriggling mass of fungi closing in.
“Help… Help me up,” Anjali whispered. After he steadied his legs, Anjali excavated a fistful of dice-shaped objects from his pouch and tossed them into the oncoming crowd. The dice floated just above the mushrooms and spun at incredible speeds. A sphere of cold, white light formed. The fungi wilted in the afterglow with the nearest ones instantly vaporizing to dust. The remaining mushrooms jumped off the sky bridge, choosing to fall over disintegration.
Dren patted his friend on the back and smiled. “Amazing!”
“Concentrated ultraviole
t light,” Anjali said with an ear-to-ear grin.
“How did you know that would work?” Dren asked.
“I did not know.” He chuckled. “It was an inference based on the lack of ultraviolet light available.”
“We must continue our withdrawal,” Samara said draping her arm around Dren.
After another four minutes of half running, half jogging, the team was within a half-a-klick of the Anchor. They reached the section of the sky bridge surrounded by the tall, skinny stone towers, the top portion of which shined brighter compared to before.
Dren slowed his pace walking through the final stretch as he half-expected the towers to shoot arcs of electricity. Critical warnings flashed on his Tempest suit. Battery levels dropped to 15%.
Both Samara and Anjali could no longer stand on their own.
“Is it possible these structures, whatever they are, could be sucking energy from us?” Dren asked.
“I have never encountered such a phenomenon,” Anjali said, struggling to breathe. “This would be fascinating if circumstances were different.”
On a hunch, Dren switched to different camera modes. Starting with ultra-low frequencies and intending to work his way down to gamma rays. He stopped at high-frequency microwaves when he witnessed delicate lines connecting the team with the stone structures. “We need to keep moving, as fast as we can,” Dren urged. He ducked underneath Anjali allowing him to wrap an arm over his shoulder, supporting him.
“I am weakening,” Samara could barely speak, throwing her entire weight on Dren.
“We’re so close…” Dren muttered. “Just a little longer…”
They crossed through an area with an even higher concentration of energy draining towers.
His suit battery plummeted to six percent with over 400 meters to go. We’re not going to make it at this pace… Not before I lose all power in my suit…
“I believe you are correct, Dren Arvol,” Samara said. “You must leave me and take Anjali.”
“No… Save the Mistress,” Anjali said. “Her life is infinitely more important than a mere questioner. She must be saved at all costs…”
“Dren Arvol…” Samara urged. “You doom us all if you delay.”
She was right, and yet Dren could not decide who to save. Battery dropped to 4.5%. “I can’t choose…” His voice wavered. “Don’t make me choose…” He navigated through his suit menu looking for options and stopped at the jump packs. His eyes lit up. “I might have a way to save us. Both of you, hang on as tight as you can.”
Samara and Anjali squeezed their arms around Dren.
At the current rate of battery drain, he only had 20 seconds of lift. Getting a more accurate calculation took too much precious time and battery power.
“Here goes nothing…” Dren initiated his jump pack. The rockets in his suit blazed to life, hoisting the three over the blighted jungle, shortening the distance back to the Anchor. “Almost there…”
The suit completely died while they were in the air, less than 20 meters from the Anchor platform.
“No…” Dren breathed. He squeezed his eyes closed as they descended into the darkness below.
Suddenly, their dive halted.
With her last gasp of strength, Samara used her telekinesis to fling everyone onto the platform.
Each person landed awkwardly, too tired to brace themselves, eventually rolling to a stop.
“I can’t believe that worked…” Dren murmured, lying on his back. He took off his Tempest suit which was useless and cumbersome without battery.
Anjali crawled to the Anchor console, and with every centimeter of his lanky arm and finger, stretched and activated the portal opening sequence.
As he did, a strong gust of wind blew him to the edge, nearly knocking him off the platform.
“What now?” Dren said, chuckling to himself. He rolled over onto his belly, his suit now fully off. As he struggled to his hands and knees, Dren saw himself in the center of a gigantic shadow. He sighed. “You got to be kidding me…”
32
Dust motes mixed with jungle spores swirled on the portal platform. Dren choked as the surrounding air grew heavy and colder. His lungs flared with pain with each breath. He tried lifting himself up, but the winds kept pressing against his back. Visibility dropped to zero in the fog of gray powder. He lost sight of his friends. “Samara! Anjali!” he yelled, hoping they weren’t too far away.
A screech sounded to his left. A white filament twisted around his left arm. Before Dren realized what was happening, the line became taught. More ribbons of white shot at him from behind the curtain of dust, attaching to his right arm, both legs, and neck. All at once, they pulled against him, sending him back to the ground.
Any attempt to break free resulted in a tightening of the cord which was cutting into his skin. Dren’s heart was racing. In his mind, he pictured spiders — terrifying alien versions — on the other end of the web-like film. He was fortunate to never encounter spiders during his numerous missions across many planetary battlefronts. Yet somehow, he had a fear of them. “Samara! Anjali!” The swirling winds seemed to reflect his cries back at him.
The strands around his limbs tightened, cutting off circulation. We were so close to escaping… He choked, his lungs screamed for oxygen. His face reddened, then shifted into shades of purple and blue.
Clicking sounded all around him. Dren’s vision blurred. A round, charcoal lump approached him. It moved on long, sharply angled legs. Spiders… I knew it…
“Dren Arvol!” Anjali’s voice poked through the wall of dirt. “Where are you?”
Dren could not respond with the coil around his neck; his eyes could barely open at this point.
An ear-piercing wail screeched in front of him. The tension around his neck released. He gasped as air quickly rushed into his lungs. “Anjali…” he whispered.
“Are you broken, Dren Arvol?” Anjali removed the webbing around Dren’s arms and legs.
His only thoughts were to suck in more air while mucus clogged his nostrils and throat. He sat up and held his head as an acute pain formed inside his skull.
“Have you seen the Mistress?” Anjali furrowed his brow.
“No,” His eyes darted to the mass of burning insect carcasses around him. “Are those… Spiders?”
“They are similar anatomically to spiders, yes. Without a dissection, I cannot confirm…”
“OK, doesn’t matter. I hate them.” Dren massaged his throat. “We need to find Samara.”
Anjali bobbed his head, quick to agree.
“What’s causing all this wind?”
“I believe it could be the giant wasp behind you…”
“WHAT?” Dren jumped up and spun around.
Blocking the portal, hovering just in front of it, was a gargantuan wasp-like creature. Its yellow and black striped thorax was the size of a shuttlecraft, measuring over 30-meters tall. Six pairs of massive wings flapped behind it; the apparent source of wind stirring up the dirt and spores around the Anchor platform. Its eyes glowed a dull orange like the mushrooms on the sky bridge.
“I think I see her… Samara,” Dren rubbed his eyes trying to clear the pollen from his vision. “It has her in its mandible.” He tried to zoom in with his ocular cam forgetting it was removed earlier. “She’s fighting it. The wasp can’t bring her to its mouth.”
“Indeed, most insects will find Mistress to be a challenging prey,” Anjali said with his chin held high. “Nevertheless, this situation is problematic.”
“You think?” Dren shook his head. “Tell me you have more gadgets in your pouch that could help us.”
“I do not, unfortunately.” He removed his pouch and tossed it on the ground next to Dren. It was completely empty.
“We need to get its attention…” Dren rubbed his chin. “Somehow…”
“I am open to suggestions.” Anjali frowned.
“Why isn’t the portal open?” Dren narrowed his eyes.
“I was p
reoccupied with saving you from the arachnid foes earlier.”
“I’ll help Samara.” He shoved Anjali toward the console. “You just get that portal open.”
“What is your plan of action?” Anjali yelled while walking away.
Dren didn’t answer, he didn’t have a plan. At least, not one he considered good. He activated his speed neuromod and sped toward the monster.
The wasp responded by lifting its abdomen, pointing his two-meter long stinger at Dren. The creature was frighteningly massive, but it was slow. Dren sidestepped every stab attempt by the beast. Shrill cries left its mouth as it soared into the air.
“That didn’t work out as planned…” Dren mumbled to himself.
The wasp vibrated its entire body. Razor-sharp hairs broke off from its legs and rained onto the platform.
Dren dodged and rolled away from the storm of needles and used his forearms to block the ones he couldn’t escape from. He howled in pain as dozens of the creature’s hairs stabbed into his skin. Pulling them out tore his flesh with it, leaving centimeter wide openings on his forearms. He decided against removing the rest. While painful to leave them in, the alternative could cause him to bleed out.
I need to get it lower to the ground… He scanned his surroundings for solutions. The glow of the energy draining stone formations caught his attention. He wondered if they would weaken the flying creature the same way they did to Samara and his Tempest batteries. Could I survive without my suit? There’s only one way to find out.
Dren sped past the wasp, but it stayed in its sentry position hovering next to the Anchor. Its attention was primarily on Samara who was still conscious. He gazed at his forearm which resembled a pincushion full of the needles. “This will hurt…” Dren gritted his teeth and yanked out three needles at once. Blood instantly streamed down his arm. Small pieces of his flesh stuck to tiny hooks. “How about a taste of your own medicine!” Dren switched to his strength neuromod and threw the needles at the creature’s eyes like darts.
The wasp shrieked when the hairs pierced through its head. Small streams of orange flowed down its face, landing on Samara. The creature finally released its grip on her, changing its focus to Dren.
