by Scott Baron
Eddie flashed a tracking map on his screens, showing the medium-sized ship’s approach trajectory. At their rate of speed, they’d possibly even arrive in LA before Charlie’s team made the trip.
“Okay, Eddie. Fire it up and get us back to Los Angeles. We’ve got all we’re going to get from here for now, and I think we could all use a quick shower and a meal before we dig any further into the limited data we have. Maybe catch a little cat nap, even. Everyone agree?”
The others nodded, and Leila looped her arm through his, resting her head on his shoulder. He was glad Bawb was too busy watching the screens to notice. The poor man had to be in hell, but, as was his way, he showed no outward sign of it.
“Cal? Charlie? I do not believe this is normal,” the Wampeh said, his eyes not once wavering from the screens.
Charlie looked up and saw what he was referencing. Rika was the pilot among them, but even a layman could see the angle of approach was all wrong.
“Cal, what’s going on?” he asked.
“We have lost contact with the ship. Attempts to hail them are being made across all channels, but as of yet, there is no reply.”
“Did something hit them? Were they attacked?”
“Nothing of the sort. One minute they were on a normal approach, entering the atmosphere. The next, we lost contact, and they dipped into a steeper descent.”
Bawb was transfixed by the line on the screen, rapidly approaching the planet’s surface. “Charlie, ask Ara how quickly she can get to that ship,” he said, an urgency coloring his voice.
“Why?”
“Because I’m afraid if she doesn’t, every soul on board that vessel is going to perish.”
Charlie suddenly realized what he was implying.
“Ara, there’s a ship streaking toward the surface. It looks like it’s going to hit just outside Los Angeles. Can you intercept it? Maybe grab on and guide it down somehow?”
“I’m afraid I would not reach them in time. And, Charlie, I sensed a surge emit from the Asbrú just now.”
“I figured as much,” he replied, turning his attention back to the monitors. “No dice. She said she can’t get there fast enough.”
“I might be able to,” Eddie interjected. “I’d have to do a hard burn out of the atmosphere, and we’d pull some serious Gs on the descent, but maybe––”
“There is simply no time,” Cal said. “But your offer and efforts are appreciated.”
Powerless, the team watched in horror as the line on the screen tracked the plummeting ship. All the way into the ground. Then the tracker abruptly went dark.
“We’ve lost them,” Cal said.
“What the hell happened?” Ripley blurted, tears welling in her eyes. “Why would they do that?”
Leila gently put her arm around her. “Because the spell is still active, Rip.”
“But we’re safe.”
“Yes. But only because the Magus stone granted us some sort of protection that appears to stay with us. They were not so fortunate.”
“She’s right,” Bawb said. “The ship lost contact as soon as it breached the atmosphere. This spell appears to extend all the way to the edge of space. Any who attempt to reach the surface will most likely fall victim to its power.”
“We will need to discuss this in greater detail. The AIs in orbit will run a new assessment. We will reconvene once you are safely back in Los Angeles and have had a chance to eat and rest.”
It was a logical step, but Charlie’s appetite was suddenly non-existent, and he seriously doubted any of them would now be able to nap.
Chapter Eleven
“Uzri ho,” Rika said with a grunt, throwing a low kick in combination with the throwing spell powered by her small konus.
Charlie avoided the kick, but rather than countering the spell, he instead let it take him from his feet, rolling with the force and using its momentum to launch him into a lunging takedown.
Rika flew through the air––her feet suddenly occupying the space where her head had just been––then landed with a slap to the ground, the length of her arm and body spreading the force of the impact. She scrambled to her feet and cast again.
“Eeflanguley,” she blurted, but Charlie saw it coming, pulling from his internal power and silently casting a dispersing counterspell, followed by one of his favorite diversion spells.
Rika wrinkled her nose in disgust. “A poo-smelling spell? Are you fucking kidding me?”
She was distracted long enough for Charlie to lob a casual foot sweep spell, knocking her to the ground once more. “It distracted you, didn’t it?” he replied with a laugh, moving in for a ground attack.
Rika shifted on her back, feet at the ready to block any attempt to reach the mount position. But Charlie expected that, instead using a lifting spell to raise her body from the ground. He dove beneath her before she could react, canceling the spell and dropping her on top of him, her back landing solidly between his legs and grabbing arms.
With a combination of magic and grappling, he had achieved an unconventional, but advantageous, position.
His arms snuck up around her neck, sliding into a rear naked choke. Rika struggled, tucking her chin and very nearly escaping his powerful arms, but Charlie was calm, slow, and methodical. Shortly, Rika reluctantly tapped out.
Charlie released his grip, the two getting to their feet again.
“Not bad,” he said. “But you know, I think––”
Rika planted a solid front kick in the middle of his chest, knocking the wind from him, his diaphragm spasming painfully. A flying knee followed, Charlie barely avoiding a full blow, Rika’s knee only glancing off his shoulder as he spun away, forcing his lungs to work again. Normally, if you couldn’t talk, you couldn’t cast. But Charlie wasn’t normal in that respect.
She pressed the attack, launching a series of blindingly fast punches. Charlie absorbed some, and blocked others, letting Rika move in closer as she gained the upper hand.
Or so she thought.
Dispanus, he thought, channeling the smallest of power into the spell without verbalizing the word, directing it only into her left leg just as she pivoted into a round kick.
Her limb went numb, the stun spell effectively taking her foot out from under her. Rika went tumbling, her own momentum carrying her to the ground. A moment later, her leg began to regain sensation. Charlie had gone easy on her, she realized, rubbing the pins and needles sensation from her thigh.
This was what they needed. Far more than a snack or a nap, a little bit of good old-fashioned sweat and violence helped calm their nerves. A brief respite from the crazy events of the day they were still trying to understand.
Rika slowly got back to her feet, dusting herself off as she rose. “Okay, I’ll admit it, you’ve gotten a lot better,” she grumbled.
“So, you remember some of our old training back in the day?”
“No, not really,” she replied. “But I do have a...I don’t know. A gut feeling that we’ve done this before.”
“We have.”
“And that I used to kick your ass on a regular basis.”
Charlie laughed. “Yeah, that too. But back then, I hadn’t spent years training as a gladiator. I also wasn’t an assassin’s understudy. Plus, you weren’t using magic.”
Rika grinned and took a swig from her water bottle. “It seems we’ve come a long way, Charlie.”
“Indeed, it does.”
“The thing is, after what the Tslavars did to me. What Malalia did to me. I still feel like, I don’t know. Like I don’t have a solid sense of who I am. Does that make sense? I mean, I was under the control of another person, and I don’t need to remember my past to know that I am fucking not okay with that.”
“No, that you would not be,” Charlie said. “But all of that, it wasn’t your fault. Violence was done to you, and you can’t blame yourself for any of it.”
“But I don’t even remember our friendship, Charlie. I mean, I know we were friends.
We trained together.”
“And you ran me ragged, I might add.”
“So you say. But I still only have ghosts of that in my head. I have no real memories.”
Charlie stepped close, putting his hands on her shoulders and looking deep into her eyes. “It’s okay, Rika. You’re with friends now. And you know what? Screw the past. We’ll make new memories, okay?” He stepped back, smiled warmly at her, and held out his hand. “Charlie Gault. Pleased to meet you.”
She gripped his hand firmly. “Rika Gaspari. Nice to meet you too, Charlie.”
“You know something? I think you and I are going to be good friends.”
Rika pulled him in close and gave him a tight hug, her eyes welling up with emotion. She abruptly let go, hastily wiping the tears from her eyes.
“So, firing range next?” she asked with a sniffle.
“Sure. You always were a better shot than me.”
“At least there’s something I can still beat you at,” she said with a chuckle.
“And you can likely outshoot the others too.”
“Well, to be fair, our magic friends are kind of out of their element on this world. They’re getting the hang of it, mind you, but it’s kind of a fish-out-of-water situation for them.”
“I know,” Charlie agreed. “And far more than our medieval adventure. I mean, that was sort of like visiting a rural world for them. But all of this tech? It’s gotta be a mindfuck.”
“But we’re hundreds and hundreds of years beyond our own time, Charlie, so we’re just as much out of our element as they are. Or nearly as much, anyway.”
“I suppose,” he replied. “But let’s go remedy that, shall we? Starting with those pulse rifles. You know I’ve been dying to try one out.”
Rika flashed a warm grin. “I already asked Cal to have a pair ready for us at the range.”
“Of course you did. Well, then. Let’s go violently poke holes in things from a distance.”
Chapter Twelve
Their workout sweat showered off, and their spirits higher, Charlie and Rika joined their friends in Cal’s command center.
Leila had opted for a long walk rather than sparring when they got back, but changed her plans when the tranquil stroll failed to set her at ease. The sight of the frozen people may also have spoiled her outing somewhat. So, she opted instead for a run up and down a nearby building’s fire stairs, working up a good sweat.
Ripley and Bawb had taken the opportunity to fly to their respective homes. There was nothing they could do for their loved ones, but the visceral need to see them ruled the moment. Charlie felt bad for the young girl, but even more so for his stoic friend. No matter how calm he seemed, Bawb had to be torn up inside. He was just very practiced at hiding it.
They noshed on handfuls of snacks as they sat in the command center. Presciently, Cal knew their hunger would eventually catch up with them, and had arranged for a platter of sandwiches and refreshments to be waiting for the group when they arrived.
“You must eat. It is imperative you keep your energy levels up,” he had said.
They knew he was right, and each of them had taken one. Ripley, in particular, hadn’t realized how hungry she actually was. The teen downed two of them in short order.
Their blood-sugar stable and their frazzled nerves calmed, at least a bit, the group settled in for their situational review.
“Now that all are present, I have patched in Sid on Dark Side base. Sid, would you care to begin?”
“Thank you, Cal,” the distant AI began. “I would like to first thank you all for the work you are doing. I am sure it is not easy, and, unfortunately, the weight of this crisis rests fully on your shoulders. We hope to rectify that, and are working to upgrade a ship with a mid-grade AI to at least provide you more aerial support. But it seems no humans or Chithiid will be able to enter the atmosphere.”
“Yeah, we saw that,” Charlie said. “And we’re really sorry about your people, Sid.”
“Thank you. It was hard losing them. They are all valued members of our team, and their talents will be missed. However, we have more pressing issues at the moment. Namely, the underlying purpose of this attack. For this, we must ask the question we currently have no answer for. That being, what do they hope to gain?”
“It’s a terror attack,” Rika posited. “Something to distract and frighten the population.”
“An interesting supposition, however there is no need to frighten or distract a population that is frozen in stasis.”
“Shit. Good point,” she said. “But what, then? If there are no demands, and no overt acts of aggression, then what purpose does this serve?”
“That is what we are trying to determine,” Cal said.
“Charlie?”
“Yes, Sid?”
“Cal and I were discussing one possible line of action. Ara is an immensely powerful being, which has me wondering. Given her abilities, might it be possible for your dragon friend to perhaps unfreeze a single individual at a time?”
“I’ve already talked with her about that. The problem is, the sheer complexity of this spell makes it a near certainty that anything she tried wouldn’t work. A lot of effort went into crafting this spell, isn’t that right, Bob?”
The pale man nodded in agreement. “Indeed. I too have spoken with the Wise One. Her assessment aligns with mine. There are multiple spells––layer upon layer of them––all interwoven to create this magical amalgam. There is simply no telling how long it might take to devise a working counterspell without understanding of the original in our possession. Or whether we would be able to craft one powerful enough to release the global population. Huge amounts of power went into this spell’s creation, and it is still being added to by the hour.”
“Ah, yes. That was another aspect we wished to discuss. You say the ship is still emitting this spell, and you cannot directly attack the substance at the root of it.”
“Hair,” Charlie said. “Ootaki hair, to be exact. It stores magic, allowing the user to draw from it, like a battery pack.”
“And can your own magic overpower it? Negate it, somehow?”
“From what we’ve seen so far, we don’t believe so. There’s a deadman switch of sorts. If we interfere with the spell, it will trigger whatever the associated booby-trap spell is. Bob, this is more your area of expertise. Would you mind?”
“Of course,” the Wampeh replied. “Upon further probing of the power we encountered when we attempted to cut a strand of the Ootaki hair, what we have seen is a multi-layered defensive spell, triggering a full power dump from the magic stored in the hair. I am not entirely certain of the exact spell it powers, but from what Ara and I have observed thus far, our shared belief is it would likely cause the atmosphere of this planet to rupture.”
“Which would destroy all life on Earth and render the planet uninhabitable. Hardly a desirable outcome for someone intent on occupying.”
“But we don’t know that’s what they want to do,” Charlie said.
“No, we do not. However, if they possess this capability and wanted to destroy Earth’s population, they would have deployed it immediately. No, they are waiting for something. The only question remaining is what?”
The group sat quietly, all very aware of the terrible reality of the situation. Finally, it was Rika who broke the silence.
“Well, then. I guess that settles it. We’ve already lost one team.”
“Settles what?” Ripley asked.
“What we have to do next,” Charlie interjected.
“You mean figure out whose ass to kick, right?”
“No, Rip. What she means is doing what we have to do to keep any more innocent lives from being lost.”
“Again, the ass-kicking thing comes to mind.”
“Much as we all want that, we need something more immediate. Cal, you agree, yes?”
“Yes, Charlie. Sadly, I do.”
“And, Sid, you’re on board as well?”
“Of course.”
“Then there it is. As of right now, planet Earth is quarantined.”
Chapter Thirteen
Two days had passed, and nothing had changed. At least, it seemed like nothing had, until an AI from the city of Cape Town checked in with Cal and the rest of the global network. At first, they didn’t know what to make of his strange readings, but as they put their collective processing might behind the problem, an unexpected answer became clear.
Someone was out there. And that someone was snatching people.
“Are you sure about this?” Charlie asked when he and Leila came rushing into the command center.
They’d been enjoying a moment of quiet time together, a king and his queen confiding their concerns with one another in the face of a dumbfounding problem. Charlie had found that despite her seemingly rough upbringing as a slave laborer, tending the animals on Visla Maktan’s vast estate, Leila possessed the sharp mind of a diplomat. Or perhaps a tactician. Whatever it was, she had a knack for seeing the big picture and poking holes in ill-conceived ideas.
What they had come to agree, in regards to the current problem, was that without the means to counter the spell encompassing the planet, the best they could do was to task teams of cyborgs and any AI machinery up to the task with finding individuals frozen in precarious, life-threatening situations and moving them to safety.
They would still be in a frozen stasis, but at least when they thawed out––if they thawed out––they wouldn’t find themselves crushed, burned, or run over in their first seconds of resumed consciousness.
But now, something new was afoot. And it changed everything.
“Yes, Charlie. The report was quite conclusive,” Cal said.
