by Foxx Ballard
Then Rusty’s mind was his again. He found himself standing over the man. Tears had run from his eyes down his cheeks.
“All worm like this?”
The man nodded slightly, wincing as the motion pulled the living tubes that were attached to the top of his head.
“Please…” the Valkyrie whispered, pleading.
Rusty blinked away his tears, trying to keep his vision from blurring as he leveled Buck at the man’s head.
“Thank you,” the man whispered as he closed his eyes and let out what was likely the most relaxing breath he’d had in a long time.
Rusty pulled the trigger and then turned away, preferring to remember the look of peace on the man’s face to the hole in his head. Angel would hopefully be okay now.
The floor suddenly lurched beneath his feet, and there was a long, deep bellow. As the floor jerked left and right, Rusty could barely maintain his feet. The worm was now free, for better or for worse, and it was thrashing. He needed to get out of here.
Constantly having to adjust his balance, Rusty staggered up the ramped floor and pulled himself through the hole in the wall. The Chakran would likely know what had happened. He needed to put some distance between himself and this chamber.
“Cooling…” came the feminine voice from Buck, and Rusty was thankful the weapon was recharging while they weren’t engaged. Buck’s flashlight also dimmed considerably.
Bouncing off the walls with a hand or shoulder, Rusty managed to make it to the main tunnel and turned in the direction that would lead him out. From behind, lights were approaching, so he dove around the next curve in the wall and peeked back, bracing himself so he wouldn’t fall over into the corridor as the worm beneath him shuddered and thrashed.
Two Chakran were half-dragging, half-leading a Vesuvian woman wearing nothing more than thin rags. She struggled with her head down, but he isolated her scent immediately. It was Zondra. Joy and fear for her coursed through him at the same time. How could she still be alive?
“Where are you taking me? Let me go!” she snapped as she jerked back and forth, further complicated by the reeling floor beneath them.
“We must merge you before the hive collapses,” chittered the Chakran to her right. “We appreciate and honor your sacrifice.”
“I didn’t volunteer—” she shouted, trying to yank her arm free of the Chakran’s firm grip.
Rusty took advantage of that moment of distraction and stepped out into the corridor, jumping in the air so he wouldn’t be affected by the moving floor, and adjusted his aim mid-flight. The first blast hit the right Chakran square in the face. The other ant-man hissed, just before Rusty blew a large hole through its chest, but he was suddenly struck by a powerful scent the Chakran had released. He didn’t know what it meant for sure, but considering the volume and strength, it was likely a warning to others. He needed to get Zondra out of here.
“Rusty?” The beautiful Vesuvian looked like she couldn’t believe her eyes and then her smile lit up her face and all the feelings he had for her rushed to the fore. Zondra struggled to keep her footing as the light dimmed, but she made it to him and she hugged him hard. Rusty hugged her back, allowing a moment to take in her familiar and comfortable scent, like rolling up in a warm blanket on a cold day, but he knew they couldn’t tarry long. She kissed the top of his head and then let him go.
“We need to get out of here. Do you know the way?”
He nodded and grabbed her hand.
It was harder to maintain his balance while holding her, but he was afraid if he let her go she would disappear on him again. They awkwardly meandered down the shaking and skewing corridor. The worm was probably trying to shake free of the silk ropes that were holding it down. If it got free and took to the sky, they were in big trouble. Rusty, with his renewed urgency, pulled Zondra along, even dragging her a half-step once before she managed to right herself. The problem was, they were approaching light further down the tunnel, which meant there were Chakran around the corner in the tunnel ahead. He stopped, afraid to proceed. The scents of at least twenty others were near, in that direction. There was no way they could go through them. Rusty panicked and had to calm himself. There was no way Buck could make that many shots without having to recharge. As the sound of footsteps closed and the light in the tunnel grew brighter and brighter, Rusty sighed. Buck had to recharge after only two shots after cut—cutting the wall!
“Cut wall,” he blurted to Buck and immediately drew a circular motion with the weapon on the wall beside him, which became an oval when the floor jerked beneath him. It didn’t cave in and the footsteps were almost here.
He hit the wax oval with the heel of his palm twice and he let out a whoosh of breath, not realizing he had been holding it, as it caved in to the other side. He dove through into the darkness, then reached back and pulled Zondra in behind him. Buck changed to a dim, wide-beamed flashlight again, making it easy for Rusty to see. Zondra didn’t miss a step, reminding him that she could see in near darkness as well.
They were in a storeroom, with piles of dried foods and insects in rows and rows of wax containers lining the walls and floor. Some were open, some were closed. It didn’t matter. Rusty was already looking for the next spot to cut a hole through the next wall. Three quick steps brought him there, to a blank spot on the wall between the bins. He drew a red circle with Buck before the worm jerked upwards and he was thrown straight up in the air, almost to the ceiling. Zondra and the contents of all the open containers floated in the air for a moment before the floor came rushing back up to meet them. He wildly spun his limbs to right himself and managed to land almost squarely on his feet, but Zondra wasn’t so lucky, falling with a crunch as her ankle hit the floor at an angle. He could tell she wanted to scream as she gritted her teeth, her expression showing her pain, but she remained silent. When she tried to stand on it, she couldn’t, and even as she attempted with the other foot, the floor jerked beneath her and she ended up prone again.
“Just go,” she forced out in a hiss of pain.
Rusty looked from her to the cut wall, which had sagged open into another dark space, so he tossed Buck onto his back by the strap and picked up Zondra with little difficulty. He was strong to begin with, but fueled by adrenaline, he could have thrown her through the hole. He pushed her through even as she made a surprised yelp. Better she be alive and hurt than to suffer permanent torture at the hands of the Chakran.
Buck was on his back recharging, so there was no light at all, and though Rusty’s eyes were good in dim light, he couldn’t see if there was none at all. His nostrils were immediately struck with the humidity of the room. Everything was warm and moist, and he could tell that Zondra was directly in front of him. As his feet hit the floor, he was stepping on something slippery, like a thick mucous. The overwhelming smell was Chakran, but alien. Nothing had smelled like this before. It was all around him, coming from the room itself. As he felt with his hands for Zondra, an iris opened to the left and the walls of the room lit up as a Chakran entered. It was unarmed and stood shocked to see them there. All around them were eggs, probably thirty of them, half as tall as Rusty, in various stages of growth, some even going through the attempt at hatching. On one wall was the bulging abdomen of an enormous Chakran, in the process of laying an egg even as he watched. The alarm pheromones struck his nostrils just before he drew Buck and shot the surprised Chakran full in the chest. The light dimmed and then winked out, and the iris closed as it died, leaving him in darkness again. But he had memorized the space and had picked his point of egress. It wasn’t dark for long though, as he aimed Buck and the intelligent weapon emitted a wide red beam, dim enough that it wouldn’t be easily seen in passing, but bright enough that Rusty could see. Rusty cut a hole in the far wall, a little slower this time to make sure it was all the way through. If the hive wasn’t up in arms before, it sure would be now.
With no time to waste, he picked up Zondra and carried her to the hole to look through. It was an
other room, dark, so not outside. This one must have had a fair bit of traffic though, because there were many smells of different people, animals, Chakran, everything, but the walls were just rounded and smooth, with multiple nodules in them. Bulbous extrusions of wax larger than a man, as if the walls themselves had a lumpy disease.
His feet slid as the worm lurched beneath him, and a dim light appeared through the hole in the wall behind him that was steadily getting brighter. They were following through the holes he was making.
He pushed Zondra through into the darkness and followed immediately after. He considered stopping to put the wax piece back in the hole and then changed his mind. That would likely only buy them a few seconds, and it would take that long to put the wax back in, assuming it stayed where it was put in the first place. A quick scan with Buck revealed another spot on the far wall between the large wax lumps. They had to be close. He didn’t remember having to go this far in the tunnel.
He cut the hole, which took longer this time, and felt enormous relief as the clean outside air rushed in, the dim moonlight of the open night sky revealing the platform outside.
Quickly, he scooped up Zondra again and rushed over, pushing her through the hole onto the narrow walkway. And then the room he was in lit up.
Chakran were entering through the other hole and through a doorway. One of the Chakran that came through the door chittered in a strange vibrating tone that Rusty hadn’t heard before, and just for a moment, the wax nodules in the room became transparent. Inside were the fresh corpses of humanoids and animals, each being chewed on by a large fat grub. He jumped as a human hand struck the inside of the nodule next to him. Some were still alive! And then the desperation of the situation forced him, guilt and all, to scramble outside after Zondra. He wanted to save them, but he wasn’t even sure he was going to manage to save Zondra and himself. And there were so many hives—if they survived, he could worry about it later.
Rusty muttered an apology into the air for those he had to leave behind and stepped through the hole onto the platform's edge. He then picked Zondra up and looked back and forth to get his bearings. They were in the middle of one side of the walkway that ran along the outside of the hive, and thankfully there were no Chakran on this particular spot, but he could see them at both ends, not including the ones behind that would be closing on the hole behind them at any moment.
Many of the numerous silk ropes that ran to the treeline hung limply as several trees had been pulled up by the roots, others still holding strong, but it wouldn’t be long before the worm managed to pull them all up.
The Chakran at the ends of the platform had seen them and were cautiously closing. A few pointed muskets at them, but didn’t fire, likely realizing they might hit their friends at the other end of the platform if they missed. Or they wanted to take them alive. Rusty shuddered just thinking about it.
He stepped to the side of the hole they had just crawled through, just in case the ones in the room behind decided to throw spears, but that would only help temporarily. He knew he could easily descend a rope himself. It was only a couple stories off the ground, but if he threw Zondra down, she would be seriously injured. As the Chakran crept closer on all sides, he looked into her beautiful dark liquid eyes and despite her fear, she gave him the slightest smile. There was no way he would let them be caught alive. He was about to put her down and draw Buck when a loud “Rusty!” shouted up from the ground below. It was Lais.
“Throw her!”
Rusty didn’t waste a moment, and tossed Zondra to Lais below, watching as the Technoid woman caught her easily. That was all he had time for as the treeline gave several enormous cracks and the platform rose suddenly, flinging him against the outer wall of the hive. Even as he recovered and regained his footing, a Chakran poked its head through the hole, one arm carrying a spear. With a roll, he drew Buck and fired, knocking the ant-man back into the hole, and then he fired once each up both sides of the platform, knocking two others off. Others took their places, but he had slowed their approach. His chest was tight as he watched the ground dropping away below. The worm had broken free and was rising quickly. He wouldn’t survive the jump now.
As all the Chakran closed on his position, he sighed. At least Zondra was safe. As Buck hissed and cooled, Rusty shouldered the weapon. Then he fought back his fear, closed his eyes and stepped off the platform.
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
Lais: Beneath the Fallen Hive, Farrun
Lais caught the blue-woman easily and was just about to put her down so she could catch Rusty when the cracking of trees behind her erupted through the night air and Rusty was thrown further up on the hive wall, out of sight. Dirt and rock rained down from the tree roots as they passed overhead and Lais bent over the woman to protect her. Some heavy rocks struck her soundly, but the damage was minor and would heal.
When it sounded like the storm of debris had passed, Lais looked up and saw the hive at least ten stories in the air, rising quickly up toward the other hives that were all over the night sky.
Oh Rusty, why didn’t you jump at the same time? There was no way she could catch him now. A couple of muskets fired in her direction, causing the ground to spit up around her, and then more sounded as they caught sight of new prey. Lais turned, with the woman still in her arms, and sprinted toward the ragged treeline, her feet kicking up divots as she randomly zig-zagged around the stumps, making it hard to predict her movements. There was a cacophony of musket fire now, but only a few bullets came close, and since her body was between the Chakran and the Vesuvian woman, Lais wasn’t too concerned.
There were no more shots by the time they reached the treeline, but she took cover behind a large tree trunk anyway, so she could peek back into the clearing.
“Zondra,” said the Vesuvian woman, introducing herself, as she tried to stand and balance on her one good leg. “And thank you.”
“Lais. You’re welcome.” She looked around the edge of the tree, back into the clearing. “You didn’t see Rusty—” She didn’t really want to finish the statement. Now that she thought about it, hopefully the woman hadn’t seen him. He was either dead from the fall or he was captured.
“No, I didn’t see him follow,” Zondra noted sadly.
Lais looked around the tree. On the far side of the clearing, was a large contingent of Chakran and several other humanoids that had been left behind when the hive had risen unexpectedly. There was no more laser fire, and Lais was concerned something may have happened to Synth-E-Uh, Mogul and Jack, but she didn’t want to get close to the mob yet to investigate. Not until she knew more about what was going on. A few Galantar flew well above the rest, and there were a handful of humans that she didn’t recognize. And there she was. Chais, her white conical head with the spiky antennae, was hard to miss once she had moved out from behind the Galantar she was talking to, the silver armor meaning the Galantar was most likely Hirk. Lais stood on her tiptoes, finally gripping and scaling the tree a bit so she could get a better angle, and there she could see Keena with Drak wrapped around her neck. She wanted to walk out and greet them, but at the same time, the number of muskets and bows made her pause, not so much for her sake, but there was a good chance that if that many shot at once, Zondra would be hit. And what about Chais? What if she used the laser rifle?
A loud reverberating bellow from all the hives above caught everyone’s attention briefly, and when Lais glanced up, she could see all the other hives converging on the rogue one, hemming it in so it couldn’t go anywhere except down. It looked like the hive with trees dangling beneath it was already tiring as it was lowering in altitude while she watched, though it was going to come down a mile or two from here, not back in the clearing. And there in the sky was something falling. It wasn’t flailing; it was just falling, and it was about the size of… Rusty! Her body tensed instinctively, wanting to reach out and catch him, but he was beyond the far side of the clearing, well into the forest there. Even if she tried to catch him, he wou
ld likely die from the impact, anyway.
When the white wings extended out from behind him and he took off at a different angle, heading in this direction, she had to blink. It only took a moment to register. Angel had caught him.
When she glanced back at Chais, her sister was looking upwards and pulling out the laser rifle. Lais had to do something.
“CHAIS!” she yelled, getting the attention of everyone in the clearing, including her sister.
“Is that a good idea?” Zondra asked from below.
“Angel and Rusty are in the air, and my sister can shoot a mosquito at thirty paces. I need to keep her attention.”
When Lais looked at Chais, she was staring straight at her and was bringing up her rifle, so Lais ducked her head back behind the tree. The searing pain and the sudden blindness in her left eye caught her off-guard. Chais had fired through the tree itself.
Lais immediately dropped beside Zondra and snatched up the tentacle-haired woman in one smooth motion.
“Woah!” Zondra blurted out as Lais took off running through the trees, trying to get them deeper in the forest.
Lais felt the woman clinging tight to her, trying to keep her limbs in close so they wouldn’t get smacked by the branches with their sharp leaves. Lais was thankful for it. It made deciding a path when sprinting much easier.
