by Kyle West
Her gaze quickly dropped to the ground.
“We need to do something about the slavery here,” I said.
“I’m not saying it’s right,” Makara said. “It’s just a lot more complicated than it looks.”
I supposed the sight of slavery was far more common to her than it was to me. I knew this world had a way of hardening emotions, but seeing one human being control another was something I’d never be okay with. All the same, it wasn’t like the free citizens were just standing around; it seemed as if everyone was cleaning the rubble left behind by the Radaskim attack. On the side of the street, a giant pile of dead crawlers had been gathered for burning. Even a few days after the attack, cleanup was still going on.
“One thing at a time,” Makara said. “Survival is the most important thing right now. I’m sure the slaves would agree with that.”
I supposed Makara was right, but it was hard to stomach the injustice that existed here.
We continued on to the tower. As we neared, the crowds thinned. We ascended a set of steps to the entrance. Two Reapers with assault rifles stood guard out front, flanking each side of the entrance. They stood still as they let us pass.
We stepped into a lobby lit with torches. Shadows danced on the wide walls of the spacious atrium. The white marbled floor gleamed in the dancing light.
A long table had been set up in the center of the space. Among the few Reapers present, there were many more Imperials – purple-garbed Praetorians, grizzled legionaries, along with Augustus himself, sitting at the head of the table. Carin Black sat in the next chair over, looking at us with his glacial eyes as we entered. A small, superior smile stretched his thin lips. The yellow light of the torches illuminated his heavily tattooed arms – the serpent on his right forearm, the Grim Reaper on his right biceps, and the skull and cross-scythes on his left biceps. Behind Black stood his son, Onyx, his black eyes like pits in the firelight. He smirked.
“The Angels from on high arrive at last,” Carin Black said.
“Shut up, Black,” Makara said, taking a seat at the table. “Augustus is the only reason you don’t have a bullet in your head right now, but from the way you’re talking, it’s probably full of empty air, anyway.”
Black frowned, while Onyx gave Makara a death stare.
“Actually,” Anna said, taking a seat next to Makara and fixing Black with a level gaze, “it’s probably full of earwax.”
“That would make sense,” Makara said. “It would explain his propensity to not listen.”
“Alright,” Black said, “shut it, you dumb, stupid...”
Augustus held up a hand. “Silence!”
But Black’s son, Onyx, wasn’t listening. “Father, I will shoot them right now if you give the word.”
Anna looked up. “One more croak out of you, toad, and it’s your guts on the floor.”
Everyone went silent. While I wanted to high-five Makara and Anna, the Emperor was less than amused.
“We must focus on the task at hand,” he said. “I will not have this peace broken with these petty gibes. You make a mockery of this alliance.”’
“Alliance is too kind a word for this farce,” Samuel said, also taking a seat. “But let’s pretend a little longer.”
Everyone else took their seats as the Reapers and Imperials gazed on in silence. I noticed one of the legionaries was Horacio, the short man who had cooked for us back in Augustus’s camp. He gave a slight nod of acknowledgement before I looked at the Emperor.
“First,” Augustus said, “let’s all agree to be peaceable. Makara has already let me know about the evolutions the Radaskim are developing. I would think she, of all people, would have the most reason to set aside differences for the sake of progress.”
Makara’s face burned. She’d been put in her place, and she knew it, but she wasn’t going to apologize.
“I thought it would be best for Alex to explain everything,” she said. “He’s the one who talked to Quietus.”
“That Radaskim dragon?” Carin Black asked.
Makara gave a terse nod.
Once again, it fell to me to catch everyone up. As I spoke, Augustus and Carin listened while Onyx glowered in the background. I could tell that he wanted nothing more than to shoot both Makara and Anna dead. Even if the two of them wanted to do the same, Augustus was right. We had to keep the peace.
When I had finished explaining, everyone sat in silence, thinking.
“So, there’s some new evolutions coming,” Black said, “only you haven’t figured out what they are yet?”
Makara stared at him pointedly. “We’re going to find out. We need to take Perseus to Bunker One and let Samuel run his tests on the alien ichor.”
Augustus raised a quizzical eyebrow. “And who’ll be going with you?”
“Me, for one,” she said. “And obviously, Samuel. We could use two or three more. I definitely don’t want to draw attention or risk too much of our manpower on a single mission.”
Carin sniffed. “Especially one that will probably fail.”
“No one asked you,” Anna said.
“If you really think this will help, Makara,” Augustus said, “then I’ll trust your judgment on the matter. You and Samuel know more about the xenovirus than I do. Just get out of there if it’s too dangerous. Don’t even land if it looks a little bad.”
Makara nodded. “Don’t worry. It’s a risk, but it’s one we have to take. My team and I have gotten in and out of much worse.”
“Your number will be up eventually,” Carin said. He didn’t look the least bit unhappy at that.
“Maybe,” Makara said. “But so will yours, if we end up failing. We’re all in this together.”
Carin shrugged.
“When are you leaving?” Augustus asked.
“As soon as possible,” Makara said. “I want to be in and out of there by nightfall.”
“If you need three more,” Ruth said, “I’ll be one of them.”
Makara looked to Michael, who held up his hands.
“Oh, come on,” Makara said.
“I need to use Orion to start moving people here from Bunker 84.”
“Absolutely not,” Makara said. “On moving people here, I mean. Let them stay in the Bunker for now. At least they’re safe there.”
“They won’t be very safe without power,” Michael said. “The Bunker can only run so long without a spaceship to power it. It’s time that they moved here. It’s the only long-term option.”
Makara sighed, thinking for a moment.
“This is something we’ve been putting off,” Michael insisted. “We need to do it. I guess they could stay in 84, but we’d have to commit one of our ships there to power the place.”
“They should still have enough power for now,” Makara said. “After Bunker One, we can set that plan into action, but I’m going to need you at the Bunker. It could be dangerous, and you’re a good shot.”
“That works, I guess,” Michael said.
Makara turned back to the table. “We’ve got Samuel, Ruth, Michael, and me. We need one more to go to Bunker One.”
“I’ll go,” Julian said.
Makara gave him a glance before acquiescing. “Alright. That’s our five.”
“What about me?” I asked.
“You’re staying here,” she said. “We’re not risking you again. I don’t know why I let you into the Great Blight earlier, but you’re out of action until we’re ready to attack.”
“If I’m out of action, I actually will die. Of boredom.”
Makara shook her head. “I’ll take that chance.”
Anna didn’t even have to ask what her job was. As it was in Skyhome, she was supposed to keep me out of trouble.
“Alright,” Augustus said. “Makara, Samuel, Ruth, Julian, and Michael. I think we have our team.”
“I think that’s as settled as it will ever be,” Makara said, pushing back her chair.
“We’re not done, yet,” Augustus s
aid. “We still need to plan the attack.”
Makara paused, sitting back down. “Right. What did you guys come up with?”
“More agreeable now, aren’t we?” Carin Black asked.
Makara’s mouth twisted. “Yeah. If that’s what you call it.”
Carin smiled pleasantly. Well, I guessed he probably thought it was pleasant.
“We did a head count of my troops and Augustus’s legions,” Carin said. “Together, we have about eight thousand. Not a lot when you’re talking about all the Radaskim, but far more than should have survived that battle.” Carin licked his lips before continuing. “A thousand of those are my men, armed to the teeth and well-trained. Seven thousand are Augustus’s.” Carin gestured to Makara. “Of course, let’s not forget the two hundred you’ve graciously brought to the table, Makara.”
“You’re welcome,” Makara said.
“Mobilizing the men can be done today,” Carin said. “We can leave the city limits by tomorrow morning and begin our push into the Great Blight. Resistance will be light, at first, but we expect it to get heavier the farther we go east.”
Carin had our full attention. His tactics were the reason he rose to power in Los Angeles in the first place. As much as Makara or Anna hated to admit it, he knew what he was talking about, even if he was despicable in every other way.
“As Augustus has already said,” Black continued. “The point isn’t victory from this engagement – it’s merely to draw Askala’s forces and attention away from the Crater. I have my doubts about that. If Askala is half as smart as you guys say she is, she’s going to leave plenty of defenders behind – enough to make getting inside close to suicide. But I digress...”
“Get to the point,” Makara said.
“Here’s the point: we still have nine nukes left in Bunker 84. We can use them to clear the way.”
Now, that I hadn’t expected.
Black went on. “We could launch the nukes at some key targets in the Great Blight. Xenoliths that seem to be communication hubs. Maybe some of the larger gatherings of swarm movements. And, right before you guys land...”
Black made a gun gesture, followed by a pow.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Anna asked.
Carin smirked. “Whose got the earwax brain now, girl?”
Before Anna could get her own barb in, Samuel spoke up.
“He wants to nuke Ragnarok Crater. Of course, that won’t defeat Askala, but it might get rid of a lot of resistance.”
“Ragnarok Crater is big,” I said. “And you’d be exposing us to dangerous levels of radiation.”
“Dangerous?” Black asked, with a chuckle. “We’re going to be neck deep in purple blood in the Great Blight for your sake, Chosen One. Don’t preach to me about danger. Besides, you’re all as good as dead, anyway. What’s a little radiation going to do? Might even give you a healthy glow.”
“What targets are you thinking about?” Makara asked. “Specifically.”
“Glad to see you like my idea,” Black said. “I was thinking three, right on the Warrens. Those are the tunnels that lead down to Askala’s lair, for those of you not in the know.”
“We know,” Anna said.
Carin went on. “It should give you guys an opening – literally. Those bombs could open up some of those passageways and make it easier to climb down.”
“Or close them,” I said.
“You have to pick your risks,” Carin said. “It’s probably better to use the nukes than to be drowning in a sea of very angry crawlers.”
Carin was probably right. There were nine nukes in Bunker 84, and it’d be crazy not to use them if we could. Askala probably took over the Bunker through Elias because she feared those nukes being used. Even if we didn’t bomb the Crater directly, we could still take out a lot of key targets, as Carin had said.
“It’s a good idea,” Samuel said. “But who would be pulling the trigger?”
Carin smiled. “Why, you would. I don’t even trust myself to do that.”
We all looked at Carin, suspecting some trick.
“I guess you’re right, about the radiation,” I said. “If we’re dead anyway, what’s the point of worrying about it?”
“Yeah, he does have a good point,” Anna said, reluctantly.
“Glad to hear it, doll face.”
Anna narrowed her eyes. “Don’t call me that.”
“So,” Samuel said. “Nukes. A massive advance east. Anything else we’re missing?”
“Oh, yes,” Carin said, his smile widening. “I have a railgun.”
All of us looked at each other. I had no idea what a railgun was, but from everyone else’s reaction, it seemed to be a big deal.
“A what?” Anna asked.
Carin shook his head. “Oh, so now she’s interested, now that she knows I have a giant gun. Typical.”
“Shut up,” Makara said. “Why are you just now telling us this?”
“I have a flair for the dramatic,” Carin said, his blue eyes dancing. “That, and I was missing one of the components necessary to run the railgun: an incredibly strong power source. Fusion power, to be specific.”
“Where do you plan on getting this fusion power?” I asked.
“Why, I was going to bat my eyes and ask all nice-like.” Carin batted his eyes, looking at Makara. “Pretty please, with sugar on top, can I borrow your spaceship for the battle?”
“Why not ask Augustus?” Makara asked.
“I already did,” Carin said. “He didn’t succumb to my charms.”
“Well, neither will I,” Makara said.
“Wait a minute,” Michael said. “A railgun would be highly useful. Carin is right. With enough rounds, those things would shoot dragons right out of the sky. The rounds fire incredibly fast, so dragons would have a hard time dodging them.”
“You can find your fusion drive somewhere else,” Makara said. “We’ll need both ships to make the attack on the Crater.”
“We could salvage Odin for a fusion drive,” I said. “Or maybe Aeneas.”
“Aeneas is far too big to salvage,” Samuel said. “Gilamesh went up in flames, so that’s a no-go. And Odin...maybe it survived the crash, but even if the drive is still functional, there’s the matter of transporting it.” Samuel looked at Carin. “How do you plan on moving this railgun? Where did you find it?”
“We’ve had it for a long time,” Carin said. “It’s an artillery piece that rolls on treads. A halftrack. But, like I said, we don’t have the power to run it. These things fire using powerful electromagnets. First of all, I’d like to see if the damn thing works. I’ll need one of the ships to run some tests.”
“Is it worth giving up one of the ships so you can shoot down dragons?” Makara asked.
Carin shrugged. “I think so. My railgun could shoot down far more dragons than any of your ships. It shoots quickly, and even reloads automatically. A computer points and shoots, so there’s no way it could miss. The rounds fly too quickly – at Mach 10, to be precise. It could rip everything out of the air in a matter of minutes.”
“I’m just wondering why we didn’t use this in the battle earlier,” I said.
“Well, I’ll admit,” Carin said. “It’s a little hard to get something that big on top of buildings. Kept in the streets, it wouldn’t have gotten a good shot at anything. Besides, you guys really wanted to use your ship to find the old man. There were too many variables to have made it anything but a last-ditch defense. Now, if you guys had gotten here earlier, we might have had time to run the proper tests. But it’s no use crying over what might have been. Let’s run the proper tests now and we’ll all be better for it.”
Makara looked around the table, seeking other opinions. No one said anything.
“I think we should give it a shot,” Samuel said. “No pun intended.”
“Alright,” Makara said. “We’ll do some tests.”
“Thanks,” Carin said. “But in the end, I believe you’ll be the one
thanking me.”
“Don’t count on it.”
As the planning continued, a man ran through the door. Two Praetorians escorted him to Augustus. I recognized him as the courier I’d seen briefly back in Augustus’s camp.
“Are they here?” Augustus asked.
“Yes, Princeps,” the courier said, a tall man with curly black hair. “The fleet has arrived.”
“The fleet?” I asked.
“That’s another thing I didn’t mention,” Augustus said. “My fleet, complete with reinforcing food, weapons, and supplies, has been en route for a while. I gave them orders to leave Nova Roma two months following our departure.”
“That’s good timing,” Samuel said.
“Char and Marcus need to know what’s happened here,” Makara said. “They said on the radio they’d be in Port Town.”
“Port Town?” I asked.
“A settlement down by Long Beach,” Augustus said. “Francisco can take you there.”
I was wondering who Francisco was, when the courier nodded.
“What are they doing in Port Town?” I asked.
“Booze, if I had to guess,” Makara said. “And hopefully it stops there.”
“It’s eleven in the morning!”
“The bars will be open, because the sailors are in town,” Makara said. “And it’s never too early for a Raider.”
I felt I was being given a pointless task, but if we hurried, it wouldn’t take long.
“I guess I’ll see you all later, then.”
Anna and I left our chairs, following Francisco outside the building.
Chapter 4
I learned from Francisco that there were a lot of dingy bars, taverns, and brothels down in Port Town where the dregs of Los Angeles society liked to converge. In addition, Port Town itself was fairly sizeable, at almost two thousand people, which made it large enough to have its own seediness, even without L.A. feeding it from the north.
