The Song of Earth (Children of Earthrise Book 5)

by Daniel Arenson

  A basilisk dreadnought came to hover above them, covering the shuttle in its shadow. It was the largest Rattler in the fleet, a kilometer long, covered with dark scales. Here flew the Vypress, flagship of the enemy fleet. Xerka's starship.

  A hatch opened on the dreadnought.

  A shuttle emerged—a round, scaly vessel. It reminded Rowan of a dragon's egg. The pod descended toward the Firebird.

  "What the hell?" Mairead said, reaching for the cannon controls.

  "Wait, don't show your guns," Rowan said.

  The oval pod reached the Firebird and hovered just outside the cockpit. A hatch swung open, revealing an empty interior.

  Rowan understood.

  "An invitation," she said. "They want us aboard their dreadnought. They want to negotiate in person, not over radio."

  "Muck!" Mairead said. "Screw that. We ain't setting foot there."

  Rowan groaned and tugged her hair. "Dammit. They do suspect a trap. They'll never accept our call. They know it's insecure. Of course they're careful! How could I be so damn stupid?"

  "Eh, you're brainy compared to me," Mairead said. "For ages, I thought we were the Airs of Earth, and I kept thinking it's something to do with how humans breathe air. It makes sense if you think about it! You know, space doesn't have air, so the Airs of Earth fight for Earth's air, and—"

  "I'm going," Rowan said, unbuckling her seatbelt. "Into the dreadnought."

  "Whoa, whoa, Row!" Mairead said.

  "That must be hard to say three times fast." Rowan reached for the cockpit latch.

  "Rowan, seriously." Mairead grabbed her wrist. "Hold on there. They'll kill you. If you go on to their ship, they'll mucking kill you."

  "Maybe," Rowan said. "But it's the only way to get the virus in there. If they won't accept my call, I'll have to figure out a way to install the virus from inside their ship."

  "You won't get the chance!" Mairead said. "They'll crack you like an egg."

  "That's likely," Rowan admitted. "But I have to try. Thousands of soldiers have given their lives in this war. Maybe tens of thousands. I myself have doomed hundreds to death. What's one more death if I can save the world?" She took a deep breath. "I don't want to die. I'm scared, Mairead. I'm really, really, really scared. I'm terrified. I'm just trying to move fast, and not think too much, and not let fear hold me back. But the longer I wait, the more I talk to you, the harder it is."

  Mairead took a deep breath. She shuddered, then squared her shoulders. "Fine." She unbuckled her seat belt. "Then I go with you. Hey, this Firebird's got an autopilot. I might as well join the fun."

  "Mairead, there's no need to risk both our lives."

  Mairead snorted. "Hey, life's a bitch anyway. And together, we're twice as fierce. Come on, little animal buddy! Let's storm the castle."

  They opened the canopy, climbed out of their Firebird, and floated in their spacesuits toward the pod. Rowan had a minicom in her pocket, ready with her virus. She kept her hand over the tiny computer, this device that could devastate Xerka's fleet more than a hundred atomic fireships.

  They entered the scaly egg. The inside was hollow, not even offering a seat or porthole. The hatch swung shut, locking the two women inside. Rowan gulped, suddenly feeling very small and constricted.

  "Did we make a mistake?" she whispered.

  "Now you say that?" Mairead gave her a cockeyed look. "You've got to be kidding me."

  The egg began to move. Rowan could feel it. She took a deep breath.

  "All right, here's the plan," Rowan said. "Fillister, you there? You listen too."

  His voice emerged from her pocket. "Here, Row! In your minicom."

  "Inside the dreadnought, there must be an internal communication network," Rowan said. "A way for computers to talk wirelessly inside the starship, separate from their external protocols—and probably less secure. Once we're inside Vypress, Fill, you must hack into the LAN."

  "Got it, Row," he said.

  "Once you break in—start uploading the virus at once. Vibrate in my pocket when you're done. Let me know."

  "Understood," Fillister said.

  "Remember, you know their API! It should be a cakewalk."

  The scaly pod landed on something hard, and Rowan heard a hatch slam shut. They must be inside the Vypress.

  For an agonizing long moment, they sat in silence. Nothing happened.

  Rowan glanced at Mairead.

  "Ready?" Rowan said.

  "Let's infect this bitch," the Firebug said.

  They opened the pod's door and stepped outside. They found themselves in the dreadnought's hangar.

  It was a large, cavernous hall. Holes filled the walls, and metal rafters stretched across the ceiling. The floor was grated, revealing decks below. Rowan saw engine rooms, chambers full of snake eggs, and some cabins swarming with hatchlings.

  Rowan pulled off her helmet. The hot air stank, but it was breathable.

  "Hello!" Rowan called out. "Anyone home? We're here to negotiate!"

  Her voice echoed. The hatchlings hissed and squirmed below the grating.

  "Yo, bitches!" Mairead shouted. "We're here to surrender, yo! Get your asses up in here!"

  The two women glanced at each other. Both placed their hands on their pistols.

  "We should leave," Rowan said, turning back toward the pod.

  A basilisk dropped from the ceiling, blocking her path, and hissed.

  Rowan took a step back, curbing the instinct to draw her pistol. Another basilisk burst out from a hole, landed before Mairead, and opened its jaws wide. The beasts kept coming. They slid through holes in the wall, fell from the rafters, and emerged from below deck. A hundred or more soon surrounded the women, fangs bared, eyes baleful.

  "Leaving so soon?" rose a voice.

  Rowan sneered and her fists clenched.

  She recognized that voice. She had been hearing it in her nightmares.

  The crowd of basilisks parted. And she slithered forth.

  Xerka. Queen of Serpents.

  But not a full serpent. Not anymore. Xerka had consumed too many humans, had absorbed their DNA. She had become almost like a starling now, a hybrid, a creature with the malice of basilisks but the cunning mind of a woman. Her human torso rose atop her scaly lower half, breasts bare, lips opened with a cruel smile that revealed her fangs.

  She looks just like me, Rowan thought, shuddering. Of course she does. She consumed my parents' bones.

  "We've come to talk!" Rowan said. "To negotiate Earth's surrender. Call off your goons. I don't like talking surrounded by snakes."

  Xerka hissed and licked her lips. "But my dear Rowan. You've been surrounded by snakes for the past year. You should be used to us." She undulated closer, reached out, and stroked Rowan's cheek. Her claws scraped across Rowan's skin, nearly tearing it. "My dear, precious girl … why do you lie to me?"

  Rowan stared into those red eyes. The face was perhaps human. Rowan's face. But the eyes were monstrous. Serpentine. The pupils but thin slits, and within them burned eternal flames.

  There is nothing but evil inside her, Rowan thought. Pure evil forged in darkness and fire.

  "I don't lie," Rowan said.

  Xerka draped her tail around Rowan, forming a loose ring, just enough to prevent escape. She reached into Rowan's pocket. Rowan tried to object, to shove the queen aside, but Xerka was far stronger. She pulled out Rowan's minicom.

  "Then what is this, ape?" Xerka said, examining the device. "A primitive human machine. Did you really think I would fall for your ploy? Did you really think an ape could outsmart a basilisk? You did not come here to surrender." Xerka's lips peeled back, and she slapped Rowan—hard. "You came here to infect my fleet with your virus."

  Rowan tasted blood.

  "I didn't—" she began.

  "Liar!" Xerka slapped her again, bloodying her second cheek. "I know your plan! There is no wireless access to our network. Your plan has failed."

  She crushed the minicom in her hand, then t
ossed the pieces at Rowan's chest. Twisted microchips and transistors clattered to the floor.

  Rowan looked at the broken pieces, then back up at Xerka.

  "That minicom contained no virus."

  Xerka sneered, gripping Rowan with her claws. Her lips peeled back into a macabre grin.

  "Still you lie! I heard you. I recorded you! Do you still dare deny it?"

  Rowan smiled thinly. "Oh, I know you heard me." She gave a little laugh. "I explained my plan to Mairead in the Firebird—with an open hailing frequency beaming toward your ship. Then I explained the plan again to Fillister while riding in your pod. Of course you had the pod bugged. Who wouldn't? Oh, and don't worry—that was only a recording of Fillister's voice on that minicom you crushed."

  Xerka's eyes nearly bugged out. "What—"

  Rowan laughed again—a louder, brittle sound. "Of course you suspected I'd try to infect you with a virus. You know me. You are me! Partly, at least. You know I've been studying your Copperhead. But one thing you didn't know." Rowan's laughter died, and she stared steadily into Xerka's eyes. "We not only captured a Copperhead. We also captured a basilisk pod. Just like the one I rode up here. Just like the one I knew you'd send for me. Just like the one I attached a tiny little device to." Rowan smiled crookedly. "Just like the one that's been infecting your fleet for the past ten minutes."

  Xerka stared, eyes wide, face pale.

  For once, the queen was speechless.

  Mairead stepped closer, leaned against Rowan, and lit a cigar.

  "Boom," the pilot said.

  Across the dreadnought, the lights shut down.

  From the speakers on the ceiling emerged a deafening shriek, as loud as the hardware would handle.

  Xerka and the basilisks screeched and covered their ears. But the sound was at a frequency too high for human ears. Rowan and Mairead felt nothing but a slight vibration against their body, barely more than a tickle.

  Around them, the basilisks flailed in agony. They began firing their cannons at the speakers, desperate to stop the agonizing screeches.

  Rowan and Mairead ran toward the pod.

  Basilisks, even through their agony, leaped at them. The two officers fired their pistols, tearing through the serpents. The aliens fell. Rowan and Mairead vaulted over the corpses toward the alien shuttle.

  Xerka leaped overhead, landed between the women and the pod, and howled. With a mighty swipe of her tail, she knocked the pod aside, sending the oval vessel rolling across the hangar.

  Mairead and Rowan fired. Their bullets slammed into Xerka but did no harm. The basilisk queen opened her jaws obscenely wide, large enough to devour Rowan whole. The creature screamed—and this sound Rowan heard, and it tore at her ears.

  "I will digest you over centuries, girl!" Xerka shrieked. "I have ways to keep you alive that long. Your agony begins now!"

  The jaws reached out toward Rowan. She leaped back, narrowly dodging the snapping teeth. But she was too slow to dodge Xerka's swinging tail. It slammed into Rowan, knocking her down, nearly cracking her bones.

  The tail swung again, sweeping death.

  Mairead grabbed Rowan, hoisted her up, and hurled her into the air.

  Soaring over the whipping tail, Rowan fired her pistol. Her bullets slammed into Xerka's head, destroying one eye.

  Xerka squealed and pulled back.

  Rowan landed at a crouch, released her empty magazine, and loaded a fresh one.

  "It's too late for you, Xerka!" she shouted. "The virus is spreading fast. You can't stop it. You should never have attacked Earth."

  Xerka's eye was gone. Blood oozed from the socket. But she still came charging. Across the hangar, the basilisks shattered the last speakers, and the pounding wail ended.

  Rowan tried to run toward the pod again. But Xerka's tail hooked around her, pulled her close. The queen's serpentine body coiled around her. Rowan screamed, crushed in the embrace.

  Mairead fired bullet after bullet. But other basilisks grabbed the Firebug, wrenched her gun from her hand, and constricted her.

  "Die now," Xerka hissed.

  Her jawbone unhinged, and she placed her mouth around Rowan's head.

  "Fillister!" Rowan cried, voice muffled. "Activate the second phase! Now!"

  The speakers were dead. But he was inside the system now.

  And he heard her.

  The Vypress jolted as all its cannons fired.

  Xerka gasped and straightened, releasing Rowan's head.

  Through a porthole, Rowan saw the other Rattlers—thousands of them—open fire too.

  They were all infected. The entire basilisk fleet. The virus was firing all their guns. Not on Earth. Not on human ships. But on the six other alien fleets.

  Across space, alien ships—blobby, spiky, long, round—tore open. They burned. They shattered.

  And they fired back.

  For a moment, Rowan, Mairead, and all the basilisks in the hangar stared out the portholes.

  A massive battle flared in Earth's orbit. Without a single human ship involved.

  Xerka whipped her head back to Rowan, who was still wrapped in her tail.

  Terror filled Xerka's single remaining eye. Terror—and understanding. She knew she had been duped.

  Rowan smiled at the Serpent Queen.

  "Gotcha," she said.

  Xerka screamed and opened her jaws again, prepared to devour Rowan.

  Blasts from alien ships slammed into the Vypress.

  The dreadnought jerked, knocking everyone down. Xerka slammed onto the deck, and Rowan wriggled free from her grip.

  "The enemy ships are firing on us, my queen!" cried a basilisk.

  "Tell them it's the humans!" she shrieked. "It's the apes!"

  "We tried, mistress, but—"

  More blasts hit them. The dreadnought jolted and trembled. The bulkheads bent. A beam cracked in two.

  Rowan ran, aimed Lullaby, and drove bullets into a green basilisk. The beast uncoiled, exposing Mairead. The pilot rose to her feet, groaned in pain, and ran with Rowan.

  Rowan knew they only had seconds. Already, several basilisk ships had stopped firing. The basilisks were highly technological, and they were fighting the virus, overriding the software, and shutting down their cannons.

  It would take the other aliens a little longer to calm down, though. It was easier to fix software than angry hearts. Six alien fleets, unaware of the virus, were still furiously punishing the basilisk armada.

  As blasts kept pummeling the Vypress, Rowan and Mairead leaped into the pod.

  "Fillister, open the hangar doors!" Rowan cried. "Both sets of doors!"

  He was inside the little device Rowan had plugged into the pod. His voice emerged.

  "Right-O, Row!"

  As Rowan pulled the pod's hatch shut, she glimpsed the massive airlock open across the hangar. Both its doors opened together, not bothering to depressurize first.

  The air began flowing out of the hangar, pulling basilisks with it.

  Fillister took control of the pod. They rumbled forward, plowing through basilisks, and rolled out into space.

  When coming up with the plan, Rowan had considered jumping out with her spacesuit. It had a jetpack, after all. She could have flown to her Firebird, or even space-jumped in her suit down to Earth. She had decided against it. She knew that space would blaze with battle. She and Mairead needed every protection they could get. Even just the thin shell of this oval pod.

  As they plunged downward through space, a blast slammed into the pod.

  Mairead and Rowan flew against the wall.

  A second blast hit them.

  The pod spun madly, its hull dented. It had no seats. She and Mairead tumbled around like peas in a can.

  "The bastards are firing on us!" Mairead cried.

  "It's just crossfire, I think!" Rowan said. "I wish the shuttle came with a porthole. Fillister, you there?"

  "I'm here, Row!" he said. "Taking us down to Earth! We'll be there in a jiffy, and—
"

  The pod jolted.

  The hull cracked.

  Fire raged, flowing over Mairead. The pilot screamed.

  Claws reached through the crack.

  Rowan screamed too.

  Air whooshed out into space. The claws widened the crack, peeling the pod open, revealing Xerka's face.

  The Basilisk Queen howled, her skin burnt away, her eye gone. She wore no spacesuit. The vacuum was ripping off her flesh. She had become demonic, raw and red and roaring. The battle raged behind her, the thousands of basilisk and alien warships firing on one another. Space itself seemed to burn.

  Rowan fired her gun. Her bullets pounded into Xerka, only enraging her. The deformed creature reached into the pod, claws slashing. They were falling fast now, only seconds from hitting the atmosphere.

  "You will join your parents, Rowan!" Xerka shrieked. "I will burn you inside me!"

  The queen lashed her claws, tearing Rowan's spacesuit.

  The pod tumbled into the atmosphere.

  Fire blazed and roared. Xerka's jaws opened a meter wide, nearly sealing the crack in the pod, a hellmouth of fangs and churning stomach acids.

  Mairead looked at Rowan.

  The pilot's green eyes filled with sadness.

  "Build a good world, Rowan," Mairead whispered.

  Xerka's jaws opened even wider, prepared to devour Rowan whole.

  "Hey, bitch!" Mairead cried at Xerka.

  As the pod fell through the sky, the Basilisk Queen spun toward the pilot.

  "Ah, the Firebug," Xerka hissed. "My son's favorite pet. Did you enjoy seeing your daughters in the ruins of New York?"

  A tear streamed down Mairead's cheek. She flipped the queen off.

  "Eat me."

  Mairead leaped into the open mouth.

  Xerka's muscles worked, swallowing the pilot.

  "Mairead, no!" Rowan cried, reaching for her friend.

  But Xerka's jaws snapped shut. The queen gulped, shoving Mairead down into her belly.

  Rowan wept. She understood.

  "Now, Rowan, you will join your friend," Xerka said. "Now—"

  An explosion tore through Xerka's belly.

  Mairead, Rowan knew, never went anywhere without explosives.

  Xerka screamed and released the pod. The twisted basilisk floundered through the sky, her belly ripped open, exposing her insides.