Bulco shook his head. “Damn, you’re tough, girl. You’re right, though. We need to do what we can, use the home field advantage. Once we stabilize the situation here, we could use it as a base to spread out from and bring order to everyone else.”
“That’s what I’ve been thinking too. What’s taking Lana so long?”
“Hey, guys!” Lana called out from the other side of the promenade, waving at them across the open chasm. “Come over here. I’ve got great news.”
The two hurried over to her. Lana and Nathan approached to greet them, followed by the tall Exhar who was carrying a large box.
“Alzigo agreed to sell us his crate of twenty Zappers at cost—two hundred piTec a piece. He even threw in twenty energy cells plus another one that matches the Disruptor. He’s willing to take a loss to support our cause.”
“That’s nice of him …” Nori studied the tall alien. “Before we leave, I’d like to understand the value of piTec a little more. Can you give us an example of common items’ cost?”
“Of course, Miss. I believe the galaxy’s average income is around four thousand piTec per month. A single piTec will buy you a light snack while ten will suffice for a decent meal. You can get lodging for fifty piTec per day, or 500 for a luxury one. A common land vehicle can go anywhere between ten to fifty thousand, and the smallest of spacecraft usually starts at a hundred thousand. Decent ships’ costs are in the millions and warships in the billions.” He stopped and looked at the Navigator expectantly.
“I see …” Nori nodded slowly. “In that case, I think we owe you thanks for the price of the Zappers.”
“Oh, that’s not all,” Lana beamed. “Tell her, Alzigo.”
The alien clicked his jaws rapidly. “The Zappers are an immediate but mediocre solution. They will not be sufficient for your planet's needs, but there might be a better way. You mentioned you have guns and Lana explained they shoot accelerated projectiles. Such a thing wouldn’t harm the Warped for long. Without Tec, the physical impact alone would be recovered quickly. But what if you could create a Tec Infused ammunition …” He looked at her meaningfully. “I believe even a level zero human would be able to use your guns to great effect, and I just happen to have the right equipment to help you with that. But there is a small problem.”
“What problem?” Nori asked.
“I have in my possession a Fabricator. It’s a highly advanced piece of technology, expensive too. It can quickly fabricate common, uncomplex components like your ammo cartridges. However, it requires two things: a blueprint and resources. You’ll have to supply both.”
“Where the hell are we supposed to come up with an alien blueprint?” Nori frowned.
“We got it covered already,” Lana said brightly. “Apparently, Engineers are good at this sort of stuff. Alzigo says any decent Engineer should be able to come up with a workable blueprint—they just need a little time experimenting on a workbench. And it just so happens …” she winked at the taller woman. “Get my drift?”
Lana looked at the box full of weapons, at the giant alien carrying it, and at the smiling, confident young woman in front of her. “Yeah,” she said slowly. “Not bad, Lana.”
“Hey, I’m the Expert, remember? Now pay the nice alien.”
Alzigo graciously accepted the crystallized piTec Nori gave him and showed her how they could be merged together or separated to an exact amount.
After paying for the Zappers, they had three thousand piTec remaining. “Do you have something a little more powerful?” Nori asked. “Up to a level five would be nice.”
Alzigo shook his head. “Most of what I have requires a specialized Path to use, or has severe level requirements, however …” He contemplated for a moment then held up his arm, showing her a small plate. “This is a tactical dart launcher. It’s been a while since I had to use it and there’s little point of having one inside of a space station, so I’d be willing to sell it for a thousand.”
“What does it do?” Nori asked, frowning as she scrutinized the unassuming metal plate.
“Observe.” The Exhar produced a piece of metal, seemingly from the air. He threw it high and pointed his arm at it. A small dart shimmered into existence above the launcher’s pad and shot into the air. It curved in its flight and hit the target before it started to fall. There was a loud detonation and the target disintegrated into dust.
“Alright, that’s pretty cool,” Nori admitted. “How many darts can it carry?”
“It doesn’t,” the alien answered. “It generates a dart every hour and can hold up to four. Not as dependable as a proper disruptor, but quite effective. The best thing about it is that it scales with the wielder’s level.”
“I’ll take it,” Nori said and handed him another thousand piTec.
The alien peeled the plate off his arm and slapped it on the woman’s outstretched one. Nori felt a slight pressure as the plate curved to fit her slender arm and her vision blurred for a moment. Once it cleared, she saw she had a small crosshair in the center of her vision.
“You can make the crosshair appear or disappear at will,” Alzigo said. “All you need to do is to lock onto your target and command the device to shoot. Quite easy.”
“Thanks,” Nori said.
“You’re quite welcome. Now that our dealings are concluded, please allow me to deliver the crate to your shuttle. If you will follow me …”
They followed the alien back through the main docking tube and entered the docking hangar. Alzigo was too tall to comfortably enter their shuttle, so he passed the crate to Bulco who held it without apparent difficulty.
“It was a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I look forward to your return.”
“Err … thanks.” Nori said lamely. She was definitely not the Expert.
Everyone strapped back into their places, and Nori started the launch sequence. The shuttle lifted off gently and exited the station through the giant space door.
The blue and brown orb looked peaceful through the monitors, unperturbed by the events that took such a high toll on the creatures that call it home.
The Navigator’s fingers blurred across her console. “Next stop - Earth.”
8 - Sheltered Existence
The streets of the city appeared below as the small shuttle broke through the clouds.
“So what’s our game plan?” Bulco asked.
“First, we’re dropping you off at the freighter,” Nori said. “Use the components we found in storage and try to come up with a cartridge design that will fit our normal weapons.”
“What about the Zappers?”
“We need to hand them out, but aside from us, Martin is the only one who’s gained a level and can use them. We could initiate a few folks with our piTec, but we only have two thousand left, and I think we’ll need it to buy more supplies later.”
“My crew has four people who are level one,” Bulco said. “We can arm them and send them to hunt low level Warped to extract more piTec.”
“That’s a good idea,” Lana said. “And we shouldn’t use the piTec for level ups. The first time a level zero extracts Tec, they have an especially high extraction rate - remember when we touched the alien pilot and we got half his Tec, or when Martin got four levels at once? When I was alone with Alzigo, he told me that in some cultures hunting Warped is considered a sort of rite of passage. The young achieve adulthood by gaining several levels without having to spend ‘money’ on it. We should do the same. It’s dangerous, but it's way more efficient than spending our piTec. Bulco, if your guys can kill a Warped, they should let a level zero person do the extraction. He’d gain a level or two at once.”
Bulco looked at Nori with a raised brow.
The tall woman shrugged at him. “Told you so.”
The Engineer turned back to the excited woman. “You got a head on your shoulders, girl. Yes, that’s exactly what we’ll do. I have eight men in total on my crew. I’ll put them hunting the low level Warped and get us some more piTec.
”
“We’re nearly there,” Nori said.
The monitors on the center dais showed the broken street outside and the large, scorched freighter came into full view.
Nori pressed some buttons and narrowed her eyes in concentration. “Hold on tight; this might be a little rough.”
“What are you--” Lana started.
She didn’t get to finish the sentence. Like a bullet shot in reverse back into the barrel, the shuttle plunged into the larger ship’s launch chute. It stopped so abruptly in its docking spot, that even the inertia dampener wasn’t enough to prevent the passengers from getting a little rattled.
“Okay, now I see why we need the harnesses,” Bulco said, releasing himself. “Nice landing, kid, but you might want to slow down a bit next time.” Nori gave off a relieved chuckle. “That was the slowest setting. I think the shuttle was never meant to dock inside the atmosphere.
Bulco reached the Zappers’ crate and opened it.
“What are you doing?” Lana asked.
“I think we should each take one of those.” He handed a shining silver gun the size of a cigarette box to her. “It looks pitiful, but if it can take down a level one Warped it’s still better than any of our own Earth weapons.” He handed another one to Nori and Nathan.
Nori accepted the Zapper with a nod and put it in her pocket.
Nathan stared wide-eyed at the weapon and shook his head resolutely.
“Suit yourself, kid.” Bulco shrugged and tucked the weapon into his own pocket. He took out eight more Zappers from the crate. “I’ll take the Hummer and bring these to my men. I’ll be back soon. What are you kids going to do in the meantime?”
Lana took out the small translucent disc from her pocket. “Alzigo told me this data module would fit any Tec-based technology. I thought of using the ship’s computer on the bridge to learn what I can from it.”
“Glad you took over that one, girl. I was done with school twenty years ago. Good luck with that.”
Lana smiled. “Thanks.”
“I’ll take the rest of the Zappers to the Old Stadium shelter. Hopefully, Martin has already brought a few folks to level one so they can use them,” Nori said. “Lana and Nathan can stay on the freighter—it’s safe enough in here.”
“Looks like we’re all set.” Bulco nodded. He opened the shuttle door and scrunched his nose in disgust. A moment later everyone gagged as a wave of foul, acrid odor hit their nostrils.
“It’s the …” Lana gagged and held her nose. “... the alien’s corpse.”
“Dear god, it smells like someone mixed sewage and acid together,” Bulco said, blinking rapidly as his eyes started to tear. “I’ll drag it outside the ship.”
He left the shuttle, and Nathan closed the door behind him. He turned back to Nori and smiled at her apologetically.
Lana chuckled. “He thinks we should wait inside until it's safe to go out.”
Nori looked queasy. “The shuttle may be able to hold its atmosphere in space, but somehow, I think I can still smell the stink from outside.”
They waited for several minutes, then Nathan opened the door and he and Lana stepped outside.
“I won’t be long,” Nori said, already starting the launch sequence. “Keep the ship locked tight and you will be safe until I return.”
“Aye, aye, Captain.” Lana saluted sloppily. “While you're out there, can you see if you can get us some water?”
“Will do.”
The shuttle started to hum back to life and as soon as the two ex-students cleared the outer chamber, Nori took off to the sky.
As she flew above the deserted street, one of the monitors flickered to life. Nori saw the black Hummer driving down a road, plowing through the heaps of debris. She increased her speed, leaving the vehicle far behind her.
It was an exhilarating feeling, flying out alone in the open. For the first time since the Calamity, Nori felt like her old self again. Out of reach. Free to follow her heart's desires.
She sighed and turned the shuttle toward the shelter. As far as she knew, she and her new friends were Earth’s best hope. Her lips twitched as she recalled the younger woman’s declaration of their team name. She had to admit it. It was apt.
Earth Force.
***
“Oh, my god, Nathan, this is incredible,” Lana cried as she stared, wild-eyed at holographic projections of different alien species.
She pointed at a tall, humanoid creature with a host of short fleshy bristles that covered his entire body. “This race is the Inthidlon, same as this ship’s captain. Says here their bodies are highly adaptable to harsh environmental conditions, which makes them ideal explorers. And this is an Exhar, like Alzigo,” she pointed at a tall alien. The specimen depicted in the hologram was without the grafted technology of the space station's owner, but that didn’t make him look any less formidable. “Says here they come from a jungle planet, so they’re built for climbing. Apparently, they are mild tempered and are known as a race of merchants. And this scary one …” she moved next to the third hologram, depicting a short humanoid, with a prolonged head and a lipless mouth with protruding teeth. “This one is called a Sedumorph. They’re a race of shapechangers, sort of—they can only change their outer appearance. They use their ability to assume a sexually appealing shape of other alien races.” Lana gulped as she read off her personal screen. “They seduce their victims so they can suck the Tec right out of their bodies.” She looked up at Nathan, her eyes wide. “So alien vampires are a thing, apparently.”
The young man shrugged, narrowed his eyes, and continued concentrating on his console. The light in front of him changed colors, and the images on his monitors displayed alien symbols. The symbols seemed to be unfolding, displaying more intricate details. Lana was so absorbed in her new discoveries she didn’t notice everything in front of Nathan was happening seemingly on its own.
It didn’t matter.
They were having fun.
***
The heavy metal gate opened in front of Nori, revealing a score of guards. They were all holding guns, pointed straight at her.
The woman stared coldly at the forest of barrels. “I’m here to see Martin.”
“Mage,” one of the men shouted, lowering his weapon. “It’s that runner woman, Nori. Says she’s here to see Martin. Get him in here.”
“Right,” a voice called back behind a second wall.
The guards breathed a sigh of relief and lowered their weapons, several even nodded in greeting at the young woman. “It’s good to see you again, Nori,” a young blond man said. “Haven't seen you for a week, thought the Warped got you.”
Nori winked at him. “No chance, Dug. I got an alien spacecraft now. The Warped don’t stand a chance.”
He chuckled good-naturedly. “You’ll never change. We all thought we were about to die when that huge one breached the wall, then you came in, guns blazing … like a Valkyrie. Thought for a moment I died and reached Valhalla.”
“Yeah, right, Dug. You’re a veritable Norse godling, you.” One of his friends clapped him hard on his back.
The blond man winced.
“Were there other attacks since then?” Nori asked.
“No, ma'am,” another answered. “Martin said to call him if we spot any. Reckon he wanted to try his new space-gun, but it's been quiet for the last several hours.”
“Call me for what now?” Martin appeared behind the second barrier. “Nori! You’re back. Got any more alien guns?” he asked jokingly.
“Actually,” Nori said with a straight face. “Yes.”
She got up from the crate she was using as a makeshift stool and opened it, revealing the shiny silver Zappers. “Nine, brand new alien weapons and some spare power cells. Here.” She threw him one. “I brought one for the Disruptor too.”
“Amazing,” he said, his eyes shining as he took in the Zappers.
He picked up one of the guns and examined it closely. “Oh,” he said, somewhat d
isappointedly. “Those are nice, but not at the level of the Disruptor. It’ll take a few bursts to take down a level two Warped, and we’ll need at least three shooters to safely take down anything stronger. At least they have a larger magazine. Good for a hundred shots, not bad.”
“Well, there are nine Zappers and nine spare power cells. With 1,800 shots, you should be able to handle even something as big as that giant Warped that attacked you earlier,” Nori said.
“True,” Martin smiled at her. “Now if only we had people who could actually use them.”
“That’s easy to fix,” Nori flashed him her curved smile. “Pick out nine of your men and let’s go take a leisurely stroll.”
“Hell, no way I’m going out there.” One of the men stepped back. “I’ve seen what those monsters can do to a person. I’m staying right here, thank you.”
Several other guards nodded and stepped back but Dug and a few others stood their ground.
Martin shrugged. “I guess that settles that.” He looked at Nori and withdrew the Disruptor from his belt. “We’re ready.”
The heavy outer door opened slowly and eleven people emerged onto the streets. Nori led them away from the shelter and they passed by the shuttle.
“I’ll be damned.” Dug shook his head. “An actual alien spacecraft. And you can really fly that thing?”
“Some of your guys may also be able to,” she replied. “We just need to get them to level up first.”
She continued leading them away from the shelter.
“Err … where are we going, exactly?” one of the women asked, throwing nervous glances to the side.
“This should do,” Nori said, pointing at an abandoned van at the side of the road. She bent slightly and jumped. Her Tec enhanced muscles carried her higher than she could ever reach on her own, and she landed softly on the vehicle’s roof.
Everyone stared, mouths opened wide. But their jaws dropped even more as a second figure jumped to stand next to Nori.
Earth Force (Relict Legacy Book 1) Page 11
