Were it not for the rattle and wobble of the shaking shuttle, there would have been silence in the back of the vessel.
Bruke finally continued. “I knew what she did to children when they reached twelve and older; everyone did. I didn’t want to have to slaughter my family, so I ran away. If I wasn’t there, they couldn’t make me kill them, right?”
Seb nodded and the others continued to watch Bruke.
“But my neighbours sold me out. They must have told the Countess that my family had a boy of age. I would sometimes go past my old family home to check on them from a distance and make sure they were okay, but I noticed something wasn’t right one time. When I checked the hut, I found my family dead inside.” His eyes glazed as he stared into the middle distance. “They’d painted the word deserter on the wall with their blood.”
A deep frown and Seb’s pulse quickened. “What a thing to go through. I’m sorry. Did you ever find out who ratted on you?”
A shake of his head and Bruke looked down at the floor. “I would have killed them if I had.”
When Bruke looked up, his brown eyes were glazed with tears.
Seb’s heart sank. “At least we’ve stopped that from happening to anyone else, eh? You were an important part in overthrowing the Countess’ rule.”
A nod and Bruke said, “I was, wasn’t I?”
“You may not have been able to save your own family, but you’ve saved thousands of families now. For that you should feel proud, even though I know it won’t bring them back.”
After he’d pulled a wet sniff in, Bruke nodded. “You’re right. We have made a difference, haven’t we?”
“And you know what?” Seb said. “Despite that greedy shark, Moses, we can carry on making a difference. He may be motivated by credits, but it seems that in the places we have to go to there are people that need our help. We can do that as well as fulfil our mission.”
As much as he’d directed his comments at Bruke, Seb needed to remember that too. They were making a difference. They did help people.
The atmosphere in the shuttle had changed drastically. Maybe they all needed to remember what they were fighting for—they were rescuing a community, even if they were all dead. At least they could go in and deal with the parasites so no one else had to. And maybe there were some survivors. Moses’ intel might not have been up to much.
As the shuttle continued to shake and wobble on its slow decline onto Carstic, Seb looked at the red planet in front of them again and pulled a deep breath into his tightening stomach. They needed to get in and get out. If they did that, everything would work out just fine.
Chapter 11
“We’ll be landing in two minutes,” the pilot—a lizard-like creature with feet for hands and hands for feet—called back at them.
A deep inhale to calm his rapidly accelerating pulse and Seb looked out of the front window again. He finally saw the mining complex. It stood as a large and ugly building in an otherwise barren landscape.
Seb pressed the button on the left side of his suit’s hood and watched the visor slide across. It tinted his view of his surroundings with a yellow hue. It also altered the sound of everything. He still heard the rattle and shake of the shuttle, but the noises were toned down, muting them so he didn’t have to be overwhelmed by them.
A look at Sparks, who’d just pressed her button, and Seb said, “If I’d known it would have been this much quieter with the visor closed, I would have pressed the button earlier.”
Despite the yellow tint to his visor, Seb saw Sparks’ nod just fine. The only slight distraction came from the radiation timer on the right of his vision. It read ‘3h’, indicating how much time they had outside in Carstic’s atmosphere before it became caustic.
When Seb looked at Bruke and SA, he saw they’d closed their visors too. The serene bioluminescent blue of SA regarded him with her usual level-headedness, a slight green tinge to her eyes because of the tint. Bruke’s brown eyes were spread wide in his suit. The yellow didn’t dilute his clear panic.
The shuttle suddenly dropped several metres, lifting Seb’s stomach and forcing him to grab onto the barely padded armrests on either side of him. A shudder ran through the vessel that damn near rattled his teeth from his gums.
“The hangar’s locked,” the pilot called back. “I’ll need to land outside and drop you off there. You’ll have to find your own way in.”
Seb looked at Sparks, who rolled her purple eyes at him before she said, “Never simple, is it?”
Another sudden drop and Seb’s stomach flipped again. He craned his neck to see out of the front. They were just metres from the ground now. Although he tried to centre himself, he couldn’t stop the adrenaline-fuelled shake running through him. They had three hours in their suits. Once they entered the complex, they didn’t need to worry about radiation. They’d be fine. They had plenty of time, especially as they only had to open a door. Then Sparks’ words repeated in his mind. Never simple, is it?
The shaking shuttle had been bad enough, but then it started swaying from side to side. Even with the muted sounds around him, Seb heard Bruke’s whines and watched his friend grip his seat’s handles. Were he less concerned about how he looked in front of SA, he might have done the same.
Another look out of the window and Seb clenched his jaw to keep his anxious words in. They were heading at the planet like a meteor set to blow a crater in the rocky ground.
Seconds before impact, the shuttle suddenly stopped. Were it not for his seatbelt, Seb would have ended up in the front next to the pilot. Instead, the belt across his chest and waist took most of the jolt, ripping pains across his front from the sharp snap.
A low hum buzzed through the shuttle as it hovered for a few seconds before lowering the final few metres. The pilot pressed the button on the left side of his head and his visor shot across his face too. He lowered the exit ramp and called back to the team, “Good luck. Let us know if you need picking up.”
“We won’t need picking up,” Seb said. “We have Sparks. She could pilot a rock out of here.” He winked at his friend before unstrapping and getting to his feet. The radiation gear made it feel like he had a fat suit on. He picked up his gun on the way out of the ship and sped up to get off the shuttle before SA. Although she glared at him, she let him go. If it wasn’t safe, he needed to be their first line of defence. He couldn’t lose another friend.
Carstic looked as barren now that he’d reached it as it had from space. No signs of any life whatsoever. No small tufts of grass or weeds. No trees. No animal droppings, carcasses, or habitats. The hard, rocky ground looked scorched, although, surprisingly, it didn’t feel hot like he’d expected it to. As flat as a runway, the horizon stretched for miles. Were it not for the large mining complex protruding from the ground, there wouldn’t be anything but red rock.
As the others alighted from the shuttle, Seb reached up and took Sparks’ hand to help her hop down. He did the same for Bruke. Clearly still pissed with him, SA came off last. Seb held his hand out for her and she simply stared at it before hopping from the shuttle with her usual grace. He couldn’t help but smile at her.
The ramp pulled back into the shuttle. The entire thing rumbled with the engines powering up, and then it shot away from them back into the sky as if fired from a slingshot.
The sonic boom of it breaking the sound barrier made Seb jump as he watched it fly away. When it had vanished completely, he said, “Looks like we’re on our own, then.”
The mining complex had two huge chrome doors, which faced the group. The sun glistened off them, dazzling Seb even through his tinted view. It seemed impossible that such a scorched planet with such a bright sun wouldn’t be hotter. Maybe Solsans had turned his blood cold and he didn’t feel it as much. A shudder ripped through him to think about the dark and damp planet. If he never had to go back there again, it would be too soon.
“Right,” Seb said, looking at the others lined up next to one another. “Everyone read
y?”
Sparks had removed her backpack and pulled both of her blasters out. She held onto one and handed the other to SA before re-shouldering her bag then nodded at Seb. Bruke held his semi-automatic blaster and nodded too. SA stared at him.
“Okay,” Seb said before he turned his back on them and led the way over to the hangar at a jog. Despite the muted sound through his suit, he heard the footsteps of the others following him.
The doors stood at least fifteen metres square. They would have let most passenger vessels in with ease. Up close, the building looked huge. In reality, it sat as a pimple on the vast landscape.
The timer changed on Seb’s screen and dropped down to read ‘2h59m’. Only a minute, but his breathing sped up regardless. Something about the ticking clock put him on edge. But he wouldn’t need his suit inside the complex; he had to remember that.
When they got to the building, Sparks walked towards the control panel by the massive doors. Seb went to one side of the structure so he could see past it. SA walked to the other side. Both of them had their blasters ready to fight should they need to. Not that Seb could see anything other than an endless expanse of red rock.
The sound of the wind on the vast plain ran through the speakers into Seb’s ears, but the suit muted most of it. When he stepped a couple of paces away from the mining complex, a hard breeze pushed against him and sent him stumbling. The hangar must have shielded them from the worst of it when they’d disembarked the shuttle.
Sparks lifted her head from the keycard slot and called out, “The next area is free of gas.”
“So we can use our blasters?” Seb asked.
“Yep.”
Seb nodded to himself as he watched Sparks run several quick finger taps against her screen. The red light above the card reader turned green.
Just before Sparks pressed the screen to open the huge hangar doors, a deep thud banged against the other side of them. Even with his muted sound, Seb’s heart kicked because of the loud crash. He watched the two doors shake from the impact.
A look at the others and Seb saw SA move close to Sparks. She dropped into a defensive crouch, ready for whatever would come out of the hangar at them.
After Seb had moved to the opposite side of the small Thrystian, his automatic blaster raised, Bruke joined them.
Another loud crash hit the other side of the doors. Seb turned to Bruke to see his face creased with a worried frown. He put a hand on his friend’s shoulder and said, “This is what we came here to fix. We were expecting this.”
Several more bangs clattered against the doors.
Bruke stepped back half a step.
“Just follow our lead, okay?” Seb said.
Bruke nodded.
Sparks looked at Seb, her finger ready to press the open button. A deep breath to slow his world down and Seb turned to SA. She seemed ready. He turned back to Sparks and nodded. “Do it.”
Chapter 12
Seb looked at the huge hangar doors and drew a deep breath. It did nothing to calm his hyperactive pulse. He watched Sparks point her long finger at the touch screen on her computer. One more ineffective inhale and he watched her press it.
The door’s mechanism whirred. It added to the very few sounds around them. The wind, the whir, the banging of tens of hands.
With a dry mouth, Seb swayed from side to side to loosen up. He raised his gun, fitting the stock into his shoulder. Keeping one eye closed, he looked down the barrel at the crack running down the middle of the doors. The bright glare from the chrome forced him to squint. Were the sun any stronger, he wouldn’t have seen anything.
As the crack opened, screams from what could have been hundreds spilled out. A deranged noise, it sounded like they were hearing themselves yell for the first time. They tested out the twisted undulations of their tormented cries. The quartet all stepped back a few paces.
Even with his world in slow motion, Bruke’s shots surprised Seb. The scaled beast let out a high-pitched scream and fired on the slowly opening doors. Many of the green blasts crashed into the chrome barrier. Only one or two made it through the gap. At least that was what he guessed; it was hard to tell with the shower of sparks exploding away from each impact. It forced all four of them back a little more. Probably not a bad thing to get some extra distance.
When the doors parted wide enough, a sea of infected miners spilled out of the gap like guts from a split stomach. Radiation be damned, they flooded from the hangar unsuited.
The Shadow Order stepped back again as they opened fire.
Children, men, and women—they all wore the same twisted expression of rage. Of hate. Red eyes, twisted snarls, swinging arms. They slashed at the air, rapidly reducing the metres separating them and the Shadow Order as they charged. They had to be put down. Nothing could save them.
The line of monsters at the front fell to the blasts. The ones behind jumped them and kept coming forward. They didn’t fear death. They didn’t seem to even have a comprehension of it.
Even though ten were down already, about twice that amount pushed out through the ever-increasing gap behind them.
Seb blinked against the sweat running into his eyes. He had to stay focused. The blaster continued to shake with his rapid fire, the buck of it running through his entire body. But he kept the trigger down and blinked against the stinging saline trickle. He couldn’t wipe it with his visor in the way.
Hot beneath the suit, Seb smelled his own funk and listened to the echo of his heavy breaths. A manifestation of his panic he couldn’t ignore.
Then Seb’s gun stopped working. Cramps ran through his trigger finger as he squeezed harder. Nothing. A look down at the top of his weapon and a red light glowed. It had overheated. “Shit!”
One of the infected miners rushed Seb. He tossed his gun to the ground when just a metre separated them. Red eyes, bared teeth, utter rage, she screamed the same demented scream he’d heard from all the others.
Seb punched her square in the face. The force of his metal fist buried into her. Even through the layer of radiation suit, he felt her nose turn to mush. It felt like her skull had cracked too.
As the creature fell away, Seb watched her in slow motion. A huge dent sat like a crater in her face. The rage in her eyes had gone. Any sign of life had gone. Blood ran from her mashed nose.
Bruke had also stopped shooting. His gun must have overheated too. Probably sooner than Seb’s had on account of him shooting it first. Sparks and SA continued to rip off single shots into the creatures, but it wouldn’t be enough to stem the flow of enraged bodies.
Because they were fighting humans, Seb saw the familiar weak spots on their chins and faces. Every punch he landed sank into their fragile bones. Each one threw back a nauseating crack. His new metal fists landed like bombs. It didn’t matter that the suit restricted his movement, it looked like he had them beat.
A green blast then ran past Seb’s face. He didn’t even have time to flinch. He looked at SA, who had her gun pointed at him. He then looked at the infected miner she’d shot. A scorched hole sat in the centre of its furious scowl. He hadn’t seen it coming.
The suit protected against radiation. However, not only did it restrict Seb’s movements, but it also created wicked blind spots where the visor didn’t accommodate his peripheral vision. He looked back at SA and nodded thanks. Hopefully she’d have his back again if he needed it.
Five more miners, Seb rushed forward to meet them and dropped one after the other, barely breaking stride as he worked through them. Even though he had no feeling in his fists, he cracked skull after skull. Every blow turned another miner off.
It looked like they’d killed them all, but Seb still watched the gap in the hangar doors for more. Heavy breaths ran through him and he sweated harder than ever. Unable to wipe his face, the tickle of sweat ran torment against his skin.
“I think that’s all of them,” Seb finally said and picked up his gun. The red light had gone. It must have cooled down. He looked at
the bodies of women, men, and children around him. They all lay limp on the red rocky ground. The timer on his screen read ‘2h57m’.
Seb continued to get his breath back as he walked towards Bruke. Of all of them, he needed the most looking after. His scaled friend stood frozen to the spot, breathing so fast his entire body rocked with his panic. “You okay?” he asked him.
But Bruke didn’t reply, his wide eyes glazed as he stared into space.
Because of Bruke’s size, Seb couldn’t move him. When he tried to enlist the help of Sparks and SA, Sparks spoke for both of them. She suggested they let him recover on his own. Take him into the hangar in his current state and not only would he be useless to them, he’d be a hinderance. They’d potentially have to protect him as well as fight more of the things.
Seb looked at the reading on his screen, his anxiety manifesting as him bouncing on the spot. ‘2h50m’. Although he’d been trying to persuade Bruke to move for the entire time, he still continued to talk to his friend. “Come on, I know we have three hours in these suits, but I’d rather not waste it waiting around.”
Suddenly Bruke snapped to life, lifting his blaster and ripping off a shot at Seb’s feet.
Seb’s world slowed down again as the green beam flew at him. He jumped at the last minute to avoid it.
Where he’d stood only a moment ago, Seb now saw the fried body of one of the parasitic worms. Just a few inches long, it lay dead. After a look at the parasite, he returned his attention to Bruke. He opened and closed his mouth several times before he said, “Thank you.”
Where there had been anxiety in his friend’s deep brown eyes, Bruke now stared determination at Seb.
“See?” Seb said to him. “You’re meant to be here with us. Without you, I wouldn’t have even made it into the hangar. You just saved my life.”
The Shadow Order - Books 1 - 8 + 120 Seconds (The complete series): A Space Opera Page 65
