The Shadow Order - Books 1 - 8 + 120 Seconds (The complete series): A Space Opera

by Michael Robertson

  The radio hissed at Seb and the line went dead. “Wilson?”

  Nothing.

  “Wilson?”

  Just the hiss of the radio.

  “They must have a problem with their radio,” Bruke said, grimacing as he continued to fight against Sparks.

  “You reckon?”

  A frown and Bruke pulled his head back. “There’s no need to be facetious.”

  “Sorry,” Seb said. “The radio cut off at a frustrating time. I shouldn’t take it out on you.”

  “We’ll see Wilson again,” Bruke said.

  “Yeah.” Seb nodded. “I’ll talk to him then. For now, we need to get to the lush part of the planet he was talking about. It looks like we have more grubs to take down.”

  Seb turned the dial on Sparks’ radio to change the channel. “I need to call Moses and tell him what’s happening.”

  Chapter 52

  A knot of anxiety sat in Seb’s guts. He hated talking to Moses, especially when he had to defer to him. The large shark-like creature claimed to always be available on channel six, so he switched it to channel six and pressed the button on the side of the radio. “Moses, it’s Seb.”

  “Seb, I was hoping you’d call. What’s happening down there?”

  He’d obviously spoken to the shuttle, but Seb humoured him anyway. “We’ve cleared the mining complex out.”

  “Good work.”

  “But as we were leaving, more creatures appeared.”

  “And?”

  “Infected creatures.”

  “So it’s not just contained to the mines?”

  “No, there are more parasites on Carstic.”

  “That’s why you didn’t get on the shuttle?” Before Seb could reply, Moses explained, “The crew on the shuttle were telling me everything, but we’ve lost contact with them.”

  “Yeah, us too.”

  “Do you think you can save Sparks?”

  The small Thrystian twisted and shook against Bruke’s grip as she continued to try to work her way free. A heavy sigh and Seb said, “I hope so.” To look at her in her current state tore at his heart.

  “Just don’t bring her back here if she’s infected with one of those things.”

  “I’m not letting her die, Moses.”

  “She isn’t coming to Aloo with a parasite in her.”

  Seb replied through gritted teeth, “I’m not letting her die.”

  A moment’s pause, and Moses said, “Let’s cross that bridge if we have to.”

  They needed to move forward. It wouldn’t do them any good to argue. “The dad of the family we rescued,” Seb said, “has a theory that the parasites have a queen. That if we kill the queen, all the others will die.”

  “And you trust him?”

  “I’m not sure, but we’ve got to try, right? I mean, we have to take the parasites down anyway.”

  Another moment of radio static where Moses didn’t reply.

  “He has another theory too.”

  “Oh?”

  “He thinks the grubs were put on the planet to clear the mine out. That someone wanted the complex clear so they could get to the ruthane. But I think that’s been disproven now we’ve seen that other creatures are zombies too. That the parasites were probably outside all along. But I wonder if there’s any weight to it?”

  “It seems a bit far-fetched. I know ruthane’s expensive, but he sounds like a conspiracy theory nut.”

  “I suppose nearly dying of thirst in a small cave would do that to you. I hope he’s right about the queen though.”

  “Me too.” Moses sounded like he wanted to repeat to Seb that he couldn’t bring Sparks back, but he didn’t. Instead, he pulled in a long breath and said, “Good luck, and see you when you get back.”

  Just talking to Moses made Seb’s blood boil. He’d never been good with authority, especially authority he had zero respect for. A million snarky comments flashed through his mind, but before he could say a single one of them, a loud explosion burst through the air outside. The shock of it rumbled through the ground.

  Seb looked at SA, who’d remained by the window in the hangar doors. She looked back at him with wide eyes and an open mouth.

  Because she couldn’t tell him any more than that, Seb ran over to the window and looked out at the large cloud of grey smoke. “The shuttle?”

  When SA nodded, Seb let out a long sigh. He looked back at the vast cloud of smoke and shook his head. “Damn.”

  Chapter 53

  Weakened by what he saw outside, Seb leaned against the large metal doors for support. A jumble of words sat inside his head, but he couldn’t grasp the form of them.

  After several deep breaths, Seb had pulled himself together enough to call Moses back on the radio. Before Moses had a chance to speak, he said, “What just happened?”

  Clearly irked by Seb’s directness, Moses paused for a few seconds and breathed heavily into the microphone. He then replied in a low tone as if holding back his fury. “What are you talking about?”

  “The shuttle!”

  “What about the shuttle?”

  Such a tight grip on the radio, Seb heard the plastic casing crack a little. He eased off. His new hands were much more capable of crushing things than his old ones. He had to remember that. “The shuttle with Wilson and his family just blew up as it was flying away. What happened?”

  A pause before Moses said, “I’m … I’m not sure.” After another pause, he came back on the radio. “I can’t get through to anyone to find out.”

  “I’m not surprised,” Seb said, “considering they were all just cremated out there.”

  Another monotone reply came back at him. “You’ll have to leave it with me.”

  What could Seb say to that? Far from satisfactory, but if Moses didn’t know anything, he couldn’t tell him anything. No point in replying, Seb let go of the talk button and put the radio back in his pocket.

  When Seb finally looked up, he met the penetrative stare of SA and shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine,” he said.

  Even though Bruke stood a few metres away from them, still holding onto Sparks and wrestling to keep her under control, he stood close enough to hear the conversation with Moses. Hard not to in the near silent hangar. “Let’s just hope the shuttle wasn’t powered by ruthane, and if it was, that the explosion had nothing to do with the gas.” He looked at the tank. “That thing’s probably loaded with the stuff.” After he’d looked around the hangar, he added, “And I don’t think anything else will get us to the rainforest.”

  A look at the large black tank and Seb sighed. “I hadn’t thought of that.”

  Seb looked at Sparks again, the now familiar twist of pain spasming through her. “I’m going to take it anyway. I want to do everything I can to save Sparks. I don’t expect either of you to come with me. It’s a choice you need to make.”

  Every time Bruke shrugged, it highlighted just how broad his shoulders were. “I’ll go wherever you do, Seb,” he said.

  When Seb looked at SA, he saw no sign of hesitation when she nodded at him.

  “Okay,” Seb said, “I’ll drive. SA, can you get on the turret?”

  SA nodded again.

  One last look at Sparks, her fitting as vehement as ever, and Seb said, “Let’s do this.”

  Chapter 54

  The second they left the hangar, they found the remains of the two beasts that had chased them. As Seb manoeuvred the tank around their huge pink corpses, he looked down to see they were riddled with holes from where the shuttle had torn into them. Blue blood pooled around them, and a grub—easily the size of the queen they’d found in the mines—lay dead by each corpse. Thankfully they didn’t have to wait for the fat things to crawl out so they could kill them. It wouldn’t be that plain sailing for the rest of their journey.

  The vast expanse of red wasteland stretched out in front of Seb. He saw it as slightly orange because of the yellow tint to his visor. It made sense for him to drive. If the tank
moved as quickly as they thought it might, his slow-motion view of things would help.

  After a deep breath, the tank’s engine purring through the machine, Seb called back to the others. “You ready?”

  “Hang on,” Bruke said as he tied another strap around Sparks. They’d already secured her to her seat, but they wanted to make sure she couldn’t get free. Especially as Bruke would have to be the one to restrain her again.

  After he’d pulled the strap tight, Bruke looked up at SA on the turret and then back at Seb. He nodded. “Okay, let’s do this.”

  Seb stamped down on the accelerator and the tank took off. Pinned back in his seat, their velocity switched on his ability to see the world in slow motion.

  It took just seconds for the tank’s hard tyres to send a tooth-loosening rattle through the vehicle. They were tough, able to deal with any terrain, but because they had no air in them, their lack of absorption made for a bumpy ride.

  The rattle through the tank blurred Seb’s vision and he had to use his strengthened grip just to hold on to the shaking wheel. But they moved like they would break the land speed record. No wonder everyone wanted to get their hands on ruthane.

  Chapter 55

  The landscape continued to shoot past them and Seb felt like he hadn’t blinked for the past ten minutes. His eyes burned as he watched the slightly orange blur outside the tank’s windscreen. As much as he focused on the horizon, he hadn’t yet seen the rainforest Wilson had talked about. Clearly, it was more than a few miles away. He drew a deep sigh. Poor Wilson.

  Then Seb saw them: three huge pink blobs. Just before he could shout up to SA, a thick green shot burst from the turret on top of the tank. She missed.

  Three large creatures like the ones they’d seen outside the hangar. Because they were moving towards one another, the gap between the tank and the beasts closed quickly. Too quickly. SA shot again and this time she hit one. Where their blasters had been ineffective, the green cannon bolt sank into one of the beast’s heads, vaporising it.

  “Good work, SA,” Seb shouted back into the tank, his voice wavering with the vehicle’s vibrations. The creature had no head and neck left. “That must have taken out the grub too.”

  Two more shots and SA dropped the other two. She’d clearly found her aim.

  “Woot!” Seb shouted through the ship, his foot still pressed to the floor as he swerved to avoid the pink bodies. “Well done!”

  Before the echo of Seb’s shout had died down, he saw the others. He slumped in his seat. “Damn!”

  They must have only taken down the front-runners. A line of creatures at least twenty wide stretched across Seb’s view.

  SA sent more blasts into the beasts. Several more large explosions of blue mist. Several more of the beasts tripped and fell. She had this, Seb didn’t need to worry.

  But then the shots stopped.

  After a few seconds of no blasts—the creatures and the tank getting closer to one another—Seb called behind him again. “Bruke, go up there and see what’s happening.”

  Despite the rattle of the tank going over the hard ground, Seb could just about hear Bruke shout, “What’s going on, SA?”

  Hard to listen in on a one-sided conversation and drive the tank. Especially as Seb’s slowed-down perspective dragged out every one of Bruke’s syllables.

  Despite his overwhelming urge to stop and go back to investigate, Seb had to trust they’d sort it out between them. They needed him behind the wheel.

  No more than about fifty metres separated the tank and the creatures now. At least fifteen of them left, the powerful vehicle could probably mow down one or two, but not the wall of pink in front of them. The immovable objects undermined what Seb had seen as their unstoppable force.

  “What’s going on?” Seb called back, his stinging eyes on the beasts in front of them.

  No reply.

  “Sod it,” Seb said, came off the accelerator and pressed the brake. A pounding heart, he gripped the gear stick with his sweating hand and shoved it into reverse. Then he waited, stationary in the middle of the red wasteland.

  “The cannon’s overheated,” Bruke finally said. The tank’s growling engine sounded out as the only background noise now they’d stopped moving.

  Bruke then said, “It’s cooling down now.”

  About twenty metres between the tank and the beasts.

  “How long?” Seb asked.

  No reply.

  Ten metres.

  Still nothing from Bruke.

  Seb saw the monster’s red eyes fix on him. Their shaking stampede sent vibrations through his seat. A twitching foot, and Seb tried again. “How long, Bruke?”

  Still no reply.

  Just a few metres away, Seb slammed the accelerator down. The tank shot backwards just as one of the lead beasts roared and leapt at them. It missed, crashing down on the rocky ground where the tank had been only moments before.

  Seb gripped the wheel as tightly as he had when going forward. The monsters kept pace with him for the first few metres, but he slowly increased the gap between them.

  The rumble of the uneven ground vibrated through Seb’s hands. He had to hold the steering wheel straight. Sweat leaked from his brow and ran into his already sore eyes. He listened to his own panic in his rapid breaths; smelled his own perspiration. Whatever happened, he had to hold them straight. Any slight twitch and they’d lose control.

  “How long?” Seb shouted again. The beasts were still close to them.

  Nothing.

  Such a tight grip, Seb felt the galvanised rubber steering wheel give in to his pressure. He loosened his squeeze a little as they passed the three beasts they’d killed first. Thankfully they didn’t crash into them. “Bruke, how long?”

  Still no more than ten metres between Seb and the fastest beast. They were losing them, but very, very slowly. He stared into its red eyes, its bald snout, its almost featureless face as it bobbed up and down with its unusual gait. The thing was still so close to them he could almost see the pores in its skin. He could almost smell it through the glass screen in front of him.

  An explosion of blue mist made Seb jump. The creature he’d just been looking at vanished behind the inky spray on his windscreen. A thud ran through the ground as it crashed down. The beast’s blood on the windshield made it almost impossible to see the others behind it.

  The pulse of another shot rang out above him. Through the blue mess in front of him, Seb only saw the silhouette of another creature fall. Then another pulse, each one kicking a hard recoil through the reversing tank.

  What must have been seven or eight shots went off and Seb slowed down a little. He could only reverse for so long before he lost control. As he squinted through the blue mess in front of him, he saw more silhouettes. SA continued to rip off shots. Between each one, she paused longer than before. It must have been her way of stopping the cannon from overheating.

  Five more shots and SA stopped.

  “How are we doing up there?” Seb asked.

  “All down,” Bruke finally replied.

  Seb eased off the accelerator and let the tank roll to a stop. When he let go of the steering wheel, he saw the imprint of his grip still on it.

  “What’s going on down there?” Bruke called out.

  For a second, Seb said nothing as he looked at the windscreen and the blue blood coating it. “I can’t see anything,” he said. He stood up from his seat. “I need to go outside and wipe the windscreen. Make sure you’ve got my back.” Although confident SA had blown all their heads and necks off, he added, “And watch out for those damn grubs.”

  Chapter 56

  Seb gave Sparks a wide berth on his way to the tank’s exit. The small Thrystian twisted and spat, growling at him as he got close to her. Hard when it hurt to see her in such a state, he did his best to ignore her anyway, and pressed the button next to the tank’s door to open it.

  The hatch lifted with a whoosh and Seb stepped out onto the barren planet, fl
inching at the expected rush of heat. Again, the rush didn’t come. Hopefully he’d never get used to that. They needed off Carstic well before its quirks became familiar to him.

  Red rock stretched away from Seb in every direction. Other than the tank and the fallen bodies of the creatures, he saw nothing.

  A sudden wave of gratitude ran through Seb. The windscreen might have been coated in blood, but at least they hadn’t broken down. There weren’t many recovery services in this corner of the galaxy. He checked his top pocket for the radio and he found it there—just in case he needed to call Moses.

  As Seb walked around to the front of the tank, he eyed the headless and neckless creatures. SA had bullseyed every one of them. He looked up at the turret. Both SA and Bruke stared back at him through the clear dome that sat on top of the vehicle like a pimple.

  The creature’s blood looked even worse from the outside. Blue and thick, it clung to the front of the tank like tar. Thankfully the suit prevented Seb from smelling anything; the creature’s insides probably stank.

  Because Seb didn’t have a cloth, he used his gloved hand to wipe the screen.

  The blood had an oily quality, streaking across the glass every time Seb tried to clear it. No matter how many times he wiped, he still couldn’t see through the windscreen.

  Just before Seb could go back into the tank to find something to wipe it down with, a heavy blast shook the ground. SA had shot at him.

  “What was that for?” Seb shouted as he looked up at the turret.

  Even if SA had been able to speak, he wouldn’t have heard her through the glass dome.

  A chill crawled up Seb’s spine. Whatever SA’s reason, the situation had turned sour. She wouldn’t shoot without good cause. Despite his reluctance to do so, he turned around. He then gasped, steaming his visor up temporarily. He’d already seen them, a wave of fat grubs rushing straight at him.

  Chapter 57