A loud whoosh then sounded out and a ship appeared as if from nowhere. Seb saw Reyes piloting it through the large front windshield.
As Sparks ran back towards the others, Reyes lit up the ground with a spray of bullets. None of them hit the Shadow Order soldiers, but they forced them back far enough.
When Reyes stopped shooting, she spun her ship around, showing the open back to them as she dropped the vessel low enough for them to climb on.
Although Seb got there first, he waited for Bruke, SA, and Sparks to jump on. The doors closed when he leaped inside. He watched the Shadow Order guards aim their blasters at him. The shots hit the ship after the doors had closed, ineffective against the tough bodywork.
Seb fell into the nearest seat. A look at SA, Bruke, and then Sparks, he laughed. “As much as I don’t want to say this after the roasting I just got; well done, Sparks.”
The small Sparks winked at him. “I figured I owed you that after you deserted us.”
Then calling up to Reyes, Seb said, “I was worried you might have screwed us over.”
“You shouldn’t have.”
“Yeah, well, I have trust issues.”
Reyes didn’t reply, so Seb leaned back into the padding of his seat as she flew them away from there. Best to make the most of what would no doubt be a very short window of rest.
Chapter 43
“Damn!” Reyes said, the tone in her voice forcing Seb to snap straight in his seat. Not that he’d dozed off, but he’d certainly come close.
A look at SA, Seb quickly found his bearings and called to the front of the ship, “What? What is it?”
When he didn’t get an immediate response, Seb stood up and moved up the gangway to find Reyes pointing at a screen. It showed what was happening behind them at that moment.
Seb dashed to the back window. The sight forced him to exhale hard and he shook his head. “Damn! Guys, we’ve got company.”
Although Sparks got to Seb first, she couldn’t see out of the back window. “How many?”
If Seb picked her up, she’d see perfectly, but she’d probably swing for him too. A rough count of the ships, he said, “Fifteen. Maybe one or two more.” Another quick check. “No. Fifteen exactly.”
SA and Bruke were both on their feet, looking at Seb as if awaiting instruction. The ship had two turrets on the back of it, one on either side of the rear exit. It also had a laser on the front. While pointing at the turret on the right, Seb said, “SA, you take that one. I’ll take the other rear-facer. Sparks, you need to get on the blaster up front.”
“What do you need me to do?” Bruke said.
Already running towards the left of the two rear-facing guns, Seb said, “Be available for anyone who needs your help.”
The world in slow motion before him, Seb jumped into the turret’s seat and slipped a helmet on. It had comms built into it. “Can you all hear me?”
“Yep,” Sparks said.
“Yep,” Reyes echoed.
Yes, came SA’s sweet and calm tone.
Locked into place, Seb gripped both handles of his turret, pulled in a deep breath, and said, “Right, let’s do this.”
A line of fifteen ships, they were the Shadow Order’s latest fleet. Shaped like arrowheads, all of them were identical. They were sleek, chrome, and looked like they could turn on a speck of space dust. Every one of them could out dogfight the ship they were currently in, although their blasters might not be up to much against Reyes’ ship’s shields. Either way, Reyes’ flying skills would be well and truly put to the test.
When the ships drew closer and opened fire, Seb and SA let rip in response.
“I’d rather it didn’t come to this,” Seb said, “but they’re shooting to take us down.” Green blasts flew from their guns. They scored several hits, the arrowheads exploding from the blasts. Not so hard to take a few down with fifteen of them so close together. A shot in the general direction had to hit something.
For the briefest of seconds, Seb paused to watch the pilots from each of the destroyed ships. A spherical force field surrounded them and they floated in space, unharmed and harmless without their craft. If they were to return to the Shadow Order once they’d investigated the parasite, it would be good to go back knowing no one had died because of them. Moses could always invest in more ships. He had the credits.
The turret continued to shake with Seb’s blasts, but as the ships spread out, he found them harder to take down.
Each green blast Seb sent away from him went off like a cannon. A deep boom with every powerful shot. The ten remaining ships rushed at them, fearless on account of the force fields that would save their lives. No such protection for Seb and his crew. Although, some of the Shadow Order’s ship’s red blasts had already hit them and had little success against their force field. But how many shots before they did?
“Guess Moses doesn’t care if we live or die now,” Seb called out.
Sparks’ voice came through next. “Maybe he’s decided to cut his losses and be done with us.”
Another ship exploded to their right. Another force field filled with a shocked pilot like a fish in a bowl. “Well done, SA,” Seb called into his headset. “Six down, nine left.”
As the nine rushed in their direction, Reyes flipped the ship on its side, throwing Seb up so he sat highest of them all.
The arrowheads ran dangerously close to them as they passed, and Seb flinched in anticipation of one of them crashing into them. The collision would be as fatal for both of them. The Shadow Order’s force fields wouldn’t do well because when they were triggered, they blew their ship’s broken shells away from them. If they had another ship exploding next to them, the pilot might get taken out by burning shrapnel.
A moment’s pause, Seb wiped the sweat from his eyes. The sound of Sparks screamed through the radio. The nine ships were on her side now.
Several explosions, fire and debris in the air, Seb watched three more pilots float past in protective bubbles.
Sparks shouted, “Six to go.”
Reyes levelled the ship out, the sharp movement throwing Seb down again and leaving his stomach up where he’d been seconds before. “Get ready,” she called. “They’re coming back.”
But the arrowheads were too fast and neither Seb nor SA hit a single one as the six soared over them. They pelted their ship with red laser fire, but their shield continued to hold.
“We’ll get them on the next pass,” Seb said as he watched all six arrowheads throw U-turns in the sky. But instead of rushing them again, the six moved closer together. “What are they doing?”
“They’re forming,” Reyes said.
“They’re what?”
But before she could answer, the six crafts had pulled into two tight rows of three. They hovered in that formation.
Reyes shouted through the communication system again, “They know their blasts won’t take us down on their own.”
Although Seb sent a line of shots at the six—the rattle of his turret blurring his vision—they were too far out of their range for him to do any damage.
Instead of firing back, the six all sent a single continuous line of red light from their blasters. It gathered in the same spot in front of them, growing and turning into a glowing ball like a mini sun.
“Oh shit,” Reyes said.
Seb fought for breath. “Oh shit, what? What is it?”
But Reyes didn’t answer. Instead she shouted, “Hold on!”
The red ball exploded towards them, a beam of laser—as thick as the six ships combined—came straight at them. Seb heard SA’s voice a moment before it made contact. Not quite goodbye, but as good as.
I love you.
Chapter 44
The brightness of the explosion blinded Seb and he felt the power in their ship fail. The throb of the vessel’s great engines dissipated. Silence filled the space.
Seb rubbed his eyes to encourage his sight back and shouted, “Is everyone okay?”
Noth
ing through his headset. The power had gone.
SA, my love. Are you okay?
I’m fine.
It eased Seb a little to hear her. Thank god. His vision slowly returned to see the ship much darker than it had been moments before. What just happened?
We lost power.
Now Seb could see, he watched the six ships behind them charge another red blast, ready to shoot them again.
This one will take us down, SA said.
Better to go down with you beside me than alone. The blast grew brighter as it gained charge, swelling into another red orb of destruction.
When it had grown close to the size of the previous shot, the red ball of laser throbbed like it had the last time. The vacuum of space silenced any sound it would have made, but the glow of it dragged Seb in, hypnotised as he watched the swelling silent death.
The red ball exploded with a bright flare and sent another wide bar of laser towards them.
Seb’s slow motion gave him time to think. Maybe too much. But instead of screaming panic, he felt calm. For maybe the first time in his life, he felt ready for it if it came. Maybe he almost wanted it. He’d told SA how he felt, and with the prophecy on his shoulders, maybe this would be easier than what he might have to face.
But then the radio crackled through his headset. The lights in his turret came on. The ship hummed and a vibration ran through his seat.
Just before the blast crashed into the back of them, Seb felt the pull of the ship thrusting away from it, his seatbelt snapping taut across his chest.
A millisecond later, the stars in the sky turned into long white lines as they jumped into hyperspace. The red bar of laser fire released by the Shadow Order’s ships turned into one long pinprick like all of the others.
The jump always made Seb giddy. Time travel messed with his physiology. “What just happened?” he called through his mic, his head spinning, his words slurred.
“I made them think we were vulnerable so they’d stay back and take another shot at us,” Reyes said. “The first shot they fired destroyed our shield and there was no way it would recharge before they shot us again. I tricked them into giving me the time we needed to get out of there.”
Seb laughed. “Wow! Well done, Reyes. You can fly us again any time.” The sound he then heard through the speakers in his helmet might have been a grumbling of interference, but it sounded much more like a disgruntled Sparks. Always the best flier in the group, she’d now met her match.
Before Seb could say anything else, the ship suddenly stopped, throwing him against the back of his seat. He heard Bruke scream from where he’d clearly been thrown across the ship, the only one of them not strapped in. Seb called back to him, “You okay, Bruke?”
“He’s fine,” Reyes said. “He’s just landed in the cockpit next to me.”
Although Seb heard what she’d said, he didn’t reply, his attention now on the planet just below them. Green and blue, it had a tiny moon orbiting it. They’d reached their destination.
Chapter 45
All of them had left their cannons and were now gathered around Reyes in the cockpit as they broke through Earth’s atmosphere and headed for the ground. Sparks—although still clearly not a fan of her—sat next to Reyes. Seb, SA, and Bruke stood behind her, the ship shaking with the turbulence of coming in to land.
“There it is,” Reyes said as she pointed down at what looked like the only building with any functionality in the decimated wasteland.
The gene farm took up most of what Seb could see. A large green rectangular building, it must have been half a mile long and about as wide. It looked like it had been dropped from space and just happened to land where it did. “I suppose it must be much easier to drop a workplace in a wasteland than build it from the ground up. Although, I don’t rate the design of the place much.”
“Functionality above aesthetic,” Reyes said.
A shake of her head, Sparks added, “Heathens.” Although she stared at Reyes as she said it.
Seb watched the slightest smile lift the sides of Reyes’ mouth and he smiled too.
Where the abandoned city had clearly been ruined by age, plants, vines, and weeds slowly pulling the place apart brick by brick, the gene farm looked to have contributed to the destruction. Easy to see it had been dropped on the place because the area surrounding it still bore the signs of impact from the large structure. It even straddled a wide river, the banks crumbled from where it had crashed down.
Seb scanned the area below. When he saw where Reyes intended to land, he said, “Is it flat enough there?”
Clearly concentrating, Reyes bit down on her bottom lip, the ship shifting and moving from side to side. “It’s the best place in this area. Not ideal, but I can’t see many other options in the vicinity, and I don’t want to have to schlep across the city to get back here.”
A look around, Seb shrugged. He couldn’t see anywhere either. “The city looks like it was abandoned a long time ago. Have you ever been here before, Reyes?”
She shook her head as she dropped the ship lower. “I heard the air became unbreathable. An overpopulated planet, the human race chewed it up, spat it out, and then left it like proverbial rats. Despite this being the birthplace of my ancestors, I’ve had no desire to come down here before.” She then fell silent, sweat running down her temples as she closed in on the ground.
The vibration of the ship touching down shook through Seb’s feet as it made a loud clang. He watched Reyes release a long breath and sag in her seat. “Done!”
With the same angry glare as before, Sparks continued to watch Reyes as if waiting for her to turn and look at her. When she didn’t, Sparks snorted contempt at her anyway. “I’d have done that better.”
After sharing a look with Bruke and then SA, Seb shook his head at the angry little Thrystian’s remarks. Because Reyes hadn’t bothered to acknowledge her, none of them needed to either. Still, he leaned forward and clipped her around the back of the head, knocking her glasses off. Before she could react, he said to her, “Hey, how’s the air out there?”
Although she scowled at him while rubbing the back of her head, Sparks still turned on her computer and tapped the screen. She spoke to him through a clenched jaw. “It says it’s breathable. Although, after what you just did, I wouldn’t tell you if it wasn’t. How about you go out and test it, yeah?”
“Come on, Sparks,” Seb said, “Reyes is a better pilot than you. By far. You don’t need to sour the mood because of that. Besides, no one knows tech like you do. Don’t worry, we’re not trying to replace you.”
Sparks might not have responded, but she did visibly relax at being reminded what she brought to the team.
The back of the ship opened with a whoosh and light flooded in. From how the place had looked on their approach, Seb expected it to stink. But as the smell of fresh grass and flowers cleansed the vessel’s stale hull, he suddenly realised the city was beyond decomposition. Despite the look of the place, Earth was waking up again. A deep inhale of the clean air and he gasped on his exhale. “Oh my …”
It’s beautiful, SA finished for him.
Seb stepped out of the ship first, his view of his mum’s home planet opening up before him. His jaw fell loose. The tinted windshield had dulled the beauty of the place. Grass and vines everywhere, flowers sprouting from cracks in rocks. A vibrant and lush green, the wind continued to blow fresher than any he’d ever felt. He closed his eyes as it pushed his hair away from his forehead.
The ruins of the city contained a history Seb might never know anything about, but at that moment, it felt like he’d never grow tired of looking at it. Of trying to understand it.
What looked like old fountains sat nearby. They were now dry and overflowing with pinks, blues, and yellows from where flowers had made them their beds. A huge stone pillar stood in front of them. It had been snapped off, leaving a jagged edge where the top should have been. At about five metres tall, it looked like it used to stand much tal
ler. What had once been on there? It must have been important to stand over the grand city.
The pillar had a huge square stone platform at its base. Stone creatures sat on each corner of it. They looked like they might have been lions. Hard to tell with all the chips and cracks running through them. Time had taken its bite from them like it had everything else.
A look behind them, Seb saw the remains of what had once been an old building. It had pillars running across the front of it like smaller versions of the broken one surrounded by lions.
Vibrancy and life all around him, Seb reached across to SA, grabbed her hand, and squeezed it. I feel like I could stay here forever.
Welcome home, sweetheart.
Before Seb could continue the conversation, a loud roar called across to them from somewhere in the city. Somewhere behind them. It spiked his pulse and his breathing sped up. He looked around but couldn’t see anything.
There!
Seb followed where SA pointed to and his stomach flipped. A lion. At least, it had been a lion at some point. He’d seen them in zoos before, and although large and magnificent creatures, they were half the size of the brute running at them. It also had two heads. One looked like a lion, the other looked like a burned and blistered dragon’s head. Both heads had wide-open mouths loaded with what looked to be razor-sharp teeth.
Chapter 46
The end of Seb’s cry to the others dragged out in his mind as his world flipped into slow motion, mid-shout. “Come ooooooooooon.” He led the way in the direction of the gene farm, watching where he put his feet on the debris-strewn ground.
Fortunately the mutant creature came from behind them and not between them and the farm. The vast structure stood as an eyesore against what had been a beautifully desolate city. But it now represented sanctuary.
Although Seb led the way, SA quickly overtook him and arrived at the closed farm doors first. By the time he’d caught up with her, fighting to keep his breaths even, she said, I can’t see a way in.
The Shadow Order - Books 1 - 8 + 120 Seconds (The complete series): A Space Opera Page 92
