Domination

by Jon S. Lewis

  Enraged, it hefted Colt off the ground, but Colt struck the nerve cluster under its arm, and it dropped him. It lashed out with its claws, but Colt sidestepped, grabbed a chair, and smashed it over the Thule’s head. Wood splintered, and Colt rammed what was left of the chair leg through the alien’s gullet. It cried out in pain as it fell.

  Colt looked at Oz, lying still on the floor, and emotion washed over him. “Are you dead?” Colt asked.

  Oz opened one eye. “What do you think, McAlister?”

  : :

  CHAPTER 39 : :

  Colt led Oz and Danielle back down the stairs and through the foyer to a set of glass doors, where they caught up with the rest of Phantom Squad. But they all stopped short when they saw a Tracker standing in the parking lot.

  Covered in what looked like reclaimed metal from German panzer tanks, it was thick and lumbering, with a gun turret in place of a head and two spotlights mounted to its chest. One arm was an actual cannon, the other a claw that it used to pick up a car and throw it at the school.

  “Get down!” The wall shook and glass cracked as Colt shielded Danielle.

  “That thing has to be thirty feet tall.” Pierce reached as though he was going to push the door open, but Oz pulled him back.

  “What are you doing?”

  “I want to get a closer look,” Pierce said. “Besides, it’s not like it can see us. It doesn’t have any eyes.”

  “It doesn’t need eyes,” Oz said. “It has sensors.”

  “What are those?” Grey asked as three armored vehicles with mechanical legs instead of tires skittered toward the Tracker. Soldiers manning .50-caliber machine guns mounted to the top of each vehicle opened fire on the Tracker.

  “Class 1 Armored Walkers,” Oz said. “But the only one I’ve seen was a prototype.”

  The Tracker tried to stomp on the nearest Walker, but the Walker was too fast. It dodged out of the way and crawled up the Tracker’s leg and onto its back and then its shoulder. The other Walkers followed suit, and the Tracker lashed out in vain with its clawed hand.

  Colt spotted a yellow school bus on the other side of the parking lot. “Does anybody know how to hotwire a car?” he asked.

  “Is that a trick question?” Oz said. He followed Colt’s gaze until he saw the bus. “You can’t be serious.”

  “I don’t see anything else big enough to carry all of us.”

  Oz shook his head. “Yeah, I can hotwire a bus.”

  “Good, because this might be our only chance.” Colt burst out the door and into the parking lot, weaving between the vehicles.

  “Here comes another one!” Pierce shouted.

  A tremor shook the ground, and when Colt looked up he saw a second Tracker. It had an actual head with glowing eyes, and instead of a claw or a cannon it had articulated hands with five fingers. And it was heading right for them.

  “Run!” Colt shouted. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest as he jumped up on the trunk of a Toyota Camry, leapt onto the roof, and then jumped back down to the asphalt.

  The bus was only a hundred yards away, but the Tracker was closing in fast.

  “Hurry!” Colt shouted. He looked back over his shoulder and saw a tentacle shoot out from the Tracker’s palm and lash around Pierce, hefting him off the ground. Pierce shouted, his arms and legs waving.

  Oz stopped next to a fallen soldier and picked up his assault rifle.

  “What are you doing?” Colt shouted. “Hotwire the bus. I’ll get Pierce.”

  For a moment Oz hesitated, then he turned and ran as the shoulder of one of the Trackers opened. A cannon emerged, and the barrel flared to life as gunfire lit the sky, chewing up the asphalt and ripping through cars.

  Colt felt power surge through his body as a flood of adrenaline raged. His chest heaved and a feeling of euphoria overtook him as the world slowed down. He ran toward the Tracker and leapt, grabbing hold of the tentacle that held Pierce. Colt pulled and metal groaned and the casing bent as it lashed back and forth, taking Colt on a dizzying ride. He squeezed harder, every fiber of every muscle straining. A second tentacle shot out and caught him on the side of the head.

  “Get out of here!” Pierce yelled.

  Colt let go, rolling as he hit the ground. In a series of motions he fished five magnetic grenades out of his ammo belt, set the detonators, and threw them at the juncture where the tentacles were connected to the hand of the Tracker. There was a short delay before the explosions, then the tentacle released Pierce before it fell away. He dropped to the ground, landing awkwardly and rolling his ankle.

  “Hey! Over here!” Colt waved his arms up and down.

  “What are you doing?” Pierce asked.

  “It’s called a distraction—now go!”

  “I can’t get up!”

  “Go!”

  Pierce forced himself to his feet, half limping and half running toward the bus.

  The Tracker stepped toward Colt and the ground shook. Its head swiveled as it reached out a massive hand. Tentacles coiled around Colt’s shoulders, pinning his arms to his chest as it turned and headed for the football field.

  Colt fought against the bonds, but despite his strength he couldn’t break free. The Tracker deposited him in the middle of the football field where five Thule transport ships were docked.

  Thule warriors with massive guns stood watch over at least two dozen prisoners, including Sheriff Sutherland. There were too many Thule to try to escape, so Colt made his way to the sheriff to see if he could get any information.

  “What happened?” he asked.

  “To tell you the truth, I’m not sure,” the sheriff said. “Near as I can tell, the mayor must have coordinated the strike with Koenig, and we lost.”

  “Now what?”

  “They take us back to Gathmara where we’ll be declared traitors. Then, depending on Koenig’s mood, we’ll either be sent to labor camps or executed.”

  : :

  CHAPTER 40 : :

  Colt was separated from the other prisoners and placed in a holding cell that had no light. The stench of metal, gasoline, and burning oil made his stomach churn, and the cacophony of sound echoing off the walls made it impossible to orient himself.

  He felt the engines rumble to life, and moments later the transport lifted off the ground. Panic fought to take hold, but Colt clung to the words that had become so familiar. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

  He breathed in through his nose and out through his mouth as he waited for his eyes to adjust, but his enhanced night vision didn’t give him much of an advantage. This is where I’m supposed to be, he reminded himself. He was in a room that wasn’t much bigger than a closet, and as far as he could tell the closest thing to a door was a small vent about the size of a license plate. Not that it mattered. If he found a way to escape, it wasn’t like he could fly.

  “Hello! Is anybody there? Anybody?”

  The dull thud of footsteps was accompanied by muffled voices, but whatever language they were speaking, it wasn’t English. The footsteps stopped, and suddenly the wall behind him opened up. Colt felt a burst of pain as someone drove a needle through his neck. He spun around to see who was there, but his knees buckled and he fell.

  He felt dizzy. Nauseated. And as he looked up he saw the silhouettes of two hulking figures standing against the bright light.

  “Is that him?”

  “The one they believe is the Betrayer? Yes. Yes, it is.”

  The voice was deep and horrible, and Colt saw a long, lizard-like tongue slip out from the speaker’s lips as though it was tasting the air.

  “He’s still wrapped in human flesh,” the second figure said. Through his blurred vision, Colt could see rich green scales, a yellow-green underbelly, and scar tissue running along its neck and shoulder and across one of its thighs.

  “Where are we?” Colt was slipping into darkness. His own words sounded strange in his ears, like he was somehow speaking in slow motion. His li
ps felt numb and rubbery, and he could no longer feel his tongue.

  Strange thoughts filled his mind as he shut his eyes. Buildings burning. People screaming. His grandfather, young again, but he was lying dead in the middle of a battlefield as German soldiers rolled past his corpse in panzer tanks. Danielle running as Thule gave chase.

  “Sleep,” one of the Thule said as everything went black.

  : :

  CHAPTER 41 : :

  Colt woke up in a fog, his head pounding and throat parched as the ground shook, tilting first to the right and then the left. He cracked his eyes open, and from what he could see he was in some kind of holding cell with a single bulb that was caged by wire.

  His arms were bound behind his back as he sat cross-legged on the floor, and his neck was constrained by a collar that was bolted to the wall. He tested the length of the chain, but there wasn’t much give.

  The room echoed with the roar of an engine, but it wasn’t until someone moaned that Colt realized he wasn’t alone. The walls of the cell were lined with prisoners, each bound as he was, though none was awake. He shook his head, desperate to clear his vision as the effects of whatever the Thule had drugged him with started to wear off.

  The room shook as he looked in vain for a familiar face, all the while hoping that Danielle, Oz, and the others had managed to get away. Or maybe they were dead. Either way, Colt had to push those thoughts to the back of his mind so he could concentrate on escaping.

  The hot air was thick with moisture, and his entire body was coated in sweat. He wondered if his wrists were slick enough to slip though the cuffs, but the metal bracelets were too tight. He tried to snap the chain that held them together, but it refused to break. Exhausted, he closed his eyes and laid his head against the wall, trying not to give in to despair.

  It wasn’t long before he heard the sound of feet shuffling and keys rattling, and when the door finally opened, Colt saw the man behind all his misery.

  Still fighting your destiny? Aldrich Koenig walked over and put a hand beneath Colt’s collar so he could pull him to his feet. “It’s time,” he said, this time aloud.

  “What are you going to do to me?”

  Koenig smiled. “Take you back to Gathmara where you’ll be publicly executed, proving once and for all that we are mightier than the superstitions of our forefathers. The Betrayer will die, and I will take my rightful place as the head of the five armies. Once we’re united I’ll come back to Earth and exterminate all of humanity.” He licked his lips. “Though perhaps I will spare your Lily to be my bride. She is, after all, a rare beauty.”

  Raw fury leapt inside of Colt as he fought to break free from his restraints.

  Koenig simply smiled. “Oh yes . . . a rare beauty.”

  Colt closed his eyes and imagined the massive gateway swirling in the atmosphere over Sanctuary. He pictured massive airships emerging from the portal, accompanied by a fleet of Taipan star fighters.

  Yes, something like that, Koenig said.

  It felt disgusting, but Colt concentrated as he painted the picture in his mind. The air shimmered and then it shook. The gateway started to expand until a flash of light burst and the portal disappeared. The airships were engulfed in the blast, and as they fell from the sky, it was Colt’s turn to smile.

  Koenig slammed Colt against the wall, and the air exploded from his lungs.

  “They’ll . . . find me,” Colt said.

  “No, they won’t,” Koenig said with a sneer. As he turned and left, Colt broke into a wide smile. Koenig had invaded his thoughts, but Colt had managed to steal a thought of his own. It was only for a split second, but Colt knew what they had to do. Koenig had let slip an image of the reactor that powered the gateway, and all Colt had to do was find it.

  : :

  CHAPTER 42 : :

  We weren’t always like that,” Sheriff Sutherland said, his voice echoing out of the darkness.

  Colt squinted and caught the silhouette of the man shackled to the wall. As his eyes adjusted, other shapes started to take form, most of them citizens of Sanctuary. All of them shackled.

  “Where are they taking us?”

  The sheriff coughed, rattling his chains as he turned toward Colt. “We’re meant to be examples. Koenig wanted one Betrayer—apparently you—but he found himself a whole village of traitors. He’ll execute the adults and turn the children into slaves.” He coughed again. “It would have been better for them to die. At least then their souls would be spared.”

  Souls? Colt had never stopped to consider what the Thule believed, but he remembered seeing the church steeple as it towered over Sanctuary. Had the Thule brought their faith with them, or had they discovered God on Earth?

  “What can you tell me about the Betrayer?” Colt said.

  There was a soft thud as the sheriff leaned his head against the wall.

  “To understand the Betrayer, you need to understand Gathmara.” He coughed some more. “You’ve seen pictures, haven’t you?”

  Colt nodded.

  “Steel cities. Poisonous clouds. Sludge-choked seas. But it wasn’t always like that,” Sheriff Sutherland said. “When I was young the five warlords who ruled our land were at peace for the first time in generations. There were sparkling rivers and pristine forests. We’d swim in the water and then climb up to the top of the trees and soak in the sun. And the music? That’s what I remember most. One family would start the singing at sunset, and you’d hear it up and down along the river until the stars were high.”

  The sheriff sighed. “But it’s gone, and I’m sorry to say that there are only a few of us old enough to remember it.” He paused, staring off into nothing. “But when I walk by one of the parks and watch our children at play, I know that Gathmara is still alive in their spirit.”

  “What happened?” Colt asked.

  “Aldrich Koenig.” Sheriff Sutherland shook his head as his words turned sour. “Though he was born into poverty, he had great ambition. He joined the militia when he was eleven or twelve, and it wasn’t long before he earned the favor of Arcos, warlord of the Defense Corps. Koenig used his cunning to manipulate Arcos into breaking the peace, promising that he would ensure that the other warlords would bow before Arcos and pay him tribute.

  “It resulted in genocide. Koenig created a special unit of elite killers, and tens of thousands were slaughtered in his name. Once the Defense Corps had dominion over the five armies, Koenig turned his attention to commerce. He ushered in our modern age with his factories, and the Undarians, the people of the seas, took umbrage with the pollution, and when agreement could not be met, they declared war.

  “With the blessing of Arcos, Koenig led the unified forces of the five armies against the Undarians, and when they were victorious he urged Arcos to declare Thule supremacy over all of Gathmara. And when that was accomplished, they turned their eyes to neighboring worlds. Koenig claimed that they could be harboring the Betrayer, and if the Thule didn’t destroy them, they would surely destroy the Thule.

  “About that time Arcos grew sick, and since he had no heir he declared Koenig warlord of the Defense Corps. The singing stopped. The children stopped playing in the rivers. Every able-bodied Thule was put to work under the auspices that we were living under an imminent threat. Fear drove us to slave in Koenig’s factories, building weapons of war while his wealth grew beyond compare.”