Hundreds of Scraptor transports filled the empty fields. The Bug-uglies swept over the hills like pink, red, and silver locusts. Smoking ruins and corpses formed a wake behind them.
His gut clenched. “Ugu, land a quarter of your forces behind them and attack them from the rear. Use the rest of your fighters to thin the herd.”
“With pleasure.” The white-feathered Skaperian smiled at him from the forward screen before static swallowed her. “We’ll meet over a pile of bloody armor.”
“Indeed.” Bei estimated the number of enemy to be upwards of twenty thousand. His troops would need resupplying before the battle ended. “Gamma units. I will need to you to keep the munitions coming. Omest, you’re in charge of the lines.”
The pale, lanky ET bared his sharp fangs. “It is my pleasure to be of service.”
The bi-winged Skaperian fighters dove toward the planet’s surface. Their pointed noses burned bright red as they punched into the lower atmosphere. The first wave of a hundred fighters strafed the Scraptor army with projectiles.
The enemy’s flak exploded far below the Alliance fighters.
Another wave of Skaperians launched missiles at the advancing army. Geysers of limbs, armor, and dirt mushroomed from the planet’s surface.
The enemy troop transports lurched from the ground kilometers from the target, firing missiles. Their rockets serpentined through the gloaming below. Everywhere they intercepted a Skaperian missile, a fire ball scorched the air.
Turbulence shook the ambulance shuttle.
Brooklyn white-knuckled the yoke, to keep the ship steady.
Blue marks on the battlefield indicated the presence of Syn-En units. They ringed the mill. He tapped an empty spot near the mill’s gates. “Set us down here.”
Humans civilians perched on the plants’ catwalks, legs dangling in the air. Elephant-eared Plenipotans joined them to watch the show.
Bei swore under his breath. The idiots didn’t know to take cover.
Rome pounded up the steps into the cockpit. He dumped a duffle full of projectiles onto the deck before passing Bei two Torp pistols, Lassiter rifles, and a Trunch to take out armored vehicles. “What? They wanted to play. We’ll play, but I like my own toys best.”
He kissed the Trunch.
Bei strapped the weapons on.
A rocket exploded two klicks away. The ambulance shuddered.
“These guys are really starting to piss me off.” Brooklyn swung to the left before banking right. He swung round, then reversed the engines, so the ship flew backward. Blasts from the forward energy weapons set the grass on fire.
The lights on the helm flickered.
The engines hummed then fell silent.
The ambulance spun as it dropped to the ground.
“What the fuck!” Rome braced his hands on the ceiling and his boots inside the door jamb. “Were we hit?”
Bei checked the sensors. The shuttle reported no damage. His armor itched with unease. He’d encountered such anomalies in Syn-En technology on Surlat, home of Humans worshipping the Meek. He hoped the malfunctions didn’t set a precedent.
Bei shifted into the WA. A force shoved him out and slammed the door in his face.
Rome jerked back. “Well, damn. Guess we’re going to do this the hard way.” The Security Chief handed Bei a machete. “Just in case we fight old school.”
A cry sounded from the back.
“Don’t worry.” Worry truncated Nell’s syllables. “We’re going to be fine.”
The engines sputtered and caught. Brooklyn slammed against the back of his chair. The ambulance bounced once then stilled. The lights blinked overhead then blazed normally. All the controls on the helm flashed on.
Shoving out of his seat, Bei tucked the long blade into his ammunition strap. “If this position is overrun, you evacuate my wife. You have the fall back coordinates.”
Brooklyn nodded. Sweat beaded his temples. “Yes, Admiral.”
Bei followed Rome into the triage area.
Nell sat on a stretcher, clinging onto the metal support as if her life depended upon it. She offered him a wobbly smile. “That was fun.”
“Stay close to the shuttle. Follow Doc’s commands.” Bei yanked her to her feet then held her tightly against his chest. He kissed her hard before releasing her. “And for God’s sake, do as you are told.”
Releasing her, he stomped after his men and left the ambulance. Then he prayed to her God that she and their children would be safe. Unfortunately, every circuit in his body told him only the Meek were listening.
And acting behind the scenes to affect an outcome that favored them.
He raised his Lassiter.
The Humans and ETs on the highest levels of the blast furnace pointed to the dust cloud in the distance. The enemy was coming.
Chapter 25
Nell followed Doc and Davena Cabo down the ambulance ramp. The silver of the I-beams and catwalks of the mill seemed bright. The thud of the bombs exploding nearby caused the granite beneath her boots to tremble. Information flitted through her cerebral interface at such a fast rate the world slowed: the scream of a missile was a long whistle, the geysers in the distance sprouted in slow motion.
Aboard the Alliance flagship, Keyes reported three Scraptor dreadnaughts coming through the jump gate. Their allies reported firing upon the enemy but nothing pierced their shields.
The codes Keyes had used earlier were now useless.
Skaperian fighters exploded like fireworks overhead.
The Scraptors’ missiles found their targets nearly every time.
A rocket slammed into the towering blast furnace. Molten metal rained down. People screamed. Feet thundered on the catwalks.
Davena and Doc rushed toward the fallen.
Nell jogged after them, clutching her medical bag.
Davena waved her cinnamon-colored hands over a groaning, charred body at her feet.
No fermites answered her call.
Nell began the theme-song to Gilligan’s Island. The lyrics drained out of her head. She cried out for Bei.
Cyberspace ignored her attempts to send a message. Instead, it relayed the horrible scope of the war. Mechanic Smith and his followers had their brain cubes burned out. NDA washed down their bodies. They charged forward anyway.
The enemy dreadnaughts blew Alliance ships into shrapnel. Scraptor pinschers and bladed limbs tore Skaperians and Amarooks to pieces.
The Syn-En reported gremlins in their limbs. Lassiter charges fizzled. Projectiles jammed the Torps. Missiles exploded in their launchers.
Humanity’s tech was failing.
And it was all her fault. Nell knelt by a burned body. She wasn’t helpless, she could still do something. Her hands fumbled with the flap of her medical satchel. The contents dissolved in a twinkle of glitter.
The Meek had threatened to side with the Scraptors.
They had made good on their promise.
Bei’s shout bounced off the mill walls. “Evacuate the civilians and Nell!”
Doc dragged Davena away from a corpse. A ladder fell off the towering furnace. It slammed against Doc’s back. He crashed into his wife, bringing them both to the ground. Neither moved.
Nell stepped toward them.
Arms wrapped around her, lifting her from the ground.
Her mouth dried. Bei? She glanced down.
Brooklyn tossed her over his shoulder and sprinted for the ambulance ship.
The triage unit was empty.
No one had made it inside.
Humans and Plenipotans climbed and dropped from the twisted metal of the mill. They picked up bent rods and paving stones and rushed toward the approaching Scraptor Army. Bullets cut them down as soon as they cleared the structure.
Nell pounded on Brooklyn’s shoulder. She should be out there, helping.
He thundered up the ramp. It ground closed behind them.
The battle raged inside her head. The WA bandwidth included everyone’s pain, suffer
ing, and death—the Skaperians, the Humans, the Plenipotans, and the Syn-En.
Bei’s struggle came into sharp focus.
Rome fell beside him. Scraptor claws pierced his chest. Two made a wishbone of his legs.
Bei’s armor locked up before he could block a blow from the enemy. He fell down on one knee, swinging a machete and lopping off the legs of a nearby Scraptor. But the enemy swarmed him—snipping and stabbing.
His fatal errors flashed in her head. His pain suppressors malfunctioned.
Brooklyn tossed her onto a stretcher. “The ambulance will take you to safety.”
She tried to rise, but her body didn’t move.
The medic dove through the opening between the ramp and the shuttle, disappearing into the fray.
Nell was left alone.
Alone to live, with the knowledge that she could have prevented this.
All of it.
Perhaps, there was still time.
“You win.” Her fingers dug into the thin padding of the stretcher. “I’ll do it. I’ll alter enough women so you can all be reborn.”
The shuttle lifted effortlessly off the ground. The landing gear slid silently home.
“Did you hear me?”
The ship skimmed across the battlefield with no sign of stopping.
Chapter 26
The roar of battle faded from Nell’s head. The silence nearly crushed her. Was it too late? Had her surrender been rejected?
The air in the ambulance ship sparkled. Mary formed near the opening to the cockpit.
Christopher smirked from the foot of the stretchers by the ramp. “Now you understand our desperation.”
Nell shoved off the cot and stomped toward him. “I understand a lot I didn’t before.” She drilled her index finger into his chest. “I have three conditions before I agree to help you.”
“You’re hardly in a position to bargain.” Gloating, he folded his arms across his chest.
“I think I am.” Nell’s palms itched with the need to slap that smirk off his handsome face. The scum-ball had ruined the Sound of Music for her, forever. “We both know that I am the only one who can give you what you want. Yes, there might be another sometime in the future. But you’re running out of time. With the way you skewed the battle, there might not be another me. Ever.”
The bastards had screwed more than just her with their interference.
Christopher’s smile melted away.
Mary glided to Nell’s side. “What are your conditions?”
“First, you take none of your knowledge with you when your essence is transferred.” Nell didn’t know how she would accomplish it, but she had to try. She didn’t want to win this war only to lay the seeds for some superhuman versus ordinary human conflict later.
Christopher shrugged. “I will enjoy learning things as if they are new.”
Well, shoot. Nell had hoped that the condition would at least kick him in his ego.
Nodding, Mary also agreed to the terms. “The second?”
“The second, is that the women agree to carry the children. If they refuse, there’s no retribution against them.”
Christopher looked bored. Mary nodded.
Nell resurrected the idea from another movie, featuring another British actor. God help her if another Meek appeared. “Lastly, since you’re so good at resurrecting the dead, I want all of you to inhabit the fallen Scraptors then turn on the other Bug-uglies.”
If the Meek really wanted to join the Alliance then they, too, would need to get their hands bloody.
“And slay the lot of them?”
“No, this is to the fear, not the death.” Nell’s ears popped as the ship returned to the planet. “Let a hundred live. Let the survivors carry the tale of what went on here today. I want the Scraptor Army to be afraid of the buddy next to them. I want them to know what it is like to fear the traitors living and breathing among them.”
The Founders had opened the gates of Hell by starting this war. Now, Nell had made a deal with the Devil, and the Alliance stoked the fires to throw the enemy into the pit of eternal torment.
Christopher’s body became transparent. “And when will you start transforming likely vessels?”
“As soon as I land on the planet.” The bastards had given her a large selection to choose from. Nell would make certain none of them settled too closely together. She wouldn’t want a tribe of Meek incarnate to rise up. There might not be a starship captain to outsmart them.
“The bargain is accepted.” Christopher winked off the ambulance.
The ramp began to open.
Mary set her opaque hand on Nell’s forearm. “We are not all as ruthless as he.”
“Right. The Meek are only Human.” Some good. Some bad. Some Nell wanted to punch in the face.
“We turn the fermites over to you.” Mary began to twinkle. “Use them wisely.”
Nell snorted. Maybe if she ever met the wizard, she’d ask him for wisdom. Power slammed into her body and her back arched. Electricity hummed through her veins. Her batteries charged and her skin caught fire. A silver stream shot out of her fingertips.
The ladder pinning Doc and Davena to the ground melted into dust.
Doc pushed onto all fours. Davena levitated on a cloud of fermites. The atomic healers crept across the ground in a mist. Charred skin healed, broken bones knit back together, and Syn-En prostheses returned to normal functions.
Bei’s systems came online. Two hits from a Scraptor energy weapon restored his batteries. He caught an enemy pinscher and snapped it over his leg.
Rome leapt to his feet and swung his machete, detaching the helmet from the body.
Severed Scraptor limbs inched toward the closest bodies. The vanquished rose again.
Richmond leapt on the back of a red bodied one with pink legs.
The Scraptor threw her off and stabbed his comrade attacking Brooklyn. Both medics glanced at each other then shrugged.
The Meek had kept their promise.
Bei rallied his men. The Syn-En charged, fighting alongside the Meek-inhabited Scraptors. Even the Skaperians accepted the alliance without question.
Bombs whistled through the air.
Nell glanced up. The first transformed into a shower of rose petals. The second she returned to sender. The troop transport exploded like a piñata, raining chocolate candy instead of debris. Nell boosted her cerebral interface. She bounced through cyberspace, grabbed Keyes’s access codes, and rammed them down the throat of the dreadnaughts.
Iggy snapped at her heels, shredding the enemy’s com systems.
Nell found the fusion reactor controls. She squeezed them and watched the pressure build, and build, and build. Plasma burned through the containment. It would blow and take the warships with it. Red blossomed inside cyberspace. Hands yanked her back.
Damn it all, Nell Stafford. Keyes shook her finger. Don’t you know that if you die on that ship, your body follows.
Guess, I didn’t read that in the manual. Not that Nell had ever read a manual in her entire life.
Iggy’s sides heaved like bellows. I think I will like our new allies.
What new allies? Keyes glanced from the Amarook to Nell then back again.
Time for her to go. I’ll explain later. Maybe. Nell slammed back into her body. Her knees nearly buckled.
The tide of battle had receded over the hill.
Mechanic Smith and his followers waded into the thick of battle protected by their new armor. Shang’hai fought at their side.
Nell staggered after the army. The Syn-Ens and Skaperians could finish the battle. She’d just make sure no one else interfered and changed the ending.
Chapter 27
From the platform of his new star cruiser, Groat stared at the battlefield below. Every muscle in his body clenched beneath his armor. The Scraptors had been winning. The Syn-En had fallen before the new weapons and now…
Now this.
Before his eyes, the fallen Syn-En had healed a
nd risen. The Skaperians had glowed with an unnatural light and recovered stronger than ever from mortal wounds.
The battle was lost.
“Why are your men retreating?” Mopus gripped the railing along the platform. “Make them stand and fight.”
“Look!” On Groat’s right, Tridit pointed to the hill in the distance. Scraptors fled before the Human advance.
But the Humans weren’t alone.
Scraptors made up of mixed armor fought alongside the enemy.
Mopus hissed. “Traitors. You must kill the traitors.”
Bullets strafed the platform.
Squealing, Mopus retreated to the belly of the cruiser.
Tridit held his humanoid hands to his chest. Blood quickly soaked through his fingers. He fell to his knees. “I’m sorry, Fleet Commander. I have failed you.”
Groat knelt beside his friend and pressed against the wound. Where was a medic? There had to be one onboard. “You aren’t going anywhere. You haven’t avenged the insults you’ve suffered yet.”
Blood dripped from Tridit’s mandibles. “You’ll do it for me, won’t you?”
Groat pressed harder. “Stay with me.”
“Promise?” Tridit went limp and his eyestalks drooped.
“No. No!” Groat shook his second-in-command. “You have to be here for our plans.”
He needed someone to trust, to watch his back. He stared at his friend. Time counted down. A hoarse whisper jerked him back. Explosions drummed all around. Screams rent the air.
Below, the Syn-En and Skaperians stopped at the edge of the dale. The mismatched traitors herded the Scraptors onto the remaining troop transports.
“This is Mopus Argent, I am authorizing the destruction of all Scraptors on planet Plenipota.”
Groat threw his attention toward the stinky politico. With blood dripping from his fingers, he roared. “What do you mean the destruction of all Scraptors?”
Soft pops filled the air, like the crushing of insects beneath boots.
Bits of flesh and metal rained down onto the platform.
Tridit had disappeared.
Syn-En: Pillar World Page 21
