Countdown Amageddon (The Spiral Slayers Book 2)

by Rusty Williamson

  The Spiral Slayers had to attack the planet and destroy all its ships and weapons first because when the Blackship attacked the sun…it became…vulnerable. Therefore, it first had to take out anything that could attack it. It was the only reason that made sense.

  That had been the second thing that made no sense and…Honey Sucker had been the second thing Howard had said. The first Slayer action that made no sense had been why they destroyed civilizations on the way to the galactic center…where they were just going to make the central black hole explode which would destroy all of the galaxy’s civilizations anyway. And somehow he knew that the first thing Howard had said, ‘Paladin’ had something to do with this. However, what he did not know.

  And…that thing with the Larger Moon. No, not the Larger Moon, but the other side of the Larger Moon.

  Adamarus quickly walked past the four suited men and into the night and the blowing ash.

  ---

  Not all the staple ships were making their way back to the Blackship. At least one of them still chased Wicker and Leewood.

  Leewood flew at top speed 20 feet from the ground, dodging around the weathered hills and standing rock formations of the Badlands—the Badlands that led to the Glass Canyons.

  Leewood knew the Badlands and the Glass Canyons like the back of his hand—he had logged thousands of flight hours both training and then teaching in both areas. However, despite his knowledge, the staple ship was gaining on him.

  Wicker sat right behind Leewood and was on his com unit. “Keep those battleships away from Amular,” he shouted. “We may need them and having them attack the alien would just be suicidal. I don’t care what they do, just keep them clear of Amular.” He disconnected then was jerked to his right as Leewood swung the fighter between two rock formations. A green sheet of energy blew rocks from one of the formations right behind their fighter.

  “I’m keeping all dozen battleships—the ones from Echo Charlie Seven—well away from here. We may need them before this is done.”

  Behind them, the staple ship shot through the two rock formations and became visible. It immediately fired on them, but Leewood had reached the Glass Canyons and dove into one of the deep twisting ravines. The energy sheet just missed them, singeing the fighter’s tail.

  “We’re not going to make it, are we?” Wicker asked, straining to see behind them.

  “I have an idea,” Leewood said.

  Wicker saw the staple ship dive into the canyon behind them and fire, but Leewood turned a corner and Wicker lost sight of it. He turned forward, “Oh Maker,” he yelled as the fighter started jerking one way, then another, following the twisting canyon.

  The canyon thinned and got deeper, and Leewood dove into the depths then twisted around another sharp curve. “Hang on,” he said to Wicker. “I’ve got to allow him to get closer.”

  “Closer,” Wicker exclaimed. The president turned in time to see the staple ship diving behind them. Again, it fired and again Leewood turned a sharp corner, avoiding the shot, which hit the canyon wall right behind them.

  The canyon was now narrow and deep. Walls of rock climbed on both sides narrowing above them. They jerked around another curve and Wicker could see that ahead of them the canyon narrowed to a thin slit not large enough for either ship. Behind, the staple ship rounded the corner—it was very close now. It fired again and just before their ship crashed into the narrow section of the canyon, Leewood dove where the canyon went deeper…and wider…avoiding the shot.

  Leewood fired four missiles, two to the left and two to the right, then Leewood went vertical climbing, up a wide chimney.

  Behind them, the missiles exploded against the canyon walls shaking the fighter and hitting it with rocks. The canyon caved in…right on top of the staple ship.

  Leewood rocketed out of the vertical chimney and out of the canyon. The staple ship was no longer behind them. He performed a vertical landing about a mile away from the canyon and they watched and waited. Dirt and dust were still rising from the cave-in.

  “We got the bastard,” Wicker said.

  Leewood wasn’t so sure and continued to wait. After another minute, rocks and dirt erupted upward from the canyon.

  “Shit,” Leewood said.

  ---

  Adamarus got lost, but then spotted the tall building where they had gone to find Grace. It seemed an eternity ago. From this, he found the three main roads and was able to follow these back to the empty lot. His fighter was still there, though now it was covered in ash.

  He climbed aboard and automatically went through the pre-flight checklist. He had to blow a few of the vents free of ash, but after that, he lifted off with no problems.

  As he made orbit, he looked back at the wounded planet. The lava column they had seen to the south could be seen clearly now, but another volcanic eruption in the Southern hemisphere was far larger. In all, Adamarus counted over a dozen volcanic eruptions. It was a sad and sobering sight.

  Adamarus steered toward the Larger Moon.

  Chapter Eighteen – The Battle for Iceis

  “Sometimes meaningless and often unrelated events from the past have a habit of coming back around to haunt you…or, to deliver you. It’s always when you least expect it that these past irrelevancies return. They come from over your right shoulder while, what seems to be your fate, comes from over your left. It just depends on which way you turn your head.”

  President James Olson Wicker

  Personal Thoughts

  Source: The Archive

  T-Minus 0 Years

  The Glass Canyons…

  More rocks and dirt fountained into the sky and then the staple ship slowly rose from its grave. It rose to about 30 feet, then paused and started rotating slowly around as if…looking for them.

  Leewood frowned.

  Wicker, looking over his shoulder asked, “What’s it doing?”

  Leewood shook his head, “I have no idea.” It certainly didn’t need to rotate to scan the area for them. Then, Leewood noticed something. Dirt had been falling off of it as it rose but now he noticed smoke. He zoomed in. Its left prong was damaged—a small part of it had broken away from the edge. “We damaged it. Maybe it’s trying to protect that area.”

  They had not heard from any of their escort fighters since they had split up and had presumed the worst. However, at that moment one of their escorts flew out of a canyon a half mile away. The fighter evidently saw the staple ship because it immediately fired a missile, then put on its afterburners, racing for another canyon for cover.

  However, the staple ship had seen it. It spun around 180 degrees and fired a sheet of energy. The energy sheet closed the distance faster than the missile and struck. The fighter blew apart. However, to Leewood and Wicker’s surprise, the staple ship did another 180 before the fighter’s missile made contact with it. It hit the staple ship on the already damaged prong and exploded. The staple ship’s force field didn’t protect it and the lower side of the damaged prong was blown off.

  Leewood said, “I was wrong. Its force field is down. It wasn’t protecting the damaged area, it’s trying to protect its undamaged area. And, it can’t fire from the damaged side—did you see it spin around before it fired? Then it spun again to take the missile where it had already taken damage.”

  “But it still has teeth,” Wicker replied.

  “Only on the other side,” Leewood said.

  And that side was facing away. Leewood started firing both beam weapons and missiles at the alien, and at the same time, he lit the afterburners, throwing both men back in their seats and rocketed toward the alien.

  The alien dove behind a rock formation, avoiding Leewood’s fire.

  Still racing toward it, Leewood rose up so he could see beyond the formation. They could see the staple ship making a run for it—it hadn’t had time to turn around—the damaged side was still facing him. Leewood opened fire again and gave the fighter more power, keeping the pressure on.

  The staple s
hip ducked into a wide canyon again, barely avoiding Leewood’s weapons and Leewood followed it. “Got you,” he yelled and continued firing. Leewood’s maser cannon raked across its remaining prong, cutting a deep gash into its side. Then the alien dove into a deep fissure in the floor at the rim of the canyon, vanishing from sight.

  Leewood knew that fissure—it was a dead end. “Oh yes, got you now,” a wicked smile appeared on his face. He brought the fighter to an abrupt stop at the rim of the hole and hovered. They looked down. The staple ship could not be seen. Then Leewood saw part of it peek out from a lip 300 feet down where the fissure curved to the side. He fired and it quickly retreated under the lip.

  “Oh, shit,” Leewood said.

  “What’s wrong?” Wicker asked.

  “Well, we seem to be in a standoff,” he said. “It’s spun around, but it can’t fire at us as long as we can keep it pinned down there. However, if we try to leave, it will follow and nail us.”

  The staple ship peeked out, and repeatedly Leewood fired and it retreated.

  “Eventually,” Leewood said, “one of us will run out of fuel or weapons.”

  ---

  Adamarus had made his way to the far side of the Larger Moon and he was terrified by what he saw, which was…nothing. The moon’s surface was featureless, its craters buried by the dust kicked up by the continuous bombardment. If the Far Side base were also buried, he would never find it. Then the dust thinned out and features began to show through a little.

  The Far Side R&D base had been closed down for years and he prayed he could still find it and, find what he sought.

  Finally, he breathed a sigh of relief as the base came into view. It was only half buried in dust. He circled it and spotted the hangar he was looking for. Thankfully, there was room to set down next to it.

  He put on his helmet and went through the airlock then walked across the bleak surface. He searched for some way in, gave up and just drew his hand maser. Using it, he cut a hole in the outer door large enough for him to fit through. After squeezing though, he stood within the hangar, shining his hand light about.

  “No,” he uttered. The hangar was empty. It was not here.

  He closed his eyes and tilted his head back in utter despair. What had ever made him think that it would still be here? He opened his eyes and…there it was!

  Evidently, to get it out of the way, they had raised the old T-Fighter via hoists, pinning it to the ceiling. He wondered if that’s why the Star Walker was still here…they had forgotten it…out of sight, out of mind? Well, now he had to pray that the prototype asteroid aiming device he had tested all those years ago was still in the craft and still working.

  He lowered Star Walker and disconnected the hoists. Opening the hatch, he awkwardly climbed aboard and seated himself in the pilot’s seat. The prototype asteroid aiming and firing device was still there just as it had been when he had been the first one to actually fire the asteroids at a target—an honor given to him because he had been in charge of the effort to gather the thousands of asteroids.

  Now…would the damn antique still fly? He said a small prayer and turned the power on. The dark control panels came to life. He checked the fuel level…half-full, which was good enough.

  He looked over the aiming and firing controls, remembering how to use them. It had been simple and he felt confident he could still operate them. Now…if only this first proto-type could still actually aim and fire the asteroids.

  There was only one way to find out.

  ---

  The Blackship collected the remaining staple ships and then it slowly turned toward Iceis. Its four arms divided into eight, and then bowed out and forward, then inward again until their tips met. There, a brilliant speck of light appeared. Then the arms bowed outward causing the tips to spread apart and the speck of light grew larger, becoming a flat circle touching the tips of each arm. The flat circle ceased being flat and slowly began extending forward. At first, it seemed to struggle, then it shot forward, extending toward Iceis. The arms continued to open and the beam of energy’s diameter continued to grow.

  ---

  Both Loud Umbrella Ships had been hit by the Slayers' energy wave at Echo Charlie Seven. The one attached to Battle Group Three had been completely destroyed, but the other, the one carrying Bugs, had just been damaged and was in orbit around what remained of the shrinking gas giant. The Loud had finally finished repairing the ship. It rippled and vanished.

  It rippled into existence above Amular 300 miles away from the Blackship and immediately fired its most powerful weapon at the alien. However, the Loud weapon had no effect on the Blackship and the battle was swift and decisive.

  A single staple ship emerged from the Blackship and fired one energy sheet at the Umbrella ship. It cut a hole through the awning, which was followed by secondary explosions that traveled up the shaft. The huge Umbrella ship lost control and spiraled down toward the planet, on fire and trailing smoke. It fell into a decaying orbit. Finally, it hit the atmosphere and began to burn. Smoke trailed as it descended. The Loud must have had some control over its descent because it crashed in Hillcrest just miles from the dome of the old listening chamber.

  ---

  Brandon hollered, “It’s fired at the sun.”

  The Star Cannon’s sensors had picked up the beam—it was too thin to see. Technicians who had been trying to increase the Star Cannon’s output stopped what they were doing and gathered around the sensor display.

  “Any damage to Iceis yet?” one of them asked.

  “We’re still trying to locate the impact point,” Brandon answered.

  “There,” the sensor specialist said.

  On one screen, a dark red stain was spreading on the orange surface of Iceis. Around the stain, a swirling yellow vortex began to form.

  “Uh oh,” Brandon said.

  ---

  On the Hideaway Shipyards, they had also detected the Blackship’s beam striking Iceis. The beam had come very close to the Star Cannon, missing it by under 1,000 miles. The beam was impacting Iceis below the Star Cannon and they could see the red stain at the point of impact.

  From Hideaway’s perspective, the yellow vortex was rising up around the red stain—it was the beginnings of a solar eruption and it was headed directly for the Star Cannon.

  “Oh, God,” Evelyn said. “They’ve got to get out of there.” But even as she said it, she knew. Although the Star Cannon had ships that could be used, they could never outrun the plasma eruption coming at them.

  At their current locations, there was too much interference from Iceis to use the Loud’s Tachyon Com system. She got on the radio and attempted to contact Brandon.

  ---

  Knowing he had to be between the Blackship and the orbiting asteroids to target properly, Adamarus flew the T-Fighter away from the Larger Moon to a spot he deemed suitable.

  The Blackship’s arms had continued separating, the beam growing in size. The beam now had a diameter of about 200 miles.

  From memory, he reviewed the process needed to aim and fire the asteroids and got to work. He targeted the Blackship’s sphere toward its edge where the arms were joined, locked the point in, then selected 100 asteroids.

  ---

  Just inside the orbit of Serena, but above the elliptic plane, asteroids spun around Iceis at a respectable fraction of the speed of light. Grav-generators had been building up their speed for over 100 years. Now the grav-generators subtly changed the path of 100 of the iron-nickel mountains and angled them toward another set of grav-generators designed for targeting.

  ---

  Brandon appeared on the radio teleconference screen. “Hello, honey.”

  Evelyn was frantic, “Brandon, listen, you have to get out of there. There’s a solar eruption rising from the impact point.” She knew her transmission would take over a minute to get to him and his response would take another minute.

  Without yet hearing Evelyn’s words, Brandon continued, “I assume y
ou’re calling because you’ve seen the eruption.” He paused for a moment, lost for words. Finally, he said “I’m so sorry, my love. There’s nothing we can do.”

  Evelyn burst out, “No! No…there must be something.”

  Without hearing, Brandon had continued, “I love you with all my heart and I want you to know that I have no regrets…none at all. My life with you has been wonderful…” he paused, closed his eyes. He was receiving her transmission.

  She glanced over at the screen showing the rising solar eruption. It was approaching the Star Cannon. “No,” she squealed, “No…Brandon!” Tears ran down her face.

  On the com screen, a sad smile appeared on Brandon’s face, “Ah…yes, as I’ve said, we know. Always remember, my love…”

  She watched as the plasma engulfed the Star Cannon. A moment later, it exploded. She screamed and fell to the floor. Crying uncontrollably, she watched the teleconference screen as Brandon’s delayed transmission continued, “I have and always will love you with all my heart until the end of time.” He smiled. Everything jumped and Brandon’s expression changed. He looked to the left, but then the image turned to static.

  Evelyn sat on the floor and cried uncontrollably. Her Brandon, her husband and love for over 200 years, was dead.

  ---

  Closer to Amular and closer to the elliptic plane, secondary grav-generators fine-tuned the 100 asteroids toward their target. The 100 asteroids traveled in a straight line, each one 20 miles apart.

  ---

  Adamarus watched the Blackship. Its arms continued to bow outward, causing the beam’s width to increase. It was now thousands of miles in diameter.

  The whole thing looked impossible. A beam thousands of miles across simply appeared out of nowhere about 100 miles in front of the black sphere. It no longer touched the ends of the Blackship’s arms, although it was clear that the ends of the arms were controlling its size. It was as if the force coming from the ends of the arms pulling the width of the beam outward were slipping and the width of the beam could no longer quite keep up.