by James Wisher
The balcony creaked. In slow motion the monster fell through the floor. The crash of its landing shook the mansion. Marcus ran down to the end of the damaged balcony. Herc stood in the doorway waiting for more instructions. The monster struggled to free itself from the debris of the balcony.
“Herc! Hold that thing down.” Marcus pointed at the Void monster.
Herc plodded over to grapple with the heavily armed monster. They needed to hurry. He doubted a loader bot would last long with that Void monster.
Marcus studied the debris and shook his head, nothing but broken, jagged metal pointing up at him. No way could they get down in one piece. He ran back to the other end of the hall.
Iaka stuck her head out as he passed. “What’s going on?”
“I set Herc to wrestling with that thing. We need to find a way downstairs before it tears my loader apart.”
Marcus looked down the hole. The floor had collapsed and made rough, uneven set of steps. Not ideal, but he thought they could manage it without killing themselves.
Marcus motioned Iaka over. She joined him beside the hole still holding the kid.
“I’ll go down first,” he said. “You hand me the kid then follow, okay?”
Marcus didn’t waste time waiting for a reply. He climbed down to the first step, tested it, and when he was sure it would hold continued down. He repeated the process three more times before reaching the first floor. In the entryway the sounds of metal on metal reached him. The monster hadn’t destroyed Herc yet, so they had a little time. He reached up and Iaka lowered the kid down to him she, didn’t weigh much.
When Iaka had joined them he handed her the kid and they ducked through the nearest door. On the other side they found a hall that ran in the direction they wanted to go. At the far end a door hung askew. They ran down the hall and Marcus paused at the end to kick the door free of its hinges. On the other side, a few feet from them, Herc and the Void monster wrestled on the floor. One of Herc’s arms dangled, useless, form its shoulder. The robot used its weight to bear the monster to the floor, but it didn’t look like it would last much longer.
Marcus picked his way through the rubble from the balcony, Iaka a step behind. They reached the hanger doors. Marcus herded Iaka and the kid ahead of him and they ran toward the ship followed by a grating shriek of tearing steel. He risked a glance over his shoulder and saw the Void monster hurl the remains of his loader aside. Marcus shook his head and ran up the ramp. He’d always liked that robot.
Marcus was halfway up the ramp when Iaka hit the switch to raise it. He motioned her to keep going and ran for the cockpit. Iaka ducked into her room with the kid. He kept going, felt the hum of the engines and smiled. Thank you Solomon, that would save him a few minutes. He reached the cockpit door and a blast rocked the ship. He slipped into the cockpit and dropped into his chair.
“What the hell is that thing?” Solomon sounded twice as frantic as Marcus felt. “That one blast knocked ten percent off our shields.”
“I don’t know what it is, and unless you want to go ask I think we should leave. Can you get the hanger door open?”
Another blast rocked the ship. Solomon pressed a button and the hanger doors opened. Atmosphere rushed out along with everything not nailed down in the mansion. Marcus lifted off and backed out of the hanger. The moment they cleared the door he shot away from the mansion.
“Scanners show that thing got sucked out. It’s floating around out there.”
Marcus grinned and looped the star around. Payback time. “Lock the guns on him.”
Solomon typed and a moment later the targeting computer beeped. Marcus squeezed the firing stud. Bolts of crimson energy struck the monster. The first two deflected off its shield, but the third and forth punched through and blew holes through it big enough for Marcus’s head to fit through.
“No life signs, it’s dead.” Marcus and Solomon shared a high five.
“Grab it with the tractor beam and reel it in. I bet Dra’Kor would like to have a look.”
“I’d like to have a look at it.” Solomon snagged the now dead monster and pulled it in close. “That thing had a shield strong enough to deflect two shots from our cannons. It must have a wicked power core.”
Marcus activated the hyperdrive and they shot off to rendezvous with the first councilor.
***
Councilor Tille’s reunion with her daughter had been bitter sweet. Marcus hadn’t enjoyed telling the councilor the rest of her family had been killed. Betrayer or not no one should have to be told that most of her family was dead. Marcus, Solomon, and Iaka joined Dra’Kor in the med-bay of the Vencar warship. The remains of the Void monster lay on a steel table.
“I’m impressed the three of you defeated a Void knight,” Dra’Kor said.
Inside the armor the Void knight looked like a cyberneticly enhance humanoid, wires and circuits wove through his flesh like inorganic nerves. Marcus had blown most of his internal organs to bits, but the head remained intact.
Marcus frowned at the remains. “Was this guy even alive in there?”
“More or less.” Dra’Kor took a laser scalpel and sliced the flesh away from the mask. “The Children of the Void like to use a living being as a basis to build these monstrosities even if little of the original being remains.”
Dra’Kor pulled the mask away with a wet, sucking sound, and set it on a nearby table. The first councilor studied the inside of the mask and shook his head. The man on the table drew Marcus’s attention. His face looked human. He had a black mark on his neck. Marcus pulled his head to the side. The black mark was a one the last of a string of numbers tattooed to the dead man’s neck.
“Solomon, write these numbers down.”
Solomon pulled himself away from studying the intricate design of the mask and came over beside Marcus. He entered the numbers in his data slate and Marcus let the man’s head fall back to its original position.
“What do you make of those?” Marcus asked.
Solomon shook his head. “I’ll do a hypernet search and see what comes up.”
“It’s an abomination!” Dra’Kor looked as upset as Marcus had ever seen him. “The mask is the biggest insult. It’s based on our technology.”
“How could that be?” Iaka asked. “I thought no one had access to your tech.”
Dra’Kor sighed. “We’ve known of this group for some time. A renegade Vencar named Sar’Ken founded the group. He was a genius, but felt too constrained by outlaws. The enforcers caught Sar’Ken performing experiments designed to extend life to an unnatural length, among other things. When the authorities attempted to arrest him he fled, killing several Vencar in the process. Sar’Ken is known on Vencar Prime as the most heinous criminal in our history.”
“When was this?” Iaka asked.
“Six hundred years ago. We’ve heard rumors now and then about him. One of those rumors said he formed a group of like-minded people and named their group The Children of the Void. He cast off his Vencar name and took the name Voidwalker. The black masks are an insult to those of us forced by deformity to wear these silver masks.”
“He must be dead by now.” Marcus stepped closer.
Dra’Kor shook his head. “There are many ways at his disposal to extend his life as long as he wished.”
“Marcus!” Solomon hurried over to join them. “This guy’s from Earth. Those numbers are prison markings.”
“How the hell does a prisoner from Earth end up like this way out here?”
“The Void must have gained a foothold on your planet,” Dra’kor said.
“That’s what the director offered them in exchange for lengthening his life,” Iaka said. “That’s what David stumbled across. Director McDonald sold out the Earth for eternal life. No wonder they wanted David dead. If anyone found out it would be the end of the director.”
“We need to get to Earth and find out what’s going on,” Marcus said.
“Why?” Solomon asked.
; “What?”
“Why are we getting mixed up in this? I know why we saved Iaka and Dra’Kor, but Earth Force has done nothing besides give us grief.”
Marcus put a hand on Solomon’s shoulder. He understood where his friend was coming from, hell he even agreed, but he couldn’t let it go. “I don’t give a flaming crap about Earth Force, but do you imagine the Void will be content to take Earth and leave it at that? Once they finish with Earth they’ll have millions of soldiers to send out into the galaxy to raise hell, most likely starting with Mars. If we can end it on Earth we need to. Are you with me?”
Solomon sighed. “Of course I am. I just wanted to know why.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Marcus, Solomon, and Iaka boarded the star and powered the engines up. Marcus spun her around and flew out the docking bay. The star measured a good two hundred and fifty feet long, but she looked like a speck compared to the massive warship. When they’d flown a safe distance from the warship Marcus activated the hyperdrive.
They exited hyperspace well out from the early warning beacons set around Pluto. Marcus had offered to make a scouting run to Earth space. He wanted to do a long range scan of the system and contact Vlad. If anyone could tell him what happened on Earth the old man could. He had agents everywhere.
“Solomon you want to handle the scan while I call Vlad?”
“Sure.” Solomon went to work.
“What should I do?” Iaka sounded eager to help.
“Watch the short range scanners. I don’t want to get caught by surprise.”
Marcus left his friends to their tasks and typed in Vlad’s comm number. He used the personal contact number Vlad gave him rather than the one that went to the shop.
It didn’t take long for the familiar lined face to fill the screen. “Marcus, I’m not surprised you called.”
Marcus raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”
“The system’s gone to shit, and if I’ve learned anything it’s where there’s trouble you’ll show up sooner rather than later. Where are you, my boy? We need to have a long talk.”
“We’re half a lightyear out from the early warning beacons. I’m not sure I can risk coming to Mars.”
“Definitely not,” Solomon looked up from his monitor. “One of those big, black, Void ships is in orbit around the planet.”
“Don’t worry,” Vlad said. “I’m not on Mars. Give me your position and I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
Marcus rattled off the coordinates and disconnected. He turned to Solomon. “Is it the same as the ships that attacked the asteroid?”
“Yeah, I don’t know if it’s one of those ships, but the specs look about the same. There’re two more above Earth. It’s weird they’re just floating there next to four destroyers and ten defense satellites. No one’s shooting.”
“Any damage to the Earth Force ships?” Iaka asked.
“Not a scratch. What are they waiting for?”
Marcus shook his head. They had too many questions and not enough information. He flew the ship a comfortable distance from the coordinates he’d sent Vlad. He trusted the old gangster, but if the transmission got intercepted he didn’t want to be where they expected him.
***
Vlad’s shuttle emerged from hyperspace two hours after they finished talking. As Marcus expected it appeared well away from the coordinates he provided. A couple minutes of maneuvering and the two ships locked together, their airlocks connected by a boarding tube. Since Vlad’s ship was three times the size of the star and much more comfortable the three of them crossed over.
The airlock cycled and on the other side Vlad stood waiting. Beside him waited his wife, Anna, an elegant, silver haired woman in her mid sixties and a young man carrying a pair of blasters and a vibro-blade could only be Tommy. Before Marcus left the business he and Tommy had torn up their share of bars.
Marcus grinned. “Hi, old man.” He and Vlad shared a hug.
He had barely stepped away when Anna took Vlad’s place. Marcus sighed. Far too much time had passed since he hugged the woman he considered his second mother.
Anna stepped back and looked him over with a critical eye. “You’re too thin. You don’t eat enough.”
Marcus’s grin broadened into a full smile. “Skinny guys make smaller targets. I’ve missed you Anna.”
Anna turned an ice blue eye on Iaka. “Who’s this then?”
Marcus managed not to wince. Please don’t let her ask when we’re getting married. “This is Iaka Kazumi. She’s a scientist and part time spy. Iaka this is Anna Valcore.”
The two women sized each other up and Marcus moved to a safe distance. He walked over to Tommy and they bumped fists. “Long time, Bro,” Tommy said.
“Yeah, I missed you last time. Shooting my way off Mars wasn’t the same without you.”
Tommy grinned. “Roland told me about it. You sure got a knack for getting in trouble.”
“I prefer to think I have a knack for getting out of trouble.” They laughed together and that felt good.
Solomon cleared his throat. Marcus turned and saw the pained look on his friend’s face. No doubt Solomon felt uncomfortable with so many people around. They needed to move things along.
“So,” Marcus said. “What’s the word?”
The warm, father figure melted away and the cold blooded killer Vlad emerged. “Come with me.”
Anna placed a hand on his shoulder and whispered. “I like her, Marcus.” She headed toward the cockpit.
Marcus and the others followed Vlad in the opposite direction. If he remembered right the passage Vlad took them down led to the lounge. The door slid open and revealed four bedraggled figures in rumpled, slept in cloths. Or to the prison, Marcus added to himself. He recognized two of the inmates right away. The nice looking blond was Celine Solace and the queasy one was Adam Wright. Marcus had trouble forgetting people that tried to kill him, though the list had grown over the years. The other two he didn’t recognize, a slim, fit young man and a big guy in a suit a size too small.
Marcus turned to Vlad. “Can I borrow your blaster? I need to shoot at least two of them.”
Vlad chuckled and patted Marcus’s shoulder. “You need to listen to them first. What they’re about to tell you, astonishing as it sounds, I believe to be the truth.”
Marcus raised an eyebrow. “I’m all ears. After I’m done listening can I at least shoot Adam?”
“We’ll see.” Vlad pointed at the younger man and beckoned him over. The kid looked like he’d been through the wringer. “Marcus, let me introduce Oliver MacDonald.”
Iaka pulled Marcus aside and punched Oliver square in the face. “You son of a bitch! You sold out your home planet, your entire species, because you were afraid to die. I should beat you to death right here.”
The big guy started to get up, Marcus guessed he had to be Oliver’s bodyguard, but a glare from Vlad sat him back down. Iaka got ready to kick him, but Marcus stepped in. “Let’s hear what he has to say before you beat him unconscious.”
Iaka shot the bleeding young man a fierce glare. “Fine, but I’m not finished with him.”
“I have no problem with that.” Marcus turned to Oliver. “Whatever you have to say better be good. I doubt I could stop her if she decided to kill you.”
Oliver wiped blood from his nose on his shirt sleeve. “Nothing that’s happened since I first heard of you people, especially her, has been good. The situation has deteriorated from not good to horrible.”
Oliver told them everything that had happened since his failed attempt to gain access to the Vencar technology. If the result hadn’t been the potential end of his home world Marcus would have found Oliver’s problems entertaining. As it was the thought of the high and mighty Oliver MacDonald running for his life brought a smile to Marcus’s lips.
When he finished Marcus asked, “So how did you enjoy running for your life?”
Oliver’s jaw clenched and Marcus grinned. “About as much as you did I expect.
If you’re finished reveling in my misery perhaps we can move on to more important matters.”
Marcus looked at Iaka. “Are you done reveling in his misery?”
She smiled. “For the moment.”
“Solomon, how about you?”
Solomon stared at him for an uncomprehending moment then blinked. “Whatever. I need to get into the Earth Force network. I bet they’re using a variation of that code I found when we rescued Iaka. They’d have to expand it of course, but if the basic programming in the same I might be able to strip it out like I did with the satellites.”
Adam managed to gain his feet and move over closer. “If you can do that we can take back control of the ships and planetary defenses.”
Solomon nodded. “I really need to see the code. If it’s different the process will take a lot more time.”
“What about the council?” Oliver cut in before the discussion became too technical. “Can they offer us any support?”
“No,” Marcus said. “The Void attacked the asteroid about the same time as they made their move on Earth. They seems to have a gift for finding traitors.”
“So we’re on our own? Just this little group against the resources and advanced technology of the Children of the Void.” Oliver sat in one of the chairs and shook his head. “We’re doomed.”
“Let me get in touch with Dra’Kor. He seemed willing to help. Don’t expect a Vencar war fleet, but anything they could offer would help.”
“I can make some calls as well,” Vlad said. “I know people on Earth won’t want these people taking over. It’s bad for business.”
“Good. What’s their weakness?” Marcus crouched down in front of Oliver. “Where do we hit them to do the most damage?”
Oliver looked up and Marcus thought he saw a glimmer of hope in the tired brown eyes. “There are two things we need to do. Clear the virus from our network and kill Voidwalker. If our ships in orbit can counterattack and the enemy leader is killed we might have a chance.”
