Ilox Saga 1: Eris Monroe: More Than Human

by Bruce Adams

  The kinetic field that protected Chol was still operational and the Orvod gestured for Eris to lean close to it so he could speak to her. She hesitantly did so and he leaned down to whisper near her head – the thin electromagnetic barrier was the only thing between her and the Vortex mercenary leader. She could see and hear him breathing but the ozone smell of the barrier was strong. Chol Cuxa whispered, “We’ll meet again, Eris…that I guarantee.” He smiled at Eris with bemusement on his face. She brought her assault rifle up and aimed directly at his head.

  “I can’t wait.” She glanced over where the two Evene concubines were still cowering and said nothing to them. She trotted away from Chol and moved towards T’sell and Eli.

  “Kizzara…are you there?” She tapped the side of her helmet. She was getting only static as a response. “Eli, is there something wrong with the comms?” She looked at him intently. She felt nothing inside. The fact that the Vortex leader was still breathing was not comforting to her.

  “Eris, I think that ship is jamming frequencies. Let’s get out of here now!” T’sell had been quiet but spoke up. “Captain, there are sentients coming here – I can sense them. We should head to the rally point.” T’sell, as usual, showed little emotion and Eris couldn’t fathom what she was thinking.

  “Right…let’s get out of here.” She let the last word trail off and began to run back the way they had come. The smoldering Heavy MEK’s lay scattered and broken, looming large in the single corridor that had led to the Vortex leader’s room. Just as they had infiltrated and come through the base, they retreated along the same path. The weapons fire surprised them when they heard it. It was coming from a distance. The metallic hallways were bare but acted to amplify sounds.

  “T’sell…Eli…can you tell what’s happening?” Eris was worried. Getting in had been fairly straightforward - getting out might be problematic. Eli had that far-away look in his eyes for a few moments and then cleared his throat.

  “There’s fighting between Vortex forces and what they are calling ‘bugs’. Here, I’ll show a clip from their security cams.” A small window opened on their helmet HUD’s and both T’sell and Eris witnessed what the Vortex mercenaries had been seeing.

  “Wait…those look like pictures I’ve seen of the Ilox!” Eris couldn’t quite believe what she was seeing. The Vortex mercenaries were out-numbered and losing. She didn’t feel pity for them, just a smug satisfaction that they were being wiped out – she couldn’t help herself.

  “Ilox? Aren’t they extinct…exterminated…decades ago?” Eli wasn’t sure it was real either…but the Vortex mercenaries were being killed by something.

  “If the Ilox are from that ship…we need to get out of here!” T’sell said.

  The trio quietly slipped past the Vortex mercenaries and their MEK’s with guidance from T’sell and some quick work from Eli’s machine controlling psionic power. Escaping the Vortex base wasn’t that hard as the mercenaries were fighting for their lives against a numerically superior force that were employing heavy weapons. They arrived on the surface of the dead moon close to where they had first arrived and ran as fast as they could to the rally point. With the stealth field active, the ship was normally invisible to all forms of electromagnetic spectra – which included human vision. However, the depressions on the surface where the gravitic repeller field stressed the black dust of the moon were obvious. Within five minutes they were back on board the Sparta. Kyle and Lt. Commander Malik were waiting just beyond the airlock. Kyle was visibly relieved that Eris seemed to be alright. Arnav also was like a brick wall, though he did visibly relax when he saw that she appeared unharmed.

  Eris spoke first as the ship rose from the dust and headed back into space. “Status of the alien ship?” She spoke in short, terse words. Malik replied quickly.

  “The alien vessel has taken up position in orbit around the moon. Small landing craft detached from the main ship and landed thirty-two minutes before you came onboard. The ship destroyed the moon’s defensive missile batteries with long range energy beam weapons.” Malik spoke with authority. “When we lost contact with you, I ordered Kizzara to land at the rally point and wait.” Eris had been walking the entire time that Malik had been speaking. By the time he was finished, they were on the bridge. Her crew looked at her expectantly. She scanned their faces before addressing them.

  “First, I want us out of this system. Let’s head to a neutral spot in the Fringe – I think somewhere in the Ganesha quadrant.”

  “What happened down there, Captain?” Kizzara’s tail was swishing furiously behind her.

  “I didn’t kill Chol Cuxa…in that sense, this mission was a failure.” She was tired but continued to stand in front of the galaxy map.

  “You tried your best, Captain,” Kyle attempted to assuage her feelings. Eris looked at Kyle before speaking again. His body language was protective. He still loved her. She would have to do something about that…and soon.

  “I suppose I could have waited until Eli had Chol’s protective field down, but I decided against that.” She paused and collected her thoughts. “He told me something…I don’t know if it’s true, but I have a gut feeling that it is. Many things make sense to me now. The Vortex leader told me that Tess Sahin was the person that gave the order to destroy the Ancient base on Domovik.” She let that sink in. Kyle had a disgusted look on his face. “It looks like Chol and his Vortex have a big fight on their hands…the enemy of my enemy is my friend.”

  “What are we going to do now, my friend?” asked T’sell quietly.

  “I’m going to talk to Admiral Hargrove and get his advice.”

  “What about Dominic Grey?” queried Arnav Malik, “Shouldn’t he be made aware of the situation?”

  “Oh, don’t worry; I’m going to give him an update, even though I don’t trust him. I think he’s been using us to further his own goals…whatever they are.” Eris sat down in the captain’s chair.

  “Kizzara, bring us about and lay in a course for Chronos system in the Ganesha Quadrant.”

  “Just so, Captain!” Kizzara punched in the destination as the crew went about the business of running the ship. As Sparta accelerated out of the gravity well of the nearby moon, Eris wondered if she had made the right decision. She would soon find out.

  This ends Eris Monroe More Than Human. The next installment of the Ilox Trilogy comes in the next book – Eris Monroe Rise of the Ilox.

  GALACTIC QUADRANTS