“Not really, no.”
“They want him.” Marcos nodded toward Michael. The Cilan began to cough, his breathing worsened.
“Go on,” Michael said.
“You know how it is, they don’t tell us much, but I heard. I-I only know that the materials, his body, they were…taken straight from one of them. They’ve been trying to control this device, an artifact. They need more of what he’s made of to control it completely. The device spools up in the presence of a few grams of the materials being inserted into it. I don’t know exactly,” Marcos said.
“A few grams of what, though? He’s made from alien materials—”
“His composition is special, built mostly from their skeletal remains they say. They were a race of some type of machines, some, uh, ruling class of aliens, or something.” The Cilan grimaced, pointing upward.
“What?” Vala shook her head.
“I don’t know, Vala, I don’t. I heard his structure is like a key to this artifact. They wanted him to control it, but you should be h-happy now…”
“Why?” Michael asked.
“Your problems might be o-over, for a little while, anyway. Hiring me was a last-ditch effort to bring you in. You two have killed some of the best, legends. N-no one else wants the…contract anymore,” the Cilan whispered, closing his eyes.
“What? Hey, buddy, wake up! Hey! Marcos!” Vala shook him.
“I-I only did it because of my brother, Vala. T-they kidnapped my nephew and niece, they forced m-me.” His voice faded as his eyes rolled back into his head.
“He’s gone,” Michael confirmed.
“Can we revive him?” Vala cut her eyes up at Michael.
“Not my specialty, nor yours. He’s lost a massive amount of blood, anyway,” he said.
“What’s he babbling about with the alien materials?”
Michael turned his back on the corpse without a word, heading back up the tunnel with Vala behind him.
“Hey, Mike, I asked you a question.”
“And I heard you. Give me a moment to process this.” They stopped at the exit of the cave. “First, we have one more to deal with,” he said, gesturing toward the trucks parked in the woods.
“I detect the truck idling, but no one else—”
Michael stepped in close. “There’s one more.” Michael flashed his green eyes and crouched low as Vala fanned away from him.
“If you say so.”
His coat flapped in the breeze as he stalked on all fours through tall grass just before the forest. He peered deep into the trees, observing one of the trucks still running. Inside was a young male who seemed panicked, his eyes wide as he panned around the vehicle. Every few seconds, he looked through a pair of binoculars.
“Probably told him to stay with the vehicle,” Michael whispered.
“Poor fella. Gotta give him a point for loyalty, minus a couple for brains,” she said.
“Yeah, you’d know all about that, wouldn’t you? Tromping off halfway across the world after me,” Michael said.
“Stop while you’re ahead.” she grinned.
Michael dipped his head. “bad joke. This is an opportunity for us though, maybe he can tell us something else.”
“Maybe, but he might have called in for backup already,” Vala replied.
“Did you hear what the Cilan said? There won’t be any more,” Michael said.
“You trust that?”
“You know him better than me, so do trust your pal, Marcos?” Michael beamed her with his eyes.
“He’s not my pal. I took over a mission he wasn’t in a position to take. I met up with him once or twice, that’s it. I don’t trust him any more than anyone else,” she said.
“Right. I’m not saying we should throw a party just yet, but I tend to believe someone’s last words,” he replied. Michael leapt into a tree, digging his massive talons and claws into the trunk as chips of bark flaked off. “We’ll discuss it later.”
“Be careful. I’ll shadow you from down here,” she said. Michael stopped, staring down at her for a moment clinging on. “What?” she asked.
“Nothing. You reminded me right now of the way you looked when we first met. Your hair, it’s purple, like the way you had it at the arcade.”
“It’s midnight blue, not purple, and I just changed it now,” she said from underneath the tree staring up at him.
“Must be the moonlight.” He sprang off, jumping from tree to tree into the darkness.
Michael aimed for the solid portions of the trunks to prevent swaying. Even though it was windy, it wasn’t worth the risk. He made it within seventy feet of the truck, glaring down at it, but this tree was different. The bark was softer, covered in moss, and some of the branches were rotted. Suddenly, his weight talons pierced through the bark, ripping off a large section of it. It plummeted to the ground and broke into several smaller pieces.
“Shit,” he whispered, rotating around the tree. He heard the truck’s transmission whine as it was thrown into drive.
“Mike!” Vala yelled, probing for a shot, but she was well out of range. She darted toward them as Michael dropped from the tree and scrambled toward the truck as it stalled, spinning tires in the morning dew.
“Come on!” the driver yelled cutting the wheel back and forth. He glanced up in the mirror as Michael charged toward him. “Go!” It caught traction and took off with Michael hurdling logs and ditches close behind. The truck was approaching the open field at full throttle, bouncing wildly as the driver bobbed around in the cab.
Michael approached near fifty miles an hour, closing in within twenty feet, but the truck was gaining speed on the open terrain, slowly pulling away. With every cybernetic ounce of power, he lunged forward, igniting his plasma blade in midair, swiping low at the vehicle’s rear tire. A loud popping noise erupted, followed by the squeaking of the rear shocks absorbing the truck’s weight as it bottomed out.
Michael rolled in the dirt several times, but bounced upright, staring at the truck as it spun completely around and stopped. Its harsh headlamps were beaming at Michael only twenty feet away. A cloud of dust drifted between them, Michael pointed his plasma saber at him. “Hands up and out of the vehicle now!” he ordered.
The door opened as a young man climbed out with his raised arms in the air.
“Slowly!” Vala yelled from far behind Michael, her gun trained on the young man as she moved forward. The driver shook his head and stepped away from the vehicle. “Can’t believe this.”
“Knees,” Michael said. The merc dropped to his knees, placing his hands behind his head. He gazed at Michael squinting, his mouth slowly opening.
“Never seen anything like me, have ya?” Michael asked.
“N-no.”
The young merc appeared to be in his mid-twenties, with fair skin and reddish hair. He wasn’t a stranger to the weight room and had a squared face with a few dozen freckles around his nose and blue eyes. Despite his recently acquired manly features, he still had a baby face.
“You called it in?” Michael asked.
“What?” the merc asked.
“For support. Did you call for additional support?” Michael asked.
“N-no, I was waiting for them,” he said with a faint British accent.
“Good, but I hope that’s not a lie, for your sake. You’re really new at this, aren’t you?” Michael asked.
“Y-yes. How did you know?”
“It’s all over your face, deer in the headlights.”
“This was only my third mission, so no, I don’t know anything either,” he said.
“Hmm. What’s your job?” Michael asked.
“Driver, of course. They hired me because I was a hit driver in London for three years,” he explained.
Michael glanced back at the forest. “Three years? You shoulda never parked so deep in the forest. Rookie mistake.”
“Not many forests in London, nor anywhere in England, for that matter.” He shifted his eyes away as M
ichael stared at him.
“We got ourselves a wise ass, huh?” Vala approached, glancing at the merc.
“Seems so.”
“Did you fall, Mike?” She snickered. Michael continued watching the merc.
“No, I did not fall. I rolled,” Michael snapped at her.
“So, you fell on purpose?” She smirked. Vala narrowed her eyes at the vehicle glancing inside the cab while aiming her gun at the merc. “You got any weapons on you?” she asked.
“Noo-pe,” he said.
She paused, glancing over at him. “What about in the truck?”
“Noo-pe.” He repeated. Vala shook her head at his response.
“I’m gonna search you. If you do stupid shit, you’ll take a dirt nap,” she said, patting him down with her free hand. Michael searched the vehicle, rummaging through cases of ammo, beer bottles, and MREs.
“See any weapons?” she asked.
“Noo-pe.” Michael replied, immediately covering his mouth.
“Stop. You knew he was annoying me with that shit and you join in?” she asked. Michael rose, staring at her. He flashed a Zip-Tie. “Look what I found.”
“Fine. Tie him up, funny guy.” She stared at him, her eyes displaying a hint of red in the pupils. Michael likely knew it was time to chill with the jokes. He’d been through so much over the years that laughter was sometimes his only medicine.
He needed something to lighten him up from time to time. Michael’s face didn’t display as many hints of emotion with his lower jaw replaced by a mechanized one, not to mention his eyes had no pupils. Vala relied on his body language and tone more than anything.
“So, you mean to tell me that after all that gunfire, yelling, then no communication from your allies for several long minutes, you still didn’t call in for support?” Michael grilled him.
“Again, no. My commander ordered me to stay put. He said he had a plan to lure you both into a trap. He mentioned you would be severely wounded or killed, enough to recover your body.”
Michael sighed. “Hmm. Well, I hate to tell you, but your commander was wrong… Wait.”
“What?” Vala stopped.
“The noise, what’s that?” Michael detected a strange sound within the truck, a clicking. “Shhhh.”
“Vala get—” She threw herself away from the truck as it exploded into a fiery blaze, hurling the merc’s scorched body sailing over Michael’s head.
“Mike?” Vala asked, peering through the flames toward him. He rolled in the dirt, putting out the fire on his jacket. Vala stood, backing away from the burning wreckage with her hand in front of her face.
“I’m fine! You? Any injuries?” He sprung up to his feet and hurried to Vala.
“Y-yeah. Good. What the hell?” she replied, glaring at the young merc’s burning corpse. Michael ushered her away from the debris back to their SUV with his arm around her, checking her for wounds. “He knew we’d come back to the truck, it was bait,” Michael said.
“Should have known. Ah, Marcos,” she said, glaring back toward the cave.
“We should get moving. Let’s just assume there is backup coming. He wouldn’t have known about it, anyway. Sounds like he didn’t know much about anything,” Michael said.
“Poor fella. He took the wrong gig,” Vala said.
They returned to the SUV parked in front of the house. Michael put his arm around Vala, pulling her in tightly to him. He pressed his head against hers. “You know, if you would have told me in my twenties that our thirties would be like this, I might not believe it.”
“Really? Such a mundane existence. You expected something more, exciting, right?” She smirked.
“Yeah.” Michael shook his head and opened the back door for Vala. “I’ll drive for a little bit,” he said, staring at her before she got in. He flashed one eye at her, brightening it over the other. It wasn’t exactly a wink, but it was the best he had.
She leaned in and kissed him on his chin. He closed his mouth, careful that his razor-sharp fangs didn’t snag her lip. He slumped his head, incapable of returning any of the affection. He panned away from her briefly.
“What?” she whispered.
“Just, you know,” he replied. She nodded slowly.
He put his arms around her, putting his forehead against hers for a moment. He squeezed her tightly as the wind whipped around them, howling through the forest and the abandoned house before them.
It would have been an eerie scene for most, but they were the monsters.
“Any guess about what Marcos said? You really believe it?” she asked.
“If I had to guess, I’d say he’s telling the truth. Somehow, this is tied in with what Keith called about, that artifact, but we’re being pulled from both directions, which makes me suspicious.”
“Why?”
“Keith said Lucas wanted you to steal that artifact. That splits us up as a team. That’s exactly what I would do because we’re too powerful together. Do you know how many we’ve killed now?” Michael asked.
She shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know. I’d say fifty, maybe sixty.”
“Seventy-six.”
“Uh, I try not to think about it, Mike,” Vala replied.
“Me too, but we’re killing droves of hired guns on both sides. Think about it, even in the beginning, they were probably sending top notch talent, so that’s a lot of mercs. Now they’re sending Cilans. Maybe the only way to get to me is through you, split us up.”
“Wait. You’re saying Lucas and Keith are in on it? That’s why they want me to go on that mission to split us up?” Vala said.
“I highly doubt Keith is, but at this point, all we can do is trust each other,” he said. Michael snapped over his shoulder, staring at the house. “Hey.” Michael nodded. There was a teenage girl standing in the door with long unkempt hair.
“What the?” Vala mumbled.
“I don’t know.”
“Well, hello there.” Vala waved. The girl didn’t reply. Her skin was so pale it appeared unhealthy. She was awkwardly tall and thin, looked around fourteen, possibly a recent victim of an adolescent growth spurt. She wore an old and faded baby blue dress with shoulder straps with no shoes and a silver tiara on her head.
“Another Cilan trick,” Michael growled.
“Nope, not this one, her bone structure is too underdeveloped. The procedure would kill a child or elderly person.”
The girl slowly strolled out toward them, then began skipping about like a small girl, humming a tune.
“Careful,” Michael warned, flashing his glowing green eyes. The girl stopped in place.
“It’s concerning to me that you’re indifferent to my appearance,” he said.
“Mike, stop,” Vala whispered.
“What?” he asked.
“Do you live here?” Vala asked.
The girl glanced over her shoulder. “Yep.”
“Where are your parents?” Vala quickly followed up. The girl shot them a grim glare, then dropped her head. “Gone.”
“Well, I’m sorry to hear that. And I’m sorry we bothered you,” Vala said.
“I watched it all.” Her voice sounded like a seven year-old versus a teenager.
“Um, what?” Vala asked.
“I watched you both. You killed those men. I saw it from my room,” she said.
“You didn’t see her in there?” Michael whispered.
“No, Mike, I was distracted.” Vala looked back at the girl. “Sweetheart, we apologize that you had to see that.”
“They shot at you first though,” the girl said.
“Yes,” Vala replied.
“It’s okay to fight back, that’s what my dad taught me,” she said.
“Vala. We have to go. Assuming that Cilan was lying and they called for backup, our presence will endanger this girl,” he said.
“If that’s true, then she’s already in danger,” she replied.
Vala raised her eyebrows. “What’s your name?”
> “Iris. My father named me,” she said.
“I like that. I’m Vala and this is Michael.”
Vala gazed at the wreath of flowers in front of the house. “Why don’t you come with us, at least ride with us a few exits just to get you away from here,” Vala suggested.
Michael snapped his head over at Vala.
“But I don’t know you,” she replied.
“Those men, it’s possible they’ll send more. Why don’t you let us get you a hotel for a few days until things blow over?” Vala asked. Iris glanced back at the house and gave it a good once over, then looked out in the forest where Michael and Vala had slain the mercenaries.
“So many have died out here.” Iris gazed out into the distance.
Vala studied her for a moment. “Why?”
“I don’t want to talk about it.” Iris dropped her head.
“Ok. This is only for a few days until things smooth over. I’m guessing you could come back after a little while,” Vala comforted.
Iris nodded her head in agreement, tiptoeing toward their SUV.
“No one else is in the house, right?” Vala asked.
Iris shook her head as Vala opened the back door. The girl ducked to pass by them. Vala could smell her strong body odor as she closed the door.
Michael pointed at her. “You know better,” he whispered.
“We brought this on her, the least we can do is get her away from here,” she said.
“You didn’t know she was in that house, neither will they,” he said.
“I was preoccupied with a Cilan,” she said.
“Story of my life,” he said.
Vala put her hands on her hips. “Really? Look, I would have found her inside if I was looking,” she said. Michael got inside the driver’s seat and rolled down the windows as Vala flopped into the backseat.
Michael spun around and stared at her. “I don’t frighten you in the slightest, do I?”
Iris shook her head. “Nothing does, not anymore,” she uttered in an eerie childlike voice. Michael paused, then turned around, throwing the SUV in gear before speeding off through the field. He merged on the freeway, donning his hooded jacket for concealment.
“Watch your speed, Mike,” Vala said.
“Got it.”
The partial nuclear fallout after the Star Rust war had produced some bizarre circumstances, and this appeared to be just another example. Whoever the girl was, her isolation would have been an anomaly in the world before the war, but not now. It was never quite the apocalypse modern fiction portrayed, but many state governments were forced to cut key funding such as child protective services.
Symphony of Descension Page 6
