by J. N. Chaney
I thought for a moment, watching one of the trilobites near the floor. I knew if we came any closer, it would react and attack without hesitation.
No, not attack, I reminded myself. They’re not animals. They don’t know us from a pile of leaves or a fallen tree. They’re just terraforming, like Dressler said.
I paused at the thought. “Doc,” I finally said, turning and drawing her attention. “What happens if we throw a rock and it hits, say, twenty meters away?”
“That’s difficult to know,” said replied. “I don’t have enough facts to make a determination.”
“I get that, but humor me, would you? Use that brain and hypothesize.”
She paused, but then nodded. “Very well. Let’s say you toss a rock and it lands twenty meters from our position. It’s unlikely that the impact will result in strong enough vibrations to draw the machines’ attention. I can’t be certain of anything, mind you, but that would be my best guess.”
“Okay, so we don’t do that,” I said, looking back at the machines. “We’ll just toss it close enough that they can hear it.”
“Less than five meters,” said Dressler.
I examined the two pillars ahead of us. If we continued, we’d walk right through the middle of them. “We’ll draw them to the left and right, between the other sets, exactly five meters from where they are.”
“That should work,” agreed Dressler.
“Except that we don’t have any rocks,” added Octavia. “What are we going to use? Our guns? Other equipment?”
She was right. We couldn’t spare any of our weapons, and we’d packed light for this trip. Most of the supplies was back on the ship. Well, all except our suits.
I turned to face Abigail and Octavia, popping the seal on my helmet.
Abigail dropped her mouth and reached out her hand at me. “Jace, don’t!”
I tapped my ear to let her know I could still hear her, even though I could no longer respond. Without the noise cancelling effect of the suit, I’d have to mind my voice, even at this distance. As Dressler had pointed out, we couldn’t afford to take a chance.
I tried to explain my plan with hand gestures.
Throw the helmet at the trilobites, wait for them to move, then head through the center. Everyone understood the gist of it.
Still, we needed a second object, which meant another helmet. Either that, or I had to start undressing. Luckily, Octavia was already on it.
She broke the seal on her neck and popped the helmet off, taking deep breaths of the open air. Her eyes furrowed, suggesting she was surprised by the smell. I noticed it, too, like oil and copper, a strange mix that was only barely detectable.
Could be the trilobites, but who the hell knows? I thought.
With the helmet in one hand and my pistol in the other, I walked to the left of the group, parallel to the line of pillars. Standing there, I shook the helmet at the others, indicating I was ready to throw.
Octavia arrived at her spot, raising her helmet to give her agreement.
Abigail stepped closer to me, concern all over her face, while Dressler only stood there with a vacant expression.
“Ready?” I mouthed, trying not to make a sound. I held up three fingers, then swung my helmet forward and backwards, full extensions.
Octavia nodded. “Three swings and throw. Got it,” she confirmed.
I swung the helmet forward and backwards, trying to build momentum. One, I counted, when my hand was fully extended.
“Gods,” whispered Abigail.
Two, I thought, giving another swing.
I pulled back with the helmet, simultaneously clenching my pistol in my other hand. If things went south, we’d be deep in a pile of trilobites, and I didn’t have enough bullets for all of them.
I swallowed, closing my throat as I brought the helmet forward. Three!
The helmet flew forward and away in a wide arc. Before it had time to land, I’d already started moving. As I’d expected, Octavia had done the same.
Mine hit the pillar first, right where the metal curved, forcing it to bounce and roll along the floor. In a single moment, the trilobites exploded into a scuttle, each of them moving at the exact same time, like they were one.
Octavia’s landed, too, and it drew the other side away. They fled to the helmet like a pack of hungry animals, desperate for a slab of fresh meat.
I motioned with my hand for everyone to move, and we ran towards the center, not caring about the sound our feet might make. We couldn’t afford to slow down, even for a second.
There was just one problem. “Wait!” snapped Abigail, her voice piercing my ear. I wanted to ask what the hell was so important, but I wasn’t the one with the noise canceling helmet. All I could do was look at her.
She pointed to the nearest pillar in our path, but I didn’t see anything.
“What is it?” asked Dressler.
“There’s one left,” said Abigail.
Octavia grabbed my arm and pointed to where my helmet had rolled. The trilobites were already on it, two of them in the process of mining the metal. We didn’t have time for any of this.
“Go,” I mouthed, pointing forward. I moved ahead without letting anyone argue otherwise. We had to keep going or all of this would be for nothing.
As I came closer, I managed to catch a glimpse of the trilobite. Abigail had been right. It was on the far side of the pillar, partially obscured by the back half. It was also too close for us to avoid, unless we—
The second group of trilobites caught my eye as they began their return. They would reach their pillar before the first group, which meant we couldn’t bank to our right side or risk drawing their attention.
It seemed we had no choice but to make a break for it or risk the ire of the entire swarm.
I dashed forward, the others at my side. We passed through the middle of the two columns a moment before the second group of trilobites arrived at their pillar. The lone trilobite remained in its place at first, much to my surprise, and it looked like we might make it through, until—
The trilobite turned towards us, moving its mandibles as it scuttled forward.
My eyes widened, and I raised my pistol steady in my hand.
The trilobite bolted, sweeping across the floor with unbridled attraction, coming straight at me. There was no choice to it now. I had to act.
“Run!” I barked, and then let loose the bullet.
I fired, hitting the machine’s center carapace. It staggered, but only for a second. Another shot, this one to its legs, snapping pieces of them and scattering metal into the air.
I squeezed the trigger one more time. With a loud crack, the bullet slammed into the trilobite, breaking through its shell and finally stopping the machine in its path.
But the fight had only just begun.
Sections of the two groups of trilobites reacted to the noise, moving from their positions on the columns to the floor.
I cursed and clenched my teeth. They’d be on us soon.
Abigail swung around as she ran and fired her rifle, spraying metal into the machines. The bullets scattered, since she had to keep looking forward and could hardly get a decent aim. Luckily, it was enough to snag a few, breaking or completely disabling them.
As soon as they stopped, the other machines raced to mount their bodies, instantly liquifying them. The delay only lasted a few seconds, but it was enough to give me a new plan of attack. “Take turns firing!” I shouted. “Octavia, go!”
The horde continued after us, only to be met with a barrage from Octavia’s rifle. She struck two in the legs—not enough to stop them—and a third in the eyes, which seemed to do the job.
As I anticipated, the army of trilobites gathered on top of their fallen comrade and consumed it, granting us a little extra time.
“Two hundred meters!” snapped Dressler. She fired her pistol, hitting one of the drones on her first attempt.
“Nice shot!” I told her, following it with my own.
The herd was gaining on us, even with the kills to slow them. If we didn’t find a way out of this soon, they’d overtake us before we managed to kill them all.
“One hundred fifty meters!” relayed Dressler, right as Abigail took her turn with the machines.
We passed pillars on both sides as we ran, each one covered with its own formation of trilobites. I was careful to lead the team far enough away from them to avoid calling too much attention, but I couldn’t account for everything. At one point, a few of them must have heard us moving, even at this distance, because they joined in on the chase, running at us from the side.
Octavia caught a glimpse before the rest of us, but rather than say anything, she opted for a more immediate response.
Her shot deflected off the floor, missing the trilobite at first, but then hit the machine’s rear half and flipped it over. Another bullet tore through its underbelly completely, causing its companion to go full cannibal on its ass.
“Eighty meters!” informed Dressler.
The wall was quickly coming into view, and soon I saw the break in it, a tall corridor leading to the target.
“Sixty!” yelled the doctor.
Abigail fired, clipping her target before having to reload. “I’m almost out!”
The horde drew closer. I slowed a little, letting all three girls get ahead of me. The nearest trilobite was on my heels, almost leaping at me. I fired at the floor behind me, dropping the machine in an instant. The mob assaulted and consumed the corpse so fast I hardly saw it.
“Thirty meters!” cried Dressler.
Something touched my heel as I came off the floor. The trilobites were right on us—right on me!
“Fuck!” I growled and fired my pistol into the nearest trilobite until my gun was empty.
The trilobite tumbled as my shots tore it apart, bouncing and tumbling towards us as the horde overtook it. I looked forward to see the opening in the wall directly ahead.
I reached out a hand to Dressler, snapping my fingers at her weapon. “Hand it over!”
She looked surprised at first, but did as I said.
I snatched the weapon. “We’ll hold them off while you flip that godsdamn switch!”
I holstered my own gun and proceeded to use hers to keep the slaughter going.
Dressler entered the corridor alongside Abigail, followed by Octavia, and then me. “Pull and fire!” I yelled, after we’d gone about ten meters. “Give them everything!”
I took a knee, while the two women flanked my sides. Together, we unleashed a swarm of death at the oncoming army of trilobites as they entered the opening.
The first line collapsed and tore apart as they met our line of sight, while the second wave took to consuming them. This gave us just enough time to target the next batch. It wouldn’t hold for long, though. We didn’t have the ammunition for it.
When the second line had fallen, I called for everyone to fall back another ten meters. Dressler had already disappeared into another compartment at the end of the hall. I couldn’t check the map, but I remembered the switch being straight ahead. If we were lucky, Dressler would already have found it.
I smirked as I fired the last remaining bullet in my magazine. Lucky was one way of putting it. “Octavia!” I shouted, raising my hand in the air. “I’m out!”
She reached down and grabbed her sidearm, then tossed it. “Make it count! That’s all you get!” She pressed the trigger on her rifle and continued firing.
I was quick to follow her example.
The trilobites edged their way forward, piling over one another like liquid metal waves in a small sea. I could hardly tell the dead from the living, they were so close together. Dissolved remains pooled beneath them as the others mined the bodies, and still they came at us.
I tightened my left hand around my right, trying to steady my aim, making every remaining shot count.
“I’m out!” cried Octavia.
“Fall back!” I ordered.
Octavia threw her rifle into the trilobites to slow them, but soon retreated to the rear. Abigail stayed a few seconds longer until her magazine emptied, then followed with a weapon toss.
With only me to hold them back, the trilobites advanced much faster.
“Come on, Jace!” shouted Abigail from behind me.
I got to my feet and shuffled backwards, still firing. The horde drew closer, barely slowing as I managed to tag two of them.
I turned and bolted for the rear, the machines at my heels. We had seconds, maybe, before it was all over.
Before we were dead.
Out of bullets, I tossed the pistol to my side. I removed my gloves and tossed those, too. If I could strip naked, I’d give them the rest of the suit, but there was nothing left to give. Nothing but my other godsdamn pistol. The same one I’d carried for over a decade.
To hell with that, I thought.
Ahead of me, Abigail was pulling her helmet off. She threw it over my head and into the horde. I heard the visor shatter as it landed, followed by mechanical noises I recognized as the trilobites’ liquidation process.
“Get inside the fucking room!” I shouted, waving my hand at the two women.
Their eyes both went wide as I drew closer, and together they ran ahead and into the next compartment.
At the same time, I felt a tug on my boot. I didn’t have to look to see what it was.
Godsdammit, I thought.
As the plastic material of my boot melted, I felt the exposed air touch my skin. I jerked my foot free of the trilobite’s grip, ripping the material from my heel as half of it melted away.
The grab caused me to lean forward, losing my footing in the process. I felt my sense of time slow as I began to fall, the floor coming at me with unavoidable speed. At the same time, the horde was closing in, soon to overtake me. I wouldn’t be able to move or pick myself up in time to get away.
This was the end.
I slammed into the floor and slid, shielding my face with my hands and forearms. I heard a scream in the distance, knowing it was Abigail. I rolled from the momentum, allowing me to see the thing that was about to kill me.
The trilobites rushed over my legs, one of them stopping on my chest. Its forehead opened, revealing a small tube, while its underbelly began to glow.
I clenched my jaw, preparing for the inevitable. After all my work and preparation, I’d failed, and it hadn’t been the Union or the Sarkonians, but a group of automated machines. Death by trilobites, the tombstone would say. What a shitty way to go.
No, not like this. I refused be killed this easily, not by a glorified garbage can.
I grabbed hold of the trilobite and tried to pry it from my suit, but the machine had a firm grip on me. It was exactly the same as before, when Petra had lost her arm. The liquification would follow in a moment, and then I’d be gone for sure.
But then something happened. The light on its forehead flickered. It dimmed completely, going dark in seconds. The machine hunched on its legs, although its grip was still too tight to pry.
The other trilobites did the same, all of them shutting down at once. I took this as a sign that I should get up and run, but the weight of the trilobite on my chest made doing so difficult. I tried lifting it with my hands, but it refused to let go of my suit. Instead, I kicked the floor and pushed myself backwards, getting as far from the horde as possible, just in case this was all a fluke.
Abigail and Octavia were by my side again in moments, both of them taking one of my arms and helping me stand. We hustled quickly to the end of the hallway, the trilobite still on my chest, and we moved into the next room.
Dressler was standing at a terminal, a curious, surprised look on her face when she saw us. “I don’t suppose I need to ask if it worked.”
All three of us were breathing heavily. “Not a moment too soon, Doc,” I managed to say, looking down at the trilobite, whose tube was sticking out mere centimeters from my chin. “Now, if you don’t mind, I could use a
n extra set of hands over here.”
EIGHTEEN
“What did you find?” I asked as Dressler ripped my suit open, cutting around the trilobite, which I held in place a few centimeters from my chest.
“Aside from the controls?” she asked, not looking up at me as she continued. “I didn’t have time to browse the system.”
“Well, you have time now,” said Octavia.
Dressler cut the final piece of my suit, freeing the machine and fully exposing my second layer of clothes. “Hardly. The only way to break the connection was to power the entire system off.”
I tossed the trilobite to my side, letting it clatter and slide into the nearby wall. “Why the hell did you do that?”
She gave me a condescending look.
“Yeah, fine,” I relented. “Any chance you can get it back online?”
“Not without reactivating the machines,” she said, glancing at the immobilized trilobite. “Normally, I would have searched for the deactivation switch inside the system, but I had to act quickly, which meant cutting the power to the entire system.”
“If you cut power, why are the lights still on?” asked Abigail.
“Different system,” replied the doctor. “The trilobite network is self-contained. I suspect that’s what this facility is.” She motioned to the entire room in a broad sweep of her hand.
“There has to be a way,” said Octavia.
“Not unless you know the layout of this U.I., not to mention the necessary menu path to deactivate every last trilobite on the network,” said Dressler, raising her eye.
“I can’t say I do,” said Octavia.
“As I thought,” said Dressler. She turned to me. “I believe our only recourse is to return to Gaia. Sigmond may have found a way to reactivate her.”
“You’re the only one who still has a helmet,” said Abigail, nodding at her. “Call Alphonse and see what he says.”
“Do it on the way,” I told her, taking a step towards the exit.
“Agreed,” said Octavia. “I’ve had my fill of this place.”
“You said it,” said Abigail.
I walked to the hallway to see a mound of motionless trilobites in the center. The pile extended across a third of the corridor, which meant we’d have to climb our way over them to get out.
