Earth Fire (Earthrise Book 4)

by Daniel Arenson

  As they ate, Lailani spoke of the Ghost Fleet, of studying it from the Oort Cloud, of tracking down its location behind the Cat's Eye Nebula. She spoke of thousands of alien warships, undefeated in battle, an armada that could defeat the marauders, that could save humanity.

  "The marauders won't exterminate us," Lailani said. "They want to enslave us. To breed us like cattle for food. But we'll find the Ghost Fleet. And we will defeat them."

  As Marco listened, he thought of the girl he had seen in Haven, the one with the kabuki mask.

  Ghosts, he thought, a chill running through his bones.

  For a moment, they were all silent, lost in their thoughts.

  "You know what we need?" Addy finally said. "A name."

  "We have names," Marco said.

  "We do, individually," Addy said. "But our team needs a name. We're not the Human Defense Force anymore, not really. Ben-Ari, Kemi, and Noodles were stripped of their ranks. Everyone else here is a veteran. So we need a name. A superhero-team name."

  "The Fellowship of the Ring!" said Noodles.

  "Handsome Marco and the Fab Five," Marco suggested.

  "The Little Rascals Plus Addy," Lailani said. "Given that Addy is the only one who's a giant."

  Addy rolled her eyes. "Your names are all stupid. We need a real name. How about: The Alien Asskickers."

  They all groaned.

  "What?" Addy bristled. "The Alien Asskickers is a good name!"

  As they were tossing lasagna containers at her, Ben-Ari spoke softly. "The Dragons. Our name back at basic training."

  They turned toward their captain. They nodded, one by one.

  "Not bad," Addy said. "Not as good as Alien Asskickers, but I could live with it."

  Marco raised his cup. "To the Dragons!"

  They all raised their cups of water. "To the Dragons!"

  As their cups were raised, Marco felt that something important, something almost holy was happening here, even among all the devastation and fall of humanity. In despair, they found hope. In darkness, they found light.

  I thought that boot camp would be the darkest days of my life, Marco thought. But there I forged my greatest friendships. And when I fell into shadows, when I was lost, they pulled me back into the light. He smiled, eyes damp. I'm home again.

  In the silence, Noodles gave a sudden loud sniff. His glasses fogged up, and tears rolled down his cheeks.

  "Noodles!" Addy said. "Are you okay? Did you lose your retainer again?"

  Noodles wiped his eyes. "It's not that."

  Marco patted the young man's shoulder. He remembered Noodles back from boot camp. The boy had come to Fort Djemila scared out of his wits, his limbs so thin and wobbly the others had called him Noodles. Scrawny, half-blind, and constantly trembling, Noodles had spent his time apart from the others, jumping at his own shadow. Marco, himself studious and awkward, had seemed like an action hero in comparison. Noodles had lasted only several weeks at boot camp, unable to complete any obstacle course, not or even do a single push-up. After Ben-Ari had dismissed the boy, Marco hadn't seen him until now.

  "It's all right, Noodles," Marco said. "You're one of us now. You deserve to be here."

  Tears were still rolling down his cheeks. "I never thought I'd be one of you. Not truly. Not after what happened back at boot camp." Noodles looked at them one by one. "I always thought you were heroes. True heroes. The brave soldiers who invaded Abaddon, who defeated the scum. Who saved the world. And I couldn't be there with you. I couldn't even finish my training. I spent the war behind a computer monitor. For so many years, I hid from the world. Over and over, I read fantasy novels about brave heroes—knights, elves, dwarves, dragon-slayers. But you are all true heroes, heroes in real life. And what we're about to do—this quest to find this fleet—it's like something from the stories. But it's real. And for the first time, I'm not just reading about it. I'm here with you." Noodles removed his glasses and squared his shoulders, and for a moment, he stood as tall and noble as any soldier. He saluted. "I'm proud to be here. I won't let you down."

  Addy rose from her seat, walked around the table, and kissed Noodles' cheek. "We're glad to have you."

  Noodles blushed. "Aw, shucks. Kissed by the maiden fair! Now I'm truly a hero."

  "I'm no damsel to save," Addy said. "I'm a warrior, and I'll fight by your side." She turned toward the rest of them. "I'm proud to be a Dragon. We'll find this fleet, and—"

  A shout rose from outside the ship.

  Gunfire blazed.

  They all froze.

  "Kemi," Marco whispered.

  They grabbed their weapons. They ran.

  Marco led the way. He rushed down the corridor of the Saint Brendan, burst out of the airlock, and leaped into the cave.

  Terror shattered him like a shock wave.

  Marauders. Dozens of marauders filled the cave. One of the aliens, larger than the others, seemed fused of two smaller aliens, a twisted conjoined twin with two faces and a dozen legs. It was busy moving its two front legs, weaving a cocoon around a human figure. Marco glimpsed black curls poking out of the web.

  "Kemi!" he shouted and fired his gun.

  The other Dragons burst out from the Saint Brendan behind them.

  "Fuck, it's a goddamn alien army!" Addy shouted, cocked her assault rifle, and sprayed bullets.

  "Kemi, God!" Noodles shouted, running toward her.

  "Wait!" Marco shouted at him. The young soldier was getting in Marco's line of fire. Reluctantly, Marco lowered his gun and ran too.

  The marauders leaped toward them. A claw lashed across Lailani, and she screamed, her arm bleeding. Other creatures raised their spiky tails like scorpions, and they fired sticky black webs. A net hit Ben-Ari, slamming her against the hull of the Brendan. Marco leaped over one strand, but another web hit his legs, tangling around them. He hit the cave floor, bloodying his elbows.

  More marauders entered the cave. Lying facedown, Marco struggled to rise. He glimpsed ravagers hovering outside, a fleet of them.

  Does our quest end now? he thought, struggling to free himself from the webs as marauders approached, fangs bared, eyes filled with hunger.

  "Poet, get up!" Addy knelt beside him, drew a knife, and began to cut him free. A web slammed into her, knocking her back, and she screamed.

  Laughter filled the cave, deep, booming, echoing. The marauder with the dozen legs spoke in an alien tongue, all clatters and grunts, then turned to stare at Marco with its two faces. Still holding Kemi, the creature grinned.

  "We know you," the alien hissed. "You are those who killed the centipedes. We will take you alive. We will take you to Lord Malphas on Earth. Your pain will be legendary."

  Marco stared, still trapped in the web, unable to move. The alien eyes stared into his soul, burning him from the inside, and he seemed to fall into an abyss.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

  The monsters filled the cave.

  The heroes were falling.

  The maiden was trapped, cocooned in the spiderwebs.

  Noodles stood in the darkness, legs trembling, gun shaking in his hands.

  I can't do this. I'm not a hero.

  Addy was shouting behind him. Ben-Ari was firing her gun, unable to free herself from the webs. Marco was down, and Noodles couldn't see Lailani anymore.

  Ahead of him, the marauder with the two faces—a conjoined twin with many legs and eyes—lifted the bound Kemi. She was wrapped with so many webs only her hair was visible. The creature began carrying her away, out of the cave and toward a waiting ravager ship.

  No.

  Noodles shouted.

  "No!"

  One marauder turned toward him. The creature blasted webs his way. And for the first time in his life, Noodles fired his gun in battle.

  A hailstorm of bullets blasted through the flying web, tearing it apart. The kickback nearly knocked Noodles down. He kept firing. He emptied one magazine, loaded another, fired again, and his bullets crashed through the marauder's e
yes. It fell.

  I killed one. I killed one!

  But there were a hundred others here. And the large, twisted one was still carrying Kemi away.

  Noodles ran after her, firing his gun.

  For nearly two years, he had lived with Kemi aboard the Saint Brendan, two outcasts, AWOL from the HDF, hiding on the fringe of the solar system. Within the first day, Noodles had fallen madly in love with the beautiful, courageous pilot, and his love had only grown throughout their time together. His attempts to impress Kemi always failed. He smirked when he should have smiled. He quipped when he should have joked. He hid behind haughtiness when he should have imparted kindness. In truth, he had always feared Kemi, feared that she saw him as nothing but a scrawny nerd, and so he had built the armor around himself.

  But now they were taking her away.

  Now he would lose her, just before he could prove his true worth. Just as he had signed up to become a hero.

  But I won't let them take you, Kemi. I love you. I will prove my worth now.

  He ran, shouting, firing his rifle.

  "For the Shire!" he cried, then reconsidered. "For Earth!"

  Marauders leaped at him. His bullets hit their eyes, knocking them back. He lobbed a grenade, and a marauder crashed down, severed legs flying. A claw scraped against Noodles' leg, and his blood gushed, but he kept running.

  They had taken Kemi out of the cave. Noodles followed, bursting out into the storm. He winced, barely able to see. The wind buffeted him, thick with dust. The foul air of New Earth filled his lungs—lungs already asthmatic, weak. He coughed, retched, kept moving.

  "Kemi!" he shouted.

  He saw her ahead in the storm. Several ravagers hovered above, and one stood on the mountainside, its hatch open, a ramp extended. The marauder with two faces was carrying Kemi into its ship.

  "Hey, you filth!" Noodles shouted, firing at the ship. "You like brains, do you? Well, I have an IQ of 171! Come get some!"

  The marauder on the ramp saw him, sneered, and dropped Kemi. She landed on the ramp with a thump.

  Noodles ran, screaming.

  The marauder leaped toward him.

  Noodles fired his rifle. Bullets flew. They slammed into the alien's eyes, and the creature squealed, bled, and crashed into him.

  Noodles fell. The massive alien—as large as a horse—landed atop him.

  All around, more marauders were advancing.

  They were approaching Kemi.

  With strength Noodles hadn't known was in him, he shoved the dead marauder off.

  "That's the trouble with having two faces, you troll," he said. "Many eyes for me to hit."

  Leg bleeding, Noodles leaped over the corpse, ran up the ramp, and stood over the cocooned Kemi. He loaded another magazine and spun in a semicircle, firing bullets, holding the marauders back. More gunfire sounded inside the cave; his friends were still alive, still fighting, but out here in the storm, Noodles stood alone. He loaded another magazine, his last, and shattered another creature.

  In the brief respite, as the marauders regrouped, Noodles lifted Kemi. He was lighter than her, but he barely felt her weight. She was still wrapped in the cobwebs, and he slung her across his shoulders.

  Above, the other ravagers gathered plasma in their cannons.

  Noodles ran, and the inferno blazed behind him, burning his back. He kept racing, moving back toward the cave, carrying Kemi.

  A marauder rose before him. Noodles fired a bullet, hit an eye.

  A creature leaped from his side, and claws tore into his torso, and Noodles screamed.

  A gash opened on his belly. Noodles fired, and the marauder screeched and scurried back, claws bloodied.

  Noodles fell to his knees, his stomach slashed open.

  The cave was still several meters away.

  His blood pooled.

  Up. On your feet, soldier! Onward! Kemi needs you.

  He rose. He kept firing. A marauder leaped toward him, and a fang sank into Noodles' back.

  He fell again.

  And again, he rose.

  He took another step, carrying Kemi.

  Don't you fall now. Don't you fall!

  A meter away from the cave, a marauder closed its jaws around his arm, bit deep, and ripped off the limb.

  Noodles kept walking, carrying Kemi into the cave. He placed her down among dead marauders.

  Shadows leaped forth. Ben-Ari and Lailani, finally free from their webs, lobbed grenades. Marauders screeched and fell back.

  Noodles was missing one arm. A wound stretched across his belly. Shaking, losing blood fast, he worked with one hand, sawing through Kemi's webs with his knife. He freed her face, and she coughed, gasped, gazed at him.

  "Noodles," she whispered.

  Kneeling before her, he caressed her cheek. "Kemi. My lady."

  He tore off more webs, freeing her arms, then fell. He landed at her side. His blood kept spilling, and everything was cold.

  Kemi ripped off the last strands of webbing. She knelt above him.

  "Hang on, Noodles! It's going to be all right." Yet her tears splashed him.

  "Are you hurt, my lady?" Noodles whispered.

  "I'm fine. You'll be fine too. I'm taking you into the ship."

  Yet the others were fighting around the airlock. The way was blocked. Noodles knew that he would not see the Ghost Fleet, that he would not see Earth saved, but he could think of no better way to die.

  "I'm finally proud," he whispered. "Goodbye, Kemi. Remember me when Earth is saved, when the sky is blue, when flowers bloom. Remember me when there's no more pain."

  His own pain was fading now. He held her hand. He closed his eyes, and after a lifetime of reading about heroes, David Min-jun "Noodles" Greene wrote the end to his own story.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

  "They have Addy!" Marco shouted, running across the cave. "Ben-Ari! Lailani! They have Addy, come, help me!"

  He ran. He leaped over a human corpse, realized it was Noodles, and kept running.

  "Addy!" he shouted, bursting out into the storm.

  She was struggling ahead. A marauder was gripping her, a burly beast with a crown of black horns and a twisting parasitic twin growing from its side. Addy kicked and screamed but couldn't free herself, and the marauder spun his web around her, cocooning her. Marco raised his gun, tried to aim at an eye, but the deformed alien was moving too quickly. He couldn't fire without risking a hit to Addy.

  "Marco!" she cried, kicking in the alien's grip. It coated her face with sticky webs, muffling her cries.

  Marco ran down the mountainside. He leaped over corpses. He had a clear shot, fired, missed. The marauders cast their webs at him, and he fell down hard, tearing his knees. Another web flew, grabbed his rifle, and yanked it from his grip. Bullets sprayed, and one grazed Marco's thigh, and he screamed.

  "Addy!"

  He tried to rise, fell again. Ben-Ari, Kemi, and Lailani ran past him, firing their guns, but they were too slow.

  Ahead, Marco saw it as in a nightmare. The marauders scuttled into a waiting ravager, taking Addy into the ship. The hatch slammed shut, sealing her within. The ravager, with the cocooned Addy inside it, began to rise.

  Marco unhooked a grenade from his belt and hurled it. It exploded against the ravager's hull, raining shrapnel. He leaped back, narrowly dodging the shards. The blast had barely dented the ravager. The alien ship kept rising. It joined a hundred other ravagers above, and still more came flying from the storm.

  Marco stood outside the cave, firing his gun up at the ravager. It grew more distant, vanishing in the haze.

  "Addy!"

  The other ravagers turned toward him, opened their claws, and their plasma rained.

  Hands grabbed him, pulled him back into the cave. The inferno rained down where Marco had stood.

  "Sergeant Emery!" Ben-Ari said. "Follow me. Into the Brendan. That's an order!"

  He glanced back outside at the storm.

  Addy . . .

 
Jaw clenched, he followed his captain. They raced through the cave, leaping over the dead marauders. Lailani stood at the Saint Brendan, bleeding, carrying Noodles' body into the airlock. Kemi fired a bullet into a crawling marauder, knocking it down. Webs still hung around her shoulders and legs.

  "Lieutenant Abasi!" Ben-Ari cried to her. "Step into the Anansi. You know how to fly it. I'll fly the Brendan myself. Home onto my beacon and follow me."

  Kemi nodded. "Aye, Captain!"

  The marauders had slung webs across the Saint Brendan's wings, but there was no time to saw through them. Already more marauders were leaping into the cave, screeching for blood, and more webs shot out.

  Kemi stepped into the Anansi, the ravager ship they had commandeered, and started its engines. Smoke and heat filled the cave. Marco and Ben-Ari, firing bullets back at the marauders, leaped into the Brendan and slammed the airlock shut.

  They ran down the ship's corridor. The hull rocked as marauders slammed against it.

  "We have one of you!" boomed an inhuman voice from outside. "Lord Malphas will torture her himself. Her screams will please us!"

  Marco clenched his jaw, refusing to surrender to the terror. He leaped onto the bridge. Ben-Ari hopped into her seat, hit controls, and bullets shot out from the Saint Brendan's guns. These bullets were larger, more powerful than what their assault rifles fired. Marauders fell.

  "Lieutenant Abasi, do you read me?" Ben-Ari said into her communicator.

  Kemi's voice emerged from the speakers. "Ready to go. You fly, I follow."

  The Brendan's engines roared to life. They rose to hover inside the cave.

  Outside, a ravager lowered itself to block the cave. Its claws opened, and its plasma gurgled.

  "Emery, man the weapons as I fly!" Ben-Ari shouted.

  Marco had never controlled the guns of this model starship before, but he had enough experience from fighting aboard the Miyari and the Urchin during the last war. He hit the right controls. A missile blasted out from the Brendan and hit the ravager in its flaming heart.

  The enemy ship exploded.

  The Saint Brendan shot out from the cave, slammed through the shards, and burst out into the storm.