Ayrie: An Auxem Novel

by Lisa Lace

  Thiago unpacked his candles and set each one under a headstone. He lit them, using his hand to block out any unwanted drafts. The flames flickered on the wicks as they burned radiantly in contrast to the drearily lit cemetery. Shadows of the night lapped at the sides of Thiago's face. He folded his legs underneath him and sat rigidly still.

  In beautiful solitude, the son kept his dead parents company for two hours before he finally left.

  Thiago returned to his ship with enough food for two people and a smelly satchel bursting with assorted fish heads for Hercules. He had to juggle everything he was carrying to keep his bag upright in his left hand. At the same time, he balanced the flimsy bags in his right. All the packages were in danger of collapsing under the weight of the stacked seafood and tentacle wonton soup. As he approached the ship, the feeling of relief that should have naturally appeared at the sight of home never arrived. The only emotion he felt was the worry in his heart.

  Hercules was going berserk. The creature ran around in erratic circles on the plot of land where Ardela had parked her spaceship. Thiago raced to the animal's side as quickly as possible, sacrificing what he was carrying. Sloshing soup escaped from overturned lids. Fish heads spun around in his satchel. His pet's mewling whimpers only came to a halt when Thiago arrived at the scene.

  "Herc! What's the matter?"

  Hercules arched his back and stamped his eight legs on the ground in reply. Thiago dumped the treats from his satchel onto the ground. The creature snapped his pincers, ignoring the mound of fish heads in front of him. Thiago frowned, his brows knitting as he tried to figure out what his pet wanted to communicate.

  "You're not upset Ardela's gone, are you? You should be the happiest creature around."

  Hercules shook his head angrily. He jerked his head to the left twice. He wanted his master to follow him. Thiago set his satchel and the bags of the remaining soup onto the ground. Scratching at the nape of his neck, he trailed after Hercules inquisitively.

  "Where are we going, Herc? We can't mess around now. We need to get back to the ship in case Eden comes home."

  Thiago's words faded as he saw something in the scorch marks on the gravel floor which indicated Ardela's recent departure. Hercules lowered his head and nudged a small spherical object in Thiago's direction. He crouched close to the ground to pick it up. A lump formed in his throat as he examined the object in his palms.

  He was holding one of the trapped starlight earrings he'd given to Eden the night before the Katakee mission. Rubbing off the dirt caked around the clear glass of the globe, he twirled the post of the earring in his hands. Exhaling deeply, he rose from the ground, brushing off the grains of sand clinging to his pants.

  "Let's go, Herc. Eden's not coming back. Ardela's taken her, and we need to bring her home."

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  "Come on. I need to move faster," Thiago muttered under his breath as he jiggled the ignition lever of the spaceship controls. Warning klaxons blared over the speakers. He squinted at the diminished level of the drained fuel gauge on the corner of the dashboard screen. Shaking his head, he hastily left the cockpit and moved to a storage locker. At the locker, he collected backup jugs of puranium fuel and clamped them under his armpits. He raced back to the cockpit to start refueling.

  Hercules slid through the gap of the door just before it sealed shut. He wagged his tongue between his pincers, a puddle of drool pooling underneath him as he watched his master at work.

  Thiago lifted a hatch door behind the driver's seat. He unscrewed the caps of the black jugs and tore off the protective seals with his teeth, dispensing the gooey, blue-tinted liquid into the opening of the fuel tank. Hercules moved from side to side behind him, carefully evading the empty jugs of fuel flying in his general direction.

  "All right, Herc," Thiago announced. He slammed the hatch door closed and locked the latch with his feet. Swiveling around in his seat to face the dashboard, he started up the ignition. "Hold on, buddy. I'm kicking up the gears, and we're going to be moving quickly."

  Hercules nodded, wrapping his bristly legs around the base of the passenger seat. Thiago requested some information from his shipboard computer, drumming his fingers on the dashboard as he waited for a tracking page to load. A complex set of maps complete with grids and exact coordinates filled the monitor. After inputting a set of codes on the keypad, the system beeped. A highlighted route appeared on the map, showing a neon yellow path leading from the current location of the ship to a general area that was unfamiliar to the computer.

  Thiago's natural inclination for distrusting everyone had ultimately paid off. Years of a solitary life and never-ending clashes with polite society may have created a jaded personality, but it also formed an efficient bounty hunter. As soon as Ardela had 'stumbled' uninvited into Thiago's life, he had concealed a tracking device of his own on her ship.

  The ship's wheels rattled against the rugged terrain, rolling forward on the ground before lifting off into the air. Thiago steered the vessel at a steep angle as he tried to accelerate. He angled the spaceship to the left until his course aligned with the route on the screen.

  There was nothing Thiago could do now except wait. Although his exterior looked like an empty slate, his fists were clenched impotently around the controls in a death grip. There was nothing empty about the chaotic anxiety running rampant through his body. His eyes repeatedly moved from the windshield to the dashboard screen, confirming the autopilot was still working.

  About two and a half hours later, the triangular symbol on the craft finally crept toward the flashing dot indicating Ardela's destination. Rings appeared around the dot, alerting any observers that the journey was almost over. Thiago looked out the windows of the spaceship, trying to find any clue that would help him locate Eden.

  The ship hovered over a dark expanse of barren land covered with innumerable craters. Thiago modified the map on his screen to display thermal imagery, which would show him any living beings. To his dismay, nothing but dark blues and greens turned up in the forsaken land underneath him. When the craft began its inevitable descent, Thiago groaned with frustration.

  Had the tracker he planted on Ardela's spacecraft been faulty? He didn't see anything here.

  Thiago decided to exit his ship to investigate. He transferred the tracking data on his dashboard computer to a portable device in his hands. He exited the cockpit with an excited Hercules hounding him from behind. Thiago packed a spare satchel with flashlights, weapons, rope, rounds of ammunition, and other necessities. He slung the bag over his shoulders before donning a weapon belt strapped with restraints, laser magnums, and a lightweight black-market submachine gun smuggled in from Earth. Fitting his black helmet over his head, he left the ship to begin his search.

  As Thiago looked around at the darkness surrounding him, he clicked a button on the side of his helmet visor. The glass whirred to life as his night vision gear activated. He glanced down at the portable tracker in his hands. According to the computer, he should be close to the location already.

  Exploring the site on foot didn't help. He couldn't see anything in the deserted area. Uncertain of what he should be looking for, he started to become frustrated. The mark on his head flashed in anger. Thiago angrily hit the side of the tracker with his fist.

  Behind him, Hercules was becoming more agitated. "Not now, Hercules," Thiago called out without looking over his shoulder. "I need to concentrate."

  But as Thiago spun around to retrace his steps, he missed his footing entirely. With his complete attention on the computer in his hands, he had neglected his safety. His feet were dangling over the edge of a deep crater. Before Hercules could grab hold of him, Thiago's grip slipped, and he plummeted down the slope of the crater into a pitch-black abyss.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  The visor screen on Thiago's helmet intermittently flashed as he flopped back and forth, tumbling down the slope. As a final humiliation, his torso took a beating from a mossy boul
der that protruded from the bottom of the crater. Every part of his body hurt when he hit the ground. Rolling like a runaway log, he forced his mouth closed to stop himself from accidentally biting his tongue. Thiago slammed his elbows on the ground. Bits of rubble sprayed around him as he slowed.

  Thiago collected his scattered weaponry and shoved it into his open satchel. He gingerly removed his helmet, looking at the cracks on his visor and examining the damage on its dented and scuffed shell. It was useless now. As he cast it aside, he heard the mournful squeals of Hercules. Moments later, the oversized alien arachnid came sliding down the slope on its back, ending in a slow, spinning stop by his master's feet.

  Thiago flattened the crop of hair on top of his buzzed sides. His jumpsuit had holes and patches of missing fabric that had snagged on distended branches on his way down. He winced at the slightest movement of his body.

  Something was wrong with his shoulder. Excruciating spasms of pain stabbed at his tender limbs. As veins emerged on his neck and temples, he suppressed an agonized cry as he painfully stretched his arms out in front of him.

  Slamming his eyes shut, he clenched his teeth to brace himself. He seized his grotesquely dislocated shoulder and forced it in the opposite direction. A tear fell out of his eye as a sickening crunch sounded and his shoulder snapped back into alignment.

  As he held out his shaking arms, he observed his Arkadian genes start to work. The raw, open wounds visible through the shredded fabric of his jumpsuit began to heal. The cuts sealed themselves, leaving darkened traces of scars in their place.

  He closed his eyes into focused slits as he analyzed the quarry-like environment. A thick fog of yellow smoke carrying the distinctive stench of sulfur rose from the ground. Steam hissed out from dozens of bubbling acid pits underneath them. On top of the acid pits was a single steel bridge wide enough to fit two tanks side by side. The old surface of the structure was covered with spacecraft scorch marks and tank treads leading to thick, sealed doors in a cavern opening.

  Hercules was behind Thiago when the deafening sound of warning sirens shattered the silence. Thiago took a hesitant step backward. His head urgently whipped around in alarm. Hercules gazed back at him with apologetic eyes. His head bowed guiltily, and his legs slowly reversed through a tripwire on the ground.

  The pair concealed themselves behind a series of rock formations, pulling their bodies into a tight embrace. Although space was limited, they did what they could to keep their feet stabilized on their patch of land. They shied away from the dangerous acid pits boiling around them. Thiago wrapped his fingers around the rock formation and tried to spy from a distance.

  Grating screeches sounded when the heavy doors in the cavern entrance opened. A line of hovering vehicles resembling one-man sleds glided through the doorway, piloted by Noxx soldiers wearing matching uniforms indicating a low rank. Each sled had a mounted laser gun on the curved brush bow on front of the vehicle beds. The mouth of the barrels sparked with striking red bolts. They were ready to kill.

  With Hercules' fidgeting head tucked under his armpit, Thiago pulled back his craned neck. He only needed a little space to keep watch. The Noxx maneuvered their sleds around the perimeter in circles. They were determined to find whatever had triggered the tripwire system.

  Thiago licked his lips, kneading the creases of his moist palm with his thumb. Thanks to Eden, he had stumbled upon the holy grail of targets for all bounty hunters on the planet. People had searched for this location for decades. Without even meaning to, they had inadvertently found the infamous lair of the feared Noxx.

  "All right, buddy. Here goes nothing. Are you ready?" Thiago whispered. He stroked the top of Hercules' head in an attempt to pacify the creature's restlessness. "Lay low for now and wait for my signal before you attack. Do you understand me?"

  Hercules nodded enthusiastically in response. He mimed a zipped mouth with a leg held between his pincers. Thiago ripped off his sleeves and tossed them aside, exposing thick muscles on his arms. As beads of sweat raced down the length of his hunched back, he dove into his satchel and rummaged around for a sniper scope. He screwed the scope onto the base of his submachine gun, mounting the weapon against the edge of the flattest rock he could find.

  Aligning himself behind the gun, Thiago gazed into the eyepiece. His view crystallized as he adjusted the scope with the parallax ring. The cross of the field slightly moved before he centered it on the closest guard. He was lingering by the foot of the bridge. Thiago slid his finger onto the trigger and tapped the sides of the weapon for good measure with his other hand. Taking one last, soothing breath to calm the thoughts in his head, he gently pulled back the trigger.

  An annoying ringing erupted in Thiago's ears as a single bullet shot out from the mouth of his weapon's sizzling barrel. The first of four Noxx enemies was hit directly between the eyes. His vehicle spun off course at once; the front of the sled plunged into the side of the cavern walls before exploding into a flaming fireball.

  Before the others could react to their unseen attacker, Thiago had readjusted his scope to aim at his next targets. He kept his finger half-closed on the trigger and gunned down another one. He proved to be resilient when Thiago missed the mark and accidentally hit his stomach. The thug knelt down clutching his midsection until a clean strike to the side of the neck finally rendered him motionless.

  The third panicked and tried to flee, abandoning his vehicle. In his flustered state, the Noxx started to run away from danger but accidentally slipped into the acid pit. Unsettling screams of torturous agony made goose bumps spring up on Thiago's arms. The Noxx floundered in the pool until his screams died down and his body vanished.

  Thiago tore his eyes away from the gruesome scene, but his distraction had already made him vulnerable to the last Noxx guard. He missed, hitting the arch above the cavern door instead. The goon's sled expertly swerved away from the crumbling debris above him. He slipped away to alert the others.

  Thiago swore like a sailor. He tossed his submachine gun aside in favor of the laser magnum on his belt. Swinging his satchel back over his shoulder, he gave Hercules a quick nudge on the leg.

  "Let's go."

  They darted to the abandoned sled, which was still hovering by the doorway. Thiago grabbed two new puranium orb bombs, pocketing the glass balls. They pulsed with swirling blue contents. The pair raced to the entrance and retraced the steps of the Noxx goon. They ran down a small, dimly lit tunnel that stunk of sewage. Midway through the tunnel, the droning voices of multiple Noxx vehicles intensified. Five enemies in a crisp V-formation appeared at the end of the tunnel, hollering in their native language as they caught sight of the intruders.

  Thiago clamped his hands on Hercules' sides, yanking him back as his legs slid underneath him. He spun Hercules around, whisking him off in the opposite direction. The Noxx began firing the mounted laser rifles on their sleighs.

  The scrambling duo raced to avoid the red laser bolts. Thiago spotted a recess on the walls of the chamber and took cover, hauling Hercules in with him. Flattening his back against the wall, he pulled out one of the bombs and hurled the explosive sphere into the path of the enemy vehicles.

  He closed his eyes, but it didn't help. There was a glaring white flash which temporarily speckled Thiago's vision with glowing blobs of dancing afterimages. A loud explosion followed which sounded like a collision of trains at full speed. They sneaked out of the wall crevice, fanning away the billows of blue smoke and toxic fumes.

  Thiago fired his laser magnum, taking out each of the disoriented Noxx sitting dazed in their vehicles before moving past them. Hercules did his share of elimination. He cleared their path by sweeping alien bodies left and right like a rogue demolition worker equipped with a sledgehammer. After the pair fended off about a dozen additional Noxx, they finally arrived at the heart of the lair.

  Thiago rapidly assessed the situation in the underground chamber. His eyes lingered on the vessels containing preserved victims. Was Eden
in one of them? If she were, she would be stockpiled along the walls like a canned good in an evil supermarket. A complicated series of titanium platforms, winding staircases, and pedestals stood over the frothing lake of acid flowing freely underneath them. Before Thiago could carefully investigate the capsules, a different group of hovering Noxx sailed through the entryway across them.

  The bright green bolts that jetted out of Thiago's weapon only managed to scrape the platform of the enemy closest to him before it exhausted its power supply. With the smirking Noxx careening towards him and not enough time to reload, Thiago had to act fast.

  He flipped his weapon around and used it to club his assailant on the back of the head. Hercules wrapped his pincers around the Noxx's neck, slashing his arteries before flinging him out of the hijacked sled. The pair clambered into the vehicle. Thiago took the driver's seat as Hercules clung onto the curved back of the chair.

  Thiago pulled on a random lever. The sleigh lifted off the ground unsteadily. It tipped from side to side until Thiago became accustomed to the unfamiliar controls. His eyes widened at the sight of Noxx steadily closing the distance between them and beginning to open fire. He steered abruptly to the right, evading the line of laser blasts. He began flipping the switches to activate the mounted guns on his sled and his blistered fingertip pulled back a trigger. As he guided the beam of his platform's laser, the smell of singed alien flesh intermingled with the sulfuric air.

  Then he heard the sweetest sound in the world.

  "Thiago? Oh, thank God – Thiago! I'm up here!"

  Thiago looked up, his heart jumping at the sound of Eden's voice. A steel cage hung suspended from the ceiling. It was only accessible by a single staircase that appeared to be at least three stories off the ground. The floor of the cage rocked wildly as Eden excitedly stomped her feet.