Adverse Reaction
The Parabiont Invasion Book 3
Y.J. Gendron
ADVERSE REACTION
THE PARABIONT INVASION BOOK THREE
by Y.J. Gendron
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http://www.yjgendron.com
Copyright © 2017 by Studios Atoz Inc.
All rights reserved.
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This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, businesses, events, or locales is purely coincidental. Reproduction in whole or part of this publication without express written consent is strictly prohibited.
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Contents
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Foreword
1. Grid
2. North To The Future
3. Reunion
4. The Plant
5. Gull Islet
6. New Home
7. Paige
8. Disruptor
9. Normalcy
10. Raid
11. Insertion
12. Synchronicity
13. Recovery
14. Under
15. Regrets
16. The Cube
17. Ploy
18. Tendrils
19. Living Nightmare
20. Taken
21. Toy Soldiers
22. Options
23. Kalxin
24. Headway
25. Escape
26. Descent
27. Attack
28. Darkness
29. Tebayi
30. Asher’s Light
31. Beyond
32. Aftermath
33. Epilogue
Afterword
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Thank you for reading!
Parabiont (plural parabionts)
Noun.
An organism or community engaged in or united in a state of parabiosis.
1 Grid
Noah Blevins’ grin spread from one ear to the other. The MP-973’s tracks dug into the snow, the engine roaring with a powerful noise in the bare-bones cabin. The teenager was strapped in the passenger seat of the powerful snow crawler, taking everything in, loving every minute of it. The vehicle could climb up any hill, be it snow, mud or rocky terrain and in all types of weather. It reminded him of his old ATV, except a thousand times cooler.
The driver shot a glance in his direction. “So?” Staff Sergeant Jose Garcia said, “Enjoying the ride?”
“Yes, sir. Awesome.”
The stocky soldier from Puerto Rico grinned with ease. “Yep, these babies can really climb. We don’t call them goats for nothing.”
“Do you really call them that?” Noah asked, turning away from the scenery.
Garcia looked into the mirror, to the man sitting behind him. “Ask Private Moffatt, he’ll tell you.”
The soldier shook his head. “Absolutely kid. This particular crawler is even called the SuperGoat.”
There was a guffaw from Garcia.
Noah shook his head. “You guys are pulling my leg.”
“No, they are not.”
The voice breaking into the conversation belong to the other passenger, the only one who wasn’t fully human. Eklan, who used to be called Asher Sullon, cocked his head sideways, an interrogative frown on his face.
Noah grinned. “It’s a metaphor, Eklan. I know my leg is not being pulled, believe me.”
The Amilaki nodded. “Of course, sorry I miss that.”
“That’s okay.”
The teen’s mouth curled into a grimace. Ever since that terrible day when he’d been critically injured by the leader of an extremist faction of the Amilaki, Asher’s life had changed irrevocably. Noah understood the reasoning behind the procedure that saved his life but it was nevertheless hard to accept. Asher’s mind, his memories, and all that made him who he was was locked away in a neuronal vault, the only way to keep him alive according to those in the know. They had managed to keep his body going but it was Eklan that now spoke in his voice.
Noah thought that what made the whole thing so hard was the fact that Eklan looked exactly the same as before. The rugged look, the wily stare, even the nervous tick of the right eye; they were all there, eerie reminders of the previous persona.
There was, however, one important difference. When he spoke, none of Asher’s personality shone through. Gone was the wit, sarcasm and plain old geniality of Asher’s speech.
He knew he shouldn’t compare the before and after, because it wasn’t fair to the Amilaki… but he couldn’t help it.
It wasn’t that Eklan was a bad guy, per se. Quite the contrary, in fact. He had learned a lot from him these last weeks as they built the grid. He wasn’t Asher and it was now a given that he would never be him, but Noah liked the man anyways. The Amilaki had a respectful and positive attitude, and was always willing to share his knowledge, be it technical, scientific or even societal. His openness on that account was like a breath of fresh air, one that nurtured the bonds of friendship growing between them.
And he wasn’t the only one with the same opinion. Though they loved to act tough, he knew Garcia and Moffat also appreciated Eklan’s companionship.
“We’ve reached the coordinates,” Garcia announced.
The heavy vehicle climbed the last twenty yards of the hill and settled in a narrow clearing ringed by rows upon rows of hemlocks, most of them bending under a thick coating of ice. Up ahead, Noah watched a couple of raccoons dart out of sight, their furry bodies cutting across the whiteness of the landscape.
“Okay, guys, you know the drill. Let’s get to work.”
Noah pushed the door wide open and stepped out into the cold. Though the parka was army-issued and designed for frigid temperatures, he still felt the wind’s bite as it tried to turn him into a Popsicle.
“Jesus, its cold,” he mumbled, adjusting the wool hat to cover his ears.
“That’s because we are high in altitude,” Eklan said, admiring the majestic ring of mountains vanishing into the slow-moving clouds.
“No, it’s because we’re in Alaska.”
Moffatt grinned at Garcia’s grimace. “Missing the weather of your home state, Sergeant?”
“Wouldn’t you?”
“Hmm… I don’t know. Winters in Minneapolis can be pretty nasty.”
Garcia shook his head. “Oh, right.”
“What about you, Eklan? Miss the weather of your planet?”
The man shrugged, an elaborate and obviously rehearsed movement. “I don’t know. I have never walked on Ukun’s surface.”
Noah’s eyes widened. “What? You mean to tell us, you’ve never walked under the sun, in the open air of your world?”
Eklan turned to the trio of men, staring at him with befuddlement. “That’s correct. I was destined for the great journey between the stars. I never had a physical body, at least not in the sense you understand it.”
The trio exchanged glances.
“You’re kidding, right?” Garcia asked, a twinge of uneasiness creeping into his voice.
Eklan beamed, the corners of his mouth curling upwards one after the other. “Of course.”
Moffatt burst into laughter. “Hahaha! You got us, all right!”
“Indeed,” Garcia acknowledged.
“You should have seen your face, Sergeant!”
Garcia turned to the Private. “My face? Touch your own chin, Private. Cold isn’t it?
That’s because your mouth was open so wide that it sunk into the snow!”
“Touché.”
Garcia harrumphed, taking position between the others.
“Okay, guys, time to go to work.”
Noah and Eklan made their way to the back of the vehicle and pulled out an elongated plastic case, all white with no discernible markings save for a yellow radiation hazard label. Walking behind, Noah worked to keep the case level, cursing under his breath when the wind tried to tip it over. A minute later, Eklan chose a spot on the snow-covered ground, about twenty yards from the ring of trees, and they put the case down. With practiced ease, he pulled out the device from the tailor-cut foam, snapped open the tripod that doubled as legs, and plugged the power couplings into a portable high-density battery.
Noah admired the way he worked. Each movement was performed with precision: a ballet with no superfluous moves. The man knew how to be efficient, no doubt about it.
“I’m ready,” Eklan said at last, after a final check of the setup.
Noah nodded and walked away to stand with Garcia and Moffatt. They were at least twenty yards away from Eklan, a distance the Amilaki had deemed safe enough.
Not that what they were doing was dangerous in itself.
It was the side effects that could cause trouble.
Eklan flipped a switch on the side of the device. The mass of tubules and power converters, wrapped inside a decagon-shaped, carbon-fiber reinforced hull, activated. The trio of men watching from afar slid ski goggles over their eyes. Five seconds later, a brilliant blue light emanated from the device. The beam, aimed straight down through the tripod’s legs, punctured a hole in the ground, the snow instantly vaporizing by the high-voltage discharge. Though the light was dazzling, even in daylight, Noah couldn’t help staring at it. The blueish, tightly-focused, laser-like pencil of light was a wonder to behold. It was a joint Amilaki-US Army invention, conceived by Eklan, as well as key engineers from Fort Richardson.
The beam could vaporize rock with ease, a powerful and compact drilling platform. But it was energy hungry. The battery pack they carried around was an industrial one, designed for use on construction sites. It could supply enough watts to furnish an entire household for 24 hours of normal activity… but it was no match for Eklan’s drill.
“One minute.”
Noah heard Eklan’s warning and gave a thumbs-up gesture. He jogged over to the snow track and selected a tiny palm-sized object from a plastic case tied down in the trunk. The object was Amilaki tech, compact and well-made. It was the same shape as an incapacitator, minus the light-weapon capabilities. Eklan had explained that the device was multi-purpose: it could be a medical tool, a weapon, even a teaching instrument. It was the crystallization of eons of technology fashioned into a compact shape, the only tech they’d managed to salvage from their vessel.
The device in his hand weighted next to nothing and he loved how sleek it was and the feel of its smooth-as-ice exterior shell.
It was too bad they couldn’t reproduce it… at least not for the foreseeable future.
The material used in its fabrication was not found on Earth and though Eklan believed that with time they’d be able to synthesize it from home-grown compounds, it wasn’t a certitude.
So, it was with deference borne of respect that Noah manipulated the instrument, aware of its importance in the grand scheme of things.
For it could mean the difference between life and death, between survival and obliteration once the Snyl arrived from the Stars.
For they were coming.
And they needed to prepare.
The dazzling light shut off at once.
“Noah, if you will,” Eklan called, taking a step away from the tripod.
The teenager nodded and came forward. He gingerly snapped the device to the frame of the tripod, underneath the business end of the light-drill.
“Okay, Eklan. The activator is in place.”
“Good. Proceed away from the drill.”
Noah hurried away, finding refuge between the two soldiers.
“Activating.” Eklan’s voice was neutral but Noah thought he detected a trace of trepidation… though it was probably just his own’s.
The blue light erupted forth once more.
The beam, now a blinding golden-yellow color, shimmered with furious intensity. There was a pulsing rhythm to the light, that grew brighter and faster with each passing second. Soon, the light show was too much for him, and he turned his head. From the corner of his eye, he saw Garcia and Moffat also turn away, arms raised up to their goggles. The blaze of light cast long shadows across the ground, like a second sun burning in the sky.
It continued for a few more seconds, the landscape turning into a ball of dazzling brilliance.
Then it was over.
Noah turned back to the drill.
Between the tripod’s legs, he could see a glow coming from the hole in the ground. It was still bright, not yet cooled. He made his way closer, followed by the soldiers.
Eklan waited, arms strapped to his sides, as if waiting for a bus.
“Well?” Noah asked, stepping closer to him. “Did it work?”
The man with the dark eyes nodded. “Yes. See for yourself.”
Noah slid even closer to the drill, taking care not to hit the tripod’s legs with his feet. There was a small display screen attached to the drill, fastened into place within a hand-made rig. A characteristic Amilaki decagon spun slowly on its axis, the sole object on the screen.
Noah grinned. Eklan had adapted the display for his human companions: a green symbol meant success while a red one meant the opposite.
The symbol he stared at was a glorious, and unequivocal, green.
“Yes,” he said, turning to Eklan. “We did it!”
“Is it time for the victory ritual?”
Noah burst out in laughter. “Of course!” He jabbed his right fist forward. Eklan imitated the gesture, eyes alight with interest. They bumped fists, then elbows and finally clapped their hands together. The choreography done, Noah shook his head good-naturedly. “You’re getting good at this!”
“I have a skillful instructor.”
Garcia cleared his throat. “So we’re all done?”
Eklan turned to the Sergeant. “Yes. As discussed previously, this is our last activator… the final one that needed to be put into place.”
“So the grid is complete?” Noah asked, already uncoupling the power lines from the pack.
“Not quite. We still have the base unit to set up but once that’s done, we will be ready to proceed with testing.”
“And once that’s done?” Garcia asked.
“We begin activation.”
“And after that?”
Eklan lifted his eyes to the sky.
“We wait.”
2 North To The Future
“Dammit!”
Beatrice McKenzie pulled out her hand from behind the washing machine. She stared at the cut on her finger, shrugged, and wrapped a wet towel around it. She had plenty of those around in her tiny bathroom, most of them now spread out on the floor. They were soaking up the water from the busted hose; the one she’d been trying to fix for half an hour. She gripped her wrench, tightened the new coupling and opened the valve. Taking a step back in case the water gushed out once more, she waited a full minute before raising both arms in the air in a celebratory gesture.
“Crisis averted,” she intoned to the four-legged companion waiting nearby. Foxy, her four-years old Shetland Sheepdog, contemplated the mass of towels with a reproachful look.
“I know, I know, it’s still a mess. Give me a minute to clean up.”
The sable and white dog retreated out to the cozy living room and shimmied underneath a thick comforter, draped nonchalantly over a couch that had seen better days. Five feet from the couch, on a media stand that only had the one 32 inch flat screen and an antique iPod plugged into a compact speaker, screaming guitars filled the air with the s
hrill beats from the 80’s.
The song playing at the moment was all about how ‘everybody wants to rule the world’ and Beatrice couldn’t help but agree with the lyrics. She shoved the towels in the dryer and twisted the dial to Heavy Duty then placed the wrench inside the battered metal toolbox. After she’d cleaned the mess up, she noticed the mirror in the bathroom was streaked with dirty tracks, turning the reflective surface into a zebra-like pattern. She sighed and went to work. Wiping the dirt off, she found herself staring at the young woman looking back.
It had been a while since she’d done that, she realized with bafflement.
The last weeks had been a blur, measured in long periods of sleep and days of lounging about, doing strictly nothing. Three minutes. That’s all it had taken for her to crash. Three minutes after Paige Hillcox, the feisty Army Corporal that was now a good friend, waved goodbye from the Humvee as it backed up the driveway. Three minutes after she realized she was back home, safe and sound.
Underneath the covers, the world was a simpler universe, way less confusing. There were no Parabionts, no Tebayi, no Snyl. In the quiet of the bed’s sanctuary, friends didn’t turn into strangers.
She’d been physically hurt by the events, but it was the sorrow in her heart that caused the most pain… and even though everyone said it wasn’t her fault, she still felt responsible for Asher Sullon’s fate.
He had been her friend.
A friend she’d failed to keep safe from harm.
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