Earth Valor (Earthrise Book 6)

by Daniel Arenson

  Three marauders leaped from a corridor onto the bridge, webs flying, claws lashing.

  Petty cursed, drew his pistol, and opened fire.

  The cube ships slammed into them again. The lights died. Only the glow of the monitors—at least, those monitors that were still working—lit the ship. The marauders moved in the darkness, ripping into officers. One of the creatures grabbed Osiris, yanked her out of her seat, and tore the android in half. She screamed and fell, limbs twitching, electronics spilling out.

  The Minotaur spun toward Earth. Bridge officers lay dead at their posts, torn open.

  Nobody was flying the ship.

  They stormed toward the atmosphere.

  A cube hit them again.

  The Minotaur jolted.

  Petty realized what the enemy was doing.

  They're going to slam us down onto the planet. We'll hit with enough power to wipe out cities.

  The marauders kept rampaging across the bridge. Marines burst in, firing at them, taking one down. Petty lurched forward, fell. He rose to one knee. His chest ached. He thought he was having another heart attack. He ignored it.

  He fired his gun, hitting a marauder, knocking it back.

  He pulled himself toward the helm, shoved a dead officer out of his seat, and yanked on the controls.

  The engines roared.

  They turned away from the planet, charging back to space. Their engines sputtered, and Petty tugged a lever, and they roared with new fury.

  One of the cube ships loomed ahead, and Petty fired all their cannons.

  Explosions rocked the cube ship ahead, and Petty yanked the control wheel. As large as several city blocks, lumbering, leaking out air, the Minotaur flew alongside the cube, skimming its surface, cracking its hull.

  He fired the starboard cannons.

  The guns blazed, scraping across the cube, ripping through it, tearing it apart. Shards of metal fell toward Earth, flamed in the atmosphere, and slammed into the ocean.

  Petty fired more shells.

  The cube tore apart, exploding into a million pieces, peppering the Minotaur and cutting through its shields.

  Petty kept flying, moving them farther from the atmosphere. Smoke and shards of metal trailed from them.

  If we had fallen onto Earth, we would have been like the asteroid wiping out the dinosaurs, he thought.

  But his relief was short-lived. Two of the massive cube ships were still flying, and they were now charging toward the Minotaur. Many Firebirds still flew, but they faced thousands of ravagers, and they were falling fast.

  They were hovering over the Pacific now. Petty somehow had to make it around the globe, to bring his ship above Toronto, and to let down his marines.

  It would be easier to dig through a boulder with a spoon.

  Their ammo was running low. Many decks were losing air. Two decks were burning. And more ravagers were rising from the planet.

  Petty gritted his teeth, forced down the fear, and kept flying.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  I was in darkness.

  Marco stood in the shadows, head lowered.

  I thought I was alone.

  He closed his eyes.

  She was with me.

  "Addy," he whispered. "I'm coming."

  Light streamed outside as the Marilyn flew through the heliosphere, leaving the vast empty space between the stars, entering at last the solar system. Home. Heading toward that distant star, still small and pale, soon to grow into the sun.

  For many days now, here aboard the ship, Marco had been thinking not of Earth, not their destination, but of New Earth, that stormy planet orbiting Alpha Centauri. Of the colony of Haven. He thought about the two years he had spent there—two missing years of his life. Two years of trauma. Addiction—to alcohol, to sex, to grief, to self-destruction. Two years of living with Addy in a box, floating through a storm. Two years of pushing her away. Of hurting her. Of losing her friendship.

  I nearly lost my life in Haven, he thought. I nearly jumped off that ledge, fleeing the ghosts of war that still chased me. But almost losing you, Addy, was worse. Because you're better than I am. You've always been better. You've always been the best part of me, the best reason for me to live. He took a shuddering breath. And I'm going to find you now, Addy. I'm going to save you. And I'm never letting you go again.

  He stepped between the four empty cots in the Marilyn's dark bunk. He placed his hand on the porthole, gazing outside into space.

  The Ghost Fleet flew there.

  Most had not made it this far. Most had died in battles along the way or fled back home. But three motherships, large as towns, had flown with the Marilyn all the way here. Three thousand smaller seedships, the starfighters of the yurei, flew here too. Large and small, they all looked the same: two metal disks encircling a central disk of light.

  A small fleet, Marco thought. But it will be enough. It must be enough. Or we have no chance.

  He refocused his eyes, gazing at his reflection in the porthole.

  Would Addy even recognize me?

  He had changed. He looked haggard, he thought—despite what Lailani had told him. He had been too skinny on Haven, but after six months in space, eating little, he had lost even more weight. His eyes looked too large in his gaunt face. Leaping into the pit of monsters in the simulation, an act as devastating as nearly leaping off the edge at Haven, had etched his face with weariness. For the first time in his life, he had gray hairs. Just a few of them. But they were there at age twenty-six.

  For Addy, if she was still alive on Earth, twice as long would have passed since Haven. Time flowed differently in the cosmos, depending on gravity and speed. Six months had passed for Marco since Haven. A year or longer for Addy.

  "Have you survived this long, Addy?" he whispered. "Hang on a little longer." His eyes dampened. "You helped me when I needed you most. I'm coming for you, Addy. When I was in darkness, you were there, and I'm coming for you. Just survive a little longer."

  A voice answered from the doorway. "She will, Marco. She's strong. She's alive. I can feel it."

  He looked up to see Kemi entering the bunk. He felt his cheeks flush.

  "Sorry, I think out loud sometimes when I'm alone," Marco said.

  Kemi hugged him. They gazed out into space together.

  "They're beautiful," she whispered. "The soulships."

  "Not as beautiful as you," he said, then suddenly laughed. "I can't believe I said that. Such a horrible line!"

  She pouted. "You don't think I'm beautiful?"

  He looked at her. Her high cheekbones. Her curly dark hair. Her full lips.

  "You are beautiful," he said. "I've always thought so."

  Kemi smiled and lowered her eyes. "You silly boy." Her smile faded. She leaned her head against his shoulder. "I'm scared, Marco."

  He held her, stroking her hair. "Me too."

  "Do you think the yurei spoke the truth? That one of us will die? Me or you? Or Lailani? Or Ben-Ari?"

  "I don't know."

  Kemi's tears wet his shoulder. "I can't imagine losing any one of you. I'm so scared one among us will die, or more than one. I'm so scared that my parents are dead. We're almost home, Marco. Almost back on Earth. Back in Toronto. Our home. What will we find there?"

  "Ruins," he said. "Death. War. But also, maybe, victory. Also, maybe Addy and your parents." He held Kemi's hands. "Also, maybe a chance for a new life. To rebuild. To be happy."

  "How can we be happy again?" she whispered, tears on her cheeks. "How can we forget everything?"

  "Forget?" Marco said. "No. We won't forget. I tried to forget in Haven, but the memories chased me. We'll remember, Kemi. We'll remember how we fought. We'll remember those we lost. Every day, when we wake up in peace, we'll remember, and we'll mourn, and we'll be grateful for what we have."

  "For our house on the beach?" She bit her lip, eyes hopeful.

  He nodded, smiling. "For our house on the beach. That big house we'll all share. The
water on one side and trees on the other. Campfires at night on the sand. Roasting marshmallows."

  She grinned. "Star Trek marathons on the big TV!"

  He laughed. "And long walks along the beach, collecting seashells. And you can wear a hula girl outfit."

  Kemi gasped. "You wear one, hula boy!" Her grin grew, revealing sparkling teeth. "You'll be my little hula boy." She touched his cheek. "I love you, little hula boy."

  He placed his hands on the small of her back. "I love you, Kemi."

  She kissed him.

  They kissed for a long time. Kemi smiled nervously, biting her lip, as she pulled him onto a cot. They kept kissing, but then Kemi pulled back. She grew serious. She placed a hand on his cheek and gazed into his eyes.

  "Marco, eight years ago, we made love for the first time. Our only time." Her eyes welled with tears. "And I broke your heart then. I chose a military career over you. And I regretted that ever since. I'm sorry, Marco. I want to make love to you again. Because I really love you. You're the love of my life." A smile shone through her tears. "Well, you and Captain Kirk."

  "I can't compete with Kirk," Marco said. "You'll have to settle."

  He kissed her again, more deeply this time.

  "Just . . . be careful with my hand," she said. "You know, the loose battery. I know that I'm shockingly sexy, but I don't want to shock you for real."

  "I'll find other parts to interest me," he whispered, reaching toward one of particular interest.

  She gasped. "Naughty hula boy! Even Kirk was more of a gentleman."

  They kissed again. And they made love again. And they lay in each other's arms, laughing, remembering home. Remembering their long walks among the trees in Mount Pleasant Cemetery, the last green space in the city. Their lunches at the Indian restaurant, their favorite haunt. Their evenings watching movies and having popcorn wars. Their Sunday mornings, reading Shakespeare plays aloud, acting out the parts in the living room. Being kids. Being happy.

  As Marco lay beside Kemi, he thought of Lailani. He thought of falling in love with her. Of making love to her just weeks ago in the forest aboard the soulship. He had loved other women on Haven. He had loved Anisha, had slept with many others in his daze and darkness. But here, aboard the Marilyn, aboard this small ship, were the two great loves of his life. Kemi, of sweetness and pain. Lailani, of fire and ice. Two women he had given his heart to. Two women who had broken his heart. Two women he still felt torn between.

  Maybe someday, he thought, we will choose loyalty. Maybe someday, we will be healed, and we will live normal lives. Maybe someday, I will marry a woman, settle down, grow old with her. But right now, I must think of a third. Of my best friend. Of Addy.

  "Hey, hula boy," Kemi said. "We still have an hour before our shift at the bridge. Wanna watch a Star Trek episode?"

  He rolled his eyes. "We live on a spaceship, and you want to watch old science fiction shows from before the moon landing."

  "Hey, our spaceship doesn't have a Gorn!" She pulled out her tablet. "You're watching an episode with me if I have to tie you down."

  She curled up against him. He wrapped his arms around her, and she laid her cheek on his chest. They watched Kirk battling the Gorn as the Marilyn flew onward, as the Ghost Fleet followed, as they headed closer and closer to Earth.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  "Armor—charge!" Addy shouted from her sand tiger. "For Earth!"

  The artillery fired their last shells.

  Across the countryside, the armored divisions stormed forth.

  Thousands of tanks charged, firing their cannons, raising storms of dust. Thousands of sand tigers charged with them, machine guns rattling. Thousands of troop carriers, great boxes of metal, carried infantry brigades to battle. They had painted the vehicles with fangs and flaming eyes, had mounted them with marauder corpses, and their banners fluttered in the wind. They raced toward the city, all guns blazing. Above them flew the choppers, the fighter jets, the drones. The great Resistance—they charged with all their might.

  After hours of shelling the city, it was time to come home.

  And from the ruins of Toronto, the enemy emerged to meet them.

  Ravagers flew above, raining down plasma. Thousands of marauders scurried across the land, howling for war. And thousands of new horrors rolled forth too, great balls formed of twisting metal and spikes and crackling electricity, marauders rolling inside them, the aliens' version of tanks.

  The two forces stormed toward each other.

  Addy drove her sand tiger, a lumbering beast of steel she had dubbed Matilda. She gripped the controls with both hands, guiding the heavily armored vehicle. She had fought her first battle as a sand tiger driver, all the way back at Fort Djemila eight years ago. She would fight her last battle from one too. Her old brother-in-arms, that little bastard Pinky, stood in the gun turret, firing the machine gun. An infantry squad gathered below him, waiting in Matilda's hold, prepared to leap out once they entered the ruins. Hundreds of other sand tigers roared around them. Addy drove at the vanguard, leading the charge.

  The marauders grew closer.

  Addy lit a cigar and grinned.

  "Let's kill some bugs," she said.

  With a sound that shook the Earth, the two forces slammed together.

  The sand tiger plowed into several marauders and spun madly. All around her, thousands of vehicles crashed into the enemy. Claws tore at them. Jaws ripped into iron hulls. The marauders' spherical vehicles rolled everywhere, lashing their scythes, crashing through the human assault. Above, the jets and ravagers slammed together, burning, crashing down. Addy screamed, gripping the steering wheel, spinning madly, trying to steady the sand tiger.

  "Addy, damn it!" Pinky shouted from the gun turret. "Are you drunk?"

  "I'm trying!" she shouted. "Fuck!"

  Back at Fort Djemila, her sand tiger had plowed over the scum like a car over cockroaches. But the marauders were larger and tougher. Every one she hit knocked her back. Matilda weighed over sixty metric tons, but the vehicle could barely slog through these aliens. The creatures clawed at the armored hull, rammed into the front, and bit at the caterpillar tracks.

  Addy was just glad that sand tigers had been upgraded since the scum war. Back then, Marco and Lailani had stood in an open gun turret, exposed to the enemy; he had fired the machine gun, while Lailani had spun the winch to aim it. The new model had a closed turret, protecting Pinky, and a gun he could move and fire at once.

  "Pinky, the marauder attacking our tracks!" Addy shouted. "Shoot it down or we're dead!"

  His machine gun blazed. Through a monitor, she saw the bullets slam into the marauder biting at their caterpillar tracks. The creature squealed and fell back, eyes popping. Addy pressed down on the gas, and they charged forward.

  "Pinky, ahead of us!"

  "I got 'em!" he cried, and his machine gun fired at the marauders ahead.

  Some of the creatures fell. Addy drove Matilda another few meters forward.

  More marauders leaped onto them. Matilda was encased in thick plates of metal that could take a grenade like a prize fighter taking a mosquito bite. The marauders dented that armor like knives into rotting wood. They tore one armored plate free. Claws ripped into Matilda's hull, and the crew inside—a squad of infantrymen—shouted and stabbed at the beast.

  "Pinky!"

  "I see him." Pinky wheeled his machine gun downward and fired. His bullets shattered the skulls along the marauder's back, but he missed the creature's eyes. The marauder yanked the crack wider, and its jaws entered Matilda. Inside the sand tiger, a soldier screamed, blood spurting. His comrades fired their guns. Bullets slammed into the invading marauder, and the creature finally slipped off the hull, leaving a gaping hole.

  "Fuck," Addy said as she drove onward. Sand tigers were falling all around her. Nearby, the tanks were slogging it out, battling for every meter. Their cannons kept firing, knocking back marauders, only for more aliens to replace them. All the while, the rav
agers flew above, swooping to rain down plasma like dragons burning charging knights. The ravagers outnumbered the Resistance's helicopters and jets a hundred to one, overwhelming the human air force, tossing the flying machines down.

  They were still several kilometers from the city.

  It felt like a galaxy away.

  Addy pressed the gas pedal to the floor, charging forward.

  "Steve, you with me?" she said into her communicator.

  He answered from his own sand tiger. "Right behind ya, babe. I'm the one with the dead marauder dangling off his nose."

  Addy looked through the reverse viewport. She saw his sand tiger rolling behind Matilda. A dead marauder hung from his front, claws stuck in the metal shielding.

  "Nasty booger you got there, lover boy," she said. "Want me to shoot it off for ya?"

  "You guys keep shooting at the marauders ahead," Steve said. "Let's plow through those buggers. Last one to Toronto is a rotten marauder egg."

  Addy kept driving, but the marauders were everywhere. She slammed into another one. Pinky shot it back, but three more marauders replaced it, lashing at the hull. A claw tore through the front shielding, emerging by Addy's head. She winced, pulled out a pistol, and when the claw pulled back, she fired through the hole. She hit the marauder's eye, then slammed into the shrieking alien. Matilda rolled over the creature, crunching its legs.

  "Fucking hell, our armor was built to withstand cannon fire," she muttered. "And those claws are ripping through us like we're tinfoil."

  Already, across the field, sand tigers and tanks lay overturned, burning, torn apart. Marauders were ripping off the armor and feasting on the soldiers within. Gunfire blazed. Infantry warriors, their vehicles destroyed, were fighting afoot; they weren't meant to fight yet, not until they entered the city. The ravagers kept streaming above, spewing fire. One of the living ships flew ahead of Addy, scooping up infantrymen with its claws, then scattering them across the field. A second ravager swooped directly above her, and its plasma rained.

  "Incoming!" Addy shouted, pushing down on the gas.

  Matilda rumbled a few meters forward, slammed into several marauders, and ground to a halt.