“Lasso failure imminent. The worst-case scenario gives you three seconds. Best case, six seconds,” Annabelle reported, but I ignored her because I saw a moving dart glistening in the new morning sun. It was the Bullet. Della hadn’t let me down.
Bullets move faster than ships. They aren’t necessarily made to do much more than transport, so they don’t need to be heavy or complicated. What they do need to be is fast enough to make our approach a surprise and tough enough to deal with atmospheric blowback at certain speeds. Both would come in handy right now.
I took a deep breath and forced myself to my feet. “Annabelle initiate my thrusters,” I said, and as they kicked on, I flew toward the Bullet. “And put on my helmet.”
“Bullet’s in your vicinity,” Della called in as my helmet reappeared. “Wait. Why are you heading toward it?”
“I need it to hit the heart, Della.” I took a deep breath as I continued to ascend. “I need to make sure it goes to the right place, and there’s only one way to do that.”
“You’re going to ride it,” she said in a horrified whisper.
“I’m going to ride it,” I agreed.
“You can’t do that,” she responded. “You’ll die. Even if your shields manage to hold up somehow, I’m looking at your armor’s condition and upgrades now. You don’t have the gravitational manipulation capacity or the strength enhancement necessary to do this. You’ll drive the damn thing into the ground and take yourself out with it.”
I reached the Bullet and turned, activating the gravity manipulation I did have. Instantly, I slammed into the top of the thing, and with my vision still a bit blurry from the impact, I secured myself to the thing.
“Then help me out,” I said to Della. “Give me what I need to get this done.”
“You don’t have the coin for that, Ryder,” she answered. “You’ve got nowhere near enough for this. You need at least 1,000,000 coins of alpha-plus, bleeding level manipulation tech to pull this off.”
It was true. I’d used up all my money on other upgrades, upgrades that weren’t nearly as important as this.
“You going to let coin effect this, Della, or do you want to kill a fucking queen?” I asked, swallowing hard as the bug drew near. Della was right. I wouldn’t be able to do this without a boost. As of now, the Bullet was aimed for the ground near Teela’s feet. I needed it to get a lot higher, and I was maxed out.
“I can’t issue coin,” she said. “Even for the recorded kills of unassessed creatures. You know that.”
“But you can issue a gift, an upgrade like you did earlier. Tell me that pulse laser didn’t come directly from you.”
“I had Alliance permission for that,” she argued. “I can’t just—”
“You can,” I assured her, as the time to make my move drew near. “You can, and I need you to.”
“Damn you, Ryder,” she said frantically. “Just damn it all.”
I took a deep breath and saw the upgrade I needed suddenly in my suit. The Gravitec generator in Annabelle was stronger now, strong enough to pull the Bullet up, to aim it where it needed to be, and hopefully strong enough to push me clear before the Bullet slammed into the bug and the momentum pulled me in with it.
“Thank you, Della. You’re an angel.” I pivoted the Bullet to where it needed to be, shaping a gravity well to adjust for the queen’s every movement.
“And you’re a lost cause, but you’ve been that for as long as I’ve known you. So, get your ass back here safely. The ships will be there in fifteen seconds.”
“Affirmative,” I answered.
I felt the heat of the Bullet under me, felt it stay the course as it neared Teela’s armor, Teela’s heart.
Then I heard a familiar voice in my head.
“Lieutenant Ryder,” Annabelle said. “Letting go now would provide you a seventy percent chance of surviving the force of impact.”
“And what are the chances it would hit the heart if I let go now?”
“Forty-three percent.”
“And if I held on until there was a one hundred percent chance of taking this bitch down?”
“Then your chances of survival would plummet to seventeen percent, I’m afraid.”
“I’ll take it.” That old, familiar smile was forming on my lips, the smile that always crept in when I stared death in the face.
“But Lieutenant R—”
“We’ve been through worse, old girl. We’ll make it through this too. Just tell me when I’m at one hundred.”
“Affirmative, Lieutenant Ryder,” she said, and then she went silent.
I watched the bug grow closer, so close that my body almost instinctively drew back. I kept it steady though. I held strong until I heard the words, “One hundred percent, Lieutenant Ryder,” sing through my brain like a psalm.
“That’s what I’m talking about,” I muttered. “Have fun in hell, your highness.”
I detached myself from the Bullet, pushing off with enough Gravitec energy to hopefully get clear but not enough to mess up my aim, and throwing my body backward just as Teela broke free of my lasso.
Only it didn’t matter. I watched as the vessel slammed into Teela, ripping through the Ellebruim surrounding her and digging into her body. She screamed, a sweet, horrible, victorious scream, and then I felt the impact of the resulting explosion.
The shockwave twisted my body hard, throwing me away like garbage in the wind. Pain screamed through my body, so fierce and intense, my vision went dark and spotty.
No, I thought as Annabelle did her damnedest to try to right my trajectory, to keep me from slamming into the ground and turning into a broken pile of chunks. Only, I didn’t care about that because the only thing I wanted was to see the queen fall. I needed to see her fall, needed to see her die, needed to know that, when this was over, the bugs would know that Mark Ryder went up against the biggest and baddest they had to offer and came out on top.
I forced away the unconsciousness threatening to overtake me as I flew up through the air toward the atmospheric cap. The city was growing smaller now, a glimmer against my vision, and Teela crashed against it, as dead as poor Billy.
I breathed a sigh of relief, too weak to move, too weak to stop myself from being thrust out into the vacuum of space.
“It was a good run, Annabelle,” I said, though it might have just been a thought. “It was a damn good run.”
“Yes, it was, Mark,” she answered.
“Wait?” I muttered. “Did you just call me—”
37
I woke in a bed, looking up at a ceiling much like the one in the room they afforded me for being one of the Alliance Hall janitors.
For a moment, I thought the entire thing had been a dream, like I had whipped it all up after inhaling too many cleaning supply fumes. If not for the ringing in my ears and an ache all over my body, I might have kept believing that.
But I knew better. I knew what the scars of a completed mission felt like. I had been inflicted with too many of them and, though this mission ended a bit differently than the others I had been on, I knew what happened next.
I sat up, feeling naked without my suit, and took a look around. I was back in the Alliance Halls, back in a holding room for injured or incapacitated Marines.
Taking stock of myself, first by eyeballing everything, and then by looking in a mirror hanging on the wall, I saw that I was completely whole. Ten fingers, ten toes. Everything that needed to dangle still dangled and everything that needed to stay put was still put.
I got out of bed and moved to the sink, ignoring how cold the metal floor felt against my bare feet. Turning on the faucet, I ran water over my face. It was cold and felt good and bad all at once. It woke me up and refreshed me, but the temperature made it feel like pinpricks across my body.
Finishing that, I looked over to find a suit folded up on a chair next to the bed. It wasn’t my janitor’s uniform. Instead, it was a Marine’s outfit, which made sense. Until I was dismissed, I was stil
l on active duty and, since I’d been unconscious this entire time, I couldn’t have been dismissed yet.
Throwing the clothes on, I made sure I looked presentable enough for any pictures that might come as a result of this. Too many times had I been caught off guard, only to find an unflattering portrait of myself on display in the local papers.
Making sure I had my suave on, I opened the door to find a grassfed standing watch.
“Can I help you with something?” I asked, looking at him.
His eyes went wide as he took me in. “L-Lieutenant Ryder,” he stuttered. “It’s an honor. Truly, it's an honor.”
“I believe you,” I said, looking at him but seeing Billy. My heart broke just a little bit, but I pushed it down. “You here to escort me to debriefing?”
“Yes!” he said instantly. “I’m sorry. Yes. That’s what I’m here for. How did you know?”
“Because this is the fiftieth time that’s happened to me, son,” I answered, patting him on the shoulder. “Now come on. I’m sure the big boys don’t like waiting.”
I walked to the debriefing room, making polite conversation and actually having to show my escort where to go. When we got there, I gave the boy a quick salute, and he almost peed himself with excitement.
“I’m going to be like you one day,” he said as he darted away.
I wanted to say something in response, but I wasn’t sure what that would even be.
Taking another deep breath, I stepped forward and allowed the doors to open for me.
The room stretched out ahead of me. A rounded table sat in the center, and the first set of eyes I saw was Della.
“I haven’t gotten you fired yet?” I asked, laughing.
“Not for lack of trying,” she answered in a less happy tone.
As I neared, the rest of the table came into view. My heart stopped for just a moment before I worked up the courage to take it in. The debriefing would be for everyone involved in the mission who had survived. So, if I looked over to find the entire table empty, it would mean Mina and the girls had gone down fighting. I didn’t want that. More than anything, I didn’t want that.
I looked over though to find all three of them, alive and well, sitting like goddamn superheroes at this table. It took all I could do not to cry or shout out or something stupid like that. Still, when Mina’s eyes met mine, I thought I saw her blink back a bit of moisture herself.
“Good to see you,” I choked out. “Good to see all of you.”
“Likewise,” she answered, nodding.
I rounded the table, looking at Claire, and then at Jill. They looked the same, but different somehow, more accomplished, more secure, more impressive.
“Three times the Ellebruim we sent you for,” Della said as soon as I sat down. “That’s what we retrieved from the moon planet along with valuable intelligence.”
“There was more,” I said. “A leech-like bug that I had to—”
“We know,” Della said. “Your suit took it upon herself to make a biological imprint of the species while it was with you. We all the information we could ever need about it as well as samples of the mantis queen and valuable maps of the moon itself.”
“Good job, old girl,” I muttered, thinking of Annabelle.
“As for the three of you, I have to admit, I’m impressed,” Della said. “Things went south for you, and you rallied. There aren’t many Marines who could overcome that. You’ve served the Alliance well.”
“Thank you,” Mina muttered, presumably speaking for her squad.
“And you, Lieutenant Ryder,” Della said, turning to me.
“I’m back to being Lieutenant Ryder now?” I joked.
“You’ve passed an extremely important milestone.” She shook her head. “Fifty missions completed. That’s quite the accomplishment.”
“Do I get a cake and a gold watch?” I asked, leaning back in my chair.
“No, you get an upgrade,” she corrected. “Because of your stature, you’re now eligible to be a member of the Second Battalion, not to mention a sizable reward in coins. Top of the leaderboard and all of that.”
“What?” I asked. “The covert group with access to special weaponry and a secret stash of ultimate upgrades? They haven’t existed since the Alliance changed the ranking system.”
“They haven’t,” Della admitted, “but they do now. At least one of them does.” She winked at me. “Congratulations.” She stood and headed toward the exit. “Now all of you get the rest of the week off. Lord knows you deserve it.” Della stopped as she reached the door. “You know,” she said, looking back at Mina and me. “The two of you make a hell of a team. You should consider getting together more often.”
Mina looked over at me, smiling. “I’ll consider it.”
I shook my head, feeling as connected to her as I had ever felt to another Marine in my life. “I bet you will.”
A few hours and just as many beers later, I was sitting at the bar, wondering what I was going to do with the rest of my week off and trying to decompress from all that had happened.
I didn’t have shit to do really or friends I really wanted to talk to. No, more than likely, I’d spend my week off at this goddamned bar, drinking away every last coin I hadn’t earmarked for new gear. What was worse was how little coin that actually was. While that million-coin upgrade had been gifted and Della had promised a big bonus for topping the Mission Complete leaderboard, the Alliance found a way to nickle and dime me as always. Suit repairs, rearming costs, and naturally a very mysterious ‘Second Battalion infrastructure upgrade’ (mandatory, of course), ate most of what I should have earned. Still, this kind of corporate shenanigans had happened too many times before, and while usually that didn’t bother me, something made it seem a little pointless.
After all, I’d just killed a bug queen. What else could possibly be left for me to conquer?
A tap came on my shoulder, and I turned around.
There she was, in an honest to God dress, with her hair done up and the beauty mark on her face prominent and unobscured. Mina John looked different tonight. Still strong, still fierce, but also vulnerable, open and inviting.
“Damn,” I muttered before I could stop myself.
“I’ll take that as a compliment,” she said, smiling as she sat next to me. “I’d take a drink as more of one though.”
“Don’t have any coin left, sorry.” I shrugged. “Spent it all and then some on upgrades about an hour ago, well, what wasn’t fleeced out of me by the Alliance. I’ve been getting drunk off goodwill and my reputation so far.” I nodded to the barkeep. “I’m sure you know what that’s like.”
“I do,” she admitted. Then, reaching into her cleavage, she pulled out a coinstick, the Alliance equivalent of hard currency. “But not tonight. Tonight, I’m buying the drinks.” She winked at me. “For both of us.”
Three more drinks and an hour later, I was walking Mina to her chambers. She was quiet, having lapsed into silence beside me halfway there. Something about her was different, shy almost.
When we reached the door, she finally looked up at me.
“I never thanked you,” she said.
“I never thanked you either,” I said. “We both saved each other’s lives.”
“Not for that,” she answered, waving away my comment. “That’s work.” She cleared her throat. “When I lost my husband, I never thought there would ever be another man I could even work alongside, let alone…”
Her voice trailed off.
“Let alone what?” I asked, unable to stop myself as my hand reached for her chin, pushing her face up to look at me.
“You know,” she said, her voice trembling.
“Say it,” I said, swallowing hard. “Just say it.”
Her hand reached behind me, to her doorknob. She twisted, and the door opened. Grabbing at my belt buckle, she pulled me closer.
“I want you,” she whispered into my ear, her breath hot, her excitement electric. “I want you, Mark
Ryder.”
She looked up at me, pulled me into the room, and slammed the door behind us.
Thank You for reading!
Curious about what happens to Mark next?
Find out in Doomed Space Marine: Volume 2.
Author’s Note
Dear reader, if you REALLY want to read my next Builder novel- I’ve got a bit of bad news for you.
Unfortunately, Amazon will not tell you when the next comes out.
You’ll probably never know about my next books, and you’ll be left wondering what happened to Arthur, Gwen, and the gang. That’s rather terrible.
There is good news though! There are three ways you can find out when the next book is published:
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If you follow me, Amazon will send you an email when I publish a book. You’ll just have to make sure you check the emails they send.
Doing any of these, or all three for best results, will ensure you find out about my next book when it is published.
If you don’t, Amazon will never tell you about my next release. Please take a few seconds to do one of these so that you’ll be able to join Arthur, Gwen, and the gang on their next adventure.
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Doomed Space Marine: A Space Adventure (Bug Wars Book 1) Page 23
