by Tony Healey
The General stepped back. A Naxor grabbed Hawk’s left hand above the shackle. Hawk felt something cold against the tip of his index finger.
“What … ?”
“Ask me and I will give it. Beg for death. Will you, Captain?” Carn asked.
Hawk wanted to give up. To give in and ask for what he craved. An end to his misery. But there was still some part of him that just couldn’t.
“Get lost.”
General Carn shook his head. “You will learn the hard way. Now tell me Captain, since you seem reluctant to ask for release from this nightmare … what do you know about the black pyramids?”
Hawk strained to see his hand. The Naxor held a metal instrument over the tip. At a nod of Carn’s head the Naxor clamped down with the device. It cut the end of his finger clean off. The blade crunched through the bone. Hawk screamed, every blood vessel standing out on his neck.
In front of him, the General chuckled.
11.
“Keep up. Weapons at the ready,” Greene said.
They moved from one rock outcropping to another. The basalt slopes were difficult to navigate. Built along one side of the dead volcano was a long white structure. It had a flat area where they could see vehicles parked. The team made their way around the treacherous shards of scoria as they headed towards it. Below them the base of the volcano was shrouded in thick, heavy mist.
“Another hundred metres,” Selena Walker said. She pulled her own gun free from its holster.
Greene shot her a look. “Easy. Remember, nobody does anything unless I say so.”
“The side of the compound facing us seems to back onto a corridor of some kind,” Ensign Maisey said. “I’m reading a hollow area behind there. It extends for over thirty metres.”
They stopped at another series of ragged boulders. Sulphurous steam rose from nearby.
“We’ll use timed detonators to breach the compound. From there it’s stack and file. We sweep the whole building, take this end and work our way through it,” Greene said. “We don’t stop till we find Hawk.”
“Shall I contact Captain Praror, sir?” a Krinuan soldier called Lexin asked.
“No. Observe radio silence for the moment. When we’ve made progress we’ll give Praror an update. Now let’s move.”
12.
Hawk let loose a blood-curdling scream as another fingertip was severed. He barely felt his own hot blood gush down his hand for the heavy throbbing emanating from his butchered digits.
“I’m tellin’ yuh,” Hawk gasped. “I don’t know nothin’ about these pyramids. Yuh askin’ the wrong guy.”
“I think not,” Carn said. He meshed his gloved hands together. “You’re holding back something, and I want to know what it is.”
“Yuh wrong,” Hawk said.
“No. You are. I will not stop, Captain. Even after I’ve squeezed every last drop of resolve from you, broken your spirit … I will continue until you hang there, perished. All you can hope to do is advance the process.”
Hawk didn’t say anything.
The General grabbed his face, his grip hard. “Tell me what you know. I must unlock their secret. It eludes me. Tell me how they work.”
Captain Nowlan just shook his head. “I can’t … I don’t know …”
Carn squeezed Hawk’s face so tight, Hawk thought his jaw would crack apart. “TELL ME …”
Just then an enormous explosion rocked the complex. The General staggered back. He steadied himself and pointed a finger at the two Naxor in the room with him.
“Get out there now.”
They left without a word. The door closed behind them.
“So yuh wanna create an empire for yuhself, huh?” Hawk asked him.
The General shook his head. “You really don’t get it, do you? I have sworn to devote my life to the expansion of the Draxx Dominion. To the spread of our rule. The Naxor are simply my allies, assisting me towards that end.”
Hawk licked his lips. “How can yuh still swear allegiance to the Draxx when yuh so far away? Don’t you see it’s a lost cause?”
Sounds of weapon discharge outside in the hall. The General didn’t pay them any attention.
“Your friends have arrived to rescue you, I suspect,” Carn said. “It is no matter. Any effort at resistance to my will is a futile gesture. What you do not understand is that the Draxx Dominion lives or dies with the Queen. My Queen.”
Hawk frowned at him.
“When you destroyed Prince Sepix, you failed to notice my own ship leave moments before. The Prince carried a very precious cargo …”
Hawk’s eyes widened in astonishment. “Yuh can’t mean …”
“This war has only begun. In this new Galaxy, with my help, the Queen will forge a new dominion. We will bring balance through terror. Balance through domination. Balance through fear.”
Carn pulled his sword free from the sheath. With a swift movement he whirled about and cut clean through the chains holding Hawk from the ground.
Nowlan clattered to the deck.
Carn aimed the end of the blade at him. “And you … I’m far from finished with you …”
13.
“Move!” Greene yelled.
Maisey took the lead, firing into the Naxor guards. Pilion filed in next to him, covering his flank with weapons fire as Maisey pushed through the long corridor. Through the thick, dusty smoke he could see the Naxor running left and right, and he dropped several with angry bursts of fire.
Commander Greene followed with Selena Walker. They both took up positions against a wide column on the other side of the corridor.
“Cover me, Walker, Lexin,” Greene told them.
Selena fired over his shoulder as he unstrapped several grenades from his belt. He activated them and, one after another, chucked them down the corridor.
“Get back!”
Maisey and Pilion hugged the wall nearest them as the grenades went off, a cacophony of small explosions.
Greene leapt out, weapon in hand. “Charge!”
He ran down the corridor, firing at the surviving Naxor still getting to their feet at the other end. One managed to fire, the blasts of energy whirring past Greene’s head before he could fire back.
Walker darted out from behind Greene and fired at the Naxor. The alien was blown back by the force of the hit to his chest. Lexin picked off two Naxor with his crossbow.
“Pilion, you take the other cells. Surface charges!” Maisey ordered.
Ensign Pilion nodded his compliance and started to attach tiny charges to the cell doors lining the right side of the corridor while Maisey focused on those to the left.
Greene told Walker to take cover on the other side of the corridor. He took cover with Lexin. Greene looked back to see Maisey and Pilion attach the last charges to the cells, twelve in total.
He looked ahead. Another twelve to go.
Maisey took up position behind Selena Walker. Pilion rushed up behind Greene and Lexin.
“On my mark! Three … two … one!” Maisey yelled. He depressed a trigger in his hand. Pilion did the same. All the cell doors behind them blew wide open.
Alarms sounded everywhere around them, a deafening thunder of high-pitched screams.
“Walker, with me! You two, check those cells!” Commander Greene ordered. “Lexin, hang back a bit and pick up the rear. We don’t want any Naxor circling back and surprising us.”
He pressed on with Selena. More Naxor ran into the corridor. The two of them squatted and fired.
Greene heard the footsteps of Maisey and Pilion behind him. “Any luck?”
They both shook their heads.
“Half of them empty. One had a rotting corpse in it. The others, they’re all too scared to even leave the room,” Pilion said.
“Quick let’s get these now,” Maisey said.
The two ensigns set about slapping charges to the other cell doors. No more Naxor appeared to challenge them, though Greene and Walker maintained a defensive stance. M
aisey and Pilion ran back to them. They depressed their triggers. The doors to the cells blew open.
“Better check them before -“
A blood-curdling roar bellowed from one of the cells. Selena Walker looked terrified as she held her pistol out in front of her.
“What the -” Pilion wondered aloud.
A set of claws appeared from a cell at the far end. They grabbed the side of the door frame, then the rest of the creature presented itself.
Twelve feet high, four black eyes set into leathery, red skin. Giant muscular body, with a long tail furnished with spikes. Its mouth was a metre across and filled with row after row of razor sharp teeth.
It spotted the four of them and let loose another earth-shaking roar. Commander Greene flinched despite himself, then he remembered the weapon in his hand.
“Commander!” Lexin said. “It’s called a Tonabous. A very dangerous creature! It will kill us all.”
Greene nodded. “I didn’t come here to die. Open fire on that thing!”
As Maisey, Pilion and Lexin started to fire at the creature, it dropped its head and charged them, oblivious to the hits striking its thick, heavy body.
Lexin backed up, continuing to fire. The Tonabous knocked Maisey and Pilion clean out of the way. They barrel rolled to either side as the creature lifted its head in time to snatch Lexin up in its mouth. It shook Lexin from one side to the other. The Krinuan scrambled to pull himself free from its jaws, but to no avail. The Tonabous threw him against a wall. His head exploded on impact, brain matter and blood flying everywhere.
“Get back!” Greene shouted at the others. He fired into the creature.
Nothing seemed to touch it.
Pilion got to his feet and joined Greene and Walker. Maisey took longer to get up. He lifted his weapon to fire at the Tonabous, but too late. It was already upon him.
“No!” Greene was pulled away from the grizzly scene by Walker and Pilion. They made a quick check of the cells nearest them as Greene stood there, unable to take his eyes off of the horror before him.
The Tonabous bit Maisey in half. The Ensign let loose one final scream. The creature dropped him to the floor. Then it turned its attention to the Commander.
14.
Another explosion rocked the room, but this one came from the door itself. Carn lunged at Hawk, where he lay defenceless on the floor. The chains connected to his legs and arms coiled about him like metal tentacles. The General still managed to pull Hawk to his feet with only one hand.
In the other he held his blade, at the ready.
“I am finished toying with you. Now you will die.”
He raised the sword and prepared to deliver a death blow.
* * *
Commander Greene backed up against a partly open cell door. The Tonabous let loose a ferocious roar. It ran at him. The Commander dove to the side just in time. The Tonabous smashed through the cell door, tumbling forward in a clatter of broken wall and claws.
Greene waved his hand at the rubble and dust. The murk cleared and he almost couldn’t believe his eyes. General Carn had Hawk in one hand, and was about to execute Hawk with the blade in his other.
“No!” Greene yelled. He raised his weapon.
Carn shoved Hawk to one side. Captain Nowlan struck a wall. Carn now held the blade with both hands, ready to cut Greene down.
“Mistake!” Carn yelled. He dashed at the Commander. Greene backed up, ready to fire.
The Tonabous swiped at the General’s legs. Carn fell backwards. The great creature heaved itself back up. Carn rolled away from it.
The Commander backed into the doorway as the Tonabous shrieked with fury. As General Carn got to his feet, the thing rushed him. Carn slashed with his sword. The Tonabous recoiled then attacked again. Carn edged around the back of the torture equipment for cover. The Tonabous went around, swiping with its huge clawed mandibles.
“Hawk! Can you hear me?” Greene called out to the inert shape lying on the floor in the corner. It didn’t move or respond in any way.
General Carn pulled something from his belt then tossed it to the other side of the cell. Greene retreated into the corridor. The device stuck to the wall. It flashed with an explosion of light and smoke. Greene shielded his eyes. As the flash faded he saw that whatever the weapon was, it had left a gaping hole in the side of the room. Fresh air rushed into the building.
Carn defended himself with sword swipes as he neared the hole. As the Tonabous made a swipe for his head, Carn swung up and down with his blade, severing the creature’s lethal paw. It thudded to the floor in a splatter of purple blood.
The Tonabous reared up on its hind legs, roared in pain and outrage then made a final dash at the General.
Carn jumped backwards out of the hole, the Tonabous directly after him. Greene rushed to the opening in time to see both fall into the foggy basin of the inert volcano, where they were obscured in their final moments.
“Uhhh …” Hawk murmured.
Commander Greene rushed to his side.
“You’re hurt but I’ll get you out of here. You’ll be fine.”
Weapons fire and another explosion filled his ears. Greene watched as Hawk slipped from consciousness. He turned to the door. “Help! Get in here!”
He cradled the ghost white pilot in his arms.
15.
Pilion took up the other side of Hawk as Commander Greene carried him into the corridor. The alarms still rang all around them.
“What’s happened?” Selena asked, rushing to Hawk’s side.
Greene waved her away. “Later. He’s alive. Contact Praror and tell him we’re on our way.”
Walker fumbled with the comm. device.
They passed the mangled corpse of Ensign Maisey, and what remained of Lexin. All three of them tried not to look at what the Tonabous had left in its wake.
“Why would they have something like that in here?” Pilion asked aloud.
Greene shook his head. “Your guess is as good as mine. Testing maybe? All I know is, that thing killed two of our team.”
Walker put the comm. device back. “Praror’s prepping the ship now. He’s ready to go as soon as we get there.”
“Good. Now let’s hustle.”
The Commander didn’t look back.
16.
The starship blasted away from the island, up into the open sky.
Captain Praror joined Commander Greene and Selena Walker at Hawk’s bedside.
“How is he?” Praror asked.
“Weak. He’s been through hell,” Greene said.
Walker couldn’t stop crying. She ran the back of her hand softly across Hawk’s face. Greene put his arm around her.
“He’ll be all right.”
“What did they do to him?” she asked.
“Far as we can tell … all sorts. But let’s not focus on that now. We need to stay positive. The minute we get back to the Defiant he’ll be in Doctor Clayton’s capable hands. If there’s anyone can fix him back up it’s the doc,” Greene assured her.
A Krinuan crewmember entered the confined space. He whispered in Praror’s ear. The Captain nodded and sent him on his way.
“I’ve just been informed we’ve achieved significant enough distance from the planet’s gravity well to make the Jump. I’m going up there now to supervise. If you need me, just call,” Praror said.
“Thanks,” Greene told him. “Lexin fought bravely. We wouldn’t have got to Hawk if it weren’t for his efforts to stop that thing.”
“I thank you for the kind words, Commander,” Praror said stiffly.
“I’m sorry,” Walker said.
Praror dipped his head. “Lexin volunteered for this mission, as did everyone else who stayed behind. We all knew the risk going in. Including yourselves.”
Commander Greene’s mind flashed back to Maisey. He knew that watching that man die would haunt him.
The Krinuan Captain looked down at the inert form of Hawk Nowlan.
“Lexi
n did not die in vain.”
Praror left. Commander Greene watched him go, then turned back to the legend before them. He looked to be on death’s doorstep and if not, then not far from it. Selena looked at Hawk’s hand, at the missing tips of his first two fingers.
“Horrific …” she said sadly.
“He’s strong,” Greene said. “He’ll pull through.”
On the bed, Hawk slept. But it was not a sleep filled with dreams.
Just one nightmare … one scene that replayed itself over and over. In his unconscious state, he couldn’t fight it away. Couldn’t stop it coming.
In it he saw a Draxx Queen. She birthed an endless supply of Draxx soldiers.
Next to her, arms crossed in front of his chest as he laughed behind his silver mask, stood General Carn.
Behind them both, a spinning wheel of light he felt incapable of ignoring. And all around him, loud as a fog horn, a sound that would haunt his dreams for a long time. Hawk covered his ears with his hands, and in the dream he started to scream over and over and over …
PART EIGHT
WARRIOR
1.
The planet Krinu was a veritable paradise. Lush vegetation covered the surface in cohesion with the sprawl of the many Krinuan cities and star ports. The Krinuan government had designated an entire precinct to the Defiant and her crew. They were treated as guests of the highest order.
None of this was lost on Captain Jessica King. And yet, she felt ill at ease.
Her crew happily relaxing in the sunshine of this tamed jungle planet, the Defiant remained in orbit as her repairs continued. The fact that their ship – their home – had been designated unsafe for the crew to remain on board saddened her in a way she couldn’t quite explain. It was like they’d all given up.
