The Ashen Path

by The Ashen Path (mobi)

  “Fallen Earth!” I bellowed and jumped from the window. Both my knees are artificial, so I wasn’t afraid of hitting the ground. In fact, I was far more afraid that the ‘Tal would recover by the time I hit than anything else. Immediately upon landing, a huge claw shot towards my face, and a bloody demonstration of their race’s deceptive speed trickled down my cheek. Even with my enhanced speed I’d narrowly avoided losing the top half of my head.

  The beast lunged again and I sidestepped it, twisting in and out of its front and middle legs, aiming my rifle straight up as the alien face passed above mine. I squeezed off another round and spun out of the collapsing mass of bone, muscle, and fur. I’d hit the beast on the underside of the jaw and the round had done its work, splattering the beast’s brains on the inside of its helmet.

  Panting, I dropped to my knees. I’m always amazed how tired I get after every fight, no matter how short. The sudden burst of adrenaline and exertion followed by whatever victory or defeat that followed is more taxing than most people would expect. I forced myself back up and looked around. Danna was already at her husband’s side and wrapping his arm. She was limping, battered and bruised, but moving, impressive for someone who’d just been used as a hacky sack by a ‘Tal.

  A sudden fear washed over me as I realized I didn’t see Suzie, but she popped out from behind an all-purpose-node on the sidewalk dazed and terrified but alive. Her eyes were wide as she looked at the fallen creature that had just attacked her family. “Is tha- is that a Tarin’Tal?” she asked. “I mean, I’ve seen them in holograms and books but… wow. They’re so furry.” A shiver went down my spine. Either something wasn’t right with that girl or she was already suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. No one could look at that tangled mass of alien just after it had attacked their parents and only think ‘my, what a furry creature that is.’ I shoved the thoughts to the back of my head.

  “Another hunter will be along in a minute, and they never hunt the same prey twice. This area will crawl with Tarin’Tal in five minutes.”

  “What do we do?” Fred asked, pain lacing his face despite trying his best to hide it.

  “We run,” I declared, and did so. The spaceport gate was only two more blocks away and there weren’t any more ‘Tal in our way. It was a big city and they had to secure the main streets first.

  “Anything that can cut wires in that bag of yours?” I asked Danna.

  “Um...” She began digging. “Not really. I’ve got some flares but that’s about it.”

  “That’ll work.” She handed me the devices and I sliced the tops off with my knife, spreading the thick, sticky innards of the solution on a semicircle of wire mesh fence. Taking the last one, I ignited it with the pull fuse and tossed it at the soon-to-be doorway. Flare guts may not be napalm or plasma, but as sure as a sand storm on Sh’in it burned hot and fast.

  Once the light faded I grabbed the fence and yanked, pulling a large opening away with ease. “I probably don’t want to know how you learned to do that huh?” Fred asked.

  “Probably not,” I agreed as I tried to figure out if it was a good sign or a bad one that he was joking in his condition.

  There was a ‘Tal craft situated prominently in the center of the spaceport’s main landing platform. It was fairly impractical to park the craft there, but I doubted practicality ever entered the alien’s mind; only that ‘this pad is the largest, we are taking over. We should land on that one!’ It worked to our advantage; we could see most of their forces and they could only see us if they were looking for us. Unfortunately, however, they were probably already looking for us and the flare most certainly hadn’t dissuaded them from that train of thought.

  “Move!” I almost screeched as I tried to keep the word to a whisper. “I’m in the second bay. Either of you know how to work a Blast Turret?” The Baxters just looked at me with a dumb expression. I couldn’t tell if it was the stress, pain, or that they just didn’t know, but in any case it meant I wasn’t going to be able to use half my guns.

  We passed the first hangar without any issues, but there was another pair of ‘Tal standing outside the entrance to my hangar. I waited and watched, holding the family back before they did anything stupid. I never learned the language of the Tarin’Tal, and it was times like this that I had wished I had. I didn’t even have any implants that could translate for me, and it made me feel stupid. I waited and prayed, and prayed and waited.

  Eventually, after twisting the doorknob and shoving the door a few times, the ‘Tal decided that it wasn’t important or whatever was inside wasn’t an immediate threat and moved on. I waited for them to reach the end of the row and move deeper into the complex before we darted for the door.

  I guess I didn’t wait long enough because suddenly two pairs of ‘Tal rushed into the little concrete space between hangers. There was yelling and shouting. The Baxters unleashed hell at the beasts and I tried to get the door open. It didn’t take me long but it wasn’t fast enough. I heard the tearing of flesh as I ran for the ship and looked back to see Fred dragging Danna with his one good arm and Suzie shrieking and running towards me. There was another set of doors with glass windows inside the hanger and my heart almost sank when I saw a hunter across from me, examining the exterior of the ship.

  “We aren’t going to make it!” Fred yelled above the roars of the ‘Tal trying to fit their massive bodies through the door behind us as Danna fired successive rounds at them. Her legs weren’t moving and her back had been pulverised, I had to assume her back was broken.

  “Yes we can if I can take out that one!”

  “He already sees us. We can’t make it to the ship before they break through,” He said, pointing back towards the door behind us. “Get Suzie out of here! We’ll hold them off.”

  “B-but−” I stammered.

  “Save our daughter!” Danna shrieked, popping another clip into her weapon and unloading.

  I couldn’t argue, and snatching Suzie up before she could protest, I barged through the inner door and straight at the ‘Tal, barging the way to my ship. Unloading the sniper rifle with one hand as I ran, I was able to hit the beast in the chest with most of the shots, enraging it and causing the beast to rear up on two legs − a terrifying sight to behold.

  Spinning, I threw Suzie along the smooth hangar floor towards the ship’s ramp as it opened in response to my presence. I rolled left as the ‘Tal plunged downward, slashing with my knife at its middle paw. I scored a gash and it belched out another roar. I was up again, but my rifle was useless now, its ammo depleted. I squared off with the beast as it began to pace. I had my knife in a guard position, but I didn’t have much chance in a knife fight against a ‘Tal.

  It barred its teeth at me and I did the same to it. The end was approaching. Suddenly there was a mangled shriek from behind me, towards the hanger’s main gates, the way the ‘Tal had gotten in. The man from DalCom tower stood there, pure terror plastered across his face. He had followed us.

  He raised his .99 and opened fire. If the weapon had been loaded with the right ammunition it would have been enough firepower to kill the beast, even though he only hit it along the midriff; amazing what plasma can do. Unfortunately, he only had anti-personnel, anti-human personnel rounds. The beast suddenly forgot about me and charged the man, bowling him over and stabbing downward with its tusks.

  I don’t know what came over me at that point, maybe it was rage, sympathy for the dying man, or just something primal, but I followed the beast as it charged and leapt onto its back as it gored the man. It threw its head back for a second thrust and I seized the opportunity, plunging my knife into its jugular with all my might. The next buck threw me off and I landed awkwardly, but intact. The beast was dying but the man was already dead with wounds too gruesome for words, and I quickly averted my gaze.

  4

  I ran into the ship just as the Tarin’Tal Danna and Fred were fighting burst into the hangar. My old friends were dead, and if I didn’t launch, Su
zie and I would be as well. “Vermillion, launch!” I ordered the ship’s autopilot. The computer couldn’t pull combat moves or skim an asteroid, but it could launch just fine. I felt the gravity plates engage a moment after the rush of liftoff tugged me downward ever so slightly. Sparing a moment to check on Suzie, my eyes wander to the copilot’s seat; Suzie confined herself to the fetal position, bawling like an enraged thunderstorm. At least she is alive, I told myself.

  I expected heavy fire upon liftoff but the landing craft was only a troop transport; they obviously didn’t expect much resistance and we reached 40,000 feet before the first warning lights started to scream. I spun and weaved the ship, avoiding the bulk of the Tarin’Tal forces while keeping a relatively low path over the horizon. If I could skim the atmosphere far enough before breaking into space, the De’Kot would be too far away to use its heavy guns. If my luck held it wouldn’t risk its blockade of the colony to swipe one troublesome gnat from the sky.

  Another round of missiles approached and I couldn’t afford the loss in speed it would take to evade them, instead dropping chaff and countermeasures. The explosions were jaw rattling in the atmosphere, like marbles being shaken violently in a jar. Space was much kinder on the eardrums.

  Abruptly the missile and beam weapon alarms halted, replaced by the more ominous sound of the ‘ship on intercept course’ alarm. “Suzie!” I snapped.

  “Yeah,” she said, looking up. Her face was red and covered with tears but she at least seemed coherent. “Buckle in. Have you ever played SkyBlasters?” I asked her. A glimmer of comprehension struck her eyes. “Yeah, my Dad gave me…” Her eyes started to well with tears again.

  “Well, I need you to play now. Your mom and dad would want that and I need you to, OK?” I asked. She didn’t say anything, but nodded. “Computer, alter Blast Turret controls to SkyBlasters interface and reroute through bridge hologram.”

  “Calculating; Calculating Complete,” the computer stated. The screen in front of Suzie switched to the iconic HoloGame that both of our generations had been raised playing.

  “See those blasters?” I asked Suzie, pausing to avoid a blast of fire from one of the two Tarin’Tal pursuit crafts. “They’re the same people that killed your parents. I need you to shoot them.”

  “OK,” she said, a cold vengeance filling her voice.

  “When I say ‘begin’ three times, you start playing.”

  “OK.” She was becoming very calm; eerily calm in fact.

  “Begin… Begin… Begin!” I twisted the ship into an airborne display of Imperial engineering, taking the ship’s thrusters and hull integrity to its max. Out of the corner of my eye I watched with amazement as Suzie adjusted to every changing angle, every variation of speed, and every ‘Tal countermovement with graceful ease. She moved quickly but it looked like she was taking her time, and in a sudden moment she squeezed the trigger. My screens confirmed a direct hit on the leading gunship and I used its wingman’s attempt to escape the resulting explosion to get on its tail. A single round from the Vermillion’s main cannon and it was all over; we had won this round

  The De’kot wasn’t pursuing and we’d skimmed enough atmosphere to achieve orbit and escape. I clicked the ship back to auto-pilot and tried to breathe. Sweat drenched my-everything, and I felt like I had just run a marathon through hell.

  “They’re gone,” Suzie sobbed. “They’re really gone.”

  “I know.” I said. “I’m sorry. I wish I could fix it but I can’t.”

  Suzie looked up at me, face wet with tears. “I don’t have anywhere to go.”

  “Not even any relatives?” I asked.

  “No. Mommy and Daddy’s family didn’t come in the fleet to PoxSpace.”

  “You’re all alone,” I mused. I hadn’t thought about what I said nor had meant to be mean but it set the little girl crying again. I wondered if that’s what I had looked like back in the Pox war.

  “No.” I said. “I’m sorry; you aren’t alone. Your Dad was a good friend and a fine businessman. I may not be able to bring back your parents or replace them, but I’ll take care of you.”

  “Really?” Suzie asked.

  “Really, really. It won’t be easy though. I’ve got a rough life, little money, and just lost one of my best customers.”

  “Oh. Will this help?” Suzie pulled the sack of gems from her belt and held it up. Crazy old man, I thought. Even through all that you’re still taking care of your daughter. I hope someday I can be that good of a person.

  “Aye, Suzie. That it will.”

  “I miss them.” She sobbed again, sinking deeper into the cushions of the copilot’s chair. “I miss them already and it’s only minutes.”

  “I know. But you have to survive to make it worthwhile.”

  “What about this hate?” She asked. “Do I have to survive that too?”

  “Yeah,” I agreed. “You do. But first let’s go tell someone about what just happened. We can’t let it happen to other people.”

  “Right!” Suzie said with sudden energy and determination. “Let’s stop the monsters.”

  Thank you for reading!

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