That made Andy grin, though it was a mirthless expression. “Get Anallin and Thomas if they can disengage, and pull any from Beta Squad who aren’t heavily engaged. Then double-time it back here and show us where this access road is.”
Roxanna nodded sharply. “Yes, Sir!” She hurried off and Andy watched their surroundings cautiously, but it seemed like the fighting was concentrated below.
She let her eyes swing to Jade, checking her over. The younger woman looked worn, but who among them didn’t by now?
A moment later, Roxanna returned with Atad and two other members of Beta Squad, as well as Thomas. Anallin was still standing back and trying to pick off enemies from a distance to even the odds below. Andy decided that was the best use of the Hanaran’s sniper skills.
No one said anything because there was nothing that needed to be said. Andy nodded at Atad, then turned and followed Roxanna. The group made their way in a wide arc around the back of the fighting, crossing through an alley between two buildings to conceal what they were doing from the Arkana.
As they emerged, they saw what the Selerid had seen: a narrow, rougher-kept road that seemed less like a street and more like a path. They started onto it, keeping their eyes open for any surprises that might come their way. Andy brought up the rear, letting Roxanna lead them while the major made sure they all stayed safe.
“Just ahead,” Roxanna whispered and Andy looked around the moving group and could see the southern side of the building. Around the curve towards the east, she knew the Arkana were trying to beat down the door.
The Marines hurried to the side of the building and then started sliding around it, moving towards the loud banging.
Soon even the curve of the building couldn’t conceal them and they came in full view of the battering ram crew, although they weren’t using any sort of special device. It was just a large piece of hard debris that they were using the “old-fashioned” way. Luckily, they didn’t have any demolition or tech experts to short circuit whatever locking system had been used and were still struggling to gain access.
The Arkana suddenly realized they were no longer alone and turned their guns on the Marines. It was an instant firefight. The Marines already had their weapons ready and fired first. Several of the Arkana dove for cover, but there was little to be had.
The battle was over quickly. In the end, all of the Arkana had been eliminated, but they had lost one of the Beta Squad Marines, and Thomas had taken an apparently non-fatal wound.
“Let’s finish this fight,” Andy ordered. There was always time to grieve later, because right then, they had a fight before them. She looked at Thomas, who only nodded in response to the question she hadn’t asked. He was able to continue. With that, she gestured for the group of Alpha and Beta Squad Marines of the 33rd to enter the battle lines once again.
“That building is the sensor array annex,” Jade said, pointing to a smaller building next to the main power plant. The young woman looked pale, but alert. “If I can get in there, I can use the planet’s sensors to track the rest of the Arkana. They’re more accurate than our shuttle sensors or handheld scanners.”
The Marines now stood on a battlefield gone quiet. The tide had turned, and now it was survivors, prisoners, and the unlucky ones. Medics moved among the Marines treating the wounded. Prisoners were bound and set aside, while the wounded were also moved off the field and treated. At least, they were given triage medicine—just enough to keep them alive until they could return to the ship.
“Let’s see what we can do,” Andy agreed with a nod. She left everyone to their tasks, because they knew their jobs, and walked with Jade to the sensor array.
It was locked, but unlike the Arkana, she had a specialist...and a communications link to the citizens of the town. The two Marines were inside quickly. The building had been evacuated so it was just Jade and Andy.
Jade sat down at the console, but paused and took a deep breath. Andy watched her carefully.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes, Sir,” she replied, getting to work on the controls. The console lit up and she quickly navigated through the security system, as if she had been using them all her life. The main screen in the center of the console showed little dots, but Andy wasn’t as sure of what she was looking at as the younger Marine was. She hit some more buttons, lights changed and dots moved.
“Well?” Andy asked after a few moments’ pause.
“As far as I can tell, the Arkana on the planet have been neutralized,” Jade said. “There are none coming to the planet, and there are no active groups currently...on...” She began to slur her words and sway.
Just as she was about to fall out of the chair, Andy ducked and caught her. The girl was out cold, but she still had a pulse.
“Medic!”
Chapter 24
Jade was laid out, still unconscious, on one of the medical beds in the Star Chaser’s sickbay. They had treated her enough to get her onto the shuttle and back to the ship.
The ship itself had been something of a mess after its own battle, but the tactical officers had done well enough. They weren’t her Marines, of course, but they’d held their own. Now sickbay was full of injured members of the 33rd as well as a handful of tactical personnel. The place was nearly filled to capacity, but it was doing its job.
“I think the girl took ‘Marine toughness’ a little too far,” Andy commented quietly to Roxanna, who was standing beside her with a freshly sealed wound showing over the sliced edges of her uniform. They were all ragged and dirty. They all needed a shower, a hot meal, and a night’s rest.
It would come, in time.
The Arkana ships had retreated when they realized they couldn’t win. They had left all of their people there on the planet and on the ships they had attempted to control.
Lovely people, that half of her genetics.
“The doctor says she’ll make it,” Roxanna said. “They’re going to keep her under for a while, though. Make sure her body has a chance to heal. Girl wasn’t going down without a fight. You should be proud of her.”
“I am,” Andy said soberly, “but proud only goes so far when you nearly kill yourself.”
Roxanna smiled a little and patted her commander on the shoulder. “Did you hear about our new ally?”
Dark brows knitting, she turned to look at the Selerid. “Who?”
Andy walked into the far corner of the sickbay, where a very unusual patient was sitting up on one of the beds. It was a familiar face in a familiar pose in a brand new location, and one that shocked her to no end.
“They tell me that you fought with the tactical crew after brig security went down,” she said, skipping any sort of greeting or pleasantries. She was just too tired, and there wasn’t time. She just wanted to know what was going on.
“I did,” he replied laconically, looking as warily at her as she was at him.
They both just stared for a long moment, and she was reminded of the soldier she’d had the standoff with on the planet. At least this time, there weren’t any guns.
She let her eyes roam over him. He had changed into ESS standard “general” clothing with long, loose dark grey pants and a sleeveless dark grey shirt. She could see several wounds in his pale skin that had been covered with sealant, the liquid bandage gleaming slightly in the white, sterile lights of sickbay.
“Why?”
He continued looking at her for a few minutes, then offered a faint smile. “Anath.”
Andy blinked. Was that an answer to her question? It didn’t sound like one.
“That’s my name,” he clarified before she had the chance to ask. “My name is Anath. I thought you’d want to know.”
She nodded slowly. “Alright. That’s good. But I ask again...why?”
Anath took a long, deep breath and looked down at his pale arms. He rubbed his hand over a few of the wounds. “I told you before,” he said. “I’m dead if I go back to my people. I have broken the law.” He laughed ruefully. “It wasn’t
the first time, but this was a big one. I have always...rebelled.”
“So, you figured that you’re dead if you go back, you might as well switch sides?” she asked, not able to hide a hint of derision in her voice.
“That’s part of it, I suppose,” he said plainly, looking up at her with those striking blue eyes set in the snow white face. “But...it’s more than that. This is wrong. I don’t believe in what my people are doing. I don’t believe in what my father is doing...” He held her gaze without blinking, and she felt a sudden weight pressing down on her. “What...our father is doing.”
Andy was too tired to stop herself from openly gaping.
He gave her a few moments to process that before continuing. “Your doctor can check my blood and prove to you that it’s true,” he said. “I know it sounds like a pretty handy story, a good lie to tell to get you on my side, but blood is blood. I am your half-brother, although my mother was an Arkana woman.”
The room started spinning and she had to put her hand on the nearest wall to keep from falling over. Figuring out how not to throw up was another matter entirely, of course, but she managed to keep her stomach where it was supposed to be.
This...captured Arkana—sitting in her ship’s sickbay with only a single guard out front—was her brother? How could that be?
She would be asking the doctor, but the possibility was overwhelming on its own. Just the possibility. Since the room wouldn’t stop spinning, she pushed off from the wall and found the nearest chair to drop herself into.
“I know you don’t trust me,” Anath went on. “And honestly, I do not blame you. I wouldn’t trust me either. I was fighting, with the other Arkana, to take over this ship. When I realized you were on this ship... Well. Something changed.”
“What?” she asked dully.
“I thought maybe I wouldn’t be alone anymore,” he said with fervor in his eyes. “I have never been well-loved by our father, because I rarely agreed with him. His other children, his other subjects, would fawn on him. I would not. And neither did you. Our people came for you, but you resisted. That was...heroic.”
Andy swallowed hard. “The family I have found is more important than a few drops of blood I didn’t even know I had until six months ago,” she said quietly.
“You’re the first to ever resist in that way. The only one. Until now.” Anath blew out a breath. “I would rather fight with you than with them. It took me a little while to sort out all of my feelings, but I knew I had to help you as soon as I knew you were here. But now I have, and I know what I need to do.”
She stared hard into his eyes, trying to find any sense of deceit or half-truths, but it just wasn’t there to be found. It didn’t mean it wasn’t there, of course, but she couldn’t see it. She ground her back teeth together, trying to calm her rising agitation.
“So...you’re my brother...and you want to fight with the ESS...” she said, still trying to understand it all.
“Yes,” he said. “I’m your brother. And I want to help you topple an empire.”
THANK YOU
Thank you so much for reading Arkana, the fourth book in the ESS Space Marines series. I am so excited you took the chance to read it and I really hope you liked it. If you could leave a review for me, that would be awesome because it helps me tell others about my books.
If you want to be the first to hear about new releases and special offers, be sure to sign up for our Science Fiction Newsletter. We have several fun things planned that will only be available to newsletter subscribers and can’t wait to share those with you too. To start with, you will get a free short story from the Niakrim War series. It tells the story of Cyrus Jones, one of the main characters in the series, and how he came to be part cyborg. All the information is on the next page.
I have also included a preview of Mimic and the Space Engineer which is the first book in the Space Shifter Chronicles. After you read the preview, you can download the book on Amazon.
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Preview: Mimic and the Space Engineer
I stared at the little creature intently, noting its movements and habits. As soon as I had arrived in my room, it had scurried off my shoulder and under my standard-issue cot. And then into my shoes. And then out of my shoes and into my own personal scrap bin. I had never thought that I would have to alien-proof my quarters, but I was beginning to think it might be necessary.
“Higgens!” Dang it, I had still forgotten to turn my comm down. It was obnoxiously loud in my tiny space and my new guest let out a squeal of panic. “Gonzales has some expired blaster cores that need to be disposed of. We just found the case that was lost on the load up. Some idiot labeled it as stims! Can you believe that?”
“Have them meet me at the lift on their floor. I’ll make sure to have the proper containment unit.”
“Yeah, yeah. I’ll deliver the message. Be there in ten.”
At first, it had been strange to me that I only corresponded with the head of crew, Francis Giomatti. Now, I was grateful for it. The thought of having all twenty members of the crew bothering me with every little thing that went wrong—and probably wasn’t even in my job description—made my stomach twist.
“Alright, so, I gotta go, but I’ll be right back in less than half an ho—” I trailed off as I realized I couldn’t see my new alien friend anywhere. “Um, hello? Little fella?” I walked toward my worktable, looking everywhere for the obsidian guy.
Worry started to prick at me but that quickly disappeared when I realized something had changed on my desk.
“Since when do I have two water bottles?” I murmured to myself, reaching for one.
Only that same water bottle exploded into a dark goop in my hand, then it solidified into the alien.
I screamed again—I really needed to stop doing that before I blew a vocal cord—but this time, I managed not to throw my friend into a wall. “D-d-did you just…?”
The thing wiggled, sticking two of its spikes up like little waving arms and turning a gradient of grey and deep blue.
“Y-you can shapeshift?” I said breathlessly, my mind thoroughly rocked. “You’re like uh…uh, mimic!”
It trilled, then crawled up my hand once more to sit on my shoulder. “I’m sorry, lad, but you’ve got to stay here.”
I went to pick him up, but he scurried into my open collar and curled up along the neckline of my work tank underneath. “You know what, that’ll work. If you can hear me, just stay in there.”
It trilled again and I grabbed my power source containment case then headed out. I had to admit, my heart had never pounded so hard on my way to a simple energy-disposal pickup, but I was pretty sure I didn’t want my crewmates to know that I had picked up a bit of a straggler. I knew the regulations well enough, and that would mean the spacing of an unknown danger. I didn’t want my new sidekick to be hurtled out into the void of space when we were just getting to know each other.
There was also that thing about it being a species I had never heard of and just learning that it could shapeshift. Which I was pretty sure was impossible.
The lift doors opened and my heart spiked when I saw Gonzales standing there, half a dozen blaster coils in her hands. She was an impossibly tall woman, and had these dark eyes that just seemed to look through everything. From what little I knew, she was a mix of Mexican and Polynesian, which apparently explained her impressive height of six-foot-six. Granted, I knew almost nothing about Earth culture, considering I had been born on a colony and lived on ships and stations my entire life.
“Oh, hello there!” she said, professionally pleasant.
“Hi!
I hear you have some cores for me?”
“Indeed, I do!” she said, beaming and handing them over. I went about putting them into the case, only to feel my little hitchhiker pull against my shirt. Quickly, I pressed it flat with my hand and let out a pathetic cough to cover the noise.
“You okay there?”
“Fine! Everything is fine!” I chirped, hastily finishing up with the cores and holding the case flat to my chest. “I’ll make sure these are taken care of!”
With that, I turned right on my heel and rushed back into the elevator. My mimic friend was going crazy, tickling at my collar and trying to crawl directly out of the front of my shirt.
“Relax, buddy. We just gotta get to my room.”
It didn’t listen. Granted, it probably didn’t understand me. It wasn’t like everyone in space automatically spoke English. By the time I reached my room, I was a bit of a mess, and I set the container down and finally freed the mimic from within my shirt.
“Geez, little dude, what is your problem?”
It practically erupted from me and ran over to the case, which it jumped up and down on several times.
“What? You want to see the cores? I guess if you’re that enthusiastic about it.” Leave it to me to travel all of space to find some sort of strange, shapeshifting alien who was some sort of blaster core aficionado. With a shrug, I opened up the slotted, anti-rad case.
Everything seemed to happen at once. The mimic jumped down it, spreading itself flat in a matter of seconds. It glowed vibrantly for a moment, before suddenly expanding into a bubbling, boiling heap.
Once more I found myself leaping back in horror. Had I just killed my friend? What if it was the last of its species? Was I a murderer?!
I didn’t get a direct answer, but the bubbling stopped, and my friend reassembled itself, chirping quite happily.
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