Eradication: A Space Opera: Book Four of The Shadow Order

by Michael Robertson

  When the lead worm went through the light closest to him, moving quickly despite Seb’s slow-motion view of things, he darted forwards and slammed his foot down on it.

  A rancid burst of rot shot up from the crushed creature. Although Seb screwed his face up in response to the stench, he focused on the sound of more worms to come.

  SA took the next one out. Before Seb had a chance to say anything, a carpet of the revolting things moved through the light farthest away from them. It looked like hundreds of the fat little beasts.

  Seb ran forward and SA went with him. They needed distance between them and the others behind them. Together they both stamped on the grubs at the front, taking them down as quickly as they came forward.

  Even with his world slowed down, Seb fought to keep up. Whenever he stamped on one, two replaced it. Sweat lifted beneath his clothes as his body temperature rose. Heavy breaths to keep up with the pace, he stamped on grub after grub.

  As much as Seb wanted to check the others were okay, he couldn’t. A lapse in concentration and they were screwed. The grubs would overwhelm them all.

  To be sure he killed each one, Seb stamped down hard. Each pound of his foot against the ground sent a jolt up his legs. The ache from the repeated action balled as pain in his knees. But he kept going, each stamp returning the satisfying squelch of grub eradication.

  A heave sat on the back of Seb’s tongue. The smell mixed with his effort and the taste of bile lifted up in his throat. He swallowed it down and kept going.

  Even as he fought, most of his attention on the grubs, Seb couldn’t help but notice SA beside him. She moved like the wind, a rhythmic stamp against the ground as she took out grub after grub. She killed twice as many as he did. Even more impressive considering his gift gave him at least twice as much time to combat them.

  CHAPTER 45

  By the time Seb and SA had finished, the ground lay slick again with the grubs’ clear sludge. A glistening surface, the weak light from the bulbs shimmered on it, making it look like ice on the dark ground.

  When Seb looked over his shoulder at the others, he saw Wilson and his family were fine. Bruke still had a tight grip on Sparks, and Sparks seemed slightly calmer than she had a few moments before. Maybe the threat had passed for the moment. Although, she still looked like she wanted to tear into Wilson and his family. From the way Wilson kept looking over his shoulder at her, he knew it too.

  “Right,” Seb said, panting as he tried to get his words out. “That’s the first threat neutralised. Hopefully that’s all of them and we just have the queen left. How far until the end of this mine, Wilson?”

  At first, Wilson simply raised a shaking finger as he pointed off down the tunnel. He finally got his words out. “Just around the corner.”

  SA led the way again and Seb let her. Why wouldn’t he when he’d just seen her in action against the grubs?

  It didn’t take long for SA to stop again. She clearly had better sight than Seb because he couldn’t make out what lay up ahead. Several steps past her and he too stopped in his tracks. “Wow! What is that thing?”

  After he’d looked at SA, Seb then looked back at Wilson. “Come and see this, will ya?”

  Hesitant at first, Wilson came over to Seb’s side and stared at the end of the tunnel. “That’s the queen,” he said in a whisper.

  “You sure?”

  Wilson had turned pale and he nodded as he backed away. “Yep.”

  Although she looked like all of the other grubs, the queen sat about ten times larger than any they’d seen so far. Fat, pink, and the size of a domestic cat, she seemed to pulsate as she lay there next to the ruthane pipe.

  On closer inspection, Seb saw the pulsing came from a writhing mass of unborn babies inside her. She’d been stretched so wide, he could see the grubs through her thin skin. When one popped out of her and rushed at them, SA flew past Seb and took it down with a heavy stamp.

  Before Seb could do anything, SA ran forward, cut the queen open from top to bottom and stamped down on the grubs as they spilled out of her on a tide of what looked like amniotic fluid.

  The smell of rot—worse than he’d smelled before—turned Seb’s stomach. Wilson vomited behind them.

  When SA had finished, Seb looked behind at Sparks. She still seemed agitated. More agitated than she’d been when near just Wilson and his family. They hadn’t killed them all.

  A scan of their surroundings and Seb turned in time to see a grub fly through the air at SA. One step to close the gap and he caught it mid-flight with a hard punch. It sent the fat little thing across the mine into a nearby wall.

  The grub fell to the ground and SA stamped on it. She looked at Seb and dipped the slightest nod of thanks at him. Seb smiled back.

  The sound of Sparks’ fury left her. They’d clearly got all of them. Seb relaxed a little and turned to watch his small friend, waiting for her to change back into her normal self.

  CHAPTER 46

  Seb felt like he hadn’t drawn breath for the last five minutes as he stared at Sparks, waiting for something to happen. Excitement had pushed his heart rate high from anticipating his friend’s return.

  But that excitement began to ebb as Sparks continued to snap at the air, biting in the direction of Wilson and his family. She looked as hungry to attack them now as she’d been the entire time they’d been around her for.

  Grief clawed at Seb’s throat to watch a palsied writhe twist through her small frame. Her eyes remained blood-red.

  Seb couldn’t help but look at Wilson now. From the way the man flinched, he seemed aware of the attention on him, but he didn’t look back.

  What had been butterflies of excitement in Seb’s gut now burned in his stomach as if the fluttering creatures had razor-sharp wings. He couldn’t hold it in any more. “So much for your theory.”

  Wilson opened and closed his mouth, shaking his head to the point where his chin wobbled beneath it. “I … I …”

  “You’re bloody useless is what you are. You’ve spent your life studying species and you’ve learned nothing.” Seb stepped closer to the man and balled his cold metal fists. “What possessed you to tell me we could help her? Why would you get my hopes up like that?”

  At Seb’s advance, Wilson stepped back. His attention on the ground, he said, “I’m sorry. It was only a theory.”

  “A theory you seemed pretty sure of.”

  Wilson sighed. “I was certain it would work.”

  When Seb moved towards the man another step, SA edged herself between them. It helped snap him from his need to destroy, but he still said, “I’m glad I don’t have to rely on you for much. Not with that kind of certainty.”

  Before Wilson could say anything else, Seb walked off in the direction of the recreational area.

  When Seb passed Bruke and saw his friend staring at him, he said, “Come on, let’s get out of here.”

  Although he didn’t look around again, Seb heard Bruke address Wilson. “I’m sorry about him. He’s upset.”

  It took all Seb had not to shout at Bruke at that moment. Although SA had helped him see it wouldn’t serve any purpose to attack Wilson, he had nothing to apologise for. Wilson had been wrong, not him.

  CHAPTER 47

  The others followed behind Seb as he walked back up the muddy tunnel, his feet turning beneath every purposeful stride on the damp ground. When he heard the footsteps of one of them running to catch up with him, his entire body tensed.

  Wilson pulled level with Seb and fell into step beside him. “I’m sorry.”

  A deep breath and Seb let go of some of the tension in his body with a hard exhale. “It’s okay. You’ve nothing to be sorry about. I got my hopes up and was upset when Sparks didn’t turn back. I shouldn’t have reacted the way I did.”

  Wilson didn’t respond.

  The bright lights of the recreational area shone down the dark tunnel. It made Seb feel like he could breathe more easily. Less like the walls were closing in around him. �
�But there must be some way to help her,” he added.

  Again, Wilson didn’t say anything. Not that Seb could blame him. Especially after how he’d just reacted to him for getting his theory wrong. If he had any more theories, he’d probably keep them to himself from then on.

  “Where do you think they came from?” Seb said.

  “The grubs?”

  “Yeah.”

  “You’ll think I’m paranoid.”

  “Try me.”

  “Well, they came in through the hangar.”

  “From outside?”

  “Yep. We’ve been here some time and we haven’t seen anything living out there.”

  “It’s hardly optimal conditions,” Seb agreed.

  “Exactly. Also, they arrived shortly after the Camorons announced to the galaxy that they’d discovered ruthane.” A pause as Wilson looked at Seb and he lowered his voice. “And what it’s worth.”

  “You think someone sent them down here?”

  “In my experience, where there’s credits, there’s often corruption.”

  When they got closer to the doors leading through to the recreational area, Seb looked at the fallen bodies from their battle earlier and turned back to Wilson. “I’m sorry your daughter has to see this.” He screwed his nose up at the rotten stench. “We didn’t have the time or inclination to clear them away after we’d killed them. Had we known we’d be bringing a child back with us, we probably would have left these bodies elsewhere.”

  After Wilson had looked over his shoulder at his daughter, he returned his attention to Seb. “It’s okay, she saw much worse when it all kicked off in the canteen. Better they’re dead than alive with a parasite in them.”

  Seb looked at Wilson, and the chubby man clapped his hand to his mouth. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean that. What I meant is—”

  “It’s okay, honestly.” To look at Sparks as she fought against Bruke’s restraint weighed heavy on Seb. “She’s in a bad way. I can see that. I just can’t give up on her.”

  The conversation died between the pair and Seb returned his attention to where they were heading. The sooner they got out of the complex, the better.

  CHAPTER 48

  Seb emerged into the hangar first, sweating from the ascent up the large ladders. After checking to see the huge metal doors leading outside were still closed, he turned to watch Bruke climb the last few metres with the bound Sparks under his arm.

  When Seb moved over to help his scaled friend, he winced from the aches in his body. It had been a long day. He took Sparks and restrained her while Bruke got himself up into the hangar.

  Seb then passed Sparks straight back to him. Even someone of Sparks’ size challenged his fatigued muscles at that moment. Thankfully they had Bruke. He’d struggled to climb the ladders on his own, let alone carrying Sparks up with him. Now they were up top, the scaled Bruke restrained her without any apparent struggle.

  Not even out of breath, Bruke held Sparks in a strong grip, looked up, and said, “What?”

  “You do everything you can to keep your strengths hidden. The effort that climb must have just taken …”

  After looking down the hole he’d just climbed out of, Bruke looked back at Seb and shrugged. “It was nothing really.”

  Seb laughed. “See what I mean? Modest to a fault.”

  Before Bruke could say anything else, Seb walked across the hangar to the tank where they’d left their suits. About thirty minutes had passed since he’d radioed in for someone to pick them up. “They’ll be here soon,” he said to the others.

  “Who?” Wilson asked, his voice echoing in the large hangar.

  “Our ride out of here.”

  The crack of a water bottle rang through the open space as Wilson took another sip of his drink. On their way back up, they’d stopped to get water in the canteen. Bruke had picked up some food too, but with the smell of the grubs in the air, Seb couldn’t face any himself.

  Before they’d gone to the canteen, they’d also picked up their weapons where they’d left them. They’d dragged the bodies free of the doors leading to the mines so they could seal the highly explosive ruthane in again. Although, with the doors open for as long as they had been, none of them felt confident using their blasters. Fortunately, the need hadn’t arisen.

  A clicking sound and Seb looked over to SA, who’d set the doors leading down into the mines to close. “Good idea,” he said. They’d closed every set of doors behind themselves so far. “I’m sure with them sealed too, we don’t need to worry about the ruthane anymore.”

  Once the hatch had closed, Wilson said, “Do you need radiation suits?”

  A shake of his head and Seb pointed at the roof of the tank he now stood next to. “We have our own.”

  “How long do they last outside for?”

  “Three hours.”

  “Three hours! Ours only last ninety minutes.”

  “That’ll be plenty of time,” Seb said. “We only need to get on the shuttle and get out of here.”

  Wilson led his family to a rail with radiation suits hanging from it while Seb pulled all the suits down from the tank. He thought of Sparks not being able to reach and smiled. Then he looked at her again, his mirth vanishing instantly. They’d get her back to her old self. They had to.

  They took turns putting their suits on, passing the fitting and writhing Sparks between them so one of them could hold her while the others dressed. Seb had already put his suit on when he had to restrain her. Even though he’d only worn it for a short time, he’d started to get used to accommodating the thick layer surrounding him and gripped on tightly to his twisting friend. “You won’t remain like this,” he whispered to her, so quietly no one heard him. Or if they did, they didn’t look up at him.

  Bruke and SA were all suited up and Seb still had a hold of Sparks. “I suppose we have to dress her now?” he said.

  Again, Bruke volunteered. Maybe Seb should have offered himself, but Bruke had more strength to hold onto her than Seb and SA combined.

  Bruke wrapped his thick arms around Sparks and lifted her from the ground. SA held onto her thrashing legs and Seb slipped the suit over them. “Good job she’s only small,” he said as he fought against her squirming. “It’s like dressing a child.” Even now, with her in her current state, he couldn’t help fishing for a reaction from her. She replied with the same fizzing and spitting chaos.

  Despite her best efforts, Sparks couldn’t do anything to stop the others from suiting her up. She was too small and weak, even with her rage driving her.

  The struggle and the thickness of his own suit raised Seb’s body temperature. Sweat ran down the sides of his face. He wiped it away before pressing the button on the side of his head. The world in front of him turned slightly yellow as his visor slid across. Now finally suited up, Seb turned to see Wilson and his family were watching them.

  “Impressive,” Hannah said. Both her and her mum had been quiet in the mines, clearly recognising they should stay out of the way. But now they were safer, she’d obviously grown in confidence. Although not confident enough to prevent her face from turning crimson. She seemed aglow with childish nervousness at maybe making the wrong comment.

  A smile and Seb said, “Thank you.” Not that he needed praise on restraining his friend, he’d rather not have had to do it at all, but it seemed to lift the girl from her temporary anxiety.

  The crackle of Sparks’ radio rang out through the hangar and Seb looked at his small friend. “Damn it!” They’d sealed the radio inside her suit with her.

  Just before Seb could move towards her, Bruke lifted the radio up. Seb smiled. “I’m glad one of us is on the ball.”

  A stoic nod and Bruke handed the radio over.

  “Hello?” Seb said after he’d pressed the button on the side.

  “Seb, we’re nearly there. We’re going to land just outside. Be ready, yeah?”

  “Okay. See you soon.”

  The display on Seb’s visor read ‘2
h50m’. It would give him plenty of time outside, but it didn’t help ease the tightening in his stomach at the thought of leaving the hangar for the radiated wasteland. But they had to get on. And he had to lead.

  CHAPTER 49

  Seb got to the hangar doors, swiped his keycard through the reader, and watched them open. At least they didn’t have to hack into the computer controlling them. They’d have come up woefully short now they were without Sparks’ abilities.

  The increasing gap in the doors revealed the sprawling red wasteland beyond. Experience had told Seb not to expect it, but that didn’t stop him wincing at the anticipated rush of hot air from outside.

  The bodies from the first wave of zombies they’d fought stretched out before them. They’d only been dead a short while, but Carstic’s vicious atmosphere had already turned their skin yellow and their eyes had sunk into their faces. It looked like the air had leeched the life from them, mummifying them in the short time they’d been exposed for. Many of the bodies had visible wounds where they’d shot the parasites before they could crawl from their mouths. Their scabs were now black as if they’d been burned.

  When Seb checked on Hannah, he saw Alison talking to her as they walked. Not only dead bodies, but dead bodies of the people they once knew. The girl seemed to understand her mother’s intention and kept her focus on her.

  A few seconds later, the rush of engines called out to them. Seb looked up to see the shuttle flying towards them. “You ready?” he said to Wilson, Hannah, and Alison. All three of them nodded, relief lifting their exhausted faces.

  Seb led the way to meet the landing shuttle. He looked over the wasteland but couldn’t see any threats. Why would there be? It was a dead planet. Although, Wilson had theorised that the parasites came from outside.