by C. G. Hatton
The pilot cursed and set course, throwing everything she had into getting closer.
NG pinched the bridge of his nose, not realising the pressure was building so badly until it sparked a headache that made him blink.
He sat up.
‘Sebastian?’
There was no reply.
He turned, glancing back at the others. Leigh was back there, looking at him, concerned.
The edges of his vision were darkening.
‘Sebastian?’ he tried again.
Nothing.
‘LC?’
Nothing.
Time slowed.
NG felt like he had his hand poised over a chessboard, realising what was happening with a sickening knot clenching in his stomach. They couldn’t run, they couldn’t fight. They had zero jump capacity and couldn’t risk a jump anyway. Not this close to the mass of a planet.
“Drop a beacon,” he said quietly, calmly, watching as the pilot carried out the order without question. An emergency beacon meant they were in the shit. He felt the tension in the crew rise a notch.
‘NG, what’s going on?’ Duncan thought at him, sharp, the question cutting like a laser through the cacophony that was building inside his head.
He could hardly form the words to reply. “There are more of them.”
The big marine loomed through the doorway, gripping the frame. “Shouldn’t we be pulling back?”
“Too late.”
“You want one alive.”
He could see out of the corner of his eye and in the minds of the crew that shapes were appearing on the monitors, fast moving ships, some of them massive.
He pressed his hand against his eyes. “We need one alive.”
“Grab it and run?”
“Something like that.”
“Sir?” The pilot was tense, wanting orders.
“Don’t slow down,” he muttered. “We’re still going after it.”
Duncan wasn’t convinced. He switched to direct thought. ‘NG, buddy, if it’s connected with the hive, it knows about us. About you.’
‘Yep.’
‘You’re gambling that they still want you alive.’
‘Whether they do or not, we need one so we can get the virus right.’
The pressure intensified into a pain that flared behind his eyes.
“It’s not just a recon unit,” he heard LC say, coming round, feeling the frustration as the kid tried to shake off the concussion. “It’s brought us to one of their FOBs. Where’s NG?” The kid raised his voice. “NG, there’s more of them here than there were on Erica. This is a base.”
It didn’t change anything. They had nowhere to go. NG rattled off a list of orders, getting the navigator to work out the trajectories, vectors, running fast simulations of which ships could get where, when, then sat and watched, squinting through eyes that were aching. Damaged as they were, they could still reach the scout before any other vessels were in range. That was all he needed to hear. He outlined the plan and sat back, trying to figure out how long it would take Elliott and Morgan to follow them, how long it would be before the Alsatia responded to the beacon. The jump drive was recharging but it wouldn’t be ready before they’d get overrun. Even if they turned and ran now. Their only hope was to snatch the scout and rely on the others turning up to deflect the fight away from them, give them a route out.
And whatever, every Bhenykhn here now knew what the prisoner on Poule had known and it would only take one of them to skip out and meet with the rest of the hive.
He could feel it in the pressure pushing against his awareness, more intense than anything he’d experienced at Erica. Like being pinned in a spotlight that was getting brighter and hotter by the minute. Relentless.
He became aware of someone at his shoulder. “Is there anything that will help?” Leigh whispered.
“Whisky if you can find some.”
She gave him a half smile. “Where’s Sebastian?”
“I don’t know. Holding them off.”
He’d forgotten how bad this could get.
He could hear Duncan talking, giving the others orders, planning contingencies, coming up with a strategy to disable the scout ship so they could board. He would have made a great handler. LC was sitting listening, contributing, giving them a steady account of what he knew from the intel dump.
It was hard not to feel useless, virtually incapacitated by pain he should have been able to handle.
And it was getting worse as they were getting closer.
He couldn’t see any more so he kept his eyes closed, breathing through it, listening in as the crew pushed Wraith to her limit, feeling himself sinking. So much for being the one hope to deal with this invasion.
It lifted abruptly, pain gone so fast, it was disorientating. He opened his eyes, not trusting it wouldn’t hit him again.
‘Listen to me carefully,’ Sebastian murmured. ‘We have one chance of pulling this off. Tell them to ditch the nonsense with the EM pulse. It won’t get through its shields. Get me close and I’ll take it down. They’ll have maybe five minutes to board and seize it. How are you planning to get away then, Nikolai? I take it you do have a plan.’
‘Elliott is following us.’
Sebastian snorted. ‘Let’s just get this alien for you to play with. They want you, by the way. I know I’ve told you before, but do not, whatever you do, get yourself captured by these creatures, Nikolai.’
‘I don’t intend to.’
He pulled himself together, relayed the plan to the bridge crew and went back to the cabin area to do the same to the others. Duncan didn’t like it but kept his mouth shut, well aware that this was NG’s show. He told them what he wanted and went back to the bridge, sat down and put his feet up on the console.
This wasn’t his show. It was Sebastian’s.
It went well. Right up to the point where they coupled with the alien ship, hulls bumping at speed and grapples groaning. The Bhenykhn weren’t going to let one of their own get taken that easily. A fighter screamed out of nowhere, missiles flying. NG yelled a warning but there was no time. Both ships were hit. Sparks flew out of the main console, klaxons clamouring, power loss plunging them into darkness.
Someone was shouting about a breach.
A hand grabbed his shoulder, another releasing the harness, one of the elite guard in powered armour hauling him up and out of the bridge. Another had LC. They were propelled towards the airlock and pushed through into the drop ship, bodies crowding in after them.
Another missile hit, jolting the ship, the shockwave from the explosion billowing clouds of hot air and debris around them.
Someone yelled, “Go,” and they dropped. Combat drop. Vicious, stomach churning, head spinning g-forces.
They hit the atmosphere and he could feel the burn in every muscle, neck straining, struggling to stay conscious. Whoever was piloting the drop ship was risking the tightest angle of descent. It seemed like forever before they pulled up and banked hard in a sickening, gut-wrenching manoeuvre. The sergeant of the Security detail was shouting for a sound-off. There were at least five responses, Duncan included, another four from the elite guard, plus his. LC was struggling but he managed to shout out. That was it. NG almost panicked, not able to sense Leigh for a second but then he heard her yell her name, whatever she said next lost in the buzz in his ears as the drop ship banked again, descending fast. They crashed through what felt like trees, knocked sideways and dropping, slewing round and skidding to a halt.
The engines cut, the silence resounding. They were down. Not completely intact. Stranded. And surrounded by enemies that were closing in fast. Alien enemies that could sense exactly where they were. They had no way out and nowhere to hide.
‘Well done, Nikolai. Well fucking done.’
Chapter 23
She sat perfectly composed. Still. Face almost unreadable.
“They were captured?” one of them exclaimed.
She wanted to rise, take this to priv
ate chambers, crack open the wine herself. He could tell that she wanted to shout at him to tell them everything, but she knew that he would. The devil was in the detail and she knew that too. In order to prevail, they needed to learn from their mistakes.
“Nikolai is too foolhardy,” another said. “How can we rely so heavily upon one who risks himself and others with such disregard?”
“He knows what must be done,” she said, taking the words out of the Man’s mouth before he had the chance to utter them. “And he does it.” She looked at him, gaze piercing. “Continue, tell us what happened?”
•
They moved fast to get clear, grabbing ammo and rations, medical supplies, stripping the drop ship bare, triggering self destructs in all its data systems, and activating another beacon.
“They want us alive,” NG said, grabbing a pack. “We need to find high ground. Somewhere clear. Somewhere we can make a stand and pick them off. They won’t risk bombing.”
No one asked if he was sure. Or how he was so sure.
The Sensons were jammed. No surprise there. They’d all read the briefings, all knew exactly what they were facing.
‘You know what you faced last time,’ Sebastian warned, still pissed. ‘Don’t make assumptions, Nikolai, or we will die here.’
‘Can you do what you did last time?’
‘You just concentrate on staying alive. Let me deal with the Bhenykhn.’
They scrambled out into a warm and humid forest. The pilot of the drop ship gave them a fast run down on topography, planetary stats, whatever he’d managed to gather in those brief minutes. Best case, they had about six hours to survive before any kind of help had a chance of arriving.
The plan was to stay close and make their way to a hill top about two kilometres north.
They didn’t make it.
NG slid down a bank, strafing fire from a fighter craft kicking up dirt and stones, shredding foliage all around him. He shielded his head, grasping his rifle as firmly as he could and scrambling for cover, a shot clipping his trailing leg and others winging the pack on his back. He rolled, no warning as Sebastian took control, shoving him aside and focusing with chilling clarity on the Bhenykhn fighter pilot.
There was nothing he could do but Sebastian was fast. He threw a blast of energy with piercing accuracy at the pilot, and let go as fast as he’d taken over, leaving NG flat on his back, gasping for breath, watching as the craft slewed sideways and nosedived, disappearing into the trees and exploding, a mushroom cloud of black smoke billowing up into the grey sky.
Someone grabbed his shoulder and yanked him upright, pulling him along.
‘What happened to they won’t bomb us?’ Duncan sent, some distance away and getting harried by another fighter.
‘I don’t know,’ NG sent to them both, still trembling. ‘We need a clearing. We need a killing ground.’
‘Yes, you do. There are ground troops incoming. You have about five minutes.’
They made it to a slight rise before they heard the roar of the troop carriers then they stood back to back, defensive formation, ammunition split between them.
NG stood in the centre, rifle up, sweat trickling down his back, blood pouring down his leg, and breathing laboured. He took a second to stop the bleeding at least, no time to fix the wound completely, turning and tracking the ships as they thundered round, dropping pods into the trees, and counting twenty four, six units if they were set up the same as on Erica.
‘Do I get any warning next time?’ he thought, struggling not to freak out completely. He flexed his hand, shaking out a cramp. He could feel the battle-ready tension in the soldiers around him, cold focus in the elite guard and that same chilling detachment in LC that the kid had got on Erica.
Sebastian wasn’t impressed. ‘You have three more waves of ground troops incoming after this, seven gunships on their way and two more fighters,’ he said. ‘That’s it for now. Get through this and we get a reprieve before they get their next wave of ships into orbit above us.’
LC was listening in and relayed the information to the others.
NG shifted his weight. As much as Sebastian was shielding him from the worst of it, he could feel them approaching.
The Bhenykhn stopped in a circle around them, about three hundred yards out. Out of sight through the trees. He could either smell them through the leafy undergrowth or he was imagining it. At least on Erica, there’d been a cold wind that had cleared the air. Here, the forest floor was damp underfoot, decaying, as if the Bhenykhn were rising from it.
The alien warriors didn’t move.
NG turned slowly, seeing them as Sebastian was seeing them, mind to mind, the grunts and the squad leaders, standing there, waiting for the order to attack, hefting their weapons.
The rifle was heavy in his arms, muscles complaining already.
If anything, knowing what to expect was making the waiting worse.
‘Screw this,’ Sebastian murmured.
NG felt his focus sharpen, breath catching in his chest as Sebastian took over, connected with them and lanced into the minds of the six squad leaders and from them into their units.
He let go again, just as fast.
NG gasped, thrust back into control. He collapsed, shivering, almost retching, down onto one knee, head down, letting the rifle drop from hands he could hardly feel.
Duncan was yelling. “They’re dead. Go check them. Get their weapons.”
They moved out, none of the others knowing exactly what had happened but not questioning the orders.
NG was trembling. He couldn’t get it under control.
He looked up.
LC was staring at him, staring at the ground around him.
He lowered his eyes.
He was kneeling on scorched earth. Blackened grass and moss that crumbled to dust under his touch. It was bone dry, parched and dead, in a perfect circle around him.
He staggered to his feet and backed away from it.
Christ.
Leigh stopped him, whispering, “It’s okay,” as if he was a hurt animal or a small child.
“I want you to hide,” he muttered. “Find somewhere close and hide.”
She didn’t reply but she was thinking that he didn’t need to worry about her, she wasn’t going to get in the way.
“Where’s Sebastian?” she said. She was thinking how different he’d looked. Not just the eyes, everything, the way he stood, the way he’d laughed.
NG sucked in a breath of warm air. “I can’t hear anything from them so he must be shielding me.”
“NG, don’t you think it was a bit too convenient that we were at Poule when that scout ship appeared, right there?” She was thinking it had lured them here. What if someone had sent it there, to Poule, just when NG and the Man’s ship were there? When the Bhenykhn there knew everything there was to know about NG? What if UM weren’t the only people with access to the Bhenykhn?
He couldn’t think straight.
“We’re relying on the Duck to rescue us,” she said, “but, NG, what if it was Elliott? He’s been entangled in this since he took the Duck to Sten’s to pick up Gallagher. We have no idea who he is or what he wants. What if Elliott set this up?”
“Then we’re screwed.” He was still shivering, cold despite the humid heat. He was vaguely aware that she was popping Epizin into his wrist but he couldn’t feel the drug, didn’t get any of the usual warmth from it.
‘Suck it up,’ Sebastian hissed. “We have incoming.’
The others were coming back, running back into position around him, tossing Bhenykhn weapons into a pile in the centre of that dead spot, not even noticing it.
Duncan did, glancing at LC, the two of them reluctant to mention it, suspecting what it meant.
LC relayed the incoming, muttering, “Get away from NG, give him room,” wary of Sebastian and thinking they were in the shit if that’s what it was taking.
More ships thundered overhead, one after the other, dropping thre
e lines of heavy infantry, further out this time. The gunships piled in and circled, keeping their distance.
Sebastian laughed.
It almost felt like the aliens were apprehensive. Not fearful but more cautious.
‘They should be.’
‘I can’t do what you do,’ NG thought.
‘No, you can’t. You want to know why?’
He didn’t. He didn’t care. He didn’t want to be capable of that.
‘And that, my friend, is exactly why. You want to see them?’
‘No.’
Sebastian was enjoying himself.
They wanted him alive. It was chilling to feel that intent. They wanted all of them alive. They wanted to know who it was that was thwarting them, what it was about these small creatures that was causing them so much trouble.
‘Then let’s show them. Are you ready?’
No, he wasn’t.
He braced himself.
‘Nikolai,’ Sebastian said, ‘trust me, I only do what is necessary. You are me and I am you. I am not going to destroy you…’
It was too good to be true. And he didn’t believe a word.
The Bhenykhn moved forward, as one, closing in.
His eyelids felt like lead. Someone was tugging on each arm. They dragged him upright. He couldn’t open his eyes, shivering, soaked in cold sweat, nausea swelling in his stomach. He tried to talk but his jaw muscles wouldn’t work.
‘What happened?’ he thought, trying to find LC or Duncan.
‘Sebastian killed them.’
He thought that was LC.
They hoisted him up, and as much as he tried to move his legs, he couldn’t get anything to work.
He couldn’t feel Sebastian. Couldn’t even feel the Bhenykhn.
There was a cold sting against his neck, warmth flooding into his bloodstream.
“Come on, buddy, we’ve gotta move.”
“I thought we killed them,” he mumbled.
“You did,” LC said. “There’s more of them. Come on, NG, we can’t stay here.”
He couldn’t sense any more aliens, couldn’t feel anything. But they couldn’t run, there’d be nowhere to hide.
