The IX

by Andrew P. Weston

  They’re here!

  The screams united, rising into a terrifying roar. Then the monsters charged.

  And they’re not running away.

  Lex drew his saber. “Corporal Williams. Draw carbines and divide your section into squads. Retreating lines. Keep pace with Searc’s men. Wait until they are a safe distance away on each occasion before firing a volley into the spooks. One round only. And if the highlanders begin to lag, drag them.”

  Lex’s comments drew a peppering of colorful metaphors from those Vacomagi close enough to hear. Ignoring them, he cantered over to the nearest soldiers and joined their file. Standing in his stirrups, he raised his sword and cried, “Wait for it . . . wait . . .”

  The seconds stretched into eternity. The bellowing got louder, rising in volume until it threatened to overwhelm them.

  Eventually, Lex deemed the time was right. Dropping his arm, he yelled, “Fire!”

  And the nightmare began.

  *

  (Sengennon Strait—2 miles southwest of Rhomane)

  Ignoring the reverberations rolling through the air, Sam spoke quietly and calmly into the com-link. “Bravo team leader. Be advised, you have half-a-dozen sneaky bastards trying to circle around behind you. They’re staying out of bow range and seem content to wait for us to close on them.”

  “Where and away?” Mark asked, squeezing off a short burst toward a target that suddenly presented itself.

  “Do you see that large outcropping of boulders two hundred yards away, back toward the city, the ones at the base of the Boleni Mountain?”

  “Yes, yes.”

  “Well, six or seven of our friends just scuttled down the hillside and into the depression behind those rocks. I think they’re planning a Kamikaze run as we go past. The trail’s only twenty to thirty feet wide. Good spot for an ambush.”

  “I thought these buggers couldn’t think? Thanks for the heads up, Sam.”

  Mark signaled for the remaining members of his section to adjust their positions to compensate, and then called to Mac. “Alpha-one, this is Bravo-one, did you copy that?”

  “Affirmative,” Mac replied, “I’m drawing in the rest of alpha team to support. Mark, which tribe members are closest to your position? I want—”

  Mac dropped to his knees at a signal from Dancing Snake—one of Diving Hawk’s sons —and an arrow thrummed over his head. A concussion only ten yards behind him caused Mac to roll away. Coming to his feet, he saw a shallow indentation in the dirt where the spook had lain in wait for him.

  Clever. They’re adapting to our new strategy. Flashing a thumbs-up to the young warrior, Mac warned, “Heads up, guys. They’re lying inert on the ground, waiting for us to literally walk into them. Adjust optics to rotating wavebands. One second phase. Buddy up, back-to-back, with the nearest tribesman to you.”

  Mac paused while his team repeated the instructions out loud for the benefit of the Native Americans. As he waited for everyone to get on the same page, Mac was forced to take out a number of ogres trying to swarm him from several different directions at once. Oh yes, they’re adapting all right. When the shockwaves subsided, Mac found himself partnered with Running Deer.

  Good. This lad’s on the ball, my back will be safe. Seeing the young warrior reminded Mac of what he’d been about to say. “Bravo-one. Are you listening?”

  “Bravo-one here. Go ahead.”

  “Mark, which braves are closest to you?”

  “I’ve got a bunch of White Bear’s guys nearby. Why?”

  “I want you to task them with clearing that ambush. Assign one of our boys to go with them so they have backup. Just in case.”

  “Will do.”

  As his second began relaying orders, Mac adjusted his com-set to a broader waveband. “Bravo-four, this is Alpha-one, are you listening, Andy?”

  Andy Webb, the sniper specialist, was positioned on top of Rhomane’s south wall to provide long-range tactical cover for the mission. “I’m here. Go ahead, Boss.”

  “How far until we’re in your kill zone?”

  There was a delay while Andy checked his instruments. “I’m lighting you up now. Can you see?”

  Mac glanced down at a ruby dot dancing across his chest. “Yes, I can confirm red-wash. Clear and steady.”

  “I’d say another half mile, and then you’ll be at optimum distance.”

  “Roger that. Once we’ve cleared a choke point a few hundred yards from my position, we’ll be coming in hot. This exercise has served its purpose, there’s no need for us to be out here any longer. What’s activity like at the wall?”

  “Busy. We’ve got about a thousand Horde gremlins at both the north and south entrances. The patrols have attracted their attention, so they’re working themselves up into a bit of a frenzy. Marcus has an entire cohort at each gate. I’m here now with Flavius and a contingent of archers. So far, the arrows have prevented the grunts from completing their usual swarming tactic . . . talking of which . . .”

  “Yes, Andy?”

  “Wait one. I just need to check something again.”

  There was a momentary lapse before Andy resumed speaking. “Boss, as I scoped around your location, I noticed something odd near the astrometrics facility on top of Boleni Mount.”

  “Define odd?”

  “I’ve checked it on laser scan, D-light, and Sonics. I have what appears to be an area of concentrated distortion about two hundred yards from the summit. It’s incredibly powerful, and is positioned so as to have a clear view of Boleni Heights itself, and the Sengennon Strait. What got me is the fact it appeared minutes after you revealed yourselves, and it has hardly moved since then.”

  Mac was stunned. It can’t be. “Have they set up a command post?”

  “That’s what I was thinking. They’ve been reacting very differently to the mindless berserkers we were expecting.”

  They’re watching us. Assessing our strategies. “Andy? We’re on the way. Report this to Commander Cameron immediately.”

  Mac got on the internal channel. “Four Troop. Stand-by, stand-by. This is an end exercise. Repeat, endex. We are leaving now. Fall back to the skimmers and check weapons. We are going hot.

  “Sam? Get our native friends back on board immediately. Have Penny pick Mark and his team up, too. Use their firepower to take out that ambush and get the hell out of here. I’ll follow in the spare skimmer.”

  Everyone rushed to obey. The change in mood must have caused an abrupt surge of anxiety to saturate the air, for the Horde erupted. A sudden chorus of snarls and shrieks burst forth, rising in volume until the earth shook.

  The clamor abruptly cut off as the brutes gathered into smaller groups to charge.

  A hovercraft pulled alongside Mac’s position. Climbing in, he ignored the building menace and stared back up the hillside.

  Damn, I can’t see them from here. What the hell are they up to now?

  *

  (Rhomane city wall—South Gate)

  Employing a slow, deliberate, figure-of-eight motion, Andy scanned the vista before him. It was important he didn’t rush. Staying relaxed allowed him to be alert for any out-of-the-ordinary markers that might betray the presence of a lurker.

  Doing his best to ignore the advancing dust cloud that marked the presence of the returning team, Andy adjusted his focus and glanced at the visual countdown on his HUD.

  There’s the final marker.

  An abrupt manifestation four hundred yards in front of the skimmers caught his attention. Closing his weak eye, Andy cut off the holographic display and brought his head to the scope. The scene leapt into crystal clear clarity.

  They were buried? How long have they been lying there?

  Depressing the rangefinder button, Andy slowed his breathing as he waited for the firing resolution to be confirmed. The ANS-1X .338 magnum sniper rifle was one of the most sophisticated long-range weapons in existence, and Andy’s skill in using it was second to none. Moments later, he was ready.

&
nbsp; Safety off, he took one last, deep breath. His world became crosshairs in a prism. Holding his exhalation partway through, he gently squeezed the trigger. Once. Twice. Three times. Clack! Clack! Clack!

  Seven hundred yards away, three miniature shockwaves resonated into the air, right in front of the hovercraft.

  Mac was on the radio in seconds. “Bravo-four? Trouble?”

  “Not any more, Boss. Be advised. You are half-a-mile out.”

  “Is everything ready?”

  “Yes, yes. Flavius has archers standing by and I’m about to activate one of the .50 millimeter robot guns we brought from the rig. As soon as you hear and see me clearing your path, accelerate toward the wall. You have about twenty seconds. Shannon is about to drop the fermionic resonance so you can ride right through.”

  “Please ensure she does. I’d hate to drive straight into the densest material known to exist at ninety miles an hour.”

  Snorting, Andy shuffled to one side and brought the cannon online. Nodding toward the buttress where Flavius and Shannon De Lacey were waiting, he shouted, “Ten seconds. Make sure the far side of the gate is clear.”

  Both officers waved in reply.

  Andy activated the battlement Tannoy system. “Ladies and gentlemen. If you would please be so kind as to give it everything you’ve got, in . . . three, two, one. Fire!”

  The bottom of the wall disappeared amid a cacophony of light and sound. Terrifying roars of pain and outrage resonated throughout the terrible explosions that ripped a huge swath through the seething ranks of Horde below.

  The returning skimmers juddered through the holocaust. Then they were safely through the manipulated flux of the city gates.

  The firing stopped. The walls thrummed as full integrity was restored, and the shrieks of indignation from below continued unabated.

  Andy was about to leave when he had a spur of the moment idea. Lifting his sniper rifle, he altered the scope’s resolution and rechecked the slopes of Mount Boleni. As he suspected, the distortions were gone.

  *

  (Sengennon Strait—12 miles north of Rhomane City)

  Sand, agitated by the wind, swirled along the bottom of the redundant riverbed.

  “So, where’s this captain of yours?” Searc Calhoun complained.

  “I don’t know,” Lex replied. “This is definitely the right place, look.” Using his sword, he pointed off across the Sengennon Strait.

  Only five miles away, directly opposite their position, the Grisson Gap loomed like a large ugly scar cut into the southwestern tip of the Erásan Mountains. The Gap was reported to be the source of the dried-up Issamun River. City archives recorded the fact that, although dry for centuries, the area still flooded during the stormy season at the end of each year. Those waters were responsible for the canyon of the same name—the one where they had disturbed the Horde ogres only two hours previously—and when flowing, eventually emptied out into the Great Asterlan Lake, thirty miles west of Rhomane.

  Both men scanned the rocks and ridges lining the edge of the dusty watercourse. Then behind, at the shimmering distortions that were steadily closing on them. Although greatly reduced in number, the Horde seemed determined to keep coming until every last one of them was dead.

  “Aye,” Searc complained, “and there’s the head of the old river on this side of the strait. So, where the bloody hell is Houston? I don’t think my kindred will entertain this game for much longer. We’ve been running long enough.”

  The two hour flight had been emotionally exhausting, and both leaders could see the men would much rather settle the matter now than let it drag on any longer. “I think I’m inclined to agree,” Lex said. “Let’s form up and take them on. At least we can relax for a while before making a break for the city.”

  Searc spotted a nearby hillock. “I’ll get one of the lads to take a peek with those fancy eyeglass things, and see how many we have to deal with. You get your men ready so we can take the best advantage.”

  While Lex issued instructions to his bugler, Searc whistled directions to a runner.

  Once he’d finished, Lex asked, “What are you going to do?”

  “Me? I’m going to support my man Duncan, up on the mound. He’s got a bow, so we’ll be quite safe.” And hopefully I’ll get in a cut or two for good measure!

  Before Lex could object, Searc sprinted away to join his fellow clansman on the crown of the hill.

  “Do you see anything through those binoculars, Duncan?”

  “I do, Searc, but not where you’d think. Take a gander over there.”

  Searc stared in the direction his friend indicated and noticed an odd shimmer in the air. At first, Searc thought they had run into an ambush. Then he realized the distortion was huge, and missing the usual sparks of hot red lightning normally given off by Horde devils. Puzzled, he looked closer.

  Then it struck him. “I think I’ve just found his royal ass-wipe. It seems the captain brought one of those invisible shield thingies with him. You know, they were talking about them back at the city? Pity he neglected to tell us about it. Let me go and give Lex the good news. Oh, and Duncan? Stay sharp for any surprises, and don’t go getting yourself caught in the shite with no way out.” Searc punched his man on the arm and ran back down the hillock.

  As he closed on Lex, the soldier turned toward him with a puzzled look on his face. Searc grinned and beckoned furiously.

  Lex stood in his stirrups and smiled. Then he shrugged, as if expressing his bewilderment at Searc’s behavior.

  Searc was about to call out when he noticed Lex was lifting higher than usual in his saddle. A loud report boomed forth, followed immediately by a multitude of other shots as the opening volley from the ambush blasted out. Corresponding explosions began to tear the advancing Horde apart.

  Lex kept rising, a look of shock on his face. He fell out of his saddle, and many of his men stopped firing.

  “Ware the enemy, you fools!” Searc screamed. “Your captain was hidden in the rocks all along. You finish off the monsters; I’ll take care of the young officer.”

  Lex hit the deck and rolled onto his back, coughing blood.

  Dropping to his knees beside him, Searc could see an expanding stain soaking through the dark blue of Lex’s tunic, right above his heart. Unbelievably, Lex smiled, reached out, and fixed him with a gaze that gripped him to the core.

  “Don’t move, laddie,” Searc said, “let me . . .”

  It was too late. Lex’s gaze shifted. Moving through Searc, it expanded on into infinity, and vanished.

  Searc lowered his fellow warrior’s head to the floor. Cold fury burned through him. The bastard! Does he think us naïve?

  Picking up his axe, Searc Calhoun went in search of monsters . . . of the backstabbing variety.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Eggshells

  Mac concluded his report, met the gaze of everyone sitting along the high table, and walked back to his seat on the bottom tier, satisfied he had covered every point.

  Saul opened the floor. “Questions?”

  Professor Ephraim Miller launched straight in. “Lieutenant, you’re absolutely positive the spliced components worked? You were completely invisible to the Horde until the moment you dropped the shields?”

  “Yes, that’s correct. The stealth technology already incorporated within our armor bends light around the wearer, masking us to plain sight. It also includes a thermal compensator to match that of the surrounding environment, thereby reducing our heat signatures. The addition of null-energy generates a field that masks our presence completely. We still need to test exactly what our safety parameters are, but it will save us having to tiptoe around all the time.”

  “And you experienced no adverse affects?”

  “As long as we stayed within one hundred yards of the emitter, none whatsoever. On the one or two occasions we strayed a little further, we noticed the Horde were able to sense something. They couldn’t pinpoint us, but it did make them edgy. Overal
l? I think we’ve got something to play with. Also, their reactions gave me the idea about how our friends out there detect us.”

  Saul cut in. “What do you mean?”

  “Well, they don’t have eyes or ears . . . in the mundane sense. So how do they actually perceive us?”

  “We’ve known for some time they feed on the bio-electrical energy we generate,” Saul replied. “They must home in on that somehow.”

  Mac nodded. “I appreciate what you’re saying, but after today, I’m wondering if there’s more to it than that.”

  “In what way?”

  “Well, after we dropped the shields, they recognized the presence of humans instantly. But the first targets they attacked were Diving Hawk’s people. They were the only ones besides us who were outside the skimmers. White Bear’s party joined in as the fighting began. My team seemed to rattle them. I got the feeling our armor confused their ability to sense us in some way. It wasn’t until we began firing that they knew for certain an enemy was close by. It’s my strong opinion they reacted to the concentrated presence of iron. It’s an inert metal. How on earth could an esoteric being do that?”

  The governing body stared at each other, lost for words.

  Ephraim rejoined the conversation. “Would you be willing to help me carry out a few experiments? I’ve got an idea about that aspect I’d like to test.”

  “Certainly. What did you have in mind?”

  “I’ll tell you more once I’ve got the portable units up and running. I know Commander Cameron needs you for the spaceport mission, but this particular development may help refine our strategy.”

  “How long do you envisage that taking, Ephraim?” Saul asked. “I’d like to crack on with our plans as soon as possible.”

  “Only four or five days, Sir. A week at the most. In light of the intelligence Lieutenant McDonald collected, I’m loath to rush things.”

  “I agree,” Mac added, “especially as we still have to consider the implications of what Andy Webb witnessed from his sniper position on the wall.”