This is what my life's becoming now, Bedlam thought. I just punched out a giant ant.
She pulled the parasite free of its host with a sickening crack. The giant ant creature flung Bedlam, the disgusting parasitic husk still in her hands. The second alien, after seeing its companion fall, charged at her, seeking revenge or something else, its bug-like eyes incapable of human emotion.
Bedlam threw the dying carcass of the parasite away and readied herself for the next attacker.
She never got a chance, though, as a bright flash of light struck the giant ant from the side. Bedlam blinked, readjusting to the brightness, and saw the alien trapped under some sort of energy net, that kept it pinned to the ground.
"I had that one," Bedlam said.
"Sure you did," a familiar voice said. "But can't blame a guy for wanting to help, can you?"
Agent Black walked out from an alleyway, slinging a futuristic weapon over his shoulder casually. His usually grim countenance lit up with a goofy smile.
"Look at you, playing superhero," he said.
Bedlam ran and threw her arms around him in a bear hug.
"Where have you been?" she asked.
Agent Black gestured to the weapon he carried.
"Would you believe me if I said I've been running errands for the good guys?" he said.
"No," Bedlam said.
The first giant ant stopped moving, dead or unconscious; the second strained against its net cage.
"The good guys never asked before," Black said. "Money's money."
"You always say that," Bedlam said, and approached the still-active alien, trying to figure out a way to get its parasite off. She looked back at Black. "Turning over a new leaf?"
"You seem to be," Black said. "Hanging out with superheroes."
"Well," Bedlam said. "Like you said, they asked."
Black pulled a smaller weapon from his belt, closer to a handgun than a cannon. He crouched down beside the trapped giant insect and fired once. The parasite dropped to the ground, wisps of smoke wafting from the wound where the weapon hit. The alien ant became sluggish and settling down onto its belly.
"You're really working for the good guys," Bedlam said.
"Funny thing," Black said. "It's really a challenge to stay a cold-hearted mercenary when there might not be a world left where you can spend your money."
"Good point," Bedlam said.
"Also when your sidekick decides to go work with the white hats, you begin to feel a bit guilty about being a black hat," he said. "I even recruited some of my boys to be heroes too. They're on the far side of town, blasting aliens with outer-space ray guns. I think we may have helped a few crooks turn over new leaves."
"I'm not your sidekick," Bedlam said, punching Black in the arm.
"Never were," he said, laughing. "What do you say? Want some company putting down the rest of these critters?"
She grinned impishly.
"Are we still allowed to hang out, big guy?" she said. "I'm sitting at the school band kid's table, you're still with the dudes who cut class."
"I think we'll be all right," Black said.
Chapter 70:
If it has a brain, I can kill it
Shocked at the destruction before them, Kate and Titus surveyed the carnage above the planet in silence from their vantage point on the flying Tower. They saw destroyed enemy ships everywhere, debris from those ships Billy and Jane had obliterated, and miles of rubble and inert biomechanical machinery scattered as far as the eye could see.
In the center of it all, the brain ship continued its slow and ruthless pathway to Earth, now flanked by countless smaller starships. There was a malevolence to it, Titus thought, a ruthlessness, an anger. The Nemesis fleet was a living thing, they knew—but did that mean it could feel rage? Could it be angry at them for destroying its seed ships?
Worse—was it intending to take out that anger on the planet? If it couldn't have the Earth for itself, would it deny the world to anyone else?
The fighters began an attack run, headed planet-side like a swarm of locusts.
"Who's out there?" Titus said into his earpiece. He couldn't see anyone.
"I'm here," Billy said, sounding exhausted. "I think I'm the only one with a functioning radio. Em, you there?"
A long, distressing pause passed before Emily spoke up.
"Yes," she said softly, her tone completely out of character. "Don't worry about me. I'm stuck but okay."
"Stuck?" Billy said.
"Bigger fish, Billy, focus," she said.
"Billy, what do Dude and Seng think the fleet's next move will be?" Kate said. "I'm not seeing any seed ships remaining."
"We got 'em," Billy said. "Three up three down. Dude thinks—"
Seng interrupted him, his voice calm.
"The fleet's pattern right now is aggressive," he said. "They're going to attack the planet. I don't know how to predict what they'll do next though. We've never seen them pushed this close to the brink."
Even as Seng spoke, flights of Nemesis ships were forming in alignment, heading for Earth.
Titus kept looking back at the brain ship. The mother ship. The center of this fleet's universe.
"Billy? Seng? The little fighters, do they think and act independently from the brain ship?" Titus asked.
A few quiet seconds went by before Billy answered.
"Dude says some of the bigger ships can respond independently, but the little ones are controlled by the brain ship," Billy said. "They're less like a queen bee and her hive and more like tools or weapons. They have simple autonomy but can't really act alone cohesively without the lead vessel."
"So if we kill the brain ship," Kate said, "We stop the fleet."
Billy sighed. "I don't think we have the firepower, guys. That ship…"
Seng chimed in. "We've never been able to crack its armor. Even with Straylight's new power levels, even with all of you combined… it's a risk," Seng said. "And all the time we spend fighting the brain ship, your planet will be under attack."
Titus and Kate exchanged a look. Not breaking eye contact, Titus spoke up.
"When you call it the brain ship, is that a euphemism for something? Or does it literally have the brain of the entire fleet in there?" Titus said.
"Dude says it's 'brains,' not brain—there's a consciousness, something controlling the whole fleet," Billy said.
"We know it thinks," Seng said. "And we know it communicates from there. This is the ship that talks to the hosts on the ground, like the ones you defeated earlier, the advanced agents who made ready."
Titus smiled.
Kate shook her head.
"If it has a brain, I can kill it," Titus said. "I just need to get inside."
"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard," Billy said. "You're going to wolf-out inside its brain and kill it?"
Titus shrugged. "Got a better idea?
"Yeah," Billy said. "Let me do it."
Kate gave Titus a harsh look, then weighed in. "No, you're faster, more maneuverable. You've got to try to keep those fighters from reaching the planet," she said. "Jane too, if we can reach her."
"Sure, we'll simply destroy the twelve hundred enemy ships coming at us right now," Billy. "I've got the six hundred on the left."
Unexpectedly, Doc's voice, ragged and drained, joined the conversation. "It's not a bad plan," he said.
"Great to hear you're not dead, Doc," Titus said.
"Titus, in my study, there's something I want you to take," Doc said, and then he described an amulet he'd left on his desk. "Not much, but if the air isn't breathable, it should help. It carries the same spell I used on myself today."
"What if you can't kill the brain?" Emily said softly.
"I'll do it," Titus said.
"No," she said. "You need a backup plan. Just in case."
Titus rubbed his eyes, looked around the control room, and reflected.
"Neal," Titus said. "The flying machines we've been using. The bi
kes, the little jet. How combustible are their engines?"
"Don't you dare," Kate said.
"Designation: Whispering. I can give you instructions to make the power source for any number of our vehicles explosive. It would likely not be sufficient to destroy a ship of that size, but it would be enough to cause a blast radius of approximately a hundred meters in each direction."
"Do it," Titus said.
Kate and Titus locked eyes again, his expression sheepish, hers furious.
"You said it yourself, Kate," he said, smiling. "It's a one way trip anyhow."
"I'm coming with you."
"The hell you are," Titus said. "I'm not saying this to be protective. I'm going in there and will let myself go as berserk as I've ever been and I'll gut that ship from the inside. It'll be better if I'm alone." Kate glared.
"C'mon, Kate Miller," he said. "You're just mad that I stole your line about being alone."
Kate shook her head and looked away, her mouth a hard straight line across her face.
"Billy, get on those fighters," Kate said. "We've got this. Doc?"
"My strength's coming back," he said. "I'll attempt to repeat that spell closer to the atmosphere this time and try to catch more of the fighters."
"Emily," Kate said.
"I'm stuck."
"You find Jane," Kate said. "Stop feeling bad for yourself. You're able to control gravity. There's no such thing as you being stuck. Cut it out."
Titus could almost envision Emily's smile.
"Find Jane," Emily said. "You got it, coach."
Titus and Kate watched their friends scramble on the monitor: Billy and Seng twin streaks of blue-white light headed on an intercept course toward the planet, Doc's magic sparking and glowing in the distance.
"I'm coming with you," Kate said.
"Not like I've ever been able to talk you out of—" Titus started to say, but then stopped as they both saw something they hoped was an optical illusion appear on the monitor.
"Uh, guys?" Emily said. "I'm kinda far away, but is that…"
Emerging from the back of the brain ship, as if from a hidden cargo bay, another seed ship appeared, slowly moving into position to point in the direction of Earth. Identical to the others, its purpose became immediately clear.
"Those bastards had a backup plan," Titus said. "Get Billy. He can take care of that one."
They saw on another screen, however, that the two Luminae hosts were already engaged in a full on dog-fight closer to the planet's surface. The two men, against untold numbers of enemies, had to hold the line.
"No," Kate said. "This one's mine."
Titus raised a questioning eyebrow.
"I've got it," she said.
"This boat has no weapons, Kate," Titus said.
Kate shot him a vicious smile.
"I'm the master of improvised weapons," she said. "Leave the last seed ship to me."
Titus smiled. All these months together, all these adventures, and barely a second to sit quietly and really get to know each other. We tried, he thought. Even if we don't make it back. We really tried.
"I love you, Kate," Titus said. "I know you're not—"
She moved so quickly he could barely react, crossing the distance between them, pulling him in for a fierce, almost violent kiss, her hands tangled in his hair so he couldn't move. He didn't want to. Not now, and not ever. He wrapped his arms around her, the lean, powerful muscles of her back danced beneath his hands, her heart beat just a little too fast, the way it always had. He knew her heartbeat, with ears that could hear everything. That quick drum of her heart had been his beacon since the first time they spoke.
When she let him go, her face was twisted up with more emotion than he'd ever seen in her, somewhere between sadness and anger and something else. Something unexpected.
"I've always loved you," Kate said softly. "I never said it enough. I should have. I'm sorry I didn't say it more."
"You never had to," Titus said.
He knew her heartbeat. She never had to say anything at all. Maybe that's why they'd worked so well together. He could hear her without ever asking her to say a word.
Titus stepped away, wiping his eyes, sniffing as he spoke to thin air.
"Neal, is that engine ready?"
"Waiting for you in the landing bay, Designation: Whispering."
Titus nodded.
"One way trip," he said.
She just nodded.
"Good luck saving the world, Kate," Titus said.
"Good luck saving the world, Titus. You better not die on me."
Stealing a final look at the monitor before heading for Doc's chambers to pick up that one last trick, Titus wasn't sure of their odds. Not so sure at all.
Chapter 71:
Like shooting stars
Jane felt cold.
Never in her life had she been cold. Since her first waking moments, for as long as she had conscious memories, she had been enveloped in warmth, the glow of the sun, the comfort of daylight. Her cells drank in the sun and held onto it, fed her and made her strong.
She was a child of the sun.
In the blackness of space, her body depleted to its core, that solar energy, that glow, disappeared. She felt every ache and pain. Her joints hurt. Her skin felt wrinkled and dry. Her hair, drifting in front of her face without purpose, without fire, looked like anyone else's, dull. Still red and gold, but now simply hair, not the living, dancing flames that the world had become accustomed to when seeing her.
She drifted on nothingness, surrounded by a cloud of ash, the results of giving up her gift, of pouring the sunlight that was her blood into the destruction of the seed ship.
She watched helplessly as her friends struggled in the distance. She saw Billy glow like a comet, a firefly dancing on the vapors of space.
Jane turned her head to see the weird marvel that was Emily manipulate the world's biggest toy. Jane saw the seed ship plummet toward the sun, and the explosion that followed. She wished her earpiece hadn't burned out during the fight. She wanted to know if Emily was okay. Her vision, usually superhuman, had dulled to an ordinary person's, or worse, as the world faded and blurred.
I've never been so tired, she thought. When she'd been locked up in the Labyrinth, denied access to the sun, she'd been weak, she'd been weary, but not like this, not this empty, crushing exhaustion.
The sun stared back at her, gold and endless. Jane reached out a hand toward the burning globe, appalled at how gray her skin looked, how wrinkled her fingers had become. Am I dying?
She watched the sunlight play between her fingers. I am a child of the sun. I don't know how this happened. I don't know where I came from, not really. But I know your light. Sunlight was my mother's milk. Sunlight is my family's love. Everything I've ever done, I have been able to do because of you.
Don't leave me, Jane thought. She stretched her fingers toward Earth's yellow star. I'm not finished yet. There's still so much more I need to do.
The sun's warmth touched her palm like a soft breath. Her heart beat a little faster. She spread her fingers, and sparkles of light danced around her fingertips, cells reigniting. In the vacuum of space, she turned, closed her eyes, and let sunlight, unfiltered and pure, splash across her face.
Her strength started to return. Color painted her skin. The pain washed away. Her heart raced, and her muscles felt fluid and strong.
Thank you, she thought. Thank you for giving me one more chance. I promise I'll make you proud.
The fleet renewed its attack on Earth, a thousand ships bent on destroying her home world. She watched the Tower—it's a space ship, Jane thought, we've always lived in a space ship, how easy it is to forget the wonder of it—head toward the brain ship, aimed at one last seed ship, one last attempt to ruin their planet. It had to be Kate. Kate always has a plan. I knew I could count on her. She'll never let us down.
Jane's stomach churned at the sheer enormity of the fleet, even without a cadre of seed ships
. The hunger of it, the hatred of it. It's too much for us, Jane thought. We're strong, we're brave, but it's too much for us to defeat by ourselves.
And then, as if answering a prayer, she saw them.
Streaking across the sky like shooting stars. A dozen, maybe more, blue-white bolts of light, just like Billy's light. Luminae. They had to be.
And Jane remembered what Billy said. The old man, Horizon, had gone for help. To save our world.
The Luminae joined Billy and Seng, dashing through the Nemesis fleet, a squadron of comets. We're not alone, Jane thought. She clenched her hands into fists and lit herself up, surrounding her body in the flames of the sun.
It's time to end this.
Jane, the solar-powered girl, dove into the fray, to defend her world, the warmth of the sun bright and strong at her back.
Chapter 72:
Brothers in arms
Billy felt a little overwhelmed. Not worrying about the null guns had been a big relief, but the weapons the alien fighters were throwing at him didn't exactly tickle, and the way they were all pursuing him right now reminded him of photos he'd seen of the Beatles when they first came to America. Crowds chasing the moptops down the street in black and white photos.
Only instead of being a rock star, Billy was a target, and instead of screaming fans, he was being pursued by hundreds of angry alien space ships through the upper atmosphere of Earth's sky.
A few moments before, Seng had broken off in another direction. Billy hoped the other Luminae host was okay. He didn't possess Billy's protection against the null guns, but then again, Seng also had years more combat experience than Billy. Maybe that translated into being a better dodge ball player Billy thought.
Doc's spells flashed all around him, always just in range of Billy's peripheral vision. Whatever the old magician was doing, it helped, because Billy heard the explosions, but still…
Like A Comet: The Indestructibles Book 4 Page 32
