by Jack Halls
“I’ll come with you,” said Connor. “Better to have a third person.”
Vincent didn’t look happy about the idea, but after looking over the exhausted travelers, he agreed. “Joseph,” he called to his son, “can you stay awake to keep watch until we get back?”
Joseph leaned his rifle against his shoulder. “That’s not a problem, but I was hoping that someone could explain what’s going on, now that we’ve stopped.”
A half smile crossed Vincent’s face. “I almost forgot. You’ve been very patient, son. Alexia, why don’t you fill him in?”
Alexia’s eyes flicked open when Vincent said her name. “Oh, sure. Um…” She looked at Joseph, then back at Vincent. “How much do you want me to tell him?”
Vincent looked to Padre, and the priest nodded. He looked back at Alexia. “Tell him everything. The Order’s biggest secret is already out of the bag.” He turned and walked away.
“Vincent,” said Alexia. He looked back over his shoulder at her. “Be careful.”
He smiled. “We should be back soon. Don’t worry.” He nodded to Joseph and kept on marching. Connor and Padre followed him, and soon they were out of sight. Gideon lay on the ground, listening to Alexia’s voice as she told Joseph about the Order. He tried to stay awake long enough to hear what Joseph thought about it, but his eyelids were too heavy to hold up anymore. Alexia’s voice faded into nothing as Gideon drifted off to sleep.
☥
Gideon dreamed he was falling through space toward the surface of a planet. A spaceship exploded in a blinding flash behind him, and bits of debris pelted him as he continued to fall.
Something hit him hard, shaking him awake. He tried to turn to see what it was but couldn’t move. He tried to scream but something grabbed him, covering his mouth. He panicked, thrashing wildly, until he heard someone say his name.
“Gideon,” they said. “Gideon, wake up.” The voice was quiet, barely a whisper. He recognized it as Joseph’s, and suddenly he was wide awake.
Joseph was shaking him, holding a hand over Gideon’s mouth. “Gideon, you need to be quiet. There’s something in the woods.”
It was all the encouragement he needed. He rolled onto his stomach and pushed himself up. The others were asleep, including Alexia. He grabbed his rifle as Joseph pointed to the south. “Over there, in the trees,” he said. The look in his eyes told Gideon it was no joke.
Gideon nodded and motioned for Joseph to wake up the others. Bent over double, he moved silently in the direction Joseph had indicated and found cover behind a large log. He peered over the log, listening for the sound. He expected a rasp to jump out of the bushes any second. But when he heard the sound, he knew it couldn’t be a rasp.
Whatever made the noise sounded like it had snapped a tree in two. As it moved toward him, he swore he could feel the ground shake. Whatever it was, it was making a snuffling noise.
Gideon went pale, and his heart thumped in his chest. It was following the scent of their trail. It was all he could do to keep from bolting into the trees. He glanced back, seeing that Joseph had woken up just about everyone. He was now leaning over Sophia, trying to shake her awake.
“What do you want?” said Sophia. She hadn’t spoken that loudly, but it might as well have been a scream. Everyone froze, and the noises from the forest suddenly stopped. Gideon looked back to the south, into the trees.
It was as quiet as the Void. Gideon was sure whatever was out there could hear his heart pounding. After a few seconds of this intense silence, the snuffling sound started again, quietly this time. A breeze brushed Gideon’s cheek, and he was grateful to be downwind. The creature moved their way slowly, somehow managing to stay quiet despite its large size. Gideon estimated it was about fifty meters away through the trees, and his mind pictured another pesadilla like the beast they’d killed near the fort. If something like that found them, they would be done for.
Gideon did his best to gather his courage. He backed away toward the others as quietly as possible. They could all hear the thing snapping limbs and occasionally sniffing. Gideon motioned for them to grab their things, and they did so in silence.
Without a word, they made their way into the trees, away from the sound of the creature. Gideon and Joseph took up the rear, trying to move quickly and silently. They made their way north as fast as they dared. Dry twigs littered the ground, and more than once, a misstep produced a loud crack that froze them all in place. Each time they stopped, they listened for the creature, which seemed to be farther and farther away. Gideon hoped it was enough.
They all forgot their exhaustion in their need to escape. An hour passed like this, then another, until Gideon’s legs wobbled. Panic and stress caused his hands to shake as the adrenaline in his veins ran its course and a fog settled over his mind. He watched Takomi struggling on, looking like she could barely stand. Worrying about her kept him moving.
Rain came down again, and the temperature dropped immediately. The cold made his joints ache, but Gideon kept putting one foot in front of the other, hoping that the water would mask their scent. The trees thinned, and then they reached the edge of the forest. They stood before a vast tundra as far as the eye could see. They decided to stop long enough to rehydrate. Gideon and Joseph stood poised at the rear, listening for any signs of the creature.
“I don’t hear it,” whispered Joseph, “do you?”
Gideon shook his head, too tired to speak. They maintained their lookout while the others rested. Gideon heard someone behind him, and turned to see Takomi tiptoeing up to them. She reached for his hand, and he helped her up onto the log he’d been watching from.
“Do you think we lost it?” she asked as she strained to see through the trees.
Gideon’s legs were about to give out, and he allowed himself to sink down to sit on the log, but kept his eyes on the woods. “I think so,” he said, and relief swept over him as he realized it was true. “Part of me thinks it might have been nothing. Just a curious herbivore or something, you know?”
Joseph grunted. “You think Bambi’s been following us for the last two hours?”
“Good point,” said Gideon.
The three of them sat for a while, looking and listening. Alexia joined them and put her arm around Joseph. “I wish your father was here,” she said. “He always knows what to do in these situations. Running through the woods with monsters chasing us is not my thing.”
Joseph smiled and pulled his mother in close. “He’ll find us,” he said. “Somehow.”
“It would help if we had some radios,” said Sophia, as she sat next to Gideon.
Gideon stood and turned to look out onto the tundra. “We could go up to the top of that rise and build a bonfire. They’ll see the smoke.”
Sophia looked over her shoulder to where Gideon had pointed. “Not to mention it would be nice to get warm and dry again. I can’t believe how fast it goes from hot to cold here.”
“I don’t know,” said Joseph. “A fire may attract that creature, or worse.”
“We don’t know that,” said Sophia. “In ancient times, people would light fires to keep wolves and bears away.”
“I’m pretty sure we’re not dealing with a bear,” said Joseph. “And I can’t think of a better way to tell Devereux where we are.”
Sophia stood and stretched. “You’re right, of course. It would be nice to have at least a small fire though.”
Takomi stood on the log and looked out across the rolling tundra. “Look over there,” she said, pointing due north. “There’s an island of trees all by itself. We can rest in there and light a small fire while a couple of us keep watch. It’s far enough from the main forest to see anything coming from a long way off, and we can get out of there if we need to.”
Tawny stood on the log and looked at the grove. “Not a bad idea,” she said. “And when Vincent and the others come out of the forest, we’ll spot them easily enough.”
Sophia stood. “It’s a reasonable plan. Anyone
have any objections?” They all shook their heads. “Let’s get going then.” She pulled on her pack, and the rest of them followed.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
The Tundra
WALKING ACROSS THE open tundra was a bit strange for Gideon. On the one hand, it was nice to have flat, unobstructed ground to walk across, and to be able to see if anything was coming at them from a long way off. On the other hand, he was completely exposed.
At least they were no longer forced to march in single file, so he could walk by Takomi’s side with her hand in his. They took up the rear, and stayed back a short distance from the others.
“Gideon,” said Takomi in a low tone, “have you thought about what happened to the Luzariai? Do you think they made it?”
He thought about it for a moment. “I don’t know. The other aliens seemed pretty intent on destroying them.”
She sighed. “I wish we knew what was going on. It’s a mess.”
“With any luck, they made it out. Maybe they’ll find us and help us out.”
“I hope so,” said Takomi. He didn’t respond, and they continued in silence. The sun was sinking low in the western horizon and came in under the cloud cover. The result was a strange phenomenon Gideon had never experienced. Even though it was cloudy and rainy, it was sunny at the same time. Just another part of living on a planet that he’d never imagined.
Something glimmered in the setting sun and caught his eye. He looked for the source of it in the forest on their right, but the low light cast long shadows in the trees and made it difficult to see into them. He shook it off and kept on walking. A moment later, it happened again. He stopped walking and looked out into the trees. Takomi paused and looked back at him. “What is it, Gid?”
As he stood peering into the forest, the thing glimmered a third time, and he realized it was not coming from the forest, but above it. Far to the east, above the canopy, he spotted a dark shape in the sky. It looked like a bird, but as he stared at it, the sun glinted off it again. It was metal. He flung off his pack and thrust a hand into it. He pulled out his binoculars and lifted them toward the dark shape.
It took a moment for the binoculars to focus in the low light. Once they did, he immediately identified the object. It was one of the shuttles from the Leviathan.
Takomi was about to say something as he shoved the binoculars back in his pack and threw it on, shouldering his rifle at the same time. “Sophia!” he yelled. “They found us. Shuttle coming inbound from the east!”
The others turned to look, peering out over the trees to the east. Tawny seemed to spot it, and pointed it out to Joseph and Alexia. Gideon looked at the grove of trees and realized they weren’t going to make it.
“Turn back. Back to the forest,” he yelled. “Run!”
Grabbing Takomi by her hand, they ran together back toward the tree line. It was still several hundred meters away, and a quick glance told him that the shuttle had spotted them and changed course. His exhausted legs pumped underneath him, feeling like they were moving in place.
The shuttle was on them before they knew it, banking in a low circle. Even before it landed, black shapes dropped from the air. The figures hit the ground and came up running impossibly fast. Sentinel Armor. They had no chance of outrunning them.
Gideon fell down on one knee and shouldered his rifle. He managed to squeeze off a few shots, but the bullets ricocheted off the armor. In a flash, the armored soldier was on him, smacking the rifle out of his hands and throwing him down to the ground. Takomi hit the dirt next to him before his captor dragged him away by the leg.
He struggled, but the grip on his ankle tightened. He clenched his teeth and stopped fighting before the powerful suit crushed his bones. The attacker released him, but before Gideon could pull himself up, two powerful hands grabbed his backpack and hoisted him up by the straps. They kicked the back of his legs, sending him back down to kneel on the cold tundra.
Takomi and the others were forced to kneel in a similar fashion. The powerful hands on his shoulders held him down and threatened to crush his collarbone in an instant. He was helpless to fight back. He knew all to well what the Sentinel Armor was capable of.
The shuttle looped around again and hovered in front of them, then slowly came down to land. A moment after it touched the ground, a tall figure stepped out of the back door. He, too, was wearing Sentinel Armor, but his head was uncovered, so that in the orange light of the setting sun, he could plainly see Morgan Devereux striding confidently toward them. Gideon struggled to stand, but his captor held him down.
“Traitor!” yelled Tawny. She gasped in pain as the man holding her down squeezed her shoulder. Devereux walked slowly in her direction, an emotionless expression on his face. He pulled off his gloves and tucked them under his arm, picking the dirt out of his fingernails.
“Tawny,” he said as he stopped in front of her, “what a thing to say to an old friend. If you knew the trouble I’ve been through to save our people, you’d never say such things.”
“What are you talking about?” said Tawny through gritted teeth. “You murdered innocent people. Your friends.”
He held up his hands. “Regrettable, but it had to be done. The Order had to be stopped. All of you bought into the lie that the Luzariai would save us. There are those of us who believe humankind’s destiny should be their own, not governed by alien overlords posing as gods.”
Alexia tried to lunge forward at him, but her captor held her tight. “You bastard. You’ve been biding your time, spying on us, waiting for this moment for how long? You’re pathetic.”
He smiled wryly. “I’m pathetic? You all would have followed the admiral to the end of the universe searching for the Luzariai. Well, not me. The reign of Ethan Killdeer is over.”
“So that’s what this is about?” said Alexia. “You’re after his so-called throne? People follow Ethan because they respect him. I’m afraid you’ll have a hard time earning any of that.”
Devereux lifted his chin. “I’m not here to explain myself to you. I’m here to tie up loose ends.” He reached out and grabbed a handful of her hair. “Where are the others?”
Joseph lunged forward, fighting the hands that held him down. “Don’t touch her, you pig!”
Devereux backhanded him. “I don’t have time for this,” he said, leaning in close to Alexia’s face. “Tell me where they are.” He was squeezing her face so hard she couldn’t answer even if she wanted to.
“They’re dead!” yelled Gideon. “They’re all dead. We’re the only ones left.”
Devereux released Alexia. “Is that so? And how did they die?”
“A creature attacked us in the night,” said Gideon. “They died protecting us.”
Devereux walked over to stand next to him. “How heroic.” He looked at Gideon, then at the others in turn. Without warning, Devereux reached out and grabbed Gideon by his collar, yanking him to his feet. “Let’s have a little chat, shall we?” He half led, half dragged him away from the group toward the shuttle. “If any of them say a word,” he said over his shoulder, “kill them.”
He finally stopped in front of the shuttle, about fifteen meters from the others. “All right then, boy,” he said with deadly calm. “Tell me all about this creature. How big was it? When did it come? What did it look like?”
Gideon suddenly realized what was going on. Devereux was going to ask him all about what happened, then cross-examine the others. If they didn’t get all the details right, he’d know he was lying. The question was, what story would the others tell him? The most obvious story would be that the rasp killed them all at the same time.
He decided in an instant that was the best bet. He described the rasp as best he could, explaining that after it killed Tony, it killed Victor, Padre, and Connor before they finally shot it. Devereux listened intently, staring directly into Gideon’s eyes.
He asked a few more questions until he was satisfied, then dragged Gideon back to the others and dumped him in f
ront of the soldier that had originally held him. “If he speaks, if he even looks at the others, kill him.” Devereux then grabbed Takomi and dragged her away to the same spot he’d been interrogated.
Gideon watched helplessly as Takomi answered his questions. He willed her to answer correctly. It took everything he had to not look at the others or to call out to them. His mind raced frantically, but he could think of no way out of this.
A few minutes later, he dragged Takomi back and repeated the process with Sophia. Gideon stared at the ground to keep himself from looking at Takomi. He somehow sensed that she was doing the same thing. Eventually, Devereux dragged Sophia back and grabbed Joseph, and finally, Alexia.
Gideon took it as a good sign that he’d interrogated all of them. Had one of them slipped up, he assumed Devereux would have let them know. He prayed that Alexia would say the same thing. His stomach lurched when Devereux dragged her back and held her in front of them after only a few moments of interrogation. She looked terrified, and Devereux had a wicked grin on his face.
“Pretty clever, Killdeer,” he said. “Almost all your friends picked up on your little fib.” He grabbed a fistful of Alexia’s hair and forced her down on her knees. “Ms. Uritumbo here couldn’t get it quite right, however.” He drew his sidearm and pressed it against her temple. Joseph nearly broke the grip holding him down as he screamed and cursed at Devereux.
There was panic as all the prisoners protested at once. Gideon fought to stand up, but the grip on his shoulder tightened until tears ran down his cheeks. “Enough!” shouted Devereux. “I don’t think you all appreciate how serious I am. Somebody tell me where the others are, or I’ll put a bullet in her brain.”
“Stop,” pleaded Joseph, “I’ll tell you. Please don’t hurt her.”
“I’m listening,” said Devereux.
Joseph swallowed, trying to control his sobbing. “They went north,” he said. “The rest of us were exhausted, so they went on to scout ahead. They were going to come back for us in the morning.”
