by M. R. Forbes
“Shit,” he hissed. He blew out a frustrated breath. “Stay calm.”
Maybe he was trying to do too much, too soon. What about something more simple?
He moved his arms, swinging them out to his sides as though he were trying to stay afloat in a pool of water. Without a point of reference, it was nearly impossible to tell if he was gaining any momentum from the effort.
Except…
He closed his eyes. He could feel a gentle draft on his cheeks. It wasn’t air, but more like a representation of it. A model. Nothing in the Construct was real. None of this existed. He was a minute vibration through the fabric of space and time, a needle-hole in a separate universe small enough that he could hear his voice echo in the black. A single packet on an internet of things, where the things were alien monsters with a penchant for tentacles.
He almost laughed at the description. Was this place driving him mad? If he stayed too long, would he lose his mind?
“Knuckle up, Card,” he said. “Start at the beginning.”
Set me free, Caleb Card. Set me free, and I will spare your world.
Nyarlath had brought him into the Construct to make her offer. To barter humankind in exchange for her freedom. She was about to tell him where to find her when the Construct changed. Now he was somewhere else. Somewhere he couldn’t control with a simple rule set that loosely matched familiar elements.
What if Nyarlath’s Construct hadn’t changed? What if he had been pulled out of it, and transferred somewhere else? What if a man-in-the-middle attack had hijacked his network connection and redirected it?
“That’s it, isn’t it?” he said. “This isn’t Nyarlath’s Construct.”
The realization had an effect like flipping a switch. The darkness faded, replaced with walls all around him, each of them textured in a silver, circuit-board pattern and covered in quickly blinking, multicolored lights. He was slowly floating toward the corner of the top and side walls, confirming his belief he was in motion.
“Caleb.”
He spun around at the sound of the voice, confident now that he could.
Sergeant Walt was floating a dozen meters away. She looked the same as she did in reality. Same clothes, same face, same tattoo across it. But there was a change in her expression and demeanor. One he understood immediately.
He had traveled the Collective through Ishek’s specialized organ. The one Sheriff Duke had called an ick. But Ishek was absent from this place and absent from his mind.
Sergeant Walt was a host to a parasitic Relyeh. At first, he had believed it was a khoron or an Advocate like Ishek, but now he wasn’t so sure. The Walt he knew had always been in Relyeh control, acting in Nyarlath’s interests.
“Caleb, help me,” Walt said. “I’m scared.”
This was the real Walt. The puppet who had no choice but to dance when her master pulled the strings. She had been called into the Collective too. The difference was that she had absolutely no idea what this place was or what any of it meant.
“It’s going to be okay,” Caleb said.
Walt was shaking, her cheeks stained with tears. Before Caleb had wrested control from Ishek, the Advocate had made him kill innocent people, including someone he had called a friend. He could only imagine what Nyarlath’s servant had asked the frightened woman to do.
“Will it?” she asked.
“I’ll get us out of this,” he replied as confidently as he could muster. He pushed himself toward her, gaining momentum more easily now that he was more certain about the nature of this place.
It was as if a Relyeh Construct had been converted into a program. A simulation. This was an early iteration, lacking in basic features, but nevertheless functional.
He only knew one race that could even begin to fashion something like this.
Had the Axon captured Nyarlath? Were they responsible for the emergence of the xaxkluth on Earth? And if so, what was their endgame?
He closed in on Walt, reaching out for her. She took his hand, gripping it tightly, her fear subsiding visibly at the moment of contact, grateful to not be alone.
“Where are we?” she asked.
“Some kind of prison,” Caleb said. “I’ll get us out of here.”
“I never meant to hurt anyone.”
Caleb didn’t know the specifics, but he understood what the statement meant. “Me neither,” he replied. She smiled slightly at that. “I can help you with that once we get out of here.”
Her eyes lit up. “You can?”
“Yes. But we have to get out of here first.”
She nodded, her eyes widening. “Caleb!” She turned him in her grip.
A third figure was in the digital Construct. A woman Caleb knew all too well.
“Valentine?”
14
Nathan
Nathan squeezed off another burst from his railgun, sending a handful of flechettes slicing through a tentacle, severing it before it was able to grab Ike.
Isaac took a step forward and launched a ball grenade at the alien creature. The explosive arced between a pair of tentacles whirling around the Relyeh’s central mass, finding an opening and hitting the xaxkluth’s face. It stuck there for a second before Ike pulled the secondary trigger again, sending the remote signal to detonate the round.
The grenade exploded, taking half the xaxkluth’s face with it. The creature groaned and slumped to the street.
“Almost there,” Nathan said. The pyramid was in their line of sight, the front steps and entry swarming with smaller xaxkluth. A bigger creature was visible past them, roosting in the entrance to the building as if it were waiting for them.
“Hicks, is there another way into the building?” Nathan asked.
“Through the garage,” he replied. “Follow me.”
Nathan stayed back while the Centurions took the lead, Hicks first among them in a standard wedge formation. The street in front of the pyramid was filthy with rubble, debris and bodies. So many bodies. Some had fallen out of buildings crushed by tentacles. Others had been grabbed and torn in half. Still others were half-eaten, their blood mingling with the dark ichor the xaxkluth left behind, some of which had hardened into fibrous veins. It was horrific and disgusting, an apocalyptic nightmare that made the trife invasion seem tame by comparison.
The same scene was playing out in other areas of the city too. Nathan could hear the alien creature’s groans along with the screams. He could smell the blood. The smoke. The dead flesh.
Were they too late?
Was there anyone alive to save?
Hicks guided them horizontal to the pyramid, aiming to bring them around to the side. They stayed one block over, using the buildings and the rubble as cover as they moved.
“Tango, left flank,” Drake announced, his ATCS picking up the target first.
“Drake, Lucius, Spot, that one’s yours,” Rico said.
“Roger,” Drake replied.
The three Centurions broke away from the rest, finding cover behind a burned out car and a toppled wall. The xaxkluth came into view a moment later, tentacles helping it cling to the side of a building as it approached.
The Centurions started shooting at it, going for its central mass. It brought two tentacles over to cover itself, letting the limbs take the damage as it drew closer. Rico didn’t slow her advance, trusting them to handle the creature.
“Spot, short bursts, wait for an opening,” Drake said. “Lucius, two grenades into the wall, knock it down and I’ll finish it off.”
“Got it, Drake,” Lucius replied.
Spot sent quick bursts at the xaxkluth, forcing it to keep its tentacles raised. Lucius launched a pair of grenades ahead of the Relyeh and into the wall.
“Wait for it,” Drake said. “Wait for it. Now!”
The xaxkluth moved over the grenades, and Lucius detonated them. The explosion blew out the wall and knocked the creature to the ground. At the same time, Drake’s grenades hit the spot below it. He triggered them, blowing t
he alien monster to hell.
“Clear,” Drake announced.
“Nice work,” Rico said as the trio rejoined the group. They were nearing the corner. Hicks stopped to reset the path and pass it across the network. “The garage entrance is there,” he said, pointing to the side of the pyramid. “Probably sealed.”
“We’ll have to break it open,” Nathan said.
“Pyro, Ike and I will clear the stairs down,” Rico said. “There’s a bunker on the fifth subterranean floor. We’ll head there, check on the survivors, and let them know about our plan. Then we’ll head back up to the lab on the third floor of the garage. The interlink is there. Hopefully, Hayden and his family are there with it. If they aren’t, Pyro and Ike will work on making it portable while I look for the Sheriff.”
“We can’t take forever,” Nathan said. “Once we get the corridor open we won’t be able to hold it for long.”
“And we’ll need to get the interlink out,” Ike said. “I hate to say it, but it’s more important than Hayden right now.”
“Agreed,” Rico said. “But I’m not going to abandon them. Ike, once the interlink is ready, you get it out of here. Don’t wait for me.”
“Rico, Hayden is my friend too,” Nathan said. “But this is bigger than him, and we need everyone working toward the same goal. If we lose the interlink because we’re one gun short, we may lose everything.”
Rico’s expression was impossible to see through her helmet, but Nathan didn’t need to see it to know she wasn’t happy.
Would she follow orders and stay with the group if it came to that?
If he were in the same position, would he?
15
Hayden
Hayden went down to the next floor—the lab—throwing the stairwell door open so hard it tore from its hinges and hit the ground with an echoing clang.
“Naaatttt!” Hayden cried.
Still in his hand, the strip of bloody cloth from Ginny’s dress was the only thing he could think about. The only thing he could see. His mind panicked, the reality of the situation was finally setting in. He and Natalia had lived in this environment for almost two years. They had excelled where so many others had failed, building a community for others and a life for themselves—starting something bigger than both of them.
He was the Sheriff. The protector. The strong, honorable man who braved the dangers of the world so the innocent didn’t suffer. So the unjust were punished and the just were spared.
She was an Engineer, the Governor. A balanced, guiding presence who had worked tirelessly for the people of Sanisco and the whole of the United Western Territories. Through her efforts, the power had been restored, along with clean drinking water, enabling the city to grow. She had fixed a number of vehicles that helped transport food from the farms. She had assisted in bringing refineries and factories back online, generating fuel and supplies. And she had taken over for Governor Malcolm after his death without hesitation and complaint when it was the last job she had ever wanted.
And she had done the job well.
Not to mention, she was a mother and gave an equal amount of energy to that. She didn’t sleep at night unless Hallia was sleeping. She made sure she was always there when Hal woke up in the morning. She always had time for their little girl, especially when Hayden was away. He never knew how she managed. Fighting trife and chasing thieves and murderers seemed easier than all of the tasks she had taken on and the people she’d helped through all her efforts. Somehow she made it work.
And now Sanisco was on the verge of ruin. The city was being ravaged by alien creatures in numbers too great to overcome. His deputies were dead. And Ginny…
“Naatttt!” Hayden shouted again. His voice was desperate and hopeful, but his heart was sinking. She should have heard him by now. If she were okay, she would have answered.
He turned left toward the interlink, sweeping his flashlight across the tables of old computer terminals and displays, all of them dark and lifeless. The area was usually kept warm by the machines, and their absence left a chill in the air that Hayden felt despite his bodysuit.
Or maybe his fear was causing him to shiver. He was more scared than he had ever been in his entire life. Even the first time Natalia had disappeared was a distant second. It was more than Natalia this time. It was Hallia and Ginny too. His whole family. And he had already found Solino dead. Heather dead. Who knew how many others. All of the people he wanted to save. Thousands of civilians inside the perimeter walls, still out there.
Still dying.
The flashlight slid from the desks toward the separate area where the interlink rested, the beam running along the floor and over a body before backing up to it.
Hayden exhaled sharply, his heart sinking further. Too small to be an adult, he could only think of one child who might have come down here during a crisis.
He bowed his head and closed his eyes, the tears beginning to form, each inhale of breath ragged and pained. He remained fixed for a few seconds, gathering the strength to approach the body and confirm his fear.
“Son of a bitch,” he muttered, looking down at Ginny’s pale face, forever frozen in shock. She had a revolver in her small hands, and a burned hole through her chest, the cloth of her dress singed and stained with blood.
It was almost too much for him to look at, and he blinked rapidly and wiped at his eyes to clear the tears. The gun was his clue to what happened. She had come down here looking for Natalia.
She had found something else. Instead of, or in addition to?
He straightened like a shot, spinning the flashlight back toward the interlink, the light sweeping across the room. It passed over Hallia’s carriage, resting between Ginny and the back wall of the garage. The small metal cage that housed the device was in pieces—the terminals, electrodes and goggles gone.
Hayden’s subconscious noted the absence while his attention focused on the carriage. He hurried over to it, his heart still pounding, his head anything but clear. The sunshade was pulled over it, hiding the contents. He reached for it was a quaking hand, the signals from his mind through the control ring rattled enough that the augment paused and moved in fits and starts, threatening to break down altogether.
His hand finally made it to the shade. He pushed it back and stared down at Hallia’s face. She was calm. Peaceful. Her eyes were closed.
“Hal?” Hayden said, reaching down and stroking her cheek.
He continued staring at her. She was pale.
Too pale.
And cold.
Too cold.
“Hal,” he said again, the world continuing to collapse around him.
His whole body went numb. His mind lost any ability to think. To reason. To focus. Everything was happening at once. Nothing was happening at all. He was suddenly lost in the moment, but it was more than his brain could take.
His legs failed him. He dropped backward, losing sight of Hallia. He lowered his face into his hands. Cold, metal hands. He had never touched his daughter with real flesh and blood fingers. In the entire time she had known him, he had never been whole.
He would never be whole again.
The tears ran freely, but he didn’t cry. He couldn’t find the strength for it. Time seemed to stand still, holding him in the grip of agony. He could only imagine how Natalia would react when he told her their little girl was dead.
Natalia...
It was her name that brought him back from the edge of the abyss. Her name that enabled him to breathe. He stifled a wail he didn’t know he was emitting, his head whipping back to where the interlink had once sat. He couldn’t see anything. He had dropped the flashlight, and it had come to rest facing the stack of equipment used to partition the interlink from the equipment Doctor Hess had set up to research the khoron. The crates and boxes were in shambles, the partition half-collapsed. On the floor, only a pair of legs visible in the mess.
Hayden recognized the boots instantly. He didn’t think his heart could break
any more than it already had, but it did.
When he and Natalia had decided to stay on Earth, to challenge both the trife and the notion that the planet was populated by devolved savages, they had always known there was a good chance one or both of them would die sooner rather than later. The risks were too high. The dangers too numerous. But Hayden had always been convinced it would be him. He was the one going out to destroy nests. He was the one hunting criminals. He was the one facing down killer people and killer aliens.
She was supposed to be safe at home. Safe with Hallia and Ginny. Untouchable.
And now she was dead.
He crawled to her on his hands and knees. Nothing made sense anymore. The universe was illogical. Random and unfair. He had gone through so much to find her. He had given up both his arms to keep her safe. He had become everything he was because of her faith, her hope and love. She had made mistakes. They had both made mistakes. But they had forgiven one another and become stronger for it.
He shoved aside a crate that had fallen on her chest. Her expression was twisted and pained, though there was no sign of damage to her body. Dirt and grease coated her fingers and clumped under her nails.
The Axon had killed her with a trick of the mind instead of a blast of energy. The result was the same.
“Oh, Nat,” Hayden said, tears running freely. He reached under her, scooping her up and holding her tight in his arms, sobbing into her neck. “Oh, Nat. Don’t leave me. Please don’t leave me.”
He knew it wouldn’t help. She was already gone. But he wanted her back more than he had ever wanted anything before. Even if only for a second to look into her eyes, long enough to tell her how much he loved her. To say goodbye.
“I’m sorry,” he said, the pain wracking every inch of his body and soul. “I’m so sorry. I should have been here. I should have stopped this. I should have known.” He let out a soul-crushing wail that started as dull emptiness, transforming as it continued.
Too much.
