by M. R. Forbes
“Lidar?”
“They won’t be out in the open. We’re headed straight into the snake pit.”
“Roger that, Colonel,” Isaac said.
“Knuckle up and stay alert,” Caleb said, addressing the entire team. “Reapers are tough, but they can be killed. Any of the Relyeh can be killed.”
“So can Axon,” Max added.
“You all know what to do. Remember why you’re doing it. This isn’t about your home planet. This is about humanity. This is about fighting back against slavery, oppression and possible extinction. If we’re going to have a chance to come out on top of this, we need that interlink.”
“Oorah!” the Centurions shouted.
“Beta Squad, line up!” Nathan snapped, heading for the first position behind Alpha. He paused at Caleb’s side, eyes sliding between Caleb and Max. “We’ll hold them off as best we can. If we can’t come through…”
“I won’t let you down, General,” Caleb replied, affirming his resolve with a barely noticeable dip of his chin.
“We’ll succeed,” Max said. “Failure isn’t one of my directives. Hahaha. Haha.”
“T-minus ten seconds to deceleration,” Isaac announced. “Delta Squad remain strapped in. The rest of you, hang on. Sheriff, lower the ramp.”
Hayden hit the control for the rear door and then braced his feet slightly apart, twisting his hand through one of the canvas loops hanging from the overhead. Everyone standing behind him followed suit.
The craft shuddered as its thrusters reversed, vectoring jets adding to the sudden and violent deceleration. G-forces pulled at the occupants of the hold, powerful enough that Nathan’s head immediately started to ache from the pressure. Isaac had come in faster than Nathan expected, probably trying to get them in before they could be spotted.
The ship continued shaking, braking fast in mid-air. The pressure shifted as it began to drop, the overhead hand grips the only thing keeping everyone rooted in place.
“Ike,” Nathan said. “A little softer on the touch next time.”
“Noted, General. Too hot. Standby.”
The Parabellum screamed downward, the air beginning to rush into the hold and swirl around them, the quick change in pressure adding another challenge. Nathan noticed Spot’s head loll to the side. Checking the ATCS, he saw she was indeed out cold.
Damn it.
The dropship slowed again, the free-fall turning into a drift. It took five seconds to go from three kilometers up, and then another ten to descend the last half-klick. By the time the landing skids touched the ground, Hayden and the rest of Alpha Squad were free of their straps and running down the ramp into the open.
50
Hayden
Hayden ran from the dropship, sprinting full-speed away from the small clearing where it had landed toward a ditch fifty meters away. The depression was filled with old cars, rusted hunks of metal unceremoniously pushed aside to clear a path along the highway for the Axon to travel.
It was all part of the enemy’s plan to take root in Seattle, close to the capital of the United Western Territories—but not too close. To draw him away from Sanisco so Krake could enter and steal the interlink. To bring it back here and then take it through a portal off-world to where Vyte might use it to control the Hunger.
To where humans wouldn’t be able to use it to destroy them.
The road had been cleared to meet those objectives. Parts of the surface had even been smoothed over and patched, making the surface easier to traverse. And as Hayden looked at the signs of preparation, he couldn’t help but wonder... had Natalia’s use of the interlink to enter the Collective signaled Vyte that such a tool existed? Was her research on the device the reason the rogue Axon was on his way here right now? Had she inadvertently brought about this new invasion?
It was clear to him that every decision they made had consequences. Every problem they solved created two more. Now he was out here trying to stop Krake, but what would happen if he succeeded? Would the ripple effects create an even worse problem?
He was pretty sure it couldn’t get any worse.
Rico, Bennett and Drake followed close behind him, joining him as he slid down the side of the ditch to the top of a rusted bus, across the hood and then across to the top of a car. Hayden stopped there, crouching low—out of sight—and looked back in time to see the Parabellum dart away, rising at a rate nothing made on Earth could match.
“Bennett,” Hayden said through the squad comm. “Head forward two kilometers and find somewhere to watch for the target.”
“Roger, Sheriff,” Bennett said, coming out of his crouch and quickly moving away. He stayed parallel to the highway, sprinting when he went into the open and slowing when he got behind cover—cars or vegetation lining the road.
Hayden scanned the area. They were about a kilometer outside the city. From here, there was no sign of reapers or xaxkluth. No indication that Hanson knew they were present or was expecting them. The immediate vicinity was clear.
For now.
“You okay, Sheriff?” Rico asked.
Hayden nodded. “I’m feeling a lot impatient.”
“Understandable. At least it looks like we made it in clean. There’s nothing to do now but wait.”
Hayden’s gaze stopped on an isolated part of the old highway across from their current position, a single standing segment of an interchange still perched on its supports. The rest of the roadway had long ago collapsed into rubble around it. If it were stable, it would make a good overwatch position. “Drake, do you think you can get up there?”
Drake eyed the remaining platform. A pile of rubble would take him halfway up, but after that would require some excellent climbing skills. “I can make that,” he replied.
“Do it,” Hayden said.
Drake stood up and began traversing the cars in the ditch, quickly making his way to the highway. He sprinted across it and backtracked to the segment of elevated interchange that was still standing. Hayden watched as he easily scaled the rubble at its base, balancing at the top edge and examining the support beam he needed to climb. He planted his hands against it, finding small seams for his fingers. Then he started to ascend.
Hayden waited until Drake reached the top of the interchange before activating his link to the camera in the Centurion’s helmet. The view from the position was better than he had hoped and offered him a clear indication of how to finish setting up their ambush.
“Rico, I’m marking your position,” he said, using his ATCS to set the point on the tactical map. “Head there asap and get set up.” It was a point further south, though not quite as far as he had sent Bennett. As long as Krake arrived via the highway, the alignment would leave him surrounded.
“There, Sheriff?” Rico said, looking at the spot. “Are you sure? Once it goes past I’ll have a hard time keeping up. If I head north instead to—”
“Too close to the city,” Hayden said. “It doesn’t seem like they know we’re here yet. I want to keep it that way for as long as possible.”
Rico stared at him.
“Is there a problem?” Hayden asked, staring back.
“Hayden, I consider you a friend.”
“Same here.”
“Then promise me you aren’t sending me south so I can’t get back here in time to stop you from doing something stupid.”
“I’m not going to do anything stupid. There’s too much at stake. I want you there because it’s a good position to hit the enemy from the rear. That’s all.”
“Do you promise you won’t do—?”
“It’s not a request, Rico. I’m in charge of Alpha, and I’m ordering you to head to that mark.”
“Understood, Sheriff. But do you promise?”
Their eyes remained locked. Hayden nodded. “Pozz. I promise.”
Rico smiled, straightening up. “On my way, Sheriff.”
She headed off, climbing across the debris to the road and vanishing from his line of sight. He was able to w
atch her through Drake’s video feed and on the grid, ensuring she was carrying out his directions.
Then he started moving across the junk pile, getting himself positioned closer to the road. When the time came, he was going to do something decisive, but definitely not stupid.
He wasn’t completely sure Rico would agree with that assessment, but he didn’t care. She wasn’t the one leading this ambush, and she wasn’t the one who had lost her family to the approaching Axon.
He was going to recover the interlink.
Then he was going to get his revenge.
51
Nathan
It took nearly fifteen minutes for the Parabellum to sweep back around the city from south to north, taking a wide, high path to keep it out of sight. Spot was conscious again—slightly dizzy but otherwise ready to fight—by the time they descended to the closest edge of their safe zone. Nathan warned Isaac to be more careful about the second dropoff, and while he still came down at the limits of the craft’s capabilities, he didn’t threaten their physical safety.
Of course, the rest of the Centurions gave Spot shit for not being able to handle the pressure. Clones were supposed to be physically superior to born humans, but Isaac had managed the maneuver and she hadn’t. Now that she was awake and unharmed, it was amusing.
The Parabellum bounced slightly as it touched down, the back of the hold already open and waiting to dispense Beta Squad.
“Let’s move, Centurions,” Nathan said, leading the charge off the ship. His alloy-clad feet echoed along the metal deck of the ship, and then turned to thuds as he moved out onto the hard-packed ground. They were nearly five kilometers from the city, on the far side of a hill that had helped block their approach. They had thirty minutes to cover the distance and get in position to prevent Hanson from interrupting Alpha Squad’s mission.
The Parabellum lifted again behind them, tracking north as it ascended into the clouds. Nathan didn’t watch it go, already running toward the hill south of them.
The outskirts of the city were like so many places in the world. Empty and abandoned. The houses were run down, the paint faded, the vegetation overgrown. There were sections rich with graffiti, some of it still legible beneath the grime.
DEMONS GO BACK TO HELL
That was the one that caught Nathan’s eye. It was painted in faded red across an old billboard large enough that he could see it from a couple of kilometers away. How many times had he thought the same thing in the months since he had come to Earth? He had been made on Proxima a long time ago, but it hadn’t taken long for him to consider this planet his home.
His thoughts turned to Edenrise. It had fared so much better than Sanisco because of the shield. People had more time to run. More time to escape. But it had still fallen. There were five thousand survivors out there, sailing north. Maybe they were safe from the enemy because they were surrounded by ocean and hard to spot. Or maybe they were already dead.
He had no way to know. He was going to assume they were alive until he had proof they weren’t. Until he was able to get back to his people, hopefully having defeated Vyte. The odds were bad, but that wasn’t anything he wasn’t used to. He believed in the people they had assembled, and he was surprisingly grateful to General Haeri for delivering Rico and the other Centurions. Their chance of success was slim, but at least they had a chance.
And they had a pissed off Sheriff Duke.
He felt sorry for the bad guys.
Beta Squad continued south, making their way to a road that cut through the outskirts of the city. Old storefronts lined both sides of the streets, silent and empty. Birds nested on their rooftops, squawking as the Centurions ran past. Nathan checked his HUD. Sensors were clear, but he remembered what Caleb had said about the reapers. They were invisible to normal detection. Eyeballs only.
“Stay alert,” he cautioned, sweeping the area. Hayden hadn’t gotten this far north in his efforts to clear the area of trife, so there was a chance the lesser Relyeh could be hiding nearby unless Hanson had already cleared them out.
The Centurions stayed on the road at a solid run, the enhanced strength and stamina of the clones enabling them to cover the five kilometers in twenty minutes. It took them to the edge of Seattle proper, near the spire that rose high above the surrounding buildings. A nearby sign identified it as the Space Needle.
There was no contact with the enemy. No trife. No xaxkluth. No reapers. Nothing. Nathan hated the entire concept of too quiet, but he couldn’t shake the sense that it was exactly that.
Something had to give.
“Alpha One, this is Beta One,” Nathan said, linking to the general comm. “We’re in position, ready to make our approach.”
“Roger, Beta One,” Hayden replied. “We’re set and ready. Still awaiting contact with the package.”
“Alpha One, this is Parabellum,” Isaac said. The dropship was somewhere over their heads, hidden in the clouds. “Last sensor output had the target incoming as estimated. T-minus ten minutes to contact.”
“Sheriff, the city is dead,” Nathan said. “Either we’re about to step into a massive trap or Bryant sent us to the wrong place.”
“No,” Hayden countered. “They’re here. They’re waiting. I’m sure of it. Find a strong position and be ready to move as soon as we have contact.”
“Roger, Alpha.”
“Parabellum, I want Delta Squad on its way in at t-minus two minutes. Delta, you’ll need to adjust to the source on the fly.”
“Literally,” Max said. “Hahahaha. Hahaha.”
“Roger, Alpha,” Caleb said. “We’re ready to go at the mark.”
Nathan swept his eyes across the landscape and then matched it with the tactical grid on his HUD, which offered an isometric view of the city as captured by the Parabellum. “Centurions, let’s move ahead slowly. I’m marking the route now. Lucius, Jesse, stay back. Bounding overwatch.”
“Roger, General,” the two Centurions replied.
Nathan and Spot started forward together, stopping as they made it under the Space Needle, using the base as cover, while Lucius and Jesse caught up and then ranged ahead. They stopped at the corner of the first building, covering him and Spot during their approach.
There was still no sign of the enemy, and it was making Nathan increasingly uncomfortable.
“Alpha, I have a bad feeling,” he said.
“I’ve had a bad feeling since the Wheat,” Hayden replied. “We don’t have a lot of options. We have to see this through.”
“Roger.” Nathan gripped his rifle more tightly, keeping it up and ready to fire. He and Spot leapfrogged ahead of Lucius and Jesse, reaching a second intersection just as Isaac’s panicked voice shouted out into the general comm.
“Oh shit, Sheriff,” he said. “I’ve got contacts popping up all over my sensors.”
Nathan checked his HUD and then swept the streets ahead with his eyes. “Parabellum, visual is clear.”
“Parabellum, I have no targets,” Hayden said.
“No,” Isaac said. “Not on the street.” He was nearly breathless. “Not on the ground. Oh hell. Above, Sheriff. They’re coming from above. Ships. Dozens of ships.”
52
Caleb
“Ships?” Caleb questioned over the squad comm, frowning as he looked to Max for an answer.
“Vyte’s ships, no doubt,” Max replied.
At least, this time he didn’t laugh.
“Parabellum,” Sheriff Duke said through the general comm. “You need to clear the area. Delta, you need to drop asap.”
“Sheriff, we need to abort the mission,” Isaac said. “We have twenty minutes before the ships reach the atmosphere.”
“The package is due to arrive in ten. I’m not leaving without it. Delta, I want you on the ground. Parabellum, I want you out of the immediate area. We can’t afford to lose our transportation.”
Caleb had a feeling Isaac was going to continue the argument. But there was no time to argue. He hurri
ed to the hold’s smaller side hatch and hit the control pad to open it, the cold wind immediately beginning to buffet him.
“Colonel, what are you doing?” Isaac asked.
“Sheriff Duke’s right, Ike. We lose the interlink, we lose the war. We lose the Parabellum, we lose our mobility. We need both. Follow your orders and get the hell out of here, Marine.”
“Yes, sir,” Isaac replied.
Caleb glanced back at Max. “Are you ready?”
“Are you?” the Intellect replied.
Caleb leaned out of the hatch and looked down. He couldn’t see the city past the clouds.
Are you sure the Skin can handle this?
“Max, if you’re not sure the Skin can handle this you better tell me now” Caleb said.
“Like I showed you,” Max replied. “It’ll be fun. Hahaha. Hahaha.”
Caleb took a deep breath. Yeah, loads of fun.
Then he jumped.
It wasn’t the first time he had fallen from height. It wasn’t even the first time he had leaped out of an aircraft at high speed. He had survived both prior efforts, but not without some injury and a good deal of pain, and that was with Ishek to put his body back together and speed up his healing. He wasn’t looking forward to going through it again, and hopefully he wouldn’t have to. Max had unlocked portions of the Skin he never knew about. Parts that hadn’t been added to the Inahri software that ran the Axon technology, but were there now.
Wind whipped past Caleb, though he hardly felt it through the head-to-toe Skin. He held his arms out, letting gravity pull him down and feeling a sense of freedom from the fall. A peacefulness and serenity he knew would end all too soon. He savored the moment until Max took him out of it.
“We need to go faster,” the Intellect said.
Caleb turned his head to see Max tuck his arms at his sides and put his head down, shooting forward toward terminal velocity. Caleb did the same to follow, diving into the clouds. His vision was filled with pure white, the seconds ticking past. He reached twenty when he broke through the clouds, rushing headlong at the city below. He quickly found the Space Needle to the north, and the interstate to the south, the positions of Alpha and Beta squads highlighted on his HUD.
