by M. R. Forbes
The other Liberators laughed. Glitch nudged him with his shoulder and pointed out the other side of the chopper. “See that, sir?”
Nathan followed his finger to what looked like a small town to the west of the roadway. He could see smoke rising from one of the buildings, and a few people moving around in the streets.
“That’s one of the smaller communities,” Glitch said. “They only come out during the day. They hide underground at night. The whole coast is spotted with them. The cities too. Anywhere people can find somewhere to hide; they manage to survive.”
“It’s a lousy way to live,” General Stacker said. “Always hiding. Always looking over your shoulder. They should be headed to Edenrise. They could live like civilized people instead of frightened savages.”
Nathan couldn’t help but think of the Amtraks. Had the general ever offered to take them to Edenrise?
They passed over the community. The people down below didn’t notice the chopper above them, their instincts trained to always keep their eyes on the ground. Then the Liberators were past it and out of sight, coming up on another broken city. Buzzcut angled the helicopter around it, giving him a view of the outer perimeter but nothing more. Still, there were people down there, some on horseback, moving around in the street. Only a few of them noticed the helicopter, and they flinched and ran under cover when they did. It seemed like a strange reaction, but Nathan supposed they didn’t see flying machines very often anymore.
They crossed a small bay leading out into the ocean, and then another island. The landscape was similar the entire way up, the remains of civilization in the process of being swallowed by time, small groups of survivors huddling together in limited groups. Compared to some of the camps Nathan noticed on the way in, the Amtraks were living well.
“What’s it like out there?” he asked Glitch.
“I don’t really know,” Glitch replied. “I grew up in Edenrise.”
“What makes Edenrise so safe?”
“Oh, that’s easy. The Wall.”
“A wall keeps the trife out?”
“Not a wall. The Wall.”
“It isn’t a wall like you’re thinking,” James said. “It’s an energy field. The generator sits at the center of Edenrise, connected to a tall spire. The spire cascades energy out and down. The trife can’t get through it.”
“Nothing can get through it,” Grimes said.
“So it’s like a dome?” Nathan asked.
James laughed. “Except more deadly.”
“If Tinker knows how to build energy fields, why doesn’t he share the tech with other communities? It works on Proxima. Don’t you think it would work here?”
“Because Tinker doesn’t want to share it,” James said, his voice turning defensive. “We’re almost to the city. Button up.”
The Liberators fell silent and started checking their gear. Nathan hefted the rifle the one James called Bright had given him. It looked like a standard issue Space Force plasma rifle, but the older man had sworn it would surprise the hell out of him when he fired it.
It was no coincidence James had told them to shut it when Nathan asked the wrong question. Maybe the general wasn’t going to lie to him, but that didn’t mean he would always speak freely.
Nathan took a deep breath. None of that mattered.
Yet.
Chapter 18
“What does a trife nest look like?” Rhonna asked. “I’ve never seen one.”
They were sitting on the old sleeping bag. Three hours had passed, and the trife were still outside the door, banging into it every few seconds, and then running their claws across. The frequency had decreased, suggesting at least some of the creatures had given up. Hayden figured he would give them another twenty minutes or so, and then they would have to move. Even though he felt relatively safe hiding out in the old Navy ship, he had a responsibility to both Bennett and Stacker to get on with the mission. Especially Stacker.
He had taken the Spacer’s ring to help keep it safe. He had taken it because he believed he had the better chance of surviving long enough to learn the secrets it held. He knew there was a good chance Nathan Stacker was dead and they would never meet again. At the same time, his instincts told him that wasn’t the case. The fact that Stacker had escaped from Proxima in the first place was a testament to his tenacity. It was part of what had led Hayden to take the ring but let Nathan go in the first place.
Had he made a mistake? He didn’t think so. He didn’t think either one of them would have made it out if they hadn’t gone their separate ways. Splitting up had also forced the Liberators to split up. Only time would tell whether or not it had worked out in Stacker’s favor. It had worked out in his so far.
He doubted Animal would agree.
“Sheriff?” Rhonna said. “Are you okay?”
Hayden shook off the thoughts. They had been sitting quietly long enough he hadn’t been expecting her to start talking to him. He didn’t blame her for the silence. They both had a lot to process. “Pozz.”
“I don’t know if you heard me. I was asking about the trife. What does a nest look like?”
“You know what the trife look like?”
“Of course.”
“Picture anywhere from five of the things to a thousand of them, all pressed together. They secrete this fluid from their skin. We call it serumen. It’s this sticky gel-like stuff that mixes up their DNA, and by rubbing together they pass it along from the outside in toward the center. A queen is hiding under the masses there, and she lays embryos into the serumen, which pick up the genetic alterations. They also use the stuff like food, and within a week or two they hatch. Within a few weeks after that, they’re full grown. They leave the nest and go out to hunt. Depending on the size of the nest, they might also be on their own for finding a place to feed. Sunlight is the most common, but they absorb all kinds of radiation, and their cells process it for food.”
“It sounds disgusting.”
“It is. You have what we call the classic trife on the island. Small and light. They’re like the original design. Things are a little more diverse out west. There’s one type that’s bigger and heavier. Their flesh is hard, and they’re much, much strong. They can punch through reinforced glass and bite clean through a spine. I’ve seen it happen. There’s another that’s even smaller, and they reproduce two or three times faster. Their colonies grow quicker, which puts a different kind of strain on our resources to control them.”
“I didn’t know there were different types.”
“The trife are incredibly adaptive. In part because they reproduce so fast. Natalia has a theory that each creature’s experiences get written to its genome. Then when they mate, those experiences get passed on, and the genome changes to adjust for them.”
“Does your wife have a theory for everything?”
Hayden smiled. “Pretty much. She’s an Engineer, so she’s always trying to figure out the hows and whys.”
“I can tell how much you love her by the way your eyes light up whenever you talk about her. I wish I could find someone to love me like that.”
“How do you know you won’t?”
Her hand started up toward her face again. Toward the burn and the scar. “I’m not pretty enough for any man to want me.”
“I think you haven’t been around the right men. I promised Margie I would get her people off this island and back west. It’s going to be harder since the Liberators destroyed our ship, but I’m going to do everything I can to keep that promise. The same goes for you.”
“All we have to do is survive a ship full of trife, cross a heavily defended river, and escape an army, right?”
“Don’t forget about the ring. There might be more, depending on how that goes.”
Rhonna’s face paled. “And I’m supposed to what? Stay optimistic?”
Hayden got to his feet. “We can do this. Tinker was right about that. Where there’s a will, there’s a way. One step at a time.”
&nb
sp; “They’re still out there,” Rhonna said.
“Yeah, but there aren’t as many. As long as we do this quietly, we can take out the stragglers and sneak down to the armory. Or you can stay here if you want?”
She stood up, bringing her ax with her. “No. I’m with you, Sheriff.”
“Good.” Hayden went back to the door. “I’ll hold it closed while you unlock it.”
Rhonna nodded, and then she slowly turned the lock until it clicked free. Hayden didn’t have to keep much pressure on the door to hold it closed. The trife’s attempts were half-hearted, like the individuals had given up trying to get in, but the hive mind still wanted them to try. He timed the spaces between the light bangs, bracing the door with his bad hand and raising the ax in the other.
“Ready?” he asked.
“As ready as I’ll ever be,” Rhonna replied.
He waited for the next break, and then yanked the door open. There were three trife immediately in front of him, and they hissed and shrank back in surprise.
Hayden slammed the ax into the forehead of the first, sinking it in and letting it go to ball his hand into a fist. He threw a powerful punch into the side of another, cracking its ribs and knocking it down. Rhonna hit the third, her ax cutting deep into its chest.
They both scanned the area, making sure there were no others nearby. The quietness of their ambush left them clear.
Hayden pulled the ax out of the dead trife’s head. Rhonna retrieved hers as well, standing over the creature and looking down at it. Her expression was curious, and a little sad.
“I don’t really like killing things,” she said.
“They don’t usually give us much choice.”
“I know.”
“Come on.”
He walked past her. She turned and followed him down the corridor to where they had been cut off by the trife earlier. There was no sign of the creatures nearby. Now that the sun was fully up, they had likely abandoned the hunt to soak in whatever sunlight they could find. While Hayden had locked one of the hatches back into the ship, he was sure the trife had another path in and out.
They reached the central ladder. Hayden entered and looked down. The way was clear, and he motioned for Rhonna to follow. They descended the two decks to where the map indicated the armory was located. He could tell they were getting close to the reactor. He could hear the hum of the machinery and feel the slight vibrations against the bulkhead whenever his shoulder brushed it. There was also a soft whine, a high-pitched tone that he knew was coming from the nest.
They exited out into the next passageway. More of the LEDs had burned out down here, causing parts of the long corridor to fall into shadow. Hayden narrowed his eyes, trying to discern if anything was hiding in them.
“We’re clear,” he whispered, determining they were alone. They continued down the corridor.
The armory stood out among the other rooms. Its door wasn’t wood or a light metal like the other spaces on board. It was thick steel like the bulkhead hatches, dense and impenetrable. They stopped in front of it, scanning the passageway one last time. Nothing.
Hayden dropped the ax and grabbed the hatch’s handle, pushing it down and then pulling.
It didn’t budge.
He glanced at Rhonna, and then pulled again.
It didn’t give at all.
“Shit,” he said softly.
“What is it?” she asked.
“I think it may be rusted shut,” he said, looking at the hinges. “It probably hasn’t been opened in a while.”
“Can you open it?”
He leaned in, examining the door. It didn’t look rusted. It looked like a couple of the hinges had been hastily welded. Had the ship’s crew done it before they had started letting survivors on board, just in case? If so, did that mean the armory was mostly intact?
“I think it’s welded. But only here.” He pointed. “And here.” He pointed to the second hinge. “Stand back.”
He wrapped his functional hand around the handle and pulled. He put much more effort into it this time, planting his feet and yanking hard, the artificial muscles of the replacement limb so much stronger than natural human muscles. The hinges started to screech, the noise echoing in the corridor.
He let go, taking a moment to catch his breath. The door had shifted maybe a centimeter. Not even enough to clear the lip of the frame and allow them to see inside. At least then they would be able to determine if the reward was worth the effort.
“You’re going to bring the trife if you make too much noise,” Rhonna said softly.
“I know,” Hayden replied. “I don’t think I can open it quietly.”
“Maybe we should give up on the guns? We have these.” She held up her ax. “It’s something, anyway.”
Hayden leaned back against the bulkhead. Maybe she was right? He stared at the door. They were so damn close. They just had to keep the trife away while he kept trying.
“How long did you say Tinker can talk for again?”
Chapter 19
“I’m not sure this is a good idea, Sheriff,” Rhonna said.
Hayden leaned over to plug the radio back in. “It might not be,” he replied. “But all I keep seeing when I think of going back out there with nothing but an ax is us getting gunned down from a hundred meters away. It would be one thing if we were just some unknown travelers trying to get from point A to point B, but we aren’t. I came here chasing a fugitive, but we’re the ones on the run right now. We have to be creative, or we’re going to wind up dead.” He looked at her. “And I’m not ready to be dead just yet. My family needs me.”
He didn’t turn the radio on. Not yet. He looked at the small wired communicator, attached to one of the terminals on the bridge. There were a number of switches and dials, and he wiped some of the dust off them, looking for labels. One of them read ‘all-call.’ That sounded right.
“You’re still welcome to stay up here,” he said. “It’ll be safest on the bridge.”
“And let you risk your life for both of us?” Rhonna replied. “No, I’m coming. Every good lawman needs a Danno.”
“Thanks,” Hayden said, even if he didn’t know what a Danno was. “Let’s hope Tinker is still ranting. I’m sure he’d be very unhappy to know that he’s helping us out.”
“Pozz that.”
Hayden turned the radio on.
“...fires of the world are soon to be ignited. The day of wrath. The end of one world and the birth of a new.” Tinker’s voice poured out of the radio, still going strong. “The cleansing is upon us. It is the will of the others. The will of the future. Come to Edenrise. Join the liberation. Set the world on fire. Set the world free...”
Hayden looked at Rhonna again. She nodded. “Do it, Sheriff.”
He put the microphone on top of the radio’s speaker. Then he flipped the all-call switch.
The mic squealed for a moment, the sound ejecting from every speaker inside the vessel. Hayden winced at the sudden pain in his ears, which faded a moment later as the system equalized. He could hear Tinker’s voice in the corridor outside. Hopefully, it would be filling the entire ship.
He led them back off the bridge and down the ladder, racing as fast as he could. Rhonna kept pace behind him as he descended to the third deck and ran across the central passageway. Tinker’s voice followed them wherever they went, pouring out of dozens of speakers spread throughout the ship, continuing the diatribe about the rebirth of the world.
A pair of trife came around the corner. They were following the voice, trying to track down the source of it. They saw Hayden and Rhonna, hissing and charging. Hayden used the back of the ax like a club, slamming it into the first creature and then backhanding the blade into the second. They stepped over the trife and kept going, reaching an intersection. More trife appeared on the starboard side, reacting the same way as the first. Hayden met them halfway, using the ax to tear through them and leaving a few more corpses in his wake.
The plan w
as working, the trife spreading out in search of the humans whose voices were suddenly coming from everywhere at once.
“...Edenrise is the home of salvation. The place of eternal life. The others have made their will clear. They have sent their message from across the stars. A message of death and rebirth, like a phoenix rising from the ashes. Join the liberation and be saved. Resist and be destroyed. Come to Edenrise...”
They reached another ladder, descending to deck four. Half a dozen trife greeted them as they emerged into the passageway, the largest group they had come across so far. Hayden didn’t slow, walking into them with his ax swinging, cutting two of them down in rapid succession. Sharp claws raked his shoulder, scratching along his prosthetics and along his bodysuit. He threw his body into one of the creatures, knocking it aside, turned and swung the ax into another.
Rhonna cried out behind him. He turned, barely getting his hand up in time to block a strike at his face. He backhanded the trife with his club hand and then grabbed the demon attacking Rhonna by the neck, tugging it back and crushing its spine.
She nodded in thanks, reaching beside him and planting her ax into a trife behind him.
“Not so tough,” she said, smiling. The smile vanished. “Oh. You’re cut.”
Hayden looked over at his shoulder. One of the trife’s sharp nails had gotten through the bodysuit, ripping it and his skin open. He could see the pink flesh and the torn edges of one of the healing patches there, along with old scar tissue.
“It’s not bad,” he said. He only noticed the burning pain of it now that she had pointed it out. “We need to keep moving.”
They ran back, reaching the armory door again.
“...cleansing is coming. Xenotrife. Human. The cleansing holds no favor. The will of the others is clear. The will of the others is known. The end of one cycle. The beginning of another...”
Hayden grabbed the door handle as a trife came into view at the end of the corridor.
“I’ve got it,” Rhonna said, turning and facing the creature. It didn’t move, more cautious now. A second one joined it a moment later. “But hurry.”
