The Golden Viper

by Sean Robins

  The galaxy-conquering, genocidal maniac in front of me looked genuinely regretful. “For what it is worth, and I know it is not worth much, I am sorry about your wife. I have lost brothers and sisters, a lot of whom were killed by you and your people, I might add, and I know how much it hurts. Believe me when I say it was not personal. Who was she?”

  “The pilot of the light blue Viper that attacked you first.”

  Maada smiled sadly. “Brave woman. I am more used to people running away from me than trying to attack me, and she did it twice. If it is any consolation, she fought valiantly and died well.”

  He was a lot chattier than I remembered. “It isn’t,” I said. “Not even a little.”

  “It seems I have paid for it. How did you do it? I seem to remember I easily beat you the first time we met.”

  I looked at my tactical display and examined his fleet, wondering if he was stalling, trying to set up a trap or something. Nothing. No movement at all. The Xortaag fleet just hovered there in space, waiting. Maybe he was genuinely looking for some answers. Weren’t we all?

  This right here was what we needed to do: we had to talk and find common ground. Otherwise, we’d keep killing each other for eternity. Then, all of a sudden, a light bulb went on in my head. A plan which would allow us to end the Xortaag threat once and for all began to form. It was rather complicated, and I needed time to think about it, so I shelved it for later on. I’d have a lot of thinking to do if I survived this.

  “So, how did you kill me?” Maada asked again. Not knowing how he’d died must’ve really bugged him.

  I thought about lying. I could brag, telling him I’d single-handedly kicked his ass because I was the best ace pilot in the galaxy. I could even say he broke and asked for mercy at the end, and I ignored him and made a snappy comment before coolly finishing him off.

  I sighed. I couldn’t do it. He wouldn’t have done that to me. To make things worse, I suddenly had the weirdest epiphany. Looking at Maada, I realized, to my immense surprise, that despite everything I’d told myself these last few months, I didn’t hate him. I didn’t even feel righteous fury. He was just a soldier doing his job, serving his people and protecting those under his command. Of all people, I could identify with that.

  “He killed Liz!” Venom protested.

  Still a soldier doing his job. How many Xortaags had I killed? They all had loved ones too. Husbands and wives. Parents. Hell, children, whom I’d orphaned. Plus, it wasn’t really this man who had taken Liz’s life—that Maada had been vaporized in his Deathbringer when Keiko hit him. This one was born a few weeks ago in a lab, presumably somewhere on Tangaar.

  “Maybe we focus on not letting him kill us right now, and leave this fascinating philosophical argument for later?” asked Venom. He could be a very smart parasite, sometimes.

  “I’m always smarter than you, which to be honest doesn’t say much,” he said. “And call me a parasite one more time. I dare you. I double-dare you, melon farmer.”

  I ignored him and told Maada, “I got very, very lucky, and a friend of mine had to sacrifice her life too.”

  “Let me guess: the pilot of the dark green ship?”

  I nodded.

  “I had a feeling she had something to do with it. Didn’t know it was a woman though. So, a life for a life.”

  Heat flushed through my body as my anger flared again. “Were you not listening? She died. You’re still alive.”

  “You just said—” Venom started to say something.

  Oh, shut up!

  “So are you, even though you killed me and who knows how many of my people.”

  “Nobody said life was fair.”

  He smiled wolfishly. “We need to balance the scale.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I paid for your wife’s death, but you didn’t pay for mine. Also, I used to be the scariest killer in the galaxy until you showed up. I would very much like to restore my reputation. I suggest a duel, you and me, man to man, while both fleets watch, to determine who the better man is.”

  I suddenly realized his idea would play right into my hands. If I could keep him occupied long enough for Kurt and his team to do their thing, and for the Akakies to get their planet back, we’d have a huge advantage. The Xortaags would lose heart if they had nowhere to go, and some of them might’ve surrendered.

  And if on top of that I killed Maada there and then…

  Everyone goes home alive.

  Today was my lucky day.

  “Have you lost your mind? You’re going to die!” exclaimed Venom. “You, Josef and Peter together couldn’t beat him the last time, and he was flying one of those old Deathbringers. He’ll incinerate your Viper in under five minutes, and me with it.”

  I murmured, “With Cordelia here, I like my chances. What do you think, Cordi?”

  I could hear the contempt in her voice. “I’m ten times better than whatever onboard computer he has. Let’s go kill the son of a bitch.”

  “I see no need to prove that I’m the better man, given that I’ve already killed you once,” I told Maada. “But I believe there’s no reason not to do it again. Ready when you are, General.”

  “At least you’re back to your old self, buddy,” said Venom. “For a few minutes there, you were behaving like a total wuss.”

  My body started tingling all over, and I felt as if every nerve in my brain was electrified. I should probably have been worried; instead, tangible anticipation overcame me. I figured this was how a superhero felt when they faced their arch nemesis for a final showdown. “The Golden Viper versus the Crimson Deathbringer, round two. If I survive, I’ll write a book about it.”

  Kurt was following Tarq through the catacombs when he heard Xornaa say “shit” from behind.

  He stopped and turned back. “What’s wrong?”

  “The Xortaags have found us,” she said. “They’re pouring into the catacombs, hundreds of them!”

  “Run!” shouted Tarq. He started running on his four feet, followed by Barook.

  Kurt’s heartbeat went up, but not much. “It seems like we’re Marines again.” He turned off his hologram.

  “Gracias a Dios,” said Juan. “I didn’t like how this looks at all.” He wore full tactical gear and body armor, like the rest of the team.

  Xornaa looked like she was trying to hear something; then all blood drained from her face. “A group has just entered the catacombs right behind us, and Mushgaana is with them.”

  They ran after the two Akakies.

  “Is he really your father?” Kurt asked Xornaa.

  Li and Juan shouted together, “What?”

  “Yes, and I happily offer a reward to whoever kills his ass today,” said the Xortaag woman.

  “I’ll do it for free,” said Oksana.

  “Almost there,” said Tarq, panting. “The controls are in a chamber at the end of this tunnel.”

  “Any other entrances?” asked Kurt.

  “No, only from here.”

  Kurt looked around. A little bit further ahead, there were four alcoves in the tunnel, two at each side. “This looks like a good chokepoint,” he said. “How much time do you need to start MFM?”

  “Only a few minutes,” said Tarq.

  “Mushgaana’s group is getting closer,” cautioned Xornaa.

  “Oksana, Li, Juan, stay here and defend this position. Xornaa and I will escort these two to the MFM controls, and once it starts working, we’ll come back to help you. Just buy us a few minutes.”

  Oksana smiled confidently. “In such a narrow tunnel, and with assault rifles and military rounds, we aren’t going to need your help. We can hold an army here indefinitely, or at least until we run out of ammo.”

  “If everything goes as planned, the Akakies will attack the Xortaags very soon, so we won’t run out of bullets,” said Kurt. “Still, don’t get cocky on me. I have a hard time tolerating Jim as it is.”

  “The righteous should choose his friends carefully,” said O
ksana.

  “Hold the fort until I come back,” Kurt answered; then he started running towards the end of the corridor.

  The sound of gunshots told Mushgaana his men had caught up with the intruders. A minute later, he found several Xortaags who had taken cover behind the wall in an intersection and were shooting inside a narrow corridor. Four soldiers were already down—two of them dead, the other two receiving medical attention from their comrades. There were probably more bodies in the corridor, outside his line of sight.

  He stopped before the intersection and focused his senses. There were three shooters armed with automatic weapons. Nobody was going to pass through this corridor any time soon, but he had to find the other four before they did whatever they were here to do. He tried to kill one of the enemy soldiers by melting his brain inside his skull but could not. In fact, he was not able to control them at all. This was surely because of the Akakies and their damned machines. If he really focused, he could sense their thoughts, but even then he could not get anything vivid, just vague feelings about their desire to hurt his people. He did not need to read thoughts to understand that.

  A memory came back to him. Back on Earth, when that trapped human wanted to kill himself, Mushgaana had managed to stop his arm from moving. He was outside his mansion and far away from the man who was on the first floor, but now he was only a few feet away from the enemy soldiers. It was certainly worth a try. He leaned on the wall, closed his eyes, focused, and went for the first human’s mind.

  An excruciating headache attacked him, and blood started trickling from his nose.

  Oksana carefully aimed her suppressed STG-666, pulled the trigger, and shot a Xortaag in the head. The enemy soldier was thrown backward, dark purple blood spraying from his fatal wound.

  Eat lead, alien.

  The Xortaags had killed Matias. It was because of them that Anastasiya took her own life. The image of her sister’s dead body dangling from a rope sprang to Oksana’s mind, and she shuddered. The Xortaags had taken everything from her. She would happily kill a million of them, and it still wouldn’t be enough.

  From the alcove opposite her, Juan fired his weapon a few times and took cover inside just when the enemy returned fire. He grinned at Oksana. “This reminds me of the time we were surrounded by the Xortaags in SH-1.”

  Oksana gave him an angry look. “When most of our team died?”

  “We survived,” Juan said defensively. Moving fast, he raised his gun, pushed his upper body out of the alcove, and started to shoot. He fired his gun three times; then he stopped shooting. He just stood there, completely motionless, while energy bolts ripped into the wall, the floor, and his armor.

  Oksana’s blood turned to ice in her veins. “What’re you doing?” she shouted.

  The gun fell from Juan’s hand. “I can’t move!” It looked like his body was fighting an invisible force. He put his hand on the wall and tried to pull himself in, but he barely managed to move a few inches.

  Oksana let go of her assault rifle and was about to run towards Juan when he was shot square in the face. His body fell to the ground and twitched a few times in death.

  Oksana gasped, and a sheen of sweat appeared on her forehead. What had just happened was impossible. Then she remembered Mushgaana had telepathic powers. She felt her breath catch and her heart race. They were worried he might find them, but she’d never thought he had the power to turn them into puppets whose strings were cut. She thought feverishly, trying to find a defense against this threat, but she drew a complete blank. What defense was there against black magic?

  Oksana heard Li whisper her name from behind. She turned to find him standing next to the alcove he was taking cover in, eyes wide in horror, completely exposed to enemy fire. Energy bolt after energy bolt tore into him. His armor gave in. He fell, smoke emanating from his chest, eyes staring upwards. The smell of burnt flesh made Oksana’s stomach turn.

  Now it’s my turn, she thought, feeling a knife slowly twisting in her gut.

  Despair swept her away like a raging river. There was a hollowness in her chest, as if her heart had been cut out. She didn’t want to die like this. Trapped. Unable to fight. Helpless, like a broken doll. She wanted to go down fighting, taking as many of the Xortaags that she could take with her. She hadn’t come all the way across the galaxy just to die here in this freaking tunnel like a wounded animal.

  Fear spread through her body like icy, liquid metal. She clenched her fist impotently, lower lip trembling. She had to crunch her teeth over her lip to stop herself from screaming in pain and rage. How could she fight a power she couldn’t begin to comprehend and, until a minute ago, didn’t even know existed? She’d stood against Russian Mafia, SCTU goons, and alien invaders, and survived. But how was she supposed to confront a telepath?

  There was nothing she could do. An invisible monster was coming to get her, and she had nowhere to hide. Her breathing became deep and shallow, her mind started to fail, and for the first time in her life, Oksana gave up all hope.

  Not like this. Dear God, not like this.

  Mushgaana felt his head was about to split open. He stopped and took a breather. Two of the humans were down anyway, and only one was left. A soldier gave him a piece of cloth. He took it and wiped the blood from his nose.

  “Don’t shoot,” a woman shouted. “I surrender!”

  “Why would I accept your surrender when I can send you to meet your other friends in a minute?”

  “Because I can tell you what the Akakies are planning,” said the woman.

  This was interesting. Moreover, if the woman surrendered, it would save him from his headache and nosebleed.

  “Do not move, and do not struggle. What is that English expression?” He added in English, “Freeze.”

  He reached out and found the woman’s mind. She offered no resistance. Not that she could do anything if she wanted to. He looked into her mind, and all he found was desperation. This human had completely given up on life and was ready to die.

  How did these weak pathetic creatures manage to kill me on Earth?

  Mushgaana stepped into the corridor and walked towards the alcove where the woman was hiding. His soldiers followed him, weapons at the ready. An unnecessary precaution. Two of the humans were dead, the third was completely paralyzed, and the rest of the enemy soldiers were far away at the end of the tunnel. When he reached the opening in the wall, he saw the woman for the first time. She was tall and blonde, standing there with her hands raised above her head, her gun on the ground.

  “So, what are the insects planning?” asked the prince.

  “Fuck you, you piece of alien shit,” she said and spit in his face.

  Mushgaana’s face twisted in pure rage. How dare she! He was a god. He hit the woman in the face as hard as he could. Utterly incapacitated, she could neither dodge nor do anything to defend herself. Mushgaana felt the woman’s nose break under his fist and let out a deep, gratifying sigh. Red blood poured out of her nostrils, and she was thrown backward. The back of her head hit the wall with a thump, and she fell to her knees.

  A wire, hidden under a thin layer of dirt, was attached to the woman’s right boot. Its other end was attached to a grenade, also concealed beneath some dirt in a corner of the alcove entrance. Mushgaana’s eyes widened when he saw the wire pulling the pin out of the grenade. One of his soldiers shouted a warning.

  Way, way too late.

  The woman smiled under the blood covering her face. She looked terrifying.

  “Rot in hell, suka,” she said with triumph in her voice.

  Mushgaana had only enough time to think, Fucking humans!

  In the chamber at the end of the corridor, Kurt watched as Tarq touched a hidden button and had his eyes scanned. A VR screen and a touchscreen keyboard appeared in one corner. Tarq typed furiously for a minute or two; then he ran his palm across the touchscreen. “It is done.”

  Kurt told Xornaa, “Let’s go,” and turned towards the chamber entrance.r />
  The ground shook, and a ball of dirt and dust billowed inwards, filling the room, just as the noise of an explosion hit Kurt’s ears like a thunderclap. He froze, but only for one second. Then he coughed the dust from his lungs and was about to run out of the chamber when Xornaa grabbed his arm from behind.

  The Xortaag woman shook her head. “They’re gone.”

  Kurt couldn’t believe his ears. “All three?”

  Xornaa nodded.

  Kurt’s heart ached, and there was a soreness in his throat and lungs that wasn’t just because of the dust. He remembered the first time he’d met Oksana, wearing jeans and a t-shirt and still looking like a model. A rape victim turned resistance fighter, who later played a major role in freeing Earth and four other planets from the Xortaag tyranny. Oksana, with her annoying habit of quoting literary works and her unwavering determination to be the best at whatever she did. The friend he hadn’t appreciated as intensely as he should have, and now she was gone forever.

  “They’re coming for us, hundreds of them,” Xornaa grunted.

  They took cover on either side of the chamber entrance. Kurt raised his STG-666 and waited. It didn’t take long. Xortaag soldiers appeared from under the dust at the middle of the corridor. Kurt aimed and put a bullet through a man’s skull. The alien’s head snapped back, and his face disappeared behind a mist of dark purple blood. With Xornaa joining in, Kurt shot another soldier, then another, and then another, but they kept coming. He started shooting short bursts, two or three bullets each time, hitting several more Xortaags. His military rounds would pass through a soldier’s body and kill the one behind them too. That didn’t seem to deter them either.

  “Have they gone insane?” he asked Xornaa over the sound of the supersonic bullets and the Xortaags’ death cries.

  Xornaa’s eyes glinted. “I think they’re mad because they’ve just lost their precious crown prince.”

  That surprised Kurt. “Mushgaana’s dead?”