by J. N. Chaney
“Not far now,” Tong said as Sulk clicked something unintelligible. “Safety is close.”
We drove through the night like a heavy burden had been placed on our shoulders. Death was a possibility we all accepted and realized, but to see it so close and alive in the form of this nasty virus that spread to its heart’s content was something different altogether.
As we moved into the darkness, the screams behind us faded. I followed Sulk’s direction to the underground Rung base that we all hoped was still a secret and not under siege by Legion.
Time held no real meaning. For the moment, we were safe. No tiny symbols of infected showed in our HUD. We were left by the living nightmares that followed us, only to be hounded by the cerebral torment of losing our good friend.
Night broke into day as the twin suns rose over the horizon, showing us a sea of sand, a landscape we had yet to see on the planet of Genesis. The sky turned a bright pink and then orange, a beautiful sight on a tragic day. I couldn’t help but wonder what Lou would have thought of it.
More clicking emitted from Sulk.
“We’re here,” Tong said, interpreting for the Rung.
“Here, where?” Stacy asked, looking around at the barren landscape that was mostly sand dunes and the sporadic weed bushes that refused to die.
Sulk hopped out of the predator before I could stop him. He ran in front of us, his tail swaying back and forth, so I eased off the power. We came to a stop as he made for a strangely shaped rock in the desert.
Actually, it was more out of place than strange. The rock looked as if it were shaped in the form of a kind of twisted cylinder.
Sulk knelt beside it and pressed his hands in a specific pattern on the rock. A moment later, the thing beeped.
Sulk motioned for us to follow, clicking away nonstop in his alien dialect. The sandy ground to his right began to part as a hidden entrance was revealed.
“I don’t speak their language, but I think we’re here,” Stacy said.
I had to agree, but where was “here?”
10
The hidden entrance was one I was sure to never have found, nor did I think I could ever find it again. I could have passed by the rock a dozen times and not given it a second glance.
The ground beside Sulk parted with a slight rumble and a small cloud of dust, clearing the sandy floor as two hidden pieces separated. A step down revealed a metal platform large enough for the predator to sit on.
“He says we must hurry,” Tong said. “It seems Legion has not found this hidden entrance, but if he sees us here, it will be obvious.”
“Let’s go,” I said, easing the predator forward. I moved onto the steel elevator.
Sulk stood on the platform, going to his hands and knees. Once more, he pressed the ground in a specific series of motions.
A second later, the elevator hummed to life and began to lower us underground. The walls on either side of our circular elevator were lined with bright blue lights.
The sky overhead was soon blocked out altogether as the entrance closed silently.
“Well, if this was a trap,” John said from his spot in the rear, “they have really got us now.” It appeared John’s shock was fading from the accident and I was gratified to see that he most likely was not suffering from a brain injury.
“To escape Legion only to be caught with our pants up amongst the Rung.” Tong nodded in agreement. “It would be a sad way to end this story indeed.”
“I think you mean ‘pants down,’” I corrected Tong.
“What?” Tong asked in confusion.
“The saying is ‘caught with your pants down,’ not up,” I said.
“That doesn’t make any sense.” Tong shook his head with a raised hairless eyebrow. “Why would my pants be down?”
“Who taught you that anyway?” Stacy asked, her head on a swivel.
“I heard it from a colonist,” Tong said, blinking rapidly. “I shall ask Iris when we get back.”
I let Tong work out his game plan for getting to the bottom of the saying. We had no time for semantics at the moment. The elevator’s smooth motion began to slow and I wondered what was down here. We had to be ten maybe twelve stories underground by now.
The Rung didn’t mess around when it came to building their bunkers. If Legion didn’t know where this place was or how to find the entrance, there would never be a way for him to dig this deep, no matter how many infected with shovels he had.
The platform came to a halt in front of a pair of massive double doors.
Sulk clicked and hissed off another series of sounds that sounded like he was insulting us, if I didn’t know better.
“He will do the talking,” Tong translated. “Do not lift your weapons or show aggression. Let him explain everything to his people. They will welcome us.”
“Weapons down but at the ready,” Stacy ordered.
I took my Judge from its holster. Holding the grip of the weapon, I hid it below the dash. From their vantage point, the Rung would only be able to see me from the chest up and not the weapon I held.
The doors in front of us hissed and slid open from the middle. Bright white light illuminated the chamber, nearly blinding us. A small army of Rung with weapons of their own formed two rows, one kneeling and the other standing right behind them. All of their weapons were trained on us.
I was surprised to see so much coordination amongst their weapons and uniforms. Their rifles were long with a curved piece of steel on the bottom like a half moon bayonet.
Though each of the Rung sported black uniforms with high collars, they varied in appearance. Some had enhanced goggles, which made their eyes appear bulged behind them, or metal hands or feet or both. Others wore metal helmets. I couldn’t tell if they were connected to their head or they wore them on their skull. Even a few metallic tails swung back and forth. I knew from experience that when this extra appendage was used to maximum effect it hurt like hell.
There had to be forty of the Rung, maybe more, that greeted us.
Sulk didn’t waste any time with pleasantries or formal introductions. He threw out his hands, going to work on communicating with his people.
“Tell them to lower their weapons,” John growled. “I didn’t come all this way to see Lou die and have our supposed allies shoot us down.” I seconded that sentiment by nodding along with his words.
“Easy, John,” Stacy warned. “Give him a second.”
Sulk rattled off another sentence to his fellow aliens.
A husky female voice from somewhere in the room answered him then gave what sounded like a command of her own.
Immediately, the Rung pointing their weapons at us lowered their rifles. Those who had been kneeling stood up, and as one parted their ranks to let someone through.
A rather tall Rung walked into view. Long eyelashes and dark purple hair on her head made her easily identifiable as female. I didn’t even know Rung were capable of growing hair until now, upgrades and augmentation to their DNA no doubt.
She studied us up and down before nodding in greeting to Sulk. Around her neck was a thick necklace, and some kind of data chip rested on her sternum. She walked over to me, looking at me sideways.
“Thank you for coming,” she said in hesitant yet very understandable English.
My mouth dropped open before looking to Stacy for confirmation she had heard it too and I wasn’t going crazy.
“How do you speak our language?” Stacy asked, as dumbfounded as I was. “How is that even possible?”
The female Rung tapped the chip on her sternum with a smile, or at least I thought the minute change in her facial expression was a smile.
“When we realized we were going to ally with you,” she began, “we also needed a way to communicate. Our best and brightest have been working on this piece of technology day and night.”
I turned in my seat to look back at an astounded Tong. “How come you guys couldn’t do this?”
Tong gave me a scowl in
return.
“My name is Dama,” the female Rung said with a tight head nod. “Thank you for coming. You can holster your weapons. You are our guests and allies.”
“Oh right,” I said, hastily pushing the Judge back into the holster at the side of my hip.
Dama nodded to Stacy and John in turn before heading over to Tong.
The Remboshi still stood at the rear of the predator on the Blood Shot. He looked down at Dama uncertainly.
“Our people have been at war for centuries,” Dama said in a sad tone. “Perhaps, as dark as this time is, this is what needed to happen. It’s time to place our differences aside and put an end to Legion. The ground will soak in his blood from now on. We have spilt enough of our own.”
The blood-soaked ground metaphor is a little dark, but at least she’s on our side, I thought to myself. Let’s hope it’s not too late.
Tong jumped off the predator, extending a three-fingered hand.
“If everything you say is as it is, then you shall have allies in the Remboshi,” Tong said, trying to hide a goofy almost bashful smile. “To peace.”
“Peace, and the death of Legion,” Dama said, shaking his hand.
“That’s it?” I asked Stacy out of the side of my mouth. “Tong was full of piss and vinegar when it came to the Rung a few days ago. What changed?”
“I guess a female touch translates into their culture as well,” Stacy said with a confident smile. “Never underestimate the power of a woman.”
I looked back at Tong, who was all googly-eyed at Dama as they spoke to one another in their own tongue.
“Son of a biscuit,” John said, joining us. “I guess some things are universal.”
“If you would please follow me,” Dama said in her clipped English. “We have food brought for you, but I fear rest will have to wait. We need to go over the plan to reclaim our armor and weapons before we can go on the offensive.”
I nodded, standing from the predator and stretching. A yawn escaped my lips. All the traveling during the night and sleeping during the day was playing havoc on my sleep schedule. Still, this apparently wasn’t the time to ask for a nap.
I followed Dama from the elevator shaft along with the others. We entered the brightly lit chamber where the other Rung guards stood at attention. They were more organized than I had thought, like a true militia.
Hard eyes returned my stares, as if they were looking for a fight.
Dama led us from the open room to a smaller one off to the right. She pressed her hand to a control panel that opened a door and allowed us inside.
The room was nothing special, small and a bit unevenly shaped. A large screen sat on a wall to the left, and there was a table of food to the right with chairs that were a little too small to be considered normal. They had openings in the back, presumably to allow for occupants that possessed tails.
“Please eat,” Dama said, motioning to the food.
John looked at me for consensus, hesitating but hungry.
“If they were going to poison us, they could have done so by now ten times over,” I said, heading to the table. My stomach reminded me of how long it had been since we had eaten our last meal. “If I’m going to die, I’m going to die full.”
I wasn’t sure what the food was, but it was by far the best thing I had put into my mouth since we’d left Earth. There was bright green stuff that tasted like cheese and enough spicy meat to make my stomach dance with joy.
“Hey, how come you don’t have food like this?” Stacy asked Tong as she smacked her lips with delight. “I mean, so far, the Rung have a legit army, awesome food, and—”
Stacy let the rest of her words trail off as she caught Tong’s deadpan stare.
“I mean your food, okay?” Stacy tried to save face. “You have the Cerberus Installation and all that.”
While we ate, Sulk joined us again. This time, he wore a similar necklace to Dama’s. When he spoke, his words came out in English. His voice was a bit higher pitched than I would have imagined.
“Now that I can communicate in your tongue, it will make things so much easier,” Sulk said, helping himself to a plate of food. “I am sorry for what happened to your friend. He died a glorious death. I can only hope that when it comes my time to drown in my own blood on the battlefield, I will be as brave.”
Stacy was mid-bite as Sulk went on and on about dying in graphic detail. She put her food down, suddenly not hungry at all.
“I had no idea what a warrior race the Rung were,” John said, probably to make conversation as he shoved another handful of food into his mouth and licked his fingers clean. “I mean, I wouldn’t have guessed it.”
“Oh yes,” Sulk said with an emphatic nod. “One of the main reasons the Rung broke off from the Remboshi was our love for weapons and warfare. Most of us have implants enhancing our fighting ability. Dean, I should also apologize to you.”
“Me?” I asked, placing my empty plate on the table. “Why?”
“When we first met, you tried to grab me. I defeated you and injured your shoulder when it was all over,” Sulk said, shaking his head. “I know how fragile your species is. I shouldn’t have been so hard on you.”
I blinked a few times, trying to figure out if this guy was messing with me. I decided to err on the side of caution and figured he was probably dead serious.
“We took you down,” I told him. “No reason to be sorry.”
“Yes, but the way you screamed like an infant when three of you had to restrain me and I crushed your shoulder.” Sulk looked at me with unblinking eyes and a deadpan stare. “That had to be painful.”
“Like an infant?” I asked incredulously. “Listen, gecko, I—”
My next words were cut off as a siren blared through the room, causing me to jump. Shouting from the outer room could be heard.
“They come!” Dama said, running for the door. “We must brace the gate!”
11
Thoughts of food and verbally sparring with Sulk fled my mind as we hurried after Dama. Along with the alarm blaring overhead and the shouting, a heavy clanging and pounding could be heard, as if someone was taking a battering ram to a steel door.
We crossed the large open room where the standing army held position. On the opposite side, a large hall opened up to a set of steel double doors, which had been barricaded with everything from large containers to weapons wedged with one end on the door and the other in the ground. A dozen Rung were leaning against it, bracing it for impact as something large struck it from the opposite side. They were doing a great job of holding off whatever it was for the moment, but who knew how long they would be able to keep it at bay?
“Legion has overtaken a large part of our underground network,” Dama explained. “He’s been trying to break down these doors for the last few days with no luck. I fear his frustration will lead him to do something rash very soon.”
The booming from the other end of the door sent my sternum quivering in my chest as my heart slammed against it.
“What’s on the other end hitting it so hard?” John asked. “They have a vehicle or something?”
“We’re not sure,” Dama said, shaking her head. “The door has been holding, but how long it will hold is another question. Every few hours, Legion takes a new approach to getting in. He is patient and persistent if nothing else. Sooner or later, he will find a way inside.”
“Then we have to make our move before he does,” I said. “What’s the plan?”
A smile tugged at Dama’s lips. She waved us over back the way we came to the room with the screen and food.
She placed a hand on the screen and an aerial view of a diagram appeared. It showed our chamber, the adjacent larger room, and the hall leading to the closed doors.
“This is where we currently are.” Dama pointed to our section of the underground base. She moved her hand through the closed doors in the hall and down toward another chamber on a different level. “And this is where our power armor is waitin
g for us.”
I was still trying to get my head wrapped around how large the place was. The underground bunker was massive and that was putting it lightly. Levels upon levels of the place opened into long halls and sprawling passageways. They had to easily house thousands of Rung here, maybe more.
“How many warriors do you still have?” Stacy asked.
“The ones you see in this outer chamber are all we have left,” Dama said, clearing her throat with a sad expression on her face. “Forty combatants and another ten if you include our children who have taken shelter with us here.”
“Children?” I repeated the word as if it were the first time I was hearing it. “You make your children fight?”
“If it is fighting or death, I would see that our children make account of themselves.” Dama answered as if that were the most logical line of reasoning. “I would rather have them die on their feet than cowering in a corner.”
“Forty soldiers, plus us,” Tong mused out loud. “What is this power armor you speak of?”
Dama adjusted the screen in front of us so it moved to show exactly what I imagined. A bulky suit of armor appeared as if it stood eight to ten feet tall. It was armed on the outside, complete with weapons on its forearms and backs.
“You created these weapons to fight us, didn’t you?” Tong asked.
“We did, but history has united us and we have a common enemy now,” Dama said, not missing a beat. “We will pilot them together against Legion and usher in a new era for our people. This is not the time to argue over the past. After we defeat our common enemy, we will engage in peace talks.”
“How far is it from us to the power armor?” I asked. “I’m bad with telling distances on maps.”
“What would be your equivalent to two kilometers if I understand the way you judge distance,” Dama said. “Two kilometers and a level down.”
Two kilometers doesn’t sound like a whole heck of a lot, but when you have infected breathing down your neck, it might as well be a world away, I thought to myself. It’s going to be one heck of a fight.
