Blood Oath

by David Ryker

  “The people who have survived so far are pretty observant,” Simms said. “They see things like…”

  “Hey, Marty’s having a seizure!” someone said. “Hey! Hey, I need a medic!”

  “Coming through!” Leka said. She and Tomlins were walking along the right flank of our group, carrying solid-slug weapons. They both hurried over to the guy who was walking among the wounded, and the rest of the party stopped to stare.

  I don’t think I’d talked to Marty. I don’t think I knew what, exactly, his face looked like. And I never did find out, because he started spitting up blood from every orifice in his face while he made this bizarre gasping sound.

  “Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Leka said. She was trying to hold him still. “I can’t do anything about…”

  “Marty!” his friend said. “Marty, you’re gonna be okay!”

  Marty was not going to be okay. He was not the first of the wounded who had bled out like this. Some kind of poisoning from the smoke that had come out of one of the explosions was what we figured.

  “He won’t be the last today.” Devoucoux was standing behind me. Nice of her to find me before I had to go out and find her.

  “No?” I turned around. “People’s veins are starting to give out on them or something.”

  “Or something,” Devoucoux said. “Making them walk isn’t helping anything.”

  “No, it’s not,” I said.

  “Then it’s settled, I guess,” she said. “I’ll wait here with my guys until you come back for us.” She put her hands to her mouth and whistled. “Hey, guys!” she said. “We’re following Plan B. Walking wounded are to find camp near here and await pickup.”

  There was relief on some of the faces of the wounded. On other faces, I could see pure terror at the thought of being abandoned in the jungle. At least we had made a plan for keeping the wounded safe, more or less, while we went to get a vehicle. Even if that plan was one woman with a plasma gun. She could kill and cook food, maybe put some of her compatriots out of their misery if they got attacked by xenos. There wasn’t much more that weapon was going to do for her than that.

  I didn’t like it. It was plain to me that plenty of the wounded didn’t like it, either. Especially Simms, who was following Devoucoux around the group seeing who was fit enough to look for a good camping spot.

  But hey, I was fucking off into the jungle where I wouldn’t have to worry about the consequences of my actions. According to Linata and the judiciary, that was one of my main talents.

  “I hope you’re as good at stealing as you make yourself out to be,” I said to Tomlins.

  “I’ve barely talked about how good I am at stealing,” Tomlins said. The smile on her face was as warm as it ever was. “Do you think I’m going to have problems acquiring a vehicle for us?”

  “I think we’re all going to have a lot more problems than we’re already having,” I said. “We’re going to wish we had more people with us like Simms and Devoucoux.”

  “You’ve still got me,” Anderson said. She seemed to have fewer and fewer snappy replies to everything out of my mouth, which I counted as her warming up to me.

  “And me,” Leka said, although her point was underscored a little bit by a bout of coughing. “Fuck.” She spat to the side.

  “Are you sure you’re okay to come with us?” Tomlins said. “I mean, the wounded could…”

  “I’m coming with you,” Leka said. “If I die on the side of the trail, I’ll do it quick without bothering any of you.”

  “Coming with me, you mean,” I said, shooting her a glare. “Why?”

  “Why what?” Leka said.

  “Why are you so interested in me?” I said. “In my...you know.” I gestured up and down my body.

  “Let’s just say I have a personal interest in freaks like you,” Leka said. “It’s a long story how that interest came to be.” She coughed a couple more times. “And right now, I feel like I should be saving my breath.”

  Our little band of survivors was a lot quieter as we moved forward. I couldn’t help but wonder who had been forced to press onward, leaving behind someone they cared about. That wouldn’t be good for morale, and we would need our spirits up.

  Anderson, in particular, seemed to be in a foul mood as we trudged through the jungle. She was working at one of the bird’s leg bones like it was a grief pipe, turning it around in her mouth as she scanned the jungle ahead of us for signs of any hostility.

  I felt like I should say something to her. But what could I say? I had no idea how she knew Simms, or if she’d even known him at all before the xenos had attacked.

  Now and then, she’d see something in the bush and pause, only to un-freeze when she saw Curtis or Garcia coming back from their staggered scouting missions. They were going up ahead with a plasma rifle they were passing back and forth, hungry for more grub that wasn’t literal grubs.

  I’m sure the distance from the scared, somber group of survivors had its own appeal as well. I expected they needed to do something to feel useful in the face of a situation that none of us could control.

  I wasn’t expecting Curtis to come running back with his face white as a sheet. He nearly tripped over some thick vines and took a flying leap over a bush in his way.

  “It’s them!” he said, panting for breath as he ran back to us. “It’s the xenos!”

  “Aww, shit,” Anderson said. “Big ones or small?”

  “Not like the ones at the ceramics dump,” Curtis said. “The small ones.”

  “Tomlins!” I shouted. “Leka! Get to the front!”

  They were already getting into position, solid-slug weapons at the ready. If the xenos got through us, we weren’t very far from the wounded. The wounded didn’t have anybody with a solid-slug weapon to defend them. We were down to brass tacks already. If they got through us, then that was it. I couldn’t let that happen. I don’t know why, maybe call it penance for all the bad shit I’d done in my life. For falling in with the wrong crowd. For abandoning my daughters. Who knows. Whatever the reason, I knew what I had to do.

  “Curtis, with me,” I said. “Shoot fast and shoot at the ones on the edges of the formation.”

  “Yessir,” Curtis said.

  “They’re counting on us,” I said. “Every single one of those sorry suckers back there needs us to kill them. How many?”

  “I’m not sure,” Curtis said.

  My question was answered sooner than I wanted. They came skittering through the vegetation; I counted three as I raised my plasma rifle to my shoulder.

  “Now!” I said as I started firing. I hit one with a burst of rounds that sent it flying backward. I think Curtis was firing at the same one.

  “Did we kill it?” he said.

  “Not sure,” I said. “I…”

  There was an inhuman screech that I could feel through my entire body as one of the creatures started listing to one side.

  Leka had hit one of the things in the leg. It paused in its advance for a moment, then grabbed out - and clutched Anderson to it.

  “Fuck me!” Anderson screamed as she held on to a thick vine and kicked with all her might at the xeno.

  And that was it. That was all the adrenaline my blood needed. I felt the oxygen come into my lungs, felt the world brighten as my pupils got larger. It was as if someone else was bellowing with rage as I charged forward at the xeno that was trying to savage Anderson. Time was moving around me, or maybe I had gotten special permission to move more quickly through time.

  I do remember that I raised my weapon like a club and charged it, raising a battle cry as I used the plasma rifle to beat the xeno’s body and head to the side. Anderson screamed and scrambled to her feet.

  The xeno fell backward and made a hiss. I jumped on top of it and started bashing it with the plasma rifle, over and over faster than it could dodge my blows. A weird euphoria started to take hold of me. My Belters’ blood was about to take over, and I was going to let it.

  “Keep sh
ooting!” Anderson said. “Keep shooting it!”

  “Hey.”

  I was punching it in the sensor array with my bare hands now, not sure if it was alive or dead and not caring.

  “Hey!” Now I recognized Leka’s voice. Her hand was on my shoulder. “You killed it!”

  It took Leka and Tomlins to pull me away from the lifeless body of the xeno scout on the forest floor. I was breathing heavy, my veins humming pleasantly with satisfied bloodlust. I had done it. I had killed the xeno. I had kept the party of the wounded safe.

  “Kev, are you okay?” Tomlins had genuine concern in her voice. “Kev. Look at me.”

  I turned to face her. I could see the heat coming off her skin; I could smell the fear in her sweat. She looked to me, I realized, like prey.

  I backed away from her. I couldn’t let my Belters’ blood get the best of me now. Not here. I had to be more than an attack animal.

  “Hey, have a look at this.”

  Leka was kneeling over the xeno’s corpse. She put a hand down to brush a wound. It came away covered in what looked like blood. It was dark like blood. It clung to her hand like blood.

  Except it wasn’t blood. It couldn’t possibly be. Blood didn’t just...fall away into dust like that.

  We’d gone two more miles before any of us talked about it. And they weren’t fast miles.

  We were paranoid now. Parties of two or three scouts went ahead of us and returned before we moved forward, a hundred or two hundred yards at a time through the vegetation. Each party carried a plasma rifle - the one we’d been using to cook meals. Without a fresh charger pack, it was going to be all but useless soon.

  “This is fucked up,” Tomlins said at long last.

  “That’s one way to put it,” Anderson said. “Did...did I really see that right? Did that thing just...dissolve?”

  “Well, think about it,” Leka said. “The small ones can form themselves into...into those bigger ones that actually eat people.”

  “I’m guessing the small ones are perfectly capable of eating people as well,” Anderson said. “I...when that thing grabbed me, Leka, I…” She shuddered and looked at the ground. “If it hadn’t been for Collins losing his shit like that, I’m pretty sure I’d be well on my way to being xeno shit.”

  “Might be kind of a stretch, thinking they eat and shit like we do,” Leka said. “I think they replicate.”

  “Replicate?” Anderson narrowed her eyes. “What - you think they’re machines?”

  “I wouldn’t say they’re entirely machines,” Leka said. She was looking at me. “They definitely have some biological component. But what I’m saying is...there’s big ones, and there’s small ones, and they’re all, you know. Components of each other.”

  “Yeah,” Tomlins said. “I guess I get what you’re saying. The small ones must be made of even tinier ones then, right? And that was the dust.”

  “Which is why they fuck with Collins’ biotech so much,” Leka said.

  “You don’t know that,” I said.

  “It’s a pretty logical conclusion,” Leka said. “Even if…”

  “Okay, can someone explain to me what you’re talking about?” Anderson said.

  “I have some...biotech enhancements,” I said. “All part of my job for the Belters. They needed me strong.”

  “Oh, shit.” Anderson stopped in her tracks and looked me up and down. I could see it on her face: I was a freak just like the things that had tried to eat her alive.

  “He’s harmless,” Leka said, slapping me on the back like we were old friends. “I mean, as far as ex-Belters go, he’s pretty harmless.”

  “I’m not sure there’s such a thing as an ex-Belter,” Anderson said. “But whatever you say.”

  “I was a glorified delivery driver,” I said.

  “Oh, yeah?” Anderson said. “And how’d they glorify you? Giving you xeno-sourced autocannons on your glorified delivery vehicle? Giving you free rein to leave as many bodies behind as you needed to if you made a glorified delivery to someone who didn’t feel like paying?”

  I shook my head. “Seems like I can’t go anywhere without finding someone my old bosses crossed,” I said.

  “It does seem that way, doesn’t it?” Anderson let out a bitter little laugh. “But I’m supposed to feel sorry for you, right? Because you had kids?”

  “Doesn’t do me any good if you feel sorry for me,” I said. “All I ask is that you try not to get me killed, because I’m going to try not to get you killed.” I let out a heavy sigh. “Look at it this way, Anderson: I have a good goddamn reason to be on your side - if you let me.”

  “Or I could look at it this way,” Anderson said. “The Belters and these fucking xenos have something in common. That something in common seems like it’s walking right next to me…”

  “Anderson, just drop it,” Leka said. “Trust me. Nobody’s more suspicious of this motherfucker than I am, and I’m willing to go along with him.” She patted me on the back.

  “You just cleaned up after the Belters when they were done,” Anderson said. “When I had my ship, I knew what it meant to actually tangle with them.” She spat on the ground. “They’re good for when you need someone to make the call to abandon your wounded, I guess.”

  I shrugged. “You want me to argue with you about how great they are?” I said.

  “Not really,” Anderson said. “Your girlfriend here seems like she’s got plenty of time to argue about how great you are. You don’t even need to get involved.”

  “I’m just trying to convince you that he’s more useful to us alive than dead,” Leka said. “Especially since the biotech seems to have some kind of homing signal effect when one of them gets killed.”

  Anderson let out a dark chuckle. “Oh, great,” she said. “There really is no way for us to win here, is there?”

  “I thought you were some kind of expert on the Belters,” I said. “You know you’ve already lost by the time one of us even shows up.”

  19

  The Belters and the xenos had more than one thing in common. Yeah, they had the nano-level tech that was going through my bloodstream. That was obviously on everyone’s minds right now, especially now that they were starting to see what my biotech really meant.

  But there was the Beezer, too, and I’m going to be honest: the Beezer worried me twice as much as the biotech. There could be a thousand different reasons for both me and the xenos to be fucking around with biological nanotech. There was never a good reason for someone to be using guns that the Belters considered almost proprietary.

  So far, Leka had said nothing about the xenos shooting Beezers at us. It seemed like the kind of thing she’d notice, at least if she really knew as much about the Belters as she was implying.

  Anderson, too, should have noticed that the Belters and the xenos had the same exact ship-mounted plasma cannon. Unless…

  “What?” Tomlins said.

  “Huh?” I turned to her and almost tripped on a thick, woody vine across my path. We were moving into higher valleys, and the vegetation was getting a little easier to trek through.

  Although maybe that was just because we weren’t breathing in as much toxic smoke.

  “You have that look on your face,” Tomlins said. “Like you’re trying to move rocks uphill with your eyes.”

  “I’m trying to think,” I said.

  “I can see that.” Tomlins cracked a grin. “Come on,” she said. “Spill.”

  I looked ahead of us, to where Leka and Anderson were deep in conversation with each other. Leka was going on, as she had been for about a mile, about the reasons for the change in local vegetation. She knew a lot more about botany than you’d think from looking at her.

  She knew a lot more about me than you’d think, too.

  “How well do you know Leka?” I said.

  Tomlins shrugged. “We’re neighbors,” she said. “We get the same laundry shift in the hab about two nights a week. It’s like you and me, you know? We cha
t.” She was keeping her poker face on.

  “About what?” I said. “Local plant life?”

  “I swear to God, if she doesn’t shut up about plants, I’m gonna kill her,” Tomlins said quietly. “She will talk about fucking botany for hours. You know, she has something like two doctorates.”

  “Two doctorates?” I whispered in disbelief, stopping in my tracks.

  “Yeah,” Tomlins said, turning around to face me. “Do you think they give those cleanup jobs to just anyone in the Coalition forces?”

  “Hey, Tomlins,” Leka said, turning back for half a stride. “It’s shut the fuck up o’clock.”

  “Sorry, Major,” Tomlins called.

  People laughed at that, and I saw Leka’s shoulders stiffen as she kept walking. I was tempted to laugh myself as I resumed trudging through the jungle. Imagining Leka as a high-ranking Coalition officer was like imagining Tomlins on the Galactic Peace Commission.

  But there was no lie in Tomlins’s eyes as she said, “She doesn’t like to be reminded of how far she’s fallen,” she said. “But…”

  “Wait, you’re serious?” I said, unable to conceal the pitch of surprise in my voice.

  “Yeah,” Tomlins said. “She was the commander of that cleanup operation. She got the shaft quietly for smoking grief, and then everything spiraled downward.” Tomlins shook her head.

  “Shit, no wonder she doesn’t like to talk about it,” I said. Judging from her stiffened back and faster gait, she didn’t like knowing that we were talking about it either. “But, come to think about it, that explains…”

  “The gun collecting, and the bra grenades, and the talking about plants for hours,” Tomlins said.

  “I was going to say, that explains how much she knows about me,” I said.

  Tomlins looked at me and smiled. “She does seem pretty clued up...”

  “You’ve noticed, too,” I said.

  “Hard not to, when she won’t shut up.” Tomlins smiled. “But at least she’s optimistic.”

  “What do you mean?” I said.

  Tomlins clicked her tongue and raised her voice, so that the target of our conversation could hear.