The Orbs Omnibus

by Nicholas Sansbury Smith

  Pushing forward, she climbed to the hilltop. She was directly underneath the ship now, stopping to stare intensely at its glossy, black skin. It was smooth and glistened in the sunlight. She’d always imagined alien spaceships would have some similarities to human ships, but looking up, she realized that she had been completely wrong. This craft was alien in every way.

  Fascinating, she thought as she stumbled through the loose sand to get a better look. There appeared to be some sort of oval engraving near the middle of its underbelly. She scooped up a rock, palming its warm weight for a moment. Then she tossed it, watching it sail toward the ship and expecting some sort of force field to stop it in midair. To her surprise, the rock kept going until it lost momentum and fell back down to the sand.

  She stood there, expecting something to happen—almost wanting something to happen.

  She didn’t have to wait long. A piercing sound erupted from the ship, and the oval section cracked open, bleeding light. Sophie’s excitement faded as the sound intensified, forcing her to cover her ears. Fear drowned out what had moments earlier been exhilaration. A single beam of light shot out of the opening and captured her, spinning her around and pulling her toward the ship. She struggled briefly but knew it was no use. After seeing so many others caught in the same trap, she knew there was no escape.

  The only consolation was that she would finally get to see whatever was inside the ship. She would finally get to see the real Organics, the intelligent force behind the invasion that had claimed billions of lives in a matter of weeks.

  As the beam pulled her higher, she thought of Emanuel again. A smile broke across her face. She knew he would be proud of her, still curious until the end.

  The trip only took a few seconds, and she found herself inside the massive ship before she had time to grasp what was actually happening. Her fear had washed away. The remnants of excitement had vanished, too. She was peculiarly at peace.

  The blinding blue light appeared again. As soon as she’d been pulled inside the bay, it consumed her. The brilliant rays seemed to be coming from all around her, like she was in the middle of some sort of halo.

  Then, with a massive mechanical click, the light shut off. It was replaced with a softer glow, a cool glow. Before she could identify this new light source, the beam dropped her onto a platform hovering in the dead center of the craft.

  She landed softly and rolled to a stop at the edge of the sleek oval stage. As she spun, she saw the interior of the ship was lit by thousands of glowing orbs. They were everywhere, their skin emitting the blue light.

  Sophie flinched when the platform below her creaked and lurched forward. The cold metal glided toward the north wall of the ship, headed straight for a cluster of orbs.

  Sophie held on to the side of the stage and looked down, her hair blowing as the platform picked up speed. There was no way to tell exactly how far the drop was, but she knew instinctively that a fall would be fatal.

  She slowly crawled away from the edge and sat on the cold metal, watching the orbs get closer with increasing fascination. They sparkled like tiny jewels, but their beautiful exteriors, she knew, contained unthinkable things. She suddenly imagined the prisoners she’d seen before. The woman at White Sands, the man in Colorado Springs, their distorted faces and frail bodies. The memories chilled her to the core.

  Sophie thought she knew what would be inside the orbs. She assumed that they would contain more human prisoners, but she was wrong. The platform stopped within arm’s reach of the nearest cluster. Cautiously, she pulled herself closer to the edge and strained to get a better look. At first she couldn’t quite make out the shape inside the orb. But whatever it was, she knew it wasn’t human.

  The noise from the platform must have disturbed it. A flutter from inside the sphere startled Sophie, and she scrambled on her hands and knees away from the ledge. The orb began to ripple, cracking down the center. Blue goo bled from the opening and dripped into the darkness below.

  Sophie waited.

  The crack widened, and the orb split open. The alien that emerged was so different from anything she had seen it was hard for her mind to grasp. She blinked to assure herself it was real. The creature had no face. No eyes, no mouth. Just a stem sticking out where a nose should be. Orange petals surrounded the head, which snaked down and connected to a red bioluminescent torso.

  It was . . . beautiful.

  For what seemed like an hour, she sat there studying it, watching the petals curl back, straighten, and then curl again, as if it were breathing.

  Turning to examine the next orb, she saw a very different creature inside. This one reminded her of a miniature Christmas tree, with bulblike lights hanging off purple branches. The adjacent orb contained an alien blob of red flesh with spikes lining its egg-shaped body.

  It was then Sophie realized she was inside a cargo ship. An alien Noah’s Ark, more than likely filled with species the Organics had collected as they had gone from world to world, collecting water and moving on.

  Of course, she thought. What arrogance it had been to assume that Earth was the first world they had visited and drained dry.

  An alarm screamed, the sound echoing off the walls. Sophie gripped her ears and bent down to put her head between her knees. By the time it finally dissipated, her ears were pulsing with pain.

  Shaking her head, she turned back to the first orb. The beautiful orange petals had discolored to a crusty brown. The stem had shriveled, and the torso was shrinking.

  Another explosion came from the orb right in front of her. She looked up to see its skin peeling away, revealing the dying alien within. It was then she saw the tube at the bottom of the sphere, hooked up to the creature’s torso. The tube gulped the remaining liquid from the alien and then retracted into the ship’s wall.

  Sophie reached out to help, but quickly stumbled and fell. She watched as the flower-shaped alien shriveled like a plant under a scorching sun.

  Before Sophie had time to move, the alien disappeared out of the bottom of the orb. She scrambled to the end of the platform and watched an oval-shaped hole open in the bottom of the ship. The alien’s dried body fluttered down until it vanished from sight.

  She gasped, her hand cupping her face. If this was an ark, then why had the ship sucked the alien dry?

  It was all too much to comprehend, and Sophie pushed herself to her feet. The platform abruptly shook in protest, throwing her off balance.

  Sophie let out a cry as she fell over the side. She flailed her arms, desperately searching for something to hold on to.

  Below, she could see the tiny opening approaching. Bracing herself, she closed her eyes and waited for impact. In seconds her ruined body would lie mangled next to David’s remains, and the remains of the flower alien.

  CHAPTER 16

  THE rap of footfalls beating across the pavement was louder than Overton would have liked. He turned his head to see the ragtag squad of men following him.

  Only half of them had night vision, and with nothing but moonlight to guide the others, they stumbled along like they were blind. It was a sorry sight, and Overton cringed every time one of them banged into a car or tripped on a curb.

  As they navigated around the twists and turns of empty houses Overton realized there was no way in hell they were going to make it another two blocks to the Humvee without being spotted.

  “Emanuel, how’s the charge on the, um, magnet thing?”

  “The RVAMP?” Emanuel replied over the com. Overton watched him look down at the power meter. “Halfway there.”

  “Good. The Humvee should be close, but I don’t want to get caught in the open with our pants down.”

  Jeff snickered.

  Overhead a drone raced across the sky, leaving a white streak amongst the thousands of stars. Overton hit the ground, ducking for cover. Thompson dove behind a car, crashing into the bumper.
The crunching sound of his thick skull breaking the plastic made Overton flinch—not because he was concerned for the man’s well-being, but because the sound could attract enemy attention. He knew Thompson had one of the thickest skulls of any marine in the corp.

  The empty vehicles scattered across the street provided plenty of cover, and each team member found a place to hide. Overton placed his back against a car door.

  He listened for any sign of the aliens. Somewhere in the distance a downed power line whined in the breeze. To his right a glass door tapped against its frame. The owner hadn’t bothered to close it, or hadn’t had time.

  The sounds sent a chill down Overton’s spine. A quick sweep of the area revealed the same scene he’d seen in the rest of the city. The once upscale neighborhood had been taken over by dust. Remnants of orbs littered the concrete. They were in the middle of some sort of dead zone—a staging area where the Spiders had taken the initial survivors on invasion day and turned them into orbs.

  Truthfully, it was hard for Overton to grasp just how many Spiders, Worms, Sentinels, and God knows what other creatures were out there. The very thought of the slimy bastards enraged him.

  After a second more of silence, he shot a hand signal to Bouma, who relayed the gesture to the rest of the squad. It was time to move on. He led the team through the shadows, using the houses as protection.

  At the end of the street he could see the outline of the Humvee. It was too early to smile in relief, but Overton grinned anyway.

  Almost there.

  Bursting around the final front yard, he moved into the street, waving his team on. “Let’s go,” he whispered over the channel.

  They had made it halfway to the truck when the scraping of claws echoed on the concrete behind him. It was faint at first, and Overton hoped it was just Jeff or Kiel brushing up against a car door, but deep down he knew what made the sound.

  Risking a glance over his shoulder, Overton saw a hazy but distinct blue flickering behind them.

  Quickly he checked the distance between the team and the Humvee. It was too far. They would never make it.

  “Down,” Overton muttered. He dropped to the ground and crawled under the nearest truck. The others followed suit, ducking for cover where they could, hiding behind anything that might shield them.

  “Hold position,” Overton whispered over the open net. He watched Bouma bring a finger to his mouth and silence the men who didn’t have access to the channel. They were a few yards back but seemed to understand.

  Next, the sergeant continued crawling under the vehicle, his helmet scratching across the chassis. Wincing, he struggled to get a view of their six, where he’d seen the light.

  He pulled his rifle close to his chest. Ever so carefully, he raised the scope to his visor, where it linked up with his HUD, and waited for the image to focus. What he saw paralyzed him. Dozens of contacts. Fifty. Maybe more. The end of the block was teeming with the creatures.

  After a full career in recon, he knew better than anyone when to fight and when to run. This was not a time to make a stand.

  “Emanuel, get that weapon ready! Everyone move!” Overton’s voice carried down the street and mixed with the shrieks of a dozen Spiders, which had climbed onto the tops of houses, cars, and trees in every direction.

  Overton didn’t waste any time. Once he was on his feet, he took a single electromagnetic grenade and tossed it into the air.

  “That’ll slow ’em down,” he grunted.

  The squad zigzagged through the suburban street, dodging cars and jumping over plastic trash bins and lumps of fleshy gore. They made it to the Humvee just as a brilliant flash from the grenade knocked out their HUDs.

  Overton grabbed the driver’s door and snapped around to make sure all his men were accounted for. Three large, two small—they were all there.

  “Get us the hell out of here!” Kiel screamed, sliding into the backseat.

  Thompson grabbed Jeff and boosted him into the Humvee. The big marine climbed in behind him while Emanuel jumped in the passenger seat. Bouma jumped in just as the engine roared to life.

  Overton finally allowed himself to breathe and stomped on the pedal as if it were a poisonous spider. Twisting the wheel to the right, he steered the truck up onto a curb, smashing into three of the closest Spiders.

  “Watch out!” Jeff yelled as another one of the creatures lunged off a rooftop and landed on the Humvee. Overton pushed down on the gas and they fishtailed; the alien scrambled, its talons sliding across the hood until one of them hooked into the soft metal.

  “Go, go, go!” Thompson screamed. He pounded his fist on Overton’s headrest.

  When the tires stopped squealing, the truck lurched forward and Overton steered it back onto the street. The Spider let out a deafening screech of pain. Two of its legs were trapped under the front of the vehicle. With one of its free legs, it swiped at the windshield. The glass shattered as the alien tore it away and launched the pane into the night.

  “Shoot it! Someone shoot it!” Kiel yelled from the backseat.

  Overton ducked as the Spider swiped through the open windshield with another claw. Throwing on the brakes, he sent the creature flying backward, two of its claws still stuck in the hood. The limbs ripped from its body, spraying blue goo in all directions. Overton didn’t waste any time smashing into the injured creature with the truck’s brush guard. The alien’s shrieks sent a thrill through him as he sped down the street, the Spider still stuck underneath the truck.

  He snorted a laugh. “Having fun yet?”

  Only Jeff laughed.

  Taking a hard left, Overton pulled the Humvee onto the highway, and the Spiders finally disappeared from sight.

  The sound of labored breathing filled the vehicle.

  “Everyone okay back there?” Overton spun to check on his team.

  Kiel nodded. “Jesus, man. That was close.”

  “Seems to always be like that with this guy,” Emanuel said. He shook his head and turned to look out the window.

  Jeff climbed up to look out the back window. “Holy crap! I can’t believe we made it out of there. Thanks for not forgetting about me.”

  “Don’t mention it, kid. Like you said, I owed you one.”

  Jeff chuckled and sat back down. He reached for a seat belt and clicked in.

  “Where the hell are we going?” asked Thompson, wiping sweat from his flushed face. “And where the hell have you been hiding all this time?”

  Overton stared ahead at the dark road, using his night vision to navigate the littered highway. He checked the mirror again, looking at the dirty faces of his lost—and now found—men. Instead of responding, he pushed down harder on the pedal. There would be plenty of time to explain everything to them. For now, he wanted to make sure they got back to the Biosphere in one piece. He had a small army now, a team he could launch his counteroffensive with, and a weapon that would ensure success.

  A crooked grin spread across his face. He would have his war after all.

  CHAPTER 17

  WHEN Alex awoke, he had no idea where he was or how he had gotten there. He tried to sit up, but a flash of pain in his forehead forced him back down. Beneath him was a soft bed—a small comfort, but only a distraction from the fear swelling inside him. The last thing he remembered was the beach packed with Spiders.

  His brain was so full of cobwebs, his memories stuck together. The one thing he wanted to remember seemed out of his grasp. Clenching his teeth, he massaged his temples.

  What the hell had happened to him, and how did he end up in this place?

  The chirp of a monitor spread a gracious orange glow over the sparsely furnished room. The quarters were small, no larger than a holding cell. As his eyes adjusted to the light, he panicked. Was he in a jail? Had he been captured? The space looked human.

  He scanned the room for a
nything useful—anything that could help him remember.

  The monitor flashed again, and three letters rolled across the screen.

  N T C

  And then he remembered: the bright light, the massive vessel, and the NTC officers pumping water out of his lungs. He had been captured; he was aboard a New Tech Corporation submarine.

  Alex tried to sit up again. He brought a hand to his pounding skull and tried to clear his mind. It was then he noticed the wrapping around his wrist. Someone had dressed his injury. His eyes fell to his legs.

  He was dressed in sweats. NTC was stitched across his chest.

  Footfalls outside the room pulled his attention to the open door. The panic subsided; there wasn’t any prison he knew of that kept the cells unlocked. He turned back to the monitor and noticed a tray on the small desk nearby. On it was a plate of food and . . . Alex could hardly believe his eyes. He jumped out of the bed and pounced on the glass of water. It was gone in one large gulp.

  Next he attacked the plate of food. He shoved chunks into his mouth, not even sure what he was eating. His jaws were smacking so loudly, he almost missed the voice in the doorway.

  “Hungry?”

  Alex turned to see the same tall, bearded man from earlier. With his broad shoulders and red beard, he reminded Alex of a Viking. Several medals decorated the man’s chest, implying he was no ordinary NTC staffer. Alex was torn between wanting to shout at the man and wanting to thank him for his rescue. NTC had abandoned his Biosphere and left everyone to die, but these officers had dressed his wounds and given him water. He didn’t know how to react, or what to say.

  “You’re one lucky son of a bitch,” the man said, and extended his hand. “Captain Rick Noble; we’re pleased to have you aboard.”

  Alex reached out instinctively, his eyes still fixed on the captain’s medals. “Thanks,” he muttered.