Blaedergil's Host

by C. M. Simpson

  The pool also gave Case enough space to spin the shuttle on its axis and take it back the way it had come, so that it could come back into view just above the tree-line not far from where it had disappeared. Anyone tracking the radar would either think their equipment had suffered a momentary glitch, or that we’d followed the gully, discovered it was a dead end, and come back out.

  Case wasn’t stopping longer than it took the shuttle to turn, and we were jumping while it did that. Oh, and we were jumping together. Into the water. We’d still be dropping when the shuttle started its return journey. Fortunately, it ended up being a lot simpler than it sounded, and Case executed her part flawlessly.

  The air heated above us, as the shuttle vanished up the gully, and then the water closed over our heads. The pool had one other feature that Mack had thought might be useful: scans had shown a tunnel leading off from one end, and deep scans had revealed that it connected with a pool in the wilderness at the back of Andreus’s latest retreat.

  We didn’t know if the man was aware of the tunnel system, but we were carrying two cutting torches, in case he did, and had blocked it off. Of course, if he’d blocked it using circuitry, we had that covered, too... or, at least, I hoped we did.

  Delight and I had coordinated on the intrusion programs we were taking. Either one of us should be able to deal with any computer-based locking system we encountered. Mack and Delight had the cutting torches, and Delight had the explosives. We figured we could handle almost anything.

  And then we discovered that nature could be a security system all on its own.

  “What the fuck is that?” Delight sounded rattled.

  We were using water drones to pull us along, and figured the shuttle would be just about ready to set down, as we were coming out of the closer pool.

  “Tens?”

  There was silence, but Delight kicked her drone up a notch, and Mack and I did the same. If something was spooking her, it would be better to clear the area, rather than hang around to find out what it was.

  “Shit!”

  “Mack?”

  “Ah, whatever it is, it’s got teeth.”

  “Did it get through the suit?”

  “Nope, armor stopped it, but it’s got one hell of a grip.”

  “I’m getting nothing on the scans.”

  “You scanning for life-forms?”

  “Running the spectrum... Oh. Get out of the water. NOW!”

  We spun the drones towards a bank, and I was glad they converted to air from water in the same amount of time it took for our heads to come clear.

  “Look back when you get to shore,” Tens instructed. “Better yet, don’t look back. I’ll take some footage. You’re going to lose a bit of time over this, but at least you’ll make it to the compound.”

  I gave a yelp of surprise, as something grabbed my ankle and hung on. I was glad I was wearing armor as opposed to the light combat suit, I generally took. That thing was resistant, but wouldn’t have stood up to the sharp pressure I felt being applied.

  I was also glad we’d taken the drones. Whatever had a hold of me—and it was quickly more than one—had one hell of a bite, and it was trying to drag me back down. Judging from the sounds of effort I could hear from Mack and Delight, they were experiencing similar troubles. I had to resist the urge to let go of the drone so I could go for the knife I carried.

  The only thing that stopped me from trying to cut myself free was the fact I needed two hands to keep hold of the drone. Next time, I was going to harness myself in. Yes, it had its pros and cons, but, right now, the cons were far weightier.

  A “Seconded,” from Delight was followed by a “Hell, yes!” from Mack, and I realized I’d hit a chord—although how they found the time to be in my head, while kicking at the things hanging off their legs as the drones pulled us free of the water, was beyond me.

  “You’d be... surprised,” Mack panted, letting the drone pull him up and over the bank. The machine dragged him a good six feet before the last critter let go, and I grew some respect for the armor we’d drawn from Odyssey’s stores.

  “You can pay for it after the mission,” Delight said. “Kind of shit you keep getting yourselves into, you’re going to need it.”

  She used her free leg to deliver several hard kicks to the monster that still had hold of the other boot, and let the drone pull her another few feet clear. I’d been travelling behind them, so I came out of the water last. The sound of half a dozen of the smaller monsters splashing into the river was followed by the determined thrashing of two other, much larger, monsters.

  Man, that was gonna leave a mark!

  Their teeth hadn’t punched through, but it still felt like my legs were in a vice. Delight solved the problem by shooting them in the head.

  “Hey!” I yelled, feeling the impacts shudder through their bodies.

  “You’re welcome,” Delight said, slinging the Blazer.

  “Quit your bitching.” That was Mack.

  It wasn’t hard to resist sticking my tongue out, as I released the drone to hover just behind me. Mack’s and Delight’s were already in position. We flew them low, just behind our shoulders where they couldn’t flag us from overhead. They were mostly silent, but by the time folk noticed it, the slight sound they made wouldn’t matter.

  Actually, the sound they made probably wouldn’t matter, anyway. The package we’d left in the shuttle? If Andreus Corovan let it land in his compound? Yeah. That sucker was going to have anyone there very distracted.

  We had to hurry.

  And, as if picking that thought right out of my skull, Mack broke into a jog. Delight followed, and I joined them. My shins and ankles were aching from being grabbed, but we did have to hurry, and we hadn’t come this far to fail, just because we’d nearly been et.

  “Steady,” Tens warned, after we’d travelled a couple of miles through the trees. “You’re almost there.”

  We dropped into a walk, moving ahead until the bushes grew thick.

  “You’re at the edge of the cleared space around the estate. Readings show it’s grass, but that depends on if he’s using something our sensors can’t detect.”

  “Case, is the shuttle down?”

  “Yup. Been down a half hour.”

  It was time enough for the package’s contents to have taken effect. Delight and I looked to Mack, even if Delight twitched towards the road leading up to the compound, first. She stopped, and waited, but Mack had caught her movement.

  “Go,” he said, giving her a single, curt, nod.

  Delight pushed her way through the bushes, and out onto the area of cleared ground, working her way around the edge of it, until she reached the plascrete. Once she was there, she jogged up to the gates. I noticed a brief shudder to the air surrounding her, and knew she’d activated the suit’s secondary protection—the equivalent of a personal force field.

  We’d been introduced to them on board Mack’s ship, and told they were one shots—of limited use, and not rechargeable until we’d returned them to their slots in the armory. An approach, like the one Delight was taking, was a good use for it. Mack and I watched from the shelter of the bushes, but Delight made it to the gates without incident, and waved for us to follow.

  We went. Taking the relative safety of the plascrete was better than risking the chances of a minefield we couldn’t detect. Sure, we’d feel a bit stupid if it turned out the ground was just ground covered in super-short grass, but that was better than getting blown up by something we’d missed—and I hadn’t been able to find a network link to the complex, let alone hack the place for its schematics. That would have taken more time than we’d had.

  We were going in half-blind, with all the warning Tens could scan. I’d done only one of these as part of my training ‘extras’, and I’d sworn, then, I’d never do another one.

  “Yeah, but you didn’t have me,” Tens said, reminding me he could hear my thoughts and fears.

  I startled, but Mack was already
moving forward, acting like he hadn’t heard a word. I hurried after him, following his example, and activating the force field on my suit. In spite of our worries, no-one challenged us on the road. Delight had the gates open by the time we reached her.

  “Anything?” Mack asked, and Delight shook her head, her negative echoed by Tens in our comms.

  “Di nada, boss.”

  “Keep looking,” Mack answered, and we knew he was speaking more to Tens than the rest of us—and then he was speaking to me, “Find a terminal and start hacking.”

  The gates parted just enough for one of us to go through, and Mack stepped across it to see what reaction he could draw. Delight and I held our breaths. Mack’s silhouette was clear against the afternoon light—a solid target if anyone was waiting inside to shoot.

  Silence, and stillness, met his action, so he did it once more. Again, no response came from within the wall.

  “Tens, what’s your scan of lifeforms here?”

  “I’ve got a half dozen. None near the gates.”

  “And nothing automated, either,” Delight added, obviously having done a second scan of her own.

  “Fine,” Mack said, and slid through the gap. “Close up after us.”

  Delight signaled I should follow, shifting her stance so she could cover the road behind us. I went, and found Mack had taken up position where the thickness of the walls gave way to a sunlit courtyard. The familiar form of our shuttle blocked any view of the mansion proper, but it also protected us from being seen.

  “There’s an office there,” Mack said, pointing to a door in the gate wall, after glancing briefly towards me.

  I followed his finger, checking the door for alarms and traps. Finding neither, I turned the handle, not surprised when it swung open.

  The office beyond was dull with shadow, so I kept an eye on it while I swept my hand over the wall, looking for a light switch. Delight came through the gate, just as it started to close, and pressed herself into a corner from where she could see both Mack and the shuttle beyond.

  “Tens?”

  “They’re all in the main house. I need the feeds.”

  My hand ran across a switch just inside the door, and the lights came on.

  I really wish they hadn’t.

  Tens caught what I was seeing, before I could make a sound.

  “Oh, fuck.”

  Mack echoed his sentiment, but he was responding to the sound of footsteps on the path around the edge of the courtyard. I resisted the urge to glance back at Delight, who hadn’t said a word. If she hadn’t been pin-pointed already, I didn’t want to give her away—and if she was in a pinch, I wasn’t going to be able to help her.

  Not yet, anyway.

  I looked at the creature on the other side of the room. It was similar to the spider constructs that had come out of the vents on the station, but it was very different at the same time. It stood in very human form, except its skin was as black as the depths of space, and it had three sets of arms, all folded across its chest as it stared at me. Its face was also mostly human, except for the eyes, which were liquid pools of darkness.

  “What are you?” I asked, at the same time as Tens and Mack said, “Arach.”

  Delight remained as silent as the shadows.

  “We are of the Arach Hunt-Clan T’zenach.”

  I didn’t know what to say to that, particularly as there were two of them, and only one of me, so I said the first thing that came into my head.

  “I need to borrow the computer.”

  The arach stared at me, and I stared back.

  “Drop your weapons, and surrender,” Mack called from somewhere behind me, and I guessed he wasn’t talking to the arach standing on the other side of the room.

  His voice sounded too distant for that. The arach looked past me, and frowned.

  “Who is that?” it asked, and, again, I said the first thing that came to mind.

  “Some crazy guy with a god complex. Just ignore him.”

  Which was, of course, when Mack opened fire.

  I resisted the urge to turn my head and see exactly what it was he was shooting at, and redirected the arach’s attention back to my request.

  “So,” I said, and it stopped looking past me, and looked directly at me, instead. Actually, I wasn’t sure that was any better. I cleared my throat and tried again. “So. Can I?”

  “Can you what?” the arach asked, and both it and the one beside it, twitched uncertainly as another staccato round of fire split the air.

  “Borrow the computer,” I said. “I need...”

  I let the words drift to nothing as both creatures came out from around the desk on which the computer stood. This put me at the center of a pincer movement, and I could only think that this was a very bad place to be.

  Still, I didn’t want either one of them getting past me to attack Mack from behind, so I swung my leg back, and kicked the door shut. And then I remembered the Blazer, and raised it to cover the one moving fastest towards me.

  It stopped, and raised its hands—all six of them—as it backed off a step. When it saw it had my attention, it used the three arms closest the desk, to gesture towards the computer.

  “Be my guessst,” it said, and the sibilance in its tones sent shivers up and down my spine.

  I glanced towards its companion, and saw that he hadn’t stopped. Now, it was my turn to back up a step and get some distance between us. The door stopped me short. I shifted the Blazer, but couldn’t cover them both.

  “Are you sssure it’sss the computer you want to borrow?” the first one asked, closing the distance between us.

  I swung the Blazer up, reluctant to start firing when they hadn’t shown any sign of hostility. The creature stopped, and I took a breath. Tens’ cry of “Shoot it!” came just as the second one leapt towards me, hitting me side on, and wrapping its arms around me.

  The Blazer went off, but the other creature was already moving, and the shots went wild. I kept my finger hard on the trigger, twisting in an attempt to break the grip of the one that held me, but to no avail. I was held tightly by two sets of arms, as the third set unsealed the suit, tearing the mask from my face, and pulling the hood away from my head.

  I felt it pull the suit aside to expose bare skin, and wondered what the fuck it was doing. The sudden pain as it sank unexpected fangs into the space where my shoulder met my neck shocked a cry of pain out of me, and then numbness spread from the bite down through my chest and arm.

  Sucks to be you, I thought, when I couldn’t pull my finger off the trigger. That was quickly followed by the idea that it sucked to be me, as the arach who hadn’t grabbed me, moved in from the side, and twisted the Blazer out of my hands. I also registered that the arach hadn’t taken its fangs out of my neck, and that the pressure from it was fluctuating, even if the pain had stopped.

  What are you doing? I wanted to ask, but the words wouldn’t form.

  The other arach came and sat down in front of me, lifting the wrist of my good arm in its hands, and sliding the glove from my hand before pushing the suit’s cuff up my arm.

  “We’re draining you dry,” it said, and smiled so I could watch fangs extend, before it raised my wrist to its mouth and bit deep.

  I wanted to kick free of them, but couldn’t move an inch. I wanted to scream, but my throat locked, and I couldn’t make a sound... not out loud, anyway. I was screaming plenty loud inside the confines of my head.

  “We’re coming.” Tens.

  “We’re coming.” Mack.

  “We are so fucking here!” Delight, as she came through a hatch set in the ceiling at the back of the office, but she was shooting as she spoke, and I had no way of avoiding being sprayed by blood and brains as each round hit home.

  I’d have been screaming fit to burst, if I’d have been able to make a sound.

  “Tens, port me some antivenin,” she ordered.

  “Better idea,” Tens said, and I found myself wrapped in silver light, hearing Deli
ght’s surprised comment of, “Oh, yeah. Much better,” before she moved over to the computer, I’d been asking to borrow.

  “I’ll have that connection for you, shortly.”

  She faded from view, and my surroundings flashed from silver to ship’s grey seconds later.

  30—Crewmen Lost

  Tens was waiting for me when the silver light swirled away. I caught sight of him behind the console, and then I saw him come out from around it. He picked up a small package on the way, but I couldn’t make out what it was, and he wrapped his hand around it in a way that stopped me from seeing it as he got closer.

  “I’ve got you,” he said, lifting me clear of the platform, and taking me to one of the small recovery rooms set to one side of the port-space.

  I wanted to ask him who had Mack and Delight, but I couldn’t. He caught the thought anyway.

  “The team will take care of them, until Doc gets here for you. He’s on his way.”

  I wasn’t sure that was as reassuring as it was meant to be, but Tens set me down, and rolled me onto my side so he could examine the neck wound. I heard the inward hiss as he pulled air between his teeth. He didn’t sound too happy.

  “Why’d you shut the door on Mack?” he asked, but I got the impression he was more interested in distracting me from what he was going to do next than any answer I might be able to give. He stepped away from me, rattling through a nearby cabinet set into the cabin wall. I figured he’d get back to me, and focused on the question, instead.

  I tried to answer, and then discovered my voice still wouldn’t work. Fine, I answered through the implant.

  “Didn’t want them getting past me. Didn’t think I could stop them.”

  “Yeah? Well, at least I know you don’t have a god complex. A death wish, maybe... Mack is going to be pissed with you.”

  Personally, I didn’t care. Mack could go suck it. I’d done what I’d thought best in a tactically bad situation. There’d been no point in both of us being taken down.