Star People Legacy

by Smith, T. L.

  One had been a place not far from where Lutz and I took our video. From there teams could rappel down onto the plateau. Another team would drop from the other side of the plateau, above the area they stored the vehicles. We’d come up from through the wash and block that exit route.

  The Maxa’xak would try to escape. It’s what they did since the first time we came after them. It was their only way to survive with their weak numbers. Had they had more time before we discovered their existence, they might have succeeded in breeding a stronger species.

  If they’d escaped undetected, they might have succeeded in finding an adaptable species for procreation, but we refused to allow their infestation. We would either pin this Maxa’xak down or they’d drive him straight into my arms. Then it was my job to immobilize him so he could be destroyed.

  This was the plan. Everyone agreed, except Casey. I understood his quiet objections. I’d seen many battles and people died. Despite pledging my Spirit to him, I could die. But I was a U.S. Marine and the Ci’in, and my pledges to both made me focus completely on the plan.

  I leaned against him, reaching into my pocket and removing the quartz Yazzie had given me. I slipped it into his hand. “Hang onto this to protect your Spirit. It’s a symbol for the Earth Element.”

  “I’d rather it protect you.”

  “For me.” I dropped my head to his chest and he gripped his hand around mine, around the stone. I managed to drift off, listening to desert crickets and Casey’s heartbeat.

  A Gambel’s quail warned us of imminent dawn, singing as the sky just started to lighten. Startled quiet by the chirping of my phone. “The sensors are down.”

  I struggled up and Casey pulled the vest tight around me, securing it as his lips brushed my forehead ever so slightly. I couldn’t give him more and he knew it. He patted the shoulder pocket above his heart. I could see the lump the stone created.

  Mounted up, we ran our bikes up the wash, no longer worried about tripping alarms. Taking a sharp bend north, we heard gunfire. Ahead Chucky waved at us. “This way!” I followed, as he was team leader now. I had one job and their job was to make sure I got to the target to complete it.

  Around another bend Chucky moved ahead of us, hunched down on his bike, following the brush that lined the wash. I started after him, but an echo sounded and puff of sand made me skid to a stop, staying low under the rock ledge. The rest of my team hunkered down too. Another shot twinged by me, but this time I was watching the angle.

  I activated my mic. “Chucky, we’re pinned down. Right side of the wash about 40 degrees. One shooter.”

  “On it.” Of course he was.

  Still, my hand molded around the grip of my Sig. The feel of the weapon made me more confident, though it wasn’t the weapon I’d need when I stood in front of the Maxa’xak.

  Casey got into the niche next to me. “Are they trying to clear their escape route?”

  “Probably, but he’ll try to protect his oldest offspring, letting the younger zombies do the fighting. I only know of the one near maturity, but there could be more.” I bobbed up and let go several rounds at our enemy, dodging down as they returned fire. It earned a glare from Casey. “Got to keep them looking at us.”

  “Then we’ll do it. We have to get you to the plateau, not shot down here.” He opened up half a clip on them and my father took a turn keeping the enemy distracted. I kept my head down, as ordered. I listening to an endless crescendo of weapons fire, until a large explosion rolled gravel down on top of us.

  Casey quickly used his arms to cover me. “What the hell was that?”

  “The reason they called us Thunderbirds.” My father grinned and returned to his bike. “We can move on now.”

  Casey dashed to his. “Hey, where’s our other Ci’in… Miri-nay?”

  I looked back at our group, then heard a brief scream from up the side of the mountain. “Doing her job. Let’s go!” I spun my tires, taking the steep slope of the wash. One more bend and we’d be at the access point to the plateau.

  We made the turn and ran the bikes up part way, before ditching them to take the alluvial ramp by foot.

  “Coming up the other side.” Chucky’s voice echoed in my ear.

  “How many were there?”

  Another scream answered that question. “Just the two. Miri-nay will meet us on the plateau when she’s done.”

  “Check.” I dashed up the ramp, knowing he’d provide coverage from his position.

  Casey stumbled at the high-pitched screams, too high pitched to be human. “What is that? Do they need more help?”

  “No, Miri is extracting the larvae from their hosts.”

  “I thought you said these men were already dead, that what we’re doing…”

  “They are dead, but the larvae still control the bodies. That’s the larvae as she untangles them from the host.” I hesitated just a step. “She’s killing them before they rip themselves loose and try to make it back to the Maxa’xak, or find another host.”

  “How would they be introduced to… no, don’t answer that.”

  CHAPTER

  31

  Casey stood up to give a quick survey of the ramp. Rifle on his shoulder as he did the swing down one mountain face and up the other. “Looks clear.”

  We were near the top of the alluvial slide they used as a ramp to access the plateau. It was packed down tight enough to handle off-road tires. “Stay against the wall.” We kept our backs to the cliff. The gravel here was looser, making the climb tough. We had one last stretch to finish, then we’d be in the battle raging above us.

  With another breath, I was ready to rush the last few meters. I had only taken two steps when my skin shivered violently. “Everyone down!” I pulled Casey against the wall as an SUV came off the plateau, hitting the gravel. It slid, the tail end bashing boulders on the other side of the cliff. I switched my Sig to automatic and started firing as it slid towards us. The rest of my party opened fire too.

  Tires went out, but that didn’t stop them. “Chucky, you in position to hit it?”

  “Got it, Sis.” Standing up from across the ramp, Chucky pulled a grenade launcher onto his shoulder. “Take cover!”

  Cover was hunkering down as close to the wall as possible. Chucky fired on the truck. Casey mashed me against the cliff wall as the grenade hit. I knew this weapon. The grenade would attach itself to the truck and explode. “Shit!”

  The truck was lifted off the ground, but rolled in our direction. I cast out an arm. Instinct and training combined to release a blast of energy. A wall of light spread over us, creating a barrier, a force field strong enough to deflect the SUV.

  It flipped again, then did a full tumble down the ramp in such a violent bouncing way that it guaranteed no one could survive, seatbelts or not.

  I dropped the field, looking up at Chucky across the ramp. “Make sure they’re purged.”

  He ducked off the rock and a moment later two Kwia and Miri were on the SUV, now upside down at the bottom of the cliff. One of the Kwia discharged a sonic disrupter inside the vehicle. Anything possibly alive inside would be dead now, except the larvae.

  The men pulled out four bodies, twisted, bloody and broken. The Ci’in knelt down on the chest of the first, cut open the man’s throat and thrust a hand down into the incision.

  “OH! Really?” Casey looked away.

  “That’s how it’s done.” I watched for a second as she started to glow. She focused her energy down into the dead man and in a moment the body started to convulse.

  Casey didn’t want to watch, but like most humans, couldn’t stop himself. He let out a gasp as the woman started pulling. With a jerk she rose up, thrusting a bloody squirming snake-like creature into the air. A Kwia took it from her, threw it to the ground and shoved a white-bladed knife into it.

  A sickening scream echoed up to us.

  “That thing is in all the… zombies?” Casey skidded on loose gravel, my father shoving him back upright.


  “Yeah. Now we have to go. They were only the first attempt. I don’t want to be crushed by the second.”

  My father pushed past both of us. Casey brought up the rear. With a wave from my father, that the way was clear, I reached the top of the ramp, peeking over the edge. Casey popped his head up next to mine, seeing the carnage of the surprise attack on the encampment. Bodies were strewn over the plateau.

  The helicopter had been hit. The blades were twisted beyond use and it lay on its side in the center of camp. One of vehicles along the opposing cliff wall was on its side. There was a barrage of weapon fire between our people and mercenaries inside the larger metal building.

  I pointed to the smaller building. “That’s the mine entrance.”

  “Looks like a stand-off at the moment.”

  “Only a moment.” I jerked my head up at the cliff over the vehicles. From above I saw ropes dropping down the wall, then Kwia sliding down. Whoever was in the building couldn’t see them from their angle.

  “They can’t destroy all the vehicles. We might need them to get the hostages out.”

  “Least of our concerns, big picture here, my love.” I added the last as I felt him tense next to me. I was almost completely Din’ah right now. “Consider the tens of thousands more lives lost if we fail.”

  “Right now they’re big bulletproof rocks. Just what we need to break the standoff.” Chucky made us all jump, slipping up behind us unheard. Sure enough the first Kwia down the rope got into a vehicle and started it up, moving it out of line. Several more vehicles followed, creating a line across the plateau. Kwia warriors ran up beside the SUVs as they slowly crept closer to the buildings. Several climbed inside, dropping the windows enough for their weapons.

  One SUV sped out of the lineup, swinging around the smashed helicopter and skidding to a stop right at the top of the ramp. We ducked the spray of gravel. I had my Sig pointed into the SUV as the back passenger door opened. “You need a ride, Princess?”

  “Frankie!” I rolled my eyes. “We have coms.” I scrambled up the ledge. “I nearly opened fire.”

  “Me too!” Casey pushed me up and into the SUV. My father piled into the front seat.

  “Hey, thought you’d prefer a layer of bulletproof glass over sticking your heads up over the rocks.”

  “I do.” I tossed myself against the opposite door, watching as the other SUVs carried our people closer and closer to the buildings. Daniel and his group were in the forward position now. He had a sonic charger. One per vehicle and all aimed at the largest building.

  When they opened fire, the metal siding crumpled and shredded like aluminum foil. Daniel strolled out from behind his vehicle and towards the smaller building, knelt and let go another blast. The wood and metal shack collapsed. Whatever was in there would take a while to crawl out.

  Time we needed.

  With return fire quelled, a group of Kwia warriors stormed the remains of the larger structure, warily. The first two went in. There were a series of clicks on my earpiece and the rest of the team followed. A few minutes later they came out, rushing across the plateau to the nearest vehicle, six women clung to their rescuers, crying, even as they were tossed into the backs of the SUVs.

  “There’s some of our hostages.” I thrust open the door to the SUV, climbing out. Other Ci’in started across the plateau, stopping at each body to perform extractions. Their eerie glow preceded screams that echoed against the walls.

  Casey tried not to look as he took a defensive position on my right. “What about the women? You’re not checking them.”

  “Completely incompatible hosts. He uses them as slave labor.” A man in front of us started to push up off the ground. I was a step closer than my Kwia. I shoved the man down with my boot and dropped a single shot into the back of his skull. I stepped over the body, leaving the extraction for another Ci’in.

  Casey hesitated by the body and I felt Beth squirm inside my brain. “Zombie. You’ve got to remember that.”

  Casey stepped around the body, as if the larvae might come after him. “They don’t like women?”

  “Nope.” The combination of my ancient and modern knowledge pulled together an explanation. “Think of it as an extreme case of Hostile Womb Syndrome. When a woman gets pregnant, her body naturally starts producing antibodies to kill the invader, until it recognizes it as a fetus. For some reason a larva triggers this same syndrome, but HWS doesn’t stop until it kills the larva. At the same time killing the host. Happens every time.”

  I stopped by another body. “In men’s bodies the larvae only have to overcome the normal immune system.” I gave this body an extra bullet too.

  “So even if the zombie looks dead, kill it again.” The Kwia fired into the next body we passed. “Unless a Ci’in has done her thing.”

  “This is insane.”

  Casey sounded horrified, but I didn’t give in to Beth’s desire to comfort him. “If you can’t handle it, return to the SUV, because it’s going to get a lot uglier. These were only the younger minions. We’ll encounter the older ones when we get into the mine.” I spared him a bit of sympathy. “This is our war, not yours.”

  “Maybe, but it’s my planet, my people.” Casey firmed up his resolve, pulling his shoulders back. “Even if you got a thousand Ci’inkwia backing you up, you’re not facing this without me.”

  CHAPTER

  32

  Casey kept whatever other objections he had to himself as we made our way to the mine entrance. Chucky joined me at the edge of the demolished building. He tapped at his ear piece. “Daniel confirms the extractions we’re making are all less than fifty years old. Maxa’xak must have his older offspring down there with him.”

  I could see the shaft where it entered the mountain. “Escape possibilities?”

  “Joey’s rerouted the scanner arrays and they’re watching for any movement. Says it was all pretty sophisticated.”

  “Maybe, but doubt there’s an escape tunnel.” Frankie joined us. “I went on a lot of the mine inspections. Those old miners were paranoid. It’s easier to hide one entrance than two.”

  My father nodded. “It’s hard to dig in this area. Best he could have done, without massive equipment, was shore up the old mine.” He looked back to the alluvial ramp. “He’d have to dispose of the debris, which might have contributed to the ramp, but any other piles would have drawn attention.”

  Daniel joined us, letting his sonic charger slip back between his shoulders. “Got a few answers from the women. There’s cells carved into the tunnel walls, where they’re holding the rest of their people. They don’t know what else is beyond those points, but they know the Maxa’xak lives down there. You ready?”

  All eyes turned to me. “As I’ll ever be.” I turned back to the killing field, shutting my ears to the screams. “We have innocents down there. If we can get them out, we need to try. If we run into any that have been newly infested, we should leave them for last. Concentrate on the ones that can fight back.”

  “We have teams arranged for this phase.” My father stepped close to me, taking my hands. “You concentrate on the task in front of you and be careful. You haven’t had as much time as we did to adapt to what we are and our mission here. Listen to your brothers.” He leaned down and gave me a kiss on my cheek. “Listen to yourself. You are very much loved and we want you to come back from this.”

  “I love you too, Papa.” I embraced him. It wasn’t often he displayed emotions and they cut through the rigidness of my Spirit side, touching my heart. Him reaching out, at this moment, made what was about to happen all the more serious. “I’ll listen to them.”

  I got another kiss on the cheek, before he slipped out of the circle. Everyone else was quiet, giving me a moment of quiet so I could recompose myself. Even Frankie was subdued. Casey stroked my back, easing off as Din’ah finally came back to the surface.

  Another breath and she was back. “Get the tunnel crew together. We head down now.”

  Dani
el and Chucky split out. I heard their orders over our com. A group of Kwia started clearing the tunnel entrance, under the cover of Frankie and several more Kwia. I waited to the side, reloading my Sig.

  No one fired up on us. Daniel’s charge had taken out two mercenaries near the entrance. Their bodies were dragged out and the larvae extracted. Frankie took his team and advanced into the tunnel ahead of us.

  I waited a few minutes with my group. “Remember, we check every nook and cranny. No one leaves without being checked twice.”

  Some of the Ci’in in this group were well-blooded from extractions. “Team one, your Ci’in needs recovery time. You’ll remain on the surface and rest. Team two, you’ll do the final check of anyone leaving the mine. Make sure no one comes up without an escort. Prep victims for relocation and rotate down as we need replacements. Team three, you are all fresh, so you come with me now.” They all nodded.

  I gave everyone one last long look. “Then let’s go.” I led them into the dark. “You see anything that slithers, kill it.”

  Hands went to white-bladed knives. More than ritual. Made from the materials of the Maxa’xak escape ship. Strong enough to bring them light years from our home. Strong enough to kill the Maxa’xak. Stepping into the dark, I let my hand slide over the hilt of my knife too.

  Only a few yards down the steep sloped shaft, our advance team reached a bend. They tossed phosphorescent light tubes around the corner before daring the turn. We followed, lining the walls with brighter light blocks. Enough light to make sure there weren’t any crevices or nooks where something could hide.

  Searching involved more than sight. Ci’in had different abilities than Kwia. We could sense the presence of the Maxa’xak and their offspring. The Maxa’xak had inhabited this tunnel long enough its foul energy permeated the walls, antagonizing our energy, giving us all a soft glow of warning.