Benny is shot, just once. In the face. By the unknown soldier. The lazzer is powerful enough to carve out a steaming bowl where Benny’s face had been.
A high-pitched shriek wails from my little body. It’s repeated throughout the jungle. I catch a glimpse of hundreds of these critters charging down the vine spirals, and then I’m one of them.
An electric crackle fills the air as I descend. A glowing blue whip unfurls. Flows back through the air and then arcs forward, cracking with a burst of energy.
Sara shouts in pain, body arched back. She collapses to the ground.
Twenty feet from the forest floor, I leap from the vine. Sailing through the air, I extend my claws and let out a battle cry. All around the jungle, these small creatures launch themselves in a coordinated attack that has no chance of success.
But it gives Brick time.
I hear him, screaming in anguish. Begging for Sara to open her eyes.
My host glances toward Brick’s voice, sees him pick Sara up, her back carved open, spine visibly severed. Then he retreats into the jungle, covered by the massive assault launched by the Europhids.
My host looks forward just in time to see a line of blue light whipping toward its face.
39
I snap out of the past, lying on my back, in the grass of Max’s backyard. It’s not until I see Max standing over me, a deep frown on his face, that I remember this isn’t real either.
The vision I had is like a dream. The details are already fading. But the bullet points remain. I’ll never forget them.
Whip killed Brick’s wife.
Would have killed Brick, too.
“Fuck.” I stand. Fists clenched. Rage engulfs me.
How could Whip do it? How could he turn on his team?
“Small minds,” Max says, “make easy targets. While you lived on the Union’s fringe, your friend found a home amidst the high council. He lives a privileged life. All his wishes are granted. And the action craved by men like him, and you, is fulfilled by commanding the Union military. Whip’s allegiance was purchased long ago. The time spent under your command, serving with your team, was short in comparison.”
“Benny was smart. How could he—” I punch the wooden swing set. Wincing in pain, I shake my hand out.
“One would assume,” Max says, “that like you, the man called Benny was guided by ignorance. He believed the Union was all that remained of humanity, so he conformed. When he realized there was another path, he took it at great cost. What I want to know, is will you do the same?”
“You already know I will,” I say.
“Even if it means confronting your old friend?”
“Evil is evil,” I say, “even if it’s also a familiar face.”
“And if you must kill Whip?”
“I’ll do what needs doing.”
Max shakes his head and rolls his eyes. It’s the first authentic Maxism the Europhids have managed to pull off. “Bold, macho statements might have worked in the 1980s, on Earth, but I’m going to need assurance.”
I don’t like being backed into a corner, but the sooner I can get out of this fantasy world, the sooner I can put the Union in a hurt locker. If that means killing Whip…
I punch the swing set again. “Fuck!”
He chose his fate, I decide. When he killed Brick’s wife and didn’t blink when Benny’s head was carved out.
“Who was it?” I ask. “The soldier who killed Benny.”
“We don’t know,” Max says. “Her mask was never removed.”
“Her,” I say. The detail returns like a boomerang, colliding with my skull. It was a woman. Working with Whip, but not subservient to him. Until she fired the gun, she was just watching. Observing. Making sense of what Whip and Benny missed—that Sara was an Undesirable. That Brick was her enemy. Signs of a keen mind, and a long history of not trusting people.
“Shit,” I say. “Carter.”
“We are aware of Carter’s involvement in the mission that brought you to us, and have suspected that she was the unknown soldier,” Max says. “But we have never been able to confirm her identity or location.”
“That’s because she was stranded on a planet,” I say, trying to make sense of things. “Living like a cavewoman for the past three…”
Hell.
I feel the Europhids cannonball into my memories, absorbing every detail from the past few weeks.
“You were duped,” Max says. “She was not on that planet for three years. She was deposited there by the man you encountered in orbit a short time after returning to your ship.”
“The Union set me up,” I say. “Whip set me up. Sent me on a course that would—”
“—bring you to us,” Max says. “Where is she now?”
“In orbit,” I say, cold dread emanating from my bones. “With Hildy, Porter, Burnett, and Morton. God, they don’t stand a chance. Let me out. Please. I need to get back.”
“Time is short,” Max agrees, “but it moves slower in this place. What feels like hours is just seconds in reality. I understand your eagerness to leave. To set things right. I appreciate it, as well. But I still require assurance.”
“Just tell me what to do, and I’ll do it.” Right now, I’d give the Europhids just about anything. I don’t deal with betrayal well. Whip was a close friend. He didn’t just turn his back on me, he betrayed everything we swore to protect. What makes me angriest about it is that I’m no better. I sacrificed my morality and for a hell of a lot less. But I didn’t kill anyone. And like Benny did in the last seconds of his life, I’m going to make it right.
As for Carter…she used me. Told me exactly what I wanted to hear. Pretended to connect with me. Turned me into a marionette, guiding me into conflict with the Union so that I would be trusted—finally—by the Undesirables. How long were they watching me?
Probably from day one.
“Mosey,” Max says. “I need you to focus. The power of your emotions will serve you well, but not yet. Right now, I need you to understand.”
“Understand what?”
“My red counterparts connect with the minds of other beings, often times against their will. But this is not my way.” Max looks me in the eyes. “I need your permission.”
“To what, exactly?” I’m suddenly not so sure about this. When I was in the little creature’s body, I didn’t feel two separate wills. “Is this like a Body Snatchers situation? Are you going to inhabit my body? Destroy my consciousness?”
“You will remain you, in every way.” Max holds out his hand. A bumble bee lands on it, cleaning its antennae. Max looks it over. Then he reaches out a finger and places it on the insect’s fuzzy back. “But you will also be more.”
A flicker of blue light arcs from Max’s finger to the bug’s body. The bee twitches. It’s eyes glow blue. The bee takes off, flies a circle around me, and then stops a few feet from my face, hovering in place, staring at me. There are no pupils to lock onto, but I know it’s looking me in the eyes. And somehow, I sense an intelligence that wasn’t there before.
“So, you’re going to make me smarter?” I ask.
“We are going to allow you access to our mind, but you must also grant us access to yours. Our knowledge and experience will be available to you. In a sense, you will be one of us, and we, one of you.”
Not sure how I feel about this. The benefits are clear—access to a mind greater than the sum of humanity. The downside is that I’m pretty sure that if I tick the Europhids off, or if they get tired of my presence in their infinite trans-dimensional brain, they could just give me an aneurism and be on their merry way.
“All of that is accurate,” Max says. “The potential danger to yourself is real, including our ability to terminate your life, or take it over. To earn our trust, you must first put your trust in us.”
“Any chance you can tell me what the grand plan is, first?” I ask.
“Please understand, if you are shown what is to come and turn down my offer, your li
fe will be forfeit, here and now.”
“You know,” I say, “Max was much nicer about delivering bad news. You could learn a thing or two from him.”
Max smiles. It’s still forced and horrible.
I shake my head. “Agreed.”
“Very well.” Max reaches out with the same finger that he used to touch the bee. Touches my forehead. A freight train of information careens into my mind. Thoughts. Plans. Strategies. Locations. Personnel. Names. All of it is etched into the hard drive of my mind like I’ve been studying this subject my whole life.
And then it stops. Max withdraws his finger.
I stagger back a step, mind reeling from the influx of knowledge. It takes a moment to filter through all the tangential information Max hadoukened into my brain with his finger. But then I find what I’m looking for. The plan. The grand scheme to upend the Union and—
“Are you serious?” I ask, stunned.
“You are turning down my offer?” Max asks.
“No. No!” I pace a bit. “I just… Your plan? No offense, but it’s fuck’n nuts.”
“You believe you can improve upon it?”
I laugh. “Improve upon it? Hell, no. But…do you think it’s possible? And you can do…all of it?”
“We would not be speaking if I believed otherwise.”
I take a deep breath, enjoying the scent of summer, the feel of Earth’s sun on my skin, and the birdsongs surrounding us. “Do it. Let’s kick some Nazi ass.”
Max holds out his finger again. “This will feel different.”
I close my eyes. “Do it before I change my mind.”
“That is literally what we are about to do.”
One of my eyes snaps open. “Like physically? I’m not going to have a blue cucumber—sorry—growing out of my head or something?”
Max shakes his head. “You would describe our presence within your body as something akin to bacteria, living in your cells, occupying the space between synapses and populating your marrow. We will be a part of you from now until the moment you die.”
“Cool,” I say, but I don’t mean it. I close my eye again, and I wait.
“When you emerge,” Max says, “your path back will be unhindered. You will be able to move among us, as one of us.”
“Okay, okay,” I say. “Just get it over w—”
His finger touches my forehead. The universe explodes inside my mind. And then, all at once, I cease to exist.
40
“Ugh…” I wake slowly. The air on my face is cool. The floor beneath me is like a slab of concrete. I feel like I’ve been kicked in the nuts—if my nuts were in my skull. “Not cool, Max.”
My voice is deep again. My body two feet taller. The scent of summer has been replaced by an eggy funk.
I open my eyes. Despite my blurry vision, I have no trouble making out the vast field of blue Europhids surrounding me. In every direction. The path ahead—the only thing not lit up like an all-blue Lite-Brite—beckons to me.
Need to get out. Need to get back.
I stand and rub my eyes. My vision clears as I stagger away, feeling weak. The wall of Europhids behind me just undulates slowly, indifferent to my presence. All around me, the strange beings just waggle. No sense of impending doom. No urgency or panic.
I’ve been betrayed. If the Union isn’t already here, they will be soon.
“You’re about to get fucked in the ass, you know that, right?” I increase my pace as my mind and body continue to wake up, fueled by rising adrenaline. The Europhids don’t respond, visually, or in my head. I don’t know what I was expecting, but nothing wasn’t it.
Move your ass, I tell myself, and I break into a run.
A few steps into my sprint, blood pumping, I feel myself return to normal. Fully awake. Fully aware. It’s not just the Europhids that are about to get wiped off the map. The Minutemen, including my grandson, my brother-in-arms, and Chuy…my best friend and maybe my future something-or-other.
Navigating my way back is simple. I remember the path like it’s the route I take for a morning run. I slip through dark tunnels free of Europhids, each step planted without vision, but with full confidence.
I slide to a stop, emerging from a tunnel into a field of red Europhids. I catch my breath for a moment, looking over the vast cavern, remembering the anus-faced beast that guards it. “We’re friends now, right?”
No response.
Fuck it.
I charge through the cavern. The red Europhids are as indifferent to my presence as the blues. It’s a welcome change. Whatever Max did to me, it’s far less dramatic than I expected, but it seems to be doing the trick. At least with these hyper-defensive little pricks. I extend my middle fingers at the red cucumbers as I run down the path.
I realize it’s immature in the extreme to do the adult version of ‘nana nana boo boo,’ but who’s here to see me? Other than a billion-year-old, universe-sized super brain… “Sorry,” I say to the field. “Old habits.” I lower my fingers and pour on the steam.
Ten minutes later, I’m through and at the elevator. I expected to find Brick and Chuy here, but they’re nowhere to be seen. The elevator awaits. The doors open.
A quick scan of the area reveals no hiding spaces, and I somehow know there aren’t any Brick could fit into. Just to be sure, I call out their names, “Brick! Chuy!” My voice echoes through the massive chambers, bouncing back several times before finally fading. I wait ten seconds for a reply and then I step into the elevator and hit the only button.
The doors close, and I’m whisked upward.
It’s not until my ears pop from the ascent that I realize I could see the whole way back, even when there were no Europhids present. On the way in, we needed a flashlight for a good portion of the journey.
Holy shit. I can see in the dark!
The elevator jerks to a stop. Will is here, I think. I don’t know why. I can just…sense him. The doors whoosh open, revealing Will, holding my gear. He’s also petrified.
“What’s happening?” I ask.
Will hands my things over, one at a time as he walks and talks. “Union. They’re outside.” He’s breathless and terrified.
“Need a bit more info than that.” When I first encountered Will, he was cocky and confident. Probably because he knew who I was. Knew my character. Grew up hearing stories about me. But now… He looks ready to pass out. Having a genocidal regime come knocking will take the bluster out of a guy. And he’s probably not alone. These people have been preparing for this moment, for hundreds of years, but how many of them have seen combat?
I suppose that’s why I’m here.
Will stops when I do, confused, but still trying to answer my question. “There’s, ah, two…two of them. Fully armored.”
“Slow down, Will,” I tell him. “Take a breath.”
He breathes deep. Lets it out. Hands me my knife.
“How about I guess,” I say. “And you tell me if I’m wrong?
“The two people outside haven’t found the entrance, but it won’t be long. There’s a ship in orbit. The Zorak. No sign of the Union fleet?”
He hands me my rifle. I sling it over my shoulder. Pistol comes next. I holster it on my hip.
He nods at me. “All correct.”
“Peachy,” I say, and I clip the PSD back in place. “Where are Brick and Chuy?”
“Control deck,” he says.
I’m about to ask where that is, but then I realize I already know. Just like the tunnels below, I’m now aware of every nook and cranny of this base, and all the people in it—including where they are and how they feel. For a moment, it’s overwhelming. Then controlled, and that has nothing to do with me.
They really are inside me now.
Gross.
And cool.
Am I psychic now? I wonder, and the depths of my mind make sense of it for me. The Europhids are everywhere, populating the deepest recesses of Beta-Prime, but they’ve got what best can be described as roots
all over the planet. Not to mention wildlife allies on the surface. I’m just aware of what they are. Far away from the Europhids, I won’t have this kind of mental reach.
I focus my attention outside the base and feel the Union soldiers’ location.
And identities.
The first is Whip.
The second…shit…is Carter.
“C’mere.” I pull Will against me, trigger the PSD, and rotate to the control deck.
Will and I emerge from the fourth dimension, surrounded by people who leap back at our sudden arrival. I’ve never met any of them, but I know them all by name. They start to salute when I say, “If you’ve got somewhere to be, get there now.”
The thirty-odd people disperse. I snap my fingers at one of them. “Jenn.”
She stops. “Sir?”
“I want every slew drive in the fleet ready to fire on my mark,” I tell her. “Coordinates to come. Get it done.”
She finishes the salute I interrupted the first time, nods, and then bolts from the control deck.
With the crowd missing, I get my first look at the control deck.
Everything in the Union is dark and utilitarian. Things aren’t designed. They’re built for functionality, and that’s it. If it’s ugly, but it works—like a poop-shaped starship—so be it. The Minutemen control center is a different beast. Whoever designed this had an aesthetic eye. The lines are smooth. The surfaces white and gray, but a stripe of orange cuts through the monotone workstations, creating a pleasing look that might make working in this room, day and night, a little less monotonous.
The space is built like a theater in the round. Screens line the back walls. The people at each workstation have a view of what’s displayed, and if they need to, of each other. Brick and Chuy are center stage, along with Drago, Adrik, and BigApe…still wedged deep inside the hairy Russian’s body. They’re surrounded by a circle of holographic displays, but they’re focusing on the screens around the room. One displays an image transmitted from space. A satellite feed. At the center of the black void is the Zorak, orbiting Beta-Prime. The rest of the screens show a series of shots from the jungle outside the base’s entrance.
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