Orion Protected

by J. N. Chaney

  “Uniting with our enemies that have been our sworn adversaries for centuries?” Tong said. “Trusting them now goes against everything I know.”

  “The enemy of my enemy is my friend, right?” I asked, echoing Jezra’s words and relaxing. But Tong’s mistrust of the Rung was understandable and in line with my thinking.

  “Dean, you continue to surprise me,” Tong said. “That saying is very insightful.”

  I didn’t tell Tong the saying didn’t belong to me. I was too lost on the course of action we now found ourselves on.

  “What’s the plan once we get through the mountains?” I asked.

  “Sulk says there is a Rung bunker just past the canyon,” Tong said. “We’ll connect with the force there and make our assault on their main bunker, which has been overrun by Legion. There they have a cache of weapons and upgraded armor that he promises will end Legion.”

  “And we can expect heavy resistance starting when?” I asked. “Legion’s not just going to let us walk in there and impose our will. He’s going to be ready. He’ll be expecting us.”

  Tong clicked off a series of sounds to Sulk that could have been him asking a question or sharing a complicated recipe for all I knew.

  “Sulk says we can expect Legion to strike as soon as we enter the canyon,” Tong explained. “While it is the most direct route, it is not the safest. We will, however, be able to see exactly what we are getting into. Before we left, Jezra gave me access to the satellite.”

  “My man,” I said, gathering what Tong was hinting at. “Legion will think he’s getting the drop on us, but we’ll be able to tell exactly where he’s moving.”

  “That’s right.” I could practically hear the smile on Tong’s face. “Finally, we’re a step ahead. Once we get into the Rung’s underground bunkers, however, that advantage goes away. Who knows what’s waiting for us there.”

  “Nice thoughts to keep us warm at night,” I muttered under my breath.

  Sulk clicked something off.

  “He wants to know if when the fighting starts, we will give him a chance to prove himself,” Tong translated. “He doesn’t want to go down without a fight. It is a matter of honor.”

  I removed my gaze from the predator in front of me for a moment, looking over to Sulk. He stared back intently, his one normal eye searching mine for an answer. The robotic red eye shone with an eerie light.

  “What do you think?” I asked Tong, moving my line of sight back to the road in front of me. “Do we trust him enough to let him fight when the dying starts?”

  I already had my own opinion on the matter but wanted to hear what Tong though to see if we were in agreement. My mind went back to the point inside our walls when Sulk had me dead to rights. He’d pointed that blaster in my face and could have killed me right there. He didn’t, though.

  Even after Mutt and I grabbed him, he’d only tried to get away, not kill us.

  “I can’t answer that question without my own bias tainting the outcome,” Tong admitted. “The many years my people have been at war with the Rung have soiled my decision-making ability on the subject.”

  “Fair enough,” I said. “Tell him we’ll consider it.”

  Tong seemed to take pleasure in relating the answer to Sulk. The Rung answered back vehemently, and Tong just laughed. I surmised that Sulk was not happy with Tong’s response and that Tong was happy that Sulk was unhappy.

  The rest of the night, we traveled with the idea that we would move better under the cover of darkness. As far as any of us knew, Legion didn’t possess a way to see in the dark.

  The mountains were only a hard night’s ride in front of us. Going all out in the predators, we’d reach the base of the mountains by daybreak.

  “How’re you all doing back there?” Stacy asked through the comm unit in my ear. “See anything?”

  “Nothing besides the back of your predator and the stars overhead,” I answered. “I don’t think we’re going to see Legion tonight. If he did watch us as we left the Orion, he knows he can’t catch us in the predators. We’re thinking he’ll set up and ambush further ahead. Sulk says we have to travel through a canyon once we reach the mountain range. He’ll probably hit us there.”

  “Agreed,” Stacy said, muffling a yawn. “Keep your eyes open. Let Tong rest and switch off if you start falling asleep.”

  “I’m good,” I said. “Should be good at least until dawn.” I really was awake, probably too keyed up to sleep.

  We drove through the night over the alien terrain. The looming dark masses in front of us that were the mountain range grew closer every hour. The forest to our right remained still and not so much as a streak of motion or a rogue cry from an animal could be heard.

  As the dual suns began to fight back the dark sky, Stacy called a stop. Just as planned, we were at the foot of the mountains. We would rest and regroup here just inside the tree line of the forest before continuing our journey.

  We parked the predators under a pair of large trees with neon-like branches and dark brown trunks. Tong took too much pleasure leading Sulk from his spot in the vehicle and securing him to a tree. I wasn’t sure if I should let him continue in this vein with our enemy/hostage/soon-to-possibly-be-ally or say something.

  My concern was less for Sulk and more for us. I didn’t want to aggravate him to the point where he and his fellow Rung decided to take revenge on the Remboshi for this treatment. I wondered if they had some sort of prisoner-of-war pact to abide by.

  “I’ll take first watch while you get some sleep, then wake Lou, John, Tong, and you in that order,” Stacy instructed. “We should all get a solid eight hours before we hit the canyon, then we’ll travel with the cover of night again. Using Jezra’s satellite, we’ll be able to tell if Legion is waiting to spring a trap on us.”

  “I’m not going to argue with you,” Lou said, handing out our rations, which weren’t anything more than a few pieces of fruit and packed sandwiches. “I could use some rest.”

  John massaged his elbow. There was a thoughtful look in his tired eyes as he did so. He looked over at me, raising an eyebrow.

  “You good?” I asked, wondering if he was going to start verbally sparring with me about who should have won our match.

  “Yeah, I’ll live,” John said with a smirk. “I have to. We need to have a rematch until there’s a clear winner.”

  “Careful what you wish for, brother,” I told him, biting into a piece of fruit. “You just might get it.”

  The more and more I got to know John, the more I felt comfortable joking with him. I knew now he was one of the good ones. Not just good as in he was on our side, but good as in he could be counted on.

  I could see it in his eyes now. The gladiator spirit that drove him forward was the same one that raged inside of me. We were definitely brothers under the skin.

  After our meager meal, we chose our sleeping areas and passed out hard. I was under a tree using the branches above me for shade when fatigue finally set in.

  It was one of those sleeps that came so quickly, you weren’t sure how long you’d been out at all when you woke up. All I knew was that I was torn from the deep embrace of slumber by a piercing, bone-chilling scream.

  I sat bolt upright, trying to figure out far too much at once. I blinked as I reached for my weapon. Others in the camp were also roused awake from the noise.

  The suns were still overhead but on their downward descent now. I wasn’t sure how long I had been asleep. Six hours, maybe more.

  The scream came again. It was a sound I was familiar with. Legion. I had heard the people he infected enough times to recognize the distinct scream of pure mania.

  In a moment, everyone was up and shifting from sleep to fighting mode. Weapons were raised as we took up a defense position around the predators.

  I took Sulk from the tree he was attached to, back to the passenger side of the predator, and secured him once more.

  He groaned as I locked him in place. I couldn’t bl
ame him. I wouldn’t want to be tied down while Legion came for us either.

  “Lou, Tong, on the Blood Shots,” Stacy instructed. “Dean, don’t let anything happen to our Rung friend.”

  We all moved to obey without asking questions, though I balked at calling Sulk a friend.

  I donned my helmet, which fit snugly on my head.

  More of the screaming came from the woods. We still couldn’t see anything, but it was getting closer.

  “Legion saw us leave the Orion and what?” John asked. “It took him this long to find us and gather a force to send here?”

  “Tong,” Stacy said without answering John’s question. “Time to fire up access to the satellite Jezra gave you. Tell me what we are dealing with here.”

  “Searching now,” Tong said, going for the data pad that hung on a carrier around his shoulder. “I can access the HUD in your helmets and let you see in real time what the satellite is seeing. Jezra has it following our movements.”

  A moment later, a small square popped to life in the lower right-hand corner of my visor. It showed an aerial view of our predators. We were tiny dots on the ground. Further into the forest showed not just dozens but hundreds of infected coming our way.

  The forest was full of the infected beings rushing our position like a dam that had burst and the ground began rumble with their stampede-like movement.

  “Stacy,” I said as calmly as I could.

  She knew the same thing I did. As much as we all wanted to stay and tear into Legion, this was not a fight six people could win.

  “There—there have to be hundreds of them!” Lou gasped in awe. “How are there so many?”

  “Talk later,” John said, already heading quickly for his predator. “We have to move now!”

  As if a spell was lifted from us, we all jumped immediately into action. I went for my predator with Tong and Sulk, while Stacy, Lou, and John jumped in their vehicle.

  “Here they come!” Stacy shouted.

  The sound of her weapon firing lit up the air. The Blood Shot rang out loud and clear as it peppered the first wave of infected humans.

  There weren’t only infected humans I found as I got a good look at them. Mechanically enhanced Rung bolstered their numbers as well. In fact, there now seemed to be more Rung than humans, which made sense as we’d been killing off the infected humans and hadn’t really encountered the Rung on this level yet.

  I only got a glimpse of them, but from what I could see, they were the stuff of nightmares. Half alien, half mechanically enhanced, and totally consumed with the Legion virus, they swarmed us. Black matter oozed from ebony eyes. The dark liquid came out of the holes in the sides of their heads they called ears.

  “Ahhhh!” I heard Tong roar over the sound of his Blood Shot as I urged our predator away from the mob.

  8

  Tong’s uncharacteristic roar was one I understood well. It wasn’t one of fear, but a rally cry. He needed to do something to harness his own fleeting courage. It was something common in men and woman preparing for a fight to psych themselves up. The roar was primal, something even animals understood.

  Right now, I didn’t blame him. The amount of infected sprinting at us from the forest was an intimidating sight. I had never seen so many in one place.

  Legion had been busy this last month, turning hundreds, maybe thousands of the Rung. No wonder Sulk had been sent to us. It was a last-ditch effort on the Rung’s part to avoid being completely wiped out.

  Weapons fire from the infected hammered across the predator. I ducked, surprised. Last I checked, infected were hungry, mindless beings controlled by Legion. A few of them carried the occasional blunt object, but none of them had wielded a weapon like a blaster.

  “Are they shooting at us!?” Stacy yelled over the sounds of her own Blood Shot ripping across the lines of infected.

  Another spattering of rounds hit my predator as I fought to gain control of it, trying to hold the steering wheel steady.

  “They’re shooting at us,” I yelled back. “They’re definitely shooting at us!”

  “Since when did Legion learn how to fire weapons?” John asked, echoing my previous thoughts.

  Driving full out, we were just about leaving the infected behind when I chanced a look in my rear-view mirror. Sure enough, Legion was chasing after us, but without vehicles, the infected had no chance.

  “Does our new ally care to weigh in on the fact that Legion can fire weapons now?” I asked Tong while staring daggers at Sulk. He couldn’t tell since I was wearing my helmet, but I think he understood he was in trouble by the sound of my voice.

  The echoes of weapons fire died behind us as we sped forward over the dry dirt terrain.

  Tong and Stacy eased off their vehicle when the infected were far enough behind us. The former exchanged a quick conversation with Sulk in their native language.

  “He says he doesn’t know when Legion became smart enough to have those he controls use weapons,” Tong explained. “A week, maybe two weeks ago, it started.”

  “Tell our mechanical friend here that any other information like this would be greatly appreciated,” Stacy said, sarcasm dripping from her voice. “What happened to our eye in the sky, Tong?”

  “I didn’t think Legion would be able to catch up to us so quickly,” Tong said. “I’m sorry, no excuses. I will monitor the satellite feed more regularly. Before I went down for my sleep, we were clear for miles in every direction.”

  “We couldn’t know he had turned so many or that they could move so quickly,” Lou said, trying to calm everyone in the charged moment. “We do now. We won’t make the same mistake.”

  “Keep the feed from the satellite live in our helmets,” Stacy instructed, losing the bite in her words without sacrificing their strength. “If Legion gets within ten miles of us, I want to know.”

  “I understand fully,” Tong said, contritely. “I’m sorry.”

  We moved on in silence for the next hour, following Sulk’s instructions as he led us to the foot of where two of the mountains met. True to his word, there was a small canyon cutting through the mountain range.

  Sheer rock walls reached high into the sky on either side of us. The canyon was wide enough that we could move side by side if we chose, but only just barely.

  We pulled level with one another, examining the passage. I looked over to John, who was driving the other predator. He glanced at me, shaking his head.

  I know, I don’t like it either, I thought to myself. This has ambush written all over it.

  The mountain range was all dirt and dark rocks stretching right to left as far as the eye could see. Here and there, small lizard-like animals scurried, trying to find food or shelter—maybe both.

  The suns had nearly set behind the mountains. Legion didn’t make mistakes. He had flushed us out for a reason. That much I was sure of.

  “We only have two options,” Stacy said, thinking out loud. “We go through or we scout another way around. Looking at the live feed, I don’t think there’s a clear way through like this, for who knows how long. It would take us days to go around.”

  “We don’t have days,” Lou said as if he were talking to himself. “The way is narrow and the path is steep.”

  “That some kind of ancient proverb or something?” John asked.

  “Something like that,” Lou said with a slight smile. “For what it’s worth, I say we go forward. Now that we all have the live feed, any move from Legion and we’ll see him coming miles away. But it’s not my decision and I can respect that.”

  I looked over to Stacy, who stood in the back of her predator with the Blood Shot. At the moment, her arms were crossed over her chest as if she were deep in thought.

  There was no real choice here. I knew that and so did she. We had to go through, though I respected her for taking the time to consider any and all other options before voicing her thoughts.

  “This is the only way,” Stacy finally said. “Eyes open. Legion has somet
hing up his sleeve, but the faster we get to the Rung, the faster we end this.”

  “Let’s go,” I said, turning my predator forward. We entered the canyon at a crawl that turned into a steady pace a few seconds later. With the light dying overhead, I turned my high beams on. They illuminated the dark, but we still couldn’t make much sense of what was ahead of us.

  The predators’ giant wheels slowly crunched over the dry terrain. My head was on a swivel. Everyone was right. There was something going on here we couldn’t see. My sixth sense told me this was all kinds of wrong.

  An eerie silence descended on our group like a thick blanket on a hot night. I watched the overhead satellite’s view inside my visor of the satellite expecting to see signs of Legion, but it stayed quiet.

  Sulk clicked something hard.

  Tong clicked back.

  The two exchanged a brief but intense conversation.

  “Want to fill me in here?” I asked. “Not all of us speak clicky S language.”

  “He sees something,” Tong said, leaning forward from his position as if he were trying to see into the distance. “A man.”

  I looked forward again. Thus far, the canyon had been nothing more than a few rocks and boulders I had to navigate over or around. I craned my neck forward, trying to get a glimpse of anything.

  There shouldn’t be anyone human around here. If there were, we could be almost certain it was an infected.

  “There, on the feed,” Stacy pointed out, tension and anxiety evident in her voice. “It came out of nowhere. It wasn’t there a second ago, I swear.”

  I looked down at the small bleep on my feed. While the satellite was zoomed out, the figures appeared as tiny dots. When it was zoomed in, we could make out distinct images of the individuals. Right now, it was zoomed out, showing us as a pair of tiny dots going through the canyon and whatever it was in front of us as a stationary dot.

  Stacy was right, it was as if the interloper had appeared out of thin air.

  I slowed the predator to a crawl as the headlights pierced the darkness, picking up the figure of a human man as we drew closer. He was tall with grey hair and a grizzled face. Unlike the other infected, he was clean, as if he had just taken a bath and gathered new clothes. The only thing at all that set him apart from a normal man was those black eyes. They were piercing and scary, feral-looking and lacking humanity.