The Live Soldier Trilogy Box Set

by Liam Clay

  Peace protests, of course. But we’ve all seen Tikal in command mode, and there is no changing her mind once it’s been made up. Having a clear direction seems to have galvanized Lucy. She has never been one to shy away from a fight (she used to pick them with me all the time) but I’ve never seen her this raring to go. It beats obsessing over the bigger stuff, I suppose. Francis is a different story, though. Getting his way hasn’t improved his mental state, and I have to pull him to his feet. Delez doesn’t move a muscle the entire time. He just sits there watching us with an alert expression, like a hawk eyeing a litter of mice. And now we’re leaving the room, locking the door behind us.

  “Will that hold them?” I ask dubiously.

  “I have no idea.” Lucy replies. “But it’s better than nothing.”

  A detonation shakes the hallway. We exchange a glance, and set off at a run. Back in the entry cavern, the Kogis are assembling in front of Amy and Balthazar. Seeing them together, hands clasped, I would be hard pressed to guess who is the older. There are a thousand things we need to tell them: about Peace and Delez; about the Architect; about the possibility that we might be wrong to withhold the black box. But we will not get that chance, because Balthazar is already issuing orders.

  “Alright everyone, you all know what I'm going to say. But I want you to act like it's some groundbreaking shit anyway. This is the moment we’ve been training for. When I say go, I want everyone to run for their squids. Remember your formations, but don’t be afraid to swim solo if you see a chance to wreak havoc. We’re not picking up any large attack vessels, so it looks like this will get up close and personal. We will be monitoring you from the main control room, and providing torpedo support where we can. Am I clear?”

  “Yes Queenfisher!”

  “Good. Now go kick some Null ass.” No one moves. “I said go, go, go! Now, you bastards!”

  The Kogis surge to the left, heading for the tube chamber I saw earlier. Within seconds, we are alone with Amy and Balthazar. The Kogi queen is dressed for battle in white breaches and a heavy flak jacket. A headset has been fitted over her thick, salt-styled hair. It’s good to see her again - but it doesn't look like the feeling is mutual.

  “Well, what are you waiting for?” She snaps.

  “Uh... what do you want us to do?” I ask.

  “Get out there and fight, obviously. You brought the Null here, so the least you can do is help get rid of them too.”

  “We understand.” Tikal says. “And we're sorry. Where do you want us?”

  Balthazar points into the adjoining chamber. “Just follow them and do what they do.” Her tone softens slightly. “And don't worry about the controls; they’re pretty much just point and squeeze.”

  I don’t know what controls she's talking about, but it seems inappropriate to ask.

  “Is anyone else coming to help you?” Lucy asks.

  The Queenfisher shakes her head. “I tried to contact Opacity's leader - Shion, I think his name is - but there was no reply.”

  “I think they might be under attack too.”

  “Then this really is it.” She says sadly. “The end of the line, for all of us.”

  Tikal nods. “You may be more right than you know.” Then she turns to us. “Let's go.”

  We follow the Kogis into the next chamber. Hundreds of glass tubes climb to the ceiling, lit from below by a soft purple light. Through another corridor cut into the right-hand wall, I can see Calendo's spitfires in their floating parking lot. We approach the tubes. There is a hissing sound, and an armada of one-man subs rises into view. The Queenfisher has trained her subjects well, and every squid is soon occupied. Then the subs shoot upward in unison. A new group replaces them, and the process is repeated. The Kogi numbers dwindle, until there are only a few dozen left.

  “Are you sure this is a good idea?” I ask Tikal. “I mean, we don't even know how to operate these things.”

  Lucy can't believe what she's hearing. “What's this now? The Live Soldier himself, asking to sit out a battle? That doesn't sound like the crazy bastard I know.”

  “Well maybe I'm a bit frazzled, okay? The world might be ending, in case you haven’t heard.”

  “All the more reason to throw caution to the wind, then.”

  “And that doesn't sound like you either, Lucy. What happened to the pragmatic bitch I know and love?”

  Lucy snorts. “Do you know how most gamblers die back in the Underworld? They keep pushing their luck until it runs out, and they have to borrow credit from one of the submerged casinos. Once that happens, it's just a matter of time until they're reduced to playing life or death stakes in some virtual game.”

  “Those are a thing?”

  “Oh, they're all the rage in certain circles. The house throws a bunch of washouts into a digital environment where dying is the real deal. Spectators place bets, and then watch the drama unfold. Anyway long story short, I've always played life close to the edge. Now I just get to do it for a good reason.”

  The last Kogis are deploying now. Our turn has come. My squid rises from the floor, and I step toward it. The sub looks like a living thing; whoever designed it was concerned with peacetime aesthetics as much as combat functionality. I push my arms in first, and then my head. My legs slot in next. The vessel is made of a rubbery substance that shapes itself to my frame. My hands close around the craft's directional handles, and my feet find a pair of pedals. The squid seals itself shut. The engine powers up, and water starts to pulse through sacks and thruster tubes. Turning my head, I ask Lucy one more question.

  “Are we doing this for a good reason?”

  She shrugs inside her squid. “Like Francis said, we know the Null can lie. So until I see some proof, I’m going to assume the world is fine.”

  And now the sub is pressing in on me; the tube must just have pressurized. That same hiss comes again, and I now I’m flying straight up into the roof. The cavern gives way to layered rock, flickering through a range of colors tinted purple by the squid itself. Just to see what will happen, I squeeze down on the directional handles. But the sub doesn’t respond. The pedals are equally useless. Either the controls require water immersion to function, or I've been dealt a lemon.

  A midnight blue circle appears above me. It grows at a frightening rate, until I can see nothing else. Then the tube vomits me out into a full scale aquatic battle. A squid rips by, chasing an armored Null soldier with a propeller on his back. A stream of black ink shoots from the sub's feelers. The substance envelops the soldier. When it clears, his armor has been compromised and water is rushing in. He sinks into a thicket of coral reef and disappears.

  Not far from me, another soldier has alighted on the sunken hulk of the ancient space station. The mouth of a squat black cylinder is visible over one shoulder. A handle protrudes from its side. The Null grabs it and pulls. The rocket launcher ratchets up and locks into place alongside his chin. He squeezes the trigger. Water boils, and a slim red dart scuds my way. I press down on my foot pedals. This time the squid responds, jetting forward through the water. The rocket strikes the reef behind me and explodes, sending shards of bleached coral everywhere. A chunk lodges in the rubbery flesh of my vessel, but does no damage.

  I'm about to pass the soldier who fired on me. I twist my directional handles, causing the feelers on my squid to bend right. Then I clench my fists. The soldier takes a dose of acidic ink to the face, point blank. It eats the rubber off his mask, and then his faceplate. He sucks in a lungful of contaminated water. The convulsions that wrack his body are terrible to watch - especially now that I have Delez's claims burning in my mind. But if I let doubt slow my hand, I’m dead. Keeling over, the soldier falls through a crack in the space station's hull.

  When he's gone, I take a moment to assess my surroundings. Everywhere I look, people are dying. The Kogi subs are fast and nimble; but a near miss from a Null rocket is enough to tear them apart. The enemy, by contrast, are slow to move through the water. But only a close rang
e ink blast is capable of depleting their armor. The result is a relatively even fight, tilted slightly our way by the smart torpedoes Balthazar is firing from launchers embedded in the coral. As for me, my best strategy is probably to keep moving, so I put the pedals to the metal again.

  The squid gains speed, and now I'm soaring through the melee, executing drive bys on Null soldiers. One of my feelers gets blown off a few minutes into the battle, but sheer velocity saves me from further injury. The stress of constant movement is taking a toll, though. In need of a respite, I circle down into the lee of the teardrop spaceship. Even up close, its smooth white hull looks untouched by its century beneath the sea. The fighting has yet to reach this spot. Bringing my squid to a halt, I unclench my hands from around the vessel's handles and try to slow my breathing.

  As I'm doing so, a shadow falls upon the sea floor. I look up. Two Null soldiers are sinking toward me, holding a multi-legged device between them. It's a plasma-digger, exactly like the one we used to defend the Tub against Vorashia. Before I can move, one of the soldiers sees me. He ratchets up his launcher, sights in, and fires. The rocket hits the spaceship a few meters above me. The blast knocks me half unconscious, and takes a gouge out of my squid's flank as well. I can still breathe, but water is seeping in around my hips and legs.

  With me incapacitated, the soldiers are free to work. Their boots hit the seafloor, and they bring the plasma-digger in for a landing. Its legs dig into the coral. One of the soldiers starts to prime the device, just like Ugly did when the Pros were carving a hole through our roof. But this time, the digger is facing down as it's meant to. The laser powers up, and the water starts to vibrate with kinetic energy. Someone needs to stop them before they cut into the cryobunker. But if the squids share a comms channel, I have no idea how to use it. And so there is nothing I can do.

  The digger reaches full power. Phosphorescent light turns the surrounding coral a deep blue, and then the laser fires straight down into the ground. The heat it gives off is extraordinary. The beam eats through the layered sediment like it was paper mache. There is a rumbling sound, and now I’m being pulled toward the hole like an ant down a stormdrain. The laser is still firing; it's going to turn my squid into calamari. What a way to go out.

  When I'm five meters from the digger, one of its legs buckles. And then the device is gone, sucked down the hole. I am dragged in after it. For a moment, the tunnel plays host to a deranged light show as the digger bounces off the walls, laser spinning wildly. Then it smashes into a knob of rock and the beam goes out. So now it's only free fall that I have to worry about. That, and the ocean streaming down along with me.

  CHAPTER 28

  But that same ocean ends up saving my life. I drop out of the tunnel and into the entry cavern, which is already starting to flood. My squid splashes down into thigh deep water. The impact knocks the wind out of me, but that's it. And now I'm kicking, clawing, pushing my way out of the damaged sub. But it doesn't want to let me go. What a stupid fucking creation this thing is. I’m going to hate squid for the rest of my (probably short) life.

  Finally, I am able to crawl out through the gouge in the sub's flank. The digger's broken shell is about three paces away; it's just luck I didn't land on it. But now something else almost lands on me. The Null soldier crashes down with a massive splash. But he springs back up quickly, already bringing his weapon to bear. Without thinking, I grab it with my bionic arm and pull. The prosthetic tears the rocket launcher right off the man's back. Then I knock him out with my human fist. There is another splash behind me. I'm still holding the launcher, so I find the trigger, turn and fire. The rocket hits the second soldier in the chest. He explodes in a hail of steel, meat and flame. Knocked off my feet, I land in the water and float there, staring at the ceiling.

  But I can't stop yet. The roof is shaking now, and the rock is red hot in places. We've got more diggers incoming. I get up and wade through the tide, heading for the stairs. Then another digger breaks through the roof. The laser flashes downward and stabs into the cave floor. As water rushes into the newly created tunnel, it touches the laser and is transformed into steam. Then the digger is crushed by the sea, and the beam goes out. The hole turns into a second waterspout. And the first thing to come through it is Lucy. Her squid has been shredded by the trip down the tunnel. But she falls in total control, splaying her body at the last second so that the water cushions her fall. By the time I reach her, she is upright and ready to move.

  “Anex! I can’t believe that just happened. Have you seen Francis or Tikal?”

  “No. What the hell is going on up there?”

  “They've got dozens of plasma-diggers planted on the seabed now. If we stay here, they’ll fry us.”

  Together, we wade for the stairs. The water has only reached the lower steps, so the complex isn't going to flood immediately, at least. Then it's up and into the corridors.

  “Should we go and get Peace and Delez?” I ask.

  “No, let's find Amy and Balthazar first. Maybe they’ll know what to do.”

  “So the control room, then. Where's that at?”

  “I have no idea. But they probably do.”

  A group of armed Kogis have just rounded a corner ahead of us.

  “We're Amy's friends!” I shout. But they raise their guns anyway. Then a rocket explodes behind us. Turning, I see that the entry cavern is now home to a forest of waterspouts. The Null have been using them as a means of ingress, and are now forming up for an attack. One squad has already reached the stairs; they’re the ones who fired the rocket.

  “Get down!” Lucy shouts. I drop to the ground just as the Kogis open fire. The Null squad is decimated in seconds - but more are on their way.

  The Kogis have recognized us now. They create a cordon across the corridor, standing shoulder to shoulder with us behind them. The thickset woman we met earlier is among the defenders. She gives each of us a submachine gun and a bag of extra clips. We had planned to find the control room, but leaving the Kogis to fight alone is not an option. I nod to Lucy, and we join their line.

  Our position isn't actually that bad. To get a proper shot at us, the Null have to climb the stairs first. And when they do, we cut them down without mercy. Within minutes, the corridor entrance is stacked high with bodies. Any other force would have pulled back and changed tactics by now. But the Null are single-minded to a fault. It sickens me that these were once regular people with their own emotions, goals and dreams.

  I can hear sounds from the squid chamber now. I think the launch tubes are in use again. Diverting their attention from us, the Null start to fire in that direction. The Kogis storm through the arched gate a few seconds later. But the Null are dropping through the waterspouts in droves now. And these new arrivals carry assault rifles instead of rocket launchers. They break into two groups. One engages the Kogis who have returned through the deployment tubes, while the other focuses on us.

  They find their range well back of the stairs, and start to fire up into the corridor. After that, the casualties mount on our side. The fight on the cavern floor has turned against us as well. The Kogi charge has been stopped in its tracks, and the left flank is being murdered wholesale. For a moment, it looks like the entire contingent will suffer the same fate. But the right flank is able to cut a sideways retreat up the stairs. And leading the way are Francis and Tikal. Their numbers bolster our failing line. Tikal has acquired a Null assault rifle somewhere. She slots in beside me, firing back into the fray.

  Our cordon holds strong until the thickset woman goes down gutshot. The Kogis lose their nerve after that. The standoff becomes a route, and now we're running back through the corridors.

  “We have to let Peace and Delez out of that room!” I shout to Tikal.

  “What if he tries to kill us?”

  “I don't think he will. The Null still want to use me to influence Kalana.”

  She nods, and we break off down a side passageway. I am lost almost immediately. But Lucy
leads us unerringly to the meeting room where we left our friends. Only to find it empty. The door has been broken open from the inside, and ripped half off its hinges in the process.

  “Son of a bitch.” Tikal says under breath. “Where do you think they went?”

  “Peace would have wanted to join the fighting. And Delez might have too, except on the opposite side.”

  “So they could be anywhere.” Francis moans. His voice is cracked and wavering; he hasn't been the same since Delez said his piece. I hate seeing him this way. But he also needs to snap out of it before he gets us killed.

  “Francis, that stuff about the black hole unnerved all of us. But Delez was probably lying, so there's no use worrying about it right now.”

  “I'm not worried!” He replies, almost snarling the words. “I just can't believe that you and Lucy were so close to buying it. Are you really that gullible?” Then his jaw slackens, and he passes a hand over his eyes. “I'm sorry guys. It's just... if I admit to myself that it could be true, I'm done. It would be too much.”

  “You know what I can't stop thinking about?” Lucy says suddenly. “Delez said that it was an artificial black hole. Does that mean someone made it, and sent it our way?”

  “Enough!” Francis cries. “Seriously, I need you to stop talking about it. Now, I vote that we find the control room and see what Amy and Balthazar have to say.”

  Tikal glances up and down the deserted hallway. “Alright, who wants to pick a direction?”

  Lucy chooses left, and we move out. The entire cryobunker is shaking now, and cracks are spiderwebbing across the walls. I won't be surprised if the entire place caves in. Tikal leads us through turning after turning, making choices by gut feel. Her guesswork eventually brings us to a vaulted hallway larger than any we've seen. Recessed alcoves hold plinths with Kogi artifacts displayed on top of them, and a shell mosaic adorns the floor.

  The hallway ends at a stainless steel slab of a door. We start toward the comms panel located beside it. But the fighting is close behind us now, and before we can reach the door, an entire Null platoon comes spilling into the hall. I throw myself behind a plinth as gunfire erupts. Tikal falls in beside me. Francis and Lucy take cover in an alcove behind us, closer to the Null.