Lily was standing a short distance away, conscious again, and looking even more worse for the wear than the last time I’d looked upon her. Everywhere else I turned I saw Qharr fighting Qharr. It seems as if a pack of gray skin had come to rescue us. I wasn’t sure how I felt about it, but one thing was certain, I never in my wildest dreams would have ever expected one of our conquerors, let alone a whole squad of them, to come to our aid even after Dynnara joined ranks with us.
“Dynnara!” I yelled barely able to hear myself over the roar of the battle and pointed up to the building. “Can you get us up there?!”
Her head snapped around and her eyes locked on the spot where I was pointing. She screamed at the top of her lungs pointing at four warriors then turned to me. “If that is what you wish.”
The Qharr hunters moved with the brutal efficiency that few could match and struck at those who remained within the perimeter that had been created upon their arrival. The remaining fighters pushed out, peppering those who resisted them with a deluge of phase fire that devastated the rioting masses. Those that remained fled before their attacks unable to withstand the onslaught of the devastating blasts.
The bodies of our fallen attackers were slowly cleared away and I let a sigh of relief as each one of them was revealed to be alive. Some were in worse shape than others. Max’s face was a mass of bruises, Lily still looked pale and the doctor’s arm hung from his side uselessly, but Farris by far looked the worst. Even so, he climbed to his feet with a stubborn set to his jaw, and scooped my sister’s corpse up. I think he was as determined to give her a proper burial as I was.
I bit my lip and turned away fighting away the tears, but even so a few managed to stain my cheeks. I retrieved my pistols from the ground then cleared my throat and turned to Dynara. “Show us the way.”
Our fight up had been far less eventful than our flight through the streets, but when we got to the rooftops things got just a little more interesting. Fighters zoomed through the sky blasting at each other in the distance as they fought for arial domination of the sky.
If it had been just human and allied vessels fighting the gray skins it wouldn’t have seen quite so jilting, but many of the ships fighting each other were Qharr. It seemed almost incomprehensible, but we had succeeded in a way I never thought possible. The revelation that humans were the first race had clearly had a profound effect. The soldiers of the empire were actually rebelling. It was the outcome we had hoped for, but not one I had believed possible.
Max was yelling into her comm the moment we found our way onto the roof. “This is Sergeant Maxine Rodriquez, M-O-S Sixty-Eight Whisky Two, five-niner-bravo-seven-six-charlie-delta. I’m sending our coordinates now. We need immediate extraction. Repeat immediate extraction.”
She gritted her teeth and turned to me with a shake of her head. “A transport is inbound, but it may be a bit before they reach us.”
I nodded and paused for a moment to take in the battle. I’m sure there was fighting all over the city, but what little of it I could see was centered around the sub-ascendant’s residence. They were far enough away that we weren’t in any immediate danger, but that could change pretty quickly. The allied vessels were a hodgepodge of ship’s design. The human fighters were easy enough to pick out, the shared the sleek characteristics of their large counterparts, but the allied vessels were another matter entirely.
There were the orange and black dagger shaped vessels that sped through the air so fast that I wondered how their pilots could maintain control, then there were the blockier red and gray craft that flew at what I could only describe a more leisurely pace and blasted the enemy craft with powerful shots from phase canons that looked like they belonged on a much larger vessel like a cruiser and finally there were the cone-shaped craft that were a bright-blue color and covered in spikes.
Vakrexid flapped his one good arm and waved it out at the battle. He warbled and let out a high pitched squeal before turning back to me. “Those blue ones are Dexagarmetrax fighters!”
A brief image of the doctor at the helm of a fighter popped into my head and for a moment the goofy image even managed to bring a smile to my face before the weight of everything came crashing back down onto my shoulders. Again, I found myself fighting the urge to curl up into a ball, but I batted it away. I couldn’t allow myself to become distracted not when we were so close. I had to survive, if for nothing else than for Becca. She wouldn’t have wanted to me just to give up.
“Take cover!” Max screamed as a trio of Qharr fighters zoomed toward us.
I dove down and found cover behind some a large piece of machinery. If those fighters happened to spot us and opened fire, my hiding place wouldn’t offer up much protection, but it was more than suitable to conceal me. Unfortunately, the fighters weren’t fooled. I don’t know which of us they spotted, but when they stopped dead, hovering in the air above us I knew cowering behind the machinery wouldn’t do us any good.
I stepped out from cover and held my hands up. “Everyone stay down!” I screamed out as I walked slowly toward the edge of the roof. Maybe, there was a way I could fool the fighters into thinking I was alone. A phase canon put out a lot more energy than a rifle or a pistol. I wasn’t sure if I could survive the blast, if they decided to open fire, but I stood a much better chance than the others.
Fortunately, I never had to find out. A series of brilliant flashes slammed into the fighters each of which were sent careening down toward the ground where they exploded with blasts far more brilliant than the ones that had taken them out. When the resulting flashes cleared a human ship zoomed toward the building and stopped near the edge. A ramp extended from the side as a door on the side hissed open.
A lanky man, with a balding head stuck his head out and motioned forward. He spoke his voice artificially amplified by his helmet. “Sergeant Rodriquez!”
Max lurched into motion, yelling, screaming and frantically waved her hands as she motioned for all of us to follow. Most of us were already in motion, but I stayed back to assure that everyone was finding their way then turned to Dynnara who was staring at the transport ship with wide eyes.
“You coming?”
She turned to me and smiled again. “It would be an honor, but my place is here. There is a battle to be fought and perhaps even a war. The Ascendancy has committed a grievous sin and must be made to answer for what it has done.”
I bit my lip and cupped my hand around her right bicep. It was not a gesture I would have ever imagined making to a Qharr, but it was one that I believed was well deserved. It was a way of offering a fellow warrior well wishes and victory on the battlefield. I couldn’t help, but smile when she returned it.
“Go!” She yelled switching to Qharr just before she spun around and started yelling orders at the cadre of warriors that had accompanied us.
I didn’t say goodbye, that would have seemed hollow compared to the moment we had just shared. I climbed into the transport and collapsed on the ground beside Farris and my sister’s corpse. Tears cascaded down my cheeks as I finally allowed myself to morn. I had high hopes for Earth, but my future seemed much dimmer without Becca.
Even with working inertial negators the transport shook and rattled as it rocketed into the sky, but I couldn’t have cared less. My people were being carried away to safety and my part in the fighting was finally done.
Chapter Eighteen
Eyes closed, I leaned over the railing resting my head against the cold surface of the transparasteel as I stood a short distance away from the bed where Becca’s body had been placed. We had successfully made our escape and had been welcomed aboard the Valiant, the flagship of the ERF fleet, but there had been so much happening with the battle that we’d been shunted aside and forgotten. I didn’t blame them. If I had a battle to win, I wouldn’t be too worried about observing pleasantries.
At least, they had taken the time to escort us to the medical bay and treat our injuries. Well, those
of us that needed it anyway. I opened my eyes, and bit my lip. Looking around at the others. Farris was seated next to my sister, his head bowed and both of his hands clasped in front of his face, the doctor was studying a display panel in the corner and Lily, who was in much better shape after receiving a blood transfusion, was standing beside me both hands on the rail. She leaned close to me and put her head on my shoulder. She didn’t say a word, and she didn’t have to. If anyone understood what I was going through it was Lily.
I glanced out the view port and shook my head. There was a sad sort of beauty in the destruction I witnessed there as the opposing forces ripped each other to shreds, but all I could think was how senseless it had all been. Our world had been invaded and enslaved and for what? Because the sub-ascendant had feared the truth about the connection between our two races. The end was near, but everything I ever cared about had been taken away from me. Except Lily. I took her hand in mine and squeezed it. Without her I would have nothing.
“This is most befuddling!” The doctor cried out and I craned my neck around to get a good look at him.
“Doctor, what is it?” Lily asked her hand still gripped in mine as she jerk sideways to meet the doctor’s gaze.
“Vakrexid is examining the scans of Rebecca’s body and cannot detect any sign of decay. She has no heartbeat, and no respiratory activity. This should not be possible.”
“What are you saying, doc?” Farris looked up his eyes red from all the tears he had shed.
“Neural activity! How can this be?! It should not be possible. Vakrexid cannot explain it… and yet. The symbiote! That must be it. Somehow it has managed to preserve Rebecca’s higher brain functions.”
“Doctor!” I screamed out. Not even realizing I had moved across the room until my I found my hands gripped around his shoulders. “What does that mean?”
“It means Alexana,” he said putting both hands on my shoulders. “That Vakrexid can revive your sister. Excuse me, Vakrexid must confer with my ERF colleagues.”
The doctor pulled away and I watched him jerk across the room unable to believe that it could be possible. I followed him, seeking more answers, but he spun around and gripped his hands around my shoulders. “No time to talk. Time is most important. Vakrexid needs you to displace your body from this place. Please, depart the infirmary at once!”
Vakrexid turned away and I felt a pair of hands pulling on mine. I let those hands leading me away. Once, the door had snapped shut behind us I turned to find Lily gazing up at me with those big magenta eyes. For most of our relationship, I felt as if I had always been the one looking after Lily. She’d always seemed… so delicate. Now I was the fragile one, the one who needed to be held. She wrapped her hands around me and we watched from the waging battle through the corridor view port.
Military vessels weren’t the only ones we witness strewed amongst the fighters and flagships. Civilian ships, merchants, cargo transports and the like fled Earth atmosphere, either disappearing with a flash of light or were destroyed by stray weapons fire. Most were of Qharr make, but there were a few of alien design. I wondered briefly if one of those vessels belonged to Veslpatt, but I had no way of knowing. A part of me really hoped the crime lord had managed to escape.
As the battle waged more and more gray skin ships turned against the main fleet, joining the human and allied vessels as they fought for dominance. The tide had turned in our favor, to be sure, but the implications of Qharr fighting Qharr went beyond this one battle. It meant civil war within the empire. If we succeeded in retaking Earth, which was looking more and more likely, our chances of maintaining control would be much greater if the gray skins remained occupied by an internal conflict.
We stood there transfixed by the spectacle, horrified, and yet, unable to look away. To me, it was almost as if by watching the battle we were, in fact, witnessing a physical manifestation of the doctor’s struggle to resurrect my sister. Each time a human vessel was destroyed or damaged I swore that I was seeing my sister’s death reaffirmed. She was dead. How could she be resurrected?
More Qharr ships fell before the growing might of the allied forces until finally so few remained that there was no doubt who the victors were.
“This is General Harold Briggs with Earth Return Fleet calling for all Qharr forces to stand down for immediate surrender. Any ships that fail to comply will be immediately fired upon.”
The voice which played over the intercom sounded older, and more worn than the one I’d heard from the message in the biometric key, but it very clearly belonged to the same man. Or did it? The ERF relied on clones to fill it’s ranks perhaps this Harold Briggs was a clone… or maybe the one left on Earth had been. Either way it was very unlikely that they were the same person.
The opposing Qharr ships didn’t surrender, but neither did they put up a fight. Instead they vanished with a bright flash of light. They’d fled with their tales tucked between their legs, an act that didn’t exactly fit within their code of honor. Those gray skin vessels that had joined forces with the ERF didn’t take long to follow until the only ship’s that filled they emptiness were human and allied vessels.
Humanity was free at last!
“Becca!” I said practically leaping across the room as the doctor motioned me inside the room.
As I drew close I could see her chest rise and fall, but her eyes did not open. Tears were streaming down my face as I reached out to take her hands. She didn’t move or respond in any way, but I felt a surge of joy when my fingers clasped around hers. Her hands were warm! “She-she’s going to make it?”
I felt a hand on my shoulder and I turned to look into Vakrexid’s large bulbous eyes. “The symbiote did not survive, but his efforts were not in vain. Many of her internal organs were damaged and we were forced to replace them with artificial replacements for the time being. When she is in a more stable condition we will need to clone permanent implants, but it will be some time before we’ll be able to grow them. Fortunately, the ERF has the capability to produce mass quantities of blood on demand so Vakrexid was able to–”
I smiled and threw my arms around him, cutting him short in the middle of his rant. “Thank you.”
The doctor’s frame stiffened for moment just before I felt his arms slip up my back as he returned my hug. “You are most welcome.”
It felt so… miraculous after having so much taken away and now to have Becca given back. There were no words to describe the joy I felt. I pulled away and glanced over my shoulder at my sister’s inert form. “How long until she regains consciousness?”
“It is most difficult to predict.” Vakrexid let out a long mournful wail. “This situation is most unprecedented. It is unlikely that she will awaken for several days, but Vakrexid cannot say for certain.”
I nodded and walked over to my sister’s resting place and put a hand on her shoulder. “I can live with that if it means I’ll get to hear her voice again. I hope it’s alright with you, but I think I’ll keep watch over her until she wakes up. I thought I lost her twice already. I don’t intend for it to happen again.
“Indeed.” Vakrexid scurried away and I took a seat beside Becca’s bed and took her hand.
For the longest time, Becca was the sole object of my attention. Oh sure, I was aware of Farris along with the added presence of Vakrexid, and the ERF doctor’s scurrying about, but I wasn’t concerned about their presence and paid them no mind.
After a time, I felt a hand slip around my waist and a head lean against my shoulder. She’d been away debriefing the ERF commanders. I’m sure I’d be asked to do the same soon enough, but at the moment I was being given my space. The general probably had something to do with that, but I didn’t ask. Lily’s squeezed my free hand and I squeezed back. That moment stretched into an eternity and I closed my eyes letting a flood of warmth rush through me.
Khala’s presence was strong in my mind and a smile touched the corner of my lips as I felt an outpouring
of love and support. Our relationship had always been tenuous at best, but that had already started to change. I cared for my symbiote and it was now obvious she returned those feelings. Earth would be need to be rebuilt and I couldn’t imagine that happening without the support of every willing being, human, K’teth or even Dexagarmetrax.
“Thank you, Sergeant Rodriquez,” a lone figure said from the view port. I couldn’t see much of his face, but his gray hair at least told me he was well past his prime. “You’re dismissed.”
Max threw her hand out in a salute and turned around on the balls of her feet before disappearing through the doorway. The figure turned toward me, once the door slid shut behind him, and smiled. He stroked his bearded chin and studied me with a pair of fierce steel-blue eyes that showed nothing but kindness. He looked so much like my father that for a brief moment I actually believed I was looking upon the spectre of Lloyd Briggs, but there was something about his bearing that gave his true identity away. It was my uncle, Harold Briggs.
He turned back toward the view poor staring at that great blue marble that was the Earth and sighed. “For almost twenty-five years, I’ve waited for this day. The day that I would return home and retake the world I’d been forced to flee all those years ago. Now that I’ve succeeded, I scarcely know what to do with myself.”
“Your job is hardly done, General. There are still thousands of Qharr left on Earth and after that there will be a world to rebuild,” I said walking slowly toward the view port.
I touched the glass and looked out at the expanse. I sensed his eyes on me and turned to meet his gaze when he started to speak. “I don’t think I was fully prepared.”
I nodded. “It was certainly an enormous task.”
“It was, but that is not what I meant. I wasn’t prepared for how much you remind me of your father.”
Battle For Earth Page 67