Valkyrie would love this, and Alex made a note to tell her about it on their return. “That’s fairly amazing. And potentially very useful.”
Nika’s countenance took on an odd pall. “That’s why I did it.”
The woman seemed to have mixed feelings at best about splitting her consciousness, but now wasn’t the time to delve into such an esoteric topic. Instead, Alex retrieved yet another of Devon’s last-minute gifts. She handed Nika a tiny black dot, then took one for herself and pressed it onto the skin behind her ear. “Non-quantum trackers. If you flip the walkie-talkie over, there’s a small screen on the back. It’ll display the location of the other trackers on a basic, and I do mean basic, map.”
The hull vibrated once more as they began their descent to the planet’s surface, and Morgan remarked over her shoulder, “Atmosphere corridors, Nika. They’ll change your life.”
Alex gave Nika a shrug, and they both returned to the cockpit to get their first glimpse at the current state of Namino One.
Nika had said the city was home to almost nine million people…and Alex’s first thought when she saw the skyline was that most of them were dead. It looked as if a giant had stomped its way across the city with all the grace of a toddler plodding through a sandbox. Numerous fires raged, though they were grossly outnumbered by smoldering ruins. Multiple large Rasu vessels and many hundreds of smaller ones patrolled above the region.
The flat, arid terrain at least provided them plenty of options for landing, and they opted for an open area 1.2 kilometers from what had once been a levtram track encircling the city proper. The bunker where Caleb, Marlee and the others were located was almost five kilometers from the landing site, but parking any closer risked putting the ship directly in the path of regular Rasu activity.
Oh, how she hated leaving the Siyane behind. She fastened her flak jacket up, then checked with Morgan one last time. “Keep the walkie-talkie within arm’s reach at all times. If any Rasu get too close, move if you believe it’s the safest course of action. And—”
“And stay sober?”
“I wasn’t going to say that. I assumed I didn’t need to say that. Morgan, when this is finished, if you decide it’s what you want, you can return to conning drunk bar patrons out of their credits, vehicles and retail establishments. I hope you’ll choose differently, but it’s your call. But so long as we are here, you will do everything in your annoyingly talented power to keep this ship safe and, when the time comes, bring it to our rescue. Understand?”
“Yes, ma’am.” Morgan flung her a mock salute and kicked her legs up on the dash.
Alex forced herself to walk away. She slipped her backpack on, opened the airlock and descended the ramp. Nika followed her down. Between the woman’s overstuffed backpack, hip pack, tactical belt and flak jacket, she appeared to be single-handedly preparing to go kamikaze on every Rasu occupying Namino. Which she was—but not single-handedly. “Ready?”
“Ready.”
Alex activated the kamero filter Nika had provided her with. Allegedly, so long as they gave any ground Rasu a reasonably wide berth, the stealth mechanism should allow them to stroll straight through downtown.
They set their attention upon the apocalyptic wasteland due ahead and set off.
55
* * *
NAMINO
Namino One
Under cover of night, the city looked as if nuclear winter had descended upon it. A coat of ash had settled onto the streets, sidewalks and the awnings that still stood; yet more hung in the air like snow too buoyant to fall. Soot and scorch marks darkened the crumbling façades like the scars of a war already lost.
But it wasn’t lost, Marlee told herself. It was just beginning.
They had to trek across six kilometers to get in range of the Rasu compound. The Asterions’ kamero filters gave them some protection from discovery, and the long night shadows provided the rest. The Rasu had taken out the electrical grid in the first two days, and the only light came from the massive vessels patrolling overhead and a sky full of stars.
Once they were moving toward their target, Joaquim and Selene battled for position and the right to give orders, which ended up meaning they took turns clearing blocks and waving everyone forward. But they both seemed smart enough to not let their simmering rivalry endanger the mission.
Several times they had to give Rasu patrols a wide berth, but during their journey they never saw a living Asterion. This didn’t mean there weren’t living Asterions in the city, of course, merely that they had gone to ground as instructed.
Nevertheless, since the last time Marlee had ventured outside, it felt as if the Rasu had claimed the city and made it their own. Now they—she, Caleb, their Asterion companions—were the invaders.
A kilometer short of their destination, the Rasu activity began to grow thick, and their progress slowed to a crawl. The compound was now the hub of Rasu operations in Namino One, no question.
After roving Rasu hauling their bounty into the compound drove the group into the cover of alleys three times in a single block, Selene motioned for them to gather around her, where they could all hear her furtive whispers. “We can’t risk getting any closer. From this point on, Rasu are stationed every four meters all the way to the compound.”
Rogers shook his head. “We don’t have a clear shot from here.”
Joaquim peered out of the alley for a minute, then rejoined their huddle. “Another block to the east, most of the buildings have been leveled. We should have line-of-sight from there.”
Selene’s gaze flickered between Joaquim and the street for several seconds. Finally she nodded. “All right. One block to the east.”
They slow-hurried across the open, exposed intersection then pressed against one of the few remaining façades on the next block. As they tip-toed east, that structure soon crumbled away into ruins. But its absence revealed the menacing silhouette of the Rasu compound. A high wall obscured much of the interior, but a thick, tapered spire rose far above it to an apex lit by a brilliant violet glow.
Rogers set the launcher on the ground and opened a panel on its side. A smaller cylinder extended out from one end and locked into place. He hefted the device up onto his shoulder, pointed it and himself in the direction of the tower, and steadied it with one hand while typing a series of commands on the control panel with the other. “It’s locked onto the upper quarter of the tower. Maybe we can take out the whole operation with one shot.”
Joaquim placed a hand on the device, studying the control panel closely before locking his gaze on the spire. “Don’t miss.”
“I am a Colonel in the Dominion Armed Forces. I know how to fire a rocket launcher.”
“I’m sure you do.” Joaquim backed away, hands raised. “So don’t miss.”
“Asshole.” Rogers returned his other hand to the cylinder, exhaled and activated the trigger. The payload shot out of the cylinder and streaked across the sky toward the tower, leaving a trail of cool blue fire in its wake. It crossed above the outer wall—
—four violet-hued lasers shot out of turrets ringing the wall and slammed into the rocket, disintegrating it in an instant.
“Motherfucker!” Joaquim spun and punched the closest wall high enough for his fist to impact.
“Quiet!” Selene buried her face in her hands for a single second. Then she snapped to alert and motioned everyone toward the next intersection. “They’ll be searching for the source of the attack. We have to move now!”
Marlee glared at the glowing spire in resentment and growing rage—Caleb grabbed her by the hand and began dragging her away. After a few seconds she relented, turning and breaking into a jog to catch up with the others. “What are we going to do?”
“We will talk about it at the bunker,” Selene hissed. “Focus on getting there.”
The rumbling of nearing Rasu machinery rattled the broken street beneath their feet. Selene checked behind them, and her eyes widened precipitously. “Forget subtl
ety—run.”
Rogers tossed the empty rocket launcher through a shattered window, and they all did as ordered. Even at a run, the Rasu shouldn’t be able to see them from more than a few meters away, but they needed to escape the tightening noose of a Rasu dragnet sweep.
Dust and ash began to clog her lungs, and by the time they pulled up three kilometers from the compound, Marlee’s chest was on fire.
Selene sagged against a blown-out doorway. “Okay, I think we’re beyond the perimeter of their initial sweep. Now let’s take special care the rest of the way. We don’t want to lead any Rasu straight to the bunker.” She pushed off the doorframe as swiftly as she’d landed on it. “Let’s go.”
They’d navigated another five blocks when Joaquim stopped everyone just short of the next intersection. He hugged a standing girder and peeked around the corner—then frantically motioned everyone backward as he joined them at a rapid jog.
A series of heavy thuds they’d come to associate with the largest bipedal Rasu boomed from around the corner, and Marlee’s pulse raced in time with her quickening stride.
Caleb leaned over, his voice shockingly calm and controlled at her ear. “Get some grenades ready.”
Right! She felt around for the latches on the lower part of her vest, then fumbled past freeing two frag grenades while trying to keep up with the others.
Ahead of her, Selene waved Rogers and Joaquim inside a mostly intact storefront. Marlee glanced behind her in time to see a giant Rasu barrel around the corner, plant a leaden ‘foot’ to change direction and accelerate toward them as two more of the aliens followed in its wake. She reared back and hurled the frag grenades into the chest of the lead Rasu. Beside her, Caleb did the same—then he grasped her arm with both hands and flung her through the open storefront.
Two bipedal Rasu burst out of the broken windows of what looked to have once been an office building and accelerated in Alex and Nika’s direction.
They can’t see you, they can’t see you…. Alex groaned under her breath. “Oh, gavno, I need to test this thing out anyway.” She raised the Rectifier in front of her, steadied it and fired at the left-most Rasu’s center of mass.
It was as if a hole opened up in the fabric of the universe. The air around her target warped and turned…gauzy, as if someone had spread petroleum jelly over it. The leftmost Rasu disintegrated into a fine mist, then evaporated into nothingness. The one on the right did as well, and also a meter-deep section of the road beneath them.
Air rushed into the vacuum the negative energy had left behind, and the tear in space-time healed itself. The two Rasu were gone as surely as if they’d never existed.
“Wow.” Alex stared down at the weapon in her hand. “So it works.”
Nika laughed a little wildly. “Can I place an order for ten thousand of those?”
“Right now there’s just the one, but once we report on our successful field test I bet we can convince Special Projects to ramp up production.”
“Yes, let’s do that.” Nika studied the remains of the buildings on both street corners. “Okay, the entrance to the bunker is six blocks to the west, then three blocks north—”
In the distance, high above what few buildings remained standing, four powerful violet lasers in a circular formation streaked toward a common target. When they met, an immense explosion burst across the sky.
“What the hells?”
They sprinted toward the next intersection for a better view, but by the time they reached it the lasers had left behind only a dispersing cloud of smoke.
Alex rested her hands on her thighs. “Someone’s fighting back.”
A smile grew on Nika’s lips. “Yes, they are. Wait…Parc says a group from the bunker headed to test out the defenses on some Rasu compound. Joaquim, Ava, Selene and….”
“Caleb.” Alex focused on the long, wide avenue leading toward where the explosion had occurred. An invisible thread pulled her insistently forward, a heartbeat pulsing louder and more ferociously in her ears with each step she took in that direction. “Why didn’t they wait for us to arrive before going on a field trip?”
“Because I asked Parc not to tell them we were coming.”
She whipped around in surprise. “What? Why?”
Nika shrugged weakly. “In case we never made it to the bunker. I didn’t want anyone risking their lives trying to rescue us. Not when the point is to rescue them. I’m sorry, but it felt like the right call.”
Alex had raced headlong from the decision to come to Namino to standing here now; along the way she’d made snap judgments when required and let the rest fall away. It had never occurred to her to make sure Caleb knew she was coming, because obviously she was coming. Ipso facto. A was A.
So she let any recriminations slide in favor of focusing on what the explosion meant. “Well, whatever they were trying to do, it didn’t work. The attack was repelled.”
“And now the Rasu will be coming for the attackers. Our people will be running, likely in the direction of the bunker, but they’ve got a lot of ground to cover.” Her hand touched Alex’s elbow. “Can you find him while they’re on the move?”
“It’ll be a bit akin to a game of Marco Polo, but I think I can.”
“A game of what?”
“Hot and cold? I go in the direction that gets warmer?”
“Ah. That should work. Of course, a lot of Rasu are going to be swarming the same section of the city, so….”
So resist the urge to blindly take off running toward the heat and the heartbeat. She nodded in understanding.
They did move faster now, though, ducking inside blown-out buildings to evade passing Rasu patrols but otherwise weaving through an endless parade of streets and alleys. Alex’s chest burned hot, the thread now yanking her onward so forcefully she had to consciously fight against it.
They approached an intersection thick with smoke and the acrid odor of burning electronics, and she leaned in to direct a whisper toward Nika. “Left here. We’re close.”
They were crossing the street when three Rasu came into view one block beyond. Far larger than the typical bipedal models, they towered over everything like giant, angry mechs.
Nika thrust out an arm to shove Alex against a wall and back around the corner, but Alex resisted. “That’s where they are. I think those Rasu have got them pinned down in one of the stores on the left side of the street.”
“Shit.” They peered around the corner just in time to see several grenades impact the Rasu and explode. The strikes knocked two of the three to the ground momentarily, but they soon rose to their feet, showing little visible damage, and pivoted toward a torn awning above a row of broken windows.
A heartbeat not her own pounded in her ears. “Inside that storefront.”
One of the Rasu began shoving aside debris the grenades had created to clamber through the windows, and Nika unlatched two of the special archine grenades she’d brought along. “Shields to max. Let’s go.”
They took off running down the street, kamero filters active but otherwise concerns of stealth forgotten. Thirty meters from their targets, Alex again raised the Rectifier. But two of the Rasu were now too close to the building for her to risk dissolving it and the people inside. She fired on the one that remained farther out in the street.
The weapon itself was nearly silent, but the other two Rasu must have sensed the supradimensional void tearing at the air behind them and jerked around to witness their comrade being vaporized.
Nika shouted, “Everyone take cover!” Then she palmed an archine grenade in each hand and launched them toward the enemies.
Razor-sharp slices of Rasu flew in every direction. One slice bounced off Alex’s shield at the shoulder, while another sailed centimeters above her head. The slices shattered what few windows remained on the block and fell to litter the street.
Nika yelled something in her direction, but Alex was already running for the building, deactivating her kamero filter and holstering the
Rectifier as she did. She stumbled through the storefront—and fell into the arms she sought. The disparate heartbeats merged into one.
“Alex?”
All the air left her lungs as Caleb squeezed her impossibly tight. Alive, walking, talking and so much more. “Hi, priyazn.”
“Hi, baby.” His hot breath caressed her neck. “How is it possible that you’re here?”
Nika nudged her on the way into the store. “No time for hugging right now. We need to move. Those Rasu outside are busily putting themselves back together.”
Marlee crashed into her side and added her arms to the hug. “Aunt Alex? I didn’t know you were a badass, too!”
She laughed and caught sight of Nika hugging a copper-haired man, despite her earlier admonition. “Nika’s right. We need to get moving.”
Caleb drew back a fraction to study her, his face marked by disbelief and concern…and a hardness she hadn’t seen on his features in a long time. “But how did you—?”
“I’ll explain once we reach the bunker. Lead the way?”
56
* * *
NAMINO
Camp Burrow
A fair degree of bedlam erupted on their return to the bunker. Nika, it seemed, had many old friends to greet enthusiastically. Parc demanded answers on how the test had gone wrong, and ultimately he and Grant cornered Marlee to get them.
Caleb watched Alex take it all in, her expression reserved, her eyes not so luminescent in the absence of Valkyrie but sharp and clear all the same as she absorbed the setting, the people and the activity and likely made some judgments about it all. About him?
“You can put your backpack over here, with our—with Marlee’s and my—things.”
She nodded vaguely and followed him to where their pop-up cots were collapsed beside a collection of personal items, then let her backpack slip from her fingers. Next she shrugged off her flak jacket and let it fall to the floor as well. He watched her shoulders rise; abruptly she spun around to glare at him. She’d never been any good at keeping her sentiments off her countenance, and whatever joy she’d initially experienced on finding him had been replaced by darker, more troubling emotions.
Inversion (Riven Worlds Book Two) Page 33