The Boneyards of Nebula

by Rod Little

  “This is George,” said Shane. “And Sheni.”

  Loxtan ignored the man and looked at Sheni. “You're Sayan?”

  She looked squarely at him, but didn't say a word. There was an angry defiance in her face, in her entire body language.

  “She was a prisoner,” Shane explained. “But we are sending her back to Lusus... if you have no objection.”

  “Why do you have her? Where did she come from? Did her team attack you?”

  “It's a long story,” Shane said. “But we're giving her back to the little tyrant. You don't object?”

  “I have no objection.”

  “He's not coming?” Shane asked. “Lusus didn't come today... I don't see him here.”

  “He is not coming,” Loxtan said. The others waited for an explanation, but he had nothing more to say on the matter.

  “Fine. Then she'll carry a message to him,” Shane decided. “He has one day to surrender, or be killed.”

  “Still, no objection.”

  “Good. Then, lady, be on your way.”

  “Lusus has a camp not far from here,” Loxtan said. “One of his smaller outposts. Two of my men will take you there.”

  “So I'm free to go?” She asked.

  “My men will escort you,” Loxtan corrected her. “Then you'll be free to go.”

  With that, Sheni wasted no time, and jogged toward the men who would ferry her in a jeep back to her boss. And in her pocket she held the prize they both sought so dearly.

  The real Seed from the Boneyards of Nebula swung heavily in her lower right pocket. It was about to find its way into the wrong hands.

  Chapter 39

  Seven months and four days from the start of Sheni's mission, she found herself here at the finish line, finally. It took forever to get from Neptune to the Nebula, and then to Earth. But today it took only a few hours for Sheni to reach Lusus in his main compound, after a brief stop at his northern outpost.

  He greeted her coldly; she expected nothing more.

  “Sub-commander.” He liked one-word sentences and short salutations.

  “Commander Lusus,” she replied. “I have what you've been looking for.”

  “You have the boy?”

  “The one who walks among spiders with no fear.” She repeated the sentence she had often heard. “Yes. He is back here on Earth. I can get him for you. But I have the other prize that you had thought was unattainable. Even when I promised it was not. Nothing is out of reach. I found it.”

  Now he was intrigued. “Surely not.”

  “I found it. I have it.”

  “The power crystal? The Seed?”

  “Right here.”

  She pulled the Seed from her pocket and held it out to him. It glowed green. There was a pulse coming from it, a hum that got louder as it got closer to Lusus. He reached out and grabbed the orb, and the hum pitched an octave higher.

  “By the lords of Eusus,” he whispered. He could feel its power flowing through him.

  “It's yours,” she said. “And I'll be rewarded?”

  He didn't care about her, but held the object in both hands in front of him. “It's beautiful.”

  It glowed brighter, almost as if angry.

  “All yours,” Sheni reminded him. “And a new ship for me.”

  “All mine,” said Lusus, a wicked smile growing across his face. “The universe is mine.”

  Chapter 40

  Flight back to the sky and out of the way; this was no easy feat, but fear of the new world got the job done. Neptune's civilians still followed orders, especially on this strange and frightening new planet.

  It took two days to get the settlements cleared and the Neptune civilians back on their ships. During this time, the Earthlings made ready for war. There were subtle details that still needed to be worked out. The machinery of war is a delicate mechanism. It must be oiled and all the pieces must fit perfectly, or else the outcome results in chaos.

  And there was the theft of the mysterious object, the green ball of glow. That issue needed to be addressed.

  “So Sheni stole the green Seed?” Sam asked. “And she took it to Lusus?”

  “That she did,” said Shane. “She should be there by now. Maybe he's already taken it from her. The enemy has their big weapon. Just a cue ball, if you ask me.”

  “But he has it,” Jason said. “Bohai told me this morning his creatures are upset.”

  “Good,” Sam said. “Not about the cue ball, but that they have the green orb. And I don't think they are his creatures. Anyway, we have to move quickly. But this is good. I'm going out now with Bohai to gather the spider army.”

  “Heads up for enemy squads,” Jason said. “They're scattered everywhere, but they seem to avoid the woods. You want help?”

  “The two of us can do it. You've got your hands full here at camp.”

  Bohai had jogged back from the woods minutes early, and was getting a drink from the rations tent next door. Now he joined them. “The Saratu are pissed off.”

  “Told ya,” Jason whispered.

  “Lusus has the Seed. They can feel it. And they're not happy, not in the least. They'll do anything to take it from him.”

  “That was the point, right?”

  “Yes. We need the Saratu motivated. And trust me, they are motivated.”

  They had allowed Sheni to steal the orb and take it to her Commander. It was their hope that the Saratu would hunt it down, which meant they would hunt Lusus down, ruthlessly.

  “Are we safe here with them, I mean, with you gone?” Camila asked.

  “They're not here anymore,” Bohai said. “I released them from the ship already.”

  “What!”

  “I sent them to find the rest of the hives on Earth. They need to communicate the plan. But I can't guarantee they'll wait until tomorrow. They might attack tonight or at any time, to protect their artifact.”

  George cocked his rifle. “Okay then. Let's get this battle on the road. Looks like things are gonna heat up real fast. And I'm ready to percolate.”

  “Take it easy,” Stu said. “Still a lot to do. We need to arm the humans left here on Earth. If we go half-cocked into this mess, we're as good as dead.”

  “We're probably as good as dead, anyway,” George said. He pulled out a cigar and chewed on it. “Ain't never stopped me before.”

  “Very uplifting speech,” Camila said and pinched his arm. “I prefer to think we'll win and live. But I agree about moving fast; let's get rolling.”

  Sam and Bohai hiked over a mile into the woods near the Catskill mountains to meet the spider General. Called by the warm weather of spring, the arachnids were returning north, along with the birds, and life was sprouting again in the Northeast U.S. Lavender and pink phlox lined the roads. Sam took a moment to enjoy them. He missed the colors on Earth; some of these plants would be tough to grow in the Starbase's plant nurseries.

  Sam said, “I'm going to start a garden, when all this is over.”

  “Really? I wouldn't have pegged you for the garden type.”

  “Why?”

  Bohai glanced at him but kept walking. “I don't know. But you seem more like the guy who tramples on the flowers to get to the movie on time.”

  “Not me. Not anymore.”

  “I had a small garden,” Bohai confessed. “Back at the dorms. A sad little box of dirt.” He laughed. “I grew six marigolds and an orange tree – planted from a seed! It never got taller than nine or ten inches. I kept it outside on the balcony.”

  “No oranges?”

  Bohai laughed again. “Not by a long-shot. But the marigolds looked good. My mom believed marigolds and oranges were good luck.”

  “Are they?”

  “Well, I'm here at the end of the world with you, so... I'd say: No.”

  “You survived a plane crash. That's pretty lucky.”

  “Hmm. You may have a point there.”

  “If we stay on Earth, you should have one again, a garden. If we stay.�
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  “Yeah, man. If we stay.”

  If we are alive by the end of the week.

  And if we stay.

  Inside the forest, the limbs began to fill out with green. Bluebirds and finches started rebuilding nests in the higher forks of the maples, oblivious to the war about to gear up. Or maybe not so oblivious, but still confident that the trees would still be around regardless of who may host the Earth in the coming months.

  Bohai stopped.

  Centipede pods hung upside down in the trees to the left. Silk cocoons, shiny when the light hit them, were more numerous than either boy had thought possible.

  “They breed so fast,” Sam whispered.

  “Their... process accelerated when the Seed was found. They're in a state of hyper-incubation.”

  “Good. We need more of them. Even though they're weird as hell.”

  And scary, Sam thought. Damn scary.

  They walked again, this time a bit faster. The high weeds and gnarled roots started to become burdensome, difficult to hike through. Sam lifted his legs higher with each step. His pant leg caught on a thorny bramble and he jerked his foot to get free.

  They passed a copse of sycamores, and a centipede wound up the trunk of one tree, its hundred tiny legs working feverishly to get it higher off the ground, its antenna feeling the way. Apparently not all of the newborns were in a pupal state yet.

  They reached the designated spot, a small clearing within the dense brush, and sat down on a log to take a rest. The sun strained through the trees, and to Sam it felt good, the warmth washing over his face and neck. Bohai closed his eyes and let the sunlight bathe him, too. Sunshine was the one thing Starbase 21 could replicate, but never truly have.

  Nothing like the real thing, Sam thought.

  “I missed this,” he said out loud.

  Bohai grunted. Full agreement.

  A three-foot wolf spider appeared, but this was only a scout. It spotted the two humans, then scampered back to report. There was no sound; it was a silent predator.

  Sam and Bohai slid down to the grass, leaned their backs against the log, and waited.

  * * *

  Camila brought the bad news to Shane. “They do not accept our terms of surrender. They are getting ready to fight us.”

  “I never really thought they'd surrender,” Shane said. “They don't know we have a secret weapon. I'm not even sure we really have a secret weapon. But they think all the odds are in their favor.”

  “The odds are in their favor,” Jason said.

  Mitch and Jason were helping to prepare and load a crate of guns that Stu and George had liberated from a nearby gun shop. The enemy had already looted the military bases, but didn't seem to know that on Earth guns are everywhere. They were oblivious to the homes with guns under the beds, locked in the root cellar; and unaware of all the gun shops and sporting goods stores that were filled with rifles, crossbows and even a few semi-automatic weapons. Many of the shops were apparently skirting the law, back in the day.

  “The odds are not in their favor, but they're even,” Shane corrected him. “However, they think everything slants their way. They're about to get a nice surprise.”

  “You mean the critters?” Mitch asked. “Ain't much of a surprise. They're already crawling all over the place. All we did was bring 'em a fresh batch.”

  “And the green ball,” Jason said.

  “Still don't understand how that makes a difference.”

  To be honest, neither did Jason, but he wanted to stay positive. “It makes a difference, man. It gets them all worked up. Rabid, turned-on and stuff.”

  “If you say so.” Mitch put the rifle he had just cleaned and loaded on the table and grabbed another one. Seventy-two more to go in this batch.

  “Let's go,” said George to Stu. “There's more to be found out there.”

  “Yep.” Stu was still a man of few words.

  They jumped in a truck and checked the map for another gun shop in a town due west. Soon the wheels spun, and they left in a cloud of dirt. Mitch and Jason kept cleaning, preparing and loading the guns, and Shane took Camila to start handing out the readied weapons to Earthlings willing to fight. Many of these people would need to practice, and some even needed to be trained from scratch. Most who volunteered had never held a gun before.

  Shane also brought with him three crossbows. He could teach that art, as well. It was a subtle skill that didn't make as much noise.

  Dexter retired to the Vortex and began preparing something of his own in the lab.

  The Earthling camp was coming together. It was not a well-oiled machine, but it was coming together.

  War loomed less than twenty-four hours away.

  Chapter 41

  War plays by its own set of own rules, because of the number of players that move the pieces around, and then it breaks those rules. It does not keep a schedule.

  The conflict started a little sooner than expected, but not by plan or design. While Shane and the Earthlings prepared for an early morning attack, the Saratu had a mind of their own. They could not be restrained. When a fury is built within such primitive beings, it must be released – sooner rather than later. Satisfaction must be obtained, and they could not be satisfied until the Seed was no longer in the grip of Sayan hands.

  The horde of creatures attacked Lusus in his main compound at two o'clock in the morning. They could sense the Seed, and knew exactly where it was. More importantly, they knew every time Lusus touched it. And that enraged them – like a Christian enraged by the devil touching the holy grail, or a mother eagle enraged by a snake going after her eggs. A mother knows when her babies have been touched.

  But Lusus was ready.

  Lusus and his men fired their guns into the swarm that stormed the front gates. This did not stop them or even slow them down. The fence was ripped to pieces by claws, and the horde spilled into the compound. Lusus' soldiers answered with a blast from an RPG, a rocket sent into the melee. For a short time the soldiers were able to hold back the wave of enemy creatures, but ultimately the onslaught was too great, and the rebels were still not seasoned fighters. Combat came naturally to only a few of them. The rest still struggled, had poor aim and no real understanding of battle strategies. But their will was iron fast, dedicated in absolute terms to their ruthless leader.

  Still the Saratu moved in.

  Already one of the creatures had managed to get inside the headquarters building by sneaking through the air vents, before being killed at Lusus' feet. Lightning split from the leader's hands. He singed the beast with his spark, sent it hard against the wall, then stabbed it in the head with a spike.

  Too close for comfort, he cursed. Damn them!

  The battle noise was so great it woke all of the other camps within twenty miles. Yota got on the radio and called in reinforcements. They were quick to respond, even if clumsy in their tactics. If they followed Yota's direction, they could still win.

  Within the hour, another rebel squadron arrived and attacked the swarm from their flank. The creatures were momentarily surrounded, pinned down. Yota instructed them to create a pincer formation.

  Sensing the trap, the creatures scurried forward with more fury – fangs bared and claws slashing, propelling them into the camp. Their ferocity was unparalleled, and their madness was in no short supply. They took down soldier after soldier, ripping flesh from bone. Feasting would have to wait; their goal today was to kill the enemy and get back their precious Seed.

  Headlights dotted the road, a hundred eyes piercing the night. It was a convoy of jeeps and tanks; they rumbled out of the darkness less than a mile away and charged toward the skirmish. The first line of significant reinforcements for Lusus and Yota, and this time they had bigger numbers, even outnumbering the horde of alien creatures. A single tank shell dispersed a dozen Saratu. The creatures had no means to penetrate the armor of the tanks. Not even the sharpest claws could do that.

  The battle tide had turned.

&nbs
p; Then the sound of more engines, more vehicles churning up the grass and approaching the tanks from the western hills. But these were not more reinforcements for Lusus, they were Earthlings – men who still fought back against the invasion. The cars and vans barreled down the grassy incline and skidded onto the road. They intended to block it.

  The Earthlings lobbed hand grenades one after another at the tanks – a rain of explosives. One spry lad even dashed to the front tank and dropped a grenade in its cannon. It exploded somewhere inside the works, rendering the vehicle useless – and now blocking its counterparts behind it. Unfortunately, the enterprising man fell dead from a fatal gunshot to the back, as he tried to run back to his team.

  This barely slowed the rebels. Their tanks pushed on, swerving around the damaged tank and eventually pushing it off to the side. The road was theirs again. They forged ahead and blasted more of the Saratu, which were unable to close in on the armored vehicles.

  But then a centipede fell from the trees. It crawled to the front tank and coiled itself into the tiny air hatch. The men could only imagine how it was dispensing with the soldiers – they only heard screams, and then nothing after. The tank lurched and ground to a halt. Again the road was blocked.

  Another centipede shimmied through the grass and headed for the next tank.

  Watching from above, Lusus now turned away from the scene and reached for the Seed. In his hand, it bloomed a brighter green and sent chills up and down his body. He cupped it with both hands.

  How do I release your power? He wondered. How can I use you? Speak to me, dammit!

  Misunderstanding the nature of the relic, his mind could only envision weapons and machinery. To him, this could only be an energy source or explosive device. The influence it held over organic creatures was beyond his imagination – or his will to believe. Evil often lacks the ability to perceive beyond their own capacity, their own will.

  A part of him believed it might endow his body with special abilities. Perhaps he could surpass Jayden Soren's son in sparking strength.