Raddocks Horizon (Godyssey Legacy Book 1)

by Duran Cross

  “Tell them it was my call.”

  “We’re almost through, Rennin, don’t!” pleaded Ryan.

  Rennin threw the lever. For a moment there was absolute silence despite the raging re-entry. ‘Malfunction’ flashed across the screen. The purge didn’t take place.

  “Holy shit, you crazy fuck!” screamed one of the other troopers, thrashing in his seat.

  Abruptly the fire surrounding them ceased. They’d made it through the atmosphere and into an all-new set of problems. “The drag fins have melted, I can’t slow us down!” called Rennin.

  “How fast are we going?” asked Jolen, snapping his attention away from what almost happened.

  “Too fast, and we are really picking up speed.”

  “I can’t see shit from back here. What’s our altitude?” asked Jolen.

  “Our instruments are gone.”

  “Eject, Rennin, eject!”

  Rennin reached down for the yellow handle between his legs, and pulled it. The canopy flew off. The sudden impact of being decompressed held them firmly in their seats with a force like a giant hand slapped against them. The eject mechanism has failed, with ‘Malfunction!’ flashing across the screen.

  “No good. Try the backup,” yelled Jolen, not that he needed to with their headsets, but it just seemed like the time to scream at something.

  Rennin reached in front of him and pulled the orange handle. The screen responded with the same malfunction messages as before. “No go.”

  “Incoming!” cried Jolen.

  Now what?

  A shadow appeared overhead for an instant before a massive metal object landed on top of them, sending them into a slow forward spin. Metal could be heard tearing as the thing latched onto them.

  A familiar, solid voice entered their headsets. “Urildur, extend drag fins, reverse thrust!” ordered CryoZaiyon Lieutenant Saifer Veidan.

  The thing latched to their craft was his personal Wolf-droid dropship. The gargantuan war machine gripped the sides of the shuttle with paws that could cleave Rennin into bacon rashes.

  Huge metal drag fins flipped out of its sides. Thrusters on its forearms and thighs started firing. The crew are jolted as their erratic descent began slowing down.

  “What’s the problem here?” asked Veidan.

  “The eject system is malfunctioning, sir,” called Jolen.

  Veidan was in full orbital drop armour, still glowing orange from re-entry. His near-featureless helmet, with only two vertical lines etched up the forehead from between the eyes as detail, faced the nose of the pod where most of the electrical junctions were housed. He took out his sidearm, gripping the cockpit roll bar over Rennin’s head with his free hand. “Urildur on my mark, detach,” he took aim and a green laser dot appeared on the nose. “Mark!”

  Urildur let go as Veidan fired his gun. An electrical blast hit the nose and all the pod circuits scrambled. ‘Purge’ then ‘Eject’ flashed across the screen, a split second before the cockpit shot out of their ruined escape pod with Veidan hanging from the outside.

  Due to their reduced speed, the debris from the Possession’s wreck had caught up with them. The flaming fragments of the warship rained down with them like a meteor shower, and Rennin briefly wondered what would happen if one of the fiery chunks hit the parachutes. Though if one does hit the parachute the crew is what it will hit next, so it won’t make much difference.

  The chutes were deployed successfully and the cockpit was at last descending at a safe speed. Not that it felt safe with burning wreckage flying past, chunks of a ship that they were walking around in not ten minutes before.

  A few close shaves of flaming debris later they touched down on the night side of Earth. It was a forest area in South America but they don’t know, or care, exactly where.

  Rennin was first out, followed by Jolen and the others. Veidan removed his orbital drop armour plating and stored it in Urildur’s abdominal compartment. He was only in light torso armour now. His hair was so pale it looked platinum and eyes shined the customary neon-green of a CryoZaiyon android. He regarded the six Possession survivors in their full body suits that were loudly arguing with their pilot about being jettisoned.

  Veidan knew all his troops by name, rank, number and blood type and was familiar enough with full-orga troops to recognise when a fight was about to start. He stepped over to Ryan, the angriest looking one, and placed himself in front of him. “Keep your voice down,” he said gently.

  “That fuck,” pointing at Rennin, “tried to dump us like garbage!”

  Veidan wasn’t moved. “Every time you shout, you give away our position. Do so again and it will be the last time,” he said as if ordering a coffee.

  “But-”

  Veidan’s sidearm was pointed at Ryan’s face in an instant. Veidan quietly shushed him, then after a moment he lowered the gun. “We are in a hostile zone but we have forces not far from here. We’d best get some distance behind us before we set a distress beacon. If the Gorai Aurelia monitored this landing, they will be coming in quickly.”

  They wasted no time to begin their trek through the woods towards their base. Rennin was impressed with Veidan’s pragmatic way of doing things. Normally he was just in awe of their strength. He’d seen Veidan base jump onto an enemy frigate in low orbit once, and another time saw him deliver a punch to Commander Lauros himself that would have crippled a tank. Those two fought all the time but it never usually became physical. No one knew what their fistfight was about but the whisper was it had something to do with missing supplies.

  Several GA fighters were flying over from time to time but they were going too fast to be search drones. Veidan made them stop during every flyover nonetheless.

  “What are they doing?” asked Rennin.

  “Air survey,” said Jolen.

  “Incorrect,” said Veidan, “They are flying in parallel sweeps, not the standard spiral search pattern. Always up and back, adjust across, up and back, repeating.”

  Like the Space Invaders attack pattern? “Why?” asked Rennin.

  “Farmers use that method when dusting crops.”

  “Why does he get to speak?” asked Ryan.

  Veidan’s response was his hand tapping his sidearm. Rennin wasn’t sure why Veidan wasn’t being hostile with him too. He’d served with the legendary android several times so he wondered if it’s something to do with familiarity.

  Of the androids he’d met, Veidan wasn’t soft hearted like Valhara. Though he wasn’t hard like Lauros. He was a lot like another android that hangs around Valhara. Nex-something. Rennin rolled his eyes at himself, he didn’t usually forget things this easily. “How much farther before we can signal for help?”

  “Two point eight kilometres.”

  They kept walking, keeping the pace slow. Veidan took the lead due to his superior vision, Urildur clanking softly at the rear. About half an hour later another GA ship flew over, this time directly above. The crew halted. Veidan’s eyes shone fiercely in the dark but Rennin thought he was over dramatising the situation. After the ship was gone they made a move again travelling in single file with the lieutenant remaining on point.

  After a few moments a light rain started to fall but when Rennin looked up there were no clouds. He shook his head and concentrated on his footing in the dark. He heard one of the others behind him comment on the rain being strange.

  “Smells like garlic or something,” said Ryan.

  Rennin didn’t like this at all. He flashed his torch on and saw Veidan’s form spattered with purple coloured water.

  Veidan spun around. “Light off, now.”

  “Sir, you’re covered in something.”

  Veidan checked over himself, taking stock of the strange liquid that’s was still falling from the sky. A disturbed expression crosses the android’s face as he watches droplets land in his hand.

  Another fighter engine could be heard. Veidan focused in on the craft and can just make out a plume of what looked like mist. “They�
��re dumping something.”

  “You’re a supercomputer, what is it?” asked one of the survivors.

  ‘Foreign toxic hazard’ was on Veidan’s HUD. “Unknown element. I’m registering some interference with my central nervous system.”

  “This isn’t good, they’re not watering the plants that’s for sure,” said Jolen.

  ‘Mass system failure! Internal Haemorrhaging. Cohesion breach.’ Veidan’s face betrayed his shock. “We aren’t going anywhere.”

  “What?” asked Rennin.

  “It’s artificial, contagious,” Veidan said, his eyes flickering violently. “It’s some kind of manufactured virus. Evidence suggests the Indigo Reign bioweapon.”

  Jolen swore. “Indigo Reign? I thought that was a myth!”

  “We have to get treated! Let’s get moving!” said Ryan.

  Veidan shook his head, “We’re not going anywhere, we can’t risk contaminating anyone else.”

  “Didn’t Nexarien Decora have a cure for it?” asked Jolen.

  That’s the android Rennin forgot. He mentally slapped his forehead for forgetting. Nexarien Decora, the CryoZaiyon Medtech unit, an advanced field surgeon specialising in android repairs in the battlefield. They didn’t initially build android medics, but humans with any understanding of android systems were too valuable to risk losing in battle.

  Veidan shook his head again. “He was working on one, we just said there was a cure to ease people’s minds while the Geneva Convention discussed banning the Indigo Reign weapon.”

  “It’s a bioweapon! Should be open and shut,” said Ryan.

  “There’s been some discussion over whether bioweapons designed to affect androids can really be considered inhumane,” Veidan said, twitching involuntarily. He took a steadying breath. “I think I’d best go over here a little, this will be quite unpleasant to witness but I ask you not to shoot me, no matter what happens,” he said, taking a few steps away before his left leg shuddered slightly and he fell to his knees.

  “Fuck this and fuck you, Veidan, you can do whatever you want but I’m out of-” a bullet from Veidan’s gun hit the former survivor right between the eyes.

  “Indigo Reign does not go further than here,” the android said in the same calm and gentle voice, but his free hand was trembling constantly now. “Do I need to kill all of you?” he asked to the stunned remainder of the group, a total of five people. Even Rennin is shocked.

  “Easy, lieutenant,” said Jolen. “If it’s contagious, then we can’t risk anyone else getting it, right guys?” he looked around and the others were all nodding, more out of fear of Veidan than agreement.

  Veidan seemed to be placated and dropped his sidearm on the ground as his hands began to shake more violently. “You-y-y-you should probably seal your audio,” his eyes screwed shut and his sudden screech of agony echoed all around them, making them jump.

  No one had ever heard an android scream. Veidan looked up with something very human in his eyes. His neon-green irises were shot through with spokes of purple. “Decora believes it takes about an hour to affect full-orga. I wouldn’t waste it,” he clenched his fists and with another grunt of pain he hoisted himself upright and took a shaky step away from the group. After only one more stride he simply fell over taking gasping breaths. The muscles on his bare arms were tensed so tightly they were both shaking uncontrollably. Then he started screaming.

  Rennin had never heard pain through an android larynx and was disgustedly aware that the sound doesn’t waver or break as it would through a human voice box. He found himself almost stumbling away from Veidan by reflex.

  He sealed his audio, the unbridled cries ceased immediately leaving him isolated with only his own ragged breaths inside his helmet. He was contaminated too, they all were, and he was dreading what was coming. If it was anything like Veidan, it would be horrendous. The other four were obviously talking amongst themselves, and by their body language they were starting to panic. Veidan was starting to thrash.

  Rennin couldn’t suppress a whimper while he turned away from the lieutenant to face the rest of the woods. They looked so deceptively serene. He forces himself to focus on the woodland rather than what’s going on behind him. Something slapped his shoulder and he turned around, ready to batter whatever it was to pieces only to find it was Jolen. He was talking and tapping his helmet. Rennin switched the helmet-to-helmet channel on, making sure to leave external audio off.

  “What?” he half spat at Jolen.

  “What do you mean ‘what’? What the fuck are we going to do?”

  Rennin looks to the giant Wolf-droid Urildur. It is sitting silently near to Veidan, watching him. Rennin felt like his stomach was missing completely. He looked to Jolen then back to Urildur. “I think that giant metal dog actually likes him.”

  “Rennin, are you alright?”

  Rennin’s eyes show a kind of madness. “Do you think machines like… feel?”

  “What? No. They’re metal. Fake.”

  “Is your external audio on?”

  “No.”

  “Then listen to him scream for a sec. If that happens to a machine what’s going to happen to us?” Rennin’s breath was coming in ragged gasps.

  “We’re going to leave him here and get help, before we get… you know,” Jolen said glancing at Veidan.

  Rennin laughed, “You think so, huh? Veidan once took a few prisoners with Urildur sitting just as he is now and he only told them they weren’t to move. They did, and Urildur killed them. Veidan didn’t order him to, but that tin pup did anyway. Same applies here.”

  “Bullshit, Farrow,” said Ryan walking over to them. “I’m going to get help, you can rot here, for all I care, and I hope you do. You coming, Jolen?”

  Jolen kept his gaze fixed on Rennin’s deadly serious expression. “No, I’m staying.”

  Ryan scoffed. “Suit yourself,” and with that, he and the two others started making their way into the woods. Soon they were out of sight, yet Urildur remained still.

  “I guess it doesn’t kill its own, after all,” said Jolen.

  “Wait,” is all Rennin said. For a few moments longer there was nothing. Then Urildur suddenly raised one of its gigantic paws and fired three shots from guns concealed within its knuckles. Rennin couldn’t hear the shots but he felt the vibrations in his chest like a drum beat.

  Jolen was speechless for a short while before an expletive left his lips. “Glad I stayed.”

  Rennin felt a slight tingling in his spine and looked at Veidan seeing a tendon in his arm snap and wriggle up to bulge in his shoulder. “I’m not sure I am.”

  What began as a tingle escalated quickly. Within an hour Rennin never knew such pain. It felt as if every fibre of his being was being stripped away. At first it was a tingle, then heat, then pins and needles that really felt like real pins and needles until finally he was awash with pain.

  It was so intense and overwhelming he’d chewed part of his own tongue off and thrown up all over himself while he was rolling on the ground. He’d gone blind but whether from his body’s shock or whether he had his eyes shut tight, he didn’t know but he was trapped in a whiteout. He could sometimes hear Jolen shrieking and begging someone, or something, to make it all stop.

  Jolen was struck down first and during his last moments of lucidity he told Rennin to shoot him, but he couldn’t do it. He could dump a man out the airlock, or four for that matter, but not a friend.

  At the time, Rennin was sure they would be all right. Androids had transponders, after all, someone knew they were there. All those thoughts were lost now. He couldn’t think at all.

  Every now and then he’d feel something so strongly he’d hear himself scream. He knew he’d broken something because his muscles just kept tightening like living rigour mortis. Eventually he felt several things snap. In the end, all he could do was sob, though it may just have been convulsions. The white faded to black and then there was nothing.

  ◆◆◆

  At som
e indeterminate time later, Rennin managed to peel one of his crusted eyes open to see white. That same terrible white. Something inside him died. He started sobbing almost instantly, and heard some kind of machine beeping that started slow but hastened quickly. Someone said something panicked. Something didn’t work. He felt needles prod him. He made some animalistic squeal and tried to flinch away, but couldn’t move. The pins and needles began to burn up his spine again and his body awoke, aflame with pain. It felt like thousands of hot needles were being rammed into him, each one worse than the one before until they felt like impaling spikes. He couldn’t take it anymore, not another moment. He managed to cry out for whoever was there to end his pain.

  People were around him but he couldn’t see them, only hear their footsteps and mention of putting him back under. Something definitely hadn’t worked. In his last lucid moments of begging for death, he realised somewhere at the back of his mind that tests were being conducted on him. He could also still hear Veidan’s anguish.

  Another eternity later Rennin awoke to see white once more. His breaths immediately became a laboured panting but his eyes focussed this time, and the white haze sharpened enough to become the ceiling and walls of a medical bay.

  He tried to sit up but found himself strapped down. The skin on his arms was frighteningly translucent, with dark purple veins snaking up and down. He tried to say something but his tongue was swollen and the insides of his cheeks felt terrible like he’d been trying to eat them. All he could taste was the metallic tang of blood. He managed an unintelligible grunt and before he knew it a face was over him with bright neon-green eyes and a surgical mask. “Hello, Private Farrow.”

  “Unh…” was all he managed. Even that much hurt.

  “I am Medtech Decora. I’m in charge of your recovery. I’ll say first that since you full-orga place such a high value on vanity that you should avoid reflective surfaces for the time being.”