Alien Storm

by Ken Bebelle

  The alien voice echoed through her being. ::Mine::

  Mother's grip tightened like a fist, grinding stones to sand, Cam's resolve leaking away like dust.

  ::Mine::

  Cam watched her hands unclench, dropping Jonesy's limp body to the concrete. His head hit the road with a jarring crack. Biomech tentacles snaked in from Cam's periphery and wound around Jonesy's legs, dragging him and the severed arm away. His blank eyes bored through Cam like an accusation.

  ::Mine::

  A hot spike of pain stabbed through Cam’s back, forcing her up, ramrod straight. Her jaw clamped shut, teeth grinding. Cam’s breath whistled through her nose as she grunted, struggling to fight back. Her legs jerked, pushed her upright, then took a shaky step, her foot dragging through the loose gravel.

  Icy blooms of pain flared along her back as Mother twisted Cam’s body around, facing her back up the street. Keenan and Tattoo lay unconscious before her. Cam’s feet continued to ignore her and shuffle step down the street. When she reached the two men Cam watched as her hands pulled the marine off of Keenan, tossing the man aside like a bag of garbage.

  Keenan’s quiet and still face pulled a sob from Cam. She wanted to reach out and touch that scruffy brown hair as she had done a thousand times before, but she was trapped, her hands beating futilely against an invisible cage in her mind.

  ::Mine::

  Her hands reached down to Keenan, gripping his collar, knotting up the fabric and wrenching him off the ground. Cold revulsion cascaded over Cam’s mind as Mother’s unbridled glee washed through her. New horror dawned as Cam watched her hands clench, the ice over her knuckles crackling, tightening their grip around Keenan’s neck. Mother’s voice boomed inside Cam’s head, the sound itself a crushing weight.

  ::MINE::

  Nonononono!

  Panicked sobs wracked her and Cam flailed her hands against her psychic cage. Her legs knelt, and her arms pushed Keenan to the ground, driving into his neck with all her weight. Her hands clenched tighter and Cam felt her sanity slipping away.

  Keenan coughed and gasped, his eyes blinking as he struggled for air. Cam felt him moving, trying to get away, but her arms were cold steel beams pinning him down. His eyes widened and darted around, finally settling on her face. Recognition sparked in his face as he made eye contact with her. A pained wail broke from Cam, fear and shame coursing through her, even as her body bore down further on Keenan.

  It was almost as if he saw her, behind her eyes, his green eyes piercing through the veil draped over her by Mother. Cam saw no confusion, no anger, only the kindness that had first drawn her to him. The quiet soul who longed for peace even as he waged terrible war.

  He stopped struggling, and lifted his hand to her. An iridescent film shimmered on his palm. Breath whistling now, Keenan managed a small smile and cupped her cheek.

  “Hey baby. Hey Cammie.”

  His touch brought her back. Cam fell from a great distance, the mental landscape blurring past as she was dragged back into her mind. Heaving nausea clenched at her as light and sound came back to normal volume in an instant. At once she smelled bitter smoke, tasted ozone on her lips, heard echoing rifle reports. Her body came alive and Cam could feel her arms, her legs, the heaving breath in her lungs, the rawness in her throat. Had she been screaming the whole time?

  Cam’s mind was a confusing jumble of darkness, limbs, and sensations, overloading her senses. Her arms ached, her muscles screamed with exertion, wrists aching with tension. Her arms… she couldn’t tell where her’s ended and Mother’s began.

  Keenan’s eyes bulged, his face turning an ugly shade of purple.

  Cam thrust her arms forward, through the extra phantom arms. Jagged ice chips ripped across her, shredding the nerves in its wake. Razor edges flayed her arms in cold, bright lines of agony as she reached for her hands. Falling forward she became more and more aware of Mother’s mind, a towering presence casting an ominous shadow over her. Hot tears rolled down her cheeks, burning a trail across her frozen skin. Cam reached her hands and bulled through Mother’s control, exerting enough control to release her hands a little. Keenan gasped, pulling in a desperate breath. It took all of Cam’s strength to open her hands that much, and she felt Mother’s will bearing her hands down again. Cam felt her hold slipping, losing her tenuous grip on her mind.

  I can’t, I can’t.

  Still gasping, Keenan’s eyes refocused, lasering in on Cam’s. His eyes seemed to pierce through again, and Cam shuddered as her mind solidified around his gaze. The jammed closet of her mind got more crowded as Keenan’s presence drifted in behind her. She jerked her head around, expecting to see his face at her shoulder. Nothing behind her, but Keenan’s voice drifted to her from the endless darkness.

  ::Reach for it, Cammie.::

  The sound of his voice tore a hole in Cam’s heart, filling her with an aching need for him.

  A sob broke free from her chest. I can’t.

  ::It’s right there. Trust me. You can reach it.::

  Cam halted, her mind transported. Her arms burned in the cool air of the late afternoon Sierras. The fingers of her left hand jammed into a crack in the granite, her body hanging beneath an outthrust shelf of rock. The sweet ache of tired muscles and raw knuckles cleared her mind of everything but the problem in front of her. Keenan climbed beneath her, letting her take the lead this time.

  He called up from below. “Next hold’s a bomber. Just around the ledge. Easy.”

  She kneaded her chalk ball with her right hand and shook out her fingers. “Pssh. Easy for the man who’s done it before. I can’t see it.”

  “Right above the crack. Just follow it around.”

  Cam straightened her legs and craned her neck, trying to see around the ledge. A low chuckle rolled out from below.

  “You can’t see it from there, Cammie, you gotta commit. Trust me, you can reach it.”

  She huffed and flexed her legs, digging her toes in, preparing to push herself out from the rock. “If I grab it on the first try you’re taking me out to Mastro’s.”

  “Deal.”

  Cam pushed.

  The crushing weight above her shoulders shifted, just a hair.

  ::Reach for it, baby.::

  Cam threw herself into the crack, seeking the fissures separating her mind from Mother’s. She clawed at the tiny spaces, scraping her fingers raw to widen the opening. It was like pushing back a giant sheet of rubber. No matter how she lifted, Mother’s mental weight sagged down around her, threatening to smother Cam’s mind. Cam heaved again, making herself a small pocket of sanity to catch her breath.

  The sensation of her hands and arms grew stronger as Cam pressed upwards, enlarging the bubble. Keenan’s presence pressed in closer to her, the feel of his breath on her neck giving her renewed strength. Her fingers relaxed around his neck, his deepened breathing a reward for her resistance.

  Mother’s mind was still keyed into Cam’s, but now Cam had the strength to sidestep, turning the lock backwards. Mother roared, fighting for control, even as its hold on Cam slipped again.

  Cam blinked. She was back in full control of her eyes, and she loosened her grip on Keenan’s neck further. His green eyes held steady contact with hers. Cam focused on his hand cupping her cheek, savoring the familiarity of his body flowing through that point.

  Keenan stroked his hand through her hair, over her ear and behind her neck. An electric thrill shot through her neck and down her spine as his fingers traced the nape of her neck. A low growl built in Cam’s chest, a bass rumble building from the very depths of her being. The boulder on her back began to roll, and Cam pushed with all her might, flinging Mother out of her mind.

  Their eyes met again, Keenan’s now alight with fierce joy. “Fight it, Cam!”

  He gripped her more firmly at the neck, seeming to will her on. The skin on her neck pulsed hot where his hand met her skin. The heat on her neck intensified, as Mother’s mindjack weakened. Keenan’s warmth spread, h
is thoughts and love a blazing beacon in her mind. I can see it! Cam focused solely on Keenan and the brutality of Mother’s presence began to fade.

  Mother let loose a fresh torrent of rage and hate as its control slipped further. Cam tasted Mother’s anger and disgust like a bloody gash across her tongue.

  ::FILTH::

  Before Cam could react, Mother pushed through Cam’s mind, reaching now for Keenan. The nape of Cam’s neck turned ice cold under Keenan's hand. Keenan’s breath caught in the next instant and his back arched off the concrete, his arms and legs shaking violently, foam spewing from his lips. His eyes rolled up, showing an obscene amount of white. Cam screamed in horror even as her world disappeared in the white hot explosion of Mother’s rage.

  Cam opened her eyes and found herself sitting in the middle of the street with a score of dismembered alien bodies littered the street around her. The gutters ran with green blood. Her shoulders slumped with fatigue, and a gasp of relief escaped her as she found herself in control of her body again.

  Keenan lay slumped against her, his open eyes reflecting the dead sky above them. She clutched his body to hers, tears flowing freely now. She checked his neck, his wrist. Rippling streaks of black and blue Bite marked his skin. Stone cold skin met her touch. He’s gone. A roar of anguish ripped out of her chest. Scrambling out from under his body, she homed in on Mother, the menacing alien standing seemingly unscathed within the iceboxes.

  Hot rage surged, boiling out of her. Mother’s mindjack sprang up around her, pressing in on her mind, a vise of agony. The light and sounds of the world faded again. Just as quickly, Cam’s anger died, smothered under weariness. Cam moaned, her arms shaking as she tried to push herself off the ground. The pain mounted and Mother’s words pounded into her like crashing surf.

  ::Leave him. You belong to us::

  Cam slumped forward, resisting Mother just to be obstinate, her face pressing against Keenan’s forearm. She was so tired. Keenan was dead. He couldn’t help her anymore. Laying next to him one last time was at least some small comfort.

  A faint tingle of cool energy shivered up her spine and over the back of her head. Hey AJ, how’s my girl? Not down yet either? AJ sent a weak pulse tingling the side of her head. Confused, Cam turned that way, smacking her nose into something the size of a tablet. Except it was alien. And it glowed blue.

  On instinct, Cam wrapped her hand around the blue slab. It pulsed and an electric thrill ran up her arm, soothing her pain in its wake. The cotton in her ears and the gauze over her eyes fell away. The pressing weight around her lifted and Cam opened her eyes, alone in her own mind again. No more Mother. Sobbing with relief, Cam curled herself around the slab, guarding it.

  She stared into it, mesmerized. It acted like a battery, charging her up. Cam’s wounds sealed, and fatigue left her. She felt her heart beating in time to the pulsing light in the slab. White noise rose up in her ears, drowning out all sounds around her. The beat of her heart reverberated inside the slab. She sensed Mother, a dull, angry throb in the background. The iceboxes traced across her mind like a maze of alien railroads, eldritch energy pulsing along the tracks. The remaining Hunters in the city converged on her location, shining like deadly stars in her vision. As her heart beat the iceboxes flashed in unison, synchronizing to her. Cam slowed her breath and the light of the iceboxes began to dim, the mist dissipating.

  Cold resolve hardened around her heart. AJ? Shut it down. Cam tightened her hands around the slab, and her armor thickened and grew, sealing around the slab, melding it to her forearm like a gauntlet. The cyan light flickered out, leaving a dull diamond of alien metal behind. All around them, the iceboxes whined and dimmed, a simultaneous shutdown.

  As the power died, Cam reached into the iceboxes. They were built the same as the ships. With the remaining power she grabbed a hold of the largest icebox and unfurled its arms, whipping them around to topple the other iceboxes. A dozen arms lashed out like an enraged octopus, wreaking havoc in their wake. Cam guided the arms through a whiplash course, reaching out and impaling the approaching Hunters. Each star winked out in her vision.

  Before Mother could flee the ring Cam wrapped it up in one of the arms, encasing it from head to toe. Blue-gray biomatter melded together, sealing the cracks between the coils even as the flashing lights dimmed further. The last power in the iceboxes fled as she reformed it around the Mother’s body, entombing it.

  Epilogue

  Mack looked around him as Reno burned and smoldered in the aftermath of the battle. Plasma burns scarred every building. Dead Ringheads lay scattered up and down the street. Low, guttering plasma fires burned a dim purple on most of the bodies. A good portion of them were nearly intact, holed neatly through their chests when the icebox had gone crazy and killed almost all the rest of them.

  On all the Ringheads, their ice armor slowly evaporated. The natural desert heat leeched back into the city as the icebox effect faded. As the armor disappeared it left a sharp, acidic odor in its wake. Bright scars crisscrossed Mack’s chestplate, courtesy of Hunter claws. His temple throbbed under a crust of dried dirt and blood. His chest ached, equal parts broken ribs and sorrow.

  The Repeater 55 weighed about a thousand pounds in his arms and dragged him to one side. The only thing keeping him standing was the cybernetic leg. Pretty much everything else hurt like hell. Somewhere along the way he’d ditched his Dub1, the charge packs spent. He’d found the 55 by a burnt out auto-cab, next to Simmons’ body. The 55 was empty now as well, but he couldn’t relax his hands. Mack swayed, exhaustion threatening to pull him down. But he couldn’t rest now--his eyes wouldn’t let him. If he blinked he was afraid Jonesy and Cam would vanish.

  At least, he thought it was Jonesy and Cam.

  Jonesy lay motionless on the street. Only the subtle movement of his chest indicated he lived. What the hell is he doing in a SinoSov uni? His right arm was missing. Someone said Cam had cut it off. Whatever had done it, his arm wasn't even bleeding. But it was smoking. Freaky. Cam did that?

  Cam stood guard over Keenan’s prone body, radiating menace and pain. Some kind of armor the same dark hue of the alien cylinders covered her from head to toe. The armor covered her hands and ended in wicked looking claws on her fingers. Both hands ran with alien blood and gore. In her right hand she clutched the hilt of a freaking sword, the blade an eerie milky white.

  No one dared step close to her, this alarming Valkyrie.

  No one except Sasha. The smaller soldier strode up to Cam and motioned towards Keenan. “I need to check him, Alvarez.”

  To Mack’s surprise, Cam gave a quick nod, took a small step back from Keenan’s body and looked away. Cam looked down at her hand and seemed surprised to find the sword there. She dropped it. When the ice blade hit the ground, it began hissing and evaporated into acrid mist.

  Holding his breath, Mack waited as Sasha knelt and gently rolled Keenan over. A long moment passed while Sasha scanned him. When she closed her eyes and bowed her head, Mack’s shoulders slumped in disappointment.

  Someone walked up beside him. Mack turned his head away from Keenan, saw Box offering a canteen. Mack accepted it and sucked down the water. While he drank, the big man pointed around the street.

  “What happened here?”

  Mack swallowed, pointed at the once familiar woman. “Alvarez happened.”

  The big man's eyes widened.

  Mack nodded. “Scariest shit I’ve ever seen.”

  Box took the canteen back for a swig of his own. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and pointed into the sky with the canteen. “Any word on what’s going on upstairs?”

  Mack took off his visor and tilted his head back. Above them, two jumpships hung suspended in air, like fruit in a jello cube. Spooky as fuck. He took back the canteen and looked down into it. He sighed. He’d kill for a beer right now.

  He slugged back the tepid water. “No word yet, but it looks like they shut down the same time Alvarez did her magic here. Three
guesses who they send up there to check it out, and your first two don’t count.”

  Box rubbed his earlobe, his eyes searching the gray skies. His battle axe protruded from his pack, the blade nicked and scratched from the fight. “Better get my baby sharpened up.”

  Mack grinned and they bumped knuckles. He liked the big man. Reminded him of O’Neill. He missed his old team, but these guys were good people.

  Sasha stood, slinging her rifle off her back. “Whiskey, Victory, I need a two block perimeter around this mess. Nothing and no one in or out.”

  She spoke into her gauntlet. “CentCom, this is Kennedy. I need immediate ground support and a decon team to my current location.”

  Mack moved to obey Sasha’s command. Cam lifted her head and her eyes met Mack's. Even at this distance he made out the brilliant blue ring around her irises. Those previously warm brown eyes glinted with an alien coldness. It was the shape of Cam, but something essential inside her was changed. He took an involuntary half-step back from her gaze.

  A pained look flashed across her eyes. Cam ducked her head, turned and knelt at Jonesy's side. As she placed her hand on his neck, Jonesy’s eyes fluttered.

  Sasha waved to Mack and Box. “Box, I need you to babysit Snow White over there. Last I checked she was still breathing. If she wakes up, sit on her until the cavalry arrives.”

  Box nodded and trotted off towards the unconscious woman, her white hair stark against the dirty melting muck of the street.

  Sasha turned to Mack, her eyes grim.“We’re going to guard these two. When decon gets here they’re all going into quarantine. ”

  “What? C’mon, LT. This is Alvarez we’re talking about here.” Mack couldn’t keep the surprise out of his voice.

  Sasha’s lips tightened in displeasure. “You got a problem with your orders?”

  Before Sasha could reply, Cam spoke up from where she was kneeling next to Jonesy. She kept her gaze on Jonesy as she spoke. “It won’t be a problem.”