The Heirs of Earth (Children of Earthrise Book 1)

by Daniel Arenson

  "All right, all right!" Bay laughed. "Go easy on me. I haven't used the Earthstone in years. I was still on Disney by the time—"

  By the time your father stole it, he wanted to say. He stopped himself.

  Rowan bit her lip and lowered her head, her smile gone. Then she looked up at him, and light filled her eyes.

  "When can we go?" she said.

  "Now!" Bay said. "My ship's ready." He reached out to take her hand. "Are you?"

  "No," Rowan whispered. "I'm scared. I'm terrified. I'll go with you, just . . ." She took a deep breath. "I've been living in these ducts since I was two. Can I have a few moments? To steel myself."

  Bay nodded. "Take your time. On some distant world, my sister once dared me to jump off a cliff into the sea. And did I mention there were sharks? It was easy for her. I spent about an hour up there until I finally worked up the nerve. And flying into space is even scarier."

  "I feel like Samwise Gamgee the hobbit, too scared to leave the Shire and go on an adventure." Rowan bit her lip. "Sorry. I talk a lot about movies and books. It's pretty much all I've had for the past fourteen years. Everything that I know, I learned from the Earthstone. I wish I could show you Lord of the Rings! You'd understand me better. But the damn crab shot up my damn monitor." She slumped. "It took Fillister and me ages to build that rig, to create an adapter that can access the Earthstone's data, then stream it to an alien monitor. We had to code an entire assembly-level translation algorithms, converting the data between human and alien APIs. The raw binary data is still in the stone, but all our interface code is gone."

  Bay began to rummage through his pockets. "Actually, I have a minicom here. Human tech. It should be able to access the Earthstone pretty easily."

  Rowan's eyes lit up. "Really?"

  He nodded. "Really. Actually, I'm pretty sure I've used this very minicom with the Earthstone before. I was eight years old when we lost it. My dad used to let me use the Earthstone sometimes." He smiled. "Disney, remember?"

  He pulled out his minicom, a computer the size of his palm. Instantly, its interface picked up the Earthstone, displaying a library of its data.

  Rowan gasped. "It doesn't even need a cable. Of course! Human-to-human tech. Wireless."

  Bay nodded, scrolling through the Earthstone's data. "Man, I remember some of this. I used to play these games. Watch some of these cartoons. Let's see, movies, movies . . . Ah, here we go!"

  Rowan leaned closer, pressing her body against his. "Wow! Your interface is much nicer than what Fillister and I coded. Damn! You can even see thumbnails and previews! We just displayed green text on a black background." She pointed. "There! That movie! The first Lord of the Rings film. Your screen is even smaller than mine was, I think, but—whoa!"

  The minicom cast out a beam of light, projecting the film on the duct wall.

  "Cool, huh?" Bay said.

  Rowan watched with huge damp eyes. She reached out and clasped his hand.

  "I've never seen it so big," she whispered. "It's beautiful."

  The movie played. Bay lay on his side, facing the projection on the duct wall. Rowan squeezed in beside him, lying with her back against his chest. She was small enough that he could watch the movie over her shoulder. The girl was tiny.

  Living in the ducts all her life, surviving on scraps, I'm amazed she's alive at all, Bay thought.

  Rowan was enraptured by the movie, but Bay looked down at her instead. The film shone on her eager face. She smiled at a funny scene, a tight-lipped smile, perhaps still self-conscious of her teeth.

  I can't even imagine what your life here was like, Bay thought. I was taught to hate your family. The family that betrayed ours. You're an Emery. I'm a Ben-Ari. But in here, we're both just human.

  He looked down at her black eye again.

  Who hurt you, Rowan? Was it the marshcrabs?

  Anger flared in Bay. He wanted to find whoever had hurt this girl, to slay them with his bare hands.

  I will rip apart anyone who hurts you again.

  She glanced up at him. "Don't look at me. Look at the movie! The best part is coming up. The Mines of Moria!"

  He smiled. "All right, all right."

  They lay side by side for a long time. Bay was soon sore. He could barely manage a few hours in these ducts; he couldn't even imagine spending fourteen years in here. Finally the movie ended, and Rowan turned over to face him.

  "Well, what did you think?"

  "I think I need to pee," Bay said. "That was one damn long movie!"

  She nodded, grinning. "And that's just the first one! There are sequels! Oh, and we have to watch the making of documentaries too! We can watch them on your starship, though."

  "I'd like that," Bay said. And he meant it. The movie had confused him. In truth, he hadn't paid much attention. In truth, he cared more about lying next to Rowan, hearing her laugh, seeing her eyes shine.

  I've been alone for too many years too, he thought. Holographic prostitutes didn't have such light in their eyes. Didn't have such nice smiles.

  He held out his hand to her.

  "Shall we go on our own adventure, little hobbit?" he said.

  Rowan smiled, eyes damp. She reached toward his hand.

  Before she could clasp it, a shriek rose, and the ducts jolted.

  Rowan inhaled sharply. She reached under her dress and drew a hidden knife.

  "Exterminators!" she whispered.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  The shrieks filled the ductwork.

  Rowan winced.

  "Exterminators," she whispered. "And big ones."

  Bay stiffened. "Muck." He reached for his belt and drew his pistol. "I hate those guys."

  He had dealt with exterminators before. Most humans had. Bay had learned not to spend more than a few days at any one place. Sooner or later, somebody called the local exterminators to remove the pest. Some exterminators were woefully inadequate, guys who had never caught anything more dangerous than a cold. Others were seasoned mercenaries who wore human ears as trophies around their necks.

  As another shriek filled the ducts, Bay had the sinking feeling they were dealing with the second type now.

  The ducts shook. A mad clattering rose. Something was moving through the ducts. Fast.

  "Hurry, we can make it to my starship!" Bay said, about to crawl back the way he had come.

  "No!" Rowan said. "They're coming from there. I can tell. This way, hurry!"

  They began to crawl through the duct. Rowan moved at incredible speed, scuttling forward like a badger. Her dragonfly flew above her, skimming the duct's ceiling.

  "Hurry!" she said over her shoulder.

  "I'm trying!" Bay said, dragging himself forward.

  He managed to rise to hands and knees, but his head and shoulders kept banging against the ducts' steel walls. Every few meters, they passed over a vent, and he glimpsed the various seedy establishments below. A few patrons in brothels and bars raised their eyes, roused by the clatter, and grumbled about pests in the walls.

  The ducts rattled. The shrieks drew closer. Clattering echoed like many pounding feet. A stench hit Bay's nostrils, a sickening mixture of burnt marrow and worms after rain.

  "They're in the ducts and moving fast," Rowan said, crawling ahead. She kept having to pause and wait for Bay to catch him. "Come on, Bay, hurry!"

  "Where are we going?" he said.

  "I know another way to the hangar." She looked over her shoulder at him. "Hurry, they're—"

  She screamed and pointed.

  Bay looked behind him and felt the blood drain from his face.

  By Ra.

  A creature was racing toward them through the duct.

  Nausea rose in Bay's stomach. Cold sweat washed him.

  "They hired Ra damn bonecrawlers," he said. "I hate bonecrawlers."

  The alien had a body like a python, thick enough to digest a man whole. Its skin was rubbery, pinkish, and marred with moles, liver spots, and thin hairs. That skin was sickening
ly human. The ribs were clearly visible, hundreds of them stretching down the serpentine body, pushing against the skin. The alien moved by contracting and expanding those ribs like an accordion.

  Its skull too was disturbingly human, draped with skin. There seemed to be no fat, no muscle, just skin and bone. The teeth were long and sharp, and while the tight skin revealed wide eye sockets, the eyes themselves were vestigial, mere splotches on the skin, almost certainly blind. The creature reached out arms tipped with claws like daggers, and it shrieked again, a cry that shook the ducts and nearly deafened Bay.

  They use sonar, he realized. They're blind but—

  Rowan grabbed him.

  "Come on!"

  He crawled after her, moving as fast as he could. Too slow! The bonecrawler followed, screeching, reaching out to him. A claw slashed Bay's boot, tearing the sole. Bay cried out and kicked. He hit the creature's face, ripped the skin, and teeth snapped at him. Bay flipped onto his back, aimed his pistol, and fired.

  Ringing filled his ears, flowing over all other sounds.

  His ears thrummed and ached, and white blood sprayed.

  The creature howled, a hole in its head, but still lived. It reached out a claw, and—

  Rowan scurried over Bay and stabbed with her knife, shouting. Her blade found one of the bonecrawler's vestigial eyes, puncturing the skin that stretched over the eye socket like leather over a drum.

  The creature roared. Rowan kept stabbing, and Bay winced and fired again, hitting its body. The bullet glanced off a rib, hit a joint in the ducts, and a section of duct tore open.

  The bonecrawler's lower body fell through the duct and dangled over a casino. Aliens below screamed. The bonecrawler's upper half was still in the duct, and it clawed at the steel walls for purchase. Bay fired again. Again. Finally the creature fell into the casino, shattering a card table. Poker chips scattered and gamblers opened fire, riddling the bonecrawler corpse with bullets.

  But beyond the hole in the duct, Bay saw more bonecrawlers scuttling forward, screaming and snapping their jaws.

  "Rowan, are you all right? You're bleeding!"

  "I'm fine. Hurry! This hole won't stop them."

  They kept fleeing. They made their way around a bend and began crawling up a sloping duct, only to see another bonecrawler racing toward them. They spun around. Now Bay crawled at the lead. He reached a fork in the ducts, saw a bonecrawler down one path, and took the other route. He crawled madly, banging his elbows and knees, ignoring the pain. Several bonecrawlers converged behind them, moving fast.

  "How far are we to the hangar?" he cried.

  "Almost there!" Rowan said, "Hurry, that way!"

  A long passageway stretched before them. They crawled. Three bonecrawlers chased, howling, rattling the ducts. A path opened up to their left, and a fourth bonecrawler emerged. Its claws grabbed Bay's arm. He fired. His bullet slammed into the bonecrawler's face, shattering teeth. Rowan screamed, knifing a bonecrawler that dropped from a vent above. Even Fillister was fighting, buzzing around a bonecrawler to distract it, then dipping down to sting it with his tail.

  "This way!" Rowan cried, racing along a duct, leaving a trail of blood. Bay followed. A bonecrawler grabbed his foot, ripping off his boot. He kicked again and again, breaking the creature's teeth. A claw scraped his leg, and he fired his last bullet, knocking the beast back. But more bonecrawlers were everywhere. He could see more scampering up a shaft.

  "In here!" Rowan said, and Bay followed her through a narrow opening into a wider shaft. A lever rose here, and Rowan tugged it, grunting with effort. A bonecrawler scuttled toward them, only instants away.

  "Help me!" Rowan said.

  Bay grabbed the lever too. They pulled together, and a metal hatch moved on rusty hinges, blocking the duct.

  The bonecrawler slammed into the steel sheet, denting it. Bay pushed against the metal, trying to hold the beast back.

  Rowan slumped down, panting. "These levers are used to direct airflow through the system. There are a few more we can use." She grabbed the lever, pushed her feet against a wall, and snapped it off. "Locked."

  Bay pointed at her bleeding leg. "You need help."

  "No time." Rowan shuddered. "I've never seen these creatures here before. They're not like the usual exterminators. The usual guys are fat and lazy and no problem to escape. Belowgen means business this time."

  Bay blinked. "It's my fault. It's because I'm here, it's—"

  More shrieks sounded, interrupting him. The metal hatch rattled. It seemed far too thin to last very long.

  Rowan grabbed his hand. "Come. We're almost at the hangar."

  They kept crawling. Bay dared to hope they were safe now. But soon more shrieks sounded above. The ducts rattled. More bonecrawlers were entering the ductwork from vents above.

  "Damn it!" Bay said. "There must be hundreds of those things here."

  Speakers crackled to life.

  A gravelly voice emerged.

  "Hello, pests! Do you like your new friends?"

  Bay gritted his teeth. He recognized that voice. "Belowgen."

  "You cannot stop them, pests!" Belowgen said, voice emerging from speakers across the space station. "They are hungry. They will devour your flesh, then build nests for their young from your bones. Farewell, humans."

  Bay grumbled. "I will not rest—I swear this—until I turn that Belowgen into crab cakes."

  Rowan tugged him. "No time for trash talk. Hurry, this way. I have a plan."

  She led him down a narrow, sloping duct. Heat rose from below. Sweat coated Bay, and engines rumbled. They seemed to be heading toward the furnace room. From above came the clatters and shrieks of bonecrawlers. Whenever they passed by a lever, they tugged it, sealing off the duct behind them. But the metal sheets didn't hold the exterminators for long. Their claws ripped through the hatches, and the beasts kept following, closer every moment.

  Finally Bay and Rowan reached a narrow, rickety duct. It jangled and swayed as they crawled. This duct was not embedded inside a wall. It hung from a ceiling. Only a few screws held it in place. Through cracks at the joints, Bay could see the room below. He made out rumbling pistons, smoke, and fire. Heat bathed him. The furnaces of Paradise Lost were churning below.

  "Bay, come on!" Rowan was crawling ahead.

  Bay grimaced. The thin steel was creaking and bending. Rowan was tiny. Bay wasn't tall and burly like his father, but he was still much bigger than Rowan. Would this duct support his weight?

  Howls sounded behind him. He turned to see the bonecrawlers chasing. He crawled onward, following Rowan. Heat rose through cracks in the ducts. The metal was so hot it seared his hands. Sweat dripped from his hair.

  Finally Rowan reached the end of the duct. A chimney rose there, connected to the duct. Rowan crawled into the chimney, and Bay joined her. They clung to the walls, squeezed in like Santa Claus and an elf. Instead of climbing, they wriggled around to face the duct they had just crawled along.

  Above them, the chimney rose toward distant shadows. Below them, the furnace rumbled and blasted up heat and smoke. Before them stretched the rickety duct. It was hanging loosely over the furnace room, cracked and dented.

  From her spot inside the chimney, Rowan reached back into the duct. She grabbed a heavy screw that was attaching the duct to the ceiling.

  "As soon as the bonecrawlers step into that duct, I'll tug," she said. "They'll plunge into the furnace below. Just like Gollum into Mount Doom."

  Bay nodded. "Got ya. I think. Not the last part."

  Even bloodied and sweaty and trembling, Rowan managed to smile. "I've got a lot of work to do with you." She gasped. "Here they come!"

  The bonecrawlers appeared at the opposite side of the rickety duct.

  They paused.

  The creatures stared. They stood frozen. The dilapidated duct stretched between the humans and bonecrawlers. The furnace belched below, blasting up flames that licked the duct.

  "Come on," Bay muttered. "Come on
!" His voice rose. "Come on, assholes! We're here! Come on!"

  A bonecrawler took a step into the duct, then pulled back. The creatures hissed.

  "Come get us!" Rowan said. "We're trapped!"

  The creatures only stared. Rowan and Bay huddled together, waiting.

  Come on, come on . . .

  The bonecrawlers began to retreat.

  "Damn it, they sensed the trap," Bay said.

  Rowan gasped. "They'll find another way to us!"

  Bay narrowed his eyes. "No they won't. Get ready to tug that screw." He crawled back onto the duct, pounded the steel wall, and shouted. "Hey, assholes! Running away from humans, are you?"

  "Bay, careful!" Rowan cried behind him.

  But Bay kept crawling, banging against the steel walls, raising a racket. The duct creaked. The joints bent. Through cracks, he saw the furnace swirling with molten metal, a god of fire.

  "Hey, you stinking aliens!" Bay shouted, crawling farther along the duct. With every breath, the duct creaked and bent. "You losers! Come get me. I'm just a pest, right? Come fight me, cowards!"

  The bonecrawlers turned back toward him. The taunts were working. The beasts roared and raced into the duct, charging toward him.

  Bay spun around, banging his elbows and hips against the duct, and raced back toward Rowan.

  "The screw!" he cried. "Pull it! Now!"

  Rowan sat in the chimney across the duct. She stared at him, eyes wide.

  "You're too far!" she said.

  The bonecrawlers scurried behind him. Their claws reached out, grazing his ankle, tearing his calf. He kicked himself free and kept crawling toward Rowan.

  "Pull the screw!" he cried, still several meters away.