Starbearer
Page 17
The alien reappeared. It was followed by another, and another. They were big, and had claws and metallic parts which made them look made up, as if a child had put them together from pieces they happened to have. But nothing that would be a weapon. Amidst the mix-and-match appearance, Berossus’s eyes were drawn to one thing. In its arm, one of them had a box he recognised immediately. It was the object with the hypnotic green light.
They had no other discernible weapons. Efia had said there were only ten in total, and he could maybe take them on. He was not going back into a trance. So he charged them.
He ran towards the aliens, his eyes fixed on the device.
As he approached, the foremost creature changed its stance, moving its body backward and its claws forward. The one with the device pushed it ahead, and a green light hit Berossus’s eyes.
He jumped on the aliens with all his might and hit his right fist down on the device.
The device fell from the alien’s grasp and bounced on the floor, the green light gone.
The alien’s claws slipped on the hard surface of his prosthesis, but ripped into the flesh of his left forearm. The pain stung to his core and he recoiled.
The other two aliens approached him, claws forward. One tried to grab his foot, but he was able to kick it away.
But the other one caught his supporting leg, and he fell on his back on the floor.
The aliens approached him.
Then he felt it, the burn in his veins. It had been a long time since he’d last turned, but the feeling was immediately familiar. He hadn’t been able to bring it about himself, but now it rose from within, and he faded to the background.
The dark magic is the wicked call for the soul of the beast… I am the killing rage in demon blood, and I will begin…
Berossus came to in a haze, stumbling on squishy black blobs in a dark corridor. The aliens he had killed lay splattered around his feet. The hypnotic box lay in small pieces on the floor, with odd fragments of the casing sticking out from the wall where he had thrown it.
‘Father!’ he cried.
A muffled sound came through the wall. ‘Berossus, is it you, what happened?’
‘I don’t know,’ he mumbled. His skin was still red, and his consciousness dazed, as if from behind a veil.
‘I can’t hear you,’ Oberen called from behind the wall.
‘I will get you out!’ Berossus shouted back.
Another bunch of aliens appeared from around the corner. These ones had cyborg arms, and plasma rifles pointed forward. In an instant, before he could realise what was happening, Berossus’s blood boiled and his muscles tensed as he took running steps towards them. At the same time, his mind drifted back.
The night calls for thee…
Berossus blinked. Around him was only the quiet hum of the ship in a dark corridor.
‘Hey! Are you all right?’ Came a muffled shout.
He recalled his father behind the sinewy walls, and stepped back, almost tripping on something hard. It was a cracked metal helmet.
Under his feet were a number of broken creatures and pieces of technical parts, sometimes separate and sometimes clinging on to flesh. The aliens’ blood ran dark on the floor. He recognised one piece of metal: it was his prosthetic arm. He pulled it out of the muddle and shook off the alien gunk. It was still in good shape, so he pulled his torn sleeve up and attached it again. It was insane that he had killed the aliens one-handed and unarmed.
He took a deep breath. He had turned, and, like before, he had no recollection of what had happened during the change, but this time he remembered the moment of transformation. It was as if someone else was in his head.
He hadn’t made himself turn, nor was he on a planet. The sudden violent attack had triggered the change.
‘Berossus,’ called the muffled sound again, cutting through his thoughts.
‘Father!’ he replied, and stepped closer to the wall.
‘Can you open the door?’
He ran his eyes along the wall ‘There’s no door!’
‘There is one here,’ Oberen said. And there had also been a door when Berossus was in the room… or was it just an opening between the coiled boughs closing behind him as he stepped through?
He pushed his finger between the boughs—which were warm and, unlike the glistening look, felt more matte, like a super-fine sandpaper—and he pulled them apart as hard as he could. Perhaps the boughs moved a little, perhaps they didn’t move at all. He wasn’t going to open the door like this.
‘They respond to electricity.’
Berossus recoiled. It was Efia. She had materialised by his side, and in her green corseted dress looked completely out of place in the dark alien slaughterhouse.
‘Can you open it?’
‘Not without a lot of electricity,’ she said. ‘It’s all like a muscle—a current can make one tense, which pulls the others.’
Berossus shook his head. In a conventional ship, he was never far from an energy outlet, but this alien ship seemed completely different.
There were the mechanical parts of the cyborgs with embedded weapons, but they were broken around the door. Berossus picked up something that resembled a plasma rifle. He could’ve used it for power, but without the battery pack it was useless.
He searched for machine parts underneath the dead aliens, and found something that had probably been a battery pack, but was now twisted and unresponsive.
‘Are we alone or are there more of them?’
‘You killed them all,’ she said. ‘This ship is under our control.’
Then something caught his eye: an electric blue lining on a metal surface. He pushed the black carcass with his foot and uncovered another battery pack in perfect shape.
The insides were similar to the basic navy stuff he had seen, and it didn’t take long for him to figure out the wires that provided power. He just needed a way to control it.
He grabbed the weapon that resembled a plasma rifle and screwed open its top with his universal tool and removed the energy control unit. It took him a fair while to figure out the right connections between the battery pack and the energy control unit, and even when the wires were connected, he wasn’t completely sure it would work.
He raised the contraption against the wall, so that one of the wires connected to the surface. He engaged the control unit.
The bough on the wall trembled.
The wire shot out green sparks, and the battery pack and the controller fell from his hands.
‘Are you sure you know what you’re doing?’
‘Yeah. It’s called trial and error.’
He picked up his contraption and peered into the controller. The safety threshold was set too low; he turned it up to max, no limits. Without the limit, the battery would max out its output, but run out in a matter of seconds. He raised the device and set the wire against one of the black boughs so that he could keep it in place by leaning into it.
‘Here goes,’ he said, and Efia stepped back.
As he engaged the unit again, the bough flexed in an instant, and he had to push the device hard against it to maintain contact. The bough shortened so that it pulled another one with it, and a hole emerged. And through the hole peeked Oberen.
‘It won’t hold long,’ Berossus said with a grunt as he stepped to the side, still pressing the device hard against the wall so that his father could get out.
Oberen pushed through, and just as he was out, the battery’s charge died.
‘Thank you, son,’ he said, and was about to hug him, but noticed the contraption he was holding.
Berossus tossed the depleted battery pack on the floor and met his father’s gaze. He said nothing, but Berossus thought he saw an approving nod, a sincere appreciation.
Oberen turned to Efia. ‘What’s going on?’
‘We've one of their ships, thanks to Berossus,’ Efia said, gliding between them. She beckoned them to follow. ‘Let’s go to the bridge and see what we can find out.�
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Berossus nodded with a serious face, even though inside he was smiling. There were many things to work out between he and his father, but now they had taken the first step.
It didn’t take them long to find the bridge, or the place that controlled the ship. It was quite unusual: a round shape with a spiralling black bough in the middle, and on the walls, where he’d normally expect to have screens, were holes of green mist. On one wall were multiple things that looked like sinks, all but one full of the same green mist.
‘Can you fly this?’ Berossus asked.
Oberen peered into one of the sinks. ‘I’ve never seen anything like it. Perhaps this isn’t the bridge, after all.’
‘This is the place of control for the ship,’ Efia said, and stepped beside Oberen. ‘This looks vaguely familiar to me. Let me try something.’ She pushed her hands into the green mist.
The ship shuddered under their feet. Berossus leaned against the side of the sink to keep balance.
‘Sorry about that,’ Efia said. ‘This is where you control the ship. Let’s see where we are.’
The mist on the walls turned dark red, and on one side, something black appeared.
‘They let us see outside,’ Berossus said.
‘Not bad at that either,’ Efia said, pointing at the sinks beside them. ‘And these here show where we are.’
‘I can’t read it,’ Oberen frowned. ‘Where are we?’
‘We’re in Remola.’
Chapter Twenty-Five
Tredd Bounty opened his eyes to the gleaming morning rays of the dual suns shining in through the crack between the curtains. He rubbed his eyes. Particles of dust drifted through the rays. He reached his arm out to the side, but there was no one there.
Sounds came from the kitchen: the tap opening, water flowing, glass filling, the tap closing, and steps towards the bedroom. Lena appeared in the doorway in her white lace underwear.
‘I’m sorry,’ she said, and downed the glass of water. ‘Completely forgot!’
Tredd rose to sit as she slipped into a red flower print dress, hiding her lean and tan dancer body. Jill had introduced Lena to Tredd when she was still in the dancing troupe; when she had still been around.
She sat on the side of the bed, and leaned forward, tying the straps of the high heels she’d worn the night before.
‘Don’t go.’
‘I told you last night, we have the performance in Hereng, and need to be there by the afternoon.’
‘Come on,’ Tredd said, stretching out on the bed. ‘Let’s fool around—just for a while.’
‘Sorry,’ she said, and straightened up her dress. ‘The other passion calls.’
Tredd watched her spin around, the hem of her dress rising as she walked away. He took a deep breath, sighed and rose out of bed.
‘Won’t you stay, just for coffee?’
‘Had one already—and left some for you in the therm.’ She swung her purse on her shoulder and stepped up to Tredd. She kissed him on the mouth, and said, ‘Later, honey.’
Tredd reached for her waist, but again she spun fast, and trotted towards the door. He followed her and picked up a lipstick tube she had left in the foyer. She was already walking down the steps of the terrace, when he called out from the doorway, ‘You forgot your lipstick!’
‘You try it, I have plenty,’ she said, and waved with a flirty smile.
Tredd sighed and let her go. There wasn’t anything deep between them, but Lena was fun, and she would eventually come back. As he watched her hem swing, he noticed a familiar looking man in a grey outfit passing her and walking towards him.
‘Wha—’ he said to himself, and when the man hit the first steps of his terrace, ‘Eddie, what brings you here?’
Eddie had been Tredd’s best friend since childhood, and, even with all the troubles with the local law in Eura and then the navy, he had managed to get his life in order. Tredd could only wonder how.
‘Good to see you, pal,’ he said, and they hugged. Eddie took a step back and squinted. ‘Been partying?’
Tredd wore the scent of the previous night’s alcohol. ‘Yeah, well…’
Eddie looked good, as if he was younger than the last time they had met. But now he was giving Tredd a condemning look. ‘That woman wasn’t Jill.’
‘No. She left.’
‘I know,’ Eddie said, with a tone that wasn’t condemning. He had known Jill and Tredd as teens, Tredd’s longing for her after she disappeared, and their reunion which had turned into a relationship—one that was fading.
‘Come on in.’ Tredd led him to the kitchen and opened the fridge. ‘Fancy a cold one?’
‘You remember what happened in Five Ways?’
‘Sure. Just being polite,’ Tredd said, and opened a bottle of local brew. For Eddie, he pulled a glass full of sparkling water from the tap. Eddie had been kicked out of the navy because of a drinking problem, and been an absolutist since then, until in Five Ways when he went overboard. Tredd, on the other hand, had no such problems. He handed over the glass and raised his bottle. The cold brew had a godly taste.
‘Living the dream, eh?’ Eddie said as he sat down on the couch.
‘Could be worse,’ Tredd said, and took another swig. ‘But you’re here without a warning, so it’s not just a social call. Tell me what’s going on? Trouble at home?’
‘No such thing.’ Eddie said, chuckling, and rotated the glass in his hands. ‘Or, well, in a way you’re right. It’s trouble at home, but not with Cassandra.’
‘That’s good to hear,’ Tredd said. ‘So, what’s the trouble?’
‘I came because the Remola are back at it again.’
So, Jill was right. Even so, it’s not my battle.
‘Berossus connected with me; he’s with his father and Efia.’
‘OK, wait,’ Tredd said, and raised his hand. ‘He’s found Efia?’
‘Yep.’
‘Just like that?’
‘I understood his parents had some connections.’
‘Inanna? I’d never thought…’
‘And get this: his father is a former colleague of Jilius Dal.’
‘Henning’s father,’ Tredd said, considering the relationships. So, they’re all connected, wonder if Henning knew this about Berossus.
Eddie grinned. ‘You know what this means?’
Tredd took a sip and shook his head. ‘No, but I’m sure you’re gonna tell me.’
‘When I said trouble at home, I didn’t mean my family and estate at Baleor. Haven’t you watched the news?’
Tredd shook his head.
‘Remolan portals appeared in thousands of locations across the Dawn, and unlike the ones last time, these weren’t in space, but on planets and space stations. Small scale portals the aliens could walk through. You know what that means.’
Tredd nodded. ‘Unlike the last time when it was all about massive ships, now they’ve showed up, they can perform a surgical attack.’
‘Correct. You’re catching up fast.’
‘But,’ he said, taking another sip, ‘did anything come through?’
‘That’s the thing. From only one, the one in the Thruneedle building in Spit City.’
Tredd snorted. His last night out in Spit City with Jill months ago. He sighed; how quickly things had changed. ‘So, what came out of it?’
‘First it was just shots—plasma bolts—and then a bunch of aliens. Now, I haven’t seen the details other than what’s in the public network, and that’s not much as they didn’t release images of the aliens, but it wasn’t too hard to find leaked footage on the net. They were the same creatures I’ve seen in Remola.’ Eddie took a gulp from the glass and seemed to hesitate. ‘Yet they’re wearing bits of our cyborgs.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Looking at the images, you see they have gleaming metal bits on them, something I never saw in Remola, and those metal sections do match with the model our friend Colonel Powell was wearing. But just parts.’
Eddie nodded, and leaned back with a sigh. ‘To me it looks like the aliens have augmented themselves with our tech—on the footage I saw, they were using their claws and firing blasters.’
‘Have you seen this on Remola?’
‘No.’ He took a deep breath. ‘I can’t go back, not anymore. It’s as if they’ve blocked me.’
‘You still black out?’
‘No, that’s gone, too. Since they pushed Grangar through.’
‘That’s interesting,’ Tredd said, and took a swig from his bottle, emptying it. He stood up and walked over to the kitchen counter. ‘So why are you here?’
‘I got a message from Berossus.’
As much as he liked the friends he had made recently, Tredd had been deliberate on stepping out of that world, and it had meant blocking every means of communication, but he couldn’t stop a mate from walking up to his home. ‘So, what’s the message?’
‘In essence, he wants us to join him, and apply our powers to help bring Nenetl down.’
‘Yeah, I remember the last time we did it, standing in buckets on the bridge of the Angel. Didn’t see you there then, mate—and to be honest, I don’t believe anything we did there mattered. To me, this looks like the same charade all over again.’
‘I want to help, and I would like you to join me. Last time you came to me. Now it’s my turn.’
‘Why do you want to do this? I mean, what’s in it for you?’
‘I always thought I was different, and not in a good way. This just might be the reason we have these powers. This is the reason we were born like this. I have three beautiful children, and I want them, and all the other children, to live in a world where they can be safe. This is it. This is our time. Our legacy.’
‘I feel for you, mate,’ Tredd said. ‘But I disagree, there’s nothing we can do. It’s a show, and the answer is no. I’m done with that stuff. I can’t even use my powers anymore.’