by Geoff Brown
On purpose, this time. The key is don't give them time to get their claws in my joints; I moved without thinking, the blades running down my forearms and shins slicing, a blender of blood and viscera. The martial arts we learned at West Point were worthless here. Fifty drops gave me the skills I needed, each Stalker bursting on my blades as they pushed in.
Even in the face of death, they never back off, never seem to communicate or pass information back. Every swarm attacks exactly as the last. My plan was to pass through the swarm, where I could open fire and we'd whittle it down twice as fast.
I seemed to reach the back of the swarm, it was still moving towards Boss and Rico. Ahead, I saw a cavernous space, lit purple and blue, and something huge, moving, stopping, looking at me.
A Berserker.
As large as Boss's enormous battlesuit, covered in metallic purple skin, with claws and teeth sharper than glass. I'd never seen one up close; the two we'd killed today had ravaged the unit, only the Pulse able to take them out.
My gun wouldn't even scratch it. Instinct took over. I pulled the deadman on my grenade belt, threw it, and pushed back into the swarm. I keyed my emergency power and ran, stomping through the Stalkers. They bit and scratched, but couldn't gain purchase, exploding under my feet and against my helmet. Behind me, a shockwave slammed through the swarm and blew me into the air; I hurtled down and crashed against the opposite wall. Rico and Boss were still there, still fighting.
“The hell happened to you?” Boss shouted.
“Berserker!” I screamed. “We have to go!”
The swarm burst and the Berserker was on us. Boss, his suit keyed to full power, met it head on.
“We have to get to the center!” he shouted. “Go on ahead!”
“You can't kill it without using the Pulse!” Rico said.
“Get through!”
We ran past. Time slowed; Boss had chainsaws built around the suit gloves and each strike drew grey blood. The Berserker had no control; it flailed without strategy, sparks flying as the claws raked. The armor would fall.
Boss spun the monster with a mighty punch, and in the same moment pulled the Pulse from his back and hurled it to me.
“Stay alive!” he shouted, and the Berserker bit down on his arm. Boss locked his joints; his chainsaw hand pushed further down the Berserker's throat, his other hand keeping its claws away.
“We have to save him!”
I grabbed Rico's arm and pulled him away, down the long corridor towards the cavern.
Another shockwave threw us into the air, this time filling our eyes with emerald light.
* * *
“Fucking bitch,” Rico said. The cavern was almost empty, a central dome and a few strange structures, and the single large door. For the moment, we were alone.
“There wasn't enough room for the Pulse,” I said. “Boss knew that and so do you. Even if we'd tried to fight with him it would have ripped us apart. Our suits are designed for the little ones.”
“You let him die.”
“He saved us with the Pulse bomb in his suit.”
“For what? There's nothing here!”
I looked around. It was quiet. Noise vibrating through the City told me the battle outside raged on.
“Maybe Boss scared them off with the explosion,” Rico said. He held by the door. “You remember the way out?”
“There's a shaft above, past that grate and shielded from the outside. Boss said our suits could climb it if we can get through.”
“So,” Rico said. “We made it. Do that data thing and let's jet.”
The central dome, glowing purple, had screens, keypads, and a data port. The cable on my suit led to a storage drive, reverse-engineered from Stalker ships. I plugged it in and the firmware automatically started downloading.
“Any day now,” Rico said. “I can hear noises from the corridor.”
Stalker language could not be translated, at least not yet. I examined the keypads and pushed a few buttons. Some of the screens lit up, but I couldn't understand the writing or even the layout.
“Come on!”
My suit pinged. It was full.
“Your turn,” I said, walking to the door.
“No way. We need to get out of here.”
“Rico,” I said. “Get the data.”
He glared, but walked to the dome and plugged in. I hefted the Pulse and checked my power. A blast from the Pulse would knock me over if I wasn't ready.
I heard chittering gibberish from the corridor. Down where Boss had died, shadows and echoes headed our way.
“Rico! Grenades!”
He tossed his grenade belt to me. I loaded my gun and waited.
The first Stalkers came round the corner. They were just walking, moving in that awful stop-motion, and then one saw me and screamed. Instantly the corridor filled. The grenade coated the walls with gray blood then I sprayed the corridor with bullets. They swarmed and I cut them down. So many this time. Millions, perhaps. There was no way to count them, and as the corridor filled with their bodies Rico joined me.
“What now?”
I pointed. “Up!” We backed away. Even by myself I might have held the corridor, controlled sweeps mowing the Stalkers down in a confined space, but as soon as they reached the door they swarmed up and around the walls, surrounding us. I fired a hook up to the grate, and it popped off, shattering Stalker bodies. Rico appeared at my side, helped me up, and together we fought them off, head and torsos flying, grey blood spattering.
As the swarm lessened, I let Rico hold them off while I rewound my winch. When I got to my feet, a Berserker appeared in the doorway and roared. I swung the Pulse from my back and fired. The emerald ball annihilated the Berserker where it stood, smashing the walls and flinging us back. Most of the Stalkers were dead.
Another roar from the corridor, and another. I fired my hook up and it stuck to the shaft wall.
“Rico!”
He grabbed me around the shoulders and waist, and I hit the winch. A Berserker, larger than the others, ran into the room and leaped. Its claws sank into Rico's leg and he screamed. The winch groaned.
I knew it wouldn't hold. Rico's eyes met mine, and he let me go at the same time as I grabbed his hook, fired it, then fired a grenade from my gun directly down into the Berserker's face. It let go, and we swung free.
Dazed, the Berserker staggered to its feet. I hit buttons on the Pulse, dropped it.
“What are you doing?” Rico screamed.
“Up,” I shouted at him. “Now! As far as we can!”
We rose. The Berserker leaped again, but missed, and then we were in the shaft and rising. When we reached our hooks, I grabbed Rico's wrist and pointed.
“Up!”
He unhooked, fired, and held me while I did the same. We rose.
An unholy explosion, larger than the grenade belt or Boss's Pulse bomb, rocked the City. It rose up the shaft, the green light overloading my helmet. I punched one hand into the wall of the shaft and held on as the shockwave ripped at my body. I couldn't see anything.
Finally, the sound and fury dimmed. My helmet switched back on.
“You bitch,” Rico said. His voice sounded like a smile.
“Whatever it takes,” I said. “We promised Boss.”
* * *
“...again, our top story tonight. As UE forces push the invaders back, early reports are that data from the Flying City allowed experts to make the first translations of Stalker text. According to our source, who must remain unnamed, the aliens that have been plaguing our planet did not arrive with evil intent. In fact, they wished to make peaceful contact.
“However, the untested faster-than-light system the Stalkers used to travel to us apparently drives sentient beings insane. Once they arrived they started killing. Subsequent ships continue this practice, as they have never reported back to their home planet. Scientists are hopeful Stalker technology may make faster-than-light communication possible, finally ending this terrible war. F
rom NORAD, this is CNN.”
Table of Contents
SUITS
Steve Lewis
Under Calliope’s Skin
Alan Baxter
The ASH at Ft Preston
Case C. Capehart
Human Strain
Benjamin Cheah
Kill Streak
Samson Stormcrow Hayes
Shatner Rules
Weston Ochse
Scout Mission
Jack Hillman
Outpost
Anthony Izzo
Invasive Maneuvers
Tim Marquitz & J. M. Martin
Romeo And Julie
Mike Resnick
Acting Private Tantas Jackson
Deborah Walker
Perfect War
Jay Werkheiser
Emeralds
Asher Wismer