by Anna Carven
They weren’t waiting patiently anymore. That pulse blast had caused panic and chaos, disrupting the neatly formed queues. Some people headed for the exit, some crowded around the airlock, and others just ducked, waiting for the next blast.
Arin hoped that whoever was manning the artillery on the Marcia wasn’t stupid or callous enough to fire at them again.
She ran to the nearest peacekeeper, a guy belonging to Brosa’s squad. “Hey, we need to get them out of here!”
“What?” He had to shout to be heard above the chaos.
“Evacuate the dock, now!”
“We can’t just-”
“You saw what just happened, soldier. We’ve got incoming. I’m ordering you to help me clear the dock, Private.”
He knew who she was. They all did. Even when everything had gone to shit, Humans understood the chain of command, and if he was the plankton, that made her the prawn. The peacekeeper saluted and ran off to herd people out of the dock. Arin found a few other peacekeepers and gave them the same orders.
Eventually, the crowds dispersed.
“Get me navigation,” she snapped into her comm.
“What is it, Varga?” Captain Tadao’s voice was taut. “It’s not really a good time. I’ve got a compromised transport to deal with. They’re going to try and make it back to the Marcia.”
“No!” Arin shouted. “If they go across with a Xargek onboard, everyone will die. You have to open the airlock. Tell them to come back into the dock.”
“So you want us to die instead?”
“We can’t afford to allow the Xargek to cross over. Bring it back in and the Kordolians will take care of the threat.”
“You sure about that?”
“Yeah.” Actually, Arin wasn’t sure of anything. She was just acting on a hunch. If she was running the Kordolian outfit, she’d have placed one or two super-powered soldiers up in the rafters to watch the Humans and make sure they didn’t do anything stupid. “Anyway, what choice do we have, Captain? We can let the people on the transport die in space, we can risk the Xargek reaching the Marcia and destroying the only escape route we have, or we can let them back in and take a chance, the only chance we really have.”
Hesitation.
“That’s all I see in front of us. There’s no time to think about it, Captain.”
Vicious cursing.
Then the airlock lights flashed, indicating that it was about to open.
“Bring them back into the fold, Captain. They won’t argue. They’re probably losing oxygen as we speak.”
“You’d better be right about this, Varga.”
“I know, Captain.” She cut off the comm and stared up into the dark, cavernous ceiling of the docking bay. Although she couldn’t see them, she knew a network of metal walkways existed up there, beyond the reach of the bright lights of the dock.
“Kordolian!” she yelled, as Humans rushed past her, spurred into action by the threat of more terrifying pulse-fire. “If you’re up there, we could use your help right about now. We’ve got Xargek incoming.”
People stared at her as if she’d gone mad.
Arin looked up into the darkness beyond the reassuring lights, searching for a myth who could prove to be either their savior or their downfall.
If they were up there, they would have heard her. She’d observed Rykal enough times to know that Kordolians had preternatural hearing.
The doors of the airlock groaned, and a great shudder tore through the dock. An alarm sounded, warning bystanders to clear the area.
The doors were about to open.
No black-armored warriors had dropped from the ceiling yet, and they were about to encounter an adult Xargek. Arin drew the plasma-gun Rykal had given her, although she knew it wouldn’t be of much use.
“What are you babbling about, Human?” A dark voice made her whirl, and Arin found herself face-to-face with a towering nightmare of a Kordolian.
He was all black. Even his face was hidden behind a black helm, his visor glinting in the harsh light.
He was big, this one, bigger than Rykal and most of the others. Twin swords were crossed at his back, and his body bristled with random weapons, some of which Arin didn’t eve recognize.
Thank the fucking stars.
“The transport’s coming back into the airlock,” she said. “I believe there’s an adult Xargek attacking it.”
The nameless, faceless, rather scary Kordolian replied with a sharp nod. “Tell your people to close the airlock once the transport has arrived, once I’m inside,” he said ominously. “I’ll deal with it.”
“Thanks,” Arin said, and even though he was the enemy, she meant it. “Is Rykal okay?” she stupidly blurted out, before she even knew what she was saying.
The warrior stared at her through his impenetrable visor, inclining his head. “It takes a lot to kill one of us,” was all he said, before he disappeared in a blur of black armor and weapons.
The dock was almost clear now, but the peacekeepers were having a hard time directing the remaining people towards the exits. She couldn’t drag any of them away from their responsibilities to accompany her to the cargo hold. She would have to go it alone, and hope she didn’t run into any bad luck along the way. More importantly, she hoped her men were still alive. Arin activated her comm, relayed some specific instructions to Tadao, then ran.
Chapter Seventeen
Rykal ran down to the docking levels, ignoring the pain in his side. The red-stripe had pierced his abdomen with its vicious claws, and this time there was no plasma-protein injection to feed his nanites.
It had taken a solid, excruciating effort, but he’d finally killed it, allowing an injured Kail to limp off and tend to his wounds in silence. If Rykal hadn’t shown up at that moment, Kail would have been in a bad place.
Rykal’s body was healing at an impossibly rapid rate, but repairing such a severe wound took energy, so he’d stripped his armor down to its most basic state, leaving his arms and most of his torso bare.
Unlike Humans, who seemed to place a great deal of importance on modesty and covering up, Rykal was indifferent about showing a little skin. Or at least he used to be, until he found out that Arin found his naked form attractive.
At some point, he’d resolved to get naked with her at the first opportunity.
But first, he had to find her.
He passed frightened Humans who were streaming out of one of the large docking bays. Some of them shot him terrified glances, but Rykal was used to that, so he ignored them. The civilians were being herded by several armored peacekeepers. The first two studiously ignored him. The third peacekeeper he passed pointed a gun at him. “Where are you going, Kordolian?”
“Where is Arin Varga?” Rykal stepped close to the Human, looming over him. The Human wore the standard-issue dull-grey armor of the peacekeepers. His brown eyes were wide beneath the clear visor of his helmet, and a faint sheen of sweat coated his skin. Rykal could hear his rapid heartbeat. “Did she make it off the freighter?”
“I-I don’t know, man. I think she’s still here. I mean, I saw her not too long ago. She was talking to one of you guys.”
“One of us?” Rykal’s voice was dangerously low. A sense of dark urgency swept through him, a terrible disquiet that wasn’t going to be tamed until he had her in his arms.
“Yeah. She left, and he went into the airlock. Something’s going down in there.”
Rykal’s sensitive ears picked up the sound of muffled fighting, followed by a distinctive screech. That sound could provoke terrible fear in the uninitiated. It was the sound of pure primal hatred.
There was a Xargek in the airlock.
Rykal activated his comm. “Who’s in the airlock?” he demanded in Kordolian, his voice harsh.
“Me.” It was Jeral. “What do you want?” His words came in-between the unmistakable crack of a Callidum blade breaking through a thick Xargek carapace.
“Have you seen my Human?”
�
��Ran off somewhere. I overheard something about her going to find some Humans that were unaccounted for. Stop bothering me now. I’m busy.”
That was Jeral. As surly as ever.
Rykal cut the comm as the airlock opened with a great hiss, revealing a damaged transport ship. Jeral stood atop the transport. In a single, swift motion, he jerked his twin swords out of the Xargek’s head and delivered a savage kick to its carcass, sending it crashing to the floor below. The doors of the transport opened, and Humans started flooding out, gasping for air.
“Oh, shit,” the Human peacekeeper gasped. “I, uh, need to go and help them.” It was clear he didn’t know where Arin was so Rykal left him in search of another.
Rykal glowered as he stalked away from the Human, a torrent of black emotion seething through him. If he didn’t find Arin… if something had happened to her, if someone had done something to her…
The next peacekeeper he stopped shrieked when Rykal’s hand dropped onto his shoulder. He whirled, bringing his bolt-gun up to Rykal’s face.
“Where is Arin Varga?” Rykal demanded, slapping the gun out of the way before the Human had time to react. It clattered across the floor. That terrible sense of urgency was growing inside Rykal, turning into something dark and malevolent. The sensitive stumps of the severed horns at his temples had started to throb some time ago. He knew what that meant. He had to find her.
“Fuc… I mean, I don’t know. She was here not too long ago. Ran off somewhere. Please let me go, man. I haven’t done anything.”
“Communicate with her.”
“Huh?”
“You have some form of communication system, don’t you?”
The Human hesitated, looking around with frantic eyes, as if he were searching for help. “I don’t really…”
“Yes you do.” Rykal’s hand snaked out, wrapping around the Human’s neck. The man sputtered and choked, naked fear twisting his features into an ugly mask. “If you wish to live, activate your comm and find out where she is.”
With every passing siv, Rykal was growing more and more anxious. He couldn’t afford to waste any more time.
He released the Human, who coughed. His face had turned a bright shade of pink. “O-okay.” It was as if fear had suddenly turned the lights on in his head. “Wait a second.” The Human tapped a device in his ear and spoke in his language. Rykal understood nothing but Arin’s name.
The peacekeeper ended his communication and took a deep, shuddering breath. “She’s gone down to the cargo hold,” he said. “Something about some guys who are trapped down there. Please don’t hurt her.”
“Idiot,” Rykal said. “Why in Kaiin’s name would I hurt her?”
Rykal shook his head and ran, dodging panicking Humans who were streaming out of the damaged transport. He headed towards the cargo hold where he’d been ambushed by those foolish Human peacekeepers.
She should have listened to him, but she wasn’t the sort to blindly step back and follow instructions.
Those pathetic Humans were Arin’s people, and he’d locked them away. Now she was going to rescue them, no matter how useless they were, because she was a noble creature, much more noble than her insipid masters on Earth or any of the Kordolians themselves, including Rykal.
If he didn’t get her back, he would remain the same unhinged, empty creature he’d always been, a half-soul with fractured memories and the body of a monster.
With dark urgency thrumming through his veins, Rykal ran faster, ignoring the burning pain in his side, pumping his legs until he became nothing more than a grey blur amidst the chaos.
Chapter Eighteen
The cargo hold was as dark as midnight, and to her surprise, the lights didn’t automatically turn on when she entered. Maybe they’d malfunctioned, like almost everything onboard this aging, dilapidated freighter. Arin flicked on her guide-light as she made her way amongst the empty cargo containers, searching for her squad.
She cursed herself for not making arrangements to retrieve the boys earlier, but amidst all the chaos, with the Xargek breathing down their necks and everything going to shit in the central hold, it had slipped her mind. Of course, it hadn’t helped that she’d seemed to have the undivided attention of a certain grand distraction named Rykal.
That Kordolian. He was at the center of everything, and now more than ever, her independent soul longed to have him by her side.
A soft snort of disbelief escaped her. Since when had she relied on anyone else to keep her safe?
Arin crept forward, flashing her light into empty cargo containers. Stripped of their contents, the large cage-like structures gaped at her, the coalescing shadows making them appear all the more vacant.
The hold was quiet, eerily so. Arin’s vision was limited to the cone of light provided by her link-band; beyond that, there was only darkness.
Her instincts screamed at her to get the fuck out of there. The Xargek had appeared from nowhere and infiltrated every part of the freighter. By going it alone, she was taking a big risk.
But all she had to do was get her guys out of there, and they would be fine. All it would take was a quick in-and-out, and then a short run back up to the docking bay.
She thought about calling out, but if there were Xargek down here, even larvae, she didn’t want to alert them to her location. Instead she crept along with her plasma-gun raised and her senses stretched taut, listening carefully for any signs of life.
She’d mapped out a clear route to the exit, so if she encountered anything; if she heard that hair-raising skittering noise, she’d be out of there in a flash.
Arin reached one end of the hold and doubled back, having found nothing.
“Sarge!” A loud whisper broke the silence, coming from one of the containers up ahead. “You gotta get us out of here!”
“Decker?” Arin recognized the voice. She ran towards it, watching the floor carefully for signs of Xargek as she approached. “Where the hell are you?”
“Over here.” For some reason, he was keeping his voice down.
Arin reached the container and to her immense relief, saw all six of her team members through the metal-cage doors. They were sitting with their backs against the walls of the container, looking haggard and fatigued.
Dekker stood, rattling the cage in frustration, his oversized frame hunched under the low ceiling of the container. “The monster locked us in,” he snarled, humiliation twisting his features into an ugly frown.
“Fucking alien,” grumbled another peacekeeper, a tall, athletic guy called Okello. “I didn’t know they could see in the dark.”
“Well, now you know,” Arin said dryly, as she studied the doors of the container. It seemed Rykal had gone and found a stray piece of Armium pipe somewhere and actually twisted the metal around the door handles, binding them together and trapping the peacekeepers inside.
Their weapons had all been removed and were stacked neatly in front of the container.
“Freak,” Arin muttered under her breath as she tried to figure out the quickest way to get her people out. “Stand back,” she warned loudly as she raised her plasma gun.
The peacekeepers stared at the weapon in her hands and hastily shuffled to the rear of the container.
“Where the hell did you get that, Sarge? That’s alien tech.”
“Never you mind,” Arin steadied her aim. “You all turn away and duck, now. I’m about to blast this thing.”
Arin squeezed the trigger, preparing for a loud blast.
Nothing happened.
“Is it broken?” one of her men whispered.
“Wait.” Arin studied the thing. It had a blue charge indicator on the side alongside what looked like the safety. Of course. She flipped it off, pulled the trigger, aimed at Rykal’s makeshift ‘lock’, and fired.
Boom! Blue plasma fire lit the darkness, and the gun’s powerful recoil threw Arin back onto her ass, sending her crashing into one of the empty cargo containers opposite them.
“Aargh,” she groaned, momentarily blinded by the flash, her lower back and ass aching. She hadn’t expected such a mean recoil. The Kordolians made shooting these things look so damn easy.
With lots of frantic rattling, the peacekeepers busted out of the container, falling upon their weapons as if they were a pile of gold.
“You okay, Sarge?”
“Yeah.” Arin got to her feet, dusting herself off. She briefly considered launching into a long and scathing dressing down on why Human soldiers shouldn’t follow a Kordolian warrior off into the darkness with the intent to ambush him, but she decided that could wait for later.
Right now, they needed to get out of here before a stray Xargek found them.
Arin shone her guide-light at her squad, noting their dazed expressions.
“Thanks, Sarge. We owe you a pint or two if we ever set foot on sweet Earth again.”
Arin deflected their gratitude with a short, sharp shake of her head. “All of you, cut the crap and listen to me. There’s an evac taking place in Docking Bay One. There may be Xargek down there, and there may be Kordolians. Hopefully, the latter will be engaging the former. I want you to make your way down to the Docking Bay in a swift, orderly fashion, and assist with the evac efforts. If you see a Kordolian, do not engage. Am I clear?”
Hesitation.
“Am I clear, assholes?”
“Yes, Ma’am!”
“Listen to your commander, assholes.” A low, rather snarky voice drifted to them from beyond Arin’s small cone of blue light.
Instantly, an array of guns, knives, and hateful looks were summoned and pointed towards the darkness.
Arin sighed, even as a warm wave of relief coursed through her. “Rykal, what are you doing?”
“I came for you,” he said. “I was worried about you.”