“We have to get back to my ship now. Cessa has the empyreus.”
We ran the entire length back to my ship. I hoped that with my increased speed I would catch up with Cessa, but I didn’t. That either meant she used it on herself or she wasn’t heading back to my ship. Either way that’s the first place I had to check. How the hell had she escaped from Ortu, Druga, and Idza? Somehow she got away and possibly with some type of collection device. I had no doubt she had the empyreus, but why? What was she going to gain by taking it from behind my back? It just didn’t make sense.
I wasn’t breathing hard or perspiring during our run back, which was impressive, but didn’t matter once we returned to the Belle. When we reached the bay door Laraar let out a howling cry of despair. Ortu and Druga were dead from multiple slash wounds. How the hell was that possible? Cessa didn’t have her sword! I looked away before the scene could cause an invasion of disturbing memories into my brain, but strangely enough I felt calm. That was odd and I knew right away the feeling wasn’t natural. As Laraar sobbed over his fallen friends I realized that empyreus didn’t just enhance my physical abilities, but my mental ones as well. It affected me like a calming agent, keeping my head level and unresponsive to the carnage around me. Suddenly I understood why the Dawnians chose to trust me so easily.
I tried to focus on the anger and betrayal I felt towards the woman I brought here, the one I released from her prison. After all the hurtful words and actions, I thought she had finally opened up to me and cracked her shell of ice, but it was all for show. Thinking about this over and over built a strong sense of frustration and annoyance. I wanted to find Cessa and make her pay for this crime. So where was she? Al wouldn’t have let her take the ship. She didn’t seem to be here anyway. That’s when I noticed that over half of Cessa’s cargo boxes were missing. Something wasn’t right here. Looking around the room, I saw things that weren’t there before, specifically scratches and marks along the bulkhead next to Ortu and Druga. I scanned them and found the marks on them and the wall were a match, almost like the clawing from an animal. I needed information.
“Al, what the hell happened here?” Nothing. “Al? Al! Say something.”
The damn passenger protocol. I never turned it off. I cursed myself and the empyreus running through my veins for not thinking of that earlier.
“Al, disengage passenger protocol on my voice authorization and tell me what the flux is going on!” The speakers squealed and grumbled with static, then finally Al was with us.
“Sir, I am here. Attack alert red, sir. The passenger attacked the two natives shortly after you left. She appeared to be looking over her cargo, then opened the boxes which contained the mechanical devices. When she activated them, the cube shaped machines morphed their structure until they appeared to be animalistic. They attacked the two natives as she commanded. The third native ran away as the others were being slaughtered. Afterwards your passenger ran in the direction you left with her five canine machines.
“Automated mechanical devices shaped like canines. So you’re telling me she has robotic guard dogs that can kill.”
“Affirmative sir.”
Both of my hands were clutching onto my hair, ready to pull it out. That’s why she wanted the empyreus. She now had a number of super-charged robotic animals.
“Has she returned to the ship?”
“Negative sir, though she passed into my sensor range minutes before you returned.”
I turned to Laraar, who seemed oblivious to everything that was going on, including me talking to an ominous voice in my ship. I grabbed the cloth on his shoulders and pulled him up to me.
“Can you read a map? Can you understand an overhead view of your land and surroundings?” He thought over the words for a moment and nodded. I dragged him up to the bridge with me and pushed him into the chair by my tactical station.
“Al, bring up a map and coordinates of known location of Cessa and her robotic creatures.”
A blip on the radar changed and suddenly an overhead view of the surrounding area was placed on the screen. Trees, grass, and mountains were etched out as the signal closed in on Cessa’s location. I had a terrible feeling I already knew where she was going. When the signal stopped, my suspicion was confirmed. Laraar’s shoulders hunched down.
“Village,” was all he said. I buckled him in and jumped into my seat.
“Al, set course for her location and take us directly in.” The journey from the village to the ship was about two hours, and even running there wouldn’t save much time. “See that my weapon is fully charged and ready for deployment.”
“May I inquire what you are going to do sir?”
“I’m going hunting. Top speed to the village, now!”
THIRTEEN
The trip took us minutes, but the horror taking place in the village could be seen from the sky as soon as we took off toward it. My blood was boiling, and I could only sit there and hope that there weren’t too many casualties. This was all my fault. All I could think over and over again was how this was all my fault.
“Al, land directly outside the village. We don’t want to crush any buildings.”
“Acknowledged.”
The ship landed softly and I turned to Laraar.
“Let’s go!”
He didn’t move, didn’t make a sound, but just sat there staring down at the floor. The Dawnians outside didn’t have time for me to shake some sense into him so I left the door open and ran to my quarters. Inside the locker my assault rifle was fully charged. I was never a huge fan of guns because of their ability to easily kill, but I was able to modify mine to shoot out a variety of projectiles, including electro-magnetic pulse rounds, stun rounds, and yes, I did keep the lethal plasma rounds active as well. I didn’t ever want to use it, but there’s always a chance that my life could depend on it.
“Al,” I said, about to open the door. “I need to know what I’m up against. What can you tell me?”
“There are five of the devices moving throughout the village sir. Their energy output has somehow increased dramatically.”
I figured as much. Unfortunately I had no idea of the effects empyreus would have on machines. I hadn’t gotten a chance to examine the Dawnian computer consoles throughout the village. One could guess that their armor would be a lot stronger and their movement a lot quicker.
“Captain, sensors are detecting a signal emanating from the center of the village. Some of the equipment matches components that were carried on this ship. I believe she is creating a communication device of some kind, judging by the wavelength and type of signal.”
The box Cessa was looking for . . . oh flux, I thought.
“She’s calling Erebos . . . son of a bitch. She’s going to bring the bastard here! Can she do it?” I asked Al quickly.
“If I take the percentage of power that was raised after the machines were infused with empyreus and apply that to the communication console . . .” Al cut out a moment to process the equations. “Sir, the passenger will have enough power to contact anyone in the galaxy.”
“Well, flux . . . I’m going to try and stop her and not get killed in the process. Lock and restrict all ship operations. Understood?”
“Yes sir, good luck.”
I threw down the lever and the bay doors opened to terrible, screeching sounds. I brought my rifle up, held it against my shoulder and moved forward into the village. To my left a ‘dog’ was inside one of the houses tearing it apart and I heard someone singing a shrieking cry. I ran to the entrance, checking my flank and caught sight of a couple of bodies on the ground. I would have to check on them later, my first priority being to protect those that were still alive and in danger.
A section of the home’s wall was completely torn out and I saw movement inside. My eye scanned the body and a holographic image appeared in my sight. The dog was four feet tall and long, sharp blades extended from his paws. There wasn’t much of a face, just a cone shaped head with a signal respond
er, which was probably the way Cessa was controlling them. There was a chance that simply disconnecting the head from the body would deactivate it, but at the same time if they were doused with empyreus, then most likely their bodies would go on an uncontrollable rampage. My best bet was to find Cessa and force her to power down the robots remotely.
I ran to the front of the house to try and take the dog by surprise. When I stepped up into the home it was tearing at a barricade of furniture, which the trapped Dawnian must have made to defend him or herself. Smart. I turned off the safety, activated the EMP and looked down the sight. My bionic eye targeted the dog and I pulled the trigger. A flurry of bullets hit the target, with a few flying above him as my gun recoiled. I watched as the bullets caused an electrical discharge throughout the dog’s systems. Its body shuddered and dropped to the ground . . . then stood back up and turned to me.
Shit.
I unloaded more ammunition into the damn machine and again, after a momentary fluctuation it completely recovered. The only other choice was to use plasma rounds on it so I switched over, but not before the dog leapt right at me. If I wasn’t wearing my armored suit my ribs would have been crushed as it landed on me. Instead, I just got the wind knocked out of me, which was still a problem. As I tried to inhale oxygen I saw a large multi-bladed paw about to slice through my face. Then I realized my gun was pointing right at the dog’s midsection and I opened fire. It jumped off me, the plasma barely scratching the surface. I quickly sat up and unloaded countless rounds into it, screaming curses at the machine. I watched as many of the blasts dented the frame of the beast, but finally as the plasma’s charge ran low, a few of them punched through its head and neck. The dog keeled over.
I took a moment to lean over and breathe. If I had that much trouble with one, how would I deal with four more? I doubt they were all conveniently separated and distracted.
“You’re okay! Stay there and you’ll be safe!” I screamed toward the barricade and the Dawnian behind it. I knew there was little to no chance they would understand me, but I thought maybe just hearing a voice instead of the clawing and scratching of the machine would put them at ease.
I ran outside and toward the center of town. Bodies lay in the streets and I tried my best to let them be for now, but with my eye now working without pain or irritation, it could pretty much scan over anything it wanted, and it analyzed the wounds on the lifeless people, stabbing wounds from the blades on the mechanical beasts.
Suddenly I was thrust back into that dark room, the blood on the floor, and the girl on the bed, stabbed to death, her lifeless eyes staring right at me.
“No, no, no . . . not now!” I shut my eyes. When I opened them I was on the village street. I tried shutting my eye off, but it wouldn’t disengage, so I ran as fast as I could past all the bodies. Sounds of commotion came from one of the other housing areas, and as much as I tried to convince myself to keep moving, I stopped to take a closer look. A group of Dawnians, Chorta, Grent, and Horku, were fending off two of the machines. They were impressive. More than once the dogs attacked and intended to kill, but Chorta and his companions threw punches, kicks, and used a means of strength I didn’t realize they could summon. Even with my suit a physical attack would have hurt me more than the dogs.
I tried convincing myself they had things under control, but the battle was currently a stalemate and the problem was that the Dawnians would eventually tire out and the machines wouldn’t. Plus, if these dogs were advanced enough, they could most likely analyze and adapt to the Dawnians fighting style. The three of them deflected attack after attack, and followed with a couple of their own, but couldn’t penetrate the dog’s armor. I hustled to join them, but skidded to a halt when a thick sheet of glass dropped right in front of me. When I tried to turn around, I was back in my cell onboard the Echelon, my clothes and hands covered in blood. Commander King stared down at me.
“You murdered a member of my crew, Daniel,” she said to me, her mouth turned in a twisted frown.
“No, I couldn’t have, I wouldn’t!” I screamed back at her, but then quickly realized that this was another hallucination.
“Get out of my damn head bitch!”
The sound of a wailing siren pulled me back into the now and I looked up to see Chorta lunging at me with his staff. I quickly sidestepped but the end of his weapon grazed against my shoulder, leaving a burning sensation that hurt like hell.
“Chorta! Stop! I’m here to help!” He didn’t have a translator attached to him. Even if he did I wondered if he would listen. His arms moved fast, changing direction from the first swing and coming back for a follow up attack. With my suit and eye operating at full capacity I was able to jump over it, but Chorta bested me in agility even with my advantages. His motions were so smooth I didn’t notice them until a second too late. As he missed with his swing, he jammed the end of the staff in the ground behind him and vaulted towards me, extending his leg, and kicking me square in the chest.
I hit the ground and instead of focusing on Chorta I caught sight of his two companions who were ignoring us and focusing on the dogs. Grent was mercilessly pounding his weapon into the back frame of the machine, but as I feared each swing was slower and slower, until finally when he brought up his staff for another strike, the dog simply threw its leg out and pierced his flesh in three places. He was dead before he hit the ground.
Chorta was suddenly in view, throwing his own staff down at my face. I craned my neck sideways before he could leave a permanent mark, but my frustration with him was close to skyrocketing.
“Chorta listen to me! Your people are being slaughtered! Let me help!”
All I could see was his bared teeth. All I could hear was his exhilarated breath, and the smell. Blood, a scent so familiar I couldn’t help but walk into my room after a long shift, only to find her in my bed staring up at me, her spring dress stained with her blood. Her stomach was violated by multiple stab wounds. Her death was my fault, just like the attack on this village. No matter where I went, blood followed, and it was never my own.
Shake it off damn it! Get your head together or your blood will be covering Chorta’s staff!
I raised my gun toward Chorta, and his widened. He knew my discharge would be faster than his swing. He was as good as dead, or he would have been if I was actually aiming at him. My sight locked on the dog that advanced behind him and I shot one blast. It knocked the dog off balance and caused Chorta to move to the side and turn around. This gave me a wide open view of my enemy, and again I unloaded into the metallic bastard until my plasma bank ran empty.
“Like I said, I’m here to help.” I bowed to him, trying to express my submission. He didn’t thank me, nor did he continue to try and kill me, but grimaced and turned towards the other dog. With him and Horku together and only one target to concentrate on, I saw them meld into a melody of attacks, striking limbs and pressure points where the armor would be at its weakest. In the end, they managed to smash all the joints, leaving a headless and limbless body. Each Dawnian chose a part flailing on the ground and smashed into it over and over again. I left them knowing they would be okay.
Three dogs were down and two more to go. Now if only I could find a way to keep past images from flooding my mind, I might stay alive. The assault by Chorta left my direction to the town center askew so I got my bearings and leapt into a sprint.
The closer I got to the center, the more bodies I found. Some were still moving, so I held hope that there were survivors, but Cessa was capable of terrible things. To be honest I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with her. The time for intimidation was over. She scared the shit out of me when I met her. Her cold, seductive tone and disregard for life made her someone to keep an eye on when my back was turned. Her mistake was betraying me and playing me for a fool. I have a habit of getting pissed off when people do that to me.
I saw the large computer console towering in front of me before anything else. Pressing my teeth together and using my adre
naline to give myself one final push, I rushed the site with my gun armed and ready to fire. For now, stun rounds would have to suffice. My plan involved aiming for Cessa and taking her down with a stun round before she even noticed me. After that I could try and find the deactivation switch for the remaining dogs. The damn things were strong and lethal and most of the people here didn’t have the prowess for combat like Chorta and his men. I also prepared myself for the possibility that there was one dog guarding her.
I was wrong. Two remaining dogs stood a meter away from her on each side. Cessa was intensely focused on the control panel. I aimed down my sight and fired a stun round before I finished taking a breath. The bullet flew through the air in her direction. If she went down before the dogs realized what was happening there was a slim chance I could get by them. Instead Cessa, having found her sword at some point during the attack, swung the blade and, I shit you not, cut the bullet in two.
“You’ve got to be fluxing kidding me,” I cursed to myself. I readied my gun to shoot again, but my window for opportunity closed and the last two vicious dogs were on route to kill me per her command. Naturally I did what any Captain of a cruiser would do in a situation like this.
I ran like hell.
Please don’t judge, it’s just that I didn’t care to be sliced and diced by a couple of machines. That just didn’t seem right after everything I went through. I couldn’t run as fast as them, that much I knew, but it gave me enough time to switch my rounds to EMP. I looked back in my peripherals and had one in my sight. I turned, aimed, fired.
Nothing. The gun was jammed.
I didn’t even get a chance to curse at the damn thing. I had all of one second to pull the trigger before they were on me and my time was up. Assuming they would jump at me, I dropped to the ground, and sure enough one sailed right over me, but only one. The other had waited. As soon as I was on my back it launched itself at me, the blades of its paws extended and ready to run me through. Rolling out of the way wasn’t an option at this point.
Energize (From the Logs of Daniel Quinn Book 1) Page 13