“I come to this planet and find two of the three things that belong to me, the energy source and Quinn. I’m willing to bet the third item is here as well. I want my artificial intelligence program.”
I did my best not to flinch or blink when she said that. I usually had a terrible poker face. She walked up to me and I raised my gun in response, completely forgetting the EMP rounds were active. The most damage it would do is give her a nasty shock, maybe reboot her nervous system. It didn’t matter. When I raised my gun at least fifty soldiers pointed theirs right at me. I had no choice but to let Sarah put her hand to my neck, grab the ring hanging from the chain, and rip it off of me. I had to force myself not to lunge at her as she held the ring meant for Ashley.
“You won’t be using any tricks to escape this time, Quinn.” As she placed the ring around her neck, I reminded myself that there was more to the situation than just King and me. This helped to keep the rage that was building at bay.
“Now, now, let’s come to an agreement where, what’s the expression . . . everyone wins?” Erebos said. He took a step forward.
With his words I connected certain dots in my head. The gears were turning smoothly and opening doors to things I originally thought were coincidence. At the same time, my heart was pounding like a hammer against my ribs and my stomach was attempting to hit the abandon ship button. I took a deep breath through my nose and reminded myself that hundreds of Dawnians behind me were taking their cues off of me. I took my own two steps toward Erebos and King.
“This entire time… ” I turned to Erebos and shared my conclusions. “I wondered how you knew so much about, well, everything. You knew my past. You knew I had access to data on the empyreus. And you . . .” I turned to King. “It was no mystery now how your agents on the station found my exact location. I thought I was just being paranoid at the time, but you were simply waiting for Erebos to give up my location and send your own thugs in. The two of you were working together the entire fluxing time. The only question I have now is who works for whom?”
Both Erebos and King looked at each other and shared a soft laugh at my expense.
“The lovely Captain does not work under my employment, much to my disappointment. Let’s just say that we have a mutual understanding of what needs to be done for the good of mankind,” Erebos said. “I am a business man, Daniel. I never put all of my eggs in one basket. Contacting Sarah King was the logical choice. The two of you have a most interesting history.”
At that, he smiled at me. I felt my anger rising.
“The good of mankind?” My teeth were grinding together and I swore I could feel my blood pressure rising. “Ashley’s death, Captain Smithson’s exile, the death and destruction of an entire race and their village . . . this was all for the good of the fluxing human race?”
Both of them actually sighed at the same time, as if disappointed in my questioning.
“Sacrifices are necessary,” King said, her tone bland and uninterested.
“Daniel,” Erebos said, for once using my first name. “It saddens me that you are like so many other idealists. Look at what humanity has accomplished over the years. We have accomplished miracles, proven our worth and power by the ships we fly, the stations we live on, and the worlds we explore. But do you really think as we travel through the stars that we will remain at the top of the food chain? You alone made first contact with an alien species that appear to be much more advanced than we are and that’s just one race. As we expand further into the darkness think of the things we will find, not only astonishing, but terrible and powerful. We must make sure that humanity holds onto the high ground . . . and that starts here and now.”
I was speechless. Until now I looked at these two like they were the ones with all the power. They terrified me. Erebos himself used fear to persuade me to take on this mission, threatening my life and my ship in the process. Sarah King was the cause of countless disturbing and horrible nightmares and images that had plagued my mind for the last five years. Never did it occur to me that these two powerful people were controlled by fear themselves, fear of the unknown. It all came down to being the dominant race in the galaxy. When you hold all the power, what else is there to fear but losing it? Then something Cessa had recently said about an empire popped into my head, and everything made sense.
“That’s what this is all about,” I muttered. My words grew stronger and more defined as I continued. “Going back five years to the mutiny . . . the Echelon, the artificial intelligence.” I looked at King. “You are building your own fleet, using one of the flagships of the ESA to jumpstart your ascension and ordering additional sleeper agents to infiltrate other starships.”
I turned my head to look at Erebos.
“And you are building your own empire. By joining together you are essentially creating a ‘humans only’ club. With the empyreus you would be unstoppable!”
Sarah King actually slow clapped for me.
“Give the kid some credit; he’s not so dumb after all.” Her words infuriated me.
Erebos put a hand up, motioning for her to quiet down. For the first time I saw his resolve crack. The corner of his mouth twitched into a scowl, but only for less than a second before his expression returned to neutral.
“Daniel,” he said. I blinked as he again used my first name. “I think the time for negotiating is over. The last time we met I gave you a choice. I now give you another. Run to your ship, depart this planet, and I will still honor our original agreement. Your other option is to stay here. My men will capture you, torture you, then I will make you sit and watch as I slowly kill off every single alien on this planet. Then, I will tear out your heart myself.”
“What about Cessa over here?” I asked him, nodding my head towards her and trying to pretend his words didn’t scare the flux out of me. Laraar and Grimal were now both standing beside her. “Did you consider the fact that she’s my prisoner? Are you willing to sacrifice her?”
The man didn’t even flinch. In fact, he laughed out loud.
“Of course I am. She means absolutely nothing to me and she knows that. Do not think me a fool Mr. Quinn. Do you agree to my terms? This is your last chance. Think on it.”
The time for talk was over. I clenched my teeth and thought about it for all of one second.
“You disgust me Erebos. You’re everything that’s wrong with humanity. I’m going to make sure someone here fights for the right kind, the kind that believe in justice and freedom.”
He narrowed his eyes, pressed his mouth into a firm line, and spoke only three words.
“So be it.”
NINETEEN
Honestly, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Was I supposed to start shooting people? Were they going to attempt to shoot me first? I didn’t exactly have any experience in starting wars. I raised my weapon toward Erebos and King and their soldiers all raised theirs. None of them would start shooting while their leaders were in the crossfire, which is why I grew nervous when Erebos and King simply turned and walked back towards their shuttle. Once they were out of harm’s way, the slaughter would begin. I could only hope that the plan I concocted was ready to be put into action.
The first part of said plan didn’t work out so well, as Cessa was still my captive, relatively ignored by Erebos. I suppose I shouldn’t have been surprised at the lack of compassion from him. I looked at Laraar wishing he didn’t have to do all my translating for me.
“Laraar, tell Grimal to get Cessa out of here! We don’t need to be watching our backs as well as our fronts!” Laraar nodded and relayed the message. Grimal nodded without hesitation and pulled Cessa away. She fought, screamed, raged on about getting her sword back, but said nothing of Erebos’s cruel words. Two additional Dawnians ended up assisting Grimal in dragging her away from the field.
I turned my attention back to the group of soldiers waiting to strike us down. My eye picked up increased power emissions from a number of shuttles, including the one Erebos and King were return
ing to. They were leaving, most likely headed for the mountain. I watched as he allowed King onboard first then looked to our group and waved his hand towards us, mouthing what I thought was, ‘kill them all’. I didn’t have time to yell at Laraar to tell everyone to evade and fire their blowguns so I just aimed my gun at the closest group of soldiers and fired.
With the EMP rounds activated and powered by empyreus, a blast of energy erupted from my weapon, firing out like a massive shotgun round. When it hit the soldiers they were electrocuted, their bodies shuddering and shaking, but otherwise the round caused them no serious harm. That was the point. As I turned my weapon and quickly fired a new round into another group, they raised their weapons and pulled their triggers. Nothing happened, which gave the Dawnians closest to them the perfect opportunity to move in at close range.
I wasn’t quick enough to hit every weapon in sight with my EMP. That wasn’t possible. Many of the soldiers opened fire at us. I immediately saw a couple of Dawnians go down and I had to force myself to keep my attention on the enemy. My battle suit would only take a few hits before their blasts would start penetrating.
My allies fired their darts as fast as they could. Many of the first line of soldiers dropped to the ground, unconscious. The unfortunate problem was the time it took to reload and aim the fluxing things. I watched three more Dawnians get shot while they tried to aim their guns at their second targets. So far five soldiers were put to sleep and another three were fighting close quarters with Dawnians. That still left a large number of soldiers firing their weapons at will and killing people. We wouldn’t last very long like this.
That’s when I heard it, the second part of my plan. Through the forest came a number of Dawnian women singing louder than I ever thought possible. Even though the edge of the forest was easily five hundred feet away from us, I heard them as if they were mixed together with our group. The song they sang was in a minor chord and the notes played out in an expression of sadness and regret. The somber song pierced my flesh and the loud resounding sound echoed in my heart.
Something was supposed to happen here. I knew it because it was my idea, but I couldn’t bring myself to concentrate on anything but the sweet music. I lowered my weapon. I had no reason to use it right now. All around me, humans just like me were doing the same thing. The song was causing a ceasefire and that meant something to me, but damn it, what was it?
A hand violently grabbed my shoulder and spun me around. Laraar was shaking me, speaking to me, but what did it matter? As long as I could hear that amazing sound, nothing else mattered.
“Daniel . . . concentrate . . . stop listening!”
After a time the shaking and shouting overwrote the music and I felt the gears in my brain turning again. The music . . . right, I had set this as a kind of trap for the humans. The ritualistic music of the Dawnians was unbelievably powerful, even more so to the human ear. I had hoped that this would buy us enough time to even the odds. If it put those odds in our favor then I wouldn’t complain.
“Right,” I said, my voice shaking as I shook off the trance. “We have to engage them hand to hand. Try to take away their weapons. I’m guessing once they start to feel threatened it will break the spell. Tell everyone to get in close and try to stay alive.”
Laraar turned to the group behind us and I had just enough time to look up at the sky to see the main shuttle carrying Erebos and King turn towards the group of women singing and open fire.
“No!” I screamed, raising my weapon and firing an EMP blast at their shuttle. I missed by inches. I tried to line up for another shot when multiple Dawnian figures leapt over me into the group of soldiers. I ran to an open spot, but I had to weave through multiple people. One of the soldiers who was already coming out of the trance saw me running and raised his weapon to shoot me. I fired a round at him which stunned him and momentarily rendered his gun useless. I thrust my feet into the ground hard and increased my speed, lowered my upper body and drove my left shoulder right into his gut. I heard a sharp grunt as he hit the ground. I pushed myself back up with my free hand and stepped on him as I continued to look for open ground.
When I finally got clear, I was on the opposite side of the battle from where the women stood so I couldn’t see the damage that had been done. I had Erebos and King in my sights once again. I pulled up my weapon aiming at them, but instead caught sight of a missile launched directly at me from one of the other shuttles. I tried evading, but when it hit the ground there was a small explosion throwing me completely off my feet. My world turned over, under, sideways and I couldn’t figure out which way was up until my back slammed hard against the grass.
All they had to do was shoot one more missile at me. There was no chance in hell I would get clear, but it never came. I heaved in a breath and tried to get up. The explosion had thrown me far, but the shuttles weren’t focused on me, nor were they targeting the group in front of them. All four ships in the air turned on their axis and faced toward the southwest, the same direction where the mountain of empyreus resided.
I turned in a circle, looking for my rifle and getting my bearings. I retrieved it and then ran like hell for my ship. Erebos and King could not be allowed to collect the empyreus. Luckily for me they wouldn’t be getting there without a small surprise in the form of our third Dawnian group, led by the ferocious Chorta and Horku. They would give them a fight for their lives. Still, it was my responsibility to stop them.
The ground in front of me blew up in small chunks and I hit the brakes. Two soldiers had broken off from the main battle and were advancing toward me, showering my position with countless plasma shots. I felt one impact my abdomen and another graze my thigh. I felt intense heat but my armor held.
“Damn it I don’t have time for this shit!” I screamed at them, but they didn’t seem to care. Both of them kept unloading their weapons toward me, but because they were running they lacked balance and the shots missed. I silently thanked the powers above that one didn’t go clean through my skull as I watched them waste all their rounds rather than stop and take their time for a clean shot. When I was convinced their banks were low, I rushed them screaming a primal roar that would have made a lion quiver.
The two of them rushed me in response. There was no time for me to switch my rounds to stun or kill, so it was time to dance. Both of the soldiers dropped their weapons and sprinted full steam into me. I decided to keep my weapon. Why? Well the funny thing is, even when it’s useless as a rifle, it still makes a fantastic melee weapon. Just before we crashed into each other I swung the weapon like a baseball bat. The first soldier ducked in time but not the second. The butt of my gun struck into his face and blood shot out of his mouth and nose. I quickly swung the weapon back the other way, but the first soldier was expecting that, catching my forearms in his hands and jamming his foot into my stomach. The air was forced out and my lungs attempted to retrieve it with no luck. I groaned for a moment until I saw the soldier swinging his right hand toward my face. I threw up my left elbow to block. The two of us traded blows back and forth until I realized that he outmatched me. The man was a skilled fighter. His initial attacks were soft and of no threat to me, except to wear me out as I blocked them at full force. I was tiring out and he wasn’t.
The soldier attempted an uppercut to my jaw and I stepped to the side to avoid it, but the move was a fake out. His right leg had been sticking out and tripped me to the ground. I rolled to my back in time to see the bottom of his giant boot thrusting towards my face. If he connected he would smash my nose into my skull. Little did I know, the entire time I had been running clear of the fight Laraar was right behind me. Before the thug’s boot could connect Laraar hit him, giving him a hard shove that sent him sideways of my position. I got up quickly and ran over to where he hit the ground and threw my own boot across his face. I saw teeth soar out of his mouth and he was still. I checked his pulse. Alive.
“Thank you,” I said, my voice hoarse. Laraar nodded to me. “We don’t hav
e any time. Follow me.”
Together we ran to the Belle. Once we were onboard I ran to the bridge and lifted her off the ground. Just before I engaged the thrusters to intercept the shuttles, I looked over the battlefield. Bodies of both races were down. I couldn’t tell whether they were unconscious or dead. A lot were still standing, fighting each other. I thought that the Dawnians would easily outmatch the humans, but I suppose these humans were trained for ground combat and excelled at it.
I reluctantly hit the execute icon and the ship took off toward the mountain. Laraar and I sat on the bridge, listening to the sounds of our own breathing and the humming of the Belle’s engines. It would take us three minutes to reach the mountain, which didn’t sound long, but in that place and time it seemed like an eternity.
“I’m sorry for the loss of your people,” I said to him, just in case I didn’t get a chance later to apologize.
He looked sad, but shrugged his shoulders.
“You do . . . what you can . . . we understand . . . risks.”
I nodded, still feeling incredibly guilty.
“I don’t know what will be waiting for us when we get to the mountain, but I will do anything to keep Erebos and King from getting the empyreus. They will not take this planet as long as I’m alive.”
At that, the corners of Laraar’s mouth turned up slightly giving me a gentle smile.
“Let us hope . . . you stay alive.”
I smiled. Yes, let us hope. The mountain was in view. I could only hope Chorta and his group was holding Erebos and King off, but what if they failed? What the hell could I do to stop them from getting the empyreus and retreating in their shuttles?
What if they didn’t have shuttles? I thought.
Of course! The Belle was equipped with weapons, but nothing significant enough to make a dent in a large space craft. However, these weren’t large crafts. They were shuttles, smaller than the Belle herself. Her plasma disrupters should easily be able to remove that problem.
Energize (From the Logs of Daniel Quinn Book 1) Page 19