by Anna Hackett
He bit back a curse. The tunnel ahead was filled with raptors. Ash threw the bike left, then right, conscious of Marin tightly holding onto him. He weaved around raptors and other obstacles, feeling for a second like he was in a damn live-action version of Pre-Emptive Strike.
A stack of boxes appeared ahead, and with no time to swerve, he lifted the front wheels and he and Marin jumped them.
They landed with a bounce, following the rest of the berserkers deeper into the tunnel system. They raced through tunnels, heading down another ramp. If they were lucky, they could outrun these aliens, and still find a way to get Marin to the hub.
If they were unlucky, they’d die down here.
“What’s that sound?” Levi asked.
Ash frowned and a second later, he heard it.
“It’s flapping, like wings.” Ash looked over his shoulder. There was something in the air, but he couldn’t see anything.
“Fuck. What now?” Tane ground out.
“You see it?” Ash called out to Marin.
“No!”
Ahead, something came out of the darkness. There was a squeal of tires, and Ash knew someone had swerved to avoid the creature.
It was about the size of a dog, flying close to the top of the tunnel. It looked like a miniature version of the ships the raptors flew, that the humans had nicknamed pteros, after ancient pteranodons. But this one was more like a small, dinosaur-like bird, with leathery wings and a pointed beak. And it was carrying something in its claws.
As it passed over them, it made a loud squawk and released the red sphere it was carrying. The ball, covered in wicked spikes, hit the ground and rolled. What the hell?
Then Ash saw the ball start to glow red hot. “Bomb!”
He quickly jerked around the rolling object. It exploded behind them, and he heard Marin’s muffled scream. Then the sound of gunfire echoed off the tunnel ahead. Some of his squad mates were firing.
That’s when Ash saw more of the birds flying in their direction, each holding another bomb. Aww, shit.
He threw his bike to the right.
“Keep going,” Tane yelled.
One of the balls hit the side wall of the tunnel and exploded. Concrete and rock rained down. Ash accelerated. He had to get Marin out of there.
Another spiked ball dropped and bounced…right in front of them.
With a vicious curse, Ash yanked the bike to the left. Raptor fire opened up in the smoke billowing in the tunnel.
Then he heard Marin’s scream—both in real life and through the comm line.
Her hands fell away from him and he felt her disappearing off the bike behind him. He tried to keep the bike steady with one hand, and reach back for her with the other.
He only felt empty air behind him.
“No!”
Marin hit the ground and all the air was knocked out of her.
She scrambled to her feet, chest heaving. She heard the alien poison that had hit her sizzling through her armor. Dammit. Think, Marin. She grabbed her water bottle off her belt, twisted the lid, and tipped water on the scorch mark over her ribs.
Instantly, the sizzling stopped. She breathed out in relief. It hadn’t eaten all the way through the carbon fiber.
Then, she looked up and a rock of fear lodged in her belly. She was standing in the middle of smoke and flames in the center of the tunnel. Through the chaos, she saw the giant silhouettes of several raptors.
What she couldn’t see were the berserkers.
Her breaths came in sharp pants. Stay calm. She pressed her hands together. No one could see her. She just needed to get out of the middle of the tunnel, and away from the raptors.
Then she saw her illusion flicker. No. No! She looked down and saw that the controls for the illusion had been hit by the poison.
The illusion flickered off.
The raptor closest to Marin spotted her. He lifted his gun and grunted. His demonic red eyes were on her as he aimed.
Terror flooded Marin. This was not Pre-Emptive Strike. There were no health packs if she went down. In real life, dead was dead.
Marin spun and ran. She charged through the smoke, trying to stay calm. In her head, she heard Ash’s tense voice.
That’s when she realized he was talking on the comm line.
“Marin! Where are you? Marin, answer me!”
A raptor appeared in front of her and Marin dived. She came up on her hands and knees, and scrambled forward.
“Use your thermo pistol, Marin. Then I can find you.”
Thermo pistol. She pushed to her feet and pulled the weapon out of the holster with trembling hands. She spun and lifted it.
She fired off some wild shots. When she heard loud grunts, she turned and kept running. She rounded a sweeping corner in the tunnel. The thick smoke made her choke. God, how was she going to get out of here? How was she ever going to find the others?
“Marin!”
“Ash!”
“Where are you, Princess?”
Her throat was so tight. He was looking for her. “I don’t know. All I see is smoke.” She looked over her shoulder and gasped. Raptors were thundering toward her. “My God, more are coming. My illusion system failed.”
“Run, Marin.”
She did, leaping through the smoke. She needed a safe place to hide and she needed it now.
Then, out of the darkness, a huge shape reared up and let out a screech.
Marin froze in horror. It looked like a giant spider, the size of a small car, with two of its powerful legs waving madly in the air.
It was a creeper.
Marin tasted bile in her mouth, her gaze dropping to the creature’s red, glowing belly. She knew that these beasts swallowed people whole and held them in their bellies, injecting them with Gizzida DNA and turning them into aliens.
Suddenly, a massive weight slammed into her back. She fell forward, crashing to the ground, her chin bumping the concrete. Pain exploded through her and she tasted blood in her mouth.
Raptor grunts sounded right above her. She looked up into the terrifying face of a raptor.
The massive alien stood. His chest was all gray scaly skin, and he wore metallic trousers and black boots. He reached down and grabbed her leg. Then he started dragging her down the tunnel.
A sob broke free of her chest. Oh, God, she was going to die.
She squeezed her eyes closed. She was never going to have the chance to be with Ash. To experience more mind-blowing sex, see him watching her with a sexy smile, to wake up beside him, to fall in love with him.
Her hands clenched, and she realized she was still holding her thermo pistol. Energized, she lifted it. Her arm was shaking badly, but she aimed in the general vicinity of the raptor. She pulled the trigger, thermo bullets firing in quick succession.
The raptor released her leg, and gore splattered her. The alien let out a deep, rasping scream, before dropping to the ground, claws tearing at his chest.
Marin froze, air heaving in and out of her lungs. She wanted to curl into a ball and hide, but that wasn’t an option. She lifted her hand and swiped at the…she didn’t want to think about what was coating her face and chest.
You can’t hide, Marin. If you want to live, you have to find a way out.
She pushed to her knees. She was going to get out of here, dammit.
“Marin!”
She turned her head, and realized she’d heard his shout close by. She scrambled to her feet. “Ash, over here!”
She stumbled forward and saw a big, familiar shape coming through the smoke. Thank God.
“Thank fuck.” Ash strode straight to her and scooped her off her feet. As he crushed her to his chest, she wrapped her arms around him and clung. Relief was a huge, shiny thing in her chest.
“God, Ash, I thought…”
“I’ve got you,” he murmured.
“I was so afraid. I thought I was going to die.”
“Found her.” Levi appeared, clutching his carbine. “Fucking
A. The others have cleared the area, but we won’t have long before more raptors turn up.” He looked over at the dead raptor on the ground and toed it with his boot. “You do that, Curls?”
She nodded.
Ash smiled. “Hell, Princess, you didn’t need a rescue. You saved yourself.”
She made a hiccupping sound. “Ash, I’m about two seconds away from a major meltdown.”
He cupped her cheek, his finger brushing her skin. She realized he was rubbing away some gore.
“No, you’re not,” he said. “You’re steady and smart and fierce.”
Warmth rushed through her. She was starting to believe that he actually saw all of that in her.
Tane appeared, stomping up to them. “Connors, when I said don’t rush off half-cocked, did you not hear me?”
“I couldn’t leave her.” Ash’s arms tightened around her.
“We were coming back to get her,” Tane said. “Together. As a team. With a plan.” Tane’s dark gaze landed on Marin. “You okay, Marin?”
She managed a nod. “I am now.”
“She sure is.” Ash yanked her forward and slammed his mouth against hers.
Oh. Marin instantly forgot where they were and what had happened. She leaned in and kissed him back.
Chapter Eleven
He’d been so fucking afraid.
Ash opened his mouth, sliding his tongue against Marin’s. She kissed him back eagerly, with no reservation. His. Alive. And in his arms. At the sound of a throat clearing, they broke apart.
Tane shook his head. “We have a mission. I need everyone back in the game. We need to get to that hub.”
Ash nodded. The sooner they got the job done, the sooner he could get Marin out of this hellhole. He stroked a hand down her back. “Ready?”
He saw fear flash in her eyes, but then she set her shoulders back. “Ready.”
Fucking fierce. He led her back down the tunnel with the others to where they’d stashed their bikes. He stepped inside the bike’s illusion and helped her on behind him.
He pulled her arms snugly around him. “Hold on tighter this time.”
She nodded against his back.
Once again, they were moving. This time, they traveled in single file, hugging one wall. In the distance, he could hear raptors. They knew his squad was in here, and they were searching for them.
A part of Ash wanted to turn his bike around and get Marin out. But she had a determined look on her face, and he knew her well enough to know that she was committed to seeing the mission through to the end.
Finally, Tane pulled them over. He was looking at the screen on his wrist. “We need to go through that doorway, and down some stairs.” He pointed to a door set in the tunnel wall. “We’ll pass through some maintenance corridors, and then we’ll reach the spider bot’s location.”
And the hub.
They hid their bikes, leaving the illusion systems running. Then Hemi and Griff pried the door open. Soon, they were heading down a set of stairs. It was dark as hell, and Marin gripped his hand hard. But near the bottom, a dull, red glow filled the stairwell.
They stepped through a doorway and into a narrow corridor. Ash hissed out a breath.
More of those huge organic cables were running along the corridor. They were the same width as a man, pulsing, the red light in them glowing brighter with each pulse.
“Jesus,” Marin breathed. Her expression was equal parts horror and curiosity.
“Come on.” Tane stepped over a cable, and continued down the corridor.
Farther down the tunnel, Ash’s boot stuck to the floor. What the—? He lifted his boot, and eyed the ugly black crap on the cement.
“Sticky shit,” Levi said, lifting his boot as well. “What the hell is this stuff?”
“Probably don’t want to know,” Dom drawled.
Tane clicked on a flashlight. All of them froze, and Marin gasped.
The floor, walls, and ceiling of the tunnel were covered in a sticky, web-like substance. Hemi reached up and touched it. It stuck to his glove like chewing gum.
“I don’t like this,” Hemi said.
Dom pointed. “Look.”
Ash spotted the small, glowing, red pods dotted over the walls. They’d seen similar ones that were filled with animals, but these looked tiny in comparison.
Dom lifted his combat knife. He moved closer to the pod, leaning forward to study it.
Suddenly, the pod burst open and a black river of tiny insects poured out.
Except they weren’t ordinary insects, they were alien insects.
More pods burst, and Ash shoved Marin behind him. A cloud of insects hit him in the chest and face, and he batted at them. He felt tiny stings as they nipped at his flesh. Around him, his squad mates were slapping at the bugs and swearing.
Ash swung his carbine around, and fired at the remaining pods on the wall. The rest of the squad started firing, too.
Levi let out a shout. Ash slapped more insects off his face, felt them trying to crawl into his nose and mouth. Through the curtain of critters, he saw his friend had fallen. A giant swarm of the insects engulfed Levi. The man was thrashing around on the ground.
Hell, no. Ash stumbled over to his friend, and thrust a hand through the insects. They’d chewed through his glove, and he felt them nipping at his skin.
“Watch out,” Marin yelled.
Ash saw a blinding blue light fill the tunnel. Marin was holding up her portable comp, and a bright blue light was coming from it.
The alien insects all swarmed for it. Ash’s pulse raced. Marin.
She set her comp screen down and stepped back. The insects covered the light in a writhing mass. Marin calmly tossed a cedar oil grenade into the center of the tiny creatures.
Thwump. The grenade exploded, and the evergreen scent filled the air, along with a mist-like spray.
Some of the insects shriveled up and died, while the bulk of them scuttled away into the darkness.
Ash reached down for Levi. His friend grabbed his hand and Ash yanked him up. Levi uttered a stream of curses, spitting out insects. His cheeks were covered in blood.
“Good work, Marin.” Ash grinned at her.
“How did you know it would work?” Tane asked, slapping at the last few insects on his armor. He was bleeding from above his left eye.
“I set my comp to emit a bright light, including some ultraviolet, which attracts insects. Like on a bug zapper.” She scooped up her comp, checking it over. It was covered in a heavy-duty case and not damaged. “I made an educated guess about the cedar oil grenade. I’ve been reading some of Doc Emerson’s notes on how she believes the cedar oil affects alien physiology—”
Ash yanked her into his arms and kissed her. “I love it when you talk geek.”
She smiled, then she looked past him, her eyes widening. “Look.”
She wriggled to get down and hurried past Ash. The cables traveling along the corridor turned downward, disappearing through the floor.
He moved up beside her and glanced down. It looked like some sort of access tunnel, which was clogged with the alien cables.
He studied the opening, and spotted a metal ladder attached to the side of the vertical tunnel.
Marin tucked her comp screen away and lifted her gaze to Ash’s. “We need to go down there.”
The squad’s boots echoed on the rungs of the ladder as they all descended into the darkness.
Marin was in the middle of the group. Tane had taken the lead, followed by Hemi, and then Ash. She was wedged between Ash and Levi. Griff and Dom were bringing up the rear.
The men were tense and quiet. It was so damn dark. She had the night vision lens over her left eye, but she wasn’t used to looking at everything in shades of green. It was disorienting.
Then she heard Tane and Hemi talking in low-pitched tones. They’d reached the bottom.
A moment later, strong hands gripped her waist and pulled her off the ladder. Ash set her down, and she took a second t
o find her bearings. She looked around and realized that they were standing in a large underground room. There was a noticeable humming sound, and ahead lay a massive pile of cables. They were piled on top of each other and tangled. It almost looked like an ugly vine had grown out of control.
“Take a look around,” Tane said. “But be careful.”
Marin checked her comp screen. “The spider bot is in here somewhere.” She stepped over some cables, staying close to Ash. “If you find anything that looks like a computer interface, he’s likely to be there.”
The men fanned out.
Marin stepped over another cable, searching the space. She spotted some old equipment, rusted and dented, but didn’t see anything that looked like an alien interface. She poked around. “This looks like the controls for part of the ventilation system for the tunnels.”
“Hey.” Griff turned around, his face hardening. “Something touched my leg.”
Everyone turned around, searching the green-tinted darkness. All Marin saw was the tangle of cables all over the floor. Then she caught movement out of the corner of her eye. She turned, peering into the shadows. There. Something was moving. She heard the sound of a body dragging over the ground.
“There’s something moving over there in the darkness,” she said.
The berserkers whipped their carbines up, moving forward. She felt the menace radiating off them.
Then she saw the movement again and her eyes widened. It wasn’t something. It was the cables. “Watch out!”
One huge cable whipped up off the ground, like a giant snake. It waved around, just meters away. The squad shouted, and carbine fire sounded, lighting up the space. Marin squinted at the bright flashes of green light.
Suddenly, another slightly slimmer cable lifted up and wrapped around Marin like a rope.
What the hell? She struggled against the cable. She’d studied smaller versions in the lab, and knew they were blended with organic tech. But they merely carried power and information, they weren’t alive.
Except somehow, these cables were sentient or programmed.
She would have found it fascinating, if the damn thing wasn’t trying to squeeze her to death.