Archon's Queen

by Matthew S. Cox

  James put a hand on her shoulder, nodding in the direction of the back door. “Go now, quickly. Wait for me about a hundred meters out.”

  Anna let him help her stand. “Aren’t you coming?”

  He smiled. “Of course.” A brief kiss upon the lips made her eyes flutter. “But there is the matter of my destroyed car, and we need a ride. I’ll just be borrowing one of theirs.”

  She nodded, backpedaling away from the windows as two more spider bots outside spun in circles, aiming onboard weapons at the disarray.

  Anna started towards the back door, but froze when a soldier hustled through it into the cabin. Lifting her hands with a clawing motion, she flung lightning into his chest. He sailed off his feet, landing on his back and sliding onto the porch in a convulsive fit.

  Aurora’s disembodied voice fell like silk through the air. “Damn it, Anna. That was me. Now I have to find another toy. He’s going to be napping for a while.”

  The dropped rifle shifted on the ground, pivoting to point at James before it leapt into his waiting arms. His casual glance settled on her with a lifted eyebrow.

  “What? Do not tell me you’re afraid of firearms?”

  She looked away. “I’m not a great big fan to be honest. Pointed at me, or getting shot by the cops for ‘avin’ one… Neither’s much a bit of fun.”

  Splinters rained from a trail of bullet holes inches above her head. James fired at the orb droid responsible, but it evaded him with ease and whipped about to return fire.

  He frowned. “Sit still, you little blighter.”

  The orb wobbled, emitting an electronic squeal as his telekinesis held it in place and forced its weapon to aim away. A few shots into the stationary sphere reduced it to a shower of metal fragments.

  “I could have gotten that…”

  He made a shooing gesture at the door. “Save your energy for the big ones, off you go.”

  A body hit the cabin outside the rear door, knocking a decorative plate off the wall.

  “Anna, don’t kill this one,” shouted an unfamiliar man.

  Clad in grey-on-black camouflage, a dark-skinned soldier ducked into the room. Anna could not help but stare at the odd feminine quality to his movement as he took up a firing position at the front wall. He fired a few shots, and laughed.

  “I keep forgetting how light the recoil is when I’m wearing a man,” he mumbled.

  “She’s creeping me out, James.”

  He pointed. Taking the hint, she made it out the door in three strides and ran through shimmering cones of searchlights from above. The air vibrated with the sound of ion drives, a grating techno-growl that sent shivers down her spine. Every piece of grass and leaf tingled with electricity from the ionic downblast.

  Two great spots of white light, the main drives of an assault VTOL at least three times the size of the one that had chased her through the streets of London, drifted over the cabin. Smaller vented-thrust ports, one at the nose and each wingtip, hinted at the general orientation of the craft as it turned to point at where she ran. A rectangle of light appeared in the blackness between the main engines; a weapons bay opened with a mechanical whine. From within the white-walled interior, a dual-barreled particle cannon swiveled to take aim.

  Are you fucking serious?

  Anna’s fingers numbed with cold as blood retreated into her heart. Orange glowing light gathered inside the monstrosity pointing at her. Imminent death broke through her initial shock and let her focus. A matrix of luminous threads formed over the plane; every power connection, every circuit path, and every wire traced itself out in the vision of her mind. No longer black against the sky, the military aircraft glimmered amber, brightest where the power built up in the weapon system.

  She seized upon the energy, moving it away from the particle cannon and into other systems. Drawing as much as she could from its engines, she forced it places where the threads seemed too narrow to hold it. The VTOL wavered in the air as the developing radiance in the gun faded. A spot of brilliant yellow appeared and the cockpit filled with fire and sparks; the ion drives flickered on and off several times, and the entire upper surface of the plane crackled with roaming lightning. Amid a series of small explosions, fragments and debris rained from the air. The ion thrusters went dark. The VTOL slid off to the side and fell like a brick, smashing through trees on its way to the Earth. It hit the ground on its belly, trenching a channel in the soil before it came to a halt against two now-leaning oaks.

  Anna fell in place, too tired to continue standing. Her drop was fortunate as a wave of splinters and shrapnel passed overhead seconds before the concussion of the crash knocked her into a roll. She came to a halt on her stomach in wet grass. Without the plane, the rear of the cabin remained lit only by stars. In the sudden absence of floodlights, she was blind. Her arms felt like rubber when she tried to push herself upright. She wobbled, staring dumbfounded at the fire spreading over the crashed VTOL and the pilot pounding at the canopy.

  “Bloody.” No wonder they want to kill me.

  Shouts and gunfire resonated from the other side as soldiers, bots, and Aurora combined in a disordered mess. Anna crawled to a tree and used it to haul herself to her feet. She held on to keep from falling as her gaze darted among muzzle flashes, running soldiers, and searchlights in a futile search for James. She whirled, feeling an electrical source behind her. An amber sphere of sensed energy crept up behind her, the two bright points leading the way connected by a visible spark.

  She raised a forearm, protecting her neck. The impact of the orb knocked her down, but she absorbed the shock. Her body fed from the current, absorbing it. Fatigue faded. No longer was she too tired to stand.

  “Cute,” she grumbled, and grabbed it with her free hand.

  At her behest, its power cell discharged with a single intense arc, and she wound up holding all fourteen pounds of inert orb bot one-handed. The unexpected weight fell with a dull thump in the dirt.

  Her second wind got her on her feet in time to scream and cross her arms over her face. A soldier came out of the dark, his high feint left her gut exposed. One punch to the stomach put her down on all fours, struggling to breathe. She grabbed his shin, little sparks crawled over her hand, wavering over the armor like whiskers unsure what they encountered.

  “Insulated, bitch.”

  He kicked her in the side, knocking her over. She lunged into a crawl, barking like a stomped goose as he stepped on her back and drilled her face into the mulch. The chirp of a firing circuit made her scream. Hard metal jabbed into the back of her skull.

  Bang.

  Anna convulsed, her body lost to primordial terror until a heavy thud struck the ground to her side. Fingers raked wet grass and soil, every muscle tensing at once. She flipped onto her back, the connection between brain and mouth broken. All she could do was babble at the sight of Agent Hughes standing over her, black coat fluttering in the wind of a second nearby VTOL. His huge silver handgun leaked smoke, but was not pointed at her.

  “Ba… Wha… You…” She couldn’t stop shaking.

  “Lucky you had a gypsy before this got underway.”

  She swallowed hard, edging away from the soldier with half a skull left.

  “Cee… Wha? Ja…” Tears streamed down her face. “You…”

  Hughes put the weapon under his coat and squatted with his elbows on his knees. “It’s a complex mess.” He reached behind his ear and peeled the little metal triangle off, holding it up to show it as fake, a metal slug held on by sticky tape. “What the Crown doesn’t know…” He winked, and pressed it back.

  Anna still could not form words as he stood and started to walk away. He paused, glancing back.

  “Don’t just sit there, Anna. Your ride’s almost here.”

  The glow of spotlights came over the cabin as a second VTOL craft came in low. When she looked back, Hughes had vanished.

  She slouched, arms lax at her sides. “Oh bugger…”

  Hold on, luv. Do not
cook this one. James’ voice flooded her mind. Aurora has the pilot.

  Doctor Mardling appeared in the open side door, as casually as if he directed the military operation himself. The plane’s landing struts folded down as the main engines tilted forward to arrest its speed. Its wings grew thick with flaps, a great metal bird ruffling its feathers as it came down in a mud-flinging burst of ions between the outhouse and the little dwelling.

  He gathered his tweed against the gale, hanging on as the lower half of the hatch folded down into a staircase. No sooner had his boot hit the first step than two bullets whistled over Anna’s head. Agent Gordon had reached around the corner of the cabin with a large pistol, clinging to the wet stonework.

  James snarled and grabbed at midair. Gordon’s pistol shuddered in his hand; Gordon growled with pain and effort. Slipping through his fingers, the pistol jerked to a halt four feet away on the wire connecting it to the side of his head. Howling, Agent Gordon grabbed the cord before it tore the socket behind his ear straight out of his head. His wail of pain mutated into an angry bellow that rivaled the sound of the idling aircraft.

  James glared; his telekinetic pull snapped the wire and sent the pistol flying a dozen meters forward.

  Dangling from the metal stair, he reached an arm towards her. “Now, Anna, run!”

  She glared at Gordon, holding her arms out. Arcs of lightning spanned the air between them, lifting him off his feet and slamming him into the wall with the meaty slap of flesh on stone. He bounced away and fell flat on his chest. Anna spat in his direction and ran for James. She made it three steps before two gunshots in rapid succession preceded blinding pain in her legs.

  “Damn, bitch,” yelled Gordon. “That hurt!”

  Both of her shins shattered, leaving her flat on her chest and shrieking. She pulled herself an arm’s length forward, struggling to look for the source of the attack. Gordon, propped up on one arm, wobbled to get a bead on her with a smaller backup gun as the liquid black of his suit enveloped his head.

  “Aurora.” yelled James.

  The VTOL whirled around, bringing the particle cannon to bear on Gordon.

  “Now that’s just dirty.” His arm fell limp and he scrambled around the corner of the cabin.

  An invisible force condensed around her, tight but not painful, and hauled her into the air. She flailed her arms as if swimming, albeit pointless, and grabbed onto him as soon as she was close. James pulled her into the plane and laid her out on the floor.

  “Are my legs off?” She wheezed.

  “Bastard. Those boots were expensive.”

  “What?” Anna forced herself to sit up. A finger-sized hole went clean through each leg about halfway between knee and foot. The sight of bloody metal floor through her wound turned everything into a blur.

  She awoke with James’s hand patting her cheek. As soon as she focused on his face, he smiled. “Stop being a drama queen. It was a small caliber, through and through. Nothing a few Stimpaks cannot handle.”

  “Ngh.” She groaned, staring at her legs, bare from the knee down and smeared red. They still hurt as if she had nails through her bones, but looked intact. Anna winced as she flexed her toes and felt around the spot she remembered having holes. It was painfully tender, but solid.

  James pulled her upright, helping her through the small troop transport chamber. On either wall, seats rigged with cross-chest harnesses faced into the center. The floor had a seam that gave her the impression it could open to allow paratroopers to drop straight down. He eased her into one of the folding seats and buckled the harness over her.

  “You’ll be fine, Anna.” He toweled the blood off her calves. “The bullet went right through.”

  “Ouch.” She let her head loll back. “James?”

  “Yes?”

  “How did Gordon miss me with his smart gun, but put two rounds right through my shins with a holdout using iron sights?”

  “You are welcome.”

  He started to walk down a narrow passageway to the cockpit.

  “James? Don’t be difficult.”

  Her arm leapt up without warning.

  “Not a great feat of telekinetics to throw off someone’s aim, girl.” He paused. “I am sorry I did not anticipate the pea shooter.”

  She beamed at him. “You’re amazing.”

  James grasped his lapels. “I like the sound of that. Now rest.”

  An Asian man on the left side of the cockpit held a pistol to the head of a woman at the flight controls. Both wore the same drab green jumpsuits.

  James hovered behind them, staring at the pilot.

  “I’ll need you to give us a lift to Heathrow straight away. Also, be a dear and turn off your communication system and transponder.”

  The pilot looked up at him; her movements slow, she had no trace of emotion on her face. “I’ll take you to Heathrow. No comms or transponder.”

  “Good girl.” James patted her on the helmet.

  Anna grunted as the craft climbed and pivoted. The man lowered the pistol and shuffled around Doctor Mardling into the rear chamber. He didn’t look at Anna when he trudged by, went down the still open ladder, and leaned forward until gravity’s claim on his body was irreversible. White fog exuded from him and flowed back inside as he fell out of sight; the screaming lasted for only a second.

  The mist coalesced, thickened, and turned into Aurora, naked and sprawled on the ground. “Damn it’s hot in here. Ugh, who got blood all over the floor?”

  James chuckled. “You always were rather good at making entrances, Lauren.”

  Anna gestured at the door. “Lauren! What did you do that for?”

  “He would have killed you.” Aurora offered a blasé smirk.

  Yes, but he’s was no threat now. If we kill helpless people, it just proves them right about us.”

  Aurora stood, frowned at the smears of crimson on her snow-white ass, and hit the button to close the hatch. “Are you so convinced they’re wrong?”

  “Yes!” She stomped, bare foot slapping on steel, and triggering a feeling like a hot lance through her shin. “Aaagh!” She cradled her leg, whimpering as several lights up front flickered.

  “Relax, luv. We’re only fifteen feet in the air.” Aurora stood on tiptoe and stuck her head through the wall, ringed by a collar of white vapor for a moment until she leaned back inside. “He’s fine.”

  “Aurora. Please don’t play these kinds of games with me.”

  “Indeed,” yelled James from the front. “If she loses control of her mood, we may very well crash.”

  The craft shifted as it went upward. Aurora flopped in the next seat, as casual as if clothed. Anna looked away.

  “Oh, come on. You used to work in a tittie club. Tell me you’ve never seen these before.”

  “That’s not the point.”

  Aurora made an apprasing face at herself. “I think they’re rather nice. Don’t you?”

  Anna kept looking away. “So you’re going to run around starkers?”

  “Got a spare kit for me?” Aurora made a sarcastic face. “Thought not.”

  “You’re not going to walk through Heathrow like that, are you?” asked Anna.

  “Wasn’t planning on it. Fun as it sounds, it’d draw too much attention.”

  Interior lights changed to red night-flight illumination and the craft gained speed. Aurora’s pure white skin took on the color, giving her the appearance of a wingless black-eyed succubus. She offered a pleasant smile and secured the harness around herself.

  “I’ll need a favor when we get to the airport, luv.” Aurora winked and crossed her legs. “As you said, I can’t go traipsing about in public like this; I’ll need someone to wear.”

  Anna gulped. “S-someone?”

  “Would you prefer we kidnap the pilot?”

  “N-no.”

  “Don’t worry hon. I’ll just be along for the ride. You won’t even know I’m there.”

  nna reclined on a lounge chair at the far end of a
boxed-in balcony. She glanced down the length of her body, frowning at the black bikini crossed over it. For two days now, she had lain out here in the strange thing called sunlight, and had not succeeded in doing anything more than getting a nasty burn that required a stimpak to be rid of. She almost missed being a creature of the night. Cool vapor settled on her as a miniscule orb bot hovered about, puffing sprays of coconut-scented lotion.

  Fluffy clouds drifted through a square of blue sky framed by monoliths of silver and glass. Towers blocked the horizon in all directions other than straight up. The apartment James had secured sat at the corner of one such building, affording a view of two streets’ worth of hovercars and advert-bots at all hours of the day. The sun had shown itself several days in a row, an event in and of itself confounding.

  The faint hiss of glass doors opening came from behind. She glanced up and to the left, and rolled her eyes at a figure of arctic white.

  “For heaven’s sake, Lauren, you’re outside. Put something on.”

  Aurora settled onto the next lounge chair, sitting on the edge before kicking her feet over in a graceful transition to lying down. “We’re seventy stories up, and the hovercars are going by too fast for perverts.” She broke out in a sweat right away.

  Anna chuckled. “You’ll knock pilots out of the sky from the glare.”

  “Oh, like you won’t?” Aurora winked. “That little strip of cloth isn’t doing a damn thing; you might as well let the girls get some sun.”

  “Trashy.” Anna grumbled, squinting at Aurora. “I’ll pass. Compared to you, I’m brown. You want some lotion?”

  “You’ve got some cheek, calling me trashy.” Aurora winked.

  Anna glared. All manner of justifications for her life flashed through her thoughts, not one of which made it out of her mouth.

  “Sorry, that was out of line.” Aurora put her hands under her head. “It won’t matter, I don’t even burn.”

  “Yeah… guess we both were.” Anna sent the floating bot over anyway. “Does it bother you being trapped inside all the time?”