The Resistance- The Complete Series

by Nathan Hystad

  “Over here!” Tabi shouted.

  Charles ran to her side, beating Ace there by mere seconds. He spotted the doorway into the rock. It was square, and half a meter in width. He bent down, lifting the metal handle, the door hinging open.

  It was dark inside. “Where are you bringing us, Charles?” Ace asked.

  Charles didn’t know, but he could understand Ace’s trepidation with crawling into a dark hole outside a city full of Watchers. He scanned the horizon, worried they were being observed by the enemy. When Charles didn’t see anyone, he shrugged and started down the crudely-cut steps he found beyond the hatch. “We don’t have a choice.”

  Charles heard the ship before he saw it. Tabi ushered them inside, taking a stance behind them. “You two go ahead. If this is trouble, I’ll slow them down. And if it’s our friends, I’ll show them where to go.”

  Ace pushed past Charles, heading into the darkness, and Charles followed him, his eyes allowing him to see in the pitch-black halls.

  “Night vision’s on,” Ace said, and even though Charles knew how frightened the boy was, he’d swallowed his fear and was running head-first into danger. Charles could learn a thing or two from Ace yet.

  The stairs lasted for only twenty steps. Now the hall spread out wider, packed-dirt walls mixed with electrical wires: some cut in half, others flickering with energy. Lights dimly illuminated the area ahead, and Charles adjusted his vision accordingly. They were close. “Turn left here,” Charles told Ace as they approached a T-intersection.

  “What is this place?” Ace asked, and Charles was about to answer that he didn’t know, when he saw the first cell. It was a prison. He’d recognize a cell anywhere.

  “Look.” He pointed down the hall to a thick door, hinged open. Beyond was a filthy cell, trays of half-eaten food piled so high a slight breeze would threaten to topple the makeshift tower.

  “That’s where they kept him,” Ace said accusingly, and Charles felt the disgust in his friend’s voice.

  “It appears so.” Charles took the lead now as his programming forced him to act on the beacon. He was close. So close. He thought he heard something and stopped short of an open doorway. Someone was inside. It grunted and Charles lifted his gun, letting his android guard training take over. He stepped in the doorway, only to see an injured Watcher on the ground.

  The room had blood on the floor, and the Watcher looked up at him with beady black eyes, its thick-fingered hand stretching forward. Charles aimed the rifle and pulled the trigger. The Watcher fell back, thick blood spraying as the bullet passed through its head. Ace was behind him, nearly tripping over Charles as he craned his neck toward the carnage.

  “Keep moving,” Charles said, leaving the Watcher to be dead in peace. They arrived at a tall doorway, a soft yellow light emanating from an old fixture stuck into the wall.

  Charles heard footsteps coming up behind them, and he hoped it was only Flint and Wren. Ace was turned down the hall, pointing his stunner at whatever was nearing. Charles took the opportunity to test the door. It was locked. He whacked the entrance pad with the butt of his rifle, and it smashed cleanly, but didn’t open the door. This was going to take some work.

  Charles started banging at the hinges with a closed fist.

  Benson

  Benson stayed in the corner of the dark room, curled in a ball. The Watchers had left him there hours ago, and he’d given up hope of ever getting out. He stayed in his fetal position as he heard steps in the hall outside. If it was them again, he’d attack, hoping they’d kill him in restitution. Who was he kidding? He’d do whatever they said, if only it meant breathing for another day.

  He did sit up straight as a rod when the banging started. Someone was beating on the door, and they sounded strong. It was the Watchers, coming back to finish what they’d started. His hand rose to his face tentatively, feeling his puffed-out eye. He’d probably never see again. The Queen had called him on his lies, and that was when the beating had begun.

  “Go away!” he shouted now. “Leave me alone! Just go away!” Spittle ran down his chin as he yelled. Tears pushed through the sealed eye, adding to his agony.

  The door fell open with a thud, shaking the floor he sat on. His hand raised in front of him, trying to block the dim light, which after hours in the dark was as bright as the sun after a hangover.

  “Benson? Is that you? What the hell are you shouting about?” The voice was familiar, but in his current state, he couldn’t tell who’d spoken.

  “It’s me… dear God, it’s me,” he said.

  “Stop speaking their language. You’re one of us,” another voice said, and Benson realized he’d been speaking in the Watchers’ tongue.

  “It’s me,” he said in English, the words coming out of his mouth with an odd cadence to them. When was the last time he’d spoken in English? A light flashed, its sharp beam threatening to blind him. “The light. Move the light!”

  Before he knew it, his collar was being grabbed and he was pushed against the dirty wall. The air burst from his lungs, and he looked up to see a beautiful face staring back at him, her caramel skin smooth, her frown anything but. “You son of a bitch! What have you done?” Wren asked him.

  He muttered an apology, but it was useless. He thought she was going to hit him as she let him go, her fist cocked in anger. But a look of resignation passed over her face, and her frown softened as Flint set a hand on her shoulder. Benson would have to thank the man later.

  The room shook, and dust fell from the ceiling as cracks formed through it, running like scars over flesh.

  “We have to go,” Ace shouted, and Benson noticed the android was there. His android.

  Benson tried to step forward, but his beaten body wouldn’t let him. He stumbled forward, only to be caught by Flint’s firm grip.

  “Where’s Tabi?” Wren asked someone.

  Ace answered. “She was holding the tunnel. Didn’t you pass her?”

  Benson watched as Wren shook her head solemnly.

  “How about Cash, is he with you?” Ace asked.

  “He stayed with the ship. We need to make sure we have an exit strategy, so we made him watch the fighter. He wasn’t too keen on letting us climb down the hole without him,” Flint said. He was half-dragging Benson’s frail body, leaving the room where the man had spoken to the Queen behind.

  The walk down the hall was slow, and the corridor shook one more time, loose wiring snapping with energy around them. Benson couldn’t believe he was being rescued. It hadn’t crossed his mind that this would be a potential outcome. He’d been so sure he could convince the Watchers to work with him. They’d seemed like such a singly-focused race, but he’d been remiss to think of them solely as predators. Unfortunately, that was all they were. Animals with space ships and guns.

  It was going to take a lot of work to get back in these people’s good graces. He’d have to concoct some deep-seated ruse to convince them of his innocence. He had been doing it for the good of humanity, after all. These thoughts drifted from Benson’s mind as the pain in his face went from a five to a nine as he tripped over something. Flint tried to catch him, but he went down to the ground hard.

  “What is that?” Ace asked, and Benson heard a gasp from Wren.

  “That’s part of an arm. And that’s a Fleet uniform,” Flint said. Benson didn’t have the energy or stomach to look back at the piece of the fallen Marine.

  “Tabi…” Ace let the comment stop short.

  “That means there are more of them down here,” one of the others said. Benson couldn’t quite be sure which one had spoken. He was still on the ground, unable to get himself to his feet. Every inch of him hurt, and he almost told them to leave him, when he felt the android’s strong grip pull him up.

  Flint took over, and the android – Charles, as the biologist had named him – went in the lead position as they neared the exit. When they got to the steps, Benson cringed. His frail legs were already protesting, and he was mostly being ca
rried at this point.

  A blast hit the stairs in front of them, and Charles shouted to get down. Benson watched with his good eye as the android raced into danger, leaving the rest of them underground.

  32

  Charles

  Charles had nothing to lose. He was going to make sure his friends got out of there in one piece. Tabi had already been killed, and he was adamant no one else would lose their life today, except the Watchers firing on them. They would die.

  He pounded up the rough stairs, breaching the surface as he pulled the rifle’s trigger. The dirt around him burst outwards as a Watcher shot at him, narrowly missing. One of Charles’ shots struck, and one of the attackers fell to the ground, dropping his weapon. Charles pointed, aimed, and fired, finishing the job. The huge male warrior was dead.

  Another shot came at him, and Charles noticed Cash was running toward them. Flint’s ship was two hundred meters away. Charles wondered why more shots weren’t coming in his direction, and he saw why. The remaining three Watchers had turned their attention to the fighter Ace had lowered nearby. The built-in shields glimmered as they took fire from the large pulse-firing alien weapons, until the shields broke down and their shots started to puncture the hull.

  Charles took the opportunity to shoot one of them in the back of the head as Cash approached.

  “Stay put!” Charles shouted down the hatch in the ground. “Only two left!”

  The Watcher fighter erupted in flames as the aliens targeted the engines, and the ground shook again. There went one of their rides. Charles couldn’t let the Watchers take out the last fighter they had on the planet.

  The Watchers turned their attention back to him and Cash, releasing volleys of shots as they made for Flint’s ship. Charles started at a run, pushing his robotic legs as fast as they’d take him. It wasn’t fast enough. The Watchers’ legs were much longer, and so powerful.

  Cash was running too, and Charles saw him reach into a pouch strapped to him and pull out a round device. He tossed it at a run, and the ground right in front of the running enemies blew to shreds, sending them sprawling.

  By the time Charles arrived, they were both on their feet, and weaponless. He aimed the rifle and pulled the trigger. Nothing happened. So it was going to be like this. Charles flipped the gun around, hefting it like a bat.

  Cash was shooting at them, and he struck one in the leg. Charles squared against his opponent and saw this was possibly the largest being he’d ever encountered. It was at least ten feet tall, with legs the size of Charles’ torso. Teeth bared as it stared him down with dead black eyes. He didn’t hesitate. Charles swung the rifle, only to have it caught in the enemy’s meaty paw. He was pulled closer, and was thrown to the side as the other hand crushed into his side. Charles was flung to the ground, and the last thing he saw was a gigantic booted foot heading for his face.

  Wren

  “We can’t wait all day. Did you hear that explosion? They’re taking out the ships!” Wren shouted. No one would listen to her. Screw this waiting game. She hurried past Flint, who tried but failed to grab her suit as she ran up the stairs.

  “Charles!” she screamed as the Watcher stepped on her friend’s head. Cash was there, rolling in the dirt with another of the creatures.

  They were a good hundred meters from her, but Wren ran, knowing there was no choice. She heard shouts from behind her as the others followed her to the surface, but she didn’t waste time looking back. She held the stunner firmly in her hand and shot toward Charles’ attacker. She missed the first five shots, the gun jarring around with each fast step she took. Eventually, one of them struck, and the Watcher slowed.

  With a mass like that, a stunner’s first shot wouldn’t have the same effect as on a human. She kept firing, and eventually, it slowed, stared at her, and froze where it lay.

  Flint was behind her. “Duck!” he shouted, and she did just that as a bullet raced over her head, striking the stunned enemy in the forehead. It crumpled to the ground, falling on top of Charles. Wren kept moving. There was still one more to deal with.

  “Get away from him, Cash!” she shouted, but it was too late. The enemy’s thick hands were wrapped around the Marine’s neck, and the second she heard his neck snap, she tapped the trigger, screaming with each pull. The Watcher fell to the ground, and she ran over to it, drawing a knife from a sheath on the enemy’s leg. It was paralyzed from the stun, and Wren closed her eyes as she pushed the knife into its exposed throat.

  Flint was there beside her, pulling her away, dragging her toward their only chance of escape. Multiple lights shone from a distance.

  “They’re coming,” Flint said, pushing her onto the fighter they’d come in. Her gloves left bloody prints on the side of the ship as she leaned into it, waiting for Ace and Benson to come aboard. She noticed Ace was holding pieces of Charles, and so was Flint. Tears of grief and joy flowed together as they lifted up and away from the terrible planet.

  Flint Shifted shortly after, and Wren was fully aware that the Watchers couldn’t trace his trajectory.

  They’d done it, but somehow, it didn’t feel over.

  Flint

  Flint had expected chaos when he arrived back to the Eureka. But it was calm; eerily quiet. After the rush of being on the Watchers’ planet, it was bizarre heading back to where their massive ship hung gently.

  While the Watcher fighter was much larger than their own version, the space was cramped with so many of them inside. Flint was glad he was the pilot, because he hated the feeling of being pushed into a confined area with so many others.

  They’d lost both Marines, and this weighed heavily on Flint’s mind as they headed for the hangar on the side of the Eureka. He’d come from Earth Fleet and had left them because of the politics and fruitless wars they waged on innocents just to keep their funding coming. But he knew there were great people trained there every year. Tabi and Cash had been that: great. They’d each sacrificed their lives so the rest of them could get out, and he’d never forget it.

  The passengers were silent as Flint told the crew who was coming aboard. It was always dangerous flying an enemy ship back. A trigger-happy officer might buckle under years of training and fire at will.

  “We’re home,” Flint said, not feeling the elation he’d expected after completing the task. Instead, he felt hollow and empty. Exhaustion was creeping into his vision, and he blinked repeatedly as he powered the ship down.

  The hatch opened, and Flint heard Ace and Wren pour out, leaving Benson groaning behind.

  “Great. Leave him to me,” Flint muttered as he left the cockpit and nearly tripped on the beaten man. “Well, Benson, how do you feel? Glad to be back after leaving us almost six months ago? Bet you didn’t expect to end up in a cell getting your ass kicked by some aliens, did you?”

  Flint hated the man. The Watchers had known they were coming, but instead of attacking, they’d let it happen. Flint couldn’t help but feel like he was missing some key information. They’d get it out of Benson, that much was clear, and Flint wanted a front-row seat to the interrogation.

  He peeled off his mask and tossed it to the ground, taking a deep breath of Eureka’s recycled air. Benson didn’t comment. He was either passed out, sleeping, or pretending to be one of the two.

  Flint stepped over him, leaving the man there. Four Fleet guards were in the hangar, talking with Ace and Wren, when he approached. “Benson’s inside. Please see he’s detained and brought to the brig, if this place has one.”

  “Yes, sir,” one of them said quickly.

  “And there are pieces of our friend Charles inside too. Please have them sent to Chief Engineer Tomas,” Wren said. When the guards left them alone, she took off her helmet and unsealed her EVA. “Maybe they can rebuild him?”

  Flint peered behind him as the guards piled the pieces of Charles up outside the ship, and he doubted there was anything anyone could do for the android.

  Ace was staring back toward the pile, and Flint
set an arm around the kid’s shoulders. “You did really well down there, Ace. You should be proud of yourself.”

  Ace threw his helmet to the ground, and it bounced away. “I hate this.”

  Wren took over. “Ace, let’s get some rest. There’s still a lot to do, and Barkley’s going to want to see us. I’ll see if she’ll give you two a couple hours first.”

  Ace shrugged, walking away, his head down. Flint understood the frustration only too well. It was hard seeing those around you die, and you never really got used to it. It was hard to believe Ace was still so young, only seventeen. When Flint was that age, he had much less eventful things to concern himself with.

  Wren started for the door too. “Let him be.”

  “Aren’t you forgetting something?” Flint asked her.

  She paused, peering back at him with tired eyes. “What?”

  “My kiss,” he said, knowing neither of them felt like it. Still, after almost dying, it would be good to feel alive again.

  Wren made sure no one was looking and waited for him to come to her. He obliged.

  “Flint, your timing is terrible,” she said, but kissed him anyway. Flint’s pain subsided briefly as their lips met.

  “A deal’s a deal,” he said as Wren turned from him and walked into the hallway.

  Flint followed, wondering if he’d get those two hours before heading for the war room.

  Ace

  “They told me I’d find you here,” a girl’s voice said, drawing Ace’s attention from the hot cup of coffee in front of him. Instead of sleeping, he’d showered and changed into street clothes. It felt too soon to slip into a Fleet uniform. He wasn’t quite ready.

  “Oliv,” he said, wishing he sounded a little more cheerful to see the beautiful young woman. Her cheeks were ruddy, her green eyes wide as she neared the table. Her arm was in a sling, and her forehead had a small bandage over it.

  “How are you doing?” Ace asked. He’d been so distracted, he hadn’t even thought to check on her when he returned.