Born of Sand (Tales of a Dying Star Book 5)

by Kristoph, David

  An orbital strike consisted of a twenty foot long rod of tungsten being released from the orbital station. Once released, jets on the payload would fire to eliminate its horizontal velocity, causing it to drop out of orbit and begin falling toward the planet. The jets would continue firing to tweak its descent route, eventually disengaging when it was on target.

  The rod would begin to fall, accelerating by the physics of the planet.

  The result was a ten tonne metal rod that would strike the planet at forty thousand feet per second, a respectable--but small--fraction of the speed of light. The transfer of kinetic energy would annihilate anything within a wide radius of the impact point.

  And I have just unleashed one.

  The desert ahead of them opened up as they reached the top of the dune. This would be the spot. "Water break," Kari called, hopefully sounding calm.

  Geral frowned. "Here? But..."

  Kari turned away from them to face back the way they'd come. She crouched in the sand and drank from a water jug, taking slow, measured breaths. Now that the payload was in motion she allowed emotion to wash over her. Maggy, sour and stern but caring once you peeled away a few layers. Dok, the quirky engineer cowed under Bruno's brutal leadership, finally showing his true personality.

  Binny, the energetic little girl Farrow had refused to kill so long ago.

  She looked over her shoulder at the leader of the Freemen, sitting in the sand with his knees bent. He met her eyes and smiled. You want to kill peacekeepers, she told herself. Melisao sent here on assigned tours, who only want to finish their duty and go home. She loosened her pistol in its holster, and removed her knife just to feel something real between her fingers.

  A glance at her wrist computer. Four minutes had passed. Any moment she would hear the roar as the payload entered the atmosphere, flaring with heat like a meteor. She wanted to rise and position herself better to move against the others, yet she didn't want to raise suspicions. Better to wait. Their horror would provide her with all the time she needed.

  Any second now. Kari felt the quiver of anticipation, a sensation like being on the precipice of sexual release. She raised her face to the sky and said a silent prayer to the Emperor, may his immortal soul judge her justly. She held her breath to wait.

  Nothing happened.

  She opened her eyes and searched the hazy sky. It should have happened by then. What was wrong? She felt herself stand involuntarily.

  The others joined her. "Time to move on?" Farrow asked.

  What could have caused the delay? The orbital techs might have bumped the decision up to an officer, let them make the final call. That could delay it by a few minutes. Maybe.

  "Kari?"

  "Just a moment," she said, "I feel light headed." She stared to the west. Had she incorrectly calculated the station's position in orbit? It needed to be roughly overhead to deploy, so if she had miscalculated it might take more time. But her math seemed correct, the position of the station accurate.

  It's not going to happen on this orbit. Too much time had elapsed. The station orbited the planet every two hours, incredibly fast, so it had already passed well beyond the range of deploying this time. The techs had probably hesitated too long, requiring an officer to sign-off on the launch. It would surely deploy on the next orbit.

  Two hours.

  Farrow put his hand on her shoulder. "Are you well? Maybe you should head back to Victory Base..."

  "I'm fine." She brushed off his hand. To avoid any more questions she began walking down the other side of the dune. The others followed.

  The next two hours felt like ten. Kari tried to banish all concern from her mind, but she still ran through every possibility in her head. The payload will launch on the next orbit. Kari sending the signal indicated her mission was complete, her objectives met. That she was poised to break her cover. They would never overrule it, even in the most special of circumstances. The payload would launch.

  But what if it didn't?

  "It's four hours past midday," Mira suddenly said.

  Kari frowned. "Huh?"

  Mira pointed. "You keep looking at the time. On your wrist device. But you can tell the time based on the position of the sun. It's hard to miss, burning down on us so fiercely."

  "Yes," Kari said, glancing at the others. None of them heard Mira's comment, thankfully. Nobody knew about her wrist device, or the other electronic augmentations scattered throughout her body. She avoided looking at her wrist so frequently after that.

  They traveled for two hours, Kari's anticipation growing with every step. Farrow remained quiet, and Geral told stories with Sandra. Mira continued chatting with Kari until eventually realizing she wasn't in the mood.

  Finally came the time when the station would make its next orbit. "Water break," Kari announced at the top of another dune.

  Geral grumbled, and Farrow said, "Kari, I'm not sure here is the best..."

  "Just for a few minutes," she said. "Stop worrying." In truth she was worrying, and based on Farrow's frown it was obvious, but he blessedly remained silent.

  Kari remained standing while the others sat to rest. Saria burned low in the west, a perfect circle clearly outlined in the yellow sky. She said another prayer to the Emperor while she waited.

  Several minutes passed before Kari heard a distant rumble.

  It's happening.

  The sound of the payload breaking the sound barrier should have been a deafening boom, but Kari attributed the muted sound to their distance. Her eyes scanned the sky. It would be obvious, streaking down like a bolt of white lightning, crushing the air with its speed.

  Behind her the others rose and began speaking.

  Kari ignored them, focused on the sound. Men spoke of the orbital strikes as being a religious experience, like watching the Emperor's holy will manifested in a single destructive action. It was important that she witness it before carrying out her duty.

  "Kari?" Farrow became insistent. "Kari!"

  Where is it? The sound continued to grow, like thunder rolling across the Melis landscape, but she saw nothing of the payload itself. She should be close enough. It was supposed to be brighter than the sun!

  The others began panicking. Farrow stepped up next to her. He's close, good. She would disable him with her knife first before killing Geral and Sandra. In the immediacy of the moment she felt no guilt for what was about to happen. Her fingers tightened around her knife.

  But where was the payload?

  The sound intensified until she could feel it, a vibration in her boots and ankles. Something is wrong. It was too much. Too close. She should not have been able to feel...

  Geral's voice: "Kari, damn you, let's go!"

  Why can't I see it? she thought, confused. I want to see our Emperor's will.

  Farrow finally grabbed her arm and whirled her around. Everyone stood with their legs spread, trying to maintain their balance. It felt like the very dune they stood upon was shaking.

  And in that moment, right as Farrow opened his mouth, Kari knew why she couldn't see the payload.

  Farrow shook a round, marble-like object in her face. "Kari, ready your charges! The stinger's here!"

  Chapter 17

  Abrupt terror knocked Kari out of her stupor. "To the north," she said, relying on instinct more than anything. "On my mark!" She pulled a charge free from her vest and took off at a dead sprint.

  How long has it been stalking us? Hopefully it was not too late.

  Farrow mirrored her stride a few feet away. She pulled back her arm to throw the charge.

  The stinger breached directly in front of her.

  The sand... shifted, like a wave rising from the flat ocean. Then it exploded in a shower of sand, a bubble popping, revealing a tangle of chitinous legs like armor. The stinger's ribbed thorax stretched twenty feet long, rising ten feet above her as its legs extended to stand. It had no true head, its eyes recessed into the end of its yellow torso, flanked by a pair of pincer claws at th
e ends of short arms.

  And at its rear, a thick tail curved up over itself, tipped with the bulbous stinger that gave the beast its name.

  The sand settled and the monster shrieked, a high sound like a crowd of children screaming.

  "Spread out!" Kari shouted as the stinger lurched toward Farrow on skittering legs. It snapped at the air with one pincer, the loud clapping sound ringing off the dunes. Farrow ran one way so Kari ran in the other, waving at Mira, who stood paralyzed and alone. Veterans, Geral and Sandra had begun fleeing the moment the beast had breached. How could they leave Mira there?

  "Follow me!" Kari said, grabbing the woman's arm. Standard practice against a stinger was to run. Five men would be hard pressed to fell a stinger, and even if they did they would take losses. Especially without rifles, Kari thought, touching her pistol for a brief, bitter moment. No, it was better to spread out, confusing the beast with too many targets. Whoever it did chase would throw charges down behind them and pray that it distracted the stinger long enough to escape. Stingers would usually return to the sand if they didn't make a quick kill.

  Kari dragged Mira what felt like a safe distance away before stealing a glance over her shoulder. Farrow still fled, a hundred feet away, with the beast lumbering close behind. It's small, Kari realized. A male, half the size of a female. Without heavy weapons it would still be a challenge, but if she could get onto its back...

  "Stay here," she hissed at Mira.

  She took off running back in the direction of the stinger, moving through the sand with long, confident strides. Farrow tossed a final charge behind him and glanced in Kari's direction as he fled. He patted his chest with a palm. Out of charges, and the stinger still followed. It was a good thing Kari was coming to his aid.

  Knowing her plan, he changed directions, turning slightly toward Kari. Perfect, she thought, visualizing where the stinger would be in a few seconds. It seemed to move in slow motion in its size, sweeping a long claw across the sand, missing Farrow by mere feet but knocking sand into the air. Its eight stunted legs moved furiously, bearing the massive weight. Within seconds it would overtake Farrow.

  But not before Kari intercepted it.

  She drew her knives, holding one in each hand, and leaped at the stinger's abdomen. Although small for its kind, the beast stood tall enough that Kari's extended hand barely reached the top of its body. It was enough. Gripping the hilt in a fist, Kari used the momentum from the leap to slam the knife into the stinger's chitinous armour. Thankfully, the blade punched through. She swung her body and stabbed with a second knife. It failed to fully penetrate, but it stuck in enough for Kari to rip the first blade free and pull herself up onto the stinger's back.

  Farrow scrambled away as the monster paused, sensing the visitor on its shell.

  Where is it? Kari thought, searching around at the back of the abdomen where the tail rose up from the body. The stinger's armour overlapped like ribbed plating, and she couldn't find the sensitive bundle of nerves that protruded there. It was normally red and swollen, easy to spot. All I see is shell! She slid across the body towards the tail and began slashing with her knives. They barely scratched the surface.

  The stinger lurched and then Kari was flying, arms flailing, the sandy shape of a dune fast approaching. The ground struck her hard, knocking the air from her lungs and kicking sand into her eyes and mouth. She wheezed painfully.

  Experience forced her to roll sideways just as the stinger brought its claw down onto the sand like a hammer, so close that Kari felt the air rush past her face and the sand spray out. She bounced from the force and landed on her back, gasping for breath. The stinger kicked sand as it loomed over her, curved tail hanging above its body like a lantern. Thick, mucous-like liquid dripped from the tip as it prepared to strike.

  The high-pitched sound of laserfire cut the air. Beams struck the beast's flank, bouncing off harmlessly in random directions, punching into the sand nearby. For a heartbeat the desert monster hesitated.

  With only a trickle of air in her lungs Kari jumped up and ran. To the left, Geral and Sandra fired their pistols in an attempt at distraction. They stopped shooting as Kari got away, the way the Freemen had practiced countless times in drills. Hopefully the stinger would get confused by so many targets and begin burrowing...

  In the opposite direction Mira had her gun out too, mimicking the others. Shooting wildly at the stinger. Kari waved. "Stop! Don't shoot!" she gasped as air returned. The stupid girl would only give the stinger a target on which to focus.

  Mira didn't seem to hear, continuing her barrage.

  Kari cursed and turned her sprint toward the woman. Sure enough, instead of standing around confused, the stinger now skittered toward Mira. The girl is going to kill us all. Somewhere in the back of Kari's head she knew it was partly her fault for showing the girl how to shoot. For bringing her with them.

  The shade continued her turn until she faced the stinger, fifty feet away. She gripped both knives in fists, savoring the safety they promised. She ran nearly head-on at the monster, though it still faced Mira a short distance away. Laserfire bounced off its armor like pebbles.

  The stinger leaned forward as it ran, raising its hind legs.

  Kari's blades whistled through the air as she pumped her arms. She felt the pulsing desire to dive directly at its face, carve into its eyes, but that would have been a rookie mistake. With her body directly in its vision its pincers would be too quick, would snap her out of the air before she got close.

  The stinger began pulling back its tail.

  She needed to strike at the abdomen, climb onto its back again. Cutting away the bundle of nerves at the base of the tail was the only sure way to bring it down. Anything else would take too long, give the stinger too much time to react. If I can find it.

  The stinger's tail stiffened in the air, ready to descend.

  With the beast tilted forward Kari saw it, a red organ-like sack at the base of the tail. Previously concealed by its overlapping armor, but now open, vulnerable as the stinger prepared to strike. It would fall upon Mira within moments, but Kari would reach it first. She would need to scramble across its back in one quick motion, slicing away the nerves before it struck. "Run away!" Kari breathed. "Stars damn you, I have to save you!"

  As before, Kari leaped at the stinger.

  The stinger turned.

  It had been waiting for her, she realized too late. The claw moved across its body and struck Kari in the legs, throwing her into a head-over-feet spin. She tumbled through the air like a swatted fly.

  She hit the sand with a grunt.

  Fire ran down her leg, and a quick glance showed she'd been cut open along the side, a dark red gash from knee to ankle. Her vision spun but she forced herself to crawl. Sand rubbed across the exposed flesh, which only made the pain worse. She needed to get to her feet, hobble away faster. The sound of laserfire rang out, her comrades desperately trying to distract. Kari pulled a round charge from her chest and tossed it behind. She did the same with a second. She could feel the vibration in the hot sand, hear the cries from Farrow and Mira.

  A shadow blocked the sun.

  Kari turned to see the stinger stop above her, eerily patient. It raised its claw like a hammer. There was no stopping it, now. Kari knew it was over. She thought of home, on a planet far away, and realized she couldn't remember what it looked like.

  The stinger stumbled, faltering, screaming to the sky.

  One of its legs collapsed to the sand, detached from the thorax. Farrow appeared, running from the dismembered part and moving to the next. He pressed his pistol in between the plates at the leg joint, one of the leg's three knees. His pistol spoke, and green insect blood exploded all around.

  Gritting her teeth, Kari pushed up on her good leg. She prayed the other could bear some weight, any at all. The Emperor heard her pleas, and blessed her with enough strength to shamble away from the stinger's screams.

  Geral appeared and wrapped an arm aroun
d her waist to help her along.

  When they were a safe distance away they turned to watch. Farrow had incapacitated four of its eight legs--a tactic that rarely worked--before darting out of reach, where now he watched. The stinger desperately moved those that remained, attempting to burrow back to safety, a fruitless effort without all of its limbs. It shrieked at the sky, a pained, sorrowful sound.

  "It can't burrow, but it might still try to follow us," Kari said. Farrow, Sandra, and Mira circled the wounded animal at a safe distance. "We need to finish it."

  Geral let go of her, a determined, desiring look on his face. "Maggy'll be jealous for weeks if I fell a stinger." He began to move away.

  "Don't come at it from behind," Kari said through clenched teeth. "It has hairs on its tail to sense someone coming. Hit it from the side."

  He nodded and jogged away, pulling his knife free. Kari felt a bit of jealousy at not being able to make the kill herself. Something tugged at her attention, insisting she had other duties on which to focus, but with the wounded, raging monster before her she had no room for focus.

  In all the chaos they never heard the second stinger.

  It breached beneath Geral, a rising bubble of sand that threw him aside before bursting. Unearthed, it rose to its full size, twice as large in every direction as the other. A female. It surveyed the area with a slow gaze.

  Then it roared, a deep sound that shook Kari's bones.

  Farrow raised his hand to signal the retreat. "Spread out--" he stopped, locking eyes with Kari. Pain spread across his face. "Kill the male!" he commanded instead, charging forward. "Quickly!"

  He knows I can't run.

  Farrow and Sandra closed in on the smaller stinger. Farrow approached from the front, distracting, ducking under a sweeping claw that threw sand into the air while Sandra came at the side. It screamed as she climbed onto its back, sliding across the shell as she attempted to find the nerve bundle.