by M. R. Forbes
Nathan looked over at the screen. They had magnified the view of the cameras mounted on the dropship’s hull, zooming in nearly fifty times to get a bird’s eye view of the landscape while remaining high enough over it not to draw any attention. James had picked out one of the many cars piled along the highway, a long machine with a large hood and trunk, the back half of the cabin cut away to make room for what looked like a mounted gun.
“You’re sure?” Nathan asked. He had been hoping the drone pilots were wrong about spotting what they believed to be one of the cars from Fort McGuire. He had been hoping they could avoid a confrontation with Sheriff Duke.
“Absolutely,” James replied, ending that hope. The general opened an internal comm link. “Doc, bring the pilot in. We’ve got a positive ID.”
“Roger,” Doc replied.
Nathan had been surprised to find Doc present when he arrived at the tarmac. He had thought she would be too busy trying to solve the mystery of their hallucinations to join them on the mission. Apparently, she was concerned about either one or both of them having a relapse, and she wanted to be present to record it if they did. It was only partially the truth. She wanted to be there for James in case he got in trouble. It had nothing to do with him.
They had brought a squad of Liberators with them too, along with the Pulse’s original pilot, the black ops soldier the Trust had sent to help finish Nathan off. The man didn’t look good. His face was bruised, his eyes blackened, his movements jerky and stiff. Someone had beaten and tortured him.
Whatever they had done it was effective. When they brought him to the bridge and James told him to replace Nathan at the pilot’s station, he didn’t hesitate. He didn’t resist. He lowered his head submissively and slipped into the chair the moment Nathan abandoned it.
Nathan wasn’t allowed to stay in the Pulse while James went out to look for Hayden. That didn’t work with the second reason for the exercise, and it only cemented the idea that Tinker and James were putting him to the test. He didn’t like it. He didn’t like any of it. He knew he was racing toward an internal conflict he didn’t know how he was going to solve. A conflict he had never expected. He had to be loyal to something. Niobe? James? Tinker? Sheriff Duke?
He barely knew the sheriff, but he remembered how Hayden had let himself be pushed off the platform to prove himself. Maybe he hadn’t died. Maybe he hadn’t gotten injured. He couldn’t have known the outcome ahead of time.
“Let’s go, Relentless,” James said. “Doc, you have the bridge.”
“Roger,” Doc said.
She glanced at Nathan as the two men made their way off the bridge. Her eyes flashed a warning.
Do the right thing. Do the smart thing.
Nathan followed James to the hold, waiting while the other replica climbed into the loading mechanism for his powered armor.
“Grab your gear,” James said, right before the helmet dropped over his head, obscuring his face.
Nathan went over to one of the lockers, pulling it open and retrieving his body armor. He stepped into it, zipping and sealing it before grabbing his tactical helmet and plasma rifle. He put the helmet on, connected it to his ATCS, and activated the comm.
“Relentless, check,” he said.
“General, check,” James replied.
“Sir, are we doing this solo?”
“Affirmative.”
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?”
James laughed. “There are no trife here for the sheriff to use against us. Fuck him.”
Nathan didn’t reply. James was already angry enough to be on the edge of his ability to keep himself in check. It wasn’t a good sign.
The armor finished sealing, and James stepped out from the mechanism, grabbing his rifle from beside it. “We’re going to touch down one klick out. The drones are running a sensor sweep, and the Pulse will keep an eye on things from above.”
“Roger that,” Nathan said.
“Remember, no hesitation. Sheriff needs to die before the sun comes up.”
“Yes, sir.”
He felt the inertia shift as the Pulse began to descend, coming down relatively hard. James started toward the ramp, motioning with his hand for Nathan to join him. A short time later he reached over to the ramp controls, activating the system.
The ramp began to open. The Pulse was still a few hundred meters off the ground, revealing a dead urban landscape below, visible only through the helmet’s night vision. James insisted there were no trife in this area. It didn’t look like there were any people either. The place had been a city once. He could see all the densely packed multi-story structures both beneath them and further in the distance in a jagged outline along the ground.
James jumped when the dropship got to fifty meters, dropping toward the soft earth directly below. Nathan waited until they got a little closer to the ground before joining him, leaping out of the Pulse and flexing his legs as he landed, the armor helping to absorb the shock. The Pulse was dark above them, a black blob that blocked out the stars trailing a light blue flare from its main thrusters. It started to ascend again, rising quickly away from the scene.
“The car is that way,” James said, pointing northwest. “There’s an old shopping center directly north. It could be he decided to hole up inside. Or maybe he ran out of gas and went to check on the cars nearby. Or it could be he’s on foot now.”
“It’s tough to find a single person out here, sir,” Nathan said. “Wouldn’t it be easier to let—”
“Enough,” James snapped. “That isn’t your decision, soldier.”
“Yes, sir,” Nathan replied, biting his lip.
“We sweep the area nearby, starting with the building to the north,” James said. “If he’s there, we get him on the run and the drones follow. He can’t outrun me forever. If he isn’t, we start moving south.”
“What if he’s already in Edenrise?”
“Not possible. There’s one car missing from McGuire, and that was it. He can’t have walked that far that fast.”
They started north. James set a brisk pace, his powered armor carrying him forward with ease. Nathan ran after him, able to keep up despite his disadvantage. They covered the kilometer quickly, reaching a smaller group of old storefronts across from the larger shopping center.
Nathan raised his rifle as he noticed a dark shape moving too fast across to his right, turning with its motion and getting a bead on it. “Sir--”
“I see it,” James said. “Hold your fire.”
James had said there were no trife out here, and it looked too big to be a trife. But then, what the hell was it?
It came to a stop a few hundred meters away and then turned in their direction. Nathan got a better look at it. Humanoid, large body, claws, long teeth. It had some similarities to a trife, but it was too big and too muscled.
It started running toward them.
“Sir,” Nathan repeated, shifting his finger to the trigger of his plasma rifle.
“Hold your fire,” James repeated.
The thing was getting closer. It was bigger than it had seemed, and it moved so fast.
Suddenly, it faded out of sight.
“General!” Nathan said, nervous at the disappearance. Were they imagining things again?
He rotated quickly back and forth, looking for the creature. Where the hell had it gone?
He heard its feet a moment later, way too close. He spun in the direction of the sound, at the same time the thing became visible less than five meters away. It shrieked, its legs bunched and ready to lunge at him.
James whistled, the sound coming out of his armor’s speakers, not through the comm. The monster froze suddenly, its form still tense, its head turning in the direction of the sound. Its body followed a moment later, and it took a few steps toward James before falling on its knees and prostrating itself to him.
“Relentless,” James said. “This is the Hellion.”
Nathan stared at it. “It’s fucking terrifyi
ng.”
“It is. And if it’s here where there are no trife, then I think Sheriff is close. Let’s find out.”
He whistled again. Three short bursts. The Hellion rocked to its feet, turned and dashed away, heading north.
“I ordered it to catch its prey, not kill it,” James said.
“It listens to you?”
“It’s imprinted to the armor. Let’s go see what it’s chasing.”
Chapter 39
Hayden and Gus pushed through the western door out of the shopping center and into a smaller parking lot than the one on the west side. This one had fewer cars in it, only a few scattered across the cement, mingled with rubble and vegetation.
Hayden was expecting it to still be dark, but he wasn’t expecting how dark it was. The light from the stars was minimal, leaving he and Gus an altered view of the world around them in outlines and shadows and blobs of shape and form.
He was grateful the area was clear of trife.
“Do you see it?” Gus asked as they turned north, skirting the side of the building.
As long as they stayed close to the structure, Hayden was sure he could guide them back to the car. He was less confident he could keep them away from whatever the Hellion had rushed off to confront. He hadn’t heard any shouting or screaming, but the killing might have been over before they made it outside, the walls of the building absorbing the sounds of terror. If that were true, he expected the Hellion might have returned for him.
So where was it?
“No,” he replied. “Not yet.”
“Maybe it got tired of waiting, and headed out to find some trife.”
“Maybe,” Hayden said, but he didn’t believe it. He doubted Gus believed it either. “Keep moving.”
He looked to the south, squinting his eyes to bring some focus to the darkness. It didn’t help much.
“I’m sorry I got caught,” Gus said. “This is all my fault. We should be at Edenrise by now.”
“Forget it,” Hayden replied. “It isn’t your fault, and there’s no guarantee we would have made it to Edenrise already. We—”
He stopped talking when he heard a scratching noise ahead of him. He eyed the darkness ahead. He didn’t see anything.
“Sheriff —”
“Shhh. Wait.”
Hayden froze and listened. He heard something scratching on cement. He tried to follow the sound, turning his head until he was facing the side of the building.
“Run!” he hissed, turning away and sprinting toward the small parking area. Gus hesitated a moment before joining him, sprinting behind him toward the cover of the cars.
The shriek echoed in the darkness, the Hellion plunging from the roof of the building and dropping toward Gus. Hayden looked over his shoulder, catching sight of its dark form as it came into view.
He aimed his revolver and fired, his first round too high, his next wide, his third almost hitting it in the shoulder.
It landed on Gus’ back, throwing him forward and knocking him to the ground.
Hayden stopped running, spinning, aiming, and firing. His last two rounds smashed into the Hellion’s chest, knocking it back off the mongrel. Gus scampered to his feet and began to run, while Hayden flipped open the revolver’s cylinder and began quickly sliding fresh rounds into it.
The Hellion shrieked and lunged toward Gus. He got his rifle pointed toward it and pulled the trigger, a burst of a dozen rounds slapping into the creature’s tough hide. It hissed and shrieked at the wounds, falling back momentarily.
Gus caught up to Hayden, who grabbed the mongrel’s arm and pulled him back toward the cars. They ran to the first one, vaulting the hood and sliding to the other side, dropping behind it. Hayden pivoted and put his revolver on the hood, using it as a stable platform to aim. The Hellion was getting smarter, and it didn’t take a direct route, instead cutting horizontally and trying to flank them on the left. Hayden tracked and fired, his round ripping off a bit of the creature's arm right before it vanished behind a car.
“Damn, Sheriff,” Gus said.
“I’m going after it,” Hayden replied. “Cover me.”
“Are you crazy?”
Hayden broke toward the car. Gunfire echoed from somewhere further south, the rounds hitting him in the back and knocking him down.
He grimaced at the sudden pain. The slugs hadn’t pierced his bodysuit, but they still hurt. He rolled over, throwing himself back toward Gus as the rounds hit the cement around him, a few striking his left arm. He dove to safety before bringing himself back to a crouch.
“Sheriff Duke!” The voice was loud and echoed across the open space. It was a Stacker’s voice. It was coming through a speaker.
The Iron General, then.
“Come on out, Sheriff. We can end this like men.”
Hayden bit his lip, looking at Gus. The soldiers at Fort McGuire had said General Stacker was the only one who could control the Hellion. And now he was here with the monster.
They were fucked.
He scanned the area behind them. There were more cars a few meters back, and the parking lot ended a dozen meters from there. Judging by the buildings a little further back, there had to be a hill or embankment behind it. If they could make it there, they might be able to lose the Iron General and his pet.
“Nathan!” Hayden shouted. “You here too?”
“Affirmative, Sheriff,” Nathan called back.
Hayden sighed. He didn’t know why he thought maybe Nathan had decided to abandon the Liberators.
“Did you get the answers you were looking for?”
“I did.”
“You here to kill me, then?”
“I am.”
Hayden picked up on the slight quiver in his voice that suggested he wasn’t as sure about that as he wanted the Iron General to believe. Did the other Stacker notice?
“Sheriff Duke, there’s no reason to make this hard,” the Iron General said. “You’re outgunned, and that’s without mentioning the Hellion.”
Hayden glanced over to where he had seen the creature hide. It was perched on the car now, ready to attack at a moment’s notice.
“Gus, if you’re here with me they’re going to kill you too,” Hayden said. “I’m going to distract them. You take off southwest. Keep running, and don’t look back. You hear me?”
“Sheriff, no.”
“Yes. There’s no reason we all have to die. Promise me you won’t do something stupid.”
Gus stared at him.
“Damn it, Gus. Promise.”
“Fine, Sheriff. I promise. Damn it all.”
Hayden shifted his face to activate the comm. “Pyro you there?”
“Pozz, Sheriff.”
“You need to get out of the car. Find somewhere else nearby to hide. The Liberators are here, and they aren’t going to take prisoners. They’ll find the car. They’ll find you.”
“Sheriff? What about you? What about Gus?”
“I’m sorry, P,” Gus whispered into his comm. “I’ll try to get away, but I don’t know if I’ll be able to get back to you.”
“They want me,” Hayden said. “I’ll do my best to keep them off you, but I can’t make any guarantees.”
“Pozz,” Pyro said, her voice weak. “Sheriff.” Her voice broke. She fell silent.
“Well, Sheriff?” the Iron General said. “Are you coming out or do you need me to come and get you?”
“I’m coming out,” Hayden replied. “If you’re going to shoot me, you aren’t going to shoot me in the back.” He glanced at Gus. “Go. Stay low.”
“Sheriff, it was an honor knowing you,” Gus said. “Even if it was only a couple of days.”
“Same here. If you make it back to Pyro, tell her how you feel. You never know how much time you have.”
Gus smiled. “Truer words have never been said.”
He held out his human hand. Hayden took it in his Centurion hand.
“You can keep the hand, by the way,” Gus said.
Then Gus started moving away, crouched low to stay out of sight of the Iron General and Nathan.
Hayden stood up. The two Liberators were hard to make out in the darkness, standing twenty meters away. He glanced over at the Hellion. It seemed content to sit there and watch him, at least until the General gave the order to attack.
“There you are,” the Iron General said.
“Stacker,” he said, looking at the armor. “Nathan.”
“Hayden,” Nathan replied.
Hayden circled the front of the car, dropping his revolver into its holster and walking into the open. He checked on Gus. The mongrel was still moving away and had almost reached the next line of cars.
“We don’t have to do this,” Hayden said. “I want to talk to Tinker about the virus. I want to talk about your tech. I think we can help one another.”
“You don’t have anything Tinker can use,” the Iron General replied.
“I have people back west. A small army. A family. We have food, shelter, weapons, farms, factories. We’re safe from the trife, and we did it without killing one another.”
“So you are an Earther. Interesting. If your home is so safe, what are you doing here?”
“I came to help a friend catch a fugitive.”
“I take it your friend is dead?”
“Betrayed by Judicus Shia.”
“Imani,” the Iron General said. “Her orders were the same as mine. To take care of anyone who came from Proxima looking for Stacker. My orders haven’t changed.” He paused, letting the statement sink in.
There wouldn’t be any talking. There wouldn’t be any negotiation. Even if Tinker were interested, his general wouldn’t give Hayden the chance.
“I only have one more question,” the Iron General said. “How did you survive the virus?”
“Dumb luck,” Hayden said. “None of the contaminated air made it into Loki’s Tourmaster.”
The General started to laugh. “You do have more fucking lives than a cat, don’t you, Sheriff?”
He raised his plasma rifle, aiming it at Hayden.
Hayden noticed Nathan’s rifle was still pointed at the ground. Nathan didn’t look comfortable or happy, though he was trying to mask it.