by KJ Nelson
Cameron immediately scooped Drac up and started running in the direction of the spot her previous life had ended.
She hoped it was where her new life would begin.
47
Draconius gloried in the speed of the OAF’s movement. He also basked in his own genius. He was inches away from everything he wanted. Inches away from the revenge that clouded his mind with such a fury that he could hardly breathe most times.
Cameron thought she had the upper hand. He almost laughed at the idea but remained passive on the outside. Allowing her to maintain the feeling of having the advantage over him.
The Sape was so sure of her undeniable power while wearing the suit his forefathers had engineered. Cameron had done exactly as he hoped she would. She took on all of the risks of stealing the OAF.
Drac would reap the rewards and the vengeance for his abuse at her hands.
Draconius, the rightful Highlark of the Angstrom Armada, smiled in victory.
48
Cameron ran flat out all the way back to the ruins of her old home. She felt her eyes well up with tears at the destruction wrought by the Neandratons.
The road she’d driven down the day the world ended was cracked and uneven. She didn’t even slow as she passed the spot where her BMW had driven off the road when it died in the EMP blast. Its burned husk still remained. The once beautiful paint now stained with rust.
Cameron didn’t stop to look at it any further. She continued toward the city, only interested in her future. Not willing to think further about her past, what she’d lost. Everything she’d ever loved.
The landscape changed as she crossed into the formerly populated city. She was inside the Crumbling radius and there was nothing but bare flat earth as far as she could see.
She felt as if she was on a completely different planet. She followed the roads she had driven hundreds of times throughout her life. Flashes of her life before the Crumbling came back to her. She pushed them down. They meant nothing now and could only bring her pain.
As she neared downtown, she saw the bay in the distant future. The beautiful ocean spreading out to the horizon. Her mind could hardly comprehend the vastness. She had been so focused on living in the moment, solving problems that had no answers. She forgot what it felt like to see something truly breathtaking.
“Where?” Cameron asked looking over at Drac. She had to speak loudly to be heard over the wind rush of wind at their speed.
Drac pointed with his left hand toward her right, and Cameron saw the structure he was motioning toward.
It was a domed structure as all of the Neandraton outposts were, the only difference was its size. It was huge. Easily as large as a stadium. Cameron was shocked that it was so large. It made sense though if there was a ship hidden inside.
Cameron ran toward the outpost excited to see what she would find there. Surely there was something useful left other than the ship.
Cameron slowed her speed as she neared the domed structure. She was fairly certain that no other Squatches were left on the planet, but she wanted to be certain it was safe before she proceeded.
She stayed 100 yards away from the outpost and let Drac off of her shoulders. She didn’t place him gently, she just bent over and he slid forward. He rolled athletically and landed on his hands and knees.
“How do we get in?” Cameron asked watching the outpost with wary eyes. She scanned everything she could see and didn’t make out anything suspicious.
“There’s only one way in,” Drac pointed toward the top of the dome that rose hundreds of feet into the air. “Through the roof.”
Cameron just stared at him in disbelief.
“There’s no other way in?” She asked hating to have to take him at his word.
“No, this structure is designed for ship storage only. There would never be a reason to enter on foot. We will have to climb to the top. It shouldn’t be a problem for you in that suit.”
Cameron continued staring at the structure. She had a bad feeling about climbing the outpost. She trusted her suit would protect her from anything that might hurt her.
Cameron knelt down and picked Drac up again. She wanted to get the task over with and she didn’t feel like waiting on him.
Cameron charged full speed at the dome and with a leaping jump she landed on the sloped side of the outpost. The material under her feet looked like it was the same fleshy membrane as the smaller outposts.
She had just enough traction to scale the gradually ascending plane. The pads on the bottom of the OAF’s feet proved to grip well enough she was comfortable moving at a decent speed. As she climbed she started seeing an opening up ahead.
There was a large circular hole in the direct center of the outpost. Cameron couldn’t see down into the hole and was concerned about how they were going to get to the bottom. Hopefully, the OAF would be able to make the jump.
She continued to slow as she made her way to the edge of the opening. The holed looked like it was bigger than an entire city block. It was definitely large enough to fit all of the ships Cameron had seen flying around before the Neandratons left.
About ten six feet from the edge Cameron stopped again and dropped Drac. He was ready and landed lightly on his feet.
“How do we get down?” Cameron asked not sure if Drac had a way to get down safely.
“I will be using the OAF to make the descent. You, on the other hand, will be taking a more direct route.” Drac turned and faced her as he spoke.
Drac’s face was exultant. Cameron imagined the face of death itself would have a similar look as the world burned. Her stomach dropped. There was something terribly wrong if Drac was that happy.
Cameron didn’t wait, she immediately flung herself into action. She would kill Drac like she should have killed him the first time they met. She prepared her first step, the lunge that would mean the end of his life.
Cameron couldn’t move. The OAF stood as still as a statue.
“Declined,” the voice said simply in her head. “No hostile actions can be taken against any Highlark of the Armada.”
“Oh no,” Cameron said as the truth came crashing down on her. Drac had engineered the entire situation. He knew as soon as he saw Agbo’s OAF that he would get exactly what he wanted.
Cameron could only stare as all of her nightmares came true. Powerless, at the mercy of an enemy. Drac smiled again drinking in his victory.
With the agility of a cat, he moved behind Cameron and out of her vision. She felt as he placed a hand on the back of the OAF’s neck. She knew what would come next. Drac would remove her from the suit and she would die.
Visions of her last two years as Warlord flashed before her eyes. All the lives she’d taken, knowing this moment would come. Knowing it was inevitable.
She thought of her mother, ready to join her in death.
Cameron felt as the suit slowly started to open. She could feel the cold air on her skin as the entry port unsealed itself. She felt her body shift backward the same way Agbo’s body had. First her feet, then her torso and head.
As her brain shifted from the body of the OAF back into her own body, she felt a momentary lack of input. Pure blackness. By the time she came to, she was in Drac’s arms. She fought and bucked, but his inhuman strength kept her easily at bay.
Drac walked her to the edge of the domed roof. He paused for a second. Cameron turned her head and met his eyes. He was responsible for it all. All of the pain. She was going to look into his eyes as he killed her.
Drac blinked slowly, once, twice. He took in her face. Cameron didn’t know what he was looking for.
“This is how it would always end,” Drac spoke quietly as if to himself.
Cameron closed her eyes.
Drac threw her into the depths of the outpost.
49
Draconius closed his eyes, his hands shook involuntarily. He breathed in and out several times. It had to be done, he told himself over and over.
He put t
he thought of her bright blue eyes out of his head and walked over to the OAF. He paired seamlessly with the suit using his override command to bypass Agbo’s passphrase.
Once in the suit, he felt like himself for the first time in weeks. It felt good to harness the powerful limbs. As strong as his own body was, the OAF was on a completely different level.
Draconius looked down and saw a small backpack clinging to the side of the OAF’s body. He pulled and easily ripped the fabric holding it there. He held it in his hands, ready to discard it.
Draconius’s curiosity got the better of him and he unzipped a pocket on the side of bag. Into his large hand fell a tiny square of white plastic. On the front was a picture of Cameron next to the name that read Cameron Meadows. Her long blonde hair hung down in curtains on either side of her face.
Drac was about to throw the plastic identification card away when he looked closer at Cameron’s face. The main distinguishing feature of her face, the huge knotted scar, was gone. She was one of the most beautiful women Draconius had ever seen.
He stood there for a long moment, then took the ID and stuck it back into the backpack.
Draconius walked over to the edge of the roof and jumped. The gravity inside the dome was altered to mimic his home planet which was around 62% of Earth’s. He still fell at a rapid speed and hit the ground a couple of seconds later.
He purposefully didn’t look at Cameron’s body, not wanting to have the image of her broken and bleeding in his mind. He preferred the image from the plastic card.
On his left was the ship Agbo had prepared for him. He was so thankful for Agbo’s loyalty to him as misguided as it was. Drac was glad he didn’t have to kill him personally.
Draconius started moving toward the ship determined to get off the planet once and for all. Before he could take the first step he heard a high-pitched whimper from behind him.
He stopped, frozen in place. The fall hadn’t killed her. Instant regret filled his stomach. The reduced gravity hadn’t been enough to end her quickly. She would suffer until she succumbed to her wounds.
The moment he thought it, Cameron let out a wail that shook Draconius to his core. Hadn’t he cried out similarly when his own people left him to die?
Draconius turned without a thought and walked back toward Cameron. He stood over her taking in her injuries. There was a pool of blood coming out of the back of her head. Her left arm was trapped behind her back. Her right shin bone was protruding through the skin just below the knee.
She would likely bleed out within minutes.
Without thinking Draconius bent down and picked Cameron up as gently as he could. She wailed in agony at being moved.
Draconius carried Cameron to his ship. He was anxious to get inside for a wholly different reason than before. He needed to get Cameron to the medpod on the ship. He was worried about damaging her brain but had no choice if she was going to live.
Draconius used the OAF’s internal communication device to open the rear bay of the ship. A large door folded down from the side of the ship creating stairs that lead into its belly.
Draconius took comfort in the familiar confines of the Cedris class ship. He knew he would get tired of it before he reached the Armada, but for the moment it was good to be back in something familiar.
Draconius carried Cameron over to the medpod and placed her body gently inside. She was almost too big to fit. He sealed the silver dome over her and started the scan. The AI would take care of the rest if she was able to be saved. He placed her backpack next to the medpod.
Draconius went through the start-up procedure for the Cedris. Agbo had left it fully stocked and ready for the long voyage.
After 20 minutes Draconius was ready. With a thought, he directed the ship to lift off. He had one more thing he wanted to do before he left the atmosphere.
He mind-flew the ship back toward the east, toward where the Sapes had kept him captive. He instructed the ship to ready the forward cannons. He would have his revenge.
It took the ship less than two minutes to fly the 20 miles back the way they had come only moments before.
Draconius saw the small group of metal containers on the horizon and slowed as he approached. All it would take is one thought and it would be gone. Draconius thought back to the group of Sapes that had surrounded him and were ready to kill him.
Then he thought of Cameron laying on the ground, bloody and broken. He thought about the intelligence she had shown in their interactions.
“Disengage,” he said to the weapons system inside his mind. The particle cannons powered down, reigning in the destruction they were poised to let loose.
The ship rocketed toward the sky breaking the sound barrier as it headed toward space.
Draconius pictured his glorious return to the head of the Armada. He would have his vengeance.
End of Book One
Epilogue
Stafford watched as the trail of purple light from the ship faded into the sky. He frowned knowing it was a terrible sign. When Cameron had run off with the alien he had a feeling it was going to be the last time he ever saw her.
He would search relentlessly nevertheless. But he knew in his heart that if he found her she would be dead.
Stafford thought about the message that Garland had finally been able to deliver after Jeb had given him about a gallon of water and some food.
Humanity was gathering. Society was rebuilding in North Carolina. Stafford and the co-op would join them soon, but first, he would scour every alien outpost looking for the tool that would be humanity’s salvation.
Brody walked up to Stafford, a question in his gaze. He was sick from the lack of knowledge of everything that had happened since Stafford left with Cameron the day before. He would have to wait.
“Gather the people,” Stafford said simply. It was time for him to do what he should have done when Garland left two years ago. It was time for him to lead. To be Warlord.
A Note from the Author
If you’ve made it this far, dear reader, you have my unending gratitude. You are the reason I write, and the reason for so much joy in my life. Without you, this book would just sit on Amazon with no hope of ever seeing the world. Cameron, Stafford and Drac would never be able to share their stories.
Could I ask you for a favor?
Reviews are the lifeblood of the Amazon algorithm. Social proof from you about your experience with this novel will let other readers know how you felt about the book. It will also let Amazon know the type of readers to show this book to.
Will you take two minutes and leave a review on Amazon? I would greatly appreciate it!
Since you’re in the giving mood, I’ll give something back to you.
If you sign up for my mailing list, (I promise I will only email you with updates on my work in the future) I will send you a free copy of the WARLORD PREQUEL!
I hope to see you at the end of my next book. Until then, remember to live life to the fullest. You never know when aliens might attack.
KJ Nelson