by Steve Perry
-and saw Max. Standing in the midst of the ocean of debris, small fires licking at the suit's giant legs, bright tongues against the matte orange of its armored body.
Max took a step toward them, still firing, one mighty, quad-tread foot crunching down through a layer of broken station, its left arm sending a constant stream of armor-piercing death into the fray.
"Ellis," she whispered, the sound lost in the rain of bullets and the queen's screaming retreat, her brood swarming around her like a living veil. The Hunters, too, melted back into the jungle, leaving their fallen behind, the crush of bodies smoking from the wash of drone blood.
Max continued to fire and Lara felt Jess's hand on her arm, pulling at her, dragging her back behind their shield of docking where Noguchi stood, her calm finally broken; she'd removed her mask and stared wide-eyed at the monster robot that had stepped into the alien war, not understanding.
They'd found their friend. They'd found Ellis, and Noguchi didn't know yet what the interface meant for the man inside, but Lara felt a wrenching sadness sweep over her. Ellis was with Max again.
* * *
Chapter 25
There were fourteen drones and a single queen, nine unidentified life-forms and three humans. Max calculated the distance between all of them and chose pulse over fire, Ellis struggling to translate the difference in the glowing green forms. Max had been designed to find an implant signal in the designated-Teape he was the designated-life-form and cut out firing before extermination could occur, destroying everything in its single-minded path to the beacon. These humans had no implants, and Max's mind had no signal urging it on. It was up to Ellis to manipulate the program, and his influence wasn't constant, his consciousness unstable; there was distant pain, distant understanding of body, radical fluctuations in awareness. Max did not know what these things meant, and it was all Ellis could do to hold on.
Max fired, sweeping in a contained pattern across the twenty-four alien objects that clustered in front of its sensors, closest at 17.3 meters, secondary liquid expulsion maximum two meters-acid spray at its worst, can't let it reach the three forms because...
Because Ellis realized that this was what had been designated, what he had wanted at some prior instance, these are Lara and Jess and. He pushed into the realm of sensory feed, his mind reaching for the stats and commands, finding them easily. Getting them to Max was harder, Ellis's elastic, human thoughts complicating the process.
Separate objects at 7. 7.3 8.4 active/cease.
Max continued to fire, the direction correlated, and Ellis was pleased-until a wave of dark slid through him, temporarily removing him from the whole. After some indeterminate time, he was with Max again. With Max's help, he estimated the loss of awareness to be no more than two seconds and no less than one.
Body mind is reacting, must not fight it but stay here, stay with Max. Max wouldn't work without him but he knew that he was being drained, that some vital part of Ellis was being used up. This was unavoidable, he accepted it-but he couldn't let the loss stop them from their purpose, and he didn't know how long he could go on.
The area had been cleared of all but the three objects he'd activated the cutoff for; Max continued to fire into the lines of the jungle, its sensors finding the forms of four figures previously identified as the not-drones-like that one on the deck, they're hiding, watching, preparing. Badguys.
Max accepted the identification. It sent thirty-two more rounds through the walls of shifting green, three of the badguys falling, the fourth retreating out of sensory range. Max discontinued its strike, waiting, not prepared to move without some input from Ellis.
One of the humans approached. Ellis struggled to the surface, wanting to be there for the interaction, needing to be; Max would not respond.
ellis, ellis are you...
He pushed harder, the pain sharpening, becoming unpleasant. He pushed anyway, knowing that he recognized the voice, the cool and soothing voice that he had known many times before. He heard her, and heard the others speaking at the same time behind her, their voices softer. Max sorted through each vocal pattern and fed Ellis all three simultaneously, Ellis working through them as quickly as he could.
"Ellis? Brian? Can you speak? It's Lara, it's Katherine Lara---
Lara!
"Your friend is inside a robot?" Small female, unknown.
"Not a robot. That's a MAX, Mobile Assault ExoWarrior." Stupid kid, I can't believe he'd do this to himself. Jess, angry and worried, faded out like a wave in the abyss.
Lara, Ellis said or thought, he knew he should say more but couldn't find the strength. The darkness tried to take over again, but he held on, Lara was speaking and he wanted very much to tell her that he was okay, that it wasn't a mistake.
we're going to help you don't worry it's okay, brian, we'll get you out of there now
No. She didn't understand.
With a supreme force of will, Ellis found his voice. It was as distant and meaningless as his body, but he bent it to his will, meaning to make them understand. Max didn't understand, but Ellis had discovered that Max didn't necessarily need to understand everything.
"If you-survive you need me no argument Lara, Jess."
The trio of shapes held still, silent, and Ellis wasn't sure if they'd heard him, even as Max told him that his voice had registered in an audible range. It was Jess who spoke finally, and Ellis knew that he was trying not to cry. Max knew that the object was 1.1 meters distant.
"Okay, kid. This is Machiko Noguchi, she's a friend now. We're going to follow her to a ship and go home, so just hang on for a while, okay? We're going home."
Max requested data. Ellis explained that there was to be movement, the sound of words outside becoming sounds, Ellis moving back again so that Max could be strong for all of them.
Noguchi was glad that Lara and Jess agreed to their friend's decision, whether or not it was wisest for his health. The queen had escaped the Shell, she'd seen the link of chain still hanging from her ebony headdress, and knew now that she'd been a fool to believe that a simple crash could kill the bug mother.
And does she recognize me as the Hunters did? As the being who trapped her? No one knew enough about the species to say what a queen could or couldn't do, but she was surely smart enough. And if the queen actually understood who she was, it meant Noguchi was marked by two alien species as enemy, which meant that having the MAX with them bolstered their chances from none to slim.
And if I wasn't here at all, what would the chances be then?
Lara stood next to the MAX, looking up into the squared face of the suit, the smoking glow from the station fire softening the robot's sharp angles. It was easily three, three and a half meters tall and a meter across at its widest, humanoid, the numbers 09 in scuffed white on its thickly plated torso. It looked like a bodybuilder made from giant metal blocks, indestructible-but the look on Lara's face suggested that the man inside was anything but.
"The suit's constructed to interface with a surgical implant," Jess said softly. He'd hung back, standing with Noguchi near the crushed deck where they'd found cover. "Ellis doesn't have one. He went into Max back on that station, saved our lives, but it almost killed him."
Jess shook his head, a mix of sadness and respect in his deep, exhausted voice. "We should have known. Lara and I, we thought he was just sick, recovering, you know? But it seems like he got it in his head that this was all he could do to help."
Noguchi nodded slowly, feeling some small connection to Ellis, thinking that bravery and stupidity were often closely linked. Like me, coming here, so fired up to break with the Hunters and avenge my honor that I didn't even consider what my presence could mean to these people. At least Ellis had only risked himself; she'd risked all of them.
Noguchi walked toward Lara and "Max," Jess following. They needed to talk. When they were all together, she took a deep breath and dived in.
"The Hunters want my head," she said. "If they haven't already called of
f their Hunt to search for me, they're doing it now. The good thing is, they have rules, and I've been with them long enough to have some idea of what they are-but the queen doesn't, and she may want me even worse than they do. I think if we split up, meet at the transport-"
Lara cut her off, frowning sharply. "No. We stick together."
"They don't want you," Noguchi said patiently. "And you've got Ellis to help you get to the ship. Two klicks west, that's the last signal reading-one of you has pilot training, right?"
Lara nodded. "Yes, but I don't-"
"The controls are intuitive," Noguchi said. "Except you push on the collective to gain altitude, and pull back to descend. I can't explain the navigational system, but you'll be able to get a safe distance away if I don't make it."
"No offense, but that's bullshit," Jess said angrily: "We're not splitting up, okay? You risked your life to get here, to get to us-"
"-and you're willing to risk yours to return the favor?" Noguchi snapped.
Jess and Lara were both silent for a beat, Ellis-Max standing mute and unmoving, only the hissing pops of the ebbing fire to be heard-and then Jess grinned, a tired, sweet smile.
"Well, yeah. Pretty much," he said, and Lara nodded.
Noguchi wanted to protest, but realized that they'd decided-and that in their position, she would do the same. The realization didn't lessen the feelings of warmth and gratitude that filled her; whatever happened, she knew now that she'd made the right choice.
My own kind.
"Let's go, then," she said, slipping on her mask and turning away, relieved that she could cover her face. She wasn't ashamed of her tears, but now wasn't the time for emotion; if these good people meant to stay with her, they were going to have to be ready for anything.
They moved into the wooded jungle, Noguchi -in the lead, Ellis bringing up the rear. Jess stumbled along behind Lara, aching and bone weary, but with enough determination to hold himself together. Finding Ellison Ellis finding them-had provided Jess with another reason to keep going; he owed Ellis, and the kid had put his life on the line to help them. Again.
We gotta get him out of Max, ASAP. For as shitty as I feel, I didn't lobotomize myself. And if he could do that for us, I can at least get -my sorry ass through a couple klicks of jungle.
They walked in silence, or as much as they could manage with a ton-plus of metal stomping behind them. The going wasn't too bad, although there was a lot of climbing over rotting logs and skirting trees, slowing them up. It would have been easier to let Max go first, clear them a path, but Lara had pointed out that he'd be more effective, better able to sense movement to either side, if he stayed in back. Ellis seemed to understand, although he'd said nothing when they'd explained it to them. Jess was afraid for him-the fear mixed with guilt, that they hadn't pulled him out of Max immediately.
He's right, though, we need him ...The Hunters had been something to see, and Jess didn't know that defeating an alien queen was even possible without the kind of firepower Max possessed.
They'd just reached a clearing, a grassy area that Noguchi started to edge around, when Ellis stopped, the rumbling crunch of his steps cut off. They all froze, Jess feeling new fear for the kid, wondering if this was it, not even halfway to the alien transport. Ellis's weak, stuttering voice let Jess breathe again, but inspired a different kind of fear.
"Sssomeone coming," Ellis said, and raised both arms; aiming one o'clock.
Noguchi had already dropped into a crouch, weapon ready, and Jess and Lara followed suit, new adrenaline humming through his body as thoughts raced through his mind.
Hunter or drone, how many burner shots can Max take? The suit's solid but it wasn't built for those and what if this is a distraction, a trap
Jess clamped down, had to keep his shit wired. He held the burner and waited. Noguchi held one of her hands up in a fist and twisted it back and forth; Jess didn't know the signal, but she seemed to realize that, whispering back at them a second later.
"Get ready."
A crashing, rustling sound, whatever it was getting closer, coming through the trees from across the small clearing. It was big, could be anything
The shadowy figure stepped out into the starlight a second later and Jess almost fired, there was something wrong with it, the shape of its head strange, its torso deformed
"Oh, God," Lara whispered, and Jess saw what it was, and felt a kind of vindication rise up inside, feelings of gratification that he recognized as petty and mean. And deeply satisfying.
It was Nirasawa, his face mutilated, .the now obvious synthetic skin hanging in melted shreds from an exposed carbon-fiber cheekbone. And he was carrying Lucas Briggs, the exec's limp body in his arms, a facehugger wrapped tightly around the bastard's head.
* * *
Chapter 26
"Don't shoot," Nirasawa said a thick, wet quality to his voice, as if he were speaking through a mouthful of soup. He stepped toward them, holding out Briggs's body as if it were some token of surrender. What was left of the synthetic's face was held in an expression of unhappiness, almost sorrow.
An android. Thank God Keene wasn't, we never would have made it off that shuttle ...
Lara shook her head. Considering where they were now, what Ellis had done to himself, maybe she shouldn't be so thankful.
Nirasawa came closer and Lara stood up, Jess and Noguchi following suit, though neither of them lowered their weapons. Lara tucked hers into her belt, stepping toward the damaged android. Ellis was the robotics expert, but she knew enough about synth programming to know that it was unlikely this was some trick. Synthetics didn't generally work that way, they had to be directed to be misleading, and it was obvious that Briggs wasn't capable of redesigning a program, not at the moment.
Nirasawa looked terrible, the right side of his face clawed to ribbons. The right eye had drooled out of its socket, lying across the ruptured mass of his cheek in a seeping, oozing bath of creamy lubricant. The white liquid had almost completely covered the front of his suit, and part of Briggs's. He looked at Lara with his good eye and she saw that his unhappiness was real, or as real as his synthesized emotional makeup would allow.
"Please, you must help Mr. Briggs," he gurgled.
Lara sighed, a little surprised at her feeling of pity for the bodyguard, although she supposed she knew where it came from. It wasn't his fault that he'd been created to protect assholes like Briggs; it was probably his primary function, and with Briggs as good as dead, Nirasawa was now obsolete.
"Couldn't happen to a nicer guy," Jess muttered, stepping forward to join them. Noguchi stood watch, scanning the trees, Max as still as a statue. Lara hoped he was resting, or at least not in any pain.
"When I tried to pull it off of him, he started to choke," Nirasawa said. "I'm afraid that part of my contingency awareness has been damaged. I don't know what to do."
Jess leaned down, reaching out to tap at the shell of the embryo carrier. It wobbled, and Lara saw its tail slide from around Briggs's neck, loosening. Jess put his burner down and grabbed two of its multijointed legs with each hand, the face-hugger coming away easily. A thin fluid dribbled out of Briggs's slack mouth; still unconscious, he moaned, turning his head as Jess dropped the dead carrier into the grass.
"Too late," Lara said, unable to muster any sympathy for the executive. Jess was right-if anyone deserved such a death, it was Lucas Briggs.
Nirasawa blinked, his unsocketed eye twitching on his face with a tiny wet smacking noise. "It is my job to protect him."
Even Jess seemed to feel bad for the synthetic. "Look, your boss is beyond help," he said. "He's been implanted with a parasitic- embryo that will kill him. There's nothing that anyone can do, and probably nothing you could have done to stop it. You'll have to-"
"Quiet," Noguchi whispered, and Lara tensed, pulling her nine-millimeter, glancing back to see that Ellis had both of Max's arms raised again. Jess scooped up his burner and stepped closer to Lara.
Silence fo
r a moment-and then there was the faintest sound of movement in the trees ahead of them, a sound like some stealthy creature might make, sliding through the dark. Lara saw a branch move, then another, meters away, but couldn't see what was making them rustle.
Noguchi took off her mask and dropped it, speaking softly, her shoulders set, her gaze unwavering.
"We're splitting up," she said, and Lara knew from the sound of her voice that this time, there wasn't going to be any discussion.
Five Hunters stepped out from the cover of the jungle, cloaked, armed only with blades. When Noguchi saw who was with them, she understood, not for the first time, that there were some fates that couldn't be avoided. Shouldn't be.
"We're splitting up;" Noguchi said, dropping her burner next to her mask. If they'd been armed with heavier weapons, she probably would have passed, but as it was, the situation felt too much like an opportunity, the circumstances too perfect for coincidence.
There was a Blooded she didn't know, three novices-and Shorty. When they saw her throw her weapon down, Shorty clattered to his Leader, Noguchi too far away to hear the exchange, but knowing what it was about all the same.
Challenge. Honor.
Ellis would see Jess and Lara to the ship, they'd be fine ...except there was the problem of the rest of the Hunters. Noguchi felt a twinge of doubt, evaluating the group. They'd let her fight Shorty, but would kill her when it was over, assuming she survived. Hunters, loved an honor match, but they wouldn't let her walk away afterward.
Unless ...
"Nirasawa," she said, still watching the Hunters, watching as another novice took Shorty's blade from him, "it's too late for you to help your master ...but if there's any part of your programming that understands revenge, now's the time to access it. These are the beings responsible for his condition."