by Justin Sloan
“Kill it!” Palnik hissed, lunging for the contraption.
Too slowly, though. It was in the air, spinning, and then a series of red lines shot out and alarms sounded.
“Oh, fuck!” Palnik turned to them and screamed, “RUN!”
Valerie was still trying to process what was happening when the whole valley became a bunch of robotic soldiers, fighter jets, and all manner of chaos. More scans were followed by the first shots, and Palnik tackled Valerie out of the way.
She would have to remember to thank him for that later, but right now needed to do exactly as he had said and run.
Maybe they could have stayed to fight. Perhaps they would have stood a chance, but she had no idea what they were capable of or how many were down there. She’d had plenty of experience fighting, but had never fought a robot before—let alone an army of them.
The way out of the valley wasn’t as easy as the way down. Roots and trees tore from the walls when they yanked on them as they made their retreat.
Valerie fell back to help Flynn as rocks shifted out from under his feet. She grabbed him by the arm and threw him up a few feet to the next ridge, then drew her pistol and attempted to blow hole in the robot behind her…but the shot simply ricocheted off of the unit’s head.
Her mouth dropped open and she stared as it clawed after her on all fours, reminding her of a massive metallic spider.
The idea that this being was controlled by a central AI, not sentient on its own and not really alive in any sense, terrified her.
It was a weird feeling for her, terror. It was foreign, alien. And now that she had felt it for the first time in so long, she realized how glad she was to never have to deal with it and promised herself to never feel it again.
Pushing through the moment, she grunted and bounded up the hill. A ship came at them, first spraying the hill with shots that didn’t do much against their body armor other than cause painful dents and then dropping several more robots.
One of these got Valerie by the ankle, yanking her back so that she rolled into a tree. She clung there until the robot hit her and they both fell farther.
The others had moved on, likely having not realized she was gone, and she pushed to her feet to go after them.
But something else had her leg now in a grip stronger than anything she had ever felt. A glance down showed that the robots had fastened metal straps around her legs that they had shot out as they fastened themselves to the hillside. Then more robots restrained her, strapping her chest and arms and throwing themselves to the side so that she slammed to the ground.
Her head shook within her helmet, banged around in a way that made her glad to be such an adept healer. Every muscle flexed, but the bonds were too strong.
She was very much starting to hate the idea of this recon mission. On the one hand they had confirmed that the situation was worse than she could have imagined, but on the other, she might actually die right there.
“WHO ARE YOU?” a staticky voice coming from a bear-sized robotic sort-of-flying bug demanded.
She struggled and refused to answer.
“We’ll find out soon enough.” The robot swooped down at her, fierce face with glowing red eyes inches from her own—which were certainly also glowing red at this point—and scanned her. “A human, here?”
“You’re fucking right,” she replied, and took the moment to slam her head into it as hard as she could.
The result was a buzzing in her head and a slight relaxation in her bonds, enabling her to leap up and search for the quickest escape route. It didn’t help that her helmet was now cracked and her vision blurred.
All noise stopped, and with an audible click all of the robots focused on her. Time to go.
She put all her energy into running at vampire speed, something the robots apparently weren’t prepared for.
As more came she gave up on trying to do real damage to them, instead treating them as she had been taught to deal with larger vampires—she used their power against them. Deflect, avoid, and, when possible, take them down. It wasn’t about destroying them at this point, it was about getting out of there alive.
“What are you?” the AI’s voice asked from the robots around her as she passed. “This doesn’t match. This isn’t a normal human. I repeat, what are you?”
“Your worst nightmare,” she shouted, tossing one of them as she threw herself up the side of the valley—not straight up this time, but at an angle, zigzagging back and forth to avoid the robots. Her helmet was trying to assess the ground and give her readings, but kept giving her errors and creating distracting red lines in her field of vision so she tore it off and threw it at a robot that almost had her. The impact sent it back a few feet, giving her room to leap the last bit and escape the valley.
Where the hell were they?
She spun, searching for her team as the robots came over the side in pursuit, and then Robin was there, push-kicking one back over the edge.
“About time!” Robin shouted.
“You should’ve gone with the others!” Valerie dove sideways as a drone shot at her, and as she recovered shots tore through the drone and the first line of robots.
The Grandeur swept in, hatch open and Garcia throwing harnesses to them.
“MOVE IT!” he shouted.
They didn’t need to be told twice. Each grabbed a harness as the Grandeur pulled away and climbed up as shots went off around them, finally making it inside.
Palnik slammed the button to raise the ramp, and it closed with a chorus of pings as rounds hit it.
“Lose these fuckers!” Garcia shouted to Flynn, and they all lurched as the ship took a dive and then again as it pulled up and angled to the left.
“Strap in, ladies and gents,” Flynn called, “and enjoy your time in the mineshaft!”
“The fuck?” Robin asked, already at the interior wall and strapping herself in.
“It’s just something he says,” Garcia explained as he secured himself beside her, then leaned back with his eyes closed.
“What next?” Valerie asked, trying to catch her breath and focus on anything other than those horrific robotic red eyes or the way the voice had come from everywhere at once.
Everyone turned to Palnik, who was clutching the wall, eyes closed. When he opened an eye and saw them staring, he cursed and shook his head.
“The space station,” he said. “As much as I hate it, we have to go to the space station and confront this thing at its core before they kill the hostages or enact revenge upon my people for our little incursion just now. They’re aware that we know of them, so they might act immediately.”
“So we’re not going back to the city, are we?” his guard asked, who had been in the front but had come back to check on them.
Palnik closed his eyes again as he said, “No. There isn’t time.”
“Welcome to Valerie’s Elites!” Garcia barked a laugh. “Who would’ve thought you’d be the next member?”
“He’s not a member,” Valerie interjected. “Not a chance.”
“You don’t think we saw him save your life? I don’t know, looks like you owe him.”
“As if I’d join your stupid team,” Palnik said, glaring. “I’m a Tol warlord!”
“Technically, not anymore,” Robin pointed out, earning her some more local swearing.
“Point is,” Valerie stated, “that at least for now, you’re an integral part of this operation. Truce?”
He glanced her way and tilted his head back and forth, then frowned. “Sure…you got it. And feel free to save my life a few times up there to pay me back. I’m sure we’re all going to need several lives each before this is over.”
“Wonderful,” Valerie replied as the ship leveled out.
“I think we lost them!” Flynn called back to them.
“Good.” Valerie unstrapped herself and motioned to Palnik. “Come on then, you’re going to show Flynn how to navigate to this space station.”
Palnik’s l
egs wobbled as he stepped away from the wall, but to his credit he made an effort to stand tall and look proud.
While Valerie had been quick to not trust him, she had a history of doing the opposite—trusting others too easily. At least for now, it looked like she was going to have to go back to her old ways and trust this son of a bitch to get them through this.
That didn’t mean she’d take her eyes off him, or hesitate to snap his neck if he made one wrong move.
CHAPTER SIX
Planet Coybon: Spaceport
Jilla stared at the ship open-mouthed for almost thirty seconds before saying, “A Nim? Seriously? Out of all the ships in the world, you went with a Nim?”
Kalan chuckled. “What? Don’t even tell me this doesn’t bring back memories.”
“It brings back memories, all right. Memories of imprisonment, and abuse at the hands of those damn Shimmers. No offense, Wearl.”
“None taken,” the Shimmer answered cheerily. “I wholeheartedly agree with your assessment of my species.”
Kalan marveled again at the strangeness of being able to hear Wearl’s voice. He’d imagined it as low and menacing, but it had a fluttery high-pitched quality to it he hadn’t expected. Hearing her made her seem much more real, and it made the team feel complete. He only wished she’d been able to give him the ability to see her.
“But really, a Nim?” Jilla asked again.
“We were in a tight spot,” Kalan explained. “They didn’t have a large selection of ships to choose from.”
He understood her reluctance to board one of these fighters again. She’d been one of the defense pilots on SEDE, like Kalan, and they’d flown many missions wing to wing. Kalan was the better pilot, but what Jilla lacked in skill she made up for in creativity and sheer guts.
Bob cleared his throat. “What he’s not saying is we stole this thing from SEDE.”
The Pallicon female’s face went pale. “Wait, what?”
“We’ll explain on board,” Kalan said. “Can we get moving, please?”
Once they were aboard, Bob and Wearl explained their adventure to rescue Sslake while Kalan plotted their flight with the help of the nav computer. Tol was the nearest planet to Coybon, and if they hit the moon at the right part of its orbit it wouldn’t take more than a few hours to travel there. They continued to tell Jilla their tale during takeoff, and they’d left the atmosphere before the story was done.
Jilla looked incredulous when the tale ended. “So you’re telling me you rescued the rightful ruler of the Vurugu system from SEDE and helped this team of human elites overthrow the Bandian?”
Kalan thought about that for a moment. “Seems like an oversimplification, but yeah.”
“And I’m supposed to believe this human woman Valerie is fighting for justice out of the goodness of her heart?”
Kalan shrugged. “I think she gets paid. At least, she’s paying me. But, yeah, it seems like she really believes in doing what’s right.”
“Said every victim of a con artist ever,” Jilla quipped.
They’d explained the basics of Valerie’s Elites to Jilla, but they’d left out the part about their association with the Etheric Federation. Valerie had instructed them to keep that a secret, and as much as Kalan trusted Jilla, he wasn’t going to reveal something Valerie had told him not to.
“A word of advice,” Bob said. “If you meet Valerie, don’t call her a con artist. She’ll put you through a wall.”
Jilla chuckled. “Don’t worry about me, I can handle myself.”
Kalan shook his head slowly. “You haven’t met Valerie.” He bristled at the thought of a fight between Valerie and Jilla. Valerie would undoubtedly win, but Jilla was so stubborn she might keep fighting until she was dead. “So how about you? Give me the rundown on what you’ve been up to in the last six years.”
Jilla shrugged. “It’s really not that interesting. I didn’t free even one political prisoner from SEDE.” She unbuckled her safety harness and slid under the console. “You know, this ship is still programmed with the SEDE failsafe. If you happen to get within range of SEDE’s proximity device, you’ll power down faster than a teenager whose mom just caught him with the Pallicon girl next door. Know what I’m saying, Kalan?”
Kalan felt himself blush. “Yeah, we’re aware of the proximity kill switch. I don’t think there’s anything we can do about it, though. It’s hardwired into the weapons array, and we need that in case—"
“Here you go,” Jilla said, sliding out from under the control panel. She held up a small metal device. “You’re all set.”
Kalan stared at the part, mouth agape.
Bob frowned. “I thought you said that couldn’t be removed, Kalan.”
Jilla smiled. “Only by someone who knows what they’re doing.”
“I think I like her,” Wearl said.
Kalan grinned. It had been long time since he’d had the pleasure of being razzed by Jilla, and as much as it had driven him crazy as a teenager, he’d sort of missed it. “Maybe I’m not a mechanical genius, but I can outfly you any day of the year.”
“No arguments there,” Jilla said, sliding back into her seat. “Hey, we should tell your friends the story of the first time you asked me out.”
Kalan blushed again. “I hardly think that’s necessary.”
“If it makes Kalan turn that shade of red, then I think it is,” Wearl said.
“Yeah,” Bob agreed, “tell us everything. Was Kalan a suave lady’s male back in his SEDE days?”
Jilla burst out in laughter. “Uh, no. Don’t get me wrong—there were plenty of females who had their eyes on him. He would have had his pick of Skulla, Pallicon or a dozen other weird species if he hadn’t been oblivious.”
“So how’d you catch his eye,” Bob asked.
Jilla glanced at Kalan. “You want to tell them?”
Kalan sighed, resigned to his fate. “It wasn’t her who convinced me, it was my mother. She came to me one day, sat me down at the kitchen table and told me I was blind if I didn’t notice the neighbor girl staring at me all hours of the day. She said I was getting older now, and that I should at least give Jilla a chance.”
“Huh,” Wearl said. “Grayhewn parents are not like Shimmer parents. And you took her advice?”
“I did, but there was something strange about the conversation. The whole thing was very unlike my mother, but I didn’t figure it out until my second date with Jilla. Afterwards my mother told me I should really buy that Jilla something nice. She even told me about a prisoner who had a great selection of contraband knives, the very type Jilla favored. As my mom was talking, I noticed a piece of her hair flicker, and that was when I knew I’d been fooled. Twice.”
“Wait,” Bob said, “I don’t get it.”
“Show him.”
Jilla smiled, then transformed from her normal Pallicon form into an exact replica of Kalan’s mother. “Now Kalan, you should really give that neighbor girl Jilla a chance. She’s so pretty and smart, and basically your better in every way.”
Wearl burst out with a lilting laugh.
“You’re kidding me!” Bob exclaimed.
Kalan shook his head. “She is definitely not kidding.”
Bob stared at Jilla for a moment. “I gotta say, this is pretty hot. Could you stay like that?”
“Uh, no. Anyway, by the time Kalan figured out I was the one who’d convinced him to ask him out, he was so into me he didn’t care.”
“Ha!” Wearl laughed. “And I thought Shimmers were ruthless.”
“You think that’s bad, I should tell you about the time we snuck into the cafeteria and used their supply of—"
“Okay, I don’t think we have to go into that.” Kalan quickly changed the subject. “Let’s keep our minds on the task at hand. What do we need to know about this guy we’re going to see?”
Jilla thought for a moment before answering, “Talrok was a follower of the Bandian, but he cut ties with him a while back. The Bandian set him
up with a military outpost on the moon, but now he runs it for his own purposes. Honestly, it’s not surprising he ended up as head of such a remote outpost.”
“How so?” Kalan asked.
“Think about it. A leader that skilled and with that kind of ambition? If you were the Bandian, you’d want to put his leadership skills to good use, but not in such a public place that he might get more popular than you.”
Kalan chuckled. “That’s why I like having you around, Jilla—you think about things completely differently than I do. How do you know him, anyway?”
“I dated him.”
The smile faded from Kalan’s face.
“What?” Jilla asked in an innocent voice. “We were pretty clear about things when I left SEDE. We agreed to split up, so you didn’t think I was waiting around for you, did you? I certainly hope you weren’t waiting for me.”
“He wasn’t,” Wearl interjected. “He’s dating me now.”
“I am not!” Kalan snapped, and turned back to Jilla. “Of course I wasn’t expecting you to wait around for me. I’m wondering how this might impact our welcome.”
Bob nodded. “Kalan’s got a point. Are you sure he’ll agree to see us? Sometimes things between exes can be…strained.”
“I’m sure he’ll see us,” Jilla said. “I’m the one who ended things, and he worked pretty hard to get me back.”
“She doesn’t lack confidence,” Wearl pointed out, “I’ll give her that.”
“Still,” Kalan said, “it’s been over a year, right? Things can change.”
“It’s been three years. But it’s been six years for us, and you were still happy to see me.”
Kalan had to admit she was right there. She was the last person he’d expected to find in the Skulla temple, and he couldn’t think of many people he would’ve rather discovered there.
“Let’s see if we can hail his people.” Jilla began fiddling with the communicator.
Kalan glanced over at Bob. “You ever been on a moon before?”
Bob shook his head. “A couple months ago I was a tech who ran a Pod. The ship traveled all over the damn place, but I was so caught up in my work that all I ever saw of it was the inside of my lab, the cafeteria, and my quarters. If Valerie hadn’t agreed to take me on, I’d probably still be on that ship.” He paused. “I guess that’s a long way of saying I haven’t been much of anywhere.”