A hesitation. What?
You promised to kiss me on my mouth.
So I did. Another pause. I do try to keep my promises.
Warmth breached the distance, both physical and mental. Made him want to survive this encounter, though the odds of that were not good. The incoming Zelk clearly suspected they were here and were using their numbers to form a defensive fan around the ramp side of his ship. He was disinclined to assume, but it did appear they believed he was inside the ship.
How do you tell who is in charge?
You can not. Was that a chuckle he heard?
Never did like being told no. Now he sensed her pondering. Normally I’d say let’s just start shooting, but if the leader gets away—there has to be a way to make him show himself.
It was strange to feel her thinking, no, both of them thinking. Put an ache in the sides of his head. Some of it he got in bits and pieces, flashes of images. The flashes stopped on an image of a fallen Zelk, his chameleon capability breached and preparing to self-destruct.
Why the scary exterior when no one can see it until they are dead?
It was an interesting question, one he would like to ponder at a better moment—
There were signs two of Zelk were attempting to access his ship. They would fail, as he had scrambled the access codes.
Tell me more about chameleons.
Shan felt the data dump, felt his knowledge expand.
Okay, so the brain signals them when to hide, but there’s nothing in there about this level of ability. This looks more technological to me, like my suit.
Shan felt Lurch’s attention sharpen. When you shot the Zelk, his camo flickered. Perhaps we can use an EM pulse to disrupt the signal.
Shan tried not to let his frustration filter into the discussion, as another Zelk joined the attempt to access his ship. We can see where they are already. Granted it is not precise—
Don’t you find it odd that they never flash the nasty exterior? It could be a tactical advantage, but they are always hidden until they blow up.
Shan felt his thoughts narrow. You think this tactic is to hide the leader.
Yeah.
There was more. He felt it. What?
I think its odd they can’t be picked up on your sensors. That they don’t have life signs.
Except there was one life form in their last encounter. Timrick? He thought he had come to terms with the idea his brother could betray him. Timrick’s face replaced the image of the downed Zelk. Laughing, always his brother laughed, teased his big brother as if he had no worries. As second son, the spare heir, he had less pressure to do his duty. The more outrageous he behaved, the more his parents smiled, shrugging because it was Timrick. They have a scent.
Which could be manufactured to increase their nasty factor.
If his brother were behind this, the betrayal was not just to his family, his strata. The Zelk had attacked ships, killed other families’ sons. Threatened the security of their world. His heart bleak, Shan looked at his ravaged world. Was he responsible for this? Would he laugh at what he’d wrought?
Can we use Shan’s ship to generate an EM field?
There might be enough power left.
It is worth a try. Shan felt ice form where a heart had beat. Then, as if the thought were driven from him, he asked, why would he betray his family, his world? Anything he wanted, I would have given him. Without hesitation. The power of an older son, this Shan had not ever wanted. But on the heels of that thought was the reality that if Timrick could do this to take power, he was not safe to have power. So where did that leave him? If they managed to win this battle, to restore his world, what life would he face?
People like him, they need to take, and they live to destroy. To control what’s left when they get their way. It’s about power. He wouldn’t have been grateful. It would make him hate you more.
Hate. He felt it in the air around them, the dark cloud of trouble that had stalked him for many seasons, he realized now. The horizon rippled again, an edge of red tinting it. It rolled over both sides, leaving random stalks of grass poking out of the gray dirt and a few more of the flowers. Was the sky lighter? Strange how such small signs of life eased the ice in his chest.
The disposition of the Zelk changed, the horizon blurring.
New strategy?
That would be my assessment. Shan studied what could be seen. With so many moving around in such a confined small area, the rising dust made it harder to discern a pattern in their movements.
How long for the EM, Lurch?
A timer popped into view at the edge of his sightline. Too long then.
They could be searching for me.
Or he suspects you are watching and is trying to smoke you out.
He will not show himself until he feels safe.
Shan felt strangely relieved that it was Lurch who said it.
Tension tightened his gut. He did something he’d never done before—at least that he recalled—he asked a woman for advice on battle strategy. What do you believe we should do?
He felt her surprise, a surprise mixed with pleasure, quickly followed by worry, but before she could express the plan she suspected he’d find unpalatable, the horizon shuddered again, sending a new wave across this world, one tinged with green.
The dampening field has been modified. Accessing ship systems and sensors.
Modified?
Shan was glad Ashe asked the question.
It has contracted in size. Now it only blocks the area we believe is occupied by the Zelk.
If time is dialing us back toward your proper time, perhaps it is also dialing back the technology. Its getting less sophisticated, losing range?
The pain in his head ramped up, but before he could begin to craft a response, Lurch got a hit on the life signs scans.
They had bugs incoming.
TEN
I told you the distress beacon might summon the bugs.
Ashe did not need an “I told you so” from Lurch, not when her mind scrabbled for an exit strategy. The main problem, for an exit, one needed a ride, which made it hard to devise a strategy, since they didn’t have anything remotely resembling a ride. So far, instead of offering a way out, Time seemed to be sweeping them deeper and deeper into the crap zone.
Unless we can solve the main issue.
Right. Main issue. The bad guy. They needed a bit more time for Lurch to create an EM, but even with it, they still needed the bad guy to reveal himself. And she could only think of one way that would happen. Timmy needed to feel safe, to believe he’d won.
You need to pretend to give yourself up.
Ashe felt the blast of not just no, but hell no come back along the nanite link.
He doesn’t know I’m here. At least she didn’t think he did. He might have caught a glimpse of her in the fire fight, or someone in the camp might have told him about her. I can watch your back. If the EM works, then we should be able to see the Zelk. I’d do it, but he won’t care about my surrender. Still a hearty no. Think about it. If you were the bad guy, wouldn’t you keep out of sight until you were sure you were in control? As long as he’s not sure—
All right.
Despite the words, she felt his resistance.
It is not in his nature to pretend defeat.
And he might still have some trust issues. Either we get out of this together, Vid. She used his name, hoping he knew what it meant. Or we go down together. Hey, I still owe you that kiss. To Lurch’s flinch, Ashe sent, it never hurts to motivate the guy about to let down his guard.
Lurch went into his version of attack mode. All of him, all his drones meshed with both of them on a cellular level—or something deeper than that. If there were something deeper than cells. Maybe their DNA? He saw through both their eyes, boosted their ability to respond, to react. But beyond that, she felt Shan, felt meshed with him, too. Saw what he saw like a status screen. Felt his tension, his hesitation, knew the moment he gave in and tossed
his weapon into the open. The ripple of the terrain indicated Zelk attention, though no shots were fired, even when Shan emerged from the hide, his hands half-heartedly raised.
He really didn’t like surrendering.
To her surprise, two of the Zelk’s camo dropped. They stomped toward Shan. Ashe targeted them, not relaxing when they patted him down for weapons. Only found one. He must have left the others in the hide and a pat down didn’t always net all there was. Depended on how good it was and it hadn’t looked that good. Did that mean Timmy underestimated his big brother? Or just he knew the odds were too great.
For too long, nothing seemed to happen, while the big clock ticked down on the edge of her vision. Did that mean Timmy didn’t know about the bugs or was confident of his exit strategy? The terrain continued to wave and shift. Was the movement focused or designed to confuse? Timmy could probably afford to lose a few—the pattern changed, becoming fluid in a circular way, and the whole was getting closer to Shan and the two uncloaked Zelk.
He is creating a screen, a protective zone.
Ashe tended to agree with Lurch’s assessment. If I get a clear shot, should I take him out? Shan’s brother, his call.
I will give the order.
Okay. She did some mental math, added in some strategy and came up with a possible kill zone. If I say drop, don’t hesitate.
Felt Shan’s assent. His body was loose, but in a high state of readiness boosted by the drones in his system. How good was Timmy?
Not as good as I am.
Ashe grinned. How’s our EM coming?
Almost ready, though I cannot guarantee an outcome.
Even if everything went like clockwork, time might have a wildcard or two left to play.
He’s relaxing his guard.
Ashe kept her gaze and weapon focused on her kill zone. Avoided looking into the circling terrain because it made her head spin. If Timmy didn’t make his move soon, they’d all get to meet the bugs up close and personal. Did I mention I hate ticking clocks on ops?
More than once.
Lurch felt distracted, but in a good way. The hinky terrain began to settle. The dust, too. It was pretty tracked up, but it seemed as if she could see deeper indentions in a rough circle around Shan. And right in her kill zone, surrounded by those boot prints, a pair kind of by themselves. I’ve got him. How tall is Timmy?
Shan sent her the specs and she adjusted her aim. Then Timmy decided to make her job easy. The terrain wavered a lot, then a gap appeared as he lifted off the Zelk head, revealing a very human one. Through Shan she studied his face while Timmy used the time to remove the Zelk hands. Blond, might have been cute without the weak chin and watery blue eyes. Even on her home planet he’d be considered too pretty—which she knew was a bit ironic—a real girly guy. Petulance ringed his mouth, and he had a look of dissipation all too common with betrayers. Not even a whiff of buccaneer about him, though she could concede the lizard suit didn’t contribute to pirate chops. He might look better in leather, though she doubted it. Looked like he thought he was all that and a bit more.
“Timrick.” Shan didn’t sound surprised. Didn’t feel surprised. No feeling at all through their drone connection.
Shan’s lack of emotion made her heart hurt. Wanted to shoot the little s.o.b. Didn’t cause it was Shan’s call, felt the importance of that, though she could not pinpoint why or where the feeling came from. Maybe he needed the closure of a chat.
Little Timmy took a step toward Shan. It looked odd, as if they stood alone in the clearing.
“How did you do it?”
Shan tipped his head to one side, studying his brother it seemed. “You are Timrick, but you are not.”
“I’d explain it to you, but you won’t be around long enough for it to matter. You’re going back where you came from—after you tell me how you escaped the past. And how you did this.” He gestured toward their surroundings, his lizard suit creaking a bit.
“Time is a bitch, is it not?”
It surprised Ashe to hear him use her line, surprised Timmy even more. He scowled.
“So you remembered some. Doesn’t change anything. You’ll just forget again. Or we’ll both die here with our world.” His smile was on the oily side. “You won’t do it. You’ve got that noble streak. You won’t let the future die. You didn’t the last time we met like this.”
The last time he didn’t have me at his back.
She felt the sigh that shivered through Shan, the leach of that last hope that it wasn’t Timrick.
How can he be my brother, but not?
The family DNA wheel will sometimes spin to the same place, spitting out a twin, or an almost twin. Hasn’t anyone ever told you that you look like Uncle fill in the blank?
Then he is my true brother?
Ashe let Lurch give him the inner nod. Didn’t mean the Timrick from Shan’s other time was squeaky clean. A thread of betrayal could connect these two in time. Like golden threads, Ashe saw the strands stretching back in time, felt the forces of time gathering around them. I think my time senses are back. Yes, she could see the threads, see right time swirling around and through them both. They belonged together, in this place and in this time. This wasn’t their future, it was their present, though it was wrong. Little Timmy had wiped out his present and his planet. Good plan, Timmy. He’d probably had help browsing through time, help in finding a place in the past to shunt Shan, one where it would be difficult for him to fulfill his destiny, one where the restrictions of the past would confine and contain him. Then, by bringing the past version of Shan forward, he’d be an ill fit, too. Both would struggle against the bonds of their lives, and send warning flares into the time plain. And, when Ashe had set off the big bang, the instability caused by the wrong time had splintered into this.
The bugs are getting closer. If Lurch had had feet, they’d be tapping.
Ashe opened her thoughts to give Shan a prompt, but he was already there. Lurch might not like him, but he had to admit the guy was no slouch in the brains department.
It is a recent development.
Ooh, bitter.
“You are not smart enough to do this alone. You are a puppet. Someone else yanks your strings, little brother.”
Timmy didn’t like that. “If only I could kill you.”
That wasn’t a denial. Shouldn’t we get a life signs reading if the puppet master is close?
“But you can’t. Time won’t let you. It keeps bringing us back to this moment, because you are not man enough to fill my shoes, to take my life. It calls me back. It wants me in my place.”
If someone is out there, they are cloaked or shielded.
Makes sense if our evil overlord is helping them. He had access to Time Base tech.
Shan smiled, though Ashe could not see his face. She felt it though, felt serenity fill him. Serenity wasn’t his go-to place, but he made it work.
“Your puppet master didn’t tell you this could happen, did he? Will you enjoy ruling over this?”
Timmy snorted, but Ashe saw uncertainly in his weak, blue eyes. “When you return to the past, my future will be grand.”
Shan shook his head. “Not this time. We will end it here.”
“Fine.” He raised the weapon.
Ashe raised hers, painting a mental target on his back.
It’s ready.
Do it.
Ashe wasn’t sure who got their licks in first, time or Lurch. The horizon shuddered and the EM flashed. Ashe didn’t know if she felt it or saw it, just knew her suit went down with the Zelk’s camo. The nanites had long ago learned to protect themselves against pulses of any sort, but they lost contact with the bird’s sensors when Lurch put up his EM deflectors. She’d have shot Timmy then, but still no order. At least Timmy had his back to her, though he did glance to his left and then his right.
“What did you do?”
“Did you think I did not know?”
“It doesn’t matter. You will still die here, brother
.” He sneered the word.
“Go ahead. It is better to get shot than eaten.” He angled his head. “Can’t you hear them?”
Timmy’s eyes widened. He must have sent an order to his now visible Zelk, because they turned out, forming a defensive circle around him. Ashe ducked down behind the tumbled remains of a wall, though they had to have seen her. Only they didn’t react. And now that she could see them, there was precision and cohesion to the way they moved. No wonder Timmy had hid them. He’d have been beyond obvious hanging with these peeps.
Shan snorted his disdain. “Do you think your few lizards can hold back a tide? I barely got my craft airborne before they ate through the hull.”
“It is a trick.”
The all too familiar murmur of bugs closing made Ashe want to get the shooting started. She had no desire to get eaten. Now would be a great time for a time wave, one that swept them to a time before the bugs. Timmy so needed shooting, but be better for his character if he got eaten. Wished they could go and leave him behind.
Timmy glanced around, still not checking his back though, as if trying to pinpoint the bug-apocalypse, then swung back with clear intent to fire. “You—”
An energy beam flared from Shan’s two o’clock. It tracked toward Timmy, dropped him like a rock, his look of surprise frozen on his face. His fall seemed to freeze the lizards, too. A pity with the bugs still incoming. Could have used the firepower.
Shan dropped to a knee by Timmy, felt for his pulse. Through their connection, she felt the flutter of Timmy’s pulse. Did that mean someone didn’t want him dead? He looked around, then rose with Timmy’s weapon in hand.
“Drop the weapon, Shan.”
Ashe wasn’t that surprised when Bana—or a version of her—stepped out from behind some rubble. Family first, in good times and bad. She felt a flicker as the bird’s computer system reconnected with Lurch, her suit came back, too, and the beginning of a warning from Lurch just before the poke in the back.
“You, too, Garradian.”
Okay, Calendria wasn’t a huge surprise either. She dropped her weapon, raised her arms. Maybe a little surprise. Calendria had collected all the automaton parts under the cloak. The Zelk would have been all over the camp if Time hadn’t gotten there first. Just couldn’t see why the old girls would be doing this.
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