‘Do it, or I’ll kill her.’
‘You aren’t going to risk her,’ Carson wagered.
He knew he was right. Everyone wanted Nida. Whatever had happened to her, whatever the entity meant, the people of this time were awed by it.
Well right now it was time to use that fact.
‘You’re right. I won’t kill her. That’s why you should put her down before I kill you,’ Cara said plainly.
She had such a direct way of speaking. Once he’d been infatuated by it.
Now he realized how dangerous she truly was.
The look in her eye—that passion that had once drawn him in—instantly he understood it.
Loyalty.
Blinding, crippling loyalty.
The kind of fundamentalist devotion that would see someone sacrifice everything, from their family to their planet, for some cause.
‘Put her down,’ Cara said as she threw her grenade in the air and caught it distractedly.
‘No,’ Carson turned on his foot and headed for the edge of the roof.
It was almost ten meters away.
He didn’t reach it.
Cara threw the grenade, then another.
There was no time to catch them—they detonated immediately.
Carson pitched to the side, trying to protect Nida from the bulk of the explosion.
He tucked himself over her, but it wasn’t enough.
She screamed as shrapnel ate into her left leg, blood splattering across his helmet.
Then he heard another faint ping, ping, ping, as another grenade rolled to his side.
He put out a foot to crush it.
He managed to just in time, but then Cara threw yet another grenade.
This time Carson faltered.
He fell to his knees and crumpled his body over Nida just as the section of roof they were on started to groan. The concrete cracked, fissures moving through it like holes forming in the very earth. Pitching to the side, he managed to roll with Nida in his arms, bringing her to safety just as the section of roof gave way.
Cara walked forward. Calmly. He could hear her measured, unhurried footfall.
He turned to see her reach around and grab a grappling gun. She aimed it at Carson, then twisted until it centered on Nida’s already injured leg.
He moved in front of Nida.
‘We want her alive, but what condition she’s in will depend on you,’ Cara noted passionlessly.
He’d once been so attached to that strength. So intrigued by how powerful she was.
Now it terrified him.
‘You won’t get through this city. Your armor might be a match for our army, but she will be your liability. You’re bulletproof, Carson, but she isn’t. You take her down there, and a stray bullet or two will slice through her with ease.
Carson felt cold.
Weak even.
Cara was right.
But she was also wrong.
He could get her out of here; he just had to fight, not run.
He stood up, keeping the bulk of his armor before Nida as she sat on the ground and clutched at her injury.
‘This isn’t going to happen,’ he stated in a dark tone that rang with every note of authority he could muster. He was head of the Force; he was a lieutenant in the United Galactic Coalition army.
He could win.
And he would.
He curled his hands into fists. First the left one, then the right.
‘Go on, fight me,’ Cara offered simply. ‘But aren’t you going to ask if it was all an act first?’
Carson didn’t answer.
‘Don’t you want to know why I’m doing this?’ She challenged.
He shook his head.
He knew.
He’d misjudged her. He hadn’t appreciated the true source of her power and skill. ‘I know what you’re doing.’
‘Protecting my country, my people, my world,’ she added bitterly.
‘Don’t confuse protection for oppression,’ Carson cautioned. ‘Look around you, Cara; this isn’t worth protecting.’ He gestured to the cold spires and buildings, to the fences, to the wire, to the weapons.
‘We won’t give up our planet for the future,’ she hissed.
It was a strange statement, and one that didn’t entirely make sense. Was she referring to Nida’s vision, or something else?
He didn’t have the time to question her.
She sprinted forward, throwing herself at him, yet trying to get off a shot at Nida with her grappling gun at the same time.
With a guttural cry, Carson slammed the gun from her hand.
As he did, Cara buckled forward, throwing herself over his right arm.
He could feel her fingers prying back the device.
It was not part of his armor, so his armor could not lock it in place. While the plating that covered his skin couldn’t be pulled away by anything less than a high-powered neutron laser, the device was not attached by anything stronger than straps and bands.
She stumbled back.
She had it.
He thrust forward.
He would get it back.
He didn’t get the chance.
With a flash of determination drawing her black eyes wide, Cara screamed and slammed her hand forward.
She held the device.
It impacted his armor.
Instantly red energy blasted out from it, encompassing him.
His on-board computer went haywire as his legs and arms buckled and convulsed.
Energy spat and hummed and shot through his armor.
He couldn’t move.
All he could do was watch the warning flashes on the inside of his helmet as his armor told him it was about to shut down.
Then it did.
It receded into his wristbands.
Click.
Click.
Then Carson fell.
He was exposed.
He didn’t have a weapon.
And Cara still loomed above him.
The shock of his armor shutting down and the power of the Goddess’ tear rendered him close to unconsciousness. He could hardly move his muscles.
Yet he could watch, and he saw as Cara brought her hands up and wrapped them around his throat.
He caught a flash of the determination burning bright in her gaze. Too bright.
Far too bright.
It would burn through her too, if it hadn’t already.
Her passion for her world would see it destroyed one day.
With that thought, Carson began to black out.
Chapter 22
Cadet Nida Harper
‘No,’ she yelled, her voice halfway between a sob and a scream.
Cara had used the device against Carson, shutting down his armor.
And now she had her hands around his throat.
Nida pushed to her feet, thrusting herself at Cara. Trying to grab the woman’s wrists and pull them off him, Cara quickly flung Nida to the side.
Nida struck the ground so hard she heard something snap.
Pain shot through her. Hotter and harder than before, it brought with it a wave of nausea.
She felt giddy, weak, close to collapsing.
She didn’t give up though.
She could hear Carson choking; she could see his body loosening in Cara’s grip.
Cadet Nida Harper was Lieutenant Carson Blake’s only hope.
She pushed herself to her feet, fighting through the nausea and her pitching, rolling stomach.
She stumbled forward, looking for a weapon.
She considered going for her plasma gun. She could try and find it in the gutter.
Instinctively Nida knew she didn’t have the time.
Then she saw it.
The grappling gun.
She grabbed it up.
As she turned, Cara saw what she held, and the alien woman finally dropped Carson, snaking towards Nida with alarming speed.
Cara let out a snarl.
Nida doubled back, trying to figure out how to use the gun.
She didn’t have time.
Cara reached her and slammed her hand around, catching Nida across the jaw.
She stumbled backwards.
But she didn’t fall, instead she thrust forward with her remaining strength.
Right into Cara’s chest.
The woman instantly grabbed Nida, yanking the gun from her grip.
Nida didn’t have the strength to hold onto it.
She buckled backwards again.
As she did, she pushed her blood-covered hands into Cara’s chest.
Cara grabbed one, twisting the wrist viciously.
Nida crumpled.
She didn’t scream.
She didn’t beg.
Instead, she saw her opportunity.
The device.
It was still on Cara’s hand as she twisted Nida’s own.
Using every scrap of strength she had left, Nida pushed forward, and she thrust forward with her wrist as she did.
It was enough to see Cara stumble.
And that was all it took.
Nida directed the device against Cara’s own chest.
Though Nida was not wearing the Goddess’ tear and had no idea how to use it, in that moment she forced her mind forward.
Her thoughts—filled with hope, bitter determination, and an urgent plea—sprang from her mind.
She concentrated them just as she would when using her implant.
Then it happened.
The red.
The surge of energy.
It shot from the device and ate into Cara’s chest.
She was flung back far across the roof. And when she struck the concrete and eventually came to a rest, Nida knew she was down.
For a bare moment she stood there and breathed heavily, her body a broken mess.
The device was still in her hand—it had broken off Cara’s wrist as she’d been thrust backwards.
The device still glowed a powerful red.
It surged in fact.
Nida did not let it distract her.
She turned.
She reached him.
She crumpled beside Carson Blake.
As she did, as she thought the worst, he whispered her name and rose to meet her.
Chapter 25
Carson Blake
He had used all his remaining strength to fight against unconsciousness. It had tried to claim him with its black, shadowy grasp, but he’d held it at bay.
So he’d seen it all. With a languid, slow gaze, he’d watched as Nida had grabbed the gun only for Cara to attack her.
Then Nida, in a moment of pure strength, had thrust against Cara and used the device against her.
Now she was above him.
He could see her worried, blood-soaked face.
‘Carson?’ Nida spluttered through her tears.
He pushed himself up.
It was stupidly hard, but he did it.
Immediately she collapsed an arm around his shoulder for support.
He fell into her, and it felt great.
But no matter how much he wanted to remain there, breathing back his energy and fighting back the fatigue, he couldn’t. Though her chest and neck were warm and his shoulders and face pressed against them, there was still an army down there.
. . . .
There was an army down there.
While it had doubtlessly held back its attack to give Cara a chance, it wouldn’t hold back forever.
‘We have to get out of here,’ he croaked.
‘You’re injured,’ she whispered.
He could barely hear her voice, and he knew his didn’t sound any better; Cara had very almost choked the life out of him.
Carson had a little bit of a history for choosing bad dates. His taste in women sometimes caught up with him.
But this . . . this was ridiculous.
Cara had tried to kill him and was, now that he paused to think about it, a complete psychopath.
It was such an odd thought to entertain now, and he almost wanted to laugh.
He didn’t though.
Instead, he reached up, bracing his back to do so, and checked Nida’s face.
Her nose looked broken and there was a deep gash along her left jawline. And that wasn’t to say anything about her leg or wrist.
She was in a bad way, yet she still had the strength to hold him.
. . . .
Now that was real strength—that was proper resilience.
What Cara had was the fire of righteousness to help her burn through all she didn’t agree with.
Nida had something so subtle and unique, that to the untrained eye it would appear like weakness.
It wasn’t.
He pushed up and out of her arms.
‘Come on,’ he hissed, stumbling to his feet.
‘Carson,’ she rose beside him, somehow standing despite her injuries.
The wind whipped against her blood-caked hair, plastering it over her shoulders and neck.
It brought with it the sound of the troops below.
They were amassing, no doubt readying for an attack.
. . . .
He quickly concluded he couldn’t take them on. Not with Nida like this.
No.
Only one of them could get away.
One would have to stay and fight. Take the heat off the other, give them a chance to escape. ‘Nida,’ he said through a labored breath as he collapsed one hand against her chin.
Her skin was so warm under his touch.
She just looked at him, those eyes wide with terror.
‘You need to go.’
Those same eyes narrowed in suspicion. ‘I’m not leaving you,’ she snapped at once.
‘You have to. We talked about this. If we got separated, the other would go on—’
‘We aren’t separated,’ she interrupted wildly. ‘You’re right there, and I’m not leaving you.’
‘Nida,’ he raised his voice. ‘You have to. I need to stay and fight. You have to go.’
‘I’m not going.’
‘It’s an order.’
‘I’m not going.’
‘It’s an order,’ he screamed back. ‘Go, just go.’
She took a step back from him and shook her head. ‘I wouldn’t make it a meter without you, Carson Blake,’ she stopped shouting now, her voice bottoming out with confusion and exhaustion.
‘Yes, you will. You saved me, Cadet. You defeated Cara. You got free from Varo. You can and you will get out of here.’ He tried to hold her gaze, tried to convey how honest and heartfelt his words were.
He believed in her.
He hadn’t always done so. But now he did. With every fiber of his being.
She could do this on her own.
She would have to.
He took a step back and nodded, pulling his armor bands off as he did.
His armor was still overtaxed, and it would likely take several hours and a careful hand to get it working again.
But he handed the two bands to her anyway.
If Sharpe were here, the commander would likely point out there was no way Cadet Harper could fix a set of sophisticated armor.
He would be wrong.
Cadet Harper was capable of more than anyone had ever given her credit for.
‘Go,’ he said once more.
She took a step back, her eyes filled with confusion.
He reached around and took the scanner from his pocket. It had remained there through thick and thin. Whenever he’d commanded his armor to form over his body, it had formed around the holster, locking the scanner in place and keeping it safe.
He handed it to her. ‘This will help you fix the armor. Take it.’
‘I,’ she took it off him, tears streaking down her face.
He pressed his lips together as he realized a tear or two met his eyes too. Then he nodded his head sharply. ‘Go, Cadet.’
She took a step back.
<
br /> She appeared to hesitate.
He snapped at her to go one last time, drawing on his years as a lieutenant to give the command all the punch it needed to blast through her reservations.
She shook back.
She turned.
He could hear her crying.
She’d get over it.
He was starting to realize Cadet Nida Harper was just a slow starter. She’d have trouble with new situations, she’d get confused, she’d make mistakes. But she would build. As she became comfortable, she became strong.
He knew she could do this.
He turned.
Then he heard her gasp.
He twisted his head in time to see her make an odd move.
She took a step forward, her legs wobbling, her body shifting back and forth as if she’d lost all control over it.
Before he could wonder whether her leg injury was acting up, he watched her fall.
She dropped the armor. She dropped the scanner.
They went scattering over the roof.
He reached her.
Then he saw it.
Her eyes rolled into the back of her head.
Her body became stiffer than reinforced diamond and colder than the oldest glacier known to man.
He collapsed his arms around her.
She was having a vision.
She’d been pulled into that strange realm of the entity.
That nightmarish world where time stood still and the stars fell from the sky.
‘No,’ he whispered bitterly as he held her.
Not now.
Not now.
Chapter 26
Cadet Nida Harper
Her vision shut down around her.
Blackness spread out like water from a broken dam, engulfing the night, the roof, and the battle below.
She hit the ground.
Then she lost all sense of her body.
Briefly the by-now-familiar view of Remus 12 returned to her.
The dust, the rubble, the destruction.
She tipped her head back to see the carcasses of ships in the sky. The United Galactic Coalition heavy cruisers. The bodies. The decimated fleet.
She saw flashes of the insignia of the United Galactic Coalition. She saw snippets of dead faces drifting past.
Then the world around her changed.
The entity leapt up.
She watched that blue energy build and rush into the sky like a geyser erupting from the earth.
As it surged upwards, it warped space.
The dust began to disappear, and the ships in orbit gradually blinked out like extinguished stars.
Ouroboros 2: Before Page 22