Still caught in the grays' grip, the woman stared into his eyes.
"Tomiko," Marco whispered.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Campfires dotted the ruins of Jerusalem. In the night, distant jackals howled. In the sky, the ten thousand warships lumbered, easily visible even with the naked eye. Thousands of soldiers spread across the ancient city. Deep underground, thousands more worked at monitors, studying the patterns of spacetime, reviewing maps, commanding troops across the world and in space above.
Lailani stood before her own troops. Before the company they had assigned her. Before two hundred young soldiers, not one older than twenty. Some were as young as fifteen. With so many slain in the wars, Earth was down to recruiting children.
We are all an army, Lailani thought.
She placed her hands behind her back. She stared at them. She snorted.
"All right, soldiers, I know what you see when you look at me," Lailani said. "You're thinking that I'm small, shorter than the shortest among you. You think I'm a cute little doll. You think I'd be useless in the fight. Let me tell you something about me. I am Captain Lailani Marita de la Rosa. I fought the scum in the hives of Abaddon, and I killed the centipede emperor. I fought the marauders in Toronto and came face-to-face with their lord. And right now I'm here to lead you against the most vicious assholes we've ever known."
She saw Elvis standing among the troops. He gave her the slightest of nods. The tiniest of smiles tweaked his lips.
"You know what I see when I look at you?" Lailani said, pacing before the troops. "I see boys and girls. Young. Inexperienced. You came to me from across the world, brought here to form just another cog in the machine. But you know what else I see?" She raised her voice to a shout. "I see killers! I see warriors! I see heroes who are going to tear through the grays until they reach Nefitis herself and cut out her rotten heart!"
The soldiers cheered.
"I want every last one of you to kill at least ten grays!" Lailani shouted. "Those bastards are on their way. Our scientists tell us they're only days, maybe only hours, maybe only minutes from Earth. Once their portal opens, and once those creatures spill onto Earth, you will show them human strength! You will show them no mercy! You will kill every last fucking one of them, and it will be this company—my company—that kills their queen bitch! Is that understood?"
"Yes, ma'am!" they shouted.
Her voice softened. "It's likely that here, above our central command, the grays will hit us hardest. It's likely that some of you won't make it home. I know you're afraid. I know that some of you have seen friends die in the wars. I know that you never asked for this. But you will still do your duty. Because back home, you have families and friends. Across the Earth, there are billions of people who are depending on you. To them you are heroes. To me you are heroes. To history and all future generations—you are heroes." Her eyes dampened, and she repeated the words Ben-Ari had spoken to her platoon so often. "I am proud of every one of you."
She turned and left the company.
She walked through the darkness, hiding her tears in the shadows.
She remembered being like them. Just a kid. A private waiting for battle. So afraid. She remembered drawing so much strength from Ben-Ari.
May I offer my soldiers some strength today, she thought. So many of them will not go home. And those who do will forever be broken.
Lailani returned to her tent. Normally she shared it with her lieutenants and NCOs, but they were now drilling their platoons, arranging them in position across the ruins. The tent was empty.
Lailani stood still, head lowered, fists clenched.
"Yes, you gave me strength, Ben-Ari," she whispered. "I loved you. I made love to you in the Marilyn on a faraway planet. You were my officer, my heroine, my lover. And you betrayed me. You sent Marco and Addy to die."
The grief overwhelmed Lailani. She felt so alone. She had lost her friends. She had lost her mentor and guiding light.
"Be strong, Marco and Addy," she whispered. "I pray for you. Be strong."
A soft voice spoke behind her. "They're strong. They're the strongest bastards I know."
She turned to see Elvis at the tent door.
She frowned at him.
"Salute and announce yourself, private," she said. "This is still the military."
He slammed his heels together and saluted. "Private Benny Ray reporting, ma'am!"
She returned the salute. They stared at each other for a moment in silence. Then they both burst out laughing. Yes, Lailani laughed even as she wept, even as her heart trembled.
Elvis stepped into the tent. "Still feels weird, don't it? That you're twelve years older than me. And a captain. Only a few months ago, you were a pissant private like me."
"It's been years for me," she said softly. "Which makes it even weirder. Yet sometimes boot camp still seems like yesterday. Sometimes I still miss it." She sighed. "All the time."
Elvis nodded. "It was a good time." He pulled something out of his pocket. "And look what I have. I had it on me when you saved my ass."
Her eyes widened. "Spam!" She snatched the can from him. "You know, the HDF stopped making these after too many soldiers got sick. They now just give you tuna in the battle rations." She made a gagging noise. "Tuna!"
"I saw!" Elvis said. "What the fuck has the world come to while I was away?"
"Let's feast," Lailani said. "For old time's sake. Well, old for me."
She opened the can. She had learned in the army to always carry a spoon everywhere, and she took her trusty spoon out of her pack. She dug it into the gooey pink slime and scooped out a quivering ball.
"Look how it jiggles," she said.
"Look at all the pig snouts!" Elvis said. "I think I see some pig lips too."
Lailani swallowed the meat and shuddered. "Oh God. It's just as bad as I remember." She laughed. "Truly horrible stuff. A test of endurance, isn't it?"
"Not for Addy," Elvis said. "God, she used to love eating this stuff. Remember?"
Lailani nodded. "She switched to hot dogs on a rake."
"That chick is crazy," Elvis said. "Still can't believe she's banging Poet. I always figured she'd find some hulking hockey player to shack up with."
Lailani sighed. "They've both been through a lot together over the past decade. They've seen some horrible things." She shook her head sadly. "I miss them so much. I'm so worried. I hope they're all right. God, I wish I could be there with them."
Elvis nodded, head lowered. "Me too. They're my best friends." He wiped his eyes. "Fuck. Look at this shit. Got me cryin'. Give me that can." He grabbed the Spam from her, took a bite, and shuddered. "God damn it's awful. At least in boot camp they fried up the stuff. Why is it all slimy?"
"All that good pig juice," Lailani said. "You know, I realized that I actually don't hate tuna."
They tossed the Spam aside. They didn't have any tuna, but Elvis had procured a bag of lemon candy. They feasted on Lemony Bursts instead.
"Remember that time I handed out candies while we were cleaning our rifles at boot camp, and Corporal Diaz asked Caveman a question, but he couldn't answer because he had a mouth full of Gooey Busters?"
Lailani lowered her head. "No. I've forgotten so much."
"It was hilarious," Elvis said. "Caveman kept trying to talk and kept drooling, and Diaz tried to be angry and shout, but we all saw him hiding his smile. Finally Diaz had to march off in fake anger before he could burst out laughing. Caveman even got some of the candy in his rifle!"
Lailani gasped. "Yes! I remember that!" She laughed. "And his gun jammed at the firing range, and when he opened it up"—they spoke the next words together—"out spilled Gooey Busters!"
They laughed.
They sat in silence for a moment.
"I like your hair this way," Elvis said. "Buzzed off. Like you had at boot camp. It was weird seeing you with longer hair."
She touched her stubbly head. "I dunno. Poet used to say I look androgynous this way."
"That's what I thought too!" Lailani laughed. "It means I look like a boy."
"I don't think you look like a boy," Elvis said. "I think you look pretty." He touched her hair, then pulled his hand back, and his cheeks flushed. "I mean, for a robot. I mean, you're not a robot. I mean . . ." He groaned. "Fuck, you're pretty, all right? And I'm glad you buzzed your hair short. And I'm glad you remembered the candy story."
She smiled and touched his hand. "And I'm glad you're here with me, Private Benny Ray." Suddenly her eyes were damp again. "I carried the weight of your death for so many years. That guilt haunted me. And finally now, after so long, you're here again. Come, I want to show you something." She went to her pack and pulled out her framed photograph. "Look. It's us from boot camp."
They looked at the photograph together—the famous photograph Lailani had carried around for years. Ben-Ari stood at the front, just an ensign, so young but still so serious, even then. Marco was trying to look tough, unaware that Addy was holding up two fingers behind his head. Lailani was making her silly face, cheeks puffed out, eyes crossed, and Elvis had his arm around her.
"I remember that photo being taken," Elvis said softly. "It was just a few weeks ago for me."
She wiped her eyes. "I've been carrying it around for years. I never forgot the gang. Not any one of us. I just wish I could bring them all back. Caveman. Beast. Singh." Her voice broke. "Addy. Marco."
"Hey now." Elvis wrapped his arms around her. "Addy and Marco are still alive. Those bastards are tough to kill. They'll find a way home."
"Promise?" Lailani whispered.
He nodded. "Solemn promise. Cross my heart. Hope to—"
She silenced him with a kiss.
"No," she whispered.
He gazed into her eyes silently. He stroked her cheek. And he kissed her—a longer, deeper kiss this time.
Any moment now the grays would invade. Any moment now they all might die. And so Lailani took him into her bed. And she made love to him. And she slept in his arms, protocol be damned. She had killed him. She had saved him. She was healed. In his arms, she felt whole.
She woke once, just before dawn, and nestled closer to him. Elvis was still asleep, and she stroked his hair.
I don't ever want to lose you again, she thought. I don't want to lose any more friends. I don't want the dawn to come. I'm afraid.
Yet she knew that dawn would rise. She knew that war would come. She knew that so many would fall. And the pain seemed too great to bear.
"Be strong, Marco and Addy," she whispered. "Find the Oracle. Stop this war. Earth needs you. I need you."
Dawn rose with a siren.
Lailani and Elvis jolted up.
They ran outside the tent into the ruins.
The sirens blared. Soldiers ran. Jets screamed overhead.
The grays, Lailani knew, were here.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
The portal opened above Earth, shimmering blue, and the wrath of Nefitis emerged.
Ben-Ari stood on the bridge of the Lodestar, staring at the horror spilling forth.
Humanity's fleet was orbiting Earth twenty thousand kilometers from the surface. Her own ship. Ten thousand others purchased from the Galactic Alliance, refitted, and manned by human pilots. Below them on the planet, tens of thousands of robotic soldiers, along with millions of human warriors, waited to fight.
It was but a drop compared to the surging ocean of grays.
Thousands of saucers were spilling out from the portal like hornets from a hive. Most were small and red—the starfighters of the enemy. They were like whirring tops, ringed in blades, able to blast lasers to sear through the thickest hull. Other saucers were lumbering motherships, some the size of football stadiums, others the size of towns. The gray fleet kept emerging, seeming to never end. Ben-Ari had never seen so many ships in one place.
For an instant—just one instant—she stared in hopeless, paralyzed horror.
Then the instant ended. And she took command.
"Hit them at the portal!" she cried, voice carrying across the fleet, transmitted to every cockpit and bridge. "Meet them head-on!" She spun toward her pilot. "Aurora, fly!"
The mollusk shoved down the throttle.
The Lodestar's engines roared. They led the charge, and ten thousand other warships followed.
"Fire all cannons!" Ben-Ari cried.
A storm of hellfire flew from the human fleet.
The saucers charged toward them, guns pounding.
Earth's orbit blazed with fire.
Humanity's fleet stormed forth. They were ten thousand strong. They were like a single falling star blazing into a sky of fire.
The bridge of the Lodestar was dome-shaped. Viewports covered its every surface, even the floor. Standing here, Ben-Ari had a full view of space all around her, above her, and below her feet. But she could no longer see space. No longer see the stars or Earth. There was only this battle. Only the endless saucers. The fire. Ships shattering around her.
"Destroy that portal!" she cried. "Forward! Through them! Fire!"
The Lodestar charged through the saucers, firing all her cannons. But the enemy was everywhere. Blasts hit the Lodestar, exploding across her shields. Saucers slammed into the ship, knocking her back. Alarms blared as the hull breached, as a deck shattered. A nearby warship tore open, spilling out soldiers. The U-wings, the horseshoe-shaped starfighters Ben-Ari had bought to replace their lost Firebirds, streamed above and below them, slamming into the saucers. Another warship exploded below Ben-Ari's feet, peppering the bottom of the Lodestar with shrapnel and corpses.
"Mistress, we cannot break through them!" Aurora cried.
"We must hit that portal! Forward!"
The Lodestar kept charging through space, ramming into saucers, firing their guns. Another deck burst open. Klaxons wailed. Fire filled the ship. All around them battled the multitudes. Saucers and warships collapsed. Shrapnel filled space and rained down to Earth.
"Mistress, we're falling apart!" shouted Aurora.
Ben-Ari pointed ahead. The portal was there. More saucers kept spilling out.
"Destroy that portal!" Ben-Ari cried. "All ships, keep flying!" She turned toward her gunner. "Niilo, fire the nuclear cannons!"
Her towering security chief stood at the cannons, his long blond hair loose, his beard forked into two braids. He nodded, and a grin spread across his wide face.
"For the glory for Earth! For Valhalla!"
He unleashed their nuclear arsenal.
Ben-Ari winced.
The missiles flew forth, carving a path through the saucers, traveling at many times the speed of sound, ripping through the fleet.
The missiles made it halfway to the portal before enemy fire shattered them.
The nuclear warheads exploded.
Light bathed the Lodestar's bridge.
The ship tilted and spun. Radiation baked them, flowing across their shields. Saucers melted around them. U-wings burned. The light shone like a star.
When the blasts faded, thousands of saucers were gone.
The portal loomed ahead, glittering blue, ringed with the shrapnel of shattered saucers.
Ben-Ari rose to her feet, realizing she had knelt and covered her head.
And from the portal, thousands more saucers emerged.
The red, spinning fighters stormed into the human warships, slamming into the hulls, shattering the larger vessels. The gray motherships fired their lasers, picking out the human ships.
Ben-Ari stared with horror.
By God. Even nukes can't stop them.
"Block the portal!" she cried. "All warships, block the portal. Plug it up! Don't let them out!"
The ten largest human ships rose, forming a wall ahead of the portal. But it was like trying to stop a river with pebbles. The saucers tore through them. Another warship shattered. A few U-wings reached the portal, only to fall through it, burning. And the saucers kept emerging,
pounding the human fleet.
The floodgates were open.
The saucers were tearing through humanity's defenses like a tank through light infantry.
And they were reaching Earth.
Ben-Ari inhaled sharply through a clenched jaw.
Hundreds of saucers had made it around the human fleet. They were flying toward Earth. The planet was responding with artillery fire. The surface cannons were taking out many saucers. But more joined the assault every moment.
Another warship shattered.
More saucers emerged, plowing through what remained of the human fleet.
The dam had collapsed. And the torrent of saucers spilled forth.
Every instant, another human ship tore apart. U-ships burned. A warship exploded, taking down several ships around it. Down on Earth, countless saucers were mobbing the planet, streaming through the atmosphere, and the artillery couldn't hold them all back.
We can't stop them, she thought. We can't win this.
Blasts rocked the Lodestar. Holes tore through the hull. An engine shattered and blazed, and the ship tilted. All around them, the human fleet was crumbling. Every second, another warship winked out with a blast of light, falling dark, gone. Blast after blast. Ship after ship—vanishing. Earth's hope—burning.
She turned toward Aurora.
"Get us closer to Earth! We must protect her skies."
The mollusk grabbed the controls. "Yes, mistress, we—"
A gargantuan saucer emerged from the portal, many times the Lodestar's size, hiding the sun. It was forged of black metal, and a golden ankh was engraved upon it. It was the largest saucer Ben-Ari had ever seen; it could have buried Central Park. She had spent hours studying the grays' language before the battle, and she could read the glyphs engraved upon the hull, the letters larger than houses.
Claw of Nefitis.
Ben-Ari gasped.
Was this the goddess's flagship? Was Nefitis herself aboard?
The mothership came charging toward them, cannons firing.
"All power to forward shields!" Ben-Ari cried. "Return f—"
Hell erupted across the Lodestar.
Earth Eternal (Earthrise Book 9) Page 21