Roar of Lions

by Mark Iles

“She led the way through the tunnel, Ma’am,” the private said. “There was an explosion, some kind of flechette weapon. One moment there was a group of them there, the next they were a red mist. Even got most of those out here, standing in line waiting to go in.”

  Fuck, Selena thought. Manta air mines. If it hadn’t been for the major, that would have been me.

  Stepping over the fallen, she recognised Sergeant Baines, who’d served under her command when she ran things here at the Gateway. Surrounded by dead bugs, his lips were drawn back in a snarl and his sword was buried deeply in the side of a huge Manta. The creature’s maw was filled with flesh ripped from his shoulder. Baines’ innards adorned them both, like some form of bizarre and morbid jewellery.

  “Shield!” Selena said.

  Braxis came forward with one of the new portable units that was generally used for overhead cover, but which could be turned to a great many uses. It may not protect against beam weapons, she knew, but it might help against fletchettes from the air mines.

  “Don’t just sit there,” she said to the remnants of the Major’s men. “Today’s a good day to die, get up off your sorry arses and follow me!”

  Begrudgingly they stood and fell in, as she moved towards the tunnel. The intricately-carved wooden podium that had borne the painted Penal crest lay on one side, as if discarded. She pushed it away as they passed, then stepped into the brilliantly lit rabbit hole that lay open before them, leading downwards into the depths of the hill. Taking a deep breath, Selena followed Braxis and the portable shield, her feet making sploshing sounds in the gore as she led her troops down the tunnel at swift trot.

  They were almost at the end when there were several deafening bangs and the tunnel filled with flying blades. They ricocheted from the shield with a reverberating doommmmm, followed by what sounded like falling glass.

  “Quick,” she shouted as the shield unit in Braxis’ arm burst into flames and fell sparking to the floor. “Run!” She charged down the tunnel screaming at the top of her voice, those behind her following suit. As they neared the end, the sounds of battle could be heard—the crump of a grenade, the cough of shotguns, shrieks from beam weapons and the screams and cries of injured and dying.

  They exploded from the tunnel into daylight and dived into what cover they could. As per her orders, her men held their fire.

  “This is Commander Selena Dillon! All sides cease fire!” Selena shouted.

  In response, a large group of Manta swung ponderously towards them. Huge and imposing, the arachnid come insect-like creatures raised their weapons and rushed them.

  “Stop!” Selena shouted, rising to her feet and putting out her hand palm first in an attempt to prevent further bloodshed.

  Braxis body-tackled her, knocking her clean off her feet; as the space she’d just vacated filled with projectiles and a horrible, red hissing beam that melted the rock behind her.

  “Fuck this,” Selena said. “Fire, take ‘em down!”

  The machine gun in her arms jerked and hammered at the enemy, while those besides her joined in, their combined fire knocking their enemy from their feet. Desperately she looked around. Here too, the pod-mounted defence guns had been destroyed. The barrier that sealed this tunnel’s exit was gone too, cast aside like a child’s toy. The air was filled with the bitter scent of weapon discharge; while the lush, ankle-deep grass around them was blood soaked. Pieces of combatants and discarded weapons littered the landscape, along with the dead from both sides.

  The massive trees ahead of them stretched far overhead, shielding all below from the sun with their generous arms, spread wide as if they were either greeting the sun or looking down in dismay.

  Bullets tore at the side of the tunnel directly behind where Selena now lay and zinged inside.

  “Sorry…” came a human voice over the battlefield.

  “Prat!” came the reply from one of her troops.

  The Manta charged again and were beaten backwards by the rain of fire, dancing death jigs as the slugs shattered their carapaces. Soldiers fell around her, jerking, writhing and screaming in pain. Their cries and choking coughs from blood-filled throats were ignored, as their comrades knelt, took aim and returned fire.

  Grabbing a tracking grenade from her belt, Selena lobbed it towards them. The inertial guidance took over and the weapon, along with others, shot towards the Manta and exploded in their midst. The shrapnel scythed through them, and the explosion tossed the monstrous creatures aside like children’s toys. Smoke from the detonations added to the haze of battle, while the screams of the dead and dying tore at their hearts.

  “I can’t stand up,” someone said. “Why can’t I stand up?”

  “Because you’ve been shot, you twat,” Braxis replied.

  The Manta were caught in a crossfire and were being obliterated. Then Selena saw a familiar sight: one of the bugs had a long gore-dripping slash down one side of its face. Quickly she adjusted her hand-held to loud-speaker, and when she spoke, her voice cut through the din of battle.

  “This is Commander Selena Dillon of the Penal Corps. All sides cease fire. Cease fire, I say! Skar, I can see you. You know me, we have to stop this before it’s too late.” To her amazement, the gunfire fell silent. The huge Manta stopped and stood swaying, many with huge chunks missing from them. Both sides eyed the enemy, the Manta slavering as if anticipating the taste of human flesh.

  A lone Manta detached from its kin and strode towards her, tossing its weapons aside. The creature was at least nine feet tall, and had leather-like webbing across its chest that was festooned with weapons and insignia. Huge claw-like feet crushed the wounded as it made its way through the throng. That gaping wound from an old slash across its face dribbled horribly, and a change of wind brought the stench of decay from the wound. Of the six vermillion eyes that marched in pairs up towards the creature’s forehead she noted that now, besides the top two mechanical ones, a third from the middle row had also been replaced.

  “Hello Skar,” she said. For once Selena was relieved to see it…him…whatever, despite the fact the Manta strode towards her as if intent on tearing her to shreds. It paused suddenly, and a large glowing orange orb appeared over its shoulder and began to swirl.

  “Selena Dillon, you betrayed us!” A long, wheezy breath. “You destroyed our ships! My people are gone, dead. We are all that remain.”

  “For what it’s worth,” she replied, laying down her weapons and standing in turn, hands held up and wide. “I knew nothing of what happened. One of our people went mad with grief and acted alone. He has been punished. The Sken will bear witness.”

  Its breath whistling, as if in great pain, Skar regarded her, clenching and unclenching those long talons. “You expect us to believe?”

  “It’s true. As I said, ask the Sken. The one responsible for that act has been punished by death. Many of your kin have acted similarly in the past, and suffered the consequences. War is a terrible thing—it twists the mind.”

  “We will speak to the Sken, but for now let us go free of harm.”

  “I fully intend to.”

  From the corner of her eye Selena saw an officer she didn’t know stamping his way towards her from the human defences. It was a colonel. She held up one hand, palm towards him. “Stand fast, Sir. I have command here, Admiral Van Pluy’s orders.”

  “I’ve seen no such orders,” her fox-faced senior snapped.

  “Contact him, and he’ll confirm what I say.” She prayed he couldn’t get through, or that the admiral would give her a chance. “In the meantime, Sir, I ask that you stay back.” Dropping her hand, she turned to face Skar. “Let there be no more fighting, there should be peace between us. We wish to help. Where are you going?”

  “You must know I cannot tell you,” Skar replied.

  “In that case my soldiers and I will escort you as far as we can, to ensure your safety. I ask that you trust me on this, I pledge my life.”

  “We trusted you once before and look wha
t happened!” Skar appeared to grow in stature.

  “We can debate this all day and get nowhere,” She said, stepping forward and speaking quietly, so that only he could hear. “We obliterated Mantis and, in turn, you destroyed the Earth. Our races need to move on and work together, no matter how we feel about each other. We are as bad as each other, but the Lenars trust me and I’m asking that you do too.”

  The orb swirled silently for a few moments, then the other Manta slowly lowered their weapons.

  “Very well,” Skar said. “We will comply.”

  “All forces, lower your weapons!” Selena said, her voice magnified through the hand-held. She walked over and stood besides Skar, and gestured for the waiting colonel to approach.

  “Dillon.” Fox face’s lip curled as he joined them.

  “Colonel,” she said cheerfully, noticing how the cropped reddish hair complemented his exceptionally pointed nose. She bit back a snort. “Sir, I ask that you bear with me. I’m following orders from the Admiralty and have full authority here. As I’ve said, if you check with Admiral Van Pluy, I’m sure he’ll confirm it.” She waited as he stalked away a few paces and spoke quietly into his hand-held. He looked like he’d swallowed a spider as he made his way back.

  “Yes, Admiral Van Pluy confirms what you’ve said,” the colonel spat. “So, what are your intentions?”

  “Firstly, could you ask your men to move aside and allow this column through?”

  He harrumphed, gave her a look of pure poison, and gave the order.

  “Lead on,” she said to Skar.

  “So, you do intend coming with us?” Skar replied.

  “Indeed; like I said, we’ll escort you to safety. If anyone attacks you, they attack us both.”

  “I’m coming as well,” the colonel interrupted. “Along with fifty of my men.”

  “With respect Sir, that’s not going to happen. I cannot stop you personally, but I can your men.”

  “Really,” he sneered, “and how exactly do you intend to do that?”

  “As I see it, Colonel, your troops are a threat to the success of my mission, the survival of my men and our allies. I’ll shoot them myself, if I have to. This conversation is being recorded and is being broadcast live, incidentally. Now, there’ll be just my team; and you, if you insist.”

  Reddening, the Colonel began to bluster. “You’ll pay for this, Commander!”

  “Oh, I very much doubt it, Sir. Now, if we can proceed?”

  ***

  How Skar found his way through the forests, over the rivers and steaming swamps Selena had no idea. She had requisitioned Six skimmers from Eden’s defenders, and they rode silently besides the tall aliens. During their journey, some of the injured Manta simply sat down and died. When she asked Skar about this, and offered to help by getting them aboard the skimmers, he told her that they were a drain on his resources and had been released from the hive mind. Without that guidance, they simply sat down and waited to die. Selena pondered the question for a moment and broached the subject again later.

  “Tell me, what is the hive mind?”

  “Ah, an inquisitive human. Who controls who, you ask?” he replied in sibilant tones. “We have what you may call leaders, kings. They control all.”

  “Which makes you?”

  Skar swung his great head towards her, mechanical eyes whirring as they swivelled to look at her. “The last king.”

  “Now, why doesn’t that surprise me… So, where are your queens?”

  The orange orb above his shoulder swirled for a time. “We have no queens, only maidens.”

  “And they are?”

  “Dead.”

  “What, all of them?” Selena was shocked and sounded it, even to herself.

  Behind her in the skimmers Selena heard several subdued “Yay!”s’

  “Silence!” she snapped. “Or I’ll see to it that the next person to make such a comment receives another ten years added to their sentence.” A sullen silence answered her, but Kes slapped her on the shoulder for reassurance.

  With the skimmer floating over the grassland they were traversing, she said, “If all your maidens are dead, who’s going to create your eggs?”

  There was a slight pause, and then the orb glowed slightly brighter. “We will see.”

  “Don’t tell me, you have a hive somewhere – one with eggs.”

  The creature’s long strides didn’t falter but Scar’s head swivelled to face her. “You are astute. We haven’t been there in eons, but it is hoped that maidens will be hatched from the eggs that remain. It is a very old, abandoned nest. Now that you have these details, what will you do with them?”

  “Nothing,” Selena said, glancing sideways at the Colonel, warning him with her eyes to remain silent.

  ***

  By dawn on the third day, they reached an uncharted Rabbit Hole that appeared from the bole of a huge tree. Selena and the others dismounted the skimmers, and watched as lines of Manta marched two abreast into the luminescence of the tube without stopping. At the very last moment, Skar paused before stepping into the tunnel, and turned to face her.

  “Our races have both made mistakes. Neither are without blame. Should we meet again, let us hope that it is with more understanding and that there will be a long and lasting peace between us,” he said.

  It was one of the longest speeches she’d heard Skar make. “Indeed,” she replied. “We wish you well, and hope that the maidens you need will be born.”

  “Racial memory says the eggs were stashed as an emergency measure, before the nest was abandoned. Their exact location is hazy, it’s been so long that we will need to search. And even if we do find them, most will not hatch. If that happens, and there are no maidens, we are lost.”

  The gold and silver flecks amidst Skar’s green-black chitin glittered in the light from the setting sun and they took a moment to watch it together. It was a telling moment, as Selena wondered if that setting sun reflected either or both of their race’s futures. She also wondered whether the Sken, or even humanity itself, would forgive them for what had happened.

  “Look,” she said quietly, glancing behind to make sure the colonel was out of earshot. “I don’t trust that fellow. Is there any way you can destroy the tunnel behind you?”

  From amidst the trapping on its criss-crossed belts, Skar produced a milky foot-long egg-shaped object and showed it to Selena.

  “Already thought of that, huh?” she replied, eying the strange object. “Just one other thing. The Sken, do they watch us?”

  Skar didn’t answer but instead turned that huge, ponderous maw towards the trees. Selena followed his gaze and thought she saw, just for a moment, the fluttering of wings amidst the foliage.

  “They watch all of us,” Skar said finally, and without another word marched into the Rabbit Hole after the others.

  Selena found herself staring after the Manta, as they vanished in the downward curving tunnel. She noticed that the colonel had come up behind her and was now standing close by.

  “You were talking. What did it say?”

  A rueful smile twitched at Selena’s lips. “Oh, that we shouldn’t really hang around.”

  “And why is that?”

  “The tunnel’s going to blow any time now.”

  “What? You … you fool!” the colonel gasped, and raced towards the nearest skimmer, with Selena jogging behind him.

  Selena sounded an immediate evac’, as they both boarded the same craft. Braxis was driving, while Kes watched both Selena and the colonel carefully, as the other skimmers raced ahead.

  They were a few miles away when the detonation came. The ground shook, the trees danced and scattered leaves. A muffled rumble sounded for a few moments before fading away and then, once again, all was still.

  A sneer on his face the colonel jabbed a finger towards Selena. “You knew! We could have stopped them!”

  “Don’t point, Colonel, it’s rude. The last time anyone did that, I accidentally snapped
their finger. Why would we need to?” she asked. “They were our allies and we had no right to do that. Besides, they’ve gone now. Everyone’s safe, and surely that’s all that matters.”

  “My report will be on the admiral’s desk as soon as we get back. We’ll see what he has to say about this,” he grated.

  Kes raised a quizzical eye towards Selena and slipped his knife silently from its scabbard, but she shook her head. Killing the colonel wouldn’t help. What would be, would be. That particular Rabbit Hole was gone and they’d know it had been sabotaged, but there were others. A senior officer who’d accompanied their team, and who had mysteriously gone missing, would only complicate matters.

  They dropped the colonel off at base camp and re-entered the Rabbit Hole back to Loreen by foot. When arrived, they were faced with anxious guards and a sombre Admiral Van Pluy.

  He shook Selena’s hand. “Glad you made it back, Commander. Any later and you’d have missed the view.”

  The puzzled veterans left the cave and walked into the clearing in front of its entrance. Soldiers stood there, staring upwards, and when Selena raised her eyes, it was to see a fleet of Sken cellular ships sailing majestically past.

  “Nowhere near as many as before,” Van Pluy said, as the last of the swirling multi-coloured bubbles vanished into the darkness.

  “No,” Selena agreed. “and some of those ships don’t look quite right. Seems to me that in the long run, everyone lost.”

  Chapter Eleven

  As the Vampyre approached the city lights of Capulet, glittering like jewels in the nightscape, Shadow seemed unsettled.

  “What is it?” she asked.

  “My people, I can’t sense them. Something is wrong.”

  Her bond was strong with Shadow, and she could sense his emotions. He somehow spoke through them, and it was an odd but bizarrely natural way to communicate; one that Selena had never come across outside of his race.

  His concern grew as they landed. Rage. Selena felt a blinding fury grow within him, but before she could ask him about it Shadow bounded down the gangway as it was still extending from the ship. He leapt the last few feet and disappeared quickly through the crowds. She called after him, both verbally and emotionally, but he didn’t answer. Then she saw Jas making her way towards them, her face pale.