Defying The Alliance: INFERNO (Novokin Alliance Invasion 2)

by Bobbi Ross

  A deafening crash echoed from the hall. Plasma beams cut the metal door frame to shreds. Death knells cut through the sterilized air. His new friends? Caspia? Or Novokin guards?

  Scooping the little youngling up in his arms, he utilized his fantastic speed and all his ferocity to hustle all the younglings to the far corner of the room. He shielded them with his body. Just as the telltale green energy discharges, signatures of Novokin plasma rifles, swept through the room.

  Two Novokin guards were the first through the decimated doors. His valiant captain and her crew pushed them back. When the guards spotted Trex, they took aim and fired at him with total disregard of the younglings he protected. Unfortunately, he’d laid his weapons down to talk with Mapril. They closed on him. Supercharged green bolts of fire tore into the exposed flesh of his back. Tiny mouths screamed in fear.

  “You cowards, craokecks! Stop firing! These are your young ones,” he howled and winced at the barrage of close quarter shots. They couldn't cause him any permanent damage, but it felt like he was being attacked by a nest of angry Toolarian hornets. His body absorbed most of the blasts. Small pieces of debris shot through the room from stray explosions ricocheting off the decimated furniture. Several of the younglings cried out in pain as small pieces of the debris bit and cut into their soft skin. Most whimpered, huddled in together behind his massive frame. Brave little souls. Several, held onto him for all they were worth.

  A few minutes later, the small cadre of Novokin guards at his back ceased fire. A voice that was new to his ears and yet as familiar to his heart as his own name called out to him. "Trex, come on we have to leave now."

  He stood unable to move. Joints aching from the overload of energy he'd absorbed and had yet to discharge. Small lilac hands reached out and gave him pause. "I will never forget you Marr-Marr man."

  Returning to his knees he cupped the youngling’s face with one hand. "No Mapril, remember your Marr-Marr. Remember how she was kind to you, and that she loved you. And when you think of this day, remember," he pointed at the guards still on the ground, currently being liberated of their rifles. He made sure to first catch the eyes of every youngling there, before he finished. "Remember that they fired on you."

  A warm, familiar touch on his shoulder told him it was time to go.

  Chapter 8

  "The assassins have reached the city! Keep firing!" The sturdy female yelled. Her well-worn, gray dress denoted of someone that lived off a land that wasn't always kind. She pointed to a low wall where several aliens had taken cover. The asteroid wasn't much, but it had been their parent's parent's home.

  Three of their males who had not yet succumbed to the weakness of the Rendalt fever held plasma drills at chest level. The orange discharge of the makeshift weapons was impossible to aim. But none of the invaders would dare risk losing life or limb to the super-heated arcs of energy.

  Nomarx and his wife Katlen alternated between laying down a defensive fire line, and making sure the antique weapons didn't overload. Weapons may have been a bit of an overstatement, but they were miners. If not drills what else would they use.

  He yelled to her, over the loud pulse of his drill. "D'ya think it might be true what they say, that they'a actually here to help us?"

  His wife scowled at him. "You saw the vids same as I, you think anyone who'da masacare the prime minister an everyone o'da on ship with him da gonna take time to help some out-of-the-way miners by bringing ‘em med supplies?" She grabbed her husband's coat by the sleeve and yanked down hard.

  An energy beam struck the high corner of the stone building they were hiding behind. A fine mist of dust and debris rained down upon them.

  Katlen, the default leader, attempted to rally the remaining miners. "There's only a dozen of us left even strong enough da wield the fool drills. We just ‘ave to keep'am away from ‘r wounded," her bright eyes fixed on her husband, but her soul ached for her sick child. "Away from ‘r Edsmond."

  Courage bolstered by the name of his child, he broke cover and ran at the intruders.

  "Don't be a darn'a fool Nomarx!" his wife called after him.

  Several blasts erupted from the gang of marauders. The ground surrounding her husband's feet exploded. Several beams shot wide over his head. Katlen's screams of colorful profanities at him, as much as for him, went unheard amongst the chaos.

  "This is insane, we're here to bring you med supplies for the xenovirus. Stop shooting at us!" The short female marauder barked.

  "What fools these pirates think'a we? Just because we been'a neglected by the Novokin Alliance, left da die, they think we’ll roll on ‘r backs and show them ‘r bellies." Katlen recharged her own plasma drill then shouted to her remaining friends and neighbors. "’R people have worked dis mine for many generations. Most of you were born here, and yes we'a dying here. But not today. And not by their hands!"

  The miners cheered in unison. They raised their plasma drills in defiance at the intruders.

  Chapter 9

  He watched Caspia’s voluptuous body coil then dodge another powerful plasma blast from a miner's drill. A sliver of her long dark hair singed. Dirt and debris launched skyward from a second attack and cloaked her from his view. The world around him ceased to exist save for the frantic pounding in his chest.

  "This is praking ridiculous,” she angry whispered to Lieutenant Cobbs and time once again continued to tick forward. His world was whole once more.

  “The Novokin Alliance has neglected these people. They're allowing them to die. Yet the miners still believe the skeck the military and the news outlets concocted about us and posted on the vid channels." She yelled louder this time, ducking the lieutenant’s head down as his attention wavered. The potshots the miners were taking were getting closer to their position.

  She was a good and honorable captain always placing her crew’s needs before her own. He feared that one day this will lead to her downfall. The flitting thought of her not being in this life with him caused him actual, physical pain. He would not let that happen. Not so long as he drew breath.

  His gut screamed at him to grab her and carry her back to the safety of the ship’s hull. But he didn’t think she would forgive him this time. A twinge in his jaw reminded him of the training room, and that his little Captain had a bite.

  Though he relished the fire blazing in her big brown eyes, he would not risk losing her from his life. Her fiery spirit and strength is what had jostled his lost soul back onto an honorable path. For the first time since the destruction of his people he was able to see beyond his own all consuming need for vengeance.

  He was the last Othmarvian and legitimate heir to the throne. He was the one to avenge them all. Four trillion souls called out to him every time he shut his eyes. Completing his blood debt would earn his people the peace they so craved. But not before he ensured her safety first. A primal yearning to protect her ignited a fire in his dark, cold heart.

  "– Cough - Where are they keeping the infected anyway - cough –?" Her gasping for air interrupted his musings. His little Captain was choking from the acrid dust of the planet’s disturbed surface. The sexy way she wore her hair, that he had learned was oddly in tribute to a horse’s hindquarters was ash white from the dust cloud.

  Lieutenant Cobbs took aim at some foolhardy colonist who charged our position. Several blasts from the crew in front and above him sent the would-be hero skittering back for cover. Trex returned his attention back to his captain.

  A sudden urge to pummel the other male befell him. The lieutenant stood too close to Caspia. A fierce possessiveness stirred inside him.

  "The ship's scanner detected a large number of life-signs inside the makeshift infirmary. It's the large green building just down the street. Captain look, up at the window."

  The lieutenant’s finger aimed at the third story of a roughly constructed concrete dwelling. The type the miners of this world seemed to favor.

  Trex could make out a small youngling. The male youngling pee
ked out from behind heavy, sun-bleached, green curtains. He held a vid camera in his small hand. A hand that was spider-webbed with nasty greenish-black tendrils. The telltale sign of the xenovirus infection that raged in his body. They snaked up his arm and into the sleeve of his shirt. Only to reemerge even angrier on his neck and the right side of his face. The tendrils appeared to splice in and out of his skin. Each of the areas of entry were raw and puckered.

  When the boy realized he had been spotted, he dropped to the ground and pulled the shabby curtain over his head.

  Trex’s gaze slipped back to Caspia. She smiled. Warmth and light radiated from her beautiful face obscuring even the sun. Heat filled the cold emptiness of his heart and rushed further low agitating his manhood.

  "If we can get to him before the fever takes him, and prove that we're here to help, then–." Another stream of energy erupting from a miner's old drill cut off Caspia's directive to her lieutenant. A small rock flew into the air, slicing into her cheek. Red began to trickle down her perfect face.

  A feral need to kill blurred Trex’s vision and warred with his need to fulfill her desire. A deep guttural howl tore from his chest, causing the firing on both sides to stop. He uncoiled from his position behind the rubble. Miners and crew mates froze with mouths agape taking in his massive form. He would not allow this charade of fools to put her life at risk anymore. She was wounded. Under his watch. Unacceptable. Allowing his full rage to spill over to his eyes he shouted at his own crew mates, "We're here to save these people and they are treating us like criminals!" Then he spun to face the miners, "We both are victims of the Alliance, but this ends now!"

  Caspia reached out to him. "Wait! Don't –," she commanded. The fire in her eyes would’ve scorched any other to the ground. But not him. His love for her burned hotter than her anger. His love?

  “I ask your forgiveness for what I’m about to do my Captain.” He spun on his heels, not waiting for her response.

  Angling his gaze skyward, he fixed it on the small infected youngling in the window. Casting his rifle aside he began to run toward the building the male youngling was in. Several miners took aim at him. He screamed in gut wrenching agony as he absorbed the high density plasma blast, but didn’t slow. If anything, it fueled his intent, his need to protect her.

  Nothing would stand in his way. Not even the stone wall of the domicile that housed the youngling.

  CRASH!

  A large, ragged hole the size of his body now gutted the wall. A shriek of utter despair cut through the mid-morning skirmish. An infected female ran into the middle of the street. She stopped to stare up at the window where the youngling was standing mere moments ago. Two more miners appeared, and fought to pull her back to cover. The female, the youngling’s mother refused to budge. She cried, "Edsmond! Edsmond!"

  The window where the youngling had been standing moments ago shattered outward. Trex now stood at the gaping hole, holding a small male by the arm with one of the hypo-injectors to his neck. "Stand down people of Kalemta."

  The mother wailed again, but dropped to her knees. "Please!" She cried through desperate streams of tears, "Please don't hurt him, he's only a boy! Take me instead!" One of the men who had tried to pull her back shook with rage for a moment, but then let his head and his weapon drop alike.

  The youngling’s body was feeble and spent from his losing battle with the attacking xenovirus. He only managed to lift his head and cast a hollow stare at Trex. The Othmarvian felt for the youngling. He pushed the injector into the young male’s neck and pulled the trigger.

  "No! My son!" Before the mother’s soul wrenching scream died, the parasite began to recede. It disentangled from the youngling's arm, neck and face. The thing shriveled and cracked until it dried up and fell from the now listless child. The mother still on her knees, wept and reached up for her baby.

  Trex cradled the child in his arms, and then launched himself into the air from the third floor of the dwelling. The ground quaked and split when he landed with a loud thud in front of the mother. He knelt and offered her the youngling.

  "Mom?" The youngling reached a hand up to wipe away his mother's tears. His small, delicate hand smeared the salty water through the layers of dust on her face. The rest of the miners finally emerged. Each dropped their weapons and hurried over to see the miracle. They surrounded the giant man. They rushed to him falling over themselves to touch him and beg his forgiveness.

  Trex stood taller than the crowd his eyes searching for her. He wanted to make sure she was safe. He spotted her ordering her crew out into the open from their positions of cover. Her face unreadable. He wondered for a moment if she’d be angry with him. He didn’t like it when she was mad at him. But he had no choice. He had to. No, needed to keep her safe. He shook his head at the crowd of miners gathering around him and pointed to Caspia. "She is the reason we are here to help you."

  Chapter 10

  Contrary to the miners’ initial hostile and plasma-filled welcome, their goodbye was heartwarming and gracious. They showered us with many thanks for our help. They shook our hands, patted us on the back and apologized for trying to kill us. They even shared their meager supply of food with us.

  Most of their people had succumbed to the disease. What little patches of land they harvested went mostly unattended. Their so-called feast wasn’t much. But it beat the prak out of the ship’s rations any day of the week and more than satisfied our bellies.

  Content grins spread around the round lunch table. Anya and Katlen sat across from me with my second in command and cooed over my soon-to-be godchildren. Jaxx caressed his two bellies with both hands in circular motions. His light green, half closed eyelids and the light pull of the corners of his mouth betrayed his contentment. I loved seeing him like that. He deserved to be somewhere on a planet’s surface. Safe, relaxed and rooted to the ground, able to enjoy his pregnancy. To prepare his body and mind for the birth of his budlings. I wished I could make that happen for him. But he refused to leave the ship, to leave my side. He’d been a true and loyal friend since we met at the Academy.

  I watched him as his lips suddenly pursed. His eyes shot sidelong furtive glances before he lifted his large body off the chair and waddled away from the two women. A few seconds later Anya’s and Katlen’s noses wrinkled up in disgust. Their faces twin scowls before their eyes started to water. They both hurled accusatory looks at one another. Then they jumped on their feet and ran in opposite directions. Jaxx’s silent but deadly odorous side effect of his pregnancy had struck again. Unfortunately, it came with delayed olfactory recognition for any non-Floturans in the vicinity. I lifted my hand to cover the chuckle that slipped my lips.

  ****

  Later that afternoon we were able to pull ourselves from Katlen and her people and return to our home, the Razor. None the worse for wear and graced with forty seven kilamounds of Dymatherlorium ore as a farewell gift by the miners. Ore that we could refine into fuel for the ship. Anya went tipsy with joy. She actually hugged and kissed the miners carrying the precious ore. For her troubles, she received several marriage proposals and an impromptu love poem.

  She hopped like a busy tigernutbee around the cargo bay with more energy than I’d ever seen her exhibit. She flitted between directing anyone with two good hands and a strong back where to stack her precious ore and instructing her new engineering staff on how to prep it for storage. Her sharp eye caught me watching her. She strolled in my direction.

  “Hey Anya, you seem happy,” I remarked.

  “Are you kidding Captain? I’m more than happy. I’m ecstatic! Thanks to the new upgrades my crew was able to make due to our recently procured equipment, courtesy of the Novokin Alliance and the traitorous Ruten Flores, the miners’ generous gift will increase the power of our weapons’ array by tenfold. We’re finally ready to kick some purple ass.”

  “Excellent news! Maybe I should give you that kiss now?”

  “ehh Captain,” she waved me off, too happy to even ve
rbally spar with me, gliding away to resume her job.

  A waddling, pregnant male approached me next. A pensive look filled his usual jovial expression. Something bothered my hormonal friend and I was going to find out soon enough. My only wish that he'd spare me the waterworks. “What’s up Jaxx?”

  My non-hugging, no-touchy first officer took my hand in his. He laid his the other hand on top of mine and stroked it. For a short second I thought either someone died or he was going to propose to me. My shoulders tensed, my body stiffened and my olfactory senses prepared for a swift retreat.

  “Captain you know it’s fine by me and the rest of the crew.”

  “What on New Astoria are you talking about?” I snapped.

  His gaze was tender and sympathetic. “You deserve to be happy you know.”

  Oh, no he was proposing. I blinked a few times, speechless. This pregnancy was doing a number on his sanity as well as mine. I wanted my friend back.

  He looked sideways and inclined his head in Trex’s direction. “We all know how you feel for each other.”

  No, he’d gone completely bananas. “What are you referring to Commander?”

  “As your Second in Command, and as your friend, I’m telling you that it's okay to act on your feelings for the golden lunk across the room.”

  “There is nothing between Trex and I. What are you blubbering about?” I protested.

  “We all see how you look at each other. Today the poor barbarian went berserk when your cheek got sliced by the miners’ shrapnel.”

  “I’m the Captain, Jaxx. I'm telling you there isn't something between us. Even if there was something between us, I could never endanger my crew’s safety by pursuing a relationship with someone under my command. Or any male for that matter.”