by Kira Wilson
=Not really. I could use a hand,= David replied, the thought strained.
Clyde quickly switched to Sergeant Doom and amped his launcher to full strength. It took a minute to burrow through the disruption around the stadium module, but he was able to open a gate-link. He stepped into the upper wings just as a spear streaked by. =I'm in,= he sent, charging down the stairs.
=Get to Thomas, on the field.= The pain in David's voice made Clyde wince. =They won't be able to hold if reinforcements keep coming through the gate.=
=You sound hurt.=
=I'm all right, just get to him!=
Clyde rolled his eyes. Heroes.
Nobody confronted him on the descent; most of the fighting was taking place on the play field. It looked like most of the Titan team was guarding the throng of survivors. One was a demonic looking magician; another was three feet tall but wielded a wicked pair of swords. Clyde shrugged; their avatars weren't any stranger than his own.
At the vanguard of the defenders, Thomas fought, surrounded by Anrathians. He swung a wide stroke, and the blade caught one of the attackers in the side. The man fell back with a scream, but his body disappeared before it hit the ground.
Clyde reached Thomas and blasted a pair of soldiers who had been trying to flank them. Startled by the explosion, Thomas whirled his sword around, missing Clyde by inches. "Whoa! Watch where you aim that thing, Lancelot."
Thomas paused briefly before launching back into his attacks. "What are you doing here?" he shouted over his shoulder.
"You think I don't keep tabs on everything that goes on in V-Net?" A warrior, looking no older than fifteen, made a clumsy dive at Clyde. He drove his meaty fist into the boy's nose. "Looks like someone forgot to lock the door behind him."
"Isn't that your area of expertise?" Thomas grunted. A soldier ducked under his swing and tried to tackle him. With surprising agility, he kneed his assailant in the stomach and bashed him in the side of the head with the hilt of his sword. "Have they harmed anyone?"
"It looked like Harris was bleeding. Everyone else just disappears the moment they get poked."
Thomas lowered his weapon, breathing hard. The enemy soldiers were pulling back, their ranks forming up for another charge.
A voice rang out across the field. "Be not dismayed, warriors of Ilinar. The time of our enemy's reign of terror is over. Charge forth and drive the spear of Siath's vengeance through their hearts!"
Clyde cast his gaze about, trying to find the speaker. "There," he said and pointed. An old man stood in the upper stands, clothed in flowing robes instead of battle gear. Just beside him shimmered the gateway portal. Clyde sneered. "Staying close to the exit so you can run if things turn ugly? You have so got to die."
He stepped several paces back as the Anrathians began their charge. "Keep them off me for a few seconds."
"What are you doing?"
Clyde didn't answer; it was time to use his dad's legacy. He accessed a secret archive and carefully extracted a file, loading it into his weapon. He fired off a quick scan of the target and adjusted the stored bio-print. His father hadn't left much behind after his execution, aside from the most deadly computer virus ever created.
Thomas held up against the renewed assault, his muscular build and the reach of his arm keeping Clyde from harm and distraction. The press continued, however, and shouts filled the air as the attack began to overwhelm the other Titans. Clyde knelt and put the aged leader in his sights. "Hey asshole, catch!"
The blast soared over the heads of the melee. The shouting figure didn't see it coming until it was too late. A detonation shook the stadium, and a shrill scream of agony rang out over the shockwave. A vortex of greenish energy surrounded the writhing shadow. Every Anrathian stood gaping in horror.
A flash lit the arena, and the man disappeared.
The invaders' courage broke, and they ran for the gateway. Clyde turned to survey the destruction. The air wavered at the far side of the stadium, and a squad of V-Cops dashed onto the scene. The front rank spotted him and drew their weapons.
Clyde idly rested the launcher against his shoulder. "Sorry, guys. You already missed the par—"
A D-pistol blast bounced off his shield. He jumped back in surprise. When did they elevate his status to "shoot on sight"?
Another shot skimmed his defenses, and Clyde swore. He opened an escape portal, growling under his breath as he plunged through. "Damn it, Harris! This is why you don't make me the hero."
Chapter 23
The silence after the fighting stopped did not last for long. Anxious murmurs broke out among the survivors, and the V-Cops began to circulate quickly, asking questions and taking statements. David stiffly made his way across the field, trying to escape the press of fearful people. Blood seeped through his shirt at the back, and Analara supported him as they walked.
"That was a very foolish thing to do," she told him.
David blinked at her. He had never heard her sound angry with him before. "They threw a spear at you," he protested. "I wasn't going to stand back and watch you die."
Analara swallowed, and David could see she was struggling to hold back tears. "But now you're hurt, and I can't do anything for you."
"Hey." David leaned against a wall and pulled her into a hug, wincing at the pain in his shoulder. Analara was trembling, still shaken from the attack. "Trust me, this isn't as serious as it would be in Analath. It just requires a different kind of healing than you're used to. It's not hard to learn."
Analara sniffed and wiped her eyes, but the tension seemed to be gone. David gave her a smile, which she returned tentatively.
They walked up the stairs to the first set of stands and watched the people bustling about on the field. Clean-up crews tried to get the stadium back into a reasonable state of order. V-Cops were questioning witnesses and putting together an account of what had happened. A few medical personnel had also logged in, and were dealing with some of the strange injuries from the attack.
David sighed as a team of newscasters appeared on the scene. They swarmed around Thomas and the other Titans, bombarding them with questions and lauding their bravery for defending against the unknown assailants. David found Thomas's sudden embarrassment highly amusing, until several reporters saw him. They crowded around like a pack of hyenas trying to get a piece of a newly discovered kill. He kept them away from Analara as best he could, and they finally backed off when an imposing looking V-Cop came over to stand near him.
A medical tech came to them shortly afterwards and bandaged David's shoulder. Analara looked on in obvious fascination as the repair cloth sealed up the injury. David tested his shoulder and felt a few twinges of pain. The damage had gone deeper than he'd thought possible inside the network.
The Anrathians can cause lasting injury in here. This is not good.
The V-Cop cleared his throat, and David looked up at him. "Good afternoon. I'm Lieutenant Charles Thompson with the 9th V-Squad. I need to ask you some questions about the disturbance. You're David Harris, Roger's boy, correct?"
A frown crossed David's face. "Stepson."
Charles ignored the comment and scanned down a sheet of notes. "Did you recognize or would you be able to identify any of the terrorists involved in the attack?"
Yeah, they were people from my girlfriend's village on an alien planet.
"No, officer. I don't know who they were."
"One of your known acquaintances, Clyde Verell, was seen during the attack. Could you shed any light on his participation?"
"Clyde answered my distress call and came to help defend against the assault. He was fighting on our side."
Charles's jaw went slightly rigid. "Of course." David knew that he hadn't believed a word of what he'd said. "If you have any more information to share, please contact our station and ask for me. Thank you for your cooperation."
David nodded. Charles left, and Thomas approached, a questioning look in his eyes. "I've got a little bit of a record with the V-Cops,"
David explained. "They're not exactly going to trust my account of things. Plus, well, Clyde is Clyde. They'll give him a merry chase for sure." He chuckled. "I never figured a superstar athlete like you would be shy of the cameras."
Thomas snorted and flopped into an empty seat. Between the rough game and the sudden attack, he looked worn out. "I think we have a very serious problem on our hands."
Sighing, David nodded. "At least Clyde managed to take out their leader. Hopefully that should buy us a little time before they can regroup."
Analara shook her head sadly. "This is only the beginning."
"What do you mean?" Thomas asked.
"Totarakh is bent on invading this world. The attack on the Holy City, whatever its cause, was the one thing that could have mobilized all of Analath to war."
"Just who is Totarakh?" David asked. "Rupu mentioned his name once that I recall."
Hatred burned in Analara's eyes, astounding David. "He who calls himself the High Priest of the Siathrak," she spat. "I had thought that they were the messengers of Siath, but he proved that their light was false."
"Then we definitely have a very serious problem on our hands." David rubbed his forehead, feeling a headache coming on. "I don't think I can seal the gateway by myself, and as long as the V-Cops are chasing Clyde, we're vulnerable to another attack."
"Why are they chasing Clyde?" Analara asked. "He seems like a helpful person."
David almost choked at that. "Let's just say Clyde has a very shaky relationship with the authorities of V-Net."
"Either way, I believe this situation has grown larger than we can handle," Thomas said.
Leaning back in the seat, David rubbed his face and groaned. "You're right. The V-Cops are going to need to know exactly what they're dealing with. The three of us can't fight off an invasion." He sighed reluctantly. "Looks like I get to have a rather uncomfortable conversation with my stepfather tomorrow."
***
The 9th V-Squad station was buzzing with activity the following morning. David wove around desks and dodged people as they scurried about. Footage from the stadium attack flickered across several screens, and analysts argued over images and evidence. He looked around helplessly and flagged down a passing V-Cop. "Excuse me, can you point me to Captain Smith?"
The man jerked his thumb over his shoulder. "His office is down the hall, kid." He started to walk past, then paused, frowning. "Hey, weren't you on the newscast yesterday?"
David suppressed a groan and hurried on. "That way, you said? Thanks." He glanced behind and was startled when he bumped into someone. Looking up, he saw that it was Roger.
There was more gray in his stepfather's hair than before, one or two more lines in his face, but everything else was the same as he remembered, from his clean-shaven face to his spotless uniform. David wasn't sure how to begin.
Roger glanced down at his watch. "Right on time." He cracked a dry half-smile. "For once. You said you had something you wanted to talk to me about, David?"
David cleared his throat and nodded.
"Follow me." Roger turned and led him down the hall to an office, closing the door once they entered. He sat down behind his desk, and David pulled up a chair. This seemed a lot like a trip to the principal's office.
"So, how's Mom?"
"Upset that you didn't call her back last night. She saw you on the newscast and wanted to make sure you were all right."
David winced. He had stayed up late while trying to give Analara a crash course in human history, and by the time he had noticed the call, it had been too late to respond. "Yeah, I'll give her a ring later," he said guiltily. How Roger managed to make him feel like a naughty child, he couldn't understand.
Roger nodded his acceptance. "You were at the stadium during the attack. Are you all right?"
"Minor injury, but I've had worse." David steeled himself. "To be honest, what happened at the stadium is why I came."
Roger lifted an eyebrow in surprise. "What do you mean?"
"I know who is responsible."
"I've had the whole station working all night trying to discover the identities of the attackers." His brow furrowed. "Would you care to tell me exactly how you've discovered what we haven't?"
David felt his hackles rise at the note of accusation. He leaned forward with an angry frown. "Despite your implications, I came here as a courtesy. I thought you might like to know what you're dealing with before something like this happens again."
"Fair enough. Though you didn't answer my question."
Sighing, David sat back in his seat. He rubbed his hand across his forehead, trying to figure out how to explain things. "Did Lucas ever mention anything about a module I found a month or so ago?"
"Yeah, that sounds familiar."
Okay, that's a start. "The men who attacked the stadium came from that module. Sort of." David paused. "Well, what I found wasn't exactly a module."
Roger frowned at him. "I'm not sure I follow."
David groaned in frustration. He stood up and began pacing across the office floor.
"This shouldn't be that hard, David. Just tell me. What do you know about the attackers?"
"All right. The men that attacked the stadium are fr—"
"Hey, captain," a voice shouted an instant before the office door opened. An officer dashed in, a disc clutched in his hand. "We just got the enhanced vid stream from VERA. You're not gonna believe this stuff."
"Eddie, that's fine. Just put that on my desk for—"
"Sir, you've really gotta see this." Eddie moved around the desk and slipped the disc into Roger's terminal. Roger tossed David an apologetic grimace as Eddie pointed excitedly at the screen. "See, captain? Look at their get-ups. And their weapons. VERA ran a deep analysis on one of those spears, and they don't match any known configuration in the network."
David curled his hands into fists. If this babbling idiot would shut up, he could explain why all of these things were like that.
"At least two hundred men took part in the attack, but we haven't been able to identify a single one. We've checked the criminal archives, known hacker list, hell, every database we have. We can't I.D. any of them."
David rolled his eyes. "That's because they're not human."
The statement brought Eddie's talking to a halt. The officer stared at David as if he'd sprouted a second head, and Roger's expression wasn't much different.
David shrugged. "You wanted the truth. There it is."
"Is this some kind of joke, kid?" Eddie scoffed.
"I wish it was that simple. They come from a planet called Analath." David drew a deep breath and looked straight at Roger. "About a month ago, I opened a gate inside V-Net. I was trying to find a module I'd stumbled into. The gate turned out to be a direct link to their world, and I've been visiting it regularly since then. A couple weeks ago, something…" The words caught in his throat, and his mind raced for a way to distill things into a simple form. "There was a misunderstanding." He sighed. "I think I may have inadvertently started a war."
Roger kept his gaze on David, his expression unreadable, but Eddie doubled over with laughter. "Get a load of this kid! Been hitting the sci-fi mods a little too hard?"
David ground his teeth. "This is not a joke!"
Eddie's laughter slowly quieted. "Yeah, you're right. This is a serious investigation. Take your little fantasies and get lost, kid."
"Oh yeah, real serious," David snapped. "Two hundred men completely unaccounted for? Please. Did you have to study to be this clueless, or does it come naturally?" Eddie glared daggers at him as he turned back to Roger. "I have proof. I know where the gateway is, and I need help to close it before any more of them—"
Roger cut him off with an outstretched hand. "All right, David, calm down." He steepled his fingers together in thought. "If you have proof, send it to me. I will take a look at it and consider the options."
David pressed his palms over his eyes and groaned. "They are going to launch another attack
, and soon, unless we stop them."
"Yeah, right. Did a little pixie tell you that too?" Eddie retorted.
"Eddie, that's enough," Roger said. "Get back to your station. I'll look at the images once I'm finished."
Eddie did as he was told, glaring as he left. David's cheeks burned with embarrassment, and hearing Roger sigh only made things worse. "You don't really have any intention of looking into this, do you?"
"David, cut me some slack. This information is outlandish at best. I've never known you to lie, but that is the only reason I'm even giving this the time of day."
"So you think I'm crazy?"
"I didn't say that either." Roger sounded annoyed. "In truth, I don't know what to think. The whole situation is just…"
He cast about for the right words, and David couldn't stop himself. "Out of this world?" With a sigh, he turned to the door. "I'll send you the data. Do with it what you will."
Roger looked unhappy to leave things as they were, but there was nothing further to discuss. Things just weren't ever going to be right between the two of them. They shook hands very formally, and David left the office.
Eddie was out front, whispering to several other V-Cops. The entire station erupted with laughter as David headed for the front door, taunts and catcalls pursuing him into the street.
Chapter 24
The morning sunlight streamed through the window, warm and bright, and Analara let it fall on her face. Her second night on Phoenix had been as difficult as the first. She stared up into the blue sky, and her heart wandered. She was trapped inside a stranger's body, adrift in a stranger's life, and her home and everyone she knew was lost to her.
A soft knock on the door made her sit up. Jessica's mother stood in the doorway, smiling at her. "Good morning, dear. Sleeping late today?"
Analara stared at her, heart pounding uncomfortably, unsure of what to say.
"Thomas is here to see you. You two make such a nice couple."