Horizon Down (Galaxy Mavericks Book 9)

by Michael La Ronn

  “Perfect,” Florian said. “We've only got small satellite offices there. Those planets aren't terribly important. If we wipe out Gargantua’s health system, that will be a killer blow.”

  Tatiana gulped. “But…but what if all of this backfires on us?”

  “It won't,” Florian said. “There are plenty of doctors and nurses in the galaxy, trust me.”

  Tatiana said nothing.

  Florian ignored her.

  “Onward,” he said.

  33

  Ren snuck into a holding cell where the Puente family sat, chained to chairs against the wall. The room was dark, with only orange lines glowing in the metal walls. The family was sullen.

  Ren shut the door behind her and it closed with a soft click.

  She stood before them, her hood draped across her eyes.

  She said nothing.

  “What do you want with us?” a woman asked. She was beautiful, with caramel skin and curly hair. A toddler was chained next to her. The child cowered away at the sight of Ren.

  Still, Ren said nothing.

  An elderly woman in a black dress said something in Spanish.

  The middle-aged couple, who sat in the corner, responded to her.

  “What do you want?” the husband asked.

  Ren wanted to say something.

  She wanted to act.

  Free them. Free them. Free them. Free them!

  But her feet wouldn't move. Her hands wouldn't move.

  Where would they go? They were stuck in space, and there was nothing anyone could do about it.

  She'd made a mistake in coming to see them.

  Now she'd have to get the image of their destitute faces out of her mind. Their sweat-caked, sullen faces…

  “You going to kill us?” the man asked. “Come on, go ahead. Órale.”

  But Ren turned away and left them. She shut the door behind her, locking the family back into darkness.

  She started down the hallway, and then she stopped, turn around, and rushed back.

  34

  “Approaching the danger zone of Altaecia,” the pilot said as the corporate airship jumped out of hyperspace.

  Florian sighed. It felt good to be back in regular space. Altaecia was a white star in the distance, a glimmering speck upon which his entire fate rested.

  “Release the Planet Eaters,” Florian said.

  The silver ball flew forward from the belly of the spaceship. It opened, and the Planet Eaters swirled out. They swallowed the ship, sucking it down the long, lilting way to the netherscape.

  The smooth surface of Kepler lay below. In the negative light, Florian was starting to tell the difference between Kepler and Refugio.

  The ship drifted downward.

  But then, something sucked the ship upward.

  “What the hell?” Florian asked.

  The ship faced upward, as if it were being sucked through a straw. The ship floated skyward.

  “This hasn't happened before,” the pilot said.

  A gray ink blot struck the window, landing on it like a vicious spider.

  It was one of the gray figures.

  Florian jumped.

  He whipped out his tablet.

  “What the hell is going on?” he asked via the app.

  The gray figure’s ink blots transformed rapidly, conveying a message.

  This is not the star we want.

  We want the star littered with human desire.

  “What the hell are you talking about?” Florian asked. “You asked for a star, and you got one. Do you have any idea what I had to go through to get you this?”

  Man with the dark heart: you are nearly upon the darkness. We do not steer you wrong.

  “I have plans of my own,” Florian said.

  Your plans will become ours.

  The ship slid toward a giant, sucking mouth. Inside was a swirling white stitch of light.

  MAWRHG!

  “Damn it,” Florian said.

  “They're spitting us out?” Huxley said.

  “Grab onto something,” Florian said

  White light blinded him and he yelled as the ship sailed into the giant mouth.

  The ship rolled several times and when the light faded, they were among stars.

  “Where are we?” Florian asked.

  Tatiana ran to the star map. When she realized where they were, her face turned pale.

  “What is it?” Florian asked.

  The lights on the ship cut off and everyone went weightless.

  “The hell?” Florian asked.

  Something struck the ship.

  Again.

  And again.

  The windshield crowded with dozens of eyes.

  Red eyes.

  “You betraying, stupid—”

  “They're attacking the airlock!” Huxley said.

  Florian cursed.

  He had to get to the spacesuits.

  He swam, hardly able to move. He bumped into Tatiana and threw her aside.

  “Boss, it's no use,” Huxley said.

  Florian pushed him aside, used a railing to kick himself into the long corridor hallway that led to the bridge.

  “This isn't going to happen,” he said, drifting into the airlock. A line of spacesuits hung on the wall. “You're not going to hoodwink me!”

  He reached for a suit.

  Something rocked the ship again, and everything turned upside down.

  His fingers were nearly upon the suit’s fabric when he found himself falling backward.

  CLANG!

  He bounced off a metal wall. Hard.

  The spacesuits might as well have been miles away. He regained his breath, pushed off the wall, and launched himself toward the suits again.

  The ship twisted and he struck the ceiling.

  “Gaaaah!” he said.

  And then a screaming sound ripped through the airlock.

  The doorway.

  It was crumpling.

  “They're almost in!” Huxley said, swimming into the airlock. Tatiana followed.

  “You're not going to believe this,” she said.

  “I'm busy right now!” Florian screamed, making another leap at the suits.

  “Florian,” Tatiana said sternly. “We’re just outside the danger zone for Regina VII. Our sun.”

  Florian’s eyes widened.

  And then he heard another screaming sound.

  And a pop.

  He heard nothing, saw nothing.

  He was blown out into the vacuum of space, into the warm mouths of the Planet Eaters.

  35

  Eddie grew impatient as he listened to Miller command the radio.

  “Listen, pal, I really appreciate this,” Miller said. “I really do.”

  Eddie glanced out at the stars. He hated not being in hyperspace. Even though there were no enemy ships, one might appear at any time. Made him nervous.

  Miller disconnected from the radio.

  “Well, good news and bad news,” he said.

  Eddie groaned.

  “Good news is that my guys did figure out where Florian was headed.”

  “Awesome!” Michiko said. Then she frowned. “But what's the bad news?”

  “Turns out they observed him heading toward what appeared to be Cryovox,” Miller said, pointing to the star map.

  Devika manipulated the map and brought up a solar system where the purplish planet rotated, along with Gargantua, slightly bigger with a golden atmosphere.

  “That means they're after Altaecia,” Devika said. “Makes sense.”

  Michiko gulped. “If the Planet Eaters eat the star, that will kill all life in that solar system.”

  Eddie whistled. “Yikes.”

  “Yikes is right,” Miller said. “But here's the bad news. Doesn't look like Altaecia is in danger. Officer I just spoke to says the ship disappeared just outside the danger zone of the star.”

  “Could the radiation have obscured the communication?” Devika asked.

&nbs
p; “That was my first thought,” Miller said. “But get this: apparently, they're picking up the exact same signature near Regina VII now.”

  “That has to be a mistake,” Keltie said.

  Eddie tightened his grip on the joystick.

  “Regina VII,” he said. “That's my star. The Garbage Star.”

  “Our tracking devices don't make mistakes,” Miller said. “They're ninety-nine percent certain it's the same ship.”

  “But Altaecia and Regina VII are light years apart, to say the least,” Eddie said.

  “We've got to get to Regina VII,” Miller said. “If we go there, we find Florian.”

  Eddie wanted to punch Florian. He couldn't imagine the star that saved his family being destroyed. No, la estrella de la vida had to be protected. Papa Ito would have wanted that.

  He cringed when he imagined the millions of people that would die if the star was extinguished. Planets would wander away. Provenance. Reader IV. The very seat of the Rah Galaxy, gone.

  “Setting course for Regina VII,” Eddie said, firing up the jump core.

  36

  Florian woke up lying face first in dust.

  He coughed. His entire body felt like it was hit by a spaceship. Every bone ached.

  He looked up.

  He was in the netherscape.

  High in the sky, the sucking mouths roared.

  “Aaagh,” he said.

  Those damn Planet Eaters!

  He stood, and looked around.

  Tatiana and Huxley lie next him, groaning. The rest of the crew was littered around, unconscious.

  “Wake up!” Florian cried.

  Tatiana rubbed her eyes. Her glasses were broken and her face was covered in scratches.

  He helped her up.

  “You all right, Tati?” he asked.

  “Aside from being nearly blind, I'm fine.”

  Florian squinted and look around. There was nothing—just the bleak, negative landscape. It was a long way up to the mouths, and the spaceship was gone.

  A gray ink figure appeared in the sky, as a giant wheel tumbling toward him. It touched down on the ground, taking on a human shape that towered several feet over Florian.

  Florian reached for his tablet, but it was gone.

  He couldn't communicate.

  Florian, Tatiana, and Huxley stepped back.

  The ink blots in the gray figure churned rapidly.

  “Wish we knew what he was saying,” Hux said.

  “I don't need a translator to speak the language of betrayal,” Florian said.

  Suddenly, the ink blot turned red.

  Florian jumped out of the way as the gray figure speared an arm into both Tatiana and Hux.

  The two screamed and writhed in pain as the figure surrounded them, devouring them in darkness.

  Florian heard screams and bones cracking. Then he saw their bodies drop to the ground, lifeless and covered in shadow.

  “No!” he cried.

  Planet Eaters emerged from the ground and swarmed their bodies.

  Florian wanted to look away, but he couldn't. He watched the Planet Eaters feed on Huxley and Tatiana like maggots.

  But their bodies weren't being consumed. They weren't disappearing.

  Despite the Planet Eaters eating them, their bodies remained…the same. It was as if the aliens were eating everything and nothing at the same time.

  Then the aliens disappeared in a flash.

  The gray figure advanced. Florian stepped back.

  And then…

  Tatiana raised her hand.

  Huxley’s leg twitched.

  “Guys,” Florian asked. “You're alive?”

  And then they lifted their heads.

  Their eyes were black wisps of smoke.

  “Hux, Tati,” Florian said. “What the hell?”

  But the two said nothing. They looked at each other. Then they sprang at Florian, grabbing his arms.

  He yelled, told them to stop.

  The gray figure speared his chest, and he felt the force of a thousand tons crushing him.

  He opened his mouth to scream, but darkness consumed him.

  The Planet Eaters swarmed the inside of the corporate airship, which floated in space like a dried out husk

  But they did not eat.

  They did not devour.

  They flew into the bridge, their red eyes glowing in the darkness.

  The lights of the instrument panel were off.

  The room was quiet.

  The aliens gathered into a giant cloud. Then they heaved.

  Again.

  Again.

  MAWRHG!

  “Aaaaah!”

  Thud.

  A human squirmed on the floor. He wore a black suit and looked dazed.

  The aliens swirled around him, pulled him up.

  The man’s eyes were dark wisps. Immediately, he understood what to do.

  He took the joystick as the power turned on. He turned on the engine and blasted forward into hyperspace.

  The computer intercom chimed.

  “Attention: approaching a star. Radiation levels are growing. Please turn back.”

  But the man grinned evilly and increased the ship’s speed.

  “Attention: radiation levels are not safe.”

  Silence.

  Time crawled by.

  Minutes.

  Hours.

  Just silence, hyperspace, the man staring lifelessly ahead, the Planet Eaters floating behind him.

  “Attention: ship will lose core functionality in approximately two minutes. Threat to human life imminent.”

  The man kept his course. Then he cut the engine and emerged from hyperspace.

  He immediately screamed.

  Brightness consumed the ship. And heat.

  The man fell to the floor, clutching his face.

  He was melting.

  Melting into a hot, toxic puddle. Radiation burns tore across his face. He slumped as his organs stopped working. Something inside of him exploded.

  Soon, little remained.

  The ship broke apart. The windows broke clean down the middle, and the ship's walls floated away.

  The Planet Eaters drifted out, toward the massive, enormous burning surface of Regina VII. Planet-size flares erupted across the planet.

  The red giant was indeed red, and giant. The remains of the spaceship floated toward the surface.

  The Planet Eaters zoomed for the sun, unaffected by the heat and radiation.

  They began to split off from each other and multiply.

  They plunged toward the surface and began devouring Regina VII.

  Florian couldn't stop screaming. The Planet Eaters chewed on every part of his body.

  The pain was agonizing.

  Slowly, he was losing control. He couldn't fight them. He couldn't…

  Every ounce of his body wanted to fight back, raise an arm, a leg…

  But all he could do was watch as the aliens devoured his insides.

  He willed evil thoughts at the aliens.

  You bastards. You're going to fucking pay for this.

  And then…

  Against his will…

  His hand moved.

  A finger twitched. His back spasmed.

  He watched himself stand. But he was no longer in control.

  He stood and began to walk across the landscape with Huxley and Tatiana.

  No!

  They walked toward a large settlement of buildings in the distance. Its curve shone brightly.

  “I am the man with the dark heart,” his body said.

  It wasn't supposed to be like this!

  “My heart was not dark before.”

  Bullshit!

  “But it is now.”

  He reached inside his shirt pocket and ate some cashews, chewing them hard.

  He could only watch now as his body moved of its own accord, and he screamed inside his own mind as he felt his last shreds of humanity withering.

  His aunt
.

  He thought of his aunt.

  He'd abandoned her.

  He'd left her to die alone.

  And for what?

  His heart hurt.

  What had he done?

  God, he was monster!

  He…

  He wanted to cry, wanted to rocket energy into his limbs and take control…

  But the darkness crowded his mind and he could not think anymore.

  And then he screamed again, gave in to the darkness, and let it consume every part of him.

  37

  “Who are you, and why are you doing this?” Delfino Puente asked.

  Ren hurried them through the quiet hallways of the Zachary cruiser, toward the escape pod chambers.

  “Just be quiet and come with me,” she said.

  The family followed her nervously, not quite sure what to expect.

  She imagined how she must have looked. Like a monstrosity, no doubt. And what she was doing…was treason.

  Delfino stopped her. “Listen, we’re either going to die in that cell or we’re going to get shot following you. We at least have a right to know what the heck is going on.”

  “I couldn’t do it, okay?” Ren said.

  “Do what?” Delfino asked.

  “Execute you.”

  The elderly woman, Mama Tonia, wailed.

  “Ay, I told you, they were going to kill us!”

  “Be quiet!” Ren said. “No, I’m not going to kill you. You were just pawns.”

  “Pawns?” Delfino asked.

  “I don’t know why the empire wanted you, but I won’t let you die by my hands.”

  “It’s obvious why they want us,” Delfino said. “We’re the Puentes. Don’t you know who we are? Any emperor would be glad to kill us.”

  “Not me.”

  Silence grew between them, and she kept running. Reluctantly, the family followed until they reached a narrow hallway with slanted doors.

  Ren entered a command on the wall. One of the doors to the escape pod opened up. There were four seats, enough for all of them.

  “I’m setting you free,” she said, “Good luck.”

  Delfino looked at her, confused.

  “There will be another Argus attack soon,” Ren said. “I recommend you start calling for help the moment you dismount.”

  Delfino’s face hardened, and he extended a hand.