by Scott Moon
"I wasn’t transformed, only infected." She looked at Kevin, examining him carefully. "Does she tell you to do things? Can you resist?"
Cronin felt two sensations that alarmed him: the presence of Eigon and the call of Chrysalis.
"What is it, Cronin?" Amanda asked.
He growled his answer. "I feel the demand of Chrysalis, even though I am barely out of my last cycle. Have I failed so miserably that I already need to start again?"
"We can feel it too," Ace said.
Cronin shook his head. "It should not be possible so far from the planet."
"Unless there is a Chrysalis chamber in the darkness."
Cronin understood now. This was the Darkness belonging to Dremur and he realized she had long ago stolen the secrets of his people.
"Beware the Dreamrider,” Amanda said. "This has always been heard in our nightmares. She's the real danger.”
"I wish we could be there when the Burner Siren realizes she's nothing but sideshow," Ace said.
"Do not underestimate her or any creature we encounter in this place," Cronin said. “Something is wrong. No chamber can exist without the diamond ziggurats to protect and power them."
Amanda shook her head, barely able to endure the pain of her headache. "There is no chamber. I believe we are feeling the matrix. With it, a new chamber can be made someplace else."
Power swirled around the three figures in the distance. Cronin did not want to go forward, but he knew the only thing that could bring them all here was the matrix and all that it promised in the next galaxy.
"I see someone else approaching. We are not the only ones to witness this battle between Hanax and the Burner Queen.”
Kevin didn't feel like he was moving faster, but Priest and the others fell behind at an increasingly drastic rate. The Darkness around him no longer felt vast or endless, but like something he was flipping through, swimming into chaos toward its heart.
What he saw horrified him.
A giant Noctari creature held one of its own kind against the metal floor with one hand and fended off the Burner Queen with the other. She blazed bright as the sun, losing heat and light only a few feet from her body. This was not her place and she was at a disadvantage.
The giant creature looked at Kevin, smiling insanely. He didn't think the Noctari overlord knew what he actually looked like. Maybe it didn't matter, but this idea was powerful in Kevin's mind.
The creature was layers of darkness and difficult to see without the heightened senses he'd gained from his Chrysalis transformation. Shadows on top of shadows, there were too many teeth and talons.
"You are the brother of the human twins. I think this thing is what you're looking for. Do you believe you are equal to my servant?" the Noctari overlord growled. Picking up his victim, he cursed in words Kevin could not understand.
“Hanax only means to punish Guidis and draw power from him. He will not kill his servant. This, you must do if you are to see your siblings again," the Burner Queen said without looking away from her adversary but clearly speaking to Kevin.
He saw the end game of these three aliens now. Hanax was using his servant, the Guide, to give him enough power to defeat the Siren Ignari that was the Burner Queen. All three of them wished to acquire the Chrysalis Matrix before leaving the galaxy through the Sol Gate.
Humanity barely mattered in their equation. Earth was just a stepping stone that would be destroyed when used.
Kevin, thought his sister.
We’re coming to you, thought her twin.
Amanda?
Cronin is with us. We see you. Can you see us?
Kevin turned in a circle, unable to peer through the curtain of blackness that had fallen around the battle.
He wanted to go to Ace and Amanda, grab them, and run away forever. The sound of their voices faded despite their more and more urgent cries for him to escape while he could.
Hanax cast the Guide down and turned to face the Burner Queen.
Kevin advanced on the Guide, readying his weapons and looking for the best way to attack.
33
The Red Nebula
“Who do you think you are, that you can fight me?" the Guide asked, stalking toward Kevin.
Kevin moved laterally, bringing his weapon up and aiming. "You don't look so good. Your boss really kicked your ass."
The Guide pushed a wave of dark energy at Kevin. When nothing happened, the creature's eyes widened and he stepped back in horror. "That should have ended you and even the memory that you ever existed. No human can stand before a Noctari overlord in the flesh."
"Maybe you should do your homework before running your mouth," Kevin said, firing a stream of supersonic flechettes into his enemy's throat.
The Guide screamed in pain but didn't die as seemed reasonable to Kevin, given the severity of the wound.
They faced off again.
"I see it now. You have the mark of the Chrysalis chamber."
"Something like that. How are your knees?"
"What?"
Kevin aimed and fired a burst into each of the creature’s legs, causing it to stagger. He'd seen enough strangeness to understand this wasn't going to be easy.
The Guide roared, overloading the volume-dampening properties of Kevin's helmet.
Sprinting toward the creature's flank, trying to get a better angle, he fired short bursts. He struck the Guide's torso, one of his arms, and the side of his head, which seemed to hurt it the most.
"I don't like that weapon," the Guide said. "But it will never kill me. Not here in the darkness."
Kevin had already figured that much out. He reloaded and rushed forward, holding the trigger down as he closed the distance with the much larger creature. Two steps away from his enemy, he threw his rifle against the sling so that it swung onto his back and locked magnetically in place. At the same time, he sprang forward, stepping on the Guide’s forward knee to propel himself higher.
The Guide grabbed him in a bear hug. Kevin twisted free and snaked one arm around its neck.
His armor was made to enhance his strength, not replace it. The more effort he put into the attack, the more force was exerted on the creature's throat.
The Guide twisted in the circle, trying to throw him off.
Kevin used his left hand to pull his right arm farther around the creature’s neck, sinking the choke in deeper and forcing up its chin. At the same time, he dug his heels into the creature’s flanks to hold on.
The Guide sputtered curses with decreasing volume as his larynx was pressed deeper into his throat.
With his right arm finally in place, he hooked with the crook of his left arm and tightened it. The force of the chokehold would've killed a human; might've popped a human's head completely off with the enhanced strength of his armor.
Kevin was dimly aware that Hanax and the Burner Queen fought a savage battle, heedless of his current struggle with the Guide called Guidis.
The giant collapsed to his knees then forward onto his face.
Something popped like dark lightning and a flash of power shot out from the dead Noctari warrior.
Hanax and the Burner Queen staggered in dazed confusion.
Kevin jumped clear of his adversary and sprinted toward the Chrysalis matrix. He understood it wasn't a book, or even a computer, but that was what it felt like. Perhaps it was even alive, sentient in the way he'd never understand, even though he'd been through Chrysalis and survived.
All he knew was that he needed it to save Ace and Amanda. They were close now, ready to escape with him and flee this system. If Burner Queen wanted the matrix, he needed it as leverage when she eventually caught up to him and his family.
"Get back to the ship!” he shouted.
Several groups of Noctari nightmares swarmed out of the shadows, closing the distance rapidly.
Priest and Lacy opened fire, covering Kevin as he moved.
What came next was a confused dash across the inside of the Darkness superstruc
ture. Kevin could feel the Burner Queen hunting him, no longer concerned with Hanax or even Dremur. Both of those creatures also pursued the Chrysalis Matrix.
Where are you, Amanda? I thought you were right beside me.
Priest shouted at him to get on the ship.
We are coming. Cronin is with us—Her thought ended in a scream.
Kevin staggered sideways, casting his gaze until he spotted Priest, who was rushing back down the boarding ramp.
“Come on, Kevin!”
“I have to go back.”
Priest shook his head and grabbed at him. “No way, Connelly.”
“Take the Chrysalis Matrix. Don't let them have it. If I don't come back, get it to the admiral. I have to go after Ace and Amanda.”
Priest hesitated then took the matrix from him and ran up the ramp.
Kevin’s mind rebelled at the optical illusion that the vast, dark space created in his human mind. It seemed the Burner Queen and Hanax were miles away but racing forward incredibly fast. At the same time, his sister and brother moved with dreamlike slowness.
The fear on their faces couldn’t be denied. It broke his heart to see them in terror.
“Bring me the Chrysalis Matrix!” the Burner Queen screamed.
Running forward, he picked up the twins and flung one over each shoulder, something he could never have done without the SMC Marauder armor.
“I can run, Kevin!” Ace grunted.
“We can argue later.” Kevin ran for the ship as Cronin joined them, weapons ready to fight a heroic last stand.
“Don’t let them do it,” Amanda said. “We’d be dead without him.”
Kevin hated the sadness and desperation in her voice and his own inability to help the big Nix.
“Just keep going,” Cronin said. “I will follow and only stop to fight if needed.”
Even with his enhanced armor, Kevin didn’t have the breath to respond. He decided to answer by moving his feet faster. Soon his boots slammed up the boarding ramp while Priest waved him inside.
“I’ve got a message from Danzig. We have to leave now. He says he needs the Ignari and Noctari to follow us,” Priest said.
Kevin dropped Ace and Amanda inside the ship and turned back to help Cronin.
The Burner Queen slashed at him with a sword that was an extension of her flaming hand, flinging him onto his back. Kevin rushed forward, seized one of the secondary arms, and pulled with all of his might. When he looked over his right shoulder, Priest and Amanda were doing the same thing.
Cronin roared in defiance, kicking at the Burner Queen with his feet and holding what looked like a mortal wound to his torso.
“Close the door!” Amanda shouted once they were inside.
Kevin took one last look at the strange landscape and saw Hanax descending on the Burner Queen like a dark storm.
The door slammed shut and the ship immediately lifted off. Amanda hugged him. “I saw them fighting. Maybe they’ll kill each other.”
“I wouldn’t count on it,” Kevin said.
“Thanks for helping Cronin,” she said. “He’s been a good friend and protector to us.”
Kevin took the twins to the sick bay, where Priest looked them over. He wasn’t a medic but had more field experience than the rest of them. The gunnery sergeant didn’t have a lot of details about why the admiral was so insistent they rejoin the fleet.
The twins were asleep when Lacy finally joined them and explained.
“Everyone wants the Chrysalis Matrix, except for us. We don’t need it to explore the galaxy, but it is incredibly powerful to the Ignari, the Noctari, and the Sirens.”
“Danzig wants to lead them away from Earth,” Kevin said. He couldn’t stop thinking about the Dreamrider and her schemes.
All of that was over now. If Hanax and the Burner Queen didn’t kill each other, they’d hunt the human fleet to the end of the galaxy.
“How long can we stay ahead of them?” he asked.
“It’s complicated, but suffice to say that they will have a hard time escaping where we’re going. There won’t be enough fuel for them to leave.”
“They are fools for following us,” Priest said.
“That’s it? We’re going to strand them someplace?”
“That’s not it, Connelly,” Lacy said. “We’ll probably die in the process or have to run from them forever, but they won’t go to Earth. In fact, I doubt anyone from home will ever know what happened to us.”
“You’re cheerful,” Amanda said.
Lacy stared at her, face hard.
“What’s your problem, woman?” Ace asked.
“It’s been a long couple of days,” she said.
Kevin sat next to his sister and brother. “It’s good to see you again, even if you both have a worse attitude than ever.”
34
Away from Earth
Six months later, Ace and Amanda begged off the five-kilometer run Kevin had planned for them around the Majesty’s exercise deck.
“We’re not stopping you from running, brother. Lord knows you need it. Ship food’s been good to you,” Amanda said, then laughed along with Ace.
“I’m in prime fighting shape, you little brats.” He waved a hand for them to go and watched them cross the calisthenics area to where Doctor Marc Robedeaux sat on a bench. He’d been casually strolling on the walking track, not even trying to break a sweat.
Kevin thought he was moody, but the man claimed to be thinking deep thoughts and recuperating from years of high-stress scenarios.
Kevin completed his run, looking at the twins each time he passed them, thinking about Arthur and wondering if his brother would ever recover fully, and hoping they were done with the Burners in the Darkness.
Amanda waved at him each time he made a lap. She looked happy. Even Ace looked less surly than Kevin remembered.
Doctor Robedeaux wasn’t his favorite person. He didn’t fully trust the man, but his lessons helped Ace and Amanda.
Priest and Lacy fell in beside him, talking to each other as they plodded along, even though Kevin was between them.
“Yeah, it was a ship show,” Priest said.
“We found more people than we had a right to before leaving Siris,” Lacy said. “Connelly, have you heard from Chaff and Foster yet? They’ve been harassing the Navy about a shuttle to the Majesty.”
Kevin concentrated on running. He didn’t think he’d ever be as fast as the veteran recon Marines. Priest was close to twice his age and this little jaunt didn’t even have him breathing hard.
He lost track of the conversation for a lap or two. Neither of his superiors seem to mind. Each time he passed Ace and Amanda, they were more attentive to whatever Doctor Robedeaux was teaching them.
Cronin and the strange blue Nix called Ontin arrived on the combatives’ deck, which was visible below the main stretch of the running track. They’d been rivals, now Ontin was the most loyal Nix in Cronin’s personal guard. They trained incessantly for their inevitable confrontation with the Sirens who had joined the Ignari Queen.
“Credit for your thoughts,” Lacy asked.
Priest also waited for his answer as they ran.
“I was wondering when you were going to hold the next Recon tryouts.”
Kimberly enjoyed her time alone. Since she’d taken the Escaping Doctor, minus the actual escaping doctor, in the other direction of the fleet, she spent more and more time standing watch in silence. There was a lot to think about.
The courses she’d agreed to took her nearly as far away from Earth and the Sol system as the red nebula where Danzig Robedeaux and Jeda Soldottir hoped to strand the enemies of humanity forever.
Felton, Dbonden, and a few others joined her, including one freakishly tattooed pirate captain with a bad attitude.
“Are you there, you sexy bitch?” Daemon said over the comms.
“I’m here, dick face.”
“I still think I should be in charge of this fleet,” he said.
She kept the video monitor turned off so she didn’t have to look at him. The sound of his voice and his nasty language was trying enough. “We’ve discussed this. You had your chance to be a pirate king. Now you work for me or you don’t get paid. Give me grief, and I’ll sic my Marines on you.”
“No, no. I wasn’t trying to get bitch-slapped,” Daemon said. “I’m just bored. Don’t you want to come over to my ship during these long watches and fool around?”
“I’d rather die.”
He growled a curse. That one had hit too close to home.
Danzig had asked for volunteers when she left, and sent a half dozen well-armed corvettes, each with a squad of Marines. They knew what she was and what that made them and volunteered anyway.
The SMC Marauders wasn’t for everyone. Post enlistment careers usually paid shit and bored elite operators to death. She’d offered them an alternative.
The red nebula and a lifetime fleeing the Darkness and the Burners wasn’t for her. She couldn’t return to Earth for ten years. That was the deal she’d made.
Lovejoy strode onto the bridge. “Evening, DeVries.”
“You’re early.”
“My shift starts in less than an hour and I haven’t had a good game of cards in days. What do you say?”
Kimberly cut the connection with Daemon’s ship. “What are we playing for?”
He laughed. “Let’s deal for planets. Last time we played, you had the rights to five more star systems than I did.”
She laughed. The man was a decent guy, despite his reputation. As long as they stayed clear of all the people dead or missing. Danzig’s fleet was in disarray. Kimberly got the distinct impression a woman Lovejoy was interested in was missing, but that he thought she had been picked up by a different ship during the evacuation of Siris.
Kevin walked the halls, saluting superior officers from time to time and not hurrying to be anywhere in particular. It was weird not to be running toward or away from a battle. That day would come, but the Fleet officers thought it might be years before another battle.