by L. Fergus
“P-payment…”
“Disgusting on principle. May I ask what for?”
“My father’s mine.”
“I’m not sure who I want to hit more, him or your father,” Cinnamon snarled.
Becky shrugged. “What can a girl do?”
“A lot. Get dressed. You’re coming with us.”
The girl wrapped the sheet around her and went to the bathroom.
Franks dressed under Talon’s watchful gaze. He took his time making sure his proud black uniform was put on correctly and as formally as possible. Lastly, he tried to slip a ring with a purplish black stone set in the center on his finger without Talon’s notice. Her eyes narrowed. “And where did you get that?”
“It’s my class ring from graduating command school,” Franks replied.
Talon sensed the lie, but let it pass.
“What’s she doing?” Talon asked when Becky returned with Cinnamon.
“Coming with us,” Cinnamon replied with a frown. “You think she’s here because she wants to be?”
“In this type of place, that is common.”
“Not where we’re from, and I’m not going to let it stand. Are you? Jane? I know Kita wouldn’t.”
“I understand your point. But…”
“No buts. She’s coming with us.”
“We are in serious danger,” Talon said over the comm. “There are alien evils here that shouldn’t be, unless this place is more important than we’ve been led to believe. If you see anything made of purplish black crystal or glowing that color, do not let it touch you. Warn me, and I will deal with it.”
“What is this crystal?”
“Pieces from life forms from a different equation. It’s too much to explain here, but know even a small amount is powerful enough to kill Kita and Jane. We do need to find out what this moon produces that is so valuable it requires posting Angel killing weapons.”
“I would think the girl would know,” suggested Cinnamon.
Talon nodded.
“What does your father mine here?” Cinnamon asked Becky.
“I don’t know. We just strip the rock from the mine and send it to the capital to be refined.”
Cinnamon gave the girl a doubtful look.
“She knows,” said Talon.
“What’s in the rock?” Cinnamon asked Becky again. “Don’t lie this time, because if you do, I can think of worse things than sleeping with him.”
Becky looked at the Angels then at Franks.
“Don’t fear him, child. He can’t hurt you,” said Talon.
“I don’t know,” Becky whispered.
“A lie,” Talon hissed. “A lie to protect this man and your father, both who betrayed you. Help us, help you.”
Cinnamon waved her girlfriend down. “Becky, this is important. Lives depend on it. Including yours and your father’s. We’re here to remove Franks and his people so that you can return to a normal life. What’s in the ore?”
“It’s stuff for spaceships,” Becky whispered.
“Let’s go,” Talon ordered the group, annoyed at the girl’s answer. Cinnamon took the point, following Talon’s directions as they made their way to the stockade. Along the way, she noticed a series of odd colored shipping containers. They stopped at one.
“What’s in the container?” Talon asked Franks.
“New mining equipment.”
Talon’s eyes glowed with a bright yellow intensity over the lie. She didn’t challenge him, instead choosing to let him think he’d fooled her.
Under the Angels’ watchful gaze, the Political Bureau soldiers released the legionnaires from their holding cells.
“Thanks, Talon,” said Baxter after his group was released. “Their idea of food was stuff a starved dog wouldn’t touch.”
“We’re not clear yet, Major,” said Talon. “We still need to get to the headquarters building, drop communications, and then get to our shuttle. We are ten, and they have at least a company’s worth of soldiers and fixed turrets. This will not be easy.”
“We know, but if we have surprise on our side, we can make it. You want my men to take Franks and leave your hands free?”
“No, I think he should stay close to me,” Talon said opening the talons on her left hand and digging them into Franks’ right shoulder. Her talons reflected a blackish purple crystal coating that the casual observer often missed.
“What shall we do with these Bureau dogs?” one of the legionnaires asked.
“Lock them up in the cells. They’ll become Starr’s problem,” Talon ordered.
After stripping the soldiers and herding them into the cells, the legionnaires and Angels moved back into the streets toward the headquarters building.
With the Angels flanking him, Franks bypassed security and let the group into the headquarters building. It wasn’t a large command post, enough to control the security systems, communicate with the wormhole station, and be a tiny administrative center.
“Step back from your consoles,” Baxter ordered.
The three soldiers on night duty looked at him confused as if this was a bizarre drill.
Cinnamon hit Franks in the kidney. “Do it,” he ordered.
The three soldiers got up, and the legionnaires restrained them.
“I want a message sent to the ranches. Tell General Starr now is her window of opportunity,” Talon ordered the legionnaires as they moved to take over the consoles.
“Talon, ma’am, the train is moving,” a legionnaire sitting at a console reported.
“Can you communicate with it?”
“It’s not responding to any hails,” she reported after several attempts.
Talon shrugged. “It’s not our job to help them. It’s our job to get out of here. Is the shuttle free?”
“We’ve released it from all electronic locks. We’ll just have to remove any physical locks when we get there,” a pilot reported.
Talon moved over to the three secured soldiers. “When is your next security check?”
“Four hours,” the first one answered.
Talon swatted at her with her talons leaving vicious gashes across her face. “Tell me the truth or the next will receive more than a few bad scars.”
The others remained silent.
“They’re trained monkeys taught to be silent at all costs,” said Baxter. “They’ll die before they give anything up.”
Talon grabbed a second and jabbed him with her barb injecting a truth serum given to her by Kita.
“Twenty-three minutes,” the man answered in a happy, stupid voice.
“You will answer those checks,” Cinnamon instructed the last soldier. “Once that’s done we’ll leave.”
They waited in silence. The legionnaires watched the equipment and followed the train’s progress. Talon and Cinnamon made sure the third soldier was ready to do his part in the ruse. If he failed, Cinnamon’s pistol was firmly against his head, even as she cringed at the idea. Franks had drifted around the room to a newer looking machine in the command center.
The radio came alive as the different command areas in the city and neighboring mining areas called in. The soldiers answered one by one, giving a coded phrase in return.
After the radio checks were completed, the Bureau soldiers were escorted from the room, secured, and placed in a stripped office.
“To the shuttleport,” ordered Talon.
The small group of legionnaires and Angels moved down a side street toward the shuttleport. They stopped at a street corner behind the protection of a building. A legionnaire stuck his head out and snapped it back in.
“Talon, we’ve got something up ahead. I don’t know what it is—like a ball with a mass of tentacles.”
“What?” Talon demanded in surprise. The Angel floated around to look. “Neptune’s rings…I hope that’s a manmade and not a Harbinger seeker,” she said to Cinnamon, who returned a confused look. “Harbingers incorporated their crystal into the armor of the Machines, and it make
s them damn hard to kill—until Kita discovered crystal kills crystal. If they’re manmade, I expect they have other weaknesses.”
“If they’re not?”
“Then the only weakness is the sensory organ in the center of the tentacles. It’s a near-impossible shot. You let me deal with it while you get everyone else to the shuttle,” Talon ordered.
“I can still help you.”
“If you had crystal rounds, I’d say yes, but you don’t. You would only put yourself at risk for nothing.”
Cinnamon sighed. “I don’t like that it’s always you.”
“This isn’t the time or the place to discuss this. Apply your skills where they’re most useful.”
Cinnamon turned to Baxter. “Talon’s going to distract the seeker, and we’re going to dash across the street. We’re doing double time to the shuttleport to avoid fighting any of these things. We’re not equipped to handle them. Whatever happens, get Franks and your men to the shuttleport.”
Baxter instructed his squad, putting Franks and Becky in the middle. When he was ready, he signaled Cinnamon, who squeezed Talon’s hand.
Talon didn’t let go. It had been years since she had faced such a deadly foe and didn’t relish the idea again. She wasn’t sure if she’d be back to see Cinnamon. She waited a few seconds to savor the other Angel’s hand in hers.
Talon had faced thousands of Machines without being scared, but now she was filled with dread. Maybe, it was because she’d been with other Angels that could do impossible things: turn into dragons, move faster than the eye could see, could hit with more force than an erupting volcano, or wield weapons with atomic precision. But what am I? Just an owl. An owl suddenly very alone.
“Don’t wait for me.” Talon let go of Cinnamon’s hand and flew straight at the seeker. She raked it with her talons. Crystal talons hit crystal armor. This is a real Machine. How did Galina capture one? It seems an impossible task.
The seeker changed directions. Its nest of tentacles reaching out for Talon. From under her cloak, Talon produced her short sword with a crystal edge. She chopped down with the sword, severing several tentacles.
The Machine shuttered in pain and lurched at Talon, just missing her. It pursued her down the street, not giving her a chance to regroup.
Talon turned down another street and nearly collided with a group of smaller, but deadlier, swarmers. A dozen surrounded her. A shrill whistle announced the train was pulling into the train depot.
The swarmers attacked as one. Talon’s bubble provided little protection, just enough of a distraction to let her escape into the air and down the street to the cattle yard next to the train depot. She turned a corner into a chute and waited. A single swarmer could be killed quickly. The real danger came when they formed a swarm. She wanted to pick them off individually. Places like the cattle yard were good for disorienting and separating the Machines.
A swarmer rushed by, and she slashed it in half with her sword. A second jumped at her, but she caught the beetle-like Machine around the neck in the talons on her foot. She smashed her foot down destroying it. Talon played the game of cat and mouse, killing three more. She hurried up a cattle chute before more homed in on her location.
Talon exited the chute next to the train. She glided to the engine and entered the cab, but no one was there. Looking out the window, she saw several of the large cattle car doors open. Starr leaped out on her horse, directly into the waiting tentacles of the seeker.
“No!” Talon yelled, but she was too far away.
The embarking legionnaires attacked the Machines. The swarmers overpowered the legionnaires stripping them of their organic matter. The creatures were programmed to collect the material for construction of other Machines. The seeker smashed through the wooden railing the legionnaires were using as a barricade. Its remaining tentacles wrapping up the legionnaires with ease. Talon jumped from the train and glided toward Starr.
“We gotta get out of here, boss-man,” A legionnaire yelled at Starr. “Whatever these things are they already got Bob, Jess, Ty, and, Neptune’s rings damn near everybody else.”
“Fall back to the train,” Starr ordered the remaining legionnaires.
Talon landed in front of the retreating legionnaires. The Machines pressed in around them. She opened her mouth and let out an ear-rupturing hoot. The sonic waves stunned the Machines. Talon leaped between four swarmers and dispatched them with her sword and talons.
The ground under Talon’s feet rumbled. Talon leaped into the air. A giant metallic squid, with three tentacles wrapped up like a drill, sprang from the ground and slammed down.
“Oh, hell,” Talon muttered. She dove for the train car the legionnaires had taken cover in. “Starr, get your people out of here. Now. We don’t have the manpower or resources to fight these things. Save yourselves.”
“There’s no way I’m leaving two-thirds of my command out there,” Starr cried.
“They are gone. Machines don’t take prisoners or leave bodies.”
“There is always something we can do. Isn’t that what you meant? She who dares, wins?”
“Within reason.”
“I still have this,” Starr snarled, holding up the cursed belt.
“Don’t you dare put that on. It’s not worth it.”
“My legionnaires are worth it, Talon. I’ll do anything I can to save them, even sacrifice myself or give myself a damn fool curse. Maybe someday you’ll understand.” Starr strapped the belt around her and buckled it tightly.
“You ignorant fool,” Talon yelled while backhanding the legionnaire to the floor. “Don’t ever question what I have and have not been.”
Starr screamed. She held up her hands as they burst into flame. The rest of her flesh caught fire and dripped away or went up as ash. Her clothes burned and charred, but remained. Her dark auburn hair caught fire. She stood up looking at her skeletal hands.
“What happened to me?” Starr demanded in a high, angry demonic voice.
Talon pointed behind Starr.
“You are now The Rider, Ryder Starr,” said Sarin. “Kita will love to hear one of her favorite pets has returned to her.” She drew her pistols. With eight well-placed shots, she destroyed the Machines moving in on them. Holstering her pistols, she put together her giant sniper rifle, loaded, aimed, fired, and killed the driller. “It’s been so long since I’ve had anything worthwhile to shoot at.”
“I belong to no one,” Starr snarled after Sarin’s exhibition.
“Oh, you belong to someone now, like it or not,” Cinnamon chuckled from the door. “We have the shuttle.”
“But you won’t be a pet,” said Talon.
“Just a sister, bonehead,” Sarin said with a smile.
Starr fell to her knees as long thin bones appeared next to her shoulder blades and grew into wings with burning feathers.
“That was almost as interesting as watching you,” Sarin said to Cinnamon.
“I bet hers wasn’t as painful.”
“I thought you couldn’t do this,” Talon demanded of Sarin.
“Kita gave me the necessary nanites, just in case.”
“Kita wanted Starr?” asked Cinnamon.
“She’s hoping Ryder lives up to the family legacy.”
“What about the rest of the Machines?” said Talon.
“And what are they really taking off this rock?” added Cinnamon.
“Xeox, FTL fuel,” replied Sarin. “I just found that out myself. I was hoping you’d figure it out while you were here. We need to continue harvesting the xeox. This will give us a huge boost over Galina. If any of the Machines are still in crates, I want them destroyed and harvested. Recover the crystal from the Machines killed, and we’ll get it back to Rainbow Station to be processed. If Galina’s got Machines and crystal tech this war just escalated. Think you can handle that?” Sarin looked at Talon.
“Except for hunting the Machines. You’re the best suited to do that.”
“I’ll give you Ryd
er. She’s more than up to the task. The Rider’s belt has been upgraded since Cowboy wore it. The revolvers have crystal lined barrels now.”
“I take it I should also give her the basic angel talk?” said Talon.
Sarin winked and vanished.
Talon sighed. “Oh, the games gods play.”
Sarin returned a light laugh from the ether. “Never with you, red.”
“Don’t go too far. I may still need you,” Talon said seriously.
“I am at your beck and call, my old friend.”
“What have you done to me?” The Rider screamed at Talon.
“Nothing,” Talon said flatly. “You did it to yourself. Temptation must run deep in your family.”
“You know nothing of my family,” The Rider yelled with an angry teeth rattle. She clenched her fists and shook them at Talon. “Free me from this, owl.”
“All Angels belong to one Angel, and that is Kita. That is the price you pay—willing or otherwise. Divinity and grace are granted at her luxury and your deal with her,” Talon said, bowing her head as a sign of acknowledgment that The Rider had been manipulated into her status as an Angel.
The Rider charged Talon, trying to grab the Angel. Talon sidestepped and with a flip of her wrist sent The Rider crashing headfirst into the side of the car.
Cinnamon jumped in front of The Rider’s confused legionnaires. “Sit tight, boys and girls. Let the big girls play.”
“I am a grandmaster at using others’ anger and aggression against them,” Talon told The Rider. “You are not Kita or Jane, who can deliver their wrath on the head of quark, but a young owlet stumbling in a nest high in a tree, not even ready to fly. But, we have no time to teach you. You must fight—” The Rider drew her new revolvers and fired at Talon until the cylinders were empty. The bullets hung in the air in front of Talon. “We are wasting time and resources,” said Talon calmly. “Every time you fire you bring more of them down on us.”
“Change me back,” The Rider demanded.
“Only you can change yourself back. You are a chick fresh out of the egg. Open your eyes, take your first step, learn what you can do. What we do not have is time, Ryder Starr. You are The Rider. It is how the world will see you. Cowboy’s legacy is yours. How do you wish your sisters to see you? The monster or the girl?”