—and two of them made it through the line of fire, actually reaching the mammoth suit and gouging uselessly at solid metal before Max smashed them with its right arm. Both were slammed into the wall, crushed to death by the heavy limb—
—but how did they make it that far?
Jess blinked against the sting of smoke, trying to see past the firing Berserker in the shrieking gloom. Ellis carried the giant body down another step, and Jess saw the tons of metal come down on drones that weren’t dead— wounded, but still reaching up to clutch at their destroyer before breaking into pieces beneath the massive legs.
Something is wrong, they shoulda been dead already—
The Max made it to the base of the stairs and Jess swept his rifle across the heap of smoking bodies before following, a knot of dread deep in the pit of his stomach unfurling, rising to grasp at his heart with cold and clutching fingers. He could hear the nightmare breed clattering through the corridor ahead, racing to meet them.
No matter how close they were to the bay’s airlock, they weren’t going to have an easy time of it—and if Ellis was having problems, they might not make it at all.
“Hold on kid, gonna be there soon!” He called, but Ellis didn’t reply—
—and Jess felt his hope plummet away as he reached the base of the stairs and saw drones rushing at them from both directions—and the Max pivoting uncertainly in the pulsing red light.
* * *
—use the torch, kid—
Ellis forced the arm of the suit up and turned to the left, his thoughts stuttering against the tracking system in wavering lines of foreign code. Information still flowed in but something was different; the crossover to the weapon monitors was fluctuating, sending signals he didn’t understand—
Flame burst out of the mighty fist in brilliant digital green, and the tide of enemies was stopped, flickering bodies collapsing beneath the ignited napthal fuel that blew across them. Behind him, Jess fired at the onslaught that came from the opposite direction—
—36 shots/grouped in three—
—and Ellis turned, struggling to reconnect to the faltering program as the Max used the pulse rifle to blast the shrieking animals into acid-soaked debris. He had to override the system to do it, and waves of exhaustion crashed over him, the effort taking every ounce of will he had.
Ellis was starting to feel the real pain in his head, the soothing talk of the computer no longer blocking it out. He felt the sweat of his aching body now, hot streams of it pouring down his limbs as he moved the Max forward, still firing.
Can’t find the anomaly—
He could feel the division between Brian Ellis and Max, no longer one and the same; the pain and weariness were growing even as the tracking computations wavered. He was becoming himself again, a flesh-and-bone human inside an armed and armored shell—and seconds slipped by as Ellis was forced to recheck variability in the azimuth bearing, as Jess had to waste his dwindling ammo against the screaming drones that poured through the wide corridor.
“Jess, Ellis—bay one-seven is half a kick straight ahead, to your left—”
I can hear her, Lara said that!
He was losing the connection. And without it, he didn’t know if he could control the Max to lead them to safety—or if the suit would continue to function at all.
Ellis bit his lip until blood spurted out and forced the giant machine to do what it had to do.
26
Lara watched as the two men moved down the corridor, raining fire against the stream of hissing darkness that swept toward them. The Max staggered along, its movements no longer sure and stable. She’d seen the hesitation, the dragging of the reflexes—whatever control Ellis had over the suit was slipping away—or he was hurt even worse than she had imagined.
—almost there, just a little bit farther. Hang on…
She didn’t have visuals in auxiliary 17, but the shuttle should be there by now. Any alien threat inside the bay would have been blown into space; if they could make it the last few hundred meters and seal the door, they’d be safe.
The snarling creatures pressed on, but Max and Jess were doing well. Ellis didn’t seem to be tracking so hot, but he had gone to a simple back-and-forth spray with the rifle that was taking out the majority of the oncoming drones. Jess had moved almost to his side, the two of them progressing at a decent pace through the wide passage in a thunder of armor-piercing fire and alien cries of fury or death.
Every few steps, the Max aimed its flamethrower backward and strafed the corridor behind them with liquid heat. Shrill screams were cut short by the glaring blasts of light and heat that spewed out, keeping the two men covered as they forged on.
Lara switched view to farther along the passage and saw them almost in sight of their pickup. There were fewer drones, only a few dozen that she could see; she blew out slowly, felt a rising relief as they moved closer—
—and felt that relief disappear as the Max fell down, crashing heavily to the deck atop a mound of broken bodies.
* * *
“Ellis!”
Jess thumbed back to full auto and fired into the oncomers, peppering the screaming bugs with rounds in the smoking red gloom. There were still too many, they weren’t going to make it—
—and Max fired from the ground, its pulse rifle spinning to tear holes in the black bodies that flew toward them relentlessly. A dozen drones went down in a wave of acid and exploding shards. Behind them, the flood of trumpeting darkness had thinned to a single file of attackers.
Jess risked a glance, saw the giant crawling to its knees, the sharp crack of flesh like bone crunching loudly beneath the armored plates.
“Ellis, you okay?”
The Berserker lumbered to its feet, still firing. “I’m losing the—suit, can’t take much more—”
Jess took out a trio of drones, both relieved and terrified by the sound of the kid’s voice. Ellis was still with them, that was good—but the timing was for shit. Losing the suit would mean his certain death and also the kid’s, after the bugs hammered at Max long enough. He had one full clip left, and the other creatures would be coming, running and clawing through unsealed corridors in savage hordes to find them—
He saw the numbers then, and grinned. A meter high, bright orange, and as clear as day in the pounding redness of the corridor, one-seven. They’d be there in a minute, maybe two.
Jess pointed to the wide panels ahead and shouted. “You don’t have to, kid! We’re nearly home and dry!”
He fired down to minimum safe and ejected the ’zine, then slammed in his last as they hurried toward the bay, Jess still grinning.
They were going to make it.
* * *
The tracking was completely down, the motion sensors, weapons check, and stabilizer had all started to fail— about all that was left was the frontal viewscreen and the hydraulic mechanisms that allowed him to move. If that power system went down, he’d be trapped.
The pain was terrible; the fall had knocked him into the compartment’s shield, crushed his face against the plates and jiggled the interface prongs. Ellis felt fresh blood coursing across his mouth and down the back of his neck as he manuevered the suit clumsily toward their escape, trying to aim at the last of the approaching drones.
Almost over, almost there—
The air lock was less than fifty meters now, but each step cost him. Ellis felt waves of dizziness and confusion, the effects of the corrupted interface taking their toll.
Forty meters. Jess led him now, crouching and firing at the few creatures that ran for them, claws raised and tails slicing through air before they clattered into green fountains of hissing fluid beneath the M41.
Thirty meters. Ellis threw up a mouthful of coppery blood and struggled to hold out against the encroaching blackness as they advanced toward freedom—and an end to the terrible pain.
27
Lara felt a loosening in her chest with each step that Jess and Ellis made toward the bay,
a lifting of the dire shadow that had engulfed the ill-fated mission. It was nearly over.
“They’re almost at the air lock, Pop; don’t forget about me—”
“Don’t worry, I won’t.”
Lara spun around, heart pounding wildly—and saw Pop standing at the door to the communications room, smiling at her. She stared at him in shock, the shock turning to confusion as her thoughts grasped for an explanation— and found none. Behind her, pulse rifles sang at random intervals, and drones screeched across the monitor block.
“What are you doing here? You’re supposed to be in ops—”
His sunny grin faded. “I came to see you, Kat.”
As he spoke, she saw the handcart he’d brought with him and stopped struggling for a reason; the flat circle of the single-megaton nuclear fail-safe on the pull gave her a hint—
—as did the USMC-issue nine-millimeter he held loosely in his other hand, the barrel pointed at the deck in front of her feet.
For now… Pop had lost his fucking mind.
She kept her gaze on his, trying to figure how far away her rifle was. Not more than a half step, five o’clock on the console shelf, just to her shoulder—
—and saw that he knew what she was thinking. He smiled again, but she saw his cold eyes flicker to the weapon behind her—and his fingers tightening on the alloyed grips.
“What are you going to do, Pop?” She tried to keep her voice calm, her mind yammering at her to think of something, some psychology that would work, an attack that he wasn’t expecting—
Jess’s voice crackled through the ’sets, hoarse and uncertain. “What’s going on? Where are you, Pop?” Lara answered quickly, gaze never leaving Eric’s face.
“Bay may not be safe, Jess! He’s here with me and he’s got a fail-safe—”
Pop walked past her, the automatic low but ready, watching her. He leaned past her, close enough for her to feel the heat of his breath against her neck before stepping away, holding her M41. He ejected the magazine one-handed and tossed both aside.
His tone was heartily sympathetic as he backed to the cart.
“Ah, Jess,” he said, “I’m really sorry about this.” He squatted, releasing the cart’s lock and managing to balance the fail-safe against his chest. He edged toward one of the bulkhead walls, smiling at her ironically.
“Hey, you too, Ellis. Shame to end a promising career so soon. You did real good in that bug suit, son…”
“What the fuck are you doin’, Pop?” Jess shouted. The commander had reached the entry of the room and stopped, keeping his gaze locked on Lara’s, still watching her carefully.
“Jess, I want you to know that none of this is my doing,” he said seriously. “I really have no choice; they didn’t even tell me until after you were in, and what was I supposed to say? Nothing left behind to incriminate the Company, no locked wave emissions or physical evidence outside that log—nothing, you understand?”
—can’t even say it, can you? “No witnesses.” You fucking slime—
Eric Izzard had sold them out. She’d been an idiot, worrying about his emotional instability toward her—and not willing to consider that he was capable of betraying all of their trusts. She should have seen it coming—
Yeah, you should have. Shut up and do something!
He’d have to take his attention off of her for a split second to lock the explosive; it took both hands to spin the insets. She’d have to fly, but there might not be another chance.
Pop grasped at both handles and Lara sprang at him.
* * *
“…wave emissions or physical evidence—nothing, you understand?”
Jess understood; they were screwed. The suit tracker showed multiple readings coming from their escape site— the bay they had finally reached was completely overrun, there was no shuttle—and there weren’t any other hatches within a hundred meters. It was step into a swarm of them or try to hold them off in the passage.
No choice. “Back to the wall, kid!”
He positioned himself and looked up at the Max, watched Ellis lurch the suit around slowly, the monstrous shoulders banging dents into the metal-lined panels—
—as the corridor was filled with the distant but rising, echoing howls of the next wave, approaching quickly from both sides.
One clip. Fuck you, Izzard.
* * *
Pop spun and cracked the pistol against her temple, knocking her back in a sharp burst of starry pain.
He pointed the automatic at her head as she slammed into a console and froze, staring at the dark bore of the weapon.
“Back to the wall, kid!” Jess shouted over the rising sound of alien voices—
—and Pop was breathing heavily, his finger under the trigger guard, glaring at her in reproach.
“Don’t try to stop me,” he snapped. “It has to be done— don’t you see? If this ever came out, it would destroy everything we’ve worked for—”
“Everything you’ve worked for,” she said, realizing too late that she should’ve kept her mouth shut but too angry and dazed to care. Pop didn’t seem to notice.
She imagined that she could hear it throughout the station, the clamorous shrieks of the entire horde as they filled the screens’ audio and pounded through the dark— but she didn’t dare turn to look; without the shuttle, the two men were dead—and she couldn’t do a thing about it with Pop’s weapon in her face.
He went on doggedly, his expression grim but his gaze searching her with something like desperation. “They needed that information, someone had to get it—believe me, I didn’t ask for this, and I don’t like it any more than you do—”
There was an explosion of gunfire from the screens behind them and Jess shouted over the set, the fierce screams of attacking drones fighting to drown him out.
“You like it a whole lot more than us, that’s for goddamn sure! Christ, Pop, don’t do this to us!”
Pop shook his head sadly. “I’m sorry, Jess, real sorry—but you understand my position; I have to go with the Company.”
Pop worked his way to the internal monitor block, automatic still trained on her aching head. She just caught a glimpse of bright weapon fire across a seething mass of black, gnashing shapes—
—and Pop flipped a row of switches, turning off the screens and audio.
He walked toward her, carefully reaching forward to tap her headset control power switch; the sounds of harsh breathing and bullets against the shrieks of drones snapped off.
For a moment he didn’t move away, staring into her eyes with a strangely hurt expression. Lara shuddered inwardly but didn’t move; his finger was still on the trigger and she had to think—
Can I bargain for our lives? How much influence do I have with him?
Being pistol-whipped was a pretty strong indicator that she wasn’t pulling much weight. She’d have to watch for an opening, and it better be soon—
He finally stepped away and went back to the failsafe. He worked the device easily with his free hand, hardly having to glance at the buttons. A soft series of beeps sounded in the silent, chilly room, and he pulled a thin keycard from his flight suit’s pouch, sliding it through a reader near the top of the metal plate—
—and then Lara shuddered for real this time, an involuntary spasm that racked her sweating body as Pop dropped the card to the deck and crushed it beneath one heel.
Pop had just manually programmed the nuclear device to detonate—and without the card, the only way to stop it was from the main computer on Nemesis.
“Fifteen minutes,” he said, and started toward her, his voice softening as he approached. “Ample time for us to get clear. We don’t even have to hurry, although we really should allow for variables—these terminals have giant reactors…”
Lara felt a sudden dread pound through her veins as his words sank in, totally separate from the fear for her life and the lives of Ellis and Jess. He wasn’t planning to kill her.
From the hungry look on hi
s face, he had something entirely different in mind.
28
He cut us off!” Jess shouted, and although Ellis heard him clearly, he couldn’t respond. The drones kept coming, patternless in their attack; vicious and grinning, they ascended through the corridors in large and small numbers, the tactical mentality of the hive urging them on—attack until the intruder dies, no matter the sacrifice.
Ellis had an idea. It had filtered up through the incredible exhaustion, and it was all he could do to hold on to it and fire at the same time in the smoking, screaming dark. The digital green in front of his eyes was starting to waver; when that went down, it was all over.
—left, squeeze-hold stop, right, squeeze-hold stop—gotta cut down drain reintegrate system—
His pulse rifle rained hot metal across the frenzied animals to the left as he sent semicontrolled bursts of flame through the corridor they’d come from. Bug bodies exploded and clattered and cooked all around them, and the distance seemed to be closing—
Jess shouted into his ear. “I’m runnin’ outa ammo, Ellis! We’ve got to break for cover—”
The rest was lost in the sharp death cries of a handful of the snarling attackers, roasted alive inside exoskeletal armor.
Ellis concentrated as much as he could on his struggling thoughts of the suit design. He had to feel for them, lost as they were in the burning weakness of his body and the relentless nightmare of the corridor…
—tracking capabilities, scope and range sensors, efficiency calculations—
They had all failed, but the computer didn’t know that. It continued to feed the damaged material into his neurotransmitters. He couldn’t shut down the computer, but if he could shut parts of it down…
Another wave of dizziness and pain blocked out everything for a moment, everything except the touch and pull of his fingers against the weapon controls and the ongoing screams of the sinewy, muscular drones that raced at them, wavering in front of his tired eyes.
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