She sighed. Looking around her, she barely even saw people. Naked, shaved, afraid, crammed into the interstellar cattle car, they could be mistaken for animals being led to the slaughter.
"It's a sad state," Grant said, looking around. "We fought on Abaddon for pity's sake. We came in there with tanks, with jets, with cannons. Every man and woman carried a gun. And we kicked ass. Now look at us."
Addy looked around. She saw children. Babies. Elders. She also saw veterans—like her and Grant—people who had fought the scum, had killed aliens, had saved the world. She knew them by the tattoos on their arms. Some, like her and Grant, had tattooed stars, signifying that they had killed scum in combat. Others just had the tattoos of their units; they had not killed aliens, perhaps, but they had fought nonetheless.
"You're right," Addy said. "You're right, Grant. We're humans. We're soldiers. We're not lambs." She gripped his arm. "And I say we fight."
Grant looked around him, then back at Addy. "We seem to be missing the tanks, the fighter jets, the cannons, the big guns."
"We have teeth." Addy bared hers. "We have nails." She dug them into Grant's arm. "And we have human spirit. On Haven, we were caught by surprise. We know what we're dealing with now. I won't just be led to the slaughter. We're on a starship. There are only a handful of marauders here. We know their eyes are weak. We can kill them by stabbing their eyes. By God, I say we kill them and commandeer their ship."
Grant was not a young man, and crammed into this ship, naked and bruised, he seemed even older, but now his eyes flared with the fury of a young warrior. He nodded and clasped her hand.
"I will fight with you, Sergeant Linden. It will be an honor."
Addy glanced toward the back of the deck. At the edge, in the shadows, he lurked. A marauder. The alien clung to the ceiling, legs folded, hanging from his web. The creature guarded the shaft that led to the decks below and above, which Addy assumed were similar to this one, crammed full of prisoners.
She thought back to being herded into this ship.
We passed a great, rumbling room, she thought. At the bottom floor. The engine room. That's the place we must commandeer.
She looked back at the marauder guarding the shaft. She would have to get past him, to crawl downward to the engine room. Even in the shadows, Addy glimpsed the parasitic twin growing from the guardian's side. It was her old friend Orcus, the one who had kidnapped her, who had torn her apart from her friends.
"They weren't herding any prisoners to the lowest deck," she whispered. "That must be where the marauders are flying this ship. We need to muster whoever can fight and get down there."
"How many marauders do you think are on this ship?" Grant said.
"Not many, I'd wager," she said. "We're cattle to them, right? How many humans are in a farm truck, leading the cows to the slaughterhouse? One? Two?" A sneer touched her lips. "The marauders underestimate us. I would bet my life on it. Hell, I am betting my life on it."
Grant glanced around, then leaned closer. "There are a few more of us. Veterans. Some are like us, fought on Abaddon. Tough sons of bitches. I'll spread the word. We'll get a squad ready. Will you command us, Sergeant Linden?"
"Sergeant?" she said. "The HDF is dead, Grant."
He smiled thinly. "No it isn't. It's still right here." He nodded. "Commander." Suddenly his good eye was damp. "An honor!"
Addy remembered his office back in their building. It had been a shrine to the Human Defense Force, full of posters, medals, and other mementos from the war. Grant's most prized possession had been a signed photo of her, Marco, Ben-Ari, and Lailani—the team that had killed the scum emperor.
This is a nightmare for me, but it's a dream for him, she thought. He's fighting with his heroes.
She nodded. "Summon the squad, soldier."
Lip wobbly, chin held high, Grant wormed his way through the crowd. Addy moved in a separate direction, seeking people with veteran tattoos. It was slow progress; every meter was a struggle, a veritable game of Twister, contorting to squeeze around people, worm her way between their legs, or float over their heads. The human waste floated around her, and she had to nudge aside two corpses. Disgust grew in Addy, and soon she was shivering. She was feverish, and she hadn't eaten or drunk anything in hours, maybe days, but she refused to join the dead. Not without a fight.
There weren't many veterans here, but she found a few, war-weary souls who had found no solace on Earth, who had moved to Haven to escape their demons. Perhaps, like Marco and her, they had found that the demons came with them.
Now we will be soldiers again.
"We fight," she whispered to them. "Make your way—slowly—toward the back. Near the sleeping marauder guarding the path to the lower decks. Remember—their eyes are weak."
They all nodded. Nobody here would cower from a fight.
"For Earth," they whispered.
They collected fifteen combat veterans. In addition to Addy and Grant, three others had fought on Abaddon in Operation Jupiter, among its few survivors. One by one, they made their way toward the edge of the deck, slowly, casually, heads lowered, silent.
Hanging from the web above, Orcus still lurked.
Addy glanced up at the marauder. A tangled black cobweb covered the ceiling, and Orcus clung to it, his six legs folded against his torso. The alien had black, blank eyes with no lids; Addy couldn't tell if he was sleeping. She kept waiting for Orcus to move, but the only movement came from the saliva dripping from his jaws.
Below the alien, a shaft led to other decks. From above and below, Addy heard the cries of prisoners. Each deck held thousands of humans, it seemed.
From where she stood, Addy could see a porthole behind Orcus. It was barely larger than her fist, but through it, she saw the stars.
For a moment, her eyes dampened and she couldn't breathe.
They were beautiful. It had been years since she had seen the stars. The atmosphere in Haven had always been too thick. Their beauty pierced her. She wasn't like Marco. She couldn't recognize what stars she was seeing. She didn't know where they were traveling. But trapped here in this hive of human misery, she wanted to be out there, floating among those lights. Such beauty, right there, just a few meters away, yet beyond her reach.
Grant hovered nearby, elbowing people aside. He met Addy's gaze across the crowd. He nodded.
Addy made eye contact with the others. Slowly, they began moving closer. The crowd parted before them.
Above, Orcus still slept, clinging to the ceiling.
But as the veterans floated nearer, the alien's parasitic twin woke. The twisted creature, no larger than a human toddler, stared down at Addy.
Addy winced and froze.
The deformed twin opened its jaws and shrieked.
Orcus's eyes blazed white, his pupils dilating. His massive jaws opened.
"For Earth!" Addy shouted.
"For Earth!" her squad answered.
Addy pushed off the ground and vaulted toward the marauder, screaming.
Orcus screeched. At once, his six legs unfurled, and his eyes burned with fury. Webs shot out. Addy pushed against another prisoner, floated sideways, kicked off another man, and hurled herself onto the marauder.
A claw grazed her arm. Another cut her leg. She ignored the pain, reached out, and grabbed one of the alien's bulging eyes.
Orcus screamed—this time in pain.
Addy squeezed the eye, and it popped in her palm like an overripe tomato.
Orcus howled, jaws opened wide.
Addy sneered, grabbed one of Orcus's teeth—it was as long as a sword—and pressed her feet against the alien's head.
She yanked mightily, and the tooth tore out with gushing blood.
A weapon, she thought. A sword.
Missing an eye and a tooth, Orcus shrieked and slammed a leg against her. Addy tumbled in zero gravity and plowed into other prisoners, the alien tooth still in her hand.
Above, the wounded Orcus was roaring, bleeding from
his gum, his crushed eye oozing. Other humans were attacking the creature now, trying to reach his remaining three eyes.
Howling, Orcus scuttled across the ceiling. The marauder fled into the shadows, tail between his legs.
For a second or two, Addy panted in relief, holding the alien tooth like a sword.
But her victory was short-lived. From the deck below, more inhuman bellows rose.
"We're about to have company!" Addy shouted, figuring that every space warrior needed to shout that phrase at least once.
Shadows stirred in the shaft. Several more marauders leaped onto the deck. Ignoring the pain, Addy charged toward them.
She dodged a blow from one leg. Beside her, claws ripped a man apart. Above her, a woman screamed and died, chest cracked open. A clawed leg swung toward Addy, and Grant leaped up, grabbed the limb, and yanked it aside. One of the spikes slashed his side, and his blood sprayed Addy.
"Kill it, Sergeant!" Grant shouted, struggling to hold the leg back.
Addy kicked off the floor and soared. The jaws snapped toward her. She pulled back, and the teeth slammed shut a centimeter away. She thrust Orcus's fallen tooth toward the marauder. The ivory blade entered the creature's leftmost eye.
When the marauder roared in agony, Addy thrust her sword again, cutting its palate. She pulled her hand back as the jaws snapped shut, nearly losing her arm.
"More of them!" somebody shouted. "Coming from below!"
Across the deck, people were screaming, weeping, cheering. Marauders were tearing into the humans, scattering blood.
The marauder in front of Addy, one eye gone, roared and tried to bite her. She leaped back. With a battle cry, she thrust her ivory blade with all her might. She impaled another eye, this time a central one. She kept shoving, driving the tooth into the creature's brain.
The marauder mewled, then moved no more.
"I killed one!" Addy shouted. "They can be killed! Fight! Fig—"
A roar sounded. Addy spun toward the shaft.
Yet another marauder emerged.
She drove her tooth forward, trying to stab an eye, but only hit its hardened cheek. Sparks flew.
Addy tried to scamper back, but there was no room.
"For Earth!" Grant shouted, wrenching free a tooth from a dead marauder. He swung the fang.
"For Earth!" answered the survivors of the squad, yanking out more teeth.
Marauders leaped forward. Grant thrust his tooth, but he couldn't hit an eye. Claws lashed, grabbed a veteran, and tore him apart. Webs shot out, entangling veterans. One strand caught Addy's wrist. Another wrapped around her torso. She screamed, tried to kick, but strands lassoed her legs, then her throat.
She couldn't breathe.
Around her, more marauders emerged, and more webs shot out, trapping other veterans.
The strands tightened around her neck.
She gasped. No air was reaching her lungs. She couldn't move her arms.
Around Addy, the other prisoners were shouting, trying to reach her. More webs wrapped around them. Their voices grew hazy. Blackness spread around Addy's vision, closing in, until she could see only one marauder ahead. Orcus. The alien licked his lips, staring at her with cruel delight, and then he too faded into shadow.
CHAPTER FOUR
As Lailani worked in the Anansi, hooking up sensors and plugging in keyboards and monitors, she couldn't stop her tears from flowing.
They're gone. The children. My people. My Sofia. They're all gone.
A tear fell onto a keyboard. Lailani wiped her eyes and took a deep breath. She had to focus. She was in danger now. Her captain, her friends, her entire planet was in danger. She had to get this equipment installed on the Anansi, had to track their pursuers, had to find the Ghost Fleet. The cosmos was coming undone. As was her life.
She tried to plug a sensor into a battery pack, but her fingers slipped, and she snapped the connector. Damn it! Now she would have to rig a new adapter, and that could take an hour, and she had left her tools behind on the Saint Brendan. And she didn't even have the right rigs here, and . . .
I love you, my sweet little pea.
Sofia smiled in her memory, stroking her hair.
Lailani sniffed.
"No," she whispered. "Not now. I can't grieve now."
But the image of Sofia hovered before her, golden in the dawn, lying in bed with the sheets pulled up to her shoulders. The most beautiful sight Lailani had ever seen. She reached out to her beloved, but she couldn't grip her. Sofia was falling. Gliding down into flame. The ravager's plasma engulfed her, stripping flesh from bones, and Lailani looked away, trembling.
"I'm sorry." More tears fell. "I'm sorry, Sofia. I wanted to save you. I wanted to die with you. I'm sorry that I lived. I'm sorry that you're gone."
Two years. Two years of living with Sofia in Manila. Two years of labor, wheeling her cart of books through the shantytowns, teaching the children to read. Two years of healing after a war of killing. Two years of fixing after so long destroying.
Gone.
All gone—the children, her books, the woman she loved.
And with this fresh grief, older memories cascaded. The floodgates were open now. The horrors of her past filled Lailani. The inferno on Abaddon. The terrors on Corpus. And worst of all—that horrible night on the HDFS Miyari, the night the scum had hijacked her mind, had controlled her like a marionette. The night they had made her grow claws. The night she had thrust those claws into her friend's chest. The night Benny "Elvis" Ray had died, his heart in her hand, and she had laughed, had tried to kill Marco too, had become a monster, and—
No.
Lailani forced herself to take deep breaths.
That wasn't me.
She wasn't fully human. Lailani knew that. She knew that one percent of her DNA was alien. Was evil. The doctors had placed a chip in her head, caging that monster inside her. Lailani had to believe that the monster was gone for good. That she was not a sinner. And yet the guilt lingered. The grief still tore at her, as sharp as the claws she had grown.
No grief now. Now is when I redeem myself. Now is when I save the world.
She tried to plug in another cable. Again her fingers slipped. Again she snapped a connector.
"Damn it!" Lailani shouted. "This stupid fucking thing!" She tossed the cable and sensors aside. The equipment lay in a mess across the Anansi's interior. "The thing is goddamn ruined! I have no tools, it's too dark in here, those fucking marauders keep chasing us, and the fucking connectors keep snapping, and I can't . . . I can't . . ."
Suddenly Lailani was sobbing, chest shaking. She lowered her head. Her bitter tears fell and her hair fell across her forehead, just long enough to cover her eyes.
Footsteps sounded behind her. She felt a hand on her shoulder.
"Lailani, can I help?"
She turned around, wiping her tears, to see Marco. Her cheeks flushed, and shame at her weakness filled her.
"I'm fine." She took a shuddering breath. "A moment of weakness. I'm fit for duty."
Marco looked at her with soft eyes. "I'm not Captain Ben-Ari. You can be human around me. Can I help? Or just listen?"
God damn it. Lailani didn't want this. She hated the kindness she saw in his eyes. Hated how she still felt about him. She wanted Marco to hate her, to scorn her. She had left him! She had broken his heart! When he had dreamed of marrying her, she had left to the Philippines, had chosen a life of charity work with Sofia over a life at his side. And after all the pain she had caused him—he would still show her kindness?
She pointed at a box of memory keys.
"You can help me install those."
He nodded, sat down, and got to work. For long moments, they worked in silence, plugging in equipment, calibrating sensors, bringing systems online. One by one, monitors came to life in the belly of the Anansi. The screens showed the pursuit behind them: twenty enemy ravagers, only a day or two away, moving fast, closing the gap. And the Ghost Fleet still lay months awa
y.
"Here, let me help," Marco said as Lailani struggled to lift a bulky battery pack the size of her torso.
"I'm fine," she said.
"It's too heavy. Let me help!" He approached, took one end of the box, and helped her move it into position. "There."
Their fingers touched, then pulled away quickly. She brushed back her hair and looked at him. She bit her lip and looked away. He stared at the battery.
"Lailani," he began, "again, I'm sorry about Sofia. I—"
"Don't," she said.
He nodded. "All right."
Lailani let out something halfway between scoff and sob. "You're ridiculous."
He frowned. "Why?"
She gave a bitter laugh, looking away. "Why are you like this?"
Now some bitterness filled his own voice. "Like what?"
She reeled toward him, feeling her anger rise. "Like this. So fucking nice to me."
He took a step back, blinking. "I thought you needed help. I—"
"I don't need fucking help!" she said. "Don't you understand, Marco? You're not some knight in shining armor, and I'm not some damsel in distress, some delicate Asian flower, who needs the rich white hero to save her."
He narrowed his eyes. "I never thought that—"
"Yes you did!" She stamped a foot. "Yes you did, Marco! You always did! For fuck's sake. Back at boot camp, who was I to you? A weak, frail girl, her wrists sliced, a rose from the slums. And you thought you could protect me. Defend me. And you're still doing it!"
His eyes hardened. "If I recall correctly, you were the toughest warrior in our platoon. The first time I saw you, you were talking about how much you wanted to kill scum. That's why I fell in love with you. Because of your strength. Not because of some damsel in distress fantasy."
"Yes, you fell in love with me!" Lailani said. "And I broke your heart. I broke your fucking heart." Her tears were flowing again. "You were so fucking nice to me. Always so fucking nice!" She was weeping again now. "You wanted to marry me. To be with me always. You loved me so much. And I dumped you. I chose Sofia over you. For years in the army, we were apart, and I didn't wait for you. I betrayed you." She was trembling now. "I acted like a total bitch, and I hate myself for it. And I hate that you're still so fucking nice to me. Why, Marco? Why don't you hate me? I want you to hate me! To shout at me. I deserve it."
Earth Shadows (Earthrise Book 5) Page 4