Spiralling out of the center of the compound was a thick pillar of black smoke. Orange flames tangled through the pillar and licked at the surrounding buildings. Something bad was going on in the Blackwatch colony. I just hoped it wasn’t effecting the satellite’s slaved terminal.
I studied the door, wondering how to get their attention.
“Do we knock?” Driscoll asked from behind me. I was starting to get nervous about how frequently his words matched my thoughts. What had I come to that I was thinking in the same patterns as one of the Empire’s worst terrorists?
“There’s a pad to communicate beside the door,” Kitsano suggested.
“I’m guessing that’s not how you got in last time,” I said.
“No, we didn’t, but the other way involves killing people, and since we just promised we wouldn’t…” she let her voice trail off.
I nodded. We definitely didn’t want bloodshed.
I led the way to the main door, tapped the communications pad and waited. Two cameras swivelled to view me. I resisted the urge to scratch my scar and stood motionless instead, waiting for a response.
“They seem to be preoccupied,” Driscoll said from my left shoulder.
“They do,” I agreed.
“Maybe we should try the other route,” he said.
“Maybe we can afford to wait a few more moments,” I said, mimicking his cool tone.
The minutes stretched out. Inside the wall the fire continued unabated.
“Maybe their hands are too full for visitors,” Driscoll said, as the unmistakable zip of a nettlegun sang out.
“Someone’s having a party in there, and we’re here to crash it,” I said, still cool on the outside, even though I was frustrated and desperate to get to the terminal on the inside.
I felt a shift in the world around me, but I didn’t need to turn around. The communication pad had a gleaming, reflective surface. I could see the forest behind me. I saw that the white tree boles were almost invisible, they were so blocked by ranks of shadows .
I was finding it difficult to hold my ground, but we were surrounded – the sounds of a civil uprising were coming from the settlement before us, a hostile army was gathering behind us, and the Baldric Three had fallen to their knees again trying to block it all out. Like everything in my life, this situation was stacked in the usual Vera fashion – overwhelmingly against me.
I chewed on the inside of my lip and then tapped the pad again, hoping to convey my annoyance to whoever was listening.
After long minutes, the door mechanism whirred and the seal broke with a gasp. The two doors wheezed as they separated, slowly opening a gap up between them.
Standing in the gap was Ian McIsaac. At his back were four others in our same skinsuits, holding nettleguns. Their suits were dirty and ash-covered. One was Ch’ng, and the look he gave me was a mix of hostility and respect. The hostility I was used to. The respect was a surprise though a welcome one.
Ian shot a look of confusion toward the Baldric Three, and a look of satisfaction to me. I didn’t have time to enjoy that look. He noticed the shadows in the tree line behind us last of all. He cursed.
“Can you never just come alone, Vera?” he asked, frustration and anger the top notes in his voice.
“No one ever believes me when I tell them I want my space,” I said wryly.
He smiled, every trace of the emotional journey we’d taken since leaving Capricornia was erased in what was truly an expression of friendship. Maybe seeing me hauled off by shadows after my brain was almost carved open had removed his hatred.
“It’s good to see you,” he said.
I felt my own smile warm at the look in his beautiful blue eyes.
“Don’t worry, I’ve made a temporary truce with them,” I said gesturing to the shadows. “We’ll be safe until we get off this planet. And I have a plan for that, too.”
“Of course you do,” he said, and his smile was so warm I could have basked in it for hours.
Our gazes locked, radiating warmth and happiness for a split second. My heart opened with the warmth of forgiveness and comradery blossomed again where there had only been bare bitterness before.
“Ian,” I said, holding out a hand.
“You don’t need to say it,” he began, but whatever else he was going to say was cut off by a throaty yell.
“For Baldric!”
I spun in surprise. Roberta leapt up from her crouch, something small and square in one hand, and her nettlegun, still with its strap over one shoulder, brandished in the other.
Something in her expression told me I should be afraid at almost the same moment that I felt a stab of pain through my skull. I fell to the ground, clutching my head.
“Did you think I wouldn’t keep this?” She said, and her hand opened enough to show the device Dr. Daniels had connected to my implant. “Death to the Matsumotos!”
“No!”
I didn’t know if that was me screaming or Ian. I tried to stand and fight, but my implant was stalled, unable to hear my commands, and my fight programs fizzled out. My own physical body was also frozen, the intense pain too much for it to process my brain’s orders.
Ian leapt in front of me just as Roberta fired her nettlegun. He fell just as fast, slumping on top of me. My hands dropped from my head, clutching him instead. I was in too much agony to speak, and his eyes were already glassy, his chest a shredded mess of cloth and flesh.
Roberta’s nettlegun was swinging towards me, and I couldn’t even close my eyes. The pain had stolen all function from me.
Just as I was sure she was about to fire, blood spurted from her neck, coating the ground, and her head flopped loosely as she fell to join us. The nettlegun didn’t even fire. Behind her Driscoll stood, holding a bloody knife. He reached down, scooped up the black device and flicked a button. The pain stopped. I blinked.
Driscoll looked me in the eye, and then quick as lightning he dropped the device and stomped on it. Crushing it into a thousand pieces. My mouth fell open.
“I thought you hated me.”
“I thought he hated you,” he said, gesturing to Ian.
“Only for the last few days.” I said. Hot tears formed in my eyes and splashed onto Ian’s face as I gently closed his eyes. “Before that…”
I started to say something to mourn my prodigal friend. “I always thought that if you went deep enough you’d find that Ian was a really good person. I can’t believe-”
My words cut off as the shadows rushed towards us.
“Inside!” I yelled, dragging Ian with me. Driscoll grabbed his other arm, and we fled into the colony, Kitsano and Michael following us and Ch’ng activating the close function almost before we were all through the doors.
Ch’ng was flushed and only inches away. “What was that?!”
“We spilled blood,” I whispered, as the blood drained from my face.
THE SPLITTING: 27
“What do you mean?” Ch’ng said.
“The truce was for as long as we didn’t spill blood. We spilled blood.”
He gaped like he was going to launch into me and split my lip with his fist, but there was no time for that. I was still holding Ian’s warm, dead body. For some unfathomable reason he’d given his life to save me. I didn’t agree with his choice, but I’d damn well honor it.
“What is this?” I asked, pointing at the smoke and flames, and distracting him from his frustration.
“We fought the marines,” Ch’ng said. His voice was hollow, like he couldn’t decide what emotion dominated him just yet. “Ian led us. He found a weakness, and he exploited it. The fighting was intense, but we won. We were just about to deal with the fire when you called at the gate. Ian said we’d get you first. You could help fight the fire.”
“Ok,” I said, deep in assessment mode. “Kitsano, go with Ch’ng and sort out the fire. Michael, you’ll guide me to the satellite terminal.” I looked at Ch’ng, fixing him with my eyes, “We have a limited time to
communicate with a starship and get all of our reeking bodies off this planet, are you in?”
“Yes,” he said, his eyes fixed on Ian’s corpse.
“Then go with Kitsano and don’t give her flack for being an ex-marine.”
“What about for being only half here?” he asked bitterly, pointing at her half-translucent body.
“Or that. We need her.” I shifted my focus, “Take Ian, Driscoll. Put him somewhere respectful. Then meet us at the terminal.”
An electric sound startled us all.
“That’s the Javierians trying to breach the electric fence on the wall,” Kitsano said.
My lips thinned.
“When you’re done with Ian get eyes on the wall, Patrick,” I said. His eyes had that stupid glow thing going on again. I ignored it and turned to Michael, “Lead on, Michael. We’re running low on time.”
He started to scuttle to the right but a yell from Driscoll kept me from following.
“They’re coming over the wall!” he yelled.
I swivelled and looked. Somehow, against all reason, the shadows had formed some sort of ghastly human pyramid like something out of a team training event gone wrong. They were towering beside the wall, flinging their own to the other side. Some were damaged from the fall, but others were already picking themselves up and rushing towards us.
“Leave Ian and get to us!” I called to Driscoll. He didn’t need orders. He was already sprinting in our direction, the shadows hot on his heels.
I raised the gun and booted the fighting program, spraying the shadows on either side of Driscoll with nettles but careful to keep clear of him. My heart hurt as their massed bodies covered Ian’s fallen form. Once again I had left a friend to suffer indignity after death. Would it ever end? I bit the inside of my lip and tasted blood.
“What now?” Driscoll asked, ducking into the outdoor hallway we were in.
“Michael leads. You follow. I have the rear,” I said, still firing into the shadows.
We headed off at a quick trot. Michael was leading, but as was typical for him he barely noticed the shadows, leaving Driscoll and I to deal with them. Maybe it was because he was half-shadow himself, but I suspected it was more likely just his temperament.
We eeled through the sandy corridors between buildings until Michael indicated the one we needed. Smoke rose ominously from the back of the building.
“It’s this one,” he said.
“It appears to be on fire,” Driscoll muttered.
“Yeah,” Michael said, as if he’d just realized that could be a problem.
“We’ll see how bad it is, but we can’t afford to get trapped in there without an exit if it really is in flames. You’ll need to cover the door, Driscoll.”
He nodded and took up a position at the door as Michael and I entered. The room wasn’t on fire yet, the smoke was there, but not overpowering. I tried not to breathe too much. I wished I’d had that breathing apparatus from the first leg of the journey. It would be helpful now.
“It’s through here,” Michael said, laser-focused on finding the terminal. He led us through into an inner hallway, lit by emergency lights, then into a large auditorium and further back into another hall. The smoke was gathering, and we were already further from Driscoll than I would have liked.
“Is it much further I asked?”
“No,” he said, and there was something weird about how he said it. He seemed tense. Maybe it was just because we were going deeper and deeper into a burning building. That should make anyone nervous.
Finally, we pushed our way into a command room. It was eerily similar to the one Driscoll and I had been held in. It was possible that without the smoke I would recognize it as being that exact room. He led the way to the slaved terminal and sat down at it. I used my implant.
Establish link to terminal 8CR5349058. I read the terminal number off of the ID tag.
Establishing link…Link established.
Connect to satellite.
Connection made.
Michael was still booting up the terminal.
Name of starship approaching Baldric?
Starship ID is Cardinal’s Blood, a ship of Blackwatch. She is commanded by Captain Lewis Sato.
Establish communication link via satellite with Cardinal’s Blood and download any recent colony records that you can access.
“Got it!” Michael said, finally tapping into the console’s connection to the satellite’s communications just as Driscoll burst through the door behind us, firing behind him.
“Time’s up. It’s leave now or be eaten by shadows,” he said.
The fire must have changed somehow between when he entered and when we did. When he opened the door, the other door at the opposite side of the room exploded open. Flames burst out of that door and licked at the walls and ceiling. The edges of the nearest flame engulfed Michael, seated at the console.
He leapt to his feet, screaming, and pin-wheeling through the room. I froze. There was nothing near to put out the fire. His screams were haunting.
A burst of nettles ripped out from beside me and Michael dropped silently to the ground. I gasped and looked at Driscoll. His lips thinned, but he didn’t bother to explain himself. I guess when you’re a terrorist killing people quickly is something you do with regularity
“We need to go,” I said, making for the door.
Driscoll hadn’t been lying. The hall beyond was packed with shadows. We fired into them, but with the flames at our backs, and no other entrances or windows there was only one way out – through the press of shadows.
I roared a battle cry, kicked my fighting program into overdrive and launched myself into the fray.
Connection established, two records downloaded.
I fired and two shadows burst apart. I followed up close on the heels of my nettles, my right leg sweeping out as I ducked low under the attacks of my opponents. I fired into their knees, pushed hard to stand upright again and then there was no more room to use the gun. It was all kicking, elbowing, and smashing with the barrel and stock of the nettlegun. I could sense and hear Driscoll tucked in behind me defending my back. He seemed to be angry about something.
Captain Sato of the Cardinal’s Blood, this is an emergency communique from the colony on Baldric. Our colony has been overrun by hostiles. Request emergency assistance and lift out from the colony.
It wasn’t the best wording, but I didn’t want to give my name, and it’s tough to compose formal notes while you’re literally biting a shadow’s arm with your teeth and jamming your gun barrel into his guts and firing. If these things were made of flesh we’d be slipping on blood by now.
Request name and ID number for confirmation that this communique is authentic.
The response sounded automated. Someone up there wasn’t doing her job well if she was letting the machine get it.
Repeat, this is an emergency communique from the colonists on Baldric. Our colony has been overrun by hostiles. Please send emergency assistance!
I really hoped a human got it this time because there was no guarantee that the slaved terminal was going to last much longer in those flames. As if triggered by my negative thoughts, the implant popped up a message.
Connection lost…
Great. Just flipping great.
“It’s getting worse back here,” Driscoll said, his tone a warning.
“Because it’s all roses up here,” I grunted, flipping forward to land on the shoulders of a particularly tall indigenous shadow and using the height to fire down on the ranks below me.
We were close to the gate, although I didn’t see how that would help. To my left there was some sort of enclosure and inside…Rhinric! I sent a mental blast towards her, willing her to come to me and she crashed against the haphazard enclosure. It was worth a shot.
I was thrown from the shadow’s shoulders, but I twisted to land on my feet and socked him in the eye with the stock of my gun. I glanced at the telltale. Ammunition was at 10%. Pr
etty soon it would all be hand to hand. I felt a surge in the wave of their cacophonic communication that sent me reeling. Maybe it was their communications, or maybe it was that oxygen toxicity again, but my head spun for long enough that I was swept off my feet by a shadow and thrown through the air. I hit the ground hard, curling reflexively to protect my vitals. A large shadow blocked the sun, and I forced my head up to look at my enemy.
It was Rhinric. She was standing above me, fending off my attackers with her horn. I hauled myself to my feet and up her back, grasping her heavy mane and urging her towards where Driscoll was down, swamped in shadows.
“Patrick!” I yelled.
My hand stretched towards his. He managed to grab it through the press of bodies and we both pulled with all our strength. I felt the resistance as hands tried to pull him back, but it only made me grit my teeth and pull harder. I was done taking losses. Now, I wanted to inflict some.
“Matsumoto!” a cry rang out from behind me.
I urged Rhinric around to look. It was Ch’ng. Somehow, unbelievably, he, Kitsano and two others were opening the gate, huddled around the controls. I opened my mouth to warn them, but I was already too late.
THE SPLITTING: 28
THE MOMENT THE DOORS STARTED to open the shadows squeezed through, surrounding Ch’ng and the others and spilling into the corridor between us. I had thought the press of bodies before had filled our path, but now two more shadows were pressing in for every one that had been there before. Their ranks made visibility difficult. If it hadn’t been for Rhinric it would be impossible to see.
I steered towards Ch’ng and the exit. The buildings behind us were engulfed in flames and the heat was growing too intense to be near. Beads of sweat formed on my skin and my clothing felt too hot. Rhinric struggled to move forward, her efforts impeded by the press of shadows. I willed her to walk up and over them, wincing inside as she complied, lifting her front legs and slamming down only to do it again and again like a dog through deep snow. The puffs of bursting shadows were like inkblots all around us, hanging in the air for only a moment before falling or fading from existence.
The Matsumoto Trilogy: Omnibus Edition Page 41