by Scott Moon
“Forget about the ship. We have alien mutants slaughtering people in the streets. I don’t know who Ortega is, but I’ve got bigger problems. Send me some muscle or there won’t be a Darklanding to exploit,” Thad said.
“Calm down, Thad. I understand you have some problems. You’re not making sense. The native life of Darklanding isn’t malicious. That is one of the reasons we picked the place. If we wanted to fight off monsters, we would have set up the mines on the next planet over. Or used the military to reclaim one of the pirate holds that actually has more exotics than Darklanding, if a person could get to them,” Tiberius said.
“I don’t need a lecture or a business plan. I need ass-kickers with guns and some disaster relief ships, ASAP,” Thad said.
“Calm down, Thad…”
The line went dead.
Thad faced his team. “What else do you have?”
“Proletan has devised a way of using the anti-theft alarms and motion sensors on all SagCon warehouses to track the ebb and flow of the swarm,” Sledge said.
“Great. Now we have a swarm,” Thad said. “How does this help us? Can we plot a course through the town that keeps us from getting overrun?”
“No,” Proletan said. “However, we might be able to pinpoint the hive queen or swarm leader. She—it—should be near the center of the largest concentration. The creatures are too spread out for us to get a good location.”
“Once we find the head, we can cut it off,” Sledge said.
“Famous last words.” Thad considered his options and found he had fewer than he’d like. “I’m guessing we need to convince the flesh-eating, mutant alien spiders to concentrate for this to work.”
“Yep,” Sledge said. “Sounds like a job for the sheriff. They haven’t gone after the obvious population centers, which would make sense if they are mindless feeding machines. We need to figure out what they’re after, lure them toward it, and strike down the leader or leaders.”
***
Nothing could be simple for Kenneth Carter, probationary Security Chief for Interstellar Enterprises, Wilok System. Sabotaged by his enemies who might be his best friends now, mistrusted by his backstabbing boss, and surrounded by creatures that could strip a human to bones in minutes, he was nonetheless faced with an impossible moral dilemma.
“That’s her,” Ortega said. “Shoot her. I’m ordering you to shoot her.”
“I must respectfully ask you to shut your mouth before these things see us,” Carter said.
“Listen, you little twerp. Your future in the corporation is done if you don’t learn to do what you’re told. She knows too much. She’s dangerous. I believe she is trying to play me. All she wants is to make money off a deal with Interstellar Enterprises, then convert those assets to her own use,” Ortega said.
“Sounds familiar,” Carter muttered.
“You little shit.”
He watched Dixie pause, evaluate her best course of action, then rush between two approaching clusters of oversized, flesh-eating spider things.
“Nice,” he said. “I’m not sure if I would have had the balls to try that.”
“Hmmph.” Ortega snorted. “She got lucky.”
“She picked the only way out of the circle they were closing around her. That took guts,” Carter said as he tracked the madam from the Mother Lode. He didn’t like her. She had caused him a lot of trouble. But that didn’t mean he wanted to see her torn to bits like the poor corpses he had found two streets back.
Blaster wounds, burns, and missing limbs from explosions haunted his dreams but still wasn’t as bad as seeing the body of a person who had been eaten alive. Some of the bones had been crunched into pieces and devoured. These monsters were hungry.
“If you don’t shoot her, I’m going to shoot you,” Ortega said.
He turned slowly, expecting to see her pointing her small weapon at him and not being disappointed. With one quick move, he snatched it from her hands. “Don’t ever do that again.”
“You’re so fired. I’ll have your benefit package liquidated and you brought up on charges…for something…as soon as we reach Melborn,” she spat.
“We have bigger problems than your rival.”
“She’s not my rival!”
Carter pointed to the edge of the roof above them. Silhouettes crawled over and down, swarming at them from every possible direction. He pulled a stun grenade from his gear—quietly thanking Remi for setting him up despite all the drama—and threw it. “Let’s go if you want to live!”
He dragged her toward the stun grenade, reaching it a second after it exploded and cleared a path.
“That won’t last long. If you tell me to murder anyone else before we reach safety, I’m leaving you behind. We don’t have time for bullshit,” he said.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN: Dropship
Thad reached the plaza moments before the TerroCom dropship arrived. He’d hoped for a squadron with ground pounders and air support. A squad was better than nothing.
Thad keyed his TerroCom frequency. “You’re coming in right on the money, Red Squad.”
“Roger, Darklanding One. Stand back, the boys are fired up and ready to get some. They’ll be coming out hot.”
“Received and understood.” Thad moved back to the corner of a building.
The dropship flared its engines, raised the nose slightly, and touched down. Two side ramps dropped. Soldiers swarmed out like professionals. Thad didn’t recognized them but was glad the tradition of excellent training had continued.
“Red One to Darklanding One. We’re moving to your location,” a voice said on the radio.
“Belay that. Sweep and clear your way to this location. There are two possible MIA friendlies you need to scoop up.” Thad sent pictures to each of the soldiers.
“Best mission ever,” one of the men said. “Two hotties in need of rescue.”
“I wouldn’t use that exact language when you find them, and the young one is my girlfriend.”
“Trust me with your life, Darklanding One, but not your money or your wife,” the anonymous soldier said.
Thad ignored the banter. “The enemy consists of alien, semi-sentient creatures resembling mutated spiders. They’re up to two meters tall and can strip a human of flesh in minutes. Don’t forget about the small ones. They’re at least as dangerous.”
“Understood,” Red One said. “We’re moving out. Will you be joining us?”
“Eventually,” Thad said, then headed back to the jail for the next phase of his half-assed plan. He called Sledge. “Have you pinned down the locus of this swarm?”
“Not yet. Street surveillance is showing three or four concentrations. All very fluid,” Sledge said.
“Okay, I’m moving to phase two. If you see Shaunte or Dixie on one of those cameras, I want to know immediately.”
Proletan answered. “Are you sure? Because the knowledge might force you to make a choice you don’t like.”
Grenades and small-arms fire exploded from the direction of the fast-moving TerroCom soldiers. Thad plotted a parallel course and set off at a fast jog. He needed to be in the right place at the right time.
Running while avoiding the smaller clusters of aliens proved harder than it seemed, as all such things did. The plan seemed straightforward in his head. He took one side street after another, cut through alleys, and constantly fell behind the soldiers as they fought toward the Mother Lode.
“Sledge, give me a status report.”
“Our theory looks correct. The swarm seems to believe our leader is surrounded by the heaviest concentration of soldiers. We are approaching critical mass. Are you in position?”
“Not exactly. I had to take a detour or three. Those TerroCom soldiers are hard chargers,” Thad said.
Most of what Sledge said next was garbled. “…my thoughts exactly. They’re really moving. You better pick up the pace.”
Thad was almost sprinting by the time he reached the next street. Spots danced in his vision as
his muscles went into oxygen debt. No enemies were near him. He slowed to a walk and listened for Maximus.
Nothing.
No word from Mast.
Shaunte and Dixie were missing in a town that was being overrun by nightmares.
Shaunte’s voice burst through his radio. “Thaddeus Fry! Answer me!”
“I’m here, Shaunte. Calm down.” He put his back to a wall so he could concentrate on the radio without getting killed.
“Calm down!”
Maybe that wasn’t the best choice of words, he thought.
“I’m really in trouble, Thad.”
“What’s your location?”
She answered by giving him a town grid number ninety degrees and half a kilometer away from the TerroCom soldiers.
“Can you head toward the Mother Lode? We have TerroCom soldiers on the way there to fortify it and set up a safe zone.”
“No, Thaddeus, I can’t. You can help me or listen to me die because I am about to start screaming.”
He knew he was making the wrong decision as he ran to save her, but that didn’t stop him from making it.
The only good thing about his current plan was that the soldiers were drawing most of the creatures toward the Mother Lode, which wouldn’t play well with the people sheltering there if they ever learned they had been used as bait. He was down to two charge packs. Once he fired those off, he’d have a utility knife and his charming personality to save the planet.
Dixie’s voice squealed through his radio, drawing the attention of several spiders he’d crept past without alerting. “Thad! Why won’t you answer me!”
He turned, fired, checked the charge pack—almost empty, great. “I hear you, Dixie! Stop yelling. It draws their attention.”
“Tell me about it, Sheriff. I am surrounded like a drunk virgin on prom night,” she said.
“Okay, do you want to tell me where you are? Because I can easily save everyone at the same time,” Thad said, sarcasm dripping from the words.
“I’m sure you can, Thad. That’s why I called you and not Sledge. Well, I did call him, but couldn’t get through. I have been basically calling everyone. But now you’re going to pluck me out of danger. Which will put me in your debt…”
“Just tell me where you are,” Thad said.
“Well, no need to get testy.” She gave the coordinates, huffing for breath as she ran from whatever was chasing her.
Thad grimaced. Her crisis wasn’t exactly on the way to Shaunte’s emergency, but he thought he might be able to do both—so long as his ammunition held out, the creatures continued to surge toward the TerroComm soldiers, and he sidestepped any further complications.
Mast broke his concentration with radio squelch and a muchly urgent transmission. “Deputy One to Sheriff One, do you read me?”
“Yes, Mast. Have you found Maximus?”
“We are muchly together. I see you but cannot catch you. Would you please wait for us?” Mast asked.
“No can do, Mast. Shaunte and Dixie are in trouble. Time is of the essence,” Thad said.
“Yes, well… We are being pursued by a horrible selection of monsters. One of them may be their hive queen. But I am not an expert on such freaks,” Mast said.
Thad slowed to a walk, then stopped, then turned in a slow circle as he pieced a map together in his head. Ahead and to the right was Shaunte, ahead and to the left was Dixie, and back the way he had come was Mast and Maximus. Far enough away to be nearly a joke was his last real chance to identify the hive leader of this infestation unless Mast was correct in his assumption the murderous thing was after him and Maximus.
Sledge hailed him on the radio, but when he answered, it was Proletan he spoke with.
“Are you having trouble deciding which of your friends to save?” the assassin asked.
Thad wanted Sledge and Proletan to split up and help the others while he went after Shaunte, but he knew it was a mistake. Now was the time to concentrate their forces, not divide and be conquered. If he convinced Sledge and Proletan to attempt such a foolish, selfish plan, they would still leave the Mother Lode and the soldiers to face a lot more than they bargained for.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN: Trapped and Alone
Carter managed to keep his boss moving by threats, lies, and physical force. There was no way the woman wouldn’t carry out her threat to completely end his career when this was over. Her eyes were full of barely-contained hate when she looked at him.
But she was alive.
“There she is again, on top of that radio tower,” Ortega said. “Why can’t that woman just die. This is all her fault. I would never have brought IE to this hellish planet if she’d told me it was infested with these vile creatures!”
Carter didn’t argue. The idea that Dixie, or anyone else in Darklanding for that matter, had caused this plague of violence was ridiculous. Ortega exhausted him. At one point, he’d considered pushing her off a stairway they’d been using to escape a nasty cluster of the spider things. Fortunately for Ortega, his conscience grabbed him in its iron vice and forced him to do the right thing.
“One of those things bit me,” Ortega said, sliding to the roof top as tears flowed uncontrollably. “Why didn’t this happen to her? Why? What did I do to deserve this? I’m not like her. I’m a winner.”
“That’s not how it works,” Carter said, barely looking at her. He moved to the edge of the building they’d climbed to find a temporary respite from their inhuman enemies. Dixie had also sought higher ground, but with less success. A quick look through his range glasses revealed at least two bite marks on her lower legs. Her knuckles seemed to be bleeding as though she had punched one of her attackers in its mandibles.
He faced Ortega. “Let me look at that wound.” He cleaned it with a flask of whiskey he knew she carried, then fashioned a bandage out of his jumpsuit sleeve.
“Thank you, Carter,” she said in a soft voice. “I’m sorry I’ve been such a bitch. Physical pain really isn’t my thing.”
He didn’t comment.
“Help me up,” she said. “I’ll do what you say until we get to safety. I understand now. You’re the expert. I’ll let you do your job.”
He pulled her to her feet, explaining the situation as she found her balance. “Something is drawing away a large number of the creatures. We have a narrow window of opportunity. If we move fast, we can make it to the Interstellar Enterprise apartments and call for reinforcements.”
“There won’t be any,” she said.
“Don’t play games with me, Mrs. Ortega. I know about the ships you have moving into the system for the big takeover. I’m discrete, not deaf.”
She shook her head. “I missed the last check-in. They were given strict orders not to proceed without my final order. Now it’s too late.”
Well damn, Carter thought.
“What do we do?” she asked.
“The only thing we can do is run for the IE apartments and hope my security team can hold them off until SagCon calls in their military assets,” he said. “I am still the head of my security team, right?”
“You do know how, or when rather, to strike a bargain,” Ortega said. “Consider yourself reinstated, full privileges and a raise for saving my life.”
Carter smiled. He was tired, but things were working out better than he had hoped. Hard work always paid off. Sometimes patience did as well. His boss was a toxic hag, but he’d done the right thing by not pushing her down the stairs to make his own escape easier.
“One thing, Carter. I need you to shoot that woman off the radio tower,” Ortega said.
“Not at this range,” he said.
“Don’t play games. I know your abilities…and the specifications of the blaster you’re carrying. Take the shot, then take me to safety,” she said.
Carter stared at the growing crowd of mutant spiders below Dixie’s precarious position. He waited for the perfect moment, then spun, aimed, and fired at a centipede-spider the size of a panther that was cl
imbing a fire escape to reach Ortega’s position.
The blaster bolt singed the woman’s hair but killed the thing about to bite her head off.
“There are more! Let’s get the hell out of here!” he shouted.
Terrified, she didn’t argue with him as he threw her onto the next rooftop.
He jumped after her, landing with practiced efficiency and rolling to his feet in time to shoot two spiders that followed him across the gap. Two direct hits sent two clouds of slimy mist falling toward the street.
“How did you do that?” Ortega asked, amazement making her look ten years younger.
“I practice,” he said. “A lot.” He grabbed her hand and raced to the stairs. “I’m taking you to the Mother Lode. It’s closer than our place and I’m guessing they will have a lot of people defending it.”
“You said you were taking me to the IE apartments. Your team is there. We can make a stand,” she said.
“I said that when I trusted you. There was a moment when you were acting like the woman I signed up to serve and protect. Then you told me to kill a woman for no reason when doing so would probably get us both killed. That’s a deal-breaker for me.”
“You don’t need a reason. I give you an order and you do it,” she said.
“That’s not good enough for me anymore.” He rushed her through the streets, narrowly avoiding contact with the aliens. The distance wasn’t far but seemed like a lifetime of danger and close calls.
When they arrived, he found that Leslie had organized Darklanding citizens and patrons of the Mother Lode into a defensive perimeter. Half brandished tools as weapons while the others hammered boards over windows and stacked furniture to block access points.
Leslie ignored Ortega. “I’m glad you made it, Carter. Get your ass inside. Bring the skinny bitch too if you want.”
***
Penelope tapped her foot nervously while the TerroCom soldiers on the dropship checked their gear a third and fourth time. The first squad had been thrown into Darklanding without much information. She wanted to get down there and see how bad they had mucked everything up.