“Oh, I will and thank you, thank you so much,” Tojo fawned. “May the gods bless your children with long lives and may the ground give you bountiful—”
“Just get going you, filthy Ar’abi,” the Quib barked. “And if you mention my children again—”
“So sorry. Never again. Many thanks.”
I let out a sigh of relief, and I wasn’t alone. The train’s magnets hummed louder again, and we lurched forward. After another minute of steady cruising, Old Blue suddenly stopped, then started to rise up, rotating for a moment before the car was set back down. The train let out a loud hum as energy seemed to build under us, and once the hum reached a fever pitch, the train hurtled forward abruptly with a tremendous burst of speed.
As the lights dimmed, Tojo’s heavy footfalls came towards us, and with the click of a few clasps, he pulled up the floor panel and smiled. “We made it.”
Tulip leaped out first, stretching out her alien kitty form with a long mrrowl. Tojo leaned down, offering a hand to Clara. “Okay, come on now. I’ll help you up, eh?”
Clara stared at me, a hungry look in her eyes as her face was still within inches of mine despite the hint of a blush. “Oh, Tojo dear, maybe you should just close that up for another, say, hour. I would love to have a private moment with David here.”
“I don’t think I could say no to that.” I won’t lie. Having such a beautiful angel of a woman pressed so close, well, what all-American man wouldn’t want to spend more time in that tight space? After all, Tulip certainly didn’t seem to be jealous about Clara’s earlier closeness, and Fertish were sexual creatures …
Tojo let out a scoff but was about to comply when Tulip expanded into her normal shape, stretching her arms over her head as she clicked her tongue. “Oh, no, we can’t have that, you two!” I was about to look at her and point out she had been conspiring before instead of objecting when she added with a smirk. “There’s nowhere near enough room for all three of us!”
The old man rolled his eyes. “Children these days!” He turned for the control cab. “Whatever you do, just don’t rock Old Blue too hard. She’s a reliable lady, but she’s an old one.”
We all shared a good long laugh as Tulip gave us both a hand up. “I’m serious, though,” she purred. “I certainly don’t mind sharing, and as you know, David, we Fertish get to know people through …”
“Lovemaking,” Clara finished as she tried to dust off her suit in vain. “I’ve studied quite a bit about alien cultures, my dear, and I find the Fertish a fascinating species.”
Tulip slid up beside the ex-Matriarch, stroking her arm in that special Tulip way. “We have a quiet ride ahead of us, so let’s talk, sister. I’d be happy to tell you anything you want to know …”
Shaking my head slightly, I decided to let the girls get this out of their system. Besides, I probably knew Clara more deeply than I realized since her memories and life were still echoing in my brain, and, well, I knew Tulip biblically, as she would put it. It would be good for them both to have time for a heart-to-heart. The people you fought the hardest for were friends and family, after all, and in my opinion, the best squad was a squad that looked at each other in that way.
As Clara and Tulip took one of the intact seats left on the train, I stretched out the kinks from the ten minutes of cramped conditions and closed the compartments. Looking forward to an interesting future with Clara and Tulip both once we were out of here, I called back up to the front of Old Blue. “Thank you, Tojo, and great work back there.”
“You’re welcome, mighty dragon,” the engineer called back, “but don’t count your food coupons just yet. We’ve got twenty minutes until we reach that vault, and while there aren’t any manned checkpoints before we get there, there’s a chance we’ll run into drones or spiders.” He drew that junk-gun of his and set it on the console next to him. “But … I think that won’t happen until we get closer. Tunnel seven is pretty barren outside of Clara’s little secret treasure trove.”
Normally, I would have let the rest of the squad know they had time to take a rest, but the girls were already chatting away. Grinning to myself, I took the other remaining seat, a grimy bench that had been sawed in half, probably to be used for scrap for some random repair. I drew my Arclight Double, leaned it against the train wall for easy access, and settled back, listening to Clara and Tulip swap stories.
We had a trek ahead of us, but if Clara was right, this was the home stretch. Patting my returner comfortingly, soon enough, we’d be back on the Orion, safely cloaked and tipping back drinks with Turner.
23
The wind whipped through Old Blue, whistling through the open-air frame of the car. It was cooling and relaxing, so much so that I had to force myself to stay sharp and alert. I don’t think the girls had entirely let down their guard either, but they were more absorbed in their conversation. I was fine on playing guard while I listened in.
Clara had her knees pressed together, her hands on her knees, head tilted conspiratorially towards Tulip, as she asked, “So, I must know what transpired to create the galaxy-renowned freedom fighter and hacker Null-K.” She frowned ever so slightly. “I know you said that we shared a past with the camps, and I know it may be hard to speak of but …”
“Oh, Clara, it’s not hard to speak about at all,” Tulip purred, stroking Clara’s arm. She glanced sidelong at me across the car. “And I don’t think you’re the only one that wants to hear more.”
I laughed and nodded, sitting up on my half-bench. “I’ve seen the differences already between this real you and the Star Conqueror you. We’ve got twenty minutes of peace, if we’re lucky, so let’s make the most of it.”
“Very well then,” the catwoman said softly, her smile softening as her eyes grew serious. “I guess you could say it truly started the day the Matriarchy’s warships appeared over the skies of Fertal. I was eight years old when they conquered the planet. All the young like me were taken, the boys pushed into servitude like Tojo and the Ar’abi here, and the girls, well …”
“I was six when they took me,” Clara intoned softly, her unlocked memories no doubt vivid and fresh as the day she first experienced them. “The young girls were sent to the training camps, something you know as well from your training game, David.”
I nodded slowly. “And that’s where they turn you into Matriarchs.”
“The game doesn’t go deeply into it, David, but that’s only partly true,” Tulip corrected me, seemingly nonplussed by talking about this dark part of her past. If I could read her right, there was a certain fierce pride in her as she recounted her tale. “Any particularly difficult cases or girls the High Priestess and her cronies deemed as having no magical talent were sent to the camps on Mekra.”
Clara gasped, one hand covering her mouth as the other went to comfort Tulip … not that she needed it. In fact, she was smiling confidently, though I suspected it was a bit of a display for the ex-Matriarch’s benefit as Clara whispered, “They sent you to Mekra, didn’t they? Girls sent there … are sent there to be broken.”
“As if anything could break me!” Tulip scoffed, petting Clara’s hand. “They did their worst, but I always kept my eyes open and focused on mastering my shapeshifting. Once I could copy the shapes of the wardens, I started learning, using their access to gain more information. It took a long time, years actually, but I studied the systems, the routines, the staff changes, learning enough to finally make my attempt. After all, I’d rather die trying to escape then let the Matriarchy destroy me with their torture.”
That was when I knew my suspicion was right. Though the mask of the cocky, unbreakable Resistance fighter held strong, I swore I could see the faint twinge in Tulip’s expression, a small shine in her eye, a flick of the ear, that told me that the scars were still there. However, she wasn’t letting them show, to try to project strength and hope for Clara, who was just coming to terms with her past and what she had done.
“I’m so sorry you had to endure t
hat, dear,” Clara murmured softly. “I can only take it that your attempt was successful. I only wish I had been as brave as you, but I succumbed to their control so quickly and then …” She shuddered a little. “The Mother of Chains worked her will upon me.”
“You can’t blame yourself, Clara,” I said, leaning forward and setting my elbows on my knees. “They took you because of your magical talents, and then directly pushed you under whatever magic they use to bind you. So, who is this Mother of Chains? From what I saw in your mind, she has to be an integral part of the mind control process.” I glanced at Tulip. “And you mentioned her in that passage of prophecy, didn’t you?”
It was Tulip’s turn to go wide-eyed. “The Mother is real?! But the passing of the dragon was centuries ago. Even the High Priestess isn’t the same one from those ancient times. Everyone just assumes the Mother of Chains was a past Matriarch and, well, just a legend.”
And it was Clara’s turn to pet her, mimicking the Fertish’s own technique. “The dragons aren’t legend, sister, and I regret to tell you that the Mother of Chains is just as real as our dearest David is.”
I nodded slowly. “So, what exactly is she?”
Clara raised a finger, her mouth opening to speak, when a speeding black shape pushed forward by a streak of glowing exhaust caught my eye, rocketing past Old Blue. And right behind that one was another … and then another. I rose to my feet, cutting Clara off as I snatched up my rifle.
“Tojo!” I shouted as I followed the black shapes. It was hard to tell exactly what they were as they rocketed past the trams at amazing speed, but I swore they looked like modified recon drones, retrofitted with jet engines as opposed to turbo fans. “I thought you said we probably wouldn’t see security for a bit!”
The engineer growled as he hefted his cobbled-together rail-gun, the three drones rocketing ahead of Old Blue. “Probably is probably, dragon, but who cares? We’re so far ahead of any other trains, we’ll get to the vault with at least ten minutes for you to do what you need to.”
Tulip bounced to her feet, drawing her Mandible Elite, Clara rising right behind her, her gold eyes focused. “Yes, but what about you? They’ll hunt you down and—”
“We’ll burn that bridge when we get to it, Clara,” I grunted as I swiveled the Arclight Double to the big barrel. “There’s only three. I’ll take center, Tulip, take right, and Clara, you have left.”
My clear orders were all that was needed for the entire squad to spring into action. The three sleek black drones had managed to match pace with the train through elaborate thruster maneuvers, sensor mounts on the top of the drones swiveling to track us as I rushed to the cab. Tulip leaned out the right side, while Clara flapped her wings, barely having room to boost herself up to a hole in Old Blue’s roof as she drew her Stinger.
The wind blowing through the open ports where windscreens should have been would have bothered me if my force dome helmet didn’t deflect the wind like it deflected bullets. By the time I took aim with the Arclight, Tulip’s Mandible roared, the golden glow of a Magic Bullet spiraling out from the barrel as it homed in on her target. Not to be outdone, I closed my eyes and focused, mentally activating One Shot, One Kill.
As Tulip’s homing rifle slugs tore into one drone, I opened my eyes, held my breath, and opened fire. The Arclight Double surged with white light before hurling a double-sized particle blast downrange. I swear to God the lens of the center drone’s main camera widened as it tried to do a last ditch evasive spin, but these rocket-powered drones simply didn’t have the same pin-point maneuverability of the hover drones.
The overpowered shot blew the thing into a million chunks of steel and plastic, even as the one Tulip had shot spiraled towards the side of the tunnel, her Magic Bullet having blown out critical thrusters. Crashing into the wall, the drone exploded in a fiery burst of heat and light.
Enemy robotics disabled. Remote transfer initiated!
As power credits began to accumulate again, I was surprised that instead of seeing a burst of laser light coming from above, I heard the soft hiss of Clara’s Stinger … but she was firing rearward. “Darlings!” she cried over the comms. “We have something of a problem!”
Well, it was inevitable. Things always went FUBAR eventually. “Tojo …?” I nodded to the old man’s rail gun as I started to turn toward the rear.
“Deal with it, dragon!” he hooted. “I’ve got this.” He raised the home-made weapon and shouted, “For freedom!”
Rushing for the main body of the train car, I heard the deafening supersonic crack of the railgun going off in the control room. I didn’t know how good Tojo’s aim was, but if he came anywhere close to that last drone, it was toast. Tulip had already turned in the empty window she had been shooting out of, while I could see how Clara had scooched on the crossbar she had planted her shapely ass upon.
I would have asked what the situation was, but Old Blue didn’t have much left of her back wall, giving me a clear view of what the problem was. Three more gleaming rocket drones had roared up behind the train car, but they weren’t recon drones. No, each one looked to have magnetic clamps on the underside, like the ones on our power suits, and attached to them were what looked like some kind of rocket or missile. One look made me realize that the bumpy warheads those rockets had were clusters of spider bots.
There was no time for me to take a shot, not that I could with the Arclight Double recharging, and while Clara got a clean hit on one, it still managed to fire alongside its two drones-in-arms.
“Boarders incoming!” I shouted over my shoulder as I dove to one side, the silvery missiles spiraling in on the train. Tulip wisely slipped up and out of the car, piercing the remaining wall panels with her claws, while Clara kept shooting, trying to get the last of the annoying drones off our tails.
The spider-laden projectiles burst apart the moment they were close to Old Blue’s back end, the explosions hurtling the shiny metal eggs towards the car. Two or three flew wide, slamming into the tunnel walls and the tracks below, but that still left over than a dozen to deal with. Their landings dented the floor and walls where they hit, sending Old Blue rocking precariously.
“Hey!” Tojo yelled back. “I told you to be … careful …” The old man’s voice trailed off as the white metal robots unfolded their spindly legs and vicious, cutting forelimbs.
Well, most of them did. The second the spiders crashed down, I pushed off the wall where I had taken cover, drawing my Swarmer with my free hand. The white light of the One Shot, One Kill effect was still filling my guns, so I didn’t hesitate to take advantage of the buff, thumbing the switch to fire all barrels as I pulled the trigger.
If I didn’t have the draconic strength I did or the bracing of my power suit, the tremendous recoil from the triple blast of hyper-dense shot would have torn my arm off. Each individual pellet surged with light as the swarm crashed into a cluster of three spider bots like a meteor shower. Normally, these things’ shells were tough enough to absorb Swarmer shot, but the combination of unloading all the barrels and the empowering ability tore the little bastards to pieces.
As the rest of the spiders began to swarm at me, Clara let loose another burst of laser pulses, out the back, raking her Stinger across the two remaining drones. One took a searing beam right through the sensor dome, while the second got its main stabilizer punched through, causing it to nose dive into the tracks.
“Drones down!” she announced with a thrill in her angelic voice.
I was a little too busy to be able to respond with a word of encouragement though. With a dozen spiders still going, four of them pounced at me with perfect mechanical synchronicity, while the rest began to scuttle up what was left of the walls or gouge their scythe-like arms into the floor plating. If they couldn’t kill us, they would take out the train car, leaving us kilometers away from our goal and sitting ducks in this tunnel.
One problem at a time though. Dropping the Swarmer to the deck so I could get a good, two-han
ded smash, I caught the first spider with a swing of my rifle butt. Denting the thing’s carapace, I more importantly swatted it right out of the car through one of the missing wall panels. The second I managed to catch with the backswing, knocking it into the floor, but the other two got through, even as the final charge light on the Arclight Double flared up.
The impact of the two wolf-sized machines crashing into my chest caused me to stumble back even as my suit’s shielding absorbed the actual damage. I managed to catch myself on the half-bench I had been sitting on, but the wind whistling through the open frame of the car reminded me just how close I was to the edge. One was scrambling around my body, trying to get to my back, while the one on my chest raised both its cutting forelegs.
As the red surge of my Ascension abilities firing up licked over me and the strength of Recompense filled my body, I awkwardly pulled my boxy rifle up into the underside of my chest spider and held down the trigger. A wild spray of blaster bolts tore through the thing’s side, but not before it got its swing off. While the impacts sent one bladed arm over my shoulder, the other one raked across my armored chest, sparks flying as it cut through shielding and armored plate alike.
My grunt of pain as the tip actually cut through to flesh caught the ladies’ full attention. I guess they hated the idea of me getting hurt as much as I hated for the same thing to happen to them. There was a black blur out of the corner of my eye as Tulip’s claws lashed out, tearing the spider off my back and flinging it out of the passenger compartment, while Clara leaped down from her perch above, Wander-Z in one hand.
“Bolstering Light!” she cried, the golden starlight of her magic concentrating through the tip of the pistol before jolting out into me.
Shield emitters overcharged! 200% efficiency boost, the soft voice of my suit reported as I spun towards the spiders tearing away at our car. Armor repair nanites overcharged! Repair speed at 175%.
Star Conqueror: An Epic Space Adventure Page 18