The Excisionists: Book 1

by Rebecca Jensen

  Amber chimed in. “I don’t know why you’re so concerned about how it looks. After all, it’s not like you were happy with what you had before.”

  “True.”

  We spent an hour together discussing our experiences in the short time we’d been out of the game before we went to sleep. By the time I finally closed my eyes, I was exhausted and hoped I’d have plenty of time to sleep before we had to get up again. Morning came too soon and was a matter of switching the lights from off to on instead of the usual sunrise simulation I’d become accustomed to. I drug myself out of bed and back to the meeting room. I stood there with the others waiting for Cygnet and was surprised to see her walk in with a second smoky blue mechanical android wearing a sable cloak.

  I instantly recognized Elio’s voice. “Today I will be leading you on a mission to Zerkola. Those of you who are in pods will be on the main line to protect and distract the Eydis from the rest of us on terrain missions. Our mission will include breaking down and removing the eastern pocket of poudretteite. Those who are going with me are Mica, Iolite, Wes, Phineas, and Zuri. That leaves Edan, Vanya, Amber, and Crispin to join the others with their fighter drudges. Amber will pilot the drop ship for the drudges and Zuri will pilot the incognito ship for the terrain mission. Cygnet will take the drone pilots to the tanks and the rest of you will follow me.”

  “Wait, how are we supposed to get rid of the poudretteite?”

  “That will be explained on the way there.”

  We boarded separate trains to get to the correct locations and I waved good-bye to the others. Elio explained how to properly put on the partial sheath even though we wouldn’t be using one yet. He then showed us what weapons we’d be using. By the time we reached the transport ship, I was disappointed we’d have to use weapons we had on Earth rather that being equipped with alien technology. The ship we entered was a small black craft with a sleek exterior. We were instructed to dress in army fatigues and black lace up combat boots instead of a sheath. When everyone was ready, we assembled on the bridge for further instruction. I found a comfortable chair near the pilot and tried to calm my nerves.

  Elio waited until everyone arrived before he began his speech. “As you know, the Eydis can track all of our ships quite easily as can we theirs. The reason you are not dressed in a sheath at this time is to avoid detection. The weapons we use on Earth also do not have the required composition to make them traceable. Our mission will be to board the incognito ship that’s in the belly of this one. It will be dropped and flown manually to a location about five miles from the actual pocket. We will hike in, place explosives to peel back the upper layers of the planet, and then Amber will drop a liquid that will dissolve the crystals. Later, we will be neutralizing the residual radiation and retrieve the inert pellets from the planet.”

  Mica put his chin on his fist. “I guess you can’t go with us then because they’d be able to track your robot body.”

  “That’s true. Zuri will pilot the incognito ship and Wes will lead the group. You will be following my directions and I will be staying on board to allow me to target and destroy any enemies that are nearby. You are completely safe but need to keep your wits about you.”

  Zuri protested her role. “I’ve never actually flown anything other than in a game. How do you expect me to do this without screwing up?”

  “This mission is something that will occur in three weeks. While you are on this ship, you will be practicing in game mode. We will arrive near Zerkola at the end of this training protocol.”

  Mica ran his fingers through his hair and leaned back. “We have three weeks before we’ll get there, for real?”

  “Yes.”

  Zuri was distressed. “You honestly think we can all be ready to go in three weeks?”

  “Yes. There are some additional ways we will be helping you get ready. After we are done here, we will be hooking everyone into the mainframe. Your headsets will function much like they did in the game. You will be able to communicate with everyone in the group, and when it’s relevant, any other player that’s become a part of this entire mission to reclaim Zerkola. The final way you will be prepared is by receiving injections and supplements that will enhance your neural activity, physical endurance, and suppress extreme emotions.”

  “We got those injections in the game, right?”

  “Yes.”

  I shook my head. “So that’s why we all acted so weird on Taska.”

  Elio was so nonchalant about the whole situation. “Your emotional response had to be gauged and moderated which is why Opal is no longer with us. If there are no further questions, we will begin with the simulations.”

  No one had anything else to say and within five minutes we were hooked into simulation tanks again. The next few days were spent getting used to the gear we’d be packing and how to activate the communications devices once our mission was complete. The final set of simulations were to prepare us as a team to traverse the rugged terrain and move stealthily to our target. We found ourselves back in the thick forest with packs containing clips of ammo and containers of water. The temperature and humidity were much greater than I had anticipated which made me grateful for the injections I’d been given to counteract it. Up ahead was a large plateau covered with black barked trees with pale silvery leaves.

  I adjusted the belt that held multiple handguns and a machete as I scanned the area for enemies with binoculars. “It’s like being in a movie where the Americans are invading another country.”

  Mica dumped water on his forehead before replacing his camouflage cap. “Yeah except it’s another planet.”

  Zuri shot us a cold look. “Keep your voices down.”

  We continued walking toward the plateau and had to use climbing gear to reach the top. The thin ropes and small metal pieces were surprisingly light for the amount of weight they were able to carry. I hooked the length of rope to my climbing belt and followed Wes up the dark rocks jutting from the sides of the mountain. Large drops of sweat slid down my back and forehead stinging my eyes. I wiped my face on my shoulder and kept climbing. By the time we got to the top, it was midday and I knew we’d be visible to the Eydis. Strangely, I didn’t feel fear or fatigue, I just kept going. Wes stopped and pulled out the map marking the locations for the explosives. He pointed to the area we would each need to cover and we split up to get it done.

  My area was one of the furthest from our present location and I felt urgency in depositing the small charges. I jogged over to the other side of the plateau and pulled out a small shovel to dig with. The heavy dirt quickly gave way to solid rock. I switched to the hand drill and carved out a thin cylinder of rock replacing it with my first charge. When it was in place, I covered it again with the soil and moved north to place a second one. It took almost an hour to place all six charges and another to get back to the pickup location. We boarded the tiny white craft and waited while Zuri got us off the ground.

  When we were high above the location, we received the detonation confirmation code. I watched the rock pulverize into dust and the surrounding region tremble with the shock waves from the explosion. When the dust cleared, the pink crystal was visible. It appeared to have been put there in a slab and then covered with dirt and trees to conceal it. Seconds later, a shiny silver ship flew directly over the exposed poudretteite and dumped thousands of kilograms of white powder on it. A second ship followed directly behind dumping thousands of liters of clear liquid on top. The mixture of the two chemicals produced a steaming foam that bubbled and dissolved the crystal leaving behind a viscous material spanning an area twice the size of the plateau.

  Soon, the black ship we’d arrive in hovered above us and drew in the tiny craft. Phase two was about to begin. Countless fighter drudges flew to our location and dropped to the surface. Small devices were ejected from the center of the drones directly into the spreading pool. The mechanical instruments churned through the liquid and spit out small pellets. By the time they were finished, we w
ere ready to go inside our black sheaths with a large sprayer belted to our backs. Each of us dropped to the surface once again and sprayed the pellets with a substance to make them magnetic so a recovery ship could pull them from the surface. We had to be careful where we sprayed the pellets so the fluid wouldn’t land on the surface of the planet and would allow the magnetic recovery ships to retrieve the spheres without pulling any other debris. We then searched the entire area for any residual pellets that might had been left behind. When the mission simulation was finished, we debriefed and discussed ways to decrease time spent on Zerkola and how to prepare for the real mission. We found it hard to sleep the night before our entry onto Zerkola and chattered about our future events we’d be able to talk about together when it was all done.

  The day we arrived near Zerkola was both exciting and uncertain despite all our preparations. It was if the air was charged with static and my heart wouldn’t calm down. After dressing in the fatigues, I headed to the medical wing to receive the necessary injections. The first one stung when the needle entered my shoulder but quickly faded along with my emotions. My heart steadied, and I was dispassionate about the pending engagement. The next set sharpened my vision and strengthened my muscles. My breathing slowed while my ability to rapidly react increased. I was ready. We met on the bridge for final instructions and caught a glimpse of our compatriots in the background when Cygnet filled the screen from the portion of Sky Outpost that had followed us here.

  Zerkola finally came into view. Thick clouds covered most of the planet and the land was dark soil covered by carpets of green. Small clearings with dark orbs dotted the horizon as we approached the ground. I could see the endless ranks of fighter drones that dropped from the ships to engage the Eydis. They were approximately eight feet tall with menacing artillery attached in dozens of directions. Their domed heads spun in all directions with four arms and legs. They could reconfigure in countless ways and could fly long distances across land or above water.

  Our ship flew past the troops that were being swarmed by the Eydis and continued to an area where the smaller transport ship was released. Zuri kept us near the clouds until we reached the area where we were supposed to land. She hid the craft in a small grove of trees and we exited without a sound. The grassy forested surface was easier to traverse than the simulation which was most likely from the response to the medications. Despite the strenuous activity, my heart and breathing rates remained low. I downed a bottle of water in seconds to keep my temperature where it should be. By the time we reached the plateau, we were working in sync without giving it a second thought. I clipped my climbing belt onto the ropes and ascended just as I had many times in the simulations over past three weeks. However, when I reached the top, something was clearly different. No trees topped the plateau and a large fissure ran along the center of the dark soil.

  All of the sudden, a humming noise surrounded us. The high-pitched noise emitted by the Eydis racked my soul with torment as a plume of yellow smoke wafted up from the cleft in the rock.

  “Wes, what do we do?”

  His voice was calm despite the noise that was threatening to crack our skulls. “Wait.”

  Seconds later, dozens of Oroans swarmed out of the clouds of sulfur gas. Mica shot off the red flare to request help and we all fired rounds into the oncoming horde. They dropped after two to three hits each and we kept firing until we exhausted our supply of ammo.

  I slammed in my last magazine. “Get off the plateau. Everyone back.”

  Mica dropped his last empty weapon and ran toward the edge of the cliff. I targeted the yellow eyed beasts that followed him and killed all but one as my empty gun clicked. It hopped into the air and landed on Mica’s back, knocking him to the ground. He flipped over and grabbed at the snarling creature with his robotic arm to crush the windpipe. Red blood splattered across his face and chest. I turned just in time to see one coming directly for me. I dropped the gun and pulled out my machete to hack the thing to pieces. It sliced my arm and pierced my shoulder with its spiked tail. The searing pain kicked me into overdrive and I jammed the edge of my blade into the neck.

  Blasts rained down from above as the fighter drudges finally arrived. The Oroans dropped like flies and filled the dark earth with pools of blood around their carcasses piled on one on top of another. I surveyed the scene to be sure the others were safe and saw Mica bleeding profusely from a large gash on his back.

  I ran to his side and lifted him from the ground. “We’ll get you back on board our ship. You’ll be fine.”

  He nodded weakly and grimaced.

  I waved to the nearest drone and it immediately dropped to our level. “I’ll take him from here.”

  I slid him onto the two arms that secured his small body inside a clear bubble and then flew upwards through the clouds. Other drones dropped more supplies and we reloaded. By the time the field was clear, we were unsure of how many we’d killed, but thankfully the noises had stopped. The fighter drudges flew off to return to the battlefront.

  Wes was the first one to reach the deep crack and peered inside. “The crystal isn’t visible from here. We’re going to have to go in.”

  Zuri and I followed him into the deep crack down a set of stairs that looked just like the ones in the game. When we got to the bottom, we could see a large underground pool and crystal embedded in the walls of the cave. It was a much smaller amount of poudretteite than we had anticipated.

  Zuri was curious about what we were seeing. “It’s odd that we’re not seeing what we did when we were trained.”

  I nodded. “Something else I find weird is the lack of the thumping from the machine. This is not like the game.”

  Wes kept his gun up as we walked around the tunnels incised through the rock. We found a room with a glowing pillar at the center. When we approached, it displayed a holographic image of an Eydis. As it spoke, the translation scrolled downwards.

  Why do you attack us? We have no anger for you.

  “You stole this planet from the Gentorix and we are helping them take it back.”

  This is not so. We have lived here for generations. It is the Gentorix which fight to take this from us. You help them for what purpose?

  “We do this to protect our species. My question to you is why would the Gentorix lie?”

  This is their way. They–

  An explosion shot forward and the pillar went black.

  We looked at each other. I didn’t believe the dark eyed alien, yet something bothered me about the exchange. I knew they had deceived the Gentorix and would likely do the same to us.

  Zuri was practical about the situation. “Seems to be a scare tactic meant to–”

  The warning alarms on our belts screeched. Something was contaminating the area and we had only minutes to return to the ship. We ran back through the tunnels and up the stairs to the top of the plateau. When we emerged from the fissure, the black ship we’d arrived on was hovering waiting for us to get back on board. We jogged up the ramp and the craft lifted from the ground to get us back to the safety of space.

  I ran quickly to get back on the bridge. “What’s the problem? Why did we leave?”

  Elio’s eyes were fixed on the surface of Zerkola where the battle raged on. “There’s been a complication. We’re going to have to try something else.”

  “What about the fighter drudges?”

  He shook his head.

  “Are the drone operators safe?”

  He paused. “I fear they may all be lost.”

 

 

 
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