by Scott Moon
“The chains were so brittle I could have pulled them apart with my hands. I don’t know how or why he was in the Iron Box sewer, but the next night, he was gone.”
“What happened when you cut the chains?”
“He fed me the food I brought him and gave me wine. It tasted like water and the food nearly made me pass out it was so good. He told me a final story as I ate, then showed me what he looked like before he imprisoned himself.”
Kin pondered the tale and wondered how much of it Orlan heard before he snorted and swore. No one accused the sergeant of sensitivity or patience.
“That’s an incredible story.”
William jumped up and down. “You don’t believe me.”
Kin wanted to back away. An angry Reaper was an intimidating sight. He moved forward, touching William’s hands, hoping to calm the boy.
“I believe you, William. But I don’t know what it means.”
William followed him to the cavern, although he refused to talk.
PART THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
KIN sat next to Nander and passed him a skin of wine. He could tell the man had never seen anything like a festival. The People of Crater Town scarcely possessed enough food to last a week, but there were many streams of clean water at the edge of the cavern where the ancient armada rested.
“Why are they so happy?” Nander asked.
“Captain Raien is very popular. They’re glad she’s alive.”
Nander nodded. “Every army needs heroes.” He seemed to reconsider as he watched people play. Although it was a celebration, many men and women tended to mundane tasks in the midst of it all. Boys and girls carried water from the streams. Some of Laura’s more tech-savvy people salvaged what they could from the nearest ship and rigged lights on makeshift poles.
“Without training, I assumed they would be weak and afraid.” He paused, then turned toward Kin. “The shepherd can fight.”
“He can.”
“I admit that I tested him while you rescued Captain Raien. The contest was honorable. I could have killed him, but his courage impressed me.”
“I suppose you think I should thank you. Remember this, Nander. The next time you raise a hand against one of my people, you’re dead.”
Nander accepted the warning with a respectful nod, although he didn’t seem afraid. “Fair enough.” He took a pull from the wineskin. “These people would be useful as workers for the Mazz.”
“I’m going to pretend you are speaking hypothetically.” Kin stood.
Nander offered the wineskin.
“Keep it.”
Kin found Orlan performing maintenance on his remaining weapons. The trooper looked up, clearly annoyed.
“You may like running around in your skin, but I need my armor. What good does it do to escape Reapers and wolves if slamanders burn us to ash?”
Kin sat on a stool near Orlan’s workbench. “What do you make of this fleet?”
Orlan finished reassembling his rifle and laid it down. “I’ve never seen ships like this, not even in history books. Yes, I can read, so shut your mouth. I recognize the markings. This had to be the first fleet Earth built.”
“A fleet no one ever heard of.” Kin stared at the closest ship as they talked. Laura’s team of scavengers hadn’t been able to get inside and settled for taking pieces from the exterior and the few storage bays where they found limited access. Crater Town people were expert at tearing ships apart. Salvage operations had been a crucial part of their survival since the Goliath went down, yet the bulkhead of this old thing couldn’t be breached.
“That isn’t the strangest thing,” Orlan said as he disassembled his pistol.
Kin waited.
“I’m sure someone has been here. Couldn’t find any tracks, but my gut tells me there was evidence of people living here until they cleaned up.”
Kin shivered. “I suppose it’s possible. Ships are designed for long space voyages. If the engines were warm, I’d almost believe people could be alive inside these things.”
“Possible, but unlikely. My bet is that a group like ours found this place and moved in.”
Kin gazed at the people of Crater Town. He turned to Orlan. “Have you told anyone?”
“No, but they’ll start putting the pieces together before long. Not sure how happy they’ll be about it.”
“Maybe Clavender put them here. The only way so many ships could get inside the planet is through her wormhole manipulation.”
Orlan shook his head. “She would have said something, or at least hinted at it. Has to be someone else, someone like her.”
Kin began a tour of the area. Orlan walked beside him, brooding and staring into shadows. Each ship displayed weapons, although they looked insignificant. He couldn’t tell if the protruding tubes were kinetic or energy devices. He guessed they were rocket launchers. The armada was prepared to defend itself but seemed incapable of attacking an enemy like the Imperials or even the modern Earth Fleet.
“Exodus,” Orlan said. “This was some kind interstellar migration.”
“Check on Raien. I’m going to see what Nander has to say.” Kin returned to the Imperial prisoner.
“I saw something interesting about two clicks from Sophia’s Pass,” Kin said as he sat next to Nander and carved a slice of dry bread from the makeshift table.
“I don’t know where Sophia’s Pass is located.”
Kin placed the knife next to the food. “You know.”
“Perhaps,” Nander said. “But not by that name. Our survey maps are better than those we captured from Earth Fleet. We use numbers. For the sake of precision.”
Kin chewed, chased the bite with water, never taking his eyes from the Imperial. “So if I described three devices situated in a triangular pattern and bored deep into the ground, you wouldn’t have any idea what I’m talking about?”
Nander looked at his food. He closed his eyes briefly and released the hard bread. “Things might be different if you had come to us with that information earlier.”
“One of your troopers found it. You’re telling me he failed to report the presence of alien technology.” Kin waited, testing his theory about the wormhole beacons.
“Many patrols are missing in action. Killed by Earth Fleet, Reapers, the cursed Ror-Rea…”
“And Slomn.”
Nander met his gaze. “Yes, that is possible.”
“The trooper I found had been melted in his armor.”
Nander moved his finger across one eye in some kind of religious or ritualistic pattern. “I see your bravery, brother.” He ignored Kin, closed his eyes, and meditated for a moment.
When Nander relaxed, Kin spoke. “Tell me what the devices are.”
“What do you think they are? Surely you have a theory.”
“I do, but I want to hear it from you first.”
Across the cavern, music faded. The indistinct sound of voices murmured as the refugees turned in for the night. Nander watched the activities from a distance. “The Slomn are more elemental than biological. They have never communicated with us.”
Kin sensed a lie, or at least a distortion of the truth. He watched Nander but didn’t interrupt.
“I am not sure they can. Religious orders claim they are a destructive force to balance the continuous creation of the universe. Other treasonous fools preach a reckoning for our sins, as though the monsters are no more than demons sent to punish the Mazz race.”
“You must have sinned like no one I’ve met,” Kin said.
Nander exhaled, seeming contemplative when Kin expected him to be angry. “Our only sin is failing the Emperor.”
Kin listened without moving or losing eye contact.
“Someday I will show you the true glory of the Emperor, and you will understand.”
“Not likely. No amount of glory is worth the life of one friend. Tell me about the beacons. What are they? Can they be destroyed?”
“The Slomn do as much damage to
the wormholes as they do to the worlds they burn, yet the passages through time and space are never closed to them. The devices allow their ships to pass through the anomalies less randomly.”
“Can they be destroyed?” Kin asked.
Nander looked grim. “The beacons can be broken by someone who knows how. It is dangerous. A suicide mission, essentially.”
Kin remembered a conversation about wormholes with Clavender. He wondered when Nander would get around to describing her betrayal of the Mazz race and was surprised he didn’t start with the Imperial Mazz versus Ror-Rea war. “Clavender once told me all wormholes are one.”
“Perhaps.” Nander clasped his hands. “But we are not meant to understand all of reality. The wormholes are part of the universe we can never reach. What is their purpose? Why is there always a Ror-Rea woman who can control them?”
Kin didn’t have the answers.
Nander put his palms together, as though he might reveal an important secret. “Unlike my peers, I don’t believe the Slomn are elementals. They use science, wormhole manipulation being the most dangerous. When they attack, their favorite tactic is to rise from the burning center of the planet. They drive wormholes inside planets, then emerge to destroy us. Like nightmares.”
“Have you ever beaten them?”
“No. Once, we almost destroyed them with their own strategy.”
“I’d like to hear about that.”
Nander smiled and shrugged. “The Slomn are hard to kill, but there are not as many of them as you would think. We raced ahead of their advance, cutting across dangerous galaxies until we found a world similar to this one. Our engineers mined the planet with explosives so powerful, were I to describe them, I might be tried for the crime of sharing vital war technology with an enemy.”
“Just for describing them?” Kin pushed down memories of Hellsbreach. The tactic Nander so lovingly described was exactly what he had been ordered to do on Hellsbreach.
“Just.” Nander sat a little straighter. “Have you ever seen a planet explode?”
Cold fear spread across Kin’s body. “No.”
“An awesome sight. Unfortunately, only the Slomn vanguard was inside the planet. Their main fleet caught us gloating and destroyed better than half our number. We fled right into the domain of Earth Fleet.”
“Why attack the Ror-Rea when your mortal enemies pursue you?”
“Because Clavender refused to help us.”
Kin knew an evasive answer when he heard one. He was about to confront Nander, when the man changed the subject.
“Have you communicated with the people hiding in these ships?”
Kin looked over his shoulder at the nearest vessel, stalling for time. Did Nander know something, or was he guessing? “What makes you think there are people inside?”
“Same as your friend Orlan. This cavern is too clean. Not enough dust. It’s been swept away — to cover tracks or other markings most likely.”
Kin stood and checked his weapons. “Next time we talk, you are going to answer questions.”
“You should surrender and fight for us. Mazz Command has studied your decision on Hellsbreach.”
Kin looked at the man.
“Our analysts believe — ”
Kin shoved him down, straddled him, and pushed his pistol under the man’s chin. “Were you on Hellsbreach?”
“We had agents — ”
“Were you on Hellsbreach?”
“No.”
Kin stood and holstered his weapon without looking away from the Imperial. “Let’s not talk about what I did or didn’t do to the Reapers.”
He walked away and began patrolling the shipyard, finding himself staring at loading bay doors. Weariness crept through him. He wrestled with uncomfortable memories and wondered what it would be like to live cradle to grave under the surface of Crashdown.
Far from camp — far from Nander and his lies — Kin wished Becca were with him. A rendezvous wasn’t much of a rendezvous if the other person never showed up. He tried to think about the time they had spent before his deployment. Wistful memories and daydreams were better than considering her chances of escaping the Imperials and the Slomn.
He circled the farthest most spacecraft, his rifle slung across his back and his pistol in the holster. Orlan had already made this circuit twice. Kin doubted he would find trouble.
For no reason other than a reluctance to return to camp, he ventured toward the primary tunnel entrance. Closer and closer the pit of darkness came, until a bad feeling filled his guts. Pulling the rifle from his back, he moved.
And found Slomn tracks.
Not footprints, but faints streaks on the stone where something had moved. The more he searched, the more evidence he found. Inside the tunnel were several patches of glowing marks.
He backed away. When he reached the first ship, he hid where he could spy on the entrance.
Nothing.
He hurried back toward camp, wishing Laura and the others were still singing and dancing — anything to break the silence. Methodically, he looked toward other entrances to the cavern and saw darkness.
“Nander.”
The Imperial came to his feet, wide eyed and clearly expecting the worst.
Kin motioned for him to follow. “We’ve got trouble.”
THE first Slomn entered the cavern quietly.
He’s a scout. Kin watched for the main assault force, unsure what to expect. The underground terrain practically begged for flank attacks and ambushes.
On the upside, the camp was safe from Imperials, Reapers, and Crashdown wolves. On the downside, they were deep in enemy territory, facing world-breaking monsters.
The serpent body slithered forward, curving around the first row of ships without hesitation. The creature searched for something. If it continued across the cavern, it would find Laura’s camp. Dying in the Imperial attack would’ve been kinder.
“It’s looking for a particular ship,” Nander said in a low voice.
“I can see that.” Kin wanted to run toward the camp but feared drawing an attack down on the Laura’s refugees. “I’d like to know why.”
“Maybe it knows which ship is occupied.”
The Slomn selected the largest vessel and began to circle it. On the second pass, the serpent man slowed. Thousands of chitinous legs uncurled from the snake body and reached for the stone floor. The scraping, clicking sounds of the pointed feet set Kin’s nerves on edge.
“We need to evacuate. The Slomn is going to attack the ship.”
“Good guess.” Kin sensed there was more to the scene. The Imperial held back information as though it cost money. “Why is it putting down legs?”
Nander backed away before he answered. “It needs balance to cast fire. Watch and you’ll see what I mean. Or you can get the hell out of here.”
Kin followed Nander but kept his eye on the Slomn. The Salamander began to writhe, stretching higher and expanding its chest. He expected darkness or other psychological attacks, but it seemed the Slomn wanted only to burn the ship.
A cracking sound split the gloom, so loud that Kin heard some of Laura’s people shout in alarm. He stared with fascination and horror as a bony region of the Slomn’s chest cracked open to reveal a glowing orb trapped in a ribcage of spider web complexity. The latticework separated. More cracks.
If this were an attack, at least it was slow.
Kin’s self-assurance faded as fire burst from the Salamander’s torso, cutting through the air toward the ship like the afterburners of a space fighter.
The beam was narrow, perhaps three inches across, but when it struck the side of the Earth ship, metal glowed.
“Kin Roland, now is our only chance to escape. More of the Slomn vanguard approaches,” Nander said.
Kin pushed the Imperial aside. “Warn Laura and the others. I’m going to draw this one away.”
“Don’t be a fool!”
“I can’t let it destroy that ship. There are people insid
e. You said so yourself.”
“Dead people. Forget them. If they were going to fight, they would have done so already. The Mazz Empire doesn’t need cowards. Let them die.”
Kin jerked his rifle to his shoulder, aimed at the burning chest of the Slomn, and fired. Something in the corner of his vision startled him, but he focused on making his shots count. Am I really shooting at a nuclear weapon?
The insanity of his actions threatened to make him laugh and curse at the same time, but he grunted something primal instead. He couldn’t detonate a nuclear device with a rifle shot. The greenest recruit knew that. But the Slomn wasn’t a device. Nothing in Fleet training prepared him to deal with half-human fire-breathers and lost armadas from Earth.
The Slomn wheeled to face him. Kin disappeared behind a transport ship. He ran, looking for more of the creatures as he moved. A beam of fire burned through the ship he used for shelter, slicing toward him with every stride. Tucking into a roll, he hugged his weapon and closed his eyes until he came to his feet and scurried in a new direction.
More attacks came seemingly at random. The larger vessels resisted Slomn fire. Smaller ships fell to pieces. Slags of molten metal caromed through the air. Chains of lesser explosions lit off in rapid succession. Beams of Slomn energy cut into the walls like blowtorches.
Kin found himself separated from Laura and the others by the second wave of Salamanders.
I can’t go to Laura. That’ll only draw hell down on them.
A dozen Slomn moved toward the target ship, surrounding it and opening their chests to pour burning destruction at the hull.
“Orlan!”
No answer.
Kin moved. He spotted the Hero of Man firing aimed shots at a third group of Slomn emerging from another entrance to the cavern.
No help from him. Move.
Kin circled the attack. If the Slomn focused on destroying the ship, Laura and the others might get away. He didn’t get his hopes up. There were too many Salamanders in the room now. A second ship fell under attack.
Kin planned his retreat even before he approached. After one quick attack, he would flee. He moved as close as he dared and unloaded a well-aimed barrage of gunfire at the back of a Slomn head. Orlan would call him an idiot. Nander would call him a fool. Becca would already be charging straight into the fight.