by M. R. Forbes
He could hear the fighting somewhere ahead of them, mainly in the form of the enemy’s guttural hisses and cries added to the rumbling of the Parabellum flying through the area, as low and slow as Ike dared.
Damn him for not following orders, for bringing the ship back into the city instead of making his escape. Ten minutes. That was all the time they had before the enemy ships arrived. Ten minutes to find some way to stop this invasion.
How was he going to accomplish it?
The car turned another corner, headed through the valley between a series of tall buildings. Most of them were still intact. Old and dilapidated but still upright. Hayden looked into the car at the back of Krake’s head. It was still bleeding where the bullet had hit it, though it wasn’t visibly bothersome to the alien. Krake also didn’t seem to care he was stuck to the trunk. It had made no effort to dislodge him, much less pay any attention to him.
He looked past the Axon to the scene ahead, breathing in sharply as he did. He had heard the reapers from a few streets away. He had expected to see the large, human-trife hybrids. What he didn’t expect was how many there were. Hundreds of them converged on a central spot in the middle of the road and what appeared to be a pair of geodesic metal domes.
While Hayden couldn’t see what the hybrids were gathering for, he also couldn’t miss the Relyeh that suddenly emerged from one of the domes. Four meters tall, black, leathery flesh, a human torso with three arms on each side and a pair of tentacles on each shoulder. Its bottom half was propped up on six spindly legs like a spider, its head generally humanoid and covered in glowing blue eyes.
Was that Hanson?
It moved with alarming speed, leaping forward and landing near the leading edge of the reapers, its tentacles snapping out away from it and slapping audibly against something two meters away. Hayden watched the force lift Caleb Card off the ground and into the air, throwing him back to land among the rest of the Relyeh creatures.
“Shit,” he muttered, watching for Caleb to get up. The reapers around the Marine had turned toward him, ready to pounce.
A sudden flash of blue energy threw the closest reapers away from Caleb, burning them to bare bones. Caleb shoved himself upright, facing the spider-like Relyeh as it charged in for the kill.
Loud echoes of thunder rumbled to the west; the spider-creature screamed and ducked low as if dodging bullets. Some of the surviving reapers came around to face the new threat, only to find themselves filled with holes. A silver ball sank into their midst and detonated, blowing a few more away.
Hayden smirked, losing his view of the fight suddenly as the car turned right and headed up a cross-street, away from the fighting. Whatever Hanson had planned, it wasn’t working out as well as the Relyeh had hoped. The neural disruption was broken, leaving the Centurions free to fight back. The odds were still horrible, but now they had a chance. It was up to them to seize it.
And it was up to Hayden to seize his. It didn’t matter if he was injured. He had the best shot at killing Krake.
He wasn’t going to miss it.
The car went two blocks over and turned left, running parallel to the fighting. Hayden caught glimpses of the battle through the openings between buildings, getting momentary views of Caleb squaring off against Hanson and a split-second look at Nathan and the Centurions charging up the street toward him, guns blazing. The Parabellum swooped overhead again, laying down another line of strafing plasma.
“Ike, damn it,” Hayden growled into his comm. “If you can hear me, get the hell out of here.”
“I’m sorry, Sheriff,” Isaac replied. “I tried. Couldn’t do it. We succeed or fail as one. You’re going to get the interlink, and I’m going to bus you the hell out of here.”
The car turned again, coming around the back of the spheres. Hayden saw it then, through the vegetation. The simple black alloy of the Axon portal—a gateway to the universe.
It was currently inactive, the metal framework of the sphere visible through the overgrowth. But it was right there. So close.
Too close.
The car came to a stop a dozen meters away. The driver’s side door swung open as Hayden pushed himself up, twisting and bending back to free his stuck leg. He was halfway to accomplishing it when Krake came up beside him, wordlessly grabbing him.
Ripping him from the spike, it threw him off the back of the car.
58
Caleb
Caleb looked up from where he lay on his back. Five reapers surrounded him while the Parabellum streaked overhead, finishing another strafing run, framed by the gray, overcast skies.
The reapers scattered, each of them fleeing in whatever direction they could go. One was too slow, impaled by a long, thin, spider-like leg, leaving Caleb’s view blotted out by the monstrous Relyeh that now loomed above him.
It reminded Caleb of the Relyeh Abominations he had encountered on Essex, though it was considerably smaller and less monstrous. Its purpose was the same. It made a noise in Caleb’s face that sounded like a laugh, clacking its teeth and slavering in anticipation of ripping him apart.
Kill it. It’s Relyeh, but also Axon. The work of a twisted mind.
Or a perfectly logical mind who had made a creature specific to his needs. Relyeh, to relay commands from Nyarlath to the xaxkluth on Earth. Axon, to communicate with Krake, operate the portal, and set up this trap.
And that’s what this was. A trap. A ruse to draw them out. The hallucinations should have done them in, but with all of Vyte’s carefully laid plans, in all of his contingencies, he hadn’t counted on the lowly humans receiving aid from another Axon.
He hadn’t counted on Max.
Without it, the neural disruption would have turned them all against one another. If that had failed, the reapers would have finished them off. And if that had failed, this thing that he could only believe was Hanson was waiting to do the job itself.
His symbiosis with Ishek made the two of them one. It gave them a shared experience, a shared understanding. He had years of training as a Marine Raider. He understood tactics as well as anyone. Ishek had long served one of the Relyeh Ancients. It understood how the Relyeh thought and acted, plotted and planned. It understood how the war against the Axon had proceeded and why more subtle battles had been fought between them. Earth was an important planet to the two warring races, but not the only one. Similar scenes had and were being played out on other worlds hundreds of light years away. Too distant for them to ever reach without a gateway to step through.
They came to the same conclusion, though it frightened Caleb to make the connection.
The interlink, the portal. They were props. Krake was a damned diversion. He was sure of it. Vyte had identified the greatest threats to its success in the form of himself, Sheriff Duke and General Stacker—and no doubt General Haeri on Proxima.
It was like a game of chess, where each move didn’t immediately impact the outcome, but set up another move later in the game, with the hope that their opponent didn’t notice before it was too late.
Caleb had noticed.
And it was too late.
Or was it?
Max was a wild card Vyte hadn’t expected and couldn’t account for. A second queen placed onto the board against the rules. The Intellect had given them a twenty percent chance of success.
And right now, that seemed like good odds.
Caleb rolled to the side as another of Hanson’s legs speared down toward him. He evaded the attack, feeling the leg brush past his back as he made it to his hands and knees. He threw himself forward to avoid another limb, only to find himself airborne a moment later as a tentacle wrapped around his waist and jerked him up.
He was only held for a moment. The crackling whine of Stacker’s heavy railgun interrupted the capture, the rounds tearing the limb off near its root at Hanson’s shoulder and dropping Caleb back to the ground. He landed on his hands and feet. Checking his HUD, he realized the network was fully online. Stacker was there with Jesse,
Spot and Lucius. Max was close by. Hayden was...
He threw himself to the side, nearly caught by a reaper while he wasted time tracking his team. He rolled to his feet, turning and unleashing an energy bolt from his Skin that cut the reaper in half.
He spun around, looking for Hanson. The Relyeh had redirected its attention to Nathan and the Centurions, who were charging up the street from the east, guns blazing. A pair of thunks sounded, twin grenades arcing through the sky and landing amidst the reapers before detonating.
Stacker kept his assault focused on Hanson. Flares of blue energy captured most of the rounds now that Hanson was expecting them. The hybrid monster skittered forward without regard to the additional reapers on a direct route toward Stacker.
Caleb unleashed a beam of energy that should have caught Hanson in the back. Blue shields captured the blast instead. Hanson knew Caleb was behind him, and it was ready.
“Ish, any more tricks up our sleeves?”
I’m exhausted, Caleb.
“That’s not what I asked you.”
He could sense Ishek’s reluctance. He understood how tired the Relyeh Advocate was. He felt the same exhaustion in his pounding head and racing heart already pumped full of adrenaline. He knew it was the only reason either one of them was still conscious.
You still have the microspear.
“It won’t go through shields. You know that.”
Caleb blasted a reaper coming at him from the side and then ran behind Hanson, trying to get back into the fight. Stacker was retreating now, using the jets on his armor to help take long jumps backward. Caleb watched him hit Hanson with a grenade, only to see the creature’s shields absorb the assault.
A sharp scream caught his attention and he turned his head toward it, just in time to see Hanson’s remaining tentacle lash out and grab Lucius. It pulled him into its multiple arms. Lucius screamed as the arms grabbed at him, ripping him apart in a wash of blood.
The sight twisted Caleb’s stomach, even as Ishek’s idea came into focus in his mind.
“Will that work?”
Unknown until we try.
“Max,” Caleb said. “I need you to help me get Hanson’s attention. Max?” The Intellect didn’t reply. He was gone, and there was no time to try to find him.
He would have to do this himself.
“Stacker, do you copy?” Caleb said, opening the line to Beta Squad.
“A little busy,” Stacker replied.
“I’m coming up behind Hanson. I need you to get to the other side of him.”
“Are you kidding?”
“Come on, Stacker. I know you can do it.”
“Roger.”
Caleb grabbed the microspear from the Skin, holding it tight in his left hand as he hurried forward, ducking around a reaper that reached for him and sliding between two others. The reapers gave chase behind him, while Stacker landed on the ground in front of Hanson, standing his ground and firing ineffective grenades into the hybrid’s shields.
Hanson laughed again, tentacle whipping out at Stacker, who ducked away from it with unexpected agility. He sprinted beneath its legs, slamming into one of them with his shoulder and knocking momentarily off-balance. He came out the other side just as Hanson spun around, lifting another leg to spear him in the back. The attack shoved Stacker forward, sending him sliding across the ground on his stomach.
“Come on!” Caleb shouted at Hanson, holding the microspear up so it could see the weapon.
Another laugh-like sound escaped the monstrosity. It lunged forward, lowering itself and sending its tentacle whipping at Caleb.
Caleb tried to turn aside, gritting his teeth as the tentacle caught him and lifted him toward its six reaching arms. He knew what would happen if they grabbed him.
Now, Caleb.
He closed his eyes.
And dropped the microspear.
Below, a single reaper shook slightly as Ishek and Caleb forced their way into its mind through the Collective, passing it a simple overriding order and watching the outcome through its eyes.
The reaper jumped up, its large, clawed hand catching the falling microspear. It landed unnoticed beneath Hanson as the hybrid grabbed Caleb’s arms and legs, ready to tear them off.
Then the reaper jumped again, stabbing the microspear into Hanson’s unprotected underbelly.
The effect was immediate. Hanson’s laughter turned to a loud scream, one of its legs reaching out and stabbing the reaper, killing it too late to save itself. Caleb returned to his body and opened his eyes. A jolt of energy from his Skin burned away the limbs holding him, and he tumbled toward the ground, caught by Stacker before he could land.
“Gotcha,” Stacker said, jets firing. He carried them away as Hanson spun in a tight circle, writhing in the throes of an excruciating death.
Its legs grabbed for anything they could find. It speared the reapers around it while the rest of the creatures began turning on one another, fighting for dominance with the impending loss of their leader.
Stacker landed where Jesse and Spot had paired up, beyond the sudden chaos of the Relyeh in-fighting. He lowered Caleb to his feet, supporting him while both he and Ishek gathered their strength.
Hanson continued to scream, its legs finally giving way beneath it. It collapsed to the ground, trying to drag itself away, only to die a few seconds later.
“Thanks for the save, General,” Caleb said, still light-headed and queasy. He wanted nothing more than to puke. He couldn’t yet.
“Hayden,” he said, checking his tactical. The Sheriff showed up orange. Injured but alive.
Hanson was dead, but it wasn’t over yet.
59
Hayden
Hayden landed roughly on the pavement, a new jolt of pain rising from his leg and the damaged control ring on his arm.
He rolled over, watching Krake open the trunk of the modbox and reach inside for the interlink. White-hot fury flowed into Hayden. The Axon had killed his family for that piece of technology. He pushed himself to his hands and knees, ignoring the pain and reaching for a microspear. He pulled it from his belt and drew his arm back to throw it.
Krake spun around, unleashing a line of blue energy, hitting Hayden’s hand and burning off three of the augment’s fingers. The weapon fell to the ground, but instead of turning back to the trunk, Krake took three quick steps toward Hayden.
Hayden tried to punch the Axon, but it caught his hand and twisted, the actuator in the elbow snapping. Hayden closed the fist of his other hand, the Axon metal forming into a blade. He tried to stab Krake, only to have the Axon block that too, its shields flaring blue as it captured his other arm.
Krake stared at Hayden. Hayden couldn’t see its eyes behind the cowl of its Skin, but he could feel it looking at him. Not with anger or hatred, but with indifference.
“You killed my family,” Hayden hissed. “I’m going to kill you.”
It was a ridiculous statement considering the circumstances, but the Axon didn’t laugh. Its voice was calm and flat. “You rejected the Master’s offer. Now you are defeated. You have received only what you requested.”
Hayden’s eyes narrowed, the anger building. He hadn’t asked for his wife and children to die. He hadn’t asked for any of this.
Krake lifted him by his arms, easily pulling him off the ground. “You will live to suffer. You will live broken. For a short while longer, at least.”
The Axon threw Hayden backward, sending him through the air. He landed hard on his back, knocking the air from his lungs, but he didn’t stay down. He tried to stand up, and go after Krake, but his leg wouldn’t support him. He collapsed on his face, left with one working augment to pull himself forward along the ground.
Krake returned to the trunk, lifting the satchel containing the interlink. It glanced back at Hayden and continued toward the portal.
“No,” Hayden said, tasting dirt. He dragged himself forward on his one good arm. “I’m going to kill you.”
He
tried to move faster. He tried to keep up.
He couldn’t.
“Stop.”
Max materialized through the vegetation, stepping through the center of the inactive portal and coming to a stop in front of Krake.
“Intellect, move aside,” Krake said.
“Negation. I don’t follow orders from traitors.”
“I am an organic. A Maker. You will comply.”
“Negation. You were an organic. But no longer. You’ve accepted Vyte’s integration. You have no power over me.”
“I have other ways to make you move.”
“Negation. I’d like to see you try. Hahaha. Haha.”
Krake raised its hand, blue energy flaring from it. Max’s shield activated, absorbing the blast.
“Pathetic,” Max said. “Hahaha. Haha.”
Krake lowered its hand. The two Axon stared at one another.
Hayden shifted his leg. The wound was healing, enough that he was able to put a little weight on it. He pulled himself up and stumbled forward, getting back to the car and using it for support.
He could tell Krake noticed the movement, but it didn’t take its eyes off Max. “We can end the fighting, Intellect. We can gain control of the most powerful army in the universe. Help me bring this device back to the Master, and we will spare this world.”
Max’s head shifted slightly, giving Hayden the impression the faceless Intellect was looking at him. “Curiosity. What will you do with the most powerful army in the universe, and nothing left to fight?”
“We will expand across the universe. We will subdue everything in our path.”
“That sounds just like the Hunger. Do you intend to use them or become them?”
“That is the only purpose for life forms like ours. The only goal that remains. Science. Technology. Learnedness. All a means to that end. Do you believe the Axon and the Relyeh are the only advanced races across the entirety of billions of light years? Combined, we will be unstoppable. The Axon will endure forever. We will endure forever.”