by Mel Todd
~Oh gods. I can't believe I did that.~ Toni moaned into the mindspace and her emotions drifted over, a strange wash of horrified embarrassment.
When the bullet rattle died from her short burst, Miguel lifted his head and glanced at her. "Well, now we know most of the machinery is bullet-proof, but please don't shoot it again. Save that for things that bleed." He pushed himself to his feet, checked on 3B. JD carried 2B's body. The scent of death following them like a miasma, but they couldn't get him home yet and they wouldn't leave him there. Glancing back, Miguel made sure they were all up and moving, then he kept going forward.
~I expected him to rip me up and down. For him to tell us what a mistake this was.~ Her voice was quiet and almost timid as they moved forward, the jittery stress creating its own tension.
No one replied, but they all stayed aware until they reached a large door. "If my specs are right, the controls and the primary part of the drive are behind here," Perc commented as he stood next to the wall.
Miguel stood back and glanced at Toni. "If you would."
His over-politeness made McKenna’s hackles rise and whiskers twitch. The stress was getting to her and having someone else call the shots, someone who didn't trust them, didn't help.
Toni nodded and touched the pad. Up until now she'd been through most of the doors in under a minute. Three minutes later all of them were getting very twitchy.
"Is there a problem?"
"Yeah. They’re trying to stop me. But whatever got loaded into my brain is better than what they think because I am… in." She darted backwards and Miguel, Perc, 4B, and JD all moved into the room, energy weapons and rifles up and aimed.
Part of her wanted to protest she should be rushing in too, but there was only so much space, and she had no great desire to get shot. Or have any of her friends get shot. Instead she waited back against the wall. And waited.
Chapter 24 - Losses
More food shipments are coming to five grocery stores in the Placer county area. Check our website for times, dollar amounts and restrictions. No shifter forms and no animals will be allowed, but pet food is also coming in with these shipments. Please bring small bills only, all amounts will be whole amounts. ~ KWAK News
I can't take this anymore.
Ray gun in her hand, she turned facing inward and paused. Between the others she could see an Elentrin sitting in a chair at a panel, his arms raised, face composed. They all stared at each other. The man, or she assumed he was male, for all she knew they could all be hermaphrodites or something else, had dark skin that reminded her of hematite. It was paired with hair that looked like the best Florida oranges she'd ever eaten, so vibrant it almost hurt her eyes too look at it. The silence stretched until her patience gave.
"Is there a reason we’re having a staring contest?"
"I'm waiting for him to try and go for the weapon on the console next to him." Miguel didn't move as he replied.
The corner of the Elentrin's mouth tilted a bit. "As I would prefer to not be injured, and you outnumber me, what? Five to one? Or even seven, as there are more people than I can see? Would it not be a bit rash of me to reach for any weapon?"
McKenna was rather glad her jaw didn't hang open, and she fought back a snicker at a choked back, "What the hell?" from Miguel.
"You speak English?" Miguel finally managed to ask.
"It seemed only prudent. You never know how long it will take for language implanting to work. Plus, there was the possibility I might have needed to interact with some of your people."
Another moment of silence, then Miguel cursed softly. "Fine, up, go over there." He pointed to a side of the room where there didn't seem to be any machinery. The man heaved a sigh and stood, moving slowly over to the area indicated, though he gave the weapon laying on the console a longing glance.
"Toni, get in here and see if you can disable those engines. 4B, get the explosives set. I want this place to be exposed to space if we have to," he barked out.
Moving out of the way to let the others in, McKenna looked around the control room. It looked like something from a sci-fi movie set, if not for the colors being subtly off to her vision, too brown, too muddy to her eyes. A sudden hiss of horror, or hate, pulled her attention to the Elentrin who stood quietly in the corner.
The calm look of cooperation faded, and his lips had drawn back in a snarl as he glared at the door. McKenna tracked his stare to Rarz, who stood there looking at the Elentrin, his head bobbing up and down slightly as he took in the malice radiating from the man.
"How you could pair with one of those abominations. I can understand the weaker of your people being willing to serve your betters, those whose bodies are so weak as to be warped. But how could you lower yourselves to even allow one of those things to be near you? Let me at it and I'll kill it for you. Burn the corpse so it is unable to contaminate anything."
Occasionally McKenna ran into someone who had issues with someone's skin color, sexual preference, or religion, especially if the person in question had been drinking. To hear such loathing coming out of someone who seemed otherwise sane jolted her and reminded her once again these were aliens she was dealing with.
"Wait, weaker of us?" Miguel asked. Everyone had been pulled away from his or her duties to stare at the all but frothing alien.
"Yes, only the weak ones change. Those that are strong and would never make good slaves resist our Aly Mites. They would prove too troublesome, so we only help by removing the weak from your populations. But to mix with the abominations? To let them near your people? We do need to destroy your world. Now that you have been touched, it will be the only way to cleanse it."
Rarz spoke, his voice containing something McKenna couldn't place exactly but she thought it might be amusement. "You think those that change are the weak? The lesser?"
Even as JD and Perc glanced at each other and huffed out a laugh.
"I will not talk to that which must be destroyed." The man swore and turned around.
"Interesting. The entire reason your little machines work, and allow others to change their forms to new patterns, is that our genes, the genes of my people are strong in them. Those with few of our traces do not change. Those with enough genes can control our tunnels, change the way your bots interact in their bodies, even take on any form they wish."
The man whirled around staring at him, emotions flickering across his face before they were all replaced with a sneer. "Then your descendants serve us as slaves. The only proper place for your kind. Slaves to be killed at our whim. Function only until they are broken."
"Enough. Everyone back to work." Miguel said, turning to glance at the soldiers setting the explosives. They were up under the control bank, having wrenched the thing open to get back there. "Make sure you can remote detonate and set an alarm if they’re tampered with." He turned his attention to Toni. "You in?"
"No. This has a different password than the other systems. It isn't anything I know." She turned to look at the man leaning against the wall, arms crossed over his chest glaring at all of them, but ignoring Rarz. "He set manual ones. I can get around them eventually, I think. But it’s going to take time. More time than we have probably."
"Of course. Now I know why I didn't just kill him." Only the fact that McKenna had hyped her ears back up to listen to things around her let her hear that as Miguel turned back to face the now smirking Elentrin.
Huh, some expressions seem to be universal.
"We don't want to destroy this ship, we just want our people back, but we need time to do that. Provide the unlock codes so we can do this. It will be easier and will result in less grief for everyone."
"Ah, but I want that creature behind you to suffer. And since you all seem to be contaminated with his essence, you should suffer also."
"I don't have time for this. We need this ASAP." Miguel handed the alien weapon to the nearest soldier, and drew a knife from his belt, his face a grim line.
"Give him the damn info. We do
n't want to kill all of you. We just want you to leave us alone!" McKenna growled out the order and the Elentrin ignored her. He focused on Miguel who moved forward. Though the others kept their weapons trained on the orange-haired man.
Miguel's hand snaked out to grab him, but the Elentrin moved, flowing into another position faster than she'd ever seen. A knife appeared as if from magic from one of his sleeves, and she remembered Wefor's comment about knives being favored in this society. Before she could react, before any of them could react, Miguel had been disarmed, one arm twisted behind his body, and held at a painful angle by the man. He held the blade pressed to Miguel's neck hard enough that blood already ran from the cut, filling the air with its sharp coppery scent. It was an odd counterpoint to the burnt blood coming from 3B.
"And now I have the power. Lay down your weapons or I'll slit his throat." Malice glittered in his eyes. Eyes that she just now realized were a paler orange. His orange lashes against the dark skin made him look almost demonic as he grinned at them, exposing teeth a lot sharper than humans.
"That isn't happening," Perc rumbled. The human soldiers had drawn their pistols and were pointing it the alien. But the man obviously knew this and backed into the corner, holding Miguel in such a way that even a good shot would have had a hard time hitting him and missing Miguel if they fired.
"You will kill your leader, and then where will you be?" He had a mocking tone to his voice and McKenna tilted her head a bit. She missed being able to frown; it felt weird in warrior form.
~Does he think with Miguel dead we'll fall apart?~ She hated to ask where the others couldn't hear, but didn't want to voice that.
~Wait, what? What’s going on?~ Cass came back, almost panicked and McKenna grimaced. The move or flash of teeth must have grabbed the alien's attention because he focused on her, a snarl on his face.
"Don't worry, animal. We'll wipe your mind and put you to use, helping to destroy all your cousins before they can rape any more of your people. We'll help to purify your race."
"What? We, I mean I, I, just—what?" She couldn't even come up with anything coherent to address all the insanity in that statement.
They all stood there, staring at each other, when Toni said, "I'm in." Her voice pulled everyone's attention away from the stand-off. Her grin exposed teeth and looked more like a snarl. "I got past it and the engines are shutting down. I set them to do a systems check." The Elentrin growled. "Yes, annoying, aren't I?" Toni gloated just a tiny bit.
"What? What does that mean?" 3B demanded, and McKenna glanced at him, the pain and waver in his voice pulling at her attention. She realized fresh blood that wasn't Miguel's had entered the room.
He's bleeding again, and I think I catch a whiff of something stinky. That means bowel. That isn't good. He needs to get out of here.
"It means that the system is checking itself and will take about forty hours. Normally it’s something you'd do when the ship is being refurbished. Think of it as cycling through everything." Toni smirked. "There isn't any way to stop it without risking their system. I swear some of their stuff could be mirrors of Windows."
"So fine. You've insured we can't leave. but that doesn't' mean we can't keep harvesting from your planet and destroy it. We have time, and others are coming. This world is ripe with Kaylid and we have found two more planets infested by the abominations. We will need them to cleanse those worlds." He pressed the blade deeper into Miguel's throat. "So nothing has changed. Drop your weapons and step back."
"McKenna," Miguel said and she jerked her attention back to him. "Listen to me."
"What?" Confusion colored her voice, but she didn't take her attention from him.
"I was wrong. You and your people are damn impressive. You've carried yourselves like professionals, and I have absolutely no doubt that you can run this mission. Your people are good and mine will listen to you. I have faith in you."
~What in the wo—~ She couldn't even finish the thought before he moved. Sagging hard, she heard his arm snap as he brought the other back in a violent jab. His elbow impacted deep into the Elentrin's stomach; even as the man jerked, and the knife slit his throat open.
"No!" She didn't consciously choose to yell but the roar that rushed from her throat matched JD's action as he launched himself at the two of them. McKenna followed, her mind back in that super-focused attack mode she'd noticed. But JD's long wicked claws had been accurate and as she reached the pair of them, he was pulling them out of the skull of the Elentrin. Strands of orange hair stuck to the purple blood.
She didn't spare another glance at the dead alien, but instead, grabbed for Miguel. The floor was already red with his blood. Covering his neck with her hands didn't slow the blood flow at all, just coated her fur with his life.
Miguel smiled, then closed his eyes and struggled to breathe as the blood slowed its rapid flow. McKenna could never say how, but she felt the instant he died. She looked up and saw the dead body of the soldier she'd never learned the name of and the other one hurt and dying. Wide eyes from the others stared at her and she gave in. It was time to be the commander.
"Fuck this shit."
Chapter 25 - Ladder of Success
While shuttles are dropping in and leaving from the African continent, information coming out is sparse. Morocco hasn't been touched much, though South Africa has, especially Johannesburg. But in Central Africa? There is no word how many lives have been lost either via kidnapping or deaths while resisting. The aftermath of this for many countries in Africa may create a new social structure. ~TNN News
McKenna stood up. ~Cass? Tell them to stop putting people in the portal. We need it for a minute.~ She broadcast it purposefully, knowing Rarz, the kids, everyone would hear it. She didn't care if nearby Kaylid heard it too.
"Rarz, as soon as the last person is through, shut it down and pull one up over here."
~Cass, we won't need it long, so keep getting people awake, they can move through the portal faster than you can get them conscious.~
~What is going on? Is everyone okay?~ Her tone held worry, stress, and distraction.
McKenna figured JD could reassure her; she didn't have time. The clock that had taken over her life seemed to count off the seconds even louder now.
~No. And I don't have time to discuss it. Rarz, are they through?~
~Yes. I'm disconnecting now.~
McKenna turned back to Toni and the men all looking at her. "Toni, see if you can set a password that they should never be able to guess. Something supremely human. Guys, I should have learned your names, and for the two that stay, I will. I'm sorry, I should have made you human, but it was easier not to." She took a deep breath, and all the thoughts coalesced in her mind to what she needed to do.
"3B, you're going home and taking 2B with you. The other two can stay if they want, but you'll have to follow me, and sometimes it will be safer to talk via telepathy than coms. You'll have to just follow my lead at points. We’re dumping our rifles. Keep your pistols though, they might come in handy. The rifles make too much noise and are too dangerous in this environment. Not to mention they’re awkward when we need to fight hand-to-hand. Can you live with that? Because at this point, Miguel is right. We have to take over the ship and Toni and I are probably the only two that can pull this off."
The two men glanced at each other. One with had suntanned skin and coal black hair with dark eyes. His nametag said Roark, and he shrugged. The other was taller, all lean muscle with reddish skin hinting at someone that burned before they tanned. He had light brown hair and his nametag said he was Coran, and he nodded as he replied. "Works. Leadership ain't our style."
"Good." McKenna didn't sigh in relief, but having them back her would help. She felt more than saw the portal forming behind her. "3B, go home. Take your fallen with you. Tell them we'll do what we can, one way or another. But they might want to get White Sands clear. Life has a way of being weird around me."
JD huffed out a laugh, and odd sound between
a bear chortle and a human laugh.
"Will do." 3B nodded at her and with everyone helping, they sent Miguel home, followed by 2B, whose name she saw now was Jameson. 3B or Jons walked into the portal, slow and getting slower, but she knew he'd get home. Now they just needed to make sure he had a home a week from now.
"They on Earth, Rarz?" Her voice crisp, all the doubts and worries, they didn't matter anymore. That scared her and she almost asked Wefor if she was causing this. But once again she decided not knowing was the better option. If she knew, she'd freak, one way or the other.
"Yes," his voice was slightly distant.
"Good, now toss in all our rifles, they’re in the way, and while they seem to have disabled the stun level of guns, they aren't disabling the existing guns. We should be able to rejigger them if we need to."
To her surprise no one gave any dissent and a minute later all the clumsy rifles were on their way back to Earth.
"You all set, Toni? Roark and Coran, you have all the bombs set? And you do have your nose filters in, right?" That last part might have held a bit of panic. Having these two go all lovey over the Elentrin would not be good.
They nodded, not saying much just watching the shifters and Rarz with unreadable expressions.
"Good. Rarz, can you set it back up for Cass and those guys? I'm sure they’re backing up. Then we’re headed to the bridge. I believe we have a ship to take over and then…" she swallowed but grinned, enjoying the flinching back of Roark and Coran at what had to be an impressive array of fangs. "Some alien asses to kick."
At some point I need to spend some time in front of the mirror in this form.
The portal flashed out of existence and she looked at Perc. "Direct route, hard and fast. You said that it would be difficult, but will anyone expect it?"
"No. This makes the "Die Hard" movies look simple. We should all be able to do it, though we'll want to slip the ray gun things into our webbing, so our hands are free.”