by Ramy Vance
The meteor was powering up for another shot. Alex knew that in their current position, they were defenseless targets. There wasn’t anything that could be done; it was a race against time. Could they get to the ground before the meteor tore them all apart?
Alex looked up at the meteor, focusing as hard as she could. All she needed was a clue. Luckily, her eyes were good enough to give her one.
In the middle of the green energy hole, Alex could see the faintest glint of white light. The light was moving back and forth. She assumed it was the aiming mechanism. From where she was, it looked like the meteor was going to fire on the left side, so they could switch it up and break both formations.
Alex patched to Roy. “The meteor is going to fire again, but this time it’s going for the left side.”
“Gotcha,” Roy replied. “Left side, when you hear the thing fire, scatter. Once the beam passes, reform and take out any leftover vermin, got it?”
A chorus of “Hell, yeah” filled the comm system.
The confident response was quickly cut off by the sound of the meteor’s energy beam firing again. The air grew hot and acidic with energy as another green beam rocketed toward the riders. They were barely able to swerve out of its path of destruction, narrowly missing being obliterated.
Luckily, there were no casualties this time, and since the riders had enough of a heads up, only a few creatures escaped from the tight net the riders had cast.
Alex continued to push on with Roy and Jim. Gill’s voice cut into her comm. “Hey,” he said. “You know that click we keep hearing? That’s the meteor gearing up to fire. We have thirty or so seconds from the click until it fires. It also seems like the meteor needs to recharge for up to five minutes before each shot.”
Alex was constantly impressed by Gill. Even when she didn’t know what he was doing, the drow was always thinking, working out how to get around a problem. “All right, let Roy and Toppinir know too. Maybe they can think of something.”
There was a half-formed plan hatching in Alex’s mind, and it had nothing to do with what Gill had just told her. That was someone else’s problem. She had one right in front of her, and the solution was becoming more obvious.
Hey, Chine, how big can you make the gravity warper?
Roughly the size of the meteor above us. Give or take a few meters.
Perfect. On my call, I want you to kick it into gear, but I want the gravity field over all of these creeps. Triple it toward the ground. All right?
Understood.
Alex patched into Toppinir, Roy, and Jim. “Hey, guys, the longer we do this, the more likely it is we’re going to get fried.”
Roy laughed bitterly and replied, “I’m pretty sure that’s the definition of a suicide mission.”
“Well, I have a way to speed it up. When I say go, we push down hard, all right?”
“If it gets me out from under the giant green death ray, I’m more than happy to do it.”
Alex leaned forward and shouted, “Now!” as she plunged. Chine activated his gravity field, and there was a noticeable tug downwards. Alex watched as a nearly invisible aura spread over the dragonriders and the monsters they were herding.
Then gravity really kicked in. Alex was yanked to the ground. Chine shot off small bursts of ether fire to encourage the monsters to move faster. In a few seconds, the entire seething mess of riders and monsters was rocketing down at the speed of a falling elevator.
Roy popped out of his cockpit for a second to get a better look at what was happening. “Yippee-ki-yay!” he shouted before ducking back into his mech.
The dragonriders didn’t have much control at this point, but it didn’t matter. The gravity well was driving everything groundward anyway. The only problem was how they were going to stick the landing. Chine, deactivate the gravity well a few feet from the ground, all right? Alex suggested.
Chine already knew what Alex was thinking. Will that be enough time?
Let’s hope it is.
Alex patched into the rest of the dragonriders. “All right, guys, the gravity is going to disengage in a couple of seconds. We gotta pull up after that. Otherwise, we’re going to crash into the ground, all right?”
There was a murmur of agreement as the dragonriders prepared for the last-minute change to the trajectory.
The ground was rushing up fast. Alex could hardly see it through all the beating wings beneath her, but when she caught a glimpse, she knew it was going to be a hard maneuver, even by her standards. Hopefully, it wouldn’t be too much for the rest of the riders.
From above came the familiar dread-inducing click. Alex’s heart sank. She assumed the same was happening for the rest of the riders. Forty-five seconds, tops. That was all they were going to have to pull this off.
Alex counted to herself as she felt the gravity start to loosen up. Chine was slowly tapering it off, giving the rest of the riders more freedom to determine how they were going to pull up.
Then the gravity cut off. Alex had lost count of how long had passed since the meteor’s last click, but it didn’t matter. The important thing right now was making sure she didn’t go headfirst into the ground. Alex pulled up with everything she had and banked left. The rest of the riders did the same.
As the dragonriders tried to avoid the ground and move in another direction, the meteor fired, a hellblast of green energy penetrating the ground. The riders scattered like chaff in the wind, many of them being tossed around by the vacuum created by the energy beam.
The monsters weren’t as lucky as the riders. Still caught in the throes of the gravity well and without competent riders, they were all but defenseless. The green energy beam cut through the monsters, turning their bodies to flames and ashes.
Alex was overjoyed as she looked over her shoulders. The green energy beam faded. “Talk about a lucky break!” she shouted.
Roy cackled over the comm. “All right, riders, let’s mop this mess up!”
The dragonriders descended on the remaining monsters, Toppinir leading the charge. He started in the same fashion the riders had used to corral the monsters initially, forcing the remaining creatures out of the vantage point of the energy beam.
It was time for Alex to finish what she had started. She and Chine swooped through the vrosks and bats, which were tripping over each other, flapping their wings senselessly, trying to take to the sky again.
Chine let loose a tumult of ether fire as he flew over the creatures. The rest of the riders were doing the same—flying overhead and unleashing attack after attack on the defenseless monsters.
The mech riders had set themselves the task of containing anything trying to escape. They formed a large circle around the monsters, slowly closing it as they fired missiles at the monsters, who lashed out with their fangs and tails.
The attacks meant nothing to the mech riders. What the mechs lacked in speed and maneuverability, they made up for in defenses. They continued to push the circle tighter, undeterred by attacks, fighting their way toward each other as the numbers of the monsters dwindled.
Toppinir and his dragon rose into the air, silhouetted in the glow of the meteor above, before rocketing into the middle of the circle. The dragon hit the ground, sending a concussive force through the air along with a wall of flame, incinerating the remaining monsters.
When the smoke and flames cleared, there were only ash and bone. The day was won.
Chapter Four
The battle was over. The creatures that hadn’t been obliterated by the meteor’s green beam had been killed by the dragonriders. There were a few of those riders walking amongst the corpses, finishing off whatever had survived.
The rest of the dragonriders had removed themselves from the battlefield, making sure they were a good distance from the meteor’s range. Many of them gazed up at the object, their hearts still racing from the battle, fearful of the meteor’s power.
Despite having been in the atmosphere for some time, the meteor hadn’t moved any close
r. It hung in the same place it had since originally entering the atmosphere. This was cause for concern and had prompted a heated discussion amongst the riders.
Team Boundless had instantly gone to service their dragons, Alex trying to drive home the point that the comfort and safety of their dragons were the priorities outside of battle. She reminded her squad that this would put them in the position to fight again as quickly as possible.
No one from Boundless had a problem with that logic, and they broke off from the main group of riders, who were busy celebrating their victory, their dragons patiently waiting to be drained of draconian fluid.
Alex was elbow deep in Chine’s spine, both of them wincing and trying to ignore their pain when Roy approached from the other dragonriders’ camp. “You guys like to keep to yourselves?” Roy called to her.
The dragonrider ignored Roy at first, preferring to pay attention to the task at hand. Once Chine’s fluid had been drained, it started to absorb into her body. She sat down, gritting her teeth through the pain, waiting for it to pass.
Pain, like all things, does pass. Once Alex was finished absorbing the fluid, she playfully slapped the back of her dragon’s head and leaped off, sending her thoughts. All right, gotta go see how much trouble I’m in this time.
Chine didn’t show any physical signs of having heard Alex, but she could feel the dragon chuckling inside her head. Your strategy won the battle. Today might not be the day to ask for forgiveness.
Roy was waiting for Alex, admiring Chine from afar as she lazily walked up. “Keep to ourselves?” Alex repeated. “Not really. We’d love to be hanging out with the big kids, but I have the sneaking suspicion we aren’t wanted.”
It was Roy’s turn to act awkward. The man reminded Alex of a child trying to muster up the courage for an apology. Finally, Roy spoke. “Can’t see why they wouldn’t want you,” he nearly whispered. “Good plan, by the way. Worked like a charm. Got a good head on you. Glad to see it still attached too.”
“I’m planning to keep it that way. Besides, these suicide missions are starting to look more survivable. I’ll probably need a head if I’m going to be doing any more.”
“You were right about there being something else in the meteor as well. I give credit where it is deserved. There must be something operating that beam.”
Alex couldn’t stop herself from looking up at the meteor. The hunk of rock had become something else in her eyes over the last few hours. She could see why Myrddin had been so obsessed with stopping this thing.
Regardless of what was inside the meteor, its energy beam weapon was cause enough to try to blow the damn thing up. That beam could easily take out a city. “It could all be automated,” Alex suggested to Roy. “The same way the drones and those monsters were.”
Roy scratched his chin as he pondered Alex’s words. “True,” he agreed. “Either way, a defense system implies something to defend. By the way, we’re getting a squad of reinforcements and supplies. Your pal Manny is going to be there. Care to join?”
“Join what?”
“Our little war room on the ship.”
“Sure. I don’t have anything better to do.”
Roy laughed as he headed back to the main squad. “Glad to see you have a sense of humor. We don’t have enough riders with that asset. You’d think constantly risking your life would help you see the ludicrousness of life, or at least give you something to laugh at. Not these guys. Wouldn’t know a joke if it walked up and punched them in the face.”
“Maybe you just aren’t very funny.”
Roy stopped in his tracks. His face was grave as he turned to face Alex. He looked as if he had just been slapped. “Me, not funny?” he asked. “Now that’s a good joke.”
The two of them joined up with Toppinir, who was watching his team finally get to their dragon maintenance. Toppinir politely bowed in Alex’s direction and repeated many of the accolades Roy had just stated. “The ship should be here in twenty minutes or so,” he informed Alex.
The dragonriders in Toppinir’s squad were talking and joking with each other. The mood in the air was almost cheery, despite the giant rock of death floating ominously overhead. “Hey, do you guys think you could call me when the ship gets here?” Alex asked. “I’d like to check in with my team.”
Toppinir agreed to the request, and Roy shrugged it off as something he didn’t care about. Alex headed back over the hill to Team Boundless.
The squad had finished their maintenance and was huddled around a small fire. The dragons had circled their riders. The fire was a good idea. Despite it being late afternoon, the air in the valley was cold. No doubt, it was caused by the meteor.
No one had mentioned it, but Alex felt as if the meteor was distorting the world around her. The air felt different in her lungs. The valley was far too quiet, as if it were devoid of life. It was too bright for there to be so many black clouds in the sky.
Alex sat down next to Jim, who was pulling up grass and blowing it off his palm. “Nice of you to join us,” Jim chided.
Gill watched Alex and Jim from behind the flames of the team’s fire. Alex could feel his eyes on her, and when she looked up, Gill didn’t bother looking away. Discerning what was behind his eyes was difficult. They did not look angry or hurt, merely watchful. After a bit, Gill turned and began speaking with Jollies.
Jim picked up on the silence and cleared his throat. “Just a joke,” he said. “I didn’t really think you were abandoning us or anything.”
Alex was brought back from her thoughts. “Huh,” she murmured. “Oh, yeah, I didn’t think you guys thought that or anything. Figured you were happy you weren’t the ones being chewed out.”
From over the fire came Brath’s laugh. “Yeah, I’m not going to lie, I’m glad I missed that one. Assume you’re going to be the one to lecture me, am I right?”
Alex shook her head as she leaned back against Chine’s arm. “Nope. Not my place. We’re a team, and we’re supposed to work together. We make mistakes, and we learn together. I’ll leave it at that, all right?”
“Sounds good to me.”
Jollies flitted over the fire and took a seat on Alex’s shoulder. “So, what’s happening next?” she asked. “That meteor is still in the sky. That’s why we’re here, right?”
Alex glanced at the meteor before returning her gaze to the fire. She was just as likely to find answers in the dancing flames as the green aura above. “We came here to help Roy and Toppinir,” she finally assented. “If their mission is the rock, then our mission is the rock.”
“What are they planning on doing?”
“Reinforcements are coming, Manny along with them. I’m guessing they have orders from higher up he’s delivering. I’m going to be meeting with them too. Until then, I guess we just sit tight.”
Gill stood and walked over to Alex, taking a seat in front of her and Jim. Alex wished the drow wouldn’t always be so direct. It was disconcerting. And confusing. Brath had said Gill liked her, but Gill didn’t show his affection in any way she expected him to.
The coolness Alex had felt from Gill had worn off, replaced by something much more confusing. Gill’s calm demeanor made him seem like an adult, so the occasional sparks of childishness were all the more apparent.
Gill was wearing his HUD visor, and he flipped it down when he knelt. “I’ve been tracking the trajectory of the meteor. A little while ago, I hacked into the Nest’s server to look for their records on the meteor’s path.”
This was more than enough to get Alex’s attention. “What did you find out?”
“The meteor was traveling faster than anything ever documented in the nine realms. When it entered our atmosphere, it came to a dead stop, and it hasn’t moved since. This implies your hypothesis might be correct.”
“I didn’t know I had a hypothesis.”
“There is more to the meteor than meets the eye. I hesitate to even call it a meteor. If it were a naturally occurring object, it would have smas
hed into the ground hours ago. Yet here it is, not moving at all.”
Roy’s voice crackled over Alex’s comm. “Hey, kid, the floating eyeball is here. Head over.”
Alex stood and brushed the dirt off her butt. “All right, that’s my wakeup call,” she said jokingly. “I’ll see you guys in a bit. Hopefully, I’ll know what’s going on. Later.”
Alex walked to where Roy had said the ship was going to be. She crested the hill, going in the opposite direction of the meteor. There she saw the ship. It was an elongated silver thing, looking almost like a cigar. Two huge thrusters were located on each side, and it carried numerous turrets. Glad to see they came prepared for a fight, Alex thought.
Roy, Toppinir, and a handful of soldiers were waiting at the ship’s entrance for Alex. They nodded to acknowledge her and headed onto the ship. Alex followed, jogging to keep up with them so she wasn’t walking behind anyone.
The ship looked as high tech as anything Alex had seen in the Nest. It appeared to be made of the same living crystal as the Nest as well. Soldiers and ensigns crowded it, giving the ship the feeling of a beehive.
The two veterans went straight to the holomap in the middle of the bridge. Manny was floating there, waiting for them. He smiled when he saw Alex. “Looks like you are incapable of following anything like an order or suggestion,” he said and laughed.
Alex was glad the Beholder wasn’t pissed at her. It seemed as if everyone in the room now took her much more seriously than they had a few hours ago. “Myrddin told me he recruited me to fight. I want to make sure I don’t disappoint.”
“You’ve scared the living hell out of all of us, but you haven’t disappointed yet.”
Roy looked like he didn’t have time for pleasantries, his face grim and set. “All right, what do you have for us, Manny?” he interrupted.
Manny was all business as he looked at the holomap, which displayed the meteor above them. “Getting rid of the creatures surrounding the meteor was a great idea,” he started. “Now you have a direct path to the hole Team Boundless created.”