by Ken Lozito
“Bull, you can’t freak out now. Come on, you’ve got to keep it together,” Connor said.
Captain Randle continued to gasp and then started running. Connor glanced at the Vemus for a moment, but they didn’t move or appear to pay any attention to him. Connor ran after his friend, who was heading toward the middle of the chamber. He’d gotten so far ahead that Connor couldn’t see him in the gloom. Only a partial image of his combat suit appeared on Connor’s heads-up display. He heard Randle grunt loudly, and it sounded as if he’d fallen.
“I’m coming,” Connor shouted, hoping Randle would hear him.
Captain Randle screamed and Connor darted toward him. The CDF captain was tangled up in the cords along the ground. Connor squatted down as Randle was trying to push himself to his feet.
“Connor, they’re crawling all over me. Get them off me!” Captain Randle said.
Connor tried pulling the cords away, but the ends sought out the fallen captain like snakes. Connor swung his rifle around and started shooting at them. The AR-71’s projectiles chewed through the cords, and there was a hiss of vapor whenever they were pierced.
Bright overhead lights flared and Connor could see that he was only three meters from the giant amorphous mass. It was dark gray in color, with streaks of pink spidering across it like veins. Connor froze and his breath caught in his throat. Feeding into the mass were thick power cords over two meters in diameter. For each power cord, there was another cord made from the same exoskeletal material found throughout the ship.
A comlink established a connection to his combat suit.
“Colonel Gates, NA Alliance military,” a deep monotone voice stated.
Thousands of high-pitched whistles sounded from the Vemus forces, and Connor felt his knees go weak. The Vemus collective had just spoken to him—using his old rank.
34
Noah raced to the colossus cannon, with Sergeant Gray and a security team following closely on his heels. A blue-and-white lance shot from the colossus cannon, and Noah glanced in the direction the shot had gone. A ship in the distance crashed to the ground and smoke billowed from the wreckage. The massive barrel swung overhead and was priming for another shot. Noah headed for the base of the cannon where the controls were—the only place he could end the lockout.
He heard someone cry out, and as he rounded the base of the cannon, he saw Captain Raeburn Gibson lying on the ground with Lenora standing over him. She had her stunner pointed at Barnes.
The large Field Ops and Security sergeant looked at Noah. Then he regarded the other CDF soldiers and raised his hands. “We had to defend ourselves,” Barnes said.
Lenora looked back at Noah. “I tried to stop them, but it was already too late.”
Noah nodded and then looked at Sergeant Gray. “Secure the prisoners,” he said and went right for the colossus controls. He didn’t have time to consider how Gibson and Barnes had managed to free themselves, but they must have had help. There was a tangle of wires sticking out from underneath the control panel, and Noah clenched his teeth.
Lenora came to his side. “What do you need me to do?”
Noah studied the wires and then looked at the command status of the cannon. It was locked on the Vemus scout ship heading toward Sanctuary.
Lenora reached for something behind the console and pulled out a small metal box. “This is Field Ops issued.”
Noah’s eyes widened. “Good work. That’s causing the lockout. Here, let me see it.”
Lenora handed him the box and Noah peered along the edges. Finding a slight indentation, he jabbed his thumbnail in and pried it open. Pain lanced through his thumb as his nail started to tear, but the box opened and Noah used his fingers to force it the rest of the way. He twisted the control chip and it split in two.
Noah opened a comlink. “Colonel, you should have control now.”
Lenora took his hand and wrapped healing tape around his thumb. “I’m forever cutting my fingers on a dig, so I always have supplies on hand,” Lenora said.
Noah nodded appreciatively.
“Colonel, can you confirm you have weapons control?” Noah asked.
“We have control,” Colonel Cross said, finally.
Noah blew out a breath. “Glad to hear it, Colonel,” he said and explained how Captain Gibson had taken control of the colossus cannon and that Lenora had stopped them.
“Thank Dr. Bishop for me, but Gibson shouldn’t have been able to take control of the weapon using a secure authentication box,” Colonel Cross replied.
“Normally you’d be right, but Gibson removed the hardwired connections that would have prevented it. It’s a real mess and will take hours to clean up, ma’am,” Noah said.
“No time for that. We need that weapon operational for as long as possible. We’ve got incoming ships headed right to our location,” Colonel Cross said.
“I’ll return to the Command Center at once, Colonel,” Noah replied.
“Negative. I need you to stay there and keep that weapon working. Is that understood?” Colonel Cross asked.
“Yes, ma’am,” Noah said.
“Captain,” Sergeant Gray said, “where should we take them?”
Several loud pops from the sky drew their attention.
“Take them to the fortifications near the entrance. Then remove the shackles and give them a weapon,” Noah said.
“Sir?” Sergeant Gray asked.
“The Vemus are coming here and we have to defend ourselves. That means we put every able-bodied person who can shoot on those fortifications. Now go,” Noah ordered.
Sergeant Gray saluted Noah and took the Field Ops agents away. Lenora started to follow them.
“Where are you going?” Noah asked.
“I’m going to the fortifications. You said they need everyone who can shoot. Well, I can shoot as well as any soldier,” Lenora replied.
Noah pressed his lips together and tried to think of a protest he could make so she wouldn’t go, but he couldn’t. “Stay safe,” he said.
“You too,” Lenora said and ran.
Noah scrutinized the tangle of wires. The colossus cannon primed for another shot, and the charged particles in the air made the hair on Noah’s neck stand on end. He needed to see the status of the power converter, the console of which was down thanks to his good friend Raeburn Gibson. How much time could they save if they fitted the idiots of the world with shock collars to prevent their stupidity from affecting others?
Noah quickly got to work reconnecting the monitors for the power conversion systems. The weapon would still work without them, but he’d have no way of knowing if the entire weapon system would simply fail on the next shot.
Noah gathered his engineering support teams and stationed them near the power converter at critical systems. He needed to squeeze all the power he could from the old alien power station.
The colossus cannon fired another straight bolt of blue-white lightning surrounded by a blue nimbus. Noah looked up, knowing that the reason they’d put the cannon on such a high platform was to minimize radiation exposure.
Every time the colossus cannon hit its mark, it did devastating damage to the Vemus ships. The beam melted away the exoskeletal hull, wreaking havoc inside, but the Vemus troop carriers were entering the atmosphere almost on top of Sanctuary. Noah heard gauss rifles being fired and knew that some of the Vemus had made it to the ground.
Noah managed to keep the colossus cannon firing for an hour, then it failed. In the end, it wasn’t the power converter but the alien thermal core taps that had completely melted away due to the severe overload of the system. The heavy barrel of the colossus cannon sank down as the mechanized support structure lost power. He’d been so focused on converting the power for the colossus cannon that he hadn’t even thought of the effects the sustained power output would have on the old alien technology. Now that it had failed, it seemed painstakingly obvious and something he should have noticed. But he wondered if he could have done anything a
bout it if he had known.
Noah ordered all his teams to the fortifications near the entrance of Sanctuary. There was nothing more they could do here. As he ran out of the heart of Sanctuary, he didn’t pass many colonists. Colonel Cross must have had anyone who couldn’t fight moved as far from the fighting as possible.
One of the first things Colonel Cross had the CDF soldiers do when she’d first arrived at Sanctuary was set up fortifications that could be quickly assembled if the Vemus were to discover their location. Noah hadn’t given it much thought when she’d done it, but as he reached Sanctuary’s entrance, he couldn’t have been more thankful that Colonel Cross had prepared them for battle.
Noah was quite familiar with the sounds most CDF-issued weapons made when they were used, but it was the sounds the Vemus made that instantly grated on his nerves. He’d seen the video recordings of the Vemus from combat suit cams, but they sounded different now. The ear-piercing whistles made him clench his teeth.
Noah raced for the nearest fortification and found Colonel Cross looking at drone feeds.
“Put me to work, Colonel,” Noah said.
Colonel Cross glanced at him and the people he’d brought with him. “We only have civilian hunting rifles left. Grab them and get up on that wall.”
Noah grabbed the CAR-74 semiautomatic hunting rifle that was a common weapon for people who worked remotely, as well as Field Operations. While he knew the CDF had more powerful weapons, there hadn’t been enough to circulate to everyone. He raced down the fortification wall and found Lenora wearing a CDF-issued helmet and firing her own CAR-74.
Noah took up position next to her, peeked over the wall, and wished he hadn’t. There were thousands of Vemus fighters on the field. They fired their white stunner weapons that would completely disable a person if they were hit with it. Noah aimed his rifle toward the nearest Vemus soldier and fired a shot, taking him in the chest. The Vemus hardly slowed down. Noah fired off a few more rounds at it, hitting it on its large, rounded head. Gritting his teeth, he found another one and kept firing his weapon. He noticed that CDF soldiers were interspersed throughout the fortification and were firing incendiary ammunition at any Vemus that went down. Death by fire was the surest way to guarantee that the Vemus stayed down.
“What are you doing here? Don’t you have a cannon to keep working?” Lenora asked between firing her weapon.
“I missed you,” Noah said.
White bolts slammed into the fortification walls near them, and Noah jumped.
“You’re the only family I’ve got,” he said.
Lenora smiled and punched him in the arm. “Don’t get sentimental on me now.”
They continued fighting and the Vemus drew steadily closer. They kept coming over the nearby hills, and he had no idea how many of them there were. Runners had come by and dropped off ammunition blocks, but Noah was almost out again.
The Vemus fighters surged forward in an all-out run. Sanctuary’s defenders tried to keep them at bay, but the Vemus kept moving forward. They could no longer get a clear shot to incinerate the fallen Vemus, and they rose again. Noah kept firing his weapon as panic seized his chest. He just wanted them to stop. He wanted it all to stop.
Lenora cursed. “I’m out!”
“So am I,” Noah said.
Twenty meters away the Vemus fighters vaulted over the walls, overwhelming the CDF soldiers there. Noah grabbed Lenora’s arm and started pulling her in the opposite direction.
“No, they’re over there too!” Lenora said.
Noah looked behind them. Vemus fighters were storming the fortifications and there was nowhere for them to go. The way the Vemus moved, there was no way they could outrun them.
The Vemus finally noticed them and Noah’s mouth went dry. He held onto Lenora. “Don’t look at them,” he said, but Lenora wouldn’t turn away. She screamed angrily and flung her empty rifle at them.
To his left, Noah saw something moving toward the Vemus fighters and was shocked to recognize packs of berwolves racing toward them. They tore into the Vemus fighters and overpowered them in a rush. Noah watched as Vemus bodies were tossed into the air and then were torn apart by the berwolves’ powerful jaws. Noah wasn’t sure whether the berwolves were vulnerable to the virus. Most colonial scientists didn’t believe that the creatures of New Earth would be, but there was no way to be sure.
A scarred-faced berwolf padded over to them.
“Bull!” Lenora cried.
Noah watched as more berwolf packs entered the battle. A sonic boom sounded above, and soon after, seven more Vemus troop carriers came into view.
“We have to get out of here. More are coming,” Noah said, knowing how futile it was.
The Vemus were regrouping after the berwolf assault. Noah was watching the approaching Vemus troop carriers when a salvo of missiles streaked across the sky and slammed into them. Flaming wrecks crashed to the ground.
A broadcast signal registered on Noah’s comlink as CDF Hellcats flew into the area.
“This is Major Quinn. We saw that you have an infestation of Vemus soldiers and we thought we’d help out,” Sean said.
Noah smiled and pumped his fist into the air. He had never been so happy to see a Hellcat in his entire life. The CDF Hellcats made another pass and began mowing down the Vemus on the battlefield. Meanwhile, CDF troop carriers landed behind the fortifications and dropped off reinforcements. Noah was choked with emotion and happy to be alive. He and Lenora picked up two fallen weapons and headed back to the fortification walls. They were still in this fight after all.
35
The Vemus Alpha closed in on New Earth’s solitary moon even as weapons of the Colonial Defense Force tore into its hull. The Alpha’s primary weapon cut deep gashes into the lunar surface, taking out CDF installations.
Nathan looked at his two main holoscreens. At least no more ships were leaving the Alpha. They’d stopped as many as they could, but he knew a small number must have gotten through.
“Comms, has there been any reply from our assault teams on the Vemus Alpha?” Nathan asked.
“Negative, Colonel. We just had a partial broadcast,” Sergeant Boers said.
He shared a look with Major Shelton. The partial broadcast they’d received earlier could be taken as a sign that the assault teams had successfully delivered their payloads and were moments from detonation.
“Colonel, the last plasma cannon has been taken out. Their next shot will be at our location,” Lieutenant LaCroix said.
“Comms, send out the evacuation codes for all base personnel,” Nathan said.
The ground shook beneath his feet as it had done every time the Vemus Alpha fired its primary weapon. They’d fired everything they had at that weapon and they just couldn’t disable it. The CDF soldiers in the Command Center began evacuating the area. They’d try to survive in one of the underground bunkers they’d built.
“Aren’t you coming, Colonel?” Major Shelton asked, her voice shaky.
Nathan kept studying the holoscreens that still showed sensor data coming in. He’d sent the detonation signal for the assault team’s payload shortly after receiving the partial broadcast. Nothing happened. They could have set the bombs to use a timer, which couldn’t be overridden by a detonation signal from Lunar Base, assuming the signal could even penetrate the Vemus Alpha.
“Colonel, there’s nothing more you can do here. We have to go,” Major Shelton said.
Nathan had done everything he could but it didn’t feel like enough. Nonetheless, he began to back away from the command area. He didn’t want to leave, not with the Vemus Alpha still out there, but Major Shelton was right. They had no more weapons and the Vemus knew their location. They’d been systematically taking out all CDF installations.
“Please forgive me,” Nathan muttered and turned away from the main holoscreens.
He followed Major Shelton out of the Command Center. They ran to the nearest transit tube, which was almost full of CDF soldiers.
>
“It’ll be a tight squeeze, but we’ll get you in,” said a soldier near the entrance.
Major Shelton went in first and Nathan followed. As the doors shut behind him, they were squished together like sardines. There was a loud pop and the elevated capsule they were in shot away from Lunar Base. The magnetic tracks had no friction, and aside from being pressed up against each other, Nathan could hardly feel the movement. Thrusters fired as they reached their destination bunker. The doors of the transit capsule opened, and once they started to get off, Nathan finally released the breath he’d been holding in. The lights in the area dimmed.
“Emergency power activated,” a monotone voice said.
The main facility of Lunar Base was gone. Now all they could do was wait, hope, and pray.
36
Connor felt an immense vibration from the exoskeletal floor and something rippled beneath him, heading toward Captain Randle.
“Stop!” Connor shouted.
Captain Randle tried to squirm away from the swirling mass under the ground.
“He will be brought into the collective. A soldier he will remain, but better,” the voice said.
Captain Randle was pulled under the ground, and Connor screamed. He clenched his teeth and swung around, bringing his AR-71 up. The amorphous mass of the Vemus collective didn’t react at all. With Connor’s comlink activated, he began receiving broadcast updates from the lunar base assault teams. The bombs had been planted.
“No, he won’t,” Connor said. “He’ll die, just like you will.”
“You resist. Just like before.”
Connor frowned. “What do you mean, before?”
Something glowed inside the Vemus collective. He imagined the gray mass was one huge infected sack of living tissue, and if he fired his weapon, the infection would ooze out of it.
“Your weapon will not harm me. I am everywhere,” the Vemus collective said. The entirety of the vast chamber pulsed in rhythm with the words spoken. The glowing orbs flared brilliantly from deep inside the exoskeletal-encased cords. They went beyond sight, and Connor suspected that they went throughout the entire Vemus Alpha. The Vemus collective was the ship.