Forged in Shadow Page 8

  The next was the grind and screech of an elevator as it descended to their level. It was a clumsy, cumbersome thing, like just about everything on this floating metal junk heap. It ground to a halt, and Rykal heard its doors slide open.

  Rykal stopped moving. The internal corridor snapped abruptly to the left, bending at right-angles before continuing.

  Humans. Everything they built was so primitively linear. Rykal’s hearing told him that the elevator shaft was behind the bend. A familiar sound echoed up and down the shaft.

  Skitterskitter. Skitterskitter.

  Xargek.

  Shit. They were probably building a nest in there.

  Wasting no time, Rykal cut a hole in the roof of the low corridor and pulled himself up through the floor. He ended up in a deadspace somewhere above the elevator unit. He sliced an opening in the wall beside the shaft and emerged into a dark space that stank of grease and chemicals mingled with something putrid. He was above her now, standing on the roof of the elevator unit. Arin had probably heard him making all that noise, but he didn’t care. The elevator started to move upwards, propelled along smooth metal tracks by a small motor. Rykal looked up and saw several dark forms nestled in the corners of the elevator shaft.

  They were Xargek larvae encased in thick cocoons. They were undergoing metamorphosis.

  Small larvae swarmed all over the black cocoons, secreting some disgusting sticky substance that coated and reinforced them.

  Rykal’s dagger found its way into his free hand and he went to work, slashing at the cocoons as the elevator continued its lumbering ascent. At times it would get stuck as it hit the Xargek mess. That’s when Rykal would increase the intensity of his thrusts, furiously slashing at the cocoons until they fell apart, spilling the half-metamorphosed bodies of wriggling insects all over him. He ignored them, because they couldn’t do anything to him in their current state. Instead, he focused on making sure the elevator was able to move.

  “Rykal, is that you?” Arin’s alarmed voice reached him. He ignored her, focusing on the task at hand.

  The physical exertion felt good. Killing Xargek felt good, even if they were only larvae. He threw all of his anger into it, his slashes and thrusts becoming increasingly savage.

  They were heading towards the top of the shaft. There was a dark ceiling above, and Rykal dropped to his stomach, flattening his body to avoid getting crushed as the elevator reached the end of its tracks. Of course, the impact wouldn’t be able to compress his armor, but it would be damn uncomfortable if he was standing and managed to hit his head.

  The elevator ground to a halt. He heard the doors swoosh open, and then footsteps as Arin stepped out and started to run. Hundreds of Xargek larvae swarmed all over Rykal, trying to dig their vicious fangs into him. It didn’t matter. His armor deflected everything, and he set to work slicing them in two with absolute precision.

  He had to hurry and kill as many of them as possible. Arin was almost out of earshot.

  Before she got too far away, he carved a hole in the top of the elevator and dropped to the floor. Xargek rained down around him, swarming everywhere as Rykal followed Arin into the corridor.

  It was actually quite easy to track her, because her crisp scent lingered in the stale air, creating a perfect trail for him to follow, even when he could no longer hear her footsteps.

  Xargek larvae swarmed around him, following him. Rykal stabbed them as he ran, leaving a trail of foul carcasses in his wake. Now that they’d infested the freighter proper, there was no way he was leaving Arin unguarded.

  It helped that he felt better now; his anger had dissipated and he was less volatile, although thee terrible haunting memories that had resurfaced would stay with him forever.

  Chapter Twelve

  Arin ran, ignoring the flickering lights up above as she headed towards the communications room. The elevator trip had been hellish, with strange thumping and scratching noises coming from above the ceiling. She’d spent the entirety of the brief ride standing with the rocket launcher activated and pointed upwards, just waiting for some nightmare to drop through the roof.

  Stupidly, she’d yelled Rykal’s name, but he hadn’t answered.

  Arin sprinted past stacks of satellite monitoring equipment, noticing that a faint trace of Juvi smoke hung in the air. Someone had been here recently. She wondered who else might be willing or able to put in a secure call to Earth.

  Riana had used the secure line to get through to her, but Riana possessed certain special ‘skills’ that she’d acquired on Earth before her days in the forces.

  Finally, Arin reached the comm room. The doors slid open, revealing a brightly lit area filled with panels of blinking equipment. Most of the equipment was rendered useless because of the Network blackout enforced by the Federation, but the comm room contained a secure line that was used for distress calls and classified communications. The same line was also connected to the navigation room, but she couldn’t afford to have this discussion in front of anyone.

  Arin scanned the equipment, looking for the familiar shape of a holoscreen.

  There.

  She identified the device and sat down, putting her pack and the EI launcher aside. She brought up the input pad, entering a special code that she’d memorized, one that she’d been given by the nameless, dark-suited ghosts back on Earth.

  The holoscreen flickered as the device did its thing, logging onto a secure satellite network.

  “Yes?” The answering voice came through with a mild degree of distortion and static, the result of a signal being transmitted thousands of miles through space.

  “Agent E1?” Arin instantly recognized the woman’s voice. Moments later, her image appeared on the holoscreen.

  “Sergeant Varga. I’m assuming this is urgent.”

  “I don’t know what your relationship is to the Powers That Be, but I need to get a message through to the Senate. They need to start getting off their asses and organize an evac mission. It’s time to get these people off the freighter.”

  “The Senate is still deliberating on the best course of action. We can’t risk any move that might lead to retaliation from the Kordolians. We can’t risk any further loss of life, and we still don’t understand what their motivations are.”

  Yes we do, Arin thought in frustration. They want to kill the Xargek, and that’s what we want, too. What’s so fucking complicated about it?

  Politics. She hated politics.

  “They won’t harm us if we honor our end of the bargain,” Arin declared.

  “How can you be so sure?”

  “Trust me, they won’t. They won’t save us, but they won’t intentionally harm us either.”

  “Have you obtained a DNA sample for us yet?”

  Arin clenched her jaw in frustration. “I have not. Now are you going to help me, or are you going to be obstructionist?”

  “We have procedures to follow. We can’t influence the actions of the Senate. The matter is currently under debate.”

  “They’ve found Xargek on the freighter,” Arin informed the woman.

  “The Senate should reach a decision soon,” was her only response, as if the matter was routine and not abso-lutely-fucking urgent. Her cold indifference was in direct contrast to Arin’s rising anger. Did this nameless woman not understand the situation? Sometimes, it felt like the entire world had gone mad, and Arin was the only sane one left.

  Or perhaps it was the other way around.

  “So let me get this straight, E1. You’re saying you can’t help me right now?”

  “We will act when an appropriate course of action has been decided upon. Rest assured, we have your best interests in mind.”

  “You won’t help?”

  “We cannot go against protocol.”

  Arin couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Perhaps Marat had been right, and Humans had forgotten how to fight a good war. Four hundred odd years of peace could do that to a race. “Go fuck yourself, Agent,” she whi
spered as she terminated the comm, paralyzed by anger and disappointment.

  Un-fucking-believable.

  The whole world was nuts.

  Arin tapped the comm in her ear. “Private Shepherd,” she said, waiting for the voice-recognition system to connect her to Riana. At least the ship’s internal wireless still worked.

  No response but static.

  “Private Shepherd,” she said again.

  “A-Arin?”

  “Riana, get your ass up to the communications room, now. I need you.”

  “B-but…” In the background, Arin could hear voices. Slurred voices. Drunken voices.

  “Riana,” she growled, “have you been drinking? Where the hell are you?” She shook her head. “I don’t care. Get up here now, or I’ll file a report about a certain illegal hacking activity that happened on Fortuna Tau. If I remember correctly, it was something to do with the X-rated Networks.”

  “Don’t you dare,” Riana gasped. “I’m on my way, Sarge.”

  “Hurry up.” As Arin shut off the comm, she heard those strange noises again. They were like the noises she’d heard in the elevator, except they were louder now.

  They seemed to be coming from above her.

  Thud. Thud. Taptaptap. Skitterskitter.

  Fucking Xargek. Arin stood, hefting the EI launcher onto her shoulder. She set it to activate and waited.

  Thudthudthud.

  Something pierced through the metal roof. A black blade.

  Arin steeled herself, preparing to shoot. The thudding was deafening now. The blade disappeared then reappeared again and again, stabbing dozens of tiny holes in the roof.

  Something else was stabbing through, too. A giant black claw.

  Oh, shit. It was a big one.

  “Rykal?” Arin called. Relief flooded through her. So he hadn’t left her, after all. He’d just hidden from her.

  Stubborn Kordolian.

  “Get out of there, Arin,” he shouted, although his voice was slightly muffled by the layers of metal that separated them. “Take cover!”

  How the fuck had he gotten into the ceiling in the first place?

  Arin looked around wildly, but there was nowhere to hide. She did the next best thing and backed into the corridor, keeping her launcher pointed towards the direction of the noise.

  There was a loud crash, and the ceiling began to fragment into pieces. Two black figures fell through the roof, along with a shower of small, disgusting, swarming Xargek larvae. Arin almost discharged her rocket, but now Rykal was in the way, jumping to his feet as he raised his sword. It met the adult Xargek’s giant foreclaws with a loud crack.

  Arin groaned. Not this again.

  “Get out!” Rykal yelled. She couldn’t see his face; it was hidden behind his menacing visor. He was a black whirlwind of savage motion, matching the Xargek blow-for-blow as it tried its best to cut his head off.

  Arin took one look at the scenario before her and obeyed, dashing out into the corridor, the sliding doors closing behind her. She was met with a swarm of Xargek larvae, approaching her from the direction of the elevator. In the ceiling just before the elevator, there was a giant black hole through which spilled various wires and bits of debris, along with the occasional Xargek hatchling.

  Arin swore and lifted her rocket launcher, preparing to rain a firestorm down on the Xargek larvae. The damn things gave her the creeps, and there was no way she was going to let any of them so much as even touch her boots.

  She was about to fire when the light above the elevator flashed, indicating that someone was about to step off.

  “Shit.” Arin held her fire as the doors opened. She lowered the launcher and pulled out her bolt-gun.

  Riana appeared, and the Xargek larvae swarmed towards her. She screamed. Arin ran towards her, firing at the larvae that skittered at her feet. Every time she hit one, it would explode in a burst of foul smelling liquid.

  Riana found her gun and started shooting, but her aim was way off. One of her shots narrowly missed Arin as she sprinted towards the elevator, her long legs covering the distance with powerful strides.

  “To me, Riana! Don’t shoot. Just dodge. Hurry up and get out of there before they box you in.”

  The Private blinked, looked at Arin, then glanced down at the Xargek larvae that were swarming all over the place. As three of them rushed towards her, she made a giant leap and started to sprint, easily dodging the oval-shaped black creatures as they ambulated around on their multiple tiny legs.

  Horrid things.

  Several loud crashes echoed from the communications room, and Arin hoped Rykal was getting the real threat under control. Riana reached Arin’s side, breathing heavily. “This what you called me up here for? I wish you’d asked for the rest of the squad, boss.”

  Arin squeezed off two shots, hitting a couple of Xargek that were trying to sneak up on them from behind. “The situation’s changed,” she said. “Had no idea these things were swarming all over the place until afterwards. Doesn’t change the fact that I need you to do something for me.”

  “Oh yeah?”

  “I need you to hack a military satellite.”

  Riana laughed, her perfect white teeth gleaming. “Is that all? How come you never give me any of the easy jobs?”

  Arin fired at a weird looking Xargek just beside Riana’s boot. The thing looked like it was halfway between its larval stage and some weird second stage. Bits of carcass and legs and gunk flew everywhere, some splattering on Riana’s boot. The Private grimaced. Arin shot it again, just for good measure. “That’s because you’re special,” Arin grinned, as Riana made a face and tried to shake the muck off her boot.

  “Can we get out of here and into the comm room so we can at least close the doors? I can’t hack shit with these things nipping at my ankles.” Riana started to move, but Arin grabbed her arm.

  “Wait!” she hissed. She listened carefully. The loud thumps and crashes had ceased. She heard only the skittering of the larvae. The sounds of a titanic struggle between Kordolian and Xargek had disappeared.

  That meant one of two things. “Wait here.” Arin held up a hand and crept up to the doors, gingerly placing her hand against the door-panel. With a whoosh the doors slid open, revealing carnage inside.

  The first thing that hit her was the smell. It was absolutely putrid. Yellow gooey stuff was splattered across the communication equipment, and black chitinous limbs lay on the floor, severed from the Xargek’s body, which was motionless, a dagger protruding from its black triangular head.

  “Rykal?” Her voice was tinged with dread.

  “I’m fine,” he called out, but he sounded like he was in pain.

  He’s alive. Thank the fucking stars.

  Arin looked down and saw a trail of black liquid on the floor. It began as droplets, turning into pools and streaks. She followed the trail with her gaze. The black stuff seemed to be moving, sliding towards the naked being slumped in the corner.

  “Rykal!” She rushed over to him, dropping to her knees beside him. His weapons were scattered around him, and there was a large wound in his chest. The black stuff was his blood. Kordolian blood was dark, and it smelled bitter.

  He looked up, a crooked smile crossing his lips. “Be a sweetheart and get that for me, will you?”

  “Get what?” Arin was dumbfounded that he could be so nonchalant when he was lying seriously injured on the floor.

  Rykal waved the severed stump of his left arm in the air. “That thing over there. My hand.”

  Arin followed the direction of his gesture and saw his silver hand lying in a pool of black blood. She opened her mouth, but no words came out. Her horror must have been clearly written on her face, because Rykal regarded her with warmth in his eyes. “Don’t look at me like that,” he said gently. “It’s just a flesh wound. All I need to do is stick it back on.”

  “Stick it back on…” Arin shook her head in disbelief as she reached out and gingerly picked up Rykal’s severed hand. I
t felt strangely warm and familiar, even though it was detached from his body. As if in a trance, Arin passed the severed extremity to him.

  It was gruesome and surreal, and Rykal’s tender smile only made the situation seem ridiculous.

  How could he be smiling and relaxed and cocky at a time like this?

  He took his hand from her and pressed it against the stump on his arm. Arin’s eyes widened as his skin started to knit together, those weird little black dots swarming up and down as if they were somehow repairing his flesh.

  “Nanites,” Rykal said, as if that explained everything.

  In a couple of minutes, he was able to move his fingers.

  “Holy hell,” Arin whispered, unable to hide her shock. Just when she thought she’d seen everything, she’d witnessed Rykal’s amputated hand heal itself, as if he were some kind of Frankenstein from beyond the stars.

  “I told you, I’m a bit of an abomination.” Rykal made a fist, testing his hand. “It will take a while for me to regain full strength in this hand, but at least it’s back on.”

  “What does it take to kill you, Rykal?” Arin murmured, not really expecting an answer. She was just expressing her disbelief.

  “Beats me,” Rykal said, propping himself up on his elbows.

  Arin did a double take. “Why are you naked?”

  “Healing,” he grunted. The terrible wounds in his chest were almost completely patched up now. His body was repairing itself right before her very eyes.

  “Right.” Arin’s eyes wandered. She couldn’t help it. Injuries aside, Rykal was everything she’d hoped he would be and more.

  Wait a minute… what exactly were you hoping to see, Sergeant?

  He was silver, chiseled perfection. He was a living, breathing sculpture, from his generous shoulders to the defined lines of his abdominal muscles to his, uh, rather… generous endowment.

  Said endowment was rather, uh… erect.

  Arin couldn’t stop staring. Responding to the direction of her gaze, Rykal’s smile grew even wider.

  Impossible bastard.

  He sat there surrounded by his own blood, healing from gruesome injuries, and yet he somehow managed to look like an Adonis from ancient times, a renaissance sculpture brought to life complete with fangs, elf-ears, and out-of-this-world nano-modifications.