Planetfall infinitys end.., p.19
Planetfall (Infinity's End Book 6), page 19
***
“Wait, just stop. Stop!” Cas yelled. Box was still leading him along the corridor, so fast he almost tripped on his own feet. Box stopped where he was, fluids still leaking from him.
“We can’t stop,” Martial said. “It will be right behind us.”
Cas pointed back there with his light. “I’ve been looking that way this entire time; do you see anyone back there? No, because she’s dead. And I fucking killed her.”
Martial looked behind Cas, then came up to him. “I know she meant a lot to you, but you have to—”
“I don’t have to do anything,” Cas snapped, knocking Martial’s hand away that had been headed for his shoulder. “And where the hell were you? We were fighting for our lives in there.”
“I don’t have a weapon,” Martial replied. “Left it back at camp.”
Cas turned away from him, disgusted. “I just don’t get it. What did that thing do to her? Why was she…why was she fighting us?”
“I told you there might be permanent—”
“And irreversible effects, yes, I heard you.” Cas placed his hands on his hips, dropped his head and took a deep breath.
“Cas,” Jann said softly. “We need to keep moving. Martial is right. That thing could be on our trail as we speak. We may have only bought a few minutes.”
“And I seem to be leaving a trail to follow,” Box added. Cas glared down at the black liquid that had leaked from Box. He pulled off his jacket, handing it to the robot.
“Rip off the sleeves.”
Box stared at him. “It’s your favorite jacket.”
“I don’t care, just do it.” Box did as he was told, though Cas could tell he had trouble with it. He took each sleeve from Box and wrapped them tight around the leaking servos. They wouldn’t solve the problem, but they’d buy them some more time. He slipped the sleeveless jacket back on.
“Come on, we don’t have time to waste. We still have to disable the dampening field,” Martial said.
Cas laughed out loud. “You think we’re getting out of this? You think any of us is getting out of this? Look around! We’re in the bowels of an underground alien labyrinth, on an alien planet, thousands of light-years away from the Coalition with a ship that can’t move! Where are we going to go?”
No one said anything.
“I didn’t think so. We might as well accept our fate. We’ve failed. Half the crew is gone to those things out there, we have no means of leaving the system even if we got off the planet, and now…now we’ve lost two—” His voice cracked, and tears welled in his eyes. “Two captains in under two weeks.” He turned back the way they came. “So if that bastard wants to come for us, I say we let it. I’m tired of fighting.” He couldn’t bear this anymore. Not after losing Evie. He had thought maybe, with her, they might find a way out of this, but it didn’t matter anymore. He’d lost everyone. Uuma was gone, Zaal was probably dead already, and when wave three finally did show up, they’d find out what the rest of them already knew: this planet was a death trap. He’d even lost himself, in a way; half the organs in his chest weren’t even his.
“So that’s it, then?” Jann said, coming up beside him. “Just because you’ve given up means everyone else should too. Sounds to me like an exercise in nothing but self-pity.”
“I just don’t care anymore,” Cas replied.
“You think you’re the only one? What about the rest of us? We’ve lost just as much as you. I’ve lost one of my best friends, my sister. And my commanding officer, twice over with what happened to Captain Diazal in there. But you know what? There are still people up on Tempest counting on us. For them it’s only been moments, and they have no idea what’s going on down here. I’m not about to condemn them to an early grave, are you?”
Tears streaming down his face Cas found he couldn’t even face her. He couldn’t face the accusations and turned away.
“Fine. Then we’ll take care of it. Where is this dampener control?” Jann asked, her voice full of disappointment.
“Not far from here. In a separate antechamber,” Martial replied.
“Then let’s go. I want to get this thing turned off before that monster finds us. I’m not sure how much longer we’ll last against it again.” Cas glanced over. “Last chance. You coming?” He shook his head. She scoffed, turning to Box. “What about you?”
“I think…” He glanced at Cas. “My place is here. With him. If the alien comes this way, I’ll try to buy you some time.”
“Thanks.” She took one last look at Cas and she and Martial took off jogging in the other direction, their footfalls echoing against the chamber walls.
Cas leaned up against the far wall and slid down, resting his arms on his knees, the gun still in his hand. He turned his nose up at it and tossed it down the corridor, where it landed somewhere in the darkness with a thud. Box came over and sat beside him, his lanky frame awkward in the position.
“I’m sorry about Captain Diazal,” he said. “I will miss her. She saved my life once.”
“Mine too,” he replied. “More than once.”
“I guess we should have boarded the Winston after all,” Box said. One of the servos in his neck made a small whirring noise. It was out of alignment.
“Almost did. Why didn’t we?” Cas asked. “Why didn’t I just ignore the Admiral’s call and get on that ship with you?”
“Because deep down, you wanted to do the right thing. You always have, even if you try to hide it.”
“Yeah. Look where that got me. Even if I was still part of the Coalition they’d court-martial me in an instant for so many deaths on my watch. I am a walking death trap. You weren’t wrong.”
Box made a clicking sound from deep within. “Yes, I was. If it weren’t for you they would have tried to contact the Sil anyway, and failed. The Coalition might even be at war with the Sil, even without the Athru threat. Not to mention the most important thing.”
Cas arched an eyebrow. “Which is?”
“You saved me. T’would be a dark universe without my glowing, shining presence.”
Cas snickered. “It would indeed.” He turned his attention to the dark hallway they’d just come from. “What’s taking it so long? Why doesn’t it just come and finish the job?”
“I don’t know.”
Cas sighed, resigning himself. Box was right, he did always try to do the right thing, no matter the cost. Part of him hated that aspect of himself; it was a burden he’d chosen to bear despite everything. But if he didn’t have his integrity, what was he left with? He stared into the dark hallway, seeing a future for himself he liked even less. “You should go on with the others. I’ll hold it off.” He stood again, searching the ground for where he’d thrown his gun.
“See? That’s just what I’m talking about. You can’t help yourself,” Box said, not moving. “Still trying to do the right thing.”
“Only because if I didn’t, I’d never hear the end of it from you.” He swept his light back and forth along the ground.
“That’s true.” Cas heard the whir of machinery as Box stood behind him. “But that’s not the real reason.”
“Then by all means, enlighten me.” The light picked up a glint of metal and Cas walked over, picking up the boomcannon. Other than a few scratches it seemed fine.
“It’s because even in an unfair world, you’ve always strived for fairness. Despite everything that’s wrong, terrible, and unjust, you can’t stand the inequity and you’ll do almost anything to even things out. To make the world a little better.”
Cas took a deep breath; he didn’t like thinking of himself like that. Especially after everything that had been done to him. What kind of person was so deluded that after having been betrayed a hundred times over came back to ask for more? A moron, that’s who. A deluded moron. And if he was honest with himself, he only pretended to do things because they were in his own self-interest, otherwise he never would have come back to the Coalition with Evie. She’d been the better of the two of them. She had believed whole-heartedly in the purity of the Coalition, and even when presented with evidence to the contrary, had continued to strive to make things better. And she should have been the one who made it out of this place alive. Letting the rest of the crew suffer and die would be an insult to her memory; they were Cas’s responsibility now. He stared at the weapon in his hands. He needed to do right by her. If for no other reason than to assuage his own conscience.
“Okay then,” he said, staring into the darkness. “Let’s find a way to make things better.”
32
Daingne drew in a sharp breath and jolted off the stone slab, all the muscles in her body tensed. The main entrance had been choked off by massive blocks of rock, and blast patterns littered the walls and stone panels. Rockron stood off to the side, tapping one of the glowing stone tablets. He glanced up, nodded to her, then returned to his work. “That was faster than I expected. I’ll be with you in a minute.”
Daingne’s eyes found the dark spot of blood on the floor where she’d bled out. Or, she thought she had. After the human had shot her, she’d lost all control for a moment and she had reasserted herself. And to her horror, in what she had thought were her last moments, Daingne was afraid of Evelyn and her control. She was much stronger than she should have been.
She shook her head. No. That was nothing more than me being caught off guard. But she couldn’t be sure that was the truth. For a brief moment the human had emerged, had observed what was happening around her, if only for a few seconds before they lost consciousness.
Daingne gritted her teeth. There was no they. There was only her. As far as she was concerned the human was dead and buried in the back of her mind somewhere. So then where was all this fear and anxiety coming from? Athru didn’t have these sensations, at least not according to Rockron.
“Daingne, what is going on?” Rockron said, turning from his panel.
“Nothing. I was experiencing some dissonance, due to my injury.” She felt her chest where the projectile had entered. Though the clothing was still wet with blood, there was no longer a hole. The skin had been repaired.
“It nearly penetrated the human heart,” Rockron said, noticing her movement. “But your Athru genes kept you alive long enough for me to repair it. Our bodies are much more resilient than theirs, and yours has some of that redundancy built in. Good thing too.”
Daingne glanced to the main door. “What about them? Are we going after them?”
“Of course. But I needed to make sure you were stabilized first. Now that you’re up and moving again, we can begin pursuit.”
“How? The entrance has been blocked.” The stones were huge, and she couldn’t even imagine how heavy.
“There is more than one way out of this room,” he replied, indicating she follow him to the adjacent “collection room”. As they passed the rows of skulls again she felt a tug deep within, something aching and desperate to get out. No. You will never see light again.
“Your lack of control is disconcerting,” Rockron said. “The human should not be bothering you.”
“It was a traumatic experience. Give me a few moments to collect myself and I will be fine,” she snapped. She was tired of being questioned by him; all of this was under control. And she didn’t like him monitoring her and reaching into where he didn’t belong. It was a violation of her thoughts.
“It is necessary, as you obviously cannot control yourself. Once you’ve proved to me you are strong enough to keep the human part of yourself suppressed, then I will leave you.” He crossed the room to the far wall, standing to the side.
Daingne seethed. No one told her she couldn’t control herself. No one had that right, she didn’t care if they were Athru, human, or something else entirely. She clenched her fists.
“What are you doing?” Rockron asked.
“Don’t you know? You’re monitoring me.”
“I just saved you. Perhaps I didn’t explain this properly, but Athru do not fight amongst ourselves. Our people are past that.” He stared at her intently.
“Then get out of my head,” she replied. “I will not be spied upon.”
He shook his head. “Not until you have her under control. Even now she’s influencing your thoughts.”
“She is not.”
“Come,” he said. “Once we kill the humans you will feel better. More like yourself.” He placed his hand on the stone and a blue doorway glowed before melting away.
On the other side stood a young woman with black hair, her back to them. As the door disappeared she turned and her eyes lit up, her face breaking into a huge grin. “Evie!” Daingne recognized her from Evelyn’s memories as Laura Yamashita, her partner.
Laura stepped into the room, her eyes on nothing else but Daingne. Rockron grabbed her by the throat and immediately her confused eyes fell on him. “It seems we missed one,” Rockron said, squeezing. Laura tried gasping, but her windpipe had been cut off. Her eyes shot back to Daingne, pleading.
Something deep within Daingne roared and tore at her consciousness, as if she was nothing more than a paper doll that was being ripped away. Evelyn’s desire was overpowering, and Daingne could barely contain her. She fought to push Evelyn back down, but found she couldn’t; the harder she pushed, the harder Evelyn fought back. In her mind’s eye, she saw the small woman appear at the edge of an endless cliff, having climbed her way back up. She was smaller than Daingne, but more determined, and angrier. Daingne stepped back as Evelyn charged her, screaming human obscenities. She put her hands up to defend herself, but when the human smashed into her, it was like she was shattered into a thousand pieces. She no longer had substance; she’d become less than before, a being without form, only memory. And she was more afraid than ever.
***
Evie blinked over and over, shaking her head, making sure what she thought was real was real. Before her stood the alien known as Rockron, squeezing Laura by the neck. Laura had begun to turn blue, and her eyes hadn’t left Evie’s. Despite everything that had happened, she couldn’t take a moment to process it, she had to save her. Evie glanced around for a weapon as she noticed Rockron’s attention turn to her. He knew. Laura reached toward her and Evie saw the strap across her chest. She had the sword!
Rockron’s eyes went large and his grip faltered, releasing Laura as he lunged for Evie. He meant to kill her; Evie knew this in her core as much as she knew he could sense her thoughts. The other had gone, and he wasn’t going to let Evie survive without her.
Laura fell to the floor, coughing, but managed to unhook the sword even though she had to be in considerable pain. She glanced up then tossed the sword in a high arc over Rockron to Evie, who caught it with one hand. In one fluid motion she unsheathed it and sliced across Rockron’s chest, exposing a red line of blood.
For his part, the alien only stumbled back once, but then righted himself and continued toward her, fast. Evie bent and sliced again, this time catching him across the knees as he approached and his swipe of a hand missed her entirely and he fell to the ground, howling in pain. Evie turned and held the sword out in front of her again, it’s blade red with blood. She was now between him and Laura; there was no way he was getting past her.
With some difficulty, Rockron stood on wobbly legs. Blood poured from both his knees but he remained determined. Evie had a millisecond to think if he could repair a bullet to the chest, he could repair knees with no problem. But she wasn’t going to give him that chance. She charged him, feigning a swipe left. When he moved to block it, she drove the sword right into the center of his chest. It slid through with no resistance, and she quickly pulled it back out almost before he’d had a chance to realize what had happened. His eyes went wide when he felt the wound and while he was distracted Evie sliced the sword horizontally through the middle of his face, just below his eyes.
Rockron was still for one moment before the top half of his skull and face slid off, exposing the bottom of his elongated brain. The cut had been clean and perfect and the lifeless body of the Athru fell to the ground, blood pouring from all the wounds.
Evie took a breath.
“Holy…cough…shit,” Laura said.
Evie ran back to her, dropping the sword and inspecting her throat. “Are you okay? What hurts?”
“My pride at seeing you…cough. At seeing you slice that thing in half.” Laura smiled. “How did you do that?”
Evie didn’t bother answering. A red mark had already formed where Rockron had squeezed Laura’s throat. She’d be bruised for sure. “Can you breathe? Are you okay?”
Laura nodded. “I think so,” she rasped. “I can still breathe. What happened?” She was looking at the blood on Evie’s uniform.
“I’m…not exactly sure,” she replied. “One minute I was me, then…I wasn’t. Something else took over. Something else he put in me.”
“Like mind control?”
Evie thought back to the creature she’d seen in her mind. Had it been mind control? Or something else? She had felt like there was someone else occupying her mind; it hadn’t been her doing all those things. But she still saw and experienced what was happening. She still had the memories of what the other had seen.
