Enemy (11 page)

     “I’m going, too,” Jennings said, pulling the gun from its hidden holster beneath his coat. “I have a few questions I’d like to ask these people personally.”

     They felt the plane settle on the ground with a gentle bump. The ramp began to descend, and a warm breeze from the ocean bathed the inside of the plane.

     Reynald’s outstretched hand began to quiver, and he opened his eyes. His impossibly silver eyes looked up.

     His mind lashed out.

     There was a dull thud from within the Spear, and a piercing siren began to wail.

     “We just lost—everyone out, now! The fuel tanks have been punctured!!”

     A flurry of activity. Time seemed to drag to a halt.

     Jennings felt himself roughly thrown down the ramp. “Get the president out, now! Shield him!” He was on the sand, bodies above him, when the world became fire and sound. An instant later, the second tank exploded and hot shrapnel embedded itself in his right arm and carved a shallow trench across his forehead.

     He struggled to stand, flares of agony coming from his arm, coppery blood coursing into his right eye from the wound on his forehead. He forced the dead bodies of two soldiers off of his back, his mind morbidly noting that the one remaining eye in the soldier’s head on the left was a beautiful and striking emerald green, and the soldier on the right was wearing a shiny golden cross around his neck that reflected the sunshine like a prism around and around the chocolate brown bloodstained flesh of his neck. If they hadn’t been there, he would have been killed.

     He spun around, shielding himself from the vicious flames of the debris with his good arm.

     They had given their lives to save his.

     He was alone with the men in black.

     He awkwardly drew the revolver from the holster of one of the dead soldiers with his left hand and staggered at the terrorists, blood pouring from his arm. He dazedly wiped blood from his eye, and was amazed at how much there was on his hand when he pointed the weapon up at the men standing before him.

     He pulled back the hammer.

     black

     THEY OVERPOWER US.

    
SILENCE. THEY ARE ONLY VERMIN.

     OUR VESSEL SUFFERS.

    
LET IT SUFFER AS WE WILL MAKE THEM SUFFER. THEIR PATTERNS WILL BE ERASED FROM OMEGA AND THEY WILL SUFFER THEIR HELLS FOR ETERNITY.

     WE MUST ESCAPE.

    
ESCAPE((?)) WERE YOU NOT PART OF ME, I WOULD STRIKE YOU DOWN FOR SUCH COWARDICE.

     insight.

    
OUR VESSEL SHALL BECOME TWO ONCE MORE.

     ONE TO COMMENCE HARVEST UPLOAD, ONE TO—

    
ONE TO BE A SACRIFICE.

     A NOBLE CAUSE.

    
INDEED. YOU SHALL BE A MARTYR.

     silence, realization, resignation.

     THE PURPOSE WILL BE COMPLETED.

    
MAY YOUR BLOOD, WHEN SPILLED, BE HONORABLE.

     MY END WILL BE YOUR BEGINNING.

     the black closes.

     They hung in the zero-grav airlocks, lambs ready for slaughter.

     Spears of light flashed incessantly from both the Enemy and the Judas, who hovered around the monstrous vessel like a swarm of stinging hornets.

     Another flash, another tangible torrent of screaming souls being erased from the pattern. Fourteen Judas now.

     “Now?”

     ((now.))

     Twenty-eight airlocks were opened to the void, and thousands of droptroops poured out, shifting as they fell into the expanse of forever.

    
THEY ATTEMPT TO BOARD US. THEY ATTEMPT THE RESCUE OF THEIR DEAD.

     As the droptroops flew at the Enemy, the Judas fleet bombarded the huge target, draining its energy. The beams of light erupted from the Enemy less and less often. With an almost palpable sigh, the vessel emitted one last burst of phase energy, cutting down two more Judas, sending them into the unknown void of phase space.

     Its defensive energies depleted, the Enemy waited to be boarded. The Judas fell upon it.                                        

    
MARTYRDOM COMES SWIFTLY FOR YOU.

     INDEED. THE PURPOSE IS NOW YOURS.

     In a surprising burst of pure, harsh radiance, the Enemy vessel tore itself into two halves. One half remained in place above Phobos, the other half reformed and thrust itself at an insane speed from the reach of the Judas.

     It was going towards the sun. Towards Earth.

     ((judas paul, mohamet, vishnu: pursue enemy vessel. remaining judas continue capture of phobos enemy. boarding parties continue attack.))

     Simon sped after the Enemy.

    
SECOND RUSE INITIATED.

     WE AWAIT MARTYRDOM.

     Thousands of humans swarmed over the hull of the Phobos vessel, tearing the surface apart with their minds, creating entries to the internal areas.

     The Judas vessels came closer to the dead Enemy to assist the droptroops in gaining entry.

     <>

     [we must take precautions. boarding teams prepare to pull back—

     The end came.

    
NOW.

     black becomes nothing.

     Simon: a gasp.

     ((no... NO!!))

     Behind Simon and the three Judas pursuing the Earth-bound Enemy, a stark hellfire flashed into existence where once the Phobos Enemy had been.

     Simon heard, felt their cries of pain as thousands of droptroops were instantly engulfed within the quantum singularity, their bodies incinerated, their souls raped from existence into the phase space of the Omega. The cries were abruptly cut off. They were gone.

     The Judas vessels left behind at Phobos were also consumed in the blast. Simon watched as his comrades were torn apart, flung about.

     The Enemy vessel was not totally destroyed. It hung above Phobos, a blackened ruin, blazing fire from within, until, moved by its own suicidal explosion, its orbit deteriorated. The hulking wreckage swept down to the surface of Phobos, and erupted upon impact into a scarlet plume of fire.

     Simon looked away.

     [simon, we have to retreat. we’re useless against the enemy now.]

     ((and abandon yet another when?))

     [the cycle will continue.]

     ((we lost so many this time...))

     [their sacrifice—]

     ((will mean nothing! can’t you see that?))

     {simon.}

     ((we should have won this time!))

     {SIMON.}

     ((what, vishnu?))

     {the enemy vessel has stopped.}

     [they mean to take us all.]

     ((then we’ll go down fighting.))

     FULL STOP.

    
DO THEY STILL APPROACH((?))

     THEY HAVE DECREASED SPEED.

    
WEB THEM FOR VOLATILES, UPLOAD THEIR SHADOWS FOR OMEGA PATTERN AUGMENTATION.

     A WISE DECISION.

     From the Enemy, a web beam emerged.

     ((mohamet!))

     Simon shouted, but Mohamet was gone, ensnared by the unexpected web beam. He was pulled to the surface of the Enemy, absorbed.

     ((vishnu and paul, scatter!))

     Simon, Vishnu, and Paul rocketed in opposing directions, splitting the Enemy’s attention, creating more than one target.

     The Enemy reached out like a hand, fingers grasping in several directions at once, then suddenly focused on Vishnu. With a flash, he was caught in the web and pulled down. He was gone.

     [simon! save yourself!]

     ((paul, no!))

     Paul dove straight for the Enemy, veering around the web beam focused on him. The Enemy was caught off guard.

     Paul hit the Enemy at full speed, tearing himself from existence, but hardly affecting the Enemy. However, the Enemy was disoriented for several seconds...

     ((bless you, paul.))

     Simon dove as fast as he could toward the small blue planet below him, forgetting the temporarily blinded Enemy.

     Simon had a promise to keep.

     A gentle wind swept the island.

     “Start talking, or I start shooting.”

     Reynald stood, silent.

     “Do you work for Cervera? Are you Styx?”

     Reynald looked through Jennings with his terribly gray eyes. He said nothing.

     “Talk to me!”

     A flicker in time and Reynald was right there and Jennings’ gun was in Reynald’s hand. It shimmered with an impossible light and faded from view before Jennings’ eyes. Reynald approached, and Jennings stumbled back, startled. Reynald glared. Another flash and Reynald’s fist connected squarely with the side of Jennings’ face, knocking him off his feet and onto the sand.

     “You blind, arrogant people. You kill for no reason. You kill without knowing why or who.”

     Jennings said nothing, confused to silence.

     Reynald put his hands to his eyes.

     “Captain?” The man in black’s eyes flickered with an inner fire.

     “What?” Reynald sounded so empty.

     “It’s Simon. He’s coming.”

     “The fleet’s Whendropped?”