Marauder Fenrir: Scifi Alien Invasion Romance (Mating Wars) (11 page)

I
shift
to bear form and charge toward Minos. I need to get closer to him to use my biosuit’s full power, and bear form will get me there fastest.

Minos shifts back to Marauder form as he reaches the rifle, and he rolls into it and snatches it up off the ground.

Still in bear form, I will my biosuit to form a long tendril. One of the fallen men’s rifles is much closer to me than it is to Minos–who is still out of range–so I stretch toward the weapon with my tendril.

The biosuit stretches to its limits, and it reaches so far that my whole body is left unprotected for the duration. I’m almost one-hundred meters away, and my tendril forms a hand as it approaches the second rifle.

Minos turns back and notices what I’m doing. Suddenly his bio-disc–which was heading straight toward me–cuts wide and severs my tendril.

I pull back the remaining mass into myself as I shift back to Marauder form. The severed tendril pulls itself into a sphere, and continues rolling toward the rifle.

The disc arcs back around, and before it can even start toward me again, Minos opens fire with his rifle.

My tendril fuses back into me just in time, and I form a hardened shield. I don’t have enough mass to shield my whole body, so I form it into a handheld one.

I raise the shield toward Minos and fall to my knees, shrinking my massive body behind the teal shield.

I feel the impact of bullets hitting the shield a few times, and then, out of the corner of my eye, I see Minos’s disc zoom into view and make a sharp turn.

Just before it reaches me, bullets slam against the shield again.

Right before the disc is on me, I swing the shield around toward it and dive into it. I will the shield to shrink down and become denser, to become stronger. The shield is so small that I barely manage to move it in front of the disc. Just before I slam the disc with it, a string of bullets tears into my leg.

When I hit the disc with the shield, sparks fly, and the disc bounces hard away from me, wobbling precariously. It will have to arc around for a while before it gets enough speed to strike again.

I grow the shield once again and cut off the gunfire before more bullets can cut into me.

My leg is oozing blood, and when I try to stand, pain lances through my entire body. I try to move through the pain, but my leg goes numb and I fall back down. I keep the shield held in position, and Minos holds fire. He knows it’s a waste of bullets to hit me when I’m shielded; he won’t fire until I have to split my defense to deflect his disc again.

But before that can happen, I transfer my focus to the severed sphere of my biosuit.

It’s dangerous, because I can barely keep my body holding the shield at the correct angle, and there’s no way I can deflect the disc with most of my consciousness in the spherical biosuit fragment.

I shouldn’t need to deflect the disc again though, because the sphere is right on the fallen shooter’s body, next to his rifle. I shape two hands out of the sphere to grab the rifle. From the sphere’s vision, I can see Minos with his rifle trained on the shield in my hand, and the disc circling back around for another attack.

Though I have just a few moments, it’s more time than I need.

The sphere’s hands aim the rifle right at Minos, and the movement alerts him. It’s too late though: all his biosuit mass is in the disc and I pull the trigger before he can even move.

I don’t let go as the gun rattles off, and bullets cut through his body. When I see a shot blast right through his skull, I bring full focus back to my body.

With Minos dead, his disc falls uselessly to the ground and slides across the ground dozens of meters away from me.

I pull my knees into my chest and slam the shield onto the ground, bracing myself against it. I spare a look back and see our buggy as a mere speck on the horizon. Thankfully the Seraphim Fiona listened to me.

I pump all of my remaining energy into the shield, and my stomach roars with hunger as I drain all my energy. The hunger makes me dizzy and lightheaded. I’ll likely pass out soon, but hopefully I can stay awake for–

A brilliant flash of light, like lightning cutting open the black of night, erupts, and though I’m pressed against my shield with my eyes clasped shut, it still nearly blinds me through my eyelids.

And then I feel the first force of the explosion. Small pebbles of Martian soil slamming against the shield like a dust storm. The shield begins to shake and tremble in my grasp, and I can hear and feel, deep in my rattling bones, what seems like an earthquake roaring across the ground, straight toward me. The shockwave.

When it’s just a few dozen meters away, I spend the rest of my energy and order the shield to encircle me. It cuts out all light and hardens around me. I spend every last bit of biomass to harden the shield. There’s nothing left for inertia dampening, and the sphere is blasted away by the shockwave. I’m sent flying like a barrel dropping over a waterfall.

My back slams against the sides of the shield, and my leg, still full of bullets, sears in pain.

The worst of the shaking starts to die down, and I can tell the sphere is losing momentum as the shockwave weakens with distance from the center of the blast. And then, without warning, the sphere stops dead. The last thing I feel before totally blacking out is my skull slamming against the inner wall of the sphere.

I
drive
as fast as I can, though I still feel like a coward for running away while Fenrir fights that monster. I let my rational thoughts win out though: if I try to be a hero, I’ll get in the way. Even though I’m “Turret Woman,” I don’t have any form of weapon, and I sure as hell don’t have a way to fight something as dangerous as a Marauder’s biosuit-turned-death-boomerang.

And I have to drive fast and can’t waste a second, because there’s going to be a huge explosion.

Irrationally I want the explosion to not happen at all–for everyone to be safe. Fenrir told me he could shield himself, but what if he was just telling me what I wanted to hear? Saving me while sacrificing himself?

And rationally...rationally, I
need
there to be an explosion. If I keep driving and nothing goes boom, then it means that Fenrir lost the fight, doesn’t it?

I order the rear-facing camera to zoom in as I drive, and just as the camera finds Fenrir–a small speck on the horizon–a huge dome of white light materializes behind him.

I watch it grow, but within seconds the camera is flooded, and the screen is nothing more than a bright white light.

I keep driving, and moments later I feel a deep rumble. I’m at least two kilometers away now, but Mars is still shaking...and Fenrir can’t be more than a few hundred meters from the center of the blast.

I slam on the brakes. A few more dozen meters won’t make any difference, and I need to get back to him as soon as I can once the dust settles.

“Dust storm approaching,” a voice speaks out from the dashboard.

“It’s not a dust storm,” I mutter, as small debris begins to slam against the outer hull of the buggy.

The white light begins to die down, and based on the fact that I’m still alive, I realize I cleared the worst of the blast.

But what about Fenrir?

I whip the buggy around in a furious 180-degree turn, and I drive full speed ahead toward the epicenter of the blast.

There is a thick cloud of dust lingering from the explosion, and some medium-sized boulders are glowing red from the heat of the blast.

“Fenrir,” I say, “Please be okay. Please…”

He’s strong. He’ll survive. I keep telling myself that over and over as I drive.

Soon I make out the ruins of the way station. There’s almost no remaining evidence of the building itself, just a small square of regular-colored soil framed in singed black. And then I notice snapped-off pipes spilling out of the soil like gutted intestines. They are spewing water out into huge pools. At least we’ll be able to get something to drink.

Once I reach the station, I pop the door open and jump out.

I turn back in the direction I came from, and I walk toward where Fenrir would have been. Where he
will
be.

The dust was too thick to see while driving, but outside of the buggy, and after some time has passed, the dust begins to clear. The pale sun becomes visible again, and I see the molten rocks cooling from fiery white-hot to a cooler orange.

Anxiety builds in me as I search with no success. I’m standing right around where Fenrir was when I saw the blast erupt, but there’s nothing here. I see only a patch of tall rocks in the distance, and so I head toward them.

After a few minutes of walking, reaching a few hundred meters from the rocks, I see a purple shape rise up in front of the rock wall.

Fenrir.

He takes a few steps toward me, then collapses to the ground.

I rush toward him. I run as fast as I can in my heavy clothes, and I breathe heavily into the oxygen mask. The mask begins to fog up as I pant hot breath into it, but I don’t stop running.

“Fenrir!” I shout, almost on top of him.

“You did well,” he says, his voice rasping.

“Are you okay?” He’s well enough to stand, but I can’t help but worry.

I slide down on my knees beside him, and I look at the bloody pulp that is his leg. It’s oozing blood and full of gushing holes.

“Shit, Fenrir…”

“It’s fine,” he says. “I heal fast and fully. Just bring the buggy around and get me.”

“You got shot like…” I count the holes. “Five or six times! And you got literally blown up.”

He laughs, but it turns into a wheezing cough.

“Stop laughing, you idiot.”

He smiles. “No, I didn’t get blown up. I encased myself in my biosuit. The plan was to let the shockwave just roll me safely away while shielding me from the heat.”

He looks back up at the tall rocks. “But I guess I slammed pretty hard into these...bashed my head really hard and knocked me out. Basically just a bad bump. It will heal.”

I nod. “All right. I’ll go get the buggy.”

“Fiona!” he calls out, grabbing my wrist. “One more thing.”

“Yeah?”

“I’m starving, do you have anything–.”

I reach into my pocket and pull out a half-eaten stick of jerky.

“Sorry, this is all–.”

He snatches it from my hand and devours it. As soon as he’s done chewing, he closes his eyes and starts to snore.

“I guess that’s how he heals…” I say to myself, before turning back toward the buggy.

* * *

B
y the time
I get back, I’m able to wake Fenrir, and he’s able to pull himself into the buggy.

We stop by the leaking water pipe and fill up our reservoir. We have plenty of water, but we’re low on food. Cygnus–and my sister–are only a day or so drive away, so I can deal with my hunger until then.

Fenrir’s stomach rumbles every few minutes though, loud enough that I can hear it from the back seat.

“Are you going to make it?” I ask.

“I need to stay alert to protect you...in case…” he mutters.

“How are you going to protect me if you can’t hear, and if you’re too hungry to even sit up?”

He narrows his eyes at me.

“I need you alert for when we arrive,” I say.

“I can hibernate,” he says. “Conserve what’s left...promote healing.”

“Do it,” I snap. “You should have done it hours ago.”

He grabs my hand and runs his thumb across my palm, pain filling his eyes. “I thought Minos would take you from me…”

“He’s gone,” I say softly. “You killed him.”

“Kaius is still out there though…” Fenrir mutters.

“For all we know, his pod never even made it into the solar system. Maybe it sling-shotted off Neptune and flew into interstellar space.”

“I will keep you safe, Fiona,” he says. “I see you.”

And then his eyes close, and his stomach finally stops rumbling.

F
iona shakes me awake
. “We’re here.”

“Where?” I say. My throat is dry and my voice is hoarse.

I grab my thermos, sit up, and chug some water.

I’m still starving, but my leg is halfway healed. I can feel a big bruise on the back of my head, but my raging headache has subsided, as well.

“Ready to smooth talk?” I ask.

I look out the window and see two armed guards approaching. We’re parked outside a tall gate.

We open the doors, and they raise their guns at us.

“Who are you?” one asks. “We don’t recognize you.”

“I’m Aura’s sister,” Fiona says.

They give each other looks. “Any proof of that?”

“Look at her!” I shout from the back seat.

They finally notice me, and they cock their guns. “Don’t move!”

The man to the right starts shouting–into some kind of earpiece, I assume, ”We’ve got a fucking Marauder here–not Aegus–and someone claiming to be the Great Mother’s sister!”

* * *

A
fter bringing
us through the gate, everyone stops what they are doing to stare and gape at me. Some even bow.

I turn to Enrico, the guard who is escorting us through town. “What are they doing?” I ask.

“Word spreads fast,” Enrico says. “A third Marauder…”

“But why are they
bowing
?” I ask.

“Belief is a powerful tool…” Enrico says. “Great Brother Cygnus tried to fight it at first, but you can’t stop people from having faith.”

“But in
Fenrir?
” Fiona says, snickering.

“I think they just recognize me as stronger than Cygnus,” I say. “It’s only natural.”

“No, no,” Enrico says. “There’d be even more bowing for Cygnus.”

Fiona smiles and sticks her tongue out at me.

I grab her hand and squeeze. “Come, let’s go find your sister...and the
Great
Brother.”

Enrico points ahead. “He’s on family time, on one of the farms I think.”

“Family time?” I ask.

“It means we’re not supposed to bother him...but I think this would count as an exception.”

“Yes,” I say. “Fiona is family.”

Enrico narrows his eyes at us. He’s still holding his gun, and I suspect he doesn’t completely believe us. Though I doubt he wants to be the one who held the Great Mother’s sister at gunpoint.

I notice more guards following closely behind us.

“Have you eaten yet? Fenrir?” Enrico asks casually.

At the thought of food, my stomach churns.

His eyes widen, and he smiles. “I guess not.”

“What you’re really asking me is if my biosuit is armed,” I say.

Enrico nods. “Well, since it’s not...we can take you to see him.”

The whole town is domed, but the dome is much lower and smaller than the one covering Nuevo Quito. As we walk down the street, the buildings start to thin out as we near the end of the dome. Everyone is still gawking at me, and some are still falling and bowing as I pass. I smile at Fiona each time someone bows to me, and she scoffs or rolls her eyes back at me. She must be dizzy from so much eye rolling.

We reach the end of the dome, but there’s another larger dome through a small tunnel.

“The farming dome,” Enrico says, pointing. “Having two separate domes acts as a nice safety measure. In a pinch, the whole settlement could move to the farming dome while we repaired the other.”

We pass through the airlock and into the second dome. I can’t see any of the farms, as there is a steep hill in front of us blocking the view.

“I’m not sure which of the farms the Great Brother and Mother are on…” Enrico says.

I sniff, and I smell Marauder in the distance.

I follow the scent, climbing the hill, and as I reach closer, I smell something else. It must be the child...and from the smell alone, I know that Aegus was right. That the children humans and Marauders bear together need not be Marauders. It means we can settle here, end our old way of life.

If only people like Minos could really stop and think what that really means. My shame debt had blinded me from the true freedom that the Seraphic Form represents, but Fiona cleared the fog from my eyes. Just as her sister Aura must have done for Cygnus.

We clear a small hill, and I see them first. Cygnus and Aura are standing side by side, and the child is jumping over tall stalks of corn. She’s laughing and happy, and I realize she’ll never need to leave this place. She’s the first child of a Marauder who can stay where she was born and build a peaceful life.

I turn back to Fiona and Enrico, and I point around the hill. “Just around the hill; come on.”

I slide down the hill and guide them around the edge. As soon as Fiona sees her sister, she breaks into a run.

Cygnus hears first, and he spins toward us.

As soon as he sees my purple skin, I smell fear radiating from him. He’s not afraid for himself, but he’s afraid for his mate and child.

I smile and relax, and I hold up my hand, mimicking the human greeting. His fear slowly subsides, and when he realizes that Fiona is his mate’s sister, I see a smile fill his face, as well.

“Fenrir?” Cygnus says, as I move closer toward him.

And then I smell guilt pouring out of him.

“I was sent to kill you,” I say. “But I’ve chosen Fiona over revenge.”

Fiona and Aura grab hold of each other, hugging tightly. I see tears in Aura’s eyes, but they’re both laughing.

“Just revenge?” Cygnus asks. “I didn’t want to kill Zarek, but I had to.”

“I know,” I say. “No, not just revenge. Half of the fleet has welcomed Aegus’s message...but the other half has not.”

“Daddy!” the child says, jumping into him.

He catches her and cradles her in his arms.

She turns to me and says, “Is that uncle Aegus?”

“No,” Cygnus says. “This is Fenrir, but that woman is your Aunt Fiona.”

Sara looks up at me cautiously, and then at Fiona.

Fiona smiles. “Hi, Sara…”

I can tell she doesn’t know what to say. But it’s more than I can manage.

Sara has pale pink skin, and her ears are on the side of her head like a human’s, but they are pointy like a Marauder’s. She lacks the cool, calculated ruthlessness that Marauder females are known for even from a young age.

“Say hello!” Aura says, taking Sara from Cygnus’s arms and putting her onto the ground.

“Hello, Aunt Fiona,” Sara says, blushing.

“She’s shy with new people at first,” Aura says, “She’ll warm up–.”

“I’m not shy!” Sara whines. “Don’t make fun of me!”

I still can’t believe what this little girl represents. No longer must our people endure brutal journeys across the stars...each time I look at her, I’m reminded of it.

“I am shy, too, little Sara,” I say.

“I’m not little either!” she shouts.

“No…” I say. “The Seraphic Form is infinitely large…”

“You’re weird, Fenrir,” she says.

And then everyone laughs at me.