Infinity's End: Books 4-6, page 59
On the ground was a human arm, still in the Coalition uniform where it had been torn from its owner halfway through the bicep. Not at a joint like the shoulder or the elbow, but straight through the middle of one of the strongest muscles in the body, not to mention the bone. And it hadn’t been cut either. From the white splintering it had been broken, and ripped off. “Can you tell who it is?” Evie asked.
Uuma shook her head. “Just that its female. That leaves Volante and Bentzen. But I can’t tell which one. They both had fair skin.” She indicated the hand at the end of the arm.
“Is there any way the crash could have done this?” Vostokov asked. It was hard to tell in the dim light, but she seemed unnerved.
“I’ve never seen a shuttle crash do anything like this. Usually it’s all or nothing,” Uuma said. “Wouldn’t you agree, Captain?”
Evie didn’t bother responding. This wasn’t the result of any kind of accident. She unholstered her weapon and activated it, noting the other four followed her lead. “The trail leads this way,” Evie said, even though it was at a tangent to the destination River had programmed for her. “We need to follow it and find out what happened.” Her hope was either Volante or Bentzen had wandered away from the rest of them and run into a wild animal of sorts. And as gruesome as it was, that was the best-case scenario.
As they tracked forward Evie caught the scent of blood in the air. The coppery tang only grew stronger as they followed the splashes of blood along the ground or on the limbs of trees. A distinct buzzing sound also caught her attention. It had been faint at first, but as they moved forward it only grew louder.
Evie pushed through the brush only to stop dead in her tracks. Dozens of humongous insects each the size of a human head were hunched over, poking their bulbous eyes into a pile of something on the ground. The insects had segmented bodies, each with black and green markings and large wings on their backs and at least a dozen tiny little legs underneath them, allowing them to crawl over each other and the pile. Their faces were made up of giant eyes, but below them was a long needle-like protrusion which they stuck into the pile and into each other if they got too close.
“I think I’m going to throw up,” Carson said from behind her.
Evie couldn’t blame him. The writhing mass of bugs on top of each other like a sick orgy turned her stomach. Uuma pointed her rifle at one and shot past it, kicking up dirt where the pulse impact hit the ground. The giant bugs scattered to the air, their buzzing intensifying as they retreated to the limbs of trees high above them. Evie watched them go, concerned they might drop back down on top of them. There was no telling how aggressive they were or how long they would stay away from their feast.
“Okay, now I am going to be sick,” Carson said, running off to the side of the small clearing and retching into the bushes. Small black beetles scattered from underneath as he did. Evie followed one of them as it approached, then made a turn toward the pile the giant bugs had been feasting on.
A pile of human parts.
Legs, torsos, hands…they were all there in a small mound. All ripped from one another, and according to the torn and ripped uniform, all belonging to the same person. Something had torn her crewmember apart, then piled them up like trash.
“It’s Bentzen,” Uuma said, stepping forward for a closer look. “She was the only lieutenant science officer on the shuttle.”
“No head?” Evie asked, not wanting to get any closer. As soon as the bugs had scattered the smell broke free, and the entire area smelled like rot and decay.
Uuma nudged the pile with her toe. Another black beetle scattered out from underneath. “Not that I see.”
Evie scanned the trees with her rifle in front of her. Something had piled these parts of Bentzen back together. Whether that was the ritual of a local animal or the result of a conscious choice she wasn’t sure, but she also wasn’t taking any chances. “Everyone on high alert. I don’t want—”
A scream cut her off and she turned in time to see Carson dragged backward into the darkness of the woods, his eyes wide with fear and his weapon on the ground where he’d dropped it. “Captain! Help! He—” His words were cut off by a sickening crunch.
“What the fuck! What the fuck!” Williams yelled as he fired wildly into the woods where Carson had disappeared.
“Everyone to cover,” Evie said, “Don’t let them—”
Williams was jerked to the side as if on an invisible string and lost his balance, falling face first into what was left of Bentzen. He coughed and pushed himself off the pile only for something too fast for Evie to see grab his leg and jerk him back into the darkness, screaming. He tried turning to fire but whatever had taken him was too quick, and his screams were cut off as abruptly as Carson’s had been.
“Form up!” Evie said as Uuma and Vostokov stood back-to-back. Evie joined them so all three were facing outward, their backs to each other.
“What the hell is it?” Uuma asked. “I can’t even see what’s happening.”
Evie didn’t have an answer. This had been a terrible idea. The shuttle crew was more than likely dead already. And they’d been assembled into small little piles all around this area. Evie also didn’t like how Bentzen’s head was missing. What could have wanted it? Were these the Andromeda aliens? And if so, was pure carnage all they cared about? She should have brought an army.
“There!” Uuma said, firing off three pulse rounds in quick succession toward what Evie could see was nothing but a blur at the edge of the woods. The pulses disappeared into the night. “Damn.”
“I’ve got it,” Vostokov said, firing her own rifle five times in a row. One of the pulses sounded like it connected but when Evie turned, there was nothing there. “I was sure I had—”
Something struck Vostokov in the center of the chest and she fell to her knees, dropping her weapon. She collapsed to her side, blood seeping from her chest and her eyes devoid of any remaining life.
“Captain…” Uuma said, the tone and pitch of her voice rising. Evie dropped her gun, pulling her sword from its sheath and gripping it with both hands, out in front of her. If she was going to die, she was going to die with her family’s sword in her hand, not some Coalition weapon. The glint of the steel reflected the woods all around them. “Are you crazy? If a pulse rifle can’t hit it, you don’t think a sword can?”
“We’re going to find out,” Evie said, taking two steps away from Uuma, her eyes scanning the woods. She wasn’t going to lose any more crew members on this planet. The loss of the Honduras crew and her security detail was more than enough. It stopped now. Evie took a deep breath and saw the flash of movement in an instant. She drew the sword to the side, slicing what should have been the target but meeting only thin air. She’d sworn she’d had whatever it was dead-to-rights.
“Captain—”
Evie turned to see Uuma with a giant tear across her midsection, her intestines in the process of spilling out of her body. She collapsed to the ground, blood leaking from her lips. Evie forgot everything else, dropping the sword and catching her as she fell. Uuma’s warm blood coursed over Evie’s arms as she helped her down to the ground. Whatever had hit her had torn away her uniform and most of her midsection, like taking the cover off a manifold. Everything inside was spilling out.
“Karen, I’m sorry, I’m so, so sorry,” Evie said, holding her head while Uuma only looked at her with fearful eyes. “It’s okay. You’re not alone. It’s okay.” She didn’t know what else to say, other than she was sorry for ever leaving the camp, for bringing them out here and for putting them in this danger. And for one last second Karen’s fearful eyes turned accusatory before going blank as she shuddered her last breath.
Evie looked up, expecting to see someone or something standing before her; but the woods were empty and all she could hear were the sounds of the bugs buzzing high above her as the smell of fresh blood reached her nostrils. She lay Uuma on the ground and closed her eyes, hating herself for what she’d just led her crew into. Maybe she deserved to die out here for this recklessness. Evie glanced over at the sword on the ground and didn’t move to pick it up. Instead she stayed on her knees, silently daring whatever was out there to come for her. Just when she thought it had decided she’d be the only one left to live, a greyish blur rushed her from the darkness, and she was gone.
Chapter Twenty-One
Any exhaustion Cas had felt on the way to wave one’s camp had been replaced by concern as soon as they’d arrived. But now, ten kilometers back out from the camp where there was nothing but endless jungle, his fatigue had crept back into his muscles, reminding him how far they’d traveled in only a few hours. If they ever got back to Tempest he was going to need a few days in the cryo chamber because all his muscles were going to be too sore to move.
They’d decided to move as silently as they could not to attract whatever had attacked the camp, but Cas couldn’t understand what had happened. No bodies, only a sign of struggle and some blood. And no Box. Not even a trace of him, which was the oddest part. Box might be a loudmouth, but he wasn’t a coward. If the camp had come under attack he would have been the first to help defend it. And perhaps the first to be taken away or disabled? Cas wasn’t particularly sure he wanted to know what could take down a robot originally built for combat.
“Hey,” Jann whispered, coming up beside him. “How much further?”
“Another three or four kilos.” He looked to the sky, stuck in perpetual twilight. “I’d like to say we’d be there by nightfall, but it seems like we have nothing but time here.”
Ecks came running up beside them. “There’s something out there,” he said.
Cas stopped the line. “What?”
“Something, out in the woods. I heard it. Not far behind us.”
“Are you sure?” Jann peered around the rest of them, as did Cas, seeing nothing. Though anything beyond their current position was difficult to see in the low light and their portable lights only did so much.
“I swear it,” he replied. He already had his weapon out and pointed behind them. Stillwater and Tileah exchanged glances. If there was something out there, he wasn’t going to be caught off guard.
“Fan out,” Cas said. “Take up defensive positions. Do not fire until you see the targets.” Cas pulled out his boomcannon, switching it over to the projectile setting. He had no idea if pulse weapons would hurt whatever was out there, but based on what he’d seen at the camp, it hadn’t been enough for wave one to stop them.
They each took position behind a group of nearby trees, all five of them with their weapons at the ready. Cas stayed in the center with Jann and Stillwater on his right, Tileah and Ecks on his left.
From somewhere behind them the rustle of brush and leaves crinkled as something moved through the jungle. What little ambient sound had been around them fell silent, except for a croak from a nearby amphibious creature.
The rustle grew louder, as if whatever was on their trail was slow, but determined. Ecks had been right, and from the amount of noise coming from that direction Cas was surprised any of them could have missed it for very long. Whatever was approaching was big, determined, and relentless. As if it knew they’d stopped, the sounds grew louder and more frenzied as whatever it was rushed to meet them, perhaps afraid they’d evaded it somehow. Cas realized he was looking right at it before he even saw the creature. Even though it moved it had blended into the surrounding environment so well he hadn’t realized it wasn’t a shadow or a large bush.
And as it poked its snout out Cas heard Jann swear under her breath. The creature was huge, lumbering toward them on all fours, and it had to be two meters tall, with long, muscular legs covered in a deep brown fur. Based on its size Cas estimated it weighed anywhere between three and five hundred kilograms. Its muzzle was pointy with a black nose on the end, and huge teeth when it opened its mouth as it sniffed, and its two black eyes bore no reflection of what little light remained. Its back coat was jet-black with a range of green and brown patterned in to help it disappear among the trees, and on its four feet were claws as long as Cas’s hand. If they’d been on Earth he would have called it a bear, but this was like a bear’s great-great granddaddy.
It sniffed the air again and reared up on its back legs, trying to catch their scent. It had to be three, maybe three and a half meters tall standing and it was all Cas could do to gape at it from around the tree. The bear caught the scent of something and fell back down to all fours, approaching Jann’s tree. Cas looked over and she’d gone completely stiff. As much as he didn’t want to, they would have to take down the bear, especially if it had been the cause of wave one’s disappearance. The claws on this creature certainly could have made the marks on the shuttles back at the camp.
Cas caught the eyes of the rest of his team and gave the signal to fire at will.
Ecks dropped out of cover onto one knee, and shot the bear directly in the face. It grimaced but didn’t seem injured as it turned toward Ecks and ran toward him, faster than Cas would have thought possible for such a large animal. The rest of them opened fire as the animal charged Ecks, who swung back into cover, though it ended up not mattering.
The bear charged into the tree he’d hidden behind, snapping it in half like it was nothing and grabbing Ecks with his huge jaws, whipping him back and forth as the rest of them peppered him with their weapons. The pulse rifles seemed to do little to the massive creature, but Cas could see where his projectile setting was making dents in the bear’s fur. They may not be penetrating the skin, but he could feel them hitting him, it just wasn’t enough.
After a few shakes, Ecks was dead and the bear dropped him, turning back to the source of his annoyance.
“Shit,” Jann said, and took off running.
“No!” Cas replied, “Don’t run!”
The bear barreled past all of them, despite the gunfire; its primary objective was Jann. It was so large and so fast Cas couldn’t see how she could hope to outrun it, but that probably wasn’t why she ran. She hadn’t been thinking clearly.
As she turned to see the bear right on top of her with its jaws wide open Cas almost couldn’t watch. His weapon was having little to no effect, especially not on a predator full of adrenaline while it chased prey. There had to be something else he could do.
Something shiny and gray came charging out of the jungle, slamming into the side of the bear and sending it reeling sideways as its body smashed through trees, cutting them right in half.
“Box?” Cas asked, looking at the robot who had seen better days. His frame was covered in claw marks and scratches and one of his eyes had gone dark.
“Took you long enough!” Box replied. “Hang on, I gotta finish this.” He dashed over to the bear where it lay, attempting to right itself after having been knocked twenty meters off the path. Jann stopped running to look back. The bear swiped at Box, but he knocked the paw away with a practiced move and in one swift motion, picked up the bear with both hands and threw it into the air. The bulbous black body of the creature made a long arc until finally it disappeared from view. Had he listened; he might have been able to hear the creature hit the ground. Box walked back over to him, dusting off his metal hands.
“Doctor, pilot, animal wrangler, I do it all. Just call me Box, renaissance man,” he said proudly.
“I thought you were dead,” Cas replied.
Box made a sound deep in his processor that sounded like an error message. “I thought you were dead. Where the hell have you been? We’ve been waiting on you forever.”
“We?” Cas asked. Jann and the others joined him, their weapons still out.
“Yeah, we.” Laura stepped out from the woods. She was followed by a couple dozen others including Rafnkell. The crew of wave one.
Cas approached her, trying to keep the confusion off his face. Her hair was much longer than it had been only a few hours ago and he noticed a few of the other male crew members had beards when they’d been clean-shaven upon leaving the ship. “What happened?” Cas asked.
“We should ask you the same thing,” Laura replied. In one hand she held her pulse pistol; it had seen some wear and tear, as part of the casing was missing and it was dented and scratched. In her other she held a long stick that had been stained with paint and was sharpened to a point.
“I don’t understand,” Cas said. “We were ahead of schedule. We lost contact with you in the upper atmosphere and the captain ordered wave two down. But we lost power as soon as we broke through the atmosphere. If it hadn’t been for the spacewings we all would have crashed.”
“The same thing happened to us,” Box replied. Getting a good look at Box, Cas noticed repairs that hadn’t been there when he’d left Tempest. Someone had hammered a piece of his lower casing back into place with a crude tool.
“Why?” Laura demanded. There was an edge to her voice Cas had never heard before. A no-nonsense brashness that he’d only ever seen hints of in her before.
“Why what?”
“Why did you wait so long before coming down?” she said, slamming the stick into the ground. Her eyes burned with intensity.
“We didn’t,” Cas said. “We waited maybe an hour. Two at most. Ev—the captain was in a hurry to find out what happened to you and our probes weren’t working.”
“Sorry, boss, that just doesn’t track,” Box said.
“Why not?”
“Because, we’ve been down here for a full season. Today is day seventy-four.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
When Evie awoke it took her a moment to realize where she was. Not aboard Tempest in her comfortable bed. Instead, she found herself on a hard slab, while a magnetic field held her down. She thought she was back in sickbay with a restraining field binding her, but in the few milliseconds it took her to reach full consciousness she dismissed that possibility. She was somewhere she’d never seen or been before.
