Allegiance

TWENTY-EIGHT

The assault rifle jammed again when Les tried to fire at a Siren. Cursing, he worked to free the round as more beasts closed in from the sky, buildings, and road.

The predators were drawn to Discovery’s nuclear-powered engines and the noise of the battle raging inside the tunnel.

“Timothy, don’t let up!” Les said over the comms.

The twenty-millimeter Miniguns on the bottom of the airship raked the sky with tracer rounds, catching the beasts as they swooped down for the fresh meat.

There was plenty of it to be had. Team Raptor had evacuated over thirty survivors from outside the bunker. From their frightened faces, most of these people had never been aboveground. A few, however, pitched in to help carry Arlo and Edgar. Both divers were conscious and had their armor back on, but neither was in any condition to fight.

Once they made it out of the tunnels, they had decided to make their stand above the sinkhole. For the past half hour, Les and the uninjured divers had held their ground and waited for an opportunity to board the ship hovering five hundred feet above them.

But they were running low on ammo, and the time for getting these people into the air was running out. Timothy couldn’t bring the ship down without first clearing the landing zone. The sheer numbers of hostiles meant that many of the injured would never make it aboard if they made a run for it, even with help from the others. And the people from the bunker weren’t wearing much protection aside from the gray jumpsuits and plastic filtration masks.

“Sir, we’ve got a mass of hostiles heading your way from the south,” Timothy reported.

“Fire the missiles!” Les yelled back. Giving up trying to free the jammed round, he let the rifle hang over his chest and pulled his pistol to fire at a Siren making a run at them. Three rounds took it down, and it skidded into a mass of vines.

A missile streaked away from the airship, and a loud boom rocked the next block. Following the noise came the alien shrieks of dying Sirens, and the cries from more of their comrades flocking toward the area.

Les went back to working the jammed round free as he scanned for Horn and his skinwalkers. The fiends were still out there, probably watching and waiting to make their move.

But they weren’t the only monsters to worry about. The roar of a bone beast cut through the thunder and the chatter of automatic gunfire.

Les finally managed to free the round and aimed at a Siren swooping toward the airship. He fired a burst into its spine, sending the beast spiraling to earth.

“Changing!” Rodger shouted.

“Down to my last magazine!” Sofia yelled.

Michael shot a gliding Siren with a bolt to the chest, and it augered into the earth.

A burst of automatic fire cracked next to Les as Rodger started on his fresh magazine.

The city sounded like a war zone.

The silhouetted figures of more Sirens emerged on buildings fronting the roads. Others swooped in from the sky. The twenty-millimeter rounds from the turrets on the airship cut them to pieces, but ever more of them came on, like sharks to a bleeding carcass.

Les knew they couldn’t wait any longer to get to the ship.

“We have to make a run for it!” he yelled.

Michael waved the group forward and set off on point, firing his laser rifle to clear a path.

“Timothy, bring Discovery down,” Les ordered. “And open the launch bay when you’re about to touch down.”

“Copy that, sir,” replied the AI.

The airship began to lower, the wash from the turbofans blasting down onto the street. Les fired three-round bursts at the beasts climbing over the piles of rubble.

A pack of twenty had already reached the landing zone. They bounded over the carcasses littering the broken asphalt.

“Take them down!” Les yelled.

Bullets and laser bolts brought down more and more of the beasts. But each time one fell, another took its place, black maw open, jagged teeth dripping ropes of saliva. The ravenous creatures seemed crazed for a chance at food.

Muzzle flashes lit up the sky under the lowering airship. Tracer rounds, looking like mini laser bolts, sprayed outward as Timothy worked both Miniguns, blowing apart the mass of the Sirens.

That did the trick. The beasts scattered in all directions, some of them bolting, others limping on the ground, dragging mangled wings.

The launch-bay doors parted, and a platform extended downward. The turbofans clicked off, and the ship’s landing feet crunched against the ground.

“run!” Les yelled.

He turned and waved, his heart racing at the sight of Sirens flanking them from the sky across the sinkhole. Others came pelting down from the ruined buildings, and now that the ship was grounded, the Miniguns couldn’t fire on any of them.

“Mags, Sofia, get these people to safety!” Les yelled. “Michael, Rodger, on me! We have to hold those Sirens back!”

The three men formed a line, laying down covering fire while the rest of the group made a run for the launch bay with the injured. Gunfire cracked in that direction as Sofia and Magnolia took down any beasts foolhardy enough to try picking off a human.

“I’m out,” Rodger said, drawing his handgun.

“Sir, I can’t get a shot with the Miniguns,” said Timothy, “but Alfred has rearmed Cricket with grenades.”

Les looked over his shoulder as the drone flew out of the launch bay, its arms extended with the blaster and grenade-launcher attachments.

“Instruct Cricket to fire at the flanking Sirens,” Les said.

“Aye, aye, sir,” Timothy replied.

As the drone joined Les and team, the fired grenades detonated around the sinkhole, collapsing the edge and burying many of the beasts on the ground.

More grenades hit the crushed building on the right side of the road, ripping apart the Sirens streaming over the pile.

Les and the other divers, meanwhile, concentrated their fire on the creatures coming in by air. Together, with Cricket’s help, they held back the horde while the last civilians loaded into the launch bay.

“Captain, we’re in!” Magnolia said over the comms. “Get back here!”

Les checked his six and then tapped Michael on the shoulder.

“Rodge, let’s go!” Les said.

The men ran and Cricket followed, still launching grenades to cover them. The ground rumbled from the impacts, and the air filled with the cries of wounded and dying Sirens.

They were halfway to the launch bay when something burst out of a shop entrance on the right side of the road. The thing shook dust and concrete from its massive frame of muscles and bony armor.

“Bone beast!” Michael yelled.

The hulking mutant stormed out onto the sidewalk. A black-taloned hand ripped a steel signpost from the ground. Holding it like a spear, the beast hurled it through the air.

The projectile hit Cricket, breaking off the arm with the blaster and knocking the drone off-kilter. Sparks rained from the machine’s broken limb. A flurry of chirps followed as the robot tried to stay airborne.

The divers opened fire on the bone beast, but the bullets did nothing against its bony armor and only pecked away at the muscular flesh. It held up a wrist to protect its eyes from Michael’s laser bolts.

“Come on!” Magnolia shouted, waving from the launch bay. Alfred and the militia soldiers joined her, firing rifles at the monster.

The flurry of bullets drew its attention, and it pulled a bone dart from over its shoulder. It hurled the missile at the open launch bay, hitting a militia soldier and knocking him backward.

“Over here!” Les shouted, waving.

Michael fired a flurry of bolts that hit the beast in the shoulder, breaking away armor and burning through flesh. When he pulled the trigger again, the gun sizzled.

“It’s overheated!” he yelled.

“Get to the launch bay!” Les shouted.

“No way!” Michael said.

Rodger took off running, leaving them both alone.

But they weren’t alone.

Cricket moved overhead and launched a grenade at the storefront. The explosion blew out the overhang and dumped debris over the monster, pinning it to the sidewalk.

Les jammed the last magazine into his rifle and ran over to the struggling beast. Michael joined him, still waiting for his gun to cool.

The creature swiped at them as they approached. Michael distracted it, giving Les an opportunity to move in from the other side. He jammed the barrel of his machine gun against an eye and fired a burst.

The rounds punched through the brain, and the creature went limp.

“Watch out!” Michael shouted.

Raising the handgun X had given him, he fired at the top of the ruined building. Les moved back, but too late to avoid the Siren that jumped down. The creature landed on him, crushing him to the ground.

He tried to move but couldn’t, and wondered whether his back was broken. Maybe that was why he couldn’t feel claws ripping into his flesh. Blinking, he saw blood trickling from a hole in the thick skull. Les tried to get out from under the limp carcass, but the big dead son of a bitch had him pinned.

A robotic hand grabbed his shoulder armor and hauled him out from under the beast. “You okay?” Michael asked.

Les wobbled. His limbs felt like jelly. He put an arm around the commander, and Magnolia ran over to help the three divers get back to the launch bay. Cricket covered their six and then joined them going up the ramp. Once inside, Michael hit the button to retract the platform.

Les collapsed on the deck, and Michael bent over, hands on his knees, panting like Miles. The doors began to close behind them as the ship rose off the ground. Before they shut, Les spotted what Magnolia was pointing at. A herd of perhaps twenty bone beasts ran down the street below, tearing into the Sirens and letting out their monstrous roars.

The airship thumped as winged Sirens crashed into the hull.

“Get us out of here, Timothy!” Les shouted.

The turbofans lifted them higher into the air as the legs retracted. More thumps sounded against the starboard and port sides as Sirens latched on.

Les knew they weren’t safe yet. He pushed himself up and, with Michael’s help, stood.

The ship shook again, knocking both divers back to the deck.

“Everyone, hold on,” Timothy said over the public address system. “We’re leaving this monster-infested hellhole.”

The ship continued to ascend, but the thumps from Sirens banging on the hull only grew louder and more frequent.

Les got up on his knees and looked at the new faces in the launch bay. The thirty-odd people from the bunker were all looking at him and Michael. The kids were wailing; the adults just stared. Several had taken off their plastic masks, revealing shocked and mystified faces.

A crack sounded across the launch bay as a Siren slammed its clawed fist against one of the portholes. Another beast head-butted the glass over and over until it cracked in a bloody halo.

“Faster, Timothy!” Les yelled.

“Activating thrusters,” replied the AI.

The ship jumped forward, rattling the launch bay. Les tried to keep his balance, but the acceleration shoved him back down to the deck.

Screams rang out around him.

“Everyone, hang on!” Magnolia yelled.

The ship climbed, the nose spearing through the clouds. A Siren’s eyeless face filled a porthole, slamming against it before being ripped away into the darkness.

Discovery gained altitude and speed, and one by one, the Sirens outside were peeled off the hull.

“Almost clear,” Timothy reported.

Lightning flashed outside the portholes, capturing a single Siren still holding onto the hull. Its black hole of a mouth opened, smearing spittle across the window, where it froze.

And then it was gone, torn away into the sky.

“All clear,” Timothy said.

Les heaved a sigh of relief. “Timothy, see if you can find the Sea Wolf. I’m not going home without her and the two men who might still be alive down there.”

“Roger that, Captain,” replied the AI.

Michael clapped Les on the back. “Thanks, Captain,” he said. “Thanks for coming down here after us.”

“Thanks for saving my ass,” Les said. He almost smiled, but that somehow felt like disrespect toward all who had died on this journey.

But they had succeeded in part of their mission, anyway.

Les checked on the people from the bunker. They were safe now, and soon they would see sunshine, but they were busy enough trying to wrap their minds around the inconceivable present. Most of them appeared to be in shock. The medical team and technicians fanned out to check them for injuries.

Alfred had already put a blanket over the militia soldier killed by the bone beast. The bone spear lay on the deck beside him, its sharp end covered in blood. Les said a silent prayer for the man and moved over to help the living.

The doors to the passage outside the launch bay opened, and Layla ran inside. Michael slung his laser rifle and ran over to meet her. They embraced in the center of the room.

“Timothy, I need you to translate for me in the launch bay,” Les said. He took his helmet off and stood in front of the survivors huddled on the floor.

Timothy’s hologram emerged, offering a warm smile.

Les pointed at his own armored chest and said, “My name is Captain Les Mitchells.” Then to Timothy, he said, “Tell them this airship is called Discovery, and it is taking them to their new home.”

Michael pulled away from Layla and walked over, holding her hand. He smiled wider than Les had ever seen him smile.

“Do you want to say something?” Les asked.

Michael nodded. “Timothy, ask them if they are ready to see the sun.”

X awoke on a boat thumping over the waves. Ton, Victor, and Lieutenant Sloan were with him, all of them wearing the same worried look. Another militia soldier piloted the boat toward the capitol rig.

Sloan looked down and said something, but X couldn’t hear her over the motor. He tried to remember why his body was covered in blood. The sight of an arrow sticking out of his upper chest brought back a flood of memories from the Purple Pearl.

They came crashing over him like waves. He recalled the ambush and the brutal fight that followed. And then he remembered how it ended, with Rhino dying in his arms after promising to watch over him always.

A platoon of militia soldiers had stormed into the Purple Pearl not long after Rhino took his last breath. The gunshots had also attracted Colonel Forge and a small army of Cazadores.

What happened after that was fuzzy in his mind. He vaguely remembered Sloan, Ton, and Victor carrying him through a back alley, where his memories ended.

“What happened to Mac and Felipe?” X said.

Fear stabbed his heart, questions swarming his mind. Had the militia soldiers engaged the Cazadores? Had he just started the war he was trying so hard to prevent?

He tried to sit up, but Sloan pushed him back to the deck and said something that he couldn’t hear. Ton and Victor both tightened their grip on his legs and arms to keep him down.

“No, move, King,” Victor said. “Please.”

Looking up at the blue sky, X tried to calm his thumping heart. He could hardly see out of one eye, and he was pretty sure he had a broken rib. And, of course, there were the stab wounds and the arrows.

Sloan pulled out her radio and brought it to her mouth. X tried to listen and managed to make out a few things. Something about Captain Mitchells and Discovery.

X sat up and grunted. “Tell me what the hell is going on, damn it.”

Sloan, Ton, and Victor looked down at him with varying expressions of disbelief.

“Samson is in contact with Captain Mitchells,” Sloan said. “That’s all I know.”

“What about Mac and Felipe and the militia?”

Sloan pointed to the back of the boat. X twisted, wincing in pain, and saw the two men sitting in the back, getting patched up by two militia soldiers.

“And Colonel Forge?” X asked. He was hoping the scene of death in the Purple Pearl would look like what it was: a power struggle between Rhino and Vargas. He was also hoping Rhino’s sacrifice would help bury the hatchet between the sky people and the Cazadores, especially now that Colonel Vargas and General Santiago were dead.

Though he had been too thick to realize it until now, it at last dawned on X that Rhino had been trying to do just that—and had paid the ultimate price making it happen.

Sloan brought her radio back up, this time talking to Sergeant Wynn. Her voice trailed off, or maybe X just couldn’t hear her. He grimaced from a fresh wave of pain.

“Wynn has the situation under control,” Sloan finally said. “There’s been no further fighting.”

The news filled X with energy, and he sat up straighter, the lapse in pain allowing him to focus his mind. The boat glided through the open door of the marina under the capitol tower.

A group of people waited on the pier inside.

Dr. Huff was among them. He climbed into the boat, carrying a bag. For a moment, he simply looked at X.

“What the heck happened to you, Xavier?” he finally asked.

“He made a mess, that’s what,” Sloan said.

“I need to get up to the command center and talk to Captain Mitchells,” X said.

“Sir, all due respect, but you need to get to the medical ward, pronto,” Huff said. “You have arrows in your chest and arm!”

X looked down again at his wounds. Bandages covered most of them, but the arrows were still in his flesh.

A memory of Rhino being stabbed over and over flashed across his mind. Gritting his teeth, X grabbed the end of the arrow and broke off all but the first four or five inches protruding from his right arm.

“I’ll be fine,” he growled. “Now, help me up.”

Huff looked at him in awe. “Sir, you need—”

“Take care of Felipe and Mac, and then hide them,” X said. He looked over at Sloan. “Let’s go, Lieutenant.”

Ton and Victor helped X to his feet and off the boat. They followed Sloan to the internal door, where she hesitated.

“Better take the cage,” she said. “No way you can get up those stairs and still be alive at the top.”

X didn’t argue.

Sloan still didn’t move. “King Xavier, I beg you to listen to the doctor,” she said. “You’re hurt really bad and should get—”

“I need to get to the radio in the command center,” he said as firmly as his weakened condition would allow.

Sloan finally nodded at Ton and Victor, and they all set off for the door that led to the outer pier. From there, they took the elevator cage.

The beautiful view of teal water and purple sunset did little to relieve the anguish overwhelming X. He had been hurt worse than this before, but losing Rhino cut as deep as anything he had ever known.

Sloan spoke to Wynn over the radio again—a welcome distraction from the dreadful thoughts plaguing him.

“Sergeant Wynn said Colonel Forge has left the Purple Pearl,” Sloan said. “Our team is cleaning up the bodies now and will have Rhino sent to the capitol rig.”

Suddenly light-headed, X leaned against the cage. She reached out to help him.

“I’m okay,” he lied.

The cage clanked to the top level, and she opened the gate. From there, they took several flights of stairs up to the command center, stopping twice for X to catch his breath. Victor and Ton practically carried him up the last flight.

“Sorry,” Victor said when X cried out in pain.

He was hurt bad, all right, and would need surgery to remove the arrows. But it was nothing he hadn’t experienced before. It just meant more scars and more stories.

This one was a tale he wanted to forget, though. Seeing Rhino beaten and stabbed like a Siren was too much to bear. A tear welled in his eye as Ton and Victor helped him off the top landing.

Sloan opened the door to the room, letting Miles out. The dog rushed over, barking and then brushing against X.

Samson rose from the radio equipment to stare.

“Rads and lightning, man!” said the engineer. “You look like you just fought an army.”

Miles whined and licked X’s hand.

“It’s okay, boy,” X said, giving the dog a feeble scratch behind the ears.

“Did he fight an army?” Samson asked Sloan.

“Yeah, pretty much,” she replied.

X staggered into the room and waved Ton and Victor off. They stepped back, and he fell against the table. Both men reached out to help, along with Sloan, but X waved them all back.

“I’m fine,” he said.

Even the dog wasn’t buying it, and he let out a low whine. X sat on the chair in front of the radio equipment, and Miles came to sit beside him. X reached out for the receiver, and Samson handed it to him.

“Captain Mitchells, do you copy?” X said.

Static crackled; then a voice came on.

“King Xavier, I copy,” Les said.

“What’s your status?” X asked.

“Sir, I’m not sure what Samson has told you,” said the captain, “but we’re on our way back with thirty-one survivors from the bunker. We’ve sustained some major losses rescuing them.”

X steeled himself and listened to Les rattle off the losses of Cazadores, a militia soldier, and Alexander, plus all the equipment and Star Grazer itself. The captain went on to list the injured, including Edgar and Arlo.

Overall, the mission had been a success, though at a steep cost, especially for the Cazadores. But at least they had two survivors to tell the tale to their comrades when they returned home.

“We retrieved the Sea Wolf with two of General Santiago’s men,” Les said. “The surf had taken them out to sea, which saved them from the skinwalkers.”

“Where are the skinwalkers now?” X asked.

“Licking their wounds, but I have a feeling Horn will come for the throne once he recovers. Sofia overheard him saying that was his plan.”

“Let him come,” X said.

“There’s something else,” Les said.

X winced from a rush of pain and blinked away the dots in his vision.

“Timothy has been talking to the survivors we rescued,” Les said. “They know more about the defectors than we do.”

Static broke over the speakers, blocking the rest of the transmission.

“Les, come again,” X groaned.

The channel cleared, and Les came back online.

“I said these people know more about the defectors than we do,” he said, “and they claim to know how to shut them down.”

X’s shaking hand lowered the handset. He took a moment to think. Raising it back to his mouth felt like lifting a fifty-pound anchor.

“Is Tin there?” X asked.

“Yes, right here. Hold on.”

“X?” said a voice.

“Hey, kid, good to hear you.”

“You don’t sound so good,” Michael said.

“I’ve got a few more scars, but I’ll be fine.” He wanted to talk about Rhino, but couldn’t find the words to describe what had happened. “General Rhino didn’t make it.”

White noise filled the room.

“Michael,” X said.

“Yeah. Holy shit, X. What happened?”

“We averted a war.” X couldn’t say much more over the radio, and Michael must have sensed that.

“But there’s another war coming, kid,” X said. “A different kind of war that’s going to require Hell Divers.”

“We dive so humanity survives, always,” Michael said. “It’s what we do.”

The door to the command center opened, and Dr. Huff entered. X turned back to the radio, stars bursting across his vision like little bombs going off.

Samson bent down to grab the receiver. “I’ve got it, X,” he said.

“I got to go, Tin,” X managed to say. “I love you, Michael.”

“I love you, too, Xavier.”

Sloan and Huff helped X out of the chair while Samson sat back down at the radio equipment. Ton and Victor clasped forearms and carefully picked X up under his legs to carry him, and he finally let his body weight go while his burdened mind grappled with the future.

In a few short months, Layla and Michael would welcome Bray to the Vanguard Islands. There was a lot to do between now and then.

Rhino had given his life to help pave the way for peace. But more threats were closing in on their new home, and before X could face them, he had to rest and heal. He would need his strength more than ever for this next fight.