The Heirs of Earth

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

The shrieks filled the ductwork.

Rowan winced.

"Exterminators," she whispered. "And big ones."

Bay stiffened. "Muck." He reached for his belt and drew his pistol. "I hate those guys."

He had dealt with exterminators before. Most humans had. Bay had learned not to spend more than a few days at any one place. Sooner or later, somebody called the local exterminators to remove the pest. Some exterminators were woefully inadequate, guys who had never caught anything more dangerous than a cold. Others were seasoned mercenaries who wore human ears as trophies around their necks.

As another shriek filled the ducts, Bay had the sinking feeling they were dealing with the second type now.

The ducts shook. A mad clattering rose. Something was moving through the ducts. Fast.

"Hurry, we can make it to my starship!" Bay said, about to crawl back the way he had come.

"No!" Rowan said. "They're coming from there. I can tell. This way, hurry!"

They began to crawl through the duct. Rowan moved at incredible speed, scuttling forward like a badger. Her dragonfly flew above her, skimming the duct's ceiling.

"Hurry!" she said over her shoulder.

"I'm trying!" Bay said, dragging himself forward.

He managed to rise to hands and knees, but his head and shoulders kept banging against the ducts' steel walls. Every few meters, they passed over a vent, and he glimpsed the various seedy establishments below. A few patrons in brothels and bars raised their eyes, roused by the clatter, and grumbled about pests in the walls.

The ducts rattled. The shrieks drew closer. Clattering echoed like many pounding feet. A stench hit Bay's nostrils, a sickening mixture of burnt marrow and worms after rain.

"They're in the ducts and moving fast," Rowan said, crawling ahead. She kept having to pause and wait for Bay to catch him. "Come on, Bay, hurry!"

"Where are we going?" he said.

"I know another way to the hangar." She looked over her shoulder at him. "Hurry, they're—"

She screamed and pointed.

Bay looked behind him and felt the blood drain from his face.

By Ra.

A creature was racing toward them through the duct.

Nausea rose in Bay's stomach. Cold sweat washed him.

"They hired Ra damn bonecrawlers," he said. "I hate bonecrawlers."

The alien had a body like a python, thick enough to digest a man whole. Its skin was rubbery, pinkish, and marred with moles, liver spots, and thin hairs. That skin was sickeningly human. The ribs were clearly visible, hundreds of them stretching down the serpentine body, pushing against the skin. The alien moved by contracting and expanding those ribs like an accordion.

Its skull too was disturbingly human, draped with skin. There seemed to be no fat, no muscle, just skin and bone. The teeth were long and sharp, and while the tight skin revealed wide eye sockets, the eyes themselves were vestigial, mere splotches on the skin, almost certainly blind. The creature reached out arms tipped with claws like daggers, and it shrieked again, a cry that shook the ducts and nearly deafened Bay.

They use sonar, he realized. They're blind but—

Rowan grabbed him.

"Come on!"

He crawled after her, moving as fast as he could. Too slow! The bonecrawler followed, screeching, reaching out to him. A claw slashed Bay's boot, tearing the sole. Bay cried out and kicked. He hit the creature's face, ripped the skin, and teeth snapped at him. Bay flipped onto his back, aimed his pistol, and fired.

Ringing filled his ears, flowing over all other sounds.

His ears thrummed and ached, and white blood sprayed.

The creature howled, a hole in its head, but still lived. It reached out a claw, and—

Rowan scurried over Bay and stabbed with her knife, shouting. Her blade found one of the bonecrawler's vestigial eyes, puncturing the skin that stretched over the eye socket like leather over a drum.

The creature roared. Rowan kept stabbing, and Bay winced and fired again, hitting its body. The bullet glanced off a rib, hit a joint in the ducts, and a section of duct tore open.

The bonecrawler's lower body fell through the duct and dangled over a casino. Aliens below screamed. The bonecrawler's upper half was still in the duct, and it clawed at the steel walls for purchase. Bay fired again. Again. Finally the creature fell into the casino, shattering a card table. Poker chips scattered and gamblers opened fire, riddling the bonecrawler corpse with bullets.

But beyond the hole in the duct, Bay saw more bonecrawlers scuttling forward, screaming and snapping their jaws.

"Rowan, are you all right? You're bleeding!"

"I'm fine. Hurry! This hole won't stop them."

They kept fleeing. They made their way around a bend and began crawling up a sloping duct, only to see another bonecrawler racing toward them. They spun around. Now Bay crawled at the lead. He reached a fork in the ducts, saw a bonecrawler down one path, and took the other route. He crawled madly, banging his elbows and knees, ignoring the pain. Several bonecrawlers converged behind them, moving fast.

"How far are we to the hangar?" he cried.

"Almost there!" Rowan said, "Hurry, that way!"

A long passageway stretched before them. They crawled. Three bonecrawlers chased, howling, rattling the ducts. A path opened up to their left, and a fourth bonecrawler emerged. Its claws grabbed Bay's arm. He fired. His bullet slammed into the bonecrawler's face, shattering teeth. Rowan screamed, knifing a bonecrawler that dropped from a vent above. Even Fillister was fighting, buzzing around a bonecrawler to distract it, then dipping down to sting it with his tail.

"This way!" Rowan cried, racing along a duct, leaving a trail of blood. Bay followed. A bonecrawler grabbed his foot, ripping off his boot. He kicked again and again, breaking the creature's teeth. A claw scraped his leg, and he fired his last bullet, knocking the beast back. But more bonecrawlers were everywhere. He could see more scampering up a shaft.

"In here!" Rowan said, and Bay followed her through a narrow opening into a wider shaft. A lever rose here, and Rowan tugged it, grunting with effort. A bonecrawler scuttled toward them, only instants away.

"Help me!" Rowan said.

Bay grabbed the lever too. They pulled together, and a metal hatch moved on rusty hinges, blocking the duct.

The bonecrawler slammed into the steel sheet, denting it. Bay pushed against the metal, trying to hold the beast back.

Rowan slumped down, panting. "These levers are used to direct airflow through the system. There are a few more we can use." She grabbed the lever, pushed her feet against a wall, and snapped it off. "Locked."

Bay pointed at her bleeding leg. "You need help."

"No time." Rowan shuddered. "I've never seen these creatures here before. They're not like the usual exterminators. The usual guys are fat and lazy and no problem to escape. Belowgen means business this time."

Bay blinked. "It's my fault. It's because I'm here, it's—"

More shrieks sounded, interrupting him. The metal hatch rattled. It seemed far too thin to last very long.

Rowan grabbed his hand. "Come. We're almost at the hangar."

They kept crawling. Bay dared to hope they were safe now. But soon more shrieks sounded above. The ducts rattled. More bonecrawlers were entering the ductwork from vents above.

"Damn it!" Bay said. "There must be hundreds of those things here."

Speakers crackled to life.

A gravelly voice emerged.

"Hello, pests! Do you like your new friends?"

Bay gritted his teeth. He recognized that voice. "Belowgen."

"You cannot stop them, pests!" Belowgen said, voice emerging from speakers across the space station. "They are hungry. They will devour your flesh, then build nests for their young from your bones. Farewell, humans."

Bay grumbled. "I will not rest—I swear this—until I turn that Belowgen into crab cakes."

Rowan tugged him. "No time for trash talk. Hurry, this way. I have a plan."

She led him down a narrow, sloping duct. Heat rose from below. Sweat coated Bay, and engines rumbled. They seemed to be heading toward the furnace room. From above came the clatters and shrieks of bonecrawlers. Whenever they passed by a lever, they tugged it, sealing off the duct behind them. But the metal sheets didn't hold the exterminators for long. Their claws ripped through the hatches, and the beasts kept following, closer every moment.

Finally Bay and Rowan reached a narrow, rickety duct. It jangled and swayed as they crawled. This duct was not embedded inside a wall. It hung from a ceiling. Only a few screws held it in place. Through cracks at the joints, Bay could see the room below. He made out rumbling pistons, smoke, and fire. Heat bathed him. The furnaces of Paradise Lost were churning below.

"Bay, come on!" Rowan was crawling ahead.

Bay grimaced. The thin steel was creaking and bending. Rowan was tiny. Bay wasn't tall and burly like his father, but he was still much bigger than Rowan. Would this duct support his weight?

Howls sounded behind him. He turned to see the bonecrawlers chasing. He crawled onward, following Rowan. Heat rose through cracks in the ducts. The metal was so hot it seared his hands. Sweat dripped from his hair.

Finally Rowan reached the end of the duct. A chimney rose there, connected to the duct. Rowan crawled into the chimney, and Bay joined her. They clung to the walls, squeezed in like Santa Claus and an elf. Instead of climbing, they wriggled around to face the duct they had just crawled along.

Above them, the chimney rose toward distant shadows. Below them, the furnace rumbled and blasted up heat and smoke. Before them stretched the rickety duct. It was hanging loosely over the furnace room, cracked and dented.

From her spot inside the chimney, Rowan reached back into the duct. She grabbed a heavy screw that was attaching the duct to the ceiling.

"As soon as the bonecrawlers step into that duct, I'll tug," she said. "They'll plunge into the furnace below. Just like Gollum into Mount Doom."

Bay nodded. "Got ya. I think. Not the last part."

Even bloodied and sweaty and trembling, Rowan managed to smile. "I've got a lot of work to do with you." She gasped. "Here they come!"

The bonecrawlers appeared at the opposite side of the rickety duct.

They paused.

The creatures stared. They stood frozen. The dilapidated duct stretched between the humans and bonecrawlers. The furnace belched below, blasting up flames that licked the duct.

"Come on," Bay muttered. "Come on!" His voice rose. "Come on, assholes! We're here! Come on!"

A bonecrawler took a step into the duct, then pulled back. The creatures hissed.

"Come get us!" Rowan said. "We're trapped!"

The creatures only stared. Rowan and Bay huddled together, waiting.

Come on, come on . . .

The bonecrawlers began to retreat.

"Damn it, they sensed the trap," Bay said.

Rowan gasped. "They'll find another way to us!"

Bay narrowed his eyes. "No they won't. Get ready to tug that screw." He crawled back onto the duct, pounded the steel wall, and shouted. "Hey, assholes! Running away from humans, are you?"

"Bay, careful!" Rowan cried behind him.

But Bay kept crawling, banging against the steel walls, raising a racket. The duct creaked. The joints bent. Through cracks, he saw the furnace swirling with molten metal, a god of fire.

"Hey, you stinking aliens!" Bay shouted, crawling farther along the duct. With every breath, the duct creaked and bent. "You losers! Come get me. I'm just a pest, right? Come fight me, cowards!"

The bonecrawlers turned back toward him. The taunts were working. The beasts roared and raced into the duct, charging toward him.

Bay spun around, banging his elbows and hips against the duct, and raced back toward Rowan.

"The screw!" he cried. "Pull it! Now!"

Rowan sat in the chimney across the duct. She stared at him, eyes wide.

"You're too far!" she said.

The bonecrawlers scurried behind him. Their claws reached out, grazing his ankle, tearing his calf. He kicked himself free and kept crawling toward Rowan.

"Pull the screw!" he cried, still several meters away.

Rowan winced.

She pulled the screw free.

For an instant, the duct held, and Bay kept crawling.

Then the duct detached from the ceiling.

It plunged down toward the rumbling, churning furnaces.

Bay leaped from the collapsing duct, reached out his good hand, aimed for the chimney where Rowan waited . . . and missed.

He fell toward the fire.

Rowan leaned out from the chimney and grabbed his wrist.

"God, you do weigh as much as an elephant!" she cried, tugging back with all her strength.

Bay kicked, dangling over the pit of hellfire, his legs kicking.

Behind him, the bonecrawlers spilled out from the collapsing duct. They flailed and squealed. One grabbed Bay's leg, and he grimaced and kicked madly. Rowan was tugged downward, nearly falling from the chimney. Even Fillister was hoisting Bay up, pulling his shirt. Bay kicked, slamming his foot into the bonecrawler's head. The beast tore free.

The bonecrawlers fell into the furnace below. Pistons grabbed them, tearing off their skin, shattering their round bones. Fire engulfed them. Flames roared upward, and smoke filled the furnace room. The broken duct gave a final creak, then fell off the ceiling, crushing burning bonecrawlers.

"Pull me up!" Bay said, still dangling by the wrist.

"Great idea!" Rowan said, straining, pulling him with both her hands. "Why didn't I think of that?"

If she had been holding him by the bad hand, he could have swung his good arm upward the grabbed the chimney's rim. As it was, Rowan had to keep tugging until he could swing his legs into the chimney. He collapsed beside her, breathing heavily.

For a moment, they both sat in silence, catching their breath.

Finally Rowan spoke. "That . . . was . . . awesome! You almost fell into the pit like Gandalf after battling the Balrog!"

"Speak English!" he wheezed.

"You almost fell like Indiana Jones off the rope bridge into the pit of crocodiles in Temple of Doom! Which is, by the way, a far better movie than the original reviewers thought. Though the third installment is, I would argue, superior to both first and second films. Best to ignore the fourth Indiana Jones film, though, and—"

"Rowan?"

She blinked at him. "Yeah?"

"Shut up." He slumped against the chimney wall. "Just . . . let me breathe for a moment."

Rowan zipped up her mouth and tossed away the invisible key.

For a moment, Bay breathed.

Rowan unzipped her mouth. "We should really go now. There might be more. Up this chimney, we'll find a quick route to the hangar."

Bay nodded. "My starship is ready."

They climbed the chimney, moved through a network of ducts, and eventually reached a grate above them. They shoved it aside with a clatter. Covered with ash and blood, they crawled out into the hangar of Paradise Lost.

The hangar, normally bustling, was eerily silent.

The robot mechanics were gone. The slot machines were dark. Even the marshcrab clerk in his office was gone. A few starships sat here, engines shut down.

Brooklyn was there. She saw Bay and her lights turned on.

"Bay—" the starship cried, then fell silent.

Rowan made to run across the hangar, but Bay grabbed her.

"Wait," he whispered.

Rowan froze.

They stood still, staring. Bay knelt, lifted the grate, and slung his bad hand through the rods. He raised the metal grate as a shield. He was out of bullets. With his good hand, he held the lever from the ducts, wielding it as a club.

Rowan looked at him, eyes huge. "You look like Aragorn from—"

"Shush!" he said.

Rowan shushed and clutched her knife.

A shriek sounded below them. Bay looked down to see a bonecrawler climbing out from the duct. He and Rowan stepped away hurriedly, moving deeper into the hangar. Another bonecrawler emerged from a doorway. A third rose from behind the slot machines. Some crawled on the ceiling.

"It's a trap!" Rowan whispered.

"Yes, I figured that much," Bay whispered back.

"It's a catch phrase from Star—" She groaned. "I'll explain later."

They stood back to back, spinning slowly in circles. The bonecrawlers blocked every exit. The aliens raised their heads, the skulls eerily humanoid, the skin stretched tight across them. Their long bodies contracted and expanded like accordions, propelling them forward. In the open light, they were even more hideous, their skin warty and hairy, their jaws filled with sharp teeth and saliva. Bay's heart sank to see a bonecrawler inside Brooklyn. The hideous alien stared through the windshield.

Bay wished he still had bullets. He only had his metal grate and lever. Rowan stood by him, knife raised. Bay had only seen her crawling until now. She was even shorter than he had expected. At a humble five-foot-eight, Bay was not particularly tall, but Rowan didn't even reach his shoulders. She probably stood under five feet.

"Well, how do we get out of this one?" Bay said.

Rowan winced. "You don't happen to have any flamethrowers in your pockets, do you?"

"Sorry, babe, forgot them in my other pants."

The bonecrawlers moved closer, hissing and grinning, when a rumble sounded in the shadows. Deep. Loud. The aliens shrieked and scuttled back, then lowered their skull-like heads.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

A shadow stirred.

The rumble rose louder.

From behind a rusty freighter, the creature emerged.

Bay felt the blood drain from his face.

"Muck," he whispered.