Interphase (31 page)

Thomas roared in anger as his prey eluded him. Several other soldiers appeared around a corner and started to run past him. He intercepted the nearest one and clotheslined him, knocking him to the ground. The startled warrior gazed up in horror at the fury in Thomas's eyes and tried to crawl away. "No! In Siath's name, I beg you, have mercy."

The very mention of the Anrathian god sent Thomas's rage boiling over. He lifted his greatsword and skewered his foe, cutting off the soldier's fearful pleas. There would be no mercy for the wicked.

Thomas stepped over the body and searched about, but the mall was now empty of Siathrak. They had escaped him again. He pounded his fist against a wall in frustration.

A tell message from David intruded on his anger. =Everyone, the Anrathians are falling back. Meet up in the castle. We are going to end this war!=

Thomas growled and departed the shattered module. He reappeared inside the castle entryway. David and Clyde were talking together as Lucas rushed in, looking frantic. "Bro, have you seen Dad? Is he okay?"

David tried to calm his brother down. "Yeah, he's fine. We got to him just in time. He's already out of the network."

"If any of those creeps had hurt him…"

Footsteps echoed through the hall, and Thomas turned. His heart pounded as he watched Jessica stride forward, armed and garbed as Celas. Thomas shook his head. Not Jessica. Analara. David walked past him and approached her, already shaking his head. "No. Absolutely not."

"This is not your fight alone, David." Analara closed her eyes. Before David could reach her she drew an arrow from the quiver, nocked it, and fired. It whizzed toward the ceiling and nicked the chandelier overhead. A single crystal fell into Analara's waiting hand. Thomas swallowed hard, the memory of their confrontation in the forest fresh in his mind.

"How did you do that?" David asked, sounding awed.

Analara shrugged. "This body remembers how to do it. If I relax, it simply… happens. I won't stand by and watch Totarakh steal my home from me again."

"Bro, come on," Lucas exclaimed. "You have to let Annie come. She's got as much of a stake in this as we do."

Both Thomas and David turned to him. "Annie?" they asked together.

Analara raised an eyebrow at him, and Lucas shrugged. "I think I prefer my full name," she said.

Thomas sighed, his patience wearing thin. "We have no time for this. The Anrathians are getting away!"

"Not exactly, Lancelot." Clyde watched his wrist computer with a concerned frown. "They're already massing at the gateway for a new assault."

"Exactly how do
you
know that?"

Clyde looked at him with a challenging gaze. "Because I'm Clyde Verell. This is
my
world."

Thomas felt his body go cold, an icy rage building inside him. "Verell?" he repeated in a voice scarcely above a whisper. He knew that name. It had been etched in his mind at the trial ten years ago, and to hear it spoken aloud felt like a dagger sliding between his ribs. "The son of Owen and Faith Verell?"

Something in his tone made Clyde look up again, and the resemblance struck Thomas like a blow. The ice became a raging inferno. He crossed the room, pulled his arm back, and slammed his fist into Clyde's face.

Dismayed voices erupted around him, but Thomas paid them no heed. He watched Clyde stagger and clutch at his jaw. Before he could recover, Thomas grabbed him by the neck and threw him into a wall. His plated hand dug into Clyde's throat. "You are a terrorist and a criminal, just like them," he shouted.

"Thomas, stop!" An armored fist braced against his chest and forcefully shoved him away from Clyde. The hacker collapsed, gasping, and Thomas looked around at the others. David and Lucas stood in front of Clyde, and Analara was staring at him in open fear. Seeing Jessica's horrified face cut through the red haze that filled his brain, and he released a shuddering sigh.

"I'm not going anywhere with that filth!"

"What the hell is wrong with you?" David demanded.

"You knew who he was," Thomas shouted at him. "You knew and said nothing."

"Knew what? His parents were executed for causing some trouble a decade ago, but what does that have to do with him?"

Thomas snarled. "They didn't just cause trouble, they were terrorists. They were the leaders of the entire damn Non-Conformist rebellion!" He glared at Clyde. "The day before they were caught trying to destroy VERA, they set a bomb at the New Terra Power Station. The station where my parents worked. Over two hundred people died, including my family, just so they could try and knock out VERA's defenses. His parents masterminded the entire attack!"

Clyde coughed and wiped the blood from his chin. "I was twelve years old, you overgrown idiot! I didn't have anything to do with the crap my folks pulled."

"You're following in their footsteps even now. You're just like them!" Thomas started forward again, but David pushed him back.

"That is enough!" David gripped him by the shoulders. "Thomas, I didn't know what happened back then. I'm sorry about your parents, but we have a greater threat to deal with now. If we don't stop Totarakh, thousands more will die." David swallowed, and his expression became anguished. "They killed Jessica's parents today."

"
What
? I was supposed to meet them at the mall, to get Jessica's birthday…" Thomas's words failed, and out of the corner of his eye he saw Analara's face go white.

"We have to end this," David said. "All of us."

Tears of anger stung Thomas's eyes, and he turned away from the group. It wasn't fair. Sean and Ambeth had been like a second family to him. They'd been the parents he had lost so long ago. Taking Jessica from him hadn't been enough; the Anrathian barbarians had to destroy his entire life. He fought to keep his feelings in check, shoving his anger and hatred deep inside. He turned back, his face hard, and nodded.

David relaxed his grip, and called over his shoulder. "Clyde, you okay?"

Analara helped Clyde back to his feet. He rubbed his throat and avoided looking at Thomas. "I'll live," he replied stiffly.

"Good. We're going to need everything we've got in order to destroy the gateway."

"That's the plan?" Lucas asked.

"It's the only way to truly end the threat to Phoenix."

Thomas waited, but Analara said nothing. Her face was set in a mask of determination.

Clyde tapped a sequence of commands on his computer, and Thomas felt a surge of strength flow through him. "With the weakened protocols in the system, I've amped us all up as much as possible. We're as powerful as we're gonna get."

David nodded. "Let's hope it's enough. Time to go." He turned and headed for the staircase, and one by one the rest of the group fell into step behind him. Thomas brought up the rear, and his blood raced in anticipation of the coming battle. The aliens would pay. He would have vengeance for all that had been taken from him.

They arrived in the mirror chamber, and David reactivated the portal. Thomas didn't wait for an order to be given; he charged through first.

***

Analara passed through the gateway with one thought on her mind: find a defensible position with a view of the battlefield. She dashed along the wall and ducked into the entry corridor, fitting an arrow to her bow. Thomas's enraged cries rang throughout the chamber, followed by screams of pain as Siathrak warriors fell before his onslaught. Her heart shook with fear, but she forced herself to focus and draw the arrow back.

Totarakh was clearly visible at the far end of the chamber. Five elite warriors protected him, their karta swords drawn and ready to face anything that threatened the High Priest. The evil aura around their blades indicated that Totarakh was channeling power through them. Totarakh himself poured streams of energy into a gaping tear in the far wall.

Stay focused! The others need help.

Lucas, now wearing the form of a female warrior, fought a group of soldiers, but one slipped behind him and raised his spear to strike. Analara loosed her arrow, and it pierced through his shoulder. Lucas turned and slashed the warrior with his sword. "Thanks, Annie," he called out, turning back to the fight.

Analara surveyed the scene, searching for a new target as she reached for another arrow. David had changed from his plated armor into heavy robes, and was surrounded by a ring of Siathrak. She felt her heart leap in alarm. Before she could fire, he raised a staff above his head, and glittering blue light engulfed him. The air chilled, and a ring of icy blades thrust up from the ground around him, impaling several soldiers and hurling the rest backward.

Satisfied that David could take care of himself, Analara drew and fired into a cluster of warriors surrounding Clyde. One fell, and she drew again. Clyde hefted something upon his shoulder, and a trail of smoke shot out in front of him. A great blossom of flame roared up, and Analara covered her ears against the awful sound.

=Geez man, watch where you point that thing!=

=Relax, sweet cheeks, I was aiming for the gateway.=

Analara shook her head, trying to clear the strange pressure of the voices in her mind.

Don't fight it. Open yourself to it.

Analara relaxed. It was almost like the voices of nature back home.

=Hello?= she sent.

=Analara?= David's thought filled her mind, reflecting his surprise.

=How am I doing this?=

=Cut the chatter, folks,= Clyde sent. =Harris, we've got a problem. The bio-virus won't even scratch the gateway. We have to clear the room and get everyone on this thing if we want to have even the slightest chance of shutting it down.=

Searching for a new target, Analara spotted trouble. Thomas had carved his way through the main group and was advancing on the elite guards near Totarakh. They attacked with trained precision, quickly surrounding him. His heavy sword struck and wounded one, but the remaining four launched a furious assault before he had a chance to recover. Their strikes rang out as blade met armor, and Thomas staggered.

Analara took the shot. She launched another arrow as the first buried itself in a guard's chest. The following shots were aimed lower, striking ribs and legs. Thomas cleared his head and engaged the two standing defenders. They fell quickly to his sword. Analara aimed for Totarakh's throat and fired.

His hand lashed out and melted the arrow just before it struck; his laughter filled the chamber. "Foolish infidels," he growled with primal fury. "Did you truly believe you could oppose the will of a God?"

Thomas raised his sword to deliver a fatal blow. Totarakh spun around, and a spear of green energy tore into Thomas's chest. With a cry of pain, the knight stumbled, clutching at his breastplate.

With a shout, Lucas charged across the room, knocking Thomas to the floor. A sizzling bolt flew through the air just above them. Totarakh cackled madly and began to throw bolts of energy randomly around the room. The explosions gave the chamber a sickly illumination.

Analara's heart pounded with dread, but a thought echoed inside her. =Everyone, fall back,= she sent, and dashed into the open. =Fall back to me!=

David reached her first and sent flames leaping at a pair of soldiers trying to cut Lucas and Thomas off. "What's wrong?" he shouted.

Analara shook her head; she didn't have time to explain. "Stay close to me."

Lucas collapsed at her feet under Thomas's weight. The fallen knight's face dripped with sweat, and he seemed to be on the verge of passing out. One of Totarakh's bolts detonated over their heads.

Clyde was standing still, an expression of frustration on his face. =Shit. We've got incoming, people.=

A fresh wave of Siathrak warriors came streaming through the gateway, forming tight ranks a dozen yards away.

"Clyde, run," Analara shouted. She dropped to her knees, and her mind emptied of thought. She felt the calm beating of her heart, and something within her surged. White light pooled in her palm, bathing the group with a soft glow. Clyde fired another blast at the newly arrived soldiers and dashed to her side.

"Your lives are mine," Totarakh roared and launched a bolt of flickering energy straight at them.

Analara jumped to her feet and raised her hands above her head. A dome of blazing light flowed down around them. The bolt struck the barrier and fragmented. She reeled from the impact. The shield held, but she didn't know how long it would last. Totarakh's laughter echoed all around them.

Chapter 27

Clyde slowly uncovered his head and looked at the barrier surrounding them. Totarakh screamed and fired another blast, only to have it deflected. Analara winced at the impact, but she stood firm in the center of the dome, a grim but determined look on her face. Another wave of Anrathians marched in through the gateway and surrounded the group, but there was nothing they could do to reach the party.

They were safe, but for how long?

"Thomas?" David whispered. Thomas tossed and turned, his eyes squeezed shut. His face was pale, and sweat covered his skin. Clyde rubbed his jaw, still aching from the punch, then gave a disgusted sigh. Kneeling down beside Thomas, he activated his wrist-scanner.