Rift Breaker (32 page)

Tazman turned to Leroy. ‘What's that mess over there?' he asked, pointing at the front of the room. It was worth a try. Leroy seemed pompous enough to answer.

The Composite officer was slow to turn, raising his rifle aim
sadistically to Tazman's eyes with a half-smile. ‘That, my friend, is the future,' he said, clearly having no idea. ‘Insert one Human and you got yourself a warphole.'

‘Human?' said Tazman. He limped forward, ignoring the pulse rifle.

‘Hey, hey,' protested Leroy, jumping off the console.

Tazman kept going. He had to know. He spotted the machine's little window as he had seen in the forbidden zone. A face floated inside. Another limp further and the defining details came into sight. He sighed in hopelessness. He hated being right. Milton was in there, unconscious, restrained in a chamber full of liquid. A tube was jammed down his throat and swelled his neck.

Leroy stepped into Tazman's path and shoved him with the barrel of the weapon. Tazman cried out.

‘Get back!' Leroy yelled, in a typical Composite Drill Sergeant voice.

Luylla protested, but was ignored.

Leroy pulled the trigger. Shots pumped out and punctured the stone floor by Tazman's feet. Tazman stumbled back and fell. He landed against Luylla's soft yet armoured body; she had moved and provided a cradle with her cuffed hands. She grabbed his sides and helped him up. He put his weight on her machine arm and pushed up to straighten.

Leroy let forth a reverberating cackle. ‘Need your girlfriend to help you? Pathetic.' He headed back to his place on the console. Luylla grimaced and traced his movements. Her jaw tightened
and her artificial fist clenched. When Leroy saw her looking, he winked at her and blew a kiss. ‘You should be with a real man,' he said widening his legs.

She turned away in disgust. He laughed again.

Tazman wondered how the Xoeloid machine worked. The thick gel cords covering the floor were attached to Weinian computers throughout the room, a merging of technology. He traced a group of them. They started at the front and swirled round to the right, trailing under another clump, before disappearing into the computer alley down on the side. Tazman twisted and leaned back. He spotted them again, looping into view and connecting to the front of a console just behind him. He couldn't help the cheeky smile that crept over his face.

Tazman glanced at Leroy, who then eyed him suspiciously. The man's eyes switched down and back up again, as if to say, ‘That's right, I have a gun.'

Tazman reverted to his serious face, as if to say, ‘You're crazy, but I won't move lest you shoot me in the face.'

Leroy smirked and turned back to the screen.

Tazman glanced at his surroundings indifferently, trying not to cause a fuss. Tail, on the other hand, had a different plan.

Across the machine shop, the engine of the portable cannon burst to life. The tech team scurried about, closing its open hatches and manning the cockpit. A path was cleared and the team drove
the portable defence weapon through and into the breach. The cannon inched out into the light. Its barrel rose and swivelled to lock onto the looming warship. Scattered energy blasts exchanged at its base as the ground invaders attempted to take it out.

‘Fire,' Raegar ordered.

A booming thump slammed the eardrums of everyone present. The cannon shaft recoiled. Parts of the gun rattled loose. The blast hit and exploded into the underside of the warship. The mineral-like armour shattered and bounced off the
Raticia
's hull. The enemy craft accelerated away.

‘Fire,' Raegar yelled again.

The cannon blasted a second time, planting another heavy blow to the underside of the enemy ship. The left tracked wheels rattled and broke off, tipping the cannon off target. The third shot skimmed the side of the escaping vessel. Raegar looked out. The cannon had left two overlapping craters. The ship's surface gave off an organic cracking sound. Small parts of the mineral skin shifted about the holes. The ship emitted a heavy groan. Large spikes grew out from the broken edges. They locked to each other from opposite sides, in a cage-like reinforcement, before sealing and minimising any visible damage.

Something else caught his eye — another warphole. The vortex of glowing dust hung in the sky above and to the left. The space stretched open and warship-grade firepower exploded forth, pelting the surrounding area. The line of fire swept along the road, displacing huge chunks.

‘Fall back,' Raegar screamed.

Blasts collided with the edges of the shield and its glow fizzled out. The sides of the breach suddenly widened as the blitz chipped away at the unprotected hull. The portable cannon was then caught in the rain. Its other set of wheels popped loose. The rig dropped straight, cracked apart and exploded. One of the engineers caught fire and ran out screaming before being cut down by another hit. Spinning debris shot through the smoke and pulsefire.

The nose of the ship poked through. The barrage of rapid blasts then moved up to the tank. The armour of the vehicle dissolved in flaming pieces along with three of the crew. Raegar and his crew retreated deeper into the hold.

Milton felt his head twitch to the side. The vision had ceased. He saw only black. He writhed in a cramped space. It felt like the blobby cell he'd been in over the skies of the city with the tower. He didn't know when, how, or where he was but he was sure of one thing: he wasn't a ghost anymore.

He felt physical pain once again. He was submerged. His limbs were tied down. He opened his eyes; they were irritated and itchy. Everything was a blur. A column of light shone through a small window. Particles of floating debris reflected off the beam. Alien, black cords and hoses dug into his flesh.
Something tugged on his head when he turned. The back of his skull was connected to a lead.

The exploits of the Xoeloid flooded into his mind. Milton kicked at his surroundings and tore his head from side to side. The Xoeloid were everywhere. Milton resisted, objected in his will. He hated them for what they were thinking.

Something dragged him back to the familiar thought patterns that were usual for Milton Lance's mind: family, home, and friends. He gripped onto the thoughts with all his mustered will. He closed his fist, holding to this train of thought and not the thousands that were being forced into him.

He opened his mouth and let out a fierce yell. Bubbles of air exploded forth in the muffled war cry. He shifted again and something came loose from his shoulder. He narrowed his focus. Blurry shapes moved behind the window and he knew where he had to be. A splintering crack cut diagonally across the view. Tiny bubbles of air leaked through the line.

Twenty-eight

Tail whipped crazily from side to side, wrestling with the last cable. The other wires drooped in a tangled clump. The throb of the Xoeloid machine slowed, just like it had done on the safe haven.

Tazman stood compliantly and twiddled his thumbs, trying not to draw attention to tail's suicidal antics. With a double take from Leroy, however, tail was busted. Leroy leapt from the console.

‘What are you doing?' he barked, striding towards the mischievous Freegu.

Tazman's eyes wandered. He attempted a response. ‘Umm.' He then gave up and swiftly turned to join tail. He got both arms round the cord and jiggled feverishly. ‘Damn stupid,' he gasped, throwing his weight back. Loose electricity buzzed from the semi-connected wire. The cord gave way. The port cracked and flashed. He dumped the wire on the floor in victory.

When he turned to the front, the butt of Leroy's pulse rifle
ploughed into his gut and keeled him over. He sank at the knees and instinctively crossed his hands over his chest to protect his wound.

Luylla stepped up in protest, curling her metal hand to a fist. Leroy turned the rifle to her chest, his eyes flittering over her body in murderous lust.

‘Not so fast, sweetheart. You and I shall have some extra fun later,' he said with a wink. Leroy raised a boot to Tazman's shoulder and rolled him back against the wire port.

On landing, Tazman's leg exploded with pain. He gripped his thigh. The hard ridges on the underside of Leroy's boot hovered over the wound. Tazman begged, offering to reconnect the wires. Leroy chuckled at the plea and applied pressure. Tazman panted hard. The weight increased. He could not help but let out a flaming scream. Tazman grabbed the man's ankle and tried to lift the leg off.

‘Don't touch me, simian,' yelled Leroy, kicking Tazman's hands away and stomping down again.

‘Leave him alone,' Luylla screamed and advanced on him.

Leroy cocked the shiny weapon, initiating the energy charge. He swung the barrel to her face. She flinched; he ploughed his boot into her stomach and winded her. Her back landed hard against a console.

Leroy grinned. He shouldered the weapon and levelled his sights to the face of Tazman, who gritted his teeth, bracing himself against the floor.

The green laser sight blinked on and shone between his eyes. The scope lens twisted in and out, adjusting to the range. The demented officer half-smiled. He leaned in and peered down the scope to taunt Tazman for the last time. ‘You annoying little sh—'

A bang shocked the front of the room. Leroy spun. The front mineral hatch on the Xoeloid machine blew off, revolved on its corner and clattered to the floor. Liquid gushed from the opening. An arm burst from the machine, reached back in and ripped out a fistful of black cords.

Milton gagged ashe extracted a tube from his throat. He kicked and swung his leg out, pressed against the edges of the opening and screamed, pulling himself from the cords lodged in his back.

The bombardment stopped. Raegar peered over his cover. The warship fell. The ripples and dust light had disappeared. The front of the invading vessel flipped out, having been severed from its body, and dropped behind a block of buildings.

A rumbling smash quaked the ground. A massive fireball inflated through the windows and foundation of the buildings across the road. The
Raticia
's shell rattled and crashed with flaming debris. An explosion and twisting of metal groaned from a different direction; the other half of the attacking ship had dropped from the sky.

Raegar stood and looked out into the battlefield. He saw no signs of warpholes, no stardust, and no more aerial attacks. The invaders had stopped warping and their forces had been scattered. An enemy soldier limped in the street, its eyes fixed on Raegar as it lurched towards the hull breach. It struggled to lift its weapon but paused before slumping forward to its knees. Particles of its wilted armour sprinkled on the ground. It finally collapsed face-first to the dirt with a sharp piece of smoking metal lodged in its back.

Raegar shed his jacket, revealing his black, skin-tight, temperature-regulating undersuit. The old commander felt the usual crack of his knee joints when he bent to pluck a pulse rifle by his feet. He rose to the sound of weapons, loading, arming and charging. He turned to the sight of his crew, crawling out from their cover, distributing weapons and strapping armour to their bodies. The rookies had the right idea. The Huldron appeared and dumped down another crate from the armoury. Bulky ammunition sashes hung from his reptilian body.