Stars Rain Down (7 page)

By the end of the first day, they reached the shores of the Red Sea where they camped for the night. Although Jack logically understood that the others could kill him at any time, the danger felt doubled once the sun went down. It bothered him so much that he hardly slept.

When morning came, they returned to the air and quickly crossed the sea, and Jack was once again in the Mideast. Another seven hours after that, they arrived at the former site of Al Saif on the shores of the Dead Sea, and Jack confirmed what Kai had told him. Nothing remained of the base but a trash heap, the enemy having overrun the resistance more than a month before.

After an exhaustive search, Jack found himself wandering the ruins, and he paced for a long time while imagining how the battle went down, piecing together what he could from the debris. The airstrip had been torn to shreds, and various parts of the temporary buildings littered the ground, but he didn’t see vehicle wreckage anywhere.

“Satisfied?â€

Jack and his four alien companions traveled north, from the dusty beige of the Mideast to the green hills and roiling mountains of Eastern Turkey. Jack had never seen the Turkish landscape before, and the mountains there spiked out of the ground defiantly as if the Earth itself were invading the sky. The intensity of the steep mountains and gorges took his breath away, and he badly wanted to stop and explore.

There wasn’t any time for that, though, and they flew on. Turkey gave way to green Georgia, followed by the Caucasus Mountains, a line of snow capped peaks which stood in a row like jagged teeth. On the other side, they found themselves in the remains of Russia, whose abandoned farmland stretched out in all directions like a patchwork quilt, so large that Jack thought he’d never see the end of it.

The colder climate and high altitudes slowed their progress, but they finally caught up with the Oikeyan legion after nearly three days of travel. The legion wasn’t difficult to find, like a insanely large herd of buffalo lumbering across the land, stretching more than fifty kilometers from beginning to end. It was populated by strange creatures, some as large as container ships, and attended by swarms of flyers darting from one part of the pack to the next, like flocks of birds before a storm. The multitude of stomping feet kicked up a dust cloud that billowed out toward the horizon and covered the ground in a dense and impenetrable haze.

Jack, joined to the flyer he named Felix, approached the herd cautiously from behind, nipping at their heels. “Holy crap,â€

Farmland gave way to the wide Russian steppe as Jack and his alien companions headed toward the Ark. The nearly flat land went on and on, covered in short tufts of grass and little else. It was the most boring country Jack had ever laid eyes on, and he’d seen some pretty boring places in his time. This one took the boring cake and ate it with a boring glass of milk.

Worse yet, the sparse grass of the steppe made it more difficult to keep Felix well fed, and the small flyer couldn’t maintain top speed for as long as he could in sunnier, more abundant regions. Progress slowed to a crawl across that flat, uneventful countryside, and the only bright side was that the Oikeyan legion would undoubtedly be slowed as well.

The travelers camped under the stars and ate reheated alien field rations twice a day. The food was a version of the same multi-colored stuff Jack had eaten in prison, but more energy dense and flavorful. It was bitter and nearly unpalatable. While it provided all the nutrients he needed, his stomach constantly felt empty, and from the sour look on the rhino’s face, he felt the same way.

As they traveled, Kai took it upon himself to teach Jack the Oikeyan common language called Mirresh, which was used for interspecies communication. As Kai described it, every race had their own variety of ethnic groups, each with its own languages and dialects, but all Oikeyans knew Mirresh, and their public discourse and law were exclusively conducted in it.

Much to Jack’s surprise, it was easy to pick up. So easy that he was speaking Mirresh with a limited vocabulary within the first week. Prior to that, he’d believed himself incapable of learning a second language, let alone one from beyond the stars.

Once they could communicate, Jack got to know the three other aliens, despite his instincts otherwise. The rhino’s name was Dojer, and his race called themselves Rozom. He belonged to the worker caste, which entailed having a long-legged bug bonded to his blowhole as a child. It caused him to grow larger and stronger than the rest of his kind, and develop a hard, silicate armor. Surprisingly, the bug was also intelligent, but his species, known as Marakhya, were shy and preferred to let their Rozom do all the talking. Jack couldn’t even begin to pronounce the Marakhya’s name, and was glad it wasn’t too friendly.

Dojer however proved to be very talkative after a short warm-up. The hulking creature was full of stories that all ended with puzzling punch-lines and him belly laughing, but which left Jack confused. Rozom humor just wasn’t Jack’s cup of tea.

The two jackrabbits were a mated pair named Ferash and Niko, and their species called themselves Kitsu. If these two were any indication, the Kitsu were a playful and almost childlike race with boundless curiosity and a keen interest in machines. They hounded Jack for just a peek at his guns and other gadgets, and when he finally caved in, the pair took turns taking everything apart and putting it back together again. This would have infuriated him, but they did a better job cleaning and maintaining his gear than he ever had.

Jack got the impression that Ferash, the male of the pair, was a dreamer and maybe even an artist of some kind before he became a soldier. He often went off alone to stare at the horizon in deep thought. Niko, his mate, let him be during those stretches and instead spent the time avidly listening to Dojer’s weird stories.

Both Ferash and Niko yearned to raise children, but thought it a mistake to bring new lives into such a troubled world.

Much to Jack’s surprise and dismay, the Kitsu were affectionate. Their extended families shared close living quarters and often slept in communal rooms, which Jack discovered one morning when he awoke to find both Ferash and Niko cuddled up against him. He shooed them away the first few times but it became more effort than it was worth. Besides, they were warm.

At least Dojer didn’t want to cuddle. Jack didn’t think he could cope with that. Or survive it.

They reached the Ark after nearly three straight weeks of travel. Dojer, Ferash and Niko stayed with Felix, hidden in one of the few nearby copses, while Jack and Kai approached on foot. Soon, they were in the vast, sprawling village that had sprung up around the underground shelter. The place filled Jack with both hope and despair. It provided a clear example of what the human race had been reduced to, as well as their ability to plod on in the face of abject adversity.

The buildings were makeshift and sloppy. Impromptu dirt roads wandered everywhere, lined with firepits, all kinds of livestock, and dirt faced refugees bundled up in whatever clothes they could find. Jack felt like he was walking through a high-school reproduction of medieval times, where the students wore costumes made out of old hand-me-downs. It was mass poverty on a scale he’d never seen before, clothed in the waste of recent prosperity.

The great artificial mound that was the Ark dominated the sky beyond the village, like a crashing tsunami frozen in place. Large metal hatches covered its surface, looking like pressure release valves or connectors for impossibly large hoses.

“Great. My people are living in an ant hill,â€

All things considered, Jack didn’t mind prison so much this time. Maybe it was the human-prepared food, which he hadn’t had the pleasure of in five months. Maybe it was because there were other prisoners in shouting distance, or moaning distance in many of their cases. Maybe it was the simple fact that he wasn’t pinned to the ceiling like a defective light fixture, nor was he being tortured for information he didn’t have. Maybe he’d simply grown fond of enclosed spaces.

Regardless of the reason, Jack considered his situation just peachy, and he resigned himself to sit back and wait for the Ark to be annihilated. His only wish was for a chance to see it all burn down before Galili choked the life out of him.

There was a commotion at the end of the cell block, and two people in hooded ponchos came rushing down the aisle. “Which cell?â€

The day of the attack arrived, and Elkellian was mounted up and ready to go. He felt nervous, as did his Yuon Kwon, Klethis Aum-Auresh. They were eager to get things started, hoping the sprint would calm their nerves. The waiting was always the hardest part.

Rider and mount strutted and paced together, while the Silgama—the many-legged constructor Yuon Kwon—assembled fortifications all around them. Elkellian tried to calm Klethis, whispering, “Soon, honorable one. Just another few moments, and then it will be our time.â€

Legacy’s bridge was oddly quiet. The three tiered ivory-white room had been redecorated, now sporting a combination of human and Eireki technology, as did much of the rest of the ship. Dozens of computer workstations lined the room, each manned by a crew member busily making final preparations for the return.

Marcus Donovan was floating in place at the command station, the exact spot where he was bonded to Legacy more than a year before. He’d become so adept at manipulating the gravity systems that his feet never touched the floor anymore. He was content instead to fly from one position to the next, like a proper creature of the void.

“This is taking too damn long,â€

Kai sprinted out across the open steppe, the immense strength in his legs driving him nearly as fast the fighter jets above. Each stride covered tens of meters, and he hadn’t even worked up a sweat yet.

He would soon enough.

As he came to the human side of the battle lines, he accelerated, and in several large leaps, moved from one embankment to the next, bypassing the soldiers completely and continuing into the scarred no-man’s land beyond. Strange weapons exploded all around, blasting soil hundreds of meters into the air, but Kai was too fast. Too agile. He danced through the field, analyzing thousands of barking weapons, and calculated the safest path through. He was built for this task.

A continuous hail of hot metal surrounded him, but he weaved through it. He was in his element, and no creature on the battlefield could match him. He wasn’t there to fight, though. This was just an obstacle course on the way to his objective. A warm-up.

He engaged his camouflage as he approached the Oikeyan side and became a ghost. The effect was imperfect, but combined with his fantastic speed and the chaos of battle, it made him virtually undetectable.

Hidden in broad daylight, he launched himself high into the air and used the fighting Yuon Kwon as terrain, leaping from the armored shell of one to the next. This part of his mission was so easy it was practically a game.

Then he came to the charred remains of the human settlement, which had burnt brightly throughout the night but was now reduced to smoking cinders. He sprinted at top speed, ignoring the ruins under foot and the human drop pods spitting fire over his head. He cut a path straight for the Ark.

As Kai came to the final stretch, he dug down deep, found the last reserve of extra power lurking inside him, and charged. He charged with everything he had. His feet ground deep into the ruined soil and the wind howled as he blasted through the thick air. He coiled his fist back and exploded through the titanium-steel door.

The metal groaned and buckled inward. Massive hinges on either side sheered under the force.

He was inside. His mission was half-complete.

***

Jack and Felix raced through the clotted skies, while a desperate air battle went on all around them. Cuttlefish and the strange transforming fighters chased each other in every direction, burping fire at one another as they careened about and fought for position.

Charlie and Lisa were understandably uncomfortable in the vehicle, while Nikitin was—beyond all sense or reason—having the time of his life. Behind them, Ferash and Dojer held their weapons at ready in case of unwanted followers. It was anyone’s guess how effective their weapons would be, but Dojer’s cannon was better than nothing at all.

The young city Yuon Kwon loomed in the distance, reminding Jack of the flying saucers in every old, cheesy horror movie. The last thing he ever expected was for aliens to show up in actual saucers, yet there they were.

A cuttlefish burst into flames above them and plummeted out of the sky, leaving a trail of burning debris in Felix’s path. It reminded Jack this wasn’t a movie; it was real life, and he was in the middle of a very real battle.

“I know I’ve put you through a lot, but if you could go just a little faster, I’d really appreciate it,â€

Jack mysteriously found himself alone, standing in a circular room ringed with windows, revealing nothing but whiteness beyond. The floor and ceiling were perfectly reflective, creating a vertical hall of mirrors with Jack trapped in the middle.

He was confused, and getting a little tired of it.

“Hello,â€

Amira Saladin stopped firing as the humongous alien disc flew overhead and filled the sky. Its passing was followed by a pressure wave that knocked everyone—human and alien alike—off their feet. At the same time, all of the shiny metallic bubbles disappeared from around her opponents, leaving them unshielded. Something was happening. Something important.

“What’s going on?â€

Marcus Donovan and Vijay Rao walked down a wide, blue-green street overflowing with activity. There was so much foot traffic that Marcus could hardly see a few feet in front of him. It was another fine example of humanity’s ability to cope in even the most dire of circumstances, and it impressed him and Legacy to no end.