The Burn Zone (62 page)

“
Go back with the others,
”
he said without looking at me.
“
All three of you.
Now.
”

His neck was still bruised from where I
’
d choked him, and the tone of his voice didn
’
t do anything to suggest he was there to help us, but none of us were about to get between him and Sillith. I followed Vamp and Nix back, past Ligong, whose eyes promised death, until we reached the formation of soldiers and moved behind them.

“
Didn
’
t expect to see me here, did you?
”
Hwong taunted, facing Sillith. He stood tall, fearless, as he addressed her like one of his lowest grunts. Without the surrogate mites he couldn
’
t directly experience her intent, but I could, and I felt all of her anger and all of her hatred as it focused on him like a laser.

“
Yes,
”
she
said,
her voice low and smooth.
“
I did.
”

Hwong drew a heavy rail pistol from his holster and pointed it at the nearest clone
’
s head. I heard it charge, and then emit a flat boom. There was a brief flash of light as a sizzling hole appeared in the side of the clone
’
s skull. Fluid began to jet from holes in either side of the vat; then a shock wave thumped under the liquid
’
s surface as
the skull shattered like an eggshell around a murky cloud of black blood and brains.

“
If you so much as twitch,
”
Hwong said, jabbing his index finger at her,
“
my men will open fire on you and we
’
ll just see what
’
s left when the dust settles.
”

That actually made her pause. Her eyes moved from Hwong to the soldiers, scanning slowly down the length of the formation. When she spoke again, her voice had changed. It became more subservient, and softer. A husky, even sexy quality had crept in, but through our connection I could tell it was a lie. Ligong picked up on it too.

“
I have honored my part of the deal,
”
she said.

“
This wasn
’
t part of the deal,
”
Hwong countered.
“
I saw Specialist
Shao
’
s
wet drive footage. Whatever you were planning ends right now. Hand over the boy.
”

“
And then what?
”

“
My men will destroy him and bury him along with everything else down here under a ton of rubble.
”

She hesitated.
“
Your enemies will eventually—
”

“
Maybe so, Sillith, but our deal is off. Hand him over.
”

A surge of hostility flooded from Sillith, and her posture changed subtly as she took two steps toward him.

“
And if I don
’
t?
”
she asked. The voice that issued through her voice box had grown dangerous, rising in pitch and taking on a piercing, dissonant tone. Hwong almost took a step back but held his ground.

“
We are the only chance you have,
”
she said.
“
Your race is pathetic. You look down your nose at the rest of this world, ready to scrape them off rather than deal with them but this city, and this country you are so proud of is pathetic. Your whole race deserves the slow death it has fostered—
”

“
Is that some kind of threat?
”
Hwong asked.
“
Because one word from me will trigger the failsafe and
wipe what
’
s left of your race off the surface of our planet.
”

“
This is not your planet!
”
She took three more quick steps toward him, and every movement in her body implied a threat. The shape inside her skull bristled as her muscles flexed and coiled around the bone underneath. Even the alien movement inside her guts seemed to have focused on Hwong as she stopped with only ten yards separating them, her hands flexed into claws. It was clear Hwong still believed her to be as breakable as she seemed, though, and despite the display he still stood his ground.

“
You won
’
t detonate those weapons because you wouldn
’
t dare,
”
she said, glaring at him.
“
Your leaders want the defense shield we can provide, and the promise of more power to come, and they wouldn
’
t allow it.
”

“
They aren
’
t here, Sillith. I am. I am empowered to give the order.
”

“
You only think you have power because we let you believe it. We stay in your settlements and let you stand guard outside so that you will feel superior, but you aren
’
t. This isn
’
t your world.
”

“
This is our world!
”

“
This was never your world!
”

“
It was always ours!
”
Hwong snapped, barking his words out suddenly in a spray of spit.
“
Our world!
Our planet! You are refugees at best! Any benefits you get, any privileges you get are all at my discretion. Do you understand me? You continue to exist at all here because I let you! Me! No one else! Do you understand me, Sillith?
”

“
I am warning you,
”
she said, lowering her voice.
“
If you attempt to go back on our deal—
”

Hwong glanced back and signaled Ligong.
“
Kill her.
”

The gunfire that erupted was immediate, and pounded through my ears even as I plugged them with my fingers.
I could feel the rapid-fire reports rattle through my chest as shell casings spat through the air all around me, and I crouched to try and stay out of the line of fire.

Vamp and Nix hit the deck next to me, Vamp shielding me uselessly with one arm as bullets sparked off the shelving in front of us. Sillith had disappeared from the spot where she
’
d stood, but my eyes caught a flash from the shadows above and I looked up to see a pair of flame red eyes where her body hung at the peak of its leap.

“
There!
”
a voice boomed. Lasers traced conflicting paths through the hazy air as the soldiers attempted to retarget her. Nix slithered an arm around my waist, and I was jerked away from the soldiers with Vamp in tow as Sillith plummeted down through a cloud of steam.

She landed so hard I felt it through the floor, and when I looked back I saw the soldier between us jerk in surprise as his rifle flew from his hands. The weapon went soaring through the air, end over end, as she lashed out toward him. His body seized, and he let out a scream as his arm came free in a spray of blood. Before I could see what happened, he was falling to the floor in three big pieces as, at the same second, the two soldiers next to him had their weapons ripped away from them.

From the ceiling above, constructs were being shaken loose and dropping down like pedaling, squirming rain. I turned away, swatting a small, crawling machine from off my shoulder where it landed as I bolted through the fray. Soldiers were regrouping, adjusting to account for Smith
’
s sudden new location. Bullets whizzed by over our heads as we approached a cluster of crouched soldiers who had begun firing a heavy volley at something behind us.

Lights like hot coals appeared in the murk of the vats, and I realized they were eyes. One of the clones broke the surface in a shower of fluid and grabbed the soldier standing nearby. He screamed, but before he could even
turn around, something struck his back and his chest exploded outward. The remaining four clones erupted from their vats as his body fell to the floor, clambering over the sides as the soldiers fired.

The curtains of wire filaments that extended up toward the ceiling high above us were undulating now, rippling, as more and more movement began to fill the room. Nix led us past one of the shelves as a burst of gunfire managed to punch through the neck and face of one of the clones. There was another doorway on the far side of the room, and Nix was signaling, pointing toward it.

A torso, trailing ragged shirttails in the place of legs, went arcing over our heads and crashed into the shelves farther down. As we made a run for it, I glanced back to see Hwong faced off against Sillith. He took aim with the rail pistol, but before he could fire, it was torn out of his hand. Sillith slammed one palm into his chest and he staggered back, nearly falling to the floor before righting himself. He sucked in air with obvious effort, his face dark and his normally cool expression twisted in pain. The fibers of his light combat armor flexed as he unsheathed a wicked-looking knife from his belt and angled it toward her.

She went for him and he ducked, whipping around in a circle and slamming the point of the knife into her side. Before she could grab him, he
’
d pulled it free and spun around behind her. He lunged again and buried the blade deep into her opposite side.

He was clearly expecting her to be crippled if not dead, but Sillith didn
’
t appear fazed at all. Hwong wrenched the knife free and skated back, preparing to strike again, when suddenly his body seized as if he
’
d been grabbed by invisible hands. The armor plating creaked, and his eyes bugged out.

“
Shoot the fucking
thi
—
”
he grunted through his teeth.

His arms shot out by his sides to form a cross. Then the armor plates cracked and sprang away as they both rolled suddenly, hands spinning 360 degrees and the shoulders twisting out of their sockets. Under the suit the material of his shirt tore away along with rubbery strips of skin until the two limbs were pulled free. They hung in midair for a second, and then thumped down onto the floor next to him.

Before he could even scream his feet launched up off the floor. Armor cracked apart like an insect
’
s shell as his legs were splayed, splitting him down the center. I turned away at the last second, covering my mouth as I heard the guts splash down onto the floor.

The mites tingled with sadistic delight as Sillith took a moment to admire what she had just done. I felt her satisfaction drum down into the pleasure centers of my brain not only for squashing a human but also for silencing Hwong, who she hated even more intensely than most.

Why does she hate us so much?
I
’
d felt arrogance, annoyance, and frustration from the haan ... even contempt at times, but never hatred and never anything approaching this level. Something deep inside Sillith made her hate us and everything we stood for in a way that I couldn
’
t even begin to understand.

She was still soothing that hatred, letting the sight of Hwong
’
s mutilated body
slake
it even if it was only for a minute, when Ligong took aim with her rail gun from across the room and fired.

She almost got her too, but Sillith spotted her at the last second and the shot went wide. She never got a second shot off. Sillith lashed out, and the fog between them was disturbed by something I couldn
’
t see. The gun leapt from Ligong
’
s hands and spun away, punching through the curtain of filaments like a rock through a spider
’
s web before clattering across the concrete to strike the
wall next to the doorway ahead. Ligong flew forward, across the room to Sillith
’
s waiting hand, which clamped down on the chest plate of her combat armor.

The armor whined as Ligong attempted to wrestle free, but before she could the collar of the suit broke free with a crunch and one half spun across the floor. The chest plate was peeled free then by some invisible hand as she was forced to her
knees,
and Sillith
’
s right fist reared back behind her.