The Phoenix Rising (44 page)

Rez’nac shouted an order in Polarian and he
and his surviving warriors took up a position around Calvin, Shen,
Pellew, and Alex, protecting them as they charged forward. Straight
into the mouth of the swarm. Rez’nac himself took point, throwing
his large body mass at the tide of Remorii, swinging his rifle with
a sweep of his powerful muscles. Tristan jumped swiftly from target
to target, like a mountain lion.

Their advance toward the facility slowed as
they met resistance. All around them the Remorii converged and,
positioned as they were, the shore party was vulnerable on all
sides. Calvin and Shen opened fire from relative safety and Pellew
threw more grenades, covering the rear. Any Polarian who had ammo
released every fiery bullet they could. But the fight rapidly
turned into another giant melee. Fists, knives, guns, and claws
were swinging everywhere. Bones shattered and ligaments ripped.

Calvin felt his heart pound so intensely he
could hear it in his ears—despite the terrible noise of violence,
gunfire, and explosions. He drained another magazine and slapped in
a new clip. He provided covering fire for Rez’nac and the other
brave souls leading the charge, as best he could.

Tristan got too far ahead of
the others and had to retreat. His body was more soaked from blood
than rain. It stained his face and colored his torn clothes, and
streams of red poured over his taut muscles. He seemed as fierce
and deadly as ever but Calvin could tell he was tiring, his
movements became increasingly sluggish. And it wasn’t just him,
they all were wearing out. But the Remorii showed no hint of
relenting.
If only we can get through the
courtyard and back into the facility…
Calvin longed to escape the open spaces, to have walls at his
sides and chokepoints to take advantage of…
We can make it! We can still do this. Just a little
farther…

It was a brutal slaughter, the worst
violence Calvin had ever seen—and more than once he stumbled over a
mangled, shredded corpse in his path. He had almost given up when,
through the fog, he saw a glorious sight—the science facility!

“
Stay strong!” he
yelled.

One by one they filed through the broken
windows as quickly as possible, those waiting their turn faced off
against the Remorii, protecting the group. Their sojourn across the
open courtyard had cost them dearly. A quick headcount revealed
that only nine of them were still alive. And of those still
standing, nearly everyone was injured.

Calvin, Pellew, Shen, Alex, and Tristan
still stood, in no small part thanks to the noble actions of the
Polarians, who bore the brunt of the attack—and the casualties.
Calvin had never seen such devotion and loyalty—not even from
humans—as the mighty Polarians broke, one by one, fighting to the
last breath to protect the humans—creatures they didn’t even like!
Simply because that was Rez’nac’s will. Calvin wondered if their
spirituality gave them courage he couldn’t understand, or if it was
something else, perhaps in their biology.

Just as it was Calvin’s turn to enter the
broken window, a powerful explosion rocked the air. He turned and
watched for a moment as the silo burned, little more than a pillar
of fire now, glowing green through the infrared goggles. The
missiles were no more. The unstable isotome no doubt harmlessly
dissipated. They’d done it. Even if he died here and never
contributed anything more to the galaxy, at least here he’d done
something significant. They all had.

He went through the window and Pellew
followed closely behind. Tristan was last through. He shredded one
more Remorii before entering and Pellew lobbed another grenade past
him to buy them time.

The group didn’t stop once they were back
inside the facility. They continued running, as fast as they could,
back through the maze-like complex. Calvin followed Rez’nac and the
surviving Polarians, feeling hopelessly lost and disoriented. He
doubted he could find his way back to the gunship, but at least the
Polarians seemed to know where they were going.

“
I
really
didn’t think we’d make it,”
said Shen, huffing and puffing next to Calvin.

“
We ain’t outta the woods
yet,” said Pellew. “Come on, hurry.”

Calvin withdrew his radio from his tactical
pack, without breaking pace. “Miles, do you copy?”

“
Loud and clear,
boss.”

“
Did a Polarian soldier and
a captive ever make it back?”

“
Yes, indeed.”

“
Good.” Calvin would’ve left
them both behind if they weren’t there, without so much as a second
thought, but he was glad to know the soldier and a potentially very
deep well of intelligence hadn’t been lost. “Get the bird prepped
for launch ASAP! And have those guns ready. We’re coming in hot and
we’re bringing company.”

“
Wilco. I’ve got your back.
Just get here!”

They ran into very few Remorii as they
carved a path through the complex. Small groups of them were
scattered, having somehow found their way inside, but nothing like
the hordes that’d swarmed them outdoors. He hoped this kind of luck
would stay with them, but wouldn’t feel safe until he was back
aboard the armored gunship.

They reached the long glass corridor and
Calvin got his bearings. “Almost there,” he said loudly. They ran
two abreast, Rez’nac and Tristan still leading the group. Through
the thick glass, Calvin could see masses of dark clouds swirling,
the storm had only intensified. He hoped it wouldn’t give them
trouble during lift off.

Farther down the corridor he could make out
images of more type one Remorii swarming on the outside, beating
against the glass. It was extremely eerie jogging past them, seeing
their sickening, terrifying faces pressed up against the glass.
Their sunken eyes staring at nothing. Calvin tried to ignore them.
Wishing the walls were made of stronger materials—like starship
windows—rather than thick antiquated glass. This whole planet felt
like a relic from an earlier time.

“
Just a little farther,”
said Calvin, more to himself than to anyone else, as they neared
the end. Tristan and Rez’nac were already opening the far
door.

There was a popping noise and Calvin saw a
large crack shoot along the glass wall, branching into smaller
cracks.

“
They’re breaking through!”
said Pellew.

Calvin, Shen, and Pellew, who together were
the rear of the group, all broke into a desperate sprint, trying to
run even faster. Despite the horrible burning in his throat and
lungs, Calvin managed to speed up, fueled by adrenaline. Pellew did
too. But Shen fell behind—wheezing and coughing desperately. Calvin
slowed down, not wanting to leave him behind.

“
Hurry
,” Rez’nac called, now running back their way.

The glass exploded. Calvin ducked his head
and shielded himself with his hands instinctively. Shards flew
everywhere, some of them cut Calvin’s face and forearms. At his
sides he heard the feral moan of type one Remorii closing
in—surrounding him.

Hands pressed against his shoulder and back.
Shoving him forward with so much force that he stumbled and fell.
He landed on his side and looked up to see Shen being mauled by
Remorii that had broken through. Remorii that had been aiming for
Calvin. By pushing him down, Shen had saved him.

“
No
!” Calvin yelled as he sprang to his feet and raised his
carbine. He fired three round bursts into the heads of the Remorii
that were beating on Shen. One of the attackers managed to bite
Shen on the neck before Calvin could kill him.

Shen slumped to the ground motionless. He
was severely bruised and bleeding and his eyes were closed. Calvin
didn’t know if he was alive or dead.

He ran to him. Shoving the knife on his
rifle through the face of another Remorii that was leaning over
Shen, kicking him. Once the Remorii fell, Calvin continued to beat
him with the butt of his gun mercilessly. Swearing and yelling
incoherently as he did.

Gunfire sounded close behind him. He
realized someone was protecting his back. An instant later Rez’nac
appeared at his side. The large Polarian grappled powerfully with
one of the Remorii, ignoring his own deep wounds, and in the blink
of an eye snapped its head off.

“
We have to go!” Pellew
called out from behind. “
Now
.”

“
Come on,” said Rez’nac,
looking down at Calvin.

Calvin looked back down at Shen and stared
at him in shock. He knelt and searched Shen’s neck for a pulse.
“No... no...”

“
Calvin!” shouted Pellew.
“More are coming. Let’s go!”

Calvin kept staring at Shen. “We can’t just
leave him here!”

“
He’s with the Essences
now,” said Rez’nac. “There’s nothing more we can do for
him.”

“
Damn the
Essences
!” said Calvin. “Wait… Yes! He’s
still alive!” He’d found a pulse. It was faint, but it was
there.

“
Very well,” said Rez’nac.
He scooped up Shen and carried him over one shoulder. Calvin loaded
another magazine and provided covering fire. The two of them met up
with Pellew and retreated toward the exit, fending of Remorii as
best they could. Calvin took a blow to the face. It had been slowed
down by his bayonet but still impacted with enough force to break
some capillaries just below his left eye.

Intense pain shot through him but it didn’t
matter. Shen was alive. He had to get him back to the Nighthawk.
The image of Christine being bitten by a Remorii on the Trinity
flashed in his mind, but he shook it away. This time it was going
to be different. Shen was going to be alright. They all were. They
were getting out of here.

They pushed through the exit
and down another corridor.
Almost to the
landing platform. We’re gonna make it! All of us.

***

“
Another mine cluster has
been destroyed,” reported the defense officer.

Nimoux watched the brief flashes out the
window as dozens of mines exploded. Small debris floated past the
window, harmlessly striking the Desert Eagle’s armor plating.
“Still no word from the Nighthawk?” he asked, not understanding why
Calvin still refused to surrender his ship. Did he not understand
that he and all of his men would be killed if he played this game
much longer?

“
No, sir. No word,” said the
pilot.

“
Can we at least confirm
that the Nighthawk hasn’t been destroyed?” asked Nimoux.

“
Yes, sir,” said the ops
officer. “I’ve been scanning the debris thoroughly. None of it is
consistent with the materials making up the Nighthawk. She’s still
out there.”

“
For a little longer
anyway,” said Nimoux. “Target the next mine cluster.”

“
Target
acquired.”

“
Probability analysis?”
asked Nimoux.

“
Computer estimates there is
a one in twenty-five chance that destruction of current target will
result in destruction of the Nighthawk,” said the defense
officer.

Still not betting odds, but
not an implausible longshot either. And getting more and more
likely all the time. Nimoux let out a sigh.
Surrender the ship already, Calvin. I don’t want to destroy
you!

“
Should I hold fire?” asked
the defense officer.

“
No,” said Nimoux with some
measure of regret. If Calvin wanted to keep playing this dangerous
game, there wasn’t much the rest of them could do about it. “Fire
when ready.”

***

They watched as more mines were destroyed.
Flashes of light and then nothing. The explosions were too far away
to risk damaging the Nighthawk, but it was the closest call
yet.

“
We can’t keep this up much
longer,” said Cassidy. “The risk of destruction is growing rapidly.
Pretty soon it will be one in ten.”

Summers knew the midshipman
was right. But she hadn’t lost hope yet that they’d hear from the
away party down on the surface.
Damn you,
Calvin. Where are you?

“
Adjusting to new position,”
said Sarah. “A lot of the minefield has been destroyed.”

Cassidy shot Summers an
expression of concern and Summers knew it was time to seriously
consider other options. She would give Calvin all the time she
reasonably could, but she wasn’t going to lose the ship waiting for
him. If he didn’t escape the planet soon, he was on his own.
Assuming he was even still alive...
She shuddered, trying not to consider that
possibility.
“
The
plan we discussed earlier,” said Summers. “Is that still our best
chance of escape?”

“
Maneuvering between the ISS
Spirit and the ISS Phoenix?” asked Cassidy.

“
Yes.”

“
Affirmative,” said Cassidy.
“The ships haven’t changed formation.”

“
Lt. Winters, do you
concur?” Summers looked at Sarah. The pilot shot her a wounded
look, obviously she cared much more about their absent shore party
than Cassidy did, but even she looked resigned to the likely fact
that their missing crew would have to be left behind.

“
Yes,” she said. “I
agree.”

Summers nodded. “Very well, plot our best
escape trajectory and alert all decks to brace themselves for
missile impacts.” Summers looked down at the defense console,
making certain she was familiar with all the controls. And, for the
first time ever, found herself wishing that idiot Miles was
present. His incredible skill with the ship’s weapons no doubt
surpassed even her own. Not that she’d ever admit that to his
insufferably annoying face.