25

The lair of the beast was enormous, hundreds of meters to the ceiling, which almost looked like it opened up to the surface of the planet. There was a small light that was either from an opening or some luminous mineral. Maybe a speck of something exotic and nuclear that mimicked as a sun. It was hard to say.

“Please scan the entire area,” X-37 said.

“I’m working on it. Pay attention, because I’m not doing this twice,” I said, moving deeper into the huge cave and trying to look everywhere in a systematic manner.

“I always do, and you rarely repeat yourself,” X-37 said. “Except for your constant nattering about Starbrand cigars and requests for me to give you a break.”

“Thanks for bringing that up, X. Now I need a cigar,” I said.

Locke laughed, which seemed more than a little out of place given our situation. “I still can’t believe the incident with the president. There will be dozens of stories from that encounter.”

“All I did was fire one up,” I said, finishing my survey of the macabre lair. There were bones stuck to the walls in nests made of wires and torn-up insulation. “She’s the one who grabbed my cigar and made a big deal out of smoking it.”

“You have a lot to learn about our culture. You can’t do something like that without offering to share,” Locke said.

“I think we found the reason for the vandalism to your circuitry,” I said, aiming my weapon toward a nest of wires and insulation—that had something wiggling inside of it, of course.

“Makes sense,” Locke said. “I’d put that in my report, but I don’t think I’ll get a chance to share it.”

I heard the approach of the monster before he did but understood what he was saying. Elise moved away from me, either by instinct or by what I had taught her. We didn’t need to be grouped up to be slaughtered side-by-side.

The monster emerged from an opposing tunnel, throwing bones and clusters of wire nests full of its offspring in every direction. If it had been mad before, it was in a full rage that didn’t bode well for our chances at survival.

“At least we don’t have to look for it now,” Elise said, her voice surprisingly dry and devoid of emotion.

The bones of its previous victims splintered under its hundreds of clawed feet. I moved to the right while Elise and Locke moved to the left. The thing tracked me and charged in for the kill.

“Split up and make your shots count!” I said, shuffling backward and aiming several bursts of HDK Dominator fire at its eyes—or what I thought were its eyes. I had to reload a lot quicker than I expected. Apparent time distortion was a predictable psychological phenomenon in a fight, as was auditory exclusion and other illusions.

Usually, time seemed to slow for me during a hard fight. That was a part of my experience and also my Reaper LAI. This time, everything seemed out of control as though the underground world was closing in on me second by second.

“I’m out of ammo!” Elise shouted, her broadcast only audible because we had a shared link. It sounded like the entire subterranean structure was coming down around us. Bits of rock rained from the ceiling, as did dozens, or hundreds, or thousands of the monster’s offspring. Some were the size of cockroaches. The others were almost as big as Elise.

I put several rounds into the smaller things to keep from being overwhelmed, then ran around the edge of the cave to stay ahead of the titanic centipede that wanted to eat me.

“You are accumulating numerous injuries and bites from its little minions,” X-37 said. “My advice is to stop allowing this.”

I didn’t bother to respond. X-37, normally well attuned to my welfare, wasn’t exactly helping me right now.

“One of us needs to get behind it,” I said, broadcasting to my companions in this sideways adventure.

“I think I can arrange that,” Elise said, her voice fierce and dangerous.

“I don’t think either of us will like what she’s about to attempt,” X-37 said.

Ignoring my limited AI, I moved away from the wall and make sure I had a fresh magazine in my rifle. “I think I know what she’s going to do, X. Elise, don’t be stupid.”

Elise emerged from the smoke, sword held in both hands as she screamed at the gigantic monster. It didn’t seem to notice her. She moved closer and slashed several of its drones in half. They hissed and screamed, drawing the attention of their hive queen or whatever this monster was.

“Elise!” I aimed, searching for a weak spot in its armor. The back looked to be even more heavily armored than the front of it.

“Come and get me, you son-of-a-bitch!” Elise slashed her sword at the monster towering above her and advancing far too quickly.

“I advise you do something quickly, Reaper Cain,” X-37 said.

I charged at the back of the creature, stepping on its tail, then grabbing its back with my left hand. I’d intended to shoot it with the HDK but still didn’t see a chink in its armor. Clipping the weapon magnetically to my gear, I scrambled higher up the back plates looking for an old wound, a piece of its exoskeleton that had worn away, or any gap that might allow me to do real damage.

“Um, Reaper Cain, I’m not sure how to tell you this, but there are nests on the hive mother,” X-37 advised just a few seconds too late to be really useful.

Dozens of the small creatures swarmed over me, stinging and biting me wherever they could.

I climbed higher, desperate now, my breathing coming in ragged gasps.

“I’m boosting your epinephrine levels to counteract the paralyzing effects of the poison,” X-37 said.

The monster twisted, realizing I was on its back and looking for a way to kill me. It slammed into the wall, nearly dislodging me. I extended my Reaper blade and thrust it deep into its shell.

“I’m not sure if that did any real damage,” X-37 stated.

“Just. Trying. To hold on,” I grunted, the joints in my shoulder and upper back twisting under the strain of the wild ride.

Elise jumped from a pile of bones and landed on the monster’s back, her sword in one hand and her other hand holding on as she looked for a killing strike.

“Watch out for the little ones,” I warned. “There are a bunch of them living on this thing, maybe feeding off of it until they get bigger.”

“Do you remember what I said about their venom not being as strong as it should be,” X-37 said. “I believe these have administered significantly more potent neurotoxins into your system. You may feel paralysis, extreme pain, and hallucinations.”

My vision exploded in colors, some of which were soothing and others that were out of a nightmare. It felt like a very bad drug trip. There wasn’t anything I wanted more than to just let go and fall away from this hive queen that was going to cause a nuclear meltdown by ripping out wires and circuit boards to make nests for its young.

“Over here!” Locke shouted, holding a grenade in one hand. “Remember me, you big bastard?”

“I hope he doesn’t throw that at us,” Elise said, sounding worried and in pain. Toxins were disabling parts of her face. Her expression would be kind of hilarious if we weren’t about to die.

With no time to care for Elise, or Locke, or anyone else, I continued to climb. My desperation caused me to take too many chances and I nearly fell twice. Only a desperate thrust of my blade into the carapace saved me from going over the edge. The room was a blur. Even without the hallucinogenic effects of whatever the little worker drone centipedes had put into my bloodstream, this was chaos. I saw one confused image after another. There was smoke and clouds of poisonous gas that obscured our vision and threatened to kill us if we breathed too much.

“It’s now or never,” X-37 said. “I’m assuming you understand this.”

“Yeah, X. I figured that out,” I grunted, rushing toward the junction of the oversized head and the heavily armored neck. It slammed its head into the wall, launching me upward but also causing me to lose my grip.

I weaved my legs through its spiny ridges and held on the best I could. A heartbeat later, I was able to find handholds as well.

“That was a close one,” X-37 observed.

Locke was still shouting and finally decided to throw the grenade. It exploded, causing the centipede-like monster to rear up and slam its head against the cavern wall. When that happened, I saw a gap caused by the force of the impact.

I lunged, risking everything, nearly falling, and thrust my Reaper blade with all of my strength.

And missed, mostly.

The blade didn’t go as deep as I’d hoped, but a black ichor spurted out and streamed all down the front of my armor. I couldn’t tell if it was acid because I couldn’t feel it yet, but that fun moment was probably coming sooner than I would like.

“Stop biting me!” Elise said, her grip slipping as she began to fall away from the monster. Scores of little centipede vermin clung to her.

“Get away from the hive mother,” I said, stealing a descriptive phrase from X-37.

Elise knew what I meant, so she rolled away and sprinted behind a pile of bones where I lost sight of her.

I climbed two additional feet and found the best point of weakness I was likely to discover. I stabbed it with my Reaper blade, then twisted it savagely. When I made a rather gory hole in the creature’s neck, I grabbed my HDK with one hand and shoved the barrel deep into the wound. When I pulled the trigger, I thought the weapon would malfunction, but was soon rewarded with a truly horrible roar from the creature.

It reared up, then fell hard on the ground.

“Get clear!” Locke shouted, waving frantically.

I was stunned from the impact, delirious from the neurotoxins, and about ready to murder someone for a Starbrand cigar. I jumped away from my perch, hitting the ground too hard before limping into the maze of bones and other detritus. The centipede creature thrashed and hissed. Dust came from the ceiling when it impacted the walls. Its death throes seemed to take hours but eventually ended.

Silence was a strange thing. I had noticed the chattering and clicking of the worker drones, but now it grew in volume as everything else stopped making sounds.

“Help me!” Elise said, trying to twist one of the younglings off of her arm.

I drew my pistol and approached. This could get tricky, but I thought shooting them would be faster than trying to just pull them off.

“Don’t move,” I warned, then grabbed her arm as I pressed the barrel of my pistol against a juicy little freak. 

I pulled the trigger, blowing it apart. 

“Interesting,” X-37 said to both of us. “I hypothesize that the venom you were feeling from most of these was merely a form of anesthetic as they started to feed. They weren’t trying to kill you, but feed on you without you noticing.”

“Fuck you, X,” Elise said, freeing herself from the last of the centipede babies. “They were totally trying to kill me.”

“Of course, Elise,” X-37 said in his best pacification tone. “How foolish of me to think differently. It was only a hypothesis. I will withdraw it immediately.”

Locke approached us with a med kit, stopping occasionally to kick one of the little things away. He stopped when he came close enough to get a good look at us. “I can’t believe either of you survived that. You should have broken both your legs after your first fall.”

“I have carbon sheeting melded to my bones,” I said. “And we’re both more resistant to poison than most people.”

“I’d love to hear why,” Locke said.

“Maybe later,” I said. “What do we need to do to get the power plant back in order?”

“Once I give the all-clear, repair teams can move into the lower levels,” Locke said.

“Then do that,” I said, “And let’s get to a hospital.”

“Right away, Cain.” He turned away and started communicating with his people.

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