Most of the others froze when they heard Vas shout his question.
Jane Bonumomnes swore.
She jerked on the bomb to get Gloria’s attention.
“What’s going on?” Gloria whispered.
“It doesn’t matter,” Jane hissed. “We have one job. Only one. It’s important.”
“But—”
“Vas is letting us know we have intelligent enemies. Get ready to shoot.”
They heard his voice, even louder this time. “How many—”
It was cut off, replaced by the sound of a weapon blast.
Jane had to tug on the bomb again. When Gloria turned away from the rest of the room, she tried to focus on the path in front of her and match Jane’s faster pace.
They were almost to the side room where the pool was. The sound of fighting had spread. Jane thought she heard a few voices she didn’t recognize, but it was hard to tell with the cacophony of inarticulate yells coming from the mob.
At least they aren’t watching us.
Jane hated herself for thinking that, but it was true. All the xenos were facing the center of the room. The edges had been mostly open before, but now she felt certain their way would be clear.
Then she saw a group huddled outside the door they were heading toward.
She slowed her pace but didn’t stop walking.
There were maybe eight or nine of them. None of them looked particularly aware or intelligent.
What are they doing there?
When Vas had described how the xenos were gathered together on the main floor of the warehouse, it had made sense. They were social creatures. They wanted to be around each other. So why would one group break away from the rest?
Orders?
Jane doubted it. The order to attack non-xenos would be obeyed, even by a simple mind, because it didn’t contradict any of their instincts, but Tennama had painstakingly explained that, if they weren’t fully developed, time and distance from the person giving the order would make a huge difference.
In that moment, the lightning ribbons of thought converged in her mind. The noise around them. New voices. Inarticulate yells—not the queen, that’d be too dangerous, but she’d want to protect her pool. Xenos liked to stay together…but they’re drawn to their leaders.
Gloria’s arm was yanked again when Jane dropped her side of the bomb.
“What—”
“That group! Kill them all!”
Gloria had to admire a woman who was so quick to follow her own advice. Jane had her e-rifle up and firing before the captain had enough time to process the order.
Gloria drew her e-pistol and started firing at the crowd in front of the door. Sounds to her side made her glance toward the center of the room. They were starting to get attention from the rest of the horde.
“All of them?” Turay asked. She hoped the biologist had been exaggerating. If they kept firing, they were going to be mobbed.
“One of them can give orders, and we don’t know which one!”
That settled it in Gloria’s mind. She definitely preferred them hesitating before they attacked.
The xenos from the group in front of the door charged. Jane ran into the middle of them. She’d seen the hand gesture, and she would find the one who’d done it.
So this is what it’s like, some part of her observed. Everything else…dissolves.
The rest of her vision was a blur, but right in front of her, in perfect detail, was the female xeno.
“It’s you!”
The woman looked at her.
Jane’s shot hit the xeno in the chest, tearing a hole through her entire body. The doctor had never been that close to it before. The terrible second seemed to stain the time around it. She didn’t know how long she stood there, rifle still raised. She might have stood there even longer, but then she heard a strange voice behind her.
“There were two of us by the door.”
Jane pivoted as she stepped away. The claws that had been aiming for her chest gouged through the flesh on her upper arm. Jane fired, but the blast hit the xeno’s legs. As he collapsed, Jane was dragged to her knees by the claws piercing her arm. She screamed without realizing it.
She dropped her e-rifle. It hung on its strap, forgotten, as she pushed at the arm attached to the claws, trying to dislodge them. She was furious—furious at how weak she seemed, how she pushed and nothing moved, furious at the fact those damn claws were still in her. They should have ripped out during the fall. It had hurt bad enough.
The corner of her eye was attached to the last shred of her sanity, and both warned her the xeno had another hand. When she caught a glimpse of white, she punched him in the face.
Jane was flying so high on adrenaline that she didn’t even notice how much her hand hurt.
“You can’t get away from me either, fucker,” she yelled.
Both of them raised their free arms again, but the xeno’s strike, aimed for her head, was stopped by someone grabbing his arm from behind. He didn’t get Jane’s memories. All he got was another faceful of a tiny, outraged fist. It was the last thing he knew before the e-pistol took off his head.
Turay dropped the xeno’s arm, grabbed Jane by the ribcage, and hauled. Jane screamed as she was pulled free from the xeno’s inert claws.
As if from a distance, she heard Gloria’s voice dimly in her ear. “I like you, Dr. Jane.”
Turay jerked open the door to the side room, pushed Jane inside, and threw the lock. Then she turned around.
“Oh no,” she groaned.
At least there were only five this time, and Jane was already pulling up her e-rifle. Turay didn’t know how much of a shot the doctor would be without a second arm—
Ah.
Scattering a billion shots all over the room apparently meant that some of them were bound to hit something.
Turay decided to take aim from behind the biologist.
Jane dropped to her butt at the same time the last xeno fell. Gloria could hear her breathing—oh, couldn’t she just. The woman took in great gulping hauls of air, one on top of the other. How could her little body hold it all? Eventually, her breathing slowed.
“Are they all dead?” Jane asked.
“Let me check.” Turay went from body to body. If they still had their heads, she shot them off.
When the captain returned, Jane tried to say, “The pool—” but she couldn’t finish. She was choked off by a rise of emotion swelling in her chest. Tears? Now?
War was even dumber than she’d thought.
She managed to say, “Check the pool. Don’t let any of it touch you.”
Turay nodded, then went toward the vat. She returned a minute later.
“It’s all still there as far as I can tell.”
Jane started laughing. “She didn’t—she didn’t think we’d get this far.”
“You’re in shock,” Turay said.
The doctor’s arm was bleeding. Badly. Gloria had her own wounds and injuries, but none of them were likely to kill her if left unattended. She looked around for anything she could use, but they had been separated from the nurse, and she had the first aid kit.
Turay pulled out her shirt. “Do we have anything to cut with?”
Jane fumbled around behind her back and drew out a battle knife. She held it up with a shaking hand.
Gloria was slow enough to take it, Jane looked up and caught sight of her expression.
“Alix makes me carry it,” Jane explained. “She taught me how to use it.” The biologist bit the inside of her lip until the tears retreated. “They were hunting me.”
Turay nodded, then put the knife tip to her shirt.
“Where’s the bomb?” Jane asked.
“You really are in shock, Doctor. You know where it is. Out there. With them.” There was a ripping sound.
“No! We have to go get it!”
Gloria took the clumsy strip of cloth she’d managed to tear free and put it around Jane’s arm. “If we open that door, we’ll die. We’re lucky we lived this long.”
“We need to destroy the pool!”
“What’s the hurry?! We’re safe.” Gloria’s eyes darted toward the door. The deadbolt was not the massive iron bar she would have wanted. “For now.”
“Ciro has orders to blow all the bombs if something goes wrong.”
The captain’s hesitation was a brief one. When she unfroze, she wrenched down on the cloth to make the knot as tight as possible. “Then we win, don’t we? All this goes up in one hell of a fireball. Including us! At least it’s better than being torn apart by aliens.”
Jane tried to stand, but only made it to her knees. She put her good hand up on the bandage. The dull pain was somehow comforting. She wanted to know her arm was still there, since she couldn’t feel her fingers anymore.
“I have no doubt the blast will kill us,” she said, “but there was supposed to be a bomb in this room! Without that, we don’t know if it’ll be enough to kill all the xenos in the pool!”
“Well, you’re the genius! Find a way!”
Jane wasn’t used to people yelling back at her. It shocked her into something close to her right mind. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, then opened them to look around.
Vas had described the room to them, but Vas wasn’t very exact. She had to hope he’d missed something. Otherwise, they would probably die without finishing the job.
God, I hate incomplete projects.
The vat he’d told them about was there. The size of the room was right. Even the six heavy machines were there…as were their wires, lacing across the ceiling.
He’d forgotten to mention those.
“Gloria, do you know anything about electric wiring?”
“I can do basic repairs to my ships. Otherwise…” Turay shook her head.
Jane grabbed onto the captain, who helped her to her feet. “Do you know which ones are dangerous?”
“Yeah. The big yellow ones. The ones with ‘danger—do not touch’ printed around the coating. They like to make those easy to find so you always feel kinda tempted to mess with them.”
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
“And they’re always yellow?”
When Jane pointed to the ceiling, Gloria followed the line of her finger. The two women turned to each other.
“Dr. Jane, is it possible to electrocute those things?”
“It most certainly is, Captain.”
“And it’ll kill them?”
“Low frequency will screw with the membranes. High frequency will wreck the proteins. We win no matter what.”
“I need part of your shirt.”
“What?”
“If we’re going to do the slow striptease while using up the only material we have, we’re taking turns. My shirt—your bandage. Your shirt—” Turay took the hem that Jane was holding out and slashed through the cloth— “a little extra insulation.” She wrapped it around the knife hilt. “Come on.”
Jane followed her. “You know where we’re going?”
Turay pointed up without raising her head. “See the walkway?” She didn’t wait for an answer. “Never make anything mechanical if you can’t reach it. It’ll break down someday.”
“Gloria, that doesn’t look very stable.”
“It’s what we’ve got, Doctor.”
By then they had arrived at the ladder leading up to the walkway. It was hidden behind the heavy machines. Considering how delicate it appeared compared to the bulky things around it, Jane wasn’t surprised she’d missed it before. It wasn’t metal, which made sense considering it was probably for working with the electric wires, but the biologist wasn’t comforted by that fact. Metal would’ve been more stable than the plastic?…fiberglass?…whatever they had used.
“I don’t know if I can climb that,” Jane admitted.
“I need you to try.” Out of the corner of her eye, Turay saw Jane reach up to touch the bandage again. The captain stopped with one foot on a rung. “Jane.” When the doctor looked at her, she said, “Can you try?”
Dr. Jane must have found some thought to give her courage. Gloria watched her expression harden.
When the biologist raised her head, she offered a fierce smile. “It’s better to die trying, isn’t it?”
Turay smiled back. “Every day.”
Turay climbed up first.
The climbing wasn’t as bad as Jane thought it would be. Her injured arm was clumsy, and she hated to rely on it for strength, but it got her to the top of the ladder without incident. Once she was there, it didn’t take long for her to realize, in the normal course of events, only one person was supposed to be up there at a time. The groans coming from the thin support rods were ominous, and even though Turay was crawling forward on hands and knees, like her, Jane could feel the walkway sway with each movement.
When they made it over the vat, Jane risked a glance down. Even in the dim lights, the silver-white xenos gleamed back at her. It was beautiful.
She forced herself to look at Gloria. The captain had turned around so their heads were close.
“I don’t think any of the loops are long enough,” Jane said.
Turay sat on her heels and stared up at the ceiling. “Then we’re going to have to unhook part of the wire.”
“I’m not tall enough.”
Gloria’s smile was bright with amusement, but she refrained from laughing. “No, sweetie, you’re not.” Trembling, she rose to her feet. “But I might be.”
Jane had to close her eyes and hold tight to the edges of the walkway as the captain stood up.
Why did they always make the floor of a walkway a grate? It was full of holes; you could look right through them! It served no purpose.
“Doctor?”
Jane looked up and saw Turay’s extended hand. She took it and allowed herself to be pulled to her feet. The tiny rail meant to keep her from plunging to her death made a loud thuck sound when her hand slapped onto it.
“You have it?” Turay asked.
Jane nodded.
The captain went on, “I’ll climb up—”
“Climb up?”
Turay waited for further objections, but there were none. “I’ll climb up to unhook it. I just want you to hold the wire.”
Jane nodded again.
Turay took a hold of one of the support rods, put her foot on the safety rail, and pulled herself up so she was standing on it. It bowed slightly, even under the captain’s modest weight.
“I get the feeling this was not how the designers intended that to be used,” Jane said.
“Doesn’t matter. It’s how we’re going to use it.”
Turay reached for the yellow-coated wire closest to the vat. At her touch, the thing slid an inch away. The rattling of the ball-bearings sounded like mocking laughter. Turay cussed, then leaned out again. This time she batted the wire toward herself. It slid closer with the same ease.
Once it was in hand, she pulled it toward the walkway. Jane grabbed on to it.
There was a loud crash against the door below them. After their initial start, both women ignored it.
Gloria reached up and grabbed the skate the wire was hooked to. She felt around with her fingers, trying to figure out how it was locked in place. When that failed to yield any useful knowledge, she jerked on the cord. The skate itself moved easily, but the cord it was holding didn’t budge.
Turay had to lower her arm. “No good. I’m going to have to cut it out.”
Jane said nothing.
“Hold on to the wire for me. Make sure it doesn’t hit us. Can you do that?”
“Will it electrocute us?”
“I don’t know! Do you?”
After a short pause, Jane said, “I’ll hold it.”
“Thank you.”
Gloria wrapped her arm around the support rod and curled herself as close to it as she could. When her elbow and shoulder were locked in place, she grabbed one side of the wire hanging down from the skate and passed it to her other hand. She pulled it close and held it fast. As an experiment, she pressed on the upper part of the wire with her free hand. The skate hardly moved.
She reached down to her belt and pulled out the knife Jane had given her. Her arm shook as she raised it; she couldn’t tell if it was from exhaustion or nerves. After carefully placing it at the edge of the skate, she wrenched her arm, cutting through the wire in one slice.
The sudden lack of pressure when it snapped away caused Turay to lose her grip on the knife. There was a dull clang when it hit the side of the vat below.
Jane hadn’t been ready either. The wire yanked itself out of her hands as it swept down in an arc. When the cut end neared the pool’s surface, for a fraction of a second, there was a loud buzz, as if a bee the size of a bus was warning them away. A hot line of light ran across the silver-white liquid, but the weight of the swinging wire pulled the end to the edge of the vat. There was another clank as it hit the side, then it was whipped away.
The two women stared, horrified, at the wire dangling a foot outside of the vat.
“Okay,” Jane said. “At least we know it should work.”
Turay almost lost her grip when another series of crashes beat against the entrance. “I want to know what shithead keeps knocking at my door!”
“One thing, Gloria. One thing. Can you reach the wire?”
Turay tried, but it was too far away from the support pole. She told Jane to hold on to something, then jumped down from the rail.
For all its groaning, the walkway held.
She and Jane moved until they were once again in line with the dangling wire. Turay leaned as far over the rail as she safely could. When that wasn’t far enough, she stretched further. Her balance wavered, and she lurched back so she wouldn’t fall.
“Not happening.”
Jane grabbed the rail. “We don’t have time for this.” She threw one leg over, then the other.
Turay grabbed her wrists while Jane held the rail and leaned out over the empty space.
“How far?” Jane asked.
Turay wasn’t willing to move, but she tipped her head to the side to try to get a better look. “Four inches?”
Jane pulled herself back to the rail. She didn’t bother grabbing on to it with her injured arm. She didn’t want to find out she couldn’t. “We have to do this.”
“I can hold you.”
“What if I fall?”
“We’re going to die anyway, Doctor. At least you won’t suffer long.”
“All right. Let’s go.”
Turay took Jane’s good hand by the wrist while the doctor quickly shuffled her grip from the rail to Turay’s forearm. The captain leaned back to brace herself against Jane’s weight. Jane reached out again. One of the doctor’s feet left the edge of the walkway and floated out with nothing to stand on. With exaggerated care, Jane opened her fingers. She didn’t close them again until she felt the wire bump against her palm.
“I’ve got it!”
She yanked it back toward the walkway. Her exultation vanished when she felt the sole of her boot skid off the edge.
Jane was too scared to scream, but Turay let out a shout as she was jerked against the rail. There was another cry of pain, but the glorious admiral didn’t let go.
Dr. Jane hooked her fingers in the grate holes she’d cursed before. “Hang on, I can climb up.”
“No time! Get the wire!”
Jane wasted a moment looking at Gloria. The captain’s face was screwed up in pain and her teeth were bared, but she had sounded determined.
With a sick feeling billowing in her stomach, Jane let go of the walkway. Turay grunted. Jane reached out with her foot, hooked the wire with an ankle, and dragged it closer.
Once it was in hand, she pulled it over the open vat. The wire struck the outside, but it was long enough that no matter how she pulled, she couldn’t get the end to go in. She screamed with frustration and let go. Before the weight of the end had time to drag the wire away, she whipped her arm down to grab it again, lower this time. Ignoring the agony in her arm, Jane dragged the heavy length of wire up past her shoulder. The end finally cleared the top of the vat.
There was another speck of time where they could see the line of light and hear the buzz of the bus-sized bee. Then it sank into the pool.
You couldn’t hear it. There was nothing much to see, but Jane could smell it.
“It’s done.”
She felt Turay trying to lift her and twisted around so she could help. When Jane collapsed onto the walkway, she thought she’d never felt anything so stable and welcome.
She let out a breathy laugh. Turay joined in.
“Nicely done, Doctor.”
“Nicely done yourself, Captain.”
“Call me Gloria, please. How’s your arm?”
“I want to shoot if off.” Jane felt her hair catch in the holes as she shook her head. “It doesn’t matter.”
In the silence that followed, neither bothered to mention why it wouldn’t matter.
“Do you want to stay here?” Gloria asked.
“I wouldn’t mind getting back to a little solid ground.”
Turay helped her to her feet. Walking on the walkway didn’t seem intimidating anymore.
Jane was all the way back on the ladder when Gloria said, “They’ve gone quiet.”
It took the biologist a moment to realize what that captain meant. Then Jane looked over at the door. It was, indeed, silent.
“The fighting’s over,” Jane said. Her heart started to moan.
She forced her attention to return to the ladder she was climbing down. Each movement had suddenly become a wildly complex thing. Release the bar. Move your hand down. Grab the bar.
“Do you think most of the bombs are where they need to be?” Turay asked.
Jane didn’t answer until she was standing on the floor. “I think it’ll be all right. It depends on if they got all the advanced xenos before…the fighting stopped.”
The captain was used to living on ships; she slid down the ladder in a second. “Maybe some of the others got out.”
That was an Adan line. Jane wasn’t an optimist, but she wouldn’t steal the hope from Gloria by saying anything. Besides, maybe someone did get out. She didn’t know.
“Do you want to try to escape?” Turay asked.
Jane couldn’t speak. She had to shake her head.
Gloria sighed through her nose. “Me neither. As long as they don’t come in, I vote we stay.”
The captain tugged Jane to the nearby wall. The two women sat on the floor, side by side, and leaned back. Turay put her arm around the smaller woman. Jane tucked her head against the captain’s shoulder. They really didn’t know each other well enough for this, but neither cared. A few seconds of silence passed.
“All my life, I’ve been a criminal,” Turay mused. “Now I’m going to die a hero. Do you think anyone will know?”
“I will.”
Jane felt Gloria’s shoulder shift as she huffed. “Fat lot of good that’ll do me.”
“It’ll do you as much good as anyone else knowing.”
The captain couldn’t argue with that.
“Do you have any regrets?” Jane asked.
“I regret not sleeping with that damn Jun Fenn.”
Jane laughed.
She was still laughing when Gloria said, “But I’m pretty sure that man is only turned on by justice.”
“And you’re a criminal?”
“We would have made such a terrible couple. What is wrong with me?” Turay sighed. “Oh, well. Too late to figure that out. What about you? Any regrets?”
Jane wiped her eyes one after the other. “I wish I’d kissed my stupid boyfriend one last time.”
“You mean that cute little computer boy?”
“Hey! He’s taken.”
“Not for long.”
A mess of tears and laughter followed. Jane shivered as she pulled her legs up to her chest. And the pain! She’d never hurt so much in her life.
“Do you love him?” Turay asked.
Jane squeezed the bandage on her arm. Blood had already soaked through. “I don’t think I told him enough. My stupid, idiotic, wonderful puppy. He’s so funny.” She pressed her eyes shut. “Do you think he’ll be okay?”
Turay could picture him, sitting at the computer, a hand hovering over the command key. She almost asked Jane if she thought he could do it, but she stopped herself.
They weren’t huddled together because they wanted honesty.
“I think he’ll be okay, sweetie.”
Both of their heads jerked up when the pounding of metal filled the room. There was a brief silence, then it sounded again.
“Are they trying to come in?” Jane muttered.
Turay stood up and drew her e-pistol. “Come back with a warrant, assholes!”
“Where’s my rifle?”
“Back where I treated you.”
Jane grabbed Turay’s arm and pulled herself to her feet. The two women stared at the door, but as the metallic hammering resumed, they slowly turned toward the high windows on the outside wall, covered by the containment doors. Most of the windows were open by at least an inch. The xenos must have wanted some air.
There was one last loud crack, then one of the shields rose by an inch.
A muffled voice bled through the small opening. “Dr. Jane!”
Jane stumbled forward. “Vas! You’re alive!”
“Of course, I’m alive! What the hell kind of statement is that? Did you think I would die?”
Turay and Jane were close enough now, they could see three hands pulling on the shield. There was some muttering they couldn’t make out, then each knuckle turned white as Vas and Fenn heaved the shield up further. Vas shoved the window aside while Fenn reached down into the room.
“Gloria, I’m glad to see you’re alive.”
“Fuck you, Jun Fenn. Would it have killed you to at least smile when you said that?” She pushed Jane toward Fenn’s hand.
The sheriff took one arm. Vas took the other. They didn’t even need Turay’s help, but she still lifted the biologist by the waist. Jane rose into the open air. There was starlight, darkness, and a breeze that shifted the dust at her feet.
Jane barely had time to take it all in before Turay was hauled out as well.
The moment Turay was steady on her feet, she said, “Where’s Donny?”
“You mean Hench?” Vas asked. “He’s back with Wyss and Davis.”
“We all made it?”
“Dr. Jane, I really wish you wouldn’t sound so surprised.”
Fenn took Turay’s elbow to guide her out from between the buildings. “Davis and Wyss are both hurt. The doctor is hurt bad, but Mr. Henchman acquitted himself very well.”
“You?” Vas said to Jane.
“The xeno pool is dead.”
The captain accepted this fact with a single nod. He didn’t bother asking why or how; there would be time for that later. He noticed the bandage.
“Your arm?” he said.
“Stabbed.”
When Jane stumbled, Vas threw her good arm over his shoulder. “Wyss isn’t paid enough to deal with us.”
They were clear of the whole warehouse block before Jane saw the huddle of shadows hidden in the empty desert. As they got closer, she started to make out shapes and voices. Davis was conscious, but only because of the stimulants he’d insisted Eve give him. He was now barking orders at Donny Henchman as the man tried to help Wyss. Turay knelt down to give him a hand.
Jane had to stop when Vas stopped. She didn’t think she could stand without his support. He turned around so they were both facing the building, then he pulled Fenn’s phone from his pocket.
“Okay, Ciro, we’re all safe and clear. Light it up.”
From the phone, Jane heard Ciro’s beloved voice: “Merry Christmas to one and all!”
The blast made the sand under their feet shiver. Fireballs squeezed out from the building’s seams.
When the ringing in Jane’s ears stopped, she pulled Vas’s hand toward her and said into the phone, “I love you, Wonder Boy.”
“I love you too, Jane.”
Vas caught her as she slithered out of his grip and laid her down on the sand. Before he could straighten up, Wyss crawled over to see what the problem was. Vas decided to let her take care of it. He turned back to watch the wreckage burn.
A figure stepped up to his side.
“Do you think that was all of them?” Fenn asked.
“All of them in that building. If there are any left on the outside, we can take care of them later.”
“Turay and Dr. Jane—”
“Both are injured and there’s no sign of transformation.”
Fenn nodded. It wasn’t an ideal test, but it was effective. “Eve says the med-kit back at the hideout has what she needs to treat Davis, but we have to get him back there before we go arrest Ciro. Then I’d appreciate it if you’d come with me to my office. I want someone to watch my back.”
“Lynx is guarding the ships, Fenn. I promise you, no one’s getting out that way.”
“It’s not that.” When Vas turned to face him, Jun motioned to what was left of the warehouse. It was mostly smoke. “You just know some idiot’s going to call the sheriff. I had better be there.”