Earthfall: Retribution (15 page)

‘Don’t,’ Jay said.

The soldier ignored him, swinging his own rifle up and leaving Jay with no choice. He fired just once and the soldier fell, dead before he hit the ground.

Jack jumped up from behind the crate and ran over to the other soldier, the man’s blood-slick hands fumbling with the release of the holster on his hip. Just as the soldier drew the pistol, Jack slammed the butt of the sniper rifle into the side of his head, knocking him out cold.

‘You OK?’ Jack asked, glancing over at Jay, who was standing looking down at the dead man at his feet with a deep frown on his face.

‘Yeah,’ Jay replied, running his hand over his head with a sigh. ‘Just never killed someone before.’ There was a world of difference between gunning down Voidborn monsters and taking another human life, even if he hadn’t had a choice.

From the other end of the street they heard the sound of the idling helicopter’s engines start to increase in pitch.

‘Come on!’ Jay yelled, turning and running headlong down the street towards the helicopter that was preparing to take off. He reached the bottom of the loading ramp and raised his rifle to his shoulder, aiming down the passenger compartment. At the far end a figure sat in shackles with a black bag over his head. Jay walked quietly towards the figure, passing by without saying anything, heading for the cockpit. He stepped inside the cramped compartment and the pilot half turned as his shadow fell over him.

‘Don’t move,’ Jay said. The pilot didn’t hesitate, going for the pistol in the holster strapped to his chest. Jay swung his rifle butt, bringing it up under the man’s chin, his head snapping backwards as he slumped sideways in his flight seat, out cold. ‘No, seriously, don’t move,’ Jay said, shaking his head.

‘Jay, there’s something wrong,’ Jack yelled, ‘come quick.’

Jay jogged back down the compartment, past the slumped shackled figure and out on to the street. Jack was standing next to the odd-looking girl who had gone toe to toe with the Vore just a couple of minutes earlier and staring up at the Mothership. Craning his neck, Jay looked up at the massive vessel above him as the yellow lights on its surface flickered out, one by one, being replaced by glowing blue streams of energy.

‘What the hell?’ Jay said, as slowly the Mothership began to do something he had never seen it do before. It began to move.

‘What’s going on?’ Jack said.

‘Nothing good,’ Jay replied. ‘Sam’s up there with Stirling and Rachel – they were taking Mason to see the Mothership.’ He couldn’t be certain what was happening, but he was willing to bet that it was more than just a coincidence. ‘There’s no way that they’d move the Mothership without letting us know first. Something’s wrong – we have to get on board.’

‘How the hell are we going to do that?’ Jack asked.

‘Um, isn’t that a very large helicopter behind you?’ Mag said, pointing over Jay’s shoulder.

‘Slight problem,’ Jay said, looking back up the ramp leading inside the Chinook, ‘I just knocked the pilot out cold.’

‘Well, that’s a bit more than a slight problem, Jay,’ Jack said, ‘since none of us can fly this thing.’

‘I can,’ a voice said from somewhere behind Jay. Jay spun round, startled. He’d assumed that the hooded figure sitting slumped against the bulkhead had been unconscious. He walked over to the prisoner and pulled the bag off his head. The man beneath the hood had a mop of curly brown hair and quick, intelligent eyes that darted from Jay’s face to Jack’s and then Mag’s.

‘You serious?’ Jay asked with a frown. ‘Can you get us up to that thing?’

‘I can get us up there,’ the man replied, ‘but whether we can do anything to stop what’s happening, well, that’s another question.’

‘What do you mean?’ Jay asked with a puzzled frown.

‘I rather fear that a lunatic has just taken control of that vessel,’ the man replied, looking Jay in the eye, ‘and he means to use it to defeat the Voidborn once and for all.’

‘That doesn’t sound so bad,’ Jack said.

‘Oh, and kill nearly every last human being on the face of the planet in the process,’ the man replied calmly.

‘OK,’ Jack said, ‘that
is
bad.’

‘How do you know all this?’ Mag demanded.

‘Because I used to work with him,’ the man replied, ‘until I realised the lengths he was prepared to go to achieve his goals.’

‘OK,’ Jay said. He knew they didn’t have time to sit around debating this. He had no idea how long they had before the Mothership would be out of range of the helicopter. ‘Where are the keys for your cuffs?’

‘I think one of the guards had them,’ the man replied.

‘Jack,’ Jay said, and his friend nodded and sprinted back down the loading ramp and down the street towards the fallen soldiers.

‘This is Mag and I’m Jay,’ Jay said, quickly introducing them to the stranger, ‘and the guy who just went to find the keys is Jack.’

‘Pleased to meet you,’ the man replied with a nod. ‘My name’s Shaw, Daniel Shaw.’

Adam, Nat, Anne and Liz watched as the soldiers that had been sitting in silence in the common room for most of the day suddenly gathered their equipment and filed out of the room without a single word.

‘Where are
they
going?’ Adam asked.

‘No idea,’ Liz said. ‘They sort of give me the creeps.’

‘I know what you mean,’ Nat said, taking a sip from her mug of tea. ‘I’ve heard of the strong, silent type, but that’s ridiculous.’

‘Guys, you have to see this,’ Will said, running across the room with a panicked expression on his face. ‘The Mothership’s leaving.’

‘What do you mean it’s leaving?’ Anne said, frowning.

‘I mean, it’s moving,’ Will said, ‘
away
from here. You’d better come and have a look for yourselves.’

The five of them hurried outside. Above them the Mothership was moving slowly, but gathering speed, the parabolic dishes that covered its underside glowing with a blue light. On the other side of the compound the soldiers were filing on board the helicopter, whose enormous dual rotors were slowly starting to spin.

‘What on earth is going on?’ Will said, staring up at the giant vessel as it glided over them with a deep, almost subsonic rumble.

‘Hey!’ Adam shouted, running after the nearest of the soldiers. ‘Where are you going? What’s happened to the Mothership?’

The man ignored him, never breaking step as he marched towards the helicopter. Adam put a hand on his shoulder and the soldier whirled around, delivering a vicious backhanded blow to his jaw that sent him to one knee, clutching his mouth. The soldier then turned and followed the rest of his comrades up the loading ramp and on to the helicopter. The ramp whirred shut and closed with a solid-sounding thud, and the helicopter’s turbines began to roar as the pilot applied power for take-off.

‘Are you OK?’ Nat asked, helping Adam to his feet as they all retreated from the ferocious down draft from the helicopter as it lifted into the sky.

‘I’m fine,’ Adam said, looking angrily at the departing chopper. ‘I’ve got a bad feeling about this. I think we’d better get to the armoury.’

‘Where on earth is everyone going?’ Anne asked, staring up at the helicopter and the departing Mothership. ‘Where are the others?’

‘Jack and Jay are out on patrol,’ Liz replied. ‘I have no idea where Sam and Rachel are.’

‘Oh God,’ Nat said quietly, ‘they went to the Mothership with Stirling and that guy Mason.’

‘You know that bad feeling of yours?’ Will said to Adam, looking apprehensive. ‘I’m starting to think it might just have been spot on.’

‘Come on,’ Nat snapped, running towards the armoury.

The others followed, jogging across the compound towards the heavy steel doors. Suddenly the Grendel that patrolled the compound blocked their path and roared. They froze as the giant creature gave another bellow and strode across the compound towards them, its long blade-tipped tail whipping from side to side as it flexed its knife-like claws. Its eyes glowed an unfamiliar shade of bright blue.

‘RUN!’ Anne screamed. Shaken from their terrified daze, they turned and sprinted away from the charging creature. Nat’s first instinct was to run towards the nearest available building, but she knew that the flimsy prefabricated walls would provide little protection. She looked to her left and felt a sudden moment of hope as she spotted the looming shadow of the weird twisted building that housed the inactive Voidborn drilling platform.

‘The Voidborn construct!’ Nat yelled. They sprinted towards the darkened structure, looking for an opening that would lead them deeper inside, somewhere beyond the reach of the Grendel. The main entrance was sealed shut and without the Servant it would be impossible to open. Their only hope was the fact that the Voidborn had not had time to complete the building.

‘Up there!’ Anne yelled, pointing at a narrow gap in one of the incomplete walls. The four of them scrambled up the sloping matt-black slabs of the construct’s surface, their boots fighting for purchase. Nat was the first to reach the opening, pulling herself up and over the edge with a grunt, Liz right behind her. She spun round and looked back down the wall just in time to see the Grendel reach the bottom, only a dozen metres below Adam. The massive creature slammed its claws into the blackened surface, slowly dragging itself upwards, making up for its lack of agility with sheer brute strength.

‘Adam, move!’ Nat yelled when she saw the creature reach up towards him, missing his feet by just a metre or two. Anne and Will hauled themselves over the edge of the opening as Adam scrambled up the last few metres. He pulled himself over the edge and glanced back down at the Grendel, which was still making relentless, crunching progress up the wall.

‘Go!’ Adam yelled. ‘Get further inside! It’s right beh—’

The tip of the Grendel’s tail speared into Adam’s back and emerged from his chest, glistening with blood. Adam made a single startled gurgling sound, his eyes wide with shock, and then the Grendel’s tail flicked backwards, tossing his body away through the air like a rag doll, disappearing into the darkness.

‘ADAM!’ Nat screamed. She took a step forward to go after him, despite every rational instinct telling her there was nothing she could do. He was gone. A moment later one of the Grendel’s massive claws slammed down on the edge of the opening in a cloud of black dust. Nat staggered back towards the others who were pressed against the firmly sealed door at the far end of the narrow corridor.

There was nowhere to run.

The Grendel could not fit into the narrow gap, its outstretched claws snapping closed a few metres short of the group of panting, terrified children. It slammed into the structure, clawing at its outer surface, but the Voidborn materials were too strong. It could not batter its way in after them. A hideous black tentacle came squirming out of an opening in its wrist and slid blindly across the floor towards them. They all retreated as far back into the opening as they could, their backs pressing against the door. They watched in horror as it slid closer and closer, its sharpened tip weaving through the air just a metre from their terrified faces.

Suddenly the tentacle froze and then withdrew, and they heard the Grendel stomp away across the compound. In the distance, Nat could hear the unmistakeable sound of a helicopter, getting louder all the time.

The Chinook raced low over the rooftops of London, heading for the resistance compound.