Orbs II: Stranded (18 page)

He closed his eyes and pulled himself up, sliding his chest onto the ledge. With half his body and the device still dangling behind him, he scanned the ground for anything useful. There was a small tree a few feet to his left. He could surely reach it, but was it strong enough to hold his weight?

The tree was definitely dead. It was possible the trunk would split like kindling if he put all of his weight on it, but he had no choice. He was beginning to slip backward.

He grabbed it with his gloved left hand. A bead of sweat dripped into his eye, but the burning pain didn’t discourage him. He squeezed his hand around the trunk and slowly pulled himself up. The weight of the weapon pulled him down.

Crack.

The trunk split right down the middle. The crack spider-webbed to the top of the tree, dry splinters exploding in his face as he kicked and struggled to pull himself up.

With one final heave, he slid his entire body onto the ledge and
dropped to his stomach, panting. The tree finally gave way, toppling over the edge of the cliff. He didn’t turn to watch it fall, but he heard the sound it made when it crashed to the ground.

Shit
, he thought. That could have been the sound of his bones shattering. With a deep breath, he pushed himself up and reached for his tablet, where Alexia had downloaded the safest route up the mountain. His hands came up empty. Panicking, he turned to look down at his belt, but the RVAMP blocked his view.

Kiel frantically unfastened the weapon and set it on the rocky ground. Twisting, he saw the empty pouch where he’d placed the tablet.

“What the hell?” he muttered, spinning to check the ground. Dropping to both knees, he crawled to the ledge and slowly peeked over the cliff. At the bottom was his shattered tablet. The crashing sound he’d heard moments earlier wasn’t just the tree.

“Fuck!” he yelled, his voice echoing over the valley.
What the hell am I supposed to do now,
he thought with his hands on his hips, glancing down at the RVAMP.

Sucking in a hot lungful of air he wiped another trail of sweat from his forehead. Above him, the rocky side of the mountain rose into the sky, reaching for the wicked white sun.

Just when he thought things couldn’t get any worse, a loud noise exploded out of the silence. He carefully turned to watch a drone racing across the skyline. Kiel instantly scrambled for cover.

When the craft passed he wasted no time. Grabbing the closest rock, he began climbing. He had a mission to complete, and there was no way he was going to let Overton and the others down.

CHAPTER 26

H
OLLY
stopped and stared at a strawberry they had missed earlier. The entire patch had been plucked clean, save for this single red fruit. She couldn’t help but see it as a symbol of something bigger—something she didn’t quite understand. Why had she survived and not others? Like the single strawberry, she had been saved while everyone she had ever known outside the Biosphere was dead, plucked and consumed by the alien invaders.

Brushing a strand of hair out of her face, she moved on, leaving the strawberry alone. She could see the children had climbed onto the platform and were standing in front of the door leading out of the Biome and into the cleansing chamber that the aliens had broken through weeks ago.

“What are you guys doing?” she yelled. She ran across the field, her boots squishing in the freshly irrigated dirt.

The children didn’t flinch. They just kept staring at something hidden from Holly’s view.

With a quick leap she jumped onto the platform and paced over to them. “What are you guys looking . . .” She gasped midsentence. The makeshift door they had used to cover the broken glass of the cleansing chamber hung to the side. Holly leaned closer to see the gap was small, so small that only a child would have been able to squeeze through. She could see through the space into the area beyond that led out of the biosphere and into the NTC offices.

Holly exchanged glances with both children. “Did one of you do
this?”

They shook their heads no in turn.

Holly believed them. She quickly herded the children away from the door. “Run. Run to the medical ward as fast as you can.”

David looked up at her with frightened eyes. “Why, what’s going on? And where’s Jeff?” he asked.

“I said run!” Holly clapped her hands and the kids took off across the platform, the sound of their footfalls echoing as they ran.

“Alexia, are you aware that the door to Biome 1 is compromised?” Holly shouted.

“Yes, Doctor Brown. Jeff removed the panel last night. He informed me that Sergeant Overton had ordered him to follow them to the Humvee.”

“What?”
Holly blurted.

“Jeff removed the panel . . .”

“I heard what you said.” Holly crouched down and looked into the darkness of the cleansing chamber. There was no sign of the boy. She grabbed the metal panel and placed it back over the cleaning chamber entrance.

Holly gritted her teeth. It was rare for her to get angry, but Alexia’s lack of oversight posed a major problem. If a kid could fool her, then she could easily be manipulated by anyone.

“Tell Emanuel I need his help in Biome 1,” Holly snapped.

“Certainly, Doctor Brown.”

If Holly didn’t know better, she would have thought the AI sounded almost hurt. But that was impossible. Alexia wasn’t a person. She was a machine.

Holly looked back over the fields, where just two days ago she had kissed Bouma. He was a strong and honest man. If anyone could protect Jeff, it was he.

Overton took a sharp left, tearing down a frontage road and sending chunks of rock into the air behind them.

“Take it easy,” Sophie said.

Overton replied by pushing down on the gas a bit harder.

A bump in the road jolted Sophie forward, and she grabbed for the handlebar attached to the ceiling. With her head tilted to the side, she could see the blue screen on the dashboard perfectly. The odometer read sixty miles an hour. Even in a Humvee, she knew this speed could send them into a ditch, or worse. The large tires were great for slower speeds, but on gravel they were dangerous.

She gripped the bar tighter as Overton sped up. “Sergeant . . .” Before she could finish her rebuke, the marine turned his visor and looked at her silently. He was officially losing it. She should have known better than to agree to the mission, let alone join it. But it was too late now. There was no turning back.

Sophie could see the highway in the distance. They were getting close, and a wave of relief washed over her. She wanted to get to the tunnels as soon as possible. Ever since she caught sight of the Steam Beast through Emanuel’s HUD footage, she’d been on edge. Their small team couldn’t hold up against another one of those creatures, especially not without the RVAMP to help them. Underground, the tunnels would be too small for the new creatures to fit. At least, that’s what Sophie was counting on.

Overton slammed on the brakes as they came up on the blacktop, jerking Sophie and Bouma to one side. She fumbled for the bar again but missed it and smacked her hand into the window. Something in the back of the truck made a loud thud, masking her cry of pain.

Overton looked over his shoulder. “What was that?”

Bouma was already looking into the backseat. “Uh, you’re going to need to see this for yourself.”

Overton eyed the skyline and then got out of the vehicle. He jogged to the trunk with Sophie right behind him.

With one swift motion, he yanked the door open to reveal a small body hidden under a pile of blankets and gear. “Shit,” he said, snatching the blanket off to uncover Jeff. The boy looked up at them, holding his hand to his head.

“You drive like crap,” he moaned.

“Ugh, goddamned kids,” Overton grumbled. “Get out of there. I
should fucking leave you out here for directly disobeying an order.”

“He’s not a marine, and you aren’t leaving him out here,” Sophie fired back, reaching for Jeff.

Overton glared at her again, his visor reflecting the bright sun. He shook his head and slammed the door shut once Jeff had jumped onto the dirt.

“Sit next to Corporal Bouma,” Sophie said, patting the kid on the back a little harder than she meant to. “Corporal, please take a look at his head.”

Jeff climbed in and sat quietly next to the marine. Bouma said, “It’s okay, kid. Just stay close to me.”

The boy nodded and fastened his seat belt just as Overton slammed his foot down on the gas, tearing onto the highway. Within seconds they were weaving in and out of the graveyard of empty vehicles.

Sophie grabbed the handle again. Every time she started to relax, she was slapped in the face with a new problem. Being her team’s leader in the old world had meant facing tough math equations or dealing with the fallout from a controversial paper, but in the new world every decision affected the lives of those she was so desperately trying to protect. That was the reason she had decided to come with Overton. She was responsible for these men, and if she was putting their lives at risk, then she had to be there to support them.

If Alexia was right and the weapon Emanuel designed could in fact take out fifteen square miles’ worth of aliens, then they had the opportunity to save countless lives—lives that would be invaluable to the resistance. But at what cost? Deep down she still wasn’t convinced the mission was a good idea.

In the distance, she could see the skyscrapers of Colorado Springs. They appeared to sway in the heat, their shiny metallic sides glistening under the scorching sun.

“One hundred and two degrees,” she muttered.

“What’s that?” Overton asked.

“The temperature. It’s one hundred and two degrees out there.”

“Shit. Kiel has got to be burning up on the mountain without a suit. I only saw him take two water bottles,” Bouma said.

“He’s been trained. He knows how to conserve his water,” Overton said. His helmet moved from side to side as he scanned the skyline for drones.

It was surprisingly quiet, but Sophie knew the silence wouldn’t last. She sat back in her seat, releasing her grip on the handle and watching the dead landscape race by them. There wasn’t a hint of green. What had been deep lakes were now post-apocalyptic craters, reminders of what had once been a leisurely place to have a picnic or take out a boat. And the empty streets and buildings were equally as eerie. It was as if they were entering a ghost town.

Ten minutes later, Overton eased the truck to a stop in front of a building. A sign dangled above it.

SUBWAY STATION E1
.

They were at their destination.

Captain Noble stood in the middle of the CIC. His eyes darted from monitor to monitor, studying the data that was slowly trickling in. The GOA had been sitting in silence for over two hours, with nothing but the random beep from a sensor or the sound of footsteps to break the anxiety of waiting. With every passing minute, he knew the chances of the Chinese making the rendezvous were diminishing.

Noble closed his eyes and sucked in a breath through his nostrils. He had to put the thought out of his head, just like he had done with the thoughts of his family. He was no good to any of his crew if he was distressed. Strength was the only way forward.

The sound of another chirp pulled his attention to the navigation station. The blue screen was obscured by the head of his first officer, Athena Lewis. He tapped her on the shoulder. “What do you have, Lieutenant?”

“Sir, we’re picking up some sort of signal in Colorado. Looks like it’s moving, too.”

Noble checked the monitor displaying the locations of the remaining Biospheres. Eight lights blinked. Another one had gone dark during the night.

Alaska.

“Shit,” Noble said, cracking his knuckles.

“Sir?” Lewis asked.

“Nothing. Can you narrow the location of the signal?”

“Working on it, sir.”

The captain looked back at the screen. Cheyenne Mountain was still online. Could this new signal be connected?

“Irene, tell Alex to report to the CIC.”

“Yes, Captain,” the AI replied.

Within minutes Alex entered the room, wiping sleep from his eyes.

“Tell me everything you know about the Cheyenne Mountain Biosphere,” Noble ordered, turning back to the monitor.

“I already have, sir.”

“Think harder.”

Alex shook his head. “There’s nothing . . .” He paused. “I told you about their weapon.”

The blue screen in front of Lewis flared to life, and a graphic of Colorado Springs burst onto the display. “Sir, the signal is coming from within the city. I started picking it up as soon as we deployed the radio mast.”

“And you didn’t tell me?” Noble asked, his voice agitated.

“Sir, I didn’t know what it was at first. We pick up strange signals all the time. Most turn out to be dead ends.”

The captain took a step closer. “My apologies. I didn’t mean to—”

“Sir,” she interjected. “That signal is definitely moving.”

Noble hunched over her terminal and watched a red blip inch across the screen. “I’ll bet they’re testing that weapon. Irene, notify the engineers in the vehicle depot. I want a helicopter prepped and ready within the hour. And notify the Special Forces team. They’re going for a ride.”

The captain looked over at Alex, who stared back at him in disbelief. “Finding you was like hitting the lottery,” Noble said, smiling. He slapped Alex on the back and headed for the doorway. “Richards, you’re in charge now. Prepare the sub to surface. I’m going with the chopper.”

Noble didn’t turn to see the shocked looks on his crew’s faces. He
disappeared into the hallway and made his way to his quarters. Inside, he grabbed the picture of his family, kissing it lightly.

“Time to make things right,” he whispered before placing it in his backpack. He glanced one more time at the space he had considered home for so long. With a smile, he shut off the lights and raced down the hallway toward the vehicle station. He was ready—ready to avenge his family.

A few doors down, Alex lay in bed with his hands folded behind his head, staring at the ceiling. He tilted his head to look at the blue screen. There were no beautiful jellyfish gliding across the screen, none of the fascinating deep-sea creatures that had mesmerized him before. Just . . .

Darkness
.

He closed his eyes and imagined the world Noble was heading into. The man had no idea what he was about to face. His prized periscope had shown him images, sure, but he’d never seen any of the aliens up close. Never seen an orb crack open and spill out human remains. Those were the images Alex had to live with—those were the things he couldn’t get out of his mind. He was still alive when everyone he had ever loved was dead.

The hum of some distant machine sent a chill down Alex’s spine. The noise reminded him of what he’d escaped. Closing his eyes, he pictured the horde of Spiders consuming the human remains in a neighborhood back in California. Squeezing his eyes tightly, the image changed. This time, he saw his friends inside the Biosphere as they were torn to shreds and then spun into orbs.

His eyelids snapped open when he heard a vibration rumble through the sub’s metal walls. It sounded liked something had smashed into the GOA’s side.

Alex sat up and listened.

Another tremor surged through the boat. And then another. Paralyzed with fear, Alex scrambled across his bunk and cowered in the corner of the bed. His hands shook at his sides as the noises grew in intensity.

Had the sea serpent Organics found them again? Or were these just phantom sounds in his mind?

He imagined the faceless head of the alien that had hovered in front of the camera. A shockwave of fear tore into Alex as he remembered the creature’s chest cavity cracking open to reveal those jagged teeth.

Crack!

Alex let out a small wail as the noise rang out. The metal wall behind him vibrated with the sudden noise. It sounded like it was coming from right behind him.

Shimmering reds swam before his eyes as he began to drift from reality. He could see the snakes ramming the side of the boat, their teeth glistening in the water, ready to devour him.

“No!” Alex yelled. “I won’t let you take me.”

Jumping off the top bunk, he grabbed the rope he’d swiped off a cart on his way back from the CIC. He tied the noose with careful precision, trying not to think about what he was about to do.

Behind him the banging continued. There were more of them now. Alex tied the rope faster. Then he pulled the chair out from under the small desk and stood on it to tie the rope around a metal pipe on the ceiling. He tugged it twice to make sure it was tight. There wasn’t going to be much room, with the ceiling only eight feet high.