The Athena Operation (13 page)

CHAPTER 23: SNARE

Seraph was slowing gaining back his strength, but he was nowhere near his old self. Ret could tell that his exhaustion was more than physical; he seemed to have lost his resolve.

The crew, however, still saw Seraph as commander. Ret half-hoped that his presence would bring the team back to life. He knew it was time to consult Seraph about their next step.

“Sadhis and I have been talking,” Ret said. “If we’re going to hit Trini, we need to do it soon. We have to get the ship up and running. And we have to pull this team back together.”

Seraph nodded absently. He didn’t answer.

Kyla stood up from her spot in the corner and glared at Ret.

“We need to destroy Trini 5010. But it's too soon. We need to rebuild, we need to gain our strength, and we need to calculate this attack. This camp can hold out for a few more weeks while we plan.”

Ret glared back. “We just took out the Baryon. That’s one hell of a feat.”

“Our entire crew fell apart because of that! You want to hit Trini 5010? Talk about a fucking suicide run! Their guns will take you out before you can dock!”

“I stand with the kid,” Maxen said. “We attack.” He turned to Kyla. “Last night you told me that you stand to defeat the seythra, you want to kill them. Own your words. Let's fucking go.”

Ret and Kyla argued back and forth. Sadhis interjected to defend Ret. Maxen criticized Kyla. The chatter filled Seraph's head until he couldn’t think. He felt suffocated.

“Enough!” Everyone turned to look at him. “We may have destroyed the Baryon, but we can’t push forward. Look at us, there isn’t one of us who isn’t seriously fucked up. There’s no way we can launch an assault on Trini 5010; they’d mow us down. We’re fodder at this point. We’re no good to fight.”

Ret wrinkled his brow. “What? So that’s it?” He stepped up to Seraph. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “On Vidron we said we were going to fight this fuckin’ thing! No matter what! Under your command! Now you of all people want to quit?!”

Seraph thrust his mangled hand into Ret’s face.

“Does it look like I can fuckin’ fight?” Seraph shouted. “I’m a fucking cripple! Drever’s a mess! Maxen’s hurt! Vinnor quit! Kyla’s fucking arm is broken! Are you and Sadhis gonna do this thing alone? You’ve got three good legs between the pair of you!”

“Seraph, I-” Sadhis started.

Seraph shook his head. “No, he doesn’t realize how-”

“I do!” Ret shoved Seraph into the ship. “I know you’re fucked up. I was the only one dressing your fucking wounds! I watched after you because you’re the only one who can lead us through this! Now you fucking quit? Now?!”

“Give it up, Ret,” Seraph said. “It’s not possible. If we go to Trini 5010, we’re going to get massacred. What aren’t you understanding? We barely got off the Baryon alive.”

“You’re forgetting we blew the fucking thing up!” Ret felt like he was the only one who understood the severity of what they did. “We did that! You, me, and the crew! We took it out!”

“The kid’s got a point.”

Nobody expected Drever to be up, and through the arguing, nobody had noticed him stumble into the camp.

“Drever, you’re up,” Sadhis said. “Are you okay?”

Drever scoffed. “Do I look fucking okay? I haven’t heard most of this fucking bickering, but are we really fuckin’ considering giving this shit up?”

Seraph turned to Drever. “Have you seen us? We can’t fight, we can barely stay alive!”

Drever grabbed Seraph by the collar

“I’ve stuck with you this long, despite every damn conviction in my bones, because you’re doing something about what’s happening, and for once in my life, I can put all I’ve ever known toward something good. I didn’t buy into it. Not a single fuckin’ line of it. Not on Vidron or Danae. But when we took out the Baryon, you showed me we have a real fucking shot at ending this. I’ve been in and out of it the last few days. All I’ve thought about was getting back in the fight. Making this worth something. Now you’re telling me that I was right all along? We should run and hide? I was fucking wrong!” Drever tightened his grip on Seraph’s shirt, exhaling deeply. “Don’t you fucking dare give up on this. You can’t. You started something by blowing up that ship, something you can’t back out of.”

“Drever,” Seraph stared at him, hard. “It’s over. You were right. I’m sorry, but there’s no way we can win this. There just isn’t.”

Drever shook his head and released Seraph. He turned to face the rest of the group.

“So that’s it, then.” Drever shrugged. “No, fuck that. You guys want to quit, fine. But I’m finishing this fucking thing, and if that means I die trying, so be it. We are the single biggest threat to the seythra right now. Maybe the only one.” He glanced at Ret and Sadhis. “Sadhis, kid, you with me?”

Ret nodded. “I am.”

Sadhis cast another glance at Seraph, but Seraph’s expression hadn’t changed. Sadhis cast his eyes down and nodded. “Yes. Yes, I’m with you.”

“Then it’s settled,” Drever said. “Give me some time to figure this out. We need to fix the ship up, and then we need to get the fuck out of here. And soon.”

Over the next several hours, Drever focused on organizing the mission while Seraph and Kyla tried to plan for their stay on Jhalin. Not even Drever knew the precise layout of the planet, but he guessed the closest major city was about fourteen miles south.

The climate was becoming more and more of an issue. The humidity spiked and made them all dehydrated and exhausted.

Seraph and Kyla opted to move farther down the river, closer to the fresh water.

“I’m sure you’ll still be seeing a lot of us,” Sadhis said. “We’re not leaving for a few days. You’ve got time to change your mind.”

Seraph stared at Sadhis. “I’ve made up my mind. Really. But I appreciate the gesture.”

Sadhis grabbed a pistol from the pile Kyla had sorted and handed it to Seraph. “We’re a little low on ammo and supplies, but we can spare a pistol and an extra magazine. But it’s your call.”

Seraph nodded. “Thank you.”

Sadhis nodded back. “I’ll be down before the sun sets. I’ll bring whatever supplies we can afford to spare.”

Seraph and Kyla thanked Sadhis and headed off into the jungle.

Over the next several days, the crew began repairs on the ship. Sadhis, Ret, Maxen, and Drever worked tirelessly and managed to patch some of the holes with scrap metal. Even Vinnor, who was surprisingly mechanical, pitched in. Ret couldn’t help but feel like mechanics and medicine were the same to Vinnor, both grotesque fascinations. Even Vinnor’s reason for deciding to rejoin the crew was grotesque: he wanted to secure himself a seythra corpse to use as a cadaver.

After the third day of work, they settled down for the night, resting inside the ship. They shared a scarce meal. Ret looked around at the crew. “Hard to believe this is it, isn’t it? This is the end.”

Drever smirked. “Damn well better be. The seythra deserve to taste our fuckin’ bullets for a change.

Maxen agreed. “We’ve sat on our asses long enough.”

“You sure we’re going to be ready to go tomorrow?” Ret asked.

“No doubt.” Drever pointed at Vinnor. “All he said we have to do is re-secure the Knex Drive and make sure the engine isn’t fucked, and we should be good. She ain't gonna fly well, but she'll fly.”

A loud gunshot outside stole everyone’s attention. Drever pulled his pistol from its holster and put his back to the wall next to the door opening. A group of hooded figures appeared outside, but the heavy black rain distorted their view.

“Drever Khalis!” A loud voice bellowed.

Drever knew exactly who the voice belonged to and why the man was here.

“It’s the fucking Numinous,” Drever whispered. He cocked his gun. “Listen, I’m going out. Do not fucking come out. No matter what.”

Ret and Maxen went to stop him, but Drever slipped from the ship and didn’t look back. He trudged through the mud and came face to face with the hooded man.

Drever nodded. “Koval. It’s been a long time.”

The three hooded figures behind Koval locked their plasma rifles onto Drever.

Koval held up a hand. “Easy, boys. Drever here isn’t stupid enough to try and escape again. At least, I hope not.” Koval reached up and lowered his hood. Behind it was the face of an othal, decorated with white, tribal-like face paint. Koval looked older, but Drever thought he looked as strong as ever.

“You know why we’re here, Drever. So you can come with us the easy way, or the hard way. It’s your choice.”

Drever chuckled and raised his pistol. Koval’s men raised their rifles in return.

“Don’t worry, I’ve got an equalizer.” A moment passed, and he tossed it at Koval’s feet. “There. You’ve got me.”

Koval smiled. “All right, Drever. Now go convince the rest of your little group to surrender, and we’ll spare them.”

“Bullshit, Koval.” Drever took a step forward. “This is between you and me. They have nothing to do with it.”

Koval scowled. “Call them out and make them surrender, or by the Creator, I will go in there and kill every last one of them. You know I will.”

Drever kept his eyes hard, defiant. But he knew he couldn’t win. He knew that Koval had no limits. He’d seen him murder children, rape the dead, burn people alive. Koval and the rest of the Numinous believed their directives were handed down from the Creator, and they committed every act in his name.

Drever’s resolve crumbled. His face softened and he dropped his eyes. He turned back to the ship. “Come out, lay down your weapons. It’s over.”

Ret shot the group a questioning glance. His gut told him it was the wrong move; they can’t surrender. But if they opened fire, Drever would most certainly be gunned down, and then they’d be outnumbered.

“We have to do it,” Sadhis said.

Maxen exhaled deeply. “This is one fight we won't win.”

Vinnor shook his head violently. “Not a chance in hell! I’ve been a prisoner before. Not again! Shut up, shut up, shut up!” He covered his ears and continued to shake his head.

Maxen grabbed Vinnor and threw him out of the doorway into the mud. Sadhis then nodded to Ret and Maxen, and slowly stepped off the ship, hands raised. He tossed his pistol into the grass and fell to his knees. Maxen followed suit. After a moment of hesitation, Ret did as well.

“Is that everyone?” Koval asked.

Drever grunted. “Yes.”

Koval pointed at Sadhis, Vinnor, Maxen, and Ret. “Tie them up. Quickly. It’s a long walk back to Avalon. We need to move. Now.”

The hooded men moved over to the crew and tied their hands behind their backs with quick precision. The figures took up their rifles again and forced the crew to march forward.

As they left the crash site, Drever stole a glance at the ship behind him. Every instinct was pulling him back there, but he kept moving forward.

**

Seraph and Kyla were quick to react to the gunshot. They’d set up a decent little shelter for themselves under a large, fallen tree and they were in the process of skinning some foreign animal Seraph had killed.

After the shot rang out, Seraph and Kyla immediately headed for the crash site. Seraph’s first fear was another seythra attack, but he also couldn’t help worrying that the crew had turned their guns on each other.

As they approached the ship, Seraph and Kyla kept hidden in the foliage. They watched as hooded figures tied up Drever, Sadhis, Ret, and Vinnor and began leading them away. A large othal gave muffled commands.

Seraph turned to Kyla. The look on her face said it all: they had to help. Seraph nodded. He knew they were leading themselves into danger—into exactly what they’d meant to avoid. But refusing a futile mission was one thing. Sacrificing his friends to save his own skin was entirely different, and he couldn’t justify it.

They moved into the crash site after the group had been marched off. Seraph grabbed an extra pistol and stuffed it into his waistband and handed another gun to Kyla. He slung an assault rifle over his shoulder.

“Let’s move.”

He and Kyla made their way back into the jungle.

As the jungle grew thicker, Kyla momentarily entertained the idea of stopping and turning back. But her own conscience wouldn’t let her do that. She wouldn’t let herself abandon Seraph; he was the only person she had left, and in her condition, she couldn’t take care of herself anyway.

Seraph and Kyla slowed to a crawl as they came up behind the group.

Seraph knew he had to pick his spot, attacking the group out of the blue when there was only two of them wasn’t going to do anyone any good. He followed the group for an hour or so, until they finally reached a small village marked by an old sign that read “Avalon.”

The rain finally let up as they reached the village, and Koval led everyone into a central area a few buildings in. Seraph planted his back against one of the buildings and peeked around. The village was small, no more than six buildings total. Each building was marked with a sign like the one at the village entrance, with names like “Communication” and “Proposal.”