The Ninth: Invasion (56 page)

“I guess Brent was right about them finding a new command structure,” Humphrey said in his low mumble, thinking aloud.  “I guess they do have organic Shards.”

“Not all the leaders are organic; at least they didn’t look that way,” Brent said.

“You met them . . .
all
of them?” Sanderson asked.

“Not in person, but effectively, yes.”

“I’m just glad you are okay,” Liz said as she started hugging him again.

“What am I supposed to do?” the navigation officer asked, obviously overwhelmed.

“Get the ship as close as you can to the docking port; they will do the rest,” Brent said in a calming voice.

“After that?”

“After we refuel we head to the next Shard depot, and then the next, and so on.”

“What’s our final destination?” the captain asked.

“The Shard hub world.”

The navigation officer was sweating as profusely as a malfunctioning shower while he moved the ship between the lumbering Citadels.  When they reached the depot, large mechanical arms secured the ship while tiny tubes and wires connected to the hull.  In only a few minutes, the ship’s jump capacitors were fully charged.  The bridge crew was obviously anxious as the large mechanical claws released the ship and they moved away to jump.

Brent tried not to laugh when he felt their relief at the sight of the Wall.  Their fear of the Citadels made them forget completely about their terror of the Wall.  Brent waited until after they had left the second depot before he left the bridge crew to their duties.  They were still nervous, but they had accepted the reality enough to not inadvertently start a battle with the lumbering Citadels guarding the refueling stations.

As he made his way off the bridge, the rest of the squad followed and took him back to their bunks.  As they went the ship jumped over and over.  What made jump travel so slow was the time it took to generate the energy for each jump.  With limitless energy at their disposal, the ship quickly jumped back to Commonwealth space, stopping at Shard depots for refueling as necessary.  Without having to wait for the ship’s generators to recharge the jump drive every time, they had turned a fifteen day journey into one lasting a little over a single day.  While the Wall intermittently passed through the ship, Brent tried to explain to the others what had happened to him on the icy world.

“If I hadn’t seen some of the stunts you’ve pulled with my own eyes,” Ronald said, shaking his head.  “I wouldn’t believe a word of it.”

“Well,” Cain said with a grin, “I’ve been with him from the start, and I barely believe it myself.  How did you know the Shard wouldn’t rip you to shreds?”

“Slasher,” Brent corrected.  “And I didn’t.”  He shrugged casually.  “I figured I was as good as dead anyway, so what was to be lost by trying something crazy?”

“So what were they like?” Liz asked.

“He’s told you about them already,” Doug said, mildly irritated.  “Ask him something new for a change.”

“Be quiet, Dougie,” Marie said, punching him lightly on the shoulder, “no one else minds hearing about the big bad leaders of the Shards again.”

“She’s right,” Tyra said as she leaned closer to Brent.  “I still can’t believe there are so many of them.  And that some are organic like us!”

“When someone says ‘Shard’ I think of those spinning tripods of death,” Rhea said with a pale smile, “not little girls and balls of light.”

“Just goes to show you not everything is so easy as black and white,” Dante said with a smirk.

“Don’t try to sound superior; you were just as surprised as the rest of us at first,” Cain said with a chuckle.  “Angela, what do you think about all of this?  You’ve been very quiet.”

“Brent’s worried about something,” she said in a melancholy voice, “something he doesn’t want to tell us.”

“What is she talking about?” Liz asked.

“I’m guessing from your tone of voice you’ve figured my secret out,” Brent said with a grin.

“Secret?” Kindra asked in alarm.  “What secret?”

“We’re not going with him,” Angela said with a weak smile.

“
What
?” Mahoney shouted.

“She’s right.  None of you can come with me to the Shard hub world.”

“Why not, sir?” Dante demanded.

“The Shards won’t attack other Shards.  As long as they think I’m one of them they won’t lay a finger, or blade, on me.  The rest of you aren’t so lucky.”

“So we have to watch?” Tyra asked with a hint of fury in her voice.

“Basically.  I’ve sent word to Eos, and they should be sending whatever ships are nearby, but I have to face Second alone.”

“Why is Eos sending ships?” Ronald asked.

“Because while I’m down there dealing with Second, the rest of you and whatever ships Alden has will be the only ones who can stop Second’s Citadels.”

“How exactly are we supposed to do that?” Humphrey mumbled.

“Second’s ships can attack our ships, but not the other Citadels.  If you position your ships to hide behind the other Citadels, Second won’t be able to fire on you.”

“In other words, we are a distraction so you can take Second off guard,” Cain said.

“Pretty much.”

“How do you plan on beating him?” Liz asked with obvious concern.

“I have no idea,” Brent said, smiling warmly at Liz.  “But that hasn’t stopped me so far.”

Liz forced a smile, but he could feel her worry.  In fact, he could feel everyone’s worry.  They didn’t think he could pull this off.  Brent reached out his right hand and patted Liz on the head.

“Don’t worry about me.  I just want to know you’ll all be here when I get back.”

The troopers all nodded.  The P.A. gave out its warning tone.

“We’ve reached the coordinates; you’ll want to see this,” the captain’s voice said.

Reaching the bridge, the troopers took in the incredible sight.  On the monitors were images of the Shard hub world at long range.  Uncountable numbers of Citadels jostled around in an apparent gridlock.  Second’s fleet was attempting to break through while the other Citadels hemmed them in.  The others were keeping Second from refueling or rearming and even preventing his ships from jumping out.  As soon as one ship would open a jump window another would move into the way.  Unable to cause harm to one another, both ships would veer away to avoid a collision.

“You’re going into that . . . alone?” Sanderson asked in awe.

“Don’t have any choice,” Brent said with a nod.  “It’s that or let Second wipe out whatever is left of humanity.”

“Some choice,” Humphrey mumbled, watching the throbbing mass of Citadels.  “I am
so
glad I’m not you.”

Rhea nudged Humphrey forcefully.

“What?” Humphrey mumbled confidently.  “I, for one, fully believe he’ll come back.”

“He has to,” Marie said, tapping Brent’s back lightly.  “I made him promise to never make Liz cry again.”

Liz giggled slightly as she hugged him.  He could still sense their concern.

“How exactly are you getting in there, sir?” Dante asked.

“The ship Third lent me, the one waiting in the cargo bay, has a short range jump drive.”

“So, I guess this is goodbye?”  The captain asked.

“For now.  Third should be sending you target data on which Citadels are Second’s.  When the rest of the ships show up, show them what you can really do.”

The captain nodded and saluted him.  The rest of the bridge crew quickly followed.  Brent caught himself before he started to bow and forced himself to return the salute.  The bridge crew had had enough of the Shard for one day.  He headed to the cargo bay with his friends following behind.  He could feel their fear surge as they spotted the waiting ship in the bay.  It looked exactly like a Citadel, only a tiny fraction in size – like a scale model.

“We’ll be waiting for you,” Tyra said with a forced smile.

“Hurry back,” Penny said as a tear rolled down her cheek.

“Don’t be so serious!” Cain shouted.  “Kick some tin can for us!”

“You can count on it,” Brent said chuckling.

As he entered the ship, Dante bowed to him like the tripod.  Imitating his movements, the rest of the squad bowed.  Brent smiled as he returned the bow.  When the hatch sealed, he took his seat.  Placing his hand on the wall, he readied the ship.  Through the ship’s sensors he watched as the others left the cargo bay.  Liz and Penny were crying.

Once the cargo bay was sealed, Brent departed.  Just before entering the Wall, he sent his transmission to Third.  Third would block the Commonwealth navigation network around the hub world.  Brent had never sent any message to Eos.  As the Wall passed over the small ship, he knew he was alone.  Whatever awaited him was for him to face.  As the tingling sensation of the Wall left him, he was content in the knowledge his friends would be safe.

Navigating through the massive Citadels was difficult, to say the least.  They would try to move out of his way in fear of damaging another Shard, but there wasn’t always somewhere else for them to move to.  Squeezing through whatever small gaps he could find, Brent traveled through layer after layer of gridlocked Citadels.  After a seeming eternity of dodging the moving ships and navigating the maze, he reached the hub world.  The ships that were docked had to belong to the others as they calmly sat obstructing the available ports.  He could only imagine Second’s frustration.  Unable to lay a finger on those that blocked him in, trapping him when he was so close to his goal.

Brent wondered how frustrated his friends must have been as well.  They must have realized by now he was the one responsible for Third’s blocking them.  Most likely they had contacted Alden only to find he was completely in the dark about their plan.  However, a little frustration was a small price to pay for safety.  Second was hemmed in, unable to lay a finger on them or anyone else.  Brent knew he had to hurry; the Forged wouldn’t be able to keep him that way forever.

Eventually, Second would manage to jump out a ship or two and relieve the gridlock.  It was impossible to say exactly how much time Brent had left, but he had a feeling it wasn’t as much as he would like.  Docking at one of the tiny docking ports deep into the structure, he entered the hub.  There were several unused ports this far in, but not a single one of them was large enough for Second’s Citadels to dock.

The architecture of the hub world was similar to Third’s base hidden under the ice.  Poor illumination followed Brent as he navigated the hallways.  Of course, the Shard had no real need for lighting.  Every Shard was linked and knew the exact layout of the area they were in.  Brent could tap into that data by placing his hand on a wall and thinking about a map.  It didn’t take long for him to figure out where Second was.  A large central chamber was transmitting orders almost constantly, no doubt Second attempting to steal control from the others and get his forces out.

Brent found it slightly odd that there were no Slashers patrolling the corridors.  Then again, with so many Citadels overhead, it wasn’t likely that the Commonwealth would be dropping ground forces any time soon.  There were the only two beings on the entire hub world and the fate of the Commonwealth depended on which one of them survived.  He checked his location again.  He was getting close to Second.

Brent pulled out his rifle and double-checked it.  Mahoney had also given him a few grenades that he clutched tightly.  Rounding the final corner, he silently snuck up behind Second.  His silver-toned hands were moving feverously over the console in front of him.  Brent edged closer and closer.  He could hear Second talking to himself, ranting at the betrayal of the others and emitting half-uttered sentences that made no sense.  He was almost close enough to use the grenades.

As Brent readied for his throw, Second froze.  Second’s hands became still and he went silent.  Slowly but surely, Second’s head started to turn.  Brent’s skin crawled as Second’s head turned completely around.  Second’s torso was still facing away from Brent while his head stared at him.  If Second had been organic, he would have just snapped his own neck.  The silvery lips curled up in a smile.

“So, you’re the one who’s going to stop me.”  Second’s voice didn’t sound right.  It didn’t sound anything like the image had back in Third’s lair.

The machine’s voice was a mix of random tones and inflections.  From one word to the next, he would shift randomly though emotions.  A word or two would be happy or even glad while the next one would be depressed or filled with rage.  Third was right; something serious had happened to Second.

“If you were counting on me not being able to hurt you, think again,
organic
.  I reject you as anything more than a pathetic worm.”

Second started moving his hand toward him.  Without hesitation, Brent tossed the grenades at Second.  Second instinctively caught the grenades as if they were playing a game of catch.  Second showed no emotion as the grenades exploded in his hands.  As the smoke cleared, Brent realized Second was gone.

Something wasn’t right, though.  Brent could still feel a strong presence of jumbled emotions.  Darting his gaze around, he searched for Second.  The sound of falling debris sent his eyes upward.  Second’s hands and feet were gripping the ceiling as the inhuman creature moved around like a spider.  The grenades had damaged some of his “skin,” and gears and other machinery were visible underneath with tiny sparks of light dancing around in unseen groves.  He realized the top half of Second’s torso was facing the wall, while his lower half was facing away.  Apparently, Second was able to completely rotate any part of his body.