Still seven more, and they would be landing in under a minute.

  While Jennifer remained singularly focused on the transports, the enemy starfighters finally abandoned pursuit of the drone to chase her. Clearly, Koth wanted as many of his armored soldiers on the ground as badly as she wanted to kill them in the air. Hits to Foresight’s shield doubled. It didn’t take long for Frank to begin emitting a warning that the web of energy protecting the ship was rapidly draining away. She couldn’t expect the shields to hold up forever.

  Targeting two ships at once, Jennifer fired the spines again, the ion beam cutting through them both and breaking them apart just as another enemy shot struck the shield near Foresight’s tail. Warning tones sounded in response, the energy beam penetrating already weakened shields and directly connecting with the hull.

  “Shit,” Jennifer snapped. Five transports remained, but she couldn’t stay on them without risking Foresight. What good would it do to save her friends if they all wound up stranded here? “Sergeant Card, do you copy?”

  He didn’t answer. She was still out of range.

  Another plasma blast made it past the shields to the hull, drawing another complaint from Frank. Jennifer took one final pot shot at the transports, managing to damage one. It wobbled and then began corkscrewing wildly before vanishing into the clouds. It was Jennifer’s cue to bank in the other direction, away from the starfighters.

  There were still four transports heading for the ground. Even if there were only twenty armored soldiers on board each, it would be eighty against nine.

  Then again, they had Dag and Max. Maybe the odds weren’t as bad as she feared.

  The enemy starfighters stayed on her tail as she pulled up, grunting from the effects of the G-forces. She needed to get back to the landing zone, but there was no way that would happen with so many bogeys on her six. Glancing at the grid, she found the Swarm still engaging nearly half the enemy fighters, the drone already having taken out over half a dozen Relyeh targets.

  “Swarm, I need these fighters off my tail,” she said, doing her best to lose them and failing badly. She wasn’t Nicholas, not by a long shot.

  The Swarm altered its vector, racing back toward her. She adjusted her course too, turning and pulling back on the stick to bring Foresight’s nose up until the ship and the Swarm approached each other nose-to-nose. Her eyes narrowed, her focus split between the forward display and the grid. Only a few seconds apart now, the Swarm didn’t flinch; neither did she. She had to time this just right, or she would wind up destroying Foresight and killing herself.

  Frank emitted a new warning tone, the shrill sound of an imminent collision. Jennifer prepared to evade the Swarm.

  She didn’t get the chance.

  Frank locked her controls, forcing the ship’s nose up hard, the Gs shoving her back in the seat. The Swarm seemed to anticipate the move, and it fired a barrage of green discs at the Relyeh ships behind her, jinking through the resulting explosions as Frank guided Foresight up and away.

  “We need to get to the LZ,” Jennifer said, angry to have forgotten about the automated systems. “Frank, give me the stick.”

  “Collision avoided. Control transfer confirmed,” Frank said, unlocking the controls. She regained them, turning Foresight back in the right direction and preparing to enter a steep descent to the site.

  She held the ship steady, her eyes shifting to the long range sensors. Additional fighters were in orbit overhead, preparing to descend into the atmosphere for another round of attacks. If she touched down for even a second, she would be as good as dead. And if she stayed to fight, the odds didn’t look any better.

  More than ever, she regretted all the things she hadn’t said to everyone, now that she might never get that chance.

  She would give her life to keep her new family safe.

  Chapter 29

  “Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go!” Nicholas shouted, sprinting along the street with the rest of the Knights. They had already cleared the first two blocks of the industrial complex, but they were still nearly four klicks out from the landing zone, and time wasn’t on their side.

  “I can’t breathe,” Briar said, doing her best to keep up with them. Nicholas glanced over his shoulder at her. He could tell both she and Macey were struggling with the run, their bodies not accustomed to the effort. But what was he supposed to do? Slow down when every second counted.

  “You can do it!” he shouted back, hoping to motivate her. “We’re going to make it.”

  For the first time, he lamented the composition of his crew. If he had boarded the Vultures like the Shepherd’s from the other layers had, they might not be in this predicament now.

  Or he might be dead, he reminded himself. None of the Shepherds who had brought Caleb and his team had survived to reach Max and restore his cortex to his body. None of the others had learned the truth about this place or their true mission. He might not have the most physically fit team, but they had done what the best Marines on Earth had failed to do. Not without help, of course. But the fact was they were still alive and the others weren’t.

  For now, anyway.

  Nicholas looked up as a familiar rumble sounded overhead. He caught a momentary glimpse of Foresight as it raced across a break in the clouds. What seemed like an entire squadron of alien starfighters chased after it, sending a steady stream of plasma bolts streaking across the sky as they pursued it. Jennifer was holding her own for the moment, but he couldn’t help wishing it was him up there instead. She had impressed him considering her inexperience, but his experience still counted for a lot more.

  More rumbles echoed overhead, Miles away, small humanoid shapes broke through the clouds, tumbling toward the ground a few miles away, joined by enough debris to suggest Jennifer had made her first aerial kill.

  “I can’t do it,” Briar insisted. “Please. I...can’t...breathe.”

  Nicholas looked back again, seeing Briar had fallen to her knees. He slowed to a stop, feeling sorry for her while at the same time anxious about the delay. “Briar, we have to keep going.”

  “Just...go without...me,” she heaved, tears rolling down her face. “I can’t.”

  “We don’t leave anyone behind,” Nicholas growled. “If one of us stays, we all stay.”

  “Nick,” Yasmin said, about to argue.

  “It’s not negotiable,” he snapped back at her before she could say any more. He understood she wasn’t trying to be selfish, but rather pragmatic. If they all died here, all of this would be for nothing and Max’s warning about the fate of the entire stack would go unheeded. Even so, they were nothing without their commitment to one another.

  “I’ve got her,” Caleb said, rushing back to Briar’s position. “I’ll carry her.”

  “I’m too heavy,” Briar complained.

  “Not for me, you aren’t,” he replied, bending to scoop her up. She clung to him, chest heaving, taking in huge gulps of air.

  “I don’t suppose someone can give me a lift too?” Macey asked. “I’m completely knackered.”

  “Cooperation,” Max said. “I can carry you.” He maneuvered toward her as Nicholas watched more debris tumble from the sky a short distance away. It seemed Jennifer and the Swarm were continuing to hold their own against Koth’s attack.

  “You? I’m not sure I trust you.”

  “If you don’t want him to carry you, he can carry me,” Gills said, leaning over, his hands braced on his knees. Nicholas knew the Marine had to be exhausted with everything he’d already been through, with only a couple hours of rest.

  “Get your own ride, Sir Stinks-a-lot,” Macey countered, allowing Max to pick her up.

  Nicholas resumed his sprint, Yasmin and Scott keeping pace with him while Dag retained his usual position up ahead. Both Caleb and Max ran easily behind them with their burdens, although Caleb had slung Briar up over his shoulders in a fireman’s carry. Gills brought up the rear.

  The path remained clear for now, the enemy transports still at least a minute out from landing if his estimations were correct. He hoped Jennifer managed to take down the bulk of them before they landed and spilled out the bulk of Koth’s ground forces.

  They reached the edge of the complex. The road ahead split into a fork. The left fork led into the city proper; the right went past the broken remains of the Repository to the bridge. It seemed like an easy choice, but the unknown status of Koth’s transports left him uncertain. The city would provide more cover, and Jennifer could put Foresight down at their initial landing site for pickup. On the other hand, the bridge was closer to them, and probably further away from where the transports intended to land.

  It wasn’t a decision he wanted to make, and in all honesty, he wasn’t the best person to make it. He slowed and looked back at Caleb. The leader of the Vultures had no doubt been in worse scrapes than this. “Which way should we go?”

  Caleb didn’t hesitate. “To the right. It’ll leave us more open, but put us closer to relief. Besides, I have a feeling the enemy already targeted that LZ for themselves.”

  Nicholas nodded. “Spread the word.”

  Caleb informed the others of the direction through the comms, preventing any confusion when they reached the split, breaking right and continuing their run toward safety.

  Nicholas looked up as a loud crack sounded overhead. The first of the transports broke through the clouds, still intact and coming down fast to land. At least one had made it through, and it looked like it was going to land where Foresight had created a clearing in the city. Caleb’s instincts had been right on.

  A second transport appeared through the clouds a moment later, this one spinning wildly out of control. Nicholas watched it as they ran, head turned sideways until it crashed into the top of one of the tall buildings, further damaging the derelict structure before it careened over the side and tumbled onto a second building, sending up a huge cloud of smoke and debris.

  A third transport cleared the clouds. Then a fourth and fifth.

  The last two were almost directly overhead, their vectors carrying them toward the other landing zone.

  “Nick,” Yasmin said, pointing to them. “Where’s Jennifer going to land?”

  “I don’t know. We’ll figure something out.”

  They passed the Repository, the incredible gardens he had seen in Max’s recording still there but overgrown with weeds, though some of the blossoms kept adding color to the area. The dome itself had been split in half, and at first he thought it was because it had been hit with a beam weapon like the spines on Foresight. Staring at it for a moment, he realized there were no scorch marks on the outer shell and the rings were nowhere to be found. The Repository hadn’t been destroyed.

  It had been removed.

  Taken. But by whom? The Axon or the Relyeh?

  The ground trembled, alerting Nicholas to the transports touching down. They were still only two klicks out from the now occupied landing zone. They were completely surrounded, with no indication of Foresight’s status overhead.

  “Caleb, can you reach Jennifer?” he asked.

  “Negative. She’s out of comm range.”

  “Max, tell me you have a better comms package than we do.”

  “Confirmation. Hahahaha. Hahaha. I have a link to Foresight.”

  “How’s Jennifer?”

  Max didn’t speak for a moment. Then Jennifer’s voice came out of him instead of his own. “It’s ugly up here, and only getting worse. Rear shields are weak. Taking hits to the hull. Can’t seem to lose the bastards. I need somewhere to pick you up so we can get the hell out of here.”

  “Tell her to ask Frank for a new LZ,” Nicholas said.

  Max remained silent. Jennifer responded. “I don’t think we’ll make it that far.”

  “Dag, show me the mark,” Nicholas said. The small bot slowed and projected Frank’s grid onto the ground. The next best landing zone was nearly ten klicks away. It would take them at least an hour to get there.

  They might be able to survive on the ground that long,but Jennifer wouldn’t last in the air.

  “Damn it,” Nicholas cursed. “There has to be another way.” He wasn’t ready to give up. They had barely even gotten started. Maybe he couldn’t bring back his Luke, but he was determined to save as many versions of Luke as he could.

  The bridge came into view up ahead. The sight of it gave Nicholas an idea. His already pounding heart leaped in excited anticipation. He could get them out of this.

  Motion in the garden in front of the Repository stole his attention before he could explain his plan. Something exploded from the shrubs and flowers, rushing toward an unaware Gills at the rear of their column

  “Gills!” Nicholas shouted, “behind—”

  He didn’t get to finish the warning. A small, black creature hit him in the chest, large claws sinking into his flesh, its pair of short, razor-edged tentacles wrapping around his neck and tightened before Gills could even scream. The tentacles sliced off Gills’ head like a lawnmower clipping grass, the creature leaping off his lifeless body before it hit the ground.

  “Shit!” Scott cried, trying to get a bead on the alien as it came at him next. It moved so fast it was hard to make out any detail, but the entire creature seemed as though it were made of crystal, covered in jagged edges and sharp points.

  The alien leaped at him, just as it had Gills, but Scott was luckier. He saw the attack coming and dropped like a rock, collapsing beneath the creature’s scissoring tentacles. The thing skidded on the street when it landed, turning back and again charging the teenager.

  Already back on his feet, Scott raised his gun, but before he could take aim and fire, a green disc hit it in the side, bowling it over before it could get to Scott. It staggered back up and started again for Scott. He shot it, and an instant later, Dag barrelled into it. It tumbled a few times before righting itself, dodging the next disc and rushing the bot. They collided, the pair tumbling end over end for several yards, the creature squealing like a stuck pig as Dag’s blade neatly sliced off one of its tentacles. It retaliated, digging its claws into Dag’s chest plate, threatening to rip out his inner workings.

  “Urgency,” Max said, unceremoniously dropping Macey and coming up beside Nicholas. “The microspear. Quickly.”

  The little spear. Nicholas had forgotten he had it. He jammed his hand into his pocket and ripped it out, shredding the material of his pocket in the process. He quickly passed the spear to Max. Among them, even as sharp as the spear was, he had a feeling that only Max had the strength to pierce the creature’s hard shell. The Intellect drew back to let the spear fly. When it struck the creature, the thing let out a scream and collapsed.

  “Gills,” Macey whimpered, on her knees where Max had dropped her, tears trailing down through the dirt covering her cheeks. She refused to look at the dead Marine’s decapitated body. “I hate this bloody planet.”

  Dag rolled back to his feet and walked over to the dead alien. He pulled the spear out of it and ran back to Nicholas, a small, black slug-like creature dangling from the tip.

  “What the hell is that thing? And what is that?” Nicholas asked, looking at Max but jerking his chin at the other dead alien.

  “Explanation.” Max pointed at the dead slug. “That is a khoron. And that…” He pointed to its dead host. “...is a junta. Very dangerous, but normally harmless to humanoids. Like a dog. Hahaha. Haha. Ha. The khoron took control of its mind.”

  “And Gills is dead because of it. I’m willing to bet this...khoron is what killed the crew of Foresight Three,” Nicholas said, his face contorting in distaste as Dag raised the spear higher and waggled it, reminding him of a cat offering its master a dead mouse. “I don’t want it, Dag.” He waved the back of his hand at it. “Get rid of it.”

  “Confirmation,” Max said, somehow managing to mimic Nicholas’ disgust. “The spear was developed to easily kill Relyeh, especially khoron and their relatives, of which there are too many.”

  “If you made a weapon to kill these things, that means you’ve had problems with them before,” he said.

  “Affirmation. More than you know. Hahahaha. Haha. Ha.”

  “All right, knuckle up, people. We aren’t out of this yet,” Caleb said, jolting Nicholas and the others back to the reality of the situation.. “We’ve still got a long way to go, and no time to get there.”

  “We’re not going to the new LZ,” Nicholas countered.

  “We’re not?” Briar stood just behind Caleb, looking confused.

  “Nick, what are you thinking?” Yasmin asked.

  “Max, tell Jennifer not to come to us,” Nicholas replied. “We’re on our way to her.”

  Chapter 30

  Nicholas bent over Gills’ body, wishing they had time to bury him. Instead, he bowed his head to say a silent farewell before scooping up the fallen Marine’s rifle, certain they would need it despite the change in their destinations.

  “Here they come,” Caleb announced, scanning the edge of the city.

  Nicholas turned his head to look, finding dozens of humanoid soldiers in the distance, headed their way at a surprisingly fast clip. “They look almost human.”

  “Affirmation,” Max said, scooping Macey back up. “They are Inahri. We must go.”

  “I thought you said the Inahri were connected to the Axon?” Yasmin said.

  “Confirmation. They were. The Axon seeded dozens of worlds with humans and called them Inahri. When the Hunger took those worlds, the Inahri became their slaves. Their allegiance to Koth is grounded in fear and tradition. They have never known anything else.”

  “Poor souls,” Briar said.

  “That may be, but they’re still coming to kill us,” Caleb said, putting his hand on Briar’s shoulder. “Can you run?”

  “Yes.” She nodded decisively.

  “Good. Stay with me.” He started walking, Briar right beside him.

  “We should be able to make it before they catch up,” Nicholas said, knowing however that it wouldn’t be any easier getting to their new destination because it was closer. He stood up. “Come on, people,” He rushed over to Yasmin and grabbed her hand before breaking into a jog. “Let’s move!”