Isaac nodded. “Agreed.”

  “Go ahead,” Rico said.

  Able took a few seconds to reset herself. “We don’t really know when the Relyeh first arrived on Earth. It was before the trife ever showed up. At least a century, maybe more. We only really started to understand they were here when they started getting into scrapes with the Axon.”

  “What do you mean, scrapes?” Isaac asked.

  “The Axon and the Hunger are enemies. The Axon were already here. When they discovered the Relyeh were also here, the two factions fought. Of course, they were smart enough not to get caught for a long time. They dealt with one another in secret. Dark alleys, deserted highways, in the middle of the rainforest. Underwater. That kind of thing. Until they didn’t.”

  “You’re saying that the entire time I was a child, to when I became a Marine, to when I was put into stasis in Dugway, the Axon and the Relyeh were here on Earth beating on one another?”

  “That’s right.”

  “Why didn’t anyone know?”

  “Someone did know. The Organization was born out of the team assembled to deal with the situation. Capture and control. Only the Axon turned out to be impossible to capture, and the Relyeh were often difficult to control. We tried. Mistakes were made. In the end, we went in for the kill.”

  “And started an intergalactic war,” Rico said.

  “Not quite. The Organization recognized that if there were alien agents in our midst, it was only a matter of time before they came to our planet in force. After all, if it was peace they were after there was no reason to lurk. But both the Relyeh and Axon see us as barely civilized inhabitants of a world they both want to possess. A world we now know sits almost directly in the middle of the borders of Axon and Relyeh claimed space. That’s one of the reasons we’re concerned about Sheriff Duke’s interaction with the Axon. Whatever deal he’s trying to make, there’s a good chance it’ll end badly for us.”

  “It’s a risk,” Isaac admitted. “But a necessary one. If what you’re saying is true, it’s more necessary than we thought.”

  “Of course it’s true. But you can’t count on the Axon to help us. They don’t want to help us. They want our planet as a buffer between them and the Hunger.”

  “You had all these years to stop the trife? It didn’t stop them from landing here and destroying our world.”

  “What we knew only scratched the surface. Yes, we had an Axon ship. Yes, we captured one of their Intellects. But figuring out how to take advantage of all that? We didn’t have half the tools we have today, and they still aren’t enough. We have cloning, but we can’t reproduce as quickly as the trife. We have space fold, but we can’t travel across the galaxy as efficiently as the Axon. A Relyeh can infect a person, forcing that individual to act according to its will. The Axon can project a perfect likeness of anyone, not to mention cause people to hallucinate. We’re fighting blindfolded with one hand tied behind our back. And it’s a fight we can’t afford to lose.”

  Able paused. She was clearly upset, not only at having to defend the Organization but at the truth of their situation. All of this time and they were still so far from their goals.

  “When the trife arrived, we had to make a judgment call,” she said. “Maintain the status quo or try to change the outcome. Riley Valentine was an accomplished geneticist as well as a former Marine Raider. Like Sheriff Duke, she also wasn’t afraid to take risks. We gave her a team and set her loose.” She looked at Isaac. “I’m sorry if her actions cost you your son, but we had a whole planet to think about. We still do.”

  “What about Valentine?” Isaac asked. “What happened to her?”

  “When the generation ships launched, the Organization launched with them. Every ship had members implanted across the populations, in and outside of the military. They all had specific orders for when they arrived. Valentine and her team were on one of the ships. The Deliverance. Her orders were specific and unique.”

  “The Deliverance never arrived at Proxima,” Rico said.

  “No, it didn’t.”

  “And Valentine had something to do with that?”

  “She did.”

  Isaac shook his head. “What the hell did you people do?”

  “We engaged in a war to save our planet. We lost. Like it or not, we have to try again. It won’t only be Earth we lose this time. The enemy knows about Proxima. They know about the settlement, and they know where in the universe to find it. Either we stop the Hunger or the Hunger will end all of human life as we know it.”

  34

  Caleb

  “This isn’t over yet,” Stacker said, stomping across the cargo hold of the dropship.

  Caleb looked around the open space. The other soldiers were leaning against the bulkheads, heads down and breathing hard. Exhausted.

  “Not over?” he asked.

  “Those things are going for the carriers,” he replied. “We have to stop them.”

  Nathan reached a machine resting against the side of the hold, turning and stepping backward into it. Four robotic arms immediately began moving around him, unscrewing the connections holding his armor together and pulling the large helmet off his head.

  Caleb was surprised when he saw the man behind the armor. He was almost as much a machine as the protection he wore.

  Even more confusing—he really did look like General Stacker. How could that be possible?

  Clone or stasis.

  Leave it to Ishek to reduce it to something logical. But the Advocate was probably right. Which one was it?

  “I think we both have questions,” Stacker said, noticing the way Caleb was looking at him. “We can figure each other out once the ships are safe.”

  “We’re going back?” Hotch asked, lifting his head.

  “Of course we’re going back,” Stacker said. “The city may be done, but the people aren’t.” He headed away from the group, up a flight of stairs leading out of the hold.

  Caleb hurried after him, reaching the top of the steps as Stacker vanished down a short corridor to the left. He gave chase, closing the gap. Stacker noticed him but didn’t slow down, going to a sliding door that opened when he put his wrist to the control pad.

  It was closing when Caleb reached it. He shoved his hand in to stop its movement and then stepped inside as it opened again, finding himself on the bridge. Stacker was already dropping into a raised chair in the back, and he noticed there was a woman at a station in the front. Displays revealed the landscape around them in a panoramic view of the world beyond the craft. A wave of nausea washed over him as he tried to take in the entire scene.

  “Don’t try to look at every display at once,” Stacker said. “It takes some adjustment. Look at the floor.”

  Caleb looked down, regaining his sense of place, the nausea passing.

  “Never been in a dropship before?”

  “I’ve been in a starship before. A few, actually. But not like this one.”

  “You aren’t from Proxima.”

  Caleb lifted his head, excited by the statement. “Are you?”

  “General,” the pilot said. “We’re coming up on them.”

  Stacker’s attention went to the primary display. Caleb turned to look at it too. He could see the dark gray vessels against the blue water, moving slowly away from the pier and turning northeast toward the Atlantic Ocean.

  A pair of xaxkluth trailed behind it, their tentacles spreading out and then pushing back to propel them through the water toward the ships.

  Caleb could see the people out on the deck of the trailing carrier. They had noticed the creatures chasing them, and while most were running for shelter, some were standing at the stern, watching the monsters’ approach.

  “Pyro, do we have comms to either of the ships?” Stacker asked.

  “Affirmative, General. Connecting.”

  White noise flooded the bridge from hidden speakers.

  “U.S.S. Bush, U.S.S. Truxton, this is General Stacker. Do you copy?”

  The white noise vanished. “This is the Bush. We copy, General.”

  “This is the Truxton. We copy.”

  “You have a pair of bogeys on your tail,” Stacker said. “I want all available units armed and on your aft decks immediately.”

  “Available units, sir?” the Truxton replied. “We’re loaded with civilians.”

  “There isn’t a single soldier on board your ships?” Stacker barked. “I find that hard to believe, but if there isn’t, then you do it yourself. Go into the population, grab volunteers and give them guns. Get them up on the damn deck, or you’re all going to die.”

  “Uh. Y--y-es, s-sir.” the Truxton’s comm officer stammered. The voice that answered in kind from the Bush was a bit steadier. “Yes, sir,” she replied.

  Stacker smacked his control pad angrily, closing the comm. “Do we have to do every damn thing ourselves?”

  “It seems that way, General,” Pyro replied. She glanced back at Caleb. “I’m Pyro. Nice to meet you.”

  “Caleb.”

  “Nice suit.” She winked at him.

  Caleb felt his face warm as he glanced down at himself. The Intellect Skin fit like a second layer, sitting tight against his body, only a half step above naked.

  I think she likes you.

  Caleb refrained from telling Ishek to shut up out loud. Nobody had noticed the slight bulge of the Relyeh wrapped around his upper arm, and he preferred to explain it under less tense circumstances.

  “Do we have enough power remaining for the plasma cannons?” Stacker asked, his voice level again.

  “Affirmative, General. The reactor is at ninety percent and purring like a kitten.”

  “Then let’s roar like a lion,” Stacker said. “Target the lead creature.”

  “Roger. Coming around. Caleb, better grab a seat. There’s one next to me.” She turned her head back and smiled at him. “USSF soldiers. You have ten seconds to secure.”

  The warning came out through the speakers, likely across the entire craft. Caleb made his way to the other station, dropping into the seat and strapping in. He had barely gotten himself secured when the dropship broke hard to the right, pulling him against the restraints. The craft took a wide vector north over the land before turning hard south again, descending hard toward the water. Caleb smiled in response to the action, reminded of his previous life in search and rescue and the unit he had served with. His Vultures. They were all gone now, either dead or on the other side of the universe.

  But he was still here. Still alive. Still able to fight. But right now, he was only an observer.

  He watched as Pyro opened fire with the plasma cannons.Energy bolts launched from the ship, vaporizing the water around the the lead xaxkluth and then hitting it as the airship closed on its target. . The Relyeh whipped its tentacles up toward the craft. It was too slow and they were traveling too fast and too high, passing safely overhead.

  “We need to come in slower,” Caleb said. “You’ll never do enough damage to them flying this fast.”

  “Oh?” Pyro replied, eyes whipping toward him in a sharp glare. “Are you a pilot?”

  “Marine Raider,” Caleb said. “Special Forces. I never did the flying, but I have plenty of experience in the field, especially at the other end of air support. If this ship is an evolution of the USSF Wasps, you should be able to go half as fast and still stay airborne.”

  Pyro glanced back at Stacker. “Is he for real?”

  “It seems so,” Stacker replied. “Try it his way.”

  “Roger.”

  Charming. You have a way with the females of your species.

  Caleb didn’t have time to be gentle. There were lives at stake.

  The dropship turned around for another strafing run. The first xaxkluth had almost reached the Bush , its central mass closing to within fifty meters as civilians poured onto the aft flight deck with rifles in hand. The small arms wouldn’t do much to hurt the creatures, but they would distract them.

  “Here we go,” Pyro said, easing off on the throttle and adjusting the vectoring thrusters to lower the craft’s airspeed. The dropship shuddered slightly in response, threatening to lose its lift. “Are you sure about this?”

  “Positive,” Caleb said. “You can do it. Just don’t get too low.”

  Pyro watched the display, hands soft on the controls. The civilians started shooting down at the xaxkluth as it approached the ship’s stern, reaching up with a long tentacle.

  The plasma cannons started firing again, powerful bolts hitting the water and the Relyeh, causing it to thrash and howl in pain. Pyro continued to slow the dropship, easing it in toward the monster and slamming it with rounds.

  “That’s it,” Caleb said. “That’s it. Keep it steady.”

  Pyro smiled at the success of the attack, pouring on the firepower. The tentacles retreated, and the creature vanished beneath the surface as they passed overhead.

  “Nice work!” Caleb said. “Circle back and hit it again.”

  “It’s retreating.”

  Xaxkluth don’t retreat.

  “It isn’t. Speed up and circle back.”

  “How do you know so much about these things?”

  “I’ve fought the Relyeh before.”

  “Do what he says,” Stacker said.

  “Roger.”

  They went up and around for a third pass. The xaxkluth had re-emerged by then, still getting closer to the destroyer. A half-dozen limbs hung limply behind it, floating dead along the surface. The other creature was approaching the carrier and would be on it before the first target was neutralized. How many civilians would die if that thing got onto the vessel?

  “General, don’t the ships have anything on them with a little more punch?” Caleb asked.

  “The Bush does,” Stacker replied. “What it doesn’t have is anyone to use it. We had all active units on the wall. Reserves aren’t trained in heavy ordnance.”

  “What kind of heavy ordnance?”

  “There’s a Badger in the hold. A mech. It was there when I took over the city. Nobody knows how to use it.”

  Caleb grimaced. The USSF had tried mechs against the trife. It was a disaster. The humanoid machines carried plenty of firepower, but they were too slow and clunky to survive long against any decent-sized slick, and they expended their firepower way too quickly. He was surprised any of them were still around.

  It may be an effective weapon against xaxkluth.

  “I don’t know.” Caleb wasn’t convinced, but they had to do something. “Is it armed?”

  “Armed and operational, as near as my engineers can tell.”

  “Pyro, go in as low and slow as you can. And keep shooting.”

  Caleb unbuckled himself and stood up.

  “Where are you going?” Stacker asked.

  “I know how to drive a Badger. Just get me close.”

  “We don’t have any jump equipment on board. You’ll never survive the fall, even at minimum velocity.”

  You’ll survive the fall.

  “It’ll hurt, but I’ll live,” Caleb said. “Just do it.”

  He hurried off the bridge.

  35

  Caleb

  Caleb passed the surviving soldiers on the way to the dropship’s hold. They had made it up to the seats ahead of the bridge, were strapped in and looking sick from Pyro’s hard, tight maneuvers. They perked up as he ran by, watching him hit the stairs and drop to the lower deck.

  A Badger. Caleb could hardly believe one of the machines had lasted through the centuries.

  And he was about to jump out of a perfectly good dropship to pilot one.

  The fear will be intense, and I hunger.

  Caleb didn’t know how Ishek could hunger again. The level of fear in Edenrise should have left the Relyeh satiated for months.

  I’m never satiated.

  Caleb crossed the hold to the rear ramp. “I’m in position,” he said, uncertain if Pyro could hear him on the bridge.

  “Standby,” she replied, her voice crisp through a nearby speaker. “Approaching the Bush, and opening the rear door in three...two...one.”

  A flashing light warned of the ramp’s imminent motion. Then a loud clang sounded and the rear of the craft began to drop. Cold air rushed into the hold, flowing over Caleb’s head and rushing down his spine. He shivered as he edged out onto the descending ramp, looking out over the edge until he could see the aircraft carrier and the xaxkluth behind it, an alien kraken about to wreak havoc on the ship.

  He would feel better about all of this if the Skin still had power. What were the odds he would even survive the fall?

  We will survive.

  At least one of them was confident.

  Caleb dropped to his knees at the edge of the ramp, which came to a stop level with the craft. Wind buffeted his face as he turned around and dropped his legs over the edge, still sliding back until he was gripping the end of the platform in his hands, his legs and body dangling over the chaos below.

  The dropship slowed a little more, and it shook slightly as the plasma cannons started firing again, this time casting bolts up ahead at the xaxkluth attacking the Truxton. He couldn’t see the shots land, but he had witnessed Pyro’s skill with the craft already. He was sure she wasn’t missing.

  Pyro came in lower and slower than Caleb had expected. As she eased the dropship over the Bush’s aft deck, Caleb gauged his drop to the deck at only twenty meters.. He had to time his release right or he would wind up overshooting and landing in the water, a sitting duck for the xaxkluth. His body tensed as the deck of the carrier drew even nearer and then holding fast. Just a few more seconds…

  Now!

  Caleb reacted instantly to Ishek’s harsh command, his hands releasing the ramp. Then he was falling, dropping in an arc toward the deck of the carrier, far enough forward to avoid the civilians gathered near the stern. He felt the hormones begin pumping through his system, Ishek changing his body chemistry to numb the pain of the landing. The deck was a gray blur under his feet, the stern approaching too quickly.