The dropship continued toward the planet. Rico started slowing them down as they closed on the atmosphere, expertly guiding the Capricorn toward the surface.

  “Entering atmosphere in five...four...three…what the—” Rico cut off her countdown as her display suddenly flashed in warning.

  Isaac had seen it first, out of the corner of his eye on the starboard display. At first, it appeared to be a small asteroid. A dark, rocky, asymmetrical mass. But then the crumpled rock unfolded, revealing an array of long tentacles spreading out from a round mouth, the sudden alien creature shooting toward them on a direct collision course, already too close to avoid.

  “Shit!” Rico cursed, tempted to take evasive maneuvers and realizing she was out of time.

  The creature hit an instant later, the dropship shaking slightly as a number of the starboard video feeds went dark, suffocated by the creature’s many limbs.

  “Keep her steady,” Able said, her voice remaining calm and commanding. “Bring us into the thermosphere. We’ll see how much that bitch likes the heat.”

  Rico kept the dropship steady, continuing the drop. Isaac’s eyes remained glued to the displays. One of them was directly to the side of the alien’s head, in full view of what seemed to be a thousand tiny eyes running along the side of its face.

  “What’s it doing?” Rico asked, keeping her eyes glued to the primary display and watching her approach.

  “It seems like it’s hanging on for the ride,” Isaac replied.

  He spoke too soon. One of the tentacles drew back and then snapped forward, pounding the side of the craft. A second one repeated the motion.

  “Not hanging on for the ride,” Rico said. “Able, we need to abort the approach.”

  “Negative. We have no way to get that thing off the ship. Either it burns up on approach, or we smash it into the ground.”

  “Great choices,” Isaac said.

  Rico’s eyes narrowed, her focus on bringing them in. They hit the thermosphere, the hull beginning to heat up on entry.

  The Relyeh didn’t burn up. Instead, its delicate tentacles shrank back into the harder material that had disguised it, shrinking its profile but keeping it attached to the dropship like a giant barnacle.

  “It isn’t going to burn,” he said.

  “Damn it,” Rico replied. “Get the hell off us!”

  They continued to drop, through the thermosphere and beneath the outer layers. The Relyeh reacted to the cold, expanding back out of its shell and beginning to pound the craft again. Now that they were within the pull of gravity, each strike threatened to send the ship spiraling out of control.

  “We have to do something!” Rico shouted, fighting to keep the Capricorn flying straight. They were still descending sharply, vectoring for the target.

  The creature moved, and the entire dropship shook violently, yanking Isaac hard against his restraints. Warning tones sounded on the bridge, the display in front of him showing the damage.

  “I think we just lost one of the thrusters,” he said.

  “What is this thing?” Able said. “It’s like it was just waiting out there for us.”

  “Maybe it was.”

  “How is that possible?”

  “Someone tried to stop us from leaving Proxima. What if they were Relyeh?”

  Rico shot a look over at him. He didn’t want that to be true either, but what if it were?

  “Haeri can take care of himself,” Able said. “So can the Organization. Our mission is Earth.”

  “Our mission is getting to the surface alive,” Rico said.

  The dropship shook again. Another warning tone sounded.

  “Damage to the stabilizers,” Able said. “Get us on the ground.”

  “I’m doing my…”

  Rico’s voice cut off. Isaac saw why. They had broken through a high level of clouds, the ground becoming visible below. Dozens of dark creatures were moving across the landscape from every direction but west, where the Pacific Ocean met the coast.

  “There’s your mark,” Isaac said, barely able to breathe, let alone speak. He was there during the first invasion when the trife had swarmed the cities by the thousands. There were a lot fewer of whatever the dark blobs were, but they were bigger. A lot bigger.

  “This can’t be happening,” Able said.

  “There’s Sanisco,” Rico said, the primary display marking the city with an outline. There were already creatures at the outskirts, smoke rising from just beyond the walls. The aliens were moving through the outer city, smashing large tentacles into the buildings around them.

  “Have you ever seen those things before?” Isaac asked, glancing back at Able.

  “No,” she replied, her face white. “I wish I wasn’t seeing them now.”

  A third warning tone sounded. The ship shuddered again and started to drop more rapidly.

  “There goes the other thruster,” Rico said. “We’ve got vectoring nozzles only.”

  “All hands,” Able said. “Brace for emergency impact! I repeat, brace for emergency impact!”

  The dropship turned slightly, away from the city and toward the wide highway to the south, Rico somehow managing to steer with no main thrust. The dropship wasn’t designed to glide, making the effort even more impressive.

  “This is it. Hold on!”

  Isaac was thrown forward into his restraints as Rico fired the retro-thrusters, the backward force slowing the craft’s momentum in a matter of seconds. That slow-down led to further loss of flight control, the Capricorn’s nose dipping as a result. Rico used the vectoring thrusters to push the front back up, leading with the tail as they closed to one hundred meters.

  Fifty.

  Twenty.

  Ten.

  “Eat dirt, you bitch,” Rico cursed, triggering the port side thrusters and throwing the dropship onto its side. It fell the last five meters, catching the hull and the Relyeh on the top of a building and smashing through, bouncing off slightly and then coming down hard on the pavement.

  Isaac held onto his restraints, closing his eyes as they slid along the ground, smashing through abandoned wrecks before hitting something hard enough to launch themselves back into the air. They landed upside down. The craft spun multiple times, shoving him around before finally coming to a stop.

  Isaac opened his eyes, looking over at Rico. She was looking back at him, hanging upside down in her seat. They both glanced back at Able. She was alive too, a dark scowl on her face.

  “Let’s haul ass,” she said. “We’re sitting ducks out here.”

  Isaac released his restraints, holding them and using them to flip himself over and drop. Rico and Able did the same.

  Something hit them again, shaking the ship violently enough to knock them all from their feet.

  Isaac looked back at the displays. Only one was still active, cracked as it was. He could see the Relyeh creature hovering over it, preparing to hit it again.

  “I think we should stay inside,” he suggested. “Wait for it to decide we’re dead.”

  “What if it never decides we’re dead?” Able asked.

  “If we go out there, it’ll kill us. And if it doesn’t, they will.”

  Isaac pointed to the background, where two of the other tentacled creatures were approaching.

  Able sighed. “I knew this wasn’t going to be easy, but this is ridiculous. Better find somewhere to secure yourself. It’s going to be a long day.”

  58

  Hayden

  Hayden didn’t waste time admiring his shot. He ran past the xaxkluth, racing to get into the real fight.

  “Nice shot, Sheriff,” Caleb said, coming up beside him, running as if it was no effort at all.

  Damn show off.

  The goliath was ahead of them, nearly half a klick away. It had managed to kill another Relyeh, but it was suffering under the enemy’s assault. Three of the tentacled creatures were on its body, and one was climbing toward its face, positioned on its back where it couldn’t reach it with its hand.

  “Caleb!” Hayden shouted. “Tell Nathan we need to get those things off the goliath’s back.” He wasn’t wearing combat armor and had no helmet comm with which to contact the General himself, And he didn’t dare risk his glasses on the drop. They were the second pair Natalia had made him, and she would kill him if he lost them again so soon.

  “Roger that,” Caleb replied. “General, Hayden says we need to take down the xaxkluth on the goliath’s back.”

  “On it,” Nathan said. He surged forward in his powered armor, taking leaping steps forward and using his thrusters to speed up his advance. He cleared the dead xaxkluth and started shooting again, his rounds hitting one of the creatures on the ground.

  Hayden understood why. If the goliath realized they were trying to help, it might turn around to give them a better shot at the Relyeh climbing it. He took a wider vector to get an angle on the enemy, coming side-by-side with Sergeant Walt.

  If the Sergeant was a khoron, she was a traitor to her kind. Hayden hadn’t thought that was even possible, but here she was, adding her fire to his.

  The assault got the attention of two xaxkluth. It also got the attention of the goliath. It looked past the creatures at them, howling loudly as though asking for their help. It raised a large leg, bringing it down to crush the xaxkluth, which moved sideways to avoid the gargantuan foot. The goliath howled again in frustration.

  “Hang on! We’re coming!” Hayden shouted up at the goliath, not sure the biological construct understood him at all.

  He switched bullets for another grenade, launching it across the field at the closest xaxkluth. It was ready for the attack, and it caught the projectile, bending its tentacle to fling it back. Hayden squeezed the trigger again, sending the detonation signal. The grenade exploded, taking the creature’s limb with it.

  It wasn’t a very effective attack, but it did prove to the goliath they shared a common enemy. The giant howled again, turning sideways and giving them a better angle on the creatures biting into its back.

  Nathan slowed to take better aim on the creature riding the goliath’s shoulder, not letting the xaxkluth heading for him distract him. He opened fire, his rounds crossing a quarter kilometer and pounding the xaxkluth, which seemed to dig in more tightly in response.

  Hayden switched his aim, going for the monster heading for Nathan. He squeezed off a few rounds and then dropped the empty magazine, grabbing another and snapping it in without breaking stride. Sergeant Walt pulled ahead of him, but they were both tailing well behind Caleb.

  Card shot as he ran, one round at a time, each bullet carefully placed to bypass the Relyeh’s undulating tentacles. He hit the central mass, taking out one eye. Then another. And another. Impressive shooting. Hayden followed his lead, conserving ammunition to wait for the best shot. It took him three rounds to hit the first eye, and then he took out three more in rapid succession.

  The xaxkluth was almost on top of Nathan before the General could take evasive action. He leaped forward and rose on his thrusters. The Relyeh’s tentacles stretched out to reach for him, one of them managing to grab his leg. It dragged him hard to the ground, slamming him into the dirt.

  Plasma bolts sizzled from the sky, hitting the creature along its central mass. It groaned as it tried to lift Nathan into the air to bring him to its mouth. Nathan was still clinging to his rifle. He fired it upside down, launching a grenade into the xaxkluth’s maw.

  The creature’s face exploded, and Nathan fell back to the earth.

  Pyro continued strafing across the field, buying them time. Hayden switched his attention to the creatures on the goliath, sending bullets into the one on its back, which had almost reached the giant’s face. Caleb, Walt and Nathan joined him a moment later, sending so much metal into the xaxkluth it struggled to hold on.

  The goliath roared, turning its back on them to let them shoot. It’s hand swept down, catching one of the creatures and holding it fast, lifting it toward its mouth. The xaxkluth struggled in its grasp, writhing violently as the goliath brought its hand to its face, releasing the creature into its huge maw, its rows of teeth quickly taking the xaxkluth in and devouring it.

  Hayden kept his attention on the creature struggling to remain on the goliath’s back. A few more rounds and it was destined to fall.

  He dropped his second empty magazine, loading the third, still advancing. They were only twenty meters from the goliath now, shooting almost straight up at its back. He caught sight of the two xaxkluth attacking the goliath’s legs. They were pulling themselves off the giant, preparing to intercept them.

  “Caleb!” Hayden shouted over the roar of gunfire, getting the Marine’s attention. He saw the xaxkluth too, immediately shifting his aim.

  The two Relyeh broke free and charged. They were already so close, they would be on them in seconds.

  One last round poured from Nathan’s gun, hitting their primary target. It was the winning shot, and the xaxkluth finally succumbed, the last of its tentacles breaking free of the goliath’s back. Its body tumbled to the earth while Nathan slapped his depleted gun to his back and pivoted to face the oncoming creatures.

  Caleb’s gun went dry too, and he switched to grenades, firing ball after ball into the rapidly approaching creatures. The rounds hit and detonated, taking a tentacle with each shot. It wasn’t nearly enough. Hayden fired furiously, emptying his rifle in seconds and following Caleb’s lead, dumping grenades into the xaxkluth. But the Relyeh had adapted to the attack, and they caught the balls, smothering them and sacrificing a limb to continue their assault.

  They were nearly out of ammo, and the two xaxkluth remained. Hayden found the dropship descending toward them, about to make another run.

  Pyro was too late.

  The xaxkluth rose on their tentacles, stretching out above them and preparing to pounce. Hayden closed his right hand into a fist, the Axon material expanding into a pair of claws. He wasn’t going down without a fight.

  “Stop!”

  The xaxkluth froze as if they had just hit an invisible wall, their tentacles seizing and holding them in the upright position.

  A moment later the goliath’s massive hand swept around, slamming into the two creatures and holding them tight. Hayden expected the goliath to bring the Relyeh to its mouth to eat them, but instead it clapped its two hands together, smashing both like a pair of annoying insects.

  It howled softly, looking down at Hayden and the others. Its mouth spread in a grotesque smile. Then it turned south, in the direction of Sanisco, and started walking away.

  Hayden’s attention turned to Caleb. The Marine and his Relyeh symbiote had frozen the Reapers, and now he had done the same to the xaxkluth.

  Or had he?

  Caleb had turned to face Sergeant Walt, his look of shock, anger, and fear immediately signaling that he hadn’t issued the command.

  Sergeant Walt had.

  She stared back at him, their eyes locked in an inhuman battle of wills. Nathan noticed it too and began retreating toward Hayden. The dropship landed a short distance away.

  Neither Walt or Caleb made a sound, but Hayden could almost sense the pressure between them as if it were a physical thing. Whatever was happening was something he didn’t understand.

  Whatever was happening, it ended a moment later. At the same instant, both Caleb and Walt stiffened as if they were marionettes. Then they both collapsed as if someone had cut the strings.

  What the hell?

  “Hayden,” Nathan said. “We need to go. Now.”

  Hayden glanced at his friend. “What is it?”

  He asked the question, but he already knew what it was. The answer was in Nathan’s voice. It was in Pyro’s quick landing. It was even in the goliath’s sudden movement south. Hayden turned his head to track the giant, his pulse quickening as he saw the truth he wanted more than anything to deny rising in the distance in pillars of smoke.

  Sanisco was under attack.

  59

  Natalia

  “Natalia,” Ghost said. “It’s been a long time.”

  Natalia’s heart pounded, her entire body shivering with sudden fear. Ghost. The man who had once taken her from Hayden, who had convinced her that her husband was dead and she was alone in the universe. In her despair, in her submission, she had slept with him, hoping that it would ensure his loyalty to her over his father—the warlord, King—the tyrant who had run Sanisco before Hayden killed both father and son.

  She had been stupid and naive. It was all a game to Ghost. Everything was a game to him. A challenge. That’s what the trife had done to Earth in his mind. Turned it into a competition.

  He couldn’t be here. He had been dead for over a year. In her heart, she knew this wasn’t real. A hallucination. An Axon. But in her mind, she couldn’t sense that. She couldn’t come to terms with it. In her head, he was real, tangible. Present and therefore—lethal.

  Hallia started crying.

  “Did you miss me?” Ghost asked, stepping toward the carriage. “Can I see her?”

  “No,” Natalia replied. “Yes.” She opened the cover. Hallia stopped crying.

  “What do you want?” Natalia said.

  Ghost looked past her to the interlink. “Thousands of years of war can come to a quick end with that device.”

  “How?”

  “Imagine sending a virus through the Collective. Imagine killing every single Relyeh in the universe with one push of a button.” Ghost stepped closer to Natalia. “But I don’t need to tell you that. You know what it can do.”

  “It isn’t possible. The networks are firewalled.”

  “There’s one that’s open to all of them, isn’t there?”

  Natalia didn’t speak the answer, but it floated across her terrified mind. Shub-nigu. The Archiver. The One Who Sees.

  “I’ve missed you, Nat,” Ghost said. He reached out for her, putting his hand on her shoulder. He was warm, and as he drew in close his familiar scent slipped into her nose. “Does Hayden know the truth?”