The flatbed was in front of Hayden now, the xaxkluth rushing over it in every direction, practically burying the truck beneath thousands of tentacles as it raced toward the top of the ramp and into the open. He ran behind it, every step a new agony from the damage to his gut. He would survive the wound, which for all its goriness was less serious than the damage Marcus had done during their duel. The greatest risk had come from bleeding out, but the combination of healing flesh and replenished blood supply helped his recovery. That didn’t make it any less painful, but pain was something he could handle.

  The flatbed started to slow, still a few meters from the exit. The xaxkluth had gone to the tires, chewing through them and flattening them all. More were working to get inside the engine compartment to stop the vehicle in its tracks.

  The ground shook again, the Osprey visible at the top of the ramp, hovering over the area, waiting for the truck.

  “Marcus!” Hayden said through the comm. He watched Marcus’ blue energy shield flicker, signaling that it was on the verge of collapse. A pile of xaxkluth pressed against it, while more of the creatures were coming at him from the sides. The flatbed was almost completely overwhelmed. Hayden knew by the man’s face that he understood he was in deep trouble.

  They all were. The flatbed wasn’t going to make it up the ramp, and the goliath was almost here. Hayden heard it groan again, no more than a block away.

  Marcus looked at him, their eyes meeting for an instant. Then the energy shield seemed to explode, the blast spreading out around him in a wave that went through everything around it. Hundreds of xaxkluth melted away in a flash while the exterior of the pod was whittled down and thinned out but not breached by the energy. The flatbed wasn’t as lucky. Brink cried out through the comm before falling silent. The sheet metal melted, the engine caught fire, the suspension failed. In an instant, the whole thing looked as if it had aged a hundred years.

  Marcus remained on top of the truck, unharmed by the outward blast. His Axon arm hung limp and powerless at his side.

  The flatbed stopped rolling forward, threatening to roll backward. Hayden ran to it, getting his shoulder against the back and pushing. A moment later, the remaining militants joined him, shoving the truck the last three meters to the top of the ramp and out into the open.

  Hayden immediately looked to his left. The goliath was only three or four steps away, a huge brute of a humanoid with thick, mottled black and brown flesh sloughing away from exposed sinew and bone. It’s mouth hung open, huge and toothy, bits of flesh clinging to the meter-tall spikes. It had small eyes, ragged patches of hair and huge hands made for scooping up trife to pour into its gaping maw.

  The genetically engineered monstrosity seemed to smile when it saw him. The goliaths had been humankind’s last-gasp effort to fight back against the overwhelming numbers of trife, and while it had succeeded in helping control the population of the aliens, this one was nothing but dangerous now.

  The flatbed rolled beneath the waiting Osprey. Vazquez released the tether, dropping lines from the bottom of the aircraft to dangle around the flatbed.

  “There’s no time to net the pod,” Hayden said. “Hook up the truck directly.”

  The militants raced around the vehicle, grabbing the lines and finding places to secure the truck. Marcus remained on top of the cab, blaster in hand, eyes fixed on the pod. There was no sign of activity from it after the blast, but neither Marcus nor Hayden trusted it would remain that way.

  “Locked and loaded, Sheriff!” one of the militants said once all the lines were connected.

  “Marcus, let’s go,” Hayden said. “Vazquez, get it out of here.”

  “Copy,” Vazquez said. The Osprey’s turbines changed pitch as the craft began to rise. Marcus didn’t move from the truck, remaining with it as it rose.

  “Marcus!” Hayden said again.

  “I’ll ride with it, Sheriff,” he replied. “Just in...” His voice broke off as the top of the pod suddenly exploded outward, bits and pieces of the rock breaking away and tumbling to the ground. A dark hand extended out of the blackness.

  At the same time, the earth shook again, the goliath groaning as it stretched its hand out, reaching for the Osprey.

  Hayden aimed the Axon gun at the monster’s hand and fired a half dozen rounds in rapid succession. The shots sank into the goliath’s hand and detonated. The goliath cried out, its rumbling roar echoing across the tops of the buildings as it pulled its injured hand away. The Osprey moved forward as it rose, the sudden movement causing Marcus to fall. He grabbed the window frame of the cab to keep from sliding off as the aircraft sped away.

  Hayden looked up at the goliath towering over him in an impossible rejection of physics and gravity and mass. The goliath looked back down at him, their eyes meeting.

  The biggest fight of Hayden’s life was about to begin.

  53

  Hayden

  Hayden sprinted straight toward the goliath. It reacted by lifting one of its huge legs and swinging it toward him. He dove under it and leaped back to his feet, continuing to run as it again groaned out his name. The monstrosity turned to follow him, singular in its eagerness to put an end to him.

  Which was both good and bad from Hayden’s perspective. Good because the goliath wouldn’t be attacking the remaining militants or going after the Osprey if it was chasing him. Bad because he didn’t know if he could stop the goliath before the goliath stopped him.

  He still had Grimmel’s energy crystal clutched in his hand. If he could get it to the goliath’s head and destabilize it, the resulting explosion would be sure to destroy Iagorth’s moiety and the goliath. The problem was, the Goliath’s head was a long way up, and he only had one way to get there.

  Hayden looked back over his shoulder, throwing himself sideways just in time to avoid the creature’s undamaged hand as it tried to scoop him up. As it was, the edge of the hand caught him in the back, throwing him into a nearby wall. He hit hard, grunting in pain at both the impact point and his stomach wound. The injury had healed enough that he wouldn’t die from it, but it still hurt like hell to be jostled around.

  The pain didn’t matter. The only thing that mattered was destroying the moiety inside the creature’s brain. He forced himself back up, going around the corner of the building he’d slammed into while the goliath tried to change direction. He found himself in an alley too small for the goliath to easily follow.

  “Haaaayyyyyddeeennnnn Duuuukkkkkeee.”

  The goliath groaned again, and then smashed its fist through the corner of the building, the impact throwing mortar, glass and debris everywhere. Pressure from the hit buffeted Hayden’s back, nearly knocking him over as he crossed the alley, finding an emergency exit on the other side. He tried the door. Locked. He leaned back and kicked it open. Once inside, he began to climb.

  Iagorth’s goliath hit the building again, shaking the structure as its fist sank into the face of it. The stairwell rattled and the lights went out. Dust clogged Hayden’s nose and irritated his eyes. He coughed and spit, keeping his shoulder pressed against the wall to guide him in the darkness. Third floor. Fourth floor. Fifth. The goliath hit the building a third time. It shook so hard Hayden feared it might collapse.

  One more flight of stairs and he reached the rooftop. He used his shoulder to throw the door aside as he came out into the open. The goliath’s hand came down on the door two seconds later, smashing the rooftop and just barely missing him.

  Hayden turned to face the goliath. The six floors had put him just above the monster’s knee. Nowhere near high enough, but it was a start.

  Holstering his revolver and shoving the energy crystal into his duster pocket, he reached for the microspear, only then remembering he had given it to Brink. He pulled the knife from his calf sheathe, again locking eyes with the creature. Gritting his teeth, he ran toward the edge of the rooftop.

  The goliath’s hand swung toward him and he leaped ahead of it, crossing the two meters between the edge of the building and the goliath’s leg. He hit the massive leg just above the knee, stabbing the knife into it for better purchase. The goliath reached for him, and he swung around to the other side of its limb, avoiding the giant’s grasp.

  He pulled the knife out of its flesh and climbed, stabbing and climbing again. He repeated the action over and over until the goliath lifted its leg and swung it toward the building on the other side of the street. Hayden pushed off before the giant could knock him off. He leaped across to the goliath’s opposite leg, stabbing into it and continuing the climb.

  He made it to the goliath’s hip, pausing near the crotch. The legs were easy to maneuver around because they were relatively narrow and harder for the creature to reach. Once he started climbing up the goliath’s chest, it would have an easier time grabbing him. Fortunately, it only had one functional hand.

  That hand was coming down toward him, making another effort to swat him off or crush him. Thinking fast, he didn’t try to get away from it. Instead, he let go of the goliath’s leg with his free hand and held onto the handle of his embedded blade. Hanging there, he pulled the Axon gun with his free hand and opened fire on the incoming palm. He turned his head and closed his eyes as the explosive rounds detonated directly in front of him, blowing gaping holes in the giant hand. The goliath howled in pain as bits of bloody gore splattered Hayden, some of it finding its way into his mouth and making him gag. He spit it out before his stomach could reject it for him.

  He returned the Axon gun to his belt and started climbing again, pulling himself up on the knife, digging his fingernails into flesh, dislodging the knife and planting it a little higher. Even without its hands, the goliath wasn’t about to give up. It tried to squash him or dislodge him with its forearms and when that failed, it swung sharply around, each step shaking the ground as it gained speed, heading for a taller structure a few blocks away. Hayden knew it was going to slam itself into the building and try to crush him between its chest and the glass, stone and steel.

  Pulling the knife out, he let himself slide down the goliath’s chest until he could jab the blade back into its soft gut. The ensuing jolt wrenched his shoulder. He ignored the pain and started climbing again, picking up the pace. He made it halfway up the goliath’s chest before it swung its arm toward him again. This time, instead of dropping, he increased his upward pace, planting the knife, pulling up and pushing off with all of his genetically enhanced strength. The goliath’s forearm smashed into its chest less than half a meter below Hayden’s feet. The other arm swung toward him, and he had no time to climb out of the way.

  Hayden let go of the knife, falling a short distance to the goliath’s other forearm. He still had to duck and hang on to keep from being brushed off. Then he jumped, grabbing onto the creature’s upper arm. He scrambled up it, but when the goliath peered down at him, its face only a few meters away, Hayden froze.

  Then its huge maw opened and swung down toward him, unhinging as if it belonged to a snake. The arm slid upward along its chest, carrying Hayden with it, directly toward the slavering mouth.

  Hayden reacted quickly, spinning around and dropping onto the giant’s chest. Hot, fetid breath blasted him as the goliath’s front teeth caught the tail of his duster. The giant lifted its head, pulling him upward. Hayden shrugged out of the coat, falling back to the giant’s arm.

  The goliath suddenly snapped its head back and forth, trying to dislodge the duster stuck between two of its bottom teeth. It was just the opportunity Hayden needed. He drew his revolver, struggling to aim at the duster as it waved wildly around. He needed to hit the pocket where he had placed the energy unit. The crystal was relatively harmless inside an Intellect’s chest where its connection to the gel kept it stabilized. But out in the open, unprotected, it was a bomb just waiting to go off.

  Hayden opened fire, his first three rounds missing the target. Forgetting about the coat stuck in its teeth, the goliath lowered its forearm, throwing off Hayden’s aim. And his balance. He dropped to his knees, wrapping his free hand in the goliath’s arm hair to keep from sliding off. His eyes narrowed in concentration. His aim shifted slightly and he squeezed the trigger again.

  He knew the bullet hit the crystal when a blue light flashed from inside the pocket, signaling the power source had activated. Without anything to absorb the energy, it would build until it overloaded. And he didn’t want to be within a thousand meters of that when it happened. He just wasn’t sure he had a choice.

  Letting go of the goliath, he slid along its arm, slipping through the bloody mess at its wrist and over the edge, falling nearly forty feet to the street. He hit hard, dislocating his shoulder, cracking ribs and breaking his left leg. The pain was nearly unbearable.

  Rolling onto his back, he looked up to see the goliath swiping futilely at its mouth with the bloody stumps of its arms to dislodge the duster from its teeth. Finally, frustrated, it looked down at Hayden, groaning in furious anger as its foot rose and came forward to stomp him out of existence once and for all.

  The foot never came down. The crystal exploded, a ball of energy spreading out from it and disintegrating everything it touched. The entire top half of the goliath vanished in an instant as did the upper portions of every building within the blast radius, reducing it all to ash. The force threw the goliath’s lower half over both Hayden and into the street.

  Hayden laid there unable to move, his face burned from the heat of the detonation. All he could do was turn his head away and close his eyes to protect them from the hot ash falling all around him like dirty snow.

  In that instant, he could have laid there and died. And he might have welcomed it.

  But he didn’t.

  The heat subsided, and in the silence that followed, he opened his eyes. His vision was damaged and blurry, but he could see well enough to distinguish the ash still coming down around him. Every part of him hurt. His nose was black. His lips were cracked and bleeding.

  Unlike the goliath, he would heal.

  54

  Marcus

  Marcus clung to the flatbed, his right hand wrapped around the frame of the driver’s side door window, his feet on the running board, his left hand limp at his side. The Axon arm had kept him alive longer than he’d had any right to be breathing, but the final expulsion of energy that had freed the truck of xaxkluth had also left the arm completely drained.

  “Maaarrrcussss.”

  The voice came from his left, a low hiss that sent a shiver down his spine. He turned his head, his already rapid heartbeat punching even harder at his chest wall when his eyes landed on the figure standing on top of the pod. His duplicate stood on the rock, the tarlike ooze that composed it so dark it seemed more like a hole in reality than a physical being. A shadow of himself, crouched and menacing atop the pod that had delivered it to Earth.

  “Set me free,” it demanded.

  “Even if I could, I wouldn’t,” Marcus replied. “This is where you end.”

  “I have no end,” Iagorth said, head turning to its left. It found another tether there, reaching out for it with hands that turned to tentacles, wrapping themselves around the line and beginning to spiral upward.

  Marcus understood that if the tentacles reached Vazquez, they could either kill her or infect her. Either way, if they hadn’t reached the ocean by then he was sure the pod would survive the fall.

  He knew he wouldn’t.

  He reached for his blaster, pulling it and firing on Iagorth while still managing to hang on with the same arm. The plasma bolts sizzled into the doppelganger’s black flesh, vanishing as it was absorbed. Iagorth reached out for him with his free hand, the black ooze stretching into a tentacle that snapped at Marcus’ face. He ducked beneath it, letting go of the truck door and climbing up to the cab roof to avoid the tentacle as it swung back toward him.

  He flung himself on the roof, coming down spreadeagled on his stomach and facing Iagorth with nothing to hold onto and his blaster in his only usable hand. He fired again at the Relyeh Ancient, the sudden jostling of the Osprey throwing off his aim. He looked back over his shoulder to see why Vazquez’ flying had gone to shit and nearly cried out when a building popped up directly in front of them. The Osprey banked hard to fly around it.

  He began to slide across the cab roof. He had no choice but to let go of his blaster and scratch at the metal roof, desperate to find purchase before he went over the side. His fingernails tore against the rusted metal, drawing blood, and he cried out as his legs went over the side, their weight pulling him off the edge. He managed to grab onto the bottom of the cab’s open driver side window and hold on. He dangled there, jaw clenched as he began to arduously pull himself up. Using his shoulder he flung his dead Axon arm through the open window, wedging it into the steering wheel.

  Marcus let go of the door with his human hand, the wedge he had created holding him fast to the cab as he reached up, grabbing the top edge of the roof and lifted himself back toward safety. Brink was slumped over sideways in the driver’s seat. She had been hit by gunfire, bitten by the xaxkluth, and burned in the burst of energy from the Axon arm, leaving her dead face bloody and pale. The Sheriff’s microspear rested in her limp hand, almost within reach.

  Looking over at Iagorth, he saw that the Relyeh had nearly fallen off too, a single tentacle wrapped around one of the tethers all that had kept him from plummeting to the ground below. The rest of the alien to the side of the pod. Ignoring him for the moment, its form distorted and slithered its way back up onto the top of the pod. Stretching, it worked its way up the nearest tether toward the Osprey like a vine on a trellis.

  Damn it, he didn’t have a lot of time to waste.

  Cursing, he pulled himself through the window and across Brink’s corpse, grabbing the microspear from her hand. He tucked it carefully into his coat pocket and climbed across the front seat to lean out the passenger side window. They were approaching the ocean, its vast blue expanse spreading endlessly out toward the horizon.