Isolation (Forgotten Vengeance Book 2) Read online

  “So why not just destroy us? Why bring me here? Why talk to me at all?”

  “Because the Hunger requires a food supply, and we require an army to fuel my war. Your kind isn’t without value to me, and you are unique among them all, Caleb Card. You overcame the Relyeh as we did, though on a smaller scale. You can be of great use to me.”

  “I would never agree to that. I’m a Space Force Marine. I took an oath, and I’ll die before I break it.”

  “I respect your loyalty. Your oath is to protect the people under your charge, isn’t it?”

  “Yes. That means humans. All of us.”

  “Wrong. You took an oath as a member of the United States Marine Corps, which transferred over to the Space Force when the services were merged, and extended to the civilians on the Deliverance when you became a Guardian.”

  Caleb stared at Vyte. “How do you know so much about me?”

  “Everything flows through the Collective. You know that. Do you think Nyarlath is the only Relyeh I’ve been able to hack?”

  “Shub-nigu,” Caleb said. “You have a direct line, don’t you?”

  “Information that can take years to propagate throughout the entire Hunger comes to me first. I know all about you, Caleb.” A long finger extended toward Walt. “The servant was in Edenrise waiting for you. Her survival was no accident. Neither was yours.”

  Walt’s mouth opened to respond, but she seemed unable to speak.

  “You wanted this meeting,” Caleb said. “Why?”

  “To put the truth in front of you before it can be corrupted.”

  “What truth is that?”

  “I will win this war and bring prosperity to those who serve us, including you, Caleb Card. Help me finish what I’ve started on Earth, and I will help you fulfill your oath. The xaxkluth within the borders of what you knew as the United States will stop their attacks on humans, and will instead destroy every last trife in the region. Your domain will have the security to rebuild its civilization without threat.”

  It was an interesting and very specific proposition. One designed to entice Caleb. He could uphold the oaths he had made and stop the killing. He could save hundreds of thousands of lives.

  “Nyarlath offered me the entire planet if I set her free,” Caleb said.

  “We heard. It’s an impossible task, Caleb. Even if you were able to find her, you would never get close. I won’t allow it.”

  Caleb didn’t doubt that. Vyte had access to resources Earth could only dream of, while he had access to what? A cyborg Sheriff?

  He had never promised to save the entire world. His loyalty was to his country. And preserving part of the planet was better than losing the whole thing, wasn’t it?

  “What do you want in exchange?” Caleb asked.

  “There’s a resistance forming against me. We want you to end it.”

  “You mean Sheriff Duke?”

  “There are others, but especially Sheriff Duke. He refused me, and everything he loves will die because of it. Your family and friends are gone, but I can still make you suffer. Refuse me, and every last human you swore an oath to protect will die, both here and on Essex.”

  The statement sent a shockwave through Caleb like a jolt of electricity that raced through his brain. A blinding white light followed, blotting out everything around him and leaving his head throbbing so hard he could hear the pulsing of blood through his temples.

  His eyes shot open, and he gasped and spasmed, sucking in air.

  “Colonel?”

  Caleb twisted his head to his right. Corporal Hotch was standing beside him, a concerned look on his face.

  “Ishek?” Caleb said.

  There was no response from the Advocate, but Caleb could feel the connection was still intact.

  “Colonel, are you okay?” Hotch asked. “Who’s Ishek?”

  Caleb didn’t answer. He looked past Hotch as the privacy shield of the opposite rack slid open, revealing Walt. Her face was pale, and she looked confused and terrified.

  Caleb. What happened?

  Ishek’s voice poured into Caleb’s mind. At the same time, Walt’s face hardened, her fear vanishing as Nyarlath’s parasite regained control.

  Not Nyarlath’s. Vyte’s.

  Walt’s face split in a cold, knowing grin, her eyes flicking from Caleb to Hotch. Caleb had his orders.

  Would he follow them?

  22

  Rico

  “Keep going to the first floor of the garage,” Rico said, turning back to Bale. “We’ll be right behind you.”

  “Where are you going?” Bale asked. It was apparent to Rico the stablemaster—and de facto leader of the group of survivors—was still wary of following a Centurion, despite Isaac’s support.

  “We need to recover some equipment from the lab.”

  “Sheriff Duke asked us to get it,” Pyro added.

  That seemed to satisfy the burly man. He nodded and turned back to the others. “We’re going up to the first floor. Stay close.”

  Rico and Pyro increased their pace up the steps. They were almost to the lab when Rico heard quick footsteps descending toward them and Isaac appeared around the corner.

  “Rico,” he said, breathing hard. “Forget the lab. We need to go.”

  “What about the interlink?” Pyro asked.

  “Gone,” Isaac replied. “The Axon took it.”

  “What?”

  “Hurry.”

  Isaac turned around and started back up the stairs ahead of them.

  “What do we do?” Pyro asked.

  “Follow that Marine,” Rico replied, chasing after Isaac.

  She bounded up the steps on Isaac’s heels, not offering maximum effort to allow Pyro to keep up. She emerged onto the first floor a few meters behind him, finding Nathan standing on top of the tank as it moved into position near the base of the ramp, between four dead xaxkluth. A glow in the corner of her eye drew her attention, her gaze landing on the Axon shield.

  “What the hell is that?” she asked, noticing that her ATCS had regained its link to the rest of the Centurions.

  “The Axon disguised itself as Hayden and drove out of here with the interlink,” Nathan replied. “Hayden’s chasing it.”

  “You saw Hayden?”

  “Yes.” Nathan’s tone told her there was more to his answer that she wasn’t going to like. He didn’t wait for her to ask. “It killed them, Rico. Natalia. Hallia. Ginny. All three of them.”

  Rico felt as if Nathan had hit her in the chest with an armored fist. Her entire body tensed, tears springing unbidden to her eyes. “Oh no,” she whispered. “Oh, Hayden.”

  “We’re all hurting,” Nathan said. “But we need to get these people out of the city. Stay focused on that.”

  “Yes, sir,” Rico replied, shoving the emotions down. She blinked a few times to clear the tears from her eyes, turning as Bale and the other survivors began shambling in. She heard their gasps and short shouts of surprise when they saw the dead Relyeh.

  “The tank will go out first,” Nathan said, activating his external speakers. “Along with the APC. We’ll try to lead them away from the area along the route we marked earlier. The civilians will bring up the rear. We have five cars with mounted machine guns. Rico, I want you and Ike in the lead car. Drake, swap positions with Pyro and take gunner for one of the cars. I need seven more volunteers.”

  “Roger, General,” Drake said. He emerged from the top of the tank as Pyro reached it and started climbing up.

  Rico turned back toward the survivors. None of them had stepped forward to volunteer, including the uniformed deputies who had been trained to drive the cars.

  She grabbed her helmet, angrily ripping it from her head and throwing it on the ground. She locked eyes with Bale first and then sent her furious gaze across the group of survivors.

  “Are you afraid?” she asked. “If you are, good. You should be afraid. Are you ashamed?” She met the eyes of one of the deputies, who looked away. “You should
be ashamed. I get it. You don’t like us because we’re from Proxima. You don’t think you should follow us because we aren’t locals. Let me tell you something; none of that shit matters now. Right now, this city is under siege. Thousands of your friends, family and neighbors are already dead.” She paused to keep herself from choking up, Natalia’s face in her mind. “And you’re going to join them if you don’t pull your shit together. Proxima didn’t do anything for you? Our leaders think you’re savages who don’t deserve our help because when things get hard you turn on one another. Do you want to prove them right?”

  She glared at them, walking the line. More of the survivors looked away in embarrassment and shame.

  “We have one chance to get you out of here. One chance to salvage what’s left of Sanisco’s citizens. I know it sucks. I know it hurts. But Sheriff Duke is out there on his own, fighting for you when his wife and children are dead.”

  A collective gasp and a few cries rose up from the survivors. Rico could feel the atmosphere shift, become more tense but also more focused.

  “Is this how you’re going to repay everything he’s done for you?” she continued. “Is this going to be the legacy you leave for Governor Duke?”

  “No,” one of the deputies said, coming forward. He had tears in his eyes, and he was shaking with fear. “I’ll drive one of the cars.”

  “Me too,” a second deputy said.

  “Count me in,” a civilian woman said. “I used to drive for King, may he rot in hell.”

  “I’ll do it,” a young, thin man with wild hair said. “I didn’t know about Governor Duke. She was my mentor.”

  Three more volunteers quickly came forward.

  “What about you, Bale?” Rico asked.

  “I want to stay on the ground with the bulk of the group,” Bale replied. “I only have this rifle, but I’ll do my best to make it count.”

  Rico nodded and retrieved her helmet, sliding it over her head.

  “Nice speech,” Isaac said through the comm.

  “Passable,” she replied.

  “It worked.”

  “True.”

  They moved into position, Rico joining Isaac at the lead car. It had been converted from an old delivery van and was lined with armored plates and spikes to help deflect trife. The center of the roof had been hollowed out to offer a rotating machine gun turret, courtesy of Natalia and her engineering team.

  It was too bad the trife weren’t the problem this time.

  “The skinny guy is Sean Lutz,” Isaac said as she climbed into the turret’s seat. “He was one of Natalia’s lead engineers.”

  “You should have told me that before I let him drive a car.”

  “You didn’t have your bucket on.”

  “Let’s try to keep him alive then.”

  “Roger that.”

  Isaac started the van, its diesel engine growling beneath the hood. The other cars came to life, the only one of the vehicles that was gas-powered.

  “Hicks,” Nathan said. “You ready?”

  “Ready, General,” Hicks replied. “This is for Governor Duke. And for Hayden.”

  Nathan crouched on the tank next to the main gun. He raised his arm into the air, and then dropped it forward, signaling the survivors. “Let’s move!”

  23

  Nathan

  Nathan remained fixed on the tank as it rolled past the dead xaxkluth and up the ramp to the outside.

  “Stay sharp, Centurions,” he said, following his own advice. The first few seconds of the conflict would be the most important and would set the tone for the escape. If the tank were brought down as soon as it emerged from the building, the survivors would bolt right back to the bunker.

  And they would die there.

  He couldn’t deny the odds weren’t great going outside with the enemy, but they were a hell of a lot better than remaining behind. And personally, he would rather suffer a few seconds in the mouth of a xaxkluth, standing up against the Relyeh, than slowly starving to death in a dark cave.

  “Here we go, General,” Hicks said, guiding the tank to the top of the ramp. Nathan kept the magnets on his feet activated, holding him in place as the tank accelerated, hitting the top of the ramp and emerging in the street.

  His HUD updated almost immediately, both because of his improved sensor reception and the sudden influx of data from the Parabellum above, which reconnected the moment he cleared the pyramid. Whatever the Axon had done, it seemed limited to the confines of the building. He wanted to send a message to Bennett, but had to put that thought on hold as the tank continued on a forward track directly toward a wall.

  “Hicks?”

  It was all he had time to say before he drove the tank into the wall, the behemoth punching into it with the armored front and pushing through without slowing. Crumbling mortar bounced off Nathan’s armor, and he knelt more to clear the hole without being part of the battering ram.

  “Sorry, General,” Hicks said as they crashed head-on into the side of an empty loading dock. “This is the best way through.”

  Nathan didn’t answer. He had to trust the Ranger knew what he was doing. This was his city after all. He held on as they charged toward the opposite wall, preparing to break through.

  “Bennett, this is Stacker. Do you copy?”

  “Copy, General. I trust you’re making your move?”

  “Affirmative. Prepare to sweep the corridor.”

  “Moving into position now. ETA, twenty seconds.”

  “Roger.”

  Nathan tucked his shoulder toward the front as the tank hit the next wall, breaking through. He glanced at his HUD, counting orange and red marks. Some of the xaxkluth were moving away, distracted by something. Hayden, if he had to guess. A couple of the red marks were shifting in his general direction.

  The orange marks remained in position, unaware of the hell that was about to come down on them.

  So far, so good.

  The tank went through the opposite wall. One more block and they could cut left into position. At this speed, he figured it would take about twenty seconds.

  Perfect.

  “Rico, sitrep!” Nathan said. He could see her mark on the HUD and could tap into her camera feed if he wanted to, but sometimes it was easier to get a verbal report.

  “On the move, General,” Rico replied. “Route is clear. Looks like Sheriff Duke helped us out a little.”

  Nathan activated her camera feed to confirm it, finding the dead hulk of the xaxkluth to the left of the garage. Hicks had gone through the area so fast he hadn’t noticed it earlier.

  “I owe him a beer,” Nathan said.

  “Probably more than one,” Rico replied.

  They sped through the street, crushing debris beneath the treads. Nathan saw bodies too. Dead civilians, but Hicks didn’t slow to get around them. He couldn’t afford to, and Nathan appreciated the Ranger’s resolve. They hit the escape corridor at the perfect time, slowing around the corner just as the Parabellum swept in.

  “Bennett, remember to conserve power,” Nathan reminded.

  “Roger, General.”

  The plasma bolts from the Parabellum came in a more measured cadence, each one a well-aimed shot at a xaxkluth. Nathan didn’t start spotting them until they finished coming around the corner, dark mounds hunkered down to fade into the darkness. They were in the streets, on the rooftops and possibly hiding in buildings, but they began to unfurl as the convoy approached, tentacles stretching out and lifting them. A quick check of the situation grid told Nathan the other Relyeh in the city were converging on their position, giving chase to the fleeing group.

  “Not too fast, General,” Rico said. “A lot of these people are on foot.”

  And they were slower than the xaxkluth. Much slower.

  “We’ll try to lead them away,” Nathan said. “Hang back as best you can. Hicks, slow us down.”

  “Roger,” Hicks replied. The tank slowed.

  “Fire at will,” Nathan said, standin
g to full height and raising his rifle. He found the nearest target, lined up his shot and took it.

  Rounds screamed down the street, cutting into the xaxkluth, which groaned in response. The tank shuddered beneath Nathan's feet, firing its first shell. The force would have knocked him off the turret if not for his magnetic grips. He heard the whine of the round and then watched one of the xaxkluth down the street practically explode, killed with one shot.

  He was tempted to get excited. “Hicks, how many of those rounds do we have?”

  “Ten more,” Hicks replied.

  Not enough. Not nearly enough.

  The Parabellum went overhead and banked to come back around. The APC started shooting behind them, targeting the Relyeh at their backs. The tank accelerated again, trying to time the distraction against the arrival of enemy reinforcements.

  The turret fired again, spewing fire from its end as the projectile hit a second xaxkluth and detonated, killing the creature at once. If this were the beginning of the war, back when the planet’s militaries were at full strength, they might have been able to repel this kind of invasion. Not now. Not when everything was already in such bad shape and the people were stressed to such extremes.

  Nathan opened fire again, careful with his shots to conserve ammunition. He wasn’t trying to kill his targets, only get their attention. And keep them coming.

  A dark shape dropped toward him from the rooftops, a medium-sized xaxkluth leaping at the tank from above. Nathan leaned back, letting himself fall onto the turret and aiming upward. He held the trigger, sending rounds tearing through the creature on its way down.

  It wasn’t enough. He turned off the magnets, throwing himself out of the way as the creature hit the tank. It didn’t go for him, instead wrapping its tentacles around the turret and trying to tear it off or bend it in half.

  Nathan didn’t give it a chance. As he jumped to his feet, tentacles reached out for him. His quick bursts of fire tore them from the creature. Its central mass turned toward him, mouth opening in threat. He shoved his rifle into it, letting the Relyeh bite down on his armor as he shredded it from the inside out. Kicking the corpse off the front, it was promptly run over.