Fall of Icarus (59 page)

           
Though still outnumbered, the Oterian made great headway toward getting himself free of the town.
 
Attaching another drum of ammunition to the bottom of the rifle, Rombard smiled at the red glowing barrel as he squeezed the trigger once more.
 
He howled in anger at the townsfolk as he continued firing.
 
Turning his aim once more, a bullet tore into the top of his right shoulder as another caught him in the side of the face.
 
Staggering, he looked up and saw a pair of riflemen standing on top of a nearby roof.
 
With Cerise gone, no one had stopped the militant members of the community from regaining the high ground.
 
Though his shoulder ached from the gunshot, Rombard tried to raise his rifle toward the new threat.
 
Both riflemen opened fire, the bullets tearing into the Oterian’s body.
 
His knees buckling, he slumped to the ground and stared up toward the dark cliff face.
 
With a curse to the Avalon still on his lips, the Oterian’s last breath slipped from his body.

           
They were dead.
 
She knew it in her heart without even having to ask over the radio.
 
The rest of the team was already dead and she and Adam would soon be following suit.

           
Keryn huddled behind the overturned table, feeling lost and alone.
 
The townsfolk had yet been able to get into the building, but they were growing closer.
 
Every time she had ever entered combat, the Voice had always been there to support her.
 
Subconsciously, it guided her
decision making
and military tactics.
 
Though often unwanted, the Voice gave Keryn comfort when times were rough.
 
Now, facing a staggeringly superior force, she realized just how alone she truly was.

           
The concerned calls on the radio had gone unanswered.
 
Keryn yearned to reply, but simply didn’t know the answer of what to do next.
 
Her lack of confidence bled over her frustration, the two feeding one another until she felt unable to move
;
frozen in spot even as enemies grew even closer.

           
Adam continued to fight as though he hadn’t noticed her pressed tightly against the protective table.
 
His rifle fired time and again, sending assaulting townsfolk flying from the broken window.
 
The street beyond was littered with bodies of those foolish enough to get within range of Adam’s barrage.

           
Sliding back down behind the table, Adam reloaded his rifle.
 
He glanced over at her huddled form, but Keryn barely acknowledged his presence.
 
She pulled her knees tighter to her chest and wrapped her arms protectively around her legs, as she bit back the tears that stung her eyes.

           
Adam, to his credit, didn’t belittle Keryn.
 
He barely spent more than a second looking in her direction before continuing his reloading.
 
When he spoke, his voice was barely over a husky mutter, barely audible in Keryn’s ringing ears.

           
“I don’t know what’s going on in your head, but you need to get over it and fast.
 
I know you’re scared.
 
I know this is new to you.
 
But you only have one of two options.
 
Either you fight with me, or we both die.
 
I don’t know about you, but I’m not a big fan of the latter.”

           
Keryn opened her mouth to reply, but the words never came.
 
She closed her mouth again and stared off at the wall.

           
“I got it,” Adam continued.
 
“You’re not an infantryman.
 
You’re much better off behind the controls of a ship.
 
You’re good at fighting, but this really isn’t your style.
 
I understand all that.
 
But I also don’t give a damn about any of that.
 
You don’t get to choose your situations.
 
You just adapt and overcome any adversity thrown at you.
 
Believe me, I’m not happy being in this situation.
 
But I sure as hell won’t lie down and let these bastards kill me!”

           
Keryn whispered something softly, beyond Adam’s ability to comprehend.

           
Adam looked around the corner, ensuring that no more townsfolk were approaching the open window.
 
“What was that?” he asked over his shoulder.

           
“They’re dead and it’s my fault,” Keryn said pathetically.
 
“I led you all into a trap.”

           
Adam turned sharply toward her.
 
“Yes, you did.”

           
Keryn looked at him in disbelief.
 
She had expected a myriad of responses, but not that.
 
Adam had always been her biggest advocate, and yet he was now just as quick to turn his back on her when she needed him.

           
He shook his head when he saw her stunned expression.
 
“You led us into a trap.
 
There’s no denying that.
 
But you didn’t do it on purpose.
 
You couldn’t have known that the entire town was going to turn on us.
 
So you led us into a trap.
 
So what?
 
That act alone doesn’t make you a poor soldier or a poor leader.
 
My last commander walked us right into a trap too.
 
It cost a lot of people their lives.
 
But to this day, I have nothing but the utmost respect for him.

           
“My point is, either you can sit here and feel sorry for yourself or you can accept that you made a mistake.
 
You may have led us here, but you didn’t kill us.
 
Cardax did that.
 
He turned these people into a bunch of bloodthirsty monsters.
 
And right now, while we’re discussing your shortcomings, he’s making his way toward the port so he can escape this planet.
 
I don’t know about you, but I’d like to see him dead for what he did here.”

           
Keryn nodded and took a deep breath.
 
Having Adam as her voice of wisdom somehow filled the lonely void she had been feeling in her chest.
 
The Voice was gone, but a new voice was quickly taking its place.

           
“Alright,” she said, though her voice still quivered slightly.
 
“What do we do now?”

           
Adam nodded in affirmation.
 
“The first thing you do is get on the radio and let them know that you’re still our leader.
 
Get everyone back to the
Cair Ilmun
and let’s make sure Cardax doesn’t get away.”

           
“We’re surrounded.
 
How are we going to get out of here?”

           
“You leave that to me,” Adam said as he stood and moved toward the back wall.
 
He continued speaking as he worked, his actions hidden from Keryn’s view.
 
“People kept telling me that chivalry was dead.
 
I don’t believe that.
 
I still firmly believe that chivalry is alive and well in some men.
 
And a chivalrous man,” he continued as he hurried away from the wall, “always opens the door for a lady.”

           
As Adam hurried back toward the table, Keryn could see the metallic object affixed to the wooden wall.
 
Adam gestured toward the object as he covered his head with his hands.
 
“You may want to cover your face.”

           
No sooner had Keryn protected her face between her knees than a concussive blast ripped through the room.
 
Though the blast was focused into the wall, Keryn could still feel her ears pop from the sudden change in pressure.
 
Coughing away the thick dust that now filled the room, she squinted in order to notice the large hole shorn through the back wall.
 
Beyond, Keryn could see the scrub brush and long, flat desert that marked the outside border of the town.

           
“Ladies first,” Adam motioned as he shook plaster and wood slivers from his hair.

           
Together, they rushed through the hole and turned toward the
space port
.

CHAPTER FORTY

           
Iana wanted to vomit.

           
Her stomach was being pulled inside out as she tumbled through the wormhole, her
Duun
fighter rebounding off the flowing walls of the distorted tunnel.
 
Being able to see the exit to the tunnel so close ahead did little to alleviate the incredible disassociated feeling she experienced throughout her body.
 
Her limbs barely felt like her own as gravitational distortions appeared throughout the cockpit, pulling blood flow in multiple directions throughout her body.
 
Though she maintained her grip on the ship’s controls, her knuckles were sickly white.

           
Sirens filled the cockpit as the internal sensors warned of microscopic hull breaches forming throughout the ship.
 
Iana had been lucky to survive the first warp when the Squadron appeared behind the satellite grid.
 
Had she another choice, she would have never put herself through such torture a second time.
 
Unfortunately, Iana found herself with little other choice.
 
Terran fighters had skimmed the atmosphere, remaining under her radar as she tried to keep Yen and his team safe.
 
By the time she had noticed the fighters, they were too far away to catch before they would reach the
Cair Thewlis
.
 
Left with no other option, Iana had risked her own life to warp closer to Earth.
 
Though only a few hundred miles, the trip through the wormhole felt like an eternity.

           
Gritting her teeth, Iana accelerated toward the end of the tunnel.
 
Smoke was now starting to trail from one of her machine guns under her left wing.
 
It boded ill, since the machine gun carried a large complement of ammunition.
 
Iana hoped it wasn’t a fire.
 
If the ammunition belts ignited, she wouldn’t have to worry about seeing Yen and his team killed.
 
She’d be dead long before that happened.

           
Finally, much to Iana’s relief, the blue and green planet at the end of the tunnel came fully into view as she was launched out of the end of the wormhole.
 
Disoriented and sickened, it took a moment to gain her bearings.
 
Earth was now significantly closer than it had been before, but that didn’t mean that Iana had warped to the right location.
 
Scanning her radar, she let out a sigh of relief as the three Terran fighters appeared directly below her.
 
Aside from the structural damage to her ship, Iana’s warp had been perfect.
 
Angling downward, Iana dove toward the three unassuming fighters.

           
Her rockets were launched before the Terrans were able to register that an Alliance ship had inexplicably appeared on their radars.
 
Splitting their formation, one of the fighters climbed to intercept Iana while the other two continued skimming the atmosphere.
 
Her plasma rockets streaked downward toward the darting fighters.
 
The first two missiles struck the atmosphere and exploded prematurely, the tension causing the warheads to detonate.
 
Sparks of plasma soared across the sloping atmosphere, filling the sky below with a dancing spectacle of lights.
 
The third rocket, however, found its target, detonating near the engine well of one of the fighters.
 
Consumed in flame, the Terran ship broke apart.

           
Instead of taking evasive maneuvers, Iana charged headlong toward the advancing Terran fighter.
 
The one closing the distance with her was not her main concern.
 
She knew that he was only a distraction; a tool to keep her preoccupied while the other fighter began its strafing runs against the
Cair Thewlis
and Yen’s team.
 
Whether or not she destroyed the closer ship, she would have to bypass it eventually to reach the skimmer, the one she considered to be the much larger threat.