Rift Breaker (34 page)

Tazman tucked the live electrical cable under his arm and limped with all his might. The sparks on its end made him wince. Ahead was Reelai. The murdering bastard stood right where he wanted him, in the puddle, just a few steps ahead. The slack of the line disappeared. Tazman stumbled. The cable had snagged the corner of a mainframe. He turned and hopped back. He rose to his tiptoes and lifted the wire over the top of the column. He grunted and flicked the cable, sending through a wave to clear the edge.
He succeeded after three attempts and turned back to come face to face with Reelai.

A grey backhand smashed against his cheek. The cable slipped free. Reelai snatched the wire. The cable hit Tazman's ankles and swept him off balance. The back of Tazman's head collided hard with the stone floor. He landed on tail the wrong way and a sprain flared through bone and muscle.

‘I've been waiting patiently for this moment,' Reelai said, grasping the cable, turning its sparking end towards the frightened simian.

‘Hey,' yelled a booming voice, ‘fat head!'

Milton walked from the side of the room and stopped at the opening of the Xoeloid machine. He stared down at Reelai — the Xoeloid whose mind he had seen — who did not take a liking to ‘lower species' — with confidence. Reelai paused, dropped the cable and turned with a flutter of his robe.

‘Let's go,' Milton said. He balled his fists. The prickling tingles shot down his arms.

Reelai advanced towards him.

‘You're wasting time,' added Milton. ‘Xoeloid forces are down there without a general. That's not very … efficient of you, huh?'

‘I am glad to find you are now thinking like a true Xoeloid,' Reelai said, circling to Milton's front. ‘I expect you will fall easily into your place.'

‘Don't count on it,' said Milton, loosening and tightening his hands.

Reelai broke into a sprint. Milton concentrated. He stepped his foot back and took off. He rotated his body and swung a punch. His fist made contact, unleashing fierce energy. The burst threw both of them in opposite directions. Milton spun to the side and skidded across the wet floor. Reelai was thrown back against one of the metal barred pillars of the balcony.

‘Give him hell, Milton,' Tazman yelled. Both he and Luylla had gathered at the sideline.

Reelai stepped away from the barred pillar, which had bent out of shape. Over their heads the battle for Cenyulone raged on the flickering display screen. Missiles, explosions and high calibre energy weapons dominated the sun-faded sky.

‘You are too late,' said Reelai, striding forward.

Milton matched his pace.

They met at the centre. Milton swung another energised blow. Reelai caught his fist and lifted him off the ground. Milton tried to pull away but received a kick to the waist. With the release of his hand, he landed on the floor. Reelai then landed an elbow on his spine and he clattered to his knees. The folds of the black robe lingered in front of Milton's face. Reelai's long-fingered hand snapped around the top of his head and lifted him again.

‘You ungrateful little worm. I made you a god.' Reelai thrust his other hand into Milton's chest, shoving the Human onto his back. ‘And this is how you repay me? I gave you everything and still you refuse to cooperate. Your resistance will only increase the pain for yourself, my friend.'

‘I'm not your friend,' Milton spat, rising off the ground. He charged and tackled Reelai at the legs, sending him back a mere step. Reelai picked Milton up and threw him again. Milton hit the awkward surface of the Xoeloid machine. He pushed off his hands to have Reelai slam him down and pin him. Milton gripped Reelai at the sleeves, but the tingles were not flowing anymore.

‘Come on Milton. Get him,' yelled Tazman.

‘Tazman, Luylla,' yelled Milton, ‘get out of here!'

Milton was thrust back into the tiny chamber. His back hit the wall and he squirmed out, to cop another blow to his guts.

‘Stay,' grunted Reelai. Milton gasped for his missing breath. The black cords snaked round his body. Needles pierced his flesh and stabbed in a line down his back. His hands were pulled down to his sides and cords tightened on his wrists and ankles. His mind flashed with the image of a Xoeloid invader, who cut down another Composite soldier.

‘We used to be like them you know,' said Reelai. ‘But we were rejected for our ways — for following our calling. They will not stop us from fulfilling our destiny. And neither will you. Your destiny, Milton Lance, is to be one of us.'

‘No!' he screamed. He saw a downed Xoeloid ship on Cenyulone. Xoeloid soldiers donned armour and weapons, gathering for their final assault. His thoughts began to dissolve; his brain was again being used as a channelling device with no will of its own. He blinked and shook his head.

A flash of his vision appeared. The black eyes. He saw his Human mother and the creatures who had watched over her. The same ones who had taken him to Stoneia, his home. His heartbeat surged. He closed his eyes. In the blackness he searched for the energy that welled inside him. He could feel its warm tingling swirl. Despite the pain being inflicted on him, he relaxed. His eyes shot open. He saw them as a reflection in Reelai's. They were pitch black and blinking with tiny stars.

Reelai whirled and looked up. Specks of light gathered high in the room. Thousands of them began to cluster. Reelai punched Milton in the stomach again. Milton held onto the energy like nothing else. The specks began to swirl.

‘No!' cried Reelai, ‘Stop this.'

The specks gathered to a point and the gate ripped open to a black endless void. A powerful suction engaged the front of the room without mercy.

Reelai snatched at the rim of the chamber. Monitoring equipment and loose debris flew into the rift followed by the smaller half of the broken computer station. The Xoeloid machine kept Milton fixed in place.

‘Close it now,' ordered Reelai. Milton tilted his head the other way, staring with black emotionless eyes.

He caught sight of Tazman and Luylla running out and disappearing through an exit. He stretched the rift gate wider. Reelai's feet slipped off the ground, sending all the strain to his hands.

A heavier mainframe lifted. It caught on the gate edges and held to the opening for a moment. Reelai dropped, but flew up again when the machine buckled and was swallowed whole.

Reelai released one hand and slipped back; his robe flailed. Veins bloated from his tense arm. He reached forward, extending long fingers towards Milton's neck, struggling against the pull.

Milton flashed a half-smile. ‘Isn't this what you wanted, a rift gate?' he asked. ‘Well here you go.'

He widened the hole again. Reelai's fingers slipped clear. His body flipped and veered up into the black. His form turned into a rippling blur behind the distorted window.

Milton blinked and broke his focus. The gate shrunk to a seal. The light speck residue dissolved.

Thirty

Milton stepped from the machine to a ruined control room. Wires sparked, circuitry dangled from computers, whole workstations had gone missing. Through the chaotic monitoring floor Tazman and Luylla appeared from the back. Luylla carried her severed metal arm and Tazman limped. His face lit on seeing Milton alive and well. The Freegu let out a victorious howl.

Milton smiled and stepped to his friends. His advance was cut by the stinging needle-ended cords lodged in his back.

‘Hang on buddy,' said Tazman.

Luylla set down her detached arm. She and Tazman took Milton's hands and pulled. Milton growled and the cords came out of his flesh one by one. The last came out and whipped back against the machine. Milton moaned at the alleviation, freed at last.

His conflicts were over. The newfound emptiness of his mind brought relief. The tingles had left his body. He wasn't sure if they
would ever return but he didn't care. He slapped Tazman on the shoulder and slid to the floor against a console. Tazman leaned in beside him and grinned.

The front monitoring screen blinked with interference. The image held a fixed view on the Cenyulone sky. A Composite patrol ship exploded into a flaming wreck and dropped nose first, revealing a crumbling defence platform under heavy bombardment. Weapon energy streamed out from and towards most directions. Missiles with streaking vapour trails homed to their targets. The screen flashed and the feed disappeared, replaced by a flicking grey.

‘We have to do something,' said Milton.

‘We have to get out of here,' replied Tazman.

‘No,' said Milton, ‘there's something else.' He touched the implant in the back of his head and carefully parted his sore flesh, digging his fingers into its sides.

‘What are you doing?' asked Tazman.

‘This thing needs to be out of me,' he said. Milton stood, paced to the front of the room and back, taking deep slow breaths.

‘Wouldn't you need an operation or something?' asked Tazman.

‘Well, it's only a … long thing … like a needle,' Milton said. ‘It should come straight out, right?'

Tazman nodded, ‘Yeah. That makes sense.'

‘Wait, what?' said Luylla.

‘All I know is this thing needs to be out of me right now,' said Milton.

Tazman, easing himself to the floor and leaning on a console, put his fist in the air, ‘You can do it.'

Milton nodded, looked down and gripped the device in his fingernails. He took a few more breaths and pulled hard. His skull throbbed. He grunted. His flesh, having been attached to the implement, began to tear. He stopped. The device had retracted a little. He was then able to get a better grip and pull harder. His scalp gave some resistance. Then something popped. The implant came out with an squishing sound.

‘Eewwww, ohhh yuck,' said Luylla in a perky panic.

‘Relax, sweetie,' said Tazman, ‘it's just a little grey matter. Make sure you plug that hole, Milton'

Warm streaks of blood gushed down his neck. He pressed his palm to the hole. He discarded the blood-covered implement and kept his head tilted forward as he eased himself down next to Tazman.

‘I need a shower,' said Milton.

‘You need a doctor,' said Tazman.

Milton shifted his pupils onto his simian friend. ‘Look who's talking,' he replied, prompting Tazman to burst out in a hearty chuckle.

A volley of blasts sprayed in and chipped the tapered pillar that Commander Raegar used as cover. He flattened his body and waited for a pause in the bombardment. His squad provided cover fire from somewhere and he ran forward, spraying pulse in the enemy's direction.

A wind kicked up a cloud of dust; the majestic sound of a dropship engine screamed over the scene. Its front cannons laid cover. Streams of discharge tore away at the enemy's barricades, forcing the invaders to scurry to new positions. Only one rescue craft had arrived; the other two had been shot down. The ship landed through the yellow gas spewing from the beacon canister. It spun to point its rear hatch at the
Raticia
breach. The ship's front cannons, on the underside of its nose, continued to blast in the direction of the enemy. Wailing shouts from officers ordered the crew to take the wounded first.

Raegar's forces had taken control of the surrounding area. Groups of his crew had gradually increased the radius. The
Raticia
's crumpled body lay in a thin corridor. One direction was blocked by a fallen skyscraper, the other by the downed enemy warship.

Making out the enemy position, Raegar took cover behind a displaced section of stone wall. He put the barrel of his rifle through a blasted gap on the edge and shot at another invader. Five more appeared nearby. He ducked and his barricade was sprayed. Pieces of rock and dust bounced over him. He circled around the stone and leaned out, attacking from a different angle.
One invader tore down the flank. Raegar swivelled, placing it in his sights. Blasts from several directions hit the stone, forcing him to sink back. He prepared himself.

The invader leapt over his barricade. The fleet commander sprang with his knee joints, tackled the runner in his four arms and hurled it to the dust. With its back hitting the ground, the invader swiped with its arm cannon. The heated orange blade gleamed through the blurry cloud. Raegar caught the weapon and used his additional hands to rip it from his enemy's grasp. With a roar his tossed the cannon blade out onto the road.