“Did we hit it?” she gasped.
He smiled and helped her to her feet. “You were about half a meter off the mark, but let’s face it, precision work wasn’t necessary here. You did it. We blocked the passage. Let’s hook up with Marco and get back to the tunnel.”
Marco! Jill hoped he was alright. He had dealt with the most of the Genjix. They backtracked the way they came and found him leaning against a boulder having a cigarette. There were six dead Genjix lying about.
He saw them coming and waved. “I would have gone to check up on you, but I seem to have walked into a shotgun blast, and now this bloody leg is being a bad dog.”
Jill ran up to him. “Oh my God, you took a full shotgun to the hip?”
“Well, it was a bird shot,” he inhaled and puffed out a cloud of smoke. “So I’m sure it’s probably in parts of my chest and arms as well.”
As she got close, she noticed that he was bleeding all over and gasped at the amount of blood pouring out of his body. How he was still conscious was beyond her. Suddenly, there was another explosion and the mountainside shook. The three of them looked up as debris came tumbling down the sides.
“That must be Paula. You two stay here,” she ordered. “I’m going to go check up on her. And then we’ll get you to a doctor.”
Marco waved her away. “No rush, take your time.” He turned to Emerson and offered him a cigarette. “By your accent, dear fellow, Northern Ireland? First time in the States?”
Emerson accepted it and sat down next to him. “Aye, came across the pond with Paula. Much chillier here than I thought it’d be.”
Jill shook her head and left the two boys to their own devices. She still had to round up all the survivors and move them to the evacuation site. Then they could lick their wounds and plan the next step. She walked around the ravine back to the hidden entrance. It was exhaling a small cloud of dust that reminded her of puffs of a cigar. Rather than waiting outside, Jill went in to help the survivors. Twenty meters into the tunnel, she found the cave in. She stopped and looked frantically for another way through.
Oh no! Paula must have had to cause the cave in before they could escape. They are all trapped with the Genjix.
Jill collapsed to the ground and stared at tons of earth and rock for God knows how long until Marco and Emerson eventually found her. Refusing to give up, she picked up a rock and banged on the rubble, making loud tapping noises that echoed through the tunnel, hoping for a sign of life from inside, but none ever came.
FORTY-THREE
SHIP FIGHTING
The rest of the story you know. My triumph and fall with Temujin, my time with Zhu as emperor, and everything else since is an old shared story between us. So why did I start at the beginning? Because you, Roen, needed to know. Now we are whole, you and I. I am laid bare before you as all Quasing are before humanity.
The rules have changed. Humans can now throw off the yokes of our influence. I am not absolved of the Quasing’s crimes. I admit to my role in humanity’s enslavement. I am as guilty as most. My only solace is that I, along with the rest of the Prophus, saw the error in our ways and tried our best to atone for our crimes.
Tao
We cannot hold this line. Sound the retreat!
“Already? That didn’t last long.”
Roen ducked behind a shipping container and yelled as loud as he could. “Everyone get the fuck out of here! Pull back!”
You could have said it in a less panicked way.
Truthfully though, the fight was going exactly as Roen had sounded. He abandoned his position and scurried toward the tower, occasionally diving behind cover and taking a few pot shots at the Genjix troops overwhelming their position. Everywhere he looked, the defenders of Imelda’s Song fell back with as much dignity as anyone who just had their asses handed to them could. In other words, it was an all-out rout three minutes into the fighting.
Roen’s team and the crew had never stood a chance. Though the crew was determined to defend the ship, no amount of untrained men armed with spear guns, pistols, and enthusiasm could overcome twenty heavily-armed shock troops. He gave the crew credit for standing their ground even that long.
“Get below deck. Regroup at the mess hall,” he yelled over the sounds of automatic gunfire.
Duck!
Roen dove to the side just as a hail of bullets plastered the wall where he was just standing moments earlier. He rolled onto his knees and opened fire, felling one of the Genjix. Then he realized he had just put himself badly out of position and was now exposed.
Genjix top left and ground level right. Two more approaching.
An image of four Genjix flashed into his mind: one standing on top of a container, one trying to flank him from the side of the ship, and two charging forward from the far back.
Roen looked for cover, already knowing that he wasn’t going to make it unless these Genjix were really bad shots. He tried to scramble for cover, but bullets kicked up dust around him, and he flattened against the floor. Just then, Hutch appeared next to him and began to empty clip after clip.
“Get on your feet, sir,” he growled. “Let’s go!”
Together, they retreated, still shooting as they fled toward the stairs leading down to the lower levels on the starboard side of the ship. They were almost to safety when Hutch gasped and fell. Roen grabbed him by the collar and dragged him to the stairs and down a few steps.
“Argh, can’t feel my legs,” Hutch growled. “Leave me.”
“Save your breath,” Roen said, wrapping his arms around his waist. Hutch pushed him away and waved him off.
“I got you covered, sir,” he said. “They won’t take these stairs without paying for it.”
He is right. Get going.
“God damn it!” Roen slammed his fist on the steps. “I’m not leaving-”
“Shut the hell up, Roen,” Hutch spat out blood. “You’re a good guy but you talk too much. I’m done for. Now get out of here before it’s too late!”
Roen hesitated, and then ran down the stairs. Behind him, Hutch roared and rained wrath down on whichever Genjix was unfortunate enough to try to approach those stairs. He made it down two more levels and halfway to the mess hall when Hutch’s yelling died. Roen stopped for a beat and paid homage to Hutch’s courage. There was going to be hell to pay for this. When he got to the mess hall, Dylan and half a dozen of the crew were waiting for him.
“Is this it?” Roen asked, looking around. If this was everyone who had made it, they were in really bad shape.
Dylan shook his head. “This is everyone from the tower. Manny should be along shortly. He and two of the guys stayed at the bridge to disable the engine. I was able to get a distress call out to Prophus sub-channels, then we rounded up everyone we could find and brought them down here.”
A minute later, Faust and Jim appeared with another five of the crew in tow. Then Grant and two more joined in after them.
“Where are Jim and Ray?” Roen asked, already fearing the worst.
“Jim covered the port flank while everyone ran,” Grant said. “A grenade blew him out to sea. I haven’t seen Ray.” He looked around the room. “Hutch?”
Roen gritted his teeth and shook his head.
“How many confirmed kills do we have?” Dylan asked.
A couple of guys raised their hands. Even more said they’d struck one but doubted it was a killing shot. These Genjix shock troops were pretty heavily armored after all. He estimated their remaining strength to be at approximately twelve. Eight Genjix killed compared to over twenty team and crew.