Mech 3: The Empress Read online

  #

  Aboard Aareschlucht, the situation was grim. Aldo and Joelle crept through chamber after chamber, but met only scenes of slaughter. Aboard the bridge, they found the pilot and navigator dead at their posts, but another of the enemy killbeasts was there too. Mortally wounded, it dragged itself toward them purposefully. Aldo dismembered it, so that Joelle could save her weapon’s charge.

  On the lower decks they found the intruding ship itself. The aliens had not bothered to attempt docking with their craft, but had instead crashed right into the underbelly. A ram-like wedge had poked through the metal, forming a breach. Aldo examined the scene as they crept closer.

  “I would have thought the ship would have lost all pressure,” he said.

  “Yes,” Joelle agreed, “but see this organic material that glistens all around the intruding hull? I think it must have sealed the connection point.”

  Aldo circled the angular intrusion. To him, it resembled the nose of a shark rammed up into their hull. The underbelly hull was much thinner, as it did not have to absorb passing particles. “How do you get into this thing?”

  Joelle cast him an alarmed look. “Get into it? Why the hell would you want to do that?”

  “We must finish what we’ve started—before they do.”

  Aldo walked up to the breach. Gray vapors smoked from the site, spiraling upward. “I think I see a portal of sorts, here in the side of it. But I have no idea how to open it.”

  “Then we should wait until they come out,” Joelle said in a whisper. “The moment they do, we will ambush them.”

  Aldo pursed his lips and shook his head. He had no intention of allowing the enemy to determine the moment of their next conflict. As a duelist, he had strict tactical policies in these matters. When one had an advantage in mortal combat, it had to be pressed home, not fritted away waiting for the perfect opportunity.

  Experimentally, he thumbed his sword up to the highest power setting and thrust it into the portal mechanism. There was a brilliant flare of light and a sizzling sound, but the most alarming reaction came from the slimes that glistened over the hull, sealing it so the cold vacuum outside could not seep within either ship. The material bubbled and churned as if it were alive and in pain. Some of it turned brown, as might a slurry of melted sugar as it burned. The mass slid away from the blade, leaving a rime of burnt material behind.

  “It’s hard metal,” Aldo said, grunting as he worked the tip gently deeper. He did not wish to break his sword, but he applied as much thrust as he dared. The weapon vibrated in his hand, and he put a second palm on the hilt.

  “Is this wise, Aldo?”

  “Probably not,” he admitted, “but we must take action while we are able.”

  Suddenly, the portal gave way and groaned inward. He almost lost his sword and his balance, but being athletically inclined, he managed to spring backward and take the sword with him. He looked at the dark opening, puzzled. The mechanism must have shorted out and yawned open—either that, or….

  Something rose up from the opening. It was an alien, but not like any they’d seen before. It was certainly not a killbeast, nor was it a shrade. It was vaguely humanoid in configuration, but had a beard of fine tentacles circling the lower portion of its head, and it had a weapon in its tentacled hand.

  Aldo and Joelle were taken by surprise. Cursing, Aldo struggled to his feet. Joelle lifted her pistol. The creature aimed its weapon, and somehow managed to utter a word. The word came not from the creature itself, but rather from a mouth that appeared to have been grown on its abdomen. The mouth resembled a shellfish, or some other bizarre thing one might expect to meet at the bottom of a strange, dark ocean.

  “Ssurrender,” the mouth said.

  Aldo and Joelle froze, knowing the alien had the drop on them. They did not lower their weapons, but they did not lift them, either. Could this thing be attempting to capture them? Aldo was uncertain as to the best course of action. If they attacked, one of them might survive. But if they at least pretended to surrender—he didn’t know how that would turn out.

  The moment was an odd one, and the situation might have turned deadly in a dozen different ways, but the final result was quite unexpected. The alien’s head exploded.

  As the corpse sagged down, the gun in its hand fired once reflexively. A bolt spanged off the walls around them, making Joelle and Aldo crouch. They raised their eyes and their weapons again, but what rose up next from the breach was quite a different surprise.

  It was a man—after a fashion. Thin, with pale features and a twitching face, the stranger carried what appeared to be a hammer in his hand. The hammer was shivering, and Aldo was uncertain if the vibration was caused by the tool or the odd being that held it.

  Joelle took a step forward and aimed her pistol at the stranger.

  “Freeze right there, or you are dead where you stand,” she said.

  The man paid her no heed. Instead, he crawled over the gory corpse into the hold of the ship.

  “I don’t like this,” Joelle said. “There’s something wrong with him.”

  She raised her weapon toward the stranger who seemed to understand he was being threatened for the first time. A series of unusual emotions ran across his face. It was not unlike watching someone undergoing a seizure. The nose wrinkled up as if smelling a sharp new stink. The lips curled from the teeth in a flaring grin. The eyes widened impossibly, then closed to slits and widened again in turns.

  Aldo reached out with a single finger and tipped up Joelle’s gun. She fired, but the shot went high. She glared at him in disbelief. “Look at him! He’s a mad-thing. We can’t allow him aboard the ship. The aliens have taken his mind.”

  “Yes,” said Aldo thoughtfully, “he exhibits madness. But he struck down an enemy to our benefit. More importantly, I think I recognize him. He’s not possessed by invading aliens—not exactly.”

  Joelle peered more closely at Garth. “You’re right. I’ve seen him in the vids—the ones from Garm.” She stepped toward the writhing man. As she did so, Garth’s grav-hammer twitched upward. Aldo pulled her back.

  “Garth? I believe that was the name,” Aldo said. “Is that you in there, sir? Are you the mad skald who fled Garm long years ago?”

  The stranger’s lips trembled and the left half of his mouth spasmed as he forced words out. “I am not Garth. I am Ornth. I ride Garth. I have taken his reins.”

  “I see,” Aldo said, nodding. “You are an alien invader, but possibly a friendly one.”

  “Your description is insulting.”

  Aldo laughed quietly. “Touchy, and arrogant as well. You will make a fine companion on this long journey.”

  “It will be a short trip if we’ve not expunged every vestige of the Skaintz on this vessel.”

  “Agreed,” Aldo said with a sweeping gesture. “Welcome aboard, and let us formally declare our alliance to defeat the—as you call them—Skaintz.”

  Again, the lips writhed and the eyes stared sidelong. Finally, one corner of the stranger’s mouth ejected a single hissing word: “Agreed.”

  Together, they mounted a search, but found nothing left alive aboard Aareschlucht save for themselves. The aliens had very nearly been successful. Joelle continuously cast uneasy glances at Garth, and Aldo didn’t blame her. Was he going to be completely trustworthy? Aldo has his doubts. The coming months of deceleration would clarify matters.

  “One thing puzzles me Garth—ah, Ornth,” Joelle said. “When we met you, the alien from the invading ship did not fire on us immediately. Why did it hesitate?”

  “I believe they were under orders to bring back live prey—you two, specifically. A breeding pair would be most prized.”

  “Take us back to Gladius? Why?”

  “As livestock for consumption. The Skaintz will eat almost anything, but they crave living meats and they are always ravenous.”

  Joelle nodded, but did not speak. She shuddered as Aldo watched her. Doubtlessly, she was contemplating the fate
they’d avoided.

  Aldo found himself wanting to get off this cursed ship more than ever.

  Twelve

  Nina learned of the second ship incoming from the Nexus capitol world, Neu Schweitz, only a few ten-days before it was due to arrive. She was in her command tent at the time. The Droad army was out patrolling the Twilight Fells, a region of crags and broken rock along the border between Sunside and Twilight. As she was more than a full day’s ride from Droad House, she felt nervous to be leading her army so far from home.

  After she emerged from her folding tent and collapsed it, the old knight Hans Droad came to inquire about the news. “I see trouble on your face, milady.”

  Nina glanced at him, then looked away sunward. “There are two ships out there, coming to Ignis Glace.”

  “Two?”

  “We knew about Gladius and the horrors it is supposed to contain. But another ship is out there as well, a fast ship. It will arrive first. It has been a secret up until now.”

  “Ah,” Hans said, nodding his white-haired head. “A great warship, I’m hoping?”

  Nina mounted up, then turned to him. “No. The report indicated we should expect a light vessel with little armament. They could not build a large ship fast enough to beat Gladius here.”

  Hans tugged at his mottled gray beard. “Hmm.”

  “You wonder why my father would bother to send such a ship?” Nina asked. “Does it perhaps bring secret information? Something we can use against the aliens?

  “I’m old enough to know your father well, Nina.”

  She looked away from the sky to stare at him. While her mother had been alive, none in the fief dared tell her much about her father. He was an enigma to her.

  Hans settled himself on his mount, and she wheeled hers to face him. “Tell me what you think,” she said. “My mother’s old proscriptions died with her.”

  “Very well,” Hans said. “The ship is a small one, built for speed. There are few things worthy of such an effort. Possibly, it contains plans of some kind—something that they would not wish to broadcast via radio, lest the enemy listen in.”

  Nina nodded. “But there is something else small and important it might carry. Passengers.”

  Old Hans nodded in turn. “Only someone very important would be aboard such a ship. And there would have to be a critical reason for sending them.”

  Nina shrugged. “I can think of such an individual.”

  Old Hans finally caught on, and his bushy white brows rose high. “You think that—you think your father might be aboard? The Baron himself?”

  “Why not? He’s coordinated the defenses of two planets against this enemy. Wouldn’t he want to come here, to defend his own homeworld?”

  Hans frowned. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but then closed it again.

  “What is it?” Nina snapped. “Out with it, man.”

  “I’m not sure he would come back, milady.”

  “Why not?”

  “You’re parents had—an arrangement.”

  “What sort of arrangement?”

  “She agreed to stay here, while he traveled to the Nexus, raising the status of Droad House. He has done exactly that.”

  Nina narrowed her eyes and stared at the old man. He looked troubled, but she could not tell exactly why he should be. Such emotions seemed out of place on his face. Old Hans was always confident and self-assured.

  “My mother was a witch, and she is dead. Tell me what you know.”

  The old knight bowed his head. “I don’t know much of their agreement, beyond the details concerning their permanent separation.”

  “But why would my father banish himself?”

  Hans cleared his throat. “You said it yourself…your mother was—difficult.”

  Nina sighed and nodded in understanding. Her mother had driven her father from the surface of his own homeworld—that was what the old knight was hinting about. But now the woman was dead, and her father had many good reasons to want to return, if only to defend his children. She reflected that if he knew the truth of the situation, he would surely have come. His shrew of a wife and his son were dead. Only Nina was left to defend Droad House.

  “I want him to come. Surely, he must know that.”

  Old Hans shifted uneasily on his mount. “I’m sure he means well, milady.”

  “The rumor at the Nexus is he is coming. The ship was secret because he is aboard, and no one was to know of his arrival until it was too late. He did exactly that when coming to rule Garm, you know.”

  Hans blinked at her. “That is the news from the Nexus?”

  “Rumors,” she admitted. “But if he and mother had an arrangement, would he not return in secret? It only makes sense.”

  Hans reached out and patted her arm. She almost pulled away, but allowed the contact.

  “Let us hope it is true.”

  Nina nodded and then called for her army to form ranks. Five hundred cavalry and another hundred mech transports scrambled to obey. It was a small force, but contained no mechs which could be immobilized and turned against them by the rebels at a crucial moment.

  “Today,” she told her officers, “we will strike back at the enemy. We will make them pay for their raids. They will rue the day they struck down my dear Leon. We will, in time, wipe them all out.”

  A cheer rose up from hundreds of throats. About half of them were Droads, but many other fiefdoms were represented. The Silures, the Treacles and the Mountebanks were all among her forces. Each day, more humans gathered to her banner, answering her call to muster against the mech rebels.

  Nina set out, leaving the Twilight Fells behind and journeying into the rolling dunes of Sunside. Several days ago, they’d located a mech encampment placed daringly close to Twilight. In an odd way, the planet’s build-up of space-based defenses had helped her accidentally. New satellites meant to scan for hints of alien invaders had found the mech rebels.

  She had contacted the Nexus small air force, insisting they must strike in coordination with her. They had assured her their timing would be precise.

  Nina glided over the sands, sending up a skittering, plume behind her. She grinned and ignored the grit that sifted into her face mask and the heat that beat down on her suit. This was to be her moment of triumph.

  Father was coming back, she felt certain of it. She was determined that when he arrived, she would already be famous in her own right. If she put down this rebellion, she would be the sole subject of every conversation among the nobility of Twilight.

  Her father would know with certainty she was worthy of his pride.

  #

  When the attack came, Sixty-Two and his mechs were taken by surprise. The humans came in the form of a large cavalcade of knights that swept into the ravine where Sixty-Two had built an important forward base. The mechs hid beneath protective camouflage webbing.

  When the knights attacked, a terrific slaughter commenced. None of the mechs carefully prepared defensive measures worked. Always before, the humans had sent in perrupters—mechs built with a battle-class chassis. These had been easily disabled with EMP blasts and viral transmissions. Later, those mechs that were still serviceable could be reprogrammed to join Sixty-Two’s growing horde.

  This was not the case today, however. The enemy brought no combat mechs, and seemed furiously determined to fight. Often, human forces fled when their mechs were disabled in their very faces, not having the stomach to fight alone. These knights were different. They wanted to fight, and fight they did. Sixty-Two was immediately reminded of the twin youths who had attacked him one day early in the campaign—in fact, taking a moment to examine the banners that streamed from their mounts—was that not the blue and white of Droad House?

  “Mechs, rise up!” he broadcast to his confused army, only to find his transmission jammed. He shouted his commands through his speakers after that, with his volume turned up to the maximum, but in the din of battle, it was difficult to be heard. Without order
s, his mechs fought without organization and only when directly attacked.

  Still, he knew he had the numbers. He had a full regiment of four hundred mechs stationed here, and he felt confident they could take on at least twice their number in humans.

  But then the air assault began. Combat aircraft swooped down upon them from above without more warning than the scream of their engines. A moment later, huge explosions blossomed. Any tight group of mechs was targeted and bombed, scattering their bodies as orange-white shockwaves rippled through the ravine and rebounded from the walls. Spinning chunks of debris flew past Sixty-Two as he ran out into the open desert. A severed gripper twirled by, missing his orbs by inches.

  Sixty-Two paused at the rim of the ravine, gazing down in horror at the slaughter below. He had left his mechs behind, and without his leadership, they had no organizational skills on their own. Most were cut down where they stood, as helpless as the mechs they’d blasted and virally disabled. Such a weakness! It made Sixty-Two sick at heart to see it exploited against his own people.

  A few engaged the human knights and took them down with guns and flashing grippers, but their defensive programming wasn’t good enough. The enemy was far better organized and every second they outnumbered the mechs more severely as the rebels fell. They did not even know enough to flee when the battle was hopeless. If Sixty-Two had been capable of tears, he would have cried at the sight.

  Long before it was over, he turned and headed out into the open desert.

  #

  Nina spotted a figure high up upon an outcropping of stone. She recognized it in an instant. No other mech wore a cloak. No other mech stood apart and thoughtful.

  “That’s him!” she cried, calling to her personal guard. “To me! Break off, and follow!”

  She wheeled her mount and zoomed up a rocky path toward the rim of the ravine. Behind her, a dozen comrades flew close behind. Among them was Old Hans himself. The knight looked as if he was having trouble catching his breath due to the battle, but his eyes were still hard and ready to fight.