Children of the Void: Book One of the Aionian Saga (30 page)

He continued to pull himself toward the shore. It seemed easier now, like the shore was coming to him. In a sudden panic, he realized that he was not pulling on the vines, but that the vines were pulling on him, dragging him closer to the strange pod of the plant. He tried to yank himself away, but the vines tightened around his wrist. Before he knew it, the plant had pulled him up onto the shore and was working to pull him into itself.
 

But now on solid ground, he found that the plant didn’t have the strength to drag him anymore. He pried one of the vines off his wrist, then the other. The plant tried again to grab him, and he kicked at it, sending it away.
 

He rolled over onto his hands and knees, crawling away from the plant. He avoided several more tentacles, occasionally having to kick one away. One of the vines pulled an animal that looked like a six-legged salamander out of the river. The creature squirmed in its grip, but eventually the plant pulled it into its center. Gideon was glad that he was bigger than a salamander.

He left the vines behind and climbed a small incline along the bank. Free from immediate danger, he collapsed on the soft grass, relieved that it didn’t try to eat him. His eyelids grew heavy, and a moment later, darkness overcame him.

W
HEN
G
IDEON
AWOKE
, he was trembling from the cold. He lifted his face out of the grass and looked around. The sun was high in the sky, and he was still soaking wet. A stiff breeze came from the other side of the river and chilled him right down to his core. He pushed himself up with a groan and sat for several minutes. The plant below still draped its vines out into the river, waiting for its next victim.
 

Finally, he stood and stretched, finding that he was bruised and bleeding but could walk. He decided to put some distance between himself and the carnivorous plant, even if it had saved his life. He decided to follow the current to the north, since that’s where he had been heading anyway.

Feeling returned to his body as he walked, but he wished it wouldn’t. Every part of him hurt. He distracted himself once more by observing the flora and fauna, noticing they were much different in this part of Valkyrie. Unarmed and alone, he made sure to stay clear of anything larger than his foot. He tried not to speculate about what happened to Takomi and the others, and instead focused on searching. The terrain was rough, with rolling hills interrupted by white cliffs. Dozens of small streams carved gullies and canyons down to the river, and he had to cross each one.
 

At the rim of a particularly steep canyon wall, he spotted something that made him drop to the ground. In the small watershed below him hulked a huge brown vessel. There was no mistaking the alien ship as it hovered over the ground. He peered through the grass at the menacing sight.
 

It was many times larger than the shuttles from the
Leviathan
, with a small ramp leading down to the ground. The rest of it hovered as if painted onto the scenery, without rockets or any sort of mechanism to keep it afloat, though the ground rumbled beneath it.

As he studied the ship, he spotted something beyond it, partially obscured by its mass. The shuttle, or part of it, lay in the bushes upside down. The entire back half was missing. Something was coming out, and it definitely was not one of his friends.

The thing had two legs, two arms, and a head, but that’s where its humanoid similarities ended. Its legs were barely stumps, connected to a long, “V” shaped torso. Its oversized arms propelled it along like an ape. Its head was little more than a flat dome, with no neck whatsoever.

As Gideon stared, mouth agape, another figure emerged from the shuttle. This one couldn’t have been more different from the first. It was spindly and insectile, more akin to a praying mantis than a human. It skittered out of the wreckage on four legs, clutching something in its arms. Stifling a gasp, Gideon realized it was holding a body. It turned to follow the first creature, and he saw that it actually carried two bodies. Joseph and Takomi hung from the creature’s limbs, either unconscious or...

A moment later, a third figure emerged, identical to the insectoid but smaller. It dragged Sophia behind it as it followed the other two toward the ship. Gideon’s mind raced, grasping for ideas, but he could think of nothing. He could only watch as the creatures hauled his friends up the ramp and into the ship. They disappeared into the dark opening as Gideon looked on in a panic.

He expected the ship to take off, taking his friends and leaving him behind, but it remained. Minutes passed while Gideon pressed himself flat to the ground, yet the ship stayed still. The ramp was still down, as well. Gideon came up into a crouch, then crept slowly through the thickest parts of the foliage toward the ship.

He fought back the fear that tried to seize his muscles. Something deeper and stronger urged him forward. He continued inching through the brush, more exposed every second as he approached the ship. Its obsidian spikes were even more ominous up close, and he expected a bolt of energy to vaporize him any second. But nothing happened, and so he pushed forward.

When he was just meters from the ramp, he could feel the ground rumbling beneath him. The mechanism that kept the ship afloat was extremely effective, making the massive vessel look immovable. The thought of that level of technology frightened him more than anything else.

Soon, he was right under the ship and approaching the ramp from the side. He yearned for a rifle and armor, but forced himself to peer over the ramp and into the dark entryway. It was black inside, and he could just make out a high corridor at the top of the ramp. He touched the ramp’s surface, as if he expected it to bite him. It was ordinary metal, and his courage stirred anew. If this alien ship was made of metal, it could be broken and melted. They had done it once already on the
Leviathan
. It was a small consolation, but it was enough to get him moving again.

He slunk over the side of the ramp. Crouching low, he darted toward the corridor. After what seemed an eternity, he reached the opening and peered inside, wondering if he was crazy as he ventured forward into the bowels of the ship. The short corridor ended in a “T” after a couple of meters, with metal walls that reminded him of the maintenance decks aboard the
Leviathan
. He pressed his back up against the wall and looked down at the ramp. At any moment, that ramp could close like the jaws of a steel trap, and he would be stuck inside. He took a deep breath, swallowed, and moved farther into the corridor.

It was two meters to the intersection, but he might as well have been crossing the Void again. Nothing moved. Nothing made a sound. The cold walls were completely silent. When he reached the intersection, he peered around one corner, then the other. Each branch terminated in identical metal doors at least two meters wide and over three meters tall. He didn’t want to know why they were so big.

He scratched his head. There were no buttons or levers that he could see. He wondered if they were automatic, and hated the idea of setting off a sensor. He closed his eyes, took another deep breath, and thought of Takomi. He couldn’t give up now. Jaw clenched, he stepped toward the door to his right.

No sooner had he stepped out into the intersection than the door in front of him slid open. He froze in his tracks. The room beyond looked like it held cargo, but Gideon only saw one thing. The ape creature leaned against a crate with its back to Gideon. It was bigger than he’d thought, and he wondered how it fit through the doorway. The dome he’d thought was its head was actually a helmet, now sitting upside down on the crate.

Gideon couldn’t move. The creature made a sniffing noise, then slowly turned. It jumped back on its stubby legs and squealed. It wore thick metal armor the color of rust. It had the complexion of a half-ripe tomato, with heavy eyebrows over small, humanlike eyes. Its face contorted into a snarl, revealing fanged teeth and an expression that could only mean one thing.
 

Gideon didn’t wait to see what it would do next. He spun around and out the hatch, down the corridor, and leapt off of the side of the ramp. The ground flew up to meet him. He hit it and rolled, sprung to his feet, and took off faster than he ever had before.

G
IDEON
SPRINTED
UP
the embankment, away from the ship. Over his shoulder, he saw that the creature was indeed chasing him, but its awkward gait was too slow. At the top of the hill, he glanced back again. The creature had fallen behind, but now the insectoids were pouring out of the hatch. They moved fast enough to give Gideon another burst of adrenaline.

He dashed down the other side of the hill, until he reached the edge of a ravine, and jumped without hesitation. He landed hard on a sandbar in the middle of a stream, rolling into the water. Wet but unscathed, he thrashed through the water to the opposite bank.
 

Once on dry land, he was running again. Strange birdlike screeches echoed behind him, each one closer than the last. He stole another glance over his shoulder. They weren’t down in the canyon with him, and for the moment, it seemed that his reckless leap had paid off. Yet all around him, the screeches echoed down into the canyon, increasing in volume and intensity behind him. They had picked up his trail. This narrow gorge was the last place he wanted to meet those things up close, so he pushed himself even harder.
 

He scrambled up a dry waterfall, and the canyon opened up into a wide gully. He paused in the shadows of the canyon until a screech behind him got him moving again. He ran out into the open gully toward a spot that didn’t look too steep. The screeches were right behind him before he was halfway across. Over his shoulder, he spotted three insectoids scurrying down the walls.
 

He wasn’t sure his legs could keep up this breakneck pace, but he kept moving. Another alien scrambled down the wall to his right. Gideon adjusted his track, but a second later, another pursuer came over the wall to his left. He’d been cut off.
 

The idea of being chased down and tackled from behind seemed like an awful way to die. Now that the option to flee was gone, his mind steeled itself for battle. There was something liberating about being forced to fight. He allowed thoughts of revenge to permeate his mind. These creatures had attacked his ship and killed many of his friends. They’d destroyed the only home he’d ever known. Because of them, his father was missing or killed. And now, in the belly of their ship, they had Joseph, Sophia... and Takomi.
 

Hatred pumped through his veins, and he set his jaw and looked around for a weapon. A piece of driftwood lay half buried in the sand, and he ran for it, yanking it out of the ground and charging at the closest insectoid. A bellowing war cry erupted from his chest as his bloodlust took control.
 

The creature in front of him paused. Before it could react, Gideon dove at it with an overhead swing. The club came down on the creature’s shoulder with a satisfying crunch. The alien wasn’t protected by a carapace, like Gideon had expected, and the blow struck soft flesh, cracking the bone beneath.

It squealed and recoiled from the attack, holding its injured arm close to its body. Gideon swung again. The club made contact at the base of the creature’s neck, snapping in two as the alien crumpled to the ground.

Gideon spun around. Four more creatures advanced. They flinched as he bared his teeth and shouted another war cry. Chittering together in their bird language, they spread out to flank him. He hurled what was left of his club at the closest one, then turned and ran past the dead creature and up the steep wall of the gully.
 

Something grabbed his ankle, and he looked down to see a scaly hand latched onto his boot. A well-placed kick broke the grip, but before he could continue up the slope, another hand grabbed him. Dirt slipped through his clawed fingers as he was dragged back down into the gully. Once on level ground, he flipped around onto his back and kicked up into the face of one of his attackers. It reeled backward and screeched in pain.
 

Before he could attack again, an arm came down on his shoulder, pinning him to the dirt. The aliens clicked and squealed as they encircled him. Their silvery bug eyes showed no emotion, and when their mandibles clicked open, he could see a mess of tiny teeth inside.

With his free arm, he swung at another face and missed. As they pinned him down, one of them produced a sticky ribbon from its mouth. While Gideon struggled to break the grip of their willowy hands, the creatures wrapped the sticky ribbon around his legs. It quickly dried, constricting around them until he couldn’t move.
 

Another figure elbowed its way into the circle, and Gideon found himself looking up at the ape creature. It grunted and clicked commands at the insectoids as it leaned in close to Gideon. Foul breath blasted out of its flat nostrils into his face. It prodded him with its huge hands as the insectoids continued mummifying him.

Completely helpless, Gideon could do nothing but watch as the pack broke up and left him wriggling on the ground. The ape creature grunted and screeched at the insectoids, gesturing at the still body of the one Gideon had clubbed. It was likely that he’d killed it, but there wasn’t a sympathetic bone in his body for the monster.

While the aliens continued clicking and screeching at each other, another group consisting of two more apes and at least a dozen insectoids crested the ridge and descended down into the gully. The larger group appeared to be heavily burdened with an assortment of gear. The apes wore armor similar to the first, in addition to a bulky rifle over their shoulders. The insectoids wore a lighter armor, and carried long sticks with a glowing blue tip.