The Soldier: Escape Vector Read online

  “Notice,” Uldin said calmly to Halifax. “Collared thralls are dying everywhere in the complex. I’m stamping out his little rebellion.”

  The horrible cooked-meat odors—Halifax’s mind felt dull and spent, as if it had been stretched too far. He felt listless, but managed to ask, “Won’t you need the thralls later?”

  “If I needed them, I’d save them.” Uldin began shutting down the various holo-screens until he only studied two. “Skar 192 and Marcus Cade led a small force of freed thralls. I wonder if I should flood the chambers or use gas. Unfortunately, I do need the Ultra.”

  “You’re merciless,” Halifax said sleepily.

  “Quite true,” Uldin said. “Take him to the ship,” he told Charaton. “Secure him in a cell. We won’t need the doctor for a time, but we will need him eventually.”

  “And the woman, Magister?” Charaton asked.

  “Yes, take her as well,” Uldin said.

  “She’s asleep.”

  Uldin coldly regarded Charaton.

  “I will attend to the problem, Magister.”

  “See that you do,” Uldin said. “I’ll join you in less than fifteen minutes. First, I must assess and see if the spirit of the Nagans is responsible for all this. Now, go. Take them both.”

  Charaton dipped his red-dotted head. He swept his left hand afterward, using the invisible force field to propel Halifax toward an opening hatch. The Rhune manipulated the slate on which Velia lay. It rose. Charaton took the end and began pushing the now floating slate as Halifax jerked and staggered ahead of them. The last look the doctor had of Uldin was the tall gaunt Rhune standing before two remaining holo-screens. The demonic creature contemplated, no doubt deciding what would happen next in this side-annex of Hell.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Cade raced after the sprinting Skar 192. Behind the Ultra ran five other collar-freed thralls. The five held flintlock pistols and cutlasses, while Skar had a blunderbuss. The old-style weapons had come from Skar’s secret cache. He’d also donned combat gear and boots, which had been stashed there as well.

  Cade felt reinvigorated running hard with a plan and team members able to keep up with him. They might be fighting thralls born from a man-maker, a kind of substandard Ultra, but they were superior to regular humans in strength and stamina. Skar led them unerringly through the maze of corridors. Unfortunately, they’d passed countless neck-burned thralls twisted by their death agonies.

  “Uldin slaughtered them all,” Skar said once. After that, his blunt face became bleak with determination. “That means he’ll gas or flood the levels soon. We must get to your ship. First, we’re making a small detour.”

  The part about reaching the ship sounded good to Cade. He would take the thralls with him, of course. These were fighting men after his own heart. They did not speak too much. They did not boast. They acted with soldierly resolve. It felt as if he’d returned to his Force in Second Command, Battle Unit 175. The truth was that Cade felt more at home with the freed thralls than he’d felt anywhere else since his awakening in this future era.

  Skar slid to a halt and peered around a corner corridor. He looked back, beckoning Cade.

  “Rhunes,” the thrall whispered, holding up three of his thick fingers.

  Cade exchanged places with Skar at the front.

  “Kill them,” Skar whispered from behind.

  Cade nodded, peered down the corridor—the way spread out into a room. He aimed the Lupus 19 Energy Gun and touched the trigger three times. Three separate gouts of energy speared. Three Rhunes slumped dead onto the tiles, portions of their braincases burned away.

  “Excellent,” Skar said, racing past Cade.

  The soldier followed. So did the other five. They raced past the dead Rhunes.

  Skar continued to lead them through corridors, down ladders, through large empty chambers, more corridors and a long ramp leading down.

  “Are we almost to the ship?” Cade asked.

  “We have a small detour to make first.”

  “Where?”

  “You’ll see,” Skar said.

  “Why are we detouring? Didn’t you say the Rhunes will flood the levels any minute now?”

  “I need…more and new knowledge, maybe more strength.”

  “What does that mean?” Cade demanded.

  “Wait here,” Skar said. He sprinted even faster, pulling away from the others.

  Cade slowed down and stopped. The other five did likewise. He looked at the panting thralls, with their chests heaving and with sweat staining their clothes.

  “How long has Skar been your secret leader?” Cade asked.

  “He is the oldest-serving thrall and knows the most,” Ram said, a thrall with a wide, flat nose.

  “How long has he been here?” Cade asked.

  Ram shrugged. “None knows. Skar—is different. He is like the old ones.”

  “You mean like me?” Cade asked.

  “No,” Ram said. “The old ones.”

  “Who are they?”

  Ram shook his head.

  Cade turned and was shocked to see Skar walking back to them. The brutish fighting thrall did not run, but stared into his cupped hands. Something glowed there, something that absorbed the thrall’s interest.

  That glow is beautiful. I have to get closer. Cade started for Skar.

  “Wait,” Ram said, grabbing an arm. “Skar is communing with the old one.”

  Cade stared at the hand as the words slowly penetrated. “What the hell?” he asked, looking up. “Skar has a communicator?”

  Ram did not elaborate, although he let go of Cade. All five thralls turned their backs on the approaching Skar. They turned their backs as if what happened to Skar was too holy to observe.

  That shine is amazing. I have to see what makes it. I must. Cade headed toward Skar. As the soldier did, a stubborn part of him welled. It’s using you. Cade scowled, shaking his head. Do you want to be a puppet again, with an obedience chip in your mind? “No. I don’t.” Then don’t stare at the light. Don’t let it screw with your mind.

  Cade slowed his step, breathing hard. Could this be a clue to Uldin’s ancient enemy? Oh… He looked more and his heart started thumping in his chest. The glow in Skar’s hands beckoned, drawing him—

  I’m not a pawn! I’m a soldier from Ultra Command. Are you going to be this alien’s bitch?

  Cade shook his head as he resisted the impulse to rush closer. Yet, still the glow drew him. He ground his upper molars against the bottom ones, fighting the impulse, ripping his head to one side, no longer looking at the enticing glow. At that point, Cade halted, looked down and scowled. When he looked up again, Skar had his back to him, with his head hunched as the thrall stared into his obviously cupped hands.

  Cade approached with greater caution as he grew more aware of the blaster in his grip.

  “Don’t come any closer, Cade,” Skar shouted, with his back still to him.

  “Are you okay?” Cade called.

  “Wait,” Skar shouted. “He…he wants to speak to you through me, as he realizes you will resist for too long. The endgame has begun and we’re almost out of time.”

  “What?” asked Cade.

  “I must gather strength first. Then, he will speak to you.”

  Cade felt a sinister force, a power. The desire to aim and fire at Skar grew strong in him. What was Skar holding? What did the thrall mean by saying that he wanted to speak with him? A sense of evil grew, sprouting from Skar.

  The thrall shoved the small glowing object into a pants pocket. Then, Skar turned around. He was still the same thrall, but his eyes literally glowed, causing his features to shine evilly. He moved slower as he approached, and there seemed to be grim power surging through him, as if he could speak a word and cause meteors to rain upon Coad.

  “W-Who are you?” Cade stammered, as his hackles rose. He wanted to raise the blaster and fire, but something resisted his efforts. He found himself panting, on the verge of trembling.r />
  “I am the old one,” Skar said, his voice deeper than before and the glow in his eyes making it harder to look at him. “I am the last vestige of the Purple Nagans.”

  “W-What does that mean?” Cade whispered.

  Skar, or the thing possessing him, smiled bitterly. “Long ago, Soldier, the Purple Nagans acted in malice against all others. We were…different…unique…brilliant in designing wonders. We fashioned this pocket universe, using it as a testing laboratory. Many creatures have capered here for our amusements. A thousand years ago, we drew the cyber techs here, and the cyborg mobile base followed. A band of Federation military followed the base. We trapped them all here, and the last of us used a power—”

  Skar cleared his throat, and for a moment, he seemed confused. His hand moved around in his pants pocket. The glow to his eyes intensified. The confusion vanished as he smiled with malevolence.

  “You have questions, I know. The cyborg mobile base is locked behind a temporal shield, which surrounds Sarus’ orbital space. The Eagle-Dukes—” Skar shook his head. “The Purple Nagans, the Royal Nagans, perished eons ago. I did these things as a vestige of myself, but it cost me dearly. I am not truly alive as you conceive of life, although a portion of my ka lives on in the space seed.”

  “Ka? I don’t understand.”

  “The ka is my spirit, if you believe in such things. I do not. The ka was the essence of me. One could say mind or soul. I say ka. Perhaps I should say an imprint of my ka, as I am now part of a mechanical device. That is how you would conceive of it, anyway, although there is little mechanical in the seed.”

  “Skar found your space seed?” Cade asked.

  “Yes…yes…I drew him to me. Just as someone in your space-time continuum was drawn to and found a different bauble, a different seed.”

  “I don’t understand,” Cade said.

  “The Purple Nagans knew so much, and we acted as we wished. Old ones conferred the idea that we of the purple were gods, but that was not technically true. We were simply long-lived, powerful mortals. We had our time, our glories and high deeds. We perished, although the space seeds remained with portions of our kas. I learned how to live through others. Skar is the last, as my bauble is cracked, the energies flowing away year by year.”

  “The bauble is what glowed in his hands?” Cade asked.

  “The stars and nebulae,” Skar said wistfully.

  “Does Uldin know about the space seed? He spoke about an ancient enemy. Was that you?”

  Skar stiffened and his face contorted with rage. “The Rhunes attempt to trespass upon our glories and greatness. They seek to use our secrets for their own enhancements. Once, during their beginning time here, they were mere cyber techs. Now, they are Rhunes. They have advanced far in less than a thousand years. Uldin has built the ship. You have brought an FTL engine. It was the one secret I could always steal and keep from everyone. I would have kept it from you, too, but I am lessening—dying, you could say.”

  “You must have caused the anti-Rhune virus to develop.”

  “Of course,” Skar said. “The fighting thrall is merely my last tool. You could consider him a victim, I suppose.”

  It wanted to use me, to make me its puppet. “You’re evil,” Cade said with loathing.

  “In a cosmic sense, I suppose we were. The Rhunes have tapped many of our secrets, but we gave the Eagle-Dukes the man-makers. I thought the makers would equalize the sides and help maintain equilibrium against the cyber techs. I was wrong. Thus, many years ago, I decided to slaughter the Rhune interlopers. But I realize now that Uldin was too cunning for me. He fought back, and he learned deeper secrets. Without what remains of my ka acting secretly against them, the Rhunes will flourish in your space-time continuum until they rule all.”

  He’s not telling me everything. He’s trying to trick me. “If you’re so evil, why not let the Rhunes rule?” Cade asked.

  Skar laughed as his eyes glowed brighter yet. Then he snarled, violently shaking his head. “No! The Purple Nagans mined these secrets. We developed our sciences to a phenomenal pitch. I, as the last portion of the purple, will not allow Rhunes to rule in our stead. They will not steal our glory and secrets, but die by them.”

  So, a revenge motive. I believe that much. What is he hiding? “How will you achieve your goal?” Cade asked.

  “I have several means. I have been tugging strings—look!”

  Skar waved his hand.

  Cade stared where the hand had passed. What’s happening? He thought to see torpedoes dropping from airships. The torpedoes dropped into the ocean, activating, steel propellers spinning, causing the weapons to dive underwater. They sped for—

  “Lord Magnus had ordered the first wave,” Skar said. “Soon, he will launch the second wave. This base is doomed, but the torpedo attack might not be enough to achieve my ends.”

  “How do you know any of this?” Cade asked, bewildered.

  “Do you suppose mine is the last ka-portion of the Purple Nagans left?”

  “Earlier, you said it was. Were you lying about that?”

  Skar’s head twitched. “Time is running out, Soldier. Now, I propose to hire you. In exchange for your skills, I will give you the Descartes and the program to reach the correct vortex into your own space-time continuum.”

  Here’s his trick. Look out. “What program?”

  “Skar will touch you, and I will place the program in your memory.”

  Cade noted the glowing eyes, the evil cast to Skar’s blunt features. The soldier laughed, shaking his head. Touch me, and I’ll kill you.

  “What is the problem?” asked Skar.

  “I don’t trust you,” Cade said. “If you try to touch me, I’ll shoot to kill.” He indicated the blaster. “You’ve survived this long. Why won’t you try to survive even longer? That’s why you’re supposedly trading the Descartes. You want to leave the pocket universe. No, I will not allow you to place anything in my mind.”

  “Not even so you can escape back to your space-time continuum to save your wife?”

  Cade squinted at Skar, at the glowing eyes. He’s a liar. Live or die as yourself and not as someone’s puppet. “I’ve said my piece. I don’t trust you. No deal.”

  Skar grinned evilly. “So be it. I will put the program into Velia De Lore’s mind. She must place the program in the tainted Nion XT Navigator for it to do you any good.”

  “How do you know about the Nion?”

  “Listen to me,” Skar snarled, as the glow to his eyes dimmed. “My time is short, and the first wave torpedoes are already on their way. I will imbue my total essence and power into this tool. He will lead you to the hangar bay. You must move fast and attack Charaton. He guides an inert Velia and an anxious Dr. Halifax. Skar will aid you in this. If you are quick, you can grab them both and possibly reach the Descartes. From there, you must use your soldierly skills to make sure the Jinse Tao is destroyed. I’m hiring you as a soldier. Do you agree?”

  “What’s the Jinse Tao?” Cade asked.

  “It is the name for the Rhune starship.”

  Cade pondered. Dare he trust this alien intelligence just a little? Had torpedoes really launched from the air fleet? He would never allow Skar to touch him—

  “Yes,” Cade said.

  “Give me your word.”

  “I just did.”

  Skar laughed. “You think you’re so noble and pure. Well, maybe you are. I don’t know. I do know that I will do anything to stop Uldin and the Rhunes from taking our place. The Purple Nagans were the ultimate, and throughout the rest of time, we will always represent the highest achievement of any race.. Are you ready, Soldier?”

  “Yes,” Cade said.

  “Give me a few more moments with Skar. Then, it will be time to roll the dice and try to win our prizes—our goals.”

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Cade followed Skar as trepidation grew in his heart. The fighting thrall hadn’t spoken a word since the exchange with the so-called po
rtion of the Purple Nagan ka in him. Could he trust the ancient evil? Had it lied or spoken the truth? How could he know?

  Cade realized he couldn’t know. He still sprinted after Skar as the other five thralls followed him. They raced through corridors, climbing ramps, ladders and weaving through the maze of corridors. The pace told on them. How sound was it tactically to begin a fight with a badly winded team?

  “Skar,” Cade panted. “Skar, you have to wait a minute so we can catch our breath before the fight.”

  The fighting thrall looked back with his shiny eyes, and it seemed he would rebuke Cade. Then, Skar glanced at the five thralls, nodded and slowed. The others stopped behind him, panting, trying to regain their breath. They were in the middle of an empty corridor.

  Finally, Cade looked up to see Skar staring at him. The thrall had set the blunderbuss against his left leg and had put a hand in his left pants pocket, stroking the bauble. The shine in his eyes brightened.

  Cade refrained from cocking his head. There were lines in Skar’s face he hadn’t noticed before, as if the fighting thrall was aging. That must signify something.

  “Is there a problem?” Skar asked in an altered voice.

  I’ll kill him if he touches me. Cade blinked, realizing the evil exuding from Skar had intensified, as if more of the ancient ka filled the fighting thrall. The soldier suppressed a shudder, asking, “How much farther?”

  Skar worked his mouth unpleasantly, as if he was no longer used to a human body, before saying, “You…mustn’t ask too much of me.”

  “Is that you, Skar, or the ka?”

  “Skar—that is to say me—hates the Rhunes. I’ve hated them for such a long time. You…saved my life earlier, Soldier.” The fighting thrall nodded sharply as if saying thanks one more time.

  Nice try, ka. I’m not buying it. “Do you manipulate the thrall through his hatred for the Rhunes?”

  “No…more…questions. I must save my concentration for the moment. I hired you, Soldier. You must acquit yourself with valor.”

  “I intend no less.”