Awakening: The First Tale of the Trine (Trine Series Book 1) (19 page)

Aki’s fur bristled from the blast, and small tendrils of smoke curled from his singed tail as he charged the creature. There was a brief shimmer as he moved within the field created by the inertial dampener it wore, then Aki’s spinning blades went to work. The dog leapt nimbly from side to side as the spider swatted at him with the gun, trying to line up another shot. Aki’s will surged, and his blades flashed through the air, slicing into the joints where the spider’s forelimbs connected to its torso. The creature fell back screaming as the gun and the arms clutching it fell to the floor, and it scuttled backwards away from the snarling canine.

Delmont had leapt forward as well when he saw the shimmer demarking the spider’s barrier, and as the creature tried to retreat, he unloaded the clip directly into its torso and head. Both man and dog were sprayed by thick dark blood as Delmont poured round after round into the staggering monster. When the clip ran dry and the trigger simply clicked, Delmont shifted his grip, and slammed the smoking barrel into the spider’s torso, driving it to the floor. It spasmed weakly as the man and dog fell back, and Orak scrambled to join them.

“It’s readying the cannon for another blast,” Orak told them, nodding down the hall. Orak grabbed the huge alien rifle the spider had been carrying, picking it up with a grunt of exertion. “Delmont, I’m going to draw its fire. You’re going to get one shot. Make it count.”

“It doesn’t have a trigger,” Delmont pointed out, eyeing the gun skeptically.

Orak grabbed a lever on the side of the gun, pulling it backwards and generating a whine of electronic feedback from the weapon. “Here,” Orak said, pointing to a small hole on the side. “You jam your finger in there as far as it will go, and it will fire.” Orak locked eyes with Delmont, and gave him a stiff nod. “I wouldn’t trust anyone else with this. I know you can make the shot.”

Delmont nodded back and clapped Orak on the arm, then hefted the huge weapon to his shoulder. It was larger than a bazooka, and he was going to treat it like one.

Orak gave Aki a pat and said, “You with me?”

“Always,” Aki said simply. “Wherever you lead me, I will run freely.”

With another sharp nod, Orak leapt up and charged out into the hallway intersection. The other Abbadon had realigned the cannon, and levelled at the hole the first blast had created. Aki followed Orak into the hallway, hurling the small round blades he wielded down the passage. They bounced harmlessly away from the weapon, but the spider aiming it raised his head, catching site of Orak’s blue glowing armor standing directly in front of him, brandishing the long, glowing knife.

The spider seemed to chuckle as he shifted the gun emplacement slightly, dropping his claw to the trigger. The cannon cycled with a high-pitched whine, the barrel glowing as another thunderous blast erupted, this time straight down the narrow hall.

As the weapon had shifted to follow them, Orak and Aki had launched themselves to the side, further down the next hallway. The spider tried to correct the weapon’s beam to follow them, blasting more concrete and steel into dust as the beam of energy passed over the pair.

Gritting his teeth against the shockwave that accompanied the blast, Delmont braced himself on the side of the broken wall, steadying the long gun. It had no sights, but from this distance, Delmont could shoot the eye off of a flea. Jamming his index finger into the hole Orak had indicated, he felt around, tense and ready for the recoil.

Nothing happened. The gun lay heavy and cold against his skin, but no matter how he prodded or shoved, it produced not a spark. Delmont watched as Orak and Aki fell to the floor across the hall, covering their heads from the debris that rained down, then fixed his gaze on the spider firing the weapon. The creature had jammed one of its appendages into a hole like the one on the gun Delmont held poised, but it was also using another limb to manipulate the lever on the side.

“Need four goddamned arms to shoot this thing!” Delmont grumbled, looking back down the hall. “Katie!” he yelled. “Get down here on the double!”

Katie had drug Tyler back down the hall and propped him against an undamaged section of wall. His breathing was shallow and he was lapsing in and out of consciousness. Laying him over gently, she scrambled back to Delmont. “Tell me what I can do,” she said.

Delmont peeked through the shattered wall, where the spider was cycling the cannon for another blast. “I can’t fire this thing by myself,” he told her. “Kneel down right here.” Dropping the barrel of the gun onto her shoulder, Delmont took her hand. “Now, jam your finger down into this hole…and pray to God this works,” he said grimly.

Katie helped Delmont line up the weapon, and slid her slender finger into the hole, all the way to the knuckles of her hand. “I’m ready,” she said.

Delmont took a deep, steadying breath, then let half of it out. Lining the weapon up through the hole, he grasped the lever Orak had cocked earlier, and took aim.

Orak and Aki were still struggling to rise in the debris made by the last blast. The spider’s cannon glowed, and began its high pitched whine as it prepared its next shot. Just before the spider grasped the lever to fire, Delmont shoved the triggering mechanism forward.

The explosive blast from the rifle knocked both Delmont and Katie off their feet, the glare blinding them momentarily as a pulsing white bolt of energy ripped through the hallway. The entire building seemed to shudder around them, and the echoes of the shot seemed to grow louder as they lay there, stunned. When Delmont’s vision cleared, he realized he wasn’t hearing echoes, but entirely separate blasts.

Scrambling to help Katie up, they looked through the hole in time to see the ruins of the cannon sparking as the final reverberations passed. Orak and Aki limped slowly into the intersection, Aki grinning wolfishly. “It was a good shot,” he congratulated Delmont.

“Damn gun didn’t work like you said,” Delmont muttered to Orak.

“I’m truly glad you figured it out,” Orak sighed, resting a hand on Aki. “Gather up Tyler, we have to move. More will be coming, but we’re almost clear.”

Delmont nodded, and ran back down the hall to where Tyler was struggling to his feet. Putting an arm around the young man, he glanced at the bracer Orak had placed on his arm. Tyler had the injured arm clutched to his chest, and was flexing his fingers slowly. “Not sure what hurts more…” Tyler gasped. “Crazy bastard’s armor has needles in it. Fucking needles, man!”

Delmont helped walk Tyler down the hall without commenting. He had no idea what the bracer did, but Tyler was able to stand. That was a hell of a lot more than most soldiers could do with a hole like that in their chest.

Aki was nosing around the corpse of the Abbadon he and Delmont had killed. Using his paw, he dug at one of the creature’s bandoliers until a fist sized sphere rolled out of a pouch. Kicking the sphere over to Orak, Aki asked, “Do you think it will help?”

“It can’t hurt,” Orak replied, gathering up the orb. “It’s one of their inertial dampeners,” Orak told Delmont, as he helped Aki tuck it into his pack. “It doesn’t do anything against their energy weapons, but we might need it later. Let’s go.”

Aki led the way towards the garage, the stench of his burned fur making the rest of the group wrinkle their noses. With a thought, his blades returned to him as they passed the ruins of the cannon. Easing through another door, they came into the fresh air of the motor pool where the department kept federal and impounded vehicles.

Orak waved the group to a stop as he peered around the nearest car, then looked all around the vast garage. Motioning them towards a small office just beside the door to the building, they all rushed inside. Delmont helped ease Tyler into the only chair in the cramped space.

“Look,” Orak said, pointing down between the two long lines of parked vehicles. The group could see daylight in the distance marking the exit, but the glare also revealed a swarm of puffy, basketball sized insects flying together back and forth across the passage. Their flight appeared orchestrated, and was eerily beautiful as the creatures bobbed to and fro, interweaving in some sort of pattern.

“What are they doing?” Katie asked.

“It’s hard to see it from here,” Orak replied. “But they’re webbing over the exit. Those are the Abbadon’s architects. The fiber they produce hardens, and is almost indestructible.”

As they watched, four of the huge spider like Abbadon emerged into view near the exit, busily assembling more of the mounted cannons the group had faced in the hall.

“How are we going to get past that?” Delmont asked quietly.

“The webbing hasn’t hardened yet…let me think!” Orak hissed, as Delmont and Katie both opened their mouths to comment.

Aki lay down on the floor, panting heavily. His drooping ears and dangling tongue betrayed his exhaustion, and Orak knelt down by his friend. “Any ideas?” Orak asked him.

“Orak, I…I’ll give it everything I have. Maybe if we can get them into a vehicle, and we distract them…” Aki trailed off, shaking his furry head.

“Hey!” Tyler said, “Cool!” He had been sitting hunched over in the only chair, and had just looked up to notice a cork board on the wall, covered with hooks containing the keys for the motor pool’s vehicles. Raising a finger to point at it, Tyler said, “Those are my keys! The Feds must have brought my Camaro here from Chapel Hill.”

The rest of the group followed his finger to the board covered with keys, just in time to see the entire thing begin to vibrate, then fly off the wall to smack into Tyler’s chest! Keys littered the floor around him as he knocked the flying cork board away from him.

“What the hell?” Tyler said, looking at the keys strewn across the floor. Spotting the bottle opener he kept on his keychain, Tyler reached his hand out towards it. It rose from the floor, and flew straight into his palm. “Oh man…” he mumbled, staring at his hand. “Is this what you thought would happen to us?” he asked Orak.

“I had no idea how your powers would each eventually manifest,” Orak responded. “But telepathy and telekinesis, as your kind call them, are the simplest and most common abilities.”

Tyler grinned weakly at the group, his bright teeth startling in the dark blood drying around his chin and shirt. “It’s about time I started to pull my weight on this little lark of ours, isn’t it?” Tyler looked around the floor, finally spotting another set of keys that seemed to meet his approval. Reaching out his hand, this set also flew to his grasp. “I used to love a game called Burnout. I had a fake steering wheel, the whole set up. Watch this!” Tyler said.

“Wait, what are you going to try?” Orak asked anxiously.

Pressing a button on the second key fob he had picked up, the engine of a car halfway down the lot roared to life. All of the insects near the exit stopped at once, every head turning back towards the source of the noise.

The group had been peeking through the small window in the office. They ducked down, all staring at Tyler in shock. “What are you doing?” Katie hissed.

“Whatever it is, do it fast,” Delmont added.

Tyler nodded, and then changed position in the chair. He raised his hands in front of him, and adjusted his feet. Miming putting a car into gear, he brought his hands to the ‘ten and two’ position in front of him, then stomped his left foot. “Gotta get that parking brake,” he grinned.

As Tyler went through his motions, Delmont could see the lights flicker on the back of the car Tyler had started. “It’s in reverse…” Delmont said in awe. “You think you can drive it from here?”

“Drive it? I’m about to blow the wheels off this bitch,” Tyler laughed. Slamming his right foot to the floor and twisting his phantom steering wheel, the car he had started screeched backwards, tires smoking. Tyler mimed slamming his foot on the brake as the car slid out of its space, then changed gears again.

The spider Abbadon near the exit had readied more of the long rifles they carried, and levelled them at the car now facing them, as the flying drones scattered to the sides. Tyler slammed his foot down on his phantom gas pedal, and then moved his hands side to side as the car fishtailed wildly.

The Abbadon fired on the vehicle, the lances of energy from their cannons shattering the windows and disintegrating the roof. Tyler cackled maniacally as the car burst into flame, and the hood flew up from the assault. “Their trying to shoot the driver!” he said gleefully. “Surprise motherfuckers!” he yelled, as the car slammed into the cannons they had been assembling.

The resulting explosion set off car alarms throughout the garage. Fuel and flames sprayed across the webbing the drones had been laying, the newly laid threads still wet, and obviously flammable. The fire raced across the entrance to the garage in a beautiful panorama, highlighting the intricate work the insects had created as the webs fell away.

Orak laid a hand on Tyler, then bent down to bump foreheads with the man. “Thank you,” Orak said quietly.

“For what?” Tyler replied. “I’ve loved crashing cars all my life. That was some Michael Bay level shit right there. Delmont, can you help me up?”

Grinning, Delmont threw Tyler’s uninjured left arm over his shoulders, and the group moved out into the garage. Tyler pushed a button on his keychain, causing the Camaro to give a cheerful beep just down the aisle.

“My arm and legs are still numb,” Tyler said. “Can anyone drive a stick?”

“I can,” Katie said, taking the keys from Tyler. She rushed over to the driver side, opened the door, and moved the seat forward so that Delmont and Tyler could crowd into the back. Orak opened the passenger door, waving to Aki who had brought up the rear.