Earthfall: Retribution (18 page)

‘We can’t just stay here,’ Rachel whispered urgently. ‘They’re going to find us.’

Sam looked around desperately. The nearest exit from the hanger bay was fifty metres away, across the open deck. They wouldn’t make it halfway before they were spotted and then they’d be sitting ducks. He popped his head round the corner of the generator and took a quick headcount of the men he could see. He didn’t need to be a military genius to see that they were out-gunned. He tried to reach out and connect to their implants, but they were too far away. If he was going to pull off the same trick he’d used on the guard a few minutes earlier, he needed to get closer.

‘You’re going to have to make a break for it,’ Sam said, clicking the safety on his pistol off with his thumb and handing it to Stirling. ‘Don’t open fire until they spot us, you’ll need as much of a lead as we can get.’

Rachel frowned, looking confused for a moment, her expression changing to one of shock as Sam stood up and came out from behind the generator, hands raised. It was a desperate gamble, but the only other option was for them all to give themselves up.

‘I surrender,’ Sam said, walking towards the lead soldier, twenty metres away from him.

‘The boy has been located,’ the soldier said into his throat mic, nodding as he received an inaudible reply in his earpiece. ‘Understood, proceeding with termination.’ The soldier raised his rifle, levelling it at Sam’s head.

‘No!’ Rachel screamed, standing up and bringing her own weapon to bear on the advancing soldier.

Sam turned towards her, flinching when he heard the soldier’s gunfire. He felt a searing pain as the soldier’s bullet creased his skull, leaving a long gash in his forehead and sending him spinning to the floor. Rachel fired twice, hitting the soldier squarely in the chest, his flak jacket stopping the rounds, but the impact knocking him off his feet with a grunt. Rachel ducked back down into cover as the other soldiers opened fire, bullets pinging off the solid block of the generator and the floor around them. There was nowhere to run.

Suddenly there was a flash and the roar of automatic gunfire from the other side of the hangar. Sam saw Jay and a second figure, partially obscured by the doorway, laying down a withering field of fire that cut down one of the soldiers and forced his squad mates to run for cover. One of the retreating soldiers pointed his rifle at Sam as he forced himself to standing, blood running down over his eyes. Mag leapt from the top of the nearby drop-ship with a snarl, her claws extended and her razor-sharp teeth bared. The soldier half turned as she knocked him off his feet and pinned him to the ground, her glinting claws flashing through the air and driving deep into the man’s shoulder. Her other hand bunched into a fist and she punched the soldier hard in the nose, knocking him out cold.

Sam staggered, wiping the blood from his eyes with the back of his arm as Mag threw the fallen soldier’s rifle to him. He caught it as two more of the soldiers turned towards him and Mag, opening fire as they both dived for cover behind the landing skids of one of the nearby drop-ships.

‘What the hell are you doing here?’ Sam shouted over the thunderous sounds of gunfire that were coming from all around them.

‘You mean you’re not pleased to see me?’ Mag said with a grim smile as a bullet pinged off the landing gear, just centimetres from her head. ‘We can catch up later. For now I think we should probably just concentrate on getting out of here, don’t you?’

‘Point,’ Sam said, shouldering the rifle and firing a short burst at one of the soldiers who had Rachel and Stirling pinned down. They took advantage of the momentary break in gunfire and sprinted out from behind the cover of the generator towards Sam and Mag. The soldiers began a fighting retreat, pulling back towards the entrance from which they had just come.

‘Come on,’ Mag said, gesturing for them to follow her towards the other doorway.

‘Who are you?’ Rachel said, looking slightly startled by Mag’s appearance.

‘She’s a friend,’ Sam said. ‘We can trust her.’

‘OK,’ Rachel replied, ‘if you say so.’

The four of them made their way carefully back round the drop-ship towards the exit from the hangar. A couple of seconds later the last of the soldiers retreated from the hangar and the massive doors slid shut, closing with a solid thud.

‘Looks like we’ve got them on the run,’ Mag said.

‘Yeah,’ Sam said with a frown. The soldiers had fallen back too quickly – something was wrong.

Suddenly, Jay and Shaw sprinted out of the doorway on the other side of the hangar, turning and firing at something behind them. Sam felt a moment of dizzying bewilderment as he recognised the man running alongside Jay.

‘Dad?’ Sam whispered, hardly daring to believe what his own eyes were telling him.

‘What?’ Mag said, looking startled.

But before Sam could shout over to his father, the massive bulk of a Grendel filled the doorway behind them. It gave a bellowing roar as Jay and Shaw kept firing, their bullets little more than irritating pin pricks. A moment later, Sam felt a cold chill in the pit of his stomach as a second Grendel followed the first through the doorway, its head swinging from side to side, searching for prey.

‘I fear that Talon may have rather more control over these creatures than we thought,’ Stirling said. He glanced up, but the worker Drones still seemed entirely unconcerned by what was happening down below them.

The Grendels stomped across the hangar deck in pursuit of Jay and Shaw. Sam and Rachel opened fire on the second Grendel, trying to attract its attention, and a few seconds later it turned towards them with a growl. Sam knew they didn’t have anything with enough firepower to take out one Grendel, let alone two.

‘Sam!’ Jay shouted from the other side of the hangar. ‘Get over here – we need you!’

‘You two, go head for Jay,’ Sam said to Mag and Stirling. ‘We’ll cover you.’

He glanced at Rachel and she gave a quick nod.

Mag and Stirling sprinted out of cover, heading for the drop-ship on the other side of the bay under which Jay was standing. At the same instant, Sam and Rachel popped up from cover and opened fire.

‘Go for the eyes,’ Rachel yelled as they emptied the clips of their rifles into the advancing behemoth’s face. The Grendel staggered, blinded for an instant, bellowing in rage. The other Grendel turned, no longer advancing on the drop-ship beneath which Jay was standing, but instead pounding across the deck towards Sam and Rachel.

‘OK, we got their attention,’ Rachel yelled as she tossed the empty rifle to one side. ‘What now?’

‘Run!’ Sam yelled back.

Rachel took off instantly, and Sam sprinted after her, turning just in time to see the generator spinning through the air towards him. He dived to one side as it smashed into the ground where he had been standing moments before, exploding in a shower of bright blue sparks. He climbed to his feet and again set off after Rachel, who was heading along the wall of the hangar towards Jay’s position.

Sam only managed a couple of paces before he felt something incredibly strong wrap round his ankle, squeezing it tightly and yanking him off his feet. He clawed desperately at the smooth surface of the hangar deck as the tentacle protruding from the Grendel’s wrist began to pull him in. As the Grendel opened its mouth to reveal row after row of dagger-like teeth, Sam felt a moment of panic. He reached out with his implant, trying to somehow connect with the hideous creature and order it to release him, but it was useless. The Grendel was silent to him.

Just when Sam thought all was lost, a Hunter swooped across and hit the Grendel’s face hard, its poison-tipped tentacles viciously stabbing at the behemoth’s eyes. The startled creature recoiled, releasing its hold on Sam and clawing at the silver Drone attached to its face. Black blood oozed from the Hunter’s torn shell as the Grendel’s claws raked across its surface. A moment later a crackling bolt of yellow energy slammed into the Grendel’s shoulder, blowing chunks out of its armoured carapace as it bellowed in rage.

Sam looked up and saw a small swarm of Hunters descending from the ceiling, the glittering surfaces of their shells glowing with yellow light. They fired at the Grendels, spitting bright yellow energy bolts. Other Hunters swooped down, their barbed tentacles seeking the holes that had been torn in the armour and snaking inside. The Grendels flailed uselessly, quickly succumbing to the tide of energy blasts and stabbing tentacles. Sam didn’t stop to think about what was happening – he just sprinted across the hangar towards the drop-ship that Jay was frantically beckoning him towards.

‘You need to get on board,’ Jay yelled as Sam approached. ‘Shaw needs you to help him get this thing moving.’

Sam didn’t have time to tell Jay who Shaw was; he just nodded and ran up the ramp. Inside the others were waiting, their faces a mixture of confusion and fear. At the other end of the drop-ship Stirling was standing talking quickly and quietly to a man who had his back turned to them. Sam felt his heart jump as Stirling glanced over the man’s shoulder at Sam and the man turned round.

‘Sam,’ Shaw said, ‘thank God you’re OK. I know I have a lot to explain, but there’s no time. I’ll answer all your questions when we’ve got out of here, but now I need your help.’

Sam stared back at the man whom he had thought he might never see again, his father. His mind was filled with a thousand questions, but the expression on his father’s face told him that they would indeed have to wait.

‘What do you need me to do?’ Sam asked.

‘Help me fly this thing,’ Shaw said, walking towards Sam and placing his hand on the side of his head. Sam felt a moment of confusion and then he heard his father’s voice inside his head.

Don’t panic, just let me in.

A moment later the drop-ship lifted from the ground with a lurch, its startled passengers fighting to keep their balance as it turned and powered across the hangar, heading for the glowing force field at the far end and the open sky beyond. The black triangular aircraft shot through the glittering field and out into the pre-dawn sky, the throbbing roar of its engines increasing as it was pushed to the very limits of its performance envelope.

On board the drop-ship Shaw closed his eyes and the aircraft dived towards the ocean, thousands of metres below them. They flew along in silence for a couple of minutes, Shaw kneeling next to Sam, his hand still pressed to his son’s head, his eyes closed.

‘Thank you,’ Shaw said, finally opening his eyes and smiling at Sam and lowering his hand from the side of his son’s head.

‘For what?’ Sam asked, his senses returning in a bewildering rush.

‘For trusting me,’ Shaw replied. ‘We should be beyond their reach now.’

‘How did you do that?’ Sam asked. ‘How did you know how to fly this thing?’

‘I can explain,’ Shaw said. ‘There’s –’

Shaw suddenly felt something cold and hard press against the back of his skull.

‘Who are you?’ Stirling demanded, pressing the muzzle of his pistol into the back of Shaw’s head and cocking the hammer.

‘Iain, it’s me, Daniel,’ Shaw replied.

‘Doctor Stirling, what are you doing?’ Sam asked, his own look of bewilderment matching the expressions of the others in the cabin.

‘I know Daniel Shaw – we were friends and colleagues for years,’ Stirling said, scowling. ‘Whoever you are, you’re not him.’

‘Iain, I have no idea what you’re talking about,’ Shaw said, raising his hands.

‘If you were Daniel Shaw, you’d be fast asleep in a building somewhere in London right now,’ Stirling said, ‘because the Voidborn implant that would have protected you from the control signal is inside Sam’s head, not yours. You have no protection from the signal, so how come you’re standing here in front of me? I knew something was wrong when Mason told me that you had arrived in Edinburgh, but now maybe you can explain to me in person why you suddenly seem to be inexplicably immune to the Voidborn control signal.’

Sam suddenly realised that what Stirling was saying was true. The device in his own head had been the first of its kind when it had been surgically implanted, but it had been reverse engineered from the implant the Voidborn had given his father when he was working for the Foundation. His father should have been just as vulnerable to the control signal as anyone else.

‘Iain, please, I really can explain,’ Shaw said. ‘You don’t need the gun.’

‘I’ll be the judge of that,’ Stirling replied. ‘Now, tell me who you are and what you’re doing here.’

‘I am Daniel Shaw,’ he replied, ‘and I was Andrew Riley, but before that . . .’

He paused for a moment and looked at Sam with a sad smile. A moment later his entire body flared with blue light and Stirling stepped backwards with a gasp. Shaw grew in stature before their eyes, his shirt and jeans vanishing, replaced by loose-fitting white robes as he looked down with new eyes at Sam’s startled face. The thick mop of brown curly hair was gone, replaced by a pattern of blue lights that danced across the pale skin covering the creature’s crested skull.

‘Before that,’ the creature said, its voice now deeper, ‘I was Suran, last Sensate of the Illuminate.’

He looked down with a sad expression at the startled faces of the humans facing him, his eyes seeming to speak of a thousand witnessed horrors.

‘And I need your help.’