Alien Mine Ch. 19

Rhys was only semi-aware of his actions; a madness had taken over his mind and body, a body he no longer recognized or controlled. He felt his claws and teeth rend the enemy, but the alien creature seemed to welcome the attack, pulling Rhys in closer and tightening the cold around him. Dimly aware that he was losing his strength, he fought the Beast for control to little avail. Then he felt a surge of energy growing in him, and remembering what had happened with Thea and the Binary, he opened his mind and let it flow through him. Instead of sending it to the girls, he sent it into the coldness that was pressing him on all sides, into the tentacles burrowing into his body and his mind, pushing back against them.

Rhys thought he was prepared, knew what to expect, but the sudden flood of power channeling itself through him overwhelmed what was left of his control, and fire burst forth from his body, every millimeter of skin, every pore, the energy consuming him, but not the beast. It roared in exultation as the fire poured out of its mouth, pushing the darkness away and searing the alien flesh. The Om jerked, trying to escape, but the Beast had its claws deep within it, and its mouth closed on a tentacle, the fire severing it from its body. Rhys let the fire-like energy spew forth into the blackness and the cold surrounding him. His whole body seemed to explode with it, a hot fire bursting forth that pushed the black and the cold aside. The creature screamed in his mind as the searing blast ate into it. Rhys' mind beat at the berserk rage, trying to take back control, but it was like hitting an iron door with bare hands; the beast paid little attention. Rhys had no control over his body, but the nanobytes were still his, and he forced them all into his body, then out through the mouth that was buried deep in the Om's flesh. Despite the fire, the fight had been in the balance, two top predators fighting to kill, but the nanobytes flowed in with the fire straight into the Om, seeking out its mind.

The cold lifted from Rhys' mind as the enemy tried to flee, but talons and teeth gripped it as the fire and rage flowed through the symbiont and into every cell of his body. Despite his renewed strength, Rhy was thrown from the darkness, and instead of attacking the darkness fled rapidly toward the back of the cavern, much diminished in size.

Rhys felt his body fly after it, dragon wings spread and bathed the darkness in red energy, not wanting and unable to stop his pursuit, the mindless rage still controlling his thoughts. The beast was quick, sensing the kill, hungry for it, but the Om was faster, and it disappeared into the wall, an opening forming, then closing behind it before Rhys could sink his claws into it. He ripped at the wall, but this was not the same material; this was solid and resisted his efforts. Finally, with a shout of frustrated rage, he turned back to see the others, both Binary's, Thea, Kiania, and Yaneta, staring at him in astonishment. The beast recognized them as his, and the rage transformed into lust. Eyes glowing, he reached out with his mind and grabbed the symbionts, feeding a powerful predator's desire into them as he stalked forward, only to stumble as he felt the energy draining from him. It was like something had vacuumed the strength from him, leaving him empty and hollow. With a final scream of anger, the beast was gone from Rhys' mind, and the dragon stumbled to its knees, his body shifting again, then falling unconscious to the floor.

"It's escaping, Sandy," Kiania shouted through her confusion. She could barely think, the haze of the uncontrollable lust Rhys had forced on them still clouding her mind.

"He is alive," the Amancia part of the Binary said, her hands on Rhys' head, her symbiont trying to connect to his.

Everyone rushed to Rhys but Thea, who had fallen to her knees. Looking up, she focused her gaze on the cavern walls, zooming in to examine the inside of the cavern, the sides that extended up and over her head by at least one hundred meters. Jesus Christ, No! she said to herself in horror as she swept her gaze over the towering walls.

"Kiania, look at this, this space; it must be destroyed," Thea said urgently.

Kiania looked around, her mind suddenly grasping what she was seeing, the sight sickening her. "Quick, take Rhys; we need to get out," she said, looking at the walls and what was in them. "Sandy, we're leaving," she said as the Binary grabbed Rhys, and they ran back up the passageway, "you must completely eradicate this, leave nothing!" Kiania said as she hurried after the others. She stopped and took one last look around, making sure to get detailed images of the cavern and the enclosures in the walls. Then turned and ran as though the devil himself was after her.

Sandy acknowledged Kiania's words, but another part of her mind was tracking the Om. She had detected the faintest burst of energy, but it was enough, and she took the shuttle up above the city. "There!" she said to herself while launching two missiles. It was a small cloaked object, invisible and heavily shielded, giving off almost no noticeable signal. The missiles she fired were small, designed for close-in defense, and small shielded targets such as other missiles.

Nevertheless, they had no trouble tracking the Om as it dodged low to the ground between office buildings. The first missile exploded just short, but the second nailed it, causing a massive explosion that leveled a city block. Sandy was aghast at the damage inflicted on the civilian population, but there would be more, Sandy thought sadly, before this war was over. She turned the shuttle back, lowering it to pick up the survivors and the dead. When everyone was aboard, she hovered over the old fortification system and unleashed every weapon she had.

General Vladislav stood among the wreckage, staring at the scattered parts of the building, some human bodies and pieces of what he guessed had started life as drones or robots. It was nothing he recognized, the heavily damaged and twisted metal of some kind that vaguely mirrored insects. Even he could see they were more advanced than anything Russia could produce. These were not the ones that had attacked the drug research center; they were different from anything he had imagined. Reports were still coming in, but it appeared that two people had been attacked by these things and had successfully fought them off. At least, that was the assumption based on the way the remains of the drones were strewn across multiple blocks. Even that was concerning because their weapons had been ineffectual against the drones when his men were slaughtered at the lab.

Several apartment buildings were damaged; this was an area of block apartment buildings, soviet era apartments built to the same boring cubic designs. One was heavily damaged; perhaps it had been struck by several missiles of some sort; hopefully, forensics would be able to tell them more. However, what had actually happened and who was involved remained a mystery so far. Much of what was being relayed as eyewitness accounts sounded like nonsense. These witnesses claimed to have seen two people leaping across streets, jumping several floors to the top of buildings, and killing the drones with some kind of weapons. There were also reports claiming that a man and a woman had crashed through windows of different apartment buildings, followed by the mechanical-looking drones. The stories were ridiculous; however, the destruction wrought by the fighting was real, but his men had yet to discover who or what they were.

"General, there are more of them over there, and we have found one that is still almost intact on top of the building," One of his men reported.

"Intact? Is it still functioning?"

"It appears to be dead; there is a metal spike driven through what we think is the central processor. However, General, I have heard the doctors talking; some of them think these are only partly machines; part of it is organic."

General Vladislav felt a chill and stood motionless, thinking through the implications. Surely no one on earth had this ability. The General didn't like the direction his thoughts were going, not at all. He started to reply that everything had to be secured by intelligence personnel but was interrupted by an aid.

"General, there are reports of new explosions in southeastern Moscow. The reports were jumbled, but apparently, a building had been destroyed and another damaged, " the lieutenant said excitedly.

What craziness was happening in Moscow, he thought. "Get my helicopter; it can pick me up over there,'' he said, indicating an area relatively free of debris. "Get me central command; I want air-cover up immediately; alert all security forces not already involved," he ordered briskly.

A helicopter came to pick him up, and he was in the air in minutes and in contact with HQ. Fighters had been scrambled, and the entire country was alerted. There were no signs of attack by outside powers, and right now, the General had little idea who or what was happening. No sooner had he left the ground when there was another explosion in central Moscow, severely damaging several buildings, one of which collapsed.

Emergency crews and security forces had begun to respond when off to his left, he saw more explosions as the ground seemed to erupt in fire, and searing bolts of light flashed down into the ground. The General's helicopter hovered above the city, where he could see the devastation. Much of a park and an older business section of the city were either destroyed or in flames.

The explosions paused, emergency crews, police, and military units were rushed into the area. "Mother of God," the General whispered as two even greater explosions leveled what had been a city block of apartments and businesses. If that wasn't enough, he watched as red beams and blasts tore into the ground where the park had once existed, leaving only a glowing hole in the earth. The General was not a religious man, but he remembered a prayer from his youth and silently began to recite it. There would be hundreds or thousands dead and many more wounded. It had been a long time since he had felt fear, but looking at the devastation wrought in just a few seconds terrified him. He started to order his helicopter to land but decided that would be of little use. If whoever had done this wanted him dead, there was little he could do about it. Strangely, none of the fighter aircraft he had ordered over the city had been attacked. Whatever it was wasn't interested in the military, but what in God's name had been in this run-down part of the city that resulted in this, he wondered, looking again at the still glowing hole in the ground.

Amancia and Leslie dissolved the link between them, the interlaced pattern dissolving back into two distinct entities. They both felt a brief sadness at the loss of unity, the mixing of two minds broken apart by necessity. Mei/Bao never experienced separation; they had a permanent interlace from the beginning. Leslie was surprised at how much she missed the interlace when it wasn't in place; the deep intimacy was soothing, something the others could never experience. However, Rhys had insisted from the start that they not let it become permanent. No one understood it then, how it worked or how it would impact their own personalities, for the interlace blended them, a heavier dose of Amancia because Leslie's symbiont had been so damaged. However, it worked for them, and it took the harsh edge off Leslie's personality, well, most of it, anyway.

"How is he," Jack asked as he checked up on his men who had been wounded.

"He seems fine, but the med unit isn't telling us anything. We don't know what happened when he was attacked," Amancia said. "It was something we hadn't run into before; it was powerful and immune to any of our weapons. It only attacked Rhys as if it knew he was the 'One'. It kept itself shielded from the rest of us; all we could see was darkness, almost like the absence of light. Rhys fought it somehow, Amancia told him but carefully omitting the change into a dragon form, and hurt it enough to make it flee, but then collapsed afterward, Amancia added softly, the concern evident in her voice. They had not said anything to the soldiers about what they saw there within the Om's lair. That was how she thought of it, a lair. The Om creature had been like a spider waiting in its hole in the ground for unwary prey to stumble in. Discussion of what they found would have to wait for Rhys to wake up, and right now was not the time to discuss it. "Everything looks fine, though; he should be out of it in an hour or so. How are your men?" she said, gesturing to the other rows of med units.

"The most serious are being treated, but several can wait until we get back to the base," Jack sighed. There are ten dead though, a total of thirteen wounded, and hundreds of drones destroyed," he added bitterly.

"I know," Kiania said, coming over to stand by Jack and placing a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry about Amanda; she did well. She will be hard to replace," Kiania said thoughtfully. She, like the others, was still numb from the adrenalin and the stress, and the losses hadn't sunk in yet. Amanda had been a friend, could have perhaps been a lover one day if she had lived.             

"That was the worst fight I have ever been in," Jack said softly. "It was a trap; how did they know we were coming?"

"No, it wasn't a trap," Kiania said, shaking her head. We surprised them; they weren't ready for us; otherwise, we would have never gotten out of there alive. The Ambush was hurried and poorly executed. No, if they had known we were coming, we would not be here now," she added with emphasis.

"But they came out of the walls; they had to be waiting for us," Sarge said, joining the conversation.

"No, the Trangrods were just being stored there, waiting to be activated as needed. We walked right past them without even knowing they were there."

"Rhys said to burn the walls, that they were alive."

"We will have a formal debrief after Rhys wakes up, but yes, the entire nest was alive, one giant living organism, we think."

The Major looked startled and a little fearful as he thought about the implications of that statement, but then Sandy came over, her hair reaching out, touching them all briefly. They were light touches, but that was all it took for her to read emotions and use her growing empathic abilities to give everyone a sense of relief and well-being and to ease the pain of the losses.

"Thanks, babe," Amancia said, feeling much better after that small jolt of calmness and relief. Jack never ceased to be amazed at what these women could do. Watching Sandy walk through the exhausted survivors, her hair touching them briefly, then leaving them smiling or looking serene, added to the surreality of the situation. Even he felt better, the weight of the losses and wounded not weighing so heavily on him.

Jack noticed that Amancia and Leslie stood up and put their armor back on, and he could tell they were linked again by the way their movements changed.

"They are staying here with Yaneta to protect Nelya," Sandy told him, seeing the questioning look on his face. "We don't expect trouble, but I want to be sure, so we are leaving the few remaining heavy drones as well. The remaining Om may go ahead and strike at the president or Nelya if they know about her. The two of them and Yaneta will be close enough, just in case.

Jack just nodded; he was looking forward to getting the rest of the wounded into the med units, getting a beer and a shower, and hitting the rack. Strange, he could even think of that considering what had happened, but Sandy had that effect on them. Tomorrow they would all rotate through the med units, but the grief was manageable for now.

***

Rhys came awake with a start, confused at first, then realized he was in a med unit in the shuttle. The lid opened, and he set up, seeing only Sandy sitting with her hair going in a hundred different directions, still connected to the shuttle. Rhys checked on the other girls, briefly touching each symbiont to satisfy himself that they were ok. Sandy looked up with a smile as he pulled himself out, memories of the battle clear in his mind, or clear up to the moment when there was a tremendous burst of power, but nothing after that. "I am still alive, so I guess we won." He muttered grimly to Sandy, who moved quickly to embrace him, her hair wrapping around him in waves.

"We won," she said, holding him tightly, her hair wrapping around them both in waves. "We won, but we paid a price," she said somberly. "What part don't you remember?"

Rhys started to answer but paused as he felt the other girls arrive. Thea, Kiania, and the Binary rushed through the entrance to the shuttle and joined them in a hug. Rhys let their emotions wash over him, enjoying the warmth of their feelings.

"We were so worried, Rhys, we couldn't help when you were attacked," Thea said, "and then at the end, when it ran away, you had changed."

Rhys looked around at their faces. "Changed; I don't know what you mean?"

"You shifted form like you did that time when Sandy attacked," Amancia said. She and the others were listening in to the conversation with Nelya and Yaneta.

"The energy Rhys, like when you marked us. We could feel it flowing through us into you when you fought the Om there in the cavern." Mei/Bao said, using both their voices for emphasis.

"Do you remember what was in the cavern with that Om creature?" Kiania asked grimly, her eyes watching his.

"No, no, I don't; show me," Rhys said, feeling the sudden somber mood from all of them.

"Let's go into the control room, but why don't we get you dressed first," Sandy said with a slight grin. as a drone came out from the wall with a clean set of clothes.

Rhys glanced down and realized he was naked. "Probably a good idea," he said as the girls helped him dress. Pants, shirt, and boots, and he was ready. Sandy led them into the control room, and a life-sized hologram sprang up from the floor. It was a composite of recordings made by each of them and the drones.

When the hologram sprang up, Rhys relived the moment of fear as the darkness rushed toward him, and he could almost feel the cold tentacles reaching out to pierce his neck, his skull and envelop him. The dark, trying to seep into his body. The feeling was so real the beast inside him reactively instinctively, and his body started to shift, his hands coming up to strike.

However, it was only a momentary reaction, and he let go, feeling himself relax; the danger had passed, the beast inside told him, but it didn't like it. The girls had often described feeling something inside of them, a metaphysical manifestation rather than something physical, something that wanted out during combat. In the instance when Sandy had lost control and attacked, her symbiont had projected in their minds as a sabertooth tiger. That was not physical but merely a mental manifestation that assailed the symbionts. Unlike Sandy, Rhys had partially changed physically. However, this was different, and Rhys had never succumbed to the beast inside like this. Whatever it was had taken control, he remembered that; and Rhys had surrendered to it without a thought. Bob had no explanation, even though this could only have come from the symbiont. Did Drans warriors shift their bodies to fight, he wondered, and if so, why a dragon? Surely a dragon was not part of the Drans' mythology, if they even had one.

With an effort, he brought his mind back to the present and realized the hologram was frozen; the girls were looking at him.

"That happened the time he marked us," Amancia said thoughtfully. She reached out to Leslie and felt the interlace form, their minds merging as they analyzed what they had just seen. For a split second, it had looked like there were two of him, the man they loved but overlain by something else, something they had seen once before, and even then only partially. Rhys had some kind of beast inside of him, they all did, but previously he had only partially shifted in response to a threat, and only briefly.