Alien Mine Ch. 22

Jessica had watched the battle first in terrifying fear, then in awe as Rhys and the girls took control and turned what looked like a disaster of epic proportions into victory. It was a very messy victory, to be sure, and now they were about to assault the Chinese leadership. Her symbiont was less than two weeks old, but the changes for her had been profound. The physical and mental cripple she had become was gone overnight, replaced with a new and still changing body. Jessica was still surprised when she woke in the mornings, and nothing hurt; the pain was gone, and her mind was clearer than it had ever been.

She still couldn't believe that Michael had Mika had lived up to their promises. She realized they had not been entirely truthful, but the time for misgivings had come and gone. First, Rhys had healed her body using alien technology, then he and Mika had gently seduced her and implanted the seed that would grow into her symbiont.

She would always be grateful for the second chance at life they had offered her and for Rhys. However, she understood her future lay with Mika; she had been recruited for a specific reason. Jessica would be Mika's bodyguard and lover, never leaving her side unless ordered. Her mind was still reeling at the thought that Mika would rule the Middle East and Africa, and Jessica would be there by her side.

She watched Rhys and the others descend on the Chinese like warrior gods from a myth, and the warrior in her wanted desperately to join them. "Don't worry; your time will come soon enough," Sandy said kindly. Jessica felt the warmth of Sandy's emotions, and a calm settled over her. They were still connected by Sandy's hair, the strands penetrating her spine and the base of her brain. It had been a terrifying experience the first time, but now she was used to the intense intimacy it created.

Sandy could sense Jessica's emotions and the changes she was undergoing. The symbiont was an immature ball in Jessica's mind, slowly growing as it invaded every cell in her body. Sandy was tempted to reach for the symbiont, condition it to obey her like she had tried to do with Anita, but now didn't dare. Rhys and Hua had made it clear to her that there would be no second chance, and Sandy was undergoing her own conditioning. Rhys was determined to bring her "to heel" and was unrelenting as he forced submission on her and the symbiont. There was still a spark of rebellion, but the desire for power was tempered now, and she turned her full attention to the battle beginning below.

Sandy brought the shuttle down to twenty meters above the buildings, and Rhys jumped out, followed by Hua and Thea. They were jumping into the area known as Zhongnanhai, a compound of houses that provided living quarters and government offices for the Chinese Communist Party and central government. It also housed a bunker deep below for emergencies such as this. Zhongnanhai sat next to the Forbidden City, separated only by small artificial lakes with houses for Chinese leaders built along the lakeshore. The streets were wide and treelined, especially along the shoreline. The most prestigious homes sat on a small island in the middle of the southern end of the lakes, connected to the road by a heavily guarded bridge. The bunker actually sat underneath the central lake, with four tunnels extending up into highly secured locations. One was in the basement of an office building used by the Central Committee members. Sandy had used the dissipater to remove most of the building and anyone not seeking cover. The tunnel entrance was exposed, and Rhys dropped down into it.

Sergeant Garcia hefted his BFW, covering below, as he followed Thea into the hole below. The weapon was new and required powered armor to hold it, hence the name. Thea had used some kind of technical term for it, but the grunts quickly decided BFW was a much better description, especially after they saw what it did to Trangrod armor. The arms computer gave him a HUD on his visor with ranges and vectors of enemy targets and fire angles from the other nine men in his squad if he wanted. That was effective when he needed to concentrate fire, but at times like this, it was too complicated for his brain. Right now, it was all about maneuvering and staying alive. His job was to follow Rhys and the three women, well two actually, he supposed, Hua and Thea. They were going to drill down to the Command Bunker. Bravo platoon was to follow Rhys and provide backup as needed. Charlie Squad was following immediately behind and would cover the flanks. Delta and Echo would secure the surface, and Alpha was held in reserve along with their commander and command squad. Garcia was uncomfortable with this; he hated not having any briefing or planning, especially with Trangrods involved. There was some grumbling among the men, but no one wanted to disappoint Rhys or Kiania. So down they went into the hole in the ground. What made them all uneasy was that they were also missing the other Binary. Having Leslie and Amancia in the mix gave the men confidence that someone would get them out of a bad situation.

Garcia followed as Rhys and the women disappeared into the tunnel entrance. Sandy had cleared the area; the weapon she used just dissolved everything, so there wasn't any debris to worry about. The tunnel was wide enough for three men to walk side by side and looked to be three meters in height. It ran straight for about ten meters, then angled down. "Let's go, let's go," Garcia said, breaking into a trot as Rhys disappeared ahead of him around a curve. No, plan, no briefing, "just shoot anything that looks dangerous," Kiania had told him. At least he had Charlie immediately behind him if they ran into trouble.

"First section, cover right and left," Garcia ordered as they approached an intersection, and two men peeled off in each direction. That put the heavy section in front with him, which wasn't such a bad idea because he could hear weapons firing ahead of them. "On the double," he told his men over the coms channel as he moved faster down the descending tunnel ahead. There was no power, of course, but his sensors picked up every possible wavelength and integrated it into an image augmented with low-level lighting from his helmet. The first section turned over the flank cover to Charlie Squad as they approached another staircase. Garcia estimated they had descended at least one hundred meters before the tunnel leveled off.

The first indication of trouble was a slight bulge in the wall and then a crack as it opened up, and a Trangrod came through. The squad drones reacted first, leaping into the sudden hole in the wall with weapons firing. Heavy rounds took the first of them out and stitched the reinforced concrete wall just to the right of Garcia's head. Then phosphorus-like rounds detonated, serving to confuse and distract. His visor darkened automatically, saving his vision, and he launched micro-munitions from his backpack. These were another upgrade, short range, but look in the direction you wanted them to go, and they would seek out a Trangrod. The corridor was rocked with explosions as the heavy section lit off, their rounds taking out much of the wall on the left side. "Get some, Get some," one of his men shouted as they poured rounds and explosives into the widening gap. The BFW punched large holes in the insect-like Trangrod horrors that tried to push into the corridor, and the restricted area was filled with smoke and fire. A missile struck the man immediately behind him, knocking Garcia to the ground. He fired grenades back toward the source, trying to buy time as another missile took out a chunk of the wall just above his head. His armor held, but his head felt like it had been bounced off a cement floor. More drones rushed past him and into the breach while at the same time, he heard the heavy section leader shout, "Engage on the right."

All hell seemed to explode on him as the wall he was lying against fell on top of him. Thunderous explosions rocked the tunnel, and more parts of the wall came down. Micro munitions and heavier weapons were fired at close range as the Trangrods threw themselves into a buzzsaw of firepower. They were insectoid machines vaguely resembling a grasshopper that walked upright. This one stood at least three meters tall and had weapons mounted on each side of what could be a thorax. They were derived from human bodies but without a will of their own, and they forced Bravo back. Three of his squad were down before Garcia could bring his weapon to bear. From a sitting position, the BFW kicked like a bitch but still blew holes in the Trangrod nearest him. Shifting his fire to the next one, Garcia decapitated it with five rounds to the head. Before he could fire on the others, he was grabbed by one of the insect horrors and felt its metal claws penetrate his armor, digging into his leg and shoulder where it had seized him.

Garcia screamed as the claws dug into his skin, but Thea's latest innovation saved his life. His armor erupted with fifty mono-blades as the Drans metal of his armor formed itself into half-meter-long mono-blade spikes that protruded and penetrated the Trangrod. Garcia imagined he looked like a porcupine, but it was effective, and the Trangrod jerked away badly damaged itself. At that moment, more missiles crashed in as Charlie Squad added their firepower, and the remaining Trangrods all but disintegrated under the concentrated fire. Sergeant Chadha gave him a hand, careful not to touch any of the spikes that had sprouted from his armor. Two injured, one dead, Corporal Pace told him before he could ask. Shaken, he found the control on his HUD and retracted the spikes.

"So, it works," Chadra said to him.

"Saved my life; I'm even more in love with Thea," Garcia replied, only half joking.

"You and fifty other guys," Pace interjected. "Sergeant, I am sending one man back with the wounded; that leaves us down four men."

"Yeah. Charlie will have to take point; we will watch your rear. Kiania is sending Alpha down for support, and she says Rhys is already on his way back. We should meet up with him shortly."

Rhys jumped into the empty corridor Sandy had opened up with the dissipator, followed by Hua's two bodies and Thea. He was aware of the men's concerns about the spur-of-the-moment decision, but it was an opportunity to catch the Om unprepared and discover what had happened to the Chinese leadership. Rhys also missed having Leslie and Amancia, especially their ability to disrupt Om communications. However, they were needed in the White House with Anita for now. Rhys realized they were spread too thin, but events had overtaken them and caught him unprepared. He wouldn't have attempted this if Sandy wasn't overhead to provide top cover and watch the surrounding area. Rhys and Hua carried their own version of the BFW, even bigger and with an upgraded grenade launcher. Thea carried a weapon she had designed for herself. Rhys had test-fired it and thought it could only be described as portable artillery. Thea's symbiont linked to the gun, and she could control the destructiveness of the Drans energy pellets it used. Rhys had cautioned her as they went underground; he didn't want the entire structure to collapse on them. Thea had built it to take out the centipedes, and in the lab and on the range, it had looked like overkill even for those monsters.

Thea ran behind Rhys and Hua as they jumped down stairways, bounced off corridor walls, and blasted through steel doors designed to withstand the overpressure of a nuclear explosion. Solid and thick though the doors were, they were no match for her weapon, and the explosive rounds fired on the run blew them backward and into the corridor behind in pieces like broken stoneware. Thea shivered with delight as she ran with Rhys, the God-like feeling of the combat mode so intense it was a sensual feeling that enveloped her entire body. Thea had felt Rhys connect with the binary mind of Hua, it wasn't a binary interface, but it was the next closest thing. In their spare time, she and Hua had been trying to understand the dynamics of the interface and what made Hua so unique. It, like many other aspects of the symbionts, remained a mystery.

"Om," Rhys said, but Thea had already felt the vile skin-crawling sensation they had become so familiar with. The first roach was just around the corner, and they didn't even slow down as Rhys and Hua blew it apart. They rounded the corner and then leaped two sets of stairs, ricocheting off the wall on the way down. Hua's two bodies split right and left at an intersection, firing in each direction. Thea kneeled and took the left side and finally had a chance to open up with her new weapon. Explosions hit the wall just above her head at the same time her symbiont highlighted the target through the smoke and debris. She put three rounds through the Trangrod, and saw armored pieces flying as it came apart under her fire. Thea ducked and rolled across the corridor as heavy rounds hit the wall just to her left, and one glanced off her leg. "Shit, that hurt," she swore while returning fire. Thea's vision was filled with flashes of light, smoke, and explosions, but her symbiont linked with her arms comp made it seem bright as day, and she fired calmly at the Trangrods. Two of the giant insect types that had heavier weapons and one of the fucking scuttling roaches. She let rip a burst of automatic fire that punched through their armor, the explosive rounds adding to the smoke and fire. "Sorry," Thea told Rhys, "too much power; this tunnel is toast," she said as the ceiling collapsed over the broken pieces of the Trangrods. Rhys didn't reply, just gave her a vector. Thea hurried to catch up; Rhys and Hua were at the last door into the command center.

He paused; there would likely be humans inside. "Lightly," he said to Thea, gesturing at the door. Thea began firing, the rounds at first just chipping away, but more of the steel door began to crumble as she increased power. Chunks fell to the floor, and then the first hole appeared, and the remaining steel began to crumble. Violet-colored beams shot out through the door, followed by heavier fire as the tiger drones leaped in. The first few were immediately disabled, but Rhys had fifteen still with him, and he continued to send them in along with small dragonflies that provided a three-sixty view of the chamber. "Fuck, we're too late," he swore, throwing himself through the door. Knowing what was inside the room, Rhys fired his weapon as he burst inside, blowing pieces of Trangrod into the air; at the same time violet beams wielded by something that looked human splashed off his armor. The hand-held rays no longer penetrated immediately, and Hua came in behind him and blew the unarmored Om apart before they could cause damage. Thea paused as she came through the door taking in the devastation. Pieces of Trangrod, Om-looking humans littered the floor, but what held her attention was the human bodies scattered around the room. Men, women, and children, most of them cut in half by the beam weapons. It seemed the Om didn't want any survivors, or witnesses.

"God, this is awful!" Thea said, coming to rest by him at the entrance to a large space. The floor was covered in bodies, the deep crimson blood thick on the floor.

There was another door in the back of the room, and Rhys leaped the bodies and crashed through the door. He was met with a hail of gunfire from a single remaining Trangrod. Something hit his hip with a mighty smack! Knocking him to the side, armor damage systems filling the area with a protective goo. Hua's two weapons fired, sounding like cannon going off in the confined space as the rounds punched large holes in the Trangrod. Getting back to his feet, Rhys thought this room was even worse if possible. Bodies lay everywhere, the floor covered in crimson blood. Death had been quick; most of the bodies were cut in half.

"They killed everyone, even the babies," Thea said with horror as she followed Hua through the door.

Rhys clamped down on Thea's emotions but not Hua's; there was no need, he realized. Hua observed the carnage without feeling anything. It seemed strange even to her; she knew there should be some emotions, at least revulsion at what the Om had done, but she felt nothing. Hua's mind processed things differently from the rest of them, but she didn't know why or even when she had changed. She saw the children's bodies and faces frozen in fear and pain as the beams cut them into pieces. Some of the bodies were intertwined, where the parents had tried to protect their children to no avail. Part of Hua remembered holding a child in her arms that she couldn't defend, but that memory seemed to belong to someone else. "Why were they killed?" she asked Rhys.

"I don't know," he replied in a calm voice, a calm he did not feel. Unlike Hua, Rhys was filled with rage, and the beast inside him wanted out to kill and rend. "There is the Chairman and his wife," Rhys said, indicating some bodies at the back of the room. He recognized others his symbiont pointed out to him. The defense minister, of course, finance, internal security, and others. It looked like the sudden war had caught them by surprise as well since they were all in one spot. Why the Om had killed them would have to wait for later, there was nothing to be gained by staying any longer. "Back to the surface," he ordered, turning from the room. Hua took one last look, making sure that everything was recorded by the drones, and then followed Rhys out. "This will complicate things, Rhys; they have effectively destroyed the entire leadership in China. They may have carried out similar executions in other parts of the country," Hua observed.

"I know; Anita is breaking the news to the Joint Chiefs right now. What a fucking mess, but now everything is out in the open. It had to happen sooner than later, but I wish it hadn't been like this."

Rhys followed the men into the shuttle, thinking about what the Om had done. It made little sense, but apparently, there was something the Om didn't want them to know. Destroy this place; we will stay and provide support for ongoing operations.

***

Rhys sighed as he sipped bourbon from a coffee mug. It was probably considered crass, but he didn't care; the last week had been a nonstop emergency for all hands, and it didn't show signs of slowing down. He looked out the window of Mika's Official residence, Beit Aghion, in Jerusalem. The streets were quiet, but the surrounding Arab states were in an uproar as reality came crashing in. Maranda's existence and its association with Israel was a shock to the Middle East and North Africa. Suddenly Mika represented one of the three most powerful nations on earth, and Oil would soon be a useless commodity. Those two issues alone made the surrounding countries suspicious of Israel, and the real fear that their one source of national income was about to become worthless could push them into bad decisions. Despite the danger, Mika had traveled to most of the Arab capitals, spending a few hours in each in a whirlwind diplomatic tour to reassure surrounding governments. Mika's supernatural ability to persuade other leaders was surprising even to Rhys. An uneasy calm had settled over the region, but Mika continued reaching out. Rhys could hear her on the phone as she talked to the fighting parties in Sudan. Iran, at least, was not a problem; they were deep in a revolution now that, like North Korea, the oppressive political leadership was gone.

Jessica was in the other room with Mika getting a full dose of Middle East Diplomacy. Jessica would stay with Rhys for another couple of weeks before returning here. Rhys wanted her better trained and symbiont integrated before she became Mika's Sword and shield. Jessica would be a warrior, not a diplomat.