Chapter 12: 11: MALFUNCTION

Elias stood in the empty kitchen of a dilapidated, condemned house located in Silver Rock, a Red Sector mountain town in Zone 1 of North Asylum that was also known as the middle of nowhere. The ping brought him back to this place after a long eighteen years, when he’d fought alongside Union forces to quell a rebel uprising at the height of the Time Of Trouble. He found that the place retained a haunting air of blood-soaked memories from that war.

No one lived in Silver Rock now and no one lived in the surrounding five zones due to lingering contamination, leaving Silver Rock a ghost town that was all but forgotten, and maybe on purpose, without urgency to rebuild. Only the men that fought there and survived remembered the place, along with all they’d lost defending the alliance.

Chunks of roof weathered with age littered the floor of the abandoned home. Frameless interior windows blown out long ago from detonations lined the crumbling walls. Ten hours of combing through every nook and corner of the town had passed as the four hunters assigned there collectively racked up a termination count of twenty-eight heads, each one located far from the other with a pair hidden within the dark mountain caves. That was the part that had taken them the bulk of the remainder of the last late night and the following day to locate. Elias saw no apparent relation to their finds save for visible rabidity. Locating twenty-eight heads wasn’t unusual in a former war zone, although Dotty was correct. Home Base should have caught onto the activity with the first parasite before any possibility of spread.

He tapped on his COM band to scan both the air quality and electromagnetic readings of the area, watching local radiation levels spike as the hunters traveling with him engaged another hostile, infected target. Two in single location this time, a jackpot considering how their day had gone so far. That also meant that they now had to retrace their steps once more to ensure they didn’t miss any other wanderers. He glanced at Noor, who’d completed a blood pick for the first of the pair, and addressed him through their direct link.

“What do you say, Navigator?”

“Activity’s slow, incredibly sporadic.” Noor inserted the metal needle into the kit as he replied. “Strange how the day’s dragged on this way over an unremarkable head count. The infected seem to pop up only when we’ve eliminated the others, like they’ve received some beacon to activate on cue.”

“A punchline like this whole thing is a damn joke,” said Elias. “Stuck here sniffing around for stragglers when there are critical issues at Silatem that need attention. This is routine stuff. SEIJ should be all over this. It’s their jurisdiction. I know they love feeling useful.”

“Well, at least our R&D confirmed receipt and dissection of Mr. Grimley’s corpse. They’ve collected all necessary samples for testing. As soon as they’ve found something of note we’ll know, so maybe there’ll be a gain from all this.”

“Good. We’ll do a final sweep of the zone to make sure this mission can be closed to our satisfaction. Been here long enough. Sick of seeing this place. It’s always too soon.” He tapped an input on the side of his helmet and toggled on the visor’s thermal vision. “Anything interesting from today’s picks?”

“Ordinary for the stages we found them in, besides Home Base missing their signatures until now. Based on our prolonged discovery delays I’d say the residually high ether levels have an effect on our targets and our sensors, including the remarkably intact states we’re discovering them in. No matches on identity, meaning there’s a high chance they’re more of those wildland infiltrators from the Time Of Trouble, either the remainders of the instigators or their prisoners.”

“We should hold onto the samples from this mission, see if there’s corroboration with whatever caused Grimley’s rapid decay. Wouldn’t that be something, if these types turn out to be as new as him.”

“Sir.” Noor closed the kit and stood, shaking his head. “Our treaty covered Grimley because we were specifically hired to catch him. These are unidentified heads found on Union soil, possible rebels. Doesn’t matter if they’re from an old war or new. We risk charges of treason if we intentionally bring back any material part of them to Silatem territory without agreement—that includes trace materials for study like blood—”

“Acknowledged. But we can transmit field notes—including infection samples—from this case to Silatem Medical under our UIA contractor license, as long as it’s an emergency health advisement. Right?”

“Aye.”

“So go ahead and do that, then terminate the parasite. As long as we get something in our hands, even if it’s the most minimal of traces, I’ll be better satisfied.” Elias switched back to normal view, gripping his rifle with both hands again as he walked the perimeter of the room. “Tie these samples in with the Red Flag on Grimley to create a chain of evidence. We’re asking questions for risk assessment not taking sides.”

“Well. That should get things done. We’ll proceed.” Noor raised his wrist and tapped commands onto a COM projection. “Grimley might be our Patient Zero if there’s a link.”

“Once the suspension’s lifted we’ll head to Oasis ourselves. Retrace Grimley’s steps and figure out who he’s talked to and why. I wouldn’t be surprised if the trouble started brewing over there, and that’s where he picked up his inner friend. Always does turn out that way.” He gestured toward the kitchen door. “Let’s process Number Two back there and do that final check. With any luck we’ll be debriefing by zero hour. Union will want to ramp up security for the holiday after our finds.”

A bang of a heavy gauge firearm resonated through the rundown house. The piercing shriek of a parasite in pain rattled the air. Noor’s visor turned back to Elias.

“Strange. I’m reading dead space. Are you?”

Elias glanced at his visor display. 0000.0.

“Yep,” he replied.

“Malfunction?”

“Anything’s possible. Especially around Harvest. Especially after Grimley.” Elias walked past the navigator toward the doorway between the kitchen and the main room, observing the chemical readings change when Noor completed the termination. “No such thing as coincidences, though, not in this line of work.”

Commander Hud Hudson, a hulking figure of a man both with and without the armored Silatem gear they’d donned for the mission, stood over a creature writhing on the floor in a pool of death fluid. The commander had immobilized the beast with four well-placed cross-bolts in each of its limbs while Lieutenant Maxwell Davies, a young officer, stood by with rifle on his shoulder, chuckling at the sight. Elias engaged the team line and addressed both men at once, snapping them to attention.

“Enough. Stop messing around. Commander—did you collect that pick?”

“Sure did, Captain,” said Hudson, his boisterous South Isles accented voice blasting over the link. “Already logged, sealed, and stored for Mr. Noor’s pleasure. Tell ‘im to check the love note I sent to the mission log. Now come on—let’s have a couple smiles for Harvest this year.” He circled the parasite again, crossbow aiming down. “One of the few joys left on the field. Always misery, misery, misery lately.”

Noor nodded at Elias, indicating that Hudson’s records were part of their logs. Elias gestured at the squirming, growling beast with his rifle. “Terminate it, Commander,” he said. “Or I will and collect the bonus. I don’t need the money but I did need an 18 on this mission yesterday.”

“Yeh used to be more fun back in Defense,” grumbled Hudson over the COM. “Those were the days. Used to make barters for headcounts and win ‘em, too. Now we’re blessed with the presence of President Sour Puss. Lion Six? No—more like Kitten Six. All yer meowin’—”

In one rapid motion Elias withdrew his armored staking tool from the holster on his side, kneeling to terminate the parasite with a swift jab through the heart. He rose as his sensor readings skyrocketed, triggering at the presence of decaying infected matter with levels much higher than what Noor found in the kitchen. His visor turned toward Hudson, who stood back, watching the termination without comment.

“Those days are gone,” said Elias. “Forever. We’re here now with business to attend to. Copy?”

“Copy. Lucky I like yeh anyway. Grim fuck.”

“Acknowledged.”

The synced connection between his stake and his visor shifted as it cataloged the DNA signature of his kill, displaying an animated strand along with notes and files. He scanned the details of the target’s ID and found a valid match to a Union identity.

A2 HERBERT D. LAWRENCE AGE 31 RSC7 ADMIN INFECT-Y A2

Elias paused on the target’s Union rank and title. An admin for the Red Sector Council of North Asylum where Silver Rock was located. He turned toward Noor and linked to the navigator to share the data and an emergency ping from Davies filled his helmet with sudden sound.

“Captain,” barked Davies. “Get over here. Now.”

Elias swung his attention back to Davies, who’d moved from the interior of the main room to the doorway of the kitchen. He walked toward the lieutenant and caught glimpse of a shadow on the other side, aiming his rifle as he moved past Davies.

“It’s targeting me but I’m reading dead space,” said Davies.

“I’m aware,” replied Elias, glancing at the new arrival. “It’s an issue.”

Elias entered, attention locked onto the parasite and ready for sudden movement. This one was uglier than the others, far degenerated after having little to feed on except for traces of ether within the abandoned district. It was massive in artificial size due to frequent mutation, sprouting tumorous growths and standing a half-head taller than Hudson as a result. That was another observation that shouldn’t have happened. Not under Home Base’s diligent watch.

The parasite kept its sunken gaze trained on Elias as he moved along the eastern wall, allowing Davies to follow his lead. He watched Hudson and Noor adjust to support positions, low static buzzing over his COM. The beast shifted from targeting Davies to targeting Elias.

“The host’s reading like it’s already been neutralized,” said Noor. “Guess it just…wandered in here without us noticing. You’re right, Captain, that none of this can be a coincidence. New strain, new stages. Might be worth holding onto this one regardless of the ownership. Red flag this discovery.”

“Agreed,” replied Elias. “I’ll disable the target. Commander, Lieutenant—prepare to restrain and return.” Elias took another step toward the creature, which remained still, watching. “One of you will have to remain in the cruiser with the specimen while we complete the final inspection. Anything goes wrong, I want to know exactly how and when it happened. You figure out who’s staying.”

“I’ll guard the cruiser, Captain,” said Davies.

“Davies will guard the cruiser,” said Hudson.

“Great,” replied Elias.

Muzzle aimed, Elias adjusted the caliber of his weapon’s feed to increase the stopping power, pulsing on the trigger and popping the beast backwards with a trio of shots. Blood and matter sprayed from its face and body as it stumbled and fell. Elias watched the mottled and deformed figure collapse on the ground into a heap as quiet enveloped the room.

Elias turned toward Davies, who was already approaching to restrain the capture. Right as Hudson moved in from the opposite end a loud feedback blared over the team link, making Elias wince as he sparked to new attention.

“The fuck—?” he uttered.

He turned back to the creature just in time for the mass of limbs to shake itself back to stand as if Elias had never fired. It shrieked, sound emanating from somewhere deep within its gouged head, and it hurtled forward, crashing into Elias. Adrenaline surged as Elias hit stone—twice in a row dumped by a goddamned bloodsucker and it was already old. The creature grabbed hold of his helmet, smashing it against the ground, and rattled his teeth with the force.

Elias amplified effort, the rifle pinned to his chest under the weight of the beast. He rolled with its grip still hanging onto his head, unable to detach, and released his hold on the rifle to whip his pistol out of its holster next, forcing the muzzle up against the creature’s skull. He fired on repeat, although there was no reaction from the creature even as damage Elias was inflicting against it was immediate, severe, and obvious.

“Captain—" barked Hudson. "Hold on!”

The parasite screeched again. A garbled sound emanated from the cavernous hole in its face, a howl of unmistakable pain. But still, it didn’t fall. Just kept deteriorating and kept…fighting.

Elias rolled over again with the creature over him. The grip on his helmet loosened when Hudson wrenched the creature off of him, though not before Elias had been dragged along with it for another pair of meters. Elias dug his boots into the ground once he was loose and holstered his pistol, adjusting his rifle back into position as he heaved himself back to his feet.

Limbs thrashed as the creature turned to focus on Hudson, one of its arms hanging by threads and near-amputated at the shoulder by Hudson’s blade in the effort to free Elias. Hudson slashed another time and the parasite ducked out of the way, swinging its intact arm to grab hold of Hudson’s weapon without care of the sharp edge.

“Piece of shit—it’s fightin’ me like a man!” bellowed Hudson, his voice roaring over the team link. “Evadin’, counterin’—fuck! There it goes—bastards aren't smart enough for that. What’s doin’?”

Hudson seized the creature and threw it over his shoulder with a fireman’s carry, slamming it to the ground when it tried to charge him by surprise. His blade barreled down as he stabbed the parasite through the hole where its face had been and tore the blade down to its chest, ripping through diseased flesh with force. Davies rushed close and unloaded into the parasite with more high caliber projectiles when Hudson receded. Elias approached with rifle ready as if it would rise again.

You are reading story Native Blood: The Cursed Planet (Book1) at novel35.com

“No readings, Captain,” said Davies, circling the creature as black matter spurted from new wounds. “Nothing that whole exchange. Thing’s still moving. Won’t stay down. It’s not over.”

“It’ll stay down if we stake it,” huffed Hudson, jamming a boot into the parasite’s chest. “I’ll do this one nice and quick. Let me at it.”

“No.” Elias kept the muzzle of his rifle aimed at the squirming, tattered beast. “Restrain it, as ordered. Use any means necessary to subdue. Remove the head if you have to and store that too. Navigator, complete the pick and get it to the cage. Clean this place up. Now.”

Hudson and Davies went to work, binding the legs and arms of the creature with more armored cords than usual until the body stayed slack and motionless on the ground. Elias scanned the recent activity feed and found the EM readings had remained the same the entire confrontation—0000.0. A glow from his COM band caught his attention and he balanced his rifle in one hand, bringing the faceplate closer to his visor. The numbers on his personal device didn’t match the ones displayed on his visor and a frown creased his face as he read different digits there entirely.

0981.9

“Weird…reading on COM,” Elias muttered over the team link. “0981.9.”

“That’s off,” said Noor. “High. Where do you see that?” Noor paused his work and his visor turned up toward Elias. “I’m not reading anything over the time lapse.”

“It’s not on the visor. It’s on my COM. Just…my COM, alone.”

“Let me see.”

“Wait. Hold on.”

As Elias stared at his COM the numbers rolled backwards, plummeting until they reached dead space. He waited for a few seconds but the display didn’t change.

“It’s gone now,” he said.

“What?” replied Noor.

“It’s gone. Dead space. Couldn’t even snap a visual of it. Happened too fast.”

“Creepin’ me out, Captain,” rumbled Hudson. “Don’t like the feelin’. Are yeh bein’ followed?” The commander’s helmet moved aside for a quick moment. “Followed ‘ere?”

“Sir.” Noor cut into the conversation with urgency, his head bowed in front of the NAV. “We’ve got a problem. This parasite…this isn’t a nobody. Not a rebel. It’s Captain Havershaw.”

A chill coursed through Elias and his attention streaked back to the parasite on the ground. Havershaw—that was another Union Defense captain like he’d been as well as a UIA contractor, someone Elias worked alongside during the battle for Silver Rock. A decorated commander who’d maintained a professional, amiable friendship with Silatem over the years long after his assigned duties with Elias. That man, another hero from the Time Of Trouble, now lay a mutated mess blasted to pieces by Silatem weapons.

“Havershaw,” said Hudson, lowering his helmet in respect. “These animals turned ‘im into one of ‘em. Killed ‘im after all ‘e’s done.”

“They killed him the first time,” commented Davies. “We killed him the second, third, fourth—”

“Shut up.” Elias jerked his finger towards the side door leading out of the broken down home. “Get the body to the cruiser. Now. Navigator—”

“Establishing contact to Home Base, sir.”

Elias walked over to Noor while Davies and Hudson hoisted the creature—a former high ranking colleague—between them out of the kitchen. The NAV connected to the COM network and an operator named Samuel greeted them, requesting their verification codes. Once they were cleared to Elias took over the line.

“Listen here, Samuel—" he said. "This mission will be 18 after we run a final check but we’ve encountered repeated COM issues. Red-level ping when the bloodsucker’s down. Dead space when it’s up. We’re finding heads in advanced stages of infection and we’re too close to occupied Red Sectors for this not to be a CDPD issue too. UIA needs to seal area off now and return with hunters.”

“Understood, sir,” said the operator. “The discrepancies in your reported sensor readings and your action logs are already flagged. I’ll send over your recommendations for quarantine and hunter responses.”

“You’ve got more problems than the glitches. We just picked up Captain Havershaw. He’s turned. At least a Stage Six, more like an unstable Seven.”

“Captain…Havershaw?” Samuel paused, bewildered beyond his professional demeanor. “Stage Six or Seven…approaching maximum parasite load. Doesn’t sound right.” A few bleeps followed as the operator accessed his own system. “You must be mistaken, sir. Captain Havershaw signed off for a seven-day leave this Harvest season. His most recent medical scans were perfect. Zero traces of infection. I’m looking at his away notes now.”

“Check the details for our last submitted head, Samuel. It’s Havershaw…or at least what’s left of him.”

Another extended pause. Samuel returned.

“Yes, sir,” said the operator. “It’s Captain Havershaw.”

“We have the body and are returning it to Silatem Capitol HQ for processing under Treaty Statute 8018-7b, Section 4,” said Elias. “Emergency response to possible rebel activity. If UIA wants more information from this point forward…they can petition MOJ for removal of Silatem’s suspension. Makes sharing privileged information and important bodies much easier.”

“Noted, sir.”

“We’ll reach out again once we’ve 18’d—”

“Actually, sir, you’re 18 now.”

Elias frowned. “What?”

“You can complete expedited checks as part of your mission cooldown but you’ve officially been auto-assigned.”

Noor chuckled over the team link, although Samuel couldn’t hear that. Elias scowled deeper, glad his mask hid his face from his men.

“Another mission without opportunity to complete this one to our standard,” he said. “A little strange, isn’t it?”

“I don’t know, sir,” replied Samuel. “I have to read the updates as they’re fed to me.” More blips of the Home Base system followed from the other end. “You’re headed approximately 1200 kilometers southeast to Central, near a transition zone in Red Sector. It’s a single ping, faint and bobbing, but it’s there.”

Elias paused. “Why is a ping from a transition zone being auto-assigned?” he said. “Refugees live there, a lot of them traveling frequently to the wildlands with zero interest in assimilating here. That should automatically require a blanket quarantine order for the entire sector. Justice needs to get involved.”

“Personal note on file here, Captain. It’s from Admiral Heywood himself. He sends his thanks along with an alert to check your direct inbox at zero hour for a meeting invitation. He’ll be sending along a processing code for that petition you requested—the one to get your suspension lifted.”

“Acknowledged. Appreciated.” Elias nodded. “Tell him I said thanks. I’ll check my feeds when I can and respond.”

“Yes, sir.”

“All right. I’ll take a look at your ping and assess the coordinate history you transmitted to us. Looks like this thing’s mobile. Has the target breached the city line?”

“We’re unclear. Doesn’t appear so based on the data but these occurrences happen sometimes tens of kilometers away from each other in minutes.”

“Malfunction? Seeing a lot of signs of that.”

“I’m sorry I can’t give you anything more exact. It would just be my personal guess. Nothing I can confirm. It’s enough of a concern that you’ve been auto-assigned.”

“All right. Thank you, Operator.”

“Anything else, sir?”

“That’ll be all.”

“Yes, sir. Operator out.”

The display blipped off and Elias addressed Noor through the speakers of his mask, his voice resonating in the quiet of the destroyed kitchen.

“No chaos here,” he said. “Not during Harvest. Not in Red Sector and not in a transition zone. Someone knows I’m here and that I’m following this trail.”

Noor nodded in agreement as he sealed the NAV kit. “Feels like we’re playing a game and our enemy's already two moves ahead of us.”

“Not for long,” spat Elias bitterly. “We’ll cut in front soon enough. Get ready.”

Elias swept out of the room still ready for another surprise. His mind passed over his last interactions with Captain Havershaw, remembering the leader as a serious man holding a lifetime of Defense and Intelligence commendations. Havershaw was a figure Elias might have hired himself to work for Silatem if conditions and loyalties ever aligned.

The battle for Silver Rock, a bloody and dragging experience, once felt as if it would never end. Almost two decades later it was evident their conflict wasn’t over.

You can find story with these keywords: Native Blood: The Cursed Planet (Book1), Read Native Blood: The Cursed Planet (Book1), Native Blood: The Cursed Planet (Book1) novel, Native Blood: The Cursed Planet (Book1) book, Native Blood: The Cursed Planet (Book1) story, Native Blood: The Cursed Planet (Book1) full, Native Blood: The Cursed Planet (Book1) Latest Chapter