Rising Storm Read online

  Daniel Day

  Rising Storm

  Marc Walters jumped from the last set of stairs and hit the ground running. He pushed forward with his legs, taking rapid strides as he ran down the tunnel. His shoes smacking hard into the concert floor as he moved. All his strength poured into moving his feet. The urgency of his mission driving him forward as fast as he could go.

  From behind him he heard the hurried footsteps of Seeker Bright Moon on Fallen Snow. She had not leapt from the stairs to the ground like Marc. With her strides shorter than his, she had a greater distance to catch up. But the Seeker was pushing herself hard to reach Marc. Her breath came out in tight gasps, echoing off the bare gray cement walls as she ran.

  Coming to a bend in the corridor, Marc barely slowed down as he shifted his weight seamlessly and changed his body into the new direction. Bright Moon had closed the distance and managed to pant out, "Marc, wait," before he broke out into a dead run.

  One more turn and his destination lay before him. A thick steel door, painted a dull red color, lay at the end of the tunnel. Now Marc's speed became a detriment as he needed to halt right away. Not from crashing into the steel door, but the two Seekers guarding the door.

  Marc's rapid pace had both Seekers reacting in alarm. Weapons were brought up and trained on the running Human. Marc slid to a stop before them and raised his hands high above his head. "Whoa…Whoa," he gulped out as he saw the Seekers take aim with their weapons. "I'm on your side. Remember, I'm on your side!"

  At Marc's plea both Seekers hesitated and Marc managed a friendly smile at the two well-armed aliens. They did not return his smile, nor did they lower their weapons. For a few moments, both Human and Souls stared each other down. Then with the sound of more echoing footfalls, all three turned to see Seeker Bright Moon run into view.

  Coming to a stop by Marc, she admonished him while still trying to catch her breath. "Marc, I told...you To...wait For me!"

  Marc let out a long sigh and glanced between Bright Moon and the other two Seekers. Bright Moon was dressed in the ordinary black uniform of the Seekers he was used to seeing. In fact, he hardly ever saw her wear anything else. Her honey blond hair which was usually tied into a neat ponytail hung down to her shoulders in a messy display. He considered this a much more attractive appearance for her, but he decided this was not the best of times to bring it up. The other two male Seekers guarding the door were not dressed like Bright Moon. Instead they wore dark gray combat armor and still held their large rifles pointed at Marc's head.

  Bright Moon turned from Marc and addressed her fellow Seekers in her much more normal calm and gentle voice. "Please, we need to see Seeker Sage of Tides. It is very urgent."

  The two Seekers exchange a brief look of irritation. One Seeker lowered his weapon and turned to Bright Moon while the other continued to cover Marc. Seekers normally were always calm and pleasant to each other, like all Souls. But not now, the Seeker addressing Bright Moon could almost be called angry. "Traitor," he snapped, "what do you and the savage want?"

  Bright Moon flinched at the label and Marc felt himself stiffen at the Seeker's comment. He would like to ask the Seeker to rethink his statement, preferably after he broke the man's nose. But with the gun still trained on him, Marc had to force his anger down. Bright Moon did not let any other emotion show on her face or in her voice. She just repeated in the same peaceful tone, "Please, this is very important. We believe the army is falling into a trap. We need to speak with Sage of Tides."

  Again the two Seekers exchange glances, still unconvinced. Feeling they did not have much to lose, Marc dared to add to the Seekers' irritation. "You think I'd risk you guys shooting me if wasn't something really damn important?"

  "Seeker Sage of Tides is busy with the operation to eradicate the rebel humans. He doesn't have time for interruptions," replied the Seeker still aiming his gun at Marc.

  With a shake of his head, Marc turned to Bright Moon and said with rising incredulity, "It's like talking to a wall." Before Bright Moon could answer, Marc turned back to the Seekers. "Now you listen to me," he said with a dangerous edge to his voice. "You lot dragged me out to the middle of nowhere to help you take down the Facility. Old Sage told me to think outside the box to help you seashells do your job because apparently having an original thought would give you guys an aneurysm. Now I need to talk to him or a lot of your Seeker buddies are likely to end up dead. So either stand aside or shoot me!"

  Even though the Seekers were armed and trained to deal with 'wild' Humans like Marc, they both took a step back, clearly intimidated from Marc's outburst. Bright Moon let out a resigned sigh, she was far more use to Marc and prepared to put up with his anger. Putting herself between Marc and the Seekers she attempted to calm the situation.

  "Please," said Bright Moon beseechingly, "I will take full responsibility for the interruption." She shifted uncomfortably and added sadly, "I know you think I'm a traitor. But everything I did I thought was for the greater good. Please believe me when I say I never wanted to hurt anyone and our need to talk with Sage of Tides is real and very critical."

  Whether it was Marc's outburst or Bright Moon's plea, the Seekers traded one more glance of consideration and then finally relented. The one guarding Marc slowly lowered his weapon and with a sigh the other stood to the side to let them pass. Working the release to the large steel door, Marc slowly opened the way into the interior of the bunker.

  "Marc, don't do anything like that again," said Bright Moon as they passed through the doorway. "They could have…hurt you." The concern for him was prevalent on her face.

  Still annoyed with their delay by the Seeker guards, Marc had to bite back his stewing anger from his response. "I know, it's just I didn't like them calling you a traitor…really ticked me off."

  As they entered the control center, Bright Moon had a very strange expression on her face. An odd mixture of confusion and irritation from Marc's response. With a shake of her head she said, "I don't know if I'm pleased with your attempts to protect me or annoyed."

  Marc's reply died in his throat as he took in the Seekers' command and control center. The room was filled with Seekers working away at control workstations. Nearly two-thirds of the room was filled with men and woman seated in front of high-tech monitors, overseeing the operations of the assembled army of Seekers. But it was the front of the room that drew Marc's attention and caused him to come to an abrupt stop. There was a rather large alien working away on an elaborate piece of equipment vaguely shaped like an elongated glass table.

  Actually the room was full of alien Souls and Marc was the only human here. But he was used to dealing with the parasitic aliens when they were in Human hosts. The multi-legged creature working at the front of the room was unlike anything Marc had ever seen. Larger than a man, it was comprised of three connected short segments with a dozen spindly limbs. Most of its legs or arms were busy with tasks as it nimbly moved around the table-like device.

  "It's a Spider," explained Bright Moon as she saw Marc staring wide-eyed at the alien.

  Marc blinked as he took in the busy creature. It did indeed look like a giant spider, if not for the extra limbs. "You mean that alien race Wanda was telling us about? What's it doing here?"

  "The Spiders helped during…" Bright Moon began and then looked down. She half mumbled the rest of her answer. "The invasion of Earth. They captured the first humans and assisted the Seekers during battles with your race."

  "I see," said Marc with some difficulty. "So you Seekers dragged this guy out of cold storage or something?"

  "I'm not sure," answered Bright Moon as she looked back up at Marc. "I know a few Spiders remained behind after the invasion was complete to assist with starship maintenance. This may be one of them."
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  Marc pushed off his wariness of the alien Spider and headed for the front of the control center, Bright Moon right behind him. He wasn't surprised to see Seeker Sage of Tides overseeing the Spider-thing's work. The alien Soul's host was a tall stern-faced man with neatly cropped head of hair shaded a sandy gray color. His expression was almost impossible to read as he took in Marc's and Bright Moon's arrival.

  "Seeker Bright Moon, Mister Walters, what are you doing here?" His voice firm and even as he spoke.

  Bright Moon came to a stop before her superior. Drawing herself up and squaring her shoulders, she said crisply, "Seeker Sage of Tides, I apologize for our intrusion. But we have important news from Wanderer. As you know, she has been working with Aim…"

  "The Vultures," interrupted Marc. "They're here. Working with the humans at the Facility. Right now."

  Bright Moon shot Marc a frustrated glare but nodded in agreement when Sage turned to Bright Moon for confirmation of Marc's announcement. The elder Seeker was silent for a few long seconds and asked in a quiet voice, "Are you sure?"

  "Wanderer felt confident of her information," replied Bright Moon. She faltered for a moment and then added carefully, "She would have communicated this information directly but the Seekers in Chicago…were unconvinced and uncooperative."

  Marc snorted and quipped, "Big surprise."

  Sage of Tides looked sharply at Marc and then nodded to himself. "You believe Wanderer, why should I believe you?" he asked as he gazed steadily at Marc.

  As in the past Marc found himself growing unsure of himself when facing Sage of Tides. The Seeker had a very commanding appearance, as if everything near him would spontaneously assemble in order by his mere presence. And Marc had learned the Seeker's natural state of authority had little do to with his host body. He stammered for a moment and then collected himself.

  "Look," said Marc with his best effort at calm certainty, "you wanted me to be a fail-safe for this mission. To see what you might miss, so I am doing that." Marc began to count off on his fingers as he spoke. "Look at what we've seen – The Human rebels you're going up against have successfully launched a plague against your people that defied all your medicines. Medicines that are far more advanced than any technology Humans developed. Then they turned Kane Adams immune to being controlled by an inserted Soul. Again something your Healers have never seen before in any species you've…conquered." Marc bit back his resentment in his last word. He then had to take a deep breath for his next sentence. "And then Aim…everything we've learned from her."

  "You've made these points before," said Sage of Tides, his face and voice decisively neutral.

  "My point is these people of the 'Facility' have had help. A lot of your technology was acquired from these Vultures." Marc made a gesture to the Spider still working on the apparatus before them, "Yes the Spiders improved that technology, but it's still based on the Vultures' original work. Who better to show how to defeat or reposes those tools than the people who originally made them?"

  Marc pressed his case as a thought came to him. "Think about it, they were a space-faring race. That's how you got your first spaceships. Some of them could have escaped your take over."

  "That was a very long time ago," replied Sage as he considered Marc's argument.

  Without skipping a beat Marc shot back, "It's a big galaxy, lots of places to hide. They could have been waiting for the right time to strike back."

  "There is logic to the Humans statement," came a soft metallic voice from beside Marc. He jerked in surprise when he realized the voice had come from the Spider. Even as the creature continued to work one of its large dark eyes examined Marc with a glassy stare.

  "Mum…thanks," said Marc trying not to shudder from the alien's unnerving stare.

  "Yes, thank you, Enquirer of Facts," replied Seeker Sage.

  The same smooth mechanical voice replied, "An observation. Your thanks are unnecessary." Marc realized the sound wasn't coming from the Spider but from a small device on one of its limbs. Some sort of translator device he decided. He didn't see a mouth on Enquirer of Facts and didn't feel like getting closer to the creature to find one.

  Drawing Marc's attention back to his original purpose Sage of Tides asked, "If you are correct, why would the Vultures help your people?" For the first time, the Seeker's cool and imposing appearance faltered. "Their race was…cruel and…unkind to every species they encountered."

  "With respects Seeker Sage of Tides," began Bright Moon as Sage turned from Marc to gaze steadily at the blond-haired Seeker. "They would have a common enemy to unite them with the Humans…us."

  Marc regarded the two Seekers and added mildly, "If there is anyone in the universe itching for some payback and could possibly be in a position to get some, it would be the Humans and Vultures."

  Seeker Sage of Tides was silent as he deliberated. Both Marc and Bright Moon exchanged uneasy glances as they waited. After almost a minute, he turned and addressed one of the Seekers working at a nearby workstation. "Seeker Harmony, please get a status of all ground commanders. I want a full assessment of our situation. I want them to check and then recheck their positions and their readiness. Report on any anomalies, no matter how small."

  "Yes, Seeker," replied the young woman at her station.

  Sage turned back and addressed Marc. His voice was still confident, but there was an undertone of warning in his words. "And how do you feel about the possibility of the Vultures' involvement? Do you look forward to some 'payback'?"

  Instead of directly answering the Seeker, Marc turned to Bright Moon. While looking at the young woman, Marc replied to Sage's question, "You know how I feel." A sad smile formed on Bright Moon's face at Marc's answer.

  Interrupting all three of them an older man in the second row of Seekers spoke up urgently. "Seeker Brannon at position Gamma reports intercepting a narrow beam transmission. It would appear to be meant for the rebel Humans."

  "Source?" asked Sage of Tides at once.

  The Seeker's face stared blankly at his screen. His gray eyebrows furrowed together in confusion. "This doesn't make sense…the source of the transmission is coming from near the orbit of the moon."

  "Frequency analysis," commanded Sage of Tides.

  Another Seeker spoke up in response to Sage's question, but he also was no less confused by the information he was receiving. "The message was sent from one of our starship. The message was unencrypted text."

  Marc beat Sage of Tides to the obvious question, "What does it say?"

  The Seeker hesitated to answer Marc's command but did so when the older Seeker nodded his head in agreement with the Humans question.

  "It says - 'Kingdom Come.'"

  Now all the Seekers sitting at the various workstations stopped their activities and stared at each other with a mix of different emotions. Some were puzzled, a few more annoyed, and still other had a flicker of fear cross their faces. Unfazed, Sage of Tides walked down the center row. His orders were still clear and concise. "I want the ship sending that transmission contacted. It is to stop and check for any anomalies. I want satellite reconnaissance to check ever square centimeter of the entire area…"

  Sage was cut off as several alarms signaled on different Seeker workstations at the same time. At once there was a rising buzz of activity from all the Seekers working in the control center. Orders and then counter-orders were quickly being relayed between the control staff at the bunker and other Seeker locations.

  "What is happening?" demanded Sage of Tides.

  Several seconds passed while the murmur of voices only grew and no one responded. Sage cleared his throat and was about to speak when the older Seeker who had first reported the strange transmission replied, "I'm getting damage reports coming from multiple cities around the globe."

  "What!?" cried Sage of Tides.

  "I don't know…for sure," replied the Seeker with a growing quiver in his voice. "The messages are on emergency channels. I can't get a response…too much cro
ss traffic."

  With a rising horror on his face Marc said in a shaky whisper to Bright Moon,"Oh no." Bright Moon was also looked stricken as the reports of damage worldwide only increased.

  One of the Seekers, a middle-aged woman with rusty red hair yanked her headset off and pushed away from her console in fright. "It can't be…It can't be…" she cried out in pure panic. Her voice carried a strong English accent to her words. Nearby Seekers came to her aid, trying to comfort her even as the outside chaos threatened to overwhelm them. She turned to her fellow Seekers and said in a horrified whisper, "The report said London is burning…"

  Bright Moon came to Marc and he pulled her to him. Her eyes were wide with fear as he held her. "We were too late," she said in a frightened whisper.

  Marc never had a chance to respond when within the time of a single heartbeat the entire bunker shook with immense force. It was as if the ground above was hit by a fist of an angry giant. The floor heaved upwards suddenly only to rush downwards with even greater force. Everything in the room flew about, men, women, tables, chairs, computers, tools, and even the Spider with all its legs flailing chaotically as it tumbled about. All of it to smash down to the floor when the ground stopped reverberating. The lights in the room flickered defiantly for a moment and then were extinguished.

  The noise of crashing bodies and equipment was deafening, but above that noise rose an even louder sound. It was as if a thousand trains were colliding with a thousand more. It was a tearing, a ripping, cracking, the sounds of tons upon tons of reinforced cement and iron bent and twisted from forces far beyond what they were designed to withstand.

  In the complete darkness Marc tried to find Bright Moon, the alien Seeker who had against all possibilities become his true love. He tried to call her name, but it was drowned out by the continuing rumbling as the bunker began to collapse in on itself. Then there was one terrible moment of silence as the rumbling stopped. Marc called for Bright Moon again, but there was no response. And then the walls of the room buckled with a single sound of ruin and entombed them all.