Darren Wearmouth - Critical Path

“Thought this was a one-way mission?”

“Probably will be when they find out we’ve destroyed the gate, Son. Do you want to be around when they show up?”

“No, but I think we need to know a bit more about this place before parting ways. Could be all kinds of weird shit in those foothills.”

“I think we need to trust him,” Layla said. “Without Hagellan, we’ve got no transport and no clue about this place. He’s probably going to be in a lot more trouble than us.”

It grated on Charlie that Layla started to refer to the creatures as “he” and “she.” It gave them a personal feel that they didn’t deserve. “Let’s hear what it’s got to say after we’ve completed our mission. I’ve got a funny feeling that Hagellan won’t be so friendly after we bomb that building.”

She crouched and brushed her hand against a yellow plant. It looked like a type of coral Charlie had seen when scuba diving the Great Barrier Reef.

“Fascinating,” she said.

“Come,” Hagellan croaked.

Charlie skidded down the side of the hill after it.

Hagellan removed a glove and swept a chubby finger across a shiny charcoal panel next to the door. Two electronic beats came from behind it, and the door hissed open.

Charlie followed Hagellan into a single room roughly six by six meters. Along the right-hand side, behind a transparent panel, soft blue lights winked in different areas, providing ambient light.

The closest relatable thing Charlie had seen was the bank of servers in the Quartanary Productions server room. This looked far more advanced, however. A console with five evenly spaced screens wrapped around the rest of the room. Unrecognizable light blue data streamed on two screens. Another had a strange logo, like the Egyptian ‘H’ hieroglyphic.

“Put your bomb there,” Hagellan said and pointed to the transparent panel.

Charlie slung it off his back and placed it down. He felt no remorse about blowing this thing up. As amazing as it might be, the gate led the croatoans directly to Earth. It had to be destroyed.

Hagellan grunted in approval. Charlie had a great opportunity to make the tortoise-headed freak talk. He took the remote control from his thigh pocket and held his thumbs on the two switches. “We need to talk about what happens after I flick these.”

“Gate is destroyed.”

“I think you know what I’m talking about. What happens to us?”

“We go to barracks. Destroyer will be sent away.”

“I don’t buy it. You’re gonna be in serious trouble for helping to do this. Start being honest or we both die, here and now.”

“I go home and face council. Die with honor. You hide and find Tredeyans. They might help you.”

“Why didn’t you say this before?”

“Does it matter? Earth will be safe.”

Charlie thought about Hagellan’s question. It didn’t matter.

Their lives were nothing compared to freeing Earth from the threat of total destruction. Not being truthful about its own fate just seemed odd. He didn’t give a shit that Hagellan signed its own death warrant. Its role in the mission did not cancel out the billions of deaths on its gnarled hands.

“Let’s get behind that hill and finish this,” Charlie said.

Denver poked his head through the door. “Everything okay in here?”

“Fine, Son. We’re ready to go.”

He imagined Denver’s reaction to the ridiculous hope of finding, communicating and working with an unknown species. Layla would probably get a kick out of it.

The group trudged back over the hill and rested against the opposite bank. Charlie raised the control’s antenna. “After three?”

Nobody said a word. Denver nodded, pressed his back against the dirt, and covered his ears. Layla wrapped her arms around her head.

“Three. Two. One.”

He flicked both switches down. An ugly brown centipede-like insect scuttled across the dirt by his boots.

Nothing happened.

“Bomb not work?” Hagellan said.

Charlie flicked the switches up and down. Still nothing.

“Maybe it’s the radio waves here?” Layla said.

“Damn it!” Charlie said, throwing the trigger to the ground. He shaped to move back toward the building.

“Dad,” Denver said, “you’re not manually detonating that thing. I won’t allow it.”

An earsplitting boom echoed overhead. The three croatoans clicked in frantic conversation.

“What the hell was that?” Charlie said, looking up.

A yellow cloud formed high in the darkening blue sky. Small at first, in seconds it stretched at least three miles wide and thundered with bolts of electricity.

“This one of the storms you talked about?” Denver said.

“No. Is there another way to explode bomb?” Hagellan said.

“Manual switch,” Charlie said. He couldn’t take his eyes off the sky. The cloud swirled and lowered toward the other side of the mountain range.

“Tell now. Need now. Now,” Hagellan said, more animated than Charlie had ever seen before. He even looked… scared?

Denver stared open-mouthed at the sky.

“Is that the destroyer?” Charlie said.

“No. Bomb. Now! We’re running out of time!”

There was clear panic in its voice now. Something clearly worrying was happening overhead.

“There’s a button on the side of the case, under a black protection plate,” Charlie said.

Hagellan clicked to the closest croatoan. They touched gloves, and it ran over the hill.

“He will push your button,” Hagellan said.

“What the hell is happening?” Denver said.

Charlie stared over Hagellan’s shoulder. The point of a large black prism rumbled through the cloud. A foghorn-like blast shuddered through his ears. It continued to descend, growing in size as cloud swirled around it. It must have been at least a hundred times larger than an Egyptian pyramid.

The ground shook below Charlie’s boots.

He grabbed Layla and pulled her to the dirt as an explosion on the other side of the hill ripped through the air. Dust sprayed the group. A large funnel of smoke belched into the sky. Debris thudded against the dirt around them.

Charlie crawled to the top of the hill. He needed to confirm the gate’s destruction. Whatever that black thing was, he didn’t want it heading to Earth.

He squinted through the dust at the shattered ruins of the control building. The bomb had worked, but the blast was barely audible among the terrible drone coming from the prism in the sky.

Good old Mike and Mai had worked their magic again. But who or what was that thing in the sky? He peered to the sky again. The dust cleared, revealing an enormous black prism suspended over the mountains.

Small specks streamed out of it, like bees around a hive.

Explosions echoed along the valley below, the sound hitting Charlie in the chest.

Charlie staggered down the hill. The group clustered together. Denver wiped dust from his hair. Layla gaped up and pressed her hand against her forehead.

“Move from ship,” Hagellan said, pointing to the descending prism.

That was a ship? Shit.

It got to its feet and headed for an area of undergrowth to their left. Charlie sprinted after it. Denver grabbed Layla’s arm and followed.

Charlie grabbed a handful of Hagellan’s suit and managed to slow it down. “You need to start talking. If that’s not the destroyer, what is it?”

“Scion ship. Destroyer no more if that here.”

“Scion? What are you talking about?” Denver said.

“Croatoan enemy. If you thought us bad, Scion five times worse.”

“That’s just wonderful,” Charlie said.

He followed Hagellan, not knowing what else to do, and pushed his way through the big leaves dangling from plants that towered over his head.