Darren Wearmouth - The Critical Trilogy Box Set

“Now,” Denver said.

Charlie hit the dome with his palm. The metal on metal made a short clapping sound. At first Ben didn’t think anything had happened. And then a sound like the harvester crashing erupted, sending dirt falling down from the ceiling.

The rumble vibrated through the walls and floor and up into his spine.

On the monitor, the two surveyors flew up into the air. The heavier aliens fell backwards as a cloud of dirt and debris blasted up, followed by a large flame.

Two further blasts came from further away.

Charlie wore a discrete, but satisfied smile as he placed the metal box on the shelf and strode across the room to stand in front of the monitor. Everyone waited for a few minutes. Denver joined his father and nodded with satisfaction.

“I think it got them all,” Denver said.

“Looks that way, but we’re compromised nonetheless. Our cover is blown, literally.”

“My god,” Ethan said. “You killed them all? How?”

Charlie turned to face Ben and the others. He pulled a knife from his belt scabbard. “Explosives,” Charlie said. “We don’t have long. I’m sorry I don’t have anything for the pain. We’re going to have to do this the old fashion way.” He walked forward until he was standing in front of Ben, Maria and Ethan.

Denver joined him.

“You,” Charlie pointed to Ben. “You’re first. Open your shirt and bite down on this.” Charlie handed him a piece of wood from his pocket.

“Why?” Ben said, unable to take his eye of the wicked-looking knife. Its blade was at least ten inches long and the tip curved backwards. “What do you think you’re doing? What the hell is this about?”

Charlie leaned in, grasping Ben by the shoulder. With his knife he pointed to the blue bead around his neck. “You’ve got one of these inside you. It’s how they track you. I’m sorry, but there’s no way out of it. It has to come out. I’ll be as quick and painless as I can. I’m not new to this.”

Ben swallowed his fear. Turned to the others. Maria and Ethan stared at him wide-eyed like scared rabbits. Not wanting to let his crew down and show weakness he turned to face Charlie.

“Is this the only way?”

“No,” Denver added. “There’s one other option.”

Maria looked up. Hopeful. “What the other option?”

Without emoting, Denver replied, “Death.”

Maria’s hope vanished as she slumped on the log.

“If you take these beads out,” Ethan said. “What then? Where do we go? Are there others?”

“You survive,” Denver added. “Fight back. Or you don’t and you die. Those are your choices. I wish it were different, but that’s how it is now.”

“He’s right,” Charlie said. “And we’re running out of time. We need to get this done now and get on the move. Get to a town. They’ll send another scout group. We can’t be here when that happens. Your choice, kid.”

“Do it,” Ben said, unbuttoning his grey overall top and exposing his collarbone. He took the piece of wood from Charlie, placing it in his mouth, wondering how many other people were in this same situation.

Denver took a box, metal and painted green with a white triangular icon on its front. It looked like an older version of the ship’s first aid kit. At least they were going to see to his wound.

“This will hurt,” Charlie said as he pressed his thumb into Ben’s collarbone, locating the bead. “A lot.”

Instinctively he bit down into the wood as he nodded and closed his eyes when he felt the cold tip of the knife touch his skin.

As Charlie increased the pressure and the knife’s edge split through his skin, Ben gripped the loose material around his legs and let out a long, pain-filled scream, all the while driving his teeth into the soft wood.

Sweat poured from him and his eyes filled with tears.

Charlie dug his fingers into his shoulder, holding him into place, as he twisted the knife slowly, seeking that damned alien bead. Ben fought the urge to vomit and breathed heavily though his nose.

“I’ve got it,” Charlie said.

Warm blood flowed down Ben’s chest, pooling into the grey cloth of his uniform. Denver stepped to the side and placed a wadded cloth against his chest to soak up the rest.

“Hold on, kid, we’re nearly done here,” Charlie said, prizing the tip of the knife against the bead.

Ben could feel the resistance. Feel the hard, stubborn alien tech press into his bone. And then there was the sensation of something popping, coming lose, and the knife blade retreating.

Denver moved the wadding to the wound and pressed it down.

When Ben looked down he saw that the material was coated in an orange substance. A tingling sensation occurred within his wound, deep into the tissue, and then it burned. He shut his eyes and held his breath. It felt like someone had lit a match and pressed it into his flesh, but as he thought he would never stop, the burning reversed, tuning cold.

He fell forward and breathed in a deep breath.

When he sat back up, Denver removed the material, and to Ben’s astonishment the blood had already clotted around the wound. The orange substance formed a sticky patch over the cut. The pain was still there, but it was manageable, no worse than a headache.

Removing the wood from his mouth, Ben looked up.

Charlie stood beneath the overhead lamp, holding the now-cleaned bead up to the light. It was light blue and shimmered. “Here, catch,” Charlie said, dropping it into Ben’s hands.

The bead zapped him with a bolt of electricity, making Ben instantly let go. “Crap, what’s it doing?”

“Phoning home,” Charlie said. “It’s what they do when they’re removed. They alert the croatoans. Okay, Maria, Ethan, which of you are next?”

Before anyone could speak, the tree trunk that sat above the entry hole to the shelter lifted up and was thrown away.

Light streaked through the hole for a brief second and then they were in shadow again as an armored croatoan looked down inside, holding a rifle version of those strange, angular pistols.

Denver and Charlie both dived into the shadows.

The alien fired once, sending up a clod of dirt inches from Charlie’s diving legs. It readjusted the aim and was about to fire one more when its head snapped back with a sharp blast. Ben looked to his left, fully expecting to see Denver with his rifle in hand, but what he saw was Maria, her arms shaking, barely able to hold on to the black alien pistol. Vapor lazily drifted from the end of its barrel. The smell of ozone filled the room.

Maria dropped the weapon, collapsing back to the trunk. Her shoulders shuddered as she sobbed, placing her face in her hands.

“Good shot,” Denver said. “You might survive for longer than we expected, after all.”

Ethan stood and bore down on Denver. “Can’t you see she’s scared, damn it? God, we all are, and all you can do is make smart comments.”

“Calm down,” Denver said, standing over Ethan, his wiry but powerful frame intimidating Ethan. “We don’t have much time. We need to get those beads out of you and get going.”

Denver turned his attention to Maria, kneeling in front of her, placing his hand on her shoulder. “It’s okay,” he said, his tone softer now, which surprised Ben. So far, he’d only see a cold side to the kid, the only affection shown was for his dog. “Listen, you did good okay.”

“I killed someone,” Maria said. “I can’t believe I actually killed someone.”

“And you might have to kill many someones if you’re to have any kind of life out here.”

“I want to go back,” Maria said, turning to Ben, reaching out for him. “Please, can we go back? We can explain things, tell them it wasn’t our fault. We can have our jobs back, the safety,” she trailed off and slumped back against the dirt wall.