Nicholas Smith - Deliverance

Michael hit the dirt hard a few feet from Layla. Both of them writhed in pain as Olah emerged from his hiding spot. He approached cautiously, weapon shouldered.

Erin ran over and knelt beside her father. He locked hands with her, still alive but gasping for air. “Dad,” she sobbed as she draped herself over him. “Daddy, please… don’t go.”

Les searched for X, but he was nowhere in sight. He glanced down and saw a pistol lying in the dirt. Had he dropped his weapon, or was it someone else’s? He bent down to pick it up.

Olah strode over to Layla and Michael, weapon angled down. He kicked their weapons away.

“Stop!” someone shouted. The hologram had reappeared on the ramp as it lowered back to the dirt. “Please, please don’t kill them. They are my responsibility.”

“Captain Jordan’s orders,” Olah said. He moved his finger to the trigger.

Without even thinking, Les brought up the pistol and fired two shots into the side of Olah’s helmet. The rounds punched through metal and skull. The soldier fell like a board, dead on impact.

Les lowered the gun and stared at it in his shaking hands.

“Tin,” Layla groaned, reaching out for Michael. His hand gripped hers and he squirmed closer to her.

“Drop it,” said a voice. Les saw a figure limping toward him. A second creature, on all fours, moved by the man’s side. It took Les a moment to figure out that the thing in the oddly shaped helmet and rad suit was indeed a dog.

Les let the gun fall in the dirt.

Samson held up his hands but didn’t say a word. He moved over to Layla and Michael. The commander was on his knees now, a hand clamped over Layla’s stomach. Blood gushed from a hole in her armor.

“Michael, you okay?” X asked.

“My armor stopped the bullet, but Layla’s hit,” he said. “We have to stop the bleeding.”

X looked at the sky. “We have to get out of here before those Sirens get brave.”

Erin walked over, tears streaming down her face. “You shot my dad, you bastard!” she yelled, reaching for X as if she wanted to strangle him. He grabbed her hands as she swatted at his helmet.

“I’m sorry, but he was on the wrong side of this,” X said.

Les held Erin back while X helped Michael and Layla. “We all were.”

“Where are Mags and Rodger?” X asked.

Michael shook his helmeted head. “I don’t know. They aren’t responding.”

“Let go of me!” Erin shouted.

“You have to be quiet,” Les replied. He slowly loosened his grip, watching her to make sure she didn’t attack X.

Everyone fell silent, shocked by the violence. Erin had stopped sobbing, but her gaze was locked on her dead father. X and Michael picked Layla up and carried her to the ramp, with Timothy leading them to a cargo bay. The dog trotted after them, glancing back at Les, Erin, and Samson, who remained in the dirt where they were.

“What are we supposed to do?” Samson asked.

“You can stay here, for all I care,” X said.

“No,” Michael said. “We’ll need them to help us capture the Hive. ”

Lieutenant Hunt burst into Jordan’s office. “Sir, we made contact with Samson on the surface,” he said.

Jordan, who had just dozed off, snapped alert. “Did they take Deliverance ?”

A smile on Hunt’s exhausted face told Jordan the mission had been a success. But the smile quickly faded. “We lost a lot of people on the landing. Apparently, their pod hit the water, and the only survivors were Samson and Sergeant Jenkins.”

Jordan massaged the side of his head. He didn’t have a strong liking for either Del Toro or Lore, but they were reliable and would be missed.

“So Erin and her team were able to complete the mission.”

“Yes, sir. They killed Commander Everhart and Layla, but Sergeant Jenkins and Olah were both mortally wounded in the battle.”

The news surprised Jordan enough that he didn’t reply immediately. He imagined the fight on the surface and found it grimly satisfying.

“Erin, Samson, and Les survived,” Hunt said, “but there’s no sign of X, Rodger, or Magnolia.”

Jordan folded his hands on his desk and considered the implications. They had lost several experienced soldiers but gained an entire airship—a prize well worth the cost.

“Sir, Deliverance has been damaged, but Samson and Les are working on getting it in the air. They want to dock with the Hive so our engineering team can perform more repairs.”

“How long until they arrive?” Jordan asked.

“Samson thinks he can have her in the air in a few hours. We should start flying in their direction.”

“Make it happen,” Jordan said. “I’ll meet you in a few minutes. Until then, you have the bridge.”

Hunt nodded and left Jordan in the dimly lit room. He sat there in silence, considering all that had happened and how to move forward. There was much to do to prepare for docking with Deliverance.

Jordan stood and grabbed the sword off the wall. He stepped out onto the bridge and looked at his officers. Soon this place would be mostly empty, and Jordan would have a new command center aboard a new vessel. He couldn’t wait to see her.

He strode out over the metal platform with his hands behind his back. He wished his child could have been around to see their future home. And Katrina, too, for that matter, but he had other plans for her.

“Listen up, everyone,” Jordan said. He waited until he had every officer’s attention. Eyes filled with hope and fear looked at him. For the first time in the history of the Hive , he could promise these people a new home—a better home. He would be remembered forever for what he was about to do.

“In a few hours, we will rendezvous with the airship Deliverance. All operations will eventually move to the new ship, which is faster, safer, and more advanced than the Hive in every way. She will indeed be our Deliverance. I promised to guide you to salvation, and that’s exactly what I’ve done.”

All around him, officers exchanged glances. Ensign Ryan stood at his station and clapped once, then twice. Several other officers joined in, and after a beat, the entire room erupted in applause.

Jordan had finally won. All the traitors were dead, and he had secured the future of the human race and her name was Deliverance .

Rodger woke up to find himself lying on a hard surface, staring up at black clouds. White lines like a spiderweb stretched across the sky. He groaned, trying to remember where he was and why his head felt as if someone had put it in a vise and tightened it a couple of turns.

His heart stuttered when his vision cleared enough to see that the cobwebs weren’t high above him in the sky but, rather, cracks in his visor shield. He sucked in unfiltered air through the gaps. It tasted like salt and barbecue and was laced with a lethal dose of radiation. His throat and eyes burned. He tried to reach up to the visor, but his right hand wouldn’t move. Neither would his left. He lifted his head slightly to find that his arms, hands, and legs were bound and bolted to the rusty deck of a ship. A few feet away, Magnolia lay in a similar state, her body limp.

“Mags,” he mumbled. “Wake up!”

Footfalls sounded, and a figure in full-body armor approached, carrying a machine gun.

The floaters , he realized. The memory of the men catching him outside the stadium rushed through his mind. They had been hiding in a storefront, and when he passed, they had yanked him inside the dark room.

They were soldiers of some sort, but what did they want?

The man with the machine gun strode forward. His massive metal-clad frame was an intimidating sight in itself, but the humanoid skulls he wore as shoulder pads made him all the more terrifying. Rodger’s eyes widened as the warrior’s almond-shaped, mirrored visors centered on him.