Eradication: A Space Opera: Book Four of The Shadow Order Read online

  It had been the first time he’d punched living flesh with his new fists. The creature’s face buckled beneath his strike with a loud crack. In the short moment of contact, it felt like he’d turned the brute’s chin to powder. Had the beast not fallen backwards, out cold, it would undoubtedly be screaming.

  “Damn,” Seb muttered to himself as he looked at his next attacker, his hands tingling with the desire to heal the one he’d just dropped. He had to learn to use his punches with a little more restraint.

  The next creature looked similar to Bruke, but instead of green scales, it had a body covered in brown fur. A broad chest and thick arms like his friend, the beast could clearly punch when it needed to.

  At first, Seb didn’t see the creature’s weak spot. It swung for him and he ducked. When he dropped level with its knees, he saw where he needed to hit.

  Seb drove both fists forward together. Each one cracked against a kneecap. A pop ran through the space and he felt the snaps in response to his blows. He had shattered both patellas.

  The creature crumpled in front of Seb, screaming as it reached down for its knees before pulling itself into the foetal position. At least he hadn’t killed it. The buzzing desire to heal grew stronger in his palms.

  Three mandulus rushed Seb next. They must have been the king of the cell’s personal guard. They came forward as one, their heavy steps running a vibration through the hard floor like the cat-eyed creature had.

  Like every mandulu Seb had ever met, they had large and weak chins, and he could see their punches coming from a mile away. He’d never understood how they considered themselves a warrior race.

  A three-step dance to avoid each of their blows and Seb dropped one after the other in quick succession. He punched hard enough to crack jaws, but not so hard he’d kill them. No one needed to die to learn a lesson; at least, he hoped they didn’t.

  The pile of bodies mounted, yet seven more creatures rushed him. None of them seemed to learn from the lessons he’d already handed out. The seven looked to be some kind of crew, used to fighting together. Mismatched, they came at him at all heights. Two of them had wings and flew at him; three were so small they went for his shins.

  Kicks to each of the little ones sent them all flying away. Seb ducked the fliers and knocked out the other two coming at him at his level. Again he showed restraint, punching one in the shoulder—clearly shattering its bones—and driving an open palm into the sternum of the other. Both fell down and didn’t look like they’d get back up again.

  With five down and the two flying, bat-like creatures buzzing around his head, Seb grabbed both of their legs and launched them into the far wall of the cell. They both hit it and slid down it like wet sponges.

  Half of the cell defeated, Seb panted for breath as he waited for the next attack. None came.

  Seb stared at the mandulu and the mandulu stared back at him.

  The mandulu then rushed forward.

  Only wanting to teach it a lesson, Seb stepped into the middle of the cell to meet it. He hit it across the chin with an open-palmed slap. The crack of his blow rang through the space and stung his palm. Better to go backhanded next time, he had no feeling there.

  The fat-chinned brute fell away from the blow and landed limp on the hard ground like the others had.

  After he’d watched it for a few seconds, Seb spun on the spot to take in the rest of the beings in the cell. “Anyone else want a go?”

  Every creature he stared at looked away. He’d made his point.

  At least he thought he had.

  When Seb looked at a small grey creature no taller than about three feet and with long black hair, he saw it stare back at him. Before he could ask what it was looking at, the small being nodded behind him.

  Seb spun around to find the mandulu back on its feet. It had its fists clenched, and before he could react, the creature swung for him.

  After ducking its blow, Seb came up behind it and grabbed the back of its collar. Although he could have shattered its chin with one punch—and maybe he should have, he pushed on the back of the mandulu’s fat head and forced it down towards the metal toilet in the middle of the cell.

  A loud clang responded to the beast’s face hitting the chrome bowl. The smell of countless creatures’ shit wafted up from the dented toilet. Brown sludge exploded from it and coated the mandulu’s face. The large brute fell away from the impact and lay limp on the ground.

  Seb stood over it for a second, shoving its face with his foot. Definitely unconscious this time.

  Silence swept around the place as Seb leaned down, picked up a plate, and spooned some of the slop onto it. He looked at the creature with the long black hair and winked. Pretty sure no one saw it, he stayed away from it so it didn’t get into trouble with its peers. Snitches got stitches.

  Seb walked over to the bed the mandulu had occupied and sat down on it. For a second, he watched the other beings, waiting for a challenge to him. When none came, he relaxed a little.

  The rancid smell of curdled milk sat on Seb’s spoon when he raised it to his lips. That should have been enough to warn him off, but he still poked his tongue out and dipped it into the slop.

  The bitter tang lit up his taste buds like battery acid, sending a spasm through his tongue and forcing the muscles in his face to twist at the sharp kick. He threw the plate away from him. It hit the unconscious mandulu, the brownish, greenish swill mixing with the fecal matter it currently had on its face. Hard to tell where one ended and the other began.

  The silence in the cell remained as the creatures formed an orderly queue to get their food. Incarceration had clearly trained their stomachs to tolerate it.

  CHAPTER 7

  An hour had passed, maybe two. During that time, Seb remained on the soiled mattress of the mangy bed in the corner of the cell. Springs poked into him wherever he distributed his weight and he itched all over. The bedbugs could have been a figment of his imagination, but figment or not, he itched all the same.

  In any other situation, Seb would have moved away from the rotten bed. But to do that could concede his dominance in the space. Most of the beings he’d knocked out still lay on the cell floor. One of the two bat-like things had recovered, but other than that, they all remained unconscious. But beings could forget their place quickly, and one of them might get brave after they’d recovered. If they sensed weakness, they’d be on it in a flash. It definitely ruled out healing any of the creatures too, his hands itching with the desire to help them now he’d knocked them out.

  At present, all the other beings in the cell remained relatively quiet. Other than breathing, flatulence, and a whole host of alien sounds that signalled rest for the different species, they said nothing.

  Seb looked across at the small grey creature with the long hair. Would he have come a cropper if it hadn’t given him a heads-up? Hard to tell, but it certainly helped to be warned about the mandulu behind him. Not that he could thank the creature more than he had already; he didn’t want to make it a target for the others.

  The slap of thick, leathery wings cut through the restless quiet in the cell. A look over to the corner of the room and Seb saw the other bat creature struggling to pull itself upright. It twisted and turned as if intoxicated.

  When it opened its eyes, groggy at first, a confused frown dominated its dark grey face. Then it saw Seb and its eyes flew wide. The creature shifted backwards. It hit the wall and continued to press into it, its little clawed feet scraping against the cell’s hard floor, sending a scratching sound around the space.

  “Remember,” Seb said as he watched the beast panic, his words pulling the attention of every creature in the room onto him, “you attacked me. I have no beef with you. As long as you don’t come at me again, you won’t get hurt.”

  The creature blinked several times. Its small chest rose and fell with its quick breaths. It finally settled down and nodded at him, although it still viewed him through narrowed and suspicious eyes.

&n
bsp; Before Seb could say anything else, a sharp crack ripped through the room. When he turned to look at the cell’s door, he noticed everyone else do the same.

  A beast of a creature, Moses filled the doorway and glared at Seb. Many of the beings close to the leader of the Shadow Order shifted away from him.

  For a second, Seb stared at Moses and said nothing.

  “Don’t make me ask you to come over,” Moses said.

  Seb still didn’t move. “I can hear you from here.”

  The usual moment of silence followed in reaction to Seb saying something that displeased him. His jaw already wide, Moses clenched and unclenched it, the sides of his face thickening and relaxing with the action. It looked like he imagined chewing through Seb at that moment. Lustful hunger sat in his dark glare. Those jaws would probably make light work of a human body. Not that Seb would ever give him the chance.

  A look down at the unconscious prisoners and Moses shook his head with a sigh. “Making yourself at home, then, I see?”

  “Yep.” Seb grinned. “I’m quite enjoying it in here.” As he moved on the bed, a series of springs jabbed into him and he did his best to hide his discomfort.

  “So you want to stay here permanently?”

  Seb couldn’t help but smile to see some of the prisoners tense at Moses’ suggestion. They didn’t want him there; it meant they’d have to keep a lid on themselves and stop behaving like morons. “It seems like the best option available to me at the moment.”

  A glance down at the mandulu Seb had knocked out against the toilet and Moses ruffled his large snout. “You like the smell in here? And the food?”

  Now he’d spent a small amount of time in the cell, he couldn’t smell it anymore. The food, on the other hand … his stomach tensed to think of the rancid taste. “I know what you’re doing.”

  A cocked eyebrow and nothing more. Moses continued to watch him.

  “You’re trying to make it as bad as you can for me in here so I do what you want me to do. But you forget, I’ve seen that footage you showed us. Things would have to be a whole lot worse in here for me to go there.”

  A shrug of his broad shoulders and Moses said, “Okay.”

  “Okay?” He didn’t have anything else to say?

  At that moment, Moses moved out of the door frame. It let a lot more light in and showed Seb the corridor beyond. The breath left his lungs. “Bruke? What’s he doing out there? Where’s he going?”

  He walked with a line of Shadow Order soldiers. Reyes led the line. “Isn’t that the girl from the mech suit?” Seb said. “The one who barely knows how to pilot one and probably couldn’t tie her own shoelaces under pressure? The one who’s here because of a favour to Daddy rather than because of what she can actually do?”

  The now familiar predatory grin spread across Moses’ face. He’d won and he knew it. “Bruke’s off on another mission while we wait for you to decide what you want to do. And yes, that is the woman you fought in the mech suit. And I can tell you, she’s not got any better. Hopefully she can look after your friend while they’re out in the field. It would be such a shame to see him die.”

  It hurt to push off from the soiled mattress, the springs poking into the palms of Seb’s hands. He moved over to the door, close enough to Moses to smell the fishy reek of him. Close enough to see the gruesome details of every white scar on his thick grey snout. “Why are you sending him out on a mission? And why with her? She’s just a kid.”

  “He’s joined the Shadow Order, Seb. I thought you already knew that? We feed, pay, and give him somewhere to stay. But we’re not a charity. As a Shadow Order member, he has to work for us. I wouldn’t worry though. The stuff Reyes has already survived, I’m sure she’ll be fine. Although, there was that one mission she led a team back from where over half the crew died. But a fifty percent chance of survival is better than none, right?”

  Seb shook his head. “You’re lying. You’re not sending that lot out.”

  “Maybe I am lying,” Moses said.

  Heat rose up Seb’s neck in a tingling rush and spread through his face. He shook his head. “You’re lying to me.”

  When Moses didn’t reply, Seb looked from him to the disappearing Bruke. How could he ever forgive himself if Bruke didn’t return?

  Another look at the fat, scarred head of his boss and Seb let the tension fall from his body with a sigh. “Damn you, Moses.”

  It didn’t look possible before, but Moses’ smile spread even wider. It turned his large head into ninety percent teeth. “Are you ready to go back to work?”

  A shake of his head and Seb dropped his attention to the ground. “Damn you.”

  CHAPTER 8

  Tension wound tight in Seb at Moses getting one up on him. So when someone from behind him grabbed his arm, he turned on the creature, his fist raised and his teeth bared.

  When he saw the grey being with the long black hair, he relaxed a little. “You?”

  The creature shook in the face of Seb’s fury. Its voice warbled. “Take care of yourself, Chosen One.”

  In that moment, Seb forgot about Moses and Bruke. So when the large creature snorted, sending a waft of fish forward, he spun around and glared at him. He then turned back to the grey being.

  It encouraged the creature to continue. “You have something important to do. Much more important than the money-making missions he’s sending you on.” The creature looked at Moses before returning his attention to Seb. “Make sure you look after yourself.”

  Seb could already see the beings closing in around them. By talking so openly to him, the grey creature had risked its life. A weary acceptance sat in its humble stare. It had clearly been important to it to pass the prophecy on.

  When Seb looked towards the cell’s door, two guards had moved in front of Moses and raised their electric poles. The flicker of blue light strobed through the small room. “Steady on,” he said to them. “I’m coming peacefully, just hold on a minute, yeah?”

  Seb turned and looked at the others in the cell. “If I come back from my mission and anyone has harmed this creature, I’ll make every one of you pay. Trust me.”

  It seemed to be enough to relax the tension in the room and the other prisoners stepped back. Seb turned to the grey creature again. “Why did you call me the chosen one?”

  Eyes the colour of granite like the rest of him, the beast looked at Seb and wrung its hands. It stammered when it said, “B-b-b-because you are.”

  No more than he’d already been told, Seb said, “I’ve heard about the prophecy already, but how do you know about it?”

  “We just know.”

  A firm grip on Seb’s arm pulled him towards the door. Before he’d spun around, his world had slowed down. He saw the blue flicker of the prison guard’s pole.

  Cattle prod or not, Seb continued to spin around and drove a strong cross into the creature’s chest. The guard might have been taller and heavier than him, but he still fell to the hard blow. They all fell if you knew where to hit them, especially when you had fists of steel.

  After he’d watched the creature crumple, Seb turned back to the grey-skinned beast.

  It reached up and grabbed both of Seb’s hands, its eyes widening as it said, “Fulfil your potential, Chosen One. Use your gift.”

  Seb caught the rush of another prison guard in his peripheral vision. Before it could get to him, he spun around and drove an uppercut into its nose. The wet squelch of his metal fist crushing cartilage snapped through the room and the beast fell back, dropping its electric pole on the guard that had already been knocked out.

  For a second, Seb watched the first guard twitch and convulse as electricity ran through it. The smell of singed hair came off the beast. Seb ruffled his nose at the stink before Moses stepped forward and kicked the pole away. Several creatures in the cell avoided its spinning trajectory.

  Moses glowered at Seb, his patience clearly running out.

  “Just give me a few more seconds, okay?” Seb said
.

  Moses didn’t respond, so Seb turned to the grey creature. “Do you know anything about my mother?”

  The creature shook its head. “No.”

  Frustration balled in Seb’s tense body, but what could he do? The creature looked like the kind of being to tell him if it knew any more. “Okay,” he said, and dipped a bow of appreciation. “Thank you.” And with that, Seb left the cell, stepped over the unconscious guards, and followed Moses away from there.

  CHAPTER 9

  After spending a few hours in the prison cell, it felt great to be back with the others. SA and her grace, Sparks and her wit, Bruke … Seb looked at Bruke at that moment to see the same anxious look he’d seen several times before on his green face. Not that he could blame him; they’d all seen the CCTV footage of what they were about to head into. But at least Moses hadn’t sent him on a death-wish mission with Reyes. She wouldn’t have been able to protect him like Seb could.

  As much as Seb disliked the Shadow Order and their immoral approach to everything, they were his best option at present. A private firm had one motivation: profit. He might not like that, but it was the way of the universe, and until he’d done enough work for them to walk away, he had to accept it.

  Besides, as he stood in the middle of the blaster section in their weapons warehouse, he couldn’t help but be impressed. Big-paying jobs meant the Shadow Order had every weapon in the galaxy and they were all at his disposal.

  Although, when SA wrapped two harnesses loaded with knives around herself, Seb forgot about the weapons and stared at her instead. The strapping hugged her lithe form like wet fabric. It took for her to stop and look back at him before he realised he had his mouth wide open as he stared at her.

  Seb closed his mouth so quickly it made the slightest clop sound in the hard metal room. “Um,” he said and shook his head to himself. A deep breath of the cold, metallic-scented air and he looked at the floor. Even in the frigid space, prickly heat rushed up his neck and smothered him. Could he have been any more blatant about it?