Prophecy: A Space Opera: Book Seven of The Shadow Order Read online

  At that moment, Reyes threw her automatic weapon down behind her. The light on the top of it glowed red. A second later, SA did the same. Bruke had already given a fresh one to Reyes, who fired down the stairs again. He then loaded up SA. Barely a pause in their attack, the two soldiers kept the advancing horde at bay.

  “We’ll stay here while you and Sparks find the best way out,” Bruke said. He wiped his face against his shoulder. His eyes were red from the smoke, and he squinted as if he struggled to see through them. “We should be able to hold them back, but we don’t know for how long.”

  No time for a conversation, Seb simply patted his thickset friend’s hard shoulder as he passed him and ran onto the fifteenth floor to meet a furious Sparks.

  Before Seb could say anything, Sparks pointed a long finger at him. “Don’t you dare pick me up like that again. I’m not a child.”

  Seb pulled in a deep breath of the fresher air and looked at the doors on either side of the hallway. Just two rooms up there, it must have been the penthouse suites. The first door he tried didn’t budge. Made from thick hardwood, he balled his fist and punched the thing from its hinges. A mess of splinters and wood dust, it revealed the room beyond. It had several sets of stepladders dotted around the place and cans of paint everywhere. “They must have been decorating when Enigma’s call went out.”

  Although Sparks had followed him in, she ignored him. A bulge in her cheek from where she ran her tongue around the inside of her mouth as if it helped contain her vitriol, she took in the room.

  The sound of automatic fire rang out from the stairwell behind them. They had time, but not too much. It wouldn’t be long before either the smoke or the creatures got them. Seb needed to come up with a plan. He ran to the large window on the other side of the room. It overlooked the desert. The cold contact of his forehead touching the glass, he looked down at the ground. It gave him a view of the beings running in through the hotel’s entrance. The line of creatures looked like it had no end. “This isn’t the right room,” he said.

  “Maybe you should call reception and ask them to switch you.”

  But Seb ignored her, running back out of the room and knocking down the door that led to the suite opposite. A similar state to the first one, it had cans of paint and stepladders dotted around it. As he ran, he picked up a large tin of white emulsion and launched it at the window in front of him. It shattered the pane with a loud splash as it sailed through the glass and disappeared into the darkness outside.

  By the time Seb got to the smashed window—the air considerably fresher—he watched the can of paint pop on the ground below. It left a large white explosion on the dark road. What would the fall do to a body? He shook his head to banish the image. This suite faced the city. To look down showed him a clear street. All the creatures were too busy running in through the foyer and stairwell.

  Bruke’s voice came at them. “Hurry up, Seb, they’re gaining ground here.”

  “The buildings opposite are too far away,” Sparks said.

  Instead of replying to her, Seb ran back out into the hallway. He thought he’d seen it on the way through, but he couldn’t be sure. When he got to the thick red fire hose, he grabbed the end of it and tugged, snapping it free of the plastic catch holding it in place. It unravelled as he dragged it away. Hopefully it would unravel far enough.

  Seb ran back towards the smashed window, picking up another heavy paint can on the way through. The cool outside air rushed in as he closed down on it.

  A decorator’s grubby towel covered in paint lay on the floor by the window. Seb tied it around the handle of the paint can and then around the end of the hose. Although Sparks watched him the entire time, he didn’t try to explain. Instead, he tossed the can from the window and watched it drag the hose out with it. The whoosh of the thick hose rushed over the window frame.

  As the hose unwound, Seb felt Sparks stare at him while he watched it. When it snapped taut, he looked out of the window. The can of paint swung from where it hadn’t quite reached the ground.

  Sparks poked her head out next to him. “It’s a couple of storeys short.”

  “We’ll have to jump.”

  “A couple of storeys to you is very different than a couple of storeys to me.”

  “I’ll send SA down first; she can catch you at the bottom.”

  “What is this? Toss the short person?”

  “We could play burn the short person instead.”

  When Sparks didn’t answer, Seb ran back out into the hallway and said to SA, I’ll relieve you. I need you to go and see Sparks. She’ll tell you the plan.

  The second Seb reached the stairwell, SA threw her gun at him and ran back in the direction he’d just come from. He stepped forward, the gun pressed into his shoulder, and opened fire into the dense pack of bodies trying to get up to them.

  Chapter 19

  Seb remained at the top of the stairwell, his hands aching from the recoil of his gun. Sweating as much as ever, he blinked repeatedly, but it did very little against the sharp burn in his eyes. Tears ran down his cheeks while pains streaked up both sides of his face from where he clamped his jaw with the effort of the continuous offensive. But at least every shot landed; hard to miss because of the dense press of bodies. A massacre, but he had no choice. If he didn’t kill them, they’d kill him.

  The screams of agony and fury mixed together so loud it made Seb’s head spin—that and the lack of oxygen, the smoke getting thicker with every passing second.

  It felt like an age had passed before Seb finally heard SA. We’re down. The road’s clear. Come now.

  The light on the top of Seb’s blaster had turned from green to orange. After swapping weapons with Bruke, he paused for a moment. Loyal to the team, Bruke would have stayed there for as long as they needed him to. But one of them had to go next. “Leave the guns, and we’ll hold them off until you’re down.”

  Although Bruke looked like he wanted to argue, good sense must have told him not to waste any more time. He stood up, nodded as he moved the two weapons closer to Seb and Reyes, and ran out of there in the direction of the hosepipe hanging through the smashed window.

  The second Bruke left them, Seb heard it. A deep baseline growl, it shook the walls and his vision. Although he kept firing blind into the thick smoke, he looked at Reyes. Before he said anything, SA came through to them. What the hell was that?

  I’m guessing the giant we saw run past the hotel earlier, Reyes said.

  Damn. Hurry up, Bruke, Seb said. The metal stairs then shook beneath his feet from what must have been the monster’s ascent. He continued to fire, a deep ache balling in his shoulders from his weapon’s recoil.

  Reyes paused to swap guns. In the brief moment where she didn’t attack, several small creatures like the one Seb had stamped on burst from the thick cloud. The world still in slow motion, he picked them off one at a time, each one exploding when he shot them. Boom. Boom. Boom. The blasts of air from each one drove the hair back from his forehead, dried the sweat on his face, and cleared the smoke momentarily. Then Seb saw the last one, its little mouth opened wide as it readied to bite him. It came to within a metre of him before he burst it with laser fire. Another loud boom, the foul little thing’s sticky innards coated his gun, face, and hands.

  Reyes returned to Seb’s side with her gun, and for the next minute or so, they saw the faces and bodies of some creatures as more of them made it through the black smoke. They’d capitalised on Reyes’ slight pause in fire, closing the gap between them. All different shapes and sizes, thankfully none of them were impervious to laser blasts—at least none of the ones they’d encountered so far. For someone who didn’t have slow motion like Seb did, Reyes picked them off with a deadly accuracy better than him.

  Is everything okay? SA asked.

  A glance at the light on his gun, Seb watched the orange turn to burnt orange. We’re alive, he said. The creatures now driven back into the smoke, they continued to release their shri
ll calls of pain as he fired where he couldn’t see. The thud of the giant continued to climb the stairs. If it stamped down too hard, it felt like the entire staircase would collapse.

  Slow motion on his side, Seb spun around, switched weapons, and fired into the darkness again. He’d managed to move quickly enough to keep them pinned back in the acrid smoke. At least, he hoped he’d kept them back; it was quite possible the smoke had thickened, reducing their vision and only making it seem like they were winning. The taste of burned rubber on the back of his throat had gotten worse.

  Another loud roar boomed up the stairwell at them. The vibration of it nearly took Seb’s feet from beneath him, and he stopped shooting. When he looked at Reyes, he quickly kicked back into gear. How the hell are we going to take that thing down?

  Sweat glistened on Reyes’ face, and veins stood out on her neck. She clenched her teeth as she shook with the blaster’s rapid fire. Although the others would have heard him, Reyes responded, We can only deal with it when we see it. I’m hoping the answer will be obvious then.

  Another switch of her gun, Reyes spun back around, and they continued to stave off the attack. The thud of footsteps continued to climb the stairs, a slow, torturous progression amidst the chaos. It told them nothing could stop it.

  SA, Seb said, speaking so everyone could hear, where’s Bruke?

  We haven’t seen him yet.

  Seb and Reyes stared at one another before returning to the fight. WHAT?

  He hasn’t appeared.

  BRUKE! What the hell? We need to get out of here. Where are you?

  “Here.”

  Both Seb and Reyes looked behind them to see Bruke. He panted from the effort of rolling the large metal barrel he had in front of him. He’d flipped it on its side. It had white linen stuffed into one end.

  Easier to talk through SA despite their close proximity, Seb said, What are you doing?

  Still struggling for breath, Bruke said, Stand back.

  Although Seb and Reyes moved back towards Bruke, they continued to fire down into the stairwell. The creatures continued to vocalise their agony and rage as their shots landed.

  When the giant roared again, Seb noticed Bruke jump and nearly send the barrel down the stairs too early. It took for him to step closer still before he smelled it. Where did you get the fuel from?

  Don’t tell me you’re starting MORE fires? Sparks said.

  As much as Seb wanted to ignore her, he knew her fear. You’re down there. This won’t come anywhere near you.

  His breathing back under control, Bruke pointed toward the two penthouse suites. They have a generator up here. I drained it of fuel. I also found the rest of their supply.

  Three more barrels were lined up in the hallway, all of them had white linen poking from their tops like giant Molotov cocktails. Next to them, Seb saw a large red metal can.

  I also found this. Bruke held up a lighter for Seb to see.

  The light on the top of Seb’s gun had turned orange again from him continuing to shoot. My gun’s about to run out, Bruke. Are you ready to send it down now?

  By way of response, Bruke put the lighter’s flame to the white linen. It caught, and fire engulfed it within seconds. Stand back.

  Although aware of Bruke’s actions, Seb focused on swapping his gun around again. He looked up in time to watch the flaming barrel bounce down the stairs into the smoky abyss.

  More screams than before, it clearly hit some of the creatures on the way down. And then it stopped, glowing in the smoke.

  Another deep roar, closer than ever, and Seb watched the barrel get stamped out, the fuel igniting for a second before it got completely smothered. The vibration of the giant’s foot shook the entire hotel.

  Are you okay? SA said.

  Fine. Reyes looked at Seb and Bruke before returning to where she’d been standing and firing down into the darkness again. For now.

  Before Seb could return to her side, Bruke had another barrel on fire and rolled it down after the first. He sent a third one straight after it.

  The orange glow of the flames came to an abrupt halt about four metres below them as it hit what must have been the wall of creatures they were holding back. Seb watched the fire swell as all the barrels burned together. Too much for one giant to stamp out. Send the last one down. We need that fire as big as we can make it. Hopefully it’ll give us a chance to get the hell out of here.

  Both Reyes and Seb stopped shooting and moved out of Bruke’s way for him to send the final barrel down after the first three. It crashed into the others, the flames reaching higher than ever. The giant yelled. From the way the flames danced and weaved, it looked like the creature was trying to bat them out, with little success. Its voice rang much higher in pitch than it had a few seconds ago.

  Reyes then ran off into one of the nearby rooms. She came back a moment later, shoving an armchair in front of her. When she got to the top of the stairs, she grunted from the effort of lifting it before she lobbed it down. It disappeared from sight, an uneven roll sending out thuds as it hit random stairs on its awkward descent. It smashed into the flaming barrels, momentarily disturbing the hypnotic orange sway.

  Seb smiled in spite of their situation. Reyes, you’re a genius! He and Bruke took off at the same time and ran to the rooms to get more furniture to build their bonfire.

  Chapter 20

  Holding the last piece of furniture he could find, Seb yelled out as he threw it down the stairs into the burning barricade. A coffee table, this time it rolled no farther than a metre before it hit the stack of backed-up furniture. At least a flight of stairs deep, only the side of the pile closest to the creatures burned. He allowed himself the briefest moment to watch the flames before nodding. That should hold them.

  Reyes stepped beside him and looked down. I think you might have spoken too soon.

  Despite their clear screams of pain, Seb watched as the creatures grabbed the burning furniture, lifted them to their tipping point against the railings, and then sent them down the gap in the centre of the staircase. An armchair chased the headboard of a bed to the ground, smacking against the metal barricades all the way down, aggravating the creatures climbing up.

  Bruke, Seb said, the thick smoke damn near blinding him despite him shielding his eyes with his forearm, is there any more petrol in that can? We need to light the rest of the furniture while we still have the chance.

  Although he didn’t reply, Bruke darted into the hallway before rushing back in with the red fuel can in his hand. He undid the lid as he ran, discarding it on the metal stairs with a ting. He then doused the fire before saying, Get back.

  Both Seb and Reyes stepped away as they watched Bruke swing the still-open can backwards before launching it onto the pile. For the briefest of seconds, the can disappeared into the smoke.

  Has he missed it? Reyes said.

  Whoom! The petrol caught, lighting the stairwell brighter than Seb had seen it so far. The fierce rush of heat shoved them back.

  Seb covered his eyes again as he backed away several more steps into the hallway. When he pulled his arm down, he stared at where they’d come from.

  Bruke? Seb said. Before he could say anything else, the thickset creature appeared.

  Seb ran forward and checked him for burns. Are you okay?

  Bruke nodded.

  Now he knew his friend was okay, Seb peered into the smoking and fiery mess. He couldn’t see anything, yet he still knew the truth of it. They have more bodies than the fire can burn. Their sheer numbers will win out sooner or later. We have to block the doors too.

  Before either Reyes or Bruke could respond, Seb ran back into one of the rooms and straight over to a window. He jumped up, gripped the long curtain rail above it, and yanked it down as he landed. They needed as many as they could get, so he ran to the next window and did the same. A quick glance at the door showed him Reyes sticking her head in before she ran into the room opposite.

  All the poles from the one room
in his arms, Seb ran back to the double doors, dropped them on the floor with a clattering splash, and picked up just one. He slid it through the handles. Bruke, he then said, come here.

  The lizard creature came to his side, and Seb nodded at the curtain pole. Can you bend that around the handles?

  Impatience in her voice, Sparks said, What are you guys doing up there?

  Setting fire to shit, Seb said as he watched Bruke bend the metal pole. He picked up the next one for him and slid it through the handles like he had with the first. Now stay hidden, stay quiet, and only come out when you see us coming.

  Chapter 21

  Every time Seb or Reyes slipped a curtain pole through the door handles, Bruke bent and tied the metal like he would a rope. By the time they’d done the last one, Seb shook his head at his friend. He laughed in spite of their situation. You’re a beast.

  A slight sagging of his shoulders, Bruke whined.

  Not in that sense. Like a beast-mode beast.

  And that’s good?

  A loud roar in the stairwell was followed by the thud of more falling furniture. Seb batted his hand through the air to end their conversation. Doesn’t matter. Get down the hose now.

  Although Bruke looked like he wanted to argue about who went first, it only took for Seb to scowl at him before he turned his back and ran to the room with the smashed window.

  A few seconds of silence between Seb and Reyes, they watched where the hose was attached to the wall. It pulled taut when Bruke started his descent. Reyes kept her eyes on it as she said, “Who’s next?”

  “You. Then me.”

  Like Bruke had, she looked like she wanted to argue, so Seb cut her off. “That’s an order, soldier.”

  A deep inhale and sigh, she nodded. “I’ll wait by the window so I can go the second he’s jumped off.” A moment’s pause, she then hugged Seb. “Good luck, and don’t do anything stupid.”