Lionel's Arc

Chapter 4 of 6

The dragging sound grew louder. Lionel pulled Varro upright and turned toward the dark. His bolt pistol hung empty at his side. He had fired his last round in the swarm above. The creature came fast now, a xeno warrior twice his height. Ridged armor plated its long body. Claws scraped the stone. Small bugs poured ahead of it, sleek and segmented, their fine legs clicking across the floor. "Weapon," Lionel said. "I have nothing left." Varro's face went tight. He looked at the empty pistol in Lionel's grip, then at the pile of dead marines against the wall. "There," he said. "My brothers didn't come here unarmed." Lionel understood at once. He set Varro against the slab and lunged for the fallen marines. Their broken armor still cradled guns. He dug through cracked gauntlets and shattered plate. Rifles, pistols, a scattered cache scarred by the fight that killed them. He grabbed the nearest bolt pistol. Its old grip felt solid in his hand. He tore a magazine from a dead brother's belt and slammed it home. The small bugs reached him first. One climbed his boot. He crushed it under his heel. Another bit his damaged armor at the old wound. He fired down and blew it apart. The warrior charged. Lionel rose and met it. He raised the pistol and squeezed. The first round cracked its shoulder plate. It shrieked and swung a claw. He ducked and the claw raked stone above him. He fired again into its open jaw. The round punched through. The warrior staggered, then fell, sliding across the floor until it stopped at his feet. Lionel stood over it, breathing hard. The bugs scattered back into the dark. He turned the pistol on them but held his fire. Loud sounds drew the swarm. He had learned that lesson on the tower. He would not ring the dinner bell again. "You're armed now," Varro said. He almost smiled through the blood on his face. "Took you long enough." Lionel returned to the fallen marines. He filled his empty pouches with spare magazines. His brothers could not carry these weapons out. He would carry them instead. Among the guns lay a slab of ancient tech, blue-lit lines glowing under grime. He did not know its purpose. He left it. Only the seed mattered. He lifted the sealed carrier and slung it across his back. The pod inside pulsed faint and green. "Can you walk?" he asked. "With help." Varro reached up. Lionel pulled him standing. The two turned toward the passage up. But the gunshots had traveled far in the deep vault. From the dark below came new sounds. More claws. More dragging weight. The one warrior had not come alone. Lionel checked his loaded pistol and faced the tunnel. He had the seed and the means to fight now. What he did not have was a clear way out.